Rare books from G.Gosen Rare Books & Old Paper, ABAA, ILAB

London: Fisher, Son, & Co.,Angel Street,St. Martin's-Le-Grand, London: Rue St. Honoré, Paris, [1845].. First edition. Hardcover. Fine. George Cruikshank. Small 8vo. First edition, [initial blank; frontispiece with interlining leaf; title page, dedication page; iii, iv; 254 pages, original red cloth wrapper, original spine, original red cloth back, final blank]. This copy lacks the page of advertisements described by Cohn. Four full-page etchings by Geo. Cruikshank. Cohn 356. Full gilt orange straight-grain calf binding signed by [George] "Bayntun Binder Bath Eng.", with gilt page edges all around. Monogram bookplate, (CEM?) in gilt-decorated morocco. In 1939 the Bayntun and Rivière binderies were incorporated into a new set of premises on Manvers Street (Bath). A very fine example of a master bookbinder's art. �

London: Printed for Edward Jeffery, No. 11, Pall Mall, 1811. Quarto, [three introductory blanks; iv; Glossary 56 pages unpaginated; Local Proverbs p. 57- 124; five concluding blanks]. 26 ½ cm x 21 cm. Full gilt-trimmed tan calf. Binder's tag from Lubbock in New Castle. Book plate of John Stafford Reid Byers (1903-1984), who was in the Ministry of Economic Warfare in 1939 and New Castle solicitor, Armorer Donkin (1779 1851), who signed his book plate. A fine wide-margined copy, bright, crisp. Re-backed. "Scrat" is defined as "an hermaphrodite, used of men and animals, and, groovers as miners." Crones are defined as "old ewes who have lost their teeth." Under Herefordshire one finds: "Blessed is the eye, / That is between Severn and Wye." This proverb, Fuller supposes to refer not only to the beautiful and fertile country so situated, but also to allude to the safety from hostile invasions arising from the protection of those two rivers.

George Cruikshank. The Constitutional Apple Pie: or, Rhythmical Red-Book. By Master Jacky Jingle. With Thirteen Cuts. London: Published by T. Hughes, 35, Ludgate Street, 1820. W. N. Jones, Printer, Old Bailey, London. First edition, 8vo; 24 unnumbered pages. Hand-colored illustrations. Cohn 158. With an illustrated title-page with the motto, Ineptè garrit (Silly Lark), and the caption, "He talketh like an old Apple Woman." Printer's name given at the en and on the verso of the title-page. Three stab-stitch perforations. Slight occasional spotting, otherwise very good.

Mayhew (the Brothers), The Greatest Plague of Life: or The Adventures of a Lady in Search of a Good Servant. By one who has been "Almost Worried to Death." Edited by the Brothers Mayhew. Illustrated by George Cruikshank. London, David Bogue, 86 Fleet Street, N.D. [1847]. First edition in book form. Stamp-signed Bayntun binding, Bath. Twelve etchings by George Cruikshank and a glyphograph by him on the title-page. [ii; 286] List of plates on the verso of the last paginated leaf (p. 285). Original cloth wrapper bound in at the end. Cohn 544. 18 cm; 8vo. Bound in brown calf with gilt-ruled covers and spine, morocco title and author labels on the spine are chipped, top page edge gilt, back repaired, original back strip preserved. A good copy, bright and fresh. Wear at extremities of spine.

Kipling, Rudyard, Soldiers Three: a Collection of Stories Setting Forth Certain Passages in the Lives and Adventures of Privates Terence Mulvaney, Stanley Ortheris, and John Learoyd, London: Simpson, Low, Marston, Searle & Rivington, Limited, St. Dunstan's House, Fetter Lane, Fleet Street, E.C., 1890. 93 pages, plus "opinion of the Press" and "L'Envoi," followed by a page of advertisements for A.H. Wheeler & Co.'s Indian Railway Library. Remains of original wrappers conserved and bound in. A clipped signature of Kipling pasted down on the title-page. Bound in full red twentieth century calf. Except for the now-conserved worn original Indian Railway Library wrappers, this is a fine copy.

Denis, Charles, Select Fables. By Mr. Charles Denis. London: Printed for J. and R. Tonson and S. Draper, MDCCLIV. [1754] In-8, 21 cm. [frontispiece by C. Grignion; title-page; dedication to the Prince of Wales (ii); preface (xvii); contents (ix); 448 pages]. Rebound in quarter brown calf, five raised bands, gilt-decorated label, on twentieth century marbled boards. Occasional slight spotting.Following in the tradition of LaFontaine, Aesop, and -- if Quintilian is to be believed -- Hesiod, Charles Denis wrote fables that survive the Classical definition: A fable is no more than a moral instruction disguised under the allegory of an action. De La Motte said a fable was an epic poem in miniature, but with more freedom of subject and in the choice of actors. There are 120 fables in Denis's collection, the last was dedicated to His Grace, Thomas, the Archbishop of Canterbury titled "The Phoenix and the Owl." First edition. ESTC Cit. No. T101633.

[Waldo, Francis] Willis, Wm. Journals of the Rev. Thomas Smith and the Rev. Samuel Deane, Pastors of the First Church in Portland: with Notes and Biographical Notices: as a Summary History of Portland. By Wm. Willis. Portland: Joseph S. Bailey, 1849. [vi; 483 pages] 8vo; 22.5 cm. Second edition. Frontispiece of Thomas Smith, illustrated with 8 engravings: Interlined portraits and text illustrations. One engraving is of Harvard Hall, Cambridge, built in 1682, destroyed in 1764. Also a map of Portland at the time of the fire of 1775. Embossed black publisher's cloth with gilt lettering on the spine, this copy is signed by Francis W. Waldo: "Francis W. Waldo from his uncle Francis Waldo." Francis W. Waldo was a descendent of Samuel Waldo, the founder of Waldoboro, Maine. This copy is also signed by Elizabeth G.C. Menzies, and dated by her August 1974, the noted Princeton photographer and author. Book tag of Charles E. Tuttle & Company, Old and Rare Books, Rutland, Vermont. Some spotting of introductory… Read More

[Teofilo Folengo] Opus Merlini Cocaii Poetae Mantuani Macaronicorum. Venetiis, apud Nicolaum Bevilacquam, 1613. In-12. 14.5 cm. Contemporary lap-edged polished vellum, titled on the spine by hand, possibly by Simon Abbes Gabbema. Woodcut printer's device with motto "sciencia immutabilis" on the title page. [iv (blanks); 1 – 541; viii; i (blank)] Verso of p. 541 blank; Twenty-seven woodcut illustrations at: A1b; A12b; C11; D7b; E4; E12b; F8b; G5b; H2b; H11; I6b; K3; K11; L6b; M3; M11; N8; O3; P2; P8b; Q4b; Q12b; S2b; T3b; T8; V3b; V10. Signed and dated in 1650 by noted Frisian historian, Simon Abbes Gabbema (1628 – 1688), the official historian of Frisland, promoter of the Frisian language and a sometime owner of the Codex Roorda. There is a second manuscript motto on the title page and another note on the front flyleaf.

First edition published 1517, Delepierre says this edition was printed in Germany not in Italy, as the paper and the wretched woodcuts (chétives figures) indicate, citing David… Read More

Theophrasti, Eresi Characteres ethici, siue morum descriptiones. Graecè & Latinè. Cum notis & Monitis Ioannis Angelii Werdenhagen I.C.C., Lugduni Batauorum, Ex Officinâ Ioannis Maire, 1632. 90 mm x 47 mm, in-32, 2 pt, three parts in one volume : Greek text printed in Greek, followed by the Latin translation by the Calvinist theologian Isaac Casaubon. The third part is the commentary of Johann Angelius von Werdenhagen. [Initial blank(s) missing; 71 pages (verso blank); 98 pages; 3 blanks; 237 pages, errata of 2 pages; 2 concluding blanks]. Title page signed by I. J. Brownlee and Peter Wilson. Original vellum over paper boards, darkened and worn from use. The numeral "19" is inked on the back at the head. Notation on the verso of the final blank: "VP. 1746".
Peter Wilson (1746–1825) was born in Ordiquhill, Banffshire, Scotland, and studied at the University of Aberdeen. After moving to New York City in 1763, he worked as a teacher and then as principal of the Hackensack Academy before becoming… Read More

Westmacott, Charles, POINTS OF MISERY; or FABLES FOR MANKIND: Prose and Verse, Chiefly Original, by Charles Westmacott. Illustrated with Twenty Designs by Robert Cruikshank. London: Published by Sherwood, Jones and Co. Paternoster-Row, 1823. Large paper copy with original wrapper bound in. Presentation copy, with "From the Author" on the initial blank following the original wrapper front cover. Imperial 8vo. 25cm, untrimmed. Some tissue guards for the engravings are still in place. 97 pages followed by the back cover of the original wrapper, with the advertisements for Bernard Blackmantle's The English Spy. The Spy at Eton. Some foxing, mostly in the wide margins. Bound in quarter green morocco on marbled boards.

Seymour, Robert (1798 – 1826). Sketches by Seymour. London: Published by G. S. Tregear, 96 Cheapside, [1835-36]. Five volumes: each volume consists of an illustrated lithographed title page and 36 numbered plates, printed on colored papers; 185 humourous, numbered lithographed plates in total. Now bound in one volume, recent brown morocco spine with gilt lettering and five raised bands, on modern marbled boards, gilt page edges all around. 22.5 cm. First edition. Some of the plates have been trimmed slightly. Plate 1 of Vol 4, mis-numbered in the plate as No. 4. Generally very good, occasional browning on a few plates.

A Modest Enquiry Concerning the Election of the Sheriffs of London. And the Right of Chusing Demonstrated To belong unto, and to have been always adjudged to reside in the Lord Mayor, the Court of Aldermen, and the Common-Hall.
London, printed for Henry Mead, 1682. Second edition. STC R17026. M 2365. [ii; 46 pages] Quarto. 19 cm x 14.5 cm. Rebound in modern marbled boards with a maroon goatskin spine. Generally good condition, some slight spotting in the margins.
Anticipating the death of Charles II (1630 – 1685), reign (1660 – 1685), this publication was written during the Exclusion Crisis (1679 – 1681), during which the Duke of York, James, King Charles's brother and heir presumptive, converted to Roman Catholicism. The fear among Protestants was that when Charles died, James would embroil England in a war allied with France against the Dutch Republic. Printed in this text is "A Bill depending in the House of Lords last Parliament at Westminster, and committed, with several Judges to assist,… Read More

Collier, Jeremy, M.A., Essays Upon Several Moral Subjects. In Two Parts. The Fifth Edition. London: Printed for Richard Sare at Grays-Inn-Gate in Holborn, M DCC III. [1703] Parts I and II paginated separately as follows: Part I [viii; 246 pages; 1 leaf with advertisements recto and verso]; Part II with title page stating "Printed by W.B. for H. Rhodes, at the Star, the Corner of Brides-Lane, Fleet Street; and T. Newborough, at the Golden-Bull in St. Paul's Church Yard. 1705." [viii; 200 pages] Page 124 in numbered incorrectly as 224 in Part II. Bound with Part III, In-8, "Printed by W.B. for H. Rhodes, at the Star, the Corner of Brides-Lane, Fleet Street; and T. Newborough, at the Golden-Bull in St. Paul's Church Yard. 1705." [title-page; v (preface); i (Errata and Table on the verso of v); 279 pages]. Parts I and II, ESTC Cit. No. T110889, Part III, ESTC Cit. No. T110888. Parts I and II appeared first in 1694 and 1695 respectively. Re-backed, 5 raised bands; original stamped paneled tan calf covers… Read More

The Tales of Algernon Blackwood. London: Martin Secker, Publisher to the Richards Press, 8 Charles Street, St. James's Square, 1938. Signed on the portrait frontispiece, from a photograph by Douglas Ltd., by Algernon Blackwood (1869-1961). 25 cm. Blue cloth, no dust jacket. The spine is creased and sunned but not broken. The book block is solid and secure. 8vo. [xv; 684 pages; 2 blanks] A collection of twenty-two of Blackwood's ghost stories printed between 1906 and 1910, printed here in chronological sequence, with an introspective introduction by the author.

Thew, Robert. Fanny Kemble (Butler) as Isabella, "Merciful Heaven!" New York: Johnson, Fry & Co., 1859. Engraving, portrait print by Robert Thew of Frances Anne "Fanny" Kemble Butler (1809-1893) in costume as Isabella in William Shakespeare's Measure for Measure. The sheet measures 10 in x 7 ¼ in, with a vignette-decorated border of scenes from the play around an oval image, showing Fanny Kemble Butler in a full-figure pose. Once an illustration in a book, now disbound, with original tissue guard still attached, now torn. Slight chipping of the upper right-hand corner of the sheet, with no image loss.