British History

[a2-a6]+[b-b7]+[c-c7]+[d-231]+[5] pages. Small square octavo (7 ¾" x 6 ¼") bound in full leather. Second edition.

Thomas Barlow (1607-1691) was an English academic and clergyman, who became Provost of The Queen's College, Oxford and Bishop of Lincoln. He was considered, in his own times and by Edmund Venables writing in the Dictionary of National Biography, to have been a trimmer, a reputation mixed in with his academic and other writings on casuistry. His views were in fact Calvinist and strongly anti-Catholic, and he was one of the last English bishops to identify the Pope as the Antichrist He worked in the 1660s for the 'comprehension' of nonconformists, but supported the crackdown of the mid-1680s; and declared loyalty to James II of England on his accession, having strongly supported the Exclusion Bill which would have denied the Catholic James the succession.

Pope Pius V's response to Queen Elizabeth I of England assuming governance of the Church of England included support of the… Read More

London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1910. First edition, only printing. Paperback. This is the first edition, first state of this striking, scarce, and fragile early collection of Churchill's speeches. In 1904, Churchill quit the Conservative Party and joined the Liberals, beginning a dynamic chapter in his political career that saw him champion progressive causes and be branded a traitor to his class. In 1910, when The People's Rights was published, Winston Churchill was a powerful political force and a member of the Cabinet. From December 3-11, 1909 Churchill was on the campaign trail on behalf of the Liberals. The People's Rights is a distillation of these nine days of speeches, criticizing the House of Lords (which had rejected Liberal Government's budget, thus precipitating the campaign) and championing Free Trade, a graduated income tax, luxury tax, and surtaxes on unearned income. Churchill's efforts were not wasted; as a result of the election, the Liberals would achieve a slim majority and… Read More

London: Daniel Frere to be sold at his shop at the Red Bull in Little Brittaine 1st edition first printing., 1643. Hardcover. Very Good-. Frontispiece of Charles Prince of Wales by Cor(nelius) van Dalen + fine engraved titlepage by W. Marshall with views of London, York, Lincoln & Kings etc.. Folio contemporary brown marbled calf on five raised bands with gilt directly lettered to spine (tips worn/hinges split to top & bottom compartent of front hinge but hinges still well attached & sound). Frontis portrait + engraved title + dedication leaf to Charles Prince of Wales + To reader +[5]pp of Authors used as sources + 181pp +163pp +108pp +163pp collated complete. The To Reader & Author list are Misbound at the end (signed from A2 where they should follow the dedication). The last leaves of text are correctly signed XXXX (pp161-3) last is a quarter page of text ending in FINIS. The frontis has a longitudinal crease and a corner torn away not touching either the printed area nor even the plate mark,… Read More

London printed L. Harrison & J.C. Leigh.: R. Ackermann, 1814. Hardcover. Very Good-. Hand-coloured plates (81) + uncoloured portrait of the dedicatee by Westall, Pugin, Nash, Mackenzie, Turner & Sir J. Reynolds costume plates by Unwins.. Large quarto (36x28.5cm page size/binding height 38cm) contemporary sugar paper covered boards rebacked with printed labels (tips worn & lower edge somewhat shelf worn/corners a bit bumped). Half title + coloured frontisplate + title + uncoloured Grenville portrait + dedication leaf + [vi]-xiv (subscribers & plate list) +1-xxv (the city) +275pp +[6]p index; Vol.II half title + colour frontisplate + title +262pp +[6]pp index. Without the Founders' portraits which are not called for in the plate list and which Tooley notes were 'not issued till a later date' so the book is complete without these. Some off-setting of plates to adjacent text leaves but not affecting legibility. More than a dozen plates carry the watermark of WHATMAN 1812 and most plates are uncut (ie… Read More

Few scratches on hinge, slight discoloration of cover, mild age-browning of pages, Very little foxing. Five raised bands on spine, title, author and date gilt stamped in compartments. Aspin's classic, highly specific, detailed, interesting and actually quite readable accounts of naval and military campaigns and encounters with France, Spain, Native Americans, the new United States of America during the American Revolution, wars in India, as well as conflicts with Holland, Cuba, Napoleon, the storming of Algiers and the freeing of Christian slaves, etc.. Many coloured (aquatint) plates. 3 Page edges gilded. 784 pages. A rare and handsomely bound little book in Very Good condition.

The Woman In White (1860 Harper & Brothers 1st Edition) BY WILKIE COLLINS. New York: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, 1860.[2], 260, [4, ads] pp. States 1860 on the title page. In-text illustrations by John McLenan. Publisher's dk. brown stamped heavy cardboard boards with elaborate blind-stamped Harper and Brothers cartouche on front and back boards. Ads state B. Miss Mulock spelled correctly. Ads list eleven titles, and verso advertising The Mill on the Floss [Gasson p. 160.]Used. Good- Condition: Our copy lacks its spine, otherwise in good condition and a good candidate for rebinding. Chocolate brown endpapers are in good shape. Please see our photos. Your offers are welcome here.

London: Printed for R. Scholey ... Vernor, Hood, and Sharpe ... B. Crosby & Co. ... London ; and J. Ballantyne & Co. Edinburgh, 1810. 1810-1811. Printer named in colophon ; v. 1-2, 5-6 printed by Ballantyne, v. 3-4 by Thomas Davison, London. V. 3-4 have different titlepage including the information "from Thurston's designs."(Worldcat). Scholey's large-type edition, large paper Russia extra, with engravings on copper and wood. A RARE edition, finely bound in contemporary diced calf, the backs with two ornate gilt cross decorations and two polished calf labels gilt, the covers with double gilt rules bordering blindtooled arabesques, that bordering intricate gilt stamped floral decorations, and four blindtooled floral decorations in corners marbled end papers and edges. Overall Near Fine, small rubs at corners and spine tips, some toning associated mainly with plates and at end pages, the interiors lovely and clean. A quite readable set, delightfully bound. A heavy set, please… Read More

1776. [London?]: [S.n.], 1776.. [London?]: [S.n.], 1776. Account of a Notorious Case of Election Bribery Bound with Several Related Items [Trial]. Sykes, Francis [1730-1804], Defendant. The Trial of the Cause on the Action Brought by Hans Wintrop Mortimer, Esq; Member for the Borough of Shaftesbury, Against Francis Sykes, Esq; For Bribery Committed at Shaftesbury, Previous to the General Election, In October, 1774. Tried by a Special Jury, On Saturday the 27th of July, 1776. At the Assize Held at Dorchester for the County of Dorset, Before The Honourable Sir James Eyre, One of the Barons of His Majesty's Court of Exchequer. [London?]: [S.n.], 1776. 19, [1] pp. Main text in parallel columns. Two later tipped-in leaves of notes, affixed to one of these leaves are a contemporary account of the trial and a section of a letter in Mortimer's hand, tipped-in contemporary 21" x 14" mezzotint by an unknown artist, The Shaftesbury Election or the Humours of Punch (1775), additional annotations about the… Read More

CHURCHILL "BUYS" BALFOUR A CAR!CHURCHILL, WINSTON S. "Confidential" typed letter signed by "Winston S. Churchill" as Chancellor of the Exchequer, with the name of the recipient "Bran" and part of the date "13" handwritten by Churchill.One page with the blind-stamped stationery "Treasury Chambers, Whitehall, S.W.," dated August 13, 1928. 4to.The letter concerns funds that Churchill raised to purchase a car and cover living expenses for former Prime Minister Arthur Balfour: "The subscription list is the Balfour Testimonial Fund being now closed. I feel that you, who so kindly subscribed to that fund, will like to know how much was subscribed and to what purpose it has been put. The total amount received from members of both Houses of Parliament was £4,918.6.6. [~$450,000 in 2021] The car has been paid for and the balance has been handed to Lord Balfour to be used for his personal benefit in any way he may think fit. I may add that I have received from him a letter expressing his grateful thanks to the… Read More

London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1899. First edition, first printing. Hardcover. This is the first edition, first printing, of Churchill's second published work, the lengthiest from his time as an itinerant cavalry officer and war correspondent during the waning days of Queen Victoria’s reign. This first edition is not only compellingly written, but also physically beautiful. The two large, lavish volumes are decorated with gilt representations of the Mahdi's tomb on the spines and a gunboat on the front covers. Each volume is printed on heavy paper with a profusion of illustrations, maps, and plans. They are also scarce; there were 2,000 copies of this first edition, first printing. Moreover, this is one of the few Churchill books for which there was no concurrent U.S. first edition. This first edition, first printing is an unrestored, intact set in the striking, original bindings. Condition is very good. The bindings do show overall scuffing and wear to extremities, including wrinkled spine… Read More

A New and Complete System of Universal Geography; Describing Asia, Africa, Europe, and America; with their Subdivisions of Republics, States, Empires and Kingdoms; the Extent, Boundaries, and Remarkable Appearances of each Country; Cities, Towns, and Curiosities of Nature and Art. [1798, 1800, 1799, 1799 sequentially]Also giving a general account of the Fossil and Vegetable Productions of the Earth, the History of Man, in all Climates, Regions, and Conditions; Customs, Manners, Laws, Governments, and Religions; the State of Arts, Sciences, Commerce, Manufactures, and Knowledge...To Which is Added, A View of Astronomy, as Connected with Geography; Of the Planetary System to Which the Earth Belongs; ...with a Copious Index annexed to each volume, Being a large and comprehensive Abridgement of Universal Geography.By John Payne. with Additional Corrections and Improvements from the Latest and Best Authors. by James Hardie, A.M. Author of Principles of Latin Grammar, the American Remembrances, and… Read More

London: Printed for Henry Sampson Woodfall in Pater Noster Row, 1773. Small octavo. Two volumes. Leather bound in full period calf unlettered with gilt fillets. Rubbing to corners and minor spotting and toning throughout, else near-fine.. A superb copy of the collected edition of the Junius Letters. Originally published in the London Public Advertiser from January 21, 1769 to January 21, 1772 under the pseudonym "Junius," the so-called "Junius Letters" were polemical letters directed to, and highly critical of, the government of King George III. In the letters, Junius poured brilliant and slanderous invective upon Tory-minded English ministers on account of various public policies that allegedly ruined England and drove the American colonies toward rebellion. The letters were widely regarded as polemical masterpieces by English and American observers, and they were widely reprinted in English and colonial newspapers, lending moral support to the early revolutionary cause in America. Among other… Read More

Worcester: Printed by Isaiah Thomas, Jun. sold by him and by Mathew Carey, Philadelphia; also by the various Booksellers throughout the United States, 1802. First US edition. Two volumes. Modern calf-backed marbled boards. Some browning of text, generally light. Contemporary signature of "Jos. Allen" on titles. Enclosed in an open-end cloth case.. The first American edition of Montesquieu's (1689-1755) classic work of political theory that helped form the American Constitution. Montesquieu first published The Spirit of Laws in 1748 in his native France (as De l'esprit des loix) anonymously, in part because his works were subject to censorship. The book became recognized for its pioneering work on political theory and comparative law, and was rapidly translated into other languages and published throughout Europe. Thomas Nugent, the influential Irish historian and travel writer, published the first English translation in 1750, but in 1751 the Roman Catholic Church placed the work on its Index… Read More

Worcester: Printed by Isaiah Thomas, Jun. sold by him and by Mathew Carey, Philadelphia; also by the various Booksellers throughout the United States, 1802. First US edition. Two volumes bound as one. Contemporary calf. Re-backed, new endpapers, hole in upper margin of title and adjacent leaves, tear on final leaf affecting a few letters, browning and offsetting to pages. Enclosed in an open-end case of brown cloth with leather tips.. The first American edition of Montesquieu's (1689-1755) classic work of political theory that helped form the American Constitution. Montesquieu first published The Spirit of Laws in 1748 in his native France (as De l'esprit des loix) anonymously, in part because his works were subject to censorship. The book became recognized for its pioneering work on political theory and comparative law, and was rapidly translated into other languages and published throughout Europe. Thomas Nugent, the influential Irish historian and travel writer, published the first English… Read More

Lami Denozan. Paris. 1826. FIRST EDITION. Oblong 4to. (13.8 x 9.8 inches). Illustrated with 12 fine hand coloured lithographs, engraved by de Villain. A complete copy with the 12 plates and printed brown paper front wrapper and plain rear one mounted onto tabs and bound in a late 20th century half dark red cloth binding with gilt lettering to the spine. Marbled paper on boards. Plain off-white endpapers. A previous owner's small attractive colour printed bookplate on front pastedown. Some spotting to the leaves but mainly in the plain margins. Overall a very good copy of this scarce and attractive work. --------- Starting with the Artist's rough crossing of the Channel and stage coach from Dover, The London scenes include Pall-Mall, Westminster Abbey, A Horse race, Boxing match, and Boat race. ----- The sketches for this work were drawn during Lami's first visit to England in 1826. '.... a set of a dozen delicately hand coloured lithographs. These were intended as a memento for for tourists from the… Read More