16th-18th centuries: humanism, religious wars, Renaissance to Enlightenment society, history, letters and arts of the Ancien Régime

A collection of two first editions of Italian translations, each devoted to a figure of eighteenth-century French secret diplomacy and published during their lifetimes: the Chevalier d'Éon and Prince Charles Edward Stuart, d. 1810 and 1788 respectively. 

This sammelband, combining two separately published works, in fact possesses a genuine thematic unity: cross-dressing.

The first translation is complete with the rare frontispiece portrait of the Chevalier in women's dress, the identity he would assume in the second half of his life. "She" proudly wears the cross of the Order of Saint-Louis on her chest, awarded in 1763. 

The second translation was made from an eighteenth- and nineteenth-century bestseller with a colourful publishing history: Ascanius, or the Young Adventurer; a true history, written by Ralph Griffiths. This biography of Charles Edward Stuart had, prior to its publication in 1746, existed as a manuscript circulating clandestinely at the court of Versailles. In Griffiths's version, unlike in the present Italian translation, the "Young Pretender" never appears under his real name. Both works nonetheless recount the episode in which "Bonnie Prince Charlie" disguised himself as an Irish maidservant during his flight to the Isle of Skye, following the defeat of his armies at the Battle of Culloden.

Temporary binding in half vellum, manuscript title in brown ink on the spine with an early partially missing library label at the head, fore-edge untrimmed. 

Title rubbed, discreet worming and minor foxing to the spine.

Scattered foxing and marginal dampstaining to the first text. Second text in fine condition.

Rare first edition under this title, complete with the engraved title-page. The first edition of 1607, Remonstrance faicte au Roy Très Chrétien pour la réunion des religions à la foy catholique, was printed in Tournon in only 96 pages. This second edition, of which there were probably two issues from the same bookseller, was substantially revised and enlarged by the author.

Contemporary limp vellum with turn-ins, smooth spine, faded ink manuscript title to spine, original ties present, red speckled edges. Bookplate of the lawyer V[ictor] Duchâtaux, a bibliophile of the second half of the 19th century, to front pastedown. Manuscript ownership inscription dated 1661 at foot of engraved title-page.

Two tiny ink spots on pp. 57 and 209 affecting one letter each, small marginal wormhole on p. 417 not affecting text, a fine copy.

On p. 58, the passage "not in the traditions of the Roman Church! but in their own Bible, which I made the judge of all my designs, and the rule of my will" (our own translation) is underlined in brown ink, probably in the same hand as the ownership inscription.

New quarto edition, revised and corrected by the author, with numerous decorated headpieces, initials and tailpieces.

Full brown calf, spine in six compartments with five raised bands richly gilt-tooled, red morocco lettering-piece, triple blind fillet border to boards, double gilt fillet to board edges, red edges, marbled pastedowns and endpapers.

Light scratches and scuffing to boards, corners slightly bumped, otherwise a very fine copy.

Paper flaw causing marginal tears on pp. 49, 571 and 595, light scattered foxing affecting a few gatherings towards the end of the volume, minor wormhole to lower corner of pp. 253 onwards, ending in a charming emoji.

First edition.

A single copy recorded in the CCFr (Roanne).

Contemporary half green calf, smooth spine cracked and with losses, marbled paper boards, original printed wrappers preserved, binding of the period.

Lower board tending to detach.

The Venetian historian Ronaldo Fulin (1824–1884) produced numerous publications and original studies based on the exceptionally rich holdings of the Archivio di Stato of Venice.

The question addressed in this communication is linked to the presumed relations between Columbus and Venice (see the accompanying letters).

Copy from the library of the celebrated Americanist Henry Harrisse (1829–1910), a specialist of the earliest discoveries of the New World, with an autograph inscription by Ronaldo Fulin at the head of the front wrapper.

Henry Harrisse enhanced this pamphlet with seven autograph signed letters, mounted, in French or Italian, generally accompanied by their envelopes: 1. One from the Italian historian Cesare Cantù (1804–1895), dated 10 December 1881. – 2. One from the Columbian scholar Marcello Staglieno (1829–1909), dated 3 August 1888. – 3. One from the director of the Archivio di Stato of Venice (signature illegible), dated 27 June 1888. – 4. A card from the publisher B. Calore, dated 17 December 1881. – 5.–6. Two letters from the philologist and Hispanist Alfred Morel-Fatio (1850–19245), dated 2 and 9 December 1881. – 7. One letter from Henry Vignaud (1830–1922), in his capacity as First Secretary of the United States Legation in Paris from 1882 to 1909, dated 30 May 1888.

Most of these letters revolve around the existence of a purported letter from Christopher Columbus to the Senate of Venice, prior to the voyages of exploration.

Letter written by a secretary and signed by Louis XVI, addressed to Cardinal Ludovico Calini, in ink over eleven lines. The signature of Charles Gravier, Comte de Vergennes, appearing at the foot of the bifolium, accompanies that of the King for these New Year wishes. The recipient's name is inscribed on the verso: "Mon Cousin le Cardinal Calino".

A few waterstains, a small hole at "qu'il vous ait".

"My Cousin, I have seen with pleasure from your letter of October 1st the token of the sincerity of the wishes you express for me at the beginning of this year. Your good intentions are as well known to me as you must be certain of my desire to give you proof of my esteem and affection. Whereupon I pray God that He may have you, My Cousin, in His holy and worthy keeping. Written at Versailles the 31st of January 1776." (our own translation). 

Third edition, revised, corrected, and enlarged with several important Additions by the author published posthumously, and with Remarks by the Translator (our own translation), with the portrait of John Locke by Godfrey Kneller, engraved by François Morellon de La Cave.

Contemporary full brown calf, spine with five raised bands decorated with gilt compartments, brown morocco lettering-piece, triple fillet border to covers in blind, red edges, marbled pastedowns and endpapers.

Headcaps missing, surface losses to covers and one larger loss to upper left corner of back cover, corners bumped and worn, rubbing to edges with a small loss at foot of front cover, ink gift inscription to first blank leaf.

In this copy: light marginal dampstaining to early leaves and to pp. 53-58 and pp. 463-472, not affecting text.

This volume is enriched with ink annotations: "n°23 =" to verso of front free endpaper, another inscription to recto of second endpaper, and several ink corrections to margins and text at pp. 3, 125, 127, 148, and 269.

Very rare first edition (125 copies printed according to Quérard) of this remarkable exposition of Talma’s dramaturgical principles, still regarded as a “revolutionary” actor despite his immense success (his friendship with Napoleon never wavered); the text was inserted the same year, 1825, at the beginning of the new edition of the Memoirs of Henri-Louis Caïn, known as Lekain (1729–1778), who was still considered in the early nineteenth century as one of the greatest tragedians of the eighteenth century.

See Quérard IX, 333.

Scattered foxing.

Full cherry-red long-grain morocco, smooth spine tooled with gilt fillets, garlands and fleurons, gilt rolls at head and tail, gilt fillet, garland and dotted border together with blind-stamped palmettes on the boards, small black speckling on the front board, blue endpapers and pastedowns, gilt lace border on the pastedowns, gilt fillets on the board edges, all edges gilt, contemporary binding.

A handsomely produced copy in a period Romantic full-morocco binding.

First edition of the French translation and notes prepared by Billecocq (cf. Sabin, 41879; Leclerc, 943; Field, 947; Howes, 443; Staton-Trenlaine, Bibliogr. of Canadiana, 597 for the original edition).

Half mottled calf, smooth spine decorated with gilt tools, brown shagreen title-piece, marbled paper boards slightly darkened and faded at the edges, red edges; modern binding.

Stamp on the half-title, a light marginal dampstain affecting the outer margins of the final leaves.

Illustrated with a folding copper-engraved map by P. F. Tardieu, “Des pays situés à l'ouest du Canada”.

“The interest of the work lies in the detailed and relatively objective descriptions it provides of Indigenous life (…) The work is also of great value for its extensive lists of terms used by the Inuit, the Agniers, the Algonquins, the Mohegans, the Chaouanons and the Saulteaux.” Cf. Dictionary of Canadian Biography, IV, pp. 524–525.

First edition, illustrated with four tinted plates, including a frontispiece (cf. O'Reilly & Reitman, Tahiti, 6452).

Contemporary half plum sheep, the spine faded and decorated with gilt garlands and floral tools, some rubbing to the spine, marbled-paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, a few worn spots along the edges.

Scattered foxing, the plates evenly toned.

The work offers a history of the island, written in the aftermath of its annexation following the cession of his domains by King Pomare V. It provides an overview of the voyages of Quirós, Wallis, Bougainville and Cook, a portrait of Tahitian life a century earlier, and a sketch of the island’s development since the arrival of the first missionaries.

Chapter V is devoted to the principal episodes of Captain Cook’s three voyages to Tahiti: encounters with the inhabitants, meetings with local chiefs, the revolt on the island of Eimeo, visits to the surrounding islands... (pp. 107–220).

Joseph Bournichon (1839–1924) was a priest and the author of several edifying monographs.

New illustrated edition featuring two lithographed plates out of text and enriched with notes by Francisco de S. Luiz (cf. Brunet I, p. 263; Graesse I, p. 118).

Modern binding in half Havana calf, smooth spine decorated with gilt and black fillets and black floral motifs, black shagreen title piece, marbled paper boards, red edges.

A few light foxing spots, mainly at the beginning of the volume.

This biography, rightly celebrated, met with great success upon publication.

First edition of each volume.

The first work lacks its map, while the second retains it.

Full marbled blond calf binding, smooth spines decorated with gilt floral and scroll motifs, red calf title labels, gilt fillet borders on the covers, gilt roll tooling along the edges, cat’s-eye endpapers and pastedowns, green edges, contemporary binding.

Restorations to the spines, joints fragile, repairs to the title leaves, handwritten notes at the head of the first page of text in each volume.

First edition of the French translation (cf. Atabey, 557 (text) and 569 (atlas). Blackmer, 788 (atlas). Hage Chahine, 2105.)

Contemporary half brown shagreen, spines uniformly sunned and faded, raised bands framed with black fillets, marbled paper boards, comb-marbled endpapers, gilt edges; a few lightly rubbed corners, one small defect to the foot of the edges of the fifteenth volume.

Some light foxing in the text volumes.

The atlas volume, folio, is issued in parts under ten beige paper wrappers with printed blue labels; the wrapper of part 6 is lacking; the general map of the Ottoman Empire has been restored in the final part; light foxing to the covers.

The original German edition was published in Budapest in ten volumes between 1827 and 1835. The illustrations comprise thirty-nine maps and plans—principally battle plans—prepared by the translator J. J. Hellert. The text includes eight folding genealogical tables of Ottoman princes and high dignitaries.

Joseph von Hammer, a renowned Austrian orientalist and diplomat, was born in Graz (Styria) in 1774. He entered the Royal Academy of Oriental Languages in Vienna, where he studied Turkish, Persian and Arabic. In 1799 he undertook his first journey to Constantinople; the following year he joined the British admiral Sidney Smith in the campaign against the French in Egypt as interpreter and translator. He attended the grand vizier’s council at Jaffa and the surrender of Alexandria. In 1802 he became secretary to the Austrian legation in Constantinople, from which he travelled into Asia Minor and Greece. Posted in 1806 to the consulate-general at Jassy in Moldavia, he was appointed interpreter at the Viennese chancellery in 1807. In 1817 he rose to the rank of court councillor. After inheriting the estates of the Counts of Purgstall, he added their name to his own and was created baron in 1835. He translated numerous oriental works into German and played a major role in the founding of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, serving as its first president from 1848 to 1849. He died in Vienna in 1856. "Aucun orientaliste avant lui n'a connu plus intimement les peuples musulmans et n'a autant contribué à nous faire connaître leurs mœurs, leur histoire et leur littérature […]. Il passa trente ans à réunir les documents [de son Histoire de l'Empire ottoman], qu'il a tirée de manuscrits orientaux et des archives de Saint-Marc à Venise, de celles de Vienne, et de tous les ouvrages publiés en Europe sur l'Empire ottoman" (Hoefer, XXIII, 259-267). Provenance: S. H. Weiss bookshop in Constantinople, located on the Grande Rue de Pera opposite the Russian consulate (label in each text volume).

Rare work. 

New edition, partly original, revised, corrected and enlarged.

Bound in full red morocco, spines with five raised bands decorated with gilt garlands and compartments adorned with crowned “LL” monograms, gilt rolls on the caps, triple gilt fillets framing the covers, gilt armorial stamps of Louis XV at the centre of each board, gilt dentelle border on the turn-ins, gilt fillets along the edges, marbled edges. Slightly rubbed corners. Contemporary bindings.

Some leaves slightly yellowed, minor paper flaw on page 101 of the second volume.

Extensive and highly useful table of contents at the end of the second volume. Jean-Antoine Soulatges, lawyer at the Parliament of Toulouse, who died in that city around 1780, was also the author of a Traité des crimes.

A handsome copy, in red morocco, bearing the cipher and arms of Louis XV (OHR pl. 2495, tools 12 and 30).

First edition of this periodical, comprising for the complete year 1781 (from 2 January to 28 December) 104 issues, the text printed in two columns with continuous pagination.

Contemporary half calf, mottled fawn, smooth spines decorated with gilt compartment tooling and floral ornaments, beige calf lettering-pieces and blue calf volume labels; minor losses and rubbing to spines and joints, a few scuffs to the blue paper boards, bumped corners, red edges; bindings contemporary to publication.

Transposition of ff. 357–58 and 359–60; initials in black ink and numbering to the endpapers; bookplate affixed and marginally torn in the first volume, another bookplate covered over in the second.

A biweekly periodical founded in June 1776, published until December 1792.

Its contributors included Serres de la Tour, Théveneau de Morande, and Brissot—already well-known publicists and scarcely “ministerial,” as was then said. Printed in England for readerships on both sides of the Channel, though primarily intended to inform a French audience about English institutions, it was avidly read in Paris, especially throughout the Anglo-French war over the American colonies. Along its columns one finds exceptionally rich documentation on that conflict (relative strengths, reports of naval and land engagements, debates in the English Parliament, diplomatic negotiations, etc.). Yet this was not its sole interest: what especially captured French readers of the Courier during this period of anglomania—and what chiefly accounts for the periodical’s value—were its detailed accounts of major English parliamentary sessions, together with numerous articles translated from and drawn from English and American newspapers.

A rare first edition, of which no subsequent reprint exists, complete with all his Neo-Latin poems, chiefly composed in Rome. The volume also contains two Greek poems at ff. 60 and 62, together with a poem which inspired the celebrated sonnet Happy he who like Ulysses.

Modern binding in full limp vellum, smooth spine, red edges, white pastedowns and endleaves.

Some defects within: discreet restoration to inner margin of title verso; small tear without loss at foot of ff. 2-3; dampstaining to lower margin of ff. 25-28 and 45-48; minimal marginal defect to f. 44, not affecting text.

Published in March 1558, this precious copy contains four books of Latin poems - Elegiæ, Varia Epigr[ammata], Amores [Faustinae], Tumuli - written by Du Bellay in Rome and Paris between 1553 and 1557. The collection, also referred to as Poemata or Œuvres latines, appeared in the same year as three other works from his Roman period: Les Regrets, Divers Jeux Rustiques, and Les Antiquitez de Rome.

Very rare first edition of the new laws enacted in 1775 by Catherine II, Empress of Russia, here translated into Turkish for the recently annexed Turkic-speaking provinces taken from the Ottoman Empire.

The work is divided into two parts: the first, dated 12 November 1775, comprises the first 28 chapters (pp. 1–190); the second contains chapters 29 to 31 (pp. 191–248).

Contemporary-style half mottled sheep with small corners, unlettered spine with five raised bands decorated with double gilt fillets and gilt thistle tools, marbled paper boards, red edges, modern binding.

Pale marginal dampstaining to the upper right corner of the initial leaves.

Very rare edition (cf. Saffroy III, 35 251).

Disbound copy, with a faint dampstain in the left margin of the title-page and a few insignificant spots of foxing.

This separately published tract was later inserted into the first volume of the celebrated *Histoire généalogique de la maison d’Auvergne* (1708).

Appended here, detached from the first volume and forming the origin of the controversy: [BALUZE, MABILLON et RUINART]: Procez verbal. Contenant l'examen & discussion de deux anciens cartulaires & de l'obituaire de l'église de saint Julien de Brioude en Auvergne, de neuf anciens titres compris en sept feüillets de parchemin, & de dix autres anciens feüillets aussi en parchemin, contenant des fragmens de deux tables, l'une par ordre des chiffres, & l'autre par alphabet, lesquels ont esté destachez d'un ancien cartulaire de la mesme église. Le tout pour faire voir que Géraud de la Tour, I. du nom, duc de Guyenne & comte d'Auvergne, comme il paroist par la table généalogique qui suit. Printed in Paris by Théodore Muguet, 1695, title-leaf and 22 pp. (cf. Saffroy III, 35 252).

This tract, drafted at the request of Cardinal de Bouillon, was likewise inserted into the *Histoire généalogique de la maison d’Auvergne*.

Very rare first edition, bilingual, quarto in format and printed on laid paper, of the Corsican cahier de doléances.

(Cf. Starace 4747. Not in Roland Bonaparte. Conlon, xxiv, 89:1617, who notes only the 32-page octavo edition. No copy located in CCF or Worldcat.)

Our copy is preserved in a plain grey paper wrapper, with minor internal flaws, a few discreet paper restorations to the lower right margin of the opening leaves, not affecting the text.

"Les cahiers des Tiers, en même temps que des mesures spécifiques, exigent les mêmes réformes que le reste du royaume. Cette imbrication du régional et du national est jalonnée d'événements illustrant la dynamique révolutionnaire: agitation lors des assemblées primaires, émeute de Bastia le 1er mai 1789, "révolution municipale" du mois d'août à l'annonce du 14 Juillet parisien et sous le signe de la cocarde tricolore..." Soboul, Dict. hist. de la Révolution française.

Among the specific measures requested are the following: authorisation for Corsican vessels to fly the Moor’s Head on the French white ensign (as several towns and provinces of the kingdom already displayed their own arms); establishment of a university at Corte funded by the former revenues of the Carthusians, Jacobins, and Olivetans; establishment of a lazaretto to facilitate trade with the Levant; creation of a free port; preference in appointments to be given to Corsicans or to French inhabitants established on the island, etc.

Light foxing to the lower and upper right corners of the leaves, not affecting the text.

A well-preserved and appealing copy.

First edition published anonymously, the work of the Bayonne man of letters Coste d'Arnobat (1732–1808), probably based on accounts provided by English merchants (cf. Barbier IV 1060).

Contemporary half sheep in dark brown, smooth spine tooled with gilt floral motifs, gilt initial “V” at the foot, some rubbing to spine and joints, a small marginal loss at the head of the spine, marbled paper boards, yellow sprinkled edges.

A dampstain affecting the folds of the final ten leaves.

An account of Bambouc, a region of Upper Senegal particularly noted for its gold mines and inhabited by the Mandinka people.

This narrative, later translated into German, offers highly valuable information on the activities and customs of the Malinké of Upper Senegal. Coste appended to it an essay on the Indian castes (pp. 65–113), “d’après les mémoires d’un savant observateur qui a vécu trente ans dans l’intérieur de l’Inde,” followed by two further dissertations on Holland (pp. 117–312) and on England (pp. 315–358), countries he visited in 1774.

First edition, illustrated at the end of the volume with tables printed on two large folding plates included in the pagination (cf. Ferguson 2165a.)

Contemporary half bordeaux shagreen, the spine very lightly faded, with five raised bands framed by black fillets, marbled-paper boards, comb-marbled endpapers and pastedowns, original wrappers marginally soiled and showing small preserved restorations, edges untrimmed, modern binding signed Laurenchet.

Botany Bay, on the eastern coast of Australia, had been chosen in 1787 by the British government as a place of deportation. This study seeks to demonstrate the ineffectiveness of penal colonies at a time when the proposal to establish one in France still had many supporters.

A pleasing copy.

New edition, revised, corrected, and considerably enlarged.

Contemporary bindings in half mottled fawn calf over corners, smooth spines gilt with fillets, morocco title and volume labels, brown paper-covered boards, sprinkled edges.

Some minor rubbing to the spines, a few corners slightly bumped.

L'Esprit des lois occupies volumes I to IV; La Défense de l'Esprit des lois volume V (with a general index); Lettres persanes volume VI; volume VII gathers the Considérations and related pieces; volume VIII contains the posthumous works.

This collected edition of Montesquieu's works offers no particular bibliographical peculiarities in its contents but constitutes a very rare Zweibrücken printing bearing the false Saarbrücken imprint: Deux-Ponts was in fact an autonomous and conveniently located printing centre (by virtue of its proximity) for introducing into France titles that could not otherwise evade censorship.

Rare first edition (cf. Martin & Walter 25 395).

Contemporary half-sheepskin bindings, the spines smooth and gilt-ruled in double fillets, boards covered in rose-papered pasteboard, red sheepskin lettering-pieces and green volume labels, yellow edges; corners rubbed, bindings of the period.

Some rubbing and faint staining to the spines and boards with small losses to the rose paper, a tiny hole at the head of the spine of the first volume, scattered foxing and a few marks to the edges, not affecting the text.

Bound at the end of volume II is another work by the same author: "Appel au tribunal de l'opinion publique. Du rapport de M. Chabroud, et du décret rendu par l'Assemblée nationale le 2 octobre 1790. Examen du mémoire du Duc d'Orléans, et du plaidoyer du comte de Mirabeau, et nouveaux éclaircissemens sur les crimes du 5 et du 6 octobre 1789", printed in Geneva, s.n., 1790 (title, ij pp., pp. 3–352). First edition as well, and uncommon, of this refutation of the tendentious report delivered by Chabroud, president of the Constituent Assembly, concerning the riots of 5 and 6 August 1789.

Very rare first edition (cf. Monglond VII 661).

Contemporary half brown sheep with corners, smooth spine gilt with floral tools and fillets, rubbing to spine and joints, marbled paper boards, grey endpapers and pastedowns, corners softened, yellow edges.

Pleasant, clean interior.

A shadowy figure who was by turns (and at times simultaneously) a secret agent, Tallien’s associate, a Revolutionary pamphleteer, and a double agent under the Directory and the Empire, Méhée de La Touche (1762–1827) left in 1784 on a covert diplomatic mission to Poland and Russia, from which he was expelled at the end of 1791. The correspondence he publishes here (running from 1788 to July 1791) abounds in valuable information on the social and political situation of these countries at the close of the eighteenth century.

First edition (cf. Grand-Carteret, Almanachs, 158; Saffroy, Almanachs et annuaires, 306.)

Interleaved from page 46, with a few small spots of foxing.

Full old red morocco, smooth spine panelled and decorated with fleurons, triple gilt fillet border on covers, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt roll-tooled edges, all edges gilt, contemporary binding.

Minor rubbing to the upper cover and a tiny hole to one joint.

Copy from the libraries of Raymond-Jean-François Laplagne-Barris (1786–1857), magistrate and Peer of France, and of heraldist Olivier Le Bas, with their bookplates pasted on the front pastedown and first endpaper.

New edition.

Half calf binding in tan, spine with five raised bands tooled in gilt with gilt compartments decorated with floral motifs, blond calf title label, green paper boards with scratches, some rubbing to edges, red edges, contemporary binding.

Spine restored and rubbed, tear without loss to the head of pages 33–34 and 35–36, ink marginal note on the title page, which has been trimmed by the binder.

The first edition of Recherches sur l'origine du despotisme oriental dates from 1761, and the text was extensively revised by Baron d’Holbach to reflect his atheistic views, as he was in fact the editor of all the works attributed to Boulanger, who died in 1759.

Originally conceived as a commentary on Montesquieu’s Esprit des Lois, the work condemns in equal measure what it calls “theocracy” (in reality, any transcendent source of power) and “despotism” (in effect, any form of unlimited monarchy, wrongly associated with non-Western societies), and is clearly aimed at criticizing the regimes then in force in Europe.

First edition of this very rare memorandum advocating the establishment of a Chair of Natural Law at the Collège d’Autun (entrusted to the lawyer Bouheret).

No copies recorded in either CCFr or WorldCat.

The authors of this Dijon-printed text, mindful of their educational mission, examine the Utility of Natural Law from several perspectives—Religion, Government, and the various orders of society. They refer to Abbé Gédouin and his Dissertation sur l’éducation, to Mably’s Entretiens de Phocion, and to La Chalotais’s Essai d’Éducation nationale ou Plan d’études pour la jeunesse, both published the previous year. Burlamaqui’s Principes du droit naturel et politique (1694–1748), likewise issued posthumously at the same period, are mentioned, as are Cumberland’s Loix naturelles, translated in 1744, whose theses—close to Pufendorf and refuting Hobbes—reinforce the authors’ position. Printed in Dijon, this work reflects the depth and importance of the contemporary debate on natural law, a principle central to the Physiocrats, whose theories would shortly be developed and formulated by Quesnay in his celebrated Physiocratie ou constitution naturelle du Gouvernement le plus avantageux (Leiden and Paris, 1767–1768).

A handsome copy, as issued, preserved in its original plain temporary wrappers, with small tears to the spine.

First edition, one of 45 numbered copies on Holland paper, the deluxe issue.

Full chocolate-brown morocco binding, spine with five raised bands framed with black fillets, date gilt at foot, gilt rolls on the caps, marbled paper endpapers and doublures, gilt double fillet borders on the doublures, gilt fillets along the edges, original wrappers and spine preserved, all edges gilt, slipcase edged with matching chocolate morocco, sides in marbled paper, interior lined with grey felt. A splendid binding signed by Semet & Plumelle.

A very handsome copy, perfectly bound in full morocco by Semet & Plumelle.

First and only edition of the author's sole work.

Adorned with a fine engraved portrait of Jacques-Nicolas Colbert (1655–1707), youngest son of the minister and Archbishop of Carthage, to whom the book is dedicated.

Bound in full red morocco, spine with five raised bands, richly gilt compartments decorated with gilt fleurs-de-lys, gilt fillets, and Du Seuil-style panels on the covers; gilt tooling to headcaps and board edges, all edges gilt. Contemporary binding.

Some foxing, small wormholes at head and foot of spine, three black spots at the head of the upper cover.

Provenance: from the library of Alfred Massé (1911–1951), Radical-Socialist deputy for Nièvre under the Third Republic, with his bookplate.

Monogram stamps on the title page.

First edition of the French translation, based on the sixth English edition.

Copies listed in the CCF only at the BnF, Dijon, and Rouen libraries.

Our copy is preserved in its original state, in contemporary marbled paper wrappers.

The only edition of this curious political pamphlet, seemingly without any real connection to an English original, which proposes to reorganize Europe through joint—particularly military—control by the four principal continental powers (Austria, France, Spain, and Prussia) over all the others, in order to ensure peace and balance across the continent.

These prophetic, if still utopian, reflections are preceded by an analysis of Europe’s situation since the Seven Years’ War.

A collection of extremely rare prospectuses, prefaces, prolegomena, and appendices to a monumental work of political and economic philosophy by the Le Havre lawyer J.-B.-J. L'Aignel (1741-1806), former mayor of Le Havre.

The work was intended to be published in several volumes, but illness prevented the author from completing it.

Contemporary full marbled calf binding, spine with five raised bands ruled in gilt (partly faded) and decorated with double gilt compartments, black morocco title labels, gilt fillet borders on the edges (partly rubbed), red edges.

Worming in the lower margin of the final section, not affecting the text; small restorations to the boards.

Printed in Le Havre or nearby Montivilliers, these pieces were meant to be issued separately and have very rarely survived (Frère knew of only three).

The present copy was assembled by the author himself and is one of the two most complete known, along with the copy held by the Bibliothèque municipale du Havre (although with slightly different contents): 1) Souscriptions proposées au public par le jurisconsulte L'Aignel… Pour ses deux Ouvrages intitulés : le premier, les Loix commerciales : le deuxième, la France commerçante. 1er Avril 1797. 4 pp. 2) Loix commerciales et France commerçante. Adresse Aux deux Conseils du Corps Législatif. 1er Avril 1797. 12 pp. (Lechevalier, Biblio. arr. du Havre, 4698) 3) Discours historique sur le commerce (par Savary). 44 pp. (Lechevalier 4699) 4) Discours sur la navigation (par L'Aignel). 71 pp. (Lechevalier 4697) 5) Les Phares de Normandie et du Havre, Allumés à l’avènement de Louis XVI (par L'Aignel); Ode… Présentée à Sa Majesté étant aux Phares du Havre, le 28 Juin 1786. 8 pp. (Frère II 133, Lechevalier 1496) 6) Les Livres XX, XXI & XXII, de l'Esprit des Loix Par Montesquieu : Relatifs au Commerce, Considéré comme une des bases de l'Ordre Social. Montivilliers, Imprimerie des Administrations municipales, s.d. 112 et 6 pp. (Lechevalier 4700) 7) Analyse satyrique de l'Esprit des loix Par M. de Bonneval. 1 f.n.ch. 8) L'Ordre Social. Prospectus. - L'Ordre Social, Propre à tout Gouvernement quelqu'il soit, républicain ou Monarchique; distribué en neuf Législations proposées : précédé de l'Examen des loix hébraïques, romaines, françaises, et autres, tant anciennes que modernes… Par le Jurisconsulte l'Aignel,… Au Havre, Chez l'Auteur, de l'imprimerie de Patry, (1795). 1 f.n.ch. et 27 pp. (Frère II 134, Lechevalier 4690: autre éd. en 24 pp.?) 9) La Confédération générale de l'Europe : ou Extrait du projet de paix perpétuelle de l'abbé de Saint-Pierre. Montivilliers, de l'Imprimerie du District (vers 1796). 15 pp. (Lechevalier 4700 (2)) 10) L'Ordre social, propre à tout gouvernement, Et distribué en neuf Législations …Par le Jurisconsulte l'Aignel,… S.l., (1795). 4 pp. 11) Les Pairies populaires et leurs assemblées Proposées par le Jurisconsulte l'Aignel… S.l., (1796). 20 pp. (Lechevalier 4696) 12) Le Comice patriotique et universel. Au Havre, de l'Impr. de Le Picquier, (vers 1795). 23 pp. (Frère II 134, Lechevalier 4693) 13) Les Hospices, Ci-devant dits Hôpitaux, Aumôneries, Maladreries, Léproseries, Hôtels ou Maisons-Dieu. S.l. (vers 1795). 32 pp. (Lechevalier 4695: autre éd. en 32 pp.?) 14) Les Tributs directs et fixés. Observation préliminaire. Au Havre, de l'Impr. de Le Picquier (vers 1795). 27 pp. (Lechevalier 4694) 15) L'Appendice de la France commerçante en 1789 Par le Jurisconsulte l'Aignel… Au Havre, chez l'Auteur, de l'Imprimerie de Patry, (1796). 2 ff.n.ch., 4 pp. 16) Le Spectacle de la France, lors de la convocation des États Généraux en 1789. S.l., (1796). xij pp. 17) Remarques particulières sur le gouvernement français Par le Président Hénault. Montivilliers, de l'Imprimerie des Administrations municipales, (vers 1795-1796). 54 pp. (Lechevalier 4700 (3)) 18) Histoire sommaire du droit français Par Gabriel Argou,… Montivilliers, de l'Imprimerie du District, (vers 1795-1796). 56 pp. (Lechevalier 4700 (4)) 19) Le Spectacle de la France, lors de la convocation des États Généraux en 1789. S.l. (vers 1795). 107 pp. (Lechevalier 4688) 20) Commerce général de la France en 1789 S.l.n.d. 23 pp. (Lechevalier 4691) 21) Salines et sel, Particulièrement en France S.l.n.d. 44 pp. (Lechevalier 4692). L'Aignel affixed to the front flyleaf an in-8 printed leaf containing two of his poems in honor of the First Consul and Josephine during their official visit to Le Havre on 15 Brumaire Year XI (6 November 1802).

This copy remained in the author’s family until his grandson René, also a lawyer in Le Havre, presented it on 6 November 1882 to a certain E. Seguin, as indicated by a pencil note on the front pastedown.

Very rare document on the so-called "Eau de Cologne," illustrated with a headpiece depicting the city of Cologne.

Written by Giovanni Antonio Farina (1718–1787), one of the heirs and successors of the inventor of the famous lotion, the Italian perfumer Giovanni Paolo Feminis (1660–1736), who had settled in Cologne.

Jean-Antoine Farina would later transmit the formula to his descendants, the last of whom, Jean-Marie Farina (1785–1864), successfully marketed the celebrated water during the first half of the 19th century.

This pamphlet details the various medicinal applications of Eau de Cologne (the names of the ailments are printed in capitals). "Il y a environ un siècle que cette Eau a été inventée et composée par le Sr. Paul Feminis, Italien, et ancien Distillateur à Cologne, et qu'elle est en grande réputation dans toute l'Europe. On ne peut donner à cette Eau tout l'éloge qu'elle mérite : ses vertus sont au dessus de tout ce qu'on peut en dire, et l'expérience constante qu'on en a par les effets surprenans que dans une infinité de Maladies elle opère continuellement, sur toutes les Personnes, de quelque sexe et âge qu'elles soient, en est une preuve si convaincante, que c'est à juste titre qu'on lui donne le nom d'admirable".

First edition, illustrated on the title page with a small woodcut showing a bull and a mounted horseman charging, and at the end of the volume with a curious wood-engraved vignette depicting the poet (wearing spectacles) and his muse.

Rare and engaging bullfighting pamphlet containing a verse account of a mounted bullfight held in Lisbon on 26 September 1752.

Pleasing copy preserved in its original sewing with later plain marbled paper wrappers.

Extremely rare first edition of the French translation by Luc de la Porte (cf. Lust 24. Cordier, Sinica, 12. Palau 105509. Sabin 27780. Wagner (SW) 7bb. Leclerc (1878) 258. Streit IV, 1999. Alden European Americana 588/37 – 8 copies recorded in the U.S.A. Atkinson 339.)

Contemporary full brown calf binding, spine with five raised bands decorated with double gilt compartments, joints and spine restored, gilt fillets partly faded on the edges, red edges. 17th-century binding.

Minor stain to margin at the beginning of the volume; tear to margin p. 62.

Extremely rare first edition of the French translation of one of the finest missionary accounts of 16th-century China; it includes a significant section on the Americas, notably the recent discovery of New Mexico by Antonio d'Espejo in 1583. It was through this work that Abraham Ortelius was able to complete the American section of his atlas (Sabin 27775).

Manuscript ex-libris on the title page: Cadt. Berdeilh; autograph letter signed by Marie de Berdeilh, dated Mirepoix, January 10, on the front endpaper; and an acknowledgment of debt signed by the same, mounted to front pastedown. Ex-libris of Gaston Héliot, an antiques dealer specializing in Chinese and Japanese curiosities c. 1920–1930.

First edition of the French translation prepared by Jean-Nicolas Jouin de Sausseul (see Quérard VII, 330, who erroneously lists 4 parts; Cioranescu XVIII, 59 618; not in Sabin).

Full mottled fawn calf binding, smooth spines divided into compartments and decorated with gilt fleurons, some rubbing, light brown morocco title labels, green morocco volume labels, gilt rolls slightly faded at the headcaps, single gilt fillet framing the boards, gilt fillets along the edges, bumped corners, red edges, contemporary bindings.

Two small patches of missing leather to the lower cover of the second volume.

The original English edition appeared in 1781 under the title Emma Corbett.

One of the earliest English novels inspired by the loss of the American colonies; it enjoyed great success in Britain. Samuel Jackson Pratt (1749–1814) was a prolific man of letters whose works achieved a popularity comparable to that of Mme Cottin, a writer of a similar period and sensibility.

First edition.

Only one copy listed in the CCF (BnF).

Bradel binding in full marbled paper boards, smooth spine, green shagreen title label with a small loss, modern binding.

Very rare report of the administration of the "Argenterie, Menus-Plaisirs et affaires de la chambre", which under the Ancien Régime formed part of the King's Household, in charge of the "King’s pleasures"—that is, the organization of court ceremonies and entertainments.

Compiled from 393 records (and 21,000 invoices).

By drastically reducing the expenses of his household, Louis XVI retained only a single “Maître des Menus-Plaisirs”, endowed with a budget infinitely smaller than that of his predecessors.

Second edition of the French translation prepared by François-Victor Hugo.

Half red shagreen bindings, slightly faded spines with four raised bands numerously framed in gilt and central gilt tooled motif, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers, speckled edges, contemporary bindings.

Some occasional foxing, minor black specks on a few spines, upper corners of volume 10 slightly damaged.

Our set, attractively bound uniformly in contemporary bindings, is complete in 18 volumes including the often lacking final three volumes of apocryphal writings.

Third edition, the second issued under this title, partly original as it includes several new memoirs and the general tariff of Holland.

See Sabin 47557. Cioranescu 35613. Kress 3019. Not in Goldsmiths or Einaudi. See INED 2306 for the "Grand trésor historique et politique du florissant commerce des Hollandois" (1712).

Amsterdam, Du Villard, Changuion, 1718, 8vo,

Full mottled tan calf, spine with raised bands decorated with gilt fillets, garlands and floral tools (partly faded), red morocco title label, gilt rolls at the head and tail, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt fillet on board edges, red edges, one lower corner bumped, others slightly rubbed, contemporary binding.

Second, enlarged edition of these rather protectionist ideas, which prompted Dupont de Nemours to write a refutation (Lettre à la Chambre de commerce de Normandie).

Our copy is preserved in its original wrappers, now covered with modern marbled paper, red edges.

The second part is entitled Plan d'une banque nationale de France, ou d'une caisse générale de recettes & paiements des deniers publics & particuliers, and bears the Jersey imprint, 1787. Frère I, 210 (for the first edition of 1787).

First edition of this important work, cf. Krivatsy 588. Garrison-Morton 1673, 5047 and 5085.

Full stiff ivory vellum, spine with four raised bands, the author’s name handwritten in black ink, one defect on the fourth band, blind-tooled rolls on the headcaps, gilt fillets highlighting the raised bands and framing the covers, small vellum losses on the covers, losses at the corners of the first and last endpaper, edges sprinkled red, contemporary binding.

Bound with this work are three further treatises by Guillaume de Baillou, all printed by Quesnel in 1640. Krivatsy, describing a volume made up in the same manner as ours, suggests that this collection may have been issued as such.

The additional works are described below:

   -   Definitiorum medicarum liber. (Title in red and black, 9 unnumbered ff., 108 pp. and 4 unnumbered ff. The title and preliminary leaves have been bound by mistake after the preliminaries of the first work).

Cf. Krivatsy 587. Garrison-Morton 6796.

First edition published in 1639, with cancel title dated 1640. "A glossary of Hippocratic terms" [Garrison-Morton].

 -    Commentarius in libellum Theophrasti De vertigine. (Title, 1 unnumbered dedication leaf, 41 pp., 1 unnumbered f.)

Cf. Krivatsy 582. First edition. "Includes Greek and Latin text of Theophrastus's De vertigine" [Krivatsy]

  -   De convulsionibus libellus. (Title, 7 unnumbered ff., 51 pp., 2 unnumbered ff.) Cf. Krivatsy 585.

First edition of this treatise on convulsions.

A very rare collection preserved in contemporary vellum.

Rare French first edition, translation by Butel-Dumont.

Full brown sheep binding, smooth spine decorated with gilt and tooled compartments, modern red morocco lettering-piece, restored tear and wear to the spine, one joint split at foot, marbled endpapers, gilt fillets to board edges, rubbed corners, contemporary binding.

The Acadia map is missing from our copy. It is extremely rare and is only found in a few copies. Sabin 35958. Leclerc 732.

Bookplate of the Marquis de Bassano pasted on a pastedown.

Illustrated edition with 2 folding maps and 10 engraved plates outside the text (see Garrison & Morton 71; DSB 613-614).

Contemporary full marbled calf binding, spine with six raised bands decorated with double black panels stamped with blind typographic motifs, burgundy shagreen title label, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, red edges.

Some restoration to the binding, spine rebacked; evidence of waterstaining to the upper margins of the leaves in the second volume.

Giovanni Maria Lancisi (1654–1720), an Italian physician trained at the University of Rome, produced significant work on mosquitoes and malaria (he introduced the term), as well as on cardiovascular diseases and aneurysms. These contributions are gathered in the present work, illustrated with ten anatomical plates of the heart. "Lancisi, great Italian clinician, was the first to describe cardiac syphilis; he was also notable as an epidemiologist, with a clear insight into the theory of contagion. He was physician to Pope Clement XI, who turned over to him the forgotten copper plates executed by Eustachius in 1552. Lancisi published these with his own notes in 1714. [...] Lancisi's posthumous De aneurysmatibus published in 1728 appears only in later collected editions" (Garrison & Morton).

Remarkable collection of 19 letters patent transcribing into French law what had originally been the outcome of diplomatic conventions; the sovereignties concerned are as follows, arranged in chronological order of the letters patent: I. Imperial City of Reutlingen (January 1775, 6 pp.). – II. Principality of Nassau-Weilburg (26 April 1776, 23 pp.). – III. Electorate of Saxony (1 September 1776, 10 pp.). – IV. Republic of Ragusa (October 1776, 7 pp.). – V. Principality of Nassau-Usingen (10 June 1777, 8 pp.). – VI. Duchy of Saxe-Saalfeld-Coburg (15 August 1778, 11 pp.). – VII. Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (15 August 1778, 12 pp.). – VIII. Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (15 August 1778, 12 pp.). – IX. Prince-Abbacy of Fulda (29 August 1778, 7 pp.). – X. Duchy of Saxe-Hildburghausen (22 November 1778, 16 pp.). – XI. Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg (27 January 1779, 12 pp.). – XII. Kingdom of Portugal (7 February 1779, 10 pp.). – XIII. Duchy of Saxe-Meiningen (12 March 1779, 7 pp.). – XIV. Teutonic Order (1 April 1779, 11 pp.). – XV. Landgraviate of Hesse-Homburg (6 July 1779, 6 pp.). – XVI. Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt (31 January 1780, 10 pp.). – XVII. Prince-Bishopric of Münster (23 December 1780, 8 pp.). – XVIII. Electoral Palatinate (6 November 1781, 5 pp.). – XIX. County of Leyen (November 1782, 6 pp.).

Disbound collection.

First edition adorned with numerous copper-engraved reproductions of medals and coins distributed across 4 plates outside the text, together with 19 vignettes within the text.

Half blue sheep binding with corners, unlettered spine with five raised bands, moiré-patterned paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, covers preserved, front cover marginally soiled, modern binding.

Rare collection of twelve letters focused on coinage.

The Lorrain scholar Nicolas-Damas Marchant (1767-1833) was a military physician, numismatist, and also served as mayor of Metz from 1 November 1805 to 6 May 1815, spanning almost the entire Imperial period.

First edition; no copy recorded in the CCF or Worldcat, with a single copy held at the Real Academia Española.

Full red shagreen portfolio, smooth spine without lettering, double gilt and blind-tooled fillet borders with gilt garlands and rosettes at the corners on the covers, gilt title lettered in the center of the upper cover, moiré white silk endleaves and pastedowns, contemporary binding.

Inscribed and signed by Albertus Frederik Johan Reiger to Baron Joseph Louis Heinrich Alfred Gericke van Herwynen (1814–1899), Minister of the King of the Netherlands to the Court of Brussels, accompanied by an autograph signed note addressed to the same, dated 12 December 1881 and sent from Lunteren (Gelderland).

New edition bringing together, in addition to Cortés's own correspondence, a collection of documents relating to the conquest of Peru, including letters addressed to the conquistador by his principal lieutenants (cf. Palau 63 205. Leclerc 2575.)

A pupil of Silvestre de Sacy in Arabic, Pascual de Gayangos y Arce (1809-1897) was one of the foremost Spanish orientalists of the nineteenth century; his research was chiefly devoted to Muslim history.

Spine cracked with small losses, a tear at the upper left corner of the front cover, some foxing, tears and marginal losses to the rear cover.

Rare first edition illustrated with 9 plates, including a large folding map.

Publisher’s binding in full havana cloth, smooth spine decorated in black, vignette of a ship within a double black circle on the upper cover, black endpapers and pastedowns, joints split, corners slightly rubbed.

The author was a former officer of the 90th Light Infantry Regiment and wrote several works on various military subjects.

Manuscript ex-libris of R. B. Knight on the half-title, blue ink stains on the edges at the beginning of the volume.

First edition. Adorned with headpieces, initials, and illustrated with 16 folding tables, 3 in the first volume and 13 in the second, together with a great number of tables on single leaves. Title pages printed in red and black.
Contemporary full polished and marbled brown calf binding. Spine with raised bands, gilt compartments. Red morocco title label. Volume labels in wax, rubbed and illegible. Triple blind fillet framing on the covers. Red marbled edges. Headcaps worn. Loss to the tail of volume II. Joints of volume I split at head and tail. Upper joint of volume I tightly split along its full length and lower joint split at head and tail. Several corners bumped. Spines rubbed. Some surface abrasions to the covers. Dampstain to the lower margin of the endpaper and half-title, with losses. At the foot of the title page, an old dampstain extending across three leaves. Overall, a relatively fresh copy, with some scattered foxing.

Rare first edition.

Small tears and corner losses to the spine and boards.

Signed autograph inscription from Joseph Louis Trouessart to Sainte-Beuve on the half-title.

First edition (cf. Sabin 47206. Leclerc 952.).

Some joints cracked at head and tail, minor marginal losses of no consequence to the temporary wrappers.

The author, Italian by birth, emigrated to America before the Revolution and settled in Virginia near Monticello.

His book, written in collaboration with Condorcet, is of particular interest with regard to the history of independence and the government of the United States, cf. Fay pages 24-25: "Compilation très exacte, qui réfute les théories de Mably et de Raynal et constitue un répertoire précieux de renseignements de tous ordres sur les États-Unis."

Rare and appealing copy preserved in its original stitching and in plain pink temporary wrappers.

Very rare first edition. 

Some light foxing.

Contemporary 19th-century modest half-grained cloth binding, spine faded, marbled paper boards with surface abrasions, yellow endpapers and pastedowns, marbled edges. 

Sole edition, uncommon, of this vindication by Jacob Spon (1647-1685) concerning his major travel account of the Levant (Voyage d'Italie, de Dalmatie, de Grèce et du Levant, fait aux années 1675 & 1676), published in 1678.

Very rare first edition illustrated at the end with 4 folding plates (cf Quérard VII, 190).

Modern binding in half mottled sheep with small vellum corners, smooth spine decorated with double gilt fillets, red morocco title-piece, marbled paper boards.

The author was a lawyer and architect in Lunéville.

Chapters on fire, the causes of fires, stoves and chimneys, floors, partitions, staircases, roofing, etc.

Pleasant copy.

First edition, cf Conlon 17:710. Quérard VII, 455 ("Cette Dissertation est très-estimée").

Full marbled blond calf, spine with five raised bands richly gilt in compartments decorated with gilt bees, red morocco lettering-piece, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt fillet on board edges, mottled edges, contemporary binding.

Lower corner rubbed, endpapers partially browned.

Notable treatise on the two great English political parties, their history, development, and respective positions.

Rare first edition of the French translation prepared by Thomas-François Dalibard at the request of the Comte de Buffon (cf Wheeler Gift 367d. Waller 11339. DSB V, pp. 129-139).

Full mottled calf, spine with five raised bands ruled in gilt and decorated with double gilt compartments with floral tools, red morocco lettering-piece, gilt rolls on the caps (partly rubbed), restorations to head and tail of spine as well as to the corners of the boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt fillets on the edges, marbled edges, contemporary binding.

Some foxing, a dampstain to the upper right corner of the first endpaper.

The English first edition was published in London in 1751 under the title "Experiments and observations on electricity made at Philadelphia in America" (cf. Norman 830 for that edition).

Second edition of the French translation (Sabin 98442).

Bound in modern pastiche half beige calf, smooth spines ruled in gilt with double fillets, red morocco title labels and brown morocco volume labels, marbled paper boards.

The final two leaves of volume two have been restored, with loss of text: a few letters are missing from page 381, and there is a loss of text on pages 383–384, which comprise the table of contents; occasional light spotting, blind stamps to the lower right corner of title-pages.

Complete set including the atlas, sixth and final volume, illustrated with 17 plates and 9 maps.

A handsome copy of this celebrated voyage of exploration through the Pacific and along the west coast of America.

First edition of this highly important work, presenting the full text of all decrees and ordinances relating to trade with the Americas, primarily the West Indies (cf. Sabin 11812. Leclerc 113. Barbier I, 649 c. Ined 1038, 1783 edition).

Illustrated with two engraved frontispiece titles and ten maps (nine folding), depicting South America, North America (repeated in vol. 2), Martinique, Guadeloupe, Saint-Domingue (2), Cayenne and its surroundings, Louisiana, the Guinea coast, as well as twelve engraved plates showing botanical specimens (sugarcane, cotton, tobacco, cocoa), genre scenes (a Black king dispensing justice, a slave market, turtle fishing), various tools and objects (ventilator, suction pump), industrial activities (plantation layout, sugar mill, indigo workshop), etc.

Bound in modern pastiche bindings: half mottled tan sheep over marbled boards, spine with five raised bands adorned with gilt garlands, double gilt panels, red edges.

Minor black ink stains to the edges of volume one, a pleasant copy overall.

Rare first edition (cf. Polak, 1808; Quérard, II, 133. Not in Crowne Library. Absent from Brunet.)

Contemporary full marbled calf bindings, spines with five raised bands framed in gilt fillets, gilt double compartments with decorative tooling, red morocco title labels, volume label with partly faded gilt on vol. II, some joints restored, gilt roll-tooled caps partially dulled, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt dentelles, red edges.

Some foxing, final leaves in both volumes and endpapers lightly toned in margins.

Autograph letter signed by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres to Charles Paillet, with autograph address and title "Honorary Expert Commissioner of the Royal Museums", with postal stamps. Usual fold marks. A marginal tear repaired without affecting the text.

Ingres provides descriptions and exhibition instructions for his two paintings Aretino and the Ambassador of Charles V and Aretino in the Studio of Tintoretto.

First edition of the French translation, illustrated with a folding map in the first volume (see Cordier, Sinica, 2094; Quérard I, 260; not in Schwab or Atabey. Blackmer (111) owned only the English edition: Travels from St. Petersburg in Russia, to diverse parts of Asia, Glasgow, 1763).

Contemporary full marbled calf bindings, spines with five raised bands richly gilt in double panels, brown or green morocco title-pieces (in the second volume), red morocco volume labels, gilt rolls on the caps, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt fillets to edges, marbled edges, some corners a bit rubbed.

Minor wormholes on the upper board of the first volume, light scuffing to boards.

First quarto edition, third issue (distinguished by the absence of the table of contents at the end; the other two issues present this table as 28 unnumbered leaves or 42 pages), cf. Polak 7161.

Each of the 23 books comprising the ordinance is separated from the preceding one by 8 blank leaves, likely intended for handwritten supplements or annotations, though these remain unused.

Full tan calf binding, spine with five raised bands, gilt compartments and tooling, tan leather title label, gilt rolls on the somewhat faded caps, name of a former owner gilt-stamped on upper board, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt fillets partially faded along the edges, red edges. Contemporary binding.

Scuffing to the boards, joints restored, small tear on pages 167–68 without loss of text.

First edition of the French translation by Jean-Baptiste Dupuy-Demportes of the work originally published in 1689 under the title "La Morale dei principi osservata nell'istoria di tutti gl'imperadori, che regnarono in Roma" (cf. Quérard II, 260. Barbier III, 353b. Conlon VII, 54-572. Hoefer XI, 314).

Contemporary full red morocco bindings, spines with five raised bands decorated with gilt fillets and double gilt panels with gilt floral tools, boards framed by gilt roll-tooled floral and bird motifs, gilt fillets on the board edges, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, all edges gilt over marbling.

Some gatherings bound out of sequence in volumes 1 and 3; headcap of volume 4 chipped; a few small wormholes, mostly affecting the lower sections of the bindings.

A handsome copy of this uncommon work.

Giovanni Battista Comazzi (Mantua, 1654 – Vienna, 1711), an Italian historian, poet, and political theorist, presents here a study of Roman emperors from Caesar to Constantius Chlorus: "Il prend les traits principaux de la vie de chaque prince, il en cherche les vues et les causes, et juge, d'après les principes, s'ils ont eu tort ou raison, et pourquoi ; ainsi chaque fait historique donne occasion à une maxime morale" (Nouvelles littéraires, 20 juillet 1754).

First edition of the first of six publications addressing the state of the Corps of Bridges and Roads, presented to the National Constituent Assembly by Chaumont de La Millière (1746–1803), who served as director of the School from 1781 to 1792.

Contemporary half vellum binding with corners, flat spine with red morocco label, soft marbled paper boards showing some wear and losses from rubbing, yellow edges.

Two additional related publications have been bound at the end:

I. Supplément au Mémoire de M. de La Millière, sur le département des Ponts & Chaussées; ou Réponses à deux écrits relatifs à ce Mémoire, qui ont paru depuis sa publication. Paris, Imprimerie royale, 1790, title, 67 pp. (tear to the final leaf).

II. Observations de M. de La Millière, sur un écrit de M. Biauzat, député à l'Assemblée nationale, relatif à l'organisation des Ponts et Chaussées. [Paris], Imprimerie de Laurens aîné, n.d. [1791], 11 pp. Bound with: [LAPORTE (Hippolyte de):] Notice historique sur la vie de La Millière. Extracted from the Biographie universelle, vol. XXIX. [Paris], Imprimerie d'Éverat, n.d., 4 pp., text printed in two columns.

A clean cut to the final page of the second volume, minor and insignificant spotting to some leaves.

First edition (cf. Grand-Carteret, Almanachs, 158; Saffroy, Almanachs et annuaires, 306.)

Bound in full old red morocco, smooth spine decorated with fleur-de-lis panels, gilt roll tooling on the caps, triple gilt fillet framing on covers, gilt tooling along the edges, corners slightly rubbed, all edges gilt, contemporary binding.

Date handwritten in black ink at the top of the upper cover.

This rather rare almanac was published continuously from 1744 to 1789.

Provenance: From the library of heraldist Olivier Le Bas, with his bookplate mounted on a pastedown.

First edition (Grand-Carteret, Almanachs, 158; Saffroy, Almanachs et annuaires, 306).

Contemporary full old red morocco binding, smooth spine decorated with fleur-de-lis panels, gilt roll-stamping on partially faded head- and tailcaps, triple gilt fillet borders on covers, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt fillets on board edges, all edges gilt.

Spine heavily rubbed with worn decorative motifs; upper cover rubbed along the left margin at the level of the triple gilt fillets.

This rather uncommon almanac appeared continuously from 1744 to 1789.

First edition of the French translation of the compilation entitled Historia de la dominacion de los Arabes en España sacada de varios manuscritos y memorias arabigas (Madrid, 1820–21), cf. Playfair 528. Palau 59020.

Contemporary bindings in black half sheepskin, flat spines decorated with gilt garlands and blind-tooled floral ornaments, gilt library shelfmark numbers at foot, vellum-tipped corners, headcaps rubbed on two volumes, covers in mottled paper, bookplates pasted on the endpapers, a few small chips to the upper edges and corners of the third volume, sprinkled edges.

Scattered foxing, minor rubbing to the bindings.

Copy from the library of Vittorio Rochstol, with his bookplates mounted on the front endpapers.

First edition, of great rarity (cf. Sabin 4182).

Bradel-style binding in full orange paper-covered boards, with a brown shagreen spine label; modern binding.

A very good copy.

A vindication of France’s conduct during the uprising of the British colonies in America.

First edition of this French translation prepared by Abbé J.B. Morvan de Bellegarde, who here renders six of the nine books of the celebrated Brevissima relación by Las Casas, first published in Seville in 1552 (cf. Sabin 11273. Medina BHA 1085n. Streit I:733. Palau 46966. JCB (4) 344-345. Leclerc 337. "European Americana" 697/33).

Contemporary full marbled calf binding, spine gilt in compartments with decorative tooling, red morocco label, gilt rolls to head and tail caps, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt fillets to board edges, red edges.

Minor repairs to joints, discreet restoration in the inner margin of the frontispiece.

A handsome copy.

Las Casas wrote this text in 1549 to defend himself against accusations from Spanish colonizers following his advocacy on behalf of the Indigenous peoples. In this impassioned denunciation, he condemns the colonial system introduced in the Indies by the Spanish, a system founded entirely on violence and plunder. The publication caused considerable stir in Spain and led to the abolition of the encomiendas—a land allocation system which, under the guise of converting and assisting the natives, legalized one of the most brutal forms of slavery. From a historical perspective, this work stands at the origin of the concept of the "noble savage", which, through missionary apologetics, would inspire the primitivist movement that ultimately gave rise—within Rousseau's thought—to a return to nature and to the new moral, political, and aesthetic sensibilities of the 19th century. Cf. Dict. des œuvres.

Rare first edition.

Full vellum binding over boards with flaps, smooth spine, title inked partly faded at the spine head, some blemishes on the boards, edges spotted red.
A fine and rare copy.

Bookseller’s descriptive labels pasted on an endpaper.
Backer & Sommervogel VIII, 1339-1340 (considers the two parts as separate works). Willems, 490 (clearly explains that the two parts form a single title, published at once) and 477 (for the Persian grammar, which forms a separate title and constitutes the second attempt of its kind for Western use).

First edition of this significant work on the customary law of Maine. Divided into sixteen parts, it also includes two valuable alphabetical indexes: one listing the main subjects covered in this Custom of Maine as well as in the revised Customs of Anjou and Paris, and the other listing key subjects found in the remarks and observations on this custom.

Marginal dampstaining to a few leaves, occasional foxing.

Contemporary ownership inscription on the title page: Berthereau.

Contemporary full mottled calf, spine with six raised bands, gilt double compartments with decorative tooling, red morocco title label, gilt rolls on somewhat faded caps, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, double gilt fillets on board edges, red edges, corners slightly rubbed.

Extremely rare reissue of this journal. None of the institutions consulted hold this edition (see Palau, 71807).

Contemporary full ivory vellum binding with overlapping edges, flat spine with calligraphic title running lengthwise, boards slightly soiled.

The book was most likely reinserted into its original binding; a few small stains.

The first Spanish edition was issued the same year in Seville by Sebastián de Armendáriz - bookseller, publisher, and forerunner of Spanish journalism - at the press of Thomas Lopez de Haro.

It appears that the document used as the basis for Armendáriz’s account was a report by an eyewitness to the events, Count Paolo Amerighi.

This journal recounts the siege and recapture of Budapest in 1686, held by the Turks since 1541 and ultimately expelled by Charles V of Lorraine (1643-1690).

A few spots on the title page, otherwise a very attractive copy in contemporary binding.

New collected edition of the works of this German-born Neo-Latin poet, one of a few copies printed on deluxe Dutch paper (see Brunet III, 1180–1181. Cf. G. Oberlé, "Poètes néo-latins", pp. 134–137; Van Tieghem, p. 91 ff.).

The first volume includes a portrait of the author.

Full ivory vellum bindings, spines with five raised bands richly decorated with gilt floral and ornamental rolls, red morocco title labels, gilt dentelle frame to covers, gilt plaques with the legend "Minerva Dordracena" at the center of each board, sprinkled edges, red silk ties (mostly missing), contemporary bindings.

A fine edition according to Brunet, who notes: “There are copies on Dutch paper.” It is considered the best collected edition of the works of this German-born Neo-Latin poet.

Published by Burmann, who added various other texts relating to Lotichius and his work.

Born on 2 November 1528 in Schlüchtern, Vetera Hesse, Peter Lotich, known in Latin as Lotichius Secundus, "was the nephew of Peter Lotich, abbot of Schlüchtern, who founded a college and was among the first in Germany to throw off the yoke of scholasticism before converting to Lutheranism, of which he became an ardent supporter. The nephew adopted the name Secundus to distinguish himself from his uncle, who had overseen his early education. He later came under the influence of Melissus, Melanchthon, and Camerarius, all of whom encouraged his exceptional poetic talent. For a time, he bore arms under the banner of the Schmalkaldic League, and later accompanied the nephews of Daniel Stribar, Dean of Würzburg, on their travels.

He studied medicine for several years in France and Italy. In Montpellier, Lecluse introduced him to Rondelet, who saved him from the Inquisition for having eaten meat during Lent. He returned from Padua with a doctorate and, in the service of the Elector Palatine, declined the chair of poetry at Marburg. Instead, he took a position as professor of medicine in Heidelberg, where he died in 1560, poisoned by a love potion prepared by a woman for a faithless lover and mistakenly consumed by Lotichius. His biographer, J. Hagen, named him prince of modern Latin poets. ‘The most compelling body of poetry, where the author’s life occupies the greatest place and holds the most interest, is that left by Lotichius Secundus, unanimously regarded as the finest Neo-Latin poet Germany has produced (…) Student, lover, traveller, soldier, professor, he passed through this difficult, wandering, adventurous and often perilous life with his gaze fixed on a single ideal: poetic beauty; and let us add: the glory conferred by beautiful verse’. Van Tieghem, p. 91.” Cf. Gérard Oberlé.

One of the rare copies on deluxe Dutch paper, finely bound with the emblem of the Dutch city of Dordrecht.

A printed and manuscript leaf bound before the title of volume I attests that these two handsome volumes were awarded as a prize (likely for Latin composition) to a student of the Dordrecht Gymnasium, Heinrich Van Dam.

Bookplates of Charles Clément Roemers (Maastricht, 18th century) and Dominique Goytino.

One of the rare copies on deluxe Dutch paper, finely bound with the emblem of the Dutch city of Dordrecht.

Uncommon first edition (cf. Polak 8200).

Modern binding in light blue cloth, smooth spine, speckled edges, original wrappers preserved and mounted on tabs.

The work was written at a time when the abolition of privateering was increasingly being discussed—a measure that would later be enacted in the Treaty of Paris of 1856.

First edition of the French translation, illustrated with a folding copper-engraved frontispiece by Bénard: "Mort du Capitaine Cook à Owhy-hée, Fevrier 1779," and a folding map titled "Carte montrant la route suivie par M. Cook… dans son troisième et dernier Voyage."

See O'Reilly and Reitman, 419. See also Hill, p. 253, for the first English edition. Forbes, Hawaiian National Biography, 45.

Contemporary binding in half marbled calf with vellum-tipped corners, spine decorated with gilt floral compartments, red morocco title label, marbled paper boards, red edges.

Restored loss to the title page. The half-title is lacking in our copy; the boards are modern.

"An apocryphal account of the third voyage, published surreptitiously more than two years before the official edition. Hocken […] attributed it to Ledyard, who also wrote a narrative of the expedition. But F. W. Howay […] demonstrated that the true author was John Rickman, lieutenant aboard the Discovery. Includes some unpublished details and episodes." Cf. O'Reilly (no. 415). "All the journals kept on board were claimed by the Admiralty, thus the author remained strictly anonymous. The text, especially as regards details of Cook’s death, differs considerably from other accounts." Cf. Hill.

This work also contains one of the earliest high-quality accounts of the Hawaiian Islands: see Forbes, p. 23.

For the first three volumes, first edition, complete with all 84 parts published between February 1842 and October 1843 of this "admirable publication printed on thick vellum paper [...] one of the finest of the 19th century, justly esteemed and comparable to the beautifully illustrated books of the 18th century" (Carteret), (see Carteret III, 143–153; Vicaire II, 234–248).

The first three volumes are bound in full violet morocco, spines with five raised bands bordered with gilt pointillé tooling, compartments richly gilt with double gilt frames, gilt rolls on caps, covers framed with quintuple gilt fillets, gilt monogram MG at the corners, comb-marbled endpapers and pastedowns framed in gilt dentelle, double gilt fillets on board edges, all edges gilt. Splendid bindings signed by Dunezat, active between 1870 and 1895.

Illustrated by Charles François Daubigny, Ernest Meissonier, Anthelme Trimolet, Adolphe Steinheil, Gustave Staal, Emy, Louis-Léopold Boilly, Charles Edouard de Beaumont, among others.

Texts by Marc-Antoine Desaugiers, Fabre d'Églantine, Pierre-Jean Béranger, André Chénier, Florian, Sedaine, Constance de Salm, Jean-Joseph Vadé, etc., set to music by various composers, including André Grétry, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Étienne Nicolas Méhul, and François-Adrien Boieldieu.

The complete collation is as follows: 1) 5 preliminary leaves (half-title, engraved title-frontispiece, list of songs, introduction by Delloye) and 28 parts of 4 unnumbered leaves each (28 songs, each including a 2-page note, 4 pages of text with illustrations, and 2 pages of music—i.e., 4 unnumbered leaves per song); 2) 5 preliminary leaves and 27 parts of 4 unnumbered leaves each, except for La Parodie de la Vestale, which includes 10 unnumbered leaves; 3) 5 preliminary leaves and 28 parts; 4) 2 unnumbered leaves, engraved frontispiece, xxiv and 224 pages.

The general series wrappers were not bound in this copy, which shows several first-issue points.

Enclosed: bound in violet half morocco with corners, Chansons populaires des provinces de France. Notices by Champfleury. Piano accompaniment by J. B. Wekerlin. Paris, Lécrivain et Toubon, booksellers, 1860, 2 unnumbered leaves, engraved frontispiece, xxiv and 224 pp.

Binding in violet half morocco with corners, spine with five raised bands bordered with gilt pointillé tooling, richly gilt compartments framed in double gilt fillets, marbled paper-covered boards, comb-marbled endpapers and pastedowns, a few scuffs to board edges and extremities, all edges gilt, an elegant unsigned binding likely attributable to Dunezat, active between 1870 and 1895.

A very handsome set, perfectly bound.

First edition, one of 35 numbered copies printed on vélin pur chiffon B.F.K. de Rives, the only limited deluxe issue.

A small tear at the top of the lower cover, barely noticeable.
Very handsome copy.

First edition, illustrated with a frontispiece engraved by De Launay after Marillier (cf. Conlon, 83:1107; Quérard, III, 174; Barbier, I, 276; Brunet, 5636. Not listed by Thiébaud).

Contemporary full speckled calf, smooth spine gilt in compartments with decorative tooling, green morocco title label, gilt rolls on the caps, gilt fillets along the edges, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, joints lightly restored, some repairs to the spine, yellow edges.

Joints tender, endpapers slightly soiled at the margins, a few spots to the edges, handwritten ownership note on the half-title.

The author, a traveller and naturalist born in Montargis in 1734 and who died near Château-Thierry in 1802, set sail for the East Indies around 1753.

From Smyrna, he travelled overland to Aleppo and reached Baghdad after a series of tumultuous adventures. From there, he descended the Tigris and the Shatt al-Arab, sailed across the Persian Gulf, and reached the eastern coast of India. "Cet ouvrage fut publié à la sollicitude de Buffon. L’auteur y traite de particularités inconnues jusque alors ; il nomme et décrit les animaux dont les divers peuples orientaux font leur nourriture. Il donne de curieux renseignements sur les crocodiles, les caméléons, les serpents, les sauterelles, etc. ; il raconte les nombreuses manières de chasser les animaux féroces ; explique les causes de la vénération des Indous pour certaines bêtes, etc." Cf. Hoefer.

Foucher d’Obsonville also authored a Supplément au voyage de Sonnerat (1785), a Lettre (...) sur la guerre des Turcs (1788), and a translation of a work from the Vedic corpus (1788).

First edition of the French translation of this account of the Lutheran mission’s activities on the eastern coast of India, originally published under various titles.

Contemporary full marbled light brown calf, spine with five raised bands richly gilt with garland rolls and double decorative panels, light brown calf title label, headcap shaved, gilt fillets along the edges, corners restored, red edges, period binding.

Since 1620, the Danish East India Company had held several trading posts and possessions along the Indian coastline, the principal settlement being Tranquebar. Transferred to the Danish Crown in 1779, these outposts became Danish colonies. However, frequently attacked by the British during the Napoleonic Wars, they declined until 1845, when Denmark sold them to Britain. In reality, Niekamp merely abridged the four substantial volumes of the Acts of the Danish Mission, published in Halle starting in 1718, and followed by numerous continuations. King Frederick IV of Denmark had authorized these missions in the Malabar region, sending evangelical envoys to rival the long-established Nestorian churches and the Catholic missions.

Copy belonging to a physician named Faivre, with a contemporary handwritten ex-libris on the front endpapers, followed by a manuscript note on the work, in which he expresses sharp criticism of Christian clergy of all denominations in an unmistakably Enlightenment tone ("Il faut convenir que l'intolérance et le manque de charité sont les vices dominans de presque tous les ministres des différentes religions, mais les catholiques romains les poussent au plus haut degré que les autres ...").

Pleasant internal condition.

First edition (cf. Barbier IV, cols. 211-212).

Contemporary full red morocco Jansenist binding, spine with five raised bands framed by black fillets, gilt roll tooling on the caps, blind-stamped fillet border on covers, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt dentelle border on the pastedowns, gilt fillets on the edges somewhat faded, all edges gilt, bookplate mounted on pastedown.

Some minor internal defects (dampstains and a small loss at the foot of a few leaves).

Barbier devotes an extensive entry to the condemnation of this work on the mystical movement of Quietism, for which Fénelon long contended with Bossuet before both he and Madame Guyon were condemned by Pope Innocent XIII.

Provenance: fine copy from the library of François-César Le Tellier, Marquis de Courtanvaux, Count of Tonnerre, Duke of Doudeauville (1718–1781), with his stamp and engraved bookplate.

Initially captain-colonel of the King's Hundred Swiss Guards, he later turned his attention to chemistry, physics, and astronomy. A member of the Académie des sciences, he studied the development of instruments related to longitude. As an astronomer, he maintained a personal observatory at Colombes.

His library was considered one of the most distinguished of the period.

First edition, one of the 200 numbered copies on Hollande paper, the only large paper edition.
A stain on the front cover near the title, fading on the half-title page, shaded endpapers.
Rare copy with full margins.

First edition, illustrated with a frontispiece by Ozanne depicting the frigate *L’Aurore*, engraved by Haussard, four plates of instruments, and one folding map at the end of the volume (cf. Polak 2098).

Contemporary-style binding in bronze half calf, flat spine decorated with double gilt fillets, bronze morocco title label with some rubbing, marbled paper boards, modern binding.

In 1767, Coutanvaux was commissioned by the Académie des Sciences to undertake a voyage to the North to test various marine timekeeping systems.

Some light foxing, not affecting the text.

First edition of this excellent maritime dictionary, later reprinted in 1780, 1797, and 1799.

The work is complete in all its parts and includes 31 engraved plates by Le Gouaz after the author's drawings.

Contemporary full mottled calf binding, spine with five raised bands decorated with gilt compartments and floral tools, red morocco title label, headcap worn down, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, red edges, upper corners worn.

Small loss to the upper left corner of the front free endpaper, tears to the left margin of the title page, occasional foxing, otherwise a pleasant copy internally.

Born in Lyon on 5 November 1743, Daniel Lescallier entered naval service in December 1765 as a writer in charge of accounting at Môle-Saint-Nicolas in Saint-Domingue.

Appointed student-commissary in February 1767, then assistant commissary of ports and arsenals in February 1770, he sailed in 1773 aboard the ship *Le Languedoc*, before being sent by ministerial order to England, Russia, and Sweden. His travel account was published in 1775. Made commissary of ports and arsenals in January 1777, he was appointed in January 1780 as colonial commissary in Grenada, recently seized by d’Estaing, then in May 1782 as commissary in Demerara (British Guiana), recently occupied by Kersaint’s division. Appointed chief commissary in Cayenne in May 1785 and first councillor to the colony’s Superior Council, he endeavoured to rouse the colony from its lethargy before returning to France in July 1788. In 1789–1790, Lescallier travelled again to England and the Netherlands to study shipbuilding techniques. In August 1790, he became assistant to the Navy Committee of the National Assembly and, in February 1792, civil commissary in the Indian Ocean colonies. Captured by the English on 22 August 1793 after the capitulation of Pondicherry, he did not return to France until 1797. Head of the Colonial Bureau at the Ministry of the Navy from August 1797, he was appointed ordonnateur at Corfu but was unable to reach his post. Named colonial prefect of Guadeloupe in July 1801, he returned to France via the United States in April 1804. He was appointed maritime prefect of Genoa in February 1806 and of Le Havre from May 1808 to August 1810. In October 1810, he was made consul general to the United States, but was captured by the English en route. He escaped, returned to France at the end of 1815, left the service, and died in Paris on 14 May 1822.

New edition printed in 250 copies at the government's expense, intended to provide work for typographic workers (cf. Sabin 11841. Leclerc 697).

Contemporary half blue calf bindings, flat spines decorated with double gilt fillets and blind-stamped typographic motifs, gilt decorative rolls at foot of spines, restored with minor rubbing to the spines, marbled paper boards, hand-marbled endpapers and pastedowns, marbled edges.

Some occasional light foxing.

A rare copy, handsomely bound in contemporary bindings.

Second edition of the French translation, expanded with a few remarks and illustrated with a map of the North Atlantic and 9 folding plates outside the text (natural history, views, Inuit types, etc.), cf. Sabin 22312n. "European Americana" 750/110. See Leclerc 717 for the first French edition published a year earlier.

The plates are captioned in both French and Dutch; the original English edition was published in London in 1748; the first French edition appeared in Paris in 1749.

The work opens with a historical account of earlier attempts to discover a route to the East Indies via the Northwest Passage.

Contemporary binding in full marbled calf, spine with gilt compartments decorated with floral tools, some fading to the gilt, modern havana morocco label, gilt roll tooling on the caps, gilt dentelle frame inside the boards, marbled edges, gilt fillets along the board edges.

The text begins with a chronicle of the various efforts made up to 1746 to discover the Northwest Passage.

Henry Ellis, the English traveller, was born in 1721 and died in Naples on January 21, 1806. As hydrographer and mineralogist, he took part in the 1746 expedition aimed at finding a northern route to the Indies and published this account, which includes valuable observations on Inuit customs. He was later appointed governor of Georgia and Nova Scotia.

Ink ownership inscription at the foot of the title-page.

A handsome copy.

First edition of this highly significant document on the state of Parisian hospitals at the end of Louis XVI's reign, written by Jacques Tenon (1724–1816), surgeon at the Salpêtrière, which remained an influential reference for French hospital policy through to the Third Republic.

The work is complete with its 17 folding plates (including 2 tables and 14 architectural plans and elevations of hospitals).

Some light foxing; the copy appears to have been rebound in this later binding.

Contemporary pastiche binding in half Havana sheep, flat spine with gilt fillets and the gilt cipher and arms of the Chodron de Courcel family, green paper-covered boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns.

The composition of this text took place within the framework of a public debate on the future of the Hôtel-Dieu hospital in Paris.

In the 18th century, the Hôtel-Dieu was notoriously overcrowded, unsanitary, and prone to fires. It was used almost exclusively by the destitute who had no other care options, and it had gained a reputation as a "death trap" due to its dire conditions and high mortality rate. Two major fires had occurred in 1737 and 1772, the latter destroying much of the complex. In this context, the Baron de Breteuil, Secretary of the King’s Household, commissioned the Académie des sciences to investigate; Tenon's report was the outcome of that consultation. The text comprises five memoranda:

1. General overview of Parisian hospitals
2. Architecture, organization, and outcomes of the major hospitals in Paris
3. Location, surface area, and optimal sites
4. Description and organization of the Hôtel-Dieu in Paris
5. Architecture and organization of a hospital intended to replace the Hôtel-Dieu. Tenon counted 48 hospitals in Paris, excluding the smallest institutions: 22 hospitals for the sick, 20 for able-bodied paupers, and 6 for the indigent (sick or otherwise). He also mentions a hospital specifically for Protestants. Their legal status was complex: some were what we would now call public (under the authority of the King, the City Hall, the Archbishop...), others private (run by religious congregations or funded by lay donations for orphans and the needy). Tenon finally proposes the creation of a purpose-built hospital—what he calls a “healing machine”—a measurable structure subject to management and evaluation. It would be based on principles such as visibility (patients should be distributed so that they can be seen, distinguished, evaluated, and compared), and adequacy and appropriateness in terms of rest space, air circulation, and separation of patients and diseases (isolation of the contagious).

First edition of the French translation by David Durand, illustrated with 5 plates (4 folding), including a genealogical chart (cf. Brunet IV, 1203. Hage Chahine, 3949).

Contemporary full stiff vellum, spine with five raised bands, lower joint split, black morocco lettering-piece, bumped corners.

Some inevitable soiling due to the binding, light foxing to initial and final leaves, ff. 107–108 and 109–110 restored and trimmed short.

The De Religione Mohammedica was first published in 1705, and reissued in 1717 in an expanded edition.

The Dutch orientalist Adriaan Reland (1676–1718) pursued a broad range of scholarly interests, but this presentation of the Muslim religion—based on authentic Islamic sources—is considered his most important work.

First edition of the French translation, illustrated with two folding plates hors texte.

This is an abridged translation (unusually, this is stated) of the major work Reise durch Sibirien, published in Göttingen in 1751–1752 in four quarto volumes richly illustrated. It recounts a major scientific expedition to Siberia that took place from July 1733 to February 1743. Johann Georg Gmelin (1709–1755) held the chair of chemistry and natural history at the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences.

Despite the erratic pagination of the second volume, the set is complete.

Contemporary full marbled tan calf, flat spines decorated with gilt compartments, red morocco title and volume labels, gilt rolls at head and tail, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt fillets on board edges, marbled edges, corners somewhat rubbed.

Some light foxing.

Armorial bookplates from the 18th century, with the handwritten note “Longeville.”

Elzevirian "à la sphère" edition based on the first one printed in 1623, with the same features, including a red-and-black title page for the first volume and a black title page for the second. Brunet suggests it may have been printed in Brussels (IV, 1050).

Numerous headbands, culs-de-lampe, and initials.

Full dark green morocco binding, spine with five raised bands, with gilt fleurons and framed in blind, gilt date at foot. Covers with a Du Seuil-style double panel of blind-ruled borders, gilt fleurons at the corners of the inner panel, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, inner gilt dentelle, gilt edges, edges and spine-ends ruled in gilt.  Binding signed "Petit succede Simier" on front flyleaf. Minor tear to the title page of the second volume not affecting the text; a few very occasional spots of foxing.

Delightful edition of Rabelais' works, handsomely bound in full morocco in the Du Seuil style, signed by Petit, successor to Simier.