The volume is illustrated withfour copper-engraved plates, being a frontispiece showing two well-dressed children and their mamma discovering a lark's nest, a group of Africans attacked by a lion, the fashionable mamma plus all three children and their dog in a flowery arbor, and a final engraved advertisement for Darton's “maps, charts, & plans [and] extensive collections of books for the use of children and young people.” The first three plates are dated 1823. Darton first published the present work in 1818 and again in 1820; this third edition is, like the previous two, now uncommon.

Provenance:  Tipped-in engraved presentation leaf filled out to John Lewis Provoost by his friend Miss S. Lock of New York; front free endpaper with early pencilled inscription of Charlotte E. Marshall. Later in the children's book collection of Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.

•  For first ed., see Gumuchian 2589 & Osborne Collection, p. 708.   Contemporary marbled paper–covered boards with roan shelfback, spine with gilt-stamped title; sides a little scuffed, spine leather worn and cracked with head chipped. Hinges (inside) tender, sewing just starting to loosen; pages age-toned with offsetting from plates and a handful of spots of foxing, front pastedown withearly pencilled profile doodle.  (40791)

•  Medina, Mexico, 7957; Grajales & Burrus, Bibliografia guadalupana, 273; Palau 25095; Maggs, Bibl. Amer., I, 1141, and VI, 5899; Beristain, I, 141; Puttick & Simpson, Bibliotheca Mejicana, 167; Sutro, p. 33.   Contemporary acid-stained sheep (Valenciana style) with gilt spine, marbled endpapers and all edges red; fore-edge of rear cover gnawed upon by a rodent, but not too seriously. A clean, attractive copy of a book both widely and deeply interesting.  (36633)

“Gaudentio,” under persecution by the Inquisition, reveals his fantastic voyages and travels through Egypt and an imaginary African land. While constantly assuring the stern inquisitors of his staunch adherence to Catholicism, he gives elaborate, admiring descriptions of the government, religion, and customs of his African utopia, particularly its training and education of women.

Provenance:  Pastedown with contemporary bookplate of James Butler.

•  Evans 35183; ESTC W10142. Not in Parsons; not in Finotti; not in Bowe, List of Additions and Corrections . . . to Parsons.   Contemporary sheep, missing pieces of leather from front cover and top and bottom of spine; spine with nice old red leather gilt label and front cover reattached using Japanese long-fiber method. Silverfish or roach damages to front free endpaper, fly-leaf, and title-page (costing small, small portion of two letters); damage also to lower outer corners of early leaves and upper inner area of leaves to p. 10 of preface with none of this impairing the reader. Age-toned, some foxing, occasional brown spots; an “old book” of the classic sort.  (37157)

•  Darlow & Moule 4251.   Contemporary plain brown calf, rebacked, original spine retained, with modest ruling at cover edges, rubbed and abraded with offsetting to edges of first and last leaves from the leather; round, plain spine with five raised bands and no label, leather lost at top and bottom with rear joint opening and leather wanting to peel over spine generally. A little foxing with, in a few signatures, a bit more than that.A good, overall solid, and clean copy of a Bible having multiple points of significance.  (36853)

Binding:  Yellow spine paper over grey boards, the covers further supplied with deep rose-pink paper slip-on over-sheaths which, according to the artist, were constructed by “a specific type of folding in case you ever wanted to change the covers. They slip on andoff quite easily, nice and versatile and good for non-adhesive books.”

•  Fine, andone-of-a-kind. (40353)

Binding:  19th-century half brown morocco and brown and tan marbled paper–covered sides, signed binding done by R. David (gilt-stamped on lower front turn-in). Top edge gilt, other edges untrimmed.

•  Brooks 724; Brunet, I, 1037; Schweiger, II, 34.   Binding as above; joints and extremities rubbed, spine and corners more so. Bookplates as above. Endpapers with pencilled reference annotations, front fly-leaf with affixed slip as above. Pages very clean and crisp. A handsome copy with impressive provenance.  (40181)

There were subsequent editions in 1840, 1844, 1852, 1855, and 1860.

Some copies are reported on WorldCat as having only 255 pp., meaning they lack the leaves with the “Indice de dicciones anticuadas, licenias y contracciones poeticas contenidas en este volumen,” “reglas esenciales para los estudiantes del espanol,” “Tabla de las materias contenidas en este volumen,” and “Fe de erratas.”

•  Shoemaker 35095.   Quarter off-white linen with blue-green paper sides and paper spine label, in style of U.S. books of the 1820s. Light age-toning; brown stain in upper outer corner of last few leaves.  (38586)

Provenance:  Front free endpaper with early inscription in red pencil: “Gibson's [/] Queens [/] Oxon. [/] 1787[?].” Most recently in the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.

•  Biblos: Wing (rev.) B3632; ESTC R204258; Griffiths 45:3. Psalterion: Wing B2720A; ESTC R204259. Tes kaines diathekes: Darlow & Moule 4702; Wing B2733.   Bound as above, worn and showing expectable acid-pitting with edges, extremities, and spine rubbed; spine label cracked with loss of central portion of label. Endpapers with early inked annotations in Greek and English. A few leaves with light waterstaining in upper portions; one leaf with tear from outer margin into text, with loss of one letter; one leaf with short tear along paper flaw, without loss of text. Final work with early inked underlining; rear fly-leaf with a few jotted references in Greek. A scholar's copy of this nice example of early English Greek liturgical/scriptural printing.  (37826)

•  ESTC T115485.   Removed from a nonce volume. Very good.  (39078)

Searches of NUC Pre-1956 and WorldCat locate only three U.S. libraries reporting ownership (!!!).

•  Late 19th- or early 20th-century half dark blue morocco with marbled paper–covered sides, spine with raised bands and gilt-stamped title; extremities and edges showing minor rubbing, back cover scuffed. Wrapper edges browned. Pages with a scattering of tiny spots and faint smudges, one leaf with short tear from lower margin, overall clean andmore than pleasing.  (39412)

•  Howes H114 (for the first and several subsequent editions); Shoemaker 24513; Sabin 23987.   Contemporary acid-stained sheep, flat spine darkened and slightly pulled at top with vertically cracked leather reflecting a gutter opening at pp. 234–35; rubbing and abrasions, but volume firm. Title-page and last leaves with offsetting from a previous binding, one short marginal tear a little into text without loss, one leaf with paper flaw in upper margin taking the two page numerals; some foxing and light age-toning, with a small number of pencilled lines, ticks, etc. to margins indicating points of interest. A good++ copy.  (40899)

•  Publisher's quarter (wide) vellum and brown sueded cloth, front cover with gilt-stamped coat of arms, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label; covers slightly bowed, suede rubbed down to cloth along edges and in small spots on sides, vellum showing minor soiling. Pages faintly age-toned. Inscriptions as above; small piece of paper with inked annotations re. two Guadagnini instruments, laid in at the Joannes Baptista Guadagnini page. A useful and authoritative work in and of itself, with remarkable connections to three different prominent musical families.  (39715)

Provenance:  From the children's book collection of Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.

•  Binding as above, very lightly soiled, and interior with a few spots of light foxing only; a clean, lovely copy, apparentlyuntouched by childish hands (or only by awfully careful ones).  (40740)

•  Very good condition. With pencilledinscription to a child “from papa and mama, Dec. 25–1890,” at top of first page.  (38771)

Binding:  Publisher's brown cloth, gilt-and black-stamped.

•  A little spotting, a little shaken; a good++ copy.  (34001)

Provenance:  Signature on front fly-leaf of John Yeames (1 January 1846); related late 19th–century ownership note on front free endpaper; most recently in the children's book collection of Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.

•  Osborne Collection, p. 729; Gumuchian 3077.   Publisher's boards covered with green paper printed with intertwined vine pattern; paper rubbed, spine darkened with extremities chipped, front cover with small inkstain in upper inner corner. Inscriptions and booklabel as above. A few interior smudges. Without the publisher's ads at the end; good++. Lithographs very bright!  (38919)

Provenance:   With a partially removed armorial bookplate of the Bibliotheque de Rosny (the library ofDuchess Marie-Caroline de Bourbon-Sicile — King Henry the Fifth's mother) on front pastedown and two bookseller descriptions of the item in hand on binder's blanks; most recently in the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.

•  Rust-brown publisher's cloth with gilt spine lettering and gilt medallion to front board, in an edgeworn, lightly soiled dust jacket with significant portions torn away at spine, smaller losses at corners/edges and price-clip, and two small stains to rear panel. Binding clean, with extremities bumped. Purple monogram ownership stamp to front free endpaper, p. 83, and a leaf in the index; text otherwise clean with upper corners lightly creased across and a few leaves unopened. Good, in a good- dust jacket that appears in most instances to be lacking entirely.  (37601)

Binding:  Publisher's lime green cloth with a black and while collage-inspired paper label on each front cover; the pair housed in lime green cloth slipcase with black paper sides and paper labels on front and spine.

•  Chambers 70.   Bound as above, ink on pastedowns somewhat tacky with some offsetting, one leaf attached to pastedown with partial tear to fold; light to moderate age-toning affecting Japanese paper, otherwise bright and clean. Definitely an engaging piece of art.  (37197)

•  Keynes, William Pickering (rev. ed.), p. 94; Kelly, Checklist of Books Published by William Pickering, 1836.17; Ing, Charles Whittingham, 13; Horne, The Compleat Angler 1653–1967, 43.   Bindings as above, spines gently sunned; front free endpapers stamped “Bartlett & Co, Boston” in upper outer corners. Occasional minor foxing/spotting; vol. II with mild waterstaining to lower outer portions, more pronounced to first few leaves and later ones. An enduring classic, in a beautiful set. (40961)