Titles starting with A from Stuart Bennett Rare Books

Mid-nineteenth century morocco-backed cloth by Henderson and Bisset, Edinburgh, spine lettered “Chap Books 1781-1826.” First published in 1702, Deans’s sad little pamphlet went through at least a dozen subsequent editions before this one, which is recorded in a single copy at Glasgow. Scotland’s Skaith was first published in 1795 and became an immediate sensation. In Stirling alone there seem to have been several editions previous to this one, with at least a sixth, eighth, and ninth... more information

Baltimore: Printed and sold by William Warner, 1812. 110, [2]pp., 18mo (5½ x 3½ inches). Woodcut title vignette of an archer; printed on poor paper with some consequent browning and spotting throughout. An excellent copy in the original grey patterned (Rosenbach calls them “fancy”) boards; some of the covering chafed away at corners, expertly rebacked with matching paper. First and only edition under this title, in verse throughout, the earliest obtainable American edition of w... more information

London: Printed for T. Cadell, 1789. 2 vols.: xi, [i], 335, [1]; vii, [i], 329, [1]pp., 8vo. Facing title-pages and text in Italian and English; very faint old waterstain affecting some upper margins, still a fine, fresh copy. Elegantly bound by Philip Dusel in full straight-grained red morocco, covers gilt-panelled and spines fully gilt, a.e.g., marbled endpapers. First edition in English, rather grandly here published with the original Italian text on facing pages, no doubt due to the extraordinary ... more information

Bath: Binns and Goodwin, [1851]. viii, 86, [14]pp., 16mo. With a publishers' catalogue at end, the last leaf containing an advertisement to authors for a scheme of "Mutual and Equitable Publishing." Original red cloth gilt, g.e.; extremities worn, but sound. First edition of a fascinating book on saving children from the frightening rates of mortality prevalent in England in the mid-nineteenth century. The author includes statistics: one in every six children dies in its first year. Hi... more information

London : Printed for G. and W.B. Whittaker, 1823. xlvii, [i], 109, [3]pp., 8vo. Fine color-printed engraved frontispiece by Appleby & Thanet depicting a monument to Eliza, with a leaf of publishers’ advertisements at end. Contemporary calf; somewhat worn and with the joints repaired. First edition, with a long and rather persuasive introduction stating that the manuscript of both essay and poem were saved from a burning house in Flanders, and given to the editor visiting that country by an eld... more information

Geneva: Chez Mme. Susanne Guers Libraire, 1826. [iv], 200pp., 18mo. Engraved frontispiece and additional title with vignette (“Kenneth et Normann vont à l’école”); a few minor stains. Contemporary half calf; quite worn but firm. First edition in French, originally published in Edinburgh in 1823. One of several novels by this author, who died young in 1825, it “replaces,” according to ODNB, “the rational Lockean narratives of a previous generation of writers... more information

London: Printed, and are to be Sold by Randal Taylor, 1691. 16, [17-32]pp., 4to, the last sixteen pages irregularly paginated, presumably the result of more than one compositor at work; one prefatory leaf printed off-centre with its headline cropped, a little staining but a perfectly sound and complete copy. Disbound. First edition, replying to Tom Brown’s “The Weesils,” which attacked Rev. William Sherlock for his hesitation to take the oath of allegiance to William and Mary. Brown... more information

London: Printed for J. Mechell at the King’s Arms in Fleet-Street, 1740. viii, 144pp., 8vo. Foot of title slightly abraded with partial loss of the letters “A” in “An” and “N” and “D” in “London,” the following three leaves with some browning and wear to the lower corners, all text perfectly clear. Handsomely bound in full sprinkled calf antique, spine gilt with an earlier label preserved. First edition of a fine satire, often attributed to Henry ... more information

London: Printed, and Dublin Reprinted in the Year, 1740. 16pp., sm. 8vo. Upper outer corner apparently sometime nibbled, with some loss of paper but well clear of text, a little minor soiling throughout but a perfectly sound copy, neatly bound in modern marbled boards. First Dublin edition, written as if from Alexander Pope to Robert Walpole and so, as Foxon says, “the wrong attribution is not surprising,” so much so that here, unlike the London edition, Pope’s name is explicitly given ... more information

London: Printed for Bernard Lintott, 1716. [xvi], lxviii, [iv], 397, [7]pp., 8vo. Engraved frontispiece, and a headpiece of the Burlington coat of arms, both by Gribelin; frontispiece slightly browned, but an excellent copy, printed on unusually high-quality paper. Contemporary panelled calf; neatly rebacked and gilt. Contemporary ownership inscription “Philip Southcot” on title. “The Second Edition, Corrected, and Enlarg'd,” the additions including the first appearance of A... more information

Aylesbury: Printed and Sold by W. Nicholls, in the Market-Place, [1784]. 32pp., 8vo. Wonderfully crude woodcut plate inserted between pp. 8 and 9 “Radley robbing the Parson on the Epsom-Road, of Half a Crown and his Watch”; printed on inferior paper and with the last leaf cut close at fore-edge (no text lost) but a good fresh copy, disbound. First and only edition, an extremely early Aylesbury imprint - in fact the first that is not simply a list of names - and a thoroughgoing account of what... more information

London: Printed for John Miller, 1817. xxvii, [1], 78 pp., 8vo. Engraved frontispiece portrait of Kemble and three plates (two of them folding), together with an autograph scrap of Kemble’s handwriting laid down on a front flyleaf (this certainly excised from a play once in Kemble’s collection: it reads “collated & perfect J.P.K. 1797”). Portrait and title somewhat stained, but an attractive copy in early twentieth century half blue morocco, spine richly gilt, t.e.g., other edge... more information

1802]. with integral blank leaf incorporating the address panel and postmarks “Two Penny Post Lamb’s Cd. St.” and “13 Dec 1802.” Obviously written in haste and with a few ink-smudges perhaps from rain, this is an attractive letter from one literary friend to another, regretting that the illness of “our charming Miss Gregory” keeps Eliza from calling the next day - “she has not yet arrived at the crisis” - and asking if she may come instead any evening “s... more information