British History

London: Printed for M. Cooper, at the Globe, in Paternoster Row, 1747 Fair Condition. Containing: I) An Historical and Genealogical Account of His Grace's Family. II) An Impartial View of His Conduct in His Civil and Military Employments, with the History of His Time, and an Inquiry into the Principles and Measures of Those Parties, which He either Supported or Opposed. III) A Succinct Account of the Most Remarkable Events that Happen'd to Him during upwards of Thirty Years Exile; from Authentic Materials. vi, 544pp, 4pp index, bound in 3/4 leather & marbled paper, marbled endpapers, engraved frontis. Library cloth over backstrip, cover corners worn, hinges taped, inner crack, occasional foxing.

London: Henry Colburn, 1828 IN VERY GOOD CONDITION. Complete with 3 frontis-pieces as called for. [10] cxcii, 423pp; [4] 543pp; viii, 596pp; [2] 549pp, errata. In decorative library bindings, with bindings and hinges tight. Occasional light foxing. TITLE CONTINUES: With an Introduction, Containing an Account of the Parliament of 1654; from the Journal of Guibon Goddard, Esq. M.P. Also Now First Printed. Edited and Illustrated with Notes Historical and Biographical by John Towhill Rutt. Complete in 4 Volumes.

London- UK: John Murray, 1936. OUR SOVEREIGNS- Osbert Lancaster- Illustrated-color-plates- John Murray-London-UK- 1936-1st Edition-1st Printing-Stated- Hardcover:-12mo- FINE/VG++ dj is bright and clean, one dime sized v missing from spine-clipped- 3sh6d- (5 sh piced copies are not first printings)-196pp are clean, no tears or writing- textblock and spine are as tight as new- A gorgeous copy!- 55 color plates depicting all the monarchs from Alfred The Great to Edward VIII- with a bried biography of their reigns- NO better copy around, highly collectible and SCARCE!- True 1st Edition-STATED!- Non-fiction-British-England-Royalty-lineage-illustrated (1222). 1st Edition-1st Printing. Cloth. Fine/VG++. Illus. by Illustrated-color-plates. 12mo - over 6¾" - 7¾" tall.

Edinburgh, 1860 A good copy of the extremely scarce 1st edition of Col David Balfour's work on the history of Orkney, inscribed by the author on an initial blank. Col Balfour was born on Shapinsay and inherited the family estate there in 1846, commissioning the building of Balfour Castle. He was one of the key movers in the reorganisation of land use in the mid 1800's - replacing the narrow field strips by larger square fields better-suited for profitable farming. The central thesis of 'Odal Rights' is that Orkney, with its Scandinavian links, had the capacity to be a major trading centre, but that Scottish rule brought over-taxation and dependency. This copy is in the original cloth binding with gilt titles to spine. The binding has mottling to the sides of both boards and has light fraying and pulling at the spine ends. Corners with light wear. The contents with title page, text, appendices and glossary of unusual words, are complete and clean with 2 initial and final blanks. The… Read More

Thomas Gent. Annales Regioduni Hullini: or, The Entertaining History of the Royal and Beautiful Town of Kingston upon Hull (Sold at the Printing-Office [of T. Gent] near the Star in Stone-Gate, York ; By Ward and Chandler, Scarborough, and at their shop in London ; by George Ferraby, Hull ; and by J. Wilford, London, 1735)
Octavo. 201 pages plus index, addenda, postscript and list of subscribers. Six plates including frontispiece. Hardcover. Rebound in the late 19th/early 20th century in a green armorial leather binding stamped in gilt with what appears to be all maps and plates present. Marbled endpapers. Five raised bands.
Condition: VG with some edge wear and wear to hinges. Top edge of text block slightly darkened with age. Handwritten list of plates tipped in on blank page in front. Nice condition.
Provenance: Armorial binding of a lion rampant crest with shield containing three lions rampant and the motto: "Dum Clavum Rectum Teneam" or "If only I go steady", an invocation to do your… Read More

New York and London: Scribner and Welford / Bickers and Son , 1884. Five volumes in publisher's original decorative paper covered boards, gilt crest front covers and gilt lettering back, dark blue end papers, four engraved portraits each volume, except Vol. II, with three. Bookplate of Mary Rivers with added name in ink of R.G. Russell. A Very Good set, small tears at spine ends, moderate toning associated with frontis engravings. Wraxall's Memoirs was a scandalous success on its initial publication in 1815. The first edition sold out in a month, and a libel suit cost Wraxall a jail term and a fine. Even so, the facts appear to have been mostly true, and the book makes for fine reading to this day. *** A heavy set that will require additional shipping charges for priority and international mail. Please inquire as to cost before ordering. . Later Edition. Decorative Paper Covered Board. Very Good/No Jacket, As Issued. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.

London: J. Debrett, 1793. Contemporary calf, red morocco label with gilt lettering back, stamp verso title page of "Museum Britanicum dupl. for sale 1831", calf rubbed at corners and edges, 1 signature loose and laid in, occasional faint marginal pencil notations, faint pencil notations rear end page, prior owner name in pecncil front end page, lacking half title page. Engraved frontispiece portrait of Sir William Waller and engraved portrait of William Lenthal facing page 191. SCARCE in current commerce. . First Edition. Calf. Very Good. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.

William Alexander, engraved by John Landseer and J. Shirt on copper plate. 'Natives of Cochin-China, Playing at Shuttlecock with their Feet'. from Lord Macartney's Embassy to China. Published by G. Nicol London, 1796.
William Alexander's scene is situated in Cochinchina (Vietnam), where badminton is known as dá cau and is a national sport.
The 'embassy' was headed by Earl George Macartney (1737-1806), who was dispatched to Beijing in 1792. He was accompanied by George Staunton a medical doctor as his secretary. This engraving accompanied his famous account of the expedition.
This opened the way for future British missions, which would eventually lead to the first Opium War and the cession of Hong Kong to Britain in 1842. It also resulted in this invaluable account, prepared at government expense, largely from Lord Macartney's notes, by Staunton, of Chinese manners, customs and artifacts at the height of the Qing dynasty. The engravings are of special interest because of their depiction of subjects… Read More

Glasgow: Blackie, Fullarton & Co. 1827. (Hardcover set) 417, 630, 572, 644pp. Good, no dust jacket. Brown leather. Engraved fontispiece in each volume, color folding map, index. The covers are worn, faded white numbers on the spines, the pages are spotted and the map has a one-inch hole in the center that has been reinforced with clear tape. (History--Scotland, History--Scotland).

London: Socialist Labour League, 1960. Pamphlet. Stapled wraps, 7 x 5 inches, 8 pp. Toning to wrappers and pages with "Labor Book Shop" stamp to front wrapper; faint crease marks to upper-right leaves; one-inch chip to top of rear wrapper (along spine); one-inch closed tear to rear wrapper; wrappers pulling from staples. A delicate and rare pamphlet written by Alasdair MacIntyre for the Socialist Labour League. Very good.. Rare original printing of Alasdair MacIntyre's (b. 1929) early pamphlet discussing and debating a proposed change to Clause 4 of the Labour Party Constitution. Celebrated for his monumental work on virtue ethics, After Virtue (1981), MacIntyre was early influenced by Marxist thought and principles, and briefly joined the Socialist Labour League as a young scholar. His first book, Marxism: An Interpretation, published in 1953, evaluated the influence of theological concepts on Marxist thought. Although his Marxist sympathies would evolve throughout his distinguished career,… Read More

Cambridge at the University Press: Cambridge Press, 1965. Two volumes bound in original teal cloth with red leather labels and gilt lettering and designs, map end papers, Near Fine, tidy prior owner name front end pages, tiny rubs to cloth at corners, in Near Fine dust jackets, front flaps corner-clipped with publishers price stickers at bottom corners, small rubs at spine ends. A handsome set. . First Edition. Cloth. Near Fine/Near Fine. 4to - over 9¾" - 12" tall.

(London): London: [Publisher not identified]: Printed for J. Roberts, near the Oxford-Arms in Warwick-Lane, , 1688. Three Letters .... "I. Relating to the affair of Molinos, and the Quietists. II. Relating to the Inquistion, and the state of religion. III. Relating to the policy and interests of some of the states of Italy :being a supplement to Dr. Burnets letters." (22), 192 pages, lacking the first (2) and any blank leafs. Written in 1687, publ. 1688. Bound with: A Romish Ecclesiastical..., Printed for J. Roberts, near the Oxford-Arms in Warwick-Lane, 1714. 7 preliminary leaves, xii, vi, 167, [1] pages, frontispiece illustration, text of pp.79-80 not repeated on 81-82. . Two separate titles, bound in contemporary leather, Good, top cover broken, lacking any pages before title page of Three Letters, contemporary writing on front paste down including prior owners, light internal toning. Rothschild 1955.. First Edition. Leather. Good/No Jacket, As Issued. 16mo - over 5¾" -… Read More

London: Printed, and are to be Sold by most Booksellers in London and Westminster. , 1705. Vol. 1: The second edition corrected and enlarg'd by himself. originally published 1703 in a pirated edition (cf. Preface of v. 1). With engraved portrait of Defoe by Van der Gucht after L. Tavernier. (24), 470 pages. First edition of the first authorised collection of his works. Lacking Volume II, wich according to the Maggs catalogue of 1929 "is excessively rare." In contemporary calf embossed in blind, Good, the front board detached, the first two blanks detached from binding, old damping at the bottom 3rd of all pages, 2 prior owner names front end page , one contemporary (ink) and 1 modern(pencil). loss of leather at bottom corners both covers. Uncommon. . Calf. Good/No Jacket, As Issued. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.

This is a lovely Limited Edition of 150 copies only. Originally was in 10 parts from 1972-1975 the limited edition was published in !975 with a few changes and additional illustrations. Signed by the author - Ivor Waters. The illustrator Mercedes Waters and cartography Bryan Woodfield. Beautiful black and white illustrations,maps and photographs throughout the book. Cream dust jacket with minimal wear, a tiny tear on upper front near spine with some irregularity and wear on the upper spine jacket. Green boards with Gilt writing on the spine in very good condition. The photographs are the actual book showing signatures and the small defect on dust jacket upper spine and tear in Dust jacket as it is.

London: Printed by J. Phillips, 1789. First Edition First Printing . Hardcover. Very Good/No Jacket. 12mo - over 6¾ - 7¾" tall. 12mo. 37 pages. Hardcover rebound in mid-20th century 3/4 leather with marbled paper-covered boards. Red leather label with gilt lettering on the front board. The red leather label is scuffed but still bright. The binding of the book shows light to moderate wear. Prior owner's 20th century bookplate on the front pastedown. New endpapers. The text is a bit toned, and the title page and terminal leaf show heavier toning. The text is generally clean. Scarce. Henry Beaufoy (1750-1795) was a British Member of Parliament and was the son of a Quaker merchant (although after marriage he conformed to the Church of England). In April, 1791 he voted for abolition of the slave trade but revised his position towards gradual abolition in 1792.