Typographical device on title. Printed throughout in black letter. 11, [1] leaves. Small 4to, fine modern blue morocco, dentelles gilt, a.e.g. London: T. Purfoote, the assigne of R. Tottill, 1588.

Fourth edition of one of the earliest English books of "secrets," or manual of practical arts; this text appears to be entirely of English origins. It was first published in 1573 and reprinted in 1581 and 1583; there were also editions of 1596 and 1605. All editions are very scarce; of this printing the NSTC (24255) records five copies: L18, O; F, PN, NY Metropolitan Museum.

This is a very early... More

Trans. by Xuanzang 玄奘 in 650 CE. 70 pages, six columns per page, 30 columns per sheet, 17 characters per column. 14 sheets (average sheet length: 570 mm.), five pages per sheet. Accordion format (305 x 7980 mm., print surface from top border to bottom border: 245–250 mm.). Single woodcut borders at top & bottom of text. Orig. sutra binding of semi-stiff paper wrappers. Woodblocks carved by Ge Fang & Ma Qing (& others) in Sixi (present day Huzhou), printed between 1110s/40s–1276.

This fascicle, in its original sutra binding, was printed in the 12th or 13th century in northern Zhejiang... More

Trans. into Chinese by Xuanzang. Orihon (accordion) format (258 x 12,550 mm.), 28 joined sheets, 23 columns per sheet, mostly 17 characters per column, blockprint height: 201 mm.). Printed on grayish recycled paper. [Nara: published by the monk Kōei at the Kōfukuji Temple, 1213].

An extremely rare example of a Kamakura-era sutra printed in Japan on recycled grayish paper; this is the first specimen we have encountered. For an excellent discussion on the subject of recycled paper used in early Japanese printing, we have turned to the most interesting contribution of SOAS Prof. Lucia Dolce (“A Sutra as... More

Title printed in red & black. 103 unnumbered leaves, one blank leaf. Small 8vo, modern vellum over boards. [Colophon]: Augsburg: M. Franck for G. Willer, [1568].

First edition of a Paracelsian rarity. Paracelsus' commentaries on the first five of Hippocrates' Aphorisms had been published the previous year in Cologne. The present edition comprises his commentaries on all 25 aphorisms of the first section, and on six of the second. They are followed by treatises on the medical uses of corals and the herbs hypericum (St. John's worts) and persicaria (peachwort). A slightly different version of the section on hypericum was published... More

“Trattato” on title within a cartouche of scrollwork, woodcut printer’s device on title, six double-page woodcuts (collation as in Mortimer), & another woodcut printer’s device on verso of final leaf. 16 p.l., 315, [3] pp. Small 8vo, 18th-cent. Italian mottled sheep (a bit of browning), flat spine gilt, red leather lettering piece on spine. Venice: G. Giolito, 1555.

First edition of the earliest work on the game of tennis; this is a fine copy of a most uncommon book. In this work, Scaino not only describes the game but, for the first time, codifies the rules, sets the standard court... More

20-24 columns per sheet, 17 characters per column (column height 203-04 mm.), printed on 19 joined sheets (263 mm. high, sheet lengths from 382 to 443 mm., total length 8170 mm.), attached at end to a wooden roller. [Nara: 1222-27].

A rare early printed sutra scroll, part of the Karoku-ban edition printed in 1222-27. It has been printed on high-quality thick paper (gampi, or mulberry fibers), and printed in bold, thick strokes, using black sumi ink, typical of Kamakura and Muromachi kasuga-ban printings (kasuga-ban is a general term for publications of the Nara monasteries).

The Mahaprajnaparamitasutra is a massive compilation... More