Woodcut printer’s device on title, repeated on verso of last leaf, & a full-page woodcut illus. on p. 146. 487, [52] pp. Folio, 18th-cent. polished calf (joints carefully repaired), triple gilt fillet round sides, spine richly gilt, red & green morocco lettering pieces on spine. Basel: Froben, 1546.

First edition, and a very handsome copy, of “the first handbook of modern systematic mineralogy.”–Horblit 2a. With the bookplate of Alexandre Brongniart (1770-1847), the well-known geologist and mineralogist (see D.S.B., II, pp. 493-97).

This volume is comprised “of De Ortu et Causis Subterraneorum, in five ‘books,’ the first work on physical geology; De Natura... More

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Which, (by Order of the Executors) Will be Sold by Auction, By Mr. Langford, At his House in the Great Piazza, Covent-Garden, On Monday the 13th of January 1755, and the Thirteen following Evenings… 30 pp. 8vo, cont. calf (well-rebacked), sides decorated in gilt. London: A. Langford, 1755.

[bound with]:

(—). Museum Meadianum, sive, Catalogus Nummorum, Veteris Aevi Monumentorum, ac Gemmarum, Cum aliis quibusdam Artis recentioris et Naturae operibus; quae vir clarissimus Richardus Mead, M.D. nuper defunctus comparaverat. [Compiled by George North]. Engraved frontis. 2 p.l., 262 pp. 8vo. London: A. Langford, n.d. [1755]. More

12 p.l., 374, [24] pp., one leaf of errata. 4to, cont. English dark blue morocco (unimportant scuffing to extremities), covers panelled in gilt & blind, spine finely gilt, red morocco lettering piece on spine, a.e.g. Amsterdam: J. Claus & others, 1676.

First edition, rare, and a splendid copy bound in contemporary English dark blue morocco, most probably for presentation, of the classic exposition of the Quaker philosophy. The Society of Friends, as Quakers are more formally known, has historically had an outsized influence through the mere force of passive resistance. Their form of Christianity is “widely divergent from the prevalent types, being a.... More

Woodcut royal arms on title. 1 p.l., 34 pp. Small folio, cont. French red morocco, panelled in gilt in the style of the “cabinet du Roi,” gilt arms & ciphers [Olivier 2495 fer 2] on covers, with ciphers on spine, a.e.g. Paris: de l’Imprimerie Royale, 1743.

First edition and very uncommon. This catalogue, the splendid Han Fürstenberg — Otto Schäfer — Jacques Bemberg copy, lists the plates made of the collections of the king, including paintings, medals, royal chateaux, fountains, grottoes, statues, busts, tapestries, and jewels, along with records of festivals, entrances, battles, etc., etc.

“Colbert, understanding that engraving was the best means to disseminate and preserve knowledge of the undertakings of Louis XlV, began to assemble a group of outstanding engravers. By 1660 they had achieved the stature of independent artists and by 1670 had become a special group under the protection of the king, joined together at the Gobelins around Charles Le Brun and Sebastien Le Clerc. From 1660 André Félibien was charged with providing descriptions of maisons royales and Adam Van der Meulen and Israel Silvestre were sent to the newly conquered territories to make views of the principal chateaus and fortresses. Other commissions for the Cabinet du Roi included engravings by Chauveau of the king’s paintings at the Tuileries; copies of paintings and sculpture by Claude Mellan, Rousselet, and Audran in the galleries of the king; copies by Ronelet of the king’s collection of medals; and other works of art and architecture by Rousselet, Silvestre, Chauveau, and Le Clerc. At the same time the Académie des Sciences began scholarly works commissioned by Colbert…Illustrators for these works were Abraham Bosse, Sebastien Le Clerc (who often made engravings for Claude Perrault), Nicolas Bailly, and L. de Châtillon… More

Large engraved vignette on title. Title in red & black. 8 p.l., 626, [69] pp. Folio, cont. blind-stamped pigskin over wooden boards, arms on covers effaced. Lyon: J. & P. Prost, 1636.

First edition, Schuh’s issue B (no stated priority) with the dedication to Charles de Neufville. “Very scarce. Compendium of all the author ever discovered or read about the subject of mineralogy. It was published posthumously from notes he left by his Order at Lyon six years after his death. Printed in a double column format in a relatively small type-size, the work is a vast storehouse of all things mineralogical, including new ideas... More

Engraved vignettes on titles & numerous engraved head- & tail-pieces throughout. Six vols. bound in one thick vol. Large 4to, cont. red pigskin-backed blue boards (some rubbing), vellum corners, spine lettered in gilt, entirely uncut. [Amsterdam]: 1776.

A fine uncut set, remarkably bound in one thick volume, of this rare and famous catalogue, privately printed in three hundred copies; it is one of the most highly appreciated 18th-century catalogues of a private library. Crevenna (d. 1792), a passionate and scholarly Italian bibliophile from Milan, spent most of his life in Amsterdam where he assembled his collections, rich in rare and excellent editions of... More

Woodcut vignette on title, two engraved headpieces, five folding engraved plates, & woodcut diagrams in the text. 6 p.l., 210, [3] pp. Folio, early 19th-cent. half red morocco & red boards (minor browning), flat spine gilt. Toulouse: J. Pech, 1679.

First edition, and now rare on the market; this copy belonged to Dominique François Jean Arago (1786-1853), the great French scientist who made important contributions to astronomy, electro-magnetism, and optics (see D.S.B., I, pp. 200-03).

This book, Fermat’s only substantial publication apart from his edition of Diophantus (both prepared and published posthumously by his son), contains the majority of Fermat’s mathematical work... More

Finely engraved coat-of-arms of Roger de Bellegarde on recto of second leaf, one engraved folding plate (lightly dampstained), & several woodcuts in the text. 10 p.l., 176, [14] pp., one leaf of errata. Small 4to, 18th-cent. polished speckled calf (minor dampstaining & browning), double gilt fillet round sides, spine gilt in compartments incorporating a gilt stamp of a giraffe. Dijon: C. Guyot, 1621.

First edition of this uncommon book describing one of the most sensational archeological discoveries of the 16th century. In this work, Guénébauld (d. ca. 1630), a physician in Dijon who had studied medicine in Padua and Rome, describes his discovery in 1598... More

Ten folding engraved plates. 31 pp. Large 4to, cont. half-calf & marbled boards, spine gilt, red morocco lettering piece on spine. London: Printed by W. Richardson & S. Clark; and sold by J. Nourse & Mess. Mount & Page, 1767.

[bound with]:

MASKELYNE, Nevil. An Account of the Going of Mr. John Harrison’s Watch, at the Royal Observatory, from May 6th, 1766 to March 4th, 1767. Together with the Original Observations and Calculations of the Same…Published by Order of the Commissioners of Longitude. 28, lvi pp. Large 4to. London: W. Richardson & S. Clark, 1767. More

Translated by Franciscus Griffolinus (Aretinus). 279 leaves (of 280, without initial blank). 33 lines, Roman letter, 5-line initial “C” on [b]6r in gold with white vine stem decoration on a red, blue, & green ground, [b]7v with a 7-line gold initial “Q” with white vine stem decoration on a red, blue, green, & gold ground extending into upper & outer borders, 2- to 3-line initials supplied in blue. Folio (339 x 225 mm.), early 19th-cent. brown morocco (last leaf a little defective & stained at edges), sides richly decorated in gilt, spine richly gilt, a.e.g. Rome: Georgius Lauer for the Monastery of St. Eusebius, 29 October 1470. More

Numerous full-page & double-page color printed woodblock illus. Two vols. in four. Large 8vo, orig. yellow semi-stiff wrappers, orig. woodblock title slips on upper covers, new stitching. Osaka: Maekawa Zenbe, [after 1836].

A fine copy of this famous book; this is the first edition to contain color illustrations (the first edition, which had only black and white woodcuts, appeared in 1836). Kawahara (1786-1860), was a late Edo painter who was given permission to document local life for the Dutch trading house in Dejima. He was, in fact, one of the few Japanese permitted to enter the Nagasaki island when it was the... More