PROVENANCE!     
. . . the history of ownership of an object . . .

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Scholarly Highlights of Southern Germany, Plus
Great Universities of Medieval Europe

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•  Attractive edition of this literary and antiquarian tour of the Swabia, Helvetia, and Bavaria regions of Germany, written by a well-travelled Benedictine monk acclaimed for his scholarship. Originally published in 1683, the Iter Germanicum is here introduced by Joannes Albertus Fabricius and accompanied by an important treatise on European universities since the time of Charlemagne, by French historian Jean de Launoy (Joannes Launoius).

An engraved frontispiece of Ptolemy done by Menzel opens the volume; the main title-page is printed in red and black, with an engraved allegorical vignette.

Provenance:  Title-page verso with intaglio-printed armorial ex libris, printed directly on the leaf (not a bookplate that was glued on): “Ex Bibliotheca Friederici Roth-Scholtzii.” Friedrich Roth-Scholtz (1687–1736) was a prominent Nuremberg printer and publisher, as well as the author of Icones bibliopolarum et typographorum de republica litteraria and the Bibliotheca chemica; there are several reported examples of such bookplates in his books.

•  Recent quarter calf and speckled paper–covered sides, spine with gilt-stamped author, title, place, date and gilt-ruled raised bands. Volume a little cocked. Endpapers soiled; some pages with mild offsetting, and text otherwise clean.  (25490)

Early Estienne Bibliography — With the Often-Lacking Appendix

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•  First edition of an early bio-bibliography of the Estienne printing family, from perspectives both of Classical scholarship and typographic appreciation. In addition to writing about them, Maittaire (1668–1747) also collected early printed books, and upon his death an auction of them by Cock and Langford took over40 evenings to sell. This is Maittaire's first book, which Bigmore describes as a “very complete work.” Biographies of “Henry I” and his sons and nephews are here folliowed by a lengthy list of their known publications complete with cross-references to other reference works, and this offering also includes the Appendix librorum sub Stephanorum nominibus impressorum, which is often lacking.

Vol. I containsa frontispiece of Robert Estienne signed by the great English engraver John Sturt, best known for having engraved the entire Book of Common Prayer on silver plates and for illustrating Pilgrim's Progress. Additionally, the volume features 16 facsimile images on three pages, printed from woodcut blocks, showingthe evolution of the iconic Estienne printer's device. This copy appears to have the first sectional title-page bound after the first two pages of text instead of proceeding them.

Provenance:  Delightfully artistic inked initials “E.L.” on front pastedown, with the note “collated & perfect” in the same hand at the end. Most recently in the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.

•  ESTC T99611; Schreiber, Estiennes, 294; Bigmore & Wyman, Bibliography of Printing, II, pp. 14–6. On Maittaire, see: DNB (online).   18th-century speckled calf, rebacked with very similar calf stamped, ruled, and lettered in gilt with red leather label; covers double-ruled in gilt with flower stamps at corners, board edges with floral gilt rolls, all edges speckled red. Pencilled and inked notes on endpapers, evidence of a bookplate removed long ago. Light age-toning with a small stain or two, provenance evidence as above, one leaf with short later inked notes. Impressive piece of early Estienne scholarship in a very good copy.  (37887)

Defending John Frederick of Saxony & Landgrave Philip of Hesse

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•  The cataloguers at the Pitts Theological Library, Emory University, succinctly and accurately summarize this work thus: “Wittenberg faculty member and disciple of Luther and Melanchthon, Georg Major, here responds to the charges against Elector John Frederick of Saxony and Landgrave Philip of Hesse, by Emperor Charles V and Pope Paul III.” This is against the background of the tumult and turmoil of the Schmalkaldic War.

The work is printed in gothic type with sidenotes, a large woodcut of the Trinity on the title-page, and one large and three small reverse-printed initials (i.e., the initial is white on a black background).

Provenance:  20th-century bookplate of Franz Dryer on front pastedown; signature of Hildegard Dryer von Vater below bookplate. Most recently in the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.

Searches of NUC and WorldCat locate only three U.S. libraries reporting ownership of this edition (Emory, Harvard, Valparaiso).

•  VD16 M2034; Bohatta, I, 366; Kuczynski 560.   20th-century black cloth shelf-back with flexible boards (traces of old paper label on front cover). Old waterstain, never very disturbing, on all pages. All edges red.  (38875)

“I Shall Intersperse the Dry Narration of the Chronicles
with Such Specimens of Fabulous Tradition
as the Poetical Antiquary Will Not Disdain to Recognize”

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•  First edition of this picturesque travelogue, offering both facts and fiction regarding Welsh history alongside extensive descriptions of the countryside. The volume is “embellished with views, drawn on the spot and engraved by J. Laporte; and a map of the country,” those views consisting ofa frontispiece and twelve lithographic plates; the backgrounds of the plates aretinted green, tan, or gray. G. Martin Murphy, writing in the DNB online, says of the work that “it was one of the best travel books of its kind, displaying Malkin's acute observation and considerable knowledge of Welsh history.”

Malkin (1769–1842), a schoolmaster and antiquary, was a friend “of William Blake, with whom he shared an interest in radical politics,” and friends to such an extent that “he commissioned Blake to design and engrave the frontispiece of his book A Father's Memoir of his Child, a personal record of his eldest son, Thomas . . . The published engraving, though designed by Blake, was eventually executed by R. H. Cromek (1770–1812)” (DNB).

Binding:  Contemporary dark green straight-grain morocco, framed and panelled with blind and gilt rolls, spine gilt extra with gilt-stamped leather title-label. Salmon-colored endpapers and all edges gilt.

Provenance:  Front pastedown with armorial bookplate of Christopher Harrison; most recently in the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.

•  Brunet, III, 1342–43; NSTC M823.   Binding as above, joints and edges rubbed, spine head pulled; nicely strengthened and neatly refurbished. Bookplate and label as above. First and last few leaves showing faint to moderate foxing, scattered foxing to interior, and offsetting variably from plates; two non-adjacent text leaves with matching old waterstain. One leaf with tear from upper edge, affecting header but not text; one leaf with shorter tear confined to margin. Map creased along folds, with one short tear from inner margin barely extending across map border, otherwise in excellent condition. An outstanding 19th-century look at a legendarily scenic region, with its text and plates presented in a handsome contemporary binding.  (39493)

“Living Speeches of Dying Christians” & a Man
“Worthy of Dear Memory & Value”

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•  Collection of death speeches or “swan-songs” from Christian martyrs because “they are useful to shame us: They are also useful to prepare us to die, especially a violent death.” Arranged alphabetically, the work only goes through the letter “H” and contains stories, varying in length from a short paragraph to several pages, of martyrs from many areas of Europe. The title-page is printed in red and black.

Following the work is a biographical sketch of nonconformist clergyman and writer David Clarkson by dissenter William Bates (1625–99). A mourning border surrounds the title-page of this work, which also offers a skull and crossbones woodcut device.

Searches of WorldCat and NUC reveal only one copy of the Bates in the United States, at Duke University; there are several more of the Cloud but not many.

Provenance:  Ink signature of the Rev. C. Bedford of Denton; later in the library of the Pacific School of Religion.

•  On Mall, see: ESTC R20113; Wing (rev. ed.) M330. On Bates, see: ESTC R492575.   17th-century calf, covers framed in blind double-rules, turn-ins unevenly trimmed with pastedowns lacking; rebacked, rubbed with some loss of leather at base of spine, corners, and edges. Ex-library as above: bookplate, rubber-stamp on endpaper and two leaves of text, pencilling on title-page, circulation materials at back. Marked as above, pencilling on endpapers; dust-soiling, some bent/chipped corners and jagged edges, one leaf with two small holes and tear taking part of a printed marginal note, light to moderate age-toning. For all faults that must be noted, this is a sound, usable copy.  (36655)

Marmontel's Political-Philosophical Novel withGravelot's Illustrations

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•  First edition, early state, featuring the frontispiece and three copper-engraved plates designed by Gravelot. Quickly translated into numerous languages following its initial publication, Marmontel's controversial philosophical novel was written in great part in the hope that its retelling of the story of Gen. Flavius Beisarius of the Byzantine Empire would convince Louis XV to become, himself, the longed-for Philosopher-King. Chapter 15, however, in which Marmontel advocates freedom of opinion and religious tolerance, inspired extensive commentary by Voltaire and others and brought on condemnation by both the Sorbonne and the Archbishop of Paris — though it may ultimately have helped the Huguenot cause.

Merlin also printed a duodecimo edition in 1767; in the present edition, “Fragmens de philosophie morale” is found on pp. 273–340, followed by the Addition and Approbation.

Provenance:  Front pastedown with large, round, gilt-stamped armorial leather bookplate of notable 19th-century bookseller and book collector James Toovey; smaller, round, gilt-stamped “I.T.” bookplate with motto “Inter folia fructus” (also Toovey's and of cream-colored leather); and bookplate of Sir Montague Shearman.

Binding:  Contemporary crimson morocco, covers framed in gilt triple fillets; spine gilt extra with gilt-stamped leather labels, board edges and turn-ins with gilt rolls. This volume (complete in itself) seems at one time to have been part of a set of Marmontel's works, and bears an (unnumbered) spine label reading “Oeuvres de Marmontel.”

•  Brunet, III, 1440; Cohen de Ricci, Guide de l’amateur de livres à gravures du XVIIIe siècle, 688; Graesse 406; Tchermezine 455.   Binding as above, with edges, extremities, and joints showing minor rubbing. Front pastedown with bookplates as above; front free endpaper with affixed slip of early cataloguing; rear pastedown with small chip out of paper. Light spots of foxing, slightly heavier around plates. All edges gilt.  (25776)

King-Killing isNOT to Be Indulged In

•  Controversy and, in some circles, outrage, surrounded publication of Huguenot François Hotman's 1573 Francogallia—a treatise he wrote in response to the royal oppression of his fellow believers, which offers justification for tyrannicide. Not surprisingly, several responses to and rebuttals of his now-classic work of political theory quickly appeared. Some authorities declare Jean Pierre Masson (1544–1611) to have written this one under the pseudonym of Antoine Matharel, others say that Matharel (1537–86) was the sole author, and yet others say the work was a collaboration between Masson and Matharel. In any case, this royalist work seeks to demolish the reasoning found in Francogallia.

Provenance: Charles Spencer, Third Earl of Sunderland, lot 6554 in the Sunderland Library sale (1882).

•  Adams M866. 17th-century sprinkled calf, plain sides, round spine, raised bands, gilt spine extra. Leather worn. Old dust-stain on title-page. A library's blind pressure-stamps; properly deaccessioned with no additional stamps. Speckled edges. A very good copy.  (3825)

“Shout, Shout, America!”

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•  Three volumes of flag-waving verses commemorating a variety of inspiring American moments: maritime events including Commodore Perry's victory on Lake Erie and the battle between the frigates Constitution and Guerriere, military events including the Battle of Bunker Hill and Braddock's defeat, and general love of country, freedom, peace, etc. The lyrics were collected by McCarty; a few pieces of music are included, and in some other cases the tunes meant to be used are indicated.

Provenance:  Front free endpaper of vol. I with inked inscription: “Presented to the 'German Society Library of the State of Pennsylvania' by the Compiler,” signed “Wm. M'Carty.”; same to vol. III. Vol. II from a second 19th-century Philadelphia subscription library!

•  American Imprints 42-3093; Sabin 42997.   A married set. Vols. I & III: Publisher's brown cloth, covers framed in blind, spines with gilt-stamped title and two different vignettes; corners and spine extremities chipped (foot of vol. I revealing printed music beneath the cloth). Ex–social club library with remnants of shelving labels on spine heads, 19th-century bookplates and call number on endpapers, pressure-stamp on title-pages. Vol. II (Naval) sometime rebound in navy leather over blue cloth, leather edges blind-tooled, spine with gilt-stamped leather title label; spine sunned, rubber-stamp of a different 19th-century library on title-page and a number of other pages, small repair to dedication leaf of vol. II. All volumes with occasional short marginal edge tears or corners chipped away; some pages lightly age-toned. All meaty, all sound for use, all evocative; despite “mixed” nature, a very pleasant set.  (3283)

The Plague / Public Medicine Prefigured

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•  Plague is fascinating and horrifying to the modern mind, but is not generally seen as a likely personal threat, being as it is now rare in first world nations and treatable. In early modern times, though, it was a likely personal threat and so its fascination and horror were far more intense and immediate.

Mead was one of England's leading physicians at the beginning of the 18th century and “in 1719, in response to the public alarm over the outbreak of plague in Marseilles, the British government asked [him] to prepare a statement concerning the prevention of the disease. Mead's Short discourse anticipated the development of the English public health system in concluding that isolation of the sick in proper places is more effectual in checking the spread of contagion than either general quarantine or fumigation. Mead's book enjoyed a great popularity, going through seven editions within a year of its publication” (Norman). Garrison and Morton similarly say of the work that it was“a prophecy of what was to develop as the English public health system.”

Provenance:  Huntington Library duplicate (small stamp in lower margin of final blank leaf); most recently from the residue of the stock of the F. Thomas Heller bookselling firm (est. ca. 1928).

•  ESTC T55657; Blake p. 295; Cushing M250; Garrison & Morton 5123; Heirs of Hippocrates 769 (3rd ed.); Norman 1476; Osler 3364 (9th ed.); Waller 6394.   Apparently originally in marbled wrappers, with the paper of the spine only here surviving, old creases. Two brown stains and a bit of foxing to title-page; traces of old dust- or soot-soiling to upper margins of late leaves especially. Else very nice andhandsomely printed.  (39686)

A Good BAV Title — Macclesfield Provenance

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•  Mela's work De orbis situ libri tres (a.k.a., De chorographia) is, of course, a standard and famous work of ancient geography and, dating from the first century A.D., is the oldest surviving geographical text written in Latin. It enjoyed readership for centuries in manuscript and was first printed in 1471 with eight subsequent incunable editions, while in the 16th century to 1530 there was virtually a new edition every other year: Clearly, it wasa book of interest and importance for the Renaissance.

It is a short work; the Petit printing of it in 1513, for example, occupies only 60 pages. In this edition, however, Mela's text (printed in roman) is surrounded byextensive commentary in italic by Joachim Vadianus (1484–1551), thus extending the whole to 196 pages. The volume ends with an appendix, “Loca aliquot ex Vadiani commentarijs summatim repetita, & obiter explicata,” consisting of Vadian's study of Mela's work and attempting to address inconsistencies and problems in it.

Printer Wechel has arrayed the commentary around the text here withnotable attractiveness, he has supplied quite a number and variety of attractive initials, and both his main title-page and the sectional one for the “Loca aliquot” are dramatically presented with the sameelaborate multipart woodcut title border.

Although Mela's work is solely concerned with the world as known by Greeks and Romans, one should remember that their world did encompass portions of Africa and a knowledge of India. Additionally the appendix, originally written in 1521 and first appearing in the 1522 Basel printing of Mela, has a coda consisting of a 1515 letter of Vadian’s to Rudolph Agricola, the younger, that briefly discussesVespucci (X5v) and the New World (Y1r) when discussing the Spanish empire.

This is the third edition of Vadian's Mela, taken from the second edition (1522), but only the second with Vadian's appendix. Graesse comments, “Second éd. . . . fort changée et corrigée sur des mss.”

Whether all copies of the work were issued with a map has been long discussed and is without resolution: What we do know is that some have a map, most do not.

Provenance:  Macclesfield copy with the bookplate and handsome pressure-stamps.

Evidence of readership: Scattered minor (usually one or two words) marginalia.

•  Harrisse, BAV, 157; Renouard, Paris, 2210; Alden & Landis 530/30; Sabin 63958 (not calling for a map); Graesse, V, 401 (not calling for a map).   18th-century quarter vellum with blue-green paper–covered sides, author's name in old ink to spine. Title-page lightly soiled, light discoloration or inkstains in some margins, light occasional foxing; pinhole-type worming in text of some pages with no loss of text, and a corner of last leaf torn away without loss of text; on pp. 170–96, a light waterstain across upper gutter not touching text and another across upper outer corners impinging on it. As usual, without the map found in only a few copies. Macclesfield pressure-stamps and marginalia as above. A good, sound, and soundly pleasing old folio.  (34114)

The First Corpus Doctrinae — 16th-Century Binding Date on Front Cover

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•  Melanchton's final work, a collection of documents on confession and doctrinal teaching, first published (as the Corpus doctrinae philippicum, with Melanchthon thereby becoming the first to use the phrase “body of doctrine” as such) around the time of his death in 1560. This edition was printed by Hans Rambau in a small, neat roman type with occasional Greek, with two pages done in black-letter, and with a vignette portrait of the author on the title-page.

Binding: Contemporary calf, covers framed and panelled in blind with blind-tooled roll and corner fleurons surrounding a central strapwork and foliate medallion; front cover blind-tooled “B.G.C.” above medallion and “1574" below it, between their own rules.

Evidence of readership: Front fly-leaf with early 20th-century inked note regarding edition and portrait, signed “E.J.S.”; a few instances of light early underlining; eight pages with early inked shouldernotes in Latin (ink color differing from above underlining).

Provenance:  Unidentified 16th-century collector; “B.G.C.” on the binding. Later in the Library of the Pacific School of Religion (properly deaccessioned).

•  VD16 M 2890; this ed. not in Adams.   Binding as above, rebacked with similar black calf, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label and blind-ruled raised bands; original leather edges worn and chipped, edges and extremities refurbished, new endpapers. Ex-library (properly released): front fly-leaf, title-page, and one other page with old rubber-stamps. Annotations and underlining as above; front fly-leaf with chipped portion of paper bookplate adhered to upper outer corner. One leaf with small chip in upper margin; pages age-toned with occasional small smudges, otherwise clean. An attractive, interesting example of this important work.  (36726)

Presentation CopyFit for a Queen

Melgarejo y Salafranca, José

•  First edition of this uncommon defense of the Church and its involvement with contemporary politics. The work is preceded by a portrait of the Count, here depicted in his study, with cigarette in hand.

Binding: Signed binding (with Bilbao’s ticket on front pastedown) of oxblood morocco, front and back covers framed in a wide gilt roll surrounding gilt-stamped coat of arms of Francesco de Assisi de Bourbon, Duc de Cadiz (consort to Isabella II of Spain); spine with four raised bands, compartments gilt extra, with author, title, and date gilt-stamped. Board edges and turn-ins with gilt rolls; all page edges gilt; blue moiré endpapers.

Provenance: Front pastedown with bookplate of Maria Christina, Queen of Spain.

•  Palau 350495. Binding as above, showing light wear, spine slightly faded; pastedowns with some offsetting, endpapers with spots of foxing. Rare and attractive.  (5876)

SONGS ofBogdan, Milosch, & the Fair Ikonia — Publisher's Copy

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•  First edition of these loose translations of Serbian poetry, done by the British statesman and once-acclaimed author of the popular The Last Days of Pompeii and Lucile. In his introduction, Bulwer-Lytton compares the literary tradition represented here to “the sword of a Crusader in the scabbard of a Turk” (p. x); he notes that these renditions may be rough, but are his own firsthand impressions of the poems that “whether they be weeds or wild flowers, I have at least gathered . . . on their native soil, amidst the solitudes of the Carpathians, and along the shores of the Danube” (p. xxvi).

Provenance:  Front pastedown with bookplate of Edward Chapman, head of Chapman & Hall.

•  NCBEL, III, 637; NSTC 2M24993.   Publisher's violet cloth, front cover with blind-stamped frame and gilt-stamped decorative title in a lozenge, spine with gilt-stamped publication information; spine and board edges sunned to tan, extremities slightly rubbed. Mild age-toning and scattered light spotting.  (39671)

“The Little Odd Antiquities of Early Literature Which
Much Research Has Enabled Me to Collect Together”

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•  First edition: collection of “sketches of bookworms — collectors — Bible students — scribes — and illuminators, from the Anglo Saxon and Norman periods, to the introduction of printing into England; with anecdotes, illustrating the history of the monastic libraries of Great Britain, in the olden time” as detailed on the title-page, focusing on a variety of historical figures including Aelfric, Abbot of Eynsham, Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Alcuin, among others. There are bibliographic references throughout, and a detailed index following the text.

Provenance:  Red and black booklabel of British bookseller and William Morris collector Arnold Yates on front pastedown; most recently in the library of Robert L. Sadoff, M.D., sans indicia.

•  NSTC 2M25592.   Blue publisher's cloth, spine lettered in gilt, covers framed in double blind fillets surrounding an arabesque frame with central decorative piece in blind; very gently rubbed, spine and cover edges evenly sun-faded, corners very slightly bumped. Moderate age-toning with some foxing. Bookplate as above, a few bibliographical pencilled notes on endpapers. Early tales of the bibliomania.  (39779)

FIRSTLaws of the Nation

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•  “Segunda edicion corregida y aumentada por una comision de la Camara de Diputados” of the first laws of the republic following the collapse of the first empire: Vol. I, “Que comprende los de la mencionada junta [1821–22]”; vol. II, “Que comprende los del primero constituyente [1822–23]”; vol. III, “Que comprende los del segundo constituyente [1823–24]”; and vol. IV, “que comprende Iose del primero y segundo constitucionales [1825–28].”

Because the earlier edition of the session laws had been exhausted, Congress ordered this new one. The subsequent session laws through 1837 were published in later years in four additional volumes.

Provenance: Bookplate of Ventura Gómez Alatorre, late-19th-century citizen and official of Tepatitlán.

•  Contemporary acid-stained sheep with elegant gilt spines, with scuffs, stains, and a decorative design lightly etched into one cover, all this attractive; evidence of blue wrappers at inner margins of each volume, all edges yellow. Some mild old foxing and spotting; first volume's first leaves with crescent of dampstaining across top of gutter margin and second volume with deeper arc of same to first and last leaves; a very good set.  (31180)

Too Much Was NOT Enough — THIS Copy with Quasi-Relics of St. Macarius

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•  Ghent honored its patron saint S. Macaire [i.e., St. Macarius] in 1767 witha splendid procession featuring 46 floats/tableaux including such exotica as elephants, crocodiles, and American Indians. Each plate has text explaining the content and emblematic and rare nature of the display. Emmanuel Petrus van Reyschot designed the rococo plates and F. Heybrouck, P. Wauters, and J.L. Wauters etched them. The work ends with a “Liste des personnes qui accompagnent la cavalcade” (pp. 75–82) and the “Detail des rejoissances publique, qui auront lieu en cette Ville depuis la 30 Mai jusqu'au 15 Juin 1767" (pp. 83–84). All in all, it was clearly a splendid ceremony and spectacular spectacle.

Bound into this copy is a printed broadside (27 x 21.5 cm, 10.75" x 8.5"; imprint: Gandavi: typis Viduae Michaelis de Goesin, e regione curiae, [1767]), by which Govaert Geeraard van Eersel (1713–78), the 16th bishop of Ghent (1772–78), certifies thatthe piece of vellum attached to the broadside, with a hand-colored and illuminated engraving of St. Macarius, actually touched the bones of the saint. The image, engraved by Alexander Goetiers (1637–86) and so signed, shows the saint in a field with the Holy Ghost in the form of a dove above his right shoulder; the vellum measures 9 x 7 cm (3.75" x 2.75"). The broadside further states thatthe included bit of cloth is a fragment of the covering of the afore-mentioned remains (“insuper adjunctum frustrum esse tegumentis, in quibus praedictae Reliquiae fuerunt involutae”).

Additionally, laid in is a 19th-century sketch-like tracing of what is described at top as a lithograph of the procession winding its way through the town. The various carriages and “floats” of the “cavalcade” are identified in ink along the edges of the page, which is large and folded, measuring 22.5 x 52 cm, 8.875" x 20.5". It is accomplished on good quality, but thin — almost tracing paper thin — laid, watermarked paper.

Correspondence with American libraries owning copies of the book confirms that the broadside and the vellum image were added post-printing and are not found in other copies.

Provenance:  Bookplate of Baron Surmont [de Volsberghe].

•  Rosenwald Collection (1977) 1734; Cicognara 1524; Ruggieri 1111; Vinet 817. Not in Landwehr because this ceremony was not for a state entry.   19th-century half vellum with marbled paper sides; vellum darkened, sides scuffed. Some age-toning; a few short tears in lower margins. Very satisfactory condition.A fantastic book in a remarkable copy. (39787)

The 99-Copy Blue Oasis First Edition — Signed by Miller

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•  “Written in 1937–38 in Paris . . . gifted as a long intimate book letter to the painter Hans Reichel”: Miller's gathering of letters and sketches sent to his dear friend Reichel, here with an introduction by Lawrence Durrell, in a beautifully designed, award-winning production includingtext printed in black, blue, and red; facsimile reproductions of manuscript portions; two loose preliminary textured leaves, one with printed design; and a glossy photographic portrait of the author.

This isone of 99 “Blue Oasis” copies signed by Miller (out of a total of 1524 printed); signature towards the back of the volume with a laid-in Loujon Press leaf noting that fact.

•  Publisher's quarter teal morocco and cream cloth–covered sides, spine with gilt-stamped title, in original dust jacket (printed on both sides) and printed cork–covered slipcase; slipcase with corners a little rubbed, jacket with spine and extremities chipped, volume's spine a tiny bit rubbed and sunned at extremities; the volume itself in all, fresh and lovely. A nice copy of this remarkable first edition.  (35851)

Minot Long Dedicated“His Leisure Time & Means of Information
to Some Object of General Utility”

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•  Minot (1758–1802), a respected Boston judge, meant this work to be a continuation of Thomas Hutchinson's history of Massachusetts-Bay, which was published in 1764. While he originally intended his account to reach the start of the Revolutionary War, he only made it to 1765 before he passed away; the second volume, which covers 1748–65, was posthumously published in 1803.

Evidence of Readership: Numerous pencilled marginal notes, usually one word or a date “tagging” the contents of a paragraph.

Provenance:  Ink signature of Enoch Ponder dated 1841; later in the Howell Bible Collection, Pacific School of Religion (properly released).

•  ESTC W30543; Evans 34118; Howes M-650; Sabin 49321; on vol. 2, see: Shaw & Shoemaker 4659.   18th-century acid-stained calf with attractive gilt black and red leather labels and gilt triple ruling on spine, board edges stamped in blind, all edges speckled blue; moderate rubbing, one volume's hinges and joints cracked, the usual glue action on endpapers, two torn, one partially detached. Marked and ex-library as above; call number labels on spines, bookplates, pencilled call numbers on title-page versos. Moderate age-toning with offsetting from binding, some foxing, and the occasional spot; one leaf repaired of old, a few with creased corners.  (36430)

Not in BAV — An Americanum Nonetheless

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•  The alliance of Louis XII, Pope Julius II, Maximilian I, and Ferdinand the Catholic in war against the Venetians was formalized in 1508, and history has given it the name of The League of Cambrai; it came to an end in 1529 with the signing of the peace of Cambrai. The neo–Latin language work offered here is a history of the origins and progress of the war as seen by a Venetian whose observations and comparisons are remarkably wide-ranging — as evidenced by his including a passage on leaf Q8 verso concerningbattles that the Spaniards were waging on the Island of Hispaniola and elsewhere in the Indies of America.

This volume, curiously, does not sport any of the expectable types of title-page that were common by its time. Instead, it simply reads: Andreae / Mocenici / P.V.D. / Bellvm / Came / racense. This bare title-page is printed in roman type, while all else is printed in a very bright, crisp italic. Several woodcut criblé initials are used in text.

Provenance:  Charles Spencer, Third Earl of Sunderland, lot 8534 in the Sunderland Library sale (1882); later part of the Theological Institute of Connecticut Library.

Evidence of Readership: Several notes and marked passages, in ink.

•  Not in Harrisse, Bibliotheca Americana Vetustissima; Alden & Landis, European Americana, 525/11; Adams M1518.   18th-century mottled English calf, raised bands and modest gilt tooling, all edges speckled red; hinges (inside) partially open with spine pulled at top and some leather lost at cover corners; holding. Marked as above, some bug-spotting on title-page; two pinhole wormholes in binding extending into lower margins of early signatures; limited waterstaining, typically marginal, and a few other pages with stains or soilings. Ex-library as above: paper shelving label on spine, inking and pencilling on endpapers, embossed institutional stamps on six leaves. A good and serviceable copy with a happy provenance.  (36660)

A NAPOLEONIC Masterpiece from BODONI

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•  Deluxe Bodoni super-royal folio edition — the first in this format — of this epic lyric poem, dedicated to Napoleon and extolling his military accomplishments. Drawing not only on Neoclassical tropes but also on Ossian for literary inspiration, Monti describes triumphs including the Battle of Ulm, the Egyptian campaign, the coup d'état of 1799, and the Battle of Austerlitz.

In 1806, Bodoni printed the six existing cantos (the proposed second and third parts of the poem were never completed) in three forms: folio, quarto, and octavo, withthe present oversized folio being predictably the most lavish of the productions. The dedication and each canto open with a headpiece engraved by Patrini from designs by Evangelista Ferrari (taken from Bodoni's Epithalamia), featuring geometrical patterns draped in wreaths, as well as with a historiated capital (one of which was done by Patrini and Ferrari and two of which are signed by Bossi, with the others unattributed).

None of the three formats are common, andthis impressive volume, intended for private distribution amongst the nobility, is the least frequently encountered.

Binding:  Contemporary vellum, spine with gilt-stamped black leather title-label and with gilt-tooled arabesque and foliate motifs in compartments defined by gilt rules; top edge gilt, other edges deckle.

Provenance:  Front pastedown with small bookplate of Brian Douglas Stilwell.

•  Brooks 997; De Lama, II, 171; Giani 176 (p. 71); Graesse, IV, 592.   Bound as above, sprung with vellum splitting along top and bottom edges of rear cover, otherwise showing mild wear and dust-soiling overall. Front pastedown with small 19th-century shelving label, over traces of larger now-removed bookplate, and Stilwell bookplate present as above; front free endpaper with neatly pencilled bibliographic annotations. Pages with a very few instances of faint spotting, otherwise clean. Attractive, impressive, and uncommon.  (40188)

The Latest Views, from the Explorers Themselves

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•  “New” findings on Central Asia and New Guinea: Vol. I, pt. 2 of the supplementary papers of the Royal Geographical Society, with a handsome folded map. The Royal Geographical Society was created to advance the geographical sciences, and after its founding in 1830 supported the expeditions of some of the foremost explorers. In this RGS publication, English translator Edward Delmar Morgan and English geographer and former Society president Clements R. Markham (both also renowned explorers) offered updates on their respective areas of study: Morgan (1840–1909) with additional notes to a report on a Central Asian expedition previously translated for the Society), and Markham (1830–1916) with discoveries on the New Guinea coasts, in a paper read at the Society in 1884.

“Part of Central Asia Showing the Territory between the Zarafshan and Amu-Daria Rivers,” thelarge folding map relevant to Morgan's paper, is included in the rear. Printed in in black and white with light color accents, it was drawn by the chief draughtsman for the Society, Henry Sharbau, and lithographed by British cartographer and engraver Edward Weller.

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

•  Original printed blue wrappers, front wrapper with center emblem; wrappers edgeworn and lightly discolored in spots, chipping to rear wrapper with minor loss, spine faded. Interior age-toned, light scuffs to two pages; very small occasional tears at creases of the map. A solid copy, with the attractive map.  (38056)

First Edition — Full of Facts & Fantasy

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•  Uncommon first edition: Short stories from a military man turned scholar, known for his Giuoco Piacevole. Kraus aptly notes the “novellae [sic] follow the example of Masuccio and Bandello, in that each is dedicated to a famous personage — and offers moral reflections on the examples provided by the stories, which combine historical facts with romantic fantasy,” although the Enciclopedia italiana (online) remarks dryly that some of the subjects “avuto migliore vita artistica da altri scrittori.” While the title claims this is a “Prima parte,” no more were printed, and indeed these stories were not reprinted until the 18th century.

An artful production, the text is printed in single columns using roman and italic type with head- and tailpieces, decorative initials, small in-text decorations, and a sizable printer's device on the title-page incorporating the phrase “virtute et labore.”

Provenance:  Small signature in ink of J.E. McKinley, M.D., on title-page along top edge; most recently in the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.

•  Kraus, Italia, 192; EDIT16 CNCE 47029; Brunet, III, 1904; Graesse, Trésor de Livres Rares, IV, p. 608. Not in Adams.   20th-century full calf, spine with raised bands double-ruled in gilt with daisy stamps in compartments, covers framed in gilt double-fillets, all edges gilt; spine gently sunned. Light age-toning and staining with the occasional spot; of several different paper stocks with a few uneven fore-edges and later repairs. Provenance markings as above. Attractive.  (38107)

Court of Chancery Reports forDublin

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•  First edition, with a list of subscribers headed by the Right Honorable Robert, Lord Baron Newport, Lord Chancellor of Ireland; as with most Reports, the reading illuminates human as well as legal history.

Provenance:  Title-page and several others stamped by the Birmingham Law Society; title-page with inked ownership inscription of Hamilton Stuart, dated 1755.

Evidence of readership: Several instances of corrections and marginalia in Stuart's hand, including two substantive annotations; occasional underlining.

•  ESTC T95792; Sweet & Maxwell 347.   Period-style quarter calf and marbled paper–covered sides, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label, raised bands, and blind-tooled compartment decorations. First leaf of contents with closed tear at center; one leaf with tear from outer margin, not touching text. Scattered spots of faint foxing, with varying degrees of age-toning; a clean copy. A solid and distinguished-looking copy, with additional interest in its evidence of readership.  (35368)

The End Times According toMUGGLETON

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•  First edition: Explication of Revelation, “proving” that Muggleton and John Reeve were God's “Last Messengers, and the Witnesses of the Spirit” (p. 165) as mentioned in Rev. 11:3 ff., with a divine commission to declare “the doctrine of the true God, and the right devil” (p. 161). Reeve and Muggleton were the prophets and leaders of the Muggletonians, a small Christian sect that denied the doctrine of the Trinity, believed that God would no longer interfere in human affairs after the revelation of their founders, and condemned prayer and preaching. In this, his first independent work following Reeve's death in 1658, Muggleton examines Revelation from a quirky, materialist, anti-Reason perspective, argues that God has a manlike, corporeal face and body, and discusses the failings of the “seven Churches . . . having no Commission from God” (p. 52): Roman Catholic, Episcopal, Presbytery, Independent, Baptist, Ranter, and Quaker.

Provenance:  Final blank leaf with inked inscriptions reading “Tho.s. Scupholme His Book 1740" and “Henery Collier His Book 1759.”

•  ESTC R267; Wing (rev. ed.) M3050; Smith, Anti-Quakeriana, 305.   Period-style calf, covers framed in blind double fillets, spine with gilt-ruled raised bands and gilt-stamped leather title-label. Pages age-toned and spotted; one leaf with tear from lower margin into text, sewn by hand some time ago.  (26004)

For more of MUGGLETONIAN interest,  click here.

Inscribed by the Founder of theU.S. Church School Movement

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•  First edition: A clergyman and pioneering Christian educator's poems, including the titular hymn. The preface notes that the work was published for the benefit of St. Luke's Hospital, the hospital Mühlenberg founded in 1858 in New York City at 54th Street and 5th Avenue.

Provenance:  Inscribed by the author: “To Richard Wood from W.A. Mühlenberg [indecipherable location] — Xmas 1856.” Beneath that is another early inked inscription, “L.A. Nichols, from Misses Wood.” Mühlenberg was atthe University of Pennsylvania at the same time as George Bacon Wood, son of Richard Wood and Elizabeth Bacon; the present inscription appears to be a dedication to the father of his classmate.

•  Publisher's brown straight-grained cloth, covers framed in blind roll, front cover with gilt-stamped title; minor wear to extremities, back cover with small light spots. Pages very faintly age-toned with occasional spots of light foxing. A nice little book with nice provenance.  (35366)

He Wrote Beautiful Latin & He Found Protection in the Vatican

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•  First edition of Muret's classical commentaries to include the Hymni. The Variae, first published complete in 15 books in 1580, include excerpts from and explanations of both Greek and Latin texts, especially Cicero. A separate title-page introduces the Hymni (verses recited on specific holy days), followed by poems about illustrious contemporaries of Muret's — e.g., Raphael — and an index to the previous 15 books.

The French humanist Muret (1526–85) has long been recognized as the best Latin prose stylist of the Renaissance, and his works were used as a model for students. Greatly admired for his excellent understanding and interpretation of classical texts, he was dubbed “le meilleur orateur du temps” in Italy and France by Montaigne, whom he tutored; and Scaliger mused that Muret “satirised the Ciceronians and at the same time expressed himself in a thoroughly Ciceronian style.” LIke most of Muret's published work, these Variae are based on his academic lectures; however the scholar Lambinus accused Muret of plagiarism, and indeed it seems Muret “borrowed” bits from his work without permission. (In retaliation, Lambinus published their personal correspondence.)

Muret's personal life was fraught with tribulation stemming from multiple accusations of homosexuality in various cities where he resided. From 1559 till his death, however, he lived in Rome under the protection of at least one cardinal and a pope.

The text is in Latin and Greek, printed in roman and italic, with decorative headpieces and floriated initials. A letterpress diagram on p. 547 shows the Greek alphabet corresponding to numerals.

Provenance:  John Saltar (19th-century adolescent's signature, front pastedown); Henry Johns Gibbons, Rittenhouse (Philadelphia), 1923 (signature, front fly-leaf verso).

•  Adams M1971. On Muret, see: Sandys, History of Classical Scholarship, II, pp. 148–52.   Contemporary vellum with evidence of four ties and trace of oval stamp to front cover center, ink title to spine and bottom edge; soiled, with worm to spine/ pastedowns, hinges (inside) cracked, textblock starting to loosen. Paper age-toned and foxed, with small holes from natural flaws on two leaves (and two others partially uncut); Hymni dampstained in lower inner portions (not horribly). A few early ink annotations present.  (30146)

Presentation Copy — Pickering Press

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•  First separate edition of antiquarian Nicolas' well-respected Chaucer biography, from the Pickering Press, researched using public records and with plenty of notes following the text. The volume opens with anengraved frontispiece of Chaucer by W.H. Worthington after H.L. Keens taken from from a manuscript of Hoccleve's poems in the Harleian Library, and bears Keynes' device no. v on the title-page. Nicolas, a prolific scholar, later edited six volumes of Chaucer in the Pickering Aldine Poets series in 1845 and 1852.

Provenance:  This is a presentation copy, with the inscription “The Lord Brougham [&] Vaux from the Author” in ink on a front endpaper, and with the Baron’s gilt monogram and coronet stamp appearing on the spine. The Edinburgh-born Henry Peter Brougham (1778–1868), described as “precociously talented” by the Oxford DNB, helped start the Edinburgh Review and the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, served as Lord Chancellor, and was the first Baron Brougham and Vaux. Most recently in the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.

•  Kelly, Checklist of Books Published by William Pickering, 1843.12; Keynes, Pickering, p. 82; NSTC 2N8249; Pickering & Chatto, William Pickering (catalogue 708), 214. On Nicolas & Brougham, see: Oxford DNB (online).   Half 19th-century polished calf and marbled paper, spine ruled in gilt with a gilt-stamped brown leather title-label and rolls in blind; gently rubbed, some leather faded or darkened. All edges speckled red. Light age-toning; one leaf with chipped edges. Provenance indicia as above with also at top left corner of inside front cover a good-sized paper label over another paper label, this bearing a large “Q”; a shelf mark? a particularly cryptic “bookplate”?  (39060)

“The Editor Flatters Himself that the Execution of this Reprint . . .
Will beSelf Recommended”

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•  Chiswick Press production of this enduringly popular romance, first printed in the 17th century and here illustrated with a frontispiece of Guy's statue “in the Chapel at Guy's Cliff” by S. Williams, a title-vignette of a woman sitting on a bower bench, and two pages showing his “armour, etc.”

Binding:  19th-century half brown morocco and papier tourniquet paper–covered sides, gilt lettering on spine with ruling in blind, covers with blind beaded roll along leather edges; French curl marbled endpapers, top edge gilt, green ribbon placemarker.

Provenance:  20th-century bookplate of the Sondley Reference Library of Asheville, NC, on front pastedown and its embossed stamps on frontispiece, title-page, and two leaves of text; clipping of a bookseller's description on endpaper. Most recently in the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.

•  Bound as above, gently rubbed. Moderate age-toning with light spotting, a few unevenly trimmed leaves of text and one missing corner from paper manufacture, foxing to first and last few leaves of volume. A strong and attractive copy of a book that's still a “good read.”  (38427)

“I Now Write Only to Those of the Learned Order”

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•  This first edition compilation contains Norris' “Reason and Religion;” “Reflections Upon the Conduct of Human Life;” “A sermon preach'd in the Abby Church of Bath;” “The charge of schism continued;” “Two treatises concerning the divine light,” a response to Quakers offended by an earlier publication; and “Spiritual counsel: or, the father's advice to his children,” a much softer piece written for his four children. Text also includes two advertisement leaves of “Books printed for S. Manship.”

The Rev. Norris (1657–1712), rector of Bemerton near Salisbury (“Sarum” as the title-page fashions it), was an Anglican divine, a poet, a Platonist, and a prominent disciple of Malebranche, and a noted opponent of Locke and critic of philosophical writings.

Provenance:  From the Ambrose Swasey Library (Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School) with library stamp on verso of title-page and bottom edge of text block.

•  Wing (rev. ed.). N1274; ESTC R32226; Smith, Bibliotheca Anti-Quakeriana, p. 340; on Norris, see: DNB (online).   Recent marbled paper–covered boards with gilt black leather label, new endpapers, all edges speckled red. Marked as above, light to moderate age-toning and occasional wormwork, almost completely in margins; one leaf with some paper torn away at foremargin. Avariety of pieces from a prolific theological writer.  (36098)

Illustrated Fables from the Chiswick Press

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•  AESOPIAN MORAL TALES, some in prose and some in verse, each illustrated with a headpiece vignette and decorative capital, and most bearing a tailpiece as well.  Theover 500 wood engravings were accomplished by a variety of hands (including William Harvey, one of Thomas Bewick's pupils) after designs by Harvey and by the author himself; they are attributed in indexes at the back of the volumes. The first volume is here in its stated second edition, following the first of the previous year, and the second volume in its first edition.

Provenance:  Front pastedowns with “Suivez raison” armorial bookplate of Robert Callwell, front free endpapers with “Spectemur agendo” armorial bookplate of Laurence A. Waldron, Dublin. Most recently in the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.

•  Ray, Illustrator and the Book in England, 55 & 56; NSTC 2N10328 & 2N10331.   Contemporary half green morocco with green pebbled cloth–covered sides, leather edges with gilt fillet, spines with gilt-stamped title and dates and blind-stamped compartments; spines slightly sunned and volumes showing light shelfwear. Bookplates as above. Pages gently age-toned, otherwise clean. A handsome set of a classic Aesop.  (40759)

Presentation Copy from the Illustrator — A Star-Studded Colophon

the Rowfant Club

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•  Assembled here are short biographies of members and honorary members, stories of various furnishings of the club house, episodes in the history of the club, and details of the club's library.

Limited to 315 copies, “[t]his book was printed at the Yellow Barn Press . . . during the summer of 1991. It has been set in 15 point Perpetua designed earlier this century by Eric Gill. . . . The paper is Rives. . . . The book was bound at the Campbell-Logan Bindery. . . . John DePol designed the pattern paper for the covers. Neil Shaver printed the book on a Vandercook III. Denise Brady folded and collated the edition” (colophon).

DePol also provided thenumerous wood engravings that enhance the text. This is copy 303.

Presentation copy from DePol: “For Morris Gelfand, old friend, with warm regards . . . John DePol December 3, 1991.” Gelfand was the proprietor of The Stone House Press.

•  Publisher's red cloth shelfback, boards covered with DePol's gray and white illustrated paper. A very nice copy.  (35832)

COLORFUL Engravings & (Sometimes!) “COLORFUL” Verses
(e.g., “I had a little husband . . . ”)

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•  Chapbook of poetry for children, illustrated with hand-colored wood engravings. In addition to the better-known nursery rhymes that have stayed in modern circulation, present here are some grimmer verses about carrion crows, penknives to the heart, little ducks shot through the head, etc., along with a separate section of longer “select pieces” including “The Blind Boy,” “The Beggar's Petition,” and “Winter Reflections.” Each plate offers a pair of images, for a total of 12 illustrations; both the cartoonish engravings and the very bright coloring are vigorously done.

Although the WorldCat entry for this undated edition suggests a publication ca. 1840, John Bysh's peak publishing dates (between 1810 and 1825) and the address given here — as well as the inscription (see below) — indicate an earlier printing. Only two U.S. institutions report holdings via WorldCat (Morgan Library, Princeton).

Provenance:  Frontispiece recto with inked ownership inscription of S.G. Rolls, dated 1828. Later in the children's book collection of Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.

•  This ed. not in Opie (see N 953 & N 954 for other Bysh eds.); not in Osborne Collection. 19th-century marbled paper–covered boards, housed in a dark purple cloth–covered clamshell case; binding rubbed, case with remnants of now-absent paper label on spine. Original printed paper wrappers bound in, front with upper and lower margins trimmed. Wrappers darkened and spotted, pages lightly age-toned with scattered small spots of foxing; last leaf with outer margin ragged and with lower portion torn away resulting in loss to the sentimental “Winter Reflections” of about eight lines on each side, neatly repaired some time ago with plain paper. Uncommon and intriguing, with more than a little by way of unexpected content. (40736)

TO Part VII

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