Antique Books

First edition from the Imprimerie Royale, complete in nine quarto volumes with all 262 black-and-white engraved plates.

Contemporary full mottled calf, spines with raised bands decorated with guilloche tooling and gilt ornaments in the compartments, red morocco lettering-pieces and numbering-pieces, triple gilt fillet border on boards, double gilt fillet on board edges, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, marbled edges. Minor variations in the tooling on volume 3.

In this set, some headcaps missing, 6 cm joints split at foot of volume 1, 6.5 cm and 6 cm at foot of volume 2, 3.5 cm at head of volume 3, corners bumped, scratches and minor restoration to boards, including a more significant repair on volume 7 measuring 11 cm, browning in left margin of lower board of volume 4.

In this copy: some worming, several instances of dampstaining throughout the set, more pronounced in volumes 1, 3, and 8, some tears, restored on the title page and on pp. ix and xxiii of volume 1, also restored on p. 496 of volume 2, on pp. 259 and 260 of volume 3, on pp. 481 and 482 of volume 4, and on pp. 173 to 176 of volume 5.

Copy with some marginal annotations: in volume 2, a manuscript footnote added in ink on p. 541 ("Voyez les Planches enluminures n°491"), erroneous manuscript dates in ink in volumes 2 and 8, the number "18" annotated in ink in the upper right corner of the rear endpaper of volume 9.

Copy richly illustrated with drawings by Jacques de Sève, engraved by Robert de Launay, Lucas, Michel, Madeleine-Thérèse Rousselet, C. Baron, Hubert, Catherine Haussard, Carl Gottlieb Guttenberg, Jean-Guillaume Blanchon, Menil, Dufour, Louis Claude Legrand, Claude Mathieu Fessard, Elisabeth Haussard, François Hubert, A.-B. Duhamel, Mlle Mansard, C. Baquoy, Heinrich Guttenberg, Laurent Guyot, Benazeth, Schmitz, Marie-Anne Rousselet (M. R. veuve Tardieu), Louis-Gabriel Monnier, Pierre-Étienne Moitte, Jean-Louis de Lignon, Levillain, N. du Four, Thomas Chambars, Nicolas Thomas, Luigi Valperga, and George Louis Biosse.

Accompanied by two additional plates, heightened in color, numbered XX and XXII, from a volume 7 of the Histoire naturelle des oiseaux.

New edition, partly original, revised, corrected and enlarged.

Bound in full red morocco, spines with five raised bands decorated with gilt garlands and compartments adorned with crowned “LL” monograms, gilt rolls on the caps, triple gilt fillets framing the covers, gilt armorial stamps of Louis XV at the centre of each board, gilt dentelle border on the turn-ins, gilt fillets along the edges, marbled edges. Slightly rubbed corners. Contemporary bindings.

Some leaves slightly yellowed, minor paper flaw on page 101 of the second volume.

Extensive and highly useful table of contents at the end of the second volume. Jean-Antoine Soulatges, lawyer at the Parliament of Toulouse, who died in that city around 1780, was also the author of a Traité des crimes.

A handsome copy, in red morocco, bearing the cipher and arms of Louis XV (OHR pl. 2495, tools 12 and 30).

A rare first edition, of which no subsequent reprint exists, complete with all his Neo-Latin poems, chiefly composed in Rome. The volume also contains two Greek poems at ff. 60 and 62, together with a poem which inspired the celebrated sonnet Happy he who like Ulysses.

Modern binding in full limp vellum, smooth spine, red edges, white pastedowns and endleaves.

Some defects within: discreet restoration to inner margin of title verso; small tear without loss at foot of ff. 2-3; dampstaining to lower margin of ff. 25-28 and 45-48; minimal marginal defect to f. 44, not affecting text.

Published in March 1558, this precious copy contains four books of Latin poems - Elegiæ, Varia Epigr[ammata], Amores [Faustinae], Tumuli - written by Du Bellay in Rome and Paris between 1553 and 1557. The collection, also referred to as Poemata or Œuvres latines, appeared in the same year as three other works from his Roman period: Les Regrets, Divers Jeux Rustiques, and Les Antiquitez de Rome.

The ‘Kehl edition’, the most renowned edition of Voltaire's works, illustrated and published on deluxe paper. It was printed on five different types of paper, and only the deluxe editions, such as ours on laid paper, feature engravings. These are naturally the most sought-after and rarest copies.

Binding in full painted sheep decorated with a “honeycomb” motif, smooth spine tooled with gilt fleurons, fillets and compartments, light beige calf lettering and volume pieces, gilt chain-roll border on covers, marbled endpapers, gilt roll on edges, all edges marbled, contemporary binding. Two volumes (nos. 50 and 70) with slight variations in gilt tools on the spines and with orange morocco lettering pieces, edges and covers treated somewhat differently. General condition of the 70 volumes: bindings with light rubbing to corners, gilt a little dulled, occasional foxing, a few wormholes and old restorations, not affecting the text. 28 volumes (vols. 4, 5, 8, 10, 11, 13, 16, 17, 19, 20, 24, 27, 28, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 43, 48, 61, 62, 63, 65, 66, 67, 68, 70) with cracked joints at the ends, and 20 volumes (vols. 8, 11, 12, 14, 16, 18, 33, 34, 37, 42, 46, 49, 53, 56, 57, 60, 65, 66, 68, 70) with damaged caps.

Two editions were published at the same time. Our copy belongs to the prestigious in-8 edition on large paper published in 70 volumes (the other edition being in-12 format in 92 volumes). It is richly illustrated with 125 etched plates:

- There are 17 portraits, including 3 of Voltaire: a frontispiece portrait by N. de Largillière engraved by P. Alex. Tardieu; one drawn from Houdon's bust by Moreau le Jeune and engraved by P. Alex. Tardieu; and one allegorical portrait by Louis Croutelle after Moreau le Jeune, belonging to the second series of illustrations of Voltaire's works executed by Moreau for the publisher Renouard. The 14 other portraits include an allegorical frontispiece of Frédéric-Guillaume, Prince of Prussia, depicted in profile in a medallion by Dambrun after Moreau le Jeune; a portrait of Henry IV by Pourbus engraved by Tardieu; one of Charles VII engraved after the original in the King's Cabinet by Mavieri; another of Agnès Sorel drawn by Moreau the Younger after the original in the King's Cabinet and engraved by Mavieri; one of Joan of Arc engraved by Beisson; followed by the Count of Dunois engraved after the original in the King's Cabinet by J. B. Fosseyeux; one of Louis XIV drawn by Moreau Le Jeune after C. Le Brun engraved by J. B. Fosseyeux; one of Charles XII engraved by P. Alex. Tardieu after the original in the King's Cabinet; one of Pierre I engraved by P. G. Langlois after a painting by L. Caravaque; one of Madame du Châtelet after Marie Anne Loir and engraved by P. G. Langlois; one of the Count of Argental after J. Defraine and engraved by J. B. Fosseyeux; one of Frédéric II of Prussia painted from life by Van Loo and engraved by P. G. Langlois; one of Catherine II of Russia engraved by J. B. Fosseyeux; and one of d'Alembert after De La Tour engraved by N. F. Maviez.

- 93 engravings by Moreau le Jeune, including 44 figures for le Théâtre (engraved by Lingée, Simonet, de Launay, Trière, Halbou, Duclos, Romanet, Dambrun, de Longueil, Delignon, Le Mire, Le Veau), 10 for la Henriade (engraved by Masquelier, Delignon, Dambrun, Patas, Gutemberg, Helman, Simonet, Duclos, Romanet), 21 for la Pucelle (engraved by Simonet, Dambrun, Halbou, Baquoy, Trière, Delignon, de Longueil, Croutelle and Duclos), 4 for the Contes (in verse, engraved by Langlois, Duclos, Delignon and Le Veau) and 14 for the Romans (engraved by Trière, Duclos, de Longueil, Dambrun, Baquoy, Delignon, Simonet, Langlois and Halbou). 

- 14 scientific plates in volume 31, illustrating the experiments of Newton, Descartes and Leibniz.

- 1 battle plan in volume 24 about the Histoire de l'Empire de Russie sous Pierre le Grand.

According to Bengesco (IV, no. 2142), our copy is missing a portrait of Louis XV in volume 22, as well as a portrait of Voltaire by De La Tour (replaced here in the last volume by an allegorical portrait by Louis Croutelle after Moreau le Jeune). This copy includes all the additional portraits, with the exception of two illustrations that are almost always missing: a portrait of Vertot and an engraving of the Œuvres.

Rare and genuine posthumous first edition of the first six books of the Confessions, the remaining volumes not appearing until 1789. Several other editions were issued shortly thereafter, but the evidence provided by the commentary published in the June 1782 issue of the Journal Helvétique clearly establishes that this separately printed edition, known as the "large type" issue, is indeed the very first (F. Michaux, "L'Édition originale de la première partie des 'Confessions' de J.-J. Rousseau" in Revue d'Histoire littéraire de la France, 35th Year, No. 2 (1928), pp. 250-253).
Contemporary half calf bindings, flat spines tooled with gilt fillets and decorated with beige morocco title and volume labels, marbled paper boards, all edges blue.
A handsome copy of this seminal text of the autobiographical genre, preserved in a contemporary binding.

First edition.

Full red morocco binding, round spine with five raised bands decorated with gilt fleurons, slight rubbing on the caps, double frame of blind-stamped gilt fillets on the covers, with fleurons at the corners of the inner frame, edges slightly blunt, marbled paper endpapers and back covers, gilt edges and heads, very elegant 19th-century binding ‘a la Du Seuil’ signed Quinet on the first endpaper. 

Rare first edition of Chamblain de Marivaux's first theatrical success, The Surprise of Love, published four years before The Second Surprise of Love. This play, performed in the spring of 1722 before being published the following year in 1723, already contains all the essence of Marivaux's style, all its subtle gallantry. According to the Romantic poet Theophile Gautier, it is the author's masterpiece. 

Celebrated edition entirely engraved both images and text, richly illustrated with 6 engraved titles, a frontispiece and an engraved half-title for volume I, together with 243 figures, 473 vignettes and tail-pieces engraved by Fessard. The illustration of the first three volumes is the work of Monnet, and in the last three by Fessard after Bardin, Bidauld, Caresme, Desrais, Houel, Kobell, Le Clerc, Leprince, Loutherbourg, and Meyer. The text is entirely engraved by Montulay and Drouet within decorative borders. 
Contemporary red morocco bindings, flat spines gilt in a lattice design with floral gilttooling, beige morocco volume and title labels, triple gilt fillet framing the boards, gilt fillet on the edges, gilt roll-tooled borders on the pastedowns, blue paper endleaves and doublures, gilt dentelle turn-ins, all edges gilt. Joints expertly restored.

A handsome copy, elegantly bound in contemporary red morocco with richly gilt-tooled spines, of this edition undertaken by Etienne Fessard, dedicated to the heirs to the kingdom or"enfants de France", the Duke of Berry, the Count of Provence, and the Count of Artois.

Rare first edition of the French translation prepared by Thomas-François Dalibard at the request of the Comte de Buffon (cf Wheeler Gift 367d. Waller 11339. DSB V, pp. 129-139).

Full mottled calf, spine with five raised bands ruled in gilt and decorated with double gilt compartments with floral tools, red morocco lettering-piece, gilt rolls on the caps (partly rubbed), restorations to head and tail of spine as well as to the corners of the boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt fillets on the edges, marbled edges, contemporary binding.

Some foxing, a dampstain to the upper right corner of the first endpaper.

The English first edition was published in London in 1751 under the title "Experiments and observations on electricity made at Philadelphia in America" (cf. Norman 830 for that edition).

Rare first edition of Euler's first work devoted to astronomy (cf. Houzeau and Lancaster I, 11948. Poggendorff I, 689. La Lande 422. DSB IV, 467-484.)

Illustrated with a frontispiece (printed on f. A4) and 4 engraved plates at the end of the volume.

Some minor foxing, mostly towards the end of the volume.

Modern half vellum binding, smooth unlettered spine, comb-marbled paper boards, red edges.

This work dates from the very beginning of Euler's stay in Berlin (where he had been invited by Frederick II of Prussia), a period of intense activity across several fields of science.

The work is described as a "fundamental work on calculation of orbits" in the Dictionary of Scientific Biography.

Jérôme De La Lande already noted in his Bibliographie astronomique (Paris, 1803): «Ce livre est le premier où l'on ait traité analytiquement les orbites des planètes et des comètes».

One of the principal works of dynamical astronomy, Euler’s equations being of capital importance.

First edition of the French translation, illustrated with a folding copper-engraved frontispiece by Bénard: "Mort du Capitaine Cook à Owhy-hée, Fevrier 1779," and a folding map titled "Carte montrant la route suivie par M. Cook… dans son troisième et dernier Voyage."

See O'Reilly and Reitman, 419. See also Hill, p. 253, for the first English edition. Forbes, Hawaiian National Biography, 45.

Contemporary binding in half marbled calf with vellum-tipped corners, spine decorated with gilt floral compartments, red morocco title label, marbled paper boards, red edges.

Restored loss to the title page. The half-title is lacking in our copy; the boards are modern.

"An apocryphal account of the third voyage, published surreptitiously more than two years before the official edition. Hocken […] attributed it to Ledyard, who also wrote a narrative of the expedition. But F. W. Howay […] demonstrated that the true author was John Rickman, lieutenant aboard the Discovery. Includes some unpublished details and episodes." Cf. O'Reilly (no. 415). "All the journals kept on board were claimed by the Admiralty, thus the author remained strictly anonymous. The text, especially as regards details of Cook’s death, differs considerably from other accounts." Cf. Hill.

This work also contains one of the earliest high-quality accounts of the Hawaiian Islands: see Forbes, p. 23.

First French edition published simultaneously with the octavo edition (more common), by the same publisher. Illustrated with a folding frontispiece, a large folding map of the Cape and 15 plates, some folding. All plates have been bound at the end of volumes I and II.

Contemporary full speckled brown sheep binding. Decorated spine with raised bands. Red morocco title label, black morocco volume labels. Double blind fillet to boards. Lacks to joints at head of volume I. Upper joint narrowly split at head and tail of tome I. In tome II upper joint rubbed. Corners restored with leather strips. At the end of the second volume, some leaves browned, otherwise scattered light foxing. Plate 2 of tome 2 poorly folded. Some plates are erroneously captioned tome 3, which would suggest that the octavo edition preceded the quarto edition, the latter being longer to produce.

Second edition.

Bound in full roan, spine with five raised bands framed in gilt and decorated in gilt, edges framed in gilt partially faded in places, all edges speckled.
Lower corners bumped, worming visible on the first seven leaves.

A rare edition of this work, which include Dialogue de l'amour et de l'amitié, Critique de l'Opéra, La Peinture, Le Miroir ou la métamorphose d'Orante, La Chambre de justice de l'amour, une Critique de l'opéra Alceste.
Also featured is Charles Perrault's description of the now-lost Labyrinth of Versailles, a creation by the great Le Nôtre.

This remarkable labyrinth boasted thirty-nine fountains, each illustrating one of Aesop's fables and accompanied by verses from Isaac de Benserade.

Provenance: Library of Henry Bertrand, dry stamp on the first endpaper.
 

Charming edition illustrated with a frontispiece, a framed title and 9 half-page illustrations, reproducing vignettes by Fokke after De Sève - with the final illustration for L'Adroite Princesse, newly added. 

Complete with the Épître dédicatoire by P. Darmancour [Charles Perrault] to 'La Grande Mademoiselle', Anne-Marie d'Orléans, cousin of Louis XIV.

Half-sheep binding, smooth spine ruled in gilt, and a diagonally stamped gilt title. Beige paper boards, speckled edges. Small paper defect in the margin of page 75, scattered foxing, a small brown stain affecting the illustration of Cinderella. A name written in ink in the lower margin of page 21.
 
This edition contains eight famous tales by Perrault: Le Petit Chaperon Rouge (Little Red Riding Hood), Les Fées (The Fairies), La Barbe Bleue (Bluebeard), La Belle au bois dormant (Sleeping Beauty), Le Chat Botté (Puss in Boots), Cendrillon (Cinderella), Riquet à la Houppe (Ricky of the Tuft), and Le Petit Poucet (Hop-o'-My-Thumb), as well as The Clever Princess or Finette by his niece Marie-Jeanne L'Héritier de Villandon, wrongly attributed to Perrault. The collection ends with La Veuve et ses deux filles, by Marie Leprince de Beaumont.
 
Cohen 789; Brunet Supplément, II, 206 ;
Provenance: Henry Betrand library, blind stamp on verso of frontispiece.

Protestant edition of the Geneva Bible with various additions that characterize the composite impressions sold at Charenton, besides The Psalms of David, set to French rhyme by Clement Marot and Theodore de Beze (with title page and numerous musical staves): History of the Holy Scripture of the Old and New Testament, which contains the Summary of sacred chronology. This addition has its own title page placed after the general title. At the end of volume III, several texts: The form of ecclesiastical prayers; Of baptism, of the Lord's Supper, Of the articles of faith; Of the ten commandments; Of the sacraments; Confession of faith. All these additions are present to characterize Protestant liturgy and its difference, being both the orthodox Bible of Protestantism and a manual of faith. Although the Geneva Bible was revised several times, its first revision is due to Theodore de Beze.
A title vignette repeated on 2 volumes; the second tome having a different one, printer's mark. A title vignette for the title page of the Psalms. Typographical ornaments.
Contemporary full old red morocco binding. Richly decorated raised-band spine. Covers decorated in Du Seuil style with central frame and fleurons in the corner-pieces. Roll-tooled cuts and rich interior frieze. Gilt edges. Rubbing. A small fragment of headcap missing to the New Testament volume. To volume I, lack to lower joint at tail. Corners slightly turned in. The first 6 leaves of the New Testament with dampstain traces fading and resembling more browning, in inner margin and in the margins. None of the 3 volumes have a marbled endpaper before the title, which in the 17th century is not necessarily a lack but is encountered relatively commonly. First endpaper before the title of volume I coming loose. Dampstain traces on the last 2 leaves of volume I.
One of the last Protestant Bibles printed in France, the last dating from 1678. Protestant worship having been prohibited in Paris and its surroundings by the Edict of Nantes, Henri IV authorized the construction of a temple at Charenton near Paris. Parisian printers used this to distribute their editions of sacred texts. In 1671, the booksellers' shops at Charenton were burned down. 
Manuscript ex-libris: Wilhelmiire de Wrede

Rare first edition of a work by the "German Beccaria," unrecorded in French libraries according to WorldCat, composed while the author held the chair of feudal law at the University of Leipzig, a position obtained at the age of thirty, three years prior.

Contemporary full brown sheep, smooth spine gilt with fleurons, light brown morocco lettering-piece, red edges. Bookplate of Count Giacomo Manzoni, former Finance Minister of the Roman Republic, concealing an ownership inscription written in brown ink.

Upper headcap missing, surface scuffing to spine and boards, lettering-piece partly missing, discreet worm galleries to the pastedowns.

Marginal browning to the opening and closing leaves, scattered foxing, worm hole to the lower right corner of the first few leaves.

Duodecimo edition, published in the same year as the first edition, setting out a key episode in the Chinese Rites Controversy, a dispute still ongoing at the time of publication, pitting the Jesuits against the Franciscans and Dominicans.

Contemporary mottled brown sheep, spine with five raised bands and gilt compartments, gilt board edges, red mottled edges. Two early ownership inscriptions, the first on the upper pastedown and the second on the title page, both in brown ink.

Headcaps missing, losses to leather on the upper board and spine, the latter split 3.5 cm at the head, scuffing to the bands, boards, board edges and corners.

Discreet worming to the margins to p. 181, occasional ink marks in the text, marginal dampstaining and browning.

First edition of an important work by Charles Sorel, historiographer of France and novelist, in which he surveys with severity and wit the literary production of his time, which he considered overly given to fiction.

 Complete with its eagle headpieces.

Contemporary full mottled brown calf, spine with five raised bands decorated with gilt compartments and gilt title, gilt roll on the board edges, red mottled edges. 

Upper headcap missing, lower headcap slightly split, scuffs, minor cracking and marginal staining to the boards, corners and board edges rubbed. 

Scattered foxing and browning. 

An ink gift inscription on the first and second pastedowns "To Mr Rahault [de Villers] [...] auditor at the Chamber of Accounts in Paris."

(our own translation)

First edition of this ambitious work recounting the history of power in France from Clovis, by a man of letters who two years later would be elected to the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres.

Contemporary bindings in marbled brown calf, spines with five raised bands framed by a gilt roulette, further decorated with compartments of gilt fleurons in the form of pomegranates, light brown morocco title and numbering pieces, gilt fillet on the board edges, red edges, pastedowns and endpapers of shell-pattern marbled paper.

Corners bumped, light wear to the joints. On the first volume, a few faint scuffs and scratches to the rear board. A fine copy overall.

Scattered foxing and some browning throughout.

In the first volume, a loss affecting the text at pp. 257-260; in the second volume, a marginal tear of 3.7 cm; in the third volume, a stain in the margin of pp. 294-295.

First edition, decorated with provincial coats of arms, as well as elaborately engraved headpieces, initials and tailpieces. 

Contemporary mottled brown calf, spine richly gilt with fleur-de-lys tools, red morocco title and numbering pieces, gilt roll to the board edges, red mottled edges, marbled endpapers and pastedowns.

Spine headcaps lacking, wear to the hinges, boards slightly warped, gilding rubbed to the board edges, scuffing and scratching to the boards, corners and board edges rubbed. 

Occasional light foxing throughout.

Likely first edition of a theological and juridical work, unrecorded on WorldCat, complete with its woodcut title-page bearing multiple allusions to the Franciscan Order, including the cord and the arms of the Order. The lay members of the Confraternity of the Cord of Saint Francis, to whom the papal indulgences confirmed herein are addressed, were thereby enabled to associate themselves spiritually with the Franciscan Order without taking religious vows. Several preliminary pieces accompany the treatise, attractively embellished throughout with foliate, zoomorphic, and figural headpieces and initials.

Contemporary vellum binding, spine with faded ink title at head and, at foot, an old fragment of a library label, original ties. Vellum at headcap slightly damaged, spine browned, upper board slightly warped, a few discrete worming to the boards. Dampstaining to pp. 117-128, 129-134, 147-150 and 235-246; ink offset to pp. 148 and 149.

Complete first edition in its metal case with integrated magnifying glass.

Publisher's binding in red morocco, title gilt on spine and upper board, gilt advertisement ("SAVON PEARS' SOAP") on lower board, silver interior to metal case.

Some browning to head and foot of spine, old circular imprint from the magnifying glass on upper board, marginal scuffing to boards, light wear to case.

Second edition, partly original, notably augmented with several additional pieces, complete with the caricature  woodcut portrait of the widow Oudot as frontispiece, printed in green, as is the title. According to Barbier, the burlesque portrait was engraved by one of the authors, the comte de Caylus himself.

Contemporary full mottled brown calf, smooth spine richly gilt with fleurons, palms and scrollwork, brown-red morocco lettering-piece, triple gilt fillet bordering the boards with fleurons at corners, gilt fillet on board edges, all edges gilt, pastedowns and endpapers of small-comb pattern marbled paper.

Small losses to the headcaps, lower joint of the front board split over 1 in., light wear to the joints, some surface scratching to the board margins, front board slightly warped, corners bumped.

Marginal stain on p. 19.

First edition of this work published by the Société du Bout-du-Banc, the celebrated literary salon presided over by Mademoiselle Jeanne-Françoise Quinault and the Comte de Caylus. This intimate circle, originally comprising eight members, would gather on Mondays at dinner to exchange ideas and to write; at the close of each meal, every distinguished guest was required to set down a few lines — whether in the coarse poissard style or in a more refined vein — on paper. It was in this context that Les Fêtes roulantes, ou les regrets des petites rues came into being, in the wake of the celebrations held in Paris in honour of the Dauphin's second marriage, to Marie-Josèphe de Saxe.

Pastiche binding in plum half-shagreen, spine with five raised bands framed by gilt dotted fillets and six compartments decorated with gilt fillets and fleurons, marbled paper boards, gilt top edge, pastedowns and endpapers in shell-pattern marbled paper.

Some minor rubbing to the paper of the lower board, corners slightly bumped.

Fifth edition of the "New edition, enlarged with the Description of all new Monuments, Buildings & other Curiosities, with the changes made over the past approximately twenty years," to which is joined a supplementary volume by the same author, likewise printed in 1771, drawn from the "latest edition." The first work is thought to have been that of Claude-Marin Saugrain, before being taken up by Georges-Louis Le Rouge.
A complete copy with all 44 engravings, some folded, such as the map of France, of substantial size. It features the Bastille fortress, twenty-eight years before its fall, as well as the château of Saint-Cloud, still standing.
Contemporary bindings in full speckled brown calf, spines with five raised bands, also decorated with richly gilt compartments, brown morocco lettering and numbering pieces, slightly darker on the first volume, gilt fillet on the board edges, red edges, pastedowns and endpapers of shell-pattern marbled paper.
Boards slightly warped on all three volumes, corners bumped.
A few minor losses to the headcaps of volumes 2 and 3. Occasional small surface scuffs to the margins of volume 1. Two raised spots to the spine of volume 2.
In volume 1, the engraving facing p. 464 slightly closely trimmed.
In volume 2, a small stain affecting the text at p. 104.

(our own translation)

First edition of a play regarded as historically significant, performed for the first time nineteen days before the execution of Louis XVI, which set all of Paris and then France ablaze to the point of interrupting the King's trial, by a constitutional monarchist playwright.

Nineteenth-century Bradel binding in half brown percaline, smooth spine decorated with a gilt fleuron, red morocco lettering-piece, pebble-pattern marbled paper boards, edges lightly red-speckled.

Corners bumped.

Discreet scattered foxing. 

Minor printing flaw on p. 7.

First edition, at one time attributed to Bernard Le Bouyer de Fontenelle, on the loves of a shepherd of illustrious lineage: Mirtil, son of Venus and Adonis. Complete copy with its engraved title page by Louis Legrand and its six plates drawn by Hubert François Gravelot and engraved by Louis Legrand.

Half marbled calf binding, spine with five raised bands decorated with dotted gilt fillets, five compartments richly gilt with fillets and fleurons, pebble-pattern marbled paper boards, red edges, pastedowns and endpapers also in pebble-pattern marbled paper, pastiche binding in fine condition.

A few discreet marginal dampstains.

First edition of a work by an Illuminist author, also a barrister at the Parlement, known for his licentious and libertine writings, including L'Histoire de Dom Bougre, portier des Chartreux. This work was also at one time attributed to Pierre Lambert de Saumery, who published under the pseudonym "de Mirone."

Midnight blue half morocco with corners, spine with five gilt raised bands decorated with compartments richly gilt with arabesques, fillets and small stars, marbled paper boards framed with gilt fillets, pastedowns and endpapers in combed-pattern marbled paper, pastiche binding signed on the verso of the first free endpaper "Cuzin." Loosely inserted bookplate at the front of the volume, bearing the intertwined initials "DP."

Spine slightly sunned.

Discreet scattered foxing. 

Title page printed in red.

Illustrated first edition, lacking the frontispiece portrait of Hippocrates, but complete with its five plates, fine decorative initials and large tailpieces.

Contemporary full tree calf, smooth spine richly gilt with, among other decorations, a palmette roll, tan morocco lettering piece, gilt roll on board edges. Ink ownership inscription on the front pastedown: "J. E. Petrequin \ lyon, nov. 1856," in the hand of Joseph Pierre Eléonor Pétrequin, chief surgeon at the Hôtel-Dieu de Lyon, who received the distinction of Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur in 1855.

Scattered foxing, marginal tear to p. xi. A fine copy. 

One of the first collected editions of these seven comic novellas, initially printed separately, by the Sieur de Préfontaine, regarded as a first-rate author by Charles Louandre: "without seeking to diminish in any way the merit of Boileau, without disputing his title as legislator of taste, one may say that Charles Sorel, Furetière, Préfontaine, [...] contributed alongside him and before him to cleansing the French Parnassus."

The first edition of one of the short stories contained in this volume, L'Assemblée des filoux et des filles de joie, is to this day lost; its earliest version is thus found in the 1671 editions.

Early nineteenth-century binding in full brown long-grain morocco, smooth spine with six gilt compartments decorated with urns, red morocco lettering-piece, triple gilt fillet border to boards, gilt-tooled roll to board edges with a diagonal line pattern, gilt edges, marbled pastedowns and endpapers with a shell pattern. Bookplate of "ED. PETIT" on the verso of the first free endpaper.

First free endpaper torn at inner margin over 5 cm, title page marginally rubbed, very slight marginal dampstaining from p. 297 to p. 318. A handsome and pleasing copy.

(our own translation) 

First edition of the complete works of Charles Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède and de Montesquieu, edited by François Richer under the supervision of the author's son. Volumes 1 and 2 contain the celebrated Spirit of the Laws, introduced by a headpiece depicting the 1753 Dassier medal and illustrated with two maps—a world map and one of Europe—in the second volume. This copy is enriched with a frontispiece, painted by Jacques de Sève and engraved by Claude-Antoine Littret, from the 1767 London edition, as well as 10 additional pages containing the "Additions" in volume 3.

Regarded as canonical, this 1758 edition was, according to Plassan and André Masson, "prepared from the author's text and the changes found among his papers."

Contemporary bindings in speckled brown calf, smooth spines richly gilt, brown morocco lettering and numbering pieces, triple gilt fillet to boards with fleurons at corners, double gilt fillet to board edges, comb marbled blue edges, turn-ins tooled with gilt pomegranates and fleurons, shell marbled endpapers and pastedowns. The pastedowns of this copy bear a library stamp on each volume and two armorial bookplates on volumes 1 and 3: the first bearing the coat of arms of Prince Auguste Marie Raymond d'Arenberg, Count de La Marck; the second that of his son Prince Ernst Engelbert Louis Marie d'Arenberg.

Some minor rubbing and surface scratches to boards, small tear to upper board margin of volume 1, headcap slightly detached on volume 1, wormhole to tail of spine of volume 2, corners bumped.

Some scattered foxing. In volume 1, small wormholes to pp. v and 1 margins. In volume 3, tiny marginal tear to p. 115 and small marginal hole to p. 175.

Page ix appears twice in volume 1, the second time facing p. lxxxvi. Some manuscript annotations, notably on the half-title of volume 3.

 (our own translation)

First edition by a forgotten Ferrarese polygraph and historian, which nevertheless enjoyed considerable success upon publication and was followed by two subsequent editions in 1577 and 1599. According to Marc Adam Kolakowski, Alessandro Sardi, together with Johannes Boemus, pioneered the use of "antiquarian and ethnographic perspectives" in the study of ancient religions.

Fine historiated initials depicting various Greco-Roman deities.

Later full parchment binding with turn-ins, flat spine with title in brown ink and two annotations, likely from a library classification system, also in brown ink, original ties present. Ink ownership inscription on title page reading: "Louis Joséphi Civitatis Novae".

Minor holes to boards, slightly warped, marginal stain to upper board, minor wormholes to pastedowns, marginal dampstaining to pp. 17-63, 79-113, and 225-255. Overall a fine copy.

Several lines underlined in brown ink and some corrections, also in brown ink, on pp. 38, 39, and 241. In both cases, probably in the same hand as the ownership inscription.

New edition of the translation by Alain-René Le Sage, revised by Pons-Auguste Alletz, some forty years after its initial publication. Two frontispieces decorate each volume. As we learn from the Avertissement, this classic, which flowed from the pen of the author nicknamed the "Divine Spaniard" by his compatriots, was then, in the 1770s, unknown to a large part of the French youth.

Contemporary binding in full brown tree calf, smooth gilt spine with four compartments separated by traditional and dotted fillets, red morocco lettering-piece and numbering-piece, blind fillet framing the boards, gilt fillet on board edges, red edges, shell-marbled paper pastedowns and endpapers.

Discreet old restorations, corners worn, scattered foxing. On the first volume, the upper board is slightly sprung and the spine is lightly split at the foot; on the second volume, the upper joint is slightly starting and there are a few minor losses to the red morocco of the spine. Internally in good condition. In the first volume, small holes to pp. 27 and 169, not affecting the text, and a small marginal tear to p. 227. In the second volume, a discrete red stain to the frontispiece and title-page, a small hole slightly affecting the text on p. 315, a marginal tear very slightly touching the text on p. 361, and another marginal tear, also to the margin, not affecting the text on p. 367.

A rare 1750 reimpression of two works first published together in 1669, brought together by the fabulist from that first date.

Contemporary full brown sheep, spine with five raised bands highlighted with a gilt fillet and decorated with five compartments tooled with dandelion-shaped gilt fleurons, red morocco lettering piece, blind-ruled fillet framing the boards, gilt fillet on board edges, red edges, shell pattern marbled pastedowns and endpapers.

Head and tail caps slightly split, discreet loss of leather and light scratches to boards, corners worn.

Marginal tear to p. 197, light scattered foxing, otherwise in fine condition.

First edition limited to only 250 copies, which were not offered for sale but given to the author's close circle. This former minister under Louis XV composed these essays in 1736, and his son, the Marquis de Paulmy, had them published nearly fifty years later.

Contemporary half brown calf, grained paper boards, spine with five raised bands decorated with five compartments featuring double gilt fillets, red morocco lettering piece, red speckled edges.

Lower headcap missing, some surface rubbing to boards, corners worn, small wormhole at foot of spine, book interior in fine condition.

Light foxing, author's name annotated in brown ink on title page.

The name of the author's intellectual master, Michel de Montaigne, is spelled here, as in the first edition of the Essais, without the 'i'—originally silent before 'gn'; but after all, isn't 'Montagne' one of the highest peaks of French literature?

Copy comprising two translations in first edition by M. de Marolles, Abbé de Villeloin. Charming allegorical engraved title-page depicting the authors and their works, the latter represented as two mischievous cherub-satyrs. Several headpieces, some with coats of arms, tailpieces, and decorated initials with floral and figural motifs.

Contemporary binding in full brown calf, spine with four gilt raised bands, decorated with four compartments with gilt fleurons and roulettes, double gilt fillet framing the boards.

Darkening to the spine and lower board, rubbing and scratches to the boards, one corner bumped.

Scattered foxing and dampstaining in the margins, affecting the text only slightly, small marginal hole at p. 201, faint brown ink mark at p. 101.

Augmented and revised edition originally published by a Belgian friar in Cologne in 1634.  It was very successful in Belgium, the Netherlands, France, all the way to Mexico (El pecador arrepentido, Mexico, 1716). One copy is even recorded in the library of poet Guillaume Apollinaire (BHVP, 8-MS-FS-19-014).

Full roan binding, spine with four raised bands, gilt tooling in compartments, red morocco title label, spine-ends, joints and corners restored.

A handsome copy of this innovative confessional manual, which "encouraged self-reflection on several hundred sins, ranging from embracing heresy to cheating at games. Categorized according to the Ten Commandments, brief definitions of the sins were printed on pre-cut paper. This allowed the user to pull the slips up individually so that they extended over the superimposed paper margin, thereby serving as topical reminders for reflection and confession, to be tucked under the margin again after the confession. The ability to select, manipulate, and categorize particular textual units introduced in this book can be seen as a precursor to modern information management systems. (Bridwell Library, Southern Methodist University)

"Vous avez été leurs maîtres, et vous en avez mal agi ; ils sont devenus les vôtres, et ils vous pardonnent ; faites vos réflexions là-dessus." ["You have been their masters, and you have acted badly; they have become yours, and they forgive you; reflect upon this."] (Trivelin, final scene)

“This little edition, said to be very accurate, is a true typographical jewel, and perhaps the most beautiful one ever printed in the Hebrew language.”

Second collective first edition, with continuous pagination, containing for the first time Phèdre, the Discours prononcé à l'Académie françoise à la réception de Messieurs de Corneille et de Bergeret and the Idylle sur la paix.(Brunet, IV, 1077). Work illustrated with 12 figures including 2 frontispieces, most signed by François Chauveau; the frontispiece of the first volume engraved by Le Brun. 
Edition shared between Barbin, Denys Thierry and Pierre Trabouillet.
Full midnight blue morocco binding from the late 19th century signed at the foot of the pastedown Thibaron-Joly (Former worker of Trautz, Thibaron partnered with the gilder Joly in 1874). Spine with raised bands decorated. Boards à la Du Seuil, executed with a central rectangle formed by a triple fillet, with fleurons in the corners followed by a frame of triple fillets. Rich decorative gilt board-edges. Edges gilt. Minimal traces of rubbing. A few rare leaves slightly more yellowed, otherwise, magnificent copy in a condition close to perfection. 
Blue sheepskin bookplate featuring a dolphin in a shield: Bibliothèque Génard. 
Rare collective edition after the first published in 1676 by Claude Barbin, important and sought after for the variants and additions it offers.

First French edition, after the first edition published in 1608 in Mainz, where the author worked as a teacher. Illustrated with a title-frontispiece, allegory of the 7 deadly sins represented by monsters, Christ in medallion at the top with his feet on a seven-headed dragon.

Contemporary beige morocco, spine elaborately decorated in gilt, sides with central gilt armorial stamps, full quartered arms on the lower plate, boards elaborately framed in gilt using the same tools as the spine, with gilt cornerpieces, gilt edges, traces of laces. Upper spine restored, as well as spine-ends. Brown stain to second board, 1cm in diameter. Leaf 553, a hole to the lower margin, a few pale traces of foxing, some rubbed spots.

A very fine copy in an elaborately decorated early 17th-century Italian armorial morocco binding with the arms of the Duke of Magenta, Alfonso Brentano.
The Panarion is a curious encyclopedia of mental illnesses viewed as immoral behavior and classified according to biblical vices and virtues. The author examines 83 vices and 75 virtues, and adds a biblical remedy for each. Originally, the Panarion listed known heresies. One of the first works on moral psychology.

• Volume 1 : 2 fr. et 22 pl. (+1) - vij (1) 304 pp.
• Volume 2 : 2 fr. et 14 pl. - 312 pp. Page 147 mounted. Two small restorations to the lower margin of pages 266 and 267.
• Volume 3 : 2 fr. et 23 pl. - 304 pp. Lower part of p. 121 restored, probably during the binding process, with a different typeface on the last two lines of the text.
• Volume 4 : 2 fr. et 15 pl. (+1) - 293 pp. (3). Small hole to the last page (publisher's catalogue)

• Tome 1 : 2 fr. et 10 pl. - 344 pp. 2 title pages dated 1784 "chés la d.me Veuve Duchesne" + 1 title page Les Dangers de la ville. Restoration to the upper corner of p. 9.
• Tome 2 : 2 fr. et 4 pl. - 320 pp. (mal chif. 220). Title page of Les Dangers de la ville pasted over that of La Paysane pervertie 1784 "chés le libraire indiqué au frontispice de la I Partie du Paysan"
• Tome 3 : 2 fr. et 7 pl. - 320 pp. 2 versions of the title pages as described above. A restoration to the inner margin of p. 257.
• Tome 4 : 2 fr. et 9 pl. - 344 pp. ; 8 pp. ; (1) clxx-ccxliv (12) Also 2 versions also of the title page. The first page of the text of Dangers de la ville bound, with some skillful restorations.

Rare first edition decorated with ornamental headpieces, letterheads and culs-de-lampe.

Posterior binding in full red morocco, Jansenist spine, gilt date at the foot, marbled endpapers, frame of gilt roll-tooling on the pastedown endpapers, all edges gilt.
A very beautiful copy of one of the most famous plays in the French repertoire. It was played for the first time on 13 December 1669 at the Hôtel de Bourgogne and received a mixed reception. At the head of this edition is a preface by the playwright responding to his critics:

“Of all the works that I have given to the public, there is none
that attracted more applause and nor more critics that this one. [...] What is missed by the spectators may be noticed by the readers.”

New Plantin press editions in portable format of these three works. Ruled throughout in red ink.

Copy with the arms of Nicolas de Villars, clerical councillor at the Parlement of Paris and treasurer of the Sainte-Chapelle, later bishop of Agen.

Contemporary full soft brown morocco, a fanfare binding with the rare Duodo-type decoration: smooth spine gilt with six medallions each containing a flower, gilt foliage border, covers fully gilt with 24 medallions, some emblematic (sun, heart, acorn, bouquet, sheaf of wheat), arms stamped in the centre, edges gilt. Discreet restorations to joints, corners, and headcaps; upper and lower borders with minor wear to leather (0.5 cm); lacking ties; pinhole at head of spine. From the first title-leaf, a wormhole in the lower margin extending through to the final leaves of the Fables of Aesop, gradually diminishing.

A magnificent copy of the utmost rarity.

The singular decoration of this style of binding, representing one of the pinnacles of the art of French bookbinding, is today identified as Duodo, after Pierre Duodo, Venetian ambassador to Paris from 1594 to 1597. About 150 small volumes were uniformly bound for a portable library (only part now known), probably towards the end of his stay. It is unlikely he ever enjoyed these treasures, which fell into oblivion for nearly two centuries. When they reappeared on the English market at the end of the eighteenth century, they were mistakenly attributed to Marguerite de Valois, an error that persisted until the 1920s.

Although the name Duodo remains attached to this style of decoration, another great collector commissioned similar bindings: Nicolas de Villars, bishop of Agen. Duodo’s bindings are now well identified, while those of Nicolas de Villars are considerably rarer on the market.

While the spine here is very close to the Duodo examples, with flowers and foliage borders (though in a finer and denser design), the covers show 24 medallions, compared to only 14 on Duodo bindings, and the tools employed are not limited to floral motifs but include a variety of emblems such as the sun and the heart.

Third edition after the original published in Bordeaux in 1593 and a second Parisian edition in 1594. The copy mentions the second edition because it is the second to be published in Bordeaux.
Extremely rare handwritten presentation signed by the author on the page of the endpaper: “Pour Monsieur de Rives en memoire de moy. A Caors ce iiij [4] may 1595. Charron.” “For Monseiur de Rives in memory of me. In Caors this iiij [4] May 1595. Charron.” It is, without doubt, about Jean III de Rieu, Lord of Rives, who belonged to the family of Antoine Hébrard de Saint-Sulpice, bishop of Cahors. Pierre Charron had been called theological by this same bishop of Cahors and became his curate for six years.
Bound in calf vellum with contemporary yapp edges, blank spine.
Extensive yellowing of the endpaper page until page 30, then lessening, in the middle of the page throughout the first part and until page 120 of the second part. This yellowing resumes from page 760 until the end.
Pierre Charron's first writing, who, in this controversial work regarding Protestantism, develops three great “vérités” “truths”: religion is necessary, Christianity is revealed and only the Roman Church is the true Church. It is this last point in particular that the author tries to demonstrate. This third part is so important that it has its own title page and takes up two-thirds of the book.
In Bordeaux, Pierre Charron met Montaigne whose ideas spread through his works and his thoughts. They bonded with such a deep friendship that Montaigne designated Charron as heir to his house coat of arms.
The handwritten ex-donos or presentations of the great humanists of the 16th century are an exceptional rarity.

First edition of the Marcello Virgilio translation in Latin, dedicated to Leo X. The princeps edition was based on an old translation by Petrus de Abano (ca. 1250-1316), and published in 1478 in Colle di Val d'Elsa. The original text was written in Greek around 60 AD.
Title page in red and black. 45 lines per page. Colophon : "Florentiæ per hæredes Philippi Iuntæ Florentini. Anno ab incarnatione Domini.1518. Idibus Octobris. Leone decimo Christiana[m] Rempub. gerente." Superb Filippo Giunta printer's mark on verso of last leaf. Bibliographical note in French opposite the title page.
Full modern limp vellum binding, all edges faintly bluish.
A lack of a small piece of paper skillfully filled on the title page, and the margins of the first endpapers have been restored. A few pages at the end of the volume show the discreet work of a few worms - without affecting the text. The copy has been thoroughly cleaned.
We have not been able to find any copy of this important edition for sale, except in the catalogue of a nineteenth-century German bookshop (Ernest Heinemann, Offenbach sur le Mein, 1840).
Provenance: Crowned monogram H.O. and library stamp of Prince Nicolas Petrovitch of Oldenburg (1840-1886) on the title page. He was the great-grandson of Emperor Paul I, through his daughter Catherine Pavlovna (1788-1819) who married George of Oldenburg. His sister Alexandra married Grand Duke Nicholas, son of Emperor Nicholas I. His nephew Peter of Oldenburg married Grand Duchess Olga, daughter of Emperor Alexander III.

Rare Collection of Three Theological Commentaries: 

-In libros Paralipomenon, sive Chronicorum Commentarius. Ludwig Lavater. Printed by Christophorus Froschoverus, Zurich, 1573. First edition, with the printer’s mark on the title-page. Preface by Ludwig Lavater dated February 1573. Numerous genealogical tables.

- Praelectiones Ioannis Calvini in librum prophetiarum Danielis. Jean Calvin. Edited by Jean Budée and Charles de Jonvilliers. Apud Bartholomaeum Vincentium, 1571. Place not indicated, but almost certainly Geneva, based on typographical evidence and the preface dated 14 September 1571. Hebrew text in bold, with translation to the left and commentary in smaller type beneath.  First edition.

- In Apocalypsim Iesu Christi revelatam quidem per angelum domini. Heinrich Bullinger. Bâle. Ioannem Oporinum. 1559. Printer's device on title-page. First edition, illustrated with two large historiated initials.

Contemporary pigskin binding, spine with five plain raised bands, large Renaissance blind-stamped panel on the boards comprising a succession of decorative frames: the two central with floral motifs, the next with medallions depicting profile figures, then the virtues (Faith, Fortune, Charity…), and finally another floral frieze with medallions and profiles.

Traces of clasps. Three tears to the spine with losses. Wormholes on the upper board. Restorations to the lower right corner of the upper board, to the corners and clasps of the lower board. Losses to the lower joint at head and tail of the lower board.

New edition (third?) and first in 6 volumes. The first edition dates from 1746. Les Songes philosophiques are in first edition.
Contemporary full speckled brown calf bindings. Smooth spines decorated. Red morocco title and volume labels. Triple gilt fillet and star cornerpieces on boards. All edges red. Three head caps and three tail caps worn. A few corners very slightly bumped.
The Lettres chinoises, inaugurated by the same author as the Lettres juives have this typical Enlightenment design of comparing the customs and habits of several civilizations; the work takes up the scheme, always humorous, of the first work of this type: L'espion de la cour de Marana, then Montesquieu's Lettres persanes. A Chinese narrator writes to his compatriots from different places in Europe (Moscow, Stockholm, Paris...). The work is always supposed to make us question the strangeness of our own thoughts and customs. D'Argens also describes several journeys to the Orient, with interesting information on the customs and institutions of Oriental countries. Like the Lettres cabalistiques or Jewish letters by the same author, the Lettres chinoises were published in periodicals.
The philosophical dreams, numbering twenty, accounts of dreams, are authentic utopias; the first tells of a land inhabited and governed by monkeys, Singimanie; the second takes a monkey and the narrator to the Changijournes, a people who continually change their clothes and fashion... In the fifteenth dream, the narrator receives a visit from Racine, and the dialogue expounds the subject matter of belles-lettres in the author's time.