Numerous woodcut illus,, including 13 maps (some double- & triple-page) & architectural views. 41; 44; 36 folding leaves. Three vols. Large 8vo (312 x 208 mm.), orig. semi-stiff yellow wrappers, new stitching. Korea: 1905.

Richly illustrated Korean edition of Treatise on the School of Confucius. The word Kwŏlli in the title — Queli in Chinese — refers to the place where Confucius taught. Confucius lived c. 551-c. 479 BCE in the state of Lu in what is now the town of Qufu in the Shandong province of China. The title of the work is best understood as a reference... More

Ten columns per page, 21 characters per column. Two sizes of type. 38 folding leaves. Large 8vo (321 x 200 mm.), orig. brown patterned wrappers, new stitching. [Seoul]: Pich’ŏndang 丕闡堂 Building, Sŏnggyun’gwan [today’s Sungkyunkwan University], 1872.

First edition and very rare; WorldCat lists only the Berkeley copy. “Scroll” is clearly used here as a figure of speech, as this is a codex-style book, printed using movable (metal or wooden?) type in 1872. Sungkyunkwan, established in 1398, was the highest educational institution in Chosŏn Korea. It is now the sight of an eponymous university. The location of the printing of this... More

92.5; 95 folding leaves. Two vols. Small folio, orig. yellow-brown patterned wrappers (some soiling to wrappers), old stitching. Chŏnju (today’s Jeonju): 1795 or possibly later.

A selection of 100 letters written by Zhu Xi (1130-1200), the great synthesizer of the philosophical school known as Neo-Confucianism. Zhu Xi, who lived in southeastern coastal China far from the center of power, became extremely influential in East Asia for centuries following his death. His interpretation of Neo-Confucianism (a metaphysically argued philosophy of the self, the family, and the state) became official orthodoxy in late imperial China and Chosŏn Korea, promulgated largely through the... More

Woodcut printer's device on title & one engraved plate with a port. of Epicurus. 4 leaves, 5-236, [18] pp. 4to, cont. French sheep (head & foot of spine neatly repaired, several signatures lightly browned), single gilt fillet round sides, spine richly gilt, red morocco lettering piece on spine. Lyons: G. Barbier, 1647.

First edition of an important book; this life of Epicurus, which emphasized his philosophy of physics, was the foundation of Gassendi's Epicurean atomism. His atomic theory was applied to chemistry by Boyle and adopted by Newton in his new mechanical philosophy.

"Before Galileo and Descartes had succeeded in combining... More

Some black & white illus. 588 pp. 4to, pictorial softcover. Marseille: Le mot et le reste, 2006.

An essential reference work; the scarce collection of Anne Moeglin-Delcroix’s writings on artist’s books, some previously unpublished and many re-edited. While this is indeed a valuable book, this title is an unfortunate victim of “book-jackers” on listing sites, where the price has been inflated to ca. $500 (even $1195 as of 26 January 2023).

In excellent condition.

❧ A. Desjardin, The Book on Books on Artists Books (2nd ed.: 2013) 197. More

Title within typographical border & a full-page woodcut of the author, aged 47, on verso of A4. 4 p.l., 247, [2] pp. Small 4to, attractive antique mottled calf by Aquarius (final leaf with some skillful marginal repairs), spine gilt, green morocco lettering piece on spine. Cologne: A. Byrckman, 1567.

First edition of this important collection of writings; it is the chief collection of Paracelsus's works on natural philosophy, translated here into German. The texts are: "De Vera Influentia rerum"; "De Inventione Artium"; "De Sensu & Instrumentis"; "De Tempore Laboris & Requiei"; "De Bona & Mala Fortuna"; "De Sanguine ultra Mortem"; "De... More

62 unnumbered leaves (the final leaf, a blank, is present). Small folio, cont. blind-stamped pigskin-backed wooden boards, orig. clasps & catches. Tübingen: T. Anshelm, 1514.

[bound with]:

—. De Arte Cabalistica Libri Tres Leoni X. dicati. Large woodcut coat-of-arms of Reuchlin on title. Much printing in Hebrew. 4 p.l., LXXIX leaves, one leaf. Small folio. Hagenau: T. Anshelm, 1517.

Fine and fresh copies of the second and first editions respectively of the Christian humanist Reuchlin’s great expositions of the Cabbalistic art, present here together in a handsome binding of contemporary blind-stamped pigskin-backed wooden boards with the original catches and clasps.

Reuchlin... More

Engraved allegorical frontis. by Daniel Chodowiecki. Woodcut illus. & printed music in the text, including several folding leaves of printed music in the pagination. xii, 568 pp.; 2 p.l., [569]-1287, [8] pp. Two vols. Large 4to, fine cont. marbled polished sheep (minor browning), flat spines richly gilt, red & green morocco lettering pieces on spines. Leipzig: Heirs of M.G. Weidemann & Reich, 1771-74.

First edition, and a lovely set, of this encyclopedia of the fine arts, “one of the most widely consulted and frequently cited works on aesthetics of the German Enlightenment…Aimed at a popular market of art-loving amateurs (Leibhaber)... More

Many fine brush & color and black & white paintings in the text. Two illus. with movable flaps (one is a volvelle). Finely written in a superb calligraphic hand on mica-coated (kirabiki) textured paper. 31; 34; 36; 35; 35; 30; 45; 33 leaves (not including blanks). Eight vols. 8vo (252 x 180 mm.), orig. dark blue wrappers bound in tetsuyoso style, each cover finely illustrated by hand in gold with depictions of landscapes with plants. [Japan]: Preface dated 1656; this manuscript was written sometime afterwards, probably in the 17th century.

Yamaga (1622-85), military strategist and Confucian philosopher, set forth the... More