
GENERAL MISCELLANY
Aa-Al
Am-Az
Ba-Bos
Bibles1
Bibles2
Bibles3
Bot-Bz
Ca-Cd
Ce-Cl
Co-Cz
D
E F
Ga-Gl
Gm-Gz
Ha-Hd
He-Hz
I
J
K
La-Ld Le-Ln
Lo-Lz
Ma-Mb
Mc-Mi
Mj-Mz N-O
Pa-Pe Pf-Pn
Po-Pz Q-Rg
Rh-Rz
Sa-Sc
Sd-So
Sp-Sz
Ta-Ti
Tj-U V-Wa
Wb-Z
[
]
Not in BAV — An Americanum Nonetheless
Mocenigo, Andrea. ...Bellum cameracense. [colophon: Venetiis: per Bernardinum Venetum de Vitalibus, 1525. Small 8vo (15.3 cm; 6"). [188] ff.
$1750.00
Click the images for enlargements.
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 concerning
battles 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)
For 16TH-CENTURY BOOKS, click here.
For PRE-1820 AMERICANA,
click here.
MEXICO is one of our great specialties.
For our MEXICANA, click here.
For CARIBBEANA, click here.
For “EVIDENCE of READERSHIP,” click here.
For more of MILITARY/NAVAL interest, click here.
For Books with SPECIAL
PROVENANCE, click here.
This book also appears in the HISPANIC
MISCELLANY click here.

Uncommon Poem Dedicated to
Pope Julius III
Modesti, Publio Francesco. P. Francisci Modesti Saludeciensis canonici arimini. De opificio dei opusculum. Rimini (Impress. in Inclyta urbe Arimino): in Officina Erasmi Virginei, 1552 [Iulli. III. Pont. Max. Anno. III.]. 4to (19.4 cm; 7.625"). 16 ff.
$750.00
Click the images for enlargements.
Dominican writer and later Archbishop of Saludecio's unfinished rhyming poem and numerous other poems dedicated to Pope Julius III, here taken from the larger collection of miscellaneous works titled Publii Francisci Modesti Saludeciensis canonici Arimini Christiana pietas. Ejusdem, de Dei opificio sesquiliber. Ejusdem, urbis Arimini elogium. Ejusdem, Lucerna. Modesti (1471–1557) is perhaps best known for his history of Venice titled Venetias.
This poem celebrating the works of God in the Creation is written in dactylic hexameter and employs much classical vocabulary, while at the same time showing the influence of liturgical Latin — not an uncommon stylistic combination at that time. The text is printed in roman with guide letters and the pages are lightly ruled in red; the title-page displays Pope Julius III's coat of arms surrounded by a Latin epigram.
Provenance: Charles Spencer, Third Earl of Sunderland, lot 8539 in the Sunderland Library sale (1882). Embossed stamp of the Theological Institute of Connecticut on final leaf; deaccessioned to Pitts Theological Library at Emory; deaccessioned again 1998; later in the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.
Searches of COPAC, OCLC, and the NUC reveal
no U.S. libraries holding this fragment or the larger work.
EDIT16 CNCE 40108. Modern boards covered in a 16th-century leaf of Eusebius with text in Latin and Greek; gilt black leather spine label with misdate of 1521, new endpapers. Moderate age-toning with a handful of stains, provenance markings as above. (37825)
For 16TH-CENTURY BOOKS, click here.
For BOOKS IN ITALIAN, click here.
For CATHOLICA, click here.
For LITERATURE, click here.

“Early American” for THIS Sort of
Chess Book
Monroe, J. Science and art of chess. New York: Charles Scribner; London: Sampson Low, Son & Co., 1859. 12mo (19 cm; 7.5"). 281 pp., illus.
$450.00
Click the images for enlargements.
First edition, not a modern reprint. Designed for the beginner and novice, this was published during the early days of interest in the U.S. in chess as a social event. The first American chess congress was held in New York in 1857 and that certainly helped expand interest in the game. (Oddly, the founding of the first chess club in America did not come until 1877.)
Provenance: Ex-German Society of Pennsylvania Library, a German-American social organization.
Publisher's green cloth stamped in blind on covers and in gilt on spine (with a knight, bishop, and castle in addition to author and title); a little cocked and bottom edges worn. Front free endpaper separated and rear one chipped. Ex–social club library: call number on endpaper, rubber-stamp on title- and two other pages, no other markings. Clearly a book that was often read and consulted with some soiling and staining resultant; text not chipped though printed on inexpensive paper. (26923)
For more POST-1820 AMERICANA, click here.
For GAMES, PUZZLES, & SPORTS, click here.
For “GIFTABLES” mostly $150
& UNDER, click here.
Montelius, Oscar. Antiquités suédoises, arrangées et décrites .... Stockholm: P.A. Norstedt & Söner, 1873–75. 2 vols. in 1. 8vo (25.1 cm, 9.9"). [6], 80, [12], 182, [16] pp.; illus.
$300.00
First edition comprising both parts: French translation of Montelius’s Svenska fornsaker, an atlas of Swedish antiquities from the Stone Age through the Iron Age. The weapons, pots, jewelry, and other items are beautifully depicted in wood engravings by Karl Fredrik Lindberg, with accompanying descriptive text by Montelius, a prominent archeologist whose work on the chronological dating method known as seriation is reflected in the organization of the present volume.
Lipperheide, Katalog der Freiherrlich von Lipperheide’schen Kostumbibliothek, 285m. Contemporary quarter morocco with marbled paper–covered sides, spine with gilt-stamped title; joints and edges rubbed, joints cracked and leather chipped at spine extremities. Front free endpaper separated but present; front pastedown and free endpaper institutionally rubber-stamped. Pages clean.
Absorbing. (19549)

Gascon Tales & Anecdotes
Montfort, François Salvat, sieur de. Vasconiana, ou recueil des bons mots, des pensées les plus plaisantes, et des rencontres les plus vives des Gascons. Lyon: Antoine Boudet, 1708. 8vo (15.8 cm, 6.25"). [8], 482, [2] pp.
$400.00
Click the images for enlargements.
Compilation of wit and humor from the southwest of France, a region universally acclaimed for its douceur de vivre. This is one of two editions
of 1708 (the first year of the work's appearance), the other issued in Paris;
the collection was also issued under the title Gasconiana.
Barbier, Dictionnaire des ouvrages anonymes et pseudonymes,
915. Contemporary speckled sheep, spine gilt extra; overall rubbed,
front cover with small nick to upper edge and short tear from joint now repaired,
spine leather cracked with gilt rubbed yet still
very nice to look at. Front pastedown
with printed paper label (owner's name in blackletter) affixed, front free
endpaper excised. Intermittent light spotting and staining, some pages browned.
(26907)
For more 18TH-CENTURY BOOKS, click here.
For more BOOKS IN FRENCH, click here.
For more LITERATURE, click here.

A Popular Tragedy, from the Bodoni Press
(A Discrepancy in States, the AUTHOR's Fault??)
Monti, Vincenzo. Aristodemo, tragedea. Parma: Dalla Stamperia Reale, 1786. 4to (27.3 cm, 10.74"). Frontis., [10], 130, [2 (blank)] pp.
$950.00
Click the images for enlargements.
First edition: Striking Bodoni printing of a classically inspired tragedy, limited to 160 copies and presented
very handsomely in large type with wide margins. Written in 1784, the play premiered at the Ducal Theater of Parma in the same year of this first publication. Although Giani suggests that there was one printing of 136 pages and another of 132 (not affecting the text, and without any plausible reason as far as he could tell), neither Brooks nor de Lama makes such a distinction — the discrepancy may be related to the author's having made numerous textual corrections right up until the last minute, perhaps reflected in the two cancel leaves in this copy.
The dramatic copper-engraved frontispiece was done by Barbazza after Mazzoneschi.
Binding: 19th-century dark blue and tan floral pastepaper–covered boards, gilt-stamped red leather title-label on spine; all edges gilt.Provenance: Pastedown and front free endpaper with bookplates of Brian Douglas Stilwell and Robert Wayne Stilwell.
Brooks 312; De Lama, II, 40; Giani 31 (p. 92); Graesse, III, 592. Bound as above, corners and spine extremities rubbed not reducing handsome effect. Title-page with light offsetting from frontispiece and light smudges in outer margin; otherwise, scattered spots of light foxing and a few small stains, some leaves with faint creasing.
A clean and attractive copy. (40131)
For 18TH-CENTURY BOOKS, click here.
For BOOKS IN ITALIAN, click here.
For LITERATURE, click here.
For THEATER/THEATRE, click here.
For Books with SPECIAL
PROVENANCE, click here.
For COLLECTED PRESSES
& TYPOGRAPHY, click here.
For THE BODONI PRESS, click here.

Bodoni Press & Dedicated to NAPOLEON
Monti, Vincenzo. Il bardo della Selva Nera poema epico-lirico. Parte prima. Parma: Co' Tipi Bodoniani, 1806. 8vo (21.6 cm, 8.5"). [4], viii, [2], 100, [2] pp.
$525.00
Click the images for enlargements.
First Bodoni octavo printing of this epic verse extolling Napoleon's military accomplishments. The poet (1754–1828) changed his colors several times during the course of his career, at first lauding the pope in a number of works before renouncing that conviction in favor of temporarily supporting first the French Revolution and then Napoleon (who rewarded him with a professorship at the University of Pavia), and, later still, after Napoleon's downfall, switching his allegiance from the French to the Austrians. Here, drawing not only on Neoclassical tropes but also on Ossian for literary inspiration, Monti describes Napoleonic 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 published) in three forms: folio, quarto, and octavo, with the present octavo example
nicely displaying the press's typical restraint and grace. None of the three Bodoni editions are common; only two U.S. institutions report holding copies of this octavo format (UC-Berkeley, Southern Methodist).
Brooks 999; De Lama, II, 171; Giani 176 (p. 71); Graesse, IV, 592. 19th-century treed paper–covered sides with red morocco shelfback, spine with gilt-stamped title and decorative bands; small scuffs to sides, spine with small chip and extremities/edges rubbed with edges lightly sunned; front hinge (inside) opening across paper in part but volume strong. Front pastedown with traces of paper adhesions.
An unusual Bodoni item, with pleasingly wide margins. (40190)
For LITERATURE, click here.
For NAPOLEANA, click here.
For BOOKS IN ITALIAN, click here.
For more of MILITARY/NAVAL interest, click here.
For COLLECTED PRESSES & TYPOGRAPHY, click here.
For THE BODONI PRESS, click here.

Napoleonic Bodoni . . . QUARTO
[Monti, Vincenzo]. Il bardo della Selva Nera Poema epico-lirico. Parte prima. Parma: Co' Tipi Bodoniani, 1806. Large 4to (30.6 cm, 12.06"). [4], viii, [2], 127, [3] pp.
$600.00
Click the images for enlargements.
Impressive Bodoni quarto edition — the first in this format — of this epic lyric poem.
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, none of which are now common.
The unadorned text of the present version makes a still understated but real impact at this size.
Brooks 998; De Lama, II, 170; Giani 176 (p. 71). 19th-century brown calf–backed marbled paper–covered boards, spine tooled in gilt and blind with gilt-stamped coronet-surmounted coat of arms at foot (appears to incorporate the arms of Tobarra, Spain); moderate rubbing to spine, joints, and edges. Hinges (inside) with sections showing insect damage, but holding. Page edges uncut. A few instances of light foxing, confined to margins and less than might be expected.
An attractive example. (40189)
For BOOKS IN ITALIAN, click here.
For LITERATURE, click here.
For more of MILITARY/NAVAL interest, click here.
For COLLECTED PRESSES & TYPOGRAPHY, click here.
For THE BODONI PRESS, click here.
For NAPOLEANA, click here.
Conspiracy!
Montjoie, Christophe Félix Louis Ventre de la Touloubre, called Galart de. Histoire de la conjuration de Louis-Philippe-Joseph d’Orléans.... Paris, 1796. 3 vols. 8vo (25 cm, 8"). I: Frontis., [4], xvi, 304 pp. II: [2], 392 pp. III: [4], 304, 8 (index), 4 (contents) pp.
$650.00
First edition of this Royalist history, in which Montjoie attributes most of the responsibility for the French Revolution to the Duc d’Orléans, that “wicked prince,” who was allegedly aided by a group of Masonic conspirators.
Binding: Contemporary treed calf; spines with gilt-stamped decorative bands and compartment devices, and with gilt-stamped leather title and volume labels. Edges gilt-rolled. All page edges stained yellow.
Bindings a little rubbed over joints and extremities, with a few instances of pinhole-type worming to back cover of vol. I; upper and outer edges dust-soiled. Some instances of light foxing.
An attractive set. (11404)

Censuring Current Events in Verse
Moore, Francis [pseud.]. The age of intellect: Or clerical showfolk, and wonderful layfolk. A series of poetical epistles between Bob Blazon in town, and Jack Jingle in the country. London: Pr. for William Hone (by Plummer & Brewis), 1819. 12mo (18.4 cm, 7.25"). Frontis., [2], 172, [8 (index)] pp.
[SOLD]
Click the images for enlargements.
First edition of this comedic epistolary poem, “with notes critical, ethical, satirical, physiological, craniological, and astrological.” Sometimes attributed to Henry Andrews and sometimes to publisher William Hone himself, the work is satirically dedicated to Delaram, wife of the Persian ambassador (although she is herein named only as “the Fair Circassian”), and mocks figures including barmaids, surgeons, bishops, music composers, velocipede riders, “the proprietor of the automaton chess player,” and George IV himself. The
frontispiece by George Cruikshank appears here in its original uncolored state; the title-page is printed in red and black.
Provenance: From the library of Robert L. Sadoff, M.D., sans indicia.
Cohn, Cruikshank, 574; NSTC 2A12367. 19th-century three-quarter dark red morocco with red cloth–covered sides, spine with gilt-stamped title, author, and date, and top edges gilt; extremities lightly rubbed, spine slightly darkened and rubbed. Front fly-leaf with old slip of printed cataloguing (referring to a different copy) affixed; preliminary matter bound slightly out of order. Pages with edges untrimmed; intermittent minor foxing.
A fine instance of “English humor” in a solid, very decent copy. (41199)
For LITERATURE, click here.
For HUMOR, click here.
For INVENTIONS, click here.
For ENGLISH POLITICS, click here.

Irish Songs American Striped Cloth Binding
Moore, Thomas. Irish melodies and sacred songs. Boston: Re-printed by Munroe & Francis, 1849. 12mo (18.5 cm, 7.3"). [4], [ix]–xxxi, [5], 184 pp.
$250.00
Click the images for enlargements.
Later American edition of these celebrated Hibernian-themed lyrics from the author of “Lalla Rookh.” The front free endpaper bears a rather sweet early inked inscription: “For thee, A.E.” (with a small, difficult-to-decipher signature).
Signed binding: Publisher's striped cloth, predominantly seen in the 1840s and never common: Brown ripple-textured cloth thinly striped in light blue, covers each with blind-stamped frame and gilt-stamped harp and shamrock vignette, spine with gilt-stamped title and strapwork; front free endpaper with pressure-stamp of the Benjamin Bradley company. All edges gilt.
On binding cloth: Krupp, Bookcloth in England and America, 1823–50, Rip3. Binding as above, cocked, corners rubbed, spine extremities chipped, short stretch of insect damage in front joint; overall more attractive than these notes suggest. Front hinge (inside) tender. Pages gently age-toned; a few leaves of preface with light staining along inner margins.
A very popular work, here in an unusual and distinctive binding. (30344)
For POST-1820 AMERICANA,
click here.
For LITERATURE, click here.
For more of IRISH interest, click here.
For books in handsome PUBLISHER'S CLOTH, click here.
For Books with SPECIAL PROVENANCE, click here.

Lalla Rookh, the Irish Melodies, & More
Moore, Thomas. The poetical works of Thomas Moore including his melodies, ballads, etc. Paris: A. & W. Galignani, 1827. 8vo (23.3 cm, 9.1"). Frontis., [4], vi, [2], xxii, 383, [1] pp.
$200.00
Click the interior image for an enlargement.
First edition of this Parisian single-volume compilation of Moore's verse, with an engraved portrait of the author done by J.T. Wedgwood after Sieurac, and a biographical and critical sketch of Thomas Moore written by J.W. Lake. The volume opens, of course, with the beloved Lalla Rookh; and, though the publishers here were the Galignanis, it is noted on the back of the half-title that “Jules Didot, Senior,” was the actual printer.
Binding: Contemporary straight-grain black morocco, covers framed and panelled in gilt and blind, spine with gilt-stamped title and gilt-framed compartments, spine compartments blind-tooled in foliate designs, turn-ins with gilt double fillets. All edges gilt.
NCBEL, III, 264. Bound as above, edges and extremities with minor rubbing, bottom spine compartment with small crack, leather (only) starting at front joint (joint itself strong). Front pastedown with early inked ownership inscription. Moderate foxing, more pronounced to first and last few leaves; two pages with offsetting from dried plant matter laid in.
A lovely volume. (24906)
For more LITERATURE, click here.
For FINE, ATTRACTIVE, & INTERESTING
BINDINGS, click here .
For more of IRISH interest, click
here.
For more “GIFTABLES” mostly $150
& UNDER, click here.

Cheap Repository — Quirky Copy
[More, Hannah]. The pilgrims: An allegory. [London]: J. Evans & Son, [ca. 1820]. 8vo (17.2 cm, 6.75"). 16, 16 pp.
$200.00
Click the images for enlargements.
A parable of travellers, some of whom focus on “the things above” and others on “the things below.” Following the first piece are four additional brief “Cheap Repository” items, with a shared title-page — “Dan and Jane; or, Faith and Works,” “The Execution of Wild Robert; Being a Warning to All Parents,” and “The Gin-Shop; or, a Peep into a Prison.”
These are all complete, but jumbled together with pages curiously intermingled.Each title-page features a wood-engraved vignette. All six pieces are signed “Z,” for Hannah More, the creator of and primary contributor to the “Cheap Repository.”
Provenance: From the chapbook collection of American collector Albert A. Howard, sans indicia.
Removed from a nonce volume. Latter portion misbound as above. Slightly age-toned, with scattered mild foxing. Each title-page vignette with a few dark spots apparently resulting from printer's over-inking; an interesting copy. (41161)
For RELIGION, click here.
For CHAPBOOKS, click here.
For TEMPERANCE, click here.
For ANGLO-AMERICAN LAW, click here.

“No Plan, No Pattern Can We Trace” — Illustrated
(The Persuasive Power of Metaphor?)
[More, Hannah]. Turn the carpet; or, the two weavers: A new song, in a dialogue between Dick and John. London: Sold by J. Marshall, R. White, & S. Hazard, [1796]. 12mo (17.7 cm, 6.97"). [8] pp.; illus.
$200.00
Click the images for enlargements.
From the “Cheap Repository” series: Early, uncommon printing of this cheerful religious consolation in iambic tetrameter, signed “Z” (i.e., Hannah More). When one weaver grumbles about his hardships, the other turns the seemingly disordered threads of the unfinished carpet in their workshop into a metaphor for man's inability to comprehend the workings of the divine plan.
The ballad is here
illustrated with two handsome woodcuts: the title-page features a large vignette of Dick and John at their loom, and the final text page displays the patterned carpet itself.
Provenance: From the chapbook collection of American collector Albert A. Howard, sans indicia.
ESTC T052020. Disbound from a nonce volume, with early inked numeral in upper outer corner of title-page. Title-page foot with faint shadow of pencilled annotation; pages with very minor foxing. (41145)
For 18TH-CENTURY BOOKS, click here.
For RELIGION, click here.
For ILLUSTRATED BOOKS, click here.
For LITERATURE, click here.
For COMMERCE / TRADE /
FINANCE / ECONOMICS, click here.
For CARPETS, click here!

The More Things Change . . .
( . . . The More They Stay the Same). Report of the speeches delivered at the public meeting of the inhabitants of Edinburgh opposed to the government scheme of education, held in the Music Hall, on Wednesday evening the 31st March 1847. Edinburgh: Grant & Taylor, 1847. 8vo. 34 pp.
$90.00
Click the image for an enlargement.
Uncommon: Speeches objecting to “Government interference in the matter of education,” by Edward Baines, Jr., Bailie Duncan, the Rev. Andrew Thomson, the Rev. J.R. Campbell, Dr. Lindsay Alexander, Duncan McLaren, etc.
NSTC 2E4287. Removed from a nonce volume. Title-page with small inked numeral in upper outer corner. (17041)
For CHILDREN / EDUCATION, click here.
For SCOTLAND & SCOTS, click here.
Morford, Edward. Inquiry into the present state of foreign relations of the union, as affected by the late measures of the administration. Philadelphia: Samuel F. Bradford; New York: Brisban & Brannan; Boston: Williams Andrews, 1806. 8vo (23 cm, 9.1"). 183, [1 (blank)] pp.
$275.00
Click the image for an enlargement.
First edition: Detailed examination of our foreign policy toward Great Britain and its troubled nature, especially during the Napoleonic era. Jefferson kept a copy of this work, generally ascribed to Morford, in his personal library.
Shaw & Shoemaker 10615; Sabin 34815; Sowerby 3353. Stitched in original blue-green paper wrappers with spine paper entirely gone and front wrapper reinforced; front wrapper with stamps and pencilled notation. Variable foxing, some staining and soiling also. Ex-Franklin Institute with a few stamps (including to title-page). Uncut copy. (18652)

The Latest Views, from the Explorers Themselves
Morgan, Edward Delmar, & Clements R. Markham. Notes on the recent geography of Central Asia; from Russian sources. Progress of discovery on the coasts of new Guinea. London: John Murray, 1884. 8vo (24.5 cm, 9.625"). [6], [203]–337, [1] pp.; 1 fold. map.
$75.00
Click the images for enlargements.
“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,” the
large 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)
For VOYAGES, TRAVELS, & books on
“EXOTIC” PLACES, click here.
For CHINA, click here.
For PACIFICA, click here.
For Books with SPECIAL
PROVENANCE, click here.

First Edition Full of Facts & Fantasy
Mori, Ascanio de. Prima parte delle novelle di Ascanio De'Mori da Ceno. Mantova: Per Francesco Osanna, 1585. 4to (20.5 cm, 8"). [8], 139, [1] pp.
$3000.00
Click the images for enlargements.
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)
For 16TH-CENTURY BOOKS, click here.
For BOOKS IN ITALIAN, click here.
For LITERATURE, click here.
For BIOGRAPHIES, mostly 20th-Century
“General Reading” & Inexpensive, click here.
For Books with SPECIAL
PROVENANCE, click here.

Epic French Legends — Inscribed by the Author — Printed by Firmin Didot
Morice, Emile; Joseph Adolphe Ferdinand Langlé. L’historial du jongleur. Chroniques et légendes françaises. Paris: A la Librairie de Firmin Didot, 1829. 8vo (23 cm, 9"). [8], cxxxvii (i.e., ccxxxvii), [3], 64 pp.; illus.
$250.00
Click the images for enlargements.
Gothic-decorated collection of French legends, including the tales “Le Droit de Nopçage,” “Le Jugement de Dieu,” “La Cour de Jussienne,” “Le Voeu du Faisan,” and “Le Dict des Crieries et Encombrements de Paris.” Didot printed the title-page in red and black and embellished the text itself with “ornées d’initiales, vignettes, et fleurons imités des manuscrits originaux,” several of which are colored in blue, green, red, pink, silver, or
gold, or combinations thereof. Two of the stories open with illustrated borders, and another one has a full-page illustration preceding the text; notes follow the stories to help readers better understand the “antique” text.
Provenance: Author’s inked inscription “A mon bon ami, Amand Lemire [/] E. Morice” on front free endpaper. From the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.
Printed paper over boards imitating 16th-century strap-work and panelling on covers, with gilt lettering on otherwise plain spine and four gold dots at the corners of the covers’ inner panels; rubbed with some paper chipped, front upper corner and hinge cracked, front free endpaper reattached with paste and chipped at bottom. Light to moderate age-toning and foxing throughout; colors and illumination remarkably bright.
A pretty little thing with plenty of charm. (37895)
For BOOKS IN FRENCH, click here.
For ILLUSTRATED BOOKS, click here.
For LITERATURE, click here.
For COLLECTED PRESSES
& TYPOGRAPHY, click here.
For “GIFTABLES” mostly $150
& UNDER, click here.

“Sweet God, Souse Me in Literature!”
Morley, Christopher, ed. Ex libris. A small anthology, printed and bound (and sold) at the First National Book Fair sponsored by the New York Times and the National Association of Book Publishers. New York: New York Times, 1936. 12mo (20.2 cm, 7.95"). [64] pp.
[SOLD]
Click the images for enlargements.
Anthology of delightful quotations about books, bookselling, publishing, and reading. “This little scrapbook was put together during several rainy days, to be printed as a souvenir of the First National Book Fair in November 1936, a festival sponsored by the New York Times and the National Association of Book Publishers”; the passages, compiled by writer Christopher Morley (1890–1957), come from notables such as Aldous Huxley, Edgar Allan Poe, John Conrad, Pearl S. Buck, E.M. Forster, and many more.
Publisher's tan cloth, stamped in brown, terra cotta, and gilt, in clear light wrapper. Dust jacket lacking. Volume crisp, fresh, and clean. (40897)
For LITERATURE, click here.
For BOOKS ABOUT BOOKS, click here.
For more of PHILADELPHIA interest, click here.
For “GIFTABLES” mostly $150
& UNDER, click here.

“Words are Meant to be Clothed, Not Buried”
Morris, Henry. 11 items from the Bird & Bull Press. Newton, PA: Bird & Bull Press, [1978–98]. 11 items, varying sizes; illus.
$220.00
Click the image for an enlargement.
Eleven promotional pieces: prospectuses and other ephemera (including two sheets of printing-themed wrapping paper!) from the small Newtown, PA, press famed for its fine printing, particularly on the subjects of book arts and printing history. This collection of Bird & Bull items offers a nice overview of a variety of the press's favored fonts, illustration styles, and subject matters — and of proprietor Henry Morris's sense of humor as well.
The gathering comprises: Bibliophilic, Typographic and Politically Correct Bijoux. That's a wrap! [1996]. Nos. 2 & 3. [1] f. each. (folded); Chinese Handmade Paper. [1986]. [4] pp.; Chinese Decorated Papers. [1987]. [1] f.; The Etching of Figures. [1998]. [4] pp. (specimen laid into some copies of Dard Hunter & Son; this example including the mysterious “yellow image”); The First Fine Silver Coinage of the Republic of San Serriffe: The Bird & Bull Press Commemorative 100 Coronas. 1988. [4] pp.; Numismata typographica. [1992]. [1] f.; The Private Press-Man's Tale. [1990]. [1] f.; Swine Print. [1978]. [4] pp.; Three Early French Essays on Paper Marbling 1642–1765. [4] pp.; Trade Tokens of British and American Booksellers & Bookmakers. [1989]. [4] pp.
Items clean and unworn. Swine Print with crease from previous folding. An attractive, interesting gathering of uncommon ephemera. (31235)
For more COMMERCE / TRADE /
FINANCE / ECONOMICS, click here.
For COLLECTED PRESSES
& TYPOGRAPHY, click here.

“Guilford & Green May Be
Strange Bedfellows”
Morris, Henry. Guilford & Green. [North Hills, PA: Bird & Bull Press, 1970]. 8vo (24.5 cm; 9.625"). [1] f., 88 pp., [2] ff. (two leaves not counted in pagination), 4 facsims. tipped-in (part fold.), illus, port.
$300.00
Click the images for enlargements.
A curious and complicated volume. It is divided into two parts, each independent in almost every way of the other and each with a very formal sectional title: Part 1: A visit to
Hayle Mill [an English firm making fine artists' papers from 1808 to 1987], written from notes made during a visit to J. Barcham Green, limited, by H. Morris; part 2: Dear friend at home; letters written by Nathan Guilford on a journey to Kentucky [where he meant to establish a law practice] in 1814, with an introduction by W. Bell, Jr. The over-all title of this work is taken from the half-title-like leaf preceding the sectional title of part I; part I includes correspondence with
William Morris.
The production was limited to 210 copies, printed using Baskerville types. Part 1 is printed on Jack B. “Green's hand made Royal, and 'Hayle Mill' is printed on hand made 'Bird & Bull Royal” paper. Contained in a pocket of the dust wrappers is a sample of “the paper originally made for covering the sides of the book [but which] was found unsuitable.”
This is copy 152.
Publisher's quarter cranberry-colored calf with decorated paper over the boards, in a cream-colored paper wrapper. A fine copy. (30522)
For PRE-1820 AMERICANA click here
and/or
POST-1820 AMERICANA click here.
For more ILLUSTRATED BOOKS, click here.
For more COMMERCE / TRADE /
FINANCE / ECONOMICS, click here.
For ANGLO-AMERICAN LAW, click here!
For COLLECTED PRESSES
& TYPOGRAPHY, click here.

All About Bath — With Maps — Including Its
Plants, Birds, & Insects
Morris, J[oseph] W[illiam], ed. Handbook to Bath prepared on the occasion of the visit of the British Association, 1888. Bath: Isaac Pitman Sons, [1888]. 8vo (18.3 cm, 7.2"). vi, [3], 264, [4] pp.; 2 fold. maps (1 col.).
[SOLD]
Click the images for enlargements.
Sole edition: “Presenting concisely and readily . . . the continuous history of an ancient borough rich in monumental evidence of varying fortune in changing times, and illustrating in that history the revolutions of race, the changes of manners, the progress of society, in no ordinary degree” (p. iii). The work
opens with a tipped-in, black and white folding map of the country around Bath, and closes with a larger, color-printed geological map done by Horace B. Woodward (the latter map contained in a pocket on the back pastedown). One chapter covers the botanical attractions of the area, including a selection of interesting local plants (using scientific terminology and giving brief notes on the locations where they were observed), while another lists the rarer birds and insects to be found.
The “British Association” that visited Bath in 1888 was the British Association for the Advancement of Science.
Few U.S. institutions report holding physical copies of this work: WorldCat finds only eight American locations.
Publisher's pebbled blue cloth–covered limp boards, front cover with gilt-stamped title; spine cloth slightly darkened and bubbled, extremities rubbed. Pages and color map slightly age-toned, minor offsetting to upper and inner margins of first few leaves (around tipped-in map), overall internally clean.
A nice copy of an interesting work. (40375)
For VOYAGES, TRAVELS, & books on
“EXOTIC” PLACES, click here.
For NATURAL HISTORY, click here.
For another BIRD book or two, click here.
For MEDICINE, click here.
For an ARCHAEOLOGY “Shelf,” click here.
For “GIFTABLES” mostly $150
& UNDER, click here.

Court of Chancery Reports for
Dublin
Moseley, William. Reports of cases argued and determined in the High Court of Chancery, during the time of the late Lord Chancellor King. Dublin: Pr. by Oli. Nelson for the administratrix of the author, 1744. Folio (32.2 cm, 12.7"). [10], 442 pp.
$750.00
Click the images for enlargements.
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)
For 18TH-CENTURY BOOKS, click here.
For ANGLO-AMERICAN LAW, click here.
For more of IRISH interest, click here.
For “EVIDENCE of READERSHIP,” click here.
For Books with SPECIAL PROVENANCE, click here.

Ancient Days
FORWARD
Moulin, Gabriel, du. Histoire generale de Normandie. Contenant les choses memorables aduenuës depuis les premieres courses des Normands payens, tant en France qu'aux autres pays, de ceus qui s'emperent du pays de Neustrie sous Charles le Simple. Avec l'histoire de leurs ducs, leur genealogie, & leurs conquestes, tant en France, Italie, Angleterre, qu'en Orient, iusques a la reünion de la Normandie à la couronne de France. A Rouen: Iean Osmont, 1631. Folio. [6] ff., 56 pp., [1] f., 564, 52 pp., [22] ff.
$1750.00
Click the interior images for enlargements.
First edition of this sought-after history of Normandy. Preliminary leaves include a dedication; publication statement; a sonnet, epigrams, and an ode to the history of Normandy; “Discours de la Normandie” (35 pp.); “De l'ancienne Normandie” (35–56 pp.); and a genealogy of the Dukes of Normandy. Rear matter includes an index (22 ff.) and a list (52 pp.) of the Lords of Normandy and other French provinces who took part in the conquest of Jerusalem under Robert Courte-heuze, Duke of Normandy, and Godefroy du Buillon, Duke of Lorraine.
An early owner has mounted on the title-page an armorial plate bearing an image of the two leopards of Normandy on a shield superimposed by a crown, the whole flanked by attendants holding long branches (palms? laurels?) in one hand and the shield in the other.
Handsomely decorated with engraved initials and tailpieces.
Brunet 24296. Recent deep walnut full calf old style, by Grace Bindings (signed in blind at inner area of rear cover, lower turn-in); round spine with raised bands accented in gilt and with blind-tooled devices in compartments, oxblood leather gilt-lettered title-label, blind fillets extending onto covers from each band to terminate in trefoils and covers framed in double blind fillets. Ex–Mercantile Library of Philadelphia with stamps, mostly faint, including to title-page; title-page re-margined along top and inner edge with an interior hole filled also (no words affected). Title-page with early inked ownership initials; a few other instances of early inked notations within text. Some leaves chipped, others mildly to moderately waterstained; we have chosen to show pages bearing more waterstains rather than fewer.
Armorial device mounted to title-page, as noted; we cannot be sure what this covers, but it is elegant! (21215)

The END TIMES, According to Muggleton
Muggleton, Lodowick. A true interpretation of the eleventh chapter of the Revelation of St. John, and other texts in that book; as also many other places of Scripture. London: Pr. for the author, 1662. 4to (18.9 cm, 7.4"). [16], 172, [2 (blank)] pp.
$2400.00
Click the images for enlargements.
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 17TH-CENTURY BOOKS, click here.
For RELIGION, click here.
For CATHOLICA, click here.
For WING BOOKS, click here.
For Books with SPECIAL PROVENANCE, click here.
For more of MUGGLETONIAN interest specifically, click here.
For a “shelf” dedicated to the FRIENDS/QUAKERS, click here.
Muhlenberg, Henry Melchior. Erbauliche Lieder-Sammlung zum gottesdienstlichen Gebrauch in den Vereinigten Evangelisch-Lutherischen Gemeinen in Pennsylvanien und den benachbarten Staaten.... Germantaun: Michael Billmeyer, 1803. (17 cm, 6.6"). Frontis., [12], 602, [8 (index)] pp. [bound with] Helmuth, Justus Henry Christian. Kurze Andachten einer Gottsuchenden Seele, auf alle Tage der Woche und andere Umstande eingerichtet. Germantaun: Michael Billmeyer, 1803. 28 pp. [and] Evangelical Lutheran Ministerium of Pennsylvania and the Adjacent States. Anhang zu dem Gesangbuch der Vereinigten Evangelisch-Lutherischen Gemeinen in Nord-America. Germantaun: Michael Billmeyer, 1803. 80 pp.
$375.00
Click the righthand image for an enlargement.
Third edition, following the first of 1786, of this German-American collection of Lutheran hymns, meant for use in Pennsylvania and surrounding states. Printed in black-letter, the volume has a woodcut frontispiece portrait of Martin Luther, done by F. Reiche; it includes only the hymns’ texts, without music. As often, the Hymnal is here accompanied by two other Lutheran devotional works printed by Billmeyer in 1803; the Anhang zu dem Gesangbuch is here in its first edition and the prayerbook Kurze Andachten in its third.
Shaw & Shoemaker 4172; Goedeke, Grundriss zur Geschichte der deutschen Dichtung aus den Quellen, 572; Arndt, First Century of German Language Printing in the United States of America, 1337. Andachten: Shaw & Shoemaker 4360; Arndt 1338. Anhang: Shaw & Shoemaker 4171; Arndt 1334. Contemporary sheep, spine with later and sympathetic gilt-stamped title and author labels, binding with brass and leather clasps (intact); leather rubbed and some chipped away with joints open though holding, and spine leather showing some cracking. Front pastedown, free endpaper, and fly-leaf with early inked ownership inscriptions; back pastedown with later pencilled notation; front free endpaper separated and back free endpaper lacking. Pages age-toned and spotted (as usual in German imprints of this period); some corners dog-eared. One leaf with portion of outer margin torn away, with loss of a few words. Condition actually rather typical, for this sort of volume! (18243)
For more PRE-1820 AMERICANA,
click here.
For more GERMAN AMERICANA, click here.
For more RELIGION, click here.
For more HYMNALS, click here.

Inscribed by the Founder of the
U.S. Church School Movement
Mühlenberg, William Augustus. I would not live alway, and other pieces in verse by the same author. New York: Robert Craighead, 1860 (© 1859). 12mo (18.9 cm, 7.4"). 66, [2] pp.
$100.00
Click the images for enlargements.
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 at
the 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)
For RELIGION, click here.
For LITERATURE, click here.
For Books with SPECIAL PROVENANCE, click here.
For more of PHILADELPHIA interest, click here.
For “GIFTABLES” mostly $150
& UNDER, click here.

Managing the WAR against the PLAGUE
Muratori, Lodovico Antonio. Del governo della peste, e delle maniere di guardarsene ... Diviso in politico, medico, & ecclesiastico. Da conservarsi, & aversi pronto per le occasioni, che Dio tenga sempre lontane; ed in questa seconda edizione accresciuto dall' autore con nuove aggiunte poste in fine del libro. Torino: Pietro Giuseppe Zappata, 1721. 4to (22.4 cm, 8.82"). xxviii, 383, [3] pp.
$450.00
Click the images for enlargements.
Marking an evolution in 18th-century thought on public health, this treatise — written by a non-physician — covers approaches to physical, spiritual, and civic well-being in times of
bubonic plague. A priest active in parish ministry, librarian to the Duke of Modena, and eminent scholar in many fields, the author (1672–1750) here addresses Italian law and politics regarding the handling of the disease, as well as the medical and religious procedures to be followed.
This is the uncommon
expanded third edition, following the first of 1710 and the second of 1714. While the printing is workmanlike, the text is ornamented with several large woodcut tailpieces and decorative capitals, and the title-page bears
the phoenix printer's vignette of Baptista Zappata.
Provenance: Front and back pastedowns with 19th-century inked name-doodling by Ruffane (“Ruffa”) Louis Michele, one inscription dated 1813; blank page at end of dedication with early inked inscription noting presence at the library of the Cappuccini di Ceva convent, lower margins of two text pages with “De Capuccini di Ceva” inked in early hand; lower margin of one page with early inked inscription “Camillo da Andoino.” Later from the residue of the stock of the F. Thomas Heller bookselling firm (est. ca. 1928).
Blake, NLM 18th Century, p. 316. Contemporary mottled sheep, spine with gilt-stamped leather label reading “MVR” and gilt-stamped decorations between raised bands; leather scuffed, front joint starting from head, spine with areas of insect damage, front board bent some time ago and now slightly sprung. Front free endpaper lacking; inscriptions as above, title-page with inked-over inscriptions. A few leaves with spots of light waterstaining to upper outer corners or outer margins.
A solid, very readable copy of this often-referenced work on public disease control, with interesting provenance. (40682)
For 18TH-CENTURY BOOKS, click here.
For BOOKS IN ITALIAN, click here.
For RELIGION, click here.
For MEDICINE, click here.
For EUROPEAN LAW, click here.
School Text 1791 — “Muretus”
a
MODEL
for Students
Muret, Marc Antoine. Orationes, et epistolae...ad usum scolarum selectae.... Venetiis: Apud Josephum Orlandelli, 1791. 8vo (19 cm, 7.5"). 2 vols. I: xv, 359, [1] pp. II: 328 pp.
$600.00
Marc Antoine Muret (1526–85), better known by the Latin form of his name, Muretus, started his literary career in Paris as a member of the circle of young poets that also included Dorat and Ronsard, and in 1553 he published a French commentary on Ronsard’s Amours. He later moved to Italy, where he became one of the leading classicists of his day. He has long been recognized as the best Latin prose stylist of the Renaissance, and his works were used, as this textbook exemplifies, as a model for students. Vol. I of this work contains selections from his speeches, while vol. II contains letters. This particular collection of Muretus for students was apparently first published in 1739 and regularly republished during the 18th century. An engraved portrait of Muretus serves as the frontispiece for vol. I.
Rare. No U.S. copies traced via NUC Pre-1956 or WorldCat.
On Muretus, see: Sandys, History of Classical Scholarship, II, 148–52. Contemporary half vellum over stencilled paper, spine with inked title; stained and paper torn with much chipping, especially on edges of covers. Ex-library with white-lettered call number on spines and, on title-pages, two different Catholic institutions’ rubber-stamps, plus the old inked ownership inscription of a Jesuit novitiate (Maryland). Ink scratches to frontispiece portrait (intentional?), and some inkstains in margins elsewhere. Lightly foxed. All edges speckled red. (11574)

He Wrote Beautiful Latin & He Found Protection in the Vatican
Muret, Marc-Antoine [a.k.a. Muretus]. Variarum lectionum libri XV ... accesserunt hac editione hymni sacri, & varia eiusdem auctoris poëmata. Lugduni [i.e., Lyon]: Apud haered. Gulielmi Rovillii, 1594. 16mo (12.1 cm, 4.76"). 621, [67] pp., final leaf blank; 62, [26] pp., final leaf blank.
$700.00
Click the images for enlargements.
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)
For more 16TH-CENTURY BOOKS, click here.
For CHILDREN / EDUCATION, click here.
For GREEK & LATIN CLASSICS
& the ANCIENT WORLD, click here.
For more TRANSLATIONS, click here.
For LITERATURE, click here.
For more Books with SPECIAL
PROVENANCE, click here.

Departures Were at
Four A.M.
Murphy Hermanos. Broadside. Begins, “Diligencia americana de Durango a Zacatecas.” Durango: Imp. del Gobierno, 1868. Folio (30.5 cm; 12"). [1] p.
$450.00
Click the image for an enlargement.
At the top of this advertising broadside is
a wood engraving of four horses in gallop pulling a stage coach. Included is information about departures from both terminuses, stops along the way, the tariff, and cost of excess baggage.Not located via NUC, WorldCat, COPAC, or the OPAC of the Mexican National Library.
Durango imprints are rare.
Printed on rose-colored paper, faded and tattered at edges; small fold tears, dog-earing, and an old tape stain in one margin. Faults noted, still
displayable/frameable! (31472)
MEXICO is one of our great specialties.
For our MEXICANA, click here.
For VOYAGES, TRAVELS, & books on
“EXOTIC” PLACES, click here.
For BROADSIDES, click here.
For COMMERCE / TRADE /
FINANCE / ECONOMICS, click here.
For TRANSPORTATION, click here.
This broadside appears in the HISPANIC
MISCELLANY click here.

True Beauty Lies Within
[Murray, Hannah, & Mary Murray]. The American toilet. New York City: Imbert's Lithographic Office, 1827. Square 12mo (11.7 cm, 4.625"). 20 ff.
[SOLD]
Click the images for enlargements.
This variant of The Young Lady's Toilet in its second edition, inspired by the original handmade books by Hannah and Mary Murray of New York, two young ladies who cut out pictures from periodicals and pasted them onto blank leaves, adding their own captions.
Each lithographed vessel for a beauty product
displays a witty moral maxim behind a moveable flap (a concept that the Murrays may have adapted from the original 1821 London edition of The Toilet), providing the book's manipulator with emblematic instruction on true beauty, so that “A Wash to Smooth Wrinkles” is revealed as Contentment; “A Universal Beautifier” as Good Humor; “A Solution to Prevent Eruptions” as Moderation; and “An Elastic Girdle” as Benevolence — well, that's a stretch!
Each virtue is further described by rhyming couplet or two at the bottom of the page.
Provenance: From the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.
Shaw & Shoemaker 29838 (2nd ed.); Rosenbach, Early American Children's Books, 683 (n.d., ca. 1825). In olive marbled wrappers; general rubbing, and small split to rear joint. Lacking one moveable flap (revealing Humility as “The Enchanting Mirror”); interior age-toned, foxing to endpapers, variable spots of staining to leaves, one corner turned in, hole to rear free endpaper.
A modestly delightful example of a ladies' emblem book. (39687)
For POST-1820 AMERICANA,
click here.
For CONDUCT Books, click here.
For RELIGION, click here.
For ILLUSTRATED BOOKS, click here.
For EMBLEM BOOKS, click here.
For more of WOMEN's interest, click here.

Chicanery & Deception
Myers, Robin, & M. Harris. Fakes and frauds: Varieties of deception in print and manuscript. New Castle, DE: Oak Knoll Press, 2006. 12mo. xi, [1], 144 pp.
$39.95
Click the images for enlargements.
Nice reprint of a compilation of articles by Lotte Hellinga, Michael Treadwell, Michael Harris, Joseph M. Levine, Nigel Ramsay, Nicholas Barker, and Tom Davis, originally published in the famed St. Paul's Bibliography series following a conference in London in 1988 at which all authors were present.The conference occurred without anyone attending knowing that, in the U.S., a major scandal relating to the forgery of Texas printed historical documents was just beginning to blossom!
New. Publisher's illustrated boards. (27539)
For BOOKS ABOUT BOOKS, click here.
For BIBLIO-FRAUD &
FALSE IMPRINTS, click here.
For ANGLO-AMERICAN LAW, click here.
For our shelves of inexpensive GENERAL
READING, click here.
For “HOW-TO,” click here!
Or for SCIENCE, click here.
For “GIFTABLES” mostly $150
& UNDER, click here.

A Pretty Present Indeed
My pretty present. Thomas Nelson & Sons; London: S.W. Partridge & Co., [ca. 1885]. 18mo (14.7 cm, 5.75"). [56] pp.; illus.
$100.00
Click the images for enlargements.
First edition: This appealing and now uncommon children's book appeared as part of both Nelson's “Short Story” series and their “My Story Box” series. The front cover bears an affixed
chromolithograph of a Greenaway-style young girl holding a posy; the title-page vignette was engraved by popular illustrators Bross and Bogart — as several subsequent images also appear to have been — and each text page features a large wood engraving, four done in silhouette style, with an accompanying paragraph telling a brief story or describing the moral to be drawn from the image. The subjects of the pictures include a poor sailor, a policeman, and a milkmaid as well as fashionably dressed children and a variety of pets and livestock. Overall, the stories stress perseverance, politeness, and kindness to animals.
Binding: Publisher's cream paper–covered boards, front cover with mounted color-printed illustration of a young girl as above, back cover with black-stamped decorative design.
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, apparently
untouched by childish hands (or only by awfully careful ones). (40740)
For CHILDREN'S BOOKS, many ILLUSTRATED, click here.
Our PUBLISHERS' BINDINGS GALLERY offers
prettily bound books ca. 18401910 that are
ALSO, often, quite charmingly illustrated
click here.
For CLOTHING & FASHION, click here.
PLACE
AN ORDER | E-MAIL
US | PRB&M HOME