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Four volumes. Large 4to's. Volume 1 contains an engraved frontispiece, three full page engraved plates and six leaves of ancient coins; volume 2 is illustrated with seven leaves of ancient coins. Contemporary marbled calf; spines intricately gilt. Marbled endpapers. Nicely rebacked with the original spines laid on. Some wear and chipping but a very good set with fine text blocks. Two engraved early bookplates, one armorial. A wide margined copy. "The most beautiful edition of Addison ever published,"--Gaskell, Baskerville, #17.
The Works of the Late Right Honorable Joseph Addison, Esq.: With a Complete Index
(Baskerville Press) Addison, Joseph
Birmingham: John Baskerville for J. and R. Tonson, 1761.
Price: $750.00
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12mo. iv, 190pp. Remnants of full calf binding. Mostly in Latin with a section of the appendices in English. There are only two leather remnants of the original binding left on the boards, but enough to confirm a simple binding with a blind rule around the edges. The spine has perished completely leaving the sewing exposed, and with the boards hanging on only by worn cords. The ffep  is gone, but the rfep is present. Given its history, no attempt has been made to stabilize or repair the binding; instead it has been housed in a custom clamshell case to protect it in the condition is has come down to us. A survival of the Catholic Mission to Scotland.  With the Scottish Reformation, the old Catholic hierarchy of Scotland ended with the death of the Archbishop of Glasgow in 1603. Thereafter the Roman Church designated Scotland  a Missionary Territory. Catholics went underground and those caught practicing the Old Religion were imprisoned or killed. Catholic rituals such as this one were destroyed. It is no wonder that the sources are unsure of the place of printing or the name of the publisher and only guess at Edinburgh. Nor is it a surprise to find the book small enough to be concealed easily on one's person.  It is well used, and a very scarce survival of a difficult period. The Catholic Scottish hierarchy was not restored until 1878 when conditions had changed sufficiently to allow it. Only one copy listed in OCLC; another edition, printed in London in the same year,  has also only a single listing. ESTC T202694. Truly rare.
Epitome Ritualis Romani, In Usum Missionum Scotiae.
(Catholic Church: Scottish Mission)
Edinburgh (?): (unk), 1783.
Price: $2,500.00
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Letters Written by the Late Right Honourable Philip Dormer Stanhope, Earl of Chesterfield, to His Son....
(Chesterfield, Philip Dormer Stanhope, Earl of)
London: J. Dodsley, 1774.
Price: $750.00
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 8vo. 128pp. Bound to style in quarter leather; maroon lettering piece, gilt; marbled paper boards. Woodcut vignette on the title and another above the colophon, Woodcut chapter heading and initial at the beginning of the Life. St Winifred, or St. Gwenfrewy, Abbess of Trefynnon and of Gwythenn,(d. 600 AD), was honored from early times in Wales as a saint. In 1136 her relics were translated to her shrine at the Benedictine Monastery in Shrewsbury. Two years later, her Life was written in Latin by Robert, Prior of Shrewsbury (d. 1167). Robert's Life was translated by 'J.F.' (probably John Falconer) in 1635, republished in 1712. Bishop William Fleetwood thought the translation so poor that he published this translation the following year, hence the statement 'Second Edition' on the title page. The removal of St. Winifred's relics to Shrewsbury was the basis for the first of the Brother Cadfael tales by Edith Pargeter, 'Morbid Taste for Bones'. Some soil to the beginning and ending pages, old library stamp on the verso of the title, else a very good copy in a fine binding of period design. ESTC T73725.
The Life and Miracles of St. Wenefrede, Together with her Litanies
(Fleetwood, William, attrib.)
London: Sam. Buckley, 1713.
Price: $250.00
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8vo. (8),269,pp. Folding frontispiece portrait of the King, without the Explanation. This edition is Madan #2, Almack #4, with two square blocks added to title page and text reset;  misspelling "mali" for "mala" on title page.  Originally attributed to Charles I, it is now acknowledged that the author is John Gauden. The portrait is signed "Guil: Marshall sculpsit"; in this issue the portrait is Marshall's original design, the second state (cf. Madan, p. 177). There were at least 40 different English editions printed in 1649 (some dated 1648, but actually printed in 1649). Contemporary full black calf with a crown and 'C' and 'R' at its base on both boards in gilt. Spine tips were replaced at an early date; light soil; lacks final blank; else a very good copy. Wing E272  ESTC R221528.
Eikon Basilike ( in Greek). The Pourtraicture of His Sacred Maiestie in His Solitude and Sufferings
(Gauden, John)
n.p. (London): n.p. (Richard Roylston), 1648 ( but 1649).
Price: $1,000.00
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 8vo. Two volumes. Contemporary full leather; spines in six compartments, gilt rules; red lettering pieces, gilt. Illustrated with engravings. The lettering labels have been replaced and the hinges have been neatly and nearly invisibly repaired; this is a very good set. Volume 1 is the seventh edition; volume 2 is the fifth edition. Even though the editions differ, the binding are clearly intended to make this a set. ESTC T13824.
Fables. By the late Mr. Gay
(Gay, John)
London: Tonson & Watts; Knapton, 1753, 1755.
Price: $300.00
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 First edition in English. 8vo. (ii),cxi,(xvii),401,(lv)pp. Contemporary full calf with the boards tooled in a panelled 'Cambridge' style. Nicely rebacked at an early time, with the spine in 6 compartments, and retaining the original boards. Cosmetic crack to the spine, wear at spine tip, lacks lettering label, else a very good copy with an armorial bookplate and a neat ownership name. Geoffrey's Historia dates from the 12th century and purports to be a history of Britain from its first settlement by Brutus to the death of Cadwallader in the 7th century. In contains one of the earliest developed narratives of King Arthur and dwells on Merlin and his prophecies. Originally written in Latin, this is the first translation into English, made by Aaron Thompson, who provides a lengthy preface giving his views on the authenticity of the History. Thompson based his translation on the Heidelberg edition of 1587; J. A. Giles later updated it in his edition of 1848. Scarce, and the earliest edition of Geoffrey in English. ESTC T146343.
The British History, Translated into English from the Latin of Jeffrey of Monmouth
(Geoffrey of Monmouth) Galfridus, Monumentensis, Bishop of St. Asaph
London: J. Bowyer, et al., 1718.
Price: $4,500.00
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An Elegy written in a Country Church Yard
(Gray, Thomas)
London: J. Dodsley, 1776.
Price: $500.00
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8vo. (4),(120),(2)pp. Finely bound by Zaehnsdorf in full crush brown morocco; spine in six compartments, gilt; gilt concentric rectangular borders on the upper and lower boards, with similar gilt inner dentelles. all edges gilt; marbled endpapers. A trace of rubbing to the binding else a fine copy. Northrup No. 52. ESTC t136298.
Poems by Mr. Gray
(Gray, Thomas)
London: J. Dodsley, 1768.
Price: $500.00
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The Second edition.  Unpaginated. This volume contains a folding letterpress plate and the engraved plate of chemical symbols. Contemporary full leather, spine in six compartments with raised bands, gilt; red leather lettering label, gilt. Spine well worn and split in center (but firm) else a good copy. The translator of this edition was the Scottish chemist and industrialist James Keir (1735&1820). Volume I only (of three). ESTC T183188,
A Dictionary of Chemistry. Containing the theory and practice of that science;... (Vol. I)
(Macquer, Pierre Joseph, James Keir, transl.)
London: T. Cadell, 1777.
Price: $750.00
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8vo. xii,128pp followed by 15pp of index and one page of corrections. With three engraved folding plates of engravers monograms.  Contemporary full calf; Spine in six compartments with raised bands, gilt. Marbled endpapers. Hinges neatly mended; calf rubbed and worn at corners and spine tips; one plate with a closed marginal tear (no loss) else a very good copy. The author's name, Martyn, is neatly penned at the end of the preface in a contemporary hand;, and with an inscription dated 1823 on a preliminary blank. An 18th century aid to the collector of engravings, with an extensive index. ESTC T13275.
A Chronological Series of Engravers from the Invention of the Art to the Beginning of the Present Century
(Martyn, Thomas)
Cambridge: Printed by J. Archdeacon for J. Woodyer, and sold by J. Beecroft, London,, 1770.
Price: $200.00
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