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This large collection comprises multiple volumes across several genres, including literature, academic ornithology, art history, and local topography. Notable fiction includes Frank Herbert’s Dune and Dune Messiah in New English Library paperback editions, Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms published by Jonathan Cape, and various works by Charles Dickens, Gerald Durrell, and Arthur Ransome. A notable ephemeral item is the uncorrected book proof of The Last Testament of Oscar Wilde by Peter Ackroyd, published by Hamish Hamilton. The natural history section features specialist ornithological titles such as Penguins by Lloyd S. Davis and Martin Renner, and Weather and Bird Behaviour by Norman Elkins, both from the T and AD Poyser imprint, alongside Neuroscience of Birdsong published by Cambridge University Press. Art history is represented by Julian Bell’s Mirror of the World from Thames and Hudson, Storytelling in Christian Art by Jules Lubbock from Yale University Press, and various monographs on painters including Rembrandt, Reynolds, and Canaletto. Topographical and local interest titles include A. Wainwright’s pictorial guides to The Central Fells and The Far Eastern Fells, and works focused on Devon and Cornwall such as The Birds of Devon and Dartmoor Crosses. Transport-related volumes include several Ian Allan combined volumes of British Railways Locomotives and Other Motive Power from the late 1970s. The lot also contains various Observer style pocket guides and contemporary fiction.
Condition report:
The collection is in mixed condition, generally ranging from poor to very good. Many mass-market paperbacks, particularly the Arthur Ransome titles, show heavy shelf wear, spine creasing, and significant paper loss. Several volumes exhibit tanning to the page blocks and evidence of foxing to the edges. Hardcovers generally show lighter wear, with some fading and minor fraying to cloth spines. A number of volumes bear adhesive white labels with handwritten codes to the spines. The Captain Scarlet and Thunderbirds volume shows significant structural damage to the spine and cover.
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