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Literature

First editions and first illustrated editions of literature classics from 15th to 18th century in contemporary bindings

663 results
Literature
  1. L'arretin
    [DULAURENS] Abbé Joseph DU LAURENS

    L'arretin

    Aux dépens de la Congrégation de l'Index|à Rome [Rome] • [Paris] 1768|10 x 15.50 cm|deux parties en un volume relié
    The first edition appeared in 1763 at the same address under the title: L'arretin, ou la débauche de l'esprit en fait de bon sens.
    Contemporary full citron morocco binding. Smooth spine decorated. Green morocco title-label. Triple fillet frame on covers. Edges gilt. Handsome copy. Upper joint lightly rubbed.
    L'arretin consists of 25 essays and tales on subjects as diverse as Les nègres, L'agriculture, La chasteté ou le célibat, Histoire de maître Pierre, etc. These are all violent critiques, sometimes direct, sometimes satirical or allegorical, of Biblical teaching, the church, and its history. Abbé Du Laurens (1719-1793) was a polemical and anti-religious writer whose...
    €1,200
  2. L'ordene de chevalerie, avec une dissertation sur l'origine de la langue françoise. Un essai sur les étimologies. Quelques contes anciens. Et un glossaire pour en faciliter l'intelligence
    Étienne BARBAZAN

    L'ordene de chevalerie, avec une dissertation sur l'origine de la langue françoise. Un essai sur les étimologies. Quelques contes anciens. Et un glossaire pour en faciliter l'intelligence

    Chez Chaubert • Claude Herissant|Lauzanne [Lausanne] • (Lausanne) • & se trouve à Paris 1759|11.50 x 18 cm|relié
    First edition. Uncommon.
    Half glacé calf with corners, 19th century, signed Petit succ de Simier. Raised spine decorated in compartments. Fillets on covers.
    Etienne Barbazan (1694-1770) was a philologist specializing in medieval manuscripts, notably contributing to bringing forgotten texts back to memory and rehabilitating the Middle Ages in the field of research. L'ordene de chevalerie is a 13th-century text on the rules and ceremonies of chivalry, of which Barbazan would have had a manuscript in his hands. The work contains other 13th-century texts and a glossary.
    €300
  3. Le voyage forcé de Becafort hypocondriaque. Qui s'imagine être indispensablement obligé de dire ou d'écrire, & qui dit ou écrit en effet, sans aucun égard, tout ce qu'il pense des autres & de lui-même, sur quelque matière que ce soit
    Abbé Laurent BORDELON

    Le voyage forcé de Becafort hypocondriaque. Qui s'imagine être indispensablement obligé de dire ou d'écrire, & qui dit ou écrit en effet, sans aucun égard, tout ce qu'il pense des autres & de lui-même, sur quelque matière que ce soit

    Chez Jean Musier|à Paris 1709|9 x 16 cm|relié
    The rare first edition.
    Modern cream parchment paper boards binding. Black sheep title label.
    Like all satirical works by Abbé Bordelon, this is a curious and unclassifiable work in which a narrator travels in the company of Becafort, relating his thoughts, speeches and dialogues; the work teems with criticisms and reflections on social progress, women's independence, the occult sciences... It is a journey without any consideration for the journey itself, warns the narrator.
    €400
  4. Oeuvres
    Nicolas BOINDIN

    Oeuvres

    Chez Prault|à Paris 1753|9.50 x 17 cm|2 volumes reliés
    First edition. Illustrated with two folding maps in the second volume, showing the states of Roman tribes.
    Full grained calf binding. Smooth spine decorated. Red morocco title label and volume labels. A small lack to the cover of volume I. Pale and light yellow dampstain at beginning of work. Handsome copy.
    These works contain a memoir on the life of Boindin by Boindin himself, his theatrical pieces, volume II containing various studies and research by the author: on the sounds of language (phonetic studies), on Roman names, on Roman tribes, and finally on ancient theatre. Boindin was an essential figure in 18th-century intellectual life, one of the central figures at café Procope...
    €600
  5. Oeuvres complettes
    Alexander POPE

    Oeuvres complettes

    Chez la veuve Duschene|Paris 1779|12.50 x 20 cm|8 volumes reliés
    New edition expanded with the English text for the "best pieces" and illustrated with a frontispiece portrait of the author by Kneller, ornamented by Marillier and engraved by Lebeau, as well as 17 fine figures by Marillier engraved by Dambrun, Duflos, Gaucher, Godefroy et al.
    Contemporary full marbled blonde calf binding. Smooth spines ornately gilt in compartments with floral and star motifs, as well as small bird tools, blonde morocco title and volume labels. Covers triple-ruled with stars at corners. All edges marbled. One headcap damaged at corner. Despite this minor flaw, very handsome copy, very fresh, of this beautifully illustrated work.
    Edition prepared by Abbé de La...
    €800
  6. Les amours de Théagène et Chariclée. Histoire éthiopique
    HELIODORE

    Les amours de Théagène et Chariclée. Histoire éthiopique

    S. n.|à Londres [London] 1743|9.50 x 15 cm|2 volumes reliés
    First printing of this illustrated edition whose translation by Abbé Desfontaines was first published in 1729. One frontispiece, 5 figures for volume I and 6 for volume II, including the plate entitled Conclusion which is often lacking, and 10 title headpieces. The plates are unsigned. A handsome edition, well printed.

    Contemporary full marbled glazed calf binding. Smooth spine decorated (grape cluster tools). Red morocco title and volume labels. Triple fillet frame on boards. All edges gilt. 2 corners slightly bumped. Handsome copy.

    L'Histoire Ethiopique is undoubtedly, along with L'âne d'or by Apuleius, the most famous of the Latin and Greek novels...
    €600
  7. Oeuvres
    Antoine Houdar de LA MOTTE

    Oeuvres

    Chez Prault|à Paris 1754|9.50 x 16.50 cm|10 tomes reliés en 11 volumes
    First collected edition. Title pages in red and black.
    Contemporary full calf bindings with scale pattern. Decorated raised band spines. Red morocco title labels. Head caps slightly worn; same for 6 tail caps. Upper joints of volumes II, III, IV, V, VIII, IX and X partly cracked. Many corners bumped. Most half-titles were not bound into the volumes. Despite these defects, a set with good general appearance, decorative.
    In addition to the poetic, dramatic, and critical works, and the fables, this edition contains various letters about De La Motte and his famous correspondence with the Duchess of Lambert at the end of his life. It should be noted that he was the author of L'Europe...
    €700
  8. La revue des feuilles de Mr. Freron
    François LE PRÉVOST D'EXMES, Joseph de LAPORTE

    La revue des feuilles de Mr. Freron

    S. n.|à Londres [London] 1756|10.1 x 16.4 cm|2 parties reliées en un volume
    First edition, rare.
    The second part bears the title: Analysis of some good philosophical works, preceded by Reflections on criticism.
    Contemporary full glazed marbled blonde calf binding. Smooth decorated spine. Red morocco title label. Triple fillet frame on boards and large arms struck at centers. Very fine copy. The second part has its own title page, as well as its half-title.
    With the arms of the Princess de Ligne, Henriette-Anne-Eugénie de Béthizy de Mézières, wife of Prince Ligne (Claude Lamoral Hyacinthe Ferdinand, Marquis de Moy et de Dormans). Olivier I, pl. 15: two conjoined shields: I, grand quarters of Lorraine; overall: party, 1st or a bend...
    €750
  9. Podalire et Dirphé, ou La couronne tient à la jarretiere
    François-Félix NOGARET

    Podalire et Dirphé, ou La couronne tient à la jarretiere

    Chez Louis|A Paris 1801|9 x 16.50 cm|relié
    First edition, illustrated with two frontispieces drawn by Bornet and engraved by Boivinet.
    Contemporary full mottled calf binding. Smooth spine decorated with 3 tools and roulettes. Red morocco title label and black morocco volume label (pastille). Headcap of volume 1 worn. Corners slightly bumped. A brown and dark stain from page 325 to the end, in lower margin, not touching text, becoming more pronounced on the final leaves. A trace of dampstains on the first leaves of the first volume.
    Story of Podalire, a foundling discovered by the Queen of Thebes, his education and destiny.

    NB: This work is available at the bookshop upon request within 48 hours.
    €200
  10. Le Sylphe ou songe de Madame de R***. [Ensemble] Lettre d'un jeune officier a Monsieur de V... En date du 24 mars 1735
    Claude-Prosper Jolyot de CRÉBILLON

    Le Sylphe ou songe de Madame de R***. [Ensemble] Lettre d'un jeune officier a Monsieur de V... En date du 24 mars 1735

    Chez Prault & fils|à Paris 1735|9.50 x 16.50 cm|2 volumes reliés
    The Sylphe was first published in 1730, it is Crébillon's first tale. Lettre d'un jeune officier is in anonymous first edition; very rare, this first edition appears to be absent from all libraries. At the end of the letter, a signature: L.B.D.K. Rare edition.
    Modern cream parchment paper boards binding. Black sheep title-label.
    An erotic tale, the Sylphe, a spirit appearing to a woman weary of men, is the demon of masturbation.
    €350
  11. Essai sur l'homme [Ensemble] Lettres turques
    Alexander POPE, Germain-François Poullain de SAINT-FOIX

    Essai sur l'homme [Ensemble] Lettres turques

    S. n. • chez Pierre Marteau|s. l. • A Cologne 1736 - 1739|9.50 x 16.50 cm|relié
    First French edition of the Essay on Man translated by Etienne de Silhouette, and second edition of the Turkish Letters first published in 1730, by the same publisher in Cologne.
    Modern full parchment paper boards binding. Black sheep title label.
    Pope's Essay on Man, a philosophical poem, is translated in prose, and is preceded by a long preface by the translator. In the Turkish Letters, Saint-Foix was inspired by Montesquieu's model (who himself was inspired by Manara's Chinese Spy model), but while the Letters follow the same principle, they do not contain, as in Montesquieu, the lengthy descriptions; they are entirely devoted to narrative and to the comparison of manners and...
    €450
  12. Lettres De Milady Juliette Catesby, A Milady Henriette Camply, Son Amie
    Elena RICCOBONI

    Lettres De Milady Juliette Catesby, A Milady Henriette Camply, Son Amie

    S. n.|à Amsterdam 1761|9 x 15.50 cm|relié
    Second edition, ostensibly published by the same publisher as the first in 1759, with the same collation. Novel published anonymously and purported to be translated from English (it would later be translated by Frances Brooke, with whom the author was acquainted).
    Contemporary marbled sheep binding. Spine with raised bands, decorated. Red morocco title label. One corner bumped and worn. Rubbing.
    Marie-Jeanne Riccoboni (1713-1792) was, after being a mediocre actress by necessity, a novelist highly appreciated in her time, to such an extent that her peers refused to acknowledge that the author was a woman. Her first novel was an immediate success and the following ones were even...
    €250
  13. Agathocles, ou lettres écrites de Rome et de Grèce, au commencement du quatrième siècle
    Caroline PICHLER

    Agathocles, ou lettres écrites de Rome et de Grèce, au commencement du quatrième siècle

    Chez Blanchard • et Eymery|Paris 1812|10 x 17.50 cm|quatre volumes reliés
    First French edition, translated by Isabelle de Montolieu. Illustrated with a frontispiece by Le Cerf. The half-title of volume 1 is normally replaced by two catalogue leaves.
    Contemporary full speckled calf bindings. Smooth spines decorated with two Grotesque compartments, urn tools and multiple fillets. Red title label and black volume labels. Charming, decorative set. Some surface wear, small lack to one headcap.
    Caroline Pichler was born in Vienna in 1769. She was very early classified among child prodigies, and her first novel appeared in 1799, but it was with Agathocles (1808) that she quickly achieved success and was translated throughout Europe. Here is what can be found in...
    €400
  14. Les subtiles et facecieuses rencontres de I. B. disciple du genereux Verboquet, par luy pratiquées pendant son voyage, tant par mer que par terre. Le tout au contentement des plus Melancoliques
    [VERBOQUET] ANONYME

    Les subtiles et facecieuses rencontres de I. B. disciple du genereux Verboquet, par luy pratiquées pendant son voyage, tant par mer que par terre. Le tout au contentement des plus Melancoliques

    De l'imprimerie de Jean Martin • et de Jean de Bordeaux|à Paris 1630|7.50 x 15 cm|relié
    First edition, rare, of this collection of witticisms and funny stories published as a "supplement" to a reprint of the famous Les Délices, ou Discours joyeux et récréatifs by Verboquet, and since reprinted in its wake, "although it is probably not by the same author" according to Paul Lacroix (PL. Jacob, Enigmes et découvertes bibliographiques).
    Full cream parchment-covered cardboard Bradel binding, modern. Black sheep title-label. Foxing. A pale dampstain in the upper margin. A black stain in the lower margin of leaf 2.
    Very rare and amusing testimony to popular humor and the art of facetious anecdote.
    €500
  15. Recueil de pièces de théâtre : Les templiers (1805).[Ensemble] Regulus (1765). [Ensemble] Irene (1779). [Ensemble] Un jeu de la fortune, ou les marionettes (1806). [Ensemble] Les artistes (1797). [Ensemble] Précis historique du procès et de la condamnation des Templiers (1805)
    RAYNOUARD DORAT, VOLTAIRE

    Recueil de pièces de théâtre : Les templiers (1805).[Ensemble] Regulus (1765). [Ensemble] Irene (1779). [Ensemble] Un jeu de la fortune, ou les marionettes (1806). [Ensemble] Les artistes (1797). [Ensemble] Précis historique du procès et de la condamnation des Templiers (1805)

    Giguet • Michaud • Sébastien Jorry • S. n. • Martinu • Chaigneau Aîné • Debray|Paris 1765-1805|12.50 x 20 cm|relié
    New edition of Raynouard's Templier, illustrated with a frontispiece representing the Grand Master of the Templars. The Cornelian grandeur of the play, which exalts liberty and virtue, earned it Napoleon's support, a triumph in theater and bookshop, and his entry into the French Academy in 1807
    First edition of Dorat's Regulus, illustrated with a figure, a vignette and a tailpiece by Eisen, engraved by Longueil.
    New edition of Voltaire's Irene, same year as the original but the title ornament is different, and the author's last play, at 84 years old.
    New edition of Picard's Un jeu de la fortune.
    First edition of Collin d'Harleville's Artistes, containing a signed...
    €450
  16. Théâtre à l'usage des jeunes personnes
    Madame de GENLIS

    Théâtre à l'usage des jeunes personnes

    Chez Panckoucke|à Paris 1779-1780|12 x 20 cm|4 volumes reliés
    First edition.
    Contemporary half calf bindings. Decorated spine with raised bands. Red morocco title label and brown sheep volume label. Lacks to headcaps of volume IV. A small lack to tail of volume III. Rubbing. Quite good copies, very fresh.
    The complete set comprises 24 plays. Many of these plays were originally intended for the children of Orléans under the care of the Comtesse de Genlis. The roles are performed by children. Madame de Genlis thus inaugurated a new genre in theatre, a theatre made by and for children. In the final volume, the preface specifies that this volume is intended solely for the children of artisans and merchants. It goes without saying that none of the...
    €550
  18. Le philosophe anglois, ou histoire de Monsieur Cleveland, fils naturel de Cromwel, Ecrite par lui-même & traduite de l'anglois
    ABBÉ PREVOST

    Le philosophe anglois, ou histoire de Monsieur Cleveland, fils naturel de Cromwel, Ecrite par lui-même & traduite de l'anglois

    Chez Paul Vaillant|à Londres [London] 1777|9.50 x 16.50 cm|six volumes reliés
    New edition, illustrated with 12 figures by Desrais. Title pages in red and black. The volumes were successively published in 1731, 1732, 1734 and 1739 and the complete novel would appear for the first time in 1741.
    Contemporary marbled full calf bindings. Smooth spine decorated. Red morocco title and volume labels. Marbled edges. Headcaps of volumes I and V worn. Nevertheless a good copy.
    It was in England that Abbé Prévost (one of the greatest and most prolific novelists of the 18th century) wrote the English episodes and the utopia of Cleveland which forms part of his early works: in this travel narrative, the hero, "Cromwell's natural son," seeks philosophical certainties and...
    €400
  19. Zély, ou, La Difficulté D'Etre Heureux, Roman Indien, Suivi de Zima et des Amours de Victorine & de Philogene
    Claude-Henri de Fusée de VOISENON, Madame de FOURQUEUX

    Zély, ou, La Difficulté D'Etre Heureux, Roman Indien, Suivi de Zima et des Amours de Victorine & de Philogene

    Chez La veuve Duchesne|Amsterdam • [Paris] 1775|12 x 19.30 cm|relié
    First edition, rare, decorated with a frontispiece drawn by Bertaux and engraved by Martinet.
    Contemporary green full vellum binding. Spine lacking. Corners bumped. Paper lacking to 2 leaves at right margin, not touching text. Dampstain at bottom of page on several leaves at beginning of work not touching text. Endpapers absent.
    Zély is the work of Madame de Fourqueux, who published several novels: Amélie de Téville ou Les confessions de madame... She is regularly cited in collections of 18th-century anecdotes. Zély deals with the destiny of a woman in the 18th century. The two works that follow are by abbé Voisenon, a man of letters quite famous in the 18th century, frequenting...
    €200
  20. Les oeuvres de Monsieur de Voiture
    Vincent VOITURE

    Les oeuvres de Monsieur de Voiture

    Chez Augustin Courbé|à Paris 1656|9 x 15 cm|relié

    Fifth edition, published at the same time as the quarto edition. The first edition dates from 1650.


    Contemporary full brown sheep binding. Ornamented spine with raised bands. Red morocco title label. Lower joint partly split. Relatively invisible restorations to headcaps.


    The work contains the letters and various poems of the author. Voiture (1597-1648) was throughout his life a gallant and courtier, brilliant in the salons and playing games. His epistolary talent earned him the distinction of making prose fashionable in France for a long time, and his poetry excels in the mannerist and precious tone, even though he knows how to be trivial when necessary. He is an...

    €300
  21. Pindari Olympia, Pythia, Nemea, Isthmia. Caeterorum octo lyricorum carmina, Alcari, Sapphus, Anacreontii, Simonidis, Alcmanis... Editio V. Graecolatina H. Stepha.
    PINDARE

    Pindari Olympia, Pythia, Nemea, Isthmia. Caeterorum octo lyricorum carmina, Alcari, Sapphus, Anacreontii, Simonidis, Alcmanis... Editio V. Graecolatina H. Stepha.

    Pauli stephani|s. l. 1612|6 x 12.50 cm|relié

    New edition, the first of which appears to have been published by the same publisher in 1599.


    Contemporary full calf binding. Attractively ornamented spine with raised bands, featuring a central tool of two interlaced Cs. Red morocco title label. Edges gilt. A one-centimeter lack to the last compartment, and split with small lack to foot headcap, first blank endpaper partly detached. Rubbing. Foxing.


    Edition established by Henri Estienne the younger and published by Paul Estienne, his son, who practiced his printing trade from 1599 to 1526. This bilingual edition includes, besides the works of Pindar, the Greek poets: Anacreon, Sappho...

    €350
  22. Epigrammata
    Marcus Valérius MARTIAL

    Epigrammata

    Jacobi Tonson & Johannis Watts|Londini [London] • (Londres) [London] 1716|9 x 15.60 cm|relié
    First edition by Richard Mead with the life of Martial by Petro Crinito. A frontispiece by Du Guernier. Title page in red and black.
    Contemporary rigid full vellum binding. Smooth Jansenist spine with title in red ink. Handsome copy.
    The work contains the Liber spectaculorum, which gathers 33 epigrammatic pieces, offered to Titus during the inauguration of the Colosseum in 80; followed by the Epigrams numbering 1500 distributed over 15 books. The latter are often obscene, they cast a particular eye on all layers of Roman society and attack all sorts of characters.
    €250
  23. DE RERUM NATURA LIBRI SEX. Ad optimas editiones collati. Studiis Societatis Bipontinae
    LUCRÈCE

    DE RERUM NATURA LIBRI SEX. Ad optimas editiones collati. Studiis Societatis Bipontinae

    Ex Typographia Societatis|Argentorati [Strasbourg] • (Strasbourg) 1808|13.50 x 22.50 cm|relié
    Second edition, enlarged, by the Société des Deux Ponts. Fine Strasbourg printing on laid paper.
    Full marbled calf binding. Beautiful 20th-century pastiche of an 18th-century binding using fine leather. Decorated spine with raised bands. Red morocco title label. Some slight scuffing to boards. Handsome copy.
    The edition contains, in addition to the life of Lucretius by Denys Lambin, reprinting the first annotated edition of 1563, a bibliographical history of Lucretius's work. The index has optimally grouped the best notes from ancient and modern editions.
    €450
  24. Hai tou Sophokleous Tragodiai sozomenai hepta. Sophoclis Tragoediae quae extant septem, additae sunt lectiones variantes, et notae viri doctissimi T. Johnson in quatuor tragoedias
    SOPHOCLE, Thomas JOHNSON

    Hai tou Sophokleous Tragodiai sozomenai hepta. Sophoclis Tragoediae quae extant septem, additae sunt lectiones variantes, et notae viri doctissimi T. Johnson in quatuor tragoedias

    Excudebat R. Foulis|Glasguae [Glasgow] • (Glascow) [Glasgow] 1745|16.50 x 20.50 cm|relié
    Rare edition of the seven tragedies of Sophocles in Greek with notes at the end of the work by Thomas Johnson for Electra, Ajax, Antigone and the Trachiniae. Johnson's notes had previously appeared in 1705. This edition was also published in 2 volumes in 8vo, but in a lesser quality printing, this one distinguished by its quality which resembles Baskerville's printing.
    Careful printing, with wide margins.
    Contemporary speckled full calf binding. Smooth spine decorated with 5 tools and stars. Headcaps and corners restored. Triple-ruled frame. Gilt edges.
    €550
  25. Ta tou Theokritou sesosmena. Theocriti quae extant. Ex Danielis Heinsii expressa
    THÉOCRITE, Daniel HEINSIUS

    Ta tou Theokritou sesosmena. Theocriti quae extant. Ex Danielis Heinsii expressa

    In aedibus academicis excudebant Robertus et Andreas Foulis|Glasguae [Glasgow] • (Glascow) [Glasgow] 1746|9.50 x 16.50 cm|relié
    Greek edition with Latin translation at foot of page. Fine printing.
    Contemporary full glazed calf binding. Decorated spine with raised bands. Red morocco title-label. Triple fillet frame on boards. Edges gilt. Head slightly worn. Corners slightly bumped.
    Good edition, containing the translation by the famous Latinist Daniel Heinsius, who held the chair of belles-lettres at Leiden.
    €300
  26. Noctes acticae cum notis et emendationibus Joannis Frederici Gronovii
    AULU-GELLE, GRONOVIUS

    Noctes acticae cum notis et emendationibus Joannis Frederici Gronovii

    apud Ioannem de Vivie|Lugduni Batavorum [Leiden] • (Leyde) [Leiden] 1687|11 x 21 cm|relié
    First annotated edition established by Gronovius, published posthumously. Decorated with a handsome frontispiece by A. de Blois. The second part consisting exclusively of Gronovius's commentaries has a half-title page and its own pagination.
    Contemporary Dutch rigid full vellum binding. Smooth spine with title in black ink at head. Boards stamped with a blind central roundel. A small 1 cm lack to one edge. Good copy, in a handsome typical Dutch binding.
    Joanne Fridriech Gronovius (1611-1671) was a distinguished Latinist and scholar recognized in the world of letters. He established numerous editions of Latin and Greek authors. After long study travels he ended his career at Leiden...
    €450
  27. Epistolarum libri decem. Cum Ambrosii nonnullis
    Aurelius SYMMACHUS

    Epistolarum libri decem. Cum Ambrosii nonnullis

    Imprimi fecit Gerhard vvingendorp|Lugduni Batavorum [Leiden] • (Leyde) [Leiden] 1653|7.50 x 13.30 cm|relié
    New edition of these letters by Symmachus and the first by this publisher.

    Contemporary full vellum binding with overlapping flaps. Smooth spine with handwritten title. Scattered foxing.

    Symmaque or Symmachus (340-416) was an important statesman who represented the ultimate defense of paganism in the West. His correspondence with various figures represents "extremely precious documents for the history of municipal organization of the city and customs concerning legislation and administration of the era" (Larousse).
    €300
  28. M. Acci Plauti comediae accedit commentarius... Marci Zverii Boxhornii
    PLAUTE

    M. Acci Plauti comediae accedit commentarius... Marci Zverii Boxhornii

    Apud Franciscum Hackum|Lugduni Batavorum [Leiden] • (Leyde) [Leiden] 1645|11.50 x 19.50 cm|relié
    First edition. Illustrated with a handsome frontispiece title. This edition is distinguished by learned and studied typography, the text is in italics and the notes at the bottom of pages.
    Contemporary full vellum binding with overlapping flaps. Smooth spine. Title label added to headcap and partly detached. Good overall condition. Very fresh copy.
    Edition established by Marc Zuerius Boxhornius (1612-1653), celebrated Dutch critic and scholar who was professor of eloquence at 19 years old at Leiden and succeeded Daniel Heinsius in the chair of history.
    Handsome and interesting edition by Hacke in Leiden.
    €350
  29. Magnificent romantic binding by a great binder of the period.
    Histoire de Gil Blas de Santillane, avec des notes historiques et littéraires par M. le Comte François de Neufchateau
    Alain-René LESAGE, Victor HUGO

    Histoire de Gil Blas de Santillane, avec des notes historiques et littéraires par M. le Comte François de Neufchateau

    Chez Lefèvre • Imprimerie de Jules Didot l'aîné|A Paris 1825|14.50 x 23 cm|trois volumes reliés

    New edition from La collection des classiques français, illustrated with a portrait and a folding map of Spain. Fine edition with classical typography and wide margins.


    Full glazed wine-red calf bindings, sky blue title and volume labels, smooth spines richly decorated with cathedral tools and rolls, boards stamped in blind with a large central monastic medallion, a blind border frieze and a second in gilt, boards with slight worm damage, marbled edges.


    Magnificent romantic binding by a great binder of the period.


    It should be noted that the preface by the Comte de Neufchâteau, academician, is actually by Victor Hugo (then aged 16); the...

    €700
  30. Le papillotage, ouvrage comique et moral
    ANONYME

    Le papillotage, ouvrage comique et moral

    Chez E. V. D. W.|à Rotterdam 1767|10.50 x 18 cm|relié

    Second edition after the original of 1766, published by the same publisher.


    Half emerald morocco binding from the mid-19th century. Spine with raised bands decorated with 5 flowers and fillets.


    The work is a libertine entertainment on elegance and fashion in novelistic form; it is the story of an elegant man and his tribulations in society.

    €250
  31. L'estourdy ou les contretemps
    MOLIÈRE

    L'estourdy ou les contretemps

    S. n. • [ Claude Barbin]|à Paris 1679|8 x 13.20 cm|relié
    The first edition dates from 1662, with the date 1663 on the title page. It was published again in 1674 then in 1679. Title page with sphere. Elzevir edition. Rare.
    Full burgundy morocco binding early 20th century Jansenist style. Date at foot. Decorative gilt board-edges. 18th-century endpapers preserved. Light dampstain to the last two leaves. Very handsome copy.
    L'étourdi is considered one of Molière's first true plays, in which he creates for the first time the character of Mascarille. He first performed it in Lyon in 1653, then in Paris in 1658, and only obtained a privilege to have it printed in 1660.
    €500
  32. Elegant epistles : being a copious collection of familiar and amusing letters, selected for the improvement of young persons, and for general entertainment
    Vicesimus KNOX

    Elegant epistles : being a copious collection of familiar and amusing letters, selected for the improvement of young persons, and for general entertainment

    T. Longman • |London 1794|15 x 24 cm|relié
    New edition, revised and expanded. Illustrated with a frontispiece showing various authors in medallions. Printed in double columns.
    Contemporary marbled brown calf binding. Smooth spine richly decorated with Greek key and other rolls. Red morocco title-label. Covers decorated with 3 framing rolls. Interior frieze. Tears to the title-label, upper joint and one compartment. Rubbing. One corner slightly bumped. Elegant English binding, despite some flaws.The letters are divided into four books; the first offers extracts from Cicero and Pliny; the second gathers famous personalities from English history; book three contains letters by Pope and his friends; the last book contains...
    €250
  33. Elegant extracts : or, useful and entertaining pieces of poetry, selected for the improvement of young persons
    Vicesimus KNOX

    Elegant extracts : or, useful and entertaining pieces of poetry, selected for the improvement of young persons

    T. Longman • |London 1796|15 x 24 cm|deux volumes reliés
    New edition, revised and enlarged. 2 title vignettes.
    Contemporary full marbled havana calf bindings. Smooth spines richly decorated with Greek key and other rolls. Red morocco title label. Boards decorated with 3 enclosing rolls. Interior frieze. 3 corners slightly bumped. Small tears to headcaps. Rubbing. Elegant English binding, despite some flaws.
    The extracts are divided into four books or sections: Sacred and moral poetry (Pope, Gray, Dryden...); Didactic and descriptive poetry; Dramas (Shakespeare, Johnson...); Lyrical and sentimental poetry (Milton, Spenser, Tasso, Smith...).
    €280
  34. Q. Horatius Flaccus cum erudito Laevini Torrentii commentario, nunc primum in lucem edito. Item Petri Nanni Alcmariani in artem poëticam
    HORACE [Quintus Horatius Flaccus]

    Q. Horatius Flaccus cum erudito Laevini Torrentii commentario, nunc primum in lucem edito. Item Petri Nanni Alcmariani in artem poëticam

    Ex officina plantiniana • apud Ioannem Moretum|Antverpiae [Antwerp] • (Anvers) [Antwerp] 1608|18.50 x 25 cm|relié
    First edition. Large printer's device on the title page and on the verso of the last leaf. Illustrated with a portrait of Torrentius and a second of Horace on copper. Horace's text in italics.
    Full marbled blonde sheep binding, early 20th century, pastiche of a 17th-century binding. Spine with raised bands, decorated. Red morocco title-label and black morocco dating label. 2 corners darkened. Lacking at foot of spine.
    An edition whose value lies in the commentaries by Laevinius Torrentius (1525-1595) on the odes, satires and epistles, Bishop of Antwerp and scholar, and those by Pierre Nanninck (1500-1557), Dutch scholar native of Alkmaar, who concludes the work by commenting on...
    €700
  35. Deux dialogues du nouveau langage françois, italianize, et autrement deguize, principalement entre les courtisans de ce temps : de plusieurs nouveautez, qui ont accompagné ceste nouveauté de langage: De quelques courtisianismes modernes, & de quelques singularitez courtisanesques
    Henri ESTIENNE

    Deux dialogues du nouveau langage françois, italianize, et autrement deguize, principalement entre les courtisans de ce temps : de plusieurs nouveautez, qui ont accompagné ceste nouveauté de langage: De quelques courtisianismes modernes, & de quelques singularitez courtisanesques

    Par Guillaume Niergue|Anvers [Antwerp] 1583|8 x 12.50 cm|relié

    The first edition was published in 1578 in Geneva. Brunet II, 1076: 'Cet ouvrage piquant a été édité à Genève, en 1578, et non à Paris ; selon plusieurs bibliographes. L'auteur y a prodigué son immense érudition, mais en même temps s'y est permis certaines plaisanteries un peu hardies, qui lui attirèrent une verte semonse du conseil de Genève, par suite de laquelle il jugea prudent de s'absenter... Il en existe deux autres d'Anvers, 1579 et 1583, in 16, qui ne sont guère moins rares que la première, et dont le prix est assez élevé.' ["This piquant work was published in Geneva, in 1578, and not in Paris; according to several bibliographers. The author lavished his immense erudition upon...

    €1,800
  36. Les poesies
    Guillaume CRÉTIN

    Les poesies

    Chez Antoine Urbain Coustelier|à Paris 1723|10 x 16 cm|relié
    The most complete collected edition, expanded with two previously unpublished pieces, namely two verse letters from Cretin to Molinet, with a response from the latter. Preface by the editor, who had specialized in republishing poets from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.
    Contemporary full calf binding. Spine with raised bands decorated with 5 small fleurons in compartments of 3 fillets. Red morocco title label. Head worn. Title page yellowed.
    Guillaume Dubois, known as Crétin, (1460?-1525) was treasurer of the Sainte-Chapelle at Vincennes, then cantor of the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris and ordinary almoner to King François I. He was recognized as a master, notably by Jean Lemaire...
    €450
  37. Obras de Don Joseph Cadalso
    Joseph CADALSO

    Obras de Don Joseph Cadalso

    Por Don Matteo Repullès|Madrid 1803|10 x 15 cm|4 volumes reliés
    First collected edition.
    Contemporary marbled brown sheep binding. Smooth spine decorated with thick and thin fillets. Red morocco title label, black morocco volume label in a circle. One wormhole at foot of volume 1, a second at foot of volume 4.
    José Cadalso (1741-1792), Spanish poet and man of letters, journalist, studied in England and France at the Jesuit college Louis le Grand, then at the seminary in Madrid. After traveling through Europe, he pursued a military career. His prose helped awaken the spirit of the Enlightenment in Spain and defend national identity. These works bring together his poetry, translations and criticism, as well as his essays.
    Bookplate of J. J...
    €700
  38. Henri IV, drame lyrique en trois actes
    Barnabé Farmian de ROZOI

    Henri IV, drame lyrique en trois actes

    Chez Vente|à Paris 1774|13 x 20 cm|relié
    First edition.
    Illustrated with a frontispiece title drawn by Gazard and engraved by Patas, and three engravings by Larrieu, engraved by the same.
    Mid-19th century half red sheep binding. Smooth spine with fillets. Fine copy.
    Barnabé Farmian Durosy or de Rozoi (1745-1792) was a journalist and man of letters from Toulouse, at once playwright, poet, novelist, historian and essayist. Founder and editor of a royalist daily newspaper in 1789, he was the first journalist to die by guillotine under the Terror. Henri IV ou la Bataille d'Ivry was deemed worthy of some twenty performances in Paris, Versailles, Toulouse and Brussels between 1774 and 1795. Antoine Rivarol seems to have...
    €200
  39. Las tarascas de Madrid, y tribunal espantoso. Passos del hombre perdido, y relacion del espiritu malo
    Francisco SANTOS

    Las tarascas de Madrid, y tribunal espantoso. Passos del hombre perdido, y relacion del espiritu malo

    Por Francisco Antonio de Burgos|en Valencia 1694|10.50 x 16.30 cm|relié
    New edition after the first edition of 1665. Rare.
    Contemporary full vellum binding. Smooth spine with handwritten title. Scattered foxing.
    Prolific Spanish writer, Francisco Santos (1618-1696), who was a soldier by profession, is famous for his picaresque novels and short stories from which Lesage drew abundantly for Gil Blas and his Diable boiteux. He defends the poor against the rich, and the humble against the wealthy, a typical attitude of the picaresque novel, and reflection of Madrilenian and Spanish society. Most of Santos's works are full of Christian and Catholic morals, and this spirit led to this work which departs from the strict domain of literature, where the author...
    €900
  40. Le palais du silence. Conte philosophique
    Philippe-Auguste de Sainte-Foix, Chevalier d' ARCQ

    Le palais du silence. Conte philosophique

    S. n.|à Amsterdam • [Paris] 1754|10 x 17 cm|relié

    Rare first edition of this literary hoax, spuriously attributed by the translator to Cadmus of Miletus in a lengthy explanatory preface. Illustrated with a frontispiece after Cochin.
    Contemporary full blond calf binding. Spine gilt-tooled between raised bands. Red morocco title label. Headcap partly worn and upper joint split at the head. Surface abrasions to the boards.

    €300
  41. Les poesies diverses
    Gabriel GILBERT

    Les poesies diverses

    Guillaume de Luynes|à Paris 1661|8.50 x 15.50 cm|relié
    First edition. Rare.
    Contemporary full speckled calf binding. Spine with raised bands and gilt ornament. Split headcaps. Pale marginal dampstain to first 50 pages. Our copy lacks leaf A1 which is a half-title, with no loss of text.
    Gabriel Gilbert (1610-1680) was initially considered a precursor to Racine with regard to his dramatic production. Before becoming secretary to Queen Christina of Sweden, he served the Duchess of Rohan.
    The work contains 7 odes addressed to great figures (King of Sweden, Mazarin...) and Christian poetry.

    NB: This work is available at the bookshop on request within 48 hours.
    €200
  42. Moyses viator : sev, imago militantis ecclesiae mosaicis peregrinantis synagogae
    Antoine MILLIEU

    Moyses viator : sev, imago militantis ecclesiae mosaicis peregrinantis synagogae

    Sumptibus Gabrielis Boissat|Lugduni [Leiden] • (Lyon) 1636|11.50 x 17.50 cm|relié
    First edition. Rare. Not in Brunet. A sequel was published in 1639. The 1680 edition will unite both parts.
    Contemporary limp vellum binding. Pen title.
    Long poem in verse on the exodus of the Jews. One discovers the image of the pilgrim and pilgrimage in the Renaissance, that is to say an exclusive march toward a sacred place.
    €800
  43. Lettres De Milady Juliette Catesby, A Milady Henriette Camply, Son Amie
    Elena RICCOBONI

    Lettres De Milady Juliette Catesby, A Milady Henriette Camply, Son Amie

    S. n.|à Amsterdam 1759|10 x 17 cm|relié
    First edition.
    Novel published anonymously and claimed to be translated from English. It would in fact later be translated into English by Frances Brooke, with whom the author was in contact.
    Contemporary full marbled blonde calf binding. Decorated spine with raised bands. Red morocco title label. Lower joint cracked at head along the first compartment, one corner bumped and worn.
    Marie-Jeanne Riccoboni (1713-1792), was, after having been a mediocre actress by necessity, a novelist highly appreciated in her time, to such an extent that her peers refused to acknowledge that the author was a woman. Her first novel had immediate success and the following ones were even better...
    €350
  44. L'Allée de la seringue ou les Noyers, poème hérosatyrique en 4 chants, par M. D******. La Fradine, ou les Ongles rognez . L'heresie détruite, poeme héroïque. [Ensemble] Le triomphe de Madame Des-Houlieres, receue dixième muse au Parnasse
    Eustache LENOBLE, Marie jeanne Villandon de LHERITIER

    L'Allée de la seringue ou les Noyers, poème hérosatyrique en 4 chants, par M. D******. La Fradine, ou les Ongles rognez . L'heresie détruite, poeme héroïque. [Ensemble] Le triomphe de Madame Des-Houlieres, receue dixième muse au Parnasse

    Chez Eugene Alethophile • chez Claude Mazuel|à Francheville [Fictional Place] • & Paris 1694|9 x 15 cm|relié
    First editions of these two works. Rare. L'hérésie détruite is noted as second edition.
    Contemporary full calf binding. Spine with raised bands decorated in grotesque style. Red morocco title label. Gilt ruling to boards. Edges gilt. Upper headcap worn. Upper joint cracked at head and lower joint cracked at foot. A dark stain on lower board.
    Recent manuscript annotations on first endpaper, noting that L'allée de la seringue, a satirical poem, is in imitation of Boileau's Lutrin, that the Fradine is also a satire against an apothecary, and that L'hérésie détruite is a celebration of the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. The last text, in prose, is a strange staging of the Gods of...
    €450
  45. Aventures et Plaisante éducation du Courtois Chevalier Charles-le-Bon, Sire d'Armagnac , contenant profitables leçons à jeunes chevaliers et à des Dames de haut parage
    Charles Joseph de MAYER

    Aventures et Plaisante éducation du Courtois Chevalier Charles-le-Bon, Sire d'Armagnac , contenant profitables leçons à jeunes chevaliers et à des Dames de haut parage

    S. n.|à Amsterdam • et se trouve à Paris 1785|8.50 x 15 cm|relié
    First edition. Illustrated with three frontispieces by Marillier finely engraved by Le Beau. 4 musical airs notated on several plates.
    Half vellum binding from the early 19th century with small corners. Smooth spine. Black title and volume labels framed with thick gilt fillets.
    Medieval novel set during the reigns of Louis XI and Charles VI inspired by tales and fabliaux of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The author explains his choice of vocabulary and archaic style in a long preface on the novel and observations on medieval tales and fabliaux and the troubadours of Provence, followed by a discourse on the novel.
    Charles Joseph Mayer (1751-1825), French writer and...
    €350
  46. Detti et fatti piacevoli et gravi di diversi principi, filosofi, et cortigiani
    Lodovico GUICCIARDINI

    Detti et fatti piacevoli et gravi di diversi principi, filosofi, et cortigiani

    Apresso Domenico, & Gio. Battista Guerra, Fratelli|in Venetia [Venice] 1569|9.50 x 14.50 cm (In-12)|relié

    The first edition was published in 1565, also in Venice. Printer's device on the title page. Printed in italics.
    Full speckled brown paper boards, early 19th century. Red morocco title label. Fillets. Rubbing to headcaps and boards.

    €450
  47. Very handsome antique morocco binding
    Senecae tragediae cum notis Th. Farnabii
    SÉNÈQUE

    Senecae tragediae cum notis Th. Farnabii

    Daniel Elzevier|Amstelodami [Amsterdam] • (Amsterdam) 1678|6.50 x 12 cm|relié

    Elzevier edition of these tragedies by Seneca with the highly esteemed notes by the English grammarian Thomas Farnaby (or Farnabie). The first edition with Farnaby's notes is that of London, 1613. Brunet V, 286. Illustrated with an engraved title-frontispiece.


    Contemporary full navy blue morocco binding, raised spine decorated in grotesque style (rolls composed of lozenges within circles), sawtooth fillet border and wave roll border on covers, gilt edges, interior fillet.


    Very handsome antique morocco binding.

    €600
  48. L'infortunée sicilienne, histoire et aventures galantes et tragiques d'Adelaide de Messine: Nouvelle édition, ornée de figures en taille-douce
    Louis BELIN DE LA FUYE

    L'infortunée sicilienne, histoire et aventures galantes et tragiques d'Adelaide de Messine: Nouvelle édition, ornée de figures en taille-douce

    Chez Cailleau|à Paris 1768|10 x 17 cm|relié
    The first edition dates from 1722, it was illustrated with 4 figures. This new edition is illustrated with 5 unsigned figures, taken from the original. All editions of this novel appear uncommon. The title page does not contain the author's name. The fashion for exotic stories added a first title which is not found in other editions, and which could cause this work to be confused with that of Claude-François Lambert: L'infortunée sicilienne, ou mémoires et aventures de la comtesse Carini (1743). Not in Cohen (Livres à fig. XVIIIe).
    Contemporary full blonde calf binding. Smooth decorated spine. Red morocco title label, and brown calf volume label. Pleasant copy.
    The novel begins...
    €450
  49. Les oeuvres posthumes de monsieur de La Fontaine
    Jean de LA FONTAINE

    Les oeuvres posthumes de monsieur de La Fontaine

    Guillaume de Luyne|Paris 1696|9.50 x 15 cm|relié
    A counterfeit of the first edition published the same year in Holland.
    Full sheep binding with raised spine, spine in four compartments decorated with double panels and gilt fleurons, brown calf title-label, date at foot, elegant pastiche binding signed Desnaux. Engraved headpieces, initials and tailpieces.
    One manuscript endpaper concerning the work at rear.
    €600
  51. Joannis Sartori adagiorum Chiliades tres sive sententiae proverbiales Graeca, Latina & Belgica, ex praecipuis autoribus collectae, ac brevibus notis illustrae
    Corneille SCHREVEL

    Joannis Sartori adagiorum Chiliades tres sive sententiae proverbiales Graeca, Latina & Belgica, ex praecipuis autoribus collectae, ac brevibus notis illustrae

    Ex typographia Nicolai Herculis|Leyde [Leiden] 1656|9 x 15.50 cm|relié
    Elzevir edition bearing the printer's mark (Hercules with foot on a slain dragon).
    No trace in the Bibliothèque Nationale catalogues.
    Contemporary full vellum binding, pen title, ties present. Spine soiled, endpapers detached, interior in good condition.
    Shrevel (1615-1664) was a Dutch grammarian, best known as the author of a Latin-Greek and Greek-Latin lexicon which was adopted by many countries and reprinted numerous times; he also undertook many editions of Latin authors. This book is Shrevel's edition of Sartori's adagiorum, a collection of Latin proverbs with Greek and Dutch translations, followed by remarks.
    Illegible pen ex-libris.
    €450
  52. L'asiatique tolérant. Traité à l'usage de Zéokinizul roi des Kofirans, surnommé Le Chéri. Ouvrage traduit de l'arabe du voyageur Bekrinoll par Mr de ***** J'excuse les erreurs et non les cruautés
    Laurent Angliviel de la BAUMELLE

    L'asiatique tolérant. Traité à l'usage de Zéokinizul roi des Kofirans, surnommé Le Chéri. Ouvrage traduit de l'arabe du voyageur Bekrinoll par Mr de ***** J'excuse les erreurs et non les cruautés

    Chez Durand|à Paris L'an 24 du traducteur [1748]|11 x 16.8 cm|relié
    Rare first edition of this roman à clef (catalogue of keys at the end of the work) printed by Marc-Michel Rey in Amsterdam.
    Full brown speckled paper boards binding, late 18th or early 19th century.
    « Cet ouvrage a été attribué à Crébillon fils, dont on retrouve l'anagramme dans le nom du prétendu voyageur », Quérard II, 454. but it was attributed to him in error, Crébillon being the author of the amours de Zéonizikul, roi des Kofirans, satire of the relations between Louis XV and Mme de Pompadour, this sequel was in fact written by M de la Baumelle (1726-1773 Laurent Angliviel de la)
    Barbier I, 305.
    €350
  53. Dialogues sur les affaires du temps, ou les pasquinades
    Eustache LE NOBLE

    Dialogues sur les affaires du temps, ou les pasquinades

    Elzevier|Leyde [Leiden] 1689|14.80 x 9 cm|relié
    First editions. Elzevirian editions with the Sphere device.
    Contemporary full calf binding, spine with raised bands, decorated.
    Work composed of 5 texts in first edition gathered in one volume: La chambre des comptes d'Innocent XI (5th dialogue), Le songe de Pasquin ou le bal de l'Europe (2nd dialogue), Le festin de Guillemot (4th dialogue), La pierre de touche politique, la diète d'Augsbourg (9th dialogue). The dialogues appeared anonymously between 1688 and 1691. The pasquinades are satirical dialogues between two harlequin-like characters, Pasquin and Marsorio. It is Pasquin who leads the subject, his sidekick asking questions. The whole is treated with all the desired...
    €550
  54. Le théâtre de M. de la Fosse. Polixene. Thesee. Manlius Capitolinus. Gabinie. Le distrait
    Antoine de. LAFOSSE D'AUBIGNY

    Le théâtre de M. de la Fosse. Polixene. Thesee. Manlius Capitolinus. Gabinie. Le distrait

    Chez Jacques Desbordes|Amsterdam 1703|13.80 x 7.50 cm|relié
    Factitious collection composed of 5 pieces (in separate pagination) by La Fosse illustrated with 5 frontispieces by Van d'Aveele published by Desbordes between 1698 and 1702. General title in red and black. Polixene. 1698. Thesee. 1702. Manlius Capitolinus (same date as the original). 1698. Gabinie. 1700. Le distrait. 1698.
    Contemporary full calf binding, decorated spine with raised bands.
    'It was only at the age of forty-three that Lafosse brought to the stage POLIXENE, his first tragedy. This work had great success during seventeen performances. The Dauphin, attending the second, was so pleased with the actors' performance that he had them given a hundred louis. Two years after...
    €400
  55. Oeuvres morales et meslees. Translatées de grec en français, reveues & corrigées en plusieurs passages par le translateur
    PLUTARQUE, Jacques AMYOT (trans.)

    Oeuvres morales et meslees. Translatées de grec en français, reveues & corrigées en plusieurs passages par le translateur

    Pour Samuel Crespin|à Cologni [Cologne] 1614|38 x 25 cm|relié
    The first edition of Amyot's translation dates from 1572 published by Michel de Vascosan in Paris.
    Contemporary full calf binding, spine with six raised bands, 6 fleurons, double fillet frame on boards.
    Jacques Amyot (1513-1594), was tutor to the sons of Henri II (future Charles IX and Henri III), he was also professor at the University of Bourges and became grand almoner of France and bishop of Auxerre, which he made an important center of humanism. It was on the recommendation of François I that he translated Plutarch's Lives of Illustrious Men. This work, and subsequently the moral works, had and would have considerable impact, not only for the rediscovery of antiquity (which...
    €1,500
  56. Le prince de Balzac
    Jean-Louis GUEZ DE BALZAC

    Le prince de Balzac

    Chez Toussaint du Bray|à Paris 1632|17.20 x 11.50 cm|relié
    Second edition, the first edition having appeared the previous year.
    Contemporary limp vellum binding, unlettered spine. One tear to the vellum at foot, the sewing is somewhat loose. At the end of the work, 10 pages folded at the corner.
    The book consists of a political tableau of Europe under Louis XIII tempered with examples borrowed from antiquity (one notices a curious table of contents). The author establishes therein the portrait of a prince endowed with all the qualities of the 17th-century honest man, whom some will designate as being a flattering portrait of Louis XIII. The work is reputed remarkable for the clarity of its language and the perfection of its eloquence...
    €500
  57. Theatrum funebre, exhibens per varias scenas epitaphia nova, antiqua, seria, jocosa, aevo, ordine, dignitate, genere, sexu, fortunâ, ingenio, adeò & stylo perquàm varia, cum summorum pontificum, imperatum, et regum galliae, succincta chronologia, eorumque symbolis ac apitaphis
    Otto AICHER

    Theatrum funebre, exhibens per varias scenas epitaphia nova, antiqua, seria, jocosa, aevo, ordine, dignitate, genere, sexu, fortunâ, ingenio, adeò & stylo perquàm varia, cum summorum pontificum, imperatum, et regum galliae, succincta chronologia, eorumque symbolis ac apitaphis

    sumpt & typis Joannis Baptistae Mayr|Salisburgi [Salzburg] • (Salzbourg) [Salzburg] 1673|19.80 x 15.50 cm|deux parties en un volume relié
    First edition. Rare. One copy at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France and one at Bristol in England, another in the catalogues of West Germany. A second edition appeared in 1675 with 2 new parts. 2 very handsome frontispieces
    Later full vellum binding. 20th-century black title-label and endpapers. Light worming on the first 2 pages and the last 5. Scattered foxing.
    Otto Aicher (1628-1705), Benedictine and professor, was an Austrian playwright, professor of rhetoric and grammarian, but also a historian. In this book he gathers epitaphs from all periods, notably of Roman emperors and kings, the whole constituting a theatre of death as epitaphs are like voices from beyond the grave...
    €750
  58. Opere Burlesche
    BERNI, CASA

    Opere Burlesche

    Apresso Jacopo Broedelet|in Usecht al Reno [Rome] 1771|17.50 x 12 cm|3 volumes reliés
    First edition. A frontispiece portrait of Berni and two title vignettes. Not held in the Italian national library, and the 3 volumes are rarely found together.
    Bookplate: ex bibliotheca Ferdinandi Baroli. Colleg. Medic. Doct.
    Contemporary full sheep bindings, smooth spines richly decorated with small tools and rolls. Black title labels. Handsome copies.
    Compilation of burlesque works by numerous Italian Renaissance authors including Berni (1490-1536), the most famous for his burlesque works which were called Bernesques. Also includes works by Aretino, Bronzino (the painter), Medici, Galileo, Rustini.
    €600
  59. FACETIAE FACETIARUM, hoc est, Joco-Seriorum Fasciculus, Exhibens Varia Variorum Auctorum Scripta, non tam lectu iucunda & iocosa, amoena & amanda, quam lectu vere digna & utilia [etc.].

    FACETIAE FACETIARUM, hoc est, Joco-Seriorum Fasciculus, Exhibens Varia Variorum Auctorum Scripta, non tam lectu iucunda & iocosa, amoena & amanda, quam lectu vere digna & utilia [etc.].

    ad Moenum|Frankfort [Frankfurt am Main] • (Francfort) [Frankfurt am Main] 1615|13 x 7.80 cm|relié
    First edition of this collection of humorous texts principally based on ribaldry and drinking.
    Later mid-19th century binding in half wine-colored glazed calf (spine lightened) with raised bands and gilt and blind fillets.
    The work contains 12 texts by different authors whose titles are sufficiently significant in their irreverent character (one will note several Disputatio, but on cucurbits or the right to jest). The text is written in Latin and not in the vernacular, making it a violent satire against the learned and the church, which was not mistaken when it placed the book in its index of forbidden books.
    Mattheus Delio de arte Jocandi, Nicodemi Frischlini in ebrietatem...
    €600
  60. Les aventures de Leonidas et Sophronie suivi de Les aventures de Zeloïde et d'Amanzarifdine suivi de Amosis, prince egyptien
    Jean-Louis Ignace de la SERRE, Louis Adrien DUPERRON

    Les aventures de Leonidas et Sophronie suivi de Les aventures de Zeloïde et d'Amanzarifdine suivi de Amosis, prince egyptien

    Chez la veuve Le febvre • chez Saugrain • chez Wan de Vater|à Paris, • à Utrecht 1722, 1715, 1728|16 x 10 cm|trois ouvrages en un volume relié
    First editions of these three rare novels. Not held by the BNF or French catalogs but present in English catalogs (Oxford and British Library).
    Contemporary full calf binding, spine with raised bands decorated with red morocco title-label. Upper headcap with 2/3 missing. 2 cracks of 1 and 2 cm to upper joint. 2 worn corners. One border open with loss of leather.
    Collection in one volume of these three exotic novels, the first of which is drawn from ancient history and set in Sicily, the other two novels taking place in India. Louis Adrien Duperron, abbé de Castéra made numerous translations from Latin, Spanish and Italian, and wrote several novels. Montcrif is a better-known...
    €550
  61. Histoire du chevalier Grandisson
    Samuel RICHARDSON

    Histoire du chevalier Grandisson

    S. n.|à Amsterdam 1777|16.50 x 9.50 cm|relié
    New edition. Translated by Abbé Prévost, with his introduction.
    Full marbled glazed calf binding, spine with raised bands decorated. One tear to joint at headcap.
    "Richardson était l'inventeur de la tragédie bourgeoise [...] Il a inventé ce roman où l'art consiste à négliger tous les préceptes de l'art, où l'accumulation de détails étrangers à l'action, où la répétition des mêmes scènes et des mêmes sentiments, produisent plus d'effet que la précision, le goût, la justesse et l'ordre n'en ont jamais produit" (Richardson was the inventor of bourgeois tragedy [...] He invented this novel where art consists in neglecting all the precepts of art, where the accumulation of details...
    €350
  62. Bertoldino et Cacasenno
    Giulio Cesare CROCE

    Bertoldino et Cacasenno

    Pietro Pinolato|Venezia [Venice] • (Venise) [Venice] 1782|18.50 x 10.50 cm|relié
    First edition. The original dates from 1606.
    Fine printing on quality paper. Illustrated with 20 woodcuts in a popular and rustic style, a medallion portrait and a frontispiece (copperplate).
    Half navy glazed calf binding late 19th century, spine with raised bands decorated with 5 fleurons.
    The copy, of perfect whiteness, appears to have been washed. Giulio Cesare Croce (1550-1609), born in the province of Bologna, came from a poor family, he studied medicine then launched into a literary career, then died poor. Bertoldino and Cacasenno are two emblematic and extremely popular characters of Italy, they have become types, Bertoldino is a cunning and crafty character, who...
    €400
  63. Recueil des énigmes de ce temps
    Abbé Charles COTIN

    Recueil des énigmes de ce temps

    Chez Jean Guignard|à Paris 1661|13 x 8 cm|trois parties en un volume relié
    New edition after the original of 1645.
    Contemporary full calf binding, decorated spine with raised bands, red morocco title label. Rubbed throughout. Lacks to headcaps.
    This collection of riddles refers to a game particularly fashionable in salons which consisted of making others guess a word through a poem or charade. Abbé Cotin (1604-1681), familiar with salons and with Mlle de Gournay, collected a great number of them and published them in a collection. The key to each piece is found at the end of the volume. With this work, the game could be conducted personally and serve a small society. Abbé Cotin, who had dealings with Boileau and Molière, was caricatured by Molière in Les...
    €300
  64. Les oeuvres de Clément Marot, valet de chambre du roi. Revues et augmentées de nouveau
    Clément MAROT

    Les oeuvres de Clément Marot, valet de chambre du roi. Revues et augmentées de nouveau

    Chez Adrian Moetjens|à La Haye [The Hague] 1700|14 x 8 cm|2 tomes reliés en un volume
    Marot's works saw numerous editions in the 16th century, far fewer in the 17th. Contains an abridged life of the author. Handsome edition, the most sought-after according to Brunet (III, 1458) who adds: 'It is difficult to procure well-preserved copies with good margins and whose leaves do not have a russet tint.' This is the appreciated case of our copy.
    Bound in modern full vellum with overlapping flaps, pastiche of a Dutch-style binding. Unlettered spine. Endpapers renewed.
    €450
  65. M. Actii Plauti Comediae XX. Post omnes omnium aéditiones accuryissime recognitae. Praeter reliquas commoditates, habes hic lector optime annotationes in omnes comoedias per G. Longolium...
    PLAUTE

    M. Actii Plauti Comediae XX. Post omnes omnium aéditiones accuryissime recognitae. Praeter reliquas commoditates, habes hic lector optime annotationes in omnes comoedias per G. Longolium...

    Excudebat Ioannes Gymnicus|Coloniae [Cologne] • (Cologne) 1538|16 x 10.50 cm|relié
    First edition. Edition not found in German libraries which possess an edition of 1535 in Basel with another commentator, nor in French and English libraries. Fine italic printing in small type. The first edition of Plautus is from 1472. Edition not cited in Brunet.
    Later full vellum binding, perhaps 18th century. Spine with raised bands. Manuscript title in black ink in the 19th century.
    The comedies of Plautus constitute the largest collection of works that we possess from antiquity. A manuscript note on the title page "Possedet Emilius Friaud professor anno 1855."
    Engraved bookplate Jean Baptiste Peyer seigneur de Fontenelle.
    Library label of Dr Broca.
    Manuscript...
    €900
  66. Le voyage forcé de Becafort
    Abbé Laurent BORDELON

    Le voyage forcé de Becafort

    Chez Fristch & Bomh|à Amsterdam 1719|16.50 x 9.50 cm|deux parties en un volume relié

    New edition after the original of 1709. Red and black title pages.
    Contemporary full calf binding, decorated raised spine. Red morocco title label. Upper headcap worn. Rubbing. Corners slightly bumped.

    NB: This work is available at the bookstore on request within 48 hours.

    €450
  67. Les tragedies et comedies de T. Corneille
    Thomas CORNEILLE

    Les tragedies et comedies de T. Corneille

    Chez Guillaume de Luyne|à Paris 1669, 1673, 1680|15.50 x 8.50 cm|5 tomes reliés
    The first three volumes of this collected edition appeared for the first time in 1662, volume IV, published in 1673, contains only pieces in first edition, namely: Laodice, Le baron d'Albikrack, La mort d'Annibal, La comtesse d'orgueil, Ariane, Teodate. The fifth volume contains in first edition La mort d'Achille, Circé, L'inconnu, Le comte d'Essex. The first three volumes each have a frontispiece title and continuous pagination, the other two volumes have separate pagination, with specific title pages for each piece. Each volume bears on its title page, part I, through V.
    Contemporary full calf bindings, very ornate raised-band spines. Uniform binding on all 5 volumes. Upper headcap of...
    €1,200
  68. Il Costantino tragedia, con la difesa della medesima
    Giovanni Battista Filippo GHIRARDELLI

    Il Costantino tragedia, con la difesa della medesima

    e Giovanni Andreoli|in Roma. Apresse di Gregorio [Rome] 1660|14 x 7.50 cm|deux parties en un volume relié
    Second edition. The first seems to have also appeared in Rome in 1653, but without the announced second part (in first edition) which bears its own title page, La difesa, by Ippolito Shiribandelo. Not found in French catalogs, present at the British library and at Oxford.
    Contemporary full vellum binding. Smooth spine with black handwritten title. Numerous wormholes on the spine. The upper part of the book has lost one stitch (of the 3 present) and has become detached from the binding. Missing an endpaper and half-title to the first part as well as the first leaf of the author's stage directions on his play, which follows the presentation of the characters of the tragedy.
    €450
  69. La muse nouvelle, ou les agréables divertissements du parnasse
    Thomas de LORME

    La muse nouvelle, ou les agréables divertissements du parnasse

    Chez Benoist Coral|à Lyon 1665|14.50 x 9 cm|relié
    Very rare first edition, absent from French and English catalogues, and from the Hollis catalogue of Harvard library. Complete with the portrait and frontispiece which are often lacking.
    20th-century binding using a 19th-century manuscript vellum, smooth spine with red morocco title label. Dampstaining throughout the work. The frontispiece and portrait have been laid down.
    It is undoubtedly, according to the exchange of verses at the beginning of the volume, when quite young that Thomas de Lorme, sieur de Bordes, from Dauphiné and native of la côte Saint André, lawyer at parliament, wrote this collection of rondeaux, epitaphs... At the end of the work, judgments on writers, poets...
    €450
  70. Le somnambule, oeuvres en proses et en vers, ou l'on trouve l'histoire générale d'une isle très singulière, découverte aux grandes indes en 1784. Suivi de FEUTRY Nouveaux opuscules et Suppléments aux nouveaux opuscules
    Fanny de BEAUHARNAIS, FEUTRY

    Le somnambule, oeuvres en proses et en vers, ou l'on trouve l'histoire générale d'une isle très singulière, découverte aux grandes indes en 1784. Suivi de FEUTRY Nouveaux opuscules et Suppléments aux nouveaux opuscules

    A l'Isle de France • Chez P. Fr. Didot le jeune, imprimeur de Monsieur|Paris 1786, 1779|19.50 x 12.50 cm|relié
    First edition. Absent from the BN de France and French catalogues, one copy at the British Library and several in English catalogues. Le somnambule is on deluxe paper. Les nouveaux opuscules de Fleury are in first edition.
    Half blue cloth binding from the first half of the 19th century. Corners slightly bumped.
    French woman of letters (1737-1813), Countess Anne Marie Françoise de Beauharnais wrote novels, tales, plays and verse pieces, which are collected in this volume. Besides containing verse fables, les nouveaux opuscules de Feutry brings together a collection of texts on the birth and development of Castilian, Arab and Italian, Portuguese poetry of great interest. Biography of...
    €500
  71. La femme docteur, ou la théologie tombée en quenouille suivi de Le saint déniché, ou la banqueroute des marchands de miracles par le père Danton , suivi de Patouillet, Apologie de cartouche, ou le scélérat justifié
    Guillaume-Hyacinthe BOUGEANT, DANTON PèRE

    La femme docteur, ou la théologie tombée en quenouille suivi de Le saint déniché, ou la banqueroute des marchands de miracles par le père Danton , suivi de Patouillet, Apologie de cartouche, ou le scélérat justifié

    chez Pierre Sincère • chez Pierre Prudent • chez Pierre Fidèle|Avignon • [Bruxelles [Brussels] • et La Haye?] [The Hague] [1730?], s. d., 1733, s. d.|16 x 10 cm|trois ouvrages en un volume relié
    The places of publication and publishers are obviously fictitious.
    Contemporary full calf binding. Smooth ornate spine. Red morocco title label. Head cap partially worn. 2 lacks to lower joint, 2 corners slightly bumped.
    Collection of three satirical pieces against Jansenism. The Jesuits contributed to the distribution of these pieces, the first of which stages a Jansenist Tartuffe and enjoyed great success. The third piece is a dialogue between a Catholic doctor and a Jansenist.
    €400
  72. La catanoise ou histoire secrète des mouvements arrivez au royaume de Naples, sous la reine Jeanne I
    Nicolas LENGLET DU FRESNOY

    La catanoise ou histoire secrète des mouvements arrivez au royaume de Naples, sous la reine Jeanne I

    Chez Pierre Gandouin|à Paris 1731|16 x 9.50 cm|relié
    First edition. Barbier I, 527.
    Contemporary full sheep binding, decorated raised spine. Upper headcap missing and lower headcap worn. Edges rubbed with leather lacks. One corner slightly bumped.
    La Catanoise was the wet nurse of Queen Joanna of Naples and mother of Robert de Cabanes (grand seneschal of Sicily), of humble origins she experienced an extraordinary social ascension in the kingdom of Naples, which she owed to her ambition and venality.

    NB: This work is available at the bookshop on request within 48 hours.
    €250
  73. Zodiaci vitae, hoc est, de hominis vita, studio ac moribus optime instituendo, libri XII
    Marcellus PALINGENIUS

    Zodiaci vitae, hoc est, de hominis vita, studio ac moribus optime instituendo, libri XII

    apud Ioannem Tornaesium • Gul. Gazeium|Lugduni [Leiden] • (Lyon) 1559|12 x 8 cm|relié
    New edition after the original of 1531. Brunet IV, 317. Caillet, 7096. Title page within an engraved border.
    Contemporary limp vellum binding with overlapping edges. Title (author) in black ink. Some red ink annotations on the endpaper facing the title concerning the book's history. Copy trimmed short on certain pages, notably of the index.
    Collection composed of 12 Latin poems on the liberal arts, human existence, and happiness, each corresponding to a sign of the zodiac. Due to the criticisms the book contains about the church and the pope, the 1531 edition was banned and the Inquisition kept a watchful eye on Palingenius's activities, until he was condemned to the stake. The...
    €600
  74. Clavis et fundamenta graeca linguae
    Eilhard LUBIN

    Clavis et fundamenta graeca linguae

    Lodovico Elzevirium (Elzevir).|Amstelodami [Amsterdam] • (Amsterdam) 1651|13.50 x 8.50 cm|relié
    First edition. Illustrated with a frontispiece.
    Full vellum binding with overlapping edges. Smooth spine with handwritten title. Endpapers renewed.
    Important Greek-Latin dictionary. The German humanist E. Lubin (1565-1621) taught poetics at the University of Rostock from 1595 to 1605 before becoming professor of theology. Fine Elzevier edition in small type. Between 1620 and 1680, Elzevier production experienced a golden age of typography. The origin of small formats and small type (a technical feat at the time) lay in cost considerations, as printing was then in crisis.
    €380
  75. Poesies de madame et mademoiselle Deshoulières
    Antoinette du Ligier de la Garde DESHOULIERES, Antoinette Thérèse DESHOULIERES

    Poesies de madame et mademoiselle Deshoulières

    Chez François Foppens|Bruxelles [Brussels] 1750|15 x 9.50 cm|deux tomes reliés en un volume
    New edition, more complete than the previous ones. The first dates from 1694.
    Contemporary full marbled calf binding. Decorated spine with raised bands. Red morocco title label. Red edges. Handsome copy.
    Antoinette Ligier de la Garde was married at 13 to Sieur Deshoulières, a woman of taste and wit, she cared only to live as she pleased. She was however the first female academician (Arles). She was an original mind, whose verses contain a certain interiority. It was her friends who urged her to publish her poems which had considerable success. After her death her daughter published all of her poems, adding her own.
    €300
  76. Sentimens critiques sur les Caracteres de Monsieur de La Bruyere
    Bonnaventure D'ARGONNE

    Sentimens critiques sur les Caracteres de Monsieur de La Bruyere

    Chez Michel Brunet|à Paris 1701|17 x 10 cm|relié
    First edition.
    Contemporary full calf binding. Decorated raised spine. Rubbing to boards and corners.
    By Noël, known as Bonaventure d'Argonne. Also attributed to Abbé Pierre de Villiers and to Pierre-Jacques Brillon, author of the 'Apologie de Monsieur de La Bruyere et du théophraste moderne...', which is a response to the present work, according to Barbier CG, III, 1124. The work is a scrupulous commentary on La Bruyère's characters, beginning with a general appreciation, then examining and critiquing each theme and each maxim.
    €400
  77. Poemata. Notae ineditae ad anthologiam epigrammatum graecorum
    Pierre-Daniel HUET

    Poemata. Notae ineditae ad anthologiam epigrammatum graecorum

    Ex officina Guillelmi Broedelet|Ultrajecti [Utrecht] • (Utrecht) 1700|9 x 15.50 cm|relié
    Statement of fourth edition.
    Contemporary rigid vellum binding. Smooth spine. Red morocco title label.
    Anthology of poems by Pierre Daniel Huet (1630-1721), historian, scholar and prolific writer, with a section of notes on the Greek epigrams used in the poems (the quotations are in Greek).
    €180
  78. Le triomphe de Pradon
    Nicolas PRADON

    Le triomphe de Pradon

    S. n.|à Lyon 1684|10 x 15.50 cm|relié
    First edition. A frontispiece depicting Mercury whipping a satyr.
    Full marbled calf binding, late 18th century. Smooth spine decorated. Red morocco title-label. Headcaps rubbed.
    Pamphlet against Boileau who had ridiculed him in his satires. The work is an examination of Boileau's works. Nicolas Pradon, known as Jacques Pradon (1632-1698) is the author of 8 tragedies. He is more famous for his rivalry with Racine than for the quality of his plays. Racine supposedly said: "The only difference between Pradon and me is that I know how to write." He was part of the Ancients in the Quarrel of the Ancients and Moderns.
    €400
  79. Loge historique de Monsieur de Saint Foix
    Alexandre-Jacques DU COUDRAY

    Loge historique de Monsieur de Saint Foix

    Chez la veuve Duchesne|à Londres [London] • & se trouve à Paris 1776|10 x 17 cm|relié

    First edition. A frontispiece-portrait by Gabriel de Saint-Aubin.
    Full marbled calf binding. Smooth spine decorated. Red morocco title-label. Gilt fillets framing the boards. Fine Louis XV binding. Good copy.
    The historical eulogy, which extends to p. 70, continues with the thoughts and witticisms of Saint-Foix. Saint Foix served until age 36 with the musketeers, and was famous for his duels. He was royal historiographer and playwright. His most celebrated work remains the Historical Essays on Paris.
    Engraved armorial bookplate, the arms are those of the de Bréda family. Motto: Dominus protector vitae mea a quo trepidabo.
    Label beneath the bookplate: Former library of the...

    €180
  80. Recueil de sonnets, composés par les plus habiles poëtes du royaume, sur les bouts rimez Pan, Guenuche, &c
    MIGNON

    Recueil de sonnets, composés par les plus habiles poëtes du royaume, sur les bouts rimez Pan, Guenuche, &c

    Chez Gabriel Quinet.|à Paris 1683|9.50 x 16.50 cm|relié
    First edition. Rare. Bibliographie des recueils de poésies T. III, pp. 178 to 180.
    Contemporary full speckled calf binding. Raised bands spine decorated. Various rubbing.
    Bouts-rimés are imposed and whimsical rhymes, it was a highly prized game to compose them in the 17th century. The theme, here the praise of the king, and the rhymes, were chosen, and poets had to write pieces in verse. It was a real fever as it appeared that not only in society, but in private, everyone amused themselves with this exercise. This collection is one of the best examples, gathered by Mignon, the sonnets have for rhymes Pan, Grenuche, Satan, Pluche, then Fan, Ruche, Lan, Autruche...
    Many sonnets...
    €600
  81. La sage folie de Spelte. Poëte & historiographe du roy d'Espagne. Traduite d'italien en françois par Louys Garon. [Première partie: La sage folie, fontaine d'allegresse, mere des plaisirs, reyne des belles humeurs : pour la defense des personnes Ioviales, à la confusion des archisages & protomaistres... Seconde partie : La delectable folie, support des capricieux, soulas des fantasques , nourriture des Bigearres : pour l'utilité des cerveaux faibles, & retenuë des boutadeux]
    Antonio Maria SPELTA

    La sage folie de Spelte. Poëte & historiographe du roy d'Espagne. Traduite d'italien en françois par Louys Garon. [Première partie: La sage folie, fontaine d'allegresse, mere des plaisirs, reyne des belles humeurs : pour la defense des personnes Ioviales, à la confusion des archisages & protomaistres... Seconde partie : La delectable folie, support des capricieux, soulas des fantasques , nourriture des Bigearres : pour l'utilité des cerveaux faibles, & retenuë des boutadeux]

    Chez Claude Larjot.|à Lyon 1628|9 x 15 cm|deux parties reliées en un volume
    First French edition. The first edition of the Italian text dates from 1607. Illustrated with two allegorical frontispieces signed Gr. Huret. Uncommon edition. One copy at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France from 1628, and another at the British Library. Nothing in French and English union catalogues.
    Contemporary full vellum binding with overlapping edges. Smooth spine with manuscript title partly illegible. Traces of ties. Scattered pale foxing.
    Antonio Maria Spelta (1559-1632) was a writer, scholar and historian from Padua, and it was while recalling Erasmus's Praise of Folly that he wrote this collection composed partly of reflections on madness, and partly on various subjects...
    €700
  82. Lettres nouvelles ou nouvellement recouvrées de la Marquise de Sévigné, et de la Marquise de Simiane, sa petite fille, pour servir de suite aux différentes éditions des lettres de la Marquise de Sévigné
    Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, Marquise de SEVIGNE

    Lettres nouvelles ou nouvellement recouvrées de la Marquise de Sévigné, et de la Marquise de Simiane, sa petite fille, pour servir de suite aux différentes éditions des lettres de la Marquise de Sévigné

    Chez Lacombe|à Paris 1773|10 x 17.20 cm|relié
    First edition. Tchemerzine V-829
    Contemporary glazed blonde marbled calf. Spine with raised bands, decorated. Red morocco title label. Speckled edges. Upper headcap worn.
    The work, besides new letters from Mme de Sévigné to Président Moulceau, contains several letters to the same from Corbinelli and Mme de Grignan; it includes a reprint of the correspondence regarding the Fouquet trial, composed of 11 letters. The preface has been attributed to La Harpe.
    €600
  83. Caroline de Lichtfield
    Isabelle de MONTOLIEU

    Caroline de Lichtfield

    Chez Pigoreau|à Paris 1798|8 x 13.80 cm|3 volumes reliés
    The first edition was published in 1686. Illustrated with three frontispieces after Challiou, engraved by Bovinet.
    Contemporary half sheep bindings. Smooth spine with fillets. Black title-label (and volume label). Headcaps rubbed, one worn at volume 1. Some stains.
    Caroline de Litchfield, Isabelle de Montolieu's first novel, is a story rich in dramatic twists, written with ease and still read with pleasure today. This novel was published in 1786 simultaneously in Paris and London. Its success was considerable and lasting. There are even paintings inspired by the novel. Reprints are known until 1835 and translations into English, Portuguese, Spanish. Isabelle Pauline Polier de...
    €350
  84. Monsieur Botte
    PIGAULT-LE-BRUN [Charles-Antoine-Guillaume PIGAULT de L'ÉPINOY]

    Monsieur Botte

    Chez Barba|à Paris 1803|10.50 x 17.30 cm|quatre volumes reliés
    First edition illustrated with 4 frontispieces drawn by Huot and engraved by Texier.
    Contemporary half brown calf bindings. Blue paper boards. Smooth spine decorated with 4 concentric tools and roulettes. Black title and volume labels. Handsome copy. Foxing.
    Charles-Antoine-Guillaume Pigault de l'Épinoy, known as Pigault-Lebrun, was a French novelist and playwright born in 1753 in Calais and died in 1835 in La Celle-Saint-Cloud. Pigault Lebrun was at the very source of the French popular novel that would flourish in the 19th century with Dumas and Sue. His life was as eventful as his work. He made the fortune of publisher Barba, who wrote his biography. New editions of this...
    €500
  85. La nouvelle forêt
    Horatio SMITH

    La nouvelle forêt

    Gosselin|Paris 1831|10 x 16.50 cm|4 volumes reliés
    First French edition. Rare. The novel was published in London in 1829.
    Contemporary half sheep bindings. Smooth spines decorated with fillets. Black title labels and red volume labels. Top headcaps of volumes 1, 2 and 4 worn, tail headcap of volume 4 likewise. Set rubbed. Lacking half-title of volume 1. Title leaf of volume 1 reinforced at right margin. Foxing.
    Horace Smith (1779-1849) was the son of a lawyer; after poetic literary beginnings he became a stockbroker. Having made his fortune, he wrote a series of historical novels, including The New Forest.
    €350
  86. Argenis, figuris aeneis adillustrata, suffixo clave, hoc est, nominum propriorum explicatione, atque indice locupletissimo
    Jean BARCLAY

    Argenis, figuris aeneis adillustrata, suffixo clave, hoc est, nominum propriorum explicatione, atque indice locupletissimo

    impensis B. W. M. Endter • Julius Arnold Engelbrecht|Noribergae [Nuremberg] • (Nuremberg) [1672]|8.50 x 14 cm|relié
    The first edition was published in Paris in 1621. This Nuremberg edition, illustrated with 36 unsigned figures and a frontispiece is rare. Each figure is accompanied by a caption.
    Contemporary marbled full calf binding. Decorated smooth spine. Red morocco title label. Joints, headcaps and corners restored.
    The writer Jean Barclay (1582-1621) was born in Pont-à-Mousson and died in Rome (he was invited by the pope and pensioned), he was educated by the Jesuits, then left for England with his father. Argenis is his principal and most famous work (1621), it is a long political novel, a utopia in the classical sense in which the great figures of the time parade. The narration is similar...
    €900
  87. Octavius, Cum integris omnium Notis ac Commentariis, novâque Recensione Jacobi Ouzelii. Cujus et accedunt Animadversiones. Accedit praeterea liber Julii Firmici Materni V.C. De errore profanarum religionum
    Felix Marcus MINUCIUS

    Octavius, Cum integris omnium Notis ac Commentariis, novâque Recensione Jacobi Ouzelii. Cujus et accedunt Animadversiones. Accedit praeterea liber Julii Firmici Materni V.C. De errore profanarum religionum

    Joannes Maire,|Leiden • (Leyde) [Leiden] 1652|15.50 x 20.50 cm|relié
    First edition. The text of Minucius, Octavius, was first published in 1560, but not in its definitive form given here by Jacques Oisel. Numerous quotations and remarks in Greek. A large title vignette signed Dalen. Red and black title page.

    Contemporary full granulated brown sheep binding. Decorated raised band spine. Headcaps worn. Joint cracked at head. Lack to one border.

    Felix Minutius (second half of the 2nd century AD) is one of the first, if not the first of the Latin Christian apologists. He is exclusively known as the author of the present text Octavius, an apology for Christianity in the form of a dialogue between a pagan and a Christian (recalling Cicero's...
    €500
  88. De re poetica. Libri septem
    Georgius FABRICIUS

    De re poetica. Libri septem

    apud Hieronymum de Marnef • Gulielmi Cavellat|Parisiis [Paris] • (Paris) 1583|8 x 12.50 cm|relié
    First edition. First completed printing on September 1, 1583. The first four books appeared in 1565. Printer's devices on title page and verso of final leaf.
    Contemporary full calf binding. Spine with raised bands decorated with 5 fleurons. Boards decorated with central medallion and gilt frame. Head and one corner restored by an amateur. The first endpaper, before the title page, is missing.
    A treatise on poetics combining rhetoric, study of homonymy, verse structure, composition rules, studies of Latin poets... A dictionary of rhymes and poetic vocabulary.
    Georgius Fabricius (1516-1571), born in Chemnitz, was an influential scholar and humanist of his time, an educator, but...
    €800
  89. Gertrude of Wyoming, a pennsylvanian tale and other poems
    Thomas CAMPBELL

    Gertrude of Wyoming, a pennsylvanian tale and other poems

    Longman, Hurst, Rees & Orme|London 1809|23.50 x 29.50 cm|relié
    First edition.
    Half cherry morocco binding with straight grain and corners, smooth spine decorated with gilt roulettes showing minor traces of rubbing at foot, corners slightly bumped, fore-edges rubbed, scratches with slight lacks of marbled paper to boards.
    Some minor foxing, handsome interior condition.
    Bookplate pasted to verso of front board from the Comtesse de Montebello, a second unidentified bookplate pasted above the first.
    €400
  90. Comédies. Le présomptueux , ou l'heureux imaginaire [Ensemble] Le convalescent de qualité, ou l'aristocrate [Ensemble] Le collatéral, ou l'amour et l'intérêt [Ensemble] L'intrigue épistolaire [Ensemble] Les précepteurs [Ensemble] Le Philinte de Molière [Ensemble] Isule et Orovèze.
    Philippe-François-Nazaire FABRE D'ÉGLANTINE, Népomucène Louis LEMERCIER

    Comédies. Le présomptueux , ou l'heureux imaginaire [Ensemble] Le convalescent de qualité, ou l'aristocrate [Ensemble] Le collatéral, ou l'amour et l'intérêt [Ensemble] L'intrigue épistolaire [Ensemble] Les précepteurs [Ensemble] Le Philinte de Molière [Ensemble] Isule et Orovèze.

    Chez Prault • Barba • Cercle Social • Huet • Garrigan|à Paris, • à Avignon 1791-1803|12.50 x 20.50 cm|relié
    Some of these plays are first editions. Only the last play is by Lemercier. The work brings together the author's best plays, notably Le Philinte de Molière, a Revolutionary play which had considerable success.
    Contemporary full sheep binding. Smooth spine with fleurons and roulettes. Red morocco title label. Roulette frame on boards. 2 corners slightly bumped. A lack of leather at the top of the upper joint. Rubbing to joints, edges.
    Fabre d'Églantine (1750-1794) was a strange character, first an itinerant actor then writer of comedies, he became Danton's secretary then deputy to the Convention, to end up guillotined in 1794 (for forgery and use of forgeries), alongside Danton...
    €600
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