Oliver, William: A Practical Essay on the Use and Abuse of Warm Bathing in Gouty Cases. Bath: Printed by T. Boddely, for James Leake, and Wm. Frederick, and sold by Hitch, and Hawes, and M 1753. Second edition. 8vo., pp. [iv], 96, [viii]. With half title. Some small repairs and short marginal tears to half title, first and last leaves a little dusty. Late 19th c. Half dark brown morocco, gilt title to spine, green marbled paper boards, blue endpapers. Joints and corners a bit rubbed, very good. Bookplate (with crest) of John Kent Spender, M.D. to front pastedown. Though by all accounts an engaging and competent physician, and very much involved in establishing Bath General Hospital in 1742, Dr William Oliver published little apart from this treatise on the therapeutic use of spa waters in the treatment of gout. However his name lives on in the form of the Bath Oliver biscuit, which he invented as a digestive aid for his patients. John Kent Spender's obituary (BMJ, 22nd April 1916) described him as 'The last of the generation of physicians who laid the foundation of modern Bath as a health resort.' He worked for the greater part of his career at the Mineral Water Hospital in Bath and published prolifically, his most notable book being Therapeutic Means for the Relief of Pain, which won the Fothergill Gold Medal in 1874. Ref: 54177show full image..
Optatus; (Du Pin, Louis Ellies, ed.:) Sancti Optati Afri Milevitani episcopi De schismate Donatistarum, libri septem [?] [...] Lutetiae Parisiorum [Paris]: apud Andream Pralard, 1700. First edition thus. Folio, pp.[xxii], civ, 601, [I] + large folding map. Half-title, title-page in red and black with engraved device, finely engraved head- and tail-pieces, ornate initials, errata to final leaf verso. Remarkably the map appears never to have been bound in, and is loosely inserted opposite p.1. A few fragments of blue paper stuck to half-title near gutter, a few leaves lightly toned with faint foxing eg. pp.45-51, occasional light spotting, very faint damp staining to a few leaves near gutter, a few leaves with slight paper flaws to fore-edge margins, overall very good. Slightly later half sheep with brown paper-covered boards, red morocco label to spine, all edges red, marbled endpapers. Spine very worn, hinges split but cords holding firm, boards rubbed with some loss of colour, corners worn and frayed, a few pencilled bookseller's notes to ffep verso. Still a good, sound copy. Tiny paper label to top corner of front paste-down: J. Mosley Stark, 10 King William Street, London. Tiny paper label to top corner ffep verso: sold by C.J. Stewart, 11 King William Street, London. To the title-page, round blue ink stamp of St Hugh's, Parkminster. Celebrated edition of this contemporary history of the 4th-cent. north African Donatist heresy, the editor inserts other material relevant to north African and Donatist history and geography. His recension of the text was used later by Migne in his 'Patrologia Latina'. Graesse V 30: "C'est la meilleure ?d. faite sur 5 mss." Ref: 54563show full image..
Origo, Iris: (Smith, Denis Mack, intro.:) War in Val d'Orcia. A Diary London: John Murray, 1984. Reissue, first edition thus. 8vo., pp.xvi, 239, [i]. Red cloth, gilt title to spine, near fine. Dust wrapper with a scratch travelling the width of the upper side but otherwise very good indeed. Reissue (with a new introduction by the historian Denis Mack Smith) of the wartime memoir of the writer and philanthropist Iris Origo (1902-1988), written from her home in rural Italy. The New York Times called the book "a remarkably moving document that, like the best of the elemental war stories, eventually becomes a statement about the unplanned nature and folly of war." (29th May 1984) Ref: 54653
Ostrowski, Donald: Europe, Byzantium, and the "Intellectual Silence" of Rus' Culture. Leeds: ARC Humanities Press, 2018. 8vo., pp. vii, 112. Hardback: laminated boards. Unused: as new. In the series: Beyond Medieval Europe. Ref: 54462
Ottaway, Patrick: Julia Velva: A Roman lady from York. Her Life and Times Revealed. Barnsley: Pen & Sword, 2021. First edition. 8vo., pp. xvi?, 382? + plates. Maps and illustrations. Hardback: black cloth, gilt-lettered to spine. Dust-jacket. Unused, a hint only of shelf-dust: a fine copy. Ref: 54507
Owen, Mrs. Henry: (Egerton, Mary Margaret, ed.:) The Illuminated Book of Needlework: The Illuminated Book of Needlework: Comprising Knitting, Netting, Crochet and Embroidery [...] Preceded by A History of Needlework, including An Account of the Ancient Historical Tapestries. (Bound with) The Illuminated Ladies' Book of Useful and Orn London: Henry G. Bohn, 1847. 8vo., pp. ix, [i], 405, [i], 114 + gilded and coloured additional title-page, with tissue guard, and 18 further colour plates across 13 leaves plus one further plate in black and white. With separate title-page and pagination at rear, The Illuminated Ladies' Book of Useful and Ornamental Needlework, with same publisher and date. Tiny faint spots here and there but clean and bright internally. Red cloth, spine ornately gilt, cliund debossed borders to boards, a.e.g. Endcaps slightly tattered, joints worn, endpaper split at rear hinge, a little worn but very good. To ffep, an inscription: 'Mrs Sutherland, In memory of dear Mrs Mayer - at rest Dec. 28th, 1884. New Year's Day, 1885.' To rear paste-down, small label of Bone and Son, binders of Fleet Street, London. A compilation by Mrs Owen of 'The Illuminated Book of Embroidery' (1847) and 'The Art of Needlework' (1840, here retitled 'A History of Needlework'). The combined book contains chapters on knitting, netting, crochet, and embroidery patterns, and was also issued as 'The Illuminated Ladies' Book of Useful and Ornamental Needlework'. Ref: 55077show full image..
Page, William (ed.): The Victoria History of the (County of) Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. Volume Five. Folkestone & London: Dawsons of Pall Mall for the University of London Institute of Historical Resea 1973. Reprint. 4to. Fully illustrated. Hardback: red cloth, gilt. No dust-jacket. Two corners slightly bumped, a touch of shelf-wear, a little dusting to edges, very good. Reprinted from the 1912 first edition published by Archibald Constable and Company. Ref: 54071
Page, William (ed.): The Victoria History of the County of Bedford. Index. Folkestone & London: Dawsons of Pall Mall for the University of London Institute of Historical Resea 1972. Reprint. 4to. Hardback: red cloth, gilt. No dust-jacket. Fine. Reprinted from the 1914 first edition published by Archibald Constable and Company. Ref: 54031
[Paris, Matthew:] (Parker, Matthew, ed.:) Flores Historiarum per Matthaeum Westmonasteriensem collecti, praecipue de rebus Britannicis ab exordio mundi usque ad annum Domini. MCCCVII. Francofurti [Frankfurt]: Typis Wechelianis, 1601. Folio, pp. [viii] 696 [xxiv]. Printer's device to title-page and to final leaf verso, ornate woodcut endpieces and initials. Faint blotchy foxing, some leaves toned, occasional tiny wax spots, a few very discreet paper repairs. Later (approx. 1821-1860) tan calf binding by Clarke & Bedford of Frith Street (their ink stamp to upper corner ffep, verso), spine richly gilt with raised bands; gilt centrepiece, borders and dentelles to each board, a.e.g., marbled endpapers. Joints slightly creased, a little wear to endcaps but very good indeed. Centrepiece gilt arms of John Frederick Campbell, 1st Earl Cawdor (1790-1860). Campbell married in 1816 and succeeded his father in 1821, and these arms appear to postdate both of those events. Campbell was a Fellow of the Royal Society, MP for Carmarthen (1813-1821) and Lord Lieutenant of Carmarthenshire (1817-1860). Ownership inscription of J. Campbell in an old hand to blank leaf preceding title-page. A reprint of the second edition (London, 1570) of Matthew Paris's important historical chronicle (formerly attributed to the fictional 'Matthew of Westminster'), as edited by Matthew Parker. The text covering the period to 1259 is based on the author's Chronica Majora; the 1259-1307 text was compiled and composed by various writers at St. Albans and Westminster; the text from 1307 to 1325 is by Robert of Reading. Includes the chronicle based on the work of Marianus previously attributed to Florence of Worcester, now attributed to John of Worcester. Ref: 54533show full image..
[Paston letters] (Fenn, John, ed.:) (Frere, Serjeant:) Original Letters, written during the Reigns of Henry VI, Edward IV, and Richard III, by various Persons of Rank or Consequence [...] with Notes, Historical and Explanatory; and Authenticated by Engravings of Autographs, Fac Similes, Paper-Marks and Seals. London: printed for G.G.J. and J. Robinson, 1787, 1789, 1823. 5 vols., extra-illustrated. Vols. I-II second editions with additions and corrections, vols. III-V first editions. 4to., pp. lxxxvii, [i], 301, [i]; [iv], 363, [i]; [iv], xvi, xxxvi, 451, [i]; [vi], xxxii, 478, [ii]; lxxvi, 472 + additional engraved vignette title and coloured engraved frontispiece to each vol. + 34 facsimile plates + 34 further plates. Extra illustrated with additional coloured engraved plates (landscapes etc), including folding map of England and Wales. With half-titles. Parallel medieval and modern texts. Vol. I preliminary blanks, title and pages facing tissue guards toned; small closed tear to map, occasional foxing, a few ink spots. Vol. II occasional foxing and toning, some neat pencil notes. Vol. IV, Some leaves a little toned, also some toning and light damp staining to plates. Some vols. bearing evidence of a bookplate having been removed. Contemporary calf panelled boards rebacked in mottled calf, spines gilt, raised bands, red and black spine labels, all edges faintly blue, marbled endpapers. A few chips to spine, board leather dry and rubbed, corners very worn, but good sound copies. To front paste-down each volume, crimson leather and gilt book label of W.A. Foyle of Beeleigh Abbey and ms inscription at head of ffep verso, Liverpool, Kirkham Abbey [illegible] 1907. Vol. I with pencilled note to front endpaper, 'Duke of York's copy'. John Fenn's edition of the Paston Letters was the first printing of this invaluable collection shedding light on the life of an aristocratic family (the Pastons, later Earls of Yarmouth) in the fifteenth century. The editor obtained the documents from the executors of a chemist in Diss, Norfolk, and later presented the originals for volumes I and II to George III, receiving a knighthood soon after. The work was nevertheless suspected for years to be a forgery, until the material (including what he had given to the King) resurfaced in various country houses in the later part of the nineteenth century. The fifth volume was sent to the press posthumously by Serjeant Frere, Fenn's nephew (Ency. Brit., 11th edn.) Lowndes 788: "Two editions of Vols. 1 & 2 were printed in 1787, but there is no perceptible difference between them." ESTC N010147 & T149304. Ref: 54569show full image..
