First edition. Quality Press. London. 1946. 176pp. Original blue cloth, black lettering to spine. Sunned to spine and edges. Toning to endpapers (The previous owner lived in China and Burma) Robert Thurston Hopkins (1884-1958) Writer and ghosthunter. Sir Arthur Eggar of Burma (1877-1947)
First edition. Printed privately for the author by S. H. Watkins and Sons. Great Malvern, Worcestershire. 1983. Large Octavo. 55pp. Original blue paper cover. Stapled binding. Small crease and marginal stain to lower corner of upper cover. A nice crisp copy. Rev. Joseph Stanley Leatherbarrow. (1908 - 1989) MA, PhD, FSA, FRHS. of the Rectory, Martley. A collection of twelve short stories by Leatherbarrow. From the introduction he writes, "I have sometimes been asked "Are they true"? I can only reply that they are partly autobiography, partly local history and partly sheer invention". A reprint was brought out by Ash Tree Press in 2007. Very scarce. One copy only help worldwide: in the British Library. This work is dedicated "For my friend Leslie Halliwell who combines an enthusiasm for the world of spirits with an encyclopaedic knowledge of the world of films. In turn, Leslie Halliwell was to dedicate "Seventeen Supernatural Stories" to Leatherbarrow the following year: 'These stories are dedicated to STANLEY LEATHERBARROW who introduced me to M. R. James and is no mean ghost writer himself'. He later wrote "Do I believe in Ghosts? I think I once saw one, but that was more than forty years ago, oddly enough in the eighteenth century rectory then presided over by Stanley Leatherbarrow, who not only introduced me to the works of M. R. James but himself became no mean writer of supernatural tales and helped to inspire these further attempts by his old friend and pupil." Leslie Halliwell, July 1986
T. Nelson and Sons. London. [1885]. 15cm x 10cm. 96pp. 12 chromolithographs. Text engravings. Original pictorial cloth, gilt, burgundy and black. Rubbed to corners and spine. Occasional spotting. Plates slightly cropped to base. Upper corner tips of last three pages trimmed. Images not affected.
Folding linen backed, hand coloured map, 42 x 35.5cm, folding to: 12.5x 9.5cm, in the original embossed cloth covers, sl. worn, with original paper label, lower corner chipped. Information on Population in 1841, Fairs, Rivers, Distances, Market Days.
First edition. Printed at the Theater in Oxford, and are to be had there: And in London at Mr. S. Millers, at the Star near the West End of St. Pauls Church-yard. 1677. The price in sheets at the Press, nine shillings. To Subscribers, eight shillings. Folio. Imprim. April 13, 1676; Title, with engraved vignette; (7)pp Dedication, with engraved headpiece and historiated initial; 358pp; (1)errata; 10pp index. 15 engraved plates by Michael Burghers. Contemporary leather, worn, lacking spine strip. Boards still attached by threads. First gathering (Title and Dedication) disbound. N2 loose. Ffep and imprim crumpled at top inner corner. Some fraying to protruding edges. Discolouration to margins of title page and endpapers. Occasional marks and toning. Ink marks to upper margin of first page. Lacks the map and Tab. 3. Signature of John Hobart to title page. "Robert Plot's Natural History of Oxfordshire, first published in 1677, included the first known illustration of a dinosaur bone, [Plate 8] thought by Plot to be the bone of a giant. "If then they are neither the Bones of Horses, Oxen, nor Elephants, as I am strongly persuaded they are not … It remains, that (notwithstanding their extravagant Magnitude) they must have been the bones of Men or Women: Nor doth any thing hinder but they may have been so, provided it be clearly made out, that there have been Men and Women of proportionable Stature in all Ages of the World, down even to our own Days". The influence of the book was immediate and far-reaching. Not only was its author ever after referred to as the "learned Dr Plot", but it may well also have confirmed Elias Ashmole in the belief that Oxford was the heaven-appointed place for his collection, and persuaded the University authorities both to accept the collection and to provide a fine building in which to house it." Oxford University Museum of Natural History. English short title catalogue R7620; Wing P2586; Madan, F. Oxford books, 3130.
Printed by Bennett Brothers Ltd., Counterslip Works, Bristol. nd. (early 1900's) Oblong 8vo (24.5cm x 15cm) 58pp. Covers in green ink. Photo and engraved illustrations. Stapled. Lightly toned, covers a little discoloured. Final page index of prices struck through neatly with pen. Updated prices printed in purple ink. Order forms at rear removed at serration. Within the text is a reference to the Fertilizers and Feeding Stuffs Act, 1906 and a testimonial dated 1906, dating this catalogue to the early twentieth century. Pike and Tucker Offices 10 & 11 Peter Street Bristol; Factory 7,8, & 9 Cathay, Redcliffe, Bristol. A historic and rare Bristol trade Catalogue. Peter Street was destroyed in the tragic German Blitz of Bristol in 1940 - 1941, it seems that the Cathay factory was also destroyed and all records were lost. The printer of this catalogue, Messrs Bennett Brothers works was also destroyed, but their records have been preserved in Bristol Archives.
2 volumes. Royal octavo. Wm. Isbister Limited. London. 1889. Two mounted tissue guarded Woodburytype photo frontispieces, 33 illustrations. xviii, (1), 326pp.; ix, (1), 370pp. Half speckled calf, renewed to spines, marbled boards, gilt lettering, rules and floral and foliar edging. Marbled endpapers. Light shelf wear to edges and rubbing to corners. Light spotting to endpapers. A handsome bright crisp set. Mary Howitt (1799-1888) Poet, writer, journalist, translator, editor of numerous books. Wife of William, "The Howitts had been all their lives great wanderers; they would journey for weeks or months at a time, chiefly on foot, through England, Wales, or Scotland, and the Continent, and knew intimately and minutely every place they wrote about. Their literary industry was marvellous, as is shown by appended list of books. Mary Howitt's name was attached, either as author, editor, or translator, to 110 works." (Evelyn Noble Armitage) A beautifully written vivid literary autobiography.
First edition. Mackie, Brewtnall and Co. Altrincham. 1879. Quarto. xi, (bl.) 195, (bl.), (1)pp. 7 engraved plates, tinted photo litho plate of the charter, genealogical table. Historiated initials, engraved headpieces and tailpieces. Original brown cloth, faded, rubbed and marked. Gilt lettering to spine, gilt emblem to upper board. Original endpapers. 'Bound at the Guardian Office Warrington' plate to lower ep. Lightly toned to first few and last few pages. The bordered engraved plates include: Bowdon Church 1858; Bowdon Parish Church Restored; Dunham Hall 1697; Carrington and Altrincham Scolds' Bridles; St Margaret's Church Dunham; Market Place Altrincham 1858; Brooks Bank Altrincham. Still the definitive source of the history of these parishes, with detailed appendices.
First edition. Published for the Folk-Lore Society by Elliot Stock. London. 1883. Octavo. 11, (1), 228pp. Blue cloth, gilt to spine, faded. Short splits to joints at head of spine. Rubbed to extremities. Occasional light spotting. William George Black CBE, FSA (1857 – 1932) Scottish antiquary, lawyer and politician. This is the authoritative English work on medical folklore. Publication of the Folk Lore Society XII.
First edition. John Russell Smith. London. W. B. Brodie. Salisbury. 12mo. viii, 203pp. Folding map frontis., folding astronomical plan, folding plan of Avebury. Half morocco, spine in six compartments, with gilt double fillet compartments, embellishment and gilt lettering. Gilt rules to boards. All edges gilt. Silk bookmark. Marbled endpapers. Light spotting to free endpapers. Early handwritten bookseller's catalogue description of this and the cloth copy loosely inserted. A most handsome copy. Edward Duke (1779 - 1852) of Lake House, Wilts. M.A., F.A.S., F.L.S., Antiquary. Friend of Sir Richard Colt Hoare, Richard Fenton, William Cunnington et al. "An astronomical planetarium - a stationary orrery - devised by the ancient astronomers of the land."
First edition. Woolhope Naturalists' Field Club. Hereford. Octavo. 83pp. Photo illustrations. Original green cloth, gilt to spine and upper board. Neatly inscribed to ffep "Ex Libris G. Montagu Benton, FSA 27th January 1936 Fingringhoe Colchester" Rev Gerald Montagu Benton (1881-1959) Antiquary, Author, Photographer. Alfred Watkins (1855-1935) Antiquary, Author, Photographer, the originator of the concept of "Ley Lines" in 'Early British Trackways', 'The Old Straight Track' and 'The Ley Hunters Manual'.
First edition. Spitalfields Historic Buildings Trust. London. 1989. Quarto. 174pp. Photo and text illustrations. Original covers. Together with Spitalfields Trust 1990 Newsletter loosely inserted. Light rubbing to spine. A crisp copy. Scarce.
First edition. Clarendon Press. Oxford. 1962. xxvii, 237pp. 16 plates. Original blue cloth, gilt to spine. Edges lightly spotted. A nice copy. Hilda Roderick Ellis Davidson (1914-2006) English antiquarian and academic, a Fellow of the Society of Antiquities.
Cliftonville Press. Hove. 1920. Octavo. xliii, 160pp. Tissue guarded photo frontis., 7 further photo plates. Original green cloth, gilt lettering to spine, embossed to upper board, bumped to corners, bubbled to upper board, a couple of spots to spine, light wear. Edges untrimmed, occasional light foxing/spotting. No inscriptions.
First edition. Leach and Son. Wisbech. Longmans, Green & Co. London. 1878. Large octavo. xxxi, 649pp Folding map, short closed tear to fold reinforced with tissue. Colour litho frontis tipped in, 26 further plates, two folding, text illus., folding tables. Original green decorative cloth, gilt and black, rubbed with wear to extremities. Foxing/browning to prelims and title. A little askew due to weight. Includes the subscribers' list. An exhaustive treatise on the Archaeology, History, Geology, Drainage and Sanitation, Local and Natural History and dialect of the Fenland.
First edition. Elliot Stock. London. 1892. Quarto. viii, 428pp. Engraved frontispiece of Cheyne Row, numerous further engravings. Quarter cloth, printed label to spine. Top edge gilt, other edges untrimmed. Offsetting to p245. Inscribed to title: "Charles D. Medley from Uncle Will. Xmas 1902." With Chelsea Provenance: from the library of Charles Douglas Medley of 11 Edith Grove Chelsea. Charles Douglas Medley 1870-1963. Lawyer Field Roscoe & Co., an authority on authors' copyright who acted for Somerset Maugham, George Bernard Shaw, Richard Aldington, D.H. Lawrence and Noël Coward, among others, and who numbered George Moore and Harley Granville-Barker among his closest friends. Charles was the son of Rev Edward Medley and Emily Grey Birrell. Nephew of Rev William Medley (the dedicator of this book) and Harriet Eliza Birrell. Emily and Harriet were sisters of the Right Hon. Augustine Birrell, M.P., Q.C. His son, (Charles) Robert Owen Medley was the artist (1905–1994), born on 19 December 1905 at 11 Edith Grove, London, the second child in the family of four sons and two daughters. His wife, Anne Gwendoline (Nancy), née Owen. The Medleys traced their roots to Yorkshire, and the Owens were a Welsh family who moved in the Holland Park circle around the Greek shipping family of Ionides. References: Richard Aldington: An Autobiography in Letters; The Letters of D. H. Lawrence. ODNB.
Printed for H Mortlock, and J Robinson, in S. Paul's Church-yard. London. 1707. Octavo. (3), (1), (12), (3), 175, (bl.), 71, (bl.), 307, (12), (1) pp. Engraved frontis. Later full calf, spine in 6 compartments with raised bands, gilt rules and lettering. Blind rules to boards. Endpapers renewed. Edges sprinkled red. p.43-4 diagonally torn (possibly a paper fault) with loss. Lost text supplied in facsimile. Occasional very light spotting. Signature "H. Vernon '79" to title page. A crisp and attractive copy. "Consciously modelled on Thomas Smith's De republica Anglorum 'improved and fitted to the present times', it described English society, topography, and government, and celebrated at length 'a free People … averse from Slavery' … John Chamberlayne, in issuing a new edition of his father Edward Chamberlayne's Angliae notitiae, or, The Present State of England of 1669, accused Miege of plagiarism and, as a foreigner, of presumption…Dismissing Chamberlayne's work as out of date, prone to error and scurrilous in its treatment of dissenters, Miege recounted his education, travels, and credentials as an author, proclaimed his 'particular veneration for the true and moderate Church of England', and asserted 'none can be a greater Admirer of the English Constitution than my self'" ODNB. ESTC: T135114 Provenance: Signed H. Vernon '79. This copy came from a fine private collection in Staffordshire together with other volumes with Vernon provenance: the Vernons of Sudbury held Swynnerton and Hilton in Staffordshire. [Henry Vernon (1748-1814) of Hilton Park Staffordshire. His eldest son, Major-General Henry Charles Edward Vernon (1779-1861), extended Hilton Hall in the 1830s. Hilton Hall remained the family home until the mid-20th century.]
Printed by W.S. for Richard and Ralph Simpson near the North Door of St Paul's. London. Third edition. 1708. Octavo. (8), 310pp. Contemporary calf, relaid to spine. Decorative and elaborately blind tooled and speckled to upper and lower boards. Spine in six compartments with raised bands, blind rules, leather label, gilt lettering. Vestiges of floral gilt tooling to edges. Corners slightly bumped and rubbed. Edges sprinkled red. Endpapers toned. Light marginal water stain to lower gutter of title page. Wright Bookplate to fep. A pleasure to hold and to read. Sir William Temple, 1st Baronet (1628-1699) Restoration diplomat, statesman and essayist. Jonathan Swift was his secretary from 1689; the original manuscript was in Swift's hand. Swift began a sequel to this work, but later abandoned it. Samuel Johnson stated Temple was "the first writer who gave cadence to English prose" and modelled his own style upon it. One of the earliest scholarly studies of Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Norman culture. ESTC T136600 Steensma, Robert C. "SO ANCIENT AND NOBLE A NATION": Sir William Temple's History of England. Neuphilologische Mitteilungen 77, no. 1 (1976): 95-107. Levine, Joseph M. The Battle of the Books. History and literature in the Augustan Age. Cornell University Press. 1991.
Herbert Jenkins. London. 1929. Quarto. 256pp. Coloured frontis., 14 further coloured plates. Original green cloth, gilt to spine. Gilt rules and foliar decoration to the upper and lower boards in the manner of the first Ackerman edition (which is extremely rare). Very slightly rubbed to extremities. Spine a little faded. Light foxing to margin of frontis. A nice copy. The colour plates illustrate The Vale of Ribble, and Penwortham area. Lawrence Rawstorne (1776-1850) of Penwortham. "Gamonia is valuable not only for its rarity and charm... the serenity of sunlight in which each drawing stands Penwortham, his home" Eric Parker.
Edgar Backus. Leicester 1931. Quarto. xix, 178. (1)pp. Title page in red and black. Tissue guarded colour frontispiece, 6 further colour plates. 8 photogravure plates. 76 sepia plates. Text illustrations. Historiated initials in red and black. Subscribers' list. Original cloth, gilt to spine and motif to upper board. Top edge green. Darkened to spine as is usual with this book, and sunned/mottled to exposed area of boards. Rubbed to top and tail of spine. Text and plates crisp and bright.
