Lot 252
Bibliophilia and lexicography
Catalogues and dictionaries, 18th-19th century
Auction: From the Library of Professor Roland Paxton | 01 October 2026 from 10am | Lots 221 to 252
Description
A Catalogue of a Valuable Collection of Books, in Various Languages, for the Year 1812, now on sale, for Ready Money, by William Blackwood, Edinburgh. Edinburgh: William Blackwood, 1812. 8vo, contemporary red morocco, iv 350 7 pp., possibly Blackwood's own copy with inscription ‘William Blackwood 17 Princes Street Edinburgh’ to front pastedown and signature ‘William Blackwood’ to blank, headcap perished, front joint cracked, a few leaves (pp. 33-4, 51-2, 107-8 with small strips of paper restoration, the missing text supplied in manuscript);
Catalogue of the Entire Bound Stock of Ross and Blackwood, Booksellers in Edinburgh, which, on Account of the Dissolution of that Copartnery, must be peremptorily disposed of by Auction, on Tuesday, 8th November, and LXIV following evenings. Edinburgh: for Cornelius Elliot, Auctioneer, 1803. 8vo, modern wrappers, [4] 260 pp.;
A Catalogue of the Library of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Newcastle upon Tyne. Bound with: A Supplement to the Catalogue published in the Year 1829. Newcastle: T. & J. Hodgson, 1829-34. Presentation copy, inscribed ‘To the Society of Writers to His Majesty’s Signet from the Committee of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Newcastle' on the front free endpaper, 8vo, contemporary marbled boards, rebacked retaining earlier label, calf tips, gilt supralibros of the Signet library, xiv [2] 339, 62 pp.;
Catalogue of the Library in the New College, Edinburgh. [Edinburgh: privately printed], 1846. 8vo, contemporary cloth, [4] 194 pp.
Together with 7 others (these not collated, including: Robert Watt, Bibliotheca Britannica, Edinburgh, 1824, first edition, 4 volumes, 4to, contemporary straight-grain green half morocco, bookplates of Joseph Alfred Bradley of Llanfihangel-Ystern-Llewern, 1883; Samuel Johnson, A Dictionary of the English Language, 1808, tenth edition, 2 volumes, 4to, contemporary diced russia gilt, rebacked with original spines laid down, volume 1 spine with some surface-losses; Louis Chambaud, Nouveau dictionnaire francois-anglois et anglois-francois, London, 1805, 2 volumes, 4to, contemporary russia gilt; John Walker, A Critical Pronouncing Dictionary and Expositor of the English Language, 1797, second edition, 4to, contemporary reversed calf; Edward Phillips, The New World of Words, or Universal English Dictionary, 1706, folio, contemporary panelled calf, gilt spine, engraved frontispiece) (16)
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.