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London: Printed for G.G.J. and J. Robinson, etc., 1791. 8vo (22 cm); [4], 270 pages. Bound in recent cloth. First appearance in English of the lively letters of Alciphron, the second-century Greek satirist. He presents the letters as if they were written by sailors, peasants, parasites and prostitutes, giving a vivid picture of popular culture in Athens. The letters from the prostitutes are especially interesting, not only for the clues they provide about the role of women in society, but for plots lifted ... more information

London: Bradbury, Evans & Co, 1852. 308 pages, pictorial title page and 10 hand-colored steel engraved plates by John Leech. 100 wood engraved illustrations in text. Bound in 19th-century half green calf over marbled boards. Marbled edges and endpapers. Binding rubbed away at edges and extremities. Child's pencil marks on rear blank. ... more information

Bari: Laterza, 1912. 21 cm; 466 pages. Bound in original printed wraps. Poor condition, offered as reading copy only. Text block cracked, holding by threads; one leaf with closed lateral tear. No marks or blemishes. "Scrittori d'Italia" series. Contains the text of L'amor Costante by Alessandro Piccolomini; L'Aridosia by Lorenzino de' Medici; Il Ragazzo by Lodovico Dolce; and I Bernardi by Francesco D'Ambra ... more information

Paris: Didot, 1812. Second edition. Bound in contemporary mottled pink paper-covered boards, worn. . 31cm; xiii, [i], 85 pages. Title and text in French and Italian on facing pages. Bridgewater arms stamped in red on both title pages; Egerton arms stamped in red at head of appendix (a survey of critcism on Comus). A 16-page geneaology in French of the Bridgewater family dated 1810 bound in, stamped with Bridgewater arms. Scattered light foxing only. The British eccentric Francis Henry Egerton, 8th Ear... more information

In Venetia: Appresso gli heredi di Gio. Guerigli, 1630. 4o (22cm); 3 parts in two volumes. Printer's device on title pages. Woodcut initials and ornaments. Bound in contemporary stiff vellum, titled in manuscript on spine. Shelf wear and dust. Light damp marks present. Early ownership inscriptions canceled on front blank. References: Gamba, 1802 (1624 ed.); Vinciana 3567. Born in Loreto, Boccalini embarked on a political career and actually served briefly as governor of Benevento. He railed ag... more information

London: Punch, 1845. First Edition in book form. Edited by Gilbert Abbott a'Beckett. Recased in first binding. Front wrap bound in. Enpapers renewed. Few plates repaired at margins. Front joint tender and starting. ... more information

London: Virtue, Hall, and Virtue, [1855]. Gilt-stamped leather. 8vo (23cm); 29 delightful full-page engraved plates by "Phiz." Marbled edges and endpapers. Binding scuffed at extremities. Marginal toning on plate leaves. ... more information

Boston: Oliver Ditson, December 2, 1878. 19 cm; 31 pages, ads. Printed self wraps, illustrated with publisher's full-page wood-engraved ad on lower wrap. Upper wrap unevenly toned; sewing tender but holding firm. Lower edge slightly bumped. Gilbert and Sullivan's first great success, HMS Pinafore, opened in London in May 1878. Saturation was so thorough that "unauthorized" productions sprang up. The first American production took place at the Boston Museum, November 25, 1878. This c... more information

London: S. Paul & Co., 1915. First edition. Original decorated cloth over beveled boards. 37cm; 3 leaves, 20 mounted lithograph plates. Limited to 500 copies, this copy out of series, signed and dated by the author and the publisher. Foreword by H. G. Wells. Closed tear in lower margin of first three leaves. Text block shaken in binding. Binding somewhat soiled and edgeworn, yet this copy is sound, entire, and very good overall. In the early 20th century, the Australian Will Dyson's cartoon... more information

Paris: P. Jannet, 1857. 2 volumes; 16cm. 352, 304 pages. Red cloth, stamped in blind, titled in gilt on spine. "Bibliotèque elzivirienne" series, vols. 91-92. Minor wear only, with two millimeters of cloth shaved from the top of the spine of volume 1. Bookplate of Isaac Norris. The most celebrated work of satirist Paul Scarron (1610-1660). ... more information

Paris: P. Jannet, 1853. Cloth. 12mo; 17 cm., lv, 340, ads., Red cloth, stamped in blind, titled in gilt on spine., Water stains along bottom edge of casing; some spotting in text., One of the great wits of his age, Regnier wrote satires in alexandrines after the manner of Horace and Juvenal. No less an authority than Sainte Beuve compared them to Flemish paintings for their vigor, their precision and light. Includes an essay on the history of satire in France. ... more information

Calais: Imprimerie de Leroy fils, 1817. Folio sheet (44 x 32 cm); woodcut border. Capitals in woodblock type. Expertly matted. Rare playbill announcing a performance at Calais of the popular comedy, Portrait de Michel Cervantes, by Michel Dieulafoy (1762-1823). Dieulafoy was a prolific librettist who wrote over a hundred light operas, comedies and farces to great acclaim. His "Portrait of Cervantes" first appeared on stage in 1799, was published in 1802, and translated into English by Charl... more information

Florence: G. Barbera,, 1863. 11cm; xvii, [1], 461, [3] pages, and steel engraved portrait frontispiece. Bound in original publisher's wraps. Bookplate. Shelf wear, corners bumped, but no frays, tears or stains. The comic poet Francesco Berni is still underappreciated and largely unknown to anglophone readers. According to the Britannica (11th ed), "Berni stands at the head of Italian comic or burlesque poets. For lightness, sparkling wit, variety of form and fluent diction, his verses are uns... more information

London: Printed by W. Bulmer and Co., for J. Wright, 1799. 8vo (22 cm); 3, xlviii, 189 pages. Title page with engraved portrait vignette. Bound in contemporary full birdseye calf decorated in gilt. Marbled endpapers. Binding rather rubbed and worn, cracked at joints but holding. Spine ends perishing. Owner's autograph on title page (Sir Alex Bannerman, 1818), with few ink notes in text in 19th-century hand. Latin and English texts on facing pages. ... more information

Milano: Giovanni Silvestri, 1826. 17 cm; 91, [1] pages, and engraved portrait of Gozzi by Ester Silvestri. Bound in original printed wraps. Unopened, untrimmed. Pages still bright and clean. Shelf wear only. ... more information

Dublin: Gilbert and Hodges, M. Keene, J. Fleming, J. Parry, and B. Smith, 1810. 2 vols. 8vo (22 cm); xxxii, 375; 329, [51] pages. English and Latin on facing pages. Modern red half morocco over marbled boards in period style. Paneled spine decorated in gilt, with black leather title pieces. Boards rubbed at edges; scattered foxing, especially at beginning and end. Very good over all. Translation by Samuel Patrick first published in 1745. ... more information

New York: December 9, 1939. 28 cm; 1 page on Burgess's monogramed letterhead, to "Hughes," signed with monogram in ink. 43 lines, including salutations and four quatrains of verse. Usual folds, toned at edges. Two closed tears along top edge. Letter discussing the theoretical template for nonsense verse from the author of one of the most enduring nonsense quatrains, "I never saw a purple cow." The letter is certainly to Rupert Hughes (1872-1956), author, director and, incidentall... more information

New York: Peter Weed Books, 1993. Decorative Boards. First published 1962. "Reissued in 1993 ; First Printing," according to copyright page. Follows the adventures of Edna, Harry and Sam on a handcar: "At Wunksieville they rescued an infant who was hanging from a hook intended for mailbags. Signed by Author ... more information

Montreal: McGill University Press, 1965. Printed wraps, stapled. Oblong, 16 x 22 cm; 4 leaves, each illustrated with designs from Cruikshank's Hints to Emigrants (1840). ... more information

London: Printed for T. Becket, P. A. De Hondt and R. Baldwin, 1768. 8vo (22 cm); 2 vols. lxxxiii, 332; 394 pages, and 8 folding engraved plates of comic figures and masks. Bound in contemporary full sheep, rubbed, worn at heel and crown, with portion missing from crown of vol. 1. Leather labels renewed. Joints cracked but holding. Hinges repaired with tape. Text very good. " Lowndes IV, 2607; Clarke, 228 ("A better translation can scarcely be expected"); Schweiger 1079. Funnier than modern e... more information