Written by the Right Honourable Francis, Lord Verulam, Viscount St. Alban
Printed by W. Stansby for Matthew Lownes and William Barret, 1622
Engraved frontispiece and title page, 248pp
Imperial Octavo (270×190mm)
Minor marginal tears to the last leaf and a small hole not affecting the text have been repaired. There are three sealing wax stains to the reverse of the frontispiece, not affecting the print, so otherwise a good clean copy.

 

The tomb of Henry VIIth in Westminster Abbey, designed by an Italian sculptor commissioned by his son Henry VIIIth, brought the art of the Florentine Renaissance to England. We wanted to reflect this love of ornate decoration in our choice of binding.

The book was published in the last years of the reign of James 1st but we have chosen a binding style associated with the later part of the 17th century. Often referred to as the 'Golden Age of English Bookbinding', the bindings of the Restoration Period (1660-1700) are noted for their highly decorative style, made famous by a group of binders known as the Queens' binders.

The Binding
Bound in hand-dyed red goatskin and tooled in the manner of the later seventeenth century, that is, with extensive gold tooled decoration to the boards and spine, with powdered silver and leather inlays.  The book has marbled endpapers in the Dutch curl pattern.

£2,700.00

‘To which is annexed Pomona; or, An Appendix concerning Fruit-Trees in relation to Cider; The making and several ways of ordering it’ …‘Also, Kalendrium Hortense; Or, the Gard’ners Almanac; Directing what he is to do monthly throughout the year’.

Second edition, much ‘Inlarged and Improved’ with five engravings included in the text.
Engraved title-page, I – xlvi, 1 – 247, 1 – 67, 1 – 33, Errata leaf.
Printed for Jo. Martyn, and Ja.Allefry, Printers to the Royal Society, 1670
Quarto (210×320mm)

Some minor, and very ancient ink staining to at the rear (pp22 & 23) of Kalendrium Hortense small rust stains to Concerning Cider (pp66-68), otherwise a good clean copy.

Sylva was written as an encouragement to landowners to plant trees which would provide timber for England's burgeoning navy.

The Binding
Bound in mottled calf, with a blank ‘Cambridge panel’ decorated with a roll and further ornaments, Spine compartments filled with gold decoration throughout.

£2,900.00
 

With illustrations by G.H.Edwards
Hutchinson & Co., London, 1895
Octavo 132x190mm

The Victoria Cross was introduced by Queen Victoria in 1856 to reward acts of valour during the Crimean War. The traditional explanation for the derivation of the medal is that it is made from the metal of a canon seized from the Russians at the Siege of Sebastopol.   It remains the highest award for bravery in the United Kingdom.


The Binding
Bound in dark green morocco, with an onlay of the Victoria Cross on the front board. Housed in a leather-entry slipcase.

£850.00 SOLD
 

First edition

Williams and his fellow prisoners came up with the idea of constructing a vaulting horse and using it to mask the opening of a tunnel entrance closer to the perimeter fence, while the other camp inmates vaulted continuously over the horse to mask the vibration of the tunnelling work. Sand was carried back inside the horse and dried in the attic of the camp canteen before being distributed in the compound.

The story was later to be immortalised in the film ‘The Great Escape’.

The Binding
Bound in brown calf, with morocco onlays depicting the wooden horse and lettering based on the popular German typefaces of the time.


£1,755.00

This small modestly produced book is the first appearance of that lovable and enduring character Jeeves, the ever faithful and always wise butler.

The Binding
Bound in a light khaki brown morocco goatskin, the front and back boards have been covered in a criss-cross pattern in brown and tan coloured leather onlays, evoking the type of tweed patterns so popular with the ‘shooting classes’,  then and now.

£1,645.00

The Binding
Bound in dark blue morocco with a block of the original cover on the front board created with coloured leather onlays. The book is held in a matching leather entry slipcase.
 

£1,645.00

£1,645.00

The Binding
Bound in bright turquoise green morocco with a block of the original cover on the front board created with coloured leather onlays. The book is held in a matching leather entry slipcase.

£1,645.00

See-Paynton, Colin; Of A Feather, Avian Collective Nouns & Terms of Assembly

Foreword by David Attenborough; Gwasg Gregynog, 2009; Imp. Quarto (285x370mm)

This book is a masterpiece of modern press work. The paper, printing, typography and above all the illustrations, are of the highest quality.  A small number of numbered copies have been reserved for binders. We are undertaking three bindings, showing here is the second design.

 £6,785.00

The Binding
Bound in a warm brown goatskin, with a shallow recessed panel to front and back boards; the front panel with 25 poppy flowers and stems, the back panel with 25 poppy seed-heads and stems. The title is tooled on the spine in gold.

On the front inside board, there are lines taken from 'Anthem for Doomed Youth' tooled in gold on all four edges; on the back board, Owen's epitaph tooled in a similar way and interspersed with poppies. Housed in a leather-entry slipcase.


£4,500.00 SOLD

The Binding
Bound in a dark blue morocco binding with onlays in yellow and green goatskin running across the spine and both boards.  The flower patterns are picked out in gold dots.

£850.00  SOLD

Comprising: Sense and Sensibility (2 Parts); Pride and Prejudice (2 Parts);
Mansfield Park (2 Parts); Emma (2 Parts); Northanger Abbey (1 Vol.); Persuasion (1 Vol.); The Letters, including ‘Lady Susan’ and ‘The Watsons’ (2 Vols).

The Manydown Edition, limited to 500 copies of which this is number 252.
Edited by R. Brimley Johnson, with an introduction by Prof. William Lyon Phelps.  With coloured illustrations by C.E. and H.M. Brock
Society of French and English Literature, New York, no date.  Demy Octavo150 x220mm.

Each volume contains six illustrations, with the exception of Vol. 2 of ‘Sense and Sensibility’ which has seven illustrations, and ‘The Letters’ which has four illustrations in Part 1, and three illustrations in Part 2, including a folding facsimile letter.  The books are partially unopened with the edges untrimmed apart from the top edge which is hand gilded. The paper and illustrations are in good condition; the printed tissue guards are all present and intact. A high quality production. One of the finest collected editions of Jane Austen’s works; The illustrations are bright and elegant; the paper, printing and typography is of the best quality. The bindings  complete a truly great set, worthy of any fine library.

The Binding
The books are bound in dark maroon goatskin, with five raised bands and black leather labels for the titles in the second and fifth panels. The books are tooled in gold with a decorative panel to the front and back boards and flower tools to the spine compartments.  The books are held in three leather entry slipcases.


£4,900.00
 

The Binding
Uniformly bound in full tree-calf. 

£2,365.00 SOLD

The Binding
Bound in bright blue morocco, with a block on the front boards taken from the original covers.

£3,250.00

First edition
Square Octavo (190x232mm)
 

The Binding
Fully bound in dark green morocco.

£1,400.00 SOLD

The Binding
Fully bound in black morocco, with a design on the front board blocked in silver and leather onlays, based on the original art deco cover.

SOLD

Tradition and Craftsmanship

Having a Book Bound

Restoration and Conservation