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A rather dark work dated circa 1815, consisting of four pamphlets issued separately regarding the Ratcliff Highway murders, which occurred twelve days apart in December of 1811. The attacks were on two families near the London Docklands district of Wapping, and resulted in seven fatalities. Firstly, the Marr family, a young family including an infant son were slain viciously in their home overnight by an intruder; they were found just after midnight by their servant girl. The murders appeared motiveless, as no money had been taken from the family's shop till or personal stash. The second attack occurred at the King's Arms, a tavern, and saw the deaths of the publican, his wife and their servant. Remarkably, the Williamson family's fourteen-year-old granddaughter slept through and survived the killings. Eventually, the lead suspect in the crimes, a sailor named John Williams committed suicide in his cell awaiting trial; the evidence against him and the guilt implicit by his death were taken as definitive proof that he was responsible. Our copy of these four pamphlets bound as one is particularly scarce, and comprises a first edition, two third editions and a fourth edition, and are with a number of illustrations including a folding plate depicting a survivor escaping the scene of the crimes. A fascinating account of familicide in the early nineteenth century, of which a motive was never understood.
Queen Alexandra's Christmas Book
'Queen Alexandra's Christmas Book' provides a charming photographic insight into Royal life post-Queen Victoria. Published for Christmas 1908, this work was sold for charity, and comprises photographs taken by Queen Alexandra depicting various members of the Royal family, including King George and his sons. We thoroughly enjoyed imagining what lives these Royals led over a century ago, and we were equally pleased to discover a first edition album of cigarette cards published for King George VI's coronation in 1936. Containing some fifty brightly coloured cards, it brought us great excitement to imagine the pomp of a coronation as we pored over the ceremonial dress of the royals and senior figures, with Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II amongst them as she oversaw her father's ascension to the throne.
Feel free to browse our other works of modern fiction here.
We have recently added a sixth edition of this best-selling cookbook dating from the late eighteenth century. Written by William Augustus Henderson, this work had run seventeen editions by 1823, and was a humorously vague work, selecting not to list ingredients prior to the method, and with little direction in terms of measurements, temperatures and cooking times, a fail-safe means of avoiding criticism! This work contains exciting recipes for classic eighteenth century foodstuffs, including bakes, pies, tarts, soups and broths. This work is illustrated with ten plates, as well as a lightly hand-coloured frontispiece.
Our other cookery works are available to browse here, with this being an early example of a recipe book.
King Albert's Book
A 1914 publication we've listed this week, 'King Albert's Book', was a tribute to the courage of Belgium upon its invasion by German forces. With some of the most important writers and artists of the day having made contributions, including H. Rider Haggard, Rudyard Kipling, Arthur Rackham and Thomas Hardy, its literary and historical significance is irrefutable, and it provides an indication of just how roused Britain was by these occurrences abroad. The proceeds made by the publication of the work went to the Daily Telegraph Belgium Fund. Our edition of this work is bound in the publisher's original cloth, and illustrated with eighteen plates, including those in colour.
Our other works of European historical interest can be found here.
Finally, our header this week comes from a 1980 Alice in Wonderland pop-up book, particularly apt given the title of our weekly blog!
Through the Rooke-ing Glass No. 18
Ratcliff Highway Murders
A rather dark work dated circa 1815, consisting of four pamphlets issued separately regarding the Ratcliff Highway murders, which occurred twelve days apart in December of 1811. The attacks were on two families near the London Docklands district of Wapping, and resulted in seven fatalities. Firstly, the Marr family, a young family including an infant son were slain viciously in their home overnight by an intruder; they were found just after midnight by their servant girl. The murders appeared motiveless, as no money had been taken from the family's shop till or personal stash. The second attack occurred at the King's Arms, a tavern, and saw the deaths of the publican, his wife and their servant. Remarkably, the Williamson family's fourteen-year-old granddaughter slept through and survived the killings. Eventually, the lead suspect in the crimes, a sailor named John Williams committed suicide in his cell awaiting trial; the evidence against him and the guilt implicit by his death were taken as definitive proof that he was responsible. Our copy of these four pamphlets bound as one is particularly scarce, and comprises a first edition, two third editions and a fourth edition, and are with a number of illustrations including a folding plate depicting a survivor escaping the scene of the crimes. A fascinating account of familicide in the early nineteenth century, of which a motive was never understood.Queen Alexandra's Christmas Book
'Queen Alexandra's Christmas Book' provides a charming photographic insight into Royal life post-Queen Victoria. Published for Christmas 1908, this work was sold for charity, and comprises photographs taken by Queen Alexandra depicting various members of the Royal family, including King George and his sons. We thoroughly enjoyed imagining what lives these Royals led over a century ago, and we were equally pleased to discover a first edition album of cigarette cards published for King George VI's coronation in 1936. Containing some fifty brightly coloured cards, it brought us great excitement to imagine the pomp of a coronation as we pored over the ceremonial dress of the royals and senior figures, with Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II amongst them as she oversaw her father's ascension to the throne.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
We are ever thrilled to list a copy of a well-loved classic piece of modern fiction, in particular a work we have all enjoyed so much, and this scarce and uncorrected proof copy of Mark Haddon's 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time' is no exception. Containing the publisher's press release, as well as five original postcards recognisable to fans of the work, we smiled revisiting the world of Christopher Boone. This work won the Whitbread Book Awards for Best Novel and Book of the Year, the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize and the Commonwealth Writer's Prize for Best First Book; it has since been adapted into a successful stage adaptation which debuted in 2012, and has been translated into Spanish, French, Israeli and Danish, showing the widespread success of the work. Which, of course, makes our signed and uncorrected proof all the more special!Feel free to browse our other works of modern fiction here.
The Housekeeper's Instructor
We have recently added a sixth edition of this best-selling cookbook dating from the late eighteenth century. Written by William Augustus Henderson, this work had run seventeen editions by 1823, and was a humorously vague work, selecting not to list ingredients prior to the method, and with little direction in terms of measurements, temperatures and cooking times, a fail-safe means of avoiding criticism! This work contains exciting recipes for classic eighteenth century foodstuffs, including bakes, pies, tarts, soups and broths. This work is illustrated with ten plates, as well as a lightly hand-coloured frontispiece.
Our other cookery works are available to browse here, with this being an early example of a recipe book.
King Albert's Book
A 1914 publication we've listed this week, 'King Albert's Book', was a tribute to the courage of Belgium upon its invasion by German forces. With some of the most important writers and artists of the day having made contributions, including H. Rider Haggard, Rudyard Kipling, Arthur Rackham and Thomas Hardy, its literary and historical significance is irrefutable, and it provides an indication of just how roused Britain was by these occurrences abroad. The proceeds made by the publication of the work went to the Daily Telegraph Belgium Fund. Our edition of this work is bound in the publisher's original cloth, and illustrated with eighteen plates, including those in colour. Our other works of European historical interest can be found here.
Finally, our header this week comes from a 1980 Alice in Wonderland pop-up book, particularly apt given the title of our weekly blog!