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Woodcut vignette on title. Title printed in red & black. 2 p.l., xii, [2], 122 pp., one leaf. 8vo, green morocco, signed “Emile Rousselle,” triple gilt fillet round sides, arms in gilt of Isidoro Fernández in center of each cover, spine richly gilt. Paris: A. Aubry, 1873.

One of six copies printed on vellum (of a total edition of 606 copies) of this valuable history of the early art and book collectors of France. Bonnaffé (1825-1903), French scholar and man of letters, wrote many books on art history and the art market as well as catalogues of collections of art.

A very fine copy. With the leather bookplate of Isidoro Fernández (1878-1963). More

Engraved frontis. port. of Cervantes by Virtue, several engraved head-pieces, & 67 engraved plates. xxiii, [8], [xxv]-xxxii, vi, [2], 90, [14] (first leaf a blank), 355 pp.; xii, 388 pp. Two vols. Large 4to, cont. speckled calf (joints very expertly repaired), spines gilt, brown & green morocco lettering pieces on spines. London: J. & R. Tonson & R. Dodsley, 1742.

First edition of this esteemed translation and a wonderful association copy; this set belonged to Edward Gibbon and bears his bookplate in each volume. Gibbon was known for the wide range of his reading and he refers to this work in several of his letters and writings. He clearly liked this... More

Many fine woodcuts (the first color-printed), of which 29 are double-page & 9 are single-page. 50 folding leaves. 8vo, orig. blue wrappers (rubbed), new stitching. [Japan]: “Iki no omoitsuki nari,” [a playful pun meaning the publisher is sharing the thoughts of a connoisseur], Preface dated ca. 1764-65.

First edition of this fairly early shunga, and extremely rare; no copy listed in WorldCat nor the Union Catalogue of Japanese Books. We have located one copy in the Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto.

This is a richly illustrated and witty book in which the author takes a novel approach: he describes how to appraise women from a sexual... More

4 p.l., 162 leaves. Small 4to, cont. blindstamped panelled pigskin, remains of two deerskin ties. Zurich: C. Froschauer, 1542.

First edition of a very rare book on the market; this is a lovely fresh copy in contemporary blind-stamped pigskin. This, Gesner’s second botanical work, is “an alphabetically arranged catalog of plant names in four languages, the first of its kind, and an indication of the growing interest in botany beyond purely philological investigations into the writings of the classics. The Greek names are based on the works of Dioscorides. This early work is already characteristic of Gessner’s life-long endeavour to arrange scientific... More

Ten folding engraved plates. 31 pp. Large 4to, cont. half-calf & marbled boards, spine gilt, red morocco lettering piece on spine. London: Printed by W. Richardson & S. Clark; and sold by J. Nourse & Mess. Mount & Page, 1767.

[bound with]:

MASKELYNE, Nevil. An Account of the Going of Mr. John Harrison’s Watch, at the Royal Observatory, from May 6th, 1766 to March 4th, 1767. Together with the Original Observations and Calculations of the Same…Published by Order of the Commissioners of Longitude. 28, lvi pp. Large 4to. London: W. Richardson & S. Clark, 1767. More

Lithographed title (tiny repaired tear to outer lower corner) & 19 lithographed plates, each with a blank guard sheet. 1 p.l. (lithographed title), xvi, 92, vii pp., one leaf. Small folio, cont. aubergine morocco, sides richly panelled in gilt, spine richly gilt. London: Ch. Hullmandel, & R. Ackermann, [1824].

First edition and the prettiest copy of this book I have seen. This “was the most important English treatise on lithography to be published in the first half of the nineteenth century. It was one of the few early treatises to appear in a large format (imperial octavo) and was, with the exception of the English... More

14 leaves of differing color gampi paper treated with gofun, bound in two “quires” & sewn together. Small 4to (238 x 179 mm.), orig. semi-stiff pale gray wrappers with mica woodblock-printed designs of wisteria in a garland pattern (upper cover with a small stain), orig. printed label on upper cover. [Saga, near Kyoto: about 1607].

One of the series of 100 Noh plays produced at the famous private press in Saga, just north of Kyoto. These sumptuous luxury editions were printed for the wealthy and enlightened merchant Suminokura Soan (1571-1632), in collaboration with his calligraphy teacher Koetsu, a leading cultural figure of his day, famous... More

Portfolio of original photographs (mainly from 210 x 300 mm. to 240 x 330 mm.) depicting artillery, field guns, howitzers, cannons, ammunition wagons, etc., produced by Friedrich Krupp. 53 mounted photographs (some partly faded) on 51 stiff boards (640 x 480 mm.), all boards signed “Photogr. Atelier des Krupp’schen Etablissements.” Large oblong folio (645 x 500 mm.), orig. red cloth folder (a little rubbed & soiled) with title printed in gilt on cover, metal protectors at corners. [Essen]: dated 1869-76.

A very rare portfolio issued by the Krupp Steel Works with 53 original albumen photographs. A sort of trade catalogue showing the different cannons, other weapons, and military equipment manufactured... 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

Folding engraved plate in Vol. IV. Five vols. Large 4to (281 x 200 mm.), cont. polished calf, sides panelled in blind & gilt, spines decorated in blind & gilt, a.e.g.. Paris: J.B.M. Duprat & others, An VII [1798]-1825-1827.

First edition, a magnificent set on large and fine paper, complete set with all the supplements. This is the only large and fine paper set I have ever seen on the market.

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... More

Many fine woodcuts printed in color & many with blind-embossing. Five vols. 8vo, orig. patterned mica-speckled wrappers (some worming carefully repaired), orig. block-printed title labels on upper covers (all the labels a little wormed), new stitching. Osaka: Uozaki Motosaburo [& four others] & Kyoto: Nishimura Kichibei, 1813.

First edition, fine and thick-paper copy with special refined coloring and blind embossing of many of the woodcuts, of this important anatomical work which collects the records of three dissections performed in Kyoto in 1783, 1798, and 1802. The author explains them based on theories of both traditional Chinese medicine as well as Western medicine.

“A Japanese treatise on anatomy and anatomical dissection in five volumes was published in 1813 by Shoshui or Boku or Koki Mitani (1774-1823) with the title Kaitai hatsumo. This was not the first original Japanese work on dissection, since priority in that respect had been established by the appearance in 1759 of the Zo-shi of Toyo Yamawaki. But that earlier work was short and its illustrative material limited to a few crude drawings of the viscera. Kaitai hatsumo appears, however, to be the first Japanese exposition on the whole system of human anatomy, based upon original observation (including dissection) and knowledge of other anatomical works. An inserted advertisement for this book [not present in this and many other copies] is translated to read as follows: ‘This book is Kaitai hatsumo, on some new Dutch theories and moreover some dissections of a real dead body to make it sure. And it has become clear that the Dutch theories are right and the traditional Japanese and Chinese theories which [have been] with us for 3000 years [are] quite wrong.’ (Somehow one gets here the impression of a persistent reluctance to relinquish the traditional anatomical beliefs in favor of the European knowledge which had come into Japan. After all, the gross inaccuracies of the traditional teachings had been firmly established by the work of Gempaku Sugita and his friends in the previous century)… More