Marmontel, Jean François. Bélisaire. Paris: Chez Merlin, 1767. 8vo (19.9 cm, 7.8"). [4], x, 340, [6] pp.; 4 plts. $900.00
Click the images for enlargements.
First edition, early state, featuring the frontispiece and three copper-engraved plates designed by Gravelot. Quickly translated into numerous languages following its initial publication, Marmontel's controversial philosophical novel was written in great part in the hope that its retelling of the story of Gen. Flavius Beisarius of the Byzantine Empire would convince Louis XV to become, himself, the longed-for Philosopher-King. Chapter 15, however, in which Marmontel advocates freedom of opinion and religious tolerance, inspired extensive commentary by Voltaire and others and brought on condemnation by both the Sorbonne and the Archbishop of Paris — though it may ultimately have helped the Huguenot cause.
Merlin also printed a duodecimo edition in 1767; in the present edition, “Fragmens de philosophie morale” is found on pp. 273–340, followed by the Addition and Approbation.
Provenance: Front pastedown with gilt-stamped armorial bookplate of notable 19th-century book collector Edward Hailstone, gilt-stamped “I.T.” bookplate with motto “Inter folia fructus,” and bookplate of Sir Montague Shearman.
Binding: Contemporary crimson morocco, covers framed in gilt triple fillets; spine gilt extra with gilt-stamped leather labels, board edges and turn-ins with gilt rolls. This volume (complete in itself) seems at one time to have been part of a set of Marmontel's works, and bears an (unnumbered) spine label reading “Oeuvres de Marmontel.”
Brunet, III, 1440; Cohen de Ricci, Guide de l’amateur de livres à gravures du XVIIIe siècle, 688; Graesse 406; Tchermezine 455. Binding as above, with edges, extremities, and joints showing minor rubbing. Front pastedown with bookplates as above; front free endpaper with affixed slip of early cataloguing; rear pastedown with small chip out of paper. Light spots of foxing, slightly heavier around plates. All edges gilt. (25776)
Wonderful“Peasant”(!)
Binding
Martin, von Cochem. Der grosse Baumgarten.
Sulzbach: Im verlage der J. E. Seidelschen Kunst- und Buchhandlung, 1807. 8vo (18.5 cm;
7.375"). Frontis., [9] ff., 688 pp., [6] ff., 16 plts. $2000.00
Click the images for enlargements.
A fabulously bound later printing of Cochem's German-language,
comprehensive, personal devotional work. It is printed in gothic type and has16
woodcut plates.
Binding:
An example of a painted vellum binding, known in Germany as a “Bauern
Einbände,” or “Peasant Binding,” betraying a strong
influence of folk art; but such bindings were certainly not bindings for peasants.
This style almost certainly began in Hungary with early examples first appearing
in southern Germany. The style, however, gained greatest favor in northern
Germany and Holland during the 18th century.
The vellum binding is elaborately tooled in gilt and in-painted in blue,
green, and salmon. All edges are gilt and gauffered.
Binding as above with light rubbing. A very handsome, interestingly
late example of this uncommon binding style. (26690)
AFirst
Edition of theFirst
“Volume”
Martin,
William, ed. Peter
Parley’s annual: a Christmas and New Year's present for young people. London: Simpkin, Marshall, & Co.,
1840 [i.e., 1839]. 12mo (15 cm, 5.9"). Engr. t.-p., vi, 378 pp.; 4 plts.,
illus. $375.00
Click
the interior images for enlargements.
First edition of the first volume in a popular annual series of
children’s gift books, taken from the pages of Peter Parley’s
Magazine. The selections, which include a brief summary ofthe history and rules of
chess, are illustrated with a number of in-text steel engravings
and four engraved plates, one of which depicts a ship at sea in stormy weather.
Binding:
Contemporary signed binding by C. Lewis: Half green calf over
marbled paper–covered sides, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label
and decoratively gilt-stamped raised bands.
Faxon 108. Binding as above, paper scuffed and joints a touch
rubbed. Front free endpaper with owner’s name; front pastedown and fly-leaf
with pencilled notations. Frontispiece with small chip to outer margin, repaired.
Some instances of offsetting surrounding plates and illustrations, pages otherwise
clean. An attractive, engaging
little book.
Mexican Hidalgo — Meaty Matter — Vivid Full-Page Paintings
OriginalMEXICAN Binding Available for Analysis
Martínez, Marín, Montemayor, & Almonazi families. Manuscript carta confirmatoria de hidalguía. On paper and vellum. Madrid, Seville, Puebla, Mexico: ca. 1583–1706. Folio. Ca. 170 folios. [SOLD]
Click the images for enlargements.
In July of 1706 Viceroy Albuquerque of Mexico confirmed Capt. Juan Silvestre Martínez de Montemayor to be an hidalgo. The good captain presented copies and original
documents of ancestors who had previously successfully petitioned in Spain and Mexico for recognition of their status of minor nobility.
The earliest documents relate to Francisco Martínez Marín’s being granted a coat of arms, and through those documents we learn that the Martínez were among the first resisters of the Moorish invasion and that the Marín family were conquerors of Almeria who had participated in the war with Portugal in the 1530s, as well as other wars in Italy and the Mediterranean against the Turks and pirates. Don Francisco was entitled to use the symbol of the Inquisition and was a member of the Orders of Calatrava and Santiago.
The Mexican documents relate to the Almonazir, Silvestre, and Martínez de Montemayor families and the interconnections. These documents date from the 1620s, 1630s,and 1680s.
The documents are written in standard notarial hand with little attempt at fine calligraphy, but in the narrative portions the lettering is studied and colorful embellishments are not lacking. Many pages are red-ruled, significant words or phrases appear in red, and one whole page is written large in red with two red birds at its bottom, while green, blue, and a bisque that almost looks like gold are used for lettering and modest decoration in the same section. Two documents are signed by Viceroy Albuquerque in his own large, distinctive hand, and a third document confirming an appointment of the Alferez Silvestre Martínez de Montemayor is signed by the Marques de la Laguna (i.e., the viceroy in 1685).
The Six Illustrations: Four full-page, full-color, illuminated coats of arms on vellum of the Marín, Martínez, Almonazir, and Montemayor families; a full-page full-color miniature of a Martínez on horseback slaying a Moor (a strangely garbed Moor, but by his curved sword a Moor nonetheless), and a half-page portrait of Diego de Urbina, the king of arms under Felipe II, with his name and title illumined below. Salmon silk guards are present for several of these.
Binding:Modern red velvet housed in a cloth clamshell box with leather spine label; box with a special compartment preserving elements of the original binding, this having been of silk brocade over paste boards with Dutch gilt paper endpapers. The wastepaper used to make the boards was from a Mexican book, confirming the original binding to have been Mexican — the endpapers confirming Mexican bookbinding to have been rather more “international” in its resources than many will have imagined!
New binding in traditional style as above, with green ribbon ties, in a clamshell box; elements of original binding preserved in box compartment. Some text leaves torn with loss of text at outer margin, leaves repaired; one vellum leaf with top half excised and a neighboring paper one with its bottom half taken. Otherwise, only some few tears, none serious. A production and survival both treasurable and studyable. (25787)
A
UniversalistWomen's
Literary
Annual:
1843
Mayo, Sarah Carter Edgarton, ed. The rose of Sharon:
A religious souvenir, for MDCCCXLIII. Boston: A. Tompkins & B.B. Mussey, 1843 [i.e., 1842].
8vo (17.8 cm, 7"). add. engr. t.-p., 312 pp.; 3 plts. (lacking frontis.). $135.00
First
edition:
The “fourth blossom of our cherished Rose,” an annual collection
of writings by Universalists. Among the contents are “The Dweller Apart”
by Mrs. J.H. Scott, “The Minstrel and His Bride” by Caroline M.
Sawyer, and several pieces by the editor. Also present is an article on the
Actual vs. the Ideal, which opens with a critique of L.E.L. (the poet
Letitia Elizabeth Landon) for indulging in flights of romantic fantasy rather
than depicting the “glory of love in its power to beautify the affections
of the mother, the wife, the sister, and the friend” (p. 219).
Click the images for enlargements.
The volume is illustrated with an added engraved title-page and three steel-engraved
plates, done by O. Pelton after designs by T.B. Read and Beaume, and by Charles Phillips after
Sir Joshua Reynolds.
Signed binding:
Hunter green embossed morocco, covers with cherub vignette in foliate frame;
the embossed panel was designed by Francis N. Mitchell and engraved by Alex
C. Morin, and the binding was done by Benjamin Bradley, with all three names
stamped in panel. All edges gilt.
Faxon 713. On binding, see: Wolf, From Gothic Windows to
Peacocks, 178; Spawn & Kinsella, American Signed Bindings,
53. Binding as above, extremities with very minor rubbing; frontispiece
lacking. Offsetting from plates, two pages with offsetting from now-absent
laid-in item, scattered light spotting elsewhere. A gorgeous example of the binding, with interesting
reading inside. (26737)
A Universalist Women's Literary Annual: 1844
Mayo, Sarah Carter Edgarton, ed. The rose of Sharon: A religious souvenir, for MDCCCXLIV. Boston: A. Tompkins & B.B. Mussey, 1844 [i.e., 1843]. 8vo (17.8 cm, 7"). Add. engr. t.-p., 304 pp.; 4 plts. $185.00
First edition: The fifth volume of an annual collection of writings by Universalists. Among the contents are “Human Life” by Horace Greeley, “The Astrologer” by Mary Ann H. Dodd, “Joan of Arc in Prison” by Luella J.B. Case, and “The Uncultivated Garden” by Julia A. Fletcher, as well as several pieces by the editor.
Click the images for enlargements.
The volume is illustrated with four steel-engraved plates and an additional engraved title-page by various hands.
Signed binding: Hunter green embossed morocco, covers with cherub vignette in foliate frame; the embossed panel was designed by Francis N. Mitchell and engraved by Alex C. Morin, and the binding was done by Benjamin Bradley, with all three names stamped in panel. All edges gilt.
Faxon 714. On binding, see: Wolf, From Gothic Windows to Peacocks, 178; Spawn & Kinsella, American Signed Bindings, 53. Binding as above, showing virtually no wear. A few light spots, pages mostly clean. Dried flower laid in. It is hard to imagine a better copy of this lovely annual. (26743)
Sole Aldine Edition
Mela, Pomponius. Pomponivs Mela. Ivlivs Solinvs. Itinerarivm Antonini Avg. Vibivs Seqvester. P. Victor de regionibus urbis Romae. Dionysius Afer de situ orbis Prisciano interprete. [colophon: Venetiis: In aedibvs Aldi, et Andreae soceri mense, M.D. XVIII {1518}]. 8vo (16.5 cm; 6.5"). 233, [1] ff., without the final two leaves (one blank, one with Aldine device). $2500.00
Click the images for enlargements.
This collection of six works of geography by Classical writers is edited by Francesco Asolano (a.k.a. Francesco Torresani) and consists of Mela's De chorographia, Solinus's Polyhistor, Publius Victor's De regionibus urbis Romae, Periegetes Dionysius Afer's Orbis terrae descriptio, Antonius Augustus's Itinerarium, and texts by Vibius Sequester and Priscian.
The sole Aldine edition of these works, it is also the editio princeps of Publius Victor, the second edition of Antoninus Augustus' Itinerarium, and the third edition of Dionysius in Latin.
As is to be expected, the text is in italic with spaces and guide letters provided for (unaccomplished) initials.
The register (leaf G2 recto) lists a gathering *4 that is not found here or in any known copy, so the reference would seem to be incorrect.
Binding:18th-century English sprinkled tan calf, gilt spine extra and board edges gilt-tooled.
Renouard, Alde, 83; Adams M1053; Schweiger, II, 607 (“seltene Ausg.”). Bound as above, small darkened spot near top of spine; joints starting to open but covers still nicely attached; without the final two leaves (one blank, one with Aldine device). Bookplate. Title-page holed at gutter, not nearing device; light waterstaining and a bit of dust-soiling to first and last leaves. Interior otherwise clean, even bright. (25876)
Cortlandt
Bishop Copy
Mérimée, Prosper. Colomba. Paris: L. Conquet, 1904. Small folio. $1200.00
Edition limited to 300; this one of 100 copies "de grand luxe sur Japon ancien" and with a suite of proofs of the illustrations, which are by Daniel Vierge. Ex-libris Cortlandt F. Bishop.
Binding: Bound by M. Lortic in red morocco, gilt extra with accents of black; original wrappers bound in. Wide turn-ins with gilt dentelles; marbled endpapers. All edges gilt.
Rubbing to joints at top and bottom.
Conspiracy!
Montjoie, Christophe Félix Louis Ventre de la Touloubre, called Galart de. Histoire de la conjuration de Louis-Philippe-Joseph d’Orléans.... Paris, 1796. 3 vols. 8vo (25 cm, 8"). I: Frontis., [4], xvi, 304 pp. II: [2], 392 pp. III: [4], 304, 8 (index), 4 (contents) pp. $650.00
First edition of this Royalist history, in which Montjoie attributes most of the responsibility for the French Revolution to the Duc d’Orléans, that “wicked prince,” who was allegedly aided by a group of Masonic conspirators.
Binding: Contemporary treed calf; spines with gilt-stamped decorative bands and compartment devices, and with gilt-stamped leather title and volume labels. Edges gilt-rolled. All page edges stained yellow.
Bindings a little rubbed over joints and extremities, with a few instances of pinhole-type worming to back cover of vol. I; upper and outer edges dust-soiled. Some instances of light foxing. An attractive set.
Moore, Thomas. The poetical works of Thomas Moore including his melodies, ballads, etc. Paris: A. & W. Galignani, 1827. 8vo (23.3 cm, 9.1"). Frontis., [4], vi, [2], xxii, 383, [1] pp. $200.00
First edition of this Parisian single-volume compilation of Moore's verse, with an engraved portrait of the author done by J.T. Wedgwood after Sieurac, and a biographical and critical sketch of Thomas Moore written by J.W. Lake. The volume opens, of course, with the beloved Lalla Rookh; and, though the publishers here were the Galignanis, it is noted on the back of the half-title that “Jules Didot, Senior,” was the actual printer.
Click the interior image for an enlargement.
Binding: Contemporary straight-grain black morocco, covers framed and panelled in gilt and blind, spine with gilt-stamped title and gilt-framed compartments, spine compartments blind-tooled in foliate designs, turn-ins with gilt double fillets. All edges gilt.
NCBEL, III, 264. Bound as above, edges and extremities with minor rubbing, bottom spine compartment with small crack, leather (only) starting at front joint (joint itself strong). Front pastedown with early inked ownership inscription. Moderate foxing, more pronounced to first and last few leaves; two pages with offsetting from dried plant matter laid in. A lovely volume. (24906)
Illustrated Inspiring Sumptuous
Orsini, Mathieu, abbé, & J. Sadlier. Life of the blessed virgin Mary, mother of God; with the history of the devotion to her. Completed by the traditions of the East, the writings of the fathers, and the private history of the Jews. Translated from the French of the Abbé Orsini, by Mrs. J. Sadlier. New York, Boston, & Montreal: D. & J. Sadlier & Co., 1861. 4to. [4], xxviii, 225, [3], 311, [12], 8–192, 133 pp.; 22 plts. [SOLD]
Click the images for enlargements.
Later edition. Copyright date was 1853. The translator's preface is dated October 1853, the Apostolic Letter of Pope Pius IX is dated 6 December 1854. Contents: “Life of the Blessed Virgin Mary ...” (2 vols. in 1); “Historical Calendar of the Feasts of the Blessed Virgin, with the Foundations and Churches Dedicated to Her” (pp. 282–311); “Family Records” ([4 (blank)] ff.); “A Monument to the Glory of Mary. Meditations on the Litany of the Blessed Virgin. By the Abbé Edouard Barthe. Translated by Mrs. J. Sadlier”; and “The Admirable Life of the Glorious Patriarch Saint Joseph to which is added the Lives of St. Joachim and St. Anne. Taken from the Cité Mystique de Dieu (the Mythical City of God). Translated from the French of the Abbé J. A. Boullan, Doctor Theologian.”
Illustrated with 22 engraved plates (each with protective tissue guard), an added engraved title-page (in color), and in-text engravings used as chapter tail-pieces. Text printed within an engraved decorative border, repeated throughout.
Publisher's full red morocco, elaborately stamped in gilt. Spine with raised bands, gilt center devices and lettering in spine compartments. Front cover bears a gilt image of the Blessed Virgin framed in an oval, with “Mary A. Dunigan” stamped in gilt beneath it; back cover bears a gilt-stamped crucifix within an oval. All edges gilt. Rubbing at edges and joints. Front joint starting and weak. Scratch-marks. Some spotting to plates and tissue guards. Very light waterstaining in margins of later pages. Chip at top margin of two leaves, only. Very good condition, without ownership markings. (14268)
Self-published; first edition. “Energy
is the price of success.” “Address all
orders for this book to H.D. Orton, Shelby, O. Single copies by mail, One Dollar.
For sale by all Booksellers.”
Publisher's brown cloth shelf-back with printed paper on the
boards; small rent in cloth. Very nice copy. (26558)
There are so many kinds of bindings to NOTICE & enjoy ;) .
. .
Palafox on Kingship — A Handsome Volume
Palafox y Mendoza, Juan de. Historia real sagrada, luz de principes, y subditos. Brusselas: Francesco Foppens, 1655. 4to (23 cm, 9.1"). *4**4a–f4A–Z4Aa– Zz4Aaa–Mmm4; [32] ff., 435, [29 (index)] pp. (add. engr. t.-p. lacking). [SOLD]
Click the interior images for enlargement.
The second edition (first was Puebla, 1643) of the famous bishop’s history of biblical rulers, presented in a heavy-handed examination of good government and enlightened kingship. This is an interesting window on Palafox’s moral concepts of rule, as opposed to the better known legal principles he expounded during his troubles as bishop of Puebla and viceroy of New Spain.
Sabin 58295; Medina, BHA, 1245; Peeters-Fontainas 1029; Palau 209622. Contemporary mottled sheep, spine gilt extra, with gilt-stamped leather title-label; corners, spine, and spine extremities a touch rubbed, otherwise pleasingly fresh. Front free endpaper with early inked inscription, front fly-leaf with early inked “Acto de contricion” affixed. Lacking additional engraved title-page. Final third of text block starting to pull away from spine, sewing still holding. Pages age-toned, with some instances of spotting and offsetting. All edges mottled to match binding.
The
Famous Wager
inEnglish
Pascal,
Blaise. Thoughts on religion, and other subjects ... translated from the French. London: Pr. by W.B. for A. & J Churchil, R. Sare, & J. Tonson, 1704. 8vo (19.4 cm, 7.6"). [2], lviii, [12], 352, 361–76, 369–92 pp. (text complete despite pagination). $400.00
Click the interior images for enlargements.
First edition of this English translation, done by Basil Kennett, of Pascal's acclaimed defense of Christianity. Left as unfinished fragments at the time of Pascal's death, the Pensées include the famous argument of the wager.
Kennett, an antiquary and translator of a number of French works, served as the first chaplain to the British merchants at Leghorn — where his ministry incurred the wrath of the Inquisition. An interesting international addition to this book's trouble with religious authority, for the Pensees were placed on the Index shortly after their original publication.
Binding: Contemporary speckled calf and mottled calf framed and panelled in gilt rules with gilt-stamped corner fleurons; recently rebacked with speckled calf, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label and gilt-stamped decorations within gilt-dotted raised bands.
ESTC T144329; Lowndes 1795. On Kennett, see: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography online. Binding as above, corners and edges with minor rubbing; lower (closed) edges institutionally rubber-stamped. Front fly-leaf with early inked ownership inscription. Pages age-toned and in some instances browned; old, usually (but not quite always) faint waterstaining to a number of leaves; corner creases from old dog-earring and one old inkblot, one leaf with closed tear from outer margin touching a few letters without loss. Pagination erratic, but catchwords correct and text continuous. A solid, usable copy in an attractively refreshed binding. (25099)
SignedLeather Gift-Book Binding
Percival, Emily, ed. The amaranth, or token of remembrance. A Christmas and New Year's gift for 1854. Boston: Phillips, Sampson & Co., 1854. 8vo. [2], 288 pp.; 6 plts. [SOLD]
First edition thus, with contents matching 1854's “Garland” according to Faxon.
Binding: Publisher's bright red sheep in imitation of morocco, covers and spine gilt extra with arabesque and foliate designs. All edges gilt. Ticket inside back cover claims this as the work of “B. Bradley & Co. Boston.”
Faxon 24. Leather worn over edges and joints, with joints starting; top inch of spine along back joint with sliver of leather missing. First and last few leaves foxed, with some additional foxing in proximity to plates, and pages gently age-toned.
(12953)
Percival, Emily,
ed. The garland. Or, token of friendship. A Christmas and New Year's gift. New York: George A. Leavitt,
1869. 12mo. Frontis., 288 pp.; 4 plts. $85.00
Eighth in the popular “Garland” series of American gift books. Although Faxon claims that the plates have been omitted from this retitled version of 1854's “Amaranth,” this copy has four plates in addition to the frontispiece.
Click the interior image for an enlargement.
Binding: Publisher's red cloth, covers embossed and gilt-stamped, each cover with chromolithographed paper illustration affixed; spine gilt extra. All edges gilt.
Faxon 259. Binding slightly dimmed overall, scuffed at edges and joints. Front free endpaper with owner's inscription dated 1869. A few spots of foxing, mostly in proximity to plates. (12931)
Percival, Walter, ed. Friendship's gift: A souvenir for
MDCCCXLVIII. Boston: John P. Hill, [1847]. 12mo (19.3 cm, 7.6"). Frontis., add. engr. t.-p.,
vi, [2], [13]–312 pp.; 8 plts. $140.00
First and only volume of what was intended as the start of an annual
gift book series, although this sole example was reissued in the next year under
the title The Lady's Gift, a Souvenir for All Seasons. The work includes
one fictional piece on Shakespeare's childhood, one poem in his honor, and one
essay on his birthplace, along with Mary Russell Mitford's “Talking Lady”
and “The China Jug,” Lydia Howard Sigourney's “Prayers at
Sea,” and Ismael Fitzadam's “Farewell”; it is illustrated
with a total of ten steel-engraved plates by various hands.
Click the images for enlargements.
Signed binding: Black sheep in imitation of morocco, covers framed in heavy
gilt borders surrounding gilt-stamped arabesque designs, spine gilt extra;
front free endpaper with bookbinder Bradley's small pressure-stamp. All edges
gilt.
Faxon 224. Not in Hamilton, Early American Book Illustrators.
On binder's stamp, see: Spawn & Kinsella, American Signed Bindings,
55f. Binding as above, minor wear to corners, spine with tiny scuff
towards foot; binding clean and bright. Pages with varied degrees of foxing/staining
and age-toning. Very spiffy. (26673)
Prize
Binding, withthe
Certificate
Pomey, François. Pantheum mythicum, seu Fabulosa deorum historia hoc epitomes eruditionis volumine brevitur dilucidéque comprehensa. Amstaelodami: Ex officina Schoudeniana ; Trajecti ad Rhenum: Apud J.J. a Poolsum, 1777. Small 8vo (15.5 cm; 6"). [8] ff., 298, [7] ff., 27 plts. (4 fold.). $625.00
Originally published in 1659, Pomey’s work on classical mythology was extremely popular and was reprinted many times during the following 150
years. This edition describes itself as “editio decima, denuò recensita, à quamplurimis erroribus repurgata, & aeneis figuris ornata.”
The work begins with an elaborate engraved title-page signed “G. Schoute, fecit,” followed by a printed title–page in black and red. The text
is printed in roman type with side- and shouldernotes and is illustrated with 27 plates, four of which are folding. The text is edited by Samuel Pitiscus (1637–1727).
Binding: Full vellum over paste boards, covers with bead and vine borders in gilt at outer edges and large gilt-stamped supralibros coat of arms of the Dutch town of Kampen, with the text “Pallas Minerva sospitatrix urbium.” Round spine with gilt rope-design roll forming spine compartments. Red leather author and title label.
Provenance:With the printed and folding ex-proemium of J.J.S. van Goltstein van Hoekenburg, Jan. 1819.
DeBacker-Sommervogel, VI, 976. Binding as above. All edges marbled. A very good copy; text block very slightly skewed in binding.
Gorgeous
St. James Hymnal
— Chapel
Binding &
Fore-Edge
Painting
Pordage, Edward, ed. A collection of anthems, as the
same are now performed in his Majesty's Chapels Royal, &c. London: Pr. by J. Bettenham for B.
Barker, 1749. 8vo (18.7 cm, 7.4"). [2], 214, [6 (index)] pp. [SOLD]
Click the images for enlargements.
Outstanding collection of some of the most beautiful psalms of
the day, in a volume graced with a fore-edge painting. Prefaced by a brief account
of the history of cathedral music and of previous collections of anthems, this
compilation features psalm lyrics by Bird, Tallis, Purcell, and Handel, among
numerous others. The volume was supervised by the Rev. Pordage, subdean of the
Chapel Royal; it is divided into sections headed “Verse Anthems,”
“Full Anthems with Verses,” “Full Anthems,” and “Such
Anthems as are used in particular Cathedrals and Chapels.” Printed without
music, the text is ruled in red and decorated with attractive capitals, headpieces,
and tailpieces.
Binding:Contemporary
red goat, framed in gilt floral tooling with crowned fleurons, covers stamped
with center medallions of crowned monograms surmounted by herald angels. Supra-Libros
—“Chapel Royal St James's.” Board
edges gilt-tooled. All edges gilt, with fore-edge painting as below.
Fore-edge:
View of St. James's Street and St. James's Palace, with pedestrians
and a horse-drawn carriage.
ESTC T123146. Binding as above, strongly rebacked with
red morocco, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label and compartments
with gilt-stamped floral decorations; older portions with rubbing and a few
small scuffs. Minor rubbing to page edge gilt and to fore-edge; pages gently
age-toned with the odd faint spot. An altogether lavish little production.
(26522)
THACKERAY
Admired These “Most Charmingly
Humorous
of English Lyrical Poems”
Some
Fellow-ADMIRER
HadTHIS
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. $400.00
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, 397–401. 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.
Dutch Prize
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.
MAGNIFIQUE!
Racine,
Jean. Oeuvres de
Jean Racine. Paris: Pierre Didot l'aîné, 1801. Folio extra (50
cm, 19.75"). 3 vols. I: Frontis., [8], 466, [2] pp.; 23 plts. II: [4], 500,
[2] pp.; 25 plts. III: [4], 416 pp.; 8 plts. $27,500.00
Click any image for enlargement.
Stunning early 19th-century edition of Racine's collected works, inthree elephant folio, illustrated volumes that include his verse, letters, and plays. This deluxe edition was limited to 250 sets on paper (plus one additional copy printed on vellum). Produced by the renowned Didot press and part of the prestigious collection known as the Éditions du Louvre, this work is a monument of typography; Brunet extols it as “un des livres les plus magnifiques que la typographie d'aucun pays eut encore produits,” while Graesse confines himself to a mere “magnifique.”
The allegorical frontispiece was engraved by Marais; the other 56 plates consist of gorgeous steel-engraved neo-Classical and Oriental images done after designs by Moitte, F. Gerard, A.L. Girodet, Chaudet, Serangeli, and Peyron, along with more contemporary images after Taunay.
Of this pair of images showcasing Didot's typography, the righthand one answers the question,
“What's the absolutely very VERY worst of the set's described
'foxing'?”
This impressive set is not widely held institutionally, and not commonly seen on the market.
Signed Binding: Contemporary red straight-grain morocco, covers framed in substantial gilt and blind-tooled rolls with gilt-stamped corner fleurons, surrounding central gilt-stamped medallions of the French imperial eagle. Spines gilt extra in arabesque and foliate motifs with additional blind-tooling; board edges gilt-stamped and turn-ins with wide gilt rolls. All edges gilt. Bindings signed by Charles Hering — one of the most prominent English binders of the early 19th century.
Brunet, IV, 1079; Graesse 13; Vicaire, Manuel de l'amateur de livres du XIXe siècle, 936–37. Bindings as above, two covers expertly reattached with other small repairs to spines/corners and scuffed areas sealed/refurbished; vol. I with leather starting along part of front joint. Front free endpaper of vol. I with binder's ticket. Title-pages of vols. I and III and half-title of vol. II institutionally rubber-stamped, with ghosts of old library pencilling on versos and evidence of removed bookplates on inside front covers (one additional institutional stamp left exposed by that removal). First few leaves of vol. III (only) with ragged, dust-soiled edges; foxing and offsetting, across the whole range from light to severe and yet happily with no general browning, throughout. This classic French author is here presented with classic French illustration of the era in a limited edition from a classic French printer/publisher in a classic French binding — at least, it's a “five-fer”! (24990)
The FIRST English-LanguageHistory of Java
Raffles, Thomas Stamford, Sir. The history of Java ... second edition. London: John Murray, 1830. 8vo (21.6 cm, 8.5"). 2 vols. I: xlviii, 536 pp.; 1 fold. table. II: iv, 332, clxxix, [1] pp. $875.00
Click the images for enlargements.
Second edition, following the first of 1811: Authoritative history of the Indonesian island of Java, written by a British statesman who served for four years as its Lieutenant-Governor before becoming Governor-General of Bencoolen (now Bengkulu) and eventually founding the British colony of Singapore. Sir Thomas was an avid zoologist and botanist, and in this work paid much attention to those topics as well as to the island's geography, culture, religion, languages, agriculture, crafts and productions, and commerce — not forgetting games, dress, and dancing girls. A contemporary reviewer praised this history in the Edinburgh Review as presenting, “to the British reader at least, the only authentic and detailed account of a land of eminent fertility and happy situation, inhabited by an interesting race of people,” while Lowndes called it a “very elaborate and valuable work.”
The editor's advertisement, type-signed by Sophia Raffles (Sir Thomas's second
wife), notes that the plates from the first edition and some additional plates
were published in “a separate quarto volume, detached entirely from
the present work” (p. xi). This did not actually appear until 1844 and
so is not present here.
Brunet, IV, 1088; Graesse, VI, 17; Lowndes 2037. On Raffles, see: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography online. Contemporary calf, covers framed in blind triple fillets with gilt-stamped corner fleurons, spines with gilt-stamped leather title and volume labels and with gilt-stamped and blind-tooled compartment decorations; board edges with blind roll. Binding rubbed at joints/edges and with small scuffs, portions of boards variously stained/sunned; still quite attractive. Ex–social club library: 19th-century bookplate and inked call number on each front pastedown, title-pages pressure- and lightly rubber-stamped; no other markings. Fore-edge of vol. I shows signs of old water exposure, without actual waterstaining to pages themselves save in a few cases where upper or outer margins are touched; pages clean. A pleasant old pair of books. (26379)
Legends of the American Landscape — Plates & Painterly Prose
Richards, Thomas Addison. American scenery, illustrated. New York: Leavitt & Allen Bros., [1854]. 4to (22 cm, 8.7"). Frontis., 310 pp.; 30 plts. (lacking add. t.-p.). $200.00
Click the images for enlargements.
Collection of thematically unified short stories inspired by the beauties of nature across the U.S.: Scenic high spots such as the Croton Fountain in New York's City Hall Park, the Virginia landscape, Tallulah Falls, the Rocky Mountains, etc. elicit dramatic and comic stories from an invented gallery of “accomplished and genial travellers” who “present at the same time an instructive topography and an entertaining romance” (p. 7). The author was himself a prominent landscape painter, and here matches his fiction with a frontispiece and 30 steel-engraved plates (some from his own designs) depicting the scenes described.
The work was also published in the same year under the title The Romance of American Landscape, and bears that running title here. This copy has an intriguing early pencilled inscription: “The 1st book my Father gave me came out of his book store - C.L.”
Binding: Publisher's brown sheep in imitation of morocco, covers with embossed grapevine and latticework border stamped in black and with decorative gilt-stamped title (“LANDSCAPE ANNUAL”); spine with same gilt-stamped title and gilt- and black-stamped decorations. All edges gilt.
Sabin 70958; Wright, II, 2030. Not in BAL. Binding as above, light wear to edges and extremities. Hinges (inside) starting. Front fly-leaf with inscription as above; additional engraved title-page with vignette of Mt. Vernon, lacking. Intermittent light to moderate foxing, mostly to margins of plates. Lovely book, lovely copy. (26679)
POETRY
in aFrankly
Magnificent Embossed
Binding Signed
by Gaskill
Rogers, Samuel;
Thomas Campbell; James Montgomery; et al. The poetical works of Rogers,
Campbell, J. Montgomery, Lamb, and Kirke White. Philadelphia: Grigg & Elliot,
1841. 8vo (22.4 cm, 8.8"). Frontis., vii, [1], 98, [2], [v]–viii, 66,
[2], [v]–viii, 195, [1], v, [1], 29, [1], xxiii, [1], 56 pp. $400.00
Deluxe poetry compilation. The frontispiece engraving, offering
portraits of the poets set within an embellished architectural frame, was done
by G.B. Ellis; the text is set in double columns, with annotations.
Click
the images for enlargements.
Binding:
Signed binding by Gaskill: Oxblood calf ornately embossed with a central medallion
of Aurora in her chariot, surrounded by foliate designs, within a framing
roll of drawer-handles and tulips; spine with gilt-stamped authors' names
and embossed foliate designs; board edges and turn-ins with gilt rolls. All
edges gilt.
American Imprints 41-4210; Wolf, From Gothic Windows
to Peacocks, 190. Binding as above, corners and spine extremities
showing faint traces of wear. Moderate foxing throughout. A
beautiful example of Philadelphia Victorian high book culture and of a classic
Gaskill binding in particular. (25994)
Rousseau the PoetElegantly Published
Rousseau,
Jean-Baptiste. Oeuvres poétiques
... avec un commentaire par M. Amar. Paris: Chez Lefèvre, 1824. 8vo (23.1 cm, 9.1"). 2 vols. in 1. Frontis., xxxv, [1], 419, [5], 363, [1 (blank)] pp. $225.00
First edition of this compilation. Rousseau’s verses and epigrams enjoyed enormous popularity in their day; they appear here as part of the “Collection des classiques françois,” with commentary by Jean Augustin Amar du Rivier and an engraved frontispiece portrait done by Taurel.
Brunet, IV, 1421. Contemporary black half morocco over blue pebbled cloth, spine beautifully gilt extra, leather edges ruled in gilt; volume clean and virtually unworn. Front pastedown with private collector’s bookplate and with institutional rubber-stamp (no other markings); some soiling and offsetting to front pastedown and free endpaper. Many leaves lightly to moderately foxed, a few more heavily — the paper here was not as good as it might have been. One leaf with short tear from upper margin, touching page number but not text. An attractive production.