About the Collection

Author/Genre Blurbs

(listed in order of appearance in vols. 1–3)

AINSWORTH, W. H.

Historical novels found their full flowering in the Victorian period. Many of them were bad, dull and/or inaccurate. That they were popular with the public is attested to by the condition in which they are usually found today. The outstanding authors in the field were Harrison Ainsworth and G. P. R. James. The latter is almost a forgotten writer these days, but he was a great favorite with the early Victorians and his books went into many editions. Much more readable—and still enjoyable—is Ainsworth.

ANONYMOUS

Why so many Victorians hid their identity under a cloak of anonymity and pseudonymity is difficult to say. But that they did has turned many a bibliographer’s hair grey before his time. Here is a small group of “Anons” which have defied identity in Halkett & Laing or any other book of reference.

ARNOLD, MATTHEW

Matthew Arnold, of all the Victorian poets, is surely hard on the heels of those twin giants, Browning and Tennyson, who have for so long led the field. His works are confusing, bibliographically, for he had a habit of reprinting poems in volumes labeled “New Poems,” recasting certain verses in later works, and adding and subtracting them at will throughout the various editions of his poems. His books of verse, which are usually bound in green, tend to fade badly and fine copies are truly difficult to find. In the selection below all are exceptionally nice.

BEARDSLEY, AUBREY

Aubrey Beardsley, whose influence on 20th century book illustration has been—and still is—stupendous, died at the age of 25. During his short working life, harried by Philistines and moralists, he probably produced more work than any other artist in the time allotted him. Below will be found three original drawings by him and a copy of his famous Le Morte D’Arthur in parts. Books about Beardsley will be found in the third part of this catalogue.

BEDE, CUTHBERT

Edward Bradley, better known under his pseudonym of Cuthbert Bede, was an immensely popular humorist in his day. While somewhat dated, like most humor, it is still highly readable. A versatile fellow, he was a practicing parson and not a bad artist, for he illustrated his own works in woodcuts. The “Verdant Green” tales were read to pieces and fine copies are scarce.

BLACKMORE, R. D.

R. D. Blackmore, who is erroneously considered a regional writer like Hardy, suffers from being a one-novel man. Most of us in our youth read Lorna Doone, but who knows his other books? Here is a sampling of them—all in exceptionally fine condition.

BORROW, GEORGE

George Borrow was an eccentric with a remarkable gift for languages (he published in his early thirties a series of translations from no less than 30 tongues). He is remembered chiefly today as the champion of gypsies with whom he was friendly all his life. His books, many of them autobiographical, are consistently interesting and he deserves a wider audience.

BRADDON, M. E.

Mrs. Braddon, the author of that outstanding best-seller of Victorian times, Lady Audley’s Secret, was one of the most prolific and popular novelists of her day. She was the darling of the circulating libraries and her books are usually found in deplorable condition. I count myself lucky to have found acceptable copies of at least four titles and extremely fortunate to find so fine a copy of John Marchmont’s Legacy. Sadleir’s copy was “shabby.”

BRAY, A. E.

Anna Eliza Bray holds the record for longevity among Victorian novelists; she lived into her mid-nineties. She wrote historical tales, mostly about Devon. Professor Robert Lee Wolff, who holds Mrs. Bray in some esteem, has written most entertainingly of her in his Nineteenth Century Fiction (Book Collector, Winter 1965, page 515). Curiously, Sadleir ignored her completely.

BRONTË SISTERS

The Brontes are among the most difficult of Victorian authors to find in cloth. Jane Eyre is present here in a very acceptable copy & Shirley and Villette are in splendid condition. No first edition of Wuthering Heights, alas, but there is a fine copy of the first American which is itself a scarce book. On the title page, incidentally, Emily is described as “the Author of Jane Eyre,” which must have amused or annoyed the girls of Haworth.

BROWNING, ROBERT

Never as popular as Tennyson, Browning ran Victoria’s Poet Laureate a close second. His early works—Pauline, Paracelsus and Sordello—were far too difficult for the general public and it was said that Douglas Jerrold, reading Sordello when ill and understanding none of it, became alarmed that his ailment had unhinged his mind. But with the publication of Bells and Pomegranates (represented here by the author’s own copy) Browning found many admirers. True, his later works lacked inspiration but by that time the poet had become an institution, as enduring in the public’s eye as the Albert Memorial.

A few years ago these later works were common in first editions, but they are no longer easy to come by in fine condition. Here follows, with the exception of the first two books, a virtually complete collection of his major works, mostly in splendid shape.

BURTON, RICHARD

Richard Burton was perhaps the most un-Victorian of men. Stifling in an age of prudery and humbug he lived a hundred years before his time. He has only lately become appreciated. His translations of Camoens’ The Lusiads and lyrics went practically unread, but they were admired by Swinburne to whom the Lyricks is dedicated. Most of his books were printed in small editions and many are very scarce today. I have relegated Burton’s travel books to another section of this catalogue.

BUTLER, SAMUEL

Samuel Butler is all too readily identified as a one-book author. The Way of All Flesh tends to overshadow his other books, many of which are well worth considering. Birrell, an astute critic, thought Erewhon the best satire since Gulliver’s Travels, and Alps and Sanctuaries is still much revered in Italy. Butler was an eccentric both in person and thought. He worked daily at the British Museum, contending that its library was better than his own. He wrote a book to prove that the Odyssey was composed by a woman and another to prove that Shakespeare’s Sonnets were addressed to a man. His work, satirical and biting at times, could be full of humor, and his essays, many published after his death, are cases in point.

COLLINS, WILKIE

Where does one place Wilkie Collins in the hierarchy of English novelists? At spinning plots he was as adept as Dickens, but with the exception of his two masterpieces, which made him the father of the mystery story in England, he is little read today. It is exceedingly difficult to find his first editions in anything like fine condition. The Queen of Hearts is a great rarity and the condition of the copy offered here is beyond reproach. Also, The Woman in White though in contemporary half morocco, is a superb copy.

DICKENS, CHARLES

Bibliographies sometimes backfire on their compilers. A classic example of this is Charles Dickens in Parts by Hatton and Cleaver. The immense amount of detail stressed in the advertisements in each part, the insistence, say, on the presence of a certain advertisement in a certain part or the color of its paper—such minutiae discouraged collectors and they turned to less exacting fields. Actually, the dicta of Messrs. Hatton and Cleaver are conjectural at best, and sometimes downright erroneous.

In this catalogue Dickens’ “in parts” are represented by five major novels. While all of them have many advertisements they do not all necessarily have the ones Hatton and Cleaver call for. Frankly, I have not bothered to check because I feel so strongly how unimportant these are. Textual “points,” however, have been checked. Contrary to common belief, Dickens in monthly parts are, with one or two exceptions, fairly common. They were, in the main, printed in immense editions and, despite the ravages of mice, children and the elements, many still exist today. The reverse is true of Dickens in cloth. Fine first editions in this form are, I venture to say, ten times as rare as those in parts.

It is not true to say that presentation copies of Dickens’ works are rare. Unlike Thackeray, he was generous in giving his books to friends. But in the past few years they have come on the market in ever-decreasing numbers. During the 1966-67 auction season, for instance, in this country and in England, only two appeared for sale, a Nicholas Nickleby to Harrison Ainsworth (1800.00) and a Uncommercial Traveller to George Eliot (1600.00). I consider myself fortunate to be able to list no less than five presentation copies, each of them to a person of some importance in his life.

DOYLE, SIR ARTHUR CONAN

Conan Doyle is the epitome of Victorianism. Though he lived 30 years into the 20th century, he ever remained a walrus-moustached relic of the hansom cab era. He revered womanhood, the British Empire and sportsmanship. Surely Watson is a self-portrait of great fidelity.

Here will be found a representative collection of his first editions, including most of the Sherlock Holmes titles, some autographed, and his very rare historical novel, The White Company.

ELIOT, GEORGE

George Eliot lives still in the shadow of her more publicized literary contemporaries; but the day may come when she will emerge as an equal of the greatest of them. Unlike Dickens or Thackeray she was a realist and wrote as such, and her books flow from an intellectual rather than an emotional source. She may well be called the father—or mother—of the modern novel.

Her books are very difficult to find really fine, which accounts for the rather poor showing here. But the copy of Romola, her scarcest book, is in beautiful condition.

GIBBON, CHARLES

Charles Gibbon, who wrote romantic novels of Scotland, is almost forgotten today. Here is a handful of his three-deckers, all first editions and all but one with warm presentation inscriptions from the author to a Mrs. Rose-Innis. This lady, or more likely her progeny, was not very appreciative of these gifts for at one time they have been left in a damp place; with two exceptions the bindings have suffered, but internally they are uniformly fine. All are 8vo, in original cloth.

GISSING, GEORGE

George Gissing, while not exactly neglected, is a writer of stature who has never been popular. He wrote about unpopular subjects such as poverty and misery of the poor, matters of which best sellers are seldom made. Ironically, his most-read book, The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft was published after his death.

While not so rare as Isabel Clarendon or The Unclassed, his first book, Workers in the Dawn, has always been considered one of the great Victorian rarities. It is curious and perhaps significant that Sadleir, who had a fine run of Gissing, possessed both of the above-mentioned titles but not a Workers in the Dawn. The copy offered here is a really fine one and Demos (also not in Sadleir) has to be seen to be believed.

HAGGARD, H. RIDER

Rider Haggard’s popularity did not die with him; he is much read today. It is astonishing to see how many of his books are still in print. His style is appalling, but he told a very good adventure story, and while the young I suspect are his most avid readers, he did not write especially for them. Both Lang and Kipling admired him and a chance sentence in Nada the Lily may be said to have inspired the “Jungle Books.”

Below are some of his best books—some presentation copies, many of them difficult to find in fine condition—and a few of the original drawings that were made for them. In respect to these last, special mention must be made of the very fine gouache drawings for Nada the Lily. The artist, R. Caton Woodville, while he seems to have been on the staff of The Illustrated London News, was no hack magazine illustrator; his work is of a very high order.

HARDY, THOMAS

Thomas Hardy, though he lived through the first quarter of the 20th century, is to my mind a Victorian in spirit, especially in his novels, all of which were published before 1900. Here is a complete collection of his major books. His first book, Desperate Remedies is as rare, fine and in original cloth, as Wuthering Heights, East Lynne or Lady Audley’s Secret; the other early Hardys are not much less rare. It would take a lifetime to assemble again such a brave bright showing of this great writer.

HUNT, LEIGH

Leigh Hunt rightly belongs with the romantics, Shelly, Byron and Keats, but he lived long into the 19th century and all but one of his books listed here were published during Victoria’s reign. At worst he was a literary hack, but he was a critic of discernment, a discoverer of genius—Keats for example—and an essayist of considerable charm. Lastly, he wrote two much anthologized and oft-quoted poems: “Abou Ben Adhem” and “Rondeau,” better known as “Jenny Kissed Me.”

JAMES, G. P. R.

G. P. R. James was an historical novelist even more popular in his day than Ainsworth. He was a prolific and rather tedious writer and one wonders at his immense success. But time sorts things out and while Ainsworth is read today, no one bothers with James. Indeed, no book of his has been in print for many years. He is represented here because he was once a literary figure of considerable magnitude.

JEFFERIES, RICHARD

As a Victorian nature writer Richard Jefferies ranks high. He was as keen an observer and sometimes as good a writer in the field as W. H. Hudson. The Story of my Heart, Jefferies’ autobiography, is a beautiful book. It is strange that while several of his works are in print today this one has been dropped. I have not included his peer, Hudson, for the reason that I have always considered him an Edwardian in feeling, and his two best books, Green Mansions and A Shepherd’s Life, were published in the 20th century. The later books of Jefferies are not particularly scarce, but he was widely read and his first editions are difficult to find in such fine condition as these listed here. Mention, however, may be made of two rarites: Restless Human Hearts and Suez-Cide.

KINGSLEY BROTHERS

Charles and Henry Kingsley, brothers and fellow novelists, are among the most difficult of Victorian authors to find fine in original cloth, especially the books published by Macmillan who issued them in a highly perishable Cambridge blue binding. Charles was by far the more popular of the two and books like Westward Ho and The Water Babies were read to pieces. Henry, on the other hand, a much more prolific author, suffered from neglect and, as Sadleir suggests, his later novels were not promoted. I suspect they were printed in very small editions and almost entirely taken up by the circulating libraries. For instance, Geoffrey Hamlyn, his first book, is comparatively common but how often does one see The Grange Garden, his last novel, of which there is a fine copy listed below?

KIPLING, RUDYARD

Though Kipling lived fairly long into the 20th century he is, in my opinion, essentially a Victorian. It has been said that Victoria would have made him Poet Laureate on the death of Tennyson had he not offended her with his Widow at Windsor. Nearly all his best books were written before 1900. As a short story writer he has no peer in English, and Auden thought well enough of his verses to edit an edition of them.

LEAR, EDWARD

It is curious how the lives of the two greatest ‘nonsense’ writers—Carroll and Lear—parallel each other. Both were amateur authors, by which I mean that they wrote on the side while conducting their dedicated professions; both wrote their most famous book for specific children without serious thought of publication or fame; both were bachelors, aelurophiles, and finally both published—twenty years apart—two of the rarest children’s books of the century. Curiously enough, it seems the men never met, or if they did neither left a record of it.

LE FANU, J. SHERIDAN

Victorians enjoyed a good ghost story, but much of the material served to them was pretty feeble and makes poor reading today, especially for readers brought up on the spine-chilling stories of that Edwardian master of the genre—M. R. James. There is, however, one Victorian writer of great distinction in this field: Sheridan Le Fanu. His books are extremely rare and in original condition virtually non-existent today.

LEVER, CHARLES

Charles Lever was one of the most popular Irish writers of his time. He gave a very vivid picture of the military in Ireland, and these tales of hard-drinking heavy dragoons and squires are as enjoyable now as they were in the author’s day. None of his early work is particularly rare, but all are difficult to find really fine. The later books, as his popularity waned, must have been printed in small editions, for they are very scarce.

MACAULAY, T. B.

Two of the Macaulay titles listed here do not strictly belong in a catalogue of literature, but his lordship was a prejudiced historian and his famous “history” (five fat volumes covering less than twenty years) should be read for style rather than instruction. It was in its day the most popular history ever published, and for a period in America outsold every work except a couple of text books and the Bible. Unlike their author’s waistcoats, which were flamboyant to an extreme, his first editions were issued mostly in ugly drab brown cloth.

MACDONALD, GEORGE

George MacDonald, mystic, poet and novelist, is remembered chiefly by his children’s books, At the Back of the North Wind, The Princess and the Goblin, etc. He is a difficult author to collect, especially his novels. The Vicar’s Daughter is particularly rare and is represented here by a shabby copy, alas. It happens to be the only copy I have ever seen.

MACHEN, ARTHUR

Arthur Machen is perhaps not strictly a Victorian (he did not die until 1947) but his work has an old-fashioned flavor, and one of his best books, The Three Imposters, was published in the 19th century.

MALET, LUCAS

Lucas Malet (Mary St. Leger Harrison) was the daughter of Charles Kingsley and a novelist like her father and uncle. She is somewhat of a faded literary figure today, but The History of Sir Richard Calmady is still well worth reading. Though at times rather prolix, this story of a man born with a dreadful deformity is a very powerful novel.

In addition to fine copies of both issues of Calmady, here will be found three of Lucas Malet’s manuscripts, two of them very large volumes of several hundred pages each, filled with her easy-to-read flowing hand. Judging from the many thumb prints (tell-tale printers’ ink) it was from these manuscripts that the books were set.

MEREDITH, GEORGE

George Meredith, like Gissing but for different reasons, was never really popular, nor is he much read today. He was a writer’s writer. Wilde, while being wittily critical, called him “an incomparable novelist” and Stevenson considered The Egoist a great novel and its author destined for immortality.

Meredith is a challenge to collectors. With the exception of Lord Ormont and One of Our Conquerors, it is extremely difficult to find acceptable copies of his first editions. There are bad gaps in the collection offered here; no “Richard Feverel,” “Diana,” “Rhoda Fleming” or “Harry Richmond.” But there are beautiful copies of The Egoist and Beauchamp’s Career and both his important books of poems are present in fine condition.

MOORE, GEORGE

George Moore is rather neglected these days, though he had a vogue in the 1920s. He is of great importance, however, in the Victorian picture, not so much for what he wrote but for the change he wrought in publishing. It was he and his publisher, Vizetelly, who broke the power of the circulating libraries and rang the death knell to the “three-decker.” Mudie’s and to a lesser degree Smith’s had a stranglehold on British publishers and if they refused to stock a book, usually on moral grounds, that book was doomed. The average reader in Victorian days seldom purchased a novel, for the price of 31/6 was prohibitive; he got it from a circulating library for a fraction of that. When Mudie’s refused Moore’s A Modern Lover he went to Vizetelly who published his next book, A Mummer’s Wife, at 6/-, a price within the purse of most book buyers. Thus, while the “three-decker” continued for a while, it could not stand such competition and within the decade it died unmourned. Its demise was no doubt assisted by Moore’s pamphlet Literature at Nurse which was an attack on Mudie’s.

As a writer, Moore was one of the first of the English realists. Like his French confreres, Zola and Flaubert, who influenced him greatly, he shocked the Victorians, though his books seem tame by modern standards. He said of himself “I wrote the first serious novels in English. I invented adultery which didn’t exist in the English novel till I began writing.” Many of his books are semi-autobiographical wherein he boasts of his amours. It has been rumored of him, however, that he was the type of man who told and never kissed.

MORRIS, WILLIAM

William Morris, one of the most dominant figures of the last half of the 19th century, was a man of many talents. His greatest contribution to art and letters was the revival of fine printing in England and his influence in this field is evident today. In the third part of this catalogue will be found three examples of Kelmscott Press books, representing the three types he designed. As a poet Morris cannot rank with the great, but he had a facility for graceful verse which tended in his later books to become lost in the vast length of his poetic sagas.

PATER, WALTER

There was a cult at Oxford and elsewhere among youthful Victorian esthetes to admire Walter Pater extravagantly. Marius the Epicurean was widely read and reprinted many times. Thomas Bird Mosher, that amiable American pirate, was particularly fond of Pater, and kept his name alive for many years by printing his books, or excerpts from them, in pretty little editions. Pater’s first editions were published by Macmillan in very plain dull blue bindings which have not survived very happily. They are scarce in truly fine condition.

PHILLIPS, STEPHEN

Few authors have had such a meteoric rise—and fall—as Stephen Phillips. He was the toast of literacy London at the turn of the century, highly praised for his historical dramas; a dozen years later he died almost forgotten.

REID, MAYNE

Captain Mayne Reid, an Irishman, lived part of his life in America. He participated in the Mexican War, from which experience he drew material for several of his novels. He was a versatile writer and among his works may be found a treatise on croquet, a copy of which will be found in a later part of this catalogue. Reid was popular and his books seldom appear fine and many are difficult to find in any condition.

ROS, AMANDA

Amanda McKittrick Ros, while she lived long into the 20th century, is so essentially a Victorian in feeling that I have included her here. Also in further extenuation, her two most important novels were published in the ’90s. She has been described as the world’s worst novelist, which perhaps she is, but her books are a delight. They entranced such persons as Aldous Huxley, Lord Oxford, Sir Edward Grey and Sir John Squire. An Amanda Ros Club was formed in London by E. V. Lucas and many distinguished people travelled to Ireland to visit her. I cannot resist quoting the opening paragraph of her best-known book, Irene Iddesleigh: “Sympathise with me indeed! Ah, no! Cast your sympathy on the chill waves of troubled waters, fling it on the oases of futurity: dash it against the rock of gossip: or, better still, allow it to remain within the false and faithless bosom of buried scorn.” This is double-talk of high order.

RUSKIN, JOHN

It is difficult at this date to realize the impact John Ruskin had on Victorian England. He was the pre-eminent art critic of his day, his books were widely read and seekers of culture flocked to his lectures. Later in his life he turned from art to political economy, advocating a form of socialism which was much derided at the time. Unto This Last, The Crown of Wild Olive and to a lesser degree Sesame and Lilies are all pleas for social reform. Below is a very comprehensive collection of Ruskin titles. While many of these books belong rightly under Art and Architecture, it seems to me that Ruskin was read as much for form as matter; hence their appearance here.

STEVENSON, ROBERT LOUIS

Robert Louis Stevenson’s first real book, The Inland Voyage, was published in 1878. Sixteen years later he died leaving behind a volume of work—mostly of a very high order—that is truly astonishing. Short stories, essays, verse, travel books, history, novels, plays, boys’ books, flowed from his pen, attesting surely to the claim of being the most versatile author of his age. In addition, like so many Victorians, he was an indefatigable letter-writer—and a delightful one. The books listed here are but a sampling of his work, but they are mostly in very fine condition.

SURTEES, ROBERT

Robert Surtees is the most famous of Victorian sporting writers. His books were long the favorites of hunting squires, heavy dragoons and gentlemen of ton. Their charm was—and still is—much enhanced by Leech’s superb colored illustrations. It has long been a nasty habit to bind these books in red levant—a shame when their original cloth bindings of mellow rose with gilt decorations are so pleasant.

Below is a representative collection of Surtees is original bindings, all very nice, with a copy of Ask Mama in original parts that is truly remarkable.

SWINBURNE, ALGERNON

When Moxon published Atalanta in Calydon (1865), considered by Ruskin “the grandest thing ever done by a youth,” Swinburne, like Byron, became famous overnight. But there were murmurs from Mrs. Grundy which, with the publication of Poems and Ballads the following year, turned to loud and scandalized shouts. Swinburne, a lion among jackals, continued to outrage the critics and the public until, late in his life, Theodore Watts-Dunton constituted himself nursemaid to the poet and immured him at The Pines, Putney. Never, before or since, has such a fiery or melodious voice been stilled by kindness, nor a lion turned more successfully into a suburban pussy-cat. Here is a fine representative collection of Swinburne’s writings, including several interesting presentation copies, an original drawing of the poet by Simeon Solomon and a few Wise forgeries.

SYMONDS, JOHN ADDINGTON

Probably due to the recent publication of a most revealing and interesting study of John Addington Symonds (Phyllis Grosskurth, The Woeful Victorian) there has been a revival of interest in this tragic figure. Haunted by guilt of his homosexuality, tied to a puritanical wife, he was born in the wrong century. As a poet in his own right he does not rank high, but as a translator of Italian verse and historian of Renaissance life in Italy, he is unsurpassed. He was much read and admired in his day and many of his books are uncommon in fine condition.

TENNYSON, ALFRED

It has been the fashion of this century to sneer at Tennyson as a poet who wore lace drawers and a fireman’s hat. True, he wrote some very bad verse, but so did Wordsworth and a host of others. At his best he was the equal of any Victorian and far superior to most.

There was a time when you could buy his later first editions for a few shillings, but to find really fine copies, such as the majority listed here, is no longer easy.

THACKERAY, W. M.

Thackeray, the second great giant of Victorian literature, is at once easy and difficult to collect. It is curious that while Dickens’ major novels in cloth are notoriously hard to find in acceptable condition, Thackeray’s (with the exception of Vanity Fair and Henry Esmond) are comparatively simple. On the other hand, Dickens’ Christmas books often show up fine; Thackeray’s very seldom. This is understandable, for the latter were published in pink glazed boards, highly susceptible to wear. In the collection below will be found three of these Christmas books in remarkably fine condition and a first issue Vanity Fair in cloth that is a real beauty. Also an interesting presentation copy of Henry Esmond. Thackeray, unlike Dickens, seems to have been chary of giving away his book. Inscribed copies are most uncommon.

THOMPSON, FRANCIS

While not a strong voice in the great choir of English poesy, Francis Thompson is a genuine singer. The Hound of Heaven is still much admired—deservedly so—and his essay on Shelley first published in The Dublin Review, is prose of rare beauty. Early in his career he was rescued from oblivion, and an even earlier death than was eventually his lot, by Alice and Wilfred Meynell who cared for him with loving devotion during his short life and when he died saw that his work received the recognition it deserved.

TROLLOPE, ANTHONY

Anthony Trollope has had his ups and downs in popularity. He was liked and well read by his contemporaries, then after his death he went into a semi-eclipse for many years. A. Edward Newton revived interest in him around the 1920s, but it was not until Michael Sadleir published his Excursions into Victorian Bibliography and his great Trollope bibliography that this most Victorian of novelists received the homage due him. His first editions are very scarce fine in cloth. Here is a representative group mostly in very nice condition.

WARD, MRS. HUMPHRY

Mrs. Humphry Ward’s work is often of a religious nature and she held very strong views about revitalizing Christianity—views she embodied in her novels. Robert Elsmere, her most famous book, had an immense sale. She was much admired by Gladstone. Her first editions are not particularly scarce, but the ones listed below are very interesting as they are mostly presentation copies to her husband and her sister.

WEYMAN, STANLEY

Stanley Weyman, spiritual child of Dumas, was immensely popular in his time. Indeed, he is read today and three of his books listed here are still in print. Under the Red Robe and A Gentleman of France, his two best-known books, are exceedingly rare in fine condition.

WHYTE-MELVILLE, G. J.

Whyte-Melville was a soldier-sportsman who survived the Crimea only to die in the hunting field. While many of his books are occupied with this sport it is a mistake to stamp him a “horsy” writer such as Surtees and Nat Gould; he wrote several social and historical novels. He was immensely popular in his time and his books are very difficult to find today. Even reprints seem to have disappeared from the market.

WILDE, OSCAR

In the whole history of English drama no age has suffered so grievously from want of good dramatists as has the Victorian. After Sheridan stopped writing plays in the late 18th century there followed more than a century of stultifying mediocrity in the theatre. Indeed, one is hard put to think of a name of any dramatist during this period. True, Wilkie Collins, Dickens and other novelists tried their hands at plays (often based on their own fiction) but they were mostly sorry affairs. Then came Oscar Wilde, followed later by Shaw, to revive that spark which had been so long extinguished. Surely The Importance of Being Earnest is in the great tradition of English comedy, worthy to rank with The Rivals. Here is a fine collection of Wilde first editions, with several interesting presentations and many large-paper copies.

WOOD, ELLEN

Ellen Wood, better known as Mrs. Henry Wood, was perhaps the most successful lady novelist of her century. East Lynne was a runaway bestseller and was dramatized several times—indeed, it was for many years a stock production for touring companies on both sides of the Atlantic. Nearly all her books were highly popular, which accounts for their extreme rarity today.

YONGE, CHARLOTTE

Charlotte M. Yonge was one of the most prolific of Victorian writers; she published some 160 books in all. While she was wont to expound her religious views in her novels (she was much influenced by her neighbor, John Keble) her historical romances are comparatively free of them. She was much loved by her public and while with the exception of her first book and The Heir of Redcliffe few of her books are rare, they are difficult to find fine.

THE LADY HERSELF, HER FAMILY, HOUSEHOLD, ETC.

Below will be found a selection of books presented by the Queen, autograph letters and documents, biographies of her and items of special interest pertaining to Her Majesty and her reign. While volumes bearing her inscriptions are by no means uncommon—indeed, her large sloping hand may be found in scores of books—the ones listed here are all of special interest, being in the main presented to relations, members of her household, and prominent Victorians.

ARCHITECTURE

Victorian architects were not innovators; they were revivalists, neoclassicists, and their god was Gothic. The House of Commons and the Law Courts are splendid examples of this trend. And then, of course, we have that enduring wonder—the Albert Memorial. As Humbert Wolfe so aptly put it: Even death could not assuage/The burden of his gilded cage.

ART

With the exception of Turner, who died fairly early in the Queen’s reign, the Victorian period produced no painters to compare with the great of the preceding century such as Constable, Gainsborough and Hogarth. It was an age of sentimentality and its art reflects this. Pretty pictures—watercolors of the Lake District, insipid portraits of languishing females—were the rage, and those who engaged in classic subjects created vast canvases of great competence and little genius.

It was a period, however, which saw the flowering of the Illustrated Book and such disparate art forms as the color-printing of Baxter and the extravagances of Beardsley. At the end of this section will be found a nice selection of Victorian books illustrated in color, including a fine first edition of Owen Jones’ Grammar of Ornament and a splendid album of his original watercolors for Joseph and his Brethren.

COLOR PRINTING

Below will be found a nice representation of color-printing, a process invented in the 18th century and brought to perfection in the 19th. George Baxter is the name commonly associated with color-printing, but his process was slow and costly and was never really commercially practical. It was mostly other printers and publishers, like Charles Knight, Day & Son, Kronheim, Leighton Bros., who gave the ‘table’ or ‘parlor’ book its popularity. Artists such as Owen Jones, Birket Foster and “Dicky” Doyle lent their considerable talents to give these volumes a high standard of illustration. A decade ago such publications were regarded as Victorian gew-gaws and could be had for shillings, but the appearance of Ruari McLean’s Victorian Book Design has brought them into prominence and demand. It is surprising how difficult they are to find in presentable condition. These are mostly listed below by artist or engraver, since the authors or editors are often unknown.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND BOOKS ABOUT BOOKS

Any general book about books is bound to contain references to 19th century literature and times. I have tried to confine the entries below to works dealing solely with Victorians or written by them.

WISEIANA

The bibliographical chicanery of Thomas J. Wise is too well known to be repeated here. In the first two parts of this catalogue were listed some twenty of his forgeries and legitimate publications; in this section will be found a nice collection of proofs of his bibliographies, but not the bibliographies themselves as these have been, or will be, reprinted, and thus readily available. In addition there are most of the books published to date dealing with his villainy.

COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY

The high point in Victorian commerce was The Great Exhibition of 1851 in which the Prince Consort, and to a lesser degree the Queen, took a great interest. There is a large literature on the subject of which a fair representation may be found below.

CRIME

Eight years before Victoria ascended the throne Sir Robert Peel established the London police force and Scotland Yard, yet crime during the Queen’s reign abated very little. The literature of criminology is very large, especially that part dealing with murder. The following is a mere sampling of the subject, but the selection does contain most of the accounts of the more famous cases. Contemporary accounts tend to be lurid and inaccurate; the best reporting has been by 20th century writers like Roughead, Lustgarten and F. Tennyson Jesse. If the books listed here deal predominantly with murder, I can only say most people would rather read about homicide than fraud, bank robberies, and similar crimes.

DOMESTICITY

The house, the garden, the kitchen, the boudoir and other matters domestic are covered in this section. Books on ferns, plants and flowers I have labeled “horticulture” as opposed to “botany” since I have included no scientific works, only the type of book a Victorian lady would enjoy and wish to place on the drawing room table.

JUVENILIA

The children’s books listed below are confined to those for the very young. In the early parts of this catalogue will be found the books for boys and girls of a more mature age. The “toy” books of our ancestors—i.e. those with movable parts—have become extremely scarce, due not only to the fragile nature of such productions but also to the fact that they have been handed down from generation to generation. With the passing of the years little hands have not become any more gentle, and to find the productions of Dean & Co. and the many other publishers of “toy” books in anything like decent condition and/or in working order is a miracle.

PANORAMAS

Panoramas were a delightful feature of 19th century England. Though perhaps not intended solely for the nursery, one suspects that is where they ended up, with the result that they do not often show up these days in very good condition. Below is a nice representation of these charming mementos of our ancestors, including the very long (66 feet) Funeral Procession of the Duke of Wellington, in remarkably fine state.

THE MILITARY

Aside from frequent campaigns, mainly punitive, against unruly tribesmen in Africa, Afghanistan, India and other distant lands under the British Flag, the equanimity of Victorian England was disturbed by two full-scale wars—the Crimean and the Boer. When war in the Crimea broke out in 1854 it had been almost forty years since the British had fought against a major power. The army was in a deplorable state, rife with privilege and run by aristocratic amateurs, most of whom had never heard shots fired other than those aimed at pheasants. Fortunately for Britain, the Russians were equally incompetent. The Boer War, which was to break the Queen’s heart and hasten her death, was just as badly managed. Against a tiny country the British suffered defeat after defeat, helpless at first to cope with the guerilla tactics of the enemy. It is important in military history, for it may be called England’s first “modern” war, in which rapid firing weapons were first generally used and volunteers solicited.

It has been said that Britain loses battles but manages somehow to win wars. Never was this truer than of the campaigns fought in Victorian times. They produced no great generals of the caliber of Wellington; Napier, Roberts and Kitchener were mere shadows of the Iron Duke. The most interesting of Victorian military leaders was “Chinese” Gordon. Had it not been for a procrastinating government under Gladstone, this alcoholic, Bible-reading mystic might have lived to prove his worth. Listed below are some highly interesting Gordon manuscripts and letters.

NIGHTINGALE, FLORENCE

Since Miss Nightingale will always be remembered as the “Lady with the Lamp” I have put all items connected with this remarkable woman under the military section, even though some of them have no bearing on the Crimean War. It must be remembered that she lived for well over 50 years after that campaign was over. A semi-invalid for much of this period, she had unbounded energy, turning out reports on sanitation, and other pertinent matters connected with her profession, by the dozens. She was, too, an indefatigable letter-writer, like most Victorians, and while her A.L.S.’s are anything but rare they are invariably interesting.

POLITICS, HISTORY, ETC.

Throughout the latter half of the Queen’s reign British political thought was dominated by two men—Disraeli and Gladstone. So much has been written on these giants it would be foolish to expatiate here on their respective merits and villainies. Source books on both men are represented below, together with some interesting manuscript material.

RELIGION

Not since the Reformation had there been so much change in religious thought and action as in the 19th century. Catholic Emancipation was finally achieved in 1829 and in 1850 Wiseman became the first English cardinal since Wolsey, followed by Manning and Newman. The Church of England, asleep for 300 years, awoke to find dissention in its ranks which culminated in the Oxford Movement and set off a controversy which raged for many years. They were stirring times for both Catholics and Protestants.

HEBER, REGINALD

Reginald Heber, the hymnologist, is not strictly Victorian (he died in 1826 at the age of 43) but his hymns reached their height of popularity during Victoria’s reign. From Greenland’s Icy Mountains, Holy, Holy, Holy, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, among many others, are as well known and as oft sung today as they were a hundred years ago. Below are original manuscripts of three hymns, contained in a letter.

SCIENCE, MATHEMATICS

An adequate listing of Victorian books on science and allied subjects would require a catalogue in itself. The items listed below are a mere sampling, though Darwin, the giant in the field, is fairly well represented with a fine Origin of Species and Voyage of the Beagle, among others. I have always though that Alfred Russel Wallace has been too greatly shadowed by Darwin and that he deserves more attention.

SOCIOLOGY

Here will be found treatises on alcohol, housing, prisons, education, slavery, etc. It is an elastic category and I have used it to record books which do not fit very happily in any other section yet may still, with a stretch of the imagination, be placed under this heading.

SPORTS AND PASTIMES

While Victorian books on sports, outdoor and indoor, are numerous, no great classic emerged such as Walton’s Angler in the 17th century and Hoyle’s famous work in the 18th. If I am wrong I apologise and excuse my ignorance on the grounds that most sports do not interest me greatly—hence the rather poor showing here of books on the subject.

THEATRE

Plays have been dealt with in earlier parts of this catalogue. This section lists books about the theatre and actors. And if Henry Irving and Ellen Terry seem to dominate—well, they dominated the stage during the latter part of the Queen’s reign.

TRAVEL AND DISCOVERY

The great era of discovery was over by Victoria’s reign. The voyages of Cook, Vancouver, etc. were thrilling events of the past and only that hankering to find a Northwest Passage still occupied explorers’ minds. The best-remembered expedition was Sir John Franklin’s in the Erebus and Terror, not for what it discovered, but for its tragic end which sent out more than forty parties in search of him. Thus the Arctic Regions became the focal point of Victorian sea exploration. The most important land expeditions were to the interior of Africa, a region almost unknown until the discoveries of Speke, Livingstone and Stanley.

TYPOGRAPHY

With the demise of Bulmer and Bensley, spiritual god-children of the great Baskerville, the revival of fine printing in England collapsed. True, William Pickering and Charles Whittingham (Chiswick Press) turned out neatly designed if not inspired work, but in the main Victorian printing lapsed into the mediocrity of pre-Baskerville days. It was not until Henry Daniel in 1874 started his Oxford press and resurrected Fell type that a glimmer of light penetrated the stygian typographical gloom. It burst into effulgence in 1891 with William Morris and his famous Kelmscott Press.

CANFORD MANOR PRESS

Considerable research has failed to turn up much information about the private press at Canford Manor, the seat of Lord Wimbourne in Dorsetshire. The Press has long been known to me as having printed two Tennyson items of great rarity. Will Ransom (Private Presses) records these two titles but none other. He quotes (without giving source) the names of the amateur compositors: Lord Wimbourne, Lady Layard, Lady Schreiber and Mrs. E. Ponsonby.

DANIEL PRESS

William Morris is always given the credit for the revival of fine printing in England; surely some honor should go to Henry Daniel who set up his press at Oxford in 1874. Actually he started printing in 1845 at Frome when he was only nine years old, but while very rare these early productions can scarcely be classed as “fine printing.”

ERAGNY PRESS

The Eragny Press was founded in 1894 by Lucien and Esther Pissarro. Fifteen of the first sixteen books were printed in “Vale” type, of which the three Flaubert titles below are good examples. In 1904 Pissarro designed his own type, calling it “Brook” after the house which held the press. Milton’s Areopagitica, below, is executed in this type.

ESSEX HOUSE PRESS

The Essex House Press was founded by C. R. Ashbee in 1898. Previously he had initiated his Guild of Handicrafts, which did no printing; but with the death of William Morris the Kelmscott presses and equipment (though not the type) were purchased and printing began. It continued until 1910. Books from this industrious press (they issued some 90 titles), while decidedly imitative, have a distinction of their own, and it is strange that they have not enjoyed the current vogue for those of Vale and Eragny. The examples listed below represent the three types used by the Press:—the Caslon and two designed especially by Ashbee—“Endeavour” and “Prayer Book.”

KELMSCOTT PRESS

It is not in the province of this catalogue to offer Press Books, for printing for printing’s sake did not come into full flower, as it were, until the 20th century. It would, however, be remiss not to include a representation of books from the Kelmscott Press. William Morris, its founder, was an important Victorian. To him goes the honor of being the father of modern printing. He revived the art and inspired the many craftsmen, such as Cobden-Sanderson and St. John Hornby, who followed. For the purposes of this catalogue I have included only three Kelmscotts, representing the three types he designed: Chaucer, Troy and Golden.

VALE PRESS

The Vale Press Lasted only eight years—1896–1904—but it produced 45 books, plus a 39 volume edition of Shakespeare. This was virtually the work of one man—Charles Ricketts. He not only designed each book, but the fonts, decorations and illustrations were of his making. Although the actual printing was done by the Ballantyne Press it was all under the personal supervision of Ricketts. Here is a sampling of “Vale” books, all fine copies.

Author Additions (Box 1):

John Davidson, Scottish poet, novelist and playwright, is neglected these days, but before his untimely suicide he was considered among his contemporaries as a writer of considerable power. Here is a collection of his works, nearly all presentation copies to other authors or his publishers. It would be difficult to gather again such a nice group of association copies.

Lord Alfred Douglas was a poet of considerable ability and it seems a pity that he is remembered chiefly as the friend of Oscar Wilde and later as possibly the most litigious author on record. He was forever sueing or being sued. Below are five scarce pamphlets, bitter satires on newspapers, lawyers, government figures, and Robert Ross.

George Alfred Henty is at once the most difficult and the easiest of authors to collect. His output was colossal, and most of the later volumes of adventure for boys are still comparatively common; where the collector comes a cropper is in the search for Henty’s adult books. These three and two-deckers have virtually vanished from the earth. In point of rarity I would classify All But Lost, Rujub the Juggler and The Curse of Carne’s Hold with East Lynne, Lady Audley’s Secret and—yes, even The Macdermots.

This collection, which I think must be the most extensive ever catalogued, was formed mainly in the thirties and forties when things were easier. I doubt it be duplicated today.

There are two bibliographies of Henty, one by R. S. Kennedy and B. J. Farmer, the other by Robert Dartt. Granted these are pioneer efforts, neither is very satisfactory. They are most inadequate when it comes to the American editions. The regular Scribner publications, dated on the title page are straightforward. But what are those editions which bear the imprint of both Blackie and Scribner? These are seldom dated and they invariably bear a Scribner catalogue in the back. I think the best way to identify these Blackie-Scribner editions is to study the advertisements. If these advertise a book published two or three years after the date of the book in question and quote American reviews of it, it is likely to be a reprint.

If binding is the same in both English and American editions no mention is made of the color of the latter.

Below are books and magazines edited and/or containing contributions by Henty. (comes before #2565)

Boys’ Books in the Henty Tradition: The following are all books for boys in the Henty tradition. They even look like Henty in their pictorial bindings, illustrated and dealing with some period of history. With the exception of Manville Fenn the authors are mostly forgotten. As there is no bibliography of this kind of literature I am at a loss to describe them accurately. The majority of the following would appear to be first or very early American editions. Except where noted they are all in fine condition and in their original bindings.

In addition to the 26 Kipling titles which were recorded in Part II (Numbers 642–667) we list here 55 more. Most of these last came from a fastidious collector who had all of his books put into fine half red morocco slip cases. Only seven of the titles below are not thus housed.

Below will be found no less than 22 of the scarce “copyright” issues, put out by Doubleday Page (later Doubleday Doran) in New York. No one seems to know exactly how many were printed of each title but it is unlikely that the number exceeded a hundred. All are in pale yellow wrappers, in mint condition and each is enclosed in a half morocco slip case. (see also Nos. 2676 & 2685) (This comes right before #2701)

Jessie Sale Lloyd came from a military family. Her father was General Hopkins. She married first a Royal Marine and later a Welsh Fusilier. She also edited the autobiography of General Kenyon, another relative. Her works, which are very scarce, are not well-known and the books listed below seem to have come from the family as two bear presentation inscriptions to her parents and one was her own copy.

Elizabeth Thomasina Meade, better known as L. T. Meade, was one of the most prolific authors of all time. She wrote school stories for teen-age girls, and it is said that her books numbered over 250. Her first editions, read to pieces by devotees of such tales, are extremely uncommon, especially in anything like collector’s condition.

Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch who usually wrote under the simple initial “Q”, is best known for his anthologies of verse, but he wrote a great number of novels and short stories. He is a typical example of that out-moded label—Man of Letters.

Overshadowed by their famous brother, Charles and Frederick Tennyson were poets in their own right. The former early in his life added Turner to his name. Below is a small but interesting collection of their work.

In Part II of this catalogue I listed better than twenty titles of Anthony Trollope. Through the purchase of a collection of Trollope and Trollopeana, ninety percent of which I had formed some thirty years ago, I have been able to add here more than seventy items, among them two books I never hoped to own – those legendary rarities The Macdermots of Ballycloran and The Kellys and the O’Kellys, Trollope’s first and second novels. (this comes right before #2998)

In the second part of this catalogue we listed five Stanley Weyman titles, including the rare A Gentleman of France and Under the Red Robe. Here is an additional run of this author’s work containing the very scarce first issue of The Story of Francis Cludde. They are all in exceptionally fine condition. (this comes right before #3094)

Author Additions (Box 2):

John Davidson, Scottish poet, novelist and playwright, is neglected these days, but before his untimely suicide he was considered among his contemporaries as a writer of considerable power. Here is a collection of his works, nearly all presentation copies to other authors or his publishers. It would be difficult to gather again such a nice group of association copies.

Lord Alfred Douglas was a poet of considerable ability and it seems a pity that he is remembered chiefly as the friend of Oscar Wilde and later as possibly the most litigious author on record. He was forever sueing or being sued. Below are five scarce pamphlets, bitter satires on newspapers, lawyers, government figures, and Robert Ross.

George Alfred Henty is at once the most difficult and the easiest of authors to collect. His output was colossal, and most of the later volumes of adventure for boys are still comparatively common; where the collector comes a cropper is in the search for Henty’s adult books. These three and two-deckers have virtually vanished from the earth. In point of rarity I would classify All But Lost, Rujub the Juggler and The Curse of Carne’s Hold with East Lynne, Lady Audley’s Secret and—yes, even The Macdermots.

This collection, which I think must be the most extensive ever catalogued, was formed mainly in the thirties and forties when things were easier. I doubt it could be duplicated today.

There are two bibliographies of Henty, one by R. S. Kennedy and B. J. Farmer, the other by Robert Dartt. Granted these are pioneer efforts, neither is very satisfactory. They are most inadequate when it comes to the American editions. The regular Scribner publications, dated on the title page are straightforward. But what are those editions which bear the imprint of both Blackie and Scribner? These are seldom dated and they invariably bear a Scribner catalogue in the back. I think the best way to identify these Blackie-Scribner editions is to study the advertisements. If these advertise a book published two or three years after the date of the book in question and quote American reviews of it, it is likely to be a reprint.

If binding is the same in both English and American editions no mention is made of the color of the latter.

Below are books and magazines edited and/or containing contributions by Henty. (right before [3999])

Boys’ Books in the Henty Tradition: The following are all books for boys in the Henty tradition. They even look like Henty in their pictorial bindings, illustrated and dealing with some period of history. With the exception of Manville Fenn the authors are mostly forgotten. As there is no bibliography of this kind of literature I am at a loss to describe them accurately. The majority of the following would appear to be first or very early American editions. Except where noted they are all in fine condition and in their original bindings. (before number [4020])