Engraved medallion port. of the collector on title. 32, [468] pp. 8vo, modern half-calf & paste-paper boards, spine gilt, red morocco lettering piece on spine. Paris: J.L. Nyon l’aîné, 1797.

The sale catalogue of the vast library, especially rich in natural history, formed by one of the outstanding figures of 18th-century France. Lamoignon-Malesherbes (1721-94), born into one of the great legal families, was the son of Guillaume de Lamoignon, Chancellor of France, who entrusted his son with the control of the press which he exercised in the most liberal manner: Grimm asserted that without his assistance the Encyclopédie would probably... More

30 fine color paintings & 24 black ink drawings of various parts of the bamboo. 50 leaves. 4to (275 x 206 mm.), modern bright silk brocade wrappers, stitched as issued. [Probably Japan: late Edo].

A beautiful album of finely rendered drawings of bamboo, accompanied by explanatory text. There has been a long tradition in both China, since the eighth century, and Japan of illustrating bamboo, with much thought given to composition and the painting of the stems, knots, branches, and leaves. A number of treatises were written on the subject.

This handsomely painted manuscript contains many illustrations, all finely painted... More

One hand-colored engraved plate. xix, 51 pp. 8vo, attractive antique calf-backed marbled boards (some foxing), spine gilt, red morocco lettering piece on spine. London: C. Dilly & J. Phillips, 1787.

“Second edition” (but see below) of this translation of Commerell’s work on the mangel wurzel, an uncommon beet developed in the 18th century as a fodder crop for livestock and, when harvested young, an excellent source of nutrition for humans. Commerell (d. 1799), chaplain to the Princess of Lowenstein in the German Lorraine and a member of the Société d’Agriculture de Paris, was interested in husbandry and wrote a monograph... More

50 folding engraved plates. 3 p.l., lxviii, 307 pp.; 2 p.l., iii, [1], 432 pp. Two vols. Large 4to, cont. mottled calf, spines nicely gilt, red & black morocco lettering pieces on spines. Paris: H.L. Guerin & L.F. Delatour, 1758.

First edition. Duhamel (1700-82), French polymath, made notable contributions in agronomy, chemistry, botany, and naval technology. His major interest and contribution to technology and society was in agriculture. Duhamel “adapted Tull’s system to France based on his own wide reading in French agronomy and on original experiments.”–D.S.B., IV, p. 224.

This is the second in Duhamel’s series of books describing... More

Five full-page botanical woodcuts. 28 folding leaves. 8vo, orig. brown wrappers, new stitching. [Probably printed in today’s Miyagi Prefecture, Japan]: first Preface dated 1798.

First edition of this very rare provincial imprint; no copy in WorldCat. Fujitsuka (1737-99), was born in humble surroundings, and his parents died early. An excellent student, he was adopted by the master of the Shiogama Jinja shrine in Miyagi Prefecture. Fujitsuka eventually married the daughter of the shrine master and was able to pursue his scholarly activities. A bibliophile with a large library, he studied Shinto theology, ancient stele, early waka poetry, and materia medica... 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... More

75; 64 folding leaves. Two vols. 8vo (275 x 180 mm.), orig. pale blue wrappers (label on upper covers rather corroded but legible), new stitching. [Japan]: Preface dated March 1755.

A rare commentary by the Japanese Aizu(?) fiefdom doctor Setsuo Kagayama on Wan jin yi tong by Tingxian Gong (1522-1619), physician of the Imperial Medical Academy in Beijing. The Wan jin yi tong is part of a larger work, the Wanbing Huichun of 1585 [Restoration of Health from Myriad Diseases], the author’s most famous work, which had pharmaceutical recipes from about 240 different ingredients.

Gong came from a prominent family... More

Lithographed frontis. port. of the author in Vol. I. About 1200 very fine woodcuts, some double-page, of plants, many with sections delicately hand-colored. 20 vols. Large 8vo, orig. yellow patterned wrappers, orig. block-printed title-labels on upper covers, new stitching. Ogaki, Mino Province: Hirabayashi so 平林荘, 1874-75.

Second edition, revised and enlarged, of this magnificent Japanese botanical work; it is considered “the first comprehensive scientific monograph that appeared in Japan.”–Masuzo Ueno, “The Western Influence on Natural History in Japan” in Monumenta Nipponica, Vol. 19, No. 3/4 (1964), p. 330.

Iinuma (1783-1865) was educated in Kyoto as a physician. He... More

3 p.l. (lacking the first leaf, a blank; title a little soiled), 143, 152-66 pp. Small 4to, cont. English limp vellum. London: N. Okes for N. Bourne, 1623.

First edition of one of the great early English accounts of the exploration of the interior of Africa and the first to be published separately (others appear in collections); it is a classic account of the search for gold.

Ghana, the earliest known empire of the western Sudan, first entered the historical consciousness of North Africa near the end of the eighth century but probably originated long before. Famous to North Africans... More

Finely engraved frontis. & 158 plates, all finely hand-colored. Four vols. in two. 4 p.l., 126, [4] pp.; 138, [2] pp.; 4 p.l., 118, [2], 23, [1] pp.; 16 pp. Large 4to, fine slightly later 18th-cent. citron morocco, sides with gilt border, flat spines finely decorated in gilt, green morocco lettering pieces on spines, dentelles gilt, a.e.g. Nuremberg: A.W. Winterschmidt, 1764-66-68-75.

The finest copy I have seen in many years, finely bound in citron morocco, of the first edition in French of this famous and beautifully illustrated microscopical work.

Ledermüller (1719-69), a polymath, displayed a discerning interest in the art... More

Engraved title-page & five engraved plates. xvi, 294 pp. 8vo, cont. vellum over boards, spine lettered in gilt. [Florence: G. Cambiagi], 1776.

First edition of this scarce treatise on the cultivation, processing and use of madder (rubia tinctorum), a herbaceous climbing plant with small yellow flowers, the root of which is used medically, and — more importantly — as the primary source of dye (usually crimson). Madder was the principal source of various brilliant red pigments until artificial production of alizirin, the pigment chemical in madder, by Graebe and Liebermann in 1868.

The finely engraved plates depict the plant and... More

Four brush & black ink drawings in the text. 21 folding leaves. 8vo (237 x 165 mm.), orig. decorated semi-stiff wrappers, manuscript title on label on upper cover, new stitching. [Japan]: on final leaf (in trans.): “Copied May 1814 by Toba.”

An attractive manuscript copy of the first Japanese text on shiitake cultivation, written in 1796; it has remained unpublished. The beginning of our manuscript is entitled “Kyoshin roku” [“Amazing Shiitake Mushroom Knowledge”]. This is followed by “Onkosai mitsuki” [“Sato’s Tips on Honey Production”] and “Satsuma imo kono sho narabini tsukuri yo no den” [“On the Health Benefits & Cultivation... More