Search Results: Authors starting with L from McNaughtan's Bookshop

London: Printed and Sold by A. Bettesworth [et al.], 1723. 2 vols., 8vo, pp. [viii], xxiv, 58, [2], xviii, 18, [2], 8, [4], 119, [1]; [iv], 400, [10] + frontispiece (vol. 1) and engraved title-page (vol. 2). Contemporary calf, boards bordered with double gilt rules, spines divided by raised bands between gilt rules, red morocco labels, third compartments numbered direct in gilt, edges sprinkled red. Somewhat scratched, spines creased, small area of loss to foot of spine of vol. 1. A reissue of Edmund Curll’s 1713 edition, with cancel title-pages, done in a slightly haphazard manner. The works in volume 1 have been re-ordered to match the listing on the new title-page, resulting in an inaccurate contents page and advertisement leaf for Curll’s publications halfway through the book, and the engraved title-page for volume 2 retains Curll’s imprint and the date of 1713, a date shared by the title-pages of the individual works across both volumes. In addition to La… Read More

London: Printed for Lockyer Davis, 1791. 8vo, pp. xvi, 169, [1] + frontispiece. Title-page engraved. Contemporary half calf, grey boards, spine divided by double gilt rules, red morocco label. Some scattered soiling and foxing, flyleaves torn away. Rubbed, somewhat soiled, foot of spine defective, corners bruised, some gatherings bound slightly proud. Modern booklabel to pastedown, pencil ownership inscription to verso of frontispiece dated 1985. ESTC T83908.

London: Printed for the Author, 1792. 8vo, pp. 486 + frontispiece. Untrimmed in twentieth-century half sprinkled calf, marbled boards, spine gilt in compartments, brown morocco label. A little minor spotting. Extremities slightly rubbed, a touch of wear to spine in places. The second edition, the year after the first, of the rambling first autobiography of the pioneering bookseller James Lackington (1746-1815); his 'Confessions' followed in 1804. At the time of this text he had not yet opened the 'Temple of the Muses' (motto: 'Cheapest Bookseller in the World') but was already issuing catalogues of 30,000 items and keeping prices low by refusing to issue credit to purchasers. ESTC T140295.

London: J.M. Dent & Sons, 1910. 8vo, pp. xi, [i], 254, [2] + frontispiece. Numerous illustrations within the pagination. Contemporary deep red morocco by Hatchards, spine and front board lettered in gilt, spine bands ruled in blind extending onto the boards and ending in blind trefoil tools (in imitation of earlier binding style), top edge gilt. A few very light scratches to leather. An attractively-bound (with something of an Arts & Crafts feel) reprint of the Brock-illustrated Last Essays, first published 1899.

London: Printed by M. J. Godwin, at the Juvenile Library, 1814. 12mo, pp. [iv], 176 + frontispiece. Later half black calf, marbled boards, spine divided by triple gilt rules and lettered in gilt direct, marbled edges. Strip trimmed from head of title-page, rear flyleaves excised, final leaf pierced and torn with no loss of sense. Binding a little rubbed. Ownership inscription of Mary Rochdale to flyleaf. Seven of the tales in this popular children’s improving anthology are by Mary Lamb, the remaining three by her brother Charles. It was first published in 1809, a project of the Lamb’s regular collaborators Mary Jane Godwin and her husband William, father of Mary Shelley.

London: Printed by the Ballantyne Press, the build of the book and its decoration being by Charles Ricketts, 1896. ONE OF 210 COPIES, 8vo, pp. xcix, [i]. Title-page and limitation leaf printed in red and black. Untrimmed in original pale blue boards, paper labels printed in black to front board and spine. Binding somewhat soiled and darkened, a little worn to extremities. Bookplate of Evie James to pastedown, modern booklabel of J.G. Paul Delaney to flyleaf. A beautifully-produced edition of one of Walter Savage Landor’s ‘Imaginary Conversations’ - a series of dialogues between the dead initially published between 1824 and 1829. It is an early effort of artist and typographer Charles Ricketts, co-founder of the Vale Press, and the second to be printed using his Vale type. 210 copies were printed, of which 200 were for sale. This copy belonged to Ricketts’ biographer, J.G. Paul Delaney. Hacon & Ricketts p. xix; Watry B2.

London: David Nutt, 1904. 8vo, pp. 51. Title-page illustrated and printed in red and black. Contemporary limp vellum decorated with gilt stipples, green silk ties. Binding a little marked. The sixth reprint of Andrew Lang’s (1844-1912) translation of this medieval French tale, first published in 1887. The publisher notes that the quick succession of printing was ‘in response to many and repeated demands, at such a price as will make it accessible to all’. Originally in wrappers, the binding here imitates those of the Kelmscott Press.

London: Macmillan and Co., 1889. LARGE-PAPER EDITION, ONE OF 250 COPIES, 8vo, pp. xlii, 210. Original limp vellum, fore-edge extensions, spine lettered in gilt, two green silk cords exposed on each board near the spine. Endpapers lightly spotted. Some spotting to vellum, rear joint with a small split near head. First published in 1880, this is the second edition of Andrew Lang’s translations of the Greek bucolic poets, in its limited large-paper issue and in the special publisher’s vellum binding (normally seen in blue cloth).

London: The Fortune Press, 1946. FIRST EDITION, 8vo, pp. 200. Publisher’s blue cloth, spine lettered in gilt, edges untrimmed. Some edges opened unevenly. Binding and lettering faded, lightly stained in places, a touch rubbed. Philip Larkin’s (1922-1985) first novel, noting within that ‘despite its length, it remains in essence an unambitious short story’. Bloomfield A2(a).

Edinburgi [Edinburgh]: Apud T. & W. Ruddimannos, 1740. 8vo, pp. [ii], lx, 208, xxiv, 80. Modern calf, spine divided by raised bands between gilt rules, red morocco label, pastedowns preserved from earlier binding. Small tear to top margin of first gathering touching running-title. Spine sunned. Ownership inscriptions of D. Hay Fleming dated 13th March 1919 and of J. Campbell to front pastedown, inscription of Wm Douglas of Cavers, Lond. 1746 to rear pastedown, previous bookseller’s note detailing earlier binding loosely inserted. A reissue with cancel title-page of a collection of Scottish Latin verse first published in the previous year (which was itself a shorter version of a 2-volume 1739 set), retaining internal title-pages each dated 1739. The bulk of the pages are taken up with the religious poetry of Arthur Johnston (c.1579-1641), including his translations of the Psalms and The Song of Solomon. It was edited by William Lauder (c.1710-c.1771) whose belief in the supremacy… Read More

Newburyport [Massachusetts]: George Jerry Osborne, Guttemberg’s Head, 1793. 16mo, pp. 109, [1, ads]. Final blank discarded. Contemporary sheep, spine divided by double gilt rules. Last few leaves rather browned, some foxing elsewhere, one or two marginal tears. Somewhat rubbed and scratched, a few stains, rear flyleaves removed. Ownership inscription of William Hammatt to p. 3, ‘Martin’s Grammar’ written in ink on rear board. A rare American edition of this version of Lavater’s ‘Vermischte physiognomische Regeln’ ‘translated (and, indeed, often adapted) with pith and point’ (ODNB) by the author’s friend Henry Fuseli (1741-1825) and first published in 1788. George Jerry Osborne (1761-1800), the son of a Revolutionary War officer, published only briefly in Newburyport but had run an important newspaper for several years earlier in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. ESTC locates only one copy in the UK, at the… Read More

In the Savoy: Printed by Henry Lintot, 1752. FIRST EDITION, 12mo, pp. 6, 341, [25]. Contemporary calf, spine divided by raised bands between gilt rules, red morocco label, other compartments with central floral tool gilt. A few minor spots. Rubbed and scratched, label and spine ends just a touch worn. The first appearance of this anonymous guide to the jury system; it would be republished twice in Dublin in the following decades. ESTC T145262.

Dublin: Printed by and for Oli. Nelson, 1753. 12mo, pp. [xii], 215, [1]. Contemporary calf, boards bordered with double blind rules, spine divided by raised bands, compartments tooled centrally in gilt. A touch toned, a few leaves lightly dampmarked. Rubbed, spine a little creased, label lost, front flyleaf excised. Inscription effaced from title-page, a couple of contemporary manuscript marginal corrections. A scarce Dublin reprint of the popular legal reference guide, first published in 1739. This ‘second edition’ follows the first Dublin edition of 1749 and is recorded by ESTC in 3 locations only: BL, Cambridge and the Royal Irish Academy. ESTC T167075.

Edinburgh: Printed for Archibald Constable and Co., 1818. FIRST EDITION, 4to, pp. iii-cxiv, 277, [1] + frontispiece. Contemporary biscuit calf, boards bordered with a blind roll inside double gilt rules, red morocco labels, marbled edges. A touch of spotting, frontispiece foxed and offset onto title-page. Sometime rebacked in paler calf preserving original labels, old leather somewhat scratched and a little marked. Bookplate of James McCosh of Dalry to pastedown covering Gray family armorial bookplate, ownership inscription of Marshall Carritt to reverse of frontispiece dated 1836 along with warning ‘M.C. will not lend books to any one.’ The first publication of this manuscript compiled by Robert Law (d. 1686?), a covenanting preacher. It was edited for publication by Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe (1781-1851), who may have produced the work as a way to attack Presbyterians, though it is now much better known for recording numerous accounts of witchcraft and other supernatural phenomena.

Edinburgh: Printed by Balfour, Auld, and Smellie, for J. Balfour, 1768. 8vo, pp. vi, [ii], 620. Untrimmed in modern half burgundy leather, marbled boards, black leather label. First and last leaves somewhat toned and soiled, a little scattered soiling, corners creased. A selection of speeches from the great Scottish legal drama of the 1760, the Douglas Cause, a struggle of succession to the vastly lucrative Douglas estates. The trial lasted 21 days and covered details of an unlikely pregnancy, a deathbed conversion and rewriting of entails, and purported kidnapping of the child of a French rope dancer. This volume prints many speeches from the trial by Edinburgh luminaries including Lords Kames, Auchinleck and Monboddo. ESTC T131822.

Edinburgh: Printed in the Year, 1765. 8vo, pp. 16. Later plain paper wrappers, blue cloth spine. A little light spotting, title page and wrapper lightly soiled, wrappers chipped to top edge. A reasonably scarce pamphlet, with ESTC listing 8 copies, evenly split between Britain and North America. It proposes an amendment to the inheritance law of Scotland, with particular reference to the Entail Act 1685, a much-amended act which ‘related to a subject which affected very materially the welfare not only of landowners, but of tenants, and the public generally in Scotland’ according to Lord Advocate Edward Gordon, seeking a further amendment in 1875. The Entail Act was finally repealed in 2004.

New York: G. & C. & H. Carvill, 1832. 8vo, pp. [ii], 44. Later marbled boards, red morocco label. A touch of spotting, first and last leaves lightly toned. Binding a little marked. A pamphlet by American politician William Beach Lawrence (1800-1881), Secretary of Legation to the United Kingdom from 1826 to 1829.

Edinburgh: John Lothian, 1829. 12mo, pp. [iv], 281, [1]. Contemporary half calf, marbled boards, spine divided by double blind rules, second compartment lettered in gilt direct, other compartments tooled centrally in blind. A little spotting, a touch toned. Binding discoloured and a little rubbed. Ownership stamp ‘FB’ to flyleaf, lengthy contemporary pencil note to front pastedown. A scarce biography of historian and translator George Buchanan (1506-1582). Library Hub records just 2 locations, Glasgow and St. Andrews, while Worldcat adds NLS and a further 5 North American institutions. Library Hub records a series title ‘Biographical History of the Scottish Reformers’ which seems to be peculiar to holdings at St Andrews only.

Montreal: First Statement, 1945. FIRST EDITION, 8vo, pp. [44]. Original stapled buff card wrappers, grey paper dustjacket printed in black and red. A few faint marks. Dampmark along foot of spine, dustjacket faded to extremities. Drafted two-page letter to author loosely inserted. The first edition of the first collection by Canadian poet Irving Layton (1912-2006). It was the initial publication of a series supplementing First Statement Magazine which promoted young Canadian writers.

A Geneve [Geneva]: Chez Barrillot & Fils, 1747. 12mo, pp. xx, 239, [1]. Contemporary half sheep, sprinkled paper boards, tan label to spine. Some gatherings browned. Binding the merest touch rubbed at extremities. Armorial bookplate of H. Trouchin to front pastedown, along with small shelfmark label. An early edition of this small treatise on human pleasure and its moral purpose. First appearing as a shorter text based on correspondence with Lord Bolingbroke within an anthology in the 1730s, the author was convinced to expand upon it for proper publication the following decade, with the first authorised printing not long before this one. Louis-Jean Lévesque du Pouilly (1691-1750) was an early reader of Newton and hosted David Hume in Rheims.