Catalogue 135 - Rare Books, Including Recent Aquisitions
Part I: Letters and Manusripts
1. ADAM, MARIE ANNE. Recueil de chansons, ariettes et romances anciennee &
nouvelles. Offert par L’Amitie la plus finesse Mademoiselle Marie Anne Adam,
native de Sedan, Department des Ordennes [i.e. Ardennes]. [France]: en l’an
onze de la République, [1802]. $750
An attractive French manuscript of 266
songs and airs, in ink, rules and numbering in red. The preliminary matter
includes a title-p., Table Alphabétique, and a 4-p. prefatory poem,
“Description du Soir au Moment où un Poëtequitte la Compagne...”
Small
4to, pp. [22], [407]; late 19th century three-quarter green cloth over marbled
boards, red morocco label; some rubbing and staining of the binding, especially
to the back cover; internally very good and sound. One page with defective
margins and with the “Air: Quand l’Amour Naquil à Cilbère” crossed out in light
pencil.
2. ADAMS, JOHN QUINCY. Two
page autograph letter signed to Joseph Blunt. Washington: 2 February, 1831. $7,500
A fine political letter. Adams, soon to
take his seat in the House of Representatives briefly discusses some
periodicals Blunt had agreed to send him, but which had failed to deliver.
“Under these circumstances, I cannot put pen to paper, which afflicts me much,
for I hoped by this time to have got half through my Task. Do help me if you
can, with some clue to begin with.” Adams then launches into a discussion of
the politics of New York and the influence of Masons and Anti-Masons on the
political situation: “The Politics of New York are to me a Labyrinth without an
Ariadne. It is useless to reason with Mason or Anti-Mason, each of them will
have his way. The Clay-Masons so called for the mere pleasure of defeating the
Anti-Masons, hitched themselves like mules to the car of the Regency, and
dragged it in Triumph over the necks of the Anti-Masons. They succeeded
completely. They brought the enemy into the Citadelo, and threw up their Caps
at his Victory, as if it had been their own. They exulted. They insulted. And
cried out to the Anti-Masons ‘See what comes of your Anti-Masonry! There you
are, biting the dust, now come, turn short round, acknowledge yourselves knaves
and fools and vote with us for the free and accepted Royal Arch-Mason Henry
Clay.’ This is the ne plus ultra of political canvassing...” Of the Anti-Masons
he concludes that “their party is manifestly falling off and that they will
drop into the Ranks of Mr. Clay at the very next election.” He ends the letter
by remarking: “There will soon be a great splitting up of Parties in this
Country, and European Politics will again influence ours. Whoever looks for
preferments will do well to mount the fence.”
Joseph
Blunt (1792-1860), son of Edmund Blunt, was a leading journalist, Whig, and
protectionist. He edited the American Annual Register from 1827 to 1835. 4to,
46 lines and approximately 500 words, on recto and verso of a single sheet,
integral leaf detached, one of two tiny repairs at the folds, but generally a
very good example.
extensive archive touching on
3. BAKER, LOOE & Eliza Wardell Baker. Archive
of family correspondence. Trenton, New Jersey, Natchez, Mississippi Territory:
and various other places, 1799-1870s. $42,000
An archive of nearly 800 letters,
manuscripts, photographs, legal papers, etc., including an important and
touching archive of 134 letters between Looe Baker and Eliza Wardell, 1799 to
the time of her death in 1821. Both from New Jersey and both of the Quaker
sect, Looe Baker and Eliza Wardell were each other’s sweetheart, virtually from
the moment they met in 1799. Eliza was precocious and talented and was a minor
writer of essays for the New Jersey newspapers and periodicals, mostly under
the pseudonym of “Jersey Girl” in the United
States Gazette. Five of her “Jersey Girl” manuscripts are included in this
collection. Looe Baker, through connections in Philadelphia, in 1801 was
offered a commercial enterprise in Natchez, Mississippi Territory, and he thus
became one of the early commercial pioneers there. A correspondence between
Looe and Eliza ensued and they were subsequently married in 1805. Both Looe and
Eliza returned to Natchez and they stayed here for the better part of six
years. Their letters are often about their love for each other and their
families, but often there is wonderful insight into commercial and social life
on the American frontier, including an account of the New Madrid earthquake.
Both Eliza and Looe were extremely literate and their observations provide an
important strand in the fabric of American expansion. Their story is related in
the privately published Letters of Looe
and Eliza Baker from 1801 to 1821, edited and copied by Looe Baker, Esq. Also,
Reminiscences and Sketch of the Family of Looe and William C. Baker, by Eliza
Wardell Baker, March, 1924. The whole being collected by Kate Stuart Lowry,
great granddaughter of Looe Baker. In addition to the obvious historical
content of these letters, there is an addition philatelic interest as many of
the letters bear early covers of Natchez and New Orleans.
Subsequent
to this is the rest of the family archive, largely relating to their second
son, William C. Baker, himself in the silk business in New Orleans, who lived
to be 92 years of age. He graduated from Princeton in 1825; spent his winters
in New Orleans, otherwise at Morristown, N.J., also a frequent visitor to Paris
and the south of France. He is said to have helped Samuel Morse in the
construction of his Morse Code, and was an amateur oceanographer.
Correspondence is largely from his extended family, both in America and from
abroad. The papers are largely genealogical, with significant details about the
Baker, Bannister, Stuart, and Walker families, with connections in New Jersey,
Maine, Louisiana, Illinois and Michigan, as well as a significant number of
letters from England where the name Looe Baker, father and grandfather of our
Looe Baker, are renowned in the annals of the Royal Navy.
4. [CATHOLIC CHURCH.] Festum S. Jose P[atroni] N[ostri]. n.p.,
n.d.: Mexico (?), 19th century.. $4,500
Large folio antiphonal, 148 (of 150)
leaves, on vellum, Gregorian musical notation throughout in black and red,
largely by stencil but with manuscript additions of large capitals and
occasional flourishes in red, red staves presumably made with a rake, and the
final 3 leaves entirely in manuscript and in polyphonic notation; first and
last leaves with some waterstaining but largely this is a very good example of
a large altar antiphonal containing the services for Thursday, Friday, Saturday,
and Sunday of Easter Week (Easter itself separately paginated), plus the Salve
Regina at the back. Bound in old calf-covered boards, rebacked in lighter calf,
5 bosses on each cover, 2 (of 4) brass corner pieces, and 2 brass clasps (1
defective); possibly a remboitage binding.
unpublished
5. CLEMENS, SAMUEL. Two-page autograph letter signed, in
pencil, to “Dear Captain” and signed “Saml. L. Clemens & wife.” Buffalo:
September 26, 1871. $8,500
An early letter by Clemens, and while
apparently known to Clemens scholarship, its text remains unpublished. Written
to the Captain of a steamboat Mr. & Mrs. Clemens had just disembarked,
regretting that they will not be able to attend “the gathering of the
pilgrims.” In part: “We have packed up everything but ourselves, to move to
Hartford, & shall pack ourselves aboard the train within the hour ... If I
am not there when you beat to quarters, you will know that circumstances ...
have got the advantage of me. In which case I shall at least be present in
spirit & make a mute speech well packed with cordial good wishes for the
long life & happiness of all that stand where they could hear if the silent
syllables were voiced...”
8vo,
38 lines, approx. 160 words, on recto and verso of a single sheet, previous
folds else very good.
6. COLETTE, SIDONIE-GABRIELLE. Twelve-page autograph manuscript, “La Mode - Arrière Saison,” signed at the
end, “Colette.” n.p., n.d.: [probably April, 1936]. $6,500
An article on fashion and style, and
although we have been unable to trace it, it has been almost certainly
published.
4to,
in blue ink on blue paper, numerous corrections, emendations and additions
throughout; on rectos only, bound with a silver print photograph (Colette and
her cat) by G.L. Manuel frères in later half tan cloth over marbled boards, the
leaves neatly guarded.
7. DUMAS, ALEXANDRE, Fils. Thirty-four
page manuscript signed, being “Acte III” of his Un Mariage sous Louis XV. n.p., n.d.: [ca. 1861]. $3,000
Signed by Dumas at the end and with the
note: “Donné à Stappleaux.” The play was first performed in 1861.
34pp.,
large 4to, folded into two signatures of 24 and 12 pages respectively, the last
two pages blank; the complete act with 16 scenes; occasional deletions and
insertions and with notable differences than the version published in Le Théatre Complete de Dumas; previous
central folds, a little wear at the edges, else very good.
telegraph lines for africa
8. GORDON, CHARLES G., General. Four-page autograph letter signed to Sir Samuel Canning (1823-1908, pioneer in
submarine telegraphy and telegraphic engineer). Khartoum, Sudan: March 12,
1879. $5,000
An important letter written while
Gordon was governor-general of the Soudan and engaged in the suppressing of the
slave trade and the improvement of communications in the region. Gordon
acknowledges the receipt of a letter from Canning on the construction of an
overland telegraph line through Africa, and a Royal Geographical Society
pamphlet on the same subject: “You ask me if I would recommend to the Egyptian
Government, a convention, with a Company, on the basis of the terms alluded to
by Mr. Geigler (and Geigler Pasha). I presume you want my outspoken opinion ...
A Company for any such work requires some certain advantages. They do not enter
into a scheme like this for love of the Negro or for exploration purposes.
Therefore, let me ask you, do you think, even if Egypt made the line up to
Uganda, from the north, could the Company make the line up to Uganda, from the
south. Even if you did make the line, are you sure of keeping it safe, except
with an armed force ... I doubt entirely, in spite of all the explorers have
written, that you could do either one or the other without an armed force. The
explorers say this king will do this or that, but they have only the words to
go on ... I am to recommend to the Egyptian Govt. with respect to the extension
of the Egyptian line, to Uganda. I would support this extension on the terms
which Geigler Pasha has mentioned ... I should wish to see a lot of penal
clauses put in which might bring in the Egyptian Govt. the reproaches of the
Counsel General. ... I would prefer the following scheme, which would not
compromise Egypt: 1. that the Company should take all receipts for a term of
___ years, from Khartoum southward, and vice-versa, allowing the Egyptian
officials ... to telegraph free, from stations in Egyptian territory. 2. that
the Egyptian Govt. should supply half the cost of labour... By this means,
Egypt would avoid any chance of interference, by the Company, of by the Counsel
General ... There is no doubt that if the line from the South up to Uganda is
not made, then the line from Khartoum to Uganda could be of no use...”
Folio,
4 pages, written on rectos only; previous central fold, else very good.
“we went to the pole together”
9. HENSON, MATTHEW A. Two-page typed letter signed to a Mr.
Straus. New York: June 5, 1929. $15,000
A wonderful and exciting letter from
the Arctic explorer who accompanied Peary on his quest for the North Pole in
1909. “I am writing you a short history of our dash to the Pole ... The Arctic
swallowed us up ... I went to the Pole with Peary, not through favoritism, but
because frozen feet forced all the others to turn back ... Macmillan and I left
the ship on February 18, but parted the next bay at Porter Bay, because I was
delayed in soldering some leaky alcohol tins ... one of the meanest jobs I had
on my way to the Pole ... When Bob Bartlett’s feet froze I was the last man
left. Peary came up and we went to the Pole together. We reached the Pole April
6, 1909. Peary, myself, and four Eskimos. The sky was a wall of frozen blue
with a red sun pasted on it ... we called on all our strength to clear a path
for the straining, stumbling dogs ... When we awoke we took our observations
and found we were at the Pole. We planted Old Glory on top of the world...”
Henson (1866-1955) was the first Afro-American in the extreme Arctic. In 1888,
Peary hired Henson as a personal assistant for his expedition to Nicaragua,
Central America. Because of Henson’s skills (Henson was an accomplished
mechanic, navigator and carpenter), resourcefulness and strength, Peary chose
Henson to accompany him on his next 7 expeditions to the Arctic, including the
last of 1908-09 when Peary, Henson, and four Eskimos were the first to reach
the North Pole.
8vo,
nearly 400 words on integral leaves, with a 3-word manuscript insertion; about
fine.
10. WEBSTER, NOAH. One-page
autograph letter signed to Tench Coxe. New York: Decem. 11, 1787. $3,500
Apparently unpublished. A thirty
year-old Webster writes in anger about the return of some pamphlets: “Mr.
Wharton, with whom I left a draft for 20 dollars for the pamphlets, has
returned me the order unanswered. I am sensible, Sir, that you are not personally
obligated to answer it, but as one of the company concerned, I supposed you
would take pains to see the business done. I know not who the persons are, that
constitute the Society & Committee, but, Sir, I must take the liberty thro
you to inform them, that I consider this delay, evasion or refusal, by whatever
name it ought to be called, as a repetition of incivilities or rather injuries
which I have before experienced in Philadelphia; & as a continuation of
that want of attention & politeness for which the citizens are
distinguished. But, Sir, I am above asking anything of the citizens, even for
justice - The sum is trifling, & you may be assured that no person will be
troubled with another syllable upon the subject...”
An
interesting letter begging to be interpreted. In October of 1787 Webster had
published his pamphlet, An Examination
into the Leading Principles of the Federal Constitution, which urged the
adoption, by the confederated states of America, of the newly submitted federal
Constitution. In his diary for December 1, 1787, Webster records that he wrote
“to Mr. Wharton.” This letter possibly refers to an order for or solicitation of
copies of the pamphlet, filled on December 1, but not paid for; and the copies
of the pamphlet, with “the draft for 20 dollars”, were returned to Webster by
Wharton without explanation. The reason for the pamphlets being returned may
lie in the fact that proponents for the Constitution were not entirely happy
with the text of Webster’s pamphlet (see Ford, Notes on the Life of Noah Webster). Tench Coxe (1755-1824), to whom
the letter is written, was the noted American political economist and member of
the Annapolis Convention, which considered measures for the better regulation
of commerce, and which called for the Constitutional Convention of 1787. How
long Webster had known Coxe is not certain, but Webster notes in his diary that
they had dined together in February of 1787, just after the close of the
Annapolis Convention, and just prior to the start of the Constitutional
Convention. Also present at that dinner was Jared Ingersoll, a delegate from
Pennsylvania to the Continental Congress. Taking his revenge on Wharton, we may
further surmise that Webster writes to Coxe (Coxe being “one of the company
concerned” with the adoption of the Constitution) to register his complaint on
the treatment received at the hands of Wharton. Ironically, the day after this
letter was written, Pennsylvania ratified the Constitution. On the 20th of
December, Webster records in his diary: “Mr. Wharton from Phild. calls on me”,
but nothing more is known about this meeting. Wharton is likely Samuel Wharton
(1738-1800), like a Webster a friend of Franklin, a noted Philadelphia
merchant, a member of the Continental Congress in 1782-83, and member of the
Philadelphia city council.
4to,
24 lines, approx. 170 words; with integral address leaf bearing .2 cent postage
and New York post office rubberstamp; break at wax seal (no loss of text), some
wear and browning, previous folds.
11. WILLIAMS, TENNESSEE. One-page typed letter signed “Tennessee.” n.p., n.d.: [New York City, ca. 22
March, 1982]. $2,000
In part: “I was very pleased to learn
of your opinion of my revised (post-Broadway) version of ‘Clothes for a Sunner
[sic] Hotel’ [based on the Lives of Zelda and Scott Fitzgerald] and I do hope
that something will come of it, meaning, of course, a production. Duncan Weldon
and his partner also admired it a great deal, but were under the impression
that there would have to be a star in it, such as Vanessa Redgrave or Maggie
Smith ... I think it would do better in England: lately my work seems to fare
better abroad. I see no reason why player such as Janet Suzmann or Glenda
Jackson would not be big enough ‘names’ ...” William’s goes on give travel
plans and mentions a production of ‘A
House Not Meant to Stand’ in Chicago. At the bottom Williams has penned a
P.S. “You can reach me at Goodman Theatre, 200 S. Columbus, Chicago.”
4to,
approx. 20 lines, with a number of ink corrections throughout; previous folds,
else fine, with original hand-addressed envelope.
12. KOENIG, EBERHARD. The 1462 Fust & Schoeffer Bible. Introduction by
Christopher de Hamel. With an original leaf from the 1462 Bible. Akron
& Evanston: Bruce Ferrini / Hamill & Barker, 1993. $4,500
Dr. Koenig, a noted authority on 15th
century manuscripts and German incunabula, details the history of Fust &
Schoeffer’s magnificent Bible of 1462, with particular emphasis on the fragment
that forms the basis of this publication, the only known copy of the Bible to
have been illuminated in England for the English market. Koenig has also
included a census of the extant copies. The monograph was printed letterpress
by W. Thomas Taylor of Austin, Texas, and includes 12 monochrome plates.
Edition
limited to 166 copies, folio, pp.40; orig. burgundy morocco-backed boards,
paper label on upper cover, black morocco label on spine; accompanied by a
linen folder, paper label on upper cover, containing an original leaf from the
Fust & Schoeffer Bible, initials in red and blue and with red and blue
flourishes in the margins; all in a linen clamshell box, paper label on upper
cover; new, as issued.
18 full-page woodcuts
13. [MEDER, JOHANNES.] Quadragesimale
nouum editu[m] ac predicatu[m] a quodam fratre minore de obseruantia in inclita
ciuitate Basilien[si] de filio prodigo [et] de angeli ip[s]ius ammonit[i]one
salubri p[er] sermones diuisu[m]. [Basel: Michael Furter, 1495.] $17,500
A beautifully illustrated incunable by
Dürer’s collaborator on The Ship of
Fools, the Master of Haintz-Nar. “In his fundamental work, Dürer und die Illustrationene zum
Narrenschiff, 1951, F. Winkler discusses in detail the Quadragesimale which he calls the best work of the group, assigning
it to Dürer’s main collaborator in illustrating The Ship of Fools, his ‘Master of the Haintz Narr,’ on the
assumption that this artist had developed further and gained in finesse and
subtlety of modelling” (Breslaur, Catalogue 101, 1970, item 104). The text
consists of a series of 50 sermons on the Prodigal Son. Sebastian Brandt, a
close friend of Meder’s, wrote some introductory verse, most of which consists
of a dialogue between the Prodigal Son and his Guardian Angel on gaming,
whoring, snappy dressing, and cruelty to the poor, among other subjects.
First
edition, 8vo (163 x 108mm.), 231 leaves, lacking the final blank, rubricated
throughout; gothic type, 18 full-p. woodcuts (including 2 repeats); Furter’s
largest early device on recto of C8 (Heitz & Bernoulli, 18); irregular
register of two leaves (o2 and y2) result in short upper margins, but not
affecting the headline; full brown morocco by E. Joly, with the arms and motto
of Victor Messina, Prince d’Essling on both covers, spine gilt-lettered direct
in one compartment and with Messina’s cipher in the other four; a nice copy.
n OCLC
finds 7 copies, only Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Newberry in the U.S. Goff
M421; BM III, 783; Hain-Copinger, 13628*; Muther, German Book Illustration of the Gothic Period and the Early Renaissance
(1460-1530), (N.Y., 1972), p. 64: “These woodcuts, like those in the Ritter
von Turn, are very significant.”
14. RICHARDUS DE SANCTO VICTORE. De duodecim
patriarchis seu Beniamin minor. Basel: Johann Amerbach, 1494. $8,500
Second edition, small 8vo (142 x
95mm.), 74 leaves including the final black, collating [A1]-[H8], I-1-[I10], in
8s; BMC III, p. 755; Goff R-194 noting that this and the following are often
found separately;
bound
with: De arca mystica.
Basel: Johann Amerbach, 1494; first edition, small 8vo, 148 leaves, collating
[A-1]-[R8] in 8s, S1-S4, T1-[T-8]; 16th century limp vellum, ties perished, spine
partially perished with cords showing, old manuscript titling on spine and
remains of old paper label at the bottom; both texts crisp and clean
throughout; in a new cloth clamshell box.
n Goff
R-194 (both titles); BMC III, p. 756.
15. SACROBOSCO, JOHANNES DE, Georg Puerbach &
Johannes de Regiomontanus. Sphaera
mundi. Diputationes. Theoricae novae planetarum. Venice: [Bonetus
Locatelli] for Octavianus Scoti, 4 October, 1490. $20,000
Three fundamental pre-Copernican
astronomical texts bound together in one volume, as originally issued by
Ratdolt in 1482. “Sacrobosco’s fame rests firmly on his De sphaera, a small work based on Ptolomy and his Arabic
commentators, published about 1220 and antedating the Sphaera of Grosseteste. It was quite generally adopted as the
fundamental astronomy text, for often it was so clear that it needed little or
no explanation.” Sacrobosco’s text is accompanied by treatises by Regiomontanus
(1436-1476) and his teacher Georg Peurbach (1423-1461). The tract by
Regiomontanus concerns corrections to the planetary tables of Gerard of
Sabbioneta. It is followed by Peurbach’s Theoricae
novae planetarum, which was composed c. 1454 (and published in Nuremberg in
1473). It became the standard astronomical text for over a century and a half.
The early and untimely deaths of both Regiomontanus and Peurbach “left the
technical development of mathematical astronomy deprived of substantial
improvement until the generation of Tycho Brahe.” (See Dictionary of Scientific Biography for a detailed discussion of
each of these early astronomers).
4to,
48 leaves, collating a-f8 (complete), 41 lines, over 70 woodcuts throughout,
including 6 handcolored, printer’s device on colophon printed in red; bound in
old vellum, some toning and minor soiling, generally very good.
n BMC V-438; Goff J-409
Part III: Books printed before 1701
16. [ACTS of PARLIAMENT.] Anno Regni Guilielmi III. Regis ... At the
Parliament begun at Westminster the two and twentieth day of November, anno
dom. 1696 ... An act for the increase and encouragement of seamen [etc.].
London: Charles Bill and the executrix of Thomas Newcomb, 1696. $450
Establishes a provision for “Seamen who
by age, wounds, or other accidents shall become disabled for future service at
sea, and shall not be in a condition to maintain themselves comfortably, may
not fall under hardships and miseries, may be supported at the public charge,
and that the children of such disabled seamen ... may in some reasonable manner
be provided for and educated.” This act also provides for the founding and
endowing of a Seaman’s Hospital at Greenwich, the services of which will be
available to all seamen who “register themselves, in and for His Majesty’s
sea-service,” as well as their families.
Small
folio, pp. [18], being [473]-492 of the Acts of Parliament, removed; browned,
some foxing. Text in black letter throughout.
17. [ACTS OF PARLIAMENT.] Instructions agreed upon in Parliament, for
commissioners, for surveying the forest of Sherwood; the forest, or chase of
Needwood; the forest, or chase of Kingswood ... at the Parliament begun at
Westminster the 17th day of September, Anno Domini, 1656. London: printed
by Henry Hills and John Field, printers to His Highness, 1657. $425
Official orders to the commissioners to
survey several of Britain’s forests, including the legendary Sherwood Forest,
the woody haunt of Robin Hood.
Small folio, pp. [2], 14; text largely in black letter; recent brown cloth; 17th century annotations about the book on the flyleaf [“This book contains the acts made in the tyme of y infamous Rebbell and tirant Oliver Williams [?] Cromwell now called Oliver Lord Protector of England.”]; the lettering on the spine is reversed; else very good and sound.
18. ALBEMARLE, GEORGE MONCK, Duke of. Observations upon military & political affairs. London:
printed by A.C. for Henry Mortlocke ... and James Collins, 1671. $950
First edition, folio, pp. [8], 151,
[12]; contemporary full calf with an elaborate gilt panel central on both
covers, rebacked to style, red morocco label; very good and sound.
Illustrations of battle plans in the text. The Huntington copy has a folding
portrait, not present here, but none of the OCLC records call for one.
n Wing
A864.
19. [ALFRED, King.] An. Manl. Sever. Boethi Consolationis philosophiae libri V.
Anglo-Saxonice redditi ab Alfredo, inclyto Anglo-Saxonum rege. Oxoniae: E Theatro Sheldoniano sumtibus editoris, typis Junianis, 1698. $6,200
First edition of King Alfred’s original
Anglo-Saxon version of Boethius. “The types which Junius presented to Oxford
University were ... employed in 1698 to print Alfred’s Anglo-Saxon version of
Boethius’ De Consolatione Philosophiae,
under the superintendence of Christopher Rawlinson. The copy used was the
Junian transcript in the Bodleian, collated with an MS. in the Cotton Library,
since accidentally destroyed [in a fire at Cotton House in 1731]. Dr. Richard
Rawlinson, in one of his letters to Brome, a few years afterwards, complains
that ‘the destruction of copies only made the work to bear any price,’ and that
his namesake’s pocket suffered by the publication. It was unaccompanied by any
version, either in Latin or English; and for the preface he was probably
endebted to Thwaites. The impression, we learn from a letter of Nicolson to
Thoresby, was limited to 250 copies, the greater number of which the editor
generously distributed amongst his friends and acquaintance, and which was of
good service to Dr. Hickes when endeavouring to obtain subscribers to his
Thesaurus” (Petheram, Anglo-Saxon
Literature, pp. 72-3).
8vo
(in 4s); pp. [12], 198, [1] errata; engraved frontis portrait of Junius by M.
Burghers after Anthony Van Dyke, engraved vignette title-p., head-piece and
initial O incorporating a portrait of Alfred, all by Burghers; collating a4,
b2, A-2B4; Anglo-Saxon type throughout; contemporary paneled calf neatly
rebacked, red sprinkled edges; fine copy. Edited by Christopher Rawlinson, with
the assistance of Edward Thwaites; the Anglo-Saxon text includes the poetic
versions of the Cottonian codex.
n Wing
B3429.
john evelyn’s copy
20. AUBIGNE, THEODORE AGRIPPA D’. Histoire universelle ... comprise en trois
tomes. [?Geneva]: Heritiers de Hier. Comelin, 1626. $1,750
D’Aubigne (1552-1630) was the son of a
zealous Huguenot who instilled in him an abiding protestant sympathy and an
almost reckless disregard for personal safety in the Protestant struggle. He
was present at the siege of Orleans where his father was killed. He soon after
went to Geneva to study under Beza. From there he attached himself to the
Huguenot army under the command of the Prince of Conde. Eventually he joined
the retinue of Henry of Navarre, and proved himself of great service to the
future king, both as a soldier and a counselor. After Henry’s elevation to the
throne, the king found d’Aubigne’s rough manner and caustic criticisms tiresome
(in his literary works he freely exercised his gift of sarcasm with regard to
the king and his family) and the rift between the two widened when the king
converted to Catholicism.
By
the time he published the third volume of the present work, it was ordered to
be burned by the common hangman, so free and unguarded was its satire. He fled
to Geneva in 1620 where he lived the rest of his life. The Histoire Universelle is the work for which d’Aubigne is best
remembered, “a lively chronicle of the incidents of camp and court life,
[forming] a very valuable source for the history of France during the period it
embraces” (EB-11).
This
copy has the place of printing (Amsterdam) neatly excised and patched, and “a
Geneve” printed by hand above and below the printer’s imprint on the
title-page, presumably indicating an issue from the author’s city of refuge.
From the library of John Evelyn, with the latter-day Evelyn bookplate, Evelyn’s
accession number of the front flyleaf (which itself is partially loose), and
the ownership signature on the title-p. of [Sir] Robert Offley, whose daughter
married Evelyn’s brother, George.
Second
edition, revised and augmented; folio, pp. 20, 1189 columns, 744 columns (so
paged), pp. [40]; top of spine chipped, 3 small worm holes through the upper
cover and into the first few leaves; occasional light foxing, but generally a
clean, sound copy in full contemporary calf, gilt.
n Brunet
I, 545.
21. BŒHME, JAKOB. De signatura rerum: das ist, Bezeichnung aller dingen, wie
das Jnnere vom Eusseren bezeichnet wird. Beschrieben im Jahr nach Christ
Geburt, MDCXXII. [Amsterdam: J. Janssonius], 1635. $5,000
Boehme (1575-1624), shoemaker,
glove-maker, Protestant mystic, and the founder of modern theosophy, published
little in his lifetime, and what was published brought him endless trouble with
the Church authorities. This title, The
Signature of All Things, written in High Dutch in 1622, appears here in
printed form for the first time 11 years after his death. Arguably this is the title for which Bœhme is most famous.
Small
12mo, pp. 403 [i.e. 405]; title-p. stained and with neat Japanese tissue repair
on verso, else a very good, sound copy in contemporary full vellum, ink titling
on spine.
n BM STC German, 1601-1700, B-1651; 5 copies
only in OCLC (Princeton, Yale, Wesleyan, Lloyd Library in Ohio, and one in
London); NUC adds one at Harvard.
22. BŒHME, JAKOB. Mysterivm magnvm, oder Erklärung vber das erste Buch Mosis
von der Offenbahrung göttlichen Worts durch die drey Principia göttlichen
Wesens vnd vom Vrsprunge der Welt vnd der Creation: darinnen das Reich der
Natur vnd das Reich der Gnaden erkläret wird ... Verfasset in zey Theil.
Beschrieben Anno 1623. [Amsterdam: Gedruckt den Liebhabern.
[i.e. Willem Lamsvelt or J. Janssonius?], 1640. $6,500
This title, Mysterium magnum, written in High Dutch in 1623, appears here in
printed form for the first time sixteen years after Bœhme’s death. With his De Signatura rerum it is the title for
which the author is most famous.
4to,
2 parts in 1, pp. [16], 704, [32]; title page printed in red and black;
sectional title, ‘Das ander Theil des Mysterii magni ... ‘ at p. 245; woodcut
ornament on title page; woodcut initials; contemporary full vellum, manuscript
titling on spine; fore-margins dampstained, turn-ins popped, bookplate removed,
final leaf with loss of blank corner and inkstained.
n BM STC German, 1601-1700, B-1655.; 8 copies
only in OCLC (5 in the U.S.).
23. BACON, FRANCIS. Resuscitatio, or, bringing into publick light several
pieces, of the works, civil, historical, philosophical, & theological,
hitherto sleeping; of the Right Honourable Francis Bacon ... according to the
best corrected coppies. Together, with his Lordships life. By William Rawley... London:
printed by Sarah Griffin, for William Lee, 1657. $850
William Rawley (1588-1667) was Bacon’s
chaplain and amanuensis. This book contains the texts of various letters
written by Bacon, his speeches in Parliament, the Star-Chamber, King’s Bench,
etc., “Certain Considerations touching the Plantation in Ireland,” and ending
with Bacon’s “A Confession of the Faith.”
From
the library of Henry Hyde, Viscount Cornbury (1710-58, friend of Bolingbroke
and an associate of Pope), signed “H. Cornbury” at the top of the title-p.
First
edition, folio, pp. [24], 282, [2]; [2], 122, [2] ads; engraved frontispiece
portrait, sectional titles; moderate occasional dampstains, rather heavy on a
few internal leaves; recent half black morocco over marbled boards,
gilt-lettered direct on spine, a.e.g.
n Wing
B-319; Gibson 226.
24. BACON, FRANCIS. Sylva sylvarum, sive historia naturalis, in decem centurias
distribute Anglice olim conscripta, A Francisco Bacono Barone Verulamio,
Vicecomite Sti Albani Angliae quondam Cancellario, nunc, Latio transcripta a
Jacobo Grutero P.F. Medicina Candidato. Lug. Batavor. [i.e. Leiden]:
Franciscum Hackium, 1648. $750
First Latin edition, Leiden issue (also
issued the same year in identical format in Amsterdam under the Elzevir
imprint), 12mo, pp. [36], 612, [48], 87; engraved title-p., contemporary full
Dutch vellum, yapp edges, manuscript title on spine; very good, sound copy.
n Gibson
185b. See Willems 1058.
25. BACON, NATHANIEL & John Selden. An historical and political discourse of the laws &
government of England, from the first times to the end of the reign of Queen
Elizabeth. With a vindication of the ancient way of Parliaments in England.
Collected from some manuscript notes of John Selden, Esq., by Nathaniel Bacon. London:
John Starkey, 1689. $1,250
The book was published in 1682 and
suppressed, and is here reissued; both sectional titles bear the 1682 date.
“Bacon’s Historical Discourse is a sort of constitutional history of England,
showing much knowledge of the development of the institutions, civil and
ecclesiastical, and pervaded by a strong spirit of hostility to the claims of
the royal prerogative and to hierarchical pretensions ... The statement [that
the work was composed by Bacon from the manuscript notes of John Selden] seems
to have no better foundation than a vague assertion of Chief Justice Vaughan,
one of Selden’s executors, that the ‘groundwork’ of the book was Selden’s”
(DNB). Nonetheless Wing catalogues it under Selden.
2 parts in 1; folio, pp. [20], 203,
[1]; [4], 168, 167-188, [5]; full contemporary calf, rebacked, black morocco
label on gilt decorated spine; gilt supralibros on upper cover of St. Paul’s
School, and a prize bookplate dated 1932 on front pastedown; supralibros on
both covers of a grate with flames; covers worn, some restoration to the
corners, else very good.
n Wing
S-2428.
26. BELLORI, GIOVANNI PIETRO. Vetervm illvstrivm philo-sophorvm, poetarvm,
rhetorvm, et oratorvm imagines. Ex vetustis nummis, gemmis, hermis, marmoribus
alijsque antiquis monumentis desumptae. Romae: apud Io. Iacobum de Rubeis,
1685. $1,500
First edition, folio, pp. [8], 20, 16,
15, [1]; 92 engraved plates, 3 engraved sectional titles; lacking the frontis
portrait (as often), and 1 unnumbered plate at end (as usual); colophon with
the imprint, “Typis Ioannis Baptistae Bvssotti;” 18th century paneled calf
sympathetically rebacked, red morocco label on spine. The title is approx.
50mm. short and possibly is supplied from another copy (although an old
waterstain in the top corner matches that on the following four leaves).
n Ebert
1890 and Brunet I, col. 759, both calling for only 90 plates; Graesse I, p. 330
calling for the 92 as are present in the present copy.
27. BLACKMORE, RICHARD, M.D. Prince Arthur. An heroick poem. In ten books. London: printed for Awnsham
and John Churchil, 1695. $2,250
First edition, folio, pp. [20], 296;
contemporary speckled calf, red morocco label; minor rubbing but generally
fine, with engraved bookplate of Thomas Carter and early ownership signature of
Toby Chauncy. Bound in at the back is a 4-p. index “explaining the names of
countries, cities, and rivers, &c. mentioned in this book” from the second
edition of the same year, printed on different paper and slightly smaller in
size.
n Wing
B3080.
28. BOYLE, ROBERT. A discourse of things above reason.
Inquiring whether a philosopher should admit there are any such. By a fellow of
the Royal Society. To which are annexed by the publisher (for the affinity of
the subjects) some advices about judging of things said to transcend reason.
Written by a fellow of the same society. London: printed by E. T. and R. H.
for Jonathan Robinson, 1681. $2,000
“The present discourse is an amusing
philosophical ‘quadrilogue’ with Sophronius (Boyle). Eugenius, Pyrocles, and
Timotheus as speakers, in which the dilemma of the mind attempting to explain
itself is freely discussed ... The point of view throughout is refreshing and
original” (Fulton).
First
edition, second issue with the additional 20 lines of text at the back; sm.
8vo, 2 parts in 1, as issued; pp. [4], 94, blank leaf, 100; contemporary calf
neatly rebacked, gilt lettering direct on spine; very good copy.
n Fulton
145; Wing B3944.
29. BOYLE, ROBERT. Some considerations touching the usefulnesse of experiemntal
naturall philosophy proposed in familiar discourses to a friend by way of
invitation to the study of it. Oxford: by Henry Hall for Ric. Davis,
1663. $4,500
Boyle was “the best known English
scientist of his day, and the greatest experimental scientist of the
mid-seventeenth century” (PMM, citing The
Sceptical Chymist). His Experimental
Natural Philosophy presents an amalgam of alchemy, legitimate chemistry,
physiology, prescriptive medicine, and theology in the form of discourses to
his friend, Pyrophilius. Boyle’s Law, which states that there is an inverse
ratio between air pressure and volume, is a fact of both life and death in
scuba-diving and aviation.
First
edition, 2 parts in 1, small 4to, pp. [18], 127, [7]; [2], 417, [18]; A1
(label-title: “Mr. Boyle of experimentall philosophie”) wanting; b4 with
repairs in the margin, moderate foxing throughout, largely confined to the
margins, but generally a very good, sound copy in contemporary full calf neatly
recased and rebacked, red morocco label on spine.
n Fulton
50; Wing B4029.
30. BREREWOOD, EDWARD. Enquiries touching the diversity of languages and religions,
through the chief parts of the world. Written by Edw. Brerewood, sometime
professor of astronomy in Gresham College in London. London:
printed for Samuel Mearne, John Martyn, and Henry Herringman, 1674. $500
“The earliest book to suggest the now
accepted theory of the Asiatic origin of the American aborigine.” It went
through four editions in England 1614-1674, and six others on the continent.
“The author devotes a portion of the book to the first peopling of America,
claiming the Tartars as their forefathers. His account of religion in America
is very curious, especially the part where he describes an old priest who
baptized 700,000! Chapter XXII relates to the idolatries practiced in America”
(Sabin).
Fourth edition, the first in octavo;
8vo, pp. [32], 252, [3]; full contemporary calf with sprinkled edges;
extremities worn, spine with a few chips out, but in all a good, sound copy.
n Alston
III, 764; Sabin 7732, citing the 1635 edition; Wing B4378.
31. BUXTORF, JOHANN. Lexicon Chaldaicum et Syriacum ... Denique in novi
testamenti translatione Syriaca reperiuntur, accurate et methodice dispositae,
& fidliter explicatae, copiose absoluteq; describuntur. Collectum, & in
gratiam harum linguarum studiosorum in lucem editum a M. Johanne Buxtorfio Jun. Basileae: ex officina Ludovici Regis, 1622. $650
The younger and precocious Buxtorf, a
noted theologian and Semitic scholar in his own right, published his first
work, this Lexicon, “as a companion work to his father’s great Rabbinical
Bible” (EB-11).
First
edition, 8vo, pp. [20], 640; original calf ruled in blind with arms of Peter
Venables, Baron of Kinderton (1605-1679), stamped in gilt on front and back
covers, modern rebacking with red morocco label lettered in gilt on spine, all
edges red, and some browning to text pages (letterpress still clear and
legible); a good or better copy overall. This copy also with the armorial
bookplate of Tatton Park. Buxtorf junior (1599-1664) was the son of the famed
Basel professor, Hebrew scholar, and theologian of the same name (1564-1629)
who published his landmark Biblia
Hebraica cum Paraphr. Chald. et Commentariis Rabbinorum in 1618-1619.
32. CAESAR, JULIUS GAIUS. C. Iulii Caesaris Rerum ab se gestarum
commentarii. De bello Gallico libri VIII. De bello ciuili Pompeiano libri III.
De bello Alexandrino liber I. De bello Africo liber I. De bello Hispaniensi
liber I. Ex uetustiss. scriptis codicibus emendatiores. Pictura totius Galliae,
Pontis in Rheno, Auarici, Alexiae, Uxelloduni, Massiliae per Jucundum Veronensem,
ex descriptione Caesaris. Veterum Galliae locorum, populorum, urbium, montium,
ac fluuiorum breuis descriptio. Lutetiae [i.e. Paris]: ex Officina Rob.
Stephani typographi regij., 1544. $1,750