Shop — page 1 of 51

Leeds born Ackroyd’s Shetland watercolour notebook reproduced in very high quality facsimile. A lovely slim oblong format, inscribed by Ackroyd to the title page. A fine copy. Born in Leeds in 1938, Ackroyd attended Leeds College of Art and then the Royal College of Art, emerging in the 1980s as a leading landscape artist. Read more…

An eventful ‘Walk in the Dales’ recorded by artist John Gilbey Bowles on 32 leaves of a hard backed black cloth A4 sketch book. Accompanied by friends Richard Fozard and his wife Daphne the captioned illustrations record the outing, each depicting all three figures ‘stop for a pint’, ‘to[o] drunk for walking’, mid day hangover’, ‘panic’, ‘Daphne fo… Read more…

Very large, elephant folio (72x54cm) bound volume of maps of the Bradford district. Half red roan over green cloth containing a selection of Ordnance Survey maps of the Bradford district: Volume 4. Maps are numbered and presented in the order: 8, 7, 1, 4, 3, 15, 14, 13, 16, 15, 14. Most probably produced for the brewing or inn trade, the front past… Read more…

A complex association copy linking the author with a distinguished Professor at Leeds University. Paperbacked first edition in very good condition inscribed to title page ‘To Alistair with love from Hermione, September 1989’. Laid in is a handwritten note headed ‘Hardistys Farm’ written to ‘Dear Alistair, Almost 100 years ago you very kindly asked… Read more…

Minutely detailed manuscript record of American cotton imports arriving in Liverpool, written by the Rochdale-born banker and trader James Howarth Midgley. The manuscript contains weekly statements of the sales, imports and stocks of cotton from 1849-1854, breaking down these figures into three categories of cotton, coming from New Orleans, the Por… Read more…

An archive of lively and beautifully descriptive letters written by young Sylvia Duckworth (b. 1899, daughter of Major Arthur Campbell Duckworth and Viola Davies-Evans of Orchardleigh, Frome - a relative of Julia Jackson, Duckworth - Stephen - Virginia Woolf’s mother) who navigates the changing world of 1920s England as she embraces the opportuniti… Read more…

Three posters advertising Beverley, Hull and East Riding Races in 1882 and 1883 which offer a glimpse into the world of Victorian era horse racing including the names of owners, officials and stewards. Lord Durham and Mr I’Anson’s mounts feature heavily throughout the race card. PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: 2 x race posters dated June 14th and 15th 1882.… Read more…

A 2 page hand written letter and receipt dated 1847 from the prominent 19th-century merchants John Gladstone & Co. who were associated with maritime trade and engineering interests in the city of Liverpool. The 2 page document consists of a receipt on paper headed ‘Manufactured by John Gladstone [Sons] & Co.’ which outlines an order for ‘2 pair pat… Read more…

A lined ‘ John Heywood’ copybook containing 12 pages of printed invoices, letters, promissory notes, tradesman’s bills, inland bills and receipts to be copied by the student. The specimen transactions span a large geographical area and take place between a wide variety of clients. James Leech of Leeds requests and pays for goods from Jones and Reid… Read more…

An archive of career spanning and revealing letters written by Lieutenant, later Commander in Chief, Ralph Campbell Musbury Duckworth (1907–1983), the majority addressed to his ‘darling sister’ Sylvia who married into the Fawkes family of Farnley in Yorkshire. A lively correspondent with an eye for detail his earliest letters are written to his ‘da… Read more…

First Edition of this Victorian novel written and inscribed by Yorkshire writer Mary Anne Jagger. In fair plus condition showing signs of use. Red roan boards age marked, faded and worn to fore edge and corners. Spine panel darkened; gilt titling still visible; bumped to top and tail. Pictorial endpapers worn and a little nicked to edges. An inscri… Read more…

Illuminated manuscript on vellum presented as a retirement gift to William Eller Esq in recognition of unstinting work as Musical Director of the Manchester Midday Concerts Society - an association that survives to this day. Beautifully written in a calligraphic hand with gold leaf illuminated initials; vibrantly and colourfully illustrated featuri… Read more…

First Edition in good condition. Illustrated and with a preface by W.E.B. Priestley. Blue cloth boards titled in gilt featuring a central vignette of the Bronte Parsonage; spine sunned and bumped to top and tail; bevel edges a little shelf worn. Text block sound, square and unmarked throughout. 146pp. Printed by G.F. Sewell, Bradford. Overall a goo… Read more…

Printed for the use of Bradford City Police, and apparently not held in any institutional collection, the constabulary’s working copy of printed guidance and instruction for the Officers and Constables of the city of Bradford, with an additional c25 laid in or tipped in bye-laws, rules and amendment acts. Cloth covers show wear; bumped to corners;… Read more…

In good condition, an uncommon signed copy of this commemorative historical and local topography book published specifically for the 92nd Annual Meeting of the British Medical Association which took place in Bradford in July 1924. Green cloth covers worn to top edges and spine; titled in gilt to upper and spine panel; a little spine slant evident.… Read more…

A late 18th century manuscript assessment of the income of the Churches of England and Wales deriving from its cathedrals, deaneries and parishes. Written more than 200 years after the pioneering valuation, Valor Ecclesiasticus, this manuscript seems likely to have played a role in the attempt to resolve with certainty the church’s actual income du… Read more…

Salford Mayoral Visitors’ Book from the 1930s including the signatures of visiting industrialists, foreign officials including the Consuls for Norway, China (the Chinese Kuomintang government officially appointed its first consular representative to Manchester in February 1933), Finland etc and numerous Mancunian dignitaries and power-brokers. Serv… Read more…

Rare, short-lived high quality satirical journal written and printed in Bradford, with all 52 issues bound into a single volume. The Jackdaw was published in Bradford during 1904-1905 with the intention of poking fun at the local establishment, municipal spending, and the eccentricities of Victorian/Edwardian Bradford society - the very era that J… Read more…

The author’s copy of the first edition which he has annotated liberally ‘With corrections for Second Edition’ as he puts it on the title page. This second edition never came, lending particularly interest to the emendations made by this recognised expert on the essayist and friend of Coleridge and Wordsworth, Charles Lamb. The annotations can be da… Read more…

A delightfully American-slanted presentation copy of Arnold’s New York and Boston lectures which the writer inscribed to his London friend Lady Dorothy Nevill after he was unable to attend her Fourth of July party in 1885. Arnold has inscribed the book on the half title: ‘To Lady Dorothy Nevill with unaffected regard from Matthew Arnold - July 10th… Read more…

Edward Marsh’s first draft manuscript libretto for Wilfred Joseph’s operatic version of Du Maurier’s Rebecca. Adapted as a film by Hitchcock, Du Maurier's classic of romantic fiction boasts one of the great first lines in English literature: 'Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again' and tells the twisted tale of Maxim de Winter, his first wif… Read more…

Publisher’s red cloth boards in good plus condition, blind stamped to edges with a gilt motif to front and titled in gilt to lightly sunned spine. Printed maps decorate front and rear endpapers in very good condition; unmarked. Text block square and sound. Contains 12 leaves of beautifully coloured plates by illustrator Arthur Rackham, each in very… Read more…

Excellent association copy of this biography of Augustus John's son and later Admiral of the Fleet Caspar John with a collection of photographs of his family by the British potter and family friend Harry Horlock-Stringer, most interestingly 'Mural for the John children Rebecca [the book's writer] Caroline and Phineas on their Bedroom wall 13 Woodla… Read more…

pp142 A sale catalogue of books relating to "The Studio", an illustrated magazine of fine and applied art founded by Charles Holme in London in 1893, which was influential in the development of Art Nouveau and the Arts and Crafts movements. The book is very good in illustrated green wrappers; occasional pencil annotations and prices, and a laid in… Read more…

First edition presented by the inventor of the Bouncing Bomb to his philosopher son in law, Harry Stopes-Roe, son of Marie Stopes. Near fine book in magenta cloth, inscribed by Barnes Wallis at the head of the first flyleaf and evidently read with some care by Stopes-Roe who has made half a page of pencilled notes on the verso of the final flyleaf.… Read more…