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Pagan, William. Road reform: A plan for abolishing turnpike tolls, pontages, and statute labour assessments and for providing other funds for the public roads and bridges.... Third edition. Edinburgh & London: William Blackwood & Sons, 1857. 8vo (19.9 cm, 7.875"). [2] ff., 165, [1 (blank)], 6 pp., [1 (blank)] f.
$145.00
Detailed plan, including tables, for improving the quality and financing of the Scottish transportation system: First published in 1845, this is the third of three editions.
Rare. We trace no U.S. copies of this edition via NUC Pre-1956, OCLC, or RLIN.
NSTC 2P809, Imprint 3; this edition not in Goldsmith’s-Kress. Recent speckled brown wrappers. Some shallow chipping. Closely trimmed by binder, shaving a few signatures and borders of tables. Inked numeral in margin of title-page. (11201)

Tom
Paine
Discounts
the Pound Sterling
Paine, Thomas. The decline & fall of the English system of finance. New York: Printed by William A. Davis, for J. Fellows, 1796. 12mo (18.5 cm; 7.25"). 58 pp., [1 (ads)] f., without the half-title.
$375.00
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Self-proclaimed “second American edition” printed “from a London copy of the Paris edition” — and, uncommon. Paine on his favorite subject of criticism — the English. Here he points out that the English financial system is on the brink of bankruptcy, and identifies acts of banking folly to be held responsible for getting it into that state. Written at a time when Paine was in France and still deeply involved in the revolutionary cause, the essay caused no small amount of controversy when it first appeared in Paris and then subsequently in London in April of 1796.
With the leaf of advertisements for “new publications for sale by John Fellows.”
Provenance: Signature of “Geo. Wilson jr,” dated 1880, inked to title-page.
Evans 30944; ESTC W20110 & T5824. Uncut copy, without the half-title, stitched in modern plain wrappers; dust-soiled and age-toned with old dampstains. Ownership signature as above on title; pencilled note on verso (not in the same hand), “bad effect on bank of connection with gov't.” A good copy. (29899)
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Paleario, Aonio. ... Opera. Ad illam editionem quam ipse auctor recensuerat & auxerat excusa, nunc novis accessionibus locupletata ... Amstelaedami: Apud Henricum Wetstenium, 1696. 8vo (16.5 cm; 6.5"). *8 **4 A-Z8 Aa–Ss8 Tt4 (Tt4 blank); [12] ff., 650, [7] ff.
$450.00
Expressing beliefs contrary to accepted Catholic Church policy or dogma could mean trouble with the Inquisition in the heady times of the Reformation. One could avoid run-ins with the Holy Office by keeping quiet, by not publishing, or by having influential protectors. Aonio Paleario (1503–70) chose to express and even publish beliefs that were sufficiently non-mainstream Catholic that he came to the attention of the Inquisition in Italy three times. The first two instances saw the charges dropped thanks to the intervention of powerful protectors, the third proved fatal, his protectors having died.
Paleario was at once a creation of the Renaissance and of the Reformation. He carried on a wide correspondence with the intellectuals of his time, he studied the writings of Luther and Erasmus, and he sought to reconcile the old with the new. This edition of his works is chiefly composed of his letters, but also includes “De Immortalitate Animorum libri III,” and “Poematia.”
On Paleario, see: Contemporaries of Erasmus, III, 45–46. Contemporary vellum over boards; bit of abrasion and black speckling in lower area of spine. 18th-century armorial bookplate on front pastedown. Occasional light spotting in text. Notes in pencil on rear endpapers. Rear free endpaper torn with loss of paper in the lower outer area. (19246)

Paley's Works & His Life in
Five Neat Volumes
Paley, William. Works of William Paley. In five volumes, with a memoir of his life, by G.W. Meadley. Boston: Joshua Belcher, 1810. 8vo. 5 vols. I: Frontis., 371, [1] pp. II: [2], 424 pp. III: 523, [1] pp. IV: 453, [1] pp. V: 509, [1], [68 (index)] pp.
$250.00
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Early and attractive American edition of these writings on natural history, Anglican theology, and moral philosophy. The first third of vol. I supplies Paley's biography, and that volume offers a frontispiece portrait of him; vol. V supplies an index.
Shaw & Shoemaker 20980. Contemporary treed sheep, spines with gilt-stamped leather title and volume labels; leather rubbed and volumes pleasantly refurbished. Front and back pastedowns with institutional bookplates; pencilled shelfmarks, etc., with shadows of these visible on title-pages. Occasional spots of light to moderate foxing. (14453)
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Uncommon Then & Now
Parabosco, Gerolamo. Il Viluppo, comedia nova. In Vinegia: Appresso Gabriel Giolito de'Ferrari, 1567. 12mo (13.7 cm, 5.4"). 59, [1] ff.
$450.00
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Uncommon edition of Parabosco's second comedy. In addition to his other plays and various literary works, Venetian Parabosco (c. 1524–57) composed several madrigals and served as the organist at Saint Mark's. As might be expected from a Giolito production, the text here is handsomely printed in single columns with italic type incorporating a variety of
decorative headpieces, type ornaments, and historiated initials; two versions of his printer's device appear on the title-page and final page of text.
This edition follows those of 1547 and 1560, which was actually a collection with five additional Parabosco plays, and precedes a 1568 edition. Searches of Worldcat, COPAC, and NUC Pre-1956 reveal only three U.S. institutions reporting ownership (Duke, UPenn, and the Folger). This edition is also notably absent from most relevant bibliographies.
Provenance: An armorial bookplate of 19th-century English book collector Edward Cheney with the motto “Fato Prudentia Major” appears on the front pastedown; most recently in the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.
Bongi, Annali di Gabriel Giolito de’ Ferrari, I, p. 147 (1547 ed.); EDIT16 CNCE 26527. This edition not in Adams, Brunet, or Graesse. On Parabosco, see: Treccani (online). Vellum over boards, publication information inked on spine; evenly dust-soiled with ink faded. One tiny chip along edge of title-page; otherwise, light age-toning with a handful (only) of small light stains. Bookplate and label as above.
A pretty, pocket-sized play from a great 16th-century press. (39555)
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Parabosco, Girolamo. L’hermafrodito. Comedia... di nuovo ricorretta e ristampata. Vinegia: Gabriel Giolito de’Ferrari, 1560. (13.5 cm, 5.25"). 48 ff. [bound with the same author’s] Il Marinaio. Vinegia: Gabriel Giolito de’Ferrari, 1560. 59 ff. (lacking ff. 2 & 3, and final blank). [with] Il viluppo. Comedia nova....Vinegia: Gabriel Giolito de’Ferrari, 1568. 59, [1] ff. [with] Il pellegrino. Vinegia: Gabriel Giolito de’Ferrari, 1560. 36 ff.
$600.00
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Collection of early editions of four comedies by composer and playwright Parabosco. Two other plays are cited by Brunet as part of the overall work, but are not present here; Adams and some other sources describe the six pieces as separately issued. The plays included in this volume are L’Hermafrodito, Il Marinaio, Il Viluppo (with a publication line dated 1568), and Il Pellegrino.
Adams P238, P239, P246 (1560 ed. only), P243; Brunet, IV, 356. Contemporary vellum-covered boards, spine with inked title; vellum slightly soiled, with spine title faded. All edges stained blue. First title-page mounted and several leaves with outer margins or upper outer corners reinforced, two pages with loss of a few letters at upper outer corners. Second play lacking two preliminary leaves and final register leaf. Two leaves with annotations in an early inked hand, now faded; pages with intermittent mild waterstaining. (14697)

“Your Very Affectionate, Louis N. Parker” — Autobiography with Signed Letter
Parker, Louis N. Several of my lives. London: Chapman & Hall, 1928. 8vo (22.7 cm, 8.875"). viii, 312 pp.; 32 plts.
$125.00
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First edition: From the prolific British playwright, an illustrated autobiography with signed ephemera laid in, mounted, or tipped in
including a handwritten letter and poem written by Parker, photographs, and newspaper clippings. Louis N. Parker (1852–1944), best known for his 1911 play Disraeli, started his career composing music after attending the Royal Academy of Music; as he began to lose his hearing, he became increasingly involved with drama instead. During his career, he wrote or translated (either alone or in collaboration) over 100 plays, and organized pageants — huge drama festivals involving hundreds of performers, inspiring a rise in “pageantitis” in England.
Parker's biography is well illustrated with 32 black-and-white plates (including his frontispiece portrait) featuring the many people he met throughout his “lives” — early life, musical life, theatrical life, and pageant life (as the book is sectioned).
Binding: Half red morocco double gilt-ruled, over red cloth sides; five raised bands to spine, lettering or elegant gilt floral decoration in ruled compartments. Top edge gilt, fore- and bottom edges untrimmed.
Signed by Bickers & Son.
Provenance & added material: Previously owned by Parker's friend “Saint” (unidentified; see further). Mounted on front free endpaper, a black and white photograph of Parker in front of shelves holding a glass collection; mounted underneath is a clipping from a letter: “Your very affectionate, Luigi.” On following verso, a newspaper clipping of an interview from 1932 is tipped in; on the next recto is mounted a letter to “Saint” (a delightfully written apology for the friend's absence in the book) with, on its second leaf, an original poem asking his friend to “accept this trivial book.” Additional newspaper clippings laid in. On rear pastedown, a black and white photograph with a small ink note indicating it is of Parker's salon; on rear free endpaper, Parker's obituary clipped from the Illustrated London News (as indicated by previous owner's pencilled note) dated 1944. Occasionally a pencilled word or checkmark; one clipping with cut-off words supplied in ink.
Bound as above, minor rubbing to corners, small stain and light fading to boards; offsetting to endpapers and soiling from glue used to attach ephemera, evidence of one glue-in removed. Evidence of readership as above; one checkmark in old-fashioned red pencil.
A splendid, unique volume containing intriguing related ephemera — clearly owned by a special friend of Parker's. (38018)
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Signed Limited Edition: Noir Fiction
Parker, T. Jefferson. Easy Street. [Mission Viejo: ASAP Publishing], © 2000. 8vo (23.6 cm, 9.3"). Frontis., 44 pp.; 2 col. plts.
$300.00
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First edition, preceding the story's republication in The Best American Mystery Stories 2001: a tale of two brothers and a rash of bank robberies in Southern California. Elizabeth George provided the thoughtful introduction, Robert Crais the enthusiastic afterword, and Phil Parks the mounted, color-printed illustrations. This is
lettered copy N of 26 collector's copies, out of 250 total, signed by Parker, George, Crais, and Parks on the limitation page.
Binding: Publisher's grey silk, front cover with affixed color-printed illustration, spine with title stamped in black, in a striking lucite slipcase.
Binding as above, lucite showing predictable minor shelfwear, overall a beautiful copy. An uncommon printing of work by one of the most popular contemporary crime writers; actually, of
an all-star trio of writers. (33332)
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One of the Earliest Presbyterian Missionaries in OREGON
An
Early ACCURATE Map of Oregon's Interior
Parker, Samuel. Journal of an exploring tour beyond the Rocky Mountains, under the direction of the A.B.C.F.M. in the years 1835, '36, and '37. Ithaca, NY: Mack, Andrus, & Woodruff., 1842. 12vo (20 cm, 7.9"). 408 pp.; 1 map, 1 plt.
$650.00
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Third edition: “A description of the geography, geology, climate, productions of the country, and the numbers, manners, and customs of the natives.” The Rev. Samuel Parker (1779–1866) accompanied a fur-trading party west into what was then known as either Oregon Country or the Columbia District, under the sponsorship of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. Here he describes the voyage (including a brief mention of the Mormons in Missouri), the region's natural history, and the degrees of interest in Christianity expressed by the Native Americans his party encountered — which last was his primary focus.
The volume opens with an
oversized, folding map, engraved by M.M. Peabody, which Graff describes as “the earliest map of the Oregon interior with a pretense to accuracy”; includes an account of Parker's
voyage to Hawaii and Tahiti; and closes with a
vocabulary of Indian languages (Nez Perce, Klicatat, Calapooa, and Chenook). The plate depicts “Basaltic Formations on the Columbia River.”
Flake & Draper, Mormon Bibliography, 6100; Graff 3193; Hill, Collection of Pacific Voyages, 1306; Howes P89; Pilling, Proof-sheets, 2907; Sabin 58729; Wagner-Camp, Plains & Rockies, 70:3. Publisher's charcoal-colored ribbed cloth, covers with blind-stamped arabesque frame, spine with gilt-stamped title; cloth chipped at spine extremities and front joint, corners rubbed. Mild to moderate foxing. Map with faint spotting, a pinpoint hole at one corner, and one very short tear from inner edge; foxing and soiling, never dark/nasty but present throughout. A comfortably solid copy. (29273)
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The
LARGEST Herbal in the English Language — Ruskin's Copy
Parkinson, John. Theatrum botanicum: The theater of plantes. Or, an herball of a large extent ... London: Thomas Cotes, 1640. Folio (35.3 cm, 13.9"). Add. engr. t.-p., [18], 1755 (i.e., 1745), [3] pp.; illus.
$6000.00
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First edition: Over 3,000 species and their virtues described for the use of apothecaries and herbalists. Parkinson (1567–1650), who served officially as Royal Botanist to Charles I and unofficially as gardening mentor to his queen, Henrietta Maria, was also one of the founders of the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries — to which the allegorical frontispiece here may refer with the rhinoceros in its upper portion. The author of Paradisi in sole paradisus terrestris, Parkinson was much acclaimed by his contemporaries and by later botanists; Henrey cites Sir James Edward Smith's assessment that “this work [the Theatrum botanicum] and the herbal of Gerarde were the two main pillars of botany in England till the time of Ray.” Gerard and Parkinson indeed competed in publication, with the printing of the present work having been delayed several years so as to avoid marketplace clash with Johnson's edition of Gerard's herbal.
In the present work, Parkinson divided the plants by classes such as “Sweete smelling Plants,” “Purging Plants,” saxifrages, wound herbs, cooling herbs, “Strange and Outlandish Plants,” etc. Most of the entries are illustrated with in-text woodcuts, interspersed with pages wholly occupied by four images. Among the Americana content here are descriptions of Virginia bluebells, Peruvian mechacan, potatoes, and an assortment of “Ginny peppers” (with dire warnings regarding their fiery hotness); also present are
28 previously unrecorded British species, including the strawberry tree and the lady's slipper orchid. The index and tables are organized by Latin name, English name, and medicinal property.
Provenance: Front pastedown with John Ruskin's Brantwood ex-libris, and with bookplate of American zoologist Charles Atwood Kofoid; additional engraved title-page with inked inscription “Ex bibliotheca Mathiae Lynen, Londini,” dated 1641. A cheque drawn on Prescott Dinsdale Cave Tugwell & Co. by Joanna Ruskin Severn on Ruskin's behalf is tipped in.
ESTC S121875; Henrey 286; Johnston, Cleveland Herbal, Botanical, and Horticultural Collections, 197; Nissen 1490; Rohde, Old English Herbals, 142; STC (rev. ed.) 19302; Alden & Landis 640/143; Arents 212; Pritzel 6934; Hunt 235. Contemporary speckled calf framed in blind double fillets, spine with gilt-stamped red leather title-label; much worn with front joint open, hinges (inside) reinforced with linen tape, old refurbishments including shellacking. Front pastedown and engraved title-page reinforced, the latter by attachments to endpaper and title-page; preface leaf partly separated; first and last leaves generally tattered and a few others with marginal paper flaws, one affecting a few letters and a small portion of one image. Occasional marginal tears, one just touching text; three small ink spots to one leaf, touching two images, else scattered spots only; one spread with ink blot (possibly printer's) obscuring portions of five words. Some corners bumped, and index leaves creased with three partly split along creases; final table leaf and errata leaf with old repairs costing a few words. Some pagination erratic and pp. 845–48 laid in, supplied from a smaller-margined copy; front free endpaper with pencilled annotations regarding this copy. A worn and pored-over yet respectable copy of this important 17th-century herbal, with
nice English and American provenance suggesting who did some of the poring. (34702)
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STORY Told in
Prose & Verse
“Parley, Peter.” Peter Parley's story of the bird's nest. Boston: S.G. Goodrich & Co., (copyright 1829). Square 12mo (13.4 cm, 5.25"). 16 pp.; 1 plt.
[SOLD]
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A delightful children's book with more going on bibliographically than meets the eye. The cataloguer at the American Antiquarian Society notes of it: “Not written by Samuel Goodrich.” Additionally all reported copies have on the front cover the imprint “Boston: Carter and Hendee,” but the copy in hand reads the same on the wrapper as on the title-page, that is “Boston: S.G. Goodrich & Co.”
The illustrations number three, of which two are hand-colored. The uncolored one is on the front wrapper and is a repeat of that on p. 4. One cataloguer says the plates are “metal-engraved” but we would think them wood-engraved.
Issued in the series “Peter Parley's smaller tales,” this
incorporates the “be kind to animals” lessons seen in this era.
Provenance: Very clear, even elegant ownership signature on front wrapper “Mary D. Perkins, 1829"; “Mary Dening Perkins, 1829" on front free endpaper. Most recently in the children's book collection of Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.
WorldCat locates a total of five libraries reporting ownership.
Shoemaker 38790. Not in Sternick; not in Rosenbach. Publisher's bright yellow wrappers, printed and illustrated. Light finger soiling on front wrapper along fore-edge; spotting to interior, not distressing; a charming little book. (38490)
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Recusant Choler &
Taking Edward Coke to Task
[Parsons, Robert]. A quiet and sober reckoning with M. Thomas Morton somewhat set in choler by his aduersary P.R. concerning certaine imputations of wilfull falsities obiected to the said T.M. in a treatise of P.R. intituled Of Mitigation. [St. Omer: English College Press], 1609. 4to (17.8 cm; 7"). [20] ff., 688 pp., [8] ff.
$1000.00
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Ardent controversialist Parsons takes aim at Morton, who in his A preamble unto an encounter with P.R. had challenged Parsons' previous work, and fires stinging accusations of inaccurate source-quoting, hypocrisy, and general lack of understanding. He defends his theories of equivocation and rebellion with great gusto and enough force to make one wonder just how vitriolic the work might have been had Parsons not been operating, as he repeatedly points out, under his “quiet and sober” heading. No doubt this response hardly improved Mr. Morton's temper — the phrase “a Satanicall and damnable lyar” enters into play, although to give Parsons his due, it does seem to have come from Morton first.
Provenance: The 19th-century joint bookplate of the Rev. J. Jones and the Rev. W. Wilds; later in the collection of The Society of the Holy Child Jesus with its bookplate laid over.
Sole edition (save for a modern reprint) of this Jesuit author's choleric and interesting Recusant work, this has added attraction for collectors and scholars of English law for the entire eighth chapter takes Sir Edward Coke to task “about a nihil dicit, & some other points uttered by him in two late Preambles, to his sixt and seaventh [sic] partes of Reports.”
STC (rev. ed.) 19412; Allison & Rogers, II, 635; DeBacker Sommervogel, VI, 313; ESTC S114160. 18th- or early 19th-century half calf over marbled boards, worn and abraded around edges, recently rebacked and original spine with gilt-stamped title and compartment devices retained; hinges (inside) strengthened. Two brief old inked notes on title-page; some sections with captions trimmed-into; rather a nice copy
and very wild reading. (36743)
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(Pascal, Blaise). Carta de un leonés a uno de los suscritores a la reimpresion de las Cartas provinciales de Pascal. México: Impr. de Luis Abadiano y Valdes, 1842. Small 4to. 16 pp.
$150.00
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Will Pascal ever be admitted to the libraries of devout Roman Catholics? The author of this extended essay, who styles himself "Un Leonés" and who signs himself with the initials "J.I.A.," cautions a supposed subscriber to a new edition of Pascal's letters that they are riddled with Jansenist heresy and that the pope still prohibits the devout from reading them.
Sutro 756 ("19p." being a typographical error for collation given here); not in Steele, Independent Mexico: A Collection of Mexican Pamphlets in the Bodleian Library. Folded and never sewn or bound; as issued. (4992)

The Provincial Letters
Pascal, Blaise. Les provinciales, ou lettres ecrites par Louis de Montalte a un provincial de ses amis, et aux R.R. P.P. Jesuites sur la morale & la politique de ces Peres ... Nouvelle edition, revue, corrigée & augmentée. Amsterdam: Aux depens de la Compagnie, 1734; Cologne: Pierre de la Vallée, 1739. 12mo (15.8 cm, 6.25"). 4 vols. I: Frontis., [14], 404 pp. II: Frontis., [10], 378 pp. III: Frontis., [10], 372 pp. IV: [8], 539, [13] pp.
$900.00
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Pascal's pseudonymously published Provinciales, an elegantly composed, widely read defense of Antoine Arnauld and of Jansenism against Jesuit opponents. First printed in 1657, the work appears here along with the notes by Guillaume Wendrock (a.k.a. Pierre Nicole), translated from Latin into French.
The first three volumes were printed in Amsterdam in 1734, and each opens with an engraved frontispiece; the fourth volume was printed in Cologne in 1739. All four volumes have title-pages printed in red and black, with the fourth specifying that Nicole's notes were translated by Mademoiselle de Joncourt.
Provenance: All four title-pages with small early inked ownership inscription in upper outer corner of “A. Thorpe, York.”
Period-style quarter mottled calf and marbled paper–covered sides, spines with gilt-stamped leather title and volume labels and gilt-stamped compartment decorations. Vols. I and II with frontispiece rectos institutionally rubber-stamped, with bleed-through into images; ownership inscriptions as above. Pages clean. (27243)
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An “American-Mexican”
Printer's Own Story
Pascoe, Juan. A printer's apprentice. Santa Rosa, Las Joyas, Tacámbaro Michoacán: Taller Martín Pescador, 2018. 8vo (9.25"). 208 pp.
$55.00
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“Juan Pascoe’s story begins in the nineteenth century like a novel: 'My English great-grandfather, James Pascoe, was born in Cornwall . . . ' But this is a true, unique story of an American-Mexican fine printer with English ancestry grafted onto a sturdy, Quixotically Protestant Mexican lineage, leaving Juan with two languages and not much other capital. Through the luck of becoming apprenticed to Harry Duncan, one of America’s greatest handpress printers, Juan found his way as a man of books, and of his making of beautiful books (and posters, broadsheets, catalogues, cards, etc.) and jarocho music (as a founding member of Grupo Mono Blanco) there is no end. Great printers were active in Mexico in the sixteenth century long before Anglo-European printing presses had arrived in New England, and Juan’s work continues in that great tradition.
Juan’s narrative quickly establishes him as a master prose stylist, like Duncan, and as printers they are also equals, in my opinion, having worked with both. His dual identity as American and Mexican gives this compelling memoir a topical appeal beyond that of hand-press printing or poetry” (John Ridland).
Hardcover, set in Espinosa Nova and printed digitally in black and red throughout; binding in shades of cream with vintage printshop cover illustration on front and John Ridland's summary on rear. New. (38863)
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A Pretty Way to
Encounter This Tale
Pater, Walter, trans. The story of Cupid and Psyche done out of the Latin of Apuleius. New York: Platt & Peck Co., [ca. 1914]. 12mo (15.5 cm, 6.1"). Frontis., [2], 107, [1] pp.
$50.00
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Uncommon printing of an elegant, much-commended English translation originally included as part of Pater's Marius the Epicurean. The frontispiece is a sepia portrait of Pater, and the text is printed
on rectos only.
Publisher's tan and brown printed paper–covered boards; spine somewhat darkened, paper chipped at spine and cracking along front joint. Front and rear free endpaper with inked presentation inscriptions dated 1914. Pages age-toned; one leaf with short tear from outer margin. (33100)
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The
PETITIONER “Respectfully Sheweth . . . ”
Patterson, Alexander. A petition...to the legislature of Pennsylvania, during the session of 18034, for compensation for the monies he expended and the services he rendered in defence of the Pennsylvania title, against the Connecticut claimants; in which is comprised, a faithful historical detail of important and interesting facts and events that took place at Wyoming, and in the county of Luzerne, &c. In consequence of the dispute which existed between the Pennsylvania land-holders, and the Connecticut intruders, commencing with the year, 1763. Lancaster: Robert Bailey, 1804. 8vo (23.9 cm, 9.4"). 34 pp.
$375.00
Capt. Patterson's complaint: He nearly lost an arm in combat and had his head split by an axe as well, was victimized by the marauding "Intruders" from Connecticut (who wound up permanently settling what is now the Wilkes-Barre region of Pennsylvania, under the Susquehanna Claim), paid for the expenses of numerous other petitioners, and then had the government decline to protect what he considered to be his rights. An absorbingand highly aggrievedchronology of the Yankee-Pennamite wars and their accompanying legal travails, from a personal angle.
Sabin 59130; Shaw & Shoemaker 6994. Recent simple paper-covered boards, spine with printed paper label. Slight cockling; minor foxing to first and last few leaves. Edges untrimmed. Two leaves with inner margin reinforced. A good copy. (3230)
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Future Punishment Theology — with
Reference to the Americas!
Patuzzi, Giovanni Vincenzo. De futuro impiorum statu libri tres ubi advers. deistas, nuperos Origenistas, Socinianos, aliosq; novatores Ecclesiae Catholicae doctrina de poenarum inferni veritate qualitate et aeternitate asseritur et illustratur. [Verona]: Typis Seminarii Veronensis, 1748. Folio (31.7 cm; 12.5"). [16], XXIV, 405 pp. Lacks final blank (only).
$675.00
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Neatly printed Latin treatise on future punishment for those who do not follow the ways of the Catholic Church, its three books covering why punishment should exist, what merits it, and the punishments themselves.
Alden & Landis also note this text “mentions beliefs on afterlife by people in Americas.”
The Americana content is found in the first section of the volume, dedicated to “deists,” chapter XI (subsections xxvi–xxxii); the natives discussed include those of Canada (Hurons), Virginia, Florida, Mexico, Peru, Paraguay, the Caribbean, and Brazil. Earlier in the “deists” section there is equally interesting discussion of the afterlife in the religions for various
African nations.
The title-page is printed in red and black with an engraved armorial design in the center. Several engraved historiated initials, including a few that show people holding books, and one engraved headpiece of women leading horses on clouds decorate the text.
Binding: Uncut text in an 18th-century cartonné binding with an attractive hand-lettered vellum spine label.
Provenance: “Ex Libris P. Josephi Sacella” written in the bottom margin of the title-page; Sacella has also inked a few words (mostly obliterated) to the front pastedown and a manicule within the text.
Alden & Landis, European Americana, 748/147. Uncut and bound as above, corners bumped and binding rubbed with some loss of paper at front bottom corner, binding dust-soiled and spotted. Volume with final blank (only) lacking and with markings as noted above; half-title with loss of some paper at fore-edge. One leaf detached and two with short to medium marginal tears; central gatherings with a very pale, old, circular stain across gutter reaching type on a few leaves only; and a few leaves creased or with small spots.
A handsome text interestingly cased. (36831)
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Romance in the Wilds of
Kentucky
Paulding, James Kirke. Westward ho! A tale. New York: J. & J. Harper, 1832. 12mo (18.4 cm, 7.25"). 2 vols. I: 203, [1] pp. II: 196, [8 (adv.)] pp.
$200.00
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First edition of this best-selling novel set on the Kentucky frontier. Among the characters are an uprooted Virginia family and their slaves, a
lone Native American hunter, a would-be newspaperman, and a young man susceptible to madness.
Part of the “Harper's library of select novels” series, the work appears here with vol. I in the second printing (vol. II had only one printing); the binding is BAL's state A, with the front cover of vol. II incorrectly marked “No. XXV.”
American Imprints 14120; Wright, I, 2024; BAL 15715. Publisher's green cloth, covers and spines stamped in black; corners bumped, spots of discoloration, spines sunned (and a little bubbled) with extremities rubbed. Ex–social club library: 19th-century bookplate and call number on endpapers, title-pages pressure-stamped. No other markings; endpapers foxed and pages with intermittent moderate spotting. (26533)
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Studying Sanskrit — With Four Fonts & Many Footnotes
Paulinus, a S. Bartholomaeo. Examen historico-criticum codicum Indicorum Bibliothecae Sacrae Congregationis de Propaganda Fide. Romae: Ex Typographia Sacrae Congregationis de Propaganda Fide, 1792. Large 4to (26.5 cm; 10.5"). 80 pp.
$475.00
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A heavily footnoted study of a Sanskrit manuscript then in the library of the Holy Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith (S.C.P.F.) and now in the Vatican Library. The study nicely exhibits why the press of the S.C.P.F. was held in high regard for its publications in “exotic” languages: This scholarly study employs
roman, italic, Sanskrit, and Hindustani fonts.
The author, an Austrian Carmelite missionary and scholar whose secular name was Johann Philipp Wesdin, is credited with authorship of the first Sanskrit grammar printed in Europe.
Provenance: Ex–Theological Institute of Connecticut, properly deaccessioned.
Contemporary wrappers, with pencilling, spine perished and repaired with archival paper tape. Ex-library: two paper shelf labels on front cover, seven leaves with library's blind pressure-stamps. Light age-toning.
A nice example of this press's typography in an interesting, characteristic text. (36690)
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Popular Literature — “A True Relation & a Curious Romance”
Pavón, Gonzalo. [drop-title] Verdadera relacion y curioso romance, en que se dà cuenta y declara la descripcion y grandeza del Templo de Salomon. Primera [– segunda] parte. [colophon: Màlaga: Felix de Casas y Martinez, 1789]. 8vo (21.3 cm, 8"). I: [2] ff; II: [2] ff.
$137.50
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A woodcut illustration of the temple appears at the top of each part. Both parts are verse tales.
Apparently not in Palau. Repairs to first leaf of part I, with loss of a very few words; close trimming of two pages touching some lines without actually taking type (this last suggesting the hasty production typical of such cheap, essentially ephemeral publications). (38510)
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This appears in the HISPANIC
MISCELLANY click here.

A Treasure Trove of Information
Historical *&* Commercial — BATH, 1884
Peach, R. E. Historic houses In Bath and their associations. [Second Series]. London: Simpkin, Marshall & Co.; & Bath: R. E. Peach, 1884. Square 4to (22 cm; 8.75"). Frontis., [2] ff., 158 pp., [11 (ads)] ff.
$45.00
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Brimming with information on literary and other association information. Old Manor House (Claverton) and Kingston House (Bradford-on-Avon) are illustrated, the latter by a
tipped-in photograph. The eleven leaves of advertisements at the rear are entirely for businesses in Bath.
Binding: Publisher's brown cloth, gilt-and black-stamped.
A little spotting, a little shaken; a good++ copy. (34001)
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Sirs Substantive & Pronoun, Corporal Syllable,
& of Course Captain Word . . .
[Peacock, Thomas Love]. Sir Hornbook, or, Childe Launcelot's expedition. A grammatico-allegorical ballad. London: Joseph Cundall, 1843. 16mo (16 cm, 6.125"). 28, 3, [5] pp.; 8 col. plts.
$295.00
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Peacock's aim is to teach English grammar in a fun way via a verse tale set in the age of knights in armor. As for example, “Indicative declar'd the foes / Should perish by his hand; / And stout Imperative arose / The squadron to command.”
The volume is illustrated with
eight hand-colored lithographic plates by H. Corbould, with tissue guards. This is a “New edition” as per the title-page, appearing as part of “The Home Treasury” series. The work was first published in 1814 and is here in the first Cundall edition; the Osborne catalogue explains that Peacock and Henry Cole, the “Home Treasury” editor, met some time after 1814, and Cole liked Sir Hornbook so much that he republished it.
Provenance: Signature on front fly-leaf of John Yeames (1 January 1846); related late 19th–century ownership note on front free endpaper; most recently in the children's book collection of Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.
Osborne Collection, p. 729; Gumuchian 3077. Publisher's boards covered with green paper printed with intertwined vine pattern; paper rubbed, spine darkened with extremities chipped, front cover with small inkstain in upper inner corner. Inscriptions and booklabel as above. A few interior smudges. Without the publisher's ads at the end; good++.
Lithographs very bright! (38919)
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Pearce,
Zachary. The miracles
of Jesus vindicated ... the second edition. London: J. Roberts,
1729. 8vo (19.7 cm, 7.75"). 31, [1 (blank)], 31, [1 (blank)], 32, 39, [1 (blank)]
pp.
$300.00
All four parts: Parts I, II, and III are a reimpression of the second edition (without prices on title-pages and with the register continuous), while part IV is here in its first edition. Written by the Bishop of Rochester in response to Thomas Woolston’s Discourses, these essays argue for literal rather than allegorical New Testament interpretation and defend the Scriptural miracles. ESTC N34872; Part IV: ESTC T93310. Recent marbled paper–covered boards, spine with printed paper label. Title-page with traces of now-absent early ownership inscription and with an early inked annotation identifying Pearce, then the Bishop of Bangor, as the author; one page with inked and pencilled annotations. Pages mildly age-toned. (14335)

The Farmer's Daughter of Essex
Penn, James. Life of Miss Davis, the farmer's daughter of Essex, who was seduced by her lover... London: T. Hughes (pr. by G. Whiteman), [1802]. 12mo (16.7 cm, 6.6"). pp.; 1 plt.
$300.00
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A popular melodramatic tale of ruin and misery, first published in 1767: A dissipated nobleman convinces a lovely country maiden that they are honestly married, sets her up in luxury, then abandons her in a London brothel. The plot is notable for its elaborate detailing of Miss Davis's exceedingly cruel treatment from not only her lover, but also various officials and citizens — though by the close of the story her innate virtue earns her a happier ending than one would expect. The stipple-engraved plate, depicting the fair victim swooning in the arms of one of the brothel denizens, was done by Rumford after Edwards.
This is an uncommon edition: WorldCat does not find any institutional locations. There is apparently one copy of the same printing at the University of Essex, and the date given here is based on their assessment.
This edition not in NSTC. Removed from a nonce volume; sewing loosening, with signatures starting to separate. Pages age-toned, with small area of waterstaining to upper outer margins; title-page with small spot of staining; plate mounted (some time ago), with three small spots of staining and some darkening around caption.
A very readable copy of a striking and strikingly vivid morality tale. (37200)
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Which
OLD LAWS to Keep?
Pennsylvania. Supreme Court. Report of the judges of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, of the English statutes which are in force in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; and of those of the said statutes which, in their opinion, ought to be incorporated into the statute law of the said commonwealth. Lancaster: Wm. Dickson, 1809. 8vo (23.1 cm, 9.1"). 28 pp.
$250.00
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Second edition, following the first of 1808. William Tilghman, Chief Justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, supervised this report on which English laws were in use at the time of Pennsylvania's settlement, and which should become part of updated Pennsylvania state law.
This copy is untrimmed, with the signatures unopened.
WorldCat and Shaw & Shoemaker locate a combined total of fewer than a dozen copies.
Shaw & Shoemaker 18345. Sewn, as issued, but without the wrappers; edges tattered. Waterstaining, heavy on first and last few pages. Uncut. (25966)
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Breeding Neat Cattle
[Pennsylvania Agricultural Society]. Hints for American husbandmen, with communications to the Pennsylvania Agricultural Society. Philadelphia: Clark & Raser, 1827. 8vo (22.8 cm, 9"). [178] pp.; 3 plts. (of 4; also lacking frontis.).
$450.00
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Uncommon collection of essays and letters on topics relating to the maintenance of cattle and sheep, including the growing of various grasses, grains, and root crops; fat content in milk; and principles of "improved breeding." Shorthorn breeder John Hare Powel contributed a number of pieces (the DAB actually attributes this entire volume to him), and the productivity of his cows served as inspiration for an article by three other members of the society. Also present are pedigrees of certain animals from the Herd Book, as well as
engraved plates depicting a sheep, a type of plough, and Bennett's machine.
Shoemaker 30185; on Powel, see: Dictionary of American Biography, XV, 14344. Contemporary paper wrappers, front with printed paper label; covers separated from spine but present, chipping, soiling, and pencilling, with staining especially to lower edge of front wrapper. Pages untrimmed; varying degrees of foxing and staining; lacking frontispiece and one plate — a still-interesting volume priced according to its faults. (3384)
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Embossed Raised-Letter Printing — One Leaf, Presenting Music
Pennsylvania Institution for the Instruction of the Blind. Tenth annual report of the managers of the Pennsylvania Institution for the Instruction of the Blind; Presented to the contributors March, 1843. Philadelphia: J. Crissy, printer, 1843. 8vo (22.2 cm, 8.75"). 28 pp., [2] ff.
$100.00
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Nice wood engraving of the Institution on the front wrapper . . . and following the report are two embossed, raised-letter printing specimens. The first reads: “Specimen of Printing, from the press of the Pennsylvania Institution for the Instruction of the Blind” and continuing with a rewording of Addison's famous quotation, now reading “Education is a companion which no misfortune can repress, no clime destroy, no enemy alienate,no disposition enslave; at home, a friend; abroad, an introduction; in solitude a solace; in society an ornament; it chastens vice, it guides virtue; it gives at once a grace, an ornament to genius. Without it what is man? A slave.” The second specimen of raised printing, reads: “The music type invented in 1839, by M. Snider, Printer” with two bars of music below. The raised letter type is known as Boston Line.
Provenance: The signature of Geo. Harrison is on the title-page. (Not the Beatle!) Most recently from the residue of the stock of the F. Thomas Heller bookselling firm (est. ca. 1928).
In publisher's brown paper wrappers; minor wrinkling and fading, lacking small portion of one corner. Provenance marks as above, foxing to several leaves. Very good. (39621)
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Pepys,
Samuel. Diary and correspondence...the diary deciphered by
the Rev. J. Smith, A.M. from the original shorthand MS. in the Pepysian Library.
With a life and notes by Richard Lord Braybrooke. First American from the fifth
London edition.... Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott & Co., 1855. 8vo (22.3 cm,
8.75"). I: Frontis., xxxvi, 427, [1 (blank)] pp.; II: Frontis., [1] f., 484 pp.;
III: [1] f., 481, [1 (blank)] pp.; IV: [2] ff., 470 pp.
$200.00
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Pepys’s perennially fascinating shorthand journal in its first longhand transcription, done by John A. Smith, later the rector of Baldock but an undergraduate student at St. John’s College at the time of the work. This appears to be the first Philadelphia printing of the diaries, here in an abridged form edited for decency, although there were earlier American editions and a limited deluxe edition was printed in Philadelphia in the same year. The four-volume work is illustrated with two portraits, one of the author and one of his wife, engraved by J.W. Steel.
NCBEL, II, 1583 (for the 1854 ed. on which the present ed. was based). Publisher’s textured cloth, worn, covers framed in decorative blind-stamping, spines ruled in blind and simply gilt-stamped with titles and volume numbers; spines faded, slightly discolored, all pulled with cloth lost above page level and one with additional chip out of cloth near head. Front pastedowns with tickets from a Nashville bookseller. Many pages with light offsetting (darker following frontispieces) and foxing such as the paper is prone to; front free endpaper of vol. IV with pencilled ownership inscription and back fly-leaf of vol. II with pencilled annotations. (4737)

Hotspur's Son's Adventures: One HAPPY Set of Lovers, One TRAGIC
Percy, Thomas. The hermit of Warkworth: A Northumberland tale, in three parts. Newcastle-on-Tyne: W.R. Walker, [ca. 1860]. 12mo (16.3 cm, 6.45"). 24 pp.
$185.00
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Written by Dr. Thomas Percy, Bishop of Dromore, this ballad tells a romantic tale of the return of Henry Percy, 2nd Earl of Northumberland (1393–1455), from his exile in Scotland, accompanied by the fair Lady Eleanor Neville — with an additional melodramatically heartrending plot element regarding the founding of the hermitage by the former “bold Sir Bertram,” now “poor and humble Benedict” (p. 21).
The poem was originally printed in 1771. While this mid-19th-century chapbook was printed with reckless disregard for the amount of ink that actually wound up on any given page (for that is very uneven), it does feature a wood-engraved vignette on the title-page and what appears to be a tombstone tailpiece. It is also uncommon, WorldCat locating
no U.S. institutional holdings of this printing.
As the final page is devoted to an enticing description of “WARKWORTH CASTLE” and its environs, set in larger type than the poem, we wonder if this was
given or sold to tourists as a souvenir?
NSTC 2P11186. Removed from a nonce volume; one leaf with two nicks to outer edge.
A look at the enduring appeal of medieval legend to the Victorian audience. (37230)
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A Famous Illustrator's Copy
Percy, Thomas, ed.; William Harvey, illus.; et al. The beggar's daughter of Bednall Green. London: Jennings & Chaplin, 1832. 8vo (19.6 cm, 7.75"). Engr. frontis., 30, [4] (adv.) pp.; 5 plts.
$500.00
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George Cruikshank's own copy of this oft-reimagined poem, with the publisher's original printed wrappers bound in and three pages of publisher's advertisements at the back. In addition to a lengthy, scholarly preface, the text contains six wood-engraved plates done by Jackson, Branston and Wright, Nesbit, Thompson, S. Williams, and T. Williams all from designs by William Harvey, as well as title-page and final vignettes.
Provenance: Title-page with signature of noted illustrator and caricaturist George Cruikshank, dated 1832, in pencil with part of one letter in ink; most recently in the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.
Later 19th-century half very dark blue morocco and marbled paper–covered boards, spine with gilt lettering and floral stamps in compartments, covers with double gilt fillets along edges of leather; gently rubbed, most notably to joints. Marbled endpapers, top edge gilt. Provenance indications as above. Light pencilling on endpapers; light age-toning with some spotting, mostly marginal.
Neatly illustrated, and a copy in nice condition with exceptional provenance. (37984)
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Baja, Florida, Spanish Southwest, & Northern Mexico
Perez de Ribas, Andres. Historia de los triumphos de nuestra santa fee entre gentes las mas barbaras, y fieras del nuevo Orbe, conseguidos por los soldados de la Milicia de la Compañia de Iesus en las missiones e la prouincia de Nueua-España ... Madrid: Por Alo[n]so de Paredes, 1645. Folio. [20] ff., 763, [1] pp.
$37,500.00
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A great rarity of the Spanish Southwest, and still the dominant history of the region and of Jesuit activities there for the period from 1590 to 1644, the Historia provides an
unparalleled description of the upper part of Mexico and what is now the southwest region of the United States in the first half of the 17th century.
Andres Perez de Ribas (1576–1655) joined the Jesuit order in 1602 and arrived in Mexico in 1604 to proselytize among the native Indians. He was assigned to the area of northern Sinaloa, along the Pacific coast, and showed great ability from the start. Within a year he had baptized all the members of the Ahome nation and a large part of the Suaqui tribe, together about 10,000 natives. In 1617 he was instrumental in the pacification and conversion of the Yaqui tribe. Perez de Ribas was recalled to Mexico City in 1620 to work in the college there, eventually becoming a provincial of the school. He returned to Rome in 1643, undertaking the present history (which he completed in 1644) and other histories still found only in manuscript.
The work is divided into twelve parts, cumulatively giving a history of Jesuit activities in Mexico and the American Southwest, as well as providing a social and cultural examination of Indian customs, manners, rites, and superstitions. The first part of the book gives a history of Sinaloa and its people before the arrival of the Spanish. Parts two to eleven describe the arrival of the Spanish and the Jesuits in upper Mexico and their activities among the several tribes, including the conversion of the Hiaqui tribe, and the missions at Topia, San Andres, Parras, and Laguna Grande, as well as the conversion of the Tepeguanes and their subsequent rebellion. The final part discusses missionary activities in other parts of New Spain, including
an account of the martyrdom of nine Jesuit missionaries in Florida in 1566.
There is also some information on Baja California.
“Obra de extremo interes acerca de las actividades de los jesuitas en Sinaloa, California y Florida” (Palau). Of Perez de Ribas' Historia Bancroft writes: “It is a complete history of Jesuit work in Nueva Vizcaya, practically the only history the country had from 1590 to 1644, written not only by a contemporary author but by a prominent actor in the events narrated, who had access to all the voluminous correspondence of his order, comparatively few of which documents have been preserved. In short, Ribas wrote under the most favourable circumstances and made good use of his opportunities.”
Provenance: On the upper edges of the volume is the colonial-era marca de fuego of the Seminario Conciliar de México.
Perez de Ribas' work is exceedingly rare on the market. In forty years of bookselling, this is only the second copy we have handled.
Very important and desirable.
Wagner, Spanish Southwest, 43; Alden & Landis 645/96; Sabin 60895, 70789; DeBacker-Sommervogel, VI, 525; Servies 176. JCB (3), II, 333. Medina, BHA, 1083; Palau 222254; Streit 1745; Barrett 1984; Bell P169; Howgego R35; Brunet, IV, 21590; Graesse, VI, 106; Leclerc, Bibl. Amer. (1867), 1305; Huth, Catalog, IV, 1243; Heredia 6836; Salva 3376. Contemporary vellum, manuscript spine title, marca del fuego; hinges (inside)cracking, light soiling. Very small ink stamp on title-page. Light foxing and tanning to text; some very slight worming, confined primarily to margins in rear of text block. A few ink
notations and stains.
A very good copy in a cloth clamshell case, leather label. (34581)
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“In the Dew of Time”
Perishable
Press. Broadside, begins:
“Warning! Oh yes you can too do it & whoumzoevber sed not is full
of snot ... ” [Mt. Horeb, WI: Perishable Press], 1980. 8vo (27
x 19 cm.; 10.5" x 7.25"). 1 p.
$125.00
Click the image for an enlargement.
A type specimen thank-you to Paul Duensing for teaching “an old dog a new trick. At least P[aul] H D[uensing] managed to taught [sic] W[alter] S H[amady] to cast type in the barn! Here is the first attempt at solo experiment & this is Ashely-Crawford 24 point. MFG. Spring 1980.”
Fine copy.
(30791)
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The New French Classicism — Le nouveau classicisme français
Perrault, Claude. Ordonnance des cinq especes de colonnes selon la methode des anciens. Paris: Jean Baptiste Coignard, 1683. Folio (37.3 cm, 14.75"). [8], xxvii, [1], 124 pp.; 6 plts.
$2850.00
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First edition of this influential treatise on the five orders of classical architecture, written by the physician and scientist generally credited with the design of the eastern façade of the Louvre. Perrault's theory of proportion introduced a lasting debate over ideas of positive and arbitrary beauty.
In addition to the
six leaves of plates done by Pierre Le Pautre, Louis de Chastillon, and Sebastien Le Clerc, the work is illustrated with several in-text uses of a woodcut diagram comparing the five types, as well as a title-page vignette of the arms of Louis XIV and a distinctively rendered headpiece (signed by Chastillon) of the Colbert serpent coat of arms supported by a dog and a unicorn.And yes, Claude was related to (brother, in fact, of) Charles Perrault, the fabulist and reteller of the Cinderella story and other tales.
Brunet, IV, 507; Graesse, V, 207; Cicognara, I, 607. Contemporary speckled calf, spine with gilt-stamped title and compartment decorations, board edges with gilt roll; joints and extremities carefully and unobtrusively repaired and refurbished, edge gilt rubbed. Pages slightly age-toned, with scattered spots; last few leaves with margins a bit darkened. Small area of pinhole worming to outer margins, not touching text (three plates each with tiny portion of one line touched); some instances nicely refurbished with long-fiber tissue.
A clean, wide-margined, attractive copy of an attractive book. (33221)
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Erudite Edition Stealth Deluxe Binding
Petit de Julleville, Louis, trans. La chanson de Roland: Traduction nouvelle rhythmée et assonancée avec une introduction et des notes. Paris: Alphonse Lemerre (pr. by A. Quantin), 1878. 8vo (20.7 cm, 8.18"). [4], 460, [4] pp.
$350.00
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First edition of this modern French verse rendition of the classic epic, done by medievalist Louis Petit de Julleville (1841–1900), known for his studies of the history of French language and literature. The text is printed on facing pages with the original Old French on the left and the translation on the right.
The forematter includes a history of the text, a bibliography, a study of medieval customs and the characteristics of the protagonists and antagonists, and an introduction to the versification.
Binding: Contemporary dark brown morocco, covers framed and panelled in gilt fillets with gilt-tooled corner fleurons, spine gilt-lettered and with gilt-beaded raised bands and compartments stamped similarly to covers using same tools; board edges with gilt fillet, free endpapers in maroon silk.
Doublures of brown morocco matching covers and stamped more ornately, in foliate and floral designs. Top edges gilt, page edges otherwise untrimmed; silk place marker. Front pastedown (doublure) signed, gilt-stamped, “The Harcourt Bindery.”
Provenance: From the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.
Bound as above, spine gently and evenly sunned to olive and spine edge of front cover slightly so, extremities lightly rubbed. Some gatherings in introduction and in notes unopened. Minor foxing throughout, pages otherwise clean.
A great example of the binders' style/philosophy rewarding those who care actually to open their subtly-finely bound volumes; “but look, here's more!” (37751)
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Pleasing Provenance & Woodcut Illustrations
Petrarca, Francesco [i.e., Petrarch]; Giovanni Andrea Gesualdo, commentator. Il Petrarcha con la spositione di M. Giovanni Andrea Gesualdo. [colophon: In Venetia: per Domenico Giglio, 1553]. 4to (21 cm, 8.25"). 2 vols. in 1. [94], 346 pp.; illus.
$1650.00
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Illustrated collection of Petrarch's Sonetti et canzoni and I Trionfi, here with a biography of the author and the extensive commentary of humanist Giovanni Andrea Gesualdo. The Renaissance page management by which a short section of text may be printed as near-surrounded by a sea of commentary is on full show here, with text and commentary presented in different sizes of italic type with plenty of historiated woodcut initials in varying sizes throughout. This edition is one of two printed in 1553, the text's first year of publication, the other having come from G. Giolito also of Venice. Fowler notes that this edition does not incorporate Gesualdo's dedication, the index to the commentary, or the giunta, but it does contain a letter to Bernardo Priuli from Giglio; in our copy I Trionfi has been bound before the rest of the text, contrary to the directions of the register.
The work begins with a Grecian-style woodcut title-page featuring medallion portraits of Petrarch and Laura originally used in the Nicolini-Daniello edition of 1549; the cut is repeated to create a sectional title-page for I Trionfi. Also present are the
six detailed, half-page woodcut illustrations of I Trionfi and Giglio's printer's device at the colophon.Provenance: With a partially removed armorial bookplate of the Bibliotheque de Rosny (the library of
Duchess Marie-Caroline de Bourbon-Sicile — King Henry the Fifth's mother) on front pastedown and two bookseller descriptions of the item in hand on binder's blanks; most recently in the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.
Adams P820; Brunet, IV, 552; EDIT16 CNCE 25824; Fowler, Petrarch, Pet N 553; Fiske p. 103. French 17th-century speckled calf, spine compartments lettered and elaborately stamped in gilt with gilt rolls along bands, covers framed in triple fillets with French curl marbled endpapers, all edges speckled red and brown, green ribbon placemarker; well-rubbed with some loss of leather, joints (outside) starting but covers firmly attached, tailband loose. Light age-toning with chiefly faint marginal waterstaining throughout, a few other small spots or stains. Some leaves with uneven edges or faint holes from paper manufacture; three leaves closely trimmed, including the title-page, and two corners cut away. Bookplates and labels as above, a few small pencilled notes and one in ink on free endpapers.
DESIRABLE. (39337)
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Petronius Arbiter. Satyricon quae supersunt cum integris doctorum virorum commentariis; & notis Nicolai Heinsii & Guilielmi Goesii.... Amstelaedami: Iansonio-Waesbergios, 1743. 4to (26.3 cm, 10.4"). 2 vols. I: Frontis., [37] ff., 886, [2] pp.; illus. II: [4] ff., 408 pp., [66 (index)] ff.
$600.00
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One of the most famous satires of all time, here in the expanded revision of Pieter Burman’s edition, with the much-debated corrections by Johann Jacob Reiske — with which the editor’s son, Caspar Burman, was most displeased. Brunet calls the 1743 edition “beaucoup plus complète que la précédente [of 1709], et celle qu'on recherche le plus;” Dibdin confirms that this second edition is preferred by collectors and “the
curious” over the first. The neoclassical frontispiece was engraved by J.C. Philips.
Brunet, IV, 575; Dibdin, II, 276–77; Schweiger, II, 725. 19th-century quarter sheep in imitation of morocco, with marbled paper–covered
sides, spines with gilt-stamped titles; spines, edges, and extremities rubbed, vol. I with spot of discoloration to spine. Main title-page with shadows of pencilled numerals. Pages clean. (16816)

One of the Most Famous Satires of
ALLTIME
Petronius Arbiter, Gaius. The works of Petronius Arbiter, translated by several hands. With a key by a person of honour, and also his life and character. London: Pr. for Sam. Briscoe (colophon: Pr. for George Strahan), 1713. 8vo (19.6 cm, 7.75"). [16], x, [6], 111, [3], 111–360, [8] pp.; 11 plts. (lacking add. engr. t.-p.).
$450.00
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Petronius Arbiter (†A.D. 65) was a consul and court official under Nero. Noted for his sybaritic life-style, he committed suicide after being falsely implicated in a plot against the Emperor. His Satyricon, which exists only in fragments (books 14–16) and describes the amoral adventures of two youths in the Greek cities of southern Italy, incorporates a series of amorous adventures and misfortunes that make it a classic of erotic literature, but it is also a humorous critique of the immorality, vulgarity, and corruption of Roman society by one who knew that side of things all too well.
The present example is the fourth edition of this English translation done by Thomas Brown and others, with much matter added to the Satyricon: a life of Petronius Arbiter by Charles de Saint-Évremond, English translations of a number of poems by additional Roman poets (mostly rather earthy, vigorous works), a piece by William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Devonshire, inspired by the Archbishop of Cambray's Telemachus, and a verse-form essay on poetry by John Sheffield, 1st Duke of Buckingham. The volume is illustrated with
11 copper-engraved plates by various hands, which accompany non-erotic portions of the text and depict a wedding, the siege of Troy, a shipwreck, the Ephesian matron removing her husband's corpse, the death of the holy goose, etc.
Binding: Contemporary mottled calf panelled with plain calf, framed in blind with blind-tooled corner fleurons, spine with gilt-stamped red morocco title-label.
Provenance: Front pastedown with bookplate of John Thomas Ambrose (1798–1881), a philanthropist and solicitor in Mistley and Manningtree.
ESTC T17788; Lowndes 1843; Schweiger, II, 727. Binding as above, rubbed and spine leather cracked; joints strengthened, portion of headband replaced, extremities subtly refurbished with toned long-fiber tissue. Bookplate as above. Varying degrees of age-toning, with a few signatures (only) browned or foxed and some leaves showing sometime exposure to water with no plates affected; additional engraved title-page lacking and index pages bound in incorrectly, interspersed with two poems towards the back of the volume! (29672)
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