Lot 246
Bindings
Collection of library sets
Auction: From the Library of Professor Roland Paxton | 01 October 2026 from 10am | Lots 221 to 252
Description
Beaumont, Francis, & John Fletcher. The Dramatic Works … with the Notes of George Colman. London: John Stockdale, 1811. 4 volumes, large 8vo, contemporary calf by J. Carfrae of Edinburgh, 3 engraved portraits (portrait of Ben Jonson offset onto title-page of volume 4), large engraved bookplates (Seggieden);
[Edinburgh]. The Edinburgh Gazetteer, or Geographical Dictionary. Edinburgh: for Archibald Constable and Co., 1822. 6 volumes bound in 12, 8vo, contemporary marbled tan sheep with red and green leather labels to spines, engraved bookplates of Samuel Paterson of Lukenbooths, Edinburgh, printed labels ('Three Weeks for Reading') and printed shelfmark labels completed in manuscript to heads of spines (suggesting that Paterson may have been operating a lending library);
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von. Memoirs. Written by Himself. London: Henry Colburn, 1824. First edition in English, 2 volumes, 8vo, contemporary half calf, bookplates of the Elphinstone libray at Carberry Tower, engraved portrait, one spine-label renewed;
Hume, David. The History of England … a New Edition, with the Author's Last Corrections and Improvements. London: for T. Cadell, 1786. 8 volumes, contemporary marbled calf gilt (possibly by J. D. Bird of Cardiff, bookseller and bookbinder, with his ticket), volume 1 rebacked with original spine laid down, volume 8 front board partly detached;
Milton, John. The Poetical Works. The Third Edition. London: for C. and J. Rivington, 1826. 6 volumes, 8vo, contemporary tan calf gilt, volumes 1 and 2 front joints cracked;
Forsyth, Robert. The Beauties of Scotland. Edinburgh: for Thomson Bonar and John Brown, 1805. First edition, 5 volumes, 8vo, contemporary calf, rebacked, numerous engraved plates (not collated);
and 4 others including Forsyth, The Beauties of Scotland, 1805 (5 volumes, numerous engraved plates), a uniformly-bound set of Public General Statutes, mainly George 4 (7 volumes, 4to, contemporary half calf), and similar, the lot not fully collated and sold as a collection of bindings (50)
Provenance
From the collection of the late Professor Roland Paxton MBE FICE FRSE (1932-2025), 'Britain's foremost historian of civil engineering' (Telegraph, obituary, 12th November 2025); Professor Paxton was also a leading conservationist of Britain's engineering heritage, and led successful campaigns to restore two of the world's most important railway structures, the Laigh Milton Viaduct in Ayrshire, the world's oldest surviving railway bridge, and the Union Chain Bridge, the world's oldest suspension bridge still carrying road traffic.