THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE. A story for children by LEWIS. C. S. ; BAYNES. PAULINE. Illustrates - 1950

Henry and Co. London. 1893. FIRST EDITION. Octavo. Original blue buckram, lettered in gilt. Housed in a custom green cloth slipcase and chemise. Small bookplate to front pastedown, related bibiliographic material pasted to endpapers. Shaw's very scarce first play, published in an edition, according to Laurence, of "not more than 500" copies. It was not an overwhelming bestseller. Shaw wrote to John Lane (quoted in Laurence) that the publisher "never advertised it even once; and the sale, which was only effected by great perseverance & determination on the part of the purchasers, was 150 copies." When the publisher retired in December 1897, they ceded to Shaw 194 sets of unbound sheets, which Shaw claimed to have commissioned Sotheran & Co. to bind for him. "So few of these [in purple cloth] in the Sotheran binding have turned up, however, that it is unlikely Shaw had all of the copies bound; a considerable number must eventually have been pulped â¦" Copies in green cloth have been noted as well,… Read More

William Heinemann Ltd. London. 1961. THREE VOLUMES. Reprint of the 1951 Edition. 8vo. (8.1 x 5.7 inches). Fine and clean set in attractive leather bindings by Bayntun of Bath. Contemporary full blue polished calf. Spines with five raised bands, each with gilt decorative roll. The compartments are ruled, lettered and fully decorated in gilt. Red and green labels, gilt. Double gilt ruled border on boards. Board edges with decorative floral gilt roll. Inner gilt dentelles. Marbled endpapers. All edges gilt. Housed in a blue paper coveredslip case which has some minor wear but has done its job of keeping the books protected. The slip case is felt lined and has a beige silk tie pull. The spines are just a touch faded and there are a couple of small scratches but overall this is an attractive and finely bound set of this important collection.

John Lane at the sign of the Bodley Head in Vigo Street. London. 1894. FIRST EDITION, First Impression; one of just 500 copies. Square 8vo. (8.4 X 6.3 inches). Pages a bit toned but overall a very good copy bound in recent full tan morocco leather binding. Spine with raised bands, two red morocco labels, gilt. Single gilt ruled border on boards. Top edge gilt. Adverts dated March 1894 at the end. Original publishers decorative pale purple cloth boards and spine, designed by Charles Shannon, bound in at the rear.

George Newnes, Limited. London. 1905. FIRST EDITION. 8vo. (7.4 x 5.1 inches). viii, 404, 4pp of publishers adverts at rear. Illustrated with sixteen mono plates by Sidney Paget. Some light spotting to a few pages but overall a very good copy in recent leather binding by Sangorski and Sutcliffe for Asprey. Half dark blue morocco, five raised bands to spine, each with gilt dotting. Compartments ruled, decorated and lettered in gilt. Blue cloth on boards with single gilt ruled border on leather edges. Top edge gilt. Marbled endpapers. Housed in a felt lined slip case with blue cloth covering. Fading to the spine but still overall a very good copy in an attractive leather binding. --- Gibson & Green A29a. .

Printed by W. Nicol, late Bulmer & Co. London. 1822. FIRST EDITION. 8vo. (9.3 x 6.1 inches). Illustrated title, 56pp, 7 full page engravings, each with a plain tissue guard. Aside from some light spotting to the tissue guards this is a bright and clean copy throughout. Finely bound in nineteenth century full burgundy morocco. Spine with four wide raised bands, each with gilt box ruling. Compartments triple ruled and lettered in gilt. Boards with five ruled line gilt borders. Board edges and turn-ins with gilt decorative roll. All edges gilt. Yellow coated endpapers. Some minor wear to the edges of the binding but overall a very good and attractive copy of this rare work, both inside and out. Contains a lithographed title page illustrating both sides of the medal of the Outinian Societ and seven full page plates; portrait frontispiece of William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania; Lady Juliana Penn; Vice-Admiral Sir William Penn; Thomas Penn; a memorial urn dedicated to the memory of Lady Juliana; the… Read More

John Lehmann. London. 1950. FIRST EDITION. 8vo. (8 x 5.3 inches). A fine copy finely bound in recent full dark blue morocco leather. Spine with five raised bands, compartments lettered, ruled and decorated in gilt. Red title label, gilt. Single gilt ruled border to boards. Top edge gilt. A Fine copy of Bowles' influential first novel. Famously rejected by his American publishers, the London edition of The Sheltering Sky is the true first edition.

Philip Lee Warner, Publisher to the Medici Society, for the Riccardi Press, London. 1914. LIMITED EDITION. Large 8vo. (9.3 x 6.6 inches). One of 1000 hand-numbered copies printed in the Riccardi Fount on handmade Riccardi Paper. Fine leather binding of recent full deep red morocco. Spine with five raised bands, ruled in gilt. Compartments ruled, lettered and decorated with March Hare and Playing cards motifs in gilt, with floral gilt surrounds. Ruled gilt border on boards. Top edge gilt, others untrimmed. A bright and clean copy of this lovely edition, beautifully printed on fine quality hand made paper and in a decorative leather binding. ----- This edition was published by arrangement with Macmillan and Company using Carroll's revised text of 1896. The wonderful Tenniel illustrations are printed from fresh electros taken from the original wood-blocks, with four being slightly enlarged from the original block designs.

Longmans, Green, and Co. London and Bombay. 1902. FIRST EDITION. Colonial Issue. 8vo. (7.4 x 5.3 inches). Illustrated with sixteen mono plates by Sidney Paget. Tisue guard to the frontispiece. A few of the plates are bound in different places than listed on the contents page but all are present. 4 pages of publishers adverts for the colonial library at the rear of the book. The text and illustrations are fine, clean and bright throughout and look unread. Publishers decorative green cloth which has dark blue illustration to the front board and spine. Gilt lettering to the spine. Decorative light blue and white floral endpapers with ship and swan designs. There are a couple of small closed tears to the spine and the cloth is a bit rubbed and bumped and has a few small marks but is generally in very good condition with the gilt on the spine still quite bright. Previous owner's small typed name label on the plain verso of the front free endpaper, reading H. B. Rattray. This is almost certainly Captain… Read More

Richard Bentley. London. 1847. Bentley's Standard Novels and Romances, volume 25. Reprint of the 1833 edition. 8vo. (7 x 4.5 inches). Illustrated frontis engraving by Pickering. Publishers dark brown morocco grained cloth with elaborate blind stamped decorative border to the boards. Spine lettered and decorated in gilt. Yellow endpapers with lists of other titles published by Bentley. Neat previous owner bookplate to the top of the front paste down endpaper. Some staining to the bottom of the frontispiece, not affecting the image or type, otherwise a very clean and fresh copy. The cloth is clean and tidy, with sharp corners, and the gilt on the spine still bright and fresh. A little rubbing to the extremities but this is a superior copy. Scarce in such nice condition.

William Heinemann Ltd. London. 1961. THREE VOLUMES. Reprint of the 1951 Edition. 8vo. (8 x 5.4 inches). Fine and clean set in the rare Publishers delux leather bindings of full red Morocco. Spines with blind ruled bands and lettered in gilt. Gilt stamped Author's symbol device to the front boards. Blue marbled endpapers. Top edges gilt. Each volume with a red silk page marker. Housed in a red cloth covered slip case with marbled paper lining. The spines are a bit rubbed and there are a couple of small scratches but overall this is an attractive set of this important collection. Only a few sets were issued in these publishers delux leather bindings and they seldom turn up on the market.