Prehistory & Antiquity

First edition, one of 50 numbered copies on China paper, the only deluxe copies with 50 on Japan.
Work decorated with illustrations by Abel Boyé.
Half brown morocco with corners binding, smooth spine decorated with a gilt cartouche decorated with floral decorative motifs with pieces of brown mosaic morocco, gilt date at foot, some slight rubbing to the headcaps, gilt fillets frame on the marbled paper covers, endpapers and pastedowns of pebbled paper, covers in duplicate state and spine preserved, top edge gilt, elegant binding signed Canape.
Handsome copy beautifully executed.

First edition of the French translation of Livy's Roman History by Pierre Du Ryer, historian, member of the French Academy and great translator for the Parisian booksellers of the period. This translation is accompanied by the supplements of Jean Freinsheim, philologist and historiographer to Queen Christina of Sweden, to whom Du Ryer dedicates the work. The edition also includes Florus's complete Summaries at the head of each book. Arms of Louis XIII engraved on the title page, text enhanced with engraved headpieces, initials and tailpieces.

Full calf binding, spine with 6 raised bands, later 18th-century red morocco title-label decorated with an eagle, arms of the Sade family of the Mazan branch, spine with author, title and volume number gilt, raised bands decorated with gilt fillet and compartments decorated with grotesques surrounded by double gilt fillet, gilt fillet on the leading edges. Boards reinforced at the joints with reused parchment visible under the white paper endpapers, probably a notarial deed. Handsome copy representative of the work of Parisian binders of the mid-17th century, found in the great collections of the period.

Fine condition, small dampstains in upper margin not touching the text, small hole with loss of a few letters on p.223, some rare scattered worming and browned leaves, slight bookworm damage.

Rare provenance from the library of the Sade family, of the Mazan branch, inherited by Donatien Alphonse de Sade, the Divine Marquis. The book would have been acquired by Abbé Jacques François Paul Alfonce de Sade, scholar and libertine, probably kept at the château de Saumane during the abbé's lifetime and at his death was transferred to the Sade family collection at the château de Condé after 1814. It has not left the Sade collection since. (Sources: Thibault de Sade, direct descendant of the Marquis)
Manuscript note from the beginning of the second half of the 17th century on the upper pastedowns of each volume. Characteristic indication of public sales of great Parisian libraries in the 17th century with the price in livres tournois and the name of the dealer. On the first volume "20 lt Nicolas [...]", the name is covered in ink with the addition below in a later date by another hand "1658", probably an acquisition date, and on the second volume "30 lt Nicolas [...]" with the addition of the date as on the first volume.

Prestigious provenance.

First illustrated edition. Collection Edouard Guillaume Lotus bleu. The cover is dated 1896, the title page 1897. A frontispiece in double state, black and sanguine, 6 plates and head-pieces, tailpieces... The whole delicately erotic by Mittis. Printed on white glazed laid paper. Ordinary issue after 50 numbered copies on Japan paper and 50 numbered copies on China paper. Original wrappers preserved.

Contemporary full black shagreen binding. Smooth spine decorated with 2 small mirrored tools at head and a stylized tulip on spine. Gilt fillet frame on covers. Interior border. Top edge gilt. Wide margins. Some occasional pale scattered foxing.

Very handsome copy.

Prehistoric novel featuring one of the best-known characters from Rosny Aîné's prehistoric universe, Vamireh. In his wanderings, he encounters Elem, a young girl from another tribe, whom he captures. He must fight this clan to keep his conquest. We find the author's incredibly dense and lyrical style, typical of this fin de siècle period. With different groups of hominids, Rosny Aîné is the only and first author to give a plausible and realistic version of prehistory.

New edition. Printer's device on title page. Colophon: Excudebat Robertus STephanus Parisiis, Ann. M. D. XXXIII. octavo cal. sept.
Full brown marbled sheep binding ca 1920, pastiche of a Renaissance binding, signed L. P. Thébaut. Spine with raised bands decorated with 5 small fleurons. Central roundel on covers, and thick gilt frame. Tear with loss at foot. Black stain at head and foot. Corners rubbed. Some foxing. Joints slightly cracked. Good copy.
Collection of three texts by Roman writers: The illustrated lives by Pliny the Younger, which are short biographies of famous men (Pompey, Hannibal, Scipio...); Suetonius's book on grammarians and rhetoricians is the last part of Lives of Illustrious Men (not completely transmitted to us), and finally, the famous book of prodigies by Julius Obsequens which relates the auguries and strange and marvelous events that occurred in Rome between 249 BC and 12 AD. This fragmentary work was often published following other ancient texts.
Several editions bringing together these texts can be found, with certain variants, notably for Pliny's works; the two other works by Suetonius and Obsequens being often coupled with Pliny's correspondence.

First edition on ordinary paper.

Half-forest green shagreen contemporary binding, spine with five raised bands, marbled paper board and endpapers, bookplate pasted on one guard.
Some slight, minor foxing.

Rare signed and inscribed copy by Gustave Flaubert to (Louis) de Carné, journalist and historian, several of whose works were listed in the inventory of Flaubert's personal library.

Flaubert's interest in de Carné's work was not always benevolent, however. Critical notes on his articles can be found in the Bouvard and Pécuchet files.
Moreover, the publication of Salammbô coincided with the controversial election of Louis de Carné to the Académie Française, which some critics deemed a clerical coup d'état. His election resulted from a campaign orchestrated by Bishop Dupanloup against the opposing candidate, Émile Littré, whose materialist definition of man had provoked the ire of religious and Orléanist factions. Flaubert refers to the scandal of this election in a letter to the Goncourt brothers dated 6 May 1863: "Have you sufficiently railed against Sainte-Beuve and cursed the Académie over Carné's appointment?"
While this inscription likely predates the election, it remains a curious tribute from an author once accused of “offense against public morality and religion” to a future representative of religious power within the prestigious Académie.

A precious copy, featuring a rare autograph inscription, handsomely bound in a contemporary binding.

First edition. Rare. Engraved title page with printer’s vignette (a beehive and bees). A fine edition, handsomely printed on quality laid paper. The copy is authenticated by the author’s original signature.
The copy bears a preliminary page preceding the half-title for a prize, repeating the same motto found on the binding. The book appears to have been presented by the University or School of Harlem to Bernardo Van Laar in 1799 as a first prize in letters, and seems signed by several professors.
Contemporary full mottled calf binding. Emblematic binding (Athena – or Virtue? – with her attributes reading a book beneath a tree, on her shield: a sword surmounted by the Maltese cross, flanked by four stars) with the motto Vicit Vim Virtus gilt-stamped on the boards. Spine with raised bands, richly decorated with intertwined foliage and floral tools. Broad gilt frame on the covers. Red morocco label. Traces of ties. Rubbing to the spine, otherwise a handsome copy.
With a bookseller’s label (A. Durand, Paris), a stamp from the diocesan library of Valence, and a stamp of E. T. Hannion, chaplain at the Imperial Lycée of Bar-Le-Duc.

New edition. Although we have found no trace of this Basel edition, the first edition was published in Venice by Aldus in 1527 (with a different collation). Not held by the Bibliothèque nationale de France and absent from French catalogues. Oxford holds an edition with the same date. English catalogues mention several copies at different dates. Printed in italic type.
Fine contemporary German binding on pigskin with clasps in perfect working order. Spine with 3 raised bands, unlettered, with handwritten paper lettering piece, boards stamped in blind with decorative rolls in frames (leafy designs with medallions representing Erasmus of Rotterdam and Philip of Milan, Martin of Paris, John of ??). Central rectangle with interlacing foliate mirror patterns. 2 dampstains on the upper board (one 2cm in diameter and the other 4cm extending outward). Fresh paper.
Priscian was a Roman grammarian of the 6th century AD, whose Latin name was Priscianus Caesariensis (named after his native city of Caesarea, in Mauritania). Little is ultimately known of his existence, except that he taught in Constantinople, and above all that his major work to which he owes his fame, the Institutiones Grammaticae (in 18 books), became the reference for Latin grammar until the end of the Middle Ages. The present work is a collection that brings together different works by Priscian, linguistic studies or translations of Hermogenes and Dionysius Periegetes.

Rare first edition illustrated with 38 woodcuts in the text and 4 half-page copper engravings (one repeated). A very fine frontispiece by Hoos.) Brunet, 29030.
Half calf binding with smooth spine decorated with small corners. Green title-label, fleurons and wave-pattern fillets. Late 18th-century binding. Two-thirds of the work has browned text, often heavily. The second part lacks a title page.
Jean Scheffer (1621-1679) was born in Strasbourg, he was welcomed to Sweden by Queen Christina and appointed librarian of the academy and obtained through the Queen's protection the chair of eloquence and public law at the University of Uppsala. He also wrote a history of Lapland. The De re vehiculi is one of his most scholarly works, on a subject that was not often studied, means of transport in antiquity. It is the most complete work on this subject. Brunet 29030.