An Extraordinary Document: The Constitutions of the Accademia dei Lincei – With Notes toward a History of the Society, A List of the Academy's Members, & A History of the Invention & Development of the Telescope
Quarto: 19.3 x 14 cm. [1]-48, [49]-64 p. With a divisional title page.
I. "Praescriptiones Lynceae Accademiae"
Prepared for publication by Johann Faber, the Chancellor General of the Lincean Academy, the "Praescriptiones" articulated the society's founding principles and detailed the nature and scope of its activities.
Strasbourg: Printer of the 1481 Legenda aurea, 22 March 1482
$35,000.00
Folio: 29.2 x 21.8 cm. 274 unsigned leaves. [A-C]8, [D]10; [a-m]8, [n]6,[o-z]8, [aa-ff]8, [gg]10. Complete with the initial and final blanks.
The arrival of printed books is so often regarded as one of the inaugural moments of the renaissance that it is sometimes forgotten that the first years of print also represented the last great flowering of the Middle Ages. The “Lumen Anime” (Light of the Soul), is testament to that. Formerly attributed to the Carmelite friar Mathias Farinator of Vienna (who compiled the index), the “Lumen Anime” is now known to be Berenger of Landorra, General of the Dominican order and archbishop of Campostella from 1317 to 1325.
BMC I, 97; Hain-Copinger 10333*; Goff L-396; Proctor 413; Polain 1468; Wellcome I, 2175; Klebs 631.3; Thorndyke III, 546ff. Sources: Mary A. and Richard H. Rouse, ‘The Texts called Lumen Anime,’ Archivum Fratrum Praedicatorum, 41 (Rome, 1971), 5-113; N.R. Ker, Records of All Soul’s College Library. 1437-1600 (Oxford, 1971), 27.
Contents: The books of the Bible and prologues are very close to the standard Paris sequence (f.1), omitting Psalms, and with a capitula list for Genesis; the Interpretations of Hebrew Names in the version from Aaz to Zuzim (f.167), alphabetised to the first two letters; preceded by added notes on the four types of biblical exposition (historical, tropological, anagogical, typological) and the seven rules of theology (f.
Strasbourg: Johann Knobloch, [?January] 1524, July 1524, March 1525
$85,000.00
Folio: Three volumes bound as one. 30.5 x 20.8 cm. Vol. I: [6], CLI, [1] lvs. Vol. II: [1], CXC, [1] lvs., Vol. III: LXXXVII lvs. Collation: Vol. I: i-vi, A-Z6, Aa6, Bb8 (Bb8 blank and present.) Vol. II: A-Z6, Aa-Ii6 (Ii6 blank and present). Vol III: A-C6, D4, E-P6
A fine set of an early printing of Luther's German Old Testament, profusely illustrated. The first volume of the Old Testament, including the Pentateuch, was first published at Wittenberg by Melchior Lotter, the Younger, for Lucas Cranach and Christian Döring,in mid-1523.
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.
London: Printed by Miles Flesher for Richard Davis, 1682
$15,000.00
Quarto: 19.5 x 16 cm. 3 works in 2 volumes (the two continuations bound first): 1st Vol. "Continuation… the I. Part"(1669) and "Continuation… the second part"(1682). Collations: *4, **4, A2, B-Z4, Aa-Dd4, Ee2. With 8 engraved plates after p. 198; A4, a4, b2, B-Z4, Aa-Cc4, Dd2. With 5 plates bound after p. 198. 2nd Vol. "New Experiments"(1682) in 3 parts. Collation: A4, a4, B-Z4, Aa-Tt4, Vv4 (-Vv4), a-o4. With 2 engraved plates. The last part is bound first.
THIRD EDITION of Boyle’s book on his original experiments on air, his first scientific work and the one on which his fame rests. This edition, like the second, includes his controversial tracts against Linus and Hobbes, the former provoking an attack to which Boyle wrote a defence that contained “Boyle’s law”, first published in the second edition and present here.
Wing B4000, B3934, B3935. Fulton 15, 16, 18. See Horblit 15, PMM 143, and the Norman catalogue 300 for the second edition. Neville I, p. 192, has the same combination of works as are present here.
The Sole Edition of Brathwait’s Satire on the Vices of Women
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”.
London: Printed for Jo. Harris, at the Harrow, over against the Church in the Poultry, 1685
$15,500.00
Duodecimo: 14 x 8 cm. [8], 202 p. A4, B-I12, K7 (with the first blank. Lacking final blank).
Printed one year after the appearance of the second part of “The Pilgrim’s Progress” and in the same year that the Bedford magistrates ordered penal laws against nonconformists to be enforced, Bunyan’s “Discourse upon the Pharisee and the Publicane” is a fiery critique of the tyranny of the Church of England and of those among his readers who, like the residents of Vanity Fair and the Pharisee in the parable, prided themselves on superficial religiosity.
Hyginus, C. Julius (1st century A.D.); Aratus, of Soli. (c. 315-c. 245 B.C.); Proclus Diadochus (ca. 410-484)
Fabularum Liber, Ad Omnium Poetarum Lectionem Mire necessarius, & nunc denuo excusus: Eiusdem Poeticon Astronomicon Libri quatuor. Quibus accesserunt similis argumenti, Palaephati de fabulosis narrationibus, Liber I.
I. Goff C-118; Hain 4371*; Klebs 668.2; Smith (Rara Arithmetica) p. 67; Pell 3225; IGI 2427; Pr 7215; BMC VII 1068 (IB 31860). II. Wellcome I, 3377; Zinner 1592
“The Most Extensive Collection of Engravings of Sculpture Published in the 16th Century” -Thomas Ashby
Quarto: Engraved title page and 100 engraved plates. Complete.
The publishing history: According to Thomas Ashby’s classification of the editions, the first edition of Cavalieri’s book of statues appeared before April 1561. That edition, the “Liber Primus” consisted of only 58 plates, all of which were from original drawings, except for the plates of Pasquino and Marforio, which were copied from Lafrery’s “Speculum”.
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.
FIRST EDITION of Giraldi's most important contribution to literary criticism and his most lasting influence on dramatic theory and practice. Almost all the main issues in Renaissance dramatic criticism are examined somewhere in his various works and prefaces.
Giraldi rejected the Greek arrangement of plays into prologue, episodes, and choral odes and returned to the five acts of the Roman theatre.
Edit16, CNCE 21262; Adams, G-701; Universal STC, no. 833280; S. Bongi, Annali di Gabriel Giolito de Ferrari da Trino di Monferrato, stampatore a Venezia, (Roma, 1880-1897), I, pp. 427-429; B. Weinberg, A History of Literary Criticism in the Italian Renaissance, (Chicago, 1961), p. 1129.
Printed by Oxford's Second Printer - In a Contemporary Oxford Binding
Chancery folio: 29 x 20.7 cm. 290 lvs. unnumbered (of 292, lacking 2 of the 3 blanks). Signatures: a-z⁸ A-I⁸ kk⁸ L-M⁸ N-O⁶ . Lacks blanks a1 and L8. Blank O6 present.
Books printed by Rood are extremely rare. The printer is represented in North America by 10 complete volumes, comprising 3 copies of this title (Folger, Morgan, Brown) [a 4thcopy, at Yale Center for British Art, lacks two text leaves], 1 copy (Morgan) of Richardus Rolle de Hampole's "Explanationes in Job" (ISTC ir00305000), and 6 copies (Harvard, Princeton, Morgan, Newberry, UC Law, Yale) of Lyndewode's "Constitutiones provinciales ecclesiae Anglicanae" (ISTC il00413000.
ISTC il00075000; HC (+Add) 9928; GW M17160; BMC XI 236; Bod-inc L-043; Goff L-75; not in BSB. For the Yale copy, see Grolier Club. Fifty-five books printed before 1525 (1968), 38; Madan, F. Early Oxford Press, pages 2-3, 255-256; Madan, F. Oxford books, 9, (10)
Folio: 35 x 23 cm. )(4 [includes the engraved frontispiece], )(4, A-Z4, Aa-Bb4, Cc-Dd2. With 37 added engraved plates.
The Royal Danish Kunstkammer was founded by King Frederick III in 1650 and was continued by his son, Christian V (1646-1699), to whom this book is dedicated. The Kunstkammer existed until 1825 when its collections were dispersed among the many specialized museums created around that time. This catalogue is an invaluable illustrated record of the collections as they stood in the 17th century. The author, the comparative anatomist Oliger Jacobaeus taught philosophy, history, geography and medicine at Copenhagen.
Balsinger p.141 and 279-80; Brunet III, p. 479; Murray, II, p. 190; Nissen ZBI, 2081; Ward & Carozzi, 1676; Wilson, The History of Mineral Collecting, p. 209, only citing 18 plates. See: “Det Kongelige danske Kunstkammer 1737 = The Royal Danish Kunstkammer 1737”, Bente Gundestrup (Copenhagen: 1991)
The First Description of Kircher’s Museum With the Engraved Frontispiece Showing the Museum’s Interior - Bound with Kircher's Final Work on Mummies & Hieroglyphics
Folio: 37 x 24.5 cm. Folio: 37 x 24.5 cm. I. *4 (*1 is the engraved title), A-I4. With an engraved title page, an added engraved portrait of Kircher, 17 engraved plates, 10 of which are folding, and 21 text engravings and woodcuts. II. II. *4, **4, A-I4, K3. With five engraved plates, two of which are double-paged, and numerous text illustrations.
I. Kircher's "Most Celebrated Museum of the Roman College of the Society of Jesus"
The only description of Kircher’s museum in the Collegio Romano as it appeared in his lifetime, with the only extant depiction of the museum in all its fantastic glory.
DeBacker Sommervogel IV, 1076; Wellcome III, 396; Cicognara, 3399; Caillet 5784 Not in Merrill; Wm. Schupach, "Cabinets of Curiosities in Academic Institutions," in Impey/MacGregor, The Origins of Museums (Oxford 1985), pp. 174-5; J. Browne, The Secular Ark (Yale 1983); Kangro, DSB VII. II. DeBacker Sommervogel IV, 1069, no. 34; Merrill 27.
First edition of this revision of sumptuary laws regulating dress, dowry and feasts promulgated by Cardinal Gabriele Paleotti in 1568 and revised several times until the end of the century.
The dress code of women attracts particular attention, skirts are meant to be neither too long, nor too short; jewelry is to be worn in moderation.
Universal STC, no. 865850; R. Campioni, op. cit., p.148; M.G. Muzzarelli, ed., Le legislazioni suntuarie secoli XIII-XVI. Emilia Romagna, Rom, 2002, pp. 42-43; Z. Zanardi, ed., Bononia manifesta. Bandi, editti, costituzioni e provvedimenti diversi stampati nel XVI secolo per Bologna e il suo territorio, (Firenze, 1996), p. 226, no. 1555; R. Campioni, Libri di merlette e disposizioni suntuarie nel secolo XVI: alcune indicazioni per l’Emilia Romagna, in: “Le trame della moda”, A.G. Cavagna & G. Butazzi, eds., Roma, 1995, pp. 125-149, and P. Goretti, La regolamentazione delle apparenze: vesti e orna- menti nella legislazione suntuaria Bolognese del XVI secolo, in: “Schede umanistiche”, 1996, no. 2, pp. 117-137.
For Graduates & Faculty of the University of Mexico
Mexico: Ex novâ Typographiâ editioni Bibliothecae Mexicanae destinatâ, 1759
$5,600.00
Quarto: 26.5 x 21 cm. [25] leaves: signatures [A]8 (blank [A]7 and [A]8 are canceled), B-D4, E2, F4, G4 (- blanks G2-G4) (blank [A]1 is present). Complete.
A handsome Mexican imprint, with a skillful engraving of the University’s intricate coat of arms by Francisco C. Rodríguez. See Mathes (La Ilustración en México colonial, p. 154; Register 4531).
Bancroft Sale (Bangs, 1900) 429. Beristáin de Souza, Biblioteca Hispano Americana Setentrional (1883), Vol. I, p. 310. Bibliotheca Mejicana 1027. Blake 3184: “Of the utmost rarity.” Medina, México 4531. Palau 28851. Ramírez Sale 475. Sabin 44420.
The Souls in Purgatory Speak - The Bradley Martin Copy
First edition of Thomas More's reply to Simon Fish's "Supplication for the Beggars." Fish represented the clergy as "thieves," responsible for the distress of the poor; he denies the existence of Purgatory and, appealing to Henry VIII in the voice of the English beggars, calls for the dissolution of the monasteries. More counters each of Fish's arguments, and using Fish's own literary device against him, has the very souls in Purgatory "supplicate" the living for the continuance of the prayers offered by the clergy for their release.
Three tall octavo volumes: Vol I: xxxvi, 571 pages.; Vol II: vj, 656 pages; Vol III: vi, 290, 286, [1] pp. Collation: I. a-b8, c2, A-Z8, Aa-Mm8, Nn6 (plus 22 plates); II. a3, A-Z8, Aa-Ss8; III. a3, A-S8, T4, a-s8 (plus 8 plates)
First and sole edition of this comprehensive catalogue of the collection of Pedro Francisco Dávila. The Dávila catalog (as it has become known) describes 8,096 mineral specimens that encompass a large range of localities, including a suite of specimens from Potosí in Spanish America (as well as many items from Canada, Mexico, and Paraguay.
Conlon 67:1238; Nissen (ZBI) 1050; Sinkankas 1594; Wilson, History of Mineral Collecting, 1994: 136-40, 166 & 209 [provides a detailed history of the collections]
London: sold by Iohn Seller. at his Shopp at the Hermitage Wapping, ? 1677
$7,500.00
Octavo: 14 x 9 cm. Engraved title, 40 p. of letterpress, 74 lvs. of plates (see detailed note at end of this description), with 3 volvelles.
The map, navigational chart, and instrument maker John Seller is an important figure in the history of English cartography. He was granted a royal license to produce maritime atlases and charts and in 1671 was appointed hydrographer to the king. In that same year he produced "The English Pilot", which was followed by his "The Coasting Pilot" (1672) and "Atlas Maritimus" (1675).
