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An attractive copy of a scarce English edition of the complete fairy tales by Madame d’Aulnoy. First published in 1697 as Contes des Fées, with another volume appearing in 1698 under the title Les Contes nouveau, she wrote some thirty stories in all, some of which, like ‘L’Oiseau bleu’ and ‘Le Chatte blanche’ have become classics. Numerous editions of her works have been published since with varying degrees of completeness. All eighteenth century editions in French and English (as of course the original late seventeenth century French editions) are now pretty scarce and as they were well read, they are seldom found in good condition. Despite a few minor scuffs, this is a handsome copy in contemporary tree calf.
'Comment concilier l'aventureuse existence de cette virago sans scrupules', asks René Herval, 'avec le délicieux talent de l'auteur des Contes de Fées … car il est indéniable que le même esprit qui médita la perte du baron d'Aulnoy a créé une oeuvre qui l'emporte même sur celle de Perrault' (qv. Dictionnaire des Lettres Françaises XVII, pp. 86-87).
There were a number of early editions of the English text of Aulnoy’s Contes des fées, which was first published in English in 1721 (ESTC lists NLW, Bodleian, Harvard, Miami and Clark). Editions followed in 1722 (Bodleian, Penn); 1728 (BL, Worcester Oxford, Newberry, Illinois, Michigan, Penn, Yale and National Library of Australia); 1737 (Edinburgh University, NLW, Harvard and New York University); 1749 (Cleveland Public, Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, UCLA and Clark); 1749 (Princeton, Alberta, UCLA).

A delightful illustrated guidebook to Cambridge aimed at the new undergraduate and his family, as well as the tourist, with plentiful information on the town and its facilities in addition to a description of the university. Benefactors are listed for the main public buildings such as the Senate House, the Public and New Library and the Botanic Garden. Colleges are then described in some detail, with information on their foundation, notable buildings and art works, benefactors and eminent past scholars. The finances and development plans are also included for some colleges, such as for Trinity Hall (’an Hall surpassing All’) which ‘stands out of the town upon the banks of the river... this college is intended to be greatly enlarged by the addition of two wings or buildings, extending from the present college to the river, so as to leave the view open to the country’. It is also noted that this development is to be funded by a benefaction from John Andrews, ‘which being bequeathed in 1747, to come to the college after the death of two sisters, cannot be long before it falls’.
This is a reissue of the first edition, published in 1796, with the ‘Useful Tables’ on pp. i-iv on cancelled leaves, bearing the date 1797, in place of 1796. These tables contain information on the names of the office holders and professors, term dates and militia officers. The frontispiece is a folding map entitled ‘Plan of Cambridge 1791’ and is signed ‘S.I. Neele scuplt. 352 Strand London’. The ten engraved plates all depict landmarks of the university: the Senate House, two of Clare Hall (College), two of Kings College, Queen’s College, Catherine Hall, two of Trinity College and one of Emanuel [sic] College.

The third edition of the 1756 abridgement, in two volumes octavo. This is an honest copy, in a nice unrestored eighteenth century binding, but it has clearly been much loved and used and is consequently worn and fairly fragile.

Two scarce English translations of Italian devotional works, bound together in an attractive seventeenth century binding. Giovanni Bona was a Cistercian cardinal from Northern Italy known for his scholarship and simple manner of life. The first work in this volume is his Manuductio ad coelum, first published in 1658 and first translated into English in 1672. It has often been compared to Thomas a Kempis’ Imitation of Christ, on account of the simplicity of the style in which the doctrine is explained. It was a hugely popular work, seeing a dozen editions by the end of the century and being translated into Italian, French, German, Armenian and Spanish as well as English. The second work in the volume is a translation of Bona’s Principia et documenta vitae Christianae, a comparable work which focuses on the principles of Christian conduct. The translation is usually ascribed to Luke Beaulieu.
The first work has an additional title-page, engraved, ‘Manuductio ad coelum, or a guide to eternity’, by Frederick Hendrick van Hove (1629?-1698). The second work has an engraved frontispiece depicting Christ during his passion, also by F. H. van Hove.

First edition, in a modern binding, of this popular eye-witness account of the French revolution by the Scottish physician John Moore. After taking his medical degree in Glasgow, Moore served with the army in the Seven Years War. In 1792, he joined the household of the British Ambassador in Paris and it was from there that he witnessed some of the principal horrors of the revolution. His measured account of historical events quickly became a trusted source among historians and was much cited, among others, by Carlyle. It was popular immediately on publication and there were numerous editions in England, Ireland and America. With a hand-coloured folding map of General Dumourier’s campaign on the Meuse in 1792, with a leaf explaining the map bound after the text.

A reprint of two important travel accounts from the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century. Henry Maundrell’s work was first published at Oxford in 1703 and tells of a voyage undertaken from Aleppo to Jerusalem through Gallilee in the late 1690s. Clayton’s travelogue is an account of a pilgrimage of Italian missionaries to Mount Sinai and was first published in 1753. The first work is extensively illustrated with numerous double-page engravings.

One of the great female travelogues of the eighteenth century, by the feisty Lady Craven, dramatist, writer, traveller and socialite, said to have been the first woman ever to have descended into the Grotto of Antiparos which is strikingly illustrated on one of the engraved plates. This vivid account of her travels through France, Austria, Poland, Russia, Turkey and Greece are presented in a series of letters to her future husband, the Margrave of Anspach. While in Constantinople, she stayed with the author and collector Choiseul-Gouffier and recounts details of her stay there: ‘the Comte de Choiseul’s collectoin is, perhaps, the only thing in the world of the kind, and he means, when he returns to Paris, to have all the ruins and temples executed in plaster of Paris, or some materials which will copy the marble, in small models; to be place in galleries upon tables’ (Letter XLVI). Her account is also particularly interesting for her commentary as to the behaviour and dress of the women in the different places she visits.

With a large folding map and six delightful plates depicting the source of the River Kaarasou in the Crimea, a Turkish boat, a Turkish burial ground, the Grotto of the Antiparos, Siphanto and the Convent of Panacrado from the Bay of Gabrio. This copy has a detached front cover.

A scarce broadside written in response to ‘An act for the encouraging industry in the kingdom, by removing certain disabilities and restraints contained in several former Acts’. The author laments the decline of trade in his West Country town, which he blames on the restrictive practices of the corporation and the apprenticeship rules of the various trades. He argues strongly for the abolition of privileges of corporations, companies, apprenticeships whose restrictions do such harm to local communities.
‘The Effect of the Statute of Queen Elizabeth, which forbids all Persons to employ themselves in various Trades, who have not been Apprentices to them, is plainly this; that none learn any of those Trades, but Boys; and that none exercise them during their Lives, but such as chanced to begin with them. Now... particular Trades usually depend on such a variety of Circumstances, both in our own and foreign Nations, that it is scarce possible for them to continue many Years without Increase or Decrease. And whenever there is either a larger or less Demand, than has been usual, for any kind of Manufacture; that Manufacture must, under this Regulation, either want Hands, or be over-burdened with them. But it is equally detrimental to the Nation, that there should be Work without Workmen, or Workmen without Work’.

A scarce guide to heraldry prepared for a female readership. Written by Harriet Dalaway, who dedicates the work to her friend Miss Henrietta Howard Molyneux (1804-1876), stating that this ‘slight essay’ was intended ‘to facilitate the study of heraldry, in its invention, history, and practice’. A contemporary review in The Gentleman’s Magazine informs us that Mrs Dallaway’s work ‘is a well compiled treatise, elegantly embellished, and particularly adapted for those of the fair sex who engage in that delightful study’ (GM, 1828, Vol. 98, p. 159).
After chapters on emblazoning, colours or tinctures, legendary animals, leaves and flowers, helmets and a multitude of other aspects of heraldry, the final chapter acts as a summary of instruction, giving ‘Practical Hints for the Study of Heraldry’. In this chapter, Mrs Dallaway explains ‘This little essay is intended chiefly for the use of my own sex, or amateurs of heraldry, who may have a taste for such pursuits’. She suggests that each reader might colour in the blazons as she sees fit, ‘by these means each lady would have a copy of this book different from all the rest, as it is scarcely possible that two individuals should apply the same colours, without taking them from each other’.
The front endpaper is inscribed ‘Mr Sargeant [?], having understood that his Cousin Anne Hickes [?] wishes to know somethign of Heraldry, with his best Love begs she will accept Mrs Dallaway’s Manual, a modern Work in high Esteem on the Subject. 26th Feby. 1830’.

The first appearance of the collected poems of Josiah Relph, including his poems in the Cumberland dialect. The collection was posthumously published and was edited by Thomas Sanderson, who supplied the biography of Relph in the preface (pp. viii-xvi). A lengthy glossary is also included as well as a contents leaf at the end. With a long list of over 30 pages of subscribers, including a final page listing ‘Names of Subscribers come to hand since printing the above List’.
‘Relph’s poetical works were published posthumously in 1747 and 1798. A wider, national circulation of a few of his poems was achieved by their inclusion in Thomas West’s A Guide to the Lakes, 1784, which was read by Wordsworth, Southey, and early nineteenth century poets. Similarly, in the twentieth century, his dialect poetry is included in anthologies of Lakeland verse, such as those of the poet Norman Nicholson (The Lake District: an anthology, 1977). Relph’s best verses are in the dialect of his native county; they are on pastoral subjects, with classical allusions’ (ODNB).

A scarce edition, sadly rebound, of this entertaining autobiographical account of Rear Admiral Donald Campbell’s adventures, travels across Europe and the Middle East, his shipwreck off the coast of India, his imprisonment by Hyder Ali and the death of his fellow traveller, Mr Hall, in prison. This is a reading copy of a highly readable narrative.

The second edition of this student Latin-English dictionary by the Rev. William Young, of whom little is known. Its widespread use in schools elicited in 1756 a schoolmaster’s criticism of numerous faults he had found, in a pamphlet entitled The Examination of a Late […]Dictionary […] in which the many errours, omissions and deficiencies of that work, of such publick Use and Benefit, are impartially considered.

A very attractive pair of critical texts on Shakespeare’s characters, uniformly bound (numbered as volumes one and two) and in very fresh condition, from the library of the Marquess of Headfort.

A once lovely uncut copy: internally a pleasure to read but externally rather damaged.

An attractive copy of Samuel Derrick’s selection of English poetry, arranged according to subject, from ‘Abbey’ to ‘Zimri’, through ‘Folly’, ‘Genius’, ‘Gentlewoman’ (and, later, ‘Woman’), ‘Kensington Garden’, ‘Marriage’ and ‘Pleasure’. Derrick was an actor turned writer from Dublin whose most interesting works include a translation of Cyrano de Bergerac’s A Voyage to the Moon, 1753 and an edition of Dryden’s works published in 1760. After the failure of his acting career he continued to work closely with the theatre, making various verse and prose contributions and publishing a successful commentary, The dramatic censor; being remarks upon the conduct, characters, and catastrophe of our most celebrated plays, London 1752. On first arriving in London, he made the acquaintance of Boswell, who later regretted his earlier friendship with ‘this creature... a little blackguard pimping dog’ (Boswell’s London Journal, ed. Potten, 1950, p. 228). Johnson, when asked who was the finer poet, Derrick or Christopher Smart, famously replied, ‘Sir, there is no settling the point of precedency between a louse and a flea’ (Boswell, Life of Johnson, ed. Hill and Powell, 1934, IV, 192 - 193).
In the preface, Derrick argues that as English boasts the greatest poetry of any modern language, it is an injustice to the nation to neglect it and he believes that the lack of this sort of anthology proves that it has been neglected. He allows that some similar works have been published, for example Byshe’s Art of Poetry, but these have tended to concentrate on translations from the classics: ‘but these are not the perfections of Dryden and Pope: it is Homer and Virgil we compliment in our admiration; the only merits of our great countrymen that occur, are classical knowledge, and talents for smooth versification. It is in their original works, their imitations of nature, and not of men, that we must look for that excellence in our most celebrated writers, which reflects honour upon the nation, and helps to exemplify its literary character’ (p. ix-x).
‘The various topics in these volumes are arranged in alphabetical order; so that they may be easily found, and the authors name is affixed to each. Here the man of knowledge and erudition will find an index to refresh his memory; the preceptor proper themes to exercise and enrich the mind of his pupil; and knowledge, supported by ornament, will be insensibly conveyed to the young gentleman’s heart, who shall reap instruction from the amusement... The editor hopes the work may be also an agreeable present to the ladies, many of whom boast a more refined taste than the generality of the other sex’ (p. x - xi).

A popular eye-witness account of 1790s France, once thought to be by Helen Maria Williams and clearly inspired by her. This fascinating source book is now thought to be the work of (Rachel) Charlotte Biggs, née Williams. With all these Williams attributions and connections, it is tempting to think that this is a family owned copy, with the contemporary inscription of James Williams. There is also a school of thought that attributes the work to the so-called editor, John Richards Green, who changed his name to John Gifford at the age of 23. A political writer, active Tory and ardent monarchist, Gifford was involved at this time in writing a number of histories of France and the French Revolution. Whatever the truth of the authorship, the subject matter, the epistolary nature of the composition and the attribution to an ‘English Lady’ are clearly influenced by Helen Maria Williams’ series of Letters written in France, the first of which was published in 1790: the author and publisher of the present work were also quite possibly trying to benefit from the reflected marketing.

‘I am every day more confirmed in the opinion I communicated to you on my arrival’, the text begins, ‘that the first ardour of the revolution is abated. - The bridal days are indeed past,and I think I perceive something like indifference approaching. Perhaps the French themselves are not sensible of this change; but I who have been absent two years, and have made as it were a sudden transition from enthusiasm to coldness, without passing through the intermediate gradations, am forcibly struck with it. When I was here in 1790, parties could be scarcely said to exist - the popular triumph was too complete and too recent for intolerance and persecution, and the Noblesse and Clergy either submitted in silence, or appeared to rejoice in their own defeat. In fact, it was the confusion of a decisive conquest - the victors and the vanquished were mingled together; and the one had not leisure to exercise cruelty, nor the other to meditate revenge. Politics had not yet divided society; nor the weakness and pride of the great, with the malice and insolence of the litte, thinned the public places. The politics of the women went no farther than a few couplets in praise of liberty, and the patriotism of the men was confined to an habit de garde nationale, the device of a button, or a nocturnal revel, which they called mounting guard’.

An expanded edition of this posthumously published guide to Cranborne Chase, near Shaftesbury, written by a Church of England clergyman, William Chafin. First published earlier in 1818, the work includes a lively account of Wiltshire estate management, hunting, poaching and ‘rural amusements’, with sketches of gamekeepers, tips on how to control poachers and some very lively accounts of bloody encounters between the keepers and deer thieves. Chafin sketches a history of the various forms of hunting practised in the Chase - deer, foxes, hares and martin-cats - and describes the packs of fox-hounds from their early establishment in about 1730. Hawking is discussed as an early pursuit ‘followed by the gentry of the country at great expense’ and so fashionable that ‘no gentleman could be completely dressed for company without having a glove on his left hand, and a hawk sitting on it’. Similarly, Chafin describes the historic prevalence of cock-fighting, which has died out as it is ‘deemed to be barbarous and cruel’. Chafin takes issue with this sentiment, deeming cock-fighting to be less cruel than Horse-racing ‘in which poor animals are involuntarily forced, against their nature, to performances beyond their strength, with whips and spurs, which, in the Jockey phrase, is styled cutting up. Can any thing in nature be more cruel than this?’ (p. 53).
Loosely inserted is a letter from ‘J.A.’, writing from Shaftesbury in July 1811, addressed to Mr Urban of the Gentleman’s Magazine, in which he describes the house called King John’s Hunting Seat in the parish of Tollard Royal on Cranborne Chase. The letter, refers to various diagrams not present, describes some of the internal architectural features of the house and some of its traditions.

A popular travel account first published in 1773. After leaving St. Andrews University, Brydone went abroad as a tutor and travelling companion to William Beckford of Somerley, cousin of the more famous Wiliam Beckford, and two other gentlemen. The present journal is the record of his visit to the islands of Sicily and Malta. It captured the public imagination and was extraordinarily popular, running to numerous editions well into the nineteenth century.

Apart from an atrocious attempt to repair the spine, this is a good, working copy in a solid early eighteenth century binding with signs of early provenance and complete with the three large folding charts. This is the official account of Anson’s voyage, prepared by Benjamin Robins from the journals compiled by the chaplain, Richard Walter. A masterpiece of descriptive travel writing, it was probably the most popular book of maritime adventure published in the eighteenth century. First published in quarto earlier in 1748, ESTC notes: ‘William Bowyer printed 2000 copies of eight sheets 8vo for Knapton for this work in 1748, presumably for one of the three editions (or printings, or issues); it cannot be determined which’.

First edition of this popular pocket-sized guide to the most celebrated painters, including brief biographical portraits as well as a critical discussion of their major works. Piles himself was a painter and engraver as well as a diplomat, having acquired his extensive knowledge of art and contemporary painters during his time as tutor and secretary to Michel Amelot de Gournay, who he followed during his appointments as French Ambassador in Venice, Portugal, Switzerland and Spain. He also used his connections in the art world - he travelled extensively as a buyer for Louis XIV - as a cover for confidential political missions. The present work was written during his three year imprisonment in the Netherlands in the 1690s, after he was captured as a French secret agent. It was an extremely successful work which ran to numerous editions. Among his many accomplishments and achievements, Piles is remembered for having coined the term ‘clair-obscur’, or Chiaroscuro.