Books

An Absolutely Perfect Discerning Collectors Piece, by Charles Dickens. A Fabulous 3 Volume Charles Dickens Ist Edition, The Old Curiosity Shop & Barnaby Rudge, In, Master Humphrey's Clock. London: Chapman and Hall, 1840-41,

Alongside A Christmas Carol, the Old Curiosity Shop ranks as a true iconic tale of Victorian England, and ideal for the Christmas season.

Could one imagine anything better than settling down to read, or better still, to be read to, over a few cosy candle lit nights, a succession of Dicken’s short stories. These are the very first, original volumes, that were read at the very same time, in the very same same way, but some two centuries ago in Victorian England, and likely, dozens of times subsequently since by their various, most fortunate owners.

First edition of this collection of short stories. Large octavo, 3 volumes bound in red half morocco over marbled boards with gilt tooling to the spine in five compartments within raised gilt bands, morocco spine labels lettered in gilt, top edge gilt, marbled endpapers, engraved frontispiece to each volume, illustrated by George Cattermole and Hablot Browne. In very good condition.

Master Humphrey's Clock was a weekly serial that contained both short stories and two novels (The Old Curiosity Shop and Barnaby Rudge). Some of the short stories act as frame stories to the novels so the ordering of publication is important. Although Dickens' original artistic intent was to keep the short stories and the novels together, he himself cancelled Master Humphrey's Clock before 1848, and described in a preface to The Old Curiosity Shop that he wished the story to not be tied down to the miscellany it began within. Most later anthologies published the short stories and the novels separately. However, the short stories and the novels were published in 1840 in three bound volumes under the title Master Humphrey's Clock, which retains the full and correct ordering of texts as they originally appeared.

First edition in book form of what Gordon Ray describes as "the pinnacle of Dickensian Gothic". He goes on to note that Phiz (H. K. Browne) "is in excellent form" and that George Cattermole's "wonderful clutter of antiquarian or architectural detail is well suited to Dickens's chosen subjects".

Master Humphrey was a publishing experiment on Dickens's part, unique in his canon, of issuing two novels together: The Old Curiosity Shop and Barnaby Rudge.

3 volumes, large octavo (256 x 173 mm). Contemporary red half morocco, marbled sides ruled in gilt, spines lettered, ruled, and tooled in gilt, marbled endpapers, top edges gilt, green silk bookmarkers.

Printed frontispieces and 194 woodcut illustrations, of which 154 are by Browne, 19 by Cattermole, and 1 by Daniel Maclise.

Covers rubbed, slight rubbing and wear to extremities, vol. I front joint split at foot but remains firm, light foxing to margins, small marks to a few pages, generally bright. A superb set.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Eckel, p. 67 ff; Ray, The Illustrator and the Book in England from 1790 to 1914, 60; Smith I, 6.  read more

Code: 24092

1st Edition James Bond, Man with the Golden Gun, by Ian Fleming

London: Jonathan Cape 1965. 1st Edition 1st Impression. Flemings 12th outing for Commander Bond. Minor spotting as to be expected. With dust jacket. Cover artist Richard Chopping (Jonathan Cape ed.). The Man with the Golden Gun is the twelfth novel (and thirteenth book) of Ian Fleming's James Bond series. It was first published by Jonathan Cape in the UK on 1 April 1965, eight months after the author's death. The novel was not as detailed or polished as the others in the series, leading to poor but polite reviews. Despite that, the book was a best-seller.

The story centres on the fictional British Secret Service operative James Bond, who had been posted missing, presumed dead, after his last mission in Japan. Bond returns to England via the Soviet Union, where he had been brainwashed to attempt to assassinate his superior, M. After being "cured" by the MI6 doctors, Bond is sent to the Caribbean to find and kill Francisco Scaramanga, the titular "Man with the Golden Gun".

The first draft and part of the editing process was completed before Fleming's death and the manuscript had passed through the hands of his copy editor, William Plomer, but it was not as polished as other Bond stories. Much of the detail contained in the previous novels was missing, as this was often added by Fleming in the second draft. Publishers Jonathan Cape passed the manuscript to Kingsley Amis for his thoughts and advice on the story, although his suggestions were not subsequently used.

The novel was serialised in 1965, firstly in the Daily Express and then in Playboy; in 1966 a daily comic strip adaptation was also published in the Daily Express. In 1974 the book was loosely adapted as the ninth film in the Eon Productions James Bond series, with Roger Moore playing Bond and Fleming's cousin, Christopher Lee, as Scaramanga.
The Man with the Golden Gun film was filmed in 1974 the ninth film entry in the James Bond series and the second to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. A loose adaptation of Ian Fleming's novel of the same name, the film has Bond sent after the Solex Agitator, a device that can harness the power of the sun, while facing the assassin Francisco Scaramanga, the "Man with the Golden Gun". The action culminates in a duel between them that settles the fate of the Solex.

The Man with the Golden Gun was the fourth and final film in the series directed by Guy Hamilton. The script was written by Richard Maibaum and Tom Mankiewicz. The film was set in the face of the 1973 energy crisis, a dominant theme in the script. Britain had still not yet fully overcome the crisis when the film was released in December 1974. The film also reflects the then popular martial arts film craze, with several kung fu scenes and a predominantly Asian location, being set and shot in Thailand, Hong Kong, and Macau. Part of the film is also set in Beirut, Lebanon, but it was not shot there. Ian Fleming wrote The Man with the Golden Gun at his Goldeneye estate in Jamaica in January and February 1964, completing it by the beginning of March. His health affected him badly during the writing process and he dropped from his usual rate of two thousand words a morning to a little over an hour's worth of work a day.

As with his previous novels, Fleming used events from his past as elements in his novel. Whilst at Kitzbuhel in the 1930s, Fleming's car, a Standard Tourer, had been struck by a train at a level crossing and he had been dragged fifty yards down the track. From that time on he had associated trains with death, which led to their use as a plot device not just in The Man with the Golden Gun, but also in Diamonds Are Forever and From Russia, with Love. To show just how much all things original Bond are appreciated in the world of collectors the Walther pistol used by Connery in the poster of From Russia With Love, in 1963, and also drawn in the man With The Golden Gun poster [as shown here] an air pistol, .177 (4.5mm) Walther 'LP MOD.53' Air Pistol, Serial No. 054159, was sold by Christies in 2010 with an estimate of £15,000 to £20,000 for an incredible £277,000. Incredible in that it was never actually used in the film, was an air pistol, not a real automatic, and only used in promotional posters. It was 'said' to have been used by accident in fact as they couldn't find a correct Walther PPK on the day of the photoshoot.  read more

Code: 22632

A Perfect, Very Special Gift Choice. The Collected Ghost Stories of M. R. James Published in 1931, Printed in 1949 Edward Arnold & Co London

Probably the very finest book of ingenious yet disturbing ghost stories ever written.
Montague Rhodes James, who used the publication name M.R. James, was a noted British mediaeval scholar & provost of King's College, Cambridge (1905–18) & of Eton College (1918–36). He's best remembered for his ghost stories which are widely regarded as among the finest in English literature. One of James' most important achievements was to redefine the ghost story for the new century by dispensing with many of the formal Gothic trappings of his predecessors, replacing them with more realistic contemporary settings.
the stories contained are;
"Canon Alberic's Scrap-Book"
"Lost Hearts"
"The Mezzotint"
"The Ash Tree"
"Number 13"
"Count Magnus"
"'Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad'"
"The Treasure of Abbot Thomas"
"A School Story"
"The Rose Garden"
"The Tractate Middoth"
"Casting the Runes"
"The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral"
"Martin's Close"
"Mr Humphreys and His Inheritance"
"The Residence at Whitminster"
"The Diary of Mr Poynter"
"An Episode of Cathedral History"
"The Story of a Disappearance and an Appearance"
"Two Doctors"
"The Haunted Dolls' House"
"The Uncommon Prayer-Book"
"A Neighbour's Landmark"
"A View from a Hill"
"A Warning to the Curious"
"An Evening's Entertainment"
"Wailing Well"
"There Was a Man Dwelt by a Churchyard"
"Rats"
"After Dark in the Playing Fields"
plus " Stories i have tried to write"

According to James, the story must "put the reader into the position of saying to himself, 'If I'm not very careful, something of this kind may happen to me!'" He also perfected the technique of narrating supernatural events through implication and suggestion, letting his reader fill in the blanks, and focusing on the mundane details of his settings and characters in order to throw the horrific and bizarre elements into greater relief. He summed up his approach in his foreword to the anthology Ghosts and Marvels: "Two ingredients most valuable in the concocting of a ghost story are, to me, the atmosphere and the nicely managed crescendo. ... Let us, then, be introduced to the actors in a placid way; let us see them going about their ordinary business, undisturbed by forebodings, pleased with their surroundings; and into this calm environment let the ominous thing put out its head, unobtrusively at first, and then more insistently, until it holds the stage."

He also noted: "Another requisite, in my opinion, is that the ghost should be malevolent or odious: amiable and helpful apparitions are all very well in fairy tales or in local legends, but I have no use for them in a fictitious ghost story."

Despite his suggestion (in the essay "Stories I Have Tried to Write") that writers employ reticence in their work, many of James's tales depict scenes and images of savage and often disturbing violence. For example, in "Lost Hearts", pubescent children are taken in by a sinister dabbler in the occult who cuts their hearts from their still-living bodies. In a 1929 essay, James stated:

Reticence may be an elderly doctrine to preach, yet from the artistic point of view, I am sure it is a sound one. Reticence conduces to effect, blatancy ruins it, and there is much blatancy in a lot of recent stories. They drag in sex too, which is a fatal mistake; sex is tiresome enough in the novels; in a ghost story, or as the backbone of a ghost story, I have no patience with it. At the same time don't let us be mild and drab. Malevolence and terror, the glare of evil faces, 'the stony grin of unearthly malice', pursuing forms in darkness, and 'long-drawn, distant screams', are all in place, and so is a modicum of blood, shed with deliberation and carefully husbanded; the weltering and wallowing that I too often encounter merely recall the methods of M G Lewis.
The condition overall is good with commensurate wear for age, with its original paper slip cover, although the original slip cover does have a tear and a small section over the spine lacking. It bears the original 1949 owners name on the inner blank page.  read more

Code: 23812

A Unique Leaf From The Published Work of Nicolas Jenson Printed in 1472

A single original surviving leaf from one of the earliest and rarest books ever printed. A complete volume of this work, if were ever to be on the open market could be worth well over a million pounds. Nicolas Jensen, who is roundly considered one of history?s greatest printers and typographers, turned out beautiful volumes from his Venetian workshop in the 15th century. There is a similar leaf from Diogenes Laertius, Lives of the Philosophers by the Jensen Press, 1475. In resides in the Salisbury House Permanent Collection. A great and incredibly rare treasure from the very earliest days of printed text, with original handwritten annotations. This is a Folio. 6pp plus and original unique leaf from Ambrosius Aurelius Theodosius Macrobius's "In Somnium Scipionis Exposito". In Publisher's wrappers. 1 of only 73 ever published folio's that contained an original unique leaf from the master's great work of 1472. In very good condition. In The Manual Of Linotype Typography, the folio containing the rare single leaf was published in 1923, he clearly regarded him as one of the three greatest master printers of all time, alongside Gutenberg and Aldus. To own an original unique piece of Jenson's work, with annotations may be considered by some as one of the greatest privileges afforded to admirers of the printed word. An entire volume would be priceless, or at the least exceeding a million pounds or considerably more. Some hypothesize that Jenson studied under the tutelage of Gutenberg, the man who printed the rarest and most valuable book of all time, the Gutenberg or Mazarin Bible [one was apparently lost on the Titanic]. Jenson worked before the greatest English printer, the legendary William Caxton, and the very first book ever to be printed in English by Caxton was in 1473, "Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye" Jenson's story; In October 1458, while acting as Master of the French Royal Mint, Jenson was sent to Mainz, by King Charles VII, to study the art of metal movable type. Jenson then went to Mainz to study printing under Johannes Gutenberg. In 1470 he opened a printing shop in Venice, and, in the first work he produced, the printed roman lowercase letter took on the proportions, shapes, and arrangements that marked its transition from an imitation of handwriting to the style that has remained in use throughout subsequent centuries of printing. Jenson also designed Greek-style type and black-letter type. By 1472, Jenson had only been printing for two years. Even so, his roman type quickly became the model for what later came to be called Venetian oldstyle and was widely imitated. Though Jenson's type was soon superceded in popularity by those of Aldus and Garamond, it was revived again by William Morris in the late 19th century and became the model of choice for a number of private press printers.

Twentieth century commercial interpretations include Centaur and Cloister lightface, and most recently, ITC Legacy and Adobe Jenson. The books of Johann and Wendelin de Spira were printed with a new fount, a roman
type; this was a style of type that is familiar to the present day, but was at the time a radical innovation. A year later, in 1470, a new, slightly lighter and more elegant version appeared in books with a new imprint, that of Nicolas Jenson. In the colophons of books
printed from 1470 his name appears along with praise for his typographical skills. It is here that we see for the first time statements that leave no room for doubt. Jenson hasrightly become famous as the designer and cutter of the punches for the new roman typefaces as well as other founts that for a long time were the standard for legal and
theological works. Confirmation of his status as typographer is found in his last will and testament, written in 1480, where he made careful dispositions for what should be done
with his punches, the tangible results of a life?s experience and work that he wished to be protected. All these circumstances together lead to the notion that it was Jenson who improved the production of movable type by cutting excellent punches, a skill that he
had brought from the traditions of the Mint in Paris, and that he may first have applied inMainz to the long-lasting types used by Fust and Schoeffer.It is only in the last ten years of his life that Nicolas Jenson abandoned his anonymity,
and became prominent as a printer of magnificent books. Executed in sober, almost sculptural layouts they became models for centuries of printing. A famous example is the monumental edition of Pliny?s classical encyclopaedic work, his Historia naturalis, published by Jenson in 1472. An Italian translation, also published by Jenson, appeared in 1476 . The translation and printing were commissioned by the Florentine merchant Girolamo Strozzi, who also took care of the marketing.
Following in the tradition of Thomas Jefferson, whose library contained numerous works on European history, politics, and culture, the Library of Congress has many comprehensive European collections. The rarest of these works come to the Rare Book and Special Collections Division.
A special category of the division's European holdings is its collection of incunabula--books printed before 1501. Printed during the first decades of printing with movable type, these very rare and valuable books cover the whole spectrum of classical, medieval, and Renaissance knowledge and represent many of the highlights of the division's European materials. Over its nearly two-hundred-year history the Library of Congress has collected nearly 5,700 fifteenth-century books, the largest collection of incunabula in the western hemisphere. When Congress originally established its Library in 1800 and saw its collections destroyed by fire in 1814, it had no fifteenth-century books. Neither did the collection that Thomas Jefferson sold to Congress in 1815. This is not surprising because the books in the first Library served the need for general literature, and Jefferson primarily collected modern, scholarly editions in handy formats.

For the first fifty years or so after the acquisition of Jefferson's collection, the Library acquired incunabula very sparingly. The 1839 Catalogue of the Library of Congress lists only 2 incunabula: the Chronecken der Sassen (Mainz: Peter Schoeffer, 6 March 1492) and Ranulphus Hidgen's Polychronicon (Westminster: Wynkyn de Worde, 13 April 1495). The earliest incunabulum with a recorded date of acquisition is a 1478 edition of Astesanus de Ast's Summa de casibus conscientiae (Venice: Johannes de Colonia and Johannes Manthen, 18 March 1478).
The date that marks the real beginning of the incunabula collection at the Library of Congress is April 6, 1867, when the last shipment of Peter Force's library was received at the Capitol. His personal library held approximately 22,500 volumes, including 161 incunabula. The collection had some important books. The earliest imprint was Clement V's Constitutiones (Mainz: Peter Schoeffer, 8 October 1467); also included were a copy of Hartmann Schedel's Liber chronicarum (Nuremberg: Anton Koberger, 12 July 1493) and Jenson's printing of Pliny's Historia naturalis (Venice: Nicolaus Jenson, 1472).
Gutenberg, Aldus and Jenson  read more

Code: 22403

The Lanes Armoury, Antiquarian & Specialist Book Dept. Many Thousands of Books in Stock, Most with a Military & Historical Flavour, Plus, Rare First Editions, Incunabula, Late Medieval Books or Illuminated Pages from Ancient Prayer Books

Just a tiny proportion can seen on our website to buy online, as we have many thousands of books to choose from, and as they are our largest individual selling item, they come and go so fast that individual listing is simply too impractical sadly. If you require a military, or historical book, either antique or modern, please email a request, stating; title, author, and publisher [if known].

Large quantity book purchases [over 30 volumes] can attract discounts wherever possible. We specialise almost entirely in hardbacks, but also military or wartime magazines and journals, both for reference or the study, plus 'coffee table' books.

We also specialise in rare, 1st editions, late medieval books, incunabula and individual illuminated manuscripts, from such as a book of hours etc.

In the past year we were delighted to find for a collector a most rare special edition volume we have been seeking for him for around 10 years. He had been looking for 20 years, had seen two, the last in Edinburgh around 9 years ago, the other at Bonhams Auctioneers in 2012 [that sold for a shade over £50,000 gbp] but neither were quite suitable to his needs.
It was a most rare complete copy of the "Cranwell" 1926 edition of The Seven Pillars of Wisdom. by T.E.Lawrence

The book, signed by Lawrence, was an absolute gem

The Seven Pillars of Wisdom - T. E. Lawrence's famous recount of his role in the Arab Revolt of 1916 - 18, was first printed in the enormously rare "Oxford" edition in 1922. Only eight copies were printed. Lawrence then reworked the text over the next few years, aided by critical commentary from E. M Forster.

In 1926, Lawrence again took The Seven Pillars of Wisdom to print, this time as part of the "Cranwell" edition, privately printed for subscribers. Of the 211 copies printed, 32 were intentionally left incomplete, 170 were complete, lacking three plates, as gifts to the men who had served with Lawrence in Arabia.

The so-called 'Subscribers' Edition—in a limited print run of about 200 copies, each with a unique, sumptuous, hand-crafted binding—was published in late 1926, with the subtitle A Triumph. It was printed in London by Roy Manning Pike and Herbert John Hodgson, with illustrations by Eric Kennington, Augustus John, Paul Nash, Blair Hughes-Stanton and his wife Gertrude Hermes. Copies occasionally become available in the antiquarian trade outside of the UK and can easily command prices of up to US$100,000. Unfortunately, each copy cost Lawrence three times the thirty guineas the subscribers had paid

An advertisement for the 1935 edition quotes Churchill as saying "It ranks with the greatest books ever written in the English language. As a narrative of war and adventure it is unsurpassable."  read more

Code: 15503

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

Code: 23765

Owned by the Earl of Portsmouth, Two Large and Beautiful Volumes,The History of the Life of King Henry IInd.

And of the age in which he lived, in five books,: to which is prefixed, a history of the revolutions of England from the death of Edward the Confessor to the birth of Henry the Second / by George Lord Lyttelton Printed for W. Sandby and J. Dodsley, 1767 [second printing] 2 impressive and original leather bound volumes, from the personal library of the Earl of Portsmouth. Three books of the set are contained in these two, beautiful, large volumes. George Lyttelton, studied at Eton (1725) and Oxford (1726) before touring the Continent (1728-31) before becoming intimate with Pope's circle at Twickenham. He was secretary to the Prince of Wales (1732-44), member of Parliament from Okehampton (1735-56); succeeded as 5th baron Lyttleton 1751, and was lord of the treasury (1744-54) and Chancellor of the Exchequer (1755-56). As an opposition politician, Lyttleton was allied to the Prince of Wales; as a poet he was associated with his near-neighbor at Hagley Park, William Shenstone.

His life was detailed by Samuel Johnson's Lives of the Poets series, published in 3 volumes between 1779 and 1781. In it Dr Johnson states 'His last literary production was his "History of Henry the Second," elaborated by the searches and deliberations of twenty years, and published with such anxiety as only vanity can dictate. The story of this publication is remarkable. The whole work was printed twice over, a great part of it three times, and many sheets four or five times. The booksellers paid for the first impression; but the changes and repeated operations of the press were at the expense of the author, whose ambitious accuracy is known to have cost him at least a thousand pounds. He began to print in 1755. Three volumes appeared in 1764, a second edition of them in 1767, a third edition in 1768, and the conclusion in 1771.

Andrew Reid, a man not without considerable abilities and not unacquainted with letters or with life, undertook to persuade Lyttelton, as he had persuaded himself, that he was master of the secret of punctuation; and, as fear begets credulity, he was employed, I know not at what price, to point the pages of "Henry the Second." The book was at last pointed and printed, and sent into the world. Lyttelton took money for his copy, of which, when he had paid the pointer, he probably gave the rest away; for he was very liberal to the indigent. When time brought the History to a third edition, Reid was either dead or discarded; and the superintendence of typography and punctuation was committed to a man originally a comb-maker, but then known by the style of Doctor. Something uncommon was probably expected, and something uncommon was at last done; for to the Doctor's edition is appended, what the world had hardly seen before, a list of errors in nineteen pages. Each volume is 11.5 inches x 9.25 inches x 2 inches  read more

Code: 22555

The Lanes Armoury & Bookshop. Military Based Books, Historical, Biographical, Reference, & Fictional. From Ancient to Modern 1st Editions & Autographed. We Are Now The Last, Original, Antique Bookshop in Brighton.

Since the very sad closure, after too many decades to recall, of our friend and colleague’s antique and secondhand bookshop Colin Page, just around the corner in Duke St. we are one of last of our kind, selling antique and modern books locally.
Although, fortunately, there are still just a few new, vintage and as new bookshops [and one comic shop] still remaining. We specialise in Ist Editions by such as Charles Dickens, Winston Churchill, Charles Darwin, John Le Carre, Ian Fleming, and Rudyard Kipling.
With or without dust jackets, autographed copies especially desired. We have £25,000 awaiting for another Signed Ist Edition Charles Dickens Christmas Carol. We regularly stock thousands of books, but as they are our largest individual selling item, many under just £10 to £50, they come and go so fast that individual listing is too impractical. But we do list on this website a good selection of our 1st Editions and specialist books.

If you require a military, or historical book, either antique or modern, please email a request, stating; title, author, and publisher [if known].

Large quantity book purchases [over 30 volumes] can attract discounts wherever possible. We specialise in hardbacks, both for reference or the study of history, and 'coffee table' books. We also specialise in rare medieval books, leaves from the versions of illustrated Book of Hours, signed Ist Editions, autographed books and manuscripts, and Incunabula [ volumes printed before 1501]

During lockdown we offered a unique drop off and sell and drop in and collect no contact service at our farm. It was incredibly popular many driving from as far north as Birmingham. It was easily our most popular trade during those months, showing just how eager those isolated could reward themselves with an ample supply of well needed reading material. Some buying or selling up to 50 books at a time.  read more

Code: 22457

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 : 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 are no engravings or any indication they have been removed.  read more

Code: 21263

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
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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.
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