Paris (France)

First edition printed on regular stock.

Small tears to the head and foot of the spine.

Fine presentation inscription, signed by Henri de Montherlant to Georges Bataille.

First public edition of this text written under the pseudonym François la Colère, one of 50 numbered copies on Madagascar paper, the deluxe issue.

Rare and fine copy.

First edition, for which no copies were issued on deluxe paper.

Spine lightly wrinkled, a small loss at the foot of the lower board; otherwise a pleasing copy.

Signed autograph inscription by Maurice Genevoix.

First edition, one of 1,045 and one of 1,246 numbered copies on deluxe paper, the only large-paper issues after the 118 and 120 reimposed copies.

A pleasing set.

First edition, one of 170 numbered copies on deluxe paper.

Fine copy preserved in its double wrapper.

First edition, one of 170 numbered copies on deluxe paper.

A very slight tear, without loss, to the second panel of the double wrapper.

A pleasing copy preserved in its double wrapper.

First edition, one of 170 numbered copies on pur fil.

An agreeable copy preserved under a double wrapper.

First edition, one of 170 numbered copies on pure rag paper.

Shadowed endpapers; a small loss at the head of the upper board of the original front cover.

A pleasant copy, preserved in its double wrapper.

First published edition of this text by Pierre Bost, written under the pseudonym Vivarais, one of 50 copies on Madagascar paper, deluxe issue.

Fine copy.

First public edition of this text by Elsa Triolet, written under the pseudonym Laurent Daniel, one of 58 numbered copies on Madagascar paper, the deluxe issue.

Fine copy.

Third edition and the last revised by the author, partly original as 25 poems appear here for the first time, bringing the total to 151 poems (as against 100 in the 1857 edition). Copy of the second issue, with a title page dated 1869 and bearing the statement of third edition.
Illustrated with a steel-engraved portrait of Charles Baudelaire by Nargeot as frontispiece.
A few minor spots of foxing, as often encountered.
The upper cover and the half-title page bear the wording: "Oeuvres complètes". According to Clouzot, the volume was sold either separately on its own or as the first volume of the collected works, whose publication extended over several years.
It should be noted that the wrappers of this third edition are always dated 1869, while certain copies, the rarest, carry a title page dated 1868.
Notice by Théophile Gautier.

First edition.

Spine and boards slightly and marginally faded.

A rare and pleasing copy.

First edition of the French translation, one of 230 numbered copies on alfa paper.
With a preface by Romain Rolland.
A fine copy, the spine very slightly toned.

First edition of the Petits poëmes en prose, later entitled Le Spleen de Paris – Petits poëmes en prose. Second edition of Les Paradis artificiels.

Some foxing, mainly at the beginning and end of the volume.
Contemporary half black shagreen binding, spine with five raised bands ruled in gilt and decorated with gilt tools, marbled paper sides, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, speckled edges, corners slightly rubbed.
The half-title bears the designation: "Oeuvres complètes". The work was issued separately, either on its own or as the fourth volume of the complete works, the publication of which extended over several years.
Clouzot notes: "Très rare en reliure d'époque sans tomaison au dos".
Particularly sought after.


 

First edition, one of 45 numbered copies printed on Rajasthan jute paper, the only deluxe issue.

Manuscript signature of Emil Cioran at the colophon.

Spine very slightly faded, of no significance.

Rare and fine copy, complete with the three tantric paintings reproduced hors-texte in colour on cream paper.

Published in the year of the first edition, one of 950 numbered copies on wove paper.
Publisher’s binding after the original design by Paul Bonet.
Attractive copy, complete with its original flexible cardboard slipcase.

First edition, one of 647 numbered copies on pure rag paper, being the only deluxe paper issue after 109 reimposed copies.

Fine copy.

First edition, one of 306 numbered copies on deluxe paper, the only large-paper issue after 109 reimposed copies.

A fine copy.

First edition and complete run of the 9 G.L.M. cahiers issued between May 1936 and March 1939.

A few spines slightly faded, as is often the case; otherwise a pleasing copy, complete with its original publisher’s slipcase in full grey boards, with red printed title label pasted to the spine.

With numerous contributions by most of the Surrealist poets, writers, and artists, including: André Breton, René Char, Paul Éluard, Philippe Soupault, René Crevel, Valentine Penrose, Federico García Lorca, Pablo Neruda, Michel Leiris, Max Ernst, Man Ray, and André Masson, as well as several spiritual forebears of Surrealism such as Franz Kafka, Lewis Carroll, and Raymond Roussel...

First edition, one of 200 numbered copies on “light green paper,” the only deluxe paper issue announced.

Turquoise half morocco binding, smooth spine, date in gilt at foot, marbled paper boards, endpapers, and pastedowns, original wrappers and spine preserved, top edge gilt; an elegant contemporary binding signed by G. Gauché.

A very handsome copy, finely bound by Georges Gauché and complete with its publisher's prospectus. 

Signed presentation inscription by René Crevel: "My dear Georges, here, in its finest form: Diderot’s Harpsichord, if you can help him play his music? With all my affection. René" (our own translation)

First edition, illustrated with a folding map and 469 engravings within the text.

Contemporary half black shagreen, the spine with four raised bands ruled in gilt and decorated with triple blind-tooled panels, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns; a few small scuffs to the edges, corners slightly rubbed.

Contents include: history; construction and manufacture of telegraph cables; laying and repair of submarine cables; electrical testing; fault detection; signal transmission; and the operation of submarine lines.

The author, Jules Hippolyte Eugène Wünschendorff (1840–1901), was an engineer with the telegraph service and director of military telegraphy.

A pleasing copy.

First edition.

Minor foxing, a pleasing copy.

The Roman jeweller Alessandro Castellani (1823–1883) was also an enlightened collector of ancient and medieval artefacts, from which he sometimes drew inspiration for his jewellery designs.

Jean de Witte (1808–1889), archaeologist and numismatist, became a member of the Institut in 1886.

First edition illustrated with 59 engravings. 

A repaired tear at the head of one joint; covers marginally darkened; the interior remains in pleasing condition.

This work belongs to the first phase of the highly controversial research conducted by the French surgeon of Russian origin, Sergueï Abramovitch Voronoff (1866–1951).

Between 1917 and 1926, Voronoff carried out more than five hundred transplantations on sheep, goats, and even a bull, grafting the testicles of younger animals onto older ones.

His observations appeared to suggest that such transplantations restored vitality to ageing animals. From this, he went on to regard the transplantation of monkey glands as an effective treatment for human senility, leading him toward increasingly hazardous experimental grafts performed on humans.

Signed autograph inscription by Serge Voronoff on the half-title: "To Monsieur Ch. Homassel, with kind regards. S. Voronoff" (our own translation).

The recipient may be Charles Homassel (1872–1952), Chief Administrator of the Colonies.

Rare and important first edition.

Our copy is sold unbound. A minor worm-trail on all leafs' heads, not affecting text. 

The work describes the dress, headdress, arsenal and equipment of soldiers and officers of the French army; it also addresses the cavalry, dragoons, and hussars.

The chapter devoted to the distinctive uniform of each regiment includes a list of these regiments, some of which took part in the American Revolutionary War. 

First edition, illustrated with five engraved plates (see Crowley 894; David 258; Poletti 182).

Scattered foxing, otherwise a pleasing copy.

Contemporary half sheep, the flat spine gilt with decorative rolls and small tools, black morocco lettering-piece, headcap worn, some rubbing to spine and joints, marbled paper boards.

"… Serres did research into the development of the bones and teeth…" (D.S.B., XII, 315).

Second edition (the dedication to Pierre Laffitte is dated 1879).

A study of madness from a positivist perspective, based on the work of Auguste Comte.

The dedicatee, Pierre Laffitte, was the editor of the review "Le Positivisme".

Spine cracked with small losses, occasional foxing, and a horizontal crease at the foot of the upper cover, small marginal tears on the cover, firts cover reattached.

With a fine signed presentation inscription from Emile François Eugène Sémérie to Émile Zola on the half-title: "A Mr. Émile Zola. Sémérie, d'Aix" (the final word underlined).

The close connections between positivism and naturalism, the literary doctrine developed in the 1860s–1880s, are well known: positivist philosophy (the observation of reality and the primacy of experience) influenced naturalist writers in their concern to depict reality with strict objectivity.

Zola made an essential contribution to the movement with his study "Roman expérimental" (1880).

First edition of the French translation prepared by J. de Rey-Pailhade and Henry-Joseph Sauvaire, issued in a small printing as an offprint from the Journal asiatique.

A few small spots of foxing; a pleasing and uncommon copy.

Half green cloth, smooth spine with red morocco title-label, ‘œil-de-chat’ patterned paper over boards, sprinkled edges.

Illustrated with two double-page plates outside the text.

Born in Marseille, Henri Sauvaire (1831–1896) began his career in the consular service before turning to Near-Eastern archaeology.

On the half-title, a presentation inscription in the hand of Henri-Joseph Sauvaire to the archaeologist Alban-Emmanuel Guillaume-Rey (1837–1916), a specialist in medieval Syria.

First edition of one of the many productions of an odontological charlatan (cf. David, p. 245).

Illustrated with a portrait of the author as frontispiece.

Spine clumsily restored with an adhesive repair and showing small losses; corner losses to the boards; foxing.

Born into a Dutch Jewish family, Benjamin Cohen (1818–1852) adopted an Anglicised pseudonym in order to facilitate his business dealings, passing himself off as a London practitioner holding a degree from the University of Edinburgh, where he claimed to have been "admitted" in 1833. In reality, he had undertaken no formal studies.

Nevertheless, he set himself up as a dentist in Paris in 1836. Lacking any recognised qualification, he was convicted at first instance (December 1845) and on appeal (February 1846) for the illegal practice of medicine, following a complaint brought against him by Joseph Audibran and several other members of the Société de chirurgie dentaire de Paris. This judgment was, however, quashed in May 1846, the Court of Cassation ruling that the practice of dentistry did not constitute medicine so long as it did not extend to the treatment of diseases of the mouth.

Second edition, revised and expanded (see Backer & Sommervogel VI, 1557). Only three copies recorded in the CCFr (BnF, Dijon and Nîmes).

Contemporary full mottled calf, spine with five raised bands and richly gilt compartments, modern burgundy morocco lettering-piece, some rubbing to spine and joints, headcaps trimmed, triple gilt fillet frame on boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, speckled edges, bookplate pasted to one pastedown.

The first edition of this small universal calendar appeared in 1711 in the form of a folio broadside. 

Each subsequent issue expanded the content: the 1731 edition was intended to serve as a supplement to the large Calendrier published by Rollin in the same year.

Born in Aire, Rebecque (1663–1753) was chiefly a preacher and confined his activity to his native regions (Aire, Douai, Saint-Omer, etc.).

A second text is bound after the first, by the same author: "Calendrier du monde, où l'on donne une méthode très-aisée de trouver à chaque année depuis 1741, jusqu'à l'an 2244 de Jésus-Christ, tout l'ordre des tems, avec la plus grande exactitude pour les royaumes & les peuples qui ont reçu la Réformation grégorienne : et de trouver même pour chaque mois dans si long espace de tems, les nouvelles lunes & leurs phases, aussi exactement qu'il est nécessaire pour les usages de la vie civile", printed at Aire by H. F. Boubert de Corbeville in 1742 (title, vi pp., 68 pp.). Backer & Sommervogel VI, 1558.

First edition: the work forms the natural complement to the preceding title (see Backer & Sommervogel VI, 1558).

Provenance: from the library of Emmanuel Jeanbernat Barthélémy de Ferrari Doria, with his armorial bookplate pasted to one pastedown.

Very rare first edition, illustrated with two frontispieces, eighteen plates, and a folding map table bound at the end of the second volume.

Scattered foxing.

Half black shagreen bindings, smooth spines tooled in blind with fillets and small ornaments, gilt lettering at the foot of the spines showing some rubbing, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, light rubbing to the extremities, sprinkled edges, contemporary bindings.

Born at Versailles in 1809, Anne Jean-Baptiste Raffenel entered the Naval administration in 1825.

After several voyages, notably to Africa, the West Indies and the United States, he was posted to Senegal and from 1843 explored the Falémé river together with the regions of Bondou and Bambouk.

The account of this expedition was published in 1846 under the title Voyage dans l'Afrique occidentale (1 vol. in-8 and 1 atlas in-4). That same year, the Ministry of the Navy entrusted Raffenel with a more ambitious mission: to cross the African continent from west to east, from Senegal to Egypt via the sources of the Nile.

Armed with detailed instructions from the Académie des Sciences and provided with significant funding, he reached the upper Senegal basin in 1847, travelled through Kaarta on the right bank of the river, but was refused access to the Niger by El-Hadj Omar.

Reaching the borders of Ségou, he was betrayed by his guides and handed over to the Bambara, who held him captive for eight months. He returned to France in June 1848.

During his captivity he gathered the material for his Nouveau voyage dans le pays des Nègres: "Non seulement cette relation renferme un tableau complet de l'état social, moral et politique du Soudan occidental, mais elle contient en outre d'utiles réflexions sur les réformes et améliorations à introduire dans le gouvernement du Sénégal" (Hoefer).

First edition (cf. Sabin, 64,876).

Spine cracked with small losses; slight marginal tears and losses to the wrappers.

The subject of this dissertation does not, of course, concern the State of the same name (a member of the Confederacy during the Civil War), but the vessel, the CSS Alabama, a sloop of war with combined steam and sail propulsion, built in Great Britain in 1862. It served in the Confederate States Navy until it was sunk on 19 June 1864 following a naval engagement with the Union sloop of war USS Kearsarge off the port of Cherbourg, France.

In the aftermath of the war arose the Alabama Claims, demands for damages brought by the Federal Government of the United States against the Government of the United Kingdom for the latter’s clandestine assistance to the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War.

The dispute was resolved only by recourse to an international court of arbitration which sat at Geneva in 1872 and was composed of representatives of the United Kingdom (Alexander Cockburn), the United States (Charles Francis Adams, Sr.), the Kingdom of Italy (Federigo Sclopis), the Swiss Confederation (Jakob Stämpfli), and the Empire of Brazil (Marcos Antônio de Araújo).

The Alabama Claims case marked the first submission of an inter-state dispute to supra-national arbitration, and the tribunal convened for this purpose laid the foundations of modern public international law. The lawyer Paul-Ernest Pradier-Fodéré (1827–1904) was a specialist in international law, which he had been teaching since 1857.

First edition, illustrated with two plates, including an engraved portrait frontispiece by S. Desmaretz and Couché after Scheibler, together with an engraved headpiece by De Launay (cf. Quérard, VII, 240; Polak, 7650).

Account of the career of Jean Bart, squadron leader in the French Navy and Knight of the Royal and Military Order of Saint Louis, forming part of the collection devoted to the nineteen engagements of this celebrated seaman, engraved by M. Le Gouaz; followed by historical, biographical and topographical notes on the origins of Dunkirk and the political importance of its port (...). With engraved plates and vignettes. Dedicated to H.E. the Minister of the Navy and the Colonies. Paris, Arthus Bertrand [printed by P. Didot the Elder], 1807, 8vo.

Contemporary half cherry calf, smooth spine very slightly cocked and tooled in gilt with fillets, garlands and fan tools, marbled paper sides, marbled edges, corners a little rubbed; mid-19th-century binding.

Paper repairs to the lower outer corners of pp. 125–126 and 127–128.

The only edition of this very rare short monograph, published as much in praise of Dunkirk as of Jean Bart. The second part bears its own title: Coup-d'oeil sur Dunkerque, sa population progressive depuis 1685 jusqu'en 1789, et le grand nombre de ses célèbres marins qui ont précédé et suivi Jean-Bart. A lawyer from Dunkirk, Louis-Eugène Poirier (1753–1818) came to notice after the fall of Robespierre for his vehement denunciation of the actions of Joseph Lebon at Arras.

Rare first edition.

Our copy is preserved disbound.

The sole edition of this uncommon pamphlet issued in the context of the Russian Campaign: "Ce Précis historique sur les Cosaques ne pouvait paraître dans une circonstance plus favorable que dans le moment où la Russie est devenue le théâtre de la guerre".

The son of the Paris bookseller Noël-Jacques Pissot (1724–1804), Noël-Laurent Pissot (1748–1815) at first followed in his father’s footsteps: admitted to the booksellers’ guild on 19 April 1768, he worked chiefly in partnership with him and specialised in the publication and sale of works in English or translated from the English. From July 1797 he was, together with his father, employed at the Bibliothèque de l’Arsenal, and from 1802 onwards he published numerous historical works and essays, novels, melodramas, and political pamphlets, notably of an anti-Bonapartist nature.

First edition of the French translation (cf. Gay 3146).

Our copy is preserved in the original wrappers, with yellow and black marbled covers and a title label pasted at the head of the spine.

Occasional light foxing; a numbering in black ink facing the half-title.

First edition of the French translation of this account, originally published under the title: "An Account of the Island of Ceylon" in London in 1803 (cf. Boucher de La Richarderie, V, 135. Brunet, IV, 490 and Quérard, VII, 43 mention an edition published by Dentu, 1804).

Contemporary full mottled calf bindings, smooth spines decorated with gilt compartments and gilt tools, red morocco lettering pieces, green calf volume labels, gilt rolls at the head and tail partly worn, fragile joints, marbled paper endpapers and pastedowns, bookplates pasted to the pastedowns, gilt fillets on the board edges, speckled edges.

Bindings rubbed, small losses at the foot of the joints, a few light foxing spots.

Our copy is complete with its four folding maps and plans issued out of text: map of the island of Ceylon, plan of the port of Trinquemale, map of the pearl fisheries, and plan of the port of Colombo.

An English officer, Robert Percival (1765–1826) took part in the capture of the Cape of Good Hope in 1796, then occupied by the Dutch.

The following year he was sent to Ceylon with the British troops, where he remained for more than three years, allowing him to visit nearly all the coasts as well as the interior of the island. He was also a member of an embassy sent to the island’s native sovereign.

His account offers a comprehensive panorama of the island of Ceylon at the end of the eighteenth century: history, geography, natural resources, agriculture, trade, civil and military institutions, customs and manners of the Dutch, Portuguese, Malays and Sinhalese, fauna and flora, etc.

Provenance: from the library of the Château de Menneval, with bookplates pasted to the pastedowns.

First edition. 

Contemporary binding in green shagreen, spine slightly faded, with four raised bands gilt with fillets and triple compartments, joints split at the head, green vellum corners, marbled paper boards, endpapers and pastedowns in laid paper.

This volume from the Panthéon littéraire series offers a striking example of the 19th-century Western view of the East, notably in its attempt to identify counterparts to “sacred books” for religious and philosophical traditions that—apart from Islam—do not fit such a framework at all. 

The orientalist Jean-Pierre-Guillaume Pauthier (1801–1873) worked across several fields, though he is best known for his translations from Chinese.

New edition of the French translation of this work, originally published in 1731 in two quarto volumes (see Brunet IV, 456).

This edition is illustrated with 8 folding plates, comprising 3 maps and 5 views.

Contemporary full marbled tan calf bindings, smooth spines richly decorated with gilt floral panels, bronze calf lettering- and volume-pieces, small wormholes to the spines, gilt rolls to the caps, single blind fillet framing the boards, marbled endpapers, gilt fillets to the board edges, red edges, bindings of the period.

Repairs to the joints, a few occasional spots of foxing.

The translator of this French version, written "en un style aisé, clair, même élégant", was Abbé Nicolas Gédoyn [Oréans, 1667 near Beaugency, 1744], known both for his translations and his scholarly works.

Born into an old and distinguished family of the Orléanais, he studied at the Jesuit college and entered the Society of Jesus as a novice in 1684.

He subsequently taught humanities and rhetoric at the college of Blois

Owing to ill health he left the order and entered the secular clergy. He settled in Paris, where in 1701 he was appointed canon of the Sainte-Chapelle.

Through his elderly kinswoman Ninon de Lenclos he became friendly with M. Arouet, the father of Voltaire, and discovered the future great writer in his earliest attempts. Appointed Abbé of Sainte-Sauve de Montreuil (diocese of Amiens), he resigned this benefice in favour of the abbey of Notre-Dame de Beaugency.

Extremely rare first edition, illustrated with two plates and issued as a separate offprint from the Phytographia Canariensis of the Histoire naturelle des Îles Canaries by Barker-Webb and Sabin Berthelot.

The plates, lithographed by J. Rigaud et Cie, were drawn by Alfred Riocreux, the gifted botanical artist and pupil of Redouté, responsible, among other works, for Choix de plantes de la Nouvelle-Zélande (1846).

Some foxing.

Contemporary binding in red half-morocco with corners, smooth spine ruled in gilt at head and foot, long-grained title, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns.

Not recorded by Nissen.

The Vicomte de Noé, a botanist about whom little is known, was one of the founding members of the Société botanique de France, established in 1854.

Different issue from the one dated An XI (1803), which itself is not firmly established as the true first edition (cf. Monglond VI 139–140; Quérard VI 326).

The work is illustrated with an etched frontispiece entitled « Frémissez ! voilà du joueur le sort inévitable !! » depicting a gambler blowing his brains out in a gaming room, amid general indifference.

Our copy is preserved in its original publisher’s wrappers, with a blank marbled paper provisional cover showing small losses at the corners.

A pleasing copy.

Extremely rare collection of three works, in original anonymous editions, devoted to the Eastern Question and the policy France should adopt to counter Russian ambitions in the Ottoman Empire.

The author is believed to be one Mignonneau, a former war commissioner.

Bound in full mottled calf, smooth spine richly decorated with gilt crossbands, brown calf title label, rubbing to joints and spine, gilt roll partially faded on head and tail, triple gilt fillet framing boards, handmade paper endpapers and pastedowns, gilt turn-ins, corners slightly worn, all edges gilt, contemporary binding.

Minor angular losses to boards, light dampstaining to lower margin of leaves in the second work.

The set comprises the following:

1) "Considérations politiques, par M.***"
(S.l., 1783, title and 77 pp. First edition. (cf. Conlon 83: 1465. N.U.C.: NM 567505.))

2) "Ces réflexions devoient, avec beaucoup d'autres, faire suite aux Considérations politiques ; mais le tout n'étant pas encore rédigé, les circonstances du moment m'ont déterminé à faire paroître celles-ci sur-le-champ."
S.l.n.d. [c. 1783], 44 pp. with simple title. First edition. (cf. Conlon 83: 1464 locates no copies in France. N.U.C. locates only one copy at the Library of Congress. The RLG Union Catalog mentions another at the University of Chicago.)

The first half of this work is devoted to the invasion of Crimea, the second to Russia's claims regarding the "etiquette of the court" governing international relations and their true significance.

3) "Lettre à M. le Comte de ***, octobre 1784".
S.l.n.d. [c. 1784], title and 49 pp. First edition. (cf. Conlon 84: 1533 locates no copies in France. N.U.C. mentions only the copy at the Library of Congress.)

This third work denounces Russia's expansionist policy. The author reveals, among other things, Catherine II's designs on Armenia and also discusses the potential interest Turkey might have in liberating Greece.

First edition.

Small losses to the head and tail of the spine, tears to one joint and to the spine neatly restored, a stain at the foot of the upper cover, slight corner losses to the boards; a clean and attractive copy internally.

At the head of the upper cover, an autograph presentation inscription by Édouard Maurel to a colleague.

Second edition of the french translation.

Some light foxing.

Contemporary full mottled calf bindings, smooth spines richly gilt with typographical ornaments, slight rubbing to the joints, red morocco title and volume labels, gilt rolls to the headcaps, sides framed with a gilt floral dentelle, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt dotted edges, marbled edges.

Gay 368 : "On y trouve l'extrait du voyage de Picard qui se rendit à Fouta Tora ; cette relation ne se rencontre pas ailleurs". 

Vezry rare first edition.

Jesuit library stamp to the half-title, a few minor spots of foxing, slight tears to the head and tail of the spine.

First edition of this rare offprint from the "Revue médicale et journal de clinique"

A single copy recorded in the CCFr (BnF).

Bradel binding in full boards covered with dark blue marbled paper, red shagreen spine label, pasted ex-libris on the inside board; modern binding signed Lobstein-Laurenchet.

Jean-Louis Lassaigne (1800–1859) taught chemistry at the Veterinary School of Alfort until 1854 and devoted particular attention to the medical applications of chemistry.

Bound at the end, by the same author: "Mémoire sur la possibilité de reconnaître, par les moyens chimiques, la présence de l'acétate de morphine chez les animaux empoisonnés par cette substance vénéneuse" N.p., n.d. [Paris, 1824], 12 pp.

Some foxing.

At the head of the first fascicule, an autograph inscription signed by Jean-Louis Lassaigne to the members of the Société de pharmacie de Paris.

An offprint from the Description de l'Égypte; the paper was read during the expedition itself before the members of the Institut d'Égypte on 1 Frimaire, Year IX [22 November 1800].

See Meulenaere, p. 125.

Bradel binding in full red boards, smooth spine, red title label mounted lengthwise, the upper cover very lightly and marginally faded; modern binding.

A civil engineer with the Corps des Ponts et Chaussées, Michel-Ange Lancret (1774–1807) had been tasked with gathering the movable goods abandoned by the Mamluks during their flight, which in part supplied the material for this memoir.

Second edition, illustrated with a large folding plate bringing together five figures (referred to as “plates”).

Our copy is preserved in its original stitched wrappers, in the blank provisional waiting cover, with manuscript annotations in ink on the upper cover.

Two faint waterstains, one at the foot of the first page and the other at the head of the last.

The author, formerly florist-gardener on the Brunoy estates of Monsieur (Louis XVIII), was at the time a nurseryman at Mandres [les-Roses].

First edition illustrated with 1 large folding map: "Carte de la côte occidentale d'Afrique depuis le Cap Barbas jusqu'au Cap Tagrin par Lapie, Ingénieur Géographe (et) gravée par P.F. Tardieu" (cf. Gay 2905.)

Our copy in original stitched wrappers with interim covers lined with marbled paper.

Light dampstaining to the right margin of the final leaves.

Important details on the slave trade in connection with the Gorée Island stopover at the end of the volume.

Pierre Labarthe (Dax 1760 - Paris 1824) was appointed head of the Bureau of Eastern Colonies and African Coasts in 1794, a position he held until 1808.

He had gathered numerous authentic documents and important observations which he recorded in works still consulted with profit. (Cf. Hoefer.)

Rare first edition of this fervent—indeed visionary—appeal to bring the Orient under the sway of the combined powers of the State and the Christian religion, informed by such an overtly Eurocentric outlook that the work is almost unreadable today, yet remains an eloquent record of the illusions prevailing in the West in the mid-nineteenth century.

Corners restored at the outer tips of the boards, some scattered foxing, and a stain to the right margin of the upper cover.

In an admirably prophetic vein, the author exclaims: "La civilisation chrétienne, qui ne cesse d'agrandir son cercle, ne s'arrêtera pas devant le Coran, et ce n'est pas la loi de Mahomet qui présidera au réveil de l'Orient". 

At the head of the upper wrapper, a signed presentation inscription from Louis de Juvigny to the mystical polemicist Ernest Hello (1828–1885), then the darling of the most uncompromising and exalted Catholic circles (Léon Bloy owed his conversion to him, which says it all…).

First edition of this biblical poem later set to music by Mondonville (cf. Barbier II, 970; Cioranescu 63676).

Jean-Joseph Cassanéa de Mondonville (1711–1772), violinist, conductor and composer, wrote several operas, oratorios and pastorals, as well as works for harpsichord and sacred music.

He directed the Concert spirituel between 1755 and 1762.

Claude-Henri de Fusée de Voisenon (170–1775), a friend of Voltaire, a familiar figure in the salons and much in favour with Madame de Pompadour, was elected to the Académie française in 1762.

He left a body of dramatic works, novels and tales.

A date inscribed at the head of the title-page, which shows small spots at the foot; ink stains in the right-hand margin of the final leaf; a pleasing copy.

First edition, issued in a very small number as an offprint from the Bulletins de la Société d'encouragement pour l'industrie nationale, t. CXCI et CXCII.

Not recorded by Quérard.

The pamphlet is illustrated with three folding technical plates, engraved by Normand fils.

Bradel binding in paper-covered boards entirely clad in blue paper, with a black vertical spine label showing minor losses; a modern binding.

The work describes the apparatus devised by the chocolatier Auger, which made it possible to reduce any animal, vegetable or mineral substance to "poussières impalpables, aériformes ou éthérées".

Héricart de Thury, Chief Engineer in the Royal Corps of Mines, also sets out the various applications of this machine in medicine, pharmacy, chemistry, painting, dyeing, and related fields.

First edition, illustrated with 46 wood-engraved figures in the text, including 2 full-page plates (cf. Lorentz, IX, 740; not in Nissen).

Contemporary half red shagreen binding, spine with five raised bands showing some rubbing and a small loss at the foot, marbled paper sides, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, corners rubbed.

Some scattered foxing; a light waterstain in the lower right margin of the final leaves, without affecting the text.

An interesting work awarded the Montyon Prize by the Académie française, addressing the appearance of instinct in the mineral and vegetal worlds; the journey of pollen; carnivorous plants; constructive, maternal, and migratory instincts; remarkable instincts among certain arthropods such as spiders, bees, ants, and parasites; innate and acquired behaviours and aptitudes. The study also considers intelligence in birds, ants and bees, rats, wolves and foxes, the elephant, horse, dog, and monkey, as well as language: insect sounds, birdsong, mammalian vocalisations, and natural gestures and signs.

First edition.

Minor marginal tears to the boards, a few spots of foxing.

Not recorded by Sabin.

First separately issued edition, illustrated with a large folding map, issued as a plate outside the text (cf. Sabin 94850).

The work was first published in 1838 in the Notices statistiques sur les colonies françaises.

"La lecture des documents officiels réunis dans la Notice statistique laissera déjà dans tous les esprits cette conviction que la Guyane française offre de nombreux éléments de richesse et de prospérité, et que, pour les avoir laissés improductifs pendant deux siècles, la France ne peut avoir renoncé à les mettre un jour en valeur".

Some light foxing, otherwise a pleasing copy.

First edition (cf. Crowley 931. David 132. Poletti 92: "Rara").

Contemporary half tan sheep, smooth spine tooled in gilt with floral motifs and gilt fillets, red morocco lettering-piece with a small loss and a scuff, lower headcap lacking, marbled paper boards, marbled edges, period binding.

This celebrated "Manuel du Dentiste permit d'acquérir les indispensables connaissances théoriques…" (Besombes, Hist. de l'Art Dentaire, 282)."

First edition of the treatise "qui comprend la structure et les fonctions de la bouche, l'histoire de ses maladies, les moyens d'en conserver la santé et la beauté, et les opérations particulières à l'art du dentiste" (cf. Crowley 846. David p. 125. Poletti p. 49.)

Half brown calf binding, the smooth spine decorated with double gilt fillets and gilt panels; rubbing to the spine and joints; marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns; late 19th-century binding.

A few minor spots of foxing.

Illustrated with an engraved title-page, an allegorical frontispiece, and 13 copper-engraved plates printed hors texte.

First edition of the French translation (cf. Sabin 26375).

A defence of Catholic principles addressed to a Protestant minister (…) preceded by a notice on the author’s life and virtues. Translated from the English by Prince Augustin Galitzin. Paris, Ch. Douniol [printed by Simon Raçon et Comp.], 1856, 12mo.

Contemporary half navy blue shagreen, spine with four raised bands ruled and panelled in gilt, slight unobtrusive rubbing to the spine, marbled boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns.

Scattered foxing.

A work of religious controversy; the preface offers interesting information regarding Prince Galitzin’s activities in the United States.

Bound after it: Alexandre Pushkin, "Le faux Pierre III", printed in Paris by Plon in 1858 (2 ff.n.ch. and 192 pp.), being the first edition of the French translation by Prince Augustin Galitzin.

First edition.

Minor losses at head and foot of the spine, which is slightly sunned; a few small spots of foxing.

Alongside a distinguished career in the colonial troops, in Senegal and Indochina, General Henri Frey (1847–1932) also cultivated literary and scholarly ambitions. This unusual thesis was, of course, neither substantiated nor taken up subsequently …

On the upper margin of the half-title, an autograph inscription by Henri Frey to Commandant Étienne Lunet de Lajonquières [here spelled Jonquières] (1861–1933), of the Marine Infantry, archaeologist and ethnographer, and also a key figure in the organisation of the preservation of Historical Monuments in Indochina.

First edition.

A comprehensive work setting out in detail the legislation and regulations governing silversmiths, jewellers and watchmakers in the mid-nineteenth century.

Spine cracked with small losses; corners chipped to the boards; some light foxing.

Very rare first edition, illustrated with an inserted copper-engraved plate by Plée after Turpin (cf. Pritzel 2823).

The CCFr records copies only at the Institut, Rouen, and Montpellier.

Our copy is preserved in its original sewn state with temporary pink paper covers.

Faujas de Saint-Fond (1741–1819) is of course best known as a geologist and vulcanologist, yet his work extended to every other branch of natural history.

First edition illustrated with a folding map and a folding plate of fossils (cf. O'Reilly, Nouvelle-Calédonie, 486a).

Light waterstaining affecting the plate and the map at the end of the volume.

The palaeontologist Eugène Eudes-Deslongchamps (1830–1889) devoted most of his work to Normandy, his native region, but he also produced geological monographs based on collections assembled by other researchers, as is the case here.

First edition, illustrated with a double-page folding map composed of seventeen plates, together with twelve figures in the text (cf. Hague Chahine 1504.).

Bradel binding in half glazed brown cloth, smooth spine with the date gilt at the foot, red shagreen title-label showing minor surface marks, stone-patterned paper boards, corners lightly rubbed; a contemporary binding.

Some scattered foxing.

Account of an archaeological mission including an extensive study of Safaitic inscriptions, with a glossary and an index of proper names.

First edition, printed in a small number of copies, of this interesting report extracted from the Annales maritimes et coloniales of 1839 (cf. Polak 2837).

Our copy is preserved in its original wrappers, with a plain blue-grey cover.

Tears to the spine and to the margins of the covers, some foxing, notably on the title page.

Rare first edition issued as an offprint from the Journal asiatique, no. 7.

Contemporary half aubergine calf binding with corners, smooth spine gilt with Romantic arabesque tools, minor rubbing to the spine, gilt garland frame to the marbled paper boards, orange paper endleaves and pastedowns, rubbed corners; a period binding.

Dampstaining affecting the first half of the volume, some foxing.

Concise manual of the Hanafi rite, one of the four Sunni schools of jurisprudence, the oldest and notably the one recognised as official within the Ottoman Empire.

Antoine-Joseph Du Caurroy (1775–1853) served as an interpreter at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

First edition.

"Voulons & Nous plaist, qu'à commencer au premier Mars prochain, aucuns de nos Sujets de quelque estat, condition & sexe qu'ils soient, à l'Exception de ceux qui en auront obtenu nostre permission par Ecrit, ne puissent porter des Diamans, Perles et Pierres precieuses, à peine de confiscation & de Dix mille livres d'amende : Faisons deffenses sous la mesme peine, à compter du premier Avril prochain d'en faire entrer dans le Royaume ; N'entendons néantmoins comprendre dans la presente prohibition les Bagues Episcopales & les Pierreries employées aux Ornemens des Eglises".

First edition, printed in a very small number of copies, of this offprint from the "Gazette médicale de Paris" for 1854.

Modern bradel-style binding in full boards covered with blue paper, smooth spine, brown shagreen title label laid down lengthwise with a small abrasion, signed Honnelaître.

On the half-title, a signed autograph presentation inscription by Camille Desjardins: "Offert à M. le professeur Moreau, membre de l'Académie impériale de Médecine, hommage respectueux de l'auteur".

This refers to the celebrated physician François Joseph Moreau (1789–1862), a specialist in gynaecology and close to the Orléans family, for whom he served as accoucheur.

As a medical student, Camille Desjardins was a native of the island of Mauritius

Rare first edition, illustrated with an engraved frontispiece, two copper-engraved plates, and twenty-five woodcut figures in the text (cf. Rosenthal, Bibliotheca Magica et Pneumatica, 8648, which records only an edition of 1788).

A few light spots of foxing; two dampstains affecting some leaves.

Contemporary half tan calf, the smooth spine faded and decorated with gilt rolls, fillets and floral tools, gilt initials at the foot; some rubbing and two small black stains to the spine; marbled boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, marbled edges.

First edition (cf. Cordier, Sinica, 1643).

Small tear and minor loss at the head of the spine; covers slightly soiled.

A highly interesting trilingual lexicon, presenting Chinese ideograms alongside their phonetic transcription, published in the immediate aftermath of the French expedition of 1858.

It includes, for example, practical phrases such as how to ask "Quelle est la nature de la rade ?" or how to reply that a general is "très brave ; il ne recule devant rien".

Claude-Philibert Dabry de Thiersant (1826–1898) began his career as a naval officer before turning to diplomacy, a path that led him to hold several consular posts in the Far East. Unsurprisingly, the greater part of his scholarly work is devoted to China and Tonkin.

First edition.

Our copy is offered in loose sheets, unbound.

First edition of this defence of the exclusive privilege of the Compagnie des Indes, then being challenged by the deputies of the National Assembly.

This memorandum is signed by Le Couteux du Mollay, Greffulge, Boyd, Dangirard, Picquet, and Le Cocq, commissioners representing the Company’s shareholders.

Our copy is preserved in its original stitched wrappers, issued in the temporary blue waiting covers.

A central fold throughout, rubbing with losses to the waiting covers, otherwise a pleasingly clean copy internally.

First edition published anonymously (cf. Ryckebusch, 6737).

Light, scattered foxing.

Modern half brown cloth, smooth spine without lettering, marbled paper boards, corners rubbed.

The anonymous author urges abolitionists to be especially active and visible at the moment when the chambers are to vote on the new colonial legislation.

Original offprint, printed in a small number of copies, of this extract from the Nouvelles annales des voyages for November 1858.

The original temporary front wrapper has been reattached; a few spots of foxing; the title written in pencil on the front cover.

No copy of this review recorded in the CCF.

Charles-Ernest Beulé’s monograph on the coinage of Athens had just been published earlier that same year, in 1858.

First edition (cf. Quérard II, 140).

Our copy is preserved in its original publisher’s wrappers, under the plain pink provisional cover; the spine is split and faded with losses, and there are small marginal tears to the covers.

A scholar and statesman from Île de France (present-day Mauritius), J.-F. Charpentier de Cossigny (1736–1809) was elected deputy for the island to the Constituent Assembly. He returned there in 1800, sent by Bonaparte to announce the advent of the Consular regime and to serve as Director of gunpowder manufacture in Port Louis.

But because he sought to employ enslaved workers while paying them as free men, he encountered such fierce opposition from the colonists that he chose to abandon his plans and return to France to devote himself to his scientific work.

In this memoir, addressed in 1792 to the Minister of the Navy, he sets out the results of his research aimed at improving the safety of gunpowder manufacture.

First illustrated edition with 5 plates (cf. Coll. Émile Brouwet, II (2), 168).

Half black shagreen binding, smooth spine decorated with gilt and blind fillets, title lettered lengthwise in gilt, joints and caps rubbed, title repeated on the upper cover, paper labels pasted to the lower left corner of the upper cover and the upper left corner of the inside back cover, bookplate pasted to the inside back cover, original front wrapper preserved, corners worn, mid-19th-century binding.

Some light foxing.

The five finely line-engraved plates by Cavelier and Pierron after drawings by Pierre-Paul Prud’hon bring together a selection of pieces of imperial furniture.

The first set — a firescreen, a dressing table with its mirror, an armchair, and a washstand — was executed in vermeil with lapis inlays and presented to Empress Marie-Louise on 15 August 1810. This important commission was the joint work of the chaser-founder Thomire, awarded a gold medal at the Exhibition of 1806, and the silversmith Odiot. The three plates devoted to it preserve its memory, as the ensemble was largely melted down in 1832.

The final two plates depict the celebrated cradle of the King of Rome, in vermeil, mother-of-pearl and burgau shell — the fruit of the same two craftsmen — which was presented by the City of Paris on 5 March 1811, before the arrival of the imperial child, and is now preserved in Vienna.

Thomire alone later produced a second example in elm burr and gilt bronze, following the same design and faithfully reproducing certain elements such as the two bas-reliefs of the Seine and the Tiber. This second cradle is now at the Château de Fontainebleau.

Provenance: from the library of Prince Demidoff (San Donato stamp), then from that of Prince Roland Bonaparte, with his bookplate and label N.

First edition of this treatise, long regarded as the finest French-language work in its field (cf. Wellcome II, 305; Garrison & Morton 5853).

Contemporary-style half calf over marbled boards, the spine smooth and gilt with decorative garlands at head and tail, a reused black calf lettering-piece, marbled paper sides, blue-sprinkled edges, bookseller’s ticket of a distinguished firm mounted to a pastedown; a later binding.

Illustrated with 4 folding plates.

Foxing and some dampstaining to the plates, otherwise a clean and agreeable copy.

Carron du Villards (1801–1860), the son of a military physician distinguished during the Napoleonic campaigns, taught ophthalmology at the Paris Faculty of Medicine.

First edition of this collection of anecdotes and allegories drawn from Turkish, Arabic and Persian manuscripts held at the Royal Library (cf. Quérard, II, 50. Brunet, 19466. Cioranescu, 15566. Graesse, p. 46. Goedeke, 651.)

Contemporary half calf with corners, the flat spine gilt with decorative garlands, the spine rubbed and crazed, cherry-coloured calf lettering-piece, green paper-covered boards, yellow edges, small nicks to the extremities.

Denis-Dominique Cardonne (1721-1783) lived in Constantinople for twenty years, from 1730 to 1750, where he learned Turkish, Arabic and Persian.

On his return to France he was appointed the King’s secretary-interpreter for oriental languages, royal censor, inspector of the book trade, and professor of Turkish and Persian at the Collège de France.

First edition (cf. Playfair, 533; Tailliart, 2295).

Spine cracked with small tears, some foxing. 

General considerations on the colonisation of Algiers, its aims and its results. On the Arabs. The various systems of occupation, etc.

At the head of the front wrapper, an autograph presentation inscription from Amédée Hippolyte de Brossard to Marshal Clausel.

First edition of the French translation (cf. Sabin 8048; Quérard I, 521, who gives the date 1825).

Contemporary half roan with an aubergine hue, the flat spines lightly sunned and ruled with gilt fillets and dotted tooling, some rubbing to the backs, marbled paper sides, yellow mottled edges.

A few very light, insignificant spots.

John Bristed, born in the county of Dorset in 1778, died in the United States in 1855.

After studying medicine and law, he entered the Church. "Before leaving England he began writing and seems to have held ideas considered radical at the time (...) In 1806 Bristed came to New York City and there practised law, lectured, and wrote books and magazine articles (...) His writings show diligent and exhaustive study ; interest in history, economic questions, and religion ; a strong personal point of view, frequently amounting to prejudice ; and a rather ornate style" (Dict. of American Biography).

Second edition of this treatise, first published in 1771 and reissued again in 1813 (see Mennessier de La Lance I, 162).

Our copy is offered stitched, in its provisional blue paper wrappers, the spine reinforced with an adhesive strip.

First edition, illustrated with 883 figures in the text, some heightened with colour.

Contemporary half roan in a reddish-orange hue, the spines with five raised bands ruled in gilt dots and decorated with gilt florets, some rubbing to the spines and extremities, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns.

Manuscript ownership inscriptions partly erased from the endpapers of the first volume; an orange pencil line to an endpaper in the second volume; occasional pencil marginalia in the margins of several paragraphs in both volumes; a marginal note in red ink in the right margin of p. 37 of the first volume.

First edition of the illustrated French translation, with a folding map (cf. Sabin 5568).

Only three copies recorded in the French Union Catalogue (BnF, Ministère des Affaires étrangères, Draguignan).

Contemporary-style half calf, smooth spine rubbed, joints split at head and foot, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, marbled edges, in a slightly later binding.

Light foxing, a paper flaw in the right margin of the final leaf not affecting the text.

It should be noted that the translator mistook the genitive form for part of the author’s surname, spelling it “Birkbecks”.

The American first edition appeared in 1818 under the title of “Letters from Illinois”, and went through no fewer than seven editions in English.

"In directing settlers to the prairies lands of the West [this book] exercised a widespread influence, and incidentally brought down on [the] author the hearty vituperation of William Cobbett, who was in the pay of eastern land speculators". Cf. Dict. of amer. biogr., II, 289.

Born into a Quaker family, Morris Birkbeck (1764–1825), an Anglo-American adventurer and Illinois pioneer, was one of America’s leading journalists and a prominent champion of the anti-slavery cause.

First edition.

Head of the plain back restored; a few light spots of foxing and a faint waterstain.

The lawyer François Beslay (1835–1883) soon left the bar to devote himself to Catholic journalism. He was a contributor to the Revue contemporaine; to the Correspondant; to the Revue d’économie chrétienne; to the Français; to the Journal des villes et des campagnes; and to L’Ami de la religion.

Autograph presentation inscription by François Beslay at the head of the upper wrapper to the former minister Odilon Barrot (1791–1873), who had retired from political life in 1851.

First separate edition, printed in a small number of copies, taken from the Annales des sciences naturelles; the work was later republished by Baillière in 1876 (cf. O'Reilly, Nouvelle-Calédonie, 608, which records only the periodical publication).

Bradel case-binding in full green paper-covered boards, brown morocco lettering-piece lettered vertically; the original provisional upper wrapper preserved; modern binding.

The issue is illustrated at the end of the volume with an engraved plate.

A clear waterstain in the outer margins of the leaves.

Émile Bescherelle (1828–1903), president of the Société botanique de France, was a leading specialist in mosses, which he also studied in New Caledonia (1878) and in Mexico.

At the head of the blank upper wrapper, presentation inscription signed by Émile Bescherelle to Count Hippolyte-François Jaubert (1798–1874), a noted botanist and the son of a hero of Aboukir.

Rare group of six fascicules, all in the original edition.

Bradel-style binding in green mottled boards, smooth unlettered spine, printed title label mounted at the centre of the upper cover; modern binding.

Not recorded by Polak. Apparently no copy located in the CCFr.

A stain at the head of the title page.

This curious compilation, bearing almost no identifying information, appears to be particularly rare.

It contains:

- 1. A notice to mariners concerning the change in the lighting of the lighthouse in the Bay of the Somme, scheduled for 25 Pluviôse, Year IX [14 February 1801].

- 2. An instruction on filters for purifying water, signed by the health officers Dubrueil, Thaumur, Dupré, and Billard.

- 3. A notice on naval provisions, signed by Rivoire.

- 4. A description of the sillomètre (an instrument for measuring longitude at sea), addressed to the editor of the Moniteur by the former journalist Charles Mozard (1755–1810), who had served as Commissioner of France’s commercial relations in Boston from 1794 to 1799 and was at that time among the contributors to the Moniteur.

- 5. A discourse by Bernardin de Saint-Pierre delivered at the Institut (Nautical experiments, and dietary and moral observations, proposed for the benefit and health of sailors on long-distance voyages). This contribution had already been printed in La Décade philosophique, littéraire et politique of 30 Vendémiaire, Year IX [22 October 1800].

- 6. Two practical notices on means of preserving ships (from fire, water, and rats). The nature of these texts and their immediate sources suggest that this publication was probably conceived as a trial maritime periodical intended to make available sea-related articles previously published in other journals. For reasons unknown, the experiment was not continued, a circumstance that is fairly common in the history of periodicals.

First edition (cf. En français dans le texte, 288. Horblit, 11b. Printing and the mind of man, 353.)

Full black cloth binding, smooth spine, headcaps slightly softened, corners slightly frayed, contemporary binding,

Printed stamps on the title page and on the final page of the table of contents, which bears, on the facing page, a numerical annotation in black ink.

First edition of this monograph devoted to Punic inscriptions discovered in Tunis and its surrounding area.

Small marginal tears to the spine and boards, which also show some light spotting.

Abbé Bargès (1810–1896), a native of Auriol, pursued an unusual career grounded in his exceptional command of Oriental languages (Hebrew, Arabic), and specialised in epigraphy while also engaging with a wider range of disciplines.

The Phoenician world was of particular interest to him, as he long upheld the Punic origin of Marseilles, and he published six monographs on inscriptions in the Phoenician language between 1847 and 1888; the present work forms part of this cycle.

At the head of the upper cover, an autograph inscription signed by Abbé Bargès to the eighth Duke of Luynes (1803–1867), the celebrated archaeologist.

First edition.

Endpapers partially toned, a few scattered foxmarks.

Contemporary half brown cloth, smooth spine ruled in blind, marbled paper boards, a few snags to the extremities, Masonic ex-libris label pasted to the inner board.

The petition under discussion sought to have the Banque de France adopt measures to counter fluctuations in the discount rate.

Provenance: from the library of the Château de Villardonnel (Aude), belonging to the Mahul family, with their pictorial ex-libris label pasted to the inner board.