Paris: unknown. A French tourist souvenir. Undated but circa 1890, comprising a burgundy decorated folder (some chips and tears to creases now repaired and strengthened). Inside are 12 anonymous photographs of Paris. Nice clean silver gelatin original photographs. Each 210 x 270 mm (8¼ x 10¾ inches). No information about photographer or photo studio. Reverse is blank. Some of these views have been named and numbered in the plate, so it would seem that the purchaser could choose their 12 favourites from a selection. Photographs comprise: a view of the city (Eiffel Tower in the background); The Eiffel Tower close up; a river cruise on the Seine; Avenue de L'Opera; Versailles; Luxembourg Senat; l'Opera; la Madeleine; Place de la Concorde; Notre Dame; Arc de Triomphe; Champs Elysees. The photographs are in good clean condition with no tears, a few have light creasing to them due to the thin photographic paper. Un souvenir touristique français. Non daté mais Circa 1890, comprenant un dossier décoré bordeaux (quelques éclats et déchirures aux plis aujourd'hui réparés et renforcés). A l'intérieur se trouvent 12 photographies anonymes de Paris. Belles photographies originales à la gélatine argentique propre. Grandes photographies - 210 par 270 mm. Aucune information sur le photographe ou le studio photo. Le verso est vierge. Certaines de ces vues ont été nommées et numérotées dans la planche, il semblerait donc que l'acquéreur puisse choisir ses 12 coups de coeur parmi une sélection. Les photographies comprennent : une vue de la ville (tour Eiffel en arrière-plan) ; La tour Eiffel en gros plan ; une croisière fluviale sur la Seine ; Avenue de L'Opéra; Versailles; Sénat luxembourgeois; l'Opéra; la Madeleine; Place de la Concorde ; Notre Dame; Arc de Triomphe; Champs Élysées. Les photographies sont en bon état de propreté, sans déchirures, quelques-unes présentent de légers plis en raison du papier photographique fin.

London: Henry Brome at the Gun in St Pauls Church-yard, 1676. Bound in recent full calf preserving an old morocco label. One leaf (A2) is lacking. This is the engraved title page. The previous page (A1) explaining the symbolism of the illustration is present, as is the regular title page. A century of observations has separate dated title page on leaf L1r; pagination and register are continuous. "The lives and characters of the physicians of Bathe" has separate title page dated 1677 on leaf M8r; pagination and register are continuous. This copy conforms to the first edition of ESTC R10888 apart from the lack of engraved title. This copy has an additional plate at page 23. The binding is holding firmly and is in very good condition, with just some light wear to surface / extremities from handling. Contents are holding firmly and are generally in good condition if a little toned, with some light scattered foxing, occasional creases or dust marking though nothing too disfiguring, a few early ink inscriptions including at head of title, occasional ink marks, folding map of Bath with small perforation and a few nicks to edges, pp. 69 with old repair to for edge, sig G4 with loss to lower margin at gutter, final leaf with two small perforations, one just touching into inner edge of letterpress on one side of the leaf. Recent plain end papers. A good copy overall, lacking frontispiece / engraved title. Pp.[30], 200. Conforms to Wing G2192 & ESTC R10888

London: Jonathan Cape, 1966. First edition in dust wrapper. Wrapper is clean, with a touch of nicking and edgewear and with a 1cm closed tear to the head of the spine. Now in protective archival film. Hardback in clean and neat green cloth with just a touch of bumping. Book is in good clean condition throughout. What is interesting about this copy, is that there is a gift inscription to the verso of the half title, stating that the book was taken from the Iranian Embassy shortly after the SAS had ended the embassy siege in 1980. The annotation claims that it was taken from the embassy an hour after the siege, but apart from this seeming unlikely (with security concerns at the time) the date given is actually 3 weeks after the end of the siege. There is no evidence that this is true but a strange thing to make up and we offer it as an interesting oddity! 414 pages. 220 by 150mm (8¾ by 6 inches). Première édition sous couverture anti-poussière. L'emballage est propre, avec une touche d'entaille et d'usure des bords et avec une déchirure fermée de 1 cm à la tête de la colonne vertébrale. Maintenant dans un film d'archives protecteur. Couverture cartonnée en toile verte propre et soignée avec juste une touche de bosse. Le livre est en bon état de propreté partout. Ce qui est intéressant à propos de cet exemplaire, c'est qu'il y a une inscription cadeau au verso du faux titre, indiquant que le livre a été pris à l'ambassade d'Iran peu de temps après que le SAS eut mis fin au siège de l'ambassade en 1980. L'annotation prétend qu'il a été prise de l'ambassade une heure après le siège, mais à part cela qui semble peu probable (avec des problèmes de sécurité à l'époque), la date indiquée est en fait 3 semaines après la fin du siège. Il n'y a aucune preuve que cela soit vrai mais une chose étrange à inventer et nous l'offrons comme une bizarrerie intéressante ! 414 pages. 220 par 150 mm

London: Sampson Low, Marston & Co. Ltd, 1899. New half calf (dark blue) with corresponding buckram cloth. Gilt titles to spine. New end papers. Text and Japanese characters throughout. Ex library, but the rebinding has resulted in very few library marks remaining. A lovely copy of this work. The binding is immaculate (it was finished last week!). Inside, the first 4 leaves have moderate foxing to them. The rest of the book is clean and tidy, with just a little darkening to the edges. Library marks are limited to a stamp to the verso of the title pages, then small discreet stamps to the top of page 1, and the bottom of page 480. Tape residue to the last page (list of author's other works). [vi], 1-480, [vi]. pp.
Chamberlain was one of the foremost Japanologists active in the Nineteenth Century. He wrote some of the earliest translations of haiku into English. During his tenure at the Tokyo Imperial University, he sent many Japanese artifacts to the Pitt Rivers Museum at Oxford.

London: Harvill Press: 1969. First Edition. Hardback. Signed by the author in dedication after his lecture on Siberia given in Southampton at the beginning of 1979. The book follows the author and his friend's exceptionally fascinating - and possibly unique - 12,500 mile trip (driving a Mini Minor car) across the former Soviet Union. In original unclipped colour photographic dust jacket. Brown cloth boards. This work includes a collection of quite extraordinary b/w and colour images covering all aspects of the journey. From costume, rituals, traditions, the arts, architecture and places. Offering a rare glimpse of life across towns and cities in former Soviet republics. Previous owner's small bookplate to front free endpaper. Minimal light spots of foxing to prelims. Overall a very good signed copy, in a very good dust jacket. 256 pages. 245 x 175 mm (9¾ x 7 inches).

Edinburgh: Mundell and Son, 1797. Title continues: "Together with observations on hollow and surface draining in general. The whole illustrated by explanatory engravings." Quarter leather with marbled boards. gilt title on label to spine. Owner's bookplate to the inside board. Scarce First Edition. 16 engraved plates (2 folding) - Complete. The binding (later re-back) has been done a little tight, so there is some breaking to the first gather. One of the plates has scuffing to the surface (not particularly noticeable). One leaf of "Conclusion." xv, 182 pp. Large 4to. 270 by 220mm (10¾ by 8¾ inches).

Johnstone (d. 1838), an Edinburgh surveyor, was promised a grant of £1000 by the recently formed Board of Agriculture to provide a detailed and accurate account of the system of land drainage developed by Joseph Elkington (d. 1806), a farmer in Warwickshire and designer of land drainage systems. Elkington was known to be in poor health, and it was feared that knowledge of his innovations might perish with him. "About 1763 Elkington inherited a farm at Princethorpe, where some years later he discovered, at Long Harold Pits along a geological fault, the method of land drainage for which he is remembered. He discovered by accident, after losing more than 800 sheep to liver rot, how some strata were porous and pervious to water while others were not, and that he could locate the former with the auger used in exploring for marl and coal."-ODNB

Edinburgh: Printed for William Blackwood, Prince's Street; and John Murray, Bookseller of the Admiralty and Board of Longit, 1817. Scarce First Edition. This is an ex-library of the copy from the Literary And Philosophical Society in Newcastle. In brown / green cloth hardback boards. Complete; including frontis folding chart entitled "Exhibiting the Variation of the Compass agreeable to the position of the Ships Head at the time of Observation. Also the track of His Majestys Ships Sybille & Princess Carolina in a Cruize to East Greenland in 1814." Boards are darkened, and have some very small spots of soiling. Fold-out has small tear to very edges. Unfortunately, aside from the expected library stamps at the front and on verso of fold-out, the book has some damage from damp. Several of the pages have obviously stuck together at some point, and been forcibly opened, leading to loss of text. Most of the tables are still in a good condition, but towards the back the condition is worse. Only in a fair condition. See photos. 140 pages. 220 x 140 mm (8¾ x 5½ inches).

Plymouth Dock J. Congdon: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown: 1821. A lovely copy of this First Edition. Two volume work (three volumes bound as two). Complete with all the plates etc. as called for (plus a couple of engravings not called for). Half leather brown fine leather binding, with brown cloth boards. Each volume has a frontis and additional engraved title. There is also a dedication engraving. Vol. 1. has 9 engraved plates and the 25 heraldic engraved plates. Vol. II. has the 37 plates called for plus an additional 2 plates (see notes). There is also a folding plate showing the exports of the Cornish tin mines.
A very nice copy of this work. The binding is fairly recent, and is clean and tidy. There is a touch of fading to the spine. There are also a couple of areas of staining to the spine. Internally, the books are both on the whole clean and tidy. There are a number of pages and plates with light water damage to the top portion, but not too dark. P681/2 there is a small area of loss to the bottom of the page - not affecting text. P683/4 there is an area of loss to the side of the page, with a small area of loss of text to both sides.
The work is complete, but also has two additional plates not mentioned in the binders instructions. (1) The tomb of Sir J. Arundell & monument to W. Achim and (2) and engraving of Tehidy Park.
Collation: [vi], viii, [ii], 1-71, [i], [vi], [ii], 73-592, 1-220. (end vol. I) [iv], 221-370, [ii], 373-962, [xx]. pp

Oxford University Press, 1807. First edition. Original stiff card boards. Ex-library copy with label to front paste down and a couple of discrete library stamps. viii, 1-112 pp. With engraved map of two voyages to the Baltic. Some copies include an additional folding map, but Copac states that this is dated 1808 and suggests that this was in subsequent editions. The boards are a little darkened. Rubbing and chipping to the spine with a little loss. Binding holding well. Internally clean and tidy, Slight darkening to title page edges. No marks other than library stamps. Overall a very good example. 290 x 230 mm (11½ x 9 inches). Copac ref. 19331769
"The geography of Europe; extracted from King Alfred's Anglo-Saxon version of Orosius" (p. [57]-90). "Notes on the first chapter of the first book of Ælfred's Anglo-Saxon version of Orosius. By Mr. J. R. Forster" (p. [91]-112)

London: 1806. Two works bound as one. Both first editions. The first is an abstract of "A Northern Summer; Or, Travels round the Baltic, through Denmark, Sweden, Russia, Prussia, and part of Germany in the year 1804" 80, [ii]. pp. Includes index, Sepia aquatint of Cronberg Castle (Kronborg Castle), and a lovely large folding sepia Aquatint of St. Petersburg.
The second work is "A Tour through Holland, along the right and left banks of the Rhine, to the South of Germany in the Summer and Autumn of 1806." 167 [ii]. pp including index. Includes 6 folding sepia aquatint illustrations, or Rotterdam, The Hague, Amsterdam (x2) Utrecht, and Koblenz.
Each work has a paragraph of introduction, and then an abstract or digest of the work itself. Recent half calf binding, with hardcover boards. burgundy label to spine. New end papers. The text itself is clean and tidy, in excellent condition. 240 x 150 mm (9½ x 6 inches).