Catalogue 140: Rare and Interesting Books, Part III

161.   [JAPAN.] Sheba, Kimpei, & Franz Krapf. Children of Japan. Japans kinder. [Tokyo & Osaka: Asahi Shimbun Publishing Co., 1936.                                                                                                        $1,250

First edition, 4to, pp. [6], 256, [1]; (pp. 241 on are ads); pictorial endpapers, illustrated with photographs through, each captioned in German and English; a fine copy in the uncommon and very modern-looking dust-jacket.

Includes sections on kindergarten children, going to school, learning etiquette, children’s libraries, summer schools in the forest, juvenile athletics, boy scouts and girl guides, and dolls, among others.

162.   [JAPANESE LITERATURE.] Kunisada Chuji, Gimei-no takashima. Tokyo: Kinshodo, 1880.                                             $1,750
15 volumes, slim 8vo, original color pictorial wrappers sewn in the Japanese manner, contained in 5 color pictorial sleeves (“fukuros”—3 volumes per fukuro, as issued); illustrated throughout in color and black and white; a few minor short tears, minor occasional worming, but generally fine.

A famous Japanese story of the “Japanese Robin Hood,” illustrated by Baido Kunimasa Gimei No Takashima, i.e. Kunisada II Utagawa (1823-1880), a pupil of Kunisada (Toyokuni III). A movie, starring the Japanese film great Toshiro Mifune was made of it in 1960 (also known as “The Gambling Samurai”) in which “Chuji Kunisada returns to his home village to find that Jubei Matsui, the corrupt magistrate, has been responsible for virtually destroying Kunisada’s family. A final tragedy leads Kunisada to join with a band of rogues living in the forest in robbing from the rich and giving to the poor, always with an eye toward avenging himself on Magistrate Matsui.”

Folk stories such as this “competed with official history, and the protagonists that filled this history were outlaws such as gamblers, chivalrous men, masterless samurai, itinerant priests, and entertainers. Of all the periods of Japanese history, it was at the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate and beginning of the Meiji Restoration (1868) that the roles played by these legendary heroes reached their peak. They were written about in books, depicted in colored woodblock prints, portrayed in Kabuki, and appeared in stories and narrative ballads, becoming popular heroes deeply ingrained in the people’s consciousness.”

163.   JARDINE, WILLIAM. The naturalist’s library. Edinburgh, London [et al.]: W. H. Lizars, n.d., [1845-6].      

Second edition, small 8vo, 40 volumes, contemporary half morocco of different colors: Birds 14 volumes in red morocco, Mammals 13 volumes in green morocco, Insects 7 volumes in blue morocco, and Fish 6 volumes in maroon morocco; tartan endpapers of differing design in each group; engraved armorial bookplates of Edward Salvin Bowlby; each volume with engraved portrait and half-title, and upwards of 1,280 plates, mostly hand-colored; fine and very attractive.

“In addition to the description and depiction (mostly finely coloured plates) by various well-known contributors to almost the whole range of the subject, the series is supplemented by biographies of famous naturalists of all times and all countries … It is well described as a remarkable little library of early nineteenth zoology, as well as a brief account of the lives of the chief zoologists of all time” (Casey Wood).

Zimmer, p. 326; Nissen 4708.

165.   [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

8vo, pp. 20; removed from binding.

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.”

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

166.   JOHNSON, SAMUEL. Prayers and meditations, composed by Samuel Johnson, LL.D. and published from his manuscripts, by George Strahan, A.M. The second edition. London: for T. Cadell, 1785.             $1,250

8vo, pp. xv, [1], 233, [1] ads; contemporary full red straight-grain morocco, ornate gilt border on covers incorporating flowers and berries, gilt-lettered direct on gilt-decorated spine; very good.

Fleeman notes that 1,000 copies were printed. Includes a Preface to the first edition of 1785, and adds three additional Prayers printed here for the first time, those of April 24, 25, l and May 6, “composed by me on the death of my Wife, and reposited among her Memorials, May 8, 1752” (pp. 10-15).

At the end of his life, in 1784, Johnson had given the manuscripts to Strahan to publish, but Strahan censored passages where Johnson had expressed anxiety and uncertainty over his Christian belief. Strahan published what amounted to an expurgated edition in 1785.

Chapman & Hazen, p. 163; Courtney & Smith, p. 159; Fleeman 85.8PM/3.

167.   JUVENALIS, DECIMUS JUNIUS, & Aulus Persius Flaccus. Decimus Junius Juvenalis, and Aulus Persius Flaccus translated and illustrated, as well with sculpture as notes. By Barten Holyday. Oxford: printed by W. Downing, for F. Oxland Senior, J. Adams, and F. Oxland Junior, 1673.                                                    $2,250

Folio, pp. [12], 341, [3]; title-p. printed in red and black; 1 engraved map, 3 engraved plates (1 double-p.), 32 engravings and 15 woodcut illustrations in the text; contemporary full calf neatly rebacked to match; a nice copy. Sectional title-p. for Satyres: translated into English by Barten Holyday … Oxford, printed for J. Adams, and F. Oxland Senior, and F. Oxland Junior, 1673, and with the uncommon final leaf [Xx4] with the vertical half-title reading “Dr Holyday on Iuvenal,” for which no entry in OCLC takes into account, although it is present in the Huntington copy. Preface to Persius contains a biography of the author.

Brueggmann, p. 680; Madan, III, 2979; Wing J1276.

168.   KEARTON, CHERRY. Wild life across the world. Introduction by Theodore Roosevelt. London, N.Y. & Toronto: Hodder and Stoughton, n.d., [1914].                                                                                 $600

First edition, 4to, pp. xxvii, [1], 286; inserted frontispiece and title-p., 105 illustrations from photographs on 91 plates; a fine copy in original pictorial blue cloth stamped in white and gilt, and with a gilt medallion on the upper cover of a bear’s head; preserving the original die-cut dust-jacket with one or two minor tears on the back panel. Foreword by Richard Kearton.

Says Teddy Roosevelt in his Introduction: “His feats in photographing great and dangerous game, and especially in taking moving pictures of these animals, have not been paralleled. I have long followed the extraordinary work … in photographing English birds; and on my invitation [the Kearton brothers] gave an exhibition of their work in the White House. Later, I met Mr. Cherry Kearton in Africa, and there saw him at work. One of the prime qualities of Mr. Kearton’s work is its absolute trustworthiness … His work … is of first rate scientific importance.”

169.   [KELMSCOTT PRESS.] Shelley, Percy Bysshe. The poetical works of Percy Bysshe Shelley. Hammersmith: Kelmscott Press, 1894-95.                                                                                                 $5,500

Edition limited to 256 copies, this 1 of 250 on paper; 3 volumes, 8vo, volumes 2 and 3 printed in red and black; original stiff vellum, yapp edges, gilt-lettered direct on spines; bindings a little soiled, gilt lettering a touch sunned, else near fine.

Designed by William Morris and printed in the “Golden Type’ on “Flower” paper. Volume 1 was published in November of 1894, and volumes 2 and 3 in March and November of 1895.

Peterson A29; Walsdorf 29.

170.   KINGDON-WARD, FRANK. The mystery rivers of Tibet. A description of the little-known land where Asia’s mightiest rivers gallop in harness through the narrow gateway of Tibet, its peoples, fauna, & flora. London: Seeley Service, 1923.          $950

First edition, 8vo, pp. [3]-316, [4] ads; folding map, 16 plates and 3 other maps in the text (2 full-p.); fine copy in original yellow cloth stamped in black on upper cover and spine.

Account of the author’s botanical expedition across Tibet to the Chinese border and in the Salween and Mekong river valleys.

171.   KIRCHER, ATHANASIUS. Magnes, sive, de arte magnetica opus tripartitum, quo praeterquam quod universa magnetis natura, eiusque in omnibus artibus & scientijs usus nova methodo explicetur … Edito secunda post romanam multo correctior. Coloniae Agrippinae [i.e. Cologne]: apud Iodocum Kalcoven, 1643.                       $3,500

Small 4to, pp. [28], 797, [39]; engraved title-p., 29 engraved plates, numerous interesting woodcut illustrations in the text; a number of leaves with early ink marginalia; contemporary, if not original drab paste-paper boards; worn and soiled, even uniform toning of the text, occasional mild dampstains; a good, sound copy.

Merrill 4, citing the first edition of 1641: “Kircher’s Magnes is filled with curiosities, both profound and frivolous. The work does not deal solely with what modern physicists call magnetism. Kircher discusses, for example, the magnetism of the earth and heavenly bodies; the tides; the attraction and repulsion in animals and plants; and the magnetic attraction of music and love. He also explains the practical application of magnetism in medicine, hydraulics, and even in the construction of scientific instruments and toys … The book contains the first use of the word … ‘electro-magnetism’ p. 640). Kircher’s Magnes contains all that was known in his day on electricity and magnetism, forces that even today baffle scientists.” Hoover Collection of Mining and Metallurgy, 481; Graesse IV, 21.

172. KNAPP, ANDREW, & William Baldwin. The Newgate calendar; comprising interesting memoirs of the most notorious characters who have been convicted of outrages on the laws of England since the commencement of the eighteenth century; with occasional anecdotes and observations, speeches, confessions, and the last exclamations of sufferers. London: J. Robins & Co., 1824-28.                                                                                                             $950

4 volumes, 8vo, text in double column, numerous woodcuts throughout; later half polished tan calf over marbled boards, red morocco labels on spines, sprinkled edges; minor scuffing; very good and sound.

173. KOCK, CHARLES-PAUL DE. The masterpieces of Charles-Paul de Kock. Philadelphia: printed for subscribers only by George Barrie & Sons, [1903].                                                                           $7,500

“Edition de Grand Luxe,” limited to 12 sets only, with 120 plates in four states each (India paper impressed on Japanese vellum; papier de Chine mounted on plate paper; Japanese etching paper, in bistre; and Whatman drawing paper, finished with water-colors); in addition to the plates there is a duplicate set of the plates printed on satin, and contained in a separate folio folding box; 20 volumes plus the folio suite of plates, 8vo, full blue crushed morocco, a.e.g., full doublures of green and brown morocco, blue moiré endpapers, paneled spines in 6 compartments, gilt-lettered direct in 1; fine.

De Kock (1794-1871) was “a prolific and popular author of rollicking, risky, or more often frankly coarse, frequently sentimental and fundamentally good-natured novels … written with an untiring comic vigour…” (Oxford Companion to French Literature).

174.   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

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.

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.”

175.   LACKINGTON, JAMES. The confessions of J. Lackington, late bookseller, at the Temple of the Muses, in a series of letters to a friend … New-York: Ezekiel Cooper & John Wilson; Brooklyn: Robinson & Little, printers, 1806.          $375

12mo, pp. vii, [1], [9]-189; contemporary full sheep, gilt fillets on an otherwise unadorned spine; some wear, moderate foxing; good and sound. Early ownership signature of Julia Dorsey on the title-page. Bookplate of Jacob Chernofsky. Shaw & Shoemaker 10688.
176.   LAKE, EDWARD. Officium Eucharisticum: a preparatory service to a devout and worthy reception of the Lord’s Supper … The thirtieth edition. London: R. Ware, W. & D. Baker [et al.], 1753.                    $1,500

12mo, pp. 168; bound with a 23-p. Order for the Administration of the Lord’s Supper [drop-title], a single gathering of 12 leaves (the first trimmed at the bottom without loss) and likely separately printed; engraved frontis. portrait by Van der Gucht; original full black goatskin, gilt roll-tooled border enclosing elaborate central panel with double gilt roll-tooled floral border, floral motifs in the corners, gilt-decorated spine in 6 compartments, marbled endpapers, a.e.g., blue silk bookmark; spine very slightly discolored, else near fine throughout.

ESTC records only the Univ. of Leeds and the British Library copy.

177.   LA ROCHEFOUCAULD-LIANCOURT, Duc De. Travels through the United States of North America, the country of the Iroquois, and Upper Canada, in the years 1795, 1796, and 1797; with an authentic account of Lower Canada. London: R. Phillips … by T Davison, 1799.                                                                                      $2,500

First edition, 2 volumes, 4to, pp. xxiii, [1], 642, [12] index, [2] ads; [2], 320, 321*-364*, 321-686, [9] index, [1] ads; 3 engraved folding maps, 6 tables (5 folding); contemporary full calf, red and black morocco labels on gilt-paneled spines, double gilt-ruled borders on covers enclosing “Chilton” in gilt central on both upper covers, sprinkled edges; neatly rebacked with old spines laid down; some light to moderate (but occasional) spotting and foxing; all else very good and sound.

Translated by Henry Newman. Containg a tour through the northern provinces Upper Canada, and the Carolinas, with an account of Lower Canada, and a tour through Virginia, Pennsylvania, the Jerseys, and New-York, with a general view of the commerce, politics, and manners of the people of the USA.

Howes L-106; TPL 683; Sabin 39057: “The observations of this distinguished author … extend to the political constitution of the country, the manners, etc. of the inhabitants, its physical state and natural history. The translator appears to have executed his task faithfully, and to be well acquainted with the country described.”

178.   LAMARCK, JEAN BAPTISTE PIERRE ANTOINE De. Histoire naturelle des animaux sans vertébres, présentant les caractéres généraux et particuliers de ces animaux, leur distribution, leurs classes, leurs familles, leurs genres, et la citation des principales espéces qui s’y rapportent; précédée d’une introduction … Deuxiéme edition, revue et augmentée de notes présentant les faits nouveaux dont la science s’est enrichie jusqu’à ce jour; par MM. G. P. Deshayes et H. Milne Edwards. Paris: J.B. Baillière, 1835-45.                                                                                                          $3,000

11 volumes, 8vo; generally fine. Volume I: Introduction et Infusoires; II: Histoire des polypes; III: Radiaires, vers, insectes; IV: Histoire des insects; V: Arachnides, crustacés, annelides, cirrhipèdes; VI-X: Histoire des mollusques; XI: Histoire des mollusques et Table générale. First published in seven volumes 1815-22.
179.   LAMARCK, JEAN-BAPTISTE, & A. P. De Candolle. Flore française, ou, descriptions succinctes de toutes les plantes qui croissent naturellement en France, disposées selon une nouvelle méthode d’analyse, et précédées par un exposé des principes élémentaires de la botanique. Trosiéme édition. Paris: Desray, 1815.                      $1,750

Best edition, 6 volumes, 8vo, 11 engraved folding plates, folding table and a large hand-colored engraved map; contemporary quarter tan calf, red and brown morocco labels on spines;very good.

This edition includes two supplemental volumes describing an additional 1300 species.

180.   LANDON, PERCEVAL. Lhasa. An account of the country and people of central Tibet and of the progress of the mission sent there by the English government in the year 1903-4. Written with the help of all the principal persons of the mission by… London: Hurst & Blackett, Limited., 1905.                                                          $1,250

Second edition, 2 volumes, 8vo, pp. xix, [1], 414; xi, [1], 426; 42 plates, 7 maps (2 folding and in color), plus numerous illustrations in the text; a very good, sound copy in original gilt-stamped red cloth, and preserving the original printed dust jackets which are a little chipped at the spine extremities but with no loss of letterpress.

Landon was a journalist traveling with Younghusband’s expedition to the forbidden city in 1903-04.

181.   LARREY, DOMINIQUE JEAN, Baron. Relation historique et chirurgicale de l’expedition de l’armée d’Orient, en Egypte et en Syrie. Paris: Demonville et Soeurs, an XI - 1803.                                          $3,500

First edition, 8vo, pp. 10, [errata leaf], 480; engraved frontispiece portrait and 2 engraved plates showing genital tumors associated with elephantiasis; contemporary and probably original quarter brown morocco and red pastepaper covered boards, rebacked, retaining original pastedowns and flyleaves and with black morocco label lettered in gilt on spine; negligible wear to extremities, light scattered foxing to prelims and end matter, the fore edge of the frontispiece curling, and the lower fore corner of pp. 407-408 torn away, affecting a few words; a very good copy. On the half-title, Larrey has penned seven lines to an unidentified Lieutenant General; portions of the message have been damaged by a binder’s over-zealous trimming and some light water spotting.

“Larrey was the greatest military surgeon in history. Of him Napoleon said: ‘C’est l’homme le plus verteux que j’ai connu.’ Larrey was one of the first to amputate at the hip-joint, the first to describe the therapeutic effect of maggots on wounds, gave the first description of ‘trench foot,’ … and devised several new operations” (GM 2160, in describing Larrey’s Mémoires de chirurgie militaire of 1812-17).

182.   LAVATER, JOHN CASPAR. Essays on physiognomy; for the promotion and the knowledge and the love of mankind …translated into English by Thomas Holcroft . To which are added one hundred physiognomonical rules, a posthumous work by Mr. Lavater, and memoirs of the life of the author. London: H. D. Symons and J. Walker, 1804.                                                  $1,250
“Second edition illustrated by four hundred and eighteen engravings,” 3 volumes, 8vo, pp. vi, [2], cxlix, [1], 242; [4], 324; [6], 399, [1], [10] index; copper-engraved frontispiece portrait after Corbould, 424 engraved plates, leaf B1 in volume 1 with marginal restoration, occasional neat pencil annotations throughout; contemporary polished half tan calf over marbled boards, maroon and black morocco labels on gilt-paneled spine, sprinkled edges; some rubbing and wear but in all a very good copy.

Lowndes II, p. 1321.

183.   LAVOISIER, A[NTOINE] L[AURENT]. Opuscules physiques et chimiques … Seconde edition. Paris: Deterville, 1801.   $950

Second issue of the second edition, 8vo, pp. xxx, [2], 443; 3 copper-engraved plates; original pink wrappers, printed paper label on spine; near fine throughout.

First printed in 1774. It is Lavoisier’s first book, a “pioneer work in which he first gives a historical survey of previous workers’ efforts and then describes his own experiments on gases and the conclusions he derived from them” (Duveen & Klickstein).

Grolier, Lavoisier, 20: “An entirely different issue from the usual seconde édition. Deterville has reprinted the entire book with the errata corrected in the text and the plates reingraved by Tardieu l’aîné —- in the three preceding issues the engraver was de la Gardett who, incidentally, engraved Lavoisier’s bookplate … It is entirely possible that this issue was printed as a third volume of the troisième édition of the Traité elémentaire de Chimie, since the three volumes are uniform in size, title-p., format, and type. It was the first new printing of Opuscules after Lavoisier’s death and may well have been issued to supplement the Traité.”

184.   LAVOISIER, ANTOINE LAURENT. Oeuvres de Lavoisier. [Edited by John Baptiste André Dumas and Edouard Grimaux.]Paris: Imprimerie Imperiale, 1862-93.                                                 $2,500

6 volumes, 4to, 54 plates (many folding), and 2 double-p. tables; contemporary quarter brown morocco, gilt-lettered direct on spine; ex-Northwestern University, small labels on each spine, perforated stamp on first leaf of text, pocket at rear of each volume (with withdrawn stamp); some wear to bindings; small tide-marks in the lower blank margins of most leaves, also on some of the plates.

The monumental collected edition of Lavoisier’s works. “So many of the papers written by Lavoisier remained unpublished during his lifetime and can only be found in the Oeuvres, particularly those of his earlier periods.”

Duveen & Klickstein, pp. 377-456.

185.   [LEAF BOOK, Fust & Schoeffer.] 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

Edition limited to 166 copies, folio, pp. 40; original 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.
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.

186.   LE VAILLANT, M. [FRANCOIS]. New travels into the interior parts of Africa, by the way of the Cape of Good Hope, in the years 1783, 84 and 85. Translated from the French of Le Vaillant. London: G. G. and J. Robinson, 1796. $2,500

First edition in English, 3 volumes, 8vo, pp. l, [2], 288; 22 engraved plates (5 folding), engraved folding map (routes hand-colored); title-p. and prelims of volume I wormed in the fore-margins, never touching the press; complete, with the half-titles, in a very nice modern binding of full speckled tan calf antique, red morocco labels and green morocco numbering pieces on gilt-decorated spines.

An account of François Le Vaillant’s (1753-1824) second excursion into the African interior, the first edition of which was published in French in 1790. He was one of the first explorers to venture much beyond the coastline.

187.   LELAND, THOMAS. The history of Ireland from the invasion of Henry II. With a preliminary discourse on the antient state of that kingdom. London: T. Longman, and G. Robinson, and J. Johnson, 1773.                $2,500

First edition, 3 volumes, 4to, early full tree calf neatly rebacked, old morocco labels and numbering pieces preserved; a very good, sound set. With the signature on the title-pp. of volumes 1 & 2 of Joshua Reynolds, the premiere portraitist of the eighteenth century.

Covering the period from the invasion of Henry II in the 12th century to the capitulation of Limerick in 1691, Leland’s History “is written with judgment and care, and just discrimination” (Kent, as quoted in Allibone, 1083). Armorial bookplates in volumes 1 and 2 of the Marquis of Thomond and Henry Labouchere, Baron Taunton, 1798-1869.

Though still a good-margined copy, this has been trimmed, just touching Reynolds’ signature in volume 1, and cropping the top of the signature in volume 2.

188.   [LEWIS, MERIWETHER, & William Clark.] Fisher, William. An interesting account of the voyages and travels of Captains Lewis and Clark, in the years 1804-5, & 6. Giving a faithful description of the river Missouri and its source - of the various tribes of Indians… Baltimore: F. Mauro, 1813.                                          $3,750

12mo, pp. [4], vii-xi, [1], [13]-266; 2 engraved portraits (Lewis and Clark) plus 4 engraved plates (Howes notes that some copies have only 3); full contemporary calf; light rubbing, one signature extended, overall toning of the text but generally good and sound, or better.

First published the previous year without the 4 engraved plates and under a different title. This is a surreptitious account, largely taken from Gass and Mackenzie. For a discussion of the supposed author William Fisher, see The Literature of the Lewis and Clark Expedition (2003), pp. 125-26; also p. 140; Graff 1331; Wagner-Camp-Becker, 8:7.

189.   LEWIS, MERIWETHER, & William Clark. History of the expedition under the command of Captains Lewis and Clark, to the sources of the Missouri, thence across the Rocky Mountains and down the river Columbia to the Pacific Ocean, performed during the years 1804-5-6 … Prepared for the Press by Paul Allen, Esquire. Philadelphia: Bradford and Inskeep; Abm. H. Inskeep, New York, J. Maxwell, Printer, 1814.                                                                                                                    

First edition of the first authorized and complete account of the most important western exploration, and arguably the most important book of Western Americana; 8vo, pp. xxviii, 470; ix, [1], 522; 5 engraved plans and charts, without the large folding map which was not issued in all copies; contemporary full calf neatly rebacked, text foxed, as usual; paper repair and portions of 8 lines of text in facsimile on 2N8 in volume II; all else very good.

Church 1309; Field 928; Graff 2477; Howes L-317; Printing and the Mind of Man, 272; Sabin 825; Streeter III, 177; Wagner-Camp 13

190.   LEWIS, MERIWETHER, & William Clark. The journals of the Lewis & Clark expedition. Gary E. Moulton, editor. Lincoln, Nebraska & London: University of Nebraska Press, 1983-2001.                 $3,500

13 volumes, including the Atlas (in folio) and the Herbarium (in quarto), the balance octavo, including the final index volume; first editions throughout; generally a fine set throughout in the dust jackets except for the atlas which was not issued with one.

The definitive set of the most important overland expedition in the western hemisphere, and widely heralded as a lasting achievement. Gary E. Moulton was the recipient of the J. Franklin Jameson Award of the American Historical Association for the editing of these journals.

191.   LIPSIUS, JUSTUS. Iusti Lipsi Lovanium: id est, opidi et academiae eius descriptio. Libri tres. Alter‚ editione, quae est ab ultim‚ auctoris manu, aucti & correcti. Antwerp: ex officina Plantiniana, apud Ioannem Moretum, 1610.        $1,250

4to, pp. [8], 121, [5]; engraved printer’s device on title-p. and on recto of final leaf, 2 engraved folding views by Iodocus vander Baren; 1 full-p. engraving in the text; removed from binding; 1 plate with tear very neatly repaired; all else very good.

Lipsius (1547-1606) was a leading Humanist in the Netherlands in the second half of the 16th century. He served various as professor at Iena, in Italy, Louvain, and Leiden. He was a personal friend of Plantin and Jan Moretus “both bringing practically all his works in editio princeps on the market” (Voet).

13 in OCLC but only 5 in the U.S.

192.   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

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 volume I, else fine.

Alston VII, 117; Yolton 368.

193.   LORD, W[illiam] B[arry]. Crab, shrimp, and lobster lore, gathered amongst the rocks at the sea-shore, by the riverside, and in the forest. London: George Routledge, 1867.                                                 $450

First and only edition, 16mo, pp. xvi, 122; wood-engraved frontispiece and 37 wood-engraved illustrations in text; one central signature sprung, else a near fine copy in original pictorial terracotta cloth stamped in gilt on upper cover and spine.

Also covers prawns and river crayfish. Uncommon.

194.   LOWNDES, WILLIAM. A report containing an essay for the amendment of the silver coins. London: printed by Charles Bill, 1695.                                                                                                        $2,500

First edition, 8vo, pp. 159, [1]; contemporary full black goatskin, double gilt ruled borders on covers enclosing an elaborate gilt central panel, fleurons in the corners, elaborate gilt-decorated spine in 6 compartments, a.e.g.; some dampstaining in the fore-margins towards the back, but in all a very nice copy. Early ownership signature on the title-p. of “Leeds” (probably the Duke of Leeds), and an engraved Leeds bookplate.

This report was a major contribution to the controversy surrounding the recoinage under William III, the principal protagonists being Lowndes, then Secretary to the Treasury, and John Locke. In his report, Lowndes reviewed the expedience of former reigns, urged a recoinage, and suggested a change in the standard by raising the normal value of all coins by 25 percent.

Wing L-3323; Kress 1908; Goldsmith 3131.

195.   LUCKNER, GRAF FELIX VON. Seeteufel. Abenteuer aus meinem Leben. Berlin & Leipzig: K.F. Koehler, 1926.   $1,500

Later printing (first published in 1921); 8vo, pp. [6], 318, [2] ads; folding map showing the course of the German raider Seeadler to the the point of its demise in the Pacific in 1917; double-p. sailplan, and approx. 135 illustrations throughout, largely from photographs taken during the cruise; original pictorial cloth, spine a bit soiled, else generally very good.

This copy enhanced by a 13-line inscription in German by the ship’s navigator (and famed whaler and Arctic explorer) Carl Kircheiss to Carl G. Orgell, Philadelphia, 17 October, 1927, mentioning the Seeadler; also with a 7-line inscribed photograph of the navigator laid in.

From January to July 1917, the Seeadler sank 14 allied ships, 11 in the Atlantic and 3 in the Pacific. In August, however, the Seeadler was lost altogether: she was wrecked on an atoll in French Polynesia. Mystery still surrounds her loss. Von Luckner attested to the German Admiralty that an underwater earthquake caused a tsunami that dashed the ship on the reef, a story that is reaffirmed in this book and by several subsequent historians of the Germany Navy. And so has that story been perpetuated through the ensuing decades.

Two contemporary investigations, as well as several recent ones, dispute this version of events, and instead blame Von Luckner for being oblivious to the change in the wind direction which blew the Seeadler onto the reef. Ignored by the supporters of Von Luckner was a 1929 book by the navigator of the Seeadler Carl Kircheiss, who has inscribed this copy, in which he offers a vastly different version of how the shipwreck occurred, and one, ultimately, much closer to the truth. For a full account see the article by James N. Bade, University of Aukland, at http://www.europe.canterbury.ac.nz/conferences/euro2003/paper1.pdf

196.   LUTHER, MARTIN, & Johann Aurifaber. Erster [-Ander] Theil der Tischreden D. Martin Luthers so er in vilen Jaren, gegen gelehrten Leuthen, auch frömbden Gesten, und seinen Tischgesellen geführet, darinn von allen Articklen unser Religion, auch von hohen Stücken… Getruckt zu Franckfurt am Mayn, &c.: [durch Peter Schmid], 1567. $2,500

2 volumes, thick 8vo, ff. [26], 718, [14] register; [1], 774 (i.e. 747), [20] register; woodcut vignette portrait on title-pp., title to the first volume printed in red and black; early manuscript table of contents at the beginning of volume II; full contemporary pigskin, 1 (of 4) brass clasps preserved; wormhole in gutter of title-p. in volume I (no loss); a number of small chips, stains and other small imperfections, but on the whole, a  good and sound set.

These “Table Talks” of Luther were first printed in folio in at least four editions in 1567, but this is the first in octavo. Famous gatherings from the mouth of Luther, by his friends and disciples, and chiefly by Antony Lauterbach and John Aurifaber, who were very much with the great Reformer towards the close of his life. This book include notes from Luther’s discourses, his opinions, his cursory observations during the performance of his clerical duties, and from discussions at his table with his friends.

Not in STC German; not in Adams; VD16, L-6750.

197.   [MACLAREN, ARCHIBALD.] The fairy family: a series of ballads & metrical tales illustrating the fairy mythology of Europe. London: Longmans, Brown [et al.], 1857.                                                      $1,250

First edition, 8vo, pp. xv, [1], 283, [1], 4 (ads); engraved frontispiece and title-p., wood-engraved tailpiece, all by Edward Burne-Jones; a little wear and cracking at spine ends, but generally a good, sound copy or better in original green cloth, pictorial gilt-decorated spine, spine a little sunned.

198.   [MAHOMET.] The life of Mahomet; or, the history of that imposture which was begun, carried on, and finally established by him in Arabia … To which is added an account of Egypt … First American edition. Worcester: printed by Isaiah Thomas, 1802.   $500
Small 8vo, pp. viii, [13]-154, [2] ads; contemporary full sheep with a utilitarian rebacking in brown morocco-style adhesive, lettered in gilt on spine; good and sound. With the bookplate of Otto Orren Fisher.

Shaw & Shoemaker 2535.

199.   MANDEVILLE, JOHN, Sir. The voiage and travaile of Sir John Maundeville, Kt. which treateth of the way to Hierusalem; and of marvayles of Inde, with other ilands and countryes. Now publish’d entire from an original ms. in the Cotton library. London: J. Woodman, D. Lyon, and C. Davis, 1727.                                                         $1,750

Second issue of the “best English edition” (Lowndes), and “the completest edition up to date” (Cox); 8vo, pp. xvi, [8], 384, [7]; title-p. printed in red and black, 19th century full red straight-grain morocco, gilt rule on covers enclosing a simple inner gilt panel, gilt fillets on spine, gilt-lettered direct, a.e.g.; some rubbing but generally very good and sound.

The book was first printed in 1725. This is a reissue of it with a cancel title leaf. The last four leaves contain an ‘index of obsolete words’.

“This was a very popular book in its day and illustrated the general equipment of geographical ideas of the late 14th century. Long accepted as an authentic and valuable record of travel, we now know that it was a spurious relation compiled from various sources by one Jehan d’Outremeuse, a citizen of Liege, and laid on the doorstep of a fictitious knight, “Sire Jehan de Mandeville.” [In fact, the real author was likely Jean de Bourgoigne, or à la Barbe, a physician from Lüttich.] The stories which filled his work were such as appealed to the credulity and love of the marvelous dear to the Middle Ages. - From Professor A. P. Newton, Travel in the Middle Ages, chapter VIII, “Travellers’ Tales.”

Mandeville is said to have set out on his travels in 1322, and after visiting Egypt, Palestine, Tartary, India, the Indian isles, etc., returned home in 1355. His death is set at 1371.” (Cox, I, 319).

Fiction or not, it was used as a common travel reference for centuries, by Christopher Columbus, among other early explorers.

200.   MARCEL, JEAN JOSEPH. Chrestomathia hebraica, varios textus exhibens quos addita eorum lectione, subjunctoque glossario. Lutetia Paris: [cura et typis Hebraicis J. J. M. Typ. Aeg. Q. Praes.], 1802.  $500

Small 8vo, pp. [4], 59, [1]; printer’s device on title-p., contemporary green calf-backed marbled boards, lettered and decorated in gilt on spine; extremities rubbed, but sound. Includes a 45-p. Glossarium Hebraicum.

OCLC finds only the Indiana and the American Philosophical Society copies in the U.S., and adds one other copy in Germany.

201.   MARTINELLI, VINCENZIO. Istoria critica della vita civile. Scritta da Vincenzio Martinelli. Londra: per Giorgio Woodfall, 1752.                                                                                                $3,500

First edition, 4to, pp. 10, [2], 311; woodcut vignette on title-p.; contemporary full red goatskin, elaborate gilt borders on covers incorporating stars and fleurons, gilt-decorated spine in 7 compartments, citron morocco label in 1, a.e.g; 8 small pockmarks on back cover, front cover slightly rubbed, else fine.
Martinelli (1702-1785) was from Florence, but he lived for many years in London where he published three books, of which this is the first. A volume of essays appeared in 1758, and a History of England, 1770-73. An interesting 6-p. list of 114 subscribers includes his great correspondant Horace Mann, as well as Horace Walpole, Dr. Akenside, the Earl of Chesterfield, and Voltaire’s friend, Everard Fawkener.

One of the most appealing allusions to Martinelli is in Boswell (1773) who reports that he and Johnson met the Italian, along with Goldsmith, at a dinner given by General Paoli, the Corsican exile. Boswell records Johnson’s remarks on whether or not Martinelli should bring his History of England up to the present time; as Martinelli was a Whig, Johnson is less than enthusiastic about the prospect. Boswell also gives an anecdote which Martinelli told about Sigr. Carlo Townshend, to whom this book is dedicated.

The present volume consists of 18 essays on various aspects of civil society, including education (and the education of women), marriage, poverty, liberal arts, reading, science, the theatre, law, and so forth.

Hazen’s catalogue of Horace Walpole’s Library (1161) lists another Martinelli title, but notes that this one was not present in the Strawberry-Hill inventory, despite Walpole’s subscription,

202.   [MATHEMATICS.] Sturm, J[ohann] Christ[oph]. Mathesis enucleata or, the elements of the mathematicks. London: printed for Robert Knaplock at the Angel, et al., 1700.                                                       $850

First English edition, 8vo, pp. [16], 234; [4], 96, [4], index; 29 plates (10 folding), charts, diagrams; old calf, stamped in blind, rebacked retaining old leather label lettered in gilt; light general wear, else a very good, sound copy.

Sturm (1635–1703) was a German theologian, mathematician and astronomer. In 1669 he was appointed as lecturer in mathematics and physics at the University of Alimitedorf, where he spent the rest of his career; his “collegium experimentale” in the university made him to one of the founders of experimental science in Germany.

Wing S6094.

203.   MATHER, COTTON. The soul upon the wing. An essay on the state of the dead… Boston: printed by B. Green, 1722.   $9,500

First edition, 8vo, pp. [4], 24; half-title reads: Two funeral sermons preach’d upon mournful occasions, by Dr. Cotton Mather, and Mr. Thomas Foxcroft; Evans 2361; Holmes, Cotton Mather, 368; 9 copies in OCLC (4 at Harvard, Boston Athenaeum, Yale, AAS, Central Connecticut State College, and Library Company, Philadelphia.);

bound after: Foxcroft, Thomas. A sermon preach’d at Cambrige [sic], after the funeral of Mrs. Elizabeth Foxcroft … With an addition, chiefly referring to her death: also a funeral poem of the Reverend Mr. John Danforth. Boston: printed by B. Green, 1721; first edition, 8vo, pp. [4], iv, 55, [1]; Evans 2218;

bound with: Foxcroft, Thomas. A funeral sermon occasion’d by the deaths, and preach’d on the decease of Mr. John Coney… Boston: printed by B. Green, 1722; 8vo, pp. [1], vii, 67; Evans 2337; no separate locations in OCLC (see Mather, above);
bound with: Foxcroft, Thomas. The character of Anna, the prophetess, consider’d and apply’d. In a sermon preach’d after the funeral of … Dame Bridget Usher… With a preface by the Rev. Mr. Wadsworth. Boston: printed by S. Kneeland, 1723; 8vo, pp. [4], iii, [1], 62; Evans 2431.

With a contemporary inscription “Anna Foxcroft 1723” on the half-title of Foxcroft’s sermon on the death of his mother. Anna was the wife of Thomas Foxcroft, and a close friend of Cotton Mather’s. There are also 2 small corrections, likely in Anna Foxcroft’s hand, respecting the errata in the Coney sermon. With subsequent ownership inscriptions of Nathaniel and Joseph Vollintine, “Gates County, N. Carolina, 1789,” and Rebecca Vollintine, 1790.

Thomas Foxcroft was born in Cambridge in 1697 and graduated from Harvard in 1714; in 1717 he became pastor of the First Congregational Church in Boston, where he remained until his death in 1769.

Together, 4 funeral tracts in a single volume bound in full contemporary paneled calf, double blindstamp rules on covers,enclosing a central blindstamped panel with double rules and fleurons in the corners; the whiole rubbed and worn, with a number of small defects, but sound, and totally unrestored.

204.   MAURICE, Comte de Saxe. Les reveries ou memoires sur l’art de la guerre de Maurice Comte de Saxe, Duc de Courlande et de Semigalle, Maréchal-Général des Arme’es de S.M.T.C. … Edition aussi complete que la nouvelle edition de Paris en deux volumes in quarto, de 1757. La Haye: Pierre Gosse Junior, 1758.                           $2,750

Folio, pp. xii, 228, [2] errata and binder’s directions, [2]; 40 engraved plates (16 double page and 4 folding), and 41 engraved vignettes;

bound with: Bonneville, Supplement aux Reveries ou Mémoires sur l’art de la guerre de Maurice Comte de Saxe, La Haye, Chez Pierre Gosse, 1758, pp. 15, [1]; 21 engraved plates (4 double page and one folding); contemporary red morocco-backed boards, spine in 7 compartments, black morocco label in 1, gilt ornaments in the rest; the boards with an overlay of 20th century pastepaper, endpapers renewed.

A standard work on warfare by Maurice, Comte de Saxe, (1696-1750), marshal of France, son of the king of Poland, conqueror of the English, pretender to the dukedom of Kurland, and universal lover, here printed under the editorship of Zacharie de Pazzi de Bonneville. It is a remarkable work on the art of war. Though described by Carlyle as ‘a strange military farrago, dictated, as I should think, under opium,’ it is, in fact, a classic. It was published posthumously in 1757. This is the only folio edition.

205.   MAYER, LUIGI. Views in Egypt, from the original drawings, in the possession of Sir Robert Ainslie, taken during his embassy to Constantinople by Luigi Mayer; engraved by and under the direction of Thomas Milton; with historical observations, and incidental illustrations of the manners and customs of the natives… London: printed by T. Bensley for R. Bowyer, 1805.   $9,500
Folio, pp. [4], 102, [2]; 48 hand-colored aquatints by Thomas Milton after Luigi Mayer; contemporary if not original quarter red straight-grain morocco over marbled boards, gilt-lettered direct on gilt-decorated spine; some rubbing and minor wear, but generally a very good, clean copy.

First published in 1801 as part of Mayer’s three-part collection, Views in Egypt, Palestine, and other parts of the Ottoman Empire, and now here published separately.

See Abbey, Travel, 369 (note); Lipperheide 1577.

206.   MAYER, LUIGI. Views in the Ottoman dominions, in Europe, in Asia, and some of the Mediterranean islands, from the original drawings taken for Sir Robert Ainslie by Luigi Mayer, F.A.S., with descriptions historical and illustrative. London: printed by T. Bensley for R. Bowyer, 1810.                                                                 

Folio, pp. [4], 32; 71 hand-colored aquatints (1 folding), each with a descriptive leaf of text in both English and French (except no. 55, as issued); contemporary if not original quarter red straight-grain morocco over marbled boards, gilt-lettered direct on gilt-decorated spine; some rubbing and minor wear, but generally a very good, clean copy.

Abbey, Travel, 371; Tooley, English Books with Coloured Plates, 321.

207.   McGOVERN, WILLIAM. To Lhasa in disguise. A secret expedition through mysterious Tibet. New York & London: The Century Co., 1924.                                                                                            $1,250

First edition, 8vo, pp. xiv, 462; frontis portrait and 65 illustrations from photographs on 18 plates; fine in the illusive dust jacket, which has a minor crease in the front panel. The American edition precedes the London edition and contains more illustrations as well.

208.   McMASTER, S. W. 60 years on the upper Mississippi. My life and experiences. Rock Island, IL: privately printed, 1893.   $1,500

First edition, 12mo, pp. [4], 300; original limp maroon cloth lettered in gilt on upper cover; joints lightly rubbed, but generally near fine. Signed and dated (1901) by the author in pencil on the flyleaf. Contained in a recent brown morocco clamshell box, lettered in gilt on spine.

Despite the date of 1893 on the title-p., Howes notes that the introduction is dated 1895. The author moved to the upper Mississippi in 1832 and settled in Galena, IL, frequently traveling the river to St. Paul and other pointson its banks. While a large portion of the book is devoted to persons and events in the Civil War, there is much information on Galena, Rock Island, and Minneapolis, including prominent citizens and important events.

Not common: only 2 copies (University of Minnesota and Tulane) in OCLC, to which we can add the copy at MHS. Howes M-169; Graff 2642; not in Flake or Flake supplement.

209.   [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.]                                                                                    

First edition, 8vo (163 x 108mm.), 231 leaves, lacking the final blank, rubricated throughout; gothic type, 18 full-p. woodcuts attributed to the Master of Haintz-Narr (including 2 repeats); Furter’s largest early device on recto of C8 (Heitz & Bernoulli, 18); 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.

A beautifully illustrated book by Durer’s collaborator on The Ship of Fools. “In his fundamental work, Durer 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 Durer’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. The irregular register of two leaves (o2 and y2) resulted in short upper margins, but not affecting the headline.

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.”

210.   MEDHURST, W. H. China; its state and prospects, with especial reference to the spread of the Gospel; containing allusions to the antiquity, extent, population, civilization, literature, and religion of the Chinese. New York: Crocker & Brewster, 1838.   $2,000

First American edition, small 8vo, pp. xv, [1], [13]-472; folding frontispiece map, 6 wood-engravings by G. Baxter on 3 plates; a fine, bright copy in original brown cloth, gilt-lettered spine.

OCLC locates over 100 copies but I don’t remember ever having seen the book before. And this is one stunning copy.
Walter Henry Medhurst (1796-1857) was an English missionary who served an apprenticeship in the printing trade before joining the Missionary Society. He was sent to Malacca in 1817 where he spent almost 20 years doing Protestant missionary work in what is now Indonesia. It was in Batavia (Jakarta) that he printed on his lithographic press the first English-Japanese dictionary in 1830. After the Opium War he moved to Shanghai in order to assist in a translation of the New Testament into Chinese, and remained in China until his return to England in 1856.

Medhurst’s long career in the Far East made him familiar not only with Malay and Chinese, but also with Japanese, and he is not only one of the most reliable, but also one of the most informed of the Western sinologists. In addition to the present work, Medhurst went on to publish a Chinese dictionary and conversation book.

211.   MELANCHTHON, PHILIPP. Corpus doctrinae Christianae. Quae est summa orthodoxi et Catholici dogmatis, complectens doctrinam puram & ueram Euangelij Iesu Christi secundum diuina prophetarum & apostolorum scripta, aliquot libris fideli ac pio studio explicata. Lipsiae: cum gratia & privilegio ad decennium [in officina M. Ernesti Voegelini Constantiensis], 1560.   $7,500

First edition of Melanchthon’s last work, published just three months before his death; folio, pp. [20], 982; large woodcut vignette on title-p., 8-, 7-, and 6-line historiated woodcut initials, dampstains in the fore-margins of the first 5 and top and fore-margins of the last 8 leaves, small clipped ownership signature at the lower outer corner of the title-p. (remaining on 3 lines are the letters “Emp / man / ar”); contemporary blindstamped pigskin, vellum label on spine titled in ink; the whole worn and soiled, lacking both clasps, turn-ins curled; in all, a good, sound copy,

This copy extensively annotated on approximately 240 pages in at least two distinct hands (about one-third very heavily annotated), in red and black ink, endpapers also with extensive ink notations, the front pastedown with the ownership signature of “Jo. Caspar Reuchlin D., 1752” (likely one of the annotators). Many of the annotations are earlier, likely dating from the 17th century. Sections in the book extensively marked includ De Deo, De Filio, De Creatione, De Peccato Originis, De Evangelio, De Vocabulo Fidei, De Praemiis, De Loge Morali, De Libero Arbitrio, De Iustificatione, De Bonis Operibus, and De Ecclesia.

Reuchlin is the author of Dissertatio academica de historica Christiana Romanorum poetarum testimoniis illustrata, Strasbourg, 1750.

Adams M-1105; BM German STC, p. 610; Graesse IV, p. 469; OCLC locates 9 copies (5 in the U.S.); no copy at auction in more than 25 years.

212. MELVILLE, HERMAN. Moby Dick or the whale. Illustrated by Rockwell Kent. Chicago: Lakeside Press, 1930.                $8,500

Edition limited. to 1000 sets, 3 volumes, small folio; designed, and with hundreds of woodcut illustrations throughout, by Rockwell Kent; spines slightly discolored, minor rubbing, slight offsetting of the illustrations (as is usual with this work) and thumb smudge on the front free endpaper of volume I, otherwise a fine copy in the original aluminum slipcase.

Still the finest illustrated edition of Melville’s classic American novel, Kent’s graphic magnum opus, and simply one of theworld’s finest illustrated books of the twentieth century.

213.   MEYRICK, SAMUEL RUSH. A critical inquiry into antient armour, as it existed in Europe, particularly in Great Britain, from the Norman Conquest to the reign of King Charles II. Illustrated by a series of illuminated engravings. With a glossary of military terms of the Middle Ages. Second edition, corrected and enlarged. London: Henry G. Bohn, 1842.     $4,000

3 volumes, imperial 4to, 81 engraved plates, including 71 hand-colored and 27 large illustrated and historiated chapter initials also hand-colored and heightened in gold; later half brown morocco, flyleaves and endpapers browned, gilt-lettered direct on spine, with faint library accession numbers at base of spines and perforated stamps in titles as well as in the margins of a few text pages; the plates, clean and brilliantly colored, are unmarked.

First published in 1824, this edition contains one extra plate, “The Battle of Locks and Keys.” Lowndes notes that “Sir Walter Scott justly describes this collection as ‘the incomparable Armoury.’ This most superb and archaeological work is animated with numerous novelties, curious and historical disquisitions, and brilliant and recondite learning … plates as fine as the monuments of Westminster Abbey … admirably executed and deserves every eulogy.”

214.   MILLER, HENRY, & Bezalel Schatz. Into the night life. [Berkeley: Miller and Schatz, 1947.]                                            $2,250

Edition limited to 800 copies, this copy no. 74 signed by Miller and Schatz (but Shifreen & Jackson suggest that the first issue was in fact less than 200 — see below); 4to, pp. [86]; illustrated throughout in color and the text reproducing Miller’s original manuscript; original blue silk-screened cloth lightly rubbed at spine ends, lettered in black on spine, and with a red felt patch glued to front board, as issued; publisher’s matching blue cloth slipcase (with a few dings and rub marks); a very good copy, or better.

“This book is entirely a serigraph or silk screen production … Sixteen months were required to bring it forth. With the exception of the text, which is originally from Henry Miller’s Black Spring … this book is the creation of Bezalel Schatz, a Palestinian artist…”

Shifreen & Jackson, A60a: “The copyright page notes that this edition was limited to 800 copies, however, this is in error. 800 sets of the sheets were printed in 1947 along with the silk screen blue cloth used for the binding. Somewhat less than 200 copies were bound, enclosed in slipcases and put on sale in April 1947, and with the remaining sheets stored in Miller’s closet. In 1971 and 1977, additional binding of the first edition sheets would occur (see Shifreen & Jackson A60b and A60c). Numbered copies, with all of the First Edition points are known to exist at least through copy no. 164 … Approximately 400 of the original 600 sets stored in Miller’s closet were destroyed by ‘worms’ (also described by Miller as ‘rats and fungus’).”

215.   MIYAO, SHIGEO. Karutobi Karusuke. Tokyo, 1927.                                 $3,250

First edition, 8vo, pp. [4], 212, [16]; illustrated throughout and printed in green, blue, and orange; pictorial paper-covered boards; remains of original glassine, publisher’s pictorial box; box slightly soiled and with one short split, else generally fine.

Shigeo Miyao (1902-1983) was primarily known as a manga artist creating humorous children’s manga such as Kushisuke Manyuki (“The Adventures of Dango Kushisuke”) during the Taisho period. He was born in Tokyo and studied manga with Okamoto Ippei (1886-1948), generally considered the godfather of manga. He was one of the first artists to use the word manga (literally, “funny pictures”) close to its current sense. “Miyao had the distinction of being one of the first professional artists to specialize in children’s comics.” In 1922, he began serializing a 6-panel Manga Taro [Comics Taro] in a daily newspaper which the following year was put into book form “just in time for most copies to be destroyed in the 1923 earthquake. In the present book he writes of the adventures of the samurai super-hero, Karutobi Karusuke. (See Schodt, Manga! Manga! The World of Japanese Comics, 1986, p. 48-49.)

Sixty-three hits for Miyao in OCLC, all but one after 1948, the earliest being 1934.

216.   MONTAIGNE, MICHAEL DE. The essayes or morall, politike and militarie discourses of Lord Michael de Montaigne, Knight. Of the noble Order of Saint Michael… The third edition. Whereunto is now newly added ad [sic] Index…. London: printed by M. Flesher for Rich: Royston, 1632.                                                               $4,500

Third edition in English, translated by John Florio, folio, pp. [12], 161 (i.e. 631), [12]; engraved title-p. by Martin Droeshout and separate title-pp. for the second and third books, dated 1631; early paper repair to the margin of leaf L4 (not affecting text), occasional light browning and dampstaining to the upper corners of the later leaves, otherwise a very good, sound copy in contemporary full calf neatly rebacked, red morocco label on spine, and contained in a leather-edged slipcase.

The first edition in English appeared in 1603. The engraved title by Droeshout (the engraver of the famous portrait of Shakespeare which graces the first folio) appears for the first time in this edition, as does the index.

“Montaigne devised the essay form in which to express his personal convictions and private meditations, a form in which he can hardly be said to have been anticipated. The most elaborate essay, the ‘Apologie de Raimond Sebonde,’ is second to no other modern writing in attacking fanaticism and pleading for tolerance. He finds a place in the present canon, however, chiefly for his consummate representation of the enlightened skepticism of the eighteenth century, to which Bacon, Descartes, and Newton were to provide the answers in the next” (Printing and the Mind of Man). Montaigne’s Essayes is considered the most important Elizabethan translation of any contemporary text. Its influence on English writers and philosophers of the time, including Shakespeare, Bacon, Milton, Hobbes, and Locke, can hardly be overestimated.

Pforzheimer 378; STC 18043.

217.   MONTAIGNE, MICHEL EYQUEM DE. Les essais de Michel, Seigneur de Montaigne. Nouvelle edition exactement purgée des defauts des precedentes, selon le vray original: et enrichie & augmentée aux marges du nom des autheurs qui y sont citez, & de la version de leurs passages Grecs & Latins … Ensemble le vie de l’autheur … Paris: Pierre Le Petit, 1657.     $3,500

Folio, pp. [30], 840 (i.e. 834), [41] index; title printed in red and black, Estienne woodcut device on title; full contemporary vellum, soiled; endpapers browned, but generally a good, sound copy, or better, with an interesting provenance: on the title-p. beneath the device is a neat presentation in ink reading “pour Jean Henri Le Maître. Ministre. 1727.” This is Johann Heinrich Meister, 1700-1781, Swiss Minister and theological writer, and his initials “I.H.M.” are stamped on the upper cover. The front free endpaper has notes in an 18th century hand quoting Voltaire’s pronouncement on Montaigne at the Academie Francaise, as well as other notes on Montaigne. In a different hand on the verso of the front free endpaper are more notes (in Latin) as well as the later ownership signature of “Johan Rahn 1786.”

Printed by Henri Estienne V, together with Le Petit, it is a reprint of the 1652 folio edition, from the original 1635 edition furnished by Mademoiselle de Gournay with a new Preface (praised by Bayle), dedication to Cardinal Richelieu, and greatly corrected.

See Ebert 14272; Graesse IV, 579; Renouard, Estienne, pp. 228-9.

218.   MOORE, P.H., Mrs. [Jessie T.]. Twenty years in Assam or leaves from my journal. Nowgong, Assam, India, 1901.      $850
First edition (500 printed), small 8vo, pp. [2], xiv, 222;

together with: Further Leaves from Assam. A Continuation of My Journal “Twenty Years in Assam,” Howgong, Assam, 1907, first edition (500 printed), small 8vo, pp. [2], xi, [1], 191;

together with: Autumn Leaves from Assam. A Continuation of My Journal… Edited and published by Mrs. P. H. Moore, Nowgong, 1910, first edition (500 printed), small 8vo, pp. [2], x, 96;

Complete set of the accounts of the intrepid American missionary who first traveled to Assam in 1879, uniformly bound in original brown cloth, gilt-lettered spine, all printed at the Baptist Mission Press, Calcutta, the first with remains of an old library sticker at the bottom of the spine, and the second with the author’s name slightly abraded.

219.   MOROSINI, GIOVANNI. Relazione di Francia dell’ecc[ellentissi]mo Sig[no]r Giuanni Morosini, Ambadciador Veneto l’anno 1670. [Manuscript in Italian, late 17th century.]                                            $850

Quarto, ff. [2], [40] with autograph text in brown ink on rectos and versos, [2]; sewn into contemporary light gray wrappers now somewhat soiled and stained with a small numerically printed label at base of spine and the cords used in sewing clearly—and deliberately—visible; the text persistently neat and aligned, with ample margins; faint traces of foxing on flyleaves and a 19th-century ownership note and Florentine library stamp (prior to 1861) on title-page and f. [39v].

A 17th-century manuscript copy of an official report sent to the Republic of Venice by Venetian Ambassador Giovanni Morosini. Elected Ambassador to the Court of France on May 26, 1668, Morosini’s first written account from Paris dates back to July 3, 1669 while the Relazione di Francia bears the date 14 July 1671 in the original document now in the State Archive of Venice. The Relazione was read in the Collegio of the Venetian Republic on November 19, 1671. Morosini focuses on the court of France and its denizens, home and foreign affairs. The document opens with a description of the Sun King, Louis XIV, ruler of France from 1661-1715, to whom Morosini attributes self-restraint, intelligence, and great charm. The ambassador then looks at life at the French court, highlighting its nepotistic nature, and turns his attention to internal affairs of state and previous and current ministers including Jean-Baptiste Colbert (about whom Morosini dwells at length), Francois-Michel Le Tellier, Hugh de Lionne (who had recently died), and Simon Araud de Pomponne.

Other subjects for Morosini’s pen include members of the royal household (Marie-Therese of Austria, the Dauphin, his sister, and the king’s brother); French foreign policy (most particularly, of course, regarding Italy); and fellow Venetians Zuanne (Giovanni) Corner, Ascanio Giustiniano, Aloise Mocenigo, Paolo Guerini, Federigo Manin, and Gio. Francesco Marchesini.

220.   MORRIS, CORBYN. An essay towards fixing the true standards of wit, humour, raillery, satire, and ridicule. To which is added, an analysis of the characters of an humourist, Sir John Falstaff, Sir Roger de Coverly, and Don Quixote: inscribed to the Right Honorable Robert Earl of Orford. London: printed for J. Roberts and W. Bickerton, 1744.       $6,500

First edition, 8vo, pp. xxxiv, [2], xxxii, 75; presentation copy, inscribed on the flyleaf “To the Marchioness of Rockingham, presented by ye author.” The recipient was the mother of the future prime minister.

Corbyn Morris was a commissioner of customs, with a strong interest in statistics and economic reforms, and was a friend of David Hume. There is a long dedication to Sir Robert Walpole, which delighted his son, Horace Walpole, who pronounced the book “worth reading,” and sent a copy to his friend, Horace Mann. At the end is reprinted a long letter from Congreve to John Dennis on humor in comedy.

Bound with: Morris, Corbyn. An essay towards deciding the question, whether Britain be permitted by right policy to insure the ships of her enemies? Addressed to the Right Honourable Henry Pelham, Esq ; to which are now first added, Further considerations upon our insurance of the French commerce in the present juncture : addressed to His Grace the Duke of Newcastle. London, A. Millar, 1758. 8vo, pp. x, 34, iv, 26, [6]; second edition, revised, but the first edition to contain Further Considerations, which has its own title-p. and pagination.

Together, 2 volumes in 1, contemporary full red morocco, elaborate gilt floral borders with urns and sprays at the corners, gilt-decorated spine in 6 compartments, green morocco labels in 2; a handsome, pleasing copy.

221.   MUNDY, RODNEY, Capt. Narrative of events in Borneo and Celebes, down to the occupation of Labuan: from the journals of James Brooke, Esq. Rajah of Sarawak, and governor of Labuan. Together with a narrative of the operations of H. M. S. Iris. London: John Murray, 1848.                                                                                                $1,750

First edition, 2 volumes, 8vo, pp. xvii, [1], 385, [1]; xi, [1], 395; engraved frontispiece portrait, 5 folding maps and charts (1 hand-colored), 6 lithograph plates, 11 wood-engraved plates; original pictorial red cloth, gilt-lettered spine and gilt vignette of a sailing vessel on upper covers, the seal of the Sultan of Borneo on lower covers; both volumes neatly rebacked with old spines laid down, but with loss of “ah” in ‘Rajah’ on volume I, volume II with a 2” x 1” piece of cloth laid down on the upper cover of volume II (not affecting the vignette); all else very good and sound.

National Maritime Museum Catalogue I, 461: “These events, which occurred between 1839-1847, were closely connected with the expedition of Captain Henry Keppel to the area, in HMS Dido and Maeander” in order to suppress Borneo piracy.

222.   [NAKAHAMA, MANJIRO, a.k.a. John Manjiro.] [Manuscript in Japanese:] A record of the drifter … on board ship of Tosa Usanoura. At sea, 1853.                                                                             $4,500

8vo, 56 pages folded and sewn in the Japanese manner, original blue-gray wrappers, manuscript title on cover; worn, but sound; stitching renewed; blue cloth folding box with thongs.

John Manjiro, as he is familiarly known, was born in a small Japanese fishing village in 1827. “One day in 1841 he and several of his fellow fishermen were caught in a storm at sea and shipwrecked on a small deserted island far off the coast of Japan. Nearly six months later, a whaleship, the John Howland, sailing out of the port of New Bedford, happened upon the island and rescued the stranded fishermen. Four of the five Japanese were put ashore in Hawaii, but the fifth, fourteen-year-old Manjiro, had become friends with the commander of the ship, Captain William Whitfield of Fairhaven. Manjiro chose to remain aboard and sailed back to New Bedford with the captain and crew of the John Howland. Thus he unwittingly became the first Japanese to come to the United States to live.

As yet only a teenager, Manjiro … lived with the Whitfield family and attended school in their hometown of Fairhaven. Manjiro … was welcomed by the citizens of Fairhaven and New Bedford where he disembarked. With the warm interest of Captain Whitfield, he became the first Japanese student to receive an American elementary and intermediate education as well as a high school education in English, Mathematics, Navigation and Shipbuilding, History, and Geography. He also acted as First Mate on a whaling ship’s 40-month journey around the world.

At 24, his thoughts turning to the importance of opening Japan and to his mother, he resolved to return to closed Japan, even at the pain of death. He departed Hawaii and landed in the Ryukyu Islands in 1851. Undergoing investigation there, he then went further in the Ryukyus and on to Nagasaki and Tosa, where he was repeatedly interrogated for the crime of contravening the nation’s policy of isolation. He was finally permitted to return to his home in Nakanohama October of 1852, and mother and son enjoyed a moving reunion after their 12-year separation.

The Tosa government initially forbade him to leave his home town, “for travel abroad, needless to say, and for ocean-bound fishing journeys.” It appeared that the order must dispel Manjiro’s dream of appealing directly to the Shogun and becoming a force for the opening of Japan, but the urgency of the times demanded the technical and general knowledge that Manjiro had brought from America. Manjiro had just three days and nights with his mother before he was called back by Yamanouchi Yodo, Lord of the Tosa Domain. He became a teacher at the Tosa School, lecturing on American democracy, on freedom and equality, on the independent spirit, and on his travels on the world’s seas, and it is said that he greatly influenced Sakamoto Ryoma and Goto Shojiro.

In 1853 Admiral Perry came demanding the opening of Japan. The bakufu speedily ordered Manjiro’s appearance and he became a Shogunal retainer, dedicating himself to some of the nation’s most pressing problems. “America greatly hopes to enjoy a deep and abiding friendship with Japan,” he told the Shogunate. “America does not come with suspicious designs but with a full and open heart.” With this encouragement, the Shogunate discarded the laws of over 200 years’ standing and took the first step toward opening the country. It is impossible to measure the service rendered by Manjiro in enabling Japan to accept the Japan-United States Friendship Treaty. America’s 30th president, Calvin Coolidge, was later to say, “When John Manjiro returned to Japan, it was as if America had sent its first ambassador. Our envoy Perry could enjoy so cordial a reception because John Manjiro had made Japan’s central authorities understand the true face of America.”

Manjiro became translator and interpreter for the Shogunate, traveled throughout Japan to give instruction in shipbuilding and navigation, translated the 20-volume “U.S. Navigation Science” he’d brought with him, and edited English conversation texts, among them Eibei Taiwa Shoukei. A B C of the lettr [sic], 1859, the first book on the instruction of the English language by a native Japanese. It is said, too, that he taught naval science to Kats Kaisha, instructed Sakamoto Ryoma in U.S. politics and navigation, and discussed the spirit of rationalism with Fukuzawa Yukichi.

Perhaps most significant, to the Japanese of the late Tokugawa and early Meiji eras, “America” was the America of Manjiro’s descriptions. The Shogunate sent a delegation to America in 1860 to exchange ratifications of the Japan-U.S. Commercial Treaty. Manjiro boarded the Kanrin-maru as instructor and translator. The Kanrin-maru was intended to train Japanese to navigate the seas on their own; the captain, Kats Kaisha, entrusted Manjiro with “full navigational authority,” and in truth, Manjiro acquitted himself admirably. The success of the Kanrin-maru voyage across the Pacific impressed the U.S. side with the skill and abilities of the Japanese, and became a basis for the success of later bilateral diplomatic negotiations.

Having thus visited San Francisco after his absence of 10 years, Manjiro, upon returning to Japan, did not again enter the political arena. He variously led the Ogasawara Islands surveying teams on behalf of the Shogunate, lectured at the Shogunal Naval Academy, taught English, Mathematics, Navigation and Shipbuilding at the Satsuma Kaisei School, and again became instructor at the Tosa School, devoting himself to the education of those who would lead the way to the dawning of a new era. Upon its establishment, the new Meiji government brought Manjiro to Kaisei College, the predecessor of today’s Tokyo University, and there he made his goal the education and training of Japan’s future leaders. He believed that the most heartfelt response he could make to the goodwill and friendship of the Americans who had raised him, would be to pass on to young Japanese the education that had underlain his own experience.

Without an eye to glory or status, he educated people who would later become bridges in Japan-U.S. relations, and hoped that they would form the foundation of a new Japan. Manjiro died quietly on November 12, 1898, at the age of 71. His remains are in Zoshigaya Cemetery Toshima-ku, Tokyo.

The text of this manuscript consists of Manjiro’s account of his travels, and his time in the United States. As he became something of a hero in Japan, numerous copies of his travels circulated in manuscript and by word of mouth. In this particular manuscript Manjiro is reported to be 26 years old at which point he was back in his homeland. This manuscript was transcribed by someone known to Manjiro, and is based on his own words.

“It caught the attention of common people who were eager to know about the outside world, and it shaped their perceptions of America in the mid-nineteenth century. It also deeply influenced the pioneers of modernization in Japan: men like Ryoma, Kaisha, and Yukichi. [These manuscripts] provide valuable source material for the study of this critical period, giving readers, educators and historians a larger framework for understanding the history of United States-Japanese relations.

223.  [NAUTICAL DICTIONARY.] Parrilli, Giuseppe. Dizionario di marineria militare Italiano Francese e Francese Italiano. Napoli: Stabilimento Androsio, 1866.                                                                  $1,500

First edition, 2 volumes, 4to, pp. [8], 680, [3]; [4], 815, [1]; text in double column, woodcut vignettes on title-pp., quite a number of tables, woodcut diagrams and illustrations throughout; generally a fine copy in contemporary, if not original, quarter Italian calf over paste-paper boards, red morocco labels on spines.

Not in Craig; not in Zischka; only LC and N.Y. Public in NUC; OCLC database adds no others.
224.   NEILL, PATRICK. Journal of a horticultural tour through some parts of Flanders, Holland, and the north of France, in the autumn of 1817 by a deputation of the Caledonian Horticultural Society. Edinburgh: Bell & Bradfute, 1823.  $850

First edition, 8vo, pp. [iii]-xiv, 574, [2]; 7 engraved plates (2 folding); bound without the half-title in contemporary half polished tan calf, black morocco label on gilt-decorated spine; upper joint tender, else very good.

Neill writes in his Preface that the journey, on which he was accompanied by John Hay and J. MacDonald, was undertaken to “take notice of any new or uncommon varieties of fruits and culinary vegetables, which it might be desirable to introduce into Scotland; and to establish a correspondence with some of the principal amateur cultivators and professional nurserymen.”

Neill (1776-1851) became head of a large printing firm but during the last thirty years of his life took little active part in its management. He was an active botanist and horticulturist, and was the first secretary of both the Caledonian Horticultural Society and the Wernerian Natural History Society. He was the author of a number of books and articles on horticultural subjects, and the gardens at his residence were always open to visitors.

225.   NEILSON, WILLIAM. Neilson’s Greek exercises. Abridged and revised in syntax, ellipsis, dialects, prosody, and metaphrasis: to which is prefixed a concise, but comprehensive syntax for the use of colleges, academies and schools. By the principals of Baltimore College. Baltimore: printed for proprietors by Swain & Matchett, 1809.        

First American edition (the book was first printed in Edinburgh, 1806); 8vo, pp. viii, 171, [1]; text in Greek and English; contemporary full mottled calf, recased and with a mid-20th century rebacking in morocco, old red morocco label preserved on spine; edges worn; good and sound.

Thomas Jefferson’s copy, with his block initial marks at signature I (“T”), and at signature T (“I”), and with approximately 42 corrections and amendations in his hand in the text, on 32 pages. Most of the corrections amend the spelling of Greek words by crossing out or underlining the improper letter, and inserting, usually with a caret in the margin, the correct letter. Many of the corrections are to the Greek, but several also correct errors in the English, such as where he has corrected “Ulyssus” to read “Ulysses” by crossing out the “u” and inserting the “e,” or inverting “Is it” to “It is” in a declarative sentence.

All the corrections are listed in the errata at the back, and the story goes (this comes to me second hand and I have not yet been able to corroborate it) that the book was corrected for his grand-daughter who was at the time studying Greek.

Jefferson’s use of block initials at signatures I and T began in 1815 after the sale of his so-called Great Library to the Library of Congress; prior to 1815 his books were marked with cursive initials. Some signature marks of this period were not made by Jefferson but rather by family members. That this particular volume has so many corrections in Jefferson’s hand makes it seem plausable that the signature marks here are his.

Poor, Nathaniel P., Catalogue. President Jefferson’s Library, 1829, no. 851; see also Bear, James A., Jr., Thomas Jefferson’s Book-Marks, Charlottesville, 1958; “Jefferson, the Book Collector,” in The Quarterly Journal of the Library of Congress, Volume 29, No. 1, January, 1972, p. 32-48.

226.   [NELSON, HORATIO, Admiral, Lord.] Clarke, James Stanier, & John M’Arthur. The life of Admiral Lord Nelson, K. B. from His Lordship’s manuscripts. London: printed by T. Bensley for T. Cadell [et al.], 1809. $2,500

First edition, 2 volumes, large 4to (imposed in folio), pp. vi, xv, [1], xlv, [1], 375; [2], 511; engraved frontispiece, engraved portrait, facsimile, 10 engraved plates, engraved plan of Martello Tower, Corsica, folding Plan of Battle at the Nile, Plan of Attack off Copenhagen, 2 Plans of Battle of Trafalgar, 4 engraved headpieces (by J. Landseer, J. Finden and others); contemporary diced russia, gilt lettered direct on gilt-paneled spine, rolled gilt borders, inner dentelles, etc., combed blue marbled edges; ink splatters on 2D1-2 of first volume, hinges restored, spines a little worn, but generally a very good, impressive set, clean throughout.

Lowndes I, 472: “Every Englishman ought to possess this interesting and important biography, forming a complete naval history of the last half century.”

227.   [NEW YORK.] Smith, William. The history of the province of New-York, from the first discovery to the year M.DCC.XXX.II. To which is annexed a description of the country, with a short account of the inhabitants, their trade, religious and political state, and the construction of the courts of justice in that colony. London: Thomas Wilcox, 1757.      $4,500
First edition of the first history of New York, 4to, pp. xii, 255; engraved folding plate bound in as the frontispiece; full contemporary calf rebacked, red morocco label on spine; edges rubbed, but generally a very good, sound copy.

“The author was graduated from Yale College in 1745, became a distinguished lawyer of New York, and later was chief justice of the province. Being a Loyalist during the Revolutionary War, after the contest was over he moved to Canada, where he was also appointed chief justice” (Church).

Church 1023; Howes S-703; Sabin 84566; Streeter 871

228.   [NEWTON, A. EDWARD.] Parke-Bernet Galleries, Inc. A souvenir of the opening sale of the Oak Knoll Library … April 16, 1941 [cover title].[New York, 1941.]                                                              $750

4to, original blue cloth, pictorial pastedown of A. Edward Newton’s bookplate on upper cover, the whole consisting of 17 glossy photographs mounted on 17 leaves of heavy stock, each photo with typed captions identifying the various attendees, including Mary Hyde, Arthur Houghton, Christopher Morley, Lionel Robinson, Frank Hogan, Lessing Rosenwald, Gabriel Wells, Dr. Rosenbach, Arthur Swann, the various Newton daughters, etc. Some soiling to the covers, pastedown on cover slightly abraided; a very good copy.

Not in the Oak Knoll A. Edward Newton Catalogue (no. 84). Only 4 in OCLC.

229.   NICHOLSON, WILLIAM. The history of the wars occasioned by the French Revolution. Including a sketch of the early history of France, and the circumstances which led to the revolution in that country … with biographical sketches of all the public characters of Europe. Exhibiting a correct account of the general congress at Vienna, the escape of Bonaparte from the isle of Elba … the defeat of Bonaparte at the … battle of Waterloo, his surrender … and his exile to the island of St. Helena… London: Thomas Kelly, by W. Clowes, n.d., [after April 20, 1818].                                                $2,500
Folio, pp. viii, 583, [1], plus 32-page appendix; 22 hand-colored plates; full contemporary American calf, gilt decorated spine in 6 compartments, red morocco label in 1, red morocco ownership label of John S. Aims on front cover; spine ends chipped level with text block, hinges tender (no gaps); a very good copy with nicely colored plates, 1 of which has a tear neatly closed on verso (no loss).

The three OCLC records (totalling 6 copies and dating the book 1816 or 1820) all have the 32-p. appendix which reports on events as late as April 20, 1818. The engravings are variously dated 1815 and 1816.

Not in Sabin even though a portions of the text relate to the West Indies, the Maroon War, the War of 1812, etc., and the larger part of the appendix relates to Spanish America, Tripoli and the Barbary States.

230.   NIXON, RICHARD. Leaders. [New York]: Warner Books, [1981].             $2,500

First edition, 8vo, pp. [10], 371; 81 photographic illustrations on rectos and versos of 16 plates; dust-jacket slightly rubbed and wrinkled and with a short closed tear on the back panel.

This copy inscribed by Nixon “To Mayor Ed Koch - who knows how to lead the world’s greatest city, from Richard Nixon 1-10-86.”

231.   NOAH, MORDECAI. Travels in England, France, Spain, and the Barbary States in the years 1813-14 and 15. New York: Kirk and Mercein; London: John Miller, 1819.                                                     $3,250

First edition, 8vo, pp. vi, [2], 431, [1], xlvii; engraved frontis portrait and 4 engraved plates (3 with contemporary hand-coloring and 1 folding); contemporary full sheep, red morocco label on gilt-paneled spine; spine quite scuffed and with a small chip out at the top, minor foxing; all else good and sound, with the full compliment of plates in an unusual colored state. Early ownership signature of “Richard L. Schieffelin, New York, 1819.”

Noah (1785-1851) was a lawyer, playwright, and journalist. He was born in Philadelphia of Portuguese-Jewish ancestry. “In 1813 [he] was appointed consul to Tunis, with a special mission to Algers. He was instructed to negotiate for the release of some Americans held as prisoners by the Algerine pirates. On May 23, 1813, he sailed from Charleston, but his vessel being captured by the British, he was taken to England and detained two months. In October he arrived in Cadiz, where he contracted with Richard R. Keene, an American who had become a Spanish subject, to effect the release of the twelve Americans…

After being detained in France and Spain for more than a year, Noah finally arrived in Tunis. On July 30, 1815, he received a letter from James Monroe, secretary of state, revoking his commission and hinting at irregularities in his accounts. Monroe’s treatment of Noah was never satisfactorily explained, though his association with Keene, who had been accused of treason, was doubtless detrimental … In January 1817, however, Noah received a letter from the Department o State which vindicated his conduct and returned several thousand dollars due him in the enterprise which resulted in the release of the American captives” (DAB).

Rosenbach 205; American Travellers Abroad, N17.

232.   [NONESUCH PRESS.] Meynell, Cynthia. Five poems. The first four poems in this book were written & are printed in the author’s eleventh year; but the fifth must be reckoned a juvenilium. [London]: The Nonesuch Press, privately printed by F[rancis] M[eynell], 1926.                                                                                               $3,500

Proof copy, 12mo, pp. [2], 5, [1], printed Japanese style on folded leaves; original tinsel paper wrappers stenciled in white and red floral design; the exterior of wrappers somewhat dulled and rubbed, and the preliminary and terminal leaves with offsetting from wrappers, else very good. Printed presentation slip laid in: “With the Compliments of Dulau & Co., Limited.” [i.e. Percy H. Muir].

The author is Sir Francis Meynell’s daughter, born 1915, with his first wife, the concert pianist Hilda Saxe. This is an unique association copy of a very rare Nonesuch item, for Meynell has annotated and inscribed the title-page. At the printed line, “Twenty copies have been printed,” he has crossed out the word “have” and written to its left, “were to have.” Just above the imprint, Meynell has also penned, “This proof for A. J. A. S. / F. M.” The presentee is certainly A. J. A. Symons, who, along with Meynell and Desmond Flower, edited The Nonesuch Century: An Appraisal, a Personal Note and a Bibliography of the first hundred books issued by the Press, 1923-1934 (London, 1936; Dreyfus 106).

Five Poems does not appear in the American auction records and it is not found in OCLC. Dreyfus notes, however, a copy in the Meynell papers at Cambridge University; the Bodleian Library holds a second copy.

Dreyfus 36a.

233. [NUMISMATICS.] Ford, Mr. A catalogue of the curious and valuable cabinet of coins and medals, Greek and Roman, in gold, silver, and brass, among which are the twelve Cæsars in gold, … being the entire collection of Mr. Joseph Sedgwick. Which will be sold by auction by Mr. Ford, … on Tuesday the 13th of this instant (March). [London, 1744.] $650

4to, [2], 16; priced in ink throughout in a contemporary hand; 2 chips out at fore-margin of the last leaf (not affecting any letterpress), removed from binding; all else generally very good.

The sale also includes cameos, shells, and other curiosities, and a small library of valuable books (not itemized).

No copy located in OCLC. ESTC finds only the British Library copy.
234.   OUDEMANS, ANTHONID CORNELIS. The great sea-serpent. An historical and critical treatise. With the reports of 187 appearances … the suppositions and suggestions of scientific and non-scientific persons, and the author’s conclusions. With 82 illustrations. Published by the author, October, 1892. Leiden: E. J. Brill; London: Luzac & Co., 1892.           $2,500

First edition, large 8vo, pp. xv, [1], 592; wood-engraved illustrations in the text; some spotting to prelims and terminals, else generally a fine copy in original terracotta cloth, gilt lettering on upper cover and spine.

Oudemans (1858-1943) was a Dutch zoologist and director of the Royal Zoological Gardens at The Hague. This comprehensive work includes discussion of over 160 sightings of sea-serpents. Hoaxes and misidentifications are also discussed, as are the characteristics and possible taxonomy of this mystery animal. Oudemans was one of the first individuals to suggest that the sea-serpent may be an unidentified mammal. Reception of the volume has been described as respectful but “cold.”

235.   [PALAEOGRAPHY.] [Bond, Edward Augustus & E. Maunde Thompson.] Facsimiles of manuscripts and inscriptions, edited by E.A. Bond, E.M. Thompson (and later G.F. Warner). First series, parts 1-13; second series, parts 1-10 [all published].London: Paleographical Society, 1873-94.                                                           $3,500

Complete set in 23 fascicles, folio, text loosely laid into original blue printed wrappers, as issued (wrappers lacking for 2 parts), with 464 (of 465) plates; edges chipped, spines sometimes with short tears, but generally a very good set, contained in four new green cloth clamshell boxes.

An important series of facsimiles dating from the genesis of the Palaeographical Society, and edited by two of its founders, Sir Edward Augustus Bond and E. Maunde Thompson. Bond, who served a vigorous term as principal librarian at the British Museum, and Thompson, who succeeded Bond at the post, “contributed much to raise palaeography to the rank of an exact science” (DNB).

236.   PALLAS, PETER SIMON. Travels through the southern provinces of the Russian Empire in the years 1793 and 1794. Translated from the German … Second edition, illustrated with 121 plates. London: John Stockdale, 1812.     $7,500

2 volumes, 4to, pp. xxiii, [1], 552; [iii]-xxxii, 525; complete with with 52 engraved plates (43 hand-colored, 26 folding), 29 in-text vignettes (23 hand-colored), all by Geissler, and three large folding maps; contemporary full calf with an octagonal panel central on all covers within double gilt rules, rebacked ca. 1930 in brown calf, gilt-decorated spines, brown morocco labels lettered in gilt; extremities a bit worn and rubbed, but the binding is sound and, a few spots and some minor offsetting aside, it’s internally fine.

Cox I, p. 199: “Pallas was one of the savants chosen by the St. Petersburg Academy to carry on the work of examining the resources of the far distant parts of the Russian Empire. He left St. Petersburg in 1768 and spent a full six years investigating various districts of Siberia, the Urals, the Caspian, Tobolsk, Lake Baikal, the Lower Volga, etc. His reports on the geology, fauna, and flora are of great scientific value.” His journey extended to the frontiers of China. “Few explorations have been as fruitful as this six years’ journey” (EB). The translator, F. W. Blagdon, in addition to the narrative, included the natural history results of the expedition which were not included in the first German edition.

Abbey, Travel, 222 (for the first English edition of 1802-03); Tooley, pp. 357-8.

237.   PALLEGOIX, JEAN-BAPTIST, Bishop Of Mallos & Vicar Apostolic Of Eastern Siam. [Title in Thai:] Dictionarium linguae thai sive siamensis interpretatione latina, gallica, et anglica. Paris: Jussu Imperatoris Impressum in Typographeo Imperatorio, 1854.                                                                                          

First edition, folio, pp. [4], 897; text in quintuple column; vignette title-p.; a magnificent, unopened copy in original blue printed wrappers; several very minor imperfections, else fine. Preserved in a new quarter red morocco clamshell box.

Thai entries with pronunciations, and equivalents in Latin, French, and English.

Jean-Baptist Pallegoix arrived in Bangkok in 1830. He also published a Thai grammar and an earlier Latin-Thai dictionary (both Bangkok, Mission Press, 1850, the latter certifiably rare). This is the first dictionary in which English and Thai are treated together.

Astor Catalogue, p. 367; Cordier, Indosinica, col. 851-2; Trubner Catalogue, p. 144; Zaunmuller, 349.

238.   PALMER, JOEL. Journal of travels over the Rocky Mountains, to the mouth of the Columbia River; made during the years 1845 and 1846: containing minute descriptions of the valleys of the Willamette, Umpqua, and Clamet; a general description of Oregon Territory … a list of necessary outfits for emigrants; and a table of distances from camp to camp… Cincinnati: J. A. and U. P. James, 1852.                                                                                                 $2,250

Fourth edition, 8vo, pp. viii, [9]-189, [3] ads; late 19th - early 20th century red morocco-backed boards, gilt lettering on spine; some rubbing but generally very good and sound.

“Most reliable of the early guides to Oregon; in addition, the best narrative by a participant in the overland migration of 1845, which more than doubled the population of Oregon” (Howes). “Palmer makes no pretense of literary finish. He gives us a simple narrative of each day’s happenings during his own first journey in 1845, taking especial care to indicate the route, each night’s camping places, and all possible cut-offs, springs, grassy oases, and whatever else might conduce to the well-being of the emigrant and his beasts. The great care taken by the author, with this very practical end in view, results in his volume being the most complete description of the Oregon Trail that we now possess” (Ruben Thwaites in the 1906 Arthur Clark edition of the same, pp. 15-16).

Howes P-47; Pilling, Proof-Sheets, 2886n; Sabin 58358; Wagner-Camp 136:6.

First edition, 8vo, pp. vii, [1], 456; folding engraved frontispiece map by Melish, hand-colored in outline; late 19th - early 20th century quarter polished red calf over marbled boards, black morocco label on gilt-decorated spine; sound and clean; very good.

Howes P-49; Sabin 58360, citing both the Edinburgh and Monthly Reviews: “Mr. Palmer travelled through all, or the greater part of the country he describes; but he confesses that the outlines of his travels were filled up from other books … A plain man of good sense and no judgment.”

240.   [PAPERMAKING.] Kume, Yasuo. Fine handmade papers of Japan. Tokyo: Yushodo, 1980.  $2,500

International limited edition, one of 200 sets, 3 volumes, 4to; each volume is hand-sewn and bound in a handmade wrapper with printed paper labels, and protected in a folding chemise with wooden thong clasps, in original cardboard mailing box with printed paper label, fine.

The set comprises one text volume with text and notes in both English and Japanese, and two volumes containing 207 full-page samples of all contemporary papers manufactured in Japan at the time of publication. Each leaf is identified by maker and is provided with an address, telephone number, and short description of quality and use.

CATALOGUE 140, PART I, ITEMS 1-80
CATALOGUE 140, PART II, ITEMS 81-160
CATALOGUE 140, PART III, ITEMS 161-240
CATALOGUE 140, PART III, ITEMS 241-339

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