OF BOOKS IN ENGLISH HISTORY AND LITERATURE In sending this Catalogue to my Clients I wish to draw attention to the fact that it contains an unusually varied assemblage, not only of extraordinary rarities which would give distinction to the best public and private libraries, but also of more commonly found items suitable for every taste. It includes not only one of the finest sets of the first four folio editions of Shakespeare known, examples of the presses of Caxton, Wynkyn de Worde, Pynson, and other early printers, and many books known or believed to be unique; but also—and these comprise the majority -of works essential as original texts in every important library for the use of students, and attractive on these and other grounds to the smaller private collector. In acquiring these books, the result of discriminating purchases at auction and privately during the last few years, I have been careful to add to my stock only copies which I can recommend with confidence. Every book has been carefully collated, and it is believed that all defects, even the most insignificant, have been described. Special attention has also been paid to outward appearance, and wherever necessary the bindings have been skilfully repaired, or the book has been suitably rebound. 1 ABBREVIAMENTUM STATUTORUM. (Colophon :) Explicit abbreuiamentu statuto impssum p Richardu Pynson z totaliter finitum nono die Mensis octobris. Anno dñi Mill'mo quat'centesimo Nonagesimo nono. (Beneath, Pynson's device, McKerrow 3B.) Sm. 8vo., black letter; 3 leaves (a and q1-2) in facsimile; maroon With a pencilled inscription on flyleaf: "Earl Spenser, K.G. with Mr. Dibdin's 2 ACHILLES TATIUS. The Loves Of Clitophon And Leucippe. A most Sm. 8vo., with an engraved frontispiece by W. Marshall; a very fine copy in contemporary calf £ s. d 31 10 0 1638 31 10 0 The translator was Anthony Hodges; his initials are given in the heading of the commendatory verses in English by Fr: James prefixed. A previous translation had appeared about the year 1597, but of this only one imperfect copy is known. Of the present book there would seem to b. two issues, as Wood in his Fasti Oxon. mentions an impression of the same date but without the commendatory verses. There are eleven sets of verses in all, including a poem "To the Ladies" by Richard Lovelace. Mr. Madan (The Oxford Press, pp. 203-4) states that the engraved title is an inserted leaf, the true second leaf being torn out and this substituted; but in this copy it is certainly the original second leaf of the first sheet. With the bookplate of James Bindley. 418552 3 AESOP. Fables. (All before d, missing [probably 24 ll.]; d,a:) 4 5 6 Sm. folio, black letter, with a large number of woodcuts; a-c (containing the Life of Esop, probably 24 leaves), d2 and 7, 82, 5-6, and h, missing, several leaves torn, stained and (a few) defective; old calf SECOND EDITION IN ENGLISH, Unique. £ s. d. [1497] 300 0 0 V Vith al his life and fortune. The Fables Of Esop, In English. Sm. 8vo., black letter; an extremely fine copy in contemporary 1628 AN UNRECORDED EDITION, of which this is the only known copy. The text is that of Caxton's version. The printer was John Legate the younger. Esop's Fables With His Life: In English, French And Latin. 1687 SECOND EDITION of these versions. "The Ingenious Mrs. A. Behn has been so obliging as to perform the English Poetry, which in short comprehends the Sense of the Fable and Moral" and is engraved on the plate which illustrates each Fable. This is a reprint of the 1666 edition, which had not the series of illustrations to the Life. The volume is particularly well printed for this period, undoubtedly one of the dullest in the history of English typography. 63 0 0 20 0 0 With A Dialogue Between Bow-Steeple Dragon, And the Exchange Sm. 8vo., a fine, large copy in new calf, gilt edges 1698 FIRST EDITION of this version, in which the Fables are arbitrarily arranged and turned into verse; with occasionally an original application of the moral to contemporary life. As an instance the following, appended to the Fable of a Man and his Ass, may be quoted : years. "Fly, fly from France, our Statesmen cry, And Slavery's cursed Yoke; Whilst with our Ancient Liberty, Our very Backs are broke. France is a Thief; but France can do no more, Than keep the Panniers on we had before." The various parts were published separately in this (1698) and the following 8 8 0 7 ALABASTER (William). Roxana Tragedia A plagiarij unguibus vindicata, aucta, & agnita ab Authore Gulielmo Alabastro. Londini, Excudebat Gulielmus Jones. 1632. Sm. 8vo., with an engraved title or frontispiece; a contemporary inscription, Sum Henrici Marchant' on title; calf £ 8. d. 1632 12 12 0 FIRST AND GENUINE EDITION. The play was several times acted with great success at Trinity College, Cambridge. Alabaster was held in great esteem in the seventeenth century. Fuller terms him a most rare poet as any our age or nation produced'; and Anthony à Wood calls him 'the rarest poet that any one age or nation produced.' The engraved title is said to contain, in one of its compartments, the first known illustration of the stage of an English Theatre. 8 ALEMAN (Mateo). The Rogue, Or The Life Of Guzman De Alfarache: In two Parts. Written In Spanish By Matheo Aleman The fourth Edition corrected. London, Printed by W. B. for Phillip Chetwind. 1656. The title printed in red and black. [ROJAS (Fernando de)]. The Spanish Bawd, Represented In Celestina: Or, The Tragicke-Comedy of Calisto and Melibea . . . London Printed by J. B[eale]. And are to be sold by Robert Allot. 1631. With the blank first leaf; E, torn affecting a small piece of one of the rules in which the text is enclosed. 2 works in 1 vol. sm. folio., fine copies, although a little time-stained in the edges of the leaves; old calf, rebacked and the corners mended 1656-31 FIFTH EDITION of The Rogue (although described on the title as the fourth) and very rare; it is not mentioned by Mr. Esdaile in his English Tales and Romances and is not in the British Museum. In this edition the second part was issued without a title-page and forms one book with the first part. There are complimentary verses by V. Spinelli and Hernando de Soto to the author, by I.F., Edward Burton and another to the Translator (James Mabbe) and by Ben Jonson "On the Authour, Work, and Translator." The Spanish Bawd is the first edition of Mabbe's translation, so far as is known. There was a translation licensed to W. Aspley in 1598 (of which no copy is known, if indeed it were printed) and the Huth Catalogue assumes that it must have been this translation to which reference was made. This however seems to be very unlikely as one may fairly safely assume Mabbe's Spanish translations (of which the first to be published was The Rogue, in 1622) to have been the fruit of his residence in Spain from 1611-1613 as secretary to Sir John Digby. The dedication is to Sir Thomas Richardson (knighted in 1621). Some copies of this edition of Celestina (which has the reputation of being the longest dramatic piece in existence) have a different imprint (see item no. 932). 9 A[LESIUS] (A[lexander]). Ordo Distributionis Sacramenti Altaris Sub Utraque Specie, Et Formula Confessionis Faciendae In Regno Angliae. Haec Londini Evulgata Sunt Octauo Die Martii, Anni M.D.XLVIII. 18 18 0 Sm. 8vo., Roman and italic letter; a small mend in a blank portion of the title, but a good copy in morocco [Leipzig 1548 30 0 0 ONLY THREE OR FOUR COPIES ARE KNOWN. It is a translation of The Order of the Communion (R. Grafton, 1548) and is signed with the initials A.A.S.D. Th. at the end of an address to "Pio Lectori." These initials stand for Alexander Alesius Scotus, Doctor Theologiæ. The British Museum copy is a presentation copy and has Alesius' signature. The book was probably printed at Leipzig, where he was living in 1548. 10 ALEXANDER (Sir William), Earl of Stirling. Aurora. Containing the first fancies of the Authors youth, V Villiam Alexander of Menstrie. London, Printed by Richard Field for Edward Blount. 1604. Sm. 4to., portions of 3 blank margins mended, but a fine, large copy with the blank last leaf; crimson levant morocco, gilt edges, by Rivière 1604 28 0 0 FIRST EDITION. It is of considerable rarity, and was not reprinted in the collected edition of his poems in 1637. The Hoe copy realized $175. The Monarchicke 11 ALEXANDER (Sir William), Earl of Stirling. 12 13 Simmes for Ed: Blount. 1607. Sm. 4to., two leaves re-margined, but a fine, large copy with the first leaf marked Aj., and the three blank leaves; crimson levant morocco extra, gilt edges, by Rivière £ s. d. 1607 80 00 SECOND (BUT FIRST COMPLETE) EDITION; VERY RARE. Croesus and Darius were This edition was not in either the Huth or Hoe libraries. A Paraenesis to the Prince by William Alexander of Menstrie. Sm. 4to., 2 or 3 catchwords slightly cut into, and a few plain corners another copy. Sm. 4to., a very fine and large copy with the blank last leaf; red levant morocco, gilt edges, by Rivière 1604 28 00 FIRST EDITION. It was reprinted, but with considerable alterations, in the 14 ALLEN (William), Cardinal. Duo Edicta Elizabethæ Reginæ Angliæ Sm. 8vo., a fine copy in pigskin, gilt edges Trier, 1583 The Apologia and Admonitio occupy the greater part of the book, the two Edicts of Elizabeth serving as an Introduction. An English edition of the Apologia had appeared in 1581. 15 ALMANSOR. Almansor The Learned And Victorious King that 3 3 0 Sm. 4to., a large and fine copy in old calf A scarce work, of which no copy was in either the Huth or Hoe collections. 16 AMADIS OF GAUL. The Fifth Book Of The Most Pleasant and Delectable History Of Amadis De Gaule, . . . London, Printed by T. J. for Andrew Kembe . . . and Charls Tyus . 1664. Sm. 4to., black letter; a good copy in the original sheep, neatly repaired 1664 15 0 0 The earliest known edition in English. It seems probable, however, that it had AMADIS DE GAULE. See Herberay (N. de). Don Flores of |