Rare books from Paul Foster Books

Chatto & Windus. London.,1935. Reprint. Small 4to.(9.3 x 7 inches). 27 full colour plates, each with a page of text opposite. Small area of loss to the bottom corner of one page and a few pages with tears into the margins, without any loss to the page. Overall a very good clean copy which has recently been finely bound in leather. Full blue morocco, spine with raised bands, ruled and lettered in gilt. Boards with gilt ruled borders. Front board lettered in gilt. Marbled endpapers. All edges gilt. Overall a very good, attractively bound copy.:

Hodder & Stoughton. London.,1953. FIRST EDITION. 8vo. Signed by Hunt, dated 1960, on the title page. Illustrated with 48 mono and colour photos, plus several line drawings. Previous owners bookplate on front pastedown endpaper. Very good copy in very good colour dustwrapper, designed by W. Heaton Cooper. There is some minor chipping to the top of the spine, which is a little darkened, and a couple of closed tears-without loss, but overall a very good example.:

Mark Perry. London. 1976/77. First Editions. Quartos. Mimeograph stapled magazines. Original issues of numbers one to twelve, a complete run of the Fanzine (two supplements, or special issues, were published but are not present here). Complete with the original flexi-disc single Love Lies Limp, by Alternative TV on SG Records as issued with number 12. All issues are generally in very good condition, with some staple rust to a couple of volumes, two closed tears to the rear wrapper of volume two, and the odd finger mark to margins here and there. Housed in a purpose made chemise and black cloth slipcase with leather label to the spine, ruled and lettered in gilt. ---------- Sniffin' Glue, the first punk fanzine, was produced by Mark Perry in July 1976 a few days after seeing US punk band The Ramones for the first time at the Roundhouse in London. He took the title from a Ramones song 'Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue'. The early days of the Punk movement largely failed to attract the attention of… Read More

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.

Macmillan & Co. London. 1984. TWO VOLUMES. FACSIMILE EDITIONS. 8vo, (7.4 x 5.2 inches). Both volumes Illustrated throughout, with forty and fifty line engravings respectively, by John Tenniel. First printings of these facsimile editions of the original first editions of 1866 and 1872. Bound in publishers delux leather bindings of full deep red morocco, reproducing the original bindings. Triple gilt ruled borders on boards and circular illustrations to the centre of the panels. Spines with ruled lines to the top and bottom and lettering, all in gilt. Black coated endpapers. All edges gilt. Aside from a tiny rub to the top of the spine on Through the Looking glass these are in fine condition. Macmillan issued these two facsimile editions in 1984 in cloth bindings and these much scarcer leather versions.

Lupus Music. 1969. FIRST EDITION. 8vo. (8.7 x 5.6 inches). A very good, bright copy in the pictorial boards which show a black and white photo portrait of Bolan. Front board and spine lettered in white. In the original dustwrapper which reproduces the boards. Just a hint of rubbing to the extremities of the boards and some creases to the edges of the wrapper but overall a very good copy throughout.

Hodder & Stoughton. London. 1906. FIRST EDITION. 4to. (10.2 x 7.7 inches). Illustrated with a colour frontis and forty nine full colour plates, all mounted onto thick art paper pages at back of book, each one with a printed tissue guard. Decorative endpapers with map of Kensington Gardens. A near fine, bright and clean copy throughout in original russet cloth binding with gilt stamped decoration and lettering to front board and spine. Very minor rubbing to hinges and a small bump to the lower front board at the outer corner, but overall a beautiful clean copy of this classic. Among the very best of Rackham's work.

Methuen & Co. Ltd., London. 1924. FIRST EDITION. 8vo. (7.7 x 5.2 inches). With decorations by E. H. Shepard. Page ix in the second state with the numeral numbering to the bottom of the page. This is a near fine copy of Milne's first children's book with some light offsetting to the blank endpapers, otherwise clean and bright throughout. Top edge gilt. In a very good original correct 1st impression illustrated dustwrapper. Very minor chipping to top and tail of spine and a line of light browning to the bottom front panel edge and very top of the spine, otherwise a clean and fresh example of this dustwrapper. Uncommon on such good condition. A highly desirable copy of Milne's children's classic.

Cassell & Co. ltd. London. 1948-54. FIRST EDITION. First impression. Six volumes. 8vo. Illustrated throughout with maps and plans, many folding. A bright, clean set, which has been finely bound in recent full dark blue morocco leather. The spines with raised bands, twin red labels, gilt. Spine compartments ruled and decorated with gilt stamped rampant lion device. Single gilt ruled border on boards. All edges gilt. A fine set of Churchill's monumental history.

Hodder and Stoughton Ltd. London. No Date. circa 1922. EARLY EDITION, with extra colour plate. 8vo. (7.5 x 6 inches). Complete, and with one more illustration than the original 1911 edition. Full colour illustrated frontispiece mounted onto grey art paper and with a tissue guard, decorative mono title page and twelve full page mono plates by Bedford. Internally this is a very good, bright and clean copy, in an attractive early half leather binding by Sangorski and Sutcliffe, of London, for E. P. Dutton & Company, New York. Half dark green calf. Spine with raised bands, each with gilt piping. Compartments fully decorated and ruled in gilt. Twin burgundy labels, ruled, decorated and lettered in gilt. Marbled paper on boards. Top edge gilt. Marbled endpapers. Off white silk bookmark. Rubbing to the outer layer of the leather on the binding edges, particularly the hinge on the lower board, but both hinges still firm and strong and still an attractive binding. A good looking copy of this classic title,… Read More

Chatto & Windus, Piccadilly. London. 1876. FIRST EDITION. First impression. 8vo. (7.8 x 5.9 inches). A few small marks to just a handful of pages but generally this is a clean and bright copy throughout. Finely bound in recent full red morocco. Spine with five raised bands. Gilt ruling, lettering and decorations to compartments. Single gilt ruled border on boards. Top edge gilt, others untrimmed. Original publishers decorative front board and spine, which is rubbed and toned, have been bound in at the rear. Overall a very good attractive copy of the true first edition of this classic book. First published in England in order to secure a British copyright, the London edition precedes the American edition by about six months.

Macmillan and Co, Ltd. London. 1910. FIRST EDITION. 8vo.(8.1 x 5.6 inches). Illustrated with four full page mono plates by Frank Craig. Publishers original burgundy cloth boards. Gilt lettering to the spine. Front board with raised circular Ganesha device in gilt. Top edge gilt. In the rare original dustwrapper, with repeat pattern of Macmillan double M design over the whole surface and red lettering to the spine and both outer panels. Lower panel has correct publisher adverts, as listed in David Alan Richards' Bibliography of Kipling. Inner flaps with repeat Macmillan design but nothing else. The cloth and gilt are bright and fresh. Some spotting to the fore edge of the pages and a few leaves affected with fairly mild foxing, mostly to the margins and away from the text. The inner hinges are cracked but holding firm and a slight lean to the spine, otherwise a very good copy of the book in a very good dustwrapper with some minor chipping to the extremities and the spine a bit darkened. The red… Read More

George Allen & Unwin; Unwin Hyman; Harper Collins. London. 1983 - 1996. FIRST EDITIONS. 1st impressions. 8vo. 13 volumes. A complete set of the 12 volume History of Middle Earth plus the extra Unfinished Tales volume. Illustrated with texts and maps printed in both Colour and Mono. Original publishers boards in different colours but all with uniform gilt lettering to the spines. In the original multi colour dustwrappers. A couple of very minor rubs to the extremities of a couple of dustwrappers but overall a very near fine, bright and clean set of this first publication of Tolkien's entire History of Middle Earth, in which tales, songs, poems, maps, illustrations, genealogical tables, and even linguistic primers for Tolkien's languages, give the fullest picture available of one of the most thoroughly imagined worlds ever created in the history of fantasy literature. The enormous content presented in these twelve volumes was only hinted at in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, and was drastically… Read More

Victor Gollancz Limited. London. 1938. FIRST EDITION. 8vo. (7.9 x 5.4 inches). Some very minor browning to the page edges, as is common with the cheap paper used in this book, and a couple of pages with a crease to the outer corner of the page, otherwise a very good copy finely bound in recent full black morocco, spine with five raised bands, the compartments lettered, ruled and decorated in gilt. Top edge gilt.

Heinemann. Ltd. London. 1928. FIRST ONE VOLUME EDITION. Octavo. xviii,1421pp. (8.3 x 5.5 inches). A neat previous owner name and date (1930) on the front blank free endpaper, otherwise a clean and very good copy throughout. Finely bound by W. Heffer & Sons Ltd. of Cambridge, in early leather binding of full dark blue Morocco. Spine with five raised bands, one compartment lettered in gilt. Single blind ruled border on boards. All edges gilt. Marbled endpapers. An attractive volume.