All Books

London: Ward and Downey. . 1889.From the Libraries of Barry Humphries and Montague Summers. First single volume edition. 8vo. 191x125mm. pp. vii [ibl], 351 [1]. Six engraved plates by Brinsley Sheridan Le Fanu. Publisher's decorated cloth. Slight bumping and rubbing to corners and to head and foot of spine which is a little rubbed and darkened. Hinges weak and some minor marking but otherwise a very good copy of the first single volume edition of the novel initially issued in three volumes in 1869.

London: Printed for and sold by the Author.. n.d. [1791].First edition. 8vo. 220x140mm. pp.Xxxii, 343. Uncut in the original marbled paper covered boards. Protected by a brown buckram wrapper with a red morocco label lettered in gilt and housed in a brown slipcase. A lovely copy – as authentic a relic of the eighteenth-century book trade as one could wish to find - of the epistolary memoirs of the first recognisably modern bookseller.

London: David Bogue. 1885.Presentation copy. First edition. 8vo. 175x110mm. pp. viii, 120. Publisher's green cloth, title and author in gilt to upper cover and spine. Top edge gilt. Pages uncut. Corners bumped and rubbing to extremities and boards slightly soiled. Internally very good with a little browning and soiling in places. Worldcat notes that this was issued in both green and red publisher's bindings and notes that in one copy of the red, the dedication leaf has been cancelled "which may be characteristic of the entire issue".

London: John Maxwell and Company. 1844.First edition. From the Library of the Theosophical Society in England. Two volumes. 8vo. 187x125mm. pp. xx, 315 [1bl]; xv, [ibl], 308. Publisher's green cloth, lettered in gilt to spine, with library shelfmark at foot of spine. Front pastedown has the bookplate of the Theosophical Library. Some rubbing and bumping to extremities. Internally very good. Davenport Adams is said to have been a voracious reader as a child and this book suggests wide and, it must be said, somewhat directionless reading.

Sorbonne: 1430 [1930].Subscriber's copy. Number 29. Tome 1 and 2 bound together in a single volume. 190x140mm. pp. 258, [6], [4], 259-577, [10]. Thirty seven coloured erotic illustrations. Original wrappers bound in. Smartly bound in green morocco, spine lettered in gilt, top edge gilt.

London: W.J.Cleaver. 1846.Inscribed by the author. Second edition. 8vo. 214x135mm. pp. xiv, [2], 463, [1bl]. Handsomely bound in contemporary brown morocco, boards and spine heavily tooled in blind and with title in gilt to spine. Brass cornerpieces and clasp. Beautifully gauffred edges, marbled endpapers, maroon silk ribbon. A blank preliminary leaf has the inscription "The joint gift of Mary Vickery and William J.E. Bennett to Elisa Vickery on her Birth Day 16th of June 1854. Pro salute anima preces sunt perpetua in Christo". In immaculate condition throughout and the binding is a splendid Victorian period piece.

Paris: François-Ambroise Didot. 1785.Two volumes. Large 4to. 310x230mm. pp. ix, [1], 596; [4], 548. Handsomely bound in red morocco. Gilt borders, spine lettered in gilt, turn ins decorated in gilt. All edges gilt, marbled endpapers. Pale blue silk ribbon in each volume. Slight bumping to bottom edges and rubbing to corners and to head and foot of spines but otherwise a lovely set in very good condition and internally excellent save for a little foxing in places and some minor staining in volume two.

Amsterdam: n.p.. [1964].Paper scroll (2760x430mm) with a facsimile (translated into English) of Huges's manifesto, written while in prison, for an expanded consciousness achieved through the control of blood to the brain. which gives the work its alternative name: The Mechanism of BrainBloodVolume (BBV). The original manuscript of Homo Sapiens Correctus was written in Dutch in 1962. In 1964, a facsimile was issued in both Dutch and in an English translation.

Various . From late 1970s.Description:A small collection of books and manuscripts belonging to David Kirke, the founder of The Dangerous Sports Club (DSC). Starting with a bungee jump on April Fool's Day 1979, the DSC went on, over the next decade or so, to embark on high profile, hazardous acts such as skiing down a mountain on a grand piano (an attempt to do the same with a double-decker London bus was banned), hang-gliding from active volcanoes and early BASE jumping. The collection is as follows: 1. Notebook (196x128mm). Bound in quarter leatherette and red cloth. 316pp of manuscript.

San Francisco: RE/SEARCH. 1982.Inscribed by Burroughs. 277x215mm. pp. 96. Illustrated wrappers. Some very slight rubbing and a small crease to the top left corner of back cover but otherwise in excellent condition throughout. Extensively illustrated. The title page has been inscribed "To Jonathan, William S. Burroughs". Burroughs is very much the main event in this special, double edition of the important counterculture magazine RE/SEARCH.

London News Ltd. July 6 1969.The News of the World report of the 5th July 1969 "Stones in the Park" free festival in Hyde Park, headlined by The Rolling Stones. Intended as a return to the stage for the Stones after an absence of two years, and as an introduction of their new guitarist Mick Taylor, the festival was overshadowed by the death, on 3rd July, of Brian Jones. As a result, it became a "Requiem for a Stone".

or, a History of the Life and Vast Variety of Fortunes of Mademoiselle de Beleau, afterwards call'd the Countess de Wintselsheim, in Germany. Being the Person known by the Name of the Lady Roxana, in the Time of King Charles II.London: printed for T. Warner; W. Meadows; W. Pepper; S. Harding; and T. Edlin . 1724.First edition. 8vo, (viii), pp.407, engraved frontispiece of "The famous Roxana". Early nineteenth-century calf, covers with a blind-tooled border, spine decorated in gilt and blind, chestnut brown endpapers, edges lightly rubbed, short hairline crack at top of one joint.

London: T.C. & E.C.Jack. [1912].First edition. Small 8vo. 160x110mm. pp. 94, [2pp adverts, dated February 1912]. Publisher's green cloth lettered in black to upper cover and spine. Some marking and soiling to covers and a tiny nick to the foot of the spine. Some passages marked in red or blue pen or in pencil and there is a short tear to the foot of the hinge of the first gathering.

New York: The Publishers' Printing Company. 1901.First edition. 175x120mm. pp. xviii, 138. Original red cloth, lettered in gilt to upper cover. Some marking and soiling to boards, rubbing to edges and slight fraying to head and foot of spine. Internally very good and overall a nice copy of a book which is rare in commerce, no copies appearing in the auction records. Eleanor Kirk (1831-1908) was an extraordinary woman who wrote curious books.

n.p. [Trevecca?] . 1780.  First edition. 8vo in 4s. 188x117mm. pp. viii, 134, [2]. Nineteenth century half calf, marbled paper covered boards, slightly bumped and rubbed. Internally a little browned but overall a very good copy of a rare book. We have traced only two at auction, eight copies on JISC Library Hub, and a further five in Worldcat. Tipped in are two manuscript documents (seven pages in total) by Jones himself.

Penrith: Printed and published by J. Brown.. 1809-10.First edition. 8vo. 255x160mm. pp. 448. Contemporary blue-grey boards, grey paper backstrip, pages uncut. Protected by a loose buckram cover and housed in a slipcase. Repair to spine, joints and to hinges at the gutter. Surface crack to spine, corners slightly worn. Internally very good but with some marking and foxing and a little crinkling to the edges of some leaves. Each issue has the revenue duty stamp. Front pastedown has book label of Mary Elizabeth Hudson and the very discreet label W.A.S. which is William A.

Cambridge [Massachussetts]: John Owen. 1839.First edition. Small 8vo. 178x110mm. pp. xv [ibl], 144. Original drab boards, paper label to spine. Head and foot of spine a little chipped and bumped and some rubbing to edges of boards. Internally very good although the first gathering is slightly loose and there is some toning to the edges. Housed in a folding card jacket and a blue quarter morocco slipcase, lettered in gilt to the spine. Title page has ownership inscription: "Chas. L. Reason". Reason was an African American mathematician.

London: F.C.and J. Rivington. 1822.First edition. 8vo. 225x140mm. pp. xi [ibl], 356, errata leaf tipped in. Uncut in the original boards with paper label to spine. Leaves X7 and 8 unopened. Spine somewhat worn with some of the paper missing, corners rubbed and worn and some marks on the boards.

New York: New Directions. 1946.Presentation copy from Dylan Thomas to David Markson. Second edition. 8vo. 212x135mm. xxiii [ibl], 184. Original red cloth, slightly faded in places in original dustjacket, chipped along the top edge with a piece (25x10mm) missing from top corner. Internally very good with extensive underlinings and a marginal annotation in blue ink, all by Markson. Inscribed on the front free endpaper: "From Dylan in the West End Tavern to Dave under the volcano. 1952". Beneath this Thomas has also written: "In London, 54 Delancey St. Camden Town, N.W.1. In Wales, Boat House, Laugharne, Carmarthenshire, Wales".

n.p. . n.d. [1937]. A collection of typescripts of thirteen short stories by Lise Deharme with five signed drawings by Jean Cocteau. Some of the stories are drafts with manuscript or typed amendments and some in fair copy. Each story, with its illustration, is loosely inserted into a card folder. Also present is the original pink file which contained the stories and drawings. On the cover of this is inscribed, in De harme’s hand: “Lise Deharme, 146 rue de Grenelle, Paris VII. Quleque dessins de Cocteau”. All housed in a custom made box with paper label to spine.

Londres: en la imprenta R.Taylor.. 1826.Simon Bolivar's copy. First edition. 4to. 294x197mm. pp. [2], xiii [ibl], [2], 707 [1]. Two parts in one volume, paginates continuously. Two frontispiece portraits in each part. Half title (bound after, rather than before the prologue) is signed by Simon Bolivar, using only his surname and in his distinctive hand. Contemporary calf, gilt roll border, spine decorated in gilt, green morocco label lettered in gilt. Some scuffing and marking to boards, corners a little worn and slight cracking to hinge with upper cover. Internally very good with some foxing and marking (on p.657).

[London] n.p.. 1993.Signed by Pete Townshend and Ted Hughes. Pete Townshend's annotated rehearsal copy of the script for the stage production of his rock opera The Iron Man based on Ted Hughes's children's book of the same name. 48 A4 leaves printed on recto only. All but two are extensively annotated with directions ("PETE! ACTION"), observations ("Kids actually got bored in my best song!"), amendments, deletions and suggestions. Notes are in pencil, blue, black and purple ink and blue felt pen. More than one hand is at work in these notes but Townshend's is clearly evident.

Edinburgh and London: William Blackwood and Sons. 1871.First separate edition following its publication in Blackwood's Magazine. 8vo. 171x114mm. pp. 64, 8pp adverts. Original publisher's purple wrappers, somewhat faded and with tears to spine and the bottom outer corner torn from the lower cover. Some foxing but otherwise very good internally. Although not the first example of imaginary invasion literature (see previous item for that), The Battle of Dorking is the best known and was the most successful.

London: Allan Wingate. 1956."the father of black writing". One of the central works of post-colonial literature First edition. 8vo. 184x120mm. pp. [7], 8-171 [1bl]. Original green cloth with original strikingly illustrated dustjacket. Head and top corners of dustjacket a little chipped and some wear to the jacket. Internally it is a little toned to the edges but overall an excellent copy of this groundbreaking and important book.