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BOOKS IN FRENCH
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Maigne, W. Dictionnaire encyclopédique des ordres de chevalerie civils et militaires créés chez les différents peuples depuis les temps les plus reculés jusqu'a nos jours. Paris: Adolphe Delahays, 1861. 12mo (17.2 cm, 6.8"). xvi, 240 pp., fold. table/plt.
$175.00
Offering in encyclopedic form the history of chivalric orders of
Europe, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Northern Africa, and the Americas,
this volume describes, among others, American orders such as the Society of
the Cincinnati (U.S.), Ordem de Cristo (Brazil), Ordem de Aviz (Brazil), Ordem
do Cruzeiro (Brazil), Orden de la Cruz de Honor (Guatemala), Légion d'Honneur
(Haiti), Ordre de Sainte-Anne (Haiti), Orden de los Libertadores (Venezuela),
Orden Nacional (Nicaragua), and Orden de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe
(Mexico).
Vicaire, Manuel de l'amateur de livres du XIXème,
I, 772. Uncut, mostly unopened copy. Publisher's wrappers, printed in black
and red; front one off, with expectable chipping and with soiling. Some pages
lightly spotted; mostly, clean. Now housed in a simple acid-free phase-box.
(14356)
Science for Children
Marles, J. de. Les cent merveilles des sciences et des arts. Huitieme edition. Tours: Alfred Mame et fils, 1869. 12mo. Frontis., add. engr. t.-p., [2], 5-240 pp.
$65.00

Eighth edition of this children's book in French, describing the latest in scientific advances. The frontispiece engraving, done by the Rouargue brothers, depicts an exhibition hall filled with telescopes and other devices, while the title-page vignette shows a steamboat
Contemporary gilt-stamped green cloth with a bit of light wear to the head and foot of the spine, otherwise bright and lovely. Some page edges uncut. (10569)
For
more books in handsome
PUBLISHER'S
CLOTH, click here.
Marmontel's
Political-Philosophical
Novel with
Gravelot's
Illustrations
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)
Mere Angélique &
Her Works
Memoires pour servir a l'histoire de
Port-Royal, et à la vie de la Reverende Mere Marie Angelique de Sainte Magdeleine Arnauld reformatrice de ce monastere. Utrecht: Aux depens de la Compagnie, 1742. 12mo. 3 vols. I: [2] ff., xx, 611, [1] pp. II: [2] ff., 621, [1] pp. III: [2] ff., 618 pp.
$550.00

History of the influential Cistercian convent at Port Royal and the development of the Jansenist movement nurtured therein, along with a biography of Mere Angélique de Saint-Jean Arnauld d'Andilly, printed in three volumes. Attribution of this work is something of a confusing issue, as several histories were published with virtually identical titles; some of the one-volume 1739 editions can be differentiated by the subtitle Relations de la vie et des vertus de quelques unes des filles de la Mere Angelique, au nombre desquelles ont eté sa mere & ses soeurs qui sont mortes religieuses à Port Royal. Various sources cite the Sieur du Fossé, Jean Louis Barbeau de la Bruyère, Nicolas Fontaine, and others as authors of those works.
Click the interior image for an enlargement.
Contemporary mottled calf, spines with gilt-stamped leather title-labels, spine compartments with gilt-stamped floral decorations; covers mildly acid-pitted and considerably abraded, with leather lost at head of spine, corners, and joints. Spines with paper shelving labels or remnants thereof; front pastedowns each with bookplate. All edges marbled. Faint pencilled marginalia and bracketing; intermittent offsetting. (22804)

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.

Lexicographical Landmark Seriously Polyglot!
Minsheu, John. Minshaei emendatio, vel à mendis expurgatio, seu augmentatio sui ductoris in linguas, the guide into tongues. London: John Haviland, 1627. Folio (37.6 cm, 14.9"). [4] pp., 760 columns (numbering very erratic in last few leaves).
$3000.00
Click the interior images for enlargements.
Second revised edition (following the first revised edition of 1625, and the original first edition of 1617) of Minsheu's Guide into the Tongues, an important polyglot lexicon in English and eight other languages (“Low Dutch,” “High Dutch,” French, Italian, Spanish, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew ). The work incorporates etymology in all nine languages; it is typographically
quaint, using a variety of fonts including black-letter.
The DNB claims that the 1617 edition of this was “in all probability the first English book printed by subscription, or at all events the first which contains a list of the subscribers.” This revised edition does not include that list, and so, almost certainly was not printed by subscription. Allibone says that this 1627 edition is “Preferred to the other edit., being more correct.”
STC (rev.) 17947; ESTC S121879; Allibone 1325; Vancil 165. On Minsheu, see: Dictionary of National Biography. Period-style morocco framed and panelled in gilt rolls with gilt-stamped corner fleurons, spine with original gilt-stamped leather title-label, gilt-ruled raised bands, and gilt-stamped decorations in compartments (signed by Grace Bindings in blind at inner area of rear cover, lower turn-in). Title-page institutionally rubber-stamped. Some age-toning and light to moderate spotting; one leaf with tear from outer margin into several lines of text, without loss; last leaf with small hole affecting a few words. (21047)
Montelius, Oscar. Antiquités suédoises, arrangées et décrites .... Stockholm: P.A. Norstedt & Söner, 1873–75. 2 vols. in 1. 8vo (25.1 cm, 9.9"). [6], 80, [12], 182, [16] pp.; illus.
$300.00
First edition comprising both parts: French translation of Montelius’s Svenska fornsaker, an atlas of Swedish antiquities from the Stone Age through the Iron Age. The weapons, pots, jewelry, and other items are beautifully depicted in wood engravings by Karl Fredrik Lindberg, with accompanying descriptive text by Montelius, a prominent archeologist whose work on the chronological dating method known as seriation is reflected in the organization of the present volume.
Lipperheide, Katalog der Freiherrlich von Lipperheide’schen Kostumbibliothek, 285m. Contemporary quarter morocco with marbled paper–covered sides, spine with gilt-stamped title; joints and edges rubbed, joints cracked
and leather chipped at spine extremities. Front free endpaper separated but present; front pastedown and free endpaper institutionally rubber-stamped. Pages clean.
Absorbing.

Gascon Tales & Anecdotes
Montfort, François Salvat, sieur de. C, ou recueil des bons mots, des pensées les plus plaisantes, et des rencontres les plus vives des Gascons. Lyon: Antoine Boudet, 1708. 8vo (15.8 cm, 6.25"). [8], 482, [2] pp.
$400.00
Click the images for enlargements.
Compilation of wit and humor from the southwest of France, a region universally acclaimed for its douceur de vivre. This is one of two editions
of 1708 (the first year of the work's appearance), the other issued in Paris;
the collection was also issued under the title Gasconiana.
Barbier, Dictionnaire des ouvrages anonymes et pseudonymes,
915. Contemporary speckled sheep, spine gilt extra; overall rubbed,
front cover with small nick to upper edge and short tear from joint now repaired,
spine leather cracked with gilt rubbed yet still
very nice to look at. Front pastedown
with printed paper label (owner's name in blackletter) affixed, front free
endpaper excised. Intermittent light spotting and staining, some pages browned.
(26907)
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.
Morgues, Matthieu de. Diverses pieces pour la defence de la reyne mere du roy tres-Chrestien Louis XIII ... [Paris?], 1643. 8vo (16.8 cm, 6.6"). Vol. I only (of 2). ã8é8A–Z8Aa–Ee8 (-Ee8 [final blank]); [26], 446 [i.e., 456] pp.
$275.00
Vol. I of the scarce second edition, following the first of 1637: Polemics regarding Marie de Médicis, Cardinal Richelieu, and Louis XIII, written by the Sieur de Saint-Germain, one of the most prolific pamphleteers of the period. The volume contains “Remonstrance au Roy,” “Vrais et bons advis de François Fidèle,” “Charitable remonstrance de Caton Chrestien a monseigneur l’eminentissime Cardinal de Richelieu,” and “Advertissement de Nicocleon à Cleonville, sur son advertissement aux provinces.” The second volume, Pieces curieuses pour la deffence de la royne mere du roy Louys XIII, is not present here.
Single-click the interior image for an enlargement.
Uncommon. Searches of OCLC, RLIN, and NUC Pre-1956 find only three U.S. holdings of this edition.
Contemporary vellum, spine with early inked title; vellum darkened, front cover with faded early inked inscription. Back free endpaper and final blank leaf lacking; front free endpaper with early inked inscription, title-page
with contemporary inked ownership inscription in lower margin. Some light foxing; one early inked marginal annotation. Vol. I only; the set rare enough to make offering the “odd” volume reasonable!

Ancient Days
FORWARD
Moulin, Gabriel, du. Histoire generale de Normandie. Contenant les choses memorables aduenuës depuis les premieres courses des Normands payens, tant en France qu'aux autres pays, de ceus qui s'emperent du pays de Neustrie sous Charles le Simple. Avec l'histoire de leurs ducs, leur genealogie, & leurs conquestes, tant en France, Italie, Angleterre, qu'en Orient, iusques a la reünion de la Normandie à la couronne de France. A Rouen: Iean Osmont, 1631. Folio. [6] ff., 56 pp., [1] f., 564, 52 pp., [22] ff.
$1750.00
Click the interior images for enlargements.
First edition of this sought-after history of Normandy. Preliminary leaves include a dedication; publication statement; a sonnet, epigrams, and an ode to the history of Normandy; “Discours de la Normandie” (35 pp.); “De l'ancienne Normandie” (35–56 pp.); and a genealogy of the Dukes of Normandy. Rear matter includes an index (22 ff.) and a list (52 pp.) of the Lords of Normandy and other French provinces who took part in the conquest of Jerusalem under Robert Courte-heuze, Duke of Normandy, and Godefroy du Buillon, Duke of Lorraine.
An early owner has mounted on the title-page an armorial plate bearing an image of the two leopards of Normandy on a shield superimposed by a crown, the whole flanked by attendants holding long branches (palms? laurels?) in one hand and the shield in the other.
Handsomely decorated with engraved initials and tailpieces.
Brunet 24296. Recent deep walnut full calf old style, by Grace Bindings (signed in blind at inner area of rear cover, lower turn-in); round spine with raised bands accented in gilt and with blind-tooled devices in compartments, oxblood leather gilt-lettered title-label, blind fillets extending onto covers from each band to terminate in trefoils and covers framed in double blind fillets. Ex–Mercantile Library of Philadelphia with stamps, mostly faint, including to title-page; title-page re-margined along top and inner edge with an interior hole filled also (no words affected). Title-page with early inked ownership initials; a few other instances of early inked notations within text. Some leaves chipped, others mildly to moderately waterstained; we have chosen to show pages bearing more waterstains rather than fewer.
Armorial device mounted to title-page, as noted; we cannot be sure what this covers, but it is elegant! (21215)

Read by Rousseau & Voltaire
Muralt, Béat Louis de. Lettres fanatiques. Londres: Aux
depens de la Compagnie, 1739. 12mo. 2 vols. I: [2], viii, [2], 276 pp. II: [4], 327, [1 (blank)] pp.
$950.00

Scarce sole edition of these essays on science, philosophy, and religion, including some mystical prophecies regarding Christ's return. The author, a Swiss Protestant, is best known for the Lettres sur les Anglais et les Français; Voltaire was an admirer and referred to the “sage et ingénieux” Muralt in his Lettres anglaises.
Uncommon. A search of ESTC, OCLC, and NUC Pre-1956 finds only four U.S. holdings of this title. ESTC notes that this is a false imprint and that the work was likely printed in the Netherlands; one source suggests Lausanne.
ESTC T112988; Caillet, Manuel bibliographique des sciences psychiques ou occultes..., 7879. Recent quarter calf with marbled paper–covered sides, spines with gilt-stamped titles. Title-pages each with inked ownership inscription dated 1804 in lower margin, name lined through; first page of preface with inked numeral in lower margin. Upper outer corners rounded, with most of these (and some margins) browned in vol. I. All edges speckled blue and brown. (23261)
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