FENIMORE COOPER FIRST EDITIONS AT
ASH RARE BOOKS
43 HURON ROAD
LONDON SW17 8RE
UNITED KINGDOM

London : John Miller, 1825. First British edition. Cooper’s intriguing novel of a conflict of loyalties – Lionel Lincoln, Boston-born of an aristocratic English family, fights for the British in the American Revolutionary War. Praised in particular for the historical accuracy of his accounts of Lexington and Bunker Hill, Cooper’s wider theme of the fragilities of democracy has only been fully recognised in recent years.
Three volumes. Post 12mo (181 x 104mm). (320); [iv],300; [iv],275,[i]pp. Bound in a most attractive contemporary half polished tan calf, banded and gilt; marbled sides; sprinkled edges; some minor rubbing; a handful of wormholes; faint inked shelf-marks to spines; some occasional internal spotting and browning, but a very good and sound set. With the contemporary armorial bookplates of William Edward Powell (1788-1854) of Nanteos, Lord Lieutenant and M.P. for Cardiganshire, and the more recent bookplate of the collector Robert James Hayhurst (1929-2016).

SOLD

London : Richard Bentley, 1833. First edition : precedes the American edition. Cooper explores society, politics, feudalism and democracy in this tale of a Swiss noblewoman and her love for the son of an executioner.
Three volumes. Demy 12mo (188 x 112mm). (xvi),(322); [iv],(318); [iv],(332)pp. Bound in a stylish contemporary half polished lavender calf, banded and gilt; green labels; marbled sides; sprinkled edges; spines lightly tanned; just a hint of rubbing; faint shelf-marks on spines; some occasional internal spotting and browning, but a very good set. With the contemporary armorial bookplates of William Edward Powell (1788-1854) of Nanteos, Lord Lieutenant and M. P. for Cardiganshire, and the more recent bookplate of the collector Robert James Hayhurst (1929-2016).

SOLD

London : Richard Bentley, 1835. First edition. “It is not improbable that some of those who read this book may feel a wish to know in what manner I became possessed of the manuscript ...”. Imaginary voyages to the South Pole – philosophical talking monkeys – a political satire on the lands of Leaphigh (England) and Leaplow (USA) – an American “Gulliver’s Travels”. Precedes the Philadelphia edition published later the same year.
Three volumes. Demy 12mo (188 x 115mm). xii,300; [ii],300; [ii],318pp. Bound in an elegant contemporary half tan calf, banded and gilt; black labels; marbled sides; sprinkled edges; some very mild rubbing and slight wear; a few minor marks and spots, but a very good set. With the contemporary armorial bookplate of the colourful William Edward Powell (1788-1854) of Nanteos, M.P., Lord Lieutenant of Cardiganshire, etc., in each volume, and the later bookplate of the twentieth-century collector Robert James Hayhurst (1929-2016) in vol.i. Inked Nanteos name on titles and faint Nanteos shelf-marks on spines.

£400

Currently on display at Bryars & Bryars in central London, please enquire about availability – books@ashrare.com