Universal history & civilizations, general history and reference works, collections, syntheses, overviews, chronologies

Rare first edition, illustrated at the end of the volume with a large folding plate of inscriptions (cf. Blackmer 1317. Not in Atabey).

Contemporary half tan calf over marbled boards, with corners, darkened smooth spine ruled in gilt, black morocco lettering-piece, boards rubbed, red-speckled edges.

One joint fragile and tending to separate, some foxing.

"Pittakis is known as the first Greek archaeologist. His early steps were guided by the French consul in Athens, Fauvel, and in 1828, under the provisional government, he was appointed inspector of antiquities. In 1833, with the coming of King Otho, he was appointed supervisor of antiquities of mainland Greece. In...

First edition of this rare work. Several states are known: without any plates, not even the engraved title-frontispiece (the extremely rare deluxe issue); with the engraved title bearing the same imprint as the printed title (Tours, R. Pornin et Cie); and, finally, with the Paris, Lehuby imprint (as in the present copy).

The following explanation may be proposed: the Tours publisher Pornin reserved a small portion of the edition, without the engraved material, for the author's friends. The remainder was shared with the Paris publisher Lehuby, a specialist in children's books, who ensured its wider distribution.

The work is illustrated with a frontispiece and two steel-engraved...

Rare first edition, one of 300 copies printed (cf. Palau 159 501).

Not recorded by Pardo de Tavera; only two copies listed in the CCF (BnF and Cujas).

The bibliography of the eminent Chilean historian José Toribio Medina Zavala (1852-1930) is extensive, though he is chiefly known for his works on Chile and Latin America. He also took an interest in other Spanish possessions, as shown by this short monograph, which appears to be the only early study devoted to the subject.

Small tears to spine and along the margins of the wrappers, with a few marginal tears to some leaves owing to the poor quality of the paper.

Seventh edition, expanded with new annotations and an appendix containing descriptive and historical details on all the monuments recently erected in the capital by J.-L. Belin, avocat.

Bound in contemporary half midnight-blue Russian morocco, flat spines gilt with romantic arabesques, gilt fillet framing the marbled-paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns; one lower corner lightly rubbed, contemporary bindings.

Scattered foxing.

Illustrated with 58 plates (including 11 archaeological plates), together with 5 folding colour plans hors texte.

A handsomely preserved copy in a period romantic binding.

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...

First issue of the fifty large hors-texte lithographs drawn from life by Henry John Terry (cf. Vicaire, VII, 1164).

Publisher’s binding in full red cloth, smooth spine decorated with blind-ruled compartments and fillets, light rubbing to the head- and tailcaps, gilt-lettered title on the front board, yellow endpapers, trace of a removed bookplate on one pastedown, one lower corner softened, slight discoloration to the lower left corner of the rear board, occasional marginal foxing, a small loss to the foot of page 119, and minor wormholes at the foot of the last three leaves, not affecting the text.

The fifty striking black lithographs depict the most...

Paris, Bellizard, Barthès, Dufour and Lowell, 1835-1843. Eighteen octavo text volumes and one folio atlas.

First edition in French of Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall's Histoire de l'Empire ottoman depuis son origine jusqu'à nos jours, translated by J.-J. Hellert "from the German, using the author's notes and under his supervision". Publication began in 1835, the same year in which the ten-volume German original was completed, making this the first transmission into French of Hammer's monumental history of the Ottoman Empire. Atabey, 557 for the text and 569 for the atlas; Blackmer, 788 for the atlas; Hage...

First edition, no deluxe copies printed.

A pleasant copy.

Inscribed and signed by Yves Coppens to Emile Noël.

Rare first edition, no deluxe paper copies mentioned.

Bradel binding in cream half-cloth, smooth spine decorated with central gilt tooled flower, gilt date and twice ruled in gilt at foot, brown sheep title label with scuffs and a small loss of leather, boards covered in cat’s-eye patterned paper, some staining to the lower board, original wrappers preserved, contemporary binding.

A few small tears to margins, occasionally with very slight lacks of paper to the first few leaves; an inscription by the author on the half-title neatly erased.

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.

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 on ordinary paper.

A moving and appealing copy.

Fine signed autograph presentation inscription from Dominique de Roux to his brother: "Pour mon cher Xavier père et maître des circonvolutions de ce récit. Et sans qui la vie n'aurait aucun sens. Affection fraternelle. Dominique."

First edition, printed in 500 numbered copies, of this splendid archaeological album featuring 78 in-text illustrations and 13 full-page plates with tissue guards (including 7 double-page or folding plates).

Text by Henri Lechat.

Publisher’s Bradel binding in full forest green cloth, smooth spine, headcaps slightly crushed, one joint split at head, spine and boards ruled in ochre, corners slightly rubbed, bookplate affixed to the front pastedown.

Copy from the library of industrialist Anatole Descamps (1833–1907), with engraved ex-libris by Devambez mounted on the pastedown.

A handsome copy.

Rare first edition.

Spine and boards slightly sunned along the margins.

Dated and signed autograph inscription from C. Martin Saint-Léon to Baron Hulot, Secretary General of the Société de Géographie, on the front free endpaper.

The character and spirit of the Vietnamese as seen from a French perspective.

First edition.

Half blue shagreen, spine with four raised bands decorated with gilt floral tools within blind-ruled compartments, blind fillet borders on indigo percaline boards, boards with marginal soiling at foot, brown paper endleaves and pastedowns, modern bookplate affixed to a pastedown, contemporary binding.

Some scattered foxing, a black ink stain on the edge not affecting the text.

First edition of this architectural collection, published in Paris in 1821 by Bance aîné and comprising seventy-two numbered etched plates. These are preceded by two distinct preliminary elements: a letterpress title page giving the author’s name as “Schuelt”, and a fully engraved title with a vignette signed by Henry J. Picou, retaining the earlier title Recueil de divers motifs d’architecture and spelling the name “Seheult”. The coexistence of these forms reflects the historical instability of the family name, which was only gradually standardised as Seheult through subsequent civil-status corrections.

First edition, cf. Blackmer 133. Not in Atabey.

Contemporary romantic binding in navy-blue half sheep, spine gilt with decorative romantic tools, gilt rolls (partly faded) at head and foot, gilt fillet framing the boards decorated in blind with romantic arabesques, gilt-stamped plaque of the "Lycée impérial du Mans" to upper board, some wear along board edges, endpapers and pastedowns of marbled paper, marbled edges, gilt tooling at head and foot of the boards’ edges mostly rubbed. A handsome romantic binding of the period.

A near-spotless copy, attractively preserved in a period romantic binding.

First edition of this magnificent work, one of Gustave Le Bon’s (1841–1931) contributions to anthropology, in which he applied his pioneering theories to the Arab world. One of the few copies printed on japon paper, unrecorded in bibliographies.

Illustrated with 10 chromolithographs, 4 maps, and 366 engravings, including 70 large plates, after the author’s photographs or the most reliable documentary sources. Cf. Vicaire V, 134.

Contemporary half cherry-red shagreen, spine with five raised bands adorned with gilt fillets and double gilt compartments, double gilt fillet frame on marbled paper-covered boards, comb-marbled endpapers and pastedowns, top edge gilt.

Minor...

First edition, one of 35 copies printed on Japan paper, the deluxe issue, complete with the four states of the etchings (pure etching with remarque, with remarque, before letters, final state), see Vicaire, VII, 534.

(Vicaire mentions a blank leaf and a dedication leaf which appear to be missing here, although the copy is otherwise perfectly complete.)

Contemporary binding in half Empire green morocco, spine with five raised bands framed by black fillets, minor rubbing to the spine, spine and boards slightly faded, black fillet border on marbled paper boards, comb-marbled endpapers and pastedowns, original wrappers and spine preserved, top edge gilt on witnesses, binding...

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.

Very rare first edition of the principal work by archaeologist and anthropologist Ernest Chantre (1843–1924), specialist of the Caucasus.

Spine of the first volume  restored and replaced; a vertical scratch to the upper cover of volume one; some lacks to several spine-ends; some foxing; occasional lacks to the boards; a tear with some leather lacking to the rear endpaper of vol. 4.

This foundational work is composed of four parts in five volumes:

I. Prehistoric period, with in-text illustrations, a colour map, two tissue-guarded portrait plates, and six lithographs with facing captions. –

II–III. Protohistoric period, illustrated with 78 lithographs numbered...

Rare first edition, printed in a very small number of copies, of this extract from the Revue maritime et coloniale (cf. Cordier, Indosinica, 2385).

Contemporary Bradel binding in full marbled paper-covered boards, flat spine with red morocco label lettered lengthwise; modern binding.

Scattered foxing, two dampstains to the lower right corners of some leaves.

First edition (see Cordier, "Indosinica", 2690).

Spine cracked with small losses, internally well preserved.

Rare.

First edition of the French translation under this title, prepared by Louis-Gabriel Galdéric Aubaret; an earlier edition was published in Saigon in 1862 under the title "Code pénal annamite". (Cordier, Indosinica, 1847.)

Some foxing, mostly affecting the second volume, which also shows a small tear at the head of the spine.

The Annamite Penal Code, modelled on the Chinese Code used during the Qing dynasty, consists of two parts: one, called Luât in Annamite and Lu in Chinese, represents the fundamental law; the other, named Lê in Annamite and Li in Chinese, can be translated as "Supplementary Regulations". It is in this section that the provisions specific to...

First edition. Bibliothèque des chemins de fer series. Quite scarce. The novel was previously serialized in the Moniteur universel from March to May 1857. 12-page Hachette catalogue bound in at the end.
Full early 20th-century tan morocco binding, signed at the foot of the inside front cover by A. J. Gonon, housed in a beige slipcase trimmed with morocco. Spine with raised bands, compartments decorated. Wide gilt fillet border on pastedowns. Untrimmed copy. Occasional foxing. Spine slightly sunned. Original wrappers preserved, spine portion missing. A good copy.

Very rare first edition printed in Algiers at Charles Zamith & Cie (Not listed in Tailliart. No copy recorded in the CCFr).

Minor, unavoidable rust marks around the staples, otherwise a handsome copy.

This perpetual Muslim calendar through to the end of time, with the exact concordance of the Julian and Gregorian calendars, and a simple and easy method for converting dates for every day of the week, from the Hijri year to the year 2660, composed and calculated in accordance with the rules of Muslim astronomers was written by Bernard-Marius Cazeneuve (1838–1913).

A fascinating character: an internationally renowned illusionist, art collector, and scientist...

First edition, of which no copies were printed on deluxe paper.

A handsome copy, despite a very slight nick at the foot of the spine.

First edition, illustrated with a frontispiece portrait, two folding colour maps, and 34 plates outside the text.

Publisher’s binding in full green percaline, flat spine decorated with blind-stamped panels and fillets, gilt date at foot; some rubbing to one joint, slightly frayed, cold-stamped frame on covers, brown paper endpapers and pastedowns, corners slightly bumped.

Inscribed, dated and signed on the front free endpaper as a gift.

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...

New edition, the most comprehensive to date, illustrated with 300 engravings, several maps, and followed by 18 appendices (cf. Cordier, Japonica, 694).

The original edition was published in 1899.

Contemporary half havana sheep binding, corners tipped with the same, smooth spine sunned and rubbed, decorated with blind fillets and floral tools, blind-tooled garland framing the bordeaux cloth boards, black paper endpapers and pastedowns, marbled edges.

Some minor foxing mainly affecting the endpapers, otherwise a clean and well-preserved copy.

Our copy lacks the atlas of 11 maps, which was not ready in time for printing, as stated on a slip mounted on the first...

First edition of this broad overview, largely compiled from more detailed monographs then available.

It was reissued as early as 1843.

Contemporary half black sheepskin bindings, flat spines decorated with quadruple gilt fillets and gilt romantic arabesques, gilt rolls at foot, some wear to the headcap of the first volume and to the tail of the second. Boards decorated in blind with romantic motifs, school insignia [Institution Hortus], corners slightly rubbed, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, sprinkled edges.

Some foxing, light rubbing to edges, endpapers and pastedowns slightly soiled at margins.

First edition of the French translation, illustrated with a lithographed frontispiece portrait, six engraved plates by Ambroise Tardieu, and a large folding map, all outside the text (cf. Schwab, p.48, no. 360).

Some foxing, mainly affecting the beginnings and ends of the volumes, otherwise a handsome and attractively bound copy.

Contemporary binding in half aubergine shagreen, spines slightly faded, with five raised bands, decorated with black fillets and gilt floral tools, gilt dates at foot, marbled paper-covered boards, comb-marbled endpapers and pastedowns, marbled edges, a few surface abrasions.

The original edition, A History of Persia, was first...

First edition, uncommon, featuring at the end of the volume a folding genealogical table of the family of Muhammad (According to the CCF, copies are held only in Angers, Strasbourg, and Toulouse.)

A small pale water stain to the lower right corner of the first leaves, not affecting the text.

Bradel binding in half fawn cloth, flat spine decorated with a gilt fleuron and double gilt fillet at foot, brown shagreen title label, marbled paper boards.

This is the major work of Jules-Charles Scholl (1850–1886), who lived in Bienne and Neuchâtel; it stands apart from his usual writings, which were largely focused on animal advocacy.

First edition printed in Marseille and illustrated with 20 steel engravings. Contemporary half hazel sheep binding. Smooth spine decorated with gilt fillets. Gilt title and volume numbers. Spine slightly faded. Minor rubbing. A well-preserved copy, with only occasional light foxing.

First edition, one of 1,500 copies printed on vellum paper, this one unnumbered.

A handsome copy.

Illustrated with a frontispiece by Jean Berque.

Exceptional full-page signed presentation inscription from Abel Bonnard to Hubert Lyautey, the first Resident-General of the French Protectorate in Morocco: "A monsieur le maréchal Lyautey, qui, marmi tant d'autres illustres, a aussi sauvé la beauté du Maroc. En respectueux hommage. Abel Bonnard."

Partly original edition, enlarged with 7 additional chapters; this is the first complete edition.
Contemporary full brown calf binding. Spine with raised bands, richly gilt. Red morocco label. Small loss to head of upper joint. Three corners slightly rubbed. A good copy.
Manuscript ex-libris on title page: Denille.

Illustrated edition with 16 colour engravings by Henri Cassiers, including 5 plates hors texte, one of 200 numbered copies on vellum rag paper, complete with the colour frontispiece and an additional suite of the illustrations.

Contemporary half chocolate-brown morocco-grained shagreen over corners, spine with four raised bands ruled in black, moiré-paper boards, endleaves and pastedowns, wrappers and spine preserved, top edge gilt.

A handsome copy, attractively bound.

Illustrated edition with 15 colour plates by Charles Jouas, one of 650 numbered copies printed on Imperial Japan paper.

Contemporary brown half morocco-grained shagreen over corners, spine with four raised bands ruled in black, moiré paper-covered boards, endleaves and pastedowns, wrappers and spine preserved, top edge gilt.

A handsome copy, attractively bound.

Illustrated edition with 16 colour engravings by Henri Cassiers, including 4 plates hors texte, one of 650 numbered copies on Imperial Japan paper.

Contemporary-style burgundy half morocco-grained shagreen over corners, spine with four prominent raised bands ruled in black, moiré-effect paper sides, endpapers and pastedowns, wrappers and spine preserved, top edge gilt.

A handsome copy, attractively bound.

First edition of the French translation, one of 21 numbered copies on pur fil paper, deluxe issue.

Bradel binding in half blue percaline, smooth spine, floral motif, date and double gilt fillets at the foot, hazel morocco title label with some scuffing, marbled paper boards, covers and spine preserved, top edge gilt, contemporary binding.

The text by Friedrich Sieburg is followed by a letter from Bernard Grasset to the latter.

Fine dated and signed autograph inscription, from London, by Friedrich Sieburg to Monsieur de Fleuriau, then French ambassador in London: "... en le priant de ne voir dans ce livre que l'attrait que la France exerça sur son auteur...

Second edition, the "most complete of this work" (baron Pichon sales catalogue, 3rd part, no. 5531) containing a map of Dauphiné, an engraving by Berey fils, and six plates depicting seals.

Full marbled brown sheep bindings, spines with six raised bands framed by gilt fillets and compartments richly decorated with gilt floral motifs, red morocco title labels, green morocco volume labels, blind fillets on the board edges, red edges; contemporary bindings.

First English edition, printed after the first edition published in Milan in 1959 and the American edition published that same year, on ordinary paper, complete with its original unclipped dust jacket.
Publisher's red cloth binding, title and names of author and publisher to spine in gilt. Manuscript inscription, dated February 1964, on the front free endpaper.
Spine of the dust jacket sunned as is often the case, joints of the front board very slightly split, small tears at the head of the front board and a few minute red offsetting to that same board.
Scattered foxing and light browning to the pastedowns and endpapers.

First edition.

No copies recorded in the CCF.

A very rare small guide intended for English travellers in the Kingdom of Naples. It opens with an itinerary from Rome to Naples via the monastery of Monte Cassino.

Some foxing, small losses to the spine which also shows a tear at the foot.

First edition of the French translation, illustrated with 14 hand-coloured engravings depicting costumes (cf. Colas 961.)

Bindings in blue half morocco, spines slightly faded, with five raised bands and minor rubbing, dates gilt at the foot, illustrated wrappers preserved, marbled paper boards, comb-marbled endpapers and pastedowns, marbled top edges, corners slightly bumped.

Foxing, small paper flaw to the corner of page 37 and misbound leaves in volume 1.

First edition, illustrated with full-page 65 plates.

Occasional light foxing.

Blue morocco half-binding, spine with five raised bands ruled and decorated in gilt with gilt floral tools, marbled boards, marbled endpapers, original wrappers preserved, top edge gilt; bookplate on front pastedown.

A handsome copy in an attractive binding.

First edition of the French translation by Grauert from the 1835 German first edition, specially revised by the author (hence the somewhat ambiguous designation of "new edition" on the title page and front board, as there was no previous French edition).

Illustrated with five engraved plates and eight vignette illustrations.

Contemporary half black calf with corners, spine with four raised bands decorated with gilt and blind fillets, slight rubbing to the spine, gilt fillet frames to the marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, original pink wrappers preserved, bookplate pasted to a pastedown, contemporary binding signed J. Pernot at the foot of the spine.

Second edition, the first edition having appeared in 1920.

Contemporary half brown sheep, spine with four raised bands decorated with blind fillets, some rubbing to the spine, beige cloth boards, endpapers and pastedowns of handmade paper, original front wrapper preserved.

This manual by the Jesuit Léon Wieger (1856–1933) serves as a practical and useful vade mecum.

New edition.

Contemporary half bottle-green sheep over green paper boards, smooth spine decorated with double gilt fillets and a central gilt fleuron, green endpapers and pastedowns, contemporary binding.

Some light foxing.

"The author's Cosmologie, published at Paris in 1815 [?], devoted considerable space to America". (Sabin, 100990).

Rare first edition, illustrated with an engraved frontispiece (cf. Barbier II 802; Cioranescu 65461).

Contemporary full mottled brown calf, spine with five raised bands tooled with rubbed gilt fillets and decorated with gilt compartments containing floral tools, gilt roll-tooling to the head- and tailcaps, rubbing to the joints, mottled edges; contemporary binding.

The work is attributed to Claude Vanel, who served as counsellor at the Cour des Comptes in Montpellier.

Provenance: from the library of Jacques Charreton, a Lyon jurist contemporary with the publication; his armorial bookplate (Meyer-Noirel C 0949) appears on the pastedown.

Manuscript shelf-mark in...

First edition of the French translation prepared by Lamole de Tamayo of this monumental publication, long sought after for its exceptionally rich iconography: 107 plates hors texte, including 2 in colour (mostly portraits), 2 folding colour maps, and a very large number of in-text figures and photographs (portraits, views, reproductions of early engravings, types and costumes, portraits, etc.).

Publisher’s bindings in half brown shagreen, smooth spines decorated with gilt fillets and dotted tooling, as well as blind-stamped panels; gilt titles and ornaments in relief on the green percaline boards; publisher’s bindings signed E. Domenech-Barna.

Some rubbing to the spines with...

Rare first edition.

Our copy is preserved disbound.

The sole edition of this uncommon pamphlet issued in the context of the Russian Campaign: "Ce Précis historique sur les Cosaques ne pouvait paraître dans une circonstance plus favorable que dans le moment où la Russie est devenue le théâtre de la guerre".

The son of the Paris bookseller Noël-Jacques Pissot (1724–1804), Noël-Laurent Pissot (1748–1815) at first followed in his father’s footsteps: admitted to the booksellers’ guild on 19 April 1768, he worked chiefly in partnership with him and specialised in the publication and sale of works in English or translated from the English. From July 1797 he...

First edition.

Green half morocco with corners, spine with five raised bands and blind-tooled compartments, a few rubs to the spine, marbled paper sides, comb-marbled endpapers and doublures, sprinkled edges, contemporary binding.

Georges Perrot (1832–1914), a French Hellenist and archaeologist, undertook in 1861, together with the architect Edmond Guillaume and the travelling physician Jules Delbet, a scientific and literary mission to Greece and Asia Minor on behalf of the French Ministry of Public Instruction, the results of which were published in 1872.

He would later be the author, with Charles Chipiez, of the monumental Histoire de l'art dans l'Antiquité, Égypte...

First edition. 

Contemporary binding in green shagreen, spine slightly faded, with four raised bands gilt with fillets and triple compartments, joints split at the head, green vellum corners, marbled paper boards, endpapers and pastedowns in laid paper.

This volume from the Panthéon littéraire series offers a striking example of the 19th-century Western view of the East, notably in its attempt to identify counterparts to “sacred books” for religious and philosophical traditions that—apart from Islam—do not fit such a framework at all. 

The orientalist Jean-Pierre-Guillaume Pauthier (1801–1873) worked across several fields, though he is best known for his translations...

Rare first edition (the work was reissued at least once, in 1833) of this historical compendium arranged in detailed tabular form, increasingly precise in its treatment of contemporary events (Revolution, Empire, Restoration).

Our copy is preserved in its original wrappers.

Minor tears with small losses to the spines, a dampstain to the final free endpaper, light foxing, staining to the lower cover.

First edition, illustrated at the end of the volume with 6 plates of medals by L. Dardel (Salmaslian, p. 162, does not record the plates.)

Bound in later half brown cloth, smooth spine, gilt initials at foot, some rubbing to the joints, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers, corners worn, a few nicks to the edges, speckled edges; a modest later binding.

This is the first comprehensive study devoted to Armenian numismatics. From the series "Bibliothèque historique arménienne", published by Edouard Dulaurier.

First edition.

Contemporary full mottled fawn calf, smooth spine gilt with floral tools and gilt geometric tooling, tan calf lettering-piece, gilt rolls to the headcaps now largely faded, a small loss to the upper headcap, some rubbing to the joints, single blind fillet framing the covers, marbled endpapers, gilt fillets to the edges of the boards mostly worn away, yellow sprinkled edges, corners just a little softened; a period binding.

Sole edition of this history of travel since Antiquity, considered from the standpoint of its benefits to trade and commerce.

The work is nominally presented as a translation, though it is in fact by the Marseille man of letters...

First edition, illustrated with a double-page folding map composed of seventeen plates, together with twelve figures in the text (cf. Hague Chahine 1504.).

Bradel binding in half glazed brown cloth, smooth spine with the date gilt at the foot, red shagreen title-label showing minor surface marks, stone-patterned paper boards, corners lightly rubbed; a contemporary binding.

Some scattered foxing.

Account of an archaeological mission including an extensive study of Safaitic inscriptions, with a glossary and an index of proper names.

Rare first edition issued as an offprint from the Journal asiatique, no. 7.

Contemporary half aubergine calf binding with corners, smooth spine gilt with Romantic arabesque tools, minor rubbing to the spine, gilt garland frame to the marbled paper boards, orange paper endleaves and pastedowns, rubbed corners; a period binding.

Dampstaining affecting the first half of the volume, some foxing.

Concise manual of the Hanafi rite, one of the four Sunni schools of jurisprudence, the oldest and notably the one recognised as official within the Ottoman Empire.

Antoine-Joseph Du Caurroy (1775–1853) served as an interpreter at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

First edition, illustrated with a map of the Mexican states at the time of the Conquest in 1521, by Malte-Brun (see Sabin 7429, Leclerc 1079, Brasseur de Bourbourg, Bibliothèque Mexico-Guatémalienne, p. 27, Numa Broc, Amérique, pp. 45-47).

Originally engraved by Erhard Schieble, this map is presented here as an early facsimile, likely produced by the publisher to complete his copies.

Bound in half havana shagreen, spines with four raised bands decorated with gilt tooling and gilt panels and fillets, orange shagreen title labels, minor rubbing to spines, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, twentieth-century bindings.

Waterstains...

First edition printed in a small number of copies of this offprint from the Journal asiatique.

Unlettered spine with restorations; scattered foxing.

Abel Bergaigne (1838–1888), one of the leading Indologists of his time, was Professor of Sanskrit and Comparative Linguistics at the Sorbonne.

His interpretation of the Rig-Veda remains authoritative.

On the upper wrapper of the first cover, a signed autograph inscription by Abel Bergaigne to the academic and statesman Charles Lenient (1826–1908).

First collective edition (cf. Cordier, Indosinica IV, 2297).

Light creasing to the foot of the upper cover; a few spots of foxing.

This volume unites in a single work the Grammar of the Annamite language, published in 1864, together with the Vocabulary, first issued in 1861.

A naval officer and Orientalist, Commander Gabriel Aubaret (1825–1894) was appointed the first French Consul in Bangkok in 1863; his true mission, however, was to negotiate with the Imperial Court at Hué for the cession to France of the provinces of Cochinchina. On 21 June 1864 Aubaret signed at Hué a new treaty on the terms desired by the court of Annam.

The three eastern provinces were...

Second edition, partly original as revised and enlarged, illustrated with a folding map at the end of the volume.

Slight corner wear to the boards, otherwise a well-preserved copy with internal foxing.

The author takes a very broad view of the Serbs, seemingly including all Slavic populations of the Balkans.

First edition (cf. Cordier, Sinica, 1282).

Contemporary flexible grey cloth, smooth unlettered spine slightly faded, blind-ruled borders to the boards, title lettered in gilt at the centre of both boards, a label bearing a handwritten inscription pasted to the upper left-hand corner of the front board, yellow paper pastedowns and endpapers, sprinkled edges.

George Thomas Staunton (1781–1859), an English diplomat and Orientalist, accompanied his father on a mission to China as early as 1792 and thus acquired a sound knowledge of the language at a very young age. In 1810, he published the Ta Tsing leu lee under the title Fundamental Laws of China. The...

First edition of this advance extract from "Annam – Numismatic Studies", an ouvrage not due to appear until 1905.

A rare and pleasing copy, despite 

Autograph presentation inscription from Albert Schroeder to Jean-Calixte-Alexis Auvergne, Resident-Superior in Annam from 1897 to 1898, and again from 1901 to 1904.

Second edition.

Contemporary Bradel binding in green half percaline, smooth spine gilt with a central floral tool, place and date gilt at foot, cherry shagreen lettering-piece, marbled paper boards, one corner bumped, period binding.

Minor abrasions to the left margin of the upper cover, a few scattered foxing marks.

No copy of this edition recorded in the CCF.

Concerning the Franciscan monastery of Santa Maria de La Rabida, situated in the province of Huelva (Andalusia), whose renown derives in part from the assistance it provided to Christopher Columbus before his first voyage.

Braulio Santamaria (1838-1914) was director of the Correo de Huelva.

First edition.

Only three copies recorded in the CCFr.

Spine restored with some losses remaining, sun-faded boards, scattered foxing.

The sole edition: despite his surname, Dr Roberts appears to have been French, and it was at the request of the French Minister of Public Instruction that he undertook this journey through Central Asia, of which India formed but one stage.

First edition, printed in a small number of copies, of this offprint from the Revue de l'Orient, de l'Algérie et des colonies, published in the February 1857 issue.

According to the CCFr, copies are recorded only at the BnF, the BULAC and the Académie de médecine.

Our copy is preserved in its original stitched wrappers, with plain blue temporary paper covers, unopened.

Some foxing.

This pamphlet surveys all the animals mentioned in the Quranic surahs.

The author, Antoine-Paulin Pihan (1810-1879), who was proficient in Arabic, Turkish and Persian, was merely a proofreader in the Oriental typography department of the Imprimerie Impériale. Yet the number of...

First trade edition, partly original in its enlarged form.

A portion of the work had first appeared in 1832 in the Revue Encyclédique (May-June), and had been issued separately in a first offprint of 23 pages (cf. Cordier, Sinica, 1399-1340.)

Wrappers backed and restored, manuscript bookplate in the upper left corner of the title-page, a pleasing copy internally.

This is the Da Xue, the first of the Four Confucian Classics, first incorporated into the Li Ji (Book of Rites), then regarded from the Neo-Confucian revival of the Song period onward as a mirror for the Prince and likewise a mirror for subjects, centered on good government.

The Chinese characters were...

First edition (cf. Palau, 142.350.)

Contemporary full marbled sheep binding, smooth spine decorated with gilt arabesques, gilt tail ornament, green sheep title label with scuffs and small losses, gilt fillets to the spine ends partially rubbed, marbled endpapers, gilt rules to the edges of the boards, worn corners, marbled edges.

Written in a language of remarkable elegance, this survey of pre-Columbian Peru, its ancient civilisations, and the Inca Empire stands, according to specialists, as a model of fine popular scholarship.

The work of Sebastián Lorente (1813–1884), Spanish-born, who taught in Peru from 1842 to 1884.

The edition was printed in France...

First edition illustrated with 24 colour figures mounted within the text.

No copy recorded in the CCFr.

Occasional light foxing.

Publisher’s original full lemon-yellow percaline, smooth spine, upper cover decorated in red, minor spotting to the boards.

Pleasing album devoted to the monuments of ancient China, then undergoing rapid transformation at the beginning of the twentieth century.

The text was set before the Chinese Revolution of 1911 and the Great War.

On the half-title, this copy is enriched with a long dated autograph inscription by the American singer and society figure Tryphosa Bates-Batcheller (1876–1952) to Henry de Galard de...

First edition. 

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

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

Rare first edition illustrated with 2 out-of-text plates, hand-coloured at the time, depicting Morlach costumes (cf. Conlon 78:960. Not recorded by Quérard.)

Our copy is preserved in its original stitched wrappers, under the period plain grey covers (spine lacking, covers with tears and detached, corners bumped, a few foxing spots, final endpaper stained at foot).

We have encountered another copy of this work illustrated with a single folding plate containing 3 figures.

Pages 78 to 85 contain a song in the Morlach language, with a French translation printed opposite.

First edition of this rare catalogue for the sale of the antiquities collection of Claude-Madeleine Grivaud de La Vincelle (1762-1819), deputy head of accounting at the Chamber of Peers, archaeologist, and numismatist.

497 lots are described.

Late nineteenth-century bradel binding in half blue cloth, smooth spine, brown shagreen title label lettered lengthwise, marbled paper boards.

Some minor foxing, otherwise a pleasant copy.

First French edition, illustrated with a lithographed frontispiece and 11 lithographed plates (bound between pp. 360–361), cf. Brunet, I, 787; Chadenat, 5323.

Full calf binding, smooth spine with gilt decorative motifs, gilt roll on the headbands, red morocco title label, gilt roll borders on the boards, handmade paper endpapers and pastedowns, gilt edges on the board edges, red page edges, contemporary binding.

Restorations to the spine, one restoration at the foot of the title page.

An epistolary account of a journey undertaken in 1802 among the Kalmyks, a nomadic people of the Astrakhan province (North Caucasus).

Generally regarded as the most complete early edition of Chardin’s Travels, this imposing publication in ten volumes with a separate atlas was prepared in 1811 by Louis-Mathieu Langlès. The orientalist added a historical survey of Persia from the earliest times and an extensive critical apparatus, confronting Chardin’s text with the historical, geographical and philological scholarship of his own day. It remained the standard edition until Philip Stewart’s complete modernised and annotated text appeared in 2018.

The ten text volumes are bound in contemporary full tree calf, smooth spines richly decorated...

Autograph letter dated and signed by Georges Dumézil to Thierry Maulnier—though not referred to by name—four pages on a bifolium written in blue ballpoint pen on stationery bearing the letterhead of the Académie française, discussing his recent work "Le dieu masqué".

Rust marks from a paperclip visible at the top of the leaves.

Georges Dumézil expresses agreement with the views of his fellow Immortal: "Je reconnais pour moi cet agnoticisme indulgent (156 - 787) ce scepticisme sans découragement dans son 'léger sourire' (324, - et la fin de 604, 611...) [...] Le Dieu masqué suppose un dieu, ou l'équivalent. Je pense moi, au conte d'Edgar Poe, 'Le...

First edition, one of 100 numbered copies on hollande paper, deluxe issue (only the first volume numbered).
Each volume includes a historical introduction by Philippe De Gaulle.
Ex-libris pasted to the front of each volume.
A very fine copy with wide margins, complete in twelve volumes of this important work, commencing in 1905 and concluding in April 1969.

First edition printed in 200 copies, ours one of the 30 on Holland paper, deluxe copies.
Spine slightly browned with small lacks and tears at head and foot, slight lacks and tears to board margins, handsome interior condition despite clear foxing on the final endpaper.
Rare.