Over the course of the second half of the sixteenth-century, the brilliant Italian naturalist Ulisse Aldrovandi’s sought to carry out an encyclopedic description of the natural world. Given the limits of the science of his day and the difficulty of obtaining accurate descriptions and specimens of animals, plants, and minerals from the four corners of the world, it is staggering how close he came to achieving this objective.
Francofurti ad Moenum: Typis Ioannis Feyrabend, impensis Theodori de Bry., Anno M. D. LXXXXIIII. 1594
$35,000.00
Folio: 35 x 23 cm. [8], 145, [3] p.(-[2] blank lvs.), XXIIII lvs (minus final blank.) With an added double-page map. Collation: ):():(⁴, ):():(⁴, A-Q4, R6, Aa-Ee4, Ff6 (lacking blanks R6 and Ff6). Complete.
This book constitutes the fourth part of the first Latin edition of Theodor de Bry's “Grand Voyages” (“America”), the most famous collection of travel narratives from the Americas, printed in fourteen parts from 1590 to 1634.
This volume contains book one of Girolamo Benzoni’s influential “Historia del Mondo Nuovo”, in which the Milanese merchant-adventurer narrates his experiences in the Caribbean and the Yucatan.
Frankfurt: Apud Ioannem Wechelum, impensis Theodori de Bry, 1592 but ? 1597
$38,000.00
Folio: 33.7 x 23.3 cm. [16], 134, [2], 137-296, [15] pp. The 2 engraved titles and the plate of arms are integral to the collation. With a large folding map. Collation: a-b4, A-Z4, Aa-Qq4 (leaf a2 mis-signed as a, leaf Ll2 as L2; leaf Qq4, a blank, absent).
“The collection of voyages, named after the De Bry publishing family coordinating the project, was one of the most monumental geographical publications of the early modern period, ranking alongside treatises like Sebastian Münster’s ‘Cosmographia’, Abraham Ortelius’ ‘Theatrum Orbis Terrarum’, and Joan Blaeu’s ‘Atlas Maior’. The collection encompassed twenty-five folio volumes containing nearly fifty travel accounts of European expeditions to the overseas world.
Church 149; Borba de Moraes I, p. 249 (vol. 3) “contains the greatest number of accounts of voyages to Brazil.” Brunet vol. 1, col. 1323-1324; Huth catalogue, vol. 2, p. 409-410; JCB, pre-1675, I: p. 390-391; Sabin 8784, p. 33-37; Muller 1862
A "distinctly theatrical text" by the most celebrated actress of the commedia dell'arte
Octavo: 14.2 x 9.5 cm. Two parts in one: [24], 455, [3] pp. Collation: †8, †4, A-Z8, Aa-Ee8, Ff4. (In signature †4 the first leaf is signed “†5” and the 4th leaf has the orphaned catchword “histria”, an error of the compositor, explained by the re-setting of the type from Combi’s 1627 edition to correct omissions in his 1634 edition.)
The first edition of Isabella Andreini's collection of letters appeared in 1607, four years after the author's death, edited by her husband, Francesco. In 1617, with the assistance of Flaminio Scala, Francesco published the "Fragmenti". For a discussion of both works, see below.
"Born in Padua to Venetian parents in 1562, Isabella Andreini (née Canali) would become the most celebrated commedia dell'arte actress of her century by the time of her death in 1604.
Rome: Stampe di Domenico de Rossi, erede di Gio. Giacomo [de Rossi], 1727
$3,500.00
Folio: 33 x 22.5 cm. 8 lvs. of letterpress (the last one blank), 114 engraved plates (2 of which are double-paged.) The plates are numbered 1-110 (with four other plates numbered 1, 4, 72, and 72.)
First published in 1697, this is a fascinating and beautifully executed work documenting the ancient sepulchral monuments of Roman and Etruscan Italy. In particular, it highlights tombs discovered from 1689 onwards in the grounds of the Villa Corsini at the Porta San Pancrazio in Rome. The images include renderings and cross-sections of tombs and columbaria, detailed depictions of tomb paintings, sarcophagi, funerary urns, free-standing and relief sculpture, and inscriptions.
Quarto: 22.5 x 16.4 cm. 2 unn. lvs., 8 lvs. foliated 1-8, pp. 9-180, 183-185, 188-189, 200-205, 208-233, 224-231, [1], 231-267 pp., followed by 68 unn. lvs., blank aside from leaf 61 and 65. Apparently lacking one leaf between pages 180 and 183. The rest of the pagination irregularities are just numbering errors.
A fine, unpublished architectural manuscript with sections on mathematics, perspective, ballistics. Several prominent buildings are described and illustrated, including Rome’s Saint Peter’s Basilica, the Palazzo dei Conservatori and Palazzo dei Senatori on the Campidoglio, Sant’Agnese, and the Villa Pamphili. The text is profusely illustrated with very precise architectural drawings in ink and wash.
Folio: 39.5 x 30 cm. 5 folding lvs. (1 letterpress leaf, 4 engraved lvs. (title, dedication, frontis., and portrait), 50 engraved plates divided into 5 series of 10 plates each.
First edition of this important architectural work, richly illustrated, by Giuseppe Galli da Bibiena. First edition of this richly illustrated work on architecture and perspective. The finely engraved plates show brilliant baroque compositions for catafalques, theatrical scenes, a series for the Passion of Christ in elaborate architectural settings, and the decoration of the Riding School at Vienna for the marriage of the Archduchess Mariana with Prince Charles of Lorraine.
Quarto: 20.3 x 14.7 cm. 93 pp. A-M4 (H1 is a cancel, -L4), π1. With an added portrait-frontispiece of the author, 1 folding table, and 5 folding plates.
Very rare first edition of this treatise on perspective by Guglielmo Gargiolli, the renowned mathematician of the Medici courts of Siena and Florence, and a correspondent of Galileo. The work is dedicated to Ferdinand II, Grand Duke of Tuscany.
Riccardi, VII, p. 40, «è de noverarsi fra i primi tentativi di distanziometria», Riccardi mistakenly records an earlier edition of 1619 relying on Targioni, Atti, I, p. 334, but the date is obviously incorrect in respect of Gargiolli’s rather obscure biography. See ‘Le opere dei discepoli di G. Galilei, Carteggio (1642–48)’, vol. I, a cura di P. Galluzzi e M. Torrini, Firenze 1975, no. 11
“The indispensable link between the earlier Tudor writers and the great Elizabethan and Jacobean writers of English prose” (Ryan, 292) - Printed by John Day
London: Printed by Iohn Daye, dwelling ouer Aldersgate, 1571
$15,000.00
Quarto: 18.4 x 14 cm. [manicule]2, B-T4
“The Scholemaster”, Ascham’s Masterpiece:
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.
Theo Gerardy in Gutenberg Jahrbuch articles of 1971, 1973 and 1980 showed that the Galliziani and Tower/Crown paper stocks in the Catholicon did not exist in 1460 and therefore suggested a date in the late 1460s for the edition as a whole. This dating of all three issues to c. 1469 was later taken up by Lotte Hellinga, who added numerous details and arguments to support it in a wide-ranging investigation of typographical evidence in the Catholicon and textual evidence in the 4° Aquinas (see Gutenberg Jahrbuch1989, 1990, 1991, Bulletin du Bibliophile 1991, The Book Collector 1992, Archiv für Geschichte des Buchwesens 1993).
HC *2254; GW 3182(3); BMC I, 39 (IC. 303); Goff B-20; CIBN B-13 (II); De Ricci, Mayence 90.71 (one of two "exemplaires disparus"). BMC assigns letters to the collation: a-f10, g4, h-t10, v4+1, A-S10, T4. On the Polling provenance, see Richard van Dülmen, “Aufklärung und Reform in Bayern, I. Das Tagebuch des Pollinger Prälaten Franz Töpsl (1744–1752) und seine Korrespondenz mit Gerhoh Steigenberger (1763–1768),” in Zeitschrift für Bayerische Landesgeschichte(ZBLG, 1969) 32 (1969), p. 733, letter of 7 January 1766 to Steigenberger [attached]; and Aretin, Neunter Brief, in Beyträge zur Geschichte und Literatur, vorzüglich aus den Schätzen der Königl. Hof- und Centralbibliothek zu München. I (Munich: Lindauer, 1803), 89
Astronomy and Meteorology; Flora and Fauna: The Natural World in the Middle Ages. With 15th c. Provenance. Bound at the Monastery of St Zeno
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.
16 mo. 2 volumes. 12.1 x 7.8 cm. I : 528 p. (Collation: a-z8, A-K8), II : 361 p., [1] f. (Collation: aa-yy8, zz6)
Robert Estienne’s second Greek New Testament, printed in the celebrated “grecs du roi” Greek types of Claude Garamond. With the iconic device of the French king’s printer on the title pages and the Estienne device at the end of the second volume.
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.
The extant works of Sallust, the "Bellum Iugurthinum", "Bellum Catilinarium" (and associated texts), and the fragments of his "Histories," dealing with the years 78-67 B.
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.
Paris: Gilles Hardouyn for Germain Hardouyn, 9 August, 1514
$26,000.00
Octavo: Printed on vellum.. 16.2 x 10.5 cm. 112 lvs. Collation: A-O8. Complete
Printed at Paris by Gilles Hardouyn (?1455-?1529) for his brother Germain Hardouyn (d. 1541) at his printshop at the sign of the golden rose near the Pont Notre-Dame. The illustrations were probably produced in the workshop of the Parisian artist Jean Pichore (fl.
Lacombe, Livres d'heures imprimés au XVe et XVIe siècle conservés dans les bibliothèques publiques de Paris, catalogue, no 251 (p. 146); Renouard, ICP, II, 865; Bohatta, 959; Van Praet, I, n° 116 and 132; Brunet 243; Renouard, Les marques typographiques parisiennes des XVe et XVIe siècles, 429 and 431. Another velum copy is held at the Bibliothèque Genève Switzerland.
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.
A Rare Witness to an extinct Brazilian Language – With Poems in Karirí
Octavo: 15.5 x 9.5 cm. [24], 363, [1] p. Collation: a8, b4, A-Y8, Z8 (with blank Z7, blank Z8 absent). Complete.
An extremely rare Catechism, the first in the Karirí-Dzubucuá language, printed in Portuguese and Karirí in parallel columns. With other important texts in Karirí (see below). The book is a valuable witness to this now-extinct language. Today, the roughly 4,000 ethnic Karirís are largely monolingual Portuguese speakers.
The translation is the work of Bernardo de Nantes, Superior of the Capuchins of Pernambuco.
Amsterdam: Bij Abraham Latham, Boeckverkoper op 1661
$3,800.00
Quarto: 23 x 17.5 cm. [8], 378 [i.e. 380] pages. Collation: *4, A-Z4, Aa-Zz4, Aaa4, Bbb2
The text is illustrated with 52 copperplate engravings by Christof Le Blon (d. 1665), Johann Gelle (d. 1625), Willem van de Passe (1598-1637), Albert Poel (active 1624), and Jan Gerrits Swelinck (b. ca. 1601), all after Adriaen van de Venne (1589-1662). “Poet, propagandist, and painter in oil and watercolor, Adriaen van de Venne was also seventeenth-century Holland’s outstanding designer of book illustrations.
Verkruijsse, 1054: "De druk van Jan Jacobsz. Schipper van 1661 baseert zich op de aangevulde titeluitgave van 1636: het is daarvan een regel-voor-regel herdruk." (p. 52); Landwehr, Emblem Bks., 32c ; Praz, p. 30, no. 78: "(...) these realistic emblems form a counterpart to genre painting and supply interesting evidence for the history of costume."; De Vries, Nederlandsche Emblemata, 116; McGeary & Nash. Emblem books at the University of Illinois, B43; Beijers I, no 242.
