Two folding engraved plates. 30 pp. 8vo (200 x 128 mm.), self-bound in two quires, stitched. Paris: Didot jeune, An III [1794/95].

First and only edition of one of Lebrun’s rare polemical pamphlets on the organization of the Louvre. Lebrun (1748-1813), the great Parisian art dealer and leading connoisseur of Dutch and Flemish art, played an outsized role in the creation of the Louvre. He was essential in the compilation of desiderata lists for the French confiscations of art in conquered territories throughout Europe. Then, once the artworks arrived in Paris, Lebrun was charged with their cataloguing and integration. In 1797, Lebrun was named... More about Quelques Idées sur la Disposition, L’Arrangement et la Décoration du Museum national…

30 pp. Small 4to (185 x 130 mm.), attractive antique marbled boards, label on spine. Paris: Lebrun, 1789.

The very rare auction catalogue, with most prices and many buyers’ names written in a contemporary hand, of the Baron Holbach’s little-known but choice art collection. The sale’s expert, Jean Baptiste Pierre Lebrun, provides an exceptionally long and informative biography of Holbach (1723-89), enriched with several amusing anecdotes.

This catalogue describes 93 lots of paintings (by Teniers, Wouwerman, Berchem, Mengs, Le Nain, N. Poussin, S. Bourdon, Oudry, Vernet, etc.), prints, and various curiosities, such as Japanese and Chinese porcelain, shells, and miniature sculptures. The... More about Catalogue de Tableaux des Trois Ecoles; Estampes en Volumes & en Feuilles, Figures de bronze,...

Several black & white illus. Folded sheet on coated paper (210 x 150 mm. folded). Paris: [1930].

The rare first catalogue devoted to Surrealism issued by Librairie José Corti, one of the principal distributors of Surrealist works in Paris. Located on the Rue de Clichy, the bookstore would later serve as the occasional headquarters of the collective imprint Editions Surréalistes.

This catalogue offers for sale the early books of Breton, Aragon, Eluard, Char, Tzara, Péret, Picabia, Desnos, Ernst, etc. With illustrations by Magritte and Ernst. More about Le Groupe Surréaliste, Catalogue de Livres en Vente à la Librairie José Corti, 6, Rue de...

Wood engraved vignette on title. 19 pp. Small 8vo (185 x 110 mm.), self-bound, uncut. Altdorf: Fr. X. Z’graggen, 1828.

First and only edition of this very rare pamphlet on freedom of the press by Geiger (1755-1843), a Catholic priest and professor of theology in Lucerne. In 1788, he conspired with the Marquis de Vérac to restore Louis XVI to the throne. After being dismissed from his professorship, Geiger became a journalist and wrote numerous polemical pieces on church history, Catholicism, and contemporary political issues, including free speech. He founded the Schweizerische Kirchenzeitung, a Catholic theological periodical, which began publication in 1832 and... More about Auch Etwas über die Pressfreyheit…

xvi, 364 pp.; 2 p.l., 397 pp. Two vols. 8vo (220 x 140 mm.), 19th-century polished calf (joints a trifle rubbed), spines gilt, red & green morocco lettering-pieces on spines. London: R. Ackermann, 1824.

First edition of an essential firsthand history of the mass British acquisitions of Old Masters in the first decades of the 19th century. “William Buchanan (1777-1864), a Scottish lawyer turned art dealer, was to benefit most from the turmoil caused by the Napoleonic Wars, although he started too late to participate in the Orléans sales. He employed mainly James Irvine of Drum, Aberdeenshire, in Italy and George Augustus Wallis in Spain and... More about Memoirs of Painting, with a Chronological History of the Importation of Pictures by the Great...

Numerous fine brush & ink paintings in many colors, including three folding plates. 29 folding leaves (265 x 180 mm.), orig. wrappers, new stitching. “Copied at Torinken Juku [which was founded by Genkaku Nakajima, the author of the Preface], Edo, in 1858 from a manuscript written in 1846.”

A finely and richly illustrated manuscript depicting the results of a dissection of a male criminal that took place in the winter of 1845. We learn from the explanatory notes at the beginning of the manuscript that the lead doctor of the dissection was Keishu (or Gendai or Gentai) Kamada (1794-1854), who had studied for five years with... More about Illustrated manuscript on paper, entitled on upper wrapper “Kakukotsu shinkeizu” [“All the...

Four full-page woodcut illus. 2, 2, 27, [2] folding leaves. Large 8vo, orig. blue wrappers (covers discolored & rubbed), new stitching. N.p.: 1854.

First edition of a very rare book; WorldCat lists only one copy, in Japan. Otsuki (1806-62), physician to the shogun, studied in Nagasaki under Siebold, where he learned about Western medicine. He popularized vaccination in Japan. “Otsuki also translated unidentified writings of both von Chelius and Georg Friedrich Most, supposedly from Dutch editions, to compose a one-volume work on the treatment of gunshot wounds entitled Juso sagen, published about 1854…That work was the first Japanese book on military surgery of the European... More about Juso sagen [Treatment of Gunshot Wounds

Illus. title-page & one plate. Each leaf with an embossed lizard at outer upper corner. 154 pp., one leaf of colophon. 4to, orig. red leather, upper cover with a diamond-shaped inlaid medallion of black lizard skin, spine gilt, black leather lettering piece on spine, orig. slipcase, & orig. publisher’s corrugated box with a black label. Tokyo: Bokuyosha, 1970.

Luxury edition, limited to 350 numbered copies, signed by Mishima. Very fine copy. More about Kuro Tokage [Black Lizard

1, 2, 7, 148, 45 folding leaves. Thick oblong 8vo, orig. blue patterned wrappers (first leaves with some minor worming), new stitching. Edo: Yamashiroya, first Preface dated 1829; colophon dated 1824, title-page dated 1823.

Second edition (1st ed.: 1823 or 1824), of this rare dictionary of pharmaceutical ingredients, written as a reference book for pharmacists. Our work was the late-Edo equivalent of today’s famous Merck’s Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy. It is based on Ranzan Ono’s Honzo komoku keimo (1803-05), the great Japanese materia medica and classification of plants. According to the Union Catalogue of Early Japanese Books, Fujii and Osakaya were actually one and the same person... More about Zoho teita hatsumo or Zoho shuhan hatsumo [Enlarged Dictionary Handbook of Pharmaceutical...

3 p.l., 42 pp. 8vo, orig. printed glazed paper wrappers (wrappers a little detached & spine worn), uncut. [From the lower cover]: Amsterdam, B.J. Crajenschot & G. Lamberts, [from the title-page]: 1824.

The very rare sale catalogue, fully priced throughout, with buyers’ names in a contemporary hand, of a collection considered among Europe’s finest at the opening of the 19th century. Fries (1777-1826), an Austrian banker, patron of Beethoven, and passionate collector of books and art, amassed a library of 16,000 volumes, 300 Old Master paintings, over 100,000 drawings and engravings, as well as large accumulations of coins, sculptures, and rare minerals. His... More about Catalogus eener voortreffllijke, uitmuntende en allerprachtigste Verzameling Boeken, en...

11 folding engraved plates & numerous tables in the text. xxxii, 542, [2] pp. Large 4to (250 x 215 mm.), cont. red sheep maroquiné, flat spine gilt, covers framed with gilt Greek keys, gilt round sides, a.e.g. Stuttgart: Cotta, 1820.

The important German translation of the third and final edition of Carnot’s chief work, in a most attractive binding. Written at the request of Napoleon and published for the first time in 1810 (third ed.: 1812), it concerns the coordination and logistics necessary for a successful defense of fortified positions. The plates are highly detailed with elevations and cross-sections demonstrating his theories of fortification, which... More about Anweisung zur Vertheidigung der Festungen von…[translated by]: F. von Bressensdorf…

Many woodcut illus., of which 26 are full-page. Five parts in one vol. 3, 163 (i.e., 153, due to misnumbering) folding leaves. Oblong 8vo, orig. dark blue thick wrappers (wrappers rubbed, some dampstaining), orig. stitching. Kyoto: Hishiya magobei, 1796.

A later Japanese edition of one of the earliest Chinese collections of texts on horse medicine. Our book stems from a “late 14th-century compilation [which] does contain genuine works from earlier times. This is the Simu anji ji (Collections for Pacifying Stallions when Administering Flocks), published in 1384. Judging from internal evidence, most of its components are apparently from the 11th and 12th centuries, but... More about Baryo benkai [Good Horse Treatment Explained