Authors starting with P from Stuart Bennett Rare Books

London: Kerby and Son, [1856]. [iv], 88, [4]pp., sm. 4to. Four hand-colored wood-engraved plates by Butterworth and Heath after Cruikshank, with the half-title and two leaves of publisher’s advertisements at end. Original blind-stamped red cloth by Westley’s, with ticket, title gilt on upper cover and spine; spine ends very slightly frayed. First edition, by the indefatigible traveller and author. Cohn, George Cruikshank, 625, noting that not all copies were hand-colored; Osborne, p. 1019, w... more information

Paris: Constant Le Tellier Fils, 1826. Mélé d’Anecdotes Amusantes et de Conversations Instructives; traduit de l’Anglois de Miss Lucy Peacock, sur la 4e Edition. [iv], 167pp., 18mo. Engraved frontispiece, with the half-title. Contemporary tree sheep; rebacked with most of the original spine and a clumsy new gilt label. First edition in French, rare, and an appropriate title for a French translation as the story concerns the young victim of a French shipwreck and her friendship wi... more information

Paris: Chez Prault, pere, 1748. [viii], 205, [3]pp., 8vo. Engraved frontispiece, title vignette, and headpiece by Le Bas, with prose explanations, title printed in red and black. Contemporary mottled calf, spine gilt; lower compartment of spine chipped, joints split but firm. First edition of these La Fontaine-esque fables in verse, with the influence of that author acknowledged by the presence of his portrait bust in the allegorical frontispiece. ... more information

London: Printed for J. and R. Tonson and S. Draper, 1748. With translations from Pindar, Anacreon, and Sappho. [viii], 147pp., 12mo. An attractive copy in contemporary, probably original, blue patterned paste boards, vellum tips, handsomely rebacked by Bernard Middleton in calf with a gilt label. First collected edition, dedicated to the Duke of Newcastle, and the last collection overseen by the author who died the following year. He outlived most of his contemporaries, including Pope, with whom the pa... more information

London: Printed for Vernor and Hood, and E. Newbery, 1797. or, the History of Mortimer Lascells. [iv], 206, [6]pp., 12mo. Engraved frontispiece by Taylor after Kirk, with the half-title and a publishers' catalogue at end; occasional soiling and copious contemporary children’s annotations, especially on the endleaves but occasionally in the text (see below). Contemporary mottled sheep; somewhat clumsily rebacked. First edition of one of the earliest and best of Mrs. Pilkington’s didactic ta... more information

London: Printed for Cadell and Davies, 1797. [iv], vii, [i], 146, [2]pp., 8vo. With the half-title and terminal leaf of advertisements. A fine fresh copy in late nineteenth-century half brown morocco. First edition, about “a character now almost extinct in this island. . . the hero of expiring chivalry.” Polwhele explains that he discovered a couple of the breed still alive in Cornwall and attempted a poetical description of their households and the details of their daily lives. The booksel... more information

London: Sold by W. Owen, 1771. 2 vols. in one, sm. 8vo. With the half-titles. Nice copy in contemporary sheep; expertly rebacked with a gilt spine. First edition in English of these elegant letters by the beautiful and accomplished mistress of Louis XV, who died in 1764, and who was publicly and quite unjustly blamed for the Seven Years War that ended the preceding year. The first letter in this collection sets the tone, pitying her friend the Duke of Mirepoix upon his posting to England, “doomed... more information

Paris: Chez Briasson Libraire, 1737. en deux Poemes, traduits de l’Anglois de M. Pope. Par M. [Jean Francois du Bellay] du Resnel. viii, 243, [5]pp., 8vo. With the half-title, and the privilege and errata pages at end. Contemporary calf, spine gilt; upper joint split but firm. First edition of this fine verse rendition of Pope’s Essay on Man, and Essay on Criticism, with a long, original critical essay by the translator. The work was much reprinted, but this first edition is uncommon. OCLC ... more information

London: Printed for J. Roberts, 1715. Or, a Treatise proving, beyond all Contradiction, the dangerous Tendency of a late Poem, entituled, The Rape of the Lock, to Government and Religion. By Esdras Barnevelt, Apoth. 32pp., 8vo. Title a bit dusty and with a single light stain, but a large, pleasant, unwashed copy, handsomely bound in half calf antique, spine gilt, by Philip Dusel. First edition of Pope’s first thorough piece of self-mockery, pretending to criticize his best-selling poem of the year... more information

“Londres, Chez Paul Knapton” [but certainly France or Holland], 1755. Traduite de l’Anglois de Monsieur Pope. xxiv, 324pp., 12mo. With the half-title; this and the last couple of leaves slightly edge-browned from the binding turn-ins. Contemporary (Continental) calf, spine fully gilt. First edition in French, translated by Pierre Henri Larcher. This amusing squib is now thought to be largely by Arbuthnot, and it provided Laurence Sterne with some of his inspiration for Tristram Shandy. ... more information

London: Printed for Tho. Horne, 1710. Written by Dr. W. Pope, Fellow of the Royal-Society. [x], 32, [2]pp., 8vo. With the half-title and terminal leaf of bookseller’s advertisements. Half-title and last page a little dusty, but a pleasant, entirely untrimmed copy, unbound as issued. “The Third Edition, Being the Only Correct and Finish'd Copy” of this charming and very popular poem on growing old. In fact there were at least a half-dozen editions, broadside and pamphlet, preceding t... more information

London: Printed, and sold, by Andrew Sowle, at the Crooked-Billet in Holloway-Lane, 1687. [xvi], 143, [1]pp., sm. 8vo. With pp. 133-143 containing the poem “Advice to a Son” printed vertically and with wide margins. An excellent copy in the original blind-tooled sheep; expertly rebacked and restored preserving most of the original spine. First edition of a significant distillation of the principles of toleration, published in the early and comparatively halcyon days of James II’s rule. W... more information

London: Printed for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1817. 3 vols., large 12mo. Without the half-titles. A very handsome copy in contemporary half green calf over marbled boards, spines gilt; very slightly rubbed, one tiny nick from the headcap of Vol. I. First edition, the story of a bond of friendship formed between the heirs of feuding families. A contemporary review called it “strikingly drawn,” and it has the modest distinction, according to DNB, of being “the last book read... more information

Cambridge: Printed by J. Archdeacon, 1773. [iv], 349, [3]pp., 4to, including the last blank leaf. A large and pleasant copy in contemporary sprinkled calf, spine gilt; slightly rubbed but perfectly sound. First edition of this elegantly-printed series of “classic amusements,” arguing among other things that the Homer referred to by Horace was not that of The Iliad but the “Roman Homer” Quintus Ennius. Among other amusements are the author’s disputing Alexander Pope over the lat... more information

London: Printed for T. Astley, 1741. Natural Son of Oliver Cromwell, Written by Himself. . . also some curious Particulars of Oliver's History and Amours. . . . 3 vols., 12mo. An attractive copy in contemporary gilt-ruled calf; some joints partly cracked. Second edition in English, "in three volumes. Originally printed in Five Volumes," as the title states, with that five-volume edition appearing in 1735-36. This three-volume set contains the complete text of all twelve books; it is just s... more information

A la Haye: Chez M.G. Merville & J. Vander Kloot, 1757. qui s’est retiré du monde. Eight parts in four volumes, 12mo. Each part with a separate title, but continuous signatures and (as if this were not sufficiently complicated), the pagination is divided into two volumes, continuous from Vols. I-II and from III-IV. An unusually pretty copy in contemporary mottled sheep, flat spines gilt with an elaborate flower and vine pattern, red morocco labels; near-invisible wormholes at the foot of ... more information

Birmingham: Printed by J. Belcher. Sold by Scatcherd and Whitaker, 1791. addressed by him To the Members of the New Jerusalem. In which his objections are fairly considered, And the Doctrines contained in the Theological Writings of the Hon. Emanuel Swedenborg, Vindicated From Reason and Scripture. viii, 82, [2]pp., 8vo. With the half-title and terminal advertisement leaf; old repair to half-title in the blank upper gutter, a little soiling and a few minor stains. Nineteenth century half calf; neatly ... more information