
RELIGION

A B BIBLES C D-E F-G H-J
K-L M N-P Q-R S T-V W-Z
[
]
German-American CATHOLIC Personal Devotions — An EXTENDED Manuscript
Fraktur Rubrics — “Pennsylvania Dutch” Embellishments
Kary, Simon. Manuscript on paper, in German, transcribed as: [one or two words blotted and unclear, then] sich befinden in Andachtübung Gott deß Morgens, und Abends, bey den Heiligen Meß, Beicht und Kommunion Gebettern zu sprechen. Wie auch unterschiedliche Getbetter zu Christo, und Maria, auf die fürnehmsten FestTage deß Jahrs. Und auch Gebetter zu dem Heiligen Gottes zu finden sein. Zu grössern Ehr und Seelen Trost. Geschrieben worden von dem Simon Kary im Jahr 1799. [i.e., Catholic prayer book]. No place [Pennsylvania]: 1799. 12mo (16.3 cm, 6.4"). [2], 136 pp.
[SOLD]
Click the images for enlargements.
In 1799 the German population in the U.S. is estimated to have been between 85,000 and 100,000 individuals, the vast majority being Protestants of one stripe or another. German Catholics were a very, very small minority, totalling perhaps 3,000 or so and concentrated in Pennsylvania, served in their faith by German Jesuit missionaries who established the mission of The Sacred Heart at Conewago and Father Schneider’s mission church in Goshenhoppen.
There were no German-language Catholic prayer books published in the U.S. until the 19th century, so those wishing to have one before then had to have a bookstore import it or engender one in manuscript — either by hiring a scribe or by inditing it personally.
Simon Kary chose the latter option and personally executed his personal prayer book in the style that was current in the “Pennsylvania Dutch” region.
His lovingly created, appealingly decorated late-18th-century manuscript book of German Catholic devotional prayers (i.e., Gebetsbüchlein) is in the typical German-American fraktur style in his codex, the title-page, sectional title-pages, and sub-section beginnings are written in fraktur lettering in red, green, black, and rose, with the initial line or lines of each prayer in red only, and the text is written throughout in sepia in cursive. All pages are given double-ruled borders; some of the fraktur capitals incorporate foliate and floral designs.
Kary’s personally selected, 136-page collection of devotions contains, as he described it, “appropriate prayers to God,. a intended for use in the morning and evening, for Holy Mass, for confession . . s well as various prayers to Christ, to Mary on the highest feast days of the year, and also prayers to the Saint [sic] of God. For the greater honor and comfort of the soul.”
The manuscript is written on laid paper, with vertical chain lines, gathered in eights, and its
original block-printed paper wrappers have survived with it.
German-American Catholic fraktur prayer books are rare but not unknown; for example, the renowned collection of fraktur at the Free Library of Philadelphia contains a “Himmlischer Palm Zweig Worinen die Auserlesene Morgen Abend Auch Beicht und Kommunion Wie auch zum H. Sakrament In Christo und seinen Leiden, wie auch zur der H. Mutter Gottes, 1787" (item no: frkm064000; https://libwww.freelibrary.org/digital/item/41639). Still, early German-American Catholic religious manuscripts are
objectively rare, especially on the market.
Manuscript additions to the manuscript: An early-19th-century owner of Kary's manuscript has added somberly appropriate matter opposite its title-page, i.e., on the inside of the front wrapper, that reads, in translation: “Forget not your father and your mother, for they have died. My most honored father died on 17th March in the year of the Lord [1]784. My beloved mother died on 6th December in the year of the Lord [1]801. The 14th November in the year of the Lord [1]803. M.S. in the sign of the fish.”
Provenance: Simon Kary in 1799; by 1803 owned by M.S. (as per inside front wrapper). Later early-19th-century ownership signature of Anna Holzinger on title-page; later 19th-century pencil signature of “Theresa” in lower margin of same with similar inscription on the outside of the front wrapper.
We thank Prof. Edward Quinter for his help in ranscribing and translating this manuscript's title-page and translating the family notes opposite it. Recent light blue paper–covered boards with printed paper spine label, original block-printed wrappers preserved inside; early inked annotations in German on inside of original front wrapper and elsewhere, as detailed above. First two leaves and several others with areas of waterstaining, with tissue-paper repair to title-page partially obscuring several lines of text; last leaves with areas darkened as with some variety of oil. Pages age-toned, with scattered spots and occasional offsetting.
A manuscript attractive, engaging, and worthy of study; an enduring testimony to piety among an important, early American religious minority. (41242)

A Gift Book for
Women of “Elevated Character”
Keese, John, ed. The opal: A pure gift for the holy days. New York: J.C. Riker, [1846]. 8vo (20.4 cm, 8"). 304 pp.; 8 engr. plts., without the added engr. title-page.
$100.00
Click the images for enlargements.
Collection of Christian-themed short stories, poems, and readings, most of which counsel the womanly virtues of patience, submission, and self-control. This volume, the third to appear in the Opal series, is illustrated with mezzotints by J.G. Chapman; all eight of the plates described in the list of illustrations are present, but not the added engraved title-page.
Includes two poems by Whittier: “My soul and I” and “The wife of Manoah to her husband.”
Binding: Publisher’s textured brown calf, covers with blind-stamped frame of foliate design; front cover suitably gilt-stamped with central vignette of
Jesus and the woman at the well, back cover centrally gilt-stamped with a weary-looking woman harvesting grain (Ruth?). Spine gilt-stamped with foliate (ivy?) design and ornate title; all edges gilt.
Provenance: 19th-century stencilled ownership name of H. Amelia St John (Purdy) (1838–1925) of Yates County, NY.
Faxon 622; Thompson 145; Tepper, American Gift Books & Literary Annuals. (Second edition), 167. Binding as above, gilt designs moderately rubbed, edges and corners worn, spine faded and head of spine pulled. Front free endpaper clipped to remove inscription; ownership stencil to front fly-leaf. Some pages with soiling, light foxing, or brown stains.
Mezzotints well accomplished and several quite lovely. (37280)

A Dutch Count's Private Meditations
for 1813 New Yorkers
Kniphuysen Nienvort, George William, Count of. Prayers and meditations, composed in the French language in the year 1693 ... translated by an American. New York: T. & J. Swords, 1813. 12mo (14.5 cm, 5.7"). 105, [1] pp.
$300.00
Click the images for enlargements.
First U.S. edition of these devotional pieces, originally published in 1694 under the title Entretiens solitaires d'une âme dévote avec son dieu, here in an English translation accomplished by an anonymous American. A reviewer of a later edition concluded that the work represented “the aspect of devotional life favored by the evangelical school in the Episcopal church” (The Literary World, no. 220, p. 317).
The original author's name appears in innumerable variations according to various transcribers' nationalities; Count Georg Wilhelm von Kniphausen (or Knyphausen) of Nienort (or Nienoort) was also known as George Willem (or Guillaume), Comte van Kniphausen, etc.
Shaw & Shoemaker 28892. Contemporary treed sheep, recently rebacked with complementary mottled calf, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label; original leather showing expectable rubbing/cracking. Title-page with institutional pressure- and rubber-stamp; no other marks. One leaf with old burn damage (the ash from a pipe??) to lower inner portion, margins repaired, loss of a few letters without obscuring sense; one leaf with closed tear from outer margin and no loss; one leaf with a corner taken, just touching text without loss; upper corners dust-soiled, and pages generally age-toned, with no brittleness or other “issues.” (27242)

158 (Religious) Images from
TWO Fantastic Designers
Koch, Rudolf, & Fritz Kredel. Christian symbols. San Francisco: Arion Press, 1996. 4to (28.6 cm, 11.25"). [9], 158, [5] pp.; illus.
$125.00
Click the images for enlargements.
“One hundred and fifty-eight graphic images from the history of Christianity.” These important religious emblems drawn by Rudolf Koch with the help of Fritz Kredel are presented in a bound book from the
Arion Press for the first time. They were previously published as a folder of plates between 1932 and 1935; the reproductions here were reduced to ninety percent of the original. Koch intended for the book to be used as a reference for other artists and churches.
Typographer Koch (1876–1934) and graphic designer Kredel (1900–73) previously collaborated on their well-known Book of Signs. Koch's preface, translated to English from the original German by Kevin Ahern, is provided, as well as a foreword from Andrew Hoyem.
The prospectus is laid in.
Publisher's blue-green cloth, white spine label with blue lettering; one very faint scuff to front board. In original tan paper slipcase; light spot of sunning to one side. Interior is bright. A beautiful copy! (38304)

Former
Pagan Defends Christianity
Lactantius (ca. 240 – ca. 320). L. Coelii Lactantii Firmiani opera, quae quidem extant omnia... Basileae: per Henricum Petri, [colophon: 1563]. 4to (29.2 cm, 11.5"). [12] ff., 559, [21] pp.
$1250.00
Click the images for enlargements.
North African apologist Lactantius (ca. 240–320) converted to Christianity prior to 303, before settling in Trier to tutor Constantine's son Crispus. Deemed the “Christian Cicero” by Renaissance scholars, Lactantius is better known for his elegant writing style than for his knowledge of Scripture, yet of his works only those concerning Christianity survive — including, in the present copy, his earliest treatise, De opificio dei (303/304); the Institutiones in seven books, which was
the first systematic description of Christianity in Latin (completed 313); the Epitome divinarum institutionum, which synthesizes the Institutions; the supplement De ira dei; the Phoenix poem; and the Carmen de dominica resurrectione.
Basel printer Henricus Petrus (Sebastian Henric Petri, 1546–1627) was responsible for the publication of very important works, including an early edition of Copernicus and Münster's Cosmographia, the first German description of the world. He printed this Latin and Greek, later edition of Lactantius's opera with the main text in roman, single column; the extensive commentary by Birk in italic, double column; the indices triple-column; and the whole text punctuated by handsome historiated and floriated woodcut initials of various sizes, some quite large. There are one
woodcut diagram showing the opposition of Light (God) and Dark levels of the universe and
multiple letterpress charts. The title-page features the printer's device, a variant of which also appears on the final verso.This is the first appearance of this commentary by
Xystus Betuleius (Sixt Birk, 1501–54), a corrector for the Basel printers and a teacher at various schools who composed German and Latin didactic dramas; commentaries on Lactantius (this) and Cicero; and a concordance of the Greek New Testament. An associate of Erasmus, he witnessed Erasmus's first will, in 1527.
Adams L27; VD16 L42; Graesse, IV, 66. Not in Schweiger or Brunet. On Lactantius, see: New Catholic Encyclopedia, VIII, 308–09. On Birk, see: Contemporaries of Erasmus, pp. 150–51. Recent full brown morocco blind-ruled, old style; raised bands on spine accented with gilt ruling, author and title gilt in second compartment and date collector style at spine base, edges lightly speckled brown. Mild foxing on some leaves; limited, very light old waterstaining in latter half, this rising on a few leaves to “moderate” and being virtually all marginal; a few small stains from chemical reactions in paper. One marginal oxidized inkstain, slim but dark, offset onto next neighboring pages (only); two very small tears in last leaf. There is one short paragraph of
contemporary inked marginalia on one leaf, and one instance of underlining on another. (31312)

A “Little Manual . . . FIRST Designed for PRIVATE Use” of TWO PRINCESSES
Lake, Edward. Officium eucharisticum. A preparatory service to a devout and worthy reception of the Lord's Supper. Dublin: Printed by and for Samuel Fairbrother, 1724. 12mo (14.5 cm; 5.75"). [4] ff., 176 pp.
$775.00
Click the images for enlargements.
The last of four editions
PRINTED IN IRELAND, all of which are rare and
none of which are reported as held in any U.S. library. Overall this is “the 21st. edition corrected and enlarged. To which is added, a meditation for every day in the week.” A wonderful, small, go-with-you work of personal worship.
Lake was “chaplain and tutor to the princesses Mary and Anne, daughters of James, duke of York” and originally wrote this “devotional manual . . . for his royal pupils” (ODNB).
Provenance: On front free endpaper in an 18th-century hand; “Wm. A. Put Bo[ugh]t of Nau Winkle & Co.”
ESTC T134200. Contemporary acid-stained calf, round spine, no raised bands, gilt double-rules creating spine compartments, one with a red leather gilt title-label; front cover reattached using the long-fiber method. Light age-toning. A very nice copy. (33142)

Getting the Bishop's Position
RIGHT
La Luzerne, César-Guillaume de. Instruction donnée par M. L'évêque de Langres, aux curés, vicaires et autres ecclésiastiques de son diocèse, qui n'ont pas prêté le serment ordonné par l'Assemblée nationale. Paris: Guerbart, [1791]. 8vo (19.5 cm, 7.6"). 38, [2] pp.
$80.00
Click the image for an enlargement.
A non-juring cardinal looks at the constitutional oath; the pamphlet closes with “les noms des prélats qui ont adopté la présente instruction.” There is a good deal here on the administration of the sacraments.This is the 40-page variant (Martin and Walter note a 35-page printing), with a warning on the final page regarding pirated, incorrect versions of the piece.
Martin & Walter, III, 18722 (variant ed.). Removed from a nonce volume, first signature separated. Title-page with paper shelving label in lower corner, touching one letter of publication line, and with pencilled monogram in upper outer corner; also with short tear from lower margin, not touching text. Pages age-toned and lightly spotted; shouldernotes (only) occasionally shaved and price reduced for this reason. (30826)

The ESSAYS that Made Lamb's Reputation — 1st U.S. Edition
Lamb, Charles. Elia. Essays which have appeared under that signature in the London Magazine. Philadelphia: Carey, Lea, & Carey (pr. by Mifflin & Parry, and J.R.A. Skerrett), 1828. 12mo (I: 18.4 cm, 7.25", II: 16.8cm, 6.6"). 2 vols. I: 292 pp. II: 230 pp. (both vols. without ads.).
$1000.00
Click the images for enlargements.
First U.S. edition of the official first series, and
true
first edition of the unofficial second series, of Lamb's pseudonymously
published essays for the London Magazine. These eloquently written pieces
mingle humor and pathos as they describe the experiences of the author and his
acquaintances while attending boarding school, playing whist, listening to music,
visiting Quaker meetings, etc. Food is a recurring topic (“A Dissertation
upon Roast Pig”); there are two essays on Valentine's Day (one in each
volume), and several on plays and actors.
The first series made its first appearance in book form in London, 1823.
The authorized second series was not published until 1833, under the title
The Last Essays of Elia; the pieces selected for the unauthorized American
second series offered here are different from those contained in that volume,
and mistakenly include three essays written by other hands.
Shoemaker 33813 & 33814; NCBEL, III, 1225; NSTC 2L2346.
Vol. I: Uncut copy. Publisher's quarter once-red cloth and paper sides,
covers printed with “Elia” within a simple frame, spine with printed
paper label; binding rubbed and lightly soiled, spine sunned to yellow. Repaired
tear to one leaf, touching text without loss; remarkably clean and sound.
Vol. II: Contemporary speckled sheep, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label;
rubbed, and head of spine chipped with old refurbishing. Ex–social club
library: 19th-century bookplate and call number ticket on front pastedown,
front free endpaper with inked numerals, title-page pressure-stamped. Author's
name inked on title-page; front free endpaper and title-page reinforced at
fore-edge (the latter from the back). Both volumes age-toned, with intermittent
spots of staining; advertisements absent. The set now housed in a quarter
blue morocco and blue cloth–covered clamshell case with marbled paper–covered
sides and gilt-stamped spine. (26434)

In the Spirit of
Peace & Brotherhood
Lamourette, Antoine-Adrien. Instruction pastorale de
M. L'évêque du département de Rhône et Loire, métropolitain du sud-est, a Mm. les curés,
vicaires et fonctionnaires ecclésiastiques de son diocese. Lyon: Amable le Roy, 1791. 8vo (21.3
cm, 8.4"). 24 pp.
$95.00
Click the image for an enlargement.
Uncut copy of this letter from Lamourette (1742–94), the Constitutional bishop of
Rhône-et-Loire, remembered for his proposal of fraternal love as the solution to factionalism in
the Assembly. He seems to have favored pastoral letter-writing — there were several
Instructions issued in 1791, including one of only 15 pages, and one of 102; the present 24-page
example is dated 12 May, and addresses the split between the constitutional and the non-juring
clergy.
Uncommon: WorldCat and NUC Pre-1956 locate only three U.S. institutional holdings of
this particular Instruction.
Martin & Walter 19033. Removed
from a nonce volume. Title-page with paper shelving label, touching the first few letters of the
publication line, and with inked numeral and pencilled monogram in upper outer corner. Page
edges untrimmed; pages slightly age-toned. (30825)

Cutting-Edge Biblical Scholarship Three Maps
Lamy, Bernard.
Commentarius in harmoniam sive concordiam quatuor evangelistarum.... Parisiis:
Excudebat Joannis Anisson, 1699. 4to (12.6 cm, 10.25"). 2 vols. in 1. I: 2
a[n]4 e[n]4 AZ4 AaZz4
AAaZZz4 AAaa OOoo4; [2] ff., xvi, 661, [1]
pp., [25] ff.; 3 plts. II: 2 ah4 AZ4
AaXx4 Yy2; [2] ff., lxiv, 326 pp., [15] ff.; 3 plts.
$800.00
Click the interior images for enlargements.
Bernard Lamy (16401715) was an Oratorian priest, philosopher, and biblical scholar. After getting himself exiled to Grenoble for excessive Cartesianism, he went on to do significant work in biblical studies, and this present work is especially notable: Lamy here contends that Jesus died on the cross on the eve of the Passover (thus at the same time as the Passover lamb was being killed), not during the first day of the Passover. This view, while considered radical at the time, is now generally held by biblical scholars.
This work was first published under the title Harmonia, sive concordia quatuor evangelistarum in 1689. This second edition is printed in small roman types with some italic, Greek, and Hebrew. Ornaments include an ornate woodcut fleur-de-lis on the title-pages, plus initials and headpieces. Vol. II (bound in) consists of the Apparatus chronologicus et geographicus, chronologies and geographical descriptions with three fine fold-out plates: a map of Judea, a plan of Jerusalem, and a plan of the temple.
Provenance: Charles Spencer, Third Earl of Sunderland, lot 7230 in the Sunderland Library sale (1882).
On Lamy, see: New Catholic Encyclopedia, VIII, 35455. 18th-century vellum over boards with raised bands, lightly soiled; on the covers an ornate mandorla inside a composite frame. Crack in the vellum along front joint, joint itself sound. Ex-library with paper labels on spine; old pressure-stamps, including one on title-page of vol. I. Upper outer corner of title-leaf lost taking part of one letter of title; small tear into printed border of first map in vol. II. All edges speckled blue and red. A stout, substantial volume.
The LAST section of our catalogue
of BIBLES & TESTAMENTS focuses on
BIBLE SCHOLARSHIP click here.

An
EASTER Sermon
Larrain Gandarillas, Joaquín. Sermon que predicó el presbítero...el viérnes 18 de abril de 1851, en presencia del... arzobispo de Santiago, del cabildo y clero de la iglesia metropolitana. Santiago, [Chile]: Imp. de la Sociedad, 1851. 12mo. 17, [1 (blank)] pp.
$75.00
Easter-tide sermon on Christ and the Cross. Larrain eventually rose to be archbishop.
Not in Palau. Modern light wrappers, lacking original wrappers. Very good condition. (7939)

Whose Baptisms Count? Widow Printer
Launoy, Jean de. Remarques sur la dissertation, ou l'on montre en quel temps, & pour quelles raisons l'Eglise universelle consentit à recevoir le baptesme des heretiques; & par où l'on découvre ce qui a donné occasion aux auteurs, qui ont traité de cette matiere, de s'estre égarez dans la recherche qu'ils ont faite du Concile plenier, qui termina suivant S. Augustin cette contestation. Paris: L'imprimerie de la Veuve Edme Martin, 1671. 8vo (18.7 cm, 7.4"). [2], 77, [1] pp.
$500.00
Click the images for enlargements.
A widow's printing of this polemic on the controversy over baptizing repentant heretics, attacking the previously published remarks of M. David; this edition follows the first of 1653. The author, a French historian and famously skeptical hagiographer, was a staunch Gallicanist, and
an early hand has pencilled “Très Gallican” on the title-page here.
Uncommon: WorldCat and NUC Pre-1956 locate only two U.S. institutional holdings of this 1671 edition, one of which was deaccessioned and is in fact this copy.
Contemporary mottled sheep framed in blind double fillets, recently rebacked with complementary calf, spine with raised bands and blind-tooled compartment decorations; edges and extremities rubbed, sides with old scuffs. Title-page and first text page with institutional perforation-stamp, title-page also with pencilled annotation as above, first text page with rubber-stamped numerals in lower margin, no other markings. Pages clean. (31049)

Humanism & the Early Church
Laurentius Mellifluus?; St. Lawrence, bishop of Novara? Sancti Laurentii presbiteri Novarum, scriptoris perantiqui, Homiliae duae. [Parisiis]: Prostant apud Michaelem Vascosanum, 1522. 4to (18.5 cm, 7.25’’). [31 of 32] ff., lacks final blank leaf (only).
$875.00
Click the images for enlargements.
The first edition of two homilies widely ascribed to one of the most venerated saints in Europe. St. Lawrence of Novara (225–58 A.D.) was a disciple of Pope Sixtus II, who appointed him archdeacon of Rome. Strongly committed to the poor, he was punished for distributing among them wealth belonging to the Church; his martyrdom, ordered by Emperor Valerian, was
slow death by roasting on a gridiron. His works and life, which had been in print since the late 15th century, were inspirational for the pastoral care and charity they advocated, with this edition presenting his homilies on penitence and alms and celebrating the pure principles, explained in clear, refined Latin, of the early Christian Church much admired by 16th-century Catholic and Protestant humanists alike.
A cataloguer at the University of Illinois dissents from the opinion of Bibliotheque National and other national libraries as to authorship and writes, “The two homilies De poenitentia and De eleemosuma, here ascribed to Laurentius, Bishop of Novara, are medieval compositions by an unknown author usually designated as Laurentius Mellifluus, who cannot be identified with the Bishop of Novara nor with Laurentius, Bishop of Milan.”
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)

Quaker Meditations A Neat Compendium
Two Women in the Contents Womanly Provenance, Too
[Law, William]. An extract from a treatise on the spirit of prayer, or the soul rising out of the vanity of time into the riches of eternity. With some thoughts on war. Remarks on the nature and bad effects of the use of spirituous liquors. And considerations on slavery. Philadelphia: Joseph Crukshank, 1780. 12mo (16.3 cm, 6.45"). 84 pp. [bound with] Webb, Elizabeth. A letter...to Anthony William Boehm, with his answer. Philadelphia: Joseph Crukshank, 1783. 44 pp. [with] [Benezet, Anthony]. In the life of the lady Elizabeth Hastings... [Philadelphia: Joseph Crukshank, 1784]. 8 pp.
$1100.00
Click the images for enlargements.
Law's mystically-inclined meditations sold vigorously in a number of English and American editions; they serve here as the introduction to an interesting selection of Christian inspirational readings from Philadelphia printer Joseph Crukshanksome writers named, and some not. The
Considerations on Slavery are designated simply as those of a "number of different authors"; the Remarks on . . . Liquors, which aims to promote health and happiness rather than directly religious concerns, is attributed by ESTC to Anthony Benezet, as is the volume's last piece, the title of which is taken from its opening lines. Lady Elizabeth Hastings was the original for Aspasia in Steele's "Tatler" and a major donor to Oxford University Queen's College.
Elizabeth Webb, "an acknowledged minister among the people called Quakers," first encountered Prince George of Denmark's chaplain Boehm while on a visit to Great Britain; the missive with which she opened her subsequent correspondence with him, here, greatly inspired him and a number of his friends.
Provenance: With inscription reading "Miss Hannah Amelia Moore / Book a Present from her worthy / Friend Ruth Patton / 1789."
Law: ESTC W32233; Evans 16817; Hildeburn 3987. Webb: ESTC W13440; Evans 18295; Hildeburn 4409. Benezet: ESTC W6416; Evans 18355. Contemporary quarter sheep over paper-covered sides, the whole worn and abraded but the little volume quite sound. Light age-toning, occasional darker spots. Small chip in bottom margin of title-page; one leaf with paper flaw in lower corner, resulting in the loss of a very few letters. (10951)

One of 2000 Printed — First British Edition
Lawrence, D.H. The man who died. London: Martin Secker, 1931. 8vo (25.5 cm, 10.1"). 97, [1] pp.
$150.00
Click the images for enlargements.
First British edition of Lawrence's novella, also known as “The Escaped Cock.” Originally printed in Forum magazine in 1928, and then in its first book form by Black Sun Press in Paris in 1929, this is a quintessentially Lawrentian tale in which Jesus, having survived crucifixion, discovers his sexual potency and joy in earthly life with the aid of a priestess of Isis. (About the alternative title, here; yes, there is a real bird involved.)
The present example is
one of 2000 copies printed, with the type afterwards distributed.
Jackson, D.H. Lawrence Handbook, 24; Roberts A50c. Publisher's olive green cloth, front cover with gilt-stamped phoenix vignette, spine with gilt-stamped title; dust wrapper lacking, spine slightly sunned, spine extremities and lower corners rubbed. Free endpapers with offsetting(?) and front one with upper outer corner torn away; text gently age-toned, with small areas of staining to two pages. Showing signs of wear, this is yet a solid, attractive, and pleasing copy. (33546)

False Imprint — Radical Theology
Leclerc, Jean. Liberii de Sancto Amore Epistolae theologicae,in quibus varii scholasticorum errores castigantur. Irenopoli [i.e., really, Saumur]: typis Philalethianis, 1679. 12mo (16 cm; 6.375"). [10] f.,, 320 p.
$800.00
Click the interior images for enlargements.
“Liberius de Sancto Amore” was the pseudonym of Jean Leclerc (1657–1736; a.k.a. Johannes Clericus), a radical Swiss theologian who broke with Calvinism. He is famous for his promotion of exegesis. The present work, published with a false imprint while he lived in Saumur, was an unorthodox study of the doctrine of the Trinity, the Hypostatic union of the two natures in Christ, original sin, and other matters. It was decidedly unconventional for its era.
The woodcut “printer's device” on the title-page is telling: “Ex trunco veteri novus ramus,” which pretty much epitomizes Leclerc's writings.
Uncommon. We locate fewer than 10 copies in the U.S.
Weller, I, p.278. Recent quarter leather with gilt spine; sides with German-style brown paper speckled with black. Shadow of old pencilled shelf number and another four-digit number on verso of title-page. A very good copy. (24769)

“Le Démon de la Discorde”
Le Coz, Claude. Lettre des évêques et prêtres assemblés a Paris en concile national, a leurs frères les évêques et prêtres résidens en France. Paris: L'Imprimerie-Librairie Chrétienne, 1797. 8vo (21 cm, 8.3"). 15, [1] pp.
$100.00
Click the image for an enlargement.
First edition, untrimmed copy of this essay on pacification and reconciliation, undersigned by the Constitutional bishop of Rennes and six others.WorldCat and NUC Pre-1956 locate only seven U.S. institutional holdings.
Martin & Walter 8746. Folded as issued, never bound, edges uncut. Title-page with paper shelving label in lower inner corner, red-pencilled annotation in upper inner corner, and pencilled monogram in upper outer corner. A few instances of light spotting. (30941)

“Voici Franchement ce que J'en Pense”
Le Coz, Claude. [drop-title] Observations sur la pétition
de quelques membres du département de Paris, concernant le décret de l'Assemblée Nationale,
sur les troubles religieux. Paris: De l'Imprimerie nationale, 1791. 8vo (19.2 cm, 7.5"). 16 pp.
$110.00
Click the image for an enlargement.
Sole edition of this rebuttal of a petition addressed to the king “sur les troubles
religieux.” Le Coz served as principal of the Collège de Quimper before becoming
Constitutional Bishop of the Department of Île-et-Vilaine and later Archbishop of Besançon.
Uncommon: WorldCat and NUC Pre-1956 locate only three U.S. institutional holdings.
Removed from a nonce volume. First page with paper
shelving label in lower inner corner, barely touching one letter of text, and with pencilled
monogram in upper outer corner. Pages trimmed closely, in one instance touching a few letters
without loss of sense. Mild waterstaining across lower and outer portions, pages otherwise crisp
and clean. (30837)
Click here
for a database including 
not in PRB&M's
illustrated catalogues . . .
entering the number 16244
as keyword calls up *many* more
FRENCH REVOLUTION, FIRST REPUBLIC
PAMPHLETS Voilà!

People, Obey Your Ministers — Ministers, Do Your Jobs
Le Coz, Claude. Seconde lettre synodique du Concile
national de France, aux pasteurs et aus fidèles, sur divers abus qui se sont introduits dans
quelques paroisses. Paris: De l'Imprimerie-Librairie Chretienne, 1797. 8vo (21.2 cm, 8.4"). [2],
25, [1] pp.
$100.00
Click the image for an enlargement.
First edition, untrimmed copy: the National Council's examination of the church
schism as it stood in 1797, and particularly of the question of electing ministers. This letter was
issued in the name of Le Coz, Metropolitan bishop of Rennes and president of the Concile
National.Uncommon: WorldCat and NUC Pre-1956 locate only three U.S. institutional holdings.
Simply sewn, edges untrimmed; spine with small split, sewing loosening. Title-page with paper shelving label in lower inner corner and pencilled monogram in upper outer
corner. Minor age-toning and offsetting; final leaf with paper flaw resulting
in shortening of upper outer corner. (30909)

Highly Significant
American Judaicum
Leeser, Isaac, ed. & tr. [title in Hebrew, transliterated as] Sidure divre tsadikim kolel seder ha-tefilot mi-kol ha-shanah ke-minhag ... Ashkenaz u-Polin.... [from the added title-page in English: Philadelphia: Printed by G. Sherman, for the editor, 1848]. 8vo. viii, 242, 2–243, [1] pp.
$2500.00
Click the images for enlargements.
This Siddur in Hebrew and English was
the first Ashkenazic prayer book edited and printed in America. Its editor, Isaac Leeser (1806–68), was a towering figure in American Jewry in the 19th century: writer, educator, and hazan of the Mikveh Israel congregation in Philadelphia.
The English-language title-page reads, “The book of daily prayers for every day in the year. According to the custom of the German and Polish Jews.” The text is presented with the original Hebrew and English translation on opposite pages.
Provenance: 19th-century ownership stamp of “Mme. Bernheim, 603 Magazine St., New-Orleans.”
Rosenbach, Jewish, 636; Singerman, Judaica Americana, 1024; Goldman 37. Contemporary full, plain, treed calf, with a black leather spine label. Expectable wear to spine from use. Scattered light foxing. A good++ copy with a provenance worthy of research. (32879)

Swearing, Loyalty, & Hatred
L'église gallicane au clergé de l'église de Paris, ou lettre de plusieurs administrateurs de diocèses, sur la conduite d'une partie des oratoires de Paris, relativement au serment de haine a la royauté & d'attachement a la constitution de l'an 3. Bruxelles: 1797. 8vo (21.3 cm, 8.4"). 47, [1] pp.
$110.00
Click the image for an enlargement.
First edition of an angry rebuttal of some reasons given for taking the oath of loyalty imposed after the coup of 18 Fructidor, with the “Regle de conduite des fidèles pendant la nouvelle calamité du sement . . . ” at the back.Uncommon: WorldCat and NUC Pre-1956 locate only three U.S. libraries reporting ownership.
Saricks, I, 385. Removed from a nonce volume, title-page with paper shelving label in lower inner corner, pencilled monogram in upper outer corner and that latter corner curled. Pages age-toned with some dust-soiled; last few leaves with crumpled edges or creased/dog-eared corners. (36788)

Plenty of Provenance & a
Typographic Eyeful
Leigh, Edward. A treatise of the divine promises; in five books. London: pr. by A. Miller for Thomas Underhill, 1650. 12mo (14.3 cm; 5.625"). [18], 409, [39] pp., 1 fold-out diagram.
$750.00
Click the images for enlargements.
Leigh summarizes his study of God's promises this way: “a general description of their nature, kindes, excellency, right use, properties, and the persons to whom they belong,” and the “declaration of the covenant it self [sic], the bundle and body of all the promises, and the special promises likewise, which concern a mans [sic] self or others, both temporal, spiritual, and eternal.”
This third edition is typographically complex in ye good 17th-century style, with a title-page printed in red and black and liberal variation of type-ornament borders, multiple fonts, and decorative initials; the pages are ruled into multiple divisions for presentation of text and various sorts/levels of notes, with the printer occasionally breaking “form” to enhance compactness or clarity. Braces and brackets appear generously, with these tricky-to-set devices being most strikingly deployed in full-page diagrammatic “Tables” of contents, one at the start of each of the five books and the one of the third being actually a
large fold-out.
The first edition appeared in 1633 with two more in 1641. Those three and this 1650 are uncommon in commerce with only three of this apparently held in U.S. libraries (Boston Athenaeum, University of Illinois, and Princeton Theological).
Leigh (1602–71), a decided puritan, was described by one contemporary as “a man of fiery disposition” and by another as “a cunning man”; in addition to his religious duties he found time and inclination for politics and was elected to Parliament.
Provenance: Tim Hide(?), 18th century, has signed the top margin of the title-page; George B. Engle Junior notes on a fly leaf that he bought the book in Boston, MA, March 1881. Later at the Pacific School of Religion (properly released).
ESTC R34516; Wing (rev. ed.) L1015. 17th-century calf, rebacked early 19th century, covers reattached recently using Japanese long-fiber method; spine with gilt-lettered label and blind tooling, covers framed in double rules with gilt-rolled board edges, marbled endpapers, all edges red. Ex-library as above: rubber-stamp to fly-leaf, accession stamp and pencilled call number on title-page verso. Private provenance markings as above, and one entry to the “Table” at rear corrected in old ink. Title-page repaired at top where sometime trimmed; one leaf with very small interior hole not touching text, elsewhere a short marginal tear, a few small ink marks, and a bit of almost invisible marginal worm tracking; the occasional unevenly trimmed leaf, a few more with upper rules cut away, light age-toning. Old bookseller label at rear.
A very solid, very appealing, very “atmospheric” little volume. (36835)

Arguing
Baptism with the QUAKERS
Leslie, Charles. A discourse; shewing, who they are that are now qualify'd to administer baptism and the Lord's-Supper. Wherein the cause of Episcopacy is briefly treated. London: C. Brome, W. Keblewhite, & H. Hindmarsh, 1698. 4to (22 cm, 8.7"). [8], 62, [2 (adv.)] pp.
$725.00
Click the image for an enlargement.
First edition of this attempt to convince Quakers of the validity of the orthodox Church of England practice of baptism, written by the nonjuring Church of Ireland clergyman who also published A Discourse Proving the Divine Institution of Water-Baptism. Supporting texts in English, Greek, and Latin are included.
ESTC R25145; Wing (rev. ed.) L1130; McAlpin, IV, 589. Recent marbled paper wrappers. Title-page darkened and institutionally pressure-stamped, with lower outer portion torn away, just touching final number in date with no loss of sense. First few pages with edge nicks. Final (adv.) leaf with short internal tear with loss of a few letters, not affecting sense. (25009)

“A Short & Easy Method with the
Deists”
Leslie, Charles. A short and easy method with the deists: wherein the certainty of the Christian religion is demonstrated, by infallible proof from four rules, which are incompatible to any imposture that ever yet has been, or that can possibly be. In a letter to a friend. Windsor, VT: Pr. by T.M. Pomroy, 1812. 12mo. 168 pp.
$150.00
Click the title page image for an enlargement.
The “friend” is Charles Leslie himself. This work also includes the author's Defense of Episcopacy, and parts of his trial in Boston, where he was found guilty of libel for his defense of episcopacy against presbyterianism and congregationalism.
Provenance: Property, in 1836, of Henry G. Hubbard of Detroit.
Shaw & Shoemaker 25848. Contemporary sheep. Spine with compartments divided by gilt rules. Leather much rubbed with a little chipping. Browning from turn-ins onto endpapers and title-page. Top margins closely trimmed with loss of page numbers in some places. Inked ownership inscriptions on recto of front free endpaper and title-page. (5442)

“Stark Naked, & Carrying a Fiddle”
Leslie, Charles. The snake in the grass: or, Satan transform'd into an angel of light. Discovering the deep and unsuspected subtilty which is couched under the pretended simplicity of many of the principal leaders of those people call'd Quakers. London: printed for Charles Brome, 1696. 8vo (16.5 cm; 6.5"). [6], cccxlii [i.e. ccclii], 271, [1] pp.
$725.00
Click the images for enlargements.
First edition of the first of nine anti-Quaker books written by the author after living with a Quaker family while in hiding. Within this easily portable yet densely packed text, Leslie (1650–1722), a nonjuring Church of Ireland clergyman, claims “the Quakers are False Prophets and Conjurers,” “the Popish Emissaries first set up Quakerism in England,” and “No Quakers in the world do defend themselves with greater vehemence, and self-assurance than the Muggletonians do” — among other numerous, only occasionally factual criticisms.
However harsh the allegations, the Quakers were not Leslie's sole target; he also wrote works against deism, Judaism, Catholicism, Socinianism, and more, not to mention his numerous writings against various political parties.
Sabin's entry for this Americanum has this bizarre and amusing note: “It gives a long account of the 'Fourth or New Quakers who mostly reside in Long Island and East Jersey, in America,' one of whom was
Mary Ross, who went to meeting stark naked, and carrying a fiddle.”
The text here is in a rather striking mix of roman, italic, and large black letter.
Provenance: The Howell Bible Collection, Pacific School of Religion (properly released), with bookplate tucked into front cover.
Sabin 40195; ESTC R216663; Wing (rev. ed.) L1156; Smith, Anti-Quakeriana, 267; on Leslie, see: DNB (online). 17th-century speckled calf, Cambridge-style, spine gilt-lettered with two labels, bands accented and covers panelled in blind; rebacked with new endpapers; abraded, edges worn. Moderate age-toning and foxing, a handful of leaves with rounded corners or chipped edges. Ex-library with its rubber-stamp on title-page and one leaf of text, five-digit number on title-page verso; light pencilling on title-page. (36371)

Chicken Soup for the HUGUENOT Soul?
L'Espine, Jean de. Excellens discours de I. de l'Espine angevin. Touchant le repos & contentement de l'esprit. La Rochelle: Hierosme Haultain, 1594. 12mo (13.7 cm, 5.38"). 758 pp., [5 (blank)] ff.
$875.00
Click the images for enlargements.
Early, uncommon edition of these seven essays on combating sin in order to bring peace and contentment to the soul, written by an Augustinian monk and correspondent of Calvin's, and edited and introduced by French humanist Simon Goulart. Here L'Espine (also known as Delespine, de Spina, and Spinaeus) expounds on
avarice, ambition, anger, envy, lechery, curiosity, and fear.
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 finds
no 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)

One Side (Entire) of an
Enlightenment Debate
Lessing, Gotthold Ephraim. Anti-Goeze ... D.i. Nothgedrungener beytraege zu den Freywilligen beytraegen des hrn. past. Goeze. Braunschweig: [Waisenhausbuchhandlung], 1778. Small 8vo (17.5 cm; 7"). 11 numbers in one volume, each 16 pp.
$2200.00
Click the images for enlargements.
Lessing was one of the fathers of German Idealism during the Enlightenment and among other things is remembered for having provided “the foundation of a modern philosophy of religion” (Yasukata, Lessing's Philosophy of Religion and the German Enlightenment, p. 89). Johann Melchior Goeze (1717–86), a contemporary of Lessing, was a spiritual leader of the Lutheran Church in Germany and familiar with literature; he took up writing histories and apologetics and, because of their differing views on religion and ideals of the Enlightenment, he and Lessing entered into a debate.
While the two are said to have remained cordial, the debate was so “bitter” that the Duke of Brunswick (Lessing's supporter) “intervened, silencing Lessing” (Oxford Companion to German Literature, 2nd ed., p. 554)!
Printed here are Lessing's portions of the eleven exchanges in that debate.
Goedeke, IV, 447; Holzmann 2383. Recent boards covered in brown paper specked with black in the style of the era; age-toning and some dampstaining, not beyond “typical.” Overall, a good copy of a complete set of Lessing's eleven arguments. (33323)

To Talleyrand, on Behalf of
the Insulted Catholic Church
Lettre a M. Talleyrand, ancien evéque d'Autun, chef de la communion des Talleyrandistes, sur son rapport concernant l'admission égale & indéfinie de tous les cultes religieux. Paris: Chez les Marchands de Nouveautés, 1791. 8vo (21.8 cm, 8.6"). [2], 70 pp.
$400.00
Click the image for an enlargement.
First edition, with errata on the title-page verso: This address to Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord was written in response to his report “Liberté des cultes religieux,” made to the Assemblée nationale constituante's Comité de constitution on May 7, 1791, regarding the Civil Constitution of the Clergy. There was also a Chez Dufresne printing later in the same year.
Uncommon: WorldCat and NUC Pre-1956 locate only four U.S. institutional holdings of this first edition.
This ed. not in Martin & Walter (cf. IV 2: 8376). Sewn, never bound; title-page with affixed paper shelving label in lower inner corner, not touching text, and with pencilled monogram in upper outer corner. Page edges untrimmed and somewhat ragged; top edges mostly unopened; dust-soiling to outer leaves and untrimmed edges, with corners of a good many untriummed leaves turned in.
A nice copy. (36785).

The French Refugees Write Home
Lettre des prêtres Catholiques déportés, adressée à leurs
bienfaiteurs. [1799]. 8vo (20.3 cm, 8"). 16 pp.
$75.00
Click the image for an enlargement.
Scarce pamphlet
from the clergy in exile, addressed to N.T.C.F. (“nos très chers
frères”) and counseling patience and faithfulness.
Uncommon: WorldCat and NUC Pre-1956 locate only two U.S. institutional holdings.
Removed from a nonce volume. Title-page with affixed paper shelving label in lower inner corner and pencilled monogram in upper outer portion. Pages age-toned with a few light spots. (30814)
If you're interested in
FRENCH REVOLUTION & REPUBLICERA
agitators, apologists, & protobloggers,
please
click here
for a
database including

not in PRB&M's
illustrated catalogues . . .
Enter
as Place of Publication, PARIS
Select
Dates BETWEEN 1791 & 1805
. . .

et
Voilà!

Historical Context of the
New Testament
Lightfoot, John. A commentary upon the Acts of the Apostles: Chronicall and criticall. The difficulties of the text explained, and the times of the story cast into annals. London: Pr. by R.C. for Andrew Crooke, 1645. 4to (18.2 cm, 7.2"). [20], 331, [1] pp. (pp. 145–48 bound out of sequence).
$750.00
Click the interior image for an enlargement.
First edition of this important “Tripartite History” (as described by the dedication), a chronological arrangement of the events described in the New Testament along with accompanying historical happenings. The sections of “The Christian History, the Jewish and the Roman” for the years 34–44 each have separate title-pages.
Lightfoot (1602–75) was a noted Hebraist and Biblical scholar; Lowndes says of his works that “the writings of Dr. Lightfoot are an invaluable treasure to the biblical student.”
ESTC R21614; Wing (2nd ed.) L2052; Lowndes 1359. Recent marbled paper–covered boards, spine with gilt-stamped title and publication labels. Title-page institutionally rubber-stamped. Pp. 145–48 (the end of the “Christian History...XXXIIII” section) bound in between pp. 152 and 153, with annotations in an early inked hand noting the error. Pages trimmed closely, taking part of title-page border and in a few instances affecting the catchwords or final lines of text. Waterstaining, mostly to lower outer portions. (24853)
Linn, John Blair. Valerian, a narrative poem: Intended, in part, to describe the early persecutions of Christians, and rapidly to illustrate the influence of Christianity on the manners of nations...with a sketch of the life and character of the author. Philadelphia: Thomas & George Palmer, 1805. 4to (24.5 cm, 9.6"). xxvi, [2], 97, [1 (blank)] pp.
$350.00
Click the images for enlargements.
First edition: Tale of a young Christian from Rome, written by the pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia (not to be confused with the John Blair Linn who served as Secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania). This piece was published one year after the Rev. Linn’s untimely death at the age of 27, and is preceded by an account of the author’s life written by his brother-in-law, Charles Brockden Brown.
Shaw & Shoemaker 8790; Wegelin 1038; BAL 1509 (for Brown’s “Sketch”). On Linn, see: Dictionary of American Biography, XI, 281–82. Period-style quarter tan cloth and light blue paper-covered sides, spine with printed paper label. Lacking portrait of author. Title-page and a few others stamped by a now-defunct institution; title-page also with pencilled inscription dated 1830. Pages age-toned and slightly cockled; some staining, with some spots accounted for by laid-in floral matter; occasional stray pencil marks and short edge tears or chips, with repairs to margins and longer tears of first few leaves. (5869)
(LISTS). . . .
Click:
The LIST
of LISTS ~ being aware that unlike PRB&M web catalogues
produced in HTML format,
PRB&M lists in this PDF format
are not updated to reflect availability.

Cortés Historia in Italian — Signed American,
PROVIDENCE
Red Morocco
Lopez de Gomara, Francisco. Historia, di Don Ferdinando Cortes, marchese della Valle, capitano varlorosissimo. Venetia: Per Francesco Lorenzini da Turino, MDLX [1560]. 8vo (15 cm; 5.75"). [11 of 12], 348 ff. (lacks the title-leaf).
$3200.00
Click the images for enlargements.
Following the achievement of the conquest of Mexico, Cortés did not know how to stop and rest on his laurels: He sought greater fame and honor and to do this embarked on several ill-conceived expeditions that added no luster to his name, and when it became clear that the king was not going to make him a viceroy, the slide down the slope was an unpleasant one. Still striving, he enlisted his chaplain Francisco López de Gómara to write a history of the New World that would include a laudatory biography.
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 (first published with title Historia di Mexico, et quando si discoperse la nuoua Hispagna [Roma: appresso Valerio & Luigi Dirici fratelli, M.D.L.V]), 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. Leaves 292–96 contain
a 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)

“Many Years Ago I Was Quite Intimately Associated with the Rev. Dr. Shields”
Low, Seth. Autograph Letter Signed to Mrs. [Bayard?] Stockton. North East Harbor, ME: 2 September 1904. 12mo (7" x 4.5"). 3 pp.
$125.00
Click the image for an enlargement.
Low began his adult life in the family China trade business but went on to be mayor of Brooklyn, President of Columbia University, a diplomatic representative of the United
States, and mayor of New York City. In that latter position he was a strong municipal reformer, introducing the civil service system and attempting to root out police corruption.
Here he sends a thoughtfully reminiscent note of sympathy on the death of the Rev. Dr. Shields (Charles Woodruff Shields); his “Mrs. Stockton” was probably Charlotte, Mrs. Bayard Stockton, the deceased's daughter.
Provenance: Ex–Allyn K. Ford Collection, Minnesota Historical Society, recently deaccessioned.
Very good condition. Low's is not a very difficult hand, but someone has lightly, interlinearly pencilled in the words s/he found hard to decipher. (33395)

One of Luther's Favorite Texts, with His Commentary — English Black Letter, 1616
Luther, Martin. A commentarie of ... Martin Luther upon the epistle of S. Paul to the Galathians. London: Richard Field,, 1616. Small 4to (18 cm; 7"). [4], 296 ff.
$1225.00
Click the images for enlargements.
Fourth edition in English of Luther's In epistolam Sancti Pauli ad Galatas commentarius, which first appeared for the English monoglots in 1575, with second and third editions in 1577 and 1602.
The Epistle to the Galatians held a special place in Luther's heart and mind; he lectured on it in 1519 and also in 1523. It is widely reported that in his table talks he is recorded as saying: “The Epistle to the Galatians is my epistle. To it I am as it were in wedlock. It is my Katherine [i.e., the name of his wife].”
Provenance: Ownership inscription of Bryan Tompson, 1735 (fol. 166r); also on A2r, undated, family name spelled “Thompson” and with notation of cost of book as 5/3. Late 19th- or early 20-century ownership inscription on front free endpaper of G.P. Hesketh, of Beltrami Cty., MN; later given (1907) to Dr. Charles Schwartz.
ESTC S108962; STC (rev. ed.) 16973. 18th-century English speckled sheep, recently rebacked; late 19th- or early 20th-century endpapers. Title-page cut down close to text (supplied from a different copy?), mounted to restore page size and expose type on verso; leaf soiled. Top margins throughout closely cropped, costing the top line of text on five of the eight preliminary pages and the running heads and folio numbers on many (not all) text leaves; staining in portions in margins and sometimes into the text of the upper outer sixth of a leaf; longitudinal hole on fols. 259 to 262 costing three words total.
Not a perfect, but a decent copy of a Lutheran mainstay in an edition not often found on the market. (34166)
PLACE
AN ORDER | E-MAIL
US | PRB&M HOME