THE PRAISE OF HELL: or, a View of the Infernal Regions. Containing Some Account of the Advantages of that Place, with Respect to its Antiquity, Situation, and Stability. Together with a description of Its Inhabitants; their dresses, manners, Amusements. By Jean Frédéric Bernard. Translated from the French.

Dublin: James Potts, 1760. First English edition, originally published the previous year in France as Eloge d'Enfer.

TWO VOLUMES. Leather covers, five raised spine bands, leather title labels, 4x6.25 inches (9.5x15.5 cm). Pagination: [16], xvi, 191; [8], 224 pp. Illustrated with an engraved frontispiece in each volume, an additional plate in Volume 1, and four additional plates in Volume 2.

A satirical work that finds Hell to be a well ordered and nicely governed place to reside, more attractive than the alternative. The author describes many of its residents, including Alexander VI and Albertus Magnus. Hell is easy to get into and one meets the most interesting people there.

GOOD condition: The covers have light wear and scuffing, the corner tips are bumped, the hinges are tender, especially the front hinge of Volume I; internally, the endpapers have offsetting from the leather covers and some foxing, otherwise the pages are just lightly toned with some foxing here and there.

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.

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.

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.

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".******

An impressive set of bright and beautiful antique decorative books with a certain je ne sais quoi quality that can instantly take your coffee table to another level!

GOETHE'S WORKS COMPLETE IN FIVE VOLUMES by Johann Wolfgang GOETHE. Illustrated by Leading German Artists, Edited by Heinrich Duntzer. Published by Deutschen Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart & Leipzig. Second edition (so stated), no date [ca. 1890]. In GERMAN Fraktur. Hardbound in original Publisher's ornate fine binding, dark red textured cloth with embossed printing in gilt and black to the front covers and spine, rear covers have printer's device and borders embossed in black, 10" x 7.5", all edges gilt, white moire patterned endpapers, volume 1 is 460 pages, volume 2 is 464 pages, volume 3 is 470 with Publisher's ad at the rear, volume 4 is 472 pages and volume 5 is 532 pages, all five volumes are illustrated throughout with full page and in-text 18th century black & white drawings. The five volumes are in VERY GOOD CONDITION: the spines are lightly sunned, corner-tips lightly bumped, and the gilt page edges have a touch of wear but remain very bright, internally a former owners neatly penned name, address, date on the front free endpapers, and light signs of age and use, overall tight, bright, clean and unmarked. An excellent set. Please note, this set weighs about 20 pounds packed for shipping and will require additional shipping charges (approximately $20 for media mail).

GOETHE'S WERKE IN FÜNF BÄNDEN von Johann Wolfgang GOETHE. Illustrirt von Ersten Deutschen Kunstlern. Herausgeber Heinrich Duntzer. Zweite Auflage. Druck und Papier der Deutschen Verlags-Anstalt in Stuttgart & Leipzig, die Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt vormals Eduard Hallberger Stuttgart. Zweite auflage (wie angegeben), kein datum, [um 1890].

CATALOGUE OF IMPORTANT LETTERS, MANUSCRIPTS AND BOOKS BY OR RELATING TO WALT WHITMAN, The Property of His Intimate Friend, Biographer and Literary Executor, the Late Richard Maurice Bucke of London, Ontario (Sold By Order Of H. L. Bucke, Esq.) Which Will Be Sold by Auction by Messrs. Sotheby & Co. ... the 13th of May, 1935.

LONDON: Printed by Kitchen & Barratt Ltd., 1935.

Hard Library Covers, cloth covered boards, entire catalog bound within, 6x9.5 inches (15x24 cm), 31 pages plus 3 prelim pages (cover, foreword, conditions of sale). Illustrated with 4 facsimile illustrations of manuscript signatures and inscriptions.

117 lots are offered and described. No price estimates.

Condition: EX-LIB with a shelving number on spine, a UC Santa Cruz stamp on the front pastedown, a numerical stamp at the bottom of the Colophon page (last page), and a "Withdrawn UCSC" stamp on both the front free endpaper and the rear free endpaper, etc.; ex-lib aside, there is a slant to the spine, otherwise a solid, tight, bright, clean, clear and unmarked copy.

HEROIC EROTICS: THE ANATOMY OF MISOGYNY IN THE ARS AMATORIA, by Laurie J. Churchill. An Original PhD Thesis.

Thesis submitted to the faculty of the Graduate School of the University of California, Santa Cruz, in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in LITERATURE.

Self published, Laurie J. Churchill, June 1985.

Printed paper covers, copy shop type printing, 8.5x11 inches, 163 pages, pages printed on one side only.

VERY GOOD condition, the covers are lightly toned, overall tight, bright, clean, clear and unmarked.

After graduating with a PhD. Laurie J. Churchill went on to become lead editor of the major scholarly work: "Women Writing in Latin: Women Writing Latin in Roman Antiquity; Women Writing Latin in Late Antiquity; and Women Writing Latin in the Early Christian Era" (Routledge, 2002). She has also written numerous articles on classical literature and feminist pedagogy.

FOUR WORKS by LORD BYRON bound in this single FINE BINDING volume. Each includes its half-title page, title page, complete text, and colophon at the end; each is numbered separately as issued. The four bound-in works are: BEPPO, A Venetian Story. London, John Murray, Fifth Edition, 1818. 52 pages. * MAZEPPA (including "A FRAGMENT"), London, John Murray, 1819 [First Edition, second state]. 69 pages. * POEMS OF LORD BYRON on his Own Domestic Circumstances. London, Effingham Wilson, Second Edition, 1816. 34 pages. * A POETICAL EPISTLE. London, John Miller, 1816. 15 pages.

Bound in at the end of MAZEPPA is the rare Lord Byron unfinished VAMPIRE story "A FRAGMENT".

FINE BINDING by HENRY YOUNG & SONS, LIVERPOOL, circa early 1900s. "Signed" by the bookbinder at the top edge of the verso of the front free-endpaper. Hardcovers, 3/4 CALF LEATHER with SIMULATED BIRCH-COVERED BOARDS, spine decorated in gilt, five raised spine bands, leather spine title label, gilt top page edges, SIMULATED BIRCH ENDPAPERS, 6x9 inches (15x21 cm), 170 total pages (each work paginated separately). HENRY YOUNG & SONS was a Bookseller, Publisher and Bookbinder in Liverpool, established in 1847 as Henry Young and in 1887 became Henry Young & Sons.

GOOD condition, the covers are rubbed at the folds and edges, have some wear at the spine ends and corner tips, and the faux birchwood covered boards have some shelf rubs, but overall the covers are solid and quite lovely. Internally, there is a previous owner's signature on a blank prelim "(?) Moore" and a different previous owner's signature on the first page of two of the bound-in works "H. Brooke"; the bound in work "POEMS" is foxed and has soiling and creases but is still clear and solid; the other three bound-in works are bright, clean, clear and unmarked, with just a bit of foxing here and there. A solid, very presentable copy.

SCARCE with BYRON'S 1819 First Edition / Second State "A FRAGMENT" and the FINE BINDING by Henry Young & Sons.

NOTES:

MAZEPPA is the first edition, second state, with the colophon moved from page [70] to the verso of page 71 (the page of ads). Byron's early Vampire story "A FRAGMENT" (pages 57 to 69) was included by the Publisher John Murray without Byron's consent. "A Fragment" was written during the celebrated week at Geneva in 1816, during which Polidori conceived "The Vampyre" and Mary Shelley conceived her classic Frankenstein.

About A FRAGMENT (from Wikipedia):

******"A Fragment" is an unfinished 1819 vampire horror story written by Lord Byron. The story was one of the first in English to feature a vampire theme. The main character was Augustus Darvell. The story "A FRAGMENT" is important in history of the vampire legend in English literature because it was THE FIRST TO FEATURE THE MODERN VAMPIRE AS ABLE TO FUNCTION IN SOCIETY IN DISGUISE. The short story first appeared under the title "A Fragment" in the 1819 collection MAZEPPA: A Poem published by John Murray in London.

Byron's unfinished "A Fragment" was appended to Mazeppa by the publisher John Murray in June 1819 without the approval of Byron. On 20 March 1820, Byron wrote to Murray: "I shall not allow you to play the tricks you did last year with the prose you post-scribed to 'Mazeppa,' which I sent to you not to be published...and there you tacked it, without a word of explanation, and be damned to you."

The vampire fragment was a product of the ghost story contest that occurred in Geneva on 17 June 1816, when Byron stayed at the Villa Diodati with author and physician John William Polidori. Their guests were Percy Bysshe Shelley, Mary Godwin (soon to be Shelley), and Claire Clairmont. Mary recalled the contest and Byron's contribution in the 1831 introduction to Frankenstein: "We will each write a ghost story, said Lord Byron; and his proposition was acceded to. There were four of us. The noble author began a tale, a fragment of which was printed with his poem of Mazeppa."******