This auction is live!
You need to be registered and approved to bid at this auction.
Watch the auctionThis auction is closed!
It is no longer possible to bid at this auction.
You are registered for this auction
You are now approved to bid at this auction.
Your auction registration is now pending
You have successfully registered for this auction, pending approval to bid. Please check your email for further information.
Your auction registration has been declined
Please contact the auctioneer for more information.
Live
Venue address
Forum Auctions
London
SW8 3NS
United Kingdom
Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper (at Forum Auctions)
This is a live online auction with auctioneer. For details on registration, bidding, viewing & condition reports, click “Important information” link.
Bidding is available online via your Dreweatts Live account, by telephone or by commission bids through Dreweatts, or in person at Forum Auctions. Please contact Dreweatts to register all commission bids or telephone bids by 12 noon BST the day before the auction.
Viewing by appointment at Forum Auctions: 4 Ingate Place, London SW8 3NS | www.forumauctions.co.uk. To book an appointment, please email: info@forumauctions.co.uk or call +44 (0) 20 7871 2640.
Auction dates
May 29, 2025 01:00 PM BST
Viewing dates
By appointment only
|
Auction currency
|
GBP |
|
Buyer's premium
|
26 % (exc. Sales tax) |
|
Accepted cards for registration
|
|
|
Accepted cards for payment
|
|
|
Other payment methods
|
Featured lots
We found 244 items matching your search
Refine results
Filter by
Estimate
Category
Brand
Item Type
Featured lot
Provisionally sold
Leading
Won
Outbid
Lost
Declined
Reserve not met
Leading
1
Quantity
1
Max bid
GBP
Estimate
6,000 - 8,000 GBP
θ Bonfire of Vanities.- Benivieni (Girolamo) Canzoni e sonetti dell’amore e della bellezza divina, con commento, first edition, first issue , collation: [π] 4 a-n 8 o 6 oo 10 p 8 q 10 r-s 6 , 152ff., 44-45 lines, roman type, guide spaces for initials, line markings and marginal notes in contemporary hand(?s), mainly to first half, small paper repairs to corners first 2ff., occasional stains and foxing, endpapers renewed with slip tipped-in bearing ink notes in modern hand, contemporary calf over wooden boards, tooled in blind, rebacked, a corner repaired others boards exposed, spine head chipped, some worming and ?damp-stain to lower cover, brass clasps leather renewed, (folio 281 x 203mm.), Florence, Antonio Tubini, Lorenzo d' Alopa, Venetus Ghirlandi, and Andrea Ghirlandi, 1500. ⁂ Containing the first printed eye-witness account of Savonarola’s Bonfire of the Vanities . First edition, first issue, of Benivieni's Neoplatonic verse summary of the ‘Libro dello amore’, a commentary on Plato's ‘Symposium’, published in the wake of Savonarola’s tumultuous years of reform in Florence. Humanist Benivieni, along with Tubini, Alopa and Ghirlandi (the printers), were all ardent supporters of Savonarola’s thought, with for example, Benivieni having translated Savonarola’s ‘De Simplicitate’ in 1496. Here, across 2ff. (oo6-7), Benivieni describes the famous, dramatic public burning of the city’s 'lascivious, vain and detestable objects', known as the Bonfire of the Vanities, held in the Piazza della Signoria during the Carnival on 7 February 1497, offering a detailed list including paintings, musical instruments, feminine ornaments, dice, cards, and other such works of Satan. The edition is known in two variants: this copy appears as the first issue with colophon dated 7 September, and lines 24-25 of the table on [π]3r. Provenance: from the library of the Carthusian monastery at Casotto in Piedmonte (1172-1802) [title inscription 'Cartusia Casularum mihi a M. de ducibus donato', in the same hand as many of the marginal annotations]; and several other ownership inscriptions to title and front endpaper. Literature: BMC VI, 693; Goff B-328; GW 3850; ISTC ib00328000
Featured lot
Provisionally sold
Leading
Won
Outbid
Lost
Declined
Reserve not met
Leading
Quantity
1
Max bid
GBP
Estimate
2,000 - 3,000 GBP
θ Plinius Secundus (Gaius) De li homini illustri, in lingua senese traducto et brevemente commentato, first edition in Italian, collation: A-N 8 complete with full-page woodcut on verso of errata leaf at end, woodcut diagrams and initials, woodcut primitive world map on L8r, foxing and some staining, small hole to L4 with slight loss of text, fore-margin of first few leaves repaired, a few early ink annotations, later vellum,slight worming, later endpapers, 4to in 8s, (205 x 136mm.), Siena, Simone Nardi, 30 March, 1506. ⁂ First edition in Italian of De viris illustribus urbis Romae , a collection of biographies of Roman notables attributed to Pliny the Younger. Literature: Mortimer Italian 534; Sander 5767; EDIT 16 CNCE 16247.
Featured lot
Provisionally sold
Leading
Won
Outbid
Lost
Declined
Reserve not met
Leading
4
Quantity
1
Max bid
GBP
Estimate
15,000 - 20,000 GBP
θ Bound for Jean Grolier.- Negri Stefano Stephani Nigri Elegantissime è Graeco authorum subditorum translationes, uidelicet. , Philostrati Icones. Pythagorae Carmen aureum Athenaei Collectanea Musonij philosophi Tyrij De principe optimo Isocratis de regis muneribus oratio, & alia multa scitu digniss. & rara inuentu, first edition, first issue , collation: AA 4 A-P 4 Q 2 ; A-M 4 N 6 O-Y 4 Z 6 (L 4 , N 6 & Z 6 blank), text in Latin & Greek, dedication to Jean Grolier, general and divisional titles within ornate woodcut decorative border, woodcut decorative initials, occasional light foxing and staining, one endleaf vellum, the others paper, dark brown calf, gilt, by Jean Picard for Jean Grolier in the 1540s, upper cover with central title ‘GRAECA ALIQVOT OPVSCVLA A STEPHANO NIGRO IN LATINVM VERSA.’ and name at foot ‘IO. GROLIERII ET AMICORVM’, lower cover with Grolier’s personal motto at centre ‘PORTIO MEA DOMINE SIT IN TERRA VIVENTIVM.’, both covers with central lettering within an undulating cartouche composed of a single fillet and floral and foliage tools (cf. Nixon C. de P. 1 & 17), this within a lozenge of two fillets with large bud and foliage tool resting at four points on the outer fillet (cf. Nixon C. de P. 16), the lozenge intertwined with a square double fillet border with concave spaces at head, foot and corners, the latter to accommodate large floral and foliage corner-pieces (cf. Nixon C. de P. 1, 2 & 3), all within a single fillet border and an outermost double fillet border, between which blind-ruling with double oblique lines at corners, spine in four full and two half-compartments with raised bands (those of the half-compartments with gilt cross-hatching), each with small central fleuron (cf. Nixon C. de P. 12**) within gilt and blind-ruled single fillet border, small holes for ?metal bosses to corners and points of lozenge on both covers, joints and spine ends skilfully repaired (repairs noted in Heber catalogue), rubbed, g.e., housed in a modern red crushed morocco slip-case, a wide margined copy, 4to (text block 223 x 153mm.; binding 228 x 160mm.), [Milan], [Giovanni Castiglione for Andrea Calvo] , 1521. ⁂ The Jean Grolier (dedicatee)-Heber-Christie-Miller copy of this collection of translations of Greek authors. Jean Picard (fl.1540s) was a Parisian bookseller and bookbinder. 'Grolier bought and had bound by Jean Picard at least 230 books, probably more than half his third and final library...All the bindings had Grolier's name, Christian name, and motto tooled on the covers (Hobson, RBC , p.59). Provenance: Jean Grolier de Servières, vicomte d’Aguisy (c.1489/90-1565), Treasurer-General of France and bibliophile, bound for him with his name and personal motto to covers; Richard Heber (1773-1833), his sale, Sotheby's Part I, 10th April, 1834, lot 5135 (‘Bibliotheca Heberiana’ stamp to front endpaper (cf. De Ricci p.104)); [thereafter according to Austin] Thorpe (bookseller); Christie-Miller, sold Sotheby's, 3rd & 4th May, 1920, lot 489, to Ellis (bookseller) for £91; Wells (bookseller); Newton; Reichner (bookseller); "An Argentine lady"; Harper (bookseller); Breslauer (bookseller); private collection; UK private individual (current vendor). Literature: Gabriel Austin, The Library of Jean Grolier , 1971, 348; H.M. Nixon & Anthony Hobson 'Grolier's bindings classified by workshop' in Anthony Hobson Renaissance Book Collecting. Jean Grolier...books and bindings , 1999, p.226 (item 348); [H.M. Nixon] The British Museum. Bookbindings from the library of Jean Grolier. A loan exhibition 23 September-31 October 1965 , 1965, for individual tools cf. plates C-E (Nixon had attributed these to Claude de Picques, but they were later attributed by Hobson to Jean Picard) and cf. binding with 51 (Velmazio); On Negri's dedication of the work to Grolier see Hobson's RBC , pp.28 & 30; EDIT 16 CNCE 47085.
Featured lot
Provisionally sold
Leading
Won
Outbid
Lost
Declined
Reserve not met
Leading
![θ Plutarch. La prima [- seconda] parte delle Vite , 2 vol., translated by Lodovico Domenichi, …](https://portal-images.azureedge.net/auctions-2025/drewea1-10561/images/4edb5d6e-9a7f-4deb-ab44-b2d800fce897.jpg?h=175)
Quantity
1
Max bid
GBP
Estimate
8,000 - 12,000 GBP
θ Plutarch. La prima [- seconda] parte delle Vite , 2 vol., translated by Lodovico Domenichi, woodcut printer's device to titles and a different version to final f. in each vol., woodcut historiated initials and head-pieces, vol. 1 title loose, vol. 2 title with two small paper repairs at foot, occasional ink stains (or similar), faint damp-stains and finger soiling, handsomely bound in near contemporary black morocco, stamped in blind and gilt, with panel design featuring a device recalling the six hills or mountains of the Cesi arms at the outer corners, each vol. with title in gilt to upper cover, rebacked, tiny chip to vol. 2 lower cover edge, handsome gauffered and painted edges, with foliate and flower designs and the fore-edges showing the Cesi coat of arms, vol. 1 within a circle and vol. 2 a shield, the latter quite faded, 4to (231 x 149mm.), Venice, Gabriele Giolito de Ferrari, 1560. ⁂ A beautiful copy of Lodovico Domenichi's Italian translation of Plutarch's Vitae , once belonging to the Italian aristocratic Cesi family. The splendid fore-edges bear the full Cesi crest of tree rising from six stylised hills, that of the first volume still particularly rich in colour, and imbue a distinct feeling of luxury to this otherwise sombre and discreet example of sixteenth century armorial binding. This edition of the ‘Vite’ a re-issue by Giolito with a recomposed title-page dated 1560 (first edition 1555). Provenance: likely from the library of Federcio Cesi, Duke of Acquasanta (1585-1630), founder of the Accademia dei Lincei (Lincean Academy) in 1603, and one of the most influential patrons of Galileo Galilei. A copy of Giolito’s edition of the Vite is mentioned in an inventory of Federico's books located at Acquasparta which never entered the Lincean Academy; seemingly compiled in 1631 following his death to divide inheritance between his second wife, Isabella Salviati (sister of mathematician Francesco Salviati) and his brother, Giovanni Federico Cesi. Literature: EDIT 16 CNCE 27349.
Featured lot
Provisionally sold
Leading
Won
Outbid
Lost
Declined
Reserve not met
Leading
θ Novel.- Du Bail (Louis Moreau) L'Olympe , first edition , fine engraved architectural title by Léon Gaultier, woodcut head-pieces and decorative initials, 2 privilege ff. at end, sig. 2P closely trimmed at foot, just touching one signature-mark, water-stained at upper corners at end, occasional spotting, mostly lightly browned throughout, all but loose in contemporary vellum, yapp edges, lacking ties, a few small ink smudges to spine, some soiling, 8vo, Pierre Rocolet, 1635. ⁂ Rare, with USTC and WorldCat recording only three copies between them (BnF, Mazarine, & Lyon). The central character is based on the fictitious illegitimate daughter of King Henri III and tells the story of her two marriages (one ruinous), captivity and escape from execution.
Featured lot
Provisionally sold
Leading
Won
Outbid
Lost
Declined
Reserve not met
Leading
Quantity
1
Max bid
GBP
Estimate
10,000 - 15,000 GBP
θ Criminology.- Beccaria (Cesare) Dei Delitti e delle Pene, first edition, woodcut device on title, errata leaf at end, foxing and browning, floral pastedowns, contemporary vellum, a little soiled and with ink marking to upper cover, [Einaudi 3362; PMM 209], small 4to, [Livorno, Marco Coltellini], 1764. ⁂ Rare and important anonymously written work on crime and punishments . "One of the most influential books in the entire History of Criminology [...] Beccaria maintained that the gravity of the crime should be measured by its injury to society and that the penalties should be related to this. The prevention of the crime he held to be of greater importance than its punishment...He denounced the use of torture and secret judicial proceedings. He opposed capital punishment, which should be replaced by life imprisonment...and the conditions in prisons should be radically improved... [his] ideas have now become so commonplace that it is difficult to appreciate their revolutionary impact at the time" (PMM). Provenance: "W.Ashburner Dedit mihi v.cl. Ferd. Bosi IC 1925" (ink inscription on title); unidentified ink library stamp on last 2 leaves; Luigi Firpo (bookplate).
Featured lot
Provisionally sold
Leading
Won
Outbid
Lost
Declined
Reserve not met
Leading
θ Sophocles Quae exstant omnia, 5 parts in 2 vol., edited by R.F.P. Brunck, text in Latin and Greek, occasional foxing, Munden bookplate, contemporary dark blue morocco, gilt, g.e., occasional slight rubbing and some mottling, 4to, Strassburg, J. G. Treuttel, 1786. ⁂ A superb copy of this finely printed edition.
Featured lot
Provisionally sold
Leading
Won
Outbid
Lost
Declined
Reserve not met
Leading
θ Verlaine (Paul) Dédicaces , one of 55 copies on Hollande with an autograph poem by the author, this a presentation copy to a M. Louis , initial and final advertisement ff., half-title, pp.187/188 neat marginal tear at head, the odd other short marginal tear or chip, occasional spotting, lightly browned, original upper printed wrapper bound in, contemporary dark red half crushed morocco, spine in compartments and with gilt title, upper cover detached, head of spine little worn, rubbed and scuffed, t.e.g., uncut, [Vicaire VII, 996; Carteret Romantique II, p. 428], 8vo, Léon Vanier, 1894. ⁂ These copies are 'fort recherches [...] car ils possedent tous un poeme autographe de l'auteur' (Clouzot, p. 267). The autograph poem is 'à Bibi Purée'. Bibi la Purée, known as 'The King of Bohemia', was a former actor turned vagabond and petty thief, who haunted the streets of Montmartre and the Latin Quarter. He survived by shining shoes, and stealing umbrellas, and was painted by Picasso. Provenance: 'à M. Louis, bien sympathétiquement. P. Verlaine' (ink inscription to blank preceding half-title); Max Boehn (direct transfer bookplate to front pastedown); J.K. Mitchell III, 1906 (ink inscription to front free endpaper).
Featured lot
Provisionally sold
Leading
Won
Outbid
Lost
Declined
Reserve not met
Leading
10
θ Holocaust.- Kirschbaum (Menachem Mendel.) Takanoth eich LeHithnaheg Ka'Eth Be'Epher HaNisraphim , printed in Hebrew, evenly browned, small chipping and tears with expert tissue repairs, foldlines, 4pp. printed pamphlet, 8vo, Cracow, 1939.
⁂ Scarce. An important pamphlet from Chief Rabbi Kirschbaum, regarding how Burial Societies are to handle cremated remains. This was an important issue that arose due to Nazis returning the remains of arrested Jews to their families in a cremation urn.
Featured lot
Provisionally sold
Leading
Won
Outbid
Lost
Declined
Reserve not met
Leading
![θ Antiphoner.- manuscript on vellum, contemporary binding, [Spain], [c.1500]](https://portal-images.azureedge.net/auctions-2025/drewea1-10561/images/cad72e07-03aa-41fc-b1b4-b2d800fcf9c2.jpg?h=175)
Quantity
1
Max bid
GBP
Estimate
3,000 - 4,000 GBP
θ Antiphoner.- manuscript on vellum , 153ff. only (of 165, lacking fol. v, xxxi, xl, l, li, lxiii, lxviii, lxxxv, xci, xcviii, cxx, and, cxxxvii), text written in black and red, most leaves with music on 5 5-line red staves, initials in red, blue and green, some with decorative pen-work in the other colour, foliation in black in upper right corner, many leaves yellowed, some spotting and staining, occasional marginal loss or tears (not affecting text), some small holes, many old repairs, contemporary wooden boards, rebacked, remnants of reversed calf to lower board, rubbed and worn, [Spain], [c.1500].
Featured lot
Provisionally sold
Leading
Won
Outbid
Lost
Declined
Reserve not met
Leading
Quantity
1
Max bid
GBP
Estimate
2,000 - 3,000 GBP
Charles II ( K ing of England, Scotland, and Ireland , 1630-85 ) Order to the royal jewellers Francis Sympson and John Sympson, to make "certaine Medalls of gold, enameled with such pictures and devices as might bee more suitable to their respective qualities and degrees" for Sir Edward Bysshe Clarencieux King of Arms and William Dugdale Norroy King of Arms, D.s. "Charles R", manuscript on vellum, 3 hand-coloured coats of arms designs in left margin, folds, slightly creased, 335 x 441mm., Whitehall, 16th 1663.
⁂ An order by Charles II to his jewellers on behalf of Clarenceux and Norroy kings of arms at the heralds college, for two medals to enhance their prestige while undertaking their various visitations of counties. The order was for two medals "of fine gold, enameled on the one side with the Royall Armes of England Scotland France and Ireland, in single and distinct Escocheons and an Imperiall Crowne above the head of each, with a red Rose including the white in the midst thereof, and our Royall Cypher betwixt every Escocheon; and on the other side the Armes of their distinct Offices of Clarencieux and Norroy."
Sir William Dugdale ( 1605-1686 ), antiquary and herald.
Featured lot
Provisionally sold
Leading
Won
Outbid
Lost
Declined
Reserve not met
Leading
θ Scottish Genealogy.- Seton family.- Maitland ( Sir Richard, of Lethington ) The Historical Genealogie of the ancient and noble Family of Seton..., manuscript, 70pp., in a neat secretary hand, last 4pp. later (19th century), browned, faded photograph on front pastedown, contemporary calf, rubbed, g.e., part of upper joint splitting, sm. 4to, [late 17th century & 19th century].
Featured lot
Provisionally sold
Leading
Won
Outbid
Lost
Declined
Reserve not met
Leading
15
Garrick (David , actor and playwright , 1717-79 ) Autograph Letter signed to Dorothy Boyle, countess of Burlington, 3pp. & address panel, no place, 9th September 1749, relating an anecdote, "I was at London... I had some Business to do in ye Strand... I was walking along, I saw a number of People got together about a Bookseller's shop. My curiosity lead me to make one & I just came as a man was getting up a Ladder to hang on a Sign for the Shop, which was new and fitted up very handsomely. I jostled in amongst the Crowd to see whose head had the honour of being Exalted; when behold, I saw my own, & my name written about it, in Letters as Tall as Myself. You may imagine I was much disconcerted to be thus caught; however I slunk away as fast as I could...", good remains of red wax seal (cracked), small tear where opened, 3 small tears along folds, remains of tape at head and tail of letter, slightly browned. ⁂ Written shortly after Garrick's marriage to the Viennese dancer Eva Maria Veigel (Violette), to whom Lady Burlington had appointed herself as chaperone and had initially opposed their marriage. Dorothy Boyle [ née Savile], countess of Burlington ( 1699–1758 ), portrait painter and caricaturist.
Featured lot
Provisionally sold
Leading
Won
Outbid
Lost
Declined
Reserve not met
Leading
![θ Miltoniana.- [Addison (Joseph)] A regular Criticism upon Paradise lost, manuscript, original …](https://portal-images.azureedge.net/auctions-2025/drewea1-10561/images/e1571174-fec1-4b62-946f-b2d800fd22a8.jpg?h=175)
θ Miltoniana.- [Addison (Joseph)] A regular Criticism upon Paradise lost, manuscript, 185pp., first 15ff. slightly stained, slightly browned, 19th century ink inscription "Rev Peter Richardson's M.S.S." on front pastedown, original calf, rubbed, sm. 4to, [18th century]. ⁂ A copy of Joseph Addison's Notes upon the twelve books of Paradise lost: Collected from the Spectator, London : for Jacob Tonson, 1719.
Featured lot
Provisionally sold
Leading
Won
Outbid
Lost
Declined
Reserve not met
Leading
17
θ Venomous toads.- White ( Rev. Gilbert, naturalist, author of the "Natural History of Selborne", 1720-93) "The benevolence of modern naturalists hath induced them to pronounce the toad harmless..." , manuscript in a juvenile hand probably written at White's dictation, together 2pp., first page statement by White with eleven corrections in the text, watermark royal coat of arms, fold, browned, edges slightly creased and chipped, folio, n.d. [18th century]. ⁂ White's statement on the venomous properties of the toad and with a series of thermometer readings. Editor Thomas Bell describes as "Gilbert White's statement" on the venomous properties of the toad, first printed in a footnote (signed 'T. B.') on pp.51-52 of the first volume of Bell's 1877 edition of The Natural History of Selborne (London: John Van Voorst, 1 Paternoster Row). The following note by Bell, prefixed to White's "statement", indicates the significance Bell placed upon it, and the circumstances of its composition: "The habit of close observation of nature which was so conspicuous in White himself was communicated by his example to many who came within the sphere of his influence... . The following account, which I find amongst his papers, is a striking example of this. The observer was doubtless no other than his old gardener, Thomas Hoar, a quaint original, who was many years in his service. The account is not in White's handwriting, but evidently written from his dictation, as it is in a boy's hand, and has several verbal corrections, and the diction is his own." The present manuscript text of White's 'statement' - corresponds to the 1877 printed version in all but accidentals: it is not in White's handwriting, but in "a boy's hand"; it has "several verbal corrections", and the diction is White's own. The layout of the "statement" is, in addition, very similar to that of the original manuscript of the Natural History , suggesting the possibility that the leaf it is written on once formed part of it. Two factors reinforce the impression that the document was used by a printer. Firstly, in pencil, at the head of the page, is written "Copied & printed". Secondly, added in ink at various points in the document are what appear to be two printer's marks: first, a symbol of a dot in a circle, repeated once; and another symbol of a square with a central vertical line through it, also repeated once. On the reverse of the document are thermometer readings which White is known to have carried out on a daily basis. ?Provenance: On 26 July 1937, Sotheby's sold "White Gilbert Auto. MS., 1p., folio -- The benevolence of modern naturalists... . The Property of a Collateral Descendant of the Revd. Gilbert White. Buyer: Dyke.
Featured lot
Provisionally sold
Leading
Won
Outbid
Lost
Declined
Reserve not met
Leading
![θ Gynaecology & Midwifery.- [Notes relating to Gynaecology & Midwifery], manuscript,[Edinburgh], …](https://portal-images.azureedge.net/auctions-2025/drewea1-10561/images/ebe4b4ae-3117-4c1e-90b0-b2d800fd1594.jpg?h=175)
18
θ Gynaecology & Midwifery.- [Notes relating to Gynaecology & Midwifery] , manuscript in at least a couple of hands, c.95pp., excluding blanks, [?Edinburgh], [c.1784 and later] bound after Smellie (William) A Set of Anatomical Tables , with Explanations, and an Abridgement of the Practice of Midwifery, 39 (?of 40) engraved plates, occasional contemporary marginalia, offsetting, a few neat tears, Edinburgh, Printed for Charles Elliot, 1780, together 2 works in 1 vol., occasional spotting, lightly browned, antique style calf, gilt spine in compartments and with modern but to style morocco label, rubbed, 8vo ⁂ The manuscript includes 'Of floodings & abortions'; 'Delivery of the placenta'; 'Hemorich in twin cases'; 'Of difficult labours'; and 'Oration delivered at the 11 anniversary of the Hunterian Society Feb 11/30 by J[ohn] T[ricker] Conquest' (male midwife and physician). Provenance: F.H.C. (ink initials to front free endpaper); 'Bought at Edinburgh in 1784' (ink inscription to head of title, seemingly in the same hand as the first part of the manuscript).
Featured lot
Provisionally sold
Leading
Won
Outbid
Lost
Declined
Reserve not met
Leading
20
Lord Amherst & Lord Byron.- Amherst (William Pitt, first Earl Amherst of Arracan , diplomat and governor-general of Bengal , 1773-1857 ) Collection of 7 autograph letters signed A from Lord Amherst to his wife Lady Amherst & 1 letter to Lady Amherst initialled HUA, together c. 40pp. with some address panels, sm. 4to, Grosvenor Street, London, Oxford & elsewhere, 1807 - 4th August 1815 & Zurich, 6th July 1816, letters including: 8 page letter 1807 with news from Copenhagen; 4 page letter 1807 on taking Lady Amherst’s son from an earlier marriage to Oxford; 5 page letter June 20 forwards report of the battle of Waterloo, “great battle, with much slaughter on both sides, but the advantage on that of the Allies”; 5 page letter June 30 1815 with extensive discussion of Waterloo, “All that relates to Blucher also is interesting in the highest degree. His horse was killed and fell upon him and the enemy passed and repassed him in the night while he lay in that condition. It is quite romantic that he and the Duke should unexpectedly meet in the dark at the close of the battle of the 18th at a farm house called “La Belle Alliance. There seem to be three ways of naming the battle… .”; 6 page letter 4th August 1815, includes discussion of Blucher and Napoleon; & last letter to Lady Amherst mentioning Lord Byron in Switzerland, "Lord Byron is there already, and lives in perfect retirement, I do not say solitude. He amuses himself I hear, with rowing up and down the lake of Geneva", a few small tears where opened, folds, browned, v.d. (8).
Featured lot
Provisionally sold
Leading
Won
Outbid
Lost
Declined
Reserve not met
Leading
21
Literary.- Collection of letters, including: Sir Walter Scott, Leigh Hunt, Richard Monckton Milnes, Mary Russell Mitford, Tennyson (cut signature), John Keble, Agnes Strickland (cut signature), Augustus Hare (cut signature), William Rossetti (signed photograph), Henry Longellow (signed photograph), George Meredith, Bram Stoker, F Marion Crawford, JM Barrie, Rudyard Kipling (compliments slip), Rider Haggard (2), Austin Dobson, GK Chesterton (card), Edmund Gosse (compliments slip), Hall Caine (cut signature), Laurence Housman, EV Lucas, J Meade Falkner, Alfred Austin, AC Benson, EF Benson, John Galsworthy, Anthony Hope Hawkins, Rabindranath Tagore, Siegfried Sassoon, Stephen Spender, John Masefield, Algernon Blackwood (cut signature), RC Sheriff, John Betjeman, Hugh Walpole, Sir Philip Gibbs (2 pencil sketches), Dorothy L Sayers (cut signature), Edmund Blunden (2), Beverley Nichols, Francis Brett Young (signature), Kingsley Amis etc., folds, most laid down, with many newspaper cuttings, in one folder, v.s., v.d. (1 folder).
Featured lot
Provisionally sold
Leading
Won
Outbid
Lost
Declined
Reserve not met
Leading
θ Commonplace book.- Russell (Berthia, of Edinburgh ) Commonplace Book of manuscript verses, drawings and ephemera, including 6 signed drawings by Henry William Burgess, together c. 90pp. excluding blanks, a few pieces loosely inserted, some ff. removed and some pages partially removed, original blind-stamped calf, gilt, rubbed, upper cover detached, g.e., sm. 4to, Edinburgh, 1825-29. ⁂ Henry William Burgess (c. 1792-1839/40), artist.
Featured lot
Provisionally sold
Leading
Won
Outbid
Lost
Declined
Reserve not met
Leading
![θ Clare (John ) [Poems], manuscript, one of six copies by Charles Pollington of Boston …](https://portal-images.azureedge.net/auctions-2025/drewea1-10561/images/792cab13-e5b9-4cff-9669-b2d800fd1f6c.jpg?h=175)
θ Clare (John , poet, farm labourer, and naturalist , 1793-1864 ) [Poems], manuscript, one of six copies by Charles Pollington of Boston [Lincolnshire] with his presentation inscription, title and 355pp., monochrome watercolour frontispiece of Helpston, slightly browned, original half morocco, slightly rubbed, upper joint split, gilt spine, rubbed, y.e., 8vo, 1839. ⁂ Ink presentation inscription at beginning: "This sixth Copy of Clare's Poems is presented to my Dear Grand-daughter Margaret Pollington of London to perpetuate the remembrance of her Grandfather Charles Pollington. Boston, 1851." Charles Pollington (1775-1859), of Boston, Lincolnshire.
Featured lot
Provisionally sold
Leading
Won
Outbid
Lost
Declined
Reserve not met
Leading
25
India & elsewhere.- Doran & Magrath families.- Extensive correspondence, journals and some related ephemera relating to the Doran family (of Ely House, Wexford) and Magrath family (the families became connected via the marriage of Georgina Sultana Magrath and General Sir John Doran KCB), includes: many letters from India, James Butler journal (with Magrath connection), bound in green vellum, 1829-35; autograph manuscript record of Doran’s military career; 3 military commissions signed by Queen Victoria; 52 page Crimean War journal with manuscript military map, numerous military letters from India (Peshwara etc.), folds, various condition, housed in a small 19th century wooden trunk, v.s., v.d., 1842-1921 (qty). ⁂ The Doran and Magrath families, both from Ireland, served across the British Empire, in India and China. General Sir John Doran KCB (1824-1903) saw extensive service in India and the North West Frontier. Doran's younger brother, Lieutenant Robert Doran (1827-52), 18th Royal Irish was killed at the storming of Schwedagon Pagoda, Rangoon, on 14th April, 1852, during the Second Anglo-Burmese War. General Doran’s sons also had military careers.
Featured lot
Provisionally sold
Leading
Won
Outbid
Lost
Declined
Reserve not met
Leading
28
θ Creationism.- Nevins (John Birkbeck, surgeon, Consulting Physician to the Stanley Hospital, Liverpool, zoologist, 1818-1903) On the Evidences of the harmony of Creation, derived from the Constitution and laws of the Atmosphere, Sections 5-7, autograph manuscript with numerous corrections, 117pp. excluding blanks, on rectos only, numerous illustrations, laid down, original cloth, faded and marked, lower cover stained at tail, lacks lower half of spine, sm. 4to, n.d. [c. 1870]. ⁂ An unpublished manuscript on Creationism, a religious as opposed to the scientific theory of evolution espoused by Darwin, of the natural world. This manuscript argues for the evidence of the Creator for the organization of the natural world, continuing a tradition for which Paley is famous as a contributor. The above is a contribution to the continuing debate over the design argument.
Featured lot
Provisionally sold
Leading
Won
Outbid
Lost
Declined
Reserve not met
Leading
29
θ Shakespeare.- Roget (John Lewis, art historian, son of the originator of the thesaurus, 1828-1908) [Journal of an art tour to Holland, Belgium and Paris], manuscript notes, 102pp. excluding blanks (87pp. Journal and 15pp. expenses), 7 pieces of ephemera loosely inserted including including a cabinet photograph of Roget, an autograph manuscript of “The Three Witches” adapted from Shakespeare, and “Time and the Hour: A Patchwork Poem in Shakespeare’s Words” printed with some side notes in ink, both by Roget, original marbled boards, paper label with manuscript title on upper cover, a few ink doodles on both boards, spine defective, 200 x 125mm., 1872. ⁂ The writer has been identified from the signed pieces of ephemera. Aftermath of the Franco-Prussian War. "The arcades of the Rue du Rivoli & de la Paix are chipped & knocked about, but patched in many places where there have been shot marks. The shops in the Rue du Rivoli contain illustrations, photographic & other, of the events of the war & communist insurrt. without reserve. A toy figure of a Prussian soldier laden with plunder, including clock & basket of champagne."
Featured lot
Provisionally sold
Leading
Won
Outbid
Lost
Declined
Reserve not met
Leading
32
Spender ( Sir Stephen , poet, 1909-95) Autograph Letter signed " Stephen " to Clemence, 2pp., 8vo, University College, Oxford, [?1930], "My nose has just bled with unprecedented fury, so that I too am sitting in a pool of blood. I was so pleased with the display that I called in my scout for assistance, in order to impress him. Some such story will probably get round Univ. as that I attempted suicide and then repented of it. The college is very empty at present, as some of it have been sent down for painting Shelley with blue ink", folds, browned, laid down with tape.
Featured lot
Provisionally sold
Leading
Won
Outbid
Lost
Declined
Reserve not met
Leading
λ Peake (Mervyn, English writer, artist, poet & illustrator, 1911-1968) 2 Autograph Letters signed to his friend Helene Bruce ('Lanie') , 5pp., Wallington, Surrey and Sark, 1st November 1931 - 14th May 1934, folds, 4to . ⁂ A superb pair of exuberant letters that show the young Peake reveling in his new career as professional artist "Got a picture in the Academy this year, and have sold 4 all together -total £7.7. It’s all gone- bought a corduroy suit - double breasted - damned snappy... Lanie sweetheart - I never knew what art was or painting or drawing or anything when you were here - not that I do now, but things are beginning to move. I am going to draw Cochran’s chorus girls in the Ballet school - Free permit - isn’t that great and I’ll knock old Degas into a cocked hat". The first letter contains Peake's impressions of his apparent first visit to Sark "Paradise, without any damned angels getting in the light", and even some two years later the island ( to which he had moved to join the artists' colony of his his former teacher Eric Drake) still maintained its hold: ".The island is magical now. The flowers are like living cataracts of pure colour...The sunlight was terrific, making the grass, trees and flowers and especially the gorse almost dizzily brilliant". Peake and Bruce maintained a lengthy correspondence with many of their letters now residing in the Mervyn Peake archive at the British Library.
Featured lot
Provisionally sold
Leading
Won
Outbid
Lost
Declined
Reserve not met
Leading
35
θ Plutarch. The Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans, translated by Sir Thomas North, 2 parts in 1, titles with woodcut printer's device, woodcut medallion portraits within cartouches, woodcut head- and tail-pieces and decorative initials, some slight marginal worming and occasional burn-hole, occasional foxing, contemporary calf, stamped in gilt and blind, joints, spine ends and corners worn, [STC 20070], folio, Printed by George Miller, and are to be sold by Robert Allott, 1631.
Featured lot
Provisionally sold
Leading
Won
Outbid
Lost
Declined
Reserve not met
Leading
36
Quantity
1
Max bid
GBP
Estimate
1,000 - 1,500 GBP
θ Profusely annotated.- New Testament, Greek . Novi Testamenti libri omnes , edited by Robert Estienne, Joseph Scaliger, and Isaac Casaubon, double column, inter-leaved, profusely annotated in English in 17th & 18th century hands , title in Greek and Latin and with woodcut printer's device, woodcut head-pieces and decorative initials, upper margin of title little trimmed, affecting part of an ownership inscription, occasional spotting or light staining, lightly browned, contemporary panelled sheep, worn, but holding firm, [D&M 4680; Willems 397; STC 2798.5], 8vo, London [but Leiden], [Bonaventure and Abraham Elzevier for] Richard Whittaker, 1633. ⁂ Provenance: 'Tho. Smith Oxon'; ?Thomas Smith (1638-1710), nonjuror, historian, friend of Sir John Cotton and unofficial librarian of the Cotton library until c.1702, Vice-President of Magdalen College, Oxford (ink inscription to head of title); 'J.B. July.12.1729', ?Joseph Butler (1692-1752), Anglican bishop, theologian, apologist, and philosopher (ink inscription to head of front free endpaper).
Featured lot
Provisionally sold
Leading
Won
Outbid
Lost
Declined
Reserve not met
Leading
37
Quantity
1
Max bid
GBP
Estimate
2,000 - 3,000 GBP
θ Hobbes (Thomas) Leviathan, or The matter, forme, & power of a common-wealth ecclesiasticall and civill, first edition with errata uncorrected, engraved additional pictorial title by Abraham Bosse, folding letterpress table with repaired tear, lacking letterpress title, occasional foxing, light browning and some soiling, bookplate and ink inscription to endpapers and pastedown, contemporary calf, rebacked and recornered, surface wear to covers, [Macdonald & Hargreaves 42; Pforzheimer 491; PMM 138; Wing H2246], folio, for Andrew Crooke, 1651. ⁂ Hobbes ' masterpiece of political philosophy. It was written while he was resident in Paris, and espouses the idea of a 'social contract' freely entered into between an absolute ruler and their subjects. The Roman Catholic Church placed the work on the Index of Prohibited Books for its idea that the sovereign should also act as head of the state's religion.
Featured lot
Provisionally sold
Leading
Won
Outbid
Lost
Declined
Reserve not met
Leading
Quantity
1
Max bid
GBP
Estimate
6,000 - 8,000 GBP
θ Royal Binding.- Book of Common Prayer (The) , engraved title, wood engraved initials, head- and tail-pieces, ruled in red throughout, additional engraved portrait of King Charles II mounted on thin card and loosely inserted, b4 with small marginal loss, A3 with loss to corners, N3 with tiny rust-hole affecting odd letter, 2F3 with tear into text and no loss, occasional light soiling, early ink signature of Richard Colebrand to title and A1, contemporary red morocco by ?Samuel Mearne, central gilt panels with cypher of King Charles II to corners comprising two 'C's back-to-back between two palm leaves and surmounted by a crown, richly gilt spine, a little rubbed, bumping to corners and extremities, lacking ties, folio, by His Ma:ties Printers, 1669. ⁂ Provenance: Ink signature of Richard Colebrand (1614-74) dated 1673, a Chaplain to King Charles II. A handsome binding from the workshop of ?Samuel Mearne, who supplied "a number of other Bibles and Prayer Books for use in the Royal chapels ... [in 1669] Mearne submitted a bill for the following: ... one Common Prayer of large Dutch paper similarly bound [in red turkey] for the Sub-Dean at £5, [and] four similar Common Prayers, also at £5 each, for the altar." (Howard M Nixon, English Restoration Bookbindings, p.18). It is likely that this is one of the bindings for which Mearne was charging £5.
Featured lot
Provisionally sold
Leading
Won
Outbid
Lost
Declined
Reserve not met
Leading
θ Binding.- Herbert of Cherbury (Edward, Lord ) The Life and Reign of King Henry the Eighth , engraved portrait by W.Faithorne, title in red and black, woodcut initials, some light browning, 3H1 a little stained, bound in dark red morocco , by Rivière & Son , with overall design of swirling Tudor roses inlaid in fawn, red and green morocco and tooled in gilt, spine title in gilt, five raised bands with five gilt dots and compartments of inlaid Tudor roses, g.e., a little rubbed, corners bumped, light fading to upper cover, neatly rebacked preserving old spine, [Wing H1505B], folio (binding c.305 x 190mm.), Andr.Clark, for J.Martyn, S.Mearne, and H.Herringman , 1672.
Featured lot
Provisionally sold
Leading
Won
Outbid
Lost
Declined
Reserve not met
Leading
Quantity
1
Max bid
GBP
Estimate
3,000 - 4,000 GBP
θ Restoration binding.- Book of Common Prayer (The), and Administration of the Sacraments , additional engraved title, engraved initials, ruled in red, occasional marginal pencil notes, G2, G3, H2 & 2M5 with short marginal tears, G2, G3 & H2 with small loss to lower corners, occasional light marginal finger-soiling, ink ownership inscription to front pastedown, bookplate, cracked hinges, contemporary black morocco in the style of Samuel Mearne, ?possibly by his son Samuel Mearne Jnr., double-line gilt panel to the boards with the crowned cypher of King James II within palm leaves to corners and spine compartments, elaborately decorated in blind, richly gilt spine, expert repairs to spine extremities and corners, [Wing B3679], folio, by Charles Bill, Henry Hills, and Thomas Newcomb, 1687. ⁂ A pencilled note to the front free endpaper suggests that this was bound by Samuel Mearne Jnr., and it is certainly similar to the work of his father Samuel Mearne (1624-83) in Maggs catalogue 1075, no.67. Provenance: Ink signature of Walter Mayne, dated 1692; Armorial bookplate of John Thomas Mayne.
Featured lot
Provisionally sold
Leading
Won
Outbid
Lost
Declined
Reserve not met
Leading
θ Bindings.- Bible, English.- Holy Bible (The) Containing the Old Testament and the New , by Charles Bill and Thomas Newcomb, 1690 [but 1693], bound before , The Whole Book of Psalms, 1693, together 2 works bound as 1 , ruled in red throughout, double-column, trimmed occasionally touching headline, 3L8 with short marginal tear to bottom edge, bookplate § The Book of Common Prayer, engraved portrait frontispiece, additional engraved title and 59 plates, ruled in red, F2 with short marginal tear just touching text, occasional light spotting, clasps strengthened at pastedowns, by Charles Bill, and the Executrix of Thomas Newcomb deceas'd, 1692; previous owner's ink initials to front pastedowns, contemporary morocco tooled in gilt, triple fillet panel with floral and urn motif to corners and motif central to each side, silver metal corner pieces, clasps and central oval decoration, each etched with tulip motif, a little rubbed, 8vo (2)
Featured lot
Provisionally sold
Leading
Won
Outbid
Lost
Declined
Reserve not met
Leading
θ Royal Binding.- Book of Common Prayer (The) , ruled in red, Sadler family genealogy (1784-1855) in several hands to early blank, beginning to B5 marginal loss and tears with neat repairs and restoration, b2, A2 & A3 with large loss affecting text with neat restoration, M3 & Y6 with short marginal tears and neat repairs, occasional loss to lower corners throughout (with neat restoration), new endpapers, contemporary green calf, rebacked retaining original backstrip, gilt ruled panels with cypher of Queen Anne to corners, 6 raised spine bands, gilt cypher of Queen Anne to spine compartments, lacking ties, a little rubbed, bumping to corners, folio, Oxford, by the University Printers, 1701.
Featured lot
Provisionally sold
Leading
Won
Outbid
Lost
Declined
Reserve not met
Leading
43
θ Bindings.- Collection of the several Statutes (A) , and Parts of Statutes , Now in Force, relating to High Treason , and Misprision of High Treason , 2 parts in 1, initial imprimatur leaf, ink ownership inscription of Robert Eden to title, light damp-staining to foot, contemporary morocco, gilt with arms of Queen Anne, slight bumping to corners, g.e., Charles Bill, and the Executrix of Thomas Newcomb, 1709 § [Howell (Laurence)] The Orthodox Communicant, by way of Meditation ..., engraved throughout, list of subscriber's bound at end, previous owner's ink signature to early blank and remnants of manuscript note tipped to blank, ex-library with faint ink-stamp to title verso, contemporary black morocco tooled in gilt, outer panel with gilt motifs to corners and centre of each side, a little rubbed and scuffed, by J. Sturt, 1721 § The Reasonable Communicant, advertisement f. at beginning, by Jos. Downing, 1724, bound before , The Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, by Joseph Downing, 1723, together 2 bound as 1 , occasional light spotting, contemporary black morocco tooled in gilt, outer panel with gilt motifs to corners and centre of each side, richly gilt spine, a little rubbed, ; and 2 others, eighteenth century bindings, 12mo & 8vo (5)
Featured lot
Provisionally sold
Leading
Won
Outbid
Lost
Declined
Reserve not met
Leading
44
θ Bindings.- Almanack.- Rider (Cardanus) Rider's (1735) British Merlin , one or two manuscript notes and doodles, one or two f. becoming loose, contemporary red morocco gilt, gilt diamond centrepiece, lacking metal pin, by R. Nutt, 1735; Rider's British Merlin: for the year of our Lord God 1742, lacking final free endpaper, ink ownership inscription, one or two blank ff. removed by a previous owner, contemporary black morocco tooled in gilt, secured with a pin, by R. Nutt, [1742]; Rider's British Merlin: for the year of our Lord God 1778, ink manuscript figures at beginning, pockets at front and back, contemporary red crushed morocco tooled in gilt, for the Company of Stationers, 1778; titles in red and black, duty stamp to titles, scattered spotting, Dutch floral endpapers, scattered faint spotting and staining, tooled in gilt, 4 circular silver metal bosses, all but the last engraved with a large flower decoration, the last engraved with the royal insignia 'G.R.', a little rubbed and bumped, 12mo (3). ⁂ A lovely collection of almanacks in ornately gilt bindings, with the final mentioned bearing gilt tooled bees.
Featured lot
Provisionally sold
Leading
Won
Outbid
Lost
Declined
Reserve not met
Leading
θ Royal binding.- Book of Common Prayer (The), and Administration of the Sacraments ... , ex-Hampton Court Chapel copy , TLs from the press officer at Buckingham Palace loosely inserted, ruled in red, double-column, 2D4 with slight fraying to bottom edge, light staining to top edge (not affecting text), occasional light spotting, contemporary black morocco, King George II's coat of arms to board centres, "Common Prayer Book 1746" partially faded in blind to upper cover, "Hampton Court Chappell" in gilt to upper cover partially obscuring title given in blind, wide outer wave gilt border with floral motifs, 6 raised spine bands, cypher of King George II in gilt to spine compartments, mostly lacking from spine head, now with old repair, rubbed and scuffed, folio, by Joseph Bentham, 1745. ⁂ Provenance: Pencil note to front free endpaper verso reads, "This Prayer Book was formerly in the Irish House of Commons - and was the one from which the officiating Prelat[e] usually read the Morning Prayers. The other copy (for there were two) is now in the Provosts ?House in Trinity College, Dublin. This copy was removed to the Chapel Royal, and was ?purchased from ... by the present owner with some other ... that belonged to the Kin.[g's] Royal Court. It was then used at Hampton Court Chapel." TLs from the press officer at Buckingham Palace dated 2003, stating that "unfortunately, we do not have the necessary expertise here to shed any light on the eighteenth century Hampton Court Chapel Royal prayer book held by your family for several generations."
Featured lot
Provisionally sold
Leading
Won
Outbid
Lost
Declined
Reserve not met
Leading
θ Binding.- Book of Common Prayer (The) , engraved additional title, title in red and black, small section excised from title margin (neatly restored), engraved head- and tail-pieces, previous owner's ink signature to title and title verso, family history manuscript notes in various hands to early blanks, contemporary green morocco, borders ruled in gilt, crown motif in gilt to corners, decorated in elaborate floral, leaf and fleur de lis motifs, 6 raised spine bands, richly gilt spine compartments, a little rubbed and scuffed, bumping to corners and extremities, folio, by Thomas Baskett, 1751. ⁂ Provenance: Title inscribed "John Hadock Sauls Book - 26th July 1787." Title verso inscribed, "Eliz. Thornton Book ... June 6th 1752" and in another hand, "The Gift of Mrs. Eliz. Thornton to Miss Jane ... Haddock." Printed card of "Mrs H. J. G. Griffin" loosely inserted with manuscript note verso, which claims "Marriage Service Book used by the Archbishop of Canterbury when marrying H.M. Queen Victoria & The Prince Regent in Westminster Abbey", although we can find no evidence to support this claim.
Featured lot
Provisionally sold
Leading
Won
Outbid
Lost
Declined
Reserve not met
Leading
θ Binding.- Almanacks.- Remarkable News from the Stars: or, an Ephemeris for 1768 , bound with , The Gentleman's Diary, or the Mathematical Repository § The Ladies' Diary: or, Woman's Almanack § Moore (Francis) Vox Steilarum: or, a Loyal Almanack ... § Partridge (John) Merlinus Liberatus, being an Almanack ... § Parker's Ephemeris ... § Pearse (Salem) The Coelestial Diary: or an Ephemeris ... § Poor Robin, 1768. An Almanack § Saunders (Richard) The English Apollo; or Useful Companion ... § Season (Henry) Speculum Anni: or, Season on the Seasons ... § Wing (Tycho) [Graece] or, an Almanack ... § (White) Robert [Graece] The Coelestial Atlas; or a New Ephemeris ..., together 12 works bound as 1 , printed in red and black, engraved illustrations, occasional ink duty stamps, vellum tabs bound in separating each work, occasional very light spotting, engraved bookplate bearing the arms of King George III, contemporary red morocco tooled in gilt, floral motif to corners, 4 raised spine bands, date in gilt to spine compartment, spine richly gilt, rubbed, small loss to spine head, 8vo, for the Company of Stationers, 1768.
Featured lot
Provisionally sold
Leading
Won
Outbid
Lost
Declined
Reserve not met
Leading
48
θ Binding.- Book of Common Prayer (The) , scattered spotting, bookplate of P.A. and M.I Staines, contemporary red morocco, wide gilt floral border, black morocco shield onlay to centre boards with three gilt crowns, 5 raised spine bands, richly gilt spine, a little sunned, slight bumping to corners and extremities, Cambridge, by John Archdeacon Printer to the University, 4to, 1778. ⁂ A pencil note to the front free endpaper verso reads, "Dominic Winter 1985 Baumgarten Binding", suggesting that the binding is by Johann Baumgarten.
Featured lot
Provisionally sold
Leading
Won
Outbid
Lost
Declined
Reserve not met
Leading
![θ Miniature Books.- Almanacks.- London Almanack for the Year of Christ 1783, [1783]' and 5 other …](https://portal-images.azureedge.net/auctions-2025/drewea1-10561/images/f2b2ef50-7ba7-40a9-a40c-b2d800fce6e6.jpg?h=175)
49
θ Miniature Books.- Almanacks.- London Almanack for the Year of Christ 1783 , contemporary black morocco tooled in gilt, [1783]; London Almanack for ... 1800, contemporary red and black morocco tooled in gilt, engraved oval engraved illustration to board centres, [1800]; London Almanack for ... 1842, contemporary brown roan with cream, green and red onlays, elaborate gilt, [1842]; London Almanack for ... 1826, lacking final endpaper, broken lower hinge, contemporary red roan with cream, green, blue and red onlays, elaborate gilt decoration, [1826], ink duty stamp to titles, engraved or lithographed illustrations extending over 4 pages, all but the first with matching slipcases, a little rubbed ; and 2 others, slightly larger almanacks, (c.60x35 mm, c.105x50 mm, and c.110x40 mm), (6).
Featured lot
Provisionally sold
Leading
Won
Outbid
Lost
Declined
Reserve not met
Leading
50
θ Binding.- Bible, English .- Holy Bible (The), containing the Old and New Testaments , occasional spotting, family genealogy (1796-1961) in various hands at beginning and end, front free endpaper becoming detached, contemporary straight grain red morocco by ?Joseph Coxhead, with a gilt border of double fillets, a repeated double drawer-handle tool, floral roll and medallion in the corners, tan and black oval onlays to centre with gilt christogram within gilt sunburst motif, 5 raised spine bands, spine with double-bands, lettered in one panel, the others tooled in gilt on a dotted background, rubbed, bumping to corners and extremities, Cambridge, by John Burges, 1798. ⁂ Although lacking any binders label, this binding very closely matches example 182 in Maggs catalogue 1212.
Featured lot
Provisionally sold
Leading
Won
Outbid
Lost
Declined
Reserve not met
Leading
51
θ Binding.- Bible, English .- Holy Bible (The), containing the Old and New Testaments , occasional light spotting and staining, details of children of Thomas Fermor, 4th Earl Pomfret in manuscript on vellum at beginning, maroon morocco by Hering, g.e., gilt arms of the Earls of Pomfret to board centres, gilt ruled borders, 5 raised spine bands, wide gilt inner dentelles, silken endpapers, housed in contemporary straight-grain morocco covered wooden dropback box, small lock retaining key, a little rubbed and scuffed, folio, Oxford, 1827. ⁂ A magnificent binding, beautifully preserved by the contemporary bible box, which was made to resemble a more plainly bound bible. Provenance: Lieutenant-General Thomas Fermor, 4th Earl Pomfret with his his coat of arms to covers. Each of his four children listed at the beginning with dates and places of birth, Christening dates and their Godfathers and Godmothers. The first born, George William Richard Fermor (Baron Lempster) has HRH William, Prince of Orange listed as a Godfather.
Featured lot
Provisionally sold
Leading
Won
Outbid
Lost
Declined
Reserve not met
Leading
θ Bindings.- Book of Common Prayer (The) , faint creasing to fore-edges of first and last few ff., cracked hinges, contemporary latticework silver binding with clasps, lacking hallmarks but tests as silver, central image showing baptism of Jesus to upper cover and the Ascension to the lower cover, Oxford, at the University Press, [late nineteenth century] § El Diamante de Cristano, half-title, plates, scattered spotting, silken endpapers, contemporary red velvet with silver filigree decoration, silver metal clasp engraved A. L., a little rubbed in places, Barcelona, 1851; and an eighteenth century German prayer book bound in contemporary calf with an elaborate silver metal clasp, 12mo (3) ⁂ A collection of three elaborate and well preserved bindings.
Featured lot
Provisionally sold
Leading
Won
Outbid
Lost
Declined
Reserve not met
Leading
53
Quantity
1
Max bid
GBP
Estimate
3,000 - 4,000 GBP
θ Nostradamus (Michel) The True Prophecies or Prognostications, first edition in English, engraved frontispiece, title in red and black, light foxing, slight worming to inner margin towards end, modern sprinkled calf, [Wing N1399], folio, Printed by Thomas Ratcliffe and Nathaniel Thompson, 1672. ⁂ A very good copy of the first edition in English, translated by Theophilus de Garencières, a French apothecary and occultist living in England.
Featured lot
Provisionally sold
Leading
Won
Outbid
Lost
Declined
Reserve not met
Leading
![θ Chaucer (Geoffrey) The Works, edited by Thomas Speght, [Adam Islip], 1687.](https://portal-images.azureedge.net/auctions-2025/drewea1-10561/images/2d7fc854-af87-47ee-be32-b2d800fcfc5f.jpg?h=175)
Quantity
1
Max bid
GBP
Estimate
1,000 - 1,500 GBP
θ Chaucer (Geoffrey) The Works , edited by Thomas Speght, largely printed in black letter, double column, engraved frontispiece, woodcut arms on d1, cancel slip pasted over final 7-line stanza on p.42, some foxing, short tear to X4 just into text block, small burn-hole to 4G2 slightly affecting text, later calf, gilt, rebacked, rubbed, g.e., [Wing C3736; Pforzheimer 179], folio, [Adam Islip], 1687. ⁂ A good, complete copy of the eighth and final black letter edition. Provenance: W.A. Foyle, Beeleigh Abbey (bookplate).
Featured lot
Provisionally sold
Leading
Won
Outbid
Lost
Declined
Reserve not met
Leading
55
θ Locke (John) An Essay concerning Humane Understanding, second edition, second issue, engraved portrait by P. Vanderbanck after Sylvester Brounower, some light staining, contemporary panelled calf, rebacked, corners worn, [Wing L2740; Pforzheimer 601], folio,Printed for Awnsham and John Churchill and Samuel Manship, 1694. ⁂ The second and expanded edition of Locke 's key philosophical work. Some of the new material in this edition arose out of Locke 's correspondence in the 1680s and 1690s with the young Irish scientist William Molyneux. The first issue has imprint 'Printed for Thomas Dring...'.
Featured lot
Provisionally sold
Leading
Won
Outbid
Lost
Declined
Reserve not met
Leading
56
Quantity
1
Max bid
GBP
Estimate
6,000 - 8,000 GBP
θ Swift (Jonathan) Travels into several Remote Nations of the World , 2 vol., second 8vo edition (Teerink's AA edition) , engraved portrait frontispiece, 5 engraved maps and 1 engraved plate of the automatic writing machine, contemporary panelled calf, stamped in blind, spines with raised bands, joints starting, heads of spines lightly chipped, but overall still a fine copy, [Teerink 290], 8vo, Printed for Benj. Motte, 1726. ⁂ A superb copy in strictly contemporary and unsophisticated binding, with bookplate of Lord Wenman and ink shelf-mark to front free endpapers.
Featured lot
Provisionally sold
Leading
Won
Outbid
Lost
Declined
Reserve not met
Leading
![θ Swift (Jonathan) The Works, 24 vol., for C. Bathurst [&c], 1766](https://portal-images.azureedge.net/auctions-2025/drewea1-10561/images/63297166-ca3a-4d21-82e0-b2d800fc35b9.jpg?h=175)
Quantity
1
Max bid
GBP
Estimate
1,000 - 1,500 GBP
θ Swift (Jonathan) The Works , 24 vol., titles in red and black, engraved plates, mostly in vol. 1, some foxing and marginal staining, some marginal worming to vol. 21, contemporary mottled calf, spines gilt, double morocco labels in red and black, those in black renewed, a little rubbed and a few joints cracked, some spine ends slightly chipped, 8vo, for C. Bathurst [&c], 1766.
Featured lot
Provisionally sold
Leading
Won
Outbid
Lost
Declined
Reserve not met
Leading
![θ Judaica.- [ Mears (Abraham)] The Book of Religion, Ceremonies, and Prayers of the Jews..., …](https://portal-images.azureedge.net/auctions-2025/drewea1-10561/images/a94aa868-0ed4-4cc5-97c4-b2d800fcaec2.jpg?h=175)
θ Judaica.- [ Mears (Abraham)] The Book of Religion, Ceremonies, and Prayers of the Jews, as Practised in their Synagogues and Families on all Occasions..., 2 parts in 1 vol., woodcut head- and tail-pieces and decorative initials, part 2 C7 flaw with loss to catchword, some water-staining to foot, some spotting, light browning, handsomely bound in contemporary red morocco, sympathetically rebacked preserving original gilt backstrip with olive morocco label, covers with wide gilt borders, very small loss to spine foot, some wear to extremities, rubbed elsewhere, cloth slip-case, g.e., [Cecil Roth, Magna Biblio the ca Anglo-Judaica, p. 302, no. 6; The Great Synagogue, (1950), pp. 73-74], 8vo, for J. Wilcox, 1738. ⁂ The first translation of any part of the Jewish prayer book into English. According to Cecil Roth, Mears was 'an apostate member of one of the oldest families of the Ashkenazi community in England', and his 'description of Jewish rites and ceremonies ...is of considerable interest, giving as it does a graphic, detailed, and at times not unamusing picture of London Jewish life, in particular, it must be accentuated, the life of the community of the Great Synagogue, in which Mears had been brought up in the first half of the eighteenth century'. Provenance: In. Selwyn (armorial bookplate).
Featured lot
Provisionally sold
Leading
Won
Outbid
Lost
Declined
Reserve not met
Leading
θ Autograph poem concerning Locke.- Locke (John) An Abridgment of Mr. Locke's Essay concerning human understanding , [edited by John Wynne], some spotting or foxing, lightly browned, contemporary calf, gilt spine in compartments and with red morocco label, corners little worn, rubbed and scuffed, large 12mo, Edinburgh, Printed for Alexander Donaldson, 1778. ⁂ An excellent association copy. The Rev. Bryan Waller's (1765-1842) copy, who has penned a short verse in praise of Locke to the front free endpaper, initialled and dated 1785. This was published in his 1796 collection Poems on Several Occasions under the title ‘Lines Written in Wynne’s Abridgement of Locke.’ ('B. Waller, Lancaster, 1784', ink inscription to head of title).
Featured lot
Provisionally sold
Leading
Won
Outbid
Lost
Declined
Reserve not met
Leading
62
Quantity
1
Max bid
GBP
Estimate
6,000 - 8,000 GBP
θ Women.- Wollstonecraft (Mary) A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: with Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects , Vol. 1 [all published], first edition , the odd short marginal tear, water-stained, foxed, some staining, lightly browned, original boards , sympathetically rebacked, modern printed label to spine, boards worn and stained, but solid, uncut, housed in a modern cloth-backed marbled boards drop-box, gilt, brown morocco label to spine, [Windle A5a; PMM 242; Goldsmiths' 15367], 8vo (227 x 135mm.), Printed for J. Johnson, 1792. ⁂ An early and highly important feminist manifesto, in which Wollstonecraft outlines how the equality of women cannot be achieved because of the quality of education available to them. The work is dedicated to Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, who in his report to the French National Assembly had called for the education of girls to be focused on domestic subjects. It was to be hoped that 'A Vindication' would cause a re-think in this attitude. However, the efforts of Wollstonecraft were over-shadowed by the revelations of her personal life that appeared in her husband William Godwin's Memoirs of the Author of a Vindication of the Rights of Woman , 1798.
Featured lot
Provisionally sold
Leading
Won
Outbid
Lost
Declined
Reserve not met
Leading
θ Wollstonecraft (Mary) A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, with Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects, first American edition, foxed and browned throughout, N4 with clean tear into text block, contemporary tree sheep, rubbed, extremities worn, [PMM 242 for 1792 1st ed.], 8vo, Philadelphia, Printed for Mathew Carey, 1794. ⁂ The first American edition, published two years after the London edition, of this seminal work in the history of feminism.
Featured lot
Provisionally sold
Leading
Won
Outbid
Lost
Declined
Reserve not met
Leading
64
Quantity
1
Max bid
GBP
Estimate
2,000 - 3,000 GBP
θ Repertory of Arts and Manufactures (The)..., first series vol. 1-16 (a complete run) & second series vol. 1-19 only (of 46), 685 engraved plates only (of 686, first series vol. 13 lacking plate 12), some folding, bookplate of L.K. Elmhirst, first series vol. 5 with advertisement for 'New and Patent Inventions of Stratton and Crouder's Manufactory and Warehouse' bound in at end & vol. 6 with 'Butler's Patent Bedsteads' bound in at L1, some spotting or foxing, some light browning, offsetting, contemporary calf, morocco spine labels (a few numbering-pieces lacking), some small chipping to spine ends and wear to corners, rubbed in places, some joints cracked or starting, still overall an attractive set, 8vo, 1794-1811; sold as a periodical, not subject to return. ⁂ Responsible for disseminating news of useful inventions and technological advancements. In its various forms and series the periodical ran up to 1862, under its later title 'The Repertory of Patent Inventions'.
Featured lot
Provisionally sold
Leading
Won
Outbid
Lost
Declined
Reserve not met
Leading
Quantity
1
Max bid
GBP
Estimate
4,000 - 6,000 GBP
θ Austen (Jane) Northanger Abbey: and Persuasion, 4 vol., first edition, vol. 4 with blank P7 but lacking half-title and final blank P8, vol. 3 L9&10 with tear to fore-edge into text but no loss, few corners lightly creased, some spotting and light water- or other staining, light browning, modern calf-backed marbled boards, some light rubbing to joints and spines, [Gilson A9], 12mo, John Murray, 1818. ⁂ First edition of both novels, published posthumously. Northanger Abbey , a Gothic novel parody, had been drafted fifteen years earlier under a working title of 'Susan', but was abandoned when another novel of the same name appeared in 1809. Persuasion was completed by Austen in the summer of 1816, shortly before she was forced to stop writing due to ill-health.
Featured lot
Provisionally sold
Leading
Won
Outbid
Lost
Declined
Reserve not met
Leading
θ Cavendish (George) The Life of Cardinal Wolsey, 2 vol., first edition, extra-illustrated by the insertion of numerous engraved portraits and views, later full blue crushed morocco, gilt, by L. Broca, gilt spines and turn-ins, red watered silk endpapers, t.e.g., others uncut, preserved in straight-grain morocco slip-case showing a little wear, 8vo, Chiswick, C. Whittingham, 1825.
Featured lot
Provisionally sold
Leading
Won
Outbid
Lost
Declined
Reserve not met
Leading
Quantity
1
Max bid
GBP
Estimate
4,000 - 6,000 GBP
θ Dickens (Charles) Sketches by "Boz," Illustrative of Every-day Life, and Every-day People, [First Series -] Second Series, together 3 vol., first editions, first series first issue, second series issue with list of plates listed after contents and “vol. III” erased from all plates., first series with two frontispieces and 14 etched plates, very faint mark of manuscript word to head of p.43, short tears to gutter of p.143 in vol.2, one expertly repaired, second series with frontispiece, vignette title and 8 etched plates by George Cruikshank and 20pp. publisher's catalogue dated December 1836 at end, first series in original embossed green leaf-patterned cloth, spines lettered in gilt, both vol. recased, vol.2 spine ends repaired, light marking on covers, extremities lightly rubbed, s econd series with blue and white filigree-patterned endpapers, original embossed salmon-pink cloth, re-backed preserving original spine strip, spine lettered in gilt with black pigment backing, lightly faded and rubbed at corners, [Eckel, pp. 12-13; Sadleir 700; Smith I:2], 8vo, John Macrone , 1836-7. ⁂ Dickens' first work to appear in book form. The first series set with the date on the preface reading 'February, 1836' and with almost every internal flaw called for by Smith in both volumes except five in vol.1 ('o' not missing on p.107; regular spacing of 'old' on p.113; period not missing from last line of p.174; 'r' not missing from p. 288; imprint not missing on plate facing 329) and one from vol.2 ('deal' spacing usual and 'f' present on p.305). The second series following all of Smith's issue points, except three: there is a tissue-guard present for the frontispiece; the type is not loose in 'degree' in last line of p.22 and the numbering of p.60 is present. The first two both have notes by Smith that these points were only seen in one copy. This set, therefore, with some of the rarer issue points recorded.
Featured lot
Provisionally sold
Leading
Won
Outbid
Lost
Declined
Reserve not met
Leading
68
Quantity
1
Max bid
GBP
Estimate
3,000 - 4,000 GBP
θ Dickens (Charles) A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas, first edition, first impression, first issue with "Stave I" heading to first chapter and text entirely in uncorrected state, half-title in blue, title printed in red and blue, 4 hand-coloured etched plates by & after Leech and 4 plain woodcut vignettes by Linton after Leech, light browning and offsetting to plates, scattered foxing and finger-soiling, ink inscription to head of title, green endpapers (with light discolouration), ink gift inscription to front free endpaper, original first issue brown fine-ribbed cloth, with unbroken 'D' within wreath and minimum 14mm gap between left blind border and gilt cartouche, spine lettered and decorated in gilt, g.e., shelf-lean, spine a little darkened, chipping to spine ends, corners a little bumped and frayed, light spotting and markings to covers, discolouration to head of upper cover, [Eckel pp.110-115; Smith II, 4; William B. Todd, in The Book Collector, Winter 1961, pp.449-454], 8vo, Chapman & Hall, 1843.
Featured lot
Provisionally sold
Leading
Won
Outbid
Lost
Declined
Reserve not met
Leading
θ Dickens (Charles) The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit, first edition in book form , half-title, additional etched title and 39 plates by "Phiz", plates with foxing and browning to edges but text generally clean, bookplate, hinges reinforced, original ribbed blue cloth, expertly recased, light rubbing to extremities and very lightly marked but overall a lovely copy, [Smith I, 7; Eckel p.71], 8vo, Chapman and Hall , 1844. ⁂ Overall an excellent copy with the additional etched title reading "100£" on the signpost.
Featured lot
Provisionally sold
Leading
Won
Outbid
Lost
Declined
Reserve not met
Leading
θ Dickens (Charles) The Personal History of David Copperfield, first edition in book form , half-title, frontispiece, additional engraved title and 38 plates by Hablot K. Browne, some light damp-staining and spotting, heavier to plates, bookplate, hinges reinforced, original olive green cloth, rebacked preserving original spine strip, browned and rubbed at extremities, [Eckel pp.77-8; Smith I, 9], 8vo, Bradbury & Evans, 1850.
Featured lot
Provisionally sold
Leading
Won
Outbid
Lost
Declined
Reserve not met
Leading
Dickens (Charles).- Lacquered papier-mâché snuff box, gift inscription "Tavistock House, Decb. 25/1852, Charles Dickens" in yellow to inside hinged lid, traces of snuff within, lid with scalloped border and central device, oblong box, 45 x 77 x 25mm., 1852; accompanied by a photograph of Dickens leaning on a desk, credited Mason and Co. to verso, v.s. (2 items) ⁂ Evidently a Christmas gift for Dickens. Dickens and his family lived at Tavistock House from 1851-60, during which time he wrote several of his most famous novels, including Bleak House, Hard Times, Little Dorrit, and A Tale of Two Cities. Provenance: the descendants of W.R. Anderson, music critic and collector of Dickensiana of the early-mid 20th century. The photograph is contained within a folded sheet of paper with typed inscription "Photograph of C.D., given to me by Miss E. Bushell, Hendon, 20 Mar. 1936" and beneath in pencil "Taken in 1866".
Please review and confirm your bid
Current bid:
Opening bid:
Your max bid:
Max bid:
Quantity:
Bidding ends:
Your bid is off increment
Choose one of the quick bid options below:
Your bid is below the current minimum bid
To place a bid select the minimum amount below:
Bidding has ended on this item
We are always adding new lots, use search to find similar items.
You are the current highest bidder!
To be sure to win, come back before the lot closes or increase your maximum bid.
You have been outbid!
For a chance of winning, increase your maximum bid.
You have been outbid!
Another bidder has already bid this amount. For a chance of winning, increase your maximum bid.
You have won!
Congratulations!
You are the winning bidder on this lot.
You have lost!
Unfortunately you have missed out on this lot.
Unable to place your bid
Please refresh your page to see current lot status.
We're very sorry, but we were unable to process the Buy it now.
Please contact customer services for more help.
Your bid has been declined
Your bid has been declined by the auctioneer, please contact customer services for more information.
Your bid is pending approval with the auctioneer
Please check your email account for more details.
You cannot Buy it now until you are approved to bid.
Please contact the auctioneer
Confirming your bid is a legally binding obligation to purchase and pay for the lot should your bid be successful.
Please review and confirm your bid
Current bid:
Opening bid:
Your max bid:
Max bid:
Buy it now price:
As your Max bid is at least equal to the Buy it now price, you can immediately purchase the lot.
New bid:
Quantity:
Bidding ends:
Your bid is off increment
Choose one of the quick bid options below:
Your bid is below the current minimum bid
To place a bid select the minimum amount below:
Bidding has ended on this item
We are always adding new lots, use search to find similar items.
You are the current highest bidder!
To be sure to win, come back before the lot closes or increase your maximum bid.
You have been outbid!
For a chance of winning, increase your maximum bid.
You have been outbid!
Another bidder has already bid this amount. For a chance of winning, increase your maximum bid.
You have won!
Congratulations!
You are the winning bidder on this lot.
You have lost!
Unfortunately you have missed out on this lot.
Unable to place your bid
Please refresh your page to see current lot status.
We're very sorry, but we were unable to process the Buy it now.
Please contact customer services for more help.
Your bid has been declined
Your bid has been declined by the auctioneer, please contact customer services for more information.
Your bid is pending approval with the auctioneer
Please check your email account for more details.
You cannot Buy it now until you are approved to bid.
Please contact the auctioneer
Confirming your bid is a legally binding obligation to purchase and pay for the lot should your bid be successful.