Engraved frontis., numerous engravings in the text, & 58 mostly folding engraved plates. 2 p.l., xxxviii, [10], 408, [40] pp. Large thick 4to, cont. cat’s paw polished calf, spine nicely gilt, red morocco lettering piece on spine. Paris: P.J. Mariette, 1750.

First published in 1691 and revised by Le Blond in the early 18th century, the Cours d’Architecture was totally revised and enlarged with new designs of buildings and ornaments by Mariette in 1738. Our edition of 1750 was the one most familiar to architects of the mid-18th century; it “was the standard work for architects…This book included a life... More

One folding engraved map. 1 p.l., 8, xiv, 293 pp., one leaf, 121 pp. 8vo, cont. half-calf & marbled boards (well-rebacked by Aquarius), flat spine gilt, uncut. Edinburgh: J. Watson et al., 1799.

Second edition, revised and much enlarged (1st ed.: 1794). "A more ambitious and prolific writer was Robert Brown of Markle near Haddington, who lived from 1756 to 1831. He was magnificently appreciated in his own day, a situation in which few writers are happy enough to find themselves. He was eulogised by one of his admirers as having produced a work second only to the Bible."­Fussell, The Old... More

Several sheets joined together (390 x 800 mm.; when folded: 266 x 185 mm.) with fine brush & ink and wash illus. of the eight fences of the shrine. [Japan]: late Edo.

Local legends of the Izumo province constitute one of the main sources of the Kojiki and Nihon shoki, the two earliest chronicles of Japan, compiled in the eighth century. The Yaegaki Jinja (the Shrine of the Eightfold Fence), in the region of what was in ancient times Izumo, enshrines two ancient Japanese deities, Susano’o and his wife, Kushinada. In one of the stories concerning the couple, the husband... More

21 full-page black & gray brush drawings of styles of fences. 11 folding leaves. 8vo (245 x 166 mm.), orig. wrappers, stitched as issued. From the upper wrapper: “Hori no uchi Ueno shi” [“Mr. Ueno who resides in Hori no uchi”]. [Japan]: late Edo.

There are well over 100 different styles of bamboo fences (takegaki) in Japan, employed for many purposes. Our manuscript illustrates fences constructed from various parts of many kinds of bamboo (take) and the branches of bush clover (hagi) or a mixture of the two. They were primarily used for tea ceremony gardens where bamboo fences became... More

24 black & white with gray wash brush drawings of rocks. 25 folding leaves (including upper wrappers). 8vo (265 x 195 mm.), orig. wrappers bound in later wrappers. [Japan]: late Edo.

A finely illustrated manuscript concerned with garden rocks from the three regions (Ono, Masuda, and Yoshiki) of Hida Province (today’s Gifu Prefecture). Rocks have always played a fundamental role in Japanese garden design, and because of the unique geological history of the region, the rocks from Hida have always been prized for their unique rustic patterns that can be seen on their surfaces.

For the 24 fine images of... More

Eight vols. 8vo, orig. blue wrappers, new stitching. [China, probably Beijing]: n.d. (see below).

First published in 1635, this book on the sights and customs of the Ming capital of Beijing was the result of a “collaboration between Liu Tong, a Hubei sojourner, and Yu Yizheng, a man from Peking.” It is “the most substantial and important of the guides-cum-travel-accounts that survive” from the late Ming period and a “major milestone in writings about Peking.” Its authors “quoted from more than 1,100 poems about one hundred different places, listing the poems for each sight in chronological order and giving... More

Woodcut vignette on title, one full-page woodcut, & several smaller woodcuts in the text. Black letter. 11 p.l., 88, [10] pp. Small 4to, late 18th cent. calf (upper joint cracked but strong, small paper flaw on blank outer margin of title, fore-edges faintly dampstained), spine lettered in gilt. London: J. Wight, 1575.

The third edition of the first English gardening manual; the first edition appeared in 1569 and all 16th-century printings are rather rare on the market. Mascall took most of his text from David Brossard’s Art et Manière de Semer et Faire Pépinières de Sauvageaux (Paris: 1552) with certain... More

One engraved plate. iv, xxxi, 298, [2], 136 pp. 8vo, cont. half-calf & marbled boards, flat spine gilt. London: S. Hooper, 1773.

"The second edition, greatly improved" (1st ed., published anonymously: 1769); this is an important and useful work. The final 136 pages contain the first English agricultural bibliography, enlarged from the first edition, in which the author lists and, oftentimes, annotates about 1500 titles. It is arranged chronologically and there is an excellent index at end.

"Richard Weston (1733-1806) appears to have had an excellent knowledge of nursery gardening and nurserymen's sale catalogues. He was interested in agriculture and all... More