“History will be kind to me for I intend to write it.”
—Winston Churchill

Some have led us into battle; others have guided nations and empires through their births, in their darkest hours, or to their greatest moments. And some have led by example, whether by persevering through adversity in the Antarctic or by quietly defying injustice on a Montgomery bus. Their courage has inspired us; their ideas have changed history.

Now it’s up to you to help pass on their legacies. Build a collection around the leaders who most inspire you. Our expert staff can help you to rediscover their courageous voices, captured in books and documents that will last for generations.

The items listed in our mini catalogue represent just a small selection of our offerings. Download our catalogue to begin building a valuable and enduring monument to history’s finest men and women: your own library.

“A Human Panorama of Love, Courage, Cowardice…
Deceit And Folly”: Boccaccio’s Decameron

“Could there be stories without a moral, of human adventure and misadventure? The horrors of the plague provided Boccaccio with the incentive and the opportunity…Boccaccio creates a human panorama of love, courage, cowardice, wit, wisdom, deceit and folly… If he does not teach the art of  living virtuously, he does the ‘art of living well’” (Boorstin, 266-70).

Boccaccio composed his masterpiece sometime between 1348 and 1352, and his realistic – rather than moralistic or allegorical – characters proved enormously influential through the centuries; Shakespeare drew on Boccaccio for Troilus and Cressida, and as many as 54 early English plays derived their plots from the Decameron (Pforzheimer 71).

We are pleased to offer an excellent copy of the first complete edition in English, comprising the 1625 second edition of Volume I together with the 1620 first edition of Volume II – as virtually always found – in lovely 19th-century morocco-gilt. Browse our current selection.

“Americans! In Your Congress At Philadelphia… You Laid Down The Fundamental Principles… Life, Liberty And Property”

John Adams’ highly contested Discourses on Davila was prompted by Jefferson’s firm declaration of “his faith in reason and democracy… as the sufficiency of human reason for the care of human affairs.” Alarmed by the fresh violence of the French Revolution, Adams disagreed, feeling that “the will of the majority, if out of hand, could lead to ‘horrible ravages’… Adams stressed the perils of unbridled, unbalanced democracy” (McCullough 420-421). (Though published anonymously, Adams was commonly known to be the author.)

We have recently obtained a rare association copy of Adams’ important Discourses from the library of David Humphreys, whose long friendships with Washington, Adams and Jefferson placed him at the center of the dispute surfacing in these pages. The volume is twice signed by Humphreys, who served as Washington’s trusted aide-de-camp during the Revolution and later, in Europe, worked closely with “Franklin, Adams and Jefferson, the old Revolutionary trio” (McCullough, 322). We are pleased to offer this copy, entirely uncut in original boards, with an exceptional association. Browse our current inventory.