21.5 folding leaves. 8vo, orig. yellowish-brown wrappers, new stitching. [Korea]: n.d.

Yuhap is a common primer for children dating from the early Chosen period. The book teaches Chinese characters by giving their Sino-Korean pronunciation along with a vernacular Korean translation. Both the pronunciation and the translation are given in han’gul, the Korean alphabet promulgated in 1443. The characters are arranged by category, as indicated by the title. The end of a list of characters belonging to a certain category is indicated by a short sentence in classical Chinese.

Yuhap was widely used in Chosen Korea alongside the Thousand Character Essay... More

One finely engraved head-piece. 4 p.l., LXXX pp. 8vo, attractive early 19th-century calf-backed marbled boards, flat spine gilt, orange & green morocco lettering pieces on spines. [Venice, ca. 1776].

[bound with]:

(PINELLI, Maffeo). Catalogo di Quadri raccolti dal fu Signor Maffeo Pinelli, ed ora posti in vendita in Venezia 1785. viii, 125 pp., one blank leaf. 8vo. [Venice: July 1785].

[bound with]:

(GRIMANI COLLECTION). [Drop-title on p. 3]: Pitture e Scolture nel Palazzo di Casa Grimani a S.ta Maria Formosa. Engraved frontis. Titles & text in double columns in Italian & French. 13 pp. 8vo. [Venice: ca. 1790].

A fascinating... More

[Japan]: ca. 1898-1912.

Copper mining at Ashio in Tochigi Prefecture began about 1600 and production continued until 1973; in the late 19th century, it produced 39 percent of Japan’s copper output. At the end of that century, it was decided to build a railway connecting the mine to major rail lines to facilitate transportation of the outbound copper ore and inbound supplies (horses had carried or pulled everything before). The engineering problems were considerable: the line runs along the Watarase River through a deep valley subject to frequent flooding. The railway was finished in 1911-12.

The collection contains a series... More

2 p.l., xxiv, 171 pp. 8vo, cont. red morocco (a few minor defects to extremities), triple gilt fillet round sides, arms in gilt on each cover of the dauphin Louis de France (1729-65), son of Louis XV, spine richly gilt, a.e.g. Paris: G. Martin, 1759.

The very uncommon sale catalogue of the library of La Vigne de Frécheville (1695-1758), first doctor to Queen Marie Leszczynska, wife of King Louis XV, and physician to Maria Josepha, second wife of the dauphin Louis de France. This copy bears the arms of the dauphin, Marie Lezsczynska’s son, and the father of three kings... More

Engraved vignettes on general titles, 540 (of 548, see Part IX below) folding engraved plates, & 18 folding printed tables on 16 leaves. 12 parts bound in 16 vols. 8vo, cont. vellum over boards (Vols. I-IX) and other good cont. bindings for the rest. Frankfurt am Main: Andrea, 1773-91.

First edition of this great work. Cancrin (1738-1812), was an engineer and high government official, both in Germany and in Russia, where he was recruited by Catherine II to manage the Staraya Russa saltworks. “Despite the press of his civil offices, Cancrin found time (1773-1791) to write an encyclopedic work in... More

Two parts in one vol. Small folio, orig. wrappers (somewhat tired & a little soiled, some light staining & soiling here & there), manuscript title on upper cover, later stitching. [Hansong (Seoul): Kyujanggak (the Royal Library), Preface dated 1793 & 1796].

First edition of this handsome and large-format (323 x 217 mm.) royal publication. King Chongjo (1752-1800), was one of the most intellectual and enlightened of the Korean monarchs. Perhaps Korea’s greatest bibliophile, as royal patron he supported all aspects of the book: typographers, printers, authors, librarians, and lexicographers. A number of “royal” editions were published under his auspices. He... More

Each title within the same architectural woodcut border, two folding woodcut plates in the second part (the 2nd plate is numbered p. 33), & numerous woodcuts in the text of geometrical & surveying problems. 8 p.l., 88 pp.; 2 p.l., 33 pp. Two parts in two vols. Small 4to, modern vellum-backed paste-paper boards. Nuremberg: S. Halbmayer, colophon dated “1626.”

First edition, and complete with both parts, of this posthumously published work. Galgemair (1564-1619), who had been a student of both Apian and Mästlin at Tübingen, wrote a series of books on scientific instruments.

The first part of this book describes... More

Full-page woodcut armorial device on verso of title, one woodcut in the text, & woodcut initials & decorations. Largely printed in black letter. 11 p.l. (several preliminary leaves misbound at end), 193, [1] leaves. Small 4to, cont. limp vellum (wrinkled & somewhat soiled, minor & mostly marginal worming to misbound leaves, minor dampstaining), ties gone. London: Printed by R. Watkins, 1577.

First edition in English, translated by Barnabe Googe (1540-94). This work, first published in Latin in Cologne in 1570, was extremely popular. Written in the form of a dialogue, the book takes an imaginary visitor through the countryman’s house... More

Portfolio of original photographs (mainly from 210 x 300 mm. to 240 x 330 mm.) depicting artillery, field guns, howitzers, cannons, ammunition wagons, etc., produced by Friedrich Krupp. 53 mounted photographs (some partly faded) on 51 stiff boards (640 x 480 mm.), all boards signed “Photogr. Atelier des Krupp’schen Etablissements.” Large oblong folio (645 x 500 mm.), orig. red cloth folder (a little rubbed & soiled) with title printed in gilt on cover, metal protectors at corners. [Essen]: dated 1869-76.

A very rare portfolio issued by the Krupp Steel Works with 53 original albumen photographs. A sort of trade catalogue... More

Printed in Chinese with Japanese reading marks. Five full-page woodcuts in the text. Eight parts in 15 vols. Large 8vo, orig. wrappers stained with persimmon juice (wrappers rubbed), orig. block-printed title labels on upper covers, later stitching. [Kyoto]: Preface dated 1575; Murakami Heirakuji, 1642.

A very early Japanese edition; the first edition was published in China in 1575. Yixue rumen was the work of Li Chan (fl. 1573-1619), a Ming dynasty physician. An influential introductory Chinese medical textbook, it is itself a condensation of the important Gu Jin Yi Tong [Old and Modern Medical Generalities] by Xu Chunfu, published in... More

Finely engraved frontis. of the interior of the Imperial Library in Vienna, 43 folding engraved plates, 17 engravings in the text (including 8 full-page), engraved plan of Vienna on title, engraved headpiece, & one initial. Title printed in red & black. 12 p.l. (incl. the frontis.), 210 pp., one leaf of errata. Folio, cont. mottled sheep (dampstain, for the most part quite faint, in lower portion of final 40 leaves), spine richly gilt, contrasting leather lettering piece on spine. Vienna: L.J. Kaliwoda, 1745.

First edition, first issue, of this luxuriously printed and illustrated volume; this is a particularly fine and... More

Large woodcut diagram on title & more than 300 woodcut diagrams in the text. 2 p.l., 310, [1] pp. Small folio, cont. dark green morocco, arms of Charles de Valois on sides & his monogram in corners (Olivier 2600, fers 6 & 7), triple gilt fillet round sides, flat spine divided into seven compartments, six with monogram repeated, a.e.g. Pesaro: G. Concordia, 1600.

First edition of this important landmark in the history of the science of perspective and a precious copy from the library of Charles of Valois (1573-1650), finely bound in contemporary green morocco with his arms. Charles was... More