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121. GARNER, Alan (author). The Weirdstone of Brisingamen. London, Collins, St. James’s Place. 1960.
£650
8vo. original royal blue cloth lettered in silver to spine, pictorial map endpapers, preserved in pictorial dustwrapper; pp. [x], 11-224; a fine and exceptional copy protected by a similarly fine, unclipped, dustwrapper (12s. 6d) with a monochrome photographic portrait of the author to lower panel; the wrapper with only a scattering of light foxing visible solely on the reverse and none of the commonly found rubbing or wear; scarce in this condition.
First edition. This was Alan Garner’s first book, being a magical fantasy set in the author’s home town of Alderley Edge in cheshire, and is based on a local legend of a king and his knights sleeping beneath the hill: “Two children, colin and Susan, become involved in a fight for the possession of a magic jewel which has power over the sleeper; the protagonists include the wizard cadellin and the morrigan; an evil enchantress who can summon goblin-like ‘svarts’”. (carpenter & Prichard. The Oxford Companion To Children’s Literature).
122. GARRICK, David. The Poetical Works of David Garrick now first collected in Two volumes With Explanatory notes. Printed for George Kearsley. 1785.
£998
8vo., 2 volumes in contemporary full polished calf, spines gilt with contrasting leather labels. Joints a little tender, offsetting from binding onto the first and last few leaves, otherwise a very good set.
First collected edition. From the libraries of mathew Wilson and his granddaughter Frances mary Richardson currer with their bookplates in each volume. Also signed in each volume by margaret clive Wilson.
“Frances mary Richardson currer (1785–1861), book collector, was born on 3 march 1785 at Eshton hall, near Gargrave, in the West Riding of Yorkshire. She was the posthumous daughter and sole heir of the Revd henry Richardson (1758–1784) who, shortly before his death, took the name of currer on succeeding to the estates of Sarah currer. her mother was margaret clive Wilson, the only surviving child and heir of matthew Wilson of Eshton hall; she was a niece of clive of india.
‘She is’, wrote mrs Dorothy Richardson in 1815: “in possession of both the Richardson and currer estates and inherits all the taste of the former family, having collected a very large and valuable library, and also possessing a fine collection of prints, shells, and fossils, in addition to what were collected by her great grandfather and great-uncle”. (nichols, 252)
T. F. Dibdin considered that currer’s collection placed her ‘at the head of all female collectors in Europe’ (Reminiscences, 2.949) and that her country house library was, in its day, surpassed only by those of Earl Spencer, the duke of Devonshire, and the duke of Buckingham. Seymour De Ricci wrote that she was ‘England’s earliest female bibliophile’ (De Ricci, 141).
currer has been described as extremely accomplished and amiable. in a letter to Dawson Turner in 1837 Dibdin wrote: ‘She has a heart as big as St Paul’s Dome and as warm as volcanic lava, but this is acted upon strangely and capriciously at times’; he went on: ‘she can show an indifference or niggardliness of feeling, which is utterly unaccountable’ (Dawson Turner mSS). currer had been a generous patron of Dibdin from early days, and his expectations may have risen too high at times.
Frances currer was shy, and her deafness, which increased with age,
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explains her somewhat secluded life at Eshton hall. But she was not a recluse, being ‘renowned for her generosity to all kinds of charities’ (Barker, 105), which included the Keighley mechanics’ institution and the new school at cowan Bridge, attended by the Brontë sisters. it is probable that she was the ‘wealthy lady in the West Riding of Yorkshire’ who gave £50 in 1821 to help pay the debts of the newly widowed Patrick Brontë (Barker, 105). charlotte Brontë used her surname for her pseudonym, currer Bell.” (oxford DnB).
123. GAVIN, C.M. Royal Yachts. Rich & Cowan Ltd. 1932. £998
4to. Full dark blue pebble-grain morocco, lettered in gilt on spine and upper board with Royal Standard blocked in gilt on upper board; pp. 338; profusely illustrated, including 16 mounted coloured plates; a fine copy.
First edition, limited to 1,000 copies. An admirable and voluminous work, describing in detail the Royal yachts from the time they were first used.
124. GAZE, Harold (illustrator). Rose Strong HUBBELL (author). if i could Fly; Stories in Free verse For children. new York; G.P. Putnam’s Sons. 1917.
£198
Royal 8vo. original taupe cloth pictorially and prettily blocked in white and dark green to upper board, lettered green to spine, top edge gilt pictorial endpapers; [vi], v-vii + [iii] + 114, printed on rectos only; with 5 coloured plates by harold Gaze protected by captioned tissue-guards; externally fine and fresh; internally also very nice indeed with very slight browning to margins of a couple of plates and a vertical tear to a tissue at inner gutter (now expertly repaired).
First edition. A delightful collection of children’s free verse exploring the far reaches of a young imagination: “if i could be a rainbow, D’you know what i’d do?” etc.
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