The art of swimming; made Safe, Easy, Pleasant, & Healthful...
London.
Printed and Sold by J. Bailey, [s.d., c.1810?]
24pp. With a hand-coloured engraved frontispiece - severely shaved by the binder, with the loss of the six depictions of swimming figures surrounding the central image in the original plate. Textblock shaved to very narrow margins (loss of part of A2 at foot).
[Bound after:] [SIMPSON, James]. A visit to flanders, in july, 1815, being chiefly an account of the field of Waterloo... Edinburgh. Printed for William Blackwood et al., 1815. Third edition. vi, [2], 190pp. With an engraved folding map - loss to one edge, torn away from placement as frontispiece, naively laid-down on glassine and tipped-in to verso of title.
[And:] POIRET, [Jean Louis Marie]. Travels through barbary, in a series of letters, written from the ancient numidia, In the Years 1785 and 1786, And containing an Account of the Customs and Manners of the Moors, and Bedouin Arabs. London. Printed for C. Forster, [1791]. First edition in English. xxxi, [1], 336pp. ESTC T110634.
[And before:] Gymnastics, and their influence on the mind and body considered; with practical rules for the different exercises of the gymnasium; and an account of the london gymnastic society. London. Published by T. Richardson, 1826. Second edition. 48pp. With an engraved folding frontispiece - split down one fold, with paper repair to verso.
12mo. Nineteenth-century half-calf, marbled boards, tooled in gilt and blind, contrasting red morocco lettering-piece. Rubbed, spine marked. Occasional shaving to margins, foxed. Twentieth-century bookplate to FFEP of Margaret "Peggy" Erskine-Tulloch, one of the first Wrens at Bletchley Park where her responsibilities included those of Bombe operator, instructor and watch officer.
[Bound after:] [SIMPSON, James]. A visit to flanders, in july, 1815, being chiefly an account of the field of Waterloo... Edinburgh. Printed for William Blackwood et al., 1815. Third edition. vi, [2], 190pp. With an engraved folding map - loss to one edge, torn away from placement as frontispiece, naively laid-down on glassine and tipped-in to verso of title.
[And:] POIRET, [Jean Louis Marie]. Travels through barbary, in a series of letters, written from the ancient numidia, In the Years 1785 and 1786, And containing an Account of the Customs and Manners of the Moors, and Bedouin Arabs. London. Printed for C. Forster, [1791]. First edition in English. xxxi, [1], 336pp. ESTC T110634.
[And before:] Gymnastics, and their influence on the mind and body considered; with practical rules for the different exercises of the gymnasium; and an account of the london gymnastic society. London. Published by T. Richardson, 1826. Second edition. 48pp. With an engraved folding frontispiece - split down one fold, with paper repair to verso.
12mo. Nineteenth-century half-calf, marbled boards, tooled in gilt and blind, contrasting red morocco lettering-piece. Rubbed, spine marked. Occasional shaving to margins, foxed. Twentieth-century bookplate to FFEP of Margaret "Peggy" Erskine-Tulloch, one of the first Wrens at Bletchley Park where her responsibilities included those of Bombe operator, instructor and watch officer.
A curious sammelband of four rather disparate works, with content ranging from an account of the battle of Waterloo to the beneficial properties of pole vaulting. Of note is a rare manual on swimming, to which is appended 'Advice for Bathing' (p.20-24) by Benjamin Franklin, an early proponent of the practice. Much of the material on swimming attributed to Franklin is extracted from a long letter written to Oliver Neave outlining his advice. It was included in his Experiments and Observations on Electricity (Fourth edition, London, 1769).
£ 950.00
Antiquates Ref: 21674
