Cadeaux historiques

First Italian edition; the work had originally appeared as early as 1806 with the Paris imprint of Gratiot, under the more explicit title: "La Guerra de'tre mesi, o l'Ultima campagna di S. M. l'Imperatore Napoleone".

Only three copies recorded in the CCF (BnF, Poitiers and Rouen, all of the 1806 edition).

Contemporary Bradel-style binding in quarter tan calf with corners, smooth spine decorated with gilt garlands, crimson morocco lettering-piece, rubbing to spine and boards with some loss of paper, yellow edges.

Some foxing; small wormholes to the lower right-hand corner of the final three pages, not affecting the text.

Unlike the author’s other works, this...

Rare and important first edition, printed in a small number of copies, of this offprint from the Journal asiatique for the year 1849.

Heavy foxing throughout.

Original wrappers, illustrated with a folding plate inserted at the end of the volume.

In the mid-nineteenth century, this traditional alphabet used for the Tamazight languages attracted very little interest among Orientalist scholars.

French edition, issued simultaneously with an English edition by the same publishers. It is a virulent pamphlet directed against Napoleon himself, circulated by one of his best-known opponents: General Jean Sarrazin (1770-1848), who had defected to the enemy on 10 June 1810, having himself conveyed aboard an English brig by a fishing boat from Boulogne.

Full red blind-stamped cloth binding, smooth spine decorated with gilt fillets, gilt initials at the foot of the spine, discolouration marks to the spine, blue paper endleaves and pastedowns.

Foxing.
Work illustrated with a portrait of General Kléber as frontispiece.

Sentenced to death in absentia by the Lille...

First edition, first printing (with the table in X7 and without the errata leaf, which only appears in the second printing copies).

Cf. Blackmer 863. Atabey 607.

Manuscript ex-libris at the head of an endpaper, a few minor foxing spots.

Contemporary half tan calf binding, smooth spine decorated with double gilt fillets, brick-red morocco title label, marbled paper boards, lemon edges speckled with blue.

Spine slightly rubbed and stained, minor loss to the upper joint.

The work reflects the observations and notes from a journey undertaken in 1790–1791.

A few years later, the Comte de Salaberry (1766–1847) would become, contrary to the Philhellene...

A very rare collection, unrecorded by both Martin & Walter and Sabin.

Modern bradel binding in full grey paper-covered boards, smooth spine, white longitudinal title label.

The second Assembly of Notables, a little-known historical episode, concerned itself not only with the affairs of metropolitan France but also with those of the colonies.

Following the preliminary matter, comprising four letters from the commissioners (to the Notables, to the King, to the Minister of the Navy, and again to the King), the principal text consists of an Mémoire instructif sur le régime & l'importance de la colonie de Saint-Domingue. The two principal issues addressed are the...

First edition of this important pre-Revolutionary economic pamphlet. (See INED 3994. Stourm 152. Not in Kress, Goldsmith, or Einaudi.)

Our copy is preserved in its original wrappers and plain paper covers.

A marginal waterstain to the left edge of the leaves.

"Ruelle, an advocate of physiocratic economic principles, demonstrates that the burden of taxation ultimately always falls upon landowners. He argues for the necessity of consolidating all taxes into a single direct income tax. Combined with unrestricted freedom of trade, this tax would constitute the only means of restoring the finances of the State. A critique of public borrowing and a defence of property." See...

First edition, exceedingly rare, illustrated with 3 folding tables, 6 charming vignettes drawn and engraved by J. Duplessi-Bertaux, and 5 plates by Tardieu: 1 folding plan of Sebastopol, 1 large folding map, and 3 plates depicting medals, coins, and bas-reliefs (cf. Atabey 1034. Absent from Blackmer. No copy recorded in the NUC.)

Contemporary Bradel binding in full green paper-covered boards, smooth spine decorated with gilt rules, minor scuffing to spine and covers, a small snag at the foot of the upper cover, contemporary binding.

Wear to spine ends, one bumped lower corner, occasional foxing, a few dampstains at the foot of certain leaves.

In February 1803, Baron de...

A very rare first edition of this atlas only, comprising a folding map and 46 plates mounted on guards depicting a total of 135 figures.

Contemporary Bradel-style binding in black half-cloth over marbled boards, spine damaged at the foot, title label partially rubbed away along its length, boards with scuffs and losses to the marbled paper covering, bumped corners, minor wear to the edges.

An exceptionally rare standalone atlas from this landmark monograph on the Chibcha, or Muisca, civilization.

First edition illustrated with 4 hors-texte plates of line-engraved Greek coins.

Our copy is preserved in its original wrappers.

Appointed professor of archaeology at the Sorbonne in 1820, succeeding Quatremère de Quincy,

Désiré Raoul-Rochette (1789-1854) specialized principally in Greek antiquity. He also served as curator of the Cabinet des médailles.

First edition of the French translation of the first part (Die Osmanen und die spanische Monarchie im XVI. und XVII. Jahrhundert) of the monumental work by the Prussian historian Leopold Ranke (1795-1886), professor at the University of Berlin: Fürsten und Völker von Süd-Europa im XVI. und XVII. Jahrhundert, Berlin, 1837.

Cf. Hage-Chahine 3920. Schefer 2617. Bourquelot VI 124.

Contemporary half havana calf, smooth spine ruled in gilt and black, a few rubs to the spine, a small chip at the headcap, marbled paper boards, paste-paper endpapers and pastedowns, speckled edges, contemporary binding.

First edition of what is sometimes inaccurately referred to as the "Constitution of Year XII", but which in fact constitutes an act of the Conservative Senate, dated the previous day (18 June 1804), entrusting the government of the French Republic (this designation being retained until 1814) to a hereditary Emperor in the person of Napoleon Bonaparte, and to his successors (in the absence of a direct male heir, a substantial portion of the text is devoted to the organisation of the succession)

This also represents the final production of the Imprimerie de la République, which immediately thereafter became the Imprimerie impériale.

A few minor spots of foxing, not...

Rare first edition, illustrated at the end of the volume with a large folding plate of inscriptions (cf. Blackmer 1317. Not in Atabey).

Contemporary half tan calf over marbled boards, with corners, darkened smooth spine ruled in gilt, black morocco lettering-piece, boards rubbed, red-speckled edges.

One joint fragile and tending to separate, some foxing.

"Pittakis is known as the first Greek archaeologist. His early steps were guided by the French consul in Athens, Fauvel, and in 1828, under the provisional government, he was appointed inspector of antiquities. In 1833, with the coming of King Otho, he was appointed supervisor of antiquities of mainland Greece. In...

First edition.

Sabin 62880. Not in Leclerc.

Contemporary half red shagreen, spine rubbed and decorated with five raised bands, gilt initials at the foot, marbled paper-covered boards, combed paper endpapers and pastedowns.

First edition, printed in a small number of copies, of this offprint from the Revue de l'Orient, de l'Algérie et des colonies, published in the February 1857 issue.

According to the CCFr, copies are recorded only at the BnF, the BULAC and the Académie de médecine.

Our copy is preserved in its original stitched wrappers, with plain blue temporary paper covers, unopened.

Some foxing.

This pamphlet surveys all the animals mentioned in the Quranic surahs.

The author, Antoine-Paulin Pihan (1810-1879), who was proficient in Arabic, Turkish and Persian, was merely a proofreader in the Oriental typography department of the Imprimerie Impériale. Yet the number of...

First edition (cf. Conlon 16:162; not listed by Barbier).

Later half marbled calf binding, spine with five raised bands ruled and decorated in gilt, marbled paper boards, speckled edges.

Restoration to the left-hand margin of the title-page, black ink stains in the margins of pages 4 and 5 and on the final flyleaf, with a few small spots of foxing.

Despite the anonymous author's prefatory remarks, the work appears to be a fashionable abridgement of Pétis de La Croix's book.

Rare first edition of the French translation, illustrated with a facsimile plate.

According to the CCF, copies are held only at the BnF, Sainte-Geneviève, the Assemblée nationale and Bayonne.

Contemporary half brown sheep, smooth spine gilt with romantic arabesque tools, some rubbing and small losses to the joints and edges of the boards, marbled paper boards, endpapers of marbled paper, armorial bookplate pasted to a pastedown, speckled edges, contemporary binding.

Some light foxing.

The only French edition, very rare, of this account of the end of the First Carlist War (1833-1839), which concluded with the Convention of Ognate on 29 August 1839, between...

First edition of this letter which in fact sets forth a concrete political programme.

Absent from Starace.

Contemporary Bradel binding in half saffron buckram, smooth spine, rubbed brown sheep title-piece, marbled paper boards.

Bookplate with date and place inscribed in ink at the head of a flyleaf.

Provenance: from the library of Prince Roland Bonaparte (p. 222 of the catalogue of his library, 1891) with his engraved bookplate pasted onto an endpaper.

Rare first edition, one of 300 copies printed (cf. Palau 159 501).

Not recorded by Pardo de Tavera; only two copies listed in the CCF (BnF and Cujas).

The bibliography of the eminent Chilean historian José Toribio Medina Zavala (1852-1930) is extensive, though he is chiefly known for his works on Chile and Latin America. He also took an interest in other Spanish possessions, as shown by this short monograph, which appears to be the only early study devoted to the subject.

Small tears to spine and along the margins of the wrappers, with a few marginal tears to some leaves owing to the poor quality of the paper.

Contemporary manuscript copy of the important unpublished memoir written in Tonkin in 1841 by the Spanish Dominican Domingo Martí (1811–1852), devoted to the lives and martyrdom of twenty-seven Servants of God who died between 1838 and 1840 during the anti-Christian persecutions carried out under the reign of Emperor Minh Mạng.

Small quarto (15 × 19.8 cm). 6 unnumbered leaves, 2 blank leaves, 117 numbered leaves with a few pagination errors...

First edition of this provisional account of the Helvetian campaign, from the moment Masséna assumed command (11 December 1798-21 April 1799).

Contemporary grey half cloth Bradel binding, smooth spine, tan longitudinal lettering-piece, marbled-paper boards, endpapers and pastedowns.

Occasional light foxing, a faint dampstain to the upper margins of most leaves, not affecting the text.

Louis Marès (1765-1806), initially a volunteer from the Hérault, transferred to the Corps of Engineers in 1793; wounded at Austerlitz, he died in early 1806 from the effects of his injury.

First edition of the French translation (cf. Blackmer 1752. Not in Weber or Atabey. See Barbier IV, 1083.)

Contemporary full marbled tan calf bindings, smooth spines gilt tooled in compartments with floral motifs, red morocco lettering-pieces, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt fillets to board edges.

Some restorations to a few joints and spines, minor scattered foxing.

Volume IV is entirely devoted to the author’s stay in the Greek islands: Crete, Candia, Damaste, Retimo, Mount Ida, Gortyn, the labyrinth of Crete, Milo, Syphante, Seriphos, Antiparos, Paros, Naxia, Stenofa, Amorgos, Skinosa, Delos, Rhenia, Syra, Cynthos, Zia, Macrounisa, Jura, Tenos, Scio...

First edition, illustrated with a frontispiece depicting the site of the ancient city of Panticapaeum (now Kerch, in Crimea), a title-page vignette showing a view of the modern town, two maps (Greek colonies of the Bosphorus and the Black Sea; the Strait of Kerch, with Macpherson’s route), as well as 12 plates, 9 of them in colour (tumuli, vases, bronzes, oil lamps, statuettes, symbols, inscriptions and various objects recovered during excavations), and numerous wood-engravings in the text.

Cf. Abbey, Travel in aquatint and lithography, 243. Blackmer, 1055.

Publisher’s grey blind-stamped cloth, gilt title lettered lengthwise to the smooth spine, large gilt device blocked at...

First edition illustrated with 19 lithographed plates in colour or printed on tinted grounds (including a plan), with captioned tissue guards.

Only two copies recorded in the CCF (BnF and Musée de l'Homme).

The sole edition of this report, in fact written by the duke’s secretary, A. Gory.

La Butte-Ronde lies near the Luynes family estate at Dampierre (though in fact within the commune of Saint-Forget): the learned archaeologist who was the eighth duke (1802-1867) could hardly fail to take an interest in excavations carried out on the site, which brought to light a Gallo-Roman fanum. The pamphlet enjoyed only confidential circulation, and the duke’s death, in that same...

First edition illustrated with 7 plates printed outside the text.

A snag with loss to the front wrapper, foxing throughout, dampstain to the rear wrapper.

A commentary on the bilingual Phoenician and Greek inscription engraved on one of the two Cippi of Melqart, dating from the 2nd century BC and presented in 1782 to Louis XVI by the Grand Master of the Hospitallers.

It was then housed at the Bibliothèque Mazarine and has been preserved at the Louvre since 1864.

Extremely rare original edition of this notice compiled by the director of the Museo Michoacano, exploring the development of indigenous medicine from the era of the Tarascan Kingdom (c. 1300–1530), which encompassed nearly the entire state of Michoacán.

No copies recorded in the CCF (Collective Catalogue of France).

Spine with minor losses, some foxing, and marginal tears to the boards.

desde los tiempos pre-columbianos hasta el ano 1875. Morelia [Michoacán de Ocampo], Government Printing Office, 1886, 16mo, original printed wrappers, uncut, soiled covers. 2 blank leaves, pp. 5–80, 47 pp., one colored figure in the text. No copies recorded in the CCF. Extremely rare...

Rare first edition of this virtuoso plea in defence of Prince Pierre Bonaparte (1815-1881), first cousin of the Emperor, in the case of the assassination of the journalist Victor Noir [Yvan Salmon], which took place on 10 January 1870 and caused an immense scandal.

According to the CCF [Catalogue Collectif de France], copies are held only at the BnF, Compiègne and Versailles.

Smooth spine, unlettered, small corner losses to the boards, some foxing.

The High Court of Justice, the only body empowered to try a prince of the Emperor's family, convened at Tours on 21 March 1870 and heard counsel for the civil party recall the accused's unfortunate past record (he was said to...

Second edition of this apocryphal work by the scandal-minded journalist and literary mystifier Henri de Latouche (1785–1851), first issued under the title Album perdu.

Contemporary half fawn sheep, smooth spine decorated with gilt fillets, garlands and fleurons, some rubbing to spine and joints, minor losses at head and foot of the split joints, marbled paper boards, endpapers and pastedowns, speckled edges.

Some foxing.

A collection of anecdotes and bons mots assembled here on the principle that “to those who have, more shall be given”: they circulated in the society of the July Monarchy and have since been endlessly repeated in monographs devoted to...

First bilingual edition, with the Spanish text and its French translation printed on facing pages.

Not recorded by Sabin; see no. 38614 for the "Memorandum".

Contemporary pink half cloth, smooth spine lettered in gilt, gilt date at foot with a small tear, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers, wrappers preserved, contemporary binding.

Spine slightly faded.

This work constitutes a supplement to the "Memorandum" published by Lafragua in 1857, which contained the correspondence exchanged between Mexican and Spanish diplomats during a particularly critical period in Mexican history, spanning the fall of the Santa Anna dictatorship and the Liberal victory under Juárez...

Rare first edition of this occasional piece (a second edition was issued with the Paris imprint), cf. Monglond IV, 232.

Contemporary Bradel-style binding in blue paper over boards, smooth spine ruled in gilt with double fillets, marbled paper-covered boards, a few scuffs to the spine and boards. 

From November 1795, François de Neufchâteau (1750-1828) served as Commissioner of the Executive Directory to the Central Administration of the Vosges, where he devoted himself to the development of agriculture in the department, a pursuit that always remained his foremost interest.

Copy from the library of the lawyer Charles Fournerat (1780-1867) of Ancy-le-Franc, bearing his...

First edition.

Contemporary-style half tawny calf over marbled paper boards, smooth spine decoratively tooled in blind with double fillets and floral ornaments, bookplate mounted on pastedown, wrappers preserved, speckled edges, modern binding.

A few letters erased in the text on page 35.

Exceptionally rare collection of puns and jeux de mots based on homonymy and paronymy.

The CCFr records only a similar title, though not corresponding to ours: Encyclopédie pittoresque du calembour, printed in Paris without date and comprising 127 pages with illustrations (BnF, Institut, Grenoble), which appears to be an enlarged later edition of our work. In any case...

Very rare first edition.

According to the CCFr, copies are recorded only in Dijon and Nîmes.

Our copy is offered disbound, with a few foxing spots and a small wormhole in the left margin of all leaves, not affecting the text.

Having observed that the water supplied to Dijon was unwholesome, the author argues that the waters of the River Ouche, being of good quality, could be used for consumption.

Jean Fournier, doctor of the University of Montpellier, was successively salaried physician to the city of Dijon, physician to the Estates of Burgundy, and naval physician in the ports of Brest and Lorient.

First edition, illustrated with 1 plate and 3 folding maps printed outside the text (cf. Tulard, 694.)

Our copy is preserved in its original wrappers, in soiled temporary covers with angular losses and wear to the spine; internally in pleasant condition despite some foxing.

The only edition, and uncommon, of this report on the operations at Peschiera (1–19 January 1801), which followed the Battle of Marengo and were entrusted to François de Chasseloup-Laubat, Commander-in-Chief of Engineers with the Army of Italy. 

The diplomat Étienne-Félix d'Hénin de Cuvillers (1755–1841) was then serving in the same army as a captain, and later as a squadron leader attached to the...

Rare first edition, illustrated at the beginning of the volume with an engraved line plate.

Publisher's Bradel binding in full boards covered with pink paper, smooth spine darkened, cherry-red calf lettering-piece, boards soiled.

Only three copies recorded in the CCF (BnF, Institut, Sainte-Geneviève).

The sole edition of this short monograph devoted to what was then the only known representation of this Hellenistic monarch, who ruled successively over Pontus, the Bosporus and Armenia.

The numismatist Louis Allier de Hauteroche (1766-1827) had himself served as French consul at Heraclea Pontica at the end of the eighteenth century.

Difficulties with the...

First edition, printed in a small number, of these four separately published articles by the eminent Austrian Orientalist Baron von Hammer (1774–1856), one of the pioneers of modern scholarship on the Muslim world.

Contemporary blue half sheep, smooth spine decorated with triple gilt fillets, title lettered vertically in gilt, marbled-paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns.

These four offprints were originally published in volume XII (1854) of the Sitzungsberichte der philos.-histor. Classe der kais. Akademie der Wissenschaften (Proceedings and Transactions of the Vienna Academy of Sciences, Philosophical and Historical Class) and deal chiefly with the...

Very rare first edition (cf. Hage Chahine, 4007.)

The CCF records copies only at the BnF and the Saulchoir.

Bradel-style binding in brick-red half cloth, smooth spine with longitudinal black morocco lettering-piece, marbled paper boards.

An archaeologist and Orientalist, Baron Emmanuel Guillaume-Rey (1837-1916) was the author of several works on the history of the Near East, notably on Crusader military architecture in Syria and Latin rule in the East.

An attractive copy.

Rare first edition of this early biography of Agustín Arturo Prat Chacón (1848-1879), Chilean naval officer and national hero, who was killed at the Battle of Iquique shortly after boarding the Peruvian warship Huáscar during the War of the Pacific (1879-1884).

Cf. Palau 110 041. No copy recorded in the CCF.

This pamphlet is illustrated with a lithographed portrait frontispiece.

Some minor foxing, chiefly affecting the wrappers.

Rare first edition.

No copies recorded in the CCF.

Our copy is issued in its original wrappers, in temporary grey paper covers, with a later title label to the spine.

Some losses to the temporary covers, a small hole to the title page also affecting the following four leaves with loss of letters.

A very rare record of the forces engaged on both the Spanish and French sides during the Peninsular War (1808-1814).

It comprises a sequence of 149 tables arranged chronologically, from the state of the regular troops in 1808, prior to the French intervention, through to 10 March 1814. 

Though unofficial in nature, it constitutes an essential source for...

First edition of the French translation, illustrated with 105 full-page plates (including 2 folding tables, 21 maps and plans, and 82 views and facsimiles of documents).

Remarkable account of one of the most significant international opinion manipulations by China and North Korea at the onset of the Korean War: as early as 1952, North Korean and Chinese officials (including Zhou Enlai) claimed that the U.S. Army was deploying "insect vectors" on a large scale to spread diseases such as plague and cholera among the populations of Korea and Manchuria.

As later confirmed by Soviet documents published in 1998, the entire operation had been meticulously staged.

Spine with...

First edition printed in a small number of copies of this offprint from the August 1858 issue of the Annales de philosophie chrétienne, vol. XVIII, p. 85.

Our copy is preserved in its original wrappers, housed in the publisher's contemporary plain paper covers.

Minor marginal losses to the covers.

Only three copies recorded in the CCFr (BnF, Sorbonne, BULAC).

One of the author's earliest publications. Victor-Honoré Guérin (1821-1891) was entrusted with a mission to Palestine and the island of Rhodes in 1854.

During two subsequent missions to Palestine [1863 and 1870], he visited more than 1,500 localities, towns and villages, thereby acquiring an...

First French edition of the translation (Cf. Gay 3573. Chadenat 5378 for the original English edition of 1805. See also Brunet, Table, 19960 and Graesse, III, 155).

Bound in half tan calf, smooth spine decorated with quadruple gilt and blind fillets, gilt tailpiece, marbled paper boards, speckled edges, binding slightly later.

Minor rubbing to the binding.
A member of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Griffiths visited Constantinople, Smyrna, and Mytilene, then the island of Chios and the ruins of Croesus's palace at Sardis, the ancient capital of Lydia. He then traveled to Konya, Aleppo, and Basra; from there, he descended the Persian Gulf, passed through Muscat, and...

First edition, printed in a small number of copies on laid paper, of this offprint from the Mémoires de la Société nationale des antiquaires de France, volume XXXVI.

Illustrated at the beginning with a folding plate.

A tear at the head of the spine, which also has a small loss at the foot.

A study of a series of 24 engravings from the early Florentine school, one of which had just been acquired by the Bibliothèque nationale.

Georges Gratet-Duplessis (1834-1899), a historian of printmaking, was director of the Bibliothèque nationale's Cabinet des estampes from 1885 until his death.

First edition, printed in a limited run, of this extract from the Revue britannique of February 1880.

Only three known copies in the CCF (BnF, INHA, and Sorbonne).

This copy is presented in its original wrappers, with a blank temporary cover.

Pamphlet adorned with in-text black-and-white illustrations.

In Greek mythology, the Cabeiri were minor deities worshipped in mystery cults across several regions of Greece, particularly on the islands of Samothrace, Lemnos, and Imbros.

These deities, little understood even by the Greeks themselves, were remnants of an Aegean past influenced by Phoenician culture, yet they later became protectors of...

First edition in two parts, illustrated at the end of the volume with one folding table outside the text: "État des farines importées de France et de l'Etranger dans différens Ports de cette Colonie, pendant les mois d'Avril, Mai, Juin & Juillet derniers".

Not recorded by Sabin.

Ineed 2034, which does not mention the folding table: "Des rapports commerciaux qui relient la colonie à la métropole. Saint Domingue ayant souffert de disette, les députés de l'Ile demandent l'abolition du pacte colonial. Mais les députés des manufactures et du commerce de France soutiennent que leurs exportations de blé à Saint Domingue ont toujours été suffisantes et que leur prix n'a jamais...

First edition of the French translation, printed on laid paper (cf. Loukia Droulia 1536. See Blackmer 663 for the original English edition).

Modern bradel binding in full green paper boards, smooth spine, olive green sheep title-piece.

A waterstain to the upper corner of the first 10 leaves of the volume.

"This is the first in Gell's series of rapid \"itineraries\" which contain information organized among plotted routes. The material for this itinerary was collected during Gell's travels in the Morea in 1805-6" [Blackmer].

Original edition of this auction catalogue from the sale held on Friday 10 and Saturday 11 May 1872, describing 294 lots.

A tear at the foot of the final leaf.

The catalogue is illustrated with 2 hors-texte engraved plates (line engravings).

Of Baden origin, the numismatist Ludwig Wilhelm Fröhner (1834–1925) settled in Paris in 1859: he became one of the close friends of Napoleon III and assisted him in the preparation of his History of Julius Caesar (1865–1866), which helped him obtain both French naturalisation (1866) and a desirable post at the Louvre.

The Franco-Prussian War of 1870 proved disastrous for him: he lost all his positions and even any prospect...

Rare first edition of the Brazilian translation.

Sabin 24637 records only the 1870 French edition of his Conférence sur la guerre du Paraguay.

Not in the CCF.

Modern half blue morocco binding, spine with four raised bands and gilt fleurons, some rubbing to the joints, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns.

Minor worming at the beginning and end of the volume, not affecting the text, some foxing, ink stamp to the title page.

Brazil was a member of the "Triple Alliance", which pitted the Argentine Republic, His Majesty the Emperor of Brazil and the Oriental Republic of Uruguay against the government of Francisco Solano López (1827-1870)...

First edition, illustrated with 18 figures in the text.

Spine and covers slightly sunned and faded, with small losses along the edges; a pleasant copy internally despite occasional minor foxing.

From 1895 onwards, René Dussaud (1868-1958) undertook several archaeological missions in Syria, a field to which he would devote much of the rest of his career.

Signed presentation inscription by René Dussaud on the half-title to the archaeologist Emmanuel-Alban Guillaume-Rey (1837-1916), an Orientalist and archaeologist specializing in medieval Syria.

Rare first edition.

Our copy is offered in the original unbound state, with paper losses to the final leaf and a light waterstain affecting the opening leaves.

By General Duhesme (1766-1815), then serving with the army entrusted with the conquest of the Kingdom of Naples.

First edition of this thesis, illustrated with 4 plates.

Modern black half-calf binding, smooth spine decorated with double gilt fillets, marbled-paper boards.

A few minor spots of foxing; stamps of the Library of the Paris Faculty of Medicine on the plates and title page.

Not recorded by V. Rozier. 

The author served as chief surgeon to the First Battalion of Foot Grenadiers of the Consular Guard.

He invented an adjustable inclined bed, an instrument for the treatment of compound fractures of the lower jaw, a compression device for use in cases involving severed arteries, and an apparatus designed to transport seriously wounded men over long distances...

Second edition, embellished with several figures in the text and illustrated with 5 albumen photographic plates, mounted on heavy paper and inserted on guards.

Contemporary half black shagreen, spine with five raised bands decorated with blind fillets, headcap rubbed, joints worn, marbled paper boards, speckled edges, marbled endpapers and pastedowns.

This was the first published work of Abbé Louis Duchesne (1843-1922), who would go on to revolutionize both the methodology and conclusions of ecclesiastical history.

Written in collaboration with the future Byzantinist Charles Bayet (1849-1918), it is the result of their stay at the French School at Athens.

This...

First edition of this important royal declaration partially reversing the compulsory deportation measures established by the declarations of 8 January and 12 March 1719.

Responding to repeated complaints from colonial governors, the royal government henceforth resolved that only voluntary emigrants should be sent to populate the colonies.

Our copy is offered disbound.

First edition (cf. Quérard, Sup., II, 1252).

Modern tan half calf by Laurenchet, smooth spine lettered gilt lengthwise, marbled paper boards, red edges.

A loss to the title-page professionally made good, a few small spots of foxing.

Among the subjects discussed are: newspapers in Russia in 1838; military education in Russia; fishing in Russia; a survey of Russian literature in 1838; the work of the St Petersburg Academy of Sciences; deportation to Siberia; scientific expeditions commissioned by the Imperial Academy of Sciences in St Petersburg; the form of government of the Russian Empire (imperial authority); the political constitution of the Russian Empire (the Council...

Rare first edition.

According to the CCF, the only recorded copy is held by the BnF.

Spine restored and rebacked, small marginal losses to the wrappers, front wrapper relaid, internally in very good condition.

Autograph inscription signed by Claude-René-Jacques David de Pénanrun to Odilon Barrot (1791-1873), in his capacity as "President of the Decentralisation Commission".

Indeed, the elderly Orléanist, despite having withdrawn from political life, had accepted, following a meeting at the Tuileries Palace with Napoleon III, the chairmanship of an extra-parliamentary committee tasked with examining decentralisation projects (1869).

First edition, printed in a small number of copies, of this offprint from the Revue illustrée de la Terre sainte et de l'Orient chrétien.

The pamphlet is illustrated with black-and-white illustrations in the text and examines the rediscovery in Jerusalem of the "Crypt of the Pater", also known as the "Crypt of the Credo", which had been forgotten for several centuries.

Only 3 copies recorded in the CCF (BnF, Bibliothèque Mazarine, Centre Sèvres).

Small tears with minor loss at head and foot of spine.

Signed presentation inscription by Léon Cré on the verso of the front wrapper to the celebrated archaeologist and Marquis Charles-Jean-Melchior de Vogüé...

Album of 25 hand-finished colour lithographs depicting French military uniforms from the last quarter of the 19th century (cf. Glaesser pp. 320-321. Colas 2003 (issued in quarto format?)).

Contemporary paper boards, plain smooth spine in brick-red cloth.

Some foxing.

The unnumbered military costume plates are captioned.

Rare first edition of this study tracing the origins of An Ordinance for the government of the territory of the United States North-West of the River Ohio, adopted on 13 July 1787 by the United States Congress to organize the Northwest Territory, the first new territory incorporated into the young nation, of which Pennsylvania formed the eastern boundary.

Small losses to the unlettered spine, a dampstain to the upper margin throughout the volume, affecting the text only very marginally.

No copy recorded by the CCF. Sabin 14,327.

Edward Coles (1786-1868) also served as the second Governor of the State of Illinois from 1822 to 1826.

Collective first edition issued by subscription (cf. Le Quillec 524.)

Contemporary red half-shagreen binding, spine with five raised bands ruled in black, minor rubbing to spine and joints, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, speckled edges, wrappers preserved.

Scattered foxing, trace of a removed bookplate at the upper left corner of a pastedown, small marginal tears to the right margins of several leaves.

The celebrated "Le Temps des cerises", anthem of the Paris Commune, appears on page 243.

Rare first edition of these engaging memoirs on the mathematician Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Fourier (1768–1830), Secretary of the Institut d'Égypte and Prefect of Isère from 1802 to 1815 (cf. Tulard 302.)

Bound in half blond calf, smooth spine decorated with gilt fillets, chainwork and garlands, red morocco title label, rubbing to the joints, marbled paper boards, endpapers and pastedowns of laid paper, speckled edges, original wrappers preserved, contemporary binding.

Occasional light foxing.

Work illustrated with a folding plate (the Dendera Zodiac).

Jacques-Joseph Champollion-Figeac (1778–1867) served as his secretary in Grenoble.

At the head of...

First edition, privately printed, of this offprint from the August 1811 issue of the Magasin encyclopédique.

Our copy is offered disbound, with a few minor foxing spots of no consequence.

Illustrated with one engraved plate hors texte, this pamphlet concerns a Byzantine boxwood triptych then preserved in the Library of Grenoble. 

Autograph presentation inscription from Jacques-Joseph Champollion-Figeac to the painter Pierre Revoil (1776-1842).

First edition of the French translation, illustrated in the atlas volume with 11 plates and 1 large folding map (cf. Hage Chahine, 720; Chadenat, 4227; Wilson, 35 for the 1835 English edition).

Contemporary Romantic bindings in aubergine half calf, smooth spines decorated with gilt arabesque tooling, gilt rolls at head and foot, marbled-paper boards, and marbled endpapers and pastedowns.

The atlas bound in aubergine half shagreen, smooth spine decorated with gilt Romantic arabesque tooling, gilt rolls at head and foot, marbled-paper boards, and marbled endpapers and pastedowns; a modern binding executed to match the Romantic bindings of the text volumes.

Joints...

Rare first edition.

Minor stains on the front cover, some light foxing of no consequence.

This lesser-known pamphlet is among the military works of the future Emperor Napoleon III; its purpose, it must be said, was more electoral than purely technical, as it aimed to introduce the young deputy to the public.

First edition, illustrated with 18 plates on China paper (cf. Sabin 5832. Leclerc 1075. Streeter, "Bibliography of Texas", 1343.)

Contemporary half tan calf, spine with four fine raised bands ruled in gilt and blind, gilt ornamental rolls partly faded at head and foot, hazel morocco lettering-piece, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, all edges marbled.

Dampstaining to the lower margins of most leaves, more pronounced towards the start and the end of the volume; some foxing; two gatherings bound out of sequence by the binder, and the final four preliminary pages bound at the end of the volume; minor repairs to the joints; slight rubbing to the lower edges...

Offprint from the Revue archéologique, eleventh year, printed in a small number of copies.

Pamphlet illustrated with 2 plates on separate leaves.

Only three copies recorded in the CCF (Bibliothèque nationale de France, Lyon, and Annecy).

Traveller and amateur archaeologist, Jules de Bertou (1809–1881) had begun his career as an orientalist in conventional fashion, visiting Petra in 1837 and excavating the site of ancient Tyre from 1838 onwards, work that yielded a creditable memoir (Essai sur la topographie de Tyr, 1843), before turning to an ultimately fruitless attempt at concordism between archaeological discoveries and a literalist reading of the...

First French edition, illustrated with a lithographed frontispiece and 11 lithographed plates (bound between pp. 360–361), cf. Brunet, I, 787; Chadenat, 5323.

Full calf binding, smooth spine with gilt decorative motifs, gilt roll on the headbands, red morocco title label, gilt roll borders on the boards, handmade paper endpapers and pastedowns, gilt edges on the board edges, red page edges, contemporary binding.

Restorations to the spine, one restoration at the foot of the title page.

An epistolary account of a journey undertaken in 1802 among the Kalmyks, a nomadic people of the Astrakhan province (North Caucasus).

Second edition, with a newly engraved portrait as frontispiece (cf. Blackmer 99 for the first edition issued the same year).

Light waterstaining to the upper margins of the opening leaves, minor losses to the head and foot of the spine as well as at the corners of the boards. Copy preserved in its original wrappers.

The first biography of Ali Pasha, illustrated with a portrait.

First edition of the French translation, illustrated with 18 engraved plates, 10 of them hand-coloured (cf. Blackmer 87; Atabey 68; Contominas 39; Monglond VII, 654-655).

The 18 plates include the two plates of musical notation and the large folding map at the end of the second volume.

Contemporary green half sheep, darkened smooth spines ruled in gilt, with a narrow gilt roll at foot, marbled paper boards, speckled edges.

Some foxing, light rubbing to the joints, a few gatherings browned. 

First and only edition of Auguste du Coudray's French translation of this account of a journey through Greece, written in the form of letters. Jacob Levin Salomo, known as Jakob...

First edition illustrated with 1 folding plate consisting of a copper-engraved reproduction of the Choiseul Marble by Poisson (cf. Monglond II, 651.)

A restored tear to the verso of the folding plate.

Bradel binding in full marbled paper-covered boards, smooth spine, brown shagreen lettering-piece, red edges, modern binding.

A pleasing copy.

Rare first edition illustrated with 2 plates outside the text, including a frontispiece and a large folding facsimile of the inscription.

Contemporary green half sheep, spine faded and decorated with blind fillets and raised bands, a few scuffs to the spine, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers, speckled edges, corners bumped.

A few spots of foxing.

This inscription had been unearthed in Marseille in June 1845 and had already given rise to numerous attempts at interpretation.

It is now known as the “Carthage Tariff” and lay at the origin of the enduring myth of the city’s Phoenician origins: the religious regulations it records appeared to provide proof that...

First edition of this colourful verse drama featuring the Conquistadors and Montezuma.

Not listed by Lorenz.

Contemporary green half calf, smooth spine tooled with gilt dots and fillets and blind fillets, some rubbing to spine, marbled-paper boards with small areas of loss and traces of recolouring, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, speckled edges.

The Avignon-born author had previously published, in 1830, a verse comedy entitled "Les débuts en province". Cf. Bourquelot I, 150.

Our copy is enriched with numerous manuscript corrections in the author’s hand, together with a signed autograph presentation inscription by Paul Barbe on the recto of the final...

First edition of this rare work. Several states are known: without any plates, not even the engraved title-frontispiece (the extremely rare deluxe issue); with the engraved title bearing the same imprint as the printed title (Tours, R. Pornin et Cie); and, finally, with the Paris, Lehuby imprint (as in the present copy).

The following explanation may be proposed: the Tours publisher Pornin reserved a small portion of the edition, without the engraved material, for the author's friends. The remainder was shared with the Paris publisher Lehuby, a specialist in children's books, who ensured its wider distribution.

The work is illustrated with a frontispiece and two steel-engraved...

First edition of this essay on the etiology of contagious diseases.

Our copy is preserved in its original wrappers, in blue paper temporary covers, with printed paper spine label, partially unopened. 

Claude Balme studied medicine at Montpellier before departing for the United States.

Having returned to France at the time of the invasion by foreign armies, he enlisted as surgeon-major with the 2nd Battalion of Ain, serving in that capacity in the Italian, Egyptian, and Syrian campaigns.

Signed autograph presentation inscription from Claude Balme to Doctor Gilibert fils on the half-title.

First edition of the first work on anonymous and pseudonymous authors published in France (cf. Barbier, I, 320; Besterman, Bibliography of Bibliographies, 398.)

Contemporary full marbled calf binding, spine with five raised bands ruled in gilt and decorated with richly gilt compartments, red morocco lettering-piece, gilt rolls to the spine ends, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt fillets to the edges, yellow speckled edges, engraved armorial bookplate pasted to the pastedown.

The work was intended to serve as a preliminary study for a Recueil français des auteurs déguisés, a project abandoned following the author's death before later being resumed by...

First edition (cf. Quérard I, 152, which incorrectly gives the date as 1824).

Our copy is preserved in its original beige printed wrappers, with the title label pasted to the spine.

Tears and corner losses to the wrappers, a few scattered foxing spots.

Born in Béthune (Pas-de-Calais) in 1777 and deceased in Margency (Val-d'Oise) in 1824, Chevalier Bail began a military career before turning his attention to the moral and political sciences.

This work was entered for the prize awarded by the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres in 1823.

New edition, partly original, revised and enlarged (cf. Vicaire 56; Bitting 231; Oberlé, Fastes, 466).

Contemporary-style half tan sheep, smooth spine decorated with gilt and blind fillets and blind-stamped ornaments, black shagreen lettering-piece, marbled paper boards, modern binding.

A few instances of foxing. 

The author of this work, born in Grasse in 1767 and died in 1839, was appointed physician to Joseph Bonaparte, King of Naples, in 1806.

His dictionary is a mine of highly valuable information on food products from throughout the world, with historical, literary, anecdotal, scientific, gastronomic, and medical entries. It also...

Rare first edition.

Only copy recorded in the CCFr (BnF).

Losses at the head and foot of the spine, small marginal tears to the covers and half-title, occasional foxing.

The author is presented as a serving Catholic statesman wishing to remain anonymous. With an introduction by the publicist Armand Ravelet (1834-1875).

Despite its very broad title, the pamphlet chiefly concerns the highly contentious relations between Gregorian Armenians and Catholic Armenians, as well as the respective positions of the Porte and the Papacy regarding these two communities.

First edition illustrated with 6 folding tables printed hors texte (cf. Palau, 16641. Not in Sabin.)

 Contemporary half tan sheep, smooth spine decorated with black and gilt fillets, rubbing to the spine and joints, marbled paper boards, endleaves and pastedowns of decorated paper, wear to the edges, bumped corners, speckled edges.

Account of the political unrest of 1833 by a Mexican statesman [1802-1855] who would become President of the Republic in 1851. For the first time in modern Mexican history, a transfer of power took place without violence, and even in a cordial manner. Nevertheless, fierce opposition ultimately brought down his government, and Arista resigned on 4...

First edition of these travel recollections, written in the form of letters in prose and verse addressed to Saintine, friend and collaborator of the playwright Jacques Ancelot (1794-1854), who had accompanied Marshal Marmont to the festivities marking the coronation of Tsar Nicholas I.

Contemporary quarter blond calf with small green corners, smooth spine decorated with blind fillets and ornaments and gilt decorative rolls at head and foot, green calf lettering-piece, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, marbled edges; binding signed Thouvenin at foot of spine.

Lower joint split with a small loss, upper joint split and subsequently reglued, some foxing...

First edition illustrated with a large folding plate inserted out of text reproducing the Greek portion of the Rosetta Stone (cf. Quérard I, 48.)

Our copy is preserved in its original wrappers, in temporary root-pattern paper covers.

A key figure in the establishment of literary repositories during the Revolution, and their transformation into libraries, the antiquarian Hubert-Pascal Ameilhon (1730-1811) remains an important, though far too neglected, figure in bibliography and the sciences.

This relative oblivion owes much to the small number of works published during his lifetime : the work offered here constitutes an essential link in the decipherment of the...

Very rare first Polish edition of Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Social Contract, prepared by Józef Wien and published by a Polish émigré living in exile in Agen, printed on Quillot's presses.

Apparently unrecorded by Dufour; the wrapper is dated 1840.

Front wrapper soiled with small losses at the corners, marginal dampstaining at the beginning of the volume, some foxing. 

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.

First edition, one of 275 numbered copies on Lana wove paper, the deluxe issue.

Illustrated with 31 hors-texte plates.

A fine, uncut copy, complete with its illustrated dust jacket.

First edition.
Some foxing to spine and boards.

Precious dated and signed autograph inscription from Irène Delmas, president of the National Association of Former Female Deportees and Prisoners of the Resistance (ADIR): "A monsieur Massin avec l'amitié et la reconnaissance des Anciennes Déportées de la Résistance. IRDelmas Présidente de l'ADIR. Paris 13 Novembre 1957." (To Mr. Massin with the friendship and gratitude of the Former Female Deportees of the Resistance. IRDelmas President of ADIR. Paris 13 November 1957.)

Our copy is exceptionally enhanced with the signatures of several members of the editorial committee of the Association of...

First edition, limited to 1,100 copies, divided into four fictitious editions within the same year, in order to create the illusion of commercial success. These were subsequently reissued with a new title-page bearing an edition statement and the author’s name, together with a volume designation on the half-titles (cf. Clouzot). Our copy carries the designation “third edition.” Contemporary bookplate traces on the upper pastedowns. Expert restorations to headcaps and joints, with a tiny loss at the foot of the lower joint of vol. I. A clean copy, entirely free of foxing.

Contemporary half chocolate calf bindings...

First edition, one of 100 numbered copies on hollande paper, deluxe issue (only the first volume numbered).
Each volume includes a historical introduction by Philippe De Gaulle.
Ex-libris pasted to the front of each volume.
A very fine copy with wide margins, complete in twelve volumes of this important work, commencing in 1905 and concluding in April 1969.

Original felt-tip drawing signed by Uderzo, accompanied by René Goscinny's signature in blue ink. Half a page on the verso of the final leaf of a three-page typescript stapled with a metal clip.
Some minor fold marks, without consequence.
A round and cheerful portrait of Obelix, drawn by his creator and inscribed “pour Anne Sophie avec toute notre amitié”, enriched with René Goscinny’s signature, on the verso of television script pages from a show featuring Uderzo and Goscinny as guests.

Original signed drawing in pencil and pink crayon by Antoine de Saint-Ex­upéry, on “Navarre” watermarked paper. Horizontal fold, annotation in pencil in upper left-hand corner, min­ute tears in lower margin.

Precious drawing signed by Saint-Exupéry – the writer-artist very rarely signed his graphic works – of a caricature character, sharing some of the writer's own features.

First edition, one of 8 numbered copies on Chinese paper, the deluxe issue.
Bound in full red morocco, smooth spine, spine and boards decorated with a geometric design of black and gilt fillets representing interlaced mountain peaks in zigzag pattern, endpapers and pastedowns illustrated with an original lithograph signed in pencil by Germaine de Coster, following endpapers of red paper, original wrappers and spine preserved, top edge gilt; a very elegant contemporary binding signed by Hélène Dumas and Germaine de Coster.
This copy is further enriched with an original charcoal portrait of Jean Giono, signed by...

First edition - only published issue of this journal of the Resistance.
Minor rubbing at head and foot of spine, slight tears in margins of covers.
Anonymous texts by Claude Bourdet, Maurice Clavel, Jean-Louis Curtis, Yves Gandon, Flavien Monod and Maximilien Vox, who was the magazine's director.
This single issue was put together between December 1943 and March 1944, but La Revue noire could not be published during the Occupation. The final press proof was given on 15 February 1944 and the imprint is dated 15 February 1945.
A rare and pleasant copy.