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[
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Poe in French with
Dulac Illustrations & Designs
Poe, Edgar Allan; J. Serruys, trans.; & Edmund Dulac, illus. Les cloches et quelques autres poèmes. Paris: L'Édition d'Art H. Piazza, [1913]. 4to (30 cm, 12"). 96 pp.; 28 col. plts., illus.
$550.00
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Limited to 400 copies on “papier du Japon,” this translation of The Bells and Other Poems from the pen of Parisian literary light Jenny Serruys Bradley (1886–1983) is stunningly illustrated with
28 full-color plates tipped onto leaves with an embossed frame, plus 39 decorated initials, 9 headpieces in black and white, and 34 tailpieces in black and red done by
Edmund Dulac. Dulac also designed the red and gold front wrapper. Each plate has a tissue guard captioned in red.
Early 20th-century half brown levant morocco, spine richly gilt, with marbled paper sides and marbled endpapers; spine sunned and rubbed, binding scuffed, and corners bumped. Top edge gilt, other edges untrimmed. Original wrappers bound in. Pages gently age-toned. (38153)
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A Landmark of 15th-Century Poetry,
from a
Landmark Press
Poliziano, Angelo. Le stanze di messer Angelo Poliziano di nuovo pubblicate. Parma: Nel Regal Palazzo Co' Tipi Bodoniani, 1792. Large 4to (30.8 cm, 12.12"). [4], xv, [1], 60 pp.
$750.00
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Born Angelo Ambrogini but commonly known as either Poliziano or Politian[us], this author tutored the children of Lorenzo de' Medici, taught at the University of Florence, and not only translated Latin and Greek classics but also produced significant poems of his own in both Latin and Italian. His writings were read and praised by Erasmus, Pico della Mirandola, Battista Guarini, and many other eminent scholars of the Renaissance — with Erasmus going so far as to make use of Poliziano's Epistolae (as they were originally titled) for his Adagia. The present piece, a verse tribute to Giuliano de' Medici, was unfinished in Poliziano's lifetime and some debate has ensued over the joust referenced in the name commonly given for the poem, Stanze per la giostra.
Here, the two existing books of the Stanze are handsomely presented in a dignified Bodoni production dedicated to Count Cesare Ventura, whose coat of arms appears as part of a large engraved vignette. Brunet states that
only 162 copies were printed.
Provenance: Bookplates of Wilfred Merton, Robert Wayne Stilwell, and Brian Douglas Stilwell.
Brooks 451; Brunet, IV, 783; De Lama, II, 71–72; Giani 23 (p. 43). 19th-century half brown mottled sheep and marbled paper–covered boards, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label and gilt-ruled raised bands; extremities rubbed. Front pastedown with bookplates as above and with pencilled reference notes; some foxing or other spotting/soiling intermittently; a volume overall clean and pleasing. (40150)
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Chatty, Sophisticated, & Charmingly Illustrated
High-Society Guide to SPA
Pöllnitz, Karl Ludwig, Freiherr von. Amusemens des eaux de Spa, ouvrage utile à ceux qui vont boire ces eaux minérales sur les lieux. Enrichi des tailles-douces, qui représentent les vues & les perspectives du bourg de Spa, des fontaines, des promenades, & des environs. Amsterdam: Chez Pierre Mortier, 1740. 8vo (15.1 cm, 5.94"). 2 vols. I: ix, [3], 424 pp.; 9 fold. plts. II: [2], 414 pp.; 7 fold. plts.
$950.00
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“Nouvelle edition” following the first of 1734 (also published by Mortier), of this entertaining guide to the delights of Spa — the
first work of its kind, focusing primarily on society and fashion rather than on practical descriptions of the waters and their medicinal qualities. Baron von Pöllnitz was a favorite of Frederick the Great, and published an assortment of memoirs of himself and others. His Amusemens enjoyed great success, was quickly translated into English, and went through a number of editions in both languages, launching a genre of similar works on Spa and other fashionable destinations.
Early editions of the present guide are uncommon: WorldCat finds
only one U.S. institution (New York Academy of Medicine) reporting holding this printing, and only a small handful more of the scarce first.
This attractively accomplished production features title-pages printed in red and black and
16 delightful engraved plates counting the double-spread added engraved title-page serving as the frontispiece of vol. I. Offering views of the countryside and the fountains, many of the images incorporate figures such as a hunter and his hounds, riders on horseback, and well-dressed ladies and gentlemen strolling or dancing — as well as one of
a life-sized “insect” allegedly “brought away from the Kidneys of a Woman by the Drinking of the Pouhon Waters.” The unsigned plates, sometimes attributed to the author himself and sometimes to Hecquet, bear
captions given in French, German, and English.
Provenance: Title-pages each with early inked inscription of Frances Osborn. Later in the residue of the stock of the F. Thomas Heller bookselling firm (est. ca. 1928).
Graesse, I, 109; Wellcome, IV, 407. Not in Blake, NLM 18th Century (which only lists an English-language edition). Contemporary quarter mottled calf and marbled paper–covered sides, spines with gilt-stamped leather title-labels; bindings rubbed, scuffed, and with leather refurbished. Added engraved title-page for vol. I here tipped in as a double-page spread. Vol. I with waterstaining to outer margins of first few leaves, including added title-page and title-page; vol. II with waterstaining to upper outer portions of first few leaves; some plates with waterstaining to margins, not affecting images. Pages otherwise crisp and clean.
A pleasurable production, showcasing a pleasurable place! (40619)
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Turning-Point in the Ignatian Controvery: The Rejection of the Longer Greek Recension
Polycarp, Saint, Bp. of Smyrna; & Ignatius, Saint, Bp. of Antioch. Polycarpi et Ignatii epistolae: una cum vetere vulgata interpretatione Latina, ex trium manuscriptorum codicum collatione, integritati suae restituta. Accessit & Ignatianarum epistolarum versio antiqua alia, ex duobus manuscriptis in Anglia repertis, nunc primum in lucem edita. Quibus praefixa est, non de Ignatii solum & Polycarpi scriptis, sed etiam de apostolicis constitutionibus & canonibus Clementi Romano tributis. Oxoniae: Excudebat Leonardus Lichfield Academiae Typographus, 1644. 4to (21.5 cm; 8.5"). cxlvi, [1], 243, [2], 53 pp.
$1000.00
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Controversies have stages and the Ignatian Controversy had three. In the period from the first printing of the Ignatian letters (1495) till 1644, the Longer Greek recension was all that was known and it was accepted despite early awareness of some spurious aspects.
The second stage began with the publication of the present work in which Bishop Ussher printed the letters based on the Shorter Greek recension as found in Latin manuscripts in Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, and in the private collection of Robert Montagu — the Greek text for which was soon found and published two years later. The final stage came in 1845 with the discovery of the Syrian “extract.”
The texts of the Epistles of Polycarp and Ignatius are here presented in parallel columns, in the Greek of the Longer recension and in Robert Grosseteste's mid-13th-century Latin translation. Ignatius' Greek text is printed in red and black; red for words and passages not appearing in the Latin version reproduced on pp. 195–238, and, in the “Emendanda,” for words and passages not appearing in the Greek text on pp. 239–41.
Besides editing the letters, Irish-born Ussher provides notes and an essay, “De Ignatii Martyris Epistolis, indeque . . . de Polycarpi quoque scriptis, atque Apostolicis Constitutionibus et Canonibus Clementi Romano tributis,” at the end of the volume.
The ESTC record indicates that a portion of this work was salvaged from an edition of Ignatii, Polycarpi, et Barnabæ, epistolae atq[ue], martyria quibus praefixa est de Polycarpi & Ignatii scriptis Jacobi Usserii archiepiscopi armachani dissertatio: quae in hoc volumine continentur alia, operi praefixa synopsis indicabit that was accidentally burnt while being printed by Lichfield in 1642.
Provenance: 17th- or 18th-century ownership signatures of “Will. Young” and of “John Dearle.” In early 19th century given to Kenyon College by John Foster of Hertfordshire; in the 20th century in the library of Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School (properly deaccessioned).
Wing (2nd ed.) P2789; Wing (rev. ed.) U185; Madan, II, 1739–1744; ESTC R203207. Contemporary sprinkled calf, modestly tooled in blind with a double rule on covers; rebacked, original spine label reattached, new front free endpaper. Library bookplates and one-line rubber-stamps on pastedowns but not title-page; one leaf with small loss of paper in lower margin, not affecting text. Edges of title-leaf and leaf following darkened from offset of the turn-ins.
Solid, handsomely printed, interesting. (34456)
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Pomet's Own Edition of
His Guide to Drugs
Pomet, Pierre. Le marchand sincere ou traite general des drogues simples et composes. Paris: Chez l'Auteur, 1695. Folio (40 cm, 15.75"). Frontis., [12], 304 (i.e., 332), 108, 116, [38], 16 pp.; 5 of 6 plts., illus.
$4500.00
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Second and
for the first time self-published edition of this groundbreaking, best-selling guide to botanically derived medicines, written by the chief pharmacist to Louis XIV. Highly influential in its time, Pomet's materia medica covers botanical, zoological, and mineral sources and is illustrated in this edition with
almost 200 copper-engraved, in-text images including many of the plants described along with subjects such as coral, ostriches, and fish, not to mention exotica like
mummies, unicorns, and some extremely implausibly depicted rhinoceroses and whales. Also present are images of harvesting and processing sugar cane, indigo, and tobacco (all depicting black workers). In addition, the final addendum, “Remarques tres-curieuses sur plusieurs vegetaux, animaux, mineraux, & autres, que j'ai oublié d'inserer dans la premiere impression, ou que j'ai découvert du depuis,” supplies information on mercury, cinnabar, antimony, etc., along with five tipped-in plates showing mechoacan, Virginia snakeroot, indigo, drakena, and an assortment of bezoars. The
Americana content is noteworthy, with discussion of cacao, chocolate, tobacco, jalap, and so on. Tea and coffee are present as well.
This second edition was retitled by Pomet from the original Histoire générale des drogues, and is both less widely held and less frequently described in bibliographies (WorldCat and NUC Pre-1956 locate only seven U.S. institutional holdings). It opens with a frontispiece portrait of the author, done by A. le Clerc the Younger, facing a title-page vignette by I. Crespy; sections open with decorative headpieces and capitals and many close with tailpieces.
Alden & Landis 695/147; Hunersdorff & Hasenkamp, Coffee, 1177–1179; Wellcome Catalogue, IV, 411 (for first ed.); Krivatsy 9137. Contemporary mottled calf, spine gilt extra and with gilt-stamped leather title-label; binding rubbed and scuffed with leather pitted, front joint cracked but holding, spine refurbished with untooled leather replacing that lost in bottom compartment. First few leaves with edges darkened and slightly ragged; dedication and first leaf of preface with inkstains in upper margins; early portion with light waterstaining in upper margins. Several leaves with tears from margins, some extending into text without loss; a few leaves with small rectangular portion of lower inner margins cut away and two with corners torn away, one with loss of a few words and the other wish loss of about ten; two leaves each with a tiny burn hole affecting one letter. One leaf torn across, tear going through two images without loss; one leaf with small ink smears entering into an image frame (for “De la Colle de Poisson”), not approaching the images themselves. Lacks one plate (at pp. 46/47). Clearly a much-read, pored-over example of this great 17th-century treatise, and also one
fit for much more enjoyment and “action.” (34643)
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Compendium of Early Physiognomy, in Italian,
& with a Byzantine Forgery
Porta, Giovanni Battista [Giambattista] della; Antonius Polemo (attrib.); Giovanni Ingegneri.
La fisonomia dell'huomo, et la celeste ... libri sei. Venetia: Sebastian Combi & Gio. LaNoù, 1652. 8vo (16.6 cm, 6.55"). Add. engr. t.-p., [30], 598, [18], 190, [2], 134 pp.; illus.
[SOLD]
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Della Porta's influential work on physiognomy, originally published in 1586 as De humana physiognomonia. Here, the author seeks to categorize similarities between visible external physical characteristics and the traits of the soul or character hidden within — formalizing a pseudo-science that continues (in assorted variations) to find adherents even today. The human physiognomy treatise is followed by its celestial counterpart, and then, as issued, by the Fisonomia di Polemone (although attributed to Polemo, actually a Byzantine forgery) and the Fisonomia naturale of Giovanni Ingegneri.
The two Italian-laguage della Porta texts are illustrated with
numerous in-text copper engravings: These remarkable vignettes include, along with a sequence of individual animals and humans, a series of
side-by-side comparisons of human facial types to various types of animal, offered as examples of Porta's determinations: “The horse is a noble animal, therefore it is a sign of nobility to walk erect with the head held high. Men who resemble a donkey are like that animal: timid, stupid, nervous. He who looks like an ostrich is akin to it in character: he is timid, elegant, vicious, stolid man who reminds us of a swine is a swine, eating greedily and having all the other characteristics, such as rudeness, irascibility, lack of discipline, sordidness, lack of intelligence [and] modesty. In a similar way, men who look like ravens are impudent; those who resemble oxen are stubborn, lazy, irascible; men who have lips shaped like those of a lion are hearty, magnanimous, courageous; others who make us think of a ram are timid, malicious and humble” (Seligmann). Mortimer notes that these engravings “were probably copied from the Vicenza woodcuts used by Pietro Paolo Tozzi.”
Evidence of readership: Front pastedown and free endpaper with early inked annotation in Latin and French.
This ed. not in Brunet; see Mortimer, Italian 16th-Century Books, 398; Cicognara 2460. See also Seligmann, The History of Magic, 319. No edition of the Polemo forgery is listed in Freeman, Bibliotheca Fictiva. Contemporary mottled calf, covers framed in gilt double fillets, spine with gilt-stamped title, compartments ruled in gilt and holdaing gilt-stamped decorative motifs, and raised bands with gilt roll; leather expectably acid-pitted, binding moderately worn overall. Annotation as above.
This is a very pleasing copy, with pages clean and images printed darkly and crisply. (39430)
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Dealing Judicially with
Contraband Smugglers
Portugal. Sovereign (1750–77, Joseph). [drop-title] Eu El rey. Faço saber aos que este alvará virem: que tendo mostrado a experiencia as demoras, e embaraços, que ha, por occorrencia de outras dependencias, na execuçaõ das penas impostas aos contrabandos.... [Lisbon]: No publisher/printer, 1764. Folio (29 cm; 11.5"). [1] f., i.e., [2] pp.
$350.00
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By this Alvará (13 September 1764) the king addresses matters of jurisdiction in cases against dealers in contraband sugar. (“Alvará, porque V. Magestade ha por bem ordenar que as diligencias preparatorias dos processos verbaes dos Contrabandos, apprehendidos na Alfandegado do assucar da cidade de Lisboa, se fação per ante o Juiz Conservador geral do Commercio. . . . ”)
There are two issues: in this issue on p. [1], the catchword is “hendidos,” and in the other catchword is “hendi-.”
WorldCat locates only the copy at the John Carter Brown Library.
Removed from a volume. Light brown stain in lower margin and an even lighter stain in top one; old foliation number neatly inked in upper outer corner of recto. A good exemplar. (28246)
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Hospital Reform for
the Benefit of Orphans
Portugal. Sovereign (1750–77, Joseph). [begins] Eu el rey. Faço saber aos que este Alvará virem: Que sendo o decurso dos tempos sujeito as grandes alterações, que vem a fazer necessarias muitas novas, e antes não cogitadas providencias ... Havendo sido util, e louvavelmente erigido o Hospital dos Expostos da Cidade de Lisboa.... [Lisbon]: Na Regia Officina Typografica., 1775. Folio (29 cm; 11.5"). 7, [1 (blank)] pp.
$475.00
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The king has decided that reform and improvement aere needed at the Orphans' Hospital (Hospital dos Expostos) in Lisbon and here issues the decree specifying the changes. (“Alvará, por que Vossa Magestade he servido occorrer com as providencias necessarias para fazer em cessar os inconvenientes, que até agora se praticavam no Hospital dos Expostos: Dando nova forma para as creações, entregas, e educações delles . . . “).
No copies found via WorldCat or COPAC.
Removed from a bound volume; now in modern wrappers. Old foliation neatly inked in upper outer corners; clean, with wide margins. (28222)
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REFORMING the Queen's
Hydrotheraphy Hospital at Caldas
Portugal. Sovereign (1750–77, Joseph). [begins] Eu el rey. Faço saber aos que este Alvará virem: Que sendo o decurso dos tempos sujeito as grandes alterações, que vem a fazer necessarias muitas novas, e antes não cogitadas providencias ... Havendo sido util, e louvavelmente erigido o Hospital dos Expostos da Cidade de Lisboa.... [Lisbon]: [colophon: Na Regia Officina Typografica, 1775]. Folio. 38 pp.
$500.00

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The Portuguese king decides to reform and reorganize the Hospital Real das Caldas (a thermal springs treatment center) that Queen Leonor established in 1484. The details of the innovations are detailed here. (“Alvará de Regimento, por que Vossa Magestade, annullando, cassando, e abolindo o antigo Regimento, chamado Compromisso do Hospital Real das Caldas . . . que depois delle se expediram; fazendo cessar a Inspecção, que sobre elle até agora teve a Meza da Consciencia, e Ordens; e separando-o da Adminstração dos Conegos Seculares de S. João Evangelista”).
No copy traced via WorldCat or COPAC.
Removed from a volume and laid into modern wrappers. Light stain in outer margin of last leaf with a trace of same showing on a few more inward; old foliation neatly inked in upper outer corners; generally clean, with good margins. One inked, contemporary marginal note. (28234)
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Westward!
Post, Charles Cyrel. Driven from sea to sea; Or, just a campin'. Philadelphia & Chicago: Elliot & Beezley, 1888. 8vo. 414, [2] pp.; 8 plts.
$50.00
Novel about the 1880 gunfight at Mussel Slough, in California, between settlers and the agents of the Southern Pacific Railroad. With engraved plates. Testimonials (in the back) compare it to "Uncle Tom's Cabin."
Publisher's brown cloth, stamped in black and “silver”; front and spine with decorated with a frontier scene showing Conestoga wagons in a wilderness landscape with rising sun in the background. (We can't seem to get a photograph of this that doesn't "glare out.") Bright with a few flecks of white (paint?). Spine slightly rubbed on joints and at head and base. Pages toned. Good+. (20739)
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“Things
Shall Not Long Continue in this Present Gloomy & Disordered State”
Potter, Ray. A treatise on the millennium, or latter-day glory of the church, compiled principally from the productions of late eminent writers upon that subject. To which is added, further remarks and notes by the compiler. Providence: Brown & Danforth, printers, 1824. 12mo (17.8 cm; 7"). [2], ii, [5]–300 pp.
$100.00
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Compilation of writings on
millennialism selected by and with commentary from Potter, a Rhode Island Baptist preacher.
Potter (1795–1858) notes in the preface that he liberally borrowed passages from Samuel Hopkins as “few probably have ever read [his “excellent treatise”], nor will, except it should be published in a detached work from his body of divinity, which is too costly and voluminous for the common class of Christians to be possessed of.”
Shoemaker 17680. Tree calf, spine with gilt black leather label and gilt ruling; rubbed, boards gently bowed outward. Moderate age-toning and occasional spotting; light pencilling on endpapers, a few leaves with inner corners torn, a handful of leaves with bent corners. (36115)
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WORLD MYTHOLOGY — 8 Vols. & Thousands of Entries
Pozzoli, Giovanni; Felice Romani; Antonio Peracchi, et al. Dizionario storico-mitologico di tutti i popoli del mondo. Livorno: Stamperia Vignozzi, 1824–28. 8 vols. 8vo (21 cm, 8.25"). I: 580 pp. II: 581–1163, [1] pp. (pp. 1057–64 repeated in place of pp. 1065–72). III: [1165]–1708 pp. (pagination 1551–52 repeated, 1687–88 skipped). IV: [1709]–2342 pp. V: 2351–3086 pp. (pagination skips 2519–26). VI: 3087–3855 pp. (pagination skips 3407–08). VII: 576 pp. VIII: 577–1074 pp.
$2500.00
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Second edition of this classic dictionary of comparative mythology, a hefty collection of the deities, heroes, tales, festivals, antiquities, and other folklore of numerous cultures and countries including Mexico, Peru, America, Africa, India, Japan, China, etc, along with Jewish, Greek, and Roman antiquities. The foundation of the work was François Noel's Dictionnaire de la Fable; copious additions and corrections were made by Pozzoli, Romani (the famed poet, scholar, and librettist for La Scala), and Peracchi (another librettist). The resulting encyclopedic endeavor was originally published from 1809–27 under the title Dizionario d'ogni mitologia e antichità incominciato, according to Graesse and Brunet, who both give Pozzoli's first name as Girolamo.
This set includes two volumes of supplemental text, adding a number of entries. The first edition was followed by two volumes of supplemental plates, not present here and not called for: Graesse describes this edition as “sans grav.”
The pagination is erratic in a number of places; there is a numbering gap from 2342 to 2351 between vols. IV and V, but the text and signatures are uninterrupted.
Uncommon: OCLC locates only two U.S. institutional holdings of this second edition.
Provenance: Most volumes with small inked ownership inscription in an outer margin: “G.R.W.” the mark of William Rollinson Whittingham (1805–79), fourth Episcopal Bishop of Maryland and an enthusiastic book collector.
Brunet, IV, 851; Graesse, V, 429. Not in Sabin. Contemporary half binding, recently rebacked with tan paper, spines with printed paper labels; boards rubbed and faded with small chips, one vol. with front cover waterstained. Foxing almost throughout, generally no worse than moderate; light waterstaining in upper margins of vol. I; one leaf in vol. VII with lower outer portion torn away, with loss of words from about 18 lines on each side. Vol. II with printer's error replacing pp. 1065–72 with duplicates of pp. 1057–64; pagination erratic in other places. Most vols. with ownership mark as above; vol. VI with one pencilled and one inked marginal annotation. (25862)
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An American, “Filadelphia” Ladies' Gift Book for a
Trans-American Elite Audience
Presente a las damas. Filadelphia: Carey, Lea, & Carey, 1829. 8vo (19.3 cm, 7.55"). Engr. presentation f., [4] pp., 32 ff.; 32 plts.
[SOLD]
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First edition of this unusual and intriguing gift book for the then-emerging foreign market in newly independent Spanish America: a Philadelphia-printed collection of
32 single-page poems in Spanish, each accompanied by a steel-engraved plate. These are very Anglo-American pieces, despite their linguistic guise; present here are odes to the Schuylkill, Trenton Falls, and the Delaware Water Gap (with attractive and appropriate illustrations engraved after Doughty, Wall, and others), although Hampton Court and other, more exotic locales are also featured.
At least one of these poems appears to be an uncredited, partial excerpt from José María Heredia; some of the other content seems to have come from Carey, Lea, & Carey's Atlantic Souvenir of 1827 and 1828 and Carey's 1828 El Aguinaldo para el año de 1829 — a landmark production with which the nature of Spanish-language printing in the U.S., and especially in Philadelphia, changed dramatically, as to an ordinary output of political tracts and textbooks were added
luxury Spanish-language objects of artistic and literary merit designed for marketing to a trans-American elite. Carey printed four such gift books: this Presente a las damas in 1829 and three “Alguinaldos,” for 1829, 1830, and 1831. All were meant for ladies and to be presented to them by gentleman and lady friends.
Binding: Publisher's dark green morocco, covers embossed with arabesque designs surrounding a central gilt-stamped floral medallion, spine gilt extra. All edges gilt.
Provenance: Given to Doa Caroline [sic] Tagl[e] by her husband (as per presentation page).
WorldCat locates only seven U.S. institutional holdings (DLC, ICN, MWA, NSyU, NN, PU, PPL).
Shoemaker 40147; Palau 236614. Central block similar to Wolf, From Gothic Windows to Peacocks, 7, here with addition of medallion. This edition not in Faxon, nor Thomson, nor Tepper; see Faxon 59 for further information. Bound as above, variably sunned and with edges rubbed; pulled at top and foot of spine with gilt still bright. Interior age-toned with staining/spotting/foxing throughout, never dark but ubiquitous.
An uncommon volume representing one of the vanishingly few foreign-language annuals printed by an American publisher and an often unnoticed phenomenon. (38391)
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By a “Past Master of the Lodge of Antiquity Acting
by Immemorial Constitution”
Preston, William. Illustrations of masonry. Alexandria [VA]: Cottom & Stewart, 1804. 12mo (17 cm, 6.7"). 560 (i.e., 360) pp. (pagination erratic).
$425.00
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Much-read, oft-printed history of Freemasonry, here in
the uncommon “first American — from the tenth London edition,” per the title-page, which according to Walgren almost certainly preceded the “first American improved” edition of the same year. Preston (1742–1818) was a Scottish author and editor whose research into Masonic instruction and traditions led him both to publishing this work (originally, in 1772) and also to becoming deeply involved in the schism between the Ancients and the Moderns.
Following the history — which includes architectural discussion of various Masonic buildings — is “A Collection of Odes, Anthems, and Songs.”
Sabin 65383; Shaw & Shoemaker 7115; Walgren, Freemasonry, 823. Contemporary mottled sheep, rebacked with speckled sheep, spine with gilt-stamped leather title and author labels and gilt-ruled raised bands; original leather moderately worn and stained. Front fly-leaf with pencilled ownership inscription dated 1850. Pages age-toned, with occasional mild foxing and a handful of small, early pencilled marks of emphasis.
A solid copy of the probable first U.S. appearance of a work that made quite a splash among those curious about the Masons. (40392)
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Limited Edition — 500 Copies — Art-Deco Illustrations
Prévost, l'Abbé. Manon Lescaut. London: Geoffrey Bles, 1928. Sm. folio (32.3 cm, 12.75"). [8], ix, [1], 141, [3] pp.; 12 col. plts.
$150.00
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The classic tale of passion and inconstancy, illustrated with 12 color plates and numerous large in-text line drawings by John Austen — with this being the sole edition of Austen's Art Deco–influenced designs. This is numbered copy 212 of
500 numbered copies printed, and is
signed by the illustrator. (An additional 20 copies, not for sale, were lettered.)
Among other things, this book is a bonanza for lovers of
COSTUME!
Publisher's quarter vellum and light blue buckram sides, spine with gilt-stamped title; vellum darkened and spotted, sides with mild wear and discolorations; front hinge (inside) slightly tender. Front free endpaper with a very faded (all but illegible) early inked inscription; margins with scattered light smudges, pages and plates otherwise clean. A volume clearly pored over . . . (35542)
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“The Transactions of
the Most Finished & Notorious Cheat
That Ever Disgraced Human Nature” — NOT a Piracy
(Price, Charles). A new edition. Being a more minute and particular account of that consummate adept in deception, Charles Price, otherwise Patch, many years a stock-broker and lottery-office-keeper in London and Westminster. London: Printed for the editor ... sold by G. Kearsley, 1786. 12mo in 4s (18.1 cm, 7.125"). 48 pp.; 1 folding plt.
[SOLD]
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As the title-page helpfully explains, “In this edition the whole of [Price's] various forgeries and frauds are circumstantially related; together with his origin, and all the material occurrences of his life, equally disgraceful to human nature, till he began that desperate undertaking of forgeries on the Bank of England. In the carrying on of which, he, in the most artful and surprising manner, baffled every mode of detection, set on foot by the directors and the magistrates of Bow-Street, for a series of six years.” This offering comes with
a folding frontispiece of Price in both his regular clothes and in disguise, and an absolutely scathing advertisement page warning readers away from the James Ridgeway edition as it is “the most pitiful piracy that ever disgraced the records of illiberal imposition.”
First covered in the English Chronicle, Price was a popular biographical subject, with three different editions of this work printed in 1786 alone. Searches of COPAC, WorldCat, and the NUC reveal only one holding of this edition in a U.S. institution (Princeton).
Provenance: From the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.
ESTC N49660. 19th-century quarter tan linen and blue paper–covered boards, both darkened, with gilt lettering and ruling on spine; spine lightly dust-soiled, light pencilling on endpapers. Light age-toning and spotting, a few creased edges; one missing corner, one short marginal tear to plate not quite reaching impression, and one torn and uneven leaf from flawed paper manufacture (pp. 29/30) affecting text. One inked page number and one correction of Latin spelling.
Colorful biography and colorful publishing commentary. (38564)
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Anti-Muslim & Anti-Deist
Prideaux, Humphrey. The true nature of imposture fully display'd in the life of Mahomet. With a discourse annex'd for the vindication of Christianity from this charge ... eighth edition, corrected. London: E. Curll, J. Hooke, W. Mears & F. Clay, 1723. 8vo (20.2 cm, 7.9"). xvi (i.e., xvii), [3], 260 pp.
$300.00
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“Offered to the Consideration of the deists of the Present Age,” this is the eighth, corrected edition of a polemic originally published in 1697 by the dean of Norwich. Much read and widely influential on both English and American opinions of Islam, this work led to the common attachment of the “impostor” epithet to Mohammed's name in Western usage.
The “Discourse for the Vindicating of Christianity from the Charge of Imposture” has a separate title-page dated 1722, but its pagination is continuous with the first work.
ESTC T138493. Contemporary speckled calf, framed and panelled in blind with panel of contrasting calf decorated with blind roll and blind-tooled corner fleurons, rebacked with sympathetic calf, spine with gilt-dotted raised bands, gilt-stamped leather title-label, and blind-tooled compartment decorations; original leather showing minor acid-pitting with edges worn and rubbed. Ex–social club library: 19th-century bookplate, call number on endpapers, no other markings. Front free endpaper with upper outer corner repaired; browned, with offsetting to margins of first and last few leaves from turn-ins, yet not brittle. (27101)
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Priestley, Joseph. A general history of the Christian church, to the fall of the Western Empire ...the second edition improved. Northumberland [PA]: Pr. for the author by Andrew Kennedy, 1803–04. 8vo (21.7 cm, 8.5"). 2 vols. I: xix, [1], 488 pp. II: 552 (i.e., 554), [2] pp.
$975.00
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Second edition, following the first of 1790: Corrected and expanded version of this scholarly history by Priestley, a controversial theologian as well as a chemist who may be best remembered today for experiments with gasses that led to the discovery of oxygen. Covering the early development of Christianity, the two volumes also address some contemporaneous events in Judaism and among various heathen groups.
The work was printed in Northumberland, Pennsylvania, where Priestley settled in 1782, when his liberal political opinions and defense of the French Revolution (in addition to his status as a nonconforming minister of questionable orthodoxy) obliged him to emigrate from England to the United States.
Provenance: Both title-pages inscribed by N. Irwin.
Shaw & Shoemaker 4912 & 7121. Recent quarter calf over marbled paper–covered sides, spines with gilt-stamped leather title and volume labels. Title-pages with faint impression of a once-pencilled shelf number; some leaves lightly foxed. (12638)
Annals of New England
Prince, Thomas. A chronological history of New-England in the form of annals: Being a summary and exact account of the most material transactions and occurrences relating to this country, in the order of time wherein they happened, from the discovery by Capt. Gosnold in 1602, to the arrival of Governor Belcher, in 1730. With an introduction containing a brief epitome of the most remarkable transactions and events abroad, from the Creation.... Boston: Pr. by Kneeland & Green for S. Gerrish, 1736. 8vo (16.6 cm, 6.5"). [8], xi, [1], 20, 104, [2], 254 pp. (lacking title-page).
$500.00
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First edition of an extremely ambitious, painstakingly detailed history — “our most scholarly colonial work,” according to Howes. The Rev. Thomas Prince was minister of the Old South Church in Boston and founder of the New England Library (now the Prince Collection of the Boston Public Library); he began collecting the historical references that formed the basis of the present work in 1703, when he entered Harvard.
Dedicated to Jonathan Belcher, this first volume ends at the year 1630, with a note that the size of the undertaking had exceeded the expectations of both the author and the bookseller. The second volume did not appear until 1755, under the title Annals of New-England.
Sabin 65585; Evans 4068; Howes P615; ESTC W30371. On Prince, see: Dictionary of American Biography. Contemporary sheep, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label; leather rubbed and scraped, with spine label chipped. Front pastedown with institutional stamp; front free endpaper and fly-leaf with pencilled notations. Title-page lacking; first (dedication) leaf with signature “[W?] Nathans” and two early inked inscriptions on text pages reading “Nath[.] Mason his book.” Pages browned, most heavily the first 50 pages; some other staining; a few leaves with short edge tears, in two cases touching text without loss. Sound, and still interesting reading. (17523)
Prinsep, Henry Thoby. The India question in 1853. London: William H. Allen & Co., 1853. 8vo (19.6 cm, 7.75"). [2], 111, [1 (blank)] pp.
$350.00
Click the image for an enlargement.
Parliament reviewed the management of the East India Company every 20 years beginning in 1773. At the time of the 1853 review the number of directors of the East India company was reduced, one of those retained being Henry Prinsep (1793–1878), an able and successful Indian civil servant and member of the Council of India. He here gives his insights on a wide range of issues, from
education and the press to finance, the administration of justice, and how best to govern the country.
NSTC 2P27024. On Prinsep, see: DNB. Removed from a nonce volume. Lightly age-toned. Traces of soiling and small inked numeral on title-page. A few instances of pencilled sidelining. (11186)

THACKERAY Admired These “Most Charmingly Humorous
of English Lyrical Poems”
Some Fellow-ADMIRER Had
THIS Set Bound
Prior, Matthew. The poetical works...: Now first collected, with explanatory notes, and memoirs of the author, in two volumes. London: Pr. for W. Strahan, T. Payne, J. Rivington, et al., 1779. 8vo (19.4 cm, 7.6"). I: xvi, xxviii, 420 pp.; 1 plt. II: [2] ff., xvi, 287, [1 (errata)] pp.
$200.00
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Witty, amorous, sardonic works by the English poet-diplomat, edited by Evans and first thus. The DNB notes that among posthumous editions of Prior's works, "that of Evans . . . long enjoyed the reputation of being the best."
The "Story of the Country-Mouse and the City-Mouse," Prior's satiric and politically motivated response to Dryden's "Hind and Panther," is not included, but the long pieces "Solomon on the Vanity of the World" and "Alma" are present. The "Life of Mat. Prior" in the first volume commences beneath a small engraved portrait.
Binding: Later sprinkled calf, covers gilt-ruled with gilt inner dentelles, spines gilt extra with gilt-stamped leather title and volume labels. All edges saffron.
Provenance: Both volumes with armorial bookplates of Sir Robert D'Arcy Hildyard.
On Prior, see: Dictionary of National Biography, 397401. Leather cracking over joints with hinges tender; spine tips a little dry and pulled; upper and outer edges of all covers somewhat darkened; light wear to extremities. Light foxing to some pages. In fact a very handsome pair. (3402)
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Introduction by Dickens Illustrations by Tenniel, Millais, Palmer, et al.
Procter, Adelaide Anne. Legends and lyrics. London: Bell & Daldy, 1866. 8vo (22.9 cm; 9"). Frontis., [10] ff., 329, [1] pp., 20 plts.; lacks dedication leaf.
$100.00
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New edition with additions: This new edition of Adelaide Anne Procter's 1861 collection of poems is the first to feature an introduction by her father's good friend Charles Dickens; the introduction was repeated in subsequent editions. The
20 plates are wood engravings by Horace Harrel after W.T.C. Dobson, Samuel Palmer, John Tenniel, William H. Millais, and several others.
Procter was a philanthropist as well as a poet, involved in several charitable and feminist causes, and contributed to Dickens' Household Words under the pen name “Mary Berwick” in hopes that her work would not be judged based on her father's friendship with Dickens. She died shortly before the publication of this new edition of her poems.
Binding: Red morocco over bevelled-edged wooden boards, spine with gilt lettering, rules, and stamped compartment decorations of acorns and oak leaves; covers with a wide composite gilt border incorporating laurel crowns and more oak'y ornaments surrounding a large gilt spray of holly and ivy. Marbled endpapers, all edges gilt.
Eckel, First Editions of the Writing of Charles Dickens . . . A bibliography, pp. 163–64; Podeschi, Dickens & Dickensiana, B293. Bound as above, heavy boards sometime separated and reattached; extremities rubbed with spine pulled. Dedication page mentioned by Eckel lacking; foxing and minor staining to edges of frontispiece portrait with one other illustration and adjacent
page foxed also. Previous owner's notes in pencil on front endpapers. A Good+ copy (priced accordingly) of this attractive production. (37385)
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Propertius, Sextus. Sex. Aurelii Propertii elegiarum libri IV. Trajecti ad Rhenum: Barth. Wild, 1780. 4to (26.3 cm, 10.4"). [10], xiv, [2], 990 (i.e., 996; pagination repeats 627–32), [2] pp.
$450.00
First edition: Pieter Burmann the younger’s edition of Propertius, based primarily on Brouckhusius’s text and — after Burmann’s death — edited and completed by Laurentius Santen with commentary on the final elegy. Graesse points out some flaws in the text and exposition, but says that “les notes de Burmann sont de nouvelles preuves de son érudition,” and Dibdin agrees that the commentary is “a treasure of critical and philological learning.”
Binding/Provenance: Prize binding of contemporary vellum, covers framed and panelled in gilt rolls with gilt-stamped corner fleurons and gilt central vignette with the crest of the city of Amsterdam, spine with gilt-ruled raised bands and gilt-stamped decorations in compartments. The partially printed, partially inscribed, bound-in prize certificate reads “Ingenuo magnaeque spei adolescenti, Henrico Gerteler propter insignes in artibus humanioribus progessus, in classe tertia . . . Quod testor R. v. Ommeren [/] Gymnasii publici Amstelaedamensis Rector,” dated 1791.
Brunet, IV, 905; Dibdin, I, 385–86; Graesse, V, 460; Sandys, II, 455; Schweiger, II, 831. Binding as above, vellum slightly darkened, lacking ties; spine with gilt dimmed and traces of a now-absent label and inked call number at foot of spine. Lower edges with institutional rubber-stamp; title-page with shadow of a pencilled numeral. Front free endpaper with paper adhesions from a now-absent bookplate; back pastedown with rubber-stamp and small adhesion. Pages clean save for offsetting to upper margins of a few, from a laid-in slip. (20594)

“A Faint Heart Never Won a Fair Lady”
Proverbs of Little Solomon. Containing entertaining stories... Edinburgh: Published by Oliver & Boyd, Netherbow, [1808–09]. 48mo (10.3 cm, 4"). [32] pp. (including wrappers); illus.
$475.00
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The continuation of the subtitle is “from the following wise sayings: 'A faint heart never won a fair lady.' 'Safe bind, safe find.' 'Brag is a good dog, but Holdfast is a better.' 'A burnt child dreads the fire.' 'A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.' [and] 'Naught is never in danger.' Each of these 16th- and 17th-century proverbs (i.e., “wise sayings') is the basis for a short story.
This threepenny chapbook is illustrated with wood engravings in the Bewick manner; the illustrations include a frontispiece, title-page vignette, and six wood engravings, three of which are signed “Lee.” Although the work is undated, the Scottish Book Trade Index in the National Library of Scotland shows that Oliver & Boyd's years of activity at Netherbow address were 1808 through 1809. (Pages 1 & 32 are blank and are pasted to the inside of the wrappers.)
Provenance: From the children's book collection of Albert A. Howard, sans indicia.
WorldCat locates only seven North American libraries reporting ownership (CalBerkeley, UCLA, UFlorida, Wayne State, Princeton, Connecticut College, Toronto Public Library).
Osborne Collection, p. 291. Mauve-colored printed wrappers with only a faint touch of soiling; else very good and clean. (38904)
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Early Christian Poet Bodoni Printing
Prudentius Clemens, Aurelius. Aurelii prudentii Clementis V.C. Opera omnia nunc primum cum codd. Vaticanis collata praefatione, variantibus lectionibus, notis, ac rerum verborumque indice locupletissimo aucta et illustrata. Parmae: Ex Regio typographeo, 1788. 4to (31.5 cm, 12.5"). 2 vols. I: [12], 71, [1], 302, [2], [303]–61, [3] pp. II: [4], 215, [1], 219–84, [2] pp. (text complete despite pagination).
$750.00
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First edition of Prudentius from the Bodoni press. Prudentius (348 – ca. 410) was a Roman Christian poet born in Northern Spain, known for the asceticism he adopted late in life as well as for his lyric (Cathemerinon, Peristephanon), didactic (Apotheosis, Hamartigenia, Psychomachia), and polemical works (Contra Symmachum). The Psychomachia is particularly notable as one of the earliest Western examples of allegorical verse, exerting much influence on the subsequent medieval development of that genre.
This is a typically handsome Bodoni production with wide margins, an elegant type, and a different engraved vignette on each title-page; Dibdin calls it “one of the most beautiful editions of a classical author I ever beheld.”
Brooks, Compendiosa Bibliografia di Edizioni Bodoniane, 361; Brunet, IV, 916; Dibdin, II, 360–61; Graesse 467. On Prudentius, see: Catholic Encyclopedia online. Recent half vellum and paper–covered sides, vellum edges graced with gilt single fillet, spines with gilt-stamped leather title and volume labels and with gilt-stamped Greek key design; binding discolored and a little bubbled from proximity to fire. Edges untrimmed, signatures unopened; vol. I with surprisingly various old waterstaining, sometimes faint and sometimes not, in upper margins of first half and outer margins of last few leaves. Interior of both volumes otherwise clean, with no markings, save that the endpapers are smudged and those untrimmed edges, plus occasional small areas of margin contiguous, are darkly smokestained from that fire.
This is a book that has suffered, yet a production that is still as lovely as Dibdin said it was and a set well worth having. (25517)
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Prudentius, Bodoni, & TWO Oxford Friends — A Handsome Set
(Extra-Beloved Here for Its Surviving Bookseller's Label)
Prudentius Clemens, Aurelius. Aurelii Prudentii Clementis V.C. Opera omnia nunc primum cum codd. vaticanis collata praefatione, variantibus lectionibus, notis, ac rerum verborumque indice locupletissimo aucta et illustrata. Parmae: Ex Regio Typographeo, 1788. Large 4to (30.2 cm, 11.89"). 2 vols. I: [10], 71, [3], 361, [3] pp. II: [4], 284, [2] pp.
$800.00
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First edition of Prudentius from the Bodoni press. Aurelius Prudentius Clemens (348 – ca. 410) was a Roman Christian poet born in Northern Spain, known for the asceticism he adopted late in life as well as for his lyric (Cathemerinon, Peristephanon), didactic (Apotheosis, Hamartigenia, Psychomachia), and polemical works (Contra Symmachum). The Psychomachia is particularly notable as one of the earliest Western examples of allegorical verse, exerting much influence on the subsequent medieval development of that genre. Here, the texts were edited by Giuseppe Teoli, who signed the dedication as well as supplying the preface, footnotes, and indexes.
This is a typically handsome Bodoni production with wide margins, an elegant type, and a different engraved vignette on each title-page; Dibdin calls it “one of the most beautiful editions of a classical author I ever beheld.” 18th- and 19th-century critics tended to agree with him and with Eschenburg, who deemed this edition “splendid and valuable.”
Binding: Contemporary light brown morocco, covers with wide frames composed of multiple gilt rolls, spines of darker brown morocco with gilt-stamped leather title and volume labels; main label reading “Aurelii Opera.”
Board edges and turn-ins with gilt rolls and, in an unusual treatment, with the darker brown of the spine echoed in these areas as an accent. Endpapers of light blue moiré silk, all edges gilt.
Provenance: Front fly-leaf of vol. I with affectionate inked gift inscription from David Williams to John Griffiths (both academics of the University of Oxford, as referenced in the inscription), dated 1854. Front pastedowns each with 19th-century bookseller's small leather label (“the most Expert Bookfinder Extant”).
Brooks 361; Brunet, V, 916; De Lama, II, 52–53; Dibdin, II, 360–61; Graesse 467. Bindings as above, edges and extremities rubbed, spine labels with small repairs.
One of the most desirable editions of this important poet, here in an attractive copy with delightful provenance. (40137)
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On
Paintings in Rome & Italian Painters — CORRECTED
Prunetti, Michelangelo. Saggio pittorico ed analisi delle pitture più famose esistenti in Roma con il compendio delle vite de’più eccellenti pittori ec. ec. Edizione seconda corretta ed aggresciuta. Roma: Nella Stamperia Salvioni, si vende nella Libreria di Giambatista Petrucci, 1818. 12mo (20 cm, 7.9"). xii, 296 pp.
$500.00
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Uncommon second, corrected edition of a work originally printed in 1786, here in an uncut copy in the original wrappers. Prunetti, the author of several works on painting and art, offers his thoughts on the great paintings of Rome, the artistic techniques used in their creation, and how to judge them, along with brief lives of the most prominent Italian painters.
Original paper wrappers, spine with hand-lettered paper label. Early inked owner’s inscription on front free endpaper; one early inked shouldernote. Some pages with faint hint of foxing, most clean. A very good copy. (14402)

“Another Successful Step in the Exploration
of Inner Asia”
Przheval’skii (Prejevalsky), Nikolai Mikhailovich; E. Delmar Morgan, trans. From Kulja, across the Tian Shan to Lob-Nor. London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington, 1879. 8vo (22.8 cm, 9"). xii, 251, 32 pp.; 2 maps.
$900.00
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Nikolai Mikhailovich Przheval’skii (1839–88) was a Russian geographer and explorer. His expeditions
extensively contributed to Europe’s knowledge of Central Asia and advanced the study of the region’s geography, fauna, and flora, earning him the Founder’s Gold Medal from the Royal Geographical Society in 1879, as well as a breed of horse named in his honor.
In his second expedition to Central Asia (1876–77), documented here, Przheval’skii traveled through Kulja, today called Yining, to Lop Nur, although the ultimate goal of reaching Lhasa was not achieved due to an illness and worsening relations with China. For this
first English edition, English explorer Edward Delmar Morgan translated the account of the trek and Thomas Douglas Forsyth provided an introduction. The volume includes
two color folding maps; the larger shows Przheval’skii’s journey through South Asia in 1877 and the smaller one depicts the “comparison between Chinese and Prejevalsky’s geography from tracings by Baron Richthofen.”
Evidence of Readership: On the title-page, beside the author’s name, “London 5/11/88 — Telegram death of Col. Prejevalsky while on expedition to Thibet.” Occasionally, an inked or penciled mark or number in a margin.
Provenance: On verso of title-page, signature of M. Holzmann and (in a different hand) “C.J.M. 5944.” Most recently in the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.
NSTC 0618155. Publisher’s brown cloth with gilt lettering to spine and minimal black decoration; light rubbing with a bit of unobtrusive spotting, corners a little bumped and a sliver of loss to spine-head. Finger smudges to front free endpaper, three small tears along folds to largest folding map.
An interesting and important expedition; a copy complete with the colored maps. (37867)
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An Important COPY Owned by THREE Star Theologians
[Pseudo-Primasius]. ... In omnes D. Pauli epistolas commentarij. Lugduni: apud Seb. Gryphium, 1537. 8vo (18 cm, 7’’). [16], 653, [3] pp.
$1200.00
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The editio princeps of this important commentary on St. Paul’s epistles, attributed to Primasius of Hadrumetum by the editor Jean Gagney. It is now believed to be Cassiodorus’s revision of a commentary resulting from a compilation produced in the 5th century and revised by a Pelagian (probably Pelagius’s follower, Caelestius); Cassiodorus attributed it to Pope Gelasius and revised the Pelagian “errors” he spotted (Hovingh, 10).
This theory on authorship was definitively confirmed by an owner of this copy: Alexander Souter (1873–1949), professor at Aberdeen and the author of studies on early Latin commentaries on St. Paul’s epistles. For his theory, he relied on
the early 16th-century bibliographical note in this specific copy, which highlights the question and suggests two reasons why the work was not by Primasius, mentioning also the similar case of Pseudo-Jerome (Souter, 321).
Provenance: In his work, Souter called this copy “the Hort copy” as it was formerly in the library of F.J.A. Hort (1828–92), professor of divinity at Cambridge, who wrote a major edition of the Greek New Testament and commentaries on Romans and Ephesians. At the time Souter was writing, the copy was in the possession of Joseph Armitage Robinson (1858–1933), Dean of Wells, and the editor and commentator to St. Paul’s Epistle to the Ephesians.
The autographs of the theologians F.J.A. Hort, Joseph Armitage Robinson, and A[lexander] Souter all appear on the volume's fly-leaf, with that leaf's verso also bearing a contemporary bibliographic manuscript note in the same hand as three marginalia and a contemporary inscription (price?) on the front free endpaper verso. Most recently, in the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.
From the Gryphius press, this characteristically neat and attractive production bears different versions of the printer’s device on its title-page and last leaf verso.
Adams P2094; Baudrier, VIII, 107; Gütlingen, V, 411; Souter, Pelagius’s Expositions of Thirteen Epistles of St. Paul (1922); Hovingh, Opera Omnia Desiderii Erasmi (2012), vol. 7. Contemporary (French?) calf, stub from 15th-century manuscript (Psalms) used as spine lining, boards rubbed affecting blind-tooling; volume expertly rebacked plain-style, sans labels, with corners repaired. Title and last leaf verso a little dusty; text otherwise remarkably clean, with light age-toning, occasional very minor marginal spotting, and a small worm trail in gutter of final gatherings affecting a few letters. Title note visible as inked to darkened fore-edge, long ago.
Added to its other pleasing points, this is a wide-margined copy. (41341)
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The Psychedelic Venus Church — Berkeley, 1973
Psychedelic Venus Church, Berkeley, CA. Nelly Heathen. Berkeley, CA: Psychedelic Venus Church, 1973. Folio. 24 pp.
[SOLD]
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Apparently one-shot publication of a church devoted to neo-paganism with sexual orgies as a religious practice: cover photo depicts a couple in a sexual position on an altar. Line drawings represent both straight and gay couplings. The Psychedelic Venus Church was founded by Jefferson “F***” Poland. Includes material on the Maithuna Rite, Phallic worship, Yoga, Moon Magic, Sri Willie Minzey who was an initiate into the Hindu Shiva sect and was sentenced to 10 years in California prison on possession and distribution of marijuana; also history and bylaws of the Psyven Church. Editors and others associated with this publications include Rev. Mother Boats, Susan EliSabeth, John & Steve Gaylove, Cecily Burke, Bear, Rhyder McClure, et al.
Printed as a tabloid, on newsprint paper, folded; illustrations, photos, evenly toned, otherwise very good. (41126)
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A Night Out at the Club: Antiquaries, Gamesters, Lawyers, Newsmongers,
“Opiniators” et al.
Puckle, James; Samuel Weller Singer, ed.; John Thurston, illus. The club; or, a gray cap for a green head. A dialogue between a father and son. London: Chiswick Press (Pr. by C. Whittingham, for Charles Tilt and N. Hailes), 1834. 8vo (17 cm, 6.69"). Frontis., xvi, [4], 128, 24 (adv.) pp.
[SOLD]
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Elegantly printed Chiswick Press production of this popular “humorous little manual” (p. xi), offering “shrewd and instructive views of human conduct” (p. ix) — an alphabet of fools, knaves, and other types of immoral or unpleasant characters with one “wise” exception only. Thurston's 25 character vignettes, originally done in 1817, are expressive without tipping over into cartoonish; they appear here reprinted by Whittingham with the aid of the celebrated wood-engraver John Thompson, who supplied several additional pieces. This is
the first appearance of Singer's edition.
Provenance & Evidence of Readership: Title-page with pencilled ownership inscription of Roger Ingpen, 1924; front free endpaper with pencilled note reading “The notes at the end of this book are by my uncle John at whose sale I purchased this book. - R.I.” (Ingpen was an editor and literary critic best known for his Shelley in England; his uncle supplied occasional marginal
annotations on text pages and detailed pencilled notes on back free endpaper). Most recently in the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.
NSTC 2P28587. Publisher's textured dark blue cloth, covers blind-stamped with acanthus leaf frame, spine with gilt-stamped title; binding cocked, spine sunned, extremities lightly rubbed. All edges gilt. Front hinge (inside) open from head with sewing loosened and tender. Pages evenly age-toned with light spots of foxing to first and last few leaves, pencilled markings as above, otherwise clean. (41041)
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A Tranquil Soul Makes a Tranquil Life
Puget de la Serre, Jean. La vie heureuse, ou l'homme content; enseignant l'art de bien vivre. Paris: Paulus-du-Mesnil, 1740. 16mo (16.3 cm, 6.4"). [8], 249, [7] pp.
$225.00
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“Les plus belles Maximes de la Morale sont representées par divers Exemples Historiques, qui peuvent servir à conduire nos passions, à pratiquer la Vertu, & fuir les Vices”: reflections on morality, anecdotally illustrated. Puget de la Serre (1594–1665), librarian to Gaston, Duke of Orléans, was a prolific author and playwright. His Vie Heureuse, first published anonymously in 1658, enjoyed a fair amount of popularity in its day, going through a number of 17th- and 18th-century French editions as well as making an English appearance under the title Ethica Christiana: Or, the School of Wisdom. This 1740 printing seems to be the final 18th-century edition; it is nicely printed, with a number of head- and tailpieces.
Provenance: Title-page with early inked ownership inscription of a member of the von und zu Ratzenried family.
Barbier, IV, 1022 (for the 1701 ed.). Contemporary sheep, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label and gilt-framed compartments; binding moderately worn and scuffed, front cover with small area of worming. All edges stained red. Two pieces of dried plant matter laid in. Unobtrusive pencilled marks of emphasis in margins, pages otherwise clean. (40247)
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TWO Responses to
Anthony Collins
Pycroft, Samuel. A brief enquiry into free-thinking in matters of religion; and some pretended obstructions to it ... Cambridge: Pr. at the University Press for Edmund Jeffery & Jonah Bowyer, 1713. 8vo (19.8 cm, 7.75"). [2], 150, [2 (errata)] pp. (lacking half-title). [bound with] Addenbrooke, John. A short essay upon free-thinking. London: Jonah Bowyer, 1714. 8vo. [8], 16 pp.
$500.00
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First editions of these two responses to Anthony Collins's landmark treatise on freethought (and on either deism or atheism, depending on one's interpretation), the Discourse of Free-Thinking. Numerous attacks on the Discourse were published, including rebuttals by Richard Bentley, George Berkeley, and Jonathan Swift; the present two pieces are more obscure (the second was written by a
physician far better remembered today for his founding of a hospital for the poor than for his writings), but offer interesting perspectives on contemporary thought.
Provenance: The first work's title-page has “Ex dono Autoris” inscribed in the upper margin in an early hand.
Pycroft: ESTC T144698; Allibone 1712. Addenbrooke: ESTC T88427.
Recent marbled paper–covered boards, front cover with gilt-stamped leather title-label. Pycroft half-title lacking; title-page with annotation as above. Pages slightly age-toned, with light spotting to final leaves of Enquiry and throughout Essay. (20760)
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