Book Trade History

Invoice, printed heading, account of Sir Robert W. Vaughan.

Author: 
[Peter Brett, bookseller and stationer (1762-1792, BBTI)]
Publication details: 
201 Strand, London, 6 July (no year).
£25.00

One page, 8vo, good. He sends newspapers post free "to all parts of the Kingdom." He charges mainly for items of stationery but also an almanack.

Book Culture, vol. 1, nos 1-4 [of 7, all published]

Author: 
Nathan Haskell Dole, editor.
Publication details: 
Boston, MA., Jan.-April 1899
£50.00

Pp. 16' 16; 32-56; 57-80, one coloured frontispiece.Some wear and tear, marking and sunning, fair condition, complete. Articles and advertising aimed at the book-collector (for example "A Prince of Collectors" (Jean Grolier)).

Printed handbill advertising the publication of Kirby's 'Monographia Apum Angliae'.

Author: 
William Kirby [John White, bookseller; Stephen Couchman, printer]
Publication details: 
London: 'Printed for the AUTHOR, and Sold by J. WHITE, Fleet-Street. Printed by S. Couchman, Throgmorton-Street.' [1802].
£120.00

One page, on rough-edged grey wove paper, roughly nine inches by six wide. An attractive production of twenty-two lines, with ornamental rules top and bottom, headed 'This Day is Published, | IN TWO VOLUMES OCTAVO, | PRICE ONE GUINEA IN BOARDS, | Monographia Apum Angliae; | [...] | By WILLIAM KIRBY, B.A. F.L.S. | RECTOR of Barham in Suffolk. | [...]'. According to BBTI John White traded between 1785 and 1816 and Stephen Couchman between 1774 and 1825.

A Priced Catalogue of the whole stock of Theological Books, [...], of the late firm of Dickinson & Higham, together with the additions thereto made during the printing of the catalogue by the firm's junior partner and successor, Charles Higham.

Author: 
Charles Higham (1846-1920), London theological bookseller [Dickinson & Higham]
Publication details: 
London: Farringdon Street, E.C. 1878. [S. & J. Brawn, Printers, 13, Gate Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields.']
£450.00

Octavo, 216 pages. One of 'only fifty copies printed, on thick paper'. Title-page in red and black. Aged and a little stained, in recent half-leather rebinding. 9670 items listed, 'for the most part second-hand'.

Sixteen Receipted Invoices. printed heading, signed "W. Gotelee", "G. Gotelee" and W.J. Gotelee", accounts of the "Surveyors of Binfield", the "Overseers of Binfield Parish", the "Churchwardens of Binfield"

Author: 
[PROVINCIAL]W. Gotelee, bookseller, printer and stationer.
Publication details: 
Wokingham and Market Place, Wokingham, Berks,1850[-1866].
£200.00

Sixteen invoices, all 8vo, good condition. They bought account books and stationery relevant to their function. The overseers, for example, bought a "Poor Rates Book", had "Rate Receipt books" and "Poor Rate Notices" printed by Gotelee. The surveyors' invoices listed "Printing 200 Highway Rate Receipts". The churchwardens had a "Book of Common Prayer" bound.

Printed Advertisement Leaf advertising Mavor's 'Voyages, Travels, and Discoveries'.

Author: 
E[dward]. Newbery, Bookseller, Corner of St. Paul's Church-Yard, London
Publication details: 
London; [1797].
£60.00

Two pages, on leaf roughly eight and a half inches by five. Very good, with three stab holes along one margin. Headed 'NEW COLLECTION OF VOYAGES AND TRAVELS, [...] This Day is published'.

Invoice, printed heading, account of Lord Glenbervie.

Author: 
Budd & Calkin, booksellers, stationers (add bookbinding and "To their Royal Highnesses The Prince Regent & Duke of Kent"
Publication details: 
"At the Crown & Mitre, No. 100, Pall Mall", March-Sept. 1813.
£30.00

One page, 8vo, defects but text clear and complete. "State Trials" and "Cobbett's Register".

Autograph Note Signed to Saunders & Otley, publisher and bookseller (active 1826-1851; BBTI)

Author: 
[BOOKBINDING] A[rchibald] Leighton, bookbinder (prob. II, active 1801-1841; BBTI).
Publication details: 
No place or date.
£55.00

Piece of paper, bifoliate, c.5 x 4", good condition. "Gent. / These books belong to you - I will call & explain tomorrow / A. Leighton". Archibald Leighton II helped invent and develop 'book cloth binding' between 1820 and 1832. (BBTI).

Autograph Note to Messrs Hodder & Stoughton, publishers.

Author: 
Charles Higham (1846-1920), London theological bookseller [Hodder & Stoughton]
Publication details: 
Undated [1890s]; on Higham's letterhead, 'FROM | CHARLES HIGHAM, | Second-hand-Book-Seller, | 27a FARRINGDON STREET, LONDON, E.C.'
£35.00

One page. Dimensions of slip roughly four inches by five and a quarter wide. Somewhat aged, but entirely legible. Reads 'British Quarterly Review | Can you tell me what was the last part of this issued, if it is possible to get a title-page and index to vol 83. My last part is 166 April 1886'. Docketed note of reply states that no title was published to the volume containing April 1886.

Receipted Invoice, part printed, Signed, account of [Lechbury? - in pencil]

Author: 
David Ferrier, Scottish bookseller.
Publication details: 
Bible Depository, 17 Leith Street, Edinburgh, 29 March 1860
£30.00

One page, 8vo, good condition. A "Sederunt Book".

Advertisement leaf containing list of architectural books.

Author: 
A. Webley, bookseller, at the Bible and Crown in Holborn, near Chancery-Lane
Publication details: 
Undated [circa 1765].
£200.00

Dimensions roughly eight inches by five and a half. Very good on aged paper. All but top edge rough. One page, blank reverse.

Lithographic caricature of Panizzi by 'Ape' ['Men of the Day. No 77'], with letterpress.

Author: 
Ape' [Carlo Pellegrini (1838-89)], Victorian caricaturist; Sir Anthony Panizzi (1797-1879), Chief Librarian at the British Museum
Panizzi
Publication details: 
[London]: published in 'Vanity Fair', 17 January 1874.
£80.00
Panizzi

Paper dimensions roughly fifteen inches by ten and a half wide; print dimensions twelve inches by seven and a quarter wide. Good clear image with border a little dusty and aged. Full-length image of a dour Panizzi standing at a desk holding a book. Page of letterpress on separate leaf of same dimensions, containing spirited account ['he sought refuge in Switzerland, but he was expelled discreditably from that country, [...] Keeper of the Printed Books [...] the man in all Europe most competent to fill it.

Keepsake, limited to two hundred copies, with signed illustration of 'L'abbaye en 1368' by Beaudouin.

Author: 
Fernand De Nobele, French bookseller; Josephine Beaudouin (c.1910-2005), French illustrator
Publication details: 
1969; Paris.
£120.00

Beautifully printed bifolium on thick wove paper. Dimensions of leaf roughly thirteen inches by ten; dimensions of illustration roughly nine and a half inches by eight. Tissue guard. Recto of first leaf and verso of second blank. Letterpress on verso of first leaf reads 'Fernand De Nobele, libraire pres St-Germain-des-Pres, vous adresse ses meilleurs voeux pour l'annee 1969. | [L'abbaye en 1368]'. Illustration signed at foot 'Josephine Beaudouin', with the limitation '190/200'. For De Nobele - President of ILAB between 1965 and 1967 - see Anthony Rota's 'Books in the Blood' (2002).

Fragment of printed advertisement.

Author: 
George Burbage (died 1807), eighteenth-century Nottingham printer, bookseller and stationer
Publication details: 
Undated.
£50.00

One page. On leaf roughly nine and a half inches by seven wide. Aged, with frayed edges, and with slight loss to head, affecting decorative border, and extensive loss at foot, involving several lines of text. Begins 'G. BURBAGE, PRINTER, BOOKSELLER and STATIONER; ON THE LONG ROW, NOTTINGHAM, TAKES this Method to acquaint the PUBLIC, that he has just laid in an entire new Assortment of STATIONARY [sic] GOODS, - Also a neat COLLECTION of PAPER HANGINGS for ROOMS, CEILINGS and STAIR CASES: [...]'.

Coloured advertisement featuring cartoon by P. Webb.

Author: 
C. A. Stonehill, Inc., booksellers of New Haven, Connecticut [Charles Archibald Stonehill]
Publication details: 
Undated; 'PRINTED BY BROWN & BIGELOW, ST. PAUL, MINN., U.S.A.'
£45.00

Dimensions roughly nine inches by three and a half wide. Creased and somewhat aged, with traces of previous blue paper mount on reverse. The cartoon, which occupies just under the top half, shows three hillbillies watching a fourth chalk crosses onto a farmyard wall, with the caption 'Somebody told him 'bout a old age pension . . . he's practicin' to sign up fer it.' Beneath this 'ATTENTION! | C. A. STONEHILL, Inc. | Rare Books and Manuscripts | IS NOW LOCATED AT | 198 1/2 YORK ST. | SECOND FLOOR | NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT | Come In and Browse'.

Manuscript Invoice, account of "The Executors of late H.H. Henley", prob. in Garland's hand, and ms. stamped receipt signed "Thos Garland".

Author: 
Thomas Garland, bookseller, bookbinder, stationer (BBTI).
Publication details: 
[King's] Lynn, 29 Sept. 1834.
£100.00

Invoice: one page, fol. good condition. Charges for advertising notices in various newspapers, printing posters of Sale Particulars, printing catalogues (full detail), and related printing and actions.

A file of material including a Catalogue issued by Thomas Arthur, bookseller,and correspondence

Author: 
Gillyatt Sumner, antiquary and collector, Beverley, Yorks.
Publication details: 
1860
£320.00

File of papers giving insight inot the buying and record-making procedures of an antiquary and collector.They are crudely sewn together, with some damage and staining, texts clear and complete except railway receipt (trimmed), collection comprising: a. Catalogue ("Part Fifty-Three", Feb. 1860, from Thomas Arthur, 45 Booksellers' Row, Strand, London, W.C. ( some items ticked by Sumner, including item 454 Ratsall's History of . . . .Southwell" which is also marked "Ordered"). b. Invoice from Thomas Arthur, 13 Feb.

Steel engraving by de Mare, after drawing by Rochussen, printed by Brugman, of 'Eene Dames Kunstbeschouwing in de Kunstzaal der Maatschappij: "Arti et Amicitiae."

Author: 
Charles Rochussen (1814-94), Dutch painter; Johannes de Mare, Dutch engraver; J. F. Brugman, Dutch printer
Publication details: 
[Amsterdam: circa 1880?]
£75.00

Paper dimensions roughly ten and a half inches by eleven and a half; print dimensions eight and a half inches by ten and a half. Aged and with three inch strip, roughly half an inch wide, torn away from surface of print in top left-hand corner. Depicts a crowded and rather grand hall, containing a long horseshoe-shaped table around which are crowded connoisseurs of both sexes contemplating engravings and illustrated books or engaged in discussion. Arti et Amicitiae is an Amsterdam society of artists and art lovers, founded in 1839.

Letters from publishers to Smallwood and other material.

Author: 
[PUBLISHING; MUSIC] William Smallwood, prolific Victorian composer.
Publication details: 
1879-1897.
£300.00

Ten items, various formats, mainly 8vo. a. Copy statement i, 13 Jan. 1879, in which Smallwood agrees terms with the music publisher, Mary Ann Williams for his "musical composition entitled Winander-mere". b. Autograph Note Signed "Frederick Langbridge", 25 Jan. 1877, confirming that the sole copyright for two songs written by him ("A Song for the Land I Love" and "Freedom's Shrine") belongs to Smallwood. c. Statement by Lucy J. Mullen, "trading as B. Williams, 19 Saville Row EC", 6 Jan.

Antiquarian Book Monthly Review, vols. I-IV

Author: 
Ed. Elke Sadeghi and others.
Publication details: 
Feb. 1974- Dec. 1977, issues 1-44.
£750.00

Four vols, simply bound in variant colours, good condition. Ex lib (Public Library) but latterly from the Reference Library of Peter Eaton (Booksellers) Ltd, library stamp, and number on spine. The periodiocal which best informed booksellers and collecvors from its institution.

A co-operative [booksellers'] catalogue' entitled 'Detective Fiction: A Century of Crime: First and Early Editions'.

Author: 
R. A. Brimmell; Boris Harding-Edgar (Charles Rare Books)
Publication details: 
Hastings and Hildenborough; [circa 1966].
£120.00

Forty-four pages, octavo, with two-page leaf of addenda loosely inserted. Four pages illustrating seventeen pictorial covers on art paper. In printed card wraps. A worn and creased copy of an influential catalogue, issued at a time when, as the introduction points out 'catalogues devoted to detective fiction [were] something of a rarity in the book trade'.

Engraved portrait by Augustus Fox [from painting by Nathaniel Drake].

Author: 
Thomas Gent (1693-1778), printer and topographer of York [Thomas Thorpe (1791-1851), London bookseller]
Publication details: 
Published by T. Thorpe, 38, Bedford Street, Covent Garden.' [1832]
£45.00

Dimensions of paper roughly eight inches by five; dimensions of print four and a quarter inches by three and a half. Good clean image, on paper aged and creased at extremities only. A wild-haired octogenarian Gent leans on a pile of books in a stone archway, holding open a copy of his History of Rippon (1733). Taken from Thorpe's edition of Gent's 'Life', published in 1832.

Manuscript Invoice, account of "Messrs Shairp & Archer".

Author: 
[R.W. Lane, printer, bookseller, stationer, bookbinder
Publication details: 
Stow and Moreton Printing Office, 1830[-1832]
£45.00

One page, fol, chipped and stained with minimal textual loss. A lengthy list of various kinds of paper. Add to BBTI Bookbinder, medicine vendor and perfumer, seller of paper-hangings.

Trade Card

Author: 
William Curtis, bookseller, stationer, music seller (BBTI 1812-1836)
Publication details: 
No date.
£65.00

Card, c.4 x 3", soiled, remnants of album page on verso (four corners). Within the Royal Arms of the Duke of Clarence is printed "William Curtis / Bookseller / To H.R.H. the Duke of Clarence / Plymouth". At the botton "Harps, Pianofortes &c. on Sale or Hire."

Typed Letter Signed to Eimar O'Duffy, Irish author.

Author: 
Ben Abramson, American bookseller and publisher (1898-1955).
Publication details: 
The Argus Book Shop Incorporated, 333 South Dearborn Street, Chicago,6 Dec. 1933.
£60.00

One page, 4to, good condition. He gives belated thanks for writing to them "and sending us your contribution for our catalogue." They delayed so that thanks would accompany a copy of the catalogue. They have sent the catalogue under separate cover and "hope you will find it enertaining. Too, we hope that you will find our comments on your work not unworthy of your talents." See Donald C. Dickinson, "Dictionary, for discussion of the "rambunctious" bookseller, including his interaction with major literary figures.

Printed Advertisement Leaf containing list of books printed by him.

Author: 
R. Helder, Bookseller and Printer, 10, Duke Street, West Smithfield, London.
Publication details: 
R. HELDER, Printer, 10, Duke Street, Smithfield.' [circa 1820]
£450.00

Two pages, on a rough-edged leaf approximately seven inches by four. Good, though aged and a lightly stained. A highly interesting list of twenty-seven titles by a radical publisher. Several works relating to Robert Wedderburn and Thomas Davison. Also 'The Cast-Iron Parson', 'A Peep after Hell' and 'GREAT GORGY: giving a Humourous Description of his Journey to Westminster, on Giff, the Ch-lor's Grey Mare'. Ends 'The Trade Supplied with all the Popular Works of the Day. | Printing & Bookbinding | NEATLY AND EXPEDITIOUSLY EXECUTED. | NEWSPAPERS SERVED IN TOWN AND COUNTRY.

Autograph Letter Signed to the Rev. Henry Blunt, Pau, Pyrenees (DNB)

Author: 
Thomas Hatchard, bookseller, publisher (BBTI - 1856 ADD 1842), son of John Hatchard.
Publication details: 
London, 15 March 1842.
£200.00

Two pages, fol., fragile, sl. chipped, inch round hole in second page with some loss of text. Hatchard reports on the distribution of copies of his book ["A Family Exposition of the Pentateuch: Genesis" (J. Hatchard, 1841)] as "From the Author", giving a substantial list occupying the second page (c.80 names consisting of the great and the good, with excisions, corrections and additions, with six names ticked and three show multiple copies). He tells him how many copies have been printed of the first and second editions, the issuing of the second he expects to give the first "a lift".

Invoice for Lord Glenbervie.

Author: 
[E. Budd, bookseller (BBTI as "publisher?" c.1813.
Publication details: 
100 Pall Mall, 1812.
£45.00

One page, c.6 x 7", good condition. He is billed for "State Trials" and the "Political Register".

Autograph Letter Signed to Roake & Varty, booksellers, printers, stationers (BBTI), York House, Strand, London.

Author: 
[Roake & Varty] A.B. Lechmere, Gent.
Publication details: 
The Rhyd, Worcester, 24 May 1832.
£75.00

ADD "York House" to BBTI. And "Publisher. And Worcester bookseller. Four pages, minor defects, text complete and clear. He requests his account for "Stationery & Consitutional Tracts" and asks how much "it would cost to purchase the whole of the Tracts published by you from the commencement of the Debates of the momentous Reform Question to the present hour, to place in one's Library for the inspection of posterity." He rails agaoinst the "wicked and unprincipled Ministry and the King who is "regardless of the complicate interests of this once great Empire-".

Part II. - MDCCCXXV. A Catalogue of an Extensive Collection of Books in every department of literature and in various languages, selling at the very low prices affixed, by William Strong, 3, Clare Street, Bristol. [with five other Strong catalogues]

Author: 
William Strong (died 1846), Bristol bookseller; John Chilcott (died 1851?), Bristol printer]
Publication details: 
Parts II and III for 1825; parts I to IV for 1826. All printed by J. Chilcott, Printer, 6, High Street, Bristol.
£220.00

All items octavo. Bound together in contemporary leather half-binding with red label. Good, on aged paper. Front board beginning to split. Label and stamps of Newport Reference Library. Each title-page initialed in contemporary hand 'G. S. W.' Part 2, 1825: pp.[ii] + [103]-348, items 1666 to 6197. Part 3, 1825 ('Including the libraries of the late Rev. Dr. Ryland; J. Nott, M.D. of Clifton, Deceased; And other Collections, recently Purchased'): pp.v + 349-606. With two-page 'Brief Memoir of the late John Nott, M.D. of the Hotwells, Bristol', 'Extracted from Felix Farley's Bristol Journal'.

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