Lot 250
18th-century literature
Collection of works
Auction: From the Library of Professor Roland Paxton | 01 October 2026 from 10am | Lots 221 to 252
Description
[Percy, Thomas]. The Hermit of Warkworth: a Northumberland Ballad. In Three Fits or Cantos. London: printed for T. Davies, and S. Leacroft, 1771. First edition (1 of 2 issues), 4to (25.5 x 19.5cm), 19th-century half leather with buckram boards, half-title, light staining to boards, light spotting throughout, half-title with light dust-soiling [ESTC T4704];
Gray, Thomas. Poems by Mr. Gray, London: printed for J. Murray, 1786. New edition, 8vo (18.4 x 10.4cm), contemporary calf, additional engraved title-page and 6 engraved plates, binding worn at extremities, light staining and spotting to title-pages, bookplate of Rev. James Robertson of Leith and ownership inscriptions on front free endpapers [ESTC T132351];
[Allestree, Richard]. The Ladies Calling: in two Parts. Oxford: printed at the Theater, 1705. 8th impression, 8vo (18.4 x 11.5cm), contemporary panelled calf, raised bands, engraved frontispiece, head of spine worn, 18th-century female ownership inscriptions on title-page and rear free endpaper [ESTC N19095];
Etherege, George. The Works of Sir George Etherege. Containing his Plays and Poems. London: printed for J. Tonson, 1735. [Third collected edition], 12mo (16.3 x 9.7cm), contemporary half calf, raised bands, hinges cracked [ESTC T52792];
[Maynwaring, Arthur]. The Lives of the Two Illustrious Generals, John, Duke of Marlborough, and Francis Eugene, Prince of Savoy. London: printed for Andrew Bell, 1713. First edition, 8vo (19.2 x 11.3cm), contemporary panelled calf, raised bands, 2 engraved portrait plates, wear to head and tail of spine, light dampstaining to upper margin of pp. 113 ff. [ESTC T66870];
[Chatterton, Thomas]. Poems, Supposed to Have Been Written at Bristol, by Thomas Rowley, and Others, in the Fifteenth Century. Cambridge: printed by B. Flower, 1794. First Cambridge-printed edition, 8vo (21.1 x 12cm), contemporary tree calf with modern reback, additional engraved titlepage, 1 engraved plate, preface followed by Coleridge's 4-page poem ‘Monody on the Death of Chatterton,’ his first to be published in book form, some staining and spotting to pastedowns and endpapers [ESTC T75380];
together with 25 others (31)
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.