Foster Books

Some byootiful marbling on the covers of these little Shakespeare plays.

These is one of the first examples of Shakespeare’s works which were not collected into one volume, and printed individually, in 1734.

Well that’s going in the window! #1949

Lovely Paul Hogarth design for this 1963 edition of Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own

Help with your from the late 18th Century!

Came across this beautiful binding of Francis Bacon’s Essays, originally bound for Hatchard’s.

Mervin Peake’s fantastically vivid illustrations for Alice in Wonderland & Through The Looking Glass.

The illustrated book and portfolio of prints are bound in blue cloth with a matching slipcase. Limited numbered edition, one of 180 copies.

Monday

From Milton’s Paradise Lost, illustrated with engraved plates by Fuseli and Hamilton.

Advert in a 1934 Post Office Magazine for Wimpey show houses in The Grove

First UK edition of ‘Picasso Theatre’, looking at Picasso’s work for the stage and the influence of theatre on his artistic production. Featuring many charming little sketches…

Just in!

Here’s an advert for Douglas Motorcycles from a 1927 Strand Magazine.
Not sure if that’s ’come hither’ or ‘eff off’, but anyone prepared to wear a kilt on a gets some licence from me.

Even the Victorians understood

The first English edition of Waiting for Godot (1956) from the French, ‘En attendant Godot’. This edition was the text used for the production at the Criterion theatre, which was censored by Lord Chamberlain and almost banned for its base themes and indecent language. Though at the time receiving strong opposition, it’s now considered one of the most significant plays of the 20th Century. I hear it’s returning back to the West End this September…

Heard that Waiting for Godot is coming to the West

A nice edition of Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator for the kids. Second impression with illustrations by Faith Jaques.

Our little feature in ‘The Opinionated Guide to London Bookshops’, due to be published by later this year.

First edition review copy of Edward Albee’s ‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?’.

This was Albee’s Broadway debut and his most famous work, centring the declining marriage of a middle-aged couple. It won the Tony Award in 1963 for best play, and was adapted into an Academy Award-winning film adaptation in 1966 starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. The name is a pun on the ‘Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf’ song from Disney’s ‘Three Little Pigs’ (1933).

An illustration of a print of the library of the University of Leiden dated to 1610. The books are chained to a bar below their shelves and there are no seats to save on space.

This illustration is taken from J. W. Clark‘s ‘The Care of the Book: An Essay on the Development of Libraries and their Fittings, from the earliest times to the end of the Eighteenth Century’ (1909).

The Complete Angler by Isaac Walton and Charles Cotton (1775).

This is the 3rd edition of Walton’s classic work on fishing, an instructive guide and a celebration of nature and the English countryside.

We’re open until 6pm today, so come and say hello to us at stand K98 on the top floor. We’ve added a whole bunch of fresh stock this morning.

Coming together for the but time for some lunch

Some fabulous watercolour illustrations from Boris Zworykine in this deluxe edition of Pushkin’s most popular play, Boris Godounov. It is one of no. 33 of 35 copies printed on Japan paper and one of 775 limited edition copies.

First edition of an uncommon and early Ju-Jitsu book. Published in 1907, the author was an instructor on the army staff at Aldershot.

Not so rare example of a mummified rare book.

I can’t believe this didn’t catch on!
#1919

Hoping you’ve had a restful couple of days.
Just a reminder the the shop is closed some days over
We’re open Friday 29th & Saturday 30th the Wednesday 3rd back to normal.

As we take a run up to the overindulgences of we are open until 2pm ish today to pick up those last minute gifts or reading

Out has been progressing this waiting for tonight.

Just had in a lovely run of Lilliput magazine. 47 issues from number 1 in July 1937 - wrapped in the brown paper and string they’ve been stored in for years!

‘I am asleep, don’t mess with me.’
Retired greyhounds rock a particular look when they slumber.