17 painted scenes, using brush and colors, on 63 pages. 34; 25; 22 folding leaves. Three vols. 8vo (270 x 187 mm.), orig. wrappers, modern stitching. [Japan]: late Edo.

This handsomely illustrated manuscript, written by Tsuki Shirai, describes and illustrates the famous hot springs of Atami (“hot ocean”), which have been known and appreciated since the 8th century. Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543-1616), believed the springs of Atami were so beneficial to his health that he had quantities of the water transported to Edo.

These volumes are really a travel guide to Atami and the surrounding area. The first volume begins with an index to all three volumes... More

Woodcut arms on title. xvi, 352 pp. 8vo, attractive antique half-calf & boards. Paris: Nyon, 1782.

This scarce sale catalogue describes the notable collection of voyages formed by Courtanvaux; it was one of the largest collections on the subject ever formed and practically amounts to a bibliography of the subject. The sections on natural history and the sciences are also very rich.

Courtanvaux (1718-81), a member of the Académie des Sciences, performed research in chemistry, geography, natural history, physics, and mechanics. A man of considerable wealth, he sponsored the voyage made in 1767 by Pingré and Messier during which Pierre Le Roy’s marine... More

29 mounted Woodburytype photographic plates (mostly 238 x 188 mm.), each with printed captions. viii, 92 pages. Large folio, orig. green half-morocco & green pebbled cloth (extremities a bit scuffed, occasional minor foxing), upper cover with a large gilt vignette & lettered in gilt, spine gilt. Leith: “Printed for Private Circulation by Reid & Son, Timber Bush, Leith, 1879.”

A large, beautiful, and little-known photography book, privately printed, with 29 splendid images of trees made by the photographer Andrew Young of Burntisland, and printed according to the Woodbury process of Lock & Whitfield of London. “The following pages are the result of numerous wanderings through the counties of... More

Folding hand-colored lithographed frontis. & one colored plate. 1 p.l., xi, 418 pp. 8vo, 19th-cent. vellum over boards (minor foxing to first few leaves), spine lettered in gilt, dentelles gilt, t.e.g., arms in gilt of the Prince of Wales on upper cover. London: J. Ollivier, 1844.

First edition. “In August 1834, Kinglake set out on an eighteen-month odyssey through Europe and the Ottoman empire. After encountering plague in Constantinople, he travelled to Smyrna, Cyprus, Beirut, the Holy Land, and Jerusalem, before crossing the Sinai Desert to Cairo. Following three weeks in Egypt, he returned north through Damascus and Asia Minor then... More

12 p.l., 271 pp. 8vo, 18th-cent. French mottled calf (joints a little rubbed), flat spine gilt, red morocco lettering piece on spine. Cambridge: C. Crownfield, 1721.

First edition. “A work of great rarity. It is divided into two parts, the first of which contains an account of the rise and progress of the King’s Library, and of nine other public libraries, at Paris. In the second part, the author discusses the use of public libraries, and the knowledge of literary history…Some notices are also introduced relative to the librarians and other literati then at Paris.”–Horne, p. 561.

Very good copy. Note on free front endpaper: “Coll. & perf. FCB. Octr. 1849.” This was Francis Capper Brooke (1810-86). Stamp of W.B. Chorley, editor of The Winter’s Wreath, on title. Bookplate of A.R.A. Hobson. 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 text in blank portion of... More

One double-page woodcut map. 56; 60 folding leaves. Two vols. 8vo, orig. wrappers, new stitching. [China]: Wei jing tang, Preface dated 1814.

An early, variorum edition (1st ed.: 1777) of this great classic, the Xiyu wenjianlu. “The Manchu official Qishiyi, in [the present work], offers a frontiersman’s view of the conquest quite different from that of the imperial center. Qishiyi, who earned his jinshi degree in 1754, served as a low-ranking official in charge of grain supply in Turkestan. He narrates vividly the struggle for succession to the Zunghar Khanate after Galdan Tseren’s death, describes the states bordering the Qing in Central Eurasia... More

Five head-pieces, one tail-piece, two folding maps, three folding plates (all engraved), & three folding printed tables. 4 p.l., xix, 302 pp., one leaf of errata. 8vo, cont. marbled sheep (head of lower joint a little split), flat spine richly gilt, red morocco lettering piece on spine. Paris: Bossange, 1806.

First edition of an important book on the Crimea; it also contains descriptions of previously unrecorded coins and medals from the area. Reuilly (1780-1810), man of letters and diplomat, traveled extensively in eastern Europe. In 1803, Reuilly joined the staff of the Duc de Richelieu, the recently named governor of Odessa. Befriended by... More

“Hishu” [today Saga Prefecture]: 1841-45.

A very rare Japanese manuscript sea chart of the sea routes from Saga Prefecture, a major trading area in the west, to Osaka through the Inland Sea, which is more than 400 km. long and includes in excess of 3000 islands. The Inland Sea, one of the main trade routes for the Japanese in the Edo period, has numerous areas of turbulence and navigating through the numerous islands and rocky outcroppings presented enormous problems in the era before modern navigation systems. In the early 1840s, the central government in Edo ordered each fiefdom to prepare... More

28 engraved plates (many are folding) & six folding printed tables. Four vols. 8vo, cont. polished calf (each lower joint with a slight crack, head of one spine with the slightest chip), spines finely & richly gilt, red & green morocco lettering pieces on spines. London: W. Strahan et al., 1770.

First edition, and a lovely set in attractive contemporary bindings. “On this tour Young travelled 2,500 miles from Bradfield to the northern boundary of England, across country westward, and so in a wide sweep back home, and he collected statistical data from some 250 farms of all sizes and descriptions. These data he attempted... More