A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court; The Darling Buds of May, The Freaks of Mayfair, English Eccentrics, Eminent Victorians

The Freaks of Mayfair by E F Benson. London: The Folio Society, 2009, First Print Thus. Illustrations by George Plank. 229 × 150 × 25 mm. Pp. [i–iv] v–vii [viii–x], 1–148 [149–150]: [8] leaves of black and white plates (facing pp. [iii], 17, 27, 43, 57, 83, 96 and 102). Type: Baskerville with Berolina for display. Printed by Martins of Berwick. Bound by Hunter and Foulis in full dark yellow cloth blocked in black with illustration by Plank; dark yellow endleaves. Black slip case.

English Eccentrics by Edith Sitwell. London: The Folio Society, 1994, First Print Thus. Introduction by Mervyn Horder, illustrations by Roland Pym. 227 × 148 × 27 mm. Pp. [i–ix] x–xiii [xiv–xviii], [1] 2–268: [17] leaves of ‘plates’. Type: Perpetua. Typeset by Gloucester Typesetting, printed and bound by the Bath Press. Quarter dark green-blue buckram, pale blue paper boards patterned in dark green, grey-green and silver by Pym; pale blue endleaves. Pale blue slip case.

The Darling Buds of May by H E Bates. London: The Folio Society, 2011, First Print Thus. Introduced by Ian Jack, illustrated by Alice Tait. 228 × 150 × 21 mm. Pp. [i–iv] v–xv [xvi], 1–139 [140–144]: [7] leaves of colour plates (facing pp. [iii], 17, 33, 48, 65, 80 and 128). Type: Bembo. Printed and bound by Beltz. Full white cloth printed with design by Tait; orange endleaves. Purple-blue slip case.

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain. London: The Folio Society, 2013, First Print Thus. Introduced by Frank Kaplan, illustrated by David Hughes. 240 × 162 × 37 mm. Pp. [i–iv] v–xvii [xviii], [1–2] 3–330 [331–334]: [10] leaves of colour plates (facing pp. [iii], 39, 46, 63, 95, 110, 191, 206, 278 and 287). Type: Bulmer. Printed by Memminger MedienCentrum. Bound by Real Lachenmaier in full pale grey cloth printed and blocked with design by Hughes; red endleaves printed with repeat design by the artist in black. Red slip case.

Eminent Victorians by Lytton Strachey. London: The Folio Society, 2000, First Print Thus. Cardinal Manning, Florence Nightingale, Dr Arnold, General Gordon, introduction by Michael Holroyd. 239 × 187 × 30 mm. Pp. [1–6] 7–272: [12] pages of colour plates. Type: Bulmer. Printed and bound by the Bath Press. Full dark green cloth with a design in gold by David Eccles, incorporating four portrait photographs; dark green endleaves. Dark green slip case. The plates reproduce contemporary photographs and prints. The binding, with its combination of gold-blocking and printed sepia photographs, is particularly effective.

All near-fine books with straight corners, pages tightly bound and free of inscriptions. In like slipcases that may show a hint of shelf-wear, but are otherwise clean, without heavy bumping and structurally sound. A lovely set.