Antique illustrated books and works illustrated with woodcuts, etchings, engravings, drawings from 16th to 18th centuries

First edition of the French translation. First published in English in 1712 under the title A cruising voyage round the world. Illustrated with 2 engraved titles, 14 engraved plates and 7 maps including 2 large format (Paraguay and Chile - mainland Peru and Brazil and the Land of the Amazons) and a world map.
Bound in full brown sprinkled calf, spine elaborately gilt, gilt roulettes on the edges, all red speckled edges. Expertly restored (corners, upper and lower part of joints). Two small restored tears on the world map, not affecting the image.
Ex-libris in ink "Sr Remy" to the upper left margin of the title-page.
A tear to the world map, not affecting the...

Chez Théodore Le Gras, à Paris 1728, 12° (9,5x17cm), (2 p.) xvij (7 p.) 346 pp.; (2 p.) ij 376 pp.; (2 p.) ij 387 pp.; (6 p.) 392 pp.; (6 p.) 404 pp., 5 volumes bound.
First edition of this famous description of West Africa.
78 full-page engraved plates:
- volume 1: 5 maps, 2 plates and 1 folding plan
- volume 2: 6 maps, 17 plates and 4 folding plans
- volume 3: 2 maps and 13 plates
- volume 4: 5 maps, 8 plates and 3 folding plans
- volume 5: 3 maps and 9 plates
First edition of this famous description of West Africa. Illustrated with 78 full-page engraved plates.
Contemporary beige calf, spine elaborately gilt, 19th century red leather...

First edition, with 18 engraved maps et 5 folding engraved plates.
Contemporary tan calf, skillfully restored tear to the first folding map, some marginal restorations to the map “Troisième division - Archipel des navigateurs”. Falkland Islands map expertly rebacked on the outer margin as well as the Magellan Strait map. Map of the Buton Strait with a small marginal tear and a second restored with a strip of paper.
Bougainville undertook the first official French circumnavigation and scientific expedition. Starting from Nantes in November 1766, he sailed to the Falklands, made a stopover in Buenos Aires and then crossed the Magellan Strait and the...

Second collective first edition, with continuous pagination, containing for the first time Phèdre, the Discours prononcé à l'Académie françoise à la réception de Messieurs de Corneille et de Bergeret and the Idylle sur la paix.(Brunet, IV, 1077). Work illustrated with 12 figures including 2 frontispieces, most signed by François Chauveau; the frontispiece of the first volume engraved by Le Brun. 
Edition shared between Barbin, Denys Thierry and Pierre Trabouillet.
Full midnight blue morocco binding from the late 19th century signed at the foot of the pastedown Thibaron-Joly (Former worker of Trautz, Thibaron partnered with the gilder Joly in 1874). Spine with raised bands decorated...

Rare first edition, illustrated with an engraved title page and 51 emblems by Adriaen van der Venne, engraved by Wil. Passe, J. Gelle, Cri. Blon, A. Poel and J.S. [Swelinck]. A reprint was issued in 1661; this first edition circulated only among a privileged elite and was not made available to the general public.
Late 18th- or early 19th-century caramel calf-backed binding with small corners. Spine with raised bands and gilt fillets. Brown morocco title label. Upper joint split at head and tail. Some rubbing. Margin of p. 108 restored over 6 cm. A few faint spots of foxing.

First and only quarto edition, the most sought-after issue due to its substantial enlargement. The original octavo edition of 1730 was thoroughly revised, corrected, and enriched with the latest discoveries by the scholarly editor responsible for this edition. Ruchat’s work was supplemented with Abraham Stanyan’s Account of Switzerland (London, 1714), together with additional texts relating to Switzerland. Illustrated with 81 engravings and maps after Merian, including 2 allegorical frontispieces, 68 plates depicting city views and notable sites, and 11 maps. Binder’s instruction leaf present at the end of each volume.
Contemporary full mottled tan calf. Spine with raised bands...

The finest edition of this work, the original having appeared in 1756. It comprises 84 plates, 61 of which are folding, compared to only 40 in the original, engraved in intaglio by Moitte, Patte and Tardieu, depicting military costumes, plans and profiles, and troop formations. Published by Abbé Perau, this edition is augmented with a biography (134pp.) and several pieces (letters...), it is better organized and superbly printed in large type.
Contemporary full marbled and glazed calf binding. Decorated raised spine, head and tail rolls. Red morocco title label and volume label. Double gilt fillet frame on boards. One tear at tail. One lower corner cut on volume 1. Small lack at head...

New illustrated edition with 232 figures, principally by Borel. Volume XIV contains an additional suite by Moreau, a suite by Marillier and another anonymous suite. Copy on vellum paper, the figures on heavy vellum. At the end of the publisher's notice, a leaf with the price of works: the 20 volumes in-18, fine paper, in wrappers with 18 engravings...30Fr. The same with 212 engravings, in wrappers...60Fr. The same, 17 volumes, deluxe vellum paper, figures from first proofs...120Fr. The volumes may be purchased separately by works. While at Princeton University and the Royal Library of Denmark one finds only the edition in 20 volumes with 18 engravings, this copy proves more desirable in...

First edition of one of the most beautiful books of the 18^th century, of which the text and the music are entirely engraved$. It is illustrated with an engraved title, 3 frontispieces by Le Bouteux and Le Barbier, a dedication page with the Dauphine arms, and 100 figures by Moreau le Jeune, Le Barbier, Le Bouteux and Saint-Quentin, finely engraved in copperplate by Masquelier and Née. The portrait of Laborde, which can be found on some copies, is not part of this edition and was printed in 1774, separately.
Dentelle bindings in full navy blue morocco, signed by Bruyère at the bottom of the pastedown endpaper. Slipcase covered with a blue marbled paper, suede interior, lined...

New edition revised by the author, illustrated with 4 copper-engraved plates by Morel after drawings by Chaudet (Cohen, col. 927). A sumptuous publication from the press of Pierre Didot l'aîné, the foremost printer of his day. This edition is distinguished from all previous ones by its entirely renewed illustration in a neoclassical spirit, in keeping with the aesthetic of the Directoire period. It is the first to have been revised by the author himself.
Contemporary binding in full red morocco, spine with five raised bands richly decorated with gilt dentelles, fillets and fleurons, boards framed with a double gilt dentelle, gilt roll on the turn-ins and headbands...

First edition. A title-frontispiece featuring the personification of justice. Specific title page and pagination for Receptarum juris utriusque regularum partitiones by Cousinio.

Contemporary full vellum binding with overlapping flaps. Smooth spine with title-label lacking. Vellum soiled overall. Good copy.

These Elements of Civil Law are the work of Professor of Law at Amsterdam Joannes Arnold Corvinus, Protestant minister and jurist. Before becoming a lawyer he was a Calvinist preacher. Close to Grotius, he was part of a group of legal writers sympathetic to Protestants who commented on reason of State.


 

First edition, superbly illustrated with 50 engraved and hand-coloured plates, all numbered and signed by William Ellis. Bilingual text, first in English, followed by the French translation on facing pages. Printed on deluxe wove paper.
English binding. Spine entirely rebacked in chocolate shagreen, decorated with five blind-stamped romantic floral tools. Brown calf boards adorned with a large central lozenge composed of leafy friezes. Blind-stamped border frieze with corner tools, and a second leafy border. Upper board split along the joint and nearly detached, lower joint open at the foot over 5 cm, with a continuing crack of 10 cm though the leather remains closed. Corners heavily...

First edition, illustrated with a title vignette, 6 folding maps and 2 folding plates (sun and moon positions, diagrams); a map of the coasts of Acadia and Isle Royale, one of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, plan of Canseau harbor, the southeastern coasts of Isle Royale, plan of Chibouctou harbor, southeastern point of Acadia, 
Presentation copy with the cipher and arms of Louis XV.
Contemporary binding in full marbled and glazed brown sheep. Spine with raised bands decorated with the repeated cipher of Louis XV. Red morocco title label. Boards stamped with the gilt arms of Louis XV. Triple gilt fillet frame on boards. 2 compartments restored partially effacing the...

Rare French first edition in the translation by Esprit Pézenas, illustrated with 2 title vignettes and 78 folding plates representing instruments used for physics demonstrations.

Armorial copy with unidentified coat of arms.
Contemporary full porphyry sheep binding. Decorated spine with raised bands. Beige calf title label, brown sheep volume label. One lack to foot of volume I. Light lack to head compartment of volume II and to foot compartment. Split to upper joints at foot of both volumes, 1cm. Corners with leather losses, as well as to edges. The use of acid to achieve the porphyry marbling has caused certain alterations to the leather, notably...

New illustrated edition with a portrait as frontispiece, 3 title vignettes, and 41 folding plates. According to Brunet, the first octavo edition following the original quarto published in 1769 of these Commentaries. Title pages printed in red and black.
Contemporary full mottled calf binding. Spine with raised bands, gilt-tooled. Beige morocco title-piece, black basane volume label. Head of volume 2 restored. Surface abrasions on the boards, polished with wax. Traces of rubbing. A handsome copy, the paper of remarkable freshness.
Ex libris with 18th-century armorial bookplate of Biel D. de Lislemont.

New edition, after the original published in 1738.

269 numbered figures at mid-page.
Contemporary full marbled sheep binding. Decorated spine with raised bands. Red morocco title label. Upper joint cracked at head, and a small crack at tail over 0.5cm. 3 corners very bumped and worn. 3 traces of surface wear on lower board. Good copy.
Didactic treatise on Backgammon, a game of Chinese origin that was very popular in Europe under the name of Trictrac, and which features numerous games. The rules of the game remained unchanged until 1931, the date at which the Americans modernized the game rules.

First edition illustrated with 47 charming emblematic figures arranged on 13 plates on fine paper and a title headpiece. Only the title vignette is signed Gaudier. Lacking the frontispiece. Each figure in a medallion features the sun in a dominant position and a symbolic element such as a musical instrument, a landscape, an animal, as well as a Latin motto. Rare printing from Aix-en-Provence.

Late 19th-century Bradel binding in half beige cloth. Smooth spine with dark red shagreen title label running lengthwise. The plates have slightly narrower outer margins than the leaves. Some foxing, particularly on the title page.