Northern terroirs: Picardy traditions, Norman heritage, Hauts-de-France folklore and regional chronicles

Le Havre, Montivilliers and various places, 1786-1797. Twenty-one separately printed pamphlets bound together in one quarto volume, 19.2 x 25 cm.

Rare sammelband assembled by Jean-Baptiste-Jacques L'Aignel himself from the printed fragments of the legal, economic and political work to which he devoted the final decades of his life. Prospectuses, prefaces, prolegomena, speeches and appendices had been issued separately, mostly in Le Havre or nearby Montivilliers, to accompany a much larger undertaking that was never to reach its intended final form. Gathered here by their author...

First edition, one of 220 numbered copies on pure rag paper, the only deluxe issue.
Fine copy.

First edition, one of 100 copies printed on pur fil paper, the only deluxe copies.

A handsome copy.

First edition, one of 135 copies printed on pure rag Arches paper, the deluxe issue.

A handsome copy.

First edition, one of 165 numbered copies on pur fil d'Arches, deluxe issue.

A fine copy.

First edition, one of 100 numbered copies on alfa paper, the only deluxe issue.

A rare and handsome copy.

Inscribed and signed by Jean de La Varende to Monsieur Gorrée.

First edition illustrated with 1 plate printed outside the text (graph), cf. Vicaire 85. Frère I 96.

Bradel binding in full pebble-grained paper boards, smooth spine, black oasis leather title label, original wrappers preserved though spotted, modern binding.

Scattered foxing.

Bergasse, a learned lawyer and no less distinguished magistrate, born in Lyon on 22 September 1792, died in Paris on 6 July 1853. A member of the Académie de Rouen, of which he served as president, he enriched the proceedings of that Society with several interesting memoirs" [Frère].

The present work provides valuable information on the economic condition of the butchery trade of wide...

First edition, one of 50 numbered copies on vélin de renage, most limited deluxe issue.

A fine copy.

First edition, one of 20 numbered copies on alfa paper, our copy lettered "A" among the 8 hors commerce lettered copies, the only deluxe paper issue.

A tear at the foot of the spine at the level of the sewing supports, otherwise a pleasant wide-margined copy.

Dated and signed autograph presentation by the publisher beneath the print statement: "Affectueusement reservé à mon admirable collaboratrice Suzanne qui est aussi la plus charmante & la plus précieuse des filleules - que dis-je ? la seule filleule qui compte ! Paris 18 octobre 1942."

Very scarce first edition, issued in a small printing, of this offprint from the Annales des Sciences naturelles for September 1828 (cf. Engelmann I, 315).

This paper is preceded by "Extrait du rapport fait à l’Académie royale des sciences sur le mémoire présenté par MM. Audouin et Milne-Edwards, par MM. Cuvier et Duméril".

The CCF records only two copies, in Paris (Muséum) and Montpellier.

The author of several entomological papers published from 1821 onwards, Victor Audouin also took an interest in marine biology: in 1826, 1828 and 1829 he undertook, together with Henri Milne-Edwards, three field trips to Brittany and Normandy.

The present...

First edition. 

Contemporary blue half shagreen bindings, spines in five raised bands with a few rubs, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns. 

Frère I, 487 : "Cet ouvrage remarquable par la richesse des documents qu'il renferme, jette une vive lumière sur l'histoire du commerce de Rouen au moyen-âge. Il est divisé en 2 parties distinctes : la première contient le texte même de l'ouvrage, et la deuxième les pièces justificatives qui presque toutes sont inédites".

Very rare first edition of this album comprising 24 plates engraved by the Valenciennes engraver William Marks.

Indeed, the large figure printed on two sheets counts as two engraved plates (nos. 8 and 9), Cf. Vicaire

Contemporary half tawny shagreen over corners, spine with five raised bands highlighted with gilt dotted tooling and decorated with double fillets and gilt fleurons, some rubbing to the spine and joints, one joint split and then reglued at the head, comb-marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, original illustrated upper wrapper preserved, top edge gilt, engraved bookplate pasted to one pastedown, contemporary binding.

Texts by...

Rare whaling share certificate issued by the Lamotte & Cie shipowners of Le Havre.

Lithographed sheet on pink paper with manuscript additions, presented in a modern glazed frame (with a small chip to the upper right corner of the frame) and set within a mat.

The document is mounted on a guard, tipped in at the head to the mat.

This is a half-share certificate valued at two thousand five hundred francs, relating to the vessel Hâvre, issued in the name of Mr Levis de Pontaudemer and bearing the number 25.

Dated at Le Havre, 10 September 1834.

A very rare and attractive document.

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

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

First and only edition. This copy is one of the rare examples complete with the 64 full-page plates. The work is also illustrated with a title vignette depicting the artist Ambroise-Louis Garneray in a small boat, sketching the entrance to the port of Brest.

Contemporary binding of half tan sheep with corners, smooth spine richly decorated in gilt and blind with multiple large typographic tools, discreet restorations to the joints, marbled-paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns.

A magnificent work on the ports of France, and one of the finest collections ever...