{"title":"Bath Book Fair 2026","description":"\u003cp\u003eJoin us at ABA Bath Book Fair this weekend, 31st July - 1st August, for a selection of rare books, prints, and manuscripts.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"samuel-beckett-murphy-first-american-edition-association-copy-100332","title":"Murphy.","description":"\u003ch4 class=\"srb-faux-head\"\u003ean interesting association copy\u003c\/h4\u003eAn interesting association copy of the first American edition of Murphy by Samuel Beckett, with the contemporary gift inscription on the front free endpaper from the writer, night-club owner, Beat publishing editor and all-round far-out man Jay Landesman, to the poet Deborah Love who would later marry Peter Matthiessen.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFirst American trade edition; 8vo; gift inscription on front free endpaper; publisher's taupe cloth, dust-jacket with design by Roy Kuhlman, spine slightly darkened, rubbed and frayed with slight loss to ends, otherwise a good example.`\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"BECKETT, Samuel.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45547152998705,"sku":"100332","price":375.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0733\/4694\/1233\/files\/100332.jpg?v=1780921008"},{"product_id":"wb-yeats-winding-stair-1933-first-edition-105201","title":"The Winding Stair","description":"\u003ch4 class=\"srb-faux-head\"\u003e\u003c\/h4\u003eA very good copy of this later work by W.B. Yeats, in the distinctive T. Struge Moore binding \u0026amp; jacket, notable perhaps for the inclusion of the poem 'Byzantium', Yeats' follow-up to 'Sailing to Byzantium' in this book's sister volume The Tower (1928).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFirst edition, first impression; 8vo; publisher's green cloth, Sturge Moore design to upper board in blind, design and titles to spine gilt, with the Sturge Moore dust jacket; a superb copy in the lightly nicked and rubbed dust-jacket with some light internal repair at the spine.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eWade 169.\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"YEATS, W.B.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45547282268465,"sku":"105201","price":875.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0733\/4694\/1233\/files\/105201_23b4d1a2-b2fd-43c6-b872-cf80755be565.jpg?v=1785330691"},{"product_id":"osbert-sitwell-escape-me-1939-first-edition-inscribed-105408","title":"Escape with Me!","description":"\u003ch4 class=\"srb-faux-head\"\u003eauthor's presentation copy to his sister Edith Sitwell\u003c\/h4\u003eInscribed and dated by the author in black ink to front blank, 'For \/ darling Edith \/ from her \/ devoted brother \/ Osbert \/ November -3-1939'. A lovely family association from brother to sister.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFirst edition, inscribed by the author to Edith Sitwell; 8vo; 16 black and white illustrations, including frontispiece; publisher's green cloth, gilt lettering to spine, corners a little rubbed, spine ends slightly bumped, pictorial endpapers, with the unclipped dust-jacket, signs of wear and edge nicks, especially to top of spine, spine a little marked, tape repair to lower inside edge of front cover, otherwise a very good clean copy.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"SITWELL, Osbert.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45547288232241,"sku":"105408","price":575.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0733\/4694\/1233\/files\/105408.jpg?v=1780919085"},{"product_id":"engelbrecht-kaempfer-histoire-japon-1729-first-french-edition-93801","title":"Histoire Naturelle, Civile, et Ecclésiastique de l'Empire du Japon:","description":"\u003ch4 class=\"srb-faux-head\"\u003ea history of Japan\u003c\/h4\u003eA tall copy of the first edition in French of Kaempfer's history of Japan which was a best-seller from the moment it was published. Born in Westphalia in 1651, Kaempfer traveled throughout the Near and Far East before settling in Japan as physician to the trading settlement of the Dutch East India Company at Nagasaki. During his two years' residence, he made two extensive trips around Japan in 1691 and 1692, collecting, according to the British historian Boxer, 'an astonishing amount of valuable and accurate information'. He also learned all he could from the few Japanese who came to Deshima for instruction in the European sciences.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTo these observations, Kaempfer added details he had gathered from a wide reading of travelers' accounts and the reports of previous trading delegations. The result was the first scholarly study of Tokugawa Japan in the West, a work that greatly influenced the European view of Japan throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, serving as a reference for a variety of works ranging from encyclopedias to the libretto of The Mikado.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eKaempfer's work remains one of the most valuable sources for historians of the Tokugawa period. The narrative describes what no Japanese was permitted to record (the details of the shogun's castle, for example) and what no Japanese thought worthy of recording (the minutiae of everyday life).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFirst edition in French, 2 vols in one, folio (38.8 x 25.2 cm). Titles printed in red and black with engraved vignettes. Engraved frontispiece, one head-piece, 45 engraved plates, plans and maps (mostly double-page or folding). Engraved title margin browned, occasional very minor spotting or browning. Contemporary speckled calf gilt (minor wear to joints and extremities), a very good example.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eBrunet III, 638; Cordier (Japonica), 416; Cox I, p. 332-333; DSB VII, 204-5; Jones Checklist, 433; Nordenskiöld 514; Quérard IV, p. 282; Wroth 90 (map).\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"KAEMPFER, Engelbert.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45957786599729,"sku":"93801","price":5000.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0733\/4694\/1233\/files\/93801_fca88134-46c5-453f-a332-38fc7bc1d9ae.jpg?v=1785329915"},{"product_id":"wb-yeats-vision-first-trade-edition-110058","title":"A Vision.","description":"\u003ch4 class=\"srb-faux-head\"\u003e\u003c\/h4\u003eFirst trade edition, revised and expanded after the first edition of 1926 privately printed for subscriber's only.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFirst trade edition, first impression; 8vo; 4 black and white illustrations, including portrait frontispiece, minor age-toning, else unmarked internally; first state binding of black cloth-backed patterned boards, gilt lettering to spine, with the unclipped dust-jacket, small repair to head of spine with tape, some creasing to extremities, else very good.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"YEATS, W.B.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47088284303665,"sku":"110058","price":250.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0733\/4694\/1233\/files\/110058_31bc3587-ddc8-4d97-bf01-0c5fc1cd6094.jpg?v=1785330689"},{"product_id":"ezra-pound-selected-poems-first-edition-110221","title":"Selected Poems.","description":"\u003ch4 class=\"srb-faux-head\"\u003e\u003c\/h4\u003eIn his capacity as publisher this is Eliot's homage to his friend and editor - a crucial publication in Pound's career. The jacket is particularly prone to wear - the present example being for nicer than most. Faber also issued an edition of 100 signed copies.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFirst edition, first impression, trade issue; 8vo; Poetry Bookshop sticker at base of front paste down, very mild toning to page stock, lightly spotting to the endpapers; publisher's green cloth, titles to spine gilt, green topstain, trivial fading to cloth at the very tips of the spine in the somewhat tanned and lightly chipped dust-jacket.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"POUND, Ezra; ELIOT, T. S. (introduction)","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47444652949809,"sku":"110221","price":1250.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0733\/4694\/1233\/files\/110221_17cebdfe-9e04-4e79-b171-d6cdde50455f.jpg?v=1785329927"},{"product_id":"ezra-pound-personae-first-english-edition-110452","title":"Personae.","description":"\u003ch4 class=\"srb-faux-head\"\u003e\u003c\/h4\u003eA major, collected edition of Pound's poetry, named after Pound's first collection to be printed in London.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFirst English edition, first impression; 8vo; slight offsetting to endpapers, else unmarked internally; publisher's red cloth, gilt lettering to spine, with the unclipped second state dust-jacket, small tape repairs to head of spine and top of rear panel at the fold, spine and extremities slightly toned, else very good.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eGallup A27c.\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"POUND, Ezra.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47517606936881,"sku":"110452","price":85.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0733\/4694\/1233\/files\/110452_cfa32bd6-5e42-4378-9c6d-9bdef1eb0509.jpg?v=1785329922"},{"product_id":"alken-right-sort-1821-1822-first-edition-110336","title":"The Right Sort.","description":"\u003ch4 class=\"srb-faux-head\"\u003eSchwerdt-Spitz-Bobins copy\u003c\/h4\u003eThe Schwerdt-Spitz-Bobins copy of this rare early Alken series, issued without a title-page and which Schwerdt says was 'One of the author's favourites'. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFew Alken prints are lithographic, and these have strikingly fresh colouring.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFirst edition; landscape folio; 6 fine hand-coloured lithograph plates by Hullmandel after Alken, interleaved with blank Whatman paper of the same date, later green half morocco with green morocco label to upper cover, cloth slip-case, a fine copy.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eSchwerdt III, p.83; Siltzer p.59; Bobins 1388 (this copy).\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"ALKEN, Henry.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47686113493297,"sku":"110336","price":3000.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0733\/4694\/1233\/files\/110336.jpg?v=1780910570"},{"product_id":"evelyn-waugh-helena-first-edition-110687","title":"Helena.","description":"\u003ch4 class=\"srb-faux-head\"\u003e\u003c\/h4\u003eEvelyn Waugh's personal favourite of his novels and 'a superlatively well done book' (Chicago Tribune) set in the age of Emperor Constantine.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFirst edition, first impression; 8vo; bookseller's label to front pastedown, else internally fine; publisher's dark blue cloth, gilt lettering to spine, with the original unclipped dust-jacket and 'Daily Mail Book of the Month' wraparound band, light marks and edge-wear, else near-fine.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"WAUGH, Evelyn.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47749789024561,"sku":"110687","price":750.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0733\/4694\/1233\/files\/110687.jpg?v=1780913873"},{"product_id":"nell-dunn-poor-cow-first-edition-112165","title":"Poor Cow.","description":"\u003ch4 class=\"srb-faux-head\"\u003e\u003c\/h4\u003eFirst edition of the author's first full-length novel, adapted for film the same year in 1967.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFirst edition, first impression; 8vo; unmarked internally; publisher's maroon cloth, gilt lettering to spine, with the unclipped pictorial dust-jacket by John Farman, minor toning and dust-soiling, else very good.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"DUNN, Nell.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50060733120817,"sku":"112165","price":65.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0733\/4694\/1233\/files\/112165_270a08c5-7b7f-495c-ab68-8264f0892b6c.jpg?v=1785330354"},{"product_id":"arthur-prestwhich-parrots-bred-captivity-inscribed-113619","title":"Records of Parrots Bred in Captivity [together with] Additions.","description":"\u003ch4 class=\"srb-faux-head\"\u003einscribed presentation copy\u003c\/h4\u003eFirst edition of this scarce, comprehensive record of international parrot breeding, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper of volume I, \"With best wishes, A.A.P.\" and with the volume of additional records discovered after publication.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eArthur Prestwich was secretary of the British Avicultural Society and compiled significant records on parrot breeding and naming. The present volume was the result of thirty years of collecting information and comprises not only data, but the full narrative form of each record as far as possible, since 'many of the works quoted are scarce and difficult of access'. It also includes records that are 'of extremely doubtful character' to give as full an account as possible. The volume of additions adds new material, much of it found searching Australian periodicals.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFirst edition; 2 vols, 8vo; text on the rectos only, bookplates, contents very faintly toned; original red pebble-grain cloth, titles to spines gilt, red speckled edges, lightly rubbed at the extremities, corners bumped, front hinge in the first volume cracked, very good condition; 384 \u0026amp; 80pp.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"PRESTWICH, Arthur A.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50061667828017,"sku":"113619","price":250.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0733\/4694\/1233\/files\/113619_d704698f-f5aa-4e17-a1ab-508cefa2ff09.jpg?v=1785329640"},{"product_id":"graham-greene-labyrinthine-ways-first-us-edition-120581","title":"The Labyrinthine Ways.","description":"\u003ch4 class=\"srb-faux-head\"\u003e\u003c\/h4\u003eFirst published in the UK as The Power and the Glory, the title was changed to The Labyrinthine Ways for the US market.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHailed by John Updike as 'Graham Greene's masterpiece', the work was chosen by TIME magazine as one of the hundred best English-language novels since 1923. On its publication, William Golding claimed Greene had 'captured the conscience of the twentieth century man like no other.'\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFirst US edition, first impression, first state (with pp.165 and 256 transposed, and with p.165 beginning 'A voice said:'); 8vo; light offsetting to endpapers, else unmarked internally; publisher's bright yellow cloth, titles and ornamentation to spine and upper cover in dark blue, dark green topstain, with the unclipped pictorial dustjacket, minor edge-wear, a couple of chips to foot of spine with internal tape repair; a very good copy.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eMiller 20b.\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"GREENE, Graham.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56056535449975,"sku":"120581","price":1250.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0733\/4694\/1233\/files\/120581_5b2fc230-9357-4afe-a729-7011db079422.jpg?v=1785330003"},{"product_id":"edgar-allan-poe-complete-works-limited-br-121588","title":"Complete Works of E.A. Poe.","description":"\u003ch4 class=\"srb-faux-head\"\u003eone of 500 sets - signed by the publisher\u003c\/h4\u003eThe Book-Lover's Arnheim Edition, limited to 500 sets, with each volume signed and numbered by the publisher.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eArnheim edition, number 112 of 500 sets, signed by the publisher; 10 vols, 8vo (23 x 16 cm); tinted full-page illustrations by Frederick Simpson Coburn etched onto vellum paper, captioned tissue guards, head and tailpieces, title pages printed in red and black; publisher's quarter vellum over grey paper-covered boards, vellum tipped corners, titles and column decoration to spines gilt, gilt stamped raven device on upper cover of each volume, top edges gilt, others untrimmed, partly unopened; a fine set.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"POE, Edgar Allan.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56615451689335,"sku":"121588","price":1600.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0733\/4694\/1233\/files\/121588_d73d0dd7-8035-47a1-b4a7-5d151beede15.jpg?v=1784129677"},{"product_id":"eleazar-albin-natural-history-birds-first-editions-1731-121336","title":"A Natural History of Birds.","description":"\u003ch4 class=\"srb-faux-head\"\u003ethe first coloured bird illustrations in Britain\u003c\/h4\u003eFirst editions in contemporary calf. The first British bird book illustrated with hand-coloured plates.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Little is known of Albin's [c.1680-c.1742] early life, though he was probably born in Germany to a family named Weiss. By 1708 he had changed his surname to Albin and was living in London with his family. His profession of art teacher led him to the close observation of the natural world, reinforced by painting work which he undertook for the naturalist Joseph Dandridge (1665–1747), who collected insects and observed their metamorphosis from egg to fly. He also drew natural-history subjects for Sir Hans Sloane, before gaining the patronage of the Dowager Duchess of Beaufort', who encouraged him to publish a book on insects (Royal Collection trust).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'For the most part Albin delineated one bird per plate. The birds are placed on a branch or on the ground, each part coloured. The proportions of the birds are a distinct improvement on those in Willoughby and Ray... Albin produced his paints in a rather strange manner according to Petiver's account. For his reds he washed and dried vermilion pigment in four waters and then proceeded to \"grind it in boys urine three times, yn [then] gum arabic it and grind it in Brandy wine.\" Whatever his methods and however singular the contribution by his sons, this very first effort at colouring plates depicting birds is highly commendable and the results were gratifying, for the book was popular' (Jackson, Bird Etchings).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFirst editions; 3 vols, 8vo (28.5 x 22 cm); 306 hand-coloured engraved plates, variable spotting \u0026amp; offsetting, first plate of vol. II repaired with tape and slight loss from the lower edge of the image, plates 32 \u0026amp; 60 of vol. II trimmed just into the image, plates 36-39 with small stain in a blank portion, repaired closed tear to plates 103 \u0026amp; 104, light marginal dampstain to a few leaves of text, in vol. III plate trimmed just into the caption and a few others trimmed closely; contemporary mottled calf rebacked to style, red \u0026amp; green morocco labels, spines gilt in compartments, double gilt fillets, marbled endpapers, red speckled edges, bindings rubbed with some wear at the corners, very good condition.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eAnker, 4 \u0026amp; 5; Jackson (Bird Etchings) pp 65-75; Mullens \u0026amp; Swann p8; Nissen (IVB), 14.\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"ALBIN, Eleazar.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56744726954359,"sku":"121336","price":25000.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0733\/4694\/1233\/files\/121336_94f4f667-e954-4cf0-a80a-26e17d66abfd.jpg?v=1785329907"},{"product_id":"121772-morris-british-birds-1895-121772","title":"A History of British Birds","description":"\u003ch4 class=\"srb-faux-head\"\u003e\u003c\/h4\u003eFourth edition of Francis Orpen Morris's The History of British Birds. Exploring known British species, Orpen created this simplified and streamlined series with education in mind. The hand-coloured engravings, which would have normally made books such as these very expensive in this period, were made affordable to promote the learning of bird identification. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOrpen was dogged in his attempt to update these books as new species were added to the British lexicon, with a fifth edition following this one a few years later. He stated that another one of his goals was to make these books readable, and also financially accessible to every class that wished to study Natural History. 'He also supported the causes of bird protectionism and anti-vivisectionism - in a rare absence from his parish he travelled to London to give evidence before the select committee on wild birds protection on 26 June 1873. He was instrumental in establishing the Plumage League in 1885, and he was one of the earliest members of the Selbourne League, which was created in December of the same year. In 1888 the government acknowledged his work as a naturalist with the award of a civil-list pension of £100 per annum.' (Oxford Dictionary of National Biography).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFourth edition; 6 vols, 8vo (26.3 x 17.5 cm); 394 hand-coloured engraved plates; turn-of-the-century red half red morocco, red cloth boards, spines lettered in gilt in six gilt compartments, top edges gilt, other edges speckled red, spines a little faded, touch of rubbing to extremities, a pleasant very good set; 315 pp.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eFreeman, British Natural History Books, pg. 249-250.\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"MORRIS, Francis Orpen.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56803027714423,"sku":"121772","price":1250.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0733\/4694\/1233\/files\/121772.jpg?v=1785329539"},{"product_id":"122477","title":"Instructions to Young Sportsmen and all that relates to Guns and Shooting.","description":"\u003ch4 class=\"srb-faux-head\"\u003eextra-illustrated with 20 additional plates\u003c\/h4\u003eA fine copy of Hawker's Instructions to Young Sportsmen, strikingly bound in full red morocco by Henry Young \u0026amp; Sons of Liverpool, and extra-illustrated with 20 additional plates.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'The third and most complete edition, containing valuable information on wild-fowling with a gunning punt, French hut shooting, pheasant, partridge and grouse shooting, fly-fishing and deer-stalking' (Schwerdt).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThird edition, extra-illustated; 8vo (25.5 x 17 cm); engraved hand-coloured frontispiece and 29 engraved plates (eight coloured), occasional light foxing, a little unobtrusive pencil notation, discreet bookseller's stamp to ffep verso; full red morocco by Henry Young \u0026amp; Sons of Liverpool, spine in six compartments, gilt lettered and gilt tooled with sporting vignettes, quadruple gilt fillet border enclosing central gilt swan to boards, small nick to foot of upper board, elaborate gilt dentelles, marbled endpapers, top edge gilt, others spotted, a near-fine copy; [2], xxii, 470 pp.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eSchwerdt, I, 235.\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"HAWKER, Lt. Col. P.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56832307691895,"sku":"122477","price":1500.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0733\/4694\/1233\/files\/122477_26b41df1-c54a-48d7-ab9f-a3abbd420fea.jpg?v=1781211102"},{"product_id":"selected-poems-james-merrill-first-edition-121104","title":"Selected Poems 1946-1985.","description":"\u003ch4 class=\"srb-faux-head\"\u003eassociation copy\u003c\/h4\u003eInscribed by the author to his lover Peter Gillis on the title page: 'for dearest Peter G. \/ always with love - \/ James'.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFirst edition, first printing, inscribed by the author; 8vo; internally fine; publisher's blue cloth, titles to spine gilt and upper cover in blind, with the unclipped dustjacket, minor toning to edges, else fine.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"MERRILL, James.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56893205840247,"sku":"121104","price":325.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0733\/4694\/1233\/files\/121104.jpg?v=1785042590"},{"product_id":"keith-waterhouse-billy-liar-first-editions-inscribed-124153","title":"Billy Liar [with] Billy Liar on the Moon.","description":"\u003ch4 class=\"srb-faux-head\"\u003e\u003c\/h4\u003eFirst editions, first impressions of the two Billy Liar books by Keith Waterhouse. Billy Liar on the Moon is inscribed on the front free endpaper, 'With the best wishes of Keith Waterhouse International Youth Year 1985'.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFirst editions, the latter inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper; 2 vols, 8vo; very light spotting and age-toning to vol. I, else clean; publisher's maroon and navy cloth respectively, spine lettered in gilt on both vols, in the original illustrated dust jackets, vol. I a little dulled and rubbed with a few nicks.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"WATERHOUSE, Keith.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57296260792695,"sku":"124153","price":375.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0733\/4694\/1233\/files\/124153_507e5301-8a50-4b65-85a2-e6d55c0307d3.jpg?v=1785330199"},{"product_id":"ackermann-pugin-microcosm-london-1808-first-als-119876","title":"The Microcosm of London; or, London in miniature.","description":"\u003ch4 class=\"srb-faux-head\"\u003ewith letter from Augustus Welby Pugin\u003c\/h4\u003eThis is a splendid work, with the preferred pre-publication watermarks, exhibiting a depth and richness of colouring. The Microcosm offers an incomparable panorama of Regency London both high and low, from sedate drawing rooms to the brawling and boozing street life of the metropolis, captured in matchless hand-coloured aquatint by the inspired pairing of Pugin and Rowlandson. Most of the plates are in their first or second state, with plate 12 and 39 in the rare first state.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWith an autograph letter by Augustus Welby Pugin (1812-1852), pioneer of the Gothic Revival architecture movement, to, probably, Thomas Talbot Bury (1809-1877), his long time friend and collaborator, dated 1839. The letter describes a drawing Pugin made of Macclesfield Church (St Michael and All Angels), including directions to Bury for his engraving of the image, and is adorned with small sketches of the altar candles and statues. It was Augustus Welby's father, Augustus Charles, who produced the architectural drawings of this work and was the reason Augustus Welby and Bury were so intimate, having apprenticed his son and Bury together.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Ackermann's The Microcosm of London... is a book of major importance. The architectural drawings were by Augustus Charles Pugin, a French refugee who came to London in about 1798, \"driven from his country either by the horrors of the French Revolution or by private reasons connected with a duel\" [...] His lasting fame rests on his consummate ability as an architectural draughtsman. By a stroke of genius Ackermann engaged Thomas Rowlandson to add human figures to the drawings that Pugin made for The Microcosm, so that the stately, accurate and dignified qualities of that artist are enlivened by the vitality and charm of Regency life as depicted by one of the most vigorous draughtsmen of all time. To turn the leaves of The Microcosm is to take a walk though London at a singularly fortunate moment, observing, as we never can in real life, the scenes of many celebrated incidents in English literature and history: the India House of Charles Lamb, the King's Bench Prison of Dickens, the Foundling Hospital of Captain Coram and Hogarth, the Guildhall bombed by the Luftwaffe, the Newgate of Harrison Ainsworth, the Carlton House of the Prince Regent and so forth.' (Thomas, Great Books and Book Collectors, 1975, p. 155)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFirst edition, early issue, with ALS loosely tipped to first blank; 3 vols, large 4to (34 x 28 cm); letter from Augustus Welby Pugin to T. Bury dated 1839, restored and laid on linen, wood-engraved titles, engraved dedications, 104 hand-coloured aquatint plates by Bluck, Stadler and others after Pugin and Rowlandson, watermarks 1806-1808, bookplate to pastedown; twentieth-century half crushed morocco by Zaehnsdorf, gilt ruled cloth boards, spine lettered in gilt in six gilt compartments, all edges gilt, marbled endpapers, a fine set.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eAbbey Scenery 212; Tooley 7; Prideaux pp121-4. Franklin 49-54.\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"ACKERMANN, Rudolph (publisher); PUGIN, Augustus Charles, and ROWLANDSON, Thomas (illustrators).","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57304680825207,"sku":"119876","price":5750.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0733\/4694\/1233\/files\/119876.jpg?v=1784130861"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0733\/4694\/1233\/collections\/Bath_Book_Fair_2026.jpg?v=1785317724","url":"https:\/\/shapero.com\/en-us\/collections\/bath-book-fair.oembed","provider":"Shapero Rare Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}