Rare books on antique civilizations: Antique Egypt, Greek and Roman history, antique texts and birth of archaeology

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.

First edition of the famous translation by Abraham Loesher, the best and most faithful edition according to Clavier. The editio princeps of this text dates from 1516, printed by the Aldine Press in Venice, but according to Brunet (IV, 454), although rare, it was made from a poor manuscript and was executed carelessly, which gives full importance to the edition we present. Publication date in colophon. Printer's device on verso of final leaf, with the inscription Arion. Historiated initials.
Contemporary full calf binding. Spine with raised bands restored at the end of the 19th century, with fleurons and roulettes on the bands, red morocco title label. Corners restored. On the upper board, gilt: G. Harrosset. Numerous scratches on the boards. Some worming on the lower board. The bottom of the title page has been reinforced over 1cm. Minor damage of no consequence: A pale dampstain in lower margin (another in upper margin on some leaves) fading until page 48, resuming on the last 20 pages and the index. Worming between page 26 and 46 in the lower right corner. A second from page 349 to 413 in right margin, at the very bottom.
Pausanias was a geographer and writer of the 2nd century AD. His description of Greece constitutes a testimony of primary importance on Greece in the Roman period, particularly for the 2nd century of the Christian era, even though Pausanias often delights in mixing history and mythology. In the manner of a modern travel guide, he gives, as he follows his itinerary, the detailed list of sites he visits and the legends relating to them. Numerous archaeological excavations have repeatedly confirmed the veracity of his information, especially concerning historical sites and the works of art they contained. To describe the monuments and sites he visits, Pausanias (115-180) searches libraries and travels extensively.