Rare books from E C Books

London: Sold by B and J White, J Walker and J Walker, 1797 A very good 3 volume set, rebound in recent quarter leather binding, of the 3rd and best edition of this work. Substantially revised by John Throsby with additional plates. This set has untrimmed pages so pages vary in size and have rough edges. Vol 1: small ink signature to preliminary; frontispiece portrait; vignette title page; dedication, preface etc 20pp; text 406pp plus 2pp index, containing 2 engravings in the text, and 22 plates. According to the plate list in Vol 3, it is missing a plate at p73 (Roman Route). Text lightly foxed in places; plates very clean. Vol 2: Vignette title page; 'To the Reader' 1p; blank; text 324pp with 2 engravings in the text, 5 folding plates, 39 single page plates and folding lists of knights - 4pp; list of sheriffs 1p; index 1p; index to Arms 3pp. Generally bright and clean. According to binding directions, this volume has 3 extra plates (facing pp 80, 84, and 98). Vol 3: folding map of… Read More

London : Orr and Smith , 1835 A nice copy of this rare work. It originated as an article for the British Cyclopaedia of Natural History, and was enlarged for separate publication to give readers a systematic introduction to the science of Botany. In original pebbled brown cloth with gilt title on spine, and gilt edges to pages. Profusely illustrated with line drawings and with hand coloured plates. The binding is in good condition - the spine has been relaid at some point and corners and spine edges have been repaired so the book is tight and firm. With marbled endpapers and signature of Miss Wilson and the number 14 to one of the preliminaries. Internally the book is very clean and bright. The index of illustrations is difficult to interpret as it does not distinguish between text illustrations and plates and appears to randomly list some text illustrations and not others - however, I think the book is lacking a colour plate frontispiece and 2 other plates giving 24 plates present of a possible 27.… Read More

London : Baldwin and Cradock, 1831 A collection of papers from the Library of Useful Knowledge bound in one volume. DeMorgan is best known for DeMorgan's Theorem (!A AND !B) == !(A OR B), which forms the basis of the modern technique used to miniaturise complex digital circuits, and thus delivers the extremely high density computing power of the today's microprocessor.

His work on probabilities is a land mark piece of mathematical theory that formed the basis of the actuarial calculations of life insurance policy risks. This is the rare first edition of this work, which appeared in the Library of Useful Knowledge. These were a series of learned papers prepared by the leading scientists and academics of the day, each being either 64 or 32 pages long – and sold at low cost to provide a source for knowledge “for the working man”. They were published by Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge (SDUK).

The series was purchased by Longman Green, and re-issued under… Read More

LONDON: L REEVE & CO., 1884 Plate volume only. In half leather binding with morocco leather and marbled boards. With 82 finely engraved colour printed plates of butterflies, caterpillars and their food plants. The binding has raised bands to the spine and gilt decoration and titles. It has some scuffing to the spine and wear, and wear to corners, removing the top surface of the leather. With matching marbled endpapers. The front pastedown endpaper has a small hole. The contents have some brown spotting - this mainly affects the initial leaves and early plates, but there is occasional spotting later on. The plates are not tissue guarded so there is some offsetting to the reverse of the preceding plate page. Page edges have browning.

Amstelaedami [Amsterdam] : Henricum Wetstenium, 1686 A good copy of Volume I of the 2 volume latin translation of Redi's classic work, bound in contemporary full vellum. With what appear to be most of the plates from Volume II bound in - having 26 folding plates and 31 single page plates in addition to the decorative frontispiece title page. Redi's work was pivotal in disproving the theory of spontaneous generation. The binding is in very good condition - being slightly grubby and with light wear only. With printed name of T H Longfield on a preliminary. With decorative title page/frontispiece; title page, epistola (7pp); contents page; text (216pp plus plates); index - authorum (6pp); additional index - index rarum notabilium(13pp); title page - De Ave Diomedea Dissertatio...'; section headed B.L.S (2pp); section headed 'Clarissimo viro, D Johanni Danieli Majori, SPD - pp 5-40; and index 'Rerum et Verborum. With decorative initial capitals. The contents are in good clean condition… Read More

London: John Martyn, Printer to the Royal Society, 1679 A very good copy of John Evelyn's (1620-1706) famous work in new quarter leather binding, retaining the original spine with raised bands, and adding new calf endcaps, shoulder strips and marbled boards. With title page in red and black inks covering all 4 sections of the work. Sylva is the 3rd edition revised by Evelyn and with a new dedication to the King. It is the first edition to contain the poem 'The Garden' written by Abraham Cowley. With 2 page dedication to the King, 16 pp note to the Reader, 4 pp poems, 2pp 'Advertisement' - containing definitions, 'The Garden' with dedication 7pp and Table of Chapters - the index for the whole 4 books. Pagination is continuous for Sylva, Terra and Pomona. Sylva is pp 1-281 and contains 4 engravings, one full page, and 8 pp of tables. Terra has a separate title page - and is listed as the 2nd edition - improved, 1678. It is dedicated to Viscount Brouncker and text runs to… Read More

Calcutta: Printed by Order of the Trustees of the Indian Museum , 1902 First english edition - translated from the german by Robert Von Lendenfeld. Complete with 23 full page black and white plates. It looks to have been rebound in a good cloth binding fairly recently: the binding is in excellent condition with gilt titles to spine. Internally the endpapers are new. There is a small ink signature to the top of the title page but the contents are otherwise unmarked. There is a little brown spotting to title page and second 'note' page, but the remainder of the text and plates are clean and in very good condition. 113 pages plus plates (each with protective guard). An extremely scarce work.

London : Lovell Reeve, 1856 A very good to near fine copy of the rarest title in Lovell Reeve's Popular History series. Seemann was a botanist who made his name when he was appointed naturalist (on the recommendation of W J Hooker) to HMS Herald for the Kellett voyage of exploration to the American West Coast and Pacific. The series, aimed primarily at younger readers as an informed introduction to natural history, varies greatly in the quality of its authors as the publishers set strict budget limits on publication costs. In recent quarter leather binding with raised bands, gilt compartments, and gilt titles to spine and marbled boards. New endpapers. With 20 high quality colour printed plates. 17 x 13.5 cms. There is browning to page edges and the odd light mark, but otherwise this is a very good internally. A lovely book.

LONDON : John White, 1807 A very good copy of Rousseau's Letters translated and explained by Professor Thomas Martyn, 7th corrected and improved edition bound with Thirty-Eight plates, also by Thomas Martyn, 1794. In newer half leather binding with title label to spine and marbled boards. Page edges marbled. Letters is 503 pp plus index sections, with folding table outlining Linnaeus' system. The Thiry-Eight plates, a complete work in itself with separate title page, but prepared to link with the Letters, is 72 pp with 38 beautiful hand coloured plates by Nodder. The binding is in very good condition with a little scuffing to the spine. The contents are generally in very good condition with nice clean text pages. The plates are clean and brightly coloured. There is a small stain which affects the bottom left hand corner of plates 36-8, not affecting images.

Paris: Le Fuel, 1809 A very good copy in full red morocco binding with card slip case in matching binding. With 6 black and white plates and additional vignette illustrations. The case is of a card case design in red morocco leather with a gilt border of leaves and flowers. The front has gilt titles and gilt compartments and the rear has a gilt chain design. It is clean and complete with some wear to corners and darkening in some places. The book has a matching binding which is in near fine condition, with just slight darkening where it fits into the case. All page edges gilt. Contents: half title; decorative vignette title page with tissue guard; 'Avis de l'Editeur' 2pp (with small loss to the bottom corner margin - no loss to text); Calendar; 5 plates; Poesies pp 1-108; half title - Melanges en Prose'; extracts pp 111-129; contents pp 130-134; further black and white plate; pages for notes on each month - with vignettes and blanks - mostly tissue-guarded. Contents are very clean and… Read More

Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1923 A near fine set of the 1st Oxford edition of Jane Austen's Novels, in the large paper version - limited to 1,000 sets of which 950 were for sale. The set consists of 5 volumes (Northanger Abbey and Persuasion are in one volume) with detailed notes, additional information and numerous illustrations. This set has been recently rebound by Elizabeth Howard - with pale blue calf spines (with title labels) and corners and matching marbled boards. New endpapers. Page edges to side and base untrimmed. Each volume has a colour frontispiece: in the case of Mansfield Park, this has an additional flap to give 2 different views of the same scene; and in Vol V there is a colour frontispiece for both books. All other illustrations are present as called for. Sense and Sensibility 429pp; Pride and Prejudice 415pp; Mansfield Park 567pp; Emma 521pp; Northanger Abbey 252pp; Persuasion 263pp. There is the very occasional spot, for example on the verso of the street plan of Bath at the… Read More

London : Benjamin Tooke, 1699 A fair copy of the 3rd edition of this scarce work, first published in French in 1696. With frontispiece, folding map, 2 folding plates, 1 single page plate, a folding table and an illustration in the text. Louis le Comte was Jesuit mathematician, sent to China as part of a Jesuit mission at the behest of Louis XIV. He mainly worked in Shansi, and, after his recall to Paris, published an account of his experience in the form of 8 letters. The work provoked controversy and debate about Chinese Rites. This copy has been rebound by Bath Municipal Reference Library. The cloth binding has gilt titles, date and reference numbers to the spine. It is in very good condition. The endpapers have a Bath reference library bookplate to the fep with reference numbers to the top. There are no other library markings. The endpaper joints have been reinforced. Contents: frontispiece, title page, introduction to english translation 14pp, author's preface 4pp, folding map, text and plates… Read More

London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1913 A good copy of the 1st trade edition of 'In Powder and Crinoline' with 24 tipped in colour plates and numerous designs by Kay Nielsen. Undated but 1913. This was Kay Nielsen's first published book illustration and his reputation was such that Arthur Quiller-Couch was commissioned to find and rewrite the fairy tales to the title chosen by Nielsen. His illustrations are unique and unforgettable. This copy is in the publisher's quarter cloth binding with grey card boards. The spine has gilt titles and designs and the front board has red titles and grey illustration. The binding is sound but with the usual wear: pulling to the top and bottom of the spine and edge wear to the boards with some browning and marking. The decorative endpapers are present with some light browning and there is some repair to the front endpaper joint. Contents are complete including half title; frontispiece with tissue guard; title page on thick grey paper with red lettering;… Read More

Copenhagen: Gyldendal, 1921 A good copy of the scarce 1st edition in original cloth binding with black and white frontispiece and 8 further black and white plates by 'native Eskimo artists'. Knud Rasmussen is famous as an explorer of the Arctic, who grew up in Greenland and spent his life understanding and studying native life. The green cloth binding has gilt titles to spine and blind stamped titles to the front board. It has some light scuffing and edge wear; some pulling to spine ends; and corner wear including bumping to the top corners. Internally there is the bookplate of Cardiff Public Reference Library to the front pastedown endpaper. The bookplate and a small set of library numbers written on the verso of the title are the only library markings. Contents: half title; frontispiece; title; introduction pp 5-10; contents list; plate list; text pp 15-156 with 8 plates; list of sources 1p; publisher's list 2pp. There is some browning to free endpapers and spotting to half title and… Read More

London: Edward Arnold, 1905 A good to very good copy of the 2nd impression of this classic collection of ghost stories. In the original beige canvas binding with yapp edges and with 4 black and white plates by James McBryde. This was M R James first collection of stories which he had begun many years previously, reading them to friends. James McBryde was one of those friends and offered to illustrate the volume, but sadly died after only 4 illustrations were completed. The binding has been rebacked relaying the original spine and the endpapers have been retained with professional repair at the joints. The binding is sound and clean with some darkening to the spine. There is a signature dated 1905 to the front endpaper. Contents are clean with the occasional light mark and general toning to the text paper. There are some tiny red speckles in a small area in the top margin of p39, a few light brown spots in the top margin of pp 117-8, and the final page has a couple of marked areas. There are a few… Read More