lamdha books -
Catalogue of classic works and fine bindings

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39542 Bierce, Ambrose (Will Jenkins, illus.) A Son of the Gods and A Horseman in the Sky Paul Elder and Company, San Francisco CA, 1907. Octavo; hardcover, quarter-bound in vellum with bevelled papered boards, gilt spine and upper board titles with a gilt upper board decoration; 47pp., untrimmed and top edges gilt, with a photogravure frontispiece. Very minor wear only; boards lightly rubbed; previous owner's bookplate to the front pastedown. Very good copy. One of a thousand copies printed on Fabriano handmade paper. Click here to order $60

98911 Bronte, Anne (Temple Scott, ed.) The Tenant of WildFell Hall - Two Volumes Thornton edition John Grant, Edinburgh Scotland UK, 1924. Two octavo hardcover volumes; green cloth boards with gilt spine titling and ornate decoration; 351 + 347pp., monochrome frontispiece of the author and red and black titling on half-title and title pages, page edges untrimmed with top text block edge dyed green/blue. Browning to text block and page edges. Cream card dustwrappers, well-rubbed with dark blue spine titling and decoration; browned along spine panel with wear and chipping at extremities; lightly worn edges. Otherwise minor wear; very good and wrappers now professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film with white paper backing. Click here to order $70

98912 Bronte, Charlotte (Temple Scott, ed.) The Professor Thornton edition John Grant, Edinburgh Scotland UK, 1924. Two octavo hardcover volumes; green cloth boards with gilt spine titling and ornate decoration; 378pp., monochrome frontispiece of the author with tissue guard and monochrome photographic plates; red and black titling on half-title and title pages, page edges untrimmed with top text block edge dyed green/blue. Browning to text block and page edges. Cream card dustwrapper, well-rubbed with dark blue spine titling and decoration; browned along spine panel with wear and chipping at extremities; lightly worn edges. Otherwise minor wear; very good and wrapper now professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film with white paper backing. Click here to order $35

201100 Burke, Edmund A Philosophical Inquiry into the Origin of our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful Thomas Tegg, London, 1810. Duodecimo; hardcover, half-bound in calf with marbled boards, gilt spine titles on a red morocco label between four raised bands with gilt rules; 172pp., with an engraved frontispiece and title page. Rebound; text block edges well toned; mild scattered foxing to the preliminaries; previous owner's name in ink to the verso of the frontispiece. Very good. Miniature edition. Click here to order $350

218119 Collingwood, Harry (ill. W.H. Overend) The Missing Merchantman Blackie & Sons, London, 1893. Octavo hardcover; red cloth boards with gilt spine titling and upper board illustration, green and black titles; black endpapers; 352pp., b&w frontispiece and five plates likewise. Minor wear; slight wear to board edges and corners with softening to spine panel extremities with one or two tiny tears, slight fraying to corners; mild scattered spotting to early pages and browned text block edges with a few spots. No dustwrapper as issued. Very good. Click here to order $35

98003 Collingwood, Stuart Dodgson (ed.) The Lewis Carroll Picture Book A Selection from the Unpublished Writings and Drawings of Lewis Carroll, Together with Reprints from Scarce and Unacknowledged Work T. Fisher Unwin, London, 1899. First edition. Octavo; hardcover, full cloth with gilt spine and upper board titles and decoration on bevelled boards; 376pp., top edges gilt, with a monochrome portrait frontispiece and many other illustrations and diagrams likewise. Moderate wear; binding professionally tightened and joints repaired; boards rubbed and marked with some minor insect damage; text block edges mildly toned; offset to the endpapers; previous owner's ink inscription to the flyleaf; light scattered foxing throughout. Very good. Now protected with Mylar cover. Click here to order $140

87623 Dickens, Charles (H.K. "Phiz" Browne, illus.) Little Dorrit Bradbury & Evans, London, 1857. First bound edition: octavo; hardcover, half-bound in marbled boards with a gilt spine title on a morocco label, blind-stamped spine decorations between four gilt-decorated raised bands, and gilt rules; 625pp., all edges dyed red, with an engraved frontispiece (with loose tissue guard), a decorated half-title page, and 39 engraved plates. Boards well-rubbed and some wear to the spine head; some wear to the lower board edges; some offset to the plates; and mild scattered foxing to the preliminaries. Very good. Click here to order $1800

212038 Dickens, Charles (J.A. Hammerton, ed.; Harry Furniss, illus.) The Charles Dickens Library - 18 volumes The Educational Book Company Ltd., London, 1910. 18 volumes, octavo; hardcover, full cloth with gilt spine titles and rules and upper board decorations, and decorative endpapers; 14,637pp. [727pp. + 817pp. + 811pp. + 846pp. + 820pp. + 758pp. + 863pp. + 803pp. + 898pp. + 882pp. + 888pp. + 869pp. + 784pp. + 897pp. + 857pp. + 812pp. + 698pp. + 607pp.], top edges gilt, with 28 monochrome frontispieces, 29 decorated title pages, 518 monochrome plates and many other illustrations likewise. Mild wear; spine extremities softened; boards a little rubbed and edgeworn with some light corner-bumping and a few marks; some minor insect damage; text block edges lightly spotted. No dustwrappers. Very good. Click here to order $400

88613 Dickens, Charles (Marcus Stone, illus.) Our Mutual Friend In Two Volumes Chapman and Hall, London, 1865. First bound edition: two volumes, octavo; hardcover, half-bound in red morocco, with gilt rules to the boards, gilt spine titles in compartments between five raised bands, and marbled endpapers; 629pp. [320pp. + 309pp.], all edges marbled, with engraved frontispieces and 38 plates likewise. Boards well-rubbed with some stains; corners bumped; some scraping to the hinges and softening to the spine extremities; mild creasing to the spine of Volume 2; bookbinder's plates to the front pastedowns; previous owner's ink inscriptions to the title pages; mild scattered foxing throughout. Very good. Click here to order $1300

218036 Eliot, George (illus. Hugh Thomson) Scenes of Clerical Life Macmillan & Co., London, 1906. First edition thus (with these illustrations). Octavo hardcover; dark green cloth boards with highly decorated upper board and spine panel in gilt with gilt titling; 429pp., colour frontispiece with tissue guard and many colour illustrations likewise; b&w line drawings otherwise; gilt edges all round. Rebound with new endpapers. Minor wear; binding rolled; bumped and frayed corners; mild scattered spotting throughout. Very good. Click here to order $50

87132 Haggard, H. Rider Dawn John and Robert Maxwell, London, nd. (c.1887). First edition: octavo; hardcover, with bevelled boards, gilt spine and upper board titles, a blind-stamped lower board decoration, and decorated endpapers; 379pp., with an engraved frontispiece (with tissue guard). Slightly rolled and shaken; top joint starting (but still strong); boards rubbed and spine extremities softened; spine mildly sunned; offset and mild spotting to the preliminaries; retailer's embossed stamp to the flyleaf; previous owner's pencil inscription to the half-title page. No dustwrapper. Very good. Click here to order $80

87135 Haggard, H. Rider (G.P. Jacomb Hood, illus.) Lysbeth A Tale of the Dutch Longmans, Green and Co., London, 1901. Reprint: octavo; hardcover, gilt spine and upper board titles, and black endpapers; 496pp., with a photogravure frontispiece (with tissue guard) and 25 photogravure plates. Slightly shaken; top joint starting and spine cracked; boards lightly rubbed and spine extremities softened; text block edges lightly toned; previous owner's ink inscription to the verso of the frontispiece; rear free endpaper slightly creased. No dustwrapper. Good. The inscription in the preliminaries indicates that this copy of Haggard's "Lysbeth" once formed part of the reading library aboard the HMS Hood, pride of the British navy, which was unexpectedly sunk during World War Two in 1941. Click here to order $70

41087 Hardy, Thomas (Clare Leighton, illus.) The Return of the Native - signed by artist with illustrations and woodcuts by Clare Leighton Macmillan and Co., London, 1929. Octavo; hardcover, quarter-bound in vellum with decorated boards, gilt spine-titles and rules; 484pp., top edge gilt and all opened, with a tipped-in woodcut frontispiece, 11 plates likewise and many in-text decorations. Mild wear; signed in ink on the limitations page; boards rubbed with corner-bumping and edgewear; offset to the endpapers along with some surface tears where old bookplates have been removed; top joint starting and first signature loose; some small internal marks and tears. Good to very good. First edition with woodcuts by Clare Leighton; limited to fifteen hundred copies, of which five hundred copies were for sale in England and one thousand copies in the United States of America. Click here to order $250

47402 Hardy, Thomas (Henry Macbeth-Raeburn, illus.) Jude the Obscure The Wessex Novels Volume VIII Osgood, McIlvane and Company, London, 1896. First edition. Octavo; hardcover, with gilt spine titles and upper board decoration; 515pp., untrimmed and top edge gilt, with an engraved frontispiece. Moderate wear; binding professionally tightened; somewhat rolled; small stain to the text block top edge; text block edges toned offset to the endpapers; previous owner's name stamp to front pastedown; scattered foxing to preliminaries. Very good . Published as Vol. VIII in Osgood's 'Wessex Novels', the first uniform and complete edition of Hardy's works which had commenced publication the year before. 'The edition is an important one. The text of every novel was thoroughly and carefully revised, the topography (names and distances) corrected where necessary, chapters frequently retitled, and much rewriting done. In addition Hardy prepared a special preface for each volume' (Richard L. Purdy: Thomas Hardy: A Bibliographical Study, p.281). Each of the sixteen volumes has an etched frontispiece by Macbeth-Raeburn depicting a scene from the novel drawn "on the spot" (in this case Christminster) and a map of Wessex drawn by Hardy himself. Copies of this work exist in a "mixed state", a decision having been made after initial production to drop the page number from the last page of each chapter; thus, the signatures within the book vary according to format. In this copy, the last page of each chapters is not numbered in gatherings A through D, but are so numbered in gatherings E through H, K, S, 2F and partially in 2H. In most copies, as here, the signatures vary slightly, presumably as later sheets were gradually altered to conform to the latter part of the book (ref: Purdy). Click here to order $165

73026 Hippocrates (Louis Duret, trans.) Hippocratis Coi De Humoribus Purgandis Liber et De Diaeta Acutorum Libri Tres Cum Commentariis Integris Ludovici Dureti Segusiani Sumptibus Haeredum Lankisianorum, Leipzig, Germany, 1745. Octavo; rebound in full calf with blind-decorated boards, five raised bands with blind-stamped decoration in compartments and gilt titling; new marbled endpapers; 511pp. [liipp. + 444pp. + 14pp. (index) + 1pp. (errata)], in Latin and Greek on laid paper, with wide margins; all edges dyed red, with engraved chapter headings, illustrated capitals and colophons; title page lettered in red and black. Some stains to the text block edges; mild scuffing to boards; scattered foxing throughout and some heavy offset, especially in the middle of the text block. Else very good. Hippocrates' treatises, "On Purging," On Diet," and portions of his "Epidemics" are here translated into Latin, with commentary, by Louis Duret (1527-1586), who was known as "The French Hippocrates." Click here to order $375

92537 Kipling, Rudyard (W. Heath Robinson, illus.) A Song of the English Hodder and Stoughton, London, nd. (c.1910). Quarto; hardcover, with gilt spine and upper board titles and decorations; unpaginated (126pp.), with a tipped-in full-colour frontispiece, with a captioned tissue guard, and 29 plates likewise, along with many monochrome illustrations. Moderate wear; boards rubbed and slightly fanned with some mild insect damage to the board edges; spine sunned; text block edges toned; mild scattered foxing throughout, mainly to the preliminaries; retailer's bookplate to the front pastedown. No dustwrapper. Very good. Click here to order $220

63403 Rabelais, Francis (W. Heath Robinson, illus.) The Works of Mr. Francis Rabelais - two volumes Doctor in Physick. Containing Five Books of the Lives, Heroick Deeds and Sayings of Gargantua and his Sonne Pantagruel The Navarre Society Ltd., London, 1921. Two volumes: octavo; hardcover, with gilt spine titles and upper board and spine decorations and rules; 937pp. [474pp. + 463pp.], untrimmed and top edges gilt, with two monochrome frontispieces (with tissue guards) and many illustrations likewise. Mild wear; both volumes slightly rolled; some softening to the spine heels and light corner bumping; text block edges spotted; offset to the endpapers; mild scattered foxing to the preliminaries. No dustwrappers as issued. Very good. Click here to order $80

87728 [Samuel Johnson] Boswell, James The Life of Samuel Johnson LL.D. Comprehending An Account of his Studies, and Numerous Works, in Chronological Order; A Series of his Epistolary Correspondence and Conversations with many Eminent Persons; and various Original Pieces of his Composition, Never Before Published. The Whole exhibiting a View of Literature and Literary Men in Great-Britain, for near half a Century during which he Flourished. Printed for T. Cadell; F. C. and J. Rivington; Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown; Baldwin, Cradock, and Joy; Hatchard and Son; Ogle and Co.; G. and W. B. Whittaker; Simpkin and Marshall; J. Collingwood; and R. Saunders; London, 1822. Ninth revised and augmented edition: four books octavo, in two volumes; hardcover; quarter-bound in full-calf with marbled boards, with gilt titles on black morocco labels between blind rules; 1900pp. [(1-4pp.); i-xxxvipp.; 1-444pp.; (1-4pp.); 1-462pp.; (1-4pp.); 1-446pp.; (1-4pp.); 1-495pp.; 1 blank], with an engraved frontispiece and two engraved folding plates. Rebound: spines sunned; text block edges toned with some spots; previous owner's contemporary ink inscriptions to the second and third title pages; scattered foxing throughout; bookbinder's bookplates to the rear pastedown of each volume. Very good. Click here to order $350

204432 Stowe, Harriet Beecher (T. Eyre Macklin, illus.) Uncle Tom's Cabin The Walter Scott Publishing Co. Ltd., London, nd. (1906). Octavo; hardcover, full decorated cloth with bevelled boards, gilt spine and upper board decorations and black endpapers; 524pp. (+ 16pp. of adverts), all edges gilt, with a monochrome frontispiece and 5 plates likewise. Moderate wear; somewhat shaken; spine extremities softened; lower joint cracked (but strong); mild corner-bumping; lower board a little rubbed; previous owner's name in pencil to the front pastedown; book prize plate to the flyleaf. No dustwrapper. Very good. Click here to order $60

87625 Thackeray, William Makepeace The History of Henry Esmond, Esq. A Colonel in the Service of Her Majesty Q. Anne. Written by Himself Smith, Elder, & Co, London, 1852 First edition: three volumes, octavo; hardcover, half-bound in green calf with marbled boards and endpapers, with gilt spine titles on red morocco labels between 4 gilt-decorated raised bands and blind-stamped decorations; 986pp. [344pp. + 318pp. + 324pp.] with marbled edges. Spines sunned; boards scraped; board edges mildly shelfworn; previous owner's (ink-amended) bookplates to the front pastedowns of all volumes; previous owners' ink inscriptions to the first blank page of each volume; surface tears to the endpapers of Volumes I & III; upper joint of Volume I cracked, but still strong; mild scattered foxing to the preliminaries of all volumes. Very good. Click here to order $450

93357 Thackeray, William Makepeace (A. Pendennis Esq., ed.; Richard Doyle, illus.) The Newcomes - Two Volumes Memoirs of a Most Respectable Family Bradbury & Evans, London, 1854-1855. First edition. Two volumes, octavo: hardcover, half-bound in green morocco with marbled boards, with gilt spine titles on red labels and gilt decorations and rules; 755pp. [380pp. + 375pp.], top edges gilt, with two steel-engraved frontispieces, 44 plates likewise (with tissue guards), decorated title pages and many other engraved illustrations and decorations. Re-bound: new boards, spines and endpapers; text block and page edges well-toned; mild offset from the plates to the guards; previous owner's ink inscriptions to the half-title pages; portions of the original cloth bound in to the rear of each volume. A beautifully restored set. Click here to order $800

218118 Twain, Mark The Innocents Abroad or The New Pilgrim's Progress Chatto & Windus, Piccadilly, 1882. Octavo hardcover; red (silk) cloth illustrated boards with gilt upper board and spine titles; publisher's insignia on rear panel; decorated endpapers; 613pp., with many b&w illustrations. Minor wear; fraying to lower spine panel extremity with softening and slightly bumped and frayed corners; one or two tiny marks on boards and spine panel slightly browned; small tear to front endpaper; foxing to endpapers, prelims and title page with some random scattered spotting otherwise; text block and page edges well-toned and spotted. No dustwrapper as issued. Very good. Click here to order $50

60356 Wagner, Richard (Margaret Armour, trans.; illustrated by Arthur Rackham) The Rhinegold & The Valkyrie William Heinemann, New York NY, 1910. First trade edition issued simultaneously with a signed, limited edition. Quarto hardcover, 159pp., monochrome decorative illustrations and colour illustrations tipped in. Illustrated brown cloth boards with gilt lettering and decoration. Foxing on illustrated endpapers and preliminaries. Upper text block edge dyed brown with light toning and spotting on fore-edge. Brown illustrated dustwrapper with very minor wear to head of spine, few very minor marks. A quite stunning copy. Wrapper now professionally protected by superior non-adhesive archival film and white paper backing. Click here to order $600

85645 Wharton, Edith Ethan Frome - Macmillan Colonial Library Macmillan and Co. Ltd., London, 1911. First Colonial edition: octavo; hardcover, with gilt spine and upper board titles and blind-stamped upper board decorations; 195pp., untrimmed, with 8pp. of adverts. Slightly rolled; boards lightly rubbed and spine extremities softened; previous owner's ink inscription to the flyleaf; mild offset to the endpapers; text block edges toned. Lacks dustwrapper. Very good. Click here to order $175