Antiquarian and Collectors’ Books

BINDINGS. - Samuel PEPYS. Diary and Correspondence… with a Life and Notes by Richard Lord Braybrooke. London: H.G. Bohn, 1858. 4 vols., sixth edition, 8vo (177 x 114mm.) Numerous engraved plates. (Mild toning.) Later brown half calf bound by Bayntun (Rivière) with red and green morocco lettering pieces to the second and third compartments of the spine, gilt anchors with densely in-filled surround to the rest, t.e.g. (occasional rubbing). - And a further twenty-five leather-bound literary volumes (including, in contemporary tree calf, the Dublin printing of 'The Works of Samuel Johnson', 6 vols., 1793, 8vo) (29).

BINDINGS. - Robert BURNS. The Poetry of Robert Burns, edited by W.E. Henley and T.F. Henderson. Edinburgh: T.C. and E.C. Jack, [1896]-1897. 4 vols. The Centenary Burns, 8vo (214 x 134mm.) Frontispieces, numerous plates after etchings by William Hole. (Mild toning.) Later brown half calf by Bayntun (Rivière) with red and tan morocco lettering pieces to the spines, g.e. (minor rubbing). - And a further thirty-eight leather-bound poetical works (42).

GILL, Eric (illustrator). The Game, an Occasional Magazine. Sussex, Ditchling: Douglas Pepler, 1918. Vol. 2, no. 1., 8vo (192 x 122mm.) Wood-engraved illustrations by Eric Gill. (Toning.) Original paper wrappers, (uneven leaf width, minor spotting to upper cover). Provenance: Wilfrid Scawen Blunt (Crabbet Park bookplate verso the upper wrapper). - And a further eighteen mainly literary journals, including two inscribed by Wilfrid Scawen Blunt (19).

BLUNDEN, Edmund. Shells by a Stream. London: Macmillan & Co. Ltd., 1944. First edition, with an a.l.s. loosely inserted, 8vo (216 x 135mm.) (Mild toning.) Original green cloth (small hole to spine), dust-jacket (minor spotting, browning to spine). Note: the densely written 2pp. letter was written in 1949 from Tokyo where Blunden was teaching. The letter responds to a query from a 'Mr Miles' regrading a biography he is writing of the painter, Samuel Laurence, and his search for information relating to the Gliddon family. Blunden suggests various possible sources, including descendants of Thornton Hunt, G.H. Lewes, finally suggesting a call on Mr. J.H. Preston, the curator of Keats House. Blunden also suggests he reads George Eliot's 'Daniel Deronda' for clues, in particular the 'family with aesthetic tastes tho' straightened circumstances'. Overall conveying a sense of Blunden's generosity, wide-reading, and knowledge of 19th century English literary culture. Provenance: Guy Back (ink inscribed to front-free endpaper).

AUDEN, W.H. New Year Letter. London: Faber and Faber, 1941. First edition, first impression, 8vo (213 x 134mm.) (Toning.) Original grey cloth, red lettering to spine (browning to margins, lightly bumped spine ends), dust-jacket (fading, stain and loss to top of spine panel). - And a quantity of approximately fifty volumes of 20th century British and American poetry (including Kenneth Patchen's 'Outlaw of the Lowest Planet', 1946, 8vo) (quantity).

SACKVILLE-WEST, Vita. The Heir. London: William Heinemann, 1922. First edition, signed in a presentation signature by the author, 8vo (187 x 116mm.) (Spotting to preliminaries and rear endpaper, toning.) Original brown cloth (slight sunning to spine, small stain to top of spine panel). Provenance: John G. Wilson (dedication on the front-free endpaper). - And a further eighteen volumes, all signed by the authors (including, with an inscribed leaf loosely inserted, Arthur Ransome's 'The Soldier and Death', 1920, 12mo) (19).

BINDINGS. - William THACKERAY. The Works of… London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1879. 12 vols., 8vo (192 x 197mm.) (Spotting to front and rear leaves, occasionally moderate to heavy, toning.) Near contemporary brown half morocco over marbled paper-covered boards, gilt lettering to spines (rubbing to extremities). - And a further twenty-four leather-bound volumes (including Edward Gibbon's 'The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire', 8 vols., 1855, 8vo) (36).

BOTANY. - B. MAUND. The Botanic Garden; Consisting of Highly Finished Representations of Hardy Ornamental Flowering Plants, Cultivated in Great Britain. London: Simpkin and Marshall, 1831-1836. 3 vols. (only). 8vo (218 x 173mm.) 74 hand-coloured plates with tissue-guards. (Spotting and browning to all preliminaries, heavier to volume 5 with marginal damp-stain to additional title, toning.) Near contemporary half-calf over marbled paper-covered boards, two black morocco lettering pieces to the spines (upper cover weakening to volume 6, rubbing to all extremities). Provenance: D. Pratt (ink name inscribed to front-free endpapers); M.R. Adams (pencil name inscribed to front-free endpapers). - And a further twenty-seven volumes, mainly related to natural history, gardening, and rural life (including 'The Gardens and Menagerie of the Zoological Society Delineated', 2 vols., [1830-1831], 8vo) (30).

CONJURING. - Charles Goodliffe NEALE (editor.) Abracadabra, the Only Magical Weekly in the World. Birmingham, Bromsgrove: 1946-1963. 36 vols., 8vo (209 x 130mm.) Numerous illustrations. (Mild toning.) Near contemporary cloth in blue, red and brown, gilt lettering to spines (rubbing to extremities). Note: an uninterrupted run from the first issue in February 1946 until July 1963. Goodliffe's magazine ran weekly until 2009. After Goodliffe's death in 1980 the magazine continued under the ownerships of Davenport's (London) and Magico's (New York). - And a further seventeen volumes of bound magic journals ('The Genii', vols. 4-16, 21-23, and 26, 1939-1961, 4to). Provenance: by descent, from the estate of Barry Murray (53).

CONJURING. - Tom SELLERS. [A bound collection of sixteen booklets.] London: George Johnson, 1927-1943. 16 parts, 12mo (176 x 114mm.) Numerous illustrations, original card wrappers bound-in. (Mild toning.) Later red cloth, gilt lettering to spine (lightly bumped). Provenance: Christopher Woodward (bookplate to the front pastedown). - And a further forty-seven bound volumes of journals and magazines relating to magic (including another volume of Tom Sellers booklets, 12 parts, 1927-1939, 12mo, and 'The Wizard', 7 vols., 1947-1954, 8vo). Provenance: by descent, from the estate of Barry Murray (48).

CONJURING. - Oscar OSWALD (editor). The Magical Digest... a monthly magazine giving publicity and information of interest to all devotees of the magic art. London: The Magical Digest, 1949-1952. 3 vols., 36 issues. 8vo (213 x 153mm.) Numerous advertisements. (Toning, occasional browning.) Original card wrappers bound-in (paper repair to cover of volume 3, no. 1), later red cloth. - And a large quantity of bound journals relating to magic (including a broken and incomplete run of 'The Linking Ring', 1929-1964, and a reprint of the 'The Magic Wand and Magical Review', volumes X-XXXIV, 24 vols., [circa 1945], 8vo). Provenance: by descent, from the estate of Barry Murray (a quantity).

FOLIO SOCIETY (publisher). - L.M. MONTGOMERY. Anne of Green Gables. London: Folio Society, 2004. 8vo (223 x 148mm.) Introduction by Margaret Atwood. (Mild toning.) Original pictorial cloth, slipcase (faint mark to side panel). - And a quantity of approximately sixty further volumes published by the Folio Society (a quantity).

FOLIO SOCIETY (publisher). - Andrew GEORGE (translator). The Epic of Gilgamesh, the Babylonian Epic Poem. London: Folio Society, 2010. 8vo (234 x 148mm.) 8 colour plates by Francis Mosley. (Mild toning.) Original russet pictorial cloth, slipcase (minor marks). - And a further forty-one volumes published by the Folio Society (including 'The Qur'an', 2009, 8vo) (42).

FOLIO SOCIETY (publisher). - Edward GIBBON. The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. London: Folio Society, 1983. 8 vols., 8vo (245 x 153mm.) (Mild toning.) Original cloth (some discolouring to volume 2), slipcases (toning, occasional mark). - And a further thirty-seven volumes published by the Folio Society (including 'The Campaigns of Wellington' edited by Ian Fletcher, 3 vols., 2007, 8vo) (45).

CONJURING. - Bascom JONES (editor). The Compleat Magick. Washington D.C.: Collectors' Workshop, 1986. 4 vols., first edition, 4to (278 x 209mm.) Numerous illustrations. (Toning, some spotting to fore-edge of volume 1.) Original black cloth (some damp-soiling to lower covers of volume 2 and 3). Provenance: by descent, from the estate of Barry Murray (4).

BIBLIOGRAPHY. - R. Toole STOTT. Circus and Allied Arts, a World Bibliography 1500-1957. Derby: Harpur & Sons, 1958-1992. 5 vols., 8vo (263 x 200mm.) (Toning.) Original red cloth, gilt lettering to spines (lightly bumped spine ends), dust-jackets to three volumes, glassine dust-wrapper to volume 5 (minor creasing). Note: a loosely inserted publisher's note apologising for being 'exhausted' of dust-jackets for volume 1. - And a further nine volumes of bibliography relating to conjuring and magic books (including a signed copy of Trevor Hall's 'A Bibliography of Books on Conjuring in English from 1580 to 1850', 1957, 8vo). Provenance: by descent, from the estate of Barry Murray (14).

CONJURING. - David BEN. Dai Vernon: A Biography. Chicago: Squash Publishing, 2006. First edition, 8vo (228 x 149mm.) Numerous photographic illustrations. Original black cloth-backed boards, dust-jacket. - And a quantity of approximately sixty-five volumes relating to magic (including T.A. Water's 'Mind, Myth & Magic', 1993, 8vo, and a signed copy of Ernest E. Noakes' 'Mirthful Memory of a Magician', 1920, 8vo). Provenance: by descent, from the estate of Barry Murray (a quantity).

CONJURING. - Sidney W. CLARKE. The Annals of Conjuring. Seattle: The Miracle Factory, 2001. First edition, 4to (253 x 198mm.) Numerous illustrations. Original black cloth, dust-jacket. - And a quantity of approximately forty-nine volumes related to magic (including Tommy Wonder and Stephen Minch's 'The Books of Wonder', 2 vols., 1996, 8vo). Provenance: by descent, from the estate of Barry Murray (a quantity).

CONJURING. - Edward MARLO. M.I.N.T. California, Tahoma: L. & L. Publishing, 1988-1995. 2 vols., first editions, 8vo (254 x 173mm.) (Mild toning.) Original cloth, dust-jackets. - And a quantity of approximately eighty volumes related to magic (including Eric Lewis' 'The Genius of Robert Harbin', 1997, 8vo). Provenance: by descent, from the estate of Barry Murray (a quantity).