
ARCHITECTURE
[
]
“Large Scale” in Several Respects . . .
62 Engravings & Bedford Bound WESTMINSTER ABBEY
A Classic of English Antiquarianism, Illustration,
& Book-Making
(Absolutely
Classic of Its Kind). Brayley,
Edward Wedlake. The history and antiquities
of the abbey church of St. Peter, Westminster: Including notices and biographical
memoirs of the abbots and deans of that foundation. London: J.P. Neale for Longman,
Hurst, Rees, Orme, & Brown, 1818–23. Folio (37.9 cm, 14.9"). 2 vols.
I: [18], 227, [19], 72, [10] pp.; 13 plts. II: [2], 304, [40] pp.; 49 plts.
$2250.00
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mouse-over, for an enlargement.
First edition, illustrated with a total of 62 engraved plates. Allibone describes Brayley “a laborious and accurate topographer”; he compiled and edited a wide range of works with titles featuring assorted Beauties, Picturesques, Histories, Antiquities, etc. The present work provides a history of Westminster Abbey and some of its associated luminaries, along with extensive descriptions of its architecture, sculptures, and paintings. The illustrator who portrayed many of the above, John Preston Neale, was an architectural draftsman and landscape painter “best remembered for his views of the nation's country houses, churches, and public buildings,” according to the Oxford DNB.
Binding: By Francis Bedford, signed, in dark brown morocco done between 1851 and 1880, covers framed and panelled in ornate gilt rolls with gilt-stamped corner fleurons and midpoint decoration. Spines gilt extra with gilt-stamped leather title and volume labels. Board edges gilt-tooled with triple fillets, turn-ins with gilt-tooled rolls and corner fleurons. All edges gilt. Stamped “F. Bedford” on lower front turn-in.
Provenance: Each front pastedown with armorial bookplate of William Arthur, sixth Duke of Portland.
NSTC 2B46491; Allibone 240; Brunet, II, 1215. Binding as above, minor shelf wear to lower edges and corners, vol. I with front board expertly reattached and with small dent to outer edge of front cover. Joints delicate, due to size and weight of volumes, but holding. A few pages and plates with faint foxing, otherwise clean. (24100)

First Edition of a CLASSIC Building Shapes EFFICIENTLY
Alberti, Giuseppe Antonio. Trattato della misura delle fabbriche nel quale oltre la misura di tutte le superficie comuni si da ancora la misura di tutte le specie di Volte, e d'ogni specie di solido, che possa occorrere nella misura di esse. Venezia: appresso Giambattista Recurti, 1757. 8vo (21.4 cm; 8.5"). Engr. frontis. port., xxxii, 279, [3] pp., XXXVIII plts.
$550.00
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First edition of an important work on stereometry — meaning the volume measurement of solid figures — as it relates to architecture, from an influential Bolognese architect and mathematical writer who also invented his own land surveying tools.
The text has been expertly set to include both complicated and extended formulas and is complete with
37 full-page plates and one folding engraved plate depicting the various measurements and angles to be taken into consideration when building with various shapes. Alberti uses the research of other architects and theoreticians — including Jousse, Blondel, Sangallo, Parent, La Hire, and Varignon — in the explanations of various mathematical problems.
Binding: Original cartonné binding; title inked on spine, text untrimmed and partially unopened.
Catalogo ragionato dei libri d’arte e d’antichità posseduti dal conte Cicognara, 389; Riccardi, P. Biblioteca matematica italiana, vol. I, col. 16–7. Bound as above, gently rubbed with squiggle of wormtracking through front board and first leaves including half title/frontispiece, portrait, and title-page, with delicate repairs thereto. Two central sections with light staining to upper outer corners, as of old, very light blue ink; some late leaves with slim crescent of old and likewise light waterstain just into top margins; two leaves with limited in-press ink smears (and a few mispaginations). Nice copy of an important work. (37209)

With a
Great Engraved Plate
Becerra Moreno, Juan. Relacion del funeral entierro, y exequias de el Illmo. Sr. Dr. D. Manuel Rubio y Salinas, Arzobispo que fuè de esta Santa Iglesia Metropolitana de Mexico. Mexico: En la Imprenta del Real, y mas antiguo Colegio de S. Ildefonso, 1776. Small 4to (20.5 cm; 8"). [5] ff., 155, [1] pp., fold. plt.
$6875.00
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From January 1748 until his death in early July 1765 Manuel Rubio y Salinas served as archbishop of Mexico City, a period that coincided nicely with the rebirth of the Mexican mining industry and the creation of great wealth, new secular and ecclesiastical establishments, and a building boom in the viceregal capital. Rubio and the Church benefitted from the new wealth in significant material ways, but social justice concerns and religious duties were always high on the bishop's list of things requiring his attention, as demonstrated for example in
his leadership in securing the 1754 papal declaration making Our Lady of Guadalupe the patron saint of New Spain.
When Rubio died, the entire viceregal capital turned its energy to commemorating him, much of which is summarized in this volume. It includes a Spanish-language account of the archbishop's last days, his death, and burial (pp. 1–87), followed by Pedro Jose Rodriquez de Arizpe's Latin-language funeral oration (“Maximum occidentis sidus. Ilmus, nempe d. doct. Emmanuel Josephus Rubio, et Salinas . . . In cujus solemni funere quinto idus octobris ann. MDCCLXV, declamabat p. doct. Petrus Josephus Rodriguez, et Arizpe,” pp. 87–112), and ending with Cayetano Antonio de Torres's Spanish-language funeral sermon (pp. 115–51).
The Spanish-language account of the burial includes
a detailed description of the funeral monument (i.e., cenotaph) that the city erected for the archbishop, including the inscriptions and epigrams that were by F.J. Alegre. Following the last page of the text, there is
a large folding engraved plate by Manuel Villavicencio after the design of the monument by Miguel Cabrera, “pintor americano.” The engraving is detailed, exquisite, and includes a measure of scale.
A good source for the study of Mexican colonial architecture, commemorative ceremonies, and treatment of and thinking about death.
Palau 6584; Medina, Mexico, 5067; DeBacker-Sommervogel, I, 153. Contemporary vellum with remnants of ties; spine damaged with loss to hungry rodents not affecting paper. Two short tears in margin of folding plate, well away from image.
A very clean, very good copy. (36410)

Celebrating the Pope's Visit to Bologna — Illustrations by Guido Reni
Benacci, Vittorio, pub.; Guido Reni, illus. Descrittione de gli apparati fatti in Bologna per la venuta di N.S. Papa Clemente VIII. & insieme di essa venuta, & dimora di sua beatitudine in detta citta. [colophon: Bologna: Per Vittorio Benacci], 1599. 4to (22.5 cm, 8.8"). [28] pp.; illus. (lacking signature C, including 4 plts.).
$8000.00
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Uncommon festival book commemoration of Pope Clement VIII's ceremonial entrance into Bologna in 1598, depicting the arches and other architectural features designed by the celebrated painter Guido Reni for the pope's visit. The five full-page images were copper-engraved from Reni's vividly rendered sketches of his own designs, with an additional vignette of the arms of Bologna on the title-page and Benacci's printer's device on the final page. Complete copies of this work are seldom encountered and, while the present example is lacking signature C (including four plates), it still offers
five lively, engaging views of significant architectural, artistic, and Catholic interest. This is the second edition, following the first of the previous year.
Evidence of readership: Six pages towards the end of the work bear marginal notes in early, neatly inked Italian.
Provenance: From the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.
Brunet, I, 768 (for 1598 ed.); Cicognara, I, 1402 (for 1598 ed.); EDIT16 CNCE 5106; Mortimer, Italian 16th Century Books, 50. 18th-century mottled calf, framed and panelled in blind with blind-tooled corner fleurons, spine with gilt-stamped title and board edges with blind roll; leather almost entirely sueded. Later endpapers (watermarked “Chantry”). Lacking one signature and four plates, including one folding. Last few leaves annotated as above, some notes shaved. Imperfect and so priced; still, both attractive and worthy of study. (37836)

Embossed Architectural Binding — EXCELLENT Condition
Bible. English. Authorized (i.e., “King James Version”). 1831. The Holy Bible, containing the Old and New Testaments: Translated out of the original tongues: and with the former translations diligently compared and revised, by His Majesty's special command. Oxford: Pr. at the University Press by Samuel
Collingwood & Co., 1831. 24mo. [528] ff.
$1150.00
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A lovely gift Bible, presented in the 19th century to one James Henry Newman by five members of his immediate family.
Binding: Contemporary embossed rich cordovan-colored morocco cathedral binding featuring inter alii the Holy Ghost (in Pentacostal dove–form), the Agnus Dei, and stained/leaded glass “windows” both pointed and rosette. Spine additionally with gilt-stamped title; turn-ins with blind-roll design. All edges brightly gilt.
Not in Herbert. Binding as above, in beautiful condition. First front fly-leaf with early inked familial gift inscription (including an explanation of one brother's having opted out of the group present!); second front fly-leaf with inked dedicatory poem. (22266)

Ribbon–Embossed Binding / Historical Architecture
Bloxam, Matthew Holbeche. A glimpse at the monumental architecture and sculpture of Great Britain, from the earliest period to the eighteenth century. London: W. Pickering [Leicester: Printed by Thomas Combe, Junior], 1834. 8vo (20 cm, 7.8"). xv, [1], 291, [1] pp.; 2 plts.
$125.00
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First edition of an architectural history book from an author known for writings that are “eminently readable, factual, informative, well structured, and certainly less opinionated than those of many of his contemporaries” (ODNB). The work progresses chronologically, starting with the Celtic and Belgic Britons, in its descriptions of monuments throughout British history to the end of the 17th century, and is illustrated with
two double-sided full-page plates of priestly garments and 55 in-text illustrations — mostly from original drawings. Also included are a wood-engraved title-page vignette and, at end, a grinning-skull memento mori (with French motto) and the printer's device, the two latter executed by Jewitt and the last designed by “T. Williment” [i.e., Willement].
Binding: Dark brownish purple ribbon–embossed cloth, printed paper spine label. Bookcloth is Krupp style Ft19.
Provenance: Small bookplate of T. Davison of Scarborough at front; most recently in the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.
NSTC 2B38425. Not in Kelly, Checklist of Books Published by William Pickering, nor Keynes, William Pickering (rev. ed.). On binding cloth, see: Krupp, Bookcloth in England and America, 1823–50, p. 72. On Bloxam, see: DNB (online), source of the quotation above. Binding as above, a little cocked with spine and edges of covers sunned; extremities, rear joint, and corners chipped with spine label quite so. Bookplates as above. Pages very slightly cockled, with light age-toning and the occasional speck; faint foxing around the plates. One pencilled correction in text.
Interesting reading! (39455)

Capturing an Age
One Biography at a Time
[Clarke]. The Georgian era: Memoirs of the most eminent persons, who have flourished in Great Britain, from the accession of George the First to the demise of George the Fourth. London: Vizetelly, Branston, & Co., 1832–34. 8vo (19.5 cm, 7.65"). 4 vols. I: Frontis., 582 pp.; 12 plts. II: Frontis., [2], 588 pp. III: Frontis., [2], 588 pp. IV: Frontis., 588 pp.
$450.00
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First
edition: Concise
yet entertainingly anecdote-laden biographies recounting the accomplishments
and characters (foibles and all) of the most prominent figures of the age: nobles,
churchmen, politicians, dissenters, military and naval officers, jurists, physicians,
voyagers and travelers, scientists, writers, economists,
architects,
artists and musicians, etc. All the expectable princesses, duchesses, and countesses
are present, along with a handful of women represented in other categories —
the preponderance falling under the “Vocal Performers” and “Actors”
headings.
The first volume is illustrated with
12
plates each offering four rows
of small portraits, some intriguingly expressive; each volume opens with an
engraved frontispiece portrait of a royal George.
NSTC 2C23867. Recent textured maroon cloth, spines with
gilt-stamped black leather title and volume labels; title-pages institutionally
pressure- (not rubber-) stamped. Scattered light spots of staining,
pages generally clean; first few leaves of voI. \ II with outer margins chipped.
A
hefty, substantive evocation of Georgian life and times. (30012)

A Celebration of Fine Education — Inscribed by the Author
Cunningham, Frank H. Familiar sketches of the Phillips Exeter Academy and surroundings. Boston: James R. Osgood & Co., 1883. 8vo (20.1 cm; 7.875"). xiv, 360 pp. illus.
$200.00
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First edition and inscribed by the author. One of the oldest secondary schools in the United States is celebrated in this handsome, illustrated volume; first established in 1781 in New Hampshire, Phillips Exeter Academy is known for its conference-style classes and professed tradition of diversity.
Over 20 illustrations of buildings, interiors, and portraits illustrate the beauty of the campus and its history, many offering two images (or more) per plate leaf (with a tissue guard). A fold-out “Table of Athletic Tournaments” listing events from 1874 to 1881 is also included.
Binding: Original brown cloth with beveled edges, stamped in gilt and black with gilt lettering to front board and spine; gilt vignette of the Academy to front board.
Provenance: Cunningham, an affectionate and appreciative graduate of the Academy, has inscribed the front free endpaper
“With the compliments of the author, 6/22, '83.” Later in the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.
Extremities lightly rubbed, minor bumping; gilt bright on spine and brighter on cover.
Very nice, clean copy “personalized” by the author. (37760)

“To Toiling Millions, Whose Means are Small, Yet Whose
Desires are Great to Possess a Home . . .”
Dwyer, Charles P. Economic cottage builder: or, Cottages for men of small means. Buffalo: Wanzer, McKim & Co., 1856. 8vo (23.3 cm, 9.125"). [2], 127, [1] pp.; 32 plts.
[SOLD]
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For the handy 19th-century American in need of a home but without the means to consult a professional (“and yet whose tastes are as worthy of being gratified”), an
architectural handbook for building one's own cottage on a humble budget. Charles P. Dwyer (ca. 1815 – ca. 1880), an architect and writer, emigrated to North America from Ireland and had moved to Buffalo, NY, by 1847. He subsequently began to publish architectural advice books for people with limited advantages among other works.
Log cabins, plank buildings, and double cottages are a few of the thoughtfully “economic” buildings Dwyer advises for “men of small means.” The materials he suggests are “adapted to every locality” and affordable for dwellers of each neighborhood. The manual is illustrated with
32 black-and-white plates (including an added lithographed title-page), 23 of which represent Dwyer's cottages, the other eight being plans for their designs. The lithographs are by Compton, of Buffalo.
Binding: Publisher's brown cloth with gilt lettering and foliate decoration to spine; deep blind-stamped triple-ruled and foliate border on front board framing stylized gilt title and cottage centerpiece; rear board identical to front board but with centerpiece in blind. Saffron endpapers.
Provenance: On front free endpaper, 20th-century signature of “Wm. B. Goodwin, M.I.T.” A rubber-stamp from the Lowell Historical Society appears on the front pastedown and on the top and bottom edge.
Hitchcock, American architectural books . . . portfolios, and pamphlets . . . published in America before 1895, 389. Bound as above; rubbing to extremities, small tears at spine head, minor coppery discoloration to gilt on front board. Provenance stamp and signature as above; age-toned edges and minor to moderate foxing throughout interior.
Sound and unassuming and more than respectable, much like its target audience. (38084)

Speaking Engagement — Restoration Appeal
Farrar, Frederick William. Autograph Letter Signed to unidentified recipient. Westminster, England: 20 April [between 1876 and 1883]. 12mo (18 cm; 7"), 4 pp.
$40.00
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Farrar served as rector at St. Margaret's Church, Westminster, and later as Dean of Canterbury, and he was author of the once-famous novel for boys, Eric, or Little by Little. He writes this correspondent, a member of an unnamed society, that he believes he will be able to speak at a meeting, and asks aid in raising funds to restore St. Margaret's — which needs (and in his tenure got) substantial, expensive TLC.
On stationery imprinted “17, Dean’s Yard, Westminster, S.W.”
Provenance: Ex–Allyn K. Ford Collection, Minnesota Historical Society, recently deaccessioned.
Written in a clear hand, with some abbreviations. Evidence of old mounting. (33766)

Counting to Six — One of
65 Copies
Hill, Jennifer. Overpass. Six drawings. [Florence, MA]: Kat Ran Press, 2001. Folio (35.8 cm, 14.2"). [6] pp.; 6 plts.
$175.00
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First edition of the first Kat Ran “number book”: six drawings by Hill, illustrating the numbers one through six with images of imaginary structures. The images were printed from plates made at Wild Carrot Letterpress, with
additional hand embellishments made by the artist. The Gill Sans types were cast by Michael and Winifred Bixler, and composed and printed at Kat Ran on Twinrocker papers.
This is numbered copy 31 of only 65 copies printed (50 numbered, 15 lettered),
signed by the artist at the colophon.
The publisher's prospectus is laid in.
Publisher's cream-grey paper wrappers, front wrapper with title printed in dark brown. Very clean and crisp. (32691)

A Builder's Vade Mecum
Hoppus, E. Hoppus's tables for measuring made easy to the meanest capacity, a new set of tables: Which shew at sight, the solid content of any piece of timber ... the superficial content of boards, glass painting ... with some very curious observations concerning measuring. London: Printed for J. Johnson, R. Baldwin, F & C. Rivington, [et al.], 1809. Very tall 12mo (21 cm, 8.25"). lii, 214 pp.; [1] folded plt., tables.
[SOLD]
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“The fifteenth edition, greatly improved”; early 19th-century edition of this famous measuring guide for builders by Hoppus, Surveyor to the Corporation of the London Assurance. First published in 1736 with the title Practical Measuring Now Made Easy to the Meanest Capacity by a New Set of Tables Ready Calculated After a Plain, Easy and Correct Method, this practical measuring guide continued through various editions after Hoppus's death in 1739. Vertical in format and so suitable for tucking into a (large) pocket, it was a ready reference for builders and others in the building and related trades.
Contemporary plain sheep; front joint (outside) split but board strongly held. A good, nice copy
with its frontispiece plate present. (39840)
Ireland, Samuel. Picturesque views on the river Thames, from its source in Glocestershire to the Nore; with observations on the public buildings and other works of art in its vicinity. London: T. & J. Egerton, 1792. 4to (25 cm, 9.8"). 2 vols. I: Add. engr. t.-p., xvi, 209, [3] pp.; 1 map, 27 plts., illus. II: Add. engr. t.-p., viii (incl. t.-p.), 258, [4] pp.; 1 map, 25 plts., illus.
$1875.00
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mouse-over, for an enlargement.
First edition of Ireland’s guidebook to the architectural, botanical, artistic, and historical pleasures to be found along the Thames, featuring assorted poetical digressions as well as descriptions of the splendor of Blenheim Castle and other castles and manors, the disrepair of London Bridge, and paintings by Rubens and Holbein. The two volumes are copiously illustrated with
52 aquatint plates engraved by C. Apostool after drawings by Ireland, 2 maps, and
a number of in-text cuts.
ESTC T2691; Abbey, Scenery, 430. Period-style quarter calf over marbled paper–covered sides, spines with gilt-stamped leather title and author labels, gilt-ruled raised bands, and gilt-stamped decorations in compartments. Versos only of half-titles, title-pages, and a few other leaves stamped by a now-defunct institution. Plates lightly to moderately spotted, with some instances of light offsetting to pages around plates. Pages faintly age-toned, with edges untrimmed; one leaf with lower outer corner torn away, not touching text.
This supplies both handsome, interesting pictures and good, now quaint reading. (15107)
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.

“America Underfoot”
Landreau, Anthony N. America underfoot: A history of floor coverings from colonial times to the present. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, 1976. Small 4to. ix, [1 (blank)], 76, [2 (blank)] pp.; illus.
$22.00
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Silver Egg Cutters, Linen Doilies, & Frappé Tables: Necessities!
Lansdown, Lillian B. How to prepare and serve a meal. Interior decoration. New York: Social Mentor Publications, © 1922. 8vo. 64 pp.
[SOLD]
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First edition: Formal serving arrangements and menu suggestions for households that make regular use of waitstaff and butler's pantries, serve squab breasts at luncheon, and accept that offering fruit at breakfast requires finger bowls on the table — while still needing a reminder that to include a salad at a formal afternoon tea is “to commit a social solecism” (p. 32). One chapter is titled “Outside the Eighteenth Amendment,” and describes
the appropriate serving methods for various wines and liqueurs: menus are offered for Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Lent; the last six chapters are dedicated to general principles of home decorating.
This is the original edition and
not a modern reprint.
Bitting 273; Brown, Culinary Americana, 2914. Publisher's blue paper wrappers, front wrapper giving title-page information (and the original price, $2.00). Pages slightly age-toned, otherwise clean.
A delightfully aspirational read. (33413)

A Treasure Trove of Information
Historical *&* Commercial — BATH, 1884
Peach, R. E. Historic houses In Bath and their associations. [Second Series]. London: Simpkin, Marshall & Co.; & Bath: R. E. Peach, 1884. Square 4to (22 cm; 8.75"). Frontis., [2] ff., 158 pp., [11 (ads)] ff.
$45.00
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Brimming with information on literary and other association information. Old Manor House (Claverton) and Kingston House (Bradford-on-Avon) are illustrated, the latter by a
tipped-in photograph. The eleven leaves of advertisements at the rear are entirely for businesses in Bath.
Binding: Publisher's brown cloth, gilt-and black-stamped.
A little spotting, a little shaken; a good++ copy. (34001)

The New French Classicism — Le nouveau classicisme français
Perrault, Claude. Ordonnance des cinq especes de colonnes selon la methode des anciens. Paris: Jean Baptiste Coignard, 1683. Folio (37.3 cm, 14.75"). [8], xxvii, [1], 124 pp.; 6 plts.
$2850.00
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First edition of this influential treatise on the five orders of classical architecture, written by the physician and scientist generally credited with the design of the eastern façade of the Louvre. Perrault's theory of proportion introduced a lasting debate over ideas of positive and arbitrary beauty.
In addition to the
six leaves of plates done by Pierre Le Pautre, Louis de Chastillon, and Sebastien Le Clerc, the work is illustrated with several in-text uses of a woodcut diagram comparing the five types, as well as a title-page vignette of the arms of Louis XIV and a distinctively rendered headpiece (signed by Chastillon) of the Colbert serpent coat of arms supported by a dog and a unicorn.And yes, Claude was related to (brother, in fact, of) Charles Perrault, the fabulist and reteller of the Cinderella story and other tales.
Brunet, IV, 507; Graesse, V, 207; Cicognara, I, 607. Contemporary speckled calf, spine with gilt-stamped title and compartment decorations, board edges with gilt roll; joints and extremities carefully and unobtrusively repaired and refurbished, edge gilt rubbed. Pages slightly age-toned, with scattered spots; last few leaves with margins a bit darkened. Small area of pinhole worming to outer margins, not touching text (three plates each with tiny portion of one line touched); some instances nicely refurbished with long-fiber tissue.
A clean, wide-margined, attractive copy of an attractive book. (33221)

By a “Past Master of the Lodge of Antiquity Acting
by Immemorial Constitution”
Preston, William. Illustrations of masonry. Alexandria [VA]: Cottom & Stewart, 1804. 12mo (17 cm, 6.7"). 560 (i.e., 360) pp. (pagination erratic).
$425.00
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Much-read, oft-printed history of Freemasonry, here in
the uncommon “first American — from the tenth London edition,” per the title-page, which according to Walgren almost certainly preceded the “first American improved” edition of the same year. Preston (1742–1818) was a Scottish author and editor whose research into Masonic instruction and traditions led him both to publishing this work (originally, in 1772) and also to becoming deeply involved in the schism between the Ancients and the Moderns.
Following the history — which includes architectural discussion of various Masonic buildings — is “A Collection of Odes, Anthems, and Songs.”
Sabin 65383; Shaw & Shoemaker 7115; Walgren, Freemasonry, 823. Contemporary mottled sheep, rebacked with speckled sheep, spine with gilt-stamped leather title and author labels and gilt-ruled raised bands; original leather moderately worn and stained. Front fly-leaf with pencilled ownership inscription dated 1850. Pages age-toned, with occasional mild foxing and a handful of small, early pencilled marks of emphasis.
A solid copy of the probable first U.S. appearance of a work that made quite a splash among those curious about the Masons. (40392)

Lima Mourns Charles III — Engraving by Vazquez — A RARE Type of Volume
from an
Interesting Press
Rico, Juan. Reales exequias, que por el fallecimiento del señor don Carlos III, rey de España y de las Indias, mando celebrar en la ciudad de Lima. Lima: En la Imprenta Real de los Niños Expósitos, 1789. Folio. [2] ff., 169, [1 (blank)] pp., [1] f., 50 pp., fold. plt.
[SOLD]
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Fr. Rico, an Oratorian, describes the memorial services in Lima on the occasion of the death of King Carlos III, as well as the commemorative art work and its Neo-Latin epigraphs. Fray Bernardo Rueda's “Oracion funebre que en las solemnes exequias del Rey nuestro señor don Carlos III” has a sectional title-page and its own pagination.
The folding plate is of
the funeral monument erected in the king's memory. It is an extremely well executed, large engraving, signed by Vazquez and dated at Lima, 1789.
NUC and WorldCat locate only five U.S. libraries reporting ownership Yale, Notre Dame, the John Carter Brown, the Boston Public, and Duke with the last two copies lacking the plate. Searches of CCPB and the OPAC of the Spanish national library locate three Spanish libraries reporting ownership; COPAC finds no copies in Britain.
The number of “splendid ceremonies” books produced in colonial Peru is small: There is no census but we suspect the number to be around 20.
Other interesting aspects of the work are that it is an important source on the social and artistic life of Lima in the decade following the Tupac Amaru rebellion and that it is from one of Latin America's famous presses of “orphan children.”
John Carter Brown Library, Catalogue, 1493-1800, III,324; Medina, Lima, 1697; Sabin 73902; Vargas Ugarte, Impresos peruanos, 2546. Contemporary limp vellum with neatly inked title on spine; all edges inked decoratively. Old blurred stamp on front free endpaper, old single numerals very faintly on title-pages. Small tear in margin of plate, not into image. Overall a very good copy, very clean and with wide margins. (34668)

A Young Ladies' Writing Club: The Fruits of their Labors in 1885
Handwritten, Illustrated, & Custom Bound
The Rocket Club. Manuscript on paper, in English. “Essays of the Rocket Club.” [England]: 1885. 4to (23.8 cm, 9.375"). [200 (195 used)] ff.; illus.
[SOLD]
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A remarkable collection: One year's worth of
original, handwritten pieces painstakingly composed and assembled by the members of a private “girls'” essay society, covering a wide range of literary, cultural, and historical topics, gathered in a luxurious custom binding. At the time this volume was commenced, the club was coming into its eighth year of existence — “a venerable age for an essay society” according to the author of the introduction, whose pseudonymous “Elm” signature often shows up in these pages graced by a sketched leaf. Following Elm's admonishment to write more things worth reading in the coming year are pieces like “Books for the Million” (regarding the advantages and disadvantages of booms in publishing and public libraries, signed by Pleasance), “The Ministry of Little Things” (a parable in verse, from Ivy), “A Day in the Orkneys” (a travelogue by Sirius), a lengthy essay on personal influence by Serapis, and groups of essays from multiple contributors on assigned topics including fashion, 17th-century poets, architecture (to which Elm had strong objections, considering it too broad a topic to address in this format), beetles, and “Music: Its Use and Influence.”
The essays seem to have been submitted on a monthly basis, with each club member having an opportunity to comment on the month' offerings. In some instances, the critical responses are as interesting as the original pieces!
As mentioned in the November criticism section, there were at least 16 members of the club, although some were more active than others. It seems all but certain that all of them were female, well educated, and sufficiently wealthy to participate in this type of leisure activity. Several made use of overtly feminine pseudonyms (Stella, Faith, the intriguing Duhitar) or self-identifiers (Elm mentions “us girls”); Sirius, Serapis, Aquarius, Nitor, and Tortoise are less obvious — but in at least one instance a Serapis essay bears a follow-up comment that begins “she wishes to say . . .,” and other critical responses give us additional she/her references for Key, ?, Aquarius, Pleasance, and Dragonfly. Ivy is an interesting case, rebutting a point on contemporary male fashion by describing men's style as “simple, sensible, & comfortable,” and then going on to say “as to women, they may attire themselves in any way almost that is most convenient,” which seems curiously self-distancing from feminine experience. One of the few specifically female-oriented topics, “Should the Franchise be Extended to Women?,” brings several references to “our” characteristics, and although no hardline declarations in favor of suffrage are made, several essayists tentatively conclude that single women running their own households should have the right to vote.
In addition to the beautifully hand-calligraphed and illuminated title-page, the volume also contains a number of mounted illustrations. These include a pencilled “design for a border,” symbolically signed by Key, which received high praise from the club members in that month's criticism section; five costume drawings in one of the essays on fashion, likewise symbolically signed by Dragonfly; five striking depictions of beetles, four in color (the one of an African beetle bearing the sub-caption “Drawn from life,” which has been followed with a pencilled question mark!); a sketch of an Irish “Bian” horse-drawn carriage (accompanying an essay on the life of Charles Bianconi); and six lovely painted landscapes (including coastline, mountain, and village scenes — some connected to a group of essays on “What Constitutes Beauty” and some to “A Type of English Scenery”).
Binding: Contemporary black morocco, covers framed in gilt rolls and fillets with inner blind roll and blind-tooled corner fleurons surrounding gilt-stamped title (“Essays of the Rocket Club. 1885); spine with gilt-stamped raised bands and gilt-tooled compartment decorations. Board edges with gilt roll, turn-ins with blind roll; marbled endpapers and top edges gilt.
Bound as above, spine head repaired and refurbished; somewhat rubbed and a little scuffed — a volume that was both used/referred to and treasured. Many leaves with short tears from outer margins, often with old, possibly contemporary repairs; some leaves showing faint, pressed-out creases most likely from mailing.
Unique, enjoyable, and eminently worthy of study. (36353)

Progress — Easy, Clean, & Safe!
Rome Gas, Electric Light & Power Company. The dirt-less workman. Rome, NY: Rome Gas, Electric Light & Power Company, [ca. 1925]. 16mo (15.1 cm, 6"). [16] pp.; illus.
$75.00
Click the image for enlargement.
Uncommon electric promotional booklet: “Electric service in the home has become an essential comfort of our modern life” (p. 14), and this pamphlet encourages homeowners to get their houses wired for it, arguing that installations are clean and quick, and subsequent electric bills cheap. The text is illustrated with a cutaway diagram showing the process of wiring a three-story house with attic, photographs of electricians on the job inside various homes, exterior shots of older and newer buildings, and an interior image of an “American workingman's home, where . . . every possible economy is practiced.” The colophon labels this “Electrical Progress Booklet No. 1,” part of an advertising campaign noted at the time for its success.
Publisher's printed paper wrappers, stapled; small scuffs, back wrapper with streak of staining, pressure point from a front-wrapper scuff or prick unobtrusively carried throughout.
This ephemeral, eye-opening item is now scarce. (41057)

Three Plates with Cottage Designs
(Rural
Housing Issues). Third annual report of the directors
of the Association for Promoting Improvement in the Dwellings and Domestic Condition
of Agricultural Labourers in Scotland. Edinburgh: Pr. for the Association by
William Blackwood & Sons, 1857.
$139.50
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Uncommon pamphlet, detail-packed as to both present housing realities and desirable changes, illustrated with three plates containing plans and elevations for cottage designs
by architect William Fowler.
NSTC 2A17980 (for all years 1855–61). Removed from a nonce volume. Title-page with small inked numeral in upper outer corner, otherwise clean. (17033)

He Was a Member of
Sor JUANA's Circle
Sigüenza y Góngora, Carlos de. Parayso occidental plantado y cultivado por la liberal benefica mano de los muy catholicos y poderosos reyes de España, nuestros señores, en su magnifico Real Convento de Jesus Maria de Mexico. Mexico: Juan Ribera, 1684. Small 4to. [12], 206 ff., coat of arms.
$15,000.00
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“Polymath” is the term most often applied to Siguenza y Gongora (1645–1700), and indeed he was a cosmographer, philosopher, chronicler, poet, biographer, historian, cartographer, and priest.
Here he is wearing the hats of a chronicler and a biographer, as he, “an intellectual friend of Sor Juana [Ines de la Cruz] and at the same time a man of science and religiosity, [writes]
the history of
the convent of Jesus Maria and the biography of some of its notable nuns.” His Parayso occidental is “a classic example of baroque[-era] writing on the monastic life of nuns [in Mexico]” (both quotations from Lavrin, p. 205). As such, the volume is important; and even apart from its association with the Spanish world's Tenth Muse,” it is
a basic starting place for the study of nuns, the economics of nunneries, and the political life of the same.
As is increasingly the case with Mexican imprints of the 17th century, it is
little found in the marketplace.
Provenance: 18th-century ownership signature on title-page and first leaf of preliminaries of the Conde del Fresno de la Fuente.
Medina, Mexico, 1328; Palau 312973; Asuncion Lavrin, “Cotidianidad y espiritualidad en la vida conventual novohispana: Siglo XVII,” in Memoria del Coloquio Internacional Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz y pensamiento novohispano (1995). Late 19th-century Mexican quarter dark green morocco with mottled green paper sides; binding rubbed and abraded, front endpapers with an old paper label and remnants of one removed. Pencilling on front fly-leaf and title-page verso; top margins closely cropped occasionally costing top of letters of running heads and foliation. Worming, chiefly in margins but occasionally into the text, not costing words, sometimes repaired; first and last few leaves with old repairs to corners and margins and a bit of text restored in pen and ink. Withal, a good++ copy of important work that is not often on the market. (34203)

A Noble Book for
Your House in Tuscany?
(Smith's Patron Was the Second Earl of Warwick)
Smith, John. Italian scenery [i.e., Select views in Italy, with topographical and historical descriptions, in English and French]. [London: Printed by W. Bulmer and Co. for J. Smith, W. Byrne, & J. Edwards, 1817]. 4to. [1] f. (engr. dedication), [78] ff. (of letterpress), [72] ff. of plates, illus.
$2500.00
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Smith is remembered in art circles as a very accomplished water color artist and it was that work that attracted the attention of George Greville, second earl of Warwick. The earl became Smith's patron and sent him Italy where he produced such works as “Outside Porta Pia, Rome” (now in the Tate collection) and “Interior of the Coliseum” (now in the British Museum); “his Italian pictures . . . are considered Smith's best” (ODNB).
Toward the end of the 18th century (1792–1799), Smith produced the first edition of this work, laden with
72 engravings (by various artisans) after his original watercolors. This second edition of his Select Views in Italy was not issued with a title-page, although some copies have a copy (reprinting?, remainder sheet?) of the first edition's; it begins instead with a splendidly calligraphic
engraved dedication leaf reading, “Italian scenery. To the Queen's most Excellent Majesty this Collection of Select Views in italy is with Her Majesty's gracious permission Humbly dedicated by Her most obedient and devoted Servant, John Smith.” Dated in text 18 January 1817, the leaf was designed by Tomkins and engraved by Ashby; at its bottom, as on a title-page, is “London[,] J. Smith, W. Byrne, & J. Edwards.”
The text in this edition, bilingual in
English and French, is the same as that of the first edition; but it was entirely reset and the plates are restrikes of those of the first edition, with the original imprints removed and the numeration moved to the top of the plates. This is, therefore, a particularly interesting object to
set beside an example of its first edition!
Provenance: No bookplates or inscriptions, but spine with initials “G.O.B.” tooled at base.
20th-century cordovan-color sheep, covers framed in single gilt fillet with gilt-stamped corner fleurons; spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label, gilt-ruled raised bands, and gilt-stamped fleurons in compartments; spine sunned/lightened with darker streaks and patches evident, one spine compartment with small scuff, joints with excellent repairs and corners likewise well refurbished. Text with only an occasional age-stain or instance of foxing; plates remarkably unblemished. Blue silk placemarker. Overall indeed a
VERY NICE COPY. (33233)

485 Stunning Views of
England, Scotland, & Wales
EACH
IMAGE Hand-Captioned
Storer, James Sargant. Antiquarian and topographical cabinet, containing a series of elegant views of the most interesting objects of curiosity in Great Britain. London: W. Clarke, J. Carpenter, & H.D. Symonds, 1807–11. 8vo. 10 vols. I: [approx. 112] pp.; 56 plts. II: pp.; 49 plts. III: [approx. 110] pp.; 55 plts. IV: [approx. 92] pp.; 46 plts. V: [approx. 86] pp.; 43 plts. VI: [approx. 106] pp.; 53 plts. VII: [approx. 98] pp.; 49 plts. VIII: [approx. 86] pp.; 43 plts. IX: [approx. 110] pp.; 55 plts. X: [approx. 72], [16 (index)] pp.; 36 plts. (15 plts. lacking of 500).
$2250.00
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Deluxe printing of the first edition, here in an impressive large-paper set illustrated with 485 copper-engraved plates. The engraved images designed for the duodecimo regular edition are here, in this octavo printing, mounted within printed borders with
hand-inked calligraphic captions. Those images depict such scenic high spots as Dunstaple Priory in Bedfordshire, Roman remains in Brecknockshire, the “great oak” at Silton, a Crusader monument in Winchester Cathedral, Tintern Abbey (of course), and many, many churches and castles; they were engraved by J. Greig, W. Angus, W. & G. Cooke, and J. Storer after drawings by various hands.
Each plate is accompanied by a letterpress description, generally about two pages long.
Binding: Contemporary green morocco, darkened to black; covers framed in gilt with gilt-stamped corner fleurons, spines with gilt-stamped title, board edges with gilt-stamped roll. All edges gilt.
NSTC S4069; Brunet, I, 319, Graesse 503. Bound as above with insignificant shelf wear only, now refurbished and a bit of scuffing; 15 plates lacking of 500. Most plates clean, some foxed (a few heavily); some pages with light offsetting from plates. One page with pencilled annotation detailing an 1823 update in a site's ownership.
A luxurious, in fact in its way spectacular, production. (22855)

King Edward I of England's
WELSH Castles
Taylor, Arnold Joseph. Four great castles. [Newtown,
Montgomeryshire, Wales]: Gwasg Gregynog [The Gregynog Press], 1983. Folio (26.9 cm,
10.5"). [2], vi, 70, [2] pp.; 8 plts.
$675.00
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Fine press
GREGYNOG
edition of this essay on the architecture and history of Caernarfon, Conwy,
Harlech, and Beaumaris, opening with a foreword by Charles, Prince of Wales.
Illustrated with eight delicately, precisely etched views by David Woodford,
printed by him on his own press in Snowdonia, the volume was designed and otherwise
printed by Eric Gee on Zerkall mould-made paper with deckle edges. The present
example is numbered copy 96 of 165 printed — 150 bound as here, with an
additional 15 copies specially bound.
Provenance:
Front pastedown with bookplate of Norman J. Sondheim, the American collector
of press books.
Publisher's grey marbled
paper–covered sides, front cover with gilt-stamped coat of arms, spine with black-stamped title;
spine a touch sunned with unobtrusive small scuff towards foot, sides very slightly sprung,
slipcase lacking. Front pastedown with bookplate as above. Volume clean and unworn,
beautiful and uncommon. (30597)

An Insider's Guide to
BATH
Tunstall, James. Rambles about Bath and its neighbourhood. Bath: R.E. Peach, 1856. 12mo (17.5 cm; 7"). Frontis., viii pp., [1] f., 304 pp., 13 plts, fold. map, illus.
$150.00
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Tunstall was a
Bath booster big-time. A graduate of the University of Edinburgh, he was physician to the Eastern Dispensary of Bath and seven years resident medical officer of the Bath Hospital; his guide book to his city first appeared in 1847, with subsequent editions in 1848, 1851, 1856, 1876, 1888, 1889, and 1900. Besides the locale's follies, Roman ruins, chapels, farms, overlooks, etc., he offers considerable information on the hospitals, baths, and healing wells.
This would have been
a definite must for hydrotherapy and other tourists. Nicely illustrated, it bears a great map.
Provenance: Ownership signature of Mrs. Edward Brown, Belmont House, 1884. (This may well be the Mr. & Mrs. E. Brown whose “Belmont House” dates from ca. 1880 and is located in Browns Cove, Albemarle County, VA).
Publisher's green cloth, stamped in blind on covers and lettered in gilt on spine; text clean. A nice copy. (33529)

Architectural Description of a
Large Colonial-Era Mausoleum
Unanúe, José Hipólito. Discurso sobre el panteon que esta contruyendo en al convento grande de San Francisco de esta capital. Lima: Real Imprenta de Niños Expósitos, 1803. Small 4to (19.4 cm, 7.65"). [3] ff., 24, [1], [1 (blank)] pp.; lacks the folding engraving.
$800.00
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First of two editions, both issued in 1803. Unanúe offers a written description, including measurements and siting details, of the large mausoleum that the head of the main Franciscan monastery in Lima was erecting for the burial of members of religious societies, and of the order itself. The description is definitely evocative and informative, although this copy lacks the large folding plate of the structure that Marcelo Cabello engraved.
Searches of NUC and WorldCat locate only three U.S. libraries reporting ownership (Yale, Duke, JCB).
Medina, Lima, 1944; Sabin 97714; Palau 344285; Vargas Ugarte, Impresos peruanos, 3186. Disbound, dust-soiling, a few small stains, one small hole in blank area of title-page. Without the folding plate (“Lámina que representa el plano y la vista interior del Panteón”), else good++. (37975)

ANOTHER KIND of
“Student Social Activism” @ Berkeley —
Hey, Gang! Let's Build a Fountain!
University of California magazine. Under the Berkeley Oaks. Stories by students of the University of California; selected and edited by the editorial staff of the University of California magazine. San Francisco: A.M. Robertson, 1901, ©1900. 12mo (19 cm, 7.25"). Frontis., [2] ff., 227, [1] pp.
$110.00
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Not many student publications are listed in the Bibliography of American Literature, but this one is. And that is because the lead-off entry in this anthology of stories is Frank Norris' “Travis Hallett's Half-back.” Norris (1870–1902) was class of '94.
It may interest the reader to know that half of the writings in this volume are by women.
Sole edition. The volume was a fund-raising effort: “The principal reason that these stories have been gathered together and given to the public, is to start a fund wherewith to erect a fountain on the Campus of the University of California to be in harmony with the great Hearst architectural plan.”
Binding: Publisher's blue cloth stamped in gilt with title and a scene of a rolling hill with trees on it. Binding signed “Kales.”
BAL 15035. Binding as above: gilt a little rubbed or dulled. Overall, very good. (34834)
Art/Architecture — Folio Extra — Imposing!
Valentini, Agostino. La patriarcale basilica Liberiana. Roma: a spese
di Agostino Valentini, 1839. Folio extra (47.5 cm; 18.75"). [4] ff., 118 pp.; 1 fold. plt., 102 plts.
$600.00
Click the images for enlargements.
Italian-language work on the art and architecture of the Liberiana basilica in Rome, illustrated with more than 100 impressive full-page engravings (as well as one oversized, folding engraving) of the church’s art and sculpture, along with its architectural detail, plans, and design. Detailed explanations of the plates, which were engraved by Domenico Feltrini, are provided.
This handsomely printed and produced volume forms the second part of the author's “Quattro principali basiliche di Roma,” which also includes works (not present here) on the Vaticana and Lataranense.
Publisher's half vellum with marbled paper–covered sides, spine gilt extra with gilt-stamped leather labels; boards a little abraded and showing wear. Front pastedown with institutional bookplate; front fly-leaf with bookseller’s pressure-stamp in upper corner. Occasional light foxing.
A handsomely produced, still very impressive volume. (11659)

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