Several woodcuts in the text. Ten columns per page, 22 characters per column, textblock: 208 x 155 mm. 80; 69 folding leaves. Two vols. 8vo (273 x 178 mm.), somewhat later wrappers, later block-printed title labels on upper covers, new stitching. [Korea]: colophon dated 1562 (Jiajing 41).

An early and very rare (no copy in WorldCat) Korean edition of the teachings of the Cheng brothers, Hao (1032-85) and Yi (1033-1107), two important philosophers of the Northern Song period; they can be called the true founders of Neo-Confucianism. The Cheng brothers, along with their uncle Zai Zhang, their teacher Dunyi Zhou... 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essential reference work; the scarce collection of Anne Moeglin-Delcroix’s writings on artist’s books, some previously unpublished and many re-edited.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

Numerous woodcut illus. & diagrams in the text. 4 p.l. (the last a blank), 334 (i.e., 332) pp. Folio, cont. limp vellum (title a bit soiled, last two leaves with some light dampstaining), ties gone. Pesaro: H. Concordia, 1588.

First edition and a very fine and fresh copy of this uncommon book; this edition, providing the complete extant text, was the final work to be edited by Commandino and completes his life's work of reviving Renaissance mathematics by making available the best mathematical writings of antiquity.

"In the silver age of Greek mathematics Pappus stands out as an accomplished and versatile... More

Eight vols. 8vo, later wrappers, orig. block-printed title labels on upper covers, new stitching, heads & tails of spines covered in blue silk (a few worn). [China]: Preface dated 1758.

A commentary, nominally by the Qianlong emperor (1711-99, reigned 1735-96), of the Spring and Autumn Annals, one of the Confucian classics. The commentary rejects a previously current interpretation of the Annals in favor of a reading favorable to the Manchu monarchy.

The Spring and Autumn Annals is a very terse and apparently entirely documentary account of events involving the state of Lu in Chinese antiquity. It covers the period 722-481... 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

35 vols. Large 8vo, orig. wrappers (slightly browned throughout), old stitching (stitching partially loose). [China]: Bao qing jing lun tang, ca. 1810-50.

A collectanea of ten of the books whose authors Chinese bibliographers later classified as “masters” or “philosophers” (zi). The books date from Chinese antiquity to the middle period and some are very well known, others less so. The collection comprises:

—The Daoist works Laozi (Lao-tzu), Zhuangzi, the more problematic — partially hedonist, possibly partially forged or corrupted — Liezi, and the much lesser known Heguanzi (the “pheasant cap master”);

— Xunzi, by the iconoclastic Confucian, notorious for his... More

All sheets with woodblock diagrams. Ten woodblock-printed sheets (each 980 x 580 mm.). [Korea]: 18th or 19th century?

A very rare woodblock-printed broadside edition of the influential Sŏnghak sipto, by Yi Hwang (1502-71), “Korea’s greatest philosopher.”–Pratt & Rutt, Korea. A Historical and Cultural Dictionary (Curzon: 1999), p. 517. Yi, a child prodigy, was a scholar and government official. He served four kings in a number of high positions, but his integrity and stand against corruption caused him to be relieved of his posts and sent into exile a number of times.

“Yi Hwang, better known by his penname, T’oegye, is... More