72. ALBERTUS MAGNUS. Compendium theologicae
veritatis. Venice: Petrus de Quarengiis, 1500. 87 (of 88)
leaves (first leaf supplied in facsimile). Small 4to, full
contemporary vellum. Gothic letter, 47 lines to the page, double
columns. Unusual binding (old vellum--several sheets of an
illuminated manuscript pasted together to form stiff boards),
clasps lacking. Contemporary ink marginal notes throughout.
The most learned
scholar of the thirteenth century attempts to reconcile
Aristotelianism with Christian teaching. BMC V 515. Goff A242.
Hain-Copinger 445. Proctor 5490. ($500-1,000)
73. BEAUMONT, Francis & John Fletcher. Comedies
and Tragedies.... London: Printed for Humphrey Robinson, at
the Three Pigeons, and for Humphrey Moseley at the Princes Armes
in St. Pauls Church-yard, 1647. [52], 75, [1], 143, [1], 166,
[3], 71, [1] 172, 92, 50 [i.e. 52], 28, 25-48 pp., elaborate
engraved frontispiece portrait. Folio, full contemporary calf,
spine with raised bands (rebacked with original spine laid down,
new label). Upper corner of portrait darkened from old repair,
outer margins of first few leaves browned and slightly chipped
(no losses).
First collected edition, portrait in second state. Greg
III, p. 1013. Grolier English Hundred 28: "These two
dramatists, between whom 'there was a wonderfull consimility of
phancy,' and who shared everything in common, were inseparably
connected in their writings.... Nothing which throws light upon
the history of printing at this time is more interesting than the
Postscript added at the end of the commendatory verses by Waller,
Lovelace, Herrick, Ben Jonson and others, and immediately after a
poem by Moseley himself ending, 'If this Booke faile, 'tis time
to quite the Trade.'" Pforzheimer 53. Wing B-1581. An old
catalogue slip on front pastedown includes this quote: "I cannot
read Beaumont and Fletcher but in folio. The octavo editions are
painful to look at"—Charles Lamb. Hopefully someone out
there shares that sentiment today. ($1,500-3,000)
74. BERNARD, P. J. L'Art d'aimer et poesies
diverses. Paris: Didot jeune, An III [1795]. 207 pp., 7
copper-engraved plates. 8vo, contemporary mottled calf, spine
extra gilt, grapevine pattern in gilt on upper and lower covers,
inner gilt dentelles, red calf spine label, a.e.g. Light shelf
wear to the lovely binding, interior very fine.
A lovely illustrated
edition printed on papier vélin by Didot with
mildly erotic plates after designs by Eisen and Martini. This was
the first edition with these plates. See Blumenthal, Art of
the Printed Book, pp. 29-31. ($500-700)
75. BIBLE IN ALGONQUIAN. The First American
Bible. A Leaf....Edited by George Parker
Winship. Boston: D. B. Updike at The Merrymount Press for
Goodspeed and Co., 1929. 20 pp., with an original leaf from
John Eliot's Indian Bible printed in Massachusetts 1663-1661.
Square 12mo, original full linen gilt cloth. Minimal abrasion to
head and tail of spine, else a fine copy.
Limited edition
(157 copies). See Darlow & Moule 6737. Printing & the
Mind of Man 142n: "[The Eliot Indian Bible] was not only the
first Bible to be printed in the New World, but also the first
complete Bible to be printed in a new language as a means of
evangelization. As such it may be considered the forerunner of
all the missionary translations. This translation into the
Massachusetts dialect of the Algonkin family of languages, which
was spoken by a large tribe, now extinct, who lived in
Massachusetts in the seventeenth century, was the work of John
Eliot (1604-90), the 'Apostle to the Indians.'" ($800-1,600)
76. BIBLE IN ENGLISH. The Holy Bible....
Cambridge: John Baskerville, 1763. [573] leaves. Royal folio,
full contemporary diced calf, spine richly gilt with raised
bands. Binding moderately scuffed, stained, and with a few
abrasions and corners worn, hinges cracked but strong, occasional
light foxing, short tear and chip (approximately one-half inch
long) to outer blank margin of title.
First issue
(subscriber's list ending with Winwood) of Baskerville's grand
folio edition of the Bible, which has always been regarded as
Baskerville's magnum opus, and "his most magnificent as
well as his most characteristic specimen" (Reed, A History of
the Old English Letter Foundries, p. 279). Blumenthal, Art
of the Printed Book 26-27: "[Baskerville's] most ambitious
undertaking was the bible in royal folio, completed in 1763."
Gaskell, Baskerville 26 (referring to the New Testament
title): "A perfect page of fine printing." Herbert 1146.
Huntington Library, Great Books in Great Editions 6.
Rumball-Petre, Rare Bibles 145. ($1,500-3,000)
77. BIBLE IN ENGLISH (APOCRYPHA). [The Holy Bible....
London: Robert Barker, 1611]. Complete Apocrypha. 106 leaves,
black letter type, 59 lines to the page, ornate chapter headings
and initials. Folio, three-quarter crimson morocco by Sangorski
& Sutcliffe. Soil mark in upper blank margin of first leaf,
otherwise fine.
Extracted from the first edition, second issue of the King
James version ("she" reading in Ruth), with "Apocrypha" spelled
correctly on headline of Iiii6a. "The 1611 edition contained the
Apocrypha, but it later became customary to omit them" (Daiches).
See Herbert 319. Blumenthal, Art of the Printed Book
(Plate 66). Farmer, The Holy Bible at the University of
Texas 33n: "The text that was to remain the popular standard
for over three hundred years and exert such an enormous influence
on the English language and its literature. The translation is
the work of fifty-four men appointed by King James after
conference with the Anglican and the Puritan church.... Their
work has long been considered one of the great monuments of
English scholarship." Grolier English Hundred 16n.
Printing and the Mind of Man 114 (quoting G. M.
Trevelyan): "'For every Englishman who had read Sidney or
Spenser, or had seen Shakespeare acted at the Globe, there were
hundreds who had read or heard the Bible with close attention as
the words of God. The effect of the continual domestic study of
the book upon the national character, imagination and
intelligence for nearly three centuries to come, was greater than
that of any literary movement in our annals, or any religious
movement since the coming of St. Augustine.'" ($2,000-4,000)
78. BIBLE IN ENGLISH (NEW TESTAMENT). [The Newe
Testament of our Saviour Jesu Christe.... London: Richard
Jugge, 1552]. [333 (of 340)] leaves, 37 lines, text printed in
black letter, notes in italic, numerous woodcuts and initial
letters (hand-colored throughout in an early hand), initial
letters (some flourished). Imperfect (lacking 7 printed leaves:
title; dedication; three text leaves; one leaf from Colossians,
Chapter 3; last leaf of table at the end). Small 4to, early
blind-stamped paneled calf (rebacked, endpapers renewed).
Marginal restoration to calendar leaves, restoration to one leaf
with small portion of text in facsimile. Armorial bookplate
First illustrated
quarto edition of Tyndale’s version, printed by Jugge.
Herbert 99. Over a hundred woodcuts illustrate the text,
including one of the Devil with a wooden leg sowing tares.
($1,500-3,000)
79. BIBLE IN GREEK (NEW TESTAMENT). ...Novvm
Testamentvm... [title in Greek & Latin]. [Geneva]: Henri
Estienne, 1576. [24] 230 [2, blank] 167 leaves, printer's woodcut
device on title. 16mo, contemporary calf richly gilt, a.e.g.
(rebacked with new spine label). upper cover detached. Neat,
occasionally copious marginal annotations in a contemporary hand.
Darlow &
Moule 4639: "The first edition of the text as edited by H.
Stephanus. Dedicated to his friend, the eminent Englishman,
Philip Sidney.... Contains the editor's celebrated tract on the
style of the Greek Testament, which was often reprinted."
($400-600)
80. BIBLE IN HEBREW, CHALDEAN, GREEK & LATIN.
Biblia Hebræa, Chaldaea, Græca &
Latina.... Paris: Robert Estienne, 1538-40. [10] 268; 104;
90; 92 pp., large woodcut device of olive tree on each title,
fine large woodcuts in text, margins ruled in red. 4 parts in one
vol., large folio, full nineteenth-century morocco gilt, inner
gilt dentelles, a.e.g. (by Dupre). Title neatly restored and
voids at lower margin filled (loss of only line border which is
supplied in excellent facsimile), second leaf also restored and
several voids filled (loss of a few words), void at lower right
corner filled.
Stephanus' third folio edition, containing further revisions from
additional manuscript sources and the first printing of the
Prayer of Manasses. This text became the foundation for
the official Roman Vulgate. Blumenthal, Art of the Printed
Book, p. 16 (see Plate 50). Darlow & Moule 6117.
Printing and the Mind of Man 62n: "Robert's fame rests on
his activities as a typographer of Roman, Greek and Hebrew
characters, as an accomplished editor of Latin authors and Latin,
Greek and Hebrew Bibles, as a philologist and grammarian in these
languages as well as his native French, and, above all, as the
first scientific lexicographer of both ancient and modern
languages." Schreiber 59: "Robert Estienne’s only
illustrated Bible and the second of only five illustrated books
which he produced.... Robert Estienne’s Bible woodcuts were
widely copied in the 16th century." The attractive woodcuts were
developed from fourteenth- and early fifteenth-century diagrams
made by Nicolaus de Lyra and Paulus Burgensis. ($3,000-5,000)
81. BIBLE IN LATIN. Biblia Sacra.... Frankfurt:
Peter Schmidt, 1585. [7] 423 [1]; 311 [1] leaves, large printer's
device on title, repeated on colophon leaf, about 200 woodcuts by
Jobst Amman. Very thick 8vo, contemporary vellum. 1626 ownership
inscription on title, which has piece missing from margin, outer
margin of first leaf of text chipped with slight loss of
marginalia, preliminary margins trimmed close. Contemporary
manuscript annotations, underlining, and partial coloring of
woodcuts in the first dozen leaves. Front joint split, but cords
strong.
Becker,
Jobst Amman 25. British Museum (German STC), p. 87
(imperfect copy). Not in Darlow & Moule, and no copies in the
auction records. ($800-1,600)
82. BOCCACCIO, Giovanni. The Novels and Tales....
London: Printed for Awnsham Churchill, at the Black Swan at Amen
Corner, 1684. [16] 483 pp., engraved frontispiece portrait by R.
White after Titian. Small folio, contemporary panelled calf, new
spine label. Binding worn and abraded, interior fine except for a
occasional light staining.
"Fifth edition, much
Corrected and Amended." Wing B-3378. ($300-600)
83. BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER & PSALTER. Lot of two
vols., both in contemporary morocco gilt, a.e.g., very good to
fine: * BASKERVILLE PRESS. The Book of Common Prayer.
Cambridge, 1762. * Book of Common Prayer. Oxford:
University Printers, 1700. [With]: A New Version of the
Psalms.... London: T. Hodgkin, 1698. Red ruled margins.
The first work is
Baskerville's second Prayer Book (Gaskell, Baskerville
19). Inserted in the second work is a curious 24mo leaflet of
Prayers to be Used next after the Prayer in Time of War and
Tumult, on all Sundays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, during the
Present War (apparently printed during the reign of Queen
Anne). (2 vols.) ($250-500)
84. BOOK OF HOURS IN LATIN (probably use of Rome). Italy
(perhaps Venice, ca. 1450). Illuminated Manuscript on vellum, 180
leaves (5-1/8 x 3-1/2 inches) incomplete, lacking leaves in the
text and at the end. Collation: [1]/12, [2]/8, 3-6/10, 7/6, 8/10,
9/6, 10-12/10, 13/6, 14-15/10, 16/9, 17-18/10, 19/8, 20/5. Two
leaves fully illuminated with richly painted borders
incorporating foxes, rabbits, birds, bears, stags, and floral
designs, with at the foot of each a pair of naked children
(Gemini?). Each has an illuminated initial, one 9-line the other
8-line, the first being a death’s head within the initial R,
opening the Office of the Dead; the second being King David
within an initial D opening the Seven Penitential Psalms. There
are ten two- or three-line illuminated initials in the text. Text
written in black ink in a gothic liturgical hand, with passages
in red and initials throughout in red and blue, many decorated
with red or blue pen-and-ink tracery.
The first eight leaves
after the Calendar have pencil drawings overdrawn in blue or
black ink in the borders in the gothic style but probably
executed ca. 1860 and unfinished. These attempt to reproduce the
borders of an illuminated manuscript. Bound in full sixteenth-
century Italian calf, covers richly gilt with swirling floral
designs around a central stamp, the upper cover enclosing a
Madonna and child, the lower cover with a later calf onlay in the
central panel (possibly covering previous owner’s mark).
Rebacked, worn, manuscript loose in binding but holding. One leaf
in the text quite damaged around borders. Modern bookplate and
several dealers’ annotations. All the leaves are a little
worn and well-used, with some rubbing and flaking as usual.
Italian devotional prayer books are less commonly found
than their French or Northern European counterparts, and this is
a pleasant if sadly defective example. ($1,500-3,000)
85. BUNYAN, John. The Pilgrim's Progress from This
World to That Which Is To Come: Delivered under the Similitude of
a Dream.... London: Rivington et al., 1775. xl, 196
pp., portrait, large folding engraved map (A Complete View of
Christian's Travels from the City of Destruction to the Holy
Land, 20 engraved plates by J. Stuart. 8vo, contemporary
calf, rebacked preserving original spine and leather label.
Binding with a few abrasions, internally fine, plates and map
excellent.
This pleasing edition of this perennially
popular work is generally considered the most attractively
printed and illustrated of the many eighteenth-century editions.
Grolier English Hundred 34n. Printing and the Mind of
Man 156n: "The popularity of The Pilgrim's Progress
may be judged from its having been reprinted so early and so
often.... Universally known and loved." ($250-500)
86. CALDECOTT, Randolph. Complete set of Caldecott's
sixteen picture books. London: Routledge [ca. 1878-1884]. 4to,
original colored pictorial wrappers. Four volumes with covers
detached, one volume with a one inch chip to back wrap, a few
with corners creased, some fraying at edges, but overall a very
good to fine complete set.
These enduring
classics of children's literature are difficult to find in
collector's condition and with the full complement of titles to
make a complete set. Caldecott's art reflects a genuine love of
outdoor life and the English scene, with greater virility,
buoyancy, and more fluency of line than in the work of his
contemporaries Crane and Greenaway. The color-work is a wonderful
example of the consummate technical skill of Edmund Evans. Our
complete set consists of the following: * The Babes in the
Wood * Come Lasses and Lads * The Diverting History
of John Gilpin * An Elegy on the Glory of Her Sex *
The Farmer Boy * The Fox Jumps over the Parson's Gate
* A Frog He Would A-Wooing Go * The Great
Panjandrum Himself * Hey Diddle Diddle and Baby Bunting
* The House that Jack Built * The Mad Dog *
The Milkmaid * The Queen of Hearts * Ride a-Cock
Horse to Banbury Cross * Sing a Song of Sixpence *
The Three Jovial Huntsmen. Ray 250. ($1,200-2,400)
87. [CAXTON, William (printer)]. DUFF, E. Gordon.
William Caxton. Chicago: Caxton Club, 1905. [1, colophon]
118 [1] pp., with original leaf printed by England's first
printer. Small folio, original three-quarter terracotta levant
morocco over tan cloth. Fine.
Limited edition
(148 copies with a leaf from the Ashburnham copy of Caxton's
printing of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, Westminster, 1478,
black letter, 29 lines, one initial rubricated. DeRicci 22.
Proctor 9626.) ($2,500-3,500)
88. [CHESS]. The Pocket Chess-Board, Being a Chess
and Checker-Board Provided with a Complete Set of Men, Adapted
for Playing Games in Rail-Cars and for Folding up without
Disturbing the Game. New York: Appleton, 1858. Chess board
mounted on original folding cloth covers, all but two of the
diminutive red and blue printed chess pieces present. Original
cloth pocket folder with printed label on upper cover. Fine
condition, colors vivid.
Scarce, unusual, and
entertaining. ($300-600)
89. CLARK, Samuel. The Laws of Chance.... London:
T. Payne, 1758. [4] 204 pp. 8vo, contemporary leather, original
label. Covers worn and detached, small piece cut from upper
margin of title. Armorial bookplate.
First edition.
Honeyman Sale 703. The eighteenth century saw a continuing and
heightened interest in mathematical games and puzzles, as
attested by this uncommon and unusual imprint. ($400-800)
90. CURTIUS RUFUS, Quintus. De rebus gestis Alexandri
Regis Maecedonum. [Venice: Aldus, 1520]. [7] 170 [2] leaves,
both colophon leaves with anchor device (lacking one preliminary
leaf--*8). 8vo, full eighteenth-century green morocco gilt. Spine
faded, title leaf trimmed with faded coat-of-arms in margin.
First state of
title with missing R in "Curtius" stamped in. Adams C-3120. Isaac
12898. Renouard, pp. 88-89. ($400-600)
91. CURTIUS RUFUS, Quintus. De rebus gestis Alexandri
Magni.... Paris: Frederick Leonard, 1678. [34] 417 [1] [133,
index] pp., elaborate engraved half-title of Alexander the Great,
woodcut device on title, head and tail-pieces, initials. 4to,
contemporary vellum over boards. Upper joint cracked, binding
discolored and warped, hinges cracked, half-title trimmed only
slightly affecting engraving.
Adams C3118.
($400-800)
92. DIBDIN, Thomas Frognall. The Bibliographical
Decameron: Or, Ten Days Pleasant Discourse upon Illuminated
Manuscripts and Subjects connected with Early Engraving,
Typography, and Bibliography. London: Printed for the Author
by William Bulmer at the Shakespeare Press, 1817. [10] vi [2]
ccxxv [1] 410 4 [2] + [4] 535 [3] + [4] 544 [4] pp. (printed on
Didot machine-made paper), 42 plates, portraits, facsimiles (2
folding, some in mounted India proof state), text illustrations
(including an actual sample of gilt-lettered red morocco). 3
vols., 8vo, contemporary olive straight-grain morocco gilt, spine
with raised bands, red endpapers, a.e.g. (attributed to Charles
Lewis). Joints rubbed and some shelf wear, inserted plates foxed,
mainly at margins, with offsetting, some occasional foxing to
text, outer margin of portrait of Dibdin has one letter cropped
("b" from "by Henry Eldridge"). Handsome set with armorial
bookplates of T. B. Barclay.
First edition.
Lowndes 78. Besides the incredible depth and interest of the
bibliographical material that is presented, this set is a little
tour de force of book illustration, with woodcuts by
Byfield, Hughes, and others, and copper-engraved plates by G.
Lewis, Freeman, and et al. If you are "suffering" from
bibliomania, consider acquiring this set in order to heighten the
pleasure of that most refined of diseases. ($1,000-2,000)
93. DIODORUS SICULUS. [Bibliotheca historica...libri
sex]. [Paris]: Jean Petit, [ca. 1510]. cxxiii [i.e., cxxiv
(cxvi repeated)] [6] leaves, printer's large woodcut device on
first leaf. 8vo, contemporary vellum. Two chips from spine
(square inch and another 1 x 1/2 inch), stain on first 3
leaves.
Early
edition of Poggio Bracciolini’s Latin translation. This
edition not in BMC or Brunet, but Harvard has two similar
versions, the variation in the present copy being the printer's
location, which is "sub Leone Argenteo" rather than "sub signo
Lilii Aurei" or "sub signo Ensis." ($300-600)
94. [DODGSON, Charles]. Alice's Adventures in
Wonderland. London: Macmillan, 1866. [With]: Through the
Looking Glass, and What Alice Found There. London: Macmillan,
1872 [1871]. [11]-192 p. + [12] 224 [2, ads] [1] pp., illustrated
by John Tenniel. 2 vols., 8vo, original red gilt pictorial cloth.
The first work has been rebacked with original spine preserved,
repair to extreme inner margin of title, cover wear, soiling, a
few stains to text, a few leaves foxed; second work has lightly
soiled covers, cloth spine somewhat wrinkled, hinges partly
cracked, early ownership inscription ("Xmas 71") on front fly.
Both vols. preserved in chemises and slipcase.
Second (first
published) edition of the first title; First edition,
first issue of the second title. Printing & the Mind of
Man 354: "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its
hardly less famous sequel Through the Looking Glass
(1872), although ostensibly written for children...are unique
among 'juveniles' in appealing equally if not more strongly to
adults." ($2,000-4,000)
95. DOVES PRESS. SHAKESPEARE, William. Venus and
Adonis. [(Colophon): Hammersmith: Doves Press, 1902]. [4]
[7]-57 [1] pp. Small 4to, full limp vellum. Vellum slightly
warped, else a fine copy.
Limited edition
(200 copies). ($400-600)
96. DOVES PRESS. MILTON, John. Areopagitica.
[(Colophon): Hammersmith: Doves Press, 1907]. [2] [7]-73 [1] pp.
Small 4to, full limp vellum. Near fine copy.
Limited edition
(300 copies). "Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to
argue freely according to conscience, above all liberties."
($300-500)
97. [EROTICA]. Three French engravings, no artist or engraver identified. Eighteenth century? Each approximately 4 x 2-3/4 inches. Must be seen. ($400-600)
98. FRANCE. La Constitution Françoise.
Paris: Didot for Belin, 1791. 164 [16] pp. 32mo, contemporary
French crimson gilt morocco, pale blue silken endpapers, a.e.g.
Engraved allegorical frontispiece and one other plate by Dorgez.
Spine faded, front joint worn, light foxing throughout.
The last gasp of the
moderate Revolution. By this constitution the King and the French
Assembly were to share executive powers. OCLC reports 3 copies.
($1,000-2,000)
99. GLANVILL, Joseph. Saducismus Triumphatus: Or Full
and Plain Evidence Concerning Witches and Apparitions....
London: Printed for A. L., 1700. [6] 31 [1, ad]; [12] 53 [1, ad];
[2] 48; [6] 53 [1]; [12] 175 [1]; [2] 39 [1]; [2] 39 [1]; [12] 16
pp., engraved compartmental title and frontispiece by W.
Faithorne. 8 parts in one, 8vo, contemporary panelled calf
(rebacked, most of original spine preserved). Corners worn, stain
affecting lower corner of text throughout. Armorial
bookplate.
Third
edition with additions. Wing G-826 (2nd edition).
Glanvill (1636-1680), an English self-styled Skeptic and
apologist for the Royal Society, defended the reality of
witchcraft and ghosts and the preexistence of the soul.
Therefore, according to some, he initiated psychical research.
($300-500)
100. HARRIS, Joel Chandler. Uncle Remus: His Songs
and His Sayings. New York: Appleton, 1881. 231 [1, blank] [9,
ads] pp., engraved plates, text illustrations. 12mo, original
gilt-decorated brown cloth. Two small spots on binding, otherwise
unusually fine and bright. Pencil inscription dated 1881 on front
blank. Despite the two minor blemishes on the spine, this is a
wonderful copy, much better than usually found.
First edition,
first printing ("presumptive" in last line on p. 9). BAL
7100. Grolier American Hundred 83: "The instant success of
this first Uncle Remus book caused the greatest flood of dialect
literature the country had ever known." ($750-1,500)
101. HAWTHORNE, Nathaniel. Twice-Told Tales.
Boston: American Stationers, 1837. [5]-334 pp. (first two ad
leaves and publisher's terminal catalogue not present). 12mo,
contemporary half roan over marbled boards. Covers worn, text
with mild to moderate foxing. Ink ownership signatures of Charles
L. Swasey of Wakefield, New Hampshire, on end leaf and title
(latter dated 1841). Front joint starting to crack.
First edition,
with error in table of contents (78 for 76 in fifth entry) as
noted by BAL 7581. Grolier American Hundred 44. [With]: *
HAWTHORNE, Nathaniel. The House of Seven Gables. Boston,
1851. 8vo, original brown cloth. Extremities chipped and shelf
slanted. First edition, ads dated March 1851. BAL 7604. *
LONGFELLOW, Henry Wadsworth. The Song of Hiawatha. Boston,
1855. 8vo, original brown cloth. Extremities lightly chipped,
slightly shelf slanted. First edition (ads dated November
1855, first printing points noted by BAL 12111). Grolier
American Hundred 66. * LONGFELLOW, Henry Wadsworth.
Evangeline, a Tale of Acadie. Boston, 1847. 12mo, full
dark blue levant morocco, spine with raised bands, inner gilt
dentelles, a.e.g. First edition, "Lo" issue. BAL 12089. *
Plus one other. (5 vols.) ($500-1,000)
102. HIERONYMUS [St. Jerome]. [Vitae patrum].
Venice: Octavianus Scotus, 14 Feb. 1483. 252 leaves (including
initial blank and register), gothic type printed in double
columns, 47 lines to the page, initials painted in red and blue.
4to, nineteenth-century three-quarter hard-grain brown morocco,
red edges. Early manuscript ink annotations on front blank and in
a few margins. Armorial bookplate.
A pleasant marriage of
strongly printed text harking back to earlier manuscript writing
and with rubricated initials in red and blue. Biography, as it
was habitually written in antiquity, could be readily adapted to
Christian purposes. St. Jerome modeled himself on Suetonius in
compiling the lives of 135 Christian writers (written in 392) as
a way of demonstrating the high level of culture attained by his
co-religionists. St. Jerome is best known for his Latin
translation of the Bible (the Vulgate version) and is
traditionally regarded as the most learned of the Latin Fathers.
Goff H-206. Hain 8599. ($1,000-1,500)
103. KELMSCOTT PRESS. RUSKIN, John. The Nature of
Gothic: A Chapter of the Stones of Venice. [Hammersmith:
Printed by William Morris, 1892]. [1] iv [1] 127 [1] pp., ornate
borders, initials, text illustrations. 8vo, original vellum (one
tie remaining). Very good copy, minor soiling to binding.
Limited edition
(500 copies printed on paper). Blumenthal, Art of the
Printed Book, pp. 34-36. With three other Morris-related
items, original bindings, very good to fine: * MORRIS, William.
Architecture and History at Westminster Abbey. 1900.
Chiswick reprint. * MORRIS, William. A Dream of John Ball.
1898. * MORRIS, William. Gothic Architecture: A Lecture
for the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society. 1893. Printed in
Golden Type in black & red on Kelmscott paper. The first 16mo
printed at the Press using the four-line initials for the first
time. (4 vols.) ($300-600)
104. KORAN. The Koran, Commonly called the Alcoran of
Mohammed, Translated into English...by George Sale. London:
C. Ackers for J. Wilcox, 1734. [5] ix [3] 187 [1] 1-508 [15] pp.,
folding engraved map, 4 engraved plates (3 folding). 4to,
contemporary panelled calf. Upper cover detached.
First edition
of Sale's classic translation, the first edition in English
to be translated directly from the original Arabic.
($400-800)
105. LA CHAUSSE, Michel Ange de. Romanum museum sive
Thesaurus eruditæ antiquitatis.... Rome: Joannis Jacobi
Komarek Boëmi, 1690. [xvi] 127 [xvi, index] pp., engraved
title, 160 copper-engraved plates of ancient Roman art and
artifacts (the last six are extremely curious phallic emblems).
Folio, contemporary calf, spine extra gilt with raised bands, red
leather label, sprinkled edges. Binding lightly shelf worn and
with a few minor stains. Head of spine chipped, lower extremity
mended, joints cracked (but very strong). Interior fine and
crisp, the plates excellent. Armorial bookplate dated 1735. A
very pleasing copy overall of this rare art history book.
First edition.
Brunet I, 1692. Later editions appear at auction occasionally,
but this first edition is uncommon in commerce. ($750-1,500)
106. LEIGH, Gerard. The Accedence of Armorie.
[London: Ballard, 1597]. [7] 135 [2] leaves, pictorial
woodcut title, woodcut illustration at end, numerous woodcuts of
heraldic shields in text (many with early coloring, some with
gold and silver). Small 4to, early nineteenth-century gilt-ruled,
red calf label. Engraved armorial book plate of R. Mitford. Title
slightly soiled, title, final leaf and an occasional text leaf
neatly mended.
There were earlier editions printed by Richard Tottle in 1562,
1576, and 1591. Moule, Bibliotheca heraldica, pp. 17-18.
STC 15392. ($400-800)
107. LIPSIUS, Justus. Diva virgo Hallensis....
Antwerp: Plantin, 1605. [8] 86 [9] pp., engraving on title, 2
engraved plates (Holy Virgin of Halle and attacks on the town of
Halle), woodcut of printer's device at end, woodcut initials.
Small 4to, contemporary vellum, lower edges with marca de fuego.
Binding with some edgewear and small snag to back cover, text
with uniform age-toning.
This book was printed
by Jan Moretus, son-in-law and successor to Christopher Plantin,
who carried on the Plantin-Moretus typographic dynasty after
Plantin's death. Blumenthal, Art of the Printed Book, pp.
18-19. ($300-600)
108. LUTHER, Martin. Special and Chosen
Sermons...Collected ovt of His Writings and Preachings for
the Necessary Instruction and Edification of Such as Hunger and
Seeke after the Perfect Knowledge and Inestimable Glorie Which is
in Christ Iesu, to the Comfort and Saluation of Their Soules.
Englished by W. G[ace].... London: Thomas Voutroullier
[sic] dwelling in the Blacke Friers by Ludgate, 1581.
[16] 479 pp., text printed in black letter, notes in Roman,
woodcut device on title, woodcut ornamentation at end. 8vo, full
nineteenth-century French morocco, spine with raised bands,
a.e.g. Front joint starting, text age-toned and lightly stained,
a few neat old repairs, occasional ink marginalia. It has been
over fifteen years since a copy of this book has been at
auction.
Second
edition of the first collection of The Great Reformer's sermons
in English (first edition, London, 1578, also edited by Gace).
McKerrow 179a. STC 16994. In the precincts of the Blackfriars,
Thomas Vautrollier, a foreigner, was printing on or before 1570.
In 1580, on the invitation of the General Assembly, Vautrollier
visited Scotland, taking with him a stock of books but no press.
In 1584 he again went north and set up a press at Edinburgh,
while continuing his business in London. Vautrollier ranks high
among his contemporaries for the excellence of his presswork and
the beauty and variety of his types. ($400-800)
109. MALORY, Thomas. Le Morte d’Arthur [half
title]; The Birth Life and Acts of King Arthur of His Noble
Knights of the Round Table....[title]. New York:
Dutton, 1927. lvi, 538 pp., plates, chapter headings, illuminated
letters, and a profusion of illustration and ornamentation by
Aubrey Beardsley. 4to, original royal purple cloth richly gilt
(binding designed by Beardsley). Spine tips a trifle frayed,
cloth with clean split at upper joint, otherwise an unusually
fine and bright copy of a lovely classic of book
illustration.
"Third edition" (American edition from British sheets).
Grolier English Hundred 3n (citing Caxton's 1485
edition—if you are not content to wait for the original
Caxton edition--and it might be a very long wait--this
edition has the same text "now spelled in modern style" and is
likely to be more cost effective, plus the illustrations are
divine). [With]: * JONSON, Ben. Volpone: or, the Fox.
London: Leonard Smithers, 1898. Illustrated by Beardsley.
4to, original gilt-decorated blue cloth. (2 vols.) ($300-500)
110. MILTON. Paradise Regain'd, a Poem in IV Books.
To Which is Added Samson Agonistes. London: J. M[acock] for
John Starkey at the Mitre in Fleetstreet, near Temple-Bar, 1671.
[4] 111 [1]; 101 [2] pp. 8vo, full nineteenth-century sprinkled
calf, gilt extra-gilt with raised bands, red calf leather labels,
a.e.g. (by W. Pratt). Joints chafed, spine abraded and nicked at
extremities. Trimmed close, barely touching the tip of a few page
numbers. Very mild dust-soiling to a few leaves.
First edition,
first issue (with license and errata leaves) of one of the
most eloquent statements ever penned on the human possibility of
recovering a "paradise within." Hayward 73. Wing M-2152.
($1,500-3,000)
111. MIZAULD, Antonio. Ephemerides aeris perpetvae:
sev popularis et rustica tempestatum astrologia, vbique terrarum
et vera et certa. Paris: Jacob Kerver, 1554. 175 leaves,
italic type, woodcut initials and headpieces. Petite 8vo,
original vellum. Two old splits at spine extremities repaired at
an early date. A few ink notes in an early hand.
Pocket-sized treatise
on Renaissance astronomy, astrology, and weather forecasting.
Brunet III:1779. ($250-500)
112. MOIVRE, Abraham de. Annuities upon Lives; or,
the Valuation of Annuities upon any Number of Lives....
London: W. P. for Francis Fayram, et al., 1725. [2] 4,
viii, 108 [2] pp., printed errata slip at end. 8vo, full
contemporary calf, gilt spine with raised bands. Old paper label
with ink title on upper cover, which is detached. Binding dry,
chafed and abraded. Occasional light dust-soiling. Early ink
ownership inscription. This one is special and rare and should be
gently restored.
First edition of one of the earliest printed works on
demographic statistics. The author was a pioneer in probability
theory and trigonometry. He devised what is known as De Moivre's
Theorem, a trigonometric formula for obtaining powers and roots
of complex numbers. Kress 3595. G-M (Norman 1690). The Haskell
Norman copy brought $5,500 last year at Christie's New York.
($2,000-4,000)
113. OLDISWORTH, William (translator).
Callipædia, or the Art of Getting Pretty Children. In
Four Books, with Cuts. Translated from the Original Latin of
Claudius Quilletus.... London: Lintot at the Cross Keys
between the Temple-Gates in Fleet Street, 1719. [14] 85 [5] pp.,
5 engraved plates by Gribelin, ornamental head- and tail-pieces,
decorated initials. Small 12mo, contemporary panelled calf, spine
with raised bands and red morocco spine label. Joints cracked,
extremities chipped, spine missing two-inch section at center.
Bookplate. This copy has some interesting corrections in ink on a
contemporary hand and at least one pasteover altering the
text.
"Second
edition, Corrected." This work was first published in Latin in
1655 by French poet Claude Quillet (1602-1661). The first edition
of Oldisworth's English translation appeared in 1710 (same
publisher as present). The poem has been reprinted repeatedly
since its first appearance, even as recently as a 1963 edition
published in Los Angeles. The present edition is a little gem
with its charming engravings of cherubic children and gorgeous
bare-breasted female allegorical figures ("Imagination,"
"Education and Virtue," "Variety of Beauty," and "Marriage &
Astrology"). The subject of the four books are: "Variety of
Beauty, and of the Choice of a Wife," "Marriage and Enjoyment
with Laws and Rules Relating to Both from Astrology," "Conception
and Imagination," and "Beauty of the Mind, of Education and
Virtue, and of the Variety of Climes, Customs and Manners."
($600-1,200)
114. PLUTARCH. Virorum illustrium
vitæ...in latinum versa. Venice: Nicolaus
Jenson, 2 January 1478. [233 of (234)] leaves (with blank leaf b7
and register at end, but lacking initial blank a1), Jenson roman
type, 50 lines to the page, unrubricated. Vol. 1 only (of 2),
large, thick folio, original full vellum over pasteboards. Joints
splitting, vellum somewhat stained and worn, mild marginal
staining on ten leaves affecting the text on two, single marginal
wormhole through first third of text (not touching any text),
occasional neat contemporary manuscript annotations in ink.
Leaves numbered in ink at top right margin in an early hand.
Interior clean and crisp, with very generous margins (14-1/2
inches [36.6 cm] tall).
Volume One of
Plutarch's Lives (cf. Printing and the Mind of Man
48). This book is a monument of Renaissance printing arts,
created by a true pioneer of typography, Nicholaus Jenson (ca.
1420, Somevoire, Champagne-1480, Rome), who perfected the roman
type face so nobly exhibited in the present volume. Following an
apprenticeship as a cutter of dies for coinage, Jenson
subsequently became master of the Royal Mint at Tours. In 1458,
perhaps at the instigation of French King Charles VII to bring
back intelligence of the new art of printing for France, Jenson
went to Mainz to study printing under Johann Gutenberg. By 1470
Jenson opened his own printing establishment in Venice, "where he
became a printer and publisher of superb books, from 1470 to
1480, in roman, gothic, and greek types of the greatest
distinction.... His type has great clarity and liveliness, and at
the same time an element of divine repose. The Jenson types are
part of the same Renaissance glory that gave the world the
supremely beautiful written letters of the humanistic scribes"
(Blumenthal, Art of the Printed Book, pp. 9-10). BMC V,
178. Goff P-832. Hain-Copinger 13127. Proctor 4113. The last
complete copy of this work at auction brought $36,240
(Christie's, April 3, 1996, Abrams copy, 2 vols., bound in
contemporary blind-tooled Italian goatskin over wooden boards).
($3,000-5,000)
115. PORPHYRIUS, Publius Optatianus. De abstinentia
ab esu animalium, libri quatuor.... [(Colophon): Venice:
Joannes Gryphium, 1547]. [6] 100 leaves, decorated initials.
Small 4to, contemporary vellum over paste boards. Boards slightly
scuffed and stained, blank lower margins damaged from old
waterstaining (no loss of text). Early ink ownership inscription
on title.
Early
work on vegetarianism by Porphyry (ca. 234-ca. 305). BMC
(Italian), p. 535. This edition not in Brunet. Printed by John
Gryphius, of the noted sixteenth-century printers. The italic
used in the present work is similar to Aldus' italic, and the
roman is reminiscent of Jenson. ($400-800)
116. PRISCIAN. Prisciani Grammatici Caesarienis libri
omnes.... [Works]. [(Colophon): Venice: Aldus, 1527]. [14]
299 [3] leaves, anchor device on title and verso of last leaf.
8vo, eighteenth-century polished calf extra gilt, covers stamped
with gilt arms of Marco Foscarini, Doge of Venice (1696-1763),
spine gilt with raised bands, sprinkled edges. Binding rubbed and
chipped at extremities. Title stained and repaired.
Aldine edition of
Priscian (fl. A.D. 500), the grammarian from Caesarea, the best
known of all the Latin grammarians. Priscian profoundly
influenced the teaching of Latin and grammar generally in Europe.
Adams P-2113. Renouard, p. 103 (4to).
($800-1,200)
117. RAULIN, Jean. Opus sermonum de adventu.
Paris: Jean de Marnef, 1519. 271 leaves, title printed in red
and black, double column, printer's woodcut device on title (pale
green contemporary coloring), black letter, 45 lines to the page,
woodcut initial letters. Small 8vo, early blind-tooled calf,
later leather spine label. Spinal extremities chipped, front
joint split. Ink notations on title, underlining in red. The
present copy has one more leaf than designated by the
Bibliothèque Nationale, yet the signatures appear to
indicate that the final blank is lacking in the present copy
(needs more research).
Rare and curious
Parisian imprint by an influential Renaissance writer. The only
other copy we trace is in the Bibliothèque Nationale..
($400-800)
118. SCOT, Reginald. Discovery of Witchcraft: Proving
the Common Opinions of Witches Contracting with Divels, Spirits,
or Familiars; and their Power to Kill, Torment, and Consume the
Bodies of Men, Women, and Children...the Lewde Unchristian
Practices of Witchmongers, upon Aged, Melancholy, Ignorant, and
Superstious [sic] People...the Knavery and Confederacy of
Conjurors, the Impious Blasphemy of Inchanters, the Imposture of
Soothsayers, and Infidelity of Atheists, the Delusion of
Pythonists, Figure-Casters, Astrologers, and Vanity of Dreamers,
the Fruitlesse Beggerly Art of Alchimistry, the Horrible Art of
Poisoning and all the Tricks and Conveyances of Juggling and
Liegerdemain are Fully Deciphered..... London: Richard Cotes,
1651. [26] 401 [17] pp., title within typographical border, text
illustrations and table of planets, text ornamentation, and
decorated initial letters. Small 4to, contemporary mottled calf,
spine with raised bands and remains of spine label. Binding
defective (covers detached and spine split, but restorable). A
few sidenotes trimmed close or shaved with slight loss,
occasional leaves frayed at outer edges, clean tear in one leaf,
some early manuscript annotations in ink and ownership
inscriptions. Engraved armorial bookplate.
Second edition (first
edition, London, 1584) of an early important work on psychiatry.
G-M (Norman) 4917: "Scot [?1538-1599] identified as mentally ill
a large group of people who had hitherto been considered to be
involved in witchcraft." Wing S-943. The Haskell Norman copy
fetched $3,500 (Christie's, New York, June 16, 1998).
($1,500-3,000)
119. SCOTTISH CHAPBOOKS. Collection of 28 Scottish
chapbooks, various places, mostly 1825-1829 or undated (but from
the period). Many with typographical ornamentation or quaint
woodcuts. 12mo, late nineteenth-century three-quarter maroon roan
over purple cloth. Joints chafed, head of spine worn, imprints
within very good to very fine.
A delightful
collection of popular humor and literature. One of the chapbooks,
with a Paisley imprint, is by Alexander Wilson, the father of
American ornithology. ($400-800)
120. TARKINGTON, Booth. The Gentleman from Indiana.
New York, 1899. vii [2] 384 pp. 8vo, original green cloth
decorated in red and beige, top edges green. Fine. Autographed by
author and with his ALs tipped in. Chemised in dark green cloth
box.
First edition, first issue (p. 245, line 12 ending in
"eye," line 16 "so pretty") of author's first published
book. Johnson, High Spots of American Literature, p. 71:
"Politics and love in a growing mid-west town of the pre-Babbitt
era when moonlight still created glamour." ($300-600)
121. VIRGIL. Bucolica, Georgica, et Aeneis.
Birmingham: Baskerville, 1757. [10] 432 pp., printed on smooth
wove vélin paper. 4to, eighteenth-century full olive green
morocco with remarkably detailed decorative gilt tooling,
emphasizing stars, crescent moons, hearts, roses and fleurs de
lys, spine extra gilt with raised bands, red calf label, pale
green silken endpapers, inner gilt dentelles, a.e.g. (by Roger
Payne, England's most renowned eighteenth-century bookbinder).
Binding slightly rubbed, otherwise fine, with the four-page list
of subscribers.
First Baskerville edition ("J" in printer's name positioned
between "B" and "I" in Birmingham, and "B" in Baskerville
slightly damaged). Gaskell, Baskerville 1. The very first
book from the Baskerville Press, in a most desirable binding.
($1,500-3,000)
122. WACE, Master. Chronicle of the Norman Conquest
from the Roman de Rou. London: [Charles Whittingham, Chiswick
Press for] Pickering, 1837. xxix [2] 314 pp., numerous
hand-colored plates, text illustrations, and vignettes,
double-page map of Normandy. 8vo, full straight-grain scarlet
morocco gilt, spine extra gilt with raised bands, a.e.g. (by
Charles Lewis). Some soiling and light wear to covers, otherwise
very fine, the plates and coloring fresh. Preserved in a red
cloth slipcase.
First edition, limited edition (#9 of 12 copies on
large paper, with limitation statement and signature of
Pickering). The illustrations consist of hand-colored
reproductions from the Bayeux Tapestry and the illuminations from
the Cambridge manuscript "Estoire de Seint Ædward le Rei."
Translated and with notes by Edgar Taylor, Esq. See Blumenthal,
Art of the Printed Book, pp. 33-34. ($400-800)