Rare books from Itchen Books

One line has been trimmed at the foot of Page 2, and there is some edge browning/paper clip residue. Original 6-page typescript (carbon copy) manuscript of Johns' 'Heroes of Africa' (a draft of the Chapter 'The Scot Who Walked Alone' - Chapter 4 of 'Biggles Book of Heroes' with significant similarities, but also a large number of textual / content differences). With a couple of pen corrections which may or may not be authorial. Undated, but c1959.

Original Edward Lear drawing in pen with black and grey ink and grey wash, numbered '43' to upper left and titled in pen with black ink to the lower sheet "And one, an English Home, - gray twilight pour'd / On dewy pastures, dewy trees / Softer than sleep:- all things in order stored / A haunt of ancient peace. (The Palace of Art.) / Hampshire, England". The house is the only English scene chosen by Lear in 'The Palace of Art' series was Lord Northbrook's Stratton House. Undated (1871). Overall size 13" x 11" (Mount aperture Size 8" x 5 1/2"). Very Good condition. Framed and glazed. (Not removed from the frame). Pencil note from previous owner to the reverse stating provenance was the Tennyson Trust. As featured in Ruth Pitman's "Edward Lear's Tennyson" Pg 81-86.
Provenance;
From a Private Collector
Previously from the Tennyson Trust

Single page with 2 sides of pencil illustrations. 242 x 166mm. A page of pencil sketches showing four leaves and a pot with handle, 1853, the largest leaf and pot each signed E. L Brown and dated 30th December 1853 and 30th September 1853 respectively. The verso with contemporary pencil sketches of ornamental designs and a gryphon, with a pencil note (by Lucy's future husband, William Rossetti), 'These are the only early drawings by Lucy (aged 10) that I have noticed'. Provenance; Dominic Winter auctions (2004), with accompanying catalogue description.

Scarce. Most attractive condition. 444pp + xx + 2pp advertisements to the rear. No inscriptions. Title continues: "To Which are Added Cases and Observations, in which the Asthma is complicated with the following Diseases: Catarrhs. Humoral asthmas. Tubercles in the Lungs. Consumptions. Universal dropsical Swellings. A Dropsy of the Breast. Jaundice. Gout. Rheumatism. Chronic Weakness. Intermittent Fevers. Inflammations of the Lungs. Abcesses and Ulcers in the Lungs. The False Peripneumony. Spittings of Blood. Excessive Corpulency. Severe Headachs. Teething. Cutaneous Eruptions. Obstruction of the Menses. A Venereal Ulcer of the Nose. Spasmodic Affections of the Throat. Hysteric Fits. General Convulsions." Withers' treatise provides a rare glimpse of the prevalence of asthma in the 18th century. He felt the condition was becoming more frequent and attributed it to the perils of modern living: "The greater irritability and weakness of the constitution in these days, may, in some measure account for the… Read More

12 issues (Volume 1 Numbers 1-12) of 'The Aero'. Scarce in original printed wrappers. All complete and in Very Good condition. The usual browning to the paper stock and occasional spotting / minor edge tears, with marks to the front cover of No.1, Rear cover of No.2, and minor loss to one corner of the front cover of No.12. 194 pp. B/W illustrations and diagrams throughout; some advertisements.

1st Edition / 1st Impression, September 1937. Very good in very good dust jacket which is not price-clipped (Published price 5'-net). Handsigned by WE Johns to the front endpaper, with neat Christmas 1937 presentation in another hand beneath. Particularly clean and tight, in Very Good dustwrapper which has a tear to the lower rear panel and small abrasion to the upper spine. The dust-jacket is protected by a transparent, non-adhesive, archival quality acid-free protector, which can be easily removed if required.A collection of Johns's articles for the My Garden periodical, with a number of unpublished pieces and original illustrations by Howard Leigh. Johns is best remembered as the author of the Biggles books. This is his only book on gardening.

Xxxii (last blank), 460pp + 3pp publisher's advertisements, 1pp Errata. Engraved supplementary title page + frontispiece. Numerous small woodcut illustrations and a folding plate of The Royal Kitchen, Windsor Castle. Near Very Good, complete condition. Small 19th Century booksellers labels for J Hadden of Glasgow and Leighton Son & Hodge, Shoe Lane, London. Bumping to corners and lightly worn; minor signs of use with occasional thumbing; a decent copy. No inscriptions.

[vii]-xxviii, 720pp. 2nd (Revised) edition of the English translation (First published in French in as De l'Auscultation médiate (1819), with the 1st English language edition of only 500 copies in 1821). 8 engraved plates by John Pope Vibert (Plates iv and v bound in incorrect order, but both present). Lacking frontispiece portrait of the author and advertising leaf. Title page foxed with tape repairs. Otherwise, largely clean and tightly bound with occasional edge repairs.Laennec's invention of the stethoscope, which he announced in his 1819 treatise, provided the first adequate method for diagnosing diseases of the thorax and represented the greatest advance in physical diagnosis between Auenbrugger's percussion and Röentgen's discovery of x-rays. The publication of this book revolutionized the study of diseases of the thoracic organs. The second edition is even more important, since it gives not only the various physical signs elicited in the chest, but adds the pathological anatomy, diagnosis,… Read More

205pp. Decorative endpapers. Very Good condition with light foxing to the closed page edges, and corner 'crumple' to lower margin/corners of pages 137-144.In near Very Good original price-clipped dustwrapper with some edge tears and toning.Rare memoir by Barbara Greene of the 350-mile, 4-week walk through the unmapped interior of Liberia undertaken in 1935 with her cousin, Graham Greene (republished in 1981 as 'Too Late to Turn Back'). Graham Greene's own account of the journey "Journey Without Maps" had been published in 1936.

Original Edith Oenone Somerville drawing in pencil on buff coloured paper, numbered '61' to lower left with 1968 Neptune Gallery monogram stamp "E OE S" to the lower right corner. Equine Studies of horse and groom. Undated (c 1900). Overall size 15 1/4" x 12 3/4" (Mount aperture Size 9" x 6"). Near Very Good condition. Framed and glazed. (Not removed from the frame). Auction labels and 1968 Neptune Gallery catalogue excerpt to board backing detailing the Provenance and that "All of these drawings, except those which bear a clear signature, have been marked by the Gallery with a monogram stamp with the initials E. OE S.".
Provenance;
From the Artist's Estate to Sir Patrick Coghill
Sold at Sotheby's, London in July 1968 to the Neptune Gallery, Dublin, with their label & Exhibition catalogue excerpt to reverse of frame.Private Collection.Offered for Sale at auction in 2005 (Whyte's, Dublin), with their label to reverse of frame.Private Collection.

Original exceedingly rare Russian Language 1st (Pirate) Edition of Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak. Meets all the issue points for the true 1st Edition - "Roman" to title page, 634 pages, publishers imprint in cyrillic, and 2 page introduction (lacking from later Russian editions). Unusually tight, bright, Very Good condition, with no inscriptions and only light toning to closed page edges. Several gatherings are unevenly browned as usual, due to differing paper stocks used in printing. Issued without a dust-jacket.The publication of the Russian text of Doctor Zhivago was attended by odd circumstances. It first appeared in a 'pirated' (or possibly semi-authorised) edition, a short time before Feltrinelli's official edition came out in Milan. The 'pirated' version, however, bore Feltrinelli's imprint and were produced by Mouton, the reputable firm of Dutch printers with whom he was negotiating, and to whom he had sent the manuscript. Declassified documents reveal that the CIA sought to embarrass the… Read More

Scarce, 4th edition. Near Very good condition. Feintly spotted with occasional marks and 'crinkling' of cloth. A superior copy. From the Library of Robert Montgomery of Convoy with his armorial bookplate to the front pastedown and signature at head of title-page. Preceded by the rare 1729, 1743 and 1808 editions. Includes a new Editor's Preface, and a 'Sequel' regarding the subsequent life of Robert Drury (of whom little was known) to the rear. 9pp vocabulary of the Madagascar language to the rear. Often attributed to Daniel Defoe (e.g. by ESTC), and regarded as fiction; but more probably a genuine record of Drury's experiences, and not by Defoe

Complete bound Volume 1 (Numbers 1-12) of Popular Flying, preserving the original covers. Edited by W.E Johns, with significant contributions including illustrations and writing by him. Includes the first appearance of Biggles in the story "The White Fokker" (as well as a further short story as 'William Earle'). A total of 10 of these 12 issues contain Biggles stories, the early stories under the pen-name "William Earle". Very Good condition internally (protected by the binding), with bumping to lower corners of pages, and early cracking to front hinge. Externally, there is significant scraping to the boards and chipping/discolouration to the spine label. It is most uncommon for bound volumes to preserve the glorious original covers of these magazines.William Earl Johns (5 February 1893 – 21 June 1968) was an English pilot and writer of adventure stories, usually written under the pen name Captain W. E. Johns. He is best remembered as the creator of the ace pilot and adventurer Biggles.

UK true 1st Edition / 1st Printing with uncorrected 'whip' on line 13, page 50. Very Good condition, with ownership name/date to front endpaper. Leading edges rough cut, as issued. In near Good original dustwrapper which is not price-clipped (Published price 15s). The wrapper has loss to the lower spine affecting most of the publisher's details, closed tears (with archival tape and paper repairs mainly to folds / spine head and tail), and browning/soiling.Radclyffe Hall was well known in London literary circles and had already been published to some acclaim by Jonathan Cape. However, in August 1928 the Home Secretary (a Christian fundamentalist) was persuaded that the author's new book 'The Well of loneliness' was profane. He banned the book from sale. The publishers Jonathan Cape made secret arrangements with a French publisher, 'Pegasus Press', for the book to be sold in France. But on 3 October 1928 a warrant was issued for Customs and Excise to seize and destroy the books crossing the channel. A… Read More

Rare. 91pp + 4pp preliminary 'To The Reader', Prologue and Production details, 1pp Epilogue. Bound in later brown wrappers with title feintly written in pencil to front. Opens at title page, which has been tipped in and has a strip of paper strengthening to verso of leading edge. The pages are closely cropped to upper and lower edges. Minor loss to lower corner of rear cover, and crease to upper corner.Sir Patient Fancy: A Comedy, Aphra Behn's first overtly political play, was performed in Dorset Garden on 17 January 1678. In An Account of the English Dramatick Poets, Gerard Langbaine noted that Sir Patient Fancy was based loosely on Moliere's last play, Le Malade imaginaire, which had been staged in Paris in 1673 and printed in 1675.