An Inquiry into the means which have been taken to preserve the British Navy from the earliest period to the present time, particularly from that species of decay now denominated Dry-Rot
by KNOWLES, John
- Used
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- See description
- Seller
-
Holt, Norfolk, United Kingdom
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
London: Winchester and Varnham 1821, 1821. First edition. Large quarto. 268x210mm. pp. [iii]-xv [1], viii, 164. Lacking half title. Blind stamp of the Royal United Services Institute Library at head of title page. Half calf, marbled paper covered boards, rebacked and corners repaired. Red morocco label to spine, lettered in gilt. Upper cover a little scuffed and edges rubbed. Front pastedown has presentation bookplate of RUSI with disposal stamp. Slightly foxed but overall a very good copy of an important book which resulted in the election of Knowles to be a Fellow of the Royal Society. Knowles's work is a detailed study of the use and preservation of timber in ships. As he says in the preface, "the state and condition of the navy is a subject that cannot be too deeply studied, or too carefully attended to in this country; for whatever may be our political situation or connexion with the several Powers on the Continent of Europe, England should always recollect, that shops are her surest defence, for 'her rampart is the sea'". Knowles's day job was a surveyor in the Navy Office and it must have paid well as he was also a discerning collector of art owning works by Titian, Rembrandt, van Dyck and Gainsborough as well as many paintings by his friend Henry Fuseli about whom Knowles wrote a three volume memoir.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Voewood Rare Books
(GB)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 3986
- Title
- An Inquiry into the means which have been taken to preserve the British Navy from the earliest period to the present time, particularly from that species of decay now denominated Dry-Rot
- Author
- KNOWLES, John
- Book Condition
- Used
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Publisher
- London: Winchester and Varnham 1821
- Date Published
- 1821
Terms of Sale
Voewood Rare Books
30 day return guarantee, with full refund including original shipping costs for up to 30 days after delivery if an item arrives misdescribed or damaged.
About the Seller
Voewood Rare Books
Biblio member since 2018
Holt, Norfolk
About Voewood Rare Books
Simon Finch has been a Rare Book Dealer since 1980. He has had shops in Notting Hill Gate, Mayfair and Holt, Norfolk. His firm has handled a wide variety of material from the First Folio of Shakespeare to the wilder shores of the counterculture and everything in between. In 1998, Simon bought Voewood, one of the finest Arts and Crafts and houses and brought it back to life with an eight-year programme of renovation and restoration. Voewood Rare Books, which operates from Voewood, is the continuation for Simon of a long career in the book trade. It also represents an important link with the House. Voewood is always beautiful, surprising, mysterious and perhaps a little disorientating and we aim to bring something of this spirit to the bookshop. Whilst our focus in on the visual arts, literature and the counter-culture, we deal also in a broad range of antiquarian and modern rare books across all subject areas. Our collection can be found here at Biblio and on our website. We are open by appointment and can always be contacted by email.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Half Title
- The blank front page which appears just prior to the title page, and typically contains only the title of the book, although, at...
- Edges
- The collective of the top, fore and bottom edges of the text block of the book, being that part of the edges of the pages of a...
- Title Page
- A page at the front of a book which may contain the title of the book, any subtitles, the authors, contributors, editors, the...
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
- Quarto
- The term quarto is used to describe a page or book size. A printed sheet is made with four pages of text on each side, and the...
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
- Morocco
- Morocco is a style of leather book binding that is usually made with goatskin, as it is durable and easy to dye. (see also...
- Bookplate
- Highly sought after by some collectors, a book plate is an inscribed or decorative device that identifies the owner, or former...
- Marbled Paper
- Decorative colored paper that imitates marble with a veined, mottled, or swirling pattern. Commonly used as the end papers or...
- Rebacked
- having had the material covering the spine replaced. ...
- Foxed
- Foxing is the age related browning, or brown-yellowish spots, that can occur to book paper over time. When this aging process...
- Calf
- Calf or calf hide is a common form of leather binding. Calf binding is naturally a light brown but there are ways to treat the...
- Gilt
- The decorative application of gold or gold coloring to a portion of a book on the spine, edges of the text block, or an inlay in...
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