GENERAL MISCELLANY

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Too Much Was NOT Enough — THIS Copy with Quasi-Relics of St. Macarius

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•  Ghent honored its patron saint S. Macaire [i.e., St. Macarius] in 1767 witha splendid procession featuring 46 floats/tableaux including such exotica as elephants, crocodiles, and American Indians. Each plate has text explaining the content and emblematic and rare nature of the display. Emmanuel Petrus van Reyschot designed the rococo plates and F. Heybrouck, P. Wauters, and J.L. Wauters etched them. The work ends with a “Liste des personnes qui accompagnent la cavalcade” (pp. 75–82) and the “Detail des rejoissances publique, qui auront lieu en cette Ville depuis la 30 Mai jusqu'au 15 Juin 1767" (pp. 83–84). All in all, it was clearly a splendid ceremony and spectacular spectacle.

Bound into this copy is a printed broadside (27 x 21.5 cm, 10.75" x 8.5"; imprint: Gandavi: typis Viduae Michaelis de Goesin, e regione curiae, [1767]), by which Govaert Geeraard van Eersel (1713–78), the 16th bishop of Ghent (1772–78), certifies thatthe piece of vellum attached to the broadside, with a hand-colored and illuminated engraving of St. Macarius, actually touched the bones of the saint. The image, engraved by Alexander Goetiers (1637–86) and so signed, shows the saint in a field with the Holy Ghost in the form of a dove above his right shoulder; the vellum measures 9 x 7 cm (3.75" x 2.75"). The broadside further states thatthe included bit of cloth is a fragment of the covering of the afore-mentioned remains (“insuper adjunctum frustrum esse tegumentis, in quibus praedictae Reliquiae fuerunt involutae”).

Additionally, laid in is a 19th-century sketch-like tracing of what is described at top as a lithograph of the procession winding its way through the town. The various carriages and “floats” of the “cavalcade” are identified in ink along the edges of the page, which is large and folded, measuring 22.5 x 52 cm, 8.875" x 20.5". It is accomplished on good quality, but thin — almost tracing paper thin — laid, watermarked paper.

Correspondence with American libraries owning copies of the book confirms that the broadside and the vellum image were added post-printing and are not found in other copies.

Provenance:  Bookplate of Baron Surmont [de Volsberghe].

•  Rosenwald Collection (1977) 1734; Cicognara 1524; Ruggieri 1111; Vinet 817. Not in Landwehr because this ceremony was not for a state entry.   19th-century half vellum with marbled paper sides; vellum darkened, sides scuffed. Some age-toning; a few short tears in lower margins. Very satisfactory condition.A fantastic book in a remarkable copy. (39787)

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A 30-Item One-Author Sampling ofBodoni “Job Printing”

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•  30 different, very short works by Turchi, a Capuchin friar who rose to be Bishop of Parma, plus six duplicates of which two are incomplete. All are prime examples of job printing, executed in the same small elegant font, each page with the same border of type ornaments and a small composed ornament above that; present as below are expositions of faith and doctrine, pastoral letters, remissions and pardons, and many, many homilies. Some entries have, on their first page, a crisply neat rendering of the bishop's coat of arms. Sermons, pastoral letters, and homilies are among the types of job printing that have provided necessary cash flow for all presses throughout time. And because of their ephemeral and narrow-interest nature combined with their short print runs, they tend to be among the scarcest productions of the Bodoni Press.

VOLUME 1:  Epostola. 21 Septembris 1788 (Sallander No. 46); Indulto. 18 February 1789 (Sallander No. 51); Lettera pastorale. No date. (Brooks 1348); Omelia recitata al popolo. 1789, (Sallander No. 54); Indulto. 1790. (Sallander No. 55);Omelia. Recitata nel giorno di Pentecoste, 1790 (Sallander No. 56); Omelia. Recitata nel giorno dell' Assunzione di Maria Vergine. 1790 (Sallander No. 57); Omelia. Recitata al popolo nel giorno si San Bernardo. 1790 (Sallander No. 58); Indulto pubblicato. 1791 (Sallander No. 59); Omelia. Recitata nel giorno di Pentecoste, 1791 (Brooks 432); Omelia. Recitata nel giorni di Tutti li Santi. 1791 (Brooks 433); Omelia. Recitata nel giorno di San Bernardo, 1791 (Sallander No. 61); Indulto. Per la Quaresima. 1792 (Sallander No. 65).

VOLUME 2:  Indulto. Per la Quaresima. 1792 (Sallander No. 65; second copy); Omelia. Recitara nel giorno di Pentecoste, 1792 (Sallander No. 66); Omelia. Recitata al suopopolo nel giorno di Tutti I Santi, 1792 (Brooks 498); Omelia. Detta al suo popolo nel giorno di San Bernardo, 1792 (Sallander No. 67); Indulto. La Quaresima. 1793 (Sallander No. 70); Omelia. Diretta al suo popolo nel giorno di Pentecoste. 1793 (Sallander No. 72); Omelia. Recitata al suo popolo nel giorno di Tutti I Santi, 1793 (Sallander No. 73); Omelia. Detta al suo popolo nel giorno di San Bernardo, 1793 (Sallander No. 74); Indulto. La Quaresima. 1794 (Sallander No. 76); Omelia. Recitata al suo popolo nel giorno di Pentecoste. 1794 (Sallander No. 77); Omelia. Recitata dopo la messa pontificale in lode del B. Bartolommeo di Breganze.1794 (Brooks 582); Omelia. Recitata al suo popolo nel giorno di Tutti I Santi, 1794 (Sallander No. 79); Omelia. Recitata al suo popolo nel giorno di San Bernardo, 1794 (Sallander No. 80); Indulto. La Quaresima. 1795 (Sallander No. 81).

VOLUME 3:  Indulto. La Quaresima. 1793 (Sallander No. 70; second copy); Omelia. Detta al suo popolo nel Giorno di San Bernardo, 1793 (Sallander No. 74; second copy – incomplete, lacking two leaves containing pages 29 to 32); Indulto. La Quaresima. 1794 (Sallander No. 76; second copy – incomplete, lacking two leaves consisting of first blank leaf and title); Omelia. Recitata al suo popolo nel giorno di Pentecoste. 1794 (Sallander No. 77; second copy); Omelia. Recitata al suo popolo nel giorno di Tutti I Santi, 1794 (Sallander No. 79; second copy); Omelia. Recitata dopo la messa pontificale in lode del B. Bartolommeo di Breganze. 1794 (Brooks 582; second copy); Omelia. Recitata al suo popolo nel giorno di San Bernardo, 1794 (Sallander No. 80; second copy); Omelia. Recitata al suo popolo nel giorno di Pentecoste. 1795 (Sallander No. 82); Omelia. Recitata al suo popolo nel giorno di Tutti I Santi, 1795 (Sallander No. 83). Omelia. Recitata al suo popolo nel giorno di San Bernardo, 1794 (Sallander No. 84); Indulto. La Quaresima. 1796 (Sallander No. 86).

•  Two volumes in contemporary marbled boards, and one volume in boards with repurposed antique marbled paper, that volume with top edge gilt. Some pages are trimmed at foremargins, most not; vol. II retains a silk placemarker. All volumes are clean, sound, and attractive. (40140)

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A Series of Medieval Manuscript LEAVES

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•  Some examples are recovered from bindings; some show significant damage while some are pristine andsimply lovely.  Most represent scribal work of the 13th to early 16th century and most are from books of devotion.

•  For an illustrated list of the full gathering, with prices, click here.

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A PRINTER's Extraordinary Archive

•  For an account of printer Juan Pascoe's TALLER MARTÍN PESCADOR press — in English, The Kingfisher Workshop — along with a gathering of some of its individual works — click the image above of the Kingfisher.

The archive of Pascoe productions offered here was formed by Martín Urbina, Juan's long-time press assistant. A list of the archive is available upon request.

•  All items in fine condition.  (39662)

MEXICO is one of our great specialties.
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This offering appears in the HISPANIC
            MISCELLANY — click here.

Our highlighted entries are repeated in their
expectable alphabetical places,
below . . .

“Extracted from the Works of Our Most Intelligent Travellers”

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•  Interesting educational tales of natural history and voyages, worked into a frame story about the Johnsons and their children Frederic, Lucy, and William. Part of the excitement comes from a visitor who tells the children stories about beingshipwrecked in Africa and encountering Negroes (friendly) and Moors (unfriendly). Other topics include harvesting and preparing tea, American beavers, the “economy of bees,” flora and fauna in Ceylon, glassmaking, the Black Hole of Calcutta (unmistakable, but not named with that epithet), and the life of “an American savage” (p. 169). While the preface notes that the work was written for children eight or nine years old (whereas the first edition specified six or seven!), that target age seems nebulous: many of the teaching moments are conceptually basic — the protagonist children have never heard of and have to ask about concepts such as deserts and volcanos — but the text takes for granted that readers will be comfortable with language on the level of “traversing,” “voracious,” “expatiating,” “approbation,” etc. The benevolent mamma does, however, mention several times that her children should always be sure to ask adults the meaning of any unfamiliar word or concept they encounter.

The volume is illustrated withfour copper-engraved plates, being a frontispiece showing two well-dressed children and their mamma discovering a lark's nest, a group of Africans attacked by a lion, the fashionable mamma plus all three children and their dog in a flowery arbor, and a final engraved advertisement for Darton's “maps, charts, & plans [and] extensive collections of books for the use of children and young people.” The first three plates are dated 1823. Darton first published the present work in 1818 and again in 1820; this third edition is, like the previous two, now uncommon.

Provenance:  Tipped-in engraved presentation leaf filled out to John Lewis Provoost by his friend Miss S. Lock of New York; front free endpaper with early pencilled inscription of Charlotte E. Marshall. Later in the children's book collection of Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.

•  For first ed., see Gumuchian 2589 & Osborne Collection, p. 708.   Contemporary marbled paper–covered boards with roan shelfback, spine with gilt-stamped title; sides a little scuffed, spine leather worn and cracked with head chipped. Hinges (inside) tender, sewing just starting to loosen; pages age-toned with offsetting from plates and a handful of spots of foxing, front pastedown withearly pencilled profile doodle.  (40791)

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20th-Century Fine-Press Printing . . .
of a 16th-Century Edition . . .
    of an Ancient Greek Romance . . .

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•  First printing of this edition of what's sometimes spoken of as a sort of protonovel; based on Thomas Creede's 1597 printing of the first English translation, it is here edited by Stephen Gaselee and H.F.B. Brett-Smith. The volume was printed at Stratford-upon-Avon by the Shakespeare Head Press, on Batchelor's Kelmscott handmade paper with untrimmed edges; the title-page is printed in red and black.

This isnumbered copy 459 of a total of 503 printed (394 for sale in Great Britain, 104 for sale in America, and 5 special copies on vellum), signed B.G.G. on the limitation.

•  Publisher's quarter tan cloth and brown paper–covered sides, front cover and spine each with printed paper label; corners bumped, spine darkened, spine label chipped. Pages clean; edges deckle with a very few signatures uncut.  (33816)

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Title-Border & Initials by Hans Baldun Grien
Ex–Donaueschigen Library

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•  Strassbourgh printer Knoblouch here producesthe first edition of the Humanist commentaries of Johannes Adelphus and Jakop Wimpheling on the Sequences of the Mass and the Hymns of the Breviary, respectively.

The Corpus Christi Watershed dot org website explains the Sequences: “First appearing in the ninth century, the sequences rose to a level of fair prominence in the medieval period. Their heyday lasted until the liturgical reforms enacted during the Counter-Reformation. At the height of their usage, there were proper sequences for nearly every Sunday and feast day (outside penitential seasons). Their usage varied widely, however, since the sequences were never obligatory.” Simply put, they are the liturgical hymns of the Mass, and occur on festivals between the Gradual and the Gospel. By contrast, the Hymns belong to the Breviary and are fixed.

The text and commentary of the Sequences are here paired with those of the Hymns as the second part of the volume, with a separate title-page but signatures continuous, titled “Hymni de tempore [et] de sanctis: in ea[m] forma[m] qua a suis autoribus scripti sunt denuo redacti: [et] s[ecundu]m legem carminis dilige[n]ter emendati atq[ue] interpretati.” The Hymns fill the final 80 leaves.

Adelphus's commentary on the Sequences is a reworking of the familiar medieval commentary with the vocabulary brought up to date to make it less scholastic. Adelphus also occasionally adds contemporary references, including at least one allusion to his own translation into German of Sebastian Brant's De laude Hierosolymae. The most thorough revision this edition makes is to the sequence-commentary notes on grammar and linguistic usage, and there are additional references to classical models of expression.

Wimpheling introduces his commentary to the Hymns with prefatory comments in which he supports the contribution that training in the arts of literary expression can make to a proper understanding of religious texts. He promotes the pedagogic virtues of the hymns themselves; in particular, he notes that the diversity of meter they employ makes them apt vehicles for teaching Latin prosody while the grammatical and rhetorical skills acquired from studying them will in turn lead to a sharper, more sophisticated and more accurate reading of hymns as texts of Christian spirituality, and therefore to a deeper piety.

Hans Baldung Grien provided the title-page woodcut boarders [Oldenbourg 236] and two large historiated initials, one at the beginning of each part, respectively: the Death of the Virgins [Oldenbourg 232] and the Adoration [Oldenbourg 221].

On this important edition, see Ann Moss, “Latin Liturgical Hymns and their Early Printing History” (Humanistica Louvaniensia, XXXVI [1987], 125-28).

Provenance:  Impressed into the front board are the initals L C V of the Franciscan convent of Villigen; upon suppression of the convent, to the Donaueschigen Library, its oval stamp on the verso of the title-page; that library sold in 1994; later in the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.

•  Proctor 10081; Adams L1126; VD16 S5978 & H6503; Index Aurel. 100.597; Schmidt, Knobloch, VII, 82; Ritter 5; Oldenbourg, Hans Baldung Grien, L28.   Original wooden boards, rebacked in 19th-century pigskin with old paper label and evidence of single missing clasp; provenance marks as above. Variable old water- and dampstaining, no tattering or tears, title-pages lovely.  (40642)

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A Mini Leaf Book

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•  Ruth Adomeit (1910– 96) was a delightful woman, dedicated book collector, and accomplished bibliographer. Her passion was miniature books, most especially miniature Bibles and Bible parts. She was generous to several institutions: The huge bulk of her collection is now at the Lilly Library.

For this miniature book she provides an essay about the Newbery printing firm, the origin and development of miniature Bibles, and the printing of Newbery's 1780 printing of The Bible in miniature, or a concise history of the Old & New Testaments. Tipped in on p. 3 is a leaf from that famous Thumb Bible, the leaf here being pp. 87–88.

The edition of this mini was limited to 125 (unnumbered) copies.

•  Disbound and Dispersed 168.5 (giving incorrect measurements and pagination).   Publisher's brown half-morocco with marbled paper sides. Fine copy.  (34814)

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A Scarce Survivor

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•  A toy book printing of this classic tale, with the text in rhyme. Text and image are printed on one side of a leaf only, and there is a large wood-engraved, hand-colored image on each printed page. Pages 1 and 16 are blank and are pasted to the inside of the wrappers, with the front wrapper serving as title-page; above the title is this edition statement: “Mark's Edition.” The “title” on the first page of text (i.e., p. 2) reads “The history of little Dame Crump and her little white pig.”

The American Antiquarian Society informs us that the publishing firm of Fisk & Little was located at 82 State Street, Albany, from 1854 to 1857.

Provenance:  From the children's book collection of Albert A. Howard, sans indicia.

Searches of NUC and WorldCat locate only two libraries reporting ownership (Princeton, University of North Carolina Greensboro).

•  Publisher's green wrappers, spine with later oversewing; dog-eared copy with fore-edges a little tattered. Staining on all pages; some short tears at foremargins and what might well be a worm hole in upper margin of all leaves. Not the prettiest copy, but clearly one enjoyed (and abused) by children — and alsoone of the few surviving copies.  (38859)

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Enhanced by a Fan of St. John — In a Contemporary Binding & with78 Woodcuts

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•  Profusely illustrated juvenile lectionary edited by student of Melanchthon and Lutheran theologian Georg Aemilius (a.k.a. Aemylius or Emilius, 1517–69). Decorated with78 in-text woodcuts, a scarce few repeated, the Latin text is printed in single columns using an italic font with the occasional shouldernote in Greek and four historiated initials. First published in 1549, this text was extremely popular in its day, with at least nine different editions by 1579, though all editions are now uncommon and this one quite scarce; searches of WorldCat and NUC reveal only one U.S. institution reporting ownership.

Binding:  Contemporary goat over thin beechwood boards, inked paper label on spine, raised bands surrounded by triple fillets; covers elaborately stamped with a frame of fillets and a medallion-portrait roll around repeated rows of three floral sprays.

Evidence of Readership: An early reader has underlined and added some marks of emphasis and words in an early hand to seven leaves of text, all excerpts taken from the Gospel of John.

Provenance:  Two ownership and one duplicate release rubber-stamps appear on the title-page verso, the first from the Universitätsbibliothek München dated between 1800 and 1826; most recently in the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.

•  VD16 E 4570. Not in Adams; not in Index Aurel.   Bound as above, rubbed and cracked with losses of leather and board extremities; bands and sewing tabs visible. No pastedowns; front free endpaper creased, front fly-leaf with pencilled note. Light age-toning with marginal and gutter waterstaining of varying darkness throughout; a few chipped edges, creased corners, or uneven edges; one short marginal tear. Provenance and readership indicia as above, else clean. Well used and in fact the more interesting for that.  (38914)

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The Editio Princeps

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•  Editio princeps of Aeschylus, edited by Franciscus Asulanus and printed at the Aldine press. As the cataloguer at the Brigham Young University Library notes, “The manuscript that Asulanus used was defective, lacking the end of Agamemnon and the beginning of the Choephori, so that in this edition they are treated as one play under the title Agamemnon.”

The Aldine printer's device (version A2) is on title-page and verso of last leaf. The text of the plays is printed in the Aldine Greek face Gk4 (first used in the 1502 Sophocles) and Torresani's “to the reader” in Aldine italic face I1:79. There are spaces with guide letters for capitals but these were not accomplished by an illuminator.

Binding: Recent full red morocco, round spine with raised bands accented by gilt rules above and below each band, “Aldus, 1518" in gilt at base of spine. Aldine device in gilt on both covers. Marbled endpapers. Top edge gilt, other edges red.

Provenance:  From the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.

•  Renouard, Alde, p. 85, no. 9; UCLA, Aldine Press: Catalogue of the Ahmanson-Murphy Collection (2001), 164; Kallendorf & Wells, Aldine Press Books, 157; EDIT16 CNCE 328; Index Aurel. 100.913; Adams A262.   Binding as above. Light waterstaining to foremargins, perhaps more than occasional but not throughout; in fact, a clean and handsome copy.  (40776)

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Aeschylus from the Royal Printer

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•  First Turnèbe edition of Aeschylus' complete works, here with a dedication by the French humanist himself and a two-page “Bios Aischylou tou poietou,” following the first Aldine edition of 1518. Adrien Turnèbe (1512–65) was chair of Greek at the College Royal in France and succeeded Robert Estienne as Royal Printer for Greek (although his appointment was contested by Charles Estienne). Here, according to Dibdin, he “very materially” corrected the Aldine text, and added a table of various readings.

The text is printed in mostly single columns using the “Cicero” Greek font of Garamond's grecs du roi, with foliated headpieces and decorative initials at the start of each section and Turnèbe's basilisk device on the title-page; this offering is the variant with A3 and A4 signed. Following the editio princeps, “Agamemnon” and “Choephori” are conflated.

Provenance:  From the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear of both book and housing.

•  Adams A263; Mortimer, French 16th-Century Books, 3; Brunet, I, 77; Schreiber, Catalogue 37, no. 2; Dibdin, Greek and Latin Classics, p. 237; Hoffmann, Bibliographisches Lexicon der gesammten Literatur der Griechen, I, p. 32; Gruys Early Printed Editions (1518-1664) of Aeschylus, no. II-3 (p. 31-46). On Turnèbe, see: Renouard, Imprimeurs parisiens.   19th-century speckled calf, board edges with gilt zigzag rolls, all edges speckled red; recently rebacked, top edge darkened, boards worn with loss of most gilt, new endpapers with some discoloration and one pencilled phrase. Housed in a navy blue cloth clamshell case with two gilt red leather spine labels. Title-page and first few leaves affected by two unsuccessful leaf repairs leading to chipping, glue action, and a few tears; remainder of text with several pagination errors, a handful of spots, one edge tear from paper manufacture, and one waterstained bottom corner. Ownership label as above, a few leaves with light marks in pencil, one underline in ink.  (38365)

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Fabulous Animals in Copper-Engraved Glory
  (An Aesopean Binding Cleverly Conceived)

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•  First edition with Gooden's lively illustrations. This loving type-facsimile of the seventh edition of L'Estrange's translation (first printed in 1724) is hereenhanced by 12 gorgeously engraved copperplates from Stephen Gooden — a title-page and 11 full-page plates — as well as his original decorative capitals inspired by period examples. This is numbered copy 197 of 525 printed on paper, signed at the colophon by the artist.

Binding:  Publisher's vellum, covers framed in gilt double rolls with bunch-of-grape motifs in corners; on the front cover, a small central gilt fox stretches and strains — hopelessly, of course! — to reach the grapes in the top fore-edge corner. “Watercolor” marbled endpapers in tones of rose with touches of blue, top edges gilt. In original publisher's paper-covered slipcase.

•  Bound as as above, bright spine with one small light spot and one short dark streak of discoloration, gilt a little faded; boards very slightly sprung with tiny spots of discoloration here and there; slipcase (only) worn, darkened, and with some careful strengthening. Some minor offsetting from plates, pages otherwise very clean. Delightful.  (40958)

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“Harry of England, Your Career Shall be Stained in Blood!”

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•  Dramatically Gothic treatment of the story of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, enlivened by a supernatural subplot involving Herne the Hunter — along with a non-fictional, illustrated account of the building and history of the castle itself. The text is adorned witha total of 22 engraved plates, including a frontispiece portrait of the author, 4 plates by Tony [Antoine] Johannot, and 14 by George Cruikshank, who stepped in to replace Johannot as soon as he had finished illustrating Ainsworth's previous serial, The Miser's Daughter. In addition, W. Alfred Delamotte supplied an abundance of in-text wood engravings.

The work was first serially published in Ainsworth's Magazine in 1842–43, with a three-decker book-form printing following shortly after its completion; the present example (described as a “new edition” on the title-page) follows the story's first appearance in one volume in 1843. This copy is in the publisher's original gilt-stamped red cloth binding.

Provenance:  Upper outer corner of title-page with inked inscription of Mrs. Jarvis, 1852. Later in the library of Robert L. Sadoff, M.D., sans indicia.

•  NCBEL, III, 912; NSTC 2A5904.   Publisher's textured red cloth, covers with embossed knotwork frames, front cover with gilt-stamped deer and castle vignette, spine with gilt-stamped title and three scenes; joints and extremities rubbed with cloth starting to peel at back corners, spine and board edges somewhat darkened. Frontispiece portrait with upper outer corner waterstained (not affecting image), added engraved title-page darkened, scattered small spots of foxing to pages and plates. A delightful Cruikshank item, and thrill-inducing in its own right as an English Gothic historical novel. (39887)

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Brunet: “Belle Édition” — Sole Italian Estienne — Tall Copy

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•  First edition of Alamanni’s “famous didactic poem on the care of fields and gardens” (Schreiber, Estiennes), inspired by Virgil’s Georgics. The author was a Florentine-born humanist, poet, and diplomat who spent much of his life in the service of Francis I and Henry II of France, and who — possibly as a peace offering for having once participated in a conspiracy against her father — dedicated the present work to the Dauphine, Catherine de’ Medici.

Set in Simon de Colines’s Great Primer Chancery Italic, this poetic tribute to agriculture isthe only work Estienne printed in Italian. Schreiber notes that the tallest copy he had seen measured 8 1/4", with the current example coming very close to that; the dedication, errata, and privilege are all present here.

Provenance:  Front pastedown with bookplates of Fratelli Salimbeni (with shelving number) and of “G.P.C.” (with woodcut image of Pegasus and motto “Nec adversa retorquent”); front fly-leaf with early inked annotation “H.III.161" and lined-through (still partially legible) inscription “Bibliotheque Vallicellane”; title-page with early inked inscription “Petri Salvati - V.” surrounding printer’s vignette, and obscured inscription in lower portion. Later in the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.

•  Adams A409; Brunet, I, 125; Renouard, Estienne, 68:22; Schreiber, Estiennes, 88.   Later vellum, spine with gilt-stamped red leather title-label and gilt-stamped blue leather publication label; vellum with minimal dust-soiling and traces of wear to extremities, two bottom-most spine compartments with later replacement (blank) vellum “labels,” one now starting to peel slightly. All edges stained blue. Bookplates and inscriptions as above; front free endpaper with later pencilled annotations (one giving incorrect Adams reference). One early inked marginal annotation. Pages gently age-toned, with intermittent minor foxing to margins; final leaf with small paper flaws in lower margin. An attractive copy of an interesting and significant volume.  (37916)

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Agriculture & Apiaries

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•  Two long didactic poems, one on agriculture and one on bees (originally published in 1546 and 1539, respectively), each an important example of the form in Italian, here in a later edition.

While Rucellai's piece appeared first, Alamanni's contains more original material and less content directly derived from Vergil; both works appear here with extensive notes and with attractive woodcut headpieces and capitals, followinga title-page printed in red and black and an engraved portrait of Alamanni.

WorldCat lists no U.S. institutional holdings of this edition.

Provenance: From the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.

•  Goldsmiths'-Kress 9103.0-1.   19th-century quarter diced brown sheep with marbled paper sides done in imitation of tree calf; spine gilt-stamped with title and decorative bands; corners bumped and leather lightly worn, foot of spine discolored from a now-absent label, red-inked onetime price note on fly-leaf, otherwise clean and fresh. Title-page with outer portion restored and one letter supplied; some occasional light spotting or staining but text really quite clean. A nice old book.  (37453)

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16th-Century Tour of Italy — Venice Is an Island

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•  Early, expanded edition, following the first of 1550: An important and widely read account of Italy, written by a Dominican monk and Bolognese scholar who spoke at length about his home city in addition to the other major regions of the country. The Catholic Encyclopedia (1917) online notes that the work contains “many valuable topographical and archaeological observations.”

Nicely printed in italic type (without maps), the work has a good index. The separate title-page of vol. II gives Isole appartenenti alla Italia, dated 1576. Venice is treated here, as an island, not as part of “the mainland.”

•  Adams A475; Index Aurel. 102.349.   Contemporary vellum, worn and darkened, lacking ties. Hinges (inside) with insect damage causing partial opening, text block starting to pull away from spine. Front free endpaper with two inked ownership inscriptions, one dated 1620 and one 1898. Small area of worming to upper inner margins of about 40 leaves, minor and not approaching text. Scattered instances of early inked underlining and a very few marginalia, pages otherwise pleasingly clean. Ready for many more years of use!  (26501)

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Lovingly Read Copy of a BookBoth Praised & Pilloried
by Paulus Manutius

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•  First edition of Alcionio's controversial Ciceronian dialogue on the nature of exile, set in 1512 and taking place among Pope Leo X, the future Pope Clement VII (Alcionio's patron, at the time of writing still known as Giulio de' Medici), and Lorenzo, the Duke of Urbino. Venetian humanist and translator Alcionio (1487–1527, a.k.a., Alcinio, Alciono, or Alcyonius) was probably working as acorrector for the Aldine press when this was published; he later went on to become Professor of Greek at Florence before following his patron to Rome. Paulus Manutius claimed that portions were actually plagiarized from an unknown copy of Cicero's De Gloria which Alcionio subsequently destroyed, a claim that unjustly tarnished Alcionio's reputation during his lifetime though later proven to be false; and the praise of his Latin implied by that led Brunet to note that the “accusation est le plus bel éloge que l'on ait pu faire de l'ouvreage d'Alcyonius.”

The text is printed in single columns using italic type with the iconic Aldine device on the title-page and final page of text; corrections and a register precede the colophon. This copy also retains the two internal blanks.

Evidence of Readership: A reader has added marginal notes, brackets, or underlinings in an early hand on almost every page of text.

Provenance: From the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.

•  Adams A633; Brunet, I, 153; EDIT16 CNCE 859; Graesse, I, 64; Kallendorf & Wells, Aldine Press Books, 194; Renouard, Alde, p. 95, no. 6; UCLA, Aldine Press: Catalogue of the Ahmanson-Murphy Collection (2001), 215. On Alcionio, see: Contemporaries of Erasmus, I; Treccani (online).   Modern half vellum and brown paper over boards, all edges speckled red; vellum foxed, paper dust-soiled with spots and stains. Very light waterstaining throughout, light to moderate marginal foxing somewhat less generally. Evidence of readership and booklabel as above; ink quite faded, some marginalia trimmed at edges, with two corners also slightly shaved. A well-read and much-marked copy of a book with a fascinating history of reception.  (39423)

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Defense of a Marian Cult

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•  The author, a Franciscan missionary and a native of León, Guanajuato, here defends the cult of the Virgin Mary that is known in Spanish as la Luz. Some opprobrium had come to be attached to the cult when the Fourth Mexican Provincial Council condemned it, but as the actions of that council were never approved or ratified by the Vatican, the condemnation was nullified.

•  Medina, Mexico, 79191; Palau 6095; on Alcocer, see: Archivo biográfico de España, Portugal e Iberoamérica, fiche 23, frames 47–49.   Contemporary cockled vellum, lacking the buttons for its loops, and lacking also the engraving; a very few light stains to a very few pages. Actually, quite a nice copy of the text.  (36658)

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One Poem on an “Air Balloon” & a *FUNNY* One Called
“A Receipt for Writing a Novel”

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•  First edition: Published posthumously and edited by Joanna Hughes, this includes poetry, brief essays, and dramatic bits quite variously religious, political, and/or social-satirical ? with also a few riddles and charades!  Here with preface, but lacking list of subscribers.

Provenance: Title-page with early inked name “Timothy Tynell” in upper margin and ink smear to inner margin; early inked gift inscription (“J. Sadler given to him by W. Clanton”) between verses on p. 3.

•  ESTC T86344.   19th-century half calf over marbled paper, much worn and abraded with covers detached, last few leaves starting to separate, and leather partially lost over spine; an ex-library, reading copy worthy of rebinding — covers pressure-stamped by a now-defunct institution, title-page and several others rubber-stamped, back free endpaper with pocket. Lacking extensive (25 pp.) subscribers' list (only). Pages with light to moderate spotting and a few short edge tears, not touching text.  (17696)

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100 Years of Book Collecting inPHILADELPHIA

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•  Philobiblon is one of the oldest clubs in America for book collectors. In 1993 it celebrated its centennial with a banquet, an exhibition, and this small volume bearing an introduction by the club's longtime president, George Allen.

The booklet includes on its final three pages “A short-title list of items exhibited in Some of Our Best Friends: Books Selected from Collections of Members of the Philobiblon Club, at the Rosenbach Museum & Library, 12 February – 9 May 1993,” and that is preceded on pp. 1–53 by a reprint of “A loan collection of decorative bindings, rare books, manuscripts, and other bibliographical specimens from the libraries of Philadelphia,” being the catalogue of an 1893 book exhibit at Philadelphia's Academy of the Fine Arts that partly led to the Club's formation. This is not a social history of the Club, but rather an excellent snapshot of its founding and centennial members' leading book interests.

•  New. Original tan wrappers. Saddle-stitched.  (35805)

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Pre-Civil War Kentucky — Particularly Its Birds — But Also Those Lovely Dresses!

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•  Two connected novels from an acclaimed Kentucky author, here in a newly combined and revised edition witha new preface by the author and 100 drawings by Hugh Thomson. Set in a Kentucky village, the two pieces recount from beginning to end — in a fashion reminiscent of a natural history — the relationship between a serious-minded naturalist and the young lady who moves next door. The stories' focus on native plants and and birds was informed by the author's own experiences growing up near Lexington as one of the last of several generations of gentleman farmers. Cardinal, which opens in 1850, was first published in 1894 and Aftermath in 1895, with both stories making references to the coming war and to the question of Kentucky's honor; the publisher's advertisements at the back of this edition quote contemporary praise for their simplicity, gentleness of spirit, and “old-time courtesy.”

This edition was the first to feature Thomson's charming illustrations, depicting both indoor and outdoor scenes while notably prioritizing well-dressed human figures over Allen's lovingly described gardens and woods.

Binding:  Publisher's olive cloth, front cover and spine with gilt-stamped branch and bird designs (unsigned).

•  BAL 468; Wright, III, 76 & 80 (for first eds.).   Binding as above, spine and board edges sunned. Page edges untrimmed; one signature carelessly opened. Aesthetically pleasing, culturally intriguing, and sure to be of interest to both birders and gardeners. (37531)

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Early Printing: WOMEN Are Inherently Flawed, But
Can Be Virtuous

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•  Conduct book for women, from the author of The Whole Duty of Man — generally considered to be Richard Allestree, although Richard Stern and Lady Dorothy Pakington have also been suggested, among others. Allestree (1619–81) was a royalist Church of England clergyman; Bishop Fell reports that “few of his time had either a greater compass or a deeper insight into all parts of learning” (DNB). Like his Whole Duty, the present treatise enjoyed massive popularity, and became one of the most influential examples of its kind in setting forth ideal feminine behavior in all stages of life. Present here is the second edition (stated as “second impression” on the title-page), following the first of the same year.

Provenance:  Front free endpaper with inked inscription of Henry Ebel, plausibly the author and psychohistorian (1938–2008).

•  ESTC R4982; Wing (rev. ed.) A1142; Madan, Oxford Books, 2963. On Allestree, see: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography online.   Contemporary polished calf, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label and gilt-stamped decorations in compartments; binding sometime varnished with leather much worn and abraded, front joint cracked and back joint starting, spine extremities and label chipped, corners rubbed. Title-page with early inscription cut away and leaf later repaired, with partial loss of impression line; lacking frontispiece. Pages age-toned with light waterstaining to early lower margins; about 24 leaves (non-consecutive) with vertical smears of blue ink affecting but not obscuring text; a few leaves towards back with minor worming in lower outer corners. Unprepossessing physically, still a very readable copy still in a contemporary binding.  (40981)

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Beloved Reading & “REMMEMBERANCE”
A Sentimentally Significant Copy
  See, its Loving PROVENANCE Notes

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•  One of the great High Church devotional works, generally attributed to Allestree although its first appearance in 1658 was anonymous. The volume opens with a copperplate engraving of Moses with a tablet (and horns) signed by Michael van der Gucht, and with an additional engraved title-page with cherubim. The “Private Devotions for Several Occasions, Ordinary and Extraordinary” has a separate title-page, with continuous pagination.

Provenance:  Front fly-leaf with inked inscription: “Maurice Wynne his Booke 1719 / Left him in Remmemberance [sic] of Mrs. Sidney Roberts of Ruthin who Dy'd the 13th of Nov.br 1719”; title-page with additional ownership inscription from Wynne.  Back pastedown with inked inscription: “A Gift Sent from Oxford Martch ye 6th 1715 from Mr. John Brigdol to Mrs. Sidney Roberts / Receaved ye 17th of ye Same Instant. And he dyed ye 10th.”  Another hand, seemingly Wynne's, has added “of Ruthin” after Roberts's name and “March 1715–16” following the date of death.

•  ESTC N25751.   Contemporary calf, framed and panelled in blind with blind-tooled corner fleurons and decorative central roll, spine with gilt-ruled raised bands and blind roll at head and foot; front joint (outside) repaired using Japanese long-fiber method, leather rubbed and acid-pitted, spine title now absent and gilt rules all but absent. Pages gently age-toned with occasional faint spotting. A good “old book” expressing a thought-provoking, individual heritage.  (34338)

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EVERYONE You Need to Know in France — Bright, Fresh, IN THE BOX!

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•  1829's issue of this useful and decorative annual, “orné de jolies gravures.” The preliminary calendar is followed by genealogical information for European nobility, the list of French bishops and archbishops, the royal household roster (both domestic and military), names and positions of civil servants by department, members of chivalrous orders, major military officers, etc. Thefour steel-engraved plates offer views of the Chateau de Neuilly, Chateau d'Avaray, Chateau de Lucienne, and Chateau de Rosny (with brief descriptions of these noble residences).

Binding:  Publisher's apple green paper–covered boards in original matching slipcase with gilt-stamped spine title. All edges gilt.

•  Binding as above: lower front and back edges each with tiny bump, extremities showing very slight rubbing, slipcase with edges rubbed and a few small spots of discoloration. Front free endpaper with pencilled annotations in French. Pages and plates clean. Really in quite remarkable condition.  (30574)

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Grammars & Language Studies

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•  A marvelous volume containing studies or grammars of Hebrew, Arabic, Persian, Ethopic, and Samaritan languages: “Editio nona. Simili Institutionum Samaritanarum, Rabbinicarum, Arabicarum, Aethiopicarum et Persicarum synopsi, a Georgio Othone ... auctior.” The two authors, Atling (1618–1679) and Georg Otho (1634–1713), were respectively a Dutch philologist, theologian, and professor at the University of Groningen; and a German librarian and professor of oriental languages.

The volume has divisional title-pages for “Jacobi Altingi Synopsis institutionum Chaldaearum et Syrarcum” dated 1747; and “Georgii Othonis ... Synopsis institutionum Samaritanarum, Rabbinicarum, Arabicarum, Aethiopicarum et Persicarum,” dated 1735.

•  This edition not in VD18.   Modern light brown paper-covered boards with paper spine label. Ex-library with faint blind-pressure stamp on title- and one other leaf and librarian's pencil notations on verso of title-page. Scattered foxing, occasional stray stain. Overall a good, solid, clean copy.  (33597)

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Boccaccio's LanguageCatalogued & Cross-Referenced — A Poet's Copy

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•  First edition of grammarian, calligrapher, and Petrarchan scholar Alunno's glossary of all the words used in the works of Boccaccio, with examples of their uses and citations to the works and pages wherein they are found, thesecross-referenced as often now is not noted with their uses in Dante, Petrarch, Amedo, and Philocolo. The prefatory matter includes letters to the reader from both the Aldine Press and the author, a dedication to Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, notes on the organization of the text, numerous finding aids (word lists of homophones, foreign cognates, proverbs, and Italian dialect words), and more. Renouard notes of the work's popularity that “dans son temps, fut en grande estime, et eut un grand nombre de lecteurs,” which probably explains its reprinting in 1551, 1555, and 1557. Here, the Italian text is set in double columns using mostly italic and some roman type, with unaccomplished guide letters and catchwords; the iconic Aldine device appears within a foliate frame of four grotesques on the title-page and final text leaf. This is only the second appearance of this version of the device (B1), the first having been in Calepino's Dictionarium of 1542.

Provenance:  Ink signature of Janus Broukhusius appears on the title-page in an early hand; a.k.a. Joan van Broekhuizen, 1649–1707, he was a Dutch man of letters known for his poems in Latin. Most recently in the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.

•  EDIT16 CNCE 1308; Adams A842; Index Aurel. 104.190; Kallendorf & Wells, Aldine Press Books, 288; UCLA, Aldine Press: Catalogue of the Ahmanson-Murphy Collection (2001), 312; Goldsmid, Aldine Press at Venice, 283; Renouard, Alde, 127, no. 2; Graesse, Trésor de Livres Rares, I, p. 88.   19th-century Cambridge-style calf, rebacked harmoniously in speckled calf with gilt-stamped compartments and three red leather labels. Board edges with gilt fillet, turn-ins with gilt roll of two leaf designs; boards gently rubbed and refurbished, new endpapers. Light age-toning throughout with faint indications of old water exposure narrowly along top edge of upper margins and darker but still light waterstaining elsewhere marginally; otherwise, minutest wormtracking at bottom edge of bottom margins in two gatherings, occasionally a minor stain, and a good many upper corners very lightly creased across. Also present are two témoins and a few examples of paper flaws from manufacture or incomplete trimming. Provenance indicia as above, small pencil notations on title-page verso and first text leaf. A scholarly work in vernacular language on vernacular language, from a scholarly press; furthermore a handsome publication, and in a handsome copy with wide handsome margins.  (38897)

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Splendid Ceremony for a Sad Remembrance, with thePLATE

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•  Very special ceremonies commemorated the death of a king or a queen. In Lima at the midpoint of the 18th century news arrived in the viceregal capital of the passing of Queen Maria Anna Josefa (1683–1754), consort of John V, King of Portugal. She died on 14 August and plans were immediately proposed for commemorating her life and death when the news arrived in Peru in the early months of 1755.

Poems were solicited, designs for the ceremonial cenotaph were proposed, special events were planned, a sermon-giver was selected: And this volume was printed to tell later generations about those events as they were eventually accomplished on 15 March 1756. We learn from the volume who the special dignitaries were, who said what, and what the processions and the order of the marchers were; and we are given a detailed description of the cenotaph, its ornaments, and the texts of the poems and epigrams (chiefly on pp. 80 through 237) recited. The editor, Alvitez, was a Franciscan.

Fray Francisco Ponze de Leon, a Mercedarian, chief regent of the Royal University of San Marcos, gave the “Oracion funebre, que a la memoria de la fidelissima señora doña Mariana Josepha de Austria,” which occupies the final 49 leaves here.

Fray Antonio de Contreras, another Mercedarian, engraved the likeness of the elaborate cenotaph that the viceroy had constructed for the day honoring the late queen.The plate is large and folding.

The poems are romances, redondillas, sonnets, decimas, etc. One poem is even an example of concrete poetry and two others are in Portuguese! (by Antonio Alberto, and Juan Julian Capetillo de la Sota, who also supplied a poem in ENGLISH). The poets include Viceroy Jose Manso de Velasco; Nicolás Sarmiento de Sotomayor y los Ríos del Campo, IV conde del Portillo; various other nobles; and one woman, Josefa Brava de Lagunas y Villela.

Provenance:  19th-century bookplate of Guillermo Miguel Irarrazabal.

The number of “splendid ceremonies” books produced in colonial Peru is small: There is no census but we suspect the number to be fewer than nine.

Searches of NUC and WoldCat find only five copies in U.S. libraries, not all of them complete with the plate. Searches of WorldCat, COPAC, CCPB, and KVK locate only 4 other copies worldwide.

•  Medina, Lima, 1103; Vargas Ugarte, Impresos peruanos, 1736.   Contemporary limp vellum, lacking ties. Unidentified rubber-stamp on front free endpaper (smudged, indistinct). Repair to rear free endpaper and small repair to folding plate. Clean, crisp, unwormed. A very good copy.  (34629)

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TO Part II

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