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Ruinous Wrath
One of the earliest masterpieces of Western literature, the Iliad, is a poem of war. In its opening lines Homer invokes the "ruinous wrath" of Achilles: there is no glory in “ruin”, and the destruction it brings consumes all sides. In this catalogue, our senior specialist Sammy Jay brings together a chorus of writers who have raised their voices about war and its wrecking effects throughout the centuries.
TRISTAN & ISEULT. Tristan chevalier de la Table Ronde, nouvellement imprime a Paris.Paris : [about 1506]
The earliest feasibly obtainable French edition, the fourth overall, of the romance of Tristan and Iseult (Isolde), giving Tristan his place among the knights of the Round Table.
Considered the father of the French illustrated book, the Parisian bookseller Antoine Vérard issued four editions of Tristan, the most popular of the chivalric...Learn More
XENOPHON. Omnia quae extant operis.[Venice : 1525]
First Aldine edition of the collected works of Xenophon, including the Anabasis, recounting his leadership of the Ten Thousand against the Persian Empire, and the Cyropaedia, his partly fictionalized biography of Cyrus the Great, which became a model for medieval writers of the mirror-for-princes genre.
The edition is almost complete, with...Learn More
ELIZABETH, Princess of the United Kingdom. Cupid Turned Volunteer.London : 1804
First edition, signed "Elizabeth" on the half-title. Published at the height of the Georgian volunteer movement for the war against Napoleon, this book contains a series of engraving based on drawings by Princess Elizabeth, daughter of George III, showing Cupid training to fight the French.
Each picture depicting scenes of "Genius, Loyalty,...Learn More
COOPER, James Fenimore. The Last of the Mohicans. A Narrative of 1757.Philadelphia : 1826
First edition of this classic early American novel, exploring the consequences of the French and Indian War (1754-63). It has been described as "the first book that ever made an impression on the outside world as a uniquely American book" (Fiedler) and as the earliest-published contender to the title of the "Great American Novel".
Volume I...Learn More
HOKUSAI. Chugi suikoden ehon ("A Picture-Book of the Loyal Heroes of the 'Water Margin'").Edo : 1829
First edition, with sharp illustrations indicative of an early printing. Song Jiang, Li Zhishen, Lin Chong, Li Kui, and the other famous warriors became lionized for their comradeship, loyalty, and willingness to stand up to oppression. This copy has the seal of Hayashi Tadamasa, one of the foremost actors in introducing Japanese art to the West...Learn More
WACE. Master Wace, His Chronicle of the Norman Conquest from the Roman de Rou.London : 1837
First edition, deluxe limited issue, inscribed on the first blank "twelve copies only printed upon large paper, no. 6, W. Pickering". The illustrations are hand-coloured, as issued.
This copy has the gilt morocco bookplate of Robert Samuel Turner (1819-1887). Turner's "books were not only of the finest examples possible, but many of them...Learn More
HOKUSAI - TAMENAGA, Shunsui. Teisei hokoku: Ehon kanso gundan ("An Illustrated Tale of the Chu-Han War").Edo : 1845
First complete edition. This historical novel is a semi-fictional retelling of the Chu-Han Contention, with depictions of peasant massacres put alongside fantastical scenarios of heroes fighting giant snakes and dragons. Hokusai illustrated this work in the final years of his life, displaying the full range of the expressive skills he had honed...Learn More
NIBELUNGENLIED. Das Nibelungen Lied, or Lay of the Last Nibelungers.Berlin : 1848
First edition in English, a well-preserved copy of a scarce and fragile book. This 12th-century epic poem found a new audience as a German national epic in the 19th century, and was marshalled for bellicose purposes by Chancellor von Bülow, who coined the term Nibelungentreue to describe the absolute loyalty between Germany and Austria during the...Learn More
TENNYSON, Alfred, Lord. Maud, and Other Poems.London : 1855
First edition, uncommon in contemporary morocco, this copy inscribed on the first blank, "Geraldine, from Pamela Campbell, Oct. 1855".
This was likely a presentation from the writer Lady Pamela Campbell (1795-1896) to her granddaughter, Geraldine Harriette Campbell (c.1848 - 1920). Lady Campbell was the eldest daughter of Edward Fitzgerald,...Learn More
CUSTER, George Armstrong. Autograph love poem, "To Mary", sent to his teenage lover.[1856]
The original romantic poem composed and sent by the teenage Custer, cited in almost all of the major biographies of the future military leader. The poem, noted for its importance even if not for its literary merit, marks a pivotal moment in his life. It was to break off their relationship that the beloved's father arranged for Custer to begin his...Learn More
GOYA Y LUCIENTES, Francisco José de. Los Desastres de la Guerra. Coleccion de ochenta láminas inventadas y grabadas al agua fuerte.Madrid : 1863
First edition, one of 500 copies of Goya's impassioned "Disasters of War", cataloguing the brutality and fatal consequences of war in a stark, confrontational, and unflinching manner, a series of plates regarded by many as the greatest war art ever created.
Although not published until 1863, the series dates from the second decade of the...Learn More
HOMER; BRYANT, William Cullen (trans.). The Iliad.Boston : 1870
First edition of Bryant's translation, this copy with manuscript material displaying the translation at different stages, from rough to more polished drafts, and, finally, Bryant's authorial corrections to the typescript. The longest autograph addition consists of a choice episode, the battle between Diomedes and Mars from Book V, which was...Learn More
DICKINS, Frederick Victor (trans.). Chiushingura, or The Loyal League.Yokohama : 1875
First edition of the second complete English retelling of the legend of the 47 ronin, with an appendix containing the first substantial English translation of a noh play. WorldCat and Library Hub locate just four copies in the UK (London Library, Royal Academy of Arts, Cambridge, and Sussex).
Chushingura, literally "the Treasury of Loyal...Learn More
VERGILIUS MARO, Publius; William MORRIS (trans.). The Aeneids of Virgil.London : 1876
First edition, presentation copy inscribed by the translator on the half-title: "Wilfred L. Heeley from his friend, William Morris", and probably the last gift from William Morris to his friend. The translation is in rhyming iambic heptameters, the same metre used by George Chapman for his Iliads of Homer.
Wilfred Lucas Heeley (1833-1876)...Learn More
MALORY, Sir Thomas. Le Morte Darthur.London : 1889-91
First edition of the first truly scholarly edition of Malory's Arthurian epic, number 14 of 108 copies numbered and signed by Nutt, this set from the library of a notable San Francisco family and handsomely bound by the Californian binders Hicks Judd.
The 861-page first volume (bound here as two) prints word-for-word the preface and full...Learn More
KELMSCOTT PRESS: GUILELMUS, Archbishop of Tyre; CAXTON, William (trans.). The History of Godefrey of Boloyne and the Conquest of Iherusalem.Hammersmith : 1893
First Kelmscott edition, presentation copy, inscribed by Morris on the second blank nine days after publication, "To Georgie from W.M., June 2nd". Georgiana Burne-Jones met Morris decades earlier through her future husband, Edward Burne-Jones, sparking a creative collaboration and close personal friendship that lasted for the rest of Morris's...Learn More
STEELE, Robert. The Story of Alexander the Great.London : 1894
First edition, number 45 of 50 copies, of this illustrated retelling of the medieval Alexander romance legends in a beautiful arts and crafts style.
Robert Steele (1860-1944) was a journalist and medieval scholar who produced editions of medieval works. His fascination with the Middle Ages was likely influenced by his discipleship of...Learn More
WELLS, H. G. The War of The Worlds.London : 1898
First edition, first issue, of this foundational work of modern science fiction, in which the author redeploys the conventions of the invasion-scare genre to imagine a force of seemingly invincible Martians.
The story was suggested by the author's brother, Frank. The two men were walking "through some particularly peaceful Surrey scenery"...Learn More
WELLS, H. G. The War in the Air and Particularly how Mr. Bert Smallways Fared While it Lasted.London : 1908
First edition, in the second state binding with the front cover illustration, of Wells's prophetic science fiction, which predicted a number of advancements in aerial warfare, including the use of incendiary bullets against Zeppelins and balloons. This copy was owned by Harry Franklin (1895-1977), a Lincoln journalist who enlisted in the Royal...Learn More
SCHALLER, Charlotte. En Guerre!Paris : 1914
First edition, deluxe issue, inscribed by the author on the half-title, "A mon èditeur Mr R. Steinheil, en hommage, Ch[arlotte] Schaller". This deluxe copy is specially produced on Japanese vellum, presumably for presentation.
As managing director of Berger-Levrault, Robert Steinheil issued many illustrated children's books during the...Learn More
