Shop — page 2 of 27

Extensively illustrated Midshipman’s log book of a return voyage from England to Madras with drawings of an albatross-shoot, whale-ships burning oil, a mirage at sea and a sequence of coastal views including St Helena and Tristan da Cunha. Folio-sized manuscript which has been copied by its author from the original document into a printed skeleton… Read more…

‘Soapy Sam’ Wilberforce’s interleaved copy of the Greek New Testament with copious manuscript annotation from the early part of a career that culminated in his famous clash with T H Huxley and Robert Owen over Darwin’s evolutionary theory. Small octavo bound in quarter black morocco, probably during the 20th century with a Latin inscription from th… Read more…

Order of Battle from 1792 of the Prince of Conde’s emigre army which was dedicated to over-throwing the French revolutionary government and restoring Louis XVI and the Bourbon monarchy. A single sheet of water-marked chain-lined paper (42x33 cm) bearing a diagrammatic hand-drawn, pen and ink outline of the disposition of the forces of the Prince of… Read more…

Wonderfully silly, satirical guide to the clergy on how NOT to preach, kneel, bless (and most other clerical activities) written by the priest-organist of a leading London church. Croft has used a small quarto-sized exercise book bound in quarter black roan over marbled boards with his manuscript title label and name to the upper cover. Slightly di… Read more…

Rare imprint of the earliest book by an English doctor to describe contraceptive methods whose publication caused its author to be barred from practising as a doctor. The book is bound in printed wrappers, describing itself on the cover as ‘Twenty-sixth Edition (240th Thousand). - 1896’. Pictorial advertisements for sanitary pads, and other medical… Read more…

Rare book of specimen type borders and ornaments offered for sale by the most famous of all British letter founders. Large octavo bound in speckled paper covered boards with new acid-free endpapers. Title page with decorative border (with spotting) followed by Caslon’s 1838 ‘Prices of Printing Types’ with tissue guard. A single leaf of letterpress… Read more…

Special issue of Nature devoted to the discovery of the theory of relativity with a specially commissioned article by Albert Einstein. Printed paper wrappers with adverts to the covers, small annotation underlining the date of the publication on the upper cover. Stapled binding; closed tear where the lower of the two staples has rusted through the… Read more…

Third edition of Dirac’s influential monograph on quantum mechanics, first published by Oxford University Press. Near fine book with the ownership signature in pencil of ‘J. Robinson 27.10.50.’ to the front flyleaf - W J Robinson was an academic mathematician at Bradford University. The jacket is in good condition, nicked and town at the head of th… Read more…

Large octavo, robustly bound in tan buckram with a morocco spine label, probably dating from around the time that the manuscript was given by Ballantyne’s son to the Reverend Horatius Bonar, as recorded by him on the verso of the flyleaf: ‘Given me by F.G. Ballantyne March 1927 H.N. Bonar. 22 Blackford Road, Edinburgh’. Ballantyne has written on wa… Read more…

Manuscript record of a quarter century of secret service by a member of the Corps of King’s Home Service Messengers during the Napoleonic Wars. Small quarto (16.5x20.5cm) covering the quarter century 1795-1822 bound in discoloured vellum with the single word ‘Home’ on a decorative red morocco label to the upper cover. According to Wheeler-Holohan’s… Read more…

A late medieval Book of Hours written and illuminated for a woman patron who is depicted in a double-page of miniatures kneeling before the Virgin Mary to receive the gift of this manuscript. This Book of Hours was made in a northern French workshop of the second half of the fifteenth century, perhaps Rouen or Paris. It has attractive female proven… Read more…

Manuscript Scottish verse miscellany written on Skye and in the Highlands in the 1830s by Flora Macdonald, her family and friends, Flora being the namesake and probable descendant of Bonnie Prince Charlie’s famous helpmate. Full maroon morocco quarto-sized binding with attractive gilt decoration and, inset on both covers: ‘Flora Macdonald’s Scrap-b… Read more…

Unpublished English manuscript translation which offers a contemporary British makeover to this work of continental physics, including explanatory references to Milton’s Paradise Lost. Quarto in modern half tan calf over marbled boards, an eighteenth century presentation inscription from the actor/ playwright George Alexander Stevens mounted on the… Read more…

A document of the Irish diaspora: a physics manuscript, with strong Newtonian content, written by an Irishman obliged to attend university - the Irish College - in France in the 1770s. Bound in dyed Irish green vellum with the remnants of an inscription in black ink to the upper cover and an old spine label. Splitting along outer hinges does not af… Read more…

Rare Signal-Book given to a newly promoted Royal Navy Captain by Nelson’s patron Admiral John Jervis having been systematically annotated and updated by the Admiral’s secretary George Purvis, himself a correspondent of Nelson. Small quarto (24cm high) bound in half calf over marbled boards with a printed paper label to upper cover: ‘Signal-Book for… Read more…

Presentation volume inscribed by a distinguished roster of 1000 scientists and officials of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research as a retirement present for its founder. Expensively bound with Frank Heath’s initials on the upper cover, all edges gilt, manuscript title page and 50 card leaves. Vellum-bound list of signers in rear poc… Read more…

Illustrated manuscript diary of a journey through Belgium in the weeks leading up to the outbreak of the First World War and the devastation of everything that the author describes here. Octavo, blue cloth over boards, gold bands and lettering to spine, slight fading and marking to spine and front board, spine and corners lightly pushed; green card… Read more…

First edition inscribed gratefully by one of the co-editors Stephen Spender and a contributor Stephen Spender. A very good copy in publisher’s yellow cloth, bookplate of Arthur Lanyon Blair to the front pastedown. Auden has signed his poem ‘Exiles’ just below the printed title. At the tail of the page is written ‘Stephen Spender grazie’ in brown in… Read more…

Bound by pictorial laminated boards in fine condition. Biography of Wilfred Holmes by his son Jeff Holmes with a foreword by Alasdair Gray, including diary entries by Wilfred Holmes. Black and white images throughout. This copy came from Gray’s library. Read more…

First English edition in publisher’s blue cloth with gilt lettering and illustration to front board and gilt lettering to spine; top edge gilt. Binding in very good condition with slight discolouration to spine, minor fraying to top and bottom of spine and browning to first end papers. Coloured illustration by Nandallal Bose as frontispiece opposit… Read more…

First edition in blue cloth publisher’s binding with embossed border and shield to front board and gilt lettering to spine. Binding in near fine condition with discolouration to spine and sellotape scars to end papers. Schrodinger was one of the major forces in theoretical physics in the last century. Read more…

First English edition in black buckram publisher’s binding with gilt lettering to spine in near fine condition with very slight bumping to top and bottom of spine. Dust jacket in very good condition with small tear to top of spine and wrinkling to spine and front cover. A translation of the 1961 Russian first edition containing additional amendment… Read more…

Presentation copy in red cloth publisher’s binding with black embossed border and gilt embossed illustration to front board. Gilt lettering to spine. Blue first end papers with pictorial advertisements. Binding in good condition with bumping to spine and corners as well as areas of discolouration to lower board. Splitting of inner hinge between upp… Read more…

‘In admiration...’ a collection of 44 books inscribed to Alasdair Gray by friends, family and, mostly, fellow writers, including a gift from Liz Lochhead, several books about Glasgow, and Gray’s own copy of a work that came out of his Creative Writing teaching at Glasgow University. There are 15 inscribed volumes of poetry, among them Gray’s own co… Read more…

Bound in orange card in very good condition with small tears and wrinkling to spine. Pages fastened with staples. Presentation copy of an offprint from the author to Dr H. H. Thomas taken from the Records of The Geological Survey of India, volume 68, part 2. Black and white illustrations and tables located throughout. Includes plate 12, a coloured… Read more…