Illustrated Books (16th - 18th Centuries)

New édition after the first complete edition in 2 volumes of 1726, illustrated with a frontispiece and 12 charming and picturesque unsigned figures by Dubercelle. Title pages in red and black. Good impression. The frontispiece reproduces that of the first edition of 1707, it has been re-engraved. 

Contemporary full glazed brown calf binding. Ornate spine with raised bands. Red morocco title label. Lower joint split at foot for 2 cm, otherwise handsome copy, very fresh.

It was this work that made Lesage a distinguished and immediately celebrated writer. The author had borrowed the framework from Guevarra, the devil carrying a mortal over the rooftops and observing scenes in the dwellings, a pretext for numerous discussions on the customs of Parisians, but it is an entirely original work in which the author's critical spirit excelled, since it is a satire of Parisian customs and manners, and which naturally transcends the Parisian microcosm to achieve social and philosophical criticism. This satirical work enjoyed great success until the end of the 19th century.

First illustrated edition with 3 title vignettes and 3 figures by Eisen in volume I (as well as 3 pages of engraved music) plus 3 tailpieces and 1 figure by Marillier, 2 by Barbier and 3 title vignettes by Marillier in volume II, plus 3 tailpieces. All engraved by Fessard, Longueil, Née, Delaunay and Halbou. Very fine illustration, very elegant.
Contemporary full calf binding with scale pattern. Spine with raised bands decorated. Red morocco title labels, and green morocco volume labels. Triple-ruled frame on boards. Edges gilt. Small lack to upper joint at head of volume I. Signs of rubbing. Pale scattered foxing. One lack to margin of p. 479. The binder has inverted the volume numbers.

Handsome copy.

Volume I: Salisbury, Varbeck, Le Sire de Crequy.
Volume II: Le Prince de Bretagne, La Duchesse de Chatillon, Le Comte de Strafford.

Most of Baculard d'Arnaud's narratives show an immoderate taste for true anecdotes (historical or picturesque and drawn from various regions: Italy, Germany, Spain) and the author is perfectly representative of this literature that would give rise to the gothic and dark novel. An exacerbated, sparkling sentimentalism animates the author's works, with a certain complacency in depicting evil and a rather morbid pleasure in emotions. Were it not for the framework that often defines the gothic novel, which is absent from d'Arnaud's works (except for Le Comte de Comminges), the author is very close to this movement in late 18th-century literature.

Second edition, after the first published in 1779, expanded by Rouland, and illustrated with 8 folding plates at the end, compared to 5 for the first edition.

Contemporary full marbled calf binding. Ornate spine with raised bands. Red morocco title label. Two corners bumped. Rubbing. One loss at head. Light foxing on the first leaves. Good copy.

Awakened to experimental physics as a student of Abbé Nollet, Sigaud de la Fond assisted the chemist Macquer in his experiments on gases and notably hydrogen, verifying that its combustion produced water. He relates in this work his experiments on different types of air, and summarizes the work of foreign physicists. Rouland, professor of experimental physics at the University of Paris, completed the descriptions of experiments, and the apparatus for conducting these experiments. Most of the chemists and physicists of the period are cited in the work: Priestley, Fontana, Lavoisier...

Bookplate J. Angeras. Non solum... 1902.

Second edition statement, rare, published after the original of 1783, and illustrated with 9 plates in fine, of the aerostatic machine and the flying boat.

Bound in full limp vellum binding, reused. Smooth spine with author's name in pen and date at foot. Stains and soiling. Trace of dampstain to lower margin of frontispiece. Leaves browned at beginning of work, and several others scattered throughout bearing browning.

First and important work on aerostation. It brings together several memoirs relating the first balloon flights (On inflammable gas, Observations made by M. Jeaurat, On rubber, Accounts of the first flights at Annonay, at the Champ de Mars...) Faujas de Saint-Fond, naturalist and geologist, financially supported the research of the Montgolfier brothers, papermakers, based on Cavendish's experiments and Priestley's work on hot air. They flew two balloons at Annonay, the second with farm animals, by means of bags filled with hot air. A supplement containing other memoirs and observations, which is rarely bound with, was published in 1784.

First edition, illustrated with 4 very attractive headpieces by Pronk, 4 tailpieces and 13 folding plates on polyps. Armorial copy with the arms stamped on the spine (ermines and macles) of the Rohan-Chabot family. The armorial bindings of the Rohan and Rohan-Chabot families have the distinctive feature of bearing the heraldic devices exclusively on the spine.

Contemporary full blonde calf binding. Spine with raised bands decorated with crowned ermines and macles. Joints entirely cracked. Headcaps worn. Corners slightly bumped from rubbing. Occasional minor worming, final plates with upper margin soiled.

It was in these memoirs that Tremblay discovered the hydra, or hydra, a freshwater polyp which he observed for several years while serving as tutor to the son of a count who owned a property with ponds and streams. He meticulously recounts his observations and experiments with a particularly enlightened mind. After initially taking the hydra for a plant, Tremblay understood that he was dealing with an animal, capable of moving with its tentacles (the horns), and which is photosensitive, instinctively directing itself toward the most luminous point. Through multiple and intelligent experiments, he established that the hydra has the power of regeneration through cell division, and finally that the hydra can reproduce asexually. Tremblay's studies found resonance among his contemporaries, but quickly fell into oblivion, certainly because they competed with those of Réaumur. Modern zoology has rehabilitated the importance of his work and the quality of his experiments.

New edition, illustrated with 14 plates, most folding.
Contemporary full brown marbled calf binding. Decorated spine with raised bands. Red morocco title label, and black wax volume label. 2 corners slightly bumped. Rubbing. Good copy.
Notable articles in each of the mentioned sections include: Experiments to determine if the strength of ropes exceeds the sum of the strengths of the threads composing these same ropes, by M. de Réaumur. Observations on the vegetation of truffles, by M. Geoffroy. Observations on fecal matter, by M. Homberg. Remarks on certain colors, by M. de La Hire. Rules and remarks for the construction of equalities, by M. Rolle. On different ways in which several species of sea animals attach themselves to sand, by M. de Réaumur. New experiments on the dilation of air, by M. Maraldi. Description of a new purple dye, by M. de Réaumur. Observations on the structure & use of the principal parts of flowers, by M. Geoffroy. Description of the flowers and seeds of various succulents, by M. de Réaumur. Various astronomical observations.

Illustrated edition with 16 folding plates, 8 per volume.
Contemporary full marbled brown calf bindings. Raised band spines with gilt ornaments. Red morocco title-labels, and black wax volume labels. Small lack to head of volume I. One corner slightly bumped. Rubbing. Last errata leaf frayed at margin. Good copies.
Notable articles to be retained in each of the mentioned sections include the following: On beam resistance by M. Parent. On conchoids in general by M. de La Hire. Observations on coral analysis by M. Geoffroy. Reflections on magnetic variations by M. Houssaye. General method for finding an infinity of new curved lines by M. Réaumur. Physical explanation of the vertical and natural direction of plants by M. de La Hire. Method for describing large arcs of conic sections, by M. de La Hire. Conjectures on the position of the island of Meroë, by M. Delisle. Numerous astronomical observations by Cassini, Maraldi...

The rare first edition, illustrated with a title-frontispiece and 22 plates after paintings by Eustache Le Sueur and engraved by François Chauveau. Captions of the engravings in two columns, one verse in Latin, with its translation alongside. Brunet III, 1020.
Half chocolate-brown glazed shagreen binding circa 1860 with corners, signed L. Fixon at the bottom of the last leaf. Jansenist spine with raised bands. Engraved title, as well as the initials S. D. Tears with lacks to the lower board. Cut to one corner of the lower board and corner slightly bumped. Some rubbing. Fine copy, very fresh.
Le Sueur painted between 1645 and 1648 the cycle of the life of Saint Bruno, a set of 22 canvases commissioned to adorn the cloister of the Charterhouse of Paris. Le Sueur asserted his own style inherited from Poussin's classicism and his master Simon Vouet. These canvases were later purchased by Louis XVI in 1776. They are now in the Louvre. François Chauveau is one of the most illustrious French engravers of the 17th century, and one of the 4 engravers cited by Charles Perrault in his Hommes illustres, and one of the principal representatives of the etching technique. In his Voyage pittoresque de Paris, Dezallier D'Argenville thus describes the cloister of the Charterhouse: "Le petit cloître mérite une attention particulière. Le Raphaël français Eustache Le Sueur y a représenté en vingt-deux tableaux peints sur bois les principales circonstances de la vie de S. Bruno [...] Ce cloître a été gravé par François Chauveau d'une manière qui rend assez bien le caractère de Le Sueur." ["The small cloister deserves particular attention. The French Raphael Eustache Le Sueur has represented there in twenty-two paintings on wood the principal circumstances of the life of St. Bruno [...] This cloister has been engraved by François Chauveau in a manner that renders quite well the character of Le Sueur."]

First edition, rare, illustrated with three folding plates showing the interior of a tomb discovered in 1685.
Modern full parchment binding with flaps, beautiful pastiche of a contemporary Dutch binding in perfect condition. Red morocco title label. Paper yellowed. Pp. 330 and 331 with stains and soiling. Restoration to leaves 49 and 51 with a paper strip at the center of the work.
Composed of two parts, the narrated history itself and Les Actes et preuves, The work extends from the origins of the County of Evreux until 1682. The organization and style are clear and concise, and the whole abounds with erudition, particularly regarding antiquities. One will consult with appetite the acts and proofs on this subject. A very interesting subsection has been added by the author on the office of Constable of Normandy.
This history is the work of Pierre Le Brasseur, librarian to Chancellor d'Aguesseau, native of Evreux, to whom the work bears its dedication.

Second edition, illustrated with two musical plates (examples of tunes that can be taught to canaries) and one depicting cages.

Contemporary binding in full speckled brown sheep. Ornate spine with raised bands. Red morocco title label. Joints cracked at head and foot. Corners bumped and rubbed. Scuffing. Scattered foxing. Yellow dampstain on the first six leaves.

Treatise and manual on breeding Canary birds in captivity: feeding, nesting, care, prices, varieties... These aviary birds were particularly appreciated for their beauty, colors and song.

New edition, illustrated with two frontispieces and 12 figures before letters, unsigned. A title vignette repeated on both volumes. Title pages in red and black.
Contemporary full glazed blonde calf bindings. Spines with raised bands decorated with small repeated fleurons in compartments. Red morocco title and volume labels. Decorative gilt board-edges and on leading edges. Edges gilt. The figures are slightly shorter at the outer margin. Joints partially restored. Fine copy, in good binding.
Son of the illustrious actor Montfleury, and like him attached to the Hôtel de Bourgogne, his first plays were farces around 1660, then producing about one play per year, he evolved toward satire and social criticism. He was a rival of Molière, who had mocked his father in L'Impromptu de Versailles (to which he responded with L'Impromptu de l'Hôtel de Condé), but while Molière drew his manner from Italian theater, Montfleury freely drew inspiration from Spanish theater; his comic theater is not a comedy of characters but a satire of contemporary society.
Engraved armorial bookplate of the 19th century Ph. L. de Bordes de Fortage.

First collected edition, bringing together Opuscules de physique animale et végétale and Expériences pour servir à l'histoire de la génération des animaux et des plantes; avec une ébauche de l'histoire des êtres organisés avant leur fécondation par Jean Sennebier. Translation by Jean Sennebier. The third volume: Expériences, etc, bears the imprint of Barthélémy Chirol in Geneva with the same date of 1787 (same imprint as for the original published in 1785). Edition illustrated with 9 folding plates at the end, 3 in the first volume and 6 in the third.

Contemporary full speckled calf bindings. Smooth spines decorated with several tools (wheat sheaf, stars) and Greek rolled borders. Red morocco title labels and green morocco volume labels (volume numbering at foot). Triple gilt fillet frame on boards. Extensive surface abrasions on boards. Slight defects to spines. Handsome copy, moreover perfectly fresh.

Collection of the most important works of this great biologist Spallanzani, remarkable not only for his hypotheses, but for his imagination in terms of experimental method. The opuscules contain the Expériences sur la digestion, which are not found in the original, in which Spallanzani demonstrates the importance of gastric juices in the digestive process. He will also demonstrate that the theory of spontaneous generation is false, discovers the secret of fertilization between a spermatozoid and an ovum, that of regeneration in certain animals; he will perform the first artificial insemination on a female dog. We thus owe him numerous advances in the sciences, whose effects would not be felt until much later, but above all he marks his era through his scientific rigor and demonstration protocols that reveal an inventiveness and clairvoyance that seem inexhaustible.

19th-century armorial bookplate of Dampierre