
NATURAL HISTORY
A-E F-R S-Z
[
]
Teaching Teachers & Mothers the Basics of
Pediatric Health
Faust, B.C.; J.H. Basse, trans. Catechism of health: For the use of schools and for domestic instruction. London: For C. Dilly, 1794. Tall 12mo (20 cm, 7.88’’). Frontis., [2], [viii], 190 pp., lacking B5 and last (blanks) as usual.
[SOLD]
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The first edition of the English translation of B.C. Faust’s famous Der Gesundheits-Katechismus, an early German manual for popular medicine and well-being. Faust conceived its composition in 1792–94, while working as personal physician to the Princess Juliane zu Schaumburg-Lippe; their conversations on these matters were indeed an important inspiration. The manual was translated into numerous languages and swiftly printed also in America, becoming a success there — perhaps due partly to a recommendation from Philadelphia physician (and signer of the Declaration of Independence) Benjamin Rush. The English translator J.H. Basse dedicated his work to the Duchess of Cumberland.
The Catechism was especially addressed to schoolmasters, showing them how to teach through his work “how Man from his infancy ought to live, in order to enjoy a perfect State of Health,” with the preface explaining how the text should be read in class and the subject explained. Then come sections on health and the duty (to God, among others) of preserving it, followed by questions and answers addressing very practical, everyday issues, such as how old clothes, especially woolen ones, when “infected by unwholesome perspiration, are very injurious to health”; whether children’s shoes should have heels; the importance of bathing regularly and having a balanced diet, etc. The second part discusses illnesses, good and bad popular remedies, when to call a physician and what information he will need in order to provide proper treatment, etc.
The illustrations include a woodcut frontispiece of a standing child and in-text woodcuts show the “order of the human teeth,” shoe lasts, and the Arcuccio, an instrument used by Italian mothers to protect their babies from “all injury and danger” when they take them to bed. Shoes and teeth (milk and lasting) in fact appear to be points of special interest, the volume offering interesting discussions of the measurement of shoes in relation to the feet along with tables concerning the periods for dental growth and shedding; not forgotten are notes on wine, weather including how to behave in a thunderstorm, and “the entire Extirpation of the Small-pox and measles.” (Faust's passages on
individual and community responsibility for the communication of communicable diseases may perhaps, just now, perhaps, be particularly interesting.)
Provenance: 20th-century bookplate of the Detroit collector and physician Dr. Otto Orren Fischer.
The work is surprisingly little held in this first edition in U.S. libraries.
ESTC T121431; Wellcome III, 12. Modern quarter calf over marbled boards, spine with raised bands, gilt devices in compartments, and gilt-lettered red morocco label. Untrimmed copy with rough edges often a little dusty/soiled and with widely varying degrees of mostly marginal waterstaining almost throughout; some signatures carelessly or ineptly opened.
A sound, usable, frankly fascinating little volume. (41343)

The Ill-Fated Scots Colony at
Darien
Foyer, Archibald, supposed author. A defence of the Scots settlement at Darien. With an answer to the Spanish memorial against it. And arguments to prove that it is the interest of England to join with the Scots, and protect it. To which is added, a description of the country, and a particular account of the Scots colony. No place [Edinburgh?]: No publisher/printer, 1699. Small 4to (20 cm; 8"). [2] ff., 60 pp.
$1250.00
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As the 1690s wound down the lords and and burghers of Scotland dreamed of an overseas empire such as Spain, England, Portugal, and the Dutch had, and to this end came into existence the Company of Scotland for Trading to Africa and the Indies. Chartered in 1695 and with a coffer of some £400,000, it established a colony (“Darien”) on the Caribbean coast of what is now Panama, a worse location being hard to conceive. Even today that site is virtually uninhabited.
Trouble plagued the enterprise from the arrival of the first Scots in 1698 and it fairly shortly collapsed for lack of supplies, malaria, other diseases, internal dissension, a nonexistent trading base, and the might of the Spanish military in the region. The wreck of the scheme led to an economic crisis at home which in turn helped enable the 1707 Act of Unification.
The vast bulk of this work attempts to convince the English to support the Scots' enterprise and cites political, religious, social, and economic reasons for doing so; clearly, the Scots knew that English naval might in particular would be essential for the success of the scheme. Beyond this, however, a section (pp. 42 to 51) addresses the natural history, native population, agricultural commodities, and indigenous industry of the region; and the work ends with an account of the Scots' settlement, the buildings erected there, and its intercourse with the indigenous people.
Authorship of this work is problematic: It is signed “Philo-Caledon” at the end of the dedication and three other names have have been proposed as possible authors in addition to Foyer's — George Ridpath, Andrew Fletcher, and John Hamilton (2nd Baron Belhaven). Added to the conundrum of authorship, the work was produced in four editions in the same year, each having different numbers of pages, each with a different signature scheme, none with a publisher, and this one without even a place of publication!
Wing (rev. ed.) F2047; Sabin 78211; Alden & Landis 699/9; ESTC R18505 ; and Halkett & Laing II:32. 20th-century half dark brown crushed morocco with brown linen sides. This copy has all the hallmarks of having once been through a British bookseller's “hospital”: all leaves are dust-soiled or age-toned; all leaves are uncut but some have been extended and others not, and some leaves with torn margins (but not all) have had lost paper restored; all such repairs and extensions are within the first six leaves, meaning these were probably supplied from another copy. Top of title-leaf trimmed with loss of “A” of the title; another leaf with a tear to the top margin with loss costing tops of several letters of words on one page, and two leaves with the running head guillotined by a binder; some stray stains.
An interesting copy for its probable if problematic history and condition. (34130)
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French N.T. with Marlorat Notes & an
ILLUSTRATED CALENDAR
(French Calendar). Calendrier Historial, & Lunaire. La Lune est nouuelle à l'endroit du Nombre d'or: & nous aluons 9. ceste annee 1566. Lyon: Pour Antoine Vincent, 1566. 8vo (12.1 cm; 4.75"). [16] ff.; illus. [bound with] Bible. N.T. French. [1564]. Geneva. [Le nouveau Testament, c'est à dire, la nouvelle Alliance de nostre Seigneur Jesus Christ. Reueu & corrigé de nouveau sur le Grec par l'aduis des Ministres de Geneve. Auec annotations reueuës et augmentées par M. Augustin Marlorat]. [Par Antoine Vincent, 1564; colophon: A Lyon: Par Symphorien Barbier]. 12mo. [30], 824, [24] pp. Lacks t.-p.
$3250.00
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Paired in this pocket-sized volume are an elegant 16th-century calendar and a French, Geneva N.T. The calendar — printed for use in 1566 — contains
twelve attractive and well-impressed one-third page size woodcuts depicting the various chores required in each month, such as shearing sheep in June or crushing grapes in September, and it ends with French fair dates generally as well as dates for fairs in Lyon, Frankfurt, and Anvers specifically.
The French N.T. contains revisions and numerous marginal notes from Marlorat (1506–62), a French reformer and popular preacher, and was published only two years after he was
martyred at Rouen in 1562 under charges of treason. While this N.T. lacks its title-page, its contents match those of Van Eys N.T. 118.
Binding: Late 19th- or early 20th-century tan calf, spine gilt extra with two gilt leather labels; covers framed in gilt and triple-ruled in blind, with marbled endpapers, gilt board edges and turn-ins. All edges gilt.
Searches of NUC, WorldCat, COPAC, and KVK find only one copy of the almanac and one of the New Testament, bound together. They are in the Württembergische Landesbibliothek. However Chambers lists five copies in addition to that one, including one at the National Library of Scotland that is not findable via COPAC.
Provenance: The Howell Bible Collection, Pacific School of Religion (properly released).
Van Eys, Bibles French, pt. II, 118; Chambers, French Bibles, 340; not in Darlow & Moule. Bound as above, rebacked, with gentle rubbing. Light general age-toning with this greater at edges, Bible title-page lacking; two early leaves darkened and one repaired, some leaves closely trimmed touching captions or with loss of a letter or two from marginal notes, two leaves with short tears and three each with a small spot. Ex-library as above: pencilling on endpapers, five-digit acquisition stamp and call number on title-page verso, booklabel at back.
A compact and dare it be said “darling” book. (36407)

CORNERSTONE for an
AMERICAN SPORTING LIBRARY
“Gentleman of Philadelphia County, A” [i.e., Jesse Y. Kester]. The American shooter's manual, comprising such plain and simple rules, as are necessary to introduce the inexperienced into a full knowledge of all that relates to the dog, and the correct use of a gun; also a description of the game of this country. Philadelphia: Carey, Lea & Carey, 1827. 12mo (18.5 cm; 7.125"). [2] ff., pp. [ix]–249, [1] p., [1 (errata)] f., [3 (ads)] ff.; frontis., 2 plts.
$1800.00
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The first American illustrated sporting book and the first American sporting book written by an American. Only one sporting book published in America preceded it: The Sportsman's Companion (NY,1783; later editions Burlington [NJ], 1791, and Philadelphia, 1793), “by a gentleman, who has made shooting his favorite amusement upwards of twenty-six years, in Great-Britain, Ireland, and North-America.”
Kester deals almost exclusively with game birds and waterfowl native to the Delaware Valley that surrounds Philadelphia: wild turkeys, partridge, snipe, quail, grouse, and ducks. With regard to rifles and guns he addresses cleaning, powder, wadding, etc. And when writing about dogs, in addition to notes on training and conditioning them, he offers recipes for common ailments and gun-shot wounds.
The plates are signed “F. Kearny,” an artist born in Perth Amboy, NJ, who studied drawing with Archibald and Alexander Robertson and engraving with Peter Maverick. From 1810 to his death in 1833 he practiced engraving in Philadelphia.
There are two states of gathering “U”: this copy has the typographical error “tibbon” with the stop-press correction to “ribbon” on p. 235.
The volume ends with advertisements for several sporting and fishing goods suppliers.
Shoemaker 27838; Howes K108; Henderson, American Sporting Books, 6; Phillips, Sporting Books, 21; Streeter Sale 4084; Bennett, Practical Guide, 60–61. On Stauffer, American Engravers, I, 148–49. Publisher's sprinkled sheep with simple rope roll in blind on board edges, some abrasion to leather; round spine with gilt double rules forming “spine compartments,” black leather title label. The usual light and scattered foxing noted in all copies, nothing more.
A very nice copy. (28553)
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“The Yaks are Strong & Hardy”
Gerard, Alexander. Account of Koonawur in the Himalaya,
etc. etc. etc. London: James Madden & Co., 1841. 8vo (23 cm, 9"). xiii, [3], 190, [2], [195]–308 (i.e.,
310), xxvi, [2 (adv.)] pp.; 1 fold. map.
$1750.00
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First edition: Description of the Kannaur (or Kunáwár) region of the Himalayas, taken from the late Capt. Gerard's papers and edited by George Lloyd. Charles William Wason, in the Monthly Review (1841 collected volume), opened his review of this work by saying “Captain Alexander Gerard, and his brother Dr. J.G. Gerard, have been deservedly ranked amongst the most enterprising scientific travellers to whom Great Britain has given birth,” and he went on to predict that this volume “will be regarded as a precious contribution to science, and to geographical knowledge.”
Gerard's observations cover botany, linguistics, culture, and commerce, as well as geography. The area of his travels is depicted by an oversized, folding map of his own design.
NSTC 2G5453; Howgego, II, G7. Contemporary brown cloth, spine with gilt-stamped title; rebacked and 95% of original spine reapplied, with the publisher's name at the foot of the spine chipped. Front pastedown and back of map each with institutional rubber-stamp (no other markings), front free endpaper with inked ownership inscription dated [18]49. Hinges (inside) reinforced. Last preface page with small inked annotation. Pages slightly age-toned; map with light offsetting and one short tear starting along fold, not touching image. (24291)

The Usefulness of
New SCIENCE & Its Instruments
Glanvill, Joseph. Plus ultra: Or, the progress and advancement of knowledge since the days of Aristotle. London: Pr. for James Collins, 1668. Sm. 8vo (17.8 cm, 7"). 36, 149, [5] pp. (1 final adv. f. lacking).
$1500.00
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First edition: “An account of some of the most remarkable late improvements of practical, useful learning: to encourage philosophical endeavours. Occasioned by a conference with one of the notional way.”
Glanvill defends the advances of science and the Royal Society's scientific method in this rather pugnacious response to controversy caused by an “enrag'd Antagonist” (the Puritan theologian Robert Crosse) who “reported [the author] an Enemy to the Scriptures” (p. 141) and charged him with atheism. Here, Glanvill describes recent progress in chemistry, anatomy, algebra, geometry, astronomy, geography, and natural history, along with advances in instruments such as the telescope, microscope, thermometer, and barometer.
ESTC R14223; Wing (rev. ed.) G820. Recent marbled paper–covered boards, spine with gilt-stamped leather label, lacking final advertisement leaf (only); imprimatur leaf mounted, small repairs to upper margins of title-page and first few leaves. Pages browned and cockled, two with a few letters partially obscured from apparent adhesion one to the other some time ago; text overall very readable. A few instances of annotations, mostly biographical, in an early inked hand.
Despite internal wear, now solid for use and attractive on shelf. (41357)
González Bustillo, Juan. Extracto, ô Relacion methodica, y puntual de los autos de reconocimiento, practicado en virtud de commission del señor presidente de la Real Audiencia de este reino de Guatemala. Pueblo de Mixco [Guatemala]: Impreso en la oficina de A. Sanchez Cubillas, 1774. Folio (29.5 cm; 11.675"). [2], 86 pp. (without final leaf with one erratum).
$10,750.00
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Following the ruin of Santiago de los Caballeros by the big earthquake of 1773, the capital of Guatemala was moved first to the little town of Mixco and then later to the location of the present site of Guatemala City. Offered here is the highly important report of the commission headed by Juan González Bustillo on that devastating July, 1773 earthquake: It occupies pp. 1–55 and is followed by "Prosigue la relacion, ô Extracto de todo lo que resulta èvacuado en la Junta general, y demas que se ha tenido presente hasta la conclusion del assunto de translacion, e informe, que debe hacerse à Su Magestad” on pp. 57–86.
The careful, lengthy, and contemporary reports present here detail the day’s events, give the sequence of the destruction of various buildings and areas of the city, recount salvage and evacuation efforts, etc. The writers (and the citizens) erroneously blamed the nearby volcanos for causing the tremors and quaking, but that was logical at the time. Seeking historical perspective, the commissioners make significant and informed comparisons with earlier earthquakes.
This document is one of the very few printed in the temporary capital of Mixco, a press having been salvaged from the ruins in the former capital. Thus, Mixco was the second city/town to have a press in Central America, and then, for only a short time—appoximately two years.
In addition to being important for its contents and in the realm of printing history, the González Bustillo report is uncommon: We trace only half a dozen copies in U.S. libraries.
Medina, Guatemala, 384; Palau 105113; Sabin 27811. Modern full calf, very plain style. Without the final leaf with one erratum on it. (13841)

Near-Miniature Botany for
American Children
[Grout, Jonathan]. About plants. Worcester [MA]: Jonathan Grout, Jr. (pr. by Henry J. Howland), [ca. 1840]. 24mo (10.5 cm, 4.13"). [3]–24, [2] pp.; illus.
[SOLD]
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Illustrated botanical toybook for children, opening with a so-called “insect plant” alleged to be part wasp and part vegetable(!). The other plants described are apple of Sodom (a type of milkweed), dragon's blood tree, nutmeg, clove, cinnamon, camphor, melon, pitcher plant, flax, and colombo [sic] — with
each of the eleven plants featuring its own wood-engraved vignette. The insect plant illustration is to be found on the back wrapper, while the title-page bears an additional vignette of an urn and foliage arrangement.
This is one of several variants printed by Grout, not all of which appear to have covered exactly the same plants. The set here differs from at least one other known issue of About Plants (described in WorldCat as comprising frankincense, camphor, cinnamon, cane, flax, fig tree, plantain, mandrake, lign aloe, and palm tree), although the present example does, as in the WorldCat description, have an alphabet following the title-page.
Provenance: From the children's book collection of American collector Albert A. Howard, sans indicia.
American Imprints 40-16. Not in Gumuchian, not in Opie, not in Osborne Collection. Sewn as issued, sewing loosening; front wrapper lacking, back wrapper with short tear from spine, corners rubbed. Pages age-toned and faintly foxed with a smudge or two only; free of markings or other signs of childish usage. (41159)

A Visit from an Unnamed BUT
Possibly Discoverable &
Probably Published WOMAN Writer
Hall, Capt. Basil. Autograph Letter Signed to “Madam.” Putney Heath: no year. 12mo (7.125" x 4"). 2 pp., with integral blank leaf.
$125.00
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Hall (1788–1844), a Scot, naval officer, and author of several accounts of voyages and travels including Account of a Voyage of Discovery to the West Coast of Corea and the Great Loo-Choo Island in the Japan Sea (1818), Extracts from a Journal Written on the Coasts of Chili, Peru, and Mexico in the years 1820, 1821, 1822 (1824), and Travels in North America in 1827–28, tells his correspondent that she is welcome to call on him on Sunday as she proposes, any time after 10:30 A.M. He gives detailed instructions on how to reach his house: It “is on the top of the Heath close to the Telegraph, which is a single Staff, a Semaphore.” He tells her he has finished making notes of her vol. II but has lent vol. I to another and does not yet have it returned to him.
As Hall writes that he will be easy to find because he is “about as well known here though I hope in a different spirit as in Yankee Land,” we date the letter to some time shortly enough after publication of Travels in North America for oblique reference to its angry reception there to be both natural and “fresh”; and, indeed, we wonder if his correspondent is American?
Provenance: Ex–Allyn K. Ford Collection, Minnesota Historical Society, recently deaccessioned.
Very good condition. Old folds, a few spots of pale tea-colored stains. Written in a pale ink that is yet quite legible. (33346)
Hayden's
Survey: Thomas
on
Grasshoppers
& Locusts
Hayden, Ferdinand Vandeveer, and Cyrus Thomas. Report
of the United States Geological Survey of the territories: Synopsis of the Acrididae of North America.
Washington: Government Printing Office, 1873. Folio (31.5 cm, 12.4"). x, 24, 262 pp.; 1 plt.
$375.00
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First edition: Vol. V of a five-volume series, this volume is dedicated to zoology and
botany. Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden, remembered today as one of the primary proponents of the
creation of Yellowstone National Park, was a surgeon and geologist who led the massive United States
Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories from 1867 through 1879, and edited the
resulting publications. The present portion of that enormous undertaking consists of “A Synopsis of
the Acrididae of North America,” written by pioneering American entomologist Cyrus Thomas.
Thomas's monograph describes earwigs, cockroaches, devils-horses, walking-sticks,
grasshoppers (this category including locusts), and crickets, and is illustrated
with a few in-text wood engravings in addition to the lithographed plate (done
by W.H. Holmes) showing 17 different U.S. insects.
This copy is uncut and unopened.
Schmeckebier, Catalogue & Index of the Publications
of the Hayden, King, Powell, & Wheeler Surveys, 21. Period-style quarter tan cloth
with light blue paper–covered boards, spine with printed paper label. Title-page institutionally rubber-stamped; title-page and half-title with outer margins repaired. Page edges untrimmed, signatures
unopened. Spots of staining to outer margins of a few leaves. In fact a nice copy.
(25282)
Hayden, Ferdinand Vandeveer. Report of the United States Geological Survey of the territories. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1878. 4to (30.4 cm,
11.9"). xv, [3], 366 pp.; 65 plts.
$175.00
First edition: Vol. VII of the final reports of Hayden’s massive survey, consisting of Leo Lesquereux’s report on the “Tertiary Flora” of the American west. This treatise is part II of “Contributions to the Fossil Flora of the Western Territories,” but complete in and of itself, and illustrated with 65 plates lithographed by T. Sinclair & Son.
Publisher’s cloth, covers framed in blind, spine with gilt-stamped title; front cover with discoloration to upper edge and small bump to outer edge, cloth rubbed along edges and joints, spine scuffed. Front pastedown institutionally rubber-stamped. Pages and plates clean, and the large volume quite solid. (19652)

The Medicinal Virtues of Plants
Illustrated
Hill, John. The family herbal, or an account of all those English plants, which are remarkable for their virtues, and of the drugs which are produced by vegetables of other countries; with their descriptions and their uses, as proved by experience. Bungay: J. & R. Childs, 1822. 8vo (21.2 cm, 8.4"). viii, xl, 376 pp.; 54 col. plts.
[SOLD]
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19th-century edition of Hill's popular herbal handbook for home medicinal use, originally published in 1755 and here illustrated with
54 delicately tinted hand-colored plates, most bearing three images each. The author was a prolific and energetic botanist known for his Vegetable System and other works.
Provenance: Front free endpaper with early inked inscription: “John Watts Book [/] Dunfermline”; front pastedown with inscriptions of both John Watt and Robert Watt, and back free endpaper with that of John.
Rohde, Old English Herbals, 222; Nissen 881 (for Bungay 1803 ed.); Henrey, British Botanical and Horticultural Literature, III, 829. Contemporary half calf and marbled paper–covered sides, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label and rules and blind-stamped devices in compartments; binding worn and scuffed, front joint cracked (sewing holding), spine leather with a number of small cracks. One plate with very short tear from upper margin, just barely extending into plate edge and not approaching image; small spots of foxing to some pages and plates, with two early plates showing somewhat more noticeable spotting.
A very browsable and readable copy, with lovely plates. (34849)

Children, Build Your Own Paradise in the Woods
Jauffret, Louis François. The little hermitage, a tale; illustrative of the arts of rural life. London: Pr. for Richard Phillips (by W. Heney), 1805. 12mo (13.5 cm, 5.3"). 72 pp.; 2 plts.
$200.00
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English translation of this delightful story focusing on both natural history and basic homesteading. Three farmer's children learn herein how to create their own little idyllic retreat, taught by a wandering beggar eventually revealed to be an educated man temporarily down on his luck. Joseph talks the brothers (their only sister does visit, but does not take part in the labor) through building a log cabin surrounded by a vegetable garden and willow palisade, enlivened by semi-tame birds and squirrels. Other instructions include well-digging and fruit-tree grafting, as well as discourses on the workings of gravity and sound waves, and an introduction to botanical classification — although none of the latter terms are used in the text.
This is an early printing, following the first of the previous year. The present copy is in wrappers bearing a slightly altered subtitle, “Illustrative of the Arts of Rural Life,” and a publication line crediting Tabart & Company's “Juvenile and School Library.” The text is illustrated with
two copper-engraved plates, one showing the first meeting with the “beggar” and his dog, and one the cabin-building in process. This edition is uncommon, with a search of WorldCat finding
only one U.S institution reporting ownership of this imprint.
Provenance: Title-page with inked gift inscription from Belinda Crooke to Mary Arnold Hearn, dated 1821. Most recently in the children's book collection of Albert A. Howard, sans indicia.
Gumuchian 3181 (describing this as the first ed.); Osborne Collection, 899–900 (for 1804 ed.). Publisher's printed paper wrappers; worn, faded, and stained, front wrapper with faint pencilled inscription, spine with early hand-inked title. Inscription as above. Waterstaining, age-toning, and mild foxing throughout; a copy that got itself wet, but otherwise clearly was used with care (and still was cared for after the wetting).
Scarce and fascinating. (41031)

BANYAN PRESS: Meditations on Impermanence
Kamo, Chomei; Donald Keene, trans. An account of my hut. Pawlet, VT: The Banyan Press, 1976. 8vo (26.5 cm, 10.4"). [30] pp.
$500.00
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One of the great classical Japanese essays: Kamo no Chōmei's Hōjōki, translated into English by Donald Keene and here in an elegantly minimalist fine press limited edition from Claude Fredericks of the Banyan Press.
Some describe the work as “the Walden Pond of medieval Japan.” This is the
first book-form edition of the translation, following its original appearance in Keene's Anthology of Japanese Literature; three hundred copies were set by hand in Garamond and printed on Masa paper by Fredericks and David Beeken.
Original hand-stitched wrappers resembling bamboo grain, with paper label on front wrapper, in paper overlay matching the endpapers; outer overlay with minor edge wear and with small annotation (possibly from publisher) on label. A lovely and uncommon production. (35979)

At Least It's
NOT Eye of Newt
Langham, William. The garden of health: containing the sundry rare and hidden vertues and properties of all kindes of simples and plants. Together with the manner how they are to bee used and applyed in medicine for the health of mans body, against divers diseases and infirmities most common amongst men. London: Printed by Thomas Harper, 1633. 4to in 8s (19 cm; 7.5"). [4] ff., 702 pp., [33] ff.
$3400.00
Click the images for enlargements.
Preparing for a trip from England to Virginia or Massachusetts in the 1630s or 40s, one would have been well advised to make sure someone in the party was bringing a copy of Langham's work. Once in America, one would have made good use of the herbal remedies for some of the more common ailments the newly arrived would have suffered, and one would have had greater access to the “exotic” American sarsaparilla and guaiacum that Langham discusses.
This precursor to the “Physician's Desk Reference” is a practical compendium of medicinal and other plants arranged alphabetically from “acacia” to “wormwood” with a strong emphasis on plants that “can be gotten without any cost or labour, the most of them being such as grow in most places and are common among us” (folio [2]).
Langham's organization is this: “He devoted a chapter to each plant, describing its parts and their uses, the different processes such as distillation that could be applied to it, and how the resulting products could be used for particular diseases. To every item of information he added a number and at the end of the chapter there is an index or table of conditions with the numbers that were in the main text. The reader can thus see at a glance that one herb could be used in a wide variety of conditions, and whether a specific illness could be helped by a particular drug” (Wear, pp. 82–83).
This is the second edition, “corrected and amended,” the first having appeared in 1597. We are sure the reading public, which was sufficient to support a second edition, would have been helped rather more if the work had had illustrations, but that would have increased the cost of the work dramatically and a
wide audience was sought. The text is printed chiefly in gothic type while the end of chapter “indices” are in roman. This herbal was not printed during a period of good English typography, so the pages are dense with little white space or appreciation for making the text on the page easy on the eye rather than wearying.
ESTC S108241; STC (rev. ed.) 15196; Alden & Landis 633/67; Huth Library 817. On Langham, see Andrew Wear, Knowledge & Practice in English Medicine, 1550–1680. Contemporary English calf, boards modestly ruled in blind at edges; rebacked in high quality goat. Age-toning or old soiling, especially at the edges of margins and with offsetting from binding to title-page; some light marginal waterstaining especially at end in index; some tears (one shown here) with last leaves' edges chopped and final two with edges strengthened.
Overall, an unsophisticated copy that has been spared being washed, pressed, and gussied up. (34545)
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The Secret Is in Their Eyes — Five Volumes as Here Bound — Hundreds of Engravings
Including the work of Fuseli & Blake
Lavater, John Caspar. Essays on physiognomy, designed to promote the knowledge and the love of mankind ... illustrated by more than eight hundred engravings accurately copied; and some duplicates added from originals. London: Printed for John Murray, No. 32, Fleet-Street; H. Hunter, D.D. Charles's-Square; and T. Holloway, No. 11, Bache's-Row, Hoxton, 1789–98. 4to in 2's (34.1 cm, 13.4"). 3 vols. in 5. I: [11] ff., iv, [10], 281 pp. (i.e., 285); 15 plates. II, part 1: xii, 238 pp.; 45 plates. II, part 2: [3] ff., pp. [239]–444; 47 plates. III, pt. 1: xii, 252 pp.; 25 plates. III, pt. 2: [3] ff., pp. 253-437 (i.e., 181 pp.), [9] pp.; 42 plates.
$2500.00
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First edition in English of
Lavater's study of character based on physical attributes. Originally published in German (Physiognomische Fragmente, 1775–78), these influential Essays were translated into English by Henry Hunter (1741–1802) from the subsequent French edition (La Haye, 1781-87), and published in 41 parts under the direction of Royal Academy artists Henry Fuseli (1741–1825) and Thomas Holloway (1748–1827), who both contributed illustrations. In fact, Lavater (1741–1801), a Swiss priest and poet, had no part in the new publication; Hunter arranged the endeavor with Holloway and publisher John Murray without the consent of the author, who learned of the project after it had gone to press, and objected, fearing a new edition would subtract from sales of the old.
These books contain
over 360 engraved illustrations in the text and 132 full-page engraved plates, many of which Holloway copied directly from the French edition; it's the multiple images on the full-page plates that produce the proud claim of “more than 800 engravings” on the title-page. They include
portraits of famous wrinkled writers, philosophers, musicians, monarchs, statesmen, and Lavater himself; silhouettes of Jesus and portraits of Mary; details of male, female, and animal attributes; and skulls, hairlines, eyes, noses, and mouths, among other features, engraved by Holloway, Fuseli, William Blake (1757–1827), James Neagle (1765–1822), Anker Smith (1759–1819), James Caldwall (1739–ca. 1819), Isaac Taylor (1730–1807), and William Sharp (1749–1824), inter alios, after works of art by Rubens, Van Dyke, Raphael, Fuseli, LeBrun, Daniel Chodowiecki (1726–1801). The commentary on these images makes this a work of
art history/criticism, as Lavater is both free and detailed in his notes of how various artists handle details of physiognomy and body language to express character and engender beauty.
The first systematic treatise on physiognomy was written by Aristotle. Publications on the subject continued steadily throughout the ages, although the developing study of anatomy in the 17th century detracted interest from what later came to be known as pseudoscience. Lavater's is the only notable treatise in the 18th century, and indeed, “. . . [his] name would be forgotten but for [this] work,” which was very popular in France, Germany, and England (EB).
Provenance: Bookplate of Nicholas Power on front pastedown of all five volumes (related to Richard Power, Esq., of Ireland, listed as a subscriber?); and bookplate of Gordon Abbott on front free endpaper of three volumes, engraved by J.W. Spenceley of Boston in 1905.
Wellcome, III, 458; Garrison-Morton 154; ESTC T139902; Lowndes II, p.1321 (“a sumptuous edition”); Osler, Bib. Osleriana, p. 283, no. 3178; Bentley Blake Books 481; Ryskamp, William Blake, Engraver, 22. On the parts, see: Arents Collection of Books in Parts, p. 74. Contemporary calf ruled and tooled in gilt and blind with gilt board edges and gilt turn-ins, rebacked old style; marbled edges, and blue silk marker in all volumes. Extremities rubbed and corners bumped with small loss to leather. At least one small marginal tear in each volume; offsetting from letterpress on a few leaves; very mild to quite moderate foxing (or none) on illustrations, offset onto surrounding leaves; and other occasional minor stains. Most plates protected by tissue.
A monument of labor, art, and excellent “system” devoted to an exploded but fascinating theory; in fact, a wonder. (30974)
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Linnaeus on Plants, in French — First Appearance
Linné, Carl von; Nicolas Jolyclerc, trans. Systême sexuel de végétaux, suivant les classes, les ordres, les genres et les espèces, avec les caractères et les différences. Paris: Chez Ronvaux, 1798. 8vo (20 cm, 7.87"). [6], 789, [1] pp.
[SOLD]
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First edition in French of Linnaeus's pioneering work of plant taxonomy, Systema vegetabilium. The translation of the text — which had in its original incarnation formed a part of the Systema natura before being revised and published separately — was done by Nicolas Jolyclerc, based on the “fifteenth edition” edited by Murray and Persoon. Jolyclerc (1746 –1817) was a clergyman who left the Church in favor of a career as a botanist and who gave lectures and published works by himself and others on the subject, becoming anecdotally famous for having offended a group of young female students (plus their mothers) by describing the reproductive organs of plants in class. The volume opens with the poem “Au Grand Linné,” written by Jolyclerc; while it closes with a notice describing a second volume (to include a table cross-referencing the systems of Tournefort and Jussieu with that of Linnaeus, among other items), no such follow-up appears to have been published.
Americana contents include
many New World plants such as yucca, New World sunflower (baltimora), potato (solanum), tomato (solanum lycopersicum), and cacao (theobroma)
Provenance: From the residue of the stock of the F. Thomas Heller bookselling firm (est. ca. 1928).
Johnston, Cleveland Herbal, Botanical, and Horticultural Collections, 642. Contemporary mottled calf, covers framed in single blind rule, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label and elaborate gilt-tooled foliate compartment decorations between raised bands; rubbed and scuffed with spine head chipped and otherwise spine least affected, front joint and spine with snall areas of worming. First and last pages with offsetting to margins; otherwise scattered spots of foxing only and the volume otherwise clean.
A solid, in fact attractive copy. (40660)

United Brethren Missions to
“The Indians in North America”
Loskiel, George Henry. History of the mission of the United Brethren among the Indians in North America. In three parts.... Translated from the German by Christian Ignatius la Trobe. London: Pr. for the Brethren's Society for the Furtherance of the Gospel by John Stockdale, 1794. 8vo (21.3 cm, 8.4"). xii, 159, [1 (blank)], 234, [2 (blank)], 233, [1 (blank)], [22 (index and advertisement)] pp. (lacking map).
[SOLD]
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First English translation of Loskiel's highly informative account of missionary activities among Native American tribes “to the west of New England, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, North and South Carolina, and Georgia” (p. 2), dating between 1735 and 1787. Before recounting the mission's history, the author describes the customs, languages, and beliefs of various tribes, along with the flora and fauna prevalent in their territories. A great deal of Loskiel's information is taken from the accounts of Bishop Augustus Gottlieb Spangenberg and David Zeisberger, the latter having served for over 40 years as a missionary in North America. Howes notes that the English edition “omits naming some former antagonists who had later become friendly.”
Provenance: Front pastedown with early inked ownership inscription of James Beatty; two additional similar inscriptions dated 1825 and 1826. First preface page with genealogical annotations regarding the Beatty family, including remarks on the Staten Island Moravian Church's acquisition of John Beatty's land, and a note that the James Beatty who owned this volume was the son of that donor; all three generations of Beattys were strong supporters of the Moravian Church.
Howes L474; Field 952; Sabin 42110; ESTC T88588. Contemporary mottled sheep, shellacked, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label and gilt-stamped compartment decorations; front cover with small abrasions, joints and extremities rubbed, spine with leather cracked (at one point deeply) and and chipped at head, joints starting from head and foot but binding still holding nicely. Map lacking. inner page portions with irregular semicircular of browning, sometimes deep into pages, sometimes quite shallow; old waterstaining across lower outer corners at beginning and end of volume only. Occasional other stains; occasional pencilled underlining. (29265)

Stout Manual from
One of Homeopathy's Major Promoters
Lutze, Ernst Arthur. Lehrbuch der Homöopathie von Arthur Lutze. Cöthen: Verlag der Lutze'schen Klinik, 1867. 8vo (18.5 cm, 7.25"). [8], xcvi, 918, [2] pp.
$175.00
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The controversial Lutze (1813–70), a disciple of famed homeopath Samuel Hahnemann, was a charismatic Prussian physician who practiced for many years as a mesmerist and homeopathic doctor, founding a large and lavishly appointed hospital in Köthen, Germany. This volume is his encyclopedic guide to symptoms and their appropriate prescriptions.
Needless to say there is an interesting herbal section. This is an early edition (stated sixth), following the first of 1855.
Provenance: Front pastedown with label of H.C.G. Luyties' Homeopathic Pharmacy of St. Louis, MO. It was a long-standing practice of pharmacies/herbalists (whether “homeopathic” or other) to also sell books.
Publisher's half roan and marbled paper–covered sides, spine with gilt-stamped title and arabesque decorations; mildly to moderately scuffed overall, spine sunned and with small tear in upper part of leather. Paper browned and slightly embrittled; one preliminary leaf with a tear from outer margin extending into text without loss. Front joint (outside cracked in top portion, hinge (inside) cracked and
with an old repair, board holding nicely. Good condition with faults noted. (35823)
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First Series: An American Botanical Celebration with
96 Color Plates
Meehan, Thomas. The native flowers and ferns of the United States in their botanical, horticultural, and popular aspects. Boston: L. Prang & Co., 1878–79. Large 4to (26.5 cm, 10.43"). 2 vols. I: ix, [1], 192 pp.; 48 col. plts. II: v, [1], 200 pp.; 48 col. plts.
$800.00
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First edition: “The most beautiful, interesting, and important from among the vast number of plants which grow in the different parts of our country” (vol. I, p. iv). Meehan (1826–1901) was an eminent British-born botanist, gardener, and nurseryman who settled in Germantown, PA, and helped preserve Bartram's Garden — and who assessed many of the plants in these volumes from a Pennsylvania/New Jersey point of view, as well as in terms highly accessible to laypeople. All 96 plants here are
illustrated with chromolithographed plates done from the work of Alois Lunzer, “who painted from life all the plants treated” (ibid.). A second series, not present here, followed later.
Binding: Publisher's half roan with pebbled cloth–covered sides, leather edges with gilt flilet, front covers with decorative gilt-stamped title and floral vignette; spines with gilt-stamped title and author and blind-stamped fleurs de lis decorations in compartments. Moiré silk endpapers; all edges gilt.
Provenance: From the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabels (“AHA”) at rear.
Bennett, American Nineteenth Century Color Plate Books, p. 75; Nissen, Botanische Buchillustration, 1331. Bound as above, moderate rubbing overall with small scuffs, sunning to cloth at edges, front joint of vol. I partially refurbished some time ago. Pages and plates age-toned with offsetting from plates and intermittent foxing; one leaf with short tear into lower inner margin, not touching text.
Laid in is a small scrap of paper bearing an appealingly homemade rendition of a pink flower, in what looks like watercolor.
A strong, clean, and attractive set of a significant American and Philadelphia-associated botanical work, beautifully illustrated. (41168)

All About Bath — With Maps — Including Its
Plants, Birds, & Insects
Morris, J[oseph] W[illiam], ed. Handbook to Bath prepared on the occasion of the visit of the British Association, 1888. Bath: Isaac Pitman Sons, [1888]. 8vo (18.3 cm, 7.2"). vi, [3], 264, [4] pp.; 2 fold. maps (1 col.).
[SOLD]
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Sole edition: “Presenting concisely and readily . . . the continuous history of an ancient borough rich in monumental evidence of varying fortune in changing times, and illustrating in that history the revolutions of race, the changes of manners, the progress of society, in no ordinary degree” (p. iii). The work
opens with a tipped-in, black and white folding map of the country around Bath, and closes with a larger, color-printed geological map done by Horace B. Woodward (the latter map contained in a pocket on the back pastedown). One chapter covers the botanical attractions of the area, including a selection of interesting local plants (using scientific terminology and giving brief notes on the locations where they were observed), while another lists the rarer birds and insects to be found.
The “British Association” that visited Bath in 1888 was the British Association for the Advancement of Science.
Few U.S. institutions report holding physical copies of this work: WorldCat finds only eight American locations.
Publisher's pebbled blue cloth–covered limp boards, front cover with gilt-stamped title; spine cloth slightly darkened and bubbled, extremities rubbed. Pages and color map slightly age-toned, minor offsetting to upper and inner margins of first few leaves (around tipped-in map), overall internally clean.
A nice copy of an interesting work. (40375)

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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Pomet's Own Edition of
His Guide to Drugs
Pomet, Pierre. Le marchand sincere ou traite general des drogues simples et composes. Paris: Chez l'Auteur, 1695. Folio (40 cm, 15.75"). Frontis., [12], 304 (i.e., 332), 108, 116, [38], 16 pp.; 5 of 6 plts., illus.
$4500.00
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Second and
for the first time self-published edition of this groundbreaking, best-selling guide to botanically derived medicines, written by the chief pharmacist to Louis XIV. Highly influential in its time, Pomet's materia medica covers botanical, zoological, and mineral sources and is illustrated in this edition with
almost 200 copper-engraved, in-text images including many of the plants described along with subjects such as coral, ostriches, and fish, not to mention exotica like
mummies, unicorns, and some extremely implausibly depicted rhinoceroses and whales. Also present are images of harvesting and processing sugar cane, indigo, and tobacco (all depicting black workers). In addition, the final addendum, “Remarques tres-curieuses sur plusieurs vegetaux, animaux, mineraux, & autres, que j'ai oublié d'inserer dans la premiere impression, ou que j'ai découvert du depuis,” supplies information on mercury, cinnabar, antimony, etc., along with five tipped-in plates showing mechoacan, Virginia snakeroot, indigo, drakena, and an assortment of bezoars. The
Americana content is noteworthy, with discussion of cacao, chocolate, tobacco, jalap, and so on. Tea and coffee are present as well.
This second edition was retitled by Pomet from the original Histoire générale des drogues, and is both less widely held and less frequently described in bibliographies (WorldCat and NUC Pre-1956 locate only seven U.S. institutional holdings). It opens with a frontispiece portrait of the author, done by A. le Clerc the Younger, facing a title-page vignette by I. Crespy; sections open with decorative headpieces and capitals and many close with tailpieces.
Alden & Landis 695/147; Hunersdorff & Hasenkamp, Coffee, 1177–1179; Wellcome Catalogue, IV, 411 (for first ed.); Krivatsy 9137. Contemporary mottled calf, spine gilt extra and with gilt-stamped leather title-label; binding rubbed and scuffed with leather pitted, front joint cracked but holding, spine refurbished with untooled leather replacing that lost in bottom compartment. First few leaves with edges darkened and slightly ragged; dedication and first leaf of preface with inkstains in upper margins; early portion with light waterstaining in upper margins. Several leaves with tears from margins, some extending into text without loss; a few leaves with small rectangular portion of lower inner margins cut away and two with corners torn away, one with loss of a few words and the other wish loss of about ten; two leaves each with a tiny burn hole affecting one letter. One leaf torn across, tear going through two images without loss; one leaf with small ink smears entering into an image frame (for “De la Colle de Poisson”), not approaching the images themselves. Lacks one plate (at pp. 46/47). Clearly a much-read, pored-over example of this great 17th-century treatise, and also one
fit for much more enjoyment and “action.” (34643)

“Mini” Natural History Chapbook
Pretty rhymes about birds and animals for little boys and girls. New York: Kiggins & Kellogg, [ca. 1860]. Miniature (7.8 cm, 3"). 8 pp.; illus.
[SOLD]
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Five charming wood engravings of an owl, pony, and other birds and animals mentioned in the text of these short rhymes illustrate this miniature chapbook. It is a later, very good edition from the years when this firm was at 123 & 125 William Street (i.e, 1858–1866).
Provenance: From the children's book collection of Albert A. Howard, sans indicia.
Original green wrappers with bird illustration on front wrapper and advertisement on rear. Minor soiling to two pages and small crease in upper corner of rear wrapper, else fine.
A very attractive little “toy.” (38780)

“Another Successful Step in the Exploration of Inner Asia”
Przheval’skii (Prejevalsky), Nikolai Mikhailovich; E. Delmar Morgan, trans. From Kulja, across the Tian Shan to Lob-Nor. London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington, 1879. 8vo (22.8 cm, 9"). xii, 251, 32 pp.; 2 maps.
$900.00
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Nikolai Mikhailovich Przheval’skii (1839–88) was a Russian geographer and explorer. His expeditions
extensively contributed to Europe’s knowledge of Central Asia and advanced the study of the region’s geography, fauna, and flora, earning him the Founder’s Gold Medal from the Royal Geographical Society in 1879, as well as a breed of horse named in his honor.
In his second expedition to Central Asia (1876–77), documented here, Przheval’skii traveled through Kulja, today called Yining, to Lop Nur, although the ultimate goal of reaching Lhasa was not achieved due to an illness and worsening relations with China. For this
first English edition, English explorer Edward Delmar Morgan translated the account of the trek and Thomas Douglas Forsyth provided an introduction. The volume includes
two color folding maps; the larger shows Przheval’skii’s journey through South Asia in 1877 and the smaller one depicts the “comparison between Chinese and Prejevalsky’s geography from tracings by Baron Richthofen.”
Evidence of Readership: On the title-page, beside the author’s name, “London 5/11/88 — Telegram death of Col. Prejevalsky while on expedition to Thibet.” Occasionally, an inked or penciled mark or number in a margin.
Provenance: On verso of title-page, signature of M. Holzmann and (in a different hand) “C.J.M. 5944.” Most recently in the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.
NSTC 0618155. Publisher’s brown cloth with gilt lettering to spine and minimal black decoration; light rubbing with a bit of unobtrusive spotting, corners a little bumped and a sliver of loss to spine-head. Finger smudges to front free endpaper, three small tears along folds to largest folding map.
An interesting and important expedition; a copy complete with the colored maps. (37867)

Illustrated Florilegium for
American Children
Ramble, Robert [pseud. of John Frost]. A port folio for youth. Philadelphia: J. Crissy (pr. by J. Crissy & G. Goodman), 1835. 8vo (16.6 cm, 6.53"). Frontis., 352 pp.; illus.
[SOLD]
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Uncommon sole edition: Poems, tales, and short educational pieces, including many drawing parables from natural history and some based on historical events. One story, “The Miller's Daughter,” is set during the French Revolution and features an aristocrat in hiding, while another item offers a biography of Edward Drinker, born “on the spot where the city of Philadelphia now stands,” who lived to see both “the beginning and the end of the British empire in Pennsylvania” (pp. 277–78).
To catch and hold childish interest, snake charmers, murderous smugglers, diamond mines, and fatal balloon accidents are sprinkled throughout the more sedate moralizing items.
These pieces were collected from a wide variety of sources by prolific children's author John Frost. The stories are
illustrated with over 50 wood-engraved vignettes, some of which WorldCat attributes to Abel Bowen and Ezra Atherton.
Provenance: Front free endpaper with small, neatly inked gift inscription reading “Eliza M. Elliott [/] Presented by her brother, B. Elliott 1840"; preliminary leaf with early inked inscription with similar content, in a larger and less precise hand. Later in the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.
American Imprints 31768. Not in Osborne Collection. Publisher's printed blue paper–covered sides with roan shelfback, spine with gilt-stamped title; sides with small spots of discoloration and offsetting from leather, spine and edges rubbed with extremities chipped. Inked inscription on preliminary leaf (written inside a printed decorative flower urn vignette), this offset onto surrounding leaves including frontispiece. One leaf slightly crumpled during printing. Mild to moderate foxing throughout.
A solid and entirely enjoyable copy of this impressive, seldom-encountered collection. (41188)

Aristotle Was Wrong: Maggots Come from Eggs
Redi, Francesco, & Frederik Lachmund. Opusculorum pars prior, sive experimenta circa generationem insectorum: Ad illustrem virum Carolum Dati. Amstelaedami: Apud Henricum Wetstenium, 1686. 12mo (13.5 cm, 5.3"). 1 vol. (of 2). Frontis., [10], 216, [20], 40, [6] pp.; 44 plts. (14 fold.).
[SOLD]
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Second, revised edition: Latin translation of Redi's study challenging the long-held theory of spontaneous generation of insects, making use of controlled experiments and a microscope. Dedicated to Carlo Dati and originally published in 1668 as Esperienze intorno alla generazione degl'insetti, this landmark of natural history first appeared in Latin in 1671 and is followed here by Lachmund's De ave Diomedea; a second volume adding further experiments by Redi, the title-page of which was dated 1685, is not present. The two texts are
illustrated with a frontispiece and 44 engraved plates (14 folding), with the first including representations of scorpions, clematis vines, and insects hatching on willow leaves as well as the expected, carefully detailed flies (and maggots), fleas, lice, ants, etc.; the second offers folding plates of an albatross skull, two birds, and a bird's foot. The lovely frontispiece, which incorporates two beehives, was done by
prominent Dutch Baroque artist Romeyn de Hooghe.
Provenance: From the residue of the stock of the F. Thomas Heller bookselling firm (est. ca. 1928).
Contemporary mottled calf, nicely rebacked with calf, spine with gilt-stamped red leather title-label (reading “Francesco”), raised bands, and compartments elaborately blind-tooled; original leather edges worn. First volume only, offering the complete “De insectis” without the “Experimentia naturalia”; the two volumes were published separately and often separated. Title-page with two small early inked markings. One folding plate with short tear from inner margin; outer margins of a few plates slightly ragged or creased.
A solid, sturdy, attractive copy of this scientific landmark, with all its fascinating plates. (40410)

Science for Students, by
Imperial Command
Redlhamer, Joseph. Philosophiae naturalis pars prima seu physica generalis [and] pars II. Uranologiam, stoechiologiam, meteorologiam, geologiam, mineralogiam, phytologiam, et zoologiam complectens. Viennae Austriae: Ioannis Thomae Trattner, 1755. 8vo (16.9 cm, 6.625"). 2 vols. I: [8], 424, [4 (index)] pp.; 9 fold. plts. II: [4], 426 pp.; 16 fold. plts.
$450.00
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First edition of this important 18th-century textbook of natural sciences. The author (1713–61) was a Jesuit professor who taught theology at the University of Vienna, following a number of years of teaching philosophy and ethics at Linz and Graz. As part of her educational reforms, Empress Maria Theresa of Austria in 1753 issued
an order requiring professors to publish textbooks rather than dictate lecture notes; the present work was one of the first such to appear in response. Princeton asserts that this schoolbook was used for the instruction of Maria Theresa's eldest child, Prince Joseph (later Emperor Joseph II), and describes the first section as dealing primarily with Newton, with other sections presenting the principles of statics, mechanics, hydrostatics, gravity, electricity and magnetism. At the backs of the two volumes are a total of
25 engraved folding plates, each incorporating multiple figures illustrating experiments, anatomy, astronomy, calculations, etc.
Now uncommon: Searches of WorldCat find only four U.S. institutions reporting holdings (Princeton, CU Berkeley, Boston College, Brigham Young University).
DeBacker-Sommervogel, VI, 1574; VD18 80341896 & VD18 8034190X. Contemporary mottled calf, spines with cream leather title-labels and gilt-stamped decorations between raised bands; edges and extremities rubbed, spine gilt all but lost (motifs now appearing blind-tooled on casual inspection), vol. II with early hand-inked numeral on title-label. All edges speckled red. Vol. I front free endpaper with scorched area, some offsetting to title-page. Pages gently age-toned with small spots of light foxing, overall very readable.
This is a complete set of both volumes with all plates present, in contemporary bindings, and as such not often seen on the market. (40102)
Travelling
to
Where
Few Wanted to Go
Robertson, John Parish, & William Parish Robertson. Four years in Paraguay: comprising an account of that republic, under the government of the dictator Francia. Philadelphia: E.L. Carey & A. Hart, 1838. 12mo (19 cm; 7.25"). 2 vols. I: [9] ff., 236 pp. II: 220 pp.
$450.00
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First American edition of the brothers Robertson's wonderful account of their travels in South America culminating in their arrival in Paraguay and an extended residence there. They also recount the efforts to emancipate the various South American regions from Spanish control, compare and contrast Portuguese and Spanish America, describe flora and fauna, discuss native populations, etc. The preliminary leaves of advertisements for other books from the same publishers have their own additional interest.
American Imprints 52683; Sabin 71961. This edition not in Palau. Publisher's pebbled brown cloth bindings: black tape at top of one spine and onto the covers. Bindings show modest wear, publisher's paper spine labels slightly chipped; text blocks slightly skewed in bindings and light waterstaining in lower inner margins of vol. I. Exsocial club library: 19th-century bookplate, call number on endpaper, pressure-stamp on title-page, no other markings. (28891)
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