Search Results: Titles starting with G from McNaughtan's Bookshop

Edinburgh: John Menzies, 1843. FIRST EDITION, 8vo, pp. [ii], 311, [1] + frontispiece and 13 plates. Numerous illustrations within pagination. Later half calf, purple pebbled cloth boards, spine divided by raised bands gilt, green morocco label, edges sprinkled red. Binding a little rubbed, boards a touch sunned. ‘James Ballantine’ in ink to flyleaf in an early hand. The first edition of poet and stained-glass artist James Ballantine’s (1807-1877) comic novel with verse interludes, which reached a second edition the following year and was reprinted again in 1875.

London: The Bombay Natural History Society, John Bale, Sons & Danielsson Ltd., 1921. FIRST EDITIONS of vols. 2 and 3, 3 vols., large 8vo, pp. xvi, 340; xvi, 328; x, 341, [1] + 80 plates. Original half brown roan (vol. 1); half green roan (vol. 2); half pebble-grain green cloth (vol. 3), green cloth boards, spines lettered in gilt direct. A little light browning and foxing, some offsetting from plates, half-title to vol. 1 somewhat soiled, bindings slightly soiled and rubbed, volume 2 with faded spine and a touch of wear to extremities. Ownership inscription of G. J. Brock, ILTD [Indian Leaf Tobacco Development], Chirala to contents page of Vol. 1 and pastedown and half-title of Vol. 3, indistinct ownership inscription to flyleaf of Vol. 2. The first volume in this set was first published as ‘Indian Ducks and Their Allies’ in 1908, this publication marks its first appearance in series with the other volumes. 62 of the plates are in colour, with many by Danish illustrator… Read More

Glasgow: Printed by A. Foulis, and sold by D. Allan, 1788. 4to, pp. [iv], x, [ii], 111, [3], 17, [1], 18 (engraved music) + frontispiece and 12 plates (all aquatint). Modern quarter calf, marbled boards, red morocco label to spine. Some soiling and light spotting throughout. The first illustrated Foulis edition of Ramsay’s classic, the first Scottish opera. The plates are by David Allan (1744-1796), sometimes called the ‘Scottish Hogarth’. Gaskell 688; ESTC T60190.

Greenock: The Black Pennell Press, 1985. NO. 70 OF 200 COPIES, 8vo, pp xiii, [i], 82, [2]. Title-page printed in brown and black. Original boards with Japanese wood veneer backed in pale brown leather, spine lettered direct in black. A small patch of wear to rear board. A limited edition reprint of a text first published in 1780. This edition is printed and set by hand on Zerkall mound-made paper, with 9 woodcut vignettes by Kathleen M. Lindsley.

London: Bickers & Son, 1882. 4 vols., 8vo, pp. vi, 418; [iv], 404; [iv], 400; [iv], 411, [1] + frontispieces to each volumes and 5 additional plates. Contemporary half green morocco, marbled boards, spines divided by raised bands and lettered direct in gilt, top edges gilt. A little rubbed, wear to head of spine of vol. 3, a touch of sunning to spines. pencil marginal notes and corrections throughout, armorial booklabels of Archibald Primrose, Earl of Rosebury to pastedowns. A memoir and biography of one scandal-hit parliamentarian, owned by another a century later. George Selwyn was an MP for 44 years but was never known to speak in debates in that time, being more celebrated for his extra-parliamentary speeches and witticisms, many of which are collected here. He was also a member of The Hellfire Club and known to have a strong interest in viewing public executions. ‘His fascination with the moment of death and the resultant corpse was widely commented on within his… Read More

London: Viking, 1995. FIRST EDITION, 8vo, pp. [viii], 277, [1]. Original black boards, spine lettered in silver, colour-printed dustjacket. Dustjacket just a touch bumped to top edge. A sharp copy of the third book in the Regeneration trilogy, winner of the 1995 Booker prize.

New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1963. FIRST ENGLISH EDITION, 8vo, pp. 378. Original black cloth, front board blocked with VN monogram in blind, spine lettered in gilt, top edge yellow, dustjacket printed in black, yellow and pink. Dustjacket just lightly soiled, a little bumped, spine panel sunned. Nabokov’s final Russian novel, written between 1935 and 1937.

Preston: Akros Publications, 1967. FIRST EDITION, NO. 221 OF 300 COPIES, 8vo, pp. 23, [1]. Stitched as issued in blue paper wrappers within oversized brown card wrappers printed in red. Extremities of card wrappers a little bumped.

London: Faber and Faber, 1988. FIRST EDITION, 8vo, pp. xxiii, [i], 172. Original red cloth, spine lettered in white, dustjacket printed in red and black. Small dampmark to dustjacket spine panel at inside foot.

Edinburgi [Edinburgh]: E Prelo Academico, Impensis Gulielmi Laing, 1806. 7 vols., 8vo, pp. 310, [2]; 286; 289, [1]; 279, [1]; 322; 301, [1]; 175, [1], 93, [3]. Untrimmed and unopened in original pink paper boards, printed paper labels to spines. Some light spotting. Boards soiled, spines darkened and worn at ends, one label chipped. A rare survival, unopened in the original boards, of this textbook edition of the works of Herodotus printed by the Edinburgh university printer. The editor was George Dunbar (1777-1851), an industrious if not especially brilliant classical scholar who was appointed Andrew Dalzel’s successor as professor of Greek at Edinburgh the same year this edition appeared.

London: Printed for G. and W.B. Whittaker, 1824. 12mo, pp. [iii]-xx, 358, [2]. Half-title discarded. Contemporary black moire cloth, spine lettered direct in gilt, edges sprinkled red. Binding a little marked, spine lightly sunned. Ownership inscription of John Campbell to title-page, dated 1831, that of Alexander Kerr, The Milton, Aberfoyle to flyleaf, armorial bookplate of Colin Campbell to pastedown, a few marginal ink annotations in an early hand. The second, revised edition of a work first published in 1819 by Alexander Jamieson (1782-1850), Scottish schoolmaster and textbook author. Jamieson’s works particularly took off in the American market, with this book receiving several American reprints throughout the nineteenth century.

London: Printed for B. Law... and C. Law, 1797. 12mo, pp. xii, 358, [2, ads]. Contemporary sheep, spine divided by raised bands. A touch of foxing. Small loss to head of spine and small puncture to rear board, front hinge beginning to crack. The ninth and final 18th-century edition of this long-lasting French grammar from the French educational author Jean Baptiste Perrin (d. 1798), who moved to Dublin and made his living teaching French to the Irish gentry. It remained in use well into the 19th century and had crossed the Atlantic as well, becoming the first French grammar published in the USA in 1779. As with most practical books of this kind surviving copies are scarce: ESTC locates half a dozen of this edition in the UK and four more in the USA. ESTC T68498; Alston XII 440.

London: Printed for J. Johnson [et al], 1805. 8vo, pp. xxiv, 463, [3, ads] + folding table. Contemporary unlettered sheep, spine divided by raised bands, blind rolls to boards at spine edge. Table folded slightly proud and soiled to edges. A little marked, somewhat rubbed, head of spine worn. Ownership inscripton of Miss M. Medhurst dated August 12th 1810 to front flyleaf, pencil sketch of youth to rear flyleaf. An unsophisticated copy of this French grammar by Lewis Chambaud (d. 1776), a London-resident French language teacher and writer, was first published in 1750 and here is revised by another expatriate Frenchman, the London-based translator and grammarian Jean-Thomas Hérissant des Carrières (1742-1820). None of the many editions are plentiful in institutional holdings, with this 14th recorded in just 3 by Library Hub: BL, Leeds and Cambridge.

London: William Pickering, 1843. 8vo, pp. viii, 272, [2] + 1 plate. Contemporary half calf, marbled boards, spine divided by raised bands between double gilt rules, black morocco label. Foxed and spotted. Binding rubbed and somewhat worn and scratched, spine sunned. gift inscription to flyleaf ‘With Mr Blake’s kind regards to the Rev. Alan Macgregor’ dated 1846, ownership inscription of Charles Saroléa to title-page, gift note ‘Hermann Palsson from O.K. Schram’ tipped in to flyleaf. The first English translation of the first grammar of Icelandic, produced by polyglot scholar and philologist Rasmus Rask (1787-1832). By his early twenties he had systematically studied half a dozen languages and published this work in Danish in 1811. The translator George Webbe Dasent (1817-1896) was encouraged in his study of Scandinavian literature by Jakob Grimm, and later published the first English translation of Njal’s saga. From the library… Read More

London: Jonathan Cape, 1975. FIRST EDITION, 8vo, pp. 255, [1]. Original brown boards, spine lettered in gilt, colour-printed dustjacket. A fine copy. A sharp copy of Crichton’s third book written under his own name.

London: Published by R. Ackermann, 1845. 12mo, pp. iv, 180. Contemporary wallet binding of maroon roan, edges gilt. Stitching slightly strained in places, binding a little rubbed and showing some pressure marks. Extensively annotated in ink with weights, results and corrections in a contemporary hand, with tipped-in manuscript slips and sheets listing runners and riders. A scarce early horse-racing guide, in a series recorded by the BL as being issued from 1842, which a contemporary owner has annotated with results, sometimes tipping in slips to give extra space for his small, neat handwriting. William Ruff only wrote the first few editions, but as Ruff’s Guide to The Turf the series continued publishing into the late 20th century, perhaps aided by the suitability of his homophonous name.

London: Faber and Faber Limited, 1930. FIRST EDITION, 8vo, pp. [4]. Stitched as issued in plain paper wrappers within red paper wrappers printed in black with integral flaps. Lightly soiled, tiny closed tear to top edge of outer wrapper. The 30th Ariel pamphlet, with 2 illustrations from artist and poet David Jones.

London: Printed for Baldwin, Cradock, and Joy, 1821. 12mo, pp. vi, [ii], 182, [2, ads] + 7 folding engraved maps. Contemporary sheep. Some marks and spotting, two plates torn a little along folds. Binding somewhat soiled and a touch worn, extremities rubbed. Ink ownership inscription of Miss Margaret White, dated 1824, to verso of front flyleaf. A reprint of a popular schoolbook on geography, with a brief entry on Edinburgh stating that the city ‘makes a grand appearance: the castle is built on a solid rock of great height, and looks down upon the city, commanding a most extensive and beautiful view’.