Illustrated Books (16th - 18th Centuries)

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

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

In t

Reprint of the 1709 Regensburg edition by the heirs of Mathias Kerner, published under a false imprint (actually printed in Rouen). This copy illustrated with 10 plates (numerous portraits), including 2 folding plates (the procession of the League and the estates of the League) and one in-text illustration. Title pages printed in red and black. Frontispiece repeated in all 3 volumes. Contemporary bindings in full polished calf. Spines with raised bands, richly decorated. Red morocco lettering-pieces and brown morocco volume numbering-pieces. Headcap of volume III restored. Split at head of upper joint of volu

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 (1717–17

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

New edition after the 1562 original. Rare. Brunet II, 789. Italic typeface edition illustrated with about twenty curious figures in and outside the text, notably associating objects with letters. One copy at Manchester library, we found nothing in France and Germany.

Contemporary full vellum binding, smooth spine with handwritten title lengthwise in pen. One tear on the spine (1 cm). Endpapers restored, the title page has been reinforced with two small pieces of paper on the verso.

Lodovico Dolce (1508-1568), Venetian man of letters and humanist, worked on editions of Italian classical texts (Dante, Petrarch...) in collaboration with the publisher Ferrari and renewed

Celebrated edition entirely engraved both images and text, richly illustrated with 6 engraved titles, a frontispiece and an engraved half-title for volume I, together with 243 figures, 473 vignettes and tail-pieces engraved by Fessard.

The illustration of the first three volumes is the work of Monnet, and in the last three by Fessard after Bardin, Bidauld, Caresme, Desrais, Houel, Kobell, Le Clerc, Leprince, Loutherbourg, and Meyer. The text is entirely engraved by Montulay and Drouet within decorative borders.

Contempor

Very rare first edition illustrated at the end with 4 folding plates (cf Quérard VII, 190).

Modern binding in half mottled sheep with small vellum corners, smooth spine decorated with double gilt fillets, red morocco title-piece, marbled paper boards.

The author was a lawyer and architect in Lunéville.

Chapters on fire, the causes of fires, stoves and chimneys, floors, partitions, staircases, roofing, etc.

Pleasant copy.

New edition, adorned with a portrait of the author by Daullé, three headpieces by de Sève engraved by Juste Chevillet, twelve plates engraved by Jacques Aliamet, Jean-Jacques Flipart, Noël Le Mire, Louis-Simon Lempereur, Dominique Sornique, and Jacques-Nicolas Tardieu, and thirteen vignettes and sixty tail-pieces, all by de Sève engraved by Jean-Charles Baquoy, Jean-Jacques Flipart, and Louis Legrand.

A superb copy of the first luxury edition of Racine, among the most sought-after, bound in the most sumptuous red morocco.

Contemporary full red morocco, spine with five raised bands and gilt compartments, triple gilt fillet border, corner fleurons, yellow moro

Fourth edition after the original of 1577 published in Paris by Nicolas Chesneau and the edition by Abel L'Angelier printed in 1584. It is identical to the 1612 edition by Artus Thomas d'Embry, the first to contain engravings and to offer the four final texts. It is illustrated with a large folding plan of Constantinople, a double plate captioned « Portraict de l'Armée de l'Empereur Turc rangée en Bataille », 17 plates for the prophetic tableaux, 62 full-page engravings representing the different inhabitants of the Ottoman Empire (men and women) and 27 plates of portraits of Turkish personalities. Repeated title-frontispiece. Title pages in red and black.
Contemporary full brown calf b

Uncommon first edition, illustrated with historiated initials and 7 plates (see Brunet I, 710).
Not listed in Atabey, Blackmer or Hage Chahine.

Contemporary full marbled tan calf, spine with five raised bands richly gilt with floral motifs, joints and spine rubbed with traces of restoration, cherry morocco label, covers framed in triple blind fillet, margins of covers rubbed, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, red edges.

Joints rubbed, corners worn, some foxing.

Rare copy of this historical and numismatic monograph devoted to the small kingdom of Osroene (or Edessa), which long served as a buffer state between the Persian and Roman empires.

Born in Königsberg, Go

First edition of the French translation by Antoine Gilbert Griffet de La Baume of the first two volumes of "Asiatick researches, or, Transactions of the Society instituted in Bengal for enquiring into the history and antiquities, the arts, sciences and literature of Asia, Calcutta, 1788–1790" (cf. Chadenat 4934).

The first volume, Meteorological Journal kept by Colonel T. D. Pearse from 1785 to 1786, is illustrated with 33 full-page plates; the second, Meteorological Journal kept in Calcutta by Henry Trail from 1785 to 1786, with 11 plates and 2 tables, including one large folding plate.

Modern bindings in black half morocco, flat spines ruled with d

First edition, illustrated with 3 hors-texte plates (cf. Rodrigues 1357. Borba de Moraes I, 381. See INED 2496 for the 1774 edition).

The plates depict: Brama, god of the Indians – View of a pagoda tower – Snake charmer.

Contemporary-style binding in marbled tawny calf over vellum-tipped corners, spine with five raised bands, ruled in gilt, brown calf lettering-piece, marbled paper-covered boards, red sprinkled edges, modern binding.

Coromandel Coast, European trading posts, military strongholds, Indian religion, medicine, anatomy, caste system, Indian manners, dress, dwellings, gardens, food (and temperance), wedding rituals, funerals, Indian morals, fauna, flora, etc.<

Collective edition, partly original. It is illustrated with 3 frontispiece titles and 23 figures by François Chauveau. The three frontispiece titles dated 1660, the title page of the second volume with the date 1664, the other two title pages dated 1660. In the second volume, the privilege is also dated 1664, while the other two volumes have the privilege dated 1660. The second volume is therefore the 1664 reprint, identical in every respect to the 1660 edition, with the exception of the collation of the preliminary pieces. The three discourses as well as the examinations of each piece appear for the first time.

Binding in full 20th-century chocolate morocco signed Alix at the botto

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

Contemporary full speckled brown sheep binding. Decorated spine with raised bands. Red morocco title label, black morocco volume labels. Double blind fillet to boards. Lacks to joints at head of volume I. Upper joint narrowly split at head and tail of tome I. In tome II upper joint rubbed. Corners restored with leather strips. At the end of the second volume, some leaves browned, otherwise scattered light foxing.

The rare first edition, illustrated with 100 in-text figures of medals, each showing obverse and reverse. Of the three parts that were to appear successively, only this one was published, Le Menestrier's death having put an end to this work. The work was not even put on sale; the author only distributed a few copies around him. It is therefore very rare to come across this edition. The 1642 edition entitled Medales illustrées des anciens Empereurs et Impératrices de Rome is the same work to which the publisher Paillot added the Médailles des impératrices from a manuscript he had purchased from the heirs. Jean-Baptiste Le Menestrier, antiquarian, should not be confused with the heraldist C

A fine large-paper copy on vellum of the 1796 edition, which contains several previously unpublished texts by the author, a frontispiece portrait, 13 illustrations and 2 maps, engraved by Pierre-Alexandre Tardieu, Claude-Nicolas Malapeau, P. F. Tardieu, A. Girardet, Jean Louis Charles Pauquet, François Denis Née, Emmanuel-Jean-Népomucène de Ghendt, Charles Emmanuel Patas, Noël Le Mire and Vincent-Marie Langlois (in order of appearance).

Contemporary half long-grain red morocco bindings, smooth spines divided by

A complete set of the astronomical writings of Jean Sylvain Bailly, partly in first edition. This is the main work of the author,  first Mayor of Paris, elected during his lifetime to three French academies, a distinction previously achieved only by Bernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle.

The present set comprises the second edition of the Histoire de l'astronomie ancienne, the new edition of the Histoire de l'astronomie moderne, and the first edition of the Traité de l'astronomie indienne et orie

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

Half marbled calf binding, spine with five raised bands decorated with dotted gilt fillets, five compartments richly gilt with fillets and fleurons, pebble-pattern marbled paper boards, red edges, pastedowns and e

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

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

A fine edition complete with all 12 steel engravings with tissue guards after paintings by Jean-Louis-Ernest Meissonier, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, Philippe de Champaigne, and Hyacinthe Rigaud, and its chromolithographic title page. Leafs containing the Discourse on Universal History  framed by floral, zoomorphic, figural and armorial interlaced borders. This copy is further enhanced with elaborate decorated initials and tailpieces, and a black-and-white frontispiece opening each part.

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

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

First quarto edition, complete with all volumes and plates, commonly referred to as the “Third Edition” of the Encyclopédie, and also known as the “Encyclopédie de Pellet” or “Encyclopédie de Lyon” or “Encyclopédie du Lac” by Simon-Nicolas-Henri Linguet.

Full marbled and polished brown sheepskin contemporary bindings, spines with five raised bands and four gilt compartments decorated with pomegranate gilt tools, two gilt decorative rolls at foot, title and volume lettering-pieces in red and green morocco, boards twice framed in blind, board edges gilt, all red edges, marbled pastedowns and endpapers

First edition, illustrated at the end of the volume with a folding plate showing surgical instruments (cf. Garrison & Morton 2158.1; V. Rozier 3346).

A copy preserved in the original wrappers, in contemporary orange marbled paper without lettering.

Spine split; a light dampstain to the lower margins of the first few leaves.

Percy stresses the importance of immediate care for the wounded on the battlefield. "One of Napoleon's leading surgeons, Percy laid down his principles of the practice of military surgery in the same year he was appointed médecin consultant of the Army of the North. He divised his own instrument for bullet extraction, the tribulcon. He was respons

New edition illustrated with 16 folding copper-engraved plates.

Only two copies recorded in the CCF (Collège de France, Caen). As such, the volume is not cited by Quérard nor by Cioranescu.

Contemporary temporary blue paper boards, smooth spine, unlettered. Minor rubbing to the spine-ends.

Some foxing.

As such, the volume is not cited by Quérard nor by Cioranescu. It nevertheless constitutes the exceedingly rare atlas to the second edition of the Histoire de Russie tirée des chroniques originales, published in the same year, 1800, in 8 volumes of text.

The first edition had appeared in 1782 in five duodecimo volumes and, compiled from the extens

Rare first edition illustrated with 2 out-of-text plates, hand-coloured at the time, depicting Morlach costumes (cf. Conlon 78:960. Not recorded by Quérard.)

Our copy is preserved in its original stitched wrappers, under the period plain grey covers (spine lacking, covers with tears and detached, corners bumped, a few foxing spots, final endpaper stained at foot).

We have encountered another copy of this work illustrated with a single folding plate containing 3 figures.

Pages 78 to 85 contain a song in the Morlach language, with a French translation printed opposite.

New edition, partially original as it is augmented with three new stories and the life of the author (previously published in 1744; before this date, editions included only 10 stories).
The false title of the second volume bears the title "Diverse Works," these two volumes, although sold separately, could be placed after the six-volume Don Quixote. The original title "Exemplary Novels" was used concurrently in other editions.
Translation by Abbé Martin de Chassonville. It is illustrated with a portrait of the author engraved by Gentot after Kent, and 13 plates, of which 12 are engraved by Aveline after Folkema, and one by Daudel. The engravings are charming and pleasing, with typica

New edition illustrated with 52 unsigned plates, including 6 frontispieces. Volume V is a continuation of the history of Don Quixote, by the translator Filleau de Saint Martin. Volume VI written by the author Robert Challes. Title pages erroneously indicate 58 figures.
Brown full contemporary roan, stamped in gilt in between raised bands. Title page in red morocco. Small piece of leather lacking to upper part of Volume I, small loss to head of spine. In volume II, upper spine-end torn off and lower spine-end partly missing, some damage to lower cover. Volume III, damaged upper spine-end. Volume IV, lower spine-end missing. Volume V, upper spine-end missing. Volume VI, upper spine-end

French first edition illustrated with 3 repeated frontispieces, one portrait, 6 folding maps and 26 folding plates, being 36 figures in total. The complete set of illustrations is present whereas most copies lack one or several plates. The Spanish original dates from 1609. "This translation is more complete than the original: the third volume is entirely composed of the history of conquests made by the Dutch in this country". Chadenat, 739p.
Armorial copy with arms stamped on the upper covers and cipher on the lower covers. Unidentified.
Contemporary full brown speckled sheep binding. Spine with raised bands decorated with central fleuronné lozenges and roulettes on the bands. Brown

First edition of the French translation. First published in English in 1712 under the title A cruising voyage round the world. Illustrated with 2 engraved titles, 14 engraved plates and 7 maps including 2 large format (Paraguay and Chile - mainland Peru and Brazil and the Land of the Amazons) and a world map.
Bound in full brown sprinkled calf, spine elaborately gilt, gilt roulettes on the edges, all red speckled edges. Expertly restored (corners, upper and lower part of joints). Two small restored tears on the world map, not affecting the image.
Ex-libris in ink "Sr Remy" to the upper left margin of the title-page.
A tear to the world map, not affecting the engraving.<

Chez Théodore Le Gras, à Paris 1728, 12° (9,5x17cm), (2 p.) xvij (7 p.) 346 pp.; (2 p.) ij 376 pp.; (2 p.) ij 387 pp.; (6 p.) 392 pp.; (6 p.) 404 pp., 5 volumes bound.
First edition of this famous description of West Africa.
78 full-page engraved plates:
- volume 1: 5 maps, 2 plates and 1 folding plan
- volume 2: 6 maps, 17 plates and 4 folding plans
- volume 3: 2 maps and 13 plates
- volume 4: 5 maps, 8 plates and 3 folding plans
- volume 5: 3 maps and 9 plates
First edition of this famous description of West Africa. Illustrated with 78 full-page engraved plates.
Contemporary beige calf, spine elaborately gilt, 19th century red leather

First edition, with 18 engraved maps et 5 folding engraved plates.
Contemporary tan calf, skillfully restored tear to the first folding map, some marginal restorations to the map “Troisième division - Archipel des navigateurs”. Falkland Islands map expertly rebacked on the outer margin as well as the Magellan Strait map. Map of the Buton Strait with a small marginal tear and a second restored with a strip of paper.
Bougainville undertook the first official French circumnavigation and scientific expedition. Starting from Nantes in November 1766, he sailed to the Falklands, made a stopover in Buenos Aires and then crossed the Magellan Strait and the P

Second collective first edition, with continuous pagination, containing for the first time Phèdre, the Discours prononcé à l'Académie françoise à la réception de Messieurs de Corneille et de Bergeret and the Idylle sur la paix.(Brunet, IV, 1077). Work illustrated with 12 figures including 2 frontispieces, most signed by François Chauveau; the frontispiece of the first volume engraved by Le Brun. 
Edition shared between Barbin, Denys Thierry and Pierre Trabouillet.
Full midnight blue morocco binding from the late 19th century signed at the foot of the pastedown Thibaron-Joly (Former worker of Trautz, Thibaron partnered with the gilder Joly in 1874). Spine with raised bands decorated.

The finest edition of this work, the original having appeared in 1756. It comprises 84 plates, 61 of which are folding, compared to only 40 in the original, engraved in intaglio by Moitte, Patte and Tardieu, depicting military costumes, plans and profiles, and troop formations. Published by Abbé Perau, this edition is augmented with a biography (134pp.) and several pieces (letters...), it is better organized and superbly printed in large type.
Contemporary full marbled and glazed calf binding. Decorated raised spine, head and tail rolls. Red morocco title label and volume label. Double gilt fillet frame on boards. One tear at tail. One lower corner cut on volume 1. Small lack at head o