Gift Ideas – Antique Books

First edition in-12 of Jacques le Fataliste et son maître, the very first issue to include three engraved frontispieces. The text is preceded by a tribute to Diderot by Jacques-Henri Meister, a close friend of the author and Grimm's successor at the head of the Correspondance littéraire.

Contemporary marbled sheepskin bindings, gilt borders to the covers, smooth spines with gilt compartments and fleurons, brown lettering-pieces and numbering-pieces, gilt roulette to the board edges, pastedowns in blue paste paper, all edges gilt. Rubbing to the joints and corners, a few scattered spots to the leaves, otherwise an attractive copy.

First edition, illustrated at the end of the volume with a folding plate comprising 5 figures.

Our copy is preserved in its original wrappers, with mustard-coloured temporary paper covers overlaid with modern marbled-paper wrappers with flaps. 

The sole edition, and very rare, of this important treatise in the history of textile cleaning.

Impressed by the results obtained before the Revolution in a laundry at Bercy, Chaptal, upon being appointed Minister of the Interior, had the question investigated by several chemists, including Bosc, Roard, Curaudeau, Bourgeron, de Layre and Cadet de Vaux, who were commissioned to test and assess this new...

New edition.

Our copy is preserved in its original temporary binding, with marbled-paper wrappers. (cf. Sabin 6327.)

Marbled-paper spine lacking, abrasions to the marbled-paper covers, and a dampstain to the upper left corner of the volume, gradually diminishing through the text.

We follow the attribution given by Hoefer and Sabin for this uncommon pamphlet, a critique of the theories of Cornelijs de Pauw. Its authorship remains uncertain: Pierre Poivre (1719-1786) has been proposed, as has Antoine-François Pernety (1716-1796), probably through confusion with his Dissertation sur l'Amérique et les Américains of 1769; both attributions continue to find favour...

Edition not recorded by Sabin, 47516, who cites the first edition printed by the Imprimerie Royale [title, IV-196 pp.]. Not in JCB.

Our copy is preserved in its original wrappers, with plain temporary covers.

A few small spots of foxing.

A collection of diplomatic documents relating to the negotiations preceding the Treaty of 1763, concerning the boundaries of Acadia and Louisiana, the cession of Canada, and the fisheries of Newfoundland and the West Indies.

Reunion of three highly sought-after first editions, most notably the last, printed in a very small number of copies, on the expulsion of the Moriscos from Spain between 1609 and 1614, written by Marcos de Guadalajara y Javier and Juan Ripol. 

Volume bearing the royal and Jesuit arms, and woodcut initials with foliate and figural designs, after the macabre engravings of Hans Lützelburger. Woodcut-engraved border on the first and third title pages, elegant double black-ruled frame around the text. 

A superb copy bringing...

First edition of this pioneering work in the history of psychiatry (cf. Garrison & Morton 4920; Semelaigne I, pp. 68-73; Waller records only the 1770 German translation; Wellcome III 547; Blake 277).

Contemporary half calf with vellum-tipped corners, smooth spines gilt with decorative rolls, some rubbing and small wormholes to the spines, marbled paper boards, sprinkled edges; bindings from the early nineteenth century.

Ink stains on pp. 72–76 of the first volume, a black ink spot at the head of the lower cover of the second volume, a few minor and unobtrusive foxmarks.

For Lorry, not all melancholic patients are driven by a single fixed idea, and melancholy is a...

Rare first edition under this title, complete with the engraved title-page. The first edition of 1607, Remonstrance faicte au Roy Très Chrétien pour la réunion des religions à la foy catholique, was printed in Tournon in only 96 pages. This second edition, of which there were probably two issues from the same bookseller, was substantially revised and enlarged by the author.

Contemporary limp vellum with turn-ins, smooth spine, faded ink manuscript title to spine, original ties present...

First edition, completed at the end of the volume with a folding table printed off text (cf. Sabin 28336; Howes 318).

Bound in full flexible beige boards, the manuscript spine title clumsily restored with an adhesive strip and now largely faded; sprinkled red edges.

A dampstain affecting the upper right corner of the opening leaves; a few scattered foxmarks.

The folding table bound at the end of the volume is not recorded by Sabin. It summarises the key geographical data for each state (natural resources, population in 1790 and 1810, universities and colleges, representation in Congress, etc.).

Father Giovanni Grassi of the Society of Jesus spent several years in...

First edition, published anonymously by Delaporte,  secretary and prompter of the Comédie-Française.

Contemporary black cloth Bradel binding, smooth spine, red shagreen lettering-piece with some loss, marbled paper boards, upper corners slightly worn, 19th-century binding.

Copies recorded only at the BnF and in Rouen (CCFr).

Printed initials at the foot of the title page.

Rare summary, by the Comédie-Française secretary and prompter, of the grievances held by the Company against the actor Talma, focusing particularly on performances of Marie-Joseph Chénier’s play Charles IX.

The play, which achieved immense public success, drew criticism from...

First edition of this Latin work devoted to the history of the ancient Mediterranean: Sardinia and the influences of Greece, North Africa, the Syrtes and Numidian tribes, the history of the tyrant of Syracuse, the Balearic Islands, Corsica, the island of Rhodes, and more (cf. Adams, L-704. See Durling, 2796, which records only later editions).

Restored full brown calf binding, spine with five raised bands decorated with gilt tools now largely softened, blind fillets and gilt corner ornaments framing the boards, central gilt medallion enclosing a device in Greek characters, manuscript inscription on the fore-edge, early binding.

Ink numbering at the head of the verso of the...

Rare first edition.

Our copy is issued in its original state, unbound and preserved in wrappers.

Not recorded by Oberlé. Only two copies located in the CCFr (Cherbourg and Montpellier).

Alexandre Lesdos (1813-1865) was a member of the Société d'Agriculture and of the Société Académique de Cherbourg.

In this work, he devotes an entire chapter to the wines of Saint-Émilion, noted for their "bouquet as delicate as that of the violet." (our own translation)

First edition of this paean to intoxication, adorned with a charming engraved frontispiece depicting Bacchus seated on a barrel, holding a wine cup in one hand and a bunch of grapes in the other.

Cf. Vicaire 326. Bitting 415. Barbier II, 75 d. Oberlé, Une bibliothèque bachique, 523 (for the 1798 ed.).

Bound in contemporary fawn half-calf with corners, spine with five raised bands decorated with gilt fillets, marbled paper boards, corners slightly worn, edges speckled red.

This work abounds with anecdotes and quotations drawn from the history of many lands. It asserts "that wine gives wit," offers "a catalogue of some illustrious drinkers," and claims "that...

First edition, with a single copy recorded in the CCF (Dijon).

Our copy is preserved in its original wrappers and housed in a plain blue interim cover, with a mounted title label at the head of the spine.

Some foxing.

The sole edition of this compilation, conceived primarily for fiscal purposes: indirect taxes at the time were levied chiefly on beverages.

The bookseller Louis Rondonneau (1759–1834) is renowned as the author, compiler, or editor of numerous legal codes, manuals, collections, and repertories of legislation and jurisprudence.

First edition printed in two columns, one in French and the other in Italian.

Not recorded by Starace or Roland Bonaparte.

Contemporary limp vellum-style boards, smooth unlettered spine; covers soiled.

Some scattered foxing; one quire working loose.

Third edition.

Our copy is preserved in its original state, issued in temporary blue paper wrappers, with some losses to the corners and a mounted title label on the spine.

Some light foxing.

Pierre-Auguste Mutel (1795–1847) entered the École Polytechnique in 1813, graduating 34th in the class of 1815, and went on to serve in the artillery corps.

Manuscript ex-libris of Becquerel, dated 24 October 1833; it is difficult to determine which member of this illustrious family should be associated with this provenance.

Letter written by a secretary and signed by Louis XVI, addressed to Cardinal Ludovico Calini, in ink over eleven lines. The signature of Charles Gravier, Comte de Vergennes, appearing at the foot of the bifolium, accompanies that of the King for these New Year wishes. The recipient's name is inscribed on the verso: "Mon Cousin le Cardinal Calino".

A few waterstains, a small hole at "qu'il vous ait".

"My Cousin, I have seen with pleasure from your letter of October 1st the token of the sincerity of the wishes you express for me at the beginning of this year. Your good intentions are as well known to me as you must be certain of my desire to give you...

First edition of the English translation of "De Logomachiis eruditorum" (Amsterdam, 1688) by the Swiss Reformed theologian Samuel Werenfels (1657–1740), a notably engaging essay on the obstacles to concord among Christians created by the endless disputes over the terminology used to define points of belief.

A few small spots of foxing.

Full speckled fawn calf, the spine with five raised bands decorated with gilt compartments and gilt tools; rubbing to the spine, the gilt title almost entirely effaced, headcaps trimmed down with a small loss to the tailcap; gilt double-fillet border with gilt corner tools on the covers; some wear to the board edges...

First edition, exceedingly scarce, of this light-hearted and engaging introduction to the principal ancient myths, prepared for a Polish aristocrat. Annopol (today Anopal) is a locality now situated in Belarus.

No copies recorded in the CCF. A single copy located in WorldCat (National Library of Poland, Biblioteka Narodowa, Warsaw).

Contemporary-style half sheep binding in brown, the smooth spine ruled with alternating thick and thin gilt fillets, marbled paper boards, comb-marbled endpapers and pastedowns; modern binding.

Losses to the title-page expertly filled and restored; the final two leaves also restored.

First edition, describing 829 entries.

Contemporary half calf, spine with five raised bands showing traces of rubbing, brown calf lettering-piece, marbled paper boards, two small blue spots on the upper cover, wear to the edges, corners softened, red edges, early shelf label pasted at the head of a pastedown.

A few marginal spots, not affecting the text.

Born in Antwerp to a family of Spanish origin, Jean-François de Los Rios (1727–1820) practised as a bookseller in Paris (1745), then in Lyon (1760), where—despite opposition—he was entrusted with the conduct of public book auctions. He was the one who purchased the Jesuit college library after the suppression of the...

Third edition, revised, corrected, and enlarged with several important Additions by the author published posthumously, and with Remarks by the Translator (our own translation), with the portrait of John Locke by Godfrey Kneller, engraved by François Morellon de La Cave.

Contemporary full brown calf, spine with five raised bands decorated with gilt compartments, brown morocco lettering-piece, triple fillet border to covers in blind, red edges, marbled pastedowns and endpapers.

Headcaps missing, surface...

First edition (cf. Not in Quérard or Musset-Pathay. Oberlé 101-02.).

Including, with the appended pieces (cf. infra), the account of the thirteen experiments conducted by Maupin between 1772 and 1777 on the handling of wines.

Bound at the end:

• 1. Suite de la cinquième expérience, contenant la seconde lettre de M. de la Galaisière & celle que M. Bertin m'a fait l'honneur de m'écrire à son occasion. S.l.n.d., 2 ll. unnumbered.
• 2. Suite des expériences de la nouvelle manipulation des vins. Seconde partie. S.l.n.d. [Paris, April 1781], 30 pp., with an unnumbered leaf of receipt.

Bradel-style binding in half bottle-green long-grain...

Rare first edition illustrated with 10 folding plates, including 5 grammatical tables and 5 plates of calligraphy.

Not recorded in Blackmer, Atabey or Hage Chahine.

Half olive-green calf, spine with four raised bands framed with gilt garlands and decorated with small blind-stamped floral tools, black morocco title and author labels, marbled paper boards, comb-marbled endpapers and pastedowns, modern binding.

Spine slightly darkened, small paper losses to the upper right corners of the first leaves not affecting the text, some foxing mainly at the end of the volume. Much better known for his role in the mission sent by Napoleon to the Shah of Persia to negotiate a...

First edition of this pamphlet devoted to the largest marshland in Italy, the Fucecchio wetlands.

Illustrated with a double-page engraved plate.

Disbound copy.

From the library of the economist, agronomist, industrialist, and lithographer Charles-Philibert de Lasteyrie du Saillant (1759–1849), with his ownership stamp on the title-page.

First edition of the French translation and notes prepared by Billecocq (cf. Sabin, 41879; Leclerc, 943; Field, 947; Howes, 443; Staton-Trenlaine, Bibliogr. of Canadiana, 597 for the original edition).

Half mottled calf, smooth spine decorated with gilt tools, brown shagreen title-piece, marbled paper boards slightly darkened and faded at the edges, red edges; modern binding.

Stamp on the half-title, a light marginal dampstain affecting the outer margins of the final leaves.

Illustrated with a folding copper-engraved map by P. F. Tardieu, “Des pays situés à l'ouest du Canada”.

“The interest of the work lies in the detailed and relatively objective...

First edition of this concise treatise on rural economy, attributed to the Duke of Sully, the famed minister of Henri IV, born at Rosny and who bore the name of that estate.

His well-known commitment to the development of agriculture has passed into national lore. However, it cannot be excluded that another author, sharing the same territorial designation, may be responsible for the text.

Contemporary full mottled fawn sheep, spine with five raised bands decorated with gilt compartments and gilt tools, gilt fillets, Havana morocco lettering-piece, gilt rolls to the headcaps, gilt fillets to board edges, red sprinkled edges.

Some repairs to the binding. Manuscript...

First edition of these observations and proposals for reform of the French Navy, published anonymously in 1802 and traditionally attributed to Pierre-Alexandre-Laurent Forfait, former Minister of the Navy and Colonies, who had left office only a few months earlier.

Contemporary full tree calf, smooth spine decorated with gilt false bands and ornamental tools, red shagreen lettering-piece, covers bordered with fine gilt rolls, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, all edges gilt. Joints slightly rubbed, some surface wear and losses of leather at the foot of the boards, corners worn.

...

Rare first edition of this small opus, traditionally regarded as constituting the fourth part (of five) of the *Euphormionis Satyricon*, an allegorical satire of the tastes of King James I, and the author’s second most important work after his *Argenis* (cf. Brunet I, 652.)

Full brown calf, spine with five raised bands, compartments decorated with gilt floral tools, cherry-calf lettering piece, headcaps restored, trace of a shelving label at the foot of the spine, single blind fillet framing the boards, gilt fillets to board edges, lower corners rubbed, sprinkled edges, slightly later binding.

Loss restored to the title-page, which also bears two ink annotations; edges...

First edition (cf. Martin & Walter, 16 491; Monglond III, 630; not in Schefer, Blackmer or Atabey).

Bradel binding in full marbled paper boards, smooth spine with a vertically lettered fawn sheepskin label, red edges; a modern binding.

Some foxing; marginal staining to the upper edges of the final leaves.

Excellent abridgement of General Hénin de Cuvillers’ diplomatic mission to Constantinople (1793–1795).

Upon his return from Turkey, Hénin (born 1755) took part in the Italian campaign of 1796 and was wounded at Caldiero and Arcole.

Appointed in 1802 as assistant to the general staff in Saint-Domingue, he was entrusted by Rochambeau with the colony’s military...

This work is in fact the reissue of the original edition, published under a new title: the 1772 edition was entitled "Dissertation sur les vins".

One hundred blank leaves have been bound at the end of the text.

The work saw an expanded edition in 1782, which was subsequently reprinted. (Cf. Simon BG: 510. Not recorded by Vicaire, Oberlé, or Bitting. Lacking from the Kilian Fritsch Collection.)

Contemporary half mottled tawny sheep with vellum-tipped corners, the spine with five raised bands decorated with gilt compartments, marbled paper sides, red edges.

An important treatise on vinification by a former wine merchant’s employee who had worked in France...

Extremely scarce Toulon printing, illustrated with in-text figures and tables.

Only one copy recorded in the CCF (BnF).

Contemporary half brown sheep, the faded smooth spine gilt with fillets, garlands and floral tools, marbled paper boards slightly sunned at the head-margins, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, marbled edges.

A tear without loss to the foot of the half-title.

A professor at Franeker and later at Amsterdam, Jan Hendrik van Swinden (1746–1823) was the most renowned Dutch physicist of the eighteenth century.

Rare first edition, illustrated with two vignettes: one on the title page and another at the head of the opening text leaf (cf. Backer & Sommervogel VII, 185, no. 58.)

See Brunet, "Recherches sur les imprimeries imaginaires, clandestines et particulières", p. 19.

Printed on the private presses of the Turin Court of Appeal, the work offers a detailed account of the miraculous phenomena reported in Rome between July 1796 and January 1797. The author rebuts, in particular, the sceptical reactions of the "fiers à bras du philosophisme".

Our copy is preserved in its original drab paper wrappers, the spine cracked, the covers soiled, a few spots, a pale dampstain at...

First edition of this paper on cassava and the cultivation of peanuts, read before the General Assembly of the Royal Aragonese Society on 22 August 1800.

Our copy is preserved in modern plain beige wrappers, with a few insignificant spots of foxing.

From the library of the comte de Lasteyrie du Saillant, the renowned agronomist, with his red printed stamp on the title-page.

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...

Original edition reprinted at Smyrna (in reality Versailles), under the supervision of Mr. John Strafford (in fact by Moutardier); (cf. Quérard VI, 576; Drujon, Livres à clefs, I, 625.)

Contemporary half mottled fawn sheep, smooth spine tooled with gilt hatched fillets, brick-coloured sheep lettering-piece, a few small losses to the spine, yellow edges sprinkled with blue.

Sole edition of this manifestly pseudepigraphic and encrypted work, suppressed by order of the Consular government, which accounts for its marked scarcity.

A vehement critique of prevailing political and social institutions; however, it appears very difficult to connect the author with the renowned...

First edition of this periodical, comprising for the complete year 1781 (from 2 January to 28 December) 104 issues, the text printed in two columns with continuous pagination.

Contemporary half calf, mottled fawn, smooth spines decorated with gilt compartment tooling and floral ornaments, beige calf lettering-pieces and blue calf volume labels; minor losses and rubbing to spines and joints, a few scuffs to the blue paper boards, bumped corners, red edges; bindings contemporary to publication.

Transposition of ff. 357–58 and 359–60; initials in black ink and numbering to the endpapers; bookplate affixed and marginally torn in the first volume, another bookplate covered over in...

Very rare first edition, illustrated in each volume with a copper-engraved frontispiece by Tardieu after Monnet.

Half black grained cloth bindings, smooth spines decorated with blind fillets, marbled paper boards with light rubbing, sprinkled edges, modest late 19th-century bindings.

Some foxing and a few pale waterstains at the end of the second volume.

This work is an essay whose concerns are strikingly close to our own, though expressed in a very different context.

A founder of French ecological thought, the civil engineer François-Antoine Rauch (1762–1837) demonstrated the direct relationship between deforestation and the increase in extreme weather, calling...

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...

Very rare first edition of the Ottoman Turkish translation of Catherine II's new regulations for the administration of the governorates of the Russian Empire, published in Saint Petersburg in 1780.

In the aftermath of the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca, signed in 1774, Russian expansion towards the Black Sea could no longer be confined to the seizure of fortresses and territory. The newly acquired provinces had to be governed, their inhabitants introduced to the institutions of the Empire, and its regulations made accessible to populations unable to read Russian. The present volume records this decisive transition from military conquest to civil administration through the...

Very rare edition (cf. Saffroy III, 35 251).

Disbound copy, with a faint dampstain in the left margin of the title-page and a few insignificant spots of foxing.

This separately published tract was later inserted into the first volume of the celebrated *Histoire généalogique de la maison d’Auvergne* (1708).

Appended here, detached from the first volume and forming the origin of the controversy: [BALUZE, MABILLON et RUINART]: Procez verbal. Contenant l'examen & discussion de deux anciens cartulaires & de l'obituaire de l'église de saint Julien de Brioude en Auvergne, de neuf anciens titres compris en sept feüillets de parchemin, & de dix autres anciens feüillets...

First collected edition of the works by the author of Les Étourdis ou le Mort supposé, a comedy that enjoyed great success just before the Revolution.

The set includes a portrait frontispiece in the first volume, four engraved plates, and ten engraved headpieces.

Bound in contemporary full polished and mottled brown calf, gilt decoration, smooth spines with six false raised bands highlighted with gilt fillets and repeated gilt floral tools, gilt fillet frames on covers bordered with a garland roll, gilt tooling to head- and tailpieces, green morocco spine labels, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt edges on boards, marbled edges, contemporary bindings.

Some...

First edition of this study in political economy.

Three copies listed in OCLC, all in the United States. BMC records only the second edition (London, 1809).

"Sur quelle base reposent les gouvernements, les lois, les peuples, les autorités, les souverainetés, les partages, les propriétés, les distinctions, les inégalités : voilà le problème important dont on s'occupera dans cet ouvrage."

Some small losses of paper to the spines and corners, rear cover of the first volume soiled, a pleasant, clean interior.

Rare copy preserved in its original grey wrappers.

Very rare first edition, bilingual, quarto in format and printed on laid paper, of the Corsican cahier de doléances.

(Cf. Starace 4747. Not in Roland Bonaparte. Conlon, xxiv, 89:1617, who notes only the 32-page octavo edition. No copy located in CCF or Worldcat.)

Our copy is preserved in a plain grey paper wrapper, with minor internal flaws, a few discreet paper restorations to the lower right margin of the opening leaves, not affecting the text.

"Les cahiers des Tiers, en même temps que des mesures spécifiques, exigent les mêmes réformes que le reste du royaume. Cette imbrication du régional et du national est jalonnée d'événements illustrant la dynamique...

Very rare first edition.

Our copy is offered disbound.

It was as part of his philanthropic concerns that Piarron de Chamousset (1717–1773), who in fact practised medicine without holding any formal qualification, sought to establish the first mutual-aid association, comprising a dispensary, medical staff, and premises to accommodate the sick.

This text was later reprinted in the collection Vues d'un citoyen (Paris, Lambert, 1757). By the same author, we also offer following it: "Lettre à l'auteur de la critique du Plan d'une maison d'association".

S.l.n.d. [1754], 14 pp.

Second edition, largely original, as it is considerably expanded (cf. Caillet 2273).

This edition is not cited by Quérard. Not in Blake. NUC: 3 copies.

Rare copy preserved in its original pink wrappers with printed spine label, untrimmed; covers slightly worn with a few corner losses, spine splitting at foot.

The first edition, published anonymously and without publisher’s address, appeared in 1784 [i.e. 1785].

"C'est dans cet ouvrage que le marquis de Puységur fit connaître la découverte qu'il venait de faire (mai 1784) des phénomènes qu'il désigna sous le nom de somnambulisme artificiel. Plusieurs cures importantes minutieusement observées et dûment...

First edition.

Half calf binding with small vellum corners, smooth spine decorated with gilt fillets and dentelle rolls, an old red morocco title label, marbled paper boards, sprinkled edges; a modern binding.

A few passages unfortunately underlined in red ballpoint pen on several leaves (around ten in total), a light marginal dampstain on the first two leaves, modern bookplate pasted on a pastedown.

Only edition, uncommon, of this unexpected work: the Dauphinois Claude-Pierre de Delay d'Agier (1750–1827) was above all a political figure of the Revolution and the Empire, mayor of Romans in 1789, fully committed to the new ideas. Yet he had attended in Lunéville from 1774...

New edition, revised, corrected, and considerably enlarged.

Contemporary bindings in half mottled fawn calf over corners, smooth spines gilt with fillets, morocco title and volume labels, brown paper-covered boards, sprinkled edges.

Some minor rubbing to the spines, a few corners slightly bumped.

L'Esprit des lois occupies volumes I to IV; La Défense de l'Esprit des lois volume V (with a general index); Lettres persanes volume VI; volume VII gathers the Considérations and related pieces; volume VIII contains the posthumous works.

This collected edition of Montesquieu's works offers no particular bibliographical peculiarities in its...

Rare first edition (cf. Martin & Walter 25 395).

Contemporary half-sheepskin bindings, the spines smooth and gilt-ruled in double fillets, boards covered in rose-papered pasteboard, red sheepskin lettering-pieces and green volume labels, yellow edges; corners rubbed, bindings of the period.

Some rubbing and faint staining to the spines and boards with small losses to the rose paper, a tiny hole at the head of the spine of the first volume, scattered foxing and a few marks to the edges, not affecting the text.

Bound at the end of volume II is another work by the same author: "Appel au tribunal de l'opinion publique. Du rapport de M. Chabroud, et du décret rendu par...

Very rare first edition (cf. Monglond VII 661).

Contemporary half brown sheep with corners, smooth spine gilt with floral tools and fillets, rubbing to spine and joints, marbled paper boards, grey endpapers and pastedowns, corners softened, yellow edges.

Pleasant, clean interior.

A shadowy figure who was by turns (and at times simultaneously) a secret agent, Tallien’s associate, a Revolutionary pamphleteer, and a double agent under the Directory and the Empire, Méhée de La Touche (1762–1827) left in 1784 on a covert diplomatic mission to Poland and Russia, from which he was expelled at the end of 1791. The correspondence he publishes here (running from 1788 to July 1791)...

Rare collection, in first edition, of political texts relating to the affairs of Belgium (shaken by the Brabant Revolution since 1787) and the Netherlands (whose opponents of the Stadtholder had often taken refuge in France).

As indicated by the handwritten table bound at the beginning of the volume, this copy constitutes only the first of a series of collections compiled by Roederer (see below) from the memoirs and pamphlets he received while serving as a member of the Constituent Assembly.

Contemporary full mottled fawn calf, smooth spine gilt-decorated with garlands and urns (partly faded), rubbed head- and tailpieces, green morocco title-piece, gilt dentelle and garland...

First edition (cf. Grand-Carteret, Almanachs, 158; Saffroy, Almanachs et annuaires, 306.)

Interleaved from page 46, with a few small spots of foxing.

Full old red morocco, smooth spine panelled and decorated with fleurons, triple gilt fillet border on covers, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt roll-tooled edges, all edges gilt, contemporary binding.

Minor rubbing to the upper cover and a tiny hole to one joint.

Copy from the libraries of Raymond-Jean-François Laplagne-Barris (1786–1857), magistrate and Peer of France, and of heraldist Olivier Le Bas, with their bookplates pasted on the front pastedown and first endpaper.

New edition.

Half calf binding in tan, spine with five raised bands tooled in gilt with gilt compartments decorated with floral motifs, blond calf title label, green paper boards with scratches, some rubbing to edges, red edges, contemporary binding.

Spine restored and rubbed, tear without loss to the head of pages 33–34 and 35–36, ink marginal note on the title page, which has been trimmed by the binder.

The first edition of Recherches sur l'origine du despotisme oriental dates from 1761, and the text was extensively revised by Baron d’Holbach to reflect his atheistic views, as he was in fact the editor of all the works attributed to Boulanger, who died in...

Second edition, illustrated with a macabre engraved frontispiece (cf. Quérard II, 516; Cioranescu, XVIII, 13544, for the original 1712 edition).

Contemporary handwritten annotations on the title leaf.

Full brown calf binding, spine with five raised bands richly gilt in compartments with decorative tools, red morocco title label largely missing, gilt fillet framing the covers, sprinkled edges, corners rubbed, contemporary binding.

Headcaps worn down, some rubbing to spine and boards.

Second edition of this highly engaging work of early “libertine” philosophy, in the original sense of the term.

The project of the Réflexions was inspired by a remark...

First edition of Joseph von Hammer's major history of Persian belles-lettres, published in Vienna in 1818 by Heubner und Volke. Large quarto, XII and 432 pages, with an engraved portrait of the author as frontispiece, a plate of music bound between pages 272 and 273, and an index. The work is dedicated to Silvestre de Sacy.

Contemporary half polished tan calf, smooth spine decorated with gilt fillets, chain tools and floral ornaments, saffron-coloured boards, marbled edges. Joints split at foot and more slightly at head. A handsome copy with generous margins.

Hammer's...

First edition of this very rare memorandum advocating the establishment of a Chair of Natural Law at the Collège d’Autun (entrusted to the lawyer Bouheret).

No copies recorded in either CCFr or WorldCat.

The authors of this Dijon-printed text, mindful of their educational mission, examine the Utility of Natural Law from several perspectives—Religion, Government, and the various orders of society. They refer to Abbé Gédouin and his Dissertation sur l’éducation, to Mably’s Entretiens de Phocion, and to La Chalotais’s Essai d’Éducation nationale ou Plan d’études pour la jeunesse, both published the previous year. Burlamaqui’s Principes du droit...

First edition, illustrated with four plates, including a folding world map (cf. Sinkankas 3466; Agassiz III, 370).

Full fawn calf, spine with five slender raised bands, gilt-tooled compartments with occasionally softened floral tools, rubbed gilt headcaps, brown morocco lettering-piece, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt dentelle framing the pastedowns, gilt fillets to board edges, marbled edges, contemporary binding.

Repairs to the spine, one joint split at head and foot, browning along the board margins with surface scratches, scattered foxing, a waterstain at the head of all leaves.

A noteworthy treatise devoted to yellow amber and above all to ambergris, the...

First edition, illustrated with woodcut armorial bearings at the head of the first page of text.

Description of the equestrian procession that accompanied through Rome the new Roman senator, Count Nils Bielke (1706–1765), a Swedish knight, chamberlain to the King of Sweden and papal chamberlain following his recent conversion to Catholicism.

The text gives a detailed account of the sumptuous costumes worn by the participants and of the various decorative settings. It concludes with the names and titles of all those who took part in the procession.

Ink annotations at the head of the final page.

Our copy is preserved in its original wrappers, now protected by modern...

First edition of this offprint of great rarity.

Not listed in Musset-Pathay. Only two copies recorded in the Catalogue Collectif de France (Institut and Orléans).

Our copy is presented in a modern temporary wrapper made to resemble old paper.

Wine and cherry brandy, homemade kirschen-vasser, gin, juniper wine, poor man’s wine, currant wine, raisin and other dried fruit wines, etc.

First and only edition of the author's sole work.

Adorned with a fine engraved portrait of Jacques-Nicolas Colbert (1655–1707), youngest son of the minister and Archbishop of Carthage, to whom the book is dedicated.

Bound in full red morocco, spine with five raised bands, richly gilt compartments decorated with gilt fleurs-de-lys, gilt fillets, and Du Seuil-style panels on the covers; gilt tooling to headcaps and board edges, all edges gilt. Contemporary binding.

Some foxing, small wormholes at head and foot of spine, three black spots at the head of the upper cover.

Provenance: from the library of Alfred Massé (1911–1951), Radical-Socialist deputy for Nièvre under...

First edition of this very rare legal memorandum, most likely printed for limited circulation. The former deputy and Bordeaux merchant Laffon de Ladébat (1746–1829), compelled to return to private life due to Napoleon’s enduring hostility, had been appointed to preside over the liquidation committee of the Banque Territoriale, established in July 1799, which faced insolvency in May 1803 following the Banque de France’s refusal to rediscount bills amounting to 255,000 francs.

No copies recorded in the CCF. Not listed in INED.

Our copy is preserved in its original temporary marbled-paper wrappers, modern but faithful to the period style.

Scattered foxing.

First edition of the French translation, based on the sixth English edition.

Copies listed in the CCF only at the BnF, Dijon, and Rouen libraries.

Our copy is preserved in its original state, in contemporary marbled paper wrappers.

The only edition of this curious political pamphlet, seemingly without any real connection to an English original, which proposes to reorganize Europe through joint—particularly military—control by the four principal continental powers (Austria, France, Spain, and Prussia) over all the others, in order to ensure peace and balance across the continent.

These prophetic, if still utopian, reflections are preceded by an analysis of Europe’s...

First edition of the first of Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire’s essays on “Philosophie anatomique.”

Illustrated with 10 folding plates drawn by Huet and engraved by Plée père, containing 116 figures (cf. Agassiz III, p. 29, no. 51; British Museum (Natural History) II, p. 656; Engelmann I, p. 263; Quérard III, 320; DSB V, 355-358; Cahn (Th.), La vie et l’œuvre d’Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, pp. 81-112).

Bradel binding in full marbled paper boards, smooth spine with black morocco title label, modern binding signed by Thomas Boichot.

Some foxing to the plates.

Based on a meticulous examination of the various anatomical structures of the respiratory organs...

First edition of this important work on cryptogams, illustrated with 36 hand-coloured plates (cf. Pritzel 3345).

Contemporary half calf with vellum corners, flat spine decorated with gilt floral rolls, partly rubbed, joints worn, lower cap trimmed with a small loss, black morocco title label, blue paper-covered boards.

Endpapers soiled, a few small spots of foxing.

Justin Girod-Chantrans, writer and naturalist [Besançon, 1750–1841], was one of the founders of the Société d’Agriculture du Doubs.

He was elected a member of the legislative body in 1802 (cf. Hoefer).

First edition of the French translation, illustrated with 34 plates, including one in colour.

See Garrison & Morton, 2465 (for the original German edition).

Contemporary full marbled cream paper boards, smooth spine with some rubbing and small losses, decorative motif of three acorns stamped in the centre of the covers, modern bookplate pasted on the verso of the front board.

Some light foxing.

First French translation of Abhandlung über die Saamen- und Infusionsthierchen, und über die Erzeugung, nebst mikroskopischen Beobachtungen des Saamens der Thiere in verschiedenen Infusionen (1778).

The biologist Wilhelm Friedich von Gleichen-Russwurm...

Le Havre, Montivilliers and various places, 1786-1797. Twenty-one separately printed pamphlets bound together in one quarto volume, 19.2 x 25 cm.

Rare sammelband assembled by Jean-Baptiste-Jacques L'Aignel himself from the printed fragments of the legal, economic and political work to which he devoted the final decades of his life. Prospectuses, prefaces, prolegomena, speeches and appendices had been issued separately, mostly in Le Havre or nearby Montivilliers, to accompany a much larger undertaking that was never to reach its intended final form. Gathered here by their author...

Rare first edition of the French translation, illustrated with 12 double-page plates mounted on guards. (Not in Ferguson.)

Contemporary soft pink paper boards, spine renewed, with a small stain and some paper losses to the covers.

Johann Bartholomäus Trommsdorff (1770–1837), a disciple of Buchholz, was professor of chemistry and physics at Erfurt, but is generally regarded in Germany as a pharmacist. Throughout his career, he sought to establish pharmacology on the foundations of pure chemistry. The translator, Philippe-Xavier Leschevin de Précour (1771–1814), a brilliant young chemist, died prematurely while serving as chief commissioner of powders and saltpetre in...

First edition illustrated with a copper-engraved plate (showing some dampstains) from the second part of this brief communication, which served as an invitation to the public meeting of the Imperial Society of Naturalists of Moscow.

According to the CCF, only the Natural History Museum holds all three parts, published respectively in 1809, 1810, and 1811.

Very rare copy preserved in its original stitched wrappers with the printed pink cover.

Covers slightly discoloured and foxed at the margins, two dampstains affecting the lower edge throughout. Manuscript notes at the head of the front wrapper identifying the author and title.

The Saxon naturalist Fischer von...

Very rare document on the so-called "Eau de Cologne," illustrated with a headpiece depicting the city of Cologne.

Written by Giovanni Antonio Farina (1718–1787), one of the heirs and successors of the inventor of the famous lotion, the Italian perfumer Giovanni Paolo Feminis (1660–1736), who had settled in Cologne.

Jean-Antoine Farina would later transmit the formula to his descendants, the last of whom, Jean-Marie Farina (1785–1864), successfully marketed the celebrated water during the first half of the 19th century.

This pamphlet details the various medicinal applications of Eau de Cologne (the names of the ailments are printed in capitals). "Il y a environ un...

Rare first edition with bilingual text (French with facing Italian translation).

Our copy is preserved in its original state, uncut and unbound in temporary dominoté paper wrappers (with pen and black ink accounts and trials on the verso of the second cover). Minor foxing.

Only one copy recorded in the CCF (Avignon). Not listed in Starace.

A very rare collection documenting a little-known aspect of the famous "Miot decrees", which have given rise to much commentary, though only concerning their fiscal and customs provisions.

The regulatory activity of this unflinching State official extended into many other areas. When he disembarked from the Hirondelle on 25 March...

Extremely rare first edition, probably printed in Prussia, of this essay written directly in French by Baron de Bielfeld (1716–1770), inspector of Prussian universities and a friend of Frederick the Great since the time when he was still Crown Prince of Prussia.

GV 1700–1910, vol. 111, p. 374. Not in Conlon (who only cites the Amsterdam edition of the same year). No copy located in the U.S.A.

Full red morocco with gilt decoration, smooth spine elaborately tooled in the grotesque style, gilt rolls on the caps, triple gilt fillet border on the covers, gilt fillets on the edges, star-patterned gilt paper endpapers and doublures, gilt dentelle border on the inside covers, all...

First edition of this important account of Buffon, providing insights into his private life, his character, and his relationships with those around him; it also contains numerous references to his scientific work (cf. Quérard I, 119: "Lyon, Grabit, 1788"; Dureau, "Notice sur Joseph Aude," p. 15).

Half vellum binding, smooth spine with a red morocco title label in vertical layout, marbled paper boards, slightly rubbed corners, sprinkled edges.

Stains in the margins of the title page and final leaf.

The memoirs proper end on page 55.

The following pages contain the poems announced in the title.

The rarity of this volume was already noted by Dureau in...

Paris, Pierre David, 1651. Small octavo. Four works bound in one volume.

Second edition of Divers traictez, à sçavoir, de la nature des bains de Bourbon, & des abus qui se commettent à présent en la boisson de ces eaux, avec une instruction pour s'en servir utilement. De la Macreuse. De la Poudre de sympathie, first published by the same bookseller in 1650. The work opens with a dedication to Messire Baltazar du Mont, knight and Baron of Neufuy Saint-Sépulcre, with an engraved headpiece bearing fleur-de-lis arms. 4 unnumbered leaves, 148 and 56 pages, 2 unnumbered leaves.

Rare first edition (cf. Caillet 3017).

Full porphyry calf binding, smooth spine decorated in the grotesque style, small losses and rubbing at the foot of the spine, tan calf title label with a small loss and restoration, triple gilt fillet framing the boards, gilt rolls on the caps partially faded, marbled edges, contemporary binding.

An interesting dissertation written by President de Brosses (1709–1777) for the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, “on ancient myths, theurgy, magic, and secret cults.”

First edition of the French translation prepared by Jean-Nicolas Jouin de Sausseul (see Quérard VII, 330, who erroneously lists 4 parts; Cioranescu XVIII, 59 618; not in Sabin).

Full mottled fawn calf binding, smooth spines divided into compartments and decorated with gilt fleurons, some rubbing, light brown morocco title labels, green morocco volume labels, gilt rolls slightly faded at the headcaps, single gilt fillet framing the boards, gilt fillets along the edges, bumped corners, red edges, contemporary bindings.

Two small patches of missing leather to the lower cover of the second volume.

The original English edition appeared in 1781 under the title Emma...

Rare first edition (cf. Carrère 667).

Modern binding in half mottled calf with small sand-colored corners, spine with four raised bands decorated with double gilt fillets, brown morocco title label, marbled paper boards, yellow endpapers and pastedowns, red edges.

One of the earliest impressions from Remiremont; cited by Deschamps, col. 1102.

First edition.

Only one copy listed in the CCF (BnF).

Bradel binding in full marbled paper boards, smooth spine, green shagreen title label with a small loss, modern binding.

Very rare report of the administration of the "Argenterie, Menus-Plaisirs et affaires de la chambre", which under the Ancien Régime formed part of the King's Household, in charge of the "King’s pleasures"—that is, the organization of court ceremonies and entertainments.

Compiled from 393 records (and 21,000 invoices).

By drastically reducing the expenses of his household, Louis XVI retained only a single “Maître des Menus-Plaisirs”, endowed with a budget infinitely smaller than that of...

Very rare first French edition of this translation, illustrated with a folding plate.

Full mottled tan calf binding, spine with five raised bands decorated with gilt fleurons and typographic motifs, red morocco title label, gilt rolls at the head and tail, gilt fillet along the edges, lightly rubbed corners, marbled edges, contemporary binding.

A pleasant copy.

The only French translation of the Libellus, quo demonstratur : Colchici autumnalis radicem non solum tuto posse exhiberi hominibus, sed et ejus usu interno curari quandoque morbos difficillimos, qui aliis remediis non cedunt (Vienna, Trattner, 1763), which was also issued in an English version.

An...

First edition of this first part illustrated with three copperplate engravings.

Contemporary flexible boards covered with marbled paper, smooth brown percaline spine with a small snag at foot, red morocco title label on the front cover, rubbed corners.

Rare.

Edition published one year after the original, illustrated with four fine copper-engraved plates by Charles Eisen depicting Nordic types (Icelandic women, a bear hunt, Samoyeds, a Laplander in a sleigh) engraved by Le Mire, one folding map by Bellin, thirteen maps, plans, or views (eight of them folding) engraved by Croissey, as well as a charming engraved title vignette and a headpiece by Le Gouaz.

See Sabin, 37616; Chadenat, 1633; Boucher de la Richarderie, I, 380.

Full mottled calf binding, smooth spine richly gilt in compartments decorated with gilt fleurons and geometric motifs, sometimes slightly rubbed, red morocco label, restorations to spine and joints, gilt roll...

First edition of the French translation prepared by Joseph Lavallée.

The atlas volume is illustrated with 16 plates (portrait, views, birds, insects), 12 engraved music plates (printed on 6 leaves), and a large folding map on thick paper (cf. Quérard, I, 6; British Museum (Natural History), I, 8 for the atlas only; Pritzel, 6 for the original English edition).

Bound in contemporary half calf, smooth spines gilt-tooled with floral ornaments, rolls and motifs, sometimes slightly faded, orange calf title and volume labels, marbled paper boards, a few rubs and minor defects along the joints, sprinkled red edges; the atlas volume in contemporary half brown calf, smooth...

Edition limited to 60 copies of this rare and celebrated pamphlet tracing the history of the bean and Epiphany.

"Cette dissertation était devenue si rare qu'on en connaissait que deux exemplaires; elle a été réimprimée en 1808, à Besançon". Brunet I, 1387.

Our copy is preserved in its original stitching, in contemporary plain marbled blue paper wrappers.

Foxing to the title page, small angular paper losses to the wrappers.

A rare and handsome copy, with wide margins, as issued.

Third edition, the second issued under this title, partly original as it includes several new memoirs and the general tariff of Holland.

See Sabin 47557. Cioranescu 35613. Kress 3019. Not in Goldsmiths or Einaudi. See INED 2306 for the "Grand trésor historique et politique du florissant commerce des Hollandois" (1712).

Amsterdam, Du Villard, Changuion, 1718, 8vo,

Full mottled tan calf, spine with raised bands decorated with gilt fillets, garlands and floral tools (partly faded), red morocco title label, gilt rolls at the head and tail, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt fillet on board edges, red edges, one lower corner bumped, others slightly rubbed, contemporary...

Second, enlarged edition of these rather protectionist ideas, which prompted Dupont de Nemours to write a refutation (Lettre à la Chambre de commerce de Normandie).

Our copy is preserved in its original wrappers, now covered with modern marbled paper, red edges.

The second part is entitled Plan d'une banque nationale de France, ou d'une caisse générale de recettes & paiements des deniers publics & particuliers, and bears the Jersey imprint, 1787. Frère I, 210 (for the first edition of 1787).

First edition illustrated with 11 plates, 10 of which are folding.

Bradel binding in full marbled paper boards, smooth spine, vertical paper title label.

"Ce sont les tables des hauteurs du soleil à toutes les heures" [Lalande]. A rare and appealing copy.

Very rare first edition, with only one copy listed in WorldCat.

Contemporary half vellum binding with small corners, smooth spine, brown morocco title label with losses, marbled paper boards.

Some foxing and light staining to the title page.

The work lists and quantifies commercial exchanges with various regions of Italy, as well as with France, Spain, America, Russia, the Levant, and others.

First edition. Quérard I, 271 lists only one edition: "Paris, Née de La Rochelle, 1789." Kress B.1163; Goldsmiths 13858. Not in Einaudi."

With loose printed title pages for each volume, dated 1789.

The first volume, with an engraved pictorial title after Meunier, contains 52 double-page or folding plates inserted into the pagination, without following its numbering logic.

The second volume has an engraved pictorial title by Zaveris after Meunier and includes 154 etched plates of coins.

Full mottled calf, spines with six raised bands, gilt fillets and double gilt panels, red morocco lettering-pieces, green morocco numbering-pieces, gilt rolls on...

First edition, illustrated with an engraved portrait of Magellan as frontispiece and four folding maps and plans of the Strait of Magellan. Cf. Sabin, 16765; Leclerc, 1971; Chadenat, 552; Palau, 352513; Aguilar Piñal, VIII, 2443.

The present copy does not include the separately published appendix issued in 1793, devoted to the supplementary survey carried out by the packet vessels Santa Casilda and

New edition with hitherto unpublished material, printed three years after the first edition.
Contemporary full brown sheepskin binding, smooth spine with 7 gilt compartments decorated with friezes and classical vases, leather lettering piece, inscription "Lycée impérial de Marseille, prix de l'an XIII (1805)" gilt-stamped on upper cover, gilt rolls on board edges, tooled spine-ends, white pastedowns and endpapers, price label with the "Lycée's" header affixed to front pastedown. Usual wear to joints with a small hole, lower spine-end missing and leather loss at foot of spine, wormhole affecting several letters of the word...

First edition of this important work, cf. Krivatsy 588. Garrison-Morton 1673, 5047 and 5085.

Full stiff ivory vellum, spine with four raised bands, the author’s name handwritten in black ink, one defect on the fourth band, blind-tooled rolls on the headcaps, gilt fillets highlighting the raised bands and framing the covers, small vellum losses on the covers, losses at the corners of the first and last endpaper, edges sprinkled red, contemporary binding.

Bound with this work are three further treatises by Guillaume de Baillou, all printed by Quesnel in 1640. Krivatsy, describing a...

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...

Remarkable collection of 19 letters patent transcribing into French law what had originally been the outcome of diplomatic conventions; the sovereignties concerned are as follows, arranged in chronological order of the letters patent: I. Imperial City of Reutlingen (January 1775, 6 pp.). – II. Principality of Nassau-Weilburg (26 April 1776, 23 pp.). – III. Electorate of Saxony (1 September 1776, 10 pp.). – IV. Republic of Ragusa (October 1776, 7 pp.). – V. Principality of Nassau-Usingen (10 June 1777, 8 pp.). – VI. Duchy of Saxe-Saalfeld-Coburg (15 August 1778, 11 pp.). – VII. Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (15 August 1778, 12 pp.). – VIII. Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (15 August 1778, 12...