Books

A Perfect Very Special Christmas 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

Our Specialist Museum Grade Restoration & Conservation

For generations we have prided ourselves on commissioning and providing the finest quality artisan restoration and conservation services available in the UK.
Restoration is often a vital part to saving and preserving fine, rare or even regular pieces that have been neglected or damaged over the past decades or even hundreds of years, and by doing so we have had fantastic results that are incredibly satisfying and created a wonderful feeling of accomplishment. However, these specialist arts can progress slowly, and can be expensive, and are thus time-consuming but incredibly worth the wait and effort. Thus we do not actively undertake third-party restoration at all due to the often excessive costs and considerable time involved. It is not unknown for a specialist restoration and conservation project of a single piece to take several years

Another important factor though, is that bad and poorly executed restoration can be far worse than doing nothing at all.

Restoration is a magnificent art, and often well worthwhile for important pieces when successful, but it is not to be undertaken lightly without all due consideration.
It is important to understand all factors when considering such improvements to fine antique pieces.
We were once advisers for the restoration of our magnificent 16th century 'Brussels' tapestry, that we sold some decades ago, to one of our clients in South America, see it in our photo gallery, photographed on display in our Prince Albert Street shop, with Judy Hawkins, Mark’s incredibly talented and beloved late wife, standing in the foreground the eventual restoration cost,, in today’s terms, was over £600,000, and it took over 3 years to complete. A sobering sum, often outside of the deep pockets of national collections resources.

When we undertake restoration and conservation of our own items that we offer for sale, the price shown for the items purchase amount, once they have been restored, will be inclusive of all these costs, and we would have undertaken this work often for posterity to save for future generations pieces that may well might have been discarded in their poor, previously un-restored, original and neglected state. We will often contribute towards, and therefore subsidise these costs ourselves, in order to save a piece of beauty or historical significance for this reason. The improvement of 'value' is never our primary concern, and should, ideally never be the principle desire for collectors either, it should be for the preservation of fine craftsmanship and to restore fine cultural heirlooms for posterity, for the benefit of generations to come.

If we restore an item that was acquired, pre restoration, from us by a client, albeit a museum, a private collector or specialist dealer, the results can be not only spectacular, but also incredibly satisfying to know that a fine piece has been saved for generations to come, and will be an ancestral heirloom for the future  read more

Code: 23682

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

On Her Majesty s Secret Service, Ian Fleming, 1st Edition Very Nice Condition Overall

On Her Majesty s Secret Service, Ian Fleming, first edition, first print, Jonathan Cape, 1963. Cloth-bound book is firm and square.

The second title in Fleming’s ‘Blofield Trilogy’, which begins with ‘Thunderball’ and ends with ‘You Only Live Twice.

On Her Majesty's Secret Service is a 1969 spy film and the sixth in the James Bond series produced by Eon Productions. It is based on the 1963 novel by Ian Fleming. Following Sean Connery's decision to retire from the role after You Only Live Twice, Eon selected George Lazenby, a model with no prior acting credits, to play the part of James Bond. During filming, Lazenby announced that he would play the role of Bond only once. Connery returned to portray Bond in 1971's Diamonds Are Forever.

In the film, Bond faces Blofeld (Telly Savalas), who is planning to hold the world ransom by a threat to render all food plants and livestock infertile through the actions of a group of brainwashed "angels of death". Along the way Bond meets, falls in love with, and eventually marries Contessa Teresa di Vicenzo (Diana Rigg).

It is the only Bond film to have been directed by Peter R. Hunt (with this serving as his directorial debut), who had served as a film editor and second unit director on previous films in the series. Hunt, along with producers Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, decided to produce a more realistic film that would follow the novel closely. It was shot in Switzerland, England, and Portugal from October 1968 to May 1969. Although its cinema release was not as lucrative as its predecessor You Only Live Twice, On Her Majesty's Secret Service was still one of the top-performing films of the year. Critical reviews upon release were mixed, but the film's reputation has improved greatly over time and is now regarded as one of the strongest entries in the series as well as one of the most faithful adaptations of a Fleming novel.

The novel On Her Majesty's Secret Service was first published after the film series started and contains "a gentle dig at the cinematic Bond's gadgets"; Broccoli and Saltzman had originally intended to make On Her Majesty's Secret Service after Goldfinger and Richard Maibaum worked on a script at that time.10 However, Thunderball was filmed instead after the ongoing rights dispute over the novel was settled between Fleming and Kevin McClory.11 On Her Majesty's Secret Service was due to follow that,10 but problems with a warm Swiss winter and inadequate snow cover led to Saltzman and Broccoli postponing the film again, favouring production of You Only Live Twice.12

Between the resignation of Sean Connery at the beginning of filming You Only Live Twice and its release, Saltzman had planned to adapt The Man with the Golden Gun in Cambodia and use Roger Moore as the next Bond, but political instability meant the location was ruled out and Moore signed up for another series of The Saint.13 After You Only Live Twice was released in 1967, the producers once again picked up with On Her Majesty's Secret Service.10

Peter Hunt, who had worked on the five preceding films, had impressed Broccoli and Saltzman enough to earn his directorial debut as they believed his quick cutting had set the style for the series.14 It was also the result of a long-standing promise from Broccoli and Saltzman for a directorial position, which they honored after Lewis Gilbert declined to direct.1516 Hunt also asked for the position during the production of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and he brought along with him many crew members, including cinematographer Michael Reed.17 Hunt was focused on making his mark – "I wanted it to be different than any other Bond film would be. It was my film, not anyone else's."18 On Her Majesty's Secret Service was the last film in the series on which Hunt worked  read more

Code: 24936

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

1st Edition Napoleon, by Hewiston W. B. The Life of Napoleon Bonaparte. In Two Volumes Printed in 1814

London: Printed & Published by J. Wallis, and sold by S. A. Oddy, J. Goodwin, and Davies & Eldridge, Exeter, c. 1810
London: Wallis, 1814. 1st Edition. Hardcover. Two volume set. Good condition.

Illustrated with numerous b/w engraved plates. A popular British life of Napoleon. The two volumes are the first edition which ends with Napoleon's abdication to Elba. Photos to add of both books on Monday 23rd. Each volume is 8.25 inches x 5.25 inches x 1.25 inches
Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821), also known as Napoleon I, was a French military leader and emperor who conquered much of Europe in the early 19th century. Born on the island of Corsica, Napoleon rapidly rose through the ranks of the military during the French Revolution (1789-1799). After seizing political power in France in a 1799 coup d’état, he crowned himself emperor in 1804. Shrewd, ambitious and a skilled military strategist, Napoleon successfully waged war against various coalitions of European nations and expanded his empire. However, after a disastrous French invasion of Russia in 1812, Napoleon abdicated the throne two years later and was exiled to the island of Elba. In 1815, he briefly returned to power in his Hundred Days campaign. After a crushing defeat at the Battle of Waterloo, he abdicated once again and was exiled to the remote island of Saint Helena, where he died at 51. Napoleon was, and remains, famous for his battlefield victories, and historians have spent enormous attention in analysing them. In 2008, Donald Sutherland wrote:

The ideal Napoleonic battle was to manipulate the enemy into an unfavourable position through manoeuvre and deception, force him to commit his main forces and reserve to the main battle and then undertake an enveloping attack with uncommitted or reserve troops on the flank or rear. Such a surprise attack would either produce a devastating effect on morale, or force him to weaken his main battle line. Either way, the enemy's own impulsiveness began the process by which even a smaller French army could defeat the enemy's forces one by one.
After 1807, Napoleon's creation of a highly mobile, well-armed artillery force gave artillery usage increased tactical importance. Napoleon, rather than relying on infantry to wear away the enemy's defences, could now use massed artillery as a spearhead to pound a break in the enemy's line. Once that was achieved he sent in infantry and cavalry.  read more

Code: 23379

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

Gestalten Der Weltgeshichte Miniaturen. Shaping World History. Contemporary Miniatures of Famous Personalities from Four Centuries (1933)

A superb 1930's German album-book perfect for the collector of antique miniatures and famed personalities of history

Wiemann, Hermann (Text)

Gestalten der Weltgeschichte . Zeitgenössische Miniaturen berühmter Persönlichkeiten aus vier Jahrhunderten (1933)

Contemporary miniatures of famous personalities from four centuries, paperback with gold embossing, A4, Cigarettn-Bilderdienst, 1933, 111 pages, really good condition for its age,

Cardboard cover with gold embossing, 111 pages, approx. 31 x 23.5 cm, Humanism and Reformation in Germany / The Renaissance in Italy / England under the Tudors / The Renaissance in France / Spain and the Netherlands / Thirty Years' War / Absolutism in Prussia and Saxony / Absolutism in France / England under the Stuarts and the Revolution / England in the 18th century / France under Louis XV / Austria in the 18th century / Frederick the Great and his time / Russia / the time of Goethe / Louis XVI. and the French Revolution / Napoleon I and his time / Germany in the war of liberation / German Romanticism / The 19th century Shapes of world history Contemporary miniatures of famous personalities from four centuries Published by Cigaretten-Bilderdienst, Hamburg-Bahrenfeld, 1933 151.-180.  read more

Code: 24617

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