1. Foster, Sir Augustus [British Ambassador to the United States of America] / Sir Charles Stuart [Britain’s Ambassador to France and Russia, Charles Stuart, 1st Baron Stuart de Rothesay] / [Lady Bess Foster, (née Lady Elizabeth Christiana Hervey), later Duchess of Devonshire (1759-1824)] / [Vere Henry Louis Foster] / [Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington].

Archive of a fantastic series of 42 Autograph Letters (signed) / Manuscript Letters (signed) by Sir Augustus Foster, British Diplomat and British Ambassador to the United States of America, prior and at the outbreak of the War of 1812, Recipient of the ‘Declaration of War’ on the “HMS Colibri” (June 28th, 1812), Ambassador to Denmark (1814-1825) and Ambassador to Sardinia (1824-1840). The letters were written between 1815 and 1841, during his time as Ambassador of Denmark (Copenhagen) and from his posting in Turin, as Ambassador to the Kingdom of Savoy-Sardinia [Piedmont-Sardinia]. Fortyone (41) of the letters are addressed to his friend, Sir Charles Stuart, Baron Stuart de Rothesay (1779-1845), Secret Agent, Diplomat, privy councilor as well as British Ambassador to France and Ambassador to Russia and the Duke of Wellington’s distinguished administrator in Europe during the Napoleonic Wars. The 42nd letter in the Archive, is a meaningful, three-page-letter, written by Sir Augustus Foster from Copenhagen in the year 1818, to his mother, Lady Elizabeth (″Bess”) Foster” [(née Lady Elizabeth Christiana Hervey), later Duchess of Devonshire (1759-1824)]. The Letters comprise of sizes between Octavo and Quarto and amount to 130 pages in total, written from Turin (27) & other places, including Copenhagen, Stockholm, London, Calais and Geneva, 1815-1841 / Important: The Archive includes also three important publications which touch on the work of Sir Augustus Foster in America: [1.Richard Beale Davis: “Jeffersonian America – Notes on the United States of America – Collected in the years 1805-1806-1807 and 1811 and 1812 by Sir Augustus Foster, Bart. San Marino, The Huntingdon Library, 1954 / 2. An Extra-Illustrated Version of the publication “The Two Duchesses”, by Vere Foster (son of Sir Augustus Foster), in which an american collector injected a plethora of original engravings, portraits of british and american personalities like Alexander Hamilton, George Washington as well as other contemporaries of Sir Augustus Foster (see 80 photographs of this breathtaking set, bound in red-morocco, on our website) / 3. [James Madison / James Monroe / Sir Augustus Foster – War of 1812] – “Three messages, from the President of the United States, to Congress, in November 1811, together with Documents accompanying the same”. Washington; printed 1811. Re-Printed for J.Hatchard, Bookseller to her Majesty, opposite Albany, Piccadilly, 1812 – The material here relates directly to the war of 1812; much of it is in the form of correspondence between Sir Augustus John Foster, H.M. Minister in America and James Monroe, Secretary of State under James Madison from 1811 to 1817. Other significant contributors include Mr. Pinkney and Lord Wellesley. Extremely scarce original edition. (No copy of the 1811 edition located. Not in COPAC or Sabin)] See more than 200 Images for all these books and manuscript letters in the Augustus Foster Archive on our website under “Libraries & Collections” /

Turin / London / Stockholm / Copenhagen / Calais / Geneva, 1815 – 1841. Octavo – Quarto. The Letters are housed in a beautiful, bespoke Solander-Chemise. The original books are either bound in Morocco (″Two Duchesses”), original cloth with dustjacket (″Jeffersonian America”) or in the publisher’s original interim-wrappers (the rare 1812-printing of “Three messages, from the President of the United States, to Congress, in November 1811, together with Documents accompanying the same”). Very good condition with some minor signs of wear only.

2. Twining, Elizabeth.

Illustrations of the Natural Orders of Plants With Groups and Descriptions. [With 160 full-page chromolithographic plates in colour].

Original Sampson Low Edition – Reduced from the Original Folio Edition. Two Volumes (complete set). London, Sampson Low, Son and Marston, 1868. Slim-Quarto (17 cm x 25 cm). Volume I: XII, 80 plates / Volume II: [6], 80 plates. Both Volumes include the tissue-guards for protecting the plates and all corresponding explanatory text and Index is present. Hardcover / Original publisher’s half-leather with gilt lettering and ornament on spine. One of the earliest and rarest publications with chromolithographic botanical illustrations. Excellent condition besides some mild, faded dampstains to some plates. Important: These bindings are usually broken, which is NOT the case here. While the book came from the library of Daniel Conner (Connerville / Manch House), the book belonged to Henrietta L. Conner [Inscribed by Sophia Perry Hornik to Henrietta L. Conner in 1890].

3. Haacken, Frans. (1911 – 1979).

Totentanz / [Danse Macabre / Dance of Death – A cycle of nine original Woodcuts – A Danse Macabre] – Einige der Holzschnitte betitelt: Rex Tremendae Majestatis / Agnus Dei / Lux Perpetua / Domine Jesu / Lacrymosa / Dies Irae / Tuba.

Neun originale, signierte Holzschnitte / Holzschnittfolge von Haacken’s Handpresse mit Totentanz – Motiven. [Aachen], c.1950. Gerahmt: c. 28 cm x 35 cm. Holzschnitt: 16 cm x 22 cm. Alle Holzschnitte gerahmt. Sehr guter Zustand mit starken Gebrauchsspuren an den Rahmen von einigen Bildern. / All Woodcuts framed and with some stronger signs of wear to the framing. Price includes free internaional UPS.

4. Florence / Pisa – Carocci, G. et al.

Collection of six stunning, early 19th-century gouache-aquatints of Florence and Pisa including a rare segment showing a Funerary Procession in front of Giotto’s Campanile, part of the complex of buildings that make up Florence Cathedral on the Piazza del Duomo in Florence, Italy. These very able and fantastically hand-coloured, original artworks, represent the peak of high-quality souvenirs for the European Traveller on their Grand Tour. [Loggia dei Lanzi / Cattedrale di Firenze / Piazza S. Trinita / Campanile Della Cattedrale di Firenze / Ponte S. Trinita / Campanile Di Pisa].

Original Aquatint (hand-applied water-colouring over copper engraving). Florence / Pisa, [c.1820]. Plate Sizes vary: 31 cm x 22.1 cm. Sheet Sizes vary: 34.6 cm x 26.5 cm. Original Gouache-Aquatint (hand-applied water-colouring over copper engraving). Florence/Pisa, [c.1820]. Plate-Sizes vary: c. 31 cm x 22.1 cm. Sheet Sizes vary: c. 34.6 cm x 26.5 cm. Besides some smaller damages to the Ponte S. Trinita-artwork in very good, actually stunning, condition. Clean, crisp and brightly coloured. All of these artworks are beautifully framed and the price includes worldwide free shipping per UPS – courier.

5. Fuentes, Carlos.

The Campaign. [Signed]

First Edition. New York, Farrar Straus Giroux, 1991. Octavo. 246 pages. Original Hardcover with original dustjacket in protective collector’s mylar. Very good condition with only minor signs of external wear. Signed by the author.

6. Allende, Isabel / Peden, Margaret Sayers.

Of Love and Shadows.

New York, Alfred A. Knopf. 1987. 15 cm x 22 cm. 274 pages. Original hardcover with original dustjacket in protective Mylar. Excellent condition with only very minor signs of external wear. Signed by Isabel Allende on the endpaper !

7. Taylor, Tom / [Abraham Lincoln].

Exquisite collection of six (6) items/original, vintage and personal materials by/of Tom Taylor. The collection includes a 2 1/2 page, signed manuscript letter [MLS] by Tom Taylor to an unknown recipient , discussing a memorial he sent to Robert Browning’s patron, John Kenyon and mentioning former Prime Minister Lord Aberdeen [George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen]. The collection also includes two vintage 19th century cabinet photographs [Carte de Visite’s] of Tom Taylor, a later edition of Ballads and Songs of Brittany and two beautifully inscribed and signed presentation copies of his major works: 1. The first edition of Ballads of Brittany – London/Cambridge, MacMillan and Co.,1865 with many illustrations by Tissot, Tenniel etc. (This first edition is signed and inscribed by Tom Taylor to Emilia Ventana at Xmas 1864, before the publication of the book commenced) and 2. Tom Taylor’s Historical Dramas. London, Chatto & Windus, 1877. Signed and inscribed by Tom Taylor to Marie de Beauvoisier in March 1879.

London / Cambridge etc., Chatto & Windus / Routledge & Sons / etc., c. 1850-1879. Octavo. Ballads and Songs of Brittany (1865 edition): Frontispice, XXII, 239 pages / Ballads and Songs of Brittany (Later Routledge edition): XVI, 176 pages / Tom Taylor’s Historical Dramas: VIII, 466, 32 pages. / Manuscript Letter: 2 1/2 pages. Original Hardcover / The manuscript letter in a Folder, it includes an A4 manuscript leaf from a 19th century autograph-collector describing the letter by Taylor. / The two vintage cabinet photographs of Taylor included in the Folder with the autograph. Very good condition with only minor signs of external wear.

8. Cervantes De Saavedra, Miguel [Jarvis Edition with an excellent provenance, being from the library of John Fane, (Lord Burgersh) the Earl of Westmoreland].

The Life and Exploits of the Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote de la Mancha. Translated from the Original Spanish by Charles Jarvis, Esq. [Bound with: “The Life of Michael de Cervantes Saavedra” and an “Advertisement concerning the Plates”].

Second issue of the First Jarvis Edition. Two Volumes (complete set). London, J. & R. Tonson and R. Dodsley, 1738-1742. Quarto. Pagination: Volume I: Frontispiece, XXIV, (8), I – [XXIV], (interrupted with 8 unnumbered pages: “Supplement to the Translator’s Preface,” on the origin of books of chivalry, [by Wiliam Warburton]), continued pagination [XXV-XXXII], Second Frontispiece (Portrait of Cervantes by George Vertue after G. Kent), V, (2), 355 pages with 28 copperplates (including the two frontispieces). Volume II: XII, 388 pages with 41 copperplate illustrations. In total 69 copperplate engravings, all drawn by John Vanderbank and engraved by Gerard van der Gucht / Vandergucht. Modern Hardcover bindings by an english masterbinder, styled to the 18th century period and with new endpapers that carry the original bookplates / Exlibris of John Fane, (Lord Burgersh) the Earl of Westmoreland. Excellent condition with only minor signs of foxing to the outer margins of the pages. All illustrations in strong and fresh imprint. An excellent set from a famous library.

9. Beaulieu, Mad. Mallès de / [Robinson Crusoe].

Le Robinson de douze ans – Histoire intéressante d’un jeune Mousse Français abondonné dans une ile déserte. Ornée de Gravures par Mme Mallès de Beaulieu, Auteur des Coules d’une Mère à sa Fille.

Paris, P.-C. Lehuby, no date (approx. 1818). Small – Octavo. Engraved frontispiece, Titlevignette, 288 pages with two further engravings (4 in total). Hardcover. Original, blue paper-covered boards, extensively decorated with gilt floral motifs and an inset illustration of the young Robinson and his dog on a beach. Very good condition. Interior remarkably clean. Fine example of a so-called Robinsonade, a fashionable adaptation of the original Robinson Crusoe story, in this case based on another “Robinsonade”, this is a somewhat modified and inspired version of Johann David Wyss’ famous publication “The Swiss Family Robinson”, which he published initially “to teach his sons about family values, good husbandry, the uses of the natural world and self-reliance” (Wikipedia). In her publication “History and the Construction of the Child in Early British Children’s Literature”, Jackie C. Home writes that “The Bibliothèque Nationale de France online catalogue lists 35 French language editions of Mallès de Beaulieu’s novel, published between 1818 and 1923, suggesting that the novel was one of the most popular titles fro children in nineteenth-century France.”

10. Preißler, Johann Daniel / Preißler, Georg Martin.

Die durch Theorie erfundene Practic, Oder Gründlich-verfasste Reguln deren man sich als einer Anleitung zu berühmter Künstlere (sic) Zeichen-Wercken bestens bedienen kan (sic). [Drei Werke in sechs Teilen auf zwei Bände verteilt !] Vier Theile inclusive dem vierten “Fortsetzungsband”. Zwei Anhänge angebunden – Anhang I: L’Anatomia Deipittori del Signore Carlo Cesio, das ist: deutliche Anweisung und gründliche Vorstellung von der Anatomie der Mahler (sic), wie in den Gliedern des menschlichen Leibs die vornehmste Gebeine und Musculn, nach ihren Namen, Stellen, Anfängen und Enden, auch fordersten Verrichtungen, bey ihren unterschiedlichen Bewegungen und Handlungen zu erkennen, anzusehen und vorzustellen seyn; anfänglich von dem Kunst=berühmten Meister Carlo Cesio in netten und deutlichen Tabellen, auch kurtzen, doch gründlichen in Italiänischer Sprache beygefügten Erklärungen an das Licht gegeben: Nun aber zu mehrern Aufnahm der Mahler= und Zeichen=Kunst in das Teutsche getreulich übersetzet mitgetheilet von Johann Daniel Preißlern, der Nürnbergischen Kunstmahler=Academie Directore bey welchem sie auch zu finden. / Anhang II: Gründliche Anleitung welcher man sich im Nachzeichnen schöner Landschafften oder Prospecten bedienen kan (sic), den Liebhabern der Zeichen-Kunst mitgetheilet und eigenhändig in Kupfer gebracht, von Johann Daniel Preißler. Mit 104 Kupfertafeln von Georg Martin Preißler.

Mischauflage (vierte bis siebente Auflage). 5 Teile in 2 Bänden (vollständig). Nürnberg, Kunst-Mahler-Academie, 1747-1780. Folio. Band I enthält die Teile 1-3 mit der Vorrede und dem “Nöthigen Vorbericht” aufgeteilt auf die ersten zwei Teile. Paginierung: Teil I: (2 Bll.), 19 ganzseitige Kupfertafeln / Teil II: (5 Bll.), 18 ganzseitige Kupfertafeln / Teil III: (4 Bll.), 17 ganzseitige Kupfertafeln, (3 Bll.). Eine Kupfer in einer Ecke minimal beschmutzt. Band II enthält den vierten “Fortsetzungs” – Band und im Anhang das Werk von Carlo Cesio. Paginierung: Teil IV: (4 Bll.), 18 ganzseitige Kupfertafeln / ANHANG I: L’Anatomia Deipittori / Anatomie der Mahler – Paginierung: (2 Bll.), 16 ganzseitige Kupfer (im Stile Vesalius’ und Eustachius’) / Anhang II: Nachzeichnen schöner Landschaften – Paginierung: (2), 16 ganzseitige Kupfertafeln // Wunderschöne Halblederbände des späten 18.Jahrhunderts oder frühen 19.Jahrhunderts. Das Halbleder auf fünf unechten Bünden mit zweifarbigen Rückenschildchen und reicher Rückenvergoldung. Exzellenter Erhaltungszustand mit nur einem der Kupferstiche mit minimaler Verschmutzung. Eine der schönsten Ausgabe einer Malerschule die wir je gesehen haben.