A Superior Copy in Unusually Fine Condition
Henry Barth’s Highly Important Early Work on Africa Travels and Discoveries in North and Central Africa - 1857
Profusely Illustrated with Fine Colour Plates and Maps
1 Barth, Henry. TRAVELS AND DISCOVERIES IN NORTH AND CENTRAL AFRICA: BEING A JOURNAL OF AN EXPEDITION UNDERTAKEN UNDER THE AUSPICES OF H. B. M.’S GOVERNMENT, IN THE YEARS 1849-1855 (New York [and] London: D. Appleton and Co. [and] Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans, & Roberts, 1857-1858) 5 volumes. First Edition of each volume, with both U.S. and UK slugged title-pages, not uncommonly encountered. All volumes printed in the U.K. by Spottiswoode for Longman, and for U.S. distribution with only the title-page publisher’s slug differing from the UK issue, noting Appleton as the publisher. Volumes I to IV with the Appleton imprint, volume V with the Longmans imprint. Impressively illustrated with 60 colour-tinted lithographic plates, 15 maps, most of which are multifolding, and numerous woodcuts, mostly in text but one large and folding. 8vo, beautifully and very handsomely bound in three-quarter brown calf over marbled paper covered boards, the spines with raised bands gilt tooled separating the compartments which are elaborately decorated in all over gilt tooled panel designs, contrasting red and sepia lettering labels gilt, green morocco numbering label gilt, all edges marbled, a superbly bound set. xxxvi, 578; xi, 676, xii, 635; xiv, 641; xi, 694, errata. A superior set, very fine and bright, the text unusually clean and fresh, the plates fine and vivid with tissues intact, one of the folding maps with separations at the folds, most of the others essentially pristine and without evidence of use, the bindings in pristine condition and truly handsome.
FIRST EDITION, PROFUSELY ILLUSTRATED WITH FINE COLOURPLATES OF ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT WORKS CONCERNING EUROPEAN EXPLORATION IN AFRICA. Barth spent five years ranging widely and freely over northern, central, and western Africa (as you will see on the included maps) and returned with a vast bounty of information on the region’s culture, geography and economy. He was able to do all this because he spent the years there brilliantly disguised as a Muslim scholar.
These impressive illustrated volumes are the detailed account of “one of the most fruitful expeditions ever undertaken in inner Africa. In addition to journeys across the Sahara, Barth traversed the country from Lake Chad and Bagirmi on the east to Timbuktu on the west and Cameroon on the south... he studied minutely the topography, history, civilizations and resources of the countries visited... for accuracy, interest, variety and extent of information Barth’s ‘Travels’ have few rivals among works of the kind. It is a book that will always rank as a standard authority on the regions in question...” -Ency. Brit.
He was the first European to enter Yola and describe the Fulani kingdom of Adamana; he charted the Benue river and disproved the theory that it flowed into Lake Chad...he was the first European to truly submerse himself in African culture and bring back scientific results of lasting value.
“Fluent in Arabic and already a veteran of several years’ Middle East and northern Africa travel experience, Barth was teaching in Berlin in 1849 when he was offered the chance to join a British government - sponsored expedition aimed at establishing commercial contacts and suppressing the slave trade in the area around Lake Chad (today’s Niger, Chad, and Nigeria). British antislavery activist James Richardson and German geologist Adolf Overweg were his two European companions. However, both men succumbed to African conditions and died: Richardson from heat exhaustion and fever in March 1851 and Overweg from malaria in September 1852. Alone, Barth continued the mission with several Arabs he
had hired along the way, including two slaves freed by Overweg. Among Barth’s noteworthy achievements in West Africa was his stay for more than nine months in Timbuktu. When he returned to London on 6 September 1855, he was warmly received but not formally recognized by the British government for his services.”- Delaney
The appendices contain tables of meteorological data for his five years of travel, chronologies of history for certain areas, vocabularies, descriptions of routes, and lists of towns. John Delaney, To the Mountains of the Moon; Abbey Travel 274; Gay 207; Hilmy I, p53; Playfair & Brown, No. 777; Ency. Brit. $4950.
The Last of the Mohicans - An American Classic
James Fenimore Cooper - First Edition - 1826
An Excellent Set in Contemporary Bindings with Provenance The Most Famous of the Leatherstocking Tales The Original Owner with a Thomas Jefferson Connection
2 [Cooper, James Fenimore]. THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS: A Narrative of 1757. By The Author Of “The Pioneers” (Philadelphia: H.C. Carey and I. Lea - Chestnut Street, 1826) 2 volumes. First Edition, First Issue with BAL’s state A of the Copyright page in Vol. II and with other points called for. A COPY WITH FINE PROVENANCE AND PRESENTATION INSCRIPTIONS DATED JUNE 1826. With all the blanks called for including the conjugate for the title-page in Vol. II, the first issue points called for are present, Vol. I has the final “I” at “viii” and page 89 is incorrectly numbered 8vo, bound in the printer’s original bindings of calf over blue paper covered boards. xi, [1], 282; [iv], 289 pp. A truly honest copy bound in calf and boards at the time of publication, with wear to the boards and calf backs, boards to Vol.II detached, the usual mellowing to the text-blocks, title-page to Vol.II with a closed tear, a pleasing copy of this monumental American novel, unsophisticated and very rare thus.
A RARE TRUE FIRST EDITION, FIRST ISSUE OF THIS GREAT CLASSIC, A TRUE CORNERSTONE OF AMERICAN LITERATURE, AND ONE OF THE MOST ELUSIVE OF THE IMPORTANT EARLY AMERICAN LITERARY CREATIONS.
James Fenimore Cooper was an avid reader in an age when most literature in America was imported from England. But as an author, he decided early on that he could well do a better job of writing for a growing and distinctly American readership than could his European counterparts. And so, he began the writing of his “Leather Stocking” series of which LAST OF THE MOHICANS is the second book after the introduction of Natty Bumppo in THE DEERSLAYER but the most famous of all the titles in the group and the “first in which the scout...was made the symbol of all that was wise, heroic and romantic in the lives and characters of the white men who made the American wilderness their home....This novel glorified for the many generations of readers, in England, France, Russia and at home, some aspects of American life that were unique to our cultural history.”
Cooper did far more than to imitate the European authors he had read, instead developing a great new American style by which quite quickly he became one of the first and greatest literary giants of the New World. His works reflect themes and emotions unique to a people living on the edge of the great American wilderness and Cooper would prove to be widely read, not only in America, but throughout all of Europe as well. ‘His achievement...the result of brilliant improvisation...was sustained...to the close of a hectic, crowded career. His...fame attests his power of invention...the creation of tension between different kinds of society, between society and the individual, between the settlement and the wilderness, and between civil law and natural rights as these suggest issues of moral and mythic import.’
Cooper’s works remain to this day classics in American literature. “This is the... most famous of the Leatherstocking
Tales”. (Grolier 100 Influential American Books, 34).
Concerning the provenance, this copy has a gift presentation dated June, 1826 and is the copy of George C. Shattuck. George Cheyne Shattuck (1783–1854) graduated from Dartmouth College in 1806 and studied medicine at Harvard Medical School and the University of Pennsylvania, receiving a degree from the latter in 1807. He practiced medicine in Boston, where in 1808 he published Three Dissertations on Boylston Prize Questions for the Years 1806 and 1807 (Sowerby, no. 986), a copy of which he sent to Thomas Jefferson in October 1808. Shattuck established an endowed professorship at the Harvard Medical School and was president of the Massachusetts Medical Society, 1836–40. DAB; Martin Kaufman and others, Dictionary of Medical Biography [1984], 2:675–6; Edward Jarvis, Memoir of the Life and Character of George Cheyne Shattuck, M.D. [1854]).
Dr. Shattuck was known to Thomas Jefferson who wrote to him in 1809: “Washington Mar. 11–09. Th: Jefferson presents his compliments to mr Shattuck and his thanks for the copy of the Boylston prize dissertation which he was so kind as to send him. he shall read it with pleasure in the leisure of Monticello, to which place he [is] now in the moment of departure. he prays mr Shattuck to accept the assurances of his respect.
Grolier 34; BAL 3833; Hart; Grolier 100; Oxford American Literature; Johnson, High Spots of American Literature pp 24-25, Spiller & Blackburn 7 $18,500.
Confessions of an Opium Eater - Thomas De Quincey
Rare First Edition 1822 and the Very Rare American of 1823 Two First Editions - Seldom if Ever Seen in Commerce
3 [De Quincey, Thomas]. CONFESSIONS OF AN ENGLISH OPIUM-EATER. [and,] CONFESSIONS OF AN ENGLISH OPIUM-EATER. Being an Extract from the Life of a Scholar. First Published in the London Magazine. (London [and] New York: Printed for Taylor and Hessey [and] E. Littell, 1822 [and] 1823) First Edition, the English Issue and First Edition, the Very Rare First American Issue. 12mo, the English first edition uncut, bound in contemporary threequarter calf over marbled boards, the spine divided by gilt fillets into compartments; the American first edition uncut in publisher’s original drab boards, the spine panel with printed lettering., housed together in custom foldover case, the spine panel lettered in gilt, and each book with a protective cloth dustjacket protecting the volume. [2, half-title], iv, 206, [6 ads and publisher’s catalogue]; xii, [13]-183, [1] pp. The English first edition with the front cover and front free end leaf detached, some rubbing and evidence of age, the text-block well preserved and in fine order, crisp and clean throughout, ownership inscription on the front free end-leaf; the American first edition in original drab boards, the text-block very well preserved, with light evidence of age as is normal with the paper stock, uncut with original deckled edges, the spine panel mostly perished with a small portion of original spine lettering intact, front joint cracked, ownership signature on the half-title.
VERY RARE FIRST AMERICAN EDITION AND THE RARE FIRST ENGLISH EDITION OF THE FOUNDATIONAL DRUG MEMOIR. A LANDMARK IN THE EMERGING GENRE OF THE AUTOBIOGRPHY MORE GENERALLY AND A MASTERPIECE OF ENGLISH PROSE IN ITS OWN RIGHT. TWO FIRST EDITION COPIES OF ‘DeQuincy’s study of his own opium addiction and its psychological effects. It is also the first book in English
to deal with the subject of drug addiction and it traces how childhood and youthful experience are transformed under the influence of opium.’
This book established De Quincey’s literary reputation. First published serially and anonymously to immediate acclaim (and speculation as to the authorship), Confessions is a cornerstone of late British Romanticism, and through its translations and adaptations by Baudelaire (Les Paradis artificiels, 1860) and Musset an important influence in French literature. The author was writing at a time when opium was a commonly used sedative and painkiller. “The miraculous effects of opium were no more mysterious to De Quincey’s contemporaries than the miraculous effects of aspirin are to us today; everyone who had taken opium to sedate a sore tooth knew what De Quincey was describing. The genius of his Confessions, as the cultural historian Mike Jay puts it, is that “De Quincey was not so much breaking a taboo as deliberately creating one by recastin familiar practice as transgressive and culturally threatening. It was a Byronic double game, baiting the moralists and middlebrow public opinion while delighting the elite with the invention of a new vice.” (Wilson, Guilty thing, p. 234).
De Quincey was the son of a wealthy merchant, but after his father died, he was sent away to school. When he was 15, he ran away and began to live in London as a “19th-century ‘dropout’”. During this time, he became attached to Ann, a prostitute who later played a large role in his drug-induced hallucinations. He eventually went to study at Oxford and there began to take opium. He left in 1808, due to a panic attack that preceded his examinations. Nevertheless, De Quincey was a studious and scholarly individual and developed an interest in German literature, as well as the work of Wordsworth and Coleridge.
In 1809, De Quincey moved to the Lake District to develop the literary career that he wanted. He began to write and publish, as well as developing a brief friendship with the Wordsworths. Later, he moved to London and with the help of Charles Lamb, became a contributor to the London Magazine, where Confessions was first published. [Cam GT Eng Lit]
Because of physical ailments (a toothache, later a stomach disorder and finally, to calm his nerves), De Quincey began to take opium and eventually increased the dosages, taking it over a period of eight years. In this work, he describes the effects of this addiction as well as his determination and eventual success in ending it. While on the drug, “he suffered from tremendous dreams, in which he sometimes seemed to live through a century in a night. He was haunted by the monstrous figure of a crocodile, or visions of Ann and early acquaintances, especially a certain Malay, whom he had found wandering in the Lakes and presented with a large dose of opium. The Malay was not found dead, but long continued to ‘run amuck’ through De Quincey’s dreams.” [Oxf Compan] “The remarkable intimacy of the Confessions and the rich sensuous prose make the book a striking contribution to English Romantic literature.” [Cam GT Eng Lit] Thus, this is both a fascinating account and an important contribution to English literature.
“Throughout the nineteenth century the work was viewed as having medical authority as a case history, and De Quincey was widely read in British and American medical circles” (DNB).
The American first edition of Confessions of an English Opium-Eater is very rare and is seldom if ever offered in commerce. The influence of the Confessions was felt in the united States, with Poe declaring the Opium Eater one of “the first men in England”. Elements of the Confessions and De Quincey’s life became fodder for Poe’s stories, with “The Man of the Crowd”, “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” and “William Wilson” all bearing De Quincey’s influence.
The author wrote a variety of literary works, was friends with Wordsworth, Hazlitt and others, and his prose was “ornate...marked by splendid imagery...and humour.” [Oxf Compan] Norman 619. Green 354 & 357. Tinker 817 Norman 619. Green 354 & 357. Tinker 817 $5750.
Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe - PMM Beautifully Decorated and Bound with Stothard’s Engravings
A Very Fine Two Volume Printing
- 1790 - 1804
4 Defoe, Daniel. THE LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF ROBINSON CRUSOE, OF YORK, MARINER: Who Lived Eight and Twenty Years Alone in an Uninhabited Island, on the Coast of America, Near the Mouth of the Great River Oroonoque. With an Account of His Travels Round Three Part of the Globe. Written by Himself. (London: Printed for John Stockdale, Piccadilly, 1790 and 1804) 2 volumes. Rare Large Paper Copy of this Very Early Set with Stothard’s engravings. The engraved title-pages are dated 1804, but the engraved illustrations are dated 1790. Very probably then, this is an early setting with a newly dated title-page. With 19 engraved illustrations including a finely engraved vignette title-page to each volume, an engraved portrait of Defoe by Medland and 16 other beautifully engraved full page plates by Stothard. Two plates included here as additions are not called for in the collation and appear to have been printed first by Stockdale in 1791. One of the two is a full page plate of Robinson Crusoe in his famous handmade attire, the other of the dedication monument erected by the Duke
and Duchess of Queensbury. Large 8vo, in handsome bindings of three-quarter antique rose calf over marbled paper covered boards, the spines adorned with central gilt tooling within compartments separated by triple gilt ruled bands, two compartments with contrasting black and olive morocco lettering pieces gilt. [xvi], 405; v, 456 pp. A handsome set, very well preserved and in very pleasing condition with no repair or sophistication whatsoever.
A HANDSOME SET IN VERY PLEASING CONDITION. “Defoe...disclosed a genius for devising a tale of adventure...(the influence of which has) not yet dissipated, for much of science fiction is basically Crusoe’s island changed to a planet.
At least equally relevant...is the figure of the lonely human being subduing the pitiless forces of nature; going back to nature, indeed, and portraying the ‘noble savage’ in a way that made the book required reading for Rousseau’s Emile.
ROBINSON CRUSOE has long since been more widely read...in versions...for young people...(there is) the footprint in the sand, Man Friday, the threatening savages, and the endless ingenuity and contrivance that make the hero’s island life tolerable.” PMM
“It breathes throughout a spirit of piety and benevolence; it sets in a very striking light the importance of the mechanic arts...it fixes in the mind a lively idea of the horrors of solitude, and, consequently, of the sweets of social life, and of the blessings we derive from conversation and mutual aid; and it shows how by labouring with one’ s own hands, one may secure independence...” Beattie Stothard’s engravings are probably the most famous ever included in any edition of ROBINSON CRUSOE. $2250.
Light in August - First Edition - A Fine Copy One
of William Faulkner’s Greatest Books
5 Faulkner, William. LIGHT IN AUGUST (New York: Harrison Smith and Robert Haas, 1932) First edition, first issue with “Jefferson” instead of “Mottstown” in the first line on page 340. With an interesting association inscription regarding the publisher penciled onto the front pastedown. With an illustrated title-page. 8vo, publisher’s original beige buckram lettered in orange on the upper cover and in blue on the spine, in the very scarce original dustjacket. 480 pp. A fine copy, the book in fine condition with just a hint of shelf wear to the foot of the spine, the very scarce dustjacket is well preserved with a bit of mellowing evident along the edges and to the spine panel and a closed tear to the back spine fold and to the front flap fold.
IMPORTANT FIRST EDITION UNUSUAL IN THIS CONDITION AND VERY SCARCE IN THE DUSTJACKET, WITH AN INTERESTING ASSOCIATION NOTE TO THE FRONT PASTEDOWN. The jacket has the correct $2.50 price and listing of Boyle, Kay as the first author on the back cover as is proper for the original first issue.
LIGHT IN AUGUST is one of Faulkner’s greatest books. The novel’s central themes of race, religion and human nature have not, over time, been diminished in their potency. The book presents one of Faulkner’s most balanced
works, discussing the negative and positive forces in life as it focuses on the relationship between men and women and between races.
One of America’s greatest modern writers, Faulkner was awarded a Nobel Prize in 1950 for his literary accomplishments. In his acceptance he made the brief but important statement “that man will not merely endure; he will prevail... because he has a soul, a spirit capable of compassion and sacrifice and endurance... [it is] the writer’s duty to write about these things.” $2750.
Nathaniel Hawthorne - The Scarlet Letter - 1850
The First Edition - A Beautiful Copy in Very Fine Condition
The First Issue with the Earliest Ads and All Points
6 Hawthorne, Nathaniel. THE SCARLET LETTER. A Romance (Boston: Ticknor, Reed and Fields, 1850) First Edition, First Issue, with ads dated March 1. 1850, no preface and all first edition points noted by Clark, including ‘reduplicate for ‘repudiate’ on page 21. Title-page printed in red and black. 8vo, a rare survival in the publisher’s original Ticknor Style A brown textured cloth, the covers decorated in blind, the spine printed in gilt. Now protected and housed in a folding box of brown cloth covered boards lined with marbled paper, the back with brown leather label lettered and ruled in gilt. iv, 322 pp. A beautifully preserved copy, and a remarkably fine example of what is arguably the author’s most important and most revered work, as well as a landmark of American literature. The text very clean and fresh, completely free of foxing or stains, looking to be near as pristine the binding sturdy and strong, the hinges fine and firm, the cloth rich and unfaded with bright gilt, trivial rubbing to the tips and edges. FIRST EDITION, FIRST PRINTING AND VERY RARE IN SUCH FINE CONDITION. IN THE ORIGINAL CLOTH, THIS IS CORNERSTONE WORK IN AMERICAN LITERATURE AND A LANDMARK WORK OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.
An American Renaissance masterpiece and surely one of the most important works in the oeuvre of colonial America. More than any other work of literature, Hawthorne’s SCARLET LETTER set the stage for an understanding of the puritan mind and beginnings of the American social system.
The first printing of THE SCARLET LETTER consisted of only 2500 copies, and sold out within days. It is said when Hawthorne delivered the final pages to Ticknor, Reed and Fields he doubted it would be popular, but THE SCARLET LETTER ushered in the most lucrative period of his long career. The public’a positive response was enormous, but the book was not without its critics. The publication brought protest from natives of Salem, who did not like how Hawthorne depicted their Puritan ancestors. Religious leaders also took issue with the novel’s subject, and the ‘Church Review’ offered that the novel “perpetrates bad morals.”
Reviewers from the next generation proved more tolerant. Author D. H. Lawrence argued that there could not be a more perfect work of the American imagination than The Scarlet Letter. Henry James said of the novel; “It is beautiful, admirable, extraordinary; it has in the highest degree that merit which I have spoken of as the mark of Hawthorne’s best things—an indefinable purity and lightness of conception... One can often return to it; it supports familiarity and has the inexhaustible charm and mystery of great works of art.” BAL 7600; Clark A16.1 $18,500.
A Very Handsome Copy of the First Edition - First Issue
An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding - PMM 164
John Locke’s Great Work Published in 1690
The Most Complete Expression of the New Empiricist Spirit
7 Locke, John. AN ESSAY CONCERNING HUMANE UNDERSTANDING. In Four Books (London: by Eliz. Holt for Thomas Basset, 1690) First edition, first issue, with the Undated Dedication, with the title-page listing Eliz. Holt, the Properly Positioned “SS”, the first imprint and all points called for, typographical ornaments line 3 has them upside down in columns 2 through 6, while in line 4, all ornaments are upside down, with five of the six possible misnumbered pages for this issue: “85” as “83”, “287” as “269”, “296” as “294”, “303” as “230” and “319” as “327”, page 55 with “Underwandings” as called for, with the incorrect Roman numerals to pp. 57 and 263 and the deleted 24 paragraph indicator at page 90. With contemporaneous signature “J Locke” on the title page and three handwritten corrections, “in”, “extremely” and the insert “some” (which may be in Locke’s hand), in the preliminaries. Folio, 320 x 195 mm., full polished calf to style, handsomely and discreetly double lined in gilt on the covers and the spine with raised bands ruled in gilt with red morocco lettering label gilt in best style on the spine. In beautiful condition. title + [10] + 1-362 + [22] Contents pp. A handsome and pleasing and crisp copy in lovely condition, some quite unobtrusive evidence of age mellowing or toning to the lower edges of the leaves probably from old damp.
FIRST EDITION FIRST ISSUE OF THIS SINGULARLY IMPORTANT WORK IN THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY AND EPISTEMOLOGY. Locke’s ESSAY was the “first attempt on a great scale, and in the Baconian spirit, to estimate critically the certainty and the adequacy of human knowledge, when confronted with God and the universe” (EB). It served as the most concrete manifestation of a new empiricist spirit, in contrast to the metaphysical philosophies of Descartes, Spinoza and Leibniz. Locke was inspired to write the ESSAY in 1671 after a philosophical discussion with friends in which he realized that no progress could be made before they had examined the mind’s capacities and seen “what objects our understandings were, or were not, fitted to deal with” (from the “Epistle to the Reader”).
“Other philosophers had reflected on and written about human knowledge...But Locke was the first philosopher to devote his main work to an inquiry into human understanding, its scope and its limits. And we can say that the prominent place occupied in modern philosophy by the theory of knowledge is in large measure due to him...” (Copleston, A HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY).
Locke’s influence was widespread and was not strictly limited to pure philosophical enquiry. In America his emphasis on rational thought versus “enthusiasm” provided ammunition and philosophical grounding to opponents of the revivalist and itinerant preachers of the Great Awakening, and in the nineteenth century the “nature versus nurture” thesis was employed by Unitarians and other anti-Calvinist factions to argue that human nature was improvable through nurture and self-culture rather than corrupt beyond hope without conversion through a special act of divine grace. In England Locke had a strong influence on the literature of the Augustan Age, Sterne, Addison, and the members of the Scriblerus Club all acknowledging the currency of his ideas. “The art of education, political thought, theology and philosophy, especially in Britain, France, and America, long bore the stamp of the ESSAY, or of reaction against it” (Fraser, quoted in Grolier). Locke’s ESSAY has passed through more editions than any classic in modern philosophical literature and remains a cornerstone in the history of human thought. Wing L273; Pforzheimer 599; PMM 164; Grolier English 36. See Jean S. Yolton, John Locke, A Descriptive Bibliography, Thoemmes Press, 1998, pp. 70 for details on these variations.] $65,000.
The Most Beautiful Illustrated Ovid Produced in France
Les Metamorphoses - In Latin and French - 4 Volumes Beautifully Bound - Printed in Paris - 1767 - 1771 With Provenance - The Taisne de Raymonval Copy
8 Ovid, [Latin Classic]. LES METAMORPHOSES
D’OVIDE, En Latin et En François, de la Traduction de M. l’Abbé Banier, de l’Académie Royale des Inscriptions & BellesLettres; Avec des Explications Historiques. (Paris: Chez Panckoucke; Chez Hochereau, Quai du Conti; Chez Delalain; rue de la Comédie Françoise, avec Approbation et Privilége du Roi, 1767 - 1771) 4 volumes. First Edition of the most famous illustrated Ovid of the 18th century and one of the most beautiful French illustrated books of the period. With fine provenance, the Taisne de Raymonval family copy, their plate with coat of arms tipped in. Profusely decorated with very fine copperplates throughout, elaborately engraved head and tail-pieces throughout, engraved title-pages and preliminary leaves. A beautiful production. 139 Plates by Boucher, Eisen, Gravelot, Monnet, Moreau and others, engraved title, 3 pages of Dedication, 4 Fleurons on Titles, 30 vignettes and 1 very finely engraved full-page cul-de-lampe at the end of Vol. 4 by Choffad & Monnet 4to, very finely bound by the Belgian binder Isidore Smeers in antique crimson crushed morocco, the covers with triple gilt fillet rules at the outer borders surrounding an inner panel of triple gilt fillet rules and gilt corner tools, the spines elaborately gilt decorated with intricate panel tooling in compartments featuring gilt center and border tooling in an overall dense pattern, raised bands decorated in gilt, two compartments lettered in gilt, elaborate gilt rolled turnovers in multiple layers, gilt ruled edges, marbled end-leaves, all edges gilt. An especially handsome and appealing copy of this revered production. An exceptionally fine set with the bindings, text-blocks and plates in excellent condition. A beautiful survival of a great book with care having been shown in the preservation over the centuries.
FIRST EDITION OF ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS FRENCH ILLUSTRATED BOOKS OF THE 18TH CENTURY AND ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFULLY PRODUCED OF ALL ILLUSTRATED OVID PRINTINGS. A COPY IN RARE FINE RED MOROCCO BINDINGS.
This work includes the magnificent plates engraved for this superb edition of Ovid’s Metamorphoses published by Le Mire and Basan 1767-1771, a book reverred during the great period of 18th century French illustration. There are 140 numbered plats and the “fin des estampes” plate. The designs for this work were executed by a brilliant galaxy of artists such as Eisen, Boucher, Moreau, Le Prince, Monnet, and Choffard, and their designs were skillfully engraved by Le Mire and Basan. There is a significant biography of Ovid presented with this edition. The text is offered both in the Latin and in French. The romantic intersection is thus completed.
Though most illustrated books published in France at this time fell into the rococo style, Ovid’s stories begged a classical treatment, and indeed this book marked the transition from Rococo to Neo-Classical style, the latter being best exemplified by Moreau (in his later work) and Fragonard.
The poem is mainly a collection of Greek and Roman myths, retelling classical stories such as Echo and Narcissus, Jason and Medea, and Venus and Adonis. It also includes the Eastern Babylonian tale, Pyramus and Thisbe. This great epic work has been recognized throughout the centuries for its inventiveness, charm, and originality.
“As a story-teller and guide to Greek myth and Roman legend, Ovid was very influential on later Roman writers and was read, quoted, and adapted during the Middle Ages. He was the favourite Latin poet of the Renaissance, and there were many translations of his works into English.”-M.C.Howatson. His influence upon great writers through history, from Chaucer to Marlowe and Shakespeare, is well-known.
The Belgian binder Isidor Smeers (b. 1834), who worked for most of his life in Paris, was one of Firmin-Didot’s preferred binders.
‘The Life of Ovid is by C. P. Goujet.
All plates are signed. The most celebrated of the illustrators was the painter Boucher (whose Molière of 1734 had established his mastery in this genre); he contributes ten designs. Other veterans were Charles Eisen (58 plates) and H. Gravelot (6). Of the younger men Charles Monnet contributed 35 plates and Jean-Michel Moreau 26; single plates were designed by Le Prince, Parizeau and St. Gois. The engravers show a similar mixture of established and younger artists: Noel Le Mire himself engraved 25 plates and Basan 3, and others were made by Le Veau (16), J. Massard (16), D. Nee, N. DeLaunay, Baquoy, L. Binet, J.B. Simonet, N. Ponce, De Ghent, Duclos and Helman.
The publication is further adorned with a full-page cul-de-lampe and 34 vignettes by Pierre-Philippe Choffard - which are accorded their own ‘Explication’ in Volume IV.
The team of publishers comprised Barrois, Leclerc, Guillyn, Hochereau, Pissot, Pault (jeune), De Lormel, Prault (fils aîné), Despilly and Panckoucke.
The publication is dedicated by Basan and Le Mire to the Duc de Chartres (afterwards Duc D’Orléans).’ Royal Academy Cohen-de Ricci 769; Brunet iv, 285; Fürstenberg 79 $10,500.
A
Very Fine Padovan Printing of Petrarca
Rime di Francesco Petrarca - 1819-1820 - Two Volumes Folio
A Rare Grand and Large Paper Issue - Beautifully Bound
9 Petrarca, Francesco. LE RIME DI FRANCESCO PETRARCA [Sonetti, Canzoni, Ballate, Sestine, Madrigala] (Padova: Nella Tipografia del Seminario, 1819-1820) 2 volumes. The especially handsome folio edition of Petrarca and Marsand. This Copy on Large and Grand paper, the best of the editions. Volume I with the very fine portraits beautifully engraved on copper by Raffaello Morghen and Mauro Gandolfi. The text in a fine and handsome Bodoniesque typography. Two engraved plates showing a view of Valchiusa engraved by Federico Lose, the other showing a facsimile of the celebrated words of the poet, handwritten on the Virgilian manuscript, and another five plates depicting landscapes and the monument of Petrarca. Folio (33 by 23 cm), very handsomely bound in full dark green grained morocco, the spines with raised bands ruled in gilt, the compartments with gilt panels formed by concentric squares tooled in gilt, lettered in gilt in two compartments, the covers and turnovers multi-ruled in gilt at the borders, dark green endleaves, all edges gilt. lix, 375; (2), 444 pp. A very regal and handsome set, the bindings elegant with some unobtrusive age mellowing to the vellum and textured cloth, the leather labels a bit rubbed. Internally both volumes are sound and sturdy, the hinges fine and tight. The text with some light spotting to which the paper is prone, this copy less than is typical and always quite mild.
ONE OF THE FINEST PRINTINGS OF THE GREAT ITALIAN POET, THIS REMINISCENT OF THE GREAT BODONI PRINTINGS The work is a connoisseur’s and bibliophile’s treasure, printed in a small number of copies on large paper. Published with the valuable work and study of Antonio Marsand and the true reference edition for all later publications. Notable for its refinement and typographic elegance, comparable to Bodoni’s editions, and for the scrupulous attention paid to the critical analysis of texts. At the
end of the book, a rich and accurate bibliography of all the previous editions of Pertrarca’s works.
One of the “great triumvirate” of Italian poets, Francesco Petrarch’s sonnets were admired and imitated throughout Europe during the Renaissance, and they served as the model for nearly all later Western lyrical poetry. He was also the first true reviver of learning in Medieval Europe. He was a great student of the classical works-- histories, poetry, law and orations, and he included in his studies many ancient books and manuscripts that the medieval period had ignored for nearly a millennium. He also closely followed the politics and learning of his own age. It was with Petrarca that the ancient and the modern eras met together, and a new stadium for the Human spirit, that which we are wont to style Renaissance, was opened.
Many have stated that the book is as beautiful as a Bodoni printing. Brunet IV 556. Graesse V 229. Marsand p. 126. Hortis 232. Fiske p. 125. Bellini, “storia della tipografica del Seminario di Padova $3500.
A Very Rare Work on Venomous Snakes Essay on the Physignomy of Serpents - 1843
Hermann Schlegel - Known to Charles Darwin Only One Copy Listed in Institutional Holdings
10 [Snakes] Schlegel, H. ESSAY ON THE PHYSIOGNOMY OF SERPENTS.
Translated by Thos. Stewart Traill, M.D... (Edinburgh: Maclachlan, Stewart, and Company, 1843) VERY RARE, First Edition in English, from the almost as scarce French edition of 1837 printed in the Netherlands. With large fold-out map of the world showing the distribution of venomous snakes in seven colours, and with two plates showing the heads of herpetodryas carinatus. 8vo, in the publisher’s original brown cloth, the covers with panel designs in blind, the spine ruled in blind and gilt lettered. vii, 254pp, 2 plates, 1pp. errata. A very rare survival in very pleasing and fresh condition, the text is nearly pristine, the folding map and plates also in fine condition, front endpaper slightly creased and with neat ownership marking of Dr. George Fair, the brown cloth is a bit mellowed and shows some fairly minor age at the tips and corners but is still quite attractive with bright gilt. VERY RARE IN THIS CONDITION AND IN ORIGINAL BINDING UNRESTORED. VERY RARE, WE KNOW OF ONLY ONE OTHER COPY RECENTLY IN COMMERCE AND WORLD CAT LISTS THE NATURALIS BIODIVERSITY CENTER OF THE NETHERLANDS AS HAVING THE ONLY COPY IN INSTITUTION COLLECTIONS. Hermann Schlegel was a noted herpetologist of German origin who was a times both the Director of the Natural History Museum in Leyden and correspondent of the Royal Institute of the Netherlands. The English naturalist Charles Darwin knew of Schlegel’s reputation from his close friend, the British botanist and explorer Joseph Dalton Hooker.
No fewer that four snakes are named for Schlegel: Bothriechis Schlegelii, the Eyelash Pit Viper; Calamaria Schlegeli, the Red-Headed Reed Snake; (Aspidomorphus Schlegelii, Schlegel’s Adder; and Afrotyphlops Schlegeliii, the Beaked Blind Snake. Several species of reptiles, amphibians, and birds are named for him as well. $2500.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly One of the Most Important Works of American Literature In the Rare Special Gilt Decorated Presentation Binding
Harriet Beecher Stowe - Published Boston - 1852
11 Stowe, Harriet Beecher. UNCLE TOM’S CABIN; or, Life Among the Lowly (Boston: John P. Jewett & Company, 1852) 2 volumes. First edition. Later Issue, in the Rare Special Presentation Binding, elaborately gilt decorated and gilt edged, first edition of the text with later points. Copyright statement of Geo. C. Rand & Co. Illustrated with original engravings. 8vo, publisher’s original purple-brown cloth, with full gilt decorated spines and extra gilt fully decorated covers for this noted limited gift binding, all edges gilt, the best of the publisher’s special bindings. [i]-x, [13]-312, [2-blank]; [2, blank], [i]-iv, [5]-322, [2, blank], [12 publisher’s ads], [2, blank] pp. collated complete, six engraved illustrations. A very pleasing and handsome copy of this very scarce issue. The books present very well with only just a bit of the inevitable rubbing to the head of the spine panels, a beautifully preserved copy, with only light mellowing to the cloth, the original yellow endleaves remain in a fine state of preservation, the hinges are tight and strong, the text-blocks also in very pleasing condition with only rare instances of the normally confronted spotting.
RARE FIRST EDITION, LATER ISSUE IN THE RARE GIFT BINDING RICHLY DECORATED IN GILT, Arguably, the most influential work of American literature and unquestionably a milestone of 19th century world literature. The initial printing sold out immediately upon publication and the book went through continual reissues for years after its introduction. Nice copies of the first edition as with this copy have become increasingly difficult to find. The book is especially scarce in the deluxe presentation binding. UNCLE TOM’S CABIN IS THE ONLY AMERICAN NOVEL TO BE INCLUDED IN PMM. “In the emotion-charged atmosphere of nineteenth-century America, UNCLE TOM’S CABIN EXPLODED LIKE A BOMBSHELL...THE SOCIAL IMPACT OF UNCLE TOM’S CABIN on the United States was greater than that of any book before or since.” PMM
‘For Harriet Beecher Stowe, the battle against slavery was a God-ordained crusade to cleanse the United States of an evil affront to humanity. In the emotion charged atmosphere of mid-19th century America this novel exploded like an atomic bomb. For those opposed to slavery it was a testament to all that was wrong in an evil system. To the pro-slavery forces it was considered a slanderous attack on an established way of life. In either case, the impact of UNCLE TOM’S CABIN on the society of the United States of America was probably greater than any book published before or since’. PMM
Stowe presented her story in the style of popular works of the era [melodramatically]--and with religious undertones, but the themes of the novel--the breaking up of families, violence, the naive idea of a return to Africa, and the question of slaves’ agency in this oppression--are historically significant. Stowe had not only witnessed incidents like the ones described in her novel, but “had long been concerned about slavery, having read the autobiographies of Frederick Douglass and Louis Clark, as well as the abolitionist tracts of L.M. Child and Theodore Weld, and in 1850, when the Fugitive Slave Act was passed, she began writing Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” [The Fem GT Lit in Eng] The Fugitive Slave Act, in combination with her book, were arguably the catalysts for the Civil War, as even Lincoln implied upon meeting Stowe.
The initial printing sold out immediately. Of the roughly 5000 copies of the first issue printed, 3000 are believed to have sold on the very first day. An amazing and unmatched achievement in 19th century book selling. Reissues appeared
immediately, eight steam-powered presses were dedicated to this title by the publisher and yet they still failed to keep up with demand. By the end of the year over 300,000 copies were sold. Thus, true first issues are understandably very hard to come by. In fact, all of the early issues are very difficult to find in good condition. This was one of the most read, passed along, reread and passed along again books in history, certainly in American literature few other titles even come close.
It is said that for writing this extraordinary bestseller Ms. Stowe was paid only $300. For her the battle against slavery was a God-ordained crusade to cleanse the United States of an Evil affront to Humanity. In the emotion charged atmosphere of 19th century America this novel exploded like an atomic bomb. For those opposed to slavery it was a testament to all that was wrong in an evil system. To the pro-slavery forces it was considered a slanderous attack on an established way of life. In either case, the impact of UNCLE TOM’S CABIN on the society of the United States of America was probably greater than any book published before or since. BAL 19343. Printing and the Mind of Man 332 $4500.
‘Gulliver’s Travels’ - 1727 - The First Edition with the Verses Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World… A Very Rare Copy in Full Contemporary Calf
12 [Swift, Jonathan]. TRAVELS INTO SEVERAL REMOTE NATIONS OF THE WORLD, by Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of several Ships. To which are prefix’d, Several Copies of Verses Explanatory and Commendatory; never before printed (London: For Benj. Motte, 1727) 2 volumes bound as one. Second edition, published within a few months of the first editions and set from the type of the first issue of the first edition (the A edition). This is the first edition to include the “Verses,” which had been separately printed in March of 1727. They were compressed into twenty pages and inserted here by the publisher after the title to Volume I and before the text. This is also one of the earliest issues of the second edition, with the portrait state as found in the first editions and in only some copies of the second, the general title, also early, does not mention Second Edition, and the advertisement leaf is present preliminary to Vol. II. Portrait frontispiece, and 6 additional plates including the 5 maps called for in the earliest issue, engraved head and tailpieces throughout. 8vo, in rarely encountered full contemporary mottled calf, the spine with a maroon morocco lettering label gilt. i-ii, [xx], iii-xii, 148, [x],164; [1] ads, [vi],155, [viii],199. A very handsome and pleasing copy, quite clean internally with no staining or spotting and just light mellowing. A bit of normative evidence of age, withal a very attractive and especially well preserved copy of this scarce book.
RARE. Copies in contemporary bindings are regrettably uncommon, and this copy remains a fine example of the book in its original aspect. This edition included the five Verses (1. To Quinbus Flestrim. 2. The Lamentation. 3. To Mr. Lemuel Gulliver. 4. Mary Gulliver To Capt. Lemuel Gulliver. 5. The Words of the King of Brobdingnag.) which did not appear in the first editions.
“Gulliver’s Travels” is a biting political satire ingeniously styled after the many narratives of travel and exploration popular at the time, which Swift had read in the library of his employer, Sir William Temple. And though most satire,
especially political satire, is quickly rendered unintelligible or uninteresting with the passage of time, Swift endowed his story with so much imagination that it has never passed out of the canon of classics in English literature.
This, the most famous of Swift’s works, was published anonymously as the author was afraid of the reception the book might meet with. His satire was directed at the prevailing powers of the day, and it has become known as one of the greatest literary works ever penned. Teerink 293, PMM 185 (First Printing). $6500.
Huckleberry Finn - First Edition in the Original Cloth
Twain’s Masterpiece of American Literature
13 Twain, Mark. ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN (New York: Charles L. Webster and Company, 1885) First edition. With 174 black and white illustrations by E.W. Kemble. 8vo, publisher’s original green cloth elaborately decorated in gilt and black on the covers and spine. 366 pp. A very handsome copy, bright and appealing. This copy is clean and tight and very pleasing internally, the paper extremely fresh. The cloth is uncommonly bright and the gilt in really excellent condition.
AN IMPORTANT FIRST EDITION AND A HANDSOME AND PLEASING COPY. The title-leaf is conjugate with [1] and the copyright notice is dated 1884; p. [13] with the illustration captioned “Him and another Man listed at p. 87; p. 57 with “saw” spelled correctly; p. 283 with the corrected engraving and conjugate with leaf 18(3); p. 155 has the final five replaced; p. 161 is lacking a signature mark, as usual; and leaf 23(8) has been excised. The frontis portrait is in Blanck’s state 3, with the imprint of the Photo-Gravure Company and with the tablecloth or scarf not visible.
The printing points mentioned above should not be considered issue points, as the sheets for the book were printed over time, but gathered and bound at random. Based on issue points only (the state of the illustration on p. 283 and the binding), this is a first edition.
Along with Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn is considered the stepping stone to modern American literature. And along with Tom Sawyer, for the first time, the hero of the novel was a boy. These books are landmarks and Hemingway often offered his opinion that the modern novel would have been impossible without them. With Whitman’s Leaves of Grass and Melville’s Moby Dick, they provide us with a view of America transcending its past and beginning its future. $5250.
Heavily Extra Illustrated with Fine Plates Throughout
The First Bagster Edition - London - 1808 - Large Paper Copy
The Compleat Angler - Isaac Walton’s Masterpiece
14 Walton, Isaac and Charles Cotton. THE COMPLEAT ANGLER; or, Contemplative Man’s Recreation: Being a Discourse on Rivers, Fish-Ponds, Fish, and Fishing. In Two Parts: The First Written by Mr. Isaac Walton; The Second by Charles Cotton, Esq. With The Lives of the Authors: And Notes, Historical, Critical, Supplementary and Explanatory;by Sir John Hawkins (London: for Samuel Bagster, In the Strand, 1808) THE FIRST BAGSTER EDITION, RARE LARGE PAPER COPY, AND A UNIQUE, HEAVILY EXTRA ILLUSTRATED COPY. Vignette half-title, engraved portrait frontispiece, two plates of music, 17 illustrations of fish within the text, AND A TOTAL OF AN ADDITIONAL 84 PLATES IN ALL. A UNIQUE COPY, HEAVILY EXTRA ILLUSTRATED, MANY
TINTED OR COLOURED BY HAND. Royal, thick 8vo, superbly bound by Bayntun of Bath, England in very fine full crushed dark green crushed morocco, the spine with raised bands separating the compartments, the bands gilt stopped, the compartments with full gilt panels incorporating fine tooling in a very pleasing pattern, the centers of the panels with fishing motifs in gilt, the covers elaborately decorated in gilt iin all over designs incorporating multi-ruled and multi-layered panels both gilt ruled and blind ruled and with fine gilt fishing motifs at the four extremities of each cover, board edges gilt ruled, turnovers with triple gilt fillet rules, marbled endleaves, all edges gilt. vi, 512 pp. A very handsome copy, the binding and text-block and plates all beautifully preserved, some mild rubbing to the corners, the binding is strong, the gilt work and presentation are all very pleasing, an especially fine example.
VERY RARE EXTRA ILLUSTRATED COPY OF THE FIRST BAGSTER EDITION. THE ADDITIONAL PLATES ARE OF SCENERY, FAUNA, FLORA,FISHES AND TINTED OR COLOURED BY HAND. The Bagster printing of 1808 was the first to try an exact reprinting of the 1653 first edition.
A beloved classic of the English language and what many call the finest “How-To” book ever written; Walton’s ANGLER has been described as “full of wisdom, kindly humour, and charity; it is one of the most delightful and care-dispelling books in the language.” “More than most authors he lives in his writings, which are the pure expression of a kind, humorous and pious soul in love with nature, while the expression itself is unique for apparent simplicity which is really elaborately studied art” (DNB). Coigney 20 $3500.
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