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

Four vols. 8vo, cont. vellum over boards (covers of Vol. I lightly stained, spines dust-soiled, lightly foxed throughout as usual). The Hague: J. Swart & P. de Hondt, 1725.

With its almost 30,000 lots this was the largest sale ever held in any country up to 1725, a record not broken until the Thott sale (Copenhagen: 1789-1795) and the Heber sales of the 1830s. The Du Bois sale lasted for nearly two months.

This extraordinary library was the creation of the Abbé Jean-Paul Bignon (1662-1743), who was for many years secretary of the Académie des Sciences. When, in 1718, he was appointed Bibliothécaire du... More

Eight parts bound in four vols. 8vo, attractive mottled calf-backed boards (some worming to final leaves of Vol. II touching some letters), spines gilt, red morocco lettering pieces on spines. The Hague: J. Swart & P. de Hondt, 1730.

A rare and important sale catalogue describing the enormous collection of Samuel Huls. Huls (or Hulst), “magistrat hollandais, avait formé une collection des plus importantes, car son catalogue contient près de 34,000 articles, nombre qui, nous le croyons, n’est dépassé par aucun inventaire moderne (si ce n’est celui d’Heber). On y remarque plus de 1200 articles en langue espagnole, circonstance bien peu commune... More

Dont la Vente commencera le 4 Mars 1756. vi, 63 pp. 8vo, cont. vellum over boards, single gilt fillet round sides, flat spine gilt, gilt wheat sheaves in five of the compartments, red morocco lettering piece on spine. Paris: G. Martin & P.G. Simon, 1756.

[bound with]:

(SIREJACOB, J.A.J.). Catalogue d’une très-belle Collection d’Estampes, de Rubens, Van Dyck, Jordaens, Teniers, Callot & autres fameux Maîtres Italiens, François & Flamands. Assemblées depuis longues Années, & Délaissées par Monsieur J.A.J. Sirejacob, Ecuyer. Qui se Vendront…a Bruxelles, Lundi le 27. Août 1764. & jours suivans… 1 p.l., 76 pp. 8vo. Brussels: H.V. Lemincks, [1764]... More

Engraved vignette on title & another — emblematic — vignette on final leaf of Vol. II. 2 p.l., 646 pp., one leaf with the Barberini arms, otherwise blank; 2 p.l., 596 pp. Two vols. Folio, cont. vellum over boards. Rome: Typis Barberinis, Excudebat M. Hercules, 1681.

The rare catalogue of the vast library created by the enormously rich Cardinal Francesco Barberini (1597-1679), a great patron of the arts due to his status as one of the chief beneficiaries of the exorbitant nepotism practiced by his uncle Pope Urban VIII. The cardinal built a rich library at the Palazzo Barberini which included ancient Greek and Roman manuscripts... More

Woodcut device on title, two folding printed tables, & one folding woodcut plate. Diagrams in the text. 2 p.l., 306, 35, [1] pp. 4to, cont. speckled sheep (upper joint with short crack, bookplate on blank portion of title patched, minor foxing), spine gilt, red leather lettering piece on spine. Basel: impensis Thurnisiorum, Fratrum, 1713.

[bound with]:

BERNOULLI, Nicolaus I. Dissertatio Inauguralis Mathematico-Juridica. De Usu Artis Conjectandi in Jure. 56 pp. 4to. Basel: J.C. Mechel, 1709. 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

[Jerusalem & London: ca. 1832].

The complete autograph working manuscript of Alroy, containing numerous authorial corrections, revisions, and deletions throughout. Disraeli (1804-81), politician, prime minister, and novelist, had spent the years 1830-32 on a tour of the Middle East, including a seminal week in Jerusalem. It was on this tour of the Holy Lands that Disraeli developed a strong sense of cultural relativism. While Disraeli was baptized into the Christian church at age 13, at the request of his father, a Voltairean sceptic, this was done mostly for practical reasons (Jews still faced significant legal discrimination in England at the time and... More

Engraved title & 43 engraved plates (numbered 1-44); engraved title & 60 engraved plates (numbered 1-61). Large oblong folio, cont. French green vellum over boards (joint with short cracks at head & foot), triple gilt fillet round sides, gilt floral cornerpieces, spine nicely gilt, red morocco lettering piece on spine, green silk ties (partially defective). Rome: G.G. de’ Rossi, [late 17th century].

“This is the first publication to provide systematic, measured and uniformly scaled illustrations of Roman palaces built in the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries. By focusing exclusively on the palace, this book becomes a compendium of exempla, not only illustrating the houses... More

Woodcut device of the Medicean stars on title & two woodcut diagrams in the text. 2 p.l., 54 pp., one blank leaf. Small 4to, late 19th-cent. green diced morocco, arms of the House of Visconti in gilt within a richly decorated border, spine richly gilt, a.e.g. Florence: P. Cecconcelli, 1619.

First edition and a very fine copy. Although published under the name of his pupil and assistant Mario Guiducci (1585-1646), the present book is actually the work of Galileo (the autograph manuscript survives). It is a concealed reply to the attack of the Jesuit Orazio Grassi’s De Tribus Cometis, published earlier... More

Very numerous full-page woodcuts. Five parts in 11 vols. [complete]. Large 8vo, orig. wrappers, orig. block printed title labels on upper covers, stitched as issued oriental style (newly threaded). [Tokyo]: Monbusho [Ministry of Education], 1873-77.

First edition of this massive survey of the natural resources of Japan. Ito (1803-1901), Japanese physician and biologist who studied Western science under Franz von Siebold during the 1820s, became a professor at the University of Tokyo. He was a leader in public health projects and science policy from the beginning of the Meiji period through the rest of his career. He established a method of... 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