Adolph, Anthony: Brutus of Troy and the Quest for the Ancestry of the British. Barnsley: Pen & Sword, 2020. 8vo., pp. xi, 237 + plates. Maps and illustrations to text. Paperback. Unread, light shelf-wear, very good. First published in 2015. Ref: 54444
Allen, Mark, & Amwell, Stephanie (eds.): Annotated Chaucer Bibliography 1997-2010. Manchester University Press, 2016. First edition. 8vo., pp. xx, 806. Hardback: laminated boards. Unused, a hint only of shelf-dust: a fine copy. In the series: Manchester Medieval Literature and Culture Ref: 54460
Allen, Thomas: (Whittock, Nathaniel, illust.:) A New and Complete History of the County of York. Illustrated by a Series of Views engraved on steel from original drawings by Nathaniel Whittock. London: I. T. Hinton, 1828; 1831; 1831. 3 vols., 4to., pp. [v], vi-x, 491, [i] + York cathedral frontispiece, engraved title-page and 13 further plates; [ii], 598 + frontispiece, engraved title and 30 further plates; [ii], 550 + frontispiece, engraved title and 96 further plates. Plates quite foxed but only occasional foxing elsewhere, some plates have offset toning onto the page opposite. The Boston Castle plate opposite p.505, vol. III, has wax on it: the image is unaffected, though p.505 has lost 5-6 words. The Scarborough Museum plate is bound opposite p.456 instead of p.446 as listed. Later half tan calf neatly rebacked in a slightly later colour with spines retained, titles and volume numbers gilt lettered directly, marbled boards and endpapers. Rubbed and a bit chipped, a few scuffs, edges worn, but still a good set. Each volume is divided into books (vol.I, books I-III; vol.II books IV-V; vol.III books VI-VII). Bookplate of The Constitutional Club to the front paste-down of each volume, and the Club's crest at the tail end of each spine. The Constitutional Club was a London gentlemen's club with premises (now demolished) at 28 Northumberland Avenue, just off Trafalgar Square. It was established in 1883, disbanded in 1979.Closely aligned with the Conservative party, it counted P.G. Wodehouse among its members and appears in disguised form in several of his novels, including two Psmith novels (Psmith in the City (1910) and Leave it to Psmith (1923)) and Pearls, Girls and Monty Bodkin (1972). Thomas Allen (1803-1833) was a prolific writer and illustrator of topographical works, producing in his short life volumes on The History and Antiquities of the Parish of Lambeth and the Archiepiscopal Palace (1827); The History and Antiquities of London, Westminster, and Southwark (1827-1828); A New and Complete History of the County of York (1828?31); A History of the Counties of Surrey and Sussex (1829?30); guidebooks to London (1830) and some plates and articles for the Gentleman's Magazine. At the time of his death he had begun publication of A History of the County of Lincoln. Allen's works 'were almost all published in several parts, tosatisfy the demand for cheap, illustrated topographies from a public eager for historical detailsenlivened by romantic and picturesque scenery'. (Baigent, ODNB) Ref: 54598show full image..
Ashmole, Elias: (Hollar, Wenceslaus; Sherwin, William, illus.:) The Institution, Laws & Ceremonies of the Most Noble Order of the Garter. Collected and Digested into One Body [...] London: J. Macock, for Nathanael Brooke, 1672. First edition, second issue. Folio, pp. [xii], 720, [cviii] + 33 leaves of plates, of which 15 are folding, most by Wenceslaus Hollar. Title page in red and black, further illustrations in the text, engraved head- and tail-pieces and initials, with final errata leaf. Some library stamps, very occasional light spotting, a few very tiny scorched(?) specks. A few small pencil notes to margins. Some ms additions to p.717 and the plate opposite: 'Thomas Butler, Earle of Ossory' has been numbered 476 and added to the list of Knights Elected in the Reign of King Charles the Second, and his arms drawn in. In Chapter XXVI: Of the Founder and Knights Companions, the names Gilbert Burnet, Wm. Talbot and Ben Hoadley have been added in pencil to the list of Chancellors of the Order, and the name of Peter Mews has been added to the list of Prelates of the Order (p.719). Contemporary speckled brown boards repacked on lighter tan calf, gilt spine, red morocco label, shelf mark in gilt to final compartment, marbled edges. Old leather a bit chipped at edges of reback, scuffed, small tear to headcap, edges worn, corners frayed, very good overall. Blindstamp of Westminster Public Libraries to centre of upper board, and their bookplate to front pastedown. Small library ink stamp to centre of title-page, to portrait frontis (upper right margin), to plate versos (a few slightly showing through to recto), occasionally to other margins seemingly at random (eg. p.105). A larger inkstamp dated 1969 to title-page verso. Appearing in the same year as the original, this reissue resets pp.717-719 and corrects various mispaginations. Plates include the portrait of Charles II by William Sherwin and the famous fireworks engraving by Hollar. The number of plates found varies greatly between copies (ESTC stating 34), possibly due as much to the scope for confusion between single- doublepage plates as to physical presence or absence. Of all Ashmole's (1617?1692) works, his Order of the Garter had perhaps the greatest contemporary impact. In it he uses his antiquarian researches to great effect in reinforcing a conventionally hierarchical view of society, and was rewarded accordingly: 'On the book'sappearance Ashmole was warmly commended by the Duke of York, while copies which he sent to foreign members of the order - complete with specially printed personal dedications - brought him gratifying compliments: the King of Denmark, the Elector of Brandenburg, and the Elector Palatine all presented him with gold insignia, which are preserved at the Ashmolean Museum.' (ONDB). Oldys notes that the King himself conveyed his approval 'not long after the book was publish'd and inscrib'd to His Majesty' by presenting Ashmole with 'a Privy Seal out of the Custom of Paper, for Four Hundred Pounds, as we find in the Diary, he left behind him, of his own Life.' (British Librarian, p.121). ESTC R225555; Wing A 3983; Lownes I, 80; Oldys 119-26. Ref: 54655show full image..
Baker, T. F. T. (ed.): The Victoria History of the County of Middlesex. Volume V. Oxford University Press for the Institute of Historical Research, 1976. First edition. 4to. Fully illustrated. Hardback: red cloth, gilt, fine. Dust-jacket, price-clipped, slightly creased to edges otherwise very good. Ref: 53996
Baker, T. F. T. (ed.): The Victoria History of the County of Middlesex. Volume VI. Oxford University Press for the Institute of Historical Research, 1980. First edition. 4to. Fully illustrated. Hardback: red cloth, gilt, fine. Dust-jacket, lightly shelf-rubbed,, slightly creased to edges otherwise very good. Ref: 53997
Ballard, Richard: England, France and Aquitaine: From Victory to Defeat in the Hundred Years War. Barnsley: Pen & Sword, 2020. First edition. 8vo., pp. xiv, 273 + plates with maps and illustrations. Hardback: black cloth, gilt-lettered to spine. Dust-jacket. Unused, a hint only of shelf-dust: a fine copy. Ref: 54436
Barr, Helen (ed.): The Digby Poems: A New Edition of the Lyrics. Exeter: University of Exeter Press, 2009. 8vo., pp. viii, 360. Paperback. Unread, light shelf-wear, very good indeed. Ref: 54459
Basdeo, Stephen: The Life and legend of a Rebel Leader: Wat Tyler. Barnsley: Pen & Sword, 2018. First edition. 8vo., pp. 216 + plates. Hardback: black cloth, gilt-lettered to spine. Dust-jacket. Unused, a hint only of shelf-dust: a fine copy. Ref: 54458
Battely, John: Opera Posthuma. viz. Antiquitates Rutupinae et Antiquitates S. Edmundi Burgi ad Annum 1272 Perductae. Oxonii [Oxford]: E Theatro Sheldoniano, 1745. 2 parts in 1 vol., 4to., pp.(xii), 138, (iv); (iv), 164 +16 plates, some folding (in part one 12 numbered & 1 unnumbered, in part two 3 numbered). Engraved head- and tail-piece and initials. Small abraded area to centre of title-page nearly forming a hole but not affecting text, occasional light spots but very clean internally. Contemporary speckled calf, raised bands, spine gilt with label, edges sprinkled red. Head and tail of spine and joints repaired in a lighter colour, corners worn, very good. To front paste-down, ownership inscription of J. Fleming, Coll: Oriel Soc. 1774 (according to Alumni Oxonienses of Thorner, Yorkshire, who began his M.A. at Oriel College in 1770). Also later book label of James Hobbs. The 'Antiquitates Rutupinae' is the second edition, having been previously published in 1711; Battely's nephew Oliver inherited his papers and arranged for this complete publication with Sir James Burrough. The works treat the antiquities of Richborough, rich in Roman remains, near where Battely had been Rector of Adisham, and the history of Bury St Edmunds, where Battely had grown up. "An elegant posthumous discourse, says Bishop Nicolson" (Lowndes). ESTC T91281. Lowndes 130. Ref: 54566show full image..
