Large woodcut device on title with arms, surmounted by papal & royal crowns and numerous woodcuts & woodcut initials in the text. Printed tables in the text. 4 p.l., 71 leaves, one leaf. Small 4to, fine 19th-cent. Jansenist binding of crushed red morocco by Thibaron-Echaubard (as usual, washed), dentelles gilt, a.e.g. Valladolid: A. & D. Fernandez de Cordova, 1572.

First edition and very scarce. Arfe (1535-95), studied anatomy at Salamanca and became a celebrated artisan in precious metals. Trained as a goldsmith by his father, he was a leading figure of the Spanish artistic style known as “Plateresque,” which was based on elaborate... More

viii, 239 (i.e. 235) pp. 8vo, cont. French red morocco, triple gilt fillet round sides, flat spine richly gilt, a.e.g. [London]: 1773.

The second of the auction catalogues prepared for the sale of the library of James West. This is a splendid copy bound in contemporary French red morocco and entirely ruled in red (including the title-page) with prices in a contemporary hand. This copy belonged to the famous book collector Michael Wodhull (1740-1816), who has characteristically recorded on the free front flyleaf the price, date and place of purchase as well as signed it.

West (1704-73), treasurer of the Inner Temple and President of the Royal Society, formed a collection of printed books “exceedingly rich in early English ones. It contained no fewer than thirty-four Caxtons, and a large number of works from the presses of Lettou, Machlinia, the anonymous ‘Scole mayster’ of St. Albans, Wynkyn de Worde, Pynson, and the rest of the old English typographers, many of which were unique copies. His manuscripts were exceptionally interesting and valuable.”–Fletcher, English Book Collectors, p. 205–(& see pp. 203-07). His library was also strong in scientific, historical, and philosophical works as well as books dealing with law and crime. West bought at all the great sales and dispersals in England for nearly fifty years, including those of Rawlinson, Harley, and Folkes. More

A fascinating collection of about 85 booksellers’ catalogues, mostly German, dating from 1795 to 1840, all coming from the Wittelsbach library of the dukes and kings of Bavaria. Mostly 8vo or small 8vo, bound in the original wrappers or boards, some stitched as issued, some self-bound. Germany: 1795-1840.

A collection of about 85 publishers’ and booksellers’ catalogues coming from the Wittelsbach library at Tegernsee, the “summer home” library of the royal family of Bavaria. This collection offers an excellent view of how the royal family of Bavaria acquired new books for their personal reading pleasure and use. The kings and dukes of Bavaria... More

xvi, 125 pp., [3] pp. of publisher’s ads. Large 4to, cont. mottled calf (a few careful repairs to upper joint & corners), triple gilt fillet round sides, spine gilt, red morocco lettering piece on spine, a.e.g. The Hague: P. de Hondt, 1756.

First edition in French (1st ed., in English: 1755); this is one of the few copies which has fine and delicate contemporary coloring. Ellis (ca. 1710-76), whom Linnaeus termed a “bright star of natural history” and “the main support of natural history in England,” was one of the earliest marine zoologists. With the Swede Daniel Solander (1733–1782), he discovered... 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

Woodcut printer’s device on title. 6 p.l. (last a blank), 691, [40] pp. Thick folio, cont. vellum over boards (single wormhole in upper outer blank corner starting at p. 551-end), traces of ties. Zurich: C. Froschauer, 1574.

Second edition of Gesner’s Bibliotheca Universalis, issued for the first time with this title, and edited by the author’s younger friend, Josias Simler (1530-76). Our edition has been greatly enlarged and revised; it now includes approximately 35,000 titles.

“Gessner’s Bibliotheca universalis is not only a bibliography in the true sense of the term, nor is it merely a more or less comprehensive description of... More

Photographic album, stamped on upper cover “Kembs,” containing 40 fine black & white photographs, each measuring 163 x 218 mm. & each mounted on thick board, all with printed explanatory descriptions above & below. Oblong small folio (250 x 335 mm.), orig. half-cloth & marbled boards, sewn. Photographs dated between April 1929 and October 1933.

The construction of the “Grand Canal d’Alsace,” which channeled the hitherto unnavigable Upper Rhine River, was one of the most important civil engineering projects in France of the last century. About 50 kilometers long and running between Kembs (just below Basel) and Vogelgrun, it permits the navigation of ships and barges between Basel (a city which... More

4 p.l., xix, 164 pp. 8vo, cont. mottled calf by John Brindley, single gilt fillet round sides, the four corners of each cover elaborately gilt with Brindley’s characteristic dolphins surmounted by crowns within circular wreaths, spine divided into six compartments, five of which with the golden fleece device in gilt, green morocco lettering piece in remaining compartment. London: J. Brindley, 1728.

First edition; an extraordinary “illuminated” copy with the title-page, initials, and section headings all heightened in gold, and bound by John Brindley, bookbinder to Frederick, Prince of Wales and Queen Caroline. The initials along with the vignettes and typographical ornaments... More

Woodcut printer’s device of the golden compass on title. 119 pp. Small 8vo, 18th-cent. Belgian mottled calf (head of spine a little chipped, joints rubbed), sides gilt, spine gilt, red morocco lettering piece on spine (label partly flaked away). Antwerp: C. Plantin, 1570.

[as usual, bound after]:

PHILIP II, King of Spain. Philippi II. Regis Catholici Edictum De Librorum prohibitorum catalogo observando. Woodcut printer’s device of the golden compass on title. 8 unnumbered leaves. Antwerp: C. Plantin, 1570. More

Finely engraved added allegorical title-page & added engraved port. of the author, 158 engraved plates (numbered 1-54; 1-42; 1-25; 1-15; 1-17; 1-5), five engraved headpieces & four tailpieces in the text, and several finely engraved initials. 8 p.l., 127, [14] pp., 1 leaf of errata. Folio, cont. red morocco, gilt arms of Nicolas-Joseph Foucault on covers, panelled in gilt, spine gilt, a.e.g. Rome: J.J. Komarek, 1690.

First edition, and a splendid copy in handsome contemporary red morocco with the arms of Nicolas Joseph Foucault, of a “sumptuous work describing and depicting upon the excellent engraved plates a large variety of ancient Roman objects…”–Sinkankas, Gemology... More

Finely engraved frontis. & 158 plates, all finely hand-colored. Four vols. in two. 4 p.l., 126, [4] pp.; 138, [2] pp.; 4 p.l., 118, [2], 23, [1] pp.; 16 pp. Large 4to, fine slightly later 18th-cent. citron morocco, sides with gilt border, flat spines finely decorated in gilt, green morocco lettering pieces on spines, dentelles gilt, a.e.g. Nuremberg: A.W. Winterschmidt, 1764-66-68-75.

The finest copy I have seen in many years, finely bound in citron morocco, of the first edition in French of this famous and beautifully illustrated microscopical work.

Ledermüller (1719-69), a polymath, displayed a discerning interest in the art and science of natural history and... More

2 p.l., viii, 494 pp., 1 leaf of errata. Large thick 8vo (245 x 160 mm.), cont. aubergine straight-grained morocco, sides gilt & inlaid to an elaborate “cathedral” design in the shape of a “gothic” window enclosing a cathedral rose inlaid in ochre, light-green, & red, four bands on spine, two of the compartments lettered in gilt, the others gold-tooled & partly inlaid in light-green morocco, aubergine morocco doublures & triplures brilliantly gilt & blind-tooled, a.e.g., by Joseph Thouvenin (signed at foot of spine “THOUVENIN”), in Paris, ca. 1825. Paris: [Privately Printed by] Firmin-Didot, 1823.

Limited to 340 copies, of which this is one of thirty copies on large “papier vélin,” reserved for presentation to the members of the Société des Bibliophiles Français and magnificently bound in very fine mosaic cathedral-style binding by Joseph Thouvenin. Privately printed, this is one of the earliest Russian private library catalogues and was written by the owner himself with the aid of Charles Piquet. More