Search Results: Authors starting with B from McNaughtan's Bookshop

Paris: Chez Henry Charpentier, 1698. FIRST EDITIONS, 12mo, pp. [x], 162, [14], [vi], 111, [9]. Illustrated with wood-engravings. Contemporary sprinkled calf. Small piece torn from margin of privilege leaf of second work, a few small stains. Rebacked, hinges relined, corners worn. Scarce together, these are two related early works on Tric Trac, a French cousin of backgammon. A second edition combining the two appeared in 1701.

London: Printed for C. Hitch [et al.], 1736. FIRST EDITION, 8vo, pp. [612] + engraved frontispiece. Contemporary speckled calf, spine divided by raised bands between gilt rolls, red morocco label, central gilt tool to other compartments, edges sprinkled red. A little foxing, small edge tear to one leaf. Binding rubbed, spine ends worn, joints cracking but sound, front pastedown abraded from bookplate removal. A household manual covering everything from basic recipes, to cures for diseases, to animal husbandry, written by lexicographer Nathan Bailey (c.1691-1742), whose work was an influence on Samuel Johnson. There are substantial entries on brewing and fermenting, raising and preparing chicken, suggestions for abortifacients, cheese making (Cheshire, Gloustershire, cheddar, Stilton, and more), ‘catchup that will keep good 20 years’, and mince pies, among much else. ESTC T86942; Maclean pp. 7-8; Bitting p. 24-5.

London: Hutchinson, 1968. FIRST EDITION, 8vo, pp. 288. Original grey cloth, spine lettered in gilt, dustjacket printed in orange, ochre and black. A little spotting to textblock edges. Binding lightly bumped, dustjacket a touch toned. Bainbridge’s second novel, published a year after her first.

Edinburgh: Andrew Elliot, 1898. FIRST EDITION, 8vo, pp. xviii, 509, v + colour frontispiece and 2 black and white plates. Title-page printed in red and black. Black and white illustrations throughout. Original textured maroon cloth, boards blocked in blind, spine lettered in gilt. A touch of foxing. Spine sunned, faint marks to boards.

London: The Bombay Natural History Society, John Bale, Sons & Danielsson Ltd., 1921. FIRST EDITIONS of vols. 2 and 3, 3 vols., large 8vo, pp. xvi, 340; xvi, 328; x, 341, [1] + 80 plates. Original half brown roan (vol. 1); half green roan (vol. 2); half pebble-grain green cloth (vol. 3), green cloth boards, spines lettered in gilt direct. A little light browning and foxing, some offsetting from plates, half-title to vol. 1 somewhat soiled, bindings slightly soiled and rubbed, volume 2 with faded spine and a touch of wear to extremities. Ownership inscription of G. J. Brock, ILTD [Indian Leaf Tobacco Development], Chirala to contents page of Vol. 1 and pastedown and half-title of Vol. 3, indistinct ownership inscription to flyleaf of Vol. 2. The first volume in this set was first published as ‘Indian Ducks and Their Allies’ in 1908, this publication marks its first appearance in series with the other volumes. 62 of the plates are in colour, with many by Danish illustrator… Read More

London: From the Press of The Etheringtons; for John Bell, 1779. 12mo, pp. xxiv, 115, [1]. Contemporary half calf, marbled boards, spine divided by gilt rules, red morocco label, edges sprinkled red and blue. Scattered toning and foxing, one opening damp-marked. Somewhat rubbed, a little wear to edges. The second edition of this guide to proper English, first issued anonymously in 1770. It is notably the source of the linguistic shibboleth about the usage of ‘fewer’ for countable things and ‘less’ for things more nebulous, e.g. ‘fewer books’ but ‘less fiction’. This idea is first attested in Baker’s remark no. 47, on the word ‘Less’, although it is here clearly an opinion rather that a hard and fast rule: ‘This Word is most commonly used in speaking of a Number; where I should think Fewer would do better. No fewer than a Hundred appears to me not only more elegant than No less… Read More

Chicago: J.W. Goodspeed, 1873. FIRST EDITION, 8vo, pp. [ii], 364, [10, ads] + folding map frontispiece. Original blue cloth, boards bordered with a blind frame, spine lettered direct in bronze. Some scattered light toning, map a little spotted, handing tear to mount. Boards somewhat marked, extremities rubbed. Contemporary ink note to flyleaf on identity of the author, small shelfmark label to pastedown. A scarce work of Indiana local history by clergyman and historian Timothy Horton Ball (1826-1913). Worldcat records just the one copy, in Indiana State Library, amid a welter of facsimile reprints and digital and microfilm holdings.

Edinburgh: John Menzies, 1843. FIRST EDITION, 8vo, pp. [ii], 311, [1] + frontispiece and 13 plates. Numerous illustrations within pagination. Later half calf, purple pebbled cloth boards, spine divided by raised bands gilt, green morocco label, edges sprinkled red. Binding a little rubbed, boards a touch sunned. ‘James Ballantine’ in ink to flyleaf in an early hand. The first edition of poet and stained-glass artist James Ballantine’s (1807-1877) comic novel with verse interludes, which reached a second edition the following year and was reprinted again in 1875.

London: Viking, 1995. FIRST EDITION, 8vo, pp. [viii], 277, [1]. Original black boards, spine lettered in silver, colour-printed dustjacket. Dustjacket just a touch bumped to top edge. A sharp copy of the third book in the Regeneration trilogy, winner of the 1995 Booker prize.

London: Printed by J. Davis... and sold by Vernor and Hood, 1800. FIRST ENGLISH EDITION, 8vo, pp. xii, 478, [2, ads] + 1 engraved plate. Contemporary half russia, marbled boards, spine divided by gilt rolls, second compartment gilt-lettered direct, the rest with central gilt tools. Lightly toned throughout. Boards rubbed, corners a touch worn, front joint just cracking slightly but strong. Small bookseller’s ticket (I.M. Richardson, Cornhill) to front pastedown. The Austrian missionary Paulinus of St. Bartholomew (1748-1806), or Paolino da San Bartolomeo (or various other names), made several important contributions to Orientalist studies, among them the first grammar of Sanskrit printed in Europe. This more general account of his travels and residence in India between 1776 and 1789 was first published in Italian in 1796 and translated into German with notes in 1798, with that version is here translated into English. ESTC T95852.

Dublin: Printed for P. Byrne, 1796. 8vo, pp. [xliv], 227, [17]. Contemporary calf, spine divided by raised bands, red morocco label, other compartments tooled centrally in black. Some scattered toning and spotting, one opening soiled. Joints sometime repaired, boards somewhat rubbed and marked and a touch worn, spine dry and a little crackled. A few marginal pencil marks. An Irish printing of barrister Charles Barton’s (1768-1843) first book, first published in London in the same year. ‘This short work aimed to be a scientific deduction of the proceedings used on the equity side of the courts of exchequer and chancery, tracing each of the steps from the institution of a suit to a decree’ (ODNB). This Hibernian issue is scarcer than the London printing, particularly on this side of the Atlantic - ESTC records 12 copies, all of them in North America. ESTC N3697.

London: Michael Joseph, 1958. FIRST EDITIONS, 3 vols., 8vo, pp. 157, [1]; 158, [2]; 157, [1]. Original red, blue, and green cloth respectively, spines lettered in gilt, colour-printed dustjackets designed by James Broom-Lynne. Some spotting and toning. Binding extremities slightly rubbed, dustjackets a bit worn at edges, dampstain to front board of second book. Ink gift and ownership inscriptions to front endpapers of first two volumes, bookplate to front flyleaf of third volume. Bates’s original trilogy about the Larkin family; two more volumes would follow in later years. Eads A86a, A87a, A90a.

[London]: Produced by Colman Prentis & Varley Ltd., and printed by Hadlow & James Ltd., 1957. Large pamphlet, pp. [12]. Printed throughout in black, red and mauve. Stapled as issued in self-wrappers. A touch creased, spine-fold a little rubbed, small closed tear to bottom edge of front wrapper. The second issue of this promotional leaflet for the London department store, with their telephone number shown as 017348040 on the rear wrapper.

London: Printed for the Author by R. Hindmarsh, 1782. FIRST EDITION, 8vo, pp. [iv], xvi, [iv], 232. Bound without the subscriber’s list or final ad leaf. Near-contemporary straight-grained blue morocco, spine divided by gilt rules, lettered in gilt direct, other compartments with central flower tools gilt, marbled endpapers, edges gilt. Just some light spotting. Binding rubbed and scratched. Occasional marginal pencil notes, trimmed in binding and blurry (from an attempt to wash?); early ownership inscription of Gul. M. Johnson, A.M. to front blank. A popular and widely admired Hebrew grammar for beginners by Cornelius Bayley (1751-1812), a Methodist preacher who later joined the Church of England. Based in Manchester (he was the first incumbent of St James’s Church in the city centre, now a 1960s office block), he earned an honorary D.D. from Aberdeen following the publication of this work. ODNB gives the date of its first appearance as 1778, but no such edition can be traced in… Read More

London: Printed for J. Mawman, 1806. 8vo, pp. lvi, 102, [2, ads] + engraved frontispiece and 4 plates. Contemporary marbled calf, spine divided by gilt rules, black morocco label, other compartments tooled in gilt. A little spotting, tear across one leaf of introduction repaired. Binding a touch rubbed and scratched.

Glasgow: Printed for Robert Urie, 1768. 2 vols., 8vo, pp. xii, [xi], 13-198; [iv], 220. Near-contemporary calf, spine divided by raised bands between gilt rules, red morocco labels, 3rd and 6th compartments numbered and lettered direct in gilt (the latter later), edges sprinkled red. First and last leaves of vol. 1 toned. Somewhat rubbed, particularly to spines, joints just starting, a little wear to extremities. The only Urie printing of six plays by the early 17th century dramatists: Philaster, Rule A Wife And Have A Wife, The Maid’s Tragedy, The Faithful Shepherdess, The Elder Brother and A King And No King. ESTC records 10 locations, Birmingham, BL, Cambridge, Glasgow, NLS and Leeds in the UK, Columbia, Newberry, Pennsylvania and Folger in the USA. ESTC T32943.

London: John Calder, 1993. FIRST BRITISH EDITION, 8vo, pp. xx, [iv], 241, [1]. Original green boards backed in dark brown paper, spine lettered in gilt, white dustjacket printed in green and black. A fine copy. Beckett’s first-completed novel, written in 1932 but not published until after his death.

London: John Calder, 1964. FIRST BRITISH EDITION, 8vo, pp. 160. Original grey boards, spine lettered in gilt, white dustjacket printed in black and orange. Just a touch of soiling to dustjacket. ‘Nobel Prize for Literature 1969’ sticker to front panel of dustjacket. Beckett’s last-completed novel, which was first issued in this trade edition and afterward in two signed and limited versions, per Federman and Fletcher - despite the edition statement to page 4 which states the opposite. It was first published in French 3 years earlier. Federman and Fletcher 384.1.

Parisiis [Paris]: Apud Tussanum du Bray, 1634. FIRST EDITION, second issue, folio, pp. [vi], 824 [recte 848], 15, [1]. Contemporary vellum, boards panelled in blind with central decorative lozenge, fore-edge extensions, spine divided by gilt rolls, compartments infilled with repeated spray and dot tools gilt. Toned, some spotting and rustmarks, a few tiny paper flaws. Vellum somewhat soiled and marked, spine label lost, front flyleaf sometime neatly renewed. Armorial bookplate of Thomas Gaisford, Dean of Christ Church, with printed catalogue mumber label (’1332’), to front pastedown. The final and most substantial work of William Bellenden (c.1550-1633?), published posthumously and long considered a great rarity: the story repeated in several places is that most of the edition was lost at sea when the ship carrying it from France to Britain foundered in a storm. This may have been a rumour from the period of controversy over Conyers Middleton’s Life of Cicero -… Read More

London: Thomas Nelson and Sons, 1913. FIRST EDITION, 8vo, pp. [ii], 375, [1] + frontispiece. Original blue cloth, front board blocked in blind, spine lettered in gilt. A touch of soiling, slightly shaken. Extremities a little rubbed, cloth lightly marked. Pencilled address to contents page, ink arithmetic to rear pastedown. The first edition of E.C. Bentley’s pioneering detective novel, his amateur sleuth an affectionate parody of the gifted fictional logician detective of the Sherlock Holmes type which proliferated in late Victorian fiction.