Catalogue 135 - Rare Books, Including Recent Aquisitions

101.  BURKE, EDMUND. Speech ... on American taxation, April 19, 1774. The fourth edition. London: J. Dodsley, 1783.                                                                                                                           $1,100

8vo, pp. 96; Todd 24f; Sabin 9295 (citing the first three editions only);

    bound with: Burke, Speech ... on moving his resolutions for conciliation with the colonies, March 22, 1775. The third edition. London: Dodsley, 1784, pp. [4], 107; Todd, 25e;

    bound with: Burke, Speech ... on presenting to the House of Commons (on the 11th of February, 1780) a plan for better security of the independence of Parliament, and economical reformation of the civil and other establishments. London, Dodsley, 1780, pp. [2], 94; lacks half-title; last p. torn in gutter; first authorized edition, first impression, with ms. correction on p.22 as described by Todd 24f;

    bound with: Burke, A letter ... to Sir Hercules Langrishe, Bart. M.P. on the subject of Roman Catholics of Ireland, and the propriety of admitting them to the elective franchise, consistently with the principles of the Constitution as established at the Revolution. The second edition, corrected. London: J. Debrett, 1792, pp. 88; title-p. soiled; first London edition, second impression; Todd 59d;

    bound with: Burke, A letter to a noble Lord, on the attacks made upon him and his pension, in the House of Lords, by the Duke of Bedford, and the Earl of Lauderdale, London: J. Owen and F. & C. Rivington, 1796, pp. [4], 80; first edition, fourteenth impression; Todd 65n;

    bound with: Burke, A letter ... to His Grace the Duke of Portland, on the conduct of the minority in Parliament. Containing fifty-four articles of impeachment against the Rt. Hon. C.J. Fox, London: the editor, and sold by J. Owen, 1797, pp. [2], 94, [2] ads; first (pirated) edition, first impression; Todd 67a.

    Bound together in contemporary calf-backed marbled boards, red morocco label on spine; joints a bit cracked, top of spine chipped level, otherwise generally very good.

the coins of ancient sicily

102.  [CASTELLI, GABRIELE LANCILLOTTO, Pri-ncipe di Torremuzza.] Siciliae populorum et urbium regum quoque et tyrannorum veteres nummi Saracenorum epocham antecedentes. Panormi [i.e. Palermo, Sicily]: Typis Regis, 1781-89.                                                      $3,250

A little-known Sicilian-printed study of ancient Sicilian coinage. Castelli concentrates on the prolonged period of the Greek colonization of Sicily, from about 550 B.C. when the first Sicilian coins appeared to about 240 B.C. when most of Sicily became a Roman province after the first Punic War. The second volume was published 8 years later because Castelli kept finding additional hitherto undescribed coins. Just before his death he published a further supplement (1791) with 9 plates and 15pp. of descriptive text, not present here.

    First edition, folio, 2 vols. in 1, pp. [8], 103; 20; text in double column; engraved vignette title-pp., engraved head- and tail-pieces, engraved initials, 116 engraved plates of coins by Garofalo and Melchior della Bella after Garafalo showing hundreds of examples (obverse and reverse); contemporary paste-paper boards backed in vellum; edges worn, half-title dusty, but in all a very nice copy printed on thick paper.

103.  CASTILHON, JEAN-LOUIS. Essai sur les erreurs et les superstitions anciennes & modernes. Nouvelles edition, revue, corrigée & considerablement augmentée. Francfort: chez Knoe & Elslinger, 1766.    $500

2 vols. in 1, 8vo, pp. viii, 9-240; 276, [4]; contemporary full catspaw calf, red morocco label on gilt-decorated spine; very good copy. The second volume is largely devoted to Islam and Mahomet.

104.  CHAMBERS, E[PHRIAM]. Cyclopaedia: or, an universal dictionary of arts and sciences; containing an explication of the terms, and an account of the things signified thereby, in the several arts, both liberal and mechanical; and the several sciences, human and divine ... Second edition, corrected and amended, with some additions. London: printed for D, Midwinter, J. Senex, R. Gosling [et al.]., 1738.      $7,500

2 volumes, folio, double-p. engraved frontispiece, 19 engraved plates (a number folding) plus one double-p. Caslon printer’s specimen;

    together and uniformly bound with: A Supplement to Mr. Chambers’s Cyclopaedia [by George Lewis Scott]..., London, 1753, 2 volumes, folio, 12 engraved folding plates.

    Together 4 volumes, nearly uniformly bound in full contemporary calf, gilt-decorated spines, edges stained red; Cyclopaedia with joints cracked, spines rubbed, and light overall wear, internally clean; Supplement with joints starting, spines rubbed, internally clean; a good to very good set in contemporary bindings, unrestored. With the engraved bookplate in each volume of John Ward, quite possibly the John Ward (1679-1758), biographer of the Gresham professors, fellow of the Royal Society, and one of the original trustees of the British Museum (see DNB).

n Alston III, 537; citing Walsh: “Although the Cyclopaedia is now but a landmark in the history of encyclopedia publishing, its impact and influence upon later generations was incalculable. It directly influenced the famous French Encyclopedie of Diderot, and the New Encyclopaedia compiled by Abraham Rees and published between 1802 and 1820.” Circle of Knowledge 16: “Ephriam Chambers, a map-maker by training, may be termed the father of the modern encyclopedia. He included not only many articles on the useful sciences, but also attempted wide coverage of the humanities, and he devised an extensive system of cross-references to minimize the need for repetition. Chambers’ work had great influence upon the French Encyclopedie as well as the Britannica.”

n See also Printing & the Mind of Man 171 (citing the first edition of 1728): “A good French scholar, he adapted Moreri and Bayle to the common-sense climate of the English Enlightenment. Moreover, he introduced a novel device that has proved indispensable to every subsequent lexicographer and encyclopedist, namely, cross-references... Thanks to his editorial accomplishments the Cyclopaedia was revised, translated, and imitated throughout the 18th century. [Diderot’s] Encyclopedie was originally planned as a translation of it, and Dr. Johnson told Boswell that he formed the style of his Dictionary partly on Chambers’s book.” Starnes & Noyes (The English Dictionary from Cawdry to Johnson) show that Bailey, Dyche & Pardon, and other English lexicographers borrowed extensively from Chambers as well.

n Lowndes I, p. 406; Ebert 3979: “This was the first alphabetical encyclopedia.”

105.  CHESTERFIELD, PHILIP DORMER STANHOPE, 4th Earl of. Letters written by the late Right Honourable Philip Dormer Stanhope, Earl of Chesterfield, to his son, Philip Stanhope ... together with other several pieces on various subjects. Published by Mrs. Eugenia Stanhope, from the originals now in her possession ... London: J. Dodsley, 1774.                                            $1,750

Chesterfield’s famous letters written to his son, Phillip Stanhope, his illegitimate child by one Mlle. du Bouchet, in Flanders. These 395 letters were prepared for publication by his widow, Lady Chesterfield, within a year of his death. While it must be remembered that the letters were private and not intended for publication, the work attained immediate popularity, and it remains an essential literary and historical document of the eighteenth century.

    First edition, second state of leaf H4r in vol. I (line 16 reading “qui auroit”); 2 vols, 4to, pp. [4], vii, [1], 568; [4], 606, [1]; engraved frontis portrait after a painting by William Hoare; contemporary full calf, red & green morocco labels on gilt decorated spines, slight cracking and minor restoration of the joints, but, all in all, a very good copy with the half-titles and errata, and with the engraved bookplates of Richard Hammond.

n Rothschild 596; Lowndes II, 434.

106.  [COKE, EDWARD.] The first part of the institutes of the laws of England. Or, a commentary upon Littleton ... with the addition of notes and references ... by Francis Hargrave ... and with a preface and index to the notes by Charles Butler ... and an analysis of Littleton, written by an unknown hand in 1658-9, but never before published. Dublin: James Moore, 1791.                          $650

Coke’s Institutes are considered the first textbooks on the modern common law. Hargrave planned a new edition of Coke on Littleton. He began to publish the book in separate numbers, but was obliged to abandon it in 1785, after having completed nearly half of it. It was finished by Charles Butler and published in 1787, with a valuable preface, in which an estimate is given of the position of Littleton and Coke in Britain’s legal history. “If Bracton first began the codification of the Common Law, it was Coke who completed it ... In the Institutes ... the tradition of common law from Bracton and Littleton, whose name Coke’s commentary ... made famous, firmly established itself as the basis of the constitution of the realm” (Printing and the Mind of Man 126, citing the first edition of 1628).

    Fourteenth edition, apparently the last of the folio editions, and a reprint of the important thirteenth edition, which was the first critical edition, with the notes by Butler and Hargrave; folio, pp. [24], xx, 395 folios, [59]; large folding table; full contemporary calf rebacked; mild browning throughout, chips to the margin of the last leaf, but generally good and sound.

107.  CONDORCET, JEANANTOINE-NICOLAS DE CARITAT, Marquis de. Esquisse d’un tableau historique des progrès de l’esprit humain. Ouvrage posthume de Condorcet. Paris: Agasse, ans III, [1795.]            $750

“It was the gospel of the nineteenth century that mankind is destined for indefinite future progress. Condorcet [1743-1794], looking back and then forward, saw proof of this in the growing equality between classes and nations, the intellectual, physical and moral improvement of man; and he prophesied that popular education on correct principles would strengthen and assure this progress. In the Esquisse [‘An Historical Outline of the Progress of the Human Mind’], published after his death, Condorcet traces the history of man through epochs, the first three covering his progress from savagery to pastoral community and thence to the agricultural state. The next five span the growth of civilizations and knowledge down to Descartes, and the ninth describes the revolution of Condorcet’s own lifetime, from Newton to Rousseau. The prophetic view of the tenth epoch shows Condorcet at his most original. He forecasts the destruction of inequality between nations and classes, and the improvement, intellectual, moral and physical of human nature it is as the most fully developed exposition of the progress of man that Condorcet’s work is now remembered, and it is this which has given its lasting appeal” (See Printing and the Mind of Man, 246).

    Second edition, 8vo, pp. viii, 389; contemporary full calf, black morocco label on gilt-decorated spine; front joint cracked, else good.

108.  COURT DE GEBELIN, ANTOINE. Monde primitif, analysé et comparé avec le monde moderne; considéré dans son génie allégorique et dans les allégories auxquelles conduisit ce génie; précédé du plan general des diverses parties qui composeront ce monde primitif... Paris: chez l’auteur, [et al.], 1773-82.    $5,000

The work “proposed to set in a new light the phenomena, especially the languages and mythologies, of the ancient world,” and in it the author made interesting researches into etymology. Anticipating both Henshall and von Humboldt, he speculated that in all languages there is a resemblance in sound and an affinity of ideas. Volume I outlines the general plan of the work; vol. II is devoted to l’histoire naturelle de la parole ou grammaire universelle; vol. III: l’histoire naturelle de la parole ou origine du langage et de l’Écriture; vol. IV: l’histoire civile, religieuse et allégorique du calendrier ou almanach; vol. V: les origines francoises ou dictionnaire Étymologique de la langue francoise; vol. VI and vol. VII: les origines latines ou dictionnaire etymologique de la langue latine; vol. VIII: divers objets concernant l’histoire, le blason, les monnoies, les jeux, les voyages de Phéniciens autour du monde, les langues américaines our dissertations mÍlées remplis de découvertes intéressantes; and vol. IX: considéré dans les origines grecques ou dictionnaire Étymologique de la langue grecque précedé de recherches et de nouvelles vues sur l’origine des grecs et de leur langue. In 1776 he collaborated with Franklin and others in the periodical work Affaires de l’Angleterre et l’Amerique which was devoted to the support of American independence (see Ency. Brit., 11th ed.)

    First editions of all 9 volumes, 4to, 5 engraved frontispieces, 2 engraved folding maps, 45 engraved plates (18 folding), engraved head-pieces, woodcut ornaments; contemporary full calf, black morocco labels on gilt-decorated spines; some careful and minor restoration to the bindings, discreet library stamps in lower margins of title-pp., else generally a very good, sound set.

early medical provenance

109.  CRAIG, THOMAS, Sir. The right succession to the kingdom of England, in two books; against the sophisms of Parsons the Jesuite, who assum’d the counterfeit name of Doleman; by which he endeavours to overthrow not only the rights of succession in kingdoms, but also the sacred authority of kings themselves. Written originally in Latin above 100 years since ... and now faithfully translated into English, with a large index ... and a preface, giving an account of the author. London: printed by M. Bennet, for Dan. Brown [et al.], 1703.      $850

First edition in English, folio, pp. [34], 431, [1], [17]; full contemporary paneled calf, red morocco label; slight crack at the bottom of the lower joint, else a very good, sound copy. The Dedication is signed J. G. (i.e. James Gatherer). With the early ownership inscription of “Ph: Fowke, M.D. ... A.D. 1703” with a six-line inscription in Latin and Greek beneath it, and a number of additional notes in his hand throughout, in the margins and on the rear blank flyleaves. Phineas Fowke (1638-1710) was a Yorkshire physician who graduated from Cambridge in 1668. He practiced in London and was admitted as a fellow in the College of Physicians in 1680. See DNB.

110.  CURLL, EDMUND. A key, being observations and explanatory notes, upon the Travels of Lemuel Gulliver. By Signor Corolini, a noble Venetian now residing in London. In a letter to Dean Swift. Translated from the Italian original. London: printed in the year, 1726. $2,500

This is the first of four “keys” that Edmund Curll published to Gulliver’s Travels, the others being The Brobdingnagians; The Flying Island; and, The Kingdom of Horses. The 4 were issued together by Curll in 1727 with a general title-page: Compleat key to Gulliver’s Travels.

    First edition, small 8vo, pp. 29, [3], collating [B1]-[E4] in 4s; removed. BLC & Straus cite Henry Curll as the publisher.

n Straus, The Unspeakable Curll, 1927, p. 116, note 2; see Teerink, 1215.

111.  DEFOE, DANIEL. The novels and miscellaneous works ... with a biographical memoir of the author, literary prefaces to the various pieces, illustrative notes, etc., including all contained in the edition attributed to the late Sir Walter Scott, with considerable additions. Oxford: printed by D.A. Talboys, for Thomas Tegg, 1840-41.     $2,500

The first attempt at a definitive edition of the collected works of DeFoe.

    20 volumes, small 8vo, original half vellum over marbled boards, heavy gilt decorations on spines, each volume with three green morocco labels; a bit of soiling but otherwise a fine set in the publisher’s deluxe binding.

n NCBEL II, 882.

112.  DEMOSTHENES. The orations of Demosthenes, delivered on the occasions of public deliberation. Together with the Orations of Aeschines and Demosthenes on the crown. Translated into English by Thomas Leland. London: printed for W. Johnston, 1771.$900

“A work of extraordinary merit: the translation is executed with a spirit and energy nearly equal to the original, and the notes are very valuable” (Lowndes). Originally published in parts (1756-70) and in an octavo in 1770 which Lowndes considers inferior. This is the first edition in quarto.

    3 parts in 1, 4to, pp. [8], xxii, [2], vi, 7-219, [1]; [4], xxiv, 168; [10],198; engraved frontispiece portrait and engraved folding map; full contemporary calf, rebacked, old gilt-decorated spine laid down (small piece missing at the top and bottom), preserving the original maroon morocco label; some edge wear but generally a good, sound copy, or better.

n Apparently not common: only 7 in OCLC (5 in the U.S.), and 11 in ESTC (adding no others in the U.S.).

113.  [DODSLEY, ROBERT, ed.] The preceptor: containing a general course of education ... The sixth edition, with additions and improvements. London: J. Dodsley, 1775.        $850

The preface (vol. I, ix-xxxi) is by Samuel Johnson, as is also ‘The Vision of Theodore, the Hermit of Tenerife, found in his Cell’ (vol. II, 520-30). “Tom Tyres said that Johnson composed [“The Vision of Theodore”] in one night ‘after finishing an evening in Holborn’. Bishop Percy heard Johnson say that it was the best thing he ever wrote. ‘The Picture of Human Life: Translated from the Greek of Cebes,’ which forms the conclusion of the second volume, and is introduced as ‘translated into English, by a person considerably distinguished in the Republic of Letters’, has been attributed to Johnson” (Courtney & Smith) but Fleeman says that the attribution is “not persuasive.” The Preceptor went through eight editions, the last being in 1793.

    2 vols., 8vo, pp. [2], l, [5]-414, [4] ads; [2], 560; engraved frontispiece in each volume, 6 hand-colored folding maps by Emanuel Bowen, (world, Europe, Asia, North America, South America, and Africa), and 28 engraved folding plates; preliminary blanks in vol. 2 with dampstain; some wear, joints cracked or starting, and spines with a few minor chips, else a pretty nice copy in full contemporary mottled calf, red and green morocco labels on spines, spines richly gilt. Chapman and Hazen (citing the first edition) call for one frontispiece and 28 plates only.

n Alston VII, 198; Chapman & Hazen, p. 130; Courtney & Smith, p. 21-2: Fleeman 48.4DP/9.

114.  [DYCHE, THOMAS.] Encyclopédie françoise, latine et angloise; ou, dictionnaire universel des arts et des sciences ... contenant la signification et l’explication de tous les mots de ces trois langues, & tous les termes relatifs aux arts & aux sciences. Londres: 1761.                                 $950

Extracted from the best dictionaries of the period, particularly that of Furetière (a.k.a. Trévoux), that of the French Academy, the revised Cotgrave, and Dyche’s own New General English Dictionary.

    2 volumes, 4to, pp. [4], vi, [2], 603, [1]; [4], 575, [1]; title-pp. in red nd black, text in double column; contemporary full pawfoot calf, gilt-decorated spines, red morocco labels, edges stained red; some rubbing but generally very good and sound.

n OCLC locates only 2 copies, both in London.

only 250 printed

115.  EURIPIDES. Euripidou Iketides [in Greek]. Euripidis drama Supplices mulieres, ad codd. mss recensitum: et, versione correct‚, notis uberioribus illustratum. Accedit De Graecorum quinta declinatione imparisyllabica, et inde formata Latinorum terti‚ quaestio grammatica. Cum explicatione locorum aliquot ex auctoribus graecis it latinis. Londini: excudebat Gulielmus Bowyer, 1763. $1,250

“This edition contains a very valuable grammatical treatise De Graecorum declinatione imparisyllabica et inde formata Latinorum tertia. It was printed and published at the expense of Markland’s friend, Dr. Heberden. The correction of the press, in the absence of Markland (who was indisposed in the country), was undertaken by the famous Jortin ... Only 250 copies were printed, according to a MS. note of Markland, found in one of his books...” (Dibdin).

    First Markland edition, 4to, pp. vi, [2], 288, [2]; parallel Greek and Latin texts; the final leaf contains ‘Auctores qui in hoc scripto explicantur’ and Corrigenda; a nice copy in contemporary full calf, elaborate gilt border on covers, black morocco label on gilt-decorated spine, sprinkled edges. Edited by Jeremiah Markland and seen through the press by John Jortin.

n ESTC finds only 5 copies in the U.S. (Harvard (2), Duke, Huntington, and Cornell). Dibdin, Introduction to the Greek and Latin Classics, I, p. 552: Lowndes I, 761.

116.  FIELDING, HENRY. Miscellanies. London: printed for the author, 1743.      $2,250

The first printing of Fielding’s famous satirical romance, Jonathan Wilde, is contained in its entirety in volume III.

    First edition, first issue, 8vo, 3 vols., modern mottled calf antique by Riviere & Co., handsome gilt spines, red morocco labels, quarter brown morocco slipcase. Complete with the general title in vol. I and the list of subscribers; title to vol. III guarded; fine set.

n Rothschild 845 citing the same edition, Large Paper issue.

117.  [FRENCH REVOLUTION.] La Revolution française, en vaudevilles. Depuis le commencement de l’assemblée destituante jusqu’à présent. Coblentz: 1792.  $800

Only edition, 48mo, pp. 160; engraved frontispiece; delightful copy in contemporary full calf, gilt egg and diamond border on covers, black morocco label on smooth gilt-paneled spine, a.e.g.

n One copy only (in Holland) in OCLC; not found in RLIN. NUC adds the Newberry copy.

118.  GARSAULT, FRANCOIS ALEXANDRE DE. L’art de la lingere. [Paris: de L’imprimerie, L. F. Delatour], 1771].                                                                                                                          $1,250

First edition, folio, pp. [2], 58; 4 copper-engraved plates; contemporary calf-backed marbled boards, edges quite rubbed, spine chipped at bottom and along joints, but binding is sound. Forms part of a series, Descriptions des Arts et Metiers, published by the Academie des Sciences, Paris, 1761-1768.

n Only 4 copies in the U.S. on OCLC.

119.  GAY, JOHN. Fables. With a life of the author and embellished with seventy plates. London: John Stockdale, 1793.                                                                                                                           $1,500

First edition thus, 2 volumes, tall 8vo, pp. xii, 225; vii, 175; engraved titles to each volume, engraved frontis and 67 engraved plates, including 12 by William Blake; full contemporary straight-grain red morocco, gilt lettering direct on gilt-paneled spines, a.e.g.; lower margin of engraved title-p. with dampstain, and a mild tidemark on the rear cover of vol. I; all else near fine, and contained in a quarter red morocco slipcase, slightly rubbed at the edges.

120.  GIBBON, EDWARD. An essay on the study of literature. Written originally in French by Edward Gibbon, Jun. Esq; now first translated into English. London: printed for T. Beckett and P.A. De Hondt, 1764.      $1,500

First edition in English of Gibbon’s first published work. In 1753 Gibbon, a young man of twenty-five, was sent by his father to Lausanne to study with the Calvinist minister, Pavillard, and did not return until 1758. By this time he had already begun his Essai sur l’Etude de la Litterature, which he finished in England in 1759, where it was published on the urging of his father in 1761. Published in French, the work found little audience in England but succeeded, apparently abroad, and it was reprinted in both Paris and Geneva in 1762. After its publication in English in 1764 it became highly sought after, but Gibbon refused to republish it himself. Only one other contemporary edition appeared, in 1788 in Dublin, which was pirated. Contains a touching 5-page dedication to his father.

    12mo, pp. [8], 168 (including ads); contemporary speckled calf ruled in gilt, leather spine label lettered in gilt, previous owner’s name in ink on title, else a very good copy.

n Norton 6; Rothschild 939: The translation was not made by Gibbon, though it was announced as being prepared “under the inspection of the author” (Norton, p. 4).

121.  GODWIN, WILLIAM. Enquiry concerning political justice, and its influence on morals. First American from the second London edition corrected. Philadelphia: Bioren and Madan, 1796.                                   $2,500

First American edition, published three years after the English. Godwin “saw no good in human institutions and sought to put an end to all organized politics, religion and society... The Enquiry was, and remained, the work by which he was best known. It was one of the earliest, the clearest, and most absolute theoretical expositions of... anarchist doctrine. Godwin believed that the motives of all human action were subject to reason, that reason taught benevolence, and that therefore all rational creatures could live in harmony without laws and institutions. Believing in the perfectibility of man, he thought  ‘that our virtues and vices may be traced to the incidents which make the history of our lives, and if these incidents could be divested of any improper tendency, vice would be extirpated from the world’. All control of man by man was intolerable and ‘government by its very nature counteracts the improvement of the original mind’... Godwin’s passionate advocacy of individualism, his trust in the fundamental goodness of man, and his opposition to all restrictions on liberty, have endured” PMM 243 (citing the first London edition of 1793).

    2 vols., 12mo, pp. xvi, [21]-362; viii, 400; some foxing; upper joint on vol. I cracked, but generally a very good set in full contemporary calf, red morocco labels on spines.

n Evans 30493.

122.  HALLER, ALBRECHT VON, BARON. Usong, histoire orientale. Traduit de l’Allemand. Paris: Valade, 1772.    $500

Haller (1708-1777), the Swiss anatomist, physiologist, and botanist, in old age “turned to fiction and wrote three philosophical romances - Usong (1771), Alfred (1773), and Fabius und Cato (1774) - in which he drew upon his political experience and expounded his ideas of government”” (see Dictionary of Scientific Biography for a long account of his illustrious life).

    First French edition, 12mo, pp. xii, 346, [2]; full contemporary red calf gilt, black morocco label on spine; rear cover peeling, else a very good, handsome copy.

123.  [HARRIS, JAMES.] Three treatises. The first concerning art. The second concerning music, painting and poetry. The third concerning happiness. By J.H. London: printed by H. Woodfall, jun. for J. Norse and P. Vaillant, 1744.   $600

Remembered today as a grammarian (his Hermes is one of the most influential linguistic works of the 18th century), Harris was an avid student of the classics and music. His books “are dry and technical,” although not without merit, “and have a certain interest from his adherence to the Aristotelian philosophy during the period of Locke’s supremacy” (DNB).

    First edition, 8vo, pp. [4], 357; full contemporary calf, red morocco label, gilt paneled spine, sprinkled edges; a very nice copy.

124.  [HAWKESWORTH, JOHN.] The adventurer. London: J. Payne, 1753-54.    $2,000

Edited by Hawkesworth. Johnson contributed 29 of the 140 papers; other contributors included Joseph Warton, Bonnell Thornton, and Hawkesworth, among others. “Unlike The Rambler, The Adventurer was, from the outset, planned as (probably two) volumes. From the beginning it is consecutively signed (a signature to each number of 3 leaves folio) as well as consecutively paginated; and at the end of No. 70 is printed ‘The end of the First Volume’. ... Title-pages, Contents, and Mottoes were issued in 1753 and 1754” (Chapman & Hazen).

    2 volumes, folio, consisting of 140 twice-weekly numbers published between November 1752 and March 1754; pp. [6] 420; [6], 420; early 19th century russia, with blindstamped supralibros central on all covers, rebacked to style, gilt-decorated spine in 7 compartments, red morocco label in 1; boards rubbed at edges, but generally very good and sound.

n Chapman & Hazen, p. 136; Courtney & Smith, p. 39; Fleeman 52.11Ad/1; Rothschild 1120.

125.  HELVETIUS. De l’espirit: or, essays on the mind, and its several faculties ... Translated from the edition printed under the author’s inspection. London: printed for the translator and sold by Mr. Dodsley, 1759.     $1,250

Interesting text, and the author’s most famous book, probing psychology, ethics, the moralities of social interaction, the rewards and virtues of human understanding, memory,  and mortality.

    First edition in English, 4to, pp. xvi, 331; title-p. in red and black; recent full black goatskin, gilt ruled border, gilt paneled spine, red morocco label. About fine.

n Kress 5783.

126.  INNES, THOMAS. A critical essay on the ancient inhabitants of Britain, or Scotland. Containing an account of the Romans, of the Britains betwixt the walls, of the Caledonians or Picts, and particularly of the Scots. With an appendix of ancient MS. pieces. London: William Innes, 1729.          $1,500

First edition, 2 vols., large paper issue (approx. 8½” x 6½”), 4to, pp. li, [1], [12], 400; [2], 401-839, [1] Innes ads; 3 tables on 2 folding sheets;

    bound with: Remarks on Mr. Innes’s Critical Essay on the Ancient Inhabitants... [by George Waddel], Edinburgh: Tho. and Wal. Ruddimans, 1733, pp. 32; title and last leaf dusty.

    A very nice set in 19th century full navy calf, triple gilt rules on covers, gilt-decorated spines in 6 compartments, maroon morocco labels in 1, a.e.g.

n Lowndes: “A work of real learning and importance.”

127.  JACOB, GILES. Every man his own lawyer, or, A summary of the laws of England, in a new and instructive method, under the following heads, viz. I. Of actions and remedies ... II. Of courts, attornies and solicitors ... III. Of estates and property ... IV. Of the laws relating to marriage ... V. Of the Liberty of the Subject ... VI. Of the King and his prerogative ... VII. Of publick offences ... all of them so plainly treated of that all manner of persons may be particularly acquainted with our laws and statutes, concerning civil and criminal affairs, and know how to defend themselves and their estates and fortunes, in all cases whatsoever. New York: Hugh Gaine, 1768.    $2,000

This layman’s guide to the law is the first book of its kind published in America.

    First American edition, designated here the “seventh,”   referring to the previous six which had appeared in London; 8vo, pp. iv, 289, [13]; tear in p. 157-8 before printing, some foxing, cracks starting at lower joints; a good, sound copy in original full blindstamped sheep, red morocco label on spine.

n Evans 10935.

the rare edinburgh edition of johnson’s first book

128.  [JOHNSON, SAMUEL.] London: a poem, in imitation of the third satire of Juvenal. The second edition. London [i.e. Edinburgh]: printed [by Thomas Ruddiman] for R. Dodsley, 1738.                                 $3,500

Samuel Johnson’s first separately published original work. “The poem reflects the political views current among the ‘patriots’ who opposed Sir Robert Walpole” (Courtney). Fleeman’s London-Edinburgh edition on which he notes: “The ornamental tailpiece on p. 20 belonged to Thomas Ruddiman, jun. of Edinburgh, to whose shop this is therefore attributed. As an unauthorized edition is its not found advertised, so that the price remains uncertain, thought it was probably less than the London folios both on account of its size, and because of the cheapness of production ... Its supposed scarcity seems to be the effect of neglect.”

8vo, pp. 20; disbound.

n Not common: only 8 locations in ESTC. Courtney & Smith, pp. 7-8; Fleeman 38.5L/3; Foxon J-78.

129.  JOHNSTONE, JAMES, Rev. Lodbrokar-quida, or, the death-song of Lodbroc now first correctly printed from various manuscripts, with a free English translation, to which are added, the various readings, a literal Latin version, an Islando-Latino glossary ; and explanatory notes... [Copenhagen]: printed for the author, 1782.                   $650

Translation of the Old Norse poem Kr·kum·l, known also as Lo½brÛkarkvi½a, which relates to the Icelandic and Norwegian invasions of Scotland. The translation is taken from Hakonar Saga Samla, the epic poem by Sturla Thordarson (1214-1284). The text of the poem, in 29 stanzas, is given in the original Icelandic verse with a parallel English prose translatio, and followed by a Latin prose translation and a glossary. The work concludes with ‘Notes for the English reader’, which provide a general introduction as well as notes on each stanza. ‘A very learned native of Iceland prepared both the text and the glossary for the press; any difference, therefore, between them arises from the state of Icelandic orthography which is extremely arbitrary, and unsettled” (p. 111).

    12mo, pp. [4], 111; modern full mottled calf, red morocco label on spine; fine copy.

130.  JUVENALIS, DECIMUS JUNIUS & Aulus Persius Flaccus. D. Junii Juvenalis et Auli Persii Flacci. Satyrae. Tabulis Aeneis illustravit, ert notas variorum selectas, suasque addidit G. S. [i.e. edited by William Sandby.] Cantabrigiae. Prostant venales Londini, apud Gul. Sandby ... Cantabrigiae: apud G. Thurlbourn & J. Woodyer, 1763.    $850

This copy with a distinguished American provenance, bearing the engraved armorial bookplates of Edward Everett, the Unitarian clergyman and statesman, and also that of a William Everett, likely related.

    Small 8vo, pp. [12], 207; title-p. printed in red and black, 2 engraved portraits and 13 engraved plates all signed P.S.L. sc; printer’s imprint on p. 229: “Cantabrigiae : Typis academicis excudebat Josephus Bentham.” A nice copy in contemporary full red goatskin, gilt floral border on cover, gilt-decorated spine in 6 compartments, black gilt-tooled morocco labels in 2; a very nice copy in a handsome binding.

131.  [KNOX, VICESIMUS.] Elegant extracts: or, useful and entertaining passages in prose selected for the improvement of scholars at classical & other schools in the art of speaking, in reading, thinking, composing; and in the conduct of life. A new edition. London: Charles Dilly, n.d., [ca. 1790’s].  $450

Includes a long extract from Benjamin Franklin’s Way to Wealth, and interesting appendices on geography, chronological table of historical events (with a number of entries on the American War for Independence), and a list of the world’s greatest authors, with their dates of death.

    Thick 8vo, engraved vignette title-p. (showing a hive of bees), xvi, [8], 928; text in double column; beautiful copy in full contemporary calf, elaborate gilt-decorated spine, red morocco label.

with a letter

132.  LACKINGTON, JAMES. Memoirs of the first forty-five years of the life of James Lackington, the present bookseller on Chiswell-street, Moorfields... London: printed and sold by the author, [1791]. $750

Laid in is a letter addressed to Lackington dated Salisbury, Nov. 16, 1804 from John Malham (1747-1821, miscellaneous writer of arithmetics, navigational texts, and religious stories, among others) who was apparently in arrears with Lackington: “The misfortunes into which I have sometimes fallen in the past have been productive of the most serious evils ... at present every resource is totally drained, that I have much difficulty from my own bad health and a young sickly family, to subsist from week to week.” He tries to persuade Lackington into accepting “at a fair price ... any of my publications, as the Arithmetic or the Sermons. I should wish to balance the account in that way to your satisfaction, - being the only means in my power.” Malham goes on optimistically: “I should wish to see your catalogue, to look forward to better days, which yet I hope for.”

    First edition, 8vo, pp. xxxii, 344; engraved portrait (slightly offset onto title-p.), woodcut of the branch on p. 285; uncut; contemporary calf-backed marbled boards, spine a little perished and with an early leather repair to the joints; a good, sound copy, with the bookplate of Lee Edmonds Grove.

133.  LOCKE, JOHN. The works of John Locke Esq; in three volumes. The sixth edition. To which is added, the life of the author; and a collection of several of his pieces published by Mr. Desmaizeaux. London: D. Browne, C. Hitch [et al.], 1759.                                                    $2,500

The last of the folio editions. 3 volumes, folio, pp. [iii]-xv, [1], [12], [xvii]-xxxii, 587, [16]; [2], 719, [12]; [6], 757, [12]; engraved frontis portrait by Kneller after George Virtue, engraved dedication; recent full brown niger morocco, spines in 7 compartments, red and black morocco labels in 2; minor toning of the text, newspaper shadow between pp. 268-69 of vol. I, else fine.

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