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

Four engraved plates (one folding). 4 p.l., 296 pp., 3 leaves of ads for the author’s other works; 2 p.l., 514, [8] pp. Two vols. Small 8vo, cont. orange-brown speckled boards (spines a little rubbed), orange leather lettering pieces on spines. Düsseldorf: J.H.C. Schreiner, 1811-12.

First edition of a scarce and appealing work. Benzenberg (1777-1846), professor of mathematics at the Lyceum in Düsseldorf, performed many original scientific investigations in the fields of astronomy, physics, and geodetics. He was the first to demonstrate that the earth revolves, a problem which had perplexed scientists since Copernicus (see D.S.B., I, pp. 615-16)... 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

Six folding engraved plates. 1 p.l., xvi, 322 pp.; 1 p.l., 238 pp. Two vols. 8vo, cont. marbled boards, orange & pale blue lettering pieces on spines. Lausanne: J. Mourer, 1789.

First edition. Razoumovsky (1759-1837), a wealthy Russian aristocrat, spent most of his life in Switzerland, Austria, and Italy and wrote many noteworthy works on geological and mineralogical subjects (see Zittel, pp. 91 & 119).

“Very scarce…First and only edition of an illustrated account of the fauna and geology of the Swiss Jura, in the vicinity of Neuchâtel, Murten and Biel, northwest of Bern…The first volume describes the fauna according to the Linnean system. The second includes... More

Engraved frontis. port. of the author, two folding engraved plates (numbered “I” and “III”), & two folding printed tables. 7 p.l., 276 pp., one leaf of errata. 8vo, cont. speckeld boards (spine worn). Munich: J.B. Strobl, 1786.

First edition of this rare epistolary account of Schrank’s scientific field trip throughout Bavaria in 1784 and 1785. While Schrank devotes a good portion of the text to botanical observations, he also provides descriptions of the towns and cities visited, the geology and most remarkable natural features of the area, the monasteries, local customs, etc. The twelfth letter contains a learned account of Bavarian incunabula... More

Five engraved plates (three are folding) & one woodcut in the text. 1 p.l., xxiv, 539, [1] pp; 1 p.l., 416 pp. Two vols. 8vo, cont. speckled calf, flat spines gilt, red morocco lettering pieces on spines. London: H. Goldney for T. Cadell, 1780.

Second edition (the first edition appeared earlier in the same year) and a handsome set. This work “was well received at the time, and has since become a valuable source as one of the few accounts of conditions in Ireland at this time. Among other subjects Young had much to say on commercial policy and the activities of the Dublin Society;... More