Rarest Books (Untraceables)

First edition, illustrated with 11 photographic prints measuring 9 x 15 cm, mounted on heavy paper and hinged on stubs. 

S.l., s.d. [circa 1890], oblong 12mo (12 x 19 cm), 

Publisher's full green percaline binding, smooth unlettered spine, gilt and blind-tooled fillet borders on the covers, title stamped in gilt on the upper cover, a few stains to the covers, grey-blue paper pastedowns and endpapers.

A photographer active in Nice from the late 1860s to around 1883, Jean Walburg de Bray (1839-1901) subsequently moved to Cannes, where he remained until the early 1890s. His assistant Jean Gilletta (1856-1933) succeeded him in Nice and reissued part of the stock under his...

First edition illustrated with 9 copper-engraved plates hors texte after drawings by Hippolyte Jordan and Baron Charles-Louis de Coubertin (1822-1908, father of Pierre de Coubertin), including one double-page map and one folding plate.

Frédy de Blackmer 177 (calling for 17 plates).

Contemporary half cherry-red shagreen over marbled boards, spine with five raised bands showing a few rubs and darkened at the foot, comb-marbled endpapers and pastedowns, शीर्ष edge gilt, corners lightly bumped.

A light dampstain to the edges without affecting the text, joints restored at head and foot.

The sole edition, printed in an edition of 500 copies and uncommon, of this account...

Rare first edition.

Minor stains on the front cover, some light foxing of no consequence.

This lesser-known pamphlet is among the military works of the future Emperor Napoleon III; its purpose, it must be said, was more electoral than purely technical, as it aimed to introduce the young deputy to the public.

Offprint from the Revue archéologique, eleventh year, printed in a small number of copies.

Pamphlet illustrated with 2 plates on separate leaves.

Only three copies recorded in the CCF (Bibliothèque nationale de France, Lyon, and Annecy).

Traveller and amateur archaeologist, Jules de Bertou (1809–1881) had begun his career as an orientalist in conventional fashion, visiting Petra in 1837 and excavating the site of ancient Tyre from 1838 onwards, work that yielded a creditable memoir (Essai sur la topographie de Tyr, 1843), before turning to an ultimately fruitless attempt at concordism between archaeological discoveries and a literalist reading of the...

Rare first edition comprising a suite of 12 lithographs printed in colour on tinted grounds, numbered 1–12.

This series by the painter and lithographer Charles-Edouard de Beaumont (1821–1888), lithographed by Jaime, addresses the theme of children compelled to work from a very early age, exposed to street trades and itinerant entertainments.

Publisher’s half brown cloth over beige paper-covered boards, title stamped on the upper cover.

Some small tears and rubbing to the cloth spine, light dampstaining to the margins of the boards, occasional foxing, a small black mark to the upper cover.

The suite may be read either romantically or socially; in both cases it...

Second edition, with a newly engraved portrait as frontispiece (cf. Blackmer 99 for the first edition issued the same year).

Light waterstaining to the upper margins of the opening leaves, minor losses to the head and foot of the spine as well as at the corners of the boards. Copy preserved in its original wrappers.

The first biography of Ali Pasha, illustrated with a portrait.

First edition, illustrated with a frontispiece portrait of Benito Juárez (cf. Palau 25905.)

Contemporary half red shagreen over marbled boards, spine in five compartments with raised bands, decorated with double gilt-ruled panels and gilt floral tools, a few minor abrasions to the spine, gilt gothic initials and gilt date at foot, marbled paper boards, the upper cover enhanced with a large aubergine shagreen title-piece lettered in gilt, marbled endpapers, corners worn, small defects to the edges, speckled edges, contemporary binding. 

The finest biography of Juárez, published less than two years after his death: "Esta obra es la más documentada y completa que existe sobra...

First edition illustrated with 1 folding plate consisting of a copper-engraved reproduction of the Choiseul Marble by Poisson (cf. Monglond II, 651.)

A restored tear to the verso of the folding plate.

Bradel binding in full marbled paper-covered boards, smooth spine, brown shagreen lettering-piece, red edges, modern binding.

A pleasing copy.

Rare first edition illustrated with 2 plates outside the text, including a frontispiece and a large folding facsimile of the inscription.

Contemporary green half sheep, spine faded and decorated with blind fillets and raised bands, a few scuffs to the spine, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers, speckled edges, corners bumped.

A few spots of foxing.

This inscription had been unearthed in Marseille in June 1845 and had already given rise to numerous attempts at interpretation.

It is now known as the “Carthage Tariff” and lay at the origin of the enduring myth of the city’s Phoenician origins: the religious regulations it records appeared to provide proof that...

Rare first edition.

Only copy recorded in the CCFr (BnF).

Losses at the head and foot of the spine, small marginal tears to the covers and half-title, occasional foxing.

The author is presented as a serving Catholic statesman wishing to remain anonymous. With an introduction by the publicist Armand Ravelet (1834-1875).

Despite its very broad title, the pamphlet chiefly concerns the highly contentious relations between Gregorian Armenians and Catholic Armenians, as well as the respective positions of the Porte and the Papacy regarding these two communities.

First edition illustrated with 6 folding tables printed hors texte (cf. Palau, 16641. Not in Sabin.)

 Contemporary half tan sheep, smooth spine decorated with black and gilt fillets, rubbing to the spine and joints, marbled paper boards, endleaves and pastedowns of decorated paper, wear to the edges, bumped corners, speckled edges.

Account of the political unrest of 1833 by a Mexican statesman [1802-1855] who would become President of the Republic in 1851. For the first time in modern Mexican history, a transfer of power took place without violence, and even in a cordial manner. Nevertheless, fierce opposition ultimately brought down his government, and Arista resigned on 4...

Rare illustrated first edition, with a large folding map at the end of the volume showing the route of the railway line linking Rosario to Puerto Belgrano.

Only copies recorded at the BnF in the CCF.

The "Ferrocarril Rosario-Puerto Belgrano" company (Rosario–Puerto Belgrano Railway) was established in the first decade of the 20th century with French capital; its promoters based their railway policy around the ports of Rosario and Arroyo Pareja.

WITH, loosely inserted on three leaves: three local printed documents relating to the liquidation (notice to creditors; verification of claims; a receipt for 8 coupons, dated 1919).

See Chalier (Gustavo): Capitaux français...

First edition of this scarce catalogue of mineral specimens exhibited by the National Department of Mines and Geology of the Argentine Republic at the 1889 Universal Exposition.

Contemporary Bradel binding in chocolate brown half shagreen, smooth spine with gilt title lettered vertically, library shelf label at the foot of the spine, double gilt fillets to marbled paper boards, two abrasions with small losses of paper at the foot of the upper cover, comb-marbled endpapers and pastedowns, speckled edges.

Library stamp skilfully erased from the upper right corner of the introductory page.

A pleasing copy in very good internal condition.

Very rare first edition of this major work, complete as issued (the text ends abruptly with the final table, without a table of chapters).

Illustrated with a lithographed portrait frontispiece (Cf. Palau 11 815. Sabin 1377.)

Contemporary half cherry calf over marbled paper boards, smooth spine decorated with gilt fillets, garlands and fleurons; small loss at foot of spine, which is also rubbed; some abrasion to the marbled paper; speckled edges; corners and board edges rubbed.

Only two copies recorded in the CCF (BnF and Institut).

A member of Colombia's Comision corografica from 1850, the writer and publicist Manuel Ancizar Basterra (1812-1882) undertook an...

Rare pre-first edition offprint of Charles de Gaulle's article Les Origines de l'armée française, published in issue 520 of the Revue d'Infanterie in January 1936. This 44-page text appears two years later as the first chapter of his celebrated work La France et son armée, published by Plon in 1938. Presentation copy signed by the author "to M. Jean Auburtin": "With profound and faithful friendship. C. de Gaulle."

Blue wrappers slightly sunned at extremities, spine and upper...

First edition of the French translation, with false statement of second edition.

Full green cloth Bradel binding, flat spine decorated with a central gilt ornament, beige sheepskin title label, original wrappers preserved, contemporary binding signed in blind by Pierson. Some light foxing. 

Very rare presentation copy dated and signed by Ivan Turgenev to Anatole France: "Monsieur Anatole France / hommage de l'auteur / 1876".

First edition of this new Histoire générale des voyages, arranged and brought up to date with contemporary discoveries by Baron Charles-Athanase Walckenaer (1771-1852). Published in Paris between 1826 and 1831 in twenty-one octavo volumes, it constitutes the only portion ever completed of a project originally intended to extend to some sixty volumes. The final four volumes were prepared by Jean-Baptiste-Benoît Eyriès. Brunet V, 1041; Quérard X, 472; Gay 299; Hoefer XLVI, 498.

Contemporary half red Russia morocco with corners, spines with five raised bands, boards framed with blind fillets, marbled...

First edition of this major classification, arranged according to the Linnaean system, describing a thousand plants with remarkable precision (cf. Pritzel 9806.)

Full green vellum bindings, smooth spines tooled with double gilt fillets and gilt rolls, brown calf lettering- and volume-pieces, slight rubbing to the spines, yellow mottled edges, some corners a little softened; contemporary bindings.

The author, Abbé Fulgenzio Vitman (1728–1806), a Florentine botanist, founded the Milan botanical garden after directing that of Pavia.

First edition, illustrated with a folding plate bound at the end of the volume (cf. Quérard IX, 259).

Contemporary full boards covered with marbled paper, smooth spine heavily rubbed, a label with a now-effaced manuscript title affixed at the head of the spine, surface abrasions with paper losses to the boards, snags to the edges, bumped corners, sprinkled edges; a period binding.

Following general remarks on the designation, status, quality, and responsibilities of consuls, the work presents the texts of ordinances, treaties, and conventions relating to the Levant and Barbary trading posts (1781), prizes brought into foreign ports (1784), navigation and commerce between...

First edition, with three folding tables printed within the text. The title-page bears the false imprint of Yverdon; modern bibliography establishes that the book was in fact printed in Leghorn. XII, 196 pp. Brunet III, 330; Vivien de Saint-Martin, Voyages faits en Asie Mineure depuis le XIIIe siècle, no. 148; Atabey, The Ottoman World, 1126; Weber II, 595. Not in Blackmer, but see nos. 1530 and 1531.

Contemporary half brown calf with corners, smooth spine decorated with gilt lyre tools and ornamental rolls, black morocco lettering-piece, speckled paper...

First edition of this substantially abridged French adaptation of Johann David Michaelis's Mosaisches Recht, published in Bordeaux in 1785 under the name of M. Senger.  Quatro; xii pp., 2 unnumbered leaves of preface and contents, 270 pp., one unnumbered privilege leaf.

Contemporary full mottled tan calf, smooth spine richly gilt in compartments with floral tools, dark green calf lettering-piece, gilt rolls at head and foot, covers framed with a triple gilt fillet, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, sprinkled edges. Restorations to spine and joints, internally a pleasing copy.

Rare first edition, illustrated at the end of the volume with two folding plates.

Only two copies recorded in the CCF (BnF and Strasbourg). Backer & Sommervogel III, 1242 (59).

Our copy is preserved in its original provisional yellow paper wrappers,

With a few minor spots of foxing on the folding plates.

The Neapolitan Jesuit Raffaele Garrucci (1811–1885) devoted his work to the study of the Church Fathers as well as to both pagan and Christian antiquities.

He became one of the foremost disciples of Father Giuseppe Marchi, alongside the renowned Giovanni Battista de Rossi.

Very rare first edition of the French translation, illustrated at the end of the volume with one folding copper-engraved plate and two folding printed tables, all hors texte.

See Oberlé (for the Milan 1819 edition). Lacking from the Kilian Fristch Collection. Vicaire, 353-354.

A rare and appealing copy preserved in its original wrappers, with the plain provisional cover showing some surface wear.

First edition, printed in a small number of copies, of this offprint from the Bulletin de la Société géographique de Paris.

Copies recorded in the CCFr only at the BnF, BULAC, and Tarbes libraries.

Half hazel shagreen binding with corners, smooth spine slightly faded with minor rubbing, boards, endpapers and pastedowns in olive-green paper, top edge gilt, original wrappers and spine preserved; modern binding.

The Fourierist Armand-Jules Duval (1813–1870), an influential member of the Société de géographie, was a staunch advocate of the colonisation of Algeria.

He had himself lived in the colony from 1847 to 1862, overseeing the fortunes of an agricultural...

Paris, Louis Janet and later Madame Veuve Louis Janet, from circa 1840 and subsequent years. 17 octavo volumes, 14.8 x 23.7 cm.

A set comprising the ten volumes of the first series and the seven volumes of the second, corresponding to the complete collection as described by Gumuchian. Uniformly bound in contemporary full burgundy calf, the smooth spines faded and decorated with gilt Romantic arabesques, gilt ornamental bands at head and foot, boards framed with double gilt fillets and gilt cornerpieces, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt lines to the board edges. Some corners slightly bumped. Scattered...

Scarce sammelband comprising six treatises on dental surgery, some of which are present here in the first edition.

Half blue sheep, the smooth spine decorated with gilt romantic ornaments, marbled paper boards lightly darkened and faded at the margins, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, marbled edges.

A faint dampstain to the lower margin of the initial leaves of the first work, a few occasional light spots.

Bound together are:

1. by N. Lefebvre: "La Médecine domestique, petit ouvrage… concernant les moyens de détourner & guérir les maladies par la connoissance & l'usage des plantes", printed in Le Mans by Pivron in 1782 (24 pp.).
2. by Hébert...

Unpublished manuscript logbook kept by a French naval officer, an eyewitness to the celebrated action between the Aréthuse and HMS Amelia (1813), and to the campaigns that accompanied the restoration of French authority in the West Indies.

Unpublished autograph manuscript of 189 pages (the first 31 paginated, the remainder unnumbered), kept by an anonymous French naval officer and covering, without interruption, the period from 25 November 1812 to 4 May 1823.

Contemporary half tan calf, smooth spine decorated with repeated gilt rolls and naval ornaments, burgundy calf lettering-piece, brown paper-covered boards. Spine...

A rare run of approximately 250 issues of the Levant Times and Shipping Gazette, the bilingual maritime newspaper published in Constantinople, covering almost a complete year from 1 July 1869 to 3 June 1870. At the centre of this period stands the opening of the Suez Canal on 17 November 1869, an event that transformed the geography of trade between the Mediterranean, the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. The present collection records the anticipation, announcement and immediate aftermath of that moment from one of the principal ports of the Ottoman Empire.

Two large folio volumes (31 × 48 cm), bound Bradel-style in half black cloth over beige boards, smooth...

First edition of the Voyage pittoresque à l'Île-de-France, au Cap de Bonne-Espérance et à l'Île de Ténériffe, published in Paris by Auguste Nepveu in 1812 and printed by Le Normant. Two octavo text volumes with an accompanying atlas. The second text volume contains three folding tables; the atlas in the present copy comprises 45 engraved plates, both single-page and folding, including three maps and 42 plans and picturesque views, most retaining their tissue guards. 

Some foxing in the text volumes and atlas.

The text volumes in slightly later...

First edition, no copies on deluxe paper issued.

Half light brown morocco binding, flat spine with author stamped in gilt and title stamped in gilt lengthwise, gilt date at foot, brown stingray boards framed in morocco, brown suede endpapers and pastedowns, original covers and spine preserved, top edge gilt, elegant binding signed Thomas Boichot.

Manuscript ex-libris in black ink and a slight restoration to the upper right corner of the first...

First edition, one of the press copies.

Full emerald-green morocco, flat spine with a gilt rule lengthwise, title and author gilt-stamped, frontdecorated with multiple gilt rules framing a central onlaid panel of blue shagreen, light green suede endpapers and pastedowns, original wrappers preserved, top edge gilt, binding signed Boichot.

Exceptional and highly desirable presentation copy inscribed and signed by Louis-Ferdinand Céline: "A mons. Pierre Jean Jouve cordial hommage Louis Celine."

Rare first edition, as referenced by Clouzot (see Guide du bibliophile français XIX^e siècle, p. 256).

A few insignificant spots of foxing, a small black ink stain at the bottom of pages 354–355. Complete with the errata leaf at the end of the volume.

Caramel half calf binding, spine with five raised bands ruled with gilt dotted lines and decorated with gilt and black tools, gilt fillets at head and foot of spine. Minor rubbing to the spine. Brown morocco title label. Marbled paper-covered boards framed with blind-stamped vertical rolls, endpapers and pastedowns in cat’s-eye paper, all edges gilt. Roman bookseller’s label at the top...

Unique copy printed on vellum and numbered 1, the deluxe issue of this very rare first edition, limited to 25 numbered copies.

Printer's proof stamp on the half-title: "E. Capiomont & Cie imprimeurs. 37, rue de Seine, Paris 30Janvier 188. Epreuve"

Full chocolate-brown morocco, spine very slightly faded with four raised bands, date and the word "Épreuves" lettered in gilt at foot, gilt rolls to headcaps, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, pastedowns framed with six gilt fillets, original wrappers preserved, top edge gilt, double gilt fillets to board edges, bookplate pasted to one pastedown; matching chocolate-brown morocco-edged slipcase with marbled-paper...

First and complete edition in 7 issues of this review founded and directed by Emmanuel Berl and Pierre Drieu la Rochelle, one of the rare copies on Madagascar paper of which no mention is made.

Bound in half red morocco-grained shagreen with corners, spine with five raised bands set with black fillets, some very light traces of rubbing on spine, date and place gilt at foot, marbled paper boards, endpapers and pastedowns of moiré-effect and gilt paper, top edge gilt, contemporary binding signed by Lagadec, elected best craftsman of France in 1927.

Manuscript signature of Emmanuel Berl at...

First edition, with all the features of first issue copies, including the misprint “Sénart” on the dedication leaf.

Contemporary plum-coloured 3/4 morocco binding signed by Georges Huser, spines with five raised bands, numerously ruled in blind, with a gilt floral tool at centres, dates in gilt at foot, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, original wrappers preserved, top edges gilt, bookplates on each front pastedown. Complete with the publisher’s catalogue at the end of the first volume.

A very handsome copy, elegantly bound by Georges Huser, with the...

First edition, limited to 1,100 copies, divided into four fictitious editions within the same year, in order to create the illusion of commercial success. These were subsequently reissued with a new title-page bearing an edition statement and the author’s name, together with a volume designation on the half-titles (cf. Clouzot). Our copy carries the designation “third edition.” Contemporary bookplate traces on the upper pastedowns. Expert restorations to headcaps and joints, with a tiny loss at the foot of the lower joint of vol. I. A clean copy, entirely free of foxing.

Contemporary half chocolate calf bindings...

First edition, one of 100 numbered copies on hollande paper, deluxe issue (only the first volume numbered).
Each volume includes a historical introduction by Philippe De Gaulle.
Ex-libris pasted to the front of each volume.
A very fine copy with wide margins, complete in twelve volumes of this important work, commencing in 1905 and concluding in April 1969.

First edition, one of 9 numbered copies on japon, only deluxe issue aside from 35 copies on pur fil, and a few on coloured paper.

Full black morocco binding, flat spine, author’s name palladium-stamped, title stamped lengthwise in palladium and blind, grey long-grain shagreen inlays to boards with author and title stamped lengthwise in palladium and in blind, turn-ins framed in morocco, light plum suede pastedowns and flyleaves, three palladium decorated deckled edges, outstanding custom binding by Thomas Boichot.

Exhibition catalogue listing 66 paintings by Félix Vallotton exhibited at the Druet gallery, 20, rue Royale in Paris, from 22 April to 3 May 1929.
Light worming to the first cover, otherwise a handsome copy.
Catalogue illustrated with 7 photographic reproductions of works by Félix Vallotton.

First edition of this complete suite of 18 numbered intaglio plates enhanced in colour, on 'J. Honig & Zoonen' laid paper, depicting 72 merchants accompanied by captions beneath each figure.
First printing, subsequent editions will feature individually numbered figures surrounded by a border.

Bound in half sienna morocco with corners, smooth spine, title stamped in gilt throughout, tiger patterned paper boards, combed paper endpapers and flyleaves, first cover retained, gilt head.
 
Extremely rare and the earliest known suite of prints depicting itinerant merchants and pedlars in Spain. Each figure is...

First edition printed in small numbers.
Traces of horizontal folds on the first cover, otherwise a nice copy.

Signed by Charles-Louis-Augustin Letellier at the top of first cover.

First edition.
Half blue morocco shagreen, smooth spine, gilt date at foot of spine, marbled paper boards, contemporary binding.
Exceptionally inscribed by Emile Zola to the playwright and opera librettist Ludovic Halévy, with the autograph signatures of Guy de Maupassant, Joris-Karl Huysmans, Léon Hennique, Paul Alexis and Henri Céard on the first flyleaf.
Provenances: from the libraries of Ludovic Halévy and Marcel Lecomte, with their bookplates on front pastedown.
Our copy also includes, on a flyleaf, an autograph note by Ludovic Halévy: "See a letter by Guy de Maupassant at the end of the volume. L.H. Inscribed by the six authors of the volume...

First edition. Illustrated with a lithograph showing sections and views of the Tain-Tournon bridge project, then under construction.
3/4 marbled roan binding, spine framed and decorated in gilt, red morocco title-piece, marbled paper boards, marbled paper endpapers and flyleaves. Spine, spine-ends and corners rubbed, contemporary binding signed by Stroobants.

Extremely rare pamphlet by Seguin on a prototype suspension bridge built over the Galore river at Saint-Vallier in Isère. It served as an experimental construction for the Tain-Tournon bridge, the world's first large suspension bridge invented by Seguin using metal wires.

First edition printed in 36 copies with a frontispiece portrait of the author, one of 30 numbered copies on vellum, the only issue after 1 Japan and 5 Holland paper copies.

Admirably printed, this extremely rare bibliophilic object is particularly precious for its complementarity with the first edition of Voyage au bout de la nuit.

Handsome copy presented in a full beige cloth chemise (with light dampstaining at foot) which appears to be the publisher's slipcase.

Bookplate affixed to verso of front cover.

Second edition with some parts in first edition (with 5 added tales), Félix Vallotton's illustrations in first issue, one of 20 numbered copies on japon, only deluxe issue.
Bradel binding, brown 3/4 cloth, smooth spine with floral motif stamped in gilt at center, twice ruled in gilt at foot, slightly chafed morocco title-label, marbled paper boards, original covers and spine preserved, contemporary binding signed Carayon.
Small clear stains to the top edge of first board, one corner slightly rubbed, a spot of foxing at foot of the first few pages. 
Illustrated with 50 drawings by Félix Vallotton.

Rare and handsome copy housed in a contemporary binding by...

First edition, printed in a small run of numbered copies.

With two photographic portraits: one of Charles Pathé and the other of his brother Émile, and a view of the Kodak-Pathé and Pathé-Cinéma factories.
3/4 beige sheepskin binding, spine with four raised bands decorated with black typographical motifs, date at foot of spine, marbled paper boards, endpapers and flyleaves.
Discrete restorations to spine, some rubbing to upper corners of boards.

Signed by Charles Pathé on his photographic portrait.

Rare first edition of this manual on film development.
Illustrated with 54 figures in the text and 6 folding plates at rear, containing 107 interest­ing samples of films negatives and celluloid.

With a frontispiece photographic portrait of Charles Pathé.

Skilfully restored brown half sheepskin pub­lisher's binding, smooth spine decorated with golden arabesques, small gaps filled at head of spine, marbled endpapers and past­edowns.

"In the early years of the twentieth century, the largest film production company was the Société Pathé Frères (Pathé Brothers Com­pany). Founded in 1897, the company was at its height in 1920s when it unveiled the first home...

Exhibition catalogue of Paul Gauguin's works at the Galerie Barbazanges, 109 Faubourg Saint-Honoré, from 10 to 30 October 1919.
Illustrated with Gauguin's splendid colour self-portrait with halo and serpent, wood-engraved by Jules Germain.
Essay by François Norgelet, entitled "Gauguin au Pouldu".
Catalogue of 28 works by Gauguin, including two lithographs and two plaster casts. Minute black spot in the margin of the front wrapper.