The domestic gardener's manual : being an introduction to gardening : to which is added a concise naturalist's kalendar and English botanist's companion or catalogue of British plants in the monthly order of their flowering / by a practical horticulturist by Towers, George John - 1830

Tan calf spine and corners. Brown textured boards. Gilt banding on the spine with the title plate missing.
First Volume of a two-volume set Milton's poetry was slow to see the light of day, at least under his name. His first published poem was "On Shakespeare" (1630), anonymously included in the Second Folio edition of William Shakespeare's plays in 1632. An annotated copy of the First Folio has been suggested to contain marginal notes by Milton.[53] Milton collected his work in 1645 Poems during the excitement attending the possibility of establishing a new English government. The anonymous edition of Comus was published in 1637, and the publication of Lycidas in 1638 in Justa Edouardo King Naufrago was signed J. M. Otherwise. The 1645 collection was the only poetry of his to see print until Paradise Lost appeared in 1667.
John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet and intellectual who served as a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under its Council of State and… Read More

Original dust sheet. Green cloth with gilt title on the spine.
One hundred and seventy-six early Turners, most in colour and reproduced for the first time, and 22 other reproductions.
Joseph Mallord William Turner RA (23 April 1775 – 19 December 1851), known in his time as William Turner, was an English Romantic painter, printmaker and watercolourist. He is known for his expressive colourisations, imaginative landscapes and turbulent, often violent marine paintings. He left behind more than 550 oil paintings, 2,000 watercolours, and 30,000 works on paper. He was championed by the leading English art critic John Ruskin from 1840, and is today regarded as having elevated landscape painting to an eminence rivalling history painting. Turner was born in Maiden Lane, Covent Garden, London, to a modest lower-middle-class family. He lived in London all his life, retaining his Cockney accent and assiduously avoiding the trappings of success and fame. A child prodigy, Turner studied at the Royal Academy of… Read More

In the original dust sheet. Tan board with gilt title on the spine.
The Major Natural History Paintings Southern,
John (Archibald Thorburn) Archibald Thorburn FZS (31 May 1860, Lasswade, Midlothian - 9 October 1935, Hascombe, Surrey) was a Scottish artist who specialised in wildlife, painting mostly in watercolour. He regularly visited Scotland to sketch birds in the wild, his favourite haunt being the Forest of Gaick near Kingussie in Invernesshire. His widely reproduced images of British wildlife, with their evocative and dramatic backgrounds, are enjoyed as much today as they were by naturalists a century ago. Archibald was born at Viewfield House, Lasswade, Midlothian, the fifth son of Robert Thorburn (1818–1885), portrait miniaturist to Queen Victoria. His first education was at Dalkeith and in Edinburgh, after which he was sent to the newly founded St John's Wood School of Art in London. His stay there was only brief, since on the death of his father he sought the guidance of Joseph Wolf. It… Read More

In the original dust sheet. Blue cloth with silver title on the spine.
Joseph Mallord William Turner RA (23 April 1775 – 19 December 1851), known in his time as William Turner, was an English Romantic painter, printmaker and watercolourist. He is known for his expressive colourisations, imaginative landscapes and turbulent, often violent marine paintings. He left behind more than 550 oil paintings, 2,000 watercolours, and 30,000 works on paper. He was championed by the leading English art critic John Ruskin from 1840, and is today regarded as having elevated landscape painting to an eminence rivalling history painting. Turner was born in Maiden Lane, Covent Garden, London, to a modest lower-middle-class family. He lived in London all his life, retaining his Cockney accent and assiduously avoiding the trappings of success and fame. A child prodigy, Turner studied at the Royal Academy of Arts from 1789, enrolling when he was 14, and exhibited his first work there at 15. During this period, he also… Read More

Red calf spine and corners with raised and gilt banding and gilt title. Red and blue marbled boards, end papers and page edges.
A very good copy Godolphin is a satirical 19th-century British romance novel by Edward Bulwer-Lytton. It is about the life of an idealistic man, Percy Godolphin, and his eventual lover, Constance Vernon. Written as a frame narrative, Godolphin provides a satirical insight into the day-to-day lives of the early 19th-century British elite. The story is told through the narration of two protagonists, Percy Godolphin and Constance Vernon, as they rise to prominence among the London elite. Godolphin was published two years after The Reform Bill passed which put an end to the exclusive high class in England. Bulwer-Lytton, being a politician, was a member of this British elite. Literary scholar William Cragg reveals that the original novel published in 1833 was replaced in 1840 with a revised copy. Bulwer-Lytton received very harsh criticisms upon the novel's original release due… Read More

Clarke School Alumni Association, 1947. Signed and inscribed by co-editors Alice Manning Williams and John Blake. Rare volume containing a history of the Clarke School for the Deaf, photographs and alumni information for this school for the deaf which offered high school preparatory and pre-vocational educational tracks. Illustrations on glossy black and white paper. Large section of alumni listings, many with checkmarks beside the name. Forward by editor Williams is an interesting snapshot in time: "For a certainty, fifteen alumni are divorced, though only four openly admitted it. All mention of divorces is accordingly omitted...the question "Are you married?" often provoked from the men the reply, "No, but I am looking for a wife." Unfortunately the editor is in no mood to serve as a matrimonial bureau..." Sunned spine and sunned bands across top of book. Thanks for shopping with us! 100% of your purchase benefits charity and supports literacy and lifelong… Read More

Chicago: Argus Press, 1927. Unusual item. "This edition consists of 490 numbered copies and 17 copies lettered A to Q and signed by the author. This is number _________" This field would normally be filled in by hand and the book would then be signed by the author. This field is blank and the book is not signed, making it a very rare item. Brown hardcover boards have dark brown leather spine which extends about an inch and a half onto covers. Bright gilt titles and decoration on front on leather. 71 pages on handmade or heavy ivory laid paper. Sewn binding. From page 49 "The love element is the dominant feature in Herrick's poetry, and it suggests a most interesting question: Did the women of whom he sang really exist, or were they creatures of fancy? This has always been a problem, not only for the student of Herrick and his day, but for all lovers of poetry: for it animates the dispute as to whether a man can create, upon a foundation of unreality, a thing of real… Read More

"Speeches and Forensic Arguments" by DANIEL WEBSTER, complete in 3 volumes. 1846; Charles Tappan, Publisher; Boston. Affixed to the frontispiece portrait of Webster in Volume I is the stem of a flower taken from Webster's grave in 1891. Additionally, a remark has been made in pencil below his portrait stating that "The above picture does not bear the slightest resemblance to Mr. Webster - it is a libel." Volume I contains 26 speeches; Volume II contains 22 speeches; Volume III contains 39 speeches.From the Preface:"...several of the speeches and addresses contained in this volume, possessing a character of more permanent and general interest, have been translated and published in most of the languages of Europe. And we are not without authority for saying, that they have been regarded, by men of elightened judgments and cultivated taste, as fine examples of forensic and popular eloquence. In the language of one of the most eminent statesmen of England, some of these speeches have been read in that… Read More

"LITTLE PAUL" from the "Dombey and Son" of Charles Dickens. Circa 1850's (there is no date of publication stated); Redfield; New York. Illustrated frontispiece with tissue guard. Scarce volume from the 6-volume "DICKENS' LITTLE FOLKS" series which was "undertaken with a view of supplying the want of a class of books for children, of a vigorous, manly tone, combined with a plain and concise mode of narration." "With this view, the career of [Little Paul has] been detached from the large mass of matter with which [he was] originally connected, and presented, in the author's own language, to a new class of readers, to whom the little volumes will, we doubt not, be as attractive as the larger originals have so long proved to the general public."Condition:Clean covers and spine with no stains; 1" cloth tear at the top-right corner of the spine; horizontal crease across the front cover which is also visible on the opposite side of the board. Occasional foxing and staining to the pages (heaviest on end… Read More

Elyria, OH 8vo size softcover with large plastic spiral binding; 348 pages with separate recipe index. Original artwork for cover and divider pages by John Rodak. Recipes are "signed" with name of contributor, but there is no index of contributors. The book is typescript (you can see some errors and strikethroughs.) The separate index, also typescript appears to be a photocopy. Two folded pages of 8.5x11 inch white paper are folded in half widthwise and make up the eight-page index. It is tucked into the book. Contents include: Appetizers Breads Cakes Coffee Cakes Candy Canning-Preserves Cheese Snacks Cookies Cutout Cookies Fried Cookies Filled (Pastry) & Tarts Drop Cookies Molded Cookies Desserts Dips Dressings Frosting Meatless Dishes Meats Lamb Fish Pies Punch Rolls Salads Soups Vegetables Recipes include: Beef Olive Spread; Sauerkraut Balls; Cheese Blintzes; Buttermilk Cupcakes; Polish Babka; Polish Sweet Bread; Polish Paczki (Donuts); Braided Butter Loaf; Rich Kolachi;… Read More