Provenance: Front fly-leaf with armorial bookplate of New York attorney and book collector Frederic Robert Halsey, and with decorative medieval-inspired bookplate of “G.E.” Volume with laid-in handwritten note signed by Gruel, on Gruel-Engelmann letterhead, dated 1892.  Later in the collection of Mary MacMillan Norton . . . a woman who knew how to pick books!

•  Brunet, I, 1056; DeBacker, Auteurs du XVIIe siècle, 1020; Tchemerzine, II, 271. Binding as above, nearly perfect save for just a touch of rubbing to the spine extremities, in cloth-covered slipcase, worn, with cloth starting to split over edges. Frontispiece and title-page separating from binding; title with red-tinted signs, near edges, that the marbling process did not go entirely smoothly; upper margins of several other leaves with hints of very faint waterstaining. Otherwise, clean and quite lovely. (13767)

In the present volume, this great epic poem in May’s translation is accompanied by its translator’s English rendition of his own sequel, originally written in Latin verse. This Continuation advances the action through Cleopatra’s seduction of Caesar (May depicts the Egyptian queen with “snowie necke” and “golden tresses”), the death of Cato, and various additional battles before arriving at Caesar’s death. At the time, May’s work was thought highly enough of that Charles I allowed the Continuation’s dedication to bear his name.

•  Pharsalia: STC 16888; Schweiger, II, 567; ESTC S108868. Continuation: STC 17712; ESTC S108892. 20th-century black morocco in imitation of early, severe style, with raised bands from which blind-tooling extends onto covers; spine with gilt-stamped title and date, and turn-ins elaborately tooled in blind. Moderately worn, spine faded not unattractively, and leather rubbed over joints. Front pastedown with bookplate, inked date of 1986; front free endpaper with inked gift inscription dated 1944. T1-2 trimmed differently and possibly surviving from another copy; A3 of the continuation also possibly supplied. Occasional instances of very minor staining; mostly clean. Pleasant on shelf and in hand. (7101)

Binding: Contemporary treed calf, spine gilt extra with badge of a thistle in compartments; red leather labels. Marbled endpapers. All edges red.

Provenance: Small booklabel of William Salloch on rear pastedown.

•  Schweiger, Handbuch der classischen Bibliographie, II, 568. Cohen & DeRicci, Livres à gravure du XVIII siècle, 662. Not in Ray, The Art of the French Illustrated Book 1700–1914. Binding as above, gilt somewhat dimmed; some chipping of leather to corners and spine tips, and endpapers rubbed. Internally generally clean, with some browning from turn-ins and a few spots of soiling. Bookplate on front pastedowns.  (7576)

Binding: Contemporary treed calf, spines gilt extra with red labels and covers gilt-framed; gilt edges and gilt inner dentelles. Marbled endpapers in a French shell pattern. All edges gilt.

Provenance: Small booklabel of William Salloch on rear pastedown.

•  Schweiger, Handbuch der classischen Bibliographie, II, 568. Cohen & DeRicci, Livres à gravure du XVIII siècle, 662. Not in Ray, The Art of the French Illustrated Book 1700–1914. Leather on spines and edges of covers dry and chipped; joints open, but sewing holding. Some closed tears to endpapers and front free endpaper of vol. I partially detached; paper generally clean with occasional spots of light browning or foxing. Bookplate on front pastedowns. Plates clean and charming.  (7555)

This is Baskerville's second printing of Lucretius and the first in twelvemo format: The 1772 first printing had been a quarto. The text is printed using his Bourgeois font and the Greek seems to be Caslon's Long Primer. Gaskell tells us that following Baskerville's death, 980 copies were remaindered in 1775.

Provenance:  Bequest to Yale University of Norman Holmes Pearson, properly deaccessioned.

Binding:  18th-century red morocco with a gilt roll forming a border on the perimeter of the boards; round spine divided into compartments using a roll featuring chain links, with author's name gilt in one compartment and the five others each with the center device of a lyre, Greek key roll in gilt at base of spine. Board edges tooled in gilt with a rope design; turn-ins tooled using two rolls, one of which is dentelles. Green stone-pattern endpapers and all edges gilt.

•  Gordon 20A; Gaskell 50; ESTC T50366.   Binding as above. Front joint (outside) cracked, abraded, and with loss of most leather; scuffing to both joints and to spine ends. Library bookplate on front pastedown, discreet deaccession stamp on verso of title-page. A “decent” copy of a good press book.  (39839)

This is the first part's first edition, first issue, with five lines of text on the verso of leaf lxxx, a running title reading “De legibus romanis,” and the error in foliation of leaf lxii numbered lxiii. The text is printed in roman without side- or shouldernotes and with blank spaces holding guide letters (unaccomplished); the fourth leaf of preliminaries is a true blank. The title-page bears a large version of the Aldine printer's device.

Provenance:  From the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.

•  Renouard, Alde, 1557, no. 18; UCLA, Aldine Press: Catalogue of the Ahmanson-Murphy Collection (2001), 525; Kallendorf & Wells, Aldine Press Books, 393 (not indicating which issue).   Full contemporary limp vellum, almost certainly the first binding; cockled and worn, with evidence of now-lost ties. A very nice copy.  (38113)

The edition in hand is printed in roman and italic, with factotum initials and a handful of woodcut tailpieces. The title-page in the first volume is printed in red and black, and black only in the second, with both volumes featuring the printer's device of an armillary sphere: mark of the Elzevirs, who printed the 1678 edition in Amsterdam?

•  On Marino, see: DBI online.   Quarter calf over paper-covered boards, recently rebacked with original spine leather laid down; spine tooled creating compartments accented with gilt center ornaments, author and title gilt on black morocco spine in second one. Scuffed, chipped, and soiled but sturdy; foxed throughout though never more than moderately; edges uncut.  (30910)

Although Mela's work is solely concerned with the world as known by Greeks and Romans, one should remember that their world did encompass portions of Africa and a knowledge of India. Additionally the appendix, originally written in 1521 and first appearing in the 1522 Basel printing of Mela, has a coda consisting of a 1515 letter of Vadian’s to Rudolph Agricola, the younger, that briefly discussesVespucci (X5v) and the New World (Y1r) when discussing the Spanish empire.

This is the third edition of Vadian's Mela, taken from the second edition (1522), but only the second with Vadian's appendix. Graesse comments, “Second éd. . . . fort changée et corrigée sur des mss.”

Whether all copies of the work were issued with a map has been long discussed and is without resolution: What we do know is that some have a map, most do not.

Provenance:  Macclesfield copy with the bookplate and handsome pressure-stamps.

Evidence of readership: Scattered minor (usually one or two words) marginalia.

•  Harrisse, BAV, 157; Renouard, Paris, 2210; Alden & Landis 530/30; Sabin 63958 (not callin for a map); Graesse, V, 401 (not calling for a map).   18th-century quarter vellum with blue-green paper–covered sides, author's name in old ink to spine. Title-page lightly soiled, light discoloration or inkstains in some margins, light occasional foxing; pinhole-type worming in text of some pages with no loss of text, and a corner of last leaf torn away without loss of text; on pp. 170–96, a light waterstain across upper gutter not touching text and another across upper outer corners impinging on it. As usual, without the map found in only a few copies. Macclesfield pressure-stamps and marginalia as above. A good, sound, and soundly pleasing old folio.  (34114)

•  Recent quarter calf, round spine; raised bands accented with gilt beading, gilt center devices in spine compartments, and two green spine labels. Combed-pattern marbled paper sides. Lacks the half-title, only; occasional light foxing. A very good copy of an interesting and now uncommon book.  (22228)

Rare.  No copies traced via NUC Pre-1956, OCLC or RLIN.

•  On Muretus, see: Sandys, History of Classical Scholarship, II, 148–52. Contemporary half vellum over stencilled paper, spine with inked title; stained and paper torn with much chipping, especially on edges of covers. Ex-library with white-lettered call number on spines and, on title-pages, two different Catholic institutions’ rubber-stamps, plus the old inked ownership inscription of a Jesuit novitiate (Maryland). Ink scratches to frontispiece portrait (intentional?), and some inkstains in margins elsewhere. Lightly foxed. All edges speckled red.  (11574)

The French humanist Muret (1526–85) has long been recognized as the best Latin prose stylist of the Renaissance, and his works were used as a model for students. Greatly admired for his excellent understanding and interpretation of classical texts, he was dubbed “le meilleur orateur du temps” in Italy and France by Montaigne, whom he tutored; and Scaliger mused that Muret “satirised the Ciceronians and at the same time expressed himself in a thoroughly Ciceronian style.” LIke most of Muret's published work, these Variae are based on his academic lectures; however the scholar Lambinus accused Muret of plagiarism, and indeed it seems Muret “borrowed” bits from his work without permission. (In retaliation, Lambinus published their personal correspondence.)

Muret's personal life was fraught with tribulation stemming from multiple accusations of homosexuality in various cities where he resided. From 1559 till his death, however, he lived in Rome under the protection of at least one cardinal and a pope.

The text is in Latin and Greek, printed in roman and italic, with decorative headpieces and floriated initials. A letterpress diagram on p. 547 shows the Greek alphabet corresponding to numerals.

Provenance:  John Saltar (19th-century adolescent's signature, front pastedown); Henry Johns Gibbons, Rittenhouse (Philadelphia), 1923 (signature, front fly-leaf verso).

•  Adams M1971. On Muret, see: Sandys, History of Classical Scholarship, II, pp. 148–52.   Contemporary vellum with evidence of four ties and trace of oval stamp to front cover center, ink title to spine and bottom edge; soiled, with worm to spine/ pastedowns, hinges (inside) cracked, textblock starting to loosen. Paper age-toned and foxed, with small holes from natural flaws on two leaves (and two others partially uncut); Hymni dampstained in lower inner portions (not horribly). A few early ink annotations present.  (30146)

Provenance:  From the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.

•  EDIT16 CNCE 55270; Pettas, The Giunti of Florence, 138; Adams M1992; Schweiger, I, p. 208; Graesse, Trésor de Livres Rares, IV, p. 633; Brunet, I, 1957.   18th-century calf over wooden boards, spine compartments blind-stamped in a star pattern, covers elaborately blind-stamped with a double frame of triple fillets and flowers at corners around a floral roll and arabesque panel, brass clasps, title inked along top edge, all edges stained red; rebacked and refurbished, new endpapers. Mostly light but some moderate marginal spotting or waterstaining through perhaps a third of the book, small wormhole affecting single words through title-page and first two gatherings, and one leaf partially detached; provenance and readership indicia as above. Pleasantly printed and portable classic poetry with notable evidence of engaged readership.  (38930)

Binding:  Contemporary Venetian red goat, boards nicely and somewhat richly tooled in gilt with rolls, fillets, and sizable corner devices, board edges with a simple gilt roll, and each spine compartment with a gilt center device and defined by gilt fillets and a gilt roll. Stone pattern–marbled endpapers. All edges gilt and gauffered.

Provenance:  From the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.

•  Brunet, I, 60.   Binding as above; a dozen small pin-type wormholes in spine not extending into text, sides with small spots of discoloration. Lower board edges a little scuffed. Lacks the free endpapers. Foxing, sometimes heavy, in text; still, a desirable copy.  (38967)

Title-page printed in black and red, text in double-column format.

•  Palau 200148.   Contemporary limp vellum with ties; a browned copy. Half-title cut down and mounted; title-leaf remargined. Worming in margins and in text, with loss of words and letters; occasionally a tear, occasionally an old marginal note.  (31655)

•  Publisher's half cream pigskin and light grey/tan cloth, rich eggplant endpapers, front cover with gilt-stamped vignette and spine with gilt-stamped title; bottom edge and corners rubbed or frayed with attendant soiling, front cover with area of faint staining. Interior clean and bright.  (28154)

•  Publisher's tan and brown printed paper–covered boards; spine somewhat darkened, paper chipped at spine and cracking along front joint. Front and rear free endpaper with inked presentation inscriptions dated 1914. Pages age-toned; one leaf with short tear from outer margin.  (33100)

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)

•  Brunet, IV, 575; Dibdin, II, 276–77; Schweiger, II, 725. 19th-century quarter sheep in imitation of morocco, with marbled paper–covered sides, spines with gilt-stamped titles; spines, edges, and extremities rubbed, vol. I with spot of discoloration to spine. Main title-page with shadows of pencilled numerals. Pages clean.  (16816)

Eugene Karlin (who signed the colophon) created thedelicate fine-pen illustrations; of these, 20 are full-page and 9 are in-text. The drawings of lovers engaged in the act of lovemaking are both tasteful and erotic; they are mostly heterosexual, with one — non-explicit — depicting two men). Robert L. Dothard designed the edition, which is limited to 1500 copies (of which this is numbered copy 1002), using a monotype Emerson font; the binding is quarter goatskin vellum with the title stamped in gold on a brown skiver label, and the sides are Swedish tan paper with a gold-stamped design on the front. The appropriate LEC newsletter is laid in.

•  Limited Editions Club, Bibliography of the Fine Books Published by The Limited Editions Club, 1929–1985, 409.   Binding as above, in original glassine dust wrapper and slipcase; wrapper with lower corners chipped, slipcase with minor rubbing to gilt spine label, vellum spine with a few tiny brown spots (possibly as issued — the club newsletter for this volume says “Goats are real individuals, and that goes for their skins too; connoisseurs in such matters prize the mottled and stained appearance, which the skins come by quite naturally”). The whole generally clean and unworn; pages fresh and crisp. A beautiful copy.  (30460)

Vol. I here bears an extensive and interesting list of subscribers.

•  ESTC N20527.   Contemporary speckled calf, spines with raised bands, gilt-stamped leather title-labels, and gilt-stamped volume numbers; volumes rubbed and covers only gingerly holding with front free endpapers separated. Vols. I and II only, of six; vol. I spine label lost, vol. II label chipped. Text blocks strong with some light age-toning and occasional foxing, only, and first and last few leaves with offsetting. Priced according to condition and with reading, engravings, and provenance all still pleasurable to engage with.  (37174)

Besides editing the letters, Irish-born Ussher provides notes and an essay, “De Ignatii Martyris Epistolis, indeque . . . de Polycarpi quoque scriptis, atque Apostolicis Constitutionibus et Canonibus Clementi Romano tributis,” at the end of the volume.

The ESTC record indicates that a portion of this work was salvaged from an edition of Ignatii, Polycarpi, et Barnabæ, epistolae atq[ue], martyria quibus praefixa est de Polycarpi & Ignatii scriptis Jacobi Usserii archiepiscopi armachani dissertatio: quae in hoc volumine continentur alia, operi praefixa synopsis indicabit that was accidentally burnt while being printed by Lichfield in 1642.

Provenance:  17th- or 18th-century ownership signatures of “Will. Young” and of “John Dearle.” In early 19th century given to Kenyon College by John Foster of Hertfordshire; in the 20th century in the library of Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School (properly deaccessioned).

•  Wing (2nd ed.) P2789; Wing (rev. ed.) U185; Madan, II, 1739–1744; ESTC R203207.   Contemporary sprinkled calf, modestly tooled in blind with a double rule on covers; rebacked, original spine label reattached, new front free endpaper. Library bookplates and one-line rubber-stamps on pastedowns but not title-page; one leaf with small loss of paper in lower margin, not affecting text. Edges of title-leaf and leaf following darkened from offset of the turn-ins. Solid, handsomely printed, interesting.  (34456)

This set includes two volumes of supplemental text, adding a number of entries. The first edition was followed by two volumes of supplemental plates, not present here and not called for: Graesse describes this edition as “sans grav.”

The pagination is erratic in a number of places; there is a numbering gap from 2342 to 2351 between vols. IV and V, but the text and signatures are uninterrupted.

Uncommon: OCLC locates only two U.S. institutional holdings of this second edition.

Provenance: Most volumes with small inked ownership inscription in an outer margin: “G.R.W.” the mark of William Rollinson Whittingham (1805–79), fourth Episcopal Bishop of Maryland and an enthusiastic book collector.

•  Brunet, IV, 851; Graesse, V, 429. Not in Sabin.   Contemporary half binding, recently rebacked with tan paper, spines with printed paper labels; boards rubbed and faded with small chips, one vol. with front cover waterstained. Foxing almost throughout, generally no worse than moderate; light waterstaining in upper margins of vol. I; one leaf in vol. VII with lower outer portion torn away, with loss of words from about 18 lines on each side. Vol. II with printer's error replacing pp. 1065–72 with duplicates of pp. 1057–64; pagination erratic in other places. Most vols. with ownership mark as above; vol. VI with one pencilled and one inked marginal annotation.  (25862)

Binding/Provenance: Prize binding of contemporary vellum, covers framed and panelled in gilt rolls with gilt-stamped corner fleurons and gilt central vignette with the crest of the city of Amsterdam, spine with gilt-ruled raised bands and gilt-stamped decorations in compartments. The partially printed, partially inscribed, bound-in prize certificate reads “Ingenuo magnaeque spei adolescenti, Henrico Gerteler propter insignes in artibus humanioribus progessus, in classe tertia . . . Quod testor R. v. Ommeren [/] Gymnasii publici Amstelaedamensis Rector,” dated 1791.

•  Brunet, IV, 905; Dibdin, I, 385–86; Graesse, V, 460; Sandys, II, 455; Schweiger, II, 831. Binding as above, vellum slightly darkened, lacking ties; spine with gilt dimmed and traces of a now-absent label and inked call number at foot of spine. Lower edges with institutional rubber-stamp; title-page with shadow of a pencilled numeral. Front free endpaper with paper adhesions from a now-absent bookplate; back pastedown with rubber-stamp and small adhesion. Pages clean save for offsetting to upper margins of a few, from a laid-in slip.  (20594)

•  Brooks, Compendiosa Bibliografia di Edizioni Bodoniane, 361; Brunet, IV, 916; Dibdin, II, 360–61; Graesse 467. On Prudentius, see: Catholic Encyclopedia online.   Recent half vellum and paper–covered sides, vellum edges graced with gilt single fillet, spines with gilt-stamped leather title and volume labels and with gilt-stamped Greek key design; binding discolored and a little bubbled from proximity to fire. Edges untrimmed, signatures unopened; vol. I with surprisingly various old waterstaining, sometimes faint and sometimes not, in upper margins of first half and outer margins of last few leaves. Interior of both volumes otherwise clean, with no markings, save that the endpapers are smudged and those untrimmed edges, plus occasional small areas of margin contiguous, are darkly smokestained from that fire. This is a book that has suffered, yet a production that is still as lovely as Dibdin said it was and a set well worth having.  (25517)