4 p.l., 24 pp. Small 4to, early 20th-cent. green half-calf & marbled boards by Sizer, spine lettered in gilt. London: Printed for R. Wodenothe, [1652 or 53?]

First edition of this notable book on fruit culture, part of the growing movement during the Commonwealth towards the improvement of orchards. “The preface is by Samuel Hartlib who here states that the writer of the work was not known to him and that moreover he was unable to discover his name. However, it was said that he was ‘an aged minister of the Gospel’ of Loving-land near Yarmouth, who spent his leisure... More

Four folding engraved plates. Four parts in one vol. [all published]. 8vo, cont. half-sheep & paste-paper boards (occasional minor dampstaining, first 40 leaves with two unimportant wormholes in lower outer margin), spine gilt, black leather lettering piece on spine. Leipzig: Roch, 1801.

First edition, all published, of this important mineralogical and geological journal; this set comes from the library of the great geologist and mineralogist Abraham Gottlob Werner (1749-1817), professor at the famous Freiberg Bergakademie. According to D.S.B., VI, p. 456, this is the first “special periodical for geology and mineralogy…Despite the recognition it received, it ceased publication on the... More

74 leaves (including one folding leaf). 8vo, orig. printed wrappers, orig. stitching. Beijing: Hafo Yanjing xue she [Harvard Yenching University Library], January 1934.

First edition, Supplement No. 8 of the famous Harvard-Yenching Institute Sinological Index Series. “In Yenching University Library was found a manuscript, in eight fascicles, of a reference compilation of biographical notices of about eleven hundred painters under the Ch’ing dynasty. Internal evidence seemed to indicate that the unknown compiler worked during 1787-1795 by culling eight other compilations. Three of these do not appear in the usual bibliographies, and many of the painters they mentioned do not appear... More

Three text leaves with Chinese characters, final conjugate leaf a full-page woodcut with about 65 Chinese characters, & a large folding engraved plate printing in Chinese characters the Kangxi Emperor’s edict of 1716. 58, [1] pp. Large 4to, orig. decorative wrappers, uncut. Nuremberg & Altdorf: Monath & Kussler, 1802.

First and only edition of an extremely uncommon book. Murr (1733-1811), a resident of Nuremberg, was a scholar with polymathic interests. He edited several intellectual journals, published on libraries and art museums, etc.

This work is, in large part, concerned with the Chinese Rites Controversy and the famous “Red Decree.” The... More