It is a study of the Society of Jesus and its expulsion from Spain and France and the consequences thereof, and it was presented to Joseph of Portugal so that he might anticipate similar consequences following his order of expulsion.

•  DeBacker-Sommervogel, XI, 1205.   Contemporary vellum over paste boards. Blackened area on spine; bookplate. A clean copy. (20462)

•  Wright, II, 2174; Sabin 78641.   Publisher's brown cloth, covers blind-stamped with star-shaped design, spine with gilt-stamped title and blind-stamped decoration; binding cocked and rubbed, spine extremities chipped. Ex–social club library: 19th-century bookplate and call number on pastedown and fly-leaf, front free endpaper lacking, title-page pressure-stamped. No other markings. Pages faintly age-toned, otherwise clean.  (26565)

A Roman edition also appeared in 1694, the year of the work’s first appearance; the present edition is more uncommon: We trace only one U.S. library copy of it.

•  DeBacker-Sommervogel, VII, 1079. Boards covered in music-printed paper from an 18th-century antiphonal, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label. Title-page and one other stamped by a now-defunct institution. Light spotting throughout, more pronounced to first and last few leaves; some corners dog-eared.  (15453)

•  ESTC R18009; Wing (rev. ed.) S2579; Clancy, English Catholic Books 1641-1700, 891.   Contemporary Oxford-style calf binding, recently and expertly rebacked; new endpapers. Occasional worming in margins. A damp-mottled and embrowned copy, still solid and complete.  (39576)

This is the sole edition of this important Recusant work.

This is a volume that shows such controvery was definitely not “dry”; we have photographed the start of Sergeant's explanation/defense of his personal animus against his antagonist, and also the “Stationer's” description of the polemical feast to come, this worked out as a menu or “Bill of Fare ”!

Provenance:  On the recto of the second front fly-leaf is a presentation inscription: “For my honnord & best frind, Master John Bulteel.” The most likely John Bulteel is the one who was created M.A. at Oxford in 1661, and later served as secretary to Edward, Earl of Clarendon.

•  Wing S2589; ESTC R6168; Clancy, English Catholic Books, 1641–1700, 897. On Sergeant, see: The Dictionary of National Biography, LI, 251–53. On Bramhall, see: DNB, VI, 203–206. On Hammond, see: DNB, XXIV, 242–46. Contemporary mottled calf, with remnants of modest double gilt rules on covers; rubbed and joints open, front cover detached. Browning from turn-ins on fly-leaves, last leaves, and fore-edge of title-page, as well as moderately to a few signatures, with a little occasional light waterstaining; otherwise, the expectable degrees of age-toning and spotting only. (7067)

•  Palau 307020. Wrappers stencilled in green with manuscript title on paper label affixed to front wrapper; all edges speckled red. Wrappers with a few tears and a little tattering. Small wormhole in front fly-leaf. A few pencil marks. Inked number on verso of front fly-leaf.  (9044)

•  Publisher's three-quarters green cloth, front cover with color-printed floral bouquet design on white paper, front cover and spine with gilt-stamped title. Very slight traces of wear to lower front edge, otherwise a crisp, clean copy.  (34436)

Binding:  Brown (vol. I) and red (vol. II) morocco with beveled boards, five raised bands to spines and gilt lettering/devices in compartments; front covers with gilt tripled-rule borders, gilt lettering, blind-stamped corner decorations, and, within central oval frames defined by beaded gilt swags, compound recessed medallions each composed of a (faux?) tortoise shell oval surrounding and securing an inlaid silk panel embroidered with adifferently colored colorful wreath of flowers. Rear boards bear same borders and corner devices in blind, with a blind-stamped central quatrefoil medallion; all edges of both volumes gilt, with bookmarks of purple (vol. I) and green (vol. II) silk ribbon present. While the bindings are clearly intended as a pair, the differing colors of the leather, bookmarks, and flowers in the insets make this an interesting sort of set.

Evidence of Readership: On verso of front fly-leaf of vol. I, a previous owner's neat pencil notes on purchase history. Small, marginal pencil marks throughout the middle section of vol. I.

•  Bound as above, rubbed; vol. II lacking tortoise frame on front board, leaving board underneath exposed and embroidery slightly soiled (although, usefully, this shows some of the area's underlying construction). Minor foxing throughout, with more severe foxing to title-page and frontispiece of vol. I; bookmarks with fading and loss at ends. Charmingly bound set; blemished, still pleasant and sturdy.  (37361)

This isnumbered copy 974 of 1012 printed (1000 on paper, 12 on vellum), this copy being on Riccardi handmade paper.

•  Publisher's light blue paper–covered boards with blue-grey cloth shelfback, front cover and spine with gilt-stamped title; top edge gilt, other edges untrimmed. Binding mildly sunned overall especially to spine and outer board edges, the latter also a bit dust-soiled; spine cloth worn at extremities and endpapers with offsetting, front endpapers smudged. Internally clean and crisp. An elegant production.  (36891)

Sent from Shaw's home in Ayot St. Lawrence and postmarked in Hertfordshire, both cards areinscribed in Shaw's distinctive hand and signed with his initials.

•  Cards crisp and clean, one with pair of staple holes.Delightful and characteristic Shavian ephemera.  (37045)

George Him both illustrated and designed the book, and also signed the colophon. The book is heavily illustrated with a considerable number of black-and-white line-and-wash drawings and 14 full-page color illustrations which were hand-colored by the pochoir process at the studio of Walter Fischer. These drawings are both beautiful and witty. In one color plate, for example, we see a line of picketing Egyptian soldiers carrying placards reading, “Egypt for the Egyptians,” and “Caesar Go Home,” the latter appearing in “Egyptian Hieroglyphs”; in another plate, we are treated to a breathtaking scene of the library at Alexandria being consumed by fire; in yet another drawing, we see an amusing little rendering of Belzanor's description of a seven-armed wife-eating Roman soldier! Him chose a monotype Plantin font for the text which was printed in Bloomfield, Connecticut, at the Sign of the Stone Book.

This is numbered copy 44 of 1500 printed, with the colophon signed by Him. The appropriate Club newsletter is laid in.

Binding:  Full bright red “vellum book-cloth” stamped on the front with a double-eagle (one American, one Roman) design in gold, and stamped on the spine in black and gold leaf with a design of a Roman legionary standard bearing the title and the author's initials. The endpapers are “nugget-gold” Tweedweave, and the top edge stained yellow.

•  Bibliography of the Fine Books Published by The Limited Editions Club, 381.   Binding as above, in the original slipcase covered in “nugget-gold” paper and stamped in black and gold; slipcase showing traces of scuffing to sides. Some finger smudges to front free endpaper. A fine copy, and a great treat for a Shaw-lover! (39030)

Numbered copy 1082 of 1500 printed, this issigned at the colophon by the illustrator. The appropriate LEC newsletter and prospectus are laid in.

•  Bibliography of the Fine Books Published by the Limited Editions Club, 443.   Binding as above, in original glassine wrapper and slipcase; wrapper with spine sunned and a few small edge chips, slipcase with one small nick at upper edge and label lightly rubbed, volume clean and fresh. A very nice copy.  (30712)

Additionally, both the Chinese and English texts are presented on a folded slip of paper, with additional commentary in Chinese characters only.

The ivory is mounted within a black frame affixed to a small square of gold paper, on red velvet, and contained in a beautiful, eminently displayable case covered in olive-green silk with a woven Asian-inspired knotwork pattern in bronze and blue, decorated with a Chinese-printed label on the front cover. The case closes with a fabric loop and white-painted wooden toggle.

•  Box as above, showing the faintest hint of rubbing to one corner, overall in excellent condition. Small compartment beneath presentation window seems to indicate a long slender item was at one point laid in, but it is difficult to say what that might have been.  (30544)

Attributed to Luke Shepherd by Halkett and Laing, this is a satirical poem, a dialogue in verse, on the Eucharist, and could even be seen as a short play. It is printed in gothic (black letter) type witha large woodcut of a procession of the Eucharist on the title-page.

None of the copies reported to WorldCat, COPAC, or NUC are described as printed on vellum. The copy that Alston found at the British Library is not findable via the BL OPAC.

Provenance:  Early 19th-century manuscript ownership on front fly-leaf: “Thomas Briggs Esq., Edgeware Road.” Most recently in the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.

•  Alston, Books Printed on Vellum in the Collections of the British Library, p. 35; Halkett & Laing (2nd ed.), III, p. 192; Halkett & Laing (3rd ed.), J21 (var.) l NSTC, I, S1667.   Original dun colored boards with beige linen shelfback; rebacked, and binding discolored. “25 copies Printed on chosen Parchment” written in ink in an early 19th-century hand in lower margin of the title-page. Foxing, heaviest on last three leaves; last page (a publisher's note and colophon) lightly inked and so a little faint. A nice find for the collector of printing on vellum, letterpress facsimiles, or reprints of rare 16th-century English tracts.  (34699)

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

•  Halkett & Laing (2nd ed.), III, p. 192; Halkett & Laing (3rd ed.), J21 (var.) l; NSTC, I, S1667.   Original dun-colored boards; discolored with abrading along board edges and joints (outside). Foxing to blank pages and lesserly to text; stock of the text pages tan. A classic 19th-century production.  (39519)

•  Publisher's half vellum with printed paper sides, spine with gilt-stamped title; dust jacket lacking as now seen with most copies, vellum dust-soiled with a little rubbing, paper slightly darkened and with two small chips., small chip to paper at bottom edge of front cover and one to lower outer corner of back cover. Internally clean and crisp. Enjoyable.  (34010)

•  ESTC R8272; Wing (rev. ed.) S3325.   Contemporary speckled calf, panelled with corner fleurons in blind, rebacked in similar calf, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label and blind-tooled compartment decorations; sides acid-pitted, edges rubbed. All edges speckled red. Lower margin of title-page and lower (closed) edges institutionally rubber-stamped, no other markings. First few leaves foxed with scattered light spots elsewhere, last few signatures browned; one leaf with two small portions lost from outer margin; one outer corner torn away; one leaf torn across between header and text without any of this affecting text. A solid, tight, and dignified-looking copy.  (35824)

In this densely composed gathering of “the Evidences of Christs [sic] Kingdom and Reign on Earth to come under or after the seventh Trumpet” (p. 24), Sherwin, who was ejected from the Church of England following the Act of Uniformity, offers an examination ofApocalyptic prophecy.

WorldCat locatesonly four U.S. institutional holdings under this title.

•  Halkett & Lang, III, 172. No record of this separate title in ESTC or Wing; 1674 Prodromos, Wing (rev. ed.) S3410.  Removed from a nonce volume; sewing strong. Pages evenly age-toned with scattered small spots of foxing. Scarce.  (37222)

Sherwood (1775–1851) was a prolific and much-beloved children's author, as well as an enthusiastic convert to evangelical Christianity. Despite the title here, this tale has nothing to do with slavery or abolition; rather, although the word Catholic never appears in the present text, the story begins with reference to “late events,” i.e. the Catholic Emancipation Act — and much is made in the story ofthe evils of allowing one's family to fall under the influence of false doctrine.

This moral tale is one of Sherwood's more uncommon works: a search of WorldCat found only five U.S. institutions reporting hard copies.

Provenance:  Student's prize copy: title-page verso with inked inscription reading “M.C. Blandford [/] The reward of attention to scholastic duties [/] Oct. 25th 1834.”

•  Opie A 1006. Not in Gumuchian, not in Osborne Collection.   Contemporary quarter red roan and marbled paper–covered sides, spine with gilt-stamped title; moderately rubbed overall, spine sunned with head chipped, front hinge (inside) tender. Front endpapers spotted, upper outer corner of front free endpaper and lower outer corner of back free endpaper torn away. Intermittent mild foxing; one leaf with short tear from lower edge, barely touching text without loss. A solid example of an unusual entry in Sherwood's oeuvre, with apropos provenance and in a contemporary binding.  (41144)

Owner's modification: The word “Pax” is neatly printed in black ink on the book's back cover, gently arced above the engraving; and “Roosevelt” has been similarly added to the back of the slipcase, with “Post Lux Tenebras” being artfully placed below the engraving.

•  Faxon 1303.   Binding as above, back inside cover with brown silk pull-tab intact, joints very skillfully refurbished with long fiber and then toned; extremities gently rubbed. Front free endpaper pencilled with old bookseller annotations. Pages and plates generally clean with very occasional light foxing; guard leaves with predictable offsetting. Case somewhat rubbed with extremities chipped at corners but completely sound and with the described embellishments. A lovely little gift book, with the original (and early for its kind) slipcase.  (36042)

Binding:  Publisher's light brown near-herringbone cloth, covers elegantly stamped in border-and-medallion style in blind, with spine quite interestingly embossed in blind in “compartments” and lettered in gilt.

•  Bound as above, spines sunned and upper corners bumped; tops of spines slightly discolored and each with slight tearing in same area. A few gatherings carelessly opened, in one case with upper outer corners torn across yet no actual loss. Ex–social club library, and each volume has: 19th-century bookplate, call number on endpaper, no other markings. A nice set.  (28758)

•  I: VD16 S6278; Graesse, VI, 398. II:: Pettegree & Walsby, French Books, 79713; not in Brunet.   Binding as above. Joints and spine cracked but firm, with edges a bit rubbed and spine with leather lost at head, foot, and band ends; front free endpaper torn at lower outer corner. Text ruled in red, with an appended, unrelated gathering B entitled Phocylidis poema admonitorium (from an unidentified 16th-century probably French edition) and two leaves of gathering F misbound; upper blank margin of title trimmed, edges a trifle dusty, the odd marginal spot. Engaging content, an engaging physical copy, and a very engaging provenance.  (40793)

This is this history’s first edition and was followed by 1579, 1593, and 1628 editions. It is printed with a woodcut printer’s device on the title-page showing the goddess Liberty with two books labelled “Bononia docet” (“Bologna teaches”) at her feet. The text is enclosed in double-ruled borders and simply ornamented with a few woodcut initials, one of which shows Juno being pulled in her chariot by peacocks.

•  Adams S1117; Soltész, Catalogus librorum sedecimo saeculo . . . in Bibliotheca Nationali Hungariae . . . S524. On Sigonius, see: Encyclopædia Britannica, 11th ed., XXV, 82; and Sandys, History of Classical Scholarship, II, 143–45. Full calf old style: Round spine with raised bands, accented in gilt beading; tan leather title label; fillets in blind extending onto covers from each band to terminate in trefoils with blind double fillets beyond. Pages lightly washed, clean, and crisp: a few instances of staining, not obscuring text; a few short notations in ink and occasional worming in the margins, neither affecting text; ink stain on p. 95 obscuring letters without loss of sense. Inked title on lower edge, old style. Three ink ownership stamps on title-page. EEe3–4, the last two leaves of the index, are lacking. (4561)

As is increasingly the case with Mexican imprints of the 17th century, it islittle found in the marketplace.

Provenance:  18th-century ownership signature on title-page and first leaf of preliminaries of the Conde del Fresno de la Fuente.

•  Medina, Mexico, 1328; Palau 312973; Asuncion Lavrin, “Cotidianidad y espiritualidad en la vida conventual novohispana: Siglo XVII,” in Memoria del Coloquio Internacional Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz y pensamiento novohispano (1995).   Late 19th-century Mexican quarter dark green morocco with mottled green paper sides; binding rubbed and abraded, front endpapers with an old paper label and remnants of one removed. Pencilling on front fly-leaf and title-page verso; top margins closely cropped occasionally costing top of letters of running heads and foliation. Worming, chiefly in margins but occasionally into the text, not costing words, sometimes repaired; first and last few leaves with old repairs to corners and margins and a bit of text restored in pen and ink. Withal, a good++ copy of important work that is not often on the market.  (34203)

Provenance:  Front pastedowns each with inked inscription: “George Sinclair, April 11th, 1805"; first two books of vol. I with early inked annotations in both Latin and English, no subsequent annotations. Later in the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear of each volume.

•  Brunet, V, 383; Dibdin, II, 407–08; ESTC T147242; Schweiger, II, 956.   Bound as above; minimal wear overall, vol. II with small scuff to back cover. Inscriptions and marginalia as above. Back pastedown and final 40 (approximately) leaves of vol. I with small area of pinhole worming to upper outer margins, not approaching text. A handsome set of this uncommon Heberianum.  (40254)

Provenance:  Signature on title-page of Howard Osgood, a prominent late 19th- and early 20th-century Hebrew scholar and noted collector.

•  Goldsmiths'-Kress 2558; Wing (2nd ed.) S3801B.   Contemporary speckled calf, spine gilt extra with gilt-stamped leather title-label, board edges stamped with gilt roll; corners and spine extremities worn, front joint cracked and back joint starting, sewing holding. Front pastedown with small French bookseller's ticket and early inked numeral. Title-page with small early inked owner's name and with institutional pressure stamp, reverse with pencilled numerals. Pages clean. (19511)

•  ESTC T77585. On Simpson, see: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online).   Period-style quarter speckled calf with marbled paper–covered sides, spine with gilt-stamped title and gilt-ruled raised bands. One leaf of advertising reported after the second title-page of some copies not present here (with no sign of loss or excision). First few leaves with upper outer corners worn; one tiny spot of pinhole worming to outer margins of first half of volume; a very few ink droplets and small spots of foxing, pages otherwise clean. An important mathematical treatise, now uncommon on the market, here in a simple but elegant, distinguished, and solid binding.  (39974)

•  Publisher's quarter orange cloth and dark green paper–covered sides, spine with title stamped in silver, in original dust jacket; jacket with spine extremities lightly worn, edges of back panel darkened, upper inner front corner and upper back corner each with short tear. One page with light smudge to lower outer margin. A nice copy of a signed Singer first edition.  (34092)

The volume was designed by Bruce Campbell and set in Centaur and Arrighi types, with the text printed by Hampshire Typothetae (under Harold McGrath's supervision) and the watercolors by the Princeton Polychrome Press; the binding was done by the Tapley-Rutter Company. This is numbered copy 1063 of 2000 printed, and it issigned at the colophon by author and artist. The monthly newsletter and prospectus are laid in.

This is one of six copies printed on blue paper of an edition of 250 copies.

Provenance:  Ca. 1930 bookplate of Henry Pennell Frank; most recently in the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.

•  Late 19th-century half black morocco and marbled paper–covered sides, spine lettered in gilt; blue endpapers; rubbed at corners and edges. A testament to 19th-century Shakespeare mania.  (40233)

This offering consists of the aforementioned two parts anda supplement with 26 extra tales taken from a newly discovered (in 1815) edition printed in 1567 by H. Wykes of theTales, and Quicke Answeres. Each section has a separate title-page and introduction explaining its Shakespearean connection and origin story, with canvassing also of the editor’s scholarly processes and his decisions to offer his tales with original orthography, in their full “licentiousness,” and with their original “moral reflections.” A short glossary of Elizabethan words is provided, and the second preface is signed in type “S.W.S.,” i.e., Samuel Weller Singer.

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

•  19th-century half black morocco and marbled paper–covered sides, spine lettered in gilt, with differently patterned marbled endpapers and black silk placemarker, top edge gilt; rubbed at corners and edges. Light age-toning with very occasional off-setting and a few spots, light pencilling referencing a 1925 Goodspeed’s price on title-page.A testament to 19th-century Shakespeare mania and a resonant, even cautionary tale for scholars of any ilk in any era.  (37850)

Provenance:  From the chapbook collection of Albert A. Howard, sans indicia.

•  Opie L 302; ESTC T174304; Cropper, Nottinghamshire Printed Chap-Books, 26.   Folded sheet, never cut or bound, as issued. Edges slightly tattered, minor staining to outermost pages. Unusual and interesting.   (41023)

•  Late 19th/early 20th–century half morocco with marbled paper–covered sides, spines with gilt-stamped author, title, and date; extremities and spine bands rubbed and refurbished. Upper edges stained red, with staining extending slightly into many upper margins; some pages trimmed closely. Light to moderate foxing and soiling.  (40654)

•  Bound as above, housed in a grey cloth–covered, felt-lined clamshell case with affixed printed paper illustration reproducing the engraved title-page; vellum very slightly sprung, case showing spots of minor discoloration and shelfwear. Very nice facsimile of this important work.  (32214)

Provenance:  No bookplates or inscriptions, but spine with initials “G.O.B.” tooled at base.

•  20th-century cordovan-color sheep, covers framed in single gilt fillet with gilt-stamped corner fleurons; spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label, gilt-ruled raised bands, and gilt-stamped fleurons in compartments; spine sunned/lightened with darker streaks and patches evident, one spine compartment with small scuff, joints with excellent repairs and corners likewise well refurbished. Text with only an occasional age-stain or instance of foxing; plates remarkably unblemished. Blue silk placemarker. Overall indeed aVERY NICE COPY.   (33233)

Provenance:  Round armorial bookplate of Baronet Heathcote of Hursley on front pastedown; bookplate of Thomas Vernon of Hanbury (1654–1721) dated 1703 attached to title-page verso. Later in the Howell Bible Collection, Pacific School of Religion (properly released), with library bookplate tucked in front cover.

Copies of any early edition of this text are scarce, andsearches of NUC, COPAC, and OCLC reveal only three known copies, this copy one of only two in North America, and now deacessioned. Two other reported copies in COPAC are false. The other North American copy is described in the library's catalogue record as “Imperfect: leaves B4-B5, C3 and V7 lacking; faded and stained in places, spine broken; covers detached.”

•  ESTC S4905; STC (rev. ed.) 22849.7. On Smith, see: DNB (online).   Contemporary calf, Cambridge–style binding with raised bands ruled in blind and gilt-lettered red leather spine label, covers double framed and panelled in blind, board edges rolled in gilt; rebacked, new endpapers, added engraved title-page and one leaf of text.lacking, covers rubbed with some loss of leather. Moderate age-toning with the very occasional spot;; two leaves with corners torn and loss of a letter or two but not sense, one with a small hole, another two repaired. Bookplates as described above, call numbers on title-page verso, rubber-stamp on title-page and one leaf of text. Imperfect, but worthwhile.  (36326)

Offered with the prospectus.

•  Fine, Janus Press 1975–80, 43–44.   Publisher's natural Zaan paper wrappers, front wrapper with mauve-stamped decorations; wrappers with a few tiny spots blending rather well into the paper's heavy texture. Pages crisp and clean. A nice copy.  (37268)

[drop-title] Comedia famosa. El doctor Carlino. [colophon: Barcelona: En la oficina de Pablo Nadal, 1798]. 4to (21.1 cm, 8.3"). 32 pp. “Num. 60" in the upper left corner of the first page.

[drop-title] Comedia famosa. Un bobo hace ciento. [colophon: Valencia: en la Imprenta de la Viuda de Joseph de Orga, 1763]. 32 pp. “N.60" in upper left corner of the first page and “Pag. I” in upper right.

[drop-title] Comedia famosa. Las Amazonas de escitia. [colophon: Valencia, en la Imprenta de la Viuda de Joseph de Orga, 1764]. 32 pp. “N.68" in upper left corner of the first page and “Pag. I” in upper right.

[drop-title] Comedia famosa. Amparar al enemigo. [colophon: Valencia, en la Imprenta de la Viuda de Joseph de Orga, 1765]. 32 pp. “N.85" in upper left corner of the first page and “Pag. I” in upper right.

[drop-title] Comedia famosa. El alcazar del secreto. [colophon: Valencia, en la Imprenta de la Viuda de Joseph de Orga, 1765]. 32 pp. “N.86" in upper left corner of first page, and “Pag. I” in upper right.

[drop-title] Comedia famosa. Erudice y Orfeo. [colophon: Valencia, en la Imprenta de la Viuda de Joseph de Orga, 1765]. 32 pp. “N. 89" in upper left corner of first page, and “Pag. I” in upper right.

[drop-title] Comedia. El amor al uso. [colophon: Madrid: en la Libreria de Quiroga, 1799]. 32 pp. “I” in upper right corner of first page.

[drop-title] Comedia famosa. El mayor triunfo de Julio César, y batalla de Farsalia. [colophon: Valencia, en la Imprenta de la Viuda de Joseph de Orga, 1770]. 36 pp. “N.162" in uppper left corner of first page and “Pag. I” in upper right.

The Spanish National Library attributes this title to Francisco de Alsedo Herrera, not Solis.

[drop-title] Comedia famosa. La gitanilla de Madrid. [colophon: Valencia, en la Imprenta de Joseph, y Thomàs de Orga, 1780]. 32 pp. “N.232" in upper left corner of first page and “Pag. I” in upper right.

Binding: Full dark caramel calf single-ruled in gilt around blind-ruled border, gilt board edges and blind-patterned turn-ins, spine gilt extra with two black spine labels lettered in gilt. Marbled endpapers and brown speckled edges, green ribbon place holder.

Provenance:  19th-century bookplate of Robert Henry Clive on rear pastedown.

•  On the comedias sueltas, see: Bergman & Szmuk, Comedias Sueltas; McKnight & Jones, Catalogue of Comedias Sueltas; Sullivan & Bershas, Comedias Sueltas.   Bound as above; extremities rubbed with loss to gilt on board edges, joints starting but volume strong, boards with a few stains and scratches. Sticker on front free endpaper. Gentle age-toning and occasional cases of foxing, most noticeable in El amor al uso, otherwiseclean and crisp.  (30950)

His “major poem was The Chace, published in 1735 and dedicated to Frederick, prince of Wales. In four books of blank verse he conveyed the excitement and dangers of the chase as well as its place in history” (ODNB).

This is the third edition, printed by William Bowyer for Hawkins, in an edition of 1500 copies, attesting to the poem'sgreat popularity. A fourth edition followed in the same year and it continued to be printed in the 18th century with an edition appearing as late as 1800, and yet others in the 19th century!

•  Foxon, English verse, 1701–1750, S564; ESTC T30392.   Modern boards covered in a brown stone-pattern marbled paper. Clean and not close-trimmed; very good.  (32765)

The Italian text is accompanied by citations and original documentation, which is in both Italian and, mostly, Latin; it is printed in roman and italic, with one large floriated woodcut initial and a decorative headpiece at the beginning of the first chapter. The final leaf contains the imprimatur and errata.

Searches of NUC Pre-1956 and WorldCat locate only two copies in U.S. libraries, one of which has been deaccessioned.

•  Contemporary vellum over boards with four laces visible on covers at spine extremities, gilt title in painted spine compartment, red marbled edges; binding somewhat soiled and bumped and a bit warped, with light worming not penetrating the leather. Title rubbed affecting a few letters; a light brown stain running along the gutter on two leaves and a crescent stain at the bottom of one other not affecting text; small tears at a couple of outer margins; and a handful of natural paper flaws, especially notable to two leaves that literally came up short in the press and therefore have “deckle” lower edges. Old pressure-stamps to title-leaf and a few others, a five-digit accession number stamped in two places, old library pencillings, indications of removed bookplates and card pocket; minor dampstaining, foxing, and age-toning throughout, most notable in the first and last two gatherings. Recital of faults and “library features” makes this sound much less appealing than it is.This is a sound, attractive, pleasing book.  (29568)