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

•  Adams H287; Brunet, III, 104; Hoffmann, Bibliographisches Lexicon der gesammten Literatur der Griechen, II, p. 203; Schweiger, I, 133. On Turnèbe, see: Renouard, Imprimeurs parisiens.   18th-century polished calf, spine with raised band and lettered in blind, covers framed in gilt double fillets, board edges with arabesque roll in blind, all edges speckled red; rubbed and scuffed, hinges/joints cracked but boards firmly attached, glue action to first and last few leaves. Light pencilling on endpapers. Light age-toning, small marginal worm tracks not affecting text; marginal waterstaining through perhaps a third of text, two untrimmed edges and a few instances of spotting, dust-soiling, or staining. Provenance and readership indications as above. A well-crafted textbook.  (38388)

Provenance:  Pasted in the top margin of Herodotus is a slip reading “Ex libris Joannis Adami Messerschmid 1770.” Later in the library of the Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School (properly deaccessioned).

Binding:  Recent full calf by Starr bindery, raised bands to spine accented with gilt rules, and a gilt green spine label; interesting but modest blind tooling on the covers in a 16th-century style.

Previous Binding:  Deteriorated but preserved in a separate blue cloth clamshell case: Boards covered in calf with a center gilt device accomplished with a single stamp used dos á dos Visible under the pastedowns and on the back of the preserved but incomplete spine covering are scraps of a medieval manuscript. Also visible on the front pastedown is a curious embossing, possibly intentional and possibly the impression of something once pressed long and hard between cover and text block.

•  Herodotus: Adams H395; VD16 H2507& G1079; Dibdin, Greek and Latin Classics, II, 19–20; Schweiger, I, 138; Graesse, III, 254. Thucydides: VD16 T1114; Adams T664; Graesse, VII, 148; Schoell, II, 166; Adams T664; Schweiger, I, 325; Dibdin, Greek and Latin Classics, II, 506.   Bound as above; text with occasional, generally light instances of soiling, staining, or spotting, this most notable at beginning (including Herodotus title-page) and at end of volume. Minor pinhole type worming in lower margin of both works (three or four very determined pests, who thankfully did not meander). A handsome and wide-margined copy.  (40952)

A search of WorldCat findsno holdings of this edition reported by U.S. institutions.

Provenance:  Title-page with early inked inscription reading “Carthusia Romanas” and with rubber-stamp of Carthusian monastery St. Hugh's, Parkminster.

•  Adams H1024; CNCE 22786. This ed. not in Brunet.   19th-century quarter tan sheep and marbled paper–covered sides, spine with gilt-stamped black leather title-label; rubbed, leather with spots of staining and small insect holes, hinges (inside) cracked but holding strongly. Title-page with inscription and stamp as above, and with additional indecipherable (19th-century?) rubber-stamp; a scattering of shouldernotes and text corrections inked in an early hand. One leaf with upper outer corner torn away, with loss of a few letters; one leaf with small burn holes in outer margin, touching one shouldernote; most leaves clean, with intermittent, widely varying foxing, some leaves browned. A sturdy, well-produced, and worthwhile volume NOT generally available. (41278)

Binding:  Early 19th-century speckled calf, spine compartments gilt-stamped and one with a gilt red leather label; covers with gilt double rules, board edges and turn-ins with gilt single rules, all edges gilt. Signed with stamp by Roger de Coverly, an apprentice of Zaehnsdorf. A very pretty “container” for some very un-pretty history.

Provenance: Armorial bookplate of the Marquess of Bute's Cardiff Castle on front pastedown; most recently in the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.

A rather uncommon edition, with searches of WorldCat, NUC, and COPAC revealing only one U.S. copy (Huntington Library).

•  ESTC S104240; STC 13845.   Bound as above, gentle rubbing, leather a little flaking, joints refurbished and covers solidly attached. Bookplate as above; title-page dust-soiled with one small inked word, a faded ownership signature, one small pencil mark. Light pencilling and some chipping to endpapers, general light to moderate age-toning with an occasional spot and some pages unevenly trimmed; one gathering with very light, limited waterstain to lower margin. An important work in an unusual edition and an attractive copy.  (37745)

On the bottom half is a signed receipt, in Spanish, dated Granada 8 May 1501, wherein Germán de Paris and Jacques acknowledge receiving the above mentioned payment.

•  The usual slash of cancellation (faintly visible above), indicating that this has been entered into the account books. Remnant of stiff paper at top of verso indicating it was once mounted in an album.  (19360)

The texts of the orations and “letters” of the great Athenian orator (436–338 B.C.) are printed in double-column format, with the Greek presented in exquisite Greek type in the inner columns and the Latin translation in roman type in the outer ones. A version of the famous Estienne printer's device graces the title-page.

•  Adams O219; Renouard (2nd ed.), Annales de l'imprimerie des Estienne, 155.1; Schreiber, Estienne, 225; Schweiger, Handbuch der classischen Bibliographie, I:181; Dibdin (4th ed.), An Introduction to . . . Greek and Latin Classics, II:126. 18th-century plain calf, recently rebacked; round spine, raised bands accented with gilt ruling. Gilt-tooled center devices in spine compartments. Two gilt-lettered spine labels. Title-page dust-soiled; a library's blind pressure-stamps; properly deaccessioned with no additional stamps. A covetable exemplar. (2129)

The text is in Greek, preface in Latin. The title-page gives the place and date of printing but the other imprint data is from the colophon. The headpiece, caption title, and initial on folio 1 areprinted in red; the initial and headpiece are the only woodcuts in the volume.

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

•  Adams J274; EDIT16 CNCE 32951.   18th-century vellum over pasteboards, slightly yapp edges; lower 1.5" of title-leaf excised removing “Veronae” and “MCXXXI” and missing paper very neatly replaced long ago. All edges blue. A little dust-soiling, notably to title-page, some leaves browned, occasionally a trivial stain, a marginal note or two in Greek. In fact, a nice, clean copy.  (40719)

The text is neatly printed in roman in single-column format with capital spaces with guide letters (unaccomplished) and marginal notes; the title-page contains the iconic Aldine device.

Provenance:  Early ink signature “Alexii Feni” on title-page; most recently in the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear of both the text and its clamshell housing.

•  Adams C1559; UCLA, Aldine Press: Catalogue of the Ahmanson-Murphy Collection (2001), 674; EDIT 16 CNCE 27775; Renouard, Alde, p. 186, 5; Goldsmid, Aldine Press at Venice, *546. On John Chrysostom, see: New Catholic Encyclopedia, VII, 1041–44.   16th-century limp vellum with title label on spine and evidence of ties; vellum wrinkled and stained, significant portions lacking on spine, edges of endpapers tattered with some paper loss and text block recently reattached. Housed in a maroon cloth clamshell with black leather labels. Light to moderate age-toning and staining with the occasional spot, several leaves with waterstaining to bottom corner or small marginal worm tracking; a handful of creased corners, a few examples of hurried paper manufacture, chipping to edges of first and last few leaves of text including title-page. Provenance marks as above, one early inked correction to a marginal note.  (38092)

Provenance:  18th-century bookplate of Beilby Thompson of Eserick (1742–99 ), who may famously be remembered for having gradually bought up and relocated the village of Eserick to move it away from his house. Later in the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.

Binding:  18th-century calf in a modified Cambridge-style binding. The covers' central panels, stained black and outlined in a filigree roll, are surrounded by a wide frame of tan calf; beyond that, at the boards' edges, is a 1.5" outer border of sprinkled calf. Blind-tooled rules and beading articulate the intersections, with black(?)-stamped devices accenting the tan compartments' corners, in the speckled section, and with the chains connecting those devices to the innermost panel being also (sometimes?) blackened. The round spine has raised bands accented by gilt rules above and below each band, and a gilt-stamped label with the author's name abbreviated.

•  Renouard, Estienne, 79/2; Adams J494; Hoffmann, Bibliographisches Lexicon der gesamten Literatur der Griechen, II, 502–503, & 648; Shaaber, Sixteenth-century Imprints, J111; Armstrong 138, 222; Mortimer, French, II, 335; Schreiber, Estienne, 107.   Bound as above, front board recently expertly reattached; endpapers chipped and front one with upper outer corner torn away. A very nice, very wide-margined copy.  (40074)

Evidence of Readership: This copy has interesting, early, but now somewhat faded marginalia in a red or sepia ink. The marginalia is scattered and is at times heavy, other times light; in some sections, it is non-existent.

•  VD16 T2056.   Full rich brown calf old style: Round spine with raised bands, accented in gilt rule; author and title lettered on cream-colored spine label; fillets in blind extending onto covers from each band to terminate in trefoils with blind double fillets beyond. Small rent in upper inner area of title-page with a very old and good repair on verso. Library name stamped on lower edge of closed book.  (24808)

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)

An elegant edition in Roman type, with historiated woodcut initials, including one of a bear chasing a boy and another of a very “busty” seraph.

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

Evidence of readership: Occasional early underlinings.

WorldCat locates only one U.S. library (University of Illinois) reporting ownership.

•  Pettegree & Walsby, French Books, 77263; Moreau, IV, 461.   20th-century grey paper boards; edges sprinkled red. Text clean, save for a few scattered spots on title-page and verso of last leaf; wanting final blank. Lower outer corner of one leaf torn away, just touching one letter, small paper flaw to outer blank margin of one leaf. A handsome Vascosan production. (40843)

The Historia general de las Indias (first published in 1552) is divided into two parts which stand on their own although clearly written as two parts of a whole. Part I is a history of events concerning the discovery and conquests of the New World exclusive of those involving Cortés. Part II is entirely dedicated to the telling of Cortés's role in the conquest of Mexico and subsequent discoveries.

In this Italian translation from the pen of Agostino di Cravaliz, López's “all-Cortés” volume stands as part III of the three-volume Historia, delle nuove Indie Occidentali, with parts I and II being translations of Cieza de Leon's Historia, over Cronica del gran regno del Peru and the previously mentioned part I of Gómara's Historia general de las Indias.

The text here is printed in italic type except the capitals, which are roman. The title-page is printed in roman and italic and has the woodcut printer's device.

•  Alden & Landis 564/25; Sabin 27741; Medina, BHA, 159n; Wagner, Spanish Southwest, 2v.   18th-century vellum over paste boards, soiled and a bit rubbed; red leather spine label, with a chip, and an old circular paper shelf-label. Title-page dust-soiled, mounted; small, narrow, oblong portion of blank area of title-page excised and filled in at an early time. Lacks folio 1 and final blank. Top margins closely trimmed, sometimes costing the running heads and folio numbers.  (25767)

The text here is printed in italic type except the capitals, which are roman. Leaves 292–96 containa brief study of Nahuatl and include lists of numbers, months, days, and years in that language.

Binding:  American signed binding by Coombs of Providence, R.I., for John Carter Brown (ca. 1865), with his binder's ticket. Full red morocco, round spine, raised bands; author, title, place and date of publication in gilt on spine; gilt roll on board edges; gilt inner dentelles. All edges gilt. Gilt supra-libros of John Carter Brown on front cover.

Provenance:  Ownership stamp of John Carter Brown on first leaf of preliminaries, supra-libros as above. On his death to his son John Nicholas Brown (1861–1900). On his death deeded to the John Carter Brown Library. Deaccessioned 2008.

•  Alden & Landis 560/28; Sabin 27739; Wagner, Spanish Southwest, 2t; Medina, BHA, 159n. This edition not in H. de León-Portilla, Tepuztlahcuilolli, but see 1692.   Binding as above. Lacks the title-leaf; (therefore) first leaf of preliminaries with a John Carter Brown's personal ownership stamp and his bookplate on front pastedown. Waterstaining, barely visible in many margins and lightly across text in last half. Four leaves with very old scribbling (pen trials?) in margins. A treasure with a distinguished provenance, presenting itself in the classic fashion of a 19th-century “collector's copy.”  (28914)