History of the United States (10 vol) by George Bancroft - 1864: the discovery of the American continent and colonization through the American revolution

The Letters of Pliny the Younger With Observations on each Letter; And an Essay on Pliny's Life, Addressed to Charles Lord Boyle By John Earl of Orrery. 1751, two volumes. 4to, 25x20 cm (9¾x8"). [iv], lxxxvii, 440, [16]; [iv], 509, [32] pp. Engraved allegorical title-page device by Michael Van der Gucht, twenty-three large head- & tailpieces engraved by Jacob Bonneau after designs by Samuel Wale, and numerous decorative initials. Period full calf, red leather spine labels. First Edition thus.
About this book
First Edition of this translation of the classic letters first issued between c.100 and c.109. John Boyle, fifth Earl of Cork, fifth Earl of Orrery, and second Baron Marston (1707-1762) had literary aspirations and became a friend of Jonathan Swift, Alexander Pope, and Samuel Johnson. But they had no illusions about his intellectual gifts; and Boyle took some revenge on Swift's condescension in Remarks on the Life and Writings of Jonathan Swift (London, 1751). His translation and commentary on… Read More

Green calf binding with red title plate, gilt decoration, banding and title on the spine. Gilt decorative edging on both boards. Humberstone school emblem on the front board. Green marbled edges and pastedowns. Presentation copy.
In French.

Tan calf binding. Two volumes. dimensions are for one volume.
First Edition A catalogue of the royal and noble authors of England, Scotland, and Ireland; with lists of their works
Horatio Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford (24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English writer, art historian, man of letters, antiquarian and Whig politician. He had Strawberry Hill House built in Twickenham, south-west London, reviving the Gothic style some decades before his Victorian successors. His literary reputation rests on the first Gothic novel, The Castle of Otranto (1764), and his Letters, which are of significant social and political interest. They have been published by Yale University Press in 48 volumes. The youngest son of the first British Prime Minister, Sir Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford, he became the 4th and last Earl of Orford on his nephew's death in 1791. His barony of Walpole descended to his first cousin once removed of the same name but Baron Walpole of… Read More

Green leather spine with gilt banding and decoration. Red marbled boards.
The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit (commonly known as Martin Chuzzlewit) is a novel by Charles Dickens, considered the last of his picaresque novels. It was originally serialised between 1842 and 1844. While he was writing it Dickens told a friend that he thought it was his best work, but it was one of his least popular novels. The late nineteenth century English novelist George Gissing read the novel in February 1888 "for refreshment" but felt that it showed "incomprehensible weakness of story". Like nearly all of Dickens's novels, Martin Chuzzlewit was first published in monthly instalments. Early sales of the monthly parts were disappointing, compared to previous works, so Dickens changed the plot to send the title character to the United States. Dickens had visited America in 1842 in part as a failed attempt to get the US publishers to honour copyright laws. He satirized the country as a place filled with… Read More

Tan leather spine with red title plate, gilt banding and title on the spine. Light brown boards. Translated from Persian by Nathaniel Braffey Haled.
A Second improved edition by Nathaniel Brassey Halhed – 1781 A Good Clean Copy The Gentoo Code (also known as A Code of Gentoo Laws or Ordinations of the Pundits) is a legal code translated from Sanskrit (in which it was known as vivādārṇavasetu) into Persian by Brahmin scholars; and then from Persian into English by Nathaniel Brassey Halhed, a British grammarian working for the East India Company. Vivādārṇavasetu is a digest of Hindu law in 21 sections (taraṅga) compiled for Warren Hastings by the pandits. The translation was funded and encouraged by Warren Hastings as a method of consolidating company control on the Indian subcontinent. It was translated into English with a view to know about the culture and local laws of various parts of Indian subcontinent. It was printed privately by the East India Company in London in 1776 under the… Read More

New York: Thr Grolier Club/William Edwin Rudge Printing, 1927. Limited Edition. Quarto. Limited to 390 copies. xxiii, 208 pages translated and annotated by George B. Ives, designed, and printed by Bruce Rogers. Aldus praised the original edition for its adaptation of the roman type in its use of the French language. His discussion of the formation of roman capitals by geometric means led to many advances in design in early printing. His models for the capitals, set within a modular grid, displayed an approach to their construction that was unique to Tory, and his commentary critiqued the parallel efforts of the early letterform theorists. Bound in 1/4 vellum over decorative paper covered boards, spine lettering gilt, spine somewhat darkened, in near fine dust jacket showing minor wear to spine ends, housed within publisher's slipcase showing wear to edges. A very nice copy.

New York: Random House, 1973. Uncorrected First Proof copy. Octavo. 190pp. Publisher's red paper wraps titled in black to front cover. Some light scuffing, and a couple of spots of grubbiness to the covers, but essentially a clean, tight copy. Internally clean, a pencil annotation "April..?" to the title page. A scarce proof copy of the first book on Black reparations and which Morrison guided into print as an editor at Random House. Written by a white professor at Yale, Morrison felt the book was "an important contribution to the fledgling reparations debate." A significant proof on its own, of a book that was an origin point for the intellectual debate about reparations for many decades, but also because it documents Morrison's incredible tenure and astute publishing history during her tenure at Random House. Necessarily scarce.

London : Watts & Co, 1909. First edition. Hardcover. Good +. A Study of Christian Origins. Issued for the Rationalist Press Association, Limited. Extremely scarce first edition. 8vo, original navy cloth boards with gilt titles on spine. Xviii + 376p. An investigation of the Jesus story, the development of arguments through examination of the gospels, Birth Legends, Magic Use of Names, the Eucharist etc. Some edge wear, generally very good and clean inside.

1880 Spiritualism 1ed Immortality OCCULT Ghosts Evil Spirits Medium Heaven Hell
"Immortality, and Our Employments Hereafter," by James Martin Peebles offers an interesting, 19th-century exploration into the mysteries of the afterlife. Drawing from his backgrounds as a physician and an active member of Psychic/Spiritualist communities, Peebles addresses pressing questions that have long occupied the human mind: What awaits us after death? Will we reunite with our loved ones? How do spirits occupy their time in the hereafter? The book claims to grant a platform for various spirits to share their accounts and experiences from different realms. It delves into the nature of life, death, and the eternal soul, examining the intricacies of existence both on Earth and in the spiritual world. Peebles presents these narratives, not just as testimonies, but also as a way to provide clarity and hope for readers yearning for insights about the great beyond. Amidst the accounts, Peebles also touches upon the eternal… Read More

London, John Murray, 1878.. NEW EDITION 1878, A REPRINT OF THE SIXTH EDITION 1872, Twentieth Thousand, with additions and corrections to 1872. 8vo, approximately 190 x 120 mm, 7½ x 4½ inches, folding chart, pages: xxi,1-458 including half-title and index, original publisher's green cloth, gilt lettering and decoration to spine, blind-stamped decorative borders to covers, brown endpapers, (the pastedown and the endpaper at front have at some time been replaced and are unsightly, see image, the rear original ones are fine) the bookbinder's small ticket on last pastedown, adverts to verso title page. Binding rubbed, slight shelf wear to edges and corners, inner paper hinge cracked, otherwise a good copy. This is a reprint of the edition of 1876 which contained the final text as Darwin left it and which contained small differences in text from the sixth edition of 1872. The word 'evolution' was used for the first time in the 6th edition of 1872 of The Origin of Species on page 201 (twice) and page 424… Read More