Printed in small numbers, illicitly passed out, sought-after, forgotten, found again, major works or confidential texts... Some of these works are extremely rare today ; here are a few of them.
Second edition, with a thousand-copy statement.
Spine warped and faded, small tears without consequence to the margins of the covers, a pale dampstain at the foot of the final leaves, occasional foxing.
Rare signed and dated autograph inscription from Joseph Zobel to Madame de Bruycker: "... ce premier reflet de ma province antillaise..."
First edition, one of 50 numbered copies on ivory laid edition paper, the only deluxe-paper copies.
A rare and fine copy.
Signed autograph inscription from Eric Jourdan to a friend named Guy: "... ce livre qui vient de loin presque à des années lumières, mais que j'accepte tel qu'il est. En signe d'amitié de toujours. éric 19 février 1996."
First edition of Jacques Le Meilleur’s medical thesis.
Our copy is presented disbound.
Waterstaining at head throughout, not affecting the text.
Edition published in the same year as the first edition, with edition statements in each volume.
Contemporary half brown shagreen bindings, spines with four raised bands ruled in black and decorated with double black compartments featuring gilt central tools, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, speckled edges; corners rubbed.
Occasional foxing, with minor nicks to the top edge of one volume.
A handsome copy, attractively bound at the time.
First edition in French, one of the ordinary paper copies.
A pleasant copy despite three small stains to the edges.
Signed presentation copy inscribed by Milan Kundera to Jacques Brenner, conveying his best wishes for 1990.
First collected edition, one of 30 copies on alfa paper, this copy unnumbered but duly identified as printed on alfa at the foot of the spine and in the limitation statement, the only deluxe-paper copies.
Albert Camus's foreword appears here for the first time.
A pleasant copy.
First edition, actually printed in Nantes by Malassis despite the Paris imprint on the title-page, as revealed by a manuscript note by Mangourit himself cited by Barbier.
An anonymously published pamphlet, with a typographical vignette on the title-page.
Copy preserved in its original stitched state and therefore without wrappers, with a pencilled manuscript note on the title-page identifying the author.
Our...
Very rare first edition illustrated with a frontispiece and 5 hors-texte plates (cf. Quérard, IV, 424; Pfeiffer, 220).
Bradel binding in full grey paper-covered boards, smooth spine, longitudinal red morocco lettering-piece, original plain blue-grey wrappers preserved, modern binding.
Some foxing, lower cover soiled.
"Inventée à Munich par Aloys Senefelder (1772-1834) en 1796, la lithographie a fait son apparition en France au début du XIXe siècle et, dans l'édition, comme moyen d'illustration, peu avant 1820" (Galantaris).
This is therefore one of the earliest books illustrated by lithography, printed in the very city where the technique was...
First edition.
Not recorded by Vicaire or Bitting.
Contemporary-style half red shagreen binding, spine with five raised bands, very slightly sunned, marbled paper-covered boards, marbled endpapers, original wrappers and spine preserved, modern binding signed by Laurenchet.
Restored marginal tear to page 43 with a slight loss affecting a few letters of the text.
Signed autograph presentation inscription by Emile Mouchon on the half-title: "A la Société impériale d'agriculture de Lyon, hommage empressé".
First separate illustrated edition, with a large folding map printed on a separate sheet and hand-coloured in outline bound at the end of the volume.
This geographical study is in fact an extract from Volume II of the first French translation by Stanislas Julien of the Da Tang Xiyu Ji (Record of the Western Regions of the Great Tang), the literary account of Xuanzang's nineteen-year journey (626–645, during the Tang dynasty), from Chang'an across Central Asia to the Indian subcontinent.
The two-volume work had previously been published by the Imprimerie impériale in 1857 and 1858.
Spine split, restored with minor losses, some foxing.
First edition of the extract from the fourth part, devoted to geology and palaeontology, of Pierre de Tchihatcheff’s work entitled: Asia Minor. A Physical, Statistical and Archaeological Description of the Region.
Contemporary full beige paper-covered boards, smooth spine lettered in black with the author's name, title and author's name neatly inscribed in ink on the upper board, bumped corners.
Our copy brings together the five palaeontological papers by the naturalist Paul-Henri Fischer (1835-1893): Middle Tertiary Fauna. - Lacustrine Tertiary Fauna. - Upper Marine Tertiary Fauna (Steppe Limestone). - Quaternary Formation (Raised Beaches). - Microscopic Organisms...
Rare first edition of the author's first published work, illustrated with three maps, one of which is hors texte.
Only one copy of this edition is recorded in the Catalogue collectif de France (Nanterre).
With an introduction by professor H. S. Jevons. Rangoon, Burma Book Club, 1931, 12mo.
Publisher's full green cloth, smooth spine, printed title label pasted to the spine, extensively rubbed and chipped with substantial loss.
John Sydenham Furnivall (1878-1960) joined the Indian Civil Service in 1901 and spent his entire career in Burma from 1902 onwards, remaining in the country even after independence. Married to a Burmese woman, he founded and developed the...
First edition of this one-act play. Rama VI (Vajiravudh, 1881-1925) was not only the successor to the celebrated Chulalongkorn (Rama V) on the Siamese throne in 1910; he was also a man of letters who composed numerous works of prose, poetry and drama.
Contemporary full dusky-pink glazed cloth, plain smooth spine, title blocked in gilt within a large architectural border on the upper board.
The author played a major role in the development of modern Thai literature, introducing Western-style theatre to Siamese audiences.
In addition to the thousands of original works he produced in a wide variety of genres, including short stories, novels and political essays, he...
First French edition, one of 75 numbered copies on Arches wove paper, the deluxe issue.
A rare and handsome copy.
This copy is complete with the original silkscreen by Victor Vasarely, numbered and signed in justification by the artist.
First edition, printed in 400 copies and dedicated in particular to the memory of the Armenians who were massacred because their industrious people stood in the way of German ambitions.
Spine and covers lightly and marginally sunned, small tears to the inside flaps of the wrappers, two small holes at the foot of the lower cover, unlettered spine.
Inscribed presentation copy, dated and signed by Antoine Poidebard to Vice Admiral Lejay, Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour.
First edition.
Only three copies recorded in the CCFr.
Spine restored with some losses remaining, sun-faded boards, scattered foxing.
The sole edition: despite his surname, Dr Roberts appears to have been French, and it was at the request of the French Minister of Public Instruction that he undertook this journey through Central Asia, of which India formed but one stage.
Very rare first edition illustrated with a folding map bound at the beginning of the volume and 44 plates.
No copy recorded by the CCFr.
Publisher's original full indigo-blue cloth, smooth spine decorated in gilt with dotted tooling and floral ornaments, covers framed with a blind rule, corners lightly bumped.
An amateur repair with adhesive tape to the upper right corner of the first text leaf, a few spots of foxing, chiefly affecting the edges.
The author served as secretary to the very first Brazilian mission sent to China (1880).
First edition of this memorandum defending the chemical soda industry of Marseille against its detractors from the Aude region.
Our copy is offered in an unbound state.
A very rare first edition of this atlas only, comprising a folding map and 46 plates mounted on guards depicting a total of 135 figures.
Contemporary Bradel-style binding in black half-cloth over marbled boards, spine damaged at the foot, title label partially rubbed away along its length, boards with scuffs and losses to the marbled paper covering, bumped corners, minor wear to the edges.
An exceptionally rare standalone atlas from this landmark monograph on the Chibcha, or Muisca, civilization.
First edition of this important royal declaration partially reversing the compulsory deportation measures established by the declarations of 8 January and 12 March 1719.
Responding to repeated complaints from colonial governors, the royal government henceforth resolved that only voluntary emigrants should be sent to populate the colonies.
Our copy is offered disbound.
Second edition, issued in a limited printing of 75 copies.
Restored unlettered spine, wrappers somewhat soiled, a few light foxing spots.
This work, the first of the three-part series Le Mariage indigène dans les colonies et les protectorats de la France, stands apart from the usual writings of magistrate Claude-Arthur Daguin (1849-1944), whose publications had previously focused almost exclusively on Nogent-en-Bassigny and its surrounding region.
First edition.
Two small losses at the foot of the spine and on the front cover, the final gathering was improperly trimmed, resulting in a few minor marginal losses without serious consequence.
Joseph-Hélodore Garcin de Tassy (1794-1878) was a French orientalist and specialist of India.
He studied Oriental languages under Silvestre de Sacy and, together with him, was one of the founders of the Société Asiatique in 1822. He was appointed to the Chair of Indology at the École spéciale des Langues orientales in 1828 and was elected to the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres in 1838. Initially renowned for his studies of Islam and his translations from Arabic...
Rare and important first edition, printed in a small number of copies, of this offprint from the Journal asiatique for the year 1849.
Heavy foxing throughout.
Original wrappers, illustrated with a folding plate inserted at the end of the volume.
In the mid-nineteenth century, this traditional alphabet used for the Tamazight languages attracted very little interest among Orientalist scholars.
First edition illustrated with 7 plates printed outside the text.
A snag with loss to the front wrapper, foxing throughout, dampstain to the rear wrapper.
A commentary on the bilingual Phoenician and Greek inscription engraved on one of the two Cippi of Melqart, dating from the 2nd century BC and presented in 1782 to Louis XVI by the Grand Master of the Hospitallers.
It was then housed at the Bibliothèque Mazarine and has been preserved at the Louvre since 1864.
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 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, printed in a small number of copies, of this offprint from the Recueil des notices et mémoires de la Société archéologique de Constantine de l'année 1873.
Not in Tailliart.
Front wrapper detached then reattached, losses to the spine, small chips to the corners.
Scarce work illustrated with 14 plates printed hors texte and numbered I–XII (including plates VI bis and ter). Not in Tailliart.
A volunteer in the Corps of Engineers from 1841 onward, Baptiste-Charles Brunon (1821–1888) spent most of his military career in Algeria; after the 1871 war he returned to oversee the Engineering Corps in Constantine.
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.
First edition describing the 388 items offered in the sale.
A few pencilled hammer prices in the margins, a loss to the upper right corner of the front wrapper and title-page, and small corner losses to the wrappers.
The introduction is by Fröhner, though the expert in charge of the sale was Hoffmann.
Of Baden origin, the numismatist Ludwig Wilhelm Fröhner (1834–1925) settled in Paris in 1859; he became a close friend of Napoleon III and assisted him in the preparation of his Histoire de Jules César (1865–1866), which helped him obtain both French naturalisation (1866) and an important post at the Louvre.
He later devoted himself to the cataloguing of...
Rare first edition of this lecture delivered at the Cercle de France in Paris on January 8, 1958, no copy referenced in Worldcat. Light foxing to the front board.
Rare utopian pamphlet celebrating the creation of Brasilia and laying the theoretical foundations for the cities of the future. Inscribed and signed by Robert Miocque to his friend Marcel Dollfus at the top of the first page of text.
First edition, taken from the Mémoires de la Société royale et centrale d'agriculture, for the year 1824.
Illustrated with a folding plate inserted out of text.
Our copy is preserved in its original state, sewn and issued in a plain blue provisional wrapper.
Scattered light foxing.
A grandson of the founder and first director of the Académie royale de marine, Pierre-Marie-Sébastien Bigot de Morogues (1776-1840) devoted himself principally to agricultural matters.
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 of the French translation (cf. Sabin, 43416; Smith, Pacific Northwest Americana, 6381; Pilling, Bibl. of the Algonquian Languages, 327; Hoefer, XXXII, 566-567).
Illustrated with a portrait of the author after Sir Thomas Lawrence as frontispiece to the first volume and, at the end of each volume, three engraved maps showing the route from Fort Chipewyan to the Arctic Sea in 1789 and to the Pacific Ocean in 1793, together with the portion of North America lying between the 40th and 70th degrees north latitude and the 45th and 180th degrees west longitude.
Handsome half red shagreen bindings, flat spines ruled in gilt with quintuple fillets, traces of former...
An extremely rare first edition of this valuable statistical survey of Bolivia; absent from both Palau and Sabin. Only one copy recorded in the CCFr (BnF).
Chuquisaca, Imprenta de Sucre, 1851, octavo,
Contemporary half brown sheep, smooth spine decorated with double gilt fillets, marbled paper boards with losses, worn corners and edges, blue-speckled edges; a modest binding of the period.
Copy slightly trimmed.
José Maria Dalence (1782–1852), a jurist and prominent political figure of the independence period (1825), here provides one of the most precise demographic, ethnographic, and economic portraits of the young nation.
Rare first edition.
Only two copies recorded in the CCF (BnF and Marseille).
“…their change of residence, abandoning the old city to settle in the new districts? A memoir awarded by the Société académique de médecine de Marseille at its public session of 1 August 1819; (…). Enlarged with the plan of a medical topography of the city of Marseille, which the author proposes to publish.” Marseille, Joseph-François Achard, 1819, 8vo, disbound. Title, 40 pp. Only two copies recorded in the CCF (BnF and Marseille). Very rare. The author was a physician attached to the dispensaries and the maternity hospital of Marseille.
First edition of the French translation prepared by F. Soulès of "An account on the present state of Nova Scotia", originally published in 1786.
Our copy is offered unbound.
Pages 31 to 39 are devoted to fishing practices.
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...
First edition of the French translation.
Contemporary half vellum binding, smooth spine gilt with a small fleur-de-lis ornament at the foot, black shagreen title label, marbled paper sides.
The sole edition of this version (a portion had already been made available to the French public in 1837 under the title Histoire de la fondation de la Régence d'Alger). Alphonse Rousseau (1820–1870), first interpreter at the French General Consulate in Tunis, later served as Consul General.
Modern Pierre Libaude bookplate pasted to a free endpaper; a few minor spots.
Very scarce first edition of the Armenian translation, illustrated with a lithographed frontispiece and title-frontispiece printed on tinted heavy stock by Weger (Leipzig), together with several in-text figures reproducing seals.
The CCFr records only copies of the French edition (indeed, the same year 1871 saw the publication of a first French translation; a second French edition was issued in Paris in 1888, at which time a German version was also printed at the Leipzig address).
Bradel binding in half brown percaline, smooth spine gilt-ruled and tooled with a gilt frieze, marbled paper boards, endpapers soiled, corners rubbed, edges sprinkled in blue.
Some minor...
Very rare first edition illustrated with 14 plates, three of which are in colour, issued as a supplement to the "Guide pratique de la fabrication de la bière" and the "Guide raisonné de la fabrication de la bière" published in 1867 and 1868.
Not in Vicaire or Bitting. Oberlé, Fastes, 1125, does not record this supplement.
Spine restored with minor losses, small marginal defects to the boards, and a stain along the right margin of the upper cover.
The author was a hop dealer and purveyor of brewery equipment in Strasbourg and in Gray (Haute-Saône).
This volume reflects the advances achieved by the brewing industry, particularly in northern France and in...
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...
First edition, illustrated at the close of the volume with six plates printed out of text.
Only three copies recorded in the CCF (BnF, Institut, Strasbourg).
Our copy is preserved in its original state, issued in a temporary paper wrapper.
Spine restored at head with small losses; marginal losses to the soiled covers; two small adhesive strips along the right margins of the final plate; author’s name and title pencilled on the upper cover.
The study of Phoenician languages was the speciality of Auguste-Célestin Judas (1805–1873).
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, 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.
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, one of 24 numbered copies on Vélin Rivoli, the only deluxe issue.
A particularly handsome copy.
First edition, one of 36 copies on pure-wire vellum, the only copies printed on deluxe paper.
A particularly attractive copy.
Very rare first edition (125 copies printed according to Quérard) of this remarkable exposition of Talma’s dramaturgical principles, still regarded as a “revolutionary” actor despite his immense success (his friendship with Napoleon never wavered); the text was inserted the same year, 1825, at the beginning of the new edition of the Memoirs of Henri-Louis Caïn, known as Lekain (1729–1778), who was still considered in the early nineteenth century as one of the greatest tragedians of the eighteenth century.
See Quérard IX, 333.
Scattered foxing.
Full cherry-red long-grain morocco, smooth spine tooled with gilt fillets, garlands and fleurons, gilt rolls at head and tail...
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...
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, illustrated with seven folding plates.
Preserved in its original state, sewn and issued in plain blue paper wrappers with an added inner lining.
This volume gathers eight short papers previously published in the annual reports of the Kew Observatory.
Francis Ronalds (1788–1873), a largely self-taught engineer, became in 1843 the director and superintendent of the Kew meteorological observatory.
His work included, among other tasks, the development of a system for recording meteorological data.
On the front flyleaf, autograph presentation from Francis Ronalds to a member of the Becquerel family, most likely Antoine-César (1788–1878)...
First edition of these observations and proposed reforms concerning the Navy. Pierre-Alexandre Forfait (1752–1807) served as Minister of the Navy from November 1799 to October 1801.
Contemporary full fawn calf, mottled and polished, smooth spine tooled with gilt decorative compartments and false bands, red shagreen lettering-piece, joints lightly rubbed, boards framed with delicate gilt rolls, a few abrasions and small losses to the leather at the lower edges, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, corners softened, all edges gilt, a period binding.
Pierre-Alexandre Forfait (1752–1807) served as Minister of the Navy from November 1799 to October 1801.
Forfait and Bonaparte...
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...
Unique ensemble of works devoted to the philanthropic achievements of the Marquise d'Aligre (1776–1843).
Full olive-green calf, the spine slightly darkened, with five raised bands framed by triple gilt fillets and decorated with double gilt panels; gilt roll tools on the partially worn headcaps, rubbing to joints, gilt scrolling borders on the covers, gilt armorial device stamped at the centre of the upper cover, large blind-stamped fleuron at the centre of the lower cover; marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt dentelle border on the pastedowns, gilt edges somewhat dulled on the board edges, all edges gilt; lower corners softened; contemporary binding.
A few scattered...
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 issue of the fifty large hors-texte lithographs drawn from life by Henry John Terry (cf. Vicaire, VII, 1164).
Publisher’s binding in full red cloth, smooth spine decorated with blind-ruled compartments and fillets, light rubbing to the head- and tailcaps, gilt-lettered title on the front board, yellow endpapers, trace of a removed bookplate on one pastedown, one lower corner softened, slight discoloration to the lower left corner of the rear board, occasional marginal foxing, a small loss to the foot of page 119, and minor wormholes at the foot of the last three leaves, not affecting the text.
The fifty striking black lithographs depict the most...
Second edition, illustrated with 15 engraved plates hors texte, of this first part devoted to the cattle breeds of the Oderbruch, Oldenburg and Frisia-Anspach (cf. Kayser, Bücher-Lexicon, VI, 265). Thirteen plates were finely hand-coloured at the time, several of them showing the animals against handsome mountain landscapes; one of the two uncoloured plates depicts chalet utensils used in cheese-making. The French text is printed on the verso of the German text.
A very rare complete suite, preserved with its original upper wrapper, housed in a modern black box with smooth spine, red morocco lettering-piece to the spine and a large red morocco title-label to the...
Very rare first edition.
This printing does not include the two maps later added by the publisher in the second issue, intended to illustrate the itinerary for readers who had not acquired the atlas (corresponding to plates XVIII and XXIV of the atlas), cf. Hage Chahine 3995. Röhricht 480-481. Chadenat 1712.
The text volume is largely unopened and includes one full-page plate.
The atlas volume, housed in a red full-cloth box and slipcase, is complete with all 27 plates (numbered I to XXVI, XVIII [bis]; plates XIX-XX are printed on a single sheet).
A very fine and rare copy in its original condition.
First edition of the French translation (cf. Atabey, 557 (text) and 569 (atlas). Blackmer, 788 (atlas). Hage Chahine, 2105.)
Contemporary half brown shagreen, spines uniformly sunned and faded, raised bands framed with black fillets, marbled paper boards, comb-marbled endpapers, gilt edges; a few lightly rubbed corners, one small defect to the foot of the edges of the fifteenth volume.
Some light foxing in the text volumes.
The atlas volume, folio, is issued in parts under ten beige paper wrappers with printed blue labels; the wrapper of part 6 is lacking; the general map of the Ottoman Empire has been restored in the final part; light foxing to the covers.
The...
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 of the inaugural instalment printed in Pondicherry at the Rattinamodeliar Press.
Losses to the spine and, more lightly, to the board corners; internally a clean and appealing copy.
Recorded in the CCF with copies only at the BnF (the sole institution holding a complete set), the Collège de France, and Sainte-Geneviève.
The first of five parts of this exceedingly scarce botanical publication, devoted entirely to Lawsonia alba [or inermis = henna].
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...
First edition of the French translation.
Our copy is issued in its original state, preserved in a blue paper temporary wrapper and housed within a double chemise and slipcase in navy half-shagreen, smooth spine, marbled-paper boards; a modern binding signed by Devauchelle.
A rare and appealing copy.
Recorded in the CCF only at the BnF.
Sole edition of this theatrical jeu d’esprit, which bears little relation to China despite the purported setting of the action: "La scène se passe à Pé-King, l’an du monde 100, 857, et de Con-Fou-Tsée 6550". In reality, it is a play about the destructive nature of gambling, for which there was no real need to summon China as a...
First edition of the French translation, one of 25 numbered copies on pur fil, the only copies printed on deluxe paper.
Blood red morocco binding, gilt title lengthwise, gold stingray boards framed in morocco, gilt decorative paper endleaves, original wrappers preserved, top edge gilt, an elegant binding signed Boichot. Front free endpaper slightly toned, otherwise a handsome untrimmed copy.
...
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...
First edition.
Contemporary half calf in a bronze tone, the spine with four raised bands framed by double gilt rules and gilt pointillé work, together with broad black fillets; joints rubbed, marbled paper sides, marbled endpapers, edges sprinkled; a period binding.
Scattered foxing.
Second edition, partly original as it was revised and enlarged, and the most complete form of this celebrated manual of local law for the island of Réunion (cf. Ryckebusch 2407; Toussaint & Adolphe D439).
The work is illustrated with three folding tables inserted out of text (two in the fifth volume, one in the last).
Contemporary half-sheep bindings in dark green, smooth spines gilt-tooled with dotted ornaments, fillets and garlands, gilt rolls at head and foot, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, sprinkled edges.
Some rubbing to a few headcaps and spines, the upper headcap of the sixth volume torn, restorations to several spines.
Handsome and uncommon album comprising 36 vintage silver-print photographs (18.5 × 23 cm, mounted and captioned by hand), depicting exterior views—façades, gardens, and architectural perspectives—of this English neo-Gothic estate built between 1868 and 1872 by Thomas Smith and the Cannes contractor Scavy for one Michael Hugh Scott, who never lived in it: the property quickly passed to the businessman Debionne, who resold it to Lord Wolverton after furnishing and decorating the interior.
Publisher’s blue percaline binding, smooth unlettered spine, blind-ruled frame on the boards, gilt-lettered title to the upper cover, marbled endpapers and pastedowns; contemporary binding.
A...
Very rare first edition of this splendid photographic album, produced in Cairo in 1871, representing the first illustrated catalogue of the earliest museum devoted to Egyptology.
The photographs by Hippolyte Delié and Émile Béchard depict the rooms and antiquities of the Boulaq Museum, founded in Cairo in 1863 by the eminent Egyptologist Auguste Mariette (1821–1881).
The album comprises forty albumen prints (approx. 24.5 × 18 cm), mounted on thick card leaves set on guards, each accompanied by a letterpress commentary leaf (except plates 4 and 11, which each have two). The prints are mounted on the versos of the plates, the rectos bearing the printed captions.
...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...
Rare first edition (cf. Tailliart 2391).
Backstrip skewed and untitled, with a few losses and small tears to the board corners; light dampstaining at the head of the opening leaves, otherwise a clean and pleasing copy.
The author served as a military intendant and published several concise monographs on fortification and military administration.
First edition (cf. O'Reilly, 2192.)
Modern Bradel binding in brown half-cloth, forest-green morocco lettering-piece, marbled paper boards, beige endpapers and pastedowns, original wrappers retained albeit lightly soiled; binding signed by Boichot.
Illustrated with 49 photographic plates hors texte.
"Minutieuse histoire analytico-chronologique des trente premières années de la Calédonie européenne. Il annonçait une suite qui n'a jamais vu le jour" (O'Reilly).
First edition, printed on vélin d’Angoulême, with the usual typographical errors, and containing the six banned poems; one of the few author’s copies “intended for friends who render no literary services”.
Full bordeaux red morocco binding, spine with five raised bands richly decorated with multiple gilt- and blind-tooled fillets; third-state covers; boards framed with multiple blind-tooled fillets; marbled endpapers; gilt turn-ins; all edges gilt; marbled paper slipcase with morocco border; signed binding by Semet & Plumelle.
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.
Autograph manuscript signed of Victor Hugo’s “Ballade du fou,” sung by the jester Elespuru in his play Cromwell (IV, 1). Two pages on a folded leaf backed with green glazed paper.
Exceptional autograph manuscript of Victor Hugo’s most celebrated poetic song, performed by the jester Elespuru in his resounding drama Cromwell.
Both grotesque and exalted, this piece embodies the freedom of Romantic drama championed by Hugo in the play’s famous preface: as noted by the Bibliothèque nationale de France, this song “is the only passage in the play as equally famous as its...
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.
Second edition, partly original as it is considerably expanded (cf. Sabin 59254, Howes 7805, F. Monaghan 1171).
Half black shagreen binding, smooth spine decorated with gilt double fillets and a gilt pastoral motif, a restored tear to the headcap, black paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, contemporary binding.
Scattered foxing.
Provenance: Copy from the library of Marquis Claude-Emmanuel-Joseph-Pierre de Pastoret (1755–1840), with his heraldic device gilt-stamped at the foot of the spine.
First edition, complete in 23 instalments, of the second series of this magic periodical (cf. Fechner, p. 503).
Text in two columns; each instalment, richly illustrated, comprises between 12 and 16 pages (20 for the final one).
Contemporary half-sheep bindings: the first volume in brown, the second in tan, the spines with four raised bands tooled with gilt ornaments, moiré-patterned paper sides, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, sprinkled edges; one original wrapper preserved. Bindings from the period, though mismatched in tone between the two volumes.
Complete collection of the second series of this Swiss periodical, whose first publication appeared in 1941–42 as the...
First edition (cf. Tailliart 2540).
Quarter shagreen in a dark bottle-green hue with corner pieces, the smooth spine slightly toned and decorated with blind fillets, marbled paper sides, cat’s-eye patterned endpapers and pastedowns, modern binding signed Honnelaître.
A light marginal dampmark at the foot of the half-title and title pages; scattered, unobtrusive foxing.
The author (1781–1852) was a colonial administrator: "Une introduction de trente pages sur les erreurs de la politique suivie à l’égard des Arabes : trop de faiblesse chez nous ; de glorieuses expéditions, mais pas de résultat positif durable. Il attaque Bresson qui a préconisé la formation d’un empire...
First edition of the French translation prepared by Michel Vaucaire, who would later write the lyrics to the famous song Non, je ne regrette rien, singed by Édith Piaf. One of the rare named copies printed on japon.
Vertical creasing to spine, minor corner losses to spine and boards, traces of erasure to first two leaves, as issued.
Illustrated with 9 black-and-white photographs, including one on the cover.
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...
Uncommon first edition.
An early controversy over the skin color of the first known anthropoids, marked by sharply divided opinions rooted as much in common preconceptions as in anthropological analysis.
All participants in the debate were recognized authorities in their respective fields: Pierre-Toussaint Marcel de Serres de Mesplès (1780–1862) in geology; Pierre Lacour (1778–1859) in art history and techniques; and Charles Des Moulins (1798–1875) in botany.
Minor tears and slight losses at the corners of the wrappers, without affecting integrity.
Manuscript ex-libris “La Neufville” at the head of the front cover.
First edition, illustrated with 12 in-text reproductions of coins.
Contemporary half Russian-cherry morocco over marbled boards, smooth spine gilt with a floral tool, date gilt at foot, marbled paste-paper boards, comb-marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt edges at head.
Sole edition, uncommon.
Henri Lavoix (1820–1892) served as curator of the Department of Medals and Antiquities at the Bibliothèque nationale.
At the head of the half-title, which shows heavy foxing, signed presentation inscription from Henri Michel Lavoix to the archaeologist Alban-Emmanuel Guillaume-Rey (1837–1916), a specialist in medieval Syria and in particular the Frankish settlements...
