
18TH-CENTURY BOOKS
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Bibles
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German-American CATHOLIC Personal Devotions — An EXTENDED Manuscript
Fraktur Rubrics — “Pennsylvania Dutch” Embellishments
Kary, Simon. Manuscript on paper, in German, transcribed as: [one or two words blotted and unclear, then] sich befinden in Andachtübung Gott deß Morgens, und Abends, bey den Heiligen Meß, Beicht und Kommunion Gebettern zu sprechen. Wie auch unterschiedliche Getbetter zu Christo, und Maria, auf die fürnehmsten FestTage deß Jahrs. Und auch Gebetter zu dem Heiligen Gottes zu finden sein. Zu grössern Ehr und Seelen Trost. Geschrieben worden von dem Simon Kary im Jahr 1799. [i.e., Catholic prayer book]. No place [Pennsylvania]: 1799. 12mo (16.3 cm, 6.4"). [2], 136 pp.
$22,500.00
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In 1799 the German population in the U.S. is estimated to have been between 85,000 and 100,000 individuals, the vast majority being Protestants of one stripe or another. German Catholics were a very, very small minority, totalling perhaps 3,000 or so and concentrated in Pennsylvania, served in their faith by German Jesuit missionaries who established the mission of The Sacred Heart at Conewago and Father Schneider’s mission church in Goshenhoppen.
There were no German-language Catholic prayer books published in the U.S. until the 19th century, so those wishing to have one before then had to have a bookstore import it or engender one in manuscript — either by hiring a scribe or by inditing it personally.
Simon Kary chose the latter option and personally executed his personal prayer book in the style that was current in the “Pennsylvania Dutch” region.
His lovingly created, appealingly decorated late-18th-century manuscript book of German Catholic devotional prayers (i.e., Gebetsbüchlein) is in the typical German-American fraktur style in his codex, the title-page, sectional title-pages, and sub-section beginnings are written in fraktur lettering in red, green, black, and rose, with the initial line or lines of each prayer in red only, and the text is written throughout in sepia in cursive. All pages are given double-ruled borders; some of the fraktur capitals incorporate foliate and floral designs.
Kary’s personally selected, 136-page collection of devotions contains, as he described it, “appropriate prayers to God,. a intended for use in the morning and evening, for Holy Mass, for confession . . s well as various prayers to Christ, to Mary on the highest feast days of the year, and also prayers to the Saint [sic] of God. For the greater honor and comfort of the soul.”
The manuscript is written on laid paper, with vertical chain lines, gathered in eights, and its
original block-printed paper wrappers have survived with it.
German-American Catholic fraktur prayer books are rare but not unknown; for example, the renowned collection of fraktur at the Free Library of Philadelphia contains a “Himmlischer Palm Zweig Worinen die Auserlesene Morgen Abend Auch Beicht und Kommunion Wie auch zum H. Sakrament In Christo und seinen Leiden, wie auch zur der H. Mutter Gottes, 1787" (item no: frkm064000; https://libwww.freelibrary.org/digital/item/41639). Still, early German-American Catholic religious manuscripts are
objectively rare, especially on the market.
Manuscript additions to the manuscript: An early-19th-century owner of Kary's manuscript has added somberly appropriate matter opposite its title-page, i.e., on the inside of the front wrapper, that reads, in translation: “Forget not your father and your mother, for they have died. My most honored father died on 17th March in the year of the Lord [1]784. My beloved mother died on 6th December in the year of the Lord [1]801. The 14th November in the year of the Lord [1]803. M.S. in the sign of the fish.”
Provenance: Simon Kary in 1799; by 1803 owned by M.S. (as per inside front wrapper). Later early-19th-century ownership signature of Anna Holzinger on title-page; later 19th-century pencil signature of “Theresa” in lower margin of same with similar inscription on the outside of the front wrapper.
We thank Prof. Edward Quinter for his help in ranscribing and translating this manuscript's title-page and translating the family notes opposite it. Recent light blue paper–covered boards with printed paper spine label, original block-printed wrappers preserved inside; early inked annotations in German on inside of original front wrapper and elsewhere, as detailed above. First two leaves and several others with areas of waterstaining, with tissue-paper repair to title-page partially obscuring several lines of text; last leaves with areas darkened as with some variety of oil. Pages age-toned, with scattered spots and occasional offsetting.
A manuscript attractive, engaging, and worthy of study; an enduring testimony to piety among an important, early American religious minority. (41242)
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Keate, George. Netley Abbey. An elegy...the second edition, corrected and enlarged. London: J. Dodsley, 1769. 4to ( 26.4 cm, 10.4"). 31, [1 (blank)] pp. (lacking the half-title).
$250.00
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Originally published in 1764 under the title Ruins of Netley Abbey (and a different item from the anonymously printed Ruins of Netley Abbey of 1765), this poem features an engraved vignette of the titular ruins, done by C. Grignion, on the title-page; also present is a brief history of the abbey. ESTC T75210. Marbled paper–covered boards, front cover with printed paper label. Half-title lacking. Upper margin of title-page showing small abrasions and traces of affixed paper; title-page and several others stamped by a now-defunct institution. (10278)

A “Little Manual . . . FIRST Designed for PRIVATE Use” of TWO PRINCESSES
Lake, Edward. Officium eucharisticum. A preparatory service to a devout and worthy reception of the Lord's Supper. Dublin: Printed by and for Samuel Fairbrother, 1724. 12mo (14.5 cm; 5.75"). [4] ff., 176 pp.
$775.00
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The last of four editions
PRINTED IN IRELAND, all of which are rare and
none of which are reported as held in any U.S. library. Overall this is “the 21st. edition corrected and enlarged. To which is added, a meditation for every day in the week.” A wonderful, small, go-with-you work of personal worship.
Lake was “chaplain and tutor to the princesses Mary and Anne, daughters of James, duke of York” and originally wrote this “devotional manual . . . for his royal pupils” (ODNB).
Provenance: On front free endpaper in an 18th-century hand; “Wm. A. Put Bo[ugh]t of Nau Winkle & Co.”
ESTC T134200. Contemporary acid-stained calf, round spine, no raised bands, gilt double-rules creating spine compartments, one with a red leather gilt title-label; front cover reattached using the long-fiber method. Light age-toning. A very nice copy. (33142)
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Getting the Bishop's Position
RIGHT
La Luzerne, César-Guillaume de. Instruction donnée par M. L'évêque de Langres, aux curés, vicaires et autres ecclésiastiques de son diocèse, qui n'ont pas prêté le serment ordonné par l'Assemblée nationale. Paris: Guerbart, [1791]. 8vo (19.5 cm, 7.6"). 38, [2] pp.
$80.00
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A non-juring cardinal looks at the constitutional oath; the pamphlet closes with “les noms des prélats qui ont adopté la présente instruction.” There is a good deal here on the administration of the sacraments.This is the 40-page variant (Martin and Walter note a 35-page printing), with a warning on the final page regarding pirated, incorrect versions of the piece.
Martin & Walter, III, 18722 (variant ed.). Removed from a nonce volume, first signature separated. Title-page with paper shelving label in lower corner, touching one letter of publication line, and with pencilled monogram in upper outer corner; also with short tear from lower margin, not touching text. Pages age-toned and lightly spotted; shouldernotes (only) occasionally shaved and price reduced for this reason. (30826)
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not in PRB&M's illustrated catalogues . . .
entering the number 16244
as keyword calls up *many* more
FRENCH REVOLUTION, FIRST REPUBLIC
PAMPHLETS Voilà!

In the Spirit of
Peace & Brotherhood
Lamourette, Antoine-Adrien. Instruction pastorale de
M. L'évêque du département de Rhône et Loire, métropolitain du sud-est, a Mm. les curés,
vicaires et fonctionnaires ecclésiastiques de son diocese. Lyon: Amable le Roy, 1791. 8vo (21.3
cm, 8.4"). 24 pp.
$95.00
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Uncut copy of this letter from Lamourette (1742–94), the Constitutional bishop of
Rhône-et-Loire, remembered for his proposal of fraternal love as the solution to factionalism in
the Assembly. He seems to have favored pastoral letter-writing — there were several
Instructions issued in 1791, including one of only 15 pages, and one of 102; the present 24-page
example is dated 12 May, and addresses the split between the constitutional and the non-juring
clergy.
Uncommon: WorldCat and NUC Pre-1956 locate only three U.S. institutional holdings of
this particular Instruction.
Martin & Walter 19033. Removed
from a nonce volume. Title-page with paper shelving label, touching the first few letters of the
publication line, and with inked numeral and pencilled monogram in upper outer corner. Page
edges untrimmed; pages slightly age-toned. (30825)
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The Secret Is in Their Eyes — Five Volumes as Here Bound — Hundreds of Engravings
Including the work of Fuseli & Blake
Lavater, John Caspar. Essays on physiognomy, designed to promote the knowledge and the love of mankind ... illustrated by more than eight hundred engravings accurately copied; and some duplicates added from originals. London: Printed for John Murray, No. 32, Fleet-Street; H. Hunter, D.D. Charles's-Square; and T. Holloway, No. 11, Bache's-Row, Hoxton, 1789–98. 4to in 2's (34.1 cm, 13.4"). 3 vols. in 5. I: [11] ff., iv, [10], 281 pp. (i.e., 285); 15 plates. II, part 1: xii, 238 pp.; 45 plates. II, part 2: [3] ff., pp. [239]–444; 47 plates. III, pt. 1: xii, 252 pp.; 25 plates. III, pt. 2: [3] ff., pp. 253-437 (i.e., 181 pp.), [9] pp.; 42 plates.
$2500.00
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First edition in English of
Lavater's study of character based on physical attributes. Originally published in German (Physiognomische Fragmente, 1775–78), these influential Essays were translated into English by Henry Hunter (1741–1802) from the subsequent French edition (La Haye, 1781-87), and published in 41 parts under the direction of Royal Academy artists Henry Fuseli (1741–1825) and Thomas Holloway (1748–1827), who both contributed illustrations. In fact, Lavater (1741–1801), a Swiss priest and poet, had no part in the new publication; Hunter arranged the endeavor with Holloway and publisher John Murray without the consent of the author, who learned of the project after it had gone to press, and objected, fearing a new edition would subtract from sales of the old.
These books contain
over 360 engraved illustrations in the text and 132 full-page engraved plates, many of which Holloway copied directly from the French edition; it's the multiple images on the full-page plates that produce the proud claim of “more than 800 engravings” on the title-page. They include
portraits of famous wrinkled writers, philosophers, musicians, monarchs, statesmen, and Lavater himself; silhouettes of Jesus and portraits of Mary; details of male, female, and animal attributes; and skulls, hairlines, eyes, noses, and mouths, among other features, engraved by Holloway, Fuseli, William Blake (1757–1827), James Neagle (1765–1822), Anker Smith (1759–1819), James Caldwall (1739–ca. 1819), Isaac Taylor (1730–1807), and William Sharp (1749–1824), inter alios, after works of art by Rubens, Van Dyke, Raphael, Fuseli, LeBrun, Daniel Chodowiecki (1726–1801). The commentary on these images makes this a work of
art history/criticism, as Lavater is both free and detailed in his notes of how various artists handle details of physiognomy and body language to express character and engender beauty.
The first systematic treatise on physiognomy was written by Aristotle. Publications on the subject continued steadily throughout the ages, although the developing study of anatomy in the 17th century detracted interest from what later came to be known as pseudoscience. Lavater's is the only notable treatise in the 18th century, and indeed, “. . . [his] name would be forgotten but for [this] work,” which was very popular in France, Germany, and England (EB).
Provenance: Bookplate of Nicholas Power on front pastedown of all five volumes (related to Richard Power, Esq., of Ireland, listed as a subscriber?); and bookplate of Gordon Abbott on front free endpaper of three volumes, engraved by J.W. Spenceley of Boston in 1905.
Wellcome, III, 458; Garrison-Morton 154; ESTC T139902; Lowndes II, p.1321 (“a sumptuous edition”); Osler, Bib. Osleriana, p. 283, no. 3178; Bentley Blake Books 481; Ryskamp, William Blake, Engraver, 22. On the parts, see: Arents Collection of Books in Parts, p. 74. Contemporary calf ruled and tooled in gilt and blind with gilt board edges and gilt turn-ins, rebacked old style; marbled edges, and blue silk marker in all volumes. Extremities rubbed and corners bumped with small loss to leather. At least one small marginal tear in each volume; offsetting from letterpress on a few leaves; very mild to quite moderate foxing (or none) on illustrations, offset onto surrounding leaves; and other occasional minor stains. Most plates protected by tissue.
A monument of labor, art, and excellent “system” devoted to an exploded but fascinating theory; in fact, a wonder. (30974)
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[La Ville, Jean-Ignace de]. Two memorials of the Abbé de la Ville, together with the French king’s declarations, transmitted by the said minister to the States General of the United Provinces; as likewise the answer of their high mightinesses to the said pieces, as contained in their resolution of the 7th of November N.S. 1747. London: E. Owen, 1747. 8vo (21 cm, 8.25"). 70 pp.
$350.00
First English edition of these documents, printed in French and English on opposing pages. The missives were part of the rather unfriendly negotiations between Louis XV of France and the United Provinces of Netherland during the War of the Austrian Succession; their bearer, the Abbé de la Ville, a churchman and diplomat prominent in the French court, had become a member of the Académie Française in the year prior to this publication.
ESTC T52110. Removed from a nonce volume and now in a Mylar folder. Edges untrimmed. Sewing all but gone, with a number of leaves separated. Title-page with early inked inscription in lower margin, chips to inner margin, dust-soiling, and old taped tear from outer margin; old repair at inner margin of last two leaves with loss of a few letters. A bit of interior foxing/spotting. (7746)

Quaker Meditations A Neat Compendium
Two Women in the Contents Womanly Provenance, Too
[Law, William]. An extract from a treatise on the spirit of prayer, or the soul rising out of the vanity of time into the riches of eternity. With some thoughts on war. Remarks on the nature and bad effects of the use of spirituous liquors. And considerations on slavery. Philadelphia: Joseph Crukshank, 1780. 12mo (16.3 cm, 6.45"). 84 pp. [bound with] Webb, Elizabeth. A letter...to Anthony William Boehm, with his answer. Philadelphia: Joseph Crukshank, 1783. 44 pp. [with] [Benezet, Anthony]. In the life of the lady Elizabeth Hastings... [Philadelphia: Joseph Crukshank, 1784]. 8 pp.
$1100.00
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Law's mystically-inclined meditations sold vigorously in a number of English and American editions; they serve here as the introduction to an interesting selection of Christian inspirational readings from Philadelphia printer Joseph Crukshanksome writers named, and some not. The
Considerations on Slavery are designated simply as those of a "number of different authors"; the Remarks on . . . Liquors, which aims to promote health and happiness rather than directly religious concerns, is attributed by ESTC to Anthony Benezet, as is the volume's last piece, the title of which is taken from its opening lines. Lady Elizabeth Hastings was the original for Aspasia in Steele's "Tatler" and a major donor to Oxford University Queen's College.
Elizabeth Webb, "an acknowledged minister among the people called Quakers," first encountered Prince George of Denmark's chaplain Boehm while on a visit to Great Britain; the missive with which she opened her subsequent correspondence with him, here, greatly inspired him and a number of his friends.
Provenance: With inscription reading "Miss Hannah Amelia Moore / Book a Present from her worthy / Friend Ruth Patton / 1789."
Law: ESTC W32233; Evans 16817; Hildeburn 3987. Webb: ESTC W13440; Evans 18295; Hildeburn 4409. Benezet: ESTC W6416; Evans 18355. Contemporary quarter sheep over paper-covered sides, the whole worn and abraded but the little volume quite sound. Light age-toning, occasional darker spots. Small chip in bottom margin of title-page; one leaf with paper flaw in lower corner, resulting in the loss of a very few letters. (10951)

A Concise Overview for a
Very Special Student Subset
Le Blond, Guillaume. Abregé de geometrie à l'usage des pages de la Grande Ecurie du Roy. Où l'on donne ce qui est le plus nécessaire pour entrer dans l'étude des fortifications. Paris: Joseph Bullot & Jombert, 1737. 12mo (16.9 cm, 6.7"). [4], 162, [6] pp.; 5 fold. plts.
$450.00
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First edition of this introduction to geometry, intended for
young men working in the royal stables who had only scant time available for the study of mathematics. In addition to a mathematician, professor, and contributor to Diderot's Encyclopédie, the author (1704–81) was a scholar of military tactics, responsible for Éléments de tactique and Traité de l'attaque des places among other items.
This now-uncommon textbook is illustrated with five folding engraved plates of diagrams. WorldCat shows
just one U.S. institution (Society of the Cincinnati) reporting a copy, and only a handful of overseas holdings.
Provenance: Title-page with early inked inscription “de Ratzenried” and front pastedown with von Ratzenried armorial bookplate (coat of arms showing greyhounds and a moon with clouds) labelled F.C.V.R.: possibly Franz Carl Anton von und zu Ratzenried.
Contemporary mottled calf, board edges with gilt roll, spine with raised bands, gilt-stamped leather title-label, and compartments gilt extra; light wear overall, edges and joints moderately rubbed. All edges speckled red. Bookplate and inscription as above. Pages with occasional small pencilled marks of emphasis, otherwise clean; one plate with outer edge slightly tattered.
A very nice copy, in contemporary binding, of this scarce practical compendium. (40246)
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“Le Démon de la Discorde”
Le Coz, Claude. Lettre des évêques et prêtres assemblés a Paris en concile national, a leurs frères les évêques et prêtres résidens en France. Paris: L'Imprimerie-Librairie Chrétienne, 1797. 8vo (21 cm, 8.3"). 15, [1] pp.
$100.00
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First edition, untrimmed copy of this essay on pacification and reconciliation, undersigned by the Constitutional bishop of Rennes and six others.WorldCat and NUC Pre-1956 locate only seven U.S. institutional holdings.
Martin & Walter 8746. Folded as issued, never bound, edges uncut. Title-page with paper shelving label in lower inner corner, red-pencilled annotation in upper inner corner, and pencilled monogram in upper outer corner. A few instances of light spotting. (30941)
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People, Obey Your Ministers — Ministers, Do Your Jobs
Le Coz, Claude. Seconde lettre synodique du Concile
national de France, aux pasteurs et aus fidèles, sur divers abus qui se sont introduits dans
quelques paroisses. Paris: De l'Imprimerie-Librairie Chretienne, 1797. 8vo (21.2 cm, 8.4"). [2],
25, [1] pp.
$100.00
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First edition, untrimmed copy: the National Council's examination of the church
schism as it stood in 1797, and particularly of the question of electing ministers. This letter was
issued in the name of Le Coz, Metropolitan bishop of Rennes and president of the Concile
National.Uncommon: WorldCat and NUC Pre-1956 locate only three U.S. institutional holdings.
Simply sewn, edges untrimmed; spine with small split, sewing loosening. Title-page with paper shelving label in lower inner corner and pencilled monogram in upper outer
corner. Minor age-toning and offsetting; final leaf with paper flaw resulting
in shortening of upper outer corner. (30909)
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A Southerner Calls for
ABOLITION in 1767
[Lee, Arthur]. [drop-title] Extract from an address in the Virginia Gazette, of March 19, 1767. [Philadelphia?: Pr. by Joseph Crukshank?, 1780?]. Small 12mo. 4 pp.
$875.00
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"That slavery then is a violation of justice, will plainly appear. . . . Now, as freedom is unquestionably the birth-right of all mankind, Africans as well as Europeans, to keep the former in a state of slavery is a constant violation of that right and therefore of justice." This strong anti-slavery sentiment, addressed to the Virginia Assembly, was first printed outside of the Virginia Gazette in 1767 as an addition to Anthony Benezet's A caution and warning to Great-Britain, and her colonies. Whether it was also issued separately in 1767 is unclear. There were several editions and variants of editions of this work attributed to Arthur Lee on the basis of statements in G.S. Brooke's Friend Anthony Benezet (pp. 301, 332, and 422), and we refer the interested reader to the records of the North American Imprint Project for the decipherment of them.
Evans 16773; Hildeburn, The Issues of the Press in Pennsylvania, 16851784, 4006. Five-digit number stamped above the title; pp. 1 and 2 separated from 3 and 4, and gutter margin repaired, reattaching the halves. Semicircular tear in lower, inside area of all pages, costing a total of 9 or 10 words. (3144)
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Swearing, Loyalty, & Hatred
L'église gallicane au clergé de l'église de Paris, ou lettre de plusieurs administrateurs de diocèses, sur la conduite d'une partie des oratoires de Paris, relativement au serment de haine a la royauté & d'attachement a la constitution de l'an 3. Bruxelles: 1797. 8vo (21.3 cm, 8.4"). 47, [1] pp.
$110.00
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First edition of an angry rebuttal of some reasons given for taking the oath of loyalty imposed after the coup of 18 Fructidor, with the “Regle de conduite des fidèles pendant la nouvelle calamité du sement . . . ” at the back.Uncommon: WorldCat and NUC Pre-1956 locate only three U.S. libraries reporting ownership.
Saricks, I, 385. Removed from a nonce volume, title-page with paper shelving label in lower inner corner, pencilled monogram in upper outer corner and that latter corner curled. Pages age-toned with some dust-soiled; last few leaves with crumpled edges or creased/dog-eared corners. (36788)
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Ancient Dress. 51 Copper-Engraved Plates.
Lens, André Corneille. Le costume ou essai sur les habillements et les usages de plusieurs peuples de l’antiquité, prouvé par les monuments. Liege: Aux dépens de l’auteur, chez J.F. Bassompierre, 1776. 4to (24.9 cm, 9.8"). xxxi, [1], 411, [1] pp.; 51 plts
$1750.00
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First edition: Treatise on ancient dress among the Egyptians, Greeks, Persians, Jews, and Romans, among other peoples. The author, a Flemish artist also known as Andries Cornelis Lens, came to the study of antiquarian clothing by way of his classically inspired focus in painting. Illustrated with 51 copper-engraved plates done by Pitre Martenasie, this is an “Ouvrage estimé” according to Brunet (who seemingly mistakenly cites 57 engravings as opposed to the 51 given by von Lipperheide, described in institutional holdings, and present here).
Brunet, III, 980; Von Lipperheide, Katalog der Freiherrlich von Lipperheide’schen Kostumbibliothek, 105. Contemporary calf, rebacked in complementary style, spine with gilt-stamped leather title and author labels and gilt-stamped compartment decorations; original leather acid-pitted and cracked over edges and extremities. Front pastedown with small bookseller’s ticket from Albany, NY; free endpapers with a few stray pencilled notations. Dedication page with institutional rubber-stamp in lower margin. (19415)

FIRST BIBLIOGRAPHY of
AMERICANA (PLUS)
León Pinelo, Antonio de. Epítome de la bibliotheca oriental, y occidental, nautica, y geográfica ... Añadido y enmendado nuevamente en que se contienen los escritores de las Indias orientales, y occidentales, y reinos convecinos China, Tartaria, Japón, Persia, Armenia, Etiopía y otras partes. Madrid: En la oficina de Francisco Martinez Abad, 1737–38. Folio (30 cm; 11.75"). 3 vols. I: [71], [135], [27] ff. II: [221] ff. III: 202 pp.
$9000.00
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Antonio de León Pinelo (1589–1660) was a Spanish-colonial historian. Born in Cordova de Tucuman and educated at the Jesuit college of Lima, he left the New World for Spain in 1612 and there enjoyed a highly successful career, becoming attorney of the Council of the Indies and later a judge in the Casa de Contratacion in Seville.
His Epitome was originally published in Madrid in 1629 and is here in the second edition as
enlarged and annotated by Andres Gonzalez de Barcia: It was the first bibliography for the field of Americana and to this day
it remains an important source for scholars and collectors of the colonial era of the New World for its wealth of bibliographic data and most especially information about manuscripts.
Rich says of this edition that it is, “The most complete general bibliography of geographical works, travels, missionary reports, etc.” And LeClerc echoes him: “ouvrage extremement important pour la bibliographie americaine.”
The work is handsomely printed (although erratic in its pagination and signature markings), in double-column format, featuring title-pages in black and red with an engaging small engraved vignette of a ship between pillars reading “Plus” and “Ultra.”
Provenance: Ownership stamp of Carlos Sanz in several places.
Sabin 40053; Palau 135738; Alden & Landis 737/135; Medina, BHA, 3071; Borba de Moraes, II, 150; LeClerc 872. Contemporary vellum over pasteboards, a little soiled especially to spnes, retaining button and loop closures; hinges (inside) open in a few places but bindings strong. Occasional waterstain or other sign of exposure to dampness; a few gutter margins (only) of first volume with a short wormtrack; some cockling of paper. (34810)
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One Side (Entire) of an
Enlightenment Debate
Lessing, Gotthold Ephraim. Anti-Goeze ... D.i. Nothgedrungener beytraege zu den Freywilligen beytraegen des hrn. past. Goeze. Braunschweig: [Waisenhausbuchhandlung], 1778. Small 8vo (17.5 cm; 7"). 11 numbers in one volume, each 16 pp.
$2200.00
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Lessing was one of the fathers of German Idealism during the Enlightenment and among other things is remembered for having provided “the foundation of a modern philosophy of religion” (Yasukata, Lessing's Philosophy of Religion and the German Enlightenment, p. 89). Johann Melchior Goeze (1717–86), a contemporary of Lessing, was a spiritual leader of the Lutheran Church in Germany and familiar with literature; he took up writing histories and apologetics and, because of their differing views on religion and ideals of the Enlightenment, he and Lessing entered into a debate.
While the two are said to have remained cordial, the debate was so “bitter” that the Duke of Brunswick (Lessing's supporter) “intervened, silencing Lessing” (Oxford Companion to German Literature, 2nd ed., p. 554)!
Printed here are Lessing's portions of the eleven exchanges in that debate.
Goedeke, IV, 447; Holzmann 2383. Recent boards covered in brown paper specked with black in the style of the era; age-toning and some dampstaining, not beyond “typical.” Overall, a good copy of a complete set of Lessing's eleven arguments. (33323)
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To Talleyrand, on Behalf of
the Insulted Catholic Church
Lettre a M. Talleyrand, ancien evéque d'Autun, chef de la communion des Talleyrandistes, sur son rapport concernant l'admission égale & indéfinie de tous les cultes religieux. Paris: Chez les Marchands de Nouveautés, 1791. 8vo (21.8 cm, 8.6"). [2], 70 pp.
$400.00
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First edition, with errata on the title-page verso: This address to Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord was written in response to his report “Liberté des cultes religieux,” made to the Assemblée nationale constituante's Comité de constitution on May 7, 1791, regarding the Civil Constitution of the Clergy. There was also a Chez Dufresne printing later in the same year.
Uncommon: WorldCat and NUC Pre-1956 locate only four U.S. institutional holdings of this first edition.
This ed. not in Martin & Walter (cf. IV 2: 8376). Sewn, never bound; title-page with affixed paper shelving label in lower inner corner, not touching text, and with pencilled monogram in upper outer corner. Page edges untrimmed and somewhat ragged; top edges mostly unopened; dust-soiling to outer leaves and untrimmed edges, with corners of a good many untriummed leaves turned in.
A nice copy. (36785).
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The French Refugees Write Home
Lettre des prêtres Catholiques déportés, adressée à leurs
bienfaiteurs. [1799]. 8vo (20.3 cm, 8"). 16 pp.
$75.00
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Scarce pamphlet
from the clergy in exile, addressed to N.T.C.F. (“nos très chers
frères”) and counseling patience and faithfulness.
Uncommon: WorldCat and NUC Pre-1956 locate only two U.S. institutional holdings.
Removed from a nonce volume. Title-page with affixed paper shelving label in lower inner corner and pencilled monogram in upper outer portion. Pages age-toned with a few light spots. (30814)
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entering the number 16244
as keyword calls up *many* more
FRENCH REVOLUTION, FIRST REPUBLIC
PAMPHLETS!

A Very Large University Broadside
Printed on SILK
Linares Montefrio y Martinez, Evaristo. Broadside. Begins, Excmo. domino ac semper domino meo, D. Josepho Moñino, comiti de Florida Blanca ... Exoptat hihi iam diu illuxit dies ... quo publicum oc non tantum mei in studiies, profectus, verum etiam grati animi significationes testimonium exhiberem. Toleti [i.e., Toledo]: apud Nicolaum de Almanzano, typographum universitatis, 1782. Folio (76 x 57 cm, 31" x 22.5" ). [1] p.
$5500.00
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On 19 June 1782 at the Universidad de Toledo, Linares Montefrio stood to defend his Bachelor's degree and this
letterpress broadside on rose-colored silk was the official announcement of that test. The oral examination centered on Justinian's Institutes, specifically book three, title 26.
It is handsomely printed using several point sizes of roman and italic, with center justification in the top portion and full justification below. Around the printed area are wide margins on the four sides, which margins contain
16 large, crisp, evenly spaced impressions of the city of Toledo's double-headed eagle, with crown above, sword in its right talon and mace in its left.
Broadsides were an important source of income for handpress-era printers in Europe and Spanish America and the printers offered “package deals” to the families of the graduate and post-graduate degree postulants; the packages were geared to the students' families' economic means. Broadsides could be large (folio) or small (8vo), have an engraving or not, have a border of type ornaments or not, and be printed on standard paper or colored paper (usually blue); if one splurged, one could get the announcement printed, as here, on silk. The usual total number of copies printed for each candidate is unknown at this time, but is likely to have been only one or two dozen, and we also don't know if more than one silk copy was printed when that top option was in fact ordered. In extravagant cases, one can imagine one for the degree candidate, one for the parents, one for each godparent, etc.; still, such cases would probably have been few.
Certainly, the printers would have been willing to rake in as much money as possible, on each happy occasion, and these richly beautiful silk mementos — doubtless proudly displayed for years going forward in homes or offices — would have been excellent ongoing advertisements. Equally clearly, however, the number of copies of all of the defense broadsides surviving is small, and
the survival of those on silk is very small.
No copies of this broadside are traced via the usual bibliographies, nor via NUC, WorldCat, COPAC, KVK, CCPB, or the OPACs of University of Toledo and the national library of Spain.
Rose-colored silk, with old folds; sun-fading variously and rather attractively approaching pinks and apricots. Sides “accented” by an attractive retained green and white selvage edge; bottom edge hemmed and top one, possibly once so, now with fraying and a bit of ravelling; near the broadside's center, a round hole costs six letters.
Still, at 230+ years old, frankly gorgeous. (39844)
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Linnaeus on Plants, in French — First Appearance
Linné, Carl von; Nicolas Jolyclerc, trans. Systême sexuel de végétaux, suivant les classes, les ordres, les genres et les espèces, avec les caractères et les différences. Paris: Chez Ronvaux, 1798. 8vo (20 cm, 7.87"). [6], 789, [1] pp.
[SOLD]
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First edition in French of Linnaeus's pioneering work of plant taxonomy, Systema vegetabilium. The translation of the text — which had in its original incarnation formed a part of the Systema natura before being revised and published separately — was done by Nicolas Jolyclerc, based on the “fifteenth edition” edited by Murray and Persoon. Jolyclerc (1746 –1817) was a clergyman who left the Church in favor of a career as a botanist and who gave lectures and published works by himself and others on the subject, becoming anecdotally famous for having offended a group of young female students (plus their mothers) by describing the reproductive organs of plants in class. The volume opens with the poem “Au Grand Linné,” written by Jolyclerc; while it closes with a notice describing a second volume (to include a table cross-referencing the systems of Tournefort and Jussieu with that of Linnaeus, among other items), no such follow-up appears to have been published.
Americana contents include
many New World plants such as yucca, New World sunflower (baltimora), potato (solanum), tomato (solanum lycopersicum), and cacao (theobroma)
Provenance: From the residue of the stock of the F. Thomas Heller bookselling firm (est. ca. 1928).
Johnston, Cleveland Herbal, Botanical, and Horticultural Collections, 642. Contemporary mottled calf, covers framed in single blind rule, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label and elaborate gilt-tooled foliate compartment decorations between raised bands; rubbed and scuffed with spine head chipped and otherwise spine least affected, front joint and spine with snall areas of worming. First and last pages with offsetting to margins; otherwise scattered spots of foxing only and the volume otherwise clean.
A solid, in fact attractive copy. (40660)
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[Lloyd, Charles]. An examination of the principles and boasted disinterestedness of a late Right Honourable gentleman. In a letter from an old man of business, to a noble lord. London: J. Almon, 1766. 8vo (20.5 cm, 8.1"). 34, [2 (adv.)] pp.
[bound with] Short considerations vpon some late extraordinary grants. And other particvlars of a late patriot’s condvct. London: J. Almon, 1766. [2], 5–31, [3 (adv.)] pp.
$475.00
Two examples of Pitt-related political criticism. An early hand has identified the title characters of the first piece as, respectively, Pitt, Temple, and North, although ESTC considers the “old man of business” to be Lloyd himself; the second piece, which is signed by “A Detester of Jobbs under all Administrations,” focuses entirely on Pitt’s recent creation as Earl of Chatham and his alleged abandonment of the cause of the common man.
Examination: ESTC T33662; Sabin 41680. Short Considerations: ESTC T48138. Removed from a nonce volume and now in a Mylar folder; sewing mostly gone with last few leaves separated. Title-page with small numerical stamp and both early and later inked notations; inner margin of first text page with institutional stamp; pages otherwise clean. Collation of second piece matches other recorded holdings. (6071)

Locke's
Personal Correspondence
Locke, John. Some familiar letters between Mr. Locke,
and several of his friends. London: A. & J. Churchill, 1708. 8vo (19 cm, 7.5"). [4], 540 pp.
$1000.00
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First edition of the first official collection of Locke's letters: “Not only such civil
and polite conversation as friendship produces among men of parts, learning and candour; but
several matters relating to literature, and more particularly to Mr. Locke's notions, in his Essay
concerning Human Understanding, and in some of his other works,” p. iii. Both sides of the
exchanges are present, with correspondents including William Molyneux, Thomas Molyneux,
Richard Burridge, and Philipp van Limborch; a number of letters are in Latin, and a few in
French.
ESTC T117287; Pforzheimer 611. Period-style calf,
covers framed and panelled in gilt rolls with gilt-stamped corner fleurons and central decoration,
spine with with gilt-stamped leather title-label, gilt-ruled raised bands, and gilt-stamped
compartment decorations. Title-page with early inked ownership inscription (William R.
Williams) in upper outer corner; preface with early inked initials in upper corners, partially
effaced, resulting in small holes to upper outer corner (touching two letters of text without
obscuring sense). Occasional early inked corrections and annotations; partial topical index filling
final blank. One leaf with short tear from upper margin not extending into text, another with
portion of lower foremargin torn away just touching (but not really “affecting”) print; scattered
light smudges and a handful of pages with old marginal stains, ink-drop to fore-edge (closed) in
Latin section, otherwise clean. (30851)
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The Dedication Has
NOT Been Removed — The Folio EXTRA Format
Longinus. [title in Greek, romanized as] Dionysiou Logginou [sic] peri hypsous. Parmae: In Aedibus Palatinos Typis Bodonianis, 1793. Folio extra (43 cm, 17"). [1] f., xxviii, 113, [1 (blank)] pp.; [1 (blank)] f., [1] f., 89, [1 (blank)] pp. Lacks the initial blank and final blank.
$7500.00
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One of only two Bodoni editions of De Sublimitate, the other being the 1793 printing in quarto format. It is printed on laid paper with a Latin translation following the Greek text, each with a separate title.
Brooks reports “Copie 15 in carta sopraffina e 15 in carta d’Anonnay.” Brunet says the dedication to the pope “a été supprimée dans beaucoup d’exemplaires”; it is present here.
Binding: Contemporary navy morocco, spine with six raised bands — an ornate gilt fleuron decoration in five compartments and gilt lettering in two. The covers are decorated with a gilt center panel of rectilinear and curved tooling that is framed by a thicker blind-tooled and a single-ruled gilt border. The board edges are tooled with a gilt double fillet and the turn-ins with a lacy gilt tulip-like motif. All edges are gilt, endpapers marbled.
A lovely, solid binding.
Provenance: On the front pastedown, the bookplate of Brian Douglas Stilwell.
Searches of NUC and WorldCat locate only four U.S. libraries reporting ownership of this edition (Harvard, Kansas, University of Texas-HRHRC, Princeton Theological).
Brooks 507; Giani 44 (pp. 47–48). Binding as above, rubbing to extremities and to spine/joints; somewhat noticeable scrape to length of front board and bump to bottom edge, very small spot of discoloration to top edge of front board, small scrape to rear board and rubbing to fore-edge. Without the initial and final blanks (i.e., two blank leaves total). Provenance marks as above; occasional light foxing to leaves, interior otherwise in very nice condition. (40159)
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