
THE ESTIENNES
[
]
Brunet: “Belle Édition” — Sole Italian Estienne — Tall Copy
Alamanni, Luigi. La coltivatione di Luigi Alamanni al christianissimo re Francesco Primo. Parigi: Ruberto Stephano, 1546. 8vo (20.8 cm, 8.2"). [2], 154, [2] ff.
$1875.00
Click the images for enlargements.
First edition of Alamanni’s “famous didactic poem on the care of fields and gardens” (Schreiber, Estiennes), inspired by Virgil’s Georgics. The author was a Florentine-born humanist, poet, and diplomat who spent much of his life in the service of Francis I and Henry II of France, and who — possibly as a peace offering for having once participated in a conspiracy against her father — dedicated the present work to the Dauphine, Catherine de’ Medici.
Set in Simon de Colines’s Great Primer Chancery Italic, this poetic tribute to agriculture is
the only work Estienne printed in Italian. Schreiber notes that the tallest copy he had seen measured 8 1/4", with the current example coming very close to that; the dedication, errata, and privilege are all present here.
Provenance: Front pastedown with bookplates of Fratelli Salimbeni (with shelving number) and of “G.P.C.” (with woodcut image of Pegasus and motto “Nec adversa retorquent”); front fly-leaf with early inked annotation “H.III.161" and lined-through (still partially legible) inscription “Bibliotheque Vallicellane”; title-page with early inked inscription “Petri Salvati - V.” surrounding printer’s vignette, and obscured inscription in lower portion. Later in the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.
Adams A409; Brunet, I, 125; Renouard, Estienne, 68:22; Schreiber, Estiennes, 88. Later vellum, spine with gilt-stamped red leather title-label and gilt-stamped blue leather publication label; vellum with minimal dust-soiling and traces of wear to extremities, two bottom-most spine compartments with later replacement (blank) vellum “labels,” one now starting to peel slightly. All edges stained blue. Bookplates and inscriptions as above; front free endpaper with later pencilled annotations (one giving incorrect Adams reference). One early inked marginal annotation. Pages gently age-toned, with intermittent minor foxing to margins; final leaf with small paper flaws in lower margin.
An attractive copy of an interesting and significant volume. (37916)

Early Editions of the FIRST Children's Books
White Knights Library Copies
Baïf, Lazare de; Charles Estienne, ed. De Vasculis libellus, adulescentulorum causa ex Bayfio decerptus, addita vulgari latinarum vocum interpretatione. Parisiis: Ex officina R. Stephani, 1536. 8vo (17.4 cm, 6.9"). 56, [8] pp. [bound with their] De Re vestiaria libellus, ex Bayfio excerptus: Addita vulgaris linguae interpretatione, in adulescentulorum gratiam atq; utilitatem. Parisiis: Ex officina Rob. Stephani, 1536. 8vo. 68, [10] pp. (final blank lacking).
[SOLD]
Click the images for enlargements.
Early editions of the first two volumes in a series of books considered “the first books produced specifically for the entertainment (unlike school-books) as well as the edification of a juvenile readership,” here focusing on Roman antiquities, including dress, textiles, color, containers, and dishware, among other things. Charles Estienne compiled the series using Baïf's earlier scholarly works while tutoring Jean Antione, the humanist's son. The texts are neatly printed in single columns using roman type with the occasional phrase in italic or Greek; printer's device Schreiber no. 4 appears on both title-pages. Almost certainly first printed by Robert Estienne in 1535 (another edition of De Re vestiaria was also printed by Girault that year), both works proved popular and went through several editions in the 16th century.
Provenance: Ink signature of Hannah Hall on front free endpaper above an inked ownership inscription reading “Duke of Marlborough's White Knights Library 1819"; Duke George Spencer-Churchill (1766–1840) was a noted book collector. Most recently in the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.
De Vasculis: Adams B54; Renouard, Estienne, 44:21; Schreiber, Estiennes, 51 (1535 ed.). De Re: Adams B43; Renouard, Estienne, 44:20; Schreiber, Estiennes, 50 (1535 ed., also the source of the quotation above). 19th-century brown polished calf, spine lettered and ruled in gilt with compartments stamped in blind, covers framed in single gilt fillet around a tulip roll in blind, board edges with gilt dashes, turn-ins ruled in gilt, all edges speckled brown; gently rubbed with a few stains, corners bowing inwards. Very light waterstaining across some corner-tips and barely noticeable pin-sized wormholes/tracks to most leaves; three leaves with small spots and one with an imperfect corner (probably from manufacture); final blank (only) lacking as above. Provenance indicia as above, a few leaves gently creased along corners.
Early examples of a landmark series in children's book production, from a famous press and a famous library. (39463)

Editio Princeps — Reconstructing the Pre-Socratic Philosophers
Empedocles, et al. [Two lines in Greek, transliterated as] Poiesis philosophos. Poesis philosophica, vel saltem, Reliquiae poesis philosophicae, Empedoclis, Parmenidis, Xenophanis, Cleanthis, Timonis, Epicharmi. Adiuncta sunt Orphei illius carmina qui à suis appellatus fuit ho theologos. Item, Heracliti et Democriti loci quidam, & eorum epistolae. [Geneva]: Excudebat Henr. Stephanus, 1573. 8vo (17.1 cm; 6.75"). 222, [2 (blank)] pp.
[SOLD]
Click the images for enlargements.
First edition of the first published collection of these early Greek philosophical writings, the whole
edited by Henri Estienne and from the Estienne press: An important Humanist gathering of surviving fragments from Empedocles, Parmenides, Xenophon, Cleanthes, Timon of Phlius, Epicharmus, and others, along with the letters of Heraclitus and Democritus — with an emphasis on the aesthetics of their work. The preface is in both Latin and Greek, and the Latin notes are by Joseph Justus Scaliger.
Schreiber calls this uncommon work “a volume of major importance to the history of Western thought, which rightly belongs on the same shelf with the first editions of Plato and Aristotle.”
Provenance: Armorial bookplate of Charles W.G. Howard on front pastedown with typed note that the volume was a gift of Sir David Dundas of Ochtertyre in 1877. Dundas (1799–1877) was a politician who also served as a trustee of the British Museum from 1861 to 1867 (DNB online).
Renouard, Estienne, p. 140, no. 8; Adams P-1682; Schreiber, Estiennes, 187; Brunet, II, 1080; Schweiger, I, 104. Bound in 19th-century red straight-grained morocco with raised band, spine lettered and ruled in gilt, covers single-ruled in gilt, turn-ins with a gilt roll of a Greek key pattern, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt; spine faded and rubbed, a few spots on covers. Marked as above, light age-toning; light pencilling on endpapers.
A handsome copy of an influential, Estienne edition of Greek philosophy. (36156)

Catherine, the RUINER
Estienne, Henri; Théodore de Bèze; Jean de Serres, attributed authors. Discours merveilleux de la vie[,] actions & deportemens de Catherine de Medicis Royne mere; declarant tous les moyens qu'elle a tenus pour usurper le gouvernement du royaume de France & ruiner l'estat d'iceluy. No place: Selon la copie imprimée à Paris, 1649. 8vo (14.3 cm, 5.625"). 201, [1] pp.
$450.00
Click the images for enlargements.
A scandalous life of Catherine de Medici, expanded from a pamphlet titled Sympathie de la vie de Catherine et de Jésabel, avec l'antipathie de leur mort and here followed by a section titled “Exhortation a la paix, aux François Catholiques.” The pamphlet was first printed in 1574 and the extended version in the following year, with more than a few subsequent appearances in the 16th and 17th centuries. The present example is one of two editions printed in 1649; the other has only 138 pages (although the two contain similar content). Perhaps these 1649 editions were inspired by the overthrow of English King Charles I, and anxiety “around” monarchy?
The title-page here is decorated with a small printer's device of a snail, perhaps making haste slowly, and the text features shouldernotes for ease of use.
Evidence of Readership: A past reader has added a few paragraphs of commentary in French on the verso of the front endpaper as well as two marginal notes in pencil and one in ink.
Provenance: 19th-century “Ex libris Lebers” in ink on verso of front free endpaper. Most recently in the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.
Barbier 4030. 19th-century quarter brown morocco and brown, tan, and yellow marbled paper–covered boards, spine lettered and stamped in gilt, stormont marbled endpapers, all edges stained red; lightly rubbed with some loss of paper and leather. Provenance and readership markings as above, light age-toning with a few spots; a few leaves with waterstaining at corners, two short marginal tears, and one marginal repair. (38054)

On the Estiennes & Their Peers — Bound by Bernard Middleton
Greswell, William Parr. A view of the early Parisian Greek press; including the lives of the Stephani; notices of other contemporary Greek printers of Paris; and various particulars of the literary and ecclesiastical history of their times. Oxford: Pr. by S. Collingwood for D.A. Talboys, 1833. 8vo (23 cm, 9.1"). 2 vols. I: xix, [1], 412 pp. II: vii, [1], 413, [1] pp.
$750.00
Click the images for enlargements.
First edition of this account of the Estiennes and other important printers of their milieu, including much information on, excerpts from, and commentary on classical literature (many quotations being supplied in English translation in addition to the original languages) as well as details of political, cultural, and religious history of the time. The preface is signed by the Rev. William Parr Greswell, known as a scholar of Parisian typography, and the title-page attributes the editing to his son Edward Greswell. While Brunet was not wholly convinced regarding the Greswells' exactitude, he nevertheless concluded that this work made for an interesting read.
Bindings: 20th-century speckled calf framed and panelled 17th century–style in double blind fillets with blind-tooled corner fleurons, middle panels in plain calf, innermost panels framed with blind roll; spines with gilt-stamped leather title-labels, raised bands, and blind-tooled composite motifs in compartments
done by a modern master. Back pastedown of vol. I with pencilled note reading “Bound by Bernard Middleton [/] Feb. '62.”
Provenance: From the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.
Brunet, II, 1735; Lowndes, IV, 943; NSTC 2G21923. Bindings as above; joints and edges rubbed, spines evenly sunned, minor scuffing to sides. Front pastedown of vol. I with pencilled annotation of old purchase price. Page edges untrimmed; a few leaves in vol. II with very short tears from outer margins, not touching text; faint age-toning and intermittent instances of light spotting, mostly but not entirely in upper outer corners. Vol. I with one 20th-century pencilled marginal annotation, vol. II with one pencilled date correction.
A good example of 19th-century scholarship on printing and literary history, here in a lovely demonstration of 20th-century binding technique. (37968)

H. Estienne's Final
FOLIO Text
Greek, Latin, & Impressive
Isocrates. [two lines in Greek, then] Isocratis Orationes et epistolae cvm Latina interpretatione Hier. VVolfij, ab ipso postremùm regognita. Henr. Steph. in Isocratem Diatribæ VII: quarum van obseruationes Harpocrationis in eundem examinat. Gorgiae et Aristidis quædam, eiusdem cum Isocraticis argumenti. Guil. Cantero interprete. [Geneva]: Excudebat Henricus Stephanus, 1593. Folio.
[fleuron]4*6**4az6aamm6nn4;
AaLl6; AC6D4; ad
4a.4b.6 (-b.6, blank); [14] ff., 427, [1 (blank)], 131, [1 (blank)], xxxiiii pp., [1 (blank)], [4] ff., 31, [1 (blank)] pp., [9] ff. (without the final blank).
$2250.00
Click the images for enlargements.
Here is Henri Estienne's last major work and his final folio edition of any classical work. Schreiber considers it an “important edition” as did Dibdin. The text is Hieronymous Wolf's first published in 1551 as revised by Estienne, who also supplied seven Diatribae (Dissertations). These latter are found on pp. 331 at the end of the volume.
The texts of the orations and “letters” of the great Athenian orator (436338 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)
For 16TH-CENTURY BOOKS,
& “REFORMATION,” click here.
For RELIGION, click here.
For BIBLES & TESTAMENTS, click here.
For CATHOLICA, click here.
For TRANSLATIONS, click here.
For COLLECTED PRESSES
& TYPOGRAPHY, click here.

Editio Princeps Estienne Printing
Justin, Martyr, Saint. [in Greek, romanized as] Tou hagiou Ioustinou philosophou kai martyros, Zēna kai Serēnō, Logos parainetikos pros HellēEx Officina Roberti Stephani nas. Pros Tryphōna Ioudaion dialogos. Apologia hyper Christianōn pros tēn Rhōmaiōn sygklēton [etc., i.e., Opera omnia] ... ex Bibliotheca Regia. Lutetiae: ex officina Roberti Stephani typographi Regii, Regiis typis, 1551. Median folio (34.5 cm, 13.5"). [4] ff., 311, [1] pp., [2] ff.
$2000.00
Click the images for enlargements.
The editio princeps, printed using the first font of the “grecs du roi” (i.e., Claude Garamond's “gros-romain” font of the “grecs du roi,” as per Mortimer), and based on the manuscripts in the French Royal Library. Schreiber notes that its publication resulted in a “sensation . . . among the learned [that was] still remembered . . . over 40 years later” by Henri Estienne and noted in the preface to his edition in 1592 of Pseudo-Justinus.
Adding to the wonderful Greek typography, Robert Estienne has enhanced his text with gorgeous woodcut foliated and grotesque Greek initials and harmonious headpieces. “The edition was complete and published by Charles Esteinne after Robert's final departure for Geneva” (Schreiber).
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)
All material © 2021
The
Philadelphia Rare Books
& Manuscripts Company,
LLC
 |
PRB&M/SessaBks |
 |
PLACE AN ORDER | E-MAIL US | GO (BACK) TO TOPIC/INTEREST
TABLE