1. Radcliffe, Ann.

The Mysteries of Udolpho.

First Edition. 4 Volumes [complete set]. London, Printed for G. G. and J.Robinson, 1794. Octavo. Collation complete with all four half-titles: Volume I: 428 pages / Volume II: 478 pages / Volume III: 463 pages / Volume IV: 428 pages. Original, unaltered, 18th-century half leather with gilt lettering on original spinelabels. All four bindings with vintage paper-covered boards and their original, reinforced corners. The set is now housed in a custom-made solander-box / clamshell-box. Excellent, firm condition of all four volumes with minor lesions to hinges and some rubbing to extremeties only and some general, neglectable external wear to corners and upper spines. In Volume I, two sentences partly censored with manuscript editing in ink. Interior very good with the occasional lesion (I, p.109), minor tear (II, p.93), and stains to a page here or there and a faded, very mild dampstain in the background of some pages of Volume IV. Two excellent provenance signs: Bookplate / Exlibris of “William Tennant, Ashton Hall” to the pastedown of each Volume / Previous owner-stamp of “O.W.O’Grady Young – Castlerea”. A fantastic, in this state, unbelievably rare version, of one of the most desirable books in the english language. The seminal gothic novel, a most desirable collectable and the best copy of this first edition we have ever handled.

2. Robinson, Mary.

Walsingham; or The Pupil of Nature, A Domestic Story. By Mary Robinson, Author of Angelina – Hubert de Sevrac – The Widow – Vancenza, &c. &c.&c.

First Irish Edition. In Two Volumes (complete Set). Dublin, Printed by B. Smith for P.Wogan, C.Brown, H.Colbert, W.Porter and J.Rice, 1798. Octavo (12 cm x 17,5 cm). 336, 322 pages. Hardcover / Modern half-leather bound to the style of the 18th-century with spinelabels. Both Volumes in protective Mylar and now housed in a bespoke Solander Box. Very good condition with some minor signs of wear only to the edges and two tiny lesions to the titlepage of the first Volume. Faded dampstain to some pages of the lower bookblock of Volume II. While the bookblock is generally used and has the occasional very faint stain and a minor tear to a page, the set is in very good or even better condition ! Extremely scarce !

3. Radcliffe, Ann.

The Mysteries of Udolpho – A Romance; interspersed with some pieces of Poetry.

First Dublin Edition / First Irish Edition. 3 Volumes [complete set]. Dublin, , by Hillary and Barlow, for Messrs. P. Wogan, W. Jones, and H. Colbert, 1794. Small Octavo (17.5 cm x 11 cm). Collation complete: Volume I: 310 pages / Volume II: 321 pages / Volume III: 357 pages. [Few pages with misprinted numerals, as often the case, but all pages in order and complete]. Original, unaltered, 18th-century full leather with gilt lettering on original spinelabels. Very rare, complete set of the first Dublin Edition. Very good- condition with stronger signs of external wear but all three Volumes in firm, original condition. Lesions to the leather-covered-boards and some stronger rubbing to extremeties. Interior with only very few problems. All three Volumes used to have two endpapers before and after the text and some of these endpapers are torn or missing. Textblock in general very good with some very minor and only occasional staining only. In Volume I, tear to corner of page 101/102 and 135/136. Faded stain to only the outer margins of pages 239 to 310 (text never affected). Volume II with small tear to pages 21/22 / Volume III with lesion to page 281/282 and tear to corner 305. These all sound worse than they are and the set is still in very good- condition. From the library of the Meade family in Ballymartle, the titlepage of each Volume bears the name of Helena Meade. An extremely rare and highly collectable set of one of the rarest titles in english literature.

4. [Crawford, Mabel] Anonymous.

Through Algeria.

London, Richard Bentley, 1863. 12 cm x 19 cm. Frontispiece, XVI, 362 pages. The frontispiece is a colour-lithograph of El Kantara. Attractive hardcover [publisher’s original purple cloth] with gilt lettering and ornamental design on spine. Gilt lettering and richly decorative tooling on front board. Blind tooling on back board also. Pebbled boards. All edges gilt. Very good condition with only minor signs of external wear. Cloth frayed at spine head and tail. Slight cracking to gutter between front pastedown and endpaper. Binding still very good and firm. Some foxing to endpapers. Interior very clean and bright. Some untrimmed pages. Handwritten message on front endpaper reads “A Prize gained by Louisea Mells for Progress in her French studies, Xmas. 1869. Magdalen House.” An extremely rare, rather scarce, early publication by an Irish Woman Traveller in Africa who also lived and helped through the Irish Famine and was not only an early Feminist but also one of the first members of the Suffragette Movement.

5. Henley, Pauline.

Spenser in Ireland. [Presentation copy]

First Edition. Cork, Cork University Press / Educational Co. of Ireland, 1928. Octavo. Frontispiece-Fold-Out-Map of Ireland, 231 pages. Original Hardcover. Some minor signs of foxing only. Otherwise in excellent condition with only minor signs of external wear. Signed and inscribed by Pauline Henley on the endpaper: “With every good wish to a devoted lover of Ireland, Mlle. Etiennette Beuque. Pauline Henley – July 21st, 1928”. In his book: A ‘Manly Study’?: Irish Women Historians 1868-1949, N. Smith writes that Pauline Henley had previously corresponded with Etienne Beuque in the same year when Mlle. Beuque, a french writer on contemporary irish history, had asked her about Terence MacSwiney. This book must have travelled with her response to France. Excellent association copy !

6. Wilson, Sarah [Lady Sarah Isabella Augusta Spencer-Churchill].

South African Memories – Social, Warlike and Sporting, From Diaries Written at the Time. With a Photogravure of Lady Wilson.

London, Edward Arnold. 1909. 14.5 cm x 22.5 cm. Frontispiece, XII, 331 pages. 20 illustrations. Hardcover [publisher’s original red cloth] with gilt lettering on spine. Gilt letter and design on front board. Gilt top edge. Deckled edges. Good condition only with some stronger signs of external wear. Board corners bumped. Tear to cloth at front hinge of spine but binding still firm and strong. Interior bright and clean and the bookblock tight and complete with all illustrations. Excellent Provenance: With tiny – bookplate: “The Times” – Book Club – Oxford Street, London.

7. Herbert, Agnes [″The Authoress”].

Two Dianas in Somaliland. A Record of a Shooting Trip by Agnes Herbert / With Twenty-Five Illustrations Reproduced from Photographs.

Second Edition. London, John Lane, The Bodley Head, 1908. 15 cm x 22.5 cm. Frontispiece, 306 pages. 22 illustrations. Hardcover [publisher’s original red cloth] with gilt lettering on spine. Excellent version of this rare book in very good condition with only minor signs of external wear. Occasional spotting but interior otherwise bright and clean. Foxing to edges. Some untrimmed pages throughout.

8. [Barter, Charlotte/Catherine] A Plain Woman.

Alone Among the Zulus – By a Plain Woman, the Narrative of a Journey Through the Zulu Country, South Africa.

Second Edition. London / New York, Society For Promoting Christian Knowledge / E & J. B. Young & Co., no year [c. 1879]. 12.5 cm x 18.5 cm. Frontispiece, II, 184 pages. With four illustrations (including Frontispiece) plus two examples of melodies transcribed in musical notes. Hardcover [publisher’s original red cloth] with gilt lettering and pictorial design on spine and front board. Beautifully illustrated pastedowns and endpapers. Excellent condition with only minor signs of external wear. Tissue-guard in good condition. Interior very bright and clean with sharp corners.

9. Smiley, Jane.

A Thousand Acres.

First Edition. New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 1991. 16.5 cm x 24 cm. 371 pages. Original Hardcover with illustrated dustjacket in protective collector’s Mylar. Deckled fore edge. Excellent, close to new condition with only minor signs of external wear to the Mylar ! Signed by Jane Smiley on the titlepage. In 1992 Jane Smiley won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for this publication !

10. Mair, L.P. / [Lucy Philip Mair].

An African People in the Twentieth Century.

Frontispiece, XV, 300 pages. 8 illustrations. Map near front. London, George Routledge & Sons, 1934. 14 cm x 22.5 cm. Frontispiece, XV, 300 pages with Index. Eight monochrome plates including frontispiece. Hardcover [publisher’s original brown cloth] with gilt lettering on spine. Very good condition with only minor signs of external wear. Front pastedown carries bookplate / Exlibris of Charles P Groves.