Hachette

Rare first edition (see Cordier, Japonica 583; Nipponalia I, 2073. Neither of these bibliographies mentions the map. Polak 8448).

Contemporary half cherry-red calf, spine slightly faded, with four raised bands gilt with dotted tools and fillets; light rubbing to the spine, red paper-covered boards, corners slightly bumped, speckled edges.

Occasional light foxing; a pale dampstain affecting the opening leaves and the folding double-page map showing the plan of the Strait of Shimonoseki.

This work relates the Anglo-French naval campaign of 1862–1863, by Alfred Roussin (1839–1919), a naval officer who commanded the frigate...

First issue of the fifty large hors-texte lithographs drawn from life by Henry John Terry (cf. Vicaire, VII, 1164).

Publisher’s binding in full red cloth, smooth spine decorated with blind-ruled compartments and fillets, light rubbing to the head- and tailcaps, gilt-lettered title on the front board, yellow endpapers, trace of a removed bookplate on one pastedown, one lower corner softened, slight discoloration to the lower left corner of the rear board, occasional marginal foxing, a small loss to the foot of page 119, and minor wormholes at the foot of the last three leaves, not affecting the text.

The fifty striking black lithographs depict the most...

First French edition, illustrated by Arthur Rackham with 40 mounted colour plates on thick brown paper, each protected by a captioned tissue guard, along with 30 black-and-white line drawings within the text, one of the extremely rare 30 copies printed on japon, signed by Arthur Rackham on the limitation page; the deluxe issue.

Publisher’s Bradel binding in full vellum-style boards, smooth gilt-titled spine, upper board gilt-stamped with title and a tree design, top edge gilt; the silk tie on the lower board is lacking.

...

Illustrated edition with compositions by Arthur Rackham, 13 in colour tipped in with captioned tissue guards, and 52 black-and-white illustrations in the text, one of 55 copies on japon, signed by Arthur Rackham on the limitation page, deluxe issue.

Publisher’s full vellum binding, flat spine gilt-lettered with gilt-stamped animals, upper cover gilt-stamped with the title and an illustration of animals, top edge gilt, uncut, lower cover silk ties preserved.

A fine copy...

Illustrated edition with 13 colour plates on brown paper by Arthur Rackham tipped in with captioned tissue guards, together with 14 black-and-white illustrations in the text by Rackham, including a frontispiece portrait of Alice, one of the very rare 20 copies on japon, signed by Arthur Rackham on the limitation page, copy from the deluxe issue. A few name copies on the same paper were also issued.

Publisher’s full vellum binding, flat spine lettered in gilt with a gilt illustration of the Cheshire Cat, upper cover stamped in gilt with the title and an illustration of two fantastic...

Illustrated edition with 24 colour plates by Arthur Rackham tipped in with captioned tissue guards, 8 full-page black-and-white illustrations, together with numerous ornaments and vignettes in the text by Arthur Rackham, one of 300 copies printed on vélin à la forme, signed by Arthur Rackham on the limitation page.
Publisher’s Bradel binding in full bright white vellum, smooth spine lettered in gilt, upper cover gilt-stamped with the title and a design of fantastic animals within a vertical gilt rule, illustrated endpapers and pastedowns, top edge gilt, untrimmed edges preserved. 
A very well-preserved copy of Milton's baroque and Dionysian...

First French edition of the 50 colour plates by Arthur Rackham, tipped in with captioned tissue guards, a black vignette on the title page, and a further black vignette hors texte by Arthur Rackham, one of 200 copies on Whatman paper.
Publisher’s full vellum, smooth spine gilt-lettered, upper cover gilt-stamped with the title and a gilt illustration of Rip Van Winkle, illustrated endpapers, top edge gilt, uncut, original silk ties preserved. Occasional light foxing.

A splendid copy, remarkably fresh, of Washington Irving’s fantastical tale profusely illustrated by Arthur Rackham.

Stated fifth edition, illustrated with 316 wood engravings, including numerous plates. This fifth edition is the only one issued in the publisher’s cloth.
Publisher’s binding by Souze. Half red shagreen. Spine richly tooled with a bouquet of flowers, various large tools and special rolls. Boards elaborately decorated with a central gilt panel bearing the American eagle and the motto: E pluribus unum. Broad red and black border with several red and gilt medallions on a black ground. Gilt edges. A few scattered marginal foxmarks. Some rubbing, notably to the headcaps. Corners softened.

A handsome copy in its publisher’s binding.

First edition of this album of caricatures by Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi which he numbered and initialed (copy no. 36). Printed “in small numbers” (Bartholdi Museum), with only six located in institutions (Colmar Museum, BnF, Harvard, UPenn, NYPL, Rutgers University).

Publisher’s blue cloth binding, flat spine gilt-lettered lengthwise, upper board numerously framed in black, anchors and stars stamped in black at the corners, title and date gilt-stamped; lower board numerously framed in black, black stars at the corners and a central anchor, red edges. Slight rubbing to joints, faint...

Seventh edition (cf. Playfair 1723).

Spine restored, small angular losses to the boards filled, staining to the covers, pleasant condition internally.

Alexandre-Marie Bellemare (1818-1885) served as official interpreter at the Directorate of Algerian Affairs.

First edition of this finely crafted narrative retracing the journey of the author, appointed in December 1854 as First Secretary to the French legation in Persia, under the direction of Prosper Bourée.

Some foxing.

Bound in half bottle-green shagreen, spine with four raised bands decorated with triple gilt compartments, blind-tooled borders on morocco-grained cloth boards, school emblem gilt-stamped at the centre of the upper cover [Lycée de Nevers], marbled endpapers and pastedowns, sprinkled edges, contemporary binding.

The journey was undertaken by sea from Marseille to Bushir, then by caravan to Isfahan and Tehran: Malta, Alexandria, Cairo, Jeddah, Aden, Muscat...

First edition of the French translation of England, The United States and the Southern Confederacy, originally published the previous year in London (Sabin 76968).

Copy belonging to the philosopher Charles Renouvier (1815–1903), with a manuscript presentation inscription at the head of the front wrapper.

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

First edition in book form, illustrated with 5 color plans of Kyoto, Osaka, Yedo, Asaksa, Imato, and Yokohama, a map of Japan, two plates depicting examples of Japanese syllabaries (Katakana and Hiragana), and 476 wood-engraved illustrations within the text (see Cordier, Japonica, 670; Wenckstern I, 5; Nipponalia I, 2036).

Contemporary red half shagreen bindings, spines with five raised bands decorated with blind-ruled fillets and gilt compartments; joints slightly split then discreetly restored at head and tail; boards covered in grained cloth with blind-stamped borders; endpapers and pastedowns of white moiré silk with minor, marginal spotting; all edges gilt.

A handsome...

First edition, profusely illustrated with in-text figures.

Contemporary red half shagreen binding, spine with five raised bands decorated with gilt fillets and triple gilt compartments, gilt initials at the foot of the spine, some rubbing to the bands, boards framed with blind-stamped fillets, marbled endpapers and pastedowns. A binding of the period.

A rare and appealing copy.

First edition, very scarce (see O'Reilly, Nouvelle Calédonie, 175. O'Reilly & Reitman 1246. Ferguson 16990-91. Hill p. 290. Forbes, Hawaiian National Bibliography, III, 2730. Martin, Hawai‘i, p. 48. Jenkins, Bibliography of Whaling, p. 150. Vaucaire p. 259).

Contemporary bindings in red half morocco-grained sheep over marbled boards, spines with four raised bands ruled in black, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, original wrappers preserved (except rear wrapper of vol. I), modern bindings.

Some foxing, mainly at the beginning of the first volume.

The chapter on New Caledonia spans pp. 257 to 350 of volume I; the one on Tahiti covers pp. 177 to 282 of volume II.

The...

First edition, no deluxe copies on fine paper were issued.

Spine and rear cover slightly soiled; a clean and attractive copy internally.

Illustrations.

Valuable signed presentation copy from General Gambiez: "A monsieur J. Debu-Bridel en bien cordial hommage cet envoi de synthèse sur la libération de la Corse cette île qui nous est si chère. Château de Vincennes 26 septembre 1974."

A moving relic of the Resistance and Gaullist legacy.

First edition. Bibliothèque des chemins de fer series. Quite scarce. The novel was previously serialized in the Moniteur universel from March to May 1857. 12-page Hachette catalogue bound in at the end.
Full early 20th-century tan morocco binding, signed at the foot of the inside front cover by A. J. Gonon, housed in a beige slipcase trimmed with morocco. Spine with raised bands, compartments decorated. Wide gilt fillet border on pastedowns. Untrimmed copy. Occasional foxing. Spine slightly sunned. Original wrappers preserved, spine portion missing. A good copy.

Second edition of the French translation, complete with its folding map at the beginning of the volume.

Scattered light foxing, otherwise a well-preserved copy.

Preface by Édouard René Lefebvre de Laboulaye.

Bound in contemporary chocolate-brown half morocco, spine with five raised bands ruled in black, double blind fillets framing the marbled paper boards, comb-marbled endpapers and pastedowns, red top edge, slightly rubbed corners, bookplate affixed to a pastedown.

French translation of The Lost Continent: or, Slavery and the Slave Trade in Africa by the Quaker abolitionist Joseph Cooper (1800–1881).

The work is of particular interest for its early...

First complete edition of this major work in Africanist literature (cf. Bibliography of Côte d'Ivoire, 286. Not listed in Bruel, Bibliography of French Equatorial Africa. Lorentz, XIV, 215.)

This book contains an overall map, numerous detailed sketches, and one hundred and seventy-six wood engravings based on the drawings of Riou. Bindings in half cherry morocco with corners, spine with five raised bands decorated with cold-tooling, a small tear at the top of one joint, paper-covered boards, some light rubbing to the boards, endpapers and pastedowns made of marbled paper, corners slightly bumped, gilt edges, period bindings.

This exploration mission ordered by Faidherbe left...

First edition, one of 100 numbered copies on alfa paper, the only deluxe issue.

A rare and handsome copy.

Inscribed and signed by Jean de La Varende to Monsieur Gorrée.

First edition, one of 26 numbered copies on Vélin du Marais, the only deluxe copies.

Rare and appealing copy.

First edition.

Full celadon blue morocco binding, later (ca 1920). Smooth spine decorated with mirror-tooled ornaments at tail and head connected by fillets. Fillet frame on boards. Top edge gilt. Covers and spine preserved. Uncut copy. Scattered pale foxing. 

Handsome copy in full morocco.

Last flame of late romanticism, Dominique is a sentimental novel, imbued with profound melancholy, largely inspired by autobiographical events and narrating the story of an impossible love. It is the only novel by this celebrated painter, and remains one of the great works of 19th-century French literature.

First edition of the French translation established by Georges Guiffrey.

Beige half roan binding, spine with four raised bands framed by black fillets, slight rubbing to the bands, boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns.

"In 1855, if my memory serves, Georges Guiffrey set about translating Vanity Fair with Thackeray's blessing: the perfection of this version makes it very nearly a masterpiece of nineteenth-century French literature. A critic nevertheless found occasion to take issue with its recent reissue, on the grounds that it had been given no more than a discreet dusting-off. Guiffrey's French strikes him as...

First complete edition of the French translation.

Contemporary red half morocco, spine with four raised bands tooled with gilt dotted rules and decorated with double gilt compartments filled with a semé of gilt stars, minor rubbing to spine, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, speckled edges.

Occasional light foxing.

First edition of the four volumes, issued successively between 1883 and 1886. Rich and remarkable iconography featuring 36 chromolithographic plates, 187 plates, and 1,256 illustrations in the text. Translation and arrangement by Madame de Witt, who compiled the texts in order to present them as a chronological history. Complete sets in the correct edition are relatively scarce.
Striking publisher’s binding, with elaborate gilt decoration, signed A. Souze. Red half morocco with red percaline boards. Large gilt panel on the spine depicting an oak tree with two fleurs-de-lys and a shield charged with fleurs-de-lys, as well as shell ornaments at the foot. Large and intricate gilt panel on...

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...

Rare first edition of Louis Pasteur’s text: "Recherches sur la dissymétrie moléculaire des produits organiques naturels" (pp. 1–48, also issued separately as an offprint).

The other papers included in this volume are: "Histoire des radicaux organiques", "Recherches sur les glycols", "De la synthèse en chimie organique", "Des lois des nombres en chimie et de la variation de leurs constantes", "De l’influence exercée par l’atmosphère sur la végétation", and "Pièces historiques concernant Lavoisier et N. Le Blanc".

Some scattered foxing, notably to the edges.

Half black shagreen binding, spine with four...

First edition illustrated with 105 engravings, a heliogravure portrait frontispiece with tissue guard, as well as 2 folding maps at the end of the volume.

Publisher's bottle-green full cloth Bradel binding, smooth spine, upper cover decoratively blocked, bevelled boards, top edge gilt, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, corners lightly rubbed.

A Geneva-born geographer, Alfred Bertrand (1856-1924) undertook numerous journeys for ethnographic purposes as well as missionary work; a fervent Calvinist, he sought not only the conversion of indigenous peoples but also a deeper understanding of their customs, and the destinations of his expeditions were largely determined by the...

First edition of the first and only published part, illustrated with figures in the text and one plate printed separately as a frontispiece.

This is an offprint from the Revue archéologique.

The sole and uncommon edition of this essay exploring a possible Far Eastern influence on Amerindian civilizations.

Gustave d'Eichthal (1804-1886), a Saint-Simonian, was born into a German Jewish family but converted to Catholicism at the age of thirteen; he notably contributed to the emergence of new social sciences such as ethnology and anthropology.

Unbound copy, a few minor spots of foxing.

At the head of the half-title page, an autograph inscription signed by...

First edition.

Publisher's full cloth-backed pictorial boards, front board with color illustration, pictorial endpapers, a newspaper clipping photograph of the Disney couple pasted on the front pastedown. Minor lacks to the upper cover, corners slightly creased.

Exceptional incribed copy by Walt Disney on the front pastedown: "Best wishes / Walt Disney," below a portrait of him with his wife and their dog.

Second edition with some parts in first edition as it was revised.
Spine slightly browned, first cover marginally soiled, a charm at head of first endpaper, handsome interior condition.
Rare.

First illustrated edition by Gustave Doré. 142 vignettes and 12 plates.
Includes: Autograph inscription by the author on a card with his red seal on the left side of the card, for an appointment.

Contemporary half brown shagreen binding. Spine with raised bands decorated with 4 fleurons and fillets. Spine slightly faded. Some foxing. Handsome copy.
One of the first books illustrated by Gustave Doré after Balzac's Contes drolatiques. A popular novel that enjoyed great success in its time and remains one of the classics of adventure novels for young people.

First edition illustrated with text illustrations and plates by Hermann Vogel and ornaments by Adolphe Giraldon, one of 60 numbered copies on China paper, the only deluxe copies after 20 on Japan.
Full blue morocco binding, spine very slightly faded with five raised bands, date and place gilt at foot, gilt borders on the headcaps, gilt fillet border on the pastedowns in full purple morocco, purple watered silk endpapers, following endpapers of combed paper, covers preserved, all edges gilt, double gilt fillets on the edges, slipcase edged with blue morocco, marbled paper boards, superb full morocco binding with doublure signed Blanchetière Bretault.
Each plate appears in triple...

First French edition, translated by William Hugues, under the direction of P. Lorrain.

Contemporary half red shagreen binding. Spine with raised bands decorated with 3 fleurons. Gilt titles and volume labels. Light traces of rubbing. Very fresh set, free from foxing except for some pale browning on the first text page of volume 1.
A work of great darkness, Little Dorrit is the second of Dickens's three political and social novels. It is a denunciation of Victorian society obsessed with wealth and power. G. B. Shaw would judge the novel "More seditious than Karl Marx's Capital". The novel begins in Marseille. One of Dickens's great works.