Idle Browse

London: Thames and Hudson, 1988. First UK edition. 22pp of text followed by the 95 superb colour photographs. Contents fresh, clean and unmarked. Oblong quarto, in the original binding of russet cloth, clean, bright and firm, with slight compression at head of spine. In unclipped (unpriced) pictorial dust jacket, bright and clean, with one or two tiny scuffs at extremities. Near Fine.
[Heavy Item]

Price: £48.00

London: Adam and Charles Black, 1905. First edition. xvi, 261pp, followed by a folding map and (6) pages of advertisements. An enthusiastically but carefully owned copy. Two quite characterful ink gift inscriptions on title page, dated 1906 and 1933. Small ink marginal 'x' in preface margin, and index at back has small notes, all but one in pencil. Occasional faint foxing. Contents otherwise clean and unmarked. In the original highly-decorated deep maroon cloth, done in gilt, red, and green, with peacocks set within an oriental arcade and surmounted by fans. Front bright, spine slightly faded, ends slightly puckered and nicked, extremities scuffed: firm and clean.

Price: £85.00

London: Chatto & Windus, 1891. First edition. xiv, 326pp, with a map by F.S. Weller and 92 illustrations after drawings by R. Hellgrewe and Klein-Chevalier. Light foxing to endpapers, and early ink ownership name and WHSmith library blindstamp on front free endpaper, but no other sign of library ownership or use. The coloured map has slight creasing at one fold with a little soiling on the back, but otherwise it is, as is all the rest of the book, remarkably clean and fresh. In the original orange-brown pictorial cloth, illustrated in brown and lettered in gilt, a little dulled, but with very little soiling, and slight blunting to the extremities. Very Good+.

Price: £180.00

London, Sampson, Low, Son, & Co., 1862. First Edition. xi (actually xiii pp), 308pp: with a folding map of India (hand-coloured to show the Presidencies, Provinces and Protected States), two folding tables, and a number of tables in the text. Lacking the second map, of 'Euphrates route to India via Kurachee' (and no sign of it having been present). Front endpaper and half-title stained, and some soiling to pages at the fold-outs: map very good with one small repair: small repair to rear endpaper. A vigorous and densely informative history and account of British India, including a wide-ranging economic and demographic survey, with an exhortation for Britain to shoulder her enormous responsibility to create a more just rule in India in the aftermath of the Mutiny. Octavo, in original red pebble cloth, patterned in blind, spine lettered in gilt: binding firm, slight wear to extremities, spine darkened with a small chip at the head, stain to lower board. G+. Scarce.

Price: £180.00

Henry Colburn & Richard Bentley, London 1830. Second Edition. << Odd vol, in new binding: includes the plates for vol II >>. xvii, list of plates, folding map of Persia, 26 plates, 508pp. The plates are listed as belonging at the beginning of each chapter: they have been bound in at the beginning of the book and are not in sequence, but constitute the full complement for both volumes of the work (17 for Vol I, 9 for Vol II). Some soiling and staining and damage to edges up to p.viii. The map is in good order. Good print and paper and text generally clean, but there is occasional light soiling throughout, and a little minor foxing. Fore- and lower edges uncut and slightly dusty, top edge levelled. Handsome new quarter-cloth binding, ruled buff boards, spine green with gilt lettering.

Price: £180.00

London: printed for Lupton Relfe, 1822. First edition. vii,(1), 320pp, with a portrait frontis. Lacks half-title. Staining to frontis and title page. Contents otherwise in very good order with very occasional minor foxing. All edges with 19thC marbling. In new green Victorian cloth, spine ruled in gilt and black letterpiece lettered in gilt. Very nice copy. .

Price: £550.00

Geneva: ISO: International Standards Organization, 1988. First edition. vii, 547pp, with many diagrams. Very clean fresh copy, appears unused, in the original bright red pictorial softcover. Fine.

Price: £40.00

Published for Ransomes & Rapier Ltd by W.S.Cowell Ltd, Ipswich, n.d. [c.1950]. First Edition. 112pp, with many illustrations. Very sprightly account of the fascinating range of cranes, excavators, railways, sluices, guns etc produced at the works. Thumb marks to a few pages but generally very clean. Quarto, in the original grey-green cloth lettered in red: slight browning to spine, otherwise clean and firm. VG. Scarce.

Price: £60.00

[Publisher not stated]: printed by Silk & Terry Ltd, London and Birm., [1919]. Presumed only edition (date given by Steward). 23pp, preceded by 6 portrait photographs of the prime movers (Stokes (inventor of the Stokes Gun), F.H.Crittall, Mawdsley Brooke, H.S.Jefferies, P.A.Sanders & W.H.Scott), and followed by 12 photographs of the factories and production areas in Ipswich. Title page printed in black and red, and the text pages printed black with a red border. With a list of the Members of the East Anglian Munitions Committee, and a list of the Firms in the Area who Worked for the Committee (42 are listed, including Ransomes, Garrett, Girling, Boby, Crittall, Boulton & Paul, Marconi, and the National Steam Car Co.). While mostly concerned with the production of shells, credit is given to the various firms for the production of flying machines, ball bearings etc, and included is a summary to highlight the primacy of East Anglia's contribution to munitions production. Some very minor browning to endpapers, a little very faint foxing to some text pages. Very clean. In original brown paper-surfaced printed boards, ruled in blind, with a cloth spine. A little light scuffing and discolouration to edges. Very fresh copy. VG+. Scarce. [Steward 836]

Price: £120.00

Calcutta: Johnston & Hoffmann, n.d. [c.1910?] Presumed first and only edition. As issued, with no title page, publication details or text pages. 22 photographs, clear and unfaded, each mounted recto on heavy card page with printed caption. Includes street, factory and harbour scenes. Plain paper endpapers. Very faint browning to page edges, otherwise contents very clean. Landscape quarto, in the original binding of three-quarter navy buckram with green cloth boards titled in gilt. Boards firm, bright and clean, with 3 small indentations on front, and spine ends slightly puckered. Johnston & Hoffmann (elsewhere spelt Hoffman) were notable photographers, with a studio in Calcutta. [Volume I, Cultivation and Preparation, also available]. Near Fine.

Price: £180.00

London: Ransomes and Rapier Ltd: 1901. Presumed first and only edition. xiii, 107pp + (ii) adverts, followed by two sheets of squared paper bound between the final blank leaves. With many photographs. Smudges at pp.vi & vii, contents otherwise clean and unmarked. Quarto, with black endpapers, firm in the original binding of red cloth over bevelled boards lettered in gilt. Front bright with a little sunning, spine slightly dulled, extremities slightly bumped. Very Good.

Price: £160.00

Cassell, London, 1958. First Edition. xii, 116pp, illustrated with photographs, maps, diagrams and tables. Contents very clean. In original blue cloth-textured binding lettered in silver, bright and firm, bottom edge of lower board slightly knocked. In price-clipped pictorial dustjacket, some soiling to the back, a nearly-invisible repaired one-inch closed tear to the front, and slight scuffing to the edges. Near-Fine/ VG.

Price: £25.00

Scope Books, Horndean, 1991. First Edition. (ii), 150pp. Contents very fresh, appears unread. Quarto, in padded maroon faux leather lettered in gilt, clean, bright and firm. Fine copy.

Price: £32.00

California: Willing Publishing Co [and Fowler, UK], 1960. First edition. 213pp. SIGNED 'Blessings / Joseph Murphy' on front free endpaper. Fowler (UK distributor)'s small label on title page. Contents otherwise very clean and fresh and unmarked. In the original light brown cloth binding, lettered in gilt, extremities slightly blunted, gilt slighty tarnished, but clean, bright and firm. In protected unclipped red dust jacket, with slight fading to spine and slight scuffing to edges. Very Good+.

Price: £30.00

London: L.N. Fowler & Co, n.d. [1956]. New and Enlarged Edition. (iv), 185pp. Some browning to endpapers. Contents otherwise very clean and fresh and unmarked. In the original blue cloth titled in gilt, gilt slightly dulled, short scratch mark on front, otherwise firm, clean and sharp. In protected unclipped dust jacket with foxing, chiefly to spine. Very Good+.

Price: £35.00

West Hoathly and London: Derricke Ridgway, 1953. First edition. 95pp with a foreword by Claude Bragdon. Author was a Rosicrucian Supreme Magus. Ten of the pages have a few pencil underlinings or marginal marks. Contents otherwise very clean. Closed fore-edge has some faint foxing. In the original binding of green cloth lettered in black, very clean and firm, with slight sunning to bottom edge. In protected unclipped dustwrapper: quite bright, with a little minor soiling and knocking to edges, spine slightly browned: no tears or chips. Endorsement from P.D. Ouspensky's first translator on front flap, and early advertisement for L.Ron Hubbard's Self-Analysis in Dianetics on back panel. Very Good.

Price: £45.00

[Army Mountaineering Association?], [1997]. Apparently first and only edition. 80pp, with illustrations in black and white and colour. Many enthusiastic accounts. Very nicely produced A5 booklet in green softcovers printed with AMA insignia and lettered in gilt. Paperclip impression at top of cover and first page, otherwise unblemished. Near-Fine. Scarce.

Price: £40.00

Gollancz, London, 1972. First Edition. 304pp + many monochrome photographs, and with map endpapers. Contents very fresh and unmarked, could be unread. Ward is credited with having discovered the southern route to the summit of Everest which led to it's successful conquest. Text block edges have faint specks of foxing, but not penetrating the page edges. In original blue cloth-textured binding lettered in gilt, very bright and clean, head of spine slightly knocked. In unclipped pictorial dustwrapper, clean and bright, slightly knocked at head of spine. A very nice copy. Near-Fine/Near-Fine.

Price: £68.00

London: Routledge, n.d. [1932] Presumed first and only edition. xvi [including 6pp of introduction (anonymous) and 6pp of Prof Matthias' notes] followed by the 58 plates (photographer also anonymous). Endpapers lightly foxed, contents otherwise fresh and clean. Remarkably clean and fresh in the original grey paper boards with patterned paper labels to front and spine. The protected unclipped lightly soiled pictorial dustjacket has a closed 2cm tear to one edge, some fraying at the corners, slight knocks to the edges, and a crease to the inner front flap. [Frick was a Swiss actor who in later life played Hitler in a number of films.] Rare item, nice copy. Near Fine.

Price: £100.00

Gale & Polden, London and Aldershot, n.d. (c.1910?). Second Edition. 38pp + portrait frontis, followed by 8pp of adverts (illustrated). Publisher's list pasted onto front pastedown. Laid in is the 25" sq folded chart illustrated with photographs: slightly creased and repaired and with a spot of old glue on the back at one corner. Octavo, pictorial red cloth softcover, tight, bright and clean: upper corner knocked, affecting pages. VG.

Price: £30.00

Longmans, Green, and Co., London, 1907. Very bright fresh copy with damp mark to cloth edge. New Impression (late reprint). xiii, (ii), 304pp, illustrated with tissue-guarded photographs. Contents clean and tight. Pastedown bears armorial bookplate of Ampthill, and the name stamp is on the half-title. In Badminton Library livery: colours of boards and spine are rich and strong, the gilt bright. The spine ends are puckered. The bottom edges of both boards have a pale mark from former damp. VG+

Price: £70.00

London: Herbert Jenkins, 1966. First edition. 151pp, with plans in the text and frontis, and interspersed with several pages of photographs. Contents clean and fresh and unmarked. In the original blue cloth-textured binding lettered in gilt, clean, bright, sharp and firm, with very minor compression to base of spine. Unclipped pictorial dustjacket bright, with slight knocks to edges and a few minor marks. Near Fine.

Price: £60.00

London: John Murray, 1939. First edition. xxii, 254pp, plus a frontis, 7 pages of photographs, a facsimile of 2 charts, and a map on turquoise paper. Ownership name and address on front free endpaper, contents otherwise clean. Firm, in the original binding of light green cloth, faded at the spine. An engagingly rebellious tale. Very Good.

Price: £35.00

London: Cape, 1937. First edition. 256pp, with many photographs, a small foldout map, and a folding plan at the back. Soiling between half-title and back of frontis, faint foxing and faint diagonal crease to prelims, contents otherwise clean and fresh. In the original binding of blue cloth, spine lettered in mauve, spine ends slightly puckered, clean, bright and firm. In protected unclipped pictorial dust jacket with small bookseller's stamp to inner flap. Slightly rubbed and soiled, spine ends frayed, joints and edges scuffed. Scarce in jacket. Very Good.

Price: £40.00

London: John Lane The Bodley Head, 1930. First edition. vi, 311pp + (8) adverts. With 2 folding maps and many photographs, including a frontis. With two early ownership names on front free endpaper, and Book Society bookplate on pastedown. Contents otherwise very clean and fresh. Red top edge to text block. In the original binding of black cloth, with lettering and border decoration in russet. Slight ridge down centre of spine and slight puckering to head, and faint pocking to black surface on lower board. Clean and firm, a very nice copy. VG+.

Price: £120.00