[GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE]. A Collection of Designs for Rural Retreats as Villas. Principally in the Gothic and Castle Styles of Architecture
Large 4to. [4], xii, 43, [1] pp. + [3] page list of published works by John Malton and James Malton. Complete with aquatint half-title and 34 plates of which 29 are stunningly hand-colored and 5 are full-page plates (plans) printed in sepia only. The plates are watermarked "Whatman 1801." Contemporary acid-treated calf, unusually acid-treated with decorative lozenges surrounded by a gilt Greek-key border, flat spine, black lettering piece partially chipped, binding extremities somewhat worn, black, white, red and green marbled pastedowns and endpapers, overall in BEAUTIFUL CONDITION, the paper and plates unspoiled and extremely fresh. EXQUISITELY HAND-COLORED COPY, RARE THUS. Only edition of this very little-known, beautifully illustrated volume of imaginative designs of country "tiny houses" houses and small castles in the neo-Gothic style. In his own words the author / artist asserted that the goal of the present work was "to reject the Grecian and Roman mode of fabrick, for more picturesque forms, and less expensive decoration." The influence of Uvedale Price was in evidence here, with landscapes becoming wilder (i.e. more picturesque), and with unusual architectural designs and plans; see for instance the bizarre three-sided villas and castles with their elongated domes and wings. It would appear that our architect was influenced by Claude, Salvator Rosa, and Vanbrugh. The designer, James Malton, was not only an engraver but a watercolorist; was the present copy hand-colored by him? According to Hardie, "Malton as a topographical draughtsman had few equals, and the plates have a distinction of their own in addition to their value as an architectural record." James Malton (1761-1803) was born in London and came to Ireland with his father Thomas Malton the Elder, likewise an architectural draftsman. Like his father he was a professor of perspective and geometry, and like his brother Thomas (the Younger) produced some very fine architectural drawings. For three years worked in the studio of the famous Irish architect James Gandon. A talented designer recognized at the time, he regularly participated in exhibitions at the Royal Academy in London between 1791 and 1803. Malton was famed for his "Picturesque and Descriptive View of the City of Dublin" (1799) whereas our collection of gothic architectural designs has been completely overlooked by architectural historians -- unfortunate because his proposed designs for "rural retreats" (i.e. gothic houses and small castles) exhibit imagination with fine perspectives as well as their plans. Ours is the only copy currently on the market, colored or uncolored (but compare our gorgeous copy to the foxed and browned copy of Malton's "Dublin" currently on offer for $26,150). Since 1931 eight other copies of Malton's "Collection of Designs for Rural Retreats" have appeared at auction according to RBH (to which we add the Vroom copy); NONE of them were hand-colored, and only a few of them were actually worth owning. Searching through the first 20 Weinreb catalogues and the first 54 Pagan catalogues produce zero copies (colored or uncolored); Weinreb's Catalogue 35 lists one copy, which was uncolored (item 181). Yale Center for British Art holds 20 of Malton's preparatory drawings for the "Collection of Designs" and two copies of the published work (one is ex-Abbey). NEITHER ONE is hand-colored, nor is the Beinecke copy. To digitized copy on HathiTrust (the UC Berkeley, bound in library buckram) is not only uncolored but it makes Malton's work look MISERABLE and hardly compares with our hand-colored copy, which MUST BE SEEN TO BE FULLY APPRECIATED. References: Abbey, Life in England no. 35. Berlin Katalog 2311. Cataloguer's note: There are two other Malton works in the Millard Collection (now NGA); the Millard Catalogue of British Books mentions our, but he never owned a copy it and there is no copy of it in NGA or in many other "obvious" repositories. Provenance: Fonsie Mealy 2014 (EUR 6,600).
More from Michael Laird Rare Books
[VERNACULAR PHOTOGRAPHY]. Other Pictures: Anonymous Photographs from the Thomas Walther Collection
Small 4to. 142 numbered photographs + texts. Original dark gray cloth, original dust-wrapper (MMA price sticker on back of jacket). NOT ex-library! PRESENTATION COPY, INSCRIBED TO BERNARD ("BERND") BRESLAUER IN THE YEAR OF PUBLICATION. "With dedication and intensity, Thomas Walther, a visionary collector of photography, has been sorting through the seemingly superfluous vernacular photography of this century. Other Pictures is his selection of over 150 [recte: 142] unique images from his 'other' collection, his collection of found images. They are perfectly presented here, giving us the opportunity to appreciate and muse over these singular anonymous masterpieces, images as indelible as any created by the most democratic of tools-the camera." From the Bibliotheca Bibliographica Breslaueriana, with bookplate loosely inserted along with several contemporary newpaper reviews. [INSANITY]. Form of Certificate of Insanity
Document (315 x 205), printed on both sides, accomplished on recto only, folded three times, paper slip pasted on at the time of accomplishment written in the hand of the examining doctor, James C. Wightman. RARE AMERICAN CERTIFICATE OF INSANITY; INDEED, NO COPY OF ANY "CERTIFICATE OF INSANITY" -- REGARDLESS OF DATE OR PLACE -- CAN BE FOUND IN WORLDCAT. OUR DOCUMENT NEVER PASSED INTO ANY NEW YORK COUNTY OR STATE AGENCY: IT IS ALMOST UNBELIEVABLE THAT THE PRESENT COPY WOULD HAVE BEEN SAVED BY SOMEONE FOR 147 YEARS. Census records very strongly suggest that the woman here deemed insane, Fanny Evans, was born in 1847 in Dix (Schuyler County), New York. By means of the present Certificate, she was declared "Insane" in 1877. According to U.S. Census records, only two years earlier (in 1875) she was unmarried and still lived with her parents in Jerusalem (Yates County), New York. The doctor who declared Fanny Evans insane in 1877 was one James C. Wightman, of Branchport (likewise Yates County) which was a small hamlet exactly two miles from the Evans family home. Dr. Wightman states that "I have personally examined Fanny Evans and find her to be of unsound mind, inso much she has upon several occasions attempted suicide, disowning her Father believing him to be an imposter, denying him the comforts and privileges of his home, insisting that he is cruel, quarrelsome and a disturber of the family peace and in every interest that her Father has to do -- she is a confirmed monomaniac." For his medical credentials Wightman declares that he was a graduate of the American Medical College; his credentials are attested by Hon. Andrew Oliver, Yates County Judge. Census records from 1855 and 1860 are very instructive. Fanny Evans' parents were Thomas Evans (age 60 in 1875), a farmer, and Harriet (age 56), a housekeeper, both of whom immigrated from England. No occupation for Fanny is ever given. She and her brother were born in Schuyler County, New York. It would appear that at some point the family had fallen on hard times: in 1855 the family is recorded as residing in Dix (Schuyler County), New York, and the father's occupation listed as "hardware merchant." The reason for their relocation to Jerusalem -- over 120 miles away -- is unknown. It is of great interest that on the verso of the present Certificate is an Extract from Chapter 146, Laws of 1874, Commitment of the Insane, which begins: "No person shall be committed to, or confined as a patient in any asylum, public or private, or in any institution, home or retreat for the care and treatment of the insane, except upon the certificate of TWO physicians [emphasis ours], under oath, after a personal examination of the party alleged to be insane, setting forth the insanity of such person." Our Certificate of Insanity was signed by only one physician, James Wightman, and he was the only examining physician. Therefore, if Fanny Evans was actually committed to an Asylum, the present Certificate would not have been the legal instrument of her confinement; a second document would have been required. But if Fanny Evans was committed, it would have certainly been to the Willard Asylum for the Insane in Willard (Seneca County), New York, which was just across Lake Seneca (and 29 miles from Ithaca). Construction for the Asylum began in 1965; the first patients to be admitted arrived by boat (in chains) in 1869. At that time it was known as the Willard Asylum for the Chronic Insane and the Insane Poor. By 1877 (the date of the present Certificate) it had become the largest mental asylum in the United States, containing 1,550 patients (SOURCE: Walter Gable, "Willard Asylum for the Insane," p. 10 - online). This once colossal facility was closed and scheduled for demolition in 1974, but destruction was stayed and it is listed on the National Register of Historic Place. It has subsequently fallen into complete disrepair, and some of the buildings were in fact demolished in the 1980s. Whereas nearly half of the 50,000 patients at Willard Asylum died there, it is not known if Fanny Evans was one of them. She appears in the 1880 U.S. Census with her family in Jerusalem, and still unmarried, and with "no occupation." After this date Fanny Evans disappears from all record completely. The verso of the present Certificate has always remained blank: it was never accomplished or notarized by any New York governmental agency at the county or state level (or at any level). We are unable to explain why would anyone would save -- for 147 years -- a document certifying the insanity of a forgotten farmer's forgotten daughter. [JAPANESE 1920s EMBROIDERY PATTERNS]. ÅyÅ zuan (“Designs for practical use”)
Large 8vo (254 x 187 mm). COMPLETE SET of 30 color-printed embroidery patterns, housed in original illustrated envelope with original string fastener. First leaf with considerable foxing, others with very light foxing or offsetting, envelope with a few marks and creases. Overall in very good condition. ECLECTIC "NON-TRADITIONAL" 1920s EMBROIDERY DESIGNS FOR "EVERYDAY" ITEMS, SUBTLY DEMONSTRATING THE TAISHO ROMAN STYLE IN WHICH WESTERN MOTIFS WERE EMBRACED BY JAPANESE "MOGA" (MODERNS GIRLS). THESE JAPANESE YOUTHQUAKERS SOUGHT TO FREE THEMSELVES FROM TRADITIONAL JAPANESE COSTUME AND -- BY EXTENSION -- TRADITIONAL JAPANESE SOCIAL CUSTOM. Viewed today, the "Taisho Roman" aesthetic may seem somewhat tame but in fact it signaled a dramatic shift in fashion and culture that was fostered by growing liberalism and industrialization during the Taisho era (i.e. 1912-1926). This style is characterized by its "Roaring 20s" reinterpretation of traditional Japanese costume. The term "Roman" here is an abbreviation for European "Romanticism" which was seized upon by Japanese youthquakers of that era. "In general, Taisho Roman refers to the ideals of romanticism which were expressed by a quirky reinterpretation of traditional culture during this time. Kimono of this decade often featured flowing, asymmetrical designs, with playful and whimsical motifs such as flowers, birds, and butterflies. It was also common to see the use of luxurious fabrics such as silk and satin, and the incorporation of Western-style elements such as lace and embroidery. The Taisho Roman kimono style became known for its bright colours and bold, graphic patterns such as the yabane (arrow feathers) pattern. It was in the Meiji and Taisho period that Japanese embroidery developed by absorbing unique stitches often seen in foreign embroidery." (Carolin Becke, An Introduction to Kimono Styles of Japan's Taisho Period (1912-26): The Taisho Roman Style of FemaleStudents, 2023). The present suite is rare, and indeed no copies of it can be traced outside Japan. There are thirty leaves of colorful designs to be embroidered onto fashional opera clutch bags, umbrellas, tablecloths, handkerchiefs, and items of "modern" clothing. Each illustration includes a title, the name of the artist, and the prefecture in which the artist lived, and thus is of real value to contemporary fashion historians. [AUCTION CATALOGUES]. The Library of the Earls of Macclesfield, Removed from Shirburn Castle, Parts 1-12 (COMPLETE SET)
Together 12 vols., large 4to. Original blue cloth, very good condition (NOT ex-library), Some minor bumping and edge wear to extremities, some spines leaning a trifle. 4,299 lots described, and hundreds of illustrations. Lists of Price Realized for Parts 2, 4, 5, 6, and 7 loosely inserted. COMPLETE SET OF THE SALE CATALOGUES OF THE FAMED MACCLESFIELD LIBRARY, AN ASTONISHING COLLECTION OF GREAT RARITIES OF SCIENCE, "THE LAST GREAT LIBRARY TO HAVE REMAINED UNDIMINISHED AND UNTOUCHED BY TIME" ACCORDING TO THE BOOK COLLECTOR. "The dispersal of the last great library, one equal in its day to those of the Earls of Sunderland, Pembroke and Oxford, to have remained (unlike those others) undiminished and untouched by time, without sophistication or alteration since the books were bought" (The Book Collector, Summer 2004, p. 253). Offered in Part 1 was the so-called "Macclesfield Psalter" from from East Anglia, purchased for £1.5m by Jörn Günther on behalf of the J. Paul Getty Museum; it was subsequently declared to be of national interest and was bought back with public and private funds; it is now in The Fitzwilliam Museum. Nonetheless, the editors of the Book Collector declared that "The sale itself is perhaps the greatest single loss to the national heritage since the sale of the Lawrence drawings in 1830" (Spring 2006, p. 76). The aggregate amount of the sales of the first six parts (only) realized more than GBP 14 million according to Sotheby's 2005 press release (this amount did not include the Macclesfield Psalter), representing "the highest total ever for any sale of scientific books and manuscripts." The additional parts of the library sold between 2006 and 2008 and realized much more; for instance, Part 8 alone ("Theology, Philosophy, Law, and Economics") realized GBP 1.3 million, and Part 12 ("Continental Books and Manuscripts") GBP 1.8 million. Introducing each Part is a learned commentary by Paul Quarrie (of Maggs). According to Maggs' own website, Quarrie worked "from 1996 on the library of the earls of Macclesfield and masterminded the dispersal of this celebrated collection, beginning with the sale (1999/2000) to Cambridge University Library of scientific letters and papers of Newton, William Jones, and others, and encompassing 12 auction sales (2004-2008)." Quarrie's own account of the importance of the Scientific portion of the Library was published as "The Scientific Library of the Earls of Macclesfield" in: Notes and Records: The Royal Society Journal of the History of Science, 22 January 2006. The dispersal of the Macclesfield Library was disparaged by many; see especially Roger Gaskell and P. Fara in "Selling the silver: country house libraries and the history of science" (Endeavour 29, no. 1, pp. 14-19). CONTENTS OF THE COLLECTION: Part 1: Natural History, 16 Mar 2004 (146 pp.); Part 2: Science, A-C, 10 Jun 2004 (355 pp.); Part 3: Western Manuscripts, 22 Jun 2004 (87 pp.); Part 4: Science, D-H, 4 Nov 2004; Part 5: Science, I-O, 14 Apr 2005 (339 pp.); Part 6: Science, P-Z, 25-26 Oct 2005; Part 7: Bibles, 1477-1739, 11 Apr 2006 (189 pp.); Part 8: Theology, Philosophy, Law and Economics, 25-26 Oct 2006 (411 pp.); Part 9: Voyages, Travel & Atlases, 15 Mar 2007 (301 pp.); Part 10: Applied Arts and Sciences, including Military & Naval Books, 30 Oct 2007 (404 pp.); Part 11: English Books & Manuscripts, 23 Mar 2008 (344 pp.); Part 12: Continental Books & Manuscripts, 2 Oct 2008 (412 pp.). Altogether 4,299 lots expertly described. From the Krown and Spellman Reference Library (dispersed at Heritage Auctions, Dallas, in 2015). [AFRICA-BRAZIL SLAVE TRADE]. Relaçam da Embayxada, Que o Poderoso Rey de Angome Kiay Chiri Broncom, Senhor Dos Dilatadissimos Sertos de Guiné Mandou ao Illustrissimo e Excellentissimo Senhor D. Luiz Peregrino Ataide, Conde de Antouguia. Vice-Rey do Estado do Brasil (etc.)
8vo. 11 pp., with maritime woodcut vignette on p. [2]. Modern vellum binding, edges untrimmed (light toning, minor staining). In very good antiquarian condition. THIS IS THE EARLIEST ACCOUNT OF THE FIRST OFFICIAL DIPLOMATIC MISSION TO BRAZIL BY ANY AFRICAN KINGDOM, DESCRIBING KEY ELEMENTS OF THE TRANSATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE, SPECIFICALLY THAT OF THE ANCIENT WEST AFRICAN KINGDOM OF DAHOMEY (PRESENT DAY REPUBLIC OF BENIN). INCREDIBLY, OUR PAMPHLET WAS PUBLISHED IN PORTUGAL ONLY A FEW MONTHS AFTER THE EMBASSY WAS COMPLETED. THIS IMPORTANT MISSION WAS AN EVENT OF DOUBLE SIGNIFICANCE, SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC, THE RESULT OF THE CHANGING GEOPOLITICS OF THE INTERNATIONAL TRADE IN AFRICAN SLAVES. No copy is listed in Rare Book Hub, which currently has more than 13 million records in the Rare Book Transaction database. Our pamphlet is central to the ground-breaking 2018 study by José Rivair Macedo, who explains that "In the last decades, researchers interested in studying transatlantic relations during the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries have deepened the debate about the role of Africans not only as captives, but also as agents and partners in the business that involved the slave trade. The study of economic connections, communication networks and political negotiations has revealed new aspects of the functioning of the vast system of transcontinental relations and the role of diplomatic contacts is an essential element in this regard. The practice of negotiations amongst Africans and Europeans was relatively common during the centuries of the Old Regime, in Africa or in Europe. However, not many diplomatic missions took place on Brazilian soil. The first one coming from West Africa began on 09/29/1750, when emissaries from the Guinean Coast were received by the Viceroy of the State of Brazil in Salvador. The event, seen at that time as unusual, drew the attention of the writer José Freire Monterroio Mascarenhas (1670-1760), who described it in detail in the booklet entitled 'Relaçam da embayxada que o poderoso Rey de Angome Kiay Chiri Brocon'" [i.e. THE PRESENT PAMPHLET]." BACKGROUND: In September 1750, Tegbesu, the King of Dahomey, sent an embassy of good will to the court of the Viceroy of Brazil, Luis Pedro Peregrino de Carvalho e Menezes de Ataíde, Conde de Atouguia (Viceroy 1749-1755). No doubt the King sought to repair the extremely strained Dahomean-Portuguese relations that arose from his incomprehensible decision to sack the Portuguese base in Ouidah, Fort São João Baptista de Ajudá; it was a grave error, the results of which naturally infuriated the Viceroy. Our pamphlet shows the West African King's ambassador brilliantly restored diplomatic relations, and in doing so restored the all-important slave trade between Dahomey and Brazil. According to the present author, the African Ambassador and his attendants caused a sensation at the Viceroy's palace and were entertained magnificently, receiving the protocol previously reserved for the Portuguese Viceroy of India. Borba de Moraes states that "the narrative of this unusual event is written with every minute detail and is very entertaining." When our pamphlet was written, slaves were Dahomey's greatest export and Brazil's largest import, thus the success of the mission was of the highest interest to the leaders of the two nations. In fact, it was not only successful: it was a triumph. The fort of São João Baptista de Ajudá was promptly rebuilt; diplomacy was restored; and the slave trade to Dahomean-Brazil prospered like never before. Indeed, it has been estimated that of the 551,800 African slaves that were shipped out of the Bay of Benin between 1770 and 1850, more than 60% (or 336,800) were sent for Brazil. As a direct result of the 1750/1751 embassy that is described herein, Tegbesu is believed to have received as compensation approximately £250,000 per annum (more than £60 million today) for the duties he received on "exported" slaves. The term "slave trade" is an appalling euphemism that dehumanizes living human beings that (i.e. "who") were bought and sold as commodities, like grain or timber (or books). Obviously, trade occurs between actual buyers and actual sellers, and at that time the principle buyers of slaves were European traders who depended on the active and consistent cooperation of various African sellers of same. This fact was emphasized by the famous author of our pamphlet, octogenarian José Freire Monterroio de Mascarenhas (1670-1760). He was the director of the "Gazeta de Notícias" newspaper in Lisbon for forty years, and was one of the most prolific "popular" Portuguese writers of his day. He wrote about almost anything "current" including (but certainly not limited to) politics, war, miracles, apparitions, births, deaths (natural or unnatural), crime, monsters, fires, earthquakes, and phenomena and curiosities that defied description. It is therefore not surprising that Mascarenhas would have found the present -- literally unprecedented -- African embassy to Brazil to be of special interest to his wide readership. While only his initials (J.F.M.M.) appear on our pamphlet, contemporary readers would have known that the author was none other than Mascarenhas. Two editions of this cheaply printed work were issued by Francisco da Silva in 1751 (priority indeterminate). Ours, like one of the two JCB copies (C751 .M395r), has multiple displaced letters on the title-page ("L" of "Lisboa", the "d" of "na officina de", and the first "1" of "1751"), as well as a woodcut of a ship on the verso. Compare this to the copy at the Biblioteca da Câmara dos Deputados in which the title-page and the entire text was completely reset. Borba de Moraes states that "both editions are very rare." PRELIMINARY CENSUS of both 1751 editions: National Library of Portugal, Public Library and Regional Archive of Ponta Delgada (Portugal), Biblioteca da Câmara dos Deputados (Brazil), Brown Univ. (JCB), Univ. of Minnesota (James Ford Bell Library, Yal [HAND PAINTED DESIGNS FOR KIMONO]. Masukagami (“The clear mirror”)
Large 8vo (268 x 196 mm). [3, 31] double leaves. Four-hole bound volume (yotsumetoji), traditional East Asian binding style (fukurotoji), original wrappers bound in (worn, soiled, and lightly foxed). Ex-ownership inscriptions to lower wrapper, seal to lower pastedown. Some foxing and browning, overall very good. FASCINATING WORK OF MIXED MEDIA WHICH COMBINES DELICATE HAND-PAINTING AND PRINT IN THE SERVICE OF FASHION AND COMMERCE, BEING AN ALBUM OF 52 DESIGNS FOR KIMONO. "In the Meiji era (1868-1912), Japan became active on the global stage, embracing new technologies, fashions, and design trends from the Western world. During this period, kimono design books were revived and evolved into print albums known aszuan-cho (literally 'design idea books'). These print albums circulated among artists, designers, kimono merchants, and wealthy patrons in Japan's major cities. Combining bold colors, geometric lines, and influences from Western styles such as Art Nouveau, they reflected Japanese visual traditions but also reimagined popular themes in the context of modern Japan. Created as style guides and design sources, these albums were also seen as independent works of art to be contemplated and admired." (See the 2024 "Zuan-cho: Kimono Design in Modern Japan 1868-1912" at the de Young Legion of Honor Museum, San Francisco). Our volume is decidedly of the Zuan-cho category, and was likely created by (or certainly for) Ikegami Yaemon, the owner of a store called Echizenya and one of the first investors in the Kyoto Textile Company. An inscription on the lower wrapper indicates that he was at least a former owner of the book, and his family name is also woodblock-printed on each leaf's outer column (hanshin). The album was ostensibly produced by Ikegami's firm to present "in house" designs to potential customers, as a kind of unique catalogue of the variety of kimono that could be specially made for them. The preface of the volume, and the outlines of the kimono, are woodblock printed, while the actual designs are hand-painted. The number that accompanies each illustration seems to have been hand-printed with a stamp. Nine of the designs are double-page, free of the confines of the woodblock-printed outlines. The style of our Zuan-cho, especially the paper type and woodblock-printed preface, is similar to those produced by the publisher UnsÅ dÅ, and it seems possible that Ikegami commissioned him to produce that particular section, to which were added the double-page designs. [AMERICAN CHROMOLITHOGRAPHY]. [Nurseryman’s Guide / Sample Book / Fruit Seed Catalogue]
Album of 91 chromolithographs, principally by Stecher Lithograph Co. of Rochester. Later flexible smooth calf, inner hinges exposed. Plates with some wear or light soiling. ART IN THE SERVICE OF COMMERCE: AN AMERICAN NURSERYMAN'S FRUIT SEED CATALOGUE DEPICTING FULLY MATURED FRUIT IN VIBRANT CHROMOLITHOGRAPHY. SEED CATALOGUES SUCH AS THIS ONE WERE HEAVILY USED AS VEHICLES OF SALE BY TRAVELING SEED PEDDLERS THROUGHOUT SMALL TOWN AMERICA, AND THEREFORE ALMOST NEVER SURVIVE IN GOOD CONDITION, AS HERE. "Nurserymen's plates were an American innovation. They were made by various methods, the most distinctive being painted in watercolors. In design and coloring, these plates were more akin to folk painting than to the commercial art of their time" (Charles von Ravenswaay, "Drawn and Colored from Nature," in Antiques Magazine, March 1983, pp. 594-599). Vintage Nurseryman's Guides provide a "floracopia" of American chromolithography at its apogee. Most plates have brief captions giving name of the plant and information on color, fragrance, taste, preferred growing season, and other particulars. Most fruit seed catalogues are undated because the plates were literally assembled according to which seeds were (or would be) in stock; however, several plates in our nurseryman's guide are dated, and range from 1887 to 1898. Most of the chromos in our collection are preserved in extremely fresh state and MUST BE SEEN to be fully appreciated. [MEXICAN GAME]. Los Charros Contrabandistas (“Charro Smugglers”)
Broadside (403 x 303 mm) printed on thin rose paper. Preserved in mylar L-sleeve backed with lig-free board. IN UNCOMMONLY GOOD CONDITION. NEAR-FINE POSADA GAME PRINTS SELDOM APPEAR ON THE MARKET AS THE PAPER WAS (AND IS) INCREDIBLY THIN, AND THE GAMES WERE HEAVILY USED AND REUSED TO PIECES BY GAMERS OF ALL AGES. The present print is Posada's VARIATION on the "Juego de la oca" (Game of the Goose), here featuring Mexican smugglers on horseback (hence the game's name: "Los Charros Contrabandistas"); these cowboy crooks lasso all 64 circular spaces, and the players most move past some of Posada's most enduring icons: beginning at the Scorpion at the top left, the player must move past the skull-and-crossbones smuggler at the bottom right; along the way Posado introduces different characters, good, bad, and ugly. Be careful not to land on the final space, "la Calavera" because if you do: you lose. José Guadalupe Posada (1852-1913) was quite simply the most important Mexican graphic artist of all time. He showed talent for printmaking from a very young age, joining the print studio of José Trinidad Pedroza in 1870, and there learning engraving and lithography. His first of many thousands of virulent political cartoons appeared in a publication called "El Jicote" (The Wasp). With his mentor he moved to León (Guanajuato) and established a printing business, but tragedy struck which León was completely flooded in 1888 and they lost everything. Posada moved to Mexico City, and there he would remain for the rest of his days. For more than twenty years he produced broadsides and penny cartoons for the publisher Antonio Vanegas Arroyo (as here); his illustrations for newspapers and periodicals are absolutely legion. While in the 1880s his work was heralded as the preeminent graphic art of Mexico, at the time of his death he had fallen into obscurity and was buried in a pauper's grave. Nonetheless, his "calaveras" (skulls and skeleton caricatures) are without equal and it is with good reason that he has been described as the Mexican Goya and Mexican Daumier. (See the Clark Art Institute exhibition of "José Guadalupe Posada: Symbols, Skeletons, and Satire, 7/66/22 - 10/10/22). IN VERY GOOD CONDITION, WITHOUT ANY WORMING, TEARS, OR REPAIRS. Tyler, Posada's Mexico, 75. [AMERICAN CHROMOLITHOGRAPHY]. [Nurseryman’s Guide and Sample Book of Fruit Seeds / Catalogue of Trees, Ornamental Ivy and Hedges]
Album of 63 chromolithographs / half-tone prints overprinted in one or two colors depicting plants and flowers, in some instances in front of homes, also fruit specimens, all with full-page descriptive text on verso. Black cloth (light soiling, spine somewhat worn), front cover with name "Fairview Nurseries Geneva N.Y." printed in red. ART IN THE SERVICE OF COMMERCE: A NURSERYMAN'S FRUIT AND TREE CATALOGUE IN VIBRANT COLORS. SEED CATALOGUES SUCH AS THIS ONE WERE HEAVILY USED AS VEHICLES OF SALE BY TRAVELING SEED PEDDLERS THROUGHOUT SMALL TOWN AMERICA, AND THEREFORE ALMOST NEVER SURVIVE IN GOOD CONDITION, AS HERE. "Nurserymen's plates were an American innovation. They were made by various methods, the most distinctive being painted in watercolors. In design and coloring, these plates were more akin to folk painting than to the commercial art of their time" (Charles von Ravenswaay, "Drawn and Colored from Nature," in Antiques Magazine, March 1983, pp. 594-599). Vintage Nurseryman's Guides provide a "floracopia" of American chromolithography at its apogee. All the plates have descriptive text on the versos, giving name of the plant and information on color, fragrance, taste, preferred growing season, and other particulars. Our catalogue was issued by the Fairview Nurseries of Geneva, New York, which evidently offered a wide selection of apples, peaches, pears, plums, berry fruits, flowers, ornamental shrubs and trees. Most fruit seed catalogues are undated because the plates were literally assembled according to which seeds were (or would be) in stock, as here. The plates in our Sample Book are preserved in extremely fresh state and MUST BE SEEN to be fully appreciated. [ANCIENT ALPHABETS]. Grammaire comparée des langues bibliques. Application des découvertes de Champollion à l’étude des langues dans lesquelles ont été écrites les livres saints
Together 2 vols., folio. Paper stock untrimmed. Bound in contemporary French blue quarter basane over blue marbled endpapers (headcaps of both vols. chipped, that of vol. 1 partially defective, some wear to covers and binding extremities). In vol. 1 the first two binder's blanks excised. Original front wrapper of vol. 2 bound in. Ad 1: an annotated interleaved copy of the 1852 edition of "Histoire et analyse des alphabets sémitiques et européens." 3 ff., 56 pp. with annotations + 25 plates (some folding) with descriptive text on facing tissue guard. Ad 2: an interleaved, unannotated copy of the 1858 edition of "Grammaire comparée de l'hébreu, du chaldéen, du syriaque, de l'arabe et de l'égyptien." viii, 208 pp. THE AUTHOR'S OWN INTERLEAVED COPY WITH ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS IN VOL. 1, INTENDED TO BE INCORPORATED INTO THE SECOND EDITION. Here Eugène Van Drival, a well respected and extremely prolific orientalist and philologist, argues that the art of writing, and the many forms of alphabets, may have originated from one "Ur-alphabet" which went through centuries of alterations through time and necessity. Several scholars had been already been working on such a theory (notably Lamb, Joshua Prinsep, and M. Forster) but Van Drival attributes not only Hebrew, but all Semitic tongues generally (including Greek and Latin), to what he describes as the original hieroglyphic alphabet of Egypt. To illustrated his "discovery," our author arranges, in separate pages in a perpendicular column, each body of hieroglyphic signs which represent one alphabetic letter. In side columns he presents the Egyptian Prototype, its derivative, or imitative letter, the property of many Eastern Alphabets. Van Drival suggests commonalities, a resemblance to the (assumed) Parent Model. His theory of a subsequent derivation from this one root merits cautious examination. Through a completely novel approach, our author "proves" his theory by translating the Lord's Prayer into the Phoenician (i.e. Samaritan tongue), and printing it on transparent paper. The letters are to examined from right to left (according to Eastern usage); by turning over the page and reading the letters transparently from left to right (according to Western usage) the text becomes an antiquated Latin version of the Pater Noster. Juxtaposing the Lord's Prayer is the Phoenician alphabet according to Montfaucon and others, asserting that Phoenician and Latin letters belong to the same form. Van Drival then provides a lithograph of alphabets that read from left to right (Greek, Coptic, ancient Greek) with a "secret alphabet" in Latin of various periods. The annotations in this, the author's own copy, include numerous notes, additional references; long quotations in Greek; and (inside the front cover of vol. 1), testimonies of Monseigneur Parisis, Bishop of Arras, on the value of this work from the point of view of the study of oriental languages. CONTENTS: Part I: "History and analysis of the Semitic and European alphabets" (dated 1852 but published 1853), with numerous annotations in the margins and on the interleaved pages. A revised second edition, incorporating some -- but apparently not all -- the notes herein would be published under the title "De l'origine de l'écriture" (1873), for which a third edition would appear in 1879. Part II: "Comparative grammar of Hebrew, Chaldean, Syriac, Arabic and Egyptian" (1858), interleaved but not annotated. The author, Eugène Van Drival (1815-1887), was an erudite philologist, a Catholic priest, and an antiquarian in the best sense of the word. He served as director of the great seminary of Arras, secretary general of the Arras Academy of Sciences, Letters and Arts, and was full member of the Society of Antiquaries of Morinie. Van Drival became passionate about Champollion's work following the discovery of the sarcophagus in the Musée de Boulogne. It was there that he met a young scholar to whom he taught the first rudiments of Hebrew, a certain Auguste Mariette (1821-1881) who went on to become one of foremost Egyptologist of his day. The incomplete (!) bibliography of Van Drival's writings published well before his death, already lists 80 articles on an usually broad range of antiquarian interests (SOURCE: "Liste des ouvrages publiés par M. le chanoine Van Drival," Arras, 1882). [FIRST EDITION OF THE COMPLETE WORKS]. Scritti de Leonardo Pisano Matematico del Secolo Decimoterzo: II Liber Abbaci; Practica Geometriae, Opuscoli
2 vols., folio. Numerous diagrams; occasional light spotting and foxing. Modern brown morocco, uncut. In slipcases. EDITIO PRINCEPS OF THE WRITINGS OF FIBONACCI, THE GREATEST MATHEMATICIAN OF THE MIDDLE AGES, STILL THE ONLY COMPLETE EDITION PUBLISHED. IN THE HISTORY OF MATHEMATICS THIS UNABRIDGED EDITION OF THE LATIN TEXT IS ESSENTIAL, AND WAS THE VEHICLE BY WHICH FIBONACCI'S WORKS WERE DISSEMINATED THROUGHOUT MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY CULTURE. Rare in private ownership. Sold at Sotheby's forty years ago, ours is ONLY copy that has ever appeared at auction according to Rare Book Hub which currently lists more than 13 million records in the Rare Book Transactions database; furthermore, it is the only copy currently available on the market. Leonardo of Pisa (ca. 1170-1250), a.k.a. Fibonacci, is justly considered to be the most important mathematician of the Middle Ages, if only for being the first Christian mathematician to systematically explain Arabic numerals. Indeed, the mathematical renaissance in the West began with him according to George Sarton. The first volume contains the the 'Liber Abaci,' devoted to problems of computation including algebraic quadratic problems; here Fibonnaci here introduces Arabic numerals, the fraction bar, and the numerical approach to square roots and cube roots. The second volume contains the 'Practica Geometriae,' devoted to the application of algebra to geometric problems; 'Flos,' written for Frederick II in answer to a number of mathematical problems posed by Magister Johannes; "Letter to Magister Theodorus" developing a general method for the solution of indeterminate problems; and finally the great "Liber quadratorum," described by Vogel as "a first-rate scientific achievement and showing Fibonacci as "a major number theorist." Vogel continues to assert (correctly) that Fibonacci was far ahead of his time, without a successor until 1621, when Bachet made the text of Diophantus available which in turn stimulated Fermat in founding number theory. "In addition to the antique manuscripts, there also undeniably exists, however, a vehicle that, notwithstanding the inadequate and problematic access to the manuscript sources, has spread the text of the Fibonaccian treatise throughout modern and contemporary culture: the well known Italian mathematician and historian of science Baldassarre Boncompagni Ludovisi, in fact, in his brilliant far-reaching project which brought into focus the personality of Fibonacci, as well as his surviving works, realized and published in Rome in 1857 [i.e. THIS EDITION] what can with ample justification be defined the editio princeps of the entire treatise." (Germano). Despite the flaws in Boncompagni's work, "it of course was a noteworthy editorial operation, especially as it made available in print to a vast number of interested parties a work which had almost fallen into oblivion and that up to that time could be consulted only from its manuscript sources, with all the difficulties and inconvenience which this could entail." (Germano). It is fair to say that Fibonacci's contributions to mathematics languished unappreciated until the rediscovery of his texts and their presentation in the present -- surprisingly rare -- volumes. Despite its flaws, Boncompagni's edition serves as the basis for only complete translation of the Liber Abici made into a modern language thus far, namely Lawrence E. Sigler's "Fibonacci's Liber Abaci. A Translation into Modern English of Leonardo Pisano's Book of Calculation" (2002). Whereas Sigler corrected some errors he introduced many others, usually on account of inability to understand and effectively translate the Renaissance Latin text. Before Boncompagni's edition, only the "Prologus" and Chapter XV of Fibonacci's Liber Abaci had received a respectful circulation in print that was due to G. Libri's "Histoire des sciences mathématiques en Italie, dépuis la renaissance des lettres, jusqu'à la fin du dixseptième siècle" (Paris, 1838) vol. II, respectively pp. 287-290 and 307-476. REFERENCES: Giuseppe Germano, "The Modern Dissemination in Print of the 'Liber Abaci' and its Pitfalls," Part 3 of his New Editorial Perspectives on Fibonacci's Liber Abaci (in: Reti Medievali Rivista, 14:2 [Firenze University Press, 2013], pp. 161-163 and passim). George Sarton, Introduction to the History of Science II, p. 611 et seq. On Boncompagni, see V. Cappelletti's in DBI, XI, pp. 704-709. M. Mazzotti, "For Science and for the Pope-King: Writing the History of the Exact Sciences in 19th-century Rome" in: British Journal for the History of Science, 33 [2000], pp. 257-282, especially pp. 259-265. On the strengths and weaknesses of Boncompagni's edition see R.E. Grimm, "The Autobiography of Leonardo Pisano" in: The Fibonacci Quarterly, 11 [1973], pp. 99-104. John D. Stanitz, Sources of Science and Technology: an Exhibit of One Hundred and One Books and Documents (Kent State, 1972) no. 14 (this copy). PROVENANCE: John D. Stanitz, (his sale Sotheby's New York, 25 April 1984, lot 268, with , with Sotheby's label on the slipcase of vol. II) --> Messrs. Bernard Quaritch (June 1984 Mathematics list, $3,000) --> James M. Vaughn (1939-2022), enigmatic American philanthropist and bibliophile who assembled the finest mathematics collection ever formed by a private individual: 125 rare and foundational books in the history of mathematics were donated to the Harry Ransom Center in 2021; our volume was kept in Vaughn's home in River Oaks, Houston, and sold to us by his estate. Vaughn funded the Mathematical Association of America and helped support the solution of the 300-year-old math puzzle, Fermat's Last Theorum; it is therefore meaningful that he owned this copy of the Editio Princeps of the complete works of Fibonacci. With J.M.V. bookplate in each volume. [VETERINARY BROADSIDE WARNING OF CATTLE PLAGUE].Il Magistrato de’ Conservatori Generali di Sanità. Sul primo aviso da Noiultimamente avuto, che il morbo Epidemico denominato infiammazione di Polmone
Huge letterpress broadside (1070 x 360 mm), printed on 2 1/2 folio sheets, edges untrimmed. A few sections underlined and annotated in a contemporary hand in the left blank margin (worn; paper extensions mainly in the right margin; prominent horizontal central fold, other folds reinforced on verso with occasional lost of one or two letters). A remarkable survival, preserved in mylar L-sleeve backed with lig-free board. GIGANTIC, APPARENTLY UNRECORDED BROADSIDE ISSUED BY THE STATE MAGISTRATE WARNING AGAINST THE 1744 "CATTLE PLAGUE" EPIDEMIC IN NORTHERN ITALY, A FLIMSY ATTEMPT AT GOVERNMENTAL MANAGEMENT AND DISEASE CONTROL. The disease described herein was almost certainly RIDERPEST, a highly contagious viral infection which can produce a 100% death rate among herds (the colloquial term "cattle plague" is a misnomer because sheep and goats can also be afflicted by it). The 1744 outbreak had been observed in The Netherlands in the months before our broadside was printed, but the Magistrate mentions only the reports from Franche Comté. While the devating consequences of cattle plague in The Netherlands are well researched, its effects in Italy at this same time are not well-known, probably due to the comparatively low survival rate of contemporary documentation. Indeed, no other copy of our broadside can be found. Here the Magistrate of the Conservatory General of Health gives warning signs of the infection, and preventativemeasures against its spread, including mandatory "lazarettos" (quarantine areas) for livestock. The "nature and the signs" of the disease is addressed, along with a dubious (and ineffectual) attempt at a remedy which involved cold water, salt, vinegar, pepper, and camphor; "Rimedi preservativi" prophylactic measures are recommended, and steps for "fumigating" (i.e. disinfecting) livestock and their owners are given. The urgency of Magistrate's is justified: less than 30 years earlier, through circuitous trade routes, cattle plague had spread like wildfire even the most remote regions of Eastern and Western Europe and Britain. Such trade networks had become larger and more sophisticated in order to supply food to growing urban centers. Throughout history, outbreaks of cattle plague led to severe economic crisis: the resulting famine, inflation, civil unrest and overall moral decay destabilized societies with crippling effect, as had been seen in The Netherlands in the first outbreak of 1713-1720. Wherever and whenever cattle plague emerged, religious figures, government officials, technocrats, and the public wrested with the meaning and consequences of these disasters. Students and scholars of socio-economics in the Early Modern era would do well do incorporate primary sources of veterinary history in their research. NB: Interested parties are advised that this huge broadside will be shipped folded. [OPTICAL ILLUSIONS]. Motti piacevoli dedicati al bel sesso (and 3 additional engravings)
Together 4 items: one pamphlet and three separate engravings (see below). Small collection of rare and curious double-image optical illusions made by the very eccentric Lampridio Giovanardi (1811-1878), an Italian ebonist, inventor, and erstwhile engraver. For the distraction and amusement of his family and friends he created, in very limited numbers, small pamphlets and engravings, all crudely executed and hastily printed, of curious optical illusions known as "quadri cangianti" (changing pictures). Only about 25 engravings by Giovanardi are known today, including the the sheet of anthropomorphic capital letters known as the "Alfabeto Figurator" (ca. 1860) of which there is a a copy at Princeton Graphic Arts and the Beinecke. Our pamphlet is entitled "Motti piacevoli dedicati al bel sesso" (Dedicated to the Fairer Sex) and was presented at the Universal Exhibition in Paris in 1867 includes various proverbs and sayings, along with 6 crudely executed woodcut double image illusions which one can observe from two sides. This pamphlet is not listed in KVK or Worldcat. The three loose engravings depict similar surrealistic optical illusions: there is an image of a pelican, which (with a bit of imagination) becomes a portrait of pope Pius VII in prayer; an anthropomorphic landscape that when rotated 90 degrees appears as a man's face in the tradition of Merian, Hollar and Kircher; and a man with a billowing costume which when turned upside down can be seen as the petal of a leaf. Giovanardi is better known for his astonishly rendered tables that were decorated in the "quadretti faccettati" style and which -- unusually -- were made with non-wood materials such as metal and gold (Giovandari considered himself to be the inventor of this method). His ornamental marquetry was much appreciated in Italy, France and England. His "Italia Rotonda" table is considered to be one of the most elaborately inlaid Italian tables ever created. He presented another, equally fabulous inlaid table (the so-called "Crystal Palace table) at the Great Exhibition in London 1851 where it won a Gold Medal. Both tables are in the Collection Attilio Montorsi (Vignola) and have been meticulously described by Manrico Mezzi in two gigantic monographs (see below). Nava writes: "[.] Many collections[of illustrations]bound and adorned by him thus came to delight the winter evenings of his grandchildren and great-grandchildren, together with toys he himself built for his children! And at family vigils, sometimes cheered up by his witty and caustic sayings, among his relatives and friends, he amused himself by circulating certain little books of "Pleasant Sayings Dedicated to the Beautiful Gender".in which witty proverbs, in couplets of rhymed hendecasyllables, alternate with small wooden engravings depicting heads of men, women or animals which change into a different image when the paper is turned upside down. He printed them in Paris, and collected many copies of these burlesque drawings in a separate booklet." (p. 166). CONTENTS OF THE COLLECTION: 1. Motti piacevoli dedicati al bel sesso ("Pleasant Sayings Dedicated to the Fairer Sex"). Paris: 186[7]. 12mo, 12 pp. text printed on one side only + 6 woodcuts including two on pink paper, all on paper of various sizes, original yellow printed wrappers. Small holes in paper on various parts, otherwise in a good condition. 2. Il Pellicano. Immagine di Pio VII [Pelican. Image of Pius VII]. [S.l., n.d.]. Copper engraving, sheet: 210 x 155 mm, platemark: 155 x 107 mm. Very good. 3. [Anthropomorphic Landscape]. [S.l., n.d.]. Copper engraving, sheet: 210 x 310 mm; platemark: 185 x 237 mm. Folds in margins. 4. [A Man / A Leaf]. [S.l., n.d.]. Copper engraving, sheet: 290 x 225 mm, platemark: 200 x 135 mm. Portion of engraving not inked properly (SEE IMAGE), but the print itself is in a good condition. LITERATURE: Maria L. Nava, Una Testimonianza dell'Ottocento Provinziale. Lampridio Giovanardi e le sue tavole intarsiate, Atti e memorie, R. Deputazione di storia patria per le provincie modenesi, Ser. VIII, no. 2 (1949), pp. 163-171. Manrico Murzi, Italia Rotonda: I fasti italici in un tavolo intarsiato da Lampridio Giovanardi. Vignola: A. Montorsi, 2007. Ibid., Intarsio per un'esposizione. Vignola: A. Montorsi, 2014. Estate of James G. Fair, deceased. S.F. no. 2871. Appellants’ petition for rehearing as to the personal property. Garret W. McEnerney, Robert Y. Hayne, Wm. M. Pierson, George E. Crothers, of counsel for appellants
McEnerney, Garret William. California Supreme Court Small 4to. 44 pp. Original printed wrappers (chipped, spine partially defective). The complex and protracted litigation over the San Francisco estate of one of the richest men in America, mining tycoon James Graham Fair, dragged on for many years after his death in 1894. Born in Ireland in 1831, Fair and his impoverished father came to the U.S. in 1843. James went to California in 1850 to labor as a lowly prospector; he soon turned his attention to Nevada. After working as a superintendent and engineer at various mining sites, he formed a partnership with three men, two of whom were born in Ireland and one was the son of Irish immigrants. Together they made millions in silver mining in the Comstock Lode, one of the largest silver deposits ever found; indeed, in just six years the Comstock Lode produced more than $100 million worth of silver bullion ($3.5 billion in today's currency). By 1875 the four "Silver Kings" had become fantastically wealthy. Fair invested shrewdly in the South Pacific Coast Railroad and in real estate. But money led to a dissolute life of affairs and alcohol. In 1883 his wife filed for divorce which was uncontested; she received the family mansion and nearly $5,000,000 in cash (at that time the divorce settlement on record), while also gaining custody of their two daughters from whom Fair had become estranged. His two sons also caused him much unhappiness. He campaigned successfully for a seat in the U.S. Senate in 1881, but following his defeat in 1886 he lived the rest of his life alone in a hotel. At his death Fair's wealth was estimated at $50,000,000 -- an almost unbelievable sum in those days. Our volume is S.F. 2871 (March 19, 1902) and concerns the famous litigation of the $18,000,000 worth of real property in Fair's trust and estate. Here the appellants in the case are the counsel of said trust, which was created by Fair's will for his children during their lives, followed upon their death by a trust to others. The trustees were empowered "to sell any property," real or personal, and to invest the proceeds, and to purchase other property, or to apply the proceeds of sales to the improvement of other property, and for any other of the purposes declared in the will, and to pay to the children mouthly "the net income." The court declared void the entire trust scheme as to the realty. An interesting aspect of the case involves the forensic accounting undertaken by one of the appellant's laywers, George E. Crothers, who had personal charge of the forgery branch of the litigation; Crothers won a notable victory in the proof of a forgery by original mathematical lines of deduction based upon consecutively numbered checks. (SOURCE: L.F. Byington, History of San Francisco, 1931, vol. 2, pp. 64-76). The full text of Fair's Last Will and Testament, dated 1894, appears at end. Scarce: two copies in OCLC FirstSearch (Berkeley and California Historical). Not in the Library of Congress. Not in Rare Book Hub.- $500
- $500
[RUSSIAN IMPERIAL PORCELAIN FACTORY 1744-1904]. Imperatorskii farforovyi zavod: 1744-1904 / La Manufacture Imperiale de Porcelaine à St. Petersbourg
Wolf [i.e. Vol'f], Baron Nikolai Borisovich von Large and very heavy folio (370 x 275 mm). COMPLETE: viii, 422, plus 63 pages, including French summary ("La manufacture impériale de porcelaine à St. Petersbourg") on pp. 325-372. Photogravure frontispiece + 12 mounted heliograph plates numbered I-XII on facing tissue-guards + 1 chromolithograph plate showing 40 different makers' marks and monograms, 493 monochrome illustrations and 8 line-drawings within the text. Mid-twentieth (Swedish?) half calf, spine title lettered in Russian (spine a trifle scuffed, minor wear to headcap, spine leather with some speckling), decorated paper over boards, original gold-printed wrappers bound in (soiled, back wrapper with two large infills). Overall in excellent condition, certainly the nicest copy we've seen. MASSIVE AND MAGNIFICENT STATE-SPONSORED PUBLICATION, BEING THE OFFICIAL HISTORY OF THE IMPERIAL RUSSIAN PORCELAIN MANUFACTORY, PROFUSELY ILLUSTRATED. Ours is a complete copy in excellent condition, completely unspoiled, with all tissue guards present which are essential as they identify the heliogravure plates opposite. This work remains indispensible for historians of Imperial Russian porcelain and is perhaps the most monumental illustrated history of its subject. Still frequently cited, it is a fact that most copies of this original edition, whether in public or private collections, are in some way defective and/or damaged, unlike ours. "The history of this enterprise [i.e. Imperial porcelain manufactory] is an important part of the general history of the Russian applied arts and is of great help for students of the national crafts of the 18th-19th centuries. [.] The book had a limited circulation. It is difficult to find a copy of it in a decent state" (Vengerov, Staraia Russkaia Kniga, 78). Treated chronologically according to the reigns of the Czars, this fundamental work documents the Imperial Porcelain Factory in St. Petersburg during 260 years; the factory was founded in 1744 by the chemist Dmitry Ivanovich Vinogradov by order by Empress Elisabeth, daughter of Peter the Great. During its first decades, the factory manufactured exclusively for the Romanov family and the Imperial Court. The editor was the manager of the Imperial porcelain factories, Baron Nikolai Borisovich von Wolf, a.k.a. Vol'f (1866-1940), who was "not only a ceramic expert, but an artist of cultured taste" (Source: The Jeweler's Circular 74:1 [1917] p. 99). Wolf also includes a chapter on makers' marks. Solon writes: "A state-supported establishment, the Imperial Factory of St. Petersburg has not, as a rule, disposed of its limited [porcelain] productions through the usual channels of the trade. Hard porcelain was made from the beginning; examples of it are rarely seen in the collections. Although chiefly consisting in imitations of the leading Oriental and European types, some of the choicest specimens offer particular interest. Many pieces decorated with portraits of the Imperial family, Russian landscapes, military groups and popular scenes, testify to the care that was taken to impart to the ware a national character." The importance and rarity of this original edition is attested by the 2008 reprint, a grossly inferior production marred by unsightly and completely unsatisfactory reproductions of the twelve beautiful heliograph plates and 493 in-text illustrations. Two copies of the 1906 edition are currently available on the market, their asking prices being $8900 + shipping from the U.K. (quarter vellum, slightly worn label on spine) and $9300 + shipping from Germany (half calf, spine rubbed with gold-tooled spine partly peeled off, corners and edges heavily rubbed and slightly peeled). We mention international shipping charges because the book alone weighs 13.5 lbs = 6.1 kg (!) REFERENCE: Louis Marc Solon, Ceramic Literature: An Analytical Index to the Works Published in All Languages (1910) p. 468. PROVENANCE: Paul Forestovsky, his gift in 1945 to --> The family Andersson, Stockholm --> Thomas Heneage Rare Books UK, sold in 1985 (for $1,380) to --> James Vaughn (1939-2022), great bibliophile whose library included the finest mathematics collection ever formed by a private individual: 125 rare and foundational books in the history of mathematics were donated to the Harry Ransom Center in 2021; our volume was kept in Vaughn's home in River Oaks, Houston, and sold to us by his estate through the agency W.P. Watson. Vaughn funded the Mathematical Association of America and helped support the solution of the 300-year-old math puzzle, Fermat's Last Theorum. With Vaughn's original invoice loosely inserted. With J.M.V. bookplate.- $6,500
- $6,500
![[ENGLISH ROCOCO DESIGNS]. A new book of ornaments: consisting of tables](https://rarebookinsider.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/31767579571.jpg)
[ENGLISH ROCOCO DESIGNS]. A new book of ornaments: consisting of tables, chimnies, sconces, spandles, clock cases, candle stands, chandeliers, girondoles, &c
Matthias Lock and H. Copland Folio (341 x 230 mm). Complete with 12 leaves (including title-page). Engraved throughout. Early (original?) drab blue wrappers (a little soiled), bound by Riviere in later red half morocco over comb-marbled boards, comb-marbled pastedowns and endleaves, one or possibly two labels removed from inside front cover leaving a tape residue. Each plate carefully numbered in pencil. In VERY FRESH STATE, WITH FINE IMPRESSIONS OF ALL THE PLATES. MATTHIAS LOCK WAS THE FIRST ENGLISH DESIGNER TO CAPTURE THE SPIRIT OF THE FRENCH HIGH ROCOCO; HE INSPIRED THOMAS CHIPPENDALE AND WAS LIKELY TO HAVE BEEN HIS MENTOR. These imaginative and exuberant designs are indicative of Lock's seemingly effortless style. "His scrolls, dragons, flowers, masks, birds and Chinese men are all handled with a zest and freedom rare in the English product, with a strong dash of asymmetry. [.] This evidence of an ability to teach design, combined with Lock's activity as a Rococo designer from the early 1740s, makes him a better candidate than Darly as Chippendale's mentor" (Jervis, p. 302). Our suite of twelve engravings is absolutely complete; it is one of a series of rare but important publications by Lock which presented a distinctly "British" form of Rococo scrollwork and ornament to designers and furniture makers, its influence broad and considerable. "Matthias Lock (1710-1765) [was] the carver who first introduced the French Rococo to woodworkers in London. During the 1740s he published a half-dozen modest cahiers, or suites, of ornamental designs [.] all in the Rococo taste and executed in a loose, freehand etching manner. In 1752, together with the engraver Henry Copland (1706-1753), he coauthored 'A New Book of Ornaments,' the largest and most ambitious English publication to date. With its chimneypieces, pier glasses, and candlestands, all professionally engraved, it was the forerunner of Chippendale's great folio" (Heckscher 2018, p. 10) Our 1768 edition is no reprint of the 1752 publication, as is noted by Heckscher (1979) who describes the bibliographic and artistic complexities: "There are considerable variations in the plates found in copies with the 1752 title page, suggesting the book was kept in print over a long period of time, with the title page unchanged but other plates reworked or replaced as required. [.] Sayer republished 'A New Book of Ornaments' on 1 January 1768, the first, or more accurately the earliest dated, of his Lock reprints. The plate for the title page may have been lost; at any rate Sayer used in its stead the single cartouche Lock had made in 1746 [Heckscher no. III; compare his plate 11 and 33]. [.] At first glance the remaining plates appear unchanged; but close inspection of the 1768 V&A copy shows that, in comparison with the original edition, four plates are copies and four others have been extensively reworked." Clearly further analysis is required: the catalogue of the Redwood Library, which owns a copy of both editions, suggests that leaves 4-5, 7, 9-10, 12 were "originally issued" (sic!) as part of the authors' 1752 "A New Book of Ornaments: with Twelve Leaves. Consisting of Chimneys" (etc.); and that leaves 2-3, 6, 8, 11 were "redrawn" (sic!) after plates in that same work. The Redwood catalogue fails to mention anything about the engraved title-page, which is entirely new to the 1768 edition and is -- in our opinion -- far superior to its predecessor. Copies located: 1768 edition: Redwood Library (Newport, RI), British Library, V&A; 1752 edition: Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Winterthur, Redwood Library, British Library, V&A, Metropolitan Museum of Art (acquired in 1928 from Messrs Bernard Quaritch), Statsbibliothek Berlin. Our copy formed part of the library of the legendary American furniture connoisseur Howard Reifsnyder and was sold in 1929 at American Art Galleries (24 April, lot 19). Other than our copy, which was later sold in 1981 at Sotheby's London (16 March, lot 430), no copy of either edition of the present work is found in Rare Book Hub, which currently lists more than 13 million records in the Rare Book Transaction database. Subsequently in the library of Edmond Lincoln with his bookplate engraved by Leo Wyatt. Literature: Morrison Heckscher "Lock and Copland: a Catalogue of the Engraved Ornament" in: Furniture History (no. 15, 1979), cat. no. VII. Ibid., "Chippendale's 'Director': A Manifesto of Furniture Design" (in: The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, 74:4, Spring 2018, exhibition May 2018 - January 2019). Simon Jervis, Facts on File Dictionary of Design and Designers (1984). References: Berlin Katalog 1226 and Guimard, p. 518 list only the 1752 edition. Fiske Kimball & Edna Donnell, The Creators of the Chippendale Style (published in 1929 but still of value), p.117, Lewine, p. 321. Rosenthal Catalogue 88, no. 275. Guimard (p. 518) lists only Lock's "New Drawing Book of Ornaments, Shields" (etc.). Cataloguer's note: on the Metropolitan Museum of Art website there are (inexplicably) three images of the same plate (no. 10) from the 1752 edition, plus an image of another plate (unnumbered, but no. 7) which looks to us as if it was pressed down on a scanner beneath two pieces of wood. It is this unfortunate image that is now on Wikimedia Commons.- $12,500
- $12,500
[JAPANESE HERBARIUM]. Plantae Alpicolae Japonicae (Fasc. I: 1-100)
Yokohama Nursery Co., Ltd Together 100 specimens mounted on large folio sheets; each sheet is folded once to form 4 "pages," the first two being bland (protecting the specimens), the specimens are carefully mounted on "page 3," the verso of which is blank. The folded sheets measure 39 x 26 cm. Housed in two original loose boards, with tipped- in hand-painted title plate. Original binding string present at top of upper board, no others located. Corners lightly bumped. A few small scratches, a minor scrape, and a small stain to the upper board illustration. Specimen no. 30 lacks handwritten label but is captioned on the washi folio. Some wear, foxing, and occasional tears to folio extremities. Occasional water stains to folios also, not affecting specimens or labels. Housed in modern custom-made Paulownia wood box and purple cloth chemise (furoshiki). ASTONISHING COLLECTION OF ONE HUNDRED CUTTINGS OF JAPANESE ALPINE PLANTS GATHERED BY THE PIONEERING HORTICULTURALISTS AT THE YOKOHAMA NURSERY, GATHERED BETWEEN 1904 AND 1920 FROM SOME OF JAPAN'S HIGHEST MOUNTAINS. Each specimen in the collection is housed in a folded leaf of washi paper and is accompanied by a printed label filled out by hand. Information on each label includes the name of the specimen in Latin and Japanese, the mountain on which it grows, and the month and year of collection. The cuttings are preserved in REMARKABLY GOOD CONDITION, with almost no defects. The specimens were collected from over twenty mountains, some of which rank amongst the highest in Japan, including Mt. Fuji, Mt. Ontake, Mt. Akanagi, and Mt. Nantai. This is a unique 'hand-picked' compilation by the most prominent Japanese nursery of the Meiji period. A recent and very useful assessment of the significance of the Yokohama Nursery is given by Stephen Sinon in "Plant Talk: Yokohama Nursery Catalogs" (online at the New York Botanical Gardens website: Inside Our Collections, 5/5/21). The Yokohama Nursery continues to flourish to the present day. According to the nursery's own website, the firm was founded in February 1890 as the "Limited Liability Yokohama Ueki Shokai" with Uhei Suzuki as the representative. The nursery became the first Japanese trading company to import and export plants, and opened a branch office in San Francisco. In Oct. 1893, the firm changed name to Yokohama Nursery Co., Ltd. MUST BE SEEN TO BE FULLY APPRECIATED.- $6,800
- $6,800
Ulysses [in Japanese: “YurishÄ«zu,” translated by Sei ItÅ et al., published 1931-1934]. TOGETHER WITH: Doi KÅchi, “Joyce’s Ulysses” [in Japanese: “Joisu no YurishÄ«zu” published 1929 in the academic journal KaizÅ]
Joyce, James Two vols., 8vo (205 x 155 mm). 654; 603 pp., COMPLETE. Original western bindings of flexible blue cloth, original dust jackets (chipped and somewhat soiled, jacket of v.1. with minor mending), later glassine jackets. Text with some foxing, light dampstaining to leaf extremities. Faint pen mark to fore-edge of vol. 2. With the keninshi (æ¤å°ç ) stamps of authenticity affixed above the colophons of both volumes as a countermeasure against conterfeits. On both of the stamps there is the seal (in red) of the family name (ItÅ) of the main translator ItÅ Sei. Overall in very good condition, suitable for exhibition and study. Protective light-blue cloth case. First printing of the first complete edition of Joyce's Ulysses in Japanese, which is at the same time the first complete non-European translation of the work. It also predates the publication of Ulysses in the United States (Random House, 1934) and England (John Lane, 1936). Partial translations of Ulysses had been published in Japanese literary magazines in the years leading up to ItÅ's translation. Doi KÅchi (1886-1979) translated and published part of Episode 18 as part of his article "Joisu no YurishÄ«zu" in KaizÅ magazine (Issue 11 Number 2, Feb. 1929) -- of which a copy is INCLUDED IN THE PRESENT OFFERING; this article is widely considered the first (partial) Japanese translation of Ulysses, and the first influential academic introduction of the work to the Japanese. Volume two contains p. 516-597 which in subsequent printings were usually excised or not printed at all due to censorship; this is, of course, the Molly Bloom soliloquy. In this first printing, "truly offensive" words and some passages were intentionally left blank, but the majority of the text is indeed present. We have learned from Rose Counsell that "The second part of Ulysses, translated by Sei Ito, Sadamu Nagamatsu, and Hisanori Tsujino, was banned on May 30 [Showa 9] 1934 after it was delivered to the Ministry of the Interior because the entire monologue by Mrs. Bloom at the end of the book was 'a depiction of a middle-aged woman's lustful imagination,' which meant that the book was 'banned' for publication for fear of causing 'public disorder.'" (Sone 2002, p. 131). Both volumes in our set belong to the first printing of the first edition, of which 2,000 copies of vol. 1 were printed, and 1,500 of vol. 2. This Japanese edition was preceded by the plodding translations into German (1927) and French (1929). This first complete Japanese translation was undertaken by the novelist ItÅ Sei (1905-1969) with the assistance of Sadamu Nagamatsu and Hisanori Tsujino. ItÅ is the first truly great Japanese Joycean. He also translated "Lady Chatterley's Lover" in both an expurgated edition (1935) and an unexpurgated edition (1950) for which he and his publishers were tried and convicted for disseminating "pornography." In 1958 ItÅ produced "Saiban," a novel based on the resulting Chatterley Trials against himself and his publisher. In addition to introducing Western literature to a Japanese readership through his translations, ItÅ developed the Shin Shinri-shugi ("School of New Psychology") style, which was greatly influenced by Joyce's stream-of-consciousness technique. REFERENCE: Slocum and Cahoon D91 (not to be confused with D93 ["Not a complete translation"], namely the 209-page volume issued by the same publisher in 1931. Rarity on the market: currently Messrs. Peter Harrington are offering a copy with a presentation signature from the translator for $16,169. Condition: binding on vol. 2 warped and bowed, both volumes lacking dust-jackets. Rarity at auction: Rare Book Hub, which currently lists more than 13,570,000 records in the Rare Book Transaction database, locates only ONE copy that has ever appeared at auction, namely the Peter Howard / Serendipity copy: *third* printing of vol. 1, textblock detached from vol. 1, lacking dust-jackets of both volumes, offered at Bonhams (twice) in 2012. SELECTED LITERATURE: ⧠Ainge, Michael W. "An Examination of Joycean Influences on Itoh Sei." Comparative Literature Studies 30, no. 4 (1993): 325-50. ⧠"About James Joyce's method - 2 - Changes in Joyce's evaluation in Japan," Studies in the Humanities / Josai University Economics Society, Humanities Research Editorial Committee 1980.01, pp. 83-97 (in Japanese:ãã ã§ã¤ããºã»ã ã§ã¤ã ã®ææ ã«ã¤ãã¦-2-æå½ã«ãããã ã§ã¤ã è 価ã®æ 移ã, å西人æç"ç / å西大å¦çµæ å¦ä¼äººæç"ç ç éå§" å"¡ä¼ ç ) ⧠Keiko Wada, "James Joyce and Kobayashi Hideo," Wada, Keiko. "James Joyce and Kobayashi Hideo." Hikaku Bungaku, 31 (1988), iii-xviii. ⧠Hirohoshi Sone, "'Chatarei Fujin no Koibito' to 'Akutoku no Sakae' - Sengo no Honyaku ShÅsetsu ("'Lady Chatterley's Lover' and 'Juliette' - Translated Novels of the Post-War Period"), in: Kokubungaku: Kaishaku to Kyozai no KenkyÅ« ("Japanese Literature: Research on Interpretation and Teaching Materials") 47:9 (July 2002) pp. 131-135. ______________ OFFERED WITH: KÅchi Doi, "Joisu no yurishÄ«zu" (Joyce's Ulysses) in a complete issue of KaizÅ (TÅkyÅ: KaizÅsha, ShÅwa 4 [February 1929]), vol. 11 no. 2, pp. 24-47 in the first pagination sequence. This volume of the academic journal KaizÅ contains the very important article "Joisu no YurishÄ«zu" (Joyce's Ulysses) by Doi KÅchi (1886-1979), noted scholar of English literature. It is considered "the first influential academic introduction" of Ulysses to Japan (Ito 2017). In his article Doi also offers selected translations of Ulysses (including a portion of the infamous Molly Bloom soliloquy) and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Concerning Ulysses, KÅchi praises Joyce's new writing style and his meticulous planning. This article is ostensibly the first academic consideration of Joyce printed in Japanese, and served as a major influence in the development of discourse on Joyce in Japan. "Joyce had been already partially introduced to Japan in 1- $8,800
- $8,800
Late Medieval and Renaissance Illuminated Manuscripts, 1350-1522, in the Houghton Library
Wieck, Roger S. Quarto, 190 pages, illustrated in black and white. Paperback. Waterstain along fore-edge throughout (the text and images are perfectly legible) as well as having some wear to covers. An important exhibition catalogue of illuminated manuscripts held by the Houghton Library and focusing on the period between 1350 and 1524. The exhibition represented the strongest period in the collection and surveyed the growth and development of artistry represented within.- $25
- $25
![[EARLY AMERICAN JUDAICA 1700]. [The Fountain Opened: or](https://rarebookinsider.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/31697043565.jpg)
[EARLY AMERICAN JUDAICA 1700]. [The Fountain Opened: or, The Great Gospel Priviledge of having Christ exhibited to Sinfull Men. Wherein also is proved that there shall be a National Calling of the JEWS]. Together with: [The Fountain Opened; or, The Admirable Blessings plentifully to be Dispensed at the National Conversion of the JEWS]
Willard, Samuel Ad 1: 16mo. Lacks pp. 1-14 (including title), and pp. 199-208, [2] at end. Bound in contemporary American sheep over scale-board (VERY WORN: SEE IMAGES). Preserved in a cloth protective case with 4-flap lig-free chemise. Ad 2: 40 pp. (lacks title-page). Stitched as issued (text stained). Preserved in a mylar L-sleeve. FIRST EDITION. Very rare early American Judaica, the last copy on the market appearing ninety-three years ago in a 1929 Goodspeed's catalogue (untraced). Seventeenth-century American books on the Jewish Conversion Question are almost unobtainable in any condition. This 1700 first edition of "The Fountain Opened" is distinguished by the fact that only SEVEN American Judaica books preceded it. The work is #8 in A.S.W. Rosenbach's "Books and Pamphlets by Jews or Relating to Them, Printed in the United States, From the Establishment of the Press." Whereas our copy is defective, it will be seen below that 17th century American Judaica are not only extremely rare in commerce, but are almost invariably defective: 1. Bay Psalm Book 1640. Last copy at auction: Sotheby's New York 2020 ($14M, lacking one leaf). 2. Mather, Mystery of Israel's Salvation 1669. Last copy at auction: Sotheby's London 1951 (GBP 17). 3. Keith, New-England's Spirit of Persecution 1693. Last copy in commerce: 1979 Nebenzahl catalogue ($18,000, purchased at Sotheby's London 1977 GPB 4,000); prior to that: 1935 (the Brinley-Goelet copy, sold at Anderson Galleries). 4. Keith, Truth Advanced 1694. Last copy at auction: Sotheby's New York 2021 (Dupuy-Smith-Zinman-Snider copy, est. $70,000 to $100,000 unsold; previously offered at Bloomsbury 2007 and Sotheby's New York 1981); prior to that: Sotheby's London 1977 (Sion College copy, GBP 4000); prior to that: 1930 Henkels catalogue ($62.50 lacking four leaves). 5. Jameson, Remembrance of Former Times 1697. No copy located at auction or in commerce. 6. Sewall, Phaenomena Quaedam Apocalyptica 1697. Last copy at auction: 1897 Bangs auction ($9, stained, title-mounted and imperfect). 7. Mather, Faith of the Fathers 1699. Last copy in commerce: 1946 Midland catalogue ($50). 8. Willard, Fountain Opened 1700 (THE PRESENT EDITION). Last copy in commerce: 1929 Goodspeed's Catalogue 181 (item 144), whereabouts unknown; prior to that: 1897 Brinley Sale (lot 920), whereabouts unknown. CENSUS OF COPIES: Massachusetts Historical, AAS, Huntington, JCB, Yale, Harvard (stained and tightly bound with some loss of print), American Jewish Historical Society (Rosenbach copy), Library of Congress, Library Company, Princeton (title mounted), Peabody Essex (defective), Boston Public, Boston Athenaeum, Emory, Salem Athenaeum. THE TEXT: Willard (1640-1707), a colonial clergyman, graduated from Harvard in 1659, served as acting president of Harvard from 1701 until his death. Here he argues that the conversion of Jewish people to Christianity is inevitable and would be "a blessing" for all concerned. Willard "claims that when the Jews finally return to God and accept Jesus as the true messiah, 'there shall be a more peculiar opening of Christ as a fountain of life,' leading to 'spiritual felicity.'" (see see Sarah Levy, An Annotated Bibliography of Printed American Judaica 1676-1835 in the N-Y Historical Society, recording the 1722 edition only, which incidentally is the third oldest printed American Judaica in the Library). CATALOGUER'S NOTE: Two title-issues of this first edition exist, one printed for Benjamin Eliot, the other for Samuel Sewell Junior. References to one or both issues appear in: Rosenbach 8. Sabin 104082. Singerman, Judaica Americana 6. Evans 960. ESTC W25228 and R39834. Wing (2nd ed.) W2277 and W2277A. +++++ SECOND EDITION: Whereas our copy lacks the title-page, it contains ALL the text on the Jewish Conversion Question. The last copy of this 1722 edition to appear on the market sold in the 1879 Brinley auction, which likewise lacked the title. CATALOGUER'S NOTE: Presented here for the first time (apparently) is a comparison between the first and second edition: the text of the first pages of the second edition is an abridgement of first pages of the first edition; then, on p. 6 begins the text relating to the Jewish Conversion Question, which in the first edition appears on pp. 106-127 (see below). The second edition has an Appendix by Sewell (pp. 31-40) likewise related to the Jewish Conversion Question, which is NOT found in the first. Rosenbach 23. Sabin 104083. Singerman 19. Evans 2406. ESTC W20331. +++++ PASTEDOWNS: Our copy has a remarkable bifolium pasted down inside the front and back covers. The first page of the text of the bifolium is pasted inside the back cover and reads: "Upon Mr. Samuel Willard, his first coming into the assembly, and praying, after a long and dangerous fit of sickness; November 21. 1700. at 3. in the afternoon, being a day of publick thanksgiving. Mr. Pemberton's text, Psal. 118.2" [Boston, 1720]. Pasted inside the front cover is the second page of text, which makes reference to the pages in THIS edition of "The Fountain Opened" thusly: "N[ote]. The 106-127, & 166 pages of this book, do more especially treat the calling of the JEWS." (NB: the text on p. 166 is actually one paragraph inserted "Rather than this page should stand empty"). The text of this bifolium was written by Samuel Sewall, as we learn from his diary entry for Nov. 21, 1700. The verse is in three stanzas, the first lines being "As Joseph let his brethren see Simeon both alive, and free." This is an EARLY specimen of New England poetry. No text is lacking here, as pages [1] and [4] of the bifolium are blank. Our copy, with double-rule at head of p. [2], is a reprint of Evans 952 which was printed in 1700. Copies at AAS, Boston Public, and Beinecke have Sewall's 1720 "Upon Mr. Samuel Willard" bound in; the Library Company copy (ex-Michael Zinman) has the bifolium pasted inside the boards, as here. Of this rare bifolium, Rare Book Hub records only two copies at auction: the Str- $9,500
- $9,500
![[FUNERARY LITERATURE FOR CHILDREN]. A memoir of Isabella Maria L.--](https://rarebookinsider.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/31669201088-600x561.jpg)
[FUNERARY LITERATURE FOR CHILDREN]. A memoir of Isabella Maria L.–, who happily departed this life in the eighth year of her age
[Anonymous] 32mo. 32pp. With an engraved frontispiece. Original publisher's red wrappers, lettered and decorated in gilt. A trifle rubbed and marked. Early ink gift inscription inside upper wrapper (bottom corner of lower wrapper stained). DREARY JUVENILE CONDUCT OF LIFE TALE. Our colleague Tom Lintern-Mole informs us that "the narrative concerns the exceptionally intelligent and nauseatingly pious eponymous heroine, who, when stricken by a mysterious illness, remains unwaveringly devout in her final hours, gladly embracing the prospect of death and salvation. The moral is less than comforting: 'My dear young readers, do you calculate upon a long life? - look at Maria, and be taught you may die soon. Do you shrink from the gloom and coldness of the grave? - look at Maria and learn how to smile upon it. Do you wish to die peacefully? - apply to that Jesus who took the sting out of her death, and he will take it out of yours.'" We have learned that the text of the present "Memoir" was printed in the Evangelical Magazine and Missionary Chronicle (vol. 10, March 1832, pp. 156-160, in the Obituaries section!) and the "Memoir" is signed "R" at the end. Did it precede the present chapbook? Here no author is credited, but it does contain three "Favorite Hymns of Isabella Maria" which do not appear in the Evangelical Magazine publication. Birmingham publisher Thomas Groom specialized in children's chapbooks; imprints with bearing his name were issued from 1830 to the 1850s. Scarce (apparently unrecorded) edition in good original state. Combined searches in COPAC, Worldcat and KVK locate only the following: Second edition (one copy worldwide: Free Library of Philadelphia); Third edition (one copy worldwide: Bodleian).- $750
- $750
![[Original Photograph of an Abandoned House in Detroit]](https://rarebookinsider.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/31672294249-600x817.jpg)
[Original Photograph of an Abandoned House in Detroit]
[Unknown photographer] Original black and white photograph (6.75" x 9.25"), minor wear. ADDED: reproductions of photographs of Richard Austin and Coleman Alexander Young. AFRICAN AMERICAN POLITICAL CANDIDATES CAMPAIGN FOR CHANGE IN RUINED DETROIT. Striking, anonymous photograph of an anonymous crumbling Detroit house, likely taken in 1969 or 1970. The only remaining function of this shell of a "home" was serving as a grotesque billboard advertising hope and change. Affixed to the ruined facade are campaign posters for three African American political candidates running in Detroit's current municipal elections. We have not been able to identify the photographer or if the photograph has been published elsewhere. To suggest that these candidates candidates faced "challenging" conditions would be a gross understatement. Indeed, voters' were justifiably enraged by Detroit's police brutality, widespread racism, extreme socioeconomic disparity, unemployment and underemployment, food deserts, and the virtual absence of educational opportunities for people of color. The wounds of the 1967 Detroit riots had not yet turned into scars. The African American candidates represented here are: RICHARD AUSTIN, CPA (for Mayor). Austin was the son of a coal miner who became the first African American in Detroit to win a mayoral primary; ultimately he lost the general election, one of the closest political contests in Detroit's history. Austin's bold campaign blazed the trail for future Black candidates. ROBERT TINDAL, Executive Secretary of the Detroit Chapter of the NAACP, ran for the Common Council and was elected. CLARA RUTHERFORD (for City Treasurer). Rutherford was not elected, but she was subsequently served for many years on the Detroit Public School Board.- $500
- $500
![[FIRST ITALIAN REFERENCE TO SHAKESPEARE 1726]. Il Cesare tragedia. Con alcune cose concernenti l'opera medesima](https://rarebookinsider.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/31675123425.jpg)
[FIRST ITALIAN REFERENCE TO SHAKESPEARE 1726]. Il Cesare tragedia. Con alcune cose concernenti l’opera medesima
[Shakespeare]. CONTI, Antonio 8vo (227-172 mm). 185, [1] pp. Collation: A-Y4 Z6. With a printer's mark on title-page and p. 76 (Apollo with lyre) plus a large woodcut of Hercules and the Nemean Lion on final page. Contemporary "carta rustica" covered with brocade paper (somewhat chipped along the joints along with a few short tears, spine somewhat discolored). Completely unsophisticated and suitable for exhibition and study. Preserved in a linen cloth protective case. First Edition of Conti's "Il Cesare," a play which Gamba pronounces as "One of the best Italian tragedies," and which is further distinguished by containing THE FIRST ITALIAN REFERENCE TO SHAKESPEARE, and is at the same time "THE FIRST OPINION ON SHAKESPEARE EVER TO BE PRINTED OUTSIDE ENGLAND" (Petrone Fresco). Included also is a fascinating discussion of the Bard's "unruly genius" and the nature of the tragic drama itself. This Italian imprint was likely in Germany at a very early date: covering the original boards is an Augsburg "Chinoiserie" brocade paper, made in 1722 by Joseph Friedrich Leopold (1669-1727); the marvelous brocade features acrobats and an elephant, which according to Haemmerle "rank among the best examples of their kind" (p. 124, illustrated on p. 82). Prefixed to Conti's play (likewise a tragedy based on the life of Julius Caesar) is the author's famous letter to Jacopo Martelli, a portion of which is here translated: "'Sasper (i.e. Shakespeare) is the Corneille of the English, only far more irregular than Corneille, though, like him, he is full of great ideas and noble sentiments. I shall only mention his Caesar here. Sasper makes him die in the third act. The rest of the tragedy is taken up with Mark Antony's speech to the People, then with the wars and the deaths of Cassius and Brutus. Could there be a greater violation of the unities of time, action and place? But the English, before Cato, treat Aristotle's rules with contempt, for the aim of tragedy is to please, and the best is the one which is most successful in this. [.] Such were, I imagine, the views of most Italians, spoilt by Spanish comedies, in the seventeenth century" (pp. 54-55). Conti "is surprised that no one thought of translating the English plays of the time, since 'they are crowded with incident, like the Spanish, while their characters are certainly more natural and more pleasing.' The Histories especially he thinks might have proved most instructive to his countrymen then." (SOURCE: Lucy Collison-Morley, "Shakespeare in Italy," Stratford-upon-Avon, 1916, translating "Il Cesare" p. 54). J.G. Robertson has underlined how Conti's judgement was soon to influence critical opinion both in Italy and the rest of Europe: "The importance of [Conti's] statement is that here, for the first time, we find a critic outside England not merely regarding Shakespeare with respect, but hinting at the possibility of the continental nation learning from him. That Conti's own 'Cesare,' excellent though it is, has nothing Shakespearian about it, does not impair his argument, and his words fell on fruitful ground in both France and Germany." (SOURCE: "The Knowledge of Shakespeare on the Continent at the Beginning of the Eighteenth Century" in: The Modern Language Review, I, 1905-1906; see also Robertson's Studies in the Genesis of Romantic Theory in the Eighteenth Century (Cambridge, 1923) in which Conti's appreciation of Shakespeare is shown to have profoundly influenced the French and German romantic credo. Antonio Conti (1677-1749) was a cultured Venetian abbot who came to London in 1715, attracted by the fame of the Royal Society and the brilliancy of English scientific inquiry. He excelled in mathematics, philosophy, and belles lettres, and was provided with excellent introductions to English scholars and some of the leading scientists of the day, including Newton (see Conti's preface pp. 49-52). London's foul air disagreed with him, and he retired to the country house of the Duke of Buckingham where he was introduced to Shakespeare's works. The Duke had written tragedies on the subject of Caesar and Brutus, and Conti's ambition was fired to write a similar work. The result was "Il Cesare" which Conti read aloud in several literary circles in Paris, and copies of it circulated in manuscript. Ultimately Cardinal Bentivoglio, also in Paris serving as Papal Nuncio, had "Il Cesare" printed -- without Conti's permission -- and in 1726 the present volume was printed in Faenza. According to Petrone Fresco, this is "the really important date in the history of Shakespeare's reception not only in Italy but in a larger European perspective as it markes the first opinion on Shakespeare ever to be printed outside England." PROVENANCE: ink ownership inscription of Leonardo Trissino (dated 1827) --> ticket of the Roman booksellers C. E. Rappaport. REFERENCES: Gamba, No. 1881. Allacci 180. Salvioli 717. Poggiali (II), n. 331 ("Il Giulio Cesare vien giudicata una delle migliori (tragedie) che si abbiano in nostra lingua"). Olschki Cat. CXXXXI, n. 114 ("Natali, p. 955, fait un parallele entre cette tragedie et le Julius Caesar de Shakespeare"). DBI XXVIII, pp. 352-359. See also Victor Hamm's "Antonio Conti and English Aesthetics" (in: Comparative Literature, Vol. 8, No. 1 [Winter, 1956], pp. 12-27); N. Orsini, "Shakespeare in Italy" (in: Comparative Literature, Vol. 3, No. 2 [Spring, 1951], pp. 178-180). Petrone Fresco, "Shakespeare's Reception in 18th Century Italy: The Case of Hamlet" (Warwick PhD Thesis, 1991, p. 52-53 and passim.- $6,000
- $6,000
[GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE]. A Collection of Designs for Rural Retreats as Villas. Principally in the Gothic and Castle Styles of Architecture: https://rarebookinsider.com/rare-books/gothic-architecture-a-collection-of-designs-for-rural-retreats-as-villas-principally-in-the-gothic-and-castle-styles-of-architecture/