Numerous woodcuts in the text. Much Greek printing. 5 p.l., liii, 168 pp. 8vo, cont. panelled calf, remains of label on spine. Oxford: Sheldonian Theatre, 1706.

First edition of Halley’s translation of Apollonius’s “cutting off a ratio” from an Arabic manuscript. This text of Apollonius, like Books V-VII of the Conics, survives only in Arabic, and in this case the Arabic remains unpublished.

“Much of Halley’s scholarship was exercised upon the works of Apollonius of Perga, one of the greatest mathematicians of antiquity, and indeed of all time, who flourished in the latter part of the third century B.C. One... More

Written throughout in a fine neat hand. 14 finely painted color illus., some of which are full-page. 25 folding leaves. 8vo (290 x 200 mm.), orig. stiff blue boards, manuscript title label on upper cover, new stitching. [Japan]: mid-Edo.

A handsomely illustrated manuscript describing about 44 recipes of various medications and liniments using Dutch methods of distillation and other techniques. For each medicine, the anonymous author has provided the name phonetically from the Dutch in katakana, its Chinese/Japanese equivalent in kanji, recipes, and descriptions of the materials used in preparing each drug. Some of the ingredients include honey, lily flowers, worms, poppy seeds, deer... More

Woodcut illus. on title, two ports. of J. Kentmann, many woodcuts of fossils & stones in the text, & several printer’s devices. 8 parts in one vol. 8vo, 18th-cent. mottled half-sheep & marbled boards, spine gilt, red leather lettering piece on spine. Zurich: J. Gesner, 1565.

First edition of this famous collection of texts which forms one of the most important contributions to 16th-century geology and mineralogy. It consists of eight separate treatises by seven authors on the subjects of fossils, gems, and metals, all edited by Gesner and with his general introduction and extensive commentaries.

This is an important association copy, with the signature on the title of Caspar (Gaspard) Bauhin (1560-1624), the first professor of anatomy and botany at the University of Basel. He made a number of important contributions to both anatomy and botany (see D.S.B., I, pp. 522-24). Like Gesner, Bauhin was greatly concerned with nomenclature; his great merit, again like Gesner, was his ability to treat his subjects in an orderly and methodical manner. More

Manuscript title-pages within decorative ruled borders. Each leaf of text ruled in red on rectos & versos. 4 p.l., 935, [5] pp.; 1 p.l., 953, [5] pp.; 1 p.l., 783 pp.; 1 p.l., 674 pp.; 1 p.l., 514 pp.; 259, [392] pp. Six vols. Small folio (312 x 202 mm.), cont. vellum over boards (minor binding wear, upper joint of Vol. III a little split), red morocco titling labels on spines, spines gilt. [Paris: 1759-67].

The long-lost autograph manuscript catalogue of the 10,000-volume library of Claude Pierre Goujet (1697-1767), French abbé, man of letters, controversialist, and prominent book collector. His library was formed over a 50-year period, and Peignot (p. 101) considered... More

14 parts in 13 vols. Large 8vo, orig. patterned wrappers (rubbed), orig. block-printed title labels on upper covers (rubbed), new stitching. [Japan: 1648-52].

An early and rare edition of this highly influential commentary on the Tsurezuregusa [Notes from Leisure Hours] of Kenko Yoshida (ca. 1282-1350). Yoshida’s greatest masterpiece, it is a nonfictional prose work — zuihitsu — containing miscellaneous reflections and observations that continues to be read and loved today. “It can be said that Kenko discovered a couple of centuries before Montaigne that prose was the natural medium for conveying the motions of an inquiring, particularly a self-inquiring, mind. It is... More

Engraved vignette on title & 32 finely engraved plates (seven are folding). 4 p.l., 50 pp., 2 leaves. Folio, cont. half-calf & speckled boards (a little worn), spine gilt, red morocco lettering piece on spine. Amsterdam: printed for the Heirs of Jan van der Heyden, 1735.

Second edition, enlarged with important additions. The first edition appeared in 1690. The frequency and severity of fires in increasingly densely constructed cities was a growing and devastating problem in the 17th century. Until that time, firefighting had been quite rudimentary. But solutions were soon found with the invention of fire engines with suction and force pumps.

Van der Heyden (1637-1712), a Dutch Baroque-period painter and printmaker, was one of the most accomplished painters of landscapes and buildings of his time. But, as an Amsterdam city official, he was also concerned with the problem of fires in that city and turned his attention to the problem. In 1672 he developed a fire engine that utilized a suction hose to draw water from a reservoir. He also invented, in conjunction with his brother Nicolaes, a new and highly effective flexible fire hose made of leather and joined together using brass fittings, which was able to withstand considerable pressure while directing water at a fire. More

Woodcut printer’s device on title. 4 p.l., 400 pp. Small thick 8vo, cont. richly blindstamped pigskin over wooden boards, one of the stamps with “H M” with the date “160[?]”, two catches & one (of two) clasps. Hanau: G. Antonius, 1607.

[bound with]:

THEODORICUS, Sebastianus. Novae Quaestiones Sphaericae, hoc est, de Circulis Coelestibus & primo mobili, in gratiam studiosae juventutis scriptae. Woodcut on title, numerous astronomical woodcuts in the text, three folding printed tables, & one large woodcut plate. 8 p.l. (the last a blank), 320 pp. Small 8vo. Wittenberg: L. Seuberlich for S. Selfisch, 1605. More

199 finely lithographed plates (the plate “Irrigations, No. 6“ in Vol. I was not published). Lithographed title, 48 printed leaves of text including final leaf listing plates; one lithographed leaf of “Prospectus,” lithographed title, 45 leaves of text incl. final leaf listing plates. Two parts in one vol. Large 4to, cont. green half-sheep (joints very carefully repaired), spine gilt. Paris, “á l’Etabissement lithographique du Comte de Lasteyrie, Rue du Bac No. 58,” 1820-21.

First edition of one of the most extensive and important lithographic works published in the early days of the medium. Lasteyrie (1759-1849), agronomist, industrialist, and philanthropist, was much involved in modernizing the... More

Large woodcut on title of an astronomer studying an armillary sphere in front of a starry sky by Hans Burgkmair & nine woodcuts in the text. 40 unnumbered leaves. Small 4to, cont. limp vellum, title written in a contemporary hand on upper cover, with the orig. nine-link chain attached to the lower cover with the orig. chain swivel & ring at other end, orig. deerskin ties. Augsburg: V. Otmar, 1548.

A fine copy of the “first German encyclopedia” of general knowledge, here bound in a very remarkable chained binding. Most surviving chained bindings are substantial folios; our example is a smaller format book with... More

Woodcut illus. of artists’ marks on many leaves. 72 pp. 12mo, early 18th-cent. morocco (about 1740), triple gilt fillet round sides, flat spine gilt, contrasting morocco lettering piece on spine, a.e.g. Paris: J. Langlois, 1672.

The catalogue of the second print collection formed by Marolles (1600-81), abbot of Villeloin and man of letters. His first collection amounted to 123,400 separate prints by more than 6000 print makers, mounted in 400 large volumes and 141 smaller ones. It was acquired in the name of the King by Colbert in 1667. This was the largest and finest collection ever formed up to that... More

Woodcut port. of the author on verso of title & several woodcuts in the text. Title within typographical border. 12 p.l. (last leaf a blank), 348, [4] pp. Small thick 8vo, cont. vellum over boards, stamped in blind on upper cover “M N H L” & “1613.” Wittenberg: W. Meisner at the expense of C. Berger, [date of Foreword “1612“].

[bound with]:

MATENESIUS, Johann Friedrich. Critices Christianae Libri Duo de Ritu Bibendi super Sanitate, Pontificum, Caesarum, Principum, Ducum, Magnatum Amicorum, Amicarum, &c.… Woodcut printer’s vignette on title. 8 p.l., 189 pp., one blank leaf. Small 8vo (tear to first leaf of text in blank portion of... More

Engraved title & 32 finely engraved mezzotint plates, printed in sanguine. Large folio, modern half-morocco & cloth (minor foxing), spine gilt. London: I. & J. Taylor, n.d. [but about 1793-97].

First edition of a very great rarity, published between September 1793 and August 1797 (but probably 1795). This is the most ambitious neo-classical ornament and pattern book printed in sanguine issued in Britain. The plates are in imitation of chalk drawings and include foliated and architectural patterns. Some of the plates are directly influenced by French neo-classical patterns, including copies of French designs by Caillouet, ca. 1780.

Nice copy. A duplicate from the Winterthur Library with their bookplate. More