1833. Single year brass calendar medal, 39 mm in diametre, with central shield shaped calendar table of Sundays in each month, with Dominical Letter and surrounding inscriptions giving date of calendar, law terms and date and time of eclipses, with on the obverse a central portrait of George IV surrounded by concentric panels giving principle feasts days of the year and noting new and full moons; a little burnished with some small areas of staining. A nice, bright example, though unsigned, of a pocket calendar medal, of particular appeal featuring as it does the portrait of William IV. Such pocket aide-mémoires found widespread popularity during the late 18th and early 19th centuries, with noted makers such as John Powell and Peter Kempson (1755-1824), both originally button-makers from Birmingham, amongst the most prolific coin and token manufacturers. Neither ever featured a monarch’s portrait however, making the present example more unusual.
The obverse provides the calendar table, as well as noting both sun and moon eclipses, and noting the law terms: Hillary Term Jan 11 to Jan 31; Easter Apr. 15 to May 8; Trinity May 22 to June 12; Michls Nov 2 to Nov 25.
The obverse features a bust facing right of Willian IV ‘King of Great Brit.’ and is surounded with three concentric circles noting the main feast days of the year, and noting the New and Full moons.
Coin auctions point to this being possibly the work of Halliday (1771-1844), and though we have not been able to compare visually, the present examples certainly bears strong similarities to examples by him held at the British Museum. ‘Medallist, token-engraver, manufacturer of buttons, studs, Halliday originally worked at Soho Mint before setting up own business, first at Islington Row and Ann Street, then at 69 Newhall Street for some 30 years until his death. He is considered to have produced some of the best commemorative medals of national and personal events, including Reform, Anti-Slavery and Public Institution medals. ‘With Thomas Halliday, the design of the calendar medal, basically unaltered since 1742, underwent a considerable change. The square calendar table on the obverse becomes shield-shaped with the law terms arranged along edge and the lunar table and the memorable dates alongside it are replaced by a circular arrangement. For the first time a portrait bust of the British monarch appears in the centre on the reverse, firstly of George IV and from 1830 of William IV’ ‘Silke Ackermann, Maths and Memory, Calendar Medals in the British Museum, Part I, The Medal, no. 45, Autumn 2004, p. 41.

1933. Folio, ff. [38]; title-page attractively typographically printed in red and black, with 35 large lithograph drawings (some full-page), and seven impressive circular chromolithograph(?) images heightened in gilt (30cms each) tipped in; half-title a little foxed, with further sporadic soiling and light foxing throughout, otherwise clean and bright, gutter exposed in a couple of places and a couple of leaves strengthened at gutter; original pale green cloth, upper cover and spine lettered in gilt, covers lightly sunned with some staining light scratching, with some light dampstaining to both front and rear fore-edge, extremities lightly rubbed and bumped; a very good copy. First edition of this extraordinary privately published work by the Argentinian born medium and automatist spirit painter, Constance ‘Ethel’ Le Rossignol (1873-1970), a little recognised yet important example of British visionary art and spiritualist culture.
Though a somewhat mysterious figure, Ethel moved to London with her family in 1891 and subsequently serve as a nurse in World War I. Like many others who experienced the tragedies of the war, she turned to the world of spiritualism and became a medium. Ethel had previously studied art before the war, during which time she shared a studio with three others, including the noted arts and crafts jewellery designer Sarah Martineau, alongside whom she studied draughtsmanship from professional portrait artists. Her artistic career took off, however, when in 1920 she started channelling artwork from a spirit simply known as ‘JPF’, a recently deceased friend, producing a series of vibrant paintings for which she claimed no credit, insisting instead that she were merely a conduit for JPF. Furthermore, the spirit imparted to Ethel the teachings of a group of advanced spirits, who explained the meanings of the paintings. These visionary images and ‘teachings’ were collected together for an exhibition in 1929 at the London Spiritual Alliance, which later became the College of Psychic Studies.
The present work was born out of that exhibition and was self-published in 1933, under the Chiswick Press imprint. A beautifully produced and printed work, it comprises JPF’s transmitted teachings and diary of their first two weeks of the afterlife, accompanied by 35 monochrome black and white line drawings and, of especial note, the seven tipped-in colour (chromolithograph?) plates heightened in gilt. This series of 42 vivid, almost psychedelic images, depict ‘a radiant, ecstatic realm populated by flying human sylphs, base demons and bejewelled animals’. (Pilkington, ‘Soul Searching’, Frieze Magazine, Issue 135, 1 November 2010). After the introduction, the work is divided into ‘Part I: The awakening to spiritual consciousness’ (figures 1-25), then ‘Part II: From aspirant to master’ (figures 26-42) and finally ‘Appendix I: Some notes on preparation needed to enter the circle of the Initiates and for the instruction of the Amenuensis’ (with entries dated in 1932 and 1933).
Of the 44 paintings created, 21 were donated to the College of Psychic Studies in 1968, two years before her death in 1970 at the age of 96. In 2014, The Horse Hospital Gallery in London hosted a small public exhibition of the paintings. The exhibition note described her work as: ‘Radiant, psychedelic and ecstatic, her vision of the spirit world is consistent, coherent and stunningly beautiful, depicting a luminous realm of kaleidoscopic colour, inhabited by elegant sylphs, bejewelled apes and astral tigers... Ethel's channelled paintings reveal a world of pure light, colour and energy. Incorporating aspects of Art Deco, popular playbills, Eastern mysticism, mandalas and miniatures, they radiate an ecstatic joy, and are prescient of the psychedelic art that would emerge several decades later’.
‘There is currently considerable academic interest in spirit painters and other artists who claimed to be guided by supernatural beings, with researches such as Marco Pasi have devoted several articles and conference papers to the most distinguished of them, including Georgiana Houghton (1814-1884) and Hilma af Klint (1862-1944). While Houghton and af Klimt painted in a non-figurative style, Le Rossignol is best seen as an example of the didactic art illustrating Theosophical ideas epitomized by Reginald Machell (1854-1927) in the early years of modern Theosophy. Le Rossignol's distinctive style, which includes an Oriental touch, certainly deserves further study’ (Massimo Introvigne, online review for the Centro Studi sulle Nuove Religioni on the 2015 public exhibition).
Though the copy at the British Library notes a date of 1958 and a publisher of Eyre and Spottiswoode in 1958, this appears to in fact be a ghost. The College of Psychic Studies confirm that no further issue was published. Rather, the Chiswick Press was purchased by Eyre & Spottiswoode in 1944. An inspection of the copy at the British Library reveals that it bears the Chiswick Press imprint, but has an acquisition stamp of 1958. It clearly did attract renewed attention in that year, however, as it was reviewed by the Psychic News, which whilst not entirely positivie, conceded that there is a ‘Blake-like quality about some of them’ though Blake at his ‘mystical maddest’ (Psychic News, 21 June, 1958, p. 4).

1848. Single sheet, 315 x 217mm; with engraved arms at head, partially completed in neat manuscript in brown ink; with evidence of seals, some light soiling along horizontal fold, with some minor furling to extremities; a good example. A standard maritime ‘Bill of Health’, issued to guarantee the health of the ship and its crew, and granting onward passage from Uruguay to Brazil for the Brig Frederica. ‘I Martin Tupper Hood, Her Britannic Majesty’s Acting Consul General to the Oriental Republic of the Uruguay, do hereby certify to all quarantine Officers and others whom it doth or may concern, that by the Mercy of God this City, its Harbour and Vicinity, are entirely exempt from every degree of Plague or other contagious disorder’. The document has been signed by the Vice Consul, a slightly illegible signature but possibly Vernon Hunt.
As such it provides a fascinating insight into cross-boundary maintenance of public health in the first half of the 19th century, especially in the light of the recent cholera pandemics. Major efforts were being made to restrict the spread of disease, with highly organized measures being put in to practice and laws written to enforce these. Ships and sailors, with their easy mobility, were considered chief contributors to the international spread of disease, thus becoming prime culprits and easy scapegoats. The ‘Bills of Health’ nullified this threat. Issued in various places in their own individual formats, they nevertheless followed a standard pattern, were official printed forms, and were signed and dated by specific ‘qualified’ individuals. They acted, therefore, as guarantees: without them the ship could not sail or be allowed to dock: with them the citizens of port towns could feel that their good health was secure.

1890. 4to, pp. [iv], iv, 20, [2] conclusions, [2] advertisement for Marion & Co., materials; with tipped in slip at p. 4; with four Woodburytype mounted on thick card; lightly foxed and browned throughout, with some marginal dust-soiling; gutter cracked in a couple of places but holding firm; in the original red cloth, upper cover lettered and decorated in gilt and black, all edges gilt, head and tail of spine bumped and chipped, with 1cm loss at head, and further small nick to lower joint, spine darkened, covers a little faded and soiled; still a good copy. First edition of this scarce, early and elegantly produced work aimed at both professional and amateur photographers, a practical manual intended to introduce the techniques for using the brilliant, yet dangerous, light of burning magnesium for photography in different settings. Whilst electric lights had been successfully employed, they were expensive: ‘in the magnesium lamp a far cheaper and more actinic illuminant is placed with the reach of every photographer who chooses to make himself a master of its capabilities’ (p. 1). Slingsby present an enthusiastic account of his own experiences, and as such the work serves as n elaborate advertisement for Slingsby's flash arrangement sold by Marion & Company. The work includes four Woodburytypes: one of Slingsby and his family at home, one daughter at the piano with another about to sing, one a large gathering of children in a ballroom, one of his flash set-up preparing to take the portrait of a young girl, and finally the staged portrait photograph itself, showing a girl seated on a stone wall, holding a basket.

-1870s.]. 8vo, carte de visite photograph album, ff. 15 leaves of thick card, with images on both recto and verso, and comprising a lithograph introductory text within a garland border, followed by 28 numbered albumen print photographs of comical drawings, also within matching garland borders, each with lithographed text mounted below, the ‘windows for each surrounded by chromolithograph triple gilt ruled border; somewhat dust-soiled throughout with some marginal staining, first window previously torn but now repaired, the photographs all a little faded, more so towards the end, top corners of each card clipped for easier insertion into windows, small tear at tail of ff. 2, with further light wear and occasional minor tears to each, and cards a little awkward to remove; bound within the original elaborate blindstamped red morocco album, though now considerably darkened appearing almost brown, upper cover lettered in gilt 'The Club Adventures of Alderman Akeinside', sympathetically newly rebacked to style with new endpapers and later morocco label, spine with raised bands, all edges gilt and with inner gilt dentelles, with remains of brass clasps; a most unusual and appealing ephemeral item. A wonderful and somewhat curious piece of mid to late Victoriana, and seemingly a rare production. We have so far been unable to find any record of ‘B & Co. London (Wholesale), and have only found two copies held by Institutions, and none in the UK.
Presented as a carte de visite photograph album, the work contains 29 ‘cartes’, the first of which is a lithograph introductory text, followed by 28 numbered albumen print photographs of comical drawings illustrating the gluttonous night-out of Alderman Akeinside at his club, his inebriated return home, and his final consultation with Dr. Sloe and Mrs. Akeinside. Though slightly hard to remove from their ‘windows’ (each framed by a gilt ruled border), each card has the imprint 'Published by B. & Co. London (Wholesale)', within a circle on the verso, though undated. Harvard hold what is presumably the original manuscript version, and which they date to 1850, and which contains ‘pen, pencil and watercolour’ drawings, each signed ‘GB’ or ‘GBR’. Toronto holds a copy of the present later version including the albumen carte-de-visite prints, most probably photographs of the original album held at the Houghton, and which they date to 1860.
From the Introduction: 'August ye 12th. 18-- Dine at the Club tomorrow ? Of course I shall, whoever heard of such a thing ? Mrs. A. wont eat turtle, never did: I dont like Ice: because I once fell into the Serpentine: no wonder she dont know the difference between Turtle and boiled Goose!! Some people dont know the difference between a sheeps head and a Carrot!'.

1941. 8vo, pp. [2] blank, 36, [2] blank; pp. 3-34 anaglyph plates printed in red and green for 3-D viewing together; aside from some very light browning, clean and bright; with two pairs of 3-D glasses housed within a printed cream paper pocket on inside front cover; in the original cloth backed orange printed boards, head and tail of spine a little worn, light soiling to boards, extremities a little rubbed and worn; a very good copy. First edition of this striking optical work, and one of a number of innovative educational textbooks by Rudolf Pruner that incorporated stereoscopic anaglyphs, used here by Pruner to help secondary school pupils visualise and understand complex geometrical figures more easily.
An anaglyph consists of two differently filtered coloured images, one for each eye, and drawn in chromatically opposite colours (usually red and cyan). When viewed through the stereoscopic glasses, the picture revealed is an amalgamation of the two images, and gives the impression of a black figure in three dimensions. Two early proponents in France were Josepeh d’Almeida (1822-1880), and Louis Ducos du Hauron (1837-1920) who produced the first printed anaglyphs in 1891.
The introductory preface by the educationalist Dr. Josef Klíma, cites the influential work of Henry Vuibert (1847-1945), who had published ‘Les Anaglyphes Geometriques’ in 1912, as well as the 1938 work ‘Mathematische Raumbiler’ by the publishing firm Köhler-Graf-Cavlov. He believes, however, that Pruner’s work published specifically as an educational text book for school students. ‘Let these images not only enliven, but also facilitate the study of descriptive geometry’ (p. 2, google translation).

1909. Offered together, a matching cup, saucer and small side plate, each bearing the motif of the ‘Angel of Freedom’, and the stamp of Williamsons on the base; some very slight loss of green colour around handle of cup and plate edges, but otherwise in very good condition. A lovely trio of stylish WSPU china, elegantly manufactured by the Staffordshire potter H.M. Williamson and bearing the striking motif designed by Sylvia Pankhurst, of the ‘Angel of Freedom’ blowing her trumpet and flying the banner of Freedom. In the background are the initials ‘WSPU’ set against dark prison bars, surrounded by the thistle, shamrock, rose and dangling chains.
The china was commissioned for use in the tea room at the WSPU exhibition held at the Prince’s Skating Rink at Knightsbridge in May 1909, one of a number of fund-raising events organised by the Society. The tea room was run by Mrs Henrietta Lowry, with help from her four daughters and another young suffragette, Una Dugdale. ‘The white china has strikingly clean, straight lines, rimmed in dark green and with angular green handles... It is more than likely that, from the range offered by Williamson, Sylvia Pankhurst chose this shape, keeping the design simple so that the ‘angel of freedom’ motif that she had designed specifically for the Exhibition should be shown to best effect.... At the end of the Exhibition, the china - tea pots, cups, saucers, tea plates, sugar bowls etc. - was offered for sale, made up into sets of 22 pieces’ (Elizabeth Crawford, Suffragettes and Tea Rooms). Complete sets are extremely scarce, and individual items are increasingly uncommon. As Crawford goes on to describe, other designs were commissioned for use in tea-rooms at other exhibitions, fund-raising bazaars, and in WSPU shops and offices. An comprehensive set sold recently at Bonhams for £11,475.
As a young womna, Pankhurst studied art at the Manchester School of Art, winning many awards during her time there including a travelling studentship to study in Italy. She took the Royal College of Art entrance exam in 1904, and was not only awarded a scholarship, but came top in the entire country. She made close friends at the RCA but struggled to reconcile her life of study and painting with her growing socialist principles, and "desperately longed to find a purpose for her art" (Harrison, Sylvia Pankhurst: A Crusading Life, p. 47).

1900. 4to, pp. 118, [4], all mounted on guards; with 48 leaves of x-rays also mounted on guards, and each retaining original tissue guards (some a little creased); paper lightly browned throughout due to quality with some occasional light soiling, and a few very minor marginal nicks; in the original red publisher’s cloth, lettered and ruled in blind and gilt, inner hinge a little weak, head of spine worn with small tear at upper joint, with further light wear at tail, spine lightly sunned with small stain at tail, surfaces and extremities lightly rubbed and scuffed, corners lightly worn; a good copy. Scarce first edition of this striking orthopaedic atlas, employing and espousing the use of radiography as a valuable tool for diagnosis, prognosis and treatment. Paul Redard (1849-1916) was a noted French orthopaedic surgeon, and was an early exponent of the benefits that the discovery of Roentgen Rays could bring to the study of deformations, and to bone and joint disorders, and this appears to be the first French atlas of radiography, and the first orthopaedic radiography atlas published.
Containing 48 ‘photocollographs’ or collotypes, produced by the noted photographic printer Denis André Longuet (1861-1928), the atlas provides a striking graphic depiction of a number of deviations of the spine (including scoliosis and ‘Pott’s Disease’), of osteo-arthritis, and of congenital dislocations of the hip. In his introduction, Redard states that ‘X-Ray gives an accurate representation of the configurations of deformities, bone lesions and joints, even when they are deeply located’. Although he admits that sometimes the images are inconclusive, errors are comparatively rare, and the technique nevertheless provides a valuable investigative tool for the study of inaccessible areas.

1885. 8vo, pp. [viii], ff. [10] explanatory leaves of text facing an accompanying chromolithograph plate (thus 10 plates); title-page a little browned, with further light marginal browning and foxing throughout; gutter exposed in a couple of places but holding firm; with contemporary signature on title and final verso; in contemporary maroon publisher’s cloth, spine and upper cover lettered in gilt, head and tail of spine a little rubbed, covers a little soiled, extremities lightly bumped and worn. First English edition of this graphically striking atlas of the cutaneous nerve supply and distribution of the human body, first published in German in the previous year as ‘Atlas der hautnervengebiete’.
Jacob Munch Heiberg (1843 - 1888 Christiania) was a Norwegian doctor and anatomist. After studying he worked as a volunteer and unpaid doctor on the German side in the Franco- Prussian War of 1870 - 1871. He subsequently studied at clinics in Berlin, Rostock, Königsberg, Dresden, Leipzig and Vienna, before returning home where he opened an Eye Clinic in May, 1873. In 1878 he became professor of anatomy, histology and embryology at Oslo and in 1881 was the only professor in the medical faculty who voted for women to be allowed to study.

1850. Folio, bound manuscript in a single calligraphic hand in a variety of colours; pp. [iv] half-title with calligraphic flourish and title-page penned in landscape and elaborately hand-coloured, 1-190, 191 part title ‘Actes Divers’ elaborately and colourfully penned in landscape, 192 blank, 193-252, 253 part title ‘Procès verbaux’ elaborately and colourfully penned in landscape, 254 blank, 255-290, 291 part title ‘Actes Civils’ elaborately and colourfully penned in landscape, 292-323, 324 blank, [4] blank; with a number of small neat line illustrations and diagrams; text in a single hand predominantly in brown ink, ornately embellished with colourful calligraphic headlines and flourishes in light green, golden yellow, various shades of blue, pink, red, orange, purple and brown; some light marginal browning and foxing throughout, with some ink bleed through due to liberal application, half title slightly creased; retaining remains of original pink silk page marker; in contemporary calf backed green marbled boards, spine lightly scuffed and rubbed, covers a little scratched, extremities lightly rubbed; a most attractive example. A most attractively executed calligraphy exercise book, the work of Eugène Chênè (born we are told in Campeaux in 1836), and a student of M. Deschamps, a teacher in Campeaux, the French commune located in the department of Calvados. The striking title-page sets the tone, Eugène elegantly and colourfully penning the title in landscape, and employing a number of calligraphic styles for the lettering. We believe his instructor to be a M. Pierre Deschamps, who between 1846-1865 taught in five towns in Calvados, though according to the biographical record for his son Leon (1849-1927), was forced to leave his post in Champeaux in 1850 having fallen foul of the Catholic authorities in the area.
This extensive manuscript is divided into various sections dealing in turn with the general principles of arithmetic (covering addition, subtraction, division, multiplication, fractions, simple and compound interest etc); geometry, a section highlighting miscellaneous legal documents (receipts, leases etc); a section of templates or ‘procés verbal’ on filing minutes or reports; and concluding with a section on civil acts (registering births, marriages, deaths etc). It would appear that Pierre Deschamps was also acting as an agent for an insurance company, and this may explain his focus upon legal and business matters. From the subject matter of some of the sample templates included, one would imagine that the 14 year old Chênè was being prepared for a legal apprenticeship perhaps, some of the ‘procés verbal’ dealing with how to record the statement of an individual caught ‘en flagrant de lit’, a statement recording a disgrace, and how to report an accident involving a carrier. A most appealing and striking example.

1838. Eight volumes bound in four, 12mo; I. pp. [iv], 182, [2], with additional engraved title-page lettered in red, engraved frontispiece, and one further engraved plate; II. pp. [iv], 202, [2], with additional engraved title-page lettered in red, engraved frontispiece, and one further engraved plate, (neat marginal tear touching a couple of letters on p. 191 but with no loss; III. pp. [iv], 218, [2], with additional engraved title-page lettered in red, engraved frontispiece, and one further engraved plate; IV. pp. [iv], 220, [2], with additional engraved title-page lettered in red, engraved frontispiece, and one further engraved plate; V. pp. [iv], 217, [3], with additional engraved title-page lettered in red, engraved frontispiece, and one further engraved plate; VI. pp. [iv], 217, [3], with additional engraved title-page lettered in red, engraved frontispiece, and one further engraved plate, pp. 97-100 misbound, p. 197 and 204 transposed, upper corners of pp. 81-84 torn; VII. pp. [iv], 212, [4], with additional engraved title-page lettered in red, engraved frontispiece, and one further engraved plate; VIII. pp. [iv], 215, [3], with additional engraved title-page lettered in red, engraved frontispiece, and one further engraved plate; plates all retaining the original tissue guards; volumes 2 and 4 retaining the original light blue silk bookmarkers; all eight volumes a little foxed and browned, but still crisp; most attractively bound in contemporary green calf over marbled boards, by Just-Bernard of Bourges, with their label and blind-stamp in first volume, spines attractively lettered and tooled in gilt, with speckled edges, some slight staining to upper edges, very minor wear to head and tail of spines and extremities; a lovely copy. A beautifully bound set of these early works by the noted educationalist and popular scientific writer Sophia Ulliac-Trémadeure (1794-1862). Published as part of the forty volume series for young children, ‘Bibliothèque des Enfants’, the present works, all available for individual purchase, formed an eight part sub-series under the sub-heading of ‘petit Cours d’Histoire naturelle’. We have so far traced only one complete set at the BnF, and all the separate volumes appear to be very scarce. In total, Ulliac Trémadeure contributed 21 volumes to the ‘Bibliothèque des Enfants’ series. A full list of the titles in the series on found on the verso of the half title, with a note saying of the series: ‘Ces jolie volumes sont imprimés avec soin sur beau papier, ornès de jolies vignettes gravés sur acier, d’un titre orné imprimé en couleur, et d’une jolie couverture ornée et gravée sur bois par Porret’.
These pretty volumes introduce the young reader to the basic principles of the subject in the form of a conversation between M. and Madame Derville and their daughters Cécile and Amédée, each accompanied by two attractive engraved plates.
In a clever marketing play, the works were published again in the same year, but under the title ‘Les Jeunes Naturalistes’ as part of the ‘Bibliotheque Universelle d’Education’ (though referred to as the Bibliothéque Universelle d’Éducation’ on the half-titles). The text and plates were identical, but were reset in a slightly larger format, and bound together as a two volume set.
Sophia Ulliac-Trémadeure wrote a large number of works and was later a moving force in the ‘Bibliothèque de la jeune Fille’, for which she produced during the 1850s a number of beautiful and striking works on natural history, adorned with colour plates, and often in striking bindings.

1853-1865. Folio, ff. [2] title-page with wood-engraved vignette and complete series Index, [3] Vorwort, [3] sectional titles; with 65 individual loose plates as issued on 64 sheets (plates 15/16 on one large double-page plate, and numbered 1-46, 1-10, 1-4; 1-5), a number with descriptive text on verso, with some 280 illustrations in copperplate engraving, lithography, chromolithography and wood-engravings, and a number of facsimiles, each with descriptive text; with seemingly later tissue guards; a few plates browned due to varying paper quality, with some occasional light foxing, soiling and marginal edge-wear but otherwise clean and bright; faint library stamp on verso of title-leaf; sheets loosely housed within original series concluding interim printed grey wrapper from 1865, in turn housed within original 1854 plain linen backed printed card portfolio, with nine small sections from previous printed wrappers mounted on rear pastedown and cover giving contents for each annual part, retaining all of the original linen ties, head and tail of spine a little worn, remains of two paper labels on spine, card covers lightly foxed and soiled, with faint library stamp on upper cover An appealing and complete copy of this rare and valuable history of printing and the book-trade. "A volume of the highest interest and curiosity, containing 65 plates engraved on steel and wood, lithographed and printed in colours, representing 220 subjects connected with book selling and the arts in connection, -portraits, seals and marks of early printers, facsimiles of early typography and of autograph letters of printers, &c" (Bigmore & Wyman, I. p.432.) This magnificent and richly illustrated book printing and trade history across Europe and America was originally issued in annual pictorial fascicles over thirteen years between 1853 and 1865. All areas of the book trade are discussed and illustrated in detail, with plates dedicated to leading printers, book and manuscript dealers in Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, France, England and America from the 15th to the 19th century. The plates, mainly in lithograph but also in letterpress, reproduce book-trade documents, initials, printer’s devices and bookplates, etc, with a number of particularly striking chromolithograph plates of reproducing 24 medieval and renaissance book bindings.
Lempertz was a Cologne art and book dealer, who was one of the first to realise the importance of reproductions for the study of book-bindings (the others were Tuckett, Cundall, and Libri). On completion of this work in 1865, the title and contents leaves were issued, as found here.
The original owner has retained the final series concluding interim wrapper, having purchased the original card portfolio case. Whilst not retaining all of the original wrappers, they have, however, cut out the ‘contents’ section from each which they have neatly mounted onto the rear pastedown and cover.

1896. Oblong 8vo, pp. 43 (including inside rear cover), with engraved frontispiece, two chromolithograph plates enhanced with gilt, and numerous illustrations within text; text within attractive blue border, with some additional text and ornamentation in blue; some occasional minor foxing soiling, but otherwise clean and bright; with additional double-sided chromolithograph advertisement embellished with gilt for the ‘Apollo-Blyertspennor’ pencil, 285 x 215mm and folded horizontally, slight split along fold with with a couple of marginal nicks and tears; sewn as issued in the original cloth backed printed and embossed card covers, head and tail of spine very lightly worn, with further minor wear to extremities, covers a little foxed and soiled; an attractive copy. A rare and elegantly produced trade catalogue, issued by the firm of Johann Faber AG, at the time of publication, a successful rival to the more established company of A. W. Faber AG, run by Johann’s brother Lothar von Faber. A list of successful exhibition appearances on p. 13 suggests that the present brochure, Pencils and how they are made. Historical treatise on the pencil alongside a description of the method for their production, was produced in around 1896. Copiously illustrated throughout, of particular note are the two chromolithograph plates, the second of which is enhanced with gilt. The historical section includes a number of vignettes of the workshops and the various stages of production, and it is interesting to note that a number of the later stages were carried out by a predominantly female work force.
The foundation of the renown pencil dynasty can be traced back to 1791, established by Kasper Faber in Stein, a small town south of Nuremberg. He was succeeded by his son, Anton Wilhelm, who took over the small workshop and incorporated the family business as A.W. Faber. Despite facing various challenges over the years, the company grew, and was passed down the generations. Lother von Faber, who initially worked together with his two brothers Johann and Eberhard, before both went on to establish rival companies. Johann started his firm in 1876, though as the present preface makes clear, used his prior experience as Managing Director of A.W. Faber, to establish his credentials. This elegantly produced brochure clearly attests to his own success, though ultimately the two companies joined forces in 1931, and remain today as Faber-Castell.
A further appealing, chromolithograph advertisement, has been loosely inserted promoting the ‘Apollo-Blyertspennor’ pencil. We are also pleased to offer in addition, a small silver-plated Faber ‘Liliput’ pencil holder, with remains of pencil, presumably made in Germany and dated ca. 1910-20. The holder is a little tarnished and dinked, consistent with age and use, but still an appealing example.

1750. 4to; pp. [2], [2] title-page, 104, 95, 1-27, 38-52, 58-137; with hand-coloured title framed within armourial border, 25 throw out plates drawn in pen and ink and shaded, and numerous neatly drawn text figures and illustrations, some full-page and decorative, a number hand-coloured or shaded, and three mounted corrected images; penned in a single hand throughout; some occasional foxing and soiling, one or two small paper flaws, some edgewear to fore-edge of plates; final endpaper missing; bound in contemporary full calf, spine in compartments with raised bands, tooled in gilt, with evidence of previous lettering label, head of spine worn exposing headband, general light rubbing and scuffing to joints and covers, covers a little sprung, extremities and corners bumped and lightly worn. A most attractively compiled, and seemingly early to mid 18th century manuscript course on practical geometry. The name Chambaud appears on the first free endpaper, and with a further small signature of [?] Mercier found at the tail of the first page, though we have sadly been unable to discern the first name, but it could be Jean-Henri.
The volume begins with an attractively hand-coloured title framed within an armourial border incorporating a crown, a battle-axe, and six flags adorned with a blue cross. The compiler concludes the volume with a further small armourial flourish. Very much a practical work, full of day to day problems and examples, though with some occasional more whimsical and artistic illustrated section dividers (including flowers, and flower arrangements), the volume has the air of having been compiled by a either a French gentleman under private tutorship, or perhaps that of a student/apprentice surveyor or engineer. The volume has been divided into three parts, dealing in turn with ‘a treaty of practical geometry and practice of the compass’; ‘practical geometry or the measurement of surfaces’; and concluding with fractions. The whole volume is most attractively illustrated, containing numerous geometric figures, both within the text, and then 25 throw-out plates bound at the end of the volume. The majority have been rendered in pen and wash, though several have been hand-coloured, notably those at the beginning or end of a chapter.
As far as we can ascertain, there are no author citations within the manuscript, and so this does not appear to be a transcription of an already published work, and is very much practical rather than theoretical. Whilst the basic principles of geometry are outlined, and occasional remarks given, the focus is upon problems and examples to be solved, with no mention of theorems or corollaries. Having handled previous geometrical manuscripts, this does not feel, therefore as though it is following an academic course of instruction at a College.

1831. 8vo; pp. [iv], 15, [1] blank, 15-473, 475 488, [9]; penned in a single hand throughout; dampstain affecting fore-edge from pp. 9-160 though never touching text, some occasional light foxed and soiling, a few corners a little creased, otherwise generally clean and bright; contemporary sheep-backed marbled boards, spine tooled and lettered in gilt, head of spine worn exposing headband, with loss at both upper joints, with further cracking and loss at tail of upper joint, covers scuffed and faded, extremities rubbed and somewhat worn. An extensive and neatly transcribed early 19th century manuscript course on zoology, the work of Jean Borros, whom we believe was a student at the recently opened Toulouse Veterinary School, thus providing an insight into part of the required curriculum in the early days of the establishment. Densely penned in a tight, neat hand, Borros has signed his name on the first leaf, below which is inscribed ‘eleve veterinaire’, and the manuscript is dated October 16th 1831 at its conclusion on p. 438. Purely zoological, the manuscript opens with a general introduction, before a section ‘Division du regne animal’ (pp. 42-143). The remaining portion of the manuscript comprises a ‘Tableau méthodique des mammifiéres’, subdivided into 8 orders (two-legged, four-legged, carnivores, rodents, toothless, pachyderms, ruminans and cetaceans) each order then further divided into subclasses and genre. Both domestic and exotic animals are covered, with details about characteristics and habitats described, with mammals such as kangaroos (p. 218) and buffalo and bison (p. 370-371), pangolins (260) and elephants (263) included.
France was at the forefront of establishing veterinary medicine as a profession and Toulouse was the third dedicated veterinary school to open in France in 1825, following those of Lyon (1762) and Alfort near Paris in 1766, both founded by Claude Bourgelat (1712-1779). Up until 1761, veterinary ‘art’ was practised mostly by farriers and farmers, who were either self-taught or had moved through unregulated apprenticeships. Increasing livestock plagues at the beginning of the 18th century, however, were becoming so devastating that leading figures such as Pope Clement XI, commissioned reports into ways to address the situation. France was not immune to similar outbreaks and King Louis XV and his government was equally keen to bring an end to such epidemics, as well as seeking wider agricultural reforms. Bourgelat, Director of the Lyon Academy of Horsemanship, in his 1750 work Élémens d'hippiatrique ou nouveaux principes sur la connoissance et sur la médecine des chevaux, had already argued for the need of a veterinary school, and this hope became reality in 1762, having been giving a small grant by King Louis XV to established the Lyon school. The more rigourous, standardised scientific training, soon bore fruit, and within a short time diseases such as rinderpest were stayed. As a result Louis XV officially gave Lyon the title of Royal Veterinary School in 1764, with the Alfort school opening in the following year. These schools were the first real attempts to standardise veterinary practices and science, and Bourgelat is considered to be the father of modern veterinary science.
Jean Borros is found in the Recueil de Médicine Vétérinaire pratique Journal in a list of veterinary graduates in 1834 (p. 440), and went on to practice in the Dordogne. This suggests that it was a four year course, and that this general introduction to zoology may well have been part of the first year curriculum.

1875-1876. Bound lined paper notebook, 4to; pp. [2] tipped in printed sheet ‘Instruction sur la tenue des cahiers de notes et des cahiers de problèmes’, 42, [2], 43 - 249, [250- 256 blank], folding table mounted on p. 66; [2] tipped in printed sheet ‘Instruction sur la tenue des cahiers de notes et des cahiers de problèmes’, 257 - 323, 225 (pagination error) - 400, (leaf excised at p. 349 due to correction with no interruption of meaning), 341 (pagination error) - 345, [1] blank, [2] tipped in leaf ‘Instruction sur la tenue des cahiers de notes et des cahiers de problèmes’, 347 - 490, (p. 457 glued together), [491-495, blank], [96] blank; penned in a single neat hand with numerous pen and ink diagrams and illustrations, often found on verso facing page; some occasional foxing and soiling, but otherwise good; in contemporary sheep backed marbled boards, spine ruled in gilt, with two black morocco labels lettered in gilt, with the initials ‘V.G.’ in gilt at tail, and additional gilt volume number, tail of spine slightly nicked, some light scuffing to spine and covers, extremities a little bumped and worn, book-block a little shaken, but otherwise good. Extensive and neatly transcribed lecture notes for the course on general physics taught by Professor Daniel at the École Centrale des Arts et manufactures, also known as the École Centrale de Paris, between November 1875 and June 1876, providing an insight into the curriculum of such courses, and the standards required. According to Guillet in ‘Cent ans de la vie de l'École Centrale des Arts et manufactures, 1829-1929’, Daniel was Chair of Physics from 1861-1881. This neat manuscript contains the entire course, and is composed of 25 lectures on heat, 21 on electricity, three on acoustics, and 11 lessons on optics. This course is very similar in structure to Daniel’s 1880 course described by Guillet, with a few variations. The notes have been richly illustrated with careful diagrams and explanatory drawings.
The initials ‘V.G.’ are found on the spine of the volume, the signature ‘M. Gueldry’ can be found at the end of a number of sections, alongside the initials ‘S.M.’ This could perhaps have been another professor, or perhaps the leading student of the class. Previously handled technical drawing albums or ‘epures’ exhibit similar ‘sign offs’ as sections were completed successfully.

1906. Ruled notebook, 4to, ff. [21] of which 12 leaves used, penned in a single neat hand on both recto and verso in black ink; first leaf detached, some light foxing and browning throughout; stitched in the original glazed black cloth backed stiff card covers, edges stained blue, book block a little loose, spine with split at head and slightly cracked at tail, with some scuffing and scratching to covers. A neatly penned manuscript case book recording close to one hundred patients cared for by private society nurse, Mary Regan, in both France and England over a period of nearly 20 years. For each case, Regan provides the patients name, address, date of her arrival, the illness treated, whether the patient recovered (or not), and the date of her departure. The names of attending physicians are also often cited, including leading contemporary physicians and surgeons such as Christopher Heath (1835-1905), the royal physicians Sir Thomas Barlow (1845-1945) and William Broadbent (1835-1907) who both attended upon Queen Victoria, and William Murray Dobie (1828-1915), Gladstone’s medical attendant in his final days.
It becomes clear that Mary was caring for some wealthy and influential patients, including members of the aristocracy, as well as high ranking military men. She appears to have regularly accompanied patients to Cannes in France, often spending months at a time there, and frequently enjoying a ‘holiday’ before returning to England. Many patients received end of life care, yet others required straight recuperative nursing, such as from a dislocated shoulder, measles, pneumonia, and nervous hysteria. Whilst the majority of her patients were female, she also cared for infants and young children, including after care after a circumcision, together with a number of prominent men, notably W.E. Gladstone, whom she first treats on January 3rd 1898, staying until February 16th. Gladstone was to pass away on May 23rd of that year. It is interesting to note that she returns to look after Mrs Gladstone at the end of January 1899, and again in March for six months, and subsequently to care for her ‘senile decay’ between Jany and May 1900.
Far from being just a dry record, Mary adds the occasional comment, providing a glimpse into her personality, and in a number of instances, no doubt echoing common emotions and complaints of nurses throughout time and the world over. Of her time caring for a gastrotomy patient at the Great Northern Hospital in June 1887 she notes ‘Hospital disgustingly dirty’. Of a period spent in Cannes treating ‘Miss Rogers’ a spinal case, Regan says ‘a trying but good case. Drs too many to count’. Some jobs were clearly more straight-forward than others, and it is clear that she developed quite strong connections with several patients and their families, noting for example ‘such nice people’, or ‘delightful patient’, or ‘an ideal patient all through’. On more than once occasion, Mary either accompanied the patient back home if they had been taken ill whilst away, or else took them on recuperative trips to the coast, to places such as Eastbourne and Westgate on Sea. Others were clearly more complicated, and indeed at times traumatic. ‘Mrs Cobb, Walton Aylesbury, May 21st [1890] Septicaemia after child birth. Death. Most distressing Case. Left June 5th. Drs Broadbent & Parrott’. In 1892 she cares for ‘Lady J. Goldsmid. Villa Florentina. Peritysphylitis. Pelvic Abscess. Colotomy performed by Christopher Heath. Four other incisions by Dr Blanc. Did well surgically, but went wrong mentally. Had to give it up March 31st as I was quite worn out’. Mary spent more than once stay with a ‘Miss Pearson’, and so the note on May 24th 1897 is particularly heart-breaking: ‘Lost my dear friend from influenza April 1897’. The perils of the job are also revealed. In 1898 she notes ‘had influenza with complications obliged to give up work for 10 months’. A fascinating account.

1930.]. Boxed set of nine painted and glazed red wooden apples, each mounted on a metal ‘core’ attached to a flange with hinges to allow for various fractions to be ‘removed’; some light signs of use, with some of the fractions moving more easily than others suggesting increased use, some light rusting to some of the flanges, but overall very good; housed within the original hinged blue cardboard box, 21 x 20 x 6cm, with nine internal compartments, which show some signs of wear and soiling but remain firm, title and instruction label mounted on inside lid, outer box lightly rubbed and worn along joints and corners, based somewhat abraded; overall a lovely set. A scarce and most appealing interactive teaching aid introducing fractions through the use of nine painted and glazed red wooden apples, each mounted on a metal ‘core’ attached to a flange with hinges to allow for various segments or fractions to be revealed (halves, thirds, quarters etc). The present set has been produced by the Dutch firm Critas based in Doorn, and we believe dates to the 1930s. Similar sets were produced in Germany at the same time, notably the ‘Archimedes’ fraction calculator, which was patented by Hugo Jung in Stuttgart in 1927 and produced by Rudolf Lobelenz. Simpler sets consisting of only four apples - one whole, one halved, one divided into thirds, and one quartered, were also produced in both France and Germany.
Such visual and tactile teaching aids allowed students to visualise the concepts under discussion and aid understanding.

1770-1790. Single engraved sheet with etched image, text and explanations printed below, sheet size 227mm x 278mm, image size 204mm x 216mm, plate mark 224mm x 274mm; plate marks cropped close at head and right margin; sheet mounted on later blue card; sheet somewhat browned, creased and dust-soiled, with a couple of small marginal tears though not touching image, with printer’s thumb-mark lower right?; a scarce survivor. A striking late eighteenth century satirical etching depicting a rather terrifying machine which can shave ‘from one to twenty persons’ in a line using a brush and razor on a trolley, which slides along a track worked by a cogwheel. The mock advertising text below announces that: ‘Whereas the wonderful powers of this useful machine are yet but little known and even doubted by those who have not seen it, the Inventor has, for their satisfaction, prefixed a Plate representing his Shaving and Dressing Room. Pledges himself that his Machine will be found to do its work in the most safe, smooth, and efficacious manner, with three scrapes or movements, and that those who shall have once tried it, will no longer entertain any doubts on the subject’.
The cogwheel is turned by a man far right. The six customers (or should that be victims?) each sit with their heads resting along what looks horribly like an executioner’s block, whilst the barber is seen directing the position of his customer’s faces. To the left, three further men are seen, two apparently waiting in turn (one is reading a paper), whilst another man seems to be powdering the customer’s six wigs on a shelf above their heads by firing smoke out of a gun. To the left foreground sits a young boy ‘employed in the ordinary and tedious mode of dressing a Wig’. As the machine passes along the track, ‘the brush, followed by the razor, performs on the right cheek. The faces, the brush, & the razor, being then reversed, a contrary motion of the Wheel does the left cheek. And the faces being again turned to the front, the fore-beard is done by the instrument at I’.
Whilst commonly ascribed anonymously, in the upper right hand corner of the image can be seen the portrait of a grinning ‘Tim Bobbin’ – clearly based upon the self-portrait of the noted Lancashire ‘Hogarth’, John Collier (1708-1786), best remembered for his savage satirical work ‘Human Passions Delineated’ (1773). Whether by his hand, or done in tribute to him, we have been unable to verify, and it appears not to be mentioned in related bibliographies - but the vanity of the situation seems ripe for the his attention, and that of hisCollier’s attention.
As the Wellcome suggest, it is most likely that the image is a parody of the onset of industrialisation, the portrait of Bobbin, a Rochdale man, suggesting a Lancashire setting perhaps –at the time the heart of the Industrial Revolution. A a wild flight of fancy rather than a serious conjecture, perhaps, but should the illusions to the guillotine be more than just be a figment of an active booksellers’ imagination, the true veiled meaning could be the developing situation in France, though this would place publication to after Collier’s death, Guillotin having first proposed his new machine in 1789 and which was first used in 1792. It is interesting though, that Guillotin originally put forward six proposals to the Legislative Assembly (we have six customers here), and that he apparently presented an etching that illustrated an ornate device, operated by a rather effete looking executioner (a.k.a our Master Barber?). The machine was hidden from the view of large crowds (as here inside the shop), according with Guillotine's view that execution should be private and dignified.
The idea and image was revised and adapted in around 1825, by the British illustrator and caricaturist Robert Seymour, who signed his caricatures "Shortshanks" in parody of caricaturist George Cruikshank, in his print Shaving by Steam.