1. Oeuvres de Shakespeare Traduit de L'Anglois, Dédié au Roi by William Shakespeare - £11,085
Published in 1776, this 20-volume set was one of a very few French translations of the Bard’s work in the 18th century.
2. Thesaurus Sacrarum Historiarum Veteris Testameni by Gerard de Jode - £10,156
This edition of the Old Testament was published in Antwerp circa in
the mid-16th century by noted cartographer and printer Gerard de Jode.
It was an ambitious undertaking and the book’s engravings were extremely
detailed for this period.
![History-of-the-Lives-and-Ro[1]](https://abebooks.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83451b9ae69e2017d422ba09e970c-800wi "History-of-the-Lives-and-Ro[1]")
A Complete History of the Lives and Robberies Of the Most Notorious Highway-Men, Foot-Pads, Shop-Lifts, and Cheats by Captain Alexander Smith
3.
A Complete History of the Lives and
Robberies Of the Most Notorious Highway-Men, Foot-Pads, Shop-Lifts, and
Cheats by Captain Alexander Smith - £8,802
Published in 1719, this fifth edition was published in two
volumes and contains “the most secret and barbarous murders,
unparalleled robberies, notorious thefts and unheard of cheats, setting
them in a true light and exposing them to public view for the common
benefit of mankind. The accounts and confessions are drawn from
imprisoned villains who awaited their fate at the gallows.”
4. New
England’s Memorial, or a Brief Relation of the Most Memorable and
Remarkable Passages of the Providence of God Manifested to the Planters
of New England in America by Nathaniel Morton - £7,257
Published in 1721, this is the second edition of Morton’s book. It is
considered one of the foundation works of New England history, and the
first secular book published in New England.
5. The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman by Laurence Sterne - £7,190
A first edition of this sprawling comic novel published in nine parts
from 1759 to 1767. The book is supposedly a narration of the
protagonist’s life but Tristram often digresses and his birth is not
covered until volume three.
6.The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA by James D. Watson - £6,200
A first edition of the author’s ground-breaking work regarding the
discovery of DNA. The book was signed by Watson and co-discoverer
Francis Crick.
7. The Handmade Papers of Japan by Thomas and Harriet R. Tindale - £6,200
Published in 1952, this book is considered one of the finest studies
of Japanese paper. The book is filled with specimen papers, including
rare papers dating back to the 8th and 9th centuries. Published in
four volumes and limited to somewhere between 150 and 250 copies.
8. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger - £5,270
Published in 1951 by Little Brown, this is a first edition of Salinger’s iconic novel.
9= The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien - £4,944
The second in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings series, this first edition
was published in 1954. This copy contains an autograph letter signed
and dated 29 December 1961 in which the author describes his busy
schedule and his doubts about a sequel to The Lord of the Rings. He
signs off by saying "forgive this gloomy note.”
9= The Moment, for Miriam by Kenneth Patchen -£4,944
Patchen was an American poet (1911-1972) and novelist. This rare
poetry book was published in 1955 and limited to 42 hand-bound copies
produced at Henry Geiger’s printshop. The Moment gathers together two of
Patchen's 1955 works of illustrated poems, Glory Never Guesses and A
Surprise for the Bagpipe Player. Miriam was Patchen’s wife. This copy
belonged to the poet-critic Stanley Burnshaw.