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Discours dv Bon et Loial Subiet de la Grande Bretagne

Discours dv Bon et Loial Subiet de la Grande Bretagne, a la Reyne de ce Pays tovchant la Paix & affaires d’iceluy. A la Gloire de Charles Premier, Roy de ce Royaume séant en son Parlement, distingué en tous ses Ordres selon la volonté des Roys & Reynes, et representé par Figures en Tailles douces.

[CIVIL WAR PAMPHLET]. First edition; 4to (22 x 17.5cm); 3 folding plates (each approx. 35 x 26 cm), 2 engraved portraits, woodcut initials and decorations throughout the text, engraved armorial book-stamp to last leaf verso displaying motto 'light in darKines lumiere dans les tenebres'; one integral blank leaf, title page stained and browned, some marginal staining and browning throughout, creasing to corners, one small wormhole affecting 4 leaves; side-stitched contemporary marbled wrappers, worn and soiled with extensive loss to upper wrapper; [16], 39, [1]pp. A curious and rare anonymous English Civil War pamphlet published in Paris by Michel Mettaier (sometimes spelt Mettayer) in 1648 following the capture of Charles I by parliamentarian forces the previous year. The first part of the work consists of three large folding plates depicting the House of Lords, the House of Commons and the Convocation of Canterbury, with explicatory notes explaining the history and function of these bodies in the English parliamentary system. The latter part of the book contains an original address to Henrietta Maria, Queen of England illustrated with facing engraved portraits of the Queen and the Prince of Wales, and signed simply 'le bon et loyal svbiet'. It introduces a short statement in both English and French, allegedly translated from an original Latin version, which purports to be the words of Liudolf (c.930-957), an Ottonian Duke of Swabia and grandson of the German king, Henry the Fowler (919-936). The text claims that Liudolf did not die in 957, but rather feigned his death to take exile in Mantua in the hope that his descendants would one day regain his power and prestige. The tale was likely intended by the royalist author to offer hope to the exiled queen and her son, who were soon to become widow and orphan to the executed king.
  • $1,785
  • $1,785
book (2)

Monograph of the Trochilidae, or a family of humming birds.

GOULD, John. Six volumes, folio, (55 x 35.5 cm); 418 hand-colored lithographs, many heightened with gold leaf & other iridescent mineral paints, overpainted with transparent oil and varnish colors, after John Gould, H.C. Richter and W. Hart; Contemporary half green morocco, spines with raised bands richly decorated in gilt, titles, volumes all gilt, all edges gilt. First editions of the main title and of the Supplement. Gould maintained an obsessive fascination for Hummingbirds: 'These wonderful works of creation my thoughts are often directed to them in the day, and my night dreams have not infrequently carried me to their native forests in the distant country of America' (Preface). During his lifetime he identified more than 400 species of Hummingbird, Linneaus, by comparison, having only identified 22. Gould famously exhibited his personal collection (from which the plates in this monograph are drawn) at the Great Exhibition of 1851 in the Zoological Gardens in Regents Park, and one of his revolving displays of these tiny birds with their 'jewel-like glittering hues' (Preface) can be seen currently at the Yale Center for British Art as part of their exhibition Endless Forms: Charles Darwin and the Natural Sciences. As a result Gould's 'masterpiece [is] an incomparable catalogue and compendium of beauties' (Sitwell, Fine Bird Books). Initially employed as a taxidermist [he was known as the 'bird-stuffer'] by the Zoological Society, Gould's fascination with birds from the east began in the 'late 1820s [when] a collection of birds from the Himalayan mountains arrived at the Society's museum and Gould conceived the idea of publishing a volume of imperial folio sized hand-coloured lithographs of the eighty species, with figures of a hundred birds' (A Century of Birds Hitherto Unfigured from the Himalaya Mountains, 1830-32). Gould's friend and mentor N.A. Vigors supplied the text. Elizabeth Gould made the drawings and transferred them to the large lithographic stones. Having failed to find a publisher, Gould undertook to publish the work himself; it appeared in twenty monthly parts, four plates to a part, and was completed ahead of schedule. 'With this volume Gould initiated a format of publishing that he was to continue for the next fifty years, although for future works he was to write his own text. Eventually fifty imperial folio volumes were published on the birds of the world, except Africa, and on the mammals of Australia-he always had a number of works in progress at the same time. Several smaller volumes, the majority not illustrated, were published, and he also presented more than 300 scientific papers. 'His hand-coloured lithographic plates, more than 3300 in total, are called 'Gould plates'. Although he did not paint the final illustrations, this description is largely correct: he was the collector (especially in Australia) or purchaser of the specimens, the taxonomist, the publisher, the agent, and the distributor of the parts or volumes. He never claimed he was the artist for these plates, but repeatedly wrote of the 'rough sketches' he made from which, with reference to the specimens, his artists painted the finished drawings. The design and natural arrangement of the birds on the plates was due to the genius of John Gould, and a Gould plate has a distinctive beauty and quality. His wife was his first artist. She was followed by Edward Lear, Henry Constantine Richter, William Matthew Hart, and Joseph Wolf' (Gordon C. Sauer for DNB). Anker 177, 182; Diane Donaldson (Picturing Animals in Britain 1750-1850), pp. 59-60.
  • $208,250
  • $208,250
The Mammals of Australia.

The Mammals of Australia.

GOULD, John. 3 vols, folio, (55 x 37 cm); 182 fine hand-coloured lithographic plates, most heightened with gum-arabic, by Gould and Henry Constantine Richter, printed by Hullmandel & Walton, subscriber's list, scattered light foxing affecting some text leaves and plates, some offsetting, very light marginal browning and occasional trivial finger-soiling; publisher's green morocco gilt, spines richly gilt in six compartments with raised bands, gilt lettering to second and third compartments, all edges gilt, yellow endpapers, corners slightly rubbed; overall an extremely handsome copy. One of the most important works ever attempted by Gould. Gould's interest in Australia was piqued by specimens sent back by his wife's brothers who had settled there. He soon realized that 'the "natural productions" of the country were untapped' (ODNB) and set out there in 1838, spending 18 months in the country. 'It was not until I arrived in Australia, and found myself surrounded by objects as strange as if I had been transported to another planet, that I conceived the idea of devoting a portion of my attention to the mammalian class of its extraordinary fauna' (Preface). In his Analytical Index to Gould's works, his long-time assistant, R. Bowdler Sharpe described The Mammals as 'One of the most important works ever attempted by Gould.' He had known 'that this work was never going to be remunerative on the same scale as his ornithological ones, but his motive was purely as a contribution to science - for which, on reflection, he thought he might have deserved more praise.' The Mammals was issued, as with all Gould's great natural history monographs, in parts. The first appeared on 1 May 1845 and the final 13th part on 1 May 1863. Each of the first 12 included 15 plates, a cleverly balanced mixture of the exciting with the more prosaic, each of them accompanied by descriptive text, the final part was made up of just two plates, but provided the preliminary titles, text and indices. As with all of Gould's publications the completed work is a sumptuous production, which contributed much to the history, documentation and illustration of Australia's numerous unique species, all too many of which are now sadly extinct. BM(NH) II,p.701; Nissen ZBI 1661 & 1662; Sauer 11 & 14; Wood p.365.
  • $136,850
  • $136,850
Contes populaires russes [Russian Folk Tales].

Contes populaires russes [Russian Folk Tales].

PUSHKIN, Alexander; LÉBDÉFF, Jean (illustrator). Limited edition, one of 230 copies on vélin de Rives, this numbered 77; 4to (33 x 25 cm); translated from the Russian by Alexandra de Holstein et René Ghil, woodcut illustrations and decorations hand-coloured by Jean Saudé, minor thumb stains; unbound in the original thick wrappers, minor age toning to borders, in the original cloth backed portfolio, spine faded and flaps very worn, otherwise very good copy. Limited edition of Pushkin's tales with wonderful hand-coloured illustrations. Jean Lébédeff was born in a small town near Nizhniy Novgorod in 1884 to a family of grain merchants. Aged 22 he became a navigator and shortly afterwards captain of a merchant ship on the Volga. He was abhorred by the deplorable behaviour of the Tsar's guards and banished them from his vessel. Seeing as he didn't have the authority to relieve them from duty, he fled to France in order to escape imprisonment. The experience left an indelible mark on Lébédeff and he remained fervently anti-imperialist his whole life, befriending Kropotkin in exile and hiding anarchists and Jews during WWII. In 1909 he settled in Paris and studied at the Beaux-Arts, where his love affair with woodcut engraving was born. His artistic career was incredibly fruitful and his circle of friends included some of the most notable creative figures of the era such as Modigliani, Picabia, Cendrars, Soutine and Matisse. Despite acquiring his education in France his style of illustration is much akin to Russian lubok prints. Pushkin's fairy tales have received numerous different interpretations and this particular rendition is particularly charming, no doubt influencing later émigré artists such as Goncharova.
  • $2,975
  • $2,975
O trekh rytsariakh i o rubakhe [The Three Knights and the Shirt].

O trekh rytsariakh i o rubakhe [The Three Knights and the Shirt].

LEBEDEV, Ivan (illustrator); EHRENBURG, Ilya (translator); BAISIEUX, Jacques de. Limited edition, one of 25 copies on Japon de 'Shidzouka', from a total edition of 685, signed by Lebedev; folio (39 x 28 cm); illustrated and engraved entirely by Lebedev, lettrines coloured by hand; stitched in the original self-wrappers, some age toning to margin of upper cover, otherwise a very good copy. One of only 25 copies on Japon. Signed by the illustrator. This impressive production was a collaboration between two Russian émigrés based in Paris (specifically Montparnasse) at that time – the artist and illustrator Ivan Lebedev (1884 – 1972) and the writer Ilya Ehrenburg (1891 – 1967). This was one of Ehrenburg's earliest published works. The Three Knights and the Shirt was originally a fabliau written by Jacques de Baisieux, a French-language poet and troubadour of the late thirteenth century. Short narratives in verse between 300 and 400 lines long, fabliaux were written by jongleurs in Northeast France between 1150 and 1400 and went on to feature in and inspire works such as Le Roman de Renart, the Decamerone, and the Canterbury Tales. This edition, produced in the style of a medieval manuscript is coloured by hand and signed by the artist. All of the woodblocks used were destroyed immediately after printing and remaining examples are decidedly rare. Not in the Russian State Library; WorldCat locates three copies at Harvard, Yale and the British Library.
  • $3,000
  • $3,000
How I Found Livingstone. Travels

How I Found Livingstone. Travels, adventures, and discoveries in Central Africa; including four months’ residence with Dr. Livingstone.

STANLEY, Henry Morton. First edition. 8vo, xxiii, 736 pp., 6 maps (1 large folding, slightly foxed, 3 other folding, 1 full-page, 1 in text), mounted photograph frontispiece of Stanley, numerous full-page and other illustrations, original brown pictorial cloth gilt, minimal restoration to spine extremities, a very good copy. 'One of the most famous books in the broad spectrum of African exploration, this title acquainted many a nineteenth-century reader with the wonders of the Dark Continent' (Czech). 'Stanley landed in Zanzibar on 6 January 1871 to begin the search for Dr. David Livingstone, the Scottish missionary and explorer whose whereabouts in central Africa had become a question of international concern since his last letter of 30 May 1869. The journey lasted 236 days. On the morning of 3 November, with an American flag flying on a pole, Stanley led his remaining fifty-four men down a mountain toward a lake and his historic meeting with Dr. Livingstone. Stanley returned to Europe to a hero's welcome, though he had to contend with accusations that the Livingstone letters and journals he brought back were forgeries; members of the Royal Geographical Society wanted to ignore the American who had found "their man" in Africa. But he received the gratitude of Livingstone's family and official thanks from Queen Victoria. The public's appetite for his published story was voracious' (Delaney, Mountains of the Moon).
  • $3,000
  • $3,000
book (2)

A Thankfull Remembrance of Gods Mercie. In an Historicall Collection of the Great and Mercifull Deliverances of the Church and State of England, since the Gospel beganne here to flourish, from the beginning of Queene Elizabeth.

CARLETON, George. Third edition; 4to (18.4 x 13.8 cm); engraved portrait frontispiece of the author, additional engraved title, numerous engravings to text, light age-toning, contemporary ink ownership inscriptions to prelims, V&A exhibition label to front pastedown, hinges cracked but holding, some evidence of worming to endpapers, rear flyleaf torn with loss; contemporary panelled calf, boards slightly worn, corners rubbed, overall a very good copy. Third edition, revised and enlarged, compiled by George Carleton, Bishop of Chichester (1619-1628). This work traces supposed attempts on the part of Catholics within and without England to overthrow the Protestant state. This copy was exhibited at the V&A as part of the 'Exhibition of Anglo-Jewish Art and History in Commemoration of the Resettlement of the Jews in the British Isles' in 1956 (bookplate to front pastedown). Queen Elizabeth I's physician, Roderigo Lopez, was tried and executed for allegedly plotting to kill the queen in 1594. As a Portuguese double agent, 'Doctor Lopez a Jew' was said to have conspired with the Spanish, England's enemies at that time. He was accused of attempting to kill the Portuguese King Antonio and 'take away Queene Elizabeths life by poyson', in return for 'fifty thousand Crowns'. The scandal is recounted more than 20 years later in this work (see p.163). ESTC S107516.
  • $4,500
  • $4,500