SCWC Rare & Vintage Books
The South Coast Writers Centre runs a Rare & Vintage Book Stall as part of our twice-yearly Vintage, Book & Art Bazaar. Browse some of the titles that will be for sale below.
THE HISTORY OF ENGLAND IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
Thomas Babington Macaulay (1980)
Price: $30
A centrepiece edition of Thomas Babington Macaulay, The History of England is a collection of essays spanning more than twenty years. Taken together, the essays cover the main points of English history during the 19th century. As an introduction to the period from an English point of view, readers will glean more than from the usual textbook. There is no other historical writer than Macaulay whose prose style is a standout among nineteenth-century authors: his History, translated throughout all of Europe, achieved more sales in America, almost dethroning the Bible, which left his works to join the canon of historical orthodoxy, replacing previous histories. With a comprehensive set of notes from editor Peter Rowland and an index, this red-cloth hardcover Folio Society edition is in excellent condition.
IN SEARCH OF IRELAND
H.V. Morton (1933)
Price: $40
Few books on Ireland match the merit and affection of H.V. Morton’s In Search of Ireland. Part of his celebrated ‘Search’ series, this classic travel narrative blends travelogue with cultural anthropology, showing how ancient folklore and local customs illuminate both the country and its people. Morton’s genuine curiosity and deep historical knowledge shine through as he captures the humanity of exploration across Dublin and the rural Atlantic coast. This eighth edition hardcover, with 16 illustrations and an endpaper map, is a near-fine green cloth copy with gold detailing and only minor wear.
IN SEARCH OF ENGLAND
H.V. Morton (1938)
Price: $40
H.V. Morton’s personal adventure across the British Isles continues in another of his beloved ‘Search’ books. Published when travel was far less accessible, In Search of England follows Morton through old customs and traditions — from Glastonbury and Stonehenge to Dartmoor — reconnecting readers with a gentler England in the years after the First World War. With 18 illustrations and an endpaper map, this twenty-fifth edition hardcover captures Morton’s characteristic charm and curiosity, offering a delightful view of the country and its residents. This near-fine blue cloth copy, with gold detailing and only light wear, is ideal for collectors of classic travel writing.
IN SCOTLAND AGAIN
H.V. Morton (1936)
Price: $40
A companion volume to In Search of Scotland, this book details Morton’s second tour of the country, from the Border to John o’ Groats. His earlier travels make him an even more intimate guide as he recounts experiences such as a week of fishing in the North Sea and wandering through the Highlands and Lowlands. His descriptions of Abbotsford, Sir Walter Scott’s mansion, add further charm. With 22 illustrations and an endpaper map, this fifth edition hardcover is a near-fine red cloth copy with gold detailing and only light wear.
EDWARD GIBBON’S ATLAS OF THE WORLD
Edward Gibbon (1991)
Price: $45
An atlas from a historian’s eye. During a time when mapmaking was transforming technically, Edward Gibbon joined the fray. With his historical expertise from the Decline and Fall, Gibbon’s reference to the traditional and speculative cartography available prompted him to update any out-of-date maps, specifically focusing on the geography of the Eurasian landmass and northern Africa. In his maps, Gibbon prioritised accuracy in the location of places as well as topographical details dense enough to make sense of the sitting towns and the movement of travellers, migrants and armies across the black-and-white illustrations. As noted in the introduction and commentary by Felipe Fernández-Armesto, “These qualities, barely imagined during the 17th century, and scarcely attainable even by the end of the 18th.” What makes this atlas entirely unique was Gibbon’s historical and cultural knowledge of how the events of human history had affected the world’s landscapes. Intended to be read in the Folio Society’s edition of The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, it enables readers to locate the places he names, with modern maps by Andrew Heritage and P.J.M. Geelan juxtaposing Gibbon’s period maps. Excellent condition with matching Society slipcase; only minor yellowing to some pages.
DONNE POETICAL WORKS
ed. Sir Herbert Grierson (1967)
Price: $50
At his best, Donne is a fantastic metaphysical poet, notable for his sensual style and poems about love and religion. This Oxford Standard Authors edition arranges his poems by type, yet while reading, jumping between types and forms will provide the most immersive experience. A sense of sensuousness and restlessness comes from his ‘Songs and Sonnets’ as well as his ‘Epigrams’, ‘Elegies’, ‘Satyres’, and ‘Divine Poems’. This edition contains Donne’s poems that editor Sir Herbert Greirson believed to have been genuinely written by the poet himself, alongside many textual notes — which record the variants of the old editions — and an ample appendix. Donne’s early secular interests and final entry into the ministry can be traced throughout all of his poetical writings. Intended for academics or general readers studying Donne, classic enthusiasts, or those concerned with late 16th to early 17th-century history and culture. In excellent condition, navy hardcover with gold gilding for the spine’s text; the dust cover also remains in excellent condition, with only minor damage and yellowing to the page edges.
THE READER’S DIGEST GREAT WORLD ATLAS
(1970)
Price: $50
What if you could see the entire planet from hundreds of kilometres above, rendered as a map from a sculpted model? Drawing on decades of cartographic research, this atlas explores our planet from space. This third edition, at nearly 200 pages, sets a new benchmark for map-making, covering Earth’s place in the solar system, colour-coded layouts, bird migration, the evolution of life, minerals, disease, agriculture, and more. Published by Reader’s Digest in Sydney and Wellington, this excellent-condition hardcover is a comprehensive record of how we see and measure the world.
SONGS OF INNOCENCE AND OF EXPERIENCE
William Blake (1991)
Price: $50
A unique amalgam of art and poetry. This 1991 edition presents Blake’s poems paired with his own engravings, showing how his verse is inseparable from the visions it fosters. Volume 2 of Blake’s illustrated books preserves the Songs as a unified work rather than a collection of isolated lyrics. Blake’s Songs of Innocence evoke the wonder of childhood, while Songs of Experience delves into the harshness of adulthood — a dichotomy that, paired with the visual components of this text, reflects the struggle between the untainted heart and the muchness of the world. In great condition, with a near-fine dust cover, this edition is for poetry lovers, academics, or could be a wonderful gift.
THE STORY OF LIVING THINGS AND THEIR EVOLUTION
Eileen Mayo (1944)
Price: $50
With nearly 1,000 original illustrations in full colour and a foreword from Professor Julian Huxley, this hardcover provides an excellent and popular presentation of evolutionary biology. This edition gives casual readers the chance to see life unfolding and its rich variety through vivid pictures that offer so much more than the average biology textbook. Divided into ten sections, Mayo explores sea creatures, plants, arthropods, amphibians and reptiles, birds, mammals, how animals behave, homes and families, societies and partnerships, and the head of the family. With beautifully annotated diagrams, each page’s layout is dutifully considered — no single page should be read alone, as each illustration and paragraph work together to deliver a stunning and educational breakdown of living things and their evolution. Intended for those interested in or familiar with Darwin’s On the Origin of Species (1859), Mayo’s explores how evolution operates as instinctively as gravity, all rendered in technicolour. The text has a slightly damaged spine, slight warping, yellowing on the page edges and some tears throughout, but its composition and visual charm can be found nowhere else.
WAKE IN FRIGHT
Kenneth Cook (1981)
Price: $50
An Aussie Classic that takes the outback seriously! The heat and blazing sun of this outback isolation hell are given voice in Cook’s debut novel as it follows his down-on-his-luck protagonist, John Grant, in a setting that paradoxically gives him the space to be freely himself but freely afraid too. Wake in Fright follows Grant being confronted by the ugly side of the Australian outback and how human behaviour eventually devolves to animalistic depths. As he descends into cycles of benders, dorky sexual encounters, and increased self-loathing, Grant becomes more immersed in the surreal hot-sunned nightmare his life has become. This psychological thriller examines the drinking and gambling culture of Australia and reads like a David Lynch film but has a similar prose style to J.D. Salinger. With a slightly worn dust jacket and minor denting to the spine, Cook’s strong voice and the novel’s clean page layout make it an enjoyable read for those with thick skin.
THE WORKS OF ALFRED TENNYSON
Alfred Tennyson (1883)
Price: $50
A comprehensive collection of Tennyson’s works. This volume includes his works dedicated to the Queen, early sonnets, poems such as “The Lady of Shalott”, “Morte d’Arthur”, and “Idylls of the King,” as well as his ballads and translations. The green fine cloth hardcover shows minor spine damage, yellowing pages, and worn edges, but the text remains clean and fully readable throughout. A solid reading copy of the Victorian Poet Laureate’s defining works, suited to readers of Victorian poetry or collectors of 19th-century editions.
THE ORIGIN OF THE FAMILY
Frederick Engels (1902)
Price: $60
Before the nuclear family was treated as natural, Engels asked whether it was simply another institution built to protect property. One of his seminal texts, The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State, explores how monogamy and private property reshaped family structures. Drawing on anthropologist Lewis Morgan’s studies, this cornerstone of communist theory critiques traditional family models and argues that relationships should be built on genuine affection rather than economic necessity. This first English-language edition, translated by Ernest Untermann as part of the “Standard Socialist Series,” is a much-loved pocket edition. A very good copy with slight staining to the cover, this 217-page volume is essential for readers of socio-political history.
PROBLEMS OF LENINISM
Joseph Stalin (1953)
Price: $60
Stalin wrote theory the way he governed: without ornament and with a steadfast eye. One of two major anthologies of his principal theoretical works, Problems of Leninism interrogates the core of Marxist-Leninist philosophy. Stalin’s writing is a surprisingly accessible and compelling read — not only for those interested in communism but for anyone keen on learning about philosophy or political theory. His approach focuses on immediate goals and practical results through industrialisation and collectivism. In good condition, this edition includes a portrait of Stalin and runs to 803 pages.
THE RAGGED TROUSERS PHILANTHROPISTS
Robert Tressell (1956)
Price: $60
Nothing fictionalised, nothing dramatised. Written and set in the Edwardian era, Tressell describes his work as “to write a readable story full of human interest and based on the happenings of everyday life, the subject of Socialism being treated incidentally.” His novel provides a faithful account of the lives and opinions of working men in a small town in the South of England. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists follows Owen, who joins a group of working men and holds a vision of a fair society, as this text critiques the dishonest capitalist system while Owen rouses his fellow men from their political quietism. With incredible wit and political passion, Tressell reminds readers of the importance of community. With an unflinching attention to detail, the plot of the working-class people’s daily routine of happiness and misery is what makes this story so eminently readable. Engaging and informative for the socially conscious and ethically minded individual, this is an essential reading. With a black hardcover in near-great condition, this edition sustained slight damage to the spine and minor yellowing to the page edges.
THE VICAR OF WAKEFIELD
Oliver Goldsmith (1900)
Price: $60
Goldsmith’s only novel, a comic and witty work, follows the travels of the Vicar of Wakefield, Dr Primrose, after he loses his fortune in an unfortunate investment. His idyllic life in the country is shattered as he is forced to move with his wife and six children to an impoverished estate. This novel subtly mocks many literary conventions of 18th-century fiction — from the pastoral setting to romance — as it inweaves the story of the hapless clergyman with a warm humour resonant of Jane Austen, also serving as an amiable social satire. Oscillating from comic to sentimental, the novel owes much of its renown to its realistic depiction of domesticity and loving family relationships. A very good, didactic Victorian novel in which virtue is finally rewarded, its simple morality and robust syntax make this text surprisingly enjoyable for Austen fans, those inclined to Shakespearean comedies, or simple Victorian literature. This second-edition features a beautiful olive-green fine-cloth hardcover with gilded edges and exciting illustrations from Hugh Thomson, with slight signs of age and minor damage to the spine.
THE WEALTH OF NATIONS, VOL. 1
Adam Smith (1950)
Price: $60
In 1776, Adam Smith asked what makes a nation wealthy, and the answer has been debated ever since. Volume one of two, The Wealth of Nations is a foundation of modern economics, arguing that true prosperity comes from a nation’s yearly output of goods and services. This Everyman’s Library edition (No. 412) is ideal for readers and students wanting to understand government’s role in the economy. Through practical discourse, Smith analyses economic systems and treats his readers as active merchants in the economic market. This 441-page pocket hardcover is in good condition.
THE ADVENTURES OF OLIVER TWIST
Charles Dickens (1886)
Price: $80
“The test of the morality of a society is what it does for its children” — Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Dickens’ Oliver Twist provides the literary canon with its archetypal orphan story, realistically depicting those from the impoverished London underworld during the Victorian era whilst supporting Dickens’ own belief that poverty inevitably leads to crime. This green hardcover holds one of Dickens’ most popular novels, published shortly after the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834, which reorganised relief for England’s poor and workhouses. Dickens’ fictional portrayal of workhouses became a memorable literary criticism concerning the treatment of the impoverished, and this tale remains an enduring one for contemporary readers. The story asks the uncomfortable question: What does society owe its children? Although this copy has a missing spine, some damaged binding, and yellowing to the pages, its content is legible and offers a daunting take on poverty and the condition of England.
POOR FOLK / THE GAMBLER
Fyodor M. Dostoevsky (1968)
Price: $80
Two of Dostoevsky’s novels that offer vastly different frames through which the author viewed the world. Although Poor Folk is painful in terms of its circumstances, the story is told over a series of letters between a young couple in continual decline toward financial ruin, both inept at changing their situation. Shame and craze shine brightly throughout, exploring themes of poverty, social class, and the human condition. The second story, The Gambler, follows a young tutor who becomes embroiled in gambling as he risks more and more to satiate his greed, commenting on how even members of the upper class aren’t content with their wealth and pedigree. Both novellas are classic examples of Dostoevsky’s style in writing about the vices of humanity and their consistency amongst both the struggling and thriving of society. This two-in-one edition is an essential reading for fans of Dostoevsky, with stunning black-ink watercolour illustrations interspersed throughout both stories. This antiquarian edition has a slightly damaged spine with a few stains to the page edges, but retains an original white gold frontispiece.
A HISTORY OF THE CRUSADES
Steven Runciman (1994)
Price: $120
Steven Runciman wrote Crusade history as a Byzantine historian, which meant the emperors of Constantinople and their stories were never far from view. These volumes are among the best for telling the general history of the Crusades, during which zealous Crusaders sought to liberate Jerusalem. Runciman begins with the First Crusade, continues through the Kingdom of Jerusalem’s establishment and destruction, and concludes with the Third Crusade. Across the three volumes, his expansive narrative illuminates how the Crusades affected medieval life. This Folio Society set, in very good condition and housed in a slipcase, comprises three volumes with good detailing throughout, intended for history collectors.
HOUSEHOLD WORDS: A WEEKLY JOURNAL, VOL. XVIII
Charles Dickens
Price: $150
A rare piece of Dickens’s editorial legacy. Volume XVIII of Household Words covers June to November 1858, including an extra Christmas number. The volume features serialised fiction — among it Elizabeth Gaskell’s My Lady Ludlow — alongside the journal’s combination of social reportage and essays. The spine is poor, and the volume is not intact; this is a reading and reference copy, not a typical display item. It is intended for Dickens readers interested in the original periodical format, or for the collector of Victorian periodicals for whom completeness of the run matters more than the condition of any single volume.
HOUSEHOLD WORDS: A WEEKLY JOURNAL, VOL. XIX
Charles Dickens
Price: $150
The final volume of Household Words under Dickens’s editorship. Volume XIX spans December 1858 to May 1859 and includes articles such as “Robert-Houdin in Algeria,” “In A Military Prison,” and “Out-Conjuring Conjurors,” alongside serialised fiction. In fairly good condition, with some page tears and slight damage to the spine, this edition remains a substantial artifact of Victorian periodical culture and of Dickens’s editorial career.
THE POSTHUMOUS PAPERS OF THE PICKWICK CLUB
Charles Dickens (1910)
Price: $160
Dickens’s first novel, in a beautifully illustrated two-volume set. The Pickwick Club is bound in a two-volume folio set with coloured illustrations throughout by Cecil Aldin, published by Chapman & Hall and Lawrence & Jellicoe in 1910. Both volumes are in fair condition; the page edges are curling and browning, but all text is easily readable with clear print quality. The volumes feature the episodic adventures of the noble Mr Pickwick and the members of his club — the format in which Dickens, courted by publishers and admired by the public, embarked on his career. Funny and gently satirical, his attacks on pretension in politics and society remain relevant. Much of the book is taken up with travel, inns, and the modes of transport of the era.
THE COMPLETE PLAYS
William Shakespeare (1988)
Price: $250
Built to last several lifetimes of rereading. This six-volume Folio Society edition of Shakespeare’s complete plays, edited by Stanley Wells and Gary Taylor, is a centrepiece for any library. Bound and slipcased in Folio’s customary style, the set is in very good condition with only minor yellow marks and slight staining on some volumes. The plays are arranged by scholarly consensus on their order of composition and are completely unannotated. With sturdy bindings, large clear print, and clean layouts, these volumes invite repeated use and are intended for the reader who wants a complete, undistracted version of Shakespeare’s works, not a single-volume reading copy.
THE NOVELS OF CHARLES DICKENS
Charles Dickens (1990)
Price: $350
The almost-complete, uniformly bound collection of Dickens’s novels. This set is identically bound in green decorative covers with gilt titling on the spines. Beyond the major novels — Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, Bleak House, Great Expectations, and others — the collection includes Sketches of Boz, Pictures from Italy, and Christmas Books, as well as the two-volume Life of Charles Dickens by F.G. Kitton. There is some discolouration to the pages and age-related toning on the edges, but this remains a solid reading set for any Dickens enthusiast or those interested in the Victorian era. Please note: volume 1 of Our Mutual Friend is missing.
THE HISTORY OF ENGLAND FROM THE ACCESSION OF JAMES THE SECOND
Thomas Babington Macaulay (1985)
Price: $400
Thomas Babington Macaulay’s historical writing is not always accurate, but it has never stopped being read — a testament to its enduring relevance. This five-volume Folio Society set of The History of England from the Accession of James the Second offers a sweeping account of a pivotal period of English history. Macaulay’s narrative voice makes these volumes as enjoyable as they are informative. The Folio Society edition is illustrated throughout, bound in fine blue cloth, and housed in a publisher’s slipcase. In very good condition.