Best of
18th-Century

1954

Sara Dane


Catherine Gaskin - 1954
    A woman as strong and as beautiful as the raw new country she helps to carve from the wilderness. A woman of fierce pride, yet gently devoted to her children, and possessed with an undying vision about the future of her land, Sara Dane epitomizes the heart of her untamed country — Australia.Set in the colorful days of the late Eighteenth and the early Nineteenth Centuries, Sara Dane unfolds the history of New South Wales, from its beginnings as a penal colony to the day when it could lift its head in contentment and peace.From the day in 1792 when young Sara, savagely sentenced in England to transportation on a trumped-up charge, came ashore at Botany Bay, until the day she returns triumphantly wealthy and prominent to her native London, her story rings with the fire of a great passion.Sara's story is also the story of the men who loved her — Richard Barwell, her childhood love who possessiveness followed her thousands of miles; Andrew Maclay, whose strength and cunning combined with hers to produce an empire; Jeremy Hogan, the Irish rebel, whose presence meant security as Sara faced the crises of convict outbreaks, giant floods, and armed rebellion with resolution. And then there was Louis de Bourget, the mysterious French emigre' whose love for her beauty and order brought a peace to Sara's life she had thought impossible. But throughout her life, Sara held to her own personality tenaciously. All of Sydney knew her as a shrewd business-woman, magnificent, unconventional — but above all, a woman.

The Universal Penman


George Bickham - 1954
    . . magnificent." — Graphis"A valuable addition for art directors." — Advertising AgeThis is the only complete edition available of one of the most famous and most useful books of commercial art ever printed. George Bickham, a noted engraver and calligrapher, first compiled this work back in the 1740’s, from the best specimens of 24 of the leading calligraphers of his day. Unfortunately, Bickham published his work in 52 separate parts, over a period of eight years. In Bickham’s own day it was difficult to get a complete set of the Universal Penman; today, apart from this edition, it is virtually impossible, for most surviving 18th-century copies lack certain rare plates. This Dover edition, however, contains every plate which Bickham engraved, and each is reproduced from an original so remarkably clear that these modern plates are actually better than most 18th-century originals.This book contains more than 210 full-page plates, each crammed full of beautiful and interesting material. To list only part of its contents:• Over 125 pictorial scenes, clear copperplates of drinking scenes, family scenes, commerce, rustic festivities, duels, more.• Over 200 script pictures, male and female heads, busts, cherubs, griffins, birds, fish, etc.• 19 complete alphabets: round hand, round text, Old English, florid, foliated, and others.• 275 lettered specimens, overlaid with fine flourishes, swirls, spirals, featherings, volutes, etc.• Over 100 panels, frames, cartouches, and other effectsOver 950 lettered specimens, with thousands of words that can be lifted right off for reproduction.Individual items in this book are permission-free, and may be used (up to ten items per use) without permission, payment, or credit line. Calligraphers find Bickham the best source for English round-handwriting; commercial artists, advertising directors, and designers all find Bickham first-rate as a source for immediately usable pictures and script that suggests antiquity, quality, and reliability. Craftspeople have found it rich in unusual ideas and motifs, while libraries and art historians find it a wonderful collection of 18th-century pictures illustrating art-life.

Highland Rebel


Sally Watson - 1954
    It was a serious time, too in 1745 Scotland, with dreadful happenings and fierce battles. And Lauren, kept at home with Aunt Elspeth, longed to be out fighting the British. Donning kilts, she would ride over the hills with her cousin Murdoch and faithful Angus, looking for British soldiers. While masquerading as a boy, she was captured and held prisoner by the Earl of Loudon, head of the Campbell clan, arch foe of all Camerons. Still refusing to admit her identity, Lauren finally escapes, and rejoins her family and those loyal to the Prince into exile in France.

The Coming of the Revolution 1763-1775


Lawrence Henry Gipson - 1954
    A book about early America that is documented with severity, written with clarity, & marked by a measured, one might almost say Franklinian, affection for the old Empire.