Priestley, Joseph
Priestley, Joseph (1733-1804). Description d'une carte d'histoire contenant un essai sur les principales revolutions de tous les états qui ont figuré dans le monde . . . traduit de l'anglais par N. N. 116pp. Large engraved folding chart, hand-colored. Turin: Imprimerie Royale, 1784. 193 x 125 mm. Early 19th century prize binding of mottled calf, gilt spine, title in gilt on the front cover and "Examen d'août 1813" in gilt on the back cover. Folding chart with short tear (not affecting image) and light spotting and marginal browning, but a very good to fine copy. Prize bookplate noting that this copy was awarded to "M. Vacca" in August 1813. First Edition in French of Priestley's Description of a New Chart of History (1770), the most influential historical timeline of the 18th century. Although we remember Priestley today for his contributions to science, particularly his discovery of oxygen and other gases, he regarded himself primarily as an educator, one for whom the teaching and studying of history played a critical role. Priestley held the then-revolutionary belief that a knowledge of the entire world's history was essential to the education of Britain's future leaders, and he designed his New Chart of History to present, in his words, "a just image of the rise, progress, extent, duration, and contemporary state of all the considerable empires that have ever existed in the world. If a person carry his eye horizontally, he sees, in a very short time, all the revolutions that have taken place in any particular country, and under whose power it is at present; and this is done with more exactness, and in much less time, than it could have been done by reading" (quoted in Sheps, p. 146). While the arrangement of historical information in tabular form was not a new idea, Priestley was the first to arrange his chart in a horizontal rather than vertical alignment, and to emphasize the temporal relationships between various historical events. The accompanying descriptive text gives brief synopses of all the places represented on the chart, including not just the major European powers but also India, China, Korea, Japan, Ethiopia and colonial North and South America. The work was extremely popular, going through fifteen editions by 1816, and the present French translation helped to spread Priestley's new teaching methods throughout Europe. Sheps, "Joseph Priestley's time Charts: The use and teaching of history by rational dissent in late eighteenth-century England," Lumen 18 (1999): 135-154. . 1750.
Fry, Edmund
With the Very Rare Prospectus Bound In Fry, Edmund (1754-1835). Pantographia; containing accurate copies of all the known alphabets in the world; together with an English explanation of the peculiar force or power of each letter . . . xxxvi, 320pp., plus 11-page prospectus (dated August 1798) and single-sheet publisher's note (January 1799) bound at the back. London: Cooper and Wilson for John and Arthur Arch . . . ; John White . . . ; John Edwards . . . ; and John Debrett, 1799. 255 x 161 mm. (uncut). 19th-century quarter morocco, cloth boards, gilt-lettered spine. Fore-edges a bit frayed, otherwise very good to fine. First Edition. Fry, one of the most learned English typefounders of his day, spent sixteen years researching this book, which contains more than 200 specimens of ancient and modern alphabets from Abyssinian to Welsh together with phonological transcriptions in roman characters from various indigenous languages lacking written alphabets. The specimens are arranged in alphabetical order, with examples on the left-hand pages and Fry's descriptions of the alphabets on the right. Most of the type specimensâ"many cut expressly for this bookâ"were cast by Fry's foundry. "Fry published his compendium of specimens just as new archaeological approaches were beginning to reshape historical understanding. His bibliographic citations provided a snapshot of late eighteenth-century opinions about the chronological structures of the past. His notes on the subject gathered the many threads of biblical, mystical, cosmological, and historical understanding into a single collection. But alongside these varied frameworks, a clear attention to the history of the alphabet emerged. "Fry conscientiously cited his sources, works and pages, and this made his compendium singularly useful as a reference text for alphabet historiography" (Drucker, p. 118). This untrimmed example of Pantographia includes a copy of Fry's very rare prospectus for the work, together with his printed notice to subscribers begging their indulgence for the book's delayed issue. Drucker, Inventing the Alphabet: The Origins of Letters from Antiquity to the Present, pp. 118-119. Bigmore & Wyman, Bibliography of Printing, I, p. 243. .
Wilkinson, Gardner
Wilkinson, John Gardner (1797-1875). (1) Manners and customs of the ancient Egyptians . . . 3 vols., xxxvi, [2], 406; xxxiv, [2], 446; xxiv, 404, 8 [adverts.]pp. 17 plates (some chromolithographed, some folding); text illustrations. London: John Murray, 1842. With: (2) A second series of the manners and customs of the ancient Egyptians . . . 2 vols. plus supplement (index and plates). xxix, 444; xxxv, 483; xi, 37, [1], [12, adverts.]pp. 77 plates numbered 18-88 (some chromolithographed, some folding), including 6 plates numbered 30A, 35A, 36A, 37A, 43A and 54A; plates 73 and 74 renumbered 24A and 46A. Text illustrations. London: John Murray, 1841. Together 6 volumes. 224 x 141 mm. Original gilt-stamped cloth, expertly rebacked retaining original spines, slight edgewear; Remnant & Edmonds binder's label in some volumes. Very good set. Gift inscription dated 1845 in some volumes. Second edition of the first series; First Edition of the second series. Wilkinson, known as the "Father of British Egyptology," spent 12 years in Egypt visiting virtually every known ancient site, making skillful copies of paintings and inscriptions, and compiling copious notes on what he saw. On his return to England in 1833, he began publishing his researches in a series of works, the most important being Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians (first ed. 1837), which he followed four years later with the Second Series containing material he had omitted from the earlier work. Wilkinson's records of Egyptian antiquities prior to the advent of widespread tourism are an invaluable resource, and his numbering system for the tombs in the Valley of the Kings is still used today. . $2000.
Sallust
[Ged, William (1690-1749), printer.] Sallust [Gaius Sallustius Crispus] (86-35 BCE). Belli catilinarii et jugurthini historiae. [2], 150pp. Edinburgh: William Ged, 1744. 129 x 176 mm. Mottled calf gilt ca. 1744, light wear, three areas of insect damage on the front cover. Small marginal tear in leaf C7, light toning, but very good. Early ownership inscription on the front flyleaf. Second printing, with cancel title dated 1744, but printed from the same stereotype plates as the first edition of 1739. Ged's pocket edition of Sallust's histories was the first book to announce in print that it had been executed by this new method, as can be seen in the book's imprint: "Edinburghi: Gulielmus Ged, Aurifaber Edinensis, non Typis mobilis, ut vulgo fieri solet, sed Tabellis seu Laminis fusis, excudebat" [Edinburgh: Printed by William Ged, Goldsmith of Edinburgh, not from movable type, as is commonly done, but from cast plates]. Stereotype printing is a method of printing that uses solid metal plates cast from molds made from the surface of already-set type, thus eliminating the need to reset type for future editions (a laborious and costly process) or to "lock up" expensive type in printing formes for months at a time. "Between Gutenberg's invention of printing with movable metal types and the arrival in our own time of âfilmsetting' (photo-electric composition without the use of any types at all) . . . there has been only one really radical innovation: stereotype" (Carter, p. 161). Stereotype printing was probably invented in Germany at the turn of the eighteenth century. Ged, a Scottish goldsmith turned printer, is thought to have begun experimenting with stereotype printing plates circa 1725; around 1729 he moved to London, where he and his partners were granted a license by Cambridge University to print Bibles and prayer books using his new method. The venture did not prosper and Ged returned to Scotland, where in 1736 he published a proposal to issue his edition of Sallust, to be printed "from the most beautiful small types done by plates." Ged's stereotype method failed to catch on with other printers, lapsing into obscurity after his death; the process was reinvented by Foulis and Tilloch in the 1780s and perfected by the Earl of Stanhope in the early years of the 19th century. John Carter, "William Ged and the invention of stereotype," The Library, 5th series, 15 (1960): 161-192. . $1250.
Capell, Edward
First Book Printed Entirely on Wove Paper [Capell, Edward (1713-81).] Prolusions; or, select pieces of antient poetry, compiled with great care from their several origins . . . [4], xi, 23, [1], 23, [1], 13, [3], 93, [15], 81, [3]pp. London: Printed for J. and R. Tonson, 1760. 178 x 112 mm. Early 19th-century calf, gilt spine, upper extremity a bit chipped, light wear, spine labels missing. Very good, clean copy. A few pencil notes in the margins. First Edition. This collection of early English poetry, compiled and edited by Shakespearean critic Edward Capell, was the first book printed entirely on James Whatman's wove paper. Whatman (1702-59), a British papermaker, invented a new method of producing high-quality, very smooth paper using a finely woven metal mesh base rather than the traditional laid-paper mesh that produced paper with a visible corrugated texture. Whatman invented wove paper in at the request of John Baskerville, whose famous edition of Virgil (1757) was printed largely (but not entirely) on the new stock; by 1759 Whatman had substantially improved his process, eliminating any trace of "bar shadow" or chain line. Whatman's innovations led to the large-scale and widespread industrialization of paper manufacture. Capell's book is also notable in the history of bibliography: It represents the first modern edition of many of the poems collected here, and contains the first use of quasi-facsimile reproduction of title pages. .
Meurs, Jan de (Meursius)
Meursius [van Meurs], Johannes (1579-1639). Athenae atticae. Sive, de praecipuis Athenarum antiquitatibus, libri III. [8], 184, [24]pp. Leiden: apud Commelinos fratres, 1624. 199 x 154 mm. Paneled calf ca. 1624, rebacked, corners a bit worn. Very good. Engraved armorial bookplate of Thomas Seabright, Baronet (1723-61). From the library of humanist scholar Roberto Weiss (1906-69), with his pencil signature dated 1945 on the front free endpaper; pencil note recording Weiss's ownership on the front pastedown. First Edition of the first guidebook to Athens and its antiquities. This copy is from the library of Roberto Weiss, author of The Renaissance Discovery of Classical Antiquity (1969), which had this to say about Meursius's work: "Our knowledge of Greek antiquity began rather late. By the middle of the fifteenth century Roman antiquity had already been the object of study for nearly a century and of indiscriminate admiration for much longer. On the other hand, despite Crusades and trade, Latin rule and missionary effort, the archeological study of the Greek world during the Renaissance practically began and ended with Ciraiaco d'Ancona, and by 1455 Ciriaco was dead. After him the Turkish conquest of Byzantine lands put an end to antiquarian travel in Greek territories for about a century; and when Pierre Gilles went to Constantinople in 1546 as an antiquary to the French ambassador, the Renaissance was nearly over. Gilles's two treatises appeared in print only in 1561 and deal with the topography of Constantinople and the Bosporus. No account of the topography of Athens, which is shown as a typically German city in the great Nuremberg chronicle of 1493, was published until 1624, when the Athenae Atticae of Johannes Meursius was issued for the first time. This Leiden professor had deemed it more comfortable to rely on literary sources than to go over to Greece to see for himself. His handbook remained the indispensable guide of every cultivated traveller to Athens for over a century" (p. 113). .
Hauy
[Haüy, René Just (1743-1822).] (1) Instruction sur les mesures déduites de la grandeur de la terre, uniformes pour toute la république, et sur les calculs relatifs à leur division décimale. xxxii, 224, [28] pp. Folding plate. Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, An II [1793/94]. Bound with: (2) Instruction abrégée sur les mesures déduites de la grandeur de la terre, uniformes pour toute la république . . . xiv, 147, [29]pp. 3 plates. Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, An II [1793/94]. Bound with: (3) Table de rapports entre les mesures républicaines et les mesures anciennes, le plus généralement employées en France . . . 16pp. Folding table. Paris: Imprimerie de la République, An III [1794/95]. Bound with: (4) Vocabulaire des mesures républicaines, contenant l'indication de leurs valeurs et de leurs principaux usages . . . 7pp. Paris: Imprimerie de la République, An VI [1797/98]. Together 4 items in 1. 195 x 120 mm. Mottled calf gilt ca. 1798, a few areas of insect damage, small gouge in back cover. Folding plate inn (1) loose, table in (3) a bit frayed, but very good. First Editions of the two works (nos. [1] and [2] above) that introduced the metric system to the worldâ"one of the few permanent social reforms resulting from the French Revolution. In 1788 the French Academy of Sciences, at the suggestion of Talleyrand, proposed the establishment of a new universal decimal system of measurement founded upon some "natural and invariable base" to replace Europe's diverse regional systems. This project was approved by the National Assembly in 1790 and a basic unit or "meter" of measurement proposed, which was to be a decimal unit one ten-millionth of the distance between the terrestrial pole and the Equator. In 1791 the French national assembly voted to replace the old French unit of length (toise) with this new unit. In the summer of 1792 Jean Baptiste Delambre and Pierre François André Méchain embarked from Paris to establish the definitive length of the meter by taking geodetic measurements along the Dunkink-Barcelona meridian. In August 1793, while Méchain and Delambre were still carrying out their task, the French National Assembly "affirmed the decimal system and the meridianal definition of the meter, ordered the continuation of the work, and decreed that the Academy provide for the manufacture, distribution, and explanation of provisional meters for general use while it prosecuted its measurements. This provisional meter was defined as a ten-millionth of ninety times the average degree in France as determined by Lacaille [in 1739-40] . . . It differed from the definitive meter by about a quarter of a millimeter" (Heilbron, pp. 227-228). The definitive meter, as determined by Méchain and Delambre, would not be announced until the publication of Delambre's Base du système métrique decimal (1806-10). The new metric system was set forth in two works issued in Year Two of the Republic (1793/94) by the government's Temporary Commission on Republican Weights and Measures. The first was Instruction sur les mesures, which emphasized mathematics and theory; the second was an abridged version containing a shorter and simpler presentation of the system. On p. xxxii of Instruction sur les mesures the commission announced that these two versions would be followed by a third, which "will only present a précis of the system, and which will be printed partly in octavo format for distribution, and partly as a broadside to be displayed in public places for viewing by all citizens." We have not been able to find a record of this third version. Both Instruction sur les mesures and its abridged version were also issued by several other French publishers throughout the country; these provincial editions, of which we have never seen a definitive listing, are often confused with the true first edition. The unnamed author was French crystallographer René Just Haüy, a member of the Temporary Commission. These two works are bound with two pamphlets on the metric system issued shortly afterwards: A table for converting the old French measures into republican ones; and a list of the new metric terms with definitions and descriptions of their use. Dibner, Heralds of Science, 113 (no. [1], citing a copy published in Macon in 1794). Heilbron, "The measure of enlightenment," in Frängsmyr, Heilbron and Rider, eds., The Quantifying Spirit in the Eighteenth Century (1990), pp. 207-242. .
IRILODRAD
IRILODRAD (possibly an anagram for J. Rodilard). Doutes sur l'ortographe franceze. 192pp. N.p., n.d. [1750]. 151 x 83 mm. Calf ca. 1750, gilt spine, light rubbing. Minor foxing and toning but very good. A few pencil marks in the text. Second edition (?), first published in 1693. This anonymously published printers' manual proposes a number of changes to the French orthography (spelling) of his day, such as replacing the final x with s in words like mieux and eliminating double consonants in words like appartenir. "The author, who hides under the anagram of Trilodrad [sic], can be classified among the innovators, although most of the reforms he requests have been accomplished in successive editions of the Dictionary of the Academy" (Firmin-Didot, Observations sur l'orthographe ou ortografie française, suivies d'une histoire de la réforme orthographique depuis le XVe siècle, vol. 12, p. 240 [translation ours]). Barber, French Letterpress Printing (1969) p. 3. . 3750+.
Pauli, Wolfgang
Beginning of "the Modern Electron Theory of Metals" -- Presentation Copy Pauli, Wolfgang (1900-1958). Über Gasentartung und Paramagnetismus. Offprint from Zeitschrift für Physik 41 (1927). 81-102pp. 228 x 156 mm. Original printed wrappers, slightly worn. Very good. Presentation Copy, Inscribed by Pauli to H. A. Kramers (1894-1952) on the front wrapper: "Meinem lieben Kramers mit den herzlichsten Grüßen! [in pen] Für Ihre Karte noch besten Dank! [in pencil]." Laid in is an autograph letter signed in Dutch to Kramers, dated 11 March 1927, from Fr. W. Wolthoff[?] at the Pharmaceutisch Laboratorium der Rijks-Universiteit, Utrecht; the letter contains some pencil calculations in the left margin possibly by Kramers. First Edition, Offprint Issue of Pauli's paper on gas degeneracy and paramagnetismâ""the point of departure for the modern electron theory of metals" (Enz, No Time to be Brief: A Scientific Biography of Wolfgang Pauli, p. 122). In the paper Pauli derived what is now known as Pauli paramagnetism, which Wikipedia defines as follows: For some alkali metals and noble metals, conduction electrons are weakly interacting and delocalized in space forming a Fermi gas. For these materials one contribution to the magnetic response comes from the interaction between the electron spins and the magnetic field known as Pauli paramagnetism. About this paper, Pauli's student and assistant Rudolf Peierls stated that "it is probably no exaggeration to say that the modern electron theory of metals was started by Pauli's paper on the paramagnetism of an electron gas" (quoted in Enz, "W. Pauli's scientific work," p. 782). Pauli presented this copy to Dutch physicist H. A. Kramers, one of the main architects, together with Pauli, Heisenberg and Schrödinger, of quantum mechanics. Pauli's inscription can be translated as "To my dear Kramers with warmest regards! Many thanks for your card!" Enz, "W. Pauli's scientific work," in J. Mehra, ed., The Physicist's Conception of Nature, pp. 766-799. .
Pauli, Wolfgang
Pauli, Wolfgang (1900-1958). Über das Modell des Wasserstoffmolekülions. Offprint from Annalen der Physik, 4th series, 68 (1922). 177-240pp. 227 x 145 mm. Without wrappers as issued, small splits in spine. Minor wear and toning but very good. Presented by Pauli to Dutch physicist H. A. Kramers (1894-1952), with Pauli's pencil inscription "Herrn Dr. Kramers" on the first leaf. First Edition, Rare Offprint Issue of Pauli's doctoral thesis. At the urging of his teacher, Arnold Sommerfeld, Pauli chose as his topic the quantum theory of ionized molecular hydrogen (H2+), which contains two protons and one electron. As Heisenberg (also a student of Sommerfeld's) later recalled, Pauli "wanted to examine if, in a complicated system for which one was just barely capable of doing the calculations, Bohr's theory and the Bohr-Sommerfeld quantum conditions led to the experimentally correct result. For, in our Munich discussions doubts had come to us whether the hitherto obtained successes of the theory were not limited to simple systems and whether a failure might not occur already in the more complicated system" (quoted in Enz, No Time to be Brief: A Scientific Biography of Wolfgang Pauli, p. 63). Pauli's efforts, although they obtained him his doctorate, did not yield a successful quantum theory of H2+; according to Born, who reviewed Pauli's work on H2+ in his Lectures on Quantum Mechanics, the resulting energy values "cannot be made to agree with the measurements of the ionization and excitation voltages" (quoted in Enz, p. 69). The problem of the hydrogen molecular ion was not solved until 1927, when Øyvind Burrau published the first successful quantum-mechanical treatment of H2+. Pauli presented this paper to H. A. Kramers, one of the key architects, together with Schrödinger, Pauli and Werner Heisenberg, of quantum mechanics. Among his many contributions to physics are the Kramers-Heisenberg formula; Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin approximation; Kramers-Kronig relations; Kramers-Wanner duality; Kramers model for polymer chains; Kramers-Anderson superexchange; Kramers' degeneracy theorem; Kramers-Moval expansion; and the Kramers opacity law. 45900.
Lepsius, Karl Richard (1810-84). Das Todtenbuch der Ägypter nach dem hieroglyphischen Papyrus in Turin. 24pp. 79 full-page lithograph plates printed in black and red (3 folding), by Max Weidenbach. Leipzig: Georg Wigand, 1842. 325 x 269 mm. 19th century half cloth, marbled boards, light edgewear, back cover a bit scuffed, a few small areas of loss in the marbled paper covering the boards. Minor foxing but fine otherwise. First Edition. The Egyptian "Book of the Dead," a loose collection of ancient religious / magical funerary texts intended to assist a dead person's journey into the afterlife, was first given that name by Prussian archeologist Karl Richard Lepsius, one of the founders of modern scientific Egyptology. Lepsius's Todtenbuch der Ägypter represents the first printed edition of a Book of the Dead; it reproduces the Ptolemaic text known as "papyrus Turin 1791." The work introduced Lepsius's numbering system for the Book's texts or "spells," which is still in use today. There is no canonical version of the Book of the Dead. The Book's spells derive from the hieroglyphic funerary texts carved on the walls of royal tombs and later written on coffins; the earliest identifiable spells from the Book, found on the coffin of Queen Menthuhotep, date from about 1600 B.C.E. Around 1550 B.C.E. papyrus copies of Books of the Dead, written in cursive hieroglyphic script, began to be substituted for wall carvings or coffin inscriptions. These were often prefabricated in funerary workshops, with spaces left for the name of the deceased to be filled in later; the Book of the Dead is thus one of the earliest literary works to be commercially produced. .
Peignot, Étienne-Gabriel (1767-1849). Répertoire bibliographique universel, contenant la notice raisonnée des bibliographies spéciales publiées jusqu'à ce jour . . . xx, 514pp. Paris: Antoine-Augustin Renouard, 1812. 201 x 123 mm. Quarter morocco gilt, mottled boards ca. 1812, spine faded, light wear. Minor foxing and toning but very good. First Edition of the first bibliography of bibliographies, "containing a critical notice of the special bibliographies published to date, and of a large number of other works of bibliography, relating to literary history, and to all parts of bibliology" (title). The work is divided into sections on bibliography (including the history of printing), theology, jurisprudence, sciences and arts, belles-lettres, and history. Peignot, a librarian, was one of the most famous bibliographers of his time. .
Gough, Richard (1735-1809). An account of a rich illuminated missal executed for John Duke of Bedford, regent of France under Henry VI. And afterwards in the possession of the late Duchess of Portland. [4], 86pp. 4 engraved plates. London: J. Nichols for T. Payne, 1794. 285 x 224 mm. (uncut). Later quarter calf, boards, light wear. Some foxing and toning throughout, especially to the plates, but very good. Armorial bookplate of the Bibliotheca Lindesiana. Former owner's pencil notes on the front free endpaper and on pp. 81 and 82, the last notes detailing the history of the Bedford Missal's ownership in the 18th and 19th centuries. First Edition. Gough's monograph on the famous "Bedford Missal," a richly illuminated 15th-century book of hours, was the first monograph on an illuminated manuscript published in English and may be considered the beginning of English scholarship on the subject. Most of Gough's text was devoted to explaining details in the missal's 59 miniatures, and to discussing details of its prior owners, from John of Lancaster, Duke of Bedford (1389-1435) to Margaret Bentinck, Duchess of Portland (1715-85). Gough, a prominent and influential antiquarian, was director of the Society of Antiquaries from 1771 to 1791 and the author of several works on British antiquities. .
[Bede, the Venerable (672/73 - 735).] De computo, vel loquela per gestum digitorum [and] De ratione unciarum. In Hoc in volumine haec continentur M. Val. Probus de notis Roma. ex codice manuscript castigatior . . . , ed. Giovanni Tacuino (Venice: G. Tacuino, 1525), ff. LV - LVII. Whole volume, 4to. [4], LXXIX [i.e., LXXXI], [1]ff. Title in red and black. Full-page woodcut of a sibyl within an architectural setting, signed "b. M." in the block (probably Benedetto Montagna), a few woodcut initials. 211 x 153 mm. Modern vellum. Fine. Probably the Earliest Printings of Bede's accounts of finger-reckoning and duodecimal fractions. Bede's "De computo, vel loquela per gestum digitorum" (On calculating and speaking with the fingers) and "De ratione unciarum" (On calculating duodecimal fractions) form part of the introduction to his treatise De temporum ratione (On the reckoning of time), written around 725 A.D. The editio princeps of De temporum ratione was published by Sichardus in 1529, four years after the present work. Portions of De temporum ratione appeared in print as early as 1505, but these do not appear to have included the section on finger-reckoning. Smith, in his Rara arithmetica, states that the 1522 edition of Johannes Aventinus's Abacus atque vetustissima, veterum latinorum per digitos manusque numerandi contains a description of Bede's finger-reckoning; however, we think this may be an error, since we have not been able to find any record of this edition in OCLC or the Karlsruhe Virtual Catalogue. Smith himself described only the 1532 edition of Aventinus's work (see Rara arithmetica, pp. 136-138). Bede's two disquisitions are contained in a collection of works on Latin abbreviations, symbols, weights, measures and inscriptions edited by Giovanni Tacuino. The collection is devoted primarily to works on deciphering the abbreviations used in classical-era stone or bronze inscriptions, a subject of great interest to humanistic scholars eager to discover more about the ancient world. Included in the collection is the editio princeps of Petrus Diaconus' De notus literarum more Romano liber (which Tacuino had discovered), along with a new edition of M. Valerius Probus' De notus Romanorum and several transcriptions of Roman inscriptions in quasi-facsimile. The typographic design of the title is reminiscent of an ancient text in stone. Finger-reckoning, a method of computation in which numbers are represented by finger and hand gestures, had been practiced since ancient times and was commonly used during the Middle Ages; however, there are very few written accounts of the technique dating from these times, probably because it was used primarily by "common or illiterate people" (Menninger, p. 201) who passed its methods on orally. Bede's account of the practice, although not the first, was the best and most influential. His purpose was to provide a useful method for calculating the Christian calendar, most importantly the date of Easter and other movable feasts. Bede listed finger- and hand symbols for the numerals 1 through 9999; these "roughly work like a placement system. The middle, ring, and little fingers of the left hand denote the digits; the thumb and index fingers on the left hand express the tens; the thumb and index finger on the right hand the hundreds; and the middle, ring and little fingers the thousands . . . The informal manner in which Bede explains how to flex the fingers and form gestures seems to retain traces of oral instruction" (Kusukawa, pp. 28-29). Prior to Europe's adoption of Arabic numerals, finger-reckoning provided a rudimentary method of place-value calculation. "Neither Bede nor any of his contemporaries in Western Europe knew about place value or zero, but finger reckoning enabled them to proceed as if they did. Finger joints supplied place valueâ"one joint 10s, another 100s and so onâ"and zero was indicated by the normal relaxed position of the fingersâ"by nothing, so to speak. The system was even capable of simple computation" (Crosby, The Measure of Reality: Quantification in Western Europe, 1250-1600, p. 42). Bede's explanation of the Roman system of duodecimal fractions, which follows the description of finger-reckoning, clarifies the terminology and provides a list of synonyms for different types of fractions. Kusukawa, "A manual computer for reckoning time," in Sherman, Writing on Hands: Memory and Knowledge in Early Modern Europe, pp. 28-34. Menninger, Number Words and Number Symbols: A Cultural History of Numbers, pp. 201-8. .
Marolles, Michel de (1600-1681). Catalogue de livres d'estampes et de figures en taille douce. 167, [15]pp. Paris: Frederic Leonard, 1666. 168 x 107 mm. Full red morocco ca. 1666, gilt spine, and inner dentelles, all edges gilt; in quarter morocco drop-back box. Outer leaves a bit foxed but a fine copy. Bookplate of Hans (Jean) Fürstenberg (1890-1982) First Edition of the first book on print collecting. Marolles, a French churchman and avid collector, amassed a collection of over 120,000 engravings by more than 6000 masters, which he had bound into 400 large volumes. In his Catalogue he arranged the collection into schools, and in his preliminary and concluding essays he illuminated market conditions and the methods and tastes of fellow collectors. He also documented the relative weighting, in acquisition decisions, of physical condition, rarity, provenance, artist, engraver and the beauty of the image. Perhaps because of this book, Louis XIV's finance minister, Jean-Baptiste Colbert, purchased Marolles's print collection for 26,000 livres, and it became the basis of the Cabinet d'Estampes at the Bibliothèque royale (now the Bibliothèque nationale de France). Marolles distinguished "originals," i.e. those engraved by the master, from those engraved by others. He identified a substantial number of engravers, and he explained to other collectors how to arrange their collections into albums. He also listed the plates in many famous illustrated books on cartography, architecture, travel and other subjects. This copy was once owned by the noted German-French book collector Hans Furstenberg; see the article on him in Wikipedia. .
The First Illustrated Art Museum Catalogue Pigage, Nicolas de (1723-96) and Christian von Mechel (1737-1817). La galerie électorale de Dusseldorff, ou, catalogue raisonné et figuré de ses tableaux . . . Oblong folio. xiv, [2], 34, [2], 28, [2], 52, [2], 42, [2], 28, [2], 44pp. 30 engraved plates with guards, numbered A - D and I - XXVI, engraved vignettes. Basel: Chez Chrétien de Mechel & chez Mrs. les Inspecteurs des Galeries Électorales à Dusseldorff & à Mannheim, 1778. 286 x 368 mm. 18th century sheep, rebacked preserving original gilt spine, light wear to corners. Stain on plate XII also slightly affecting plate XIII, otherwise very good. Engraved armorial bookplate of Thomas Munro (1819-1901); later bookplate of Peter and Linda Murray, bookseller's ticket of R. C. Stanes, Chelmsford. First Edition. "A revolutionary step in the history of museums, museum publications, and the art book" (Gaehtgens and Marchesano, p. 33). La galerie électorale de Dusseldorff, an illustrated catalogue of the magnificent art collection of Carl Theodor, Elector of Bavaria (1724-99), was the first publication to contain both illustrations and detailed descriptions of the artwork being recorded; "no other text describing in great depth the individual paintings in a gallery's collection existed at the time" (ibid.). The Elector's collection of Italian and Flemish paintings, including a large group by Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640), and other important paintings byVandyk, Giordano,Tintoretto, Carracci, Veronese, Raphael, Corregio, Rembrandt and Reni, were reproduced in the catalogue by engravings showing the paintings in situ on the walls of the Dusseldorf gallery. These engravings, sumptuously printed on thick paper, illustrated the gallery's innovative approach to staging its paintings: Not only did the gallery abandon the practice of hanging paintings frame-to-frame, "allowing them to preserve their identity as works of art in the space," but "the principle of hanging paintings in a gallery according to decorative and representational considerations was abandoned in favor of a system of order determined by the history and significance of the artwork themselves, resulting in a history of art" (Gaehtgens and Marchesano, p. 31). The Elector's gallery can thus be seen as an important ancestor of the modern museum, and its catalogue as a forerunner of the modern museum catalogue. The alle- gorical frontispiece (plate A) by Nicolas Guibal includes a portrait of Prince Elector Johann Wilhelm von der Pfalz, the founder of the art collection. Gaehtgens and Marchesano, Display & Art History: The Dusseldorf Gallery and its Catalogue (2011). .
Moréri, Louis (1643-80). The great historical, geographical and poetical dictionary; being a curious miscellany of sacred and prophane history . . . 2 vols. [1246]pp., unnumbered. London: Printed for Henry Rhodes . . . Luke Meredith . . . John Harris . . . and Thomas Newborough, 1694. 390 x 238 mm. Paneled calf in antique style, gilt spines with leather labels. Minor foxing and toning but very good. Early owner's name ("Devereux Edgar") on the front flyleaves of both volumes. Bookplates. First Edition in English of Moréri's Le grand dictionnaire historique (1674), described in Printing and the Mind of Man as one of "the first vernacular encyclopedias to make an impact on the European world of letters . . . noteworthy for its emphasis on historical and biographical entries which for a long time were neglected by other compilers such as Bayle, Harris, and Chambers" (PMM 155). Moréri's work went through twenty editions before being supplanted in the mid-eighteenth century by Diderot and d'Alembert's Encyclopédie. The first English edition, translated from the sixth French edition, incorporates additional material "by several learned men" on "the lives, most remarkable actions, and writing of the illustrious families of our English, Scotch and Irish nobility, gentry, eminent clergy, and most famous men of all arts and sciences" (title-page), together with previously unpublished material by the English writer Edmond Bohun (1644/5 - 1699), originally intended for his Geographical Dictionary (1688). Wing M2725. . 4500.
[Sale, George (1697-1736) et al.] Histoire universelle depuis le commencement du monde jusqu'à présent. 46 volumes. Plates, maps. Amsterdam & Leipzig: Arkstée & Merkus, 1770-1802. 254 x 200 mm. Quarter calf gilt ca. 1802, occasional rubbing and wear, a few hinges splitting but with all the bindings intact. Minor foxing and uneven toning, but very good. "Nouvelle édition" of the French translation, first published between 1733 and 1751. Originally published in English in 65 volumes between 1736 and 1768, the Universal History, edited by British Orientalist scholar George Sale and others, was one of the first truly universal histories, unifying the history of Western Europe with what was then known about the rest of the world. "Many scholars have noted the egalitarian views behind Sale's Universal History; i.e., its lack of distinction in content, treating each civilization that existed in as much detail as possible. This egalitarian perspective not only manifested itself in the main framework of the book, but also in the selection of sources. Compared with earlier works, the set of books edited by Sale discursively overcame Western-centric and Christian-centric thinking. They not only used the Bible and the records of ancient writers but also absorbed large amounts of information from the Arab world and content from contemporary travel accounts . . .The content of this universal history was different from traditional universal histories . . . [including] information on geography, politics, economy, philosophy, religion, culture, and architecture" (Yibo, pp. 136-137). Sale's work went through several editions in English and was translated into French, German and Italian. Z. Yibo, "The decline of a tradition: The changing fate of George Sale's Universal History and the transformation of modern European historiography," in Wang, Michihiro and Li, eds., Western Historiography in Asia, pp. 129-150. 42715 .
[Heinecken, Karl Heinrich (1706-91).] Idée générale d'une collection complette d'estampes. Avec une dissertation sur l'origine de la gravure & sur les premiers livres d'images. [16], 520, [32]pp. 32 engraved and woodcut plates, engraved text illustration on leaf R5v, occasional small woodcut illustrations. Leipzig and Vienna: Jean Paul Kraus, 1771. 201 x 120 mm. Mottled calf ca. 1771, gilt spine with leather label, front hinge cracking, rear hinge tender, light wear. Some foxing and toning throughout, but very good. First Edition of the first systematic guide to collecting prints, block books and the earliest printed books. Heinecken, a German art historian, art collector, librarian and diplomat, was director of Dresden's Kupferstich-Kabinette, an independent museum of prints and drawings established in 1560; he also owned one of the finest private collections of early engravings and woodcuts. Heinecken's work is exceptional among other eighteenth-century guides to collecting in the number and quality of its illustrations, which include 32 engraved and woodcut plates reproducing images from early Italian, French, Flemish, German and English works. Bigmore and Wyman, Bibliography of Printing, pp. 310-320. . 1500.
