Rarest Books (Untraceables)

Eighteenth-century manuscript (second half), comprising 258 foliated pages.

Contemporary binding, expertly restored in full tan calf, with a smooth spine adorned with gilt compartments and decorative gilt tooling, some now faded; signs of rubbing; title label missing; gilt rampant lion at the centre of both boards; handmade paper endpapers and pastedowns; gilt double fillets on board edges; corners slightly worn.

Notable manuscript featuring extracts and summaries of orders and dispatches issued by the Ministry of the Navy during the Regency and the first year of Louis XV’s reign.

Collated from original documents, carefully dated and with folio references, these extracts are written in a highly legible hand.

Topics covered include: general armament; the War of the Quadruple Alliance (1718, 1719, 1720); Barbary States; Guinea Coast; colonies; trade (Spain, Portugal, Guinea, Compagnie d’Afrique, Compagnie des Indes); justice, police, and discipline; munitions; goods and timber; fishing; ports and roadsteads; prizes, and more. The manuscript is in excellent condition, preserved in its original binding.

Contemporary pencil note on the front endpaper: "Aux armes [du] Maréchal Duc de Duras, de l’Académie française" [1715–1789].

Rare first edition of the doctoral thesis by Alexandre Marié (only two copies recorded in the CCFr: Montpellier and the BIUM).

A small nick to the left margin of the upper wrapper, which also bears a small stain; slight marginal tears to the wrappers without seriousness; occasional light foxing.

Presentation inscription signed by Alexandre Marié to Louis Alfred Becquerel at the head of the upper wrapper.

Provenance: copy of Louis Alfred Becquerel (1814–1862), eldest son of Antoine Becquerel and a physician, with the author’s signed presentation inscription. He published in 1853 Des applications de l'électricité à la thérapeutique médicale.

First edition of this uncommon work, printed at Saint-Denis, Réunion, and illustrated by the local photographer E. Vidal, expanding upon a brief notice published as early as 1899 (cf. Ryckebusch II, 5358.)

Illustrated with a frontispiece map and 20 photographic plates hors-texte.

With a preface by M. Garsault.

Spine lacking, wrappers in poor condition, light waterstaining.

Scarce, offered in its present condition.

Born in Rennes, the military physician Jean-Marie Mac-Auliffe (1837-1908) was stationed in Réunion in 1864, and again from 1874 until his death, notably as physician to the thermal baths of Cilaos. In this remote locality he developed considerable activity, both therapeutic and administrative.

Very rare first edition.

A single copy is held at the Municipal Archives of Lyon. Absent from the CCFr.

Not recorded in Goldsmith, Kress, Einaudi, or Higgs.

Modern Bradel-style binding in full beige boards, printed title label, signed by Hervé.

Lengthy discussion of the trade in tallow, animal fats used in the manufacture of candles.

The authors argue that butchers are not responsible for the high price of tallow, and that the ordinance of 16 April 1771, which prohibited its export, in fact hampers the trade in this commodity. In conclusion, the butchers request not to be placed at the mercy of the chandlers, whether in terms of price or outlets.

Corner restorations.

First edition describing 554 entries (this list was later revised in 1935 and again in 1943).

Spine and covers slightly and marginally faded, a tear to the head of the spine.

A copy complete with the inserted two-leaf addenda.

From 1893 to 1953, the year preceding his death, Auguste Lumière published no fewer than 62 major works and 784 scientific articles, particularly in the fields of medicine and biology.

Rare first edition.

Our copy is offered unbound, preserved in comb-marbled paper wrappers, red edges.

The sole and scarce edition of this treatise written by a surgeon-major of the Santerre and Touraine regiments.

New edition illustrated with 16 folding copper-engraved plates.

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

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

Some foxing.

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

The first edition had appeared in 1782 in five duodecimo volumes and, compiled from the extensive materials gathered by the author during his stay in Saint Petersburg (1773–1780), represented a genuine historiographical breakthrough.

Bound in at the end: three issues of the Journal des débats politiques et littéraires (13 January, 27 January and 6 October 1826).

Provenance: J.-B.-M.-A. de Chauliac, with heraldic ink stamp (captioned in manuscript) on the half-title.

Vezry rare first edition.

Jesuit library stamp to the half-title, a few minor spots of foxing, slight tears to the head and tail of the spine.

Rare first edition of this work by the author, one of 150 numbered copies on antique paper, the only issue after three deluxe copies.

Some light foxing.

No copies recorded in the CCF. Only three copies listed in WorldCat.

This slender booklet brings together pieces belonging to the earliest poetic experiments of Félix-Conrad Laventure (1902–1995), who was also known for his political career in ministerial, legal, legislative and municipal life (he served as Mayor of Port-Louis and as a minister).

His first verses appeared in 1921 (in Le Mauricien and L'Essor, of which he later became editor, and where in 1924 he published a critical study of the works of Mallarmé).

First edition of this rare offprint from the "Revue médicale et journal de clinique"

A single copy recorded in the CCFr (BnF).

Bradel binding in full boards covered with dark blue marbled paper, red shagreen spine label, pasted ex-libris on the inside board; modern binding signed Lobstein-Laurenchet.

Jean-Louis Lassaigne (1800–1859) taught chemistry at the Veterinary School of Alfort until 1854 and devoted particular attention to the medical applications of chemistry.

Bound at the end, by the same author: "Mémoire sur la possibilité de reconnaître, par les moyens chimiques, la présence de l'acétate de morphine chez les animaux empoisonnés par cette substance vénéneuse" N.p., n.d. [Paris, 1824], 12 pp.

Some foxing.

At the head of the first fascicule, an autograph inscription signed by Jean-Louis Lassaigne to the members of the Société de pharmacie de Paris.

First edition, illustrated at the end of the volume with 6 plates of medals by L. Dardel (Salmaslian, p. 162, does not record the plates.)

Bound in later half brown cloth, smooth spine, gilt initials at foot, some rubbing to the joints, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers, corners worn, a few nicks to the edges, speckled edges; a modest later binding.

This is the first comprehensive study devoted to Armenian numismatics. From the series "Bibliothèque historique arménienne", published by Edouard Dulaurier.

Very rare fully mimeographed first edition of this course prepared for officers of the French Army of the Levant, issued locally under the French Mandate in Syria and Lebanon.

No copy recorded in the CCF. Not in Hage Chahine.

Minor marginal tears to the wrappers, a manuscript ex-libris on the upper wrapper, and a hole in the lower wrapper also affecting the final page but not the text.

The Belgian Jesuit and orientalist Henri Lammens (1862–1937) spent almost his entire life in Beirut; he was the first to apply to the study of the origins of Islam a critical method as rigorous as that used for any historical subject, which earned him much hostility and repeated cautions from his superiors.

As a result, his major biography of Muhammad, completed as early as 1914, remained in manuscript.

Second edition, illustrated with a large folding plate bringing together five figures (referred to as “plates”).

Our copy is preserved in its original stitched wrappers, in the blank provisional waiting cover, with manuscript annotations in ink on the upper cover.

Two faint waterstains, one at the foot of the first page and the other at the head of the last.

The author, formerly florist-gardener on the Brunoy estates of Monsieur (Louis XVIII), was at the time a nurseryman at Mandres [les-Roses].

First edition of this rare imprint from the Vivarais.

A single copy recorded in the CCFr (Grenoble).

Contemporary half brown cloth binding, smooth spine without lettering with a small scuff, boards of vat-made paper; a modest 19th-century binding. 

Charles La Font de Savine (1742–1814), Bishop of Viviers and later of Ardèche (1778–1793), was one of only four bishops in office in 1789 to swear the constitutional oath. The "citoyen Savine" was subsequently required to surrender his pectoral cross and all episcopal insignia, together with his letters of priesthood, on 1 December 1793, and to resign his public office as bishop of the diocese of Ardèche; arrested as a suspect on 15 May 1794, he was transferred to Paris. During his imprisonment, he recanted his oath before being released in October 1794.

Rare first edition of this fervent—indeed visionary—appeal to bring the Orient under the sway of the combined powers of the State and the Christian religion, informed by such an overtly Eurocentric outlook that the work is almost unreadable today, yet remains an eloquent record of the illusions prevailing in the West in the mid-nineteenth century.

Corners restored at the outer tips of the boards, some scattered foxing, and a stain to the right margin of the upper cover.

In an admirably prophetic vein, the author exclaims: "La civilisation chrétienne, qui ne cesse d'agrandir son cercle, ne s'arrêtera pas devant le Coran, et ce n'est pas la loi de Mahomet qui présidera au réveil de l'Orient". 

At the head of the upper wrapper, a signed presentation inscription from Louis de Juvigny to the mystical polemicist Ernest Hello (1828–1885), then the darling of the most uncompromising and exalted Catholic circles (Léon Bloy owed his conversion to him, which says it all…).

First edition of this biblical poem later set to music by Mondonville (cf. Barbier II, 970; Cioranescu 63676).

Jean-Joseph Cassanéa de Mondonville (1711–1772), violinist, conductor and composer, wrote several operas, oratorios and pastorals, as well as works for harpsichord and sacred music.

He directed the Concert spirituel between 1755 and 1762.

Claude-Henri de Fusée de Voisenon (170–1775), a friend of Voltaire, a familiar figure in the salons and much in favour with Madame de Pompadour, was elected to the Académie française in 1762.

He left a body of dramatic works, novels and tales.

A date inscribed at the head of the title-page, which shows small spots at the foot; ink stains in the right-hand margin of the final leaf; a pleasing copy.

First edition, printed in a small number of copies, of this offprint from the Mémoires de la Société naturelle des sciences naturelles de Cherbourg, vol. XX (1876).

See O'Reilly, Tahiti, 2693. Only three copies recorded in the CCF (BnF, Aix-Marseille, Cherbourg).

Bradel binding in blue half cloth, smooth spine, long red marbled morocco title label, marbled paper sides, original wrappers preserved, modern signed binding by Boichot.

This pamphlet, which contains a large number of botanical entries on the Marquesas, Tahiti, the Sandwich Islands, New Zealand, etc., is a continuation of the study entitled Les Plantes alimentaires de l'Océanie (1875).

A rare and pleasing copy.

First edition of this anthology of French poetry compiled by the former French headmistress of an American boarding school, comprising 128 poems by the foremost French poets, from Malherbe to Victor Hugo, which the editor assigned to her pupils during her tenure.

Publisher’s full violet cloth, spine lightly faded, headcaps slightly frayed, upper cover blocked in gilt at centre with a swan, brown endpapers and pastedowns, hinges slightly split.

On the front free endpaper, a violet stamp bearing the name “Consuelo”. This very likely refers to Consuelo Suncin Sandoval (1901–1979), the Salvadoran artist who married Antoine de Saint-Exupéry in 1931 and was one of the muses of the Surrealist circle.

During the Second World War, after a period of separation, the beautiful and capricious Consuelo rejoined her husband in New York in 1942.

She watched over him while he was writing the story of Le Petit Prince, in which Saint-Exupéry portrayed her in the guise of the Rose.

Second edition, largely original in its own right as it was substantially enlarged, to which was added a "Lettre sur l'instruction des aveugles", addressed to the author in 1816 by Mr Isaac Roquès of Montauban, himself blind, together with a selection of his poems.

Our copy is preserved in its plain grey temporary wrappers, the spine faded and showing small losses.

The first edition had been issued at the same Montauban address in Year VI of the Republican calendar.

Scarce new edition, illustrated with a folding plate printed on a separate leaf.

According to the CCF, copies are recorded only under the date 1826.

Bound in full fawn marbled paper boards, smooth spine, unlettered; modern binding.

A rare edition, though not the first: the approval printed at the end of the volume is dated 30 August 1766 for the censor’s permission (yet no public holding records a copy earlier than 1799). Contemporary manuscript ex-libris of Gabory Dodin, dated 24 July 1817.

First edition.

The CCF records only the minutes of the sessions of December 1787 and January 1788, published at Narbonne (Veuve Besset).

A very rare report of the first sitting of the provincial assembly of Roussillon, held in three sessions (20, 21 & 22 October 1787), preliminary to the sessions of the following December and January, but apparently overlooked by most historians.

First edition (see Cioranescu, XVIII, 13 365).

Contemporary full speckled fawn calf, spine with five raised bands, compartments decorated with gilt fleurons, faded gilt roll tooling to the headcaps, a scratch at the head of the spine, gilt fillets to the edges partially faded, corners rubbed, speckled edges; binding of the period.

The sole edition of the author’s only work, written by the prior of Saint-Didier-en-Bourbonnais [Saint-Didier-la-Forêt], about whom little else is known.

A very concise overview of the events of each ecumenical council, from Nicaea I onwards.

First edition, issued in a very small number as an offprint from the Bulletins de la Société d'encouragement pour l'industrie nationale, t. CXCI et CXCII.

Not recorded by Quérard.

The pamphlet is illustrated with three folding technical plates, engraved by Normand fils.

Bradel binding in paper-covered boards entirely clad in blue paper, with a black vertical spine label showing minor losses; a modern binding.

The work describes the apparatus devised by the chocolatier Auger, which made it possible to reduce any animal, vegetable or mineral substance to "poussières impalpables, aériformes ou éthérées".

Héricart de Thury, Chief Engineer in the Royal Corps of Mines, also sets out the various applications of this machine in medicine, pharmacy, chemistry, painting, dyeing, and related fields.

First edition.

Minor marginal tears to the boards, a few spots of foxing.

Not recorded by Sabin.

First edition, printed in a limited number, of this extract from the Mémoires de la Société nationale des antiquaires de France, volume XXXIX.

Only two copies recorded in the CCFr (BnF and BULAC). Not listed in Hage Chahine.

This fascicle is illustrated with one in-text figure and two folding plates; our copy is exceptionally enhanced with an additional hand-coloured plan, featuring manuscript annotations in pencil.

Contemporary half-cloth binding in almond percaline, smooth spine with a central gilt ornament and double gilt fillet at the tail, red morocco leather title label, pebbled paper boards, original rear wrapper preserved.

Archaeologist and orientalist, Baron Emmanuel Guillaume-Rey (1837–1916) authored several works on the history of the Near East, particularly on the military architecture of the Crusaders in Syria and Latin rule in the Orient.

Bound in at the end is the author’s "Supplément à l’étude sur la topographie de la ville d’Acre au XIIIe siècle", extracted from the Mémoires de la Société nationale des antiquaires de France, volume XLIX, printed in Paris in 1889 (title, 18 pp.), and illustrated with a large folding plate.

First edition, illustrated at the end of the volume with a folding plate entitled "Système dentaire des oiseaux" (see Crowley 916; David, p. 127; Poletti 90).

Occasional light foxing; a tear along the left margin of the plate not touching the engraved figures.

Contemporary half tawny calf, smooth spine decorated with gilt tools and fillets; a restored snag at the head of the spine, which also shows some rubbing; marbled paper boards, marbled edges.

First edition.

Minor losses at head and foot of the spine, which is slightly sunned; a few small spots of foxing.

Alongside a distinguished career in the colonial troops, in Senegal and Indochina, General Henri Frey (1847–1932) also cultivated literary and scholarly ambitions. This unusual thesis was, of course, neither substantiated nor taken up subsequently …

On the upper margin of the half-title, an autograph inscription by Henri Frey to Commandant Étienne Lunet de Lajonquières [here spelled Jonquières] (1861–1933), of the Marine Infantry, archaeologist and ethnographer, and also a key figure in the organisation of the preservation of Historical Monuments in Indochina.

Second edition, partly original, as it was revised, corrected and enlarged with a handbook for the cultivation of mulberry trees, setting out the principles by which the fullest advantage may be drawn from this tree, together with the presentation of a new method of cultivation designed to prevent its mortality.

Light dampstaining to the upper outer margin of the first leaves, small losses to the head- and tail-cap of the spine, a few scattered spots.

The work was reissued in 1837 and 1848.

Charles Fraissinet (1798–1856) was a pastor of the Reformed Church at Sauve (Gard).

Although closely involved in the theological controversies of his day, he is best remembered for his commitment to sericulture and for publishing several pamphlets on the subject, notably the present Guide du magnanier.

A silkworm breeder himself, he devised a method for obtaining “les œufs de vers à soie à leur plus haut point de perfection”.

This activity even appears to have tempered the mutual belligerence of the pastor and the parish priest of Sauve, since, in the prospectus for this method, Curé Bernard—his sworn enemy—nonetheless made it “un devoir d’engager tous les sériciculteurs à se procurer sans retard la méthode de M. Fraissinet”.

First edition, illustrated with four plates, three of them folding (cf. Cordier, Sinica 442).

Losses to the head and tail of the spine, marginal tears to the covers, a light dampstain to the lower portion of the upper board, one plate torn across the centre without affecting the images, 

Text of the lecture delivered on 13 December 1878 before the North-China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society.

Albert-Auguste Fauvel (1851–1909), a naval officer, accompanied the Duc de Penthièvre on his voyage around the world (1866–1867).

A graduate in Manchu, he had held a post since 1872 within the Chinese Imperial Maritime Customs Service.

A naturalist, he devoted himself to the study of the fauna and flora of the Chusan Islands, off Ning-Po (Numa Broc). He was also a gifted economist.

Very rare first edition, illustrated with an inserted copper-engraved plate by Plée after Turpin (cf. Pritzel 2823).

The CCFr records copies only at the Institut, Rouen, and Montpellier.

Our copy is preserved in its original sewn state with temporary pink paper covers.

Faujas de Saint-Fond (1741–1819) is of course best known as a geologist and vulcanologist, yet his work extended to every other branch of natural history.

First edition, illustrated with a double-page folding map composed of seventeen plates, together with twelve figures in the text (cf. Hague Chahine 1504.).

Bradel binding in half glazed brown cloth, smooth spine with the date gilt at the foot, red shagreen title-label showing minor surface marks, stone-patterned paper boards, corners lightly rubbed; a contemporary binding.

Some scattered foxing.

Account of an archaeological mission including an extensive study of Safaitic inscriptions, with a glossary and an index of proper names.

First edition (Pritzel, 2480.)

Our copy is issued in the original wrappers, preserved in a temporary mustard-coloured paper cover; the spine rubbed with losses to the mustard paper, and a library shelf label pasted to the verso of the upper cover.

A very rare botanical monograph written by the great navigator following the scientific expedition sent to the Black Sea and the Greek islands (aboard the vessel La Chevrette), during which he was responsible for observations in natural history and archaeology (it was in the course of this mission that the Venus de Milo was unearthed).

Rare first edition issued as an offprint from the Journal asiatique, no. 7.

Contemporary half aubergine calf binding with corners, smooth spine gilt with Romantic arabesque tools, minor rubbing to the spine, gilt garland frame to the marbled paper boards, orange paper endleaves and pastedowns, rubbed corners; a period binding.

Dampstaining affecting the first half of the volume, some foxing.

Concise manual of the Hanafi rite, one of the four Sunni schools of jurisprudence, the oldest and notably the one recognised as official within the Ottoman Empire.

Antoine-Joseph Du Caurroy (1775–1853) served as an interpreter at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Very rare first edition of this substantial memorandum on the "Pierre Calvet Affair", which unsettled Canada in the aftermath of the American War of Independence.

Sabin 21044. In the CCF, copies only at the BnF and Rouen.

A few light spots of foxing; a faint marginal dampstain to the fore-edge of the front endpaper.

Half green sheep with corners, smooth spine slightly darkened and ruled in gilt, gilt fillet border to the marbled paper boards, a central gilt cartouche bearing a crowned cipher to each cover. Corners rubbed, a few scuffs to the edges, bookplate pasted to one pastedown, lemon-coloured edges; nineteenth-century binding.

Parallel to the work The Case of Peter Du Calvet (784), addressed to the English courts, this volume presents the case for a Canadian readership.

The merchant Pierre Du Calvet (1735–1786), a French Protestant, settled in New France in 1758; he remained there after the British annexation and pursued a persistent political campaign on behalf of the inhabitants of the Province of Quebec, both to obtain a constitution and to secure fair justice for the former French subjects.

The present text concentrates on his disputes with Governor Frederick Haldimand (1718–1791) and on his brief imprisonment.

A forerunner of the long struggle waged by the citizens of the Province of Quebec for recognition of their political rights within the British Empire,

Du Calvet nevertheless remained largely forgotten in Quebec’s historical memory.

His actions, and even his name, were widely overlooked by posterity until the republication of his memorandum in 2002.

Fourth separate issue of this memoir. The text first appeared in the Description de l’Égypte, before being reissued in several offprints (cf. Meulenaere p. 80.)

Our copy is preserved in its original wrappers, under temporary green paper covers, spine restored, minor marginal losses and a few tears to the covers, internally in pleasing condition.

At the head of the front free endpaper, autograph inscription by Du Bois-Aymé “à son honorable collège et ami Monsieur Etienne”.

Du Bois-Aymé (1779-1846), who embarked on the Tonnant, travelled to Egypt as a student of the École Polytechnique. He sat his examinations there, at the same time as his friend Villiers du Terrage, and became an engineer of the Ponts et Chaussées.

Sent to Suez, he appears to have left on 16 June 1799 with the Maltese corps. There he worked on the levelling of the Isthmus. Attached to the first reconnaissance commission of Upper Egypt, which left Cairo on 19 March 1799, he quarrelled with its head Girard, who was likewise little appreciated by Jollois and Villiers.

This resulted in his being dispatched with General Donzelot to Kosseir. He remained there for approximately three months and later took part in the second levelling campaign of the Isthmus of Suez, under the direction of Le Père. He then travelled to Samangoud, journeyed through the Delta, and worked on the memoirs he was to present to the Institut. Hoping to return to France, he shared with Jollois and Villiers their misadventures aboard the Oiseau.

Following a dispute with the commander of this brig, he was placed under arrest by Menou. He left Egypt towards the end of September 1801.

Our copy contains, bound after and by the same author: Notice sur le séjour des Hébreux en Egypte et sur leur fuite dans le désert. Published in Paris by the Imprimerie royale in March 1816 (34 pp. Meulenaere, p. 81).

Second separate edition (the text had likewise already appeared in the Description de l'Egypte).

First edition.

"Voulons & Nous plaist, qu'à commencer au premier Mars prochain, aucuns de nos Sujets de quelque estat, condition & sexe qu'ils soient, à l'Exception de ceux qui en auront obtenu nostre permission par Ecrit, ne puissent porter des Diamans, Perles et Pierres precieuses, à peine de confiscation & de Dix mille livres d'amende : Faisons deffenses sous la mesme peine, à compter du premier Avril prochain d'en faire entrer dans le Royaume ; N'entendons néantmoins comprendre dans la presente prohibition les Bagues Episcopales & les Pierreries employées aux Ornemens des Eglises".

First edition, printed in a very small number of copies, of this offprint from the "Gazette médicale de Paris" for 1854.

Modern bradel-style binding in full boards covered with blue paper, smooth spine, brown shagreen title label laid down lengthwise with a small abrasion, signed Honnelaître.

On the half-title, a signed autograph presentation inscription by Camille Desjardins: "Offert à M. le professeur Moreau, membre de l'Académie impériale de Médecine, hommage respectueux de l'auteur".

This refers to the celebrated physician François Joseph Moreau (1789–1862), a specialist in gynaecology and close to the Orléans family, for whom he served as accoucheur.

As a medical student, Camille Desjardins was a native of the island of Mauritius

Rare first edition, illustrated with an engraved frontispiece, two copper-engraved plates, and twenty-five woodcut figures in the text (cf. Rosenthal, Bibliotheca Magica et Pneumatica, 8648, which records only an edition of 1788).

A few light spots of foxing; two dampstains affecting some leaves.

Contemporary half tan calf, the smooth spine faded and decorated with gilt rolls, fillets and floral tools, gilt initials at the foot; some rubbing and two small black stains to the spine; marbled boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, marbled edges.

Very scarce first edition of David’s first work, dedicated to Léonville l’Homme and Edgar Janson (cf. Toussaint & Adolphe A. 1411).

Spine lacking; copy cockled.

Rare first edition of this sticker album entirely devoted to the glory of the Castro regime and the Cuban Revolution.

The album comprises 268 small, mounted, colour stickers, each captioned and arranged in strict chronological order of events, including 16 portrait plates of the principal figures (the Castro brothers, Camilo Cienfuegos, Ernesto "Che" Guevara, Faure Chaumont, Rolando Cubelas, Victor Bordon, Eloy Gutierrez, Crecencio and Faustino Perez, etc.).

No copy recorded in the CCFr, which comes as little surprise for this type of production.

Our copy, issued in original illustrated colour wrappers, is housed in a modern oblong slipcase, full decorated boards in the colours of the Cuban flag.

Minor tears and marginal losses to the covers and spine, together with numerous unavoidable restorations using transparent adhesive repairs, reflecting the extreme fragility of this sticker album intended for "older children".

This very rare album, complete with all its stickers, was produced to commemorate the successive stages of the Cuban Revolution. It belongs to the genre of collectible sticker albums for children and young people, hugely popular in the 1960s: the images were obtained with the purchase of consumer goods and served as promotional incentives (in this case, the "dulces en conserva" marketed under the Felices brand).

Unsurprisingly, the portrayal of the Revolution is entirely partisan and conforms to the heroic and liberating image the regime sought to project.

On the verso of the final cover, one finds a speech by Fidel Castro dated 16 October 1953.

Original edition of one of the three instructional booklets for learning Cantonese published by Cowles, this one intended for the Chinese instructor.

No copy recorded in the CCFr.

A scarce and handsome copy, sewn in the Oriental manner.

First edition.

Our copy is offered in loose sheets, unbound.

First edition published anonymously (cf. Ryckebusch, 6737).

Light, scattered foxing.

Modern half brown cloth, smooth spine without lettering, marbled paper boards, corners rubbed.

The anonymous author urges abolitionists to be especially active and visible at the moment when the chambers are to vote on the new colonial legislation.

Original offprint, printed in a small number of copies, of this extract from the Nouvelles annales des voyages for November 1858.

The original temporary front wrapper has been reattached; a few spots of foxing; the title written in pencil on the front cover.

No copy of this review recorded in the CCF.

Charles-Ernest Beulé’s monograph on the coinage of Athens had just been published earlier that same year, in 1858.

First edition describing 1,539 entries.

Bound in modern brown half shagreen over marbled paper boards, smooth spine lettered in blind, corners rubbed, bookplate pasted to the front pastedown; a modest modern binding.

Occasional light foxing.

Provenance: copy from the library of the Canadian bookseller G. S. Terence Cavanagh (1923–2005), also librarian of the Trent Collection, with his bookplate pasted to the front pastedown.

Very rare first edition of this Mauritian imprint of a charitable lecture delivered during the war in the island’s second city, by the Solesmes Benedictine Dom Paul Chauvin (1866–1937), preacher and prior of the Parisian Abbey of La Source.

Only one copy recorded in the CCF (Rennes).

Bradel-style binding in half brown glacé morocco, smooth spine, date and place gilt at foot, top edge gilt, sides in handmade paper, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, original wrappers preserved, contemporary binding.

At the head of the title page, an autograph inscription by Paul Chauvin to the Duke and Duchess of Bauffremont (the sixth duke, Pierre-Eugène de Bauffremont, 1843–1917, a noted collector of Mauritian literature).

Rare first edition of this pamphlet printed at Carouge, Switzerland. Deschamps, 276, records 1789 as the date of the first book printed in that town (on the authority of a note by Ternaux).

Our copy is preserved in its original stitched wrappers, within a modern blank temporary cover.

Title-page and final leaf slightly soiled, early marginal note in the right margin of p. 19, blue pencil annotations at the foot of pp. 10 & 11.

A text violently hostile to Kellermann (1735–1820) and to the French presence in the Alps.

Kellermann commanded the Army of the Alps while Bonaparte was conducting his Italian campaign.

First illustrated edition with 5 plates (cf. Coll. Émile Brouwet, II (2), 168).

Half black shagreen binding, smooth spine decorated with gilt and blind fillets, title lettered lengthwise in gilt, joints and caps rubbed, title repeated on the upper cover, paper labels pasted to the lower left corner of the upper cover and the upper left corner of the inside back cover, bookplate pasted to the inside back cover, original front wrapper preserved, corners worn, mid-19th-century binding.

Some light foxing.

The five finely line-engraved plates by Cavelier and Pierron after drawings by Pierre-Paul Prud’hon bring together a selection of pieces of imperial furniture.

The first set — a firescreen, a dressing table with its mirror, an armchair, and a washstand — was executed in vermeil with lapis inlays and presented to Empress Marie-Louise on 15 August 1810. This important commission was the joint work of the chaser-founder Thomire, awarded a gold medal at the Exhibition of 1806, and the silversmith Odiot. The three plates devoted to it preserve its memory, as the ensemble was largely melted down in 1832.

The final two plates depict the celebrated cradle of the King of Rome, in vermeil, mother-of-pearl and burgau shell — the fruit of the same two craftsmen — which was presented by the City of Paris on 5 March 1811, before the arrival of the imperial child, and is now preserved in Vienna.

Thomire alone later produced a second example in elm burr and gilt bronze, following the same design and faithfully reproducing certain elements such as the two bas-reliefs of the Seine and the Tiber. This second cradle is now at the Château de Fontainebleau.

Provenance: from the library of Prince Demidoff (San Donato stamp), then from that of Prince Roland Bonaparte, with his bookplate and label N.

First edition (cf. Neu 838.)

Light foxing.

Contemporary full tan sheep, the spine with five raised bands ruled in gilt and decorated with gilt panels and gilt floral tools; some rubbing and small defects to the spine, gilt rolls to the head- and tailcaps, surface wear to the boards, red edges, gilt fillets to the board edges, corners a little softened; a period binding.

First edition of this collection of anecdotes and allegories drawn from Turkish, Arabic and Persian manuscripts held at the Royal Library (cf. Quérard, II, 50. Brunet, 19466. Cioranescu, 15566. Graesse, p. 46. Goedeke, 651.)

Contemporary half calf with corners, the flat spine gilt with decorative garlands, the spine rubbed and crazed, cherry-coloured calf lettering-piece, green paper-covered boards, yellow edges, small nicks to the extremities.

Denis-Dominique Cardonne (1721-1783) lived in Constantinople for twenty years, from 1730 to 1750, where he learned Turkish, Arabic and Persian.

On his return to France he was appointed the King’s secretary-interpreter for oriental languages, royal censor, inspector of the book trade, and professor of Turkish and Persian at the Collège de France.

First edition, illustrated with three folding tables in the text.

Our copy is preserved sewn, as issued, in plain contemporary waiting wrappers of pink marbled paper.

The plain spine is browned and detached, with some losses.

Second edition (cf. Quérard I, 529: records “Broussonnet”. Colas 457.)

Reflections on fashion and elegant dress in antiquity; the first edition, published in 1799, appeared under the name of one of the author’s pupils. 

Rare copy preserved in the original wrappers.

First edition (cf. Playfair, 533; Tailliart, 2295).

Spine cracked with small tears, some foxing. 

General considerations on the colonisation of Algiers, its aims and its results. On the Arabs. The various systems of occupation, etc.

At the head of the front wrapper, an autograph presentation inscription from Amédée Hippolyte de Brossard to Marshal Clausel.

First edition printed in Gothic type (cf. Engelmann, I, p. 206. Sabin, 8207. Not in Howes.)

Contemporary plain full paper boards, smooth spine split at head and foot, collection label pasted on the spine and extending onto the covers, corners worn.

Foxing.

Bromme’s works, based on recent travels, constituted the principal source of information for prospective European emigrants.

He issued separate editions arranged by region or state, as here for Louisiana.

"Freud'sche Bibliothek" label pasted to the front pastedown, with manuscript number; Oscar Messerly stamp on the title page and on one further leaf.

Second edition of this treatise, first published in 1771 and reissued again in 1813 (see Mennessier de La Lance I, 162).

Our copy is offered stitched, in its provisional blue paper wrappers, the spine reinforced with an adhesive strip.

First edition originally written in French and illustrated at the end of the volume with a single engraved plate.

The English numismatist Henry Perigal Borrell (1795–1851) settled early in the Ottoman Empire as a dealer (in Smyrna in 1818). He quickly became one of the principal suppliers of the British Museum and of the English aristocracy in coins, medals and antiquities.

Small tears to the spine and a more significant one at the head of the upper cover, some light foxing.

Very rare first edition of this french translation of Boerhaave’s Aphorismi (1709), issued by La Mettrie in the very year of the author’s death (most bibliographies record only the 1739 edition), (cf. Wellcome II, 185).

Contemporary half brown sheepskin with corners, spine with four raised bands ruled in blind, lacking title label, minor losses at the headcaps and rubbing to the spine, red speckled edges, period binding restored.

A collection of precepts concerning diagnosis and therapy.

La Mettrie was a pupil of Boerhaave at Leiden, which accounts for the lasting interest he showed throughout his life in the writings of the Dutch physician.

Bound after Julien Offray de La Mettrie: "Traité du vertige, avec la description d'une catalepsie hystérique, & une lettre à Monsieur Astruc, dans laquelle on répond à la critique qu'il a faite d'une dissertation de l'auteur sur les maladies vénériennes", printed in Paris by Huart and Briasson in 1738 (half-title, 141-[2] pp.).

Very rare first edition of La Mettrie’s very first independent work (1709–1751), at a time when he had specialised in venereal diseases; his philosophical writings would follow only from 1745 onwards (cf. Wellcome III, 438).

Engraved armorial bookplate pasted to a pastedown.

First edition. 

Contemporary half black shagreen over comb-marbled paper boards, spine with five raised bands ruled in black, green paper endleaves and pastedowns, original wrappers retained (soiled), modern binding.

Heavy foxing throughout.

First separate edition, printed in a small number of copies, taken from the Annales des sciences naturelles; the work was later republished by Baillière in 1876 (cf. O'Reilly, Nouvelle-Calédonie, 608, which records only the periodical publication).

Bradel case-binding in full green paper-covered boards, brown morocco lettering-piece lettered vertically; the original provisional upper wrapper preserved; modern binding.

The issue is illustrated at the end of the volume with an engraved plate.

A clear waterstain in the outer margins of the leaves.

Émile Bescherelle (1828–1903), president of the Société botanique de France, was a leading specialist in mosses, which he also studied in New Caledonia (1878) and in Mexico.

At the head of the blank upper wrapper, presentation inscription signed by Émile Bescherelle to Count Hippolyte-François Jaubert (1798–1874), a noted botanist and the son of a hero of Aboukir.

Rare first edition, printed in small numbers, of this Extrait du Bulletin de la Société de Géographie, 2e série, tome XI, illustrated with two folding plates showing topographical cross-sections of various valleys, including that of the Jordan (cf. Hage Chahine, 471; Numa Broc, Asie, pp. 28–29).

Half tan calf, smooth spine gilt-ruled and tooled, some rubbing to the spine, one joint restored at the head, green morocco lettering-piece, marbled boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, red edges; a contemporary binding.

An orientalist and archaeologist, the Comte de Bertou explored Palestine in 1838 with the mission of verifying the hypothesis of an ancient outflow from the Dead Sea towards the Red Sea. Leaving Beirut on 2 March 1838, he reached Jerusalem via Nazareth and established the altitude of Jericho at –273 m and that of the Dead Sea at –406 m.

He then went on to Hebron and, despite the hostility of the Arab tribes, undertook to follow the depression linking the Asphaltite Lake with Aqaba. Bertou reached it on 8 April and, despite the destruction of his barometer, was able to confirm that the level of the Dead Sea lay well below that of the Red Sea. He returned to Beirut in May 1838 after visiting Petra and its celebrated monuments (cf. Numa Broc).

First edition illustrated with 2 engraved plates of this rare anonymous collection of poems, recently and definitively attributed to the poet from Réunion Antoine de Bertin (1752-1790), and believed to constitute his earliest works (cf. Seth, Poète créoles, 304. Ryckebusch, Bibliographie… Réunion, 750. Conlon 71: 879.)

Contemporary-style half black sheep with corners, spine with five raised bands ruled in blind, comb-marbled paper boards, some rubbing to the covers, corners bumped, modern binding.

They were never included in subsequent editions of his Œuvres complètes.

Bertin alludes to his island in his “Vers à Jeannette. A l'Orient” (p. 68): « …Mais aurez-vous la cruauté / D'oublier un petit sauvage, / De son Isle autrefois jetté, / Sur votre florissant rivage /… ».

The edition, bearing a false London imprint, is illustrated with 2 etched plates, one as frontispiece, after drawings by Claude-Louis Desrais dated 1771.

Rare group of six fascicules, all in the original edition.

Bradel-style binding in green mottled boards, smooth unlettered spine, printed title label mounted at the centre of the upper cover; modern binding.

Not recorded by Polak. Apparently no copy located in the CCFr.

A stain at the head of the title page.

This curious compilation, bearing almost no identifying information, appears to be particularly rare.

It contains:

- 1. A notice to mariners concerning the change in the lighting of the lighthouse in the Bay of the Somme, scheduled for 25 Pluviôse, Year IX [14 February 1801].

- 2. An instruction on filters for purifying water, signed by the health officers Dubrueil, Thaumur, Dupré, and Billard.

- 3. A notice on naval provisions, signed by Rivoire.

- 4. A description of the sillomètre (an instrument for measuring longitude at sea), addressed to the editor of the Moniteur by the former journalist Charles Mozard (1755–1810), who had served as Commissioner of France’s commercial relations in Boston from 1794 to 1799 and was at that time among the contributors to the Moniteur.

- 5. A discourse by Bernardin de Saint-Pierre delivered at the Institut (Nautical experiments, and dietary and moral observations, proposed for the benefit and health of sailors on long-distance voyages). This contribution had already been printed in La Décade philosophique, littéraire et politique of 30 Vendémiaire, Year IX [22 October 1800].

- 6. Two practical notices on means of preserving ships (from fire, water, and rats). The nature of these texts and their immediate sources suggest that this publication was probably conceived as a trial maritime periodical intended to make available sea-related articles previously published in other journals. For reasons unknown, the experiment was not continued, a circumstance that is fairly common in the history of periodicals.

First edition printed in a small number of copies of this offprint from the Journal asiatique.

Unlettered spine with restorations; scattered foxing.

Abel Bergaigne (1838–1888), one of the leading Indologists of his time, was Professor of Sanskrit and Comparative Linguistics at the Sorbonne.

His interpretation of the Rig-Veda remains authoritative.

On the upper wrapper of the first cover, a signed autograph inscription by Abel Bergaigne to the academic and statesman Charles Lenient (1826–1908).

Unpublished manuscript comprising a collection of 17 captioned watercolours.

The work announced on the title page, "Vues et types du Sénégal", was never published, and the watercolours presented here were most likely intended to illustrate it.

The author of these watercolours is named at the foot of the table of plates: « A. Poquet (Del.) 1873 »., this illustrator is not recorded in either Bénézit or Bellier de La Chavignerie.

Modern half red shagreen binding with corners, spine with five raised bands gilt ruled, marbled paper boards.

A restored tear to the right margin of the final watercolour.

The volume consists of a calligraphed title leaf, with, on the verso, a list of plates (entitled « Table des gravures »), followed by the 17 watercolours mounted on the recto of each leaf, at a rate of one or two per page.

They depict landscapes, notable sites, various scenes, and figures in traditional dress.

Measuring 9.5 x 21 or 16 x 9 cm, they are accompanied by a handwritten caption:

 1. Dagana. - 2. Richard-Toll. - 3. Fort de Bakel. - 4. Princesse Mauresse, Trarzas [and] Maure Orfèvre, Trarzas. - 5. Type de coiffure de Malinkés. - 6. Homme Bambara [and] Femme Bambara. - 7. Femme Peule [and] Femme Mandingue. - 8. Jeune Maure Darmenkour [and] Femme Wolof portant son enfant. - 9. Palmier ronier. - 10. Deuxième barrage au-dessus du Félou. - 11. Montagnes de Maka Gnian. - 12. Vue de Koundian. - 13. Poste de Dabou.

On the title page, the name Bérenger Féraud has been crossed out in pencil.

This refers to Laurent Jean Baptiste Bérenger-Féraud (1832-1900), physician and ethnologist, head of the Senegal health service in 1872, chief physician in Toulon in 1873, and later director of the health service of Martinique in 1875.

The author of numerous medical publications, notably on tropical fevers, he also wrote several works on Africa, including "Etude sur les Ouolofs" (Paris, Ernest Leroux, 1875) and"Les peuplades de Sénégambie" (ibid., 1879).

A very fine group of unpublished watercolours devoted to Senegal.

A new edition, published anonymously, of the French translation.

Half black cloth binding with corners, spine without lettering, rubbed with small losses to the cloth at the joints, marbled paper boards, soiled original wrappers preserved, contemporary binding.

This rare Strasbourg printing escaped Sabin. It is in fact an adaptation of Struggles and Triumphs, the autobiography of the remarkable Phineas Taylor Barnum (1810–1891), first published by him in 1869.

Widely regarded as the father of the modern circus, Barnum was also a consummate master of spectacle and publicity. His conquest of Europe, accompanied by “General” Tom Thumb, measuring just 63 cm in height, remains legendary.

At the head of the front wrapper, a signed presentation inscription: G.R. to Mr Charles Amos, an industrialist who, in the mid-nineteenth century, established a hosiery and footwear factory in Wasselonne, near Strasbourg.

First edition of this monograph devoted to Punic inscriptions discovered in Tunis and its surrounding area.

Small marginal tears to the spine and boards, which also show some light spotting.

Abbé Bargès (1810–1896), a native of Auriol, pursued an unusual career grounded in his exceptional command of Oriental languages (Hebrew, Arabic), and specialised in epigraphy while also engaging with a wider range of disciplines.

The Phoenician world was of particular interest to him, as he long upheld the Punic origin of Marseilles, and he published six monographs on inscriptions in the Phoenician language between 1847 and 1888; the present work forms part of this cycle.

At the head of the upper cover, an autograph inscription signed by Abbé Bargès to the eighth Duke of Luynes (1803–1867), the celebrated archaeologist.

First edition of this pamphlet, directed in part against Mormonism (cf. Sabin 2797).

Illustrated with a folding lithographed map of the United States, inserted as a plate.

Spine cracked with small losses and tears at the joints; library shelf label pasted at the foot of the upper wrapper; small corner tears to the wrappers.

This booklet also considers the relations between Christians and the indigenous inhabitants, as well as with the African population brought to the United States through the cupidity of the citizens of the Old World. A good copy.

First edition.

Bradel binding in modern paper-covered boards of grey-blue stock, smooth spine lettered in black, original wrappers preserved; binding signed Laurenchet.

Label of the fishing library of M. Albert Petit pasted to the upper cover, no. 100.

The species are described in French, with their Latin and Greek names.

Stamp of the Société d'Acclimatation on the title-page.

First edition of the penultimate royal military yearbook issued (cf. Grand-Carteret, Almanachs, 158; Saffroy, Almanachs et annuaires, 306).

This comparatively scarce state was published without interruption from 1744 to 1789.

A transverse fold affecting the upper cover, with a tear to the verso.

Contemporary old red morocco, smooth spine gilt with friezes and fleurs-de-lys, covers framed with triple gilt fillets, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt rules to the edges, corners rubbed, all edges gilt; contemporary binding.

Our copy contains numerous contemporary cancellations and manuscript additions within the text; followed by 15 unnumbered leaves filled with manuscript supplements ("Contrôle par ancienneté le 3 mai 1788, Gardes du Roy pour 1788 depuis le 3 may jour de la revue", etc.).

Copy bound in full contemporary red morocco.

First edition (cf. Grand-Carteret, Almanachs, 158; Saffroy, Almanachs et annuaires, 306).

Contemporary full old red morocco, smooth spine gilt with friezes and fleurs-de-lys, one joint split at the head, boards framed with triple gilt fillets, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, bookplate laid down on a pastedown, gilt edges to the boards, corners slightly rubbed, all edges gilt; binding of the period.

This rather scarce issue was published without interruption from 1744 to 1789. 

Provenance: from the library of the heraldist Olivier Le Bas, with bookplate laid down on a pastedown.

An attractive copy, handsomely bound in contemporary full red morocco.

A very rare first edition.

Répertoire bibliographique des livres imprimés en France au XVIe siècle. Aix, vol. I, p. 36:5. Lindsay & Neu, French Political Pamphlets 1547–1648. A single copy recorded in WorldCat (Chicago, Newberry Library).

Our copy is offered disbound, in sheets, preserved in plain marbled paper wrappers, with an early manuscript label on the upper cover.

Répertoire bibliographique des livres imprimés en France au XVIe siècle. Aix, vol. I, p. 36:5. Lindsay & Neu, French Political Pamphlets 1547–1648. A single copy recorded in WorldCat. A rare example bearing on the title an early contemporary manuscript annotation: “du 11 avril 1598.”

Rare first edition of the illustrated French translation, complete with two folding maps of Northern Asia, one showing the region at the time of the conquests of Genghis Khan (or Zingis-Chan), the other representing the contemporary state of Asia (cf. Brunet, I, 19; Chadenat, 1782).

Translated from the Tartar manuscript of Abulgasi-Bayadur-Chan and enriched with a large number of authentic and highly curious remarks on the true present state of Northern Asia, together with the necessary geographical maps. By D***. Leiden, Abram Kallewier, 1726.

Contemporary full brown calf bindings, spines with five raised bands highlighted by gilt rules and decorated with gilt compartments filled with floral tools, red and brown morocco lettering and volume labels, gilt rolls to the headcaps, boards framed with a single blind fillet, marbled paper endpapers and pastedowns, gilt fillets to the board edges, red edges; bindings of the period.

Small paper losses to the title pages, filled and neatly restored with paper.

Contents comprise: 1. History of the generations of the Tatars from Adam to Mogull or Mung’l-Chan. – 2. History of the generations of the Tatars from Mung’l-Chan to Zingis-Chan. – 3. History of the reign of Zingis-Chan. – 4. History of Ugadai-Chan, third son of Zingis-Chan. – 5. History of Zagatai-Chan, second son of Zingis-Chan, and of the princes of his posterity who ruled over the cities of the kingdoms of Cashgar and Ma-urenner. – 6. History of Taulai-Chan, youngest son of Zingis-Chan, and of his descendants who ruled in the land of Iran. – 7. History of Zuzi-Chan, eldest son of Zingis-Chan, and of his descendants who ruled over the Kipchaks. – 8. History of Scheybani-Chan, son of Zuzi-Chan, and of his descendants who ruled in the land of Ma-urenner, in Crimea, and in the country of Turan. – 9. History of the descendants of Scheybani-Chan who ruled in the land of Charass’m.

Khan of Khwarezm (situated south of Turkestan) and descendant of Genghis Khan, Abulghasi Behader (or Bahadür) was born in 1605 at Urgench (Khwarezm); he ascended the throne in 1644 and abdicated shortly before his death in 1663.

After his abdication, he composed a genealogical history of the Tatars in Tatar, which was first translated into Russian and then into German by Swedish officers exiled to Siberia after the battle of Pultava.

The original text was not printed at Kazan until 1825 under the title Historia Mongolorum et Tatarorum.

First edition, illustrated with a folding plate printed outside the text, of these essays by « M. L. C. D. M. D. L. D. G. D. C. D. M. L. C. D’A [i.e. Monsieur le chevalier Duvernois, maréchal des logis of the guards of the comte d’Artois] ».

Cf. Quérard, Supercheries littéraires, II, 700. Blackmer 1725. Hage Chahine 4990. Atabey 1280.

Our copy is preserved in its original wrappers, under plain grey covers, the spine unlettered and bearing traces of manuscript inscription.

Light marginal dampstaining affecting several leaves.

Verdy du Vernois (1738-1814) later became chamberlain to the King of Prussia and the author of several works on the military art, history, and the origins of certain sovereign houses of Germany.

His geographical essays on Turkey, on the military constitution of the Turks, and on the principal events of the war of 1768 between Russia and the Porte, may serve as a continuation to the memoirs of Baron de Tott.

The folding table, placed at the beginning of the volume, presents the genealogy of the Turkish emperors.

Rare first edition of this poem, printed on bluish paper and composed by Tissot in honour of the birth of the King of Rome, the Emperor’s son.

Not in Quérard.

Our copy is preserved in its original wrappers, under a modern marbled paper cover. Not in Quérard. A fine copy.

First edition of this advance extract from "Annam – Numismatic Studies", an ouvrage not due to appear until 1905.

A rare and pleasing copy, despite 

Autograph presentation inscription from Albert Schroeder to Jean-Calixte-Alexis Auvergne, Resident-Superior in Annam from 1897 to 1898, and again from 1901 to 1904.

First edition issued as offprint no. 13 for the year 1849 from the "Journal Asiatique".

Not recorded by Lorenz.

Our copy is preserved in the original plain blue wrappers, title pencilled on the upper cover.

Some foxing.

First edition of the French translation (see Palau 246 379–80).

Spine restored, small losses at the corners of the boards.

An Italian-born naturalist and explorer, Antonio Raimondi (1826–1890) landed in Peru in 1850 and thereafter devoted himself to the study of his adopted country: through numerous expeditions, he gathered extensive data on the carbon strata of the Peruvian coastline, analysed and quantified the guano of the Chincha Islands and the potassium nitrate of Tarapacá, travelled through the gold-bearing provinces of Carabaya and Sandia, navigated the Río Marañón, the Ucayali and the Amazon — the principal eastern rivers — and drew plans of the cities of Cajamarca, Chachapoyas and Huancavelica, as well as of major archaeological sites such as Huanuco Pampa and the fortress of Paramonga.

Rare, though in worn condition.

First edition, with only three copies recorded in the CCF (Institut, Nîmes and Besançon).

Copy from the library of the biologist Jean-Louis-Armand Quatrefages de Bréau (1810-1892), bearing his ink stamp at the head of the half-title.

An appealing copy despite a small tear at the foot of the spine.

First French edition, complete with its engraved plate at the end of the volume: "Air mauresque" (see Gay 1352).

Bookseller’s resale label from the antiquarian bookseller Challamel affixed to the foot of the title page.

Bound in contemporary half brown calf, smooth spine with gilt and blind tooling, black morocco title and date labels, some rubbing to the spine, marbled paper boards, handmade laid paper endleaves and pastedowns, speckled edges, corners slightly worn, upper corner missing on one, binding slightly later.

Some foxing, dampstaining affecting the lower margin of the first 70 leaves.

The work was first published in London in 1811 under the title: "An account of Tunis, of its government, customs and antiquities, especially of its productions, manufactures and commerce".

On the verso of the half-title is a manuscript note signed by Henri Fournel: "The original of this work was published in 1811. It had been written by a common man, and the translation is superior to the original." Henri Fournel (1799–1876), a mining engineer, was long associated with the Saint-Simonian movement before holding senior positions at the Compagnie des Chemins de fer du Nord.

The same hand has inscribed the translator’s name on the title page.

Marcel Dunan’s bookplate mounted on a pastedown.

First edition illustrated with 2 folding tables.

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

Bradel binding in full black paper boards, smooth spine decorated with gilt fillets and a gilt fleur-de-lys tool, tan shagreen title label, upper corners slightly rubbed, speckled edges. Slightly later binding.

Offset from an old paper in the left margin of the title page.

Despite its great popularity, the publication of "Histoire de Napoléon" by Philippe-Paul de Ségur (1780-1873), issued in 1824, prompted numerous reactions, responses, and corrections from many participants in the Russian campaign (Gourgaud’s, of extreme violence, remains particularly well known, as does the duel that followed).

For despite a romantic and epic style that accorded well with contemporary expectations of historical narrative, the work abounded in inaccuracies, errors, and above all judgments liable to offend contemporaries.

Baron von Völderndorff (1783-1847) was among these actors, having taken part in the Russian Campaign within the Bavarian corps commanded by General von Wrede.

Provenance: copy from the library of King Ernest Augustus of Hanover (1771-1851, uncle of Queen Victoria), with his ink stamp on the title page.

Rare first edition.

No copies recorded in the CCF.

Our copy is issued in its original wrappers, in temporary grey paper covers, with a later title label to the spine.

Some losses to the temporary covers, a small hole to the title page also affecting the following four leaves with loss of letters.

A very rare record of the forces engaged on both the Spanish and French sides during the Peninsular War (1808-1814).

It comprises a sequence of 149 tables arranged chronologically, from the state of the regular troops in 1808, prior to the French intervention, through to 10 March 1814. 

Though unofficial in nature, it constitutes an essential source for historians of the period.

First edition.

Bradel binding in full blue paper-covered boards, smooth spine, red morocco title label.

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

This rare text constitutes an extract from a larger work which appears not to have been published, the opening title bearing Chapter 15, Des Places fortes, and an advertisement on p. 139 indicating Chapter 16, De la Stratégie.

The work concludes with an interesting list of French fortified places, with an indication of the garrisons required for their defence.

Son of the celebrated René-Louis de Girardin d'Ermenonville, Lieutenant-General Count Alexandre-Louis-Robert de Girardin (1776-1855) distinguished himself during the Napoleonic Wars, particularly in the French campaign where he defeated the Russians at Champaubert.

Appointed Master of the Hunt to Louis XVIII and Charles X, he was sidelined under Louis-Philippe and devoted himself to questions of military policy. In this treatise on fortified places he demonstrates the futility of fortifying capitals such as Paris, as the government was beginning to envisage. Events proved him right in 1870.

Autograph inscription from Alexandre de Girardin d'Ermenonville to the Duke of Fezensac.

He is Raymond Aimery de Montesquiou-Fezensac (1784-1867), likewise a general of the Empire and Peer of France (he notably delivered in 1841 a remarkable speech on the fortifications of Paris projected by Thiers).

New edition, partly original, published anonymously (see Sabin 20,288).

Disbound copy, preserved in a modern marbled paper wrapper.

Abbé Louis Genty (1743–1817) is better known for his Influence de la découverte de l’Amérique sur le bonheur du genre humain, published in 1788, but this Dissertation appears here in a form close to its first draft.

A probably unique copy, comprising pulls of proofs of Masonic illustrations containing 38 plates, the majority double-page, numbered in red pencil from 1 to 40 (discontinuous numbering, with bis plates).

Not recorded in Caillet or Dorbon.

Bound in full black cloth, smooth spine, no lettering, title label pasted onto the upper cover, modern binding.

A restored tear in the left margin of plate 10, two angular tears in the left margin of plate 12 without affecting the image. Published by the Masonic booksellers Teissier et Cie, lithographed by J. Rigal et Cie and, in some cases, by A. Appert.

A highly interesting document on nineteenth-century Freemasonry

First edition of these extremely rare statutes of an Indo-British lodge established in Calcutta since 1860.

No copy recorded in the CCF or in WorldCat.

Minor losses to the spine and corners of the boards, with one tear at the head of the upper cover skilfully restored.

Extremely rare first edition of the statutes of an Indo-British military lodge established in Calcutta.

Losses to the rubbed spine, covers reinforced, internally in pleasing condition.

No copy recorded in the CCFr or on WorldCat.

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

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

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

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

Rare collection of 16 hand-coloured engravings, comprising a frontispiece and 15 plates, illustrating the virtues of soldiers and young men during the Consulate period.

Contemporary half bronze calf binding, smooth spine decorated with gilt fillets, dotted tools and floral ornaments, minor rubbing to the spine, brown morocco title label, boards, endpapers and pastedowns of marbled paper, ex-libris pasted on the front pastedown.

An attractive copy.

First edition of this rare catalogue for the sale of the antiquities collection of Claude-Madeleine Grivaud de La Vincelle (1762-1819), deputy head of accounting at the Chamber of Peers, archaeologist, and numismatist.

497 lots are described.

Late nineteenth-century bradel binding in half blue cloth, smooth spine, brown shagreen title label lettered lengthwise, marbled paper boards.

Some minor foxing, otherwise a pleasant copy.

First edition printed in a small number of copies of this offprint from the Mémoires de la Société des antiquaires de France, vol. XX.

The work is illustrated at the beginning of the volume with two folding plates engraved by Charles Oury after drawings by Delamare, gathering several figures.

Contemporary half black shagreen, spine with four raised bands decorated with blind fillets and gilt fleurons, minor rubbing to the joints, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers, speckled edges, contemporary binding.

Foxing.

A former student of the École Polytechnique and an officer, Delamarre (1793-1861), who adopts a particle on the title-page for greater distinction, joined the Commission d'exploration scientifique d'Algérie (1839-1850), where he stayed from 1830 to 1835, from 1839 to 1845, and again from 1850 to 1851.

He was successively in charge of the drawings (2,500 drawings produced), then associate member, and finally full member of the Commission. The philologist Charles-Alphonse-Léon Renier (1809-1885) was entrusted, between 1850 and 1852, with collecting the Roman inscriptions of Algeria.

Wet stamp of Léon Renier at the foot of the title-page.