Woodcut printer’s device on title, numerous woodcut illus. in the text, & a woodcut vignette on verso of final leaf. Title printed in red & black. 4 p.l., 296 pp. Folio, cont. vellum over boards (first four leaves with some light browning & staining). Palermo: C. Hesperi, 1685.

First edition of Maurolico’s important edition of Archimedes’ works, based upon an earlier partial edition by Borelli (Messina: 1670-72), which was almost completely lost.

Maurolico’s edition was largely prepared in 1534 and 1547-50 and remained in manuscript for many years after his death. Maurolico’s “method of redaction is suggested in the preface... More

15, [1] p. 8vo (189 x 125 mm.), 19th-cent. red cloth (signed “Pierson”), title on spine. Paris: Lottin & Musier, 1762.

A rare and early art auction catalogue, fully priced in a contemporary hand, and bound by Pierson in the red percaline preferred by the Goncourt brothers. Chauvelin, marquis de Grosbois (1685-1762) and Louis XV’s secretary of foreign affairs, was exiled due to the machinations of his rival Cardinal Fleury in 1737 and spent his final years in Paris. He was one of the earliest clients of Watteau.

81 lots, with paintings attributed to or after Raphael, Giorgione, Guido Reni... More

Two folding engraved facsimiles (one in red & black). xxviii, 583 pp.; 2 p.l., 473 pp. Two vols. 8vo, orig. blue wrappers, printed paper labels on spines, uncut. Paris: De Bure, 1815.

De Ricci described the Mac-Carthy-Reagh library as "extravagantly rich in books printed on vellum" and the Duke of Devonshire was inspired to put in a bid of 20,000 pounds for the collection which in fact brought only some 16,000 pounds when it came up for auction in 1817. The mysterious Mac-Carthy-Reagh had been a collector on a grand scale, purchasing Girardot de Préfond's collection en bloc in 1769 and... More

Dont la Vente commencera le 4 Mars 1756. vi, 63 pp. 8vo, cont. vellum over boards, single gilt fillet round sides, flat spine gilt, gilt wheat sheaves in five of the compartments, red morocco lettering piece on spine. Paris: G. Martin & P.G. Simon, 1756.

[bound with]:

(SIREJACOB, J.A.J.). Catalogue d’une très-belle Collection d’Estampes, de Rubens, Van Dyck, Jordaens, Teniers, Callot & autres fameux Maîtres Italiens, François & Flamands. Assemblées depuis longues Années, & Délaissées par Monsieur J.A.J. Sirejacob, Ecuyer. Qui se Vendront…a Bruxelles, Lundi le 27. Août 1764. & jours suivans… 1 p.l., 76 pp. 8vo. Brussels: H.V. Lemincks, [1764]... More

Title printed in red and black; two full-page woodcut borders, two coats-of-arms, 90 full-page woodcuts (two with five & six movable flaps, respectively), printer’s device at end, all with beautiful cont. coloring and some heightened with gold (“Fürstenkolorit”). [28], 274 pp., [8] leaves. Small folio, cont. calf (joints & ends of spine repaired), ornately gilt, spine with five raised bands, gilt fillets & ornaments in compartments, center of covers with medallion depicting the staff of Asclepius, remains of green silk ties, covers with gilt arabesque & floral border, gilt gauffered edges. Dresden: M. Stöckel, 1583.

First edition, a spectacular 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... More

147 woodcut diagrams in the text. 6 p.l., 196 leaves. Small folio (272 x 190 mm.), cont. Parisian binding of light brown calf (very skillful restorations to the binding), panelled in blind with gilt fleurons in the corners, gilt floral tool in the center of each cover of a hand holding flowers, small gilt stars in the six compartments of spine. Nuremberg: J. Petreius, 1543.

First edition, and a very fine and crisp copy, of “the earliest of the three books of science that most clarified the relationship of man and his universe (along with Newton’s Principia and Darwin’s Origin... More

Three facsimile illus. in the text. iv, 34 pp. 8vo, cont. red half-morocco & brown drab boards, sides ruled in blind, spine lettered in gilt, a.e.g. London: Printed by W. Bulmer, 1811.

First edition, limited to 36 copies only (so printed on the half-title), and a presentation copy, inscribed on the free front endpaper “With the Author’s respectful Compts.” This is the very rare specimen of what was to ultimately become the great catalogue of the Spencer Collection, published as the Bibliotheca Spenceriana (1814-15) in four volumes with three volumes of supplements appearing in 1822-23. In the rather charming “Address”... More

Many black & white illus. xii, 377 pp. 8vo, pictorial semi-stiff wrappers, perfect-bound. New York: Granary, 1995.

First softcover edition of Johanna Drucker’s invaluable contribution to the literature on artists’ books/artists’ publications/bookworks. This book is largely based on her research of artists’ books in the New York Public Library collection.

Near fine copy.

❧ A. Desjardin, The Book on Books on Artists Books (2nd ed.: 2013) 164. More

“60 pp.” 8vo (210 x 157 mm.), thick boards, ms. title to upper cover, hand-sewn. “Kobenhaven: 1973."

An unrecorded unique book by Feldmann (1941-2023), used as the maquette for the rare 1973 catalogue of his "Bilderheften" published by Forlaget Sommersko, and printed in an edition of 540 numbered copies. Greta Kühnast’s Feldmann catalogue lists many one-of-a-kind books, but this one was not known to her. In the present volume, the artist has laboriously excised illustrations and text from his earlier photobooks and adhered them. The cardboard used for the binding resembles the scarce portfolios that Feldmann constructed for groups of... More

Woodcut printer’s device on title. 6 p.l. (last a blank), 691, [40] pp. Thick folio, cont. vellum over boards (single wormhole in upper outer blank corner starting at p. 551-end), traces of ties. Zurich: C. Froschauer, 1574.

Second edition of Gesner’s Bibliotheca Universalis, issued for the first time with this title, and edited by the author’s younger friend, Josias Simler (1530-76). Our edition has been greatly enlarged and revised; it now includes approximately 35,000 titles.

“Gessner’s Bibliotheca universalis is not only a bibliography in the true sense of the term, nor is it merely a more or less comprehensive description... More

Finely engraved added allegorical title-page & added engraved port. of the author, 158 engraved plates (numbered 1-54; 1-42; 1-25; 1-15; 1-17; 1-5), five engraved headpieces & four tailpieces in the text, and several finely engraved initials. 8 p.l., 127, [14] pp., 1 leaf of errata. Folio, cont. red morocco, gilt arms of Nicolas-Joseph Foucault on covers, panelled in gilt, spine gilt, a.e.g. Rome: J.J. Komarek, 1690.

First edition, and a splendid copy in handsome contemporary red morocco with the arms of Nicolas Joseph Foucault, of a “sumptuous work describing and depicting upon the excellent engraved plates a large variety of... More