Firsts Online - The Chelsea & Edinburgh Edition

Firsts Online Virtual Rare Book Fair

The Edinburgh & Chelsea Edition 27th November to 2nd December 2020

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Buddenbrooks 21 Pleasant Street, On the Courtyard Newburyport, MA. 01950, USA Boston MA. 02116 - By Appointment (617) 536-4433 F: (978) 358-7805

Info@buddenbrooks.como r Buddenbrooks@att.net - www.Buddenbrooks.com

Newburyport - Boston - Mount Desert Island

Meyrick’s Great Work on Armour - 1824 First Edition - In Rare Contemporary Bindings - Very Fine A Large Copy in It’s Original Period State 1 Meyrick, Samuel Rush. A CRITICAL INQUIRY INTO ANTIENT ARMOUR, as it existed in Europe, but particularly in England, from the Norman Conquest to the reign of King Charles II: With a Glossary of Military Terms of the Middle Ages (London: Robert Jennings, 1824) 3 volumes. First edition. Illustrated with 80 engraved plates, including 71 hand-coloured and with 27 very large illustrated and historiated chapter initials hand-coloured and heightened in gold. Folio, contemporary half crimson morocco over marbled boards, lettered in gilt on the spines between raised bands. 20, lxxvii, 206; 297; 147, glossary. A very handsome and unusually nice set in rare contemporary morocco backed marbled boards, very fresh and clean internally. The bindings are bright, clean and well preserved with very little evidence of age, just a bit of minor shelf or age wear.

RARE FIRST AND BEST EDITION OF THE GREATEST COLOUR PLATE BOOK ON ARMOUR EVER PRODUCED, RARE IN CONTEMPORARY BINDING. Meyrick’s laborious work was practically the first on the subject and remains an authority even today. Meyrick considered armour in general to have important connections with many aspects of society: “With the history of the wars of mankind, obviously, and from the remotest periods, it is connected; with the mythology and sacred rites of almost all nations and religions; with the rise and progress of a large portion of the arts; with questions of jurisprudence and civil polity; and with some of the most favorite amusements of all ranks in antient, as well as modern, times” (preface). Meyrick demonstrates the significance of armor throughout history by including both carefully detailed textual outlines and profuse and stunning illustrations, many hand-colored and edged in gilt or silver.

Meyrick was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 1810 and for some years contributed to the “Archæologia.”

In 1826 he was consulted by the authorities at the Tower of London as to the arrangement of the national collection of arms and armor, and in 1828, at the command of George IV, he arranged the collection at Windsor Castle. This is still considered one of his most important works, rarely found in such a well-preserved unsophisticated state. $6250.

Philip Sclater’s Great Illustrated Work The Book of Antelopes - With 100 Hand-Coloured Plates London - 4 Volumes Handsomely Bound - 1894-1900 2 Sclater, Philip Lutley and Oldfield, Thomas. THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES (London: R. H. Porter, 1894-1900) 4 volumes.

First edition. With 100 hand-colored lithographed plates by Joseph Smit after Joseph Wolf. 4to, handsomely bound for the publisher and thus signed, in three quarter dark-green morocco over marbled boards, the spines lettered in gilt between raised bands. A beautifully preserved set of this important work.

All plates are in excellent condition, the textblock is clean and fresh, the bindings in very good order, with only light aging, spines bright and fine.

A SUPERB AND IMPORTANT WORK IN THE OEUVRE OF AFRICAN AND NATURAL HISTORY PRINTING AND WRITING AND ARTISTRY. The perfect marriage of scientific knowledge, written and visual description. A very scarce book, particularly in such fine condition. He was Secretary of the Zoological Society of London for 42 years, from 1860–1902. Oldfield Thomas Thomas worked at the Natural History Museum on mammals, describing about 2,000 species and subspecies for the first time. Joseph Wolf was a German artist who specialized in natural history. He moved to the British Museum in 1848 and became the preferred illustrator for naturalists there, including Alfred Russel Wallace. Wolf depicted animals accurately in lifelike postures and is considered one of the great pioneers of wildlife art. Together, the three have created quite a work. $15,000.

William Shakespeare’s Poems A Very Early Printing - 1775 - London 3 Shakespeare, Mr. William. POEMS (London: Thomas Evans, [1775]) A fine and very early printing of Shakespeare’s Poems. A Large Copy.

With a charming vignette portrait of Shakespeare on the title-page from an engraving by Alexander Bannerman. Small 8vo, in handsome full chocolate crushed morocco, the spine with gilt chain flat bands creating compartments with central gilt tooled ornaments, one compartment gilt lettered, board edges gilt hatched, in a slipcase of complimentary brown cloth-covered boards with matching morocco tips. viii, 250pp. A fine copy, the text especially clean and fresh, the 20th century binding pristine and as new, the slipcase fine as well.

SCARCE AND A VERY ATTRACTIVE EDITION OF SHAKESPEARE’S POEMS, VERY POSSIBLY A LARGE PAPER COPY. According to Jaggard, “a large paper copy (the only one recorded), measuring 7-1/8 by 4-1/2 in., is in the writer’s collection.” Our copy measures 7 x 4-1/2 inches and might perhaps qualify as a large-paper copy.) The book is printed in the same style as Capell’s 1767-6 issue of the Works, and probably intended to be supplementary to it.

The arrangement follows that of the 1640 edition, but in this case the index now names every poem. Jaggard speculates that the editor might have been E. Capell.

Shakespeare’s first published works were poems, starting with Venus and Adonis in 1593. A tragic-comedy of Venus, her unrequited love for Adonis,

and Adonis’s tragic death while hunting a boar. In the Rape of Lucrece, Shakespeare’s second published work, the rape of a Roman noblewoman leads to suicide and the downfall of the Tarquin kings of Rome.

“Poems on Several Occasions” finishes the volume. A collection of various subjects, dominated by Shakespeare’s favorite poetic theme, poems of love.

“Love’s not times fool, tho’ rosy lips and cheeks Within his bending fickle’s compass come: Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, But bears it out even to the edge of doom.

If this be error, and upon me proved, I never writ, nor no man ever loved.”

Jaggard p. 435.; Lowndes 1667; ESTC 138089. $1150.

-The Picture of True Love

The Narrative of Lieut. General Sir William Howe - 1780 Reflections on Command of the King’s Troops in America 4 [American Revolution]; Howe, Sir William. THE NARRATIVE OF LIEUT. GEN. SIR WILLIAM HOWE, in a Committee of the House of Commons, on the 29th of April, 1779. relative to His Conduct, During His Late Command of the King’s Troops in North America: To Which are Added, Some Observations Upon a Pamphlet, Entitled, Letters to a Nobleman (London: H. Baldwin, 1780) The second edition of this scarce narrative, same year as the first in identical format. A nice tall and well margined copy. 4to, the original text-block as issued and printed, now richly bound in full burgundy morocco by Sangorski and Sutcliffe the boards having a blind-tool framed central panel of crushed morocco within a large panel of gilt framed smooth morocco, the spine with two gilt tooled bands and with gilt lettering between them and additional gilt rules at the spine tips, gilt ruled turnins and t.e.g., others untrimmed. 110 pp. A very handsome and well preserved collectible copy, rare in this condition, the text quite fresh and clean with only a few occasional spots or signs of age and these all quite mild and unobtrusive, the regal binding with a little rubbing but solid and clearly an indication of fine provenance.

SCARCE PRINTING RELATING TO THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, AND AN UNCOMMONLY HANDSOME COPY. Sir William Howe led his armies to many impressive victories while serving as commander of the British forces, but was severely criticized for his actions after repelling General Washington’s forces at Germantown. He and his troops spent the winter comfortably in Philadelphia instead of driving Washington’s weakened and unequipped army out of their stronghold at Valley Forge. Sir Henry Clayton replaced Howe as commander-in-chief and the general was recalled to London to defend his actions. A parliamentary investigation led by a number of military men, including Lord Cornwallis and Lord Grey, acquitted Howe of any blame and affirmed that he had done everything possible considering the state of his troops.

Howe’s narrative to the House of Commons is presented in the first 30 odd pages. The publication also includes Howe’s response to Joseph Galloway’s charges of incompetence and negligence which Galloway had published as LETTERS TO A NOBLEMAN. Howes H729; Adams 80 43c; Sabin 33342 $1000.

First Edition - Beautifully Bound - Extra-Illustrated An Exceptionally Fine Copy and a Unique Copy as Well The Treaties of 1778 - France Supports the New American Nation 5 [American Revolution]; Chinard, G., Editor. THE TREATIES OF 1778 AND ALLIED DOCUMENTS Historical Documents Institut Francais de Washington With an Introduction by James Brown Scott (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press, 1928) UNIQUE EXTRA ILLUSTRATED, FINELY BOUND copy of the First Edition. A copy with fine New England provenance having been extra illustrated by, bound for, and with the morocco bookplate of Frank C. Deering and the noteworthy ‘Frank C. Deering Collection of Americana’ With the addition of dozens of fine illustrations added by the noted Americana collector, from numerous sources including engravings, hand-colored engravings, plates, colourplates, and portraits, most being professionally tipped onto plates of fine quality paper and expertly bound in, and with an added leaf of text in red crediting Frank C. Deering for the extra-illustrations. 4to, very handsomely bound for the Deering collection in full brown crushed morocco, the boards with a geometric framework on nouveau design featuring both gilt and black ruled lines, gilt stippling and gilt circular tools, the spine designed in like style with tall gilt and black stippled raised bands, gilt and black framed compartments, gilt circular tooling and gilt lettering, the turn-ins gilt ruled and stippled, finely marbled endpapers, t.e.g. xxv, [2], 70 pp. A very fine and handsome copy, and unique as well. There is a little minor offsetting from some of the added illustrations otherwise this is a pristine copy, both inside and out.

FIRST EDITION, BEAUTIFULLY BOUND AND GREATLY EMBELLISHED BY THE CREATOR OF ONE OF THE FINEST EARLY 20TH CENTURY COLLECTIONS OF AMERICANA. Printed on the 150th anniversary of M. Gerard (on behalf of Louis XVI, the young and inexperienced King of France) and Benjamin Franklin, Silas Deane, and Arthur Lee, (on behalf of the thirteen English-speaking colonies in North America) put their seals and signatures to an epoch-making document. In fact, two treaties were signed on the same day: one of alliance, and one of amity and commerce, the negotiation of which, upon terms of equality with France, recognized, because of the negotiation, the independence of the colonies, called for the first time in the Declaration of Independence, “the United States of America.” $850.

The Most Magnificent Book of the Italian Renaissance Colonna’s Hypnerotomachia Poliphili Le Songe De Poliphile - Ou Hypnertomachie Replete with a Great Profusion of Fine Engravings Popelin - Prunaire - Liseux - The Beautiful French Edition 6 Colonna, Francesco. [HYPNEROTOMACHIA POLIPHILI] LE SONGE DE POLIPHILE. OU HYPNERTOMACHIE de Frère Francesco Colonna, Littéralament traduit pour la première fois, avec une Introduction et des Notes par Claudius Popelin. (Paris: Isidore Liseux, 1883) 2 volumes. FIRST PRINTING OF THIS IMPORTANT LIMITED EDITION, one of only 400 copies on Hollande paper of a total edition of only 410. With a great profusion of illustrations throughout the text being woodcuts after those first issued in the original first edition of 1499 now re-engraved by A. Prunaire. Large 8vo, very handsomely bound in contemporary three-quarter brown morocco over marbled boards, the spines with wide raised bands ruled in blind, two compartments with

gilt lettering, marbled endpapers. ccxxxvii, 379; 458 pp. A very handsome set, the bindings very attractive and in fine shape with just a little rubbing at the extremities, the text all fine but for the lightest of spotting to which the Hollande paper is prone, in this case it is very minor.

A VERY SCARCE AND BEAUTIFUL EDITION OF COLONNA’S GREAT ROMANCE, THE DREAM OF POLIPHILI, THE MOST MAGNIFICENT AND SERENELY BEAUTIFUL ILLUSTRATED BOOK OF THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE. With scholarly notes and a long and very fine introduction and translation Claude Popelin. One of the great works of the early Renaissance, Hypnerotomachia Poliphili presents a mysterious arcane allegory in which the main protagonist, Poliphilo pursues his love, Polia, through a dreamlike landscape. In the end, he is reconciled with her by the “Fountain of Venus”. The original edition, published in 1499, has long been sought after as one of the most beautiful incunabula printed. Here we see that tradition of the printer’s craftsmanship brought to the modern period with woodcuts skillfully copied from French editions dating back to 1546.

The illustrations were so striking for their time that the HYPNEROTOMACHIA served as a sort of patternbook, influencing book illustration styles all over Europe.

For some time, attribution of the illustrations was made to Giovanni Bellini (ca. 1430-1516) or to Raffaello Sanzio (1483-1520) but it is a fact of course, that present scholarship can only conjecture as to the true artist. “[A]rtists... craftsmen...decorators got hold of this incomparable album of compositins in the antique taste. In the countries beyond the Alps its repercussions are even more clearly traceable than in Italy itself, where a greater variety of other sources for the study of clasical forms were to be found. In the north an astonishing proportion of all Renaissance ornament and accessory design can clearly be proved to derive from Colonna’s POLIPHILO” (E.P. Goldschmidt, ‘The Printed Bookof the Renaissance, 1950, 52).

The text, attributed to “Franciscus Columna” is based on the fact that the woodcut initials form an acrostic of his name, is a blending of the courtly romance of the Middle Ages with the revival of classical culture. It has recently been argued that the hidden autor was not the traditional candidate but rather the Servite friar Eliseo da Treviso (fl. 145-1506): see two articles by Piero Scapecchi in “Accademie e bibloteche d’Italia, 1983: 286sqq. and 1985: 68 sqq. This revised opinion is not strongly grounded however. Collona’s authorship is implied by several contemporary evidences. The aforementioned acrostic (POLIAM FRATER FRANCISVS COLCMNA PERAMAVIT), the unique setting of the first sheet (πl.4) of HYPNEROTOMACHIA preserved in a Berlin copy (presumably a rare cancellandum) contains Italian verse by on Matteo Visconti of Brescia refering more openly to “...Francisco alta columna l Per cui phama imortal de voi [scil. Polia, and Visconti’s own loved one Laurea] rissona.” Finally, an act of the Dominican order; of 5 June 1501,instructed that Francesco Colonna should be compelled to repay expenses which the Provincial of the Order had incurred “on account of the printed book.”

George Painter, in his fascinating essay, gives an appropriate context to the book: “Gutenberg’s Forty-two-Line Bible of 1455 and the HYPNEROTOMACHIA of 1499 confront one another from opposite ends of the incunable period with equal and contrasting pre-eminence. The Gutenberg Bible is somberly and sternly German, gothic, Christian, and medieval; the HYPNEROTOMACHIA is radiantly and graciously Italian, classic, pagan, and renascent. These are the two supreme masterpieces of the art of printing, and stand at the two poles of human endeavour and desire.”

The text, attributed to “Franciscus Colonna”, is a blending of the courtly romance of the Middle Ages with the revival of classical culture. In search of his lost love, Polia, Polifilo is carried through a dream-world of pyramids and obelisks, ruined temples, bacchanalian festivals, and other classical scenes before finding her and attaining enlightenment at the temple of Venus. It “teaches that all human existence is no more than a dream, and along the way records many things most worthy of knowledge.” $2750.

Bonnie Scotland - A Stunning A. & C. Black Publication With Sutton Palmer’s Seventy Five Watercolours - 1912 7 Moncrieff, A. R. Hope. BONNIE SCOTLAND (London: A. & C. Black, 1912) First edition, early reprinting.

Illustrated with 75 finely produced beautiful colour plates from paintings by Sutton Palmer, wonderfully reproduced and with captioned tissue guards. 8vo, publisher’s lovely decorated cloth, the upper cover gilt lettered within an all-over design of Scottish thistle and heather in green, brown and purple, the spine likewise decorated, t.e.g. xi, 255pp, 4 ads. A pleasing copy, quite well preserved, with a little mild mellowing or age evidence, the cloth, colours and gilt all very well preserved indeed.

SCARCE IN WELL PRESERVED CONDITION. This is the first and largest of the author’s three works on Scotland published by A. & C. Black. It contains a whooping 75 beautiful plates by Palmer Sutton. Palmer was best known for his Gold Metal winning idyllic rustic landscapes painted in watercolours and Moncrieff’s tour of Scotland provided him with many of his best views and settings. The success of this volume would inspire the two sequels, although each of those had only a fraction of the illustrations provided here in BONNIE SCOTLAND. $185.

Rome and the Campagna - A Handsome First Edition By the Most Famous Archaeologist on the Topic Robert Burn on Roman History and Topography - 1871 8 Burn, Robert. ROME AND THE CAMPAGNA: An Historical and Topographical Description of the Site, Buildings, and Neighbourhood of Ancient Rome. (Cambridge [and] London: Deighton, Bell, and Co. [and] Bell and Daldy, 1871) First edition. With 85 illustrations and 25 maps and plans, several of which are folding and several are in colour. 4to, in very handsome three-quarter period red morocco bordered in double gilt ruling over grained red cloth, the spine with compartments separated by gilt bordered raised bands gilt tooled in a chain motif, lettered in gilt in two compartments and with gilt tooling at head and tail, unobtrusive old shelf label at the tail of the spine, marbled endpapers with engraved museum ex-libris, small shelf stamp at bottom of title leaf, t.e.g. lxxxiii, 483pp., inclusive of index. A very handsome copy in an especially attractive binding which shows only very minor rubbing at the extremities, the period library markings are unobtrusive, the text only lightly mellowed, much less so than is typically encountered. One large folding plan has been very expertly repaired and laid on a linen backing.

FIRST EDITION OF THIS IMPORTANT WORK, AND IN A VERY HANDSOME BINDING. ROME AND THE CAMPAGNA is an extensive rendering of Roman history, architecture, and topography gleaned from excavations and research of the area. The author,

who was a fellow of Trinity College, explores in depth the characteristics of places such as the Esquiline Hill, the Coliseum, and the Circus Flaminius to name a few, and includes beautiful illustrations and maps to supplement his descriptions.

The praelector in Roman Archaeology at Trinity, “Burn, who frequently visited Rome and its neighborhood during his vacations, was one of the first Englishmen to study the archaeology of the city and the Campagna, and he published several important works dealing with it,” of which this was the first (DNB). The engraver, Thomas Jewitt, was a well known archaeological artist who died just after completing the illustrations for this work. The author, who was a fellow of Trinity College, explores in depth the characteristics of places such as the Esquiline Hill, the Coliseum, and the Circus Flaminius to name a few, and includes beautiful illustrations and maps to supplement his descriptions. $725.

Thomas Carlyle’s Most Brilliant Work The French Revolution - First of the Edition Beautifully Bound and Beautifully Illustrated - 1910 9 Carlyle, Thomas. THE FRENCH REVOLUTION A HISTORY

BY THOMAS CARLYLE WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY EDMUND J. SULLIVAN, ARWS (London: Chapman and Hall, 1910) 2 volumes. First Edition in this format and First Edition illustrated by Edmund J. Sullivan. 33 full page line drawings and a profusion of drawings in the text by Sullivan. Thick royal 8vo, beautifully bound by Baytun of Bath, England in three-quarter red-orange crushed morocco over red-orange cloth covered boards, the spines with raised bands gilt tooled and gilt ruled, gilt decorative tooling between the bands, two compartments gilt lettered, top edges gilt. xii, 418 pp; xi, 484 pp A very fine set, very handsome and beautifully preserved throughout. The bindings in excellent condition, essentially as pristine.

FIRST OF THE EDITION AND FIRST EDITION WITH THE SULLIVAN ILLUSTRATIONS. Probably Carlyle’s most brilliant work, THE FRENCH REVOLUTION is not so much a history as a succession of pictures, or poems in prose, featuring an abundance of demons to hate and a few heroes to admire. Charles Kendall Adams, the author of A MANUAL OF HISTORICAL LITERATURE (1888), states that “Every student of the Revolutionary period should read the book” and calls it “probably the most remarkable work ever written on the Revolution,” though he suggests that it be read in conjunction with “a work of more commonplace merits.” Carlyle wrote his book as a ‘tract for the times’ and as a warning of the frightful consequences of materialism, utilitarianism, and democracy...The book at once captured the English-speaking world, and has, outside France, moulded the popular conception of the French Rvolution down to the present day’. PMM Carlyle happened upon the idea of writing a general history of the French Revolution when John Stuart Mill, a friend of his, found himself caught up in other projects and unable to meet the terms of a contract he had signed with his publisher for just such a work. Mill therefore proposed that Carlyle produce the work instead; Mill even sent his friend a library of books and other materials concerning the Revolution, and by 1834 Carlyle was working furiously on the project. When he had completed the first volume of his epic account, Carlyle sent his only completed manuscript of the text to Mill, whose maid famously mistook it for trash and had it burned. It was said that Carlyle then rewrote the entire manuscript from memory, achieving what he described as a book that came “direct and flamingly from the heart.”

The British book illustrator, Edmund Joseph Sullivan worked in the style tht merged the British tradition of illustration at mid-century with the aspects of Art Nouveau. His style is similar to that of Aubrey Beardsley though more romantic.

Gordon N. Ray, in “The Illustrator and the Book in England” wrote that “Sullivan’s career as a n illustrator was one of the most substantial and distinguished in the annals of English art”. $850.

Edmund Burke on the Settlement of the Americas Printed 1770 With Handsome Early Engraved Maps One of the Best Accounts of New World Colonization 10 [Burke, Edmund, William, and Robert]. AN ACCOUNT OF THE EUROPEAN SETTLEMENTS IN AMERICA (London: for J. Dodsley, 1770) 2 volumes. The fifth edition, with improvements. With folding engraved maps of the Americas in each volume, South America in the first volume and North America in the second. 8vo, full contemporary calf with with decorative mottling on the boards, the spines with red morocco labels gilt lettered and trimmed in gilt rule. The spines decorated with large central gilt ornamental floral devices in compartments between gilt ruled raised bands. xii, 324; xii 308 A fine and very handsome set in elusive period bindings, the text is especially clean and fresh, the maps are in excellent order as well. The bindings in fully original state and are attractive and solid, some expected minor wear or rubbing to the extremities, edges and shoulders but still firm, the spine panels a bit mellowed. With some some scholarly 18th century notations and emendations to the end-leaves.

AN IMPORTANT BOOK WITH EARLY STUDIES OF THE CARIBBEAN AND PURITAN AMERICA. Howes considers this the “best contemporary account” and he states that it was “actually written by William Burke, but is usually ascribed to his more famous kinsman who gave substantial help” - Howes B 974). In fact, Edmund, William and Richard Burke are all routinely credited as being collaborators. Although Edmund once told John Boswell that he had only been a reviser of it.

Whichever Burke is the primary author, the work provides an excellent account of the settlement of the Americas by the Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, French, Viking and English. It was highly popular in its own time and is still considered of historic value today.

Sabin 9282; CLARK I:208; Howes B-974. $1450.

The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Very Rare and Fine - Sumptuously Bound - PMM 222 Gibbon’s Masterwork on the Roman Empire Fine Provenance - Beautifully Decorated Bindings - Gilt Extra 11 Gibbon, Edward. THE HISTORY OF THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE (London: For T. Cadell, Strand, 1838) 8 volumes. A New Edition. Illustrated with an engraved portrait frontispiece and 3 engraved folding maps. 8vo, very handsomely and sumptuously bound in full russia presentation bindings, lettered and decorated in gilt with the crests and regalia of Archibald Primrose, fifth Earl of Rosebery and Prime Minister, in compartments of the spines between gilt ruled raised bands, two compartments lettered in gilt, one compartment with gilt tooled panel design, the covers with triple gilt fillet lines at the borders meeting a

floral device gilt at the intersections, enclosing an arabesque styled central panel enclosing the gilt arms of Christ College, Cambridge, gilt turnovers, marbled endleaves and edges. lii, 509; viii, 488; xii, 571; xii, 533; xvi, 555; xii, 501; xi, 555; xi, 468, index. A very fine and handsome set, very well preserved and in excellent condition.

A VERY FINE AND SUMPTUOUSLY BOUND SET WITH EXCELLENT PROVENANCE OF THE GREATEST HISTORICAL WORK EVER UNDERTAKEN. It was in Italy while “musing amid the ruins of the Capital” that Gibbon formed the plan of his history. Originally published in six volumes from 1776 to 1788, Gibbon’s fine scholarship has remained for the most part unchallenged. The work’s numerous reprintings throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries are evidence of its popularity and historical accuracy.

“For twenty-two years Gibbon was a prodigy of steady and arduous application. His investigations extended over almost the whole range of intellectual activity for nearly fifteen-hundred years. And so thorough were his methods that the laborious investigations of German scholarship, the keen criticisms of theological zeal, and the steady researches of (two) centuries have brought to light very few important errors in the results of his labors. But it is not merely the learning of his work, learned as it is, that gives it character as a history. It is also that ingenious skill by which the vast erudition, the boundless range, the infinite variety, and the gorgeous magnificence of the details are all wrought together in a symmetrical whole.

It is still entitled to be esteemed as the greatest historical work ever written” (Adams, Manual of Historical Literature, pp.

146-147).

The success of the work was immediate. “I am at a loss,” Gibbon wrote, “how to describe the success of the work without betraying the vanity of the writer. The first impression was exhausted in a few days; a second and third edition were scarcely adequate to the demand, and the bookseller’s property was twice invaded by the pyrates of Dublin. My book was on every table, and almost on every toilette....” Publication of this grand work placed Gibbon at the “very head of the literary tribe” in Europe, according to Adam Smith. $3750.

Item 11.

Item 5 The Catalogue Continues on the next page

One of the Greatest Works of Travel Ever Published The Rare First Edition - Pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina The Entry of Western Scholarship into the Arab Holy Cities 12 Burton, Richard F. PERSONAL NARRATIVE OF A PILGRIMAGE TO MECCA AND MEDINA (London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1855) 3 volumes. First edition. Illustrated with a 13 lithographic plates, 8 of which are tinted and 5 in colour, 4 maps or plans, 3 of which are folding and several illustrations within the text. 8vo, choicely bound in three-quarter dark-emerald green polished calf over marbled boards, the turnovers and corner pieces double-gilt ruled, the spines impressively gilt decorated within compartments separated by gilt stippled raised bands, the compartments with gilt floral frames surrounding central gilt tooled devices, gilt lettering in two compartments and at the foot, additional gilt hatching, page edges marbled. xv, 338, 24 ads; iv, 426; xi, 448 pp. A beautiful set of this highly important work, the bindings very fine, the text uncommonly clean and fresh with only the most occasional and lightest of spotting, the plates just a touch more as is often the case. In all a very handsome and exceptional set.

FIRST EDITION OF A MONUMENTAL WORK OF TRAVEL AND EXPLORATION. A RARE AND VERY ATTRACTIVE SET, FINELY BOUND IN THE BEST PERIOD STYLE. According to Penzer, and to countless readers since, this is “one of the greatest works of travel ever published.” Burton was one of the first westerners to enter the Arab holy cities and to accomplish this he had to assume the character and costume of a Persian Mirza, a wandering Dervish, and a “Pathan.” Mrs. Burton said of his feat that “ It meant ...living for nine months in the hottest and most unhealthy climate, upon repulsive food; it meant complete and absolute isolation from everything that makes life tolerable, from all civilization, from all his natural habits; the brain at high tension, but the mind never wavering from the role he had adopted; but he liked it, he was happy in it, he felt at home in it, and in this book he tells you how he did it, and what he saw.”

Richard Burton was one of the foremost linguists of his time, an explorer, poet, translator, ethnologist, and archaeologist, among other things. He spent much of his childhood in Italy and France and was educated eclectically. In 1840, he began studies at Trinity College, Oxford and distinguished himself through his eccentric behavior. Two years later, he joined the 18th Regiment of Bombay Native Infantry at Baroda, in order to study “Oriental” life and languages. He had already studied some Arabic in London and learned Gujarati, Marathi, Hindustani, Persian and Arabic while in India. He eventually took on a position that allowed him to mix more freely with the indigenous peoples, especially the lower classes, and began to dress like them. Burton’s seven years in India allowed him to become familiar with the languages, customs and geography of the East. This preparation paved the way for his famous trip to Mecca.

At this time, there were areas of the Middle East that were still unknown to Westerners and thus, represented grey areas on the world map. Rumor and second hand information about the inner workings and holy sites of one of the largest religions in the world was all that was available to European scholars. Burton’s decision to go to Mecca was approved by the Royal Geographical Society in order to fill this void. He passed himself off as an Indian Pathan and was required to know the rituals of a pilgrimage as well as the exigencies of manners and etiquette. Discovery of his deception would all but certainly have met with execution, this alone should indicate the importance both Burton and the R.G.S. placed on this mission. His publication of the journey--The Pilgrimage to Al-Medinah and Meccah--allowed European readers to experience new cultures, traditions and history. Burton’s writing was accessible to the general reader and provided an intimate and well-documented portrayal of the Middle East.

First editions of this book are very scarce. $4950.

A Superbly Illustrated and Bound Complete Angler A Masterpiece of the Language Beautifully Presented Izaak Walton’s Classic Work in a Fine Contemporary Binding 13 Walton, Izaak. THE COMPLETE ANGLER. Extensively Embellished with Engravings on Copper and Wood, from Original Paintings and Drawings, by First-Rate Artists. To which are added, An Introductory Essay; The Linnaean Arrangement of the Various River-Fish Delineated in the Work; and Illustrated Notes (London: John Major, 1823) The Important First Major Edition, Large Paper Copy. With 2 engraved portraits, 2 copper engraved plates of music, 10 copper plates engraved by Cook and Pye after drawings by Wale and Nash, and 77 woodcuts in the text.

8vo, Large Paper, in an especially handsome contemporary binding of full green crushed morocco, covers bordered and stamped in gilt with wide ruled frames featuring gilt dolphin fish corner tools and a central gilt tool of a fish and fisherman’s net, spine lettered in gilt in two compartments between elaborately decorated raised bands and with gilt central tools of fish and a reel in three others, board edges gilt ruled, gilt ruled turn-ins, a.e.g. lx, 412 pp. A very appealing copy of this fine edition of Walton’s classic, the very handsome binding sturdy and strong, the hinges fine and solid, the text well preserved with the inevitable foxing to which the edition is prone being light and less than typical and only occasionally present.

FIRST EDITION IN VERY FINE BINDING OF JOHN MAJOR’S SUPERB ILLUSTRATED EDITION OF WALTON’S COMPLETE ANGLER, a great sporting book, and one of the most treasured works in the English language.

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 23. $4500.

The True First Edition - Arabia Deserta Doughty’s Great Work of Travels in Arabia 14 Doughty, Charles M. TRAVELS IN ARABIA DESERTA (Cambridge: At the University Press, 1888) 2 volumes. First edition. With numerous drawings, diagrams and folding plans and maps in text, including a color folding map in rear pocket. 8vo, green cloth lettered in gilt on spine and with large gilt pictorial vignettes of desert scenery and fauna on upper covers. xx, 623; xiv, 690, glossary & index. A very nice set of this scarce work.

With no repairs and the hinges still in very good order without breaks or separations, unusual for these heavy volumes. The giltwork on the cloth is still very bright, especially so the large vignettes on the covers as well as the spine lettering. The cloth is still deep rich green and unfaded, surface polish applied to the cloth to protect the gilt, only light aging to the cloth.

ONE OF THE GREATEST WORKS OF TRAVEL EVER WRITTEN IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. THIS IS THE VERY SCARCE TRUE FIRST EDITION. T.E. Lawrence in his introduction to the 1921 edition describes this ‘not like other books...a bible of its kind’. In referring to Doughty’s own impressions of his effort, Lawrence states: ‘[H]e calls his book the

seeing of a hungry man, the telling of a most weary man.”

ARABIA DESERTA is one of the best-known classics of exploration and travel. Few writers of any genre have worked such magic or mischief on the English language as Doughty. He disapproved of Victorian prose style, and mingled his own with Chaucerian and Elizabethan English and Arabic.

But whatever the style, the result is perhaps the finest book on Arabia ever written. Another Arabist, T.E. Lawrence, speaks on Doughty: “I have talked the book over with many travellers, and we are agreed that here you have all the desert, its hills and plains, the lava fields, the villages, the tents, the men and animals. They are told of the life, with words and phrases fitted to them so perfectly that one cannot dissociate them in memory. It is the true Arabia, the land with its smells and dirt, as well as its nobility and freedom. There is no sentiment, nothing merely picturesque, that most common failing of oriental travel-books. Doughty’s completeness is devastating. There is nothing we would take away, little we could add.

He took all Arabia for his province, and has left to his successors only the poor part of specialists. We may write books on parts of the desert or some of the history of it; but there can never be another picture of the whole, in our time, because here it is all said...” (- from the Introduction). $7500.

A Superb Collection of Early English Chronicles Including Works Published Here For the First Time All Handsomely and Uniformly Bound in Full Morocco Gilt 15 [English Chronicles]; Arnold, [Richard]; Rastell, John; Robert of Gloucester; Tysilio of Monmouth, Roberts, Peter. THE CUSTOMS OF LONDON, OTHERWISE CALLED ARNOLD’S CHRONICLE... [and] THE PASTIME OF THE PEOPLE, OR THE CHRONICLES OF DIVERS REALMS; and Most Especially the Realm of England... [and] ROBERT OF GLOUCESTER’S CHRONICLE... [and] A CHRONICLE OF LONDON, From 1089 to 1483... [and] THE CHRONICLE OF THE KINGS OF BRITAIN...

(London: F.C. and J. Rivington, et al; [and] Samuel Bagster[and] Longman, Rees, Orme, et al. [and] E. Williams, 1811; 1810; 1827; 1811) Five works bound as four volumes. Fine Regency era printings, some being the First Published Editions of these important early English Chronicles, the Chronicle of London limited to 250 copies, Chronicle of Roberts of Gloucester from “The Works of Thomas Hearne, M.A.”, Arnold’s Chronicle reprinted from the First Edition with the additions of the second included.

Variously decorated with woodcut initials and pieces throughout, Rastell with impresive full-page facsimile woodcuts of the portraits of Popes, Emperors and the Kings of England, Roberts of Gloucester text within an ornate framework printed in red. 4to, uniformly bound in full pebbled brown morocco for William Robert Wellesley Viscount Peel, 1st Earl Peel whose fine engraved plate adorns each volume. The boards with a fine multi-line ruled frame with small floral tools at the inner corners and much large and ornate floral tools at the outer corners, the spines richly gilt decorated in the same stylized floral motif in compartments between tall gilt ruled raised bands, two compartments with gilt lettering, additional gilt work at the tips, board edges double-gilt ruled, wide richly gilt tooled turn-ins, fine marbled endpapers, t.e.g. lii, 300; vii, 299; lxxxvi, 364; [6], 367-792, [1]; viii, 274; lxxiv, 377, [1] pp. A fine and beautiful set, each work in excellent state of preservation, clean and fresh, the handsome bindings also in very fine condition.

AN IMPRESSIVELY BOUND AND ASSEMBLED SAMMELBAND OF IMPORTANT EARLY ENGLISH CHRONICLES DATING FROM THE 10TH TO 15TH CENTURIES. These fine quarto Regency-era printings are of English

histories originally written in the Middle Ages. The collection comprises the first modern printings of any of these works, some being published here for the first time and only previously known from manuscripts.

The Chronicle of London is here printed for the first time, taken from an original manuscript in the British Museum.

The source manuscript was written in the 1500s. The edition is limited to only 250 copies edited by Edward Tyrrell and is signed by him on the dedication page to the Lord Mayor of London.

Robert of Gloucester’s Chronicle is also the first published edition and was transcribed from a manuscript in the Harleyan Library and a second manuscript in the Cottonian Library; transcribed and edited by Thomas Hearne. It is a British, English, and Norman history written sometime in the mid or late thirteenth century.

The Chronicle of the Kings of Britain is from the Welsh copy attributed to Tysilio and is possibly either a variant of or an influencer to Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia Regum Britanniae completed in the early 10th century. The attribution to Saint Tysilio would place the source in the 7th century, but the Dictionary of National Biography considers it more likely “A late compilation, of which no manuscript is known of earlier date than the fifteenth century.”

Richard Arnold’s Chronicle was begun in the late 1400s and was first published in Antwerp circa 1502 with a second following circa 1520. The edition provided here is only the third time it was printed.

Rastell’s work was originally published in 1529. The edition here was edited by Thomas Frognall Dibdin and is the only the second time it was printed. $2950.

“A Monumental Geographical Work” - One of the Best Jeffery’s French Dominions in North and South America With 18 Very Fine Large Folding Maps and Plans - 1761 A First Edition Copy of This Important and Rare Work 16 Jefferys, T[homas]. THE NATURAL AND CIVIL HISTORY OF THE FRENCH DOMINIONS IN NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. With an Historical Detail of the Acquisitions, and Conquests, Made by the British Arms in Those Parts... Part I. Containing a Description of Canada and Louisiana [and] Part II. Containing Part of the Islands of St. Domingo and St. Martin, St. Bartholomew, Guadaloupe, Martinico, La Grenade and the Island and Colony of Cayenne (London: For T. Jefferys; W. Johnston, et al., 1761; 1761) Two parts in one volume. First edition, second issue. Illustrated by maps and plans of the principle places, including nine fine and very large engraved folding maps and nine large folding and wonderfully detailed city or fortification plans. The maps and plans dated 1758 - 1760 and considered the first editions. Separate title-pages to each part are present. Folio. (14 x 9 1/4 inches), in very handsome full paneled calf to style, the boards with a large central panel in blind featuring an ornately tooled inner panel and a fine outer panel with corner-pieces, the spine with raised bands double-ruled in gilt, and a maroon morocco label double-gilt ruled and gilt lettered. Now housed in a handsome gilt lettered brown morocco backed slipcase with chemise. [vi], 168; [1], [ii], 246 pp. A very handsome and fine copy, the text-block fresh, sturdy, clean and unpressed, a little minor age toning to the prelims but otherwise surprisingly bright, the maps and plans all in fine state as well, the very attractive binding is very well preserved with only minor evidence of use.

RARE FIRST EDITION AND AN IMPORTANT ENGLISH WORK ON THE FRENCH COLONIES IN AMERICA. It includes many large and beautiful maps and plans provided by the “Geographer to King George III”. The work has great historical value on many subjects of study, “giving a particular account of the climate, soil, minerals, animals, vegetables, manufactures, trade, commerce and languages, together with the religion, government, genius, character, manners and customs of the Indians and

other inhabitants. In all this is “[A] monumental geographical work important equally for its text as well as its maps” (Streeter).

Issued during the French and Indian War, this work describes and maps many of the French possessions that were to pass to England at the War’s conclusion in 1763. The 18 maps are all listed in Phillips and many (New Orleans, Louisburg) are the first maps listed or are among the earliest listed for the area. They are comprised of; A Map of Canada, with the North Part of Louisiana; A Plan of the City of Quebec the Capital of Canada; Plan of the Town and Fortifications of Montreal or Villemarie in Canada; A New Map of Nova Scotia and Cape Britain; A Plan of the City and Harbour of Louisburg; An Authentic Plan of the River St. Laurence from Sillery, to the Fall of Montmorenci; North America From the French of Mr. D’Anville Improved with the Back Settlements of Virginia and Course of Ohio; Plan of New Orleans The Capital of Louisiana; The West Indies Exhibiting the English, French, Spanish, Dutch & Danish Settlements; The Island of Hispaniola; An Authentic Plan of the Town and Harbour of Cap Francois; Guadaloupe one of the Caribbee Islands; Plan of the Town of Basse Terre; Martinico, one of the Caribbee Islands; Plan of the Town and Citadel of Fort Royal; Plan of the Town and Fort of Grenada; The Island and Colony of Cayenne; Plan of the Town of Cayenne. Howes J83; Streeter 128; Sabin 35964; P-Maps (lists all 18 maps); Stevens and Tree 27(b), 51(a), 66 (b); Clark I:263; Ristow p25-28 (Samuel Holland). $24,500.

A Superb Copy of Sale’s Great Translation of the Koran The Best of the Early Translations - Finely Bound 17 [Koran]; Sale, George. THE KORAN, Commonly Called The Alcoran of Mohammed, Translated into English immediately from the Original Arabic; with Explanatory Notes, taken from the most Approved Commentators. To which is prefixed a Preliminary Discourse. By George Sale (Bath: Printed by S. Hazard for J. Johnson, Vernor and Hood, Ogilvy and Speare et al, 1795) 2 volumes. An early and very scarce printing of George Sale’s great English translation. With three engraved genealogical tables (two folding), a map and a folding plate featuring a view and the plan of the Temple of Mecca, all as in the first edition. 8vo, very handsome full contemporary speckled calf, compartments of the spines elegantly decorated in elaborate panel designs with gilt decorated bands and fine central gilt ornamental devices, gilt rolled border designs, two compartments with contrasting red and green morocco labels ruled and lettered in gilt, board edges gilt stippled, covers with roll tooled borders gilt, marbled endleaves. Vol. I: xii, (2), 266, Table 14 pp. ; Vol. II: (8), 519, Table 12 pp. An especially fine and exceptionally handsome set in beautiful contemporary bindings. The bindings are in excellent condition, the text blocks and paper remain fresh, clean, unpressed and in beautiful condition, near as pristine.

VERY RARE IN THIS CONDITION. Sale’s version, originally published some years earlier, is the best early translation of the Islamic holy book, and the first English translation taken directly from the original Arabic. The only translation published previous to Sale’s was “the despicable French version” of André Du Ryer, issued in 1649, and Alexander Ross published an English version derived from Du Ryer’s in the same year.

Sale’s intent in translating the Koran was seemingly to educate English readers (and perhaps those in power) about Islam in an atmosphere of what he perceived to be ignorance and intolerance: “...it seems as if there was something more than what is vulgarly imagined, in a religion which has made so surprising a progress.” He states, “...as Mohammed gave his Arabs the best religion he could, as well as the best laws, preferable, at least, to those of the ancient pagan lawgivers, I confess I cannot see why he deserves not equal respect, though not with Moses or Jesus Christ, whose laws came really from heaven, yet with Minos or Numa, notwithstanding the distinction of a learned writer, who seems to think it a greater crime to make use of an imposture to set up a new religion, founded on the acknowledgment of one true God, and to destroy idolatry, than to use the same means to gain reception to rules and regulations for the more orderly practice of heathenism already established.” He goes on to argue that “...if the religious

and civil Institutions of foreign nations are worth our knowledge, those of Mohammed, the lawgiver of the Arabians, and founder of an empire, which, in less than a century, spread itself over a greater part of the world than the Romans were ever masters of, must needs be so.” $2950.

Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass In the Original First Issue Binding of Green Cloth Gilt Signed by the Author in Block Letters A Defining Moment in a Young Nation’s Consciousness The Complete Lover of the Universe - America’s Future Present 18 Whitman, Walt. LEAVES OF GRASS (Brooklyn: [for the author], 1855) A COPY AUTOGRAPHED BY WALT WHITMAN, of the First edition, first Issue and State “A” of the Binding. SIGNED ON THE TITLEPAGE IN UNUSUAL BLOCK LETTERS, we presume Whitman was musing on how the page would look with his name added to it, a change which would not be made in print for years. This is a copy with excellent provenance; being the Doheny copy. With a portrait frontispiece on the heaviest of the papers used for the portrait page. 4to, original green cloth gilt, a.e.g. xii, 95. A unique autographed copy with wear to the binding, now refurbished, some old stains, possibly from Whitman’s own use at his workbench, a title-page inscription is torn away.

AN EXTRAORDINARY COPY, AN EXTREMELY RARE AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF THE FIRST EDITION, FIRST ISSUE of what is arguably the greatest work in all of American literature. Signed copies of the 1855 Leaves are a VERY GREAT RARITY. The present copy is unique among known signed copies - of which there are perhaps only some 5 or 6 extant - both for its method of signature and for being in the first state (“A”) of the binding. All the other known signed copies appear to belong to the second issue of the work. And in this context it is further significant to note that the NY Public “desk copy” is in fact a trimmed “remainder copy” in plain unprinted wrappers.

Whitman’s LEAVES OF GRASS portrayed America at the crossroads between an old world, soon to be cast off, and the new world of our future present. With the publication of LEAVES OF GRASS in 1855, Whitman, the poet of democracy, ushered in a new era in American letters, describing specifically American experiences in a distinctly American idiom. From its first publication in 1855, he had complete confidence in the greatness of both the book and its author.

“Always the champion of the common man, Whitman is both the poet and the prophet of democracy. The whole of LEAVES OF GRASS is imbued with the spirit of brotherhood and a pride in the democracy of the young American nation.

In a sense, it is America’s second Declaration of Independence: that of 1776 was political, this of 1855 intellectual. ...The poems are saturated ‘with a vehemence of pride and audacity of freedom necessary to loosen the mind of still-to-be-formed America from the folds, the superstitions, and all the long, tenacious, and stifling anti-democratic authorities of Asiatic and European past’. To the young nation, only just becoming aware of an individual literary identity distinct from its European origins, Whitman’s message and his outspoken confidence came at a decisive moment.

LEAVES OF GRASS was Whitman’s favorite child. From the time of its original publication,...until the year of his death, he continued revising and enlarging it. If (his) reputation has fluctuated over the years and his position among, if

indeed not at the head of, the list of great American poets was not assured until some time after his death, there was never any doubt of the matter in his own mind. ‘I know I am deathless’, he wrote. ‘Whether I come to my own today or in ten thousand or ten million years, I can cheerfully take it now, or with equal cheerfulness I can wait.’ Time has vindicated his conviction.” PMM One of the rare opportunities to acquire one of the greatest books in all of world literature.

Spun out of the purest “stuff” of the American selfhood, the 1855 Leaves of Grass is the acknowledged center of the American literary canon. Emerson recognized its importance immediately upon publication--declaring the book to be “the most extraordinary piece of wit & wisdom that America has yet contributed”--and 150 years later critic Harold Bloom only reaffirms Emerson, concluding that in American letters “the book that matters most is the 1855 original “Leaves of Grass.”

But the book’s importance far transcends any nationality. The First Truly Modern Work of Literature - the opening shot of a revolution still resounding today - its impact is immense. It alone - among all modern works of poetry - rates inclusion in Printing and the Mind of Man (where it is accurately labeled “America’s Second Declaration of Independence”). Far more than just an American work of letters, Leaves of Grass is a Masterwork of Modern World Literature -- and arguably the greatest such!

For Leaves of Grass is the first work of literature to explicitly explore the modern stream of consciousness. Launching forth from the individual - “I celebrate myself,” Whitman declares point blank - the work is yet universal in its intent.

Though at times egotistical and even overtly auto-erotic, Whitman nonetheless shoots for the highest - the undiluted testimony of the liberated Self. And through creedless mergence in Nature and the greater flow of humanity, Whitman achieves a genuine literary satori! Many have since tried to follow in Whitman’s breakthrough path, but none have surpassed him in originality and brilliance - thus confirming Whitman’s stature as “the greatest of modern poets.”

Written “without check” and with “original energy” in convention-shattering lines of jagging free verse, Leaves of Grass is a kaleidoscopic fusion of rapidly changing innovative swells of imagery and metaphor -- its reference frame ever shifting as Whitman alternates in and out of his embodied self. At once sensual and cosmic, personal and trans-personal - as mysterious as the grass -- the poetry sweeps all and everyone into its living, breathing, and ultimately fathomless pulse.

Self-exploring Poetry of the highest liberality - penned by “the greatest democrat the world has seen” - Leaves of Grass is “a democracy of consciousness” celebrating all humanity. PMM 340. $175,000.

Pierre Jean Grosley’s Observations on Italy and the Italians The Very Scarce English Edition Translated by Nugent 19 Nugent, Thomas Translator. “Two Swedish Gentleman” [Grosley, Pierre Jean]. NEW OBSERVATIONS ON ITALY AND ITS INHABITANTS, Written in French by Two Swedish Gentlemen. Translated into English (London: For L. Davis and C. Reymers, Printers to the Royal Society, 1769) 2 volumes. First edition in English. With half-titles.

Tall 8vo, in contemporary full mottled calf, the spines with simple gilt ruled raised bands, buff gilt trimmed and lettered labels and gilt volume numbers. The board edges gilt tooled, page edges speckled in red. xi, [errata], 445; iv, 394, [10] pp. A very fine set, beautifully preserved, the text is fresh and clean with little evidence of use, some very light cosmetic wear to the joints but the hinges firm and strong.

FIRST EDITION, QUITE SCARCE AND AN EXCELLENT COPY OF NUGENT’S TRANSLATION OF GROSLEY’S TRAVELS. Although it is stated on the title-page that the authors were Swedish, in fact the author was Pierre Jean Grosley, the prolific French writer known for his erudition and insights. His “Observations on Italy” (originally published in French in 1764) is his most important work. Along with being an excellent account of Italy, Grosley also demonstrates within it through his descriptions of his countrymen in Italy, many foibles and vanities which are part of the French character. It is suggested by Nugent that by claiming the authors to be anonymous travelers from Swedish, the French public would accept the this criticism more easily than if it came from a Frenchman. It has also been sug-

gested that as a travel narrative it would be considered of greater value if the travelers were from somewhere farther away.

Sections within the book relative to the article of Venice, and the Sacred panegiric of the seraphic father Saint Francis were by Francesco da S. Augustino Macedo and had originally been printed in Padua. There is also a comparative history of Italian and French music; an essay which “fell into my hands” according to the “Editor.”

The book is decidedly scarce, we can find no other copies currently available in the marketplace and there are no records of copies appearing at auction for at least 30 years and OCLC lists fewer than 40 copies in institutional holdings. Pine-Coffin 758. $1850.

A Rare Unique Handcoloured Set - Beautifully Bound The First Illustrated Edition of Burton’s Masterpiece His Great Translation of the “Arabian Nights” With a Double-Set of 142 of Letchford’s Plates - 1897 20 Burton, Richard F., [translator]. A PLAIN AND LITERAL TRANSLATION OF THE ARABIAN NIGHTS’ ENTERTAINMENTS, NOW ENTITLUED [sic] THE BOOK OF THE THOUSAND NIGHTS AND A NIGHT. With Introduction, Explanatory Notes on the Manners and Customs of Moslem Men and a Terminal Essay Upon the History of The Nights [with] SUPPLEMENTAL NIGHTS... With Notes Anthropological and Explanatory (London: H.S. Nichols, Ltd., 1897) 12 volumes. Rare and Most Probably a Unique Presentation of the Illustrated Library Edition. 142 original illustrations, including a portrait of Burton, reproduced from the original pictures in oils specially painted by Albert Letchford with one set of the original 71 illustrations presented as included by the publisher and another set individually hand-coloured. 8vo, splendid, handsome and very finely executed three-quarter gilt-bordered dark red morocco over vellum covered boards, the spine in compartments separated by wide gilt decorated raised bands, the compartments of the spine elaborately decorated and lettered in gilt with beautiful arabesque designs, t.e.g., marbled endpapers.

A very handsome and unusually appealing set. The bindings are very stately and attractive and the colouring of the illustrations beautifully accomplished. We know of no other handcoloured copy being offered in recent memory. Some old stains to the edges of some leaves or plates, lower corners of a few volumes with old evidence of damp. Spines, gilt-work, bands all in excellent condition.

A VERY RARE AND PROBABLY UNIQUE SET OF THIS HIGHLY IMPORTANT EDITION, THE FIRST TO BE ILLUSTRATED, AND THIS COPY WITH AN ADDED SET OF THE ORIGINAL PLATES SINGULARLY HANDCOLOURED. Nichols’ printing is a scarce and handsome edition, the first to include the illustrations by Letchford. In 1896, two years after their first edition of ARABIAN NIGHTS, the Nichols-Smithers duo commissioned Sir Richard Burton’s close friend, Albert Letchford, to paint 65 illustrations for another edition as well as a portrait of Burton, and soon after commissioned for 5 more. Burton and Letchford had met several years before when Letchford was 18 when he was in Florence beginning his art education and had discussed the possibility of illustrating “Nights.” “Burton’s suggestion of illustrating the “Nights” had appealed greatly to Letchford on account of the unlimited scope such a subject would give to an artist who loved the East and had a boundless imagination.” Letchford commenced study of Eastern images for his paintings, though only one of the illustrations was painted in Burton’s lifetime.

Richard Burton was one of the foremost linguists of his time, an explorer, poet, translator, ethnologist, and archaeologist, among other things. ‘The Thousand Nights and a Night’ is probably the most famous of all his many works. This translation reflected his encyclopedic knowledge of Arabic language, sexual practices and life: “it reveals a profound acquaintance with the vocabulary and customs of the Muslims, with their classical idiom,” [Ency Britt] as well as colloquialisms, philosophy, modes of thought and intimate details. In contrast to Victorian mores, Burton was driven to explore what would now be called by literary critics the uncanny/Unheimliche or the unresolvable tensions of human beings. Accordingly, he recorded details of daily life and practices that were considered vulgar at the time.

“The Arabian Nights” have been traced back to an ancient Persian masterpiece, the “Hazar Afsanah” or “Thousand Tales.” The stories themselves can be dated from between the 8th and the 16th centuries and were for popular entertainment. They include a range of subjects from romance and fantasy, to homosexuality, bestiality, and obscenity. While a number of other English translations predated Burton’s unexpurgated version, perhaps his achieved greatest notoriety due to its copious footnotes and the “Terminal Essay” found in the last volume. They are a compendium of his private reservoir of anthrological and sexual curiosities. His discussions of female sexual education and homosexuality excited intense debate and controversy at the time of publication.

Burton’s “Nights” was enthusiastically received and lauded as “masterly, strong, vital, and picturesque,” and as “one of the most important translations to which a great English scholar has ever devoted himself.” However, it was not without its critics, including th Edinburgh Review which wrote, “Probably no European has ever gathered such an appalling collection of degrading customs and statistics of vice.” Burton was ecstatic over the immediate critical and financial success of his translation and became instantaneously famous internationally.

Penzer, p. 114-116. $12,500.

With Three Very Important Autograph Letters The Curse of Central Africa - An Important Association Copy Capt. Guy Burrows Exposes Colonialism in the Congo A Fine First Edition of this Rare and Significant Work With Autographs of Henry M. Stanley, Cloesen and Bullinger 21 [Stanley, Henry M.; Cloesen; Bullinger and Hoffman, Wm.]; Burrows, Capt. Guy. THE CURSE OF CENTRAL AFRICA with which is included “A Campaign Amongst Cannibals” by Edgar Canisius. (London: R.A. Everett & Co, Ltd., 1903) First edition, early impression. A copy with outstanding provenance and an important Association Copy and a Presentation Copy. The Volume is Autographed and Presented by the publisher and signed by the recipient, William Hoffman, himself a noteworthy explorer who accompanied Stanley to Africa. Three historically significant letters are tipped into the volume including one from Stanley himself, which refers directly to Capt. Burrows, the author of the book as well as to the Congo State and the ‘proposal to push the new Railway from Stanleyville East.” A second letter from Lieutenant Cloesen, Chef de Zone and dated Feb. 1893, from Wells River, Central Africa states in part that “The Arabs are in great numbr with plenty of guns, close to Nyangara....Nyangara will try and give them a hiding. WE SHALL HAVE TO MAKE WAR WITH THE ARABS.” The last letter from Bullinger, dated May 25 1899, Mogandjo, Africa, refers to the state of the author’s health: “Awfully glad to hear Burrows is on the mend...please send me 1000 cartridges. I have 110 out emposte & only about 600 odd here.

Thanks for the fusils a piston”. Over 100 illustrations from photographs, one sketch map, one colour folding map. 8vo, publisher’s original dark red cloth, lettered in gilt on spine and upper cover, light blue and gilt image of a flag with a large single star on upper cover. xxviii, list of illustrations, 276, appendix, index,18 (pub-

lisher’s list) pp. A sturdy and solid copy with expected evidence of use. The owner was one of the group that accompanied Stanley to Africa and it is clear that he used his books and read them with fervour.

FIRST EDITION, RARE AND IMPORTANT AND A COPY WITH ESPECIALLY INTERESTING PROVENANCE AND WITH THE INCLUSION OF THREE HISTORICALLY SIGNIFICANT LETTERS LINKING BURROWS WITH BULLINGER, CLOESEN, HOFFMAN AND STANLEY. At the turn of the century, the Congo State in Africa was under the colonial rule of the Belgian monarch King Leopold II. In this orgiastic period of Western imperialism, every major power was scrambling for pieces of the newly opened African continent and their careless footsteps tended to leave smaller forces crushed in their wake.

This book is an exposé written by the disgruntled Belgian ex district commissioner of the Aruwimi district of the Congo Free State bluntly describing the “scandalous rule” of the Belgian government in the Congo, complete with illustrations of natives submitting to Belgian torture and accounts of their excessive forced labour. One of the chapters is a section by former Congo State Service agent Edgar Canisius entitled “A Campaign Among Cannibals” in which (despite its formidable title) the author takes a sympathetic stand on the natives with further descriptions of their floggings and mistreatment at the hands of the Belgians. This interesting and detailed narrative brings the reader closer to imperialistic realities and injustices, devoid of much Euro-centric glossing.

There are a great profusion of Stanley-Hoffman documents in Belgium, the RGS London and the Wellcome Library and in the Africa Museum. Hoffman remained in contact with Stanley for many, many years and was consistently involved with African affairs during his time in Britain. There is an interesting study of the six pygmies from the Congo who were in Britain 1905-1907 and Hoffman was their interpreter for 15 months. He worked for the Force Publique of the Congo Independent State in the 1890s, and was left £300 in Stanley’s will (1904).

Stanley of course wrote many books on his incursions and discoveries in Africa. He was a significant explorer, one of the first British explorers to open up the vast continent to western travelers and interests. He was a friend and colleague of Livingstone and the discoverer of the Congo and the pioneer who made possible the Congo Free State, and finally an elder statesman active in the affairs of the African continent even into the 20th century. Among his books are: THROUGH THE DARK CONTINENT; THE CONGO. FOUNDING OF THE FREE STATE; IN DARKEST AFRICA; MY KALULU; HOW I FOUND LIVINGSTONE; MY EARLY TRAVELS as well as many others. $5500.

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