Many illus., mostly in black but some in red, pink, gray, green, yellow, blue, etc. Ca. 1821 folding leaves of text. 1083 chapters in 50 parts in 54 vols. (parts 14 & 15 in one vol., parts 24, 34, 42, & 47 in two vols. each, plus one vol. of table of contents). 8vo (266 x 188 mm.), orig. blue wrappers, orig. manuscript labels on each upper wrapper, new stitching. [Probably Kyoto: written in 1690 & this is a mid-Edo copy].

A rare and extremely important text, finely illustrated and complete in 50 parts; it remained unpublished until 1936. WorldCat lists no copy of this manuscript in North America (the NYPL’s copy is a microfilm). This... More

2 p.l., xxiv, 171 pp. 8vo, cont. red morocco (a few minor defects to extremities), triple gilt fillet round sides, arms in gilt on each cover of the dauphin Louis de France (1729-65), son of Louis XV, spine richly gilt, a.e.g. Paris: G. Martin, 1759.

The very uncommon sale catalogue of the library of La Vigne de Frécheville (1695-1758), first doctor to Queen Marie Leszczynska, wife of King Louis XV, and physician to Maria Josepha, second wife of the dauphin Louis de France. This copy bears the arms of the dauphin, Marie Lezsczynska’s son, and the father of three kings... More

20 pp. 8vo, 19th-century brown half-cloth & marbled boards (spine a trifle rubbed), title on spine, spine gilt. [S.l.: 1737].

One of the very rare contemporary manuscript sale catalogues of the painting collection of the comtesse de Verrue (1670-1736), one of history’s greatest collectors of art as well as books. It is annotated with nearly all prices and a few buyers’ names. According to Lugt, there are no known printed catalogues of this sale of paintings — most likely never printed — and the Getty Provenance Index records 14 extant manuscript copies, all in institutional libraries, except this example.

“Verrue, may be best known today as Alexandre Dumas’s fictive dame volupté, a sobriquet she reputedly created and one that has too easily obscured her crucial role in the art world of early eighteenth-century Paris. She had the social confidence to renounce the traditional pattern of collecting that Crozat had eagerly embraced and turned from ‘serious’ Italian paintings to ‘petits sujets,’ bucolic landscapes, and amorous mythologies, primarily by painters of the Northern and French schools. Like Crozat, she shaped a remarkable and widely admired dwelling that was central to her identity and famous during her lifetime. The importance of each house was enhanced by the way it functioned. Each became a key site of artistic discourse, a place where art lovers and artists assembled, and a locus for assessing competing systems of value, where distinctive outlooks were forged, defined, and absorbed.”–Rochelle Ziskin, Sheltering Art (2012), p. 2. More

Original wooden case (350 x 245 x 65 cm.), upper board covered in aubergine sheep maroquiné, decorated in gilt & blind, with the title in gilt in center: “Le Copiste Électro-Chimique.” Inside are: 1) a blank copy book with the lithographed title in blue within ornamental border Brevet d’Invention et de Perfectionnement. Le Copiste Electro-chimique (4to, orig. glazed boards & sheep spine, 396 numbered blank leaves); 2) three smaller boxes each covered with aubergine sheep maroquiné: “Encre Electro Chimique” (with the orig. metal ink well); “Éponge” (with the orig. sponge); and the third box, untitled & empty; 3) another copy... More

59 leaves, enumerating the names of grapes, cereal crops, and oils and their prices for nearly two centuries. Small folio (273 x 178 mm.), 18th-cent. vellum over boards (tail of spine defective), two (of four) ties lacking. Burgundy: 1622-1792.

A fascinating and rare survival, which details the precipitous rise in the prices of Burgundian wine and the emergence of a hierarchy among regions and vintages over a 170-year period. This document, consisting of three gatherings (28; 28; 3 leaves), bound together and written in several legible hands, provides a wealth of information on grain harvests in the region, which varied greatly from year... More

xx, 76 pp. 8vo, orig. green cloth, upper cover lettered in gilt. [Manchester: Chas. Sever, Lithographer], 1900.

The rare catalogue describing a vast and storied collection. The collection had its beginnings with the peculiar story of Francis Egerton (not the above), the 3rd Duke of Bridgewater (1736-1803), also known as the “Canal Duke.” “The Duke of Bridgewater was one of the great and eccentric success stories of English history. Like that other ducal oddity, the 5th Duke of Portland, he was rejected in love and remained a bachelor. Bridgewater had one big idea: to construct a canal from Manchester to Liverpool to... More

Lithographed title with vignette depicting both sides of the medallion of the Société lithographique de Mulhouse, lithographed leaf of table of contents, & eight lithographed plates (two in color). Large 4to, later blue wrappers (title a little dusty), newly stitched, uncut. Paris: “chez l’Auteur Rue Casette No. 18,” [1816].

First edition of one of the great rarities of lithography. Engelmann (1788-1839), a native of Mulhouse, first learned of lithography in 1813 and began to experiment on some stones. Realizing he needed more information, he decided to go to Munich to see the process at first hand. “For several weeks Engelmann studied... More

Twelve folding engraved plates. 1 p.l., 300 pp.; 1 p.l., 166 pp.; 1 p.l., 165 pp. Three vols. in one. 4to, cont. sheep-backed mottled boards (minor rubbing, some foxing as is usual with this book). Berlin: A. Haude & J.C. Spener, 1746-50-51.

First edition of one of Euler’s scarcer works; this collection contains separate monographs on astronomy, optics, magnetism, electricity, mathematics, and physics and includes several of Euler’s most important and fundamental works.

Vol. I deals mostly with astronomy and optics. It is valuable for Euler’s tables of the sun and moon and for his discussion of the problem of... More

Two double-page plates & 80 engravings in the text. 8 p.l., 196, [16] pp. Folio, orig. carta rustica (covers a little soiled & spotted, first few leaves a little dampstained in outer lower corner). Rome: G.F. Buagni, 1696.

First edition and a fine fresh copy of this finely illustrated work on baroque hydraulics. Fontana (1638-1714), was the most important Roman architect of his generation.

This book “emerges from an actual design problem. The practical source for this theoretical work was the project for the raising of the water level of Lake Bracciano, necessary since the second fountain in Saint Peter’s square, built by Bernini under... More

26 (of 30?) albumen photographs (all ca. 215 x 160 mm.), mounted on boards within frames printed in red, all images with printed titles on the boards (410 x 320 mm.). Numbered 501 to 530 but lacking (?) nos. 506, 507, 511, & 525, signed: “Photographie des H. Gruson’schen Ateliers.“ Oblong folio, orig. green leather portfolio, panelled in gilt with leather wreath, with metal crest in center of upper cover. Buckau, near Magdeburg: n.d. [but 1872-76].

From the collection of Otto von Bismarck, the German statesman and unifier of Germany. This deluxe portfolio of original photographs was presented by the Grusonwerk, a leading member of Germany’s defense industry, to Bismarck and comes... More

Four vols. & two related vols. Large 8vo (275 190 mm.), orig. patterned wrappers, manuscript labels on upper covers, stitched. Japan: ca. 1911.

A fine archive of notes and drawings by Ishimoto, a notable interior decorator and fashion historian in Tokyo. The first volume is devoted to women’s court attire and contains 17 highly detailed and fine drawing and paintings, 14 of which are richly colored, of traditional costumes of women of different ranks at court. The artist has included front and back views. These drawings are all executed on graph paper with mica and contain manuscript notes regarding the sources for the illustrations... More

Large engraved vignette on title & another at the head of the first leaf of Part II and 30 fine folding engraved plates (numbered I–XXVIII plus XV* & a second plate numbered XVI). 184 pp. 4 p.l., 183, [1] pp. Small 4to, cont. speckled sheep, contrasting vellum lettering piece on spine. Stockholm: tryckt af P.J. Nyström, 1752.

First edition and very rare; WorldCat locates only one copy in North America. This Introduction to the Mechanics and the Art of Construction, including a Description of Several of the Machines invented by the late…Mr. Polhem is the best early treatise on the mechanical and industrial processes... More