EXCITING STORIES OF LONDON SOCIETY. New York: 1869. Red Cloth. 570 pp. B/w woodcut ills. Worn red cover with stamped rules front and back, gilt title on spine. Spine is torn several places. Corners bumped and frayed. Yellow eps. Front hinge going. Harry A. Merrill of Bangor, Maine has written his name and address five different places in this book. Contains reprints from the periodical "London Society," with great illustrations, some verse. Good
[Book #3451]       Price: $35.00   Ask a Question

THE MERMAID SERIES. JOHN DRYDEN. PART TWO. London: Ernest Benn Black Paper Over Boards. 422 pp. Nd. Black cover with lightly foxed front paste-down label. Spine not present, though bindings are holding. Corners worn. Pages aged. Front eps foxed, shadow on rear eps. The Mermaid Series comprises literal reproductions of original plays with etched frontispieces. Each vol. contains biographical sketch of playwright(s). Handsomely printed and embellished. Plays in this volume are All for Love, The Spanish Friar, Albion and Albanius, and Don Sebastian. Good
[Book #5697]       Price: $16.00   Ask a Question

THE MERMAID SERIES. PHILIP MASSINGER. PART II. London: Ernest Benn Black Paper Over Boards. 469 pp. Nd. Black cover with front paste-down label, lightly foxed. Spine with aged paper label is laid inside the front cover, though bindings are holding. Pages aged. The Mermaid Series comprises literal reproductions of original plays with etched frontispieces. Each vol. contains biographical sketch of playwright(s). Handsomely printed and embellished. Plays in this volume are The Roman Actor, The Fatal Dowry, The Guardian, The Virgin-Martyr, and Believe as You List. Good
[Book #5693]       Price: $16.00   Ask a Question

THE MERMAID SERIES. SIR JOHN VANBRUGH. London: Ernest Benn Black Paper Over Boards. 501 pp. Nd. Black cover with lightly foxed front paste-down label. Spine w/aged paper label is detached from back cover, holding at most of the front. Bindings are holding. Pages aged. The Mermaid Series comprises literal reproductions of original plays with etched frontispieces. Each vol. contains biographical sketch of playwright(s). Handsomely printed and embellished. Plays in this volume are The Relapse. The Provok'd Wife, The Confederacy, and A Journey to London. Book also includes a fold-out Genealogical table for Vanbrugh and a 45-page essay on him by Leigh Hunt. Good
[Book #5698]       Price: $20.00   Ask a Question

THE MERMAID SERIES. THOMAS MIDDLETON. 2 VOLS. London: T. Fisher Unwin Black Paper Over Boards. 453 pp, 485 pp.. Nd. Black cover with front paste-down label. Spines have similar labels, aged. Bindings tight. Eps shadowed. The Mermaid Series comprises literal reproductions of original plays with etched frontispieces. Each vol. contains biographical sketch of playwright(s). Handsomely printed and embellished. Plays in these volumes are: A Trick to Catch the Old One; The Changeling; A Chaste Maid in Cheapside; Women Beware Women; The Spanish Gipsy; The Roaring Girls; The Witch; A Fair Quarrel; The Mayor of Queensborough; and The Widow. Very Good
[Book #5700]       Price: $45.00   Ask a Question

THE MERMAID SERIES. WILLIAM CONGREVE. London: T. Fisher Unwin Black Paper Over Boards. 486 pp. B/w frontis. Black cover with front paste-down label. Spine had pasted-on label, which is now chipped and aged. Bindings tight. The Mermaid Series comprises literal reproductions of original plays with etched frontispieces. Each vol. contains biographical sketch of playwright(s). Handsomely printed and embellished. Plays in this volume are The Old Bachelor, The Double-Dealer, Love for Love, The Way of the World, and The Mourning Bride. Good
[Book #5690]       Price: $25.00   Ask a Question

Addison, Joseph, and Steele. THE WORKS OF THE LATE RIGHT HONOURABLE JOSEPH ADDISON, ESQ; IN FOUR VOLUMES. London: Printed for Jacob Tonson 1730. Full-Leather. Stated Second Edition. 537, 538, 579, 555 pp. B/w frontis portrait by G. Kneller. Full calf covers show wear at corners and around spines, but are in extraordinary condition for their age. Banded spines have gilt decorations. Vol. 1 with red leather title, volume blocks. In other volumes, these labels have been removed and are laid in. Spine ends eroding and hinges are cracked. Each volume contains the armorial bookplate of Ireland's Earl of Portarlington's Emo Park Library. Inside the first volume is pasted a listing from a catalog of this set, with this information. Written on each front pastedown is "U-7." In each book the hinges are reinforced inside with gray cloth tape, front and back. Contents are uniformly foxed, with all bindings tight. Nice tailpieces on many chapters. At the end of Vol. I three sets of medals are illustrated. Near Very Good
[Book #10172]       Price: $750.00   Ask a Question

Addison, Joseph, Esq. and Steel, Richard. THE SPECTATOR (8 Volumes). London: J. And R. Tonson and S. Draper 1753. Full Leather. First Edition. 324, 336, 314, 303, 301,305, 333, 300 pp. B/w frontises and t.p. portraits. A vintage set in original calf, edgeworn to various degrees. Raised bands on spines with dark red title blocks and black volume # blocks. Edge and inside gilt dentelles mostly eroded, but occasionally visible. All volumes seem to have original green ribbon marker present; all signed on first blank by p.o. Intermittent foxing throughout. Vol. 1 has an early signature loose. Vol. 3 has been nibbled at lower front corner into the first 70 pps. No incursion into text, but cover is unsightly. Ffep missing. Vols. 4-8 particularly tight and unworn. The set covers the years of No. 1, March 1, 1710 to No. 635 December 20, 1714. Very Good / No Jacket
[Book #10825]       Price: $400.00   Ask a Question

Bell, Currer (Bronte, Charlotte). JANE EYRE, AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY; SHIRLEY; VILLETTE. New York: Harper & Brothers 1848. Hardcover. First Edition. First American Edition. 174 pp, 206 pp, 184 pp. Three titles bound as one. Recent terra-cotta cloth. Gilt title on spine (only Jane Eyre.) New sage green marbled eps. Pencil ownership on title page Jane Eyre. Other copyrights are 1850, Shirley; 1853, Villette. Interior is uniformly lightly foxed. Perfectly readable. Each book starts w/ title page, ends at end of text, therefore no advertising. Very Good / No Jacket
[Book #4777]       Price: $1,250.00   Ask a Question

Blanchard, Laman, Esq., Editor. GEORGE CRUIKSHANK'S OMNIBUS. London: Bell & Daldy 1869. Half Leather. As. 300 pp. 78 woodcuts; 22 etchings on steel. Green cover has black leather spine and corners, set off by gilt rules. Five raised bands on spine, with gilt lettering and block design. Spine has wear at upper end, one chip below title block. Minor edgewear all around, with bumped corners. Hinges just starting, still tight. All edges gilt. Gray eps. Frontis page separating. Penciled name on verso frontis. A clean, nicely bound copy of a British treasure. Very Good / No Jacket
[Book #4395]       Price: $200.00   Ask a Question

Butler, Samuel, Esq. A FIRST YEAR IN CANTERBURY SETTLEMENT & OTHER EARLY ESSAYS. London: Jonathan Cape 1923. Black Cloth. 272 pp. Black cloth cover has ivory label on spine, printed in black and accented with red. Touches of creases to spine ends Gray unclipped dj lettered in black on front, back, and spine. Spine sunned. A small spot at upper front edge appears to be wite-out. Light edgewear to dj, which is in protective cover. Free eps show shadow where jacket has lain. Contents clean and tight, with a touch of age. Edited by R.A. Streatfeild, this is, according to intro, a new edition of Butler's earliest book plus some of his early essays, in effect offering a "tolerably complete record of Butler's literary activity up to the days of Erewhon.". Very Good / Very Good
[Book #10854]       Price: $80.00   Ask a Question

Chalmers, Alexander, Biographer. THE BRITISH ESSAYISTS; WITH PREFACES, HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL. VOL. XVII. London: J. Johnson et al 1808. Half Leather. Presumed First. 335 pp. B/w frontis portrait. Lovely green/black marbled boards with leather spine & corners set off by bright gilt rules. there is a small (less than 1/2") ink blot to lower front cover, some age visible at corners. Slight edgewear - really minimal for its age. Spine has gilt bands, designs, and title. Spine scuffed with some chipping in center. There is some wear at joints and front hinge is starting. Book edges stained dark blue. Eps clean, with just touches of age at edges. A printed bookplate on front paste-down. Binding tight; frontis and tissue guard foxed. Contents only intermittently foxed. Essays from The Guardian, No. 55-122, by Berkeley, Parnell, Steele, Pope, Addison, and Wotton. For other volumes of this series, see our books # 005076, 009256, 009261, 009262, 009263, and 009264. Very Good
[Book #9256]       Price: $45.00   Ask a Question

Chalmers, Alexander, Biographer. THE BRITISH ESSAYISTS; WITH PREFACES, HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL. VOL. XXXII. London: Nichols, Son and Bentley et al 1817. Leather. Presumed First. 244 pp. Contains "Connoisseur No. 94 - 140." Leather cover is chipped about 1" square on front, aged a bit at edges. Spine has gilt bands, designs, and titles in darker title blocks. Spine age-darkened and soiled, with upper title block chipped. Leather separating at hinges. Gilt dentelles on three sides, with top edges aged. Corners rubbed. Eps foxed. Fep has small library bookplate. There is a neat p.o. in ink at upper edge of t.p. Binding tight; contents seldom foxed. Ribbon marker intact, still bright. For other volumes of this series, see our books # 005076, 009256, 009261, 009262, 009263, and 009264. Very Good
[Book #9262]       Price: $45.00   Ask a Question