Search Results: British Society from Louise Aird

This is a pristine copy of a much-loved work of non-fiction from T.H.White.
It has never been opened. It is brightly coloured boards with a brown spine and numerous images inside. Comes in a slip case.
The Age of Scandal, An Excursion through a Minor Period. A collection of entertaining essays on18th century England by the novelist Terence Hanbury White (1906–1964). White was known for his sequence of Arthurian novels, The Once and Future King, first published together in 1958. One of his most memorable stories is the first of that series, The Sword in the Stone, published as a stand-alone book in1938.
The Age of Scandal
focuses on the period in late 18th-century England following the Age of Reason--a period characterized by dilettantism, material comfort & eccentricity. People are sentimental, dramatic, tearful, lovers of gossip, fashion & exhibitionistic behavior. It is a fascinating record of the eccentricities of the 18th-century Royal Family, the fashions of the nobility and the… Read More

The Amateur Gentleman was a hugely popular novel written by the prolific English writer Jeffery Farnol who, with Georgette Heyer, initiated the Regency Romantic era. It is about a young man, the son of a boxer, who inherits a fortune and goes to London to become a gentleman. Adventure and romance ensue. Farnol wrote this novel (one of 50) in 1913; its reception was such that it was made into movies three times--in 1920, 1926 and 1936, the last starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr. It was his most successful novel and became book 1 of the 12-novel Jasper Shrig series.
This copy was published in 1951 by Sampson Low, Marston & Co. It could be one of two Farnol books edited by Barbara Cartland, who created a series of romantic classics for a London publisher--I don't have any more details.
426 pages, 5 1/4" x 7 1/2".
The cover image is a water colour, uncredited. It is very clean and very bright.
There are two tiny tears on the dust jacket, at the top and bottom of the spine.
Otherwise, this book is in mint… Read More

This is the first impression (1977) of the Folio Society's Barchester Towers, the second novel in the Chronicles of Barsetshire series by the great English writer Anthony Trollope (1815-1882). It is about the politics and romances surrounding the leading clergy of the cathedral city of Barchester. It is illustrated with woodcuts by the British artist Peter Reddick.

As with all Folio Society books, it is printed on lovely paper. Olive and gray boards, with a gold design on the spine, in a pale gray slipcase.

There's quite a lot of wear to the slipcase. The book is in mint condition.

NOTE: From the same Trollope series by the Folio Society, I also have Framley Parsonage, The Warden and The Small House at Allington. If you want to buy them as a set, please contact me.

This is a copy of Bartholomew's Clan Map, produced in 1975 by the Scots genealogist Sir Iain Moncreiffe of That Ilk (1919-1985). It was produced from an original painting by the Scottish artist Don Pottinger (1919-1986).
The map features 'The Lands', 'The Arms', and 'The Crests'. The central map delineates the clan territories and is framed by an array of 170 heraldic shields along with their crests and mottoes. It is based on the clan map as it was around the time of King James VI (1566-1625).
I haven't opened this map completely--just enough to take the photos shown. Photo #2 is taken from a collector's site, which says that it's appr 38" x 29".
This map has been sitting in a drawer since 1975. There are little bits of wear to the covers and the original price tag is on it, but you can steam that off. As far as I can tell, it's in perfect condition.

This is a near-perfect copy of this excellent book.
Published by Hamish Hamilton (London) 1951.
It is the actual first edition, rather than the US first edition.
The Original Dust Jacket is in Good/Fair Condition.
The dust jacket is an illustration by Cecil Beaton.
The book itself is in pristine condition. It has not been read.
The spine is intact. The only flaw is that someone has torn out the front endpaper—the first blank page. But that hasn't hurt the other pages or the binding.
About The Blessing
The Blessing is one of Nancy Mitford's most personal books, a wickedly funny story that asks whether love can survive the clash of cultures.
When Grace Allingham, a naĂŻve young Englishwoman, goes to live in France with her dashingly aristocratic husband Charles-Edouard, she finds herself overwhelmed by the bewilderingly foreign cuisine and the shockingly decadent manners and mores of the French. But it is the discovery of her husband's French notion of marriage—which includes a permanent mistress… Read More

James Boswell, 9th Laird of Auchinleck (1740-1795) was a Scottish lawyer. In 1762, he traveled to London for the second time—James Boswell's London Journal is the diary he kept. Along with many more of his private papers, it was found in the 1920s at Ireland's Malahide Castle, when it became the property of Yale University; McGraw Hill published it in 1950. In it, one of the most notable events is Boswell's meeting Samuel Johnson; this led to his writing Boswell's Life of Johnson, the greatest biography ever written.
This copy is a first edition. No dust jacket. The gold on the spine has worn off to about 60%. There is some loosening to the binding and some darkening of the paper. Otherwise pristine.


Note: If you are outside of North America, the quoted shipping price is for surface mail without tracking. For other options, please contact me.

THE BRAND NEW MONTY PYTHON PAPPERBOK
Graham Chapman, Michael Palin, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam
Methuen 1974, First Paperback Edition, Oversized
96 pages of silliness.
Minor creasing to the spine.
The staining on the cover is supposed to be there, and the cover is treated so as to attract more dirt.
The inside is perfect.


Note: If you are outside of North America, the quoted shipping price is for surface mail without tracking. For other options, please contact me.

This is a lovely book. First edition of this series.
From the introduction by Christopher Ricks:
In this generously replete anthology, the International Collectors Library offers this selection of the poetry of Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning, together with fifty of the letters in which the pair carried on their courtship under the nose of Elizabeth's tyrannical father -- including the brief, frenzied notes in which they made arrangements for their secret marriage and their elopement to the Continent. Among the works of Elizabeth included here are, of course, the exquisite Sonnets from the Portuguese, celebrating the perfect union of herself and her lover; excerpts from Aurora Leigh; and complete versions of more than two dozen other poems. Robert Browning is represented by one hundred or so poems, with excerpted portions of The Ring and the Book and Pippa Passes, plus complete versions of Andrea del Sarto, Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came, Fra Lippo Lippi, The Pied Piper of Hamelin, and… Read More

This is a beautiful copy of Can You Forgive Her? by Anthony Trollope, published by Everyman Knopf in 1994.Can You Forgive Her? is the first of Trollope's six Palliser novels, written in serial form in 1864 and 1865. It's a really good story--all about romance and the politics of relationships and what a woman should do with her life. Burgundy cloth boards with a black and gold design on the cover and spine.
There is a book plate on the inside front cover, which will come off.
The paper stock is a lovely soft cream. There are no flaws or marks of any kind inside.
Its only issue is that it was splashed with water from a flower vase. You can see in the photo, under my shadow, the faint mark on the lower quarter of the front cover.
Aside from that, it's perfect.
Note: If you are outside of North America, the quoted shipping price is for surface mail without tracking. For other options, please contact me.

Between 1864 and 1979, the great British author Anthony Trollope wrote 6 books called The Palliser Novels. They revolve around the wealthy aristocrat and politician Plantagenet Palliser and his wife, Lady Glencora, and they cover the sweep of Victorian society. They are considered satire and parody of English life, and criticism of the British government's predilection for attracting corrupt and corruptible people to power.
In 1977, Oxford University Press released The Palliser Novels in separate 5" x 7 1/2" volumes. I have the full set: Can You Forgive Her?, Phineas Finn, Phineas Redux, The Duke's Children, The Prime Minister and The Eustace Diamonds. You can buy as many as you like--please contact me first so I can combine the shipping. If you want the whole set, please contact me.
Can You Forgive Her? is #1 in the series. It is illustrated by the English artist Lynton Lamb. The novel follows three parallel stories of courtship and marriage and the decisions of three women. The question asked is… Read More

This is a luxury edition of The Canterbury Tales, published in the UK in 1986. This book, written in the late 1400s, remains a best-seller; only the Bible has sold more copies.
It is fully illustrated with medieval illuminations and woodcuts.
288 pages, packed with images, 90% in color. It's quite heavy.
This copy has not been read, although it was opened to the center page.
The spine of the dust jacket only is faded to a lighter color.
Other than that, it is in pristine condition. Beautiful book.

This is a fascinating little book. It is one of the Cassell's Country Cookbooks, published through the 70s and hard to find today. This one is on Scottish food--it was published in 1975. It is a regional social history, from the perspective of food and eating, but there are recipes included throughout the text (see photos).It has never been used, but there are a few marks in it. It was a gift from a Scots woman and that it noted on the front endpaper. Also, the original owner wrote a recipe for Tangy Tomato Aspic on the back endpaper. And the paper is darkening, just from age.Otherwise perfect condition.

This is a stated first edition of Charity Girl, the 38th of 39 romance novels by the English writer Georgette Heyer (1902-1974). Heyer is the writer who established both the historical romance genre, and the Regency romance genre. She is also well-known for the incredible depth of her research, which makes her books as true to the period as if they were written by Jane Austen.Charity Girl is about a lovely young woman who is running away from her aunt's home, to her grandfather's home in London. Instead, she is picked up by the young Viscount Desford. People assume he has run off with her, a scandal begins to brew and the Viscount must prevent her from ruining them both.This copy is plain orange boards with gold lettering on the spine. There is very faint dappling on the right side of the cover. The dust jacket is a little battered, but you can tape the little tears. Inside, the book is perfect.Note: If you are outside of North America, the quoted shipping price is for surface mail… Read More

This is a near-perfect copy of Charles Dickens: Four Novels, published in 2011.
The novels are Oliver Twist, A Christmas Carol, A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations.
Bound in black leather with a bound-in silk bookmark and a modern, very colorful design.
Gold-trimmed pages.
899 pages, with no adornment, other than one image of Dickens and an image of Victorian London on the inside front covers.
This book is brand new and has not been read. It's only flaw is shown in photo 3: the gold has worn away a little.
Otherwise pristine condition.

This is a collection of Charles Dickens' three classic Christmas novels: A Christmas Carol, The Chimes and The Cricket on the Hearth. This was originally published as the New Oxford Illustrated Dickens, in 1955. In 1976, the American illustrator Warren Chappell (1904-1991) created his own illustrations for this set and published it in the US. This is a copy of that publication.It is cream-coloured boards with a red and green design on the cover and spine. Inside, there are numerous sepiatone illustrations. The book is in pristine condition, with no marks of any kind in it or on it. There is an attractive bookplate on the inside front cover. The tops of the pages are dyed red. It is 308 pages, creamy high-quality paper.In image #1, the dark mark across the cover is the shadow of my arm.NOTE: The stated fee for shipping outside of the US and Canada is for surface mail, with no tracking. If you'd like air mail and/or tracking, I'll get you the exact price.

This is a perfect copy of The Children of Dickens, the famous book, written in 1812, by the American minister and essayist Samuel McChord Crothers (1857-1927).
It is beautifully illustrated by the great American illustrator Jessie Wilcox Smith (1863 -1935).
The book is excerpts from Dickens' works involving children, including Pip, David Copperfield, Micawber Junior, Joe the Fat Boy, Oliver Twist, Sissy Jupe, the Cratchits, the Jellyby chidren, Jenny Wren, Little Nell, The Kenwidges, Bailey the Todgers boy, the Dombey children, Jemmy and Alice Watkins, with short chapters on London and Dickens.
On the cover, and on 9 pages inside, there are color plates signed by Wilcox. 7" x 9 1/3" x 1 1/4".
259 pages.
Aside from a couple of tiny spots on the upper right-hand corner, and a faint bump to the back cover, this book is in mint condition. No dogears, no shelfwear, no evidence that anyone read it. It's perfect. It includes an ancient pressed rose, whose stem has been wrapped in cord (see photo).

In the 17th and 18th centuries, Scotland produced many fine classical houses, with the style gaining a foothold there long before it did in England. This is the first work written on Scottish country houses and the first integrated history of country house architecture. It looks into the lives and works of Sir William Bruce, James Smith and James Playfair. Approximately 100 houses are featured and it gives a fascinating insight into furnishings and decoration.This book has not been read and is in pristine condition. Its only flaw is a small crease to the dust jacket.

This is an excellent copy of the Complete Works of Jane Austen, which is all six of her novels in one book -- it's 1000 pages and weighs 3 lbs.It is navy blue boards with light blue lettering on the spine. The page edges are dyed/dappled light red, on three sides.The pages are starting to darken at the edges.It has not been read and many of the pages are still stuck together, as they are when they're fresh from the printer.
Published by Allan Wingate London, as part of the Crown Classic Library, dated 1962. Printed in Italy.The dust jacket is blue with light blue type. It has quite a lot of scuffing. Its spine is faded and it has shelf-wear at the top. But it has done its job. The book's in great shape.
NOTE: My quoted price for shipping OUTSIDE of North America is for surface mail without tracking. For other shipping options, please contact me.

This is what I believe is a first Hurst edition of Crown of Wild Olive, a collection of three lectures by the English critic and philosopher John Ruskin (1819-1900).
It is three of Ruskin's most famous lectures: Traffic (1864), which is about the conflict between taste and morality; Work (1865) which is about the conflict between those who produce and those who consume; and War (1865), which is about war and art. I don't know why he called the book Crown of Wild Olive, but it was a best-seller for decades.
Around 1905, Hurst & Company (New York) began publishing best-selling books with beautifully illustrated covers. This is one of those books. It is undated, but the original owner signed the front endpaper and dated it 1912. She also wrote little snippets of poems and sayings on four of the 16 back endpapers.
At page 209, the spine is pulling away a little.
There's a small ink mark on the back cover.
Other than that, this book is in perfect condition.

This is a near-perfect copy of David Copperfield, the classic story of the life of a Victorian boy by Charles Dickens which he began publishing in 1849. This is a 1964 British edition.
This is a handsome copy. It is green flexible leather boards with a silver foil and navy blue design on the cover and spine. 4" x 6", 798 pages.
Two tiny drops of that navy ink dotted the cover. There is minor soiling to the sides of the pages. There is minor waving to the paper from improper storage. But it appears to be un-read. Inside, the binding is tight and the pages are bright, clean and clear.