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These books and sets have an estimated value of $200 or greater, current market demand unknown:

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BOOKS

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  1. John MILLS: Flyers of the Hunt, 1859. First edition, illustrated by John Leech. Bound in ornate gilt tooled full red morocco, five raised bands with gilt stamped decorations in a fox motif. Original cloth binding bound in the back. Very little wear, very clean leaves, bottom cover slightly bowed. Offered at $30-$300. VG+ $225

  2. W.B. YEATS, Ernest DOWSON, et al: The Book of the Rhymers’ Club, 1892. Limited edition collection of poems #8/50, some of which are first to print. Includes new work by Dowson, Yeats, others. ¾ bound in orange calf over marbled paper. Scarce, few sales. Offers at $500-$1,100. VG $450

  3. John RUSKIN: Mornings in Florence, 1875-77. First issue of six small volumes, in book cloth wrappers, gathered in a folding encasement which slides into a quarter bound slipcase of brown calf and brown cloth. Bookseller’s notes and bookplate indicate these came from the library of John Shelly. Some of the pages of the first volume have come loose but all is present. Some water staining on the cloth portion of the slipcase, a few scuffs to the leather face. Individual volumes sell for under $100, no sales of complete sets. A few offers at $500-$900. VG- $400​

  4. Charlotte BRONTE (as Currer Bell): Shirley, 1849. First edition, in three volumes, bound in full brown morocco, with five raised bands, simple gilt stamped borders in spine compartments and on cover. Light wear, scant foxing, a few water stains in leaves. Cover of volume II has a small soiled spot. Sets of all three volumes in varying conditions have sold for $500-$1,750. Offers at $750-$1,750. VG $1,000+

  5. Miguel de CERVANTES Saavedra: Don Quixote de la Mancha, 1819. In four volumes, illustrated, translated from the Spanish into English by Charles Jarvis. Bound in full straight-grain red morocco with gilt rosettes. Gilt text block all around. Spines are sunned to a darker red, also creased from reading, but not fully cracked. Bottom edges shelf-worn, fore edges have some knocks. Leaves have a persistent but subtle foxing, not intrusive. High quality paper. 24 hand-colored illustrations remain vivid. Similar examples sell for $350-$2,000, depending upon condition and binding. VG- $450

  6. Emile BOURGEOIS: Le Grand Siecle: Louis XIV Les Arts Les Idées, 1896. First, limited edition #2/10, printed on Japanese paper. Large format quarto in full red morocco binding, five raised bands, gilt spine decorations and edges, gilt text block all around. In a slipcase covered in marbled paper with leather trim. Blue morocco pastedown with woven cloth flyleaf before marbled paper preliminaries, clean leaves. No other examples of limited edition for sale, two examples in tooled full leather fine bindings offered by bookseller in Paris for $540. Best sale price: $110 in cloth. VG+ $250

  7. Robert Louis STEVENSON: A Footnote to History: Eight Years of Trouble in Samoa, 1892. First edition, presentation copy, but unsigned, by the author to New York painter Will Hicock Low, who has inscribed his reception of the book on the flyleaf and included news clippings related to the work. From the collection of William K. Bixby, as per bookplate, the noted St. Louis art and book collector. Bound in original pale green cloth covered boards, encased in a book cloth folder, inserted into a quarter bound straight-grain green morocco and green cloth slipcase. Case has title, author, year, and association stamped on spine: "W. H. Low Copy." Very little wear to book, discoloration to leaves from contact with news clippings, some shelf wear to case. One of a kind item. Copies sold: $110-$125, without association. VG+ $300?

  8. James BOSWELL: The Life of Samuel Johnson, 1791. First edition, in two volumes, housed in a unique, custom, quarter bound leather and cloth slipcase, made to look like two books side-by-side on a shelf. Volume I is missing, only volume II is present, in very good condition, with original burl wood boards, green spine labels, and remarkably clean leaves. If a similar condition orphaned Vol. I can be located, perhaps a marriage could be brokered. None such listed online, only pairs. Difficult to verify if this is a first state book or first edition, later impression, without the first volume and its tell-tale misprint, corrected in subsequent issues. Known sales of the pair of volumes top $5,000, with more than a dozen on offer for even more, many of which are rebound in custom fine bindings. The quality of this volume, in its original state, is exceptional. Slipcase integrity and cloth in very good condition, but leather has dried, with the top grain flaking off. VG

  9. Osmund AIRY: Charles II, 1901. First, limited edition #53/1250, illustrated. Large format quarto bound in full red morocco with gilt stamped decorations on covers and spine, doubled-up endpapers with reinforced hinge gutter. Some light foxing inside. Impressive volume, but not many sales, only one in unknown binding sold at auction in 2005 for $150. Several available in varying conditions and bindings for $175-$1,100. VG $200

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SETS

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  1. Alfred (Lord) TENNYSON: Works, 1872. Set of 6, complete. Bound in a simple, durable red sheepskin, lightly soiled. Gilt text blocks, very clean leaves. This edition has sold a few times for as much as $600-$900, but in really nice fine bindings. VG $300+

  2. John FISKE: Historical Writings (from the discovery of America to the Revolution), 1902. "Standard Library Edition". Twelve volumes, complete. ¾ bound in brown morocco over heather purple linen. A few scuffs and stains on the spines, very little shelf wear. A publisher issued fine binding set of 12 sells for $150-$400, but these don’t have that binding. VG+ $250

  3. James Russell LOWELL: Writings in Prose and Poetry, 1899. "Riverside Edition" Eleven volumes, complete. ¾ bound in chocolate morocco over pale brown marbled paper. Very little shelf wear or rubbing, a little wear to some corners, foxing in the preliminaries, otherwise clean. Finely bound, these sell for $100-$300. VG+ $200

  4. James Russell LOWELL: Writings, 1890-92. Twelve volumes: "Large Paper Edition", in ten volumes (1890), and two additional volumes (1891, 1892). Bound the same, in ¾ claret morocco over red linen, as a limited edition #186/300. The back cover of the first volume has a sun stain with the shadow of a bookend. Corners are worn, bindings are strong, joints are supple, intermittent foxing, otherwise clean. Presents well on the shelf. Only low priced sales of cloth bound sets of 10 have sold. Offers at $90-$750. VG+ $300

  5. Charles DARWIN (a mini set of three volumes): Geological Observations, The Structure and Distributions of Coral Reefs, and The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex, 1896. An extract from a larger set of Darwin’s complete works reissued in 1896, each representing the third edition of the original. All bound alike in ¾ red calf over purple marbled boards. Worn, covers rubbed and soiled, corners bumped, leaves clean, some page corners folded/creased. Pull-out maps and illustrations all present, one with a closed tear. These can sell for up to $100 each, but often in different bindings or issues, or for a lot more as a complete set. VG- $225

  6. Charlotte BRONTE (and Siblings): Novels of the Sisters Bronte, 1911. "Thornton Edition" of twelve volumes, complete. ¾ bound in claret morocco over red linen. Bindings are strong, but the joints are worn on some of the more popular titles. A little wear on some spine heads, occasional transfer of ink to facing pages. Similar, finely bound sets sell for $200. VG $200

  7. E.W. LANE (tr.): The Arabian Nights Entertainments, 1901. Six volumes, complete, ¾ bound in red sheepskin over red marbled paper, five raised bands with ornate gilt stamped decorations and titles between, gilt tops, trimmed text blocks. Light shelf wear on bottom edges, paper covers rubbed, strong supple bindings, some foxing on faces of text blocks, foxing in the preliminaries, occasional smudge, leaves otherwise fairly clean. One slightly loose signature in the first third of volume I. Many editions and translations in circulation. This edition, in original cloth bindings, sells for $30-$125. 1,200+ others have sold for $10-$12,000. VG+ $225

  8. Bell’s British Theatre: Consisting of the Most Esteemed English Plays, 1791-1797, in 47? volumes. This set is only 18 volumes, incomplete. Bound in full faux burl calf with gilt stamped spines and applied red titles. Worn spine ends, bumped corners, some rubbing to covers, soiled text blocks, foxing to be expected, but fairly clean leaves, good paper. These sell individually for $5-$40, in incomplete sets for $20-$350, in complete? sets for $250-$1,750, in various bindings. Offers: $15 for singles up to $700 for 34. VG- $250

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