Remarkable Bindings, from the Sixteenth to the Twentieth Century

Seventh edition, expanded with new annotations and an appendix containing descriptive and historical details on all the monuments recently erected in the capital by J.-L. Belin, avocat.

Bound in contemporary half midnight-blue Russian morocco, flat spines gilt with romantic arabesques, gilt fillet framing the marbled-paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns; one lower corner lightly rubbed, contemporary bindings.

Scattered foxing.

Illustrated with 58 plates (including 11 archaeological plates), together with 5 folding colour plans hors texte.

A handsomely preserved copy in a period romantic binding.

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...

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...

Second edition of this monumental work of historiography.

The collation of the text volumes (74 steel-engraved plates) conforms to the list of plates given in volume XX (with the exception of the plate depicting the French before Moscow, which is lacking), but does not match the plate count of the first edition, as certain plates were not reissued. The atlas corresponds to that of the first edition and is complete with its 66 maps.

Some foxing, mainly affecting the edges.

Handsome bindings of red half morocco with corners, the spines with five raised bands and triple blind-ruled compartments, a few minor abrasions without consequence to three spines, marbled paper sides...

First French edition, illustrated by Arthur Rackham with 40 mounted colour plates on thick brown paper, each protected by a captioned tissue guard, along with 30 black-and-white line drawings within the text, one of the extremely rare 30 copies printed on japon, signed by Arthur Rackham on the limitation page; the deluxe issue.

Publisher’s Bradel binding in full vellum-style boards, smooth gilt-titled spine, upper board gilt-stamped with title and a tree design, top edge gilt; the silk tie on the lower board is lacking.

...

Illustrated edition with 13 colour plates on brown paper by Arthur Rackham tipped in with captioned tissue guards, together with 14 black-and-white illustrations in the text by Rackham, including a frontispiece portrait of Alice, one of the very rare 20 copies on japon, signed by Arthur Rackham on the limitation page, copy from the deluxe issue. A few name copies on the same paper were also issued.

Publisher’s full vellum binding, flat spine lettered in gilt with a gilt illustration of the Cheshire Cat, upper cover stamped in gilt with the title and an illustration of two fantastic...

First edition, one of 45 numbered copies on Holland paper, the deluxe issue.

Full chocolate-brown morocco binding, spine with five raised bands framed with black fillets, date gilt at foot, gilt rolls on the caps, marbled paper endpapers and doublures, gilt double fillet borders on the doublures, gilt fillets along the edges, original wrappers and spine preserved, all edges gilt, slipcase edged with matching chocolate morocco, sides in marbled paper, interior lined with grey felt. A splendid binding signed by Semet & Plumelle.

A very handsome copy, perfectly bound in full morocco by Semet & Plumelle.

Extremely rare first edition, probably printed in Prussia, of this essay written directly in French by Baron de Bielfeld (1716–1770), inspector of Prussian universities and a friend of Frederick the Great since the time when he was still Crown Prince of Prussia.

GV 1700–1910, vol. 111, p. 374. Not in Conlon (who only cites the Amsterdam edition of the same year). No copy located in the U.S.A.

Full red morocco with gilt decoration, smooth spine elaborately tooled in the grotesque style, gilt rolls on the caps, triple gilt fillet border on the covers, gilt fillets on the edges, star-patterned gilt paper endpapers and doublures, gilt dentelle border on the inside covers, all...

Paris, Pierre David, 1651. Small octavo. Four works bound in one volume.

Second edition of Divers traictez, à sçavoir, de la nature des bains de Bourbon, & des abus qui se commettent à présent en la boisson de ces eaux, avec une instruction pour s'en servir utilement. De la Macreuse. De la Poudre de sympathie, first published by the same bookseller in 1650. The work opens with a dedication to Messire Baltazar du Mont, knight and Baron of Neufuy Saint-Sépulcre, with an engraved headpiece bearing fleur-de-lis arms. 4 unnumbered leaves, 148 and 56 pages, 2 unnumbered leaves.

First edition, one of 30 numbered copies on Holland paper, the deluxe issue.
Bound in full ebony morocco, smooth spine decorated with small inlays of garnet morocco and pearl-grey box calf, the latter framing the author’s initials and the title; the first numeral of the date, given in Roman numerals, appears within a square of pearl-grey box calf. Morocco boards framed with wide panels of chocolate suede, the upper cover with a large granulated paper panel lettered with the title and date of the edition set in garnet morocco, the initials framed by a rectangle of paper taken from a map of Haute-Savoie; bluish paper...

Second edition of the French translation prepared by François-Victor Hugo.

Half red shagreen bindings, slightly faded spines with four raised bands numerously framed in gilt and central gilt tooled motif, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers, speckled edges, contemporary bindings.

Some occasional foxing, minor black specks on a few spines, upper corners of volume 10 slightly damaged.

Our set, attractively bound uniformly in contemporary bindings, is complete in 18 volumes including the often lacking final three volumes of apocryphal writings.

New edition of the French translation established by Amédée Pichot, partly original as it is enhanced with a historical notice on Lord Byron.

Half blue glazed calf bindings, spines partially faded with four raised bands framed by gilt garlands and richly decorated gilt compartments, navy blue glazed calf title and volume labels, blind-stamped floral tools at head and tail, marbled paper boards, gilt fillets at foot, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, marbled edges; a few lightly rubbed corners. Romantic bindings of the period.

Our copy contains 13 engraved plates, some serving as frontispieces.

Scattered foxing, a few leaves browned due to paper acidity.

A copy in...

First edition of these significant memoirs by a close companion and comrade-in-arms of Napoleon Bonaparte.

Half aubergine sheep bindings, smooth spines slightly faded and decorated with gilt romantic arabesques, some rubbing with small losses to a few spines and joints, embossed aubergine paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, marbled edges; romantic bindings of the period.

Some foxing, a light marginal dampstain on the final leaves of volume 8.

A pleasant set, attractively bound in contemporary romantic bindings.

Illustrated edition, limited to 68 copies. The illustrations comprise a title-frontispiece, 28 colored vignettes in the text and numerous colored wood-engraved tailpieces by Daragnès after pastels by Anna de Noailles, accompanied by the complete suite of thirty progressive states of a single plate, showing the color breakdown. 

Bound in full lemon morocco, mosaic boards composed of a border of brown morocco fillets in the form of stylized hearts, surrounding two concentric undulating gilt fillet frames, with hearts in brown and teal morocco fillets at the center of the boards, smooth spine with mosaic of...

First edition. Quérard I, 271 lists only one edition: "Paris, Née de La Rochelle, 1789." Kress B.1163; Goldsmiths 13858. Not in Einaudi."

With loose printed title pages for each volume, dated 1789.

The first volume, with an engraved pictorial title after Meunier, contains 52 double-page or folding plates inserted into the pagination, without following its numbering logic.

The second volume has an engraved pictorial title by Zaveris after Meunier and includes 154 etched plates of coins.

Full mottled calf, spines with six raised bands, gilt fillets and double gilt panels, red morocco lettering-pieces, green morocco numbering-pieces, gilt rolls on...

First edition.
Elegant half navy blue morocco over marbled paper boards by Pierre-Lucien Martin, spine in six compartments with gilt fillets to bands and geometric decoration of red morocco onlays, date gilt at foot of spine, gilt fillet to boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt dentelle frame to pastedowns, covers and spine preserved, top edge gilt.

A very good copy in a handsome binding. 
Exceptional autograph inscription from Claude Farrère : "A Pierre Louÿs son très petit disciple [To Pierre Louÿs, his very humble disciple]", along with Chinese ideograms.

First edition, one of 10 numbered copies on imperial japon, ours one of 3 hors commerce lettered copies, a deluxe issue following 6 on chine.

Bound in full sienna morocco, flat spine, gilt date at foot, moiré-effect endpapers and pastedowns, gilt fillet border on pastedowns, original wrappers and spine preserved (spine restored and backed), gilt edges, chemise edged in sienna morocco, slipcase in wood-effect board with white felt lining, contemporary binding signed by Roger Arnoult.

Our copy is enriched with a one-page signed autograph letter by Jean Cocteau, mounted on a guard, written from La Roche-Posay in Vienne, probably addressed to Pierre Benoit, in which he...

Edition with some parts in first edition.

Half green straight-grained morocco with corners, smooth spines faded and decorated with gilt romantic arabesques, gilt friezes at head and foot, almond paper boards, covers and spine preserved, top edges gilt, handsome pastiche romantic bindings.

The Poésies nouvelles and the Oeuvres posthumes are here in first edition, and the Comédies et proverbes in edition with some parts in first edition.
This set comprises: "Oeuvres posthumes" (2 volumes), "Poésies nouvelles" (3 volumes), "Poésies complètes", "Mélanges de littérature & de critique", "Contes", "Comédies et proverbes" (2 volumes).
Some light foxing of no...

First edition.

Full red morocco binding, round spine with five raised bands decorated with gilt fleurons, slight rubbing on the caps, double frame of blind-stamped gilt fillets on the covers, with fleurons at the corners of the inner frame, edges slightly blunt, marbled paper endpapers and back covers, gilt edges and heads, very elegant 19th-century binding ‘a la Du Seuil’ signed Quinet on the first endpaper. 

Rare first edition of Chamblain de Marivaux's first theatrical success, The Surprise of Love, published four years before The Second Surprise of Love. This play, performed in the spring of 1722 before being published the...

First edition of Breviarum studiosorum, Prague and Nuremberg, Johann Fridriech Rutiger, 1744 [with] New edition of De arte rhetorica. Cologne, Wilhelm Metternich, 1723 [with] Ars rhetorica. Cologne, Wilhelm Metternich, 1725. New edition.

Contemporary German binding in full blonde sheep. Smooth spine richly decorated and unlettered. Boards entirely covered with rococo ornaments forming a decorative composition. Edges gilt. Traces of ties. Lacking at one tie location. Tail slightly and partially worn. 3 corners bumped.

Rich rococo prize binding with very fine arms on the...

First edition, one of 25 copies on handmade laid paper, numbered and justified by the publisher, the only deluxe issue.
 
Bradel binding in half chocolate-brown morocco with corners, smooth spine, gilt date at foot, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, illustrated wrappers by Manuel Orazi and backstrip preserved.
Work illustrated with 136 black and colour drawings, in- and out-of-text, by Georges Bottini.
 
Bookplate mounted.
 
Our copy is enriched with a full-page original drawing, signed by Georges Bottini and heightened in black ink, depicting Jacques Beaudarmon wearing a bowler hat and conversing with the « môme...

New edition.
Contemporary binding in half green shagreen, spine in four compartments set with gilt stippling, gilt fillets and gilt fleurons in the corner pieces, multiple blind tooled frames on the boards, white iridescent paper endpapers, all edges gilt.
Some leaves shorter in the bottom margin.

Handwritten inscription signed by George Sand on the first endpaper: “à mon bon ami Edmond Plauchut. G. Sand".

Today the only outsider to the family buried in the cemetery of the Nohant house, is Lucien-Joseph-Edmond Plau
chut (1824-1909) who began an epistolary relationship with George Sand in the autumn of 1848 when he was a voluntary expatriate after...

Vérédishtad [Paris], chez les marchands de nouveautés, undated [before 1814]. Three parts in four octavo volumes.

Contemporary Bradel-style bindings in full aubergine boards imitating straight-grain morocco, smooth spines decorated with gilt fillets, rolls and floral tools, with the crowned cipher of Louis-Philippe d'Orléans at the head. Entirely untrimmed. The final two volumes remain unopened. Complete with the...

First edition of the French translation by Jean-Baptiste Dupuy-Demportes of the work originally published in 1689 under the title "La Morale dei principi osservata nell'istoria di tutti gl'imperadori, che regnarono in Roma" (cf. Quérard II, 260. Barbier III, 353b. Conlon VII, 54-572. Hoefer XI, 314).

Contemporary full red morocco bindings, spines with five raised bands decorated with gilt fillets and double gilt panels with gilt floral tools, boards framed by gilt roll-tooled floral and bird motifs, gilt fillets on the board edges, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, all edges gilt over marbling.

Some gatherings bound out of sequence in volumes 1 and 3; headcap of...

First edition.

Bound in full cherry red morocco, smooth spine richly gilt with romantic typographic ornaments, gilt roll tooling on the caps, boards framed with double gilt fillets and interlaced motifs with gilt corner fleurons, gilt AO monogram stamped at the center of the boards, gilt garland border on the pastedowns, moiré sky-blue silk endpapers and pastedowns, trace of a removed bookplate on one pastedown, gilt fillets on the edges, all edges gilt, contemporary binding.

The sections relating to the colonies are as follows: Martinique, pp. 199–203; Guadeloupe and dependencies, pp. 204–209; French Guiana, pp. 210–212; Bourbon, pp. 216–220; French settlements in Oceania...

First edition, with a photographic portrait of H.G. Wells as frontispiece to the first volume.

Illustrated throughout.

Some minor foxing, mostly to the edges.

Contemporary black half-shagreen bindings with cornerpieces, spines with three raised bands, gilt-stamped marine anchors at the foot (a few showing some loss), and gilt medallions on the upper boards featuring the ocean liner Normandie with three inlaid red and black shagreen pieces representing its smokestacks; marbled endpapers and pastedowns, with small red dots in the upper corners of the first flyleaves. Bound at the time for the Normandie.

A handsome copy with distinguished provenance.

First edition of the proceedings from the inaugural congress of the newly founded International Maritime Association, established on 16 January 1901.

Contemporary full black shagreen binding, spine with five raised bands framed by gilt fillets and adorned with triple gilt compartments, gilt roll tooling on the caps, covers framed with triple gilt fillets, large gilt armorial stamp and the inscription “A S.A.R. la princesse Waldemar” on the upper board, comb-marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt dentelle borders on pastedowns, all edges gilt.

The congress, held in Monaco from 12 to 15 April under the high patronage of Prince Albert I, featured some thirty presentations on...

First edition of this celebrated illustrated publication, issued in Paris by H.-L. Delloye in 84 parts between February 1842 and October 1843 and subsequently gathered into three volumes. Carteret described it as an “admirable publication printed on stout wove paper [...] one of the finest of the 19th century”, comparing the quality of its production to that of the great illustrated books of the 18th century. Carteret III, 143-153; Vicaire II, 234-248.

The first volume comprises 5 unnumbered leaves - half-title...

Paris, Auguste Eudes, 1880. Four stout octavo volumes.

A handsome bibliophile edition of the Heptaméron, reproducing the critical text established from the manuscripts by Le Roux de Lincy for the Société des Bibliophiles françois in 1853-1854, revised and augmented for the present edition by Anatole de Montaiglon.

The deluxe issue was limited to 395 copies on special papers. This copy, no. 301, is one of 40 on Whatman paper with the engravings in three states: one in black on Japan paper, one in bistre and one in sanguine on Whatman. This was among the most desirable issues of...

First edition, first issue, exhibiting all the bibliographical points recorded by Cohen-de Ricci (nos. 769–772): an engraved frontispiece, three dedication plates, four title ornaments, thirty vignettes and a final tailpiece, together with one hundred and forty full-page illustrations, including the frontispiece, numbered 2 to 140 and distributed 48, 33, 37 and 22 across the four volumes. The illustrations are after designs by Boucher, Eisen, Gravelot, Le Prince, Monnet and Moreau, and engraved by, among others, Baquoy, Basan, Binet, Duclos and de Ghendt. The frontispiece, three of the four title ornaments and the majority of the vignettes are the work of...

First edition of the bilingual Greek-Latin text of Iamblichus' Life of Pythagoras by Ludolf Küster from the manuscript held at the Laurentian Library. The facing Latin translation is the work of Frédéric Ulrich Obrecht and Konrad Rittershausen. Bound at the end is Porphyry’s Life of Pythagoras.

Illustrated with a large frontispiece portrait of Pythagoras, based on a coin from the collection of Fulvio Orsini.

Contemporary Dutch gilt-panelled vellum boards, spine with 5 raised bands and gilt ornaments with the arms of the city of Amsterdam, large gilt arms of the city of Amsterdam...

First edition, only one other copy recorded (BnF).

Full dark purple morocco binding, spine with five raised bands with gilt floral motifs, gilt date at foot, spine slightly faded, covers numerously framed in gilt, gilt-tooled corners each adorned with a blue onlaid morocco medallion stamped with a central gilt fleuron, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, pastedown bookplate of Ernest Stroehlin, inner gilt dentelle, spine-ends ruled in gilt, very light rubbing to corners, all edges gilt. A tiny restored lack of paper to the upper part of the title page, not affecting the text.

Very rare anti-Protestant satire in the form of a dialogue between the...

First edition clandestinely printed in 175 copies on laid paper, each individually numbered.
 
Bound in full mint green morocco, spine with five raised bands framed by black fillets, subtle restoration to spine colour, date gilt at foot, endpapers and pastedowns of combed paper, gilt fillet border on pastedowns, original wrappers and spine preserved, all edges gilt, chemise edged in mint green morocco, covers of cat's eye paper, white felt interior, an elegant binding signed by Alix.
 
A very rare and handsome copy bound by one of the most distinguished binders of the second half of the twentieth century.

 

Collected edition, partly first edition, of the plays of Pierre Corneille, printed in Rouen by Laurens Maurry and sold in Paris by Augustin Courbé and Guillaume de Luyne. Illustrated with three allegorical engraved frontispieces and 23 full-page copper-engravings, largely designed by François Chauveau and engraved by artists including Jérôme David, Mathéus and Louis Spirinx.

All three frontispieces are dated 1660. The title-pages and privileges of the first and third volumes are likewise dated 1660, while those of the second volume bear the date 1664. The second volume therefore belongs to the 1664 reissue...

First edition, partly original, of the author's complete works.

Our copy retains the engraved frontispiece portrait of Madame de Staël by Müller, present in the first volume.

Some minor foxing, rare minor scratches on a few covers, holes at the bottom of the last marbled paper flyleaf in the ninth volume.

Full pinkish-red glazed calf bindings, smooth spines with richly...

First edition, this one the no. 1 of 25 numbered copies on Japon, most limited deluxe issue.

Bound in grey half morocco, smooth spine, marbled paper boards, mould-made endpapers, original wrappers preserved, pastedown bookplate, top edge gilt, contemporary binding signed by L. Pouillet.

A rare and handsome copy in an attractive contemporary binding.

New edition, with 58 illustrated full-page plates including a frontispiece, all after P. A. Varin.
Full green velvet binding with silver edges, elaborately decorated with gilt gauffered rocaille motifs, and some blind stamped, with abundant onlays of blue, purple, cream and red vel­vet ; upper board with silver engraved crowned A[ve] M[aria] initials at center, "RGP" silver engraved initials at center of second board, both initials inside a wide red velvet inlay bordered with gilt gauffered motifs displaying the sheep­skin of the Order of the Golden Fleece at bottom, spine elaborately decorated with gilt rocaille motifs, silver engraved title label, silver clasps with pierced leafy...

First edition for which no deluxe copies are mentioned, one of the first issue copies numbered at the press.
Modern Bradel binding in full late 19th century watered silk, smooth spine, black oasis title label, covers and spine (with some lacks) preserved, elegant pastiche binding.
Cover illustrated by Guillaume.
Rare copy of this novel written almost entirely by Jean de Tinan.

Seven octavo volumes bringing together, in uniform contemporary bindings, the greater part of La Fontaine’s Works in the critical edition prepared by Charles-Athanase Walckenaer and published in Paris by Lefèvre in the early 1820s, with one important distinction: in place of the volume of Contes et nouvelles en vers originally intended for the set, an independent edition, abundantly illustrated after Eisen and published in Paris by the Libraires associés in 1791-1796, has been substituted.

Very elegant edition of Perrault's fairy tales, printed with the stereotype process invented by Louis-Etienne Herhan.

Illustrated with 5 full-text engravings (2 vignettes each) and a vignette on the engraved title, after the frontispiece by Antoine Clouzier for the first edition of Perrault's tales (Paris, Barbin, 1697).
Full roan binding, smooth spine framed in gilt and gilt motifs, black title label stamped in gilt, boards framed in gilt, inner dentelle, endpapers and pastedowns in caillouté paper, all edges gilt. Joints slightly split at head of spine, a small brown stain to title page and frontispiece, some spotting. 
Very rare edition, including Bluebeard, Little Red...

First edition, one of 48 copies on pur fil, the only deluxe copies.

Work decorated with illustrations by Jean Hugo.

Light rubbing to extremities of the slipcase.

Superb binding in dark exotic wood marquetry signed Pierre-Lucien Martin, dated 1962.

Binding in chocolate brown box leather with bands, smooth spine, gilt title lengthwise, first cover formed of a mosaic arrangement of dark wood pieces, with grain arranged in opposite directions, bearing the title engraved vertically and the author's name revealed in acrostic, second...

First edition of the Gospels in the translation by Pierre Dassance, illustrated with a chromolithographed frontispiece after a drawing by Langlois, engraved by Cyprien Jacquemin, an engraved title-page for each Gospel by Brevière, twelve steel-engraved plates after drawings by Tony Johannot, two hand-coloured maps, and ten engravings after drawings by Charles Marville on chine. Numerous ornamental borders, tailpieces, headpiece vignettes and initials. The frontispiece and the vignette with the initial letter on page IX of the first volume are gilt and hand-coloured.

Publisher's bindings in full long-grain midnight-blue morocco, covers blind-stamped, gilt central plaques on each...

New edition of this ancient pastoral romance, illustrated with a frontispiece and eight full-page engravings. With several headpieces, decorated initials and tailpieces.

Dark yellow morocco, spine with five raised bands, author, title and date lettered in gilt, gilt fillets to board edges and headcaps, gilt inner dentelle, all edges gilt; tan morocco case by Riviere & Son, spine with five raised bands, author, title and date lettered in gilt, blind-tooled fillets. Raised bands lightly rubbed, with a few scuffs to the slipcase, otherwise a handsome copy.

Mortimer L. Schiff's guilt red morocco bookplate on the front pastedown.

First edition, with all the first issue features, including the misprint "Sénart" on the dedication leaf.
Elegant half hazel morocco bindings with corners by Blanchetière, spines with five raised bands, very slightly faded, dates gilt at foot, marbled paper sides, combed paper endleaves and pastedowns, original wrappers bound in, with the original spine preserved for the first volume, top edges gilt.
Complete with the publisher's catalogue at the end of the first volume.

Occasional light foxing.
A handsome and desirable copy, retaining its rare original wrappers and finely bound by Henri Blanchetière.

Rare new edition based on the first French translation, produced in 1699 by William Popple and published by the Widow of J. van Dyck. A major work by Martin Clifford, originally published anonymously in 1674 under the title A Treatise of Humane Reason, which provoked immediate controversy within the Anglican Church; in the tradition of Spinoza and anticipating Locke, the author assigns a prominent role to reason in the practice of Christian faith. Clifford's more radical positions are thought to have been moderated in the French translation.

First edition, one of the deluxe copies on alfa, this one an unnumbered hors commerce, only deluxe issue after 10 copies on Arches.

Full blue-gray morocco binding, spine with five raised bands, gilt date at foot, yellow box calf doublure, watered silk free endpapers, original wrappers including spine bound in, all edges gilt, half morocco chemise in panels, wood motif paper boards, slipcase edged in morocco, wood motif paper boards lined with blue felt, outstanding binding signed Hélène Alix.

Unrecorded...

First edition of the four volumes, issued successively between 1883 and 1886. Rich and remarkable iconography featuring 36 chromolithographic plates, 187 plates, and 1,256 illustrations in the text. Translation and arrangement by Madame de Witt, who compiled the texts in order to present them as a chronological history. Complete sets in the correct edition are relatively scarce.
Striking publisher’s binding, with elaborate gilt decoration, signed A. Souze. Red half morocco with red percaline boards. Large gilt panel on the spine depicting an oak tree with two fleurs-de-lys and a shield charged with fleurs-de-lys, as well as shell ornaments at the foot. Large and intricate gilt panel on...

First edition. 

Official series not recorded by Polak. 

Contemporary full cherry-red morocco binding, smooth spine decorated with gilt Romantic arabesques, gilt roll tooling partly worn at the spine ends, covers with a wide panel of sextuple gilt fillets and Romantic arabesques, corner ornaments in gilt, crowned "FO" cipher stamped in gilt at the centre of each cover, doublures and endpapers lined with azure watered silk, gilt garland frame to the doublures, corners slightly rubbed, all edges gilt, an elegant Romantic binding of the period.

A few dark stains to the covers, occasional foxing mainly affecting the endpapers.

Copy from the library of Ferdinand-Philippe...

First edition printed in a small number of copies.
Half red morocco binding with corners, smooth spine decorated with a gilt panel and floral tools, enhanced with a grey mosaic morocco onlay, gilt date at foot, gilt fillet framing on the marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, original wrappers preserved, gilt top edge, binding signed Charles Lanoë.
Illustrated with a fine frontispiece drawn and engraved by Félix Bracquemond.
An attractive copy, handsomely bound.

First edition, one of 200 numbered copies on Holland paper, the only deluxe paper issue.

Shadowed endpapers.

Half chocolate-brown morocco binding with corners, smooth spine decorated with gilt panels enhanced with black morocco onlays, gilt date at foot, marbled paper boards, handmade paper endpapers and doublures, original wrappers and spine preserved, bookplate pasted to an endpaper, top edge gilt on untrimmed leaves, an elegant binding signed Pierre-Lucien Martin at the foot of the spine.

A fine, wide-margined copy beautifully bound by Pierre-Lucien Martin, one of the most gifted bookbinders of the second half of the twentieth century.

First edition, one of 20 numbered copies on Japan paper, the only deluxe paper issue.

Bound in full burgundy morocco, spine with five raised bands ruled in black, gilt rolls to the headcaps, moiré-effect paper endleaves and doublures, inner boards framed with gilt fillets, dotted tools and corner fleurons, original wrappers and spine preserved, top edge gilt on witnesses, double gilt fillets to the turn-ins, slipcase edged in burgundy morocco with sides covered in moiré-effect paper, contemporary signed binding by Vauthrin-Pezet.

A fine, beautifully executed copy.

First edition, one of 60 numbered copies on Hollande paper, the deluxe issue after 30 copies on Japan paper.

Full red morocco binding, spine slightly toned with five raised bands ruled in black, gilt date at foot, minor unobtrusive rubbing to the bands, gilt rolls to the headcaps, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt dentelle frame and double gilt fillet to the inside covers, original wrappers and spine preserved, gilt stippling to the edges, top edge gilt.

A fine copy, attractively bound.

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

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

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

First edition, one of 200 numbered copies on “light green paper,” the only deluxe paper issue announced.

Turquoise half morocco binding, smooth spine, date in gilt at foot, marbled paper boards, endpapers, and pastedowns, original wrappers and spine preserved, top edge gilt; an elegant contemporary binding signed by G. Gauché.

A very handsome copy, finely bound by Georges Gauché and complete with its publisher's prospectus. 

Signed presentation inscription by René Crevel: "My dear Georges, here, in its finest form: Diderot’s Harpsichord, if you can help him play his music? With all my affection. René" (our own...

First edition printed on laid paper and illustrated with numerous tables embellished with Chinese ideograms.
Contemporary full brown Russia morocco binding, spine slightly faded, with five raised bands decorated with triple black panels, a few rubs to the spine, gilt initials W. H. W. to the centre of the upper cover, comb-marbled endpapers and pastedowns, triple gilt fillet border to the pastedowns, all edges gilt, double gilt fillets to the turn-ins, corners slightly bumped, unsigned period binding attributable to R. Petit.
Born in Poland, Michel-Alexandre Kleczkowski (1818–1886) served as Consul General of France, Minister Plenipotentiary in China, and Professor...

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...

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 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.
Full olive morocco binding, smooth spine lavishly decorated with gilt fillets, rolls and fleurons, red morocco title-label, gilt rolls and tools, covers stamped with dentelle decoration, central monogram "CB" stamped at center of covers and framed by multiple fillets and rolls and surmounted by a ribbon, roll border on covers, gilt dentelle interior, pink marbled paper pastedowns and endpapers, gilt fillet on edges, all edges gilt, contemporary binding attributable to the great binder Derôme le jeune. Marginal tear with loss of one word and page number (p. 57). Marginal tear without loss p. 113 and p. 451. Very light rubbing on half a centimeter of the upper joint...