Rooke Books

Rooke Books Rare book dealer based in the UK city of Bath. Please see our website with over 20,000 rare books!

A small and friendly team with a wealth of experience going back thirty years. We are based in the historic and literary City of Bath, and our office is housed in The Eastern Dispensary. Built in 1845, the building was the first unified medical and dispensing centre in the world. The building was designed in the Neoclassical style, that Bath is so well known for, by Henry Edmund Goodridge. Today t

he building houses our collection of over twenty thousand rare, collectible and antiquarian books. For more information see our website or please don't hesitate to give us a call.

A beautifully illustrated and bound collection of passages and poetry providing a celebration of the life cycle of man, ...
31/08/2025

A beautifully illustrated and bound collection of passages and poetry providing a celebration of the life cycle of man, with fantastic illustrations from John Leighton.

A celebration of the stages of life for man, with each month of the year related to the life span of man for example; January as the Dawn of Life, April as the Youth and Lover, and September as the Philosopher and Statesman.

Each season includes poems from passages selected from ancient and modern authors such as Shakespeare, Burns, Milton, Crabbe, Coleridge, Herrick, Ben Jonson, Dryden, Tennyson. Written by Richard Pigot, a British author and editor. Illustrated by John Leighton, an English artist notable for his book illustrations and book cover designs.

A wonderful example of the scarce first Mabel Lucie Attwell illustrated edition of Barrie’s classic tale, beautifully il...
25/08/2025

A wonderful example of the scarce first Mabel Lucie Attwell illustrated edition of Barrie’s classic tale, beautifully illustrated with colour plates.

This story, otherwise known as ‘Peter Pan; Or The Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up’ is J. M. Barrie’s most famous work. It tells the tale of a mischievous boy who can fly and has many adventures on the island of Neverland.

The story explores themes of childhood, imagination, and fear of growing up. It has been adapted into numerous stage plays, films, and other media and remains a beloved classic of children’s literature.

James Stephens’ popular comic novel based on Irish folklore, finely bound in handsome full morocco by Bayntun.Consisting...
15/08/2025

James Stephens’ popular comic novel based on Irish folklore, finely bound in handsome full morocco by Bayntun.

Consisting of six stories, following a philosopher on his journey to find the most beautiful woman in the world and deliver her to the gods, Pan and Aengus Og. James Stephens was an Irish novelist and poet, best known for his retelling of Irish myths, combining humour and lyricism.

The first edition of this collection of F***y Burney’s writings on Samuel Johnson, a smartly bound illustrated copy.This...
13/08/2025

The first edition of this collection of F***y Burney’s writings on Samuel Johnson, a smartly bound illustrated copy.

This volume collects together the passages in F***y Burney’s diaries and letters which refers to Samuel Johnson. The two had met in 1777, and remained friends and correspondents until his death in 1784. Johnson was an admirer of Burney’s works, who transcribed his compliments in her diary.

09/08/2025

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A fine example of the thrilling tenth novel in Enid Blyton’s ‘Famous Five’ series of children’s adventure novels.In ‘Fiv...
07/08/2025

A fine example of the thrilling tenth novel in Enid Blyton’s ‘Famous Five’ series of children’s adventure novels.

In ‘Five on a Hike Together’, the Famous Five set off on a hiking trip across moorland, but when Dick receives a mysterious message meant for someone else, they stumble into a search for stolen loot. With clues leading to a hidden stash in a flooded house, they outwit the criminals and alert the police.

A very scarce first edition travel work, travelling through Norway and Russia, written by Sarah Matilda Henry Davis, com...
04/08/2025

A very scarce first edition travel work, travelling through Norway and Russia, written by Sarah Matilda Henry Davis, complete with many illustrations.

Davis’ vivid descriptions offer a fascinating and unique insight into female travel in the Victorian era, and at the countries of Northern Europe during this period.

Through Davis’ travels the reader explores Gudbrandsdalen, Møre og Romsdal, Trondheim, St. Petersburg, Moscow, and more.

A beautiful limited edition two volume set of the poetry of Henry Vaughan, beautifully bound in full morocco by Zaehnsdo...
31/07/2025

A beautiful limited edition two volume set of the poetry of Henry Vaughan, beautifully bound in full morocco by Zaehnsdorf, this is a wonderful collection of the poetry of seventeenth century Welsh metaphysical poet Henry Vaughan.

A very pleasing copy of this brightly illustrated limited edition of Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, signed ...
28/07/2025

A very pleasing copy of this brightly illustrated limited edition of Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, signed by the illustrator.

A literary nonsense story, following a girl named Alice who falls through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world of anthropomorphic creatures. Now considered one of the best-known works of Victorian literature.

Illustrated by Helen Gillian Oxenbury, an English illustrator and writer of children’s picture books.

A finely bound copy of Robert Smith Surtees’ Jorrocks’ Jaunts and Jollities. In a beautiful half crushed morocco binding...
24/07/2025

A finely bound copy of Robert Smith Surtees’ Jorrocks’ Jaunts and Jollities. In a beautiful half crushed morocco binding, with the illustrations remaining bright.

Jorrocks’ Jaunts and Jollities was written by sporting writer Robert Smith Surtees. Surtees started his writing career by contributing to Sporting Magazine. He created his own New Sporting Magazine in 1831, contributing his comic papers of Jorrocks’ Jaunts and Jollities. The character of Jorrocks, the sporting cockney grocer was incredibly successful with the public and Surtees wrote many sporting works from Jorrocks’ viewpoint.

The first edition of this classic Poirot mystery, presented here in the vanishingly scarce and highly sought after Macar...
22/07/2025

The first edition of this classic Poirot mystery, presented here in the vanishingly scarce and highly sought after Macartney dust wrapper. A rare survival of an important work.

Robin Macartney was a British architect and artist, renowned for his design of four of Christie’s book covers. Macartney was introduced to Christie through her husband Max Mallowan after he accompanied the pair on a dig in Syria. The four dust wrappers designed by Macartney, being Death o the Nile, Appointment with Death, Murder in the Mews and this work, Murder in Mesopotamia remain some of the most recognisable and sought after designs in Christie’s prolific catalogue.

A lovely leather bound first edition of a historical military study in London.Major Robert Money Barnes was a Second Lie...
14/07/2025

A lovely leather bound first edition of a historical military study in London.

Major Robert Money Barnes was a Second Lieutenant in the British Army. He wrote many books of military history, including A History of the Regiments Uniforms of the British Army (1960).

Barnes deciphers how soldiers in London differ to that of the rest of the national army in history through their presence as protectors of the royal family.

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