Some foxing, some pulling of hinges resulting in minor separation, ink name to top of title-page and front fly-leaf; covers rather worn.
Mitford (Mary Russell) Christina,
£295
The Maid of the South Seas. A Poem
London, A.J. Valpy for F.C. & J. Rivington, 1811.
First edition. 8vo. Contemporary half calf.
Mitford’s narrative poem recounts the discovery of the Pitcairn Island colony founded by mutineers from H.M.S. Bounty. In her advertisement she explains that she was fascinated by Fletcher Christian but sought to avoid glorifying mutiny; she used contemporary accounts and Captain Burney’s assistance to frame the poem.
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and of the councels and artifices by which they were carried on, from the year 1640. to the year 1660...printed from the author's true copy
London, for W. Crooke, 1682.
First authorised, separate edition. 8vo. Contemporary blind-tooled calf, rebacked in modern calf with morocco title label lettered in gilt.
Thomas Hobbes' (here spelt 'Hobbs') Behemoth is a dialogue on the causes and course of the English Civil Wars, composed in 1668 but long suppressed by Charles II on account of its forthright political analysis. It circulated in unauthorised continental editions in the 1670s, and in an illicit London issue of 1679/81, before appearing in its first authorised form in 1682, when the London publisher William Crooke printed it, including it at the head of his Tracts of Mr. Thomas Hobbs of Malmsbury. The edition was presented as taken directly from Hobbes' corrected manuscript in an effort to supersede the corrupt earlier printings.In substance, Behemoth complements and extends the arguments of Leviathan. Where Leviathan (1651) set out Hobbes' abstract political philosophy - the need for an undivided sovereign power to prevent a "war of all against all" - Behemoth provides the concrete case study: a scathing dissection of the ideological, religious, and social divisions that, in Hobbes' view, destroyed the unity of the commonwealth and plunged England into rebellion. It is both history and cautionary tale, a practical demonstration of what occurs when the principles of Leviathan are ignored. For this reason, Behemoth has long been regarded as the essential historical companion to Hobbes' masterpiece, showing the theoretical edifice of sovereignty tested against the lived experience of revolution.
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Graeme (Bruce, pseud. Graham Montague Jeffries) Work for the Hangman
(and Theodore I. Terhune!)
London, Hutchinson, [1944].
First edition. 8vo. Original orange cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 8/6.
Uncommon first edition by the creator of Blackshirt.
Detective Fiction
London, Robert Hale, 1959.
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original boards. Dust-jacket, priced 10/6.
An attractive crime fiction title by the authors of the Encyclopedia of Superstitions.
Detective Fiction
Translated by George Sainsbury
London, Hutchinson, 1955.
First UK edition, first impression. Signed presentation copy from the translator. 8vo. Original burgundy boards. Dust-jacket, priced 9/6.
This psychological thriller, by the duo later known for Diabolique and Hitchcock's Vertigo, follows inventor Richard Hermantier, blinded by a wartime explosion, who senses his business slipping away and begins to suspect infidelity and feel an unseen presence watching him; the narrative builds paranoia as he questions what is real.
A handbook to certain of the rivers and canals of Holland, Friesland, and the north of Belgium
London, Jarrold, n.d. [c.1894].
First edition. 8vo. Original pictorial blue cloth stamped in gilt and black.
Davies was a Victorian travel writer known for guides to waterways. This handbook describes cruising routes along the rivers and canals of Holland, Friesland and northern Belgium, with practical advice for yachtsmen and a fold-out map.




















