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Theatrum Sympateticum, ofte wonder toneel der natuirs verborgentheden. Behelsende een uitstekende oratie, over het gebruik des poeders de sympathie, daar in de waarheid zijner werkinge werd ontdekt. .Amsterdam, Leeuwarden, Jan ten Hoorn, Pieter Ruirds, 1709. 2 parts in one volume. Small 8vo. With a fine engraved frontispiece by J. Luyken. Contemporary vellum, title in ink in manuscript on spine.

DIGBY, Kenelmus (or DYGBY), Nicolas PAPINUS & Athanasius KIRCHER. [8], 320; 196, [20] pp.Rare 3rd edition of the Dutch translation of a popular work on medicinal herbs, plants, minerals etc. with recipes. It starts with the Theatrum sympateticum, divided into two parts, by the English diplomat and philosopher Kenelm Digby (1603-1665). The first contains notes on medicinal herbs and plants curing everyday ailments, the second explains how to make the "powder of sympathy", "a potion which allowed the healing of the wound by treating the weapon which caused it" (MacDonald), and includes extracts from works by Papinius and Sylvester Rattrat. The powder of sympathy could also be put on a bandage that had been in contact with the wound, without ever touching the wound. Digby’s work is followed by 't Groote licht der natuurkunde by Athanasius Kircher (1602-1680), a work on magnetic forces and the influence of the moon, sun and planets on the earth. The book closes with extracts from Digby's memoirs containing recipes for "new" medicines, including mostly household and cosmetic recipes, like face powder for women and water to whiten teeth. The first Dutch edition was published in 1681.With bookplate of Kenneth Garth Huston (1926-1987), physician, book collector and bibliographer of Digby on the front paste-down. Hinges weak, with a very small wormhole in the outer margin of pp. 127-320 of the first part and the entire second part, not affecting the text, with some wormholes in the upper-outer corner of the leaves of the bladwyser and the index of the second part affecting the text and in some leaves repared with paper.l Caillet 10601; DNB V, 970; DSB IV, 95-6 ; Ferguson, Bib. chem., I, pp. 212-213; cf: Duveen pp. 172-173 & 574; Muller, Pop. proza 763 (2nd ed. 1697); De Vries, Pop. proza 473 (idem).
  • $2,151
  • $2,151
[Album with unique panoramic photographs of Zanzibar and Madagascar].[Zanzibar

[Album with unique panoramic photographs of Zanzibar and Madagascar].[Zanzibar, Madagascar, Mayette, 1900]. Oblong album (25 x 34 cm) with 47 silver gelatin photographic prints, many with handwritten captions in French. The photographs vary in size from 8 x 5.5 cm to 27 x 20.5 cm. The 30 panorama photographs measure 5.5 x 17.5 cm. Brown cloth album made by M. Andouard in Paris, decorated endpapers.

[PHOTOGRAPHY - ZANZIBAR - MADAGASCAR - MAYOTTE]. 10, [10 blank] ll.A unique set of views from Zanzibar and Madagascar, taken five years after the French military intervention of 1894/95, also called the Second Madagascar expedition. The unidentified photographer can be seen in three of the photographs, wearing a white coat and white pith sun helmet, being the French tropical style as used by white colonial troops since 1878, suggesting the photographer’s connection with the French colonial army. His travel partner is occasionally shown as well. Their visit took place during the final years of the notorious slave trading activities of Tippu Tip (1837-1905) in Zanzibar.The photo album opens with a portrait of a young Sakalavan woman in a beautiful dress. Three other photographs show other native women as well, including one family with a baby. The majority of the photographs are panoramic views, showing villages, harbours, coasts and landscapes, the first dated 28 November 1900. The only full-page photograph in the album shows an Arab caravan marching along the beach. Rare are the few photographs taken in Mayotte, giving some highly uncommon scenes of the island nation's pre-development era.Binding somewhat scratched, spine slightly worn. The front endleaf clipped. Only a few photographs slightly faded: in very good condition.
  • $4,965
  • $4,965
Piscium serpentum insectorum aliorumque nonnullorum animalium nec non plantarum quarundam imagines . | Die Abbildungen verschiedener Fische

Piscium serpentum insectorum aliorumque nonnullorum animalium nec non plantarum quarundam imagines . | Die Abbildungen verschiedener Fische, Schlangen, Insecten, einiger andern Thiere, und Pflanzen.Nürnberg, Johann Joseph Fleischmann, 1750. Folio. With 42 hand-coloured copperplate engravings (34.5 x 25 cm). Early nineteenth-century period-style half leather binding with marbled boards, title in gold-tooling to board in gilt lettering.

CATESBY, Mark, Nicolaus Friederich EISENBERGER and Georg LICHTENSTEGER. [2], 42, [84] pp.An unusually fresh copy, with its splendidly hand-coloured engraved plates, of one of the most remarkable works on fishes and reptiles of the New World before Audubon. Its author, Mark Catesby (1683-1749) was exceptionally skilled in distinguishing various species of animals. He seldom depicted or named animals that were not later recognized as valid species by specialists, which is a much better track record than nearly every other naturalist who has worked in North America to this day. Catesby was truly a gifted and meticulous observer of nature. Many of the fish plates and nearly all of the other plates include plants, which are also described in the parallel Latin and German text. This first German edition was published irregularly in parts between 1750 and 1757. This may explain why the number of plates varies per copy, see Nissen ZBI. The present copy contains 42 hand-coloured copperplate engravings, 31 of them showing fishes, followed by 6 plates of crustaceans, 3 of turtles and two of snakes.The present volume is the crowning outcome of his work in the New World. For the following two decades, Catesby dedicated his time to preparing and publishing his Natural History. The publication was funded by subscriptions from his "Encouragers," as well as an interest-free loan from a fellow of the Royal Society. Catesby taught himself how to etch the copper plates used in the publication. He completed the first part of the publication in May 1729. The following two volumes appeared until 1747, when Catesby produced a supplement to the publication using material sent to him by friends in America. While not all of the plates in Natural History are by Catesby, several, such as the famous image of Magnolia grandiflora, were created by Georg Ehret. Catesby's original preparatory drawings for the Natural History of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahama Islands are currently held in the Royal Library and Windsor Castle.Light wear to spine and boards and a small paper repair to title page, not affecting the text. Otherwise in very good condition.l Alden & Landis, 750/51; Hunt, 485; JCB, 925; Nissen ZBI, 846; Nissen ‘Schöne Fischbücher’, 39; Sabin, 11512, 11515, 22090; VD18 10061614.
  • $32,548
  • $32,548
Historia de vita et gestis Scanderbegi Epirotarum principis.[Colophon:] Rome

Historia de vita et gestis Scanderbegi Epirotarum principis.[Colophon:] Rome, B[ernardino] V[eneta de’ Vitali], [ca. 1520/22?]. Folio. With a full-page woodcut portrait of Skanderbeg (25.5 x 16.5 cm), a 4-piece woodcut frame on the title-page and 11 woodcut decorated initials from 5 series, many pictorial and the largest with a portrait. 17th-century Italian? sheepskin parchment.

BARLETI, Marin. [4], CLIX, [1] ll.First edition of a famous biography of the national hero of Albania, Georg Kastriota or Castriota, known as Skanderbeg (1405-1468), by the only Albanian historian before the nineteenth century, Marin Barleti or Marinus Barletius (Shkodra ca. 1450 - Rome 1512), an historian, author and priest from Skhodra. Skanderbeg became a national hero in Albania as the national leader in the struggle with and wars against the Ottoman Empire, fighting for Albanian independence. The book’s Latin title refers to the region using the name of the ancient kingdom Epirus in what is now south Albania.Skanderbeg was born into an Albanian noble family, but as a young boy in 1415 and again as a young man in 1423 he was sent as a hostage to the Ottoman Sultans, Murad I and II respectively, in Constantinople, where he converted to Islam and took the name Iskender (Skanderbeg is derived from that name). In the 1440's Murad II sent Skanderbeg with the Ottoman army to his native Albania. Once there, he left the Turkish army in November 1443 and abandoned the Sultan to become the leader - and hero - of the struggle for Albanian independence, rebelling against the Ottomans and leading a successful military campaign that expelled them from Albania. He managed to maintain Albania's independence for 25 years, but after his death the country fell back under Ottoman control. Barleti's work highlights Skanderbeg's influence on the political landscape of Albania, the Balkan peninsula and Europe. The double-headed eagle in the left woodcut of the frame on the title-page may allude to Skanderbeg’s Castriota family coat of arms. Barleti’s name does not appear on the title-page but does in the detailed table of contents and preface. The book includes a woodcut portrait of Skanderbeg and was published at Rome, the colophon noting that it was printed there by "B.V.", meaning the Venetian printer Bernardino de’ Vitali, who appeared in at least four Roman imprints as well, though based primarily in Venice. The book gained widespread popularity throughout Europe and was translated into several languages, serving as the basis for other works about Scanderbeg's life, such as Jacques de Lavardin's Histoire de Georges Castriot surnomme Scanderbeg, Roy d'Albanie, published in France in 1576 and reprinted in numerous editions. Barleti’s work remains the basis for all research on Skanderbeg and for the Skanderbeg cult that played such an important role in the awakening of Albanian nationalism in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.Barleti is best known for his present biography of Skanderbeg, but the date of its printing remains uncertain. Little is known of Barleti’s life: he was still living in Shkodra during its 1477-1478 siege by the Ottoman Empire. In 1479 he went to Italy to study history. In 1504 he published his history of the siege of Shkodra (De obsidione Scodrensi), printed in Venice by Bernardino de' Vitali or Vitalibus, the "B.V." named as printer at Rome in the colophon of the present biography: "Impressum Romae per B.V.". De’ Vitali had set up in Venice by early 1495 and continued there to 1539. He had at least four Roman imprints, the present one undated and the others in 1507, 1508 and 1522, though he remained active in Venice during these years as well. The present book has usually been dated ca. 1508/10, but Norton argues that its printing materials suggest a date after 1515, perhaps in 1520 or 1522. The two USTC descriptions appear to describe a single edition and should probably be merged.With a manuscript note on the front board "3971" in brown ink and a few marginal notes. With the bookplate of Jean Michel Cantacuzène (b. 1933), Romanian-born industrial chemist, professor and government advisor in France, on the front paste-down. The binding shows very slight signs of wear, internally only occasionally lightly stained without affecting the text. Overall in very good condition.l Adams B216; EDIT16, CNCE 4233; Fan Stylian Noli, George Scanderbec (New York 1947); GW, III 409a; ISTC, ib00128800; Mortimer, Italian books I, 43 (illustrating the portrait); Norton, Italian printers 1501-1520, pp. 103-104 & 160; Petrovitch, Scanderbec (Georges Castriota), Essai de bibliogr. raisonnée (1881; repr. 1967), p. 3-5; Pellechet, 1848; Sander I, 780 and VI, pl. 794; Sinker, 214; USTC 997244 & 812332; WorldCat 645065473.
  • $27,583
  • $27,583
[Autograph letter from Dumont D'Urville to Pierre Adolphe Lesson].Paris

[Autograph letter from Dumont D’Urville to Pierre Adolphe Lesson].Paris, 19 September 1829. 13 x 10.2 cm.With:(2) DUMONT D’URVILLE, Jules Sébastien César. [Autograph letter from Dumont D’Urville to Mr. Rousset].Paris, 14 December 1841. 21 x 13 cm.(3) [DUMONT D’URVILLE, Jules Sébastien César]. [Autograph note by Dumont D’Urville].[France?, first half of the 19th century?]. 8 x 10 cm.Written in French, in a neat early 19th century cursive in brown ink. Folded.

[MANUSCRIPT LETTERS]. DUMONT D'URVILLE, Jules Sébastien César. Ad 1: [1], [2 blank], [1]; ad 2: [1], [2 blank], [1]; ad 3: [1], [1 blank] pp.Ad 1: Autograph letter, signed, by the great French explorer Jules Sébastien César Dumont d’Urville (1890-1842) written a half year after he returned from his famous second journey of exploration with the ship Astrolabe from 22 April 1826 to 25 March 1829. This important voyage was one in a great series undertaken by the French government in the early 19th century for scientific and political purposes. Its intention was to gain additional information about the principal groups of islands in the Pacific. D’Urville’s ship, the Astrolabe sailed south, around the Cape of Good Hope, and arrived in Port Jackson. It proceeded to New Zealand, surveying its coasts, especially the southern part of Cook Strait, with great care. D'Urville explored Tonga and parts of the Fiji Archipelago, then New Britain, New Guinea, Amboina, Tasmania, Vanikoro (where they foun remnants of La Perouse’s ship, also called Astrolabe, lost in 1788), Guam and Java. They returned home via Mauritius and the Cape. Huge amounts of scientific materials were collected and published in the well-known and magnificent series of d’Urville’s Voyage de la Corvette l’Astrolabe execute par ordre du roi, pendant les années 1826-1829 (Paris, J. Tastu. 1830-1834) in 13 text and 5 atlas volumes. The botanical part was written by Pierre Adolphe Lesson (1805-1888), a botanist who had joined the expedition and had also served as surgeon on the Astrolabe. In the letter d’Urville invites Lesson to attend a meeting organized by General De Maethou (? or Mackau?) on Monday 21 September 1829 for the officers of the Astrolabe.Ad 2: Autograph letter, signed, by Jules Sébastien César Dumont d’Urville, written a few months before his death. He died together with his family in a well-known train accident on their way back from Versailles to Paris. He invites "in the name of his wife" the pharmacist Rousset to a dinner for 19 participants of "our last voyage" (Rousset apparently was the pharmacist on the voyage), to be given on 16 December at 5 o'clock. This "last voyage" was the second voyage with the Astrolabe, an expedition ordered by King Louis Philippe to the South Pole to claim it for France. If that would be not possible Dumont d'Urville was asked to equal the most southernly latitude achieved in 1823 by James Weddell. Thus, France became part of the international competition for polar exploration. Two ships, the Astrolabe and the Zélée were prepared and they sailed from Toulon on 7 September 1837. They reached the South Orkney Islands via the Strait of Magellan. Due to the cold and thick ice, the conditions on board rapidly deteriorated and Dumont d’Urville had to return to Chili in March 1838. After a second attempt to reach the South Pole, the expedition turned to the north and via Hobart and the Auckland Islands the two vessels returned to Toulon on 6 November 1840. On his return, Dumont d’Urville was promoted to rear Admiral and took over the writing of the report of the expedition, which was published with the title Voyage au pole sud et dans l’océanie 1837-1840 (Paris, 1841-1854).Ad 3: Note written by Dumont d’Urville, apparently as the caption to "Plate 73" of one of his works. The plate would contain (copies of) 3 views from other works: (1) Sauvage de l’ile Mangea (from Cook p. 151, pl. 11); (2) Moraï abandonné sur l’ile Malden (from Georg Anson Byron, Voyage of HMS Blonde to the Sandwich Islands in 1824-1825 (London 1826); (3) Massacre des français à Maouna (engraving of the death of Commander Fleuriot Angle and 12 men in 1788 on the island of Maoua during the expedition of La Pérouse in the Pacific, 1785-1788).Ads 1 and 3 with some later pencil inscriptions. The leaves are slightly browned and show faint folding lines. Ad 1: with some postal ink stamps and other markings from having been sent, with a small defect to one of the corners of the leaf from where the letter was sealed, and subsequently opened by the addressee. Ad 2 with remnants of a seal and a small defect to the leaf from where the letter was sealed, and subsequently opened by the addressee. Otherwise in good condition.l Ad 1: Anker 410; Hill 504; Nissen (BBI) 555; Nissen (IVB) 752; Claude Stefani, "Pierre-Adolphe Lesson un acteur et témoin méconnu de l’exploration du Pacifique ", in: Actes du colleque Lapérouse et les explorateurs du Pacifique (1760-1840) (2008); for the author: Howgego 1800-1850, D34.
  • $6,620
  • $6,620
La perspective curieuse du reverend P. Niceron. Minime divisee en quatre livres. L’optique et la catoptrique du R. P. Mersenne du meseme ordre

La perspective curieuse du reverend P. Niceron. Minime divisee en quatre livres. L’optique et la catoptrique du R. P. Mersenne du meseme ordre, mise en lumiere aprés la mort de l’autheur. Oeuvre tres-utile aux peintres, architects, sculpteurs graveurs, & à tous autres qui se meslent du dessein.Paris, Jean du Puis, 1663.Including: MERSENNE, Marin. L’optique et la catoptrique du reverend Pere Mersenne minime. Novvellement mise en lumiere, aprés lar mort de l’autheur. Paris, the widow of F. Langlois, 1651.2 works in 1 volume. Folio. With a (partially) folded full page engraved portrait of the author as a frontispiece, an engraved title-page, a large woodcut vignette on the title-page, 50 full page engraved plates (including 1 folding), all numbered in a decorative banner in the plate.Contemporary or near contemporary (late 17th or early 18th century) brown calf.

NICERON, Jean-François. [1], [1 blank], [1], [1 blank], [8], 191, [1]; [1], [1 blank], [10], 134, [2 blank] pp.Jean-François Niceron (1613-1646) was a multi-talented individual who excelled in mathematics, painting and engraving, and a member of the scholarly order of the Minimes. He had a keen interest in optics and made significant contributions to this field. Niceron's Perspective, his most famous work today, is a practical publication that resulted from his extensive study of perspective theory. He observed that the illustrations in earlier treatises on this subject were often flawed and that the accompanying texts were too complicated for readers without prior knowledge. Niceron's intention in writing his book was to create an easily understandable treatise on perspective that could benefit a wide range of professionals, including painters, architects, sculptors, engineers and anyone involved in drawing. He believed that the principles of perspective could be explained through methods based on natural observation, such as taking geometric measurements from the human body.Mersenne was considered one of the foremost geometricians of the 17th century and maintained relationships with some of the leading scholars of Europe, including Galileo, as a correspondent and intermediary. He also developed principles related to the telescope and reflection well before Gregory and Newton wrote about them. In 1640, Mersenne embarked on a scientific journey to southern France and Italy, followed by a second trip to Italy in 1641, and a third in 1644-1645. His Optique, consists of 31 propositions published in French, rather than Latin, with a focus on practical application, although it likely held less value than Niceron's Perspective, with which it was paired. The Catoptrique consists of 16 propositions, refers to the study of reflections, reflecting surfaces, and mirrors in optics.With an owner's inscription on the front paste-down "N. Krogstius[?] No 3" and four manuscript annotations - referring to the number of the corresponding plate or elaborating on the text - in the margins of pp. 97, 98, 157 and 167, one in ink and three in pencil. The binding shows signs of wear, front hinge cracked, small worm holes in the boards. Some (near) contemporary waste paper visible in the gutters of the first and last flyleaves showing a cursive manuscript text in brown ink. The leaves are cut slightly short, barely affecting any text, slightly browned throughout (varying from quire to quire). Plates 49 and 50 are bound upside down and thus placing plate 49 after plate 50. Otherwise in good condition.l Caillet, 7972; Cicognara, 849 (1638 edition); DSB, X, pp. 103; Hofer, Baroque book illustration, 41; The Millard architectural collection, French 124.
  • $4,358
  • $4,358
Opera omnia medico-practica

Opera omnia medico-practica, et anatomica. Editio septima.Lugduni [= Lyon], Anisson & Joannis Posuel, 1710. 4to. With 3 engraved plates, including the famous one showing two tarantulas, 3 woodcut illustrations in the text, numerous woodcut decorated initials, some headpieces built up from typographic ornaments and some floral woodcut tailpieces. Contemporary brown sprinkled calf.

BAGLIVI, Giorgio. [6], XXXIX, [11], 854, [2] pp.New quarto edition of the complete works of the famous Italian physician, Giorgio Baglivi (1668-1707). Contains in particular his dissertation illustrated with a plate on "The anatomy, the bite and the effects of the tarantula", published in 1696. Baglivi studied the anatomy of the tarantula, its habitat, the nature of its poison and the effects it had on humans and other animals. He took the analysis of these elements as an opportunity to describe the region where most cases of tarantula bites were recorded, Puglia, and the benefits of the - apparently - most effective therapy to cure these bites: music.Giorgio Baglivi, born in Ragusa and died in Rome, was the doctor of Popes Innocent XII and Clement XI. The latter appointed him a position as the professor of surgery and anatomy at the College of Sapience in Rome. He formulated a doctrine which rehabilitated the role of the solid parts of the human body (of their contractile properties and of the vital forces which animate them), whereas following Paracelsus and Jan Baptist van Helmont, exclusive importance was attached to liquids. Recognized therefore as a leader of the "solidists", he became a member of the Royal Society in 1698. The first edition of Baglivi's complete works published in Lyon dates from 1704. They were later, in 1788, reprinted by Philippe Pinel in Paris. The present work also includes a text by Giovanni Domenico Santorini (1681-1737), an Italian anatomist best known for his dissections of the human body.The spine is cracked and the hinges are somewhat weakened. Somewhat water-stained throughout, some wormholes in the head margin of the first 100 pages, not affecting the text, the title-page is slightly damaged, not affecting the text. Lacking the frontispiece (the portrait of the author).l Blake, 18th-century printed books in the NLM, p. 27; cf. Castiglioni, A history of medicine, pp. 539, 548; (1704 Lyon ed.) Garrison & Morton 68; (1714 Lyon ed.) Wellcome, vol II, p. 85.
  • $1,931
  • $1,931
I quattro libri dell'architettura di Andrea Palladio. Ne' quali

I quattro libri dell’architettura di Andrea Palladio. Ne’ quali, dopo un breve trattato de’ cinque ordini, et di quelli avertimenti che sono piu necessari nel fabricare; si tratta delle case private, delle vie, de i ponti, delle piazze, de i xisti, et de’ tempii.Venice, Bartolomeo Carampello, 1581. Folio. 4 volumes bound as 1. With 4 title-pages, each with the same richly decorated woodcut architectural frame, more than 200 woodcut illustrations, Carampello’s woodcut device, woodcut headpieces and decorative initials.

PALLADIO, Andrea. 67, [1 blank], 78, [2 blank], 46, [1], [1 blank], 133, [1], [2 blank] pp.Second edition of a one of the most influential texts on Renaissance architecture, first published (with the same woodcuts) in 1570. It is divided into four books that cover a range of topics, including: the choice of materials, construction techniques and the various architectural orders; a series of architectural projects by Andrea Palladio, including city palaces, villas and other buildings; the construction of streets, bridges, squares and basilicas; and surveys of ancient Roman buildings. This work secured Palladio’s as once of the most influential sources for Western architecture, his works being valued for their high Renaissance calm and harmony. The elements of Italian Renaissance architecture had already been used by other architects before Palladio, but his innovative refinements created his own new and distinctive style.The first book of his present four books of architecture, dedicated to Giacomo Angarano, discusses the selection of materials, construction techniques, and different architectural orders, including the Tuscan, Doric, Ionic, Corinthian and Composite. It also illustrates various architectural elements, such as bases, columns, architraves, arches, capitals, entablatures, vaulted ceilings, floors, doors, windows, fireplaces, roofs and stairs. The second book features a collection of architectural projects by Palladio, including city palaces, villas (13 were completed according to the project and others partially completed or unfinished), and other unaccomplished projects. The third book, dedicated to Emanuele Filiberto di Savoia, describes the construction of straight stone-paved streets, wooden and stone bridges, ancient squares built by the Greeks and Romans, and basilicas, including the basilica designed by Vitruvius in Fano and the Palladian Basilica in Vicenza. The fourth book includes surveys of ancient Roman buildings, among them rectangular temples in various locations, a rectangular Roman basilica, and various central temples or basilicas in Rome and nearby areas.Palladio’s lasting influence on architectural style in many parts of the world was exercised less through his actual buildings than through his textbook (PMM, p. 55). Thomas Jefferson, a fan of Palladio, referred to this text as "the Bible" of architecture and used it as a reference when designing his own Monticello residence in a neo-Palladian style. The impact of this text on architectural style around the world is said to be even greater than the influence of Palladio's actual buildings.Text and illustrations in very good condition; binding somewhat worn, with cracks at the head and foot of the hinges, but still good.l Adams P101; BAL 2384; Berlin Kat. 2594; Cicognara 595; EDIT16 23738; Fowler 213; Millard IV 66; PMM 92; RIBA 2384; Schlosser 377; USTC 846303; WorldCat 939437982.
  • $8,275
  • $8,275
Grammar of the Sindhí language.[Bombay/Mumbai]

Grammar of the Sindhí language.[Bombay/Mumbai], Government Gazette Press, F.D. Ramos printer, 1836. Small folio. With 9 lithographic pages showing alphabets in Multani, Khudabadi (with additional sample texts) and Devanagari scripts. The letterpress text is set in roman and italic types, with Sindhi words also transcribed in a nastaliq Arabic type. This copy has an (extra-added?) large folding lithographic map (34 x 43 cm; outer border 31.5 x 38 cm) covering most of what is now Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkmenistan and parts of Azerbaijan, India and other surrounding regions. Contemporary black half sheepskin.

[WATHEN, William Henry]. [6], "70" [= 74 including or 64 excluding the lithographic leaves], [32] pp.Rare first and only edition of the first English grammar of the Sindhi language, the principal language of the province of Sindh in Pakistan, but also spoken by a large Sindhi minority elsewhere in Pakistan and neighbouring parts of India. In addition to the standard elements of grammar it includes handy phrases and dialogues with translations from Sindhi to English and English to Sindhi, and extensive vocabularies also translating in both directions, with an emphasis on commercial transactions. Although the book nowhere mentions the author’s name, he has been identified as William Henry Wathen (1794/95-1866), chief secretary to the British government at Mumbai (Bombay) and a member of the Mumbai branch of the Royale Asiatic Society since 1821.The lithographic pages include 32-character "alphabets" (to some degree syllabaries) of the "Multànì" or "Saràì" (Multani) and the "Khudàwàdì" (Khudabadi) script, each character with the Devanagari equivalent below and a transcription in the English pointed-pen script next to the Devanagari. These parts are especially interesting because the British government largely ended the use of these scripts by supporting the use of Arabic scripts for Sindhi in 1853, so they are generally omitted in later grammars. The folding lithographic map has no title or imprint, but appears to be contemporary. It gives toponyms in English, has a scale of 100 English miles (= 18 mm, giving a scale of about 1:90,000). It covers about 20-42° north latitude and 46-81° (at the head) or 49-78° (at the foot) east longitude.With the name(?) "Ali Morad" or "Alimorad" and the letter "M" oddly but skilfully lettered in roman capitals in the fore-edge margin of p. 1, and two owners’ inscriptions on the title-page: "[Thomas] M[owbray] Baumgartner|lieut[enant] 83d Reg[imen]t|Kurrachee[?] [= Karachi] 1851" (also on the back paste-down: "Kuuachee[!] - 1850") and "Alex R Bagley[?]|8th Kings Reg[imen]t." (this regiment fought against the 1857 Indian Rebellion). Baumgartner (1824-1915) served in the military from 1845 to 1895, finally attaining the rank of General. He spent much of his career in Mumbai (Bombay) but was in Karachi with his regiment when he inscribed this book and also fought against the 1857 Indian Rebellion. With contemporary and/or near contemporary manuscript corrections and annotations in ink and possibly later pencilled notes. With some small ink spots (mostly in the foot margin of the last page of the English-Sindhi vocabulary), some foxing and browning (slight except in 4 leaves), an occasional small stain and a marginal hole restored in the first three leaves. The binding is somewhat worn at the extremities and the marbled paper shows some abrasions, but is well-preserved between them. Overall in good condition.l WorldCat 46428052, 504661009, 1128388097 (9 copies?).
  • $13,791
  • $13,791
Journael van de Nassausche Vloot

Journael van de Nassausche Vloot, ofte Beschrijvingh van de Voyagie om den gantschen aert-kloot Noch is hier by gevoegt een beschrijvinge vande regeeringe van Peru door Pedro de Madriga, geboren tot Lima. Als mede een verhael van Pedro Fernandez de Quir aengaende de ontdeckinge van ‘t onbekent Australia Oock mede eenige discoursen de Oost-Indische vaert en de coopmanschap betreffende.Amsterdam, Joost Hartgertsz., 1648. 4to. With a large engraved double-page plate with 6 views of the fleet in various bays and harbours and a half-page woodcut with two ships on the title-page. 19th-century decorative paper over boards.

[WALBEECK, Johan van]. [2], 76 [=78] pp.Fifth edition, the first containing the plate showing six scenes, of this account of the famous circumnavigation of the Dutch fleet under command of Admiral Jacques l'Hermite (Jacques de Clerck, ca.1582-1624) during the years 1623-1626. The account t is combined with a description of Lima, an account of an expedition to Guyana and a discourse on VOC trade. Added to this edition is the description of Peru and Chile by Madriga and Spilbergen and the 'memoir' of Pedro Fernando De Quir. The plate shows 6 views of the fleet in various bays and harbours, including the harbours of Lima and Acapulco, on the roads of the Ladrones islands and Puna, and Indians without a neck.With a bookplate on the front paste-down. Restorations at the bottom of the margins of the first quire and in the margin of the engraved plate. Spine slightly damaged. Good copy.l Landwehr & V.d. Krogt, VOC 251; Tiele, Bibl. 667; Tiele, Mem. 77.
  • $6,565
  • $6,565
Relacion del sucesso que tuuo nuestra santa fe en los reynos del Iapon

Relacion del sucesso que tuuo nuestra santa fe en los reynos del Iapon, desde el año de seyscientos y doze hasta el de seyscientos u quinze, Imperando Cubosama. Madrid, widow of Alonso M. de Balboa, 1617. Folio. With woodcut coat of arms on title-page, repeated at the end of books 1, 2 and 3. Contemporary parchment.

PIÑEYRO, Luys. [16], 516, [8] pp.Rare first edition of a history of the persecution of Christian missionaries in Japan and Japanese converts to Christianity, written in Spanish by the Portuguese Jesuit Luys Piñeyro (1560-1620). The history is in five books followed by lists of martyrs, a table of chapter titles, etc. Initially the religious activities of the Jesuits, who arrived in 1549, were tolerated by the Japanese government. Upon seeing the brutal converting methods and the destruction of Japanese temples outside the metropolitan provinces, Shogun Hideyoshi changed his policy towards the Christians in 1587. Churches were demolished, and priests were ordered to leave the country. In 1616 a new edict was issued, ordering not only the expulsion of foreign priests but also demanding the death penalty for Japanese Christians who refused to renounce their beliefs. Many of the deported priests simply defied the Japanese government and returned to Japan, but only few were actually executed. The present work describes the background to the deteriorating relations between the Japanese rulers and the representatives of Christianity. Piñeyro also deals with the determination of the Jesuits to continue to preach their religion even in the face of persecution.Early ownerships inscription at foot of title-page. In very good condition, with ample margins and crisp paper.l Alt-Japan-Katalog 1151; Cordier, Japonica, cols 290-291; Palau 226932.
  • $34,754
  • $34,754
Hollandsch en Javaansch woordenboekje

Hollandsch en Javaansch woordenboekje, behelzende de woorden, die in de dagelijksche verkeering het meeste te pas komen.Semarang, Tjokro die Wirio, 1827. Two parts in one volume 8o. Contemporary marbled paper wrappers.

SENERPONT DOMIS, W.J.C. [4], 48, [4], 40, [2] pp.The book offered here is a previously unknown variant of an extremely rare first and only edition of a Dutch / Javanese dictionary, printed in Semarang in 1827 by Tjokro die Wirio. Only a handful of other editions are known from this press, stemming mainly from the second half of the 1820s to the first half of the 1830s.The dictionary was designed for practical use of people with little to no command of either of the two respective languages. It contains thematically arranged vocabularies from Dutch to three variants of Javanese language. The author described the approach thus ‘I have spelled the Javanese words, which occur in this booklet, to the sound of their pronunciation’ (p. [3].) Senerpont Domis furthermore distinguished between the three classes of Javanese: the courtly High Javanese, Low Javanese which is spoken between the Javanese of rank against each other and by superiors with their inferiors and finally the Common Javanese, being the common market language and widely spoken by those lower in the social rank. The dictionary was designed with a practical application in daily standard situations in mind. The first book focusses on the useful words a Dutch speaker with no knowledge of the Javanese language was expected to use in everyday affairs. It is subdivided into sections containing the most common verbs followed by vocabulary lists relating to time, numbers, weights and words that characterise interpersonal relationships, the human body as well as nature and the physical world. The second part is an alphabetical list of common words. This was intended as a supplement to the most common and basic vocabulary presented in the first part. The book offered here lacks the third part which contained short phrases for immediate practical use.The typesetting in the second book offered here varies from the one kept at Leiden University Library and it is uncertain, which one is the earlier version of the dictionary. Curiously, a number of misprintings listed in the list of printer’s errors in the Leiden edition have been corrected in the present variant. However, others were not. It is unclear, why printer or editor corrected some of the mistakes they identified in the other version of the text but others not. Some evidence suggest, that the present version is indeed the older version. The editor included the lemma "graaf" (engl. "count") on page 13 in the second book but was unable to provide a Javanase translation of the word. In lieu of this, he entered "onbekend" (engl. "unknown"). The Leiden copy of the text contains the translation of the word (second book, p. 13).Wrappers show signs of wear, slight damage to the spine, edges of the leaves slightly browned and occasionally slightly stained, otherwise good condition.l WorldCat 993438711.
  • $1,379
  • $1,379