ONLINE SHOWCASE

‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ is one of William Shakespeare’s comedy plays, but it’s also a romantic and magical story. The playbook that we are selling comes with detailed and intricate illustrations by Arthur Rackham, which pair wonderfully with the play’s dream-like narrative. Published in 1908 by William Heinemann, this book has forty colour plates by Rackham, with numerous black and white illustrations adorning the pages. You can’t go a few pages without seeing a drawing o

Robinson Crusoe is often credited as being one of the first novels in the English language. The edition that we have on sale was published in 1929, over 200 years after the first edition, yet this book is still very special... This edition of Robinson Crusoe is illustrated by Edward McKnight Kauffer. Included are eight full-page and hand-coloured illustrations, painted using layers of stencils in a process called pochoir, resulting in richly coloured and textured piece of art

If you are looking for a stylish, vintage set of all of Shakespeare’s plays and poetry – in a modest four-volumes – then look no further! This set of Shakespeare’s works, published by Nonesuch Press in 1953, is a great to display on a shelf or dip into whenever you're in the mood. The text and order of the works inside replicate the first folio publication of Shakespeare’s plays, and included in this edition are additional notes in the margins. As these books were published i

The official title of this book is: ‘Reliquiae Sacrae Carolinae, or The Works of that Great Monarch and Glorious Martyr King Charles the I.’ This edition was published in 1651 in the Hague and printed by Samuell Browne. Included as part of Charles I’s works are his: speeches, declarations, papers about Church-Government, prayers, letters and correspondence, and messages for peace, just to name a few! (There is a full contents page which lists everything included.) But that’s

The complete Lloyd’s Natural History set is diverse in its analysis of butterflies, moths, birds and mammals – but these two select volumes look uniquely at the world of monkeys! This two-volume set, written by Henry O. Forbes, was published by Edward Lloyd, Limited, with the first book published in 1896 and the second in 1987. R. Bowdler Sharpe was the series editor for these books, and included in both volumes is a preface written by him. The official title of the set is A

This copy of British Fungi is a different edition to the other British Fungi book that we also have for sale in our shop. While this book doesn’t come with its dust jacket, it is still in good condition and has all of its original illustrations and plates. For those who are interested in the kinds of fungi that live in UK, and how to find them, this book is for you. The author, George Masse, described that the ‘primary object of this book is to enable the reader to determine

For those who are interested in the kinds of fungi that live in the UK, and how to find them, this book is for you. The author, George Masse, described that the ‘primary object of this book is to enable the reader to determine the names of our indigenous mushrooms, toadstools, etc.’ – and with fantastic depth and detailed plates, that is exactly what this book does. British Fungi was published in the early 20th century by George Routledge and Sons, Limited. This edition conta

Any set of Jane Austen’s work is a delight to have; this set in particular is a wonderful collection of all of Austen’s novels (that were published during and after her lifetime), as well some of her unfinished works. This set was published in 1927 by Eveleigh Nash & Grayson Limited, and is their ‘Georgian Edition’. Each volume has an introduction by John Bailey, giving a brief insight into each of Austen’s works. The five volumes in this set include all of Austen’s novels (S

Delve into the world of Edmund Dulac’s magical and dream-like illustrations in this fairy tale book... Published by Hodder and Stoughton (c.1910), this book contains four classic fairy tales: Sleeping Beauty, Blue Beard, Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast. These stories have been translated from the Old French and retold by Arthur Quiller-Couch. However, the stand-out feature of this book is the thirty, full-page colour illustrations by Edmund Dulac that accompany these pere

Anne Pratt’s Flowering Plants of Great Britain is the primary work when looking for detailed, intelligible descriptions of thousands of flowers from across England, Scotland and Wales, accompanied by colourful and intricate illustrations. The set of Pratt’s work that we are selling comes in three volumes, all filled with hundreds of full-page, colour plates of elaborate drawings of flowers from Great Britain. The books are filled with succinct yet accurate descriptions of tho

Shakespeare’s stories and works have been told and published in thousands of different ways over the years, but this particular set is very special. This twelve-volume set of Shakespeare’s works was published in 1882 by Keagan Paul, Trench & Co. and is bound in vellum. The white vellum binding (which is untanned leather), with the red and black titling, means this quality and luxurious set will stand-out proudly on any shelf. Included in these twelve volumes are all of Shakes

With its beige, unembellished dust jacket, this illustrated edition of Alfred Lord Tennyson’s Morte D’Arthur is very unassuming from the outside. However, the inside bursts with colour and gold of Alberto Sangorski’s fabulous illustrations, brining to life this version of the classic British myth. This illustrated edition of the poem Morte D’Arthur by Tennyson was published in 1912 by Chatto and Windus. The page design was produced by the Graphic Engraving Company, to (as the

The Tempest was one of the later plays written by William Shakespeare: the play is thought to have been written in 1610 or 1611, but wasn’t published until 1623, after Shakespeare’s death. The book that we have on sale is an illustrated version of The Tempest, published in 1908 by Chapman and Hall. Included are seventeen full-page, colour illustrations by Paul Woodroffe and multiple other black and white drawings amongst the text. There is also accompanying music by Joseph Mo

By 2000, the year that Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was published, J.K. Rowling’s series about the boy-wizard Harry Potter was already a major global success. Children and adults alike were eagerly expecting each new instalment, clamouring to buy any first edition they could get their hands on. Luckily, we have also acquired a first edition hardback of The Goblet of Fire, published in 2000 by Bloomsbury, Rowling’s UK publisher. Not only that, but this is a signed first

Children of Dune is the third book in the Dune series, after Dune (which the 2021 and 2024 film adaptations are based on) and Dune Messiah. It is described as ‘combin[ing] the threads of ecology and adventure developed in Dune with the theme of political intrigue from Dune Messiah.’ It is an exciting conclusion for any sci-fi and Dune fan. Children of Dune was published in 1976, seven years after Dune Messiah, and the edition that we are selling in our shop is a first edition

Following on from the phenomenal science-fiction landmark that was Dune, Frank Herbert released the second book in the series, Dune Messiah, four years later, in 1969. The copy of Dune Messiah that we are selling in the shop is a first edition, 2nd impression published in 1969 by G.P. Putnam’s Sons in America. Dune Messiah originally appeared in a shorter version in Galaxy Magazine from July to September of the same year, before it was released as a novel. Our edition is a ha

Sidelights on Relativity is a fascinating follow-up work to Einstein’s previous (and iconic) book on the Theory of Relativity. The writings in this book are from lectures that Einstein gave in 1920 and 1921, and have been translated by G.B. Jeffery and W. Perrett. The first lecture on ‘Ether and the Theory of Relativity’ was delivered on 5th May 1920 at the University of Leyden. The second lecture was on ‘Geometry and Experience’, but the text that is in this book is an expan

The Theory of Relativity is perhaps Einstein’s most famous work, and one of the most famous scientific works in recent history. Einstein's theories on relativity were published originally in the early 20th century in German, but the book that we have for sale is the first English edition (a translation of the German third edition) of this seminal work, translated by Robert W. Lawson. Our edition of The Theory of Relativity was published in 1920 by Methuen and Co. and the cont

The Meaning of Relativity is a significant book that covers the iconic theories and works of Albert Einstein on relativity. The book was first published in 1922 by Methuen and Co., and contains the content of four lectures that Einstein gave at Princeton University in May 1921. The four lectures are (in order), ‘Space and Time in Pre-Relativity Physics’, ‘The Theory of Special Relativity’, ‘The General Theory of Relativity’ and ‘The General Theory of Relativity Continued’. Th

The Mummy by iconic horror writer, Anne Rice, is a perfect spooky book for all those who are fans of myth and mummies, or a good horror novel. Our first edition copy of The Mummy (or Ramses the Damned) was published in 1989 by Chatto and Windus. Rice had already started writing the famous ‘Vampire Chronicles’ series, with the first book, Interview with the Vampire, being adapted into a famous film in 1994. (The Vampire Lestat is the second book in the series and we have a cop