1.        ADDISON, JOSEPH. The miscellaneous works in verse and prose … with some account of the life and writings of the author [by Mr. Tickell]. London: J. & R. Tonson, 1766. $225
3 vols., pp. xlvi, [2], 285; iii, [1], 334; 332, [4] ads; uniformly bound with: Addison, The free-holder. Or political essays, London: Tonson, 1761, pp. [8], 316, [10] index; together 4 vols, 12mo, contemporary full calf, red and black morocco labels on gilt-decorated spines, attractive blue and red marbled edges; some wear at extremities but in all a very good, sound set, or better. Includes the preliminary advertisement leaf in vol. I, engraved frontispieces in vols. I and II, 9 leaves of medals in vol. III, and 2 other engraved plates. NCBEL II, 1099.

 

3.        [ALCOTT, WILLIAM ANDRUS.] The physiology of marriage. By an old physician. Boston: John P. Jewett & Co., 1856. $100
First edition, 12mo, pp. vi, [7]-259; binding slightly cocked, else very good in original brown cloth gilt-lettered direct on spine, blindstamped covers. Alcott (1798-1859) was a cousin of Bronson Alcott and a pioneer in physical education and school-house design. He was the author of more than 100 books and pamphlets on various educational subjects, physical and mental health, as well as Sunday-school tracts.

 

6.        [AMERICAN REVOLUTION.] [Langworthy, Edward.] Memoirs of the late Charles Lee, Esq. Lieutenant-Colonel of the Forty-Fourth Regiment, Colonel in the Portuguese service, Major-General and Aide-de-Camp to the King of Poland, and second in command in the service of The United States of America during the Revolution: to which are added his political and military essays, also letters to, and from many distinguished characters both in Europe and America. London: printed for J.S. Jordan, 1792. $750
First edition, 8vo, pp. xii, 439; contemporary blind-ruled mottled calf boards, later rebacking with gilt paneled spine, red morocco label; boards rubbed and worn, moderate foxing to preliminaries and terminals, the first signature starting, and back hinge cracked, but overall good and sound. Howes L83: "Said to have been edited by Thomas Paine, under the direction of Langworthy." Sabin 38903: "Contains many curious particulars relating to the war between Great Britain and the Colonies. Published under the direction of Edward Langworthy, of Georgia…"JCB 1772-1800, II, 3534, quoting the Preface: "These Memoirs and Letters were transmitted from America to England [by Langworthy] who was a member of Congress from the State of Georgia. The reader may expect to find, in almost everything that relates to Lee, a great deal of the strong republican character. His attachment to principles of liberty without regard to place, made him the citizen of the world, rather than of any country."

 

7.        ANDERSON, CHRISTOPHER. The annals of the English Bible. London: William Pickering, 1845.    $375
First edition, 2 vols., 8vo, pp. lxiv, 592; xii, 680, liv; engraved frontispiece portrait of Tyndale, 5 pages of facsimiles; title-pp. with Pickering's anchor & dolphin device and printed in red and black; spines slightly rubbed and with a few hairline cracks, but generally a very good set in early 20th century full polished calf, red and black morocco labels on gilt-paneled spines. An esteemed history of the English Bible from the time Tyndale. The author, minister of the "English Baptists" in Edinburgh, had published a sermon in 1835 with the title The English scriptures, their first reception, and effects. This sermon was extended and much augmented to form the present work, bringing the history of the English Bible and translations down to 1844. Almost all of vol. I is devoted to Wickliffe and mostly Tyndale; vol. II covers Coverdale, Cranmer, and the King James version, among others. Keynes, p. 49.

 

9.        ASH, JOHN. The new and complete dictionary of the English language… To which is prefixed a compendious grammar. London: Edward & Charles Dilly, 1775. $500
First edition, 2 vols., 8vo, pp. [2], 28, unpaginated lexicon in double column; [2], unpaginated lexicon; slightly later full sheep, black volume designation labels on spines, title labels perished, but impression is quite legible; all else good or better. This copy without the price of 12 shillings beneath the imprint (no priority). Often found bound in one volume and without a second title-page. Ash (?1724-1779) was an English Baptist minister whose dictionary (second edition, 1795) was compiled on the basis of Bailey's. In a catalogue of 1872 John Russell Smith writes: "A very useful dictionary as it contains obsolete, provincial, and cant words and phrases, besides a number of technical terms." In a letter to David Ramsay, Webster notes: "It is questionable how far vulgar and cant words are to be admitted into a dictionary… Johnson has transgressed the rules of lexicography beyond any other compiler; for his work contains more of the lowest of all vulgar words than any other now extant, Ash excepted." Alston V, 288.

 

10.     [ASTROLOGY.] [Smith, Robert Cross.] The astrologer of the nineteenth century: or, the master key of futurity, and guide to ancient mysteries, being a complete system of occult philosophy… by the members of the Mercurii: Raphael, the metropolitan astrologer; the editor of the Prophetic Almanack; and other sideral artists of first-rate eminence… The seventh edition, supervised and corrected, with numerous additions, by Merlinus Anglicus, Junior, Gent…. London: Knight and Lacey; Dublin: Westley and Tyrrell, 1825. $500
8vo, pp. xii, [2], 560, [4] index; engraved and hand-colored frontispiece and title-page (the former entitled "Magic Ceremonies" and the latter with the London imprint of William Charlton Wright) but lacking the 3 additional plates called for in "Explanation of Illustrations" on p. [xiv], and illustrated throughout the text with ninety-some vignettes; near-contemporary navy blue cloth lettered direct on spine in gilt, light wear to extremities with spine ends fraying and corners slightly bumped, hinges starting; overall and good and sound. With the contemporary signature of "John Ponsford" on the front free endpaper. A work by Robert Cross Smith (1795-1832), the first of six nineteenth-century populizers of astrology to use the pen-name Raphael. Smith had earlier co-edited The philosophical Merlin, being the translation of a valuable manuscript formerly in the possession of Napoleon Buonaparte (London, 1822) and served as the editor of the short-lived periodical, The prophetic messenger, upon which this book is based. In addition to astrology and other means for predicting the future, this work includes chapters on raising spirits and invoking the dead, and on magical talismans, charms, and incantations used in the occult sciences.

 

11.     BAILEY, NATHAN. An universal etymological English dictionary…The second edition, with large additions. London: E. Bell, J. Darby [et al.], 1724. $1,000
8vo, pp. [16], unpaginated lexicon in double column; Alston V, 95; Kennedy 6215; Vancil, p. 12; together with: Bailey, N[athan], The universal etymological dictionary … Vol. II … The second edition with many additions, London: Thomas Cox, 1731; first edition, pp. [8], unpaginated lexicon in double column; a few woodcut illustrations in the text of a mostly heraldic nature; both volumes in contemporary full paneled calf (but not matching exactly), neatly rebacked, red morocco labels on spines. A matched set of the second editions of Bailey's two popular dictionaries, the second, rather enigmatic volume supplementing the first, and not often found together. Volume II is, according to Alston, "a supplementary volume" which "enjoyed a separate publishing existence." Alston V, 128; see also Starnes & Noyes, The English Dictionary from Cawdrey to Johnson, chapters xiv and xv.

 

12.     BAILEY, NATHAN. Dictionarium britannicum: or a more compleat universal etymological English dictionary than any extant … Illustrated with near five hundred cuts … The second edition, with numerous additions and improvements… London: for T. Cox, 1736. $1,850
Folio, 4 preliminary leaves plus unpaginated lexicon in double column, illus. in the text (largely heraldic); 19th century half brown morocco over marbled boards; rubbed, corners bumped, mild dampstain pervades most of the foremargins and enters one column of the text, early erudite pencil markings, mostly confined to the margins; a good, sound copy. Assisted in the mathematical part by G. Gordon, in the botanical by P. Miller, and in the etymological by T. Lediard, Bailey has compiled "the most complete work of English lexicography before Johnson… [with] a scale of illustration … unprecedented in regular English lexicography" (Hancher). With a Preface (not included in the first edition of 1730), and with perhaps 12,000 additional entries, including "cant, Eastern terms, variant forms, and oddities of all kinds…a tour de force…the last triumph which Bailey had the pleasure of seeing before his death in 1742" (see Starnes & Noyes, chapter xvi). Alston V, 137; Vancil, p. 12.

 

13.     BAILEY, NATHAN. A new universal etymological English dictionary: containing not only explanations of the words … with authorities from the best writers… but also their etymologies, from the ancient and modern languages … revised and corrected by Joseph Nicol Scott, m.d. London: printed for T. Osborne [et al.], 1755. $2,500
First edition of the famed Scott-Bailey, folio, pp. xviii plus unpaginated lexicon in double column, engraved allegorical frontispiece and 12 engraved plates (on 11 sheets); contemporary full calf, gilt-decorated spine, brown morocco label; covers worn and peeling, corners bumped, joints cracked (cords holding), label chipped in the middle with loss of 'il' in Bailey and 'ct' in Dictionary; the text and plates are lightly toned; externally a fair copy, or better; internally very good. The so-called Scott-Bailey was published in the same year as the first edition of Johnson's Dictionary to recapture its waning influence in the dictionary market. Philip B. Gove, in "Notes on Serialization and Competitive Publishing: Johnson's and Bailey's Dictionaries, 1755," Oxford Bib. Soc., 1955 says: "The attempt of the Bailey proprietors to enter a folio to rival Johnson's great Dictionary remained alive through 1772, three years after Scott's death. The dates of the new title-pages, 1764 and 1772, precede respectively by one year those of the third and fourth editions of Johnson." See Starnes & Noyes, chapt. xxii for a full treatment; Alston V, 175.

 

14.    BARLOW, PETER. A new mathematical and philosophical dictionary, comprising an explanation of terms and principles of pure and mixed mathematics, and such branches of natural philosophy as are susceptible of mathematical investigation. With historical sketches of the rise, progress and present state of the several departments of these sciences, and an account of the discoveries and writings of the most celebrated authors, both ancient and modern. London: G. and S. Robinson, 1814.    $500
First and only edition, 8vo, pp. vii, [1], plus unpaginated lexicon in double column; 13 engraved plates; a nice copy in recent half mottled brown calf antique over marbled boards. Vancil, p. 19; not in Zischka.

inscribed

15.    BARTLETT, ROBERT, [i.e. Captain "Bob."] Sails over ice … With a foreword by Lawrence Perry. New York and London: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1934. $575
First edition, 8vo, pp. xii, [2], 301; frontispiece and 39 illustrations from photographs on rectos and versos of 15 plates; top edge dusty, but a stunning copy in the dust-jacket. This copy inscribed by Bartlett to the dust-jacket artist (but not this dust-jacket): "To my friend Charles E. Pont in appreciation of a nice chat - Sincerely Bob Bartlett, Nov. 8, 1934." With Pont's small bookplate. The record of nine voyages made by Bartlett into Arctic waters on his little schooner the Effie M. Morrissey.
 

230 wood-engravings by gustav doré

16.     [BIBLE, in German.] Die Heilige Schrift. Alten und Neuen Testamentes … mit zweihundert und dreissig Bildern von Gustav Doré. Stuttgart, Leipzig, Berlin & Wein: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, n.d., [ca. 1884].    $3,500
Sixth and last of the 19th century German Doré editions, and, with the first five German editions, the largest of all editions of the Doré Bible in any language; 2 volumes, folio, 230 full-p. wood-engravings by Gustave Doré; elaborate publisher's decorative red morocco stamped in gilt and blind, a.e.g.; a stunning example of German book production in the late 19th century. Doré's Bible was first published in French in 1866, and in German a year later. It was also issued in English (1867), Dutch (1870), Italian (1870), Spanish (1871), Russian (?1876), Swedish (1877), Hebrew & English (1884), Finnish (1886), Czech (1888), and later in Polish, Hungarian, Greek, and Serbo-Croatian. It ran to hundreds of editions and was one of the most popular books of the 19th century. See Malan, pp. 81-91, and 239-241.

 

with ten maps by herman moll

19.     BINGHAM, JOSEPH. The works of the learned Joseph Bingham … Containing I. Origines Ecclesiasticæ: or, The antiquities of the Christian Church. In twenty three books. II. A scholastical history of lay-baptism. In two parts. III. The French churches apology for the Church of England. IV. A discourse concerning the mercy of God to penitent sinners. London: Robert Knaplock, 1726.    $650
First collected edition, 2 vols., folio, pp. [4], xxxi, [1], 831, [11] index; [16], 842, [2] ads; first title-p. printed in red and black, sectional titles, 2 engraved plates and 10 engraved maps by Herman Moll; contemporary full paneled calf, effectively rebacked, rehinged with cloth tape, black morocco labels on spines; good and sound. Bingham (1668-1723), author of the Origines Ecclesiasticae, or The Antiquities of the Christian Church, "was the first, says a German writer, ‘that published a complete archæology [of the Christian Church] and one worthy of the name.’ And, we may add, he will probably be the last. What he did he did so thoroughly and exhaustively, that he would be a bold man who should attempt again to go over ground so completely traversed … Bingham's literary industry must have been enormous; the ‘Antiquities’ alone is sufficient to prove this. The work bears on the face of it traces of many years' reading, before the writing began at all, and the labour must have been all the more severe because he was sadly cramped for books in spite of his proximity to Bishop Morley's library … Bingham has not only written an invaluable work, but he has secured for the English church the glory of supplying a serious deficiency in ecclesiastical literature. Even Romanists have been forced to confess that the ‘Antiquities’ is a most important addition to theological libraries, and the fact that it was translated into Latin by a German protestant (Professor Grischovius or Grischow) shows how highly it was appreciated by the reformed churches abroad" (DNB).

 

20.     [BIRD & BULL PRESS.] Three Erfurt tales, 1497-1498. Translated in to English by Dr. Arnold H. Price with an introduction by Lessing J. Rosenwald. [North Hills, PA]: Bird & Bull Press, 1962  $475
Edition limited to 310 copies printed from handset type on "Bird & Bull" handmade paper, 8vo, pp. viii, 62, ii, [2]; title-p. printed in black and rust, and with printer’s device, 1 facsimile page, and 24 reproductions of woodcuts; a fine copy in original orange cloth with gilt-titled spine and upper cover. With this book, the third from the press, Henry Morris learned to print on dampened paper, noting that "when I tried [damp printing] halfway through the book I was amazed. With half the impression and half the ink, the printing was far better" (Taylor A5). The tales -- The Queen of France, The Noble Knight Moringer, and The King in the Bath--originally appeared in German during the late fifteenth century, the product of an unknown printer in Erfurt.

 

21.    BLAIR, HUGH. Lectures on rhetoric and belles lettres. Philadelphia: printed and sold by Robert Aitken, 1784. $325
First American edition, 4to, pp. viii, 454, [12] index; full contemporary sheep with an early, primitive American rebacking in sheep, also with early resewing; old red morocco label showing through; the whole rubbed and worn, the sheep used in the rebacking is rotting, early readers' marks in pencil in the margins and on endpapers; early American bookplate of Matthew Brown, and with his signature on the flyleaf; text foxed; not the greatest of copies but interesting for the early restoration and bookplate. Hugh Blair (1718-1800) the famed Scottish divine and professor of rhetoric was very successful with this book which "could boast ten editions in England between 1783 and 1806, not to mention the American reissues and one French (1797), one Italian (1801), and one Spanish (1816) version" (Aarsleff). He was a friend of Hume and Adam Smith, the latter of whose lectures inspired Blair in this endeavor. Alston VI, 239: "A comprehensive discussion of rhetoric and style with wide-ranging comments on language in general, and English in particular."

first book on surfing

22.     BLAKE, TOM. Hawaiian surfboard. Honolulu: Paradise of the Pacific Press, 1935, $7,500
First edition of the first book dedicated to surfing. 8vo, pp. [16], iv, 5-95; 32 photographic plates plus other illus. in text; Hawaiian ownership inscriptions on front pastedown, several leaves at the back with a mild dampstain in the lower margin, else a near fine copy in original patterned tapa cloth. The author was an early 20th century surfing and health food pioneer who conceived and developed the hollow surf board. Includes discussion of ancient Hawaiian legends of surfriding, surfing in the early Hawaiian historical period, modern surfriding, and how to use the new hollow surfboard. Also discussed are sail boards, the prototypes of the Sailfish and Sunfish as marketed and popularized by Alcort in the early 1950s. Not a common book.

 

23.     BRISSOT DE WARVILLE, J.P. New travels in the United States of America. Performed in 1788. New York: printed by T. & J. Swords, for Berry and Rogers, 1792.    $350
First American edition, 12mo, pp. xxvi, [27]-264, [8]; folding table; contemporary full calf, joints starting, edges rubbed, bottom of spine a little chipped; early ownership signatures of "Sam Stuart" on title-p. and first page of text; all else good and sound. "The author came to the United States just before the French Revolution for the purpose of selecting a suitable place for establishing a colony of respectable persons, who had determined to abandon the then despotic government of France, and seek an asylum under the mild and equal government of the United States. M. Brissot was commissioned to collect every necessary information prior to the execution of so important a plan" (Sabin). Howes B784: "A favorable view of America, attracting to its shores many Europeans." Evans 24146; Sabin 8025.

 

24.     [BROADSIDE.] The dimensions of the Testudo Coriacea, or Leather Tortoise, caught by Samuel Coon, one of the branch pilots of New-York, on board the Young Pilot… [New York]: n.p., 1811.    $1,150
Small printed broadside approx. 7¼" x 8½", 28 lines of text within an ornamental border, recording 20 different measurements of the 900-pound sea-turtle, "taken under the eye of Dr. Mitchell, professor of Natural History," on the 27th of September, 1811, and "purchased by John Scudder, proprietor of the American Museum." A rare broadside describing in detail the captured monster, and possibly issued as an advertisement for the Museum. Not located in OCLC; RLIN records one copy only at N.Y. Historical; another resides at LC.

25.    BROWN, JOHN. A dictionary of the Holy Bible: containing an historical account of the persons: a geographical and historical account of the places: a literal, critical, and systematical description of other objects … The whole comprising whatever important is known concerning the antiquities of the Hebrew nation and church of God … and serving in a great measure as a concordance to the Bible. Pittsburgh: from the Ecclesiastical and Literary Press of Zadock Kramer, 1807.    $1,250
First illustrated American edition, and ostensibly the first illustrated American book printed west of the Alleghenies. 2 volumes, 8vo, pp. viii, [9]-664; [2], [3]-712; 2 engraved folding frontispieces, 2 engraved folding maps, and 21 engraved plates showing 25 illustrations; frontispiece in vol. I with repair at fold on verso, small piece missing from the corner of the frontispiece in vol. II, tear in the corner of K1 in vol. II causing loss of a few letters, clean tears in Q1 and 3R3 in vol. II; original full sheep, black morocco labels on spines; both volumes rubbed and worn, but generally sound and the plates and text relatively (but not entirely) free from foxing. Includes a Life of John Brown, a chronology, a glossary of proper names with their significations, pro-forma pages for marriages, births, casualties, and deaths, each with decorative borders, plus a lengthy list of subscribers, mostly from Pennsylvania and Ohio, and including Thomas Jefferson. First printed in America in Philadelphia in 1798. As explained in Kramer's Advertisement (pp. v-vi), material that had been excluded from the book over the years was brought back in this edition, and there were also added articles from the Encyclopedia Britannica and the American edition of the Encyclopedia, or Dictionary of Arts and Sciences; other learned articles are furnished by the Rev. John Anderson, of Service and King's Creek, Pennsylvania. Book lore has it, and there is nothing to show to the contrary, that this is the first illustrated book published west of the Alleghenies, Spanish printing in the Southwest notwithstanding. Shaw & Shoemaker 12220.
 

grabau binding

26.    BROWNE, THOMAS, Sir. Christian morals. Cambridge: printed at the University Press, and published at the University Press Warehouse, London, 1904.    $250
Edition limited to 250 copies, small 4to, pp. viii, 98, [1]; vignette title-p., facsimile title-p. of the original 1716 edition; full brown niger by John F. Grabau (1878-1948) of Buffalo, double gilt rule on covers enclosing a simple floral element, gilt decorated spine in 5 compartments, floral elements in 3, lettering in 2, t.e.g.; binding slightly cocked, else fine.

three illustrations by winslow homer

27.     BRYANT, WILLIAM CULLEN. The story of the fountain … illustrated with forty-two engravings on wood. New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1872.   $175
First edition, 8vo, pp. 48; corners and spine extremities slightly worn, otherwise a fine, bright, and sound copy in original green pictorial cloth stamped in gilt and black, a.e.g. Three of the illustrations are by Winslow Homer. BAL1730.

 

28.     [CATECHISM, in Tolai.] A buk na tinira ta ra lotu, a buk na kakaile. Ma tara umana maqit bula ure ra lotu. Sydney: Epworth Printing and Publishing House, 1898.    $1,500
Probably the only edition; 12mo, pp. 102, [2]; likely the original cloth-backed marbled boards, string bound; some rubbing at the edges, but very good and sound. Tolai (or Kuanua) is the Austronesian language of the Duke of York Islands near Papua New Guinea, and the Gazelle Peninsula. A catechism, hymns, prayers, etc. containing selections from Scripture. Likely produced for the Australasian Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society. Rare. Found in OCLC but with no locations.

 

30.     [CHINESE CUSTOMS.] Bredon, Juliet, & Igor Mitrophanow. The moon year. A record of Chinese customs and festivals. Shanghai: Kelly & Walsh, 1927.    $500
First edition, 8vo, pp. xi, [1], 514, [xiii]-xx; frontispiece, plates from photographs; near fine in original orange cloth with the extremely attractive pictorial dust-jacket with a few small chips at the extremities and internal tape repair. Describes the Chinese calendar and covers the various moon festivals.

 

31.     [COAST PILOT.] Garcia y Garcia, Aurelio. Derrotero de la costa del Perú … Seconda edicion. Lima: Imprenta del Estado, 1874.    $1,500
8vo, pp. 179, [1], xiv (index); pages a bit toned, else very good and sound in slightly later quarter brown calf over green cloth, gilt-lettered direct on spine, gilt supralibros on upper cover. Yellow bookseller's ticket of M. Aduvire, Lima, on front pastedown. No earlier edition in OCLC or Palau. Palau 98888; OCLC finds 9.

 

32.    COBBOLD, R. H., Rev. Pictures of the Chinese drawn by themselves. London: John Murray, 1860.    $450
First edition, small 8vo, pp. vi, 219, [1], 32 (ads); inserted frontispiece and title-p. printed in brown (frontispiece in brown and red), 34 plates printed in brown, a number of wood engravings in the text (19 full-p.); original pictorial vertically patterned green cloth, gilt-stamped on upper cover and spine; one plate and integral leaf loose (and so with ragged fore-margins), cloth partially cracked along the joints; this copy released from Yale Divinity school with a discard stamp on the bookplate and a pocket mounted on the rear endpaper; nonetheless, an acceptable copy in original cloth, unrestored. The illustrations are by native artists: the plates show various trades and professions, and the wood-engravings in the text various scenes, artifacts, etc. The author served as archdeacon at the treaty port of Ningpo from 1848-57. Cordier, Sinica, 90.

“been thru the war”

33.     COLES, E[lisha]. An English dictionary, explaining the difficult terms that are used in divinity, husbandry, physick, philosophy, law, navigation, mathematicks, and other arts and sciences. Containing many thousands of hard words (and proper names of places) more than are in any other English dictionary or expositor. Together with the etymological derivation… London: for R. and J. Bonwick, R. Wilkin [et al.], 1724. $400
Sm. 8vo, pp. [8], unpaginated lexicon in triple column, full contemporary calf with an early rebacking in sheep; joints cracked, various mild dampstains pervade the text, becoming heavy on the last 3 leaves; last leaf partially detached and creased, various ink stains, ownership signatures, and marginalia on the pastedowns, including, in an early (18th century?) hand: "This book looks as if it had been thru the war." So, a marginal copy, but complete and in a contemporary binding. This is the penultimate edition of Coles (first published in 1676). Alston V, 73. Coles (1640?-1680) was the author of a number of "useful and necessary books for the instruction of beginners," among which were his popular English-Latin dictionary (London, 1677) which was still in use in schools even after the arrival of Ainsworth's Thesaurus in 1736. "Still in the ‘hard words’ tradition, Coles included thousands of ‘old words,’ obsolete ones from Chaucer's day. His dictionary contained twenty-five thousand words, eight thousand more than the last, augmented edition of Phillips. He shortened Phillips' already brief definitions in order to include more words and more etymological information. Coles did break new ground in including cant (thieves' argot) and dialectical terms. These, taken from other specialized dictionaries, had never before been included in a general English dictionary" (Landau, Dictionaries, p. 43).

 

34.    D., H. [i.e. Hilda Doolittle]. Hedylus. Stratford-upon-Avon: Shakespeare Head Press for Basil Blackwell, Oxford; Boston & New York: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1928.   $250
First edition, small 8vo, pp. [6], 185; a fine, largely unopened copy in original black cloth-backed blue and gold patterned boards, preserving the original printed dust-jacket (with the Houghton Mifflin imprint) which is a bit soiled and slightly darkened on the spine.

the most lavish of all dibdin’s works, with the "temple" plate

36.     DIBDIN, T.F., Rev. The bibliographical decameron; or, ten days pleasant discourse upon illuminated manuscripts, and subjects connected with early engraving, typography, and bibliography. London: printed for the author, by W. Bulmer & Co., Shakespeare Press, 1817. $2,250
First edition, 3 volumes, imp. 8vo, 40 plates (including 2 double-p., 1 on tissue, and 1 small portrait tipped in at p. 217 of vol. III), plus many other engraved vignettes and woodcut illustrations and facsimiles in the text, several printed in color, several mounted, plus one mounted label printed in gold; later full crimson straight-grain morocco by Morrell, double gilt rule on covers enclosing a double-rule gilt panel, fleurons in the corners, gilt-lettered direct on gilt decorated spine, t.e.g.; joints and extremities slightly rubbed, the plates a bit spotted, else a near fine copy. This copy includes the oft-missing “Presentation in the Temple” plate in vol. I. This is the only edition of one of Dibdin's most famous books (there were 50 on large paper) and certainly one of the best-printed. Dibdin destroyed the plates for the book at a meeting of the Roxburghe Club. "This work forms one of the monuments of typographical bibliography. As in the style of its production it is the most sumptuous, so in the nature of its contents it may be said to be one of the most interesting books relative to ancient and modern printing" (Bigmore & Wyman). "The work is written in the same dialogue manner as the Bibliomania, with the same interlocutors, and may be properly described as a continuation of it. It is perhaps the most lavish of all Dibdin's works" (Jackson). Hart 186: "A bibliographer's classic that marks the beginning of the general recognition of bibliomania as a plaything for wealth." Bigmore & Wyman pp. 169-170; Jackson 40; Lowndes I, 640; Windle and Pippen, A28

 

37.     DÖHNE, J. L., Rev. A Zulu-Kafir dictionary etymologically explained, with copious illustrations and examples, preceded by an introduction on the Zulu-Kafir language. Cape Town: printed at G. J. Pike's Machine Printing Office, 1857.    $2,000
First edition, 8vo, pp. [2], xlii, 417; printed errata slip tipped in at title-p.; lexicon printed in double column and within ruled borders; contemporary tan buckram-backed blue chintz (likely a native binding), unlettered spine; spine with some expert repair, inkstain on fore-edge, else a very good, sound copy. Zulu-Kafir entries with English equivalents, equivalents occasionally of an encyclopedic nature. Not found in OCLC; Zaunmuller, col. 410 showing this to be the earliest Zulu dictionary. Hendrix 1828.

 

38.     DOROW, WILHELM. Morgenlaendische Alterthumer [i.e. Die assyrische Keilschrift and Die indische Mythologie]. Weisbaden: L. Schellenberg, 1820-21.   $6,500
2 volumes (all published) of this rare and early German periodical devoted to Oriental art and archaeology, 4to, pp. [10], 62, [2]; xx, 110, [1]; original pink printed wrappers bound in vol. II (only); 5 plates (1 folding), plus 2 large folding facsimiles, 1 printed on heavy violet paper and printed in gilt (now oxidized) in the style of the original, from the collection of the Austrian ambassador to the Porte, Joseph von Schwachheim: Dorow describes it as written in gold on dark blue paper; contemporary orange paper-covered boards, fancy gilt borders on covers with ornaments in the corners, unlettered spines with gilt fillets, a.e.g.; some rubbing but generally very good and sound. Volume I, Die assyrische Keilschrift: erläutert durch zwei noch nicht bekannt gewordene Jaspis-Cylinder aus Niniveh und Babylon : begleitet mit dem Nachstiche des vom Abte Lichtenstein herausgegeben Cylinders, und dem genauen Abdrucke einer alten tibetanischen Handschrift in schönen Utschen-Charakteren deals with cuneiform tablets and cylinder seals, many from Dorow's own collection, and the Tibetan written language; volume II, Die indische Mythologie erläutert durch die noch nicht bekannt gewordene Original-Gemälde aus Indien, deals with Indian and Tibetan mythology and symbolism in Indian art. Extensive comments from leading figures of the time, such as Grotefend, Schlegel, Silvestre de Sacy, and Hammer are also included. OCLC locates 1 copy only (in The Netherlands) of the second volume, but not the first; RLIN locates 3 copies of the first volume, but not the second.

 

39.    DUGMORE, A.A. The romance of the Newfoundland caribou. An intimate account of the life of the reindeer of North America. By A.A. Radclyffe Dugmore. Philadelphia: Lippincott; London: Wm. Heinemann, 1913.    $175
First edition, American issue; large 8vo, pp. [2], viii, 191, [1]; color frontispiece, with numerous plates, fold-out map; a very good, bright copy in the first binding of original pictorial blue cloth, stamped in gilt on upper cover and spine. With chapters on mating, migration, hunting, history, camping, etc.; also a listing of game laws.

“ignorance will make men bold”

40.     ELSTOB, ELIZABETH. The rudiments of grammar for the English-Saxon tongue, first given in English: with an apology for the study of northern antiquities. Being very useful for the understanding of our ancient English poets. London: printed for W. Bowyer, 1715. $2,850
First edition of the first English grammar of Old English, sm. 4to, pp. [4], xxxv, [1], 70; title printed in red and black, text printed in assorted fonts, including Old English, Gothic, Roman, and italic, 2 engraved headpieces and two engraved initials, all after Simon Gribelin (one showing in the initial "G" a portrait of Miss Elstob); full contemporary paneled calf, gilt decorated spine, red morocco label; joints starting at the extremities, else a very good copy. Following the death of her mother, Elstob (1683-1756) faced having her studies arrested by her guardian who thought that one language was enough for a woman to know. "She obtained leave, however, to learn French, and upon going to live with her brother in Oxford, was encouraged by him to learn as many as eight languages, including Latin" (DNB). In 1709 she published The English-Saxon homily on the nativity of St. Gregory, with an English translation and a preface which secured for her a reputation as a linguist and a scholar. On the common practice of disparaging the Saxon root of the English language, she writes: "These gentlemens ill treatment of our Mother Tongue has lead me into a stile not so agreeable to the Mildness of our Sex … But the Love and Honour of one's Countrey, hath in all Ages been acknowledg'd such a Virtue … [and] the Justness and Propriety of the Language of any Nation, hath always been rightly esteem'd … Even private men are most jealous of any wound that can be given them in their intellectual Accomplishments, which they are less able to endure than Poverty itself … Those persons who talk so much of the Honour of our Countrey, of the correcting, improving and ascertaining of our Language … dress it up in a character so very strange and rediculous [by] separating it from the Saxon root … But it is very remarkable how Ignorance will make Men bold" (Preface). Alston III, 18; Lowndes I, 734.

 

41.     ERASMUS. The colloquies of Erasmus. Translated by N. Bailey. Edited and with notes by the Rev. E. Johnson, M.A. London: Reeves & Turner, 1878.    $125
2 vols., 8vo, pp. [iii]-xxvi, 464; [6], 467; bound in half brown morocco over rust cloth by Rivière & Son for Messrs H. Sotheran & Co.; upper joint of vol. I barely starting, joints a bit rubbed, else a near fine, handsome set with binder's slips and memorandum along with the Sotheran catalogue description tipped-in. Included is Erasmus's dedication to Froben.

 

42.    FERGUSON, ADAM. The history of the progress and termination of the Roman republic. Dublin: printed for Price, Whitestone, Colles, [et al.], 1783. $575
First Dublin edition, 3 vols., 8vo, pp. [10], 492, [2]; [8], 608; [8], 600; first page of table of contents in vol. I misbound at the back; all else very good in contemporary full calf, red and brown morocco labels on spines. This edition is printed the same year as the first (London) edition.
 

with nine signed kaloprints

43.    FRANKLIN, BENJAMIN. Choosing a mistress … With kaloprints of the watercolors [by] Cecil G. Trew. Los Angeles: The Kaloprint Corporation, 1929. $950
8vo, [10] leaves; 9 mounted kaloprints, each one signed on the mount in silver ink by the artist; original red suede covered boards, lettered in gilt; fine. Artist proof set no. 337, limited to 1,000. Franklin's eight reasons why it is better to take an old woman as a lover rather than a young one.

 

45.     FUJISAWA, MORIHIKO. The great earthquake of 1923 in Japan. Compiled by the Bureau of Social Affairs, Home Office, Japan. Tokyo, 1926. $500
First edition, thick 8vo, pp. xxvi, 615; 88 plates, mostly from photographs; accompanied by: Companion maps and diagrams to The great earthquake of 1923 in Japan, 8vo, pp. [4] plus 7 diagrams (6 printed in color), and 11 folding maps and diagrams (10 printed in color; in matching original gray cloth, gilt-lettered spines, t.e.g.; spines chipped at extremities and worn, cloth cracking along joints; externally a fair copy or better, internally still clean and complete. The official report on the great catastrophe that leveled much of Tokyo and the surrounding area.

 

46.     [FUNERAL CUSTOMS.] Puckle, Bertram S. Funeral customs their origin and development. London: T. Werner Laurie, 1926. $300
First edition, 8vo, pp. 283, [5] ads; frontispiece, plates; original black cloth stamped in blind, spine gilt-lettered, purple pictorial dust-jacket; the jacket is a bit faded to brown, especially on the spine, but overall, a very good copy. Topics covered include wakes, wailers, sin-eating, totemism, death taxes, mourning, cemeteries, body-snatching, cremation, mourning cards, etc.

 

47.     [GASTRONOMY.] Lacam, Pierre. Le mémorial des glaces et entremets de cuisine et pâtisserie faisant suite au mémorial de pâtisserie renfermant 3,000 recettes, glaces, boissons … 3e. édition … revue et augmentée par P. Seurre… Paris: chez l'auteur, [1911].        $450
Thick 8vo, pp. xix, [3], 911; signed by the author on the verso of the title-p., frontis portrait, 6 portraits in the text, 1 full-p. illustration, a number of wood-engraved illustrations throughout; pages a little browned, spine with vertical crack, else a very good to near fine copy in original printed wrappers. The book was published at 12 francs (revised price in ink on spine) in wrappers, or in publisher's binding (price for which is inked out on spine, apparently because this copy was sold in wrappers). A fifth edition appeared in 1922. OCLC locates only the second edition of 1902.

 

48.     [GREAT BRITAIN, Record Commission.] General report to the king in council from the Honourable Board of Commissioners on the Public Records, appointed by His Majesty King William IV, by a commission dated the 12th of March in the first year of his reign; with an appendix and index. [London]: printed by command of His Majesty King William IV, 1837.    $275
First edition, folio, pp. [4], xxxiv, 516, [26]; ex-Philadelphia Mercantile Library with a few small, innocuous rubber stamps, the title-page trimmed and mounted and the first 5 leaves with gutter margins guarded, but all else clean and bright; a solid, sturdy copy in tasteful dark green buckram lettered and ruled in gilt on spine. A report, followed by a substantial appendix surveying the important papers and documents held in offices scattered across the UK, promoting the "necessity of providing for the better arrangement, preservation, and more convenient use" of Public Records of the kingdom.

 

49.    GREEN, J.R. A short history of the English people. New York & London: Harper & Brothers, 1898.    $500
4 vols., large 8vo; color plates, text illustrations; half maroon morocco over red cloth, spine gilt in six compartments, t.e.g., marbled endpapers, bookplates on front pastedowns; minor scuffing; a very attractive set.
 

zane grey’s first book

50.     GREY, P. ZANE Betty Zane. New York: Charles Francis Press, [1903]. $500
Second edition, 8vo, pp. 291; frontispiece and plates from illustrations by the author; publisher's gray cloth decorated in brown, maroon, and yellow, spine lettered in gilt; light wear to the extremities, else a very good copy of the author's first book.

 

51.     HAMARNEH, SAMI. Bibliography on medicine and pharmacy in medieval Islam. Stuttgart: Wissenschastliche Verlagsgesellschast, 1964.      $100
8vo, pp. 204, [5]; 5 plates; wrappers a little spotted, else fine.

 

52.     HARRISON, FREDERIC. Tennyson, Ruskin, Mill and other literary estimates. London: Macmillan, 1899.    $150
First edition, 8vo, pp. viii, 322; slightly later full polished tan calf by Zaehnsdorf, red and green morocco labels on gilt-decorated spine, t.e.g.; slight darkening of the spine, small bookplate abraded, else fine. This copy with a 1-p. A.L.s. from the author tipped in discussing doctors and his health.

 

53.    [HAWAII.] [Woodbridge, William Channing.] He hoikehonua, he mea ia e hoakakaí i ke ano o ka honua nei, a me na mea maluna iho. Oahu: Mea Pai Palapala a na Misionari, 1845.    $3,500
Third Hawaiian edition, 12mo, pp. vii, [5], [7]-197; wood-engraved vignette on title-p., wood engravings throughout (4 full-p.); second leaf with a small hole in the fore-margin (not affecting any text), pp. 11/12 with tear in fore-margin causing some loss to the beginnings of 5 lines of text; general soiling of the text throughout; overall appearance is fine in modern brown calf-backed boards lettered in black on spine. Extracts from Woodbridge's A system of universal geography. Forbes 1552: "Although based largely on Woodbridge's geography, this unusually lavishly illustrated work has sections not found in that work" including geographical description of the Hawaiian island group.
 

with the first street plan of honolulu and a review of typee

54.     [HAWAII.] Damon, Samuel C. The friend: a semi-monthly journal devoted to temperance, marine and general intelligence. Published and edited by Samuel C. Damon, Seaman's chaplain. Vol. V. Honolulu: Charles E. Hitchcock, printer, 1847.    $2,750
4to, pp. [2], 192; title within a woodcut border, sixth-page street plan of Honolulu (the first printed street map of Honolulu, reprinted from the October 1845 issue), a number of tables and small woodcuts throughout; contemporary and likely original calf-backed marbled boards, spine a little rubbed and scuffed, else very good and sound. The friend "commenced publishing in January 1843 under the title Temperance advocate. By April it called itself the Temperance advocate and seaman's friend … beginning with the January 1845 issue, its masthead read simply The friend, the name under which it was published throughout the rest of the nineteenth century … The expressed intent of the proprietor was to produce a ‘temperance paper’ for the benefit of seamen, and the subjects found in its pages (particularly during the first decade) reflected Damon's work in this vein among sailors and crews of whale ships, to whom the paper was often distributed gratis … Extensive coverage was given to the whaling industry. Shipping lists were produced. ‘Marine Intelligence’ columns gave detailed reportage on whale ships throughout the Pacific … An invaluable ‘Register’ of all foreigners resident in Honolulu is found in the January 15, 1847 issue" (Forbes). Also in this year there are early reviews of Melville's Typee and J. Ross Browne's Etchings of a whaling cruise; a rather scathing account of Wilkes' account of his stay at Hilo; an account of an ascent of Haleakala; as well as accounts of shipwrecks, overdue ships, letters to the editor, obituaries, local poetry, numerous classified ads, and accounts of other events in the Pacific, on Tahiti, Pitcairn, and other islands. In the penultimate issue is an account of a Capt. Jackson, ship Inez, on Japan. Forbes 1388.

 

55.     HEARN, LAFCADIO. Japan: an attempt at interpretation. New York & London: Macmillan, 1904    $275
First edition, 8vo, pp. v, [1], 541, [3]; frontispiece; original tan cloth stamped in gilt and black, spine gilt, t.e.g.; spine a bit frayed, light general wear; overall very good. BAL 7941.

 

56.     HECO, JOSEPH. [Manuscript in Japanese:] United States. Story of the floating man. Japan, n.d., [1862].     $6,500
8vo, pp. [16]; original cream wrappers; mild dampstain pervades top edge; about fine in a Japanese blue cloth folding case, with thongs. Joseph Heco (1837-1897), a native of the province of Sanyodo, went to sea in 1850. When his ship was dismasted, he and other members of the crew were rescued by an American ship which took Heco to California, and the young Japanese did not return to his native land until 1859. He did not publish an account of his adventures until 1863 in a book titled Hyōryūki (Record of a Castaway). Like John Manjiro (Nakahama Manjiro) before him, accounts of Heco’s adventures circulated in manuscript prior to the publication of his book. While we have handled a handful of manuscripts relating to Manjiro’s adventures, this is the first we have encountered of Heco’s. For more on his adventures, see the next entry.

 

57.    HECO, JOSEPH. The narrative of a Japanese; what he has seen and the people he has met in the course of the last forty years … Edited by James Murdoch … Vol. I. (From the time of his being a castaway in 1850 down to the fight of Shimonoseki.) Vol. II. [San Francisco: published by American-Japanese Publishing Assn., printed by Kudo Printing Co., Tokyo, n.d., [ca. 1950].  $250
Reprint of the first edition in English, 8vo, 2 vols. in 1, pp. [4], iii, [3], 346, [6]; [6], 254, [6], v, [1]; 7 plates (actually 6, as 1 is not a plate), 6 pp. of facsimiles, a number of wood-engraved illus. in the text throughout; original black cloth lettered in gilt on upper cover and spine; some rubbing at the bottom of the spine, Japanese label printed in red affixed to front cover, several other marks of Japanese ownerships, including 3 inked out on half-title, rear endpaper, and bottom of page edges; all else very good. The verso of the title-p. in volume I notes that this was printed in Yokohama by the Yokohama Printing & Pub. Co. An uncommon and interesting account by the first Japanese-American. Joseph Heco (1837-1897), a native of the province of Sanyodo, went to sea in 1850. When his ship was dismasted, he and other members of the crew were rescued by an American ship which took Heco to California, and the young Japanese did not return to his native land until 1859. The narrative contains Heco's reminiscences, based on diaries that he began to keep as soon as he had mastered English. In the first volume, he describes his boyhood in Japan and the voyage that brought him to America; a trip to Hong Kong; and a return voyage to San Francisco, where a local businessman sponsors Heco's education and travels to New York and Baltimore. This volume concludes with Heco's return to Japan in 1859 and his work as interpreter for the U.S. consulate and a second trip to America, 1861-1862. Vol. 2 (1895) contains Heco's reminiscences of his adventures, picking up the story shortly after Heco's return to Japan after his second journey to America in 1862. His later experiences in Japan include an eyewitness account of key events in the Revolution of 1868.

with a receipt signed by horne tooke

58.     HORNE TOOKE, JOHN. Epea pteroenta. Or, the diversions of Purley. London: printed for the author, 1798-1805. $2,000
Second (i.e. first complete and best) edition, 4to, 2 vols., pp. [8], 534; [8], 516, [36]; frontis and engraved plate, nice set in slightly later full speckled calf, decorative gilt borders on covers, black morocco labels on gilt-decorated spines; slight cracking to the front joint of vol. I, edges a little rubbed, else near fine. This copy with a receipt signed by Horne Took to a Mr. Cottle dated Jan. 9, 1799, for "the third volume of Epea pteroenta," probably referring to the second volume of this work, the first edition of vol. I having been published on its own in octavo in 1786. Chapters include those on the division or distribution of languages, Locke's Essay on Human Understanding, etymology, various parts of speech, and assorted philosophical topics. Tooke, the well known philologist and political agitator, published the first part of his great work in 1786, the second volume not appearing until 1805. "As a philologist Horne Tooke deserves credit for seeing the necessity of studying Gothic and Anglo-Saxon, and learnt enough to be far in advance of Johnson in that direction … His philology was meant to subserve a characteristic philosophy. Locke, he said, had made a happy mistake when he called his book an essay upon human understanding, instead of an essay upon grammar…" (DNB). "Tooke was a political radical, his stance was ideological, and he drew heavily on French 18th century writings on language. It was clear even to his contemporaries that many of the etymologies were wrong, but in spite of these errors such important figures as Erasmus Darwin, Coleridge, James Mill, John Stuart Mill, and Hazlitt were still greatly impressed by Tooke's accomplishment and soundness of his system. There could be no doubt that Tooke's work remained the pivot of controversy through the middle of the nineteenth century" (Aarslef, p. vii). Kennedy 353; Alston III, 854.

 

61.     HUXLEY, THOMAS HENRY. Evidence as to man's place in nature. New York: D. Appleton, 1863.    $575
First American edition, 8vo, pp. 184, 8 (ads); frontispiece (included in pagination) and 32 figures in the text; orig. green cloth, printed paper label on spine; about fine. Garrison-Morton 165: "Huxley showed that in the visible characters man differs less from the higher apes than do the latter from the lower members of the same order of primates."

 

62.     [HYMNAL, in Innuit.] Lonneux, Martin J. Mass book and hymnal in Innuit. Missarchutiti kalikat. Chaneliak, AK: [Vicar-Apostolic of Alaska, 1950].    $150
First edition, 8vo, pp. [2], 129; printed from typescript; library rubberstamp on title-page, else very good in slightly scuffed plain black cloth. Catholic liturgy and hymns.

 

63.     IRVING, WASHINGTON. Christmas in England. Papers from the "Sketch-Book" … with illustrations by eminent artists. New York: G. P. Putnam; Hurd and Houghton, Riverside Press, 1867. $85
First separate edition, 8vo, pp. 94; decorative title-p. printed in red, black, and green; 15 wood engravings by Richardson after drawings by Hoppin, Darley, Bellows, and others; spine ends a bit rubbed, mild dampstain on covers, else a very good, sound copy in original green blindstamped cloth stamped in gilt on both covers.

 

64.     JACOB, WILLIAM. An historical inquiry into the production and consumption of the precious metals. London: John Murray, 1831. $600
First edition, 2 vols., 8vo, pp. xvi, 380; xi, [1], 415, [1]; later full speckled calf by Rivière, red and green morocco labels on gilt-decorated spines, marbled edges and endpapers; 19th century bookplate; slightest rubbing, else near fine. William Jacob (1762?-1851) was appointed to the comptrollership of corn returns in 1822. “On the suggestion of Huskisson, [Jacob] undertook an inquiry into the production and consumption of the precious metals. This work shows great research, but is defective, which may be attributed partly, for the more recent periods, to the insufficient historical information available then” (Palgrave II, 471). Goldsmiths' Catalogue, 26788; Kress C.2842.

 

66.     JERROLD, DOUGLAS. The writings of Douglas Jerrold. Collected edition. London: Bradbury & Evans, 1851-54.    $400
8 volumes, small 8vo, slightly later full polished tan calf by Francis Bedford, red and black morocco labels on gilt-decorated spines. Front cover of vol. I nearly separated, but otherwise generally a fine set. CBEL III, 602.

 

67.     JOHNSON, SAMUEL, Dr. A dictionary of the English language. In which the words are deduced from their originals, and illustrated in their different significations by examples from the best writers. To which are prefixed, a history of the language and an English grammar. London: printed by W. Strahan for J. and P. Knapton, 1755.    $27,500
First edition, 2 volumes, folio, title-pp. in red and black, lexicon in double column; mid-20th century full tan sheep, black morocco labels (one slightly defective) on gilt-decorated spines; top 3/8" of A2 in vol. 1 with neat reinforcement, occasional mild foxing, minor scuffing and rubbing, but in all a very good, sound example. "The most amazing, enduring and endearing one-man feat in the field of lexicography" (PMM) and one of the most famous books in all English letters. Johnson’s Dictionary forms the basis for all dictionaries that followed, and it introduced the fundamental notion of the historical principle to the study of the meanings of words. Alston V, 177; Courtney & Nicol Smith, p. 54; Grolier, English 100, 50; Fleeman 55.4D/1a; Printing and the mind of man, 201; Rothschild 1237.

 

68.     JOHNSON, SAMUEL. A dictionary of the English language … The eighth edition, corrected and revised. London: printed for J. Johnson, C. Dilly [et al.], 1799.    $2,250
4to, 2 vols., engraved frontis portrait by Heath after Reynolds, [72] & unpaginated lexicon in triple column, [4] & unpaginated lexicon; occasional light browning of the pages, but a nice copy in contemporary calf-backed, marbled boards, neatly rebacked with old spines laid down, gilt-paneled spines, black and green morocco labels. Alston V, 191; Fleeman 55.4D/12.

 

69.     JOHNSON, SAMUEL, et al.] Gilfillan, George, Rev., ed. The poetical works of Johnson, Parnell, Gray, and Smollet. With memoirs, critical dissertation, and explanatory notes… Edinburgh: James Nichol; London: James Nisbet; Dublin: W. Robertson, 1855.    $85
First edition, 8vo, pp. vii, [1], 254; a near fine copy in original teal cloth stamped in blind and gilt, the spine lightly faded.

 

70.     LARCLAUSE, SIMON DE. Correspondance de Simon de Larclause, officier d'Infanterie de Marine. Campagnes de Chine et de Cochinchine. Premières années de la Cochinchine Française (1858-1866). Recueillie et annotée par André Baudrit. n.p. [likely Saigon], 1940.    $200
8vo, pp. [9]-245; 13 plates, many from photographs, and including a color lithograph plan of Tay-Nihn, most of the plates and a number of text pages with an old Saigon library rubberstamp; contemporary and possibly original black cloth-backed green snake-skin patterned boards, gilt lettering direct on spine (rubbed), spine ends chipped, edges worn; all else good and sound. Not in OCLC or RLIN.

 

71.     [LECLERC DE SEPT CHÊNES.] Essai sur la religion des anciens Grecs. Lausanne: J. Henri Pott, 1787. $125
First edition, 2 parts in 1, 8vo, pp. xii, 271; [4], 226; occasional spotting and toning of the text, else a good, sound copy in contemporary quarter vellum over marbled boards, brown morocco label on gilt-decorated spine. The author was secretary of the Cabinet of Louis XVI. The book was also published in Geneva the same year, and in English in 1788. Brunet, 22637.

 

72.     LEMON, GEORGE WILLIAM. English etymology; or, a derivative dictionary of the English language: in two alphabets, tracing the etymology of those English words, that are derived I. From the Greek, and Latin languages; II. From the Saxon, and other Northern tongues. London: printed for G. Robinson, 1783.    $1,500
First and only edition, 4to, pp. [8], xlii, [2], unpaginated lexicon in double column, [30]; with a 6-p. list of subscribers and a full-p. specimen of 5 different alphabets; contains a table of chronological events and an extensive word index; full contemporary tree calf, red morocco label on spine; joints cracked (cords holding), bottom of spine a little chipped, but all else very good. Ignoring Johnson, Lemon cites as his authorities Vossius, Spelman, Somner, Minsheu, Junius, Skinner, Verstegan, Ray, Nugent, Cleland and other etymologists. A handsome book, "well thought of in its day, though only curious and useless now … [by] a man of great industry and much learning. The writer's view was that most English words were derived from the 'Greek as the radix,' notwithstanding the dialects which they may have passed through" (DNB). Alston V, 355; Kennedy 6230; Vancil, p. 146.

 

73.    LIPPMANN, FRITZ A. We climbed the impossible peak. [Extract from The Saturday Evening Post, June 28, 1947.]     $650
First-hand account of the first ascent of Yosemite's Lost Arrow. This magazine article is cropped and laid into a hand-made octavo volume of 23 leaves, including 5 illustrations (1 folding), bound in blue cloth with neat, hand-lettered front cover and spine, the binding almost certainly done by Lawrence W. Swan (see below), with Swan's ownership signature on recto of the front free endpaper, Stanford University, August 1947, and on the verso the signatures of three of the four climbers: the author of the article, Fritz Lippmann, Jack Arnold, and Anton "Ax" Nelson. This is "the dramatic, breathtaking story of how Lost Arrow, the one long, thin shaft of rock rising like a giant needle in Yosemite Valley, finally was conquered by man." Lawrence Swan (1922-99), from whose library this hand-made book emanates, was a biologist, naturalist, professor, and a pioneering public television instructor. He was born in Darjeeling, in northern India, where, "inspired by the region's stunning mountain terrain, he began a natural history career that was to bring him world-wide recognition as a leading authority on high-altitude ecology, particularly in the Himalayan mountain range" (from his obituary in the San Francisco chronicle, May 15, 1999). He was a member of the first American Himalayan Expedition in 1954, on which he collected numerous specimens and discovered two hitherto unknown species, a frog (Rana swani) and a glacier flea (Michilanus swani), both of which had adapted to surviving in one of the world's most inhospitable environments, and which were named in his honor. In 1960 he returned to the Himalayas with Sir Edmund Hillary's scientific expedition to the Mt. Everest area to conduct high altitude research.

74.    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.

inscribed, extra-illustrated, and with a mounted specimen

75.     LOUIS, JULIEN ADRIEN HILAIRE. The gates of Thibet. A bird's eye view of independent Sikkhim, British Bhootan and the Dooars, as a Doorga poojah trip … Second edition. Calcutta: Catholic Orphan Press, 1894 [1904?].   $7,500
8vo, pp. [4], 183; title-p. printed in red and black, large folding map hand-colored in outline (with 2 tears closed on verso), and 5 "phototypes" (collotypes) by S. J. Heberlet, 1 facsimile of the Buddhist Ten Commandments, 6 mounted albumen photographs (unique to this copy), 5 mounted carbon photographs (unique to this copy), 1 mounted botanical specimen ("Leontopodium alpinum, Yakla, Sikkim, 14,000', coll. R. E. Cooper, 1913" -- unique to this copy); slightly later (ca. 1915) half brown morocco, gilt-lettered direct on gilt-paneled spine; some of the photographs are faded, but overall a very good, sound copy. 9 copies in OCLC of the first edition (6 in the U.S.), but only 1 copy (in The Netherlands) of the second edition. Accompanied by: The gates of Thibet. Additional chapter, n.p., n.d. (but text dated Dec. 31, 1894), pp. 152-i thru 152-xxiii (i.e. 23 pages), with 2 mounted carbon photographs, and 2 mounted albumen photographs; original blue printed wrappers, with an inscription at the top: "To Dr. & Mrs. King, with the compliments from the author." This is a rare account (and extra-illustrated as well, likely by a botanist) of an expedition through Sikkim to Bhutan, including information about commerce, customs, and the political situation in the Himalayas. The added photographs and the botanical specimen in the first volume have manuscript captions, some dated 1913, and they add a visual record by one who had traveled the same route as Louis. Yakushi does not mention this Additional chapter and states that the first edition was published in 1894 and the second in 1904(?). The text of this second edition is identical to the first, the only difference being the words "second edition" (and surrounding ornaments), which been added to the 1894 title-p. This Additional chapter is not noted in either of the OCLC records above, but a microfilm at Harvard does account for it in the pagination. Yakushi L139.

 

76.    LOWELL, JAMES RUSSELL. The writings of James Russell Lowell in prose and poetry. The Riverside Edition. Boston & New York: Houghton Mifflin and Co., The Riverside Press, Cambridge, 1897.    $850
11 volumes, 8vo, contemporary half brown crushed levant by S. Davis, smooth spines with a floral motif incorporating laurel sprays and tulips, t.e.g., green silk bookmarks; a fine set, attractively bound.

39 hand-colored engravings

77.     [LYON, LUCY LOUISA FITZGERALD.] A peep at the Esquimaux; or, scenes on the ice. To which is annexed, a polar pastoral. By a lady. London: H.R. Thomas, 1825. $2,500
Second edition, 12mo, pp. viii, 58, [4] ads.; 39 hand-colored engraved illustrations, a number full-p., plus one other uncolored; contemporary quarter roan over marbled boards, rubbed and worn, but sound; occasional spotting and offsetting. OCLC attributes the authorship to Mary Love, but I have it on the authority of no less a one than Caroline Schimmel that the author is, in fact, Lucy Louisa (Fitzgerald) Lyon, wife of the esteemed Captain George Francis Lyon. Osborne I:75.

 

78.    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, 1725.    $3,000
"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, contemporary full calf, gilt-ruled borders on covers, brown morocco label on gilt-decorated spine; the very nice Earls of Macclesfield copy, with bookplate. 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 a 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.
 

signed by mapplethorpe

79.    MAPPLETHORPE, ROBERT. Lady Lisa Lyon. Text by Bruce Chatwin. New York: Viking Press, [1983]. $500
First edition, small 4to, pp. 128; original wrappers; fine. Signed by Mapplethorpe and inscribed by Lyon.

81.     MARTYN, THOMAS. The language of botany: being a dictionary of the terms made use of in that science, principally by Linneus: with familiar explanations and an attempt to establish significant English terms … the second edition, corrected and enlarged. London: printed by J. Davis, for B. & J. White, 1796.    $275
8vo, pp. [iii]-xxxiii, [1], plus unpaginated lexicon; bound without the half-title in contemporary full calf, green morocco label on gilt-decorated spine; very good and sound. First published in 1793. Alston XVII, 1077.

 

82.     MASON, GEORGE. A supplement to Johnson's English Dictionary: of which the palpable errors are attempted to be rectified, and its material omissions supplied. London: printed by C. Roworth for John Wright [et al.], 1801. $1,250
First edition, 4to, pp. [4], v, [1], [2] & unpaginated text in double column; recent quarter calf over marbled boards, fore-margin of title-p. with tear neatly mended, but with loss of 3 letters; all else about fine. Courtney & Smith, p. 70: "Mason first attacked Johnson in his edition of 'Poems' by Thomas Hoccleve, 1796 … where he says: 'One should really suspect, that the lexicographer had not collected the authorities for himself, nor even revised them when collected for him. Such a supposition might clear him of downright stupidity, but to the impeachment of his common honesty in dealing with the public… '" An American edition, frequently encountered, appeared in octavo in 1803. The first edition in not common.

 

83.     MAUNDRELL, HENRY. A journey from Aleppo to Jerusalem at Easter, A.D. 1697. The sixth edition, to which is now added an account of the author's journey to the banks of Euphrates at Beer, and to the country of Mesopotamia. With an index to the whole work, not in any former edition. Oxford: at the Theatre, for A. Peisley, and W. Meadows, 1740. $950
8vo, pp. [12], 171; engraved vignette title-p., 15 engraved plates (9 folding); contemporary paneled calf, red morocco label on spine; the very nice Earls of Macclesfield copy, with the early ownership signature of "Thomas Parker 1742" on the flyleaf. First published in 1697. Cox I, p. 219: "Bishop Newton observes of the work and its author, 'whom it is a pleasure to quote as well as to read, and whose Journal from Aleppo to Jerusalem, though a little book, is yet worth a folio, and is so accurately and ingeniously written, that it might serve as a model for all writers of travels.' The antiquarian Hearne refers to it as 'a very good book, written in a good plain style, which shews the author to have been a clear-headed, rational man, and a very good scholar.' Maundrell was so eager to travel that he seized the opportunity to become a chaplain to the French Factory at Aleppo. He set out from that city with fourteen other English gentlemen, Feb. 26, 1697, to visit the Holy Land at the coming of Easter, the ceremonies of which greatly interested him."

 

84.     MILL, JOHN STUART. A system of logic, ratiocinative and inductive, being a connected view of the principles of evidence, and the methods of scientific investigation … Fifth edition. London: Parker, Son, and Bourn, 1862. $150
2 volumes, 8vo, pp. xvi, 536, 4 (ads); xii, 550, [1] ads; original green cloth, printed paper labels on spines; both vols. largely unopened (but 2 or 3 pages in vol. I crudely opened at top edge); otherwise a very good, sound set.

 

85.     MILL, JOHN STUART. The positive philosophy of Auguste Comte. Boston: William V. Spencer, 1866.    $75
First American edition, small 8vo, pp. 182; top of spine a little chipped, else a very good copy in original brown cloth, gilt-stamped on upper cover and spine. First published the previous year in London under the title Auguste Comte and positivism.

 

86.     MOLLER-CHRISTENSEN, VILHELM. Ten lepers from Naestved in Denmark. A study of skeletons from a medieval Danish leper hospital. Copenhagen: Danish Science Press, Ltd., 1953.    $75
First edition, 8vo, pp. 160, [1]; illus. from photographs; original cream pictorial wrappers; dampstain at the lower margin throughout and a pink stain at the lower edges of the back cover and last few leaves; a good, sound copy. Photos and x-rays of the skeletons are shown with detailed notes for each case.

 

89.     MORRIS, WILLIAM. A tale of the house of the wolfings and all the kindred at the mark written in prose and in verse. London: Reeves and Turner, 1890. $150
Second edition, printed at the Chiswick Press; 8vo, [8], 199, [1]; contemporary half red morocco, gilt-lettered direct on gilt-decorated spine, t.e.g.; about fine. See Forman 107 for the first edition of the previous year.

 

90.     MORRIS, WILLIAM. The Aeneids of Virgil done into English verse by William Morris. Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1876.    $250
First American [i.e. “Author's”] edition, from the second London edition, issued with American sheets (the book was also issued with imported sheets). 8vo, pp. 338; original green cloth stamped in black, spine lettered in gilt; light edge wear, else very good. Pye 9b.1

 

91.     MOURLON, MICHEL. Géologie de la Belgique. Paris: Savy; Berlin: R. Friedlander; Bruxelles: F. Hayez, 1880-1881.    $150
First edition, large 8vo, 2 volumes in one: pp. [2], 317, and pp. [2], xvi, 392; 2 lithograph plates and figures throughout text, with vol. II being a 240-page list of fossils found in the varying terrains of Belgium followed by a detailed, indexed bibliography; contemporary quarter black morocco over marbled paper-covered boards, gilt-lettered direct on gilt-decorated spine; light wear to extremities, and light fading to spine; minor scattered foxing to prelims and terminals, still overall very good. Originally published in wrappers.

 

92.     NARES, ROBERT. A glossary; or, collection of words, phrases, names, and allusions to customs, proverbs, &c. which have been thought to require illustration in the works of English authors, particularly Shakespeare and his contemporaries. London: Robert Triphook, 1822.    $750
First edition, 4to, pp. viii, 583, [2]; text in double column; mid-19th century contemporary full calf by Carss of Glasgow (with ticket on front pastedown), with elaborate blind roll border on covers, intricate blindstamped spine with tulip motif, sprinkled edges; a very good, sound copy. The only edition in 4to, many times reprinted in 2 volumes 8vo. The work has been described by Halliwell and Wright as "indispensable to readers of Elizabethan literature, and it contains numerous sensible criticisms of the text of Shakespeare." Kennedy 6705.

 

94.     [NORTHEAST PASSAGE.] The voyage of the Chelyuskin, by members of the expedition. Translated by Alec Brown. New York: Macmillan, 1935. $225
First edition in English, 8vo, pp. xiii, [3], 325; frontispiece, 31 plates from photographs, 8 diagrams and maps; jacket with one or two small chips and tears, but overall near fine throughout. This copy with the bookplate of Charles Pont who designed the dust-jacket. In 1933, the Chelyuskin, bearing Russian scientists and explorers seeking a Northeast Passage to the Pacific, was crushed by the ice just six miles from the open waters of the Pacific. The crew, numbering over 100, spent two months on the ice before they were airlifted out.

 

95.     O’FLAHERTY, LIAM. A tourist's guide to Ireland. London: Mandrake Press, [1929].        $175
First edition, 16mo, pp. 314, [1]; a near fine copy in a slightly soiled dust-jacket with darkened spine. NCBEL IV, 687.

 

97.     ORME, WILLIAM. Memoirs of the life, writings, and religious connexions of John Owen, D.D. Vice-Chancellor of Oxford, and Dean of Christ Church, during the Commonwealth. London: printed for T. Hamilton, 1820. $150
First edition, 8vo, pp. viii, 524; engraved frontis portrait (slightly offset onto title-p.); later half blue morocco by Blackwell, gilt-lettered direct on gilt-decorated spine, t.e.g., the others uncut; minor rubbing, else about fine. With the bookplate of Henry Blackwell.

 

presentation copy, with corrections

99.     PARTRIDGE, ERIC. From Sanskrit to Brasil. Vignettes and essays upon languages. London: Hamish Hamilton, [1952].    $200
First edition, 12mo, pp. [14], 146; about fine throughout in a very good jacket. This copy inscribed "To Vernon Watkins who conveys dignity with delight & inextricably mingles from and thought. Gratefully, Eric Partridge, 17-xi-61." In this copy Partridge has altered the word "languages" on the title-p. as well as on the dust-jacket to read "language," and he has also scribbled through the price on the dust-jacket; on the verso of the half-title, Partridge has written in "OP" (for out-of-print) next to 5 of the 17 works in the list of books by him; and he has made corrections in the text on pp. 23 and 34, and on p. 65 where he has written a 2-line note in the bottom margin, signed "E. P." There are also manuscript corrections by Partridge on the rear flap of the jacket, and on the back panel.

 

100.  PASCAL, BLAISE. Les Pensées … Texte revu sur le manuscrit autographe avec une préface et des notes par Auguste Molinier. Paris: Alphonse Lemerre, 1877.    $125
2 vols., 8vo, pp. [4], lxxxiii, [1], 326, [1]; [4], 420, [1]; engraved frontispiece portrait in vol. I, vignette title-pp., 1 page of Pascal's facsimile handwriting, woodcut initials and ornaments, original printed wrappers bound in at the back; contemporary quarter brown morocco over marbled boards, t.e.g., the others uncut; some scuffing of the spines, else very good and sound. There is also an issue of twenty-five copies printed on Whatman paper.

 

101.  PERCIVAL, ROBERT, Capt. An account of the Island of Ceylon, containing its history, geography, natural history, with the manners and customs of its various inhabitants, to which is added the journal of an embassy to the Court of Candy … the second edition: with an appendix; containing some particulars of the recent hostilities with the King of Candy. London: printed by and for C. and R. Baldwin, 1805.    $1,350
Best edition, 4to, pp. xii, 446, [2] ads; engraved frontispiece, folding map of the island by Arrowsmith with route in red, 2 folding charts of the harbors of Trincomalay and Columbo, folding chart of the pearl fishery grounds, and 4 engraved plates; contemporary quarter tan calf, red morocco label on gilt-paneled spine; hinges starting, else very good. This edition contains 26 more pages of text (an appendix with an account of the first Kandyan War of 1802-3), as well as the 5 engravings which were not published in the first edition of 1803.

 

102.  P[hillips], E[dward]. The new world of words. Or a general English dictionary. Containing the proper significations, and etymologies of all words derived from other languages … together with the definitions of all those terms … to which are added the significations of proper names … London: printed by W.R. for Obadiah Blagrave, 1678.    $3,250
Fourth edition, Blagrave issue, folio, [18] & unpaginated lexicon in double column, 4pp. ads at rear, engraved frontispiece showing portraits of ten scholars and two vignette views of Oxford and Cambridge; full contemporary calf rubbed, the front cover and spine reglued, but internally fine and the binding is sound. The more common of the two 1678 issues, with the Blagrave, not the Harford imprint. "Two years after Blount's Glossographia in 1658, Edward Phillips' New world of words appeared in the first folio edition of any English dictionary. Although Phillips, who was Milton's nephew, gave no credit to Blount and even publicly disparaged him, his dictionary is a close copy of Blount's, with a number of encyclopedic entries added. Blount, enraged, published A world of errors discovered in the New World of Words (1673), in which he attacked Phillips and catalogued numerous mistakes. However, in spite of the unscrupulous character of the work, The new world of words did initiate several ideas. Phillips included a long list of prominent specialists and gave the impression that they had contributed to or approved certain definitions, a claim that Blount disputed. Nonetheless, the idea of enlisting the support of specialists was a new one in English lexicography" (see Landau, p. 43). Among the specialists listed are Robert Boyle (chemistry), John Evelyn (agriculture), Henry Phillips (navigation), Elias Ashmole (heraldry), William Faithorn and W. Hollar (engraving and etching), and Coll. Venables and Isaac Walton (angling). Alston V, 57; Wing P2071; Graesse V, 268.

 

103.  PHILLIPS, EDWARD. The new world of words: or, universal English dictionary. Containing the proper significations, and etymologies of all the words derived from other languages… London: printed for J. Phillips [et al.], 1706. $2,750
Sixth edition, "revised, corrected, and improved" by J[ohn] K[ersey], folio, engraved frontis (dated 1696, as usual), [4] & unpaginated lexicon in double column; full contemporary paneled calf, gilt spine, red morocco label; minor spotting, joints reglued; all else very good and sound. Phillips was Milton's nephew, and the first edition (1658) was the first dictionary in folio format. Four years prior to this edition, the editor, Kersey, had issued his own A New English Dictionary, and this sixth edition of Phillips' work was considered the best to date with the inclusion of many new entries -- so many, in fact, that this is considered an entirely new work, "a universal dictionary, so intelligently planned and executed as to constitute a distinguished performance and a worthy for