Honor Military and Civill, contained in foure Bookes. By William Segar. London: Robert Barker, 1602, folio.
THE DUDLEY-GEORGE-CARY-ELWES COPY OF THE FIRST EDITION OF WILLIAM SEGAR'S BEST KNOWN WORK WITH BEAUTIFUL FOLDOUT PORTRAITS.
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A copy greatly inferior to the one offered here with 14pp lacking provided in MS facsimile in an inferior binding recently sold at Cheffins 28th April 2022 lot 96, realising £2,375, and so presented here is a phenomenal deal to acquire a beautiful copy of the first edition of Segar's best known work with incredible provenance (see below).
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Provenance:
Aristocratic binding, most likely English in origin, perhaps Scottish, near contemporary, probably circa 1620-1640, unidentified - possibly of the Fettiplace family of Compton Beauchamp.
Inscription from Compton Library dated 1738 to the verso of the title page, most likely relating to the 6th Earl of Northampton, George Compton (1692-1758).
Bookplate of Dudley George Cary Elwes, circa 1860-1880, a historian and author of "A History of the Castles, Mansions, and Manors of Western Sussex" (London, 1876). He was elected as a Fellow of the Society of Antiquarians in 1869.
Bookplate of Samuel Gurney (1885-1968) of Compton Beauchamp, Oxfordshire. He was an influential member of the Anglo-Catholic movement and a co-founder of the Society of St Peter and St Paul. He purchased a Victorian Rectory in 1925 next to which he restored a medieval church. He was a friend and neighbour of the famous English poet & writer John Betjemen. He was described in his obituary in The Times (8 July 1968, pp.10) as "one of the best-known and best-loved laymen of the Church of England." This book was most likely acquired by Samuel Gurney for a return back into the Compton Library as it was in 1738. A fascinating circular provenance!
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Size: 185 x 300 mm (approx.)
Condition:
[(1), *1-2, A1-F1-6 (-F2, blank), G1-4, H1-X6, Y1-2, (1)]
Near contemporary (or perhaps contemporary) full calf with a heraldic emblem tooled in gilt to both boards, unidentified. Boards ruled in gilt, some loss. Rebacked attractively fairly recently (circa after 1968). Binding rubbed with some losses to the leather of the early boards. Some restoration to the corners and edges. Replaced endpapers and pastedowns preserving the earlier two bookplates to the front pastedown described under provenance, above. Inscription dated 1738 to verso of title page. Lacks frontispiece, and thus contains 7 of 8 engraved portraits. Lacks the blank leaf F2 as with almost all extant copies, likely bound without this blank originally. Some minor loss in the upper right corner of the final two gatherings (X1-Y2) which has been restored, just catching a few letters of text on the verso of one leaf, and occasionally catching some page numbers which have been supplemented by hand, no loss of sense to text. Generally very clean throughout the text, fully legible, without loss of sense. A lovely well cared for example of a scarce first edition with notable provenance.
[ESTC S116891].
