Results for: Biography

London: Gollancz, 1933. First edition (ie: first printing). 288pp. Contents fine (very fresh, no marks). Text block edges clean (top edge dull green, bottom edge with rub mark towards front). In the original binding of smooth black cloth, spine titled in green. Spine ends puckered and faint ridge to spine. Front bottom corner has small knock. Cloth fresh, with very slight fading to spine. An exceptionally unworn copy. Near Fine.

Price: £2,200.00

London: Thomas Cautley Newby, 1852. First printing with this title. xi, 388pp, with a frontis portrait, two plates, one folding plan, and 3 folding facsimile letters. Originally published in 1846 as The Prisoner of Ham. The last 50pp consist of notes. The first few pages have some soiling, the portrait is stained, and the two unremarkable plates are rather grey, but the contents are otherwise clean. A handwritten family tree on a large folded sheet has been accommodated in a pocket inside the back cover, and the same early owner's extensive notes on the original rear free endpaper have been bound in. Also laid in is a twist of silken baby hair, which seems likely to have the same provenance. The book was discovered disbound, with the bottom margins up to p.4 nibbled away (with no loss of text): the pages have been professionally restored, and the book is newly bound in half dark brown calf with marbled boards, gilt ruled spine with a black lettering-piece. VG.

Price: £640.00

London: printed for Henry Rhodes at the Star, the corner of Bride-lane in Fleet-street; and John Harris at the Harrow in the Poultry, 1695. First edition. Translation of Les Galanteries des rois de France. Second part titled: Inteagues [sic] of the Court of France Under the Reign of Henry III. (iv), 228, 260pp. Without the final 3 pages of advertisements. Paper darkened but contents otherwise very good. Octavo, 6.4 x 4ins, all edges gilt, in early or mid 20thC full tan calf gilt by Brentano's Paris. Marbled endpapers, boards double ruled in gilt with gilt rolled edges and dentelles, spine with five raised bands, compartments with stamped title and floral decorations in gilt. Darkened areas to lower board, a few light scuffs to upper board, spine bright. Very scarce title in very nice binding. VG+.

Price: £380.00

London: Printed by J. Bettenham, 1724. First English Edition. Ex-library copy in recent fine binding. (24), 552, (40), plus the 2 frontis portraits. Frontis and title slightly browned, upper corner of title patched, with library stamps at its base, and more stamps on the verso. Small stamps also on the backs of the two portraits, and one or two in the text. Contents otherwise very clean. 22.5 x 13.5cms, all edges red. In recent tan half calf with delicately marbled boards: spine with 5 raised bands ruled in gilt, and red lettering-piece. A very attractive copy (with the possible added interest of the library stamps). VG+.

Price: £320.00

London: John Wyat and John Hartley, 1710. First edition. [ii], xviii, 314pp, 108 (Appendix of original MSS), [v] (Table & errata): with engraved portrait frontispiece, and title page printed in red and black. Modern endpapers with transferred slightly damaged armorial bookplate (Shirley of Shirley). Pages slightly cockled and with generally unobtrusive light toning or pale foxing throughout: contents otherwise clean and unmarked. Tall quarto, 13 x 8ins, in a somewhat plain 20thC binding of maroon half morocco and pale orange cloth: spine with five raised bands ruled in gilt, and gilt title on red lettering piece. Contents very good, binding near fine.
[Heavy Item]

Price: £180.00

London: Richard Bentley, 1866. Second edition. vi, 302pp; (ii),263pp, +16 adverts. Pastedowns bear Malone armorial bookplates, with some adhesion damage to the Vol II endpaper. Faded 'Downing' ownership name on title pages. Laid in, clipping of a 1947 letter to the Sunday Times, recommending Emily Eden's 'vivid and humorous letters from India' for inclusion in the World's Classics series. Some browning or soiling affecting some pages at the front of each vol, little elsewhere. In the original bindings of red cloth, ruled in blind, spines titled in gilt, and with gilt decorations on spines and upper boards. Some soiling, corners bumped, spine ends fraying a little. A good firm set, gilt bright, and a delightful read. Very Good.

Price: £145.00

Edward Churton, London, 1841. First edition. The first edition of Burke's Knightage. xv, 216pp, with additional engraved title (slightly foxed), 4 plates, and several text illustrations. p.216 finishes with "The End" but a copy in the British Library has a further 5 pp. Slight browning of first few pages and traces of former underlining in two places, otherwise contents clean. 12mo, 6" x 4", in handsome new binding of green Victorian cloth, boards ruled in blind, spine gilt-ruled at the ends and with gilt-lettered black label. VG+.

Price: £115.00

Lewes, Sussex: Printed by W.E.Baxter, 1946. First and only edition. The author's compilation of his verse and journals written during his imprisonment by the Japanese: gritty and witty. Pastedown bears the ownership name of 'J.N.Lewis Bryan / Changi 1942-1945': [Bryan was Assistant Chaplain General in Singapore at the time of the surrender, and published his book 'The Churches of the Captivity in Malaya' in 1946.] *** 120pp, illustrated. Contents in very fresh clean condition. In the original binding of blue cloth, illustrated and titled in black: firm and clean, but with some fading. In the protected unclipped blue dust jacket: the blue has faded completely from the spine and front panel, leaving them a light brown, but the title and illustration are perfectly clear. Small chip and a few neatly repaired closed tears at head of spine. Very nice copy of a book now scarce. Very Good+ in very good dust-jacket.

Price: £95.00

A Paris: chez Brunet, 1818. First edition. (iv), x, 391; (iv), 407; (iv), 420, 2. Early Lincoln's Inn ownership name on front free endpaper and later small minimal ownership stamp on pastedown. Ffep partially detached and gutters split adjacent to endpapers, but cords firm. Some creasing and foxing to final pages (of Vol III). Contents otherwise very good. Text block edges sprinkled. Firm, in 19thC light tan half calf with marbled boards, spine ruled in gilt: rather rubbed and scuffed, but red lettering-piece bright and not affected. VG.
[Heavy Item]

Price: £85.00

London, New York: John Lane The Bodley Head, 1909. First edition thus. lviii, 483; xxviii, 485pp; xxiv, 566pp, +(vi), 16 (adverts). All vols illustrated, and vols I and II have foldout genealogical tables. Each volume has a de Kimberley armorial bookplate (Frapes Fort). Endpapers browned, some split at hinges, but boards firm. Contents otherwise clean and unmarked. In the original bindings of blue cloth, ruled in pale blue, with gilt crest bright on upper board and spine titled in gilt. Small snag half way down the lower joint of vol III and indentation near base of spine. Some darkening of spines and blunting of extremities, otherwise a very good clean firm set. VG+.
[EXTRA Heavy Item]

Price: £80.00