CHOLMONDELEY, MARY.: The Danvers Jewels.

London, Richard Bentley and son, [1887].

8vo, pp 127, [1], bound in neat contemporary half calf, marbled sides, spine gilt ruled and lettered, marbled endpapers, minor rubbing, a fine copy,

FIRST EDITION; published anonymously when the author was 28, and dedicated to her sister, this classic crime novel is considered one of the best written by a woman during the 19th Century. It would gain attention only upon its second printing, with the author's name on the title, in 1898, afterwards often reprinted both sides of the Atlantic. Sadleir had never seen a copy in the original wrappers, his own copy [part of a complete collection of Cholmondeley's novels] was rebound in binders' cloth. This attractive copy in contemporary calf carries the bookplate of notable Victorian book collector Henry Lloyd Gibbs [1861-1907]. Mara Inglezakis has provided a valuable and detailed online introduction to the book via the Victorian Women Writers Project, concluding [re the book's female character] 'The story of Aurelia, in this lost gem of a novel, turns out to be, perhaps, a female fantasy of rebellious success and complete escape.' £200.00 ref 29982.

CLARKE, MRS STIRLING.: The Ladies' Equestrian Guide; Or, the Habit & the Horse: A Treatise on Female Equitation.

London, Day & Son, [circa 1857].

Large 4to, pp vi, 216, [2, adverts, with a further advert to lower paste-down], 6 full page hand-tinted colour lithographed plates including frontispiece and 3 diagrams, text within double ruled border, bound in original bevel-edged pictorial orange cloth, richly decorated in gilt to upper board and blind to lower board, as usual rather rubbed at edges and faded to spine, a fine copy internally,

FIRST EDITION ; this is a book which could be afforded - and very much used - by the wealthiest class of women in Victorian society, at a time when side-saddle was at its height of popularity, not least with the Queen. Indeed the title page bears the royal coat of arms with subscription 'Under Royal Patronage. By command added to the Royal Library.' One could hardly get much better than that for Mrs Stirling Clark, though the absence of an actual dedication is surprising. The six fine full-page illustrations were lithographed by Messrs. Day & Son from photographs by Robert Watkins. The original owner of this copy had an unusual name - Jewels Hill Roberts, the book was a present from her devoted father. £200.00 ref 31564.

EDGEWORTH, MARIA.: Harrington, a Tale; and Ormond, a Tale. In Three Volumes.[cite: 1, 2]

London, Printed for R Hunter, and Baldwin, Cradock and Joy, 1817.[cite: 1, 2]

3 volumes, 12mo, bound without the advert leaf at the end of volume 3, neat contemporary half calf, spines gilt decorated with raised bands, marbled sides, a little joint rubbing and chipping to heads of spines, but a veyr good clean tight and attractive set,

FIRST EDITION ; Harrington is "an autobiography of a "recovering anti-Semite", whose youthful prejudices are undone by contact with various Jewish characters, particularly a young woman. It also makes parallels between the religious discrimination of the Jews and the Catholics in Ireland.". The second novel, or novella,entitled Ormond "tells the story of Harry Ormond, a hero who rises from poverty to wealth. Set both in Ireland and France, the novel uses different places to represent different paths that Ormond might take and different political ideologies. Ireland and France are shown as linked through their revolutionary fervor. The novel thematizes "obedience to tradition and culture", signifying these by allusions to Edmund Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in France". £175.00ref 30049.

FEMALE ECCENTRICS.: Eccentric Biography; or, Memoirs of Remarkable Female Characters, Ancient and Modern : Including actresses adventurers authoresses fortune-tellers gipsies dwarfs swindlers vagrants and others who have distinguished themselves by their chastity, dissipation, intrepidity, learning, abstinence, credulity, &c., &c., alphabetically arranged: forming a pleasing mirror of reflection to the female mind.

London : Printed by J. Cundee, sold by T. Hurst 1803.

Small 8vo, pp [10], 349, with engraved portrait frontispiece and a further 7 portraits of women, bound in original plain unlettered tree sheep, rubbed and worn at corners, joints and spine ends, but holding soundly considering the fragile construction, internally with light browning and offsetting, but a sound copy,

FIRST EDITION ; this curious little volume, sequel to a similar collection on male characters and both based on an earlier general collection, explores various aspects of the feminist world, both historical [Joan of Arc etc] and contemporary [Mary Wollstonecraft with portrait as 'Mrs Godwin']. Whether one sees this as feminist or antifeminist literature depends on one's historical perspective but the use of Chevalier D'Eon's portrait [as a man, of course] as frontispiece is perhaps telling. A scarce and curious book, this copy complete with all eight portraits, and one for which the cheap sheep leather binding rarely survives intact. £750.00 ref 30988.

HOLFORD, MARGARET.: Wallace; or, The Fight of Falkirk; a Metrical Romance.

London, T Cadell and W Davies, 1809.

4to, pp viii, 248, bound in contemporary full tree calf, sides with gilt borders, neatly rebacked with black label, preserving original marbled endpapers, slight corners wear, else a very good sound clean copy,

FIRST EDITION, INSCRIBED 'GIFT OF THE AUTHOR 1809. The recipient was M Egerton of Backford Hall, a Cheshire Tudor mansion that exists still in its rebuilt form of 1863, though the Egerton connection is not established. Wallace was the author's first excursion into poetry havign published several novels in her youth, and is a blatant imitation of Scott whose Marmion had just been successfully published. £125.00 ref 29517.

HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT.: The Complete Family-Piece: and, Country Gentleman, and Farmer's best guide. In three parts. Part I containing . above one thousand well-experienced practical family-receipts in physick and surgery; cookery, pastry and confectionery ...

London, C Rivington, [and 4 others], 1741.

Small 8vo, pp xii, 4, 526, [62], bound in contemporary unlettered sheep, sides with double gilt fillet rule, spine gilt ruled with raised bands, cracks to joints, especially the upper one which is neatly reinforced internally, but holding well. else a very good clean unsophisticated copy,

THIRD EDITION , which reissues the second of 1737 with a cancel title page [it is said], with the added inserting of 4 pages of a certain Mrs Stephen's recipes. In good original condition this kind of household guide publication, priced on the title page '3/6 bound ' is scarce in this state, a copy apparently not much used. Unlike later Victorian household manuals, it was not designed exclusively for female use, for whilst part one is devoted to cookery and medicine, part two concerns hunting, coursing, setting and shooting; part 3, with practical rules for husbandry might be used by any member of a farming family. For its role in promoting domestic economy in the Georgian period see Lehmann, The British Housewife. page 104. £350.00 ref 31545.

MONTAGUE, MARY WORTLEY, LADY.: The Poetical Works of the Right Honourable Lady M-y W-y M-e.

London, printed for J. Williams, 1768.

Small 8vo, pp [3],viii-109,[7, adverts for J Williams], bound in contemporary plain polished sheep, red label, light cracks to joints but a very goo clean tight copy,

FIRST EDITION; Lady Mary had died in 1762, but apart from a few poems issued by Dodsley and edited by Horace Walpole in 1747, no attempt at a collective edition based on miscellany contributions and manuscript sources was attempted until this one. The anonymous editor was Isaac Reed and the publication was unauthorized. Montague's fame at the time rested solely on her sensational 'Embassy Letters' - also a posthumous publication, yet so popular that Cleland was induced to add fakes to the originals. Her poetical works may have been similarly padded out by Reed, though they continued in print throughout the century, and found a place in the 'Works.' A pleasing copy in original state [though the title page states Price two shillings sew'd] with Williams' seven-page catalogue of books at the end - 152 items including several obscure novels. Early provenance of 'Norton Place Library' is recorded in manuscript to the front paste-down. £275.00 ref 30898.

WOLFERSTAN, ELIZABETH PIPE [JERVIS].: The Enchanted Flute with other poems; and Fables from La Fontaine.

London, Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme and Brown, 1823.

8vo, pp xii, 440, half title, contemporary half calf, spine gilt with raised bands, spine worn at ends, cracked at joints which are reinforced internally, the corners worn, internally clean and sound,

FIRST EDITION , PRESENTATION COPY 'TO LADY JERVIS FROM THE AUTHOR.' and with the bookplate of Martha H G Jervis. Jervis being Wolferstan's maiden name this is clearly a family presentation. Elizabeth Jervis was born in 1763 and published a successful three decker in 1796. She subsequently married, publishing nothing further until this collective volume of poetry after her husband's death in 1820, with simple designation 'E P Wolferstan' on the title page; it would set her off on a series of poetry collections, the last in 1842, three years before her death. An edition of the Enchanted Flute dated 1822 and with just 140 pages is listed in Jackson [UC, verified], but we have not been able to trace this edition which is not listed in COPAC. Her long poem 'Three Years after Marriage' included in this collection is, perhaps, partly autobiographical and, if so, salutary. £175.00 ref 30711.

GEORGE ELIOT POETRY IN ORIGINAL CLOTH, [MARION EVANS].: The Spanish Gypsy. A Poem

Edinburgh, William Blackwood and sons, 1868.

8vo, pp [6], 358, [8, adverts], untrimmed in original blue cloth with central gilt device to upper board, spine gilt, drab grey endpapers, a little rubbed at joints and worn at spine ends, very slight fading to spine as usual, minor binding faults only, a very good sound copy,

FIRST EDITION, Eliot's excursion in epic poetry was well-received in her own day, one critic even calling it the best epic ever written by a woman. After initial enthusiasm it passed from favour somewhat, eclipsed by her more significant contributions to the English novel. 'The Spanish Gypsy' remains, however, a significant contribution to Victorian poetry by one of the major female literary figures of the time and hard to find in anything approaching good original cloth, with the adverts intact; this copy shows usual browning to the adverts due to paper quality and some wear to the binding but is really quite bright. £150.00