9 568 résultats
1826réf. 69696London: J. Duncombe 1826. MILNER Henry M. . Frankenstein; or The Man and the Monster!. A Peculiar Romantic Melo-Dramatic Pantomimic Spectacle in Two Acts. Founded principally on Mrs. Shelley's singular Work entitled Frankenstein; or The modern Prometheus; and partly on the French piece "Le magicien et le monstre" by H. M. Milner. The only edition correctly marked from the prompter's book; with the stage business situations and directions. As performed at the London Theatres. London: J. Duncombe 1826. Full Description: SHELLEY Mary Wollstonecraft. MILNER Henry M. compiler. Frankenstein; or The Man and the Monster!. A Peculiar Romantic Melo-Dramatic Pantomimic Spectacle in Two Acts. Founded principally on Mrs. Shelley's singular Work entitled Frankenstein; or The modern Prometheus; and partly on the French piece "Le magicien et le monstre" by H. M. Milner. The only edition correctly marked from the prompter's book; with the stage business situations and directions. As performed at the London Theatres. London: J. Duncombe 1826. First edition. Twelvemo 5 5/8 x 3 1/2 inches; 142 x 90 mm. 28 pp. Engraved frontispiece of 'Mr. O. Smith as the Monster in Frankenstein' which is the first pictorial representation of Frankenstein's monster in print. Woodcut diagram at end showing 'Disposition of the Characters when the Curtain falls.' Full modern tan sheep. Front board lettered in gilt. Newer endpapers. Some minimal toning to frontispiece and some offsetting to the title-page. Otherwise about fine. This edition is preceded only by the first two editions of Shelley's work and appears five years before her third edition. "First performed at the Coburg theatre July 3 1826." "The play was first performed at the Royal Cobourg Theatre now better known as The Old Vic with Mr. O. Smith as the Monster. An engraved frontispiece - reportedly the first-ever illustration of Frankenstein's Monster - shows a muscular Smith wearing what can be best described as a toga and sporting a long head of curly locks with practically none of the tropes that we now associate with the character. To their credit Shelley did describe the Monster as having "lustrous black and flowing" hair but the clothing is noticeably different from the dishevelled garments that the character wears in the novel." The Independent Greg Evans. HBS 69696. $15000. J. Duncombe unknown books
réf. 25259ELondon: Simpkin Marshall Hamilton Kent & Co n.d. From the library of author Nathanael West signed by him “Nathanael von Wallenstein Weinstein” with his bookplate designed by his then future brother in law S.J. Perelman while they were students together at Brown University. The bookplate shows a bearded man with tears flowing down his cheeks as he embraces a donkey’s head with a banner at the top with West’s birth name reading “Nath: v. Wallenstein Weinstein” and another at the bottom “Lieb’ ich wass andere lieben” with translates to “Do I love what others love” A very good copy bound in full light brown leather with decorative and title gilt-stamping to the front board and spine with some repair by an expert conservationist. Thin 2” split to the front hinge a bit of darkening to the spine and some wear to the spine folds and edges. West is the author of the classic age-defining novels ‘A Cool Million’ ‘The Day of the Locust’ and ‘Miss Lonelyhearts.’ Sidney Joseph Perelman popularly known as S. J. Perelman 1904 – 1979 was one of the most widely read literary icons of the Golden Age of American Humor. His New Yorker pieces fiction and collected essays are legendary for their biting wit and mastery of caricature and language. He was the brother-in-law of the writer Nathanael West with whom he shared a close relationship up until West’s death in a car accident in 1940 at age thirty-seven and whose memory and literary reputation he devoted himself to maintaining. Enclosed in a handsome custom full dark blue cloth clamshell box with gilt-stamped leather label to the spine. Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Co hardcover
réf. 106189London The author 1876-80. . First edition. 4to. cviiii 393 pp. 121 hand-coloured lithographs by Keulemans some light spotting to plates; contemporary red half morocco gilt a very good example. first edition of this important monograph one of 250 copies only. Amongst the most beautiful of bird monographs the Nectariniidae illustrates 138 species including two new genera and ten new species. Shelley acknowledges the importance of Keuleman's specialist knowledge in his preface: "The illustrations which form such an important portion of my Monograph have all been executed by Mr. Keulemans whose name is sufficient guarantee for the accuracy of the details and for high artistic skill. The latter is rendered perhaps more striking from his being acquainted with this family of birds in their native haunts; and his notes upon the sun-birds inhabiting Prince's Island have been incorporated in my work." The work appeared in twelve parts from July 1876 to February 1880. The original title of the work was A Monograph of the Cinnyridae later changed to the Nectariniidae in the final title. "An excellent monograph of an interesting family of birds" Zimmer. Fine Bird Books p108; Nissen IVB 873; Wood p566; Zimmer p588. London, The author, [1876-80]. unknown
1820réf. ST20970London: C and J Ollier 1820. FIRST EDITION Second Issue with "Miscellaneous" spelled correctly on the contents leaf. 225 x 143 mm. 8 3/4 x 5 1/2". 222 2 pp. including half title and final leaf of ads. PRETTY OLIVE GREEN CRUSHED MOROCCO GILT BY THE DOVES BINDERY stamp-signed and dated 1895 on rear turn-in covers ruled in gilt corners with gilt lily and heart-shaped leaves on a stippled ground raised bands spine compartments with tulip sprig on a stippled ground gilt lettering gilt-ruled turn-ins with tulip and four leaves at corners all edges gilt joints renewed with outstanding skill. Granniss 54; Wise pp. 55-56. For the binding: Tidcombe "Doves Bindery" 187 Pattern 354 book 720 tools 4d E6 E7 and 3b. Rear board faded to two shades of brown front cover with a hint of fading at two edges upper margin with a hint of darkening right at edge a dot of foxing here and there but an extremely appealing copy nevertheless clean and fresh internally with excellent margins and the very expertly restored binding lustrous and glittering with gilt. This is a winning combination of a Shelley masterwork in a fine early binding from the premier English Arts & Crafts bindery. According to Day "Prometheus" and the important appended shorter poems here comprise "the poet's single greatest volume and most of the poetry upon which his popular reputation is based." It also happened to be Shelley's favorite of his own works. Inspired by Aeschylus' tragedy "Prometheus Bound" about the Titan punished by Zeus for giving humans fire it is a "closet drama"--poetry written in the form of a play but not intended to be performed. Shelley uses this framework to express his belief in the free creative spirit of man writing to his publisher that the poem is "of a higher character than anything he had yet attempted" and he stated elsewhere that it was "the most perfect of his productions." Also contained in the volume are some of Shelley's most famous short poems including "Ode to the West Wind" "Ode to Liberty" and "To a Skylark." Our elegant binding is the work of one of the most influential English bookbinders of the modern era. In 1882 Thomas James Cobden-Sanderson 1840-1922 was a 42-year-old lawyer longing to do creative work with his hands when the wife of his friend William Morris encouraged him to try bookbinding; after having bound books on his own for about nine years he founded the Doves Bindery in March of 1893 because his worsening health prevented him from continuing to work with his own hands. Although Cobden-Sanderson did not hand-bind many books his impact on bookbinding in England cannot be overstated. Tidcombe's detailed and exhaustive catalogue lists just 167 examples of bindings produced by him but through this small corpus of work he "rejuvenated English binding" with his theories of design "and set it on a new course of development." Morgan Library Exhibition catalogue He continued to design bindings after 1893 and established the Doves Bindery to execute them hiring Charles McLeish from Riviere and Charles Wilkinson from Zaehnsdorf as finishers Bessie Hooley also from Riviere as sewer and Douglas Cockerell as apprentice. Our early production of the bindery strikes a happy medium between the very animated all-over tooling the bindery sometimes displayed in the 1890s and the more austere style that typified the workshop's 20th century bindings the bindery continued in operation until 1922. The delicate stippling gracefully tooled fillets and simple but pretty flowers provide just the right amount of adornment for the lustrous leather. Although the joints of the volume have been renewed the work is so well done as to defy certainty about its repair. C and J Ollier unknown
1820réf. ST20970London: C and J Ollier 1820. FIRST EDITION Second Issue with "Miscellaneous" spelled correctly on the contents leaf. 225 x 143 mm. 8 3/4 x 5 1/2". 222 2 pp. including half title and final leaf of ads. PRETTY OLIVE GREEN CRUSHED MOROCCO GILT BY THE DOVES BINDERY stamp-signed and dated 1895 on rear turn-in covers ruled in gilt corners with gilt lily and heart-shaped leaves on a stippled ground raised bands spine compartments with tulip sprig on a stippled ground gilt lettering gilt-ruled turn-ins with tulip and four leaves at corners all edges gilt joints renewed with outstanding skill. Granniss 54; Wise pp. 55-56. For the binding: Tidcombe "Doves Bindery" 187 Pattern 354 book 720 tools 4d E6 E7 and 3b. Rear board faded to two shades of brown front cover with a hint of fading at two edges upper margin with a hint of darkening right at edge a dot of foxing here and there but an extremely appealing copy nevertheless clean and fresh internally with excellent margins and the very expertly restored binding lustrous and glittering with gilt. This is a winning combination of a Shelley masterwork in a fine early binding from the premier English Arts & Crafts bindery. According to Day "Prometheus" and the important appended shorter poems here comprise "the poet's single greatest volume and most of the poetry upon which his popular reputation is based." It also happened to be Shelley's favorite of his own works. Inspired by Aeschylus' tragedy "Prometheus Bound" about the Titan punished by Zeus for giving humans fire it is a "closet drama"--poetry written in the form of a play but not intended to be performed. Shelley uses this framework to express his belief in the free creative spirit of man writing to his publisher that the poem is "of a higher character than anything he had yet attempted" and he stated elsewhere that it was "the most perfect of his productions." Also contained in the volume are some of Shelley's most famous short poems including "Ode to the West Wind" "Ode to Liberty" and "To a Skylark." Our elegant binding is the work of one of the most influential English bookbinders of the modern era. In 1882 Thomas James Cobden-Sanderson 1840-1922 was a 42-year-old lawyer longing to do creative work with his hands when the wife of his friend William Morris encouraged him to try bookbinding; after having bound books on his own for about nine years he founded the Doves Bindery in March of 1893 because his worsening health prevented him from continuing to work with his own hands. Although Cobden-Sanderson did not hand-bind many books his impact on bookbinding in England cannot be overstated. Tidcombe's detailed and exhaustive catalogue lists just 167 examples of bindings produced by him but through this small corpus of work he "rejuvenated English binding" with his theories of design "and set it on a new course of development." Morgan Library Exhibition catalogue He continued to design bindings after 1893 and established the Doves Bindery to execute them hiring Charles McLeish from Riviere and Charles Wilkinson from Zaehnsdorf as finishers Bessie Hooley also from Riviere as sewer and Douglas Cockerell as apprentice. Our early production of the bindery strikes a happy medium between the very animated all-over tooling the bindery sometimes displayed in the 1890s and the more austere style that typified the workshop's 20th century bindings the bindery continued in operation until 1922. The delicate stippling gracefully tooled fillets and simple but pretty flowers provide just the right amount of adornment for the lustrous leather. Although the joints of the volume have been renewed the work is so well done as to defy certainty about its repair. C and J Ollier unknown books
réf. 8043London: Published by the author 1876-1880. First edition. Light scattered foxing to the blank endpapers only margin of inside corner missing from one text page; the fine binding the text and hand-colored plates are all very bright and clean with no signs of use; an extraordinary copy in fine condition. Pp. i-cviii 1-393; 121 hand-colored lithographs by Keulemans each heightened with gum Arabic. Contemporary one-half Victorian-red morocco over scarlet red cloth boards spine with five raised bands lettered in gilt in two compartments and with elaborate gilt floral decorations in the other four compartments the title and author are lettered in gilt on the front board top page edge in gilt contemporary red marbled endpapers lg 4to 13 x 10.25 inches; 33 x 25.5 cm. "An excellent monograph of an interesting family of birds with descriptions in Latin and English critical notes and discussions of habits etc. from accounts by many different observers. A total of 138 species of the group are recognized of which all but one are figured on excellent hand-colored plates" Zimmer Ayer p. 588. This work was limited to 250 copies only. In the preface Shelley acknowledges the importance of Keuleman's contribution of the fine color plates: "The illustrations which form such an important portion of my Monograph have all been executed by Mr. Keulemans whose name is sufficient guarantee for the accuracy of the details and for high artistic skill. The latter is rendered perhaps more striking from his being acquainted with this family of birds in their native haunts; and his notes upon the sun-birds inhabiting Prince's Island have been incorporated in my work." The sunbirds are small slender passerines from the Old World usually with downward-curved bills. Many are brightly colored often with iridescent feathers particularly in the males. Most sunbirds feed largely on nectar but will also eat insects and spiders modified after Wiki. This monograph describes two new genera and ten new species. The work originally appeared in twelve parts from July 1876 to February 1880. See also Nissen IVB 873; Casey Wood p. 566; Fine Bird Books 1990 p. 142. No ownership marks; an early owner of this book states it came from David Bannerman's library. London: Published by the author, 1876-1880. First edition. hardcover
1831réf. 5134London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley 1831 1831. Third edition published as volume IX of Standard Novels series issued with the first part of The Ghost-Seer. 162x100mm. pp. xii 202; 2 163 5. Frontispiece and illustrated additional title page. Black half calf marbled paper covered boards spine lettered and decorated in gilt. Housed in a green cloth covered dropback box. Rubbing to boards and scuffing to head and foot of spine. Corners bumped. Internally very good but with some foxing and slight soiling. The frontispiece and illustrated title page are somewhat browned. Blank preliminary with a contemporary gift inscription and a later ownership inscription. This is the first Bentley edition the first to appear in one volume and the first with any illustration. The frontispiece engraved by W. Chevalier from a painting by Theodor von Holst shows the monster emerging from a skeleton while Dr Frankenstein runs of the door in horror. Holst who was the great-uncle of the composer studied with Fuseli and illustrated many important literary works especially those of the German romantics and the European gothicists. No-one was better qualified to produce the first illustration of the great gothic monster. Montague Summers A Gothic Bibliography p330. London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley 1831 hardcover
1819réf. 140948806Livorno Italy: C. and J. Ollier 1819. First Edition. Very Good. First edition first printing one of 250 copies without initial blank. xiv 104 pp. Bound in the scarce original blue boards. Housed in a custom crimson red solander polished morocco case ruled in blind and lettered in gilt with matching chemise dust wrapper. Very Good with expertly rebacked spine soiling and light wear to boards and strengthened inner and rear hinges. Former owner's name in pencil at front pastedown light offsetting from chemise wrapper at endhseets title page has likely been washed ownership notations at verso dedication page and rear endpaper and light foxing to contents. A bit of light rubbing and soiling to case and chemise otherwise quite presentable. Penned while living in Rome at Villa Valsovano and based on a true story of a sixteenth-century Roman noble family Shelley recounts the violence accrued by Count Francesco Cenci in this controversial drama. Themes of incest tyranny patricide and near-blasphemous depictions of the Church made it too contentious to be staged publicly during Shelley's career. The play was staged privately by the Shelley Society on May 7 1886 at the Grand Theatre in Islington London to bypass censorship. It had had been denied a license for public performance by the sitting Lord Chamberlain with the first public performance occurring just over a century after publication in 1922. It later inspired influenced playwrights like Antonin Artaud who used it as a basis for his Theater of Cruelty in the 1930's.The Cenci is considered one of Shelley's masterpieces notable for its evocative language and dramatic force and the only work of his to reach a second edition during his tragically shortened lifetime; rather uncommon in the original boards. Ashley V 69. C. and J. Ollier unknown
1819réf. 140948806Livorno Italy: C. and J. Ollier 1819. First Edition. Very Good. First edition first printing one of 250 copies without initial blank. xiv 104 pp. Bound in the scarce original blue boards. Housed in a custom crimson red solander polished morocco case ruled in blind and lettered in gilt with matching chemise dust wrapper. Very Good with expertly rebacked spine soiling and light wear to boards and strengthened inner and rear hinges. Former owner's name in pencil at front pastedown light offsetting from chemise wrapper at endhseets title page has likely been washed ownership notations at verso dedication page and rear endpaper and light foxing to contents. A bit of light rubbing and soiling to case and chemise otherwise quite presentable. Penned while living in Rome at Villa Valsovano and based on a true story of a sixteenth-century Roman noble family Shelley recounts the violence accrued by Count Francesco Cenci in this controversial drama. Themes of incest tyranny patricide and near-blasphemous depictions of the Church made it too contentious to be staged publicly during Shelley's career. The play was staged privately by the Shelley Society on May 7 1886 at the Grand Theatre in Islington London to bypass censorship. It had had been denied a license for public performance by the sitting Lord Chamberlain with the first public performance occurring just over a century after publication in 1922. It later inspired influenced playwrights like Antonin Artaud who used it as a basis for his Theater of Cruelty in the 1930's.The Cenci is considered one of Shelley's masterpieces notable for its evocative language and dramatic force and the only work of his to reach a second edition during his tragically shortened lifetime; rather uncommon in the original boards. Ashley V 69. C. and J. Ollier unknown books
1811réf. 005310London: for J. J. Stockdale 1811 1811. FIRST EDITION FIRST ISSUE. 1 vol. 7" x 4-1/2" ii236pp. with the original half-title bound in full olive green morocco ribbed gilt decorated spine covers double ruled and paneled in gilt gilt corner pieces gilt dentelles marbled pastedowns and endpapers all edges gilt. Internally clean and bright extreme foredge of page 19/20 as well as the extreme lower corner of page 21/22 expertly renewed both not affecting text short closed tear expertly repaired to page 25/26 not affecting text minor paper fault to pages 90/91 inner and outer hinges fine head and foot of spine fine back corners square spine sunned no previous ownership marking inscriptions or bookplate overall A VERY GOOD copy of an exceedingly scare title. According to RBH only 7 copies have appeared at auction in the last 75 years. The last in 2016. Stockdale later reissued the remaining copies with a new title page and imprint dated 1822. The original bill for the publication was meant to be borne by Shelley. Finding the young poet unable to pay Stockdale applied to Shelley's father who responded that since his son was not of age he wouldn't pay a farthing on the account. This was Shelley's second gothic romance actually written before he went to Oxford. He apparently thought that this sort of fiction would make money and tried financed the printing of the book himself assuming that it was "a thing which almost mechanically sells to circulating libraries." In fact he was wrong and St. Irvyne was little noticed. London: for J. J. Stockdale, 1811
1840réf. 324477London: Edward Moxon 1840. First edition. 2 vols. 8vo. Recent half morocco and cloth. Formerly in the Exeter City Library with stamps. With a number of early neat pencil annotations in an unidentified hand 1:164 1:167; 1:234-239 three pages with lines shaved at the bindery. Very good. First edition. 2 vols. 8vo. Contains the first printing of Shelley's "The Defence of Poetry" and also his translations from the classics including Plato's "Symposium" "Ion" and fragments from "The Republic" and 67 letters. "The Defence of Poetry" was edited by John Hunt for inclusion in "The Liberal" but the magazine folded before it could be published. This first appearance used John Hunt's edited version. Inscribed in each volume "Julia Robinson from her affectionate friend Mary Shelley Putney 22 Dec. 1839". This inscription documents Mary Shelley's close connection with the Robinson family who figure for many years in her journals as well as in the Journals of William Godwin her father. From February 1827 Mary became close to Julia and Isabel or Isabella Robinson daughters of Joshua Robinson an Oxford graduate and a successful builder with a large family and a large residence Park Cottage in Paddington. After Isabella bore an illegitimate child she and Mary Shelley shared lodgings in the south of England in the summer of 1827. The inscription also points to a long-secret chapter in Mary's life documented by Betty T. Bennett in Mary Diana Dods A Gentleman and a Scholar 1991. Mary Shelley's friend Mary Diana Dods was the illegitimate daughter of a Scottish earl and wrote numerous works for Blackwood's Magazine under the name David Lyndsay including a story collection Tales of the Wild and the Wonderful 1825. Beginning in 1827 Mary Dods assumed the name and persona of Mr. Walter Sholto Douglas and with Isabella Robinson determined to live on the Continent where it was cheaper and where the legitimacy of Isabella's child would not be questioned. Mary Shelley secured the passports for the couple to travel to France as Mr. and Mrs. Walter Sholto Douglas. In April 1828 Mary Shelley travelled to Paris with Mr. Robinson and Julia "who has become Mary Shelley's new young companion" Bennett 38 to visit the Douglases. During much of that stay Mary was ill with smallpox and "her great regret is that she endangered Julia Robinson" Bennett 136. Mr. Sholto Douglas was later imprisoned for debt and died in France. Isabella was estranged from Mary Shelley when she returned to England in 1830 but Mary and her son lived with Julia Robinson for part of 1833 and clearly preserved friendly ties thereafter. An important book with an evocative association. Forman 77; Graniss 82. For Isabella Robinson and David Lyndsay see Betty T. Bennett. Mary Diana Dods A Gentleman and a Scholar 1991 Edward Moxon unknown
1840réf. 324477London: Edward Moxon 1840. First edition. 2 vols. 8vo. Recent half morocco and cloth. Formerly in the Exeter City Library with stamps. With a number of early neat pencil annotations in an unidentified hand 1:164 1:167; 1:234-239 three pages with lines shaved at the bindery. Very good. First edition. 2 vols. 8vo. Contains the first printing of Shelley's "The Defence of Poetry" and also his translations from the classics including Plato's "Symposium" "Ion" and fragments from "The Republic" and 67 letters. "The Defence of Poetry" was edited by John Hunt for inclusion in "The Liberal" but the magazine folded before it could be published. This first appearance used John Hunt's edited version. Inscribed in each volume "Julia Robinson from her affectionate friend Mary Shelley Putney 22 Dec. 1839". This inscription documents Mary Shelley's close connection with the Robinson family who figure for many years in her journals as well as in the Journals of William Godwin her father. From February 1827 Mary became close to Julia and Isabel or Isabella Robinson daughters of Joshua Robinson an Oxford graduate and a successful builder with a large family and a large residence Park Cottage in Paddington. After Isabella bore an illegitimate child she and Mary Shelley shared lodgings in the south of England in the summer of 1827. The inscription also points to a long-secret chapter in Mary's life documented by Betty T. Bennett in Mary Diana Dods A Gentleman and a Scholar 1991. Mary Shelley's friend Mary Diana Dods was the illegitimate daughter of a Scottish earl and wrote numerous works for Blackwood's Magazine under the name David Lyndsay including a story collection Tales of the Wild and the Wonderful 1825. Beginning in 1827 Mary Dods assumed the name and persona of Mr. Walter Sholto Douglas and with Isabella Robinson determined to live on the Continent where it was cheaper and where the legitimacy of Isabella's child would not be questioned. Mary Shelley secured the passports for the couple to travel to France as Mr. and Mrs. Walter Sholto Douglas. In April 1828 Mary Shelley travelled to Paris with Mr. Robinson and Julia "who has become Mary Shelley's new young companion" Bennett 38 to visit the Douglases. During much of that stay Mary was ill with smallpox and "her great regret is that she endangered Julia Robinson" Bennett 136. Mr. Sholto Douglas was later imprisoned for debt and died in France. Isabella was estranged from Mary Shelley when she returned to England in 1830 but Mary and her son lived with Julia Robinson for part of 1833 and clearly preserved friendly ties thereafter. An important book with an evocative association. Forman 77; Graniss 82. For Isabella Robinson and David Lyndsay see Betty T. Bennett. Mary Diana Dods A Gentleman and a Scholar 1991 Edward Moxon unknown books
1820réf. 42SHELLEY PERCY BYSSHE Autograph letter signed with his initials P. B. S. three pages 4to Pisa 20th July 1820 to his cousin Thomas Medwin ´My dear Medwin´. Shelley writes an interesting letter including references to two of his masterpieces stating that he has received Medwin´s letter from the mountains and remarking ´How much I envy you or rather how much I sympathise in the delights of your wandering. I have a passion for such expeditions although partly the capriciousness of my health & partly the want of the incitement of a companion keep me at home. I see the mountains the sky & the trees from my windows & recollect as an old man does the mistresses of his youth the raptures of a more familiar intercourse; but without his regrets for their forms are yet living in my mind´ adding that he hopes his cousin will not pass by Tuscany without paying a visit ´Mrs. Shelley unites with me in assuring.that whatever else may be found deficient a sincere welcome is at least in waiting for you´. Shelley proceeds to write at length regarding two of his verse dramas ´I am delighted with your approbation of my 'Cenci' & am encouraged to wish to present you with my 'Prometheus Unbound' a drama also but a composition of a totally different character. I do not know if it be wise to affect variety in compositions or whether the attempt to excel in many ways does not deter from excellence in one particular kind. 'Prometheus Unbound' is in the merest spirit of ideal poetry & not as the name would indicate a mere imitation of the Greek drama or indeed if I have been successful is it an imitation of anything. But you will judge - I hear it is just printed & I probably shall receive copies from England before I see you. Your objection to the 'Cenci' as to the introduction of the name of God is good in as much as the play is addressed to a Protestant people; but we Catholics speak eternally & familiarly of the 1st person of the Trinity; and amongst us religion is more interwoven with and is less extraneous to the system of ordinary life. As to Cenci´s curse I know not whether I can defend it or no. I wish I may be able since as it often happens respecting the worst point of an author´s work it is a particular favourite with me. I prided myself as since your approbation I hope that I had just cause to do upon the two concluding lines of the play. I confess I cannot approve of the squeamishness which excludes the exhibition of such subjects from the scene´ at this point of the letter two-and-a-half lines of text have been struck through seemingly by Shelley himself. The poet asks ´What think you of my boldness´ and reflects on a future project a drama which would remain unfinished at his death ´I mean to write a play in the spirit of human nature without prejudice or passion entitled 'Charles the 1st'. So vanity intoxicates people; but let those few who praise my verses & in whose approbation I take so much delight answer for this sin´ further making reference to contemporary events involving the British monarchy ´I wonder what in the world the Queen has done. I should not wonder after the whispers I have heard to find that the Green Bag contained evidence that she had imitated Pasiphae & that the Committee should recommend to Parliament a bill to exclude all minotaurs from the succession. What silly stuff is this to employ a great nation about. I wish the King & the Queen like Punch & his wife would fight out their disputes in person´ before closing his letter with the lines ´This warm weather agrees excellently with me; I only wish it would last all the year. many things both to say & to hear be referred until we meet´. With integral address panel in Shelley´s hand a couple of thin neat strips of the remains of the guard to the edges and centre. Autograph letters of Shelley are extremely rare as a result of his tragic death at the young age of 29 and the present example is particularly rich in its literary content. Some very light extremely minor age wear VG Thomas Medwin 1788-1869 English writer poet and translator remembered for his biography of Shelley and for published recollections of his friend Lord Byron. The Cenci. A Tragedy in Five Acts 1820 was written by Shelley in the summer of 1819 and inspired by the House of Cenci a real Roman family. The play was not considered stageable in its day owing to the themes of incest and parricide as well as the negative depiction of the Roman Catholic Church all subjects Shelley reflects on in the present letter and was not performed in public in England until over a century later in 1922. Prometheus Unbound 1820 is a four-act lyrical drama which is concerned with the torments of the Greek mythological figure Prometheus who defies the gods and gives fire to humanity for which he is subjected to eternal punishment and suffering at the hands of Zeus. The play is a closet drama not intended for stage production. In the tradition of Romantic poetry Shelley wrote for the imagination intending his play's stage to reside in the imaginations of his readers. Filled with suspense mystery and other dramatic effects W. B. Yeats famously described the work as being ´among the sacred books of the world´. The deleted passage of the present letter according to the published version in Volume IV of The Prose Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley originally read ´a squeamishness the produce as I firmly believe of a lower tone of the public mind and foreign to the majestic and confident wisdom of the golden age of our country´. One of the final parts of Shelley´s letter makes reference to the events of 1820 whereby King George IV who had recently succeeded to the throne attempted to divorce his long-estranged wife. Caroline of Brunswick. In order to secure his divorce the King had a special bill moved in the House of Lords and the evidence of the Queen´s adultery was presented to parliament in two green bags. Ultimately the measure was withdrawn by the government and Caroline remained married to the King until her death a year later.
1813réf. 1124London: P.B. Shelley 23 Chapel Street Grosvenor Square 1813. First Edition. 8vo 200 x 124mm pp. 6 240 2. Shelley’s first major poem. Original boards joints cracked but holding the interior is intact many copies have Shelley’s name and the printer’s imprint cut out as the book was being hunted by moralists and royalists. A virgin and unmutilated copy with the title page dedication and final leaf intact. One of only 250 copies printed for private distribution rare unrepaired and in anything approaching this condition. Morocco case. The poem is written in the form of a fairy tale that presents a future vision of a utopia on earth consisting of nine cantos and seventeen notes. Queen Mab a fairy the name from one referred to in Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet descends in a chariot to a dwelling where Ianthe is sleeping on a couch. Queen Mab detaches Ianthe’s spirit or soul from her sleeping body and transports it on a celestial tour to Queen Mab’s palace at the edge of the universe. Queen Mab interprets analyses and explains Ianthe’s dreams. She shows her visions of the past present and the future. The past and present are characterized by oppression injustice misery and suffering caused by monarchies commerce and religion. In the future however the condition of man will be improved and a utopia will emerge. Two key points are emphasized: 1 death is not to be feared; and 2 the future offers the possibility of perfectibility of man by moral means. Humanity and nature can be reconciled and work in unison and harmony not against each other. While Ianthe is asleep on the couch Henry waits to kiss her. He never does. Queen Mab returns Ianthe’s spirit or soul to her body. Ianthe then awakens with a “gentle start.” Of the seventeen notes six deal with the issues of atheism vegetarianism free love the role of necessity in the physical and spiritual realm and the relationship of Christ and the precepts of Christianity. From a critical standpoint in this early poem Shelley forced together his youthful opinions into a scheme of dogmatic materialism. His objective was to show that reform and improvement in the lot of mankind were possible. In her notes to the work Mary Shelley explained the author’s goals: He was animated to greater zeal by compassion for his fellow-creatures. His sympathy was excited by the misery with which the world is bursting. He witnessed the sufferings of the poor and was aware of the evils of ignorance. He desired to induce every rich man to despoil himself of superfluity and to create a brotherhood of property and service and was ready to be the first to lay down the advantages of his birth. He was of too uncompromising a disposition to join any party. He did not in his youth look forward to gradual improvement: nay in those days of intolerance now almost forgotten it seemed as easy to look forward to the sort of millennium of freedom and brotherhood which he thought the proper state of mankind as to the present reign of moderation and improvement. Ill health made him believe that his race would soon be run; that a year or two was all he had of life. He desired that these years should be useful and illustrious. He saw in a fervent call on his fellow-creatures to share alike the blessings of the creation to love and serve each other the noblest work that life and time permitted him. In this spirit he composed Queen Mab. P.B. Shelley, 23, Chapel Street, Grosvenor Square unknown
1813réf. 1124London: P.B. Shelley 23 Chapel Street Grosvenor Square 1813. First Edition. 8vo 200 x 124mm pp. 6 240 2. Shelley’s first major poem. Original boards joints cracked but holding the interior is intact many copies have Shelley’s name and the printer’s imprint cut out as the book was being hunted by moralists and royalists. A virgin and unmutilated copy with the title page dedication and final leaf intact. One of only 250 copies printed for private distribution rare unrepaired and in anything approaching this condition. Morocco case. The poem is written in the form of a fairy tale that presents a future vision of a utopia on earth consisting of nine cantos and seventeen notes. Queen Mab a fairy the name from one referred to in Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet descends in a chariot to a dwelling where Ianthe is sleeping on a couch. Queen Mab detaches Ianthe’s spirit or soul from her sleeping body and transports it on a celestial tour to Queen Mab’s palace at the edge of the universe. Queen Mab interprets analyses and explains Ianthe’s dreams. She shows her visions of the past present and the future. The past and present are characterized by oppression injustice misery and suffering caused by monarchies commerce and religion. In the future however the condition of man will be improved and a utopia will emerge. Two key points are emphasized: 1 death is not to be feared; and 2 the future offers the possibility of perfectibility of man by moral means. Humanity and nature can be reconciled and work in unison and harmony not against each other. While Ianthe is asleep on the couch Henry waits to kiss her. He never does. Queen Mab returns Ianthe’s spirit or soul to her body. Ianthe then awakens with a “gentle start.” Of the seventeen notes six deal with the issues of atheism vegetarianism free love the role of necessity in the physical and spiritual realm and the relationship of Christ and the precepts of Christianity. From a critical standpoint in this early poem Shelley forced together his youthful opinions into a scheme of dogmatic materialism. His objective was to show that reform and improvement in the lot of mankind were possible. In her notes to the work Mary Shelley explained the author’s goals: He was animated to greater zeal by compassion for his fellow-creatures. His sympathy was excited by the misery with which the world is bursting. He witnessed the sufferings of the poor and was aware of the evils of ignorance. He desired to induce every rich man to despoil himself of superfluity and to create a brotherhood of property and service and was ready to be the first to lay down the advantages of his birth. He was of too uncompromising a disposition to join any party. He did not in his youth look forward to gradual improvement: nay in those days of intolerance now almost forgotten it seemed as easy to look forward to the sort of millennium of freedom and brotherhood which he thought the proper state of mankind as to the present reign of moderation and improvement. Ill health made him believe that his race would soon be run; that a year or two was all he had of life. He desired that these years should be useful and illustrious. He saw in a fervent call on his fellow-creatures to share alike the blessings of the creation to love and serve each other the noblest work that life and time permitted him. In this spirit he composed Queen Mab. P.B. Shelley, 23, Chapel Street, Grosvenor Square unknown books
1813réf. 20In-8. 2 leaves. title dedication to Harriet 240 pp. Copy with full margins. Original publisher's cardboard brown paper small rubbing on the spine and hinges. Contemporary bottle green silk undershirt with silk ribbon. Case spine titled in long-grain red morocco. Extremely scarce original and private edition with an estimated print run of 250 copies. Complete copy with the dedication page and printing notices. In the copies that he distributed around him Shelley deleted the page dedicating to Harriet name of a young cousin for whom he felt a romantic feeling but also of his first wife married in 1811 from whom he had separated and who committed suicide in 1816. He also cut out from these copies the printing instructions bearing his name on the title page and on the last leaf. In 1816 he revised and reprinted some extracts from his poem under the title The Daemon of the World. The few remaining complete copies of the 1813 edition were recovered by the London bookseller William Clark who ensured its distribution despite prosecution by the Society for the Suppression of Vice. In 1821 another publisher Richard Carlile produced a pirate edition in London which Shelley tried in vain to ban. Composed between June 1812 and February 1813 the poem Queen Mab named after a well-known figure in Irish legends and popularized by Shakespeare reflects all the utopian passion of a young eighteen-year-old poet having faith in a world full of love and castigating religion and all tyrannical institutions. Extremely rare first printing edition in strictly period cardboard of one of the very first works of the great English poet who died at the age of 31. Printed by P. B. Shelley hardcover
1823réf. 194288London: printed for G. & W. B. Whittaker 1823. Who shall conceive the horrors of my secret toil Second edition being the rarest edition published during the author's lifetime. It is also the first British edition to name Mary Shelley as the author. Reviewers such as Sir Walter Scott had misattributed the anonymous 1818 first edition to Percy Bysshe Shelley. Mary Shelley was publicly acknowledged as the author of Frankenstein in the papers the following year and in the 1821 French edition as "Mme. Shelly" sic. Demand for a second edition grew following the resounding success of the stage adaptation Presumption or The Fate of Frankenstein 1823. As Shelley was on the continent her father William Godwin saw to the second edition and incorporated his own revisions which Shelley accepted and used as the basis for her revised 1831 third edition. 2 vols bound in 1 duodecimo 164 x 92 mm. Bound without half-titles vol. I bound without publisher's final blank. Contemporary half calf spine label marbled sides corners and endpapers all renewed compartments patterned in blind raised bands with gilt rules connecting floral device blind roll to sides edges sprinkled red. Early ink annotation on title page following printed statement vol. I "and 2 in one"; later pencilled ownership inscription of one M. B. Ryan on page 1. Light rubbing and a few marks to leather spine inner hinges repaired paper restoration to fore margins of title page and early leaves a couple of further repairs including to slight paper flaw touching colophon small loss to upper outer corners of vol. II pp. 189-92 a few marginal splash marks. Overall a very good copy. hardcover
réf. AME_97800778623122013: Principles Of Taxation For Business And Investment Planning Mcgraw-Hill. New. 17Th/_. New Principles Of Taxation For Business And Investment Planning unknown
