Rare books from E C Books

London : Harrison and Co , 1785 A rare and beautiful introduction to natural history. In 2 folio volumes with 99 (of 100) hand coloured plates by Moses Harris and others after his style. Martyn is a pseudonym for William Fordyce Mavor, who authored a wide range of works. The books are set out alphabetically, with the plates reflecting this classification, so they can portray lizards and lynx side by side on the same plate. The pages are double column and unpaginated. The text for each animal is thoughtfully put together eg for the guinea pig 'The Guinea-Pig is a very cleanly creature and totally different from that that affords it a name....Guinea-Pigs repose on their bellies, pretty much in their usual posture...'. The plates are nicely coloured and the ones by Moses Harris (butterflies, moths and shells) are particularly well drawn. This copy is in a contemporary half leather binding with marbled boards. The half leather corners have been replaced with a paper cover. There is some wear to… Read More

Amstelodami [Amsterdam]: Danielem Elsevirium, 1671 A very good copy of the '3rd and Final' edition of Richard Lower's major treatise on the working of the heart and lungs. Richard Lower (1631-1691) was the first person to perform a blood transfusion, reporting in 1666 that blood had been successfully transferred between 2 dogs. Shortly afterwards he carried out an experiment to transfuse some blood from a sheep to a man - with some hopes that the gentleness of the lamb would be carried in the blood. He counted Thomas Willis (founder of the Royal Society) and Robert Hooke as close associates and was a follower of William Harvey. Tractatus de Corde (roughly translated as Treatment of the Heart) was his most important work, detailing his experimental surgery and findings. This copy, in contemporary full leather binding, formed part of the Selbourne Library - acquired by the late Hugh Selbourne - and has the Selbourne Library stamp to the verso of the title page, and the bottom margin of p 51.… Read More

Edinburgh and London: Maclachlan & Stewart; Bladwin, Cradock & Joy, 1823 A very good copy in 6 volumes dating from 1823-1828, with 360 hand coloured plates. Robert Kaye Greville, 1794-1866, had medical training but an assured income allowed him to choose a more diverse life in science and art, and in his public work - where he became a leading voice against slavery. He published his Scottish Cryptogamic Flora in monthly parts, intending it to complete the catalogue of flora in Smith and Sowerby's English Botany. He drew all the specimens himself and these drawings together with the detailed text, form a comprehensive picture of the scottish cryptogamic flora as it was in the early nineteenth century. This copy is in contemporary marbled boards with cloth spines that have been rebacked and had new title labels. The binding is possibly a publisher's one. The boards have general wear but the bindings are sound. New endpapers have been added. Each volume has a half title and title page,… Read More

Berwick: Printed by and for W Phorson; B. Law and Son, 1793 An extremely scarce 1st edition copy. Classed as 'fair' because it is lacking the frontispiece portrait and has been rebound in a more recent (?1960's) full leather binding. HMS Pandora was sent to recover The Bounty after the famous mutiny. It sailed on 7 November 1790 and picked up 14 of the mutineers before running aground on the Great Barrier Reef. George Hamilton was the ship's surgeon and the only eye-witness to write up an account of the voyage. This copy is in newer full leather with raised bands and faintly tooled title and author to the spine. New page marker. Contents: initial blank; title page; text 161pp; blank; table of latitudes and longitudes pp 163/4; blank. Page edges are untrimmed and the text is in very good clean condition with light toning to paper. There are some interesting pieces of ephemera: a letter from a previous owner to the Daily Telegraph in 1961, telling them about the book because they had… Read More

London: Hodder and Stoughton Limited, 1924 A very good copy of the 1st edition - the 'edition du luxe' - in full gilt-decorated vellum binding, signed by Kay Nielsen. With 12 tipped-in colour plates, 16 full page black and white plates and numerous designs by Nielsen. This was Nielsen's third book illustration. He began the work in 1912 but the disruption caused by World War I meant that it was not published until 1924 - and although a beautiful production it could not afford the number of plates that embellished East of the Sun, West of the Moon, his previous work. The market for expensive illustrated gift books declined significantly after the War and Nielsen only illustrated two more works before moving to Copenhagen and working on set designs for the theatre. This book is number 119 of 500 printed. The vellum binding has bright illustration. It has some grubbiness and darkening to the spine; a slight bump to the bottom front corner; and slight marking to the back board, particularly… Read More

London : J Johnson, 1795 A very good copy of this scarce title, with 46 superb hand coloured plates. William Lewin (1747-1795) intended this work to be the first volume of 'The Insects of Great Britain' series. However he died in 1795 with only this volume completed. This is the rare first issue which has the series title page and ends 'End of Volume I'. The second issue amends the title to the 'Papilios of Great Britain' making it stand-alone. This copy is a later half vellum binding with blind stamped decoration to the buckram boards. Page edges have light marbling and the endpapers are marbled. The binding is in very good condition. There is corner wear particularly to the bottom corners, which are bumped with leather loss. Contents: title pages in French and English; half title page 'The insects of Great Britain'; text in French and English with 46 hand coloured plates; index 3pp. There are 2 mispaginations: plate 6 with text is placed after plates 7 and 8; and… Read More

London : T Cadell and W Davies; R C and J Rivington; et al, 1812 A very good set of this 20 volume edition with black and white frontispiece, 2 folding maps, and 681 hand coloured plates. With an account of Buffon's life by William Wood. It is rare to find this set with hand colouring. In contemporary full speckled calf bindings that have been rebacked to provide new spines with gilt-lined raised bands and title and volume labels. The original boards have scuffing and pitting, and there is light wear at edges and corners, but the bindings are in very good clean condition. Endpapers are marbled and some of the front pastedowns have a scuffed area indicating the removal of bookplates. 2 of the volumes have the armorial bookplate of the Right Hon. Sir Robert Peel, Bart, who was Prime Minister 1834-5. and 1841-6 and is viewed as the founder of the modern British police force. The contents are in very good condition with occasional light spotting, generally at the top margin, and offsetting from the… Read More

London : Walker and Edwards, A Richardson et al, 1816 A very good copy of the rare 2 volume 1816 edition of Malory's work. This copy has the 2 volumes bound in one in contemporary full calf, which has had a professional reback preserving the original spine. The work was first printed in 1485 by Caxton, with editions in 1498, 1529, 1557 and 1634. 2 editions were published in 1816 of which this is said to be the first. The binding, with gilt compartments and titles to spine, has some scuffing and wear to board edges and corners. There is small hole in the leather near the spine on the back board. The page edges are marbled with matching marbling to endpapers. Contents: initial blank; frontispiece; decorative title; letterpress title (with small stamped E to top); preliminary remarks, preface, prologue and contents pp v-xvi; text vol I pp 1-468; frontispiece; decorative title; letterpress title Vol II; contents i-xvi; text 1-488; final blank. The contents are in very good clean condition. The endpaper… Read More

London : Printed for the Author and for F C and J Rivington, 1806 A fair set of the final 6 volumes of Edward Donovan's beautiful work, with 216 hand coloured plates. Donovan issued the first 10 volumes in parts between 1792 and 1801. He viewed the work as finished, issuing a new title, contents pages and advert. He decided to restart the work issuing Vol XI 5 years later and completing Vol XVI in 1813. This set is in largely contemporary full leather bindings with raised bands, gilt decorative compartments, title and volume labels to spine. The boards have a delicate scroll-type decoration around the edges. All the volumes have wear to corners and edges and have varying degrees of wear to spine joints and ends. Board surfaces have some scuffing. Marbled endpapers. All volumes are complete, with 36 plates per volume. The work was issued in parts over time, so the paper quality varies with some being brown-toned or spotty. Vol XI: front hinge rebacked and spine relaid. 1806; with title; advert pp… Read More

A Paris: De L'Imprimerie Royale, 1679 A fair copy of the 1st edition of the Description de la Grotte de Versailles bound with a very good copy of the 2nd edition of Labyrinte de Versailles, in contemporary elephant folio full leather binding. La Grotte has had 5 of the 20 plates cut out, but Labyrinte is complete. The binding is sound with raised bands and title label to spine. It is very worn, with a lot of wear to corners with leather loss and to spine joints, spine ends and edges. The surface of the boards is a little rough. All page edges red. There is an old bookplate to the front pastedown endpaper - Earl Vane, from the Library of the Rev. John Vane. Contents: 3 blanks; title 1679; blank verso; Description pp 1-11; Imprimerie to verso p 11; plates 13 single and 2 double; title to Labyrinte 1697; blank verso; Description pp 3-34; blank recto with Explication du Plan du Labyrinte to verso; plate 1; fables (quatrains by Isaac Benserade) and plates (Sebastien Leclerc) on opposing pages - 78 pp, 39… Read More

London: Printed for J Jenkins by L Harrison and J C Leigh, 1815 A very good copy, complete with hand coloured vignette title, hand coloured title, hand coloured dedication to the Duke of Wellington, and 51 further hand coloured aquatints. The text paper is water marked 1812; the plate watermark is generally in the gutter but is 1835 for the ones that can be distinguished. This copy has been recently rebound in half leather with marbled boards; spine with title label and raised banding with gilt ruled lines. New endpapers. The pages have not been trimmed, so some edges are quite rough and browned. There is a signature to the initial blank. Contents: vignette title - unusually with hand coloured title; title; dedication plate (with small bottom edge tear); text dedication 2pp 1814; introduction pp v-viii (v/vi with paper repair to side and bottom edge); contents list 2pp; text to vignette title 1p; 51 plates with accompanying unpaginated text of 120pp with guards. It is lacking the 2pp subscribers'… Read More

London: Printed by R Taylor & Co; and sold by the Author, 1806 A very good to near fine copy of this very scarce work by James Sowerby with 76 fine hand coloured plates. Issued in parts, this is in a near contemporary half morocco binding with the original wraps bound in at the rear. It was produced at a time when exploration and interest in natural sciences meant that many new animal species were being identified and this journal was intended to reference those that were native to the British Isles. Only Vol I and 2 parts of Vol II were ever published - with parts initially produced monthly with 4 plates each, and then bi-monthly with 8 plates. This copy has a page apologising for late delivery of the one of the parts because some of the manuscript was stolen on the 24th January 1806. The index to the work was completed after purchase of the stock by Bernard Quaritch in May 1875. The binding has small gilt-lined raised bands to the spine with gilt design in 5 of the 6 compartments and gilt titles.… Read More

London: Printed for B White , 1776 A fair copy complete with 50 hand coloured plates in contemporary binding which has been rebacked preserving the original spine. Classed as 'fair' because text leaf 109/110 is in facsimile; there are some paper repairs; and the colouring is not as detailed and careful as it could be. The binding has a relaid decorative spine with 5 raised bands and gilt compartments - the title is in the second compartment. Boards are marbled. There is scuffing and wear at the board edges, surfaces and corners. All page edges gilted. New endpapers. Contents are complete with text in french and english on alternate pages, and 50 hand coloured plates. Text 134 pp with 2 pp of index. Contents are generally clean with the odd mark or spot. There is long stain in the gutter of p 69 where an old sticky tape repair has been removed and the original tear professionally repaired. The stain is also lightly visible on the following 2 text pages. Plate 2 has professional repair in the gutter;… Read More

London [Antwerp]: Gerard Dewes, 1578 A fair to good copy of the first English translation of Dodoens 'Cruydeboeck' (book of plants) which was published in 1554, and which was a major reference work in its time. This copy is bound in full calf with probably contemporary boards and a later spine. The spine has 5 raised bands and gilt title. There is general scuffing to the boards and wear with leather loss at the corners. The leather around the bottom corner at the front is rippled. The spine is sound and clean with some wear at the top. Endpapers look to be newer with repair at the joint. Most copies of this edition tend to be incomplete to varying degrees and with repair. This is no exception and is lacking pp 775-779 and the first 3 pages of the index. At two points, leaves from a later smaller copy have been inserted and some pages are very fragile with some loss.
In detail: title in woodcut border with a woodcut of Henry Lyte's coat of arms to the verso. This leaf has both outer corners missing… Read More

London: J M Dent and Company, 1892 A very good to near fine set of the limited large paper edition of Austen's novels illustrated by William C Cooke. 150 sets were printed, of which 100 were for England and 50 for America. This set is no 66. This edition, edited by Reginald Brimley Johnson is the first Austen edition with commentary, and the first volume of Sense and Sensibility contains a biography of the author. The set originally belonged to Andrew Pears of Spring Grove in Isleworth and has his armorial bookplate with some shelf notes to front pastedown endpaper of each volume. Andrew Pears was a member of the Pears soap family, being a great grandson of the inventor of the transparent soap, and was a Liberal politician. He was responsible for the renovation and enlargement of Spring Grove. The set is bound in a light brown buckram cloth with gilt titles to spines. The spines and board edges have darkened and the boards have some colour variation. All are sound, clean and bright with slight cocking… Read More