Typographical device on title. Printed throughout in black letter. 11, [1] leaves. Small 4to, fine modern blue morocco, dentelles gilt, a.e.g. London: T. Purfoote, the assigne of R. Tottill, 1588.

Fourth edition of one of the earliest English books of "secrets," or manual of practical arts; this text appears to be entirely of English origins. It was first published in 1573 and reprinted in 1581 and 1583; there were also editions of 1596 and 1605. All editions are very scarce; of this printing the NSTC (24255) records five copies: L18, O; F, PN, NY Metropolitan Museum.

This is a very early English manual of instructions for painting and illuminating ("limming," or "limning"), particularly books and manuscripts. The following recipes are characteristic: "to temper golde or silver wherewith you may write with a pen or paint with a pencil"; "to temper Brasill wherewith to write, florish, or rule bookes"; "to make a kind of colouring called vernix, wherewith you may vernish gold, silver, and other colour or paintings, be it upon velim, paper, timber, stone, leade, copper, glasse, &c." The last leaf contains on the recto "the names of all such colours and other thinges as are mentioned and contayned in this present booke of limming, and are for the moste parte to bee solde at the apothecaries," and on the verso is an index to the various recipes. More

Six folding engraved plates. lxviii, 260 pp.; vi, 290 pp.; xlviii, 263 pp. Three vols. 4to, cont. mottled calf (lower cover of Vol. II a little wormed), spines gilt, red morocco lettering pieces on spines. Paris: David, 1754-54-56.

First edition. “Devoted primarily to the motion of the moon (Volume II included a new set of lunar tables), it was written at least partially to guard d’Alembert's claims to originality against those of Clairaut. As was so often the case, d’Alembert's method was mathematically more sound, but Clairaut’s method was more easily used by astronomers.”–D.S.B., I, p. 114. 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

Large woodcut printer’s device on each title & numerous woodcuts & illus. and printed tables in the text. 470, [7] pp., one blank leaf; 217, [1] pp., two leaves of dedication. Two parts in one vol. Large 4to, cont. binding from the south of France of red morocco (rather browned throughout as always with this book due to the quality of the paper, some minor worming towards end touching a few letters & carefully repaired), arms in gilt on covers of François de Rignac (1580-1663; see below), roulette border in gilt round sides, spine gilt. Frankfurt: J.G. Schönwetter, 1648.

First edition of this collection of writings on the famous new star of 1572-74 (first part) and the equally famous comet of 1577 (second part); this edition, containing two of Tycho’s most important works, is rare on the market. It was his observations of these two astronomical phenomena — here printed — that compelled Tycho to abandon the Aristotelian theory of the universe and replace it with his own geoheliocentric system. This was an enormously important step in the acceptance of the Copernican doctrine. More

Woodcut ornament on title. 2 p.l., 112, [11] pp. Small folio, cont. half-calf & marbled boards (joints with some careful repairs). London: G. & J. Innys, 1722.

Large paper copy, limited to 50 copies, of the second catalogue of the 482 MSS. bequeathed to Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, by Matthew Parker (1504-75), “England’s first great bibliophile…It is hardly conceivable that a man who played such a prominent part in the ecclesiastical affairs of the sixteenth century, should also have found time to publish a number of scholarly works and to collect a great library.”–De Ricci, p. 15.

A fine copy from the Macclesfield library with the embossed stamp on title and the North Library bookplate. Printed by William Bowyer; his records show 200 ordinary and 50 large-paper copies printed. More

Woodcut frontis. 132 (incl. frontis.), iv pp. 12mo, fine modern black morocco, elaborately panelled in gilt, flat spine & inner dentelles gilt, a.e.g. London: Printed for J. Bew, 1781.

“Eighth edition, corrected, and improved with an entire new set of cutts.” First published in 1722, this is the most popular English conjuring book of the 18th century; more than twenty printings have been identified, and no doubt others have failed to survive. The text is heavily dependent on Reginald Scot’s Discovery of Witchcraft (1584), and on subsequent derivative works, but the language has of course been adapted for a more modern readership. 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

Woodcut port. of the author on title. 6 p.l., 422 (i.e. 316), [6] pp. 12mo, mid-18th-cent. dark olive morocco (minor & mostly marginal dampstaining), triple gilt fillet round sides with a gilt fleuron in each corner, flat spine gilt, a.e.g. Rouen: J. Besongne, 1603.

First edition and quite uncommon. Duval (ca. 1555-ca. 1615), a local physician and professor of medicine, wrote several other interesting medical books including one on hermaphroditism. In the present work, Duval surveys the springs of Rouen and the nearby surrounding towns. For each spring, the author describes regimens of bathing and drinking the waters, medical benefits for... More

20 engraved plates (including one double-page) & several engraved vignettes (including one on the title). 2 p.l., xviii, [2], 460 pp., 2 leaves of subscribers. Large folio, cont. mottled calf (title with a little dampstaining round edges), spine richly gilt, red morocco lettering piece on spine. Grenoble: Cuchet, 1778.

First edition of one of the most famous and attractive of all geological books in which the author “established once and for all that basalt, a rock important scientifically because of its distinctive characteristics, its widespread occurrence, and the manner of its association with other kinds of rocks, was the product of volcanic action.”–D.S.B., IV, p. 548... More

Engraved frontis. port. of Franklin & 12 engraved plates. 2 p.l., xxii, [2], 338 pp.; 2 p.l., xiii, [3], 318, [2] pp. Two vols. in one. Large 4to, cont. red morocco, spine richly gilt, green morocco lettering piece on spine, a.e.g. Paris: Quillau, Esprit, & l’Auteur, 1773.

First collected edition in French of Franklin’s Experiments and Observations on Electricity; it is described by Printing and the Mind of Man as “the most important scientific book of eighteenth-century America.” This is the most complete early edition of Franklin’s scientific writings in any language. Our edition is based on the fourth English edition of 1769 and includes correspondence... 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

Numerous fine drawings & diagrams, all full-page. 73; 80; 50 folding leaves. Three vols. 8vo (258 x 188 mm.), orig. brown wrappers embossed with shell motifs, new stitching. [Japan]: Prefaces dated 1635, 1634, & 1631 [but clearly copied in later Edo].

A fine and beautifully written manuscript of the Dattenko, the Japanese version of the Yuan Ye of Cheng Ji (b. 1582), the prominent Ming-dynasty landscape and rock artist. The Yuan Ye was first printed, in China, ca. 1631-35; it remains one of the greatest of all works on landscape architecture.

A copy of the book came to Japan in the early 18th century and was immediately influential, introducing the concept... More