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Former
Pagan Defends Christianity
Lactantius (ca. 240 – ca. 320). L. Coelii Lactantii Firmiani opera, quae quidem extant omnia... Basileae: per Henricum Petri, [colophon: 1563]. 4to (29.2 cm, 11.5"). [12] ff., 559, [21] pp.
$1250.00
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North African apologist Lactantius (ca. 240–320) converted to Christianity prior to 303, before settling in Trier to tutor Constantine's son Crispus. Deemed the “Christian Cicero” by Renaissance scholars, Lactantius is better known for his elegant writing style than for his knowledge of Scripture, yet of his works only those concerning Christianity survive — including, in the present copy, his earliest treatise, De opificio dei (303/304); the Institutiones in seven books, which was
the first systematic description of Christianity in Latin (completed 313); the Epitome divinarum institutionum, which synthesizes the Institutions; the supplement De ira dei; the Phoenix poem; and the Carmen de dominica resurrectione.
Basel printer Henricus Petrus (Sebastian Henric Petri, 1546–1627) was responsible for the publication of very important works, including an early edition of Copernicus and Münster's Cosmographia, the first German description of the world. He printed this Latin and Greek, later edition of Lactantius's opera with the main text in roman, single column; the extensive commentary by Birk in italic, double column; the indices triple-column; and the whole text punctuated by handsome historiated and floriated woodcut initials of various sizes, some quite large. There are one
woodcut diagram showing the opposition of Light (God) and Dark levels of the universe and
multiple letterpress charts. The title-page features the printer's device, a variant of which also appears on the final verso.This is the first appearance of this commentary by
Xystus Betuleius (Sixt Birk, 1501–54), a corrector for the Basel printers and a teacher at various schools who composed German and Latin didactic dramas; commentaries on Lactantius (this) and Cicero; and a concordance of the Greek New Testament. An associate of Erasmus, he witnessed Erasmus's first will, in 1527.
Adams L27; VD16 L42; Graesse, IV, 66. Not in Schweiger or Brunet. On Lactantius, see: New Catholic Encyclopedia, VIII, 308–09. On Birk, see: Contemporaries of Erasmus, pp. 150–51. Recent full brown morocco blind-ruled, old style; raised bands on spine accented with gilt ruling, author and title gilt in second compartment and date collector style at spine base, edges lightly speckled brown. Mild foxing on some leaves; limited, very light old waterstaining in latter half, this rising on a few leaves to “moderate” and being virtually all marginal; a few small stains from chemical reactions in paper. One marginal oxidized inkstain, slim but dark, offset onto next neighboring pages (only); two very small tears in last leaf. There is one short paragraph of
contemporary inked marginalia on one leaf, and one instance of underlining on another. (31312)
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A “Little Manual . . . FIRST Designed for PRIVATE Use” of
TWO PRINCESSES
Lake, Edward. Officium eucharisticum. A preparatory service to a devout and worthy reception of the Lord's Supper. Dublin: Printed by and for Samuel Fairbrother, 1724. 12mo (14.5 cm; 5.75"). [4] ff., 176 pp.
$775.00
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The last of four editions
PRINTED IN IRELAND, all of which are rare and
none of which are reported as held in any U.S. library. Overall this is “the 21st. edition corrected and enlarged. To which is added, a meditation for every day in the week.” A wonderful, small, go-with-you work of personal worship.
Lake was “chaplain and tutor to the princesses Mary and Anne, daughters of James, duke of York” and originally wrote this “devotional manual . . . for his royal pupils” (ODNB).
Provenance: On front free endpaper in an 18th-century hand; “Wm. A. Put Bo[ugh]t of Nau Winkle & Co.”
ESTC T134200. Contemporary acid-stained calf, round spine, no raised bands, gilt double-rules creating spine compartments, one with a red leather gilt title-label; front cover reattached using the long-fiber method. Light age-toning. A very nice copy. (33142)
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Getting the Bishop's Position
RIGHT
La Luzerne, César-Guillaume de. Instruction donnée par M. L'évêque de Langres, aux curés, vicaires et autres ecclésiastiques de son diocèse, qui n'ont pas prêté le serment ordonné par l'Assemblée nationale. Paris: Guerbart, [1791]. 8vo (19.5 cm, 7.6"). 38, [2] pp.
$80.00
Click the image for an enlargement.
A non-juring cardinal looks at the constitutional oath; the pamphlet closes with “les noms des prélats qui ont adopté la présente instruction.” There is a good deal here on the administration of the sacraments.This is the 40-page variant (Martin and Walter note a 35-page printing), with a warning on the final page regarding pirated, incorrect versions of the piece.
Martin & Walter, III, 18722 (variant ed.). Removed from a nonce volume, first signature separated. Title-page with paper shelving label in lower corner, touching one letter of publication line, and with pencilled monogram in upper outer corner; also with short tear from lower margin, not touching text. Pages age-toned and lightly spotted; shouldernotes (only) occasionally shaved and price reduced for this reason. (30826)
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not in PRB&M's illustrated catalogues . . .
entering the number 16244
as keyword calls up *many* more
FRENCH REVOLUTION, FIRST REPUBLIC
PAMPHLETS Voilà!

The ESSAYS that Made Lamb's Reputation — 1st U.S. Edition
Lamb, Charles. Elia. Essays which have appeared under that signature in the London Magazine. Philadelphia: Carey, Lea, & Carey (pr. by Mifflin & Parry, and J.R.A. Skerrett), 1828. 12mo (I: 18.4 cm, 7.25", II: 16.8cm, 6.6"). 2 vols. I: 292 pp. II: 230 pp. (both vols. without ads.).
$1000.00
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First U.S. edition of the official first series, and
true
first edition of the unofficial second series, of Lamb's pseudonymously
published essays for the London Magazine. These eloquently written pieces
mingle humor and pathos as they describe the experiences of the author and his
acquaintances while attending boarding school, playing whist, listening to music,
visiting Quaker meetings, etc. Food is a recurring topic (“A Dissertation
upon Roast Pig”); there are two essays on Valentine's Day (one in each
volume), and several on plays and actors.
The first series made its first appearance in book form in London, 1823.
The authorized second series was not published until 1833, under the title
The Last Essays of Elia; the pieces selected for the unauthorized American
second series offered here are different from those contained in that volume,
and mistakenly include three essays written by other hands.
Shoemaker 33813 & 33814; NCBEL, III, 1225; NSTC 2L2346.
Vol. I: Uncut copy. Publisher's quarter once-red cloth and paper sides,
covers printed with “Elia” within a simple frame, spine with printed
paper label; binding rubbed and lightly soiled, spine sunned to yellow. Repaired
tear to one leaf, touching text without loss; remarkably clean and sound.
Vol. II: Contemporary speckled sheep, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label;
rubbed, and head of spine chipped with old refurbishing. Ex–social club
library: 19th-century bookplate and call number ticket on front pastedown,
front free endpaper with inked numerals, title-page pressure-stamped. Author's
name inked on title-page; front free endpaper and title-page reinforced at
fore-edge (the latter from the back). Both volumes age-toned, with intermittent
spots of staining; advertisements absent. The set now housed in a quarter
blue morocco and blue cloth–covered clamshell case with marbled paper–covered
sides and gilt-stamped spine. (26434)
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“Flattery Put Out of Countenance: A Poetical Version
of an
ANCIENT Tale”
Lamb, Charles. Prince Dorus. London: Field & Tuer (The Leadenhall Press), 1889. 8vo (20.2 cm, 7.95"). xii, 31, [1] pp.; 10 plts. (9 col.).
$145.00
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Type facsimile of the famously scarce 1811 first edition. Lamb's verse fairy tale gives us a royal babe cursed by an enchanter, who as he grows up must overcome vanity and self-flattery to win his true love (not to mention a nose of less Cyranoesque proportions). Here, it opens with an introduction by Andrew White Tuer, half of the publishing firm. “The type and illustrations . . . follow as closely as possible the original edition of 1811,” notes the limitation statement, which also marks this as
numbered copy 143 of 500 printed, signed by the publishers.
The plates include a reproduction of the woodcut from the original first edition paper wrapper, printed on blue paper, as well as
hand-colored facsimiles of the nine original copper engravings.
Provenance: From the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.
Gumuchian 3612; NCBEL, III, 1225; Opie C 993. Publisher's half vellum and blue paper–covered sides, vellum edges ruled in gilt, front cover with gilt-stamped title; binding lightly dust-soiled. Front free endpaper with inked inscription of G. Tansley and pencilled purchase-related annotations. Pages gently age-toned with very faint spots of foxing (more noticeable to endpapers), otherwise clean.
A lovely copy of an uncommon item. (40992)
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Southern, for Sure
Lambert, Mary Eliza Perine Tucker. Poems. New York: M. Doolady, 1867. 12mo (18.3 cm, 7.25"). xi, [1], [5]–237, [1] pp. (lacking 2 plts.).
$350.00
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First edition of the first published volume of poetry from Lambert (then writing as Mary E. Tucker). The author was born in 1838 in Alabama, raised in Georgia, and educated (at least in part) in New York before settling in Philadelphia after the Civil War. Although she has in the past been included in almost all lists of black American women poets, that attribution appears to have been incorrect, her identity having been for some time conflated with that of black writer Molly E. Lambert; and it is still possible, trying to trace the validity either of the attribution or of its debunking, to find one’s head spinning.
Certainly the exercise gives one quite a tour of American racial assumptions and attitudes both popular and academic!
Of particular interest are Lambert’s poems describing the sorrows of the post–Civil War South from a personal, intimate perspective and, without regard to race, the poems sympathetic to “fallen” or sinful women. Heavily held in institutions, especially those specializing in American poetry of the 19th century, her volume Poems is scarce in commerce.
Recent mottled calf, spine with gilt-stamped leather title and publication labels. Two portraits (of the author and her sister) lacking; guard leaf from latter portrait remains, with ghostly offset imprint of image. Occasional small edge nicks; most pages clean, with the last few signatures moderately browned.
An intriguing volume, and writer. (27813)
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Cutting-Edge Biblical Scholarship Three Maps
Lamy, Bernard. Commentarius in harmoniam sive concordiam quatuor evangelistarum.... Parisiis: Excudebat Joannis Anisson, 1699. 4to (12.6 cm, 10.25"). 2 vols. in 1. I: 2 a[n]4 e[n]4 AZ4 AaZz4 AAaZZz4 AAaa OOoo4; [2] ff., xvi, 661, [1] pp., [25] ff.; 3 plts. II: 2 ah4 AZ4 AaXx4 Yy2; [2] ff., lxiv, 326 pp., [15] ff.; 3 plts.
$800.00
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Bernard Lamy (16401715) was an Oratorian priest, philosopher, and biblical scholar. After getting himself exiled to Grenoble for excessive Cartesianism, he went on to do significant work in biblical studies, and this present work is especially notable: Lamy here contends that Jesus died on the cross on the eve of the Passover (thus at the same time as the Passover lamb was being killed), not during the first day of the Passover. This view, while considered radical at the time, is now generally held by biblical scholars.
This work was first published under the title Harmonia, sive concordia quatuor evangelistarum in 1689. This second edition is printed in small roman types with some italic, Greek, and Hebrew. Ornaments include an ornate woodcut fleur-de-lis on the title-pages, plus initials and headpieces. Vol. II (bound in) consists of the Apparatus chronologicus et geographicus, chronologies and geographical descriptions with three fine fold-out plates: a map of Judea, a plan of Jerusalem, and a plan of the temple.
Provenance: Charles Spencer, Third Earl of Sunderland, lot 7230 in the Sunderland Library sale (1882).
On Lamy, see: New Catholic Encyclopedia, VIII, 35455. 18th-century vellum over boards with raised bands, lightly soiled; on the covers an ornate mandorla inside a composite frame. Crack in the vellum along front joint, joint itself sound. Ex-library with paper labels on spine; old pressure-stamps, including one on title-page of vol. I. Upper outer corner of title-leaf lost taking part of one letter of title; small tear into printed border of first map in vol. II. All edges speckled blue and red. A stout, substantial volume.
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He Had One of Those
Breathtakingly Simple Insights . . .
Lancellotti, Giovanni Paolo. Institvtiones ivris canonici, qvibvs ivs pontificivm singulari methodo libris quattuor comprehenditur.... Lugduni: Apud haeredes Gulielmi Rouillii, 1614. 16mo (12.1 cm, 4.75"). AZ8AaNn8; 500 pp., [38] ff. [bound with] Naogeorg, Thomas. Rvbricæ, sive svmmæ capitvlorvm ivris canonici Thomæ Noageorgi [sic] Straubingensis opera in lucem editæ.... Lugduni: Apud haeredes Gulielmi Rouillii, 1614. 16mo. AS8; 286 pp., [1 (blank)] f.
$600.00
Lancellotti (152290) was a professor of law in Perugia. His teaching of canon law by arranging it into the same divisions (of persons, things, and actions) as Roman civil law made it much more accessible, and he was invited by Pope Paul IV to produce an Institutes of Canon Law on the model of the Institutes of Justinian, the standard work in Roman civil law. He published the present work, the result of his labors, in 1563; while it failed to attain the same legal status as the Institutes of Justinian, it received wide dissemination, and has had a major impact on the teaching of canon law to this day.
Bound with Lancellotti's work is a summary of titles of chapters of canon law compiled by Thomas Naogeorg (150863). Naogeorg's wanderings took him from being a Dominican to being a Lutheran to being a Calvinist. Along the way, during his Lutheran phase, he studied canon law for a year (1551) at Basel, during which time he compiled and published this work, likely as a student's guide. He is better known for his plays, in which he sharply attacks the Papacy.
The two works here were first published by the firm of Guillaume Rouillé, in 1587 and 1588 respectively, and may have been intended to be bound together, as witnessed by the Library of Congress copy. The title-page transcriptions of the earlier editions (except for the date and "hæredes"), and their signatures, pagination, and arrangement, match those of these present 1614 editions. There are italic shouldernotes, and woodcut headpieces and initials.
On Lancellotti, see: New Catholic Encyclopedia, VIII, 356. Contemporary calf, covers framed in gilt double fillets, rebacked with calf, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label and gilt-stamped compartment decorations; corners and edges rubbed, sides with small cracks and scuffs. All edges speckled brown. Bouquiniste's paper label on front pastedown and front free endpaper lacking. Two words inked long ago in two margins, and one page with old pencilled underlining. (3797)
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At Least It's
NOT Eye of Newt
Langham, William. The garden of health: containing the sundry rare and hidden vertues and properties of all kindes of simples and plants. Together with the manner how they are to bee used and applyed in medicine for the health of mans body, against divers diseases and infirmities most common amongst men. London: Printed by Thomas Harper, 1633. 4to in 8s (19 cm; 7.5"). [4] ff., 702 pp., [33] ff.
$3400.00
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Preparing for a trip from England to Virginia or Massachusetts in the 1630s or 40s, one would have been well advised to make sure someone in the party was bringing a copy of Langham's work. Once in America, one would have made good use of the herbal remedies for some of the more common ailments the newly arrived would have suffered, and one would have had greater access to the “exotic” American sarsaparilla and guaiacum that Langham discusses.
This precursor to the “Physician's Desk Reference” is a practical compendium of medicinal and other plants arranged alphabetically from “acacia” to “wormwood” with a strong emphasis on plants that “can be gotten without any cost or labour, the most of them being such as grow in most places and are common among us” (folio [2]).
Langham's organization is this: “He devoted a chapter to each plant, describing its parts and their uses, the different processes such as distillation that could be applied to it, and how the resulting products could be used for particular diseases. To every item of information he added a number and at the end of the chapter there is an index or table of conditions with the numbers that were in the main text. The reader can thus see at a glance that one herb could be used in a wide variety of conditions, and whether a specific illness could be helped by a particular drug” (Wear, pp. 82–83).
This is the second edition, “corrected and amended,” the first having appeared in 1597. We are sure the reading public, which was sufficient to support a second edition, would have been helped rather more if the work had had illustrations, but that would have increased the cost of the work dramatically and a
wide audience was sought. The text is printed chiefly in gothic type while the end of chapter “indices” are in roman. This herbal was not printed during a period of good English typography, so the pages are dense with little white space or appreciation for making the text on the page easy on the eye rather than wearying.
ESTC S108241; STC (rev. ed.) 15196; Alden & Landis 633/67; Huth Library 817. On Langham, see Andrew Wear, Knowledge & Practice in English Medicine, 1550–1680. Contemporary English calf, boards modestly ruled in blind at edges; rebacked in high quality goat. Age-toning or old soiling, especially at the edges of margins and with offsetting from binding to title-page; some light marginal waterstaining especially at end in index; some tears (one shown here) with last leaves' edges chopped and final two with edges strengthened.
Overall, an unsophisticated copy that has been spared being washed, pressed, and gussied up. (34545)
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The Edible Plants of the World — Updated Edition
Lankester, Edwin. Vegetable substances used for the food of man. London: Charles Knight & Co., 1846. 12mo (14.6 cm, 5.75"). 2 vols. in 1. vi, [5]–248, 260 pp.; illus.
$150.00
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Natural, economic, and culinary history of edible plants around the globe (including coffee, tea, and chocolate), illustrated with
numerous in-text wood engravings. This was first printed in 1832 in the Library of Entertaining Knowledge, and appears here as part of the “Knight's Weekly Volume” series in
a newly updated, rewritten “careful revision” (p. iii).
Binding: Publisher's green cloth with leather-textured grain, covers framed in blind arabesque design, spine with gilt-stamped title. The cloth is close to Krupp's Lea11: Parallel cord.
NSTC 2V1870; Von Hünersdorff, Coffee, 849. On binding cloth, see: Krupp, Bookcloth in England and America, 1823–50. Bound as above, spine and board edges sunned to brown, spine with small chip and extremities rubbed. Front hinge (inside) cracked, front free endpaper with private owner's pressure-stamp and with pencilled monogram. Three leaves with lower outer corners bumped.
An interesting, appealing little book. (34858)
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Required Reading — Impeccable Printing
La Rochefoucauld, François, duc de. Maximes et réflexions morales du duc de la Rochefoucauld. Parme: De L'Imprimerie Bodoni, 1811. Large 4to (32.1 cm, 12.6"). [10], xxxii, 175, [1] pp.
$1750.00
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Bodoni edition of a classic of the genre: Rochefoucauld's dry, pragmatic observations on human nature — at the time of this printing, a mandatory entry in any well-bred philosopher's library. Bodoni produced two separate editions in this same year, the present example being
one of only 255 copies printed in the quarto format, which Brooks considers equally attractive as that in folio.
Provenance: Front pastedown with small oval blue-paper label lmbossed in gold with a monogram of “PB,” and with bookplates of Robert Wayne Stilwell and Brian Stilwell.
Searches of NUC and WorldCat locate only four U.S. libraries (Wesleyan, Boston University, Johns Hopkins, The Bridwell) reporting ownership of this quarto format edition.
Brooks 1105; Brunet, III, 846; De Lama, II, 199; Giani 199 (p. 77). Contemporary quarter vellum and Bodoni orange paper–covered boards, spine with gilt-ruled bands and gilt-stamped leather title and date labels; corners and edges much rubbed, sides with light scuffing, vellum slightly darkened. Bookplates as above; front free endpaper with small oval of offsetting from monogram label. Occasional faint foxing, pages overall giving a clean, fresh impression. (40200)
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Exploring One of those “Lesser Paths” of History
“One Hundred Illustrations”
Larwood, Jacob, & John Camden Hotten. The history of signboards, from the earliest times to the present day... sixth edition. London: John Camden Hotten, 1867. 8vo (18.8 cm, 7.4"). Col. frontis., x, 536 pp.; 19 plts.
$200.00
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Sixth edition (following its initial appearance in the previous
year) of this engaging account, full of anecdotes, historical digressions, and
literary quotations, as well as attempted analysis of
emblems
and their meanings (though this is not, of course, the classic “emblem
book”). “One hundred illustrations in fac-simile” are
attributed to Larwood on the title-page; the work features 19 plates, each depicting
an assortment of house- and pub-signs, as well as a hand-colored frontispiece
“Drawn by Experience . . . Engraved by Sorrow,” in which a cheerful
gin-drinking lady rides her woebegone, care-laden husband.
Provenance: Title-page stamped by a private collector: “Thomas Witherell
Palmer, Log Cabin Park” (Detroit).
Contemporary half calf with marbled paper–covered sides,
spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label and ornate gilt-stamped decorations
within compartments; binding with light to moderate rubbing overall, with
spine leather starting to show some cracking. All edges stained red.
Delightful
reading and looking, and a delightful copy.

Laughlin's
Only Perishable Press Printing
Laughlin, James. The pig. Mt. Horeb, WI: Perishable Press, 1970. 8vo (21.7 cm, 8.5"). [26] pp.
$175.00
Fine press edition: a gathering of short poems by Laughlin, founder of the New Directions publishing company. The type is Smaragd and Palatino, printed in red, black, tan, cream, and blind on white Shadwell paper (there were some additional copies on beige paper); the colophon features Walter Hamady's distinctive Perishable Press pressmark, calligraphed by Sheikh Nasib Makarem. The binding was done by Elizabeth Kner, using Japanese decorative paper.
This is
one of 183 copies total, signed on the half-title by the author.
Two Decades of Hamady & the Perishable Press, 32. Publisher's navy and white patterned paper–covered boards, front cover with blind-stamped and printed paper title-label. A crisp, clean copy. (31277)
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Whose Baptisms Count? Widow Printer
Launoy, Jean de. Remarques sur la dissertation, ou l'on montre en quel temps, & pour quelles raisons l'Eglise universelle consentit à recevoir le baptesme des heretiques; & par où l'on découvre ce qui a donné occasion aux auteurs, qui ont traité de cette matiere, de s'estre égarez dans la recherche qu'ils ont faite du Concile plenier, qui termina suivant S. Augustin cette contestation. Paris: L'imprimerie de la Veuve Edme Martin, 1671. 8vo (18.7 cm, 7.4"). [2], 77, [1] pp.
$500.00
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A widow's printing of this polemic on the controversy over baptizing repentant heretics, attacking the previously published remarks of M. David; this edition follows the first of 1653. The author, a French historian and famously skeptical hagiographer, was a staunch Gallicanist, and
an early hand has pencilled “Très Gallican” on the title-page here.
Uncommon: WorldCat and NUC Pre-1956 locate only two U.S. institutional holdings of this 1671 edition, one of which was deaccessioned and is in fact this copy.
Contemporary mottled sheep framed in blind double fillets, recently rebacked with complementary calf, spine with raised bands and blind-tooled compartment decorations; edges and extremities rubbed, sides with old scuffs. Title-page and first text page with institutional perforation-stamp, title-page also with pencilled annotation as above, first text page with rubber-stamped numerals in lower margin, no other markings. Pages clean. (31049)
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Humanism & the Early Church
Laurentius Mellifluus?; St. Lawrence, bishop of Novara? Sancti Laurentii presbiteri Novarum, scriptoris perantiqui, Homiliae duae. [Parisiis]: Prostant apud Michaelem Vascosanum, 1522. 4to (18.5 cm, 7.25’’). [31 of 32] ff., lacks final blank leaf (only).
$875.00
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The first edition of two homilies widely ascribed to one of the most venerated saints in Europe. St. Lawrence of Novara (225–58 A.D.) was a disciple of Pope Sixtus II, who appointed him archdeacon of Rome. Strongly committed to the poor, he was punished for distributing among them wealth belonging to the Church; his martyrdom, ordered by Emperor Valerian, was
slow death by roasting on a gridiron. His works and life, which had been in print since the late 15th century, were inspirational for the pastoral care and charity they advocated, with this edition presenting his homilies on penitence and alms and celebrating the pure principles, explained in clear, refined Latin, of the early Christian Church much admired by 16th-century Catholic and Protestant humanists alike.
A cataloguer at the University of Illinois dissents from the opinion of Bibliotheque National and other national libraries as to authorship and writes, “The two homilies De poenitentia and De eleemosuma, here ascribed to Laurentius, Bishop of Novara, are medieval compositions by an unknown author usually designated as Laurentius Mellifluus, who cannot be identified with the Bishop of Novara nor with Laurentius, Bishop of Milan.”
An elegant edition in Roman type, with historiated woodcut initials, including one of a bear chasing a boy and another of a very “busty” seraph.
Provenance: Most recently in the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.
Evidence of readership: Occasional early underlinings.
WorldCat locates only one U.S. library (University of Illinois) reporting ownership.
Pettegree & Walsby, French Books, 77263; Moreau, IV, 461. 20th-century grey paper boards; edges sprinkled red. Text clean, save for a few scattered spots on title-page and verso of last leaf; wanting final blank. Lower outer corner of one leaf torn away, just touching one letter, small paper flaw to outer blank margin of one leaf.
A handsome Vascosan production. (40843)
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The Secret Is in Their Eyes — Five Volumes as Here Bound — Hundreds of Engravings
Including the work of Fuseli & Blake
Lavater, John Caspar. Essays on physiognomy, designed to promote the knowledge and the love of mankind ... illustrated by more than eight hundred engravings accurately copied; and some duplicates added from originals. London: Printed for John Murray, No. 32, Fleet-Street; H. Hunter, D.D. Charles's-Square; and T. Holloway, No. 11, Bache's-Row, Hoxton, 1789–98. 4to in 2's (34.1 cm, 13.4"). 3 vols. in 5. I: [11] ff., iv, [10], 281 pp. (i.e., 285); 15 plates. II, part 1: xii, 238 pp.; 45 plates. II, part 2: [3] ff., pp. [239]–444; 47 plates. III, pt. 1: xii, 252 pp.; 25 plates. III, pt. 2: [3] ff., pp. 253-437 (i.e., 181 pp.), [9] pp.; 42 plates.
$2500.00
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First edition in English of
Lavater's study of character based on physical attributes. Originally published in German (Physiognomische Fragmente, 1775–78), these influential Essays were translated into English by Henry Hunter (1741–1802) from the subsequent French edition (La Haye, 1781-87), and published in 41 parts under the direction of Royal Academy artists Henry Fuseli (1741–1825) and Thomas Holloway (1748–1827), who both contributed illustrations. In fact, Lavater (1741–1801), a Swiss priest and poet, had no part in the new publication; Hunter arranged the endeavor with Holloway and publisher John Murray without the consent of the author, who learned of the project after it had gone to press, and objected, fearing a new edition would subtract from sales of the old.
These books contain
over 360 engraved illustrations in the text and 132 full-page engraved plates, many of which Holloway copied directly from the French edition; it's the multiple images on the full-page plates that produce the proud claim of “more than 800 engravings” on the title-page. They include
portraits of famous wrinkled writers, philosophers, musicians, monarchs, statesmen, and Lavater himself; silhouettes of Jesus and portraits of Mary; details of male, female, and animal attributes; and skulls, hairlines, eyes, noses, and mouths, among other features, engraved by Holloway, Fuseli, William Blake (1757–1827), James Neagle (1765–1822), Anker Smith (1759–1819), James Caldwall (1739–ca. 1819), Isaac Taylor (1730–1807), and William Sharp (1749–1824), inter alios, after works of art by Rubens, Van Dyke, Raphael, Fuseli, LeBrun, Daniel Chodowiecki (1726–1801). The commentary on these images makes this a work of
art history/criticism, as Lavater is both free and detailed in his notes of how various artists handle details of physiognomy and body language to express character and engender beauty.
The first systematic treatise on physiognomy was written by Aristotle. Publications on the subject continued steadily throughout the ages, although the developing study of anatomy in the 17th century detracted interest from what later came to be known as pseudoscience. Lavater's is the only notable treatise in the 18th century, and indeed, “. . . [his] name would be forgotten but for [this] work,” which was very popular in France, Germany, and England (EB).
Provenance: Bookplate of Nicholas Power on front pastedown of all five volumes (related to Richard Power, Esq., of Ireland, listed as a subscriber?); and bookplate of Gordon Abbott on front free endpaper of three volumes, engraved by J.W. Spenceley of Boston in 1905.
Wellcome, III, 458; Garrison-Morton 154; ESTC T139902; Lowndes II, p.1321 (“a sumptuous edition”); Osler, Bib. Osleriana, p. 283, no. 3178; Bentley Blake Books 481; Ryskamp, William Blake, Engraver, 22. On the parts, see: Arents Collection of Books in Parts, p. 74. Contemporary calf ruled and tooled in gilt and blind with gilt board edges and gilt turn-ins, rebacked old style; marbled edges, and blue silk marker in all volumes. Extremities rubbed and corners bumped with small loss to leather. At least one small marginal tear in each volume; offsetting from letterpress on a few leaves; very mild to quite moderate foxing (or none) on illustrations, offset onto surrounding leaves; and other occasional minor stains. Most plates protected by tissue.
A monument of labor, art, and excellent “system” devoted to an exploded but fascinating theory; in fact, a wonder. (30974)
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Breton Folk Literature Legacy — Music & Engraved Plates
La Villemarqué, Théodore Hersart, Vicomte de; & Tom Taylor, trans. Ballads and songs of Brittany ... translated from the “Barsaz-Breiz” of Vicomte Hersart de la Villemarqué. London & Cambridge: Macmillan & Co. (pr. by Bradbury & Evans), 1865. 4to (21.4 cm, 8.4"). Frontis., xxii, [2], 239, [1] pp.; 8 plts.
$400.00
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First English-language edition, in the first issue original binding: Ancient and traditional pieces from Brittany, many with sheet music provided in the appendix — “with some of the original melodies
harmonized by Mrs. Tom Taylor.” Laura Wilson Taylor (née Barker) was a talented violinist and accomplished composer who supplied music for her husband's plays and other theatrical performances, and published a number of popular songs.
The volume is illustrated with
a frontispiece and eight engraved plates done by several different hands after artists including Tissot, Millais, Tenniel, Keene and others, with the frontispiece and title-page vignettes being particularly nice steel engravings done by Charles Henry Jeens from Tissot designs.
Provenance: From the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.
Publisher's brick-colored textured cloth, front cover with gilt-stamped vignette of a medieval lancer framed in gilt triple fillets, spine with gilt-stamped title; slightly cocked with front hinge a bit tender, edges and extremities rubbed, spine gently darkened. Top edge gilt. Binder's ticket of Burn & Co. on back pastedown. Pages and plates clean.
An outstanding example of a quintessentially Victorian-era perspective on Celtic lore. (38052)
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Quaker Meditations A Neat Compendium
Two Women in the Contents Womanly Provenance, Too
[Law, William]. An extract from a treatise on the spirit of prayer, or the soul rising out of the vanity of time into the riches of eternity. With some thoughts on war. Remarks on the nature and bad effects of the use of spirituous liquors. And considerations on slavery. Philadelphia: Joseph Crukshank, 1780. 12mo (16.3 cm, 6.45"). 84 pp. [bound with] Webb, Elizabeth. A letter...to Anthony William Boehm, with his answer. Philadelphia: Joseph Crukshank, 1783. 44 pp. [with] [Benezet, Anthony]. In the life of the lady Elizabeth Hastings... [Philadelphia: Joseph Crukshank, 1784]. 8 pp.
$1100.00
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Law's mystically-inclined meditations sold vigorously in a number of English and American editions; they serve here as the introduction to an interesting selection of Christian inspirational readings from Philadelphia printer Joseph Crukshanksome writers named, and some not. The
Considerations on Slavery are designated simply as those of a "number of different authors"; the Remarks on . . . Liquors, which aims to promote health and happiness rather than directly religious concerns, is attributed by ESTC to Anthony Benezet, as is the volume's last piece, the title of which is taken from its opening lines. Lady Elizabeth Hastings was the original for Aspasia in Steele's "Tatler" and a major donor to Oxford University Queen's College.
Elizabeth Webb, "an acknowledged minister among the people called Quakers," first encountered Prince George of Denmark's chaplain Boehm while on a visit to Great Britain; the missive with which she opened her subsequent correspondence with him, here, greatly inspired him and a number of his friends.
Provenance: With inscription reading "Miss Hannah Amelia Moore / Book a Present from her worthy / Friend Ruth Patton / 1789."
Law: ESTC W32233; Evans 16817; Hildeburn 3987. Webb: ESTC W13440; Evans 18295; Hildeburn 4409. Benezet: ESTC W6416; Evans 18355. Contemporary quarter sheep over paper-covered sides, the whole worn and abraded but the little volume quite sound. Light age-toning, occasional darker spots. Small chip in bottom margin of title-page; one leaf with paper flaw in lower corner, resulting in the loss of a very few letters. (10951)

One of 2000 Printed — First British Edition
Lawrence, D.H. The man who died. London: Martin Secker, 1931. 8vo (25.5 cm, 10.1"). 97, [1] pp.
$150.00
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First British edition of Lawrence's novella, also known as “The Escaped Cock.” Originally printed in Forum magazine in 1928, and then in its first book form by Black Sun Press in Paris in 1929, this is a quintessentially Lawrentian tale in which Jesus, having survived crucifixion, discovers his sexual potency and joy in earthly life with the aid of a priestess of Isis. (About the alternative title, here; yes, there is a real bird involved.)
The present example is
one of 2000 copies printed, with the type afterwards distributed.
Jackson, D.H. Lawrence Handbook, 24; Roberts A50c. Publisher's olive green cloth, front cover with gilt-stamped phoenix vignette, spine with gilt-stamped title; dust wrapper lacking, spine slightly sunned, spine extremities and lower corners rubbed. Free endpapers with offsetting(?) and front one with upper outer corner torn away; text gently age-toned, with small areas of staining to two pages. Showing signs of wear, this is yet a solid, attractive, and pleasing copy. (33546)
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