Cyfreithjeu Hywel Dda ac Eraill, seu Leges Wallicae Ecclesiasticae & Civiles
VG, 1730, 1st ed. In superb full modern black calf, gilt edge tooling, by Period Binders of Bath. Spine, gilt tooling, raised bands, gilt titles to red calf labels. Internally, new endpapers, rubricated title page, [42], [3], 4-586 pp, lacks half title, parallel Welsh and Latin texts, text block edges sprinkled red, one of the 400 Ordinary paper issues, light browning to edges of tp only, small gutter tear to tp, numerous printers headers, footers & initials, 1 illustration within text, 39.5*25cms. (ESTC T63960. Brunet 1480. Maslen & Lancaster). Title continues: Hoeli Boni et aliorum Walliae principum, quas ex variis codicibus manuscriptis eruit, interpretatione latina, notis & glossario illustravit. One of Hywel's supposed pro-English acts was the introduction of elements of English law into those of Wales. This was not impossible, since according to the prologues to the Welsh law books of the thirteenth and later centuries, he was responsible for the first codification and promulgation of Welsh law, known consequently as cyfraith Hywel ('the law of Hywel'). See ODNB.
Dramatic Characters, or Different Portraits of the English Stage.
VG, 1st ed, 24 pls (hand coloured - complete). In modern full calf, decorative gilt edge tooling. Spine, gilt tooling, raised bands, gilt titles to red morocco label. Internally, engraved French title leaf, engraved English title leaf, engraved dedication leaf, contents leaf, followed by 24 leaves of hand coloured engraved plates of various actors in character, some plates dated 1769, gilt tooling to board edges and turn ins, original end & feps, occasional light spotting, hinges repaired. Uncommon. There was a second edition published in 1773. Contact MadocBooks for further information. (Folio, 113*141 mm). (ESTC N65933. A Cyclopedia Of Costume Vol. II A General History Of Costume In Europe - Planche). French Title: Characteres Dramatiques, ou Portraits Divers du Theatre Anglois. Characters include: Mr Garrick as: St Jn Brute in Provoked Wife. Twice. Mrs Barry & Garrick as Donna Violante & Don Felix in ye Wonder. Garrick as Abel-Drugger in Alchymist. as Hamlet. as King Lear. as Macbeth. Mrs Yares as Lady Macbeth.Mr Macklin as Shylock. Mr Clark as Antonio. Mr Shuter as Justice Woodcock in Love in a Village. Mr Beard as Hawthorn. Mr Dunstall as Hodge.Mrs Clive as Mrs Heidelberg. etc etc.
The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia.
Often considered as the finest illustrated work on the Near East! 3 vols, 1st eds, 1842-43-49. Complete, 1 map, 124 hand coloured tinted lithographs. In contemporary half red morocco over red morocco cloth, some gilt tooling. Spines, relaid, decorative gilt tooling & titles. Internally. Vol 1, 1842, portrait frontis, engraved titlepage, [8], [1], 2-30 pp, 44 pls (including 1 B&W portrait, the remainder tinted lithographs, hand coloured). Vol 2, 1843, 43 pls (hand coloured lithographs). Vol 3, 1849, 37 pls, 1 map (B&W). A.e.g., green marbled endpapers, small stamp to recto of each Vols ep (H.E.H. Duplicate - probably Henry Edwards Huntington - February 27, 1850 - May 23, 1927 - he was an American railroad magnate & collector of art & rare books). Corner repairs to V1 & 2, 7 plates remounted, 2 new inner cloth joints, occasional light spotting. The red morocco cloth to vols 1 & 3, have been expertly replaced (c20C). (Elephant folio, 447*612 mm). (Abbey Travel 385/272. Tooley 401/2). Waldemar Januszczak wrote in a review in the Guardian in 1986. 'His pictures are determined to take your breath away. The artist tries every pictorial trick in the book, from the dramatically plunging perspective to the lonely ruin on a hill' and is 'unusually good for a British painter at sampling the dark, sumptuous . interiors of Catholic cathedrals' (ODNB)
Of the Spleen, its Description and History, Uses and Diseases and includes: Observations in the Dissection of an Elephant.
VG, 1st edition, 1723, 16 pls. In half calf over contemporary worn green marbled boards, re-cornered, edges rubbed. Re-spined to style, raised bands, gilt tooling, gilt tiles & tooling to red morocco label. Internally, portrait frontis (Hippocrates), [6], [4] Pindaric Ode, [2] Praeloquium, [1], 2-108 pp, 16 pls in total (5 folding, 2 dated 1722), 8 of the spleen, including 2 printed in colour monochrome by Elisha Kirkall after Stukeley, and 8 of the dissection of an elephant, paper repairs to frontis margins (not affecting portrait), some foxing to the elephant plates, staining to the lower margin of the text in the first half of the work, outer margin of D2 cut away with the partial loss of page numerals. With the Pindaris Ode on the Spleen by the Countess of Winchilsea (Finch [née Kingsmill Anne 1661-1720). Very Uncommon. (327*206 mm). (ESTC T26902. Russell 784. Osler 4052. Blake NL of Medicine p437). Stukeley, often, and probably unfairly, considered an eccentric, he was reluctant to practice the circumspection necessary in the study of prehistory, to temper his imagination, or to take the more cautionary advice of friends. However, his unstinted enthusiasm, dedication, and keen eye merited him his position as the father of British field archaeology. See ODNB.
Journal of a Tour through part of the Snowy Range of The Himala Mountains, and to the source of the Rivers Jumna and Ganges.
VG, 1820, 1st ed, 1 large folding map. Modern calf spine, gilt tooling, raised bands, gilt titles to black calf label, over worn contemporary blue marbled boards, vellum tipped. Internally, [3], (vi-xx), [3], 4-548 pp, 1 map (large folding, some minor browning), lacks the half title, hinges strengthened, Worcester Library label to fpd. (Signatures [3]ff, b-c2, B-4A2). (295*236 mm). (Abbey Travel 498. Prideaux p 336. Lowndes V2, p. Bobins 247). Intended to accompany Fraser's own "Views in the Himala Mountains" published in the same year, 1820. "Scottish explorer and author James Baillie Fraser (1783-1856) published this account of his Himalayan journey through Nepal and India in 1820. (His 1826 book describing his travels in the lesser-known provinces of Persia is also reissued in this series.) Part I begins with a historical sketch of Nepal, the reasons for the outbreak of war between Nepal and British India in 1814 and the course and consequences of the war. The remainder of the book describes Fraser's travels through previously inaccessible mountainous areas to Jamunotri and Gangotri, the sources of the rivers Jumna and Ganges. Fraser admits in his preface that he is not an expert in any of the fields which would give his account scientific value, but he offers detailed descriptions of villages, temples and 'grand scenery', and of a people 'as they appeared before an intercourse with Europeans had in any degree changed them'." - OCLC.
The Northern Cambrian Mountains; or, A Tour Through North Wales: Describing The Scenery and General Characters of that Romantic Country
Extra tall, 1820, 2nd & enlarged edition, complete with all 39 superbly coloured atmospheric images. Probably the best coloured aquatints of Wales. In contemporary half calf over green marbled boards, some gilt tooling, edges rubbed, corners repaired. Spine, gilt tooling, raised bands, gilt title to black calf label, rubbed along joints. Internally, not paginated, frontis, [2] ff, B-L2, 39 pls (coloured & numbered), with 40 leaves of descriptive text, text leaves watermarked J Whatman 1820. Plates dated 1818 & 20, watermarked 1820 except for the frontis which is dated 1820 but watermarked 1823, armorial bookplate to fpd (Frances M Myers). (415*267 mm or 16 5/16*10 1/2 inches). (Abbey 523. Tooley 157). Originally issued in part in 1817, then in book form in the same year with just 30 plates.
Oriental Field Sports; Being a Complete, Detailed and Accurate Description of the Wild Sports of the East
Contains one of the finest series of sporting plates ever published (Hardie). 1st edition, 41 hand coloured aquatints. In half brown morocco over light green cloth, by Bayntun Riviere of Bath, some gilt tooling, edges rubbed. Spine, raised bands, gilt tooling & titles. Internally, additional hand coloured title page, [4] tp & dedication, (ii) preface, 150 pp (includes index), [1] pl list, plus 40 fine hand coloured plates by H. Merke after Howitt and Williamson, dated 1805-7, watermarked J Whatman 1804, with the early pl 31 Hunting Jackalls, floral endpapers, a.e.g., occasional light marginal spotting. Large oblong folio. (book 462*600 & sheets 447*572 mm). Abbey Travel 427; Schwerdt II, pp. 297-98; Tooley 508. "The most beautiful book on Indian sport in existence." (Schwerdt). "The book is not only a mine of information as to the manners, customs, scenery, and costume of India, but contains one of the finest series of sporting plates ever published." (Martin Hardie, English Coloured Books, 1906). A very good copy with the plates generally clean and bright. The first edition of 1807 in large folio, with the early watermarks, and first state of plate XXXI (Hunting Jackalls). The work had been issued for subscribers in twenty monthly parts between June 1805 and January 1807. Title continues: and exhibiting, in a novel and interesting manner, the natural history of the elephant, the rhinoceros, the tiger, the leopard, the bear, the deer, the buffalo, the wolf, the wild hog, the jackall, the wild dog, the civet, and other undomesticated animals: As likewise the different species of feathered game, fishes, and serpents / the whole interspersed with a variety of original, authentic, and curious anecdotes, taken from the manuscript and designs of Captain Thomas Williamson, who served upward of twenty years in Bengal; the drawings by Samuel Howett, made uniform in size, and engraved by the first artists.
