Numerous fine woodcut initials, diagrams, tables, & maps in the text. Woodcut printer’s device at end. 14 p.l., 18 leaves, [6] leaves, 30, xxxi-cxxvi leaves, 4 leaves. Folio, cont. Flemish blindstamped calf binding over wooden boards (rather well rebacked, a few unimportant stains), rolls of medallion heads & foliage forming a double panel, orig. clasps and catches, metal corner guards. Cologne: J. Prael for P. Quentel, 1537.

[bound after]:

ANSELM, ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY. In Omnes Pauli Apostili Epistolas enarrationes. Title within fine woodcut border by Anton Woensam of Worms. Some fine large woodcut initials. 8 p.l., 531 pp. Folio. Cologne: E. Cervicornus for G. Hittorp, 1533. More

Engraved frontis. port. of Black & 3 engraved plates. lxvi [i.e., lxxvi], 556 pp.; 1 p.l., 762, [4] pp. Two vols. Large 4to, marbled boards (minor foxing at beginning & end of each vol.), attractive modern red calf spines & corners, flat spines gilt. Edinburgh: Mundell & Son, 1803.

First edition and a very handsome set. These two monumental volumes are the only substantial account of the work of the founder of modern quantitative chemistry and discoverer of latent and specific heats. Black (1728-99), began to lecture upon his appointment as professor of medicine and chemistry at the University of Edinburgh in 1766. “His career thenceforward was exclusively... 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

Engraved vignettes on titles depicting the lemniscate & 16 folding engraved plates. xxiv, 528 pp.; xii, 536 pp. Two vols. Large 4to, mid-19th cent. half-vellum & marbled boards (occasional minor stains), entirely uncut. Pesaro: Stamperia Gavelliana, 1750.

First edition of a rare work, containing the important collected writings of Fagnano (1682-1766), Italian nobleman and mathematician. Many of the texts printed here appear for the first time. Fagnano’s advances in algebra and geometry were very far-reaching and his work on the rectification of the lemniscate made him, according to Legendre, the true founder of the theory of elliptic functions. This breakthrough was of great importance and... 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

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 death of its... More

Woodcut vignette on title, woodcut illus. in the text, & many exotic type fonts used. 12 p.l., 338 pp. 4to, late 18th-cent. half calf & marbled boards (some browning as is usual with this book), spine gilt, black morocco lettering piece on spine. Rome: Propaganda Fide, 1636.

First edition. This present work is “the first Coptic grammar to appear in the West, [it] was for centuries the basis for Coptic studies, along with Kircher’s later work Lingua aegyptiaca restituta (1643). Kircher had encountered hieroglyphs during his tertianship (a one-year period of religious study in preparation for the ministry) in Speier, and he was convinced... More

Folding engraved plate in Vol. IV. Five vols. Large 4to, handsome antique blue morocco-backed marbled boards, flat spines nicely gilt. Paris: J.B.M. Duprat & others, An VII [1798]-1825.

First edition and a complete set with all the supplements. In this monumental and fundamental astronomical work, Laplace -- the "Newton of France" -- codified and developed the theories and achievements of Newton, Euler, d'Alembert, and Lagrange. "Laplace maintained that while all planets revolve round the sun their eccentricities and the inclinations of their orbits to each other will always remain small. He also showed that all these irregularities in movements... 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 1556 in 100... More

Woodcut vignette on title. 167 (i.e. 157), [15] pp. 8vo, fine red morocco of about 1760, triple gilt fillets round sides, tiny gilt stars at each corner, flat spine richly gilt “á la grotesque,” green morocco lettering piece on spine, blue paper endpapers, a.e.g. Paris: F. Leonard, 1666.

First edition of the catalogue of the first of two print collections formed by Marolles (1600-81), abbot of Villeloin and man of letters. He began acquiring prints in 1626 and by 1644, his collecting activities governed his life. At that time there was little competition, and Marolles bought several important collections en bloc, including those... More

Added finely engraved title by M. Merian (with a port. of Münster), woodcut port. of the author on verso of title, one folding plate (between pp. 1040-41), & 1490 woodcuts in the text (of which 26 are double-page maps & 72 are double-page plans & views). Printed title in red & black. 14 p.l. (incl. the engraved title, the 7th leaf a blank), 1752 pp. Large thick folio, cont. blindstamped panelled pigskin over thick wooden boards (some inevitable browning due to the quality of the paper), eight decorated brass corner-pieces & a central boss on each cover, orig. catches &... More

Various formats and sizes. [Japan]: ca. 1787-96.

The Ogasawara School, founded in the 12th century, laid the foundations of etiquette for the aristocratic and samurai classes throughout Japan for many centuries. The school specialized in teaching horsemanship, archery, mounted archery, and samurai etiquette, on and off the battlefield. Over the centuries, the school transitioned itself to focus on a system of courtly manners, along with skills in archery for ceremonial rituals. The school continues today, supervised by the 31st generation leader, Kiyotada Ogasawara. The Imperial House of Japan uses Ogasawara etiquette.

This fascinating collection is made up of miniature models or samples of materials and objects required and used at formal Ogasawara events in the late 18th century, as well as a number of manuscript documents. More