Amsterdam: Lugduni Batauorum ex officina Elzeviriana: 1635. First edition. Edited by Joannes de Laet. A lovely contemporary dark red Morocco binding. Fine roll of gilt flowers to each board. Gilt decoration and titles to the spine. Blue marbled endpapers. First volume with fine engraved title depicting all the elements found in Pliny, Elzevir's small woodcut device on other titles. small woodcut portrait of the author within roundel on *8 verso, woodcut headpieces and initials. The first volume has the armorial bookplate of George Villiers to the inside front board. The second volume is signed H. Montagu Villiers 1830. {1} pp (xxiv) 654 (xviii). {2} pp. 631 (xvii).

A beautiful example of this binding. The spines are a touch darkened, but the binding is in excellent condition. Internally clean and tidy throughout, with very slight darkening only.
George Villiers (1759–1827) The youngest son of the diplomat Lord Hyde (later Earl of Clarendon), he was an intimate of Princess Amelia and personal supporter of her father, George III. His bookkeeping as Paymaster of the Marines caused a scandal and left him owing the Crown £250,000. He was forced to surrender all his property and throw himself to the King's mercy. His son Henry Montagu Villiers (1813–1861) was a Church of England. becoming Bishop of Carlisle (1856) and Durham (1860).
The "Elsevier Books" are books published in the late XVI – the early XVIII centuries by the celebrated Dutch publishing house belonging to the Elsevier family. The Elsevier dynasty of printers existed more than 130 years and came to the forefront of European book-printing in the XVII century. Its founder was Lodewijk Elsevier (1546–1617) from Leuven who had studied printing art at famous Christophe Plantin in Antwerp. After Lodewijk Elsevier's death, the family business was continued by his descendants from whom the most celebrated are: Bonaventura Elsevier (1583–1652), Isaac Elsevier (1596–1651) and Lodewijk Elsevier Jr. (1604–1670). The last of the Elseviers died in 1712 whereupon their firm ceased to exist.

Paris: Librairie Garnier Freres, 1848. Three volumes in contemporary half red leather & gilt (recently restored) with red boards. Marbled boards. Three Volumes. 1) Chants Guerriers et Patriotiques. Chansons Bachiques. 2) Chansons et Chansonnettes. Chansons Burlesques et Sateriques. 3) Chansons Choisies. Romances, Rowdes et Compaintes. Each volume has two engraved title pages as well as the printed title page. Each of the songs is comprised of four leaves / 8 sides, has its title, with credits for music and illustrations - There are music, lyrics and beautiful engravings for each song. Each separate song has the printer information at the bottom of the last leaf, leaving me to wonder if this was originally issued as a part work ? Complete. The red boards have a touch of darkening and a little marking to them, but presentable. The leather and gilt are clean and bright. Internally in sound, strong condition, but with moderate foxing throughout. The text and illustrations are still strongly visible through the foxing though. Trois volumes en demi cuir rouge et dorure d'époque (récemment restaurés) à plats rouges. Planches marbrées. Trois tomes. 1) Chants Guerriers et Patriotiques. Chansons Bachiques. 2) Chansons et Chansonnettes. Chansons Burlesques et Satériques. 3) Chansons Choisies. Romances, Rowdes et Compaites. Chaque volume comporte deux pages de titre gravées ainsi que la page de titre imprimée. Chacune des chansons est composée de quatre feuilles / 8 faces, a son titre, avec des crédits pour la musique et des illustrations - Il y a de la musique, des paroles et de belles gravures pour chaque chanson. Chaque chanson séparée a les informations de l'imprimante au bas de la dernière feuille, me laissant me demander si cela a été publié à l'origine en tant que travail partiel ? Compléter. Les planches rouges ont une touche d'assombrissement et un peu de marquage, mais présentables. Le cuir et la dorure sont propres et brillants. Intérieur en bon état, solide, mais avec des rousseurs modérées partout. Le texte et les illustrations sont encore fortement visibles à travers les rousseurs.

Paris: Éditions Georges Guillot, 1957. First limited edition. One of 1,000 on vélin de Rives. Wonderful signed binding by Atelier Laucournet. Three quarters red morocco with gorgeous marbled and gilt boards. Gilt titles and decoration to spine. Attractive marbled endpapers. Introduction by Jean Cocteau, and splendid hand coloured Bécat illustrations; including frontis with tissue guard. Silk ribbon bookmark. Top edge gilt. Boards and contents in fine condition. 184 pages. 280 x 230 mm (11 x 9 inches). Édition limitée. Un des 1000 sur vélin de Rives. Magnifique reliure signée de l'Atelier Laucournet. Préface de Jean Cocteau. Trois quarts de maroquin rouge à superbes plats marbrés et dorés. Titres et décors dorés. Splendides illustrations de Bécat colorées à la main ; y compris frontis avec protège. Marque page en ruban de soie. Tranche supérieure dorée. Planches et contenu en bon état. 184 pages. 280 x 230 mm

Paris: Societe D'Editions Litteraires Francaises, 1947. First Edition. Limited and numbered: #191 of 450 on. Attractive hardback binding in custom deluxe green morocco, with red design to front board and red title to spine. Held within custom made marbled slipcase to match the endpapers. Original softback covers retained inside. One or two light finger marks inside; otherwise in very good condition. Text in French. 113 pages. 295 x 235 mm (11½ x 9¼ inches). Première édition. Limité et numéroté : #191 sur 450. Jolie reliure cartonnée en maroquin vert de luxe personnalisé, avec un motif rouge sur le premier plat et un titre rouge sur le dos. Tenu dans un étui marbré fait sur mesure pour correspondre aux pages de garde. Couvertures souples originales conservées à l'intérieur. Une ou deux légères traces de doigts à l'intérieur ; sinon en très bon état. 113 pages. 295 × 235 mm

Oxford University Press, 1866. Contemporary full bone / ivory binding (boards, spine and clasp). Purple silk end papers. All edges gilt. Printed throughout in red and black. The book is held in a black leather covered box with metal catch. (box probably later). A very nice example of bone binding. The clasp is sound, but the catch on the front board is missing (so it doesn't click shut). There is a thin crack to the base of the spine. Otherwise, the binding is clean and tidy. The silk end papers are clean and tidy, but have just a touch of rubbing to the edges. The rest of the book are clean and tidy throughout. The black box is somewhat rubbed but still holding well. The catch on the box is still fully working.

London: Longman & Co, 1849. First edition. Beautifully printed illuminations by Jones. 18 leaves (34 pages) chromolithographed in gold and colour. Decorated in Gothic style in deep relief. The boards have been covered in red leather, which follows, almost exactly, the original design. The book is stamped "Bound by Remnant, Edmonds and Remnant" to the first blank page, but we assume that this is a slightly later re-bind, rather than a variant binding (?) re-backed in morocco retaining much of original spine. A perfect example of the Victorian mania for unusual book bindings and bookbinding materials. Red and blue design to endpapers. These have been printed on a heavy textured paper. The text is an extract from the Book of Ecclesiastes, Chapters 1 - 12 from the King James Bible. Unpaginated. All edges gilt. The book contains two bookplates. The armorial plate of Aubrey G. Jamaica. Aubrey George Spencer (1795–1872) was the first bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Newfoundland and Bermuda (1839–1843). He was also bishop of Jamaica. His brother George Spencer became Bishop of Madras. He is from the Spencer family. His title and the mitre on his bookplate identify this as having come into his possession between 1849 and 1855. Spencer was firmly Protestant, seeing all but the Church of England as being in error, and was the author of several works supporting this view. It is ironic then, that the ownership of the book passed to the library of the Mount Street Jesuits in London, and the second bookplate shows that it belonged to the Society of Jesus. (Mount Street is still a Jesuit mission, and is today used as a retreat centre). Quayle (Eric) The Collector's Book of Books (1971) states on page 111, 'The London firm of Remnant & Edmonds specialised in unusual bindings..... Their piece de resistance was The Preacher, 1849, by Owen Jones. They invented a method whereby they were able accurately to imitate carved wood in almost Grindling Gibbons fashion. The pattern was burnt into the wood under considerable pressure, but few copies have managed to survive to the present day.' The partnership of Thomas Remnant and Jacob Edmonds from 1831; Frederick Remnant succeeded his father.

Owen Jones (1809-1874) was an English / Welsh architect. A versatile architect and designer, he was also one of the most influential design theorists of the nineteenth century. Today, he is remembered for his "Grammar of Ornamentation" and his descriptions of the decoration of the Alhambra. He also designed a number of beautifully produced books, of which this is perhaps the finest example.

London: Longman Hurst Rees Orme Brown and Green, 1824. First edition. Two volumes. Nineteenth century cream vellum with gilt decorative tooling. Burgundy label. Marbled end papers. title-page in a border of printer's flowers. Bookplate of G.S. Hinds ("et Gilbert filius ejus" added in manuscript) on paste-downs. Lovely set of a printer's classic. The first volume is devoted to the history of printing and includes biographies, adorned with bibliographical notes, of famous British printers such as Caxton and Wynkyn the Worde. The second volume describes type, composition, letter cases, imposition (including rather unusual formats such as 72mo, 96mo and even "one hundred and twenty-eights"!), exotic alphabets, rules to be observed in a printing house, the construction of a printing press, warehouse work, wages, steam machines, etc.
X, [14], xii, 609, [11]; [8], iv, 663, [17] pp.
125 by 75mm (5 by 3 inches). Bigmore & Wyman I, pp. 371-373.