Benner, Erica: Be Like the Fox: Machiavelli's Lifelong Quest for Freedom. New York: W. W. Norton, 2017. First American edition. 8vo., pp. xxii, 360. Hardback: cream cloth-backed beige boards, gilt-lettered to spine. Dust-jacket. Unused, a tiny black dot to top edge and a hint only of shelf-wear: a fine copy. Dust-jacket subtitled 'Machiavelli in His World'. Ref: 53854
[Bentley, William: Bentley, John, ed.:] Halifax, and its gibbet-law placed in a true light. Together with a description of the town, the Nature of the Soil, the Temper and Disposition of the People, the Antiquity of its Customary Law, and the Reasonableness thereof. With An Account of the Gentry, and other Eminent Persons, Born and Inhabiti Halifax: printed by P. Darby, for John Bentley, at Halifax, in Yorkshire, and sold by the Bookseller [1761]. Second edition. 12mo., pp.[iv], 95, [I] + engraved frontispiece. Toned and foxed, as is often the case. Contemporary brown speckled calf with blind-tooled roll at joints. Neatly rebacked but with the upper joint now failing and the head-cap, head edges of boards and corners all worn. Title written on the ffep in an old hand. Some pencilled notes to ffep. An extra engraving of a gibbet (clipped from Camden's Britannia, 1695) pasted onto rear free endpaper. The Halifax Gibbet Law gave the Lord of the Manor of Wakefield, of which the Halifax was a part, the power to execute by decapitation anyone found guilty of the theft of goods to the value of 13.5d or more (equivalent to ?10 in 2023) or more. Thought to have been installed in the 16th century, the Halifax gibbet was a guillotine-type device which remained in use until 1650. ESTC T33073. Ref: 55047show full image..
Beresford, Guy: Caldecote: The Development and Desertion of a Hertfordshire Village. The Society for Medieval Archaeology, 2009. First edition. Folio (280 x 212 mm), pp. xi, 267. Illustrations to text. Paperback. Light shelf-wear, very good. The Society for Medieval Archaeology Monograph 28. Ref: 53591
Berkhofer, Robert F., III: Day of Reckoning: Power and Accountability in Medieval France. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004. First edition. 8vo., pp. vi, 270. Hardback: black cloth, gilt-lettered to spine. Dust-jacket. Unread, a hint only of shelf-wear: almost as new. Ref: 53634
Bernard of Clairvaux: (Horstius, Jakob Merlo ed.): [...] Opera omnia: nunc demum in V tomos [...]. Coloniae Agrippinae [Cologne]: apud Ioannem Kinchivm sub Monocerote veteri, 1641. 6 parts in 1 vol. Folio, pp.[xx], 120, 59, [i]; 143, [i]; [iv], 272; [iv], 139, [i]; [xii], 140; [viii], 384; [iv], 92, 16, [84] + additional engraved frontispiece. Half-title, title-page in red and black with woodcut device, woodcut headpieces and initials. Some light toning, occasional foxing with Part I especially foxed, a few wax spots, some dampstaining to fore-edge margin at rear. Small piece missing from lower margin Part 2 leaf A3, not affecting text, a few small paper repairs. Contemporary vellum over wooden boards, faint ink title and remains of paper labels to spine, blind-tooled borders, frames and centrepiece, recent metal clasps. Cloth reinforcement to front hinge, small repair at tail of spine, a little grubby but very good overall. To title-page: illegible ex libris inscription at head, and library ink stamp 'Studiehuis Minderbroeders Nijmegen'. Saint Bernard (1090-1153) was Abbot of Clairvaux, one of the most prominent centres of the Cistercian Order. In the General Preface to his Life and Works of St Bernard, Abbott of Clairvaux (1889), John Mabillon writes: "?in 1641 appeared the best and most accurate [edition] of all, that of James Merlon Horst, a most pious and learned man. That edition threw all others into the shade, and was reprinted frequently. [?] He had submitted the whole of the works to exact and severe criticism, and divided them into six volumes, of which the first contained the Letters; the second the Sermons de Tempore and de Sanctis; the third the sermons in Cantica; the fourth various Treatises; the fifth whose writings which are not by S. Bernard; and the sixth, those of the two disciples of the Holy Doctor, Gilbert and Guerric. It is he, also, who divided the Treatises into chapters and sections, and has prefixed analytical summaries to each Letter and Treatise. He spared neither labour nor expense to procure all the editions of S. Bernard which he could find in the libraries of different countries, although he was not successful in obtaining some of the works of that Father, of which Possevin and others have given a list. Besides these a great many introductions are added, the life of S. Bernard in seven books, with various Elogia of the Saint, and a chronology. Finally, he has inserted lengthy Notes, besides those shorter ones which are inserted in the margin throughout the work, with very full Indexes of the places of Scripture, of subjects, and of the names mentioned by S. Bernard. The reader cannot help recognising the immense labour with which he has endeavoured to make this edition absolutely accurate. Unfortunately the work of the printer has not altogether corresponded to his wishes. This learned man was preparing an edition more complete and more careful still when he died, on the 20th April, 1644." (p.8). Ref: 54272
Bernard of Clairvaux: (Mabillon, Jean, ed.:) [?] Opera Genuina videlicet in primo et secundo volumine; spuria, dubiaque in tertio comprehensa Horsti et Mabillionii notis, aliisque permultis aucta, juxta ?ditionem Parisiensis Anni MDCCXIX; adjecta appendice Edmundi Martene, ex veterum scriptorum, & monumentorum c Venetiis [Venice]: Ex typographia Balleoniana, 1781. 3 vols., 4to., pp. [iv], VII-LXXX, 602, cvii, [I]; xxiv,752, XXXV, [I]; VIII, 806, [iv], 809-1206. The text of St Bernard is complete but vol.III lacks the 48-page section of apparatus usually found at the rear. Half-title misbound in vol.I, not present in vol.II and correctly bound in vol.III. Engraved frontispiece to vol.I and its title-page in red and black, woodcut initials and endpieces. Foxed, sporadic toning more pronounced in a few places, eg. vol.III 2Q7. Contemporary or slightly later brown cat's-paw calf, spines gilt with red and black morocco labels, arms of Balliol College, Oxford to centre of each board, all edges red. Vols. I and III very neatly rebacked, spines and edges a little rubbed, some corners a bit frayed but still a handsome set. Armorial bookplate to each front paste-down of Edmund R.P. Bastard (1758?1816), Tory politician. Based on the edition by Jean Mabillon (1632-1707), the renowned Maurist scholar, which was produced after Mabillon's death by Massuet and Tixier. Originally published in 1667, it was improved and enlarged by Mabillon in 1690, and then again for the 1719 edition. Ref: 54630show full image..
Bertramus, Bonaventura Cornelius: De Republica Ebraeorum, recensitus commentarioque illustratus opera Constant. L'Empereur ab Oppijck. Lugduni Batavorum [Leiden]: Ex officina Ioannis Maire, 1641. 16mo., pp. [xlviii], 452, [xxiv]. Title-page in red and black with printer's device, woodcut initials. With final blank. Small ink smudge to title-page, internally very good. Contemporary vellum, title inked to spine, board edges slightly overlapped, all edges red. Vellum a little yellowed and spine darkened, but very good. 'Cornwell House' inkstamp to ffep. Originally published as 'De politia Iudaica, tam civili quam ecclesiastica' in Geneva in 1580, this popular work on Hebrew history and traditions was often reissued. The author, Bonaventure Corneille Bertram(1531-1594), originally from Thouars in France, was professor of Hebrew at Geneva and Lausanne. Ref: 54523show full image..
Bishop, C.H.: Old Folkestone Pubs. Old inns, taverns and hotels of the ancient borough of Folkestone. West Mailing: Kent County Council, 1979. First edition. 4to, pp. 107, with photographic illustrations. Slight browning, the odd spot, a very good copy. Booklet, binder's tape to spine over pictorial wrappers, a little yellowed and spotted, but still good. Ref: 53509
Bishop, M. C.: Lucius Verus Barnsley: Pen & Sword, 2018. First edition. 8vo., pp. xv, 197 + plates. Maps and illustrations. Hardback: green cloth, gilt-lettered to spine. Dust-jacket. Unused: as new. Ref: 54644
Blackmore, Richard: Prince Arthur. An Heroick Poem. In ten books; [bound with] King Arthur. An heroick poem in twelve books. London: Printed for Awnsham and John Churchil; [ditto] and Jacob Tonson, 1696; 1697. Third edition; first edition. 2 works bound as 1. Folio, pp. [xx], 296, [iv]; [ii], xvii, [i], 343, [ix]. Publisher's catalogue at end of Preface (i.e. p.xx), index at the end of each work. Intermittent damp-staining toward gutter especially to the second work, occasional light foxing, a few faint smudgy marks. Contemporary brown calf, raised bands with recent red Morocco gilt spine label added, blind-tooled borders and frames to boards, edges faintly sprinkled red, endpapers renewed. Spine repaired at head and tail, joints split but cords holding firm, scuffs and scrapes, edges worn, corners frayed, still a good, sound copy. To the title-page, inscriptions of Ed. Southcott and Charles (D?) Sharpe both in old hands. Third edition of Prince Arthur, Richard Blackmore's celebration of William III in the form of an epic based on The Aeneid and using historical material from Geoffrey of Monmouth. (The first edition appeared in 1695 and the second in the same year with an added index). It is found here bound with King Arthur in its first edition of 1697. Two variants exist, this copy having "near the Inner-Temple-gate" in the imprint. Physician and epic poetry enthusiast Blackmore (1654-1729) is now primarily remembered as an object of satire. In 1700 he was accused by John Dryden of being not only a plagiarist but also a poet whose work read to the rhythm of wagon wheels because it had been written in the back of hackney cabs on journeys between patients (The Pilgrim, prologue). Having used Virgil as his model for Prince Arthur and Milton for King Arthur, Blackmore was less successful in his emulation of other poets in subsequent works. He became the target of particular scorn from Pope in The Dunciad (1728), which immortalised him as 'Neverending Blackmore', a poet so boring he could send even lawyers to sleep. ESTC R23258; Wing B 3082. Ref: 54534show full image..
