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Browse our collection of rare books, first editions, signed editions and valuable printed books, written by the world's greatest authors, in a wide range of subjects.
LOWRY, L. S. - LEVY, Mervyn. The Paintings of L. S. Lowry.London : 1975
First edition, signed limited issue, number 46 of 100 copies signed by the artist. Lowry mostly painted the urban industrial districts of north-west England, often peopled with stylised figures known as 'the matchstick men'. This book features many such scenes, as well as characteristically sombre portraits, still-lifes and rural scenes.Learn More
HARDY, Thomas. Tess of the d'Urbervilles.London : 1891-2
First edition in book form, and the first appearance of the unexpurgated text. Tess was serialized in The Graphic from July to December 1891, but the editor removed two sections: the seduction of Tess by Alec d'Urberville, and the baptism and death of Tess's baby. When the novel was published in book form, Hardy's original text was restored....Learn More
COOPER, Michael. Blinds & Shutters: 30 Yrs 1990-2020.Guildford : 2020
First edition, first impression, no. 141 of 450 copies. Published on the thirtieth anniversary of the release of the book Blinds & Shutters. The collection features photos of the Rolling Stones, Francis Bacon, Twiggy, John Lennon, David Hockney amongst others.Learn More
COOPER, Michael. Blinds & Shutters.Guildford : 1990
First edition, first printing. Signed limited edition, 2655 of 5000 copies, here signed by Francis Bacon, Peter Blake, Adam Cooper, Terry Doran, Allen Jones, Stash Klossowski, Sandy Lieberson, Bridget Riley, Colin Self, Derek Taylor and Bill Wyman. In total there were 92 contributors to the book; each copy was signed by the project originator Bill...Learn More
BACON, Francis - COOPER, Michael. Blinds & Shutters.Guildford : 2020
Signed limited edition, number 1843 out of 5,000 copies. This copy signed by Francis Bacon, Peter Blake, Adam Cooper, Terry Doran, Allen Jones, Stash Klossowski, Sandy Leiberson, Bridget Riley, Colin Self, Derek Taylor and Bill Wyman. In total there were 93 contributors to the book; each copy was signed by the project originator Bill Wyman and a...Learn More
ASIA, Russian expansion in. Stanford's Map of the Siberian Railway: The Great Land Route to China and Korea.London : 1903
First edition of this splendid cartographic visualization of Russia's threat to British and Japanese interests in Asia in the early 20th century, published half a year before the completion and opening of the railway in June 1904. For Britain, the railway menaced its commercial power in China and naval power in the Pacific. Similar Japanese...Learn More
DAHL, Roald. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.New York : 1964
First edition, first printing, first issue, in the first state dust jacket. In the words of his biographer Donald Sturrock, this is Dahl's "most famous children's book". The US edition preceded the UK edition by three years.
The first issue can be distinguished by the six lines of printing information on the final page; this was cut to five...Learn More
CHURCHILL, Winston S. The People's Rights.London : [1910]
First edition, wrappers issue, the rare The Daily News variant. Due to the low quality of the materials and the cheap and clumsy method of production, the book is among the most difficult to acquire for Churchill collectors: Langworth declares it "the third rarest Churchill book after Mr. Brodrick's Army and For Free Trade" (p....Learn More
VOLTAIRE. La Henriade, avec des variantes et des notes. Et l'Essai sur le Poëme Epique.London : 1734
Later edition of Voltaire's national epic, from the library of Francis Hutcheson, the 19th-century rector of Donaghadee and grandson of the Enlightenment philosopher of the same name, with his engraved bookplate on the front pastedown.
The elder Francis Hutcheson was a direct contemporary of Voltaire: both were born in 1694 and came of age...Learn More
CHURCHILL, Winston S. - MOORE, George. The Pastoral Loves of Daphnis and Chloe.London : 1924
First edition, signed limited issue, presentation copy from Winston Churchill to Mary, Duchess of Marlborough, inscribed by him on the initial binder's blank, "To Mary from Winston Christmas 1934".
Mary (1900-1961) was wife of the 10th Duke of Marlborough. Churchill, grandson of the 7th Duke, was for several years next in line to the...Learn More
HUME, David. Essays and Treatises on Several Subjects.London : 1777
The definitive edition, incorporating Hume's final corrections - submitted a fortnight before his death - and including the first appearance of the essay, "Of the Origin of Government."
Hume revised the Essays and Treatises for over two decades following its first publication in 1753. A capacious work, it collects Hume's major writings on...Learn More
JACQUEMONT, Victor. Letters From India;London : 1834
First published in French the previous year, the year after Jacquemont's death. These letters to his family and friends were sent during a government sponsored scientific expedition to India. The books proved immensely successful, providing what Buckland describes as "a most vivid account … of the social condition of India in those days" (p....Learn More
GARDENING - DOWN, Chester B. Descriptive Catalogue of Choice Green House and Hot House Plants.Strafford, VT : 1881
The gardening supplier's catalogue of household seeds and bulbs.Learn More
NICOLAY, John G., & John HAY. Abraham Lincoln: A History; [together with:] Complete Works.New York : 1904 & 1902
Early edition of this major scholarly endeavour by two of Lincoln's secretaries, here handsomely bound together.
The ten-volume History was first published in 1890, and the two-volume Works in 1894. Nicolay (1832-1901) and Hay (1838-1905) "shared a room at the White House and had an exceptionally close relationship with Lincoln, though...Learn More
CHURCHILL, Winston S. The Vedette. The Regimental Magazine of the 21st (E. of I.) Lancers (Published Quarterly).Cairo : 1908
First edition. Churchill charged with the 21st Lancers at Omdurman, and a lengthy narrative in this number makes extensive use of Churchill's despatches in the Morning Post. We have traced only one other copy, held at the Queen's Royal Lancers Archive and Museum.
Omdurman is often cited as the last great cavalry charge in British military...Learn More
WELLS, H. G. Les premiers hommes dans la lune.Paris : [1901]
First van Maële edition, the preferred issue, perhaps the most extraordinary graphic realization of Wells's classic lunar novel. This copy retains the exceptionally rare dust jacket, which features an illustration that appears neither in the book nor on the binding.
Van Maële's vivid depictions of the moon and its Selenite inhabitants...Learn More
MANDELA, Nelson - ALBERTS, Paul. Some Evidence of Things Seen.Rivonia, South Africa : 1997
Signed limited edition, number 21 of 50 copies signed by Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, Albie Sachs, and Paul Alberts.
A remarkable collaboration, this is the only limited edition signed by both Mandela and Tutu - Nobel Peace Prize winners in 1993 and 1984 respectively - alongside a third major figure in the anti-Apartheid movement, Albie...Learn More
CHINESE IMPERIAL EXAMINATIONS. Handkerchief used by a candidate to cheat.[China : c.1850]
An artefact of China's gruelling official examination system, in which millions of candidates sat philosophical papers, the very best securing lucrative official positions, fame, and social status. Here, a candidate has transcribed in miniscule characters an essay on the writings of Mencius, ready to smuggle it into his secluded examination...Learn More
ERAGNY PRESS: NERVAL, Gérard de. Histoire de le reine du matin & de Soliman prince des genies.Hammersmith, London : 1909
First Eragny Press edition, in immaculate condition. Number 41 of 130 nominated copies, this copy bears the printed name of the subscriber Charles Gadala. Particularly celebrated for their woodcuts, Lucien and Esther Pissarro of the Eragny Press made their first effort to print the cuts in gilt and multicolour in this edition.
The Pissarros...Learn More
CONNELL, Lena. Portraits of Ellen Terry.London : c.1909
Seventeen characterful photographic studies of the actress, presented as two folding albums. Six portraits show Terry as Nance Oldfield, one of her most popular roles, first performed in 1891 and revived for the 1909 women's suffrage play A Pageant of Great Women. The photographs were taken by WSPU activist Lena Connell.
Terry was a...Learn More
