General History

Amsterdam: Pierre Mortier, Librarie, 1708. Hardcover. Very Good. 16mo, 4 x 6.5, 165 pages, bound together with "Les Avantures d'Apollonius de Tyr" by Mons. Le Br., 130 pages. Tightly bound. Full Leather binding is intact, but needs treatment (appropriate oils/leather treatments? mostly on the spine). Pages are foxed, but supple (remarkably well preserved for something that has existed for more than 300 years).

Wellesley, Mass / Viet Nam:: C. David Thomas,, 2001.. Edition of 100. 13.25 x 11.25 x 2.25"; 118 pages: 59 text pages, 59 image pages. Images printed from a Hewlett-Packard DeskJet 970Cse using archival ink. Letterpress printed in Monotype Bembo by Wolfe Editions in Portland, Maine. Printed on Vietnamese Do (mulberry) paper handmade in Dong O Village in northern Vietnam. Text pages varnished to make the paper translucent. Laid in a lacquer box handmade by craftsmakers in Thanh Tri Village near Hanoi. Box laid in a handmade silk slipcover also custom made in Vietnam. Copy edited by Gloria Lee. Numbered and signed by C. David Thomas and Charles Fenn. Colophon: "Each lacquer box is made in the centuries-old method of using wood covered with a coarsely woven silk followed by thirteen coats of lacquer. Between coats of lacquer the box is hand sanded with very fine water sandpaper until the final layer, which is done by using charcoal powder and bare hands". Prospectus: "In spite… Read More

[xxxvi]+167+[viii]+96 pages. Octavo (8 1/4" x 6 1/4") bound in full leather with decorative gilt and lettering to spine. From the library of George M Foster. First edition.Lorenzo Boturini Benaducci, born in Italy of noble parentage, studied in Milan and lived in Trieste and Vienna. He was a knight of the Holy Roman Empire. Forced to flee Austria because of the war with Spain, Boturini arrived in Spain via England and Portugal. In Madrid he met the Condesa de Santibáñez, oldest daughter of the Condesa de Moctezuma. The mother authorized him to collect a pension due her, as a descendant of the Aztec Emperor Moctezuma II, from the royal treasury in New Spain. Boturini went to New Spain in 1736, where he remained eight years. During those years he assembled a vast collection of paintings, maps, manuscripts and native codices. He copied more than 500 pre-Columbian inscriptions and made his own drawings of monuments and sculptures, and he investigated the history of the apparition of the Virgin of… Read More

First Edition - 1989, Authentic looking book from the Pacific Egg and Poultry Assoc, Rare printing, Very Good condition, No creases, only small mark from thumbing textblock, from private collection COLLECTIBLE BOOK [08F]

London: Printed for Robert Clavel, 1698. Book. Near Fine. Hardcover. First Edition. 8vo (12.5 X 19.5cm). Each work with with separate title page, but paginated continuously; pp. 276 (Pages 47 and 265 misnumbered 46 and 253 respectively); NOTE: the general title and license pages are not bound in, in this copy. The six title pages either dated 1698 or 1699. Titles as follows: An Essay Concerning the Multiplication of Mankind: Together With Another Essay in Political Arithmetick Concerning The Growth of The City of London (1698); Further Observations Upon The Dublin Bills (1698); Two Essays in Political Arithmetick Concerning The People, Housing, Hospitals etc of London and Paris (1699); Observations Upon The Cities Of London And Rome (1699); Five Essays in Political Arithmetick (1699) [printed both in French and English, on facing pages with two title pages - in French and English]; Political Arithmetick, or A Discourse Concerning The Extent and Value of Lands... (1699). Contemporary panelled sheep,… Read More

London. Jer. Batley at The Dove. 1725-1726. Bound in full period calfskin. Elaborate gilt ruled spine compartments with gilt-tooled fleural motifs. Red and green morocco labels.All edges marbled. 8v0. 5"x8". The First Edition in English - the First Edition having been published in Madrid 1601-1615. Here, translated into English by Capt. John Stevens. Illustrated by 3 folding engraved maps,12 folding engraved plates and 2 single,full page engravings. Lacking the third single full page plate of 5 small portraits (Vol.5). Renowned primary account of the early Spanish conquest of the New World. "A grand chorus of writers, from Nicholas Antonio down to Thomas W. Field, unite in their testimony as to the fidelity of this Prince of Historians. He was successively employed as historiographer by Philip II, III, and IV, and having access to every available source of information, made free use of many original documents which had never before been printed, and which no longer exist in MS. His… Read More

London: Thomas Creede, 1598. First English language edition. . Hardcover. See Description. Small folio. Lacking preliminary blank leaf, thus pp. [10], 310, 292, [4]. Page numbering is erratic. Leaf Ee3 is mis-signed as F3, but all leaves are present and in order. The title page contains a woodcut vignette/device. Each chapter begins with a woodcut decorative head piece and an initial. Bound in full dark brown modern calf with blind tooled borders and stamps after an early period style. The upper part of the title page is age-toned / tanned; a professionally sealed 7 cm. tear runs from the gutter part way across the upper portion of the title and is difficult to detect on first sight; a couple of tiny chips on the top edge are restored. Interior pages are generally attractive but with occasional mild age-toning and periodic faint marginal damp staining. A small repair patch is present on the inner margins of leaves A6 and V6. A tear on leaf V6 (also carefully sealed) extends vertically about 8.5 cm… Read More

London: John Murray, 1813. 1st Edition. Hardcover. Very Good/No Jacket. 4to. Full calf binding with blind palm leaf tooling, framed in gilt. Title on new green leather spine label. Blind scrollwork tooling on spine. Marbled edges. Marbled endpapers. [14], 358, [1]. With ten coloured engravings incl. frontis, from drawings by a native artist. Wear to boards, edges and corners, light scratches to boards, chip on headcap. Hinges starting to crack. Bookplate and faded label on front pastedown. Light offsetting from bookplate on free endpaper. Light foxing to some pages, light offsetting throughout. Light staining to edges on pp 31-36 and pp 54-55 staining to leaves in margins, text not affected. Slightly roughly cut edges to margins. The purpose of this book is to provide an accurate description of the 'character, manners, domestic habits and religious ceremonies of the Mahrattas.' Broughton (1778-1835), an army officer in the East India Company, first arrived in India while serving as a cadet in the… Read More

A Paris, chez Durand, Libraire, Rue Du Foin, 1758. Avec Approbation et Privilège du Roi.
Large 4to [253 x 193 mm] of (2) ll., xxii pp., 643 pp., (1) p. Full bronze green morocco, triple gilt fillet around the covers, spine ribbed and decorated, inner roll-stamp, gilt edges. Contemporary binding in morocco.
First edition, seized and condemned to be burned immediately upon publication.Copy from the issue C.
"De l'esprit had a huge scandal success. It is considered today as one of the most systematic and absolute forms of French materialism of the 18th century." (Jacques Guérin).
Diderot considered that this book was "a furious sledgehammer blow worn on prejudices".
"This famous work was censored by La Sorbonne as containing all the scattered poisons distilled in the different modern books, that is contemporary ones" (Tchemerzine).
The work dedicated to the royal family, was rejected by the latter, and on August 10, a few days after that of the publication, the privilege, given on May 12, was… Read More

A New and Complete System of Universal Geography; Describing Asia, Africa, Europe, and America; with their Subdivisions of Republics, States, Empires and Kingdoms; the Extent, Boundaries, and Remarkable Appearances of each Country; Cities, Towns, and Curiosities of Nature and Art. [1798, 1800, 1799, 1799 sequentially]Also giving a general account of the Fossil and Vegetable Productions of the Earth, the History of Man, in all Climates, Regions, and Conditions; Customs, Manners, Laws, Governments, and Religions; the State of Arts, Sciences, Commerce, Manufactures, and Knowledge...To Which is Added, A View of Astronomy, as Connected with Geography; Of the Planetary System to Which the Earth Belongs; ...with a Copious Index annexed to each volume, Being a large and comprehensive Abridgement of Universal Geography.By John Payne. with Additional Corrections and Improvements from the Latest and Best Authors. by James Hardie, A.M. Author of Principles of Latin Grammar, the American Remembrances, and… Read More

Cassell and Company, Ltd.. A beautiful crisp four volume hardcover set in very good condition, red morrocan half leather bindings and marbled paper, raised bands and gilt lettering. First printings of all four books with "First Published" stated on reverse of title page. Light foxing to textblock and endpaper, Volume 1 has a faint stain to the leather. . Very Good. Hardcover. 1st Edition. 1956.

London: Printed by H. H. Jun for Hen Herringman and R Bentley.., 1695. London: Printed by H. H. Jun for Hen Herringman and R Bentley..., [N.d.c.a. 1695]. The first of the undated editions according to Bartlett. Small quarto. [1]- 64 pp. Complete but mispaginated as follows, Pp. 1, 4-18, 91, 20-40, 33-48, 57, 50, 51, 60, 61, 54, 55, 64. There is some confusion as to the priority of the undated quartos. According to Bartlett's 'Census of Shakespeare's Plays in Quarto' (1916), this present copy conforms to what she called the "Second quarto edition" based on catch words and pagination. However, in her revised edition of the Census in 1939 Bartlett's view had changed stating: There were four undated editions of this play issued after the first edition, 1684, and the second, 1691. This would place the undated quartos after the second edition and make this the third quarto edition. Bound by J. Kulesho in full red smooth morocco. Front board and spine lettered in gilt. Board edges gilt. Gilt dentelles.… Read More

London: T. Warner, 1727. First edition, second issue without the words "Conjugal Lewdness" in the main title. Daniel Defoe (ca. 1660-1731) published this essay under the original title of "Conjugal Lewdness or Matrimonial Whoredom" (1717) before being asked to rename it for the sake of propriety. This copy shows the cancel title mounted to a stub (as it should be!) Contemporary full calf, gold-tooled filets, fleurons on boards and coat of arms of Earl Stanley on upper board, ribbed spine with gold-tooling, inner filets in gold-tooling, all edged gilt. Boards have been repaired and the spine re-laid onto the back. Internally clean and tidy throughout, with just a touch of foxing to the pages. vi, [2], 406 pp. 195 x 125mm (7¾ x 5 inches). Despite changing the title, Defoe's text is unchanged. In this essay "concerning the Use and Abuse of the marriage bed", Defoe deals with contraception and compares it with infanticide, "the diabolical practice of attempting to prevent childbearing by physical… Read More

Great Salt Lake City: Elias Smith, 1862. Two nearly complete bound volumes of the venerable Salt Lake City paper, 104 issues in all: Volume XII, Nos. 1 - 52, July 2, 1862 to June 24, 1863 and Volume XIII, Nos. 1-52; July 1, 1863 to September 21, 1864. By this time, the paper had settled in Salt Lake City after the 'Utah War', news was arriving by telegraph, and the paper was issued regularly, except when paper shortages or other unexplained problems caused brief interruptions, as when No. 22, December 16, 1863 jumps to No. 23, March 2, 1864. Scarce original documentation of LDS history & commentary, including local, national, and international news, disasters, agricultural ideas, human interest stories, Presidential addresses, Civil War accounts, local ads, correspondence, LDS notes & lectures. Volume 12 is bound in hardcover, worn half black calf over pebbled boards, corners chipped & frayed, loss to spine ends, rear board creased - not a period, I think, but perhaps later… Read More

Paris, Jacques du Puys, 1580.
4to of (14) ll, 255 ll. numbered 252. Handwritten ex libris on the title. Bound in granite calf, large arms gilt-stamped in the center, spine ribbed decorated with gilt stars, red speckled edges. Armorial binding of the 17th century.
225 x 168 mm.
Rare original edition of this famous work of Jean Bodin which "had a great vogue in the time and was translated into Latin from 1581".
Brunet, I, 1025; Caillet, I, 182; Tchemerzine, I, 720; Obadia, Bibliographie française de la sorcellerie, n°842.
Often reprinted, translated into Latin as early as 1581, it quickly imposed itself at the time as a "breviaire des juges dans les actions pour malefice" (F. Renz, Jean Bodin, p. 73) and constitutes today one of the best documents on 16th century witchcraft trials.
"True first edition of the epoch-making treatise on demonology and witchcraft of the French lawyer Jean Bodin (1529-1596)".
"I think in contrast to Bodin" says Montaigne (Essais, II, 32) and "In fine and in conscience, I… Read More