Aubrey, John. Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme. 1686-87. Editd and annotated by James Britten, F.L.S.. Reprinted by permission of the Folk-Lore Society. Kraus reprint limited, Nendeln, Liechtenstin, 1967. Hard cover, Very good. The Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme was Aubrey's collection of material on customs, traditions, ceremonies, beliefs, old wives' tales and rhymes – or what today would be termed folklore. It was compiled over many years, but written up between 1687 and 1689.
The manuscript came into the hands of White Kennett, and as a result it is not with Aubrey's other collections in the Bodleian: it is in the British Library, as Lansdowne MS 231. An edition was published by James Britten for the Folklore Society in 1881 re-edited in 1972 by John Buchanan-Brown. £35 Click for Image Click for Image Click for Image

Howells, William. Cambrian Superstitions, Comprising Ghosts, Omens, Witchcraft, Traditions etc.. Published by Thomas Danks Tipton. 1831. First edition. A scarce collection of vastly entertaining tales many of them 'eyewitness accounts' recorded by Howells himself and dealing exclusively with the legends and folklore of Wales. £250 Click for Image Click for Image Click for Image

John Collinson. The Beauties of British Antiquity; Selected from the Writings of Esteemed Antiquaries With Notes and Observations. Published: London : printed for the author, and sold by T. Longman 1779. viii, 310,[10]p ; 21cm. 8vo.Fine binding. John Collinson, (1757 ?-1793), county historian, vicar of Clanfield, Oxfordshire, was instituted to the vicarage of Long Ashton, Somerset, in 1787, and also held the perpetual curacy of Whitchurch in the same county. He died at the Hotwells, Bristol, on 27 Sept. 1793, at the age of thirty-six. He published 'The Beauties of British Antiquities, selected from the writings of Antiquaries,' 1779, 8vo, and in 1781 issued proposals for a history of the county of Somerset in one volume folio. The work was finally published in 1791, with the title ' History and Antiquities of the County of Somerset, collected from authentick Records and an actual Survey made by the late Mr. Edmund Rack,' in 3 vols. Collinson appears to have largely used, and indeed to have appropriated bodily from, the Palmer MSS., now in the possession of Sir Alexander Acland Hood, Dart., of St. Audries, Somerset. £250 Click for Image Click for Image

Grey, Richard, D.D. A System of English Ecclesiastical Law. Extracted from the Codex juris Ecclesiastici Anglicani. For the Use of Young Students in the Universities, Who Are Designed for Holy Orders. Fourth edition corrected. Published: In the Savoy, London: H. Lintot, 1743. pp. 448 + 5 pp adverts; 8vo. A concise and corrected edition of Edmund Gibson's massive Codex Juris Ecclesiastici Anglicani, examining Church law, church organization, clergy, sanctuary, administration and discipline, Praemunire, divorce, succession, and wills etc.. A classic work which addresses students of the Church in preparation for the legal role they could expect to play after their ordination. Pen underlining to title. VG. £350 Click for Image Click for Image

Porson, Richard . Letters to Mr Archdeacon Travis, in answer to his defence of the Three Heavenly Witnesses 1 John v. 7. Published: London : T. and J. Egerton, 1790: pp. xxxix. 406. ; 8vo. First Edition. Porson's counter-attack on Travis, elicited by the Archdeacon's 'Letters to Edward Gibbon' concerning the disputed St. John’s First Epistle, chap. V, V. 7. Porson's able and forthright defence of Gibbon was, however, not entirely uncritical: 'I confess I see nothing wrong in Mr. Gibbon’s attack upon Christianity. It proceeded, I doubt not, from the purest and most virtuous motives. We can only blame him for carrying on the attack in an insidious manner, and with imperfect weapons.' see Porson, preface, p. XXIX. Internally clean and bright, half leather covers worn. £350 Click for Image Click for Image

Molesworth, Viscount Robert [ 1656-1725] An Account of Denmark, As it Was in the Year 1692. The Third Edition Corrected. Published: London: printed for Timothy Goodwin,1694. [lii, 271 ;
Associate of Shaftesbury, John Toland, Anthony Collins, Asgill, Tindal and other freethinkers Molesworth was described by Locke as an 'ingenious and extraordinary man,’ denounced as an atheist by Jonathan Swift, and a suspected contributor to Cato's Letters. A supporter of William of Orange, Molesworth was made ambassador to Denmark 1689. This critical account of Denmark's absolute monarchy was one of the most famous examples of comparative political science of the period and remained a standard Enlightenment reference, contrasting Danish and French tyranny to the liberty of England, the only remaining example of representative government in Europe, and a condition preserved in large measure by the absence of standing armies. 'An Account' marked the appearance of the first generation of 'Commonwealthmen' radical Whigs who impressed and influenced the third Earl of Shaftesbury, and Hutcheson and whose works inspired the state constitutions of colonial America and the American drafters of the Declaration of Independence. Molesworth was elected to the Royal Society 1698. £500. Previous owner annotation. Click for Image Click for Image

Denne, Samuel [1730-1799]. The history and antiquities of Rochester and its environs To which is added, a description of towns, villages, gentlemen's seats, and ancient buildings, situate on, or near the road from London to Margate, Deal, and Dover. Embellished with copper-plates. Published: Rochester : T. Fisher, 1772. xiv, 353, [1] p., [6] leaves of plates; 18 cm .Note: "In conjunction with W. Shrubsole:" Dictionary national biography v. 14, p. 367. VG.

Samuel Denne (1730–1799), antiquary, the second of the two sons of Archdeacon John Denne, the antiquary [q. v.], was born at the deanery, Westminster, on 13 Jan. 1730. He was educated at Streatham and at the King's School, Canterbury, and was admitted of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, 1748, graduating B.A. 1753, M.A. 1756. In 1754 he was presented to the vicarage of Lamberhurst in Kent, but he resigned it in 1767 on becoming vicar of Wilmington and also of Darenth, both near Dartford, Kent. He died at Wilmington, where he had long lived quietly, on 3 Aug. 1799, of a bilious complaint from which he had suffered for forty years. He was buried near his father in Rochester Cathedral. ‘An affectionate son he was, and true lover of the spot appointed for his resting-place.’ ‘For his character the poor and needy of his parishes … will afford the best testimonial’ (Gent. Mag.). Denne became a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 1783. His voluminous correspondence with Richard Gough, published in vol. vi. (p. 609 ff.) of Nichols's ‘Literary Illustrations,’ evidences the keen interest which he took in all classes of English antiquities. He published: 1. ‘A Letter to Sir R. Ladbroke’ (showing the good effects which would result ‘from the confinement of criminals in separate apartments’), 1771, 8vo. 2. ‘Historical Particulars of Lambeth Parish and Lambeth Palace,’ 1795, 4to. 3. ‘The History and Antiquities of Rochester and its Environs’ [in conjunction with W. Shrubsole], 1772, 8vo, also 1817, 8vo, and 1833, 12mo. Denne contributed to Thorpe's ‘Custumale Roffense;’ to Gough's ‘Sepulchral Monuments;’ to the ‘Bibliotheca Topographica Britannica;’ to the ‘Illustrations of the Manners and Expences of Antient Times in England,’ 1797; and to an edition of Atterbury's ‘Correspondence.’ He also assisted Ellis in his history of Shoreditch, and contributed articles to the ‘Archæologia’ in vols. vi.–xiii. He frequently wrote for the ‘Gentleman's Magazine,’ from the publication of vol. xli. till his death: his articles were signed ‘W. & D.’ (i.e. Wilmington and Darenth, his vicarages). Denne was unmarried. £250 Click for Image Click for Image

Dodsley, Robert. Fugitive pieces, on various subjects. By several authors. London; Printed for J. Dodsley, 1765. 2 vol., 8o, frontis [2] 17 x11 cm. Fine binding. Includng, Crito o a dialogue on Beauty by Beaumont, An Account of Russia in 1710 by Lord Whitworth [78 inc. adverts], A Journey into England by Paul Hentzner, [translated by Richard Bentley,] ed. by H. Walpole [80pp] RARE "We arrived at Rye, a small English sea-pot. Here, as soon as we came on shore, we gave in our names to the notary of the place, but not till he had demanded our business; and being answered, that we had none but to see England we were conducted to an inn, where we were very well entertained, as one generally is in this country." Hentzner was a travelling tutor to a young German Nobleman who travels covered Switzerland, Germany, England, France and Italy during the reign of Elizabeth I. £350 Click for Image Click for Image Click for Image

Sharp, Samuel. Letters from Italy, Describing the Customs and Manners of that Country in the years 1765 and 1766 To which is annexed, an admonition to gentlemen who pass the Alps in their Tour their tour through Italy by Samuel Sharp Esq. London : R. Cave at St. John's-Gate; and sold by W.Nicol in St. Paul's Church-yard 1766.Worn leather joints split but still holding. Internally clean and bright. £250 Click for Image Click for Image

Prince, John, Vicar of Berry-Pomeroy. Danmonii Orientales Illustres; or, The Worthies of Devon: a work, wherein the lives and fortunes of the most famous divines, statesmen, swordsmen, physicians, writers and other eminent persons, natives of that most noble province from before the Norman conquest, down to the present age, ... are memorized memorized in alphabetical order etc. Edition: New edition, with notes. Publisher: London : Longman, 1810. pp. xxxvii. 785. ; 4o. Attractive frontis of Sir Bevil Grenville by James Fittler. VG. £495 Click for Image Click for Image

ANON. Choice notes from 'Notes and queries.' London : Bell & Daldy, 1858. A choice sampling from 12 vols of Notes and Queires focussing on history - the text of the manuscript of Pitt's resignation [1761] the reaction to Pitt' s resignation, the first impressions of Queen Charlotte, the fate of the wife of Robert the Bruce, the Battle of Kerbester in Ross and list of the killed and captured, the Great Fire of London, Perkin Warbeck, the bithplace of the Empress Josephine, the talisman of Charlemagne, Against the possession of religious books, letters of Lord Nelson etc., etc.. VG. £85. Click for Image Click for Image

Duck, Stephen [1705-1756]. Poems on several occasions by the Reverend Mr. Stephen Duck. With a life of the author, by the Rev. Joseph Spence. The fourth edition. London : Printed for John Rivington; T. Longman; Hawes, Clarke, and Collins; and George Knapp, 1764 . xlii, 246 p : 17 cm.. Engraved frontis of the Wiltshire poet intact. Half marbled calf. Armorial bookplate of Joseph Swan. VG. Stephen Duck 'the Thresher Poet' taught himself to read and write poetry while working as a farm labourer. Celebrated as a natural genius, he was awarded a pension by Queen Caroline and later became a clergyman.before falling out of favour and eventually drowning himself. This small compilation features many of his best known works including On Poverty; The Thresher's Labour;The Shunamite; Gratitude: A Postoral; A Pastoral Elegy; On a Good Conscience; On Music; On Richmond Park, and Royal Gardens; Avaro and Amanda; To a Young Lady, who had a Cupid given her; On the Honourable Mrs. Horner's Travelling for the Recovery of her Health; The Absent Lover; On a Screen, worked in Flowers by her Royal Highness ANNE, Princess of Orange; To His Royal Highness the Duke of Cumberland, on His Birthday; To Death. An Irregular Ode; On Mrs. L—s; Truth and Falshood. A Fable; Proper Ingredients to make a Sceptic; On Two Young Ladies leaving the Country; On Mites. To a Lady; Chloe's Conquest; Occasion'd by a Dispute with a Lady; To Mr. Worsdale Occasion'd by seeing Celia's Picture unfinish'd; On the Queen's Grotto in Richmond Gardens; To the Author of a Poem on the Duke of Lorrain's Arrival at the British Court; On Florella's Birth Day; To the Rev Dr. Freind, on his quitting Westminster School; On Celia's Picture, drawn by Sir Godfrey Kneller; On the Marriage of His Serene Highness the Prince of Orange; Verses to the Author, in Imitation of Horace's Ode on Pindar; The Answer; On Delia singing, and playing on Music; To the Right Hon. William Clayton, Esq (now Lord Sundon) on his being elected Representative in Parliament for Westminster without Opposition; To Mr. Winder (now Fellow) of Corpus-Christi, Oxford in Answer to a Latin Epistle, which he sent me; A Desecription of a journey to Marlborough, Bath, Portsmouth, &c.; Penelope to Ulysses. Paraphras'd from Ovid; An Epigram; A Poem on Her MAJESTY'S Birth Day; Felix and Constance; Ad Joannem Miltonum [John Milton]; An Imitation of the Tenth. Ode of the Second; Book of Horace; An Imitation of the Sixteenth Ode of the Second Book of Horace; An Imitation of the Sixteenth Ode of the Third Book of Horace; Felix, qui patriis, &c. imitated from Claudian; Of Friendship;An Ode presented to their Royal Highness the Prince and Princess of Wales, in Richmond Gardens. SOLD £250. Click for Image Click for Image

Somerset, Frances Seymour, Duchess of [1699-1754]. Correspondence between Frances, Countess of Hartford, (afterwards Duchess of Somerset) and Henrietta Louisa, Countess of Pomfret : between the years 1738 and 1741. London : Printed for R. Phillips, Second edition, 1806 . 3 vols. : VG. From the library of (Miss) Frances Mary Richardson Currer (1785-1861) one of the first female book collectors in europe, scholar, acquaintance of Charlotte Bronte (and very possibly the inspiration for Charlotte Bronte's pen name) £150 Click for Image Click for Image Click for Image Click for Image

Green, Matthew [1696-1737]. The Spleen : An Epistle Inscribed to his particular Friend Mr. C J. By the late Mr. Matthew Green, at the Custom's House London. The Third Edition, corrected. To which is added, Some other Pieces by the same Hand. London: printed and sold by A. Dodd; and at all the pamphlet-shops in town, 1738. iv, 67,[1]p ; 8vo. Disbound. Matthew Green (1696–1737) was a British poet born of Nonconformist parents. For many years he held a post in the custom house. The few anecdotes that have been preserved show him to have been as witty as his poems would lead one to expect: on one occasion, when the government was about to cut off funds that paid for milk for the custom house cats, Green submitted a petition in their name, winning a reprieve. He died unmarried at his lodging in Nags Head Court, Gracechurch Street, London in 1737.

His Grotto, a poem on Queen Caroline's grotto at Richmond was printed in 1732; and his chief poem, The Spleen, in 1737 with a preface by his friend Richard Glover. These and some other short poems were printed in Robert Dodsley's collection (1748), and subsequently in various editions of the British poets. They were edited in 1796 with a preface by John Aikin and in 1858 by Robert Aris Willmott with the poems of Thomas Gray and others. The Spleen, which was not originally intended for publication, is an epistle to Cuthbert Jackson, advocating cheerfulness, exercise and a quiet content as remedies. It is full of witty sayings. Thomas Gray said of it: "There is a profusion of wit everywhere; reading would have formed his judgment, and harmonized his verse, for even his wood-notes often break out into strains of real poetry and music". Despite this praise, Green is thought of as a "one-poem" poet, to the point that he became known as "Spleen-Green." In an age of orthodoxy, Green had an original turn of mind. His idiosyncratic conversation 'occasioned one of the commissioners of the Customs, a very dull man, to observe that he did not know how it was, but Green always expressed himself in a different manner from other people'.Green is perhaps best remembered (if at all) for witty aphorisms, such as: "By happy alchemy of mind / They turn to pleasure all they find." "Laugh and be well." "Fling but a stone, the giant dies." (The Spleen) "Though pleased to see the dolphins play / I mind my compass and my way." (The Spleen) £350 Click for Image

Kett, Henry [1761-1825]. The Flowers of Wit; or a Choice Collection of Bonmots, both antient and modern; with biographical and critical remarks. London, 1814. 2 vols. ; 12mo. VG. Henry Kett (1761 – 1825) was a versatile English clergyman, academic and writer who visited France and saw the early days of the French Revolution. He was Bampton lecturer in 1790, and in the same year played the major part in raising a subscription for John Uri, when he was discharged by the delegates of the Clarendon Press from his position as cataloguer of the Oriental manuscripts in the Bodleian Library. His person lent itself to caricature, and in June 1807 he was depicted by Robert Dighton in ‘A View from Trinity’ as a tall man, with his hands behind his back. In his younger days Kett was grave, but he afterwards became a beau, learnt dancing, and sought a reputation for gallantry. He rejected many college livings, and twice missed the college headship. Through Joseph Chapman, President of his college, he held the incumbency of Elsfield, near Oxford, from 22 May 1785 to 28 June 1804; from July 1812 to 1820 he was vicar of Sutton Benger, Wiltshire, and in 1814 he was nominated by Bishop George Tomline as perpetual curate of Hykeham in Lincolnshire. He was also king's preacher at Whitehall; but these appointments did not compel him to leave Oxford, and he resided in college until his marriage at Charlton Kings, Gloucestershire, in December 1823, to Miss White. Kett was vain and subject to fits of depression. He was found drowned at Stanwell, Middlesex, on 30 June 1825. His widow married at St. James's, Piccadilly, on 28 November 1828, the Rev. Thomas Nicholl. Kett gave to his college, in addition to large subscriptions to various buildings and some plate, portraits of William Pope, earl of Downe, and the first earl of Chatham. The bulk of his fortune, about £25,000, was left after his widow's death to three public charities, one being the Radcliffe Infirmary at Oxford. £150. Click for Image Click for Image Click for Image

R., J. Observations upon Lord Orrery's Remarks on the Life and Writings of Dr. Jonathan Swift [by J. R., i.e. Patrick Delaney], containing several singular anecdotes relating to the character and conduct of that great Genius and the mosr deservedly celebrated Stella. In a series of Letters to his Lordship to which are added Two original pieces of the same author [ excellent in their kind] never before publish'd. (A Treatise on good manners and good breeding: Verses to a friend who has been abused in many libels.) London, 1754. 8vo. Lord Orrery was a renowned supporter of Swift see Lord Orrery's preface to the 1763 edition of The Sermons: These Sermons are curious; and curious for such reason as would make other works despicable. They were written in a careless hurrying manner; and were the offspring of necessity, not of choice: so that one will see the original force of the Dean's genius more in these compositions, that were the legitimate sons of duty, than in other pieces that were natural sons of love..." and "A clearer style, or a discourse more properly adapted to a public audience, can scarce be framed. Every paragraph is simple, nervous, and intelligible. The threads of each argument are closely connected and logically pursued. Thomas Fitzherbert bookplate 1749 by J. Skinner. Covers worn. £250 Click for Image Click for Image

Characters : containing an impartial review of the public conduct and abilities of the most eminent personages in the Parliament of Great-Britain : considered as statesmen, senators, and public speakers; revised and corrected by the author. Dublin : W. Wilson, 1777. xxii, inc dedication and preface. 207 p. [xi catalogue of new books]. VG. American Revolutionary War. Rare. £1050. Click for Image Click for Image

Jesse, John Heneage. Notes by Lady Louisa Stuart on George Selwyn and His Contemporaries. Edited from the Original Manuscript by W.S. Lewis New York: Printed by D.B. Updike, The Merrymount Press, for Oxford University Press, 1928. First Edition, REVIEW COPY one of 500 copies, of which 470 are for sale. 4to. Portrait frontispiece and 4 pp. facsimile of the author's manuscript. Original simulated marbled boards, white cloth spine with paper label, slight wear to covers, else fine. £50 Click for Image Click for Image

The Cambrian directory, or, Cursory sketches of the Welsh territories : with a chart, comprehending at one view, the advisable route, best inns, distances, and objects most worthy of attention. Second edition. Publisher: Salisbury : Printed and sold by J. Easton : sold also by T. Hurst, London, second 1801. xii, 212, [2] p., [1] folded plate ; 21 cm. Cursory sketches of the Welsh territories. Includes bibliographical references, references to Welsh territories, advisable routes, and to objects most worthy of attention. Spine badly worn. £150 Click for Image Click for Image

Hesselgrave, Ruth Avaline.Lady Miller and the Batheaston literary circle written by Ruth Avaline Hesselgrave. New Haven : Yale University Press ; London : H. Milford, Oxford University Press, 1927. xii, 93 p: front., facsimilie. 20 cm. Fine. £50 Click for Image Click for Image

Davies, Thomas, ca. [1712-1785]. Memoirs of the life of David Garrick, Esq., interspersed with characters and anecdotes of his theatrical contemporaries : the whole forming a history of the stage, which includes a period of thirty-six years by Thomas Davies. 2 Vols. Fourth edition, to which is added an accurate index. Publisher: London : printed for the author, and sold at his shop in Great Russell Street Covent Garden, 1784. 2 vols. plate: 19 cm. Respined. £500 Click for Image Click for Image

Arthur Maynwaring. The life and posthumous works of Arthur Maynwaring Esq. [1668-1712]. containing several original pieces and translations, in prose and verse, never before printed. To which are added, several political tracts written by him, before and after the change of the ministry. Publisher: London : printed for A. Bell at the Cross-Keys in Cornhill; W. Taylor at the Ship; and J. Baker at the Black-Boy in Pater-Noster Row. 1715. xviii, 356 [i.e. 358], [24] p ; 8vo Note: Dedication (10pp) signed J.O., i.e. John Oldmixon. With [24] final pages of index. War of Spanish Succession, , 1701-1714. Respined.Maynwaring's name frequently occurs in contemporary writings, but the chief authority is Oldmixon's Life and Posthumous Works of Arthur Maynwaring, 1712. He is often vague, sometimes mistaken, but leaves a vivid impression of Maynwaring's character and influence. £250 Click for Image Click for Image

Ward, Edward [1667-1731]. The history of the London clubs, or, The citizens' pastime by the author of the London Spy. Publisher: London : s.n, 1896 31 p ; 19 cm, 2 parts in 1 vol . Half title: Secret history of London clubs "Of this reissue only 100 copies have been printed." Reissue of: London : Dutton, 1709 ed., with new preface by F.M. [Frederick Marchmont, i.e. Hugh Arthur Torriano]. VG. £95 Click for Image Click for Image

Graves, Richard [1715-1804]. Lucubrations: consisting of essays, reveries, & c., in prose and verse By the late Peter of Pontefract [and] recollection of some particulars in the life of the late William Shenstone esqu.. Publisher: London : J. Dodsley, 1786. xiv,[1], 195 p + 222 p. [i errata] 18 cm. 12mo. Contemprary pen and pencil scholarly notation. Split, worn spine, loose ffep. £500 Click for Image Click for Image

Gibson, Matthew. A view of the ancient and present state of the churches of Door, Home-Lacy, and Hempsted. London : Printed by W. Bowyer, for R. Williamson, 1727. iv 238 p: folding plate dedicated by M.G. to Mrs. Frances Scudamore [d. 1729] . Bookplate of Richard Snead Cox. Previous owner names Richard Snead Cox of Eaton Bishop, W.A Thorpe, Ross. Very good. Scarce. £250. Click for Image Click for Image

Edwards, Thomas [1699-1757]. The Canons of Criticism : and glossary, being a supplement to Mr. Warburton's edition of Shakespear. Collected from the notes in that celebrated work and proper to be bound up wiith it. By the other gentleman of Lincoln's Inn. The third edition Publisher: London : printed for C. Bathurst, 1750. [8], 174, [2] p; Dedication, half-title and postcript. Ex libris William Winter bookplate and autograph 1914.VG. Dear Ancient, put this with the other books abt "that dreadful man Shakespeare!" your Billy. Title loose, extra fly leaves, half calf marbled end papers. £250 Click for Image Click for Image

Burnet, Gilbert, 1643-1715 Revolution Politicks: being a compleat collection of all the reports, lyes and stories which were the fore-runners of the Great Revolution in 1688; commencing from the death of King Charles II. And from thence regularly continued to the settlement of the Prince and Princess of Orange upon the Throne. Wherein the several views and designs of all parties are exposed, and divers jesuitical and fanatical intrigues are detected, and set in a true light. Publisher: London, 1733. 8vo. England's Revolutionary Politics. Coventry family bookplate Candide et Constanter. Loose title, binding damaged. Eight parts in one.[This edtion is identical to the edition found in George Washington's library as recorded in 1759.] £5000 Click for Image Click for Image

Davis, William, bibliographer. An Olio of Bibliographical and Literary Anecdotes and Memoranda Original and Selected. London : Rodwell, 1814 Note: Incl. 'Mr Cole's unpublished notes on the Revd. Jas. Bentham's History and antiquities of Ely Cathedral' Other Names: Cole, William, 1714-1782. vi,126pp. Good. Pink cloth, with original spine label. £95 Click for Image Click for Image

Harwood, Edward. Biographia classica: the lives and characters of all the classic authors, the Grecian and Roman poets, historians, orators, and biographers. With An Historical and Critical Account of Them and their Writings: Illustrating their several Excellencies, and shewing their Defects, from the Judgment and Remarks of the most Celebrated Critics, both Ancient and Modern. The second edition, corrected and improv'd. To which is now added, at the end of every life, a list of the best and most curious editions ... In two volumes. London : printed for Daniel Browne, 1750. x, 334, ii; 296. Worn. £150 Click for Image Click for Image

Warton, Thomas [1728-1790]. A Companion to the Guide, and a Guide to the Companion: being a complete supplement to all the accounts of Oxford hitherto published. Containing, an accurate description of several halls, libraries, schools public edifices, busts staues antiquities, hieroglyphics, seats gardens, and other curiosities omitted or misrepresented by Wood, Hearn, Salmon, Prince, Pointer, and other eminent topographers chronolgers, antiquarians and historians. The whole interspersed with original anecdotes and interesting discoveries occasionally resulting from the subject and Embellished with perspective views and elevations, neatly engraved . Second edition corrected and enlarged.
Published: London : Printed for H. Payne and sold by the booksellers of Oxford., 1760? iv + 44pp : illustrated with 5 engravings. Full calf, lined boards, five raised bands, gilt lettering, ribbon marker two armorial bookplates [ Frances Mary Richardson Currer and Jamer Comer Ford] and marbled end papers. (Miss) Frances Mary Richardson Currer (1785-1861) one of the first female book collectors in europe, scholar, acquaintance of Charlotte Bronte. This book A catalogue of the library collected by miss Richardson Currer at Eshton hall, Modern History Oxfordshire [a satire] p.209 ] RARE. £350 Click for Image Click for Image

Murmur, Sir Fretful, Knt. More miseries II : addressed to the morbid, the melancholy, and the irritable. Second edition enlarged. Publisher: London Printed for H.D. Symonds, 1807. Title + vii + 213pp. Green half marbled calf, four raised bands, gilt decoration in four compartments, gilt label. Spotting to title and a few other leaves but otherwise mostly free of foxing - a nice tidy copy. £250 Click for Image Click for Image

Johnson, Samuel. Lives of the English Poets Edited by George Birkbeck-Hill D.C.L. sometime Honorary Fellow of Pembroke College Oxford. with brief memoir of Dr Birkbeck Hill by his nephew Harold Spencer Scott, M.A. New Collge Oxford, in three volumes. Clarendon Press, Oxford 1905 3 Vols. Quarter morocco gilt. Ex lib Henry William Carless Davis, CBE, FBA (13 January 1874 – 28 June 1928) British historian, editor of the Dictionary of National Biography, and Oxford Regius Professor of Modern History. £350 Click for image. Click for Image

Smith, Edmund [1672-1710]. The works of Mr. Edmund Smith, late of Christ-Church, Oxford : containing, I. Phædra and Hippolitus, II. A poem on the death of Mr. Philips, III. Bodleian speech, IV. Pocockius, &c / to which is prefix'd, A character of Mr. Smith, by Mr. Oldisworth ; Corrected and inlarged by Dr. Adams, of Christ-Church. 4th ed London : Printed for Bernard Lintot 1729. xxiv + iv + 96pp ; 17cm (12mo) Advertisement. Reference: Foxon v. 1, p. 737, The Bodleian speech, Pocockius, and two shorter verse items are in Latin .With engraved frontispiece Half marbled calf with gold lettering to spine. £150 Click for Image Click for Image

Addison, Joseph [1672-1719]. The Drummer: or, The Haunted-house a Comedy, by Mr. Addison. With a preface by Sir Richard Steele, in an Epistle Dedicatory to Mr. Congreve, occasioned by Mr. Tickell's preface to the four volumes Mr. Addison's works Title in red and black, Engraved frontis xxiv + 66 + ii London : printed for Jacob Tonson ..., 1735. : illus ; 16.4cm ; 12mo. Illustrations: Frontispiece, Alv, drawn and engraved by G. Van der Gucht. Quarter marbled calf, spine lettering in gilt, lined. £450 Click for Image Click for Image

Addison, Joseph [1672-1719]. Miscellaneous Works, in Verse and Prose: Consisting of such as were never before printed in Twelves. Joseph Addison with some account of the life and writings of the author by Mr. Tickell. Publisher: London : J. and R. Tonson and S. Draper, 1746. Full calf boards, gilt decorated spine, lined, gilt label, five raised bands 3 Vols. Vol 1 Title xxxiii + iii + 267pp. . Vol. 2 Tile + ad. + ii, 321 pp. Vol 3. vii +328pp + viii ads, 31 engravings of ancient medals.
Note: "These three volumes, with the Tatlers, Spectators, Guardians, Freeholder, and Remarks on several parts of Italy, complete Mr. Addison's works in twelves," advertisement in each vol . £300 Click for Image Click for Image Click for Image Click for Image

Pope, Alexander [1688-1744]. Letters of Mr. Pope, and several Eminent Persons, from the year 1705, to 1711. NB This edition contains more letters and more correctly printed than any other extant. London: printed and sold by the booksellers of London and Westminster, 1735. Portrait frontis of Alexander Pope, ink stained. xxii + 266pp plus A Narrative of Method. 8vo Full calf lined boards, gilt decorated spine, lined, gilt label, five raised bands. Property of Lady Winifred Constable (1730-1774) of Burton Constable. The first collection in English of a living writer's letters. £2000 Click for Image Click for Image

Budgell, Eustace [1686-1737]. Memoirs of the life and character of the late Earl of Orrery, and of the family of Boyles containing several curious facts and pieces of history from the Reign of Queen Elizabeth to the present times extracted from original papers and manucripts never yet printed. With a short account of the controversy between the late Earl of Orrery and the Reverend Doctor Bentley ; and some select letters of Phalaris the famous Sicilian tyrant translated from the Greek / by Eustace Budgell. First edition. London: Printed for W. Mears, 1732 . Portrait frontis. Title xl, 258 p + ii ads. A few scholarly notations in ink. Calf lined boards, five raised bands, rubbed, gilt lined spine. Pictorial plate by Robert Anning Bell. 'Ex Libris the '90s critic & essayist Walter Raleigh', by 'R[obert] A[nning] Bell XXXVIII 96'. 'C. H. Sc.' £130 Click for Image Click for Image

Willis, Browne. An History of the Mitred Parliamentary Abbies and Conventual Cathedral Churches, shewing the times of their foundations, and what alterations they have undergone. With some descriptions of their monuments, and dimensions of their buildings &c. together With a catalogue of their Abbots, Priors, &c. To which are annexed several other lists of the principals of divers Monasteries; the number of monks at the surrender and the names of all the last Abbats, Priors &c. who signed the same; as far as thet have come to hand. With exact account of those religious men and women and chantry priests receiving pensions throughout England and Wales. 1533 A work among other uses necessary to several charters sans date; and helpful to such who shall treat of families and dignified persons. For whose benefit are subjoined large indexes. The whole extracted out of very curious manuscripts &c which have been many years collecting by the most eminent antiquaries; and faithfully published. London W. Bowyer, 1718-19. 2 vol.;Vol 1 Title + vi + 336 + index [l] + xxi addendum, Vol 2 xi + iii + 380 + index [xxxiii] + addendum [xxx]. Modern quarter marbled calf, five raised gilt lined bands, gilt spine labels. Click for Image Click for Image Click for Image

Macky, John. Memoirs of the secret services of J. Macky Esq. during the reigns of King William, Queen Anne and King George I. Including, also, the true Secret History of the rise, promotions &c. of the English and Scots Nobility; officers Civil, Military,Naval and other persons of distinction, from the Revolution in their respective characters at large, drawn up by Mr Macky pursuant to the dirrection of Her Royal Highness the Princess Sophia. [Edited by A. R. With marginal notes by Dean Swift, transcribed by T. Birch.] Published London, 1733. pp.vi + lvi. + 254 + xxxvii. + Table of contents ix; 8vo. Bookplate of Mary Gardiner countess of blessington? Full calf, gilt lined boards, five raised bands, gilt lined spine, gilt label. "The chief value of the 'Memoirs" consists in its descriptions of the leading personages of the period, which evidence both keen powers of observation and great impartiality of judgment." DNB. £250. Click for Image Click for Image

Nicolson, William. Leges Marchiarum, or Border-Laws: containing several original articles and treaties, made and agreed upon by the Commissioners of the respective Kings of England and Scotland, for the better preservation of peace and commerce upon the Marches of both Kingdoms; from the reign of Henry III. to the Union of the Two Crowns, in K. James I. With a preface and an appendix of Charters and Records, relating to the said Treaties. by William, Lord Bishop of Carlile. London, Printed for Tim Goodwin 1705. Half title and title present. dedication [vii]+ preface [lvi] + [174] 388 + iv. 8vo. Wormhole to margin of last few leaves. Full leather embossed, four raised bands, gilt label, corners rubbed, VG. £275. Click for Image Click for Image

Warton, Thomas, the younger. The Life and Literary Remains of R. Bathurst Dean of Wells and president of Trinity College Oxford by Thomas Warton M.A. fellow of Trinity College and professor of poetry in the University of Oxford. London : R. & J. Dodsley 1761. Title + xxvii, 296 pp. Wormhole to last few leaves not effecting text. Full calf, five raised bands, five gilt decorated compartments, gilt spine label, worn, joints weakened, corners rubbed. £150 Click for Image Click for Image

Granger, James [1723-1776]. Letters between the Rev. James Granger M.A., Rector of Shiplake and many of the most eminent literary men of his time: composing a copious history and illustration of his Biographical history of England. With miscellanies, and notes of tours in France, Holland, and Spain, by the same gentleman. Edited by J. P. Malcolm Author of Londinium Redivivum from the originals in the possession of Mr. W. Richardson. Published London: printed by Nichols and Son ... for Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme ..., 1805. Frontis., ii, contents [iv] 420, 114 including index, frontis. plates. Note: With a frontispiece view of Boston House, Brentford, 2 pages of facsimiles of signatures of Granger's correspondents and portraits of William Cole and Henry Welby. Speckled calf, gilt boards, spine with five raised bands, gilt lined and labelled, worn, marbled end papers, joints holding but weak. £165 Click for Image Click for Image

Travis, George [1741-1797]. Letters to Edward Gibbon Esq. Author of the History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. The third edition, corrected and considerably enlarged. Published London : printed for the author, and sold by Mess. Rivingtons, J. Stockdale, and G. Sael, 1794
Title, Preface iv, 481pp, 88, [2], [8]p.. 8vo Quarter marbled calf, spine gilt lined with label, worn with 1" loss. Ex libris William Jacobson. £95 Click for Image Click for Image

Ray, James of Whitehaven. [Jacobites] A Journey through part of England and Scotland along with the army under the command of his Royal Highness the duke of Cumberland wherein the proceedings of the army, and the happy suppression of the Rebellion in the year 1746 are particularly described as also the natural history and antiquities of the several places passed through together with the manners and customs of the different people, especially of the Highlanders. by a Volunteer ; comprised in several letters to a friend in London. Third edition. Publisher: London: T. Osborne, 1747. 192 p; Green calf, gilt decorated boards, gilt decorated spine with six compartments and gilt label, small hole n title page text unaffectted. An unapologetic assessment of the highland campaign. Uncommon. £250 Click for Image Click for Image

Chamberlayne, Edward. Angliae notitia; or, The present state of England together with diverse reflections upon the Antient State thereof. The third edition corrected, and much augmented. Publisher: In the Savoy : Printed by T.N. for John Martyn, 1669. 12o. Frontis, title, table of contents + x + 480pp. Full leather, five raised bands, gilt label, hole in last page not affecting text. His best-known work is a handbook to the social and political condition of England, with lists of public officers and statistics, entitled Angliæ Notitiæ, or the Present State of England; the publication was an adaptation of L'Estat Nouveau de la France (Paris, 1661). The first edition appeared anonymously in 1669, and was dedicated to the Earl of Carlisle. Two other editions, with the author's name, were issued later in the same year. With the fifth edition of 1671 is bound up the first edition of a second part, containing additional information; in the seventh edition of 1673 a portrait of Charles II, by William Faithorne, makes its first appearance; in the ninth edition of 1676 is a new dedication to the Earl of Danby; with the eighteenth edition of 1694 is bound up a new third part, first issued separately in 1683. Thomas Hearne states that Andrew Allam made major contributions, to the sixteenth edition (1689), and that his information was inserted by Chamberlayne without acknowledgment. Chamberlayne issued the twentieth edition in 1702, and after his death his son John continued to edit the publication. The twenty-first edition (1708) bears the new title ‘Magnæ Britanniæ Notitia, or the Present State of Great Britain.’ John Chamberlayne died after the issue of the twenty-second edition in 1723, but fourteen editions were subsequently issued by the booksellers, the last being the thirty-sixth and bearing the date 1755. £250 Click for Image Click for Image

Harwood, Edward [1729-1794] A view of the various editions of the Greek and Latin classics, with remarks by Edward Harwood, D.D. Edition: The fourth edition. To which is added, a view of the prices of the early editions of the classics at the late sale of the Pinellian Library. Publisher: London : printed for G.G.J. and J. Robinson 1790. Title [2], xxvii, [1], 340, [8]p ; 12o Note: With 8 final pages of index and advertisements . Full calf , spine gilt lined, gilt label. VG. £75 check for annotations Click for Image Click for Image

Blacklock, Thomas [1721-1791]. Poems by Mr. Thomas Blacklock; to which is prefix'd, an account of the life, character, and writings of the author, by the Reverend Mr. Spence. Edition: The third edition.Publisher: London : Printed for the author, by R. and J. Dodsley, in Pallmall, 1756 .[6], lxiv, 236, [2] p ; 21 cm. Note: Originally published under title: Poems on several occasions. Running title: Poems on several occasions . Contents: Includes also A speech delivered ... in Edinburgh, and the essay on the immortality of the soul. Full leather, five raised bands gilt lined gilt label. Ex libris Frances Hawkins. VG. A blind [smallpox] child prodigy, he was sponsored by the empiricist philosopher David Hume he is now chiefly remembered as a poet and for having written a letter in 1789 to Robert Burns, which had the effect of dissuading him from going to the West Indies, indirectly saving his life since the ship sank on the voyage. £150 Click for Image Click for Image

Johnson, Samuel [1709-84]. Diary of a journey into North Wales in 1774 by Samuel Johnson LL.D. edited, with illustrative notes By R. Duppa, LL.B. Barrister at law. London Robert Jennings 1816. Half title, title, xvi 226 pp including index. 8vo. Respined. Includes two facsimilies of the hand writing of Dr. Johnson Full calf , gilt ruled boards, gilt lettering and decorated spine. Lacks final advert leaf, [rare]errata slip present. VG. £150 Click for Image Click for Image

Nichols, John. Letters on various subjects, literary, political, and ecclesiastical to and from William Nicolson D.D. successively bishop of Carlisle and of Derry and Archbishop of Cashell; including the correspondence of several eminent prelates, from 1683 to 1726-7 inclusive : faithfuly printed from the originals; and illustrated with literary and historical anecdotes by John Nichols F.S.A.E.& P.
Publisher: London : John Nichols and Son, Longman Hurst and Rees, 1809. 2 vols. Bishop Nicolson's epistolary correspondence. Full leather , gilt ruled and decorated spine, gilt label, marbled endpapers , all edges marbled red silk ribbon page markers. From the library of R.W. Hunt keeper of the Western M.S.S. Bodleian library.VG. Nichols, the son of a baker, was born in Islington, Middlesex where he was educated at John Shield's Academy. In 1759 he began his career as a printer as an apprentice to William Bowyer, becoming his partner in 1766 and sole proprietor in 1777. In 1780 he purchased the Gentleman's Magazine, which he edited until his death. Nichols was elected F.S.A. in 1810. His printing business continued by his son and fellow-antiquary John Bowyer Nichols. £150 Click for Image Click for Image Click for Image

Gennadius, Joannes [1844-1932]. Dr. Johnson as a Grecian : A paper read before the Johnson club on June 28, 1898 / by J. Gennadius. London, 1898 .21p ; 23 cm. Slightly spotted original paperwraps. Uncommon. VG. £15 Click for Image

Wilmot, Henry, Earl of Rochester (1612–1658). The Accusation given by His Majestie against the Lord Wilmot [12 Aug. 1644]; together with the Lord Wilmots declaration of his innocency. Also a petition of the officers of the Old Horse to his Majesty on behalfe of Lord Wilmot: with his Majesties answers thereunto. By which is most evident that the Lord Wilmot is in great danger of losing his head [if hee hath not lost it already, as some affirme] for being a suiter to his Majestie for peace, and for being averse to the proceedings of Prince Rupert, shewing just dislike, that he, being the grand favourer of the Irish rebels should be so much countenanced, and entrusted by his Majesty with so great a power. London, F. Leach, August 30, 1644. Title + pp. 6. [ misnumbered 8] complete; 4o. Pamphlet, old paperwraps. RARE. The complete text of the accusation of Wilmot's disloyalty by Lord Digby and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sir John Culpeper, including Wilmot's rebuttal and a petition by his men in defence of their courageous and popular commander. Notwithstanding Wilmot's innocence he was exiled to France and subsequently became a trusted ally of Charles II. He died of illness aged 46. Father of the famous poet and libertarian hero John Wilmot Earl of Rochester. Click for Image Click for Image

Clinton, Henry Fynes. Fasti romani: the civil and literary chronology of Rome and Constantinople from the death of Augustus to the death of Justin II. 2 vols: Volume 1 Preface and Introduction xvi. Tables. 856pp including Index, Additions and Corrections. Volume 2 Title and Contents iv, 608pp including Index, Additions and Corrections. Published Oxford University Press 1845. Brown cloth, paper labels scuffed with some loss to labels. £200 Click for Image Click for Image

Ferguson, Robert. [ d. 1714] A letter to a Person of Honour concerning the King's disavowing the having been married to the Duke of Monmouths mother. [By R. Ferguson] .Published London: 1680 [stated 1610]. 23pp; 4to First edition, Wing F750. Brown cloth, botton line trimmed off p18. 'Robert Ferguson's skill as a religious controversialist, and his influence with the dissenters, strongly recommended him to the party of Shaftesbury, and he now came forward as the champion, against the government, of the cause of protestantism. His first political pamphlet, entitled ‘A Letter to a Person of Honour concerning the “Black Box,”’ was published anonymously with the date London, 15 May 1680. It had reference to a missing ‘Black Box,’ reported to contain proofs of the king's marriage to Lucy Walters, the mother of the Duke of Monmouth. The position taken up by Ferguson was that the whole story of the ‘Black Box’ was a fiction invented by those who wished to discredit the Duke of Monmouth's title to the crown, and to divert attention from the treasonable procedure of the Duke of York. It shows great skill in the means chosen to arouse popular prejudice against the Duke of York. On 2 June Charles disavowed the marriage ‘on the faith of a Christian and the word of a king,’ and on the 10th Ferguson published ‘A Letter to a Person of Honour concerning the King's disavowing his having been married to the Duke of Monmouth's Mother,’ in which he hinted that evidence would be forthcoming of the marriage ‘when the matter shall come before a competent judicature.’-DNB. Uncommon. £350 Click for Image Click for Image

W.R. The Case of John Palmer and Thomas Symonds executed near Worcester on the 7th May 1708 upon the evidence of Gyles Hunt, who having obtain'd his own pardon, charg'd them to have been concern'd with himself in the murther of Mrs. Alice Palmer mother to the said Mr John Palmer and her maid, etc. [The introductory letter signed: R. W. May 10 1708]. Published: London, Printed for B. Bragge in Pater-noster Row. [iv] pp. 23; 4to. First edition. Quarter red marbled calf rubbed with minor loss to foot of spine, gilt lettering, armorial bookplate Edward Hailstone [Hailcton] printed in gold on leather. Hailstone of Walton Hall was a noted 19th. c. book collector a part of whose library informs the York Minster library. The Bretforton Murder - "Allen, Symonds, Palmer and Dun,The four biggest rogues under the sun." RARE. £250 Click for Image Click for Image

Charles I, King of England [1600-1649]. The King's cabinet opened: or, certain packets of secret letters and papers written with the King's own hand, taken in his cabinet at Nasby-field, June 14, 1645, by victorious Sir T. Fairfax ; wherein many mysteries of state tending to the justification of that cause for which Sir Thomas Fairfax joyned battell that memorable day are clearly laid open; together with some annotations thereupon. Published by special order of the Parliament. London. Printed for Robert Bostock, dwelling in St Paul's Church-yard, Signe of The Kings-head 1645. iv + 56pp 4to. Quarter marbled calf, gilt lettering on the spine."After the King's defeat at Naseby on June 14 many of the private copies of his letters, as well of original letters to him, fell into the victor's hands, and a selection is here printed to show the King's real views and double-dealing." - Madan. £500 Click for Image m Click for Image Ia Click for Image ge

Moore, William. [1785-1866]. The Gentlemen's society at Spalding: its origin and progress [a paper by W. Moore. Followed by] A list of members. Publisher: London William Pickering 1851. viii, 61 pp. Half marbled calf gilt lettering spine marbled end papers. Lacks frontispiece else fine. A scarce account of the oldest provincial archaeological society, written by its president for private distribution to members. Keynes p.81. £110 Click for Image Click for Image

L. M, Jesuit. The papists designe against the Parliament and citie of London discovered by a letter found neere White-Hall sent from L. M. a Jesuit, to R. C. a popish lord ; which caused the traine bands to guard and conduct the Parliament from London to Westminster ; shewing the great treachery of many popish Recusants, who intended to sieze upon the city of London, and how their plot was disanulled. And describing the cause of the Citie rising in Armes to defend themselves from the Conspiracie of the Papists. As also, with the cause of the Kings, Queenes and Princes departure to Hampton Court and of the Great Guard that went with them for feare any danger should ensue. London : Printed for H. F., in the yeare 1642. 8pp half paper, calf gilt, spine lettering lined. Click for Image Click for Image

Eachard John, D.D. The Grounds and Occasions of the Contempt of the Clergy and Religion enquired into, in a Letter to R. L. With observations on the Answer thereto, in a Letter to the sameTo which are added, Considerations on Mr Hobbe's State of Nature with several other pieces. By John Eachard, D.D. Late Master of Katherin Hall in Cambridge and Vice-Chancellor of that University. London. Printed for J. Philips at The King's Armsin St Paul's Church-yard 1698. The sixth edition;. To which is added Some observations upon the Answer to an enquiry into the grounds and occasions of the contempt of the clergy with some additions in a second letter to R.L. by the same author. London 1696; And Mr Hobbs's State of Nature considered in a dialogue between Philautus and Timothy to which are added five letters from the author of The Grounds and occasions of the contempt of the clergy. London. 1696. The fourth edition corrected by the author. title p. 144, p.188, p.247. Four raised bands, gilt label, full leather, spine heavily worn and frayed. £150 Click for Image Click for Image

Walton, Izaak [1593-1683]. The lives of Dr. John Donne, Sir Henry Wotton, Mr. Richard Hooker, Mr. George Herbert, and Dr. Robert Sanderson: By Izaak Walton. ; To which are added, the autographs of those eminent men, now first collected; an index, and illustrative notes. Publisher: London: : John Major Fleet Street. MDCCCXXV [1825] Frontis [Watton] xviii + 503 including notes and index. 52 text wood-engravings, eleven copperplates of Dr. John Donne, Sir Henry Wotton, Mr. Richard Hooker, Mr. George Herbert, and Dr. Robert Sanderson: By Izaak Walton. Designers include: W. H. Brooke, R. Thompson, H. White [elder], W. Harvey. Preface signed: J. M. [i.e. John Major] Printer statement on tail piece. verso: "Printed at the Shakspeare Press, by W. Nicol.Wood-engravers: G. W. Bonner, H. White [elder], W. Hughes, T. Mosses. Half marbled calf, gilt decorated spine and gilt spine label. £500 Click for Image Click for Image

Howell James [1594-1666]. Epistolae Ho-Elianae: familiar letters domestic and foreign Divided into Four Books partly Historical, Political, Philosophical. Upon emergent occasions. The eleventh edition very much corrected. London : Printed for R. Ware etc.1754. p.518 + x (index). 8vo . Armorial bookplate of Thomas Maitland Dundronnan. Full gilt decorated Morocco, five raised bands, decorated lined compartments, gilt title, all edges gilt. Epistolae Ho-Elianae or Familiar Letters is the most famous work by the 17th-century Anglo-Welsh historian and writer, James Howell. It was mainly written when Howell was in the Fleet Prison, during the 1640s; but its content reflects earlier travels he made from 1616 on behalf of a London glass factory. It appeared in three volumes from 1645 to 1650. A fourth volume was added in a collected edition of 1655.
It has been suggested that some of the letters are fictional. The selection of the recipients has also been attributed to patronage relationships. A "Mrs. A. W." who occurs as recipient has been fitted to another letter by Howell to provide a tentative deductive identification of the author of A Continuation of Sir Philip Sydney's Arcadia (1651) as Anna Weamys, who is not otherwise traced as a writer. As travel literature, Howell's work largely neglects scenic description. But some of the language used has been described as a possible source for the work of Joshua Poole on epithets.
The third edition was published by Thomas Guy, and profits went to founding Guy's Hospital in London. £95 Click for Image Click for Image Click for Image

Rawlinson, Richard. (1690-1755). The English Topographer or An historical Account (as far as can be collected from printed books and manuscripts) of all the pieces that have been written relating to the antiquities, natural history, or topographical description of any part of England. Alphabetically digested and illustrated with Draughts of several very Curious OLD SEALS, exactly Engraven from their respective originals. By an impartial hand .Published London : printed for T. Jauncy at The Angel Without Temple-Bar, 1720. Preface [ii] table of place names mentioned (iv) xliv, 275, xiii. Armorial bookplate of John Newling. Full calf lined, re-spined, five raised bands, gilt lined gilt labels. VG. £300 Click for Image Click for Image Click for Image

Goldsmith, Oliver [1728-1774]. The Life of Richard Nash of Bath Esq Extracted principally from his original papers. First edition. Publisher: London : Printed for J. Newbery in St Paul's Church-yard; W. Frederick, at Bath 1762 . Frontis vi + 234 + iv. Full calf, gilt lined boards, spine five raised bands gilt lined. £150 Click for Image Click for Image

Somner, William. A treatise of the Roman ports and forts in Kent. Published by James Brome, M.A.Rector of Cheriton, and chaplain to the Cinque Ports to which is prefixt the life of Mr. Somner [by White Kennett] . Publisher: Oxford : West, 1693 Printed at the theater and are to be sold by George West, John Crosley, Henry Clements Oxford 1693.Frontis, vii + 117 + xv Catalogue of the Land Wardens of the Cinque Ports & Index . Armourial bookplates of Arthur J. Wood and Arthur F. Brown 1870. Full calf ruled boards and decorated spine gilt , all edges gilt, crimson ribbon marker. Somner (1598-1669) a staunch royalist, was a renowned Anglo-Saxon scholar best remembered for his edition of Anglo-Saxon laws. VG. £350 Click for Image Click for Image Click for Image

Smithson, Charles William. A history and Guide to the ruins of the Carthusian Monastery called Mount Grace. Also a short Account of Whorlton Castle and Church. Publisher: Northallerton : 1888 . 32p. First edition . Drawing on William Brown's speech to the Yorkshire Archaeological and Topograhical Association. Fifth 1891.Fold out 14 x 10 in. plan of Mount Grace Priory. $200 Click for Image Click for Image

Burnet, Gilbert [1643-1715]. Bishop Burnet's History of the reign of King James the Second, notes by the Earl of Dartmouth, Speaker Onslow, and Dean Swift ; additional observations now enlarged. Publisher: Oxford : University Press, 1852. iv + 468 + index [14] + contents [6] + 9 + index notes [10] 510 . Note: Edited by Martin J. Routh. Originally published as part of Bishop Burnet's History of his own time. Full calf, elaborately decorated spine, gilt label, 5 raised bands, marbled edges. Lightly foxed preliminary pages, respined. Bookplate of Hugh Blair esq. VG. £50. Click for Image Click for Image Click for Image

Twells, Leonard [d. 1742]. The lives of Dr. Edward Pocock : the Celebrated Orientalist by Dr. Twells of Dr. Zachary Pearce, Bishop of Rochester, and of Dr. Thomas Newton, Bishop of Bristol, by themselves. and of the Rev. Philip Skelton by Mr. Burdy. London : F.C. and J. Rivington, 1816. 2 vols. Full calf, respined, boards gilt stamped 'the Society of Writers to the Signet', spine. gilt stamped label and volume number, five raised bands. Vol.1 half-title, title, preface. iii + 438. Vol.2 half-title, title, preface. vii + 504 + viii index. $750 Click for Image Click for Image Click for Image

Warburton, William [1698-1779]. Letters from a late eminent prelate to one of his friends. Published: Kidderminster : Printed by George Gower, for T. Cadell and W. Davies, [November 25] 1808. Including "Appendix: containing letters from the Honourable Charles Yorke to Mr. Warburton": p. [369]-380 and index. Letters from William Warburton to Richard Hurd, edited by the latter. Preliminary leaves foxed., 2 title portraits [Warburton and Hurd], half-title, title, errata, index of names, 380 pp. Half marbled calf, gilt decorated spine with label, rubbed. $325 Click for Image Click for Image Click for Image

Philips, Ambrose [1674-1749]. The life of John Williams : Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, Bishop of Lincoln, and ABp. of York. In the reigns of King James, and King Charles the first. Wherein are related several remarkable occurences of those times both in Church and State. With an appendix giving a just account of his Benefactions to St John's College in Cambridge By Ambrose Philips Fellow of the same College. The second edition. Published: Cambrigde [sic] : printed for A. Roper at The Black Boy; and R. Basset at The Mitre in Fleet Street, London 1703. Preface vi 236 pp iv Extensive ink notes on the end papers four pages front and rear Wormhole to margin not effecting text Contemporary boards, re-spined, five raised bands, gilt labels. Title [vi] 326 + [iv] two final leaves containing: 'The inscription upon the Archbishop's tomb-stone' and an advertisement leaf . Ambrose Philips, Whig, and a friend of Richard Steele and Joseph Addison founded 'The Freethinker' [1718] a periodical in imitation of the Spectator. Click for Image Click for Image Click for Image Click for Image Click for Image

Warwick, Sir Philip [1609-1683]. Memoires of the reign of King Charles I containing the most remarkable occurrences of that Reign and setting many Secret Passages thereof in a clear Light. With Impartial Characters of many great persons on both sides who chiefly govern'd the counsels and actions of that scene of affairs. Together with a continuation to the happy restauration of King Charles II / By Sir Philip Warwick, Knight. Published from the original manuscript with An Alphabetical table. The second edition Published: London : printed for Ri. Chiswell, and to be sold by John Pero, 1702. Frontis of Sir Phillip Warwick with repaired tear. Half-title. Title. [xvi], 437, [iii] (8vo) Full calf. Contemporary boards re-spined five raised bands, gilt label. Pages 358 and 359 lower edge torn not effecting text. $600 Click for Image Click for Image

Wotton, Sir Henry. Reliquiae Wottonainae: Or, A Collection Of Lives, Letters Poems; with Characters of Sundry Personages and other incomparable pieces of Language and Art. Also additional letters to several persons not before printed by the curious pencil of the ever memorable Sir henry Wotton Late Provost of Eaton College. Third edition with large additions. London Printed by T. Roycroft for R. Marriott F. Tyton T . Collins and F. Ford 1672. Frontis 582 pp + ii table of tracts. The Elements of Architecture [65pp]. is the first book written in English to describe the fundamental principles of architecture. Also features A Philosophical Survey of Education, Aphorisms of Education, Characters of some Kings of England, etc.. Quarter marbled calf, four raised bands, gilt spine labels, engraved plates of Charles I [p112] Robert Devereux Duke of Essex [p160] and George Villiers Duke of Buckingham [p 204].$750 Click for Image Click for Image

Walpole, Horace. A Catalogue of the Royal and Noble Authors of England, with lists of their works. In 2 volumes. A New Edition. Edinburgh, Printed for Lawrie and Symington, Parliament Square 1792. Vol. 1 Frontis 247pp Index v dedication and advertisement xiv Vol. 2. 250pp Index vi. Full calf , gilt dec spines with labels, embossed stamp to front boards, armorial bookplate of Plummer of Middlestead. $250 Click for Image Click for Image Click for Image

Chandler, Richard. Travels in Asia Minor: or an Account of a Tour made at the Expense of the Society of Dilettanti. First edition. Contemporary full calf. Decorated spine and gilt label 1775 R. Marchbank Dublin. Half title, title xxvii, 284 pp . lacks folding engraved map. 4to. An account of the first independent mission of the Society of Dilettanti."The Ephesians are now a few Greek peasants, living in extreme wretchedness, dependence, and insensibility: the representative of an illustrious people, and inhabiting the wrecks of their greatness: some beneath the vaults of the Stadium, once the crowded scene of their diversions; and some live by the abrupt precipice, in the sepulchres which received the ashes of their ancestors. Such are the present citizens of Ephesus; and such is the condition to which that renowned city has been gradually reduced. Its streets are obscured and overgrown; a herd of goats was driven to it for shelter from the sun at noon; and a noisy flight of crows from the quarries seemed to insult its silence." $1500 Click for Image Click for Image

Aubrey, John. Letters Written by Eminent Persons in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries; to which are added, Hearne's Journeys to Reading, and to Whaddon Hall, the seat of Brown Willis, and Lives of Eminent Men. Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, London. 1813 . First edition. Two volumes in three. xxiv including advertisement and contents. 304 + 352 + 353 - 668. Octavo.Full diced calf with gilt decorated spines and labels. Ex lib blind stamps University of Bristol. John Aubrey was a famous English antiquary and writer, best known as the author of the collection of short biographical pieces usually referred to as Brief Lives, loved for generations for its informal intimacy. Aubrey's candour and eye for the eccentric invites comparison with Peyps. The Brief Lives includes biographies of many famous early Enlightenment figures including Francis Bacon, Robert Boyle, John Dee, Sir Walter Raleigh, Edmund Halley, Ben Jonson and William Shakespeare. 'The whole fragment of the Elizabethan Age and the vigour of the century that followed are still exciting and fresh in this book' (Edmond Wilson). $500 Click for Image Click for Image Click for Image Click for Image

Barwick, John. Querela Cantabrigiensis or A Remonstrance by way of Apologie for the Banished Members of the late flourishing University of Cambridge. Oxoniae Anno Dom 1646. This book is frequently but erroneously ascribed to Bruno Ryves. John Barwick (1612 - 1664) devine; BA, St John's College Cambridge, 1635; Fellow;M.A., 1638; opposed Parliament at the outbreak of war, 1642; was compelled to leave Cambridge and made Chaplain to Bishop Morton and received stall at Durham and two rectories; settled in London, whence, assisted by his brother, he communicated to Charles I and later to Charles II the designs of the rebels for which he was charged with High Treason and committed to the Tower 1650. Released without trial 1652 he renewed his management of the King's correspondence, sent by the Bishops to Charles at Breda 1659, Royal Chaplain he refused a Bishopric and made a Dean of Durham 1660; Dean of St Paul's 1661; prolocutor of the Lower House of Convocation of the Province of Canterbury. Bound with Ryves, Bruno: Mercurius Belgicus: or a Brief Chronologie of the Battails, Sieges, Conflicts and other most remarkable passages from the beginning of this Rebellion, to the 25 of March 1646. Together with a Catalogue of the Persons of Quality slain on both sides. Printed in the Yeare 1646. Post 8vo. Full calf. Gilt spine and diced boards ruled in gilt. Marbled end papers Corners a little worn. Very rare. £450 Click for Image Click for Image

Sprat, Thomas. Observations On Monsieur De Sorbier'sVoyage Into England. Printed for John Martyn and James Allestry, 1665, 1665. 300pp 12mo. "written to Dr. Wren, professor of astronomy in Oxford," Full calf, four raised bands, gilt spine with label.1st Edition 1665 Title. 298pp. A satirical reply to the strictures on Englishmen in Samuel de Sorbiere's book 'Relation d'un voyage en Angleterre' (Paris, 1664.) As one of the founders of the Royal Society his History of the Royal Society elaborates the scientific purposes of the academy and outlines some of the strictures of scientific writing that set the modern standards for clarity and conciseness. $1500 Click for Image Click for Image

Langrishe, Hercules; Grattan, Henry; Henry Flood et al. Baratariana. A select collection of fugitive political pieces, published during the administration of Lord Townshend in Ireland. The second edition, corrected and enlarged. Dublin: 1773. 8vo Full calf, 5 raised bands, gilt label. Armourial bookplate on the front pastedown of The Right Honourable John C. Hobhouse Bt. frontis, title, xxvi, 354 pp xxxv appendix, including , errata. A very good copy lacking the folded engraved plate illustrating a meeting in the Council Chamber of Barataria.. Satire on the governor of Ireland, "the miserable instrument of English tyranny," whose personal life and political activities prompted frequent ridicule. Sir Hercules Langrishe, Henry Flood, Henry Grattan, and others composed these letters under anonimity in the style of Junius. £150 Click for Image Click for Image Click for Image

Oldys, William. The British Librarian: Exhibiting a compendious review or abstract of our manuscript as in print with many characters, historical and critical , of the authors and their antagonists & c in a manner never before attempted and useful to all readers with a complete index to the volume. London: Printed for T. Osborne, Publication Date: 1738. The first English periodical devoted to rare books. In 1737 William Oldys,who was later librarian to the Earl of Oxford, published anonymously The British Librarian, in six monthly numbers from January to June, 1737. Among the works discussed are Hakluyt's Voyages, Froissart's Chronicles, Caxton's translation of Virgil's Aeneid, Sir Thomas More's English Works. 8vo. [2], vii, [5], 402 pp. Old Half marbled calf, marbled end papers, frontis. Complete with rare terminal advertisement leaf. Overall a very good copy. First edition. £1000 Click for Image Click for Image

Parker, Henry. The Case of Shipmony [sic] briefly discoursed, according to the Grounds of Law, Policy, and Conscience. And Most Humbly Presented to the Censure and Correction of the High Court of Parliament, Nov. 3. 1640. [ London ]: Printed [ by T. Harper ], anno Dom. 1640. Woodcut head-piece and initial, small rust-hole in C1 with loss of a few letters, modern calf-backed boards, [STC19215; Goldsmiths' 708; Kress 554], small 4to 1640. Ex lib. George Lewis Bata, B.A.Sc., M.Sc.; chemist; b. Budapest, Hungary 18 Nov. 1924 ;former Governor of Sodalitas Danubiana Foundation & Lib. Inc. bearing its blindstamp. Leveller tract.

Ship money was a tax of medieval origin levied intermittently in the Kingdom of England until the middle of the 17th century. Assessed typically on the inhabitants of coastal areas of England, it was one of several taxes that English monarchs could levy by prerogative without the approval of Parliament. The attempt of King Charles I from 1634 onwards to levy ship money during peacetime and extend it to the inland counties of England without Parliamentary provoked fierce resistance. R v. Hampden 1637 found in the king's favour 7 judges to 5 but the issue far from settled, becoming one of the grievances of the English propertied class in the lead-up to the English Civil War.

Parker takes the issue of shipmoney to explore not only the execution of the King ministerial code but also the general relationship between the King, Parliament, and the people. Some of these latter include the idea that the king cannot use the law for his own personal gain or profit, that the king cannot be the sole judge of his own actions, that there is a need for several "checks and balances" (such as the courts and parliament) to prevent the king from misusing his power, that the supreme law is not the king's will by the "salus populi" (the health or welfare of the people), that there are many historical examples of kings misusing their power, that power tends to corrupt those who wield it, that war is often used to frighten the people and thus enable the introduction of new taxes or restrictions on their liberties, and that kings can be mislead or corrupted by "court parasites" who seek privileges for themselves at the peoples' expense. Towards the end of the pamphlet there is a hint that if this question is not resolved it might lead to civil war.

Only in the aftermath of the Glorious Revolution's Bill of Rights [1689 ]was the issue finally resolved with the constitutional prohibition of all forms of extra-Parliamentary taxation.

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