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Resettling Free Black Americans Creating (& Proselytizing to) an African Colony
Bacon, E[phraim], & J. B. Cates. Abstract of a journal of E. Bacon, assistant agent of the United States, to Africa: With an appendix, containing extracts from proceedings of the Church Missionary Society in England, for the years 1819–20. To which is prefixed an abstract of the journal, of the Rev. J.B. Cates, one of the missionaries from Sierra Leone to Grand Bassa; in an overland journey, performed in company with several natives, in the months of February, March, and April, 1819. The whole showing the successful exertions of the British and American governments, in repressing the slave trade. Philadelphia: S. Potter (pr. by D. Dickinson), 1821. 8vo (21 cm, 8.25"). 96 pp.
[SOLD]
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First edition of this gathering of items related to efforts to end the slave trade, resettle freed slaves, and promote Christianity among the freedmen. Bacon was one of the earliest formally appointed Episcopal missionaries to Liberia; while in the country in 1821, he negotiated for the use of land for resettlement in the Bassa Colony. He was dispatched to Sierra Leone following the death of his brother, the Rev. Samuel Bacon, who had been trying to establish a colony that failed with many deaths on Sherbro Island, and the main account here describes his efforts to relocate the Sherbro survivors along with a new group of emigrants.
Appended to Bacon's journal are “An Extract from the Royal Gazette, Published at Freetown, Sierra Leone, Saturday, April 21st, 1821" (an update on the state of American colonization on the coast of Africa), “An Abstract of Proceedings of the Church Missionary Society for West Africa, Published in London, 1819–20" (giving names, descriptions, and faculty of schools and churches), and the Cates excerpts mentioned in the title (the author being an English missionary to Sierra Leone), as well as additional items from the Royal Gazette, “Accounts from the English Colony in South Africa,” details on laws enacted to suppress the slave trade, and
an account of the sinking of the slave ship Carlota. The collection went through a second edition in the year following this initial publication.
Library Company, Afro-Americana (rev. ed.), 753; Sabin 2641 (giving second ed. only); Shoemaker 4517. Marbled paper wrappers, lightly worn overall. Title-page with two small pencilled annotations, pages age-toned.
Frankly, riveting. (40077)
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Bacon, Francis. ...Opera omnia, cum novo eoque insigni augmento tractatuum hactenus ineditorum, & ex idiomate anglicano in latinum sermonem translatorum, opera Simonis Johannis Arnoldi, ecclesiae Sonnenburgensis inspectoris. Lipsiae:
Impensis Johannis Justi Erythropili, excudebat Christianus Goezius, 1694. Folio (33.5 cm, 13.25"). ):(6 A–Z6 Aa–Zz6 Aaa–Iii6 Kkk–Zzz4 Aaaa–Hhhh4 Iiii6 [-):(1]; [8] ff., 1584 columns, [49 (index)] pp. (half-title lacking).
$850.00
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Simon Johann Arnold’s edition of Bacon’s collected works, translated into Latin from the original English, published simultaneously at Leipzig and Copenhagen. Sir Francis Bacon (1561–1626), in addition to rising to the office of Lord Chancellor, was a prolific and lively-minded writer, noted by the Oxford Companion to English Literature as “capable of varied and beautiful styles” and as exhibiting “a peculiar magnificence and picturesqueness in much of his writing.” This Opera is a more complete collection of Bacon’s literary, scientific, and philosophical productions than the first, which was published in 1665.
This offers evidence of early readership in form of underlining in ink and occasional marginal notations, confined to early portion of the tome.
Gibson, Bacon, 243a. On Bacon, see: Oxford Companion to English Literature, 56–57. Contemporary vellum, spine with gilt-stamped title; vellum showing minor scuffing and spots of discoloration. Front pastedown with a 19th-century bookplate; front free endpaper with edge nicks and short edge tears. Lacking half-title. Early inked marginalia and underlining, as above; leaves age-toned with intermittent light offsetting and foxing. One leaf with short tear from upper margin, not extending into text. (19001)

Bacon on
NATURE
Bacon, Francis. Sylva sylvarum, sive historia naturalis, in decem centurias distributa. Lug. Batavor.: Apud Franciscum Hackium, 1648. 12mo (12.9 cm, 5.1"). Add. engr. t.-p., [34], 612, [48], 87, [1] pp.
$700.00
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Compendium of scientific (and also quaintly “traditional”) knowledge: This wide-ranging gathering of interesting observations in natural history was first published posthumously by the author's chaplain and secretary, Dr. Rawley, in 1626, and appears here translated into Latin by Jacob Gruterus. The present edition was, as Willems puts it, “exécutée” at Leyden by Hackius for Elzevier; some examples bear Elzevier's imprint and some Hackius's. The Novus Atlas accompanies the title work, with both having prefaces by Rawley.
Provenance: Front pastedown with armorial bookplate of Alexander Oswald Brodie (not, please note, the American officer and governor of Arizona Territory); title-page with Brodie's inked inscription, dated 1839, Dresden.
Brunet, I, 604; Gibson, Bacon, 185b; Willems 1058. On Bacon, see: Dictionary of National Biography. Contemporary vellum with yapp edges, spine with early inked title; spine lettering rubbed, back cover darkened. Both pastedowns lifted, front pastedown with bookplate beneath; free endpapers lacking. Title-page with inscription as above; pages with a very few small scattered spots, almost entirely clean. A handsome copy. (30360)
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Apiculture for Everyone — Including Women
Bagster, Samuel, the Younger. The management of bees. With a description of the “Ladies' Safety Hive.” London: Samuel Bagster & William Pickering, 1834. 8vo (17.1 cm, 6.75"). Col. frontis., xx, 244 pp.; illus.
[SOLD]
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First edition: A carefully and effectively summarized overview of beekeeping, utilizing not only the author's practical experience but also his familiarity with the writings of both older and more contemporary experts. Chapter titles include “On the Simplification of the Process of Managing Bees,” “Natural History of the Bee,” “Cottage System Explained,” On Swarms,” “The Old and New Methods of Unionizing Stocks Explained,” “The Ladies' Safety Hive Examined and Explained” (a new invention prompted by the author's wife's concern over being stung), and “General Directions for the Extraction of Honey and Wax.”
Printed by the author's father (a successful printer-bookseller known for his polyglot Bible), this volume opens with
a hand-colored frontispiece realistically depicting hive denizens in both magnified and life sizes, while the text is illustrated with wood engravings by D. Dodd after drawings “executed . . . from life” (p. ix) by Charles M. Curtis; the title-page is printed in red and black, and features a vignette of three ladies (in everyday dress) opening a beehive.
Provenance: Front pastedown with early inked inscription of H.G. Monro; most recently in the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.
NSTC 2B2258. Contemporary ribbon-embossed green cloth, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label; spine sunned to olive, rubbing with front joint just starting from head and foot, front cover showing faint circular imprint. Pages gently age-toned with occasional small spots and smudges, some corners faintly creased.
An appealing copy of the first edition, in original binding. (41127)
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Early Editions of the FIRST Children's Books
White Knights Library Copies
Baïf, Lazare de; Charles Estienne, ed. De Vasculis libellus, adulescentulorum causa ex Bayfio decerptus, addita vulgari latinarum vocum interpretatione. Parisiis: Ex officina R. Stephani, 1536. 8vo (17.4 cm, 6.9"). 56, [8] pp. [bound with their] De Re vestiaria libellus, ex Bayfio excerptus: Addita vulgaris linguae interpretatione, in adulescentulorum gratiam atq; utilitatem. Parisiis: Ex officina Rob. Stephani, 1536. 8vo. 68, [10] pp. (final blank lacking).
$1900.00
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Early editions of the first two volumes in a series of books considered “the first books produced specifically for the entertainment (unlike school-books) as well as the edification of a juvenile readership,” here focusing on Roman antiquities, including dress, textiles, color, containers, and dishware, among other things. Charles Estienne compiled the series using Baïf's earlier scholarly works while tutoring Jean Antione, the humanist's son. The texts are neatly printed in single columns using roman type with the occasional phrase in italic or Greek; printer's device Schreiber no. 4 appears on both title-pages. Almost certainly first printed by Robert Estienne in 1535 (another edition of De Re vestiaria was also printed by Girault that year), both works proved popular and went through several editions in the 16th century.
Provenance: Ink signature of Hannah Hall on front free endpaper above an inked ownership inscription reading “Duke of Marlborough's White Knights Library 1819"; Duke George Spencer-Churchill (1766–1840) was a noted book collector. Most recently in the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.
De Vasculis: Adams B54; Renouard, Estienne, 44:21; Schreiber, Estiennes, 51 (1535 ed.). De Re: Adams B43; Renouard, Estienne, 44:20; Schreiber, Estiennes, 50 (1535 ed., also the source of the quotation above). 19th-century brown polished calf, spine lettered and ruled in gilt with compartments stamped in blind, covers framed in single gilt fillet around a tulip roll in blind, board edges with gilt dashes, turn-ins ruled in gilt, all edges speckled brown; gently rubbed with a few stains, corners bowing inwards. Very light waterstaining across some corner-tips and barely noticeable pin-sized wormholes/tracks to most leaves; three leaves with small spots and one with an imperfect corner (probably from manufacture); final blank (only) lacking as above. Provenance indicia as above, a few leaves gently creased along corners.
Early examples of a landmark series in children's book production, from a famous press and a famous library. (39463)
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Baily's Central American Survey — Volcanic Illustrations
Baily, John. Central America; describing each of the states of Guatemala, Honduras, Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica; their natural features, products, population, and remarkable capacity for colonization. London: Trelawney Saunders, 1850. 8vo (20.7 cm; 8.25"). Frontis., xii, 164 pp.; 2 plts.
$625.00
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First edition of this evaluation of the commercial and agricultural potential of the Central American countries. An officer of the British Royal Marines, Baily lived in Guatemala for many years, and was the translator of Juarros's Compendio de la historia de la ciudad de Guatemala; he was also a proponent of the “Canal de Nicaragua.”
The volume is illustrated with
three engraved views, all three incorporating volcanos. As usual, this copy does not include the oversized map, which was printed and published separately.
Provenance: With ownership stamp of early 20th-century American archaeologist Harry Evelyn Dorr Pollock on front free endpaper.
Binding: Navy blue publisher's cloth with gilt lettering and blind ruling on spine, decorative foliate frames on covers in blind. Binder's label of Edmonds & Remnants, London, on rear pastedown.
Palau 21943; Sabin 2771; Nicaraguan National Bibliography 1476. Binding as above: gently rubbed with tiny tissue patches applied to weak areas of bookcloth, text slightly cocked, front hinge repaired and a few preliminary leaves reattached with long–fiber tissue and wheat starch paste. Light age-toning with some foxing, most notably around plates; one leaf with small marginal hole, a few corners creased, some leaves with evidence in margins of hasty opening. (36298)
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Defending
“Perfect Freedom of Discussion”
Bailey, Samuel. Essays on the formation and publication of opinions and on other subjects. Philadelphia: R.W. Pomeroy (pr. by A. Waldie), 1831. 12mo (19.9 cm, 7.9"). [2 (adv.)], 240 pp.
$300.00
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First U.S. edition, following the first London edition of 1821: Treatise on the nature of belief and opinion (and individual responsibility for both), and other issues of human perception and feeling. Bailey (1791–1870), an economist and philosopher, originally published the present work anonymously; it was much noticed at the time of its appearance for the impact of its arguments on questions of legal liability for freedom of expression.
American Imprints 5858. Uncut copy. Publisher's quarter red cloth and plain paper–covered sides, spine with printed paper label; binding rubbed/soiled, spine sunned/discolored, spine extremities chipped. Ex–social club library: traces of now-absent label at head of spine, bookplate on front pastedown, call number in a 19th-century hand on pastedown and front free endpaper. No other markings. Pages generally clean, with text block firm. (26284)
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Truth & Progess of Knowledge
[Bailey, Samuel]. Essays on the pursuit of truth, on the progress of knowledge, and the fundamental principle of all evidence and expectation. Philadelphia: R.W. Pomeroy (A. Waldie, pr.), 1831. 12mo. [1 (ads)] f., 233 pp., [1 (ads)] f.
$300.00
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First American edition. Bailey was an economist and moderate philosophical radical. In the field of economics he challenged David Ricardo and his followers and demonstrated several of their fallacies and false assumptions The present work is a continuation of his “Essays on the Formation and Publication of Opinions and other Subjects” (1821).
American Imprints 5859. Publisher's quarter red cloth shelfback with drab paper on boards and paper label to spine; spine cloth chipped at top (3/4" missing). Ex–social club library; with 19th-century bookplate, call number on endpapers, no other markings. Small piece of front free endpaper torn away. Uncut copy. Clean. (28077)
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Milkmaids, Bathing Beauties, Muses, Etc.
Bamlach, Christian. Pudelnakerd erotische Szenen aus der Gründerzeit. Dortmund: Harenberg, © 1981. 12mo (17.5 cm, 6.9"). 155, [5] pp.; illus.
$45.00
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Early edition: Remarkable collection of female nude photographs dating from the turn of the (20th) century, with an afterword by Bamlach. This is no. 246 in the series Die bibliophilen Taschenbücher, “pocket books for bibliophiles.”
Publisher's yellow bookcloth wrappers, front wrapper with affixed photographic label. Very clean and crisp. (30630)
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A Different Take on Cromwell vs. the King
[Bancks, John]. The life of Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland: Containing particularly his decent, his first advances to popularity, his wonderful success in the civil wars, Battle of Worcester, &c. &c. Stourbridge: Heming & Tallis, [ca. 1815]. 12mo (19 cm, 7.5"). Frontis., [2], [7]–28 pp.
$175.00
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Rare version of Cromwell's life and military successes: WorldCat and Copac find
no institutional holdings of this sole, separately-printed edition. The biography is attributed to “A Gentleman of the Middle Temple,” but the text is for the most part adapted from of A Short Critical Review of the Political Life of Oliver Cromwell by John Bancks (or Banks, 1709–51), a bookseller, poet, and biographer; there seems to have been some confusion with the Restoration-era playwright John Banks (d. 1706).
The present rendition was excerpted from the first eight chapters of the Critical Review, and closes with a discussion of Cromwell's burial; much of Bancks's editorializing regarding the conduct of the king and other political matters has been removed, providing an interesting contrast to the original work.
According to the DNB, the work in its first state earned Bancks accusations of being an enemy of the monarchy due to its sympathetic tone towards Cromwell — a major difference from all previous biographies.
This edition features a wood-engraved frontispiece done by Turnbull after Harper.
Provenance: From the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.
Not in NSTC (CD version). On Bancks, see: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography online. Recent light blue paper–covered boards, front cover with printed paper label. Frontispiece recto (back) with rubber-stamped numeral and pencilled annotation, no other markings. Pages age-toned with spots of minor staining, edges slightly ragged, corners bumped. An intriguing oddity. (38654)
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Incorporating the PHILADELPHIA Bank . . .
(Banking). Philadelphia [National] Bank. Pennsylvania. Laws, statutes, etc. An act to incorporate the Philadelphia Bank. Philadelphia: Pr. by W. W. Woodward, 1804. 8vo. 21, [1 (blank)] pp.
$800.00
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READ ARTICLE XVIII!
The legislature enables the bank to come into existence and prohibits conflicts of interest by barring sitting governors and legislators from serving on the Bank's board of directors. This act of incorporation seems to be as rare as the Bank's Articles.
Shaw & Shoemaker 7007. Original light boards covered with marbled paper. Back cover and two leaves gnawed by a rodent, with loss of paper. (3512)
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“Les connoissances qui multiplient nos desirs, multiplient nos besoins” —
Scarce French Philosophy
[Barbier, de Vitry-le-Français]. Pensées diverses, ou reflexions sur l'esprit et sur le coeur. Paris: Chez le Breton, 1748. 12mo (15.4 cm, 6.1"). xxxii, 148 pp.
$350.00
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Sole edition: 547 pithy, witty philosophical maxims on life, thought, emotion, society, and the nature of men and women, occasionally incorporating commentary on
contemporary French actresses and female authors. The author was apparently no relation of the bibliographer Antoine Alexander Barbier, but rather the father of the editor and bureaucrat Barbier-Neuville. While at least one reference suggests that his “Thoughts” were reissued in the following year under the title Réflexions diverses propres à former l'esprit et le coeur, that work is properly attributed to Simon Bignicourt, making this the first and only edition; it is nicely printed, with each section opening and closing with a head- and tailpiece. This work is now scarce, with a search of WorldCat locating
no U.S. institutions reporting holdings, and only four European listings.
Provenance: From the residue of the stock of the F. Thomas Heller bookselling firm (est. ca. 1928).
Barbier, Dictionnaire des ouvrages anonymes et pseudonymes, 13963; Licquet, Catalogue de la bibliothèque de la ville de Rouen, 2858. Contemporary mottled calf in an interesting striped pattern, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label, gilt-dotted raised bands, and gilt-stamped floral compartment decorations; edges and extremities rubbed, front joint cracked and open (sewing holding). All page edges stained red. Title-page with early inked annotation re: author. Pages gently age-toned and cockled. (39986)
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Adventures of Euphormio —First English-Language Appearance
Barclay, John. Euphormio's Satyricon. London: The Golden Cockerel Press, 1954. Folio (28.6 cm, 11.25"). [2], 158 pp.; 8 plts.
$250.00
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Golden Cockerel edition: Early 17th-century picaresque “satire upon the wickedness of the world.” Written by a Scottish Catholic, this is one of the earliest satirical romans à clef. The work appears here in English for the first time, with the translation from the original Latin done by Paul Turner from the 1605 edition.
Designed and produced by Christopher Sandford and printed in Perpetua type on mould-made paper, under the supervision of K.S. Tollit, the volume is
illustrated with eight wood-engraved plates and two vignettes by Derrick Harris, with the plate images printed within bright red borders. This is numbered copy 205 of 260 printed.
Cock-a-hoop 196. Publisher's light taupe paper–covered boards with red cloth shelfback, front cover with rooster vignette stamped in red, spine with gilt-stamped title; minor rubbing to spine foot and lower outer corners. A few page edges slightly darkened and one very limited, very faint stain affecting endpapers' lower outer corner at rear, pages otherwise clean.
A nice copy of this interesting production. (37173)
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Limited to 200 Copies — A Polyglot “Song of Moses”
Bargès, Jean Joseph Léandre. Notice sur deux fragments d'un Pentateuque hébreu-samaritain rapportés de la Palestine par M. le sénateur F. de Saulcy. Paris: Imprimerie Polyglotte Édouard Blot, 1865. 8vo (24.5 cm, 9.6"). [6], 91, [1] pp.; 1 fold. plt.
$750.00
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First edition: Number 60 out of 200 copies printed, with a folded facsimile leaf showing the Song of Moses in Samaritan, followed by the transcription in Hebrew and translation in Latin. L'abbé Bargès was a distinguished bibliophile and Orientalist who published a number of treatises on Middle Eastern antiquities, including Traditions orientales sur les Pyramides, Temple de Baal à Marseille, and Examen d'une nouvelle inscription phénicienne, découverte recemment dans les mines de Carthage.
Uncommon: OCLC and NUC Pre-1956 locate only five U.S. holdings.
Provenance: Ownership “label”
of George Williams (1814–78), who served as Vice-Provost of King's College (Cambridge)
from 1854 to 1857.
Recent marbled paper–covered boards, front cover with
gilt-stamped red leather title-label. Title-page with small affixed slip bearing ownership inscription as above. Occasional edge nicks and short tears, and a number of leaves with old creases or the odd smudge; last leaf with old, small repairs to margins, and one other leaf with very good repair from blank reverse to an interior tear (no text lost or even affected). (25368)
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The Private Edition, One of 12 Copies Only
A Family Copy
[A Conundrum Here as to “Original” Bindings]
Barham, R. Harris. The Ingoldsby legends or mirth and marvels by Thomas Ingoldsby Esquire [with] The Ingoldsby legends ... Second series. London: Richard Bentley, 1840 & 1842. 8vo. 2 vols. I: [6], v, [3], 338, [2] pp. with inserted extra-engraved title (a proof before letters), numbered colophon leaf, engraved title, and six etched plates; II: vii, [3], 288 pp. with engraved title and seven etched plates.
$12,500.00
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The very rare private issue of the first two volumes of Barham's most successful work, specially printed on heavier cream-toned paper, with the special limitation leaf, numbered and signed by Richard Bentley in the first volume. Plates and illustrations are by Leech, Cruikshank, and Buss. This copy is denoted copy #1 in ink, but a trace of an erasure suggests it may have been denoted #12, and then corrected at some point. The ownership signature of the author's son, R.H.D. Barham, who edited the third volume in 1847, appears on the half-title of the second volume. No private issue of the third volume was prepared.
The rather complex bibliography of this private issue, as well as that of the public issue, is discussed at length by Sadleir in the context of his entries for the copies in his collection, pp. 27– 29. He owned copy #8 (the publisher's copy) of the private edition of the first volume, but lacked the second volume in this form. He had knowledge of only two other copies, Barham's own copy (later Owen Young's) at the NYPL, and a catalogue reference to a copy from the collection of D. Phoenix Ingraham, sold in “February 1836 [sic, i.e. 1936].” This copy of the first volume, like Sadleir's and the others, has on p. 236 the incomplete printing of “The Franklyn's Dogge.”
Sadleir's analysis suggested to him the following probable sequence: a) the private edition, b) copies of the public edition with p. 236 in the same form as it appears in the private edition, c) copies of the public edition with p. 236 blank; and d) copies of the public edition with the complete new version of the text on p. 236.
The set in hand raises a new question in regard to the form of the binding of the private edition in its original state. Sadleir's copy, like the copy he located at NYPL, was bound in “Full brown Russia,” with the title, imprint, and date on the spine, and the title on the upper board, and he describes that binding as “original.” The binding described by Carter in reference to the twelve private copies is also in accord with Sadleir's description.
However, the remnants of the binding preserved at the back of the present first volume — see note below and
image above — are red moiré silk (as opposed to the brown cloth of the public edition), with the side panels and spine ornately blocked with a gilt design and the title within the gilt frame (the spine is rather worn, but legible). This suggests that only some of the twelve private copies were bound in leather, and others, or at least one, bound in this special silk cloth, gilt extra.
Binding: Full claret crushed levant, gilt extra, all edges gilt, by Riviere, with the side panels and spine of the original binding of the first volume bound at the end.
Barham began writing the short pieces making up this series as contributions to his friend and classmate's Bentley's Miscellany. The subject matter was “at first derived from the legendary lore of the author's ancestral locality in Kent, but soon [was] enriched by satires on the topics of the day and subjects of pure invention, or borrowed from history or the ‘Acta Sanctorum’. . . . The success of the ‘Legends’ was pronounced from the first, and when published collectively in 1840 they at once took the high place in humorous literature which they have ever since retained” (DNB).
Provenance: With R.H.D. Barham’s signature as noted above, and with the armorial bookplate of Sir David Lionel Salomons (1851–1925) in each volume.
NCBEL, III, 365; Sadleir 156a; Tinker 216 (public edition); Carter, Binding Variants, p.92. Bindings a bit darkened and slightly discolored at extremities, light rubbing to joints, some foxing to the prelims of the first volume, with an old tide-mark in the lower gutter areas of the plates; a tipped-in bookseller's description in the first volume.
A very good, very interesting example of a very rare thing. (18236)
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First Publicly Available, “Real” Editions,
in
Signed Bindings
[Barham, Richard Harris, a.k.a.] Ingoldsby, Thomas. The Ingoldsby legends or mirth and marvels. London: Richard Bentley (pr. by Samuel Bentley), 1840–47. 8vo (20.5 cm, 8.1"). 3 vols. I: Engr. t.-p., v, [3], 338, [2] pp.; 6 plts. II: Engr. t.-p., vii, [3], 288 pp.; 7 plts. III: Engr. t.-p., vi, [2], 364 pp.; 6 plts.
$950.00
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All three series of these entertaining tales, here in the first editions following the extremely scarce author’s edition of 12 copies. The Legends made their original appearances in Bentley’s Miscellany, as a favor to Bentley, a former schoolmate of Barham’s; Bentley here collects the pieces in book form with a life of the author (illustrated by an appealing engraved portrait done by R.J. Lane). The stories and poems are illustrated with
18 plates engraved by George Cruikshank, John Leech, and John Tenniel.
Bindings: Contemporary signed bindings by E.P. Dutton & Co., of red morocco with covers framed in gilt triple fillets; spines with raised bands, gilt-stamped titles, and compartments framed in gilt double fillets. Board edges gilt-ruled, gilt inner dentelles. Upper page edges gilt.
Original cloth covers and spines bound in at the back.
Sadleir 156b, e, & f; NCBEL, III, 365. Bindings as above, spines and upper board edges darkened with a bit of rubbing; free endpapers with offsetting from turn-ins. One volume with lower part of cover stained and the lower inner margin of the title-page and plates (not the text leaves!) waterstained. One plate evenly age-toned. (12844)

Defining “Child” for
Baptismal Purposes — RARE
Barker, Thomas. The duty, circumstances, and benefits of baptism, determined by evidence ... with an appendix, shewing the meaning of several Greek words in the New Testament. London: B. White, 1771. 8vo (20.5 cm, 8"). x, 208, [6 (index & errata)] pp.
$650.00
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Sole edition of this examination of the writings of the Apostolic Fathers as pertaining to the great infant baptism controversy. Closing the work is a collection of New Testament usages of various Greek words for “child” or “children,” with analysis of their contexts and connotations.
The author was a dedicated observer of meteors and comets and published several well-received works on those subjects in addition to his religious and philosophical treatises.
Rare: OCLC and ESTC locate only one U.S. holding, since deaccessioned; there are only two holdings found in the U.K.
ESTC T68482. Recent marbled paper–covered boards, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label; yellow wrapper with early hand-inked title bound in. Title-page institutionally pressure-stamped and a five-digit number inked twice to the first page of the preface; no other markings. First and last few leaves with minor foxing; other scattered spots mostly confined to margins. Occasional pencillled annotations. (25768)
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A Marblehead Puritan Printed in London
for
Boston Distribution
Barnard, John. Sermons on several subjects; to wit, a confirmation of the truth of the Christian religion. One sermon. Compel them to come in. One sermon. The Christian hero, or the saints victory and rewards, in 6 sermons. London: Pr. for Samuel Gerrish, & Daniel Henchman, in Cornhill Boston, New-England, 1727. 8vo. 190 pp.
$750.00
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Barnard (1681–1770) was a Puritan pastor of a church in Marblehead, Mass., and famous for his passion and ability as a preacher. This work is uncommon in that it was printed in London for two Boston booksellers.
Sabin 3471; ESTC T65667; not in Alden & Landis. Contemporary sheep, modestly tooled in blind; leather dry and abraded. Ex-library with call number on spine, shelf marks in pencil, bookplate on front pastedown, and rubber-stamp on title-page. (20159)

Just a Bit HEAVY for Taking with You to
“the New Barnes” . . .
Barnes, Albert C. The art in painting. New York: Harcourt, Brace & Co., © 1937. 8vo (23.6 cm, 9.25"). xx, 522 pp.; illus.
$95.00
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Third edition, revised and enlarged: the central text of Dr. Barnes's art education curriculum, featuring 122 illustrations.
Publisher's cloth in original dust jacket; jacket with spine sunned, spine and extremities chipped. Ex–social club library: Front pastedown with bookplate and evidence that jacket was once taped down, dedication page with inked numeral in lower margin, spine with inked shelving number. Title-page with inked private ownership inscription dated 1942.
Laid in, an amusing newspaper snippet. Outer edges (closed) with small area of staining; otherwise, internally clean and nice.
(33133)
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The First Jesuit Mission to the
Mughal Empire
Bartoli, Daniello. Missione al Gran Mogor del P. Ridolfo Aqvaviva ... sua vita e morte, e d'altri quattro compagni uccisi in odio della fede in Salsete di Goa. Milano: Lodovico Monza, 1664. 12mo. [4] ff., 193, [1] p., [1] f.
$8750.00
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Rodolfo Acquaviva (a.k.a., Ridolfo Aquaviva), nephew of Claudio Acquaviva the fifth Superior General of the Society of Jesus (1581–1615), after his Jesuit novitiate was ordained a priest in 1578 at Lisbon and sailed for India. Arriving in India he taught at the Jesuit school (Saint Paul's College) in Goa, founded by St. Francis Xavier and the site of the first printing press in India. In 1580 the Mughal Emperor Akbar the Great summoned him to his court and thus began Acquaviva's mission to the Mughal empire. His was, in fact, the first Jesuit mission there.
As Prof. Emerita Frances W. Pritchett of Columbia University writes on her great website (http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00islamlinks/ikram/part2_12.html): “Of all the aspects of Akbar's life and reign, few have excited more interest than his attitude toward religion. . . . [H]e built the Ibadat Khana, the House of Worship, which he set apart for religious discussions. Every Friday after the congregational prayers, scholars, dervishes, theologians, and courtiers interested in religious affairs would assemble in the Ibadat Khana and discuss religious subjects in the royal presence.”
It was to these discussions/conversations/debates that Acquaviva was invited.
The religions represented were many, the major participants including Muslims, Jews, Catholics, Hindus, Jains, and Zoroastrians. After several months Acquaviva felt his contributions to the debates insufficient to justify continuing as part of the mission and left the task to fellow Jesuits. On return to Goa his missionary work led him to the Hindu Kshatriyas of Salcette, south of Goa, which proved a fatal decision. Prior to his arrival, the Jesuits with the aid of Portuguese troops had destroyed some temples there; the Cuncolim Revolt of July, 1583, was partially a result of
those actions and it was in the revolt that
Acquaviva and the four companions alluded to in the title of this work were murdered.
The author of this biography was a major Jesuit historian of the Society's activity in Asia. He was the author of the monumental Istoria della Compagnia di Gesu (1650–1673) in 6 folio volumes, Della vita e dell'istituto di S. Ignatio, fondatore della Compagnia di Gesu (1650), L'Asia (1653), Il Giappone, parte seconda dell'Asia (1660), La Cina, terza parte dell'Asia (1663), L'Inghilterra, parte dell'Europa (1667), L'Italia, prima parte dell'Europa (1673), and biographies of Jesuits Vincenzo Caraffa (1651), Robert Bellarmine (1678), Stanislas Kostka (1678), Francis Borgia (1681), and Niccolo Zucchi (1682). Also of interest are his works on science: Della tensione e della pressione (1677), Del suono, dei tremori armonici, dell'udito (1679), and Del ghiaccio e della coagulatione (1682).
This is the second edition of Bartoli's account of Acquaviva and his mission, following the first of the previous year. Searches of NUC, WorldCat, and COPAC locate just two copies of the 1663 edition, both in the U.S., and similarly only two copies of this 1664 (one in Germany, one at Oxford).
DeBacker-Sommervogel, I, 975; Graesse, I, 303 (for first edition and other later editions but not knowing of this second). Late 18th-century quarter vellum over light boards covered with green paper. Undeciphered 17th-century ownership inscription on title-page. Waterstaining, at times significant, at others barely visible.
A sound copy with no worming or tears. (35200)
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“Opera quae exstant”
NOT
Basilius Seleucensis. [five lines in Greek, the] B. Basilii
Seleuciae Isauriae Episcopi, qui I. Chrysostomo contubernalis fuit, Opera quae exstant. [Heidelberg]: In bibliopolio H. Commelini, 1596. 8vo (16.5 cm; 6.5"). 8, 408 pp.
$650.00
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One of several editions all printed in 1596, all bearing the same title, and all claiming to be “Opera quae exstant,” but differing in significant ways: Some editions are in Greek and Latin; some have as place of printing “Lugduni” and others have no place. The present edition contains only the homilies and is entirely in Greek.
Provenance: Early 19th-century armorial bookplate of Robert Chambers; manuscript ownership “Ex libris G.R.W.”— William R. Wittingham, fourth Anglican bishop of Baltimore (a Latinophile who used “Guillelmus” for “William”), dated Sept. 22, 1856; later in the diocesan library of Maryland; deaccessioned 2006.
VD16 B 727. Contemporary limp vellum with evidence of ties; slightly yapp edges. Occasional light foxing. 19th-century library stamps on the front free endpaper and title-page. A clean solid copy. (24432)
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“When Pleasure Reaches Some Divine Extreme”
Bates, Charlotte Fiske. Autograph Manuscript Signed. “The Venice of Life.” On paper. No place (Boston?): no date (ca. 1900?). 12mo (8" x 6"). 1 p.
$150.00
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Bates (1838–1916) was born in New York but grew up and was educated in and near Boston. A teacher and author, she published her first book, Risks and Other Poems, in 1879. The present poem is written in blue ink reaching for purple and boldly signed at the bottom.
Provenance: Ex–Allyn K. Ford Collection, Minnesota Historical Society, recently deaccessioned.
Very good condition; slight smearing of two words, not impairing legibility. (33356)
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Pinax & Prodromus: Bauhin's History of Plants
Bauhin, Caspar. Caspari Bauhini ... Pinax theatri botanici: sive Index in Theophrasti Dioscoridis, Plinii et botanicorvm qui à seculo scripserunt opera ... Basileae: Joannis Regis, 1671. 4to (26.5 cm, 10.45"). [12] ff., 518 pp., [13] ff. [with the same author's] Caspari Bauhini ... Prodomos theatri botanici ... Basileae: Impensis Joannis Regis, 1671. 4to (26.5 cm, 10.45"). 160 pp., [6] ff.; illus.
$4000.00
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Two hugely influential botanical works, by a Swiss botanist, anatomist, and physician (1560–1624; sometimes given as Gaspard Bauhin). Bauhin herein catalogues close to 6,000 species, establishing a system which Printing & the Mind of Man calls “a most important scientific advance,” and using nomenclature later adopted by Linnaeus.
Bauhin's section on Zea mays is one of the earliest descriptions of New World maize, and was subsequently cited as such by Linnaeus.
The Prodomos is illustrated with just under
140 woodcuts depicting a wide variety of plants. Both works are here in their second, enlarged editions, following the original publications of Pinax in 1623 and Prodromus in 1620. The first title-page is printed in red and black, and both titles bear the printer's “Per angusta ad augusta” vignette.
Evidence of readership: Many of the woodcuts have additional names supplied in an early pencilled hand.
Pinax: Printing & the Mind of Man 121(for first edition of 1623); Brunet, I, 707; Pritzel 398 (first ed.); Alden & Landis 671/6; Nissen 104. Podomos: Alden & Landis 671/7; Krivatsy 947; Brunet, I, 707; Nissen 104. Neither work, in this edition, in Johnson, Cleveland Herbal, Botanical, and Horticultural Collections. Contemporary half calf over speckled brown paper, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label and gilt-ruled compartments; binding worn overall, front cover with abrasions to paper, spine leather crinkled, label chipped. Page edges untrimmed. Foxing and browning as is just about always the case with this edition due to the paper used and impurities in the water during production; with intermittent lighter spotting and offsetting throughout. Occasional pencilled annotations; front
free endpaper with early ownership inscription and annotation. One leaf with tear from upper margin, extending into text with loss of a few letters, just barely touching image on reverse; one
leaf with tear from outer margin, extending into text without loss, partially repaired.
A copy clearly read and interacted with by a botanical-minded scholar. (34558)
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History of the Propagation of the Christian Faith
. . . by a
“Hater of False History”
Baxter, Richard. Church-history of the government of bishops and their councils abbreviated. Including the chief part of the government of Christian princes and popes, and a true account of the most troubling controversies and heresies till the Reformation. London: Printed by B[ennet] Griffin, for Thomas Simmons at the Princes Arms, 1680. 4to (22 cm, 8.12''). [44], 136, 177–296, 313–400, 409–488 pp.
$650.00
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An anti-Catholic , Puritan overview of Christianity's origins intended for those who “cannot read many and great Volumes” and those who “would know the truth about the great Heresies which have divided the Christian World,” among other readers suggested by the title-page. Baxter (1615–91), author of the classic devotional work The Saints' Everlasting Rest, was a prominent — and much-persecuted — Nonconformist minister and
“Hater of false History”; thus the present account opens with a discussion of how to assess the credibility of histories and reports.
1680 marked this work's first edition, with its title-page recorded in three variant states noting the same printer but differing booksellers (the text and its setting otherwise identical). As seen in other copies, everything from chapter VII onwards has been printed in a slightly different typeface using different manicules; also, there are several places where the pagination and signatures skip widely, although the text continues uninterrupted.
Provenance & Evidence of Readership: Front pastedown with bookplate of the Library of the Theological Seminary of the Diocese of Ohio (properly deaccessioned). Intermittent 17th-century inked marginalia cross-referencing pages, adding significant information, and correcting certain points.
ESTC R10655; Wing (rev. ed.) B1224B. Contemporary calf, rebacked, covers framed in double gilt fillets, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label and gilt devices in compartments; rubbed and worn overall, spine with early paper shelving label. Pages age-toned; one leaf with upper outer corner torn away (not touching text). Annotations as above.
A solid copy in contemporary binding, with interesting evidence of readership. (34379)
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“In Former Times, in the Warmest of Climes, a
Gentleman Gloried in Several Crimes”
Bayley, Frederic William Naylor; Alfred Crowquill, illus. Blue Beard. London: W.S. Orr & Co., [ca. 1842]. 8vo (17.7 cm, 7"). [4], 47, [3] pp.; 13 plts.
[SOLD]
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“With illustrations, humorous and numerous”: Based on Perrault's fairy tale, Bayley's comic rhymed version of the story of the violent bridegroom is
illustrated with 13 full-page tinted wood-engraved plates by “Alfred Crowquill” (pseudonym of Alfred Henry Forrester), as well as in-text vignettes engraved on wood by Henry Vizetelly after Crowquill's designs. The title “BLUE BEARD” is rendered in blue on the title-page, and the plates' images are rendered on pale blue and green backgrounds; the bloody key on the title-page has been hand-colored red.
This is an uncommon, early standalone edition, from the “Comic Nursery Tales” series (under which banner it also appeared with Beauty and the Beast and Robinson Crusoe).Binding: Publisher's color-printed tan pictorial paper–covered boards, simply rebacked with plain paper. All edges gilt.
Provenance: Front free endpaper with early inked ownership inscription of Mi[chael?] H. Beague; later in the children's book collection of Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.
Osborne Collection, p. 21; Opie C 748; NSTC 2B12476; Gumuchian, 489. Bound as above, sides darkened, extremities rubbed; back cover with spots of discoloration. Title-page with tiny spot of paper adhesion from frontispiece (resulting absence to frontispiece image is unobtrusive). Pages with a very few scattered spots of faint foxing, otherwise clean.
A nice copy, seemingly all but untouched by childish hands. (41044)
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Chinese Buddhists in India
Beal, Samuel. Chinese accounts of India. Calcutta: S. Gupta for Susil Gupta, 1957–58. 8vo (22.2 cm, 8.75"). 3 vols. (of 4) I: [8], 127, [1] pp. II: vi, [2], [129]–258 pp. III: [8], [259]–396 pp.
[SOLD]
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New editions: Three volumes of Samuel Beal's translations from the original Chinese. Beal (1825–89), a scholar and the first Englishman to translate early texts of Buddhism from the original Chinese, is well known for these renditions of travelogues by various Chinese Buddhist pilgrims to India, including Hiuen Tsiang (c. 602–664, also known as “Xuanzang”), providing
firsthand accounts of their voyages and their interactions with Indian Buddhists.Provenance: From the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.
Publisher's navy cloth with gilt lettering to spine, in original yellow dust jackets printed in black and white; extremities bumped, boards lightly soiled, jackets price-clipped, edgeworn, and faintly soiled. This very good set includes volumes 1–3 of 4. (38055)
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“J Stands for Jack-in-the-Box” — Special Signed, Hand-Colored Edition
Beaumont, Cyril W.; Eileen Mayo, illus. Toys. London: C.W. Beaumont, 1930. 8vo (23.4 cm, 9.5"). 48, [2] pp.; col. illus.
$175.00
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Alphabetically arranged verses inspired by children's toys — dolls, balloons, ninepins, and rocking horses, along with pistols and quivers. Beaumont, primarily known as a scholar of ballet history and publisher of works on dance and other fine arts, here offers a lighthearted, good-humored romp through a particularly engaging toybox. This is
numbered copy 19 of 100 copies signed by both author and illustrator, with the decorations hand-colored by Mayo.
Provenance: From the children's book collection of Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.
Opie PP 22. Publisher's pink cloth, front cover with gilt-stamped vignette, spine with gilt-stamped title; dust wrapper lacking, spine sunned, spine foot and one upper outer corner bumped, front cover with spots of discoloration. Somewhat worn externally, but internally clean, bright, and unabused by childish hands. (39118)
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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)
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Anatomy & Therapeutics as Taught on the Continent,
NOW for the English Medical Audience
Beckher, Daniel. Medicus microcosmus, seu, Spagyria microcosmi exhibens medicinam corpore hominis tùm vivo, tùm extincto doctè eruendam, scitè praeparandam, & dextrè propinandam. Londini: Prostant apud Jo. Martin, Ja. Allestry & Tho. Dicas, 1660. 12mo (13.5 cm, 5.25"). [16] ff., 304 pp., [12] ff.
$1250.00
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Born in Gdansk, Beckher (1594–1655) studied at several universities (Marburg, Heidelberg, Wittenberg, and Rostock) and eventually received an appointment as a professor of medicine at the University of Konigsberg. A steadfast follower of Paracelsus' teachings, he perhaps had blinders on regarding medical advances of the late 16th and early 17th century. Nonetheless, his Medicus microcosmus, first published in 1622 at Rostock as Spagyria microcosmi, tradens medicinam, e corpore hominis tùm vivo, tùm extincto doctè eruendam, scitè praeparandam, & dextrè propinandam, was a popular and widely used text of anatomy and therapeutics, as attested to by its having been reprinted several times on the Continent in the period to 1660.
This is the sole printing in England of any of Beckher's writings, here described as “Editio nova triplo auctior & correctior.”
Provenance: 20th-century bookplate of A. Garrigues, D.M. Most recently in the residue of the stock of the F. Thomas Heller bookselling firm (est. ca. 1928).
Searches of NUC, ESTC, and WorldCat surprisingly locate only seven U.S. libraries (DNLM, NN [incomplete copy], CU-M, WU, PCarlD, NNOD, MiU) reporting ownership. Notably absent from that list are Harvard, Yale, the Huntington, New York Academy of Medicine, the College of Physicians, University of Texas, and the Folger.
ESTC R14791; Wing (rev. ed.) B1655. Mid-19th-century quarter leather with marbled paper sides; front board expertly reattached and leather refurbished. Age-toning, notably to first leaves including title; discoloration in gutter margins from transference from leather (?).
A good copy of a scarce English medical imprint. (39767)
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Romance, Sex, & Procreation:
HOW-TO's for Two out of Three
Becklard, Eugène; Philip M. Howard, transl. Physiological mysteries and revelations in love, courtship and marriage; an infallible guide-book for married and single persons, in matters of the utmost importance to the human race. New York: Holland & Glover, 1844. 16mo (11.5 cm, 4.52"). [2 (blank)], 256, [2 (blank)] pp.; 16 plts.
[SOLD]
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Early U.S. edition of
a popular guide to human sexuality written for a broad audience, here “translated from the third Paris edition, with the revision and additions of the sixth Paris edition.” This curious work skips back and forth between matters of the heart and of the body, covering a wide range of topics connected to love and marriage; there are sections that focus at length on specific concepts, and sections offering snippets of a few lines apiece on seemingly randomly selected items, with one such section offering
“Love Matches,” “Double Uterus,” “Disease,” and “Courting” all on one page. Addressed to both men and women, these “revelations” are often scientifically questionable, at best: spicy food and vigorous dancing will prevent conception, pregnancy resulting from rape is physiologically impossible, and an infant will most strongly resemble the parent “whose orgasm was highest” (p. 165) during congress — but the author does acknowledge good reasons why women might want to avoid pregnancy, defends the idea that women not only can experience sexual pleasure but are entitled to expect it, and points out “the very unjust usages of society” regarding demands of female vs. male continence, as well as providing actual contraceptive techniques like sponges for women. Details on intercourse go no further than warnings against “all attitudes of enjoyment but the natural one” (p. 40).
Paginated continuously with the first work and displaying the same running header (“Becklard's Physiology”) is Onanism and Its Cure, “an infallible text book for the cure of all diseases in the male or female, produced by over indulgence in onanism, or masturbation” according to its separate title-page, which notes that the work was translated by James Guierson from the French of Henriot, Tissot, Deslandes, and Becklard. It includes directions on what foods to eat following immoderate coition, as well as recommending quinquina and cold baths for remedying passions. The two works together are illustrated with
a total of 16 wood-engraved plates, including one labelled “Terrors of Absolute Continence” and a remarkable image of
a couple occupied with their pets rather than with each another, captioned “Offspring Prevented.”This is the second New York printing of the Physiological Mysteries, following the first of 1842, and
the first edition both to append Onanism and to add the plates.
Provenance: Front free endpaper with early inked inscription of William H. Harriman.
American Imprints 44-583; Hoolihan, Annotated Catalogue of the Edward C. Atwater Collection of American Popular Medicine & Health Reform, 266. Publisher's blind-stamped brown cloth, spine very attractively gilt with title and decorations; edges and extremities lightly rubbed. One leaf with lower outer corner torn away, not touching text; intermittent spots of mild to moderate foxing.
Plates on yellow paper, perhaps partly for easy finding? (41243)
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An Illustrated Broadside Celebrating a
Major Military Victory
From the Press of a
Widow Printer of Madrid
Beer, Cornelius de, artist. Breve y verdadera descripcion del ynexpvgnable fverte Schencken, como por yndustria de la gente de su M[a]g[esta]d Catolica se gano en 28 de jvlio año 1635. Madrid: por la Viuda de Iuan Gonçalez [Juan Gonzalez, 1635. Folio (39.5 x 25.5 cm, 15.5" x 10"). [1] f.
$1000.00
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During the 80 Years War (1566–1648), on the night of 27/28 July 1635, Spanish forces took
the “impregnable” Schenkenschans fort by surprise, overpowering its meager cadre of defenders (120 in total) to capture it. Strategically situated on an island at the confluence of the Rhine and the Waal rivers, it was
one of the most famous “star” forts of the era.
This illustrated broadside was written and published in Madrid in the flush of that victory. Above a prose description of the history of the fort and the successful Spanish assault on it is
a large two-part engraving of it (20 x 22 cm, 7.75" x 8.625"). The topmost part presents a view of the fort from the far bank of the Rhine and, below that and above the prose, is a birds-eye view. At the very bottom of the sheet is a key to the fort’s principal buildings and the locations important in its taking.
The attribution of this engraving to Beer is based on the line in it that reads “Vendese en casa de Cornelio de Beer pintor. Enfrente de las Casas del Duque de Lerma.” Beer (1585–1651) was a North Netherlandish painter, engraver (printmaker), publisher, and art dealer.
The joy of the Spanish surprise success that is embodied here did not last long: Beginning on 30 July and continuing until 30 April of 1636, the occupying Spanish defenders were unable to be reprovisioned by their army and were under continual, merciless bombardment from combined Dutch and French forces. The original 1500-man Spanish garrison of 29 July 1635 had been reduced to 600 when the siege ended and surrender was effected on 30 April of the next year.
Searches of NUC, WorldCat, COPAC, and CCPBE locate only the copy in the Biblioteca Nacional de España.
Los Austrias: grabados de la Biblioteca Nacional, 301; Almirante, Biblioteca militar de España, 689; Pohler, Bibliotheca historico-militaris, 248. Tattered and creased in the left margin, old folds; overall, very good condition. (41070)
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Bilingual Stanze in
Elegant Dos à Dos Format
New Translation, Limited Edition
Bembo, Pieto. Stanze composte ... in occasione delle festivita da carnevale alla corte d'Urbino nell' anno ... [di] mille cinquencento sette ... Austin: Pr. by Bradley Hutchinson for Michele Miracolo, 2015.
$165.00
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The inaugural publication of the Michele Miracolo Press is the Stanze by Pietro Bembo, the famed Venetian poet and humanist who composed this 50 stanza poem as part of the Carnival festivities for the court of Urbino in 1507. The text has been
newly translated into English by David Slavitt and printed by Bradley Hutchinson from Blado types cast at his letterpress workshop in Austin, Texas. Approximately 100 copies of this bilingual edition were printed and bound in an unusual “tête bêche” [a.k.a., dos a dos ] style, with each language having its own front cover but meeting in the middle, one text upside down in relation to the other.”
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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)
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Lions, Tigers, & Bears — Engraved
Bennett, Edward Turner; William Harvey, illus. The Tower menagerie: Comprising the natural history of the animals contained in that establishment; with anecdotes of their characters and history. London: Robert Jennings (pr. by Charles Whittingham, College House), 1829. 8vo (22.8 cm, 8.97"). xviii, 241, [1] pp.; illus.
$250.00
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First edition: Detailed accounts of the animals and birds of the Royal Menagerie at the Tower of London — not just the natural history of their species, but the specific temperaments and characteristics of
the individual creatures then living in the collection. The great cats, hyenas, wolves, bears, monkeys, elephants, eagles, vultures, owls, macaws, alligators, anacondas, etc. are
illustrated with “portraits of each, taken from life, by William Harvey; and engraved on wood by Branston and Wright.” This work marks the closing days of the 600-year history of the menagerie, as by 1832 all of the animals had been transferred into the care of the Zoological Society of London.
Provenance: From the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.
Contemporary quarter sheep and cream paper–covered sides, spine with gilt-stamped title and date; binding rubbed overall with sides darkened and leather scuffed (particularly at joints). Hinges (inside) starting from top; still holding. Back pastedown with small ticket of F. Westley, binder. Pages faintly age-toned with a few scattered small smudges, otherwise clean; one leaf with short tear from lower margin, just touching last line of text without loss.
An enjoyable copy of this attractive Whittingham production, and from a good collection. (41296)
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An AFRICAN Utopia, as
Described to the INQUISITION
[Berington, Simon]. The adventures of Signor Gaudencio di Lucca. Being the substance of his examination before the fathers of the Inquisition at Bologna, in Italy: Giving an account of an unknown country in the midst of the deserts of Africa, the origin and antiquity of the people, their religion, customs, and laws. Copied from the original manuscript in St. Mark’s Library, at Venice. With critical notes by the learned Signor Rhedi. To which is prefixed, a letter of the secretary of the Inquisition, shewing the reasons of
Signor Gaudentio's being apprehended, and the manner of it. Translated from the Italian. Philadelphia: Re-printed by William Conover, 1799. 12mo (18 cm; 7.125"). 320 pp.
$400.00
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Originally published in 1737 under the title Memoirs of Signor Gaudentio di Lucca, this work was “[o]ften and erroneously ascribed to Bishop Berkeley” (Halkett & Laing, 2nd ed.); it is now generally attributed to Berington, a Catholic priest.
“Gaudentio,” under persecution by the Inquisition, reveals his fantastic voyages and travels through Egypt and an imaginary African land.
While constantly assuring the stern inquisitors of his staunch adherence to Catholicism, he gives elaborate, admiring descriptions of the government, religion, and customs of his African utopia, particularly its training and education of women.
Provenance: Pastedown with contemporary bookplate of James Butler.
Evans 35183; ESTC W10142. Not in Parsons; not in Finotti; not in Bowe, List of Additions and Corrections . . . to Parsons. Contemporary sheep, missing pieces of leather from front cover and top and bottom of spine; spine with nice old red leather gilt label and front cover reattached using Japanese long-fiber method. Silverfish or roach damages to front free endpaper, fly-leaf, and title-page (costing small, small portion of two letters); damage also to lower outer corners of early leaves and upper inner area of leaves to p. 10 of preface with none of this impairing the reader. Age-toned, some foxing, occasional brown spots; an “old book” of the classic sort. (37157)
PLEASE NOTE ALSO
THE NEXT ITEM:

The Inquisition An African Utopia Educating Women
[Berington, Simon]. The adventures of Signor Gaudentio di Lucca. Being the substance of his examination before the fathers of the Inquisition, at Bologna, in Italy. Giving an account of an unknown country in the midst of the desarts [sic] of Africa. Copied from the original manuscript in St. Mark’s Library, at Venice. With critical notes by the learned Signor Rhedi. Baltimore: Pr. by Bonsal & Niles, 1800. 16mo (17 cm; 6.5"). xxi, [2], 24–234 pp.
$350.00
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This is the last edition of the 18th century, Baltimore issue: Bonsal and Niles printed two issues, differing only in the name of the city of publication —Wilmington or Baltimore.
Evans 36946; ESTC W10143; Minick, Maryland, 560. Not in Parsons; not in Finotti; not in Bowe, List of Additions and Corrections . . . to Parsons. Publisher's sheep with modest gilt ruling on spine; spine label gone, front free endpaper loose. A few leaves starting to extrude; occasional spotting, but overall strong and good+ to very good. (37183)
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The First Lady of
Fly Fishing?
Berners, Juliana. The treatyse of fysshynge wyth an angle. London: William Pickering, 1827. 8vo (18.1 cm, 7.2"). Frontis., [2], xiii (pagination skips v–viii), [1], 41, [1] pp.; 4 plts.
$650.00
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First Pickering edition of the first known English work on fishing. Reprinted from the Boke of St. Albans, the famed sporting book originally published by Wynkyn de Worde in 1496, this essay on angling is generally attributed — although not certainly so — to Dame Juliana Berners (or Barnes), supposed prioress of Sopwell nunnery circa 1450. If that attribution is correct, this is not only the earliest printed English work on fishing, but also one of the earliest published English works by a female author. Regardless of its source, it seems to have served as an inspiration both to Izaak Walton and to William Pickering, who printed several editions of Walton, including a particularly lavish production in 1836.
The volume is printed with the original language and spelling preserved, and is illustrated with a woodcut frontispiece of a fisherman taken from de Worde's 1518 edition that is cited as the earliest known depiction of an angler fishing with a rod, as well as with six woodcuts (provided at the back of the volume in the form of four plates) showing types of poles, hooks, etc. The title-page proclaims this as printed with the types of John Baskerville, making it one of the last such printings done in England, and most cataloguing follows suit; but Kelly identifies the font used as the elegant "Fry" Baskerville variant developed by typefounder Isaac More.
Evidence of Readership: A later hand has helpfully added pencilled marginalia clarifying archaic or obscure terms and suggesting subject headers.
NSTC 2B20037; Keynes, Pickering, 42; Kelly, Checklist of Books Published by William Pickering, 1827.1 (p. 21). Later half calf and marbled paper–covered sides, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label, gilt-decorated raised bands, and gilt-stamped fishing creel devices in compartments; spine label with small edge chips and mild rubbing to paper. Pencilled annotations as above, pages and plates otherwise pleasingly clean. (28566)
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Printed Using “Fry” Baskerville Types — Uncut Copy
Berners, Juliana. The treatyse of fysshynge wyth an angle. London: Printed ... for William Pickering [by Thomas White], 1827. 8vo (19 cm, 7.5"). Frontis., [2], xiii (pagination skips v–viii), [1], 41, [1] pp.; 4 plts.
$750.00
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As above, but:
This copy uncut and in original boards: RARE THUS.
NSTC 2B20037; Keynes, Pickering, 42. Beyond the scope of Gaskell, Baskerville. Publisher's dun-colored light boards. Uncut copy. Light overall rubbing; spine with minor loss of paper. Old bookseller's description affixed to front free endpaper; small oval stain to corner of half-title and frontispiece, a bit of light offsetting from plates. A very nice copy in a later open-back cardboard slipcase. (30461)
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Bernesque Poetry at its Finest
Berni, Francesco; Giovanni Mauro; & Others. Tutte le opere del Bernia in terza rima, nuovamente con somma diligentia stampate. [Venice?: s.n.], 1540. 8vo (15.1 cm, 6"). 168 ff.
$2250.00
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Italian translator Berni (1497/8–1535) was so good at writing serio-comic and satirical poetry with double meanings that the style took on his name. Written in terza rima, the present early “Bernesque” collection showcases his aesthetic by gathering his work with that of three of his peers. Donadoni notes Berni's “poems deal with the most futile, most cunningly indecent, or the most paradoxical themes,” and these examples are no exception — they cover a variety of topics including Pope Adriano and Aristotle (History of Italian Literature, I, 240). Court official Mauro (1490–1536), bishop Della Casa (1503–56), and apostolic abbreviator Bini (1484–1556) were all friends of Berni and here imitate his poetry, although none of them comments on a pope.
The text is neatly printed in single columns and split into three different parts with a sectional title-page for each, the latter two reading “Tutte le terze rime del Mauro, nuouamente raccolte e stampate” and “Le ter'ze rime de messer Giouanni dalla casa, di messer Bino et d'altri.”
Though several editions were printed in a short period of time in the 16th century (1538, 1540, 1542, 1545), extant copies are few and far between. Searches of WorldCat, COPAC, and the NUC reveal
only one holding of this edition in a U.S. institution (Penn).
Evidence of Readership: An early owner has added a handful of inked words and marks on two pages; a more recent owner has penciled extensive notes on several endpapers, supplied page numbers where lacking, marked several passages with arrows or bars, and written a marginal word.
Provenance: Title-page marked with initials “G.D.S.R.” in ink; most recently in the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.
EDIT16 seems to have based its entry on an incomplete copy, for it gives the foliation as 267 [i.e., 167], and while folio 167 is misnumbered in this copy, there is also a folio 168 that is correctly numbered.
EDIT16 CNCE 5538; Adams B753; not in Gamba, Serie dei testi di lingua. Recent cream calf, spine with two dark red leather labels, new endpapers; light scratching. Provenance and readership evidence as above. Light dust-soiling, staining, or spotting mostly in margins; just under four gatherings with light marginal waterstaining.
A desirable representative of the burlesque poetry genre. (38032)
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Religion Defended, In Long Cantos &
Very Small Letters
Bernis, François-Joachim de Pierre de. La religion vengée. Poëme en dix chants. Parme: dans Le Palais Royal, 1795. 8vo (16.8 cm, 6.6"). [28], 243, [1] pp.
$225.00
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First edition, octavo variant from the Bodoni press: a ten-canto
philosophical defense in French against idolatry, atheism, materialism, and other woes of the modern age, written by the Cardinal de Bernis. Bodoni printed several different versions of this piece (folio on both paper and vellum, quarto, and octavo) in the same year, following Bernis's death in 1794. The dedications to Pope Pius VI and Louis XV are set in graceful italic and the verses in
exquisitely minute roman type.
Brooks 606; De Lama, II, 108–09; Giani 74 (p. 55). Contemporary half calf with speckled paper–covered sides, rebacked preserving much of the original spine including gilt-stamped leather title and publisher labels; minor overall wear. Marbled endpapers in two different colorways: front endpapers in blues and pinks, back endpapers in orange, pink, and blue. Page edges untrimmed. A very few small spots of foxing, pages overall clean and crisp.
A nice solid copy of this delightful printing. (40171)
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Entirely
ENGRAVED 18th-Century LYRICAL DIALOGUE
Berquin, Arnaud. Idylle. [Paris]: no date [1775]. 4to
(26.9 cm, 10.6"). Part 2 only of 2. 8 pp.
$950.00
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The first edition of the
first work published by M. Arnaud Berquin (1747–91), this
entirely engraved dialogue between Lamon, Lysis, and “La femme” was issued together with the Pygmalion, scène lyrique, which Berquin translated into verse from the original by Jean-Jacques Rousseau. As in the instance of a copy at Texas A&M University, the Idylle in hand has been separately bound — in our copy's case finely bound, well highlighting the vignette and tailpiece engraved by Charles-Étienne Gaucher (1740–1804) after Clément Pierre Marillier (1740–1808), and the text engraved in an attractive italic “hand” by Droüet.
The two-part text was not reprinted until 1883, by J. Lemonnyer in an edition of 525 copies.
Binding: Fine olive brown morocco gilt, ca. 1910 and very much expressing that era's style. Each board double-ruled in gilt and finely framed with a canopy of elegant gilt garlands, title gilt at center of front cover. Spine gilt extra from top to bottom in a leafy vine pattern. Board edges single-ruled in gilt, turn-ins double-ruled in gilt with a rule of delicate gilt beads between, french combed marbled endpapers in an exceptionally pretty and precise pattern.
Cioranescu 11517. Bound as above, second part only of two; binding a little rubbed (only) at joints, edges, and one corner of front cover. Paper chosen for blank endpapers unevenly bleached, in production, to now-spotty but not unpleasant effect; text with a little age-toning at upper edges and some light dust-soiling at deckle edges. (32768)
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Wood-Engravings by
Alexander Anderson
[Berquin, Arnaud]. The looking-glass for the mind, or, intellectual mirror. Being an elegant collection of the most delightful little stories, and interesting tales. Chiefly translated from that much admired work L'Ami des Enfans. With elegant engravings on wood, by Anderson. Philadelphia: Alexander Towar; Hogan & Thompson, 1832. 16mo (14.5 cm, 5.75"). 216 pp.; illus.
$175.00
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“Richly illustrated” is very rightly applied to this later edition of The Looking-Glass for the Mind, for it is filled with very fine wood engravings — including on the title-page and at the beginning of each story — by Alexander Anderson, America's greatest early wood engraver.
Provenance: From the children's book collection of Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.
Pomeroy, Alexander Anderson, 66; American Imprints, 11297. Publisher's sheep, gilt-stamped label and modest gilt rules to spine; joints open and some leather lost to front cover and spine extremities, but volume sturdy. Light foxing to outermost (blank) pages and in a few other sections.
The impressions of the images tend to be very crisp and satisfactory. (39282)
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New Chemistry, Practical Application — Illustrations
Berthollet, Claude- Louis, & Amédée B. Berthollet. Elements of the art of dyeing; with a description of the art of bleaching by oxymuriatic acid. London: Pr. for Thomas Tegg; Simpkin & Marshall; R. Griffin & Co., Glasgow; & J. Cumming, Dublin, 1824. 8vo (23.2 cm; 9.125"). 2 vols. I: xxvii, [1(blank)], 408 pp., 7 plts. (2 fold.). II: vii, [1 (blank), 453 pp., 2 fold. plts.
$500.00
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C.-L. Berthollet was a member of the circle of Lavoisier and helped in the development of a chemical nomenclature that was applicable and derived from the chemistry being developed at the end of the 18th century. The present work is a systematic study and scientific discussion of the nature of dyeing, with nine plates, four folding.
Posthumous second edition in English, “translated from the French, with notes and engravings, illustrative and supplementary, by Andrew Ure.”
Uncut, partially unopened copy.
Uncut, partially unopened copy. Publisher's quarter cloth with paper covered boards; some discoloration to cloth, light chipping to board edges. Ex–social club library: paper label at top of spine, 19th-century bookplate, call number on endpaper, pressure-stamp on title-page, no other markings. A clean copy with the plates good and crisp; as noted above, an uncut, partially unopened copy. (27388)
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“Ae-hy Ae-hy, Kih She”: Geordie Tales “Related by the Late Thomas Bewick”
Bewick, Thomas. The howdy and the upgetting. Two tales of sixty years sin seyne ... in the Tyne side dialect. London: Admirers of Native Merit, 1850. 12mo (22 cm, 8.75"). [2] ff., 9-16 pp.; frontis. port.
$225.00
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Two Tyneside stories recounted by the great wood engraver, in
an edition limited to just 60 copies, “imprinted by Samuel Bird . . . for John Gray Bell” (verso of title-page). An addition to the literature on English dialects, this little booklet is illustrated with
three wood engravings by Bewick and a portrait of the artist by John Jackson, one of his former pupils. Bewick's illustrations “were cut . . . for the Newcastle Chronicle Newspaper, and headed the Local and London News in that Paper for above twenty years” (note, p. [9]).
Provenance: Presentation copy from the publisher: “C.S. Bell, Esq. with J.G.B.'s compts.” (i.e., John G. Bell). This copy came from the Bewick collection of S. Roscoe, with his cataloguing slip tipped in and his pencilled note “one of 18 on large paper” (which we believe is erroneous). Described on Roscoe's slip as “on blue” paper: if so, it is very, very pale blue.
Hugo, Bewick Collector, 466. Fine copy in later marbled light boards, edges lightly rubbed; provenance/presentation indicia as above. (38856)
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Bewick: Befores & Afters from a
MODERN Fine Press
Bewick, Thomas, illus. Thomas Bewick: Ten working drawing reproductions shown with impressions of the corresponding engravings. Chicago: Cherryburn Press, 1972. Oblong 8vo (19.8 cm, 7.79"). Frontis, [14] pp.; 10 double-spread matted plates.
$125.00
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One of only 160 copies printed: an elegantly designed portfolio presentation of ten of Bewick's preliminary drawings (reproduced from the originals by the Meriden Gravure Company) alongside reprintings
from the original blocks of their final engraved forms. (One engraving only is done from a later plate, which provides instructive contrast of effect.)
The introduction was signed by the printer, Robert Hunter Middleton, a Bewick aficionado who expertly reproduced his work.
Provenance: From the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, sans indicia.
Publisher's case of tan buckram and textured grey paper–covered sides, front cover and spine with red paper labels, in matching slipcase; slipcase rubbed but solid with spine cloth slightly foxed, case otherwise showing virtually no wear.
The enclosed portolio, pristine. (41304)
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Birds & Beasts from
Bewick's Blocks
Bewick, Thomas, illus.; Edna W. Ferriss, ed. 21 engravings. St. Charles, IL: Privately Printed (at the Printing Office of Philip Reed), 1951. 8vo (21.9 cm, 8.6"). 2 vols. I: [44] pp.; illus. II: [40] pp.; illus.
$150.00
Click the images for enlargements.
One of 500 copies printed — with the two volumes, despite the title, actually comprising
42 illustrations, all printed from Bewick's original woodblocks.
Binding: Publisher's Bewick design–printed paper–covered boards with morocco shelfbacks (one green, one red); spines with gilt-stamped title, in original matching slipcase.
Provenance: From the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.
Bound as above, spines sunned as is often seen with these volumes; slipcase somewhat darkened with spine and edges showing this more notably. Books crisp and clean.
A nice set. (41317)
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Bibliography Printed at a Fine Handpress
Biblioteca Francisco de Burgoa.
Los impresos de Ignacio Rincon y Muniz en la Biblioteca Francisco de Burgoa. Edicion y notas de Juan Pascoe. [Tacámbaro de Codallos, Mexico]: Taller Martin Pescador, 2013. 8vo (23.5 cm, 9"). 44 pp., facsimiles.
$100.00
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A bibliography of the printing output of the little-known, mid-19th-century Oaxacan printer Ignacio Rincon y Muniz based on the holdings of the Biblioteca Francisco de Burgoa in Oaxaca City. It is prefaced by a reprinting of Ignacio Cadiani's “Historia de la imprenta en Oaxaca” that appeared in 1894 in El Imperial newspaper (Oaxaca, 29 August – 2 September).
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MEXICO
is one of our great specialties.
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“Observationvm Ivris Romani”
Bijnkershoek, Cornelis van. Cornelii van Bynkershoek, icti et senatoris, Observationum iuris romani quatuor libri priores. In quibus plurima iuris civilis aliorumque auctorum loca explicantur et emendantur. Cum praefatione Io. Gottl. Heineccii. Francofurt. et Lipsiae: Ex Officina Krugiana, 1739. Small 4to. 2 vols. I: [20] ff., 298 pp., [13] ff. II: [20] ff., 373, [1] pp., [18] ff.
$875.00
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Later edition, first was 1710, of this treatise on Roman law by Bijnkershoek (1673–1743), a Dutch jurist who contributed greatly to the development of international law; the preface here is by Johann Gottlieb Heineccius (1681–1741). The title-page is printed in red and black and the Latin text is nicely dotted with woodcut head- and tailpieces and initials; there are small sections in Greek.
The title-page of vol. II reads: Cornelii van Bynkershoek, icti et senatoris, Observationum iuris romani quatuor, quatuor prioribus additi, nempre V. VI. VII. et VIII in quibus plurima iuris civilis aliorumque auctorum loca explicantur et emendantur.
McCrank 0390. Publisher's vellum over paste boards; one board broken across one corner under the vellum and held by it, another board with vellum of cover patched; cover attachments strengthened at top long ago by use of a strip of old vellum manuscript. Text browned, margins surrounding it not so much! (30876)
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ROMAN Political Science in its
Original State
Bilhon, Jean Fréderic Joseph. Du gouvernement des Romains, considéré sous le rapport de la politique, de la justice, des finances, et du commerce. Paris: Chez Louis (pr. by Pierre Didot l'Ainé), 1807. 8vo (21.2 cm, 8.4"). viii, 312 pp.
$500.00
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Sole edition, here unopened and uncut in the publisher's paper wrappers, of this treatise on ancient Roman government and economics. Bilhon also published Principes d'administration et d'économie politique des anciens peuples, appliqués aux peuples modernes and Éloge de J.J. Rousseau.
Uncommon: OCLC and NUC Pre-1956 find only eight U.S. holdings.
Goldsmiths'-Kress 19346.100. Publisher's rose paper wrappers, rebacked in paper wrapper edges chipped and hinges (inside) reinforced. Half-title and title-page institutionally rubber-stamped, front pastedown with institutional bookplate and early inked numeral, half-title with small inked ownership inscriptions. Signatures unopened, edges untrimmed; pages age-toned throughout, some with a little foxing; a nice copy. Now housed in a neat rose-maroon cloth clamshell case with gilt-stamped leather title-label. (25268)
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A Big
TALL Children's Picture Book
Bingham, Clifton. Proverbs old newly told. London, Paris, New York: Raphael Tuck & Sons, [ca. 1900]. Folio (33.8 cm, 13.3"). [36] pp.; col. illus.
$250.00
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Bingham's reworded versions of these classic proverbs are accompanied by anonymously done, medieval-inspired illustrations — many of which demonstrate a healthy fear of livestock including bulls, dogs, cats, and even sheep!
Each page features a full-page design, 12 of which are chromolithographed. This handsome production comes from Raphael Tuck & Sons, publishers by appointment to King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra.
Publisher's color-printed paper–covered boards with red cloth shelfback, hinges (inside) tender; binding slightly sunned and showing mild to moderate wear overall, sides with small scuffs and spots of discoloration. Front free endpaper with small chip to outer margin. Pages age-toned, otherwise clean. A pleasing copy of a delightful work. (38667)
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Dibdin Approved — Here, a True Large-Paper Copy
Bion, of Phlossa near Smyrna; Moschus, of Syracuse; & Gilbert Wakefield, ed. [transliterated from Greek] Biōnos kai Moschou ta leipsana. [then in Latin] Illustrabat et emendabat Gilbertus Wakefield. Londini: typis T. Bensley, 1795. 8vo in 4s (24 cm, 9.9"). [8], 33, [83] pp.
$550.00
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Wakefield's sole edition of Bion and Moschus' Greek bucolic poetry, described by Dibdin as “a beautiful and correct edition . . . printed with great care and delicacy by Bensley,” present
here in the issue on large paper (the standard issue is only 17 cm tall). These newly corrected poems are
printed on wove paper (!!) marked “J. Whatman 1794,” in Greek without accents, while the prefatory material and notes are printed in Latin with the occasional Greek quotation, all within spacious margins. The text concludes with an advertisement leaf listing religious controversialist Wakefield's numerous other available works on political, classical, and religious topics along with which booksellers were offering them; Wakefield's political views and pamphlet commentary on the Pitt government eventually led to prison time, although this did not stop his prolific scholarly endeavors.
Provenance: The bookplate of J.R. Cuthbert, with a viper on a dotted background, appears on the front pastedown; most recently in the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.
Brunet, I, 950; Dibdin, Greek and Latin Classics, I, p. 349; ESTC N32017; Graesse, I, 428; Schweiger, I, 72. Rebacked 19th-century polished calf, spine with gilt-lettered red leather labels and gilt-stamped compartments in period style; covers framed in gilt double fillets, board edges with gilt dotted roll, turn-ins with gilt floral roll, Stormont marbled endpapers, all edges speckled brown Covers rubbed and scratched with a few spots, binder's blanks moderately foxed with a few bibliographic notes in pencil and one small hole in a rear one. Light age-toning with the occasional speck; a few leaves with offsetting from a ribbon placeholder (still present). Bookplate and label as above; bookplate with some ink along edges, one marginal inked “2.” (39577)
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Civil Engineering: Building (& Funding!) Railroads, in Italian
Biot, Édouard, & David Hansemann; Luigi Tatti, ed. & trans. L'architetto delle strade ferrate: Ovvero, saggio sui principi generali dell'arte di formare le strade a ruotaje di ferro di Eduardo Biot altro dei sovraintendenti all' esecuzione della strada ferrata da Santo Stefano a Lione. Recato in Italiano con note ed aggiunte dall' ingegnere Luigi Tatti[.] Unitavi una memoria di Davide Hansemann relativa ai rapporti politici ed economici di questa specie di strade. Milano: Angelo Monti, 1837. 8vo (29.1 cm, 11.45"). viii, 371, [1] pp.; 5 fold. plts.
$750.00
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First edition: Italian rendition of two railway-related items, from two authors and a translator who were all prominent in that field. First here is Manuel du constructeur de chemins de fer, a treatise on railroad construction written by the French engineer, Sinologist, and author-translator Biot (1803–50); following that work, with a separate title-page, is “Le strade ferrate e i loro imprenditori considerati nei rapporti colla pubblica amministrazione,” by Prussian politician and banker Hansemann (1790–1864), one of the Rhenish Railway directors. Both items were translated into Italian by engineer, architect, and architectural historian Luigi Tatti (1808–81). At the back of the volume are
five oversized, folding plates, each with multiple figures of train and track schematics.
This first Italian appearance is now uncommon: searches of WorldCat find only four U.S. institutions reporting physical holdings (Harvard, Stanford, University of Chicago, and University of Michigan).
Provenance: Title-page, rear free endpaper, and rear pastedown rubber-stamped “Ex libris Augustini Mueller.” Later from the residue of the stock of the F. Thomas Heller bookselling firm (est. ca. 1928).
Goldsmiths'-Kress no. 29998. 19th-century quarter brown sheep, marbled paper–covered sides in a Spanish wave and shell vein pattern; spine with gilt-stamped red leather title-label, blind-tooled decorative motif in center, and small gilt roll bands. Binding moderately rubbed overall, more so at edges, extremities, and joints; light to moderate foxing, one page with small area of tiny ink splatters in outer margin; large Mueller rubber-stamp as noted.
A sound, more than serviceable copy of this interesting work. (40072)
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Birch's Fables with a
CRUIKSHANK SKETCH as BONUS
Birch, John; Robert Cruikshank, illus. Fifty-one fables, with moral and ethical index. London: Hamilton, Adams & Co. (pr. by S. Bagster, Jr.), 1833. 8vo (21.6 cm, 8.5"). [4], 251, [1] pp.; 52 plts., illus.
[SOLD]
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First edition and with a Cruikshank autograph note including a small sketch mounted to front fly-leaf. “Will you please to send more fables?” Cruikshank provided designs for
85 wood engravings, executed by Slader, D. Dodd, S. Williams, Bonner, and others. Each fable opens with one plate and many close with a vignette, the in-text vignettes offering more updated, contemporary representations of the classical morals — such as the well-dressed
“arrogant Pharisee” assaulting a beggar directly underneath a sign reading “Next Sunday a charity sermon.”
The fables are followed by a newly revised translation of Plutarch's “Banquet of the Seven Sages.”
Binding: 19th-century calf framed in triple gilt fillets with gilt-tooled corner fleurons, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label and gilt-stamped compartment decorations, board edges with gilt dot roll, turn-ins with gilt floral and foliate roll. All edges gilt.
Signed by S. Kaufmann. Provenance: Front pastedown with the charming “Ex libris fabulae” bookplate of Gordon Thaxter Banks, an eminent book dealer, appraiser, and member of the Massachusetts Historical Society.
Rebacked preserving original spine; joints rubbed and both covers scratched (notably at tops); volume solid. Frontispiece and title-page each with small edge chip; pages gently age-toned, with occasional small spots of mild foxing.
A book worth having, with that note and sketch and interesting provenance to boot. (40841)
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A “Very Rare & Extremely Curious Tract” against
Church Interment
Birnie, William; William Barclay Turnbull, ed. The blame of kirk-buriall, tending to perswade cemiteriall civilitie. London: W. Pickering; Edinburgh: G.A. Douglas, 1833. 4to (26.2 cm, 10.3"). xii, [44] pp.
$200.00
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First edition of this Pickering rendition of a 17th-century treatise on Scottish Presbyterian burial practices, originally printed in Edinburgh by R. Charteris in 1606. This is one of 100 copies printed, opening with a preliminary account of Birnie written by the editor — who notes that in addition to the religious interest of the text, the work also preserves “many old Scottish words and phrases now forgotten” (p. iv).
Binding: Contemporary signed binding, stamped R. Nelson on front free endpaper: Full brown pebbled leather, covers panelled in blind with lines extended past four-lobed corner rondels to terminate in pointed devices resembling pen nibs or arrows. Spine with gilt-stamped title.
Provenance: Presentation copy. Front fly-leaf with inked inscription reading “Thomas Sharp Esqre. with the Editor's Compts.” Sharp was a member of the Abbotsford Club (in Edinburgh), of which Turnbull was the founder and first secretary. Front pastedown with bookplate of Philip Sperling (1911–97), a bibliophile with a particular interest in books printed by Pickering. Most recently in the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.
Kelly, Checklist of Books Published by William Pickering, 1833.2; Keynes, William Pickering (rev. ed.), p. 53; Pickering & Chatto, William Pickering (catalogue 708), 59; NSTC 2B34959. Bound as above, spine and extremities worn and sunned. Endpapers with a few later pencilled annotations; bookplate and inscription as above, front fly-leaf with faint impression offset from something no longer present that bore a very elegant design involving a book-stack, a lamp of learning, and a scroll with the motto “studio minuente laborem.” Pages clean. (39575)
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The State of
Early 19th-Century Austrian Medical Knowledge
Bischoff, Ignaz Rudolph Edler von Altenstern. Grundzüge der allgemeinen Naturlehre des Menschen ... Mit vorzüglicher Hinsicht auf die praktische Medicin. Wien: A. Strauss's sel. Witwe, 1838–39. 8vo (21 cm, 8.3"). 2 vols. I: Frontis., [22], 352, [2] pp. II: xvi, 492 pp.
$950.00
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Bischoff's comprehensive overview of human physiology and medical practice, in
somewhat surprisingly festive — considering the topic — signed contemporary bindings. This is the first edition to encompass all four parts: Grundzüge der allgemeinen Naturlehre des Menschen (books one through three) and Grundzüge der speciellen Naturlehre des Menschen (book four), here in two volumes. The author (1784–1850) was a professor at the Josephinum Academy of Vienna, a charter member of the Gesellschaft der Ärzte (the medical society of Vienna), and chief physician to the Austrian Army. His portrait, engraved by Andreas Staub after Friedrich von Amerling (of whom he was an early patron) and printed by Johann Höfelich, opens vol. I, and a bibliography of his works, including foreign-language editions, with documentation of their appearances in various journals and other publications, closes vol. II.
Bindings: 19th-century bright red embossed cloth sides with gilt frame and panel rolls stamped over embossing; darker red leather shelfbacks, spines with gilt-stamped decorations and titles. All edges gilt. Bindings done by
Anton Lehenbauer, with his bookbinder's ticket on each back pastedown.
Provenance: From the residue of the stock of the F. Thomas Heller bookselling firm (est. ca. 1928).
Searches of NUC and WorldCat find no U.S. library reporting ownership and precious few in Europe.
Bindings as above, joints and edges rubbed, gilt dimmed or darkened in spots. Occasional light to mild foxing, pages otherwise clean.
An attractive and interesting production. (39910)
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Everything You Need to
“Negotiate” 1857
Blackie's literary and commercial almanac. 1857. Glasgow: Blackie & Son, [1856]. 16mo (8.1 cm; 3.25"). 95, [1] pp.
[SOLD]
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This very pocket-sized almanac manages to stuff into its miniature pages a calendar, a list of the chief European sovereigns and their birthdays and accession days, a summary of postage and tax costs, a foreign currency exchange table, and railway statistics as the “commercial” aspect, before moving on to the “literary” with assorted amusing and enlightening sayings; the booklet closes with
40 pages of advertising for other works from this eminent Scottish publishing firm.
Publisher's printed salmon-colored paper wrappers, front and back wrappers with engraved vignettes; spine and edges mildly rubbed, back wrapper with small scuffs. All edges gilt. First and last few leaves lightly foxed. (29059)
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A Neat Construction & Pleasing to Play With
Blackson, Ruth Scott. Life of a weave. Nottingham, England: Artist Studio, 2012. 16mo ( 6" x 11").
$1000.00
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Ruth Scott Blackson's near-kinetic artist's “flag” book “Life of a Weave” is best appreciated for its movement in the moments after it is opened, as thin woven strips of light polymer paper in bright pink and yellow burst a'quiver from an accordion binding.
The weave is, indeed, lively! And there is a suggested “narrative” here, too, as the weave's “story” when read from cover to cover becomes more and more complicated . . .
Binding: Yellow spine paper over grey boards, the covers further supplied with deep rose-pink paper slip-on over-sheaths which, according to the artist, were constructed by “a specific type of folding in case you ever wanted to change the covers. They slip on and off quite easily, nice and versatile and good for non-adhesive books.”
Fine and
one-of-a-kind. (40353)
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“You desire mine opinion . . . ”
B[lake], T[homas]. A moderate ansvver to these two questions. 1. Whether ther [sic] be sufficient ground in Scripture to warrant the conscience of a Christian to present his infants to the sacrament of baptism. 2. Whether it be not sinfull for a Christian to receiv [sic] the sacrament in a mixt assembly. London: Printed by I.N. for Abel Roper, at the signe of the Sunne over against S. Dunstans Church in Fleet-street, 1645 [i.e., 1644]. 4to. [2], 32 pp.
$400.00
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“Prepared for the resolution of a friend, and now presented to the publick view of all, for the satisfaction of them who desire to walk in the ancient and long-approved way of truth and holiness.”
ESTC R12103; Wing (rev. ed.) B3148. Removed from a nonce volume, edges speckled red; spine reinforced with archival tape. Ex-library with some pencillings and perforation- and rubber-stamps. Worming to last leaves, entirely within gutter margins; light waterstaining. (25705)
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Reproducing the Process — One of Just 50 Copies
Blake, William. There is no natural religion. [colophon: Boissia, Clairvaux: Published by the Trianon Press for the William Blake Trust, 1971]. 12mo (18.7 cm, 7.375") & 4to (30.8 cm, 12.125"). 12mo: [42] ff.; illus., facsims. 4to: [53] ff.; illus., facsims.
$975.00
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A stunning Blake facsimile. Printed on Arches pure rag paper “to match the paper used by Blake,” these two differently proportioned volumes showcase two sets of relief etchings first printed ca. 1794 — each set having the same title, and now known as Series a and Series b. While Blake experimented with these plates ca. 1788, no printed copies from that time are known to have survived. The etchings are here reproduced from plates in various collections, including six from the Rosenwald Collection at the Library of Congress and ten from the Pierpont Morgan Library. The quarto volume also supplies extensive bibliographical and literary notes by Sir Geoffrey Keynes, signed in type by him, and
elegantly printed in green ink.
This offering comes from the
limited edition of 50 copies numbered in roman numerals, “each containing a set of plates shewing the progressive stages of the collotype and hand-stencil process and a guide-sheet and stencil,” of which this is
number XIV, with this copy's guide-sheet and stencil coming from Plate I of Series a. The total edition consisted of 616 copies on Arches pure rag paper: 50 copies numbered I to L, each containing an additional set of plates, 540 copies numbered 1 to 540, and 26 copies numbered A to Z for the collaborators. Mr. Arnold Fawcus supervised the publication, and Bernard Quaritch Ltd. oversaw distribution.
Binding: Both volumes neatly bound in full tobacco morocco with gilt lettering on spine, done by Duval of Paris, and housed in a Gloster marbled paper–covered slipcase done by Adine of Paris.
Bentley, Blake Books, 202; Keynes, Bibliography of William Blake, 218. Bound and housed as above; binding with a few small spots or specks and very light pencilling on endpapers, housing rubbed along edges. A handful of very small marginal spots; expectable paint and rust on guide sheet and stencil from use.
A beautiful and scholarly reference tool. (38346)
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BY & FOR
the Unitarian-Universalist Gay Community — Norfolk, 1981–86
Blankenship, Doug, editor. Our Own Community Press. Norfolk: Unitarian-Universalist Gay Community Unitarian Church, 1981–1986. Tabloid format. Approx. 12 pp. per issue.
[SOLD]
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Eleven issue broken run of the folded tabloid homophile newspaper on newsprint. Includes early AIDS reportage, ads, local events, national news, photos, cartoons, services and resources.
Issue numbers included are: 5:6, 11; 6:2, 3, 7; 8:5 & 6; 9:11; 10:2 & 11 and 11:2.
Newsprint but in good condition. (41139)
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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)
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A FORGERY of a Renaissance Rarity
Boccaccio, Giovanni. Il Decamerone ... nvovamente corretto. et con diligentia stampato. [colophon: Firenze {i.e., Venice}: Li heredi di Philippo di Giunta {i.e,, Angiolo Pasinello for Stefano Orlandelli}, 1527 {i.e, 1729}]. 4to (24 cm, 9.5"). [16] pp, 284 ff.
[SOLD]
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In 1527 the heirs of Filippo di Giunta printed the definitive Renaissance edition of The Decameron; it immediately became the basis for all subsequent interpretations. By the 18th century the Giunta edition of 1527 had achieved the state of being a rarity to be sought after, and demand led to supply — of this forgery. It is well done and passes the “first blush” test, i.e., it does not immediately look wrong. Pasinello, who printed it for Stefano Orlandelli “at the request of the English consul [Joseph] Smith” (Petras), did a good job of matching types and even reproducing the printer's device, which appears on the title-page and on the verso of the last leaf. Closer examination, however, shows that the paper is wrong, the typesetting is different, and the measurements of the text block are incorrect.
Adams, in his catalogue of 16th-century books in the Cambridge University libraries, gives a handy litmus test for determining fakes of the Giunta 1527 edition: Folios 42, 102, and 108 are correctly numbered in the forgeries, but in the true 16th-century copies the numbers are 24, 101, and 168.
Brunet says the forgery consisted of 300 copies.
Provenance: Hevdholm Bibliothek stamp on title-page; acquired by PRB&M at an auction at Freeman's in Philadelphia in 1992; sold to a private collector the same year; reacquired by PRB&M at a Swann auction over 25 years later. (Jokes about “bad pennies returning” occur to one; but this is too nice a “counterfeit” to permit fair indulgence in them!)
Pettas, The Giunti of Florence (2013 ed.), 217; Adams B2147; Gamba 172; Zambrini, Bibliotheca Boccaccesca, p. 36; Edit16 CNCE 24078; I Giunti tipografi editori di Firenze, I, p. 133; Renouard, Annali delle editione aldine; pp. 1–11; Brunet, I, p. 999. 18th-century mottled calf with round spine, raised bands, and gilt spine extra, with later endpapers; all edges carmine. Front joint (outside) abraded and opening from top, rear one just starting at bottom; front cover with two wormholes and old worm action contributing to the startings. Text is unwormed, clean, and white save for a display of foxing on the title-page and occasionally a very limited spot of soil, staining, or foxing elsewhere.
Sound, handsome, and a most interesting production. (40738)
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Boerhaave, Herman. Aphorismi de cognoscendis et curandis morbis, in usum doctrinae domesticae digesti ... editio sexta. Edinburgi: R. Drummond & Soc. for G. Hamilton & J. Balfour, 1744. 12mo (15.5 cm, 6.1"). [8], 330, [24 (index)] pp.
$650.00
First Scottish printing of an important work by the celebrated Dutch physician and humanist whose teachings drew students from all over Europe to the University of Leiden. Originally printed in 1709, the volume was translated into English in 1715 as Aphorisms Concerning the Knowledge and Cure of Diseases; Garrison-Morton lauds the volume as “one of Boerhaave’s best works.”
ESTC N5425; Garrison-Morton 2199 (for first ed.). Contemporary speckled calf, spine with gilt-stamped title and compartment decorations; leather cracked and chipped on spine and joints, with minor rubbing to sides and edges. Front free endpaper with private collector’s rubber-stamp and inked name, front pastedown with small inked numeral. One front and one back fly-leaf excised. One leaf with short tear from outer margin just touching one letter; one leaf with paper flaw affecting a few letters without loss of legibility. Pages clean save for some age-toning and scattered iinstances of light staining to outer margins. (19245)

Bodoni's Boethius Consolations of Philosophy
Boethius. Anicii Manlii Torquati Severini Boethii De consolatione philosophiae libri quinque ad optimarum editionum fidem recensiti. Parmae: Ex Regio Typographeo, 1798. Large 4to (31 cm, 12.2"). cxvi, 271, [1] pp.
$1250.00
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Magnificently restrained, dignified Bodoni printing of a classic and widely influential 6th-century philosophical discourse, here in Theodor Poelmann's Latin edition (the press having also produced an Italian translation in the same year) with a preface by Pietro Berti and a life of the author by Giulio Marziano Rota. Brooks describes this first Bodoni edition as “molto ben stampato.”Binding: 19th-century half brown morocco and brown and tan marbled paper–covered sides, signed binding done by R. David (gilt-stamped on lower front turn-in). Top edge gilt, other edges untrimmed.
Provenance: Front pastedown with circular bookplate of Sir Edward Sullivan, with robin and coronet crest above an interlaced monogram (front fly-leaf with affixed early inked slip noting this copy as no. 874 in the Sullivan sale of 1890); and with armorial bookplate of Alfred Cock (done by Harry Soane). Front free endpaper with bookplates of Brian Douglas Stilwell and Robert Wayne Stilwell, and with Wilson Library plate noting gift of Vincent M. O'Connor.
Brooks 724; Brunet, I, 1037; Schweiger, II, 34. Binding as above; joints and extremities rubbed, spine and corners more so. Bookplates as above. Endpapers with pencilled reference annotations, front fly-leaf with affixed slip as above. Pages very clean and crisp.
A handsome copy with impressive provenance. (40181)
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Asceticism or Arousal?
Boileau, Jacques; François Granet, ed. & trans. Histoire des flagellans, ou l'on fait voir le bon & le mauvais usage des flagellations parmi les Chrétiens, par des preuves tirées de l'Ecriture Sainte, des peres de l'Eglise, des papes, des conciles, & des auteurs profanes. Amsterdam: Chez Henry du Sauzet, 1732. 12mo (17.5 cm, 6.89"). xxxii, 306, [10 (index)] pp.
$225.00
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This disapproving account of voluntary flagellation appears here in its revised and corrected second French edition, following the first of 1701 and the original Latin of 1700. Boileau was one of the earliest authors to connect the ancient religious practice directly to erotic motivations and concludes with a medical assessment of such deviancy including a final proverb: “Le foüet est pour le Cheval, le mords pour l'Asne, & la verge pour le dos de l'Insensé.”
Although some sources claim Boileau translated his own text into French, the BNF considers that a false attribution and credits Abbé François Granet with both editing and translating the text. This version, by Dutch printer du Sauzet, features a title-page printed in red and black and simple but elegant typesetting.
Binding: Contemporary calf, spine with gilt-stamped title and date, gilt-ruled raised bands, and gilt-stamped compartment decorations; covers framed in triple gilt fillets, turn-ins with a gilt roll. Handsome marbled endpapers and all edges gilt.
Signed binding, with front free endpaper stamped “Koehler.”
Provenance: Front free endpaper with garter-design ex-libris rubber-stamp of G. Manessier. Later in the residue of the stock of the F. Thomas Heller bookselling firm (est. ca. 1928).
Bound as above, leather scuffed and rubbed. Small area of worming to outer margins of some leaves, not touching text. Pages gently age-toned, otherwise clean.
A pleasing, elegant little volume. (40413)
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Lovely French Printing — GORGEOUS! French Binding
Boileau Despréaux, Nicolas. Œuvres diverses du Sieur D*** avec le traité du sublime ou du merveilleux dans le discours, traduit du Grec de Longin. Paris: Claude Barbin (pr. by Denys Thierry), 1674. 4to (25.3 cm, 10"). π2A–R4S8T–Y4Z2π1*4a2-4b–o4; Frontis., [4], 178, [12], [3]–102, [10 (index & colophon)] pp., 1 plt.
$4000.00
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Early edition, following the first of 1670; this is the first edition to appear under the Œuvres title, and contains nine satires, the first four epistles, L’art poëtique, and a number of other shorter pieces, followed by the Traité du sublime ou du merveilleux dans le discours, translated from Longinus. The handsomely printed volume has much of its text set in italic type, decorated with woodcut tailpieces, typographic and woodcut headpieces, and ornamental capitals. Margins are generous, layout is attractive. P. Landry designed and engraved the classically themed frontispiece, with the plate preceding Le Lutrin having been done by F. Chausseau.
Binding: 19th-century signed binding by Léon Gruel: Oxblood morocco framed in gilt double fillets containing a background of gilt-stamped fleurs-de-lis around a central ornamented cartouche. Spine gilt extra, with elaborate gilt-stamped inner dentelles over silk endpapers. All edges gilt over marbling. Silk bookmarker woven with binder’s information!
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 (sans indicia) . . . 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)

History of Malta & the Knights Hospitallers — Well Bound, Handsomely Illustrated
Boisgelin de Kerdu, Pierre Marie Louis de. Ancient and modern Malta: Containing a full and accurate account of the present state of the islands of Malta and Goza, the history of the knights of St. John of Jerusalem, also a narrative of the events which attended the capture of these islands by the French, and their conquest by the English: and an appendix, containing authentic state-papers and other documents. London: Richard Phillips, 1805. 4to (27.5 cm, 10.75"). 2 vols. I: [6], xlviii, 326 pp.; 2 fold. plts., 3 fold. tables, 17 plts. (fold. map & 1 prelim. f. lacking). II: [8], vi, xxxi, [1], 258, [2], 315, [9 (index)] pp.; 5 plts.
$1600.00
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Second edition, following the first of 1804–05. The author, who was himself a Knight of St. John, here covers the culture, language, economy, natural history, and costume of the Maltese — as well as describing the Bichon or Maltese dog (also rendered pictorially in one of the plates) — before moving on to the history of the Hospitallers from the 16th century onwards.
Vol. I includes catalogues of scientific names of the plants and fish of the area as according to various authors, and is illustrated with an
oversized, folding detailed view of the city and port of Malta (with an accompanying folding map identifying the major landmarks); at the back of that volume there are also two folding tables accounting for treasury expenses of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem. Vol. II features a view of Messina, along with several portraits. In total, the work is illustrated with
24 copper-engraved plates, some aquatint, done by Merigot and others.
Binding: Contemporary stained calf, panelled in dramatically mottled calf with inlaid corner fleurons, framed in gilt double fillets; spine with gilt-stamped title and gilt-stamped Greek key bands.
NSTC B3507; Abbey, Travel, 194. Bound as above with leather expectably acid-pitted, scuffing with small cracks and spine titles partially rubbed away; joints(outside) expertly repaired. Folding map and one preliminary leaf (the list of plates) lacking in vol. I, and this volume with a light old waterstain occasionally visible across a gutter, mild to moderate offsetting, plates with likewise mild to moderate foxing; vol. II plates with slightly darker spotting. A strong and attractive set of one of the significant early works on Maltese history. (33600)
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Allowing “Absurd Dogma” to
Die Out
of Its Own Accord
Boissy d'Anglas, François-Antoine, comte de. Rapport sur la liberté des cultes, fait au nom des comités de salut public, de sûreté générale et de législation, réunis. Paris: De l'Imprimerie Nationale, An III [1795]. 8vo (21.5 cm, 8.5"). 19, [1] pp.
$100.00
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First edition, untrimmed copy: An enormously influential essay
arguing against the persecution of religion — but also against its practice. The text of the decree of 3 Ventose 1795 follows.
Martin & Walter 3914. Removed from a nonce volume, title-page with paper shelving label in lower inner corner, early inked date addition within title and annotation in upper portion, and pencilled monogram in upper outer corner. Light foxing and the occasional other spot. (30937)
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entering the number 16244
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FRENCH REVOLUTION, FIRST REPUBLIC
PAMPHLETS Voilà!

British Politics: Arguing over
“the Most Publick Facts,
& the Plainest Appearances”
Bolingbroke, Henry St. John, Viscount. The craftsman extraordinary; containing an answer to the Defence of the enquiry into the reasons of the conduct of Great-Britain. In a letter to the Craftsman. London: Richard Francklin, 1729. 8vo in 4s (20.3 cm, 8"). [4], 66, [2] pp.
$250.00
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First edition: Biting response to Benjamin Hoadly's Defence, published as a supplement to Lord Bolingbroke's Craftsman periodical, addressed to publisher Caleb D'Anvers, and signed as “John Trot, yeoman.” Among the subjects addressed are the 1725 Treaty of Vienna between Austria and Spain, Great Britain's diplomatic relations with France and Spain, and various military implications thereof.
The half-title and final errata and advertisement leaf are both present; the text is printed at a slight angle to the page throughout, most noticeably on the title-page.
ESTC T34359; Goldsmiths'-Kress 6729. Recent marbled paper–covered boards, front cover with printed paper label; label with light smudges. Half-title with publication date added in an early hand and with chip in lower margin repaired. Pages lightly age-toned. A nice copy of this entry in a series of
important Tory essays by Lord Bolingbroke. (34383)
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A Reluctant Dictator
Bolívar, Simón. Broadside. Begins: Simon Bolivar libertador presidente de Colombia & & &. Colombianos! Las voluntades públicas se habian espresado enerjicamente por las reformas políticas de la nacion ... Bogota: No publisher/printer], 1828. Folio (29.2 cm; 11.5"). [1] p.
$8000.00
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In August of 1828 Bolivar was 45 years old, weary, and would be dead in two years. He had freed or helped free much of South America from Spain, served as president of Bolivia (12 August 1825 – 29 December 1825) and Peru (8 February 1824 – 28 January 1827), and was president of federation of Gran Colombia (17 December 1819 – 4 May 1830). He believed in democracy and republicanism and in that summer of 1828 was frustrated that the Constitutional Convention he had called expecting it to write a strong centralist document that would satisfy the demands of the emerging separatist and extremely regional sentiments of the Venezuelans and others had failed. Because of the Convention's collapse, via this document, dated 27 August, Bolivar declared himself dictator rather than president.
In doing so he pledge to his people that he obligated himself “to strictly obey your legitimate wants: I will protect your sacred religion as the faith of all Colombians and the code of all good men; I will make justice the first law of all transactions and the universal guarantee of our citizens.”
The promise of liberty is strangely addressed: “I will not say anything to you about liberty because if I fulfill my promises you will be more than free — you will be respected.”
Searches of WorldCat, COPAC, CCILA, Catálogo Colectivo del Patrimonio Bibliográfico, the OPACs of the Bibliotecas Nacionales de Colombia and Venezuela locate one copy in the U.S. and possibly three in the BNC and probably none in the BNV.
Posada 1042. Removed from a bound volume and irregular along the left margin; without the integral blank. Eight wormholes in text but not costing any letters. Now housed in a quarter red morocco clamshell box, round spine, raised bands with gilt accenting. A good++ copy. (34097)
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Plates by Leclerc, Sole Elzevir Edition, Olshki Provenance
Bonarelli della Rovere, Guidubaldo. Filli di Sciro, favola pastorale. Amsterdam: nella stamperia del D. Elsevier; et in Parigi si vende apresso Thomaso Jolly, 1678. 24mo (10.5 cm; 4.125"). Engr. title-page (included in pagination), 168 pp., 5 engr. plts.
$575.00
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Sole Elzevir edition, with an added engraved title-page and five engraved plates by Sebastien Leclerc. The text is a pastoral drama, a remake of the medieval legend of Florio and Biancofiore. It was extremely popular in the 17th century because of the musicality of its language.
Provenance: Bookseller label of Leo S. Olschki. Most recently in the collection of Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.
Searches of NUC and WorldCat find fewer than a dozen North American libraries reporting ownership.
Willems 1542. 19th-century maroon calf, plain but with raised bands beaded; rose-color endpapers. Fly-leaf with old, largely obliterated inscription; a few preliminary leaves with old faded waterstains along the outer and top margins.
An attractive copy of a nice little Elzevir. (37778)
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Bopp, Franz. A comparative grammar of the Sanskrit, Zend, Greek, Latin, Lithuanian, Gothic, German, and Sclavonic languages ... second edition. London & Edinburgh: Williams & Norgate; New York: B. Westermann & Co., 1860. 8vo (22.2 cm, 8.75"). 3 vols. in 1. [8], xvi, 456, [2], [457]–952, [2], [953]–1462, [2] pp.
$250.00
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Second edition of Edward B. Eastwick’s translation — the first English rendition — of Bopp’s complete Grammar, which had originally appeared in German in six parts issued from 1833 through 1852. The preface notes that this second edition has been checked and approved by Professor Bopp himself, “so that numerous errors, which, from the great length of the work were perhaps hardly to be avoided in the first edition, have now been corrected.” All three parts, with their separate title-pages, are here bound into one volume.
Bopp, who studied under de Sacy in Paris, was the chair of Sanskrit at the University of Berlin and a member of the Royal Prussian Academy; his work was highly influential in developing a morphology of Indo-European languages, and indeed dominated the field of comparative linguistics for a significant portion of the 19th century.
NSTC 2B41650. Contemporary half red morocco with paper-covered sides, boards recently expertly reattached, spine with gilt-stamped title; sides and edges showing minor scuffing, spine slightly darkened. Front pastedown with bookseller’s ticket of B. Westermann & Co., private collector’s 19th-century bookplate, and institutional stamp (no other markings). Pages faintly age-toned. A sturdy copy of this hefty tome. (19171)
“Greek Studies”
Bos, Lambert. Exercitationes philologicae, in quibus novi foederis loca nonnulla ex auctoribus graecis illustrantur & exponuntur ... editio secunda multis partibus aucta. Accedit dissertatio de etymologia graeca. Franequerae: Wibium Bleck, 1713. 8vo (19.9 cm, 7.8"). [12], 305, [11 (index)], [2], 46 pp.
$300.00
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Second edition: Greek etymology and New Testament commentary originally printed in 1700, written by a Dutch scholar and grammarian whose Ellipses Graecae (1702) was an important and oft-cited reference for Greek literary usage. The title-page of the first work here is printed in red and black; the “Dissertatio de etymologia Graeca” has a separate half-title and pagination.
Brunet, I, 1122. Contemporary vellum, spine with inked title; spine and edges mildly dust-soiled. All edges speckled red and blue. Front pastedown with institutional rubber-stamp; front pastedown torn and back pastedown lifted away from cover. Pages clean. (19660)
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