Rare books from Martin Frost

1790. Fine. 14 22 3.5. THIS BOOK IS UNIQUE. Hidden scene on the fore page edges (under the gilding) on both volumes. Tan calf bindings. Gilt embossed edges and centre panel on all sides. Black title plates and gilt banding and titles on the spine. Gilt on all page edges. Dimensions are for one volume. Supplied in a newly made protective box. Magnificent Fore Edge Edition Fore-edge painting: With a double concealed fore-edge painting revealing two scenes. In very good condition. The first known example of a disappearing fore-edge painting (where the painting is not visible when the book is closed) dates to 1649. Around 1750, the subject matter of fore-edge paintings changed from simply decorative or heraldic designs to landscapes, portraits and religious scenes, usually painted in full colour. The technique was popularised in the 18th century by John Brindley (1732-1756), publisher and bookbinder to the Prince of Wales and Edwards of Halifax, a distinguished family of bookbinders and booksellers. The… Read More

1640. Fine. 26 34 . Brown leather with gilt title and decoration on the spine. Gilt "Cambridge panel" design on both boards. Presented in a black protective box.
F.B.A. provides an in-depth photographic presentation of this item to stimulate your feel and touch. More traditional book descriptions are immediately available.
A very clean example inclusive of First Edition parts
An early rebound compilation of Jonson’s work.
Any serious buyer should request further information along with photographs.
Cosmetic blemishes aside, a very good and well margined copy in a contemporary binding. "This book. is a handsome specimen of typography. It reflects great credit upon its printer, Stansby, who was an apprentice and then successor to John Windet, and himself a master printer. Such work entitles him to a front rank among the printers of the reign of James I. Jonson is said to have prepared the plays for the press, himself, and one or two matters of editing, certainly, appear to show the author's hand. At… Read More

In a black fitted box with gilt title. Professionally rebound in brown leather binding with embossed date and pattern on the front board. Maroon title plate with gilt band and lettering on the spine. A great work perfected by Robert Barker who later went on to publish King James and the wicked Bible. This is a genuine old rendition and NOT a backdated copy to circumvent James I's ban. Simply the best. Brian Cole has rebound and reworked this Bible back to its original condition. Now housed in a magnificent worked protective case this Bible is a joy to hold and read – there are just not enough superlatives to describe Brian's craftsmanship.
The Geneva Bible is one of the most historically significant translations of the Bible into English, preceding the King James Version by 51 years. It was the primary Bible of 16th-century English Protestantism and was used by William Shakespeare, Oliver Cromwell, John Knox, John Donne, and others. It was one of the Bibles taken to America on the Mayflower.… Read More

Circa 1670. Fine. 16 23 6. A truly unique 17th Century Book with great historic significance.
Professionally rebound in brown calf with red and green title plates, gilt decoration, banding and title on the spine. In a protective box. Dimensions are for the box.
“AFTER SHAKESPEARE AND CHAUCER, JOHN MILTON IS THE MOST EMINENT POET IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE”: SCARCE 1673 EDITION OF MILTON’S POEMS, ISSUED ONLY ONE YEAR BEFORE HIS DEATH.
This copy includes a First Edition of Paradise Regained along with the prominent work of Samson Agonistes accompanied by Poemata.
This book is lovingly restored by Brian Cole from papers found in an old repository in Hull, Yorkshire.The interior pages are restored with light expert cleaning; along with expert restoration to board extremities.
BELOW FLOWS A BRIEF OUTLINE OF MILTON’S LIFE & MAJOR WORKS
John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet and intellectual. His 1667 epic poem Paradise Lost, written in blank verse and including… Read More

Brown calf binding with raised banding and gilt title on the spine. Embossed decorative border on both boards. In a newly made fitted box.
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In researching the history of 'Novum Testamentum' there are some established facts and then matters of repute - drilling down on repute I am having difficulty in converting repute to fact.
Facts

The book was printed by Charlotte Guillard who inherited France's then most prestigious Print shop. Her history and that of the print works along with their production of 'Novum Testamentum' is recorded.
The book was given by the French ambassador, Antoine, 1st comte de Noailles, to Queen Mary in July 1554 to mark her marriage to Philip.
The Novum Testamentum has handwriting within which is identified with that of Queen Mary Tudor, there are also extensive symbols which are associated with the Jesuits.
The Novum Testamentum was removed from the library of Traquair House,… Read More

Red Leather spine with gilt decoration (hunting emblems) and title on the spine. Red marbled boards. Part of a set. Robert Smith Surtees (17 May 1805 – 16 March 1864) was an English editor, novelist, and sporting writer, widely known as R. S. Surtees. He was the second son of Anthony Surtees of Hamsterley Hall, a member of an old County Durham family. He is remembered for his invented character of Jorrocks, a vulgar but good-natured sporting cockney grocer. Surtees attended a school at Ovingham and then Durham School, before being articled in 1822 to Robert Purvis, a solicitor in Market Street, Newcastle upon Tyne. Surtees left for London in 1825, intending to practise law in the capital, but had difficulty making his way and began contributing to the Sporting Magazine. He launched out on his own with the New Sporting Magazine in 1831, contributing the comic papers which appeared as Jorrocks' Jaunts and Jollities in 1838. Jorrocks, the sporting cockney grocer, with his vulgarity and good-natured… Read More

Red Leather spine with gilt decoration (hunting emblems) and title on the spine. Red marbled boards. Part of a set. Ask Mamma - or The Richest Commoner In England by Robert Smith Surtees It may be a recommendation to the lover of light literature to be told, that the following story does not involve the complication of a plot. It is a mere continuous narrative of an almost every day exaggeration, interspersed with sporting scenes and excellent illustrations by Leech. CONSIDERING that Billy Pringle, or Fine Billy, as his good-natured friends called him, was only an underbred chap, he was as good an imitation of a Swell as ever we saw. He had all the airy dreaminess of an hereditary high flyer, while his big talk and off-hand manner strengthened the delusion. It was only when you came to close quarters with him, and found that though he talked in pounds he acted in pence, and marked his fine dictionary words and laboured expletives, that you came to the conclusion that he was "painfully gentlemanly." So… Read More

very fine binding by Zaehndorf. Dark brown calf binding with gilt title, raised gilt decorated banding on the spine. Gilt on all edges. A magnificent copy printed in 1906
A 1906 Reprint prompted by Bernard Alfred Quaritch, of his father's the 1st edition of1859 which consisted of 75 quatrains The authenticity of the poetry attributed to Omar Khayyam is highly uncertain. Khayyam was famous during his lifetime not as a poet but as an astronomer and mathematician. The earliest reference to his having written poetry is found in his biography by al-Isfahani, written 43 years after his death. This view is reinforced by other medieval historians such as Shahrazuri (1201) and Al-Qifti (1255). Parts of the Rubaiyat appear as incidental quotations from Omar in early works of biography and in anthologies. These include works of Razi (ca. 1160–1210), Daya (1230), Juvayni (ca. 1226–1283), and Jajarmi (1340). Also, five quatrains assigned to Khayyam in somewhat later sources appear in Zahiri Samarqandi's… Read More

Black cloth binding with gilt title on the spine and front board.

Tan leather spine with red and green title plates, gilt banding and lettering on the spine. Blue marbled boards.

Full brown leather binding. Gilt volume number on the spine. No other visible title. Dimensions are for one volume.
Volumes with a most interesting ownership history which shadows the intrinsic pedigree of the books themselves. These four volumes are purported to have been belonged to slave 'Sally' Hemings owned by and mistress to USA President Thomas Jefferson, chief architect of the Declaration of Independence from the United Kingdom of Great Britain.
The Female Spectator, published by Eliza Haywood between 1744 and 1746, is generally considered to be the first periodical written by women for women. Sarah "Sally" Hemings (c. 1773 – 1835) was a biracial enslaved woman who was owned by President Thomas Jefferson. Multiple lines of evidence, including modern DNA analyses, indicate that Hemings and Jefferson had a sexual relationship for years, and historians now broadly agree that he was the father of her six children. Hemings was a half-sister of Jefferson's late wife, Martha Jefferson (née… Read More

Tan leather binding with red title plate, gilt decoration and title on the spine. Gilt 'Cambridge panel' decoration on the boards. In Latin. Rebacked many years ago.
Chacón, A., Historia utriusque belli Dacici a Traiano Caesare gesti. With 2 coppers on 1 l. and 132 ( 2 multiple folding) copper plates. Rome, J. Mascardi 1616. Please download the enclosed selected photographs - upon application all 132+ photographs can be forwarded to interested parties. Naturally, galleries and museums can benefit from a discounted price as it is preferred that this precious volume remains intact.


This is a great book, a magnificent work of art perfected on a series of coppers on Trajan's Column in Rome by the best the world has seen.


The First Edition (1576) was crafted by Giulio Pippi (after Raphael)


This 1616 book (the second edition) is one of the most remarkable Renaissance series of illustrations. These coppers were made by Francesco Villamena, who followed the models & workings of Raphael and his students… Read More

Blue cloth binding with gilt title and turban figures on the front board. All edges gilt.
The History of the Arabian Nights – One Thousand and One Nights The Origins of the Arabian Nights Arabian Nights, more properly known as One Thousand and One Nights is a collection of Middle Eastern and South Asian stories and folk tales, compiled in Arabic during the Islamic Golden Age. This period lasted from the eighth century to the thirteenth century, when much of the Arabic-speaking world experienced a scientific, economic, and cultural flourishing – One Thousand and One Nights epitomising the rich and multifaceted literary output. The title Arabian Nights came from the first English language edition (1706), which rendered the title as The Arabian Nights' Entertainment. The work itself was collected over many centuries by various authors, translators, and scholars across West, Central, South Asia and North Africa. The tales are many and varied, but common throughout all the narratives is the initial… Read More

Navy cloth binding with faded gilt title on the spine. Gilt swastika and eagle on the front board.

Brown cloth binding with gilt title on the spine and on the front board.
FIRST EDITION – A FANTASTIC BOOK The War in the Air: And Particularly How Mr. Bert Smallways Fared While It Lasted is a military science fiction novel written by H. G. Wells. The novel was written in four months in 1907, and was serialized and published in 1908 in The Pall Mall Magazine. It is (like many of Wells's works) notable for its prophetic ideas, images, and concepts—particularly the use of aircraft for the purpose of warfare—as well as conceptualizing and anticipating events related to World War I. The novel's hero and main character is Bert Smallways, who is described as "a forward-thinking young man" and a "kind of bicycle engineer of the let's-'ave-a-look-at-it and enamel-chipping variety." The first three chapters of The War in the Air expound on details of the life of the novel's hero Bert Smallways and his extended family. They reside in a location called Bun Hill, a fictional, former Kentish village that had… Read More