Rare books from Dephen Rare Books

New York 1894. The Irish National Invincible Publishing Co.
Very scarce US edition of this book on The National Invincibles which was a splinter group of the Irish Republican Brotherhood and best known for carrying out what became known as the Phoenix Park Murders in Dublin in 1882.
Book was written by a leading member of the Invincibles and was first published in USA as a revolutionary document. The later UK edition of 1894 was toned down for the British market.
Book is sound. Boards somewhat faded with some discolouring to lower part of rear board. Head and tail of spine showing sign of slight wear. Corners somewhat bumped with a tiny tear at one corner. Lower fore edge of text block is stained, perhaps water spill, with staining spreading to some leaves but this is not greatly significant.
A strong solid copy.
Provenance: First blank contains the name and address of previous owner, Sean O Lúing, who was Head of Translation section in the Irish Parliament. He was a poet, linguist and produced a… Read More

First Edition
London 1828. John Murray, Albemarle Street. 8vo.
293, 85 (i. e. 58), 41 pages. 1 unnumbered page.
Contemporary half calf.
Author was a one time MP and a London merchant who spent many years as comptroller of corn returns for the Board of Trade. He was commissioned to write a report on the Corn Trade and Corn Laws and was an advocate for the repeal of the Corn Laws.
In addition to the report on the Trade in Corn in some of the States of Northern Europe, this book includes sections on the Commerce of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azoff and also Observations on the Benefits arising from the Cultivation of Poor Soils.
Book is in very good condition with raised bands on spine and morocco label. Spine and corners in leather. Leaves are remarkably clean and no significant age toning. Edges sprinkled. No inscriptions or markings except for previous sale price in pencil on first blank and on rear pastedown. No foxing or spotting.
Armorial bookplate on front pastedown.
Imperfections: slight tear… Read More

London 1958. Collins. First edition of Christie's eerie mystery novel involving murder in a domestic setting.
Very good+ at least. Boards clean. Binding tight. Contents clean with no markings. No spotting or foxing. Any imperfections are minor. Top edge little dusty. Very slight compression to spine head. Corners a little bumped. A little spotting to front and rear pastedowns (not significant).
DJ is not price clipped. It shows price as 12s. 6d. net.
Minor chipping to head and tail of spine and to a very small degree at corners. White lettering slightly foxed and rear panel dust aged. In protective removeable sleeve.
Overall, a handsome Christie first edition.
More images can be provided.

Sceptre, London 2004.
First edition, first printing of author's 2004 novel which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize.
It is the author's highly regarded third novel. Book is near fine. Binding tight. Clean cloth bound boards. Blue lettering on spine.
Internally clean. No markings, inscriptions or foxing.
Some yellowing of edges, mainly top edge. Not affecting the leaves.
The DJ is Fine with no imperfections. Now in a removable protective sleeve.
A lovely first edition.

London 1906 A H Bullen and Maunsell Dublin.
First Edition.
Very good copy. Original dark blue cloth on laid paper. Decorative gilt on spine and gilt lettering on front panel.
Boards clean with very slight wear at tips. Spine ends slightly pinched. Binding tight. Edges untrimmed. Top edge a little dusty.
Internally clean. No foxing or spotting.
Minor inscriptions in pencil on first blank dated 1906.
A lovely copy. Includes works such as On Baile's Strand, In The Seven Woods and The Shadowy Waters with a Preface by Yeats dated 18 May 1906.
More images available on request.

First Edition. Collins. London 1953
A Miss Marple novel
Binding very good.
Book has red cloth boards. Clean with a little fading to top and a lesser extent tail of spine. Top and tail of spine a little rubbed. Top corner of front board slightly pinched. No markings or inscriptions. Internally clean except for some browning to half title and free end paper. Edges of text block toned with a hint of toning to leaves.
DJ is good with some loss to head a little loss to tail of spine. Also some loss to top of front panel ( see photo). Closed tear at fold of rear panel. Somewhat dust dulled. Now in a protective removeable sleeve.
A collectible First Edition for Christie collectors

Signed Limited Edition. Chapman & Hall, London. 8vo.
Large paper copy. Limited to 250 copies of which this is no. 58, Mr. Allen Johns's copy. Signed by Evelyn Waugh and the illustrator Stuart Boyle.
Book is internally very clean with no markings, inscriptions, foxing or spotting. Title page in black and sepia. Several woodcuts in sepia by illustrator Stuart Boyle. Top edge gilt with other edges untrimmed.
Olive green cloth boards. Gilt lettering on spine. Spine a little faded and with a little fading to top portion of rear board. Else fine.
A lovely near Fine copy.
More images can be provided.

Leipzig 1895
Very good copy of the third edition of Baedeker's Handbook for Travellers. This is the last edition of this handbook for Lower Egypt. 14 maps, 33 plans, 7 views and 76 vignettes. Book is very good. Soft leather boards clean. Binding tight. Edges marbled. Light cracking of hinge inside front cover but still very firm (see images).Cover has very small wear at corners and head and tail of spine.Only marking or inscription is name and address of previous owner in pencil on first blank with previous sale price and edition also in pencil. Tiny bookseller label on front pastedown.
Overall, a well preserved copy of an uncommon title.
More images can be provided.

First Edition (Third Impression)
Edward Arnold, London 1906
An excellent copy of M.R. James first collection of ghost stories in the publisher's original beige cloth binding. The third impression of the 1904 first edition with four illustrations, including frontispiece, by James McBryde who died leaving illustrations for the book unfinished.
The stories are: Canon Alberic's Scrapbook, Lost Hearts, The Mezzotint, The Ash-Tree, Number 13, Count Magnus, Oh, Whistle And I'll Come To You, My Lad and The Treasure Of Abbot Thomas.
Book is very good plus.
Boards are sturdy and are stamped in red and black. There are 2 red smudges on front board and a tiny tear to cloth at bottom corner of front board (barely perceptible when book is closed). Otherwise boards are Fine. Binding is sound.
Fore and bottom edges are untrimmed. Leaves are lightly age toned. Light age related brown spots to very early leaves and end papers. Otherwise, the leaves are remarkably clean.
Front pastedown has light age related brown… Read More

First Edition, First Printing
Edward Arnold, London 1911
Very good plus copy in publisher's original binding. It is author's second collection of ghost stories consisting of: A School Story, The Rose Garden, The Tractate Middoth, Casting The Runes, The Stalls Of Barchester Cathedral, Martin's Close and Mr. Humphreys And His Inheritance.
Book is very good plus at least. Rarely does one encounter a copy in such condition. There is a small mark (ink?) on front board. Some light soiling on a small portion of rear board. Book has a very slight forward lean.
Inernally, remarkably clean. The leaves are remarkably bright, free of foxing and not age toned.
Fore and lower edges are untrimmed. Endpapers (front and rear) are browned. First blank has discreet signature of previous owner and date of Christmas 1911 in ink on first blank.Provenance: Book is from the private library of A.G. Bewley (previous owner), a member of a well known Dublin Merchant Quaker family and and brother of Charles Bewley Irish Envoy in… Read More

1869, R W Bliss & Co. Newark, N.J.
The writer's and explorer's account of the second and last United States Grinnell Expedition in search of Sir John Franklin.
Book is beautifully illustrated with 23 steel engravings and more than 250 wood engravings from original designs.
Book is very good. Solid with clean brown cloth bound boards. Gilt vignette on front board and publisher's logo embossed on rear board. Gilt lettering on spine but rather faded. Boards are good with wear at corners. A little fraying at head and tail of spine.All edges are gilt.
Internally clean with no markings, inscriptions or foxing. Leaves lightly age toned. Binding is good with light cracking at hinges and some netting exposed. However, not shaken or loose. Still tight. A heavy book of approx 1.6 kgs may require higher than usual shipping costs. Please contact re shipping costs for your location.
More images can be provided on request

Sinn Fein Rebellion Handbook, Easter 1916.
Compiled by the Weekly Irish Times. The second edition which appeared in 1917 with a price of sixpence net.
Binding is contemporary half calf over cloth bound boards. Gilt titles on spine. Very good condition showing little wear. 248 pages including advertisements. Leaves are browned due to quality of paper. No markings or inscriptions except for name and address of a previous owner on first blank. There is a bookplate of a previous owner on front pastedown and a small stamp of bookseller.Some fading of boards.
Published in 1917 and based on articles published in the Irish Times in 1916, it provides a fascinating insight into the 1916 Easter Rising. It contains a wealth of information including photographs, an official list of casualties, names of prisoners etc (see images for summary of contents).
A very scarce volume in very good condition and in an attractive and durable binding.
More images can be provided.

London 1714. J. Round, W. Taylor, J. Brown, W. Lewis. J. Graves.
First Edition in English.
Original French edition appeared in 1713. Translated by Mr. Abel Boyer, it is an account of the amorous intrigues of the Restoration court by French nobleman, Philibert, Count de Grammont as told to his brother in law Anthony Hamilton.
Because of the content, the book was on the "Vatican Index" until 1965.
1714 edition with much later (dark green coloured) boards and endpapers. Boards are half calf and in very good condition. Raised bands on spine. Morocco label. Gilt lettering. Head of spine a little rubbed. Binding very good.Text block well preserved. Some notations on title page (see images). Some light occasional foxing and some occasional staining on leaves.
Ultimately, a very good scarce First Edition.
More images can be provided.

First Edition. 1790. Newcastle upon Tyne (see images).
Very scarce.
Thomas Bewick (1753-1828) was an English wood engraver and natural history author. He is much admired today for the quality of his wood engravings and is usually considered as the founder of wood engravings. This book contains many examples of such wood engraving.
This History is comprehensive dealing with 260 mammals from across the world and is particularly thorough on domestic animals.
Binding very good. Later half calf green morocco over marbled boards with morocco label on spine. Raised bands on spine with gilt tooling and lettering.Light wear with a little scuffing to leather, mainly one corner. Spine lightly sunned.
Marbled endpapers. All edges marbled. Text block good. Some damp staining mainly leaves 1 to 20 (not greatly significant) and occasional finger marks. Discreet repair to page 5 which had a tear. In general, leaves are clean.
No markings except for old sale price and "first edition" in pencil on first blank.
Very… Read More

VERY RARE
Memoirs of Sir Robert Peel in 2 volumes by the Irish writer William Hamilton Maxwell (author of The Life of the Duke of Wellington). See images.
First Edition. London 1842
These volumes chronicle the life and political career of Sir Robert Peel, the British statesman who became leader of the Conservative Party and served twice as Prime Minister and was one of the most important figures in 19th century British politics. The volumes also delve into his personal life, his relationship with family and friends and interests outside of politics.
The author, William Hamilton Maxwell (1792-1850), was a novelist and writer of history who claimed to have served with the British Army at the Battle of Waterloo but the veracity of this claim has been doubted.
Both volumes are very good to near Fine.
Vol 1. 309pp, Vol 2. 440pp.
Contemporay half calf over marbled boards. Raised bands on spines with morocco labels. Gilt lettering. Boards showing only minor wear.
Binding tight.
Text block of each volume… Read More