STRAHLENBERG, Philipp Johann von and Josef Vicente TOMÁS Y CATALÁ (translator).
[28], 188; [8], 237, [1] pp.The first edition of the earliest Spanish publication featuring Russian exploration voyages. It is a relatively rare geographical work on Russia and Northern Asia. The book's title page mentions that the book has been translated from French, without specifying the source work. However, it's derived from the French edition of Strahlenberg's Das Nord-und Ostliche Theil von Europa und Asia (1730). This Spanish edition is expanded with subsequent Russian discoveries, marking the earliest Spanish reference to this significant exploration of Northern Asia. This edition contains the most significant Russian voyages of exploration and discovery in the eighteenth century (the early settling of Kamtschatka, Bering s voyage, and others), up to the time of publication.Philipp Johann Strahlenberg (1676-1747), was a Swedish officer who spent nearly a decade in Russia, allowing him to compile most of the information found in this book. His profound knowledge of the region and his detailed descriptions of Tartary and Northern Asia establish it as a foundational reference text. Born in Stralsund, then part of Sweden, as Philip Johan Tabbert, he later adopted the name von Strahlenberg after being ennobled in 1707. Joining the Swedish army in 1694, he rose to the rank of captain by 1703. During the Great Northern War, he was captured by Russian forces at the Battle of Poltava in 1709 and spent a decade as a prisoner of war in Tobolsk, Siberia. During his captivity from 1711 to 1721, he extensively studied Siberian geography, anthropology, languages, and customs.The binding is worn and stained and nearly detached from the book block. Slight foxing throughout, with a large black ink stain to the upper outer corner of the book block, not affecting the text, some worm holes in the gutter margin, not affecting the text. Otherwise in good condition.l Palau 196168; WorldCat 1063922766, 433569478, 807715984, 29614101 (8 copies).
QUTB AL-DIN AL-SHIRAZI.
57 ll.A section of "The Pearly Crown", easily the most influential work of the Persian poet-polymath Qutb al-Din al-Shirazi (1236-1311). This, the fourth section of the fourth chapter, is devoted to musical theory. Musical theory was already an advanced mathematical field in Persia by the time Qutb al-Din composed his work sometime in the first years of the 14th century (between 1294 and 1306). In this manuscript, the details and subtleties of music and musical notes are explained visually across numerous charts and tidy geometrical diagrams. - "The Pearly Crown" was a general encyclopedic work, and discussed not only music theory but also natural philosophy, logic, theology, astronomy, mathematics, ethics, and even affairs of state. As an encyclopedic text, it drew upon various sources, particularly the "Risala al-Sharafiyah fi'l-nasab al-ta'lifiyah" by Qutb al-Din's contemporary Safi al-Din al-Urmawi (d. 1294), with additional material taken from Al-Farabi's (872-951) "Kitab al-Musiqa al-Kabir" and Ibn Sina's (980-1037) chapter on music in "Kitab al-Shifa". This particular copy, per its colophon, was commissioned for Mirza Muhammad Ali and copied in the city of Shiraz by Isma'il Shirazi.Light external wear, a few minor hints of paper damage and repair, altogether in good condition.
ORTA, Garcia de, Carolus CLUSIUS and Nicolás MONARDES.
[24], 347, [5] pp.Second, expanded Italian edition of De Orta's herbal describing Indian herbs and diseases. The present work is a translation of Aromatum et simplicium aliquot medicamentorum, which was first published by Plantin in 1567, the first Italian edition (1576) was only an abridged translation of the original.Garcia de Orta (ca. 1501-1568) was a Portuguese physician of Jewish descent. In 1634, he joined the fleet of his friend captain Martim Affonso de Sousa, as his personal physician, and sailed to Goa, where he began a medical practice. After cultivating and studying the local plants for many years, he published his most famous work, Colóquias dos simples e drogas he cousas medicinais da India in Goa in 1563, only a few years after the printing press was first introduced there. The famous physician and botanist Carolus Clusius acquired a copy in 1564, translated it to Latin and added annotations and woodcut illustrations. This work was published by Plantin in 1567. It was lauded by scientists all throughout Europe and translated into Italian in 1576.De Orta is considered a pioneer of tropical medicine, as he was the first European to describe Indian medicinal plants in their natural habitat. Although he was classically trained, he did not blindly rely on the works of classical physicians, like Hippocrates, Galen and Dioscorides, and instead trusted his own observations. It was because of his work that European botanists learned that tamarind did not grow on a palm tree, as was previously thought. His Colóquias, however, is mostly known for its detailed and comprehensive descriptions of tropical diseases, especially cholera. It is largely because of this that the work is still considered a classic in its genre today.With the bookplate of Cornelius J. Hauck mounted on the front pastedown, manicules in the margins of pages 248-253 and a description from an earlier seller mounted on leaf Y7v. The parchment is slighty creased. The lower margin of the title-page has been restored, some foxing and browning throughout. With a small rust hole in page 71, with minor loss of text, but no loss of the illustration, page 161 is loose, a small tear in the margin of page 915 (=195) has been repaired, a few brown stains on page 196. Otherwise in good condition.l BM STCI, p. 478; Durling 3419; Hunt 142; NLM 16th cent, 3419; Palau 99519; Sabin 57668; USTC 845532 (27 copies); Wellcome I, 4660; cf. Boxer, Two pioneers of tropical medicine: Garcia d'Orta and Nicolás Monardes, 1963.
SCALIGER, Joseph Justus and Thomas ERPENIUS.
[8], 126, [2 blank]; [8]; [48] pp.First edition of this seminal work in the history of Arabic scholarship and printing: the first book on Arab proverbs, and the first critical edition ever of an Arabic text.These 200 proverbs constitute a collection akin to a mirror for princes, dedicated to the education and refinement of a gentlemans personal and political life. The manuscript was obtained in Rome by the mathematician David de Fleurace, later the educator of Louis XIII, and given to Casaubon. J. J. Scaliger (1540-1609) had translated and explained the first 176 proverbs; after his death, the work was completed and prepared for publication by Thomas Erpenius (1584-1624), who had, just the year previous, become the first European to publish an Arabic grammar.The editors cite as their source Abu Ubaid al-Qasim ibn Salam (ca. 770-838 CE), a prolific Muslim scholar educated in Basra and well-versed in Muslim law (fiqh), the hadith tradition, theology, and various scholarly pursuits. This is one of the last books to be printed with Raphelengius large Arabic types. Fück hails the publication as "a touchstone in the history of Arabic studies in the West: the first edition of an Arabic text according to the principles of philolological method" (p. 62).Ad 2: Bound as the second of the three works in the binding is is a brief philological essay on two Biblical verses, with a few contemporary marginal annotations in ink.Ad 3: Bound at the other end of the volume is the editio princeps of the "Epistle to the Romans" in Arabic, edited by Erpenius with a short preface to his students. "The last six leaves contains the Epistola ad Galatas in Arabic, not announced on the title-page or in the preface, and probably added as an afterthought. The text was printed from a manuscript in the Scaliger legacy" (Smitskamp 280).Binding rebacked and slightly worn; internally very good, with only a few smudges. Remarkably well preserved.l Ad 1: Fück 61f; Schnurrer 216; Smitskamp, PO 267; STCN 863134505 (9 copies); USTC 1006806, 1035092 (38 copies); WorldCat 153233819, 11673496 (13 copies); Ad 2: WorldCat 258423930 (1 copy); Ad 3: Schnurrer 325; Smitskamp, PO 280; STCN 132848082 (1 copy); WorldCat (30 copies).
[PERSIA - TRAVEL GUIDE].
26 ll.A beautifully presented Persian manuscript, comprising a unique guide to the barren crossing from Kerman to Kandahar in mid-19th century Qajar Persia. The guide, perhaps actually used by two Russian owners whose inscriptions are extant on the front free endpaper, in fact covers several routes through what is today south-eastern Iran and western Afghanistan, providing reliable information on distances, water sources, and other relevant data. For instance, a reader is told the number of houses in the most populated villages - and consequently the odds of spending the night sheltered indoors at a host's home. - The journey begins in the town of Kerman, originally founded as a Sasanian outpost, and proceeds to explain one's options to travel to the ancient city of Kandahar; also included are several other routes. The distances, daily destinations, and road options are all covered in detail for each journey. Apart from these practicalities, a traveller also receives tips on the shrines or other tourist spots one might visit on a given day of travel.With two inscriptions in pre-reform Russian cursive on the front free endpaper, dated 1855 and 1917. The first inscription appears to be a translation for the benefit of a Minister of the Russian Empire. The second mentions a journey across Afghanistan and Baluchistan, possibly with the aid of this very manuscript (or perhaps it was a souvenir). Certainly an interesting piece of travel writing, and one designed not solely for the armchair traveller. Light wear to cloth, though it is remarkably unfaded. Aside from one minor dampstain interior is bright and clean.
OSBECK, Peter and Olof TORÉN.
[8], 376, [16] pp.First edition of an account of two Swedish voyages to China and the East Indies, the first by the Swedish minister, botanist and explorer Peter (Pehr) Osbeck (1723-1805) and the second by the Swedish naturalist Olof Torén (1718-1753). Osbeck's journal contains interesting observations on the languages, cultures and domestic economy of the area's he visited, but the work's main value lies in the sections on foreign plants and fish, depicted in the engravings. The book opens with a preface by Osbeck, dated Stockholm, 25 April 1757, followed by Osbeck's journal of his voyage to Java and China (pp. 1-311). His journal has "definite scientific merit" (Stafleu) and appeared in an English translation in 1771. Included on page 312 is a letter from Linnaeus to Osbeck. Osbeck's journal is followed by Torén's En Ostinsie Resa til Suratte, China &c., narrating in seven letters to Linnaeus his voyage to China, from 1 April 1750 to 26 June 1752.The binding shows very slight signs of wear, slightly foxed and browned throughout, the plates are very slightly foxed but otherwise very clean and clear. Overall in good condition.l Cordier, Sinica, col. 2097; Cox I, p. 298 note (incorrectly dated 1756); Krok, p. 565; Pritzel 6865; cf. Lust 349-350; Stafleu, Linnaeus and the Linnaeans, p. 149 .
[20], [5], 299, [1] ll. (including blank leaves 259-261).First edition of the most splendidly illustrated incunable ever: an important document of early German book design that recounts the story of the world from creation to the 15th century. The present Latin edition was published half a year before the German one and is printed on superior paper."The Schedel Chronicle very rightly became famous because of its illustrations, its extraordinary graphic design, its printing, and for its woodcuts and descriptions of cities. The Nuremberg Chronicle remains one of the great works in graphic art of the fifteenth century" (A. Wilson, The Making of the Nuremberg chronicle, p. 28). According to Sydney Cockerell (Some German Woodcuts of the 15th Century, Hammersmith, 1897, pp. 35f.), the 1809 woodcuts in the text (counting repetitions) are printed from 645 different blocks. Among the illustrations of highest artistic quality are not only the two maps, but also the beautiful city views (Augsburg, Bamberg, Basel, Breslau, Erfurt, Florence, Geneva, Genoa, Cologne, Constance, Cracow, Lübeck, Magdeburg, Milan, Mainz, Munich, Nizza, Nuremberg, Paris, Passau, Pisa, Prague, Regensburg, Rome, Salzburg, Strasbourg, Trier, Ulm, Venice, Vienna, Würzburg etc.) - frequently the first topographically exact depictions ever. Some of the woodcuts are probably the work of the young Albrecht Dürer, who lived next door to Wolgemuts workshop and had been learning the trade with him since 1486.For the alleged Pre-Columbian discovery of America by Martin Behaim from Nuremberg, an account contained only in this Latin edition (fol. 290v), see Sabin 77523 and Church 7.From the library of Dr. Louis Versturme (1758-1833), Inspector General of Hospitals, with his armorial bookplate at the lower edge of the title-page. Subsequently in the library of his relative, the Belgian collector Pierre-Joseph Versturme-Roegiers (1777-1846), with his handwritten ownership to the title-page. Auctioned by Verhulst of Ghent, in 1847, to the Ghent bookseller Adolphe van der Meersch, for 40 francs. Acquired by the banker James Mayer Rothschild (1792-1868), founder of the French branch of the prominent Rothschild family (armorial bookplate of the Château de Ferrières to front pastedown). The binding is somewhat rubbed, the extremeties more so, and the spine a bit faded. The title-page is rebacked, insignificant paper flaws to a few leaves, scattered browning and foxing. The last four leaves remargined without loss; foregoing leaves show some dampstaining to upper corner. Several leaves trimmed rather closely at the top edge, sometimes just touching the page header. Occasional underlinings and ink annotations from the 16th and 17th centuries; the word "theotokos" for the Virgin Mary supplied in an early 16th-century hand on fol. 145r.l BMC II, 437; Catalogue des curiosités composant le cabinet de feu Mr. Versturme-Roegiers (Ghent, Verhulst, 1847), no. 390 (this copy: "Superbe exemplaire relié en maroquin rouge doré sur tranche et plat"); Copinger I, 431; Dodgson I, 246; Fairfax Murray, German Books 394; Goff S-307; GW M40784; Hain 14508; Harrisse 13; ISTC is00307000; Klebs 889.1; Muther 424; Proctor 2084; Rücker 143; Schramm XVII, 408-576; Schreiber 5203; cf. A. Wilson, The Making of the Nuremberg chronicle.
[40], CCCCCCCIIII, ll.Very rare edition of the Code of Justinian, printed by Yolande Bonhomme (active ca. 1497-1557). It was likely the first time this text was printed by a female printer, as we have not been able to find an earlier edition printed by a woman. This edition by Bonhomme has never been on the market before, is only available in a few libraries and is not mentioned in several of the most important relevant reference works.Bonhomme was the daughter of bookseller and printer Pasquier Bonhomme (active 1451-1501) and the wife of printer Thielman Kerver (active ca. 1497-1522). Women in France were not allowed to start their own printing business, but they could take over their husband's company after his death. When Kerver passed away in 1522, Bonhomme continued the business under her own name and remained in charge for 35 years. She was one of the most successful female printers of her time and is the first woman known to have printed the Bible (1526).This edition by Bonhomme is heavily glossed. Although it is not mentioned, these glosses are very likely by Accursius (ca. 1183-1263), a professor of law at the university of Bologna.With an extensive owner's inscription and a black, oval library stamp on the title-page, and with annotations in the margins of some pages. The edges and corners of the boards are somewhat scuffed, the leather is slightly scratched and soiled, slightly affecting the clarity of the blind-tooling. Two ink stains on the title-page, but the text is still legible, the inner margin of the title-page and the lower margin of the first text leaf are restored, without affecting the text, a small tear in the woodcut initial on leaf 2A1 (prefatio G. Haloandri), without loss of paper, the outer edges of the final 10 leaves are slightly frayed, the lower outer corners on the last 6 leaves are folded, also without affecting the text. Overall in good condition.l WorldCat 312067202, 313412679, 993078134 (4 copies); Not in Adams; Brunet; Graesse; USTC.
[4], 3, [1 blank] pp.First and only edition of one of the rarest books on Japanese flora. The author Engelbert Kaempfer (1651 - 1716) was a professor from Lemgo, Germany, who joined the Dutch East India Company (VOC) as a medical doctor in 1685. After periods in what are now India and Indonesia he travelled in 1690 to Japan to work as a doctor on Dejima (Deshima), the Dutch trading post or factory in Nagasaki. Sir Hans Sloan acquired his manuscripts, alsong with his drawings and herbarium, and arranged for their translation and publication, the first to appear in translation was The history of Japan in 1727. This English translation established Kaempfer's reputation as the 18th-century authority on Japan and deeply influenced Japan's image in Europe. The renowned botanist and companion of the 1768 Cook expedition Sir Joseph Banks (1743-1820) was responsible for the editing and publication of the present work and dedicated it to the curators of the Library. In most cases no plates had previously been made from these drawings, so they remained unpublished. In the last years of his life Kaempfer himself had published only a small number of his drawings in his Amoenitatum exoticarum, printed in Lemgo in 1712. Thus the present publication introduces many Japanese plants for the first time to a large audience in the West. Kaempfer's herbrarium is now in the Natural History Museum, South Kensington.Royal Library duplicate stamp in the foot of title page. With some minor foxing, the last few plates stained only in the lower margin, not affecting the illustrations. Otherwise in very good condition.l Great flower books, p. 62; Henrey 886; Nissen BBI, 1019; Stafleu & Cowan 3484.
JUSTINIANUS I, Emperor and Jean CHAPPUIS (editor).
[40], CCCCCCCIIII, ll.Very rare edition of the Code of Justinian, printed by Yolande Bonhomme (active ca. 1497-1557). It was likely the first time this text was printed by a female printer, as we have not been able to find an earlier edition printed by a woman. This edition by Bonhomme has never been on the market before, is only available in a few libraries and is not mentioned in several of the most important relevant reference works.Bonhomme was the daughter of bookseller and printer Pasquier Bonhomme (active 1451-1501) and the wife of printer Thielman Kerver (active ca. 1497-1522). Women in France were not allowed to start their own printing business, but they could take over their husband's company after his death. When Kerver passed away in 1522, Bonhomme continued the business under her own name and remained in charge for 35 years. She was one of the most successful female printers of her time and is the first woman known to have printed the Bible (1526).This edition by Bonhomme is heavily glossed. Although it is not mentioned, these glosses are very likely by Accursius (ca. 1183-1263), a professor of law at the university of Bologna.With an extensive owner's inscription and a black, oval library stamp on the title-page, and with annotations in the margins of some pages. The edges and corners of the boards are somewhat scuffed, the leather is slightly scratched and soiled, slightly affecting the clarity of the blind-tooling. Two ink stains on the title-page, but the text is still legible, the inner margin of the title-page and the lower margin of the first text leaf are restored, without affecting the text, a small tear in the woodcut initial on leaf 2A1 (prefatio G. Haloandri), without loss of paper, the outer edges of the final 10 leaves are slightly frayed, the lower outer corners on the last 6 leaves are folded, also without affecting the text. Overall in good condition.l WorldCat 312067202, 313412679, 993078134 (4 copies); Not in Adams; Brunet; Graesse; USTC.
[1 blank], [60], [1 blank] ll.The first dictionary of ancient mythology, history and geography. Written by one of the foremost Latin grammatists of the 15th century, it became a very successful reference work and was in print until the 19th century. This is the first and only Hagenau edition.The work is a Latin lexicon in alphabetical order. It contains mythological, historical and geographical names from classical antiquity, and their explanations. Including: Cleopatra, the Hesperides and Sicily. This is followed by a lexicon of Greek and Hebrew names, an interesting Latin translation of the most important words from the "language of the Saracens", and a list of Latin plants, trees and minerals, with their German translations. The data on classical geography, history, daily life and literature was taken from classical literature.Hermannus Torrentinus (ca. 1450-1520), born as Hermann van der Beke, studied at the Latin school of Deventer and joined the Brethren of the Common Life. He was head of the Latin school in Zwolle until 1514, when he became completely blind. He has been called the foremost grammatist by his contemporaries and the majority of his works are Latin grammar books meant to be used in school. He attempted to simplify grammar for his students, but this was seen as heresy, causing him to add an "apologia" to later editions of these works. He also wrote multiple commentaries on classical authors like Ovid and Virgil. Nevertheless, Elucidarius carminum et historiarum is his most popular and well-known work.With the bookplate of Robert Clarence Pruyn mounted on the front pastedown. The edges and hinges of the boards show some signs of wear, with a water stain around the foot of the spine and throughout in the lower margin around the gutter, some off-setting on the blue endleaves from the broad turn-ins. With mild foxing to the first and last few leaves, the lower outer corner of leaf E1 has been restored, without affecting the text. Otherwise in good condition.l Adams T818 (different collation); British Museum, General catalogue, vol. 25, p. 266; GW X Sp. 6972; ISTC ih00073950 (7 copies); VD16 T 1597; Proctor 11647.
[24]; [16]; [2]; [3], [1 blank]; [4]; [10]; [6]; [2] pp.A unique collection of eight exceedingly rare sets of regulations documenting the first months of the administration of the French Republican General Jacques-François "Abdallah" de Boussay de Menou, newly appointed commander-in-chief of Napoleons Armée dOrient to succeed General Jean-Baptiste Kléber after his assassination on 14 June 1800. In contrast to his predecessor, who intended to rule Egypt as an occupied territory, General Menou, though still representing France as a colonial power, had idealistic and egalitarian views and even considered granting French citizenship to all Egyptians. Soon after his arrival in 1798 he married a woman from a noble Cairo family, converted to Islam and took the name Abdallah.The present regulations cover a wide range of topics such as tax and fiscal matters, fishing and hunting rights, duties of local dignitaries ("cheykhs el-beled"), customs and border regulations, rules for navigation on the Nile, taxation of merchants, craftsmen and workers, as well as the rights of various religious minorities (including Jews and Copts). They offer a vastly more detailed insight into the French administration of Egypt than the more widely distributed single-page broadside summaries of daily orders that were originally issued with them ("Inséré dans lordre du jour ."). We have located only two other collections containing some of the present regulations: 3 of the present 8 sets and 5 sets not in the present collection (WorldCat without location; swisscovery); and 2 of the present 8 sets and 3 sets not in the present set (Bibliothèque Nationale de France, probably from the Silvestre de Sacy set recorded in 1847), but the present collection begins 9 days earlier than these two and ends 26 days later than the former.The eight sets of regulations are:5 Fructidor 8 [23 August 1800] concerning "Tous les cheykhs el-beled de lEgypte"16 Fructidor 8 [3 September 1800] Ordre sur les douanes18 Fructidor 8 [5 September 1800] Ordre sur limpôt du sel18 Fructidor 8 [5 September 1800] Ordre sur les droits de pêche et de chasse7 Vendémiaire 9 [29 September 1800] Ordre sur la navigation du Nil20 Vendémiaire 9 [12 October 1800] Ordre du jour sur les Impositions des nations Copte, etc.20 Vendémiaire 9 [12 October 1800] Ordre sur les droits des corporations16 Brumaire 9 [7 November 1800] - Unbound as issued. In very good condition.l Bibliothèque Nationale de France (2 of the present 8 sets & 3 similar sets); Bibliotheque de M. le baron Silvestre de Sacy (1847), vol. 3, pp. 458-460, nos. 20-23, 28, 30, 33, 39, 41 (2 of the present 8 sets & 6 similar sets); swisscovery.slsp.ch (3 of the present 8 sets & 5 similar sets); WorldCat (same sets as swisscovery, listed with no location); for the Cairo printing office: D. Glass & G. Roper, The printing of Arabic books in the Arab world, in: Middle Eastern languages and the print revolution (2002), pp. 177-225, at p. 182.
30, [1], [1 blank] pp.; pllus 100 lithographed plates.Extremely rare first edition, of the complete collection of plates prepared from drawings made by master architect Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959) at his Oak Park Studio, illustrating seventy buildings and projects completed between 1893 and 1909. It is the first major publication by one of the greatest innovators of modern architecture. The work boosted Wright's fame in European architectural circles and influenced key figures in contemporary architecture including Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Peter Behrens and Le Corbusier. The plates show perspective views, plans, sections and interior and exterior details. Plate LVI, with an interior view of the living room of the Coonley House, is one of the most important and desirable of the series. Other works represented are the Frederic Robie House, Susan Lawrence Dana House, Ward Willets House, Darwin Martin House, Avery Coonley House, the Larkin Building, and Unity Temple, showing the variety of his buildings.Although each plate is embossed with Wright's blind stamp, Sweeney notes that Wright completed the work alongside assistants and collaborators, including Marion Mahony Griffin and Wright's son, Lloyd. The work was printed by Ernest Wasmuth, a massive undertaking. The original plans and presentation drawings had to be lithographed on large stones. The text volume, written by Wright, was printed both in German and in English, containing an essay on his architectural style and a list of the plates. The text part starts with the introduction by Wright, translated into German by Wasmuth, and is dated ''Florenz, Italien, 15. Mai 1910'' and is followed by an annotated list of plates (pp. 21-30). An English version of the introduction was printed in Chicago by Ralph Fletcher Seymour being dated "Florence, Italy, June 1910".The edition is scarce due to a fire at Wrights home and studio, Taliesin, in August 1914. The fire destroyed the bulk of the American copies of this portfolio, in addition to much of Wrights other work. So many of the copies intended for the American market were destroyed, with the result that the work was far better known in Europe than in the United States.The wrappers and ties of the two portfolios are browned, both spines are worn (with the portfolios otherwise still intact) and the front board of portfolio II shows a seriously water damaged spot. All text leaves, plates and plates on overlay paper are foxed, the edges of the plates and overlays are show very slight water stains and are occasionally slightly frayed and browned, the overlays of plates LVIII and IL show a marginal tear, not affecting the image. The main surface of the plates (including the whole or the majority of the designs) are fine and clean. Overall a complete set with the plates, booklet and the two original publisher's portfolios still in good condition, being Wright's extremely rare magnum opus that secured his status in Europe: one of the most influential architectural publications of the century.l Kruft 210; Robert L. Sweeney, Frank Lloyd Wright: an annotated bibliography, 1978, 87; Thieme-Becker XXXVI, 279.
[1 blank], [14], [1 blank]; [146]; [192]; [192], [5 blank] ll.A complete copy of one of Saint Augustine's chief exegetical works. The present Amerbach edition is only the second time Augustine's explanation of and commentary on the Psalms was ever printed. The first time was in ca. 1485, only a few years earlier, and was printed by an anonymous press in the Low Countries.The work starts with an introduction, which is followed by three parts, or "quinquagena", containing the explanation of 50 Psalms. Explanatio Psalmorum was not written as a single work, but rather is a collection of sermons and treatises compiled by later theologians to form the present work, also known under the title Enarationes in Psalmos.Augustine of Hippo (354-430), in Latin known as Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis, but best known as Saint Augustine, was the bishop of Hippo Regius (in present day Algeria). He was a theologian and is considered one of the most important church fathers, as his writings greatly influenced both Western Christianity and philosophy. His teachings were also embraced by the Protestants during the Reformation and he is still recognized as a saint in the Lutheran Church today.With an owner's inscription on the front pastedown, an annotation in the upper outer corner of the recto of the first blank flyleaf, a (partially) scraped out annotation in the bottom margin of the first text page, and an annotation on the verso of the last text leaf. The boards are rubbed and scraped, strongly affecting the clarity of the blind-tooling, the bottom edges and corners of the boards are scuffed and a tear in the leather at the bottom corner of the back board has been repaired, the edges of the book block are somewhat dust soiled. The gutter between the first two blank flyleaves is cracked, exposing the sewing supports and leather of the binding, a water stain in the bottom corner of the first 4 leaves (including the 2 blank flyleaves), a torn corner on leaf R7 of the 2nd part and leaf (5)6 of the 3rd part, margins foxed throughout. Otherwise in good condition.l BM, Catalogue of German books, p. 54; BM, General catalogue, p. 530; Goff A-1243; GW 2909; Hain-Copinger 1971; IDL 519; ISTC ia01272000; Proctor; 7582; USTC 743124; cf. McCarthy, An ecclesiology of groaning: Augustine, the psalms, and the making of Church. In: Theological studies, vol.66 (1), p.23-48, 2005.
An enormous broadside intended for posting on public walls, introducing the newly appointed commander-in-chief of Napoleons Armée dOrient (and therefore ruler of Egypt) and his government to the people of Egypt, in Arabic and French: "Habitans de lEgypte, écoutez ce qu jai à vous dire au nom de la République Francaise. Vous étiez malheureux; larmée francaise est venue en Egypte pouir vous porter le bonheur .".Menou, the French Republican General who succeeded General Jean-Baptiste Kléber after his assassination on 14 June 1800, converted to Islam and took the name Abdallah. Unlike most announcements published by his predecessor at the same press, the present proclamation is not headed with the motto of the French Republic, but rather with the Shahada ("There is no deity but God, Muhammad is the messenger of God") in both languages. In it, Menou sets out his principles for a good government for Egypt, emphasizing his firm stand against abuse and corruption in the local administration of taxation, justice and the police, and finally threatens any attempt at rebellion with severe retaliation.When Napoleon sent his army on its first Egyptian campaign in 1798, he included a team of printers and typefounders headed by Jean Joseph Marcel, equipped with a printing press and type, including Arabic type. They set up the first printing office in the Arabic-speaking world (though Christians and Turkish-speaking Ottomans had printed some Arabic texts in Istanbul earlier), issuing their first publication in Alexandria, three months after they landed there, and moving the printing office to Cairo in October 1798, where it printed for the French Republican authorities, including the present important large bill for public posting, of the utmost rarity due to its sheer size and ephemeral nature. We have located only two other copies, at the British Library and the Bibliothèque Nationale de France. "The expedition of Napoleon Bonaparte to Egypt from 1798 until 1801 was a prelude to modernity. It was to change permanently the traditional Arab world . The French brought Arabic typography to Egypt, where it was practised under the supervision . of Jean Joseph Marcel . Only a few days after the French troops landed . they set up the Imprimerie Orientale et Française there. It was an extraordinarily important turning point. For, leaving aside the Hebrew printing presses in Egypt of the 16th to the 18th centuries, until this date announcements and news adressed to Arabs there, as well as in other parts of the Arab-Islamic world, had been spread only in hand-writing or orally, by criers, preachers or storytellers" (Glass & Roper).With some creases in the paper, but uncut with deckles intact. A surprisingly fresh and rare survival.l WorldCat 457665343 & 559717647 (2 copies); cf. D. Glass & G. Roper, The printing of Arabic books in the Arab world, in: Middle Eastern languages and the print revolution (2002), pp. 177-225, at 182.
[11]; [21] [2 blank] pp.The first and only incunable edition of this theological work, printed by the first printer of Augsburg, Günther Zainer (?-1478). He started his printing career in Augsburg in 1468 and is known to have been one of the printers at the new printing shop in the Augsburg Saint Ulrich and Saint Afra's Abbey. He probably learned the trade from Johannes Mentelin (ca. 1410-1478) in Strasbourg. Zainer's paper, presswork and typefaces are all of high quality and about 80 books are known to have been printed by him.The De essentia divinitatis, the first tract in this collection, was thought to have been written by Saint Jerome, but it is actually the first chapter of Formulae spiritualis intelligentiae by Saint Eucherius of Lyon (ca. 380-ca. 449). In the present edition, this tract is printed together with Aquinas' De articulis fidei; the second tract starts on the leaf on which the first one ends. These works are part of a larger collection of separately published tracts, which includes Imitatio Christi by Thomas à Kempis, Soliloquia by Saint Augustine and Dispositorium moriendi by Johannes Nider. Nearly each tract was sold independently, so every collection differs in composition and number (varying from 1 to 11) of tracts.With the bookplate of Bernd Pattloch mounted on the front pastedown and a manicule in the margin of page [14] of Aquinas's tract and some manuscript annotations in the margins of several leaves. The spine is slightly rubbed, and the blue edges are mostly faded. The gutters of the first and last leaves (excluding the modern endpapers) show remnants of earlier blue paper wrappers. With a water stain in the lower corner throughout, and a water stain in the outer margin in the second half of the work, both without affecting the text. With a repair in the blank foot margin on the final leaf of the text and in the outer margin of the last blank leaf. Overall in good condition.l Goff H-179; GW 12451 II; Hain-Copinger 8589; IDL 2290; ISTC ih00179000; Oates 884; Proctor 1564 (mentions only 6 leaves); cf. Hampden, The life of Thomas Aquinas: A dissertation of the scholastic philosophy of the middle ages, 1848; Saint Eucherius, Formulas for spiritual intelligence (translated by D. P. Curtin).
[18], 278; 112; 70; 132 ll.First edition of this beautifully illustrated Dutch translation of the influential Luther Bible, with the engraved title-page, all plates and a large tailpiece expertly contemporary hand-coloured and strikingly highlighted in gold. This edition, published by (the widow of) Van Baardt, is also known as the "Visscher Bible", after its translator. It is certain that Visscher based his translation on Luther's original Bible and the two known Dutch translations: the "Lotter Bible" by Bugenhagen (1554) and the "Biestkens Bible" (1560). Apparently, Visscher did not use the new and by then already renowned Dutch States translation (commissioned during the Synod of Dordrecht in 1618-1619) and did not want to change Luther's original translation, which unfortunately resulted in a difficult to read work. Nevertheless, this became the standard Bible of the Dutch Lutherans. (Darlow & Moule).The present work was printed by Rieuwert Dircksz van Baardt (1599-1648) - according to I.H. van Eeghen - at the presses of Lodewijk III Elsevier (1604-1670). The work was published after Van Baardt's death by his widow and was illustrated with engraved maps by Nicolaes Visscher (1618-1679) after his father Claes Jansz. Visscher (1587-1652) and a complete series of Mattheüs Merian the Elder's (1593-1650) reduced scenes engraved by Cornelis Danckerts (1603-1656) and printed by Frederik de Wit (1630-1706) in Amsterdam. These two sets of engraved plates were published separately for the purpose of being added to Bibles such as the present one, or the Dutch States Bible for example. The illustrations are expertly hand-coloured and all highlighted in gold.With the small bookplate of Jan Willem Six de Vromade (1872-1936): "Ex bibliotheca J.W. Six" on the front paste-down. The binding shows very slight signs of wear, mainly around the spine, minor foxing and spotting throughout, mainly to the outer margins, with a ca. 4 cm tear in the foot margin of leaves a5 and a6 in the New Testament, without loss but slightly affecting the text, the last ca. 10% of the leaves show a very small (to max. ca. 1 cm in the last few leaves) wormhole in the gutter margin, barely affecting the commentary but not the main text. Otherwise in very good condition.l Darlow & Moule 3311; Poortman Bijbel en Prent I, pp. 137-139; STCN 089354303 (18 copies); WorldCat 68853298 & 67063785 (16 copies, including 8 also in STCN); cf. for the maps: Poortman & Augusteijn pp. 179-185 (maps 1,3 and 5 in their very first early state by N. Visscher, the others in the first state); for the small engraved scenes: Poortman, Bijbel en Prent I pp. 172-173 & II p. 66; for the portrait of Visscher: Muller Portretten 5690a; for the printing history: I.H. van Eeghen, La Bible luthérienne de 1648. Une édition Elevérienne inconnue, in : Studia bibliographica in honorem Herman de la Fontaine Verwey, Amsterdam 1966, 119-128.
[MESOPOTAMIAN CAMPAIGN].
25 (of 26) folding ll.An excellent set of maps documenting the battlefields of the Mesopotamian Campaign of WWI: "In the Autumn of 1923 a tour of the Mesopotamian battlefields was undertaken by the instructors and students of the Staff College, Quetta, and the course of the campaign and the principal operations were studied on the spot" (Introduction, Part I, not present). Printed at the Survey of India Offices, Dehradun, the maps cover the major sites of the conflict. Maps of note include a simplified version of the sought-after "Lower Mesopotamia" War Office map, an elegant map of the Battle of Ctesiphon, and a detailed map of Sheikh Saad and Kut-Al-Amara which includes an interesting note on the burgeoning cartography of the area: "The first map with any pretensions to accuracy was not produced till the summer of 1916". Designated "For Official Use Only", this study is uncommon. There are no print-run details given in the text volume, but the markings on the maps suggest that there may have been 1,000 copies produced. LibraryHub locates three copies, at King's College London, the London Library, and the British Library. WorldCat adds seven more, with three in North America, three in Australia and one in South Africa.Without the text volume (Part I) and lacking 1 maps (as usual). Some spotting and closed tears to several of the smaller maps (printed on thin paper), larger folding maps in very good condition. Map-case rubbed with some wear and splits to extremities. Ownership inscription of R. T. Holland to front cover.
[160] ll.A Rouen Book of Hours of outstanding quality and in slightly larger than usual format, commissioned by a female patron who is portrayed in the last miniature awaiting the arrival of the Messiah.The style of illumination is typical of that practised in Rouen during the late 15th century. Characteristic features include the profuse use of gold highlights on draperies and hillsides, often cross-hatched; cross-hatching of grassy areas in landscapes; a palette predominantly based on pink, blue, brown and green, and the use of grey for the modelling of facial features, men having rather swarthy flesh, and women very pale skin; the rather peremptory manner of painting hands; the grey-blue acanthus on flat gold backgrounds for borders. Also the liturgical use points to Rouen as the place of production: the sparse calendar includes St Romanus (23 October) in gold, as well as St Evodius (8 October) and Mellonus (22 October), all three were bishops of Rouen; Romanus and Mellonus also appear in the Litany. Prayers are written for the use of a female supplicant, and a conventional portrait of the original owner appears in the final miniature.Contents: calendar, in French (f. 1r); Gospel extracts (f. 13r); prayers "Obsecro te" and "O intemerata", using feminine forms (ff. 20v); Hours of the Virgin (f. 31r), Lauds followed by suffrages to the Holy Spirit, Nicholas, and Katherine; Seven Penitential Psalms (f. 83r) followed by (f. 98r) a Litany of saints (Clement, Fabian, and Sebastian, at the bottom of f. 100r, are mistakenly repeated at the top of the verso); Hours of the Cross (f. 105) and of the Spirit (f. 109r); Office of the Dead (f. 113r); "Les quinze joies nostre dame" (f. 151r) and "Les sept requestes" of the Lord (f. 157r), both in French.Illumination: the calendar (ff. 1r-12v) has occupations of the months on rectos, and zodiac signs on versos. January: feasting; Aquarius. February: warming at a hearth; Pisces. March: pollarding; Aries. April: half-length man in a garden; Taurus. May: man and woman on horseback, hawking; Gemini: a naked man and woman embracing. June: scything; Cancer. July: reaping; Leo. August: threshing; Virgo. September: treading grapes; Libra. October: sowing seed; Scorpio. November: knocking acorns from trees to feed pigs; Sagittarius. December: killing a pig; Capricorn.The major texts are each introduced by a large miniature, including the individual Hours of the Virgin, except Vespers and Compline which have historiated initials:1. (f. 13r) The Four Evangelists, in a four-part miniature characteristic of Rouen.2. (f. 31r) The Annunciation, surrounded by a border composed of nine smaller compartments: three with angels, the other six with scenes from the life of the Virgin: Gabriel appearing to Joachim; Meeting at the Golden Gate; Nativity of the Virgin; Presentation of the Virgin; Virgin at the Loom; and Marriage of the Virgin to Joseph.3. (f. 44v) The Visitation.4. (f. 59r) The Nativity.5. (f. 65v) The Annunciation to the Shepherds.6. (f. 69v) The Adoration of the Magi.7. (f. 73r) The Presentation in the Temple; the infant has his arms outspread, visually prefiguring his Crucifixion.8. (f. 76v) The Flight into Egypt (historiated initial).9. (f. 78r) The Coronation of the Virgin (historiated initial).10. (f. 83r) King David in Penitence; the border with smaller miniatures depicting David and Goliath, and David Spying on Bathsheba.11. (f. 105r) The Crucifixion; the border with smaller miniatures depicting the Flagellation, and Christ carrying the Cross.12. (f. 109r) Pentecost.13. (f. 113r) A Funeral Service; the border with smaller miniatures depicting Death in the form of a cadaver killing a man, and a priest officiating at a burial.14. (f. 151r) The Virgin and Child enthroned, adored by an angel and a female patron.Provenance: 1) Purchased in 1949 from William H. Robinson, Pall Mall booksellers, per pencil note on verso of front flyleaf: "From Robinsons, 25/8/49", by 2) William Alfred Westropp Foyle (1885-1963), British bookseller, with his burgundy morocco gilt bookplate to front pastedown. 3) By descent to his grandson William Richard Mervyn Christopher Foyle (1943-2022), aviator and bookseller.Front board somewhat stained. A few minor blemishes (e.g. slight pigment loss in the lower right corner of the miniature on f. 31r, and slight water-staining in the lower left corner), but generally in fine, clean condition throughout, with ample margins. An erased 17th-century(?) inscription in the lower margin of fol. 2r reads "Mon dieu qui voicy [?] est bon"; the same hand may have been responsible for lightly disguising the nudity that occurs in some marginal scenes, including Aquarius (leaf 1v), Gemini (leaf 5v) and Bathsheba (leaf 83r).
CARACCIOLO, Roberto.
[230] ll.A popular collection of sermons by the celebrated Franciscan bishop Roberto Caracciolo (ca. 1425-1495), also known as Robertus Caracciolus, one of the most famous Italian preachers of his time. Many of his sermon collections were published. The earlier ones contain just 50 sermons, whereas this first Reutlingen edition has 71.The sermons follow after the table of contents. Each of them is divided into an introduction and three chapters. Sermones de laudibus sanctorum is one of Caracciolo's main works. Although this Reutlingen edition is undated, the copy from the National Library in Prague contains a buyer's note dated 1492, so it must have been published in that year at the latest. The work had a significant impact on the practice of preaching in Europe from the 1480s onwards and the printed editions ensured that Caracciolo's popularity and influence continued after his death.This particular copy was part of the Furstenberg library. With an owner's inscription of the Franciscan monastery Villingen (near Freiburg) on the title page ("Bibliotheca Ff. Min. S. Francisci. Convt. Villinga."). With waste from a 14th (?) century paper manuscript used as pastedown, containing a fragment of Sermones de tempore by John Halgren of Abbeville (ca. 1180-1273). The spine is slightly cracked around the middle sewing support (raised band), slight staining on the title-page, small water stains in the lower and outer margins of most leaves, a few leaves slightly browned. Otherwise in good condition.l Goff C-151; GW 6060; Hain-Copinger 4476; IDL 1135; ISTC ic00151000; Proctor 2746.