Oriental Impressions

Second edition, the first having appeared in 1831.

Joseph Héliodore Garcin de Tassy (1794-1878) was a French Orientalist and specialist in India.

He studied Oriental languages under Silvestre de Sacy and, together with him, was one of the founders of the Société asiatique in 1822. In 1828 he was appointed to the chair of Indology at the École spéciale des Langues orientales, and in 1838 was elected a member of the Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres. Initially known for his studies of Islam and his translations from Arabic, Turkish and Persian, Garcin de Tassy became the foremost French specialist in Hindustani.

Unlettered spine, small marginal losses to the...

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.

Autograph note signed by the Aga Khan on a fragment of paper, bearing the words: "I have the honor to be your obdt servant Aga Khan"

Accompanied by a dated and signed certificate of authenticity issued by the distinguished London bookseller and autograph dealer Winifred A. Myers, whose premises were located at 70 Bond Street.

First edition, comprising only the introductory sections, without the translation itself, which required considerable labour on Biot's part, the text being renowned for its extreme obscurity.

Some foxing.

The Zhouli (Rites of Zhou) was known until the Tang dynasty as the Zhouguan (Offices of Zhou), since it is in fact a list of official functions divided into six categories, which later inspired the six ministries of the imperial administration.

The engineer Édouard-Constant Biot (1803-1850), son of the mathematician Jean-Baptiste Biot, was also a pupil of Stanislas Julien and rapidly became an outstanding sinologist, whose work remains in use to this day.

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...

First edition illustrated with 8 folding plates.

Half vellum binding, smooth spine with gilt initials at foot, black shagreen title label, red morocco label bearing the year of issue, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, sprinkled edges, original wrappers preserved, contemporary binding.

Rare Saigon printing. This uncommon directory was published under this title until 1888; in 1889, it became the Annuaire de l'Indo-Chine française.

First edition illustrated with seven folding plates.

Contemporary half vellum binding, smooth spine with gilt initials at foot, brown morocco title label, red morocco date label, marbled paper boards with some rubbing, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, speckled edges.

Rare Saigon printing, and the last year to appear under this title.

This uncommon directory was published under this title until 1888; in 1889 it became the Annuaire de l'Indo-Chine française.

Rare first edition of this uncommon atlas, featuring 9 maps printed in colour, either on single sheets, double-page, or folding.

Bound in modern half dark blue calf, smooth spine with gilt rules at head and tail, title in long, boards of handmade paper, marbled endpapers and pastedowns.

Minor foxing to the versos of some maps, three discreet repairs using small adhesive pieces to the margins of three maps and the title page.

Printed note on the verso of the title page: "Institut national de géographie, Bruxelles".

The maps depict: General View of the East Indies, Java and Madura (detached from the volume), Sumatra and the Riouw Archipelago, Banka and Billiton...

No publisher, no place, no date [1885–1890]. Quarto (32.5 × 23 cm), 1 blank leaf and 49 unnumbered leaves. Contemporary half red percaline over corners, smooth spine covered in red shagreen, pebble-grain paper-covered boards, blue paper endpapers.

An exceptional collection of 49 original unsigned watercolours, each measuring approximately 20 × 15 cm within the margins, finely executed in Indian ink and watercolour with gouache highlights, mounted on guards. Several leaves bear the watermark "Latune et Cie Blacons", that of a paper mill in the Drôme region active throughout the final third of the nineteenth century. Rubbing to the spine, a few marginal...

First edition, printed in a small run, of this offprint from the Journal des savants.

Work illustrated with a finely engraved plate printed outside the text.

Some scattered foxing internally and to the wrappers.

Appointed in 1820 to the chair of archaeology at the Sorbonne, succeeding Quatremère de Quincy, Désiré Raoul-Rochette (1789–1854) was chiefly known for his expertise in Greek antiquity. He also served as curator of the Cabinet des médailles.

On the upper cover, authorial presentation inscription from Désiré Raoul-Rochette to the physician and botanist Henri Dutrochet (1776–1847), the discoverer of the phenomena of exosmosis and...

Complete first edition, in eleven bound volumes (ten text volumes and one atlas) of Auguste Pavie’s monumental work on former French Indochina, enriched with an autograph inscription signed by the author and accompanied by the large map of the Mission.

Published in Paris by Ernest Leroux, with the assistance of Augustin Challamel for the Atlas, between 1898 and 1919, the work appeared under the auspices of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, the Colonies, Public Instruction, and Fine Arts.

The set comprises the section Géographie et voyages, volumes I to VII, published between 1901 and 1919, illustrated with 52 maps and portraits hors texte...

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 separate edition, the text having previously appeared in the series Philipp's new voyages and travels (London, 1820–1823) (cf. Cordier, Sinica, 308).

Bradel-style binding in full grey boards, smooth spine, title label, sprinkled edges; a modern binding.

An exceptionally early account of the coastal region between Macao and Canton, published anonymously despite the initials J.R. at the end of the preface (this J.R. served as supercargo on the ship The Friendship).

[CONSTANTINOPLE] Exceptional album of 54 original caricatures, some captioned, executed in India ink, pencil and watercolour, together with three small pencil drawings on loose leaves. Undated [circa 1872-1873]. Small oblong folio, 47 pp., 40.5 x 27.9 cm. Contemporary overlapping ivory vellum, smooth spine with red rules, a tear at the head of the spine skilfully restored, red fillet border to the boards, a few stains to the covers, comb-marbled endpapers, red edges.

New illustrated edition featuring two lithographed plates out of text and enriched with notes by Francisco de S. Luiz (cf. Brunet I, p. 263; Graesse I, p. 118).

Modern binding in half Havana calf, smooth spine decorated with gilt and black fillets and black floral motifs, black shagreen title piece, marbled paper boards, red edges.

A few light foxing spots, mainly at the beginning of the volume.

This biography, rightly celebrated, met with great success upon publication.

Paris, Arthus Bertrand, undated [1861]. One text volume and an atlas.

Very rare first edition of Voyage dans le Haouran et aux bords de la mer Morte, exécuté pendant les années 1857 et 1858.

The text volume, largely unopened, is illustrated with one plate. The atlas, preserved in a full red cloth box and slipcase, is complete with 27 plates, numbered I to XXVI with an...

First edition of this second fascicle, printed in Pondicherry by the Rattinamodeliar Press.

Losses to the cracked backstrip and along the board edges, with a few minor spots.

CCFr records copies only at the BnF (the sole institution to hold a complete run), the Collège de France, and Sainte-Geneviève.

The second of the five fascicles of this exceedingly rare botanical publication: they are devoted respectively to Lawsonia alba [or inermis = henna] and to Aristolochia Indica (Indian birthwort).

First edition published anonymously, the work of the Bayonne man of letters Coste d'Arnobat (1732–1808), probably based on accounts provided by English merchants (cf. Barbier IV 1060).

Contemporary half sheep in dark brown, smooth spine tooled with gilt floral motifs, gilt initial “V” at the foot, some rubbing to spine and joints, a small marginal loss at the head of the spine, marbled paper boards, yellow sprinkled edges.

A dampstain affecting the folds of the final ten leaves.

An account of Bambouc, a region of Upper Senegal particularly noted for its gold mines and inhabited by the Mandinka people.

This narrative, later translated into German, offers highly...

Rare first edition of this complete set gathering the three parts of this practical Cantonese manual, accompanied by one of the instructional booklets intended for the Chinese teacher.

The first two volumes are each illustrated with eight plates of ideograms printed hors texte. No copies recorded in the CCFr.

The third volume shows staining at the foot of the spine, a few small spots of foxing, and minor marginal tears with slight losses to the boards of the first volume.

A very uncommon set.

Very rare first edition of the Japanese translation, accompanied by Taiichi Ogawa’s annotated commentary.

Illustrated with a frontispiece portrait of Alphonse Daudet.

Spine with two tears at head and foot, soiling to the wrappers, a few minor spots internally.

First Japanese edition of Alphonse Daudet’s masterpiece. Harshly received in Provence upon its publication in 1872, despite the support of Frédéric Mistral, the novel soon came to be regarded as one of the landmarks of French literature, and the character of Tartarin became the emblem—and finest ambassador—of the city of Tarascon.

First and only Franco-Chinese edition, illustrated with six etchings reproduced by Frédéric Chevalier.

A single copy recorded in the CCFr (Bulac).

Sole edition of this contemporary curiosity born of the French vogue for all things Oriental: born in 1831, Tin-Tun-Ling (or Ding Dunling) was a Chinese scholar from Shanxi and a political exile in France. Théophile Gautier met him in Paris, grew fond of him, and hired him to teach Chinese to his daughter Judith. Steeped in Far Eastern culture, she delighted in presenting herself as the reincarnation of a Chinese princess. Tin-Tun-Ling then lived in a pavilion built in the Chinese style, set in the garden of the Pré aux Oiseaux –...

First edition of the first of Augustin Sageret’s (1763–1851) two memoirs on cucurbits. Sageret was a pioneer in plant hybridization, particularly through his experiments with melons.

Only two copies of this edition are recorded in the CCF (Muséum and Lyon). Extracted from the Mémoires de la Société royale et centrale d’agriculture, year 1825. Pritzel 7969. Oberlé, Fastes, 708.

Half green long-grain morocco binding, spine faded and slightly darkened, decorated with gilt and black double fillets and blind-stamped floral tools, gilt rolls at head and tail, gilt date at foot, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers, marbled edges, modern binding.

Some foxing...

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 the French translation by the Parisian jurist Luc de La Porte, doctor of law (cf. Cordier, Sinica, 12; Sabin 27780; Palau 105509; Alden, European Americana, 588/37; Leclerc [1878], 258; Streit IV, 1999; Atkinson, 339).

Paris, Jérémie Périer, 1588.

Two parts bound in one octavo volume: 12 unnumbered leaves, 112 leaves, 323 leaves - with errors in foliation - and 25 unnumbered leaves of table and errata.

First edition illustrated with three folding plates.

Half vellum binding, smooth spine, gilt initials at foot, black sheep title label with some rubbing, red sheep year label, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, restored original wrappers preserved, contemporary binding.

Rare Saigon printing. This uncommon directory was published under this title until 1888; in 1889 it became the Annuaire de l'Indo-Chine française.

Saigon, Imprimerie coloniale, followed by Imprimerie Rey, Curiol & Cie, Imprimerie commerciale Rey, Ménard & Legros, L. Ménard and F.-H. Schneider, 1886-1911. Twenty-seven separately issued reports bound in six quarto volumes, covering the years 1884-1910.

A rare complete annual run for the twenty-seven years from 1884 to 1910 of the Situation commerciale issued by the Saigon Chamber of Commerce, one of the principal printed statistical sources for the study of the colonial economy of...

Unpublished complete autograph manuscript, dated and signed, written by the Vicomte Edmond de Poncins between 12 September 1891 and 12 June 1892. 775 pages, incorrectly numbered 1-567 and then 567-774. Small folio (21 x 34.5 cm).

Contemporary half dark green shagreen with corners, spine with five raised bands ruled in black and decorated with blind compartments and central gilt floral tools, lettered in gilt "Notes sur l'Inde, 1892". At the beginning of the volume, the author himself gives the slightly different title "Notes sur les Indes". Green boards framed with blind rules, comb-marbled...

Paris, Auxerre and various places, January 1886-August 1887.

A collection of 59 autograph letters signed by Gustave Borgnis-Desbordes and addressed to members of his family, comprising approximately 180 pages, mostly octavo. Most are written on black-bordered mourning paper; several bear the letterhead of the French Ministry of the Navy and Colonies, Inspectorate-General of Artillery.

The letters extend from January 1886 to August 1887. Almost all were written in Paris, a few bear no place, and one was written at Auxerre on 1 July 1886. Forty-seven...

First edition of the French translation prepared by A. J. B. Defauconpret (see Brunet III, 555; Quérard IV, 230; not in Field).

The work is illustrated with 20 charming aquatint plates, 6 of them hand-coloured, and a folding plan. The English first edition contained only 13 aquatints.

Contemporary Bradel bindings in full sand-coloured paper boards, red morocco spine labels for title and volume numbers (partly faded), flat spines gilt with a central floral tool, light rubbing to spines, upper caps slightly worn, two corners bumped, entirely uncut. Period bindings.

Pleasant, clean internal condition.

Johnson was a British officer in India who chose to return to...

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...

First edition, illustrated with a large folding lithographed map of the Indochinese peninsula in color, cf. Cordier, Indosinica, p. 1000.

Contemporary half green goatskin, spine faded and decorated with triple gilt fillets, marbled paper boards with losses, a corner loss at the foot of the upper cover extending to the following pages without affecting the text, endpapers and pastedowns of combed paper, corners rubbed, binding of the period.

A marginal tear to the map.

Rare publication of the "Revue indo-chinoise," issues 82-87.

In 1898, Laos was incorporated into the Indochinese Union at the initiative of Paul Doumer, Governor-General of Indochina from 1897 to...

First edition, of which no copies were issued on deluxe paper.

Illustrated, complete with the two folding maps at the end of the volume.

Inscribed by René Grousset: "A monsieur Benoist-Méchin en témoignage de profonde reconnaissance" and additionally signed by Geneviève Grousset.

Accompanied by a one-page autograph letter signed by René Grousset to Jacques Benoist-Méchin, in which he thanks him for his interventions on behalf of his son-in-law and daughter, whom he saved.

First edition (cf. Polak, 9297. Only two copies listed in the CCF, at the BnF and Marseille).

Small loss at foot of spine, covers slightly soiled at the margins, contemporary ownership inscription at head of the front wrapper, some foxing.

Unique edition of this very bleak portrait of the state of the French navy at the end of the July Monarchy ("Tout est à refaire dans la marine, c'est un échaffaudage craquant de tous côtés, il faut y faire une révolution radicale, si l'on veut obtenir un résultat digne de la France ; tous les palliatifs employés jusqu'à présent, pour masquer la décrépitude de l'édifice, ne tendent qu'à inspirer une dangereuse confiance à ceux qui ne voient...

Second editions, partially original, of the French and Dutch translations; the text is bilingual (Dutch and French), and includes numerous passages printed in Malay (cf. Cordier, "Indosinica", 1385. Not mentioned by Quérard).

Bound in chocolate-brown half shagreen, spine with four small raised bands decorated with gilt fillets and dots, joints split then restored, marbled paper boards showing some scratches, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, small tears to edges; 19th-century binding.

Waterstains affecting the first and last few leaves of the volume.

The translator’s lengthy preface (47 pp.) appears here for the first time. Pages 235 to 344 contain exercises (original...

First edition comprising 3 pages of ideograms, figures in the text, and 12 full-page illustrations.

Spine lacking, stains and losses to the boards, black stains to the edges and at the foot of the final leaves.

Rare illustrated Calendar of Annam... monastic period (1869).

First edition, adorned at the beginning of the volume with a folding facsimile (cf. Cordier, Sinica, 1732).

Spine reinforced with an adhesive strip, minor marginal losses to the boards, some foxing.

These Practical Exercises are in fact a reply to the personal attacks and to two articles by M. Pauthier published in the Journal asiatique of Paris (nos. 66 and 67 of volume XII).

They "constitute the confirmation and complement" of his earlier work entitled "Examen critique de quelques pages de chinois relatives à l'Inde", translated by M. G. Pauthier, accompanied by grammatical discussions on certain rules of position which, in Chinese, play the same role as...

First edition of the French translation, illustrated with a portrait frontispiece and a folding map of Beloutchistan and Sindhy, together with parts of Kotch, Sedjistan, Khorasan, and Persia (cf. Quérard VII, 300).

Traces of removed bookplates on the pastedowns.

Half blond sheepskin bindings, smooth spines decorated with gilt fillets and garlands, title and volume labels in fawn sheep, upper cap of the second volume lacking, small loss to the upper cap of the first volume, traces of rubbing to the spines, corners in green vellum, marbled paper boards, sprinkled edges, contemporary bindings.

Rare first edition.

Spine and boards slightly sunned along the margins.

Dated and signed autograph inscription from C. Martin Saint-Léon to Baron Hulot, Secretary General of the Société de Géographie, on the front free endpaper.

The character and spirit of the Vietnamese as seen from a French perspective.

First edition, only two copies listed in the CCF (Archives nationales, Arras).

Spine split with some losses. 

Complete with the two successive reports (1 February 1862; 6 June 1863).

First edition.

Half blue shagreen, spine with four raised bands decorated with gilt floral tools within blind-ruled compartments, blind fillet borders on indigo percaline boards, boards with marginal soiling at foot, brown paper endleaves and pastedowns, modern bookplate affixed to a pastedown, contemporary binding.

Some scattered foxing, a black ink stain on the edge not affecting the text.

New edition illustrated with numerous engravings in the text: plants, animals, musical scores, geometrical figures, electrical devices, assorted objects, etc.

The table on p. 1323 presents the periodic classification of the elements; the figure on p. 1483 illustrates the path of light rays passing through lenses.

Publisher’s binding in half black percaline, spine titled in Chinese characters, sand-coloured boards slightly soiled at the margins, corners rubbed, endpapers partially toned.

The Cihai, or "Sea of Words," is a Chinese encyclopedic dictionary, work on which began in 1915 and which was first published in 1936.

Fourth edition of the French translation (cf. Cordier, Sinica, 1696).

Bilingual Chinese-French text. With a loose leaf of Corrigenda (1 p. in-12). Shanghai, Catholic Mission Press, T'ou-Sè-Wè Orphanage, 1906.

Half purple percaline binding with corners, smooth spine decorated with double gilt fillets, black cloth boards, minor superficial scratches to the covers, sprinkled edges, contemporary binding.

The first French edition appeared in 1887: it was an adaptation of a conversation guide intended for Japanese students of Chinese in Peking.

Its success lay in its practical nature, which led to further editions in 1893, 1901, 1906, and 1919.

The present edition...

Original double-page colour engraving heightened in gold, printed on laid paper, signed in the plate lower left. 

Original engraving produced for the illustration of La Gazette du Bon Ton, one of the most beautiful and influential fashion journals of the 20th century, celebrating the talent of French designers and artists at the height of the Art Deco era.

First edition of this correspondence recounting the journey of Joseph-François Michaud and Jean-Joseph-François Poujoulat through Greece, the Archipelago, Constantinople, Jerusalem and Egypt (cf. Atabey 807. Blackmer 1122. Contominas 465).

Minor losses to corners on some boards and spines, a pleasant set overall.

Our copy retains, at the end of volume II, the extremely rare map that is missing from most other copies.

First and only edition, illustrated in the first volume with 9 folding plates and 4 large maps at the end; and in the second volume with in-text figures and 10 folding maps at the end (numbered 10–19 as a continuation of the first volume).

A few minor spots, not affecting the text; handwritten ownership inscriptions in the upper left corners of the front covers.

The work, complete in two volumes (I. With 9 plates out of text. – II. The March to Battle. The Battle. The Engagement), is regarded as the most thorough strategic and tactical study of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905.

Émilien-Victor, known as Emile Cordonnier (1858–1936), then a colonel of infantry, served...

First edition of the second orientalist bibliography compiled by Henri Cordier (1849–1925), following his Sinica (1878–1895).

The first four volumes are bound in full red cloth, smooth spines (spine of the first volume slightly faded), marbled endpapers and pastedowns, modern bindings.

The fifth and final volume, published in 1932, is in original wrappers.

Copy from the library of the Indologist Émile Sénart (1847–1928), with his printed ownership stamps on the title pages of volumes three and four.

Rare complete set in five volumes.

First edition, illustrated with 67 full-page color plates, as well as 2 maps and a full-page sketch.

A rare and significant work.

Small loss to the foot of the spine on the first volume, spines lightly marked and cracked in places; otherwise a pleasing complete set in 4 volumes.

First edition of both parts; the second includes a folding map at the end.

No copies of either text recorded in the CCF (Catalogue collectif de France).

Pale green cloth Bradel binding, flat spine with vertical green morocco label, original wrappers preserved for both volumes, green paper endleaves and pastedowns; modern binding.

These are the very first reports on the Central Asian expedition (Ladakh, Xinjiang) undertaken in 1913–1914 by Dr. Filippo De Filippi (1869–1938).

A rare and attractive set.

Very rare first edition of this publication by the young Belgian Orientalist Eugène-Vincent-Stanislas Jacquet (1811-1838), whose career was as swift as it was promising, but tragically cut short by tuberculosis.

Illustrated with a figure at the end of the text.

Only one copy in the CCF (Lyon).

Some minor foxing.

Binding in half black shagreen, smooth spine decorated with cold-stamped garlands and golden fillets, black oasis leather title label, cold-stamped garland on black silk boards, a slightly bumped lower corner, modern binding.

First edition of this uncommon work (cf. Atabey 138. Blackmer 178.)

Return journey via the Black Sea, Rumelia, Bulgaria, Russian Bessarabia, the Danubian Principalities, Hungary, Austria and Prussia, in May, June, July and August 1853. Paris, Treuttel et Würtz, Dumoulin, Derache, Victor Didron, 1855, 2 vols. 12mo,

Contemporary half cherry calf bindings, flat spines decorated with gilt fillets, dotted lines, and garlands, gilt rolls at foot, black marks and discoloration to spines and boards, red paper-covered boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, sprinkled edges.

Occasional light spotting, a fresh and well-preserved copy.

First edition of the French translation, illustrated with a folding map in the first volume (see Cordier, Sinica, 2094; Quérard I, 260; not in Schwab or Atabey. Blackmer (111) owned only the English edition: Travels from St. Petersburg in Russia, to diverse parts of Asia, Glasgow, 1763).

Contemporary full marbled calf bindings, spines with five raised bands richly gilt in double panels, brown or green morocco title-pieces (in the second volume), red morocco volume labels, gilt rolls on the caps, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt fillets to edges, marbled edges, some corners a bit rubbed.

Minor wormholes on the upper board of the first volume, light scuffing to...

First edition of the French translation by Philippe Florent de Puisieux (see Chadenat 1412 and 6038; Brunet 27050; Polak 5580; and Sabin 3968 for the English edition).

The first volume retains its engraved frontispiece.

Contemporary full calf bindings, spines with five raised bands decorated with double gilt panels and ornamental tooling, red morocco labels for title and volume number, gilt roll tooling on the caps, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, partially faded gilt fillets on board edges, red edges.

Two scratches and two small losses to the upper covers of the first two volumes.

A handsome copy, attractively bound, from the library of Darest de Saconay...

Very rare collection comprising offprints of original editions of articles and reviews first published in the Journal des savants or the Bulletin de l'École française d'Extrême-Orient.

Bradel binding in green bottle cloth-backed boards, flat spine decorated with a central gilt ornament and double gilt fillet at foot, red morocco title label, marbled paper boards, some original wrappers preserved, modern binding signed Boichot.

Most of the fascicles are by the Indologist Auguste Barth (1834–1916), one of the founders of the École française d'Extrême-Orient, and the originator of Indochinese epigraphy through his studies of Sanskrit inscriptions in Cambodia. He...

First edition of each volume.

No copy of this series listed in the CCF.

Contemporary bindings in quarter bottle-green or black sheep, flat spines decorated with double gilt fillets, marbled paper boards, endpapers and pastedowns of combed or tub-marbled paper; the first volume bound at the time of publication.

Some rubbing to the headcaps of the first two volumes.

 I. Minutes of the twenty-sixth [- thirty-ninth] meeting, 18 January 1932 [26 October 1932]: 6 pp., 7 pp., 9 pp., 11 pp., 5 pp., 3 pp., 3 pp., 4 pp., 2 pp., 6 pp., 9 pp., 4 pp., 3 pp., 4 pp. II. Minutes of the fortieth [forty-eighth] meeting, 7 February 1933 [21 December 1933]: 8 pp., 4 pp., 4 pp., 6...

First edition, bringing together in a single volume the three Persian sections issued by the Elzeviers at Leiden in 1639: the Historia Christi Persice conscripta and Historia S. Petri Persice, forming the two parts of a single publication, followed by Louis de Dieu's separately titled Rudimenta linguae Persicae. Backer & Sommervogel VIII, 1339-1340; Willems 490 and 477.

Contemporary full stiff vellum with overlapping edges, smooth spine with an early manuscript title partly faded at head, some staining to covers, red-speckled edges. Earlier booksellers' description labels mounted on a flyleaf. An attractive...

First edition, one of 35 copies printed on Japan paper, the deluxe issue, complete with the four states of the etchings (pure etching with remarque, with remarque, before letters, final state), see Vicaire, VII, 534.

(Vicaire mentions a blank leaf and a dedication leaf which appear to be missing here, although the copy is otherwise perfectly complete.)

Contemporary binding in half Empire green morocco, spine with five raised bands framed by black fillets, minor rubbing to the spine, spine and boards slightly faded, black fillet border on marbled paper boards, comb-marbled endpapers and pastedowns, original wrappers and spine preserved, top edge gilt on witnesses, binding...

First edition in book form, illustrated with 5 color plans of Kyoto, Osaka, Yedo, Asaksa, Imato, and Yokohama, a map of Japan, two plates depicting examples of Japanese syllabaries (Katakana and Hiragana), and 476 wood-engraved illustrations within the text (see Cordier, Japonica, 670; Wenckstern I, 5; Nipponalia I, 2036).

Contemporary red half shagreen bindings, spines with five raised bands decorated with blind-ruled fillets and gilt compartments; joints slightly split then discreetly restored at head and tail; boards covered in grained cloth with blind-stamped borders; endpapers and pastedowns of white moiré silk with minor, marginal spotting; all edges gilt.

A handsome...

First edition of the official account of the circumnavigation undertaken by La Thétis and L'Espérance, published by Arthus Bertrand in 1837, eleven years after the expedition's return.

The atlas, complete as issued, comprises 56 plates and maps, including 13 hand-coloured plates: engraved views after the drawings of the Vicomte Edmond de La Touanne, hydrographic charts, a large folding map tracing the route of the voyage, and natural history plates coloured by hand at the time of publication, among them a pair of seals and the celebrated heteradelph Ake.

Paris, Gervais Clouzier, 1666. Quarto, 5 unnumbered leaves and 436 pages.

First edition in French, translated by the Celestine Father François-Célestin Le Comte from Giovanni Filippo de Marini's account, originally published in Rome in 1663 as Delle missioni de' padri della Compagnia di Giesù nella provincia del Giappone, e particolarmente di quella di Tumkino. The translation appeared with two variant title pages, Relation nouvelle et curieuse and Histoire nouvelle et curieuse des royaumes de Tunquin et de Lao, the present copy bearing the latter. Cordier, Bibliotheca...

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...

First edition of this exceedingly rare pamphlet, written by a certain Le Mée from Haiphong, primarily describing the economic resources of Tonkin.

Work illustrated with a large folding map.

No copies recorded in the CCF.

Head and foot of spine chipped, a few minor spots of foxing.

An important and exceedingly rare collection of administrative documents relating to the forest management system established by France in Indochina.

- I. Decree reorganizing the Forestry Service in Cochinchina (1892, 20 pp.).

II. Decree reorganizing the Forestry Service in Cochinchina (1894, 12 pp.).

• - III. Decree of 17 October 1905, amending that of 7 April 1904, regulating the forest regime in Cochinchina (1905, 8 pp.).
• - IV. Decree setting forest tariffs for the year 1895 (1895, 12 pp.).
• - V. Loi nghi dinh phép dang lam (1894, 22 pp.).
• - VI. Decree concerning penalties in forestry matters (1895, 8 pp.).
• - VII...

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

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

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

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

"An...

First edition of this work, primarily focused on Dieppe sailors and trade, which includes particularly compelling passages on the discovery of the Canary Islands, the exploration of the West African coasts, and expeditions to Sumatra (see Frère I, 436).

Contemporary-style binding in half tan shagreen, smooth spine gilt-tooled with double fillets, decorative rolls and black fillets, pebble-grain paper-covered boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, modern binding.

Some foxing, mostly at the beginning and end of the volume.

Born in Eu, Louis Estancelin (1777–1858) served as deputy for the Somme from 1830 to 1846.

First edition, illustrated with a frontispiece engraved by De Launay after Marillier (cf. Conlon, 83:1107; Quérard, III, 174; Barbier, I, 276; Brunet, 5636. Not listed by Thiébaud).

Contemporary full speckled calf, smooth spine gilt in compartments with decorative tooling, green morocco title label, gilt rolls on the caps, gilt fillets along the edges, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, joints lightly restored, some repairs to the spine, yellow edges.

Joints tender, endpapers slightly soiled at the margins, a few spots to the edges, handwritten ownership note on the half-title.

The author, a traveller and naturalist born in Montargis in 1734 and who died near...

First edition, illustrated with 10 large folding plates hors texte.

First part: Cochinchina; section covering exclusively Cochinchina (the second part, devoted to Annam and Tonkin, bears the Hanoi imprint), published since 1889 as a continuation of the Annuaire de la Cochinchine (1865–1888).

It was only in 1899 that the two separate parts of this colonial directory were merged to form the Annuaire général de l'Indo-chine française (1899–1925), which later became the Annuaire administratif de l'Indochine (1926–1943).

Spine ends repaired with adhesive reinforcements; a scratch to the upper cover with minor marginal tears.

Rare.

New edition of the French translation.

Bound at the end of this volume are the following two texts:

• Relation du Nouvel Archipel Septentrional, discovered recently by the Russians in the seas of Kamchatka and Anadir. By Mr. J. Staehlin. Translated into English from the original German, and from English into French.
• Account of the singular adventures of four Russian travellers who were cast away on the desert island of Eastern Spitzbergen, with some observations on the productions of this island. By M.P.L. Le Roy. Translated into English from the original German at the request of several members of the Royal Society of London, and from English into...

Rare first edition, printed in a very small number of copies, of this extract from the Revue maritime et coloniale (cf. Cordier, Indosinica, 2385).

Contemporary Bradel binding in full marbled paper-covered boards, flat spine with red morocco label lettered lengthwise; modern binding.

Scattered foxing, two dampstains to the lower right corners of some leaves.

First edition of the French translation of this account of the Lutheran mission’s activities on the eastern coast of India, originally published under various titles.

Contemporary full marbled light brown calf, spine with five raised bands richly gilt with garland rolls and double decorative panels, light brown calf title label, headcap shaved, gilt fillets along the edges, corners restored, red edges, period binding.

Since 1620, the Danish East India Company had held several trading posts and possessions along the Indian coastline, the principal settlement being Tranquebar. Transferred to the Danish Crown in 1779, these outposts became Danish colonies. However, frequently...

First edition (see Cordier, "Indosinica", 2690).

Spine cracked with small losses, internally well preserved.

Rare.

First edition of the French translation under this title, prepared by Louis-Gabriel Galdéric Aubaret; an earlier edition was published in Saigon in 1862 under the title "Code pénal annamite". (Cordier, Indosinica, 1847.)

Some foxing, mostly affecting the second volume, which also shows a small tear at the head of the spine.

The Annamite Penal Code, modelled on the Chinese Code used during the Qing dynasty, consists of two parts: one, called Luât in Annamite and Lu in Chinese, represents the fundamental law; the other, named Lê in Annamite and Li in Chinese, can be translated as "Supplementary Regulations". It is in this section that the provisions specific to...

Very rare first edition.

Two small losses to the head and foot of the spine, printed wrappers slightly soiled.

The presentation of the report is signed by the Marquis de Lafressange, Antony Androuët, the Viscount de Mazenod, and Louis Lapierre.

Rare first edition illustrated with a folding plan of the city of Saigon and a separate map showing the various cultivated products.

Minor stains and insignificant marginal tears on the covers.

A pleasing copy.

First edition, printed in a small number of copies on laid paper, extracted from the Journal asiatique; a single copy recorded in the CCF (Strasbourg).

Rare copy preserved in its original blue paper wrappers, as issued.

Traces of a label on the left margin of the front cover, a pleasing copy overall.

Inscribed by Giovanni Antonio Arri on the upper cover to archaeologist Désiré Raoul-Rochette (1789–1854), then a member of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres.

Very rare original edition illustrated with 2 folding maps out of text.

Two small losses at the head and foot of the spine, otherwise an agreeable interior condition.

The work was composed with the collaboration of Dr. Mougeot.

First edition, printed in a small number of copies.

The work primarily discusses the potential for exporting French goods to Tonkin and China, as well as public works in Annam and the railway along the southern borders of China.

Georges Fillion served as a correspondent for Agence Havas with the French expeditionary corps in Tonkin.

A rare and appealing copy.

Very rare first edition printed by the Bureaux de l'armée nationale (only two copies recorded in the CCF: ASOM and Nanterre).

A pleasant copy.

The pamphlet brings together the texts of two lectures: the first delivered on 19 June 1924 in Hanoi, the second on 10 December 1924 in Paris; both advocate for a systematic effort to provide indigenous populations with access to education.

A former captain in the colonial artillery, Paul Monet (1884–1941) was then head of the Annamite Students' Residence in Hanoi. He would soon gain attention for echoing Roland Dorgelès' stance on the exploitation of indigenous labour by French companies (Les Jauniers...

Very rare first edition of this short treatise advocating the cultivation of jute in Indochina, at a time when British India held an almost total monopoly over its production.

Single copy recorded in the CCF (ASOM).

Upper cover detached, with minor marginal tears and soiling.

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...

Second edition with the text printed in two columns (see Cordier, Indosinica, 2288).

The first edition was published in 1868.

Contemporary quarter fawn mirabelle sheep binding, flat spine decorated with triple gilt fillets, some rubbing to spine, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, bumped corners.

Théophile Marie Legrand de La Liraÿe (1819–1873), a priest of the Paris Foreign Missions Society, was sent to Western Tonkin in 1843.

During the French intervention in Annam, he acted as interpreter to Admiral Rigault de Genouilly. After leaving the Missions, he continued in this role for the Governor of Cochinchina.

He died on 7 August 1873 at...

First edition of the French translation, illustrated with a frontispiece portrait of Iwakura Tomomi.

Contemporary binding in navy blue long-grain half morocco, flat spine decorated with gilt fillets and blind-stamped fleurons, red morocco lettering-piece running lengthwise, green cloth boards, minor fading and rubbing to covers, original blank wrappers preserved; modern binding.

Iwakura Tomomi (1825–1883) was a prominent figure of the Meiji era, whose influence played a key role in Japan's transformation.

Some handwritten annotations in ink and pencil on a pastedown, and an inscription in ink reading "Trautz (?) Kyoto. Jan 1935" on the endpaper.

Inscribed...

New edition of the French translation, illustrated in the first volume with a folding map of India with hand-colored borders, printed on bluish paper; and in the second volume with a folding map of Arabia, also printed on bluish paper (see Gay 83 and Lorin 2065 for the first edition of 1786).

Contemporary full speckled calf bindings, spine with five raised bands, gilt-tooled compartments with floral motifs, red morocco title and volume labels, gilt roll tooling at head and foot of spine, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, marbled edges.

Library stamps to title pages, shelf labels at foot of spines, some rubbing to spines and covers with minor surface losses, internally clean...

First edition of the French translation, illustrated with 105 plates out of text (including 2 folding tables, 21 plans and maps, and 82 views and reproductions of documents). A remarkable record of one of the most significant instances of international opinion manipulation carried out by China and North Korea in the early stages of the Korean War: as early as 1952, North Korean and Chinese officials (including Zhou Enlai) accused the American army of using "insect vectors" on a large scale to spread various diseases among the populations of Korea and Manchuria (plague, cholera, etc.).

The entire operation had been meticulously staged, as definitively revealed by Soviet documents...

First edition of both these rare fascicules; the first is illustrated with three folding plates at the end of the volume, the second with in-text illustrations.

Contemporary half bottle-green calf binding, smooth spine gilt with fillets and dotted rolls, as well as black fillets, some minor rubbing to joints, headcap worn, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, speckled edges.

One of only three known contributions to the nascent field of Assyriology by the Austrian numismatist and traveller Isidore Löwenstern (1810–1858), who served as Danish consul in Constantinople.

Bound with, by the same author: Exposé des éléments constitutifs du système de la...

First edition, printed in very limited numbers, of this offprint from the Revue archéologique, illustrated with 12 textual figures and 3 plates; only two copies listed in the CCF (Quai d'Orsay and Strasbourg).

Contemporary Bradel binding in olive green cloth-backed marbled boards, smooth spine with red morocco title label, original wrappers bound in.

Christophe-Edouard Mauss (1829–1914), architect to the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was entrusted with several archaeological missions in the East (Thessaloniki, Smyrna, Alexandria), and was later sent by the French government to Jerusalem (1862–1874) to oversee the restoration of the Church of Saint Anne. He also...

First edition of the French translation by David Durand, illustrated with 5 plates (4 folding), including a genealogical chart (cf. Brunet IV, 1203. Hage Chahine, 3949).

Contemporary full stiff vellum, spine with five raised bands, lower joint split, black morocco lettering-piece, bumped corners.

Some inevitable soiling due to the binding, light foxing to initial and final leaves, ff. 107–108 and 109–110 restored and trimmed short.

The De Religione Mohammedica was first published in 1705, and reissued in 1717 in an expanded edition.

The Dutch orientalist Adriaan Reland (1676–1718) pursued a broad range of scholarly interests, but this presentation of the...