•  ESTC T117287; Pforzheimer 611.   Period-style calf, covers framed and panelled in gilt rolls with gilt-stamped corner fleurons and central decoration, spine with with gilt-stamped leather title-label, gilt-ruled raised bands, and gilt-stamped compartment decorations. Title-page with early inked ownership inscription (William R. Williams) in upper outer corner; preface with early inked initials in upper corners, partially effaced, resulting in small holes to upper outer corner (touching two letters of text without obscuring sense). Occasional early inked corrections and annotations; partial topical index filling final blank. One leaf with short tear from upper margin not extending into text, another with portion of lower foremargin torn away just touching (but not really “affecting”) print; scattered light smudges and a handful of pages with old marginal stains, ink-drop to fore-edge (closed) in Latin section, otherwise clean.  (30851)

Click the interior image for an enlargement.

The title-page of this volume is printed in red and black; the engraved frontispiece portrait is signed “A.C.F.”

Scarce.  Searches of OCLC, RLIN, and NUC Pre-1956 find only three U.S. and two overseas locations.

•  Contemporary half mottled sheep with speckled paper–covered sides, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label; sides and edges with a few small scuffs, leather chipped at head of spine and along parts of back joint. Front free endpaper with inked ownership inscription dated 1829 and with stamp (no other markings). Mild browning and spotting, with a few leaves more notably foxed; one leaf with ink stains. Pagination skips from 360 to 369, with text uninterrupted as shown by catchword and signature. A stout, rather handsome volume.

Recent research (Wichlan, Complete Poetry of Jack London, 2007) suggests that this was printed at the Keesling Press in Campbell, California. The number of copies printed is unknown.

•  BAL 11989; Woodbridge, p. 275.   Printed on heavy, textured card stock and folded lengthwise once to form a booklet. Front cover irregularly age-toned; interior facing pages, displaying whole poem, very fresh and nice.  (30148)

This is numbered copy 538 of 2000 printed, signed at the colophon by the artist. Both the prospectus and the appropriate Club newsletter are laid in.

•  Bibliography of the Fine Books Published by the Limited Editions Club, 468.   Publisher's binding of light blue-green buckram stamped in black, spine with title in white and black, in original black paper–covered slipcase with affixed illustration on blue paper on either side; slipcase showing mild wear with spine label a bit rubbed and illustrations lightly spotted. Volume itself clean and fresh in original glassine wrapper. A thoughtfully designed and illustrated edition.  (31470)

“Published under the superintendence of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge” and in the series “The Library of Entertaining Knowledge.”

•  Publisher's light brown cloth, covers stamped in blind, spines lettered in gilt; one board cracked under cloth across outer corners and one volume rubbed in places to the board. Black tape at top of each volume extending on to the covers; extremities of one volume chipped, endpapers with abrasion or a bit of chipping Ex–social club library: each volume with a 19th-century bookplate, call number on endpapers, pressure-stamp on title-pages, no other markings.  (28752)

Provenance:  Front pastedown with armorial bookplate of John Train; front fly-leaf with inked gift inscription to Dorothea Mary French from F.D., dated 1908.

•  Binding as above, lightly rubbed; joints tender with front one just starting at head. Occasional faint foxing; some lines of print offset. A lovely, quintessentially late-19th century production.  (30136)

Provenance:  Front pastedown with simple, nicely lettered bookplate of Broadway producer, printer, publisher, author of a famous mixological work, and collector Crosby Gaige (born Roscoe Conkling Gaige).

•  BAL12788.   Publisher's blue-gray paper–covered sides; spine with (chipped) printed paper label darkened and rubbed at tips, small areas of insect damage to front joint (showing more extensively inside at front hinge), and paper across back hinge (inside) partially cracked. Pastedown with bookplate as above. Uncut pages very faintly age-toned, otherwise clean. The extra spine label tipped to rear free endpaper.  (29723)

•  Palau 141001; Sabin 14210.   Contemporary limp vellum with remnants of ties, front joint (inside) starting to open. Scattered foxing, including on title-page; short tear, repaired, in title; some staining in early margins and into text; without the preliminaries or the added engraved title. Doodling in many margins; ink stains from a careless quill user on several pages. John Carter Brown's stamped signature on p. 1. A less than perfect copy that yet does not “feel” maimed; a copy with a distinguished provenance to match the distinction of the work.  (27561)

The Historia general de las Indias (first published in 1552) is divided into two parts which stand on their own although clearly written as two parts of a whole. Part I is a history of events concerning the discovery and conquests of the New World exclusive of those involving Cortés. Part II is entirely dedicated to the telling of Cortés's role in the conquest of Mexico and subsequent discoveries.

Click the images for enlargements.

In this Italian translation from the pen of Agostino di Cravaliz, López's “all-Cortés” volume stands as part III of the three-volume Historia, delle nuove Indie Occidentali, with parts I and II being translations of Cieza de Leon's Historia, over Cronica del gran regno del Peru and the previously mentioned part I of Gómara's Historia general de las Indias.

The text here is printed in italic type except the capitals, which are roman. The title-page is printed in roman and italic and has the woodcut printer's device.

•  Alden & Landis 564/25; Sabin 27741; Medina, BHA, 159n; Wagner, Spanish Southwest, 2v.   18th-century vellum over paste boards, soiled and a bit rubbed; red leather spine label, with a chip, and an old circular paper shelf-label. Title-page dust-soiled, mounted; small, narrow, oblong portion of blank area of title-page excised and filled in at an early time. Lacks folio 1 and final blank. Top margins closely trimmed, sometimes costing the running heads and folio numbers.  (25767)

This is numbered copy 1475 of 1500 printed, with the colophon signed by the artist.

•  Bibliography of the Fine Books Published by The Limited Editions Club, 1929–1985, 432.   Binding as above, in original slipcase; slipcase showing tiny traces of shelfwear at corners, the whole otherwise pristine. A gorgeous copy.  (30465)

Bindings: Publisher's textured dark brown cloth, covers with globe and torch design stamped in rich shades yellow, red, green, and black; spines embossed with modest "ruling" and author, title, publisher, volume numbers.

•  Vols. I and IV only. Bindings as above, slightly shaken, extremities rubbed. Pages clean.  (29812)

•  ESTC T113648.   Recent quarter calf, old style; raised bands, gilt ruling above and below the bands as accents, gilt center devices in spine compartments. Deep red spine labels lettered in gilt; marbled paper sides, with dark wedge of soil crossing bottom 3/4-inch of front cover’s paper and line of same soil also to turn-ins of back cover. Faint off-setting to top and bottom margins of early leaves from old binding; medium-light waterstains in margins of index (i.e., last 6 leaves), and the odd spot or bit of soil elsewhere. Generally, a very nice clean book.  (25318)

Soledades de la vida y desengaños del mundo was first published in Madrid in 1658 and was reprinted m any times in the subsequent decades, attesting to its continued popularity during the “Edad de Oro.” Essentially a miscellany, it is composed of two distinct parts, the Soledades and the Persecuciones de Lucina, dama valenciana, y tragicos sucessos de Don Carlos. The first is essentially a four-part pastoral novel about love and life while the second is an eight-part novel concerning a pair of young lovers whose parents oppose their friendship with the expected result of the youngsters running away together and having adventures and misadventures.

Provenance:  No individual's name appears, but the title-page is inscribed in an 18th-century hand with the name of a little town in southeast Puebla, Sto. Tomas Hueyotlipan.

•  Not in Palau, but see 142879 for a related 1722 edition.   Recent vellum, old style, with ties. Some gatherings washed; first leaf of text (only) defective with loss of three lines on each side; early leaves with good repairs of tears and irregular margins; signature “S” supplied from a different copy. Some leaves with creasing, some worming in foremargins, and one leaf with a foremarginal burnhole; otherwise, but the very occasional stain here or there. A pleasing copy.  (30535)

Born in Córdoba, Spain, Lucan (A.D. 39–65) was the grandson of the elder Seneca, nephew of the younger Seneca, and the brother of the Gallio mentioned in Acts 18. He published the Pharsalia in A.D. 62 or 63, but it seems likely that his poetic talent aroused the jealously of the vain Nero, as after its publication the emperor forbade him to write or even plead in the courts, and then later compelled him to commit suicide for alleged treason.

The editio princeps of Lucan was printed in Rome by Sweynheym and Pannartz in 1469. This edition is based on the text of the Venice 1493 edition and improved upon by Aldus after an old manuscript given to him by Marco Antonio Mauroceno, who contributed the prefatory note. The short life of Lucan appended at the end is drawn from Tacitus.

This is anice and early Aldine with spacious margins, printed in the famous Aldine italic with guide letters and space left for initials (unaccomplished). The famous anchor and dolphin device is not found here for it did not make its first appearance until late in 1502, when one issue of Dante's Terze rime introduced the image to the world presses — this dates to the earlier part of that year. A second Aldine edition was issued in 1515.

Evidence of readership: One underlining and one inked correction of a typo.

•  Schweiger, II, 560; Renouard 33, 3; Goldsmid 40; Brunet, III, 1198; Adams L1557; Isaac 12775.   20th-century vellum over boards, spine very faintly blind-stamped just with author, printer, and date inked or black-stamped; early inked “Lucanus” on top edge. A couple ink spots on the fore-edge. Title-page with old Inkstain (covering an ownership inscription?) seeping through to next leaf and old round ownership stamp mostly erased; small pink water (or wine) stain in upper outer corner terminating at f. [33]; traces in some margins of old inactive mildew and mild foxing; a couple of old ink. A good copy for one's “Bibliotheca Aldina Vetustior.”  (30101)

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

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

Binding / Provenance: Contemporary calf, framed in gilt triple fillets and panelled in gilt quadruple fillets with gilt-stamped corner fleurons and gilt-stamped central coat of arms of the Wilder family, with the motto “Virtuti moenia cedant.”

•  Schweiger, II, 565; Dibdin, II, 186–87. Binding as above, rebacked making use of most of the original spine, spine with gilt-stamped compartments and gilt-stamped leather title-label; edges worn and rubbed, portions of original spine leather cracked and chipped. Front pastedown with small abraded area; front fly-leaf with inked inscriptions dated 1834 and 1938. Some leaves with faint waterstaining in upper margins and lower outer corners. Attractive.

This translation from the Italian is the work of Giovanni Paolo Gallucci (1538 – ca. 1621), a translator and notable astronomer. In this edition the title-page is printed in black and red, with the text in single-column format in roman with some italic, and each of the four parts of the work is preceded by a special page that includes awoodcut illustration within a handsome border of printer's ornaments.

A nice example of transmission of text through translation. One should remember that even at the late date of 1602 there were many theologians who were fluent in only two languages: their native tongue and Latin.

Binding:  Handsome alum-tawed leather, elaborately tooled in blind using a variety of rolls and rules forming a series of concentric panels. One blind-embossing roll contains medallions of classical heads. Original metal and leather clasps present and sound. All edges blue.

•  Palau 108192. VD17 12:122671L.   Binding as above. Text with some foxing and spotting throughout but never disturbing; overall nice and solid. A very attractive work on the shelf and in the hand.  (31867)

A seven-volume Latin edition of Luther's works was printed simultaneously, starting in 1545. Volumes from both the German and Latin sets are often found individually, as here.

Evidence of readership: Inserted between two leaves, there is a 19th-century note in English commenting on the devil, and between two other leaves, a four-page excerpt from an English hymnal of the same period.

•  Benzing 1; VD16 L 3315.   One volume only of twelve. 19th-century calf paneled in blind, rebacked to style with title and author gilt on dark red leather spine label; scuffed and rubbed with some loss to leather at corners. Ex-library: old sticker in uppermost spine compartment, two bookplates on front pastedown, embossed stamp on title-page and first leaf of text, and library card on rear pastedown. Splattered inkstain and dust-soiling on title-page, with old repair/reinforcement to upper inner corner; faint to light water- or dampstaining across a number of center-lower margins and a bit more darkly across the center-top portions of some others; very short, slim marginal wormtracks near lower gutter of leaves in first portion and in a few other places. Short tear in upper margin of one leaf, and lower margin of another; mild to moderate foxing throughout and the occasional small inkstain; general age-toning as typical of German books of this sort and period. Though an “odd” volume, yet one “substantial” in several senses.  (31043)

Binding:  An example of a painted and tooled vellum binding known in Germany as a “Bauern Einbände,” or “Peasant Binding” — but, though betraying a strong influence of folk art, such bindings were certainly not for peasants! The style almost certainly began in Hungary with early examples first appearing in southern Germany, and it was to gain greatest favor in northern Germany and Holland during the 18th century.

This vellum binding is elaborately tooled, embossed, and painted. There is an outer border on each cover lettered in black with a motto; the center area is occupied by an embossed and painted bouquet arising from a heart-shaped jar inscribed with “Das herze mein soll dir Allen a Jesu sein.” The bouquet is painted in red, green, and yellow, and below the quoted matter is a stylized device of a “4" above the letters “C G R” (or “C R G”). All edges gilt.

•  Bound as above, lacking the metal and vellum clasps; binding rubbed, but charming and evocative. Overall in good+ condition.  (29117)

Provenance:  Signatures of Elizabeth Powell (17th century), Robert Binnell (18th century), and three other 17th-century signatures only partially deciphered.

•  STC (rev. ed.) 17063; ESTC S108999.   20th-century half blue morocco with cloth sides. This copy clearly spent time in an English bookseller's “hospital” and may be sophisticated, a fact perhaps of some positive, studyable interest now that such hospitals and their ministrations have been “history” for decades; title-leaf dust-soiled, creased but flattened, with rents and holes repaired most sympathetically. Many corners and leaf edges expertly renewed; some captions touched by binder's knife, none or only one seriously. Child's writing practice, including an alphabet (without J or V), in some margins. A good copy with an interesting provenance worthy of deeper research and greater paleographical skills than we can bring to bear.  (32713)

•  Plain quarter cloth and paper-covered sides, worn and water-stained, corners bumped. Front free endpaper with pencilled inscription. Page edges untrimmed; pages with foxing ranging from mild to severe. This copy with the full complement of advertising pages. (5813)