63 pp. 8vo, attractive modern marbled boards, paper lettering-piece on spine. Paris: Remy & Delalande, 1789.

A very rare catalogue describing a vast collection of mostly prints and albums of prints. The 328 lots, many of which consist of more than a dozen items, include the work of Ammon, Visscher, Bourdon, Audran, Poilly, G. Edelinck, Dürer, Bloemart, Goltzius, Bosse, Callot, Lebas, Choffard, etc. The prints are generally after pieces by famous artists such as Rubens, Hollar, Raphael, Rembrandt, and the Sadelers. Many of the recueils, which are well-described, contain original prints by the artist and, when factoring in copies, number about 1000 prints... More

3 p.l., [41]-120 pp. (lacking pp. 1-40). 8vo, 19th-century blue pebbled cloth-backed marbled boards (spine a little worn), spine gilt. [Rotterdam: Burgvliet & Bothal, 1788].

A very rare sale catalogue, annotated in a contemporary hand with buyers’ names, that provides valuable insight into the growing French interest for 17th and 18th century Dutch art and the primary dealers and runners who acted as agents for the voracious collectors of France. The sections of books (303 lots) and coins were not bound in this copy, but the art portion of 863 lots is complete.

The contemporary annotations in this copy reveal the names of Dutch dealers and collectors of the day, such as van Dongen, Cremer, Heybroek (likely the son of the consigner), van der Laan, van der Pals, Robbens, Burgvliet, Bothal, etc. Another name which frequently appears is that of Jan (or Jean) Yver (1747-1814), an important art dealer in Amsterdam. With his father, Pierre (or Pieter), who died in 1787, they were two of the earliest Dutch dealers to develop an international clientele, which included Louis XVI, Joshua Reynolds, and Stanislaw Poniatowski, King of Poland, as well as many other members of the European upper class. This sale also came at a time when, thanks to the efforts of the famous dealers Jean Baptiste Pierre Lebrun and Edmé Gersaint before him, the French had developed an almost extreme passion for Northern painting. French dealers, several of whom are named here, exploited this opportunity by purchasing directly at Dutch auctions and then importing them to France. More

About 40 finely drawn & colored illus. 16 folding leaves. 8vo (264 x 180 mm.), orig. wrappers, new stitching. [Japan]: late Edo.

This is an extremely finely executed album of illustrated natural history specimens collected from throughout Japan; the nearly 40 illustrations are very well drawn and painted, many with mica or three-dimensional techniques, used in traditional Japanese painting, to make the drawings more realistic. The specimens include botanical, mineral, and animal examples.

The first leaf of the album contains the title and an index of the 22 specimens. These include: a special kind of ivy from Nikko (with Chinese names and where found), a “four-eyes”... More

18 p.l., 123 pp. 8vo, cont. marbled wrappers (minor browning). Amsterdam: 1731.

First edition of a very uncommon book. Fourmont (1683-1745), “was the first scholar in France to deal with Chinese matters. He started his career in the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres as a Hebraist and had written several small books on Hebrew matters, but he left this discipline and turned to Chinese in 1711. At that time he met a young French-speaking Chinese man by the name of Arcadio Huang [(1679-1716),] in the Bibliothèque Nationale; Huang was the only Chinese speaking-person in France. Fourmont seized the opportunity to be introduced... More

One large woodcut diagram in the text. 24 unnumbered leaves. Small 4to, modern boards. Nuremberg: G. Schenck, 21 September 1502.

First edition; this is the first of only two books known to have been printed by Georg Schenck and the author’s only book. “In 1502 there was printed at Nürnberg a defense of astrology by Jakob Schonheintz, a doctor of arts and medicine and a Franconian. He signs his preface at Würzburg. The immediate occasion of this defense was ‘the impudence of a certain man who wishes himself to be considered a theologian, although he is anything else than one, who had attacked... More

Engraved vignette on title & one large folding engraved plate (a little frayed at inner margin). xxxx, 78 pp. 8vo, cont. half-sheep & speckled boards (two corners a little worn, a little worming to covers), spine gilt. Moscow: “bey der Typographischen Gesellschafft,” 1785.

First edition of this translation, printed in Moscow, and edited anonymously. Cebes of Thebes (ca. 430-350 B.C.E.) was a member of Socrates’ inner circle. One of the speakers in the Phaedo of Plato, he was represented as an earnest seeker after virtue and truth, keen in argument and cautious in decision. One of the dialogues that has been attributed to him... More

Large Habsburg woodcut coat-of-arms on title; portrait of Archduke Ferdinand II on verso & Habsburg family tree with small portraits on verso of fifth preliminary leaf, both finely engraved & full-page; & 48 woodcut coat-of-arms on preliminary leaves 11-16. 16 p.l., 477, [1], 28 pp. Small folio, fine cont. limp vellum, covers panelled in gilt with gilt fleurons in corners, gilt coats-of-arms in center of covers, yapp edges, ties gone, a.e.g. Innsbruck: J. Agricola, 1592.

First edition and a lovely copy of this essential official history of the Habsburg princes written by the librarian and keeper of art to Ferdinand II; complete with the finely executed... More

[Japan]: ca. 1898-1912.

Copper mining at Ashio in Tochigi Prefecture began about 1600 and production continued until 1973; in the late 19th century, it produced 39 percent of Japan’s copper output. At the end of that century, it was decided to build a railway connecting the mine to major rail lines to facilitate transportation of the outbound copper ore and inbound supplies (horses had carried or pulled everything before). The engineering problems were considerable: the line runs along the Watarase River through a deep valley subject to frequent flooding. The railway was finished in 1911-12.

The collection contains a series of letters containing reports on design and construction, printed documents regarding the stock company formed to finance the building of the railway (“Ashio Tetsudo Kabushikigaisha”), reports from engineers regarding preparations, further reports regarding expected capacity needs for the railroad line, six photographs of the construction, and a very fine and large (1820 x 760 mm.) manuscript diagram on four joined sheets of tissue paper showing the route through the valley and elevations. This large diagram has been heightened in color (green, blue, red, and brown). More

Three full-page woodcuts. 20, 33; 27; 20; 30 folding leaves. Four parts in two vols. Large 8vo, orig. wrappers, orig. block-printed title labels on upper covers, new stitching. [Japan]: colophon in Vol. II dated 1669.

“It was not until the seventeenth century that the first Japanese version of the Chinese Buddhist canon was printed, and it was rapidly followed by a second. Thanks to the late date, the circumstances of their production and their subsequent fates are better known than for many of the earlier continental editions. The first version was printed using movable type in 1637-48 by Tenkai (1586-1643), a monk who was in the... More

Two parts in one vol. 60 folding leaves. 8vo, orig. aubergine patterned wrappers (covers a little defective), orig. block-printed title label on upper cover (label soiled & rubbed), new stitching. Osaka: Harimaya Risuke, 1843 [colophon of the first part is dated 1667; the second part is dated 1816; & the colophon on the rear pastedown is dated 1843].

Second edition of two classic works of Japanese bibliography; the texts were essential guides. Razan Hayashi (1583-1657), was a Japanese neo-Confucian scholar, diplomat, translator of Sinitic texts, and shogunal adviser. He, and his third son Gaho, wrote and edited a number of important chronicles and histories of Japan. One... More

1 p.l., 333 pp. 8vo, cont. marbled half-calf & marbled boards (corners slightly rounded), spine ornately gilt, red morocco lettering-piece on spine. Berlin: H. Frölich, 1801.

First edition and an attractive copy of this important conservative analysis of the French Revolution and the resulting disruptions throughout Europe. Gentz (1764-1832), a prolific author and zealous critic of the Revolution and Napoleon, studied under Kant in Königsberg. During his years as a lower-level government official in Berlin, he wrote several essays and books to great acclaim, including a very successful translation of Burke’s Reflections on the Revolution in France. Aware of his significant influence... More

155, [5] pp. including order form, list of board of directors & credits, & map of store location. Large 4to, color printed wrappers (lower cover slightly worn), staple bound, title on spine. [New York: Printed Matter, Inc., 1981].

The now rare 1981 Printed Matter catalogue, which is an invaluable resource for bibliographic information of early artists’ books. It describes over 1600 books, audio works, and periodicals, by almost 1000 artists, with many illustrations. Upon the completion of the catalogue, Nan Becker, then a Printed Matter employee and soon after director, said in an interview: “It was an immense task and we did it within one... More