With a bone, turned handle, supporting a metal rotating wheel and spindle. Preserved in a good, shaped leather case with a flap to close. Such an instrument was used in conjunction with a map, so that irregular road distances could be transferred to a straight ruler

4 ½” long. The case is 5” long x 1” at its widest.

An American Quilt from Allentown, Pennsylvania. (circa. 1930) A variation of the Amish ‘Sunshine and Shadow’ pattern, where some 15 different 2 ½” squares are used. Scraps of dress fabric were obviously never wasted by this quilt maker, and the clever use of these variously coloured materials is particularly striking. A blue and pink, floral cotton provides the backing. Good condition.

87”x85” which includes a 7” border.

A Green Turtle (Chalonia Mydas) The shall is particularly striking, having a beautiful patina and fine mottled brown colouring. It is accompanied by a letter, stating that the turtle was found alive, on the island of Rhum, around 1900, by the head gardener of the Kinloch Castle Estate. It became part of a collection of unusual species , maintained by Lord and Lady Bullough, and it was returned to the original finder when it died.

24 inches long; 18inches wide, 7inches deep.

GASC F.E.A. The Smallest French and English Dictionary in the World. David Bryce and Son Glasgow (c.1900) Yellow edges and 647 pages. Bound in flexible red leather with the title in gilt on the front cover and spine. Preserved in a metal case with a magnifying glass set in the lid.

1 ¼”x ¾” (28mms.x 20mms.)

AUNT LAURA.Published by Breed Butler and Co. New York. 1862. Gilt edges and 64 pages. Bound in pink cloth with decoration on both cavers.

2”x 1 ½” (53mms.x 40mms.)

Translated Out of the Original Greek, Also the Psalms of David. Published by Eyre and Spottiswoode (c. 1865) Gilt gauffered edges, printed in Diamond 48mo. Leather spine gilt titled and decorated .A MAUCHLINE BINDING with red and green plaid boards. An excellent copy.

3 ¾”x 2 ½”. (100mms.x 64mms.)

Alfred Mills. From Egbert to the Present Time. London 1817. 96pp and 47 circular portraits. Bound in red leather with a gilt title .

2 ½”x 2 ¼” (64mms.x 60mms.)

The Cottar’s Saturday Night and Other Poems. Published by Anderson. Edinburgh
(c.1920) 372pp. Bound in tartan silk with a label on the spine.

2”x 1 ½” (54mms.x 38mms.)

SILVER COVER]. Published by Henry Frowde. Oxford. (c.1910) All edges gilt. 688pp. Bound in dark red leather with the title in gilt on the spine. The hall marked placquette shows a cross against a plain background.

2 ¼”x 2” (58mms.x 50mms.)

James Gillray

The dearness of corn, and the increasing scarcity of provisions and high price of bread, led to rioting in the months of June and July, 1795. The Minister is said to have sent some recommendations to the Lord Mayor which were represented as implying principles like those expressed in this print. The following lines are printed beneath the plate :—

Billy the Butcher's Advice to John Bull.
Since bread is so dear (and you say you must eat),
For to save the expense you most live upon meat;
And as twelve pence the quarter you can't pay for bread,
Get a crown's worth of meat,—it will serve in its stead.
John Bull presents a picture of starvation, which is not usual with him

Good colour and good condition. Water mark in the paper says N&Co

Print 1795

Approx 11 inches by 14 inches

Thomas Rowlandson

Two men sit in a dilapidated room, the floor completely covered by water in which three pigs wade, ducks swim and dive, and geese run aggressively towards a dog. Their feet rest on boulders. One stout man in a broken chair sits with his elbows on a small round table, holding up a large watch, the hands showing that it is 9.40, and yawning deeply. On the table is a decanter containing a tiny 'blue devil' and a guttering candle stuck in a potato at which a rat is nibbling. Another rat runs up the table leg. The other man (right), with closed eyes, and hands on knees, sits on a stool, registering melancholy resignation. One pig (left) devours a 'Racing Calendar' which floats on the water. A fire of sticks burns smokily on a wide hearth; a large pot is overturning, the contents gushing over. Above the chimney-piece hangs a picture in a broken frame of a country house. There is one small casement window, half boarded up, the other half partly stuffed up with a pair of breeches. A ham and a hare hang from hooks in the ceiling. High up on the wall is a small shelf on which is broken china; a cat stands on it.


Hand-coloured etching, with good margins.

published by H. Humphrey, 12 May 1812.

Water mark J Whatman 1817

Height: 12 inches, width: 18 inches

Charles Williams, pseudo. Argus

On the left Ministers assail a young woman, representing the East India Company. On the right the fort of Monopoly is attacked from the sea by gun-boats flying the flags of 'Free Trade' and the Out Ports. The Company, in a fainting condition, sits on the ground directed to the right and leaning against a large tea-chest inscribed 'Con[gou]', next which is one inscribed 'Bohea'; under her dropping hand is the 'Charter Granted to the East I[ndia] Co.' Her left arm rests on a pile of three bales of textiles inscribed respectively 'Chinz', 'Muslins', 'Nankeens'. The weapons of the Ministers are bulky rolled documents, all inscribed 'India Bill', which they hurl against her or use as bludgeons. The three foremost are Melville in Highland dress, Castlereagh, and Sidmouth. Behind them (left) runs up the fat Buckinghamshire, who has hurled one roll, and has two more under his arm. A paper inscribed 'a tour in Buckinghamshire' projects from his pocket. He is followed on the extreme left by Vansittart, Chancellor of the Exchequer, bringing up a load of 'India Bill' ammunition, and with papers inscribed 'Budget for 1813' in his pocket. Facing the distressed woman is a man who runs towards her with a protecting gesture, saying: "In Hume-man Man." A paper in his pocket inscribed 'Jack my Son's Speech' indicates Randle Jackson.
Among them stands a man scattering coins and holding up a sheaf of 'India Bonds', showing that these pamphleteers are venal. On the ground by the breech in the fort lies a large paper headed: 'Proofs of utility of E.I.C. debts 3.000.000, loss to the public £16 000, 000 gain to the company 10 pr Cent'.

Contemporary hand colouring.

Published February 1st 1813 by M. Jones, No.5 Negate Street.

Laid on to blue card. Good condition

Height: 8.5 inches Width: 19.5 inches

James Gillray

Contemporary copies of Gillray’s set of skating prints (BM10474-7).

(d) Making the most of a passing friend in a case of Emergency! A man who is falling through the ice clutches desperately at the leg of a passing skater so as to drag him towards the hole he has made. From the edge of the ice on the right projects a post with a notice board: Humane Society - - Whereas this Pond is very deep & dangerous, it is requested that no persons will rashly venture to Skate upon it.

Plate trimmed down and laid onto card. Original colour good condition.

Approx. Height: 9.5 inches Width:13 inches

James Gillray

Contemporary copies of Gillray’s set of skating prints (BM10474-7).
(c) A Fundamental Error in the Art of skaiting. One man falls violently, arms and legs in the air; he brings the ferrule of his stick heavily down on the eye of a neighbour who has just landed on his posterior, his legs and arms extended. In the background three other skaters have fallen, and lie or sit, legs in the air.

Plate trimmed down and laid onto card. Original colour good condition.

Approx. Height: 9.5 inches Width:13 inches

James Gillray

Contemporary copies of Gillray’s set of skating prints (BM10474-7).
(b) The consequence of going before the wind. An elderly man, holding his umbrella in front of him to form a sail, cannonades into another skater, who falls, the apex of the umbrella entering his mouth, while his foot strikes the stomach of the aggressor. The ice cracks beneath them. The latter wears wrinkled ankle boots: the victim more fashionably dressed. In the background a boy with a basket laughs at the collision; near him a man falls forward, his umbrella and hat torn from him by a gust, whose strength is indicated by a wind-swept tree.

Plate trimmed down and laid onto card. Crease across top right corner. Original colour good condition.

Approx. Height: 9.5 inches Width:13 inches

James Gillray

Contemporary copies of Gillray’s set of skating prints (BM10474-7).

(a) Attitude! Attitude is everything! Two skaters strike attitudes in the foreground. The one of the left with hands on hips, describes a curve on the outside edge of the left foot, the right foot being held out stiffly. He looks aggressively towards the other, a younger man who bends his knees; arms extended, and grins at his rival. The former wears a Spencer over a short coat, the latter a tailcoat; both wear Hessian boots, but those of the latter, who is more fashionably dressed, reach to the knee and are tassled. Both hold sticks. In the background a pair of men with folded arms skate back to back in doing a figure of eight; a third skates forward fast with hands on hips. The scene is a lake in a snow-covered landscape.

Plate trimmed down and laid onto card. Original colour good condition.

Width 13.5 x Height 9.5 Trimmed within the plate mark

William Heath Print
Wellington, in his characteristic neat blue coat and white trousers, flees in terror, his hat falling off, from a large braying ass, wearing a Chain of Office and Alderman’s robes. As a result of an alarmist letter from the Lord Mayor-Elect John Key (Master of the Stationer’s Company), and many rumors of an assassination plot, Wellington had decided that the King’s visit to the Guildhall for the Lord Mayor’s Dinner should be cancelled. The papers ridiculed the Government’s cowardice, but even the radical politician Francis Place considered the Ministry’s fears well founded.

London, S. W. Fores 1830 Original hand colouring
Trimmed, good condition good colour.
BM 16305.

Width:13.5 inches Height: 9.75

William Heath

No publisher’s line could be a McLean. At the top of the image is ‘Quadrilles – Evening Fashions – Dedicated to the Heads of the Nation,’

A happy scene of two couple dancing. Beneath is printed;
“Nature, I thought perform’d too mean a parte
Forming her movements to the rules of art;
And vex’d I found the dandy barbers hand
Had o’er the Dancers heads too great command”.

Good original colour. c.1829

14 ¼ x 9¼. Trimmed within the plate mark,

Three days before this was published the London Horticultural Society had their fete at Chiswick and the weather was terrible.
Published June 30 1829 by T. McLean 26 Haymarket.
B.M.15955

Width 13.5 x Height 9.5 Trimmed within the plate mark

George Cruickshank
Being depressed over debt meant having the "blue devils." The blue devils incite the miserable debtor to excess drinking and self-destruction.Below him appear from left, a coffin bearer, Death, three pregnant women, an usher from the Church of England,and a shark's open mouth.The small artist to the upper left is painting with fire while standing on a book,"Miseries of Human Life."
Published by G. Humphrey, 27 St. James’s St. January 10th 1823.B.M.14598

Plate trimmed and laid on card. Good original colour.

Height: 8.5 inches x 10 inches. margins.

Sidney Herbert Williams and Falconer Madan. Further Revised by Denis Crutch. Dawson Archon Books. 1979.

The Holy Bible Containing the Old and New Testaments. Published by David Bryce and Son, Glasgow. 1901.876 pages with illustrations. Bound in calf in the antique style with a magnifying glass inside the back cover. Chained to an oak lectern 5 ½” high. A label under the base describes it as a facsimile of those chained bibles found in some English Cathedrals. Produced for the Tercentenary Commemoration of the Authorised Version of the English Bible. In its original box with a pictorial label, which is very rare

1 ¾”x 1¼” (44mms.x 33mms.)

All edges gilt and engraved throughout with a folding view of St Pancras New Church. Bound in red morocco with cream onlays and with profuse gilt geometric patterns overall. Preserved in a matching slipcase. A good copy.

2 ¼”x 1 ¼” (58mms.x 34mms.)

The Royal Bijou Birthday Book. A Selection From the Works of Shakespeare etc. Published by Eyre and Spottiswoode. London. (c. 1910) All edges gilt 377pages printed in red and black. Bound in red textured morocco with gilt titles on the spine. Enhanced by a silver hall marked placquette on the front cover, picturing roses within a ruled border.

2 ¼”x 1 ¾” (57mms.x 48mms.)

English (c.1870).
Gilt edges, empty pages bound within wooden boards, and with a red leather spine. The front cover has a view of the Chain Pier,Brighton, within an oval frame. Having its original bone pencil housed in a red
leather loop and with a brass clasp to close. A bright item.

Gilt edges, 2 1/4"x 1 3/4" (60mms.x 42mms.)

Published and sold by S.Ewins. London. 1833.Gilt edges,engraved frontis and 208pps. Bound in black leather in the wallet style with a flap to close. An enclosed note reads,"Excuse me offering to you a book entitled Token For Children but the address to Teachers in the former part will , I hope, apologise for so doing."

2"x 1 1/2" (52mms.x 36mms.)

Published by David Bryce and Son. Glasgow. 1895.
Red edges, Bound in dark blue flexible leather with a gilt title on the front cover and spine. Printed on India Paper and preserved in a metal case with a magnifying glass inset in the top. Spielmann 388, describes it as the smallest New Testament in existence.

3/4"X 1/2" (18mms.x 15mms.)

The Holy Bible Containing the Old and New Testaments. Published by David Bryce and Son. Glasgow. 1901. Illustrated. Bound in calf in the antique style with titles in gilt on the spine. Contains a copy of the Burns Family Register in the poet’s handwriting. Preserved in a hinged book shaped mauchline box ,painted and lacquered in green tartan. A label inside the box describes it as,’The Smallest Bible in the World with Burns’ Family Register..’

1 ¾”x 1¼” (45mms.x 30mms.)

Le Petit Paroissien de la Jeunesse. Published by Marcilly. Paris. (c.1840) Gilt edges and 96 pages with five engraved plates. Bound in orange paper covered boards with gilt decorated borders and spine. A nice copy.

1 ¾”x1 ¼”(40mms.x 25mms.)

Fashionable Remembrancer for 1847. Published by W.Strange. London.Gilt edges, frontis picturing a country scene around a maypole, a pictorial title page and other engravings. A ballroom guide is included at the end . Bound in shiny black paper,decorated and titled in gilt.

2 1/2"x 1 1/2" (64mms.x 36mms.)

City of London. 1840. A scroll 16” long and 3” wide is preserved in a wooden tube. The scroll, bearing a coat of arms, affirms that Samuel Browne, a vintner of London, was admitted to the freedom of the City, by Sir Chapman Marshall, Mayor, and Sir James Shaw, Chamberlain. This and other information is printed in copper plate style with personal details added in manuscript. The polished wooden tube has a printed paper label that reads,’Copy of Freedom. City of London.’The bookplate of Levitan on the base.

3 ½” tall and 1 ½” in Diameter.

Published by Marcilly and printed by Firmin Didot Freres. Paris. (c.1836)
Gilt edges, Title page with a wood engraved vignette and seven plates. Bound in leather with gilt ruled borders and the title in gilt on the spine.Spielmann writes,"The illustrations of this Harlequinade are of exceptional charm."

2 1/4"x2 1/4" (53mmsx 66mms.)

R.T.S.London. (1832)
Gilt edges,Bound in maroon leather, rubbed. 122pps. In the wallet style with a gilt title on the flap. Welsh 5220 locates the Spielmann copy only and places it circa 1845, though an inscription on the front free endpaper of this copy is dated 1832.

2 1/2"x 2 1/4" (67mms.x 62mms.)

The Pearl Almanac. 1881- 1888. Published by Arrowsmith. Bristol. Eight years each with its own title page. Each page is printed within a decorated border and a different coloured paper is used for each year. Bound in plum coloured leather with a gilt title and decoration. A very nice copy not found in the usual references.

1 ¾”x 1½”(47mms.x 36mms.)

Printed for the Company of Stationers. London.
Gilt edges, with a folding engraving of Alexandra Park Palace.Bound in green textured leather with gilt ruled borders, and preserved in a matching slipcase.The title of the engraving has been clipped, but a very bright copy.

2 1/4"x 1 1/4" (58mms.x 32mms.)

HANDBOOK of PRACTICAL COOKERY by Matilda Lees Dods. A New and Enlarged Edition with an Introduction on the Philosophy of Cookery. Published by Eyre and Spottiswoode. 1906. 836 pps. With 50 full page illustrations. Bound in blue publisher’s cloth.

2 ¼”x 1 ¾” (55mms.x 46mms.)

Published by Rock Brothers and Payne. London 1835.
Gilt edges,with thirty two humorous engravings. Bound in flexible leather with a gilt title set within a floral frame on the front cover. Preserved in a sterling silver box of exactly the correct size, having a decorated
hinged lid. Rare. Welsh locates the Adomeit copy only.

1"x 1 1/4" (30mms.x 25mms.)

A Collection of Pamphlets, Housed in an Oak Box. The Society of Private Printers. 1980.
A complete set of 31volumes, many illustrated with original woodcuts and other artwork. Lined in red and topped with an arch on a sliding front that has a fine engraved label. Limited to 70 copies of which only 15 were available for sale.This item was the result of a project by the Society of Private Printers, who wished to produce a boxed set of little books in immitation of the Infant's Library made by John Marshall circa 1800. See David Chambers, Private Library Third Series, vol.6:1 (Spring 1983) pp.39/40

Housed in a purpose built oak box measuring 6"x4 1/2"x 3 1/2".