Books
English Seamen By Froude. English Seamen in the 16th Century, Lectures Delivered at Oxford Easter Terms 1893-4
A superb green leather bound volume, with Morocco leather title and gilt tooling to the spine and covers, bearing a large gilt tooled crest on the front cover. New impression with illustrations 1907. Longmans, Green, and Co., London
From Sir John Hawkins to Sir Francis Drake's defeat of the Armada. The great British maritime heroes of legend, principally during the reign of Good Queen Bess who was well famed for her fondness for English seamen.
James Anthony Froude FRSE, 23 April 1818 – 20 October 1894) was an English historian, novelist, biographer, and editor of Fraser's Magazine. From his upbringing amidst the Anglo-Catholic Oxford Movement, Froude intended to become a clergyman, but doubts about the doctrines of the Anglican church, published in his scandalous 1849 novel The Nemesis of Faith, drove him to abandon his religious career. Froude turned to writing history, becoming one of the best-known historians of his time for his History of England from the Fall of Wolsey to the Defeat of the Spanish Armada.
Inspired by Thomas Carlyle, Froude's historical writings were often fiercely polemical, earning him a number of outspoken opponents. Froude continued to be controversial up until his death for his Life of Carlyle, which he published along with personal writings of Thomas and Jane Welsh Carlyle. These publications illuminated Carlyle's often selfish personality, and led to persistent gossip and discussion of the couple's marital problems. read more
145.00 GBP
Very Rare, 1616 Coryate's Traveller For The English Wits. A "Fraternity of Sireniacal Gentlemen" Member, Tom Coryate's Book Is Believed To Be The Inspiration For The British Phenomenon Of The Grand Tour, And Only The 2nd Traveler To India
An incredible book for the seasoned explorer-traveler. Written by the man who introduced the dinner fork to the English speaking world, and was the first Englishman and Elizabethan to be a traveler, simply for the joy of travelling to unvisited parts, and this book was first published in 1616.
Tom Coryate, fellow writer and friend of Ben Jonson, John Donne and Inigo Jones, is known as only the second Englishman to visit India, and the first ever traveler of the so called Grand Tour. The man, that history accredits, who introduced dinner forks to the English speaking world. This superb tome is entitled 'Greeting from the court of the Great Moghul, and resident in Asmere a town in Eastern India'. By Tom Coliate.
A seemingly small book, composed of numerous letters, sent in the early 1600's to his English friends, from India. They were various gentleman of note and standing, including the Master of the Rolles in Chancery Lane and to the "Fraternity of Sireniacal Gentlemen" at the Mermaid Inn. Coriates 'Traveller for the English Wits; Greetings from the court of the most mighty monarch, the Great Moghul'. Ist Published in London in 1616 and this is a very rare, original, early 18th century copy. It has many border annotations and quotes, made by an owner, some in ancient Greek, and additions affixed on the inside cover including old bookseller advertisements. The original and first 1616 printing is now so rare that we do not know of another coming on to the market in the last fifteen years, and today, if one was to appear it would be not unreasonable to attract a likely price of £25,000. In 1912 another of his published books the earlier Cortyate's Crudities sold for the princely sum of £45, the equivalent today of the paid employment of a household of servants for one year. Thomas Coriate traveller for the English wits, greeting: from the court of the Great Mogul, resident at the Towne of Asmere, in Easterne India (London: 1616), p.27. The remarkable and eccentric Coryate (1577-1617) was only the second Englishman to visit India simply out of curiosity, a journey of some 3,300 miles, most of which he accomplished on foot. In a letter to his mother in England Coryates writes, 'I have rid upon an elephant since I came to this Court, determining one day (by Gods leave) to have my picture expressed in my next Booke, sitting upon an elephant' (p.26). Coryat was born in Crewkerne, Somerset, and lived most of his life in the Somerset village of Odcombe. He was a son of George Coryate (d. 1607). He was educated at Winchester College from 1591, and at Gloucester Hall, Oxford from 1596 to 1599. He was employed by Prince Henry, eldest son of James I as a sort of "court jester" from 1603 to 1607, alongside Ben Jonson, John Donne and Inigo Jones.
From May to October 1608 he undertook a tour of Europe, somewhat less than half of which he walked. He travelled through France and Italy to Venice, and returned via Switzerland, Germany and the Netherlands. He published his memoirs of the events in a volume entitled Coryat's Crudities hastily gobbled up in Five Months Travels in France, Italy, &c' (1611). In 1611 he published a second volume of travel writings, this one entitled Coryats Crambe, or his Coleworte twice Sodden. Coryat's letters from this time refer to the famous Mermaid Tavern in London, and mention Ben Jonson, John Donne and other members of a drinking club "Fraternity of Sireniacal Gentlemen" that met there.
Ever restless, he set out once again in 1612, this time on a journey that would ultimately lead to Asia, visiting Greece, the eastern Mediterranean including Constantinople by 1614, and walking through Turkey, Persia and eventually Moghul India by 1615, visiting the Emperor Jahangir's court in Ajmer, Rajasthan. From Agra and elsewhere he sent letters describing his experiences; this very book his Greetings from the Court of the Great Mogul was published in London in 1616, and a similar volume of his letters home appeared posthumously in 1618. In September 1617, at the invitation of Sir Thomas Roe, he visited the imperial court at Mandu, Madhya Pradesh. In November 1617 he left for Surat; he died of dysentery there in December of that year, his demise hastened by the consumption of sack. Though his planned account of the journey was never to be, some of his unorganized travel notes have survived and found their way back to England. These were published in the 1625 edition of Samuel Purchas's Hakluytus Posthumus or Purchas his Pilgrimes, contayning a History of the World in Sea Voyages and Lande Travells, by Englishmen and others.
Coryat's writings were hugely popular at the time. His accounts of inscriptions, many of which are now lost, were valuable; and his accounts of Italian customs and manners including the use of the table fork were influential in England at a time when other aspects of Italian culture, such as the madrigal, had already been in vogue for more than twenty years. He is considered by many to have been the first Briton to do a Grand Tour of Europe; a practice which became a mainstay of the education of upper class Englishmen in the 18th century. read more
1950.00 GBP
Many, Many Thousands of Historical Books Available, From Early Incunabala, First Editions, Early Antique Publications, Plus Vintage, Modern, & Second Hand. With Up to 50 New Additions Every Day, & 126 Arrived Just Yesterday!
Price shown below for illustration purposes only, of our starting price of our second hand {specialist military or historical} hard-backs.
Almost 20 years ago The Lanes Armoury, Bookshop Dept. made a special appearance, with a most kind and complimentary reference, in “The Sunday Times Culture Magazine’, especially its specialist bookshop section, in March 2006, and we continue to trade in our specialist books as much now as we did then, despite the demise of many of Britain’s fine bookshops.
Mark’s interest in historical books was partly honed by his good school friend, with whom he shared a study at college in the 1960’s just into the early 70’s, Robert Foyle, of, probably, the world’s most famous bookshop family, Foyles of London. We cannot begin to emulate Foyles, {who could!} but we do have many thousands of books, early antique and vintage, and as books are our largest single selling line we have just too many pass through our hands to even begin to list them all in stock, but we do try to list all our 1st Editions if possible.
Please email us if you seek a particular item you don't see available. We are, as usual, actively seeking rare old books with a historical interest. A short time ago, for one example, we had an urgent request for a very rare and valuable 50k+ gbp numbered & signed subscribers edition of "The 7 Pillars of Wisdom", by T.E. Lawrence, and we eventually located a superb one, after a 10 year search. and it was sold by us within hours.
The price shown below is an illustration of the average price of one of our regular modern, hardback, second-hand, historical or militaria books, of course our antique leather bound books can vary in price enormously from £50 to £5,000, depending on age, but more importantly, on rarity read more
15.00 GBP
A Most Rare, Circa 1822, Brown Calf & Morocco Leather Bound Volume of 'The Stranger in Brighton' & Baxter's Directory. Compiled and Published by by J.Baxter of North Street Brighton
These fabulous English Georgian period pocket directories are a wonderful snapshot of the inhabitants of the town, and it brings to life the characters and history of this extraordinary resort, made famous just a few years earlier by His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales.
Baxter’s Stranger in Brighton and directory : is a most rare and highly collectable volume, comprising a brief, yet comprehensive historical and topographical account of the town, and immediate neighbourhood ...Published circa 1822 by Baxter & Co. North St, Brighton Only a few hundred yards from our shop in the Lanes. Finely bound in light brown calf with calf spine and red Morocco leather and gilt title. The directory contains I. An alphabetical arrangement of inhabitant householders. II. An alphabetical arrangement of the professions. III. A list of coaches, waggons, carts, etc. Plus interesting tales of Brighton and its history and sights and places of interest. A wonderful and informative volume. According to J.H.Farrant Directories are an important source of information for studying the nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth. For the family historian they help to identify the residence of individual people within narrow time limits; for the social historian they can indicate the internal structures of communities; for the economic historian the relative and changing importance of occupations and industries may be revealed, whilst the historical geographer can plot the spatial distribution of those activities. In few instances are directories undoubtedly better in quality of information than other sources: census enumerator’s tallies are more comprehensive and probably more accurate for identifying individuals; rate books can be much preferable for discovering the distribution of occupations and businesses; and so on. But directories have the indisputable advantage of being printed and published books.
Brighton is a seaside resort on the south coast of England which is now part of the city of Brighton and Hove, in the county of East Sussex, in England.
We are likely Brighton’s oldest gallery owners & family traders. And or over 100 years we have been based in the world famous area Of 'The Lanes' of Brighton, which is located in he very centre of Old Brighthelmstone Later re-named Brighton
Brighthelmstone, was recorded in the Domesday Book, the Norman detailed record of almost 1000 years past, of every city, town village and hamlet in England.
A town considered so important by our South Easterly neighbours, the French, that they sailed over the channel and burnt us to the ground.… at least twice.
Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age, Roman and Anglo-Saxon periods. The ancient settlement of "Brighthelmstone" was documented in the Domesday Book (1086). The town's importance grew in the Middle Ages as the Old Town developed, but it languished in the early modern period, affected by foreign attacks, storms, a suffering economy and a declining population. Brighton began to attract more visitors following improved road transport to London and becoming a boarding point for boats travelling to France. The town also developed in popularity as a health resort for sea bathing as a purported cure for illnesses.
In the Georgian era, Brighton developed as a fashionable seaside resort, encouraged by the patronage of the Prince Regent, later King George IV, who spent much time in the town and constructed the Royal Pavilion in the Regency era.
4.75 inches x 7.25 inches. It mentions in the title page a map and three engravings, but in this deluxe calf leather binding {they were initially sold in simple grey board} there were no engravings or any indication they have been removed. read more
450.00 GBP
LA CAMPAGNE D'ITALIE DE 1859. CHRONIQUES DE LA GUERRE. Par le Baron de BAZANCOURT, appele par ordre de L'Empereur a la armee d'Italie. avec le plan du champ de bataille Magenta Vol 1
From the Library of the Royal Artillery Shoeburyness
French book with fine leather binding with gilt tooling. With page foxing throughout, and a fold out map of the battle [photo of map to be added].
The Battle of Magenta was fought on 4 June 1859 during the Second Italian War of Independence, resulting in a French-Sardinian victory under Napoleon III against the Austrians under Marshal Ferencz Gyulai.
It took place near the town of Magenta in the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia, a crown land of the Austrian Empire, on 4 June 1859. Napoleon III's army crossed the Ticino River and outflanked the Austrian right forcing the Austrian army under Gyulai to retreat. The confined nature of the country, a vast spread of orchards cut up by streams and irrigation canals, precluded elaborate manoeuvre. The Austrians turned every house into a miniature fortress. The brunt of the fighting was borne by 5,000 grenadiers of the French Imperial Guard, still mostly in their First Empire style of uniforms. The battle of Magenta was not a particularly large battle, but it was a decisive victory for the Franco-Sardinian alliance. Patrice de MacMahon was created Duc de Magenta for his role in this battle, and would later go on to serve as President of the French Third Republic.
LA CAMPAGNE D'ITALIE DE 1859. CHRONIQUES DE LA GUERRE. Par le Baron de BAZANCOURT, appele par ordre de L'Empereur a la armee d'Italie. avec le plan du champ de bataille Magenta
Review published by the New York times on April 17, 1860
This work has just been completed It is a complete, clear, and admirable history of the Italian campaign of last year, -- written with special regard to military accuracy, and yet with great spirit and literary ability. It is by far the best history of this remarkable chapter of current events which has yet been written. The author in his preface disavows all pretensions to write a history, -- and professes to give merely a report of events, leaving the estimate of their importance, and their bearings upon the fortunes of the several countries most directly interested, to be made by others. He aims solely to rehearse incidents, -- to "present those great military exploits still fresh and alive with the noble emotion of the engagement, -- to trace the living drama on the fields of battle, -- to accompany, day by day, hour by hour, step by step, those intrepid battalions thrown so suddenly upon the field of battle in the name of the holiest of causes." He has performed his task with fidelity and ability, and claims as its special merit that he has not made a single statement without having for it the most unquestionable authority. Indeed, he has introduced throughout citations from official documents, and has collected in the appendix all the dispatches relating to the war.
New York Times April 17, 1860
------------------------------------------------------------------
The Battle; An overwhelming majority of the French-Piedmontese coalition soldiers were French (1,100 were Piedmontese and 58,000 were French).
The Battle of Magenta was fought on 4 June 1859 during the Second Italian War of Independence, resulting in a French-Sardinian victory under Napoleon III against the Austrians under Marshal Ferencz Gyulai.
It took place near the town of Magenta in the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia, a crown land of the Austrian Empire, on 4 June 1859. Napoleon III's army crossed the Ticino River and outflanked the Austrian right forcing the Austrian army under Gyulai to retreat. The confined nature of the country, a vast spread of orchards cut up by streams and irrigation canals, precluded elaborate manoeuvre. The Austrians turned every house into a miniature fortress. The brunt of the fighting was borne by 5,000 grenadiers of the French Imperial Guard, still mostly in their First Empire style of uniforms. The battle of Magenta was not a particularly large battle, but it was a decisive victory for the Franco-Sardinian alliance. Patrice de MacMahon was created Duc de Magenta for his role in this battle, and would later go on to serve as President of the French Third Republic.
read more
165.00 GBP
'The Beasts of Tarzan', First Edition, By Edgar Rice Burroughs -A.L.Burt & Co, New York, 1916. With Illustrations by J. Allen St. John, Bound In Full Green Morocco Leather, With Gold Tooling by Sangorski & Sutcliffe for Asprey of Bond St.London
Edgar Rice Burroughs - The Beasts of Tarzan, w/ Illustrations by J. Allen St. John, first edition, A.L.Burt & Co, New York, 1916, rebound in full green morocco by Sangorski & Sutcliffe. Overall in excellent condition.
The Beasts of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs is a must-read for all literature and fiction enthusiasts. This original 1916 first edition hardcover book is a collector's item with special attributes that make it unique. It takes readers on a thrilling adventure with the iconic character Tarzan in North America, filled with action and suspense. The publisher A L Burt has done a fantastic job printing this book in English, and it's a great addition to any collection.
The story begins a year after the conclusion of the previous book, Tarzan (Lord Greystoke) and Jane have had a son, whom they have named Jack. Tarzan has spent much time building an estate home on the Waziri lands in Uziri, Africa, but has returned to his ancestral estate in London for the rainy season.
Tarzan's adversaries from the previous novel, Nikolas Rokoff and Alexis Paulvitch, escape prison and kidnap the Greystoke heir. Their trap is elaborate and insidious, leading both Tarzan and Jane to be kidnapped as well. Rokoff exiles Tarzan on a jungle island, informing him that Jack will be left with a cannibal tribe to be raised as one of their own, while Jane's fate is to be left to his imagination.
Using his jungle skill and primal intelligence, Tarzan wins the help of Sheeta, the vicious panther, a tribe of great apes led by the intelligent Akut, and a native warrior, Mugambi. With their aid, Tarzan reaches the mainland and begins a lengthy pursuit to find Jane (who is actively engineering her own extrication) and Jack.
Sangorski & Sutcliffe is a firm of bookbinders established in London in 1901. It is considered to be one of the most important bookbinding companies of the 20th century, famous for its luxurious jeweled bindings that used real gold and precious stones in their book covers.
Sangorski & Sutcliffe was established by Francis Sangorski (1875–1912) and George Sutcliffe (1878–1943). They had met in 1896 at a bookbinding evening class taught by Douglas Cockerell at the London County Council's Central School of Arts and Crafts.
In 1898, Sangorski and Sutcliffe each won one of the ten annual craft scholarship awards, giving them £20 a year for three years to continue their training as apprentice bookbinders. They were employed at Cockerell's own bindery, and began to teach bookbinding at Camberwell College of Art. They were laid off in 1901 after a coal strike caused an economic slump, and they decided to set up on their own in a rented attic in Bloomsbury, starting on 1 October 1901. They soon moved to Vernon Place, and then, in 1905, to Southampton Row.
Sangorski's elder brother, Alberto Sangorski (1862–1932),1 worked for the firm. He became an accomplished calligrapher and illuminator, working for Rivière from 1910.
They quickly revived the art of jewelled bookbindings, decorating their sumptuous multi-colour leather book bindings with gold inlay and precious and semi-precious jewels. They were commissioned to create a most luxurious binding of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, the front cover of which was adorned with three golden peacocks with jewelled tails and surrounded by heavily tooled and gilded vines, that was sent on the ill-fated RMS Titanic in 1912. The book, known as the Great Omar, sank with the ship and has not been recovered. Shortly afterwards, Sangorski drowned.
Sutcliffe continued the firm, which became recognised as one of the leading bookbinders in London. The bindery moved to Poland Street, and managed to survive through the First World War, the Great Depression, the Second World War, and post-war austerity. It also created miniature books for Queen Mary's Dolls' House. read more
795.00 GBP
A Fabulous Set of The Rifle Brigade Chronicle, Only The Second Near Complete Set We Have Had in 10 Years, Yearbooks Over 300 Available. Priced Per Volume!
A unique set of original regimental year books published during the past 120 years for and on behalf of the officers and men of the rifle Brigade. Over 300 copies are remaining, bound in regimental green cloth, up to 1967, and containing unique and hard to find information on the Rifle Brigade from the past century. One has a very special reference being supplied by Buckingham Palace sold seperately
For example;
The Rifle Brigade Chronicle for 1916 (Twenty-Seventh Year) compiled and edited by Colonel Willoughby Verner (London...
Title: The Rifle Brigade Chronicle for various years
Author: Colonel Willoughby Verner
Edition: 1st edition
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: John Bale, Sons & Danielsson
Date published: various
====
THE RIFLE BRIGADE CHRONICLE FOR 1938 (FORTY-NINTH YEAR). Hardcover – 1 Jan. 1939
by Major H. G. (edit). Parkyn (Author)
=====
THE RIFLE BRIGADE CHRONICLE
Published by The Rifle Brigade Club and Association, Peninsula Barracks., Winchester (1965)
Buyers may email first direct to enquire for their preferred year, although we have duplicates of years some years are lacking. Some years contain the only known surviving records of the names of the men that served in the regiment. The last set we had, was originally over 400 volumes, all the years of editions published, and 5 original copies per year. read more
28.00 GBP
After Waterloo By Frye Beautiful Leather and Gold Tooled Volume Published 1908
beautiful leather binding with gold tooling. bearing the ex libris label with family crest of its owner Cecil E Byas, reknown collector who died in 1938, and part of his collection was bequethed to the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge.
Printed on handmade paper. The account by British Army major W E Frye of his travels around Europe in the aftermath of the Battle of Waterloo. As well as giving his opinions on the various European towns and cities he passes through, he vividly describes European culture in the early 19th Century, with detailed accounts of the Theatre, Opera and the Arts in France, Italy & Switzerland in particular. His experiences of post-Waterloo Europe left him with an generally positive view of Napoleon and the book gives an interesting insight into the contemporary opinions of the French leader and his effect on Continental Europe. read more
120.00 GBP
Sapper Cyril McNeile – Bull-Dog Drummond – 1st Edition Hodder & Stroughton, First UK Edition 1920 Rebound Green Morocco by Sangorski & Sutcliffe
Sapper Cyril McNeile – Bull-Dog Drummond – First UK Edition 1920
A first edition, first printing published by Hodder and Stoughton in 1920. Rare first Bull-Dog Drummond novel.
Bull-dog Drummond (later Bulldog Drummond) was the first Bulldog Drummond novel, written by H. C. McNeile under the pen name Sapper. Following serialisation in Hutchinson's Story Magazine from September 1919 to July 1920 under the title "Bull-Dog Drummond, D.S.O., M.C.", the book was published in 1920. The book included a Prologue that was absent from the serialisation. In 1921 it was adapted into a play of the same title starring Gerald du Maurier. In 1929, the book was adapted into a film of the same name starring Ronald Coleman.
Plot
The novel begins with ex-British Army Captain Hugh "Bulldog" Drummond, DSO, MC, a wealthy former World War I officer of the Loamshire Regiment, dashing and strong, but not handsome, placing an advertisement in The Times stating his desire for an adventure. He receives a reply from a young woman, concerned about some business acquaintances of her father. It turns out that her father is being blackmailed by archvillain Carl Peterson who is attempting to organise a coup d'état to enable a pro-communist takeover of Britain. This is being done for financial gain as Peterson is being paid by wealthy foreigners who will profit from this.
Drummond is captured several times, and manages to escape several times, before eventually defeating Peterson and his henchmen, with the aid of ex-army friends.
Sapper was the pseudonym of Herman Cyril McNeile, whose father was Malcolm McNeile, a Captain in the Royal Navy and, at who was at the time, governor of the naval prison at Bodmin, the town where Herman was born.
McNeile was educated at Cheltenham College and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich and was commissioned into the Royal Engineers in 1907. He went to France in 1914 when World War I broke out and he saw action at both the First and the Second Battle of Ypres where he displayed considerable bravery, was awarded the Military Cross and was mentioned in dispatches.
His first known published work was a series of short war stories based on his own experiences, and published under the name 'Sapper' in the Daily Mail and in the magazine 'The War Illustrated'.
These stories were immediately successful and later sold over 200,000 copies within a year when subsequently republished in book-form. His realistic writing proved most popular at a time of great stress and Lord Northcliff, the owner of the Daily Mail who recognised his talent, was so impressed by that he attempted, but failed, to have McNeile released from the army so he could work as a war correspondent.
After the War was over, in 1919, McNeile resigned from the army with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and became a full-time author, publishing his first novel, Mufti, in that year.
In 1922, he moved to Sussex and lived there for the rest of his life, having married Peggy Baird-Douglas with whom he had two sons.
He began the series for which he now best remembered, that of Hugh 'Bulldog' Drummond in 1920 and thereafter he wrote 10 novels featuring his eponymous hero. The public took to Drummond and McNeile had great financial success.
The first book was adapted for the stage and produced, to great success, at Wyndham's Theatre during the 1921-1922 season with Gerald du Maurier playing the main character. Films followed and the first talkie BullDog Drummond film in 1922 was reputed to have earned McNeile the vast sum of $750,000. There were 26 films made of his books.
As well as Drummond, he wrote about Ronald Standish but the majority of his work was short stories that were published in various popular monthly magazines and continued to earn him good money. Indeed, in addition to his novels, many of his books were short story collections.
He was reputedly an unremittingly hearty man, who even his good friend and collaborator Gerard Fairlie, who continued the Drummond series after McNeile's death with seven further books, described as "not everybody's cup of tea". He died on August 14, 1937 at his home in Pulborough, West Sussex.
His funeral, with full military honours, took place at Woking crematorium.
Sangorski & Sutcliffe is a firm of bookbinders established in London in 1901. It is considered to be one of the most important bookbinding companies of the 20th century, famous for its luxurious jeweled bindings that used real gold and precious stones in their book covers.
Sangorski & Sutcliffe was established by Francis Sangorski (1875–1912) and George Sutcliffe (1878–1943). They had met in 1896 at a bookbinding evening class taught by Douglas Cockerell at the London County Council's Central School of Arts and Crafts.
In 1898, Sangorski and Sutcliffe each won one of the ten annual craft scholarship awards, giving them £20 a year for three years to continue their training as apprentice bookbinders. They were employed at Cockerell's own bindery, and began to teach bookbinding at Camberwell College of Art. They were laid off in 1901 after a coal strike caused an economic slump, and they decided to set up on their own in a rented attic in Bloomsbury, starting on 1 October 1901. They soon moved to Vernon Place, and then, in 1905, to Southampton Row.
Sangorski's elder brother, Alberto Sangorski (1862–1932),1 worked for the firm. He became an accomplished calligrapher and illuminator, working for Rivière from 1910.
They quickly revived the art of jewelled bookbindings, decorating their sumptuous multi-colour leather book bindings with gold inlay and precious and semi-precious jewels. They were commissioned to create a most luxurious binding of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, the front cover of which was adorned with three golden peacocks with jewelled tails and surrounded by heavily tooled and gilded vines, that was sent on the ill-fated RMS Titanic in 1912. The book, known as the Great Omar, sank with the ship and has not been recovered. Shortly afterwards, Sangorski drowned.
Sutcliffe continued the firm, which became recognised as one of the leading bookbinders in London. The bindery moved to Poland Street, and managed to survive through the First World War, the Great Depression, the Second World War, and post-war austerity. It also created miniature books for Queen Mary's Dolls' House
THE LANES ARMOURY, THE PREMIER HOME OF ORIGINAL AND AFFORDABLE ANCIENT ANTIQUITIES , MILITARY ARMOURY ANTIQUES & COLLECTABLES IN BRITAIN read more
545.00 GBP
Two Original Medieval Pages From Sir John Froissart's Chronicles Of France Printed in 1495, of the 14th Century, From The Printing Personally Ordered By King Henry VIIth Of England.
Two original loose pages from the original medieval 1495 printed book, mounted and bound in folio form, within cloth hard back binding with gold titles, 13 x 9 inches. Original medieval pages taken from the book printed in Paris in 1495 by Verrard. This particular printing [that these pages came from] was personally ordered in book form by King Henry VIIth of England from Anthoine Verard in Paris, and his copy now resides in the British Museum. Froissart's Chronicles were initially in manuscript form with fine illustration but were first transformed in to book form in Paris in 1495. Full and complete copies of this book, published by Anthoine Verard in 1495, and as was ordered by King Henry, can now achieve six figure sums. Froissart might be called the great interviewer of the Middle Ages. The newspaper correspondent of modern times has scarcely surpassed this medieval collector of intelligence. He traveled extensively in the various countries of Europe; he conversed with gentlemen of rank everywhere; and he had the remarkable knack of persuading those about him to divulge all he wanted to know. He learned the details of battles from both sides and from every point of view. He delighted in the minutest affairs of every cavalry skirmish, of the capture of every castle, and of every brave action and gallant deed. He lived from 1337 to about 1410, and wrote chiefly of contemporaneous events. The Chronicles are universally considered as the most vivid and faithful picture we have of events in the 14th century. As a picture of the most favorable side of chivalry, the work has no equal (Adams, Manual of Historical Literature, 334-35). There has never been any difference of opinion on the distinctive merits of this great work. It presents a vivid and faithful drawing of the things done in the 14th-century. No more graphic account exists of any age. No historian has drawn so many and such faithful portraits? (Britannica). The Chronicles were originally circulated in manuscript form, with the first printed version appearing around 1498 in Paris. Froissart was one of the greatest of the medieval European writers. In his own century, -the fourteenth it is not easy to see anyone who can be put beside him as a prose-writer. But the literary language of the day was still predominantly verse, and prose was still regarded as something of a utility medium. Because
of this and because Froissart is known principally for his descriptions of warfare - the greatest and most famous chronicle of French and English medieval history. Jean Froissart (1338-C.1410) is the supreme annalist of medieval chivalry, historian, poet, traveller, friend of Chaucer, and by far the most entertaining source for our knowledge of the Hundred Years’ War. It is as much a profane romance as a history book. It is filled with delightful stories and adventures reported first-hand.
Froissart was born in Valenciennes. At the age of 18 he came to England where he entered the service of Queen Philippa of Hainaut, acting as her secretary and private diplomat. In 1366 he set off again on his long travels, settling for a time in the Duchy of Brabant. Much of his great chronicle was probably written in his home town of Valenciennes, and he continued it over his life to the events after the murder of Richard II in 1399.
Froissart began writing Book I sometime after 1370, possibly at the request of Robert de Namur, to whom the earliest version was dedicated. It covers the period from 1322 to 1377, including the accession of Edward III, his campaign in Scotland and his marriage to Philippa of Hainault, the battle of Sluys, the Siege of Tournai, the Breton war of succession, the Battle of Crécy, the Siege of Calais, the battle of Neville’s Cross, the battle of Winchelsea, the battle of Poitiers, Etienne Marcel’s merchant revolt in Paris, the Black Prince’s campaigns in the south of France, the peace of Brétigny, the death of king John II of France, the battle of Cocherel, the battle of Auray, the Castilian Civil War, the battle of Chizé, the deaths of the Black Prince and Edward III and the accession of Richard III. We show in the gallery three hand coloured illustrations that have been used to illustrate the various versions of his works in manuscripts or books. One shows the execution of Hugh the Younger Despenser. read more
795.00 GBP