161. [Mirror Club, The] / Henry Mackenzie / William Craig / Alexander Abercromby / Alexander Fraser Tytler.

The Mirror – A Periodical Paper, Published at Edinburgh in the Years 1779 and 1780 [″Veluti in Specula”].

Fourth Edition overall [First Dublin Edition]. In Two Volumes (complete set). Dublin, Printed by T.Henshall for T.Walker, 1782. Small Octavo (10 cm x 18 cm). VI, 288, VIII, 288 pages. Hardcover / Original 18th century leather with new spinelabels, made to style. Both Volumes now in protective Mylar. Some minor wormhole-damage to the last 20 pages of Volume Two.Minor lesions to some pages only. Faded dampstain to both Volumes. Still, both Volumes firm and complete. Important scottish enlightenment publication. From the library of one “John Courtenay”, with his name in ink on the titlepages of both Volumes. This is possibly John Courtenay (22 August 1738 – 24 March 1816), who was an Irish officer in the British Army, later becing a politician in England. He was a Whig member of Parliament (MP) at Westminster from 1780 to 1807, and again in 1812. (Wikipedia)

162. [McAfee, Mildred Helen] de la Mare, Walter.

Ding Dong Bell.

London, Selwyn & Blount Ltd., 1924. 13 cm x 19 cm. IX, 76 pages. Original Hardcover with the rare illustrated dustjacket in protective collector’s Mylar. Very good condition with only minor signs of external wear. Inscribed and fully signed by de La Mare to American academic Mildred Helen McAfee Horton on front free endpaper: “Helen McAfee with all good wishes from Walter de la Mare – June 1924”.

163. Kotzebue, August von / [Plumptre, Anne].

The Constant Lover; Or, William and Jeanette: A Tale. From the German of Augustus von Kotzebue. To which is prefixed “An Account of the Literary Life of the Author” [with the printed dedication by Kotzebue to his friend Charles Georg Graumann] / Also included (separately bound): “Pizarro – The Spaniards in Peru; or, The Death of Rolla. A Tragedy, in Five Acts:. The original of the play, Performing at the Theatre-Royal, Drury Lane, under the title of PIZARRO. Translated from the German by Anne Plumptre – Translator of Kotzebue’s “Virgin of the Sun”, &c.

First Edition. Three Volumes in one Solander Box. Dublin, Printed by William Porter / Printed for J. Moore, 1799. Small Octavo (11 cm x 17 cm). Pagination of the two Volume-Set: “The Constant Lover / Account of the Literary Life of Kotzebue”: Volume I: XIV, 203 pages / Volume II: 216 pages / Pagination for the accompanying Volume: “Pizarro”: 102 pages. Hardcover / Stunning, recent half leather and marbled-paper-covered-boards with gilt lettering and ornament to spine, bound to style of the 18th/19th century. All three Volumes housed in a bespoke built Solander Box (see plenty of images on our website). Excellent condition. From the library of Susannah Townsend-Meade (Ballymartle), with her name to titlepage. The accompanying Volume bears the name of one Mary Johnston. The “Constant Lover”, with the “Account of Kotzebue’s Life” is a very scarce publication !

164. Gaugain, Mrs. [Jane].

The Lady’s Assistant in Knitting, Netting, And Crochet Work; With an Appendix Containing Directions and Remarks for Working in Embroidery or Worsted Work, Raised Cut Work, Tatting, &c. Illustrated by upward of forty coloured Patterns. Volume II.

Original Edition. Edinburgh / London, Published by I.L.Gaugain and Ackermann & Co., 1843. Oblong Octavo (17 cm x 10,8 cm). Titlepage, 8 handcoloured plates with 46 single illustrations of patterns, instructive hand-movements etc. by the author Jane Gaugain, Dedication-page by Jane Gaugain to Lady Henrietta Fergusson, 422 pages with peface, Index of Signs and 185 instructions. Hardcover / Original publisher’s cloth with gilt lettering on boards. Binding firm with endpaper slightly detached but the whole book overall in very good condition with only minor signs of wear. All plates present with beautiful, original 19th century hand-colouring.

165. [Foster, Sir Michael] / [Sarah Cotter – Dublin Printing History].

A Report of Some Proceedings on the Commission of Oyer and Terminer and Goal Delivery for the Trial of the Rebels in the Year 1746 in the County of Surry, and of other Crown Cases. To which are added Discourses upon a Few Branches of the Crown Law.

First Dublin Edition. Dublin, Printed for Sarah Cotter, in Skinner-Row, 1763. Octavo. XI, 412 pages plus 16 pages of Index and “Table of the Principal Matters”. Original Hardcover / Full 18th century calf with new spine-label. The binding firm and in excellent condition. Important: Several strong puncture – wounds to the first 54 and last 60 pages (without loss of text). Some occasional staining but text overall clean. A very rare Sarah Cotter print from 18th century Dublin. Although no sign of it, the book came from the library of Daniel Conner (Connerville / Manch House).

166. Duras, Claire Duchesse de.

Ourika.

Édition Originale. Paris, Chez Ladvocat, 1824. 18 x 11 cm. 172 pages. Relié plein cuir vert / Beautiful contemporary Hardcover. Intérieur bon état malgré légéres rousseurs éparses. Couverture défraichie et tachée. Provenance: Exlibris: A Debidour (Élie Louis Marie Marc Antonin Debidour) / Premiere edition dans le commerce après la rare édition originale publiée entre 25 et 40 exemplaires en décembre 1823 par l’Imprimerie royale pour les amis de l’auteur. Ce court récit fut rapidement écrit en 1820 lors d’une retraite de convalescence. Sollicitée par Chateaubriand, ami de la Duchesse de Duras depuis 1809, qui avait parti- culièrement aprécier le texte, l’auteur se décida à publier l’ouvrage anonymement. L’histoire de cette jeune sénégalaise, éduquée en France se rendant compte à l’âge de 12 ans des préjudices liés à sa couleur de peau, est considérée comme le premier roman de la littérature française à aborder les problèmes de racisme. / First published edition, following a private printing of 25 copies. A very good+ copy in contemporary paper-covered boards. An anonymously published novel by a French woman who was a close friend of Chateaubriand and who established a well-known salon in London. Her work has been compared to that of Richardson and Rousseau for obvious reasons, but she is perhaps more relevantly understood in the context of the early 19th-century French women’s writing that has only rather recently become a subject of study. Based on the true story of a Sengalese servan, unaware of her race until she overhears talk of it among the French family for whom she works, and thus begins her life as a black woman. In large part the tale recounts her hopeless love for a white man and her eventual retreat to a convent. This is the first European novel featuring a black female protagonist, and according to John Fowles who at least in part based his own The French Lieutenant’s Woman on the work, the first attempt by a European to enter the mind of a black character. An attractive copy of this cultural landmark.

167. [Crawford, Mabel] Anonymous.

Through Algeria.

London, Richard Bentley, 1863. 12 cm x 19 cm. Frontispiece, XVI, 362 pages. The frontispiece is a colour-lithograph of El Kantara. Attractive hardcover [publisher’s original purple cloth] with gilt lettering and ornamental design on spine. Gilt lettering and richly decorative tooling on front board. Blind tooling on back board also. Pebbled boards. All edges gilt. Very good condition with only minor signs of external wear. Cloth frayed at spine head and tail. Slight cracking to gutter between front pastedown and endpaper. Binding still very good and firm. Some foxing to endpapers. Interior very clean and bright. Some untrimmed pages. Handwritten message on front endpaper reads “A Prize gained by Louisea Mells for Progress in her French studies, Xmas. 1869. Magdalen House.” An extremely rare, rather scarce, early publication by an Irish Woman Traveller in Africa who also lived and helped through the Irish Famine and was not only an early Feminist but also one of the first members of the Suffragette Movement.

168. [Cork – West Cork / County Kerry History Pre-Famine] Nicholson, Asenath.

Ireland’s Welcome To The Stranger or An Excursion through Ireland in 1844 & 1845, for the Purpose of Personally Investigating the Condition of the Poor.

First Edition. New York, Baker and Scribner, 1847. Small Octavo. XV, 456 pages plus 22 pages of a catalogue for the publisher Baker and Scribner in the rear. Hardcover / Original publisher’s cloth with gilt lettering on spine and ornament to covers. Recently, professionally restored. Very good condition with the usual signs of some browning and foxing to this publication. From the library of Lathrop Josiah Tracy, Honesdale, Pennsylvania (1825-1897). With his name to the halftitle. A very rare and important book !

169. Banks, [Isabella] Mrs. G. Linnaeus / [Isabella Banks].

The Manchester Man [Signed Edition]. Illustrated Edition with Pictures by Charles Green & Hedley Fitton.

Manchester / London, Abel Heywood & Son / Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, 1896. Quarto (20 cm x 25,5 cm). Frontispiece, IX, 480 pages with illustrations throughout. Original Hardcover / Original, very decorative publisher’s cloth with gilt lettering on spine and front board. An early Art Nouveau Binding ! Excellent condition with some minor signs of wear only. Beautifully signed by Isabella Banks in her full name on the halftitle (see images). An especially good condition of this now rare book.

170. Abu Taleb Tabrizi / Abu Taleb Isfahani / Mirza Abu Taleb Khan.

The Travels of Mirza Abu Taleb Khan in Asia, Africa, and Europe, during the years 1799, 1800, 1801, 1802, and 1803. Written by himself, in the Persian language. [With an Appendix: ‘Author’s Vindication of the Liberties of the Asiatic Women’]. Translated by Charles Stewart, Esq.

First and only Edition. Two Volumes (complete set). London, Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, 1810. Octavo. Frontispice-Portrait with original tissue-guard, VIII, (8), 320, 418 pages. Hardcover / Beautifully restored bindings by english master binders in stunning modern half-morocco with the original spine-labels applied. Original endpapers and pastedowns with the original bookplates / Exlibris preserved. Excellent condition with some browing and ghosting to the pages, as usual with this set. Name of historical preowner Richard Meade in ink on titlepages. Rare in this very amazing restored condition.