London: Printed for the Company of Stationers, and sold by John Wilkie, at their Hall Ludgate-Street, 1782
$2,800.00
Duodecimo: 10.5 x 5.5 cm. 8 p. A-B12
A truly lovely copy of one of the miniature almanacs published by the Company of Stationers. Rare. ESTC records only 1 copy of this edition (at the British Library).
Two of the most important literary works of the English Renaissance, Together with Ascham’s Essay on Historiography - With Manuscript waste from a 15th c. Breviary with several lines in Middle English
London: Printed by Iohn Daye, dwelling ouer Aldersgate, [1571], London: In Fletestreate neare to Saint Dunstones Churche by Thomas Marshe, 1571, London, Printed by Iohn Daye, dwelling ouer Aldersgate, ca. 1570
$45,000.00
Quarto: Three volumes bound as one: 19.5 x 14.2 cm. I. [manicule]2, B-T4. II. *4, A-H8, III. A-I4
I. “The Schoolmaster”:
“The indispensable link between the earlier Tudor writers and the great Elizabethan and Jacobean writers of English prose”(Ryan, 292)
The Cambridge-educated Ascham, one of the best known of the English humanists, produced two works that had a great influence on the use of English as a literary language as well as on the education of children and the conduct of English gentlemen.
Folio: 32.3 x 21.5 cm. ¶4, A-Z6, Aa-Zz6, Aaa-Zzz6, Aaaa-Dddd6 (lacks blank ¶1).
This second edition was revised by William Crashaw (1572-1626), father of the poet Richard Crashaw, and includes the commentary of Juan Luis Vives (first published in Basle, 1522), which Vives wrote at the suggestion of Erasmus.
"Fifteen years after Augustine wrote the Confessions, at a time when he was bringing to a close (and invoking government power to do so) his long struggle with the Donatists but before he had worked himself up to action against the Pelagians, the Roman world was shaken by news of a military action in Italy.
Oxford: Printed by Leon: Lichfield, Printer to the University, for Rob: Young, & Ed: Forrest, 1640
$15,500.00
Folio: 28.2 x 19 cm. [32], 38, [14], 322, [22] p. Collation: [*]2, ¶4, ¶¶2, ¶¶¶1, A2, B-C4, aa-gg4, hh2, †4, ††2, †1, A-Z4, Aa-Zz4, Aaa-Qqq4, Rrr2. The first bifolium comprises the engraved portrait and engraved title page.
This is the important English translation, by Isaac Watts, of Bacon’s “De augmentis scientiarum” (“Partitions of the Sciences”), a greatly expanded version of Bacon’s “Of Proficience and Advancement of Learning Divine and Human”(1605). The work forms part one of Bacon’s “Instauratio Magna”, a foundational work of Early Modern science.
Octavo: 17 x 11 cm. (56), 705, (63) pp. Collation: *-***8, ****4, a-z8, A-Z8, aa-bb8
FIRST EDITION of Conrad Badius’ French translation of John Bale’s “Acta Romanorum Pontificum”(1558). In his “Acts of the Roman Pontiffs” Bale sought to prove that the popes are not the successors of Peter and expressed the belief that it was the Antichrist himself who controlled the papacy. He devotes considerable space to demonstrate that Peter never was a bishop of Rome and that there was considerable doubt among chroniclers about the identity of Peter’s immediate successors.
London: In Paules churche yarde at the sygne of the holy Ghost, by Ihon Cawoode, prynter to the Kynge and Quenes Maiesties, 1556
$30,000.00
Quarto: 20 x 14 cm. [A]4, B-Z4, Aa-Ff4 (blank Ff4 lacking)
Dedicated to Queen Mary Tudor, Coleville’s English translation of Boethius’ masterpiece is the only early English translation to include the original Latin text, indicating that, in addition to those readers with no knowledge of Latin, the author took into consideration the more educated, Latin-literate English audience. Coleville provides interesting marginal glosses and explanatory notes, including the tale of the sword of Damocles.
Quarto in 8s: 19 x 14.6 cm. 123, [5]; 27, [1] leaves. Collation: A-Q8; A-C8, D4
An Elizabethan edition (and the last of the early editions) of this popular book of remedies, written by the English physician and traveler Andrew Boorde. In his prefaces, he emphasizes that no man or woman should practice medicine unless they be properly educated. A physician must have Grammar to understand what he reads, Logic to discuss and define truth from falsehood, Geometry to weigh and measure his drugs and potions, and above all, astronomy, “to know how, when, and at what time every medicine ought to be ministered”.
London: Printed by R. Bishop, for R[ichard]. B[est]. or his assignes, 1640
$9,600.00
17 x 11 cm. [48], 318, [8] p., [1] leaf of plates Collation: [A]1, a-c⁸, B-X⁸ (with blank X8), Y⁴
This copy conforms with Pforzheimer and lacks the bifolium “Postscript” (Z1-2) “Apparently supplementary and frequently wanting”(Grolier). It is found only in the Huntington and Harmsworth (Folger) copies in the U.S. Quire Y contains the poems "Menippus his Madrigall, to his coy-duck Clarabel” and “Loves Festivall at Lusts Funerall”.
Quarto: 17.3 x 12.7 cm. [8], 62, [10] pp. Collation: *4, A-I4 (complete with blank leaf H4)
The first edition to be printed in England of the first published work on bibliophily, the “love of books”. The book was written in 1345 by the English statesman, intellectual, bibliophile and book collector Richard de Bury (Aungerville), Bishop of Durham, whose collection of manuscripts numbered in the hundreds. Bury discusses various aspects of book collecting and the maintenance of a library, as well as the state of learning and scholarly practices of his age.
There were two series of woodcut illustrations used in 15thand 16thc. editions of the "Canterbury Tales": one by William Caxton, used in his 1483 edition, in 1498 by Wynkyn de Worde, and the 1532 and 1542 editions of the "Works". The second set, modeled on Caxton's, was made for Richard Pynson's 1492 edition of the "Tales". For the second Pynson edition (1526), some of the original 1492 blocks were used while others were re-cut on new blocks.
Pforzheimer 176; ESTC S107206 (STC 5075); Langland to Wither, 42; Literature: E.P. Hammond, Chaucer, p. 119-122; David Carlson, "Woodcut Illustrations of the Canterbury Tales, 1483-1602", The Library, Vol. s6-19, Issue 1 (1 March, 1997), pages 25-67; David Carlson, "Woodcut Illustrations in Early Printed Editions of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales", in Chaucer Illustrated: Five Hundred Years of The Canterbury Tales in Pictures; Joe Dane, "Press-Variants in John Stow's Chaucer (1561) and the Text of Adam Scriveyn" (with Seth Lerer). Transactions of the Cambridge Bibliographical Society 11 (1999): 468-79.
London: Printed for G. Kearsley, at Johnson’s Head, No. 46, Fleet-Street, 1788
$3,800.00
Octavo: 21 x 13 cm. pp. [ii], ii, 178, [18]. Collation: [A]2, B-Z4, A1. With an added engraved frontispiece of the Duchess, with breasts exposed "as she appeared at the Venetian Ambassador
Duchess of Kingston, granddaughter of the poet Mary Chudleigh (1656-1710), from whom “she seemed to have inherited no notable literary tastes or talents”(Rizzo) Elizabeth was notorious for her sexual escapades, daring, and profligacy. She studiously cultivated this image, referring to herself (in the third person) thus: “She was both wasteful and penurious; the most enormous sums were expended to gratify her love of display, at the same time that she refused to incur some trifling necessary expense in her household….
London: printed by W[illiam]. B[owyer]. for Bernard Lintott at the Middle Temple Gate in Fleetstreet, 1703
$15,000.00
Octavo: 19.5 x 12 cm. [16], 125, [17], 73, [1] pp. Collation: A-O8, P4
Mary Chudleigh was a friend of Elizabeth Thomas and an admirer of Mary Astell, with whom she corresponded and whose ‘Defence of the Female Sex’ she tried to emulate. Dedicated to Queen Anne, her ‘Poems on Several Occasions’ was widely noticed, achieving a second edition in 1709. The poems include a wide range of subjects, from lyrics and satires of the age of Dryden, to philosophical and more contemplative verse in keeping with the solitary and often melancholy life that she led in Devon.
Quarto: 18.5 x 14.5 cm. [20], 226 [2] p. Collation: *-**4, ***2, A-Z4, Aa-Ee4, Ff2
Provenance: Richard Clifton (1642-1664), son of Zachary Clifton (born 1589), and grandson of Richard Clifton, the author of the present work, with ownership inscriptions to front and rear of the volume. Zachary Clifton returned with his family to England in 1651 during the Commonwealth era, and died in 1671.
London: By Iohn Day, dwelling ouer Aldersgate, beneath Saint Martines, 1564
$18,000.00
Quarto: 18 x 13.5 cm. [8], 46, 49-689, [5] p. Collation: A4, B-C8, D8(-D8), E-I8, K8(-K6), L-Y8 2A-2X8, 2Y8 + [hand]Y4 (Leaves D8 and K6 are canceled, as intended.)
An important collection of writings by English Protestants, many of whom had been martyred, compiled and with a preface by Miles Coverdale. There are letters by Lady Jane Gray (1536/7-1554) (a letter written “to her syster the Ladye Katheryne, immediately before she suffered”), John Bradford (1510?-1555) (including a partial reprint of \"An exhortacion to the carienge of Chrystes crosse\", STC 3480.
London: In the Savoy, Printed by T.N. for Henry Herringman at the Blew Anchor in the Lower Walk of the New Exchange. 1670
$8,500.00
Octavo: [16], 112, 115-208, [2] p., [1] leaf of plates. Collation: A-O8 (O8 blank and present.) With an added, engraved frontispiece of the temple.
Along with Donne, Herbert and Marvell, Crashaw was one of the most important of the Metaphysical poets. "Compared with one another, Crashaw represents more of Donne's ecstasy, and Herbert more of his reason" (George Williamson). The son of a Puritan clergyman who eventually converted to Catholicism, Crashaw is best known for the intensity of his religious poetry.
1. No place, ? St. Alban 29 March, 1597 And, 2. "en este Collegio" ? St. Alban 1597
$16,000.00
Folio: 31 x 22.5 cm. I. [3] pp. II. [8] pp.
Two manuscript letters, apparently unpublished, by Joseph Creswell, S.J. advising Philip II, King of Spain, on the restoration of Catholicism in England, , apparently written at St. Alban's College, Valladolid, Spain in early 1597. The letters are addressed to an unnamed religious figure, apparently close to the king, who heeds his counsel. These letters are not found in Calendar of State Papers, Spanish (Simancas, Valladolid).
London: for Humphrey Moseley, and are to be sold at his shop in Pauls Church-yard, 1648
$8,500.00
"Philocophus" was the first English work treating at length the subject of deafness and its accompanying language problems. It was dedicated to two deaf men, the brothers Sir Edward and William Gostwicke, who, Bulwer relates, although proficient in signing, earnestly wanted to learn to speak, accounting their inability to speak their "greatest unhappiness.
London: Printed by M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, and are to be sold at his shop in St Dunstans Church-yard in Fleet-street, 1639
$16,500.00
Octavo: 13.5 x 9.1 cm. [8], 300, [4], 301-388, [32] pp. A-Z8, Aa-Dd8. With the engraved frontispiece portrait.
“The poetry of Donne represents a sharp break with that written by his predecessors and most of his contemporaries. Much Elizabethan verse is decorative and flowery in its quality. Its images adorn; its meter is mellifluous. Image harmonizes with image, and line swells almost predictably into line. Donne’s poetry, on the other hand, is written very largely in conceits— concentrated images that involve an element of dramatic contrast, of strain, or of intellectual difficulty.
London: Printed [by Augustine Mathewes] for Thomas Iones, and are to be sold at the signe of the Black Rauen in the Strand, 1627
$20,000.00
Duodecimo: 13.8 x 8.4 cm. [8], 589, [1] p. A-Z12 (lacks blank A1); Aa-Bb12
“[The ‘Devotions’] present a more vivid and intimate picture of Donne than anything else written by himself or others.” –Sparrow
“Donne’s ‘Devotions’ is the source of the author’s famous meditation on the interconnectedness of all human lives: ‘No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main;… any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind.
London: Printed by J. Flesher, and are to be sold by John Sweeting, at the Angel in Popeshead-Alley, 1654
$9,000.00
Octavo: 14 x 8.5 cm. [8], 392, [32] p. A4, B-Z8, Aa8, (aa)8, (bb)4, Bb-Cc8. Lacking blank A1. With an added portrait frontispiece.
“The poetry of Donne represents a sharp break with that written by his predecessors and most of his contemporaries. Much Elizabethan verse is decorative and flowery in its quality. Its images adorn; its meter is mellifluous. Image harmonizes with image, and line swells almost predictably into line. Donne’s poetry, on the other hand, is written very largely in conceits— concentrated images that involve an element of dramatic contrast, of strain, or of intellectual difficulty.
