Antiquarian and Collectors’ Books

PEEPSHOW. - LANE, C. (publisher). Telescopic View of The Great Exhibition, 1851. London: C. Lane, [1851.] Oblong panels (162 x 179mm.) 10 lithographed panels, including title, depicting the interior of the Great Exhibition including images of people, trees, and fountains with glitter, joined together by linen side-panels in concertina form. (Some browning, occasional spotting, spotting to linen.) Cover panel with single peep-hole (lacking persplex glass, surface rubbing). Note: extends outwards to 620mm.

KIPLING, Rudyard. [A manuscript album containing the first verse of Rudyard Kipling's poem 'L'Envoi' copied and signed in his hand. N.p: circa 1900.] Oblong 4to (151 x 175mm.) The first six lines of 'L'Envoi' hand-written in black ink, also contains the signature of Caroline, Kipling's wife, on the preceding leaf. (Some browning, f.f.e.p. loose.) Original red straight-grain limp morocco, gilt lettering to upper cover, g.e. (rubbing). - Also comes with correspondence from the Kipling Society authenticating the signature.

AUSTEN, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. London: Richard Bentley, 1881. New edition, 8vo (188 x 119mm.) Engraved frontispiece, tissue-guard. (Minor spotting verso of frontispiece.) Original dark blue blind-stamped decorative cloth, gilt lettering to spine. Provenance: Florence Brothers (ink name to half-title); J.F. Horn (ink name to half-title).

STOKER, Bram. Dracula. Westminster: Archibald Constable and Company, 1897. First edition, early issue, 8vo (178 x 107mm.) (Some corner creases, minor soiling, lacking half-title, pp.241-242 replaced with a blank leaf, paper repair to p.163 and text slightly affected.) Later black half-morocco, raised bands to the spine, gilt lettering to three compartments (endpapers replaced). Note: a second or third issue, as printed on thinner paper than the first issue. The novel that spawned a matrix of cultural media so much so that Count Dracula can now be considered archetypal figure. Stoker was not wealthy when he died. His widow was forced to sell his papers at auction where they raised £2. Provenance: Newcastle-Under-Lyme library (stamp to title page, first and last pages).

STOKER, Bram. The Mystery of the Sea. London: William Heinemann, 1902. First edition, second impression, signed and inscribed by Bram Stoker on the f.f.e.p., 8vo (183 x 117mm.) 32pp. publisher's advertisements to rear. (Browning to pastedowns, spotting to fore-edge.) Original blue pictorial cloth, gilt lettering to upper cover and spine (lightly bumped to spine ends). Note: the inscription reads 'His Grace, the Duke of Fife, with Bram Stoker's kind regards, 19 August 1902'. He is now known for his novels but in his lifetime Bram Stoker was better known as the personal assistant of the actor Henry Irving, and for managing the Lyceum theatre, which Irving owned. The Duke of Fife was acquainted with Henry Irving and it is very likely through this association that Stoker met the Duke and signed this book for him. Provenance: The Duke of Fife (nameplate verso of the f.f.e.p.).

KIPLING, Rudyard. Captains Courageous, a Story of the Grand Banks. London: Macmillan and Co., 1897. First U.K. edition, 8vo (184 x 114mm.) Numerous black and white illustrations by I. W. Taber, 2pp. publisher's advertisements to rear. (Moderate spotting throughout, a crease to one leaf.) Original blue cloth, pictorial gilt to upper cover and spine, g.e. (rubbing to extremities, slight spine lean). Note: the only Kipling novel to be set entirely in America. Provenance: Alfred Edward Newton, American author and book collector (bookplate to the front pastedown); Jimmy Benson (ink gift inscription verso of frontispiece).

KIPLING, Rudyard. The Jungle Book. London: Macmillan and Co., 1895. 8vo (183 x 116mm.) Numerous illustrations, tissue-guard. (Pencil marks to front and rear pastedowns, spotting to tissue-guard, minor soiling to initial blank.) Original blue cloth, pictorial gilt to upper cover and spine, g.e. (fading to spine, rubbing to extremities, f.f.e.p. loose). - And ten further volumes (including A.A. Milne's 'When We were Very Young', December 1924, 8vo) (11).

KIPLING, Rudyard. Kim. London: Macmillan and Co., 1901. First edition, 8vo (197 x 124mm.) Frontispiece with tissue-guard, 9 photographic illustrations, 1p. publisher's advertisements to rear. (Spotting to title and tissue-guard and rear leaves, remains of label to front pastedown.) Original red cloth with medallion embossed to front cover, t.e.g. (rubbing to extremities). - And four further volumes (including F.E. Hulme's 'Natural History Lore and Legend', 1895, 8vo) (5).

MUIR, P.H., and B. van THAL. Bibliographies of A.L. Huxley and T.F. Powys. London: Dulau & Co. Ltd., 1927. Limited edition, this being number 20 of 50 copies signed by Aldous Huxley and T.F. Powys, 8vo (188 x 122mm.) (Slight browning.) Original black buckram, t.e.g. (minor nicks to covers).

IRELAND, Samuel. Picturesque Views with an Historical Account of the Inns of Court in London and Westminster. London: C. Clarke for Faulder and Egerton, 1800. First edition, small 4to (222 x 144mm.) 21 hand-coloured aquatint plates, errata leaf. (Spotting to initial blank, faint gift inscription to half-title, mild toning.) 20th century green morocco by the Hampstead bindery, five raised bands to spine, gilt lettering to the second third and sixth compartment, g.e. (lightly rubbed).

ASTRONOMY. - [George ADAMS. Astronomical and Geographical Essays. N.p: n.d but 1795.] Vol. IV (plates only). Third edition, oblong 4to (217 x 269mm.) 16 engraved plates relating to astronomy and astronomical instruments, 1 folding. (Browning to margins, several with crease 'folds'.) Contemporary half-calf (rubbing to spine and extremities). Note: volume 4 is titled 'An Introduction to Practical Astronomy'. Provenance: W. Russell Button (bookplate to the front pastedown). [ESTCT 88410].

WITCHCRAFT. - Cotton MATHER. The Wonders of the Invisible World: Being an Account of the Tryals of Several Witches Lately Executed in New-England and of Several Remarkable Curiosities therein Occurring. [London:] Printed first at Boston in New England, and reprinted at London for John Dunton at the Raven in the Poultry, 1693. Third edition, 4to (194 x 141mm.) Title with black lettering, black borders, half-title. (Marginal damp-stain to half-title and to F1-G2, browning, small marginal paper repairs to three rear leaves, lacking 2pp. of advertisements to rear, g2, some trimming, loss to the catchwords at C4 and F1, and partially to some words at G2.) 19th century calf (spine worn, upper cover detached). Note: this work is the most rare and influential of the books and tracts that Cotton Mather and his father, Increase, wrote together. It has been deeply influential in the vast and ongoing scholarly debate over the Salem witch trials. Cotton Mather appointed the chief prosecutor himself, and in writing their early history, he managed to convey a hysteria towards the 'witches', nineteen of whom were hanged. These events went a long way in establishing the theology of Puritan control over New England and, in the ongoing debate, America's own origin story. Text collates A2, B2, B-H4. [Holmes, 1241].

MANUSCRIPT. - John WESLEY. [A hand-written manuscript relating to John Wesley. N.p: 1820.] 37pp. and 44pp. manuscript, 8vo (230 x 186mm.) Numbered pages in two different hands, the first being a 37pp. sermon preached in Sunderland by the Rev. Robert Gray in 1819, the second being extracts from the letters of two ministers, one of whom was early biographer of John Wesley, 33pp. blank to rear. (Several leaves removed from the front, occasional browning.) Original calf-backed boards (worn). Note: the letters make several references to Wesley ('I was not in the Wesley connection when in the West Indies, nor until about two years after'), John Newton and the important Methodist theologian, J.W. Fletcher, who was 'tinged with fanaticism'. They also share their own situations 'mine is perhaps one of the most arduous and laborious situations in the diocese of Durham' and explaining the difficulties of leaving the Methodist church and joining the Church of England 'I was a heretic and a renegade', giving an insight into early Methodism and the English evangelical tradition.

MANUSCRIPT. - COOKERY. [A hand-written book of recipes. N.p: circa 1880's.] 210pp. manuscript, 8vo (177 x 100mm.) Mostly numbered pages in a single legible hand with numerous recipes divided into two sections, 'High Class' and 'Middle Class', and 51pp. blank in the middle. (Browning, occasional spotting, 1 loose leaf.) Original roan (with loss). Note: most likely this was the recipe book for an ocean-going liner with 147pp. devoted to 'High Class' and 63pp. to the 'Middle Class'. There are also recipes under two other headings, 'Extracts' and 'Demonstrations'. Inevitably, many of the 'High Class' dishes derive from French cuisine ('Fricassée of Chicken', 'mutton cutlets a la Soubise', 'lobster soufflée', while the 'Middle Class' have simpler fare ('plum cake', 'sausage rolls', 'Chesterfield pudding') yet there is a sense of international influence too ('Russian Cake', 'Berlin pancakes') and the more locally memorable ('Crystal Palace Pudding').

MANUSCRIPT. [A hand-written 'coming-of-age' letter from a sister to her younger brother. N.p: 1790.] 36pp. manuscript, 8vo (183 x 100mm.) Unnumbered pages in a legible hand from a sister to her brother 'James' written one side of the leaf only, approximately 50 leaves blank to the rear. (Browning to pastedowns.) Contemporary calf (rubbed to extremities). Note: 'James' had been orphaned at a young age and taken in by the family, so the writer feels that as he reaches the age of twenty-one and might possibly 'be sent abroad' she should offer 'some admonitions for the regulation of your heart and the conduct of your actions'. At length she conveys the message that 'religion is the only safe conductor through life' while simultaneously being keen to emphasise that, while this might seem like the puritan advice of an elder, in fact, she felt the same even as a young woman. It is especially important to lead a virtuous life because death can strike at any time and 'so many diseases can carry us off in the midst of youth' and, if that were to happen, we may not have the time to redeem ourselves. In haste, her letter finishes, unsigned.

ROME. Raccolta di 50 Vedute Antiche e Moderne Della Città di Roma. Rome: Presso Piale Nege, etc, [circa 1820.] Oblong 4to (206 x 274mm.) Engraved title with vignette, 43 engraved plates of Rome. (Lacking 7 plates, 18 with damp-staining, spotting and browning to margins, lacking blanks.) 20th century red half-morocco, gilt lettering to spine (replaced endpapers).

MINIATURE BOOKS. - William SHAKESPEARE. [The Works]. London: Allied Newspapers Ltd., [circa 1930.] 39 vols. only (of 40), 12mo (51 x 35mm.) Original cloth. All contained within a miniature 3-tier plywood bookcase (39).

POP-UP BOOK. - Frederick Edward WEATHERLY (introduction). Pantomime Pictures, a Novel Colour Book for Children. London and New York: Ernest Nister, [1895]. Small folio (318 x 244mm.) 5 double-page chromolithographed pop-up plates. (Browning, spotting to lower margins.) Original red cloth-backed pictorial boards (lightly rubbed, minor marks to rear).

CHILDRENS BOOK. The Speaking Picture Book, a New Picture Book with Characteristic Voices. [Nuremburg: H. Grevel & Co., circa 1880.] Folio (299 x 216mm.) 8 chromolithographed plates with accompanying text on the facing page and an arrow in the margins indicating the ivory finial that, when pulled, produces the appropriate animal noise, all bound on top of the miniature bellows contained in the box below. (Browning, minor spotting to the plates.) Original red cloth with decorative black borders surrounding a mounted colour plate to the upper cover, blind-stamped design to the lower cover, gold painted fore-edge (lacking one ivory finial, crease to spine panel, some rubbing to fore-edge). Note: the noises that are reproduced are that of a cock, donkey, lamb, bird, cow, cuckoo, goat and two for children's voices. [Haining, 136: 'the pièce de résistance of any collection of moveables'].