Books and Manuscripts

First published in 1934, Reginald F. Johnston's Twilight in the Forbidden City is the classic insider’s account of life in the Chinese imperial cou...

This six volume set of The Plays of Shakespere, with notes by Charles Knight and published by Virtue & Co. c. 1890 (undated), presents the Bard...

The Merchistonian was the long-running magazine of Merchiston Castle School, Edinburgh, published for the school community, alumni, and supporters....

The Merchistonian was the long-running magazine of Merchiston Castle School, Edinburgh, published for the school community, alumni, and supporters....

This is a handsome set of four large-format 19th‑century bound volumes of Chambers’s Edinburgh Journal, originally launched in 1832 by the enterpri...

This is a handsome 19th‑century bound volume of Chambers’s Edinburgh Journal – New Series, Volume II, comprising issues 27–52 from July to December...

Gazette Anecdotique; Littéraire, Artistique et Bibliographique was a 19th‑century French periodical aimed at bibliophiles and lovers of art, litera...

A late‑18th‑century Edinburgh periodical, The Lounger (1785–1787) was a literary and moral weekly published by the authors of The Mirror, a promine...

This five‑volume set showcases the writings of Hugh Miller (1802–1856), the celebrated Scottish stonemason‑turned‑geologist, author, and lay theolo...

 A fascinating late 19th century Viennese folio of garden design and planting plans, this work by August Czullik reflects the period’s strong inter...

This striking folio portfolio, Les Grand Prix de Rome d'Architecture, 1907, published by Armand Guérinet in Paris, presents a visually impressive a...

A smart copy of this detailed biography of Lord Macaulay — the eminent 19th-century historian, essayist, and politician best known for his History ...

James Boswell’s The Life of Samuel Johnson remains one of the most celebrated biographies in the English language. First published in 1791, this ex...

Humphrey Prideaux’s The Old and New Testament Connected is a major 17th–18th century work of biblical historiography, first published in 1715–17. A...

Published at the close of the Second Boer War, Heroes and Gentlemen (1902) records the front-line impressions of the Rev. Robert M’Clelland, Presby...

A finely preserved early Victorian edition of Memorials of the Reformation of Europe, issued by Thomas Nelson around 1850. This volume presents bio...

A handsomely preserved and professionally restored first edition of The History of the Union of Great Britain (1709), attributed to Daniel Defoe. C...

This late Victorian edition of The Complete Works of William Hogarth presents the artist’s celebrated oeuvre in 150 finely detailed steel engraving...

Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border (Edinburgh, 1803) is the influential early work of Sir Walter Scott, issued here in its second edition, expanded ...

Emma Roberts’ Memoirs of the Rival Houses of York and Lancaster (1827) offers a detailed narrative of late medieval English history, tracing the dy...

This is the fifth and final volume of A New and Complete System of Practical Husbandry, a comprehensive 18th-century agricultural manual compiled b...

History of the Late War Between the United States and Great Britain; Comprising a Minute Account of the Various Military and Naval Operations. By H...

This attractively bound four-volume set of The Plays of William Shakespeare, edited by Thomas Keightley and published by J.S. Virtue & Co. in t...

This two-volume historical work by Thomas Arnold offers a detailed account of the political and military development of Rome during its transition ...