A Long Tour of the Shelves

Posted by J. Mark Bertrand
on Tuesday, April 29, 2008
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I've gone book-crazy recently. Camera in hand, I snapped photos of one shelf after another, and as a result I can share a pretty good cross section of my antiquarian titles. Not everything -- some of the photos didn't come out -- but enough to give you an idea of what I like.

Pater, Montaigne, Creasy

The Pater set (above) was a gift from Laurie, one of the first sets I ever received. The two-volume set of Montaigne's essays in French is quite nice. If I'd snapped a photo of the boards, you'd be impressed by the vivid marbling.

Broad Stone, Thackeray, Castle, Hutton

Sartor Resartus (above, middle) was kind of a favorite of mine, but the real goodies are on the far right, sword books by Roworth, Castle and Hutton.

Folio Society - Graham Greene Set

Not everybody loves the Folio Society, but I think their two six-volume, slipcased sets of Graham Greene's serious novels and his "entertainments" (above) are brilliant.

Weyman, Doyle, Sabatini, Aretino

Since I mentioned Sabatini and Weyman recently, I figured I should include some of their other works -- Count Hannibal and Venetian Masque, respectively. Also a couple of editions of my favorite Arthur Conan Doyle stories -- not about Sherlock Holmes, but the quixotic, idiotic Brigadier Gerard.

Thackeray

A nineteenth century set of Thackeray's works (above), set in tiny type with copious illustrations.

Baudelaire, Pater, Carlyle, etc.

Some true favorites above, including a beautiful two-volume edition of Pater's Marius the Epicurean, Carlyle's The French Revolution (my first ever antiquarian score), and Baudelaire in French, complete with some pretty bizarre plates.

Rosetti, etc.

The two-volume set of Rossetti's works (above) is majestic in person. The volumes on the right comprise The Lives of the English Saints.

Erasmus, Coleridge, Scott

Guy Mannering and The Pirate (above, right) are early editions of Scott acquired at one of the London shops that sells books by the foot to decorators.

Blue and Gold

Last but not least, what I think of as the "gold books," an assortment of volumes I picked up more for the binding than the content, with the exception of the Georges Sand novel in the middle.


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