First edition.
Minor marginal tears to the boards, a few spots of foxing.
Not recorded by Sabin.
First edition.
Spine and boards slightly and marginally faded.
A rare and pleasing copy.
First edition illustrated with 8 folding plates.
Half vellum binding, smooth spine with gilt initials at foot, black shagreen title label, red morocco label bearing the year of issue, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, sprinkled edges, original wrappers preserved, contemporary binding.
Rare Saigon printing. This uncommon directory was published under this title until 1888; in 1889, it became the Annuaire de l'Indo-Chine française.
First edition illustrated with seven folding plates.
Contemporary half vellum binding, smooth spine with gilt initials at foot, brown morocco title label, red morocco date label, marbled paper boards with some rubbing, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, speckled edges.
Rare Saigon printing, and the last year to appear under this title.
This uncommon directory was published under this title until 1888; in 1889 it became the Annuaire de l'Indo-Chine française.
First edition, taken from the Mémoires de la Société royale et centrale d'agriculture, for the year 1824.
Illustrated with a folding plate inserted out of text.
Our copy is preserved in its original state, sewn and issued in a plain blue provisional wrapper.
Scattered light foxing.
A grandson of the founder and first director of the Académie royale de marine, Pierre-Marie-Sébastien Bigot de Morogues (1776-1840) devoted himself principally to agricultural matters.
First edition, completed at the end of the volume with a folding table printed off text (cf. Sabin 28336; Howes 318).
Bound in full flexible beige boards, the manuscript spine title clumsily restored with an adhesive strip and now largely faded; sprinkled red edges.
A dampstain affecting the upper right corner of the opening leaves; a few scattered foxmarks.
The folding table bound at the end of the volume is not recorded by Sabin. It summarises the key geographical data for each state (natural resources, population in 1790 and 1810, universities and colleges, representation in Congress, etc.).
Father Giovanni Grassi of the Society of Jesus spent several years in Georgetown, where he served as rector of the seminary.
An extremely rare first edition of this valuable statistical survey of Bolivia; absent from both Palau and Sabin. Only one copy recorded in the CCFr (BnF).
Chuquisaca, Imprenta de Sucre, 1851, octavo,
Contemporary half brown sheep, smooth spine decorated with double gilt fillets, marbled paper boards with losses, worn corners and edges, blue-speckled edges; a modest binding of the period.
Copy slightly trimmed.
José Maria Dalence (1782–1852), a jurist and prominent political figure of the independence period (1825), here provides one of the most precise demographic, ethnographic, and economic portraits of the young nation.
Rare first edition (see Cordier, Japonica 583; Nipponalia I, 2073. Neither of these bibliographies mentions the map. Polak 8448).
Contemporary half cherry-red calf, spine slightly faded, with four raised bands gilt with dotted tools and fillets; light rubbing to the spine, red paper-covered boards, corners slightly bumped, speckled edges.
Occasional light foxing; a pale dampstain affecting the opening leaves and the folding double-page map showing the plan of the Strait of Shimonoseki.
This work relates the Anglo-French naval campaign of 1862–1863, by Alfred Roussin (1839–1919), a naval officer who commanded the frigate Sémiramis.
The text offers detailed descriptions of trade and the political situation in Japan, as well as of the political relations between the French, the British, and the Japanese during the years 1853–1865.
Rare first edition of this project, whose development was certainly collective (with contributions from several democrats, including Frédéric Charrassin, Charles Fauvety, Adolphe Louis Chouippe, and Alexandre Erdan), but which was authored by the neo-criticist philosopher Charles Renouvier (1815–1903).
Bound in contemporary half cherry-colored sheepskin, with a smooth spine adorned with gilt fillets; some rubbing to the spine and boards. Marbled paper over boards, handmade laid paper endpapers and pastedowns, modern bookplate affixed to the front pastedown, slightly bumped corners, minor tears to the joints, speckled edges. Original binding.
Minor, insignificant foxing.
The central idea of this work is that of direct government and direct legislation, inspired by the debate initiated by Rittinghausen.
At the time, this idea was considered utopian and dangerous—much like in contemporary debates—on the grounds that it would discredit the representative system and, contrary to the authors’ intentions, play into the hands of the emerging Caesarism (this was 1851...).
The book also presents other proposals for institutional reform, notably the adoption of the canton as the basic administrative and political unit of the nation, intended to form the true French commune.
Provenance: from the library of Georges and Geneviève Dubois, with their bookplate affixed to the front pastedown.
First edition of this important work on former French Indochina, comprising:
On the half-title page of Volume VI, signed autograph inscription by Auguste Pavie: "A l'ami Vitoux, hommage affectueux. A. Pavie."
Accompanying this set is: "Carte de l'Indo-Chine dressée par MM. les Capitaines Cupet, Friquegnon et de Malglaive membres de la Mission Pavie."
Printed in Paris by Augustin Challamel in 1893 (broadsheet, folded and linen-backed, with some foxing).
The map is housed in a modern half green cloth portfolio with tips, red oasis title label, red board covers, and a red full-cloth slipcase, designed to match the text volumes.
"A pioneer of new routes in Cambodia and Laos, and a key figure in French expansion in Indochina, Auguste Pavie (1847–1925) holds a privileged place among the explorers of this region. Born in Dinan, he joined the army at seventeen, served in Cochinchina with the Marine Infantry (1868), and was sent to Cambodia in 1875 (…). In 1876, he was commissioned by the Governor of Indochina to create a new map of Cambodia, taking advantage of the construction of a telegraph line between Phnom Penh and Bangkok (…). In 1885, Le Myre de Vilers, recognizing his abilities, appointed him to the delicate post of French Consul in Luang Prabang, where he was to defend the rights France had inherited from Annam over Laos (…). From Luang Prabang, Pavie undertook a series of journeys across Laos from 1887 to 1889, regions that Mouhot and F. Garnier had only briefly explored. His investigations focused on three main directions: east (Tran-Ninh, Plain of Jars); northeast (Hua-Panh); and north (Sip-Song-Chau). It was in this last area that Pavie concentrated his efforts, seeking safe routes to Tonkin in order to open up Laos and firmly link it to France's other Indochinese possessions (…). From 1888, Pavie was no longer alone. He surrounded himself with military collaborators—Cogniard, Cupet, Malglaive, Pennequin…—and civilians such as the young diplomat Lefèvre-Pontalis and the brilliant biologist Le Dantec. Within a few years, the Pavie Mission, a veritable geographical service, would number some forty members, not counting the many indigenous auxiliaries. Dispersed in small groups along different routes, the mission members multiplied the leader's efforts, covering considerable ground. Thus, in 1890–1891, surrounded by a large team of geographers, naturalists, doctors, ethnographers, and economists, Pavie successfully completed a vast territorial survey intended to establish the future borders between French Indochina, China, Siam, and Burma (…). The scientific results of this collective enterprise, unparalleled in the French Empire, were impressive. Extending far beyond Laos, the investigations covered Tonkin, Annam, Cambodia, and southern China. In total, some 600,000 km²—an area larger than France—were surveyed and partially mapped, and 70,000 km of land and river routes were recorded (…). Truly multidisciplinary, the Pavie Mission encompassed all fields of knowledge, neglecting neither history, nor literature, nor folklore…" (Cf. Numa Broc, Dictionnaire illustré des explorateurs français du XIXe siècle, Asie, pp. 366–368).
First edition, with a single copy recorded in the CCF (Dijon).
Our copy is preserved in its original wrappers and housed in a plain blue interim cover, with a mounted title label at the head of the spine.
Some foxing.
The sole edition of this compilation, conceived primarily for fiscal purposes: indirect taxes at the time were levied chiefly on beverages.
The bookseller Louis Rondonneau (1759–1834) is renowned as the author, compiler, or editor of numerous legal codes, manuals, collections, and repertories of legislation and jurisprudence.
First edition printed in two columns, one in French and the other in Italian.
Not recorded by Starace or Roland Bonaparte.
Contemporary limp vellum-style boards, smooth unlettered spine; covers soiled.
Some scattered foxing; one quire working loose.
First edition, illustrated with a large folding colour map printed out of text (cf. Tailliart 2645).
Bradel binding in half blue percaline, the smooth spine slightly sunned, the brown skiver lettering-piece lightly rubbed, marbled-paper boards, blue endpapers and pastedowns showing a few small spots, corners softened, top edge sprinkled.
A few light spots.
The only edition of this comprehensive survey of the state of Algeria, published after the death of Jules Ferry (17 March 1893), the driving force behind the senatorial commission that had commissioned the work. It serves as a reminder that Ferry was a staunch advocate of France’s colonial expansion and of the mission to “civilise” indigenous peoples, a view then broadly shared across the political left, with the exception of a few dissenting voices (including Clemenceau).
On the half-title, presentation inscription by Henri Pensa to Madame Jules Ferry (Eugénie Risler).
The volume later entered the library of Ferry’s nephew, Abel Ferry (1881–1918, member of parliament for the Vosges from 1909), with his ink stamps on the title-page and at the foot of p. 105.
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).
Second edition of this monumental work of historiography.
The collation of the text volumes (74 steel-engraved plates) conforms to the list of plates given in volume XX (with the exception of the plate depicting the French before Moscow, which is lacking), but does not match the plate count of the first edition, as certain plates were not reissued. The atlas corresponds to that of the first edition and is complete with its 66 maps.
Some foxing, mainly affecting the edges.
Handsome bindings of red half morocco with corners, the spines with five raised bands and triple blind-ruled compartments, a few minor abrasions without consequence to three spines, marbled paper sides, comb-marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt top edges, for the 21 text volumes; and a contemporary binding of red half sheep for the atlas, the smooth spine decorated with gilt fillets and tools, a few black marks to the spine, red paper-covered boards lightly soiled at the margins, corners rubbed.
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.
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.
Second edition, partly original as it was revised and enlarged, and the most complete form of this celebrated manual of local law for the island of Réunion (cf. Ryckebusch 2407; Toussaint & Adolphe D439).
The work is illustrated with three folding tables inserted out of text (two in the fifth volume, one in the last).
Contemporary half-sheep bindings in dark green, smooth spines gilt-tooled with dotted ornaments, fillets and garlands, gilt rolls at head and foot, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, sprinkled edges.
Some rubbing to a few headcaps and spines, the upper headcap of the sixth volume torn, restorations to several spines.
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*.
Rare first edition (cf. Tailliart 2391).
Backstrip skewed and untitled, with a few losses and small tears to the board corners; light dampstaining at the head of the opening leaves, otherwise a clean and pleasing copy.
The author served as a military intendant and published several concise monographs on fortification and military administration.
Second edition, partly original as it was revised and substantially expanded (cf. Ferguson 7152a; Lacassagne 47).
Half black shagreen bindings, spines with four raised bands decorated with gilt rules and double gilt panels, boards framed with a single blind rule over marbled paper, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, sprinkled edges, period bindings.
A few minor spots.
This second edition was issued simultaneously either in a single volume with continuous pagination or in two volumes with separate pagination (our copy, see Ferguson 7152).
Bénigne-Ernest Poret, Marquis de Blosseville (1799–1886), was a legitimist politician and man of letters. He was active in political life throughout the nineteenth century.
At the head of the half-title of the first volume, presentation inscription signed by Bénigne-Ernest Poret, Marquis de Blosseville, to Prosper de Chasseloup-Laubat (1805–1873), then Minister of Algeria and the Colonies (1860–1867).
The latter affixed his armorial bookplate to the pastedowns and stamped the title pages with his ownership seal.
First edition (cf. O'Reilly, 2192.)
Modern Bradel binding in brown half-cloth, forest-green morocco lettering-piece, marbled paper boards, beige endpapers and pastedowns, original wrappers retained albeit lightly soiled; binding signed by Boichot.
Illustrated with 49 photographic plates hors texte.
"Minutieuse histoire analytico-chronologique des trente premières années de la Calédonie européenne. Il annonçait une suite qui n'a jamais vu le jour" (O'Reilly).
First edition of the earliest of the four works devoted by the deputy Amédée Desjobert (1796–1853) to the situation in Algeria (the second concerns the year 1838 – see below –, the third 1844, and the last 1846) (cf. Tailliart 2333).
Contemporary full tree-calf bindings, smooth spines gilt with garlands, fillets and floral tools, the gilt sometimes a touch dulled, red morocco lettering-pieces, green morocco volume labels slightly faded at the margins, marbled endpapers, gilt fillets to the board edges, marbled edges, modern bookplates mounted to the endpapers, contemporary bindings.
A few small losses to the leather on the boards, the half-title to the first work wanting, a pale marginal stain at the head of several leaves in the second volume, occasional foxing.
A member of the left in the Chamber, Amédée Desjobert opposed by every means the colonisation of Algeria, relying chiefly on arguments countering those advanced by the settlers and the military.
Volume II gathers the following texts, all dating from 1837 and 1838 and concerned with whether Algeria should be retained or abandoned:
First edition of this study in political economy.
Three copies listed in OCLC, all in the United States. BMC records only the second edition (London, 1809).
"Sur quelle base reposent les gouvernements, les lois, les peuples, les autorités, les souverainetés, les partages, les propriétés, les distinctions, les inégalités : voilà le problème important dont on s'occupera dans cet ouvrage."
Some small losses of paper to the spines and corners, rear cover of the first volume soiled, a pleasant, clean interior.
Rare copy preserved in its original grey wrappers.
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.
First edition.
Copies recorded in the Catalogue collectif de France only at the BnF, Versailles, and Bar-le-Duc libraries.
Half bottle-green shagreen binding, spine with five raised bands decorated with gilt dotted rules and floral tools, blind-stamped frame on bottle-green grained cloth boards, gilt initials stamped at the centre of the upper board, white moiré silk endpapers and pastedowns, all edges gilt. Slight rubbing to the corners, a handsome contemporary binding.
The Courrier de Lyon case dates back to the period of the Directoire (April–October 1796). The execution of Joseph Lesurques was soon regarded as a major miscarriage of justice, and his family spent more than sixty years trying to obtain a revision of the case, despite the absence of any law permitting rehabilitation.
The decision of the Cour de cassation in December 1868 brought the matter to a definitive close in the negative sense.
Nevertheless, the confiscation of Lesurques’s property—customary in cases of capital punishment—was revoked, and his estate returned to his heirs. Today, some historians remain convinced of Lesurques’s innocence, while recent investigations by gendarmerie commander Éric Dagnicourt and historian Éric Alary tend to support his guilt as the financial instigator.
Provenance: a distinguished copy belonging to the celebrated lawyer and statesman of the July Monarchy, Odilon Barrot (1791–1873), with a fine signed presentation inscription from Louis Méquillet dated 15 February 1864, and Barrot’s gilt monogram (O. B.) stamped in the centre of the covers.
Odilon Barrot was among the active supporters of the Lesurques family’s petitions, which explains this presentation inscription.
First edition illustrated with a folding map at the end of the volume (cf. Nipponalia, I, 2061; Innocencio, IX, 208; lacking from Cordier Japonica, Hill and Palau).
Only two copies recorded in the CCFr (Sorbonne and BULAC).
Rare edition of this account of one of the earliest European voyages undertaken to establish commercial relations with Japan, following the success of the American Commodore Perry in 1853.
Spine cracked with loss at foot, traces of adhesive paper at the head and tail of the endpapers, modern bookplate pasted on the verso of the front cover.
First edition of this very rare legal memorandum, most likely printed for limited circulation. The former deputy and Bordeaux merchant Laffon de Ladébat (1746–1829), compelled to return to private life due to Napoleon’s enduring hostility, had been appointed to preside over the liquidation committee of the Banque Territoriale, established in July 1799, which faced insolvency in May 1803 following the Banque de France’s refusal to rediscount bills amounting to 255,000 francs.
No copies recorded in the CCF. Not listed in INED.
Our copy is preserved in its original temporary marbled-paper wrappers, modern but faithful to the period style.
Scattered foxing.
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.
Rare first edition with bilingual text (French with facing Italian translation).
Our copy is preserved in its original state, uncut and unbound in temporary dominoté paper wrappers (with pen and black ink accounts and trials on the verso of the second cover). Minor foxing.
Only one copy recorded in the CCF (Avignon). Not listed in Starace.
A very rare collection documenting a little-known aspect of the famous "Miot decrees", which have given rise to much commentary, though only concerning their fiscal and customs provisions.
The regulatory activity of this unflinching State official extended into many other areas. When he disembarked from the Hirondelle on 25 March 1801 in Bastia, it was the second mission undertaken by Miot (1762–1841) in Corsica to implement continental legislation (the first had taken place in 1796–1797).
Settled in Ajaccio in the Bonaparte house, he exceptionally held full military, administrative, and judicial powers, tasked with bringing, as far as possible, the islanders under the French legal system, the constitutional regime having been temporarily suspended on the island by the First Consul.
The task was far from easy, hampered by numerous personal oppositions, and until his departure on 14 September 1802, he was often compelled to adapt the legal requirements to local customs and institutions.
First edition of the French translation.
Full flexible bottle-green cloth binding, smooth spine with rubbing, author's name and title gilt-stamped on the upper cover, some surface wear to the boards, wrappers preserved.
First edition illustrated with three folding plates.
Half vellum binding, smooth spine, gilt initials at foot, black sheep title label with some rubbing, red sheep year label, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, restored original wrappers preserved, contemporary binding.
Rare Saigon printing. This uncommon directory was published under this title until 1888; in 1889 it became the Annuaire de l'Indo-Chine française.
Very rare complete set of this economic and commercial publication, issued from 1879 to 1938, providing the most detailed information on all aspects of trade and production in Cochinchina.
The set includes 78 folding tables (one folding table from the second volume is detached).
According to the CCF, only the BnF holds a series comprising several volumes, and even that collection is incomplete.
Contemporary bindings in half Havana sheep, smooth spines decorated with triple gilt fillets, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns.
First edition of these significant memoirs by a close companion and comrade-in-arms of Napoleon Bonaparte.
Half aubergine sheep bindings, smooth spines slightly faded and decorated with gilt romantic arabesques, some rubbing with small losses to a few spines and joints, embossed aubergine paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, marbled edges; romantic bindings of the period.
Some foxing, a light marginal dampstain on the final leaves of volume 8.
A pleasant set, attractively bound in contemporary romantic bindings.
Second edition; the first having been destroyed by the author himself. Cf. Louandre et Bourquelot, III, p. 149: "Il y a eu de cet ouvrage une première édition anéantie par l'auteur avant toute émission, et dont il n'est peut-être pas échappé un exemplaire." "(L'auteur) s'est efforcé de rendre avec fidélité les impressions qu'il a éprouvées, et les renseignemens qu'il a obtenus ont été puisés aux sources les plus respectables."
Half calf bindings in light brown, smooth spines decorated with double gilt fillets, black morocco title and volume labels, a small hole at the foot of the spine of the first volume, marbled paper boards, upper corners slightly rubbed, sprinkled edges, contemporary bindings; the atlas volume is in original wrappers.
Some minor losses and small tears to the corners of the atlas, which also shows light restorations.
The latter is complete with its large folding map with coloured boundaries and its ten lithographed plates: eight views and two hand-coloured costume plates.
The eight picturesque views depict scenes near Jönköping, Stockholm, Rosendal, Drottningholm, Ornös (Arendt Pehrson’s house), Falun (the opening of the mine), Wexiö, and Solfvitsborg; the two remaining plates show Dalarna costumes at Leksand and Småland costumes at Wörend.
Some scattered foxing.
First edition of an important text advocating, with detailed arguments, for the free cultivation, production, and export of tobacco, following the loss of land value "by half [...] as a result of two invasions."
Our copy has been disbound.
Bound at the end of the volume are several related pamphlets forming a rare and appealing collection on the subject of the tobacco trade in Alsace:
- Pétition sur la modification du Régime actuel du Monopole des tabacs, présentée à la Chambre des Députés par les délégués de la Chambre de commerce de Strasbourg. Paris, Le Normant, janvier 1818. 9 pages.
- Monopole des Tabacs. Pétition Sur l'inexécution de la Loi du 28 avril 1816, en ce qui concerne les achats de la Régie; et de la Loi du 25 mars 1817, en ce qui concerne sa comptabilité [...] par les Délégués du Commerce de Strasbourg et de Nancy. Ibid., id., avril 1818. 1 unnumbered leaf and 17 pages.
- Quelques Observations Présentées à la Chambre des Députés en faveur du Transit d'Alsace, en Réponse au Rapport de M. le Baron Morgan de Belloy, et aux Réclamations de diverses Chambres de Commerce des Ports; Par les Délégués du Commerce de Strasbourg. S.l.n.d. [Paris, 1818]. 13 pages.
- Encore un Mot sur le Transit d'Alsace ... [Paris, Le Normant, 1818]. 8 pages.
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 the French translation (cf. Gay 368).
Rare copy preserved in its original wrappers, complete with the accompanying atlas volume containing 7 maps, including 2 large folding ones.
Some light foxing, a few marginal tears to the wrappers of the atlas volume.
The English geographer Hugh Murray [1779-1846] devoted many years to enlarging and completing this work begun by the English orientalist John Leyden [1775-1811].
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.
New edition, after the first published in 1583. 4 title pages, the main one in red and black with a Renaissance portico (the second identical but not in red and black), the others within foliate borders. Titles of the 3 title pages present in volume II: Codicis Iustiniani D.N. Sacratissimi principis pp. Aug. repetitae praelectionis Libri XII. Authenticae sev novellae constitutiones D.N. Justiniani sacratis. Feudorum consuetiudines partim ex editione vulgata, partim ex cuiaciana vulgatae apposita.
Printed in two columns with commentary distributed around. One notes with curiosity that the title refers to 4 parts, and that all copies held in libraries contain only these 4 parts, yet a table present above the privilege mentions: Volume V, which gathers notes on Cicero and other fragments.
Full marbled brown sheep bindings, contemporary or slightly later. Spines with raised bands decorated. Title and volume labels in tan morocco. Upper joint of volume I split at foot, lower joint narrowly cracked. Rubbing. Main title page creased with folds. Paper more or less browned. Restoration to outer margin of a preliminary leaf in volume I and in volume II. Pale dampstain at top of pages up to around column 330 of volume I.
Third edition, first octavo published in Basel after two folios published in Paris in 1550 and 1554 for the first text. The two following texts are in first edition. Text in single column, 33 lines per column. Not in Brunet.
Full speckled brown calf binding, 18th century. Spine with five raised bands decorated with red morocco title label, gilt compartments and fleurons. All edges red. Upper board joint cracked along its entire length. Minor wormholes on first board and at foot of lower board headcap. Three corners bumped. Pale dampstains. Minimal wormhole damage on first endpaper.
First edition of this treatise on the jurisdictional privileges granted to France by the Porte, a true system of exemptions benefiting French nationals.
Bound in full black cloth, spines smoothly restored, red morocco lettering-pieces, blind-ruled panels on covers, marbled endpapers and pastedowns.
In addition to reduced customs duties, those concerned were exempted from most local taxes and subject only to the jurisdiction of their consulates, rather than to Ottoman courts.
Small areas of discoloration to the covers, 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 of this preliminary study to the monumental Historia fisica, politica y natural de la isla de Cuba (Paris, 1832-1861).
Cf Kress 26 754. Palau 284 794. Sabin 74 919.
Contemporary half calf, flat spine decorated with gilt fillets and fleurons as well as a large blind-stamped fleuron, gilt rolls at head and tail, marbled paper boards with some rubbing along the edges, a few small bumps to the extremities, sprinkled edges.
Headcaps rubbed, tear to leaves v–vi with loss of a few letters on the final leaf, title-page slightly soiled, a faint dampstain affecting the lower margin of the first few leaves.
Inscribed by Ramon de La Sagra to the naturalist and explorer Alcide Dessalines d'Orbigny (1802–1857), whom he must have met during a stopover in Cuba on the course of the seven-year journey he undertook in South America for the Muséum (1826–1834).
The final letter of the word 'auteur' shows a small loss in the calligraphy.
First edition of this significant publication issued by the Commission of Inquiry tasked with collecting all available data and documentation on the cultivation, production, and sale of tobacco.
Illustrated with numerous folding tables and a folding map of France, printed in lithography by A. Cabassol and bound out of text.
Apparently not recorded in the Bibliothèque nationale de France.
Contemporary half calf binding, flat spine rebacked and decorated with gilt fillets, morocco labels in light brown, some rubbing to the spine, marbled paper boards with minor marginal flaws, marbled endpapers, sprinkled edges.
Some spotting to top edge; an embossed ownership stamp appears on the first leaf, with the initials CA in a medallion (possibly Caroline Augusta of the Two Sicilies, Duchess of Aumale?).
Comprehensive alphabetical index at the end of the volume.
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.
Rare first edition of the Spanish translation commissioned by Emperor Maximilian I, with the French text printed opposite (Not in Sabin. Not held at the BnF).
French and Spanish texts printed side by side in two columns.
Contemporary binding in navy blue half calf, spine with four raised bands framed with gilt garlands and decorated gilt compartments, restored to spine and joints; marbled paper boards, cat's-eye patterned endpapers and pastedowns.
Stamp of the Centro de estudios jurídicos "Lex" Mexico, Jul 16 1934, on the half-title and fore-edge ; clean and attractive interior condition.
Extremely rare printing by Fauvelle, official printer for the Tribunaux de la Seine, contemporary and textually identical to the octavo and quarto editions by the Imprimerie de la République. Only four copies with Fauvelle's imprint in OCLC (BnF, National Library of Spain, Royal Danish Library, Stadtbibliothek Worms).
Bradel-style binding in full marbled paper boards, flat spine with red roan label, light foxing to the first three leaves.
First version of the Napoleonic Code, presented by the four members of Bonaparte's commission appointed to draft the civil code. Also contains the important “Preliminary Address to the First Draft of the Civil Code,” outlining the influences and objectives behind this landmark work - the first modern legal code to be widely adopted in Europe, which influenced the codes of jurisdictions all over the world.
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 including 113 statistical tables compiled by Dr. Chassinat, surgeon for the Ministry of the Interior.
Spine lacking, minor losses to corners of the boards.
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).
Rare first edition, illustrated with a frontispiece portrait of the author, lithographed by Légé after J. Philippe.
Only three copies listed in the CCF (BnF, Pau, Toulouse).
Bound following the second part, which bears a different title: Cour d'assises de la Haute-Garonne. Affaire Lesnier. Deuxième partie, published in Bordeaux and Toulouse by Métreau and Delboy in 1855, 88 pp.
Some scattered foxing, mainly at the beginning and end of the volume.
Contemporary-style binding in chocolate-brown half shagreen, spine with five raised bands framed by black fillets, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns.
First edition of the French translation of England, The United States and the Southern Confederacy, originally published the previous year in London (Sabin 76968).
Copy belonging to the philosopher Charles Renouvier (1815–1903), with a manuscript presentation inscription at the head of the front wrapper.
Spine cracked with small losses and tears. Some light foxing; slight marginal tears to the wrappers.
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.
An important and exceedingly rare collection of administrative documents relating to the forest management system established by France in Indochina.
- I. Decree reorganizing the Forestry Service in Cochinchina (1892, 20 pp.).
II. Decree reorganizing the Forestry Service in Cochinchina (1894, 12 pp.).
Contemporary red half shagreen binding with corners, flat spine decorated with triple gilt fillets, some rubbing to spine, joints split at head, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, a few tears to edges, bumped corners, original wrappers preserved (some with tears, losses or stains), period binding.
A very rare compilation.
Very rare first edition (see Ryckebusch 6726).
Only two copies listed in the CCFr: Paris (BnF) and Poitiers.
Unbound copy presented in original grey paper wrappers, handwritten title on the spine (partly missing), some foxing mostly at the beginning and end of the volume.
A staunch advocate for the abolition of slavery, the author structures his study as follows: I. On Slavery. – II. On Emancipation. – III. Essay on the History of the Colonies. – IV. On the Colonial System. – V. Note on Algeria.
This well-documented text is supplemented with statistics and numerous historical observations: "La servitude est un crime et un malheur ; il faut donc l'abolir, et j'ajoute qu'il importe qu'on ne tarde pas à le faire" (chap. II, p. 58).
French economist Michel Gustave Pastoureau Du Puynode was born in 1817 in Les Forges de Verrières (Vienne). Appointed to the Ministry of Justice in 1845, he resigned his post during the Revolution of 1848 and declined the position of Secretary General at the Ministry of the Navy offered to him by Schoelcher. He was one of the principal contributors to the Journal des économistes and a member of the Société d'économie politique until around 1898, the probable year of his death.
A precious copy bearing, at the head of the half-title, a signed autograph inscription by Gustave de Puynode: "A Monsieur le Cte Victor du H[amel], hommage de l'auteur".
Writer and politician Victor Du Hamel (1810–1870) was the author of several novels and was appointed prefect of the Lot in 1849.
A very rare work, offered as is.
First edition of one of the final treatises by the eminent Sardinian jurist Domenico Alberto Azuni (1749–1827), one of the foremost maritime law experts of his time and a judge at the Commercial and Maritime Court of Nice (cf. Mc Culloch 126, Quérard I 144, not in Polak).
Contemporary full tree calf binding, smooth spine gilt with decorative rolls and typographic tools, gilt head- and tailbands, gilt tooling at the caps, gilt-tooled border on the covers framed with a dentelle fillet, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt fillets on board edges, yellow edges.
Minor defects to foot of upper cover, some soiling to the endpapers, otherwise a clean and appealing copy internally.
In the final years of his life, Domenico Alberto Azuni addressed the question of piracy at a time when Barbary corsairs still roamed the Mediterranean.
In this work, he advocates for a legal framework to regulate privateering, in order to secure free navigation for neutral ships during wartime and avoid hindering commercial activity.
Very rare first edition of this work, never reprinted.
Only one copy listed in the CCF (Versailles).
Contemporary bottle green half shagreen binding, spine with four raised bands ruled in gilt and adorned with double gilt compartments and gilt floral motifs, gilt title at foot, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, sprinkled edges.
Some foxing; Mexican peddler's stamp on title page.
Only edition of this collection presented from a Mexican perspective, with an introduction by José Maria Lafragua Ibarra (1813–1875).
Name R. Criado stamped in gilt at foot of spine.
First edition illustrated with 10 plates, including 9 folding ones.
Spine cracked and with losses despite some adhesive repairs; corner losses to the covers.
Section solely devoted to Cochinchina (the second volume, focused on Annam and Tonkin, was published in Hanoi). This series, issued since 1889, replaced the Annuaire de la Cochinchine (1865–1888). It was not until 1899 that the two separate parts of this colonial directory were merged into the Annuaire général de l'Indo-Chine française (1899–1925), later renamed Annuaire administratif de l'Indochine (1926–1943).
Scarce, though in a worn condition.
First edition, illustrated with 10 large folding plates hors texte.
First part: Cochinchina; section covering exclusively Cochinchina (the second part, devoted to Annam and Tonkin, bears the Hanoi imprint), published since 1889 as a continuation of the Annuaire de la Cochinchine (1865–1888).
It was only in 1899 that the two separate parts of this colonial directory were merged to form the Annuaire général de l'Indo-chine française (1899–1925), which later became the Annuaire administratif de l'Indochine (1926–1943).
Spine ends repaired with adhesive reinforcements; a scratch to the upper cover with minor marginal tears.
Rare.
First edition of the most significant contribution by Pinson de Ménerville (1808–1876) to the understanding of the legal framework specific to Algeria under French rule.
It was soon followed by several supplements, later integrated into the definitive 1872 edition (in three volumes). Having arrived in the colony as early as 1831, Ménerville held successive posts as lawyer, examining magistrate, and prosecutor, before concluding his career as the esteemed First President of the Court of Algiers (1874).
Illustrated with a folding table at the end of the volume.
Contemporary binding in cherry red half shagreen, spine with five raised bands decorated with gilt dotted fillets and triple gilt panels, some rubbing to spine, marbled paper-covered boards, marbled endpapers, sprinkled edges, heraldic bookplate pasted on front pastedown.
Provenance: Copy belonging to Charles Cousin-Montauban (1796–1878), then brigadier general commanding the Mostaganem subdivision, with his heraldic bookplate mounted to the front pastedown.
Some occasional foxing.
Complete manuscript of the unpublished French translation by J. Brunet of the monumental « Giurisprudenza marittima-commerciale antica e moderna » by the Milanese lawyer Luigi Piantanida, originally published in four volumes between 1806 and 1808.
Contemporary-style pastiche binding in marbled tan half calf with vellum tips, smooth spine lavishly gilt with decorative panels and gilt Greek key friezes, red morocco title label, marbled paper boards showing minor scuffs.
In the preface, the author traces the history of maritime regulation from its origins, then reviews the various maritime codes, the rights and duties of consuls, the admiralty, captains and crew members, and explains the role of existing jurisdictions, maritime courts and judgments.
At the front, two fine engraved portraits: one of the author, the other of Napoleon I, engraved by Domenico Cavalli.
Inserted is a printed bifolium (8vo, 3 pp.), containing the speech delivered by M. Penieres in response to the presentation made by L. Piantanida of his work to the Legislative Body, Session of November 4, 1808, Paris, Hacquart, (1808).
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 Annam are found.
First and only edition, illustrated with 12 plates including 8 lithographed views and 4 folding tables.
Contemporary half calf binding with corners, spine decorated with triple gilt fillets and large blind-stamped fleurons, minor losses at foot of joints, marbled paper boards scuffed with some surface loss, corners worn, edges sprinkled blue.
Scattered light foxing, mostly at the beginning and end of the volume.
This text constitutes the first draft of what would become, in 1835, the major work Description de Moscou.
The folding map that complements this work was only published in 1825 and is not, strictly speaking, part of this edition.
Lecointe de Laveau (1783–1846), settled in Russia by at least 1806 (the year he married there), was secretary of the Imperial Society of Naturalists of Moscow. He travelled extensively throughout the Empire and did not return to France until after 1830.
First edition of the French translation, illustrated with a frontispiece portrait of Iwakura Tomomi.
Contemporary binding in navy blue long-grain half morocco, flat spine decorated with gilt fillets and blind-stamped fleurons, red morocco lettering-piece running lengthwise, green cloth boards, minor fading and rubbing to covers, original blank wrappers preserved; modern binding.
Iwakura Tomomi (1825–1883) was a prominent figure of the Meiji era, whose influence played a key role in Japan's transformation.
Some handwritten annotations in ink and pencil on a pastedown, and an inscription in ink reading "Trautz (?) Kyoto. Jan 1935" on the endpaper.
Inscribed and signed by Leonardus Johannes Antonius van de Polder to Doctor Kniper, dated December 1922.
Bookplate of R.A. Scoales pasted on a pastedown.
Second edition of the French translation, complete with its folding map at the beginning of the volume.
Scattered light foxing, otherwise a well-preserved copy.
Preface by Édouard René Lefebvre de Laboulaye.
Bound in contemporary chocolate-brown half morocco, spine with five raised bands ruled in black, double blind fillets framing the marbled paper boards, comb-marbled endpapers and pastedowns, red top edge, slightly rubbed corners, bookplate affixed to a pastedown.
French translation of The Lost Continent: or, Slavery and the Slave Trade in Africa by the Quaker abolitionist Joseph Cooper (1800–1881).
The work is of particular interest for its early recognition that indentured labour, which emerged in the wake of successive abolition movements, often perpetuated the logic and practices of slavery under new forms.
Provenance: from the library of Emmanuel Mancel, with his engraved bookplate by Trouchou pasted on a pastedown.
New edition of the French translation, reissued for sale with a substitute title, of this anonymous account first printed in 1793 (Schwab, 612. Barbier, IV, 1097e. Quérard, Supercheries, I, 606e.).
The translation is by Louis Matthieu Langlès and François Joseph Noël.
Contemporary full tree calf, smooth spine with gilt-decorated compartments, gilt fillet at foot, joints rubbed, spine ends worn, maroon morocco title label, endpapers and pastedowns lightly soiled at margins, corners bumped.
The work includes a description of the principal towns and regions visited during the journey from Bengal to Persia: Ceylon, Goa, Bombay, Muscat, Oman, Bushehr, Shiraz, followed by numerous details on Persian customs and manners, character, justice system, marriage, funeral rites, religion, superstitions and talismans, and Shiraz wine…
It then addresses the revolutions in Persia from 1747, the year of Nadir Shah’s death, to 1788. The final section deals with the island of Pulau Pinang (Malaysia), with a description of its natural resources and the opium trade.
Appended are several excerpts by other travellers concerning this island (by Le Gentil and Captain Thomas F.).
An early handwritten note evaluating the work appears on the half-title.
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.
Rare first edition of the French translation, with no copies printed on deluxe paper.
Spine slightly sunned, a vertical shadow on the lower cover, internally clean and attractive.
Rare first edition illustrated with three folding plates outside the text.
Spine repaired along the right margin with adhesive strip, minor tears to spine, internally clean and appealing.
In the manner of departmental compendia of customary law published in mainland France, the author records the unofficial legal “usages” adopted in practice within the colony, though lacking legal force. Born in Saint-Denis, Réunion, Georges Garros (1860 – after 1919) moved to Cochinchina in 1892 to open a law practice in Saigon, primarily serving the commercial interests of his Vietnamese merchant friends. He was also the father of the famed aviator Roland Garros (1888–1918).
Inscribed by Georges Garros: "Monsieur Foulé, greffier en chef de la Cour d'appel hommage de cordiale sympathie. G. Garros"
Rare original edition of this work, not listed by Renouard.
Disbound copy, internally well preserved.
Very important and last remaining archives in private hands, including autograph manuscripts, typescripts, corrected proofs, offprints, first editions, etc.
Exceptional collection of manuscript and printed archives – the last in private hands – of the founder of liberalism and modern economics, Léon Walras, preserved and annotated by his most prominent scholar William Jaffé. One of the 5 most important sets of personal archives belonging to Walras, considered by Schumpeter “the greatest of all economists”.
This collection of 42 important documents, including complete autograph manuscripts, corrected proofs, abundantly annotated offprints and expanded printed material, was given by his daughter Aline Walras and then Gaston Leduc to William Jaffé, who added his autograph notes to some of them and used them to edit the first translation of Éléments d’économie politique pure.
First edition, illustrated with four plates including a map of the Sudan.
The plates depict human types and a map of Sudan, drawn "according to the Negro slaves in Bahia".
Modern Bradel binding in black half shagreen, smooth spine decorated with two gilt floral tools, gilt date at foot, marbled paper boards, original wrappers preserved (small hole on rear board).
A naturalist and explorer, Francis de Castelnau undertook, between 1843 and 1847, a major expedition across South America, notably visiting Peru and Brazil.
In 1848, he was appointed French consul in Bahia. Upon his arrival, he observed that several African-born slaves could read and write Arabic and Libyco-Berber. Through interviews, some of them spoke to him about the Niams-Niams, or tailed men, said to live in a region referred to here as "Sudan", corresponding to present-day Nigeria. In this work, Castelnau presents the information he gathered on the subject. He describes several tribes from the Sudan region represented among the Bahia slaves: Nagos, Gèges or Dahomeys, Gallinhas, Minas, Borgos or Bargous, Tapas, Angols or Congos, Hausas, Fulanis or Foullatahs. He then recounts the interrogations of Bahia slaves who claimed to have seen or heard of the Niams-Niams, thereby collecting a wealth of ethnographic and geographic information on that part of Africa. The volume ends with a vocabulary section in several Sudanese languages (Hausa, Fulani, Courami, Java).
A handsome and scarce copy.
First edition of this rare and sought-after work compiling, in a single volume, the main legislative and regulatory provisions from Year XIV to 1857, forming the specific legal code of the island (cf. Ryckebusch 6126).
Some light foxing, mostly at the beginning and end of the volume.
Contemporary full aubergine calf, spine with four raised bands decorated with gilt double fillets, slight rubbing to spine and boards, gilt roll-tooled head- and tailbands, boards framed with gilt triple and double fillets, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt dotted edges, marbled edges, contemporary binding.
Very rare first edition, illustrated with a large folding lithographed map (cf. Sabin, 21 178 – Only two copies listed in the CCF: at the BnF and the Médiathèque du Quai Branly).
Contemporary full marbled yellow paper boards, flat spine with a cherry-red shagreen label, library shelf label pasted at the foot of the spine, red edges.
A small discoloured spot on the title page, a few light foxmarks.
The Federal Republic of Central America (Republica federal de Centroamérica) was short-lived: established in 1824 from the United Provinces of Central America, it was dissolved in November 1839 following the secession of its main constituent states. It comprised Guatemala, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica, Chiapas (now part of Mexico), and Los Altos (in 1838).
First edition of this important and highly valuable collection, containing numerous official papers and documents (cf. Sabin 47547. Leclerc 763).
Bound in full marbled tan calf, spines with five raised bands, gilt garlands and richly gilt compartments, red shagreen title-pieces, brown shagreen volume labels, gilt tooling (now slightly faded) to the headcaps, panels framed with double blind fillets, gilt double fillets on the board edges, red edges, contemporary bindings.
Headcaps of volumes two and three shaved, corners bumped and worn, small holes and losses to the leather along the margins of the volumes.
Scattered light foxing, otherwise clean and fresh throughout.
Volume I contains the memoirs on Acadia and the island of Saint Lucia, with a large folding map inserted.
Volume II includes treaties and public acts relating to America in general, and supporting documents for the memoirs concerning the boundaries of Acadia.
Volume III is devoted to supporting documents relating to the ownership of the island of Saint Lucia.
As is often the case, the set lacks volume IV, which was published only in 1757.
The French negotiators were Mssrs. de Silhouette and de La Galissonnière, and for Britain, Mssrs. V. Shirlet and Wm. Mildmay; the failure of the negotiations was one of the contributing factors to the outbreak of the Seven Years' War.
First edition of the French translation of this rare and significant travel account.
Illustrated with 16 folding and full-page plates featuring numerous figures: landscapes, natural history subjects, elephant hunting scenes, and more (cf. Gay 2808).
Contemporary full brown calf, spine with five raised bands, gilt tooled compartments with double gilt frames and decorations, gilt rolls on caps, gilt fillets on board edges.
Spine expertly rebacked to style, repairs to p. 1 and several plates, occasional foxing.
"De toutes les anciennes relations de la Guinée, celle-ci est la plus estimable : elle est aussi très recherchée. C'est sur la Côte d'Or, sur celle des Esclaves et sur le royaume de Benin, assez imparfaitement décrits avant et après Bosman, que ce voyageur s'est particulièrement étendu". Cf. Boucher de La Richarderie.
A Dutch traveller, Willem Bosman lived during the second half of the 17th century. He spent fourteen years in Africa, where he successively served the Dutch West India Company as a factor on the Guinea Coast, and as chief director of the Axim and Elmina trading posts on the Gold Coast. He visited in detail the most notable locations across these regions, commissioned drawings of local fauna, and had maps made of the territories east of Elmina. Upon his return to Europe, he published his observations under the title Naauwkeurige Beschryving van de Guinese goud, land en Slaven-Kust, Utrecht, 1704, followed by a French translation the following year (Hoefer).
Provenance: from the library of Joseph M. Cleason, with his bookplate pasted on the inside board.
First edition, with no copies printed on deluxe paper.
A pleasant copy despite two small creases at the foot of the front cover.
Inscribed and signed by Jean Favier to the Belgian literary critic Pol Vandromme.
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.
Autograph letter signed by Emile Zola addressed to Octave Mirbeau, dated in his hand March 4, 1901. Two pages in black ink on a bifolium.
Horizontal fold mark inherent to postal delivery.
Published in his Correspondence, vol. X, p. 242.
Precious letter from Zola to his great supporter Octave Mirbeau, who had paid his fine at the end of his second trial for "J'accuse!".
Now amnestied, the writer attempts - in vain - to recover the sum to reimburse him.
After his historic cry from the heart in l'Aurore, Zola was first condemned by the Seine jury on February 23, 1898 to one year in prison and a three thousand franc fine. The judgment was overturned on appeal, and the case was referred to the Versailles assizes, which retained only three lines out of the eight hundred that make up "J'accuse!" as grounds for accusation. To avoid accepting such a stifling of the debates, Zola's defense decided to default, and the conviction was confirmed on July 18 - Zola left that very evening for London to avoid prison. The tribunal also demanded 7,555 francs from him, which Mirbeau spontaneously decided to pay from his own funds. It was also Octave Mirbeau who prevented the seizure of Zola's furniture, by obtaining from Joseph Reinach the 40,000 francs in damages that Zola had been condemned to pay to the three pseudo-experts in handwriting that he had "defamed" in J'accuse!...
Following the amnesty law that ended judicial proceedings for "all criminal or delictual acts connected to the Dreyfus affair," Zola was acquitted but was not reimbursed. This letter attests to the writer's desire to compensate Mirbeau for his act of generosity: "Labori [his lawyer] will attempt an approach to try to recover the seven thousand and some francs that you paid on my behalf, for the Versailles affair. He simply wishes to have a letter from you, in order to show it and thus be authorized to speak in your name. You certainly do not have down there the receipt that was issued to you. Perhaps you remember its terms. In any case, if we must wait, we will wait, for nothing is urgent after all. The important thing today is only to test the ground, to see if they will return the money to us". However, the prosecutor's office refused his request. Furious, Zola wrote two days later a letter to Labori asking him to give up claiming the slightest cent - he published it in L'Aurore under the title "Let them keep the money": "they torture the text of the law and the State too keeps the money. If the prosecutor's office persists in this interpretation, it will be yet another monstrosity, in the unworthy way they have refused me all justice [...] I do not want to be complicit by accepting anything whatsoever from their amnesty [...]". According to Pierre Michel, these unsuccessful recovery attempts, of which this letter bears witness, "incited Zola to adopt an attitude that emphasizes even more his disinterestedness and that of his 'friend,' who is not named [in the L'Aurore article], probably at Mirbeau's request."
Dreyfus's pardon and the amnesty of his supporters did not satisfy the writer, but nevertheless marked the end of long years of struggle: "I have finished my crushing task, and I am going to rest a little because I am exhausted". Struck down in full glory the following year, he would not be able to witness Captain Dreyfus's rehabilitation.
Beautiful lines from Zola to Mirbeau who gave him the means to continue his fight for justice.
Autograph letter most probably unpublished signed addressed by Juliette Drouet to her lover Victor Hugo, four pages written in black ink on a bifolium.
Transverse folds inherent to mailing, fold joining the two leaves reinforced with a fine strip of pasted paper barely perceptible.
Absent from the very complete online edition of Juliette Drouet's letters to Hugo by the Centre d'Études et de Recherche Éditer/Interpréter (University of Rouen-Normandy).
Very beautiful declaration of love and admiration by Juliette Drouet, the day after Hugo's plea defending his son. Charles Hugo had been brought before the assizes, and condemned despite his father's intervention, for having valiantly castigated the execution of Claude Montcharmont.
Hugo's great love addresses this letter in troubled times, where father and son find themselves at the forefront of the scene for their abolitionist positions. Scandalized by the execution of Montcharmont, a 29-year-old poacher from Morvan, Charles Hugo publishes an article in l'Événement which earns him a trial for contempt of respect due to the laws: the Second Republic already exists only in name, and the press is subject to frequent attacks, further aggravated here by the notoriety of the Hugos. Victor wants to defend his son and delivers a plea that remains famous: "Mon fils, tu reçois aujourd'hui un grand honneur, tu as été jugé digne de combattre, de souffrir peut-être, pour la sainte cause de la vérité. A dater d'aujourd'hui, tu entres dans la véritable vie virile de notre temps, c'est-à-dire dans la lutte pour le juste et pour le vrai. Sois fier, toi qui n'est qu'un simple soldat de l'idée humaine et démocratique, tu es assis sur ce banc où s'est assis Béranger, où s'est assis Lamennais !" (My son, you receive today a great honor, you have been judged worthy to fight, perhaps to suffer, for the holy cause of truth. From today, you enter into the true virile life of our time, that is to say into the struggle for the just and the true. Be proud, you who are but a simple soldier of the human and democratic idea, you are seated on this bench where Béranger sat, where Lamennais sat!)
Despite Hugo's historic intervention, Charles is condemned to six months in prison and 50 francs fine - a decision that Juliette bitterly castigates, overwhelmed by anguish at the outcome of the trial: "J'ai beau savoir que cet arrêt inique est non seulement supporté avec courage par vous tous, mais accepté avec orgueil et avec joie par le plus directement intéressé dans cette malheureuse condamnation, la fatigue et l'inquiétude que j'ai éprouvé pendant toute cette interminable journée d'hier m'a laissée une douloureuse courbature physique et morale" (However much I know that this iniquitous verdict is not only borne with courage by all of you, but accepted with pride and joy by the one most directly concerned in this unfortunate condemnation, the fatigue and anxiety I experienced during all that interminable day yesterday has left me with a painful physical and moral ache).
12 juin jeudi matin 7h
