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

liv, [2], 618 pp.; 2 p.l., 400 pp. Two vols. in one. Thick 4to, cont. speckled boards, excellently rebacked in antique calf, gilt, reusing the two red morocco lettering pieces on spine. Paris: G.F. de Bure, 1767.

A very rare large paper copy of the extremely uncommon auction catalogue of the first of three sales of duplicates from the library of the duc de la Vallière, who formed by the time of his death in 1780 the most important collection of books of the 18th century. La Vallière, born rich and richer still through several inheritances, began buying in a.... More

Several woodcuts in the text. Ten columns per page, 22 characters per column, textblock: 208 x 155 mm. 80; 69 folding leaves. Two vols. 8vo (273 x 178 mm.), somewhat later wrappers, later block-printed title labels on upper covers, new stitching. [Korea]: colophon dated 1562 (Jiajing 41).

An early and very rare (no copy in WorldCat) Korean edition of the teachings of the Cheng brothers, Hao (1032-85) and Yi (1033-1107), two important philosophers of the Northern Song period; they can be called the true founders of Neo-Confucianism. The Cheng brothers, along with their uncle Zai Zhang, their teacher Dunyi Zhou... More

Woodcut ornament on title. 2 p.l., 112, [11] pp. Small folio, cont. half-calf & marbled boards (joints with some careful repairs). London: G. & J. Innys, 1722.

Large paper copy, limited to 50 copies, of the second catalogue of the 482 MSS. bequeathed to Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, by Matthew Parker (1504-75), “England’s first great bibliophile…It is hardly conceivable that a man who played such a prominent part in the ecclesiastical affairs of the sixteenth century, should also have found time to publish a number of scholarly works and to collect a great library.”–De Ricci, p. 15.

A fine copy... More

Scroll (300 x 4150 mm.), with pale green silk borders & endpapers, wooden core roller. [Japan]: n.d. but probably early Edo.

This is a fine example of an erotic scroll, anonymously painted as usual but with great skill. The scroll contains ten scenes of men (sometimes samurai) and women engaged in various sexual activities. Two of the scenes are threesomes, one of which shows a young samurai copulating with two older women. The hairstyles of both the women and men are typical of the pleasure courts of the early Edo period.

Erotic paintings in Japan have a long tradition, established... More

20 engraved plates (including one double-page) & several engraved vignettes (including one on the title). 2 p.l., xviii, [2], 460 pp. Large folio, cont. mottled calf (extremities a little worn, occasional minor foxing), triple gilt fillet round sides, green morocco oval with gilt-tooled floral device inlaid in center of both covers, spine richly gilt, green morocco lettering piece on spine. Grenoble: Cuchet, 1778.

First edition of one of the most famous and attractive of all geological books in which the author “established once and for all that basalt, a rock important scientifically because of its distinctive characteristics, its widespread occurrence... More

Woodcut printer's device on title & one engraved plate with a port. of Epicurus. 4 leaves, 5-236, [18] pp. 4to, cont. French sheep (head & foot of spine neatly repaired, several signatures lightly browned), single gilt fillet round sides, spine richly gilt, red morocco lettering piece on spine. Lyons: G. Barbier, 1647.

First edition of an important book; this life of Epicurus, which emphasized his philosophy of physics, was the foundation of Gassendi's Epicurean atomism. His atomic theory was applied to chemistry by Boyle and adopted by Newton in his new mechanical philosophy.

"Before Galileo and Descartes had succeeded in combining... More

Circular silver photographic print, 92 mm. in diameter, mounted on paper incorporating a printed title and descriptive letterpress dated August 1890 with the signatures of two of Herschel’s sons, mounted on card. Some small areas of abrasions to the paper surface. In the original frame, by Ryman & Co. of Oxford, made from the rungs of the ladder to the telescope. With a fragment of an original (?) printed descriptive notice on the back.

This is the earliest photograph of a scientific instrument and the first photograph deliberately taken to record an object prior to its disappearance (the earliest “record”... More

Ten columns per page, 20 characters per column. 52 folding leaves. Large 8vo (280 x 203 mm.), later wrappers, new stitching. [Japan]: colophon dated “1564.”

The earliest surviving edition of one of the “two priceless records of the earlier stages of the Chinese language.”–Edwin G. Pulleyblank, “Qieyun and Yunjing: The Essential Foundation for Chinese Historical Linguistics“ in Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 118, No. 2 (April-June 1998), p. 213. The Yunjing, along with its predecessor, the Qieyun, were the standard pronunciation guides of the Early Middle Chinese and Middle Chinese periods.

This is a very rare book, with... More

Several fine woodcuts in Vol. I. Ten columns, 20 characters per column. 86; 95; 76 folding leaves. Six parts in three vols. Large 8vo (280 x 200 mm.), orig. brown wrappers, orig. manuscript title labels on upper covers, new stitching. From the final leaf of Vol. III: “Koya san Ojoin…Kan’ei 12” [“printed at Mount Koya in Ojoin, 1635“].

First edition of this very rare (not in WorldCat) and handsome movable type book, printed on Mount Koya, south of Osaka, the center of the Shingon sect of Japanese Buddhism. This is a most unusual example of fukun shokuban, a technique that... More

Eight vertical lines of text per page. 98 folding leaves. Oblong 8vo (144 x 206 mm.), orig. (or very early) dark thick wrappers, new stitching. [Nara?: Manjuya Hayashi Soji, ca. 1532-73].

One of the earliest surviving setsuyoshu, the essential Japanese dictionary, “one of the mainstays of the publishing industry and…probably the most likely book to be found in a house of few books.”–Kornicki, The Book in Japan, p. 248. Widely used from the 15th century through the early Meiji period; there were more than 500 editions in many styles, additions, and formats. All early editions are extremely rare, as they... More

Woodcut head- & tail-pieces (one hand-colored in red & gold). xiv, [2], 152 pp. Small 8vo, orig. brown morocco (one corner a bit bumped), dentelles gilt, a.e.g. Paris: P. Daffis, 1872.

Number “1” of two copies printed on vellum; “seconde edition de la Bibliothèque Elzévirienne revue et annoté par M. Georges Duplessis.” Marolles (1600-81), abbot of Villeloin and man of letters, was the foremost print collector of 17th-century France. He began acquiring prints in 1626 and by 1644, his collecting activities governed his life. His first collection amounted to 123,400 separate prints by more than 6000 print makers, mounted in... More