154, [1] p. 12mo (155 x 100 mm.), cont. blue wrappers, title in manuscript on spine. Paris: Madame Hérissant Le Doux, 1817.

The scarce first edition of this exhibition catalogue of drawings, paintings, sculptures, and 59 enamel portraits by Jean Petitot. It describes approximately 523 objects, including drawings and paintings from the Italian, French, and Northern schools. No. 500 is expanded into 59 sub-entries to adequately detail the work of Petitot (with a short biography), considered the greatest enamelist of the 17th century. These 59 enamel miniatures depict Peter the Great, Louis XIV, the Duchess de La Vallière, cardinal Richelieu... More

180 pp. 12mo (145 x 90 mm.), cont. blue stiff paste-paper boards, label in manuscript on spine. Paris: L’Imprimerie des Sciences et Arts, An XI [but ca. 1803].

The rare catalogue for a large exhibition of antiquities seized from Italy, consisting of 223 objects. This livret begins with descriptions of the ceilings in six rooms of the museum. Each piece is analyzed at length, with historical and mythological explanations, scholarly notes on the materials and any reproductions, and includes the Italian institution or collection from which it was confiscated — e.g., the Vatican, the Villa Albani, the ducal palace of... More

ii, 109 pp. 12mo (155 x 100 mm.), cont. orange paste-paper wrappers (extremities a little frayed), label in manuscript on upper cover, stitched as issued. Paris: Dubray, 1807.

A livret documenting the sculptures, antiquities, paintings, and drawings assembled for an exhibition celebrating the French victory at the Battle of Jena-Auerstedt (1806). This catalogue consists of 710 entries, many extensively described with scholarly notes. Artists whose works were shown include J. Asselijn, Bakhuizen, Bega, Bol, S. Bourdon, Brauwer, Canaletto, An. Carracci, Cranach, Dow, Dürer, van Eyck, both Poussin, Giorgione, H. Holbein, Jordaens, Lairesse, A. Mignon, A. & I. van Ostade, Potter... More

Woodcut head- & tail-pieces (one hand-colored in red & gold). xiv, [2], 152 pp. Small 8vo, orig. brown morocco (one corner a bit bumped), dentelles gilt, a.e.g. Paris: P. Daffis, 1872.

Number “1” of two copies printed on vellum; “seconde edition de la Bibliothèque Elzévirienne revue et annoté par M. Georges Duplessis.” Marolles (1600-81), abbot of Villeloin and man of letters, was the foremost print collector of 17th-century France. He began acquiring prints in 1626 and by 1644, his collecting activities governed his life. His first collection amounted to 123,400 separate prints by more than 6000 print makers, mounted in... More

One brush & ink illus. in the text. 7.5 leaves of text. 8vo (240 x 168 mm.), orig. wrappers (the inside of the lower wrapper is used for text), stitched as issued. Probably Edo: letters dated 1853-54.

After Perry presented his letters of demands during his first visit to Japan in 1853, copies were made and distributed by Masahiro Abe (1819-57), the chief senior councillor to the shogunate, to daimyo and senior bakufu officials throughout the country, seeking opinions regarding the proper response to the Americans.

The first four pages of this most fascinating manuscript contain the response of Toshiyasu... More

Woodcut port. of the author on verso of title & several woodcuts in the text. Title within typographical border. 12 p.l. (last leaf a blank), 348, [4] pp. Small thick 8vo, cont. vellum over boards, stamped in blind on upper cover “M N H L” & “1613.” Wittenberg: W. Meisner at the expense of C. Berger, [date of Foreword “1612“].

[bound with]:

MATENESIUS, Johann Friedrich. Critices Christianae Libri Duo de Ritu Bibendi super Sanitate, Pontificum, Caesarum, Principum, Ducum, Magnatum Amicorum, Amicarum, &c.… Woodcut printer’s vignette on title. 8 p.l., 189 pp., one blank leaf. Small 8vo (tear to first leaf of... More

1 p.l., 63 pp. (i.e., pp. 241-301). Large 8vo (250 x 163 mm.), orig. orange printed wrappers (spine a little rubbed), leaves uncut. Besançon: Jacques & Demontrond, 1916.

The scarce offprint, with new pagination, of Michon’s groundbreaking critical bibliography of early exhibition catalogues published by the Musée des Antiques. Michon (1865-1939), curator of antiquities at the Louvre and respected connoisseur, published two important catalogues on the Louvre’s holdings of antiquities. He also made numerous acquisitions of artifacts now considered foundational to the Louvre’s collections.

This work exhaustively examines 22 catalogues from 1800 to 1816. Michon undertakes a bibliographic survey of... More

Numerous samples of paper from the various mills. Illus. Small folio, orig. morocco-backed paste-paper boards. North Hills: Bird & Bull Press, 1974.

Limited to 175 numbered copies, printed with Centaur and Goudy No. 38 types on paper made at the Press and bound by Fritz and Trudi Eberhardt. This is one of Morris’ greatest achievements. Mills described include those in Canada, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, France, Italy, and Poland as well as a number in the United States. The second part of this book contains a history of the noted journal The Paper Maker, along with a selective index to... More

151 folding leaves. Three parts in one vol. Thickish 8vo, orig. patterned wrappers (upper wrapper a little worn), orig. block-printed title label on upper cover (label somewhat defective), new stitching. From the colophon: Kyoto: Nakamura Magobei, 1710.

First edition of this important and useful bibliography. In 1710 “the Kyoto publisher Nakamura Magobei compiled a catalogue known as Bengi shomokuroku. The aim of this catalogue was to help the reader disentangle book titles which could be easily confused because they were read in the same way, because they used the same characters but different readings, or because they were known by... More

101; 100; 100 folding leaves. Three vols. Oblong 8vo (155 x 217 mm.), orig. wrappers, new stitching. [Japan]: Preface dated 1818.

The rice brokers of Japan during the Edo period became fabulously wealthy, not so much from dealing in rice but from money lending. In Edo in 1724, 109 rice brokers formed a powerful guild known as fudasashi (note/bill exchange), located in the Asakusa section of what is today Tokyo, close to the warehouses where the brokers stored rice produced by the farmers of various daimyos. The fudasashi stored rice for a fee, lent money at high interest rates to... More

Ca. 52 leaves. 8vo (leaves of various sizes but averaging 285 x 203 mm.), written on paper with pre-printed columns, stitched together. Osaka: 1872-75.

The Osaka Medical School, today part of Osaka University and one of the finest medical schools in Japan, traces its origins and traditions to the Tekijuku, an academy founded by Koan Ogata (1810-63), which based its teaching on Western learning, mostly from the Dutch. The newly created Meiji government established the Osaka Medical School in 1869, with the help of Ogata’s son Koreyoshi and the Dutch doctor Antonius Franciscus Bauduin (1822-85). This was part of... More

Edited by Qingzeng Qian. 20 parts & three Addenda in eight vols. 8vo, later wrappers, new stitching. Hangzhou: Zhejiang shu ju, 1876.

An early edition (1st ed.: Shanghai, 1804), of one of the author’s most important and representative works, posthumously edited by his son, Qingzeng Qian (active 19th century). The polymath Daxin Qian (1728-1804), was a Qing Dynasty scholar-official, historian, and linguist; he served as commissioner of education and examinations in Guangdong Province.

“Qian devoted most of his energy to historical studies, although his learning in the Confucian classics was also profound. Qian’s scholarship was notable for its precision and... More