The author was the cosmographer and historiographer of the Dutch East India Company as well as the Dutch royal family's official translator.

This is one of the scarcest volumes in commerce of the Elzevirs' series of histories in the Respublica series. It is only the fourth copy we have had in our 30+ years in the antiquarian book business.

Provenance: Faded 17th-century inscription on title-page indicating the volume was a gift of P. Dupre to a school whose name we do not decipher.

•  Willems 313; Rahir 284; European Americana 629/79; Palau 129562; Sabin 38560; Borba de Moraes (2nd ed.), Bibliographia brasiliana, I, 450.   Contemporary Dutch vellum over paste boards, all edges red with that dye sometimes spilling into margins. A clean, very good copy of this nice little book.  (33584)

Lake was “chaplain and tutor to the princesses Mary and Anne, daughters of James, duke of York” and originally wrote this “devotional manual . . . for his royal pupils” (ODNB).

Provenance: On front free endpaper in an 18th-century hand; “Wm. A. Put Bo[ugh]t of Nau Winkle & Co.”

•  ESTC T134200.   Contemporary acid-stained calf, round spine, no raised bands, gilt double-rules creating spine compartments, one with a red leather gilt title-label; front cover reattached using the long-fiber method. Light age-toning. A very nice copy.  (33142)

Provenance: Charles Spencer, Third Earl of Sunderland, lot 7230 in the Sunderland Library sale (1882).

•  On Lamy, see: New Catholic Encyclopedia, VIII, 354–55. 18th-century vellum over boards with raised bands, lightly soiled; on the covers an ornate mandorla inside a composite frame. Crack in the vellum along front joint, joint itself sound. Ex-library with paper labels on spine; old pressure-stamps, including one on title-page of vol. I. Upper outer corner of title-leaf lost taking part of one letter of title; small tear into printed border of first map in vol. II. All edges speckled blue and red. A stout, substantial volume.  (4804)

Searches of NUC and WorldCat locate only four U.S. libraries (Wesleyan, Boston University, Johns Hopkins, The Bridwell) reporting ownership of this quarto format edition.

•  Brooks 1105; Brunet, III, 846; De Lama, II, 199; Giani 199 (p. 77).   Contemporary quarter vellum and Bodoni orange paper–covered boards, spine with gilt-ruled bands and gilt-stamped leather title and date labels; corners and edges much rubbed, sides with light scuffing, vellum slightly darkened. Bookplates as above; front free endpaper with small oval of offsetting from monogram label. Occasional faint foxing, pages overall giving a clean, fresh impression.  (40200)

Provenance: Title-page stamped by a private collector: “Thomas Witherell Palmer, Log Cabin Park” (Detroit).

•  Contemporary half calf with marbled paper–covered sides, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label and ornate gilt-stamped decorations within compartments; binding with light to moderate rubbing overall, with spine leather starting to show some cracking. All edges stained red. Delightful reading and looking, and a delightful copy.

•  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)

Considerations on Slavery

Elizabeth Webb, "an acknowledged minister among the people called Quakers," first encountered Prince George of Denmark's chaplain Boehm while on a visit to Great Britain; the missive with which she opened her subsequent correspondence with him, here, greatly inspired him and a number of his friends.

Provenance: With inscription reading "Miss Hannah Amelia Moore / Book a Present from her worthy / Friend Ruth Patton / 1789."

•  Law: ESTC W32233; Evans 16817; Hildeburn 3987. Webb: ESTC W13440; Evans 18295; Hildeburn 4409. Benezet: ESTC W6416; Evans 18355. Contemporary quarter sheep over paper-covered sides, the whole worn and abraded but the little volume quite sound. Light age-toning, occasional darker spots. Small chip in bottom margin of title-page; one leaf with paper flaw in lower corner, resulting in the loss of a very few letters.  (10951)

This now-uncommon textbook is illustrated with five folding engraved plates of diagrams. WorldCat showsjust one U.S. institution (Society of the Cincinnati) reporting a copy, and only a handful of overseas holdings.

Provenance:  Title-page with early inked inscription “de Ratzenried” and front pastedown with von Ratzenried armorial bookplate (coat of arms showing greyhounds and a moon with clouds) labelled F.C.V.R.: possibly Franz Carl Anton von und zu Ratzenried.

•  Contemporary mottled calf, board edges with gilt roll, spine with raised bands, gilt-stamped leather title-label, and compartments gilt extra; light wear overall, edges and joints moderately rubbed. All edges speckled red. Bookplate and inscription as above. Pages with occasional small pencilled marks of emphasis, otherwise clean; one plate with outer edge slightly tattered. A very nice copy, in contemporary binding, of this scarce practical compendium.  (40246)

The English-language title-page reads, “The book of daily prayers for every day in the year. According to the custom of the German and Polish Jews.” The text is presented with the original Hebrew and English translation on opposite pages.

Provenance:  19th-century ownership stamp of “Mme. Bernheim, 603 Magazine St., New-Orleans.”

•  Rosenbach, Jewish, 636; Singerman, Judaica Americana, 1024; Goldman 37.   Contemporary full, plain, treed calf, with a black leather spine label. Expectable wear to spine from use. Scattered light foxing. A good++ copy with a provenance worthy of research.  (32879)

This third edition is typographically complex in ye good 17th-century style, with a title-page printed in red and black and liberal variation of type-ornament borders, multiple fonts, and decorative initials; the pages are ruled into multiple divisions for presentation of text and various sorts/levels of notes, with the printer occasionally breaking “form” to enhance compactness or clarity. Braces and brackets appear generously, with these tricky-to-set devices being most strikingly deployed in full-page diagrammatic “Tables” of contents, one at the start of each of the five books and the one of the third being actually alarge fold-out.

The first edition appeared in 1633 with two more in 1641. Those three and this 1650 are uncommon in commerce with only three of this apparently held in U.S. libraries (Boston Athenaeum, University of Illinois, and Princeton Theological).

Leigh (1602–71), a decided puritan, was described by one contemporary as “a man of fiery disposition” and by another as “a cunning man”; in addition to his religious duties he found time and inclination for politics and was elected to Parliament.

Provenance:  Tim Hide(?), 18th century, has signed the top margin of the title-page; George B. Engle Junior notes on a fly leaf that he bought the book in Boston, MA, March 1881. Later at the Pacific School of Religion (properly released).

•  ESTC R34516; Wing (rev. ed.) L1015.   17th-century calf, rebacked early 19th century, covers reattached recently using Japanese long-fiber method; spine with gilt-lettered label and blind tooling, covers framed in double rules with gilt-rolled board edges, marbled endpapers, all edges red. Ex-library as above: rubber-stamp to fly-leaf, accession stamp and pencilled call number on title-page verso. Private provenance markings as above, and one entry to the “Table” at rear corrected in old ink. Title-page repaired at top where sometime trimmed; one leaf with very small interior hole not touching text, elsewhere a short marginal tear, a few small ink marks, and a bit of almost invisible marginal worm tracking; the occasional unevenly trimmed leaf, a few more with upper rules cut away, light age-toning. Old bookseller label at rear. A very solid, very appealing, very “atmospheric” little volume.  (36835)

The work is handsomely printed (although erratic in its pagination and signature markings), in double-column format, featuring title-pages in black and red with an engaging small engraved vignette of a ship between pillars reading “Plus” and “Ultra.”

Provenance:  Ownership stamp of Carlos Sanz in several places.

•  Sabin 40053; Palau 135738; Alden & Landis 737/135; Medina, BHA, 3071; Borba de Moraes, II, 150; LeClerc 872.   Contemporary vellum over pasteboards, a little soiled especially to spnes, retaining button and loop closures; hinges (inside) open in a few places but bindings strong. Occasional waterstain or other sign of exposure to dampness; a few gutter margins (only) of first volume with a short wormtrack; some cockling of paper.  (34810)

Provenance: Property, in 1836, of Henry G. Hubbard of Detroit.

•  Shaw & Shoemaker 25848.   Contemporary sheep. Spine with compartments divided by gilt rules. Leather much rubbed with a little chipping. Browning from turn-ins onto endpapers and title-page. Top margins closely trimmed with loss of page numbers in some places. Inked ownership inscriptions on recto of front free endpaper and title-page.  (5442)

However harsh the allegations, the Quakers were not Leslie's sole target; he also wrote works against deism, Judaism, Catholicism, Socinianism, and more, not to mention his numerous writings against various political parties.

Sabin's entry for this Americanum has this bizarre and amusing note: “It gives a long account of the 'Fourth or New Quakers who mostly reside in Long Island and East Jersey, in America,' one of whom wasMary Ross, who went to meeting stark naked, and carrying a fiddle.”

The text here is in a rather striking mix of roman, italic, and large black letter.

Provenance:  The Howell Bible Collection, Pacific School of Religion (properly released), with bookplate tucked into front cover.

•  Sabin 40195; ESTC R216663; Wing (rev. ed.) L1156; Smith, Anti-Quakeriana, 267; on Leslie, see: DNB (online).   17th-century speckled calf, Cambridge-style, spine gilt-lettered with two labels, bands accented and covers panelled in blind; rebacked with new endpapers; abraded, edges worn. Moderate age-toning and foxing, a handful of leaves with rounded corners or chipped edges. Ex-library with its rubber-stamp on title-page and one leaf of text, five-digit number on title-page verso; light pencilling on title-page.  (36371)

First published in 1587, this popular work found an audience among both Protestants and Catholics, and went through a number of editions in not only the original French, but also several other European languages as well as Latin. The present early French printing is handsomely accomplished, with nice head- and tailpieces and decorative capitals. WorldCat findsno U.S. institutional holdings of this edition.

Binding:  Later dark blue Jansenist-style morocco: spine with raised bands and gilt-stamped title and date, board edges with double gilt rules, and turn-ins with particularly elegant gilt dentelles. All edges gilt.  Signed binding done by Hans Asper, with Asper's minute rubber-stamp on the front free endpaper.

Provenance:  Front pastedown with bookplate of Swiss theologian, historian, and professor Gaspard Ernest Stroehlin (1844–1907), a notable scholar of Protestantism. Most recently in the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.

•  Index Aurel. 164.928; Pettegree, French Vernacular Books, 34461. This ed. not in Adams, not in Brunet.   Binding as above, spine showing very slight sunning, lower back outer corner bumped. Bookplate as above, with small paper adhesion over one corner. Pages gently age-toned with scattered small, faint spots, otherwise clean. A striking copy, with notably apropos provenance.  (38345)

Provenance:  Signed by Eric Gill (“Eric G”) at the end of his foreword; additionally, elegantly inscribed to rare book collector Clark Stillman by the artist's brother and biographer Evan R. Gill, dated 28 September 1937.

Searches of NUC and WorldCat located only three copies in U.S. libraries.

•  Publisher's printed paper wrappers; wrappers detached, sunned, and chipped. Pages clean.  (36969)

•  Rosenbach, Children's, 421; Welch 249.12; Shaw & Shoemaker 19892 & 20586.   Publisher's light boards with salmon-colored paper covering. Browning as in all copies seen today. One leaf with short tear from lower margin, just touching text. Solid, and engaging from multiple perspectives.  (38925)

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

No copies located in U.S. libraries.

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

•  VD17 39:123926M (mistakenly saying the illustration is a woodcut).   Modern grey boards; small “utilitarian” spine label. Light waterstain in lower area of title-leaf and title-leaf on a stub; other waterstaining is some of it marginal, some to lower gutter area crossing text, and some driving the red edge-stain up into the lower margin. Old tape repair to outer edge of last leaf; plate with dust-soiling and with fold tears including one with a small loss of image, one lower corner torn with a bit of loss, and a handful of other holings/tatterings — the “view” remaining, nonetheless, attractive and useful.  (37523)

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)

Provenance:  Inscription of “Henry M. Pierce / Jersey City / NJ”; most recently in the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.

•  Shaw & Shoemaker 44628; Drake, Almanacs, 3826.   Recent limp navy cloth, front cover with gilt-stamped title and date; extremities slightly rubbed. Front free endpaper with inked ownership inscription as above. Pages age-toned with a few scattered spots; some pages trimmed closely, with headers occasionally touched but not taken. Nice!  (40816)

Here he sends a thoughtfully reminiscent note of sympathy on the death of the Rev. Dr. Shields (Charles Woodruff Shields); his “Mrs. Stockton” was probably Charlotte, Mrs. Bayard Stockton, the deceased's daughter.

Provenance:  Ex–Allyn K. Ford Collection, Minnesota Historical Society, recently deaccessioned.

•  Very good condition. Low's is not a very difficult hand, but someone has lightly, interlinearly pencilled in the words s/he found hard to decipher.  (33395)

Provenance: Monograms as above and vol. I front fly-leaf with early inked ownership inscription of Irish-born poet and playwright Robert Jephson (1736–1803); fly-leaves also with pencilled inscription of American engineer, educator, and musical innovator Henry Ward Poole (1825–90, brother of influential librarian William Frederick Poole), dated 1860. Front pastedowns with bookplate of American author, bibliographer, and book collector Jacob Chester Chamberlain (1860–1905). First text page in each volume with early inked inscription reading “Miss Mupendens”; one fly-leaf of vol. II with early inked ownership inscription of William C. FitzGerald of Christ Church, Oxford. Most recently in the residue of the stock of the F. Thomas Heller bookselling firm (est. ca. 1928).

•  Schweiger, II, 580. Re: provenance, see: First Editions of Ten American Authors (catalogue of the collection of J.C. Chamberlain, pt. II), 780; Catalogue of the Library of the Late Henry Ward Poole 1557.   Personalized armorial bindings as above, light wear overall with joints and extremities rubbed, vol. I with minor refurbishing of wear. Bookplates and inscriptions as above. Frontispiece of vol. I slightly oversized, with outer edge folded in; front. of vol. II with outer edge trimmed very closely along border, shaving lower portion of border and a tiny bit of image. Pagination skips from 72 to 93 in vol. II, with signatures and text uninterrupted. All page edges stained yellow, with stain sometimes slightly affecting page margins. Two leaves with vol. II each with short tear from outer margin, extending into text without loss. The work that long most agreeably facilitated French Lucretian reading, here in its most attractive edition and with an impressive pedigree. (40495)

Provenance:  Ownership inscription of Bryan Tompson, 1735 (fol. 166r); also on A2r, undated, family name spelled “Thompson” and with notation of cost of book as 5/3. Late 19th- or early 20-century ownership inscription on front free endpaper of G.P. Hesketh, of Beltrami Cty., MN; later given (1907) to Dr. Charles Schwartz.

•  ESTC S108962; STC (rev. ed.) 16973.   18th-century English speckled sheep, recently rebacked; late 19th- or early 20th-century endpapers. Title-page cut down close to text (supplied from a different copy?), mounted to restore page size and expose type on verso; leaf soiled. Top margins throughout closely cropped, costing the top line of text on five of the eight preliminary pages and the running heads and folio numbers on many (not all) text leaves; staining in portions in margins and sometimes into the text of the upper outer sixth of a leaf; longitudinal hole on fols. 259 to 262 costing three words total. Not a perfect, but a decent copy of a Lutheran mainstay in an edition not often found on the market.  (34166)

•  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)