As Prof. Emerita Frances W. Pritchett of Columbia University writes on her great website (http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00islamlinks/ikram/part2_12.html): “Of all the aspects of Akbar's life and reign, few have excited more interest than his attitude toward religion. . . . [H]e built the Ibadat Khana, the House of Worship, which he set apart for religious discussions. Every Friday after the congregational prayers, scholars, dervishes, theologians, and courtiers interested in religious affairs would assemble in the Ibadat Khana and discuss religious subjects in the royal presence.”

It was to these discussions/conversations/debates that Acquaviva was invited. The religions represented were many, the major participants including Muslims, Jews, Catholics, Hindus, Jains, and Zoroastrians.  After several months Acquaviva felt his contributions to the debates insufficient to justify continuing as part of the mission and left the task to fellow Jesuits. Returning to Goa his missionary work led him to the Hindu Kshatriyas of Salcette, south of Goa, which proved a fatal decision. Prior to his arrival, the Jesuits with the aid of Portuguese troops had destroyed some temples there; the Cuncolim Revolt of July, 1583, was partially a result of those actions and it was in the revolt that Acquaviva and the four companions alluded to in the title of this work were murdered.

The author of this biography was a major Jesuit historian of the Society's activity in Asia. He was the author of the monumental Istoria della Compagnia di Gesu (1650–1673) in 6 folio volumes, Della vita e dell'istituto di S. Ignatio, fondatore della Compagnia di Gesu (1650), L'Asia (1653), Il Giappone, parte seconda dell'Asia (1660), La Cina, terza parte dell'Asia (1663), L'Inghilterra, parte dell'Europa (1667), L'Italia, prima parte dell'Europa (1673), and biographies of Jesuits Vincenzo Caraffa (1651), Robert Bellarmine (1678), Stanislas Kostka (1678), Francis Borgia (1681), and Niccolo Zucchi (1682). Also of interest are his works on science: Della tensione e della pressione (1677), Del suono, dei tremori armonici, dell'udito (1679), and Del ghiaccio e della coagulatione (1682).

This is the second edition of Bartoli's account of Acquaviva and his mission, following the first of the previous year. Searches of NUC, WorldCat, and COPAC locate just two copies of the 1663 edition, both in the U.S., and similarly only two copies of the 1664 (one in Germany, one at Oxford).

•  DeBacker-Sommervogel, I, 975; Graesse, I, 303 (for first edition and other later editions but not knowing of this second).   Late 18th-century quarter vellum over light boards covered with green paper. Undeciphered 17th-century ownership inscription on title-page. Waterstaining, at times significant, at others barely visible. A sound copy with no worming or tears.  (35200)

Among the doctor's publications was an article on “The Accuracy of the Authorized Version of the Old Testament” (1911), including the Hebrew psalms.

Provenance:  Donated by Mrs. Betteridge to the seminary library, with institutional bookplate noting this on rear pastedown.

•  Recent black moiré silk, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label. Ex-library with bookplate on rear pastedown as above, pressure-stamp on title-page, call number in lower margin of second leaf; paper brittle, dust- or sometimes soot-soiled(?) at edges, and prone to chipping. Replete with scholia, this isa stunning testament to one scholar's study of the O.T.  (31077)

Cabanès (1862–1928) was a medical doctor, historian, and successful writer of a goodly number of works of fiction and history, with a subspecialty of historical medical mysteries. Carrington was a leading British publisher (“abroad”) of late-Victorian and Edwardian pornography/erotica for “bibliophiles,” much of it flagellatory; there have been significant essays on him and his works, butWikipedia provides one irresistible sentence: “Carrington went blind as a result of syphilis and the last few years of his life were spent in poverty as his mistress stole his valuable collection of rare books.”

The chapters in this publication are: A youthful indiscretion of Louis XIV, The fistula of a great king, The maladies of Louis XV, The semi-impotency of Louis XVI, The first pregnancy of Marie-Antoinette, Louis XVI in private life, One of the judges of Marie-Antoinette: the surgeon Souberbielle, What was Marat's disease, Talleyrand and the doctors, The accouchement of the empress Marie-Louise, The ancestors of Marshal Mac-Mahon, and Gambetta's eye.

Nicely printed, with title-page in black and red and text block issued untrimmed, this is a copy of the trade edition: There was a deluxe issue on Japan vellum limited to 30 copies.

Provenance:  “Virginia Pritchard Hilton-Green, my father's book.”

•  Publisher's blue cloth stamped in blind. Minor rubbing; small tear at base of front joint (outside). Inside clean.  (35372)

Provenance: Front cover gilt-stamped M.K./S.W.M./1828. Front fly-leaf with attractively inked presentation inscription in German, signed Sophie Wiedemann in Lobitz and dated 1828, above additional inscriptions dated 1879, 1886, and 1938, the latter in English; back fly-leaf with inked prayer in Wiedemann's hand, above a later inked prayer in English, dated 1984.

Binding:  Contemporary varnished red paper, covers framed in gilt roll, covers and spine with floral designs painted in shades of pink, green, and yellow., front cover with gilt-stamping as above. All edges gilt, and gauffered at corners and at the spine. Pastedowns of light blue and red paste-paper.

The binding is highly reminiscent of a “peasant” binding, but clearly is not one as these are generally understood: It is not vellum, not embossed; but yes, it is definitely handpainted and folk-art inspired. A variant.

•  Binding as above, edges and extremities rubbed, spine faded with paper chipped at joints, head, and foot, partially exposing binding structure, front joint cracked. Free endpapers lacking; fly-leaves with inscriptions as above. Sewing loosening, with some signatures slightly proud and others just starting to separate. A few instances of dried plant matter laid in, including three four-leaf clovers. Occasional spots of minor foxing; one small ink stain affecting two leaves but not obscuring text. Some corners bumped. A multi-generational heirloom devotional, still lovely, and a very appealing example of such.  (29894)

The title-page vignette, engraved by Henry Isidore Chevauchet after Durand, shows a gentleman expounding over a young lady's palm; in-text illustrations include an Indian goddess along with the expected diagrams of hands.

Provenance:  From the residue of the stock of the F. Thomas Heller bookselling firm (est. ca. 1928).

•  Caillet, Manuel bibliographique des sciences psychiques ou occultes, 3010.   Contemporary quarter green sheep with green and brown marbled paper–covered sides, spine with gilt-stamped title and bands; binding rubbed overall with sides scuffed, small areas of insect damage to lower front joint. Front free endpaper absent (no visible signs of excision). Light to moderate foxing. A solid and consultable copy of this notable work.  (39984)

In 1886 Andrew Duncan, a surgeon of the Bengal Army, received the Prize for this extended study of military, preventive, and tropical medicine with a focus on scurvy, typhus, cholera, yellow fever, dengue fever, smallpox, venereal disease, and malaria.

Binding:  Prize binding of the Army Medical School (housed in the Royal Victoria Hospital). Contemporary tan calf with black leather gilt label, round spine, raised bands, gilt and blind tooling on spine; modest gilt rolls and fillets to form border at perimeter of boards. Gilt supra libros on front board. Gilt-rolled turn-ins. Marbled endpapers and marbled edges.

Provenance:  Presentation leaf noting gift of this copy as a prize to A.E.H. Prince (of the Indian Medical Service) in the Department of Hygiene at the Army Medical School, Netley, signed by Col. J. Lane Notter, Professor of Military Hygiene, and dated 1896. Most recently in the residue of the stock of the F. Thomas Heller bookselling firm (est. ca. 1928).

Searches of NUC and WorldCat locate only five U.S. libraries (NIC, NNNAM, PPCP, PPiU-M, PCarlMH) reporting ownership.

•  Binding as above; front joint (outside) rubbed and starting in lower inch, small area at top of spine pulled with small loss of leather. Else a very nice copy; clean, sound, and withnotable provenance.  (39794)

•  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)

Also includes accounts of Ebenezer Pearson's action against Goodridge for damages for malicious prosecution.

•  Shaw & Shoemaker 48361; Cohen, Bibliography of Early American Law, 14017.   Stitched as issued, in plain pale green wrappers. Light soiling, stray areas of light foxing or staining. Very good.  (39251)

•  ESTC R9329; Wing (rev. ed.) J942A.   Quarter red morocco with French-swirl marbled paper sides and gilt spine lettering; binding signed (with small rubber-stamp on verso of front free endpaper) by the Macdonald Company of New York. Leather of the joints rubbed, soiling to the title-page. Very good condition.  (37986)

Both editions are reprintings of the London, Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1881 edition, which also is little held.

The work is printed in syllabic characters, with headings in English. The hymns are without the music.

•  None of the editions are listed in Banks; or Evans; or Newberry Library, Ayer Indians.   Publisher's green cloth, stamped in black; light discoloration of fore-edges of the closed volume. Very good.  (37012)

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)

•  Publisher's brown cloth, covers and spine with blind-stamped decorations and gilt-stamped vignettes; extremities rubbed, spine head chipped, gilt lightly rubbed. Ex–social club library: paper shelving label on spine, 19th-century bookplate, front free endpaper lacking, pressure-stamp on title-page, no other markings. Small crescent burn mark to upper margin of title-page, a very few small smudges elsewhere, otherwise clean.  (28291)

This is an uncommon edition: WorldCat does not find any institutional locations. There is apparently one copy of the same printing at the University of Essex, and the date given here is based on their assessment.

•  This edition not in NSTC.   Removed from a nonce volume; sewing loosening, with signatures starting to separate. Pages age-toned, with small area of waterstaining to upper outer margins; title-page with small spot of staining; plate mounted (some time ago), with three small spots of staining and some darkening around caption. A very readable copy of a striking and strikingly vivid morality tale.  (37200)

Provenance:  Front pastedown with bookplate of Francis John Breck, Jr., dated 10/29/72. Later in the library of Robert L. Sadoff, M.D., sans indicia.

•  Binding as above, spine and edges sunned to brown, joints opening from head and foot, edges rubbed. Endpapers with offsetting from turn-ins and front free one loosening; pages slightly age-toned. A handsome example of this enduring classic, with Mackenzie'slovely, lyrical illustration.  (39825)

The volume includes steel-engraved and heliotype plates, several of which have protective tissue, illustrating the interiors and exteriors of the campus. An article on Catharine Hopkins, a former Associate Principal of the seminary, is laid in, as well as an errata slip.

Binding:  Publisher's brown cloth with beveled boards; gilt lettering to spine and front board with college seal gilt to the latter.

•  Bound as above; boards mottled and rubbed, spine faded. Very light spots of foxing throughout, with a few spots on a handful of plates. A sound decent copy.  (37801)

Provenance:  19th-century signature of Richard H. Downing on verso of frontispice; most recently in the children's book collection of Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.

WorldCat locates only three U.S. libraries reporting ownership (Yale, Free Library of Philadelphia, AAS).

•  Shoemaker 2310; not in Welch; not in Rosenbach, Children's.   Buff printed paper covers; text block recased. Wrappers and text age-soiled and with stains; still, a (now) solid and appealing period piece.  (38923)

•  Publisher's half dark green leather and tan paper–covered sides, spine with gilt-stamped title and Grolier Club device, covers with stamped central medallions bearing device as above; spine sunned to brick-brown and with some darker streaks and discoloration, sides lightly scuffed, joints and extremities rubbed. Index (printed and issued as a separate insert, after the original publication) not present here. Scattered light spottings only. Externally somewhat worn, but a solid and enjoyable copy, witha gratifyingly apropos provenance and a Chiswick Bookshop (New York) bookmark iaid in.  (39562)

A total of 26 lettered copies were issued in the binding described above. In addition to beingsigned by Bradbury and Weist on the title-page, the present example is anout-of-series copy marked (in red ink, on the title-page) as the publisher's copy.

Evans notes that this is “the first folio volume, other than Laws, andthe largest work up to this time printed in the United States.” This was a subscription printing, and includes Benjamin Franklin's father and brother, among other dignitaries, in its list of names; the sheets came from several different presses, and thus “it has fallen out . . . that the Pages for a considerable way, are numbered over again” (p. 666). The title-page is printed in red and black. The binding featuresa very unusual 18th-century repair job: to reinforce the joints, an early hand stitched along either side of the front joint and part way down the back.

Provenance:  Title-page with inked ownership inscription of T. White, dated 1726, and with inked presentation inscription to Susanna White, dated 1782. Front pastedown with inked inscription of Timothy Badger, 1782; also with 19th-century institutional bookplate and presentation inscription.

•  Evans 2828; ESTC W30456; Sabin 104075; Streeter Sale 675.   Contemporary mottled sheep framed and panelled in blind fillets with corner fleurons, a blind roll around the central panel; small scuffs, extremities rubbed, joints cracked and fragile, with early sewn repairs as above. Front free endpaper partially separated. Inscriptions as above; preface with additional early inked inscription in upper margin and inked numeral in lower margin, a very slim “mag strip” in one gutter margin and no other institutional markings. Pages age-toned and offset with varying degrees of spotting and staining; some corners dog-eared. Three leaves each with short tear from upper margin, just touching text without loss; a few leaves crumpled without tearing. First portion of volume with intermittent early inked marginalia, one note partially shaved. A milestone of early American printing and an interesting copy.  (31011)