ASH RARE BOOKS - ANTIQUARIAN RARE AND FINE BOOKS - FIRST EDITIONS - ANTIQUE MAPS AND PRINTS

Antiquarian, rare and fine books at Ash Rare Books

ASH RARE BOOKS
43 HURON ROAD
LONDON SW17 8RE
UNITED KINGDOM

Tel: (+44)-(0)20-8672-2263
e-mail: books@ashrare.com


VISITORS BY APPOINTMENT ONLY

CATALOGUE 87 : A SUMMER SELECTION
JUNE 2008

CLICK REFRESH/RELOAD TO ENSURE YOU HAVE THE UPDATED VERSION OF THIS PAGE

SKELETONS AND CUPBOARDS.

ARNOLD, Ralph (Ralph Crispian Marshall), 1906-1970 : SKELETONS AND CUPBOARDS.

London : William Heinemann, (1952). First British edition. Inscribed, signed and dated (1952) by Ralph Arnold. A stylish murder mystery with an English country-house setting from the writer-publisher.
Crown 8vo (19cm). [iv],(224)pp. Original black cloth, blocked and lettered across spine in gilt, blocked in blind on lower cover; gilt on spine faded; some spotting, mainly of edges; a good and sound copy in the dust-jacket - a pictorial design by C. W. Bacon in blue and black on white - price-clipped, lightly worn, with neatly repaired tears and mild discolouration on lower panel. Hubin p.14.

SOLD

THE DANCE OF DEATH.

AUDEN, W.H. (Wystan Hugh), 1907-1973 : THE DANCE OF DEATH.

London : Faber & Faber, (1933). First edition : [one of 1,200 copies]. "We present to you this evening a picture of the decline of a class, of how its members dream of a new life, but secretly desire the old, for there is death inside them ...".
Demy 8vo. (38),[ii]pp. Original green boards, lettered on upper cover and spine in black; very lightly rubbed at foot; a few faint marks; endpapers a little tanned, but a very good copy of a fragile early Auden, in the original dust-jacket - a typographic design in black and red on bright green - very faintly rubbed and just slightly nicked, but very good indeed. Bloomfield & Mendelson A4.

SOLD

ANOTHER TIME : POEMS.

AUDEN, W.H. (Wystan Hugh), 1907-1973 : ANOTHER TIME : POEMS.

New York : Random House, (1940). First edition : [one of just 1,500 copies]. One of the finest and most celebrated collections of poetry of the twentieth century, including the first appearance in book form of "Lay your sleeping head, my love ...", "Musée des Beaux Arts", "Spain 1937", "In Memory of W.B.Yeats", "September 1, 1939", "Funeral Blues", etc. "Certainly his best collection of poems ... Auden was for many of us the last poet we learnt by heart" (Cyril Connolly).
Demy 8vo. [x],114,[iv]pp. Original terrcaotta cloth, blocked on upper cover and lettered down spine in gilt; a touch dulled; mild tanning to the endpapers; very faint browning to edges, but a very good copy in the dust-jacket - a design in black and tan on cream - lightly worn, a little tanned and very slightly soiled, with a tiny splash at foot of spine and two short tears at foot of upper panel. Bloomfield & Mendelson A22a. Connolly (Modern Movement) 90.

SOLD

PETER AND WENDY.

BARRIE, J.M. (Sir James Matthew), 1860-1937 : PETER AND WENDY.

London : Hodder & Stoughton, [1911]. First edition. The first full version of the Peter Pan legend - Barrie turning his as yet unpublished stage success into a novel. Illustrated with plates by Francis Donkin Bedford (1864-1954).
Foolscap 4to. (viii),(268)pp. Frontispiece, pictorial title and eleven plates by Bedford. Bound in a stylish recent half green morocco; original cloth spine and front panel (with Bedford's designs) preserved at rear; some occasional mild spotting, but a very good copy.

SOLD

SALLY GO ROUND THE MOON.

BATES, H.E. (Herbert Ernest), 1905-1974 : SALLY GO ROUND THE MOON.

London : White Owl Press, 1932. First edition. A presentation copy, inscribed and signed to F. G. Robinson by H. E. Bates. "Phoebe Bonner stood watching the sunset over the roofs of London. She was frying, at the same time, a kipper ...".
Demy 8vo. [viii],42,[vi]pp. Original beige canvas-backed brown boards, lettered up spine in brown; edges spotted, but a very good, bright and sound copy in the original dust-jacket - a bold design in black and yellow - just a little used, faintly creased and slightly nicked. Eads A15.

SOLD

THE SECRET OF SCOTLAND YARD : A MYSTERY.

BAYLY, A. Eric : THE SECRET OF SCOTLAND YARD : A MYSTERY.

London : Sands & Co., 1900. First edition. A rare, early and entertaining murder mystery which opens with a young "unofficial investigator" in an office off Fenchurch Street.
Crown 8vo. viii,(240),[viii]pp. Original pictorial cloth, blocked in black, yellow and grey in an atmospheric design of watcher by the window, the rooftops of London beyond; some light wear and a few marks; mild tanning of endpapers; a little shaken and slack; a few minor marks and creases, but otherwise a very good copy of a highly difficult title.

£200

To confirm availability and to purchase this book please note the stock number 34816 and go to the database. Enter the number in the stock/order number box - press the search button - and a shopping basket should appear. Or simply call us or e-mail books@ashrare.com.

THE OLD WIVES' TALE : A NOVEL.

BENNETT, Arnold (Enoch Arnold), 1867-1931 : THE OLD WIVES' TALE : A NOVEL.

London : Chapman & Hall, 1908. First edition : a presentation copy, with the publishers' "presentation" blind-stamp and their "with the author's compliments" slip bound in.
Crown 8vo. viii,578pp. Bound in an elegant full red mid twentieth-century morocco, banded and gilt, by Sangorski & Sutcliffe; all edges gilt; just a touch dulled and with a few faint little scuffs; slight tanning of endpapers; but a very good copy of a notoriously difficult title. Emery 30.

SOLD

LILIAN.

BENNETT, Arnold (Enoch Arnold), 1867-1931 : LILIAN.

London : Cassell & Co., (1922). First edition. Beautiful Mayfair typist - "created for pleasure and affection and expensive flattery" - swept away on a tide of passion - London, Paris, the Riviera.
Crown 8vo. [2],viii,(242)pp. Original olive green cloth, ruled and lettered in dark brown; lightly bruised and a few faint marks, but a very good, clean and sound copy in the striking original dust-jacket - a pictorial design by "Michael" - redhead in hat watched by man behind curtain - lightly used and with a few nicks and short tears, but clean, complete and highly attractive. Emery 23.

SOLD

To confirm availability and to purchase this book please note the stock number 34371 and go to the database. Enter the number in the stock/order number box - press the search button - and a shopping basket should appear. Or simply call us or e-mail books@ashrare.com.

ST. MARY-LE-STRAND.

BETJEMAN, John (Sir John), 1906-1984 : ST. MARY-LE-STRAND.

[London] : Privately Printed, [ca.1977]. First edition. A broadside poem of twenty lines in honour of the famous old church in the Strand, signed by Betjeman in his frail hand of old age, and published from his address at 29 Radnor Walk. Undated, but presumably related to Betjeman's fund-raising campaign for the church launched in 1977.
Single sheet of imitation parchment paper, printed in black on recto only. 296 x 206mm (approx. 11-5/8" x 8-1/8"). Illustration. Two tiny spots at head, but otherwise in very good and clean state.

£125

To confirm availability and to purchase this item please note the stock number 34635 and go to the database. Enter the number in the stock/order number box - press the search button - and a shopping basket should appear. Or simply call us or e-mail books@ashrare.com.

A MAPP OF ST. ANDREWS HOLBORN PARISH : AS WELL WITHIN THE LIBERTY AS WITHOUT. TAKEN FROM THE LAST SURVEY, WITH CORRECTIONS AND ENLARGMENTS.

[BLOME, Richard, 1635-1705] : A MAPP OF ST. ANDREWS HOLBORN PARISH : AS WELL WITHIN THE LIBERTY AS WITHOUT. TAKEN FROM THE LAST SURVEY, WITH CORRECTIONS AND ENLARGMENTS.

[London : 1720]. A fine eighteenth-century map of the central London parish of St. Andrew Holborn - centred on Gray's Inn, with its walks and gardens, and taking in Hatton Garden and the streets immediately north and east, Lincoln's Inn and the top of Chancery Lane, High Holborn, Red Lion Square, Theobalds Road, Queen Square, (Great) Ormond Street, etc. Keyed tables give the names of 132 courts, alleys, buildings, etc. Originally produced by Richard Blome in the late seventeenth century, the map remained unpublished until the present version appeared with the 1720 edition of John Stow's "Survey of London".
Copper line engraving on paper. Engraved surface 290 x 359mm (approx. 11-1/2" x 14-1/8"). Original vertical fold, but in very good and clean state indeed. A guaranteed genuine antique map. Adams 25/067.

SOLD

AN ACCURATE MAP OF THE COUNTY OF KENT DIVIDED INTO ITS LATHES, AND SUBDIVIDED INTO HUNDREDS. DRAWN FROM SURVEYS, AND MOST APPROVED MODERN MAPS, WITH VARIOUS ADDITIONAL IMPROVEMENTS : ILLUSTRATED WITH HISTORICAL EXTRACTS RELATIVE TO THE AIR, SOIL, NATURAL PRODUCE, MANUFACTURES, TRADE AND PRESENT STATE OF ITS CITIES & PRINCIPAL TOWNS.

BOWEN, Emanuel, fl.1714-1767 : AN ACCURATE MAP OF THE COUNTY OF KENT DIVIDED INTO ITS LATHES, AND SUBDIVIDED INTO HUNDREDS. DRAWN FROM SURVEYS, AND MOST APPROVED MODERN MAPS, WITH VARIOUS ADDITIONAL IMPROVEMENTS : ILLUSTRATED WITH HISTORICAL EXTRACTS RELATIVE TO THE AIR, SOIL, NATURAL PRODUCE, MANUFACTURES, TRADE AND PRESENT STATE OF ITS CITIES & PRINCIPAL TOWNS.

[London : for Carington Bowles, ca.1765]. A large and handsome eighteenth-century map of the county on a scale of three-eighths of an inch to the mile. Compiled by Emanuel Bowen, Geographer to George II, and originally produced in 1751 for a series of maps separately sold from 1749 on and eventually published as "The Large English Atlas" (London 1760 and later editions). The present example dates from the 1760s - after the date at which Carington Bowles took over the shop at St. Pauls' from his uncle, Thomas Bowles. The particular charm of this series of maps resides in the numerous historical and geographical notes that fill up blank spaces and corners - with notes in this case on cloth manufacture at Cranbrook, the waters at Tunbridge Wells, Romney Marsh, Hythe, Appledore, Hawkhurst, Deal Castle, Dover Harbour, the enlargement of the harbour at Ramsgate, Reculver Market, Rochester, Maidstone, Canterbury, Faversham, Gravesend, Woolwich, Greenwich, Deptford and much else. With a finely engraved dedication panel (to Lionel Sackville, Duke of Dorset) and a thematic cartouche of hops, fish, lobsters, baskets, fruit, anchors, cannon, swords, etc., in the rococo style of the period. A separate inset gives a chart of the Downs, Goodwin Sands, etc.
Copper line engraving on paper, with original outline hand-colour. Engraved surface 522 x 704mm (approx. 20-1/2" x 27-3/4"). Dissected, mounted on linen and folding into the original marbled slip-case, with the engraved label of Carington Bowles of St. Paul's Churchyard. Case lightly rubbed; map trimmed close to neatlines, but overall in very good and clean state. With the attractive contemporary rococo armorial (three bucks trippant) bookplate of John Rogers attached to the case - this John Rogers (1743-1821) of Yarlington in Somerset, High Sheriff for Somerset in 1804.

£500

To confirm availability and to purchase this map please note the stock number 34908 and go to the database. Enter the number in the stock/order number box - press the search button - and a shopping basket should appear. Or simply call us or e-mail books@ashrare.com.

LET IT COME DOWN.

BOWLES, Paul (Paul Frederic), 1910-1999 : LET IT COME DOWN.

London : John Lehmann, (1952). First edition : precedes the American edition published later the same year. His second novel - American bank clerk tries to find himself in Tangier.
Post 8vo. 318,[ii]pp. Original grey cloth, ruled and lettered on spine in deep red; faint strip of sunning at heel, a few faint marks, but a very good copy in the original John Minton dust-jacket - a pictorial design in lilac, yellow and black on white - just lightly worn, a touch sunned, a little nicked, and with two unobtrusive tears, but complete and still attractive.

£100

To confirm availability and to purchase this book please note the stock number 34372 and go to the database. Enter the number in the stock/order number box - press the search button - and a shopping basket should appear. Or simply call us or e-mail books@ashrare.com.

DOUBLE FIGURES.

"BUTLER, Joan" - [ALEXANDER, Robert William, 1905-1979] : DOUBLE FIGURES.

London : Stanley Paul & Co., [1946]. First edition. The Irish writer with a Wodehousian tale of the making of movie epics - "Aubrey Kenneth Sefton, author of that world-wide best seller, Pulsing Hearts, was a modest and unassuming young man who in moments of repose looked rather like a drowsy dogfish pulling itself together after a late night ...".
Crown 8vo. 200pp. Original jade-green cloth, lettered across spine in white; very lightly rubbed, but a very good and sound copy in the original pictorial Fouet dust-jacket - price-clipped, but very lightly worn and just a touch soiled.

£100

To confirm availability and to purchase this book please note the stock number 31120 and go to the database. Enter the number in the stock/order number box - press the search button - and a shopping basket should appear. Or simply call us or e-mail books@ashrare.com.

FINGER MAN AND OTHER STORIES.

CHANDLER, Raymond (Raymond Thornton), 1888-1959 : FINGER MAN AND OTHER STORIES.

New York : Avon Book Co., (1946). First edition. Four early stories - "Finger Man" (1934), "Smart-Aleck Kill" (1934), "The Bronze Door" (1939) and "The Simple Art of Murder" (1944) - all previously unpublished in book form. Murder Mystery Monthly 43.
Post 8vo. [iv],11-122,[iv]pp. Original pictorial wrappers - low-cut redhead, fistful of dollars, roulette wheel, etc.; very lightly rubbed; faint surface creasing; text just faintly tanned, but a very good copy. Bruccoli VII-1.

SOLD

MURDER IS EASY.

CHRISTIE, Agatha (Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa), 1890-1976 : MURDER IS EASY.

London : Collins for the Crime Club, (1939). First edition. An "archetypal Mayhem Parva story, with all the best ingredients ... one of the classics" (Robert Barnard). Later published in the USA as "East to Kill".
Crown 8vo. 254,[ii]pp. Bound in a smart recent half burgundy morocco, retaining the original cloth backstrip at rear; some occasional light spotting, but a very good copy.

SOLD

THE CASE OF THE GILDED FLY.

"CRISPIN, Edmund" - [MONTGOMERY, Robert Bruce, 1921-1978] : THE CASE OF THE GILDED FLY.

London : Victor Gollancz, 1944. First edition. His rare first book - later published in the USA as "Obsequies at Oxford". Gervase Fen making his first appearance with some theatrical types in wartime Oxford.
Crown 8vo. (160)pp. Plan. Bound, without half-title, in an elegant recent half green morocco, banded and gilt; top edge gilt; original cloth backstrip preserved at rear; wartime paper lightly tanned, but otherwise a very good copy in an attractive binding.

£250

To confirm availability and to purchase this book please note the stock number 31912 and go to the database. Enter the number in the stock/order number box - press the search button - and a shopping basket should appear. Or simply call us or e-mail books@ashrare.com.

MURDERERS MAKE MISTAKES.

CROFTS, Freeman Wills, 1879-1957 : MURDERERS MAKE MISTAKES.

London : Hodder & Stoughton, (1947). First edition. Twenty-three short stories, giving more detailed versions of the wartime plays broadcast as the Inspector French radio mysteries.
Crown 8vo. (288)pp. Original red cloth, ruled and lettered across upper cover and spine in white; faint discolouration to upper portions of boards; light tanning of endpapers, but overall a very good and sound copy in the striking original Bip Pares dust-jacket - a pictorial design in lilacs, purples and greys - lightly rubbed, slightly nicked and a touch dusty on lower panel - but also very good. Dated Xmas 1947 inscription on front pastedown. Hubin p.99.

SOLD

THE GRANTHAM MYSTERY ; OR, CONFIDENCE AND CRIME, A DETECTIVE STORY.

"DANVERS, Milton" - LONG, J. Edmond : THE GRANTHAM MYSTERY ; OR, CONFIDENCE AND CRIME, A DETECTIVE STORY.

London : Diprose & Bateman, [1893]. First edition. A fine copy, handsomely bound for presentation to the author's wife and inscribed "From the author (the rector of White Roding, Essex) with fondest love - to his darling wife - Emily Long. The Rectory, White Roding, 11th July 1894". Also bound in is the same author's "The Detective's Honeymoon ; or, The Doctor of the 'Pinjarrah'" (London : Diprose & Bateman, [1894]) - a novel which introduces the "lady detective", Rose Courtenay.
Crown 8vo. 204 ; 200pp. Bound in an elegant contemporary full green morocco over bevelled boards, banded and gilt; all edges gilt; inner gilt dentelles; floral endpapers; joints and hinges a little tender, but a most attractive item. Scarce - neither title located in any of the COPAC libraries. Hubin p. 214.

SOLD

To confirm availability and to purchase this book please note the stock number 34904 and go to the database. Enter the number in the stock/order number box - press the search button - and a shopping basket should appear. Or simply call us or e-mail books@ashrare.com.

LONDON. 1857. DRAWN & ENGRAVED EXPRESSLY FOR THE POST OFFICE LONDON DIRECTORY.

[DAVIES, Benjamin Rees, 1789?-1872] : LONDON. 1857. DRAWN & ENGRAVED EXPRESSLY FOR THE POST OFFICE LONDON DIRECTORY.

London : Kelly & Co., 1857. An unusual mid nineteenth-century map of London - fitted with the tape-indicator recently patented by the German-born stationer Joseph Schlesinger and "enabling any place to be found on the map with mathematical certainty". Although tape-indicator maps from the latter part of the nineteenth-century are not uncommon, examples from the mid-century undoubtedly are. Examples from 1854 are recorded, but this is the earliest we have seen on the open market. The map itself (originally published in 1847) covers London from Bayswater across to Canning Town, and from Dalston down to Camberwell, on a scale of three inches to the mile, shows the newly introduced postal districts, and comes with a 46pp index giving the co-ordinates and instructions for using the tape-indicator. Cover title, "Post Office Directory Map of London with Patent Index".
Lithograph on paper, with printed linen tape attached on a metal rivet. Printed surface 383 x 671mm (approx. 15-1/8" x 26-3/8"). Folding into the original cloth case, with 46,[ii]pp printed index also inserted. Map a little worn, with some creasing, short splits and slight tears, but the case and tape very good and overall a pleasant example of a scarce and fragile production. A guaranteed genuine antique map. Hyde D&H 404.(6).

SOLD

HOUSEHOLD WORDS : EXTRA CHRISTMAS NUMBERS. 1851-1858.

DICKENS, Charles (Charles John Huffam), 1812-1870 : HOUSEHOLD WORDS : EXTRA CHRISTMAS NUMBERS. 1851-1858.

London : Household Words, 1851-1858. A bound collection of all eight of the special Extra Christmas issues of the Dickens magazine, Household Words. Dickens edited all eight and wrote fourteen of the pieces, stories, etc., himself, including "What Christmas is as We Grow Older", "The Poor Relation's Story", "The Schoolboy's Story", "Nobody's Story", "The Guest", "The Boots", "The Bill", "Going Into Society", etc. Four further pieces are by Wilkie Collins.
Demy 8vo. Eight issues bound together. 24; 36; 36; 36; 36; 36; 36; 36pp. Bound in a smart nineteenth-century half black roan, ruled and lettered across spine in gilt; sprinkled edges; just a hint of rubbing, a few edge spots, but a very good copy. With the contemporary ownership inscription and book-label of James Clifford.

SOLD

SIREN LAND.

DOUGLAS, Norman (George Norman), 1868-1952 : SIREN LAND.

London : J. M. Dent & Sons, 1911. First edition : although 1,500 copies were printed, 200 were sent to New York to make up the American edition - and 890 were later pulped, leaving a maximum of 410 surviving copies. "A new stage of intimacy in the Anglo-Italian love affair and one of the happiest of travel books" - Cyril Connolly citing this among his 100 Key-Books of the Modern Movement.
Crown 8vo. viii,302pp. Title-page in olive and red. Frontispiece and twenty-three plates. Map of Sorrento and Capri. Original olive cloth, blocked and lettered on upper cover in dark green, and blocked and lettered across spine in gilt; top edge gilt; lightly rubbed and very slightly worn; a few slight marks; two very faint horizontal creases to spine, endpapers a little tanned; some occasional spotting; just a touch shaken, but overall a very good and still bright copy of a notoriously difficult title. Connolly 20. Woolf A13a.

£400

To confirm availability and to purchase this book please note the stock number 34906 and go to the database. Enter the number in the stock/order number box - press the search button - and a shopping basket should appear. Or simply call us or e-mail books@ashrare.com.

DU MAURIER, Daphne (Dame Daphne), 1907-1989 : JAMAICA INN.

London : Victor Gollancz, 1936. First edition. The first of her Cornish novels - "I am not drunk enough to tell you why I live in this God-forgotten spot, and why I'm the landlord of Jamaica Inn".
Crown 8vo. (352)pp. Bound in a smart recent full blue morocco, banded and gilt; top edge gilt; mild tanning of first and last leaves; small cluster of edge-spots, overall a very good copy of her first major work.

SOLD

OLD POSSUM'S BOOK OF PRACTICAL CATS.

ELIOT, T.S. (Thomas Stearns), 1888-1965 : OLD POSSUM'S BOOK OF PRACTICAL CATS.

London : Faber & Faber, (1940). First illustrated edition. The poems first published the previous year - but here the book in its full flowering, with Nicolas Bentley's magnificent coloured pictures.
Foolscap 4to. (52)pp. Fourteen colour plates. Decorations in black-and-white. Original pictorial cloth; very slightly bruised, a few faint marks, but a very good copy in a lightly worn and very slightly chipped dust-jacket, price-clipped and with a few slight marks and creases, but also very good. Gallup A34c.

SOLD

LONDON AND ITS ENVIRONS IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY, ILLUSTRATED BY A SERIES OF VIEWS ... SERIES THE FIRST ... [and]  METROPOLITAN IMPROVEMENTS; OR, LONDON IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY : DISPLAYED IN A SERIES OF ENGRAVINGS OF THE NEW BUILDINGS, IMPROVEMENTS, &C. ...

ELMES, James, 1782-1862 & SHEPHERD, Thomas Hosmer, 1793-1864 : LONDON AND ITS ENVIRONS IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY, ILLUSTRATED BY A SERIES OF VIEWS ... SERIES THE FIRST ... [and] METROPOLITAN IMPROVEMENTS; OR, LONDON IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY : DISPLAYED IN A SERIES OF ENGRAVINGS OF THE NEW BUILDINGS, IMPROVEMENTS, &C. ...

London : Jones & Co., 1829 [i.e. 1827-1832]. A bound set of both series of this remarkable pictorial and architectural record of early nineteenth-century London - the first series (published in parts 1829-1832) offering exquisitely worked views by Shepherd and descriptions by Elmes of the older London buildings, the second (in fact published earlier between 1827 and 1829) a sequence of Shepherd views of the more recent London buildings (including the Nash terraces, etc.) with occasionally acerbic descriptions by Elmes.
Two volumes. Crown 4to. 160,[iv]; vi,172,ii pp. Engraved vignette titles, 158 engraved plates (each with two or more subjects, giving a total of 352 views), and a map of Regent's Park. Bound in a lavish nineteenth-century full crimson morocco, elaborately tooled in gilt and blind, with vinet borders to boards; gauffered edges; marbled endleaves; the bindings skilfully repaired, restored and refurbished, retaining the orginal backstrips, but with some residual rubbing and slight scuffing; hinges reinforced; plates spotted and browned in varying degrees, mainly to outer edges, with some slightly heavier marginal discolouration (not affecting images) towards the rear of the first volume; but overall still an attractive and complete set. With the nineteenth-century armorial bookplate of the clergyman Walton Kitching (1828?-1905), at one time of Runnymede House, Egham, in each volume. Adams 154, 161.

£750

To confirm availability and to purchase this book please note the stock number 34127 and go to the database. Enter the number in the stock/order number box - press the search button - and a shopping basket should appear. Or simply call us or e-mail books@ashrare.com.

"FORESTER, C.S." - [SMITH, Cecil Lewis Troughton, 1899-1966] : THE AFRICAN QUEEN.

London : William Heinemann, (1935). First edition. War-torn Africa in 1915 - the novel turned into the memorable 1951 John Huston film with a drink-sodden Humphrey Bogart and a prim Katherine Hepburn - and a very difficult pre-war Forester title.
Crown 8vo. [iv],(284)pp. Bound in an elegant recent full tan morocco, banded and gilt; top edge gilt; a few faint edge-spots; inscription neatly erased from half-title, but a very good copy of an elusive book.

SOLD

ENQUIRY.

FRANCIS, Dick (Richard Stanley), 1920- : ENQUIRY.

London : Michael Joseph, (1969). First edition. "Yesterday I lost my licence ...".
Post 8vo. 224pp. Original red boards, blocked and lettered across spine in gilt; very faint spine crease, but a very good copy in the original Carl Bernard dust-jacket - a photographic design lettered in white and red - just lightly worn and slightly nicked. With the December 1969 ownership inscription of Suzanne Eastmease and the label of the Sandon Saddlery Company of Buntingford.

£100

To confirm availability and to purchase this book please note the stock number 34133 and go to the database. Enter the number in the stock/order number box - press the search button - and a shopping basket should appear. Or simply call us or e-mail books@ashrare.com.

FRY, Edmund, 1754-1835 & STEELE, Isaac : [TYPE SPECIMENS].

[London] : Fry & Steele, (1804-1807). A bound collection of eighteen leaves of type specimens, some dated variously 1804-1807, from the celebrated Fry foundry. Includes Two Lines English and English Italic No. 2, Double Pica Roman and Italic No. 3., Great Primer Roman and Italic No. 3, English Roman and Italic No. 6, Pica No. 6, Small Pica No. 4, Long Primer No. 5, Burgeois Roman, Brevier, Minion, Zodiacal Signs, Four Lines Pica Black, Two Lines English Black, two leaves of Hebrews, etc. From the collection of the late B. C. Bloomfield, with his pencilled note, "Examples of Fry & Steele's Type specimens. (?part catalogue). Mosley 131?" - referring to Mosley's hand-list.
Demy 8vo. [36]pp. Bound in a neat modern binder's cloth; marbled edges; one leaf torn at inner margin; a few slight spots, but a very good copy.

SOLD

MY LADY LUDLOW, AND OTHER TALES; INCLUDED IN

GASKELL, E.C. (Elizabeth Cleghorn), 1810-1865 : MY LADY LUDLOW, AND OTHER TALES; INCLUDED IN "ROUND THE SOFA".

London : Sampson Low, Son & Co., 1861. The first one-volume edition of her 1859 "Round the Sofa" - including the novella "My Lady Ludlow" and five further interlinked stories.
Crown 8vo. [iv],318,[ii]pp. Engraved frontispiece by Henry Adlard after Sir John Gilbert. Original green bead-grain cloth (ruled and elaborately blocked in blind on upper and lower covers, and ruled, blocked and lettered in gilt across spine) by Bone & Son, with their ticket; just a hint of rubbing; a few faint marks and spots, but a very good, bright and attractive copy. With the later pencilled ownership of Ethel Calderon - Ethel Wells Calderon, nee Armstead (b.1864), the wife of the well-known painter William Frank Calderon (1865-1943). Sadleir 932a.

£200

To confirm availability and to purchase this book please note the stock number 32787 and go to the database. Enter the number in the stock/order number box - press the search button - and a shopping basket should appear. Or simply call us or e-mail books@ashrare.com.

GIBBONS, Stella (Stella Dorothea), 1902-1989 : COLD COMFORT FARM.

London : Longmans, Green & Co., 1932. First edition. "Something nasty in the woodshed" - her first and most famous novel - and a comic masterpiece.
Crown 8vo. xii,(308)pp. Bound in a stylish recent full blue morocco, banded and gilt; top edge gilt; marbled endpapers; original cloth upper cover and backstrip preserved at rear; a few tiny spots, but a very good copy indeed of a twentieth-century rarity.

SOLD

THE HEART OF THE MATTER.

GREENE, Graham (Henry Graham), 1904-1991 : THE HEART OF THE MATTER.

London : William Heinemann, (1948). First edition.
Crown 8vo. [vi],(298)pp. Bound in a neat recent half blue calf, banded and lettered across spine in gilt; original cloth backstrip preserved at rear; a few minor marks, but overall a very good and clean copy.

SOLD

THE RETURN OF THE CONTINENTAL OP.

HAMMETT, Dashiell (Samuel Dashiell), 1894-1961 : THE RETURN OF THE CONTINENTAL OP.

New York : Lawrence E. Spivak, (1945). First edition. A collection of five short stories (including "The Whosis Kid") previously unpublished in book form, edited and introduced by Ellery Queen. Jonathan Press Mystery J17.
Foolscap 4to. 127,[i]pp. Original pictorial wrappers - a design by George Salter in red, blue, yellow, black and white; some very minor wear; text a little tanned, but a very good copy of a fragile production. Stoddard 14.

£125

To confirm availability and to purchase this book please note the stock number 30446 and go to the database. Enter the number in the stock/order number box - press the search button - and a shopping basket should appear. Or simply call us or e-mail books@ashrare.com.

HAMMETT HOMICIDES.

HAMMETT, Dashiell (Samuel Dashiell), 1894-1961 : HAMMETT HOMICIDES.

New York : Lawrence E. Spivak, (1946). First edition. A collection of six short stories (four featuring the Continental Op, including "The Girl with the Silver Eyes") all previously unpublished in book form, edited and introduced by Ellery Queen. Bestseller Mystery B81. "Who doesn't read him misses much of modern America" (Dorothy Parker).
Foolscap 4to. 128pp. Original wrappers - a design by George Salter in green, grey, black and white; very lightly rubbed; text a little tanned; neat erasure from upper wrapper, but a very good copy of a fragile production. Stoddard 15.

£100

To confirm availability and to purchase this book please note the stock number 30445 and go to the database. Enter the number in the stock/order number box - press the search button - and a shopping basket should appear. Or simply call us or e-mail books@ashrare.com.

THREE NOTABLE STORIES : LOVE AND PERIL : TO BE, OR NOT TO BE : THE MELANCHOLY HUSSAR.

HARDY, Thomas, 1840-1928 & OTHERS : THREE NOTABLE STORIES : LOVE AND PERIL : TO BE, OR NOT TO BE : THE MELANCHOLY HUSSAR.

London : Spencer Blackett, 1890. First edition. Three novellas making their first appearance in book form - the first from John Campbell, Marquis of Lorne, later Duke of Argyll (1845-1914); the second from Annie Hector Alexander (1825-1902), and the third - "The Melancholy Hussar" - from Thomas Hardy. The Hardy story originally appeared in "The Bristol Times and Mirror" earlier in 1890.
Crown 8vo. [viii],(212),[iv]pp. Original pale blue cloth, ruled and lettered across upper cover and spine in black; covers lightly rubbed and very slightly marked; mild bubbling of cloth on upper cover; endpapers a little cracked; a little shaken and slack, but overall still a very good copy of a highly uncommon Hardy item. Contemporary (1896) ownership inscription of F. W. Wilkinson, and small late twentieth-century bookseller's label of the Hardy specialist, H. V. Day of Dorchester.

£250

To confirm availability and to purchase this book please note the stock number 34902 and go to the database. Enter the number in the stock/order number box - press the search button - and a shopping basket should appear. Or simply call us or e-mail books@ashrare.com.

AN HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNT OF OLD AND NEW SARUM, OR SALISBURY.

[HATCHER, Henry, 1777-1846] : AN HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNT OF OLD AND NEW SARUM, OR SALISBURY.

Salisbury : K. Clapperton, 1834. First edition : one of just twelve copies printed on large paper, the limitation statement given on the printer and publisher Kenneth Clapperton's printed slip on the errata page. The antiquary Henry Hatcher of Endless Street, his name commemorated in the local Hatcher Society, was at various times both postmaster and schoolmaster at Salisbury, and the acknowledged nineteenth-century authority on its history. He here provides a measured account, commencing with material on Old Sarum and the "bardic circles" of Avebury and Stonehenge, with much on the mediaeval history and the cathedral, the later history, the local worthies, Wilton and Wilton House, local government, population statistics, etc.
Royal 8vo. [4],(iv),(170)pp. Vignette title. Bound in a handsome later (mid twentieth-century) half blue crushed morocco, banded and gilt, by Bayntun-Riviere; all edges gilt; slight tear to gutter of title-page; slight spotting to binder's blanks, but overall a very good and clean copy.

£500

To confirm availability and to purchase this book please note the stock number 34388 and go to the database. Enter the number in the stock/order number box - press the search button - and a shopping basket should appear. Or simply call us or e-mail books@ashrare.com.

IN SCARLET AND GREY : STORIES OF SOLDIERS AND OTHERS BY FLORENCE HENNIKER : AND THE SPECTRE OF THE REAL BY THOMAS HARDY AND FLORENCE HENNIKER.

HENNIKER, Florence (Florence Ellen Hungerford), 1855-1923 & HARDY, Thomas, 1840-1928 : IN SCARLET AND GREY : STORIES OF SOLDIERS AND OTHERS BY FLORENCE HENNIKER : AND THE SPECTRE OF THE REAL BY THOMAS HARDY AND FLORENCE HENNIKER.

London : John Lane, 1896. First edition. A collection of six stories from Hardy's close friend and "rare, fair woman", Mrs Henniker - together with the story "The Spectre of the Real" written by the two in collaboration (although the work is mainly Hardy's) in 1893.
Crown 8vo. [viii],208,[ii],14,[ii],16pp. Pictorial title-page in a design by P. W. - presumably Patten Wilson. Original red cloth, pictorially blocked and lettered in black in the same design in the Lane Keynotes format; skilfully recased, repaired and refurbished; endpapers rejointed; lightly bruised, spine a touch darkened and with small signs of the damage now repaired, but otherwise a very good copy of a rare Hardy item. Contemporary ownership inscription of Kate Marshall. Purdy pp.342-348.

SOLD

HUNT, Leigh (James Henry Leigh), 1784-1859 : THE TOWN ; ITS MEMORIALS, CHARACTERS AND EVENTS.

London : Smith, Elder & Co., 1848. First edition. A lively and charming book on London from the poet and journalist - with chapters on St. Paul's, Fleet Street, the Strand, Lincoln's Inn, Drury Lane, Covent Garden, Charing Cross, Whitehall, etc., - especially good on the characters and events.
Two volumes. xii,300,[iv]; viii,(312) + 16pp advertisements dated September 1849. Frontispieces and wood-engraved illustrations from drawings by J. W. Archer and C. T. Thompson. Original deep orange cloth in an elaborate and striking strapwork design, by Westleys & Co. (with their ticket), in a design by W. Harry Rogers; minor wear and slight nicks to headcaps; covers lightly marked and slightly darkened, but still a very good and handsome set. With the ownership inscriptions of "Lady Augusta Gordon Croxteth" and the small bookseller's blind-stamps W. H. Smith of the Strand.

SOLD

JERROLD, Blanchard (William Blanchard), 1826-1884 : LIFE OF GUSTAVE DORÉ. WITH ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-EIGHT ILLUSTRATIONS FROM ORIGINAL DRAWINGS BY DORÉ.

London: W. H. Allen, 1891. First edition. Jerrold's posthumously published life of his friend and collaborator, the great nineteenth-century illustrator Gustave Doré (1832-1883). Many of the illustrations are from Jerrold's own collection of early work, preliminary sketches, etc., and had not been published elsewhere.
Medium 8vo. viii (page vi misnumbered as usual), (416)pp. Portrait frontispiece. Litho plates, one folding. Illustrations. Contemporary full polished calf gilt prize binding, with the arms of Aberdeen Grammar School; marbled edges; lightly rubbed; a few slight marks; hairline splits to joints and hinges, but the boards still firm and sound; a few minor marks and spots, but a good copy. With a partly defaced School Prize label dated 1892 and made out to George M. Angus - probably the sixteen year old son of John Angus, chemist and druggist of Strichen.

SOLD

KITCHIN'S POST-CHAISE COMPANION, THROUGH ENGLAND AND WALES; CONTAINING ALL THE ANCIENT AND NEW ADDITIONAL ROADS, WITH EVERY TOPOGRAPHICAL DETAIL RELATING THERETO.

KITCHIN, Thomas, 1719-1784 : KITCHIN'S POST-CHAISE COMPANION, THROUGH ENGLAND AND WALES; CONTAINING ALL THE ANCIENT AND NEW ADDITIONAL ROADS, WITH EVERY TOPOGRAPHICAL DETAIL RELATING THERETO.

London : Robert Sayer; John Bowles, and Carington Bowles, 1767. First edition. A handsome eighteenth-century road-atlas, showing the major roads and highways in scroll form, with mileages, local detail and directions to cross-roads, tables, etc. Based on a 1719 publication by John Senex, but the maps re-engraved, corrected, updated and with the addition of fresh material.
Long crown 4to. [8]pp + general map and 103 engraved strip-maps, printed back-to-back. Bound in a neat contemporary half calf; marbled sides; paper title-label; lightly worn; slight splitting to upper joint, but still firm; ink-blot to upper cover; clean tear to one leaf neatly repaired; occasional mild tanning, but a very good copy of an attractive and interesting production. Chubb CXLI.

£1,000

To confirm availability and to purchase this book please note the stock number 34899 and go to the database. Enter the number in the stock/order number box - press the search button - and a shopping basket should appear. Or simply call us or e-mail books@ashrare.com.

THE HISTORY, TOPOGRAPHY, AND ANTIQUITIES OF HIGHGATE, IN THE COUNTY OF MIDDLESEX; WITH NOTES ON THE SURROUNDING NEIGHBOURHOOD OF HORNSEY, CROUCH END, MUSWELL HILL, ETC.

LLOYD, John H. (John Henry), 1830-1910 : THE HISTORY, TOPOGRAPHY, AND ANTIQUITIES OF HIGHGATE, IN THE COUNTY OF MIDDLESEX; WITH NOTES ON THE SURROUNDING NEIGHBOURHOOD OF HORNSEY, CROUCH END, MUSWELL HILL, ETC.

London : Printed by Subscription, 1888. First and sole edition : limited to an unspecified number of numbered copies. A handsome local history, compiled by a local wine-merchant of Green Bank, Merton Lane, who was also a long-serving secretary of the Highgate Literary and Scientific Institution. Contains separate sections on the churches, the houses, gossip, customs, etc., as well as a survey of the "Highgate of Today", notes on fossils found in the Archway cutting, etc. The "notes" on the surrounding areas are in fact extensive.
Crown 4to. (xvi),(520)pp. Portrait frontispiece (of Coleridge); double page maps; illustrations in text. Original pictorial cloth gilt, neatly rebacked in a stout morocco; top edge gilt; corners a little worn; front free endpaper replaced in a very good match of the original chocolate surface paper; rear endpaper neatly rejointed; a few small spots, marks and faint creases, but a very good, sound and serviceable copy. Ownership inscription of A. M. Henderson dated 1889 on half-title.

£200

To confirm availability and to purchase this book please note the stock number 19010 and go to the database. Enter the number in the stock/order number box - press the search button - and a shopping basket should appear. Or simply call us or e-mail books@ashrare.com.

MEMOIRS CONCERNING THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND, FROM QUEEN ANNE'S ACCESSION TO THE THRONE, TO THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE UNION OF THE TWO KINGDOMS OF SCOTLAND AND ENGLAND, IN MAY, 1707. WITH AN ACCOUNT OF THE ORIGINE AND PROGRESS OF THE DESIGN'D INVASION FROM FRANCE, IN, MARCH, 1708. AND SOME REFLECTIONS ON THE ANCIENT STATE OF SCOTLAND.

[LOCKHART, George, 1681-1731] : MEMOIRS CONCERNING THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND, FROM QUEEN ANNE'S ACCESSION TO THE THRONE, TO THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE UNION OF THE TWO KINGDOMS OF SCOTLAND AND ENGLAND, IN MAY, 1707. WITH AN ACCOUNT OF THE ORIGINE AND PROGRESS OF THE DESIGN'D INVASION FROM FRANCE, IN, MARCH, 1708. AND SOME REFLECTIONS ON THE ANCIENT STATE OF SCOTLAND.

London : Printed : and sold by J. Baker, 1714. First edition. An extraordinary insider's account of Scottish politics in the years between 1703 and 1708 from the Jacobite Scottish loyalist - and a vehement opponent of union. These memoirs, published without his knowledge and replete with vitriolic character sketches, active sedition and wholesale indiscretion, horrified friend and foe alike - but it remains an essential source for the period. Bound in with the present copy is the separately published 24pp "A Key to the Memoirs of the Affairs of Scotland" (the corrected variant) published over a fictitious imprint (also in 1714) and identifying all the people referred to only by their initials.
Post 8vo. [2],xxx - (24) - 304,321-420pp (pp.305-320 omitted in pagination as always, but text and register continuous). Contemporary panelled calf, with tulip corner-pieces, expertly rebacked and re-labelled to style; some minor wear; a little browning, and occasional spotting, but a very good copy. Small nineteenth-century bookseller's label of [James] Coombs (1820-1896) of [77 High Street] Worcester.

£250

To confirm availability and to purchase this book please note the stock number 34893 and go to the database. Enter the number in the stock/order number box - press the search button - and a shopping basket should appear. Or simply call us or e-mail books@ashrare.com.

LOFTIE, W.J. (William John), 1839-1911 : KENSINGTON PICTURESQUE & HISTORICAL.

London : Field & Tuer, The Leadenhall Press, 1888. First edition : one of twenty-five special copies on super-calendered paper. A stylishly-produced history of Kensington, illustrated by William Luker (1862-1934). Includes chapters on the geography, the veres and the manor, Holland House, old Kensington, Kensington Palace and Kensington Gardens, the church, modern Kensington, etc.
Imperial 8vo. (xx),(288),lxivpp. Illustrations throughout. Six tissue-guarded hand-coloured plates. Maps. Tables. Bound in a smart later binder's cloth, for Bumpus, with morocco label; top edge gilt; label lightly rubbed; text a little shaken and slack; a few minor marks and creases, but overall a good and still partly unopened copy.

SOLD

ABSOLUTE BEGINNERS.

MACINNES, Colin, 1914-1976 : ABSOLUTE BEGINNERS.

London : MacGibbon & Kee, 1959. First edition. His fine novel of London youth and changing mores - "Though the language is jazz and the mood very hip, this is the truest, shrewdest and kindest eye that has yet looked over the new world made by the 'kids' themselves".
Crown 8vo. (224)pp. Original red-pink boards, lettered down and across spine in gilt; very faint tanning of endpapers; a few tiny spots, but a very good copy in the original Roger Mayne photographic dust-jacket - just lightly worn and nicked, with a slight diagonal crease on lower panel. Small bookseller's label of Barker & Howard of Fenchurch Street on front pastedown.

SOLD

MEMOIRS OF THE FORTIES.

MACLAREN-ROSS, Julian (James), 1912-1964 : MEMOIRS OF THE FORTIES.

London : Alan Ross, 1965. First edition. Recollections of "Fitzrovian Nights" - and of Francis Bacon, Cyril Connolly, Dylan Thomas, Graham Greene, Alun Lewis, John Minton, Elizabeth Smart, Stevie Smith, Tambimuttu, Ruthven Todd, and many more - together with six of the best of the Maclaren-Ross short stories of the period.
Post 8vo. [vi],344,[ii]pp. Plates. Facsimiles. Original black cloth, blocked and lettered on spine in gilt; faint mark to fore-edge, but a very good and bright copy in the original pictorial dust-jacket - a design in green and black on white - just very slightly rubbed and with hint of tanning, but also very good. Pictorial bookplate of A. R. A. Goodall.

£100

To confirm availability and to purchase this book please note the stock number 33954 and go to the database. Enter the number in the stock/order number box - press the search button - and a shopping basket should appear. Or simply call us or e-mail books@ashrare.com.

MASTERMAN READY ; OR, THE WRECK OF THE PACIFIC. WRITTEN FOR YOUNG PEOPLE.

MARRYAT, Frederick, 1792-1848 : MASTERMAN READY ; OR, THE WRECK OF THE PACIFIC. WRITTEN FOR YOUNG PEOPLE.

London : Longman, Orme, Brown, Green & Longmans / Longman, Brown, Green & Longmans, 1841-1842. First edition. Marryat's first and best-known book for children - island castaways in the Robinson Crusoe, Swiss Family Robinson tradition.
Three volumes. Foolscap 8vo. viii,(288) + (16)pp advertisements dated December 1841; [iv],(270),[ii], + 16,16pp advertisements dated April 1842; [iv],(226),[ii] + 32pp advertisements dated until October 1842. Illustrations and map by the author. Bound in a nineteenth-century half blue calf, banded and prettily gilt; contrasting red and maroon labels; marbled sides and endpapers; lemon edges; a little faded, lightly rubbed and slightly scuffed; a few slight marks and small flaws, but a very good and still attractive set. Sadleir 1583 - but with variation in inserted publishers' catalogues.

£250

To confirm availability and to purchase this book please note the stock number 34895 and go to the database. Enter the number in the stock/order number box - press the search button - and a shopping basket should appear. Or simply call us or e-mail books@ashrare.com.

NOW WE ARE SIX.

MILNE, A.A. (Alan Alexander), 1882-1956 : NOW WE ARE SIX.

London : Methuen & Co., (1927). First edition. "We have been nearly three years writing this book. We began it when we were very young ... and now we are six".
Crown 8vo. (xii),(104)pp. Illustrations throughout by Ernest H. Shepard. Bound in a smart recent half burgundy morocco, retaining the original pictorial cloth gilt of the upper and lower covers, and the pictorial front endpaper; top edge gilt; front endpaper a little spotted, and with small repair to lower corner; last leaf a little tanned, the occasional spot, but a very good and attractive copy.

SOLD

THE DEVIL'S ELBOW.

MITCHELL, Gladys (Gladys Maude Winifred), 1901-1983 : THE DEVIL'S ELBOW.

London : Michael Joseph, (1951). First edition. Murder on a coach tour of Scotland.
Crown 8vo. (224)pp. Original black boards, blocked and lettered across spine in silver; a few faint marks; a little spotting to front free endpaper, but overall a very good, clean and sound copy in the original Barbara Bradley dust-jacket - a pictorial design in black, blue and green on white - lightly rubbed, slightly nicked, and with a touch of creasing - but overall in very good state. Hubin p.287.

SOLD

THE PURSUIT OF LOVE : A NOVEL.

MITFORD, Nancy, 1904-1973 : THE PURSUIT OF LOVE : A NOVEL.

London : Hamish Hamilton, (1945). First edition. "There is a photograph in existence of Aunt Sadie and her six children sitting round the tea-table at Alconleigh. The table is situated, as it was, is now, and ever shall be, in the hall, in front of a huge open fire of logs. Over the chimney-piece, plainly visible in the photograph, hangs an entrenching tool ...".
Crown 8vo. (196)pp. Original blue cloth, blocked and lettered across spine in gilt; just a touch dulled; some spotting of edges and endpapers, but otherwise a very good copy in the original dust-jacket - a pictorial design by Furze in blue and black - worn, very slightly nicked and chipped, lightly creased, slightly torn and repaired, but a rare, fragile and essentially complete survival.

SOLD

LOVE IN A COLD CLIMATE.

MITFORD, Nancy, 1904-1973 : LOVE IN A COLD CLIMATE.

London : Hamish Hamilton, (1949). First edition. The second instalment of Uncle Matthew et al. - and Miss Mitford gives away a rare book trade secret in the very first paragraph.
Crown 8vo. 284,[ii]pp. Original red cloth, lettered across spine in gilt; tiny mark to upper cover; very mild discolouration to top edge and front free endpaper; a few spots, but a good copy in the fragile original dust-jacket - a pictorial design by Furze in turquoise, black and white - a little worn, nicked, scuffed and slightly marked, with a couple of tears, but complete and not unattractive.

SOLD

[SHROPSHIRE] SHROP SHIRE.

MORDEN, Robert, fl.1668-1703 : [SHROPSHIRE] SHROP SHIRE.

[London] : sold by Abel Swale, Awnsham & Iohn Churchill, [1695]. A rare separately published state of the first issue of Morden's map of the county, originally produced for the 1695 edition of "Camden's Britannia", but here dissected, mounted on linen, and folding into (eighteenth century) marbled guards, with a manuscript label. Morden's maps from this series have not previously been recorded in this form. On their first appearance they were advertised as being "much the fairest and most correct of any that have yet appear'd" and the help of "knowing gentlemen" in each part of the country had been sought "to supply the defects, rectifie the positions, and correct false spellings".
Copper line engraving on paper. Engraved surface 360 x 420mm (approx. 14-1/4" x 16-1/2"). Some mild tanning; faint wear to edges and folds, but in very good state for an ephemeral item of this type. A guaranteed genuine antique map.

SOLD

MODESTY BLAISE.

O'DONNELL, Peter, 1920- : MODESTY BLAISE.

London : Souvenir Press, (1965). First edition. "You can take a girl from University or the typing pool; if she's got the right potential you can put her through Intelligence and combat training and produce a damn good agent. But you won't produce a Modesty Blaise". The first of the Modesty Blaise titles.
Post 8vo. (224)pp. Original blue boards, lettered across spine in gilt; a few faint edge-spots; a few leaves slightly rumpled at edges, but a very good copy in the striking original shocking pink dust-jacket - price-clipped, just very faintly tanned at spine, but unworn and with none of the usual fading.

SOLD

MR. MARX'S SECRET.

OPPENHEIM, E. Phillips (Edward Phillips), 1866-1946 : MR. MARX'S SECRET.

London & Sheffield : Sir William Leng & Co., [1899]. First edition. An early Oppenheim rarity - a novel published in wrappers as The Weekly Telegraph Novel No. 2 - and not to appear in the regular Ward, Lock hardback edition for another ten years.
Royal 8vo. 96pp. Original pictorial grey stapled wrappers, with design and lower cover advertisement in red and black; some minor wear and a few slight marks and small chips; text lightly tanned, but a very good copy of a scarce and ephemeral item. Only the Manchester copy listed on COPAC.

£250

To confirm availability and to purchase this book please note the stock number 34867 and go to the database. Enter the number in the stock/order number box - press the search button - and a shopping basket should appear. Or simply call us or e-mail books@ashrare.com.

PHILOSOPHY IN SPORT MADE SCIENCE IN EARNEST : BEING AN ATTEMPT TO ILLUSTRATE THE FIRST PRINCIPLES OF NATURAL PHILOSOPHY BY THE AID OF POPULAR TOYS AND SPORTS.

[PARIS, John Ayrton, 1785-1856] : PHILOSOPHY IN SPORT MADE SCIENCE IN EARNEST : BEING AN ATTEMPT TO ILLUSTRATE THE FIRST PRINCIPLES OF NATURAL PHILOSOPHY BY THE AID OF POPULAR TOYS AND SPORTS.

London : Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown & Green, 1827. First edition. An early and highly original excursion into the world of introducing science to children by means of toys, games, magic tricks, etc., from the well-known physician. Cast in the form of lively short stories, with illustrations from George Cruikshank, Paris introduces pop-guns, soap-bubbles, whiz-gigs, a geological temple, and much else including the thaumatrope - a toy to demonstrate the compound nature of white light of his own devising - which was successfully marketed and is now regarded as a precursor of the modern cinema.
Three volumes. Post 12mo. xviii,316; viii,314,2; vi,(208)pp. First volume bound without the half-title and the advertisements occasionally found. Twenty-five illustrations by Cruikshank. Contemporary half red roan, prettily gilt; marbled sides and sprinkled edges; marbled endpapers; some mild rubbing and very slight wear; some minor splits to joints - but bindings still firm; very slight insect damage to two lower boards; a few minor marks, spots and small flaws; bookplates neatly removed from paste-downs, but overall still a very good set in a pleasant contempoary binding.

£250

To confirm availability and to purchase this book please note the stock number 30454 and go to the database. Enter the number in the stock/order number box - press the search button - and a shopping basket should appear. Or simply call us or e-mail books@ashrare.com.

THE TALE OF MR. JEREMY FISHER.

POTTER, Beatrix (Helen Beatrix), 1866-1943 : THE TALE OF MR. JEREMY FISHER.

London : Frederick Warne & Co., 1906. First edition.
Pott 4to. (86)pp. Pictorial label, frontispiece and twenty-six illustrations in colour; title vignette in black and white, all by Beatrix Potter. Rebound in a smart recent half red morocco, banded and gilt, retaining the original boards (the red variant), lettered in white, with oval pictorial onlay on upper cover; pictorial front endpaper retained; a few tiny marks, but overall in very good and clean state. Linder p.426. Quinby 10.

£500

To confirm availability and to purchase this book please note the stock number 34814 and go to the database. Enter the number in the stock/order number box - press the search button - and a shopping basket should appear. Or simply call us or e-mail books@ashrare.com.

THE TALE OF THE FLOPSY BUNNIES.

POTTER, Beatrix (Helen Beatrix), 1866-1943 : THE TALE OF THE FLOPSY BUNNIES.

London : Frederick Warne & Co., 1909. First edition : with the sign-board in the illustration to p.14, which was later dropped.
Pott 4to. (86)pp. Pictorial label, frontispiece and twenty-six illustrations in colour; title vignette in black and white, all by Beatrix Potter. Original green boards, with pictorial onlay; spine lightly tanned; small splits to lower joint; a few minor marks and spots, but still a nice copy of a fragile production. Linder p.428. Quinby 16.

SOLD

GEOLOGICAL MAP OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

RAMSAY, Andrew C. (Sir Andrew Crombie), 1814-1891 : GEOLOGICAL MAP OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

London : Edward Stanford, [1878]. First edition. A magnificent and vibrantly-coloured wall-map compiled by Sir Andrew Crombie Ramsay, the Director-General of H. M. Geological Survey from 1872 until 1881 - and with the geological lines supplied by his assistants J. B. Jordan and Edward Best. The British Isles (with a separate inset of the Shetlands) on a scale of eleven-and-a-half miles to one inch, hand-coloured in a multiplicity of carefully variegated colours "shewing the order of superposition and approximate maximum thickness of strata". One of the finest British geological productions of the nineteenth century.
Lithograph on paper, with full original hand colour. Printed surface approx. 1500 x 1290mm (59-1/2" x 50-3/4"). Dissected, mounted on linen (with marbled guards) and folding into the original cloth slip-case - the printed label giving Stanford's later (post-1887) Cockspur Street address; case a little worn and frayed; a few slight spots to the map; one short repaired tear (evidently dating from before the map was laid down), but overall a very good copy of a scarce item. Only the British Library copy listed on COPAC.

SOLD

[GUERNSEY] THE ISLAND OF GARNSEY.

SELLER, John, 1632-1697 : [GUERNSEY] THE ISLAND OF GARNSEY.

[London : 1694?]. A charming and rare small map of Guernsey by John Seller. Originally produced for a set of maps which first appeared under the title "Anglia Contracta", dated to between 1689 and 1694 by Skelton and generally ascribed to somewhere near the latter date. The maps in their original form were subsequently reissued a number of times between 1696 and 1711, with the present example dating from no later than 1697.
Copper line engraving on paper. Original hand colour. Engraved surface 118 x 142mm (approx. 4-5/8" x 5-5/8"). Mild tanning to the original colour, but still in very good state. A guaranteed genuine antique map.

SOLD

[HERTFORDSHIRE] HARTFORD SHIRE.

SELLER, John, 1632-1697 : [HERTFORDSHIRE] HARTFORD SHIRE.

[London : 1694?]. A charming and rare small map of Hertfordshire by John Seller. Originally produced for a set of maps which first appeared under the title "Anglia Contracta", dated to between 1689 and 1694 by Skelton and generally ascribed to somewhere near the latter date. The maps in their original form were subsequently reissued a number of times between 1696 and 1711, with the present example dating from no later than 1697.
Copper line engraving on paper. Original hand colour. Engraved surface 119 x 145mm (approx. 4-3/4" x 5-3/4"). Short tear to lower margin, just touching the map border; a touch dusty, but still in very good state. A guaranteed genuine antique map.

SOLD

LONDRES ET SES ENVIRONS, OU GUIDE DES VOYAGEURS, CURIEUX ET AMATEURS DANS CETTE PARTIE DE L'ANGLETERRE ...

[SERRES DE LA TOUR, Alphonse-Joseph de] : LONDRES ET SES ENVIRONS, OU GUIDE DES VOYAGEURS, CURIEUX ET AMATEURS DANS CETTE PARTIE DE L'ANGLETERRE ...

Paris : Chez Buisson, 1788. First edition. A charming eighteenth-century illustrated French guide to London from the journalist and refugee who had absconded to London with the aristocratic wife of his employer. Serres de la Tour includes chapters on the character of the people, the London way of life, the antiquity, the extent, the principal buildings in turn, the Thames, the hospitals, societies, institutions, markets, spectacles and amusements, the post, the taverns and cafes, etc. In an unusual feature at this date, the second volume comprises an alphabetical dictionary of the smaller towns and villages of the London area (from Abbots Langley to Windsor), with descriptions of each, this followed by notes on the principal English towns elsewhere, from Bath to York. As Adams points out, the folding plates are "larger and more handsome than those usually found in a duodecimo volume. They ... seem not to be associated with any British prints of the period. Most view the buildings at an unusually oblique angle and include ... much architectural detail".
Two volumes. Crown 12mo. 4,372; [ii],(324),[iv]pp. Folding map and nine folding plates. Contemporary mottled calf, the spines prettily ruled and decorated in gilt in a floral design; marbled edges and endpapers; some minor rubbing and wear; lacks one title-label and one numeral label; some repairs and strengthening to folds of plates; two leaves torn without loss; a few minor marks and small flaws, but overall still a very good set in a pleasant contemporary binding. Adams 65.

£500

To confirm availability and to purchase this book please note the stock number 34502 and go to the database. Enter the number in the stock/order number box - press the search button - and a shopping basket should appear. Or simply call us or e-mail books@ashrare.com.

SMITH & SON, Charles : [COVER TITLE] TAPE INDICATOR MAP OF LONDON.

London : C. Smith & Son, [ca.1900]. A handsome and useful map of London at the dawn of the twentieth century, depicting such new additions to the landcape as Tower Bridge (opened 1894), the Tate Gallery (opened 1897 but here still called the Gallery of British Art) and Marylebone Station (opened 1899 - shown but not yet named). Compiled at a scale of three and a half inches to the mile, the map gives good detail of the area from Hammersmith in the west to the West India Docks in the east, and from Clapham Common up to Kentish Town. The title refers to the ingenious numbered tape riveted to the side of the map, which can be used in conjunction with the printed index and the side keys immediately to locate a given street.
Lithograph on paper, with original hand colour. 72pp index and visitor's guide inserted. Printed surface 610 x 889 mm (approx. 24" x 35"). Mounted on linen and folding into the original cloth gilt case; some wear to folds, with occasional very minor loss; some spotting to linen backing, but overall a very good example of a map designed for hard use. A guaranteed genuine antique map. Hyde 230 - an unrecorded intermediate state between 230/6 and 230/7.

SOLD

To confirm availability and to purchase this map please note the stock number 32074 and go to the database. Enter the number in the stock/order number box - press the search button - and a shopping basket should appear. Or simply call us or e-mail books@ashrare.com.

CINDERELLA GOES TO THE MORGUE : AN ENTERTAINMENT.

SPAIN, Nancy (Nancy Brooker), 1917-1964 : CINDERELLA GOES TO THE MORGUE : AN ENTERTAINMENT.

London : Hutchinson & Co. (Publishers), [1950]. First edition. Her fifth murder mystery - pantomime, drunken ballerina, northern industrial city, Natasha DuVivien, Miriam Birdseye.
Crown 8vo. (240)pp. Endpaper plans in green. Original black cloth, lettered across upper cover and spine in silver; a few faint marks, but a very good, bright and sound copy in the original Farnhill dust-jacket - a design in pink, purple, olive, brown and black on white - the jacket worn, faded, slightly torn, lightly chipped, repaired and lacking a section approx. 2cm x 5cm on lower panel. Hubin p.375.

£100

To confirm availability and to purchase this book please note the stock number 30711 and go to the database. Enter the number in the stock/order number box - press the search button - and a shopping basket should appear. Or simply call us or e-mail books@ashrare.com.

STANFORD'S MAP OF THE COUNTY OF LONDON, ACCORDING TO THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT. 1888.

STANFORD, Edward, 1827-1904 : STANFORD'S MAP OF THE COUNTY OF LONDON, ACCORDING TO THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT. 1888.

London : Edward Stanford, 1889. An attractive and highly useful map of late Victorian London - extending from Crouch End and Snaresbrook in the north to Anerley in the south, and from Kew across to Plumstead Marshes. Giving good detail on a scale of two inches to the mile, the map is particularly important in showing the electoral divisions and the urban sanitary and road authorities as reconstituted after the great overhaul of London's government represented in the formation of the London County Council in 1888 - the most ambitious municipal authority then conceived. Stanford's base-map had first appeared some twenty years earlier to show the Metropolitan Board of Works area and, although independently produced, the successive versions of the map were widely used both by the MBW and the LCC and came to have a quasi-official status as London Government Maps.
Lithograph on paper, with original hand colour. Printed surface 670 x 1001mm (approx. 26-1/2" x 39-1/2"). Dissected, mounted on linen and folding into purple roan guards with a manuscript label; some minor external wear; small area of discolouration at eastern edge of map; one small nicks and a slight hole to folds, but otherwise in very good state. Hyde 105.(17).

SOLD

THE BLACK ARROW : A TALE OF TWO ROSES.

STEVENSON, Robert Louis, 1850-1894 : THE BLACK ARROW : A TALE OF TWO ROSES.

London : Cassell & Co., 1888. First British edition. Stevenson with a fine tale of the Wars of the Roses.
Crown 8vo. viii,324,4 + [xvi]pp inserted advertisements dated July 1888. Bound in a smart late twentieth-century full red morocco, banded and gilt, by Bayntun-Riviere, preserving the original pictorial upper cover at rear; all edges gilt; marbled endpapers; two tiny scuffs, a sprinkling of faint spots, but an excellent copy. Prideaux 26.

£350

To confirm availability and to purchase this book please note the stock number 32774 and go to the database. Enter the number in the stock/order number box - press the search button - and a shopping basket should appear. Or simply call us or e-mail books@ashrare.com.

SATIRES AND PROFANITIES.

THOMSON, James, 1834-1882 : SATIRES AND PROFANITIES.

London : Progressive Publishing Co., 1884. First edition. Outspoken journalism and essays, including "The Devil in the Church of England", "The Swinburne Controversy", "Spiritism in the Police Court", etc., from the author of "The City of Dreadful Night". With a preface by the secularist George William Foote (1850-1915).
Crown 8vo. (192)pp. Original green cloth over bevelled boards, ruled and lettered across spine in gilt; ruled in blind on upper and covers; cream endpapers; very slightly rubbed and faintly bruised; faint mark to spine; a few very minor signs of age and use, but a very good copy of a difficult title.

£100

To confirm availability and to purchase this book please note the stock number 23424 and go to the database. Enter the number in the stock/order number box - press the search button - and a shopping basket should appear. Or simply call us or e-mail books@ashrare.com.

CAN YOU FORGIVE HER?

TROLLOPE, Anthony, 1815-1882 : CAN YOU FORGIVE HER?

London : Chapman & Hall, 1864-1865. First edition. "But that which endears the book to me is the first presentation which I made in it of Plantagenet Palliser, with his wife Lady Glencora. By no amount of description or asservation could I succeed in making any reader understand how much these characters with their belongings have been to me in my latter life ..." (Trollope, in his Autobiography). Etched and engraved plates by Hablot K. Browne ("Phiz") and others.
Two volumes. Demy 8vo. (viii),320; (viii),320pp. Forty plates. Original crimson cloth, elaborately blocked and lettered in gilt and blind; expertly recased, repaired and refurbished, endpapers replaced in a close match of the original pale yellow - a few slight marks and signs of age and use, but a clean, bright and highly attractive cloth set - and scarce thus. Sadleir 19.

SOLD

THE LIFE OF CICERO.

TROLLOPE, Anthony, 1815-1882 : THE LIFE OF CICERO.

London : Chapman & Hall, 1880. First edition : in the primary binding, with the plainer lettering.
Two volumes. Post 8vo. (viii),(420); (viii),(424)pp. Original red cloth, ruled in gilt and blind, and lettered across spine in gilt; very minor wear to extremities; endpapers slightly cracking; a few small chips and minor flaws, but a very good, still bright, and largely unopened copy, housed in a handsome quarter morocco collector's slip-case, richly gilt. From the well-known collection of the American collector, William Woolsey Yardley, with his labels and distinctive style of slip-case. Sadleir 58.

SOLD

To confirm availability and to purchase this book please note the stock number 32809 and go to the database. Enter the number in the stock/order number box - press the search button - and a shopping basket should appear. Or simply call us or e-mail books@ashrare.com.

"VOLTAIRE" - [AROUET, François-Marie, 1694-1778] : THE AGE OF LEWIS XIV. TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH OF M. DE VOLTAIRE.

London : R. Dodsley, 1752. First edition in English of "Le Siècle de Louis XIV" (1751). Voltaire with a sweeping history not just of the Sun King, but the whole of his age - the fine arts, the sciences, the finances - exemplifying his new and profoundly influential method of doubt and reason - he "transformed the art of history, as well as the contemporary understanding of historical processes, on both sides of the English Channel" (ODNB).
Two volumes. Post 8vo. viii,436; [ii],292,90,[xx]pp. Engraved frontispieces. Contemporary mottled calf, banded and gilt; red edges; the bindings skilfully restored and rebacked, retaining the original backstrips and number labels - the title labels replaced in a good match of the original style; boards a little rubbed and pitted; endpapers tanned, with minor worming to those at the front of the first volume; bookplate removed from first volume; some occasional mild browning to text, with a marginal tear to one leaf and a chip to another, but, despite these minor flaws and a few signs of age and use, a very good set in a stylish eighteenth-century binding. With occasional manuscript marks and marginalia, mostly approbatory, and the contemporary ownership inscriptions and bookplate (in vol. ii) of Edward Burrow - the pronounced shipping motif of the rococo design inclining me to identify this with Edward Burrow, Collector of His Majesty's Customs at Port Glasgow, and the author of "A New and Compleat Book of Rates" (1774).

SOLD

ASPECTS OF VICTORIAN LITHOGRAPHY : ANASTATIC PRINTING AND PHOTOZINCOGRAPHY.

WAKEMAN, Geoffrey, 1926-1987 : ASPECTS OF VICTORIAN LITHOGRAPHY : ANASTATIC PRINTING AND PHOTOZINCOGRAPHY.

Wymondham : Brewhouse Press, 1970. First edition : limited to 250 numbered copies. Wakeman on the development of these sophisticated nineteenth century methods of printing facsimiles.
Pott folio. (64)pp. Illustrations, specimens, facsimiles. Original morocco-backed patterned boards by Trevor Hickman; a little bowed; mild spotting of top edge, but a very good copy.

£150

To confirm availability and to purchase this book please note the stock number 26718 and go to the database. Enter the number in the stock/order number box - press the search button - and a shopping basket should appear. Or simply call us or e-mail books@ashrare.com.

THE LADY OF LITTLE HELL.

WALLACE, Edgar (Richard Horatio Edgar), 1875-1932 : THE LADY OF LITTLE HELL.

London : George Newnes, [1929]. First edition : the first issue, with the advertisements conforming to Kiddle. A scarce collection of eight short stories, including "The Girl from the Ether".
Demy 8vo. 127,[i]pp. Original pictorial wrappers - two women look woodenly at a man in army uniform; wrappers very slightly nicked and chipped, text a little tanned; a few spots, but a very good copy of this fragile production. Kiddle W98. Lofts & Adley B92.

SOLD

THE COMPLEAT ANGLER : OR, THE CONTEMPLATIVE MAN'S RECREATION : BEING A DISCOURSE OF RIVERS, FISHPONDS, FISH AND FISHING NOT UNWORTHY THE PERUSAL OF MOST ANGLERS.

WALTON, Izaak, 1593-1683 : THE COMPLEAT ANGLER : OR, THE CONTEMPLATIVE MAN'S RECREATION : BEING A DISCOURSE OF RIVERS, FISHPONDS, FISH AND FISHING NOT UNWORTHY THE PERUSAL OF MOST ANGLERS.

London : George G. Harrap & Co., (1931). First Rackham edition. The great classic of angling literature, here delightfully illustrated by Arthur Rackham.
Crown 4to. (224)pp. Twelve tissue-guarded colour plates. Illustrations in text. Bound in a fine slightly later (mid twentieth-century) half green crushed morocco by Frost & Co. of Bath, banded and gilt with a variety of angling motifs in compartments; top edge gilt; marbled endpapers; a few slight spots; frontispiece tissue slightly creased, but overall a handsome copy.

£400

To confirm availability and to purchase this book please note the stock number 32783 and go to the database. Enter the number in the stock/order number box - press the search button - and a shopping basket should appear. Or simply call us or e-mail books@ashrare.com.

BRIDESHEAD REVISITED : THE SACRED AND PROFANE MEMORIES OF CAPTAIN CHARLES RYDER : A NOVEL.

WAUGH, Evelyn (Evelyn Arthur St. John), 1903-1966 : BRIDESHEAD REVISITED : THE SACRED AND PROFANE MEMORIES OF CAPTAIN CHARLES RYDER : A NOVEL.

London : Chapman & Hall, 1945. First edition.
Crown 8vo. 304pp. Bound in a smart recent full burgundy morocco, banded and gilt, preserving the original cloth spine and upper panel at rear; all edges gilt; marbled endpapers; a few tiny spots; a few faint creases and a handful of marginal nicks and short tears, but a very good and clean copy, very attractively bound.

SOLD

THE LOVED ONE : AN ANGLO-AMERICAN TRAGEDY.

WAUGH, Evelyn (Evelyn Arthur St. John), 1903-1966 : THE LOVED ONE : AN ANGLO-AMERICAN TRAGEDY.

London : Chapman & Hall, [1948]. First edition : one of 250 numbered copies on large paper, signed by both Evelyn Waugh and the illustrator, Stuart Boyle.
Medium 8vo. [xii],144pp. Illustrations and pictorial initials by Boyle in sepia. Original olive buckram, lettered on spine in gilt; top edge gilt; a little bruised; a few faint marks to covers; a sprinkling of edge-spots, but overall a very good and sound copy. Faint numerical stamp on rear free endpaper.

SOLD

OFFICERS AND GENTLEMEN : A NOVEL.

WAUGH, Evelyn (Evelyn Arthur St. John), 1903-1966 : OFFICERS AND GENTLEMEN : A NOVEL.

London : Chapman & Hall, 1955. First edition. The second volume in Waugh's "Sword of Honour" trilogy.
Crown 8vo. [x],(336),[ii]pp. Original blue cloth, lettered across spine in gilt; top edge blue; slightly bruised, with a tiny knock at head of upper cover, but otherwise a very good, clean and sound copy in the original Val Biro dust-jacket - a design in blue, yellow, white and black - slightly nicked, lightly chipped and just a little tanned on lower panel.

SOLD

A HISTORY MILITARY AND MUNICIPAL OF THE ANCIENT BOROUGH OF THE DEVIZES; AND, SUBORDINATELY, OF THE ENTIRE HUNDRED OF POTTERNE AND CANNINGS, IN WHICH IT IS INCLUDED.

[WAYLEN, James, 1810-1894] : A HISTORY MILITARY AND MUNICIPAL OF THE ANCIENT BOROUGH OF THE DEVIZES; AND, SUBORDINATELY, OF THE ENTIRE HUNDRED OF POTTERNE AND CANNINGS, IN WHICH IT IS INCLUDED.

London : Longman, Brown & Co. / Devizes : Henry Bull, 1859. First edition. An extensive and rather lively account of Devizes - with much on the origins, Matilda and the wars, the Civil War, canal mania, local politics, etc. Authorship is variously ascribed to Henry Bull, the publisher himself, and to James Waylen - although Waylen's authorship of "Chronicles of the Devizes" (1839) and a history of Marlborough (1854) with an almost identical title to the present one, would seem conclusive. He was a portrait-painter by profession (born in Devizes) and at least one of the plates is from his own original study.
Demy 8vo. [iv],602pp. Engraved plates. Illustrations. Bound in a neat nineteenth-century half-calf , marbled sides, red edges; matching marbled endpapers; lightly rubbed and slightly scuffed; frontispiece cut round, mounted and laid-down; occasional spotting, but overall a very good copy. Ownership inscriptions of [Hester] Harding of Steeple Ashton (1881) and W. J. Kyte of Cardiff.

£200

To confirm availability and to purchase this book please note the stock number 32795 and go to the database. Enter the number in the stock/order number box - press the search button - and a shopping basket should appear. Or simply call us or e-mail books@ashrare.com.

THE HAPPY PRINCE AND OTHER TALES.

WILDE, Oscar (Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills), 1854-1900 : THE HAPPY PRINCE AND OTHER TALES.

London : David Nutt, 1889. "Second edition". First published in an impression of just 1,000 copies the previous year, this uncommon second impression of the original edition was the last to be published in England in Wilde's lifetime. Five memorable tales, including "The Selfish Giant" and "The Remarkable Rocket", with illustrations by Walter Crane and Jacomb Hood.
Foolscap 4to. [viii],(118),[ii]pp. Three plates and eleven illustrations. Original Japan-vellum, lettered and decorated in red and black; the covers lightly worn, slightly creased and a little tanned, with a tiny split, but unchipped and rather better than usual; very slightly shaken; internally somewhat spotted throughout; a few words underlined in pencil; name partially erased from front endpaper; but overall a very good copy, in original condition, of this notoriously fragile production. With the booksellers' label of Breslauer & Meyer of Berlin. Mason 315.

SOLD

SALAR THE SALMON.

WILLIAMSON, Henry (Henry William), 1895-1977 : SALAR THE SALMON.

London : Faber & Faber, (1935). First edition : the first issue, with the pink top edge.
Crown 8vo. (320)pp. Title-page and colophon decorations by C. F. Tunnicliffe. Endpaper maps. Original brown cloth, blocked and lettered across spine in gilt; some spotting of edges, but a very good copy indeed, in the original pictorial Tunnicliffe dust-jacket - with a touch of very minor wear at head - but also very good indeed.

£150

To confirm availability and to purchase this book please note the stock number 32579 and go to the database. Enter the number in the stock/order number box - press the search button - and a shopping basket should appear. Or simply call us or e-mail books@ashrare.com.

WODEHOUSE, P.G. (Sir Pelham Grenville), 1881-1975 : BILL THE CONQUEROR : HIS INVASION OF ENGLAND IN THE SPRINGTIME.

London : Methuen & Co., (1924). First edition. "With a sudden sharp snort which, violent though it was, expressed only feebly the disgust and indignation seething within him, Sir George Pyke laid down the current number of Society Spice and took up the desk telephone ...".
Crown 8vo. viii,296,8pp. Bound in a smart recent half burgundy morocco, banded and gilt; marbled sides; a few faint marks and spots, but a very good copy in an attractive binding. Connolly 34. Jasen 34. McIlvaine A33a.

SOLD

WODEHOUSE, P.G. (Sir Pelham Grenville), 1881-1975 : SUMMER MOONSHINE.

London : Herbert Jenkins, (1938). First British edition. Impecunious baronet, hideous house, rich potential buyer, breach of promise, etc.
Crown 8vo. (312),[viii]pp. Original red cloth, blocked and lettered in black; a few faint spots and minor marks, mild tanning of endpapers, but a very good, bright, crisp and unworn copy. Small bookseller's label of F. A. Wood of Oxford. Connolly 72(i). Jasen 58a. McIlvaine A59b.

SOLD

WODEHOUSE, P.G. (Sir Pelham Grenville), 1881-1975 : UNCLE FRED IN THE SPRINGTIME.

London : Herbert Jenkins, (1939). First British edition : with the variant setting of four advertisement leaves. The fifth Blandings Castle novel - and the first with Uncle Fred as the leading character - "The door of the Drones Club swung open ...".
Crown 8vo. (312),[viii]pp. Bound in an elegant recent half blue morocco, banded and gilt; marbled sides; some spotting, mainly of edges, but otherwise a very good copy in an attractive binding. Connolly 75(i). Jasen 60a. McIlvaine A61b.

SOLD

If you are not sure about some of the words we use in our descriptions of the books you may find our guide to Bookselling Terms a help.

SEARCH FOR SIMILAR MATERIAL, CURRENCY CONVERSION AND
SECURE ORDERING AVAILABLE THROUGH THE
DATABASE

Credit Card Logos

Return to Ash Rare Books home page.

Designed and © 2008 Ash Rare Books
e-mail: books@ashrare.com