Dear Friend,

New year, rare books! It’s a thrill to be able to offer the dedication copy of Peter Medawar’s Advice to a Young Scientist (the young scientist in my family duly received a paperback copy for Christmas) as well as Benjamin Britten’s Cello Sonata, inscribed by the cellist Mstislav Rostropovich on the day he premiered the work at the Aldeburgh Festival. Not forgetting a signed copy of Whitman’s Leaves of Grass, and a leaving present for the first ever employee at the BBC, given in 1929.

Best wishes,

Christian
info@christianwhiterarebooks.com - 07811 455398


LEGAL MANUSCRIPT OF A FRENCH BUSINESSMAN AND DIPLOMAT - P — Nicolas de Montargon — 1693

Late 17th century French legal manuscript relating to the affairs of Nicolas de Montargon, businessman and frustrated diplomat. Quarto sized (20x27 cm) disbound manuscript (c 12,000 words) in a clerk’s hand; ink on vellum comprising sixty numbered folios (120pp) in eight gatherings, sewn with string top and bottom only, sewing snapped between third and fourth gatherings. In ink stamped company logo ‘P. Expeditions Des Greffiers Traize Sols 4 D.P. Deux Rooles’ appears as the header to the recto o…… Read more

£550.00



ANNOTATED IN 1720s - The Life of Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of the Common-wealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland — Isaac Kimber — 1724

Lavishly annotated in the 1720s by a scholarly reader, offering notes and cross-references to other historical accounts of Cromwell’s life. Full panelled calf; lower board attached by a single cord only to the text block. c1900 bookseller’s ticket of Kerr and Richardson, Glasgow to the front pastedown suggesting a phase of Scottish ownership - there is a particular intensity around some of the annotations to sections dealing with Scottish events though this is not uniformly so. The book collates…… Read more

£250.00



COLLECTION OF HAND-COLOURED MAPS - The Preceptor Containing a General Course of Education — Robert Dodsley; Samuel Johnson — 1748

Beautifully illustrated mid-century educational text with 6 Emanuel Bowen hand coloured maps, including North America, and an introduction by Samuel Johnson. Bound in contemporary plain calf, cracking to outer hinges; binding sound. Armorial bookplate and signature of Edward Newton Young to the first pastedown; Hayman frontispiece opposite title page which is printed in black and red. The text of this single volume is often browned with fingermarks but complete, the 23 plates, many folding, are…… Read more

£375.00



NUSSEY FAMILY COPY - The Holy Bible containing the Old and New Testaments — [Mary Nussey] Church of England — 1807

Mary Nussey of Leeds’ copy, probably the sister of Charlotte Bronte’s great friend and confidant, Ellen Nussey. Small format, duodecimo Bible attractively bound in straight grain red morocco with Greek key gilt decoration to the boards; all edges gilt. Green coated endpapers with Mary Nussey’s leather book label to the front paste-down and her ownership inscription on the second flyleaf - ‘Mary Nussey Leeds’ - opposite a pencilled early inscription by ‘Mrs Charles Day’. Clean text block; lower,…… Read more

£125.00



IRISH SKETCHBOOK of the D’Olier/ Sitwell Family — Elizabeth Maria D’Olier (later Sitwell) — 1835

Small sketchbook (11.5x9 cm), black roan, blind-stamped with a cornucopia to front and rear, gold decoration to borders, gold harp and flower devices on spine; gold edges, clean. The binding is sound. Written on the first mauve flyleaf in pencil ‘E.M. d’Olier from Muff’; followed by 72 pages of pastel coloured leaves bearing 19 pages of pencilled sketches, several initialled ‘HCS’. The drawings include a bay with hills showing Killiney Bay, Dublin, with Bray Head, a simple country church; castle…… Read more

£175.00



AN ENGLISH WOMAN IN PARIS & STRASBOURG - A Journal 1838-1842 — Frances Powell — 1838

Journal of an intellectually ambitious young English woman studying in Paris during the July monarchy and working as a governess in Strasbourg. Quarto notebook, half bound in red roan leather and grey paper over boards, rubbed with light marking; corners pushed, spine rubbed with small tear to back strip at the tail of the spine. ‘F Powell’ signature to top outer corner of the front flyleaf. Watermarked paper, ’G & R Turner 1827’, handwritten entries in ink on 69 pages, approximately 17,000 word…… Read more

£850.00



CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PHOTOGRAPH ALBUM — Trinity Undergraduate — 1868

High quality collection of photographs of Cambridge undergraduates, College Fellows and university buildings compiled in the 1860s, probably by a Trinity College undergraduate. Small folio bound in green roan with bevelled edges; rubbing to edges; all edges gilt. Textured card endpapers with staining; cracking to inner hinges. The album contains 151 albumen photographs, mostly divided by College, interspersing images of College and university buildings with images of undergraduates and fellows f…… Read more

£750.00



LAVISH 1840s ALBUM WITH TAPESTRY BINDING — ‘C Jones’ & Family — 1844

Beautifully bound early Victorian album with a highly unusual use of tapestry panels to both boards. Large quarto format (30x25cm) bound in decorative green morocco with gilt embellishment and two tapestry insets (22x20cm). The upper panel has two words in the centre of the panel, possibly reading ‘Fun Kalender’ but it is hard to make them out; all edges gilt. Internally, crimson shot silk doublures followed by several blanks and overleaf the owership signature of ‘C Jones Kilsall’ - perhaps Kil…… Read more

£950.00



BEAUTIFULLY ILLUSTRATED ALBUM OF SCRAPS & RELIGIOUS SENTIMENTS - The Wonders of Creations of the Power & Glory of God — Unknown — 1870

Victorian album of cuttings and religious sentiments. Square format (16x17cm) deep burgundy cloth with black decoration and ‘Album’ to the upper cover. [42] pages of cut engravings and illustrations with homiletic annotation. ‘Manchester Y.M.C.A.’ ephemera to the front pastedown suggests north west England as the place of origin for the album. A lively octopus sits opposite a sort of printed title page: ‘The Wonders of Creations of the Power & Glory of God’. Most of the images of animals or chil…… Read more

£250.00



SIGNED BY 68 MANCHESTER GRANDEES- The Manchester & Salford Society for the Reformation of Juvenile Criminals - Governors' Declaration Book — Edward Hardcastle [etc] — 1875

Signed by 68 Governors of this Manchester juvenile reform charity from 1876-1928. Green roan folio, minor scuffing to extremities. Binder’s ticket of William Harris, Cannon Street, Manchester to the front pastedown. Charity Commission printed appointment of governors (pp8) precedes the 68 printed pages of governor-signed pages by the likes of Herbert Philips, Edward Hardcastle, William Henry Palin, Chief Constable and continuing into the 20th century where the first women governors appear, inclu…… Read more

£275.00



AUTHOR’S EDITION, SIGNED - Leaves of Grass — Walt Whitman — 1876

The ‘Author’s Edition’, signed by Walt Whitman in black ink on the title page. Bound in the original cream leather spine and corners over marbled boards; leather has darkened to tan. Rubbing and wear to the binding which remains pleasingly intact though the backstrip shows signs of repairs. Internally, plain white endpapers with the bookplate of the ‘Cambridge Union Society’ (the University’s debating society) on the front pastedown with spaces for borrowing stamps but never used. The title page…… Read more

£2850.00



AUSTRALIA VOYAGES SKETCHBOOK by the Wife of the Commander in Chief, Australia Station — Emily Cecilia Bowden-Smith & Nathaniel Bowden-Smith — 1894

Sketchbook and diary recording a round trip to Australia aboard Conrad’s last ship, written by the wife of the Commander in Chief of the Australia Station and including a drawing of a kangaroo hunt. Quarto hessian-covered sketchbook with tie; worn and marked, possibly a pencilled sketch on the upper cover which is inscribed with the artist’s initials: ‘E.C.B.S. 1896’. Yellow coated pastedown and flyleaf. The sketchbook was bought by Nathaniel Bowden Smith in the UK while he was Commander in Chie…… Read more

£1750.00



‘MY STUDIO COPY HUGH PATON’ Etching, Drypoint, Mezzotint. The Whole Art of the Painter-Etcher — Hugh Paton — 1895

The author’s heavily annotated personal copy with corrections and emendations by the Manchester-based artist throughout. Bound in pictorial publisher’s cloth, a little rubbed to the extremities. Paton’s inscription appears on the half title ‘My Studio Copy Hugh Paton Oct/ 10’. The book is a lavish production which contains an original etched frontispiece by Ernest Stamp followed by 5 signed etchings by Paton, each in different states for illustrative purposes. These are succeeded by an original…… Read more

£450.00



BBC EMPLOYEE NUMBER 1 - This Volume of Signatures is Presented to R F Palmer by his Colleagues at the BBC — Sir John C W Reith - Reginald Palmer — 1929

Presentation album to the the first person ever employed by Sir John Reith at the British Broadcasting Company - later the BBC - Reginald ‘Rex’ Palmer (1896-1972) the ‘Golden Voice of Wireless’ who left the BBC in 1929 for the Gramophone Company- as marked by this gift. Small black straight grain morocco binding, carefully repaired, with reinforcement to the inner hinges. The signatures follow a calligraphic title page and are written directly onto both sides of 6 thick card leaves; all edges gi…… Read more

£750.00



WEDDING WISHES FOR A PUBLISHER - ‘For John Gill from His Friends and Colleagues of The Amalgamated Press on the Occasion of his Marriage...’ — [Alfred Harmsworth] — 1920

Wedding card hand drawn and signed by 70 members of Alfred Harmsworth’s Amalgamated Press. Stiff card (34x23cm) with hand-drawn multi-coloured decoration and the recipient ‘John Gill’s name in bold at the head of the card. Below are the signatures of dozens of colleagues with the Amalgamated Press editor ‘C Langton Townley’(1878-1956) heading up the list. The date - 1920 - can only be a guess. The verso is blank except for the remnants of what was clearly a tissue guard attached at the head of t…… Read more

£95.00



MANUSCRIPT NOTEBOOKS OF A 1920S-1930S MIDWIFE — Alice Harris — 1921

A remarkable group of notebooks recording in detail the work of a British midwife in the inter-war period. Documenting the births of over 1,000 children in the years 1921-1935. Six record books, oblong octavo (20 x 13cm), each bound in full cloth over stiff card boards with printed title label completed in manuscript to each upper board. Five of the books are fully completed in manuscript, with one just over a quarter complete. The books were kept by Nurse Alice Harris, based in a maternity home…… Read more

£450.00



The Iliad [with] The Odyssey — Homer [illustrated by John Buckland Wright] — 1948

Finely illustrated volumes by John Buckland-Wright. The Iliad is in publisher’s cloth, some marking to boards, internally fine; The Odyssey is very good externally with just a little spotting to preliminaries internally, so near fine. An attractive pair.

£125.00



WORKING ARCHIVE OF A PIONEERING WOMAN PHOTOGRAPHER WITH PHOTOS, NOTEBOOKS AND CORRESPONDENCE — Pamela Chandler — 1955

Working archive of a pioneering woman photographer who took some of the best known images of J R R Tolkien. Pamela Chandler (1928-1993) was a pioneering woman photographer and the youngest ever Associate of the Royal Photographic Society, active for 25 years through the 1950s to 1970s, whose portraits grace the National Portrait Gallery in London. This collection tracks her professional beginnings, badgering theatrical actors, through photographing celebrities, taking stills for film companies a…… Read more

£750.00



INSCRIBED BY ROSTROPOVICH TO LORD HAREWOOD - Sonata in C for Cello and Piano — Benjamin Britten - Mstislav Rostropovich — 1961

First edition gratefully inscribed by the work’s dedicatee the cellist Mstislav Rostropovich on the day that he premiered the work with the composer in the Jubilee Hall, Aldeburgh. Small folio format; below the printed title is Rostropovich’s gushing inscription, in Russian, to Lord and Lady Harewood, thanking them for their essential involvement in the commissioning of this work, dated 7 July, 1961. George Lascelles, 7th Earl of Harewood’s pencilled ownership inscription appears top right. Ther…… Read more

£950.00



LAURIE LEE’S CORRECTED PROOF - The Firstborn — Laurie Lee — 1964

The author’s corrected proof copy, deaccessioned from Laurie Lee’s personal library. Like the printed text which accompanies this proof this runs to 12 pages, 6 pages of preliminaries and 6 of text without the photographs which would adorn the final publication. Lee has noted on the half title ‘Corrected’ - a reminder that he had done his job as author. Additionally the author has made 8 alterations to the proof, all of which appear in the subsequent printed text as he inserted and removed words…… Read more

£275.00



THE DEDICATION COPY INSCRIBED TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY - Advice to a Young Scientist — Peter Medawar — 1979

Inscribed from one Nobel Prize winner to another - from Peter Medawar to his friend and Royal Society President Alexander Todd on the first flyleaf: ‘To Alex Todd who started all this by inviting me to give a Charles [C P] Snow Lecture at Christ’s. With all good wishes from Peter Medawar Nov. 1979’. First edition in black publisher’s cloth, near fine in very good jacket, scuffing to lower panel. The printed dedication is ‘To the Royal Society of London’ - but there is no record of an inscribed c…… Read more

£2000.00



1960s MODELLING PORTFOLIO of Annabel Smith — [Annabel Smith] — 1966

Ring bound photographic modelling portfolio covered by thick blue fabric. A certificate from The Model Centre in London is mounted opposite the first image and states the completion of a training programme offered by the centre by an Annabel Smith on the 31st October 1966. The programme included training in ‘Show, Mannequin, Photographic and Television Fashion Modelling. The portfolio consists of 20 pages of black and white photographs of Annabel Smith, all with a wonderful period feel to them.

£125.00



50th ANNIVERSARY EDITION - The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring; The Two Towers; The Return of the King and The Hobbit — J R R Tolkien — 2004

50th Anniversary Edition, fine in a near fine dustjacket, tiny mark to front panel of jacket. A lovely copy of a handsome edition. As this is a heavy item extra postage charges may apply outside the UK.

£125.00



Strangely Familiar: Number 7 of Parr/ Nazraeli Edition of Ten — Peter Mitchell; Martin Parr — 2013

Haunting and beautiful photographs of scenes of post-industrial Leeds, reproduced in this very high quality format. A fine copy in an edition limited to 1500 copies only. Peter Mitchell (born 1943) is a British documentary photographer, known for documenting Leeds and the surrounding area for more than 40 years. His work was exhibited at Impressions Gallery in 1979, and nearly thirty years later was included in major survey exhibitions throughout the UK including at Tate Britain and Media Space…… Read more

£175.00



Dr. Christian White
Christian White Rare Books
287 Leeds Road, Ilkley, LS29 8LL
07811 455398
info@christianwhiterarebooks.com
www.christianwhiterarebooks.com