POEMS (anonymous, but known to be FRANCIS NOEL CLARKE MUNDY). OXFORD, Printed by W. Jackson, MDCC,LX,VIII (1768). Disbound

(i.e. no covers), 4to 8x10 inches, 97 pages. Beautifully printed on heavy stock, watermarked, laid paper. The imprint of the type is fully tangible. FAIR Condition: Lacking covers (as noted above). The text block's sewn binding is mostly gone leaving all the signatures and many leaves loose. The front free endpaper is lacking, the brief errata has been clipped from its own page at the rear and pasted in the space below THE END on the last page of text, otherwise complete with all pages and signatures in their proper order. The pages themselves are in Good condition, with edge wear to their disbound edge, and some light edge toning and corner creases here and there. Overall the pages are bright, clean, clear and unmarked. Quite lovely as is (especially with the tactile printing), and a perfect candidate for rebinding. I have collated my copy page for page with the copy in the rare book room of the Oxford Library that has been digitized and put online.

THE ROBBERS - A TRAGEDY, by FREDERICH SCHILLER.

TRANSLATED into ENGLISH from the ORIGINAL GERMAN EDITION (DIE RÄUBER, 1781). Translated by ALEXANDER FRASER TYTLER aka LORD WOODHOUSELEE, a noted translator who wrote important treatises on the theory of translation. Published by G. G. J. & J. ROBINSONS, Paternoster-Row, LONDON, MDCCXCII (1792). FIRST ENGLISH EDITION. Later republished numerous times, the First English Edition of 1792 is Very Scarce. Disbound Copy (i.e. lacking covers), lacking half-title page, complete from the Title-Page through the last page of text with "The End" printed at the bottom of the last page, more recent leather spine covering still present, 5" x 8". Pagination xviii (lacking half-title pages i-ii), [2], 220. Condition: Light toning to the first and last page; 6 pages have a few words written, rather sloppily,

in red ink in the bottom margin; 6 middle pages have some staining (not too bad and text is clear); otherwise just lightly used and still tight, bright and clean. DIE RÄUBER (THE ROBBERS)

was the first drama by German playwright FRIEDRICH SCHILLER. It was written towards the end of the German Sturm und Drang 'Storm and Stress' movement. The play had a major influence on European dramatic works that followed. SCARCE 1792 FIRST ENGLISH EDITION

LA COLTIVAZIONE DEL RISO, by Gian Battista Spolverini (aka Giambattista Spolverini).

VERONA (Italy): Dalla Stamperia GIULIARI MDCCXCVI (1796). Fifth edition.

Full Vellum, 4to, 9x12 inches (22x30 cm), Pagination: XVI, 224 pages. Engraved frontispiece portrait of the author. Printed on fine rag paper.

First published in 1758, Spolverini's poem concerning rice and rice cultivation was popular and was printed in no less than 15 editions, this being the fifth. Italy was second only to Spain in its cultivation of rice in Europe. Rice first appeared in Italy in 1468 around Pisa, along the Lombardy plain. Spolverini's poem is considered a major work in the genre of Italian bucolic and didactic poetry. This edition also includes an "Elogio" by Ippolito Pindemonte.

It is said that rice farmers could successfully grow rice using only this book.

VERY GOOD condition: Light wear to vellum; front hinge starting to split at the top, just a little foxing here and there and a few minor instances of worming. A solid, bright, lovely, vellum bound copy of this important Italian work on rice.

Everyone loves Italian rice, especially when it's from 1796!

INTERNATIONAL BUYERS PLEASE NOTE: This book is will require additional shipping charges. After placing your order you will be notified of the additional charges and be able to accept or reject them before your payment is processed. Or you can contact us ahead of time to find out the shipping charge to your country. Thanks.

THE CONTRAST: A NOVEL, by Elizabeth Sarah Villa-Real Gooch.

Printed and Sold by Joseph Johnson, Wilmington, Delaware, 1796. First American Edition.

Hardcovers, leather covered boards (front cover detached but present), leather title label on spine, 4x6 inches (10x16 cm), 156 pages..

There is a circa 1800 printed bookplate on the front pastedown from "Daniel Steele's Circulating Library". (A July 30, 1810 notice, found on the Internet, states "Mrs. Tiffany of Albany took possession of the books in Daniel Steel's Circulating Library consisting of about two thousand volumes." A foreclosure perhaps?)

Condition: Top board detached but present, rear hinge split but holding with the cord bindings, first blank endpaper (with previous owner's 1804 inscription) is coming loose but holding, there is a closed slit across page 13 that appears to be a binder's error, the inner pages are toned and have some foxing, the early pages have light shorelining; overall a complete copy with text that is always bright and fully legible.

RARE 18th CENTURY AMERICAN / DELAWARE IMPRINT, with an interesting association to an 18th century Wilmington, Delaware, circulating library.

About the author ELIZABETH SARAH VILLA-REAL GOOCH (from Wikipedia):

******Elizabeth Sarah Gooch was born Elizabeth Sarah Villa-Real in Edwinstowe. Following her father's death, she received a substantial inheritance, but her mother arranged a marriage for her to William Gooch in 1775 before she realized that she was financially independent.

Her husband took control of her money and abandoned her in Lille in 1778.

For a time, she was an actress with a theatre company in Portsmouth. She was also involved in liaisons with various princes and military leaders. By the time she published An Appeal to the Public in 1788, she had been imprisoned for debt. In 1792, she published The Life of Mrs. Gooch. She went on to publish a collection of poetry and a number of novels including The Contrast (1795).******

What an interesting woman. When is the movie coming out?

REMARKS ON THE CASSANDRA OF LYCOPHRON, A MONODY. by the Rev. H. Meen, B.D. (Reverend Henry Meen, Rector of Saint Nicholas Cole Abbey and Saint Nicholas Olave, City of London). LONDON: Printed by Bunney & Gold, Shoe-Lane, Fleet Street, and sold by Messrs. Rivingtons, et al., 1800. Text in English with Greek excerpts from The Cassandra. Lacking covers, half-title page is disbound (i.e. laid on loosely),the rest of the pages (title page through the blank rear endpaper) still held together by the sewn binding, 5x8". Pagination: [4}, 45 pp. This was an attempt to show the importance of The Cassandra and to rescue it from falling into obscurity. An early and interesting Historical and Literary study. Condition: Lacking covers as noted above; the disbound title page and the blank rear endpaper are toned; there is foxing throughout, heaviest on about half the pages, light on the other half, text is always clear and legible beneath any foxing.

GERMAN ROMANCE: Specimens of Its Chief Authors; with Biographical and Critical Notices by the Translator of Wilhelm Meister and the Author of The Life of Schiller (i.e. THOMAS CARLYLE). FOUR VOLUMES (Complete in These 4 Volumes). Edinburgh: William Tait, Prince's Street, and London: Charles Tait, Fleet Street, MDCCCXXVII (1827). FIRST EDITION. Original hardcovers, gray paper covered boards, brown paper covered spines, printed title information on spines, 5" x 8", 337, 317, 309 and 352 pages respectively.

Each Volume is complete with a half title and engraved title page. Early Thomas Carlyle book appearance, this was only his fourth work in book form. Carlyle greatly admired German writers and was instrumental in introducing them to the England through this, his 4 volume set of books. The four volumes are: Vol. I: Musaeus and Fouqué; Vol II: Tieck and Hoffman; Vol. III: Richter; and Vol. IV: Goethe (this 4 volume set is most renowned for this volume entirely on Goethe). All four Volumes were previously part of the CARLYLE COLLECTION of DR. SAMUEL A. JONES, with a decorative rubber stamp that states "CARLYLE COLLECTION

/ SAM'L A JONES" on the

front free endpaper of each volume, and a second such stamp on the front pastedown of the first volume. In addition, each volume is hand numbered according to its place in the collection.

The volumes are hand numbered 20, 21, 22 and 23, respectively. Dr. Samuel A. Jones was renowned collector of Thomas Carlyle. His entire collection was catalogued by the University of Michigan in 1919. The association gives this set a rather wonderful provenance. CONDITION: Volume I has a disbound front cover and is missing its spine covering. The spine covering of Volume II is almost completely chipped away, the spine coverings of Volumes III and IV are chipped, rubbed and worn, with the spine lettering only partially legible.

The covers of all 4 Volumes are worn at the edges, with most edges worn through, and the paper starting to peel away at a number of places. Volume I has a clipping from an old bookseller's catalogue pasted to the front pastedown. The clipping lists a similar set of Carlyle books for 1 pound 5 shillings. The bookseller was Alfred Russell Smith (Soho, London). Internally, there is foxing, offsetting, some spotting and some shorelining, mainly to the first and last few pages of each Volume, otherwise the inner pages are pretty nice - complete, tight, bright, clean and unmarked. SCARCE FIRST EDITION SET OF THIS IMPORTANT THOMAS CARLYLE WORK with a WONDERFUL ASSOCIATION to one of the most notable COLLECTOR'S OF CARLYLE.

COLIN CLINK, by Charles Hooton. THREE VOLUME SET. Beautiful FINE BINDING by RIVIERE, with Riviere's miniscule "BOUND BY RIVIERE & SON" statement printed on the top edge of the blank verso of the front free endpaper of each volume. LONDON: Richard Bentley, 1844. First UK book edition. (Originally published in UK in Bentley's Miscellany about 1837, then in book form in the U.S. in 1840, then in this first U.K. book edition.) Complete in three volumes. Finely bound, half green morocco with marbled paper covered boards, five raised spine bands, gilt lettering to the spines, gilt top page edges, marbled endpapers, 5x8 inches (12.5x20 cm). Pagination: [iv], 317, [1]; [4], 309, [1]; [4], 312 pages. Frontispieces and plates by Leech and George Cruikshank. The decorative bookplate of J.A. Burnham, Jr. is on the front pastedown of each volume. NEAR FINE condition, the covers have a bit of wear to the spine ends and corner tips, and the leather has a couple superficial scrapes; internally there is a spot of foxing here and there, else tight, bright, clean, clear, and unmarked. A lovely, finely bound, 3 volume set. INTERNATIONAL BUYERS PLEASE NOTE: This 3 volume set will require additional shipping charges. After placing your order you will be notified of the additional charges and be able to accept or reject them before your payment is processed. Or you can contact us ahead of time to find out the shipping charge to your country. Thanks.

THE SAINT'S TRAGEDY; or, The True Story of ELIZABETH OF HUNGARY, Landgravine of Thuringia, Saint of the Romish Calendar, by CHARLES KINGSLEY. Published by John W. Parker, London, 1848. FIRST EDITION. Small Format Hardcover Book, cloth covered boards, spine paper title label, 4.5x7". Pagination: [4], xxiii (i-xxiii), [4], 271 (pages numbered 28 to 271, consecutive numbering beginning with page "i"), [1], + 4 numbered pages of Publisher's ads. Preface by the Reverend F. D. Maurice and an Introduction by the Author. This is CHARLES KINGSLEY'S FIRST PUBLISHED BOOK, a drama, written while he was Rector of Eversley. THE YEAST, Kingsley's first novel, was being published in installments in Fraser's Magazine at the same time, but it was controversial and the novel serialization was never finished - it was completed and first published in book form in 1850. Condition: The Original Covers are rubbed and shelf worn, there is a light cup ring on the rear cover, the spine covering is split at the rear fold, but holding well, the paper spine label is chipped and worn, affecting the label title text (part of the title, "KINGSLEY",

and the "5s." price are still clear). Internally, there is a previous owner's signature at the top of the front pastedown,

"St. John's Book Club" is written at the top of the front free-endpaper, there is some light corner creasing, overall the inner pages remain tight, bright, clean and unmarked. A complete, solid, nice 1848 First Edition copy, in original covers, of THE FIRST PUBLISHED BOOK by CHARLES KINGSLEY.

THE ORDEAL OF RICHARD FEVEREL - A History of Father and Son, by GEORGE MEREDITH. THREE VOLUME SET - Complete in these Three Volumes. LONDON: CHAPMAN AND HALL, 193, Piccadilly, 1859. FIRST EDITION. This was George Meredith's first full-length novel (preceded only by a volume of verse and two single-volume burlesques). When it first came out, in 1859, it was a critical and financial failure, considered both "unreadable" and of "low ethical standards". It was not, therefore, reprinted until 1878. Then, all of a sudden, the critics began raving about the book to such an extent that it became required reading at many English schools. That is why the 1859 first edition of what became the author's best known work is scarce. Half-leather (leather spine and corners) and pebbled cloth covered boards, five raised spine bands, embossed gilt titling to spine, marbled page edges, marbled endpapers, 4.5x7.5". Pagination: iv, 303; iv, 348; iv, 395. Bookplate of STEPHEN EATON ELAND on the front pastedown of each volume. Condition: Covers are rubbed and scraped at the spine ends, corner tips and edges of the leather, and are sunned at the margins, but remain sturdy and handsome; the top page edges have darkened; Volume I is lacking a blank prelim page (blank prelim page before the title page), otherwise all volumes are complete; there is substantial foxing to the first and last few pages of each volume, otherwise there is only a bit of foxing here and there; other than the foxing on the first and last few pages, the inner pages are complete, tight, bright, clean and unmarked. This 1859 First Edition Three Volume Set of George Meredith's First full-length Novel is VERY SCARCE.

AULD LANG SYNE: SELECTIONS from the PAPERS of the PEN AND PENCIL CLUB. Printed for PRIVATE CIRCULATION (exclusively for members of the Pen and Pencil Club), 1877. FIRST EDITION. Published as a Hardcover but now LACKING ITS COVERS, though the spine covering is partially present; lacking half title and frontispiece illustration (the second plate, illustrating Aubrey House, is present); textually complete from the title page through to the last page, page 176 (I collated my copy with the copy in the Rare Book Room of the Bodleian Library that was digitized in 2007); pages and signatures mostly DISBOUND and LOOSE but in proper order. Condition: Lacking covers and with loose and disbound pages and signatures, as noted above; the title page has pieces missing from its corners, edge wear, and a bit of edge staining, not affecting text; there is light toning to the page margins, some edge wear here and there, and light soiling to the last page. This disbound and page loose but textually complete copy is a great candidate for rebinding. 1877 TRUE FIRST EDITIONS of the PAPERS of the PEN AND PENCIL CLUB are quite RARE.

DULCE COR: Being the POEMS of FORD BERÊTON (pseudonym of SAMUEL RUTHERFORD CROCKETT). LONDON: Kegan Paul, Trench & Co., MDCCCLXXXVI (1886). First Edition. Hardcovers, olive green cloth covered boards lettered in gilt on the front cover and spine, 5x7.5 inches. Pagination: xii, 200 pages. Frontispiece portrait and one plate, both with their tissue guards. This is the FIRST BOOK by the SCOTTISH writer S.R. CROCKETT, b. 1860 d. 1914. It is a collection of poetry written under the pseudonym FORD BERÊTON. The book was published the year Crockett was ordained into the Church of Scotland. It would be seven years later, and after resigning his ministry, that Crockett would begin publishing his famous SCOTTISH STORIES, beginning with his successful THE STICKIT MINISTER. This copy has an IMPORTANT SCOTTISH LITERARY ASSOCIATION, with the penciled ownership SIGNATURE and handwritten ADDRESS of Scottish writer WILLIAM SHARP on the half title page. William Sharp wrote under his name and under the pseudonym of FIONA MACLEOD. He was a contemporary of Samuel Crockett. He was also a contemporary of William Butler Yeats who reportedly liked the writing of Fiona Macleod but not the writing of William Sharp. There is a lovely pictorial bookplate of Albert Harrison on the front pastedown. I have no idea who he might be. VERY GOOD condition, the covers have some wear and rubbing to the spine ends and corner tips, there is foxing here and there, most noticeable on the first and last few pages, the leaf consisting of pages 95/96 is missing its upper corner (probably from being roughly cut open), not affecting text; otherwise tight, bright, clean and unmarked. The penciled signature and handwritten address of William Sharp are clear and legible. About S.R. CROCKETT (from Wikipedia): ******Samuel Rutherford Crockett, b.1859 d.1914, who published under the name S. R. CROCKETT, was a Scottish novelist. After some years of travel, he became in 1886 an Ordained Minister of Penicuik. During the same year as his ordination, his first book, Dulce Cor (Latin: Sweet Heart), a collection of verse under the pseudonym Ford Brereton, was published. That was the only book he published until he abandoned the ministry to become a writer. The success of J. M. Barrie and the Kailyard school of sentimental, homey writing had already created a demand for stories in Lowland Scots, when Crockett published his successful story of The Stickit Minister in 1893. It was followed by a rapidly produced series of popular novels frequently featuring the history of Scotland or his native Galloway. Crockett made considerable sums of money from his writing and was a friend and correspondent of R. L. Stevenson. A substantial number of his works have been republished since the 100th anniversary of his death.****** About WILLIAM SHARP / FIONA MACLEOD (from Wikipedia): ******William Sharp, b.1855 d.1905, was a Scottish writer, of poetry and literary biography in particular, who from 1893 wrote also as Fiona Macleod, a pseudonym kept almost completely secret during his lifetime. Sharp's poem THE LONELY HUNTER inspired the title of Carson McCullers debut novel THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER. His poem contains the lines "Deep in the heart of Summer, sweet is life to me still, But my heart is a lonely hunter, that hunts on a lonely hill". In Disney's 2017 movie production of Beauty and the Beast, Belle recites to the Beast several lines of Sharp's poem A Crystal Forest: "Each branch, each twig, each blade of grass, / Seems clad miraculously with glass".******