JOHNSON SamuelBiblio.com
1854rif. 18509Nathaniel Cooke 1854. 4 vols. 8vo. First Edition thus with pictorial series title 4 engraved frontispieces title-vignettes 22 engraved plates and numerous engraved illustrations in the text; publisher's original binding of elaborately patterned plum cloth sides patterned in blind backs blocked and lettered in gilt primrose endpapers backstrips chipped at head and tail else a remarkably well-preserved bright clean copy in wholly unrestored publisher's series binding. With the trade ticket in blind of Thos. Smith of Stockport on front free endpapers. First appearance of Johnson's 'Lives of the English Poets' greatly expanded by William Hazlitt and published as the 'British' Poets. 'The number of Lives contained in the present volumes is ten times greater than those given by Dr. Johnson' Preface.Dedicated to Monckton Milnes the work is published in Cooke's well-known National Illustrated Library with its distinctive patterned cloth binding and profusely illustrated throughout the majority of the plates are after Dalziel. Nice set in wholly unrestored publisher's binding. Courtney & Smith p.145. Nathaniel Cooke, hardcover
1904rif. 18510Privately Printed 1904. 2 vols. 8vo. First Edition thus on laid paper with fine etched portrait frontispieces original tissue guards present titles in red and black and 13 fine etched plates all original tissue guards present; attractively bound in publisher's original terracotta buckram backs with paper labels printed in red and black all edges uncut backstrips very lightly sunned one label with small loss not affecting lettering at corner a remarkably well-preserved bright clean set. FIRST COMPLETE EDITION OF THE 'CONFESSIONS' IN ENGLISH WITH TWO FINE ETCHED PORTRAITS AND FINE ETCHED PLATES BY HEDOUIN. 'This edition has been translated from the original and every effort has been made to give even more faithfully both the letter and the spirit of that original. In the present edition not the slightest abridgement has been permitted and the attempt is everywhere made to render the thought and the expression of the author as closely as the genius of our language will allow' Prefatory Notice. It is unfortunate that the translator of this notable edition apparently remains anonymous for the translation was still in use several decades later. Privately Printed, hardcover
1825rif. 17451John Major Fleet-Street 1825. 8vo. First Major Edition with a copper-engraved portrait frontispiece engraved and printed titles 9 copper-engraved plates and 52 woodcut illustrations and embellishments in the text one or two plates very faintly foxed with some resultant faint offsetting to facing leaves; most handsomely bound in late nineteenth century navy blue crushed full morocco sides with triple frame border in gilt back with five raised bands ruled in gilt second compartment framed blocked and lettered in gilt all other compartments elaborately framed and tooled in gilt to a geometric floral design all edges gilt elaborate gilt doublures marbled endpapers a splendid crisp clean copy in superb signed period binding. With the engraved gilt trade ticket of Pickering on front paste-down and the binder's stamp 'BM Pickering' on front free endpaper verso. The first Major edition of Walton's great biographical collection issued as a complement to the same publisher's 1823 edition of The Compleat Angler. Walton lived in the parish of St. Dunstan's where Donne was vicar; his life of his friend was written in 1640 as an introduction to a collection of the poet-clergyman's sermons. The other subjects were also personal friends; their biographies were first published in 1651 Wotton 1665 Hooker 1670 Herbert and 1678 Sanderson. In this copy the portrait of Henry Wotton called for at p.87 is placed as frontispiece to the volume as a whole; the portrait of Hooker called for at p.161 is placed at p.166; the plate 'The Advocate' called for at p.377 is engraved as 'The Pleader' and placed at p.378. A PRESENTATION COPY FROM EDWARD COMPTON AUSTEN LEIGH TO LORD FRANCIS HERVEY WITH THE FORMER'S NEAT HOLOGRAPH INSCRIPTION DATED 1865 ON FRONT FREE ENDPAPER VERSO. Austen Leigh was Master at Eton while Hervey was a pupil. A UNIQUE AND QUITE OUTSTANDING ETON ASSOCIATION COPY OF A WORK RATED BY JOHNSON AS 'AMONG HIS MOST FAVOURITE BOOKS'. John Major, Fleet-Street, hardcover
1895rif. 17906Warne 1895. Oblong 4to. Thirtieth Edition with illustrated title and 109 full-page illustrations by the author in the text front free endpaper creased; original pictorial blue cloth upper board and backstrip elaborately blocked and lettered in gilt and black bevelled boards primrose endpapers backstrip mildly chafed without material loss at head and tail hinges tender but binding entirely sound an unusually bright clean copy. With personal bookplate and contemporary inscription on front paste-down. UNCOMMON IN THIS CONDITION. Lear's humorous classic was first published in 1862. Warne, hardcover
1912rif. 17995Riccardi Press for the Medici Society 1912. 2 vols. 8vo. First Edition thus on laid paper; original grey boards holland backs with printed paper labels gil tops uncut covers mildly age-marked corners lightly bruised else a very good clean copy. EDITION LIMITED TO 525 NUMBERED SETS THIS SET NO 362. Riccardi Press for the Medici Society, hardcover
1978rif. 16962MAHS Meath Archaeological and Historical Society Dublin 1978. 8vo. First Edition with pedigree endpapers; original brown cloth gilt back a near fine copy in unclipped dustwrapper. THIS COPY WAS FORMERLY IN THE LIBRARY OF THE EMINENT NAVAL HISTORIAN J H OWEN. THE HALF-TITLE BEARS THE FOLLOWING SIGNED INSCRIPTION IN HIS NEAT SCHOLARLY HAND: 'GIVEN TO ME BY THE AUTHOR ELIZABETH HICKEY AT SKEYNE CASTLE CO. MEATH. 8TH SEPT 1988'. With the publisher's prospectus loosely inserted. Written by Elizabeth Hickey under the pseudonym Basil Iske and published in a very small print run in 1978 this is the author's first full-length historical study. It records the life of William Nugent and makes an informed case for his possible authorship of the play and sonnets of Shakespeare. MAHS [Meath Archaeological and Historical Society], Dublin, hardcover
1889rif. 17062Macmillan 1889. 8vo. with frontispiece original tissue guard present and numerous illustrations a number full-page in the text some mild foxing throughout neat contemporary signature at head of first chapter; handsomely bound in full red crushed morocco back gilt with five raised bands compartments lettered in gilt and tooled with a floral motif illustration in red green and black from original cloth cover mounted on blank preliminary an elegantly bound copy of a mature Victorian printing. With the poem 'Christmas Greetings' and 3pp publisher's catalogue bound in. Macmillan's 'People's Edition' was first published in 1887. The most popular mature Victorian edition with the numerous typographical and illustrative errors of the earlier editions corrected it reached its sixty-first thousand by 1897 see Williams & Madan p.61. A bright copy despite the virtually inevitable foxing. Macmillan, hardcover
1978rif. 17210Athlone Press University of London 1978. 2 vols. 8vo. First Edition on laid paper with plates in first volume; navy cloth gilt backs tops and fore-edges mildly spotted else a near fine set in unclipped dustwrapper the latter lightly sunned at backstrips. COMPLETE SETS ARE SCARCE IN THIS CONDITION. Athlone Press, University of London hardcover
1889rif. 16539Ollendorff Paris 1889. 8vo. text in French some mild browning; contemporary marbled boards blue crushed morocco back elaborately tooled and lettered in gilt with small red leather inlay gilt top uncut marbled endpapers a most attractive copy in handsome period binding. Ollendorff, Paris, hardcover
1965rif. 16627Centaur Press 1965. 8vo. First Edition thus neat signature on front free endpaper; original terracotta cloth backstrip lettered in brown a near fine copy in unclipped dustwrapper. With an introduction by the editor. EXTREMELY SCARCE ESPECIALLY IN THIS CONDITION Centaur Press, hardcover
1860rif. 15819Trubner & Co. 1860. 8vo. Second Edition with an engraved frontispiece illustrated title in red and black 6 fine wood-engraved plates FINELY COLOURED BY HAND and 26 engraved illustrations in the text wanting front free endpaper frontispiece and title lightly spotted; original pictorial red coarse-grain cloth upper board elaborately blocked with multiple frame border in gilt and blind enclosing jester and title all in gilt gilt back gilt edges bevelled boards yellow endpapers covers moderately age-soiled corners scuffed joints somewhat rubbed with one short tear gathering cracked at F6-7 but binding wholly sound else a firm tight copy. With Westley's binder's ticket on rear paste-down. Mackenzie's version of the German mediaeval classic was first published in 1860 as a Christmas volume but stocks were swiftly exhausted and a second edition prepared to meet continuing demand. Mackenzie produced a lengthy additional preface to this second edition attributing the success of the venture partly to 'the generous and unanimous verdict of the press' but also surely to the wonderful illustrations by 'Alfred Crowquill' A.H. Forrester. Many would-be Christmas readers must have been disappointed for Mazkenzie dates his preface Christmas Eve but scholars of mediaeval romance and fantasy will find this a most useful edition replete with extensive historical preface and bibliographical and other scholarly appendices. The US edition T&F of Boston of the same year is the first American edition of the tale in English. Scarce. Trubner & Co., hardcover
1822rif. 15807Printed for FC & J Rivington and many others in London York and Edinburgh 1822. Roy. 8vo. text in double column with engraved and printed titles and fine engraved plate some mild and occasional spotting neat contemporary inscription on blank preliminary; attractively bound in contemporary full diced calf boards with gilt frame border back with six flat gilt bands expertly rebacked to style second and third compartments with new black leather labels ruled and lettered in gilt all other compartments tooled in blind with a floral spray red speckled edges corners mildly bruised else a tight remarkably bright clean copy. Arguably the best edition of the most comprehensive of the eighteenth century epistolaria. The collection is arranged in four books: Book I: Ancient Letters; Book II: Modern Letters of Early Date; Book III: Letters of the Last Century and of Late Date; Book IV: Recent Letters. The coverage is wide from Cicero to Johnson and includes authors drawn from several disciplines not merely literature itself. The nineteenth century editions are scarce. Printed for FC & J Rivington [and many others in London, York and Edinburgh], hardcover
1947rif. 15878Editions Athena Paris 1947. Sm. 4to. First Edition thus text in French with coloured frontispiece title and text in blue and black and 9 coloured plates; original wrappers uncut a near fine copy in pictorial dustwrapper printed in colours complete with original glassine over-wrapper the glassine mildly browned. EDITION LIMITED TO 2000 NUMBERED COPIES THIS COPY NO. 1263. Editions Athena, Paris, unknown
1934rif. 15888Dent 1934. 8vo. First Edition some moderate offsetting from fold-ins to endpapers; green cloth backstrip lettered in black green top covers lightly age-soiled else a very good bright clean copy in unclipped dustwrapper the latter lightly frayed at edges and lightly browned at backstrip. Very scarce especially in the dustwrapper. Dent, hardcover
1917rif. 16048Methuen 1917. Sm. 4to. First Edition thus LARGE PAPER on laid paper with coloured frontispiece original tissue guard present and title in red and black; original boards faux-vellum back printed paper label on backstrip uncut expertly rebacked with old backstrip laid down a remarkably bright crisp clean copy. Methuen, hardcover
1938rif. 16045Heinemann 1938. 8vo. First UK Edition with title in red and black 3 plates on 2 and a large folding map small neat contemporary signature on front free endpaper; original red buckram upper board and backstrip lettered in gilt brown endpapers uncut boards unevenly sunned else a very good bright clean copy. Brown 906 recording the first US edition of the previous year. Heinemann, hardcover
1895rif. 16158Blackwood Edinburgh 1895. 2 vols. 8vo. on laid paper with 2 engraved frontispieces original tissue guards present and 3 engraved plates all original tissue guards present neat contemporary signature on front free endpapers; ribbed red cloth upper boards blocked in blind and lettered in gilt gilt backs gilt tops uncut a remarkably bright crisp virtually spotless copy. A bright crisp set of this elegant edition. Blackwood, Edinburgh, hardcover
1864rif. 15031L'Auteur Editeur a la Librairie du Petit Journal Paris 1864. 8vo. First Edition endpapers half-title and preliminaries spotted; strongly bound in contemporary marbled boards roan back backstrip lettered and ruled in gilt red sprinkled edges very neatly rebacked with old backstrip laid down a very good bright clean copy. IMAGE SHOWS VOLUME BEFORE REBACKING With personal bookplate on front free endpaper.Remarkably well-preserved copy of this revelatory work by Louis Michel the celebrated voyant of Figanieres in the Var. extremely scarce. L'Auteur Editeur a la Librairie du Petit Journal, Paris, hardcover
1877rif. 15046Chatto & Windus 1877. 8vo. First English Illustrated Edition with title-vignette and very numerous engraved illustrations in the text free endpapers and first few leaves lightly spotted; original decorative dark red cloth upper board and backstrip elaborately blocked in black and lettered in gilt black endpapers one gathering T loose fore-edges very lightly spotted else an unusually well-preserved bright clean copy in wholly unrestored original binding. With 32pp publisher's catalogue February 1882 bound in at end.The majority of the illustrations are by True Williams. Bright crisp copy of a scarce issue. Chatto & Windus, hardcover
1861rif. 15032Didier et Co. Paris 1861. 4 vols. 8vo. some light and inoffensive age-staining; attractively bound in nineteenth century marbled boards calf backs with four raised bands second and fourth compartments with leather labels respectively red and green ruled lettered and numbered in gilt all other compartments ruled in blind and tooled in gilt with a floral spray sprinkled edges marbled endpapers sadly with some rodent damage to lower outer corner of upper board of third volume else a most attractive set with considerable shelf presence. Didier et Co., Paris, hardcover
1791rif. 15114M. Luckman Coventry and J. Mathews 18 Strand London 1791. 2 parts in one vol. 12mo. on laid paper with an engraved frontispiece and 8 engraved plates some mild age-staining rather heavier on frontispiece and some plates contemporary name on title; strongly and attractively bound in early nineteenth-century half roan marbled boards tooled in gilt back with four flat bands elaborately tooled in gilt second compartment lettered in gilt red sprinkled edges a very good firm copy in well-preserved period binding. With three pages of hymns and single-page publisher's advertisement at rear. L6 has short tear not affecting text and neat repair at upper margin. The work is divided into two parts as often. Burder was a Congregationalist minister sometime active in Coventry who began life as an engraver but subsequently played an important role in the founding of the RTS. His edition of 'The Pilgrim's Progress' 1786 is the first to be divided into chapters and was frequently reprinted. This is apparently the second Coventry printing; we have a note of an earlier 1790 version issued by Luckman & Suffield. In the earlier issue the pagination is similar but the plates include a frontispiece to each part; here the number of plates remains the same but all are numbered for inclusion in the first part. Rare. ESTC lists only the 1786 edition. M. Luckman, Coventry and J. Mathews, 18 Strand, London, hardcover
1875rif. 15206Elliot Stock 1875. 8vo. on laid paper with 2 woodcut frontispieces and 16 woodcut illustrations a number full-page in the text endpapers very lightly browned; original brown cloth boards with elaborate floral roll in blind back with four flat bands second compartment with label lettered in gilt red edges backstrip lightly pulled at head else a very good crisp clean copy. With the contemporary binder's ticket of Smith Brothers of Paternoster Row on rear paste-down. Bunyan's allegory was first published in 1678 less than a handful of copies are known to exist. This much-needed facsimile includes the frontispieces and titles to both parts the 14 woodcut illustrations of the first part and the 2 woodcut illustrations of the second part. All marginalia comprising arguments and biblical references are faithfully retained. The work was not divided into chapters until Burder's edition of 1786. A notable and very scarce facsimile edition. Elliot Stock, hardcover
1897rif. 15586J.M. Dent 1897. Sm. 8vo. First Edition thus on laid paper with a fine engraved portrait frontispiece in photogravure original tissue guard present title in red and black and several decorations in the text free endpapers mildly browned; original blue cloth upper board and backstrip elaborately blocked and lettered in gilt to an art nouveau design gilt top uncut ivory silk marker detached at head a very good bright clean copy. Published in Dent's 'Lyric Poets' series this is a typical Rhys brainchild combining fine paper elegant typography and high production values. A stylish forerunner of the mighty Everyman's Library then waiting in the wings. Very scarce. J.M. Dent, hardcover
1961rif. 15664Regnery Chicago IL 1961. 8vo. First Edition; original blue cloth gilt back a very good bright clean copy in unclipped dustwrapper the latter lightly sunned at backstrip. Scarce especially in this condition. Regnery, Chicago IL, hardcover
1860rif. 14084Smith Elder & Co. 1860. 8vo. strongly bound in contemporary half calf pebble-grain dark green cloth boards back with four raised bands ruled in gilt second compartment with red leather label ruled and lettered in gilt all other compartments tooled with a lozenge in blind red sprinkled edges green endpapers corners and joints mildly worn and rubbed else a very good bright clean copy. Following the withdrawal of the two-volume second edition for fear of libel in 1857 the work was first issued as a single volume in Smith Elder's 'Cheap Edition' series later in the same year. Smith records that this 1860 impression was issued without advertisements. Bright copy of an early fifth/sixth edition. See Smith pp.143-146; Wise p.33. Smith Elder & Co., hardcover
