Vol. I with a number of small text illus. & Vol. II with 18 full-page drawings (several using blue, brown, & red ink as well as black) & one diagram. 48; 19 folding leaves. Written throughout in one fine & legible hand. Two vols. 8vo (255 x 182 mm.), orig. wrappers (Vol. I in blue wrappers; Vol. II in drab brown wrappers), new stitching. [Japan]: at end of the vols.: “copied in 1734 & 1735.”

A most unusual manuscript, on a topic we have not yet encountered: this is, amongst other subjects, very largely concerned with how to accurately draw meridians and acupuncture points and how to label them on acupuncture models... More

1 p.l., v-xliv, 543 pp.; 1 p.l., [3]-829 pp. Two vols. 8vo, cont. sheep (corners worn, head of spine of Vol. II a bit chipped), spines gilt, red morocco lettering pieces on spines, a.e.g. Paris: Barrois, 1763.

The sale catalogue of one of the most important and largest of all private book collections, especially strong in medicine and natural history; Peignot states (p. 97) “ce catalogue est un des plus considérables qui existent.” Falconet (1671-1762), French court physician, was a book collector for more than seventy years and this catalogue contains 19,798 lots (the library comprised about 60,000 books; many... 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 serious way at... More

4 p.l., 262 pp., [6] pp. catalogue of 46 Remy sales (an invaluable list), 8 pages of errata & schedule of the sale. 12mo. Paris: Musier, Pere, 1771.

[bound with]:

([HUQUIER, Gabriel]). Catalogue des Tableaux, Gouaches, Desseins en feuilles & sous verre, Estampes de toutes les Ecoles, Livres d’Estampes & autres curiosités. Du Cabinet de M***. [“Heuquier” [sic] supplied in a cont. hand]. viii, 178 pp. 12mo. Paris: Prault, 1771. More

Woodcut vignette on title, woodcut port. of St. Augustine & the woodcut arms of Pius V on verso, & two large & fine woodcut initials. Printed nearly entirely in italics. 12 unnumbered leaves. Small 4to, 18th-cent. green morocco, single gilt fillet round sides, spine gilt, a.e.g. Rome: Heirs of A. Blado, [text dated 16 December] 1567.

First edition, a fine copy printed on vellum, and very likely the MacCarthy-Reagh copy, which was described in his 1815 sale catalogue (lot 1176) as “m. vert.” This copy bears the official autograph signatures of Cardinal Flavio Orsini and M. Boccarinus, Notary of the Apostolic Chamber, on the... More

147 woodcut diagrams in the text. 6 p.l., 196 leaves. Small folio (272 x 190 mm.), cont. Parisian binding of light brown calf (very skillful restorations to the binding), panelled in blind with gilt fleurons in the corners, gilt floral tool in the center of each cover of a hand holding flowers, small gilt stars in the six compartments of spine. Nuremberg: J. Petreius, 1543.

First edition, and a very fine and crisp copy, of “the earliest of the three books of science that most clarified the relationship of man and his universe (along with Newton’s Principia and Darwin’s Origin of Species).”–Dibner, Heralds of Science... More

Illus. in the text (Vol. 6 has 13 full-page illus.). Six vols. 8vo, modern wrappers (first leaf of Vol. IV with small defect obscuring one or two characters, Vol. VI with two natural paper flaws touching a few characters of text), new stitching. [China]: two Prefaces dated 1644.

First edition of this influential Chinese ophthalmological work, which records 108 types of eye diseases and has more than 300 prescriptions as well as illustrations and plentiful data. The book discusses medical records of ophthalmology and the theory of five orbiculi (illustrated in the first volume), the eight regions of the whites of the eyes... More

“Theory of the Earth; or an Investigation of the Laws observable in the Composition, Dissolution, and Restoration of Land upon the Globe…Read March 7 and April 4 1785,” pp. 209-304 & two engraved plates, with a printed leaf of “Explanation” in Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Vol. I [complete]. Engraved vignette on title, four engraved plates (two folding). xii, 100, 336, 209 pp., 1 leaf of errata. Three parts in one vol. Large 4to, cont. polished calf (joints very carefully repaired, corners a bit worn), spine gilt, red & green morocco lettering pieces on spine. Edinburgh: J. Dickson, 1788.

The first publication of the “full” text of Hutton’s epoch-making essay of the theory of the earth, illustrated with two engravings of geological specimens. This is one of the greatest works in the history of geology. Hutton makes few references in the Abstract to the evidence on which he based his theory. It is here, in this journal appearance, in which he fully presents his ideas regarding fossils and geological time. More

Two handsome albums with 21 finely-drawn technical illustrations employing black ink and wash water colors. Almost all of the illustrations are signed “Karl Hübler” and dated by him from 1890-93. Some are also signed by “Engessen” and “Sayer,” who were perhaps the design engineers.

Laid-in are ten further fine folding original pen-&-ink drawings with wash water coloring concerning different water and bridge engineering projects in Bavaria as well as a printed contract for engineering projects for the state from about 1900. More

Two engraved plates (one is folding & with eight images) & five folding woodcut plates of watermarks. Five vols. bound in four. 8vo, cont. paste-paper boards (occasional minor browning), flat spines gilt, red leather lettering pieces on spines. Brussels: [Privately Printed], 1803.

The very rare privately printed catalogue, in its most complex state, of the vast and famous library of Carlos Antonio La Serna (1752-1813), bibliographer, historian of early printing, and “conservateur” at the Brussels Library. The main part of the library, the finest of the time in the Low Countries, was actually amassed by his uncle, Don Simon de Santander San Juan... 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

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