Search Results: Authors starting with B from E C Books

London: Chapman and Hall, 1868 A fair copy of the 1st edition in newer quarter buckram binding with folding map at the rear. The binding is clean and sound. The boards are marbled - with what could be the original marbling - and have light wear to edges and corners. The spine has gilt titles and date. The endpapers and initial and final blanks are newer. Contents with title; dedication; preface 2 pp; contents 3pp; errata 1 p; text pp 1-343; appendix 345-418; large folding map at rear. The paper quality is quite poor being toned, with general marking - particularly in the margins. Pages 228-229 have some foxing. The title and dedication pages have both been attached to new paper to bind them in, and there is paper repair in the gutter to the contents pages. There is damage to side edges (no loss of text) at p 15, and 301-2. There are some small repaired edge tears. There is a pin head indentation in the top margin pp 100-136 and mid text pp 391-401. There is a small hole in p399 with the loss of one… Read More

London: Elliot Stock, 1884 A very good copy of the 1st edition in full vellum binding with gilt titles and emblem to front board and spine. Page edges untrimmed. The vellum binding is sound and tight. There is some light marking to the boards - including a large spot on the front board. The spine has slight creasing and the front board has a slight warp at the top. Internally there is an ownership signature dated 1884 to the half title page. Contents are complete and very clean with occasional light spotting particularly to the top of the side margins. Endpapers with some light marking. The half title is browned as is the final blank. The last leaf has a design at the front and is unopened.

Edinburgh: Ballantyne, Hanson & Co, 1885 A very good 1st edition copy, scarce in its original form. Col David Balfour of Balfour dedicated his collection of old melodies to Orkney, as a 'loving son'. He first heard most of them as a small child on Shapinsay and collected others that he thought were original over the intervening years. He was determined to preserve their uniqueness in the days before sound recording was widely available. This copy is in a near fine wrapper, which could be original. The cloth binding with gilt titles to front board and spine, has some fading and light staining to the top of the front board. There is slight wear to the front spine joint, and some lighter patches on the back board. Aeg. Internally there is the bookplate of John Davie Manson Robertson, a noted Orcadian, to the front pastedown. Contents: half title; title page with small engraving; dedication; preface; contents listing; illustration list (small engravings in the text); half title; text and music… Read More

Edinburgh, 1860 A good copy of the extremely scarce 1st edition of Col David Balfour's work on the history of Orkney, inscribed by the author on an initial blank. Col Balfour was born on Shapinsay and inherited the family estate there in 1846, commissioning the building of Balfour Castle. He was one of the key movers in the reorganisation of land use in the mid 1800's - replacing the narrow field strips by larger square fields better-suited for profitable farming. The central thesis of 'Odal Rights' is that Orkney, with its Scandinavian links, had the capacity to be a major trading centre, but that Scottish rule brought over-taxation and dependency. This copy is in the original cloth binding with gilt titles to spine. The binding has mottling to the sides of both boards and has light fraying and pulling at the spine ends. Corners with light wear. The contents with title page, text, appendices and glossary of unusual words, are complete and clean with 2 initial and final blanks. The… Read More

London : Ward and Lock, 1856 Nice clean early copy of The Smuggler - rebound in blue cloth with gold lettering to spine. Final pages slightly browned but otherwise generally unmarked.

London: Alexander Hogg, 1790 A good copy in recent quarter leather binding, with frontispiece, folding map of England and Wales, maps of Scotland and Ireland, and 103 further full page plates. Like many attempts to cover 'earliest history' to 'the present day', this is somewhat sketchy on the early sections, but increasingly detailed almost to a diary approach on 'the present day'. This is a later edition - undated - but the last entry is for June 10th 1790. The author simply added pages to update so although the text pagination runs to p714, the index section starts at p709 reflecting the smaller initial version. Known particularly for its lavish engravings - especially the later ones covering the American War of Independence. This copy has been recently rebound: the binding has a leather spine and title label and marbled boards and is in very good condition. New endpapers. Contents with frontispiece, title page, dedication, table, preface with decorative tailpiece, folding… Read More

Osnabrugi [Osnabruck]: Johan.Georg.Schwanderum, 1676 A fair copy of an early edition of Isaac Barrow's classic translation of Euclid's work. Isaac Barrow (1630-1677) was a mathematician, classical scholar and theologian. He is principally known for his work on tangents and Calculus. He was one of Isaac Newton's teachers. This translation of Euclid from the Greek to Latin was his first work. The full leather binding is falling apart: the front board is detached; half the spine is present but detached; and the back board is still attached. Contents: blank; title page; preliminaries 6pp; text with numerous diagrams pp 1-376; half title Euclidis Data 1675; note; text pp 379-424; finis. The front endpaper and the initial blank have been joined by some tape and some sellotape. Apart from that, the contents are in very good clean condition. There is a signature of Walter Stephen to the top of the fep and also to the side of the title page, and a further note in the same hand on p29. There is a… Read More

London: John Murray, 1839 3rd edition, (1st published 8 years earlier in 1831), in contemporary full leather binding with 6 black and white plates. Classed as poor because the boards are adrift, there are loose preliminaries (at one point one was attached with sellotape) and there is browning, particularly where the plates have offset to tissue guards and text. There is a signature for John ?Slater Harrison, dated 1839 to a preliminary.Remaining contents nice and clean. There is light brown toning to paper.

LONDON : J Knox, 1765 3 volume set in original full leather with all plates and charts. The leather is rotten and the boards are coming adrift. Contents are fine. First edition published in 1765 and there is no indication that this is a reprint. With folding engraved chart of the world, folding engraved map with plans of Louisbourg, Havanna, Cartagena, and Portobello, folding chart of the Southern part of South America, and folding chart of the Pacific, and 5 full-page engraved plates, one folding. (16), 264; (4), 271, (1); (4), 280 pp. An important collection of voyages, circumnavigations, and discoveries by Columbus, Vasco de Gama, Francis Drake, Walter Raleigh, Thomas Cavendish, Oliver van Noort, Spelbergen, Schouten and Le Maire, Capt. Monk, Tasman, Dampier, Lionel Wafer, Woodes Rogers, Don Ulloa, Anson, Ellis, and Martin, also including the story of Alexander Selkirk. Further, it contains a relation of the adventures of the few survivors from the shipwreck of the Doddington East-Indiaman, and an… Read More

Venetiis: Ex Typographia Remondiniana , 1763 A good copy in full vellum. Lacks the frontispiece portrait but is otherwise complete. Giovanni Battista Morgagni was an Italian anatomist who was Professor of Anatomy at the University of Padua. He maintained his practice in pathology and through his clinical observation of precise detail and his methodical rigour, he has been termed the 'father of modern anatomical pathology'. His major work - Adversaria Anatomica - established his reputation in the field. This is a collection of his minor works including on the death of Cleopatra, and on gallstones. The vellum is yellowed, with browning at the edges and corners and the spine is darkened. There is particular wear to the spine joints at the top spine end with some splitting. There is some staining. Contents: title in red and black, which is also the title for part I; dedication; contents lists; text with half titles to each section 120pp - pars prima finis; title to Pars Altera in black; dedication;… Read More

London : Reeve and Co, 1853 A good copy of this scarce work in the original decorative cloth binding with colour frontispiece and 19 further lithographed plates. Part of Lovell Reeve's Popular Natural History series which aimed to provide a good grounding for amateurs (mainly children and young people) in a number of natural history subjects. The binding has bright front board and a more faded spine. There is wear to board corners, spine joints and spine ends. There is a small bump to the bottom corner of the back board. Internally the original endpapers are present - slightly grubby and with some repair to joints. There is a signature to the front pastedown endpaper and a stamped name to the fep. Contents are complete and clean. The paper is very toned, particularly towards the edges and this affects both text pages and plates. There is a small repaired tear in the top gutter to p110 where the page was poorly opened. Some of the stitching is a little wobbly.

London: Chatto & Windus, 1945 A very good copy of Bettina's first work in good wrapper. The yellow binding has a title and the outline of a donkey in red on the front board. It is in very good clean condition with some browning to the bottom edges and light turning to corners. The contents are very clean and sound. There is slight spotting to the verso of the fep and a slight bubble to the paper on the rear pastedown endpaper. The wrap is complete and clean with wear to folds and some browning to the spine. There are some edge nibbles and small edge tears at the top edge repaired with archive tape.

Newcastle upon Tyne: Printed by Edward Walker, for T Bewick and S Hodgson, 1807 A very good copy of the 5th edition in largely contemporary full calf binding which has been expertly rebacked with a newer spine with gilt compartments, title label and blind stamped designs. The boards have gilt lining, gilt decoration at board edges (some rubbed off) and gilt dentelles to the inner board edges. There is some scuffing to both boards and light wear at the corners, but the binding is very clean and sound. Endpapers are marbled. Contents: initial blank; title; advert 2pp; index pp v-x with errata; text pp 1-519 with numerous delicate wood engravings; Addenda pp 520-525 - introducing 2 new species (wombat and platypus); ad 1p; final blank. Original page marker present. Contents are very clean and sound. Paper is toned to varying degrees and there is occasional spotting - noticeable in the text next to the gutter of pp 447-450. P 301/302 has lost part of the side edge - this does not affect the text.

Francoforti: Ex officina Petri Brubachii, 1549 An extremely rare work. Johannes Sacrobosco’s Tractatus de Sphaera, first written around 1230 and first printed around 1472, set the framework for European understanding of astronomy for 400 years. Based on the work of Ptolemy Alfraganus, and using more recent Arabic sources, he presented a vision of the heavens as a series of enveloping spheres. The tables in his work are an almanac relating the 'rising' and 'setting' of celestial spheres with respect to the calendar. As this work presented the stars in terms of constellations, it also became of value to astrologers. In this setting the Earth is also a sphere, at the centre of the universe, around which the spheres of the heavens rotate. It was copied many times in the 15th and 16th centuries - sometimes as a whole text, and sometimes in the form of 'Quaestiones'. This version by Hartmann Beyer is in the latter form. Beyer (1516-1577) was a mathematician, theologian and… Read More

London: Henry Colburn, Publisher, 1843 A very good copy of the 2nd edition (published a year after the first and considerably enlarged) in newer cloth bindings. With hand coloured frontispiece and 2 black and white plates to Vol I and black and white frontispiece and a map to Vol II. Commander Bingham entered the Navy in 1820 and led a party storming the fort of Tycocktow in January 1841 during a naval expedition to China. He was injured shortly after, but was involved in the capture of Canton, and for that was made Commander in July 1841. He wrote and published his first account in 1842, and then, after it was well received, produced this enlarged 2nd edition which has an expanded introduction which covers more of the 'Opium question' and other additions. This copy is in black cloth bindings with blind ruled lines to spine and gilt titles and volume numbers. Both volumes are sound and tight with light scuffing and wear to edges and corners and slight scuffing to board surfaces. New endpapers.… Read More

LONDON : Ray Society, 1861 An exceptional copy. Complete in 2 volumes - rebound - brown leather spines with raised bands and gold lettering; marbled boards in fine condition. Original Ray Society plates retained and pasted onto new end papers.Volume 1 issued in 1861 and Volume 2 in 1864. Contents in very good condition with 29 hand coloured plates drawn from nature by Tuffen West. Some brown age spotting.

London: John Wright , 1652 A good copy of the 'Third Impression much Augmented' in full leather binding with new spine with raised bands and title label and contemporary boards. Blith (1604-1654) was known as a writer on husbandry. He was a supporter of Cromwell as the decorative title page with the motto 'Vive La Re Publick.' demonstrates. The book sets out and promotes improvements in husbandry and was suppressed after the Restoration in 1660. The binding is sound and clean. There is a lot of wear and leather loss at the corners. The marbled endpapers look to have had repair and are probably predate the binding work. The contents have toning and there has been some close trimming to margins notable in the epistles section at the beginning where page titles are missing but there is no loss to text. There is the signature of Philip Styles to the initial blank and a signature of Tho Wilkins, 1683 to the recto of the decorative title - possibly (although could be another Wilkins) repeated at the side of… Read More

LONDON: Tho Roycroft for Richard Blome, 1673 A fair copy of the 1st edition sadly lacking all but 2 of the maps. This work is rare. Richard Blome was heavily criticised at the time for producing the work - being accused of plagiarising Camden and Speed. He funded the work through subscribers but clearly sold few copies and ownership of it passed to John Wright in 1677. His work is now being reassessed and he is recognised for being the first to properly plan an illustrated description of London. This copy is in contemporary full leather binding which has been rebacked reasonably recently to provide a new spine with raised bands and gilt outlined title label. The boards have wear as you would expect - particularly to the corners - but are sound. With title page in red and black inks, dedication to Charles II, Preface to the Reader, alphabetical table of subscribers ('benefactors'), 12 leaves of coats of arms of the benefactors, portrait of Charles II pasted at the beginning of a general… Read More

Amsterdam: Abraham Wolfgang, 1688 A fair copy of the first French edition of Richard Blome's guide to British interests in North America with 6 (of 7) folding maps. The 1st edition was in English and published a year previously. The maps for the French edition were redrawn close copies of those in the English edition, and 4 of the maps in this copy have Robert Morden's name on them. The guide is a nice pocket size and was popular, however, some of the mapping is a little strange - the map of New York is notable in that Manhattan is shown as a peninsula not an island. This copy is missing the map of the Mid-Atlantic States - "Nouvelle Carte de la Pensylvanie Maryland, Virginie et Nouvelle Iarsey". The book is in contemporary full leather which is very worn with cracked hinges and a delaminating spine. The boards are reasonably sound with some leather loss at corners and a small area on the front board. The endpapers are marbled. Contents: 2 blank; title; avertissement 2pp; Text 1-331… Read More

Oxford: Printed by W Hall for Tho. Bowman , 1672 A good copy in contemporary leather binding rebacked with newer spine and title, author and date labels. The work is considered to be one of the first looking primarily at winds. Ralph Bohun was a Fellow of the Royal Society and gathered considerable information from sea voyages. It has been suggested that this could be the first work referencing barometers and the possibility of using a barometer to detect and forecast cyclones. The binding is in near fine condition with newer leather at the corners and edges. The board leather has some scuffing. Internally there are newer endpapers. There is the signature of Richard Handley to the initial blank and a practice 'Richard' underneath. The title page has been relaid and has loss to edges just affecting text. It has the signature of Richard Mason to verso. Contents: title; contents 2pp; text pp 1- 302 with 3 illustrations in the text at pp 18, 19 and 24. The contents are toned with occasional staining at… Read More