Summer Sunshine from Shapero Rare Books

I don't know if there were 50 shades to Zane Grey, but there were at least two. There is his more familiar role – author of countless stories of the Old West. Grey was comfortable in the saddle. However, less well known is he was also at home in a boat. Grey was a great fisherman, and he wrote a bunch of books, not as well known, about fishing. Item 62 is one such book, Tales of Fishing the Virgin Seas. With 100 illustrations from photographs taken by the author and others. This book was published in 1925. Grey traveled to far off ports to try the waters. £650 (US $1,012).

Item 37 is A Complete Dictionary of Practical Gardening...By Alexander McDonald, Gardener, published in 1804. Actually, there was no Alexander McDonald. That was a pseudonym for R.W. Dickson. However, not even that is the important name here. The book is better known for the illustrations by Sydenham Edwards. Edwards was a prolific botanical illustrator, providing many drawings for Botanical Magazine and other publications of the time. These plates were republished in The New Botanic Garden in 1812. Many of the illustrations in this earlier book were hand colored. £3,000 (US $4,670).

Shapero Rare Books may be reached at +44 207 493 0876 or rarebooks@shapero.com. Their website is www.shapero.com.