1915-1919.]. Small photograph on satin, 140 x 85mm, retaining the original printed brown envelope, photograph a little browned with faint dampstain (more visible on verso), with some light fraying to edges; envelope a little creased with a few small marginal nicks and tears, but otherwise good. A scarce memorial item commemorating the death of the British nurse Edith Cavell (1865-1915).
The daughter of a rector, Cavell was born in the village of Swardeston, Norfolk, and worked as a governess in Belgium, before training to be a nurse in London. She worked in hospitals in Shoreditch, Kings Cross and Manchester and then accepted a position in Brussels as Matron in Belgium's first training hospital and school for nurses. There was no established nursing profession in Belgium at the time of Edith's appointment, and her pioneering work led her to be considered the founder of modern nursing education in that country. She was in Norfolk visiting her mother when the First World War broke out in 1914. On hearing of the threat to Belgium, she felt compelled to return. Working in German-occupied Belgium, she helped hundreds of British, French and Belgian soldiers escape the Germans before her arrest and trial. She was infamously executed by firing squad on the grounds of treason by the German authorities in October 1915, on the charge of harbouring Allied soldiers in Belgium. Her death aroused world-wide condemnation, and in the months and years following her death, countless newspaper articles, pamphlets, images, and books publicised her story, and she became an iconic propaganda figure in Britain, due partly to her sex, her nursing profession, and her apparently heroic approach to death.
In 1919 her remains were transferred back to Britain and she was honoured with a national service at Westminster Abbey, before her remains were carried in state back to her home county of Norfolk, where she was interred at Norwich Cathedral.
This photographic portrait of Cavell printed on Satin, was sold by the Daily Mirror in aid of the Edith Cavell Memorial Fund, which aimed to establish a home for nurses in London. A reproduction of the famous photograph taken in Brussels before the start of the war, the image shows her sitting in a garden together with two dogs, with her signature below and the quote '"I have seen death so often that it is not strange or painful to me. I am glad to die for my country." Brussels, October 12th, 1915'. It was one of the last photographs to be taken of Edith Cavell. Whilst in Belgium she had adopted a stray called Jack, who was rescued after her execution and adopted by the Countess de Croy. The photograph is housed within the original orange printed envelope, which gives further detail of the proposed Fund, and lists a number of distinguished people who have already contributed to the Fund. The Memorial Fund was begun, in collaboration with the Daily Telegraph, shortly after her death. The Edith Cavell Home for Nurses, attached to the London Hospital, was opened on April 11th 1919. The Cavell Trust remains to this day, offering benevolent support to UK nurses, midwives and healthcare assistants, both working and retired.

1762.]. 4to, pp. [viii] title-page without imprint as issued, with dedication signed and dated, 186, [4] index, with large folding engraved hand-coloured map printed on thicker paper engraved, and woodcut tail-pieces; gutter cracked exposing cords at p. 1 and first gathering a little loose, title-page somewhat soiled at lower corner, occasional light foxing and soiling and sporadic very faint marginal dampstaining; some neat ink underlining and marginal markings throughout; stitched as issued in contemporary carta rustica, with remains of green paper label on spine, head and tail of spine lightly worn, with minor splitting to joints but holding firm, covers a little scuffed and soiled, light rubbed and wear to extremities; a good copy. Rare first edition of this work on hydraulic and river engineering, by the noted Italian Jesuit mathematician, physicist and engineer Antonio Giovanni Lecchi (1702-1776), one of his lesser known works. Dedicated to the Duke of Modena, the study looks in detail at plans to separate and channel three streams and rivers in Lombardy near Tradate (north of Milan), the Tradate, Gardaluso and Bozzente. Of particular note is the large folding, hand-coloured engraved ‘Carta Topografica del corso antico, e moderno de trè torrenti fontanile di Tradate, Gradeluso [sic] e Bozzente’.
From 1738 to 1773 Lecchi taught mathematics and hydraulics at the Jesuit College of Brera in Milan, during which time he also worked as a technical consultant for the Senate of Milan on hydraulic matters. From 1757 he worked mainly as a hydraulic engineer, and was commissioned by both the Austrian Empress Maria Theresa and Pope Clement XIII. The author of numerous works, he is probably best remembered for his Trattato de’ canale navigabili of 1776, a detailed history of inland navigation in Italy and in particular Milan.

1924. Large 4to, pp. [ii], [x], 296; with over 468 illustrations within the text including photographs (some enhanced with additional colouring) and colour diagrams; some occasional minor foxing and soiling but otherwise clean and crisp; in the original black cloth, ruled in gilt and blind, spine lettered in gilt, head and tail a little nicked and worn, spine slightly faced, with light wear to surfaces and extremities, book block a little shaken, without the original dust-jacket; still a good copy. First Edition of this contribution to ‘a new genre of artistic anatomies originated in modern teaching methods for students of medicine whose main emphasis lies in the function of and correlation's between osteology and myology’ (Röhrl p. 278). ‘Perhaps the first scientific textbook in which an experiment was undertaken to expound the body’s functions and to explain the surface form for art students. In all chapters of the book, osteology and myology are explained in connection with each other. The work was developed from modern teaching methods for medical students. The complex structure is not understandable to readers without deeper medical knowledge’ (ibid, p. 424).
The physician Mollier (1866-1954) trained at the Munich Anatomical Institute, eventually becoming its director. In this role he taught anatomy courses for artists for over four decades, and in 1924 published the present work, considered by the Deutsche Biographie to be ‘a sophisticated and ground-breaking work’ of particular note for his precise functional analyses of movement. ‘The explanations begin with the foot and leg and a subdivision into functional areas is made so that the lower extremities, for example, are divided up in this order: foot, lower leg, ankle, thigh, knee joint, pelvis and hip joint. In this way, an arrangement into small parts which could all be explained separately was effected. The conception has several advantages, as the changes of the surface form during movement could be illustrated, for example, photographs of changes in the abdomen during respiration and of the visible parts of the skeletal framework during movement illustrate the text’ (ibid p. 279). Röhrl is however a little critical of the photographic material, which he notes ‘does not produce a very engaging effect. The models were photographed in unnatural and cramped poses that remind one of a circus. These stance might have been intended to demonstrate changes in the body’s surface in an extreme stretch of the joints and to show to what extent joints can be strained; yet, motion studies like these are not related to the depiction of the human figure in art’ (ibid). Some of the photographic poses are certainly reminiscent of those of the pioneering German bodybuilder Eugen Sandow (born Friedrich Wilhelm Müller 1867-1925), who travelled the world displaying his strongman prowess, establishing an institute of physical culture, and was highly influential in promoting and encouraging popular physical fitness. The present work clearly reflects this recent focus upon physicality, but to the modern eye, a number of the images make for uncomfortable viewing, redolent of the eugenics movement somehow. In subsequent years, however, Mollier was one of a few anatomists in the professional society the Anatomische Gesselschaft who challenged the measures demanded by the National Socialists in 1934 to transform the traditionally international society into a purely German entity and exclude “non-Aryan” members.
Hermann Sachs, the illustrator of Mollier’s work, was one of the leading German Expressionist artists of the first half of the 20th century. He spent the 1910s in Munich, where he founded the Munich School of Expressionists and no doubt became acquainted with Mollier. He moved to Los Angeles in 1925 and designed the interiors of many landmark Los Angeles buildings, including Union Station and the Los Angeles City Hall.

1940. Mixed set, four volumes, 8vo; I. pp. 128, with unnumbered photograph on contents verso and 96 text diagrams, illustrations and photographs; II. pp. 125, [3] blank, with unnumbered photograph on contents verso and 80 text diagrams, illustrations and photographs; III. pp. 128, with unnumbered photograph on contents verso, four half page photographs and 66 text diagrams; IV. pp. 158, with unnumbered photograph on contents verso, 10 full and half page photographs and 14 text diagrams; all four volumes, aside from some occasional light foxing and minor soiling, clean and bright; each volume with contemporary ownership signature or label; all four in contemporary decorative publisher’s cloth, with series motif of swallow and butterfly on upper cover, in orange, green, red and blue, spines all a little sunned, head and tail of spines lightly rubbed and worn with some minor loss, with further light rubbing and surface wear; an appealing set. Offered together an appealing, though mixed, set of this series of biology text-books aimed at secondary school pupils. The series was begun in 1936, with the present set including two later editions of Books I and III (1940 and 1951), with what we believe to be first editions of Books II and IV (1938), although neither volume is dated. The books effectively take the students’ through four years of study, and deal with the life stories of animals and plants, their structure, function and concluding with the applications of biology to practical problems. ‘Demonstrations and lectures are not enough for children, and the whole book has been based on experiment and observation which they can make for themselves. If they follow out the scheme of “Things you can do at Home or at School,” they will not only be more interested in the work, but will be brought into direct contact with the creatures they are studying and will acquire regular habits of observation... We have particularly kept in mind the needs and conditions of schools in the industrial towns and cities, and have not assumed that every school has the advantage of a special Science room’ (Book I, p. 5). The final chapters of Book IV are devoted to the lives of some notable biologists, including Aristotle, Antony van Leeuwenhoek, Carl Linnaeus, Charles Darwin, Louis Pasteur, Lord Lister and Jean Henri Fabre. Reproduction is touched upon in Book III, but confined to animals and with no mention of human reproduction. The prefaces each make mention of the books leading up to a course of Hygiene, which may well have tried to address these more delicate matters.
Morgan was the author of a number of pedagogical works, including a series of mathematics for senior school girls entitled ‘Real-Life Arithmetic for Girls’ (1936), and ‘The teaching of mathematics in the secondary modern school’ (1959). In 1952 she had collaborated with J. Williamson to publish the ‘Arithmetic Tool Box’, which comprised of 244 cards, which dealt with the elementary processes in number, fractions and British Money, and which was followed by ‘The Decimal Tool Kit’ issued in 1964.

-1908.]. Large 8vo, pp. [vi], 503, [1] blank; with frontispiece, double-page map of the North Pole, and 46 illustrations, several full-page; paper a little browned and foxed due to quality; in the original red publisher’s cloth, with bevelled edges, all edges gilt, spine lettered and decorated in gilt, upper cover with mounted chromolithograph label of a polar bear on an ice flow, watching the arrival of an airship, blindstamped and lettered in gilt, with publisher’s monogram in blind on rear cover, head and tail of spine a little bumped, some soiling to spine, upper joint slightly cracked at head, lower joint with small split at tail, extremities lightly bumped; a good copy. First edition, handsomely published, of this romantic adventure story, and the work of the popular writer Emile-Augustin-Cyrpien Driant (1855-1916), writing under his pseudonym of Captain Danrit.
A French balloon, the ‘Patrie’ breaks free from its moorings, after an act of sabotage, setting adrift balloonist officer Lieutenant Georges Durtal, and Christiane de Soignes, whom Durtal had invited onboard. Driven by a storm the balloon reaches Norway, where it is picked up by an American billionaire aboard his yacht, who offers to hire the intrepid pair to help him win a bet to reach the North Pole. Durtel accepts and thus begins an exciting race to the Pole, against the backdrop of ensuring that the airship does not fall into German hands.
Driant drew inspiration from two unsolved mysteries of the day: the disappearance of the Swedish explorer Salomon Andrée’s 1897 expedition across the Arctic, and the 1906 disastrous flight of the French dirigible, the ‘Patrie’ which had disappeared at sea. In the present novel, the airship crash lands on the ice floe, the intrepid pair heading off on foot towards the North Pole. There they discover a Swedish flag, no doubt planted by members of the Andrée expedition, before discovering human remains in a nearby cave.
This tale of derring-do was also serialised in Le Journal des Voyages from October 18, 1908 to May 2, 1909.
Driant joined the military shortly after 1871, and went on to lead a distinguished career. He began writing and publishing in 1889, his military experiences very much forming a backdrop for most of his works. He attention turned fully to writing upon his retirement in 1905, when he began a career as a journalist, and continuing to publish fictional works. When war was declared in 1914, he asked to return to service, and was eventually killed during the battle of Bois des Caures in February 1916.

1940. Together six large varnished, linen-backed hanging wall charts: I. 767 x 498mm. II. 740 x 498mm. III. 768 x 495mm. IV. 740 x 495mm. V. 768 x 510mm. VI. 765 x 510mm; each retaining the metal hanging bar and metal tail rods, though only two with hanging hook; electric washer with small tears at head and crude tape repair at tail, fridge poster with small tear with loss at left margin, refridgerator unit post with small splits at head and small nick to right hand margin, electric cooker with 9cm tear upper right hand margin touching text but without loss; all six browned and somewhat foxed and spotted, with some marginal fraying and wear in places; overall considering their ephemeral nature, good. Six vibrant and striking educational wall-charts, showing the inner electrical workings of common domestic appliances, from the early days of the Electrical Association for Women. Founded in 1924 by the Women’s Engineering Society (WES) to promote training and jobs for women in the field of electrical engineering, it was led by the noted engineer Caroline Haslett (1895-1957). Originally based in the Kensington & Knightsbridge Electric Lighting Co., the headquarters moved to Regent Street in 1933, before eventually moving in 1955 to 25 Foubert Street, just off Carnaby Street, where they remained until the Association closed in 1986. Demonstration rooms and kitchens were integral parts of every location, and the association also employed lecturers and demonstrators to travel to schools and W.I groups around the country. Wall charts such as these were no doubt used both at the Association’s own demonstration kitchens, but were designed to be portable, and could be used by E.A.W. lecturers and demonstrators. John Snell in his introduction to the 1936 edition of the ‘Electrical Handbook’ talks about the Association’s collaboration with the Federation of Women’s Institute. Mrs Florence Key, editor of the Woman Teacher, also praises their use in her review of December 13^th 1940: ‘Three New E.A.W. Charts... These coloured charts are designed to show in a simple manner the construction of an Electric Iron, and Electric Cooker and an Electric Washer and Wringer. They measure 20 inches by 30 inches, are linen backed and varnished and are mounted on rollers. They will be found useful for schools and a great aid to those who wish to understand, or to explain, the working of the electric servants of the home’ (review by Mrs Florence. E. Key, editor of The Woman Teacher, Vol. XXII, No. 5, December 13th, 1940 p. 68).
Although the E.A.W.'s happily collaborated with several leading male authors, and included men within its financial and advisory structure, the group proudly insisted that it was a women's organization in which women addressed other women about women's concerns and well-being. Formed only four years before the 1928 Equality Franchise Act which gave all women over 21 the right to vote, several other prominent figures of WES were involved in the EWA, all of whom had considerable experience and expertise. Many had been involved in W.W.I. war work including munitions and other factories, and their experience of running and managing factories, working on the shop floors, design studios, workshops and engine sheds (particularly in the nascent aeronautics industries) gave them experiences and skills they could never have expected to access in peacetime. Not only hoping to train women in the field, the E.A.W actively focused upon educating the wider female populace about the phenomenon of electricity, at a time when households were moving away from a reliance upon gas in the wake of optimism about the potential of this cheap and abundant source of energy as a technology of social transformation. With the creation of a national grid, by the 1930s electricity was celebrated as a means of making homes cleaner and healthier, by removing the dust and germs which had so dominated public health concerns of the 19^th century. For over half a century, the E.A.W. worked to modernize the British home by bringing the blessings of labour-saving appliances to the aid of British women. It sought to open up career paths for women, although ultimately these tended to be focused upon more ‘genteel’ roles, such as technically trained teachers and demonstrators, rather than returning to the front-line, roles which many of the original E.A.W. members had enjoyed during both wars. It sought to both educate women about electricity and its advantages in the home, whilst also seeking to discover the real needs and desires of the women themselves, and to bring this forcibly to the attention of the electrical industry in Great Britain; to make the 'women's point of view', as it was called, a factor in the production, distribution and application of electricity in the home.
For many years it proved immensely popular and influential. As Carroll Pursell notes ‘the E.A.W. was a part of that inter-war call to women to come 'back to home and duty', as historian Deidre Beddoe has termed it. It exemplified both the splintering of the women's movement into special interest groups, and a primary focus on the married woman in her home rather than in a job. At the same time, it also reflected notions of companionate marriage and the involvement of men, or at least men's technological advantages, in the care and maintenance of the home.... It may be that, finally, the E.A.W. is best seen as an expression of what Alison Light has called 'conservative modernity': it was a period when women and the home were placed at the centre of British national life, as well as a time which marked 'for many women their entry into modernity, a modernity which was felt and lived in the most interior and private of places'. (Domesticating Modernity, p. 48).
‘Was it feminist, as was often suggested, or really retrogressive, since it tended to accept the position of women in society as home-maker?’, is the question posed, however, by Gavin Weightman, (Children of the Light, How Electrification Changed Britain Forever, 2011 p. 165). By the 1970s, the world was a very different place, and the Association began to struggle, failing to attract and retain young members, combined with a loss of older members and branches. By 1977 it had ‘suspended its educational programme: demonstrators had been replaced by salespeople; the electricity boards had their own training programmes for staff and no longer recognized the E.A.W. diploma; science, rather than 'domestic' science, teachers now covered electricity in the schools; and schools became generally more resistant to using E.A.W. materials. Nor was the once-popular kitchen facility at headquarters immune from the changing times. When it was suggested that the fact that the front door of the headquarters at 25 Foubert's Place was kept shut might account for a falling off of visitors, the director denied it. It was more likely that the low number of visitors was due, she guessed, to high public transport fares, which kept suburban women at home, and to 'an overwhelming increase in foreign tourists' drawn to the area, presumably, by the modish drama of nearby Carnaby Street. 'In any case', she added, 'the door was closed on the advice of the police for security reasons in the high-risk area where the Headquarters offices are situated'’ (Pursell, p.65). The Association was eventually dissolved in 1986, the victim of large social changes, some of which it had proudly helped to bring about. ‘The Guardian noted that 'its headquarters in the West End of London, a few yards off Carnaby Street, have survived until now as an anachronistic oasis surrounded by the tacky clothing shops and high-tech showrooms. There is very little high-tech', it pointed out, 'at the E.A.W., which has a giant model of an electric plug for teaching women how to connect appliances to the electric supply' (ibid p. 66).

1704. Small oblong 12mo, ff. [45], with instruction page and final explanatory page mounted as front and rear pastedowns; ff. 42v and ff. 43 neatly penned in manuscript, otherwise entirely etched/engraved throughout; lightly soiled and browned, with some offsetting to first and last pages from binding, a few leaves cropped a little close shaving a few letters but without significant loss; an attractive copy in contemporary full red morocco, all edges gilt, spine with raised bands, ruled and decorated in gilt, with triple fillet border to covers and inner gilt dentelles; with the ownership signature of ‘P. L. Barville’ at tail of title-page. First edition, seemingly a reissue of the 1703 edition with date amended on title-page, of this rare and elegantly produced historical aide-memoire, a charming typographical curio entirely etched and engraved throughout providing a chronological and historical synopsis of the wars, significant battles and sieges fought by France up until the beginning of the 18th century.
Opening with ‘Instructions for use’ which have been laid down on the front paste down, ‘Squire’ Feuquerolles presents his synopsis through a series of 41 double-page tables, incorporating a number of small symbols to indicate related victories, losses, whether the battles involved the infantry, cavalry or navy, any resulting treaties or leagues, political assassinations, and other associated events. A chronological index table follows, together with a list of French Kings, and a final explanatory note mounted on the rear paste down. In the present copy, the previous owner has added in at Ff. 42v-43 a hand-written ‘Alphabetical Table of the Countries, Peoples and Nations with whom France had fought. The alphabetical index is not present in either the Napoli online version of the 1703 edition, nor the British Library 1704 digitised copy. The tables were originally engraved on a larger sheet and have been then cut down, and in this copy mounted back to back, arranged both chronologically and geographically, to form this pocket notebook. The order found here differs to the British Library copy, the leaves of which do not appear to have been laid back to back. The period spans from the battle of Catalan in 451 through to the outbreak of the War of the Spanish Succession at the end of 1701. Feuquerolles classifies the campaigns geographically and thematically, beginning with ‘Guerres Gauloises’, followed by France, Lorraine, Belgian, German, English, overseas, Italian, Alpine, Crusades and Holy Wars, Spanish, French civil wars, popular wars and unrest, etc. The columns in each table note the date, place of combat, battle commander, number of dead, wounded, prisoners, besieged cities, the date of the peace, associated treaties, and marriages etc.
Not much larger than the size of a deck of cards, Fequerolle’s work bears a close similarity to the earlier works of Guillaume Marcel (1647-1708), the noted lawyer and historian, and who wrote a number of popular engraved pocket chronological histories including Tablettes chronologiques contenant la suite des Papes, Empereurs et Roys qui ont regné depuis la naiss. de J. Chr. jusqu’à présent (1679) and Tablettes chronologiques contenant avec ordre l'état de l'Eglise en Orient et en Occident (1682). This appears to be the only work by Sieur de Feuquerolles, and he dedicates it to the Duke of Burgundy.

1920s - 1930s.]. 4to blue printed glazed/waxed enveloped, 236 x 195 mm, containing a single sheet of instructions, again printed in blue 212 x 97mm, and with articulated chromolithograph card figure of Charlie Chaplin, legs hinged at the hip and knees with four metal pins; some creasing visible to figure though complete and with no loss, envelope and instructions a little creased and soiled; a good example. An appealing example of this popular optical card toy, an articulated cardboard cut out of Charlie Chaplin (1889-1977), that can be made to ‘dance’ through the discreet and ‘magical’ use of black cotton, stretched across a room, and which when pulled, will make Charlie move.
The present example has no note of manufacturer or place of issue. It appears that a number of firms produced similar toys, including one by ‘The Lightning Company’ in London, and which came in a box, rather than as here in just a simple envelope, and also appears to have had jointed shoulders in addition to the jointed hips and knees.

1951. 8vo, pp. xxiii, [i], 558; with a number of diagrams within text; pp. 224-5 creased with small tear at lower margin, p. 258 creased, gutter exposed at p. 383, lightly toned throughout; in the original blue publisher’s cloth, spine lettered in gilt, lower corner of upper board bumped, with the original grey price-clipped dust-jacket, spine somewhat browned with a few small chips and splits, preserved within protective glycine jacket; with the signature of Phyllis Fox and the date ‘Jan 31, 1956’ on front free endpaper; a very good copy. Second edition, and a nice association copy, of this classic textbook on applied mathematics, originally published in 1933, once belonging to the noted American mathematician and computer scientist Phyllis Fox (1923-2017), with her signature on the front free endpaper. The signature is dated January 31, 1956, Fox purchasing the volume while working on the numerical solution of partial differential equations for UNIVAC for the Computing Center of the United States Atomic Energy Commission at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences of New York University.
In addition to the present work, the English applied mathematician Louis Melville Milne-Thomson CBE FRSE RAS (1891–1974), is best remembered for his works on Theoretical Hydrodynamics (1938), and Theoretical Aerodynamics (1948), as well as for his work developing mathematical tables such as the Jacobian Elliptic Function Tables (1932). The Milne-Thomson circle theorem and the Milne-Thomson method for finding a holomorphic function are named after him. His works proved popular and went through several editions.

[n.d. but ca. 1821-1823.]. 8vo, ff. [18] leaves, printed on one side only, with hand-coloured engraved frontispiece and a further 14 hand-coloured engraved illustrations in the text to make a total of 15 not 16 illustrations as stated by title (other editions make a similar error); all slightly crudely coloured; lightly browned and soiled throughout, with some occasional offsetting and bleed through from ink and colour; stitched, as issued, in original publisher's printed pictorial salmon wrappers, spine rubbed and worn with some loss, with 5cm split at tail but still holding firm, wrappers rubbed and dust-soiled, with some surface loss notably at lower rear corner; though a little dog-eared, overall an appealing copy. Uncommon and attractively illustrated late Regency rhyming riddle game for children, and seemingly an early edition with the A.K. Newman & Co. Dean & Munday imprint. A test of both memory and counting, the format is akin to that of the ‘Twelve Days of Christmas’, and indeed its appear to date back to a similar time. Of the party who intend on playing one is appointed Treasurer who begins the game by passing an item, 'a penknife, pocket-book, or thimble' are among the suggestions to the person sat next to him stating 'Take this', the player responds 'What's this?', to which the Treasurer replies 'A gaping, wide-mouthed, waddling Frog'. The sequence is repeated, a line added to the nonsense verse with each turn. If a player misremembers a part of the increasingly complex rhyme he or she forfeits and must enact a penalty. Suggested penalties include 'Submit to be tickled by the company for five minutes', and 'Spell and pronounce this word twice within ten minutes, without a blunder - Al-di-bo-ron-ti-phos-ky-phor-ni-os-ti-kus'.
As with many similar chapbooks of the time, dating of the first edition seems unclear. As far as we have been able to establish, one of the earliest appearances of the rhyme in print was in ‘Mirth without Mischief. Containing the Twelve Days of Christmas, the play of the Gaping-wide-mouthed waddling frog, love and hatred, the art of talking with fingers, and Nimble-Ned’s alphabet and figures’ published by Davenport in 1780. It seems likely that, was in the case of the French inspired Twelve Days of Christmas, that the recited rhyme in various forms was already popular. In 1817 E. and J. Wallis issued ‘The Gaping Wide-mouthed Waddling Frog, adapted to a Game of Forfeits, coloured Plates’. The Osborne copy, and which appears to compare to the present copy, is dated to 1822 - from an manuscript inscription. A watermark date can be seen on [f.6] of 1821. A copy which sold at Christies in 2003, and which they suggested was 1822, had a variant title-page correcting the number of embellished engravings from sixteen to 15 as is in fact the case. Interestingly, that copy had ‘just 13 illustrations which are fully paginated’ (Christies, Dr Nigel Temple Collection of Children’s Books, 2003, lot 53).

1907. Boxed set, complete; comprising 10 glass passepartout slides 81 x 81 x 3mm, images drawn and delicately hand-painted, with thin black paper edging, each with thin printed title label along upper margin, with small round numbering label in upper right corner (lacking 6 due to previous break in glass and subsequent repair), with further printed numbering label adhered along lower right edge, indicating place in larger company series; small break in upper corner of verso of slide 1, slide 6 with small fracture across top right corner repaired with edging paper, slide 8 with superficial crack (though no break in glass), two edges of slide 4 lacking the paper edging, with further edgewear in places; housed within small later ‘makeshift’ card box, edges of base with prominent archival tape repairs, lid missing left edge, and with archival tape label on upper surface, lettered in manuscript, edges of lid quite worn. An extremely scarce set of magic lantern slides highlighting the women’s rights movement and votes for women, albeit from the anti-suffrage perspective, and satirising the struggle. The slides tell the story of an attempt by suffragettes to infiltrate Parliament from the Thames. Hiding in oil barrels, they plan to be unloaded onto the Terrace, but two burly policemen, upon hearing some ‘rustling’ coming from the barrels, suspect a suffragette plot and attempt to lure them out. Claiming that women are unable to resist the joys of a ‘fashion paper’, they read aloud ‘of the latest styles’ to ‘snare the birds’ and entice the stowaways out. Covering the barrels with a net, the women are captured as they emerge to storm parliament, and hauled off to Cannon [sic] Row police station. ‘Those who won’t walk must be rolled’.
The illustrations are neatly drawn and vibrantly hand-coloured. Both the first and final slide suggest credit for the images belongs to the periodical ‘The Graphic’. Richard Crangle on the Lucerna Magic Lantern Web Resource (University of Exeter) attributes the set to one of the leading magic lantern manufacturing firms of York & Sons, based in Bayswater London, and dates it no later than 1907. One of the partners, William York, was a ‘photographic artist’, and may possibly have been responsible for the topical set.
Magic lantern shows began towards the end of the 17th century but only became more popular towards the end of the 19th century with improvements in lamp sources. The shows could be educational - astronomy was a popular subject, through to didactic presentations (a favourite topic was the demon drink) to sophisticated shows using double or triple lanterns to produce moving and dissolving images. Current affairs and political matters provided a wealth of material, and Lucerna lists of number of sets relating to political cartoons, though this appears to be one of only a very few relating to the Women’s Rights movement and the Suffragettes in particular. Crangle notes further that the set was listed in the stock of Riley Brothers, and also Ivens & Co. It was common practice for sets to be sold, or sometimes hired out, to other stockists and suppliers, and were sometimes made to order for specific retailers.

1764-1774?]. Three works in one volume, 8vo; I. ff. [i] engraved frontispiece signed ‘G. Bickham sculp’, [i] engraved title-page, 3 - 61 engraved and letterpress plates of different styles of handwriting, printed on recto only, 57-59 mainly letterpress with engraved numbering, leaf 9 an additional title-page ‘A specimen of the various characters now principally us’d in printing & writing curiously engrav’d by the best hands, MDCCXXXIII’; II. ff. [i] engraved title page bound horizontally, 2 - 13 leaves of engraved plates, plate 2 signed ‘G. Bickham junr sculp’, plates 5 ‘G. Bickham junr sculp 1732’, plate 6 slightly obscured by possibly ‘Wickham junr sculp’ though could also be G Bickham, plates 9 ‘G. Bickham junr sculp 1733’, and plates 8, 10, 11 signed ‘B Cole sculp’; III. pp. 32; all three works lightly browned, with some dust-soiling and spotting, some occasional ink splattering and staining, with more prominent ink stain affecting the fore-edge, and which is more prominent in the final work but not intrusive; in early 20th century green publisher’s cloth, spine ruled and lettered in gilt, extremities lightly rubbed and bumped; with contemporary signature of ‘Mary Stone, February 15 1771’ on front free endpaper, and of ‘Elizabeth Webster, 1758’ on verso of final free endpaper. Bound together three popular 18th century writing manuals and copybooks, of particular appeal bearing as it does the signatures of two contemporary female readers, Mary Stone and Elizabeth Webster.
The engraver George Bickham is associated with a number of writing manuals, with perhaps his most influential being the ‘Universal Penman’ (1733-1741), a noted collection of writing samples from the most prominent masters of the time. Whilst the Young Clerks Assistant is anonymous, he was responsible for the frontispiece engraving, and a number of the plates in the Picart are signed by either G. Bickham and G. Bickham Junr, with two being dated 1732 and 1733. An additional engraved title-page within the Young Clerks Assistant, ‘A specimen of the various characters now principally us’d in printing & writing curiously engrav’d by the best hands’ is dated 1733. The present copy bears a similarity to ESTC T155495 and which they date to ca. 1764, apparently based on the imprint of the Leekey (printed for C. and R. Ware, 1764). Maxted, however, suggests that Richard Ware only came to be listed individually in directories from 1774-1777 (London Book trades 1775-1800, p. 239). Whilst it is possible that the first two works are here in first editions, it seems more likely that they could all be later issues.
On the front free endpaper is the inscription ‘Pater Honerandum Mary Stone February 15, 1771’; whilst the final verso bears the signature ‘Elizabeth Webster, 1758, Pater Honorandum 1758’, together with further practice attempts. Of interest honerandum has been spelt with an ‘a’ on the front free endpaper, and with an ‘o’ by Elizabeth.
All editions appear scarce, and the evidence of female ownership makes the present copy of especial appeal.

but 1785]. Folio, [iv], 111, [1]; with one large folding engraved plate; entirely engraved throughout; some impressions a little faint, others darkened; without front free endpaper or half-title; some occasional light staining and soiling, mainly marginal; in contemporary green boards, title in ms on upper cover, head and tail of spine bumped and lightly worn, joints lightly rubbed, covers somewhat soiled and darkened, extremities lightly bumped and worn; signed by the publisher Blondeau at the tail of title-page. An attractive book of composition and theory, engraved throughout. Jean Joseph Rodolphe (1730-1812) had a brilliant career as a violinist, horn player and composer during the second half of the 18th century. Rodolphe was close to the Italian composer Jommeli and befriended the young Mozart during the latter’s visit to Paris in 1778. From 1784 until the Revolution, Rodolphe taught composition at the École Royale de Chant et de Déclamation and was later was Professor of solfège at the Paris Conservatoire. (1798–1802). The present copy has been signed by the publisher Blondeau. A small note states that this is ‘Oeuvre II’ but the work appears complete in itself. The British Library and Berlin note this issue point
OCLC also locate copies at Harvard, Pennyslyvania, Stanford, and the Plantijn Hogeschool, though without mention of part information.

1843. 8vo, pp. 54; with lithograph frontispiece portrait and with 38 lithograph plates (numbered 1 - 37, including 10 bis); lightly foxed and toned throughout, but generally clean and bright; uncut in the original blue printed wrappers, head and tail of spine a little chipped and worn, covers a little soiled, with a number of small marginal tears and some furling, with signature of ‘Hri de Crouzet de Rayssac’? at head of front wrapper; a very good copy. Extremely scarce first edition of this self-published treatise on the art of fencing with a cane, including 38 striking lithograph plates, the work of Louis Armand Victorin Leboucher (1807-1866), a professional teacher in the arts of boxing, and fencing with canes and sticks.
Basing himself in Paris, Leboucher established a school of self defence at the rue de la Michodière, and became renown as a powerful and, by the sounds of it, a fearsome fencer. As he notes in his preface, man’s first means of defence, other than the fist, would have been a large stick or club. Whilst carrying a firearm may not be socially acceptable, carrying a walking cane was commonplace, so why not learn to employ it for self defence if required when travelling. His methods focused upon strength and speed. As he continues, far from being futile as some may think, fencing with a cane was an essential personal defence skill, providing ‘a means of repulsion useful in certain circumstances’ (p. 4). It should also be seen as an acceptable and suitable form of gymnastic exercise and relaxation. He believes that his 25 lessons will be sufficient for any student to ‘obtain a degree of perfection which would otherwise require six months of practice’ (p.4). It will develop muscular strength in the arms, chest and legs, expand the lungs, and he claims that as a result of the training, most ordinary students should be able to carry out 150 blows in a minute. His students, he states, will be able to defend themselves with poise and dexterity, and he concludes by inviting the heads of military institutions, ‘who have not yet accepted our method, to make their students aware of the advantages of his theories, uniquely established as a system of personal defence’.
In addition to the present work, Leboucher published Théorie de boxe française (1844) and Théorie de boxe française et anglaise pour apprendre à tirer en 25 leçons (1853).
Though the signature is slightly obscure, we believe the copy to have once belonged to the Henri de Crouzet de Rayssac (1853-1930).

1899. Large 8vo, pp. vi, 751; with numerous diagrams and half-tone illustrations; a little minor soiling, but otherwise clean and crisp; in contemporary grey publisher's cloth, lettered and ruled in black and gilt, with red skivver label on spine (chipped with some loss), a little shaken but holding, extremities a little rubbed, worn and bumped; still a good copy. Uncommon first edition of this detailed and comprehensive guide to emergency surgery, for both surgeons and general practitioners alike. Deliberately devoid of theoretical discussion, Lejars instead provides clear and practical advice on the various emergency procedures, and instruments to be used, the whole work copiously illustrated to aid the practitioner. The work proved extremely popular, going through several editions, and indeed Lejars became a renowned surgeon during the first World War.

1880s?. Oblong small 8vo, ff. 40 leaves of chromolithograph plates; some very light marginal browning and foxing; in contemporary navy and light blue cloth backed boards, upper cover lettered in gilt, spine lightly sunned, covers a little stained and soiled. A scarce and beautifully illustrated late Victorian trade catalogue, issued by the Kent based coach building company W. P. Love, with forty chromolithograph illustrations of horse-drawn coaches and carts, and showing a variety of commercial, utility and multi-passenger vehicles, some of which include oil-lamps. A wonderful catalogue, the images ‘transport’ us back to a bygone era of horse-drawn travel - the ultimate green form of transportation.
Despite living only 15 miles from Paddock Wood, we have sadly been unable to find out any further information about W. P. Love, though believe that they remained in operation on Commercial Road until the late 20th century.