Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
Ruskin, John. Of Queens's Gardens. George Allen, London, 1902.
Price: US$121.63 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: 1902. First edition thus. [iii], 69pp. John Ruskin's essay 'Of Queen’s Gardens' was originally given as a public lecture before being published in his two-essay collection Sesame and Lilies (1865). It is regarded as epitomising the conservative Victorian ideal of feminity which defined women as passive and belonging to the private sphere of the domestic home - in comparison to the man who was 'the doer, the creator, the discoverer' of the public sphere. This is an attractive edition, printed on handmade paper at the Ballantyne Press, Edinburgh, with black border designs to the pages and red paragraph initials throughout the text. The book is bound in the original full vellum boards with gold titling on the spine and a gold emblem on the bottom corner of the front board and red cloth ties on the fore edge of the boards. The case of the book is in very good condition with some expected soiling to the vellum and slight warping to the boards. The red ties are faded and frayed at the ends with most of the bottom front tie being missing and the top rear tie hanging by a thread. The contents are tight and clean with many of the page being unseparated along the top edge. There is no inscription.
Seller: Edinburgh Books, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Ruskin, John. OF KINGS' TREASURIES. George Allen, (London, 1902.
Price: US$180.00 + shipping
Description: small 8vo. full vellum with gilt stamp on front board, cloth ties. (iv), 99+(1) pages. First edition. Lacking all four ties, but else a fine copy. Each page of the book is exquisitely designed with an ornamental woodcut border by Christopher Dean and is printed on hand-made water-marked paper in black and red ink. The text is a considerably revised version of a lecture Ruskin gave in 1864 at the Rusholme Town Hall, near Manschester. In 1865, Ruskin published Sesame and Lilies, which contained this text and Of Queens' Gardens (Wise, i.116). Not until two years after Ruskin's death in 1900 were the two lectures published under separate cover. Printed at the Ballantyne Press, Edinburgh. Includes index and colophon in back of text. Ruskin's seal in gilt on front board. full vellum with gilt stamp on front board, cloth ties
Seller: Oak Knoll Books, ABAA, ILAB, NEW CASTLE, DE, U.S.A.
Ruskin, John (1819-1900). Of queens' gardens / by John Ruskin. London : George Allen, 1902.
Price: US$213.32 + shipping
Description: Fine copy in the original full vellum with cloth tie-clasps (lacking lower set). An uncommonly good example; scans and additional bibliographic data on request, Physical description; 68 p. ; 21 cm. Notes; Sesame and Lilies. Lecture I. Sesame: Of Kings' Treasuries -- Sesame and Lilies. Lecture II. Lilies: Of Queens' Gardens. "Here ends Of queens' gardens by John Ruskin, printed at the Ballantyne Press, Edinburgh, and published by George Allen, London, in the year 1902." -- colophon. Imprint taken from colophon. Text in black with engraved initials printed in red. Each page of text within ornamental woodcut border. Printer's device underneath colophon.Includes index. Subjects ;Women - Education. Men.Conduct of life. Other names; Allen, George 1832-1907 [publisher]. Ballantyne Press [printer]. Vale Press. Printer's device underneath colophon. 1 Kg.
Seller: MW Books Ltd., Galway, Ireland
Ruskin, John. Of Queen's Gardens. George Allen, 1902.
Price: US$217.65 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Hardback, full vellum with ties. 21 x 15cm. [4], 68pp, [1]. Printed at the Ballantyne Press, Edinburgh. Elaborate printed borders and decorative initials in red. Slight warp to biding. A few marks to vellum and a few spots to prelims, main text clean and unmarked.
Seller: Besleys Books PBFA, Diss, United Kingdom
Price: US$224.05 + shipping
Description: Vellum-bound with gilt lettering to the spine and circular gilt printer's device at bottom right of front board. pp 68 + [1] Four pink cloth ties to fore-edge, complete. Printed on hand-made paper with ornate floral borders and illuminated initial letters printed in red. Spots of foxing to endpapers an half-title page. Boards clean and unbowed. A near fine copy of this exquisitely produced book. A lecture delivered by Ruskin in 1864 in which he discusses the correct education of women, among other things. Taking examples from literature and poetry, from the work of romantic poets like Dante Rosetti and playwrights like William Shakespeare, Ruskin argues for the moral superiority of females.
Seller: Worlds End Bookshop (ABA, PBFA, ILAB), LONDON, United Kingdom
Ruskin, John (1819-1900). Of queens' gardens / by John Ruskin. London : George Allen, 1902.
Price: US$244.00 + shipping
Description: Fine copy in the original full vellum with cloth tie-clasps (lacking lower set). An uncommonly good example; scans and additional bibliographic data on request, Physical description; 68 p. ; 21 cm. Notes; Sesame and Lilies. Lecture I. Sesame: Of Kings' Treasuries -- Sesame and Lilies. Lecture II. Lilies: Of Queens' Gardens. "Here ends Of queens' gardens by John Ruskin, printed at the Ballantyne Press, Edinburgh, and published by George Allen, London, in the year 1902." -- colophon. Imprint taken from colophon. Text in black with engraved initials printed in red. Each page of text within ornamental woodcut border. Printer's device underneath colophon.Includes index. Subjects ;Women - Education. Men.Conduct of life. Other names; Allen, George 1832-1907 [publisher]. Ballantyne Press [printer]. Vale Press. Printer's device underneath colophon. 1 Kg.
Seller: MW Books, New York, NY, U.S.A.
John Ruskin. Of Queens' Gardens / Of Kings' Treasuries (2 vols). George Allen, 1902.
Price: US$256.06 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: 1902, 6 x 8.5 inches approx, 68 pages (queens') and 99 pages (kings'), vellum binding with gilt lettering and cloth ties; handmade paper; fine printing from Ballantyne Press, Edinburgh, black and red with floral borders| sound, square volumes free of name, notes etc; minimal foxing to endpapers and text block edges; grey spotting to board covers (more noticeable on 'Kings' - please see images ) | carefully packaged and dispatched from UK within two working days
Seller: *bibliosophy*, Exeter, United Kingdom
Price: US$358.48 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Two volumes. 68; 99 pp. Full vellum with gilt lettering to spines. Cloth ties to fore-edge, one missing and one detached. Boards bowed. Printed on hand-made paper. Decorative borders to each page. Red-letter initials. Printed at the Ballantyne Press, Edinburgh. Two lectures delivered by Ruskin in 1864 and published as 'Sesame and Lilies.' In VG to Near Fine condition. 8vo.
Seller: Foster Books - Stephen Foster - ABA, ILAB, & PBFA, London, United Kingdom
RUSKIN, John. Of Queens' Gardens. Printed by the Ballantyne Press for George Allen, Edinburgh, 1902.
Price: US$381.74 + shipping
Description: In this exquisitely well-printed book, Ruskin eloquently discusses the proper education of women, among other things. Drawing examples from literature and poetry, from the work of romantic poets like Dante Rosetti and great playwrights like William Shakespeare, Ruskin argues for the moral superiority of the fairer sex, and, at the mercy of his velvety prose, Ruskin's picture of the ideal woman shows a beauitful and nurturing domestic goddess. Elegant typography composed within decorative floral borders. Octavo, original gilt-lettered vellum with cloth ties, edges uncut, a fine copy.
Seller: Rare Illustrated Books, Surry Hills, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Price: US$425.00 + shipping
Description: Full vellum, fine paper & printing, Near fine,; Linen ties lost, boards very slightly warped & light soil.
Seller: T. A. Borden Books, Olney, MD, U.S.A.
Price: US$5761.31 + shipping
Description: First edition thus, first impression, one of very few printed on vellum. This is a superb copy, with a distinguished provenance, coming from the library of New York banker, stockbroker, and author, Henry William Poor (1844-1915), who was a noted collector and patron of the arts. "Mr. Poor is a man of refined and scholarly tastes and prominent in the social life of the city. He is an ardent student and a great lover of books and has, by careful and gradual accumulation, collected one of the finest private libraries in the city of New York" (Hall). Henry Hall (ed.), America's Successful Men of Affairs, pp. 512-3, The New York Tribune, 1895-96. Quarto. Original vellum with yapp edges, spine lettered in gilt, small gilt device to front board, brown ties, untrimmed. Printed in red and black, decorative border to each page with lily of the valley motifs. Armorial red morocco gilt bookplate of Henry William Poor to the front pastedown. One tie missing, binding somewhat darkened, else sound, internally crisp; a near-fine copy.
Seller: Peter Harrington. ABA/ ILAB., London, United Kingdom