Rare books from Renaissance Books

London: Constable and Company. Good with no dust jacket. 1912. First Edition. Hardcover. One volume only (lacking the portfolio volume) . Xvii, (1) , 469 pages + frontis + 25 plates with printed tissue guards + 5 double plates + 2 colour plates. Green cloth covers with blind-stamped border on front board. 3/8" chip in spine cloth. Water fleck damage to cloth surface of spine and rear board, with patchy loss of spine colour. Cloth rubbed at edges of spine and boards. Binding shaky. Gutters cracked internally. Hinges loose. Offsetting to endpapers. Internally pages clean and white. Light foxing to half title page and title page. No signatures. ; 4to .

London: Richard Bentley. Very Good with no dust jacket. 1863. First Edition. Half-Leather. xvi, 385 pages + colour frontispiece + 15 of 16 plates (7 colour) + title vignette + 27 in-text illustrations. One plate is missing, the pasted-down portion of a Tibetan Praying Wheel that is called for to face page 200. Half-calf and marbled boards. Rebacked in 2005 with a new calf spine. Half-title page present. Gilt-titled morocco spine label. Gilt rule on spine. Spine is titled "Cashmere & Tibet // 1863". Condition: . Moderate foxing to frontis. Some foxing to other plates, mainly to margins. 2 1/4" by 3/4" surface chip to marbled paper on front board where sticker or label removed. Leather rubbed and worn at corners of boards. 1" by 3/8" piece of leather missing at tail corner of rear board. Provenance: Blind-stamp on title page of "Edward Allen Poole". [References: Yakushi K104; Hopkirk 204]. "With the fullest sense of the responsibility incurred… Read More

London: Edward Arnold & Co.. Very Good with no dust jacket. 1926. First Edition. Hardcover. Some spotting to page edges. Moderate dust stains to top page edges. 4" repaired tear to stub of folding map, not affecting printed area. No signatures or stamps. Hinges intact. Cloth covers clean and bright. No tears to cloth. No bumps to corners of boards. Cloth boards protected in loose mylar jacket. A nice copy. ; xv, [1], 328 pages + frontispiece + plates + folding colour map at rear. Charcoal grey cloth covers with gilt lettering on spine and pale blue-grey lettering on front board. Dimensions: 8 7/8" by 5 3/4". ; 8vo .

Cambridge: University Press. Good with no dust jacket. 1922. First Edition. Hardcover. Ex-library. Library stamps and markings. Library blindstamp on front board. 3/8" tear to cloth at head of front joint. 1/4" and a couple of 1/8" splits to cloth at tail of spine. 3/8" and smaller loss of cloth at edges of corners of boards. Some rubbing to cloth at edges of spine and boards. Library rubber stamps throughout to margins of leaves and plates and versos of maps. Some short tears along folds to large folding map in pocket at rear. Some splitting to gutter at front hinge. Gutter broken at rear hinge. Binding a little shaken. All plates and maps present. ; First printing. xxiii, [1], 248 pages + 64 b&w photographic plates + 8 maps (including 1 large folding colour map in pocket at rear). Publisher's green cloth boards with gilt lettering and publisher's emblem on spine. ; Ex-Library; 8vo .

Paris: Firmin Didot, Pere Et Fils. Good with no dust jacket. 1827. First Edition. Hardcover. Ex-library, with library labels removed from tail of spine and front pastedowns. Minimal library markings. Heavy rubbing to marbled papered boards. Loss of marbled paper along edges of boards. Small loss of leather at head of spine on four of the five bound volumes. Moderate rubbing to leather spines. No splitting to gutters at endpapers. Moderate foxing throughout. 1/2" loss to strip along blank fore margin of half-title page to Volume Two. All half-title leaves present. Heavy creasing to one leaf in Volume Seven.; Published 1827-1839. Title continues: "historiens et gens de lettres de la France, ainsi que des littérateurs étrangers qui ont écrit en Français, plus particuliérement pendant les XVIIIe et XIXe siécles". xxix, [1], 582; 756; 562; 646; 668; 647; 574; 606; 597; 575 pages. 10 volumes in 5. Quarter leather and marbled boards. Page… Read More

Venice: Giambatista Pasquali. Good with no dust jacket. 1767-1771. First Edition. Disbound. Lacking front board. Rear pastepaper board present, with remnant of early marbled paper covering. Some dampstains to margins of leaves. Some waviness and wrinkles to leaves. Some leaves detached from sewing. Complete. ; Two titles bound together as one. Both titles collated and complete. First title ("Trattato"): xii, 81, [1] pages. 47 leaves. Includes 8 full page plates within the pagination. Folio. Page dimensions: 340 x 250mm. Bound with ""Osservazioni di Antonio Visentini architetto Veneto che servono di continuazione al tratto di Teofil Gallaccini sopra gli errori degli architetti" by Antonio Visentini. Venice: Giambatista Pasquali, 1771. vii, [1], 141 pages + 1 plate "La Perfezione" following the title leaf. 76 leaves (last leaf blank) + frontispiece. Includes 61 full page plates within the pagination. Folio. Page dimensions: 340 x 250mm. Text is in Italian.… Read More

Cambridge: University Press. Very Good with no dust jacket. 1922. First Edition. Hardcover. Owner's inscription dated 1923. A few spots of foxing to endpapers. No tears to the folding map. A 3/8" tear at lower end of gutter at rear endpaper. Hinges weak. Some minor rubbing to cloth boards and to ends of spine. Slight bruising to lower corners of boards. A nice copy of an important background book for the political history of Tibet in the first half of the twentieth century. Uncommon in this condition.; First printing. xxiii, [1], 248 pages + 64 b&w photographic plates + 8 maps (including 1 large folding colour map in pocket at rear). Publisher's green cloth boards with gilt lettering and publisher's emblem on spine. Page dimensions: 241 x 164 mm. "It having been found impossible to reconcile the conflicting boundary claims of China and Tibet at the tripartite conference held in India in 1914, the Tibetan question dragged on unsettled through the years of the… Read More

Calcutta: Printed and Sold By Manuel Cantopher. Very Good with no dust jacket. 1790. First Edition. Hardcover. Professionally rebacked by Barbara Schmelzer, preserving original endpapers, and with remnant of original leather spine laid down. Moderate chips and scrapes to leather boards, with moderate losses of leather at corners of boards. Corners of boards strengthened by conservator with Japanese tissue paper. A 1" tear to the folding plate of the Hindoo Lunar Mansions. Pages 268-269 are transposed with pages 272-273. ; The second volume only of "Asiatick Researches" (the name later changed to "Asiatic Researches"). The scarce Calcutta first edition, preceding the London editions. [iv], 502, [2] pages + 14 plates (5 folding). Pages 501-502 have a list of the Society's members at the end of the year 1790. The final leaf has "Corrections" on the recto, and is blank on the verso. Quarto size. Page dimensions: 288 x 220mm. Signature on front endpaper of… Read More

Budapest: Kiadja Rath Mor. Good with no dust jacket. 1892. First Edition. Hardcover. Hinges broken on volume one. Rubbing and loss of cloth to ends of spine on volume one. Some light foxing.; Two volumes. Volume One: [vi], 520 pages + frontis. Illustrated. Volume two: [ii], 546 pages + frontis. Illustrated. Blue cloth boards with gilt decorations and brown spine and front board labels. Page dimensions: 220mm x 150mm. Hungarian edition. The author was Hungarian. This edition was preceded by a German edition published in Vienna. ; 8vo .

London: by J. Tonson in the Strand, J. Knapton and D. Midwinter . . .. Very Good- with no dust jacket. 1714. First Thus. Hardcover. 1/4" missing to leather at head of spine. 1/2" chip to leather at tail of spine. Leather split along 2/3 of rear joint. Spine lettering piece rubbed and worn. Headbands lacking. Small 1/4" loss of leather at tips of corners of boards. Some small abrasions to leather on rear board. Owner's signature scribbled out on title page. Some foxing to preliminary leaves. ; The first duodecimo format printing of Shakespeare's Sonnets. [4], lvi, iv, 41, [5], 45-406 pages + 2 copperplate engravings. Contemporary full calf binding. Gilt borders to boards and gilt tooled decoration to spine. Red leather lettering piece on spine. Page dimensions: 163 x 95mm. Red speckling to page edges. Several woodcut inhabited initials, woodcut headpieces and tailpieces. In 1714 Rowe added Curll's 1710 edition of the poems to his 8 volume edition of Shakespeare to… Read More

London: Bloomsbury. Near Fine in Near Fine dust jacket. 1997-1998. Hardcover. "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" has a minor binding fault, with the corner of the front free endpaper folded over and adhering at the corner to the front pastedown endpaper. Fading to the red colouring at the top of the dust-jacket spine on "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone". Both volumes with no previous owner's names or markings. No tears to dust-jackets. Slipcase clean and bright. ; First collected edition of the first two titles in the Harry Potter series. "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" is a fourth printing, with number line 10 to 4. The copyright page of "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" has "Joanne Rowling" and "Taylor1997" with no space between Taylor and 1997. "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" is a seventh printing, with number line 10 to 7. The slipcase has an ISBN… Read More

[London]: Beaverbrook Newspapers / Daily Express. Very Good with No dust jacket as issued. [1954]. First Edition. Hardcover. No splitting to spine. Previous owner's name. Previous owner's inscription in red marker pen. Painting contest partly coloured in, neatly. A few light wrinkles and creases to some leaves.; 124 pages including free endpapers. Illustrated papered boards. Page dimensions: 245 x 176mm. Contents includes the stories "Rupert and the Friendly Sea-Lion"; "Rupert and the Sketch Book"; "Rupert and the Castaway"; "Rupert and the Back Room Boy"; "Rupert and the Dragon Pills". .

London: Edward Stanford. Very Good- with no dust jacket. 1863. First Edition. Softcover. Some rubbing and creasing and spots of foxing to wrappers. Some foxing. Corners of some leaves rubbed and a little dog-eared.; Scarce. 82 pages. Printed green wrappers. Front wrapper has same letterpress as on the title page. Page dimensions: 206 x 139mm. Contents ("Analysis"): The Case against the Colony; Technical Responsibility for Native Government - Theory of Separate Administration; Practice of Administration in Native Affairs; Moral Responsibility for the War; The Minor Charges against the Colonists; Imperial Policy towards the Colony; Future Prospects; Financial Questions; Conclusion; Note; Appendix. [Reference: Bagnall 5862 - "A defence of New Zealand's part in the differences with the British Government on the management of Maori affairs."] .

London: Printed by W. B. for T. Ward, in the Inner-Temple-Lane. Very Good- with no dust jacket. 1725. First Edition. Hardcover. Some splitting to leather at ends of joints. Boards rubbed. Overall a nice set. Provenance: Ex libris Thomas Percival Esquire, engraved bookplate with horse on a scroll surrounded by books. ; Volume One: frontispiece + [2 (title)], [5 (Dedication)], [1 (blank)], [7 (Preface)], [1 (blank)], [4 (Subscribers)], [6 (Contents)], 461, [1 (blank)], [10 (Index)] pages. Volume Two: [2 (title)], [8 (Contents)], 492, [15 (Index)], [1 (blank)] pages. Volume Three: [2 (title), [10 (Contents)], 507, [1 (blank)], [17 (Index), [1 (blank)] pages.Title continues: "Comprehending likewise the Negotiations of Sir Henry Neville, Sir Charles Cornwallis, Sir Dudley Carleton, Sir Thomas Edmondes, Mr. Trumbull, Mr. Cottington and others, At the Courts of France and Spain, and in Holland, Venice, &c. Wherein the Principal Transactions of those Times Are faithfully related, and the… Read More

London: Cassell and Company. Good in Good+ dust jacket. (1944). First Edition. Hardcover. Front free endpaper cut out. The half-title leaf which has the Churchill inscription and the frontispiece have been detached and re-glued. A little bruising to corners of boards. Foxing to page edges. Some foxing to endpapers and preliminary leaves. 75mm tear across head of dust-jacket spine. Some chips and tears to corners of dust-jacket and ends of dust-jacket spine. Gummed paper repair at head of dust-jacket spine on reverse side. Dust-jacket protected in archival mylar cover. ; This copy inscribed and signed by Winston S. Churchill on half-title page. "To F. W. Doidge / from / Winston S. Churchill / 1945". Also loosely included is a typed signed letter dated July 6 1945 from Churchill's aide-de-camp C. R. "Tommy" Thompson, on letterhead paper of the Prime Minister, to the recipient of the book F. W. Doidge. The letter reads, "Dear Mr. Doidge, You will remember when you… Read More