May 24-26, 2012 Booth 8

T h e L o n d o n I n t e r n a ti o n a l
A n ti q u a r i a n B o o k F a i r
[Turkey] Nicolay N o 29
May 24-26, 2012
Booth 8
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Dupaix N o 20
Table of Contents
Travel: 1-35
Astronomy: 36-45
Math & Physics: 46-53
Nat. Hist., Medicine, Gastronomy: 54-58
Arts: 59-92
Travel
A Landmark in 16th Century Spanish Law
With Applications to Slavery and the New World
1. ALBORNOZ, Bartolomeo de. Arte de los Contractos.Valencia, Pedro de Huete, 1573. Large 4to, 18th C
calf.
$30,000
First and only edition of this commentary on the law of contracts, most celebrated today for its sections relating to the immorality and illegality of slavery. Along with Tomás de Mercado’s 1569 treatise,
Albornoz’s writings represent one of the earliest attacks on slavery from a technical, legal perspective
rather than a theological or historical one. Thanks to Albornoz’s lengthy discussions of laws applicable
(and designed especially for!) the New World, the work is listed in Alden/Landis.
A Portuguese Navigation Rarity with Substantial Information on Brazil
2. MARIZ CARNEIRO, Antonio de. Regimento de pilotos e roteiro da nauegaçam e conquitas [sic] do Brasil,
Angola, S. Thome, Cabo Verde, Maranhão, Ilhas, & Indias Occidentais. [Lisbon], Manoel da Sylva, 1655. 4to, ct
flexible vellum.
$85,000
An appealing copy of an extremely rare augmented edition of this Portuguese-language pilot book covering navigation along the coasts of Brazil, Africa, and the Caribbean. Twenty-five leaves (50 pp.) cover
the coastline of Brazil, including notes on sailing to Bahia, Pernambuco, Spirito Santo, Maranhão, Rio
de la Plata and Buenos Aires. Another 43 leaves cover the west coast of Africa (Angola, S. Thomé,
Cabo Verde, Sierra Leone, Mina, Loanda, etc.), with a few tips added for those daring enough to fish
along the Barbary Coast. The Caribbean is given 32 leaves, including directions to Antigua, Barbados,
Puerto Rico, Virgin Gorda, Santo Domingo, Tortuga, Cuba, and, on the mainland, Campeche, Honduras,
and Cartagena.
Eyewitness Account of a Voyage from Moscow to Beijing
Illustrated with 30 Plates and a Folding Map
3. [CHINA] IDES, Evert / KAO, Dionysius. Three years travel from Moscow over-land to China: thro’ Great
Ustiga, Siriania, Permia, Sibiria, Daour, Great Tartary & co. to Peking. London, Freeman et al, 1706. Large 4to.
Engraved frontispiece, large folding map, and 30 plates. Ct paneled calf, spine re-backed.
$6,850
First English-language edition of this illustrated eyewitness account of a voyage from Moscow to Beijing
from 1692-1695 by Evert Ides, Ambassador to China of Czar Peter the Great. Ides’ account is a seminal
document of early Russo-Chinese relations: the voyage was directly motivated by the 1689 Treaty of
Nerchinsk, the first treaty between Russia and China, which opened official trade relations between the
two countries. In addition to its 30 plates, the work contains a large folding engraved map of the entire
Eurasian landmass from Moscow east to Japan and Korea, and from Siberia south to India and southeast Asia.
Chinese Rites Controversy
4. [CHINA] / [CEVA, Tommaso]. Reflexions sur les Affaires presentes de la Chine. Ecrit traduit de l’Italien. n. p.
n. d. [after 1704].
[Bound with:]
[MAIGROT, Charles]. Lettre a Messieurs du Seminaire des Missions etrangeres; Sur ce qu’ils accusent les Jesuites de
ne s’être pas soûmis sincerement au nouveau Decret touchant les affaires de la Chine. n. p., n. d. [after 1704]. 12mos,
ct red morocco. $3350
Ensemble of two rare pamphlets on the Chinese Rites controversy, notably presenting both sides of the
debate: the first work defends the Jesuits and questions the Papal abolition of the Rites, while the latter
work condemns the Order and accuses them of encouraging idolatry. In 1693 Maigrot had re-opened the
Rites controversy by banning certain Confucian practices; these mandates were affirmed by the Pope in
1704 despite complaints from the Jesuits that such restrictions would greatly weaken their proselytizing
powers. Thanks to the Papal edict the Jesuits were all but thrown out of China in 1707 – likely around the
time the present works were written.
Marco Polo’s Travels in Italian
“The Most Widely Read” of All the Translations
5. [CHINA]/ POLO, Marco. Delle meraviglie del mondo per lui vedute. Venice & Trevigi, Angelo Righettini,
1267 [i.e. 1627]. 8vo., including full-page woodcut of Polo. 18th C tree calf. $12,500
Scarce Italian-language edition of Marco Polo’s travelogue—“the most widely read” version of this classic text. While the Venetian explorer’s tale was first circulated in a French-language manuscript and initially printed in German (1477), “it is probable that the Italian text was the most widely read by the
Mediterranean navigators and traders whose adventurousness so greatly extended our knowledge of the
globe”—PMM.
The Testament of
Christopher Columbus’ Son & Executor
The Only Extant Copy
Drafted in the New World
6.
COLUMBUS (Colón Muñíz), Diego /
MANUSCRIPT. Testamento. Small folio [31.5 x 23
cm], (38) ff., with ca. 36 lines per page written in a
standard cortesana hand. Complete. Copy made between 1 and 15 July, 1545 after his second and final
testament (now lost). P. O. R.
Extremely important manuscript Americanum, an
unpublished and complete copy of Diego Columbus’ second and final last will and testament, the only
known copy drafted in the New World, containing
the seal of the city of Santo Domingo on its final
leaf. An iconic document containing a direct link to
the Admiral himself and to his most outstanding exploit, the discovery of the New World. The will forms
one of the lynchpins in the Pleitos Colombinos, the centuries’ long lawsuit waged between Columbus and
his heirs and the Spanish Crown to collect revenues, privileges and benefices allegedly owed him in perpetuity in recompense for his discoveries.
7. CORTES, Hernando. Von dem Newen Hispanien, so im Meer gegen Nidergang. Augsburg, Philipp Ulhart,
1550. Folio, early vellum.
$18,500
Scarce first edition of this first German translation of Cortes’ second and third letters (misnamed the first
and second). The present volume also includes extracts from Peter Martyr’s Fourth Decade and Oviedo’s
account of an Amazon society in the Dominican Republic, as well as geographic and ethnographic
reports not found in any of the Spanish or Latin editions, regarding the Canary Islands, Venezuela,
“battles between Indians and Christians,” and the difficulties faced by Gonzales Pizarro and Francisco de
Orellana on their 1541 expedition to find the ‘land of cinnamon’ in the north of Peru.
The First Definitive Account
of Cortes’ Conquest of Mexico
8. [CORTES, Hernando & ANGHIERA, Pietro Martire d’
[/PETER MARTYR]. De Nuper sub D. Carolo Repertis Insulis. Basel, [Adam Petri], 1521. 4to, 18th C vellum.
$45,000
Scarce first edition, and an exceptionally fresh and appealing copy,
of Peter Martyr’s third ‘decade’ narrating the eventful years between 1516 and 1521 – including the first acquirable account of
the Conquest of Mexico. Having landed in the Yucatan Peninsula in 1519 and against amazing odds, Cortes proceeded to conquer
the Aztec empire by 1521. Martyr’s contemporary account of this
period has long been recognized as the earliest definitive work on
the Conquest of Mexico; it is generally considered to contain the
‘Lost First Letter’ sent by Cortes at Vera Cruz in 1519 to Emperor
Charles V.
The First Circumnavigation
from West to East
9. CUBERO SEBASTIAN, Pietro. Peregrinazione del Mondo…Tradotta dalla lingua Spagnola
nell’Italiana. Naples, Carlo Porsile, 1683. 4to., engraved title and two engr. portraits. Ct flexible vellum.
$6500
Very rare first Italian edition of this celebrated
travel account, the first circumnavigation of the
world from West to East (Pires, Travel Accounts
of the Islands, p 19). Pedro Cubero (1645-ca 1697)
travelled mainly by land rather than by sea, and
was certainly one of the earliest circumnavigators
to travel independently rather than as part of an expedition. The final leg of his journey takes Cubero
overland from Acapulco to Veracruz, and includes much detail on the religious activities and settlements in New Spain. It is entirely possible to trace his route today based on the descriptions he gives,
through what remain very remote areas of Mexico.
12th Century Manuscript Encyclopedia on Vellum
“The Most Influential Book After the Bible
in the Learned World of the Latin West”
10. [ENCYCLOPEDIA] / ISIDORE OF
SEVILLE (d. 636). Etymologiae. Decorated
manuscript on vellum. England, mid-twelfth
century. Folio [30 x 20.5 cm], (246) ff. Some
contemporary corrections and early drypoint
glosses, rubrics in red, brightly coloured initials. Twenty small diagrams on fols. 43r and
44r, one circular penwork diagram showing
the phases of the sun (fol. 49r), a T-O world
map in red penwork (fol. 172v), two very large
penwork consanguinity diagrams (full-page
fol. 124r; three-quarter page fol. 124v). 19th
C vellum. P. O. R.
Exceptionally rare 12th century manuscript of this mediaeval encyclopedia, “arguably the most influential book, after the Bible, in the learned world of the Latin West for nearly a thousand years” (Barney et
al.). The present example is notable for its English origin and date, roughly 100 years earlier than
any example in American libraries. The work has long been recognized as a fundamental text in medieval studies: vastly popular in its time, it offers a key to the mindset of readers from seventh-century
Irish monks to early Renaissance writers and thinkers, covering an enormous array of subjects from
astronomy, geography, and warfare to medicine, music, and technology. The present copy includes an
example of Isidore’s famous T-O world map, the earliest known surviving type of world map. The
survival rate of Isidore manuscripts is exceptionally low and they are scarce on the market.
11. [HOLY LAND] / [LA VERGNE DE TRESSAN, Pierre de]. Relation nouvelle et exacte d’un Voyage de
la Terre Sainte. Paris, Antoine Dezallier, 1688. 8vo, with folding map. Ct speckled calf.
$6850
A fine copy of the very rare first and only edition of this late 17th-century pilgrimage guide to the Holy
Land, replete with a folding map showing travel times by road between destinations. At the rear Tressan
provides his reader with an up-to-date table of typical pilgrimage expenses – a practical addition unusual
in our experience.
The Largest & Most Beautiful Atlas of Cities Ever Produced
In Full, Vibrant Coloring of the Period, Heightened with Gold
12. JANSSONIUS, Johannes. Theatrum Urbium Celebriorum totius Belgii sive Germaniae Inferioris. [et] Theatrum
Exhibens Illustriores Principexe Germaniae Superioris Civitates. [et] Theatrum Exhibens Celebriores Galliae et Helvetiae Urbes. [et] Theatrum Praecipuarum Urbium Positarum ad Septentrionalem Europae Plagam. [et] Theatrum
Celebriorum Urbium Italiae, Aliarumque in Insulis Maris Mediterranei [et] Theatrum in quo visuntur Illustriores Hispaniae Urbes, Aliaeque ad Orientem & Austrum Civitates Celebriores. Amsterdam, Jansonnius, 1657. 500 map
plates in ct color. 8 volumes in folio, ct Dutch publisher’s vellum. P. O. R.
Extremely rare, complete, sole edition of the most comprehensive and certainly the most beautiful early
city atlas ever published. No atlas of cities and towns has ever provided as vibrant and richly detailed a
portrait of its subject as this one. Moreover, no complete copy of the atlas has appeared on the market
for the last 30 years.
With a Portrait of the Japanese Ambassador
13. [JAPAN] / AMATI, Scipione. Relation und gründtlicher
Bericht von dess Königreichs Voxu im japonischen Keyserthumb gottseliger Bekehrung: und dessentwegen aussgefertigter Ambasciada an Päbst…
Ingolstadt, Elisabeth Angermayr, 1617. 4to, ct vellum MS leaf.
$28,500
With full-page portrait of Japanese ambassador. Rare first German edition of Amati’s famous account of the
Japanese embassy to Rome in 1615, including for the first time
(in any edition!) an engraved portrait of Hasekura Rokuemon Tsunenaga, head of the Japanese delegation, replete with
samurai sword. Amati’s account was one of the last Japanese
relations to focus on Japanese culture and achievements; as Lach
and van Kley note, most later accounts were concerned solely
with the persecution of Christians.
With the Exceptionally Rare
Ginnaro Map of Japan
14. [JAPAN] / GINNARO, Bernardino. Saverio Orientale o vero Istorie de’Cristiani illustri dell’Oriente... Tomo
Primo... Del Giappone... [all published]. Naples, Savio, 1641. 4to, ct calf.
$55,000
First and only edition of this extremely rare and important compendium of contemporary knowledge
of Japan celebrating the centennial of St. Francis Xavier’s arrival, including a significant map of Japan
based on a now-lost Portuguese manuscript. One of the great rarities in the Western cartography of
Japan, this is the first acquirable map to delineate all 66 of the country’s provinces, and became the
prototype for subsequent 17th century depictions of the country.
European Travel Guide for 19th Century Youths
15. [JUVENILE]. Passeggiata in Europa ovvero Storia Viaggi e Costumi. Alla Gioventu. Con Figure. Torino, Fratelli
Reycend, [ca. 1850]. 12mo., with 8 acqua-forte engravings.
$850
Very rare first and only edition of this travel guide to Europe, written, as the title suggests, for young
readers in a pocket 12mo format. The guide moves from tours of Italy and Switzerland all the way to
Poland, Lithuania, and Turkey, as well as Great Britain, providing 8 engraved plates of national costumes
along the way.
With 6 Large Maps and 36 Plates
16. LINSCHOTEN, Jean Hugues. Histoire de la Navigation. Amsterdam, Evert Cloppenburgh, 1638. Folio,
ct vellum. $115,000
A superb copy of Linschoten’s classic illustrated travelogue on the East and West Indies, termed by Lach
“the most important of the firsthand accounts published independently of the great travel collections”
(I.198). No other book contained as much usable intelligence on the East and West Indies as Linschoten’s
work. Unhindered by censorship (unlike writers from the Iberian peninsula), Linschoten was able to
include sailing directions, physical descriptions, and information on commerce and trade. The work was
held in such high esteem that for nearly a century the Dutch gave a copy of a Dutch edition to each ship
sailing to the East for use as a guide. This copy is unusual for being in entirely contemporary condition—in its original binding and entirely unsophisticated internally.
The Birth of a Superpower
The First Dutch Voyages to the East
17. LODEWIJCKSZ, Willem. Premier livre de l’histoire de la navigation aux Indes Orientales par les Hollandois, et
des choses a eux advenues. Amsterdam, Corneille Nicolas, 1598. 48 plates and numerous woodcuts in text.
[Bound with:]
[NECK, Johann Cornelius.] Le second livre, Journal ou Comptoir, contenant le vray discourse et narration historique, du voyage faict par les huict Navires d’Amsterdam. Amsterdam, Corneille Nicolas, 1601. 23 engraved
plates. Folios, ct limp vellum.
$55,000
First French editions of both parts of this lavishly illustrated account of the two earliest Dutch
voyages to the East Indies, coinciding with the creation of the Dutch East India Company and marking the birth of a new superpower in the East. The first book describes the 1595-1597 voyage led by
Cornelis de Houtman through the eyes of one of the commissaries aboard the Mauritius; the second
chronicles the expedition of 1598-1600 under Neck and Warwijk, which brought the Dutch to the shores
of Mauritius (which they named), Madagascar, the Moluccas, Java, Celebes, Banda and Ternate. This
is the voyage that gave rise to the Dutch East India Company in 1602 and led to the concentration of
Dutch colonial efforts on Java and the Spice Islands.
A Very Rare News Map
of the Siege of Malta
Depicting the Triumph
of the Knights of Malta
18. [MALTA] / LAFRERI, Antonio. Melita Insula
Divi Pauli Apostoli quondam hospita. [Rome, 1565]. 37.5
x 50 cm.
$18,500
An extremely rare, separately published news map
of the Turkish siege of Malta in 1565, depicting the
moment of triumph by the Christian forces. The
defeat of the Ottoman navy in the battle became one
of the most celebrated victories throughout 16th
century Europe, in part thanks to maps like the present one. This was among the first of many maps to
record this event and was also one of the first printed maps in the category of the broadside news map.
The First Navigational Treatise in French
Medina’s Manual of Compass-Navigation
19.MEDINA, Pedro (de) / NICOLAI, Nicolas (de). L’art de nauiguer de Maistre Pierre de Medine. Lyon,
Guillaume Rouille, 1554. Folio, with a double-page engraved world map. 18th C vellum.
$150,000
Very rare first edition of the first significant practical treatise on trans-Atlantic navigation in French.
Dedicated by the translator Nicholas Nicolay to Henri II, who took a special interest in establishing a
French presence in the Americas, the work’s publication appeared just before the earliest French explorations in the New World: Villegagnon sailing for Brazil, Ribault for Florida and Laudonnière for South
Carolina. The work was the most up-to-date navigational treatise of its kind and laid the groundwork for
later treatises by Coignet, Blaeu, Wright, and Blundeville, etc.
Sumptuous Description of Mayan Ruins in Two Elephant Folio Volumes
In Fine Contemporary Hand-Coloring
20.[MEXICO] DUPAIX, Guillaume; CASTAÑEDA, José Luciano (illustr.); and others, including
CHATEAUBRIAND, François-René de. Antiquités mexicaines. Relation des trois Expéditions du Capitaine
Dupaix, ordonnées en 1805, 1806, et 1807, pour la Recherche des Antiquités du Pays, notamment celles de Mitla et de
Palenque. Paris, Didot, 1834. Elephant folios, with frontispiece, map, and 166 plates in original handcolor.
Ct French red morocco. $200,000
First edition, first issue of this monumental work, here in a rare example with fine contemporary handcolouring. An ‘indispensable supplement to Humboldt’s Voyage dans l’Amerique’ (Sabin), Dupaix’s painstaking work represents in many cases the first glimpse – and first published records - of untouched Mayan ruins emerging from the jungle. The remarkably faithful engravings in the Antiquités mexicaines have
ensured that the work remains one of the most valuable colonial sources on Mayan art and architecture.
Virtually ignored or actively disparaged since the arrival of Cortes, the first half of the 19th century saw
the sudden explosion of European interest in the ancient inhabitants of Mexico thanks to works such as
the present one. Dupaix’s, however, must be counted far and away the most visually striking and resplendent depiction of this forgotten civilization, replete with ruins often visibly still overgrown by greenery.
Rare English Work on Surveying, Navigation
21.[NAVIGATION] HOPTON, Arthur. Speculum topographicum: or, the topographicall glasse. London, N. Okes
for Simon Waterson, 1611. 4to, bound (with 3 other works) in 18th-century English calf.
$25,000
Rare, extensively illustrated English-language treatise on navigation and surveying, introducing the author’s invention, the “topographicall glasse.” This “able, excellently illustrated book on surveying” (Waters) provides a solid grounding in contemporary surveying methods and instruments, and then treats a
wide variety of related topics. According to Waters, this is the best of Hopton’s works and “must have
been in the hands of many Jacobean navigators and hydrographers.”
The History of Chile, Illustrated
22.OVALLE, Alonso. Historica Relatione del Regno di Cile, e delle missioni, e ministerii che esercita in quelle la Compagnia di Giesu. Rome, Francesco Cavalli, 1646. Large 4to., 13 engraved plates and 18 woodcuts. Ct speckled
calf. $12,500
First Italian edition, appearing the same year as the Spanish, of the best early history of Chile. One of the
more unusual Jesuit productions, it departs from the usual letter form, octavo-size, unillustrated relations.
The work includes a great deal of information on the physical and cultural geography, natural history and
Indian ethnology of the country, and on the Jesuit colleges and missions there. The history of the Spanish involvement and warfare with the Araucanian Indians, who were never subdued by the Spaniards, is
also extensively treated. The engravings, some of them signed “AT” (Antonio Tempesta) depict Indian
games, the hunting of birds, roping of cattle, city plans, and religious pictures. The woodcuts are views
of ports and Jesuit establishments.
Letters from Cochin-China
23. SACCANO, Metello. Relation des Progrez de la Foy au Royaume de la Cochinchine és années 1646. & 1647.
Envoiée au R.P. Général de la Compagnie de Jésus. Paris, Sebastien Cramoisy and Gabriel Cramoisy, 1653. Old
vellum.
$6500
Rare first and only edition of two Jesuit letters from the province of Cochin-China. One of the most
significant events of 1646 for Saccano was the gaining of permission for Jesuits and their catechists
to reside in Cochin-China at all; this, however, was preceeded by a period of renewed persecution, the
martyrdom of two converts, and an aborted attempt by the banished ‘Apostle of Vietnam’, Alexander
Rhodes, to return to the kingdom.
The First Writer on Maritime Insurance
24. SANTAREM, Pedro de. Tractatus de assecurationibus & sponsionibus mercatorum. Venice, Balthazar Constantini, 1552. Small 8vo., recent vellum.
$23,500
Very rare first edition of the first published work on maritime insurance, a treatise on contracts and
assurances by the Portuguese lawyer Pedro de Santarem (Petrus Santerna). Santarem’s treatise principally
deals with insurance concerning ships, cargoes and sea voyages: a subject of growing importance for
Portuguese merchants and investors, given not only Portugal’s ongoing trading activity in Southeast Asia
and the Spice Islands but also its recent colonization of Brazil, begun in earnest in the 1530s.
The Nuremburg Chronicle
Bound in 17th-Century
Italian Gold-Tooled Goatskin
25. [SCHEDEL, Hartmann.] Liber cronicarum cum figuris et ymaginibus. Nuremberg, Anton Koberger for Sebald Schreyer and Sebastian Kammermeister, 12 July 1493. Imperial
folio, including 1809 woodcut illustrations
from 645 blocks. Bound in 17th C [Venetian?]
red gold-tooled goatskin. $165,000
First edition and an outstanding copy of the
first illustrated encyclopedia published at the
dawn of the discovery period. As a comprehensive contemporary picture of geographical and historical knowledge, the “Nuremburg
Chronicle”, as it is called, offers nothing less
than a history of the world, and in its own
fashion expanded the barriers of local cities
and states just as the transatlantic voyages expanded the boundaries of the world. As a representative picture of 15th- century geographical and historical knowledge, the work is unsurpassed among incunables.
A milestone in the history of printing as well, it contains more illustrations than had ever appeared in a
printed book, and as a technical challenge of incunable book production, was superseded only by the first
printed book, Gutenberg’s Bible, also published in Nuremberg.
“Un des Plus Fameux Évenements de Nos Jours,
Soit qu’on la Regarde du Côte de la Politique, ou de la Religion”
26. [SIAM]. [VOLANT DES VERQUAINS,
Jean]. Histoire de la Revolution de Siam. Arrivée en
l’Année 1688. Lille, Jean Chrysostome Malte, 1691.
8vo, with a large folding plan of the Siege of
Bangkok. Ct calf. $6850
Very rare first and only edition of this eyewitness
account by a “disgruntled officer” of the defeat
of the French forces at the Siege of Bangkok in
1688. The catastrophic loss marked the closure
of Siam to Western trade for two centuries – presaged in Volant des Verquain’s opening comment
that it represents “one of the most notable events
of our time, whether from a political or religious
perspective”.
27. [SIAM]. Harangue faite a Sa Majesté par les Ambassadeurs du Roy de Siam. Paris, Sebastien Mabre-Cramoisy,
1687. 4to, old vellum.
$2250
Extremely rare first edition of this ephemeral pamphlet documenting the final royal audience of the Siamese embassy to France in 1686/7. The work is a formal request for permission to return to Siam - citing
the King of Siam’s impatience to hear of the results of the embassy as well as the prevailing winds and
the season. The present account relates to the second such embassy (June 1686 - March 1687), whose
purpose was to secure an alliance between France and Siam.
28. [SIAM]. Relation de ce qui s’est passé a l’audience des Mandarins. Colophon: “Joûte la Copie imprimée à Toulouse, Chez Jean Boude”, [1686]. 4to, housed in a fine red morocco case. $3850
Extremely rare first and only edition of this detailed popular newsletter concerning the contemporary
reception of three Siamese ambassadors in Paris in September of 1686. The report gives a full description of their entrance, their itinerary, and the names and qualities of the individual ambassadors – whose
9-month stay in northern France between 1686 and 1687 provoked enormous interest.
Nicolay’s Costume Book of the Levant
And Amman’s Global Costume-Book in
Magnificent Contemporary Color
29.[TURKEY] NICOLAY, Nicolas de. Von
der Schiffart und Raysz in die Türckey unnd gegen
Oriennt. Nuremberg, Dieterich Gerlatz, 1572.
With 60 contemporary hand-colored plates.
[Bound with:]
[AMMAN, Jost] / [WEIGEL, Hans].
Habitus praecipuorum populorum, tam virorum
quam foeminarum singulari arte depicti. Nurem berg, Hans Weigel, 1577. With 219 plates
(210 colored). Folios, ct blind-stamped
calf.
$110,000
Sammelband of two rare
German costume-books,
both in magnificent contemporary (sixteenth-century) handcolor. Including
the first German edition of a very rare
Trachtenbuch illustrating the costumes of Turkey,
Greece, Cyprus and the eastern Mediterranean by
the French soldier and explorer Nicolas de
Nicolay. Nicolay left Marseilles for Istanbul in 1551
with Gabriel d’Aramon, French ambassador to the
Ottoman Emperor Suleiman the Magnificent. All 60
woodcuts are based upon Nicolay’s own sketches,
and feature such characters as
“a janissary off to war” and
“three lusty Turks,” as well
as Jewish figures and two
pilgrims on hajj to Mecca.
The book is identified by
Jowers and Cavanagh as the “first serious work on costume of the Ottoman Empire... reissued more
times than any other 16th century costume book.”
The Most Complete Edition
With 49 Engraved Maps and Views
30. [TURKEY] BEAUVAU, Henri de. Relation iournaliere du voyage du Levant. Nancy, Iacob Garnich, 1619.
4to., 49 engraved plates in text. Limp vellum, gilt stamp of Camille Aboussouan.
$25,000
An attractive copy of Beauvau’s 1605 expedition through Greece, Turkey, Cyprus, Palestine and Egypt,
one of the most substantially illustrated French travelogues of the first half of the 17th century relating
to the Near East.
31. [TURKEY]. [Italian manuscript account of the Ottoman Empire]. [Venice, 1751?]. Folio, ct handcolored patterned wrappers.
$8500
Comprehensive, evidently unpublished manuscript account of the Ottoman Empire written by an Italian traveller: according to the colophon “the writer departed from Constantinople in the year 1751, and
has not been able to continue…”. The account outlines the author’s knowledge of the state of Turkish
astronomy, civil architecture, etc. By far the bulk of the manuscript, however, is devoted to a discussion
of the recent political turmoil suffered by the Empire, from roughly the beginning of the 18th century
until the present time (ca. 1750). This consists of commentary on major actions in the Balkans and
beyond, as well as internal conflicts such as the military coup which deposed Ahmet III in 1730. Ever
an important buffer zone between the European powers and the Ottoman Empire, much of the discussion centers around such states as Armenia, Georgia, Moldavia, and Wallachia.
A 17th-Century Crusader
32. [TURKEY] / COPPIN, Jean. Le Bouclier de l’Europe, ou la Guerre Sainte, contenant des avis politiques &
Chrêtiens, qui peuvent servir de lumiére aux Rois & aux Souverains de la Chrêtienté, pour garantir leurs Estats des
incursions des Turcs, & reprendre ceux qu’ils ont usurpé sur eux. Avec une relation de Voyages faits dans la Turquie,
la Thébaïde & la Barbarie. Printed at Puy and sold at Lyons, Antoine Briasson, 1686. 4to, ct calf. $7850
Rare first edition of this travel guide to the Ottoman Empire, doubling as a virulent anti-Turkish polemic. The author, a soldier and traveller, became consul at Damietta in Egypt in 1644 before returning to Europe. Failing to convince the Pope to launch a latter-day crusade against the Turks, Coppin
decided to publish his impressions and military designs in order to reach the public. The Ottoman
Empire was at the height of its power during the late 17th century, famously incurring upon Europe
as far as Vienna in 1683. Treaties of political peace with the Turks made many ecclesiastics uneasy, but
few went as far as Coppin in inciting a new age of crusades against the infidels.
First Edition
The First Recorded Visit of a Westerner to Mecca
‘The Testimony of One Eye-Witness is Worth More Than Ten Hear-Says’
33. VARTHEMA, Lodovico. Itinerario de Ludovico de Varthema Bolognese nello Egypto, nella Surria, nella Arabia deserta & felice, nella Persia, nella India, & nella Ethiopia: la fede, el vivere, & costumi de tutte le prefate provincie
con gratia & privilegio infra nota to. [Colophon:] Rome, Stephano Guillireti de Loreno & Hercule de Nani
for Lodovico de Henricis da Corneto Vicentino, December 6th, 1510. 4to, tan morocco by Chambolle
Duru.
P. O. R.
Extremely rare editio princeps of one of the most remarkable travel books of the Renaissance. Varthema’s Itinerario describes the first recorded eyewitness account by a Westerner of the holy cities of
Mecca and Medina. Varthema was also the first traveler to reach India by the Red Sea and return by
the Cape of Good Hope. The present first edition is one of the great rarities of travel literature, very
seldom encountered on the market.
34.[VIRGIN ISLANDS]. Verordnung, betreffend den Handel zwischen den Königlichen europäischen Staten und den
dänischen Inseln in America. Copenhagen, Höpffner, [1777]. 4to, disbound with marbled paper spine. $900
Extremely rare German language regulations concerning trade between the Danish West Indies (the
Caribbean islands of St Croix, St Thomas, and St John) and the mother country. In order to promote
trade in sugar, wool, and coffee, Christian VII announces several tax breaks and confirms a monopoly
of Danish ships in the trade – ships from other European powers are barred on pain of confiscation.
For Cloves, Mace, & Nutmeg
35. [VOC] / BOR, Levinus. Amboinse Oorlogen, Door Arnold de Vlaming van Oudshoorn Als Superintendent…
Delft, Arnold Bon, 1663. 12mo, with 6 double-page plates. Ct stiff vellum.
$3,850
Very rare first and only edition of this contemporary illustrated account of the Ambon Wars in the Moluccas– “one of the bloodiest series of campaigns in VOC history” - written by the eyewitness Levinus
Bor, private secretary to Superintendent Arnold de Vlaming during the conflict. De Vlaming used the war
as an excuse to gain a monopoly on the spice trade, destroying plantations throughout the islands as well
as brutally suppressing the native uprising.
Astronomy
Cassini Manuscript on Satellites of Jupiter
36.[CASSINI, Giovanni Domenico]. Correction des Moyens Mouvements des Satellites de Jupiter together with a fair
copy of the same by a scribe, corrected in Cassini’s
hand. [Paris, dated internally after June, 1688]. 4to. Unbound, housed in protective box. $45,000
Original working manuscript, evidently unpublished,
containing Cassini’s attempts to reconcile the movements of the moons of Jupiter with his earlier observations, as well as with those of Galileo in the Sidereus
Nuncius. Discrepancies in the transits had been noted
as early as 1676; recent research suggests that Cassini
briefly entertained the explanation that such differences
were due to a finite speed of light before dismissing the
idea. Cassini thus finds himself grappling with the varying measurements he has recorded here while refusing
recourse to the solution offered by Rømer (ie a quantifiable speed of light). The present working manuscript
almost certainly represents a step towards Cassini’s revised tables of the satellites published in 1693.
Campanella’s Defence of Galileo,
Written for the Trial of 1616
37. CAMPANELLA, Tomasso. Apologia pro Galileo, Mathematico Fiorentino. Frankfurt, Kempfer, 1622. 4to,
old vellum re-backed.
$18,500
Scarce first edition of this important polemic: Campanella’s contribution to the defence of Galileo, written in 1616 during the latter’s first brush with the authorities but only published in 1622. The work is
a spirited plea for freedom of thought (libertas philosophandi) as well as a concerted defence of Galileo’s
reasoning for the mobility of the Earth.
Galileo (And Scheiner) on Sunspots
A Remarkable Untrimmed Copy
38. GALILEI, Galileo. Istoria e dimostrazioni intorno alle macchie solari. Rome, Giacomo Mascardi, 1613.
[Bound with:]
[SCHEINER, Christoph]. De Maculis Solaribus Tres Epistolae. Rome, Giacomo Mascardi, 1613. 4tos, ct
cartonnato. $115,000
First edition. A highly unusual and extremely rare untrimmed copy bound in the original publisher’s
cartonnato—the only example we have ever encountered in this state and in all likelihood the largest copy
one could expect to find. This is the first edition of Galileo’s book on sunspots, a classic of observational
astronomy, bound with the works by Scheiner that provoked its writing.
Unpublished Manuscript of Orazio Grassi
39. [JESUIT SCIENCE] / GRASSI, Orazio. Tractatus de Sphæra, de Spiritalibus, et de Geometria Practica. Ex
R. P. Horatio Grassio, Societatis Iesu. 1623. Manuscript on paper written in ink, with a total of 64 drawings.
Ct vellum. $38,500
Unpublished, illustrated manuscript providing a rare glimpse of the astronomical and mathematical curriculum at the Collegio Romano during the very year Galileo’s Il Saggiatore – an overt attack on Grassi
- appeared in Rome. The lectures, provided by the accomplished astronomer and Chair of Mathematics
Orazio Grassi, present the orthodox Jesuit approach to an area which was becoming increasingly controversial, largely owing to the
publication of Galileo’s Sidereus
Nuncius (1610) and his subsequent exchanges with the Jesuit
Scheiner on sunspots and with
Grassi himself on comets. Despite Grassi’s intellectual disagreements with Galileo, the
present manuscript notably discusses several of the latest discoveries claimed by that figure imperfections on the surface of
the sun and moon (illustrated
on leaf 21v), the Medicean stars
(satellites of Jupiter), and the
use of the telescope. According
to Feingold, documentary sources from this period of the Collegio are notably scarce; Dr Renée Raphael
informs us that this is one of the few examples she has encountered of a Collegio-related astronomical
manuscript preceeding the publication and subsequent condemnation of Galileo’s Dialogo, even in
the archives at Rome.
A Gorgeous Globe Book
40.
HABRECHT, Isaac /STURM, J.C. Planiglobium
Coeleste ac Terestre Platte Stern-und Lander-Kugel. Nurnberg, n.p.,
1666. 14 folded plates. 4to, ct stiff vellum.
$18,000
Extremely rare German edition (a Latin edition was published
the same year) of Habrecht’s famous Tractatum de planiglobis coelesti & terrestri, on the making of celestial and terrestrial globes,
first published in 1628, and here in the enlarged edition of J. C.
Sturm. One of the most beautiful instrument books published
in the 17th century and certainly one of the rarest—particularly
with the full complement of plates. It also includes references
to America (pp. 205, 228, 231), and America is pictured on one
of the maps. The fourteen folding well-executed engravings were probably intended to be mounted and
assembled to form several instruments, each with a revolving plate measuring 27 cm in diameter and a
movable pointer. Each was to be supported on a base of approximately 12 cm.
Hevelius’s Star Atlas, Saved From the Fire!
41. HEVELIUS, Johannes.
Prodromus Astronomiae, exhibens fundamenta, quae tam
ad novum plane & correctiorem
stellarum fixarum catalogum
construendum. Danzig, Stoll,
1690.
[Bound with:]
Catalogus stellarum fixarum ex
observationibus multorum annorum. Danzig, Stoll, 1687.
[And with:]
Firmamentum Sobiescianum, sive
Uranographia, totum coelum stellatum. Danzig, Stoll, 1690.
Folios, later calf. $150,000
Rare first edition of Hevelius’ star atlas, along with
the Introduction (Prodromus)
and the catalogue of stars, together as issued: a fundamental text in the history of astronomy and a
spectacular illustrated book. The Firmamentum Sobiescianum is considered the most detailed and influential
celestial atlas of its time, both in the formation of subsequent atlases and in the production of celestial
globes: “Contemporary globes, such as those by G.C. Einmart, and Gerhard and Leonhard Valk, often
acknowledge Hevelius as their source. Later constellation outlines and draftmanship also owed much to
the Uranographia” (DSB).
Profusely Annotated
Incunable Sacrobosco
42.
SACROBOSCO/JOHN OF HOLLYWOOD/FABER VON BUDWEIS,
Wenceslaus, ed. Opusculum… spericum cum
notabili commento atque figuris tertum declarationibus utillissimis. Colophon: Leipzig, Wolfgang
Stöckel, 1499. 4to. 18th c boards. With extensive contemporary annotations and several sketches and diagrams throughout (including a particularly dense 32-line commentary
on the mainly blank title page). Annotations
dated on title and final leaf to 1506 with
ownership inscription. $55,000
Rare Leipzig incunable of the Sphere of Sacrobosco with commentary by the Czech
astronomer Wenzel Faber (Vaclav Fabri of
Budweis). Produced for students at the University of Leipzig where Faber was Dean and
Rector, the present copy has been copiously and comprehensively annotated from start to finish
by a contemporary hand, quite possibly at Leipzig. While editions of Sacrobosco are frequently found
annotated and have become a topical object of study among historians of astronomy, we have never
encountered a copy so thoroughly, richly, and suggestively commented upon.
The Ne Plus Ultra
Baroque Astronomical Work
In a Contemporary Binding
of Illustration in a
43. SCHEINER, Christoph. Rosa Ursina sive sol ex admirando facularum & macularum suarum phoenomeno varius .... Bracciano, Andreas
Phaeus, 1626-30. Folio, with engraved title and 147 full- or nearly
full-page and 22 quarter- or half-page engraved plates in text. Red
morocco gilt Barberini binding.
$75,000
First edition of the most sumptuously illustrated astronomical
work published in the first half of the seventeenth century,
with many full-page illustrations of the sun and optical instruments
devised by the eminent German Jesuit astronomer Scheiner (15751650), including his helioscope. The work represents Scheiner’s final
word in the long priority dispute with Galileo over the discovery and
behaviour of sunspots.
The Most Influential Star Atlas of its Time
With 49 Star Charts
44. [STAR ATLAS] / BAYER, Johann. Uranometria, omnium asterismorum continens schemata, nova methodo
delineata, series laminis expressa. [Augsburg, Christophorus Magnus, 1603]. Ct vellum.
$68,000
First edition. A handsome copy in a contemporary gilt binding of the most influential star atlas published
in the first half of the 17th century and the first to represent the stars of the southern latitudes. It is also
the first star atlas based on observations that can be traced to an actual voyage of discovery—Houtman’s
first voyage to the East Indies of 1595-97.
“That page is not so interesting.
But the other page is very interesting indeed.” – Swerdlow
Stoeffler Sammelband
With Early Manuscript Tables
45. STOEFFLER, Johann. Tabulæ Astronomicæ. Tübingen,
Thom. Anshelm, 1514.
[Bound with:]
Calendarium Romanum magnum. Colophon: Oppenheim, Jacob Koebel, 1518.
[And with:]
Der Newe grosz Römisch Calender, mit seinen Ausszlegüngen Erclärungen, und Regeln. Oppenheim, [Jacob Köbel], 1522.
[And with:]
Elucidatio Fabricæ ususque astrolabii …iam denuo ab eodem uix
aestimandis sudoribus recognita. Oppenheim, [Jacob Koebel]
1524. Folios, ct paste over wooden boards.
$35,000
Sammelband of Stoeffler’s most important works: the
sole edition of the rare Tabulæ Astronomicæ; first editions
of the Calendarium Romanum magnum in both the Latin and
German, and a second edition of his influential text on
astrolabes. A highly unusual component at the back of
the volume is a leaf of densely written manuscript tables
that calculate the number of days it would take to walk to
each of the planets - a calculation procedure with a distinguished history, assuming particular interest when one
considers that whether based on a precise mathematical or observational basis, the topic of the distances
between planets or between Earth and celestial phenomena becomes central to the dismantling of the
Ptolemaic worldview later in the century. Copies of 16th-century instrument books which show annotations are highly unusual; it is rare to encounter a copy in which the tables or instruments contained
therein were creatively extended in an original way by a contemporary reader.
Math & Physics
Containg One of the First Statements
of the Law of Illumination, with Illustration
The Riccati Copy
46.BOULLIAU, Ismael. De natura lucis. Paris, Ludovic de Heuqueville, 1638. 8vo, with numerous woodcut
diagrams in text. 18th C half calf, ex libris of Co[nte] Riccati on front end pastedown as well as verso of
title..
$22,500
Rare first and only edition of Boulliau’s first book, containing one of the first statements of the law of
illumination (inverse-square law) with an important provenance from the Riccati library of scientific
books. Presenting a comprehensive treatise on the nature of light, Boulliau here argues against Gassendi
and mainly defends Kepler’s optics as outlined in the Astronomiae pars optica (1604). As an early Copernican, Keplerian, and defender of Galileo, Boulliau was “the most noted astronomer of his generation”
(Robert A. Hatch).
Galileo Replies to his Critics
An Untrimmed Copy in Contemporary Publisher’s Boards
47. [GALILEI, Galileo & CASTELLI, Benedetto]. Risposta alle Opposizioni del S. Lodovico delle Colombe, e del
S. Vincenzo di Grazia, contro al Trattato di Sig Galileo Galilei. Florence, Cosimo Giunti, 1615.
[Bound with:]
GRAZIA,
Vincenzio.
Considerazioni di M. Vincenzio di Grazia sopra’l Discorso di Galileo Galilei. Florence, Zanobi Pignoni,
1613. 4tos, ct [Florentine?]
publisher’s cartonnato.
$65,000
First editions of two scarce
and important Galileana
– an attack on Galileo’s
theory of hydrostatics by
Vincenzo di Grazia bound
alongside Galileo’s lengthy
defence of his position under the name of Benedetto
Castelli. The two works are found here in a perfectly preserved contemporary state, untrimmed and
bound for a 17th century follower of the power struggle between Galileo and the Aristotelians.
Presentation Copy Signed by Viviani
48. [GALILEI, Galileo]/VIVIANI, Vincenzo. Quinto Libro degli Elementi d’Euclide ovvero Scienza Universale
delle Proporzioni Spiegata colla Dottrina del Galileo. Florence, 1674. [Colophon:1676].
[Bound with:]
[VIVIANI, Vincenzo]. Enodatio Problematum universis geometris Propositorum. Florence, Gugliantini, 1677.
With presentation inscription to verso of half-title of first work signed by Viviani. 4tos, ct calf. $7,500
First complete edition of this important Galileianum, an assembly of previously unpublished writings by Galileo, together with texts by Torricelli and Viviani himself. The most important Galileo texts
concern selected problems in Euclid. Viviani was Galileo’s amanuensis towards the end of his life, star
pupil, and custodian of his papers.
49. [HOROLOGY]. HARTMANN, Johann Georg. Nöthiger Unterricht von Verbesserung Aller Uhren [Bound
with, as issued] Nöthiger Unterricht von Verbesserung der Sach-Uhren… Halle, Wäysenhaus, 1756. 8vo, with 17
folding plates. Ct half calf.
$4,850
Extremely rare first and only edition of Hartmann’s technical guide to clockmaking, issued together with
an improved edition of his guide to constructing pocket-watches. The two works are embellished with 54
figures on 17 folding plates, not to mention the engraved portrait of the author, a clock-maker in Jena.
Hartmann’s third chapter is devoted to a subject of wide contemporary interest – the application of
clocks to astronomical measurements.
50. NEWTON, Isaac, Sir. Analysis per quantitatum series, fluxiones, ac differentias: cum enumeratione linearum tertii ordinis. London, Pearson, 1711. 4to, ct mottled calf.
$96,000
Rare first edition of Newton’s work on differential calculus, including the first systematic discussion
of the calculus by the great author to circulate in public, and thus one of the founding documents
in the history of modern mathematics. Its publication also represented the most importance independent evidence in the priority dispute between Newton and Leibniz.
In a Beautiful Painted Binding
of the ‘Lovers of Learning’
51. [BINDING / SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY]/ PICCOLOMINI, Alessandro / VANUCCI BIRINGUCCI, Oreste.
Parafrasi…sopra le Mechaniche d’Aristotile. Rome, Francesco Zanetti, 1582. 4to, with 1 full-page woodcut of a machine. Ct flexible
vellum with the arms of the Academia dei Filomati (absorbed
into the Intronati in 1654) skillfully painted on front cover. $12,000
Scarce first and only edition of this vernacular translation of the principal treatise on mechanics in Renaissance Europe intended for the use of civil engineers and architects, bound in a beautiful painted
binding of an early Sienese scientific society, the Filomati or ‘lovers of learning’. The emblem on the
cover shows a carpenter’s chalk line filled with red chalk - an early ‘measuring’ instrument used by
carpenters to precisely mark cuts in wood, with the society’s motto above: AD ADMUSSIM, meaning
roughly TO BE PRECISE.
Stanislas I’s Designs for Carriages and Riverboats
52. [STANSLAS I OF POLAND
(later LORRAINE)]. Nouvelles Decouvertes pour l’Avantage et l’Utilité du
Public. Nancy, Haener, [1758]. 4to.,
19th C marbled boards. $3850
Extremely rare first edition of this
series of designs submitted to the
Societé Royale de Nancy by King
Stanislas I, who after his forced abdication of the Polish throne was
granted the Duchy of Lorraine and
there devoted himself to science and
philosophy. The present treatise includes 13 plates of novel mechanical
inventions accompanied by detailed
explanations, from simple ploughs
and threshers to three novel designs
for carriages and even several riverboats. According to the text most of
these designs were constructed and tested at Stanislas’ residence near Lunéville, just outside Nancy.
The First Translation of Euclid into a Modern Language
53. [EUCLID] / TARTAGLIA, Niccolò. Euclide Megarense philosopho: solo introduttore delle scientie mathematice.
Colophon: Venice, Rossinelli et al, 1543. Folio, ct vellum, recased. $9500
Scarce first edition of Euclid in a modern language, by Nicolo Tartaglia, one of the most original mathematicians of the 16th century, with his extensive commentary. A landmark for the dissemination of this
crucial text to the technologically inclined—in the preface Tartaglia expressly emphasizes the utility of
mathematics for applications in mechanical technology, optics, geography and architecture (Aii-iii). According to Stillman Drake, this was almost certainly the edition Galileo read (see Galileo at Work, pp. 2-4).
Natural History,
Medicine, Gastronomy, etc.
From the Libraries of Three Prominent Botanists, with Annotations:
The Most Influential Botanical Text of the Sixteenth Century,
“Of Outstanding Historical Importance”—DSB
54. CESALPINO, Andrea. De Plantis. Florence, Giorgio Marescotti, 1583. 4to, 18th C boards. From the
libraries of the noted botanists Camerarius, Panzer and Martius, with extensive annotations.
$115,000
First edition of the “first true textbook of botany” (DSB), in a copy that belonged to three eminent
botanists, and is exceedingly rare on the market in any copy. Cesalpino sets out with admirable clarity the
principles of botany, classifying plants by their roots, stems and fruit. The Hunt Catalogue describes Cesalpino as “perhaps the first great theorist in botany” and notes that his ideas governed the development of
botany through the 17th century and into the 18th. Printing and the Mind of Man adds: “imperfect as it was,
Caesalpinus’s was the first rational system of plant classification by which their ever-growing number (six
thousand were known in 1600, but nearly twenty thousand by the beginning of the eighteenth century)
could be described ... culminating in the work of Linné, who was greatly indebted to this book.”
Vieussen’s Copy
of Descartes’ Les Principes
55. DESCARTES, René [VIEUSSENS, Raymond]. Les Principes de la Philosophie. Paris, Bobin & Le Gras,
1668. 4to, with 22 full-page woodcuts (1 folding) and 70 woodcut illustrations in text. Ink ownership
inscription of Raymond Vieussens to front pastedown & shelf mark on front free endpaper. Ct
French calf. $11,500
Scarce edition of Descartes’ comprehensive synthesis of natural philosophy, bearing the manuscript exlibris of Raymond Vieussens (1635-1715), Royal Physician to Louis XIV and an important anatomist in
his own right. Drawing directly on the dualistic theories of Descartes, Vieussens became fascinated by
the actions of the heart and of the brain in particular. “In his speculations on physiology, Vieussens drew
inspiration from both the mechanistic philosophy of Descartes and the iatrochemical ideas of F. de la
Boë (Sylvius). He believed that he had demonstrated the existence of the nervous fluid.” (DSB).
Incunable German-Language Herbal
With 400 Woodcuts in Contemporary Color
56. [GART DER GESUNDHEIT]. Herbarius zu teütsch unnd von allderhandt kreuteren. [Augsburg, Johann Schönsperger, 1496] Circa 400 handcolored woodcuts. Ct half blindstamped pigskin on wooden
boards.
$110,000
Extremely rare, complete incunable edition of “the most important medieval work on natural history
with illustrations” (Choulant) and the first printed vulgate herbal. Klebs, the great historian of herbals, has compared the Gart der Gesundheit to Vesalius’ Fabrica, alleging it “marks a similar milestone in the
evolution of the healing art into a science”. Unlike the Fabrica, however, we can be certain that the present
work occupied an immensely popular spot in the limited canon of 15th century “layman’s books”, accessible to and used by learned and unlearned alike.
The Greatest Anatomical Work in the History of Medicine
With the Requisite Sheet of Anatomical Overlays
57.VESALIUS, Andreas. Suorum de humani corporis fabrica librorum epitome. Basel, Johannes Oporinus, 1543.
Folio, with woodcut titlepage, portrait of the author, and 11 full-length anatomical woodcuts of the human body. Quarter morocco and early vellum, title penned on front cover in an early hand.
P. O. R.
An attractive and genuine copy in an early binding of the scarce first edition of this seminal work in the
history of anatomical science. The Epitome, despite its name and contrary to a widely held misconception,
is not an abbreviation of Vesalius’ groundbreaking anatomical work, De humani corporis fabrica libri septem,
published earlier the same year. Vesalius disapproved of summaries, as he expressly notes in his address
to the reader at the bottom of the Epitome’s title page. Rather, he makes the Epitome a completely different work, commissioning a separate set of original woodcuts and writing new descriptions to accompany
them. The rarest of Vesalius’ works, a recent census by Flamm & Pozeg located 30 copies worldwide.
Rare and Early Dermatology
58. VOGTHERR, Heinrich the Elder. Eyn bewert unnd hochnützliches buechlin, den Erbgrind an alten unnd
jungen von grund auß züheylen, und widerumb har züziehen. Strasbourg, Heinrich Vogtherr, 1539. 4to, modern
boards. $3350
Extremely rare second, enlarged edition of this practical folk-medical guide to afflictions of the scalp – a
widespread complaint until the advent of anti-fungal agents in the 19th century. The work was authored
by Heinrich Vogtherr the Elder, best known as an artist but also an important (medical) publisher in his
own right, and evidently a Lutheran bent on bringing medical knowledge within vernacular reach of lay
people. We have been unable to locate a copy of this second edition (re-set and including two further
pages of medical advice relative to the first edition) in any online library database.
Arts
The Blood of Christ
59. [BRUGES DEVOTION /
PROCESSION OF THE HOLY
BLOOD/ ANONYMOUS ENGRAVER.] Sanctissimus Sanguis prestiosissimi corporis humani generis redemptoris Domini Dei Iesu Christi. [Bruges,
1631.] 32.5 x 37.5 to plate mark.
$1850
Extremely rare separately issued and
densely engraved devotional print by
an anonymous engraver, most likely
from Bruges, issued in connexion
with that city’s Procession of the
Holy Blood, celebrated annually in
May on the day of Ascension..
Robert Southey’s Copy
60. BONFANT, Dionisio. Triumpho de los santos del Reyno de Cerdeña. Caller (Cagliari), 1635. Folio, calf à
l’antique. Ownership inscription of Robert Southey, British Poet Laureate and historian of Spain, dated
Keswick, 8 July 1835.
$6850
Extremely rare first and sole edition of what appears to be a general history of early Sardinian saints,
written in Spanish (as the island was then part of the Spanish empire) and printed in the city of Cagliari.
In fact, the work treats only of martyrs associated with Cagliari, and functions at least as much as political propaganda as disinterested antiquarianism: during the first half of the 17th century, the dioceses of
Cagliari and Sássari were engaged in a fierce competition to gain ecclesiastical primacy over Sardinia, and
polemical histories of various kinds proliferated on both sides.
One of the Most Beautiful Early Writing Manuals,
A ‘Tour de Force of Calligraphic Ingenuity’ - Morison
61. [CALLIGRAPHY] / CRESCI, Giovanni Francesco. Il perfetto scrittore…Dove si veggono I veri caretteri,
& le natural forme di tutte quelle sorti di lettere, che à vero scrittor si appartnegono. [Colophon: Rome, Francesco
Aureri da Crema in the House of the Author, 1570. ] 2 parts in 1, oblong 4to, with 2 woodcut titlepages
and 154 woodcut plates. Early cartonnato.
$22,500
First edition of ‘one of the most superb, perhaps the finest, of the Italian writing manuals’ (A.S. Osley).
This ‘most sumptuous of writing books’ includes Roman capitals printed in white on black and gray
backgrounds, an innovative cursive script, antique chancery, capitals and round hand, gothic minuscule
and majuscule, a legal gothic hand, as well as ‘lettere Francese’ for legal and business uses. Il perfetto scrittore was remarkably influential in its time: Cresci’s cursive would come to dominate Italian writing books
for the next eighty years (see Morison, p. 110) and had effectively transformed European hand-writing
by the mid-seventeenth century. The second part includes two fine alphabets of antique capitals, printed
white on black and grey background respectively, and and a magnificent fantasy alphabet of entrelac
letters within elaborate Renaissance engraved borders.
62. CANOVA, Antonio (BIANCHI,
Vincenzo, ed). Il Sacro Tempio di Possagno
eretto dal Marchese Antonio Canova. Milan,
Nicolò Bettoni, 1824. Large folio, including 3 sepia-printed engravings. Modern
marbled boards.
$6500
Exceptionally rare portfolio of designs and
text, describing the yet-to be completed
neo-classical Tempio Canoviano. Canova’s
homage to his hometown of Possagno in
Northern Italy, the church represents one
of the master’s final projects as well as his
place of burial. It was inspired principally
by the Pantheon (and includes a 17 ft wide oculus), while the small church’s entrance is flanked by Greek
columns and contains Canova’s own sculptures for decoration – thus fulfilling Canova’s vision of combining the artistic legacies of three great civilizations.
63. [CAPISTRANO, ST JOHN OF]. Antiphona et Oratio B. Salvatoris ab Horta. Folio engraved broadside,
signed Nicolo Billy after Domenico Rainaldi, Rome,
[between 1689-1694]. 65.5 x 43.5 cm to platemark. $1850
Extremely rare separately issued engraved broadside
in large folio format lobbying for the beatification of
St John of Capistrano, the ‘Soldier Saint’ who at the
age of 70 led a crusade against the invading Turks.
The print is composed of 18 vignettes (including 15
rondelles) arranged around a central image of the
saint himself on the battlefield, commanding Christian forces against Ottoman flag-bearing cavalry. He
leads the charge armed only with a crucifix held out
before him.
The Second Book Published in England with Flaps
64. CAUS, Salomon de. La Perspective, Avec la Raison des ombres et miroirs. London, Jan Norton, 1612. Folio,
with engraved title and five leaves with moveable flaps. Ct vellum over pasteboards.
$46,000
Very rare first edition, second issue of this interesting and understudied perspective manual by the architect and engineer Salomon de Caus. Of great interest for its material on anamorphosis, and as an example
of technical illustration. The book appears to be the second book published in England to make use of
pop-up flaps in diagrams (first, Dee’s Euclid of 1570), and in the context of the florid style of baroque
book illustration as defined by Hofer etc., maintains an unusual plainness and simplicity.
The Second American Copy
65. [VATICAN] / CORNACCHINI, Agostino et al. Relazione della statua equestre di Carlo Magno eretta nel
Portico del Portico Vaticano colla raccolta d’alcuni Componimenti Poetici. Siena, Francesco Quinza, 1725. Tall folio,
ct stiff vellum.
$2850
Very rare first and sole edition of this illustrated commemorative program book for the completion of
the sculptor Agostino Cornacchini’s marble equestrian statue of Charlemagne, a counterpoint to Bernini’s Constantine at the opposite end of the Portico at St. Peter’s. One of the most prestigious sculptural
commissions of the day, the motive for the subject was presumably to provide a Western analogue to the
Eastern Constantine. A lavish production from the pontificate of Benedict XIII..
Masterpiece of Incunable
Illustration and Book Design
66. [COLONNA, Francesco]. Hypnerotomachia
Poliphili. Venice, Aldus Manutius [for Leonardus Crassus], December 1499. Folio, with 172
woodcut illustrations (11 full-page). Red levant
morocco by Chambolle-Duru ca. 1900. P.O.R.
First edition, first issue and an attractive copy
of Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, the only illustrated
book produced by Aldus Manutius. A stunning
incunabulum (1499) known as the most magnificent illustrated book of the Italian Renaissance, and an essential title in collections of
illustrated books since the 18th century. The
elegantly set typeface complements the more
than 150 woodcut illustrations, including many of architectural interest. “Its famous woodcut, a cross
section of the round temple of Venus, was the first printed in Europe and, therefore, a milestone in the
history of architectural representation”—Avery’s Choice.
The First Museum Book in the French Language
Third American Copy
67. CONTANT, Paul. Le jardin, et cabinet poetique de Paul Contant, apoticaire de Poictiers. Poitiers, Anthoine Mesnier, 1609. 4to, with 9 full-page plates of specimens and 1 folding, densely engraved floral plate. Ct calf. $68,500
Extremely rare first edition of the first museum book in French: Paul Contant’s illustrated account of
his collection of curiosities (one of the earliest scientific collections in Europe), and almost certainly the
rarest of all museum books. Dedicated to Contant’s fellow Huguenot the Duc de Sully (memorialised in
museum history by the Louvre pavillion bearing his name), each copy seems to have been assembled to
serve as a program for individual visitors, thus accounting for its extraordinary rarity. While taking the
form of an extended poem rich in florid language and classical allusions, Contant’s inventory also provides precious documentary evidence for the most noteworthy items of this very early collection.
The First Accurate Reproduction of Leonardo’s Vitruvian Man
68. DA VINCI, Leonardo & GERLI, Carlo Giuseppe. Disegni di Leonardo da Vinci. Colophon: Milan,
Giuseppe Galeazzi Regio, 1784. Folio, total of 62 engraved plates. Calf à l’antique.
$9500
Scarce first edition of the first appearance of
many original Leonardo drawings in print, including the first accurate reproduction of
Leonardo’s epoch-making Vitruvian Man.
Engraved from collections in Milan – the first set
in the Bibliotheca Ambrosiana and the second
from the private collection of Don Venanzio de’
Pagave, Gerli’s catalogue was indeed used as the
standard reference for these drawings until the
20th century.
The First Time in English:
“I think, therefore, I am”
This Edition in John Locke’s Library
69. [DESCARTES, René. / Tr. ANON.] A discourse of a method for the well-guiding of reason, and the discovery of
truth in the sciences. London, Thomas Newcombe for John Holden, 1649. 8vo., Ct English calf. $90,000
Very rare first English edition and fine copy of one of the most important works of Western Philosophy
ever written, Descartes’ Discourse, containing for the first time in English the phrase which is not only the
conceptual cornerstone of Rationalism - generally considered the beginning of modern philosophy - but
is synonymous in the cultural imagination with the very field of Philosophy: “I think, therefore, I am.”
70. DÜRER, Albrecht. Institutionum Geometricarum. Paris, Christian Wechel, 1532. Numerous woodcuts and
2 folding extensions.
[Bound with:]
De Urbibus, Arcibus, castellisque condendis. Paris, Christian Wechel, 1535. Small folio, 18th C calf over boards.
10 double-page/extended leaves.
$33,500
First Latin edition of Dürer’s first book on the theory of art, the Unterweisung der Messung, bound with
the first Latin edition of his treatise on fortification, “strictly speaking the first treatise dealing exclusively
with this subject” (Krufft), with important material on urban planning and utopianism.
‘Companionship’ in Early Modern Rome
71. [GENDER STUDIES] / BOUCHARD, Jean-Jacques. Petri La-Senae Vita […] conscribta ad Urbanum
VIII Pontificem Max. Rome, Vitali Mascardi, 1637. 8vo., modern boards. $4500
Extremely rare sole edition of the noted homosexual and libertine Jean-Jacques Bouchard’s first foray
into print. The work essentially represents a eulogy to Bouchard’s ‘companion’, Pietro Lasena, who lived
with the Frenchman in Rome from 1634 until his death in 1636. Whatever the true nature of the relationship between the two men, it is rather touching to note that Bouchard composed and signed the
inscription on Lasena’s tombstone, reproduced on the penultimate leaf of the present work. The epitaph
records that Bouchard ‘victusque consorti amico’ – ‘shared his friend’s life and pursuits’.
On Musical & Theatrical Life in Naples
With the Rare Supplement
72. GOUDAR, Sarah, attr to, / [GOUDAR, Ange.] Relation Historique des divertissements du Carnaval de
Naples...Seconde edition avec le Supplement. Lucca (eg Naples), np, 1774.8vo. Later boards. [Offered with:]
Supplement a la Relation Historique des divertissemens du Carneval de Naples ou Lettre Seconde de Mme Goudar.
Lucca, np, 1774. 19 pp. Decorative patterned paper over boards.
$2450
Extremely rare second edition (following the first by a matter of months) describing the carnival at
Naples during 1774, a brilliant musical and theatrical season which included a performance of Niccolo
Piccini’s Alessandro Nell’India at the Teatro San Carlo as well as numerous other spectacles and concerts
(performance by the famous castrato Pacchiorotti etc). The work is unusual in containing sophisticated
critical evaluations of the sort one would find in a modern journalistic review, and not mere description.
Offered with an equally rare supplement.
73. GUARINI, Guarino. Architettura Civile. Turin, Gianfresco Mairesse, 1737. 2 vols in 1. Folio, with engraved portrait and 79 plates. Ct vellum. $24,500
First complete edition and generally fine copy of one of the landmark architectural treatises of the late
Baroque, by the Theatine priest, mathematician, philosopher and architect Guarini, “one of the most
original and interesting masters of the whole history of architecture who opened a new epoch” (Wittkower). The present edition contains the first appearance of the text, and is augmented by important
plates which did not appear in the first edition: the geometrical diagrams, the important illustrations of
vaults and the facade of Santa Annunziata in Messina.
Hamilton’s Volcanoes: “One of the Most Lavish Books of the 18th Century”
With 59 Full-Page Plates in Magnificent Hand-Color
The Earl of Essex Copy
74. HAMILTON, William. Campi Phlegraei: Observations on the Volcanoes of the Two Sicilies, as They Have Been
Communicated to the Royal Society of London. Naples, [n.p.], 1776-1779. 2 vols. in 1. Large folio. Contemporary tree-calf, expertly rebacked. Provenance: George Capell-Coningsby, 5th Earl of Essex (1757-1839),
with his insignia of a coronet and SX monogram gilt on spine.
$225,000
First edition and a copy with a distinguished provenance of this monumental volume representing the
culmination of years of geological observation in Naples and Sicily, containing 59 sumptuous hand-colored engravings of Neapolitan landscapes, coastal scenes, city-views, and volcanic activity and specimens
from Vesuvius, Etna, and the Aeolian islands. “This was, without question, one of the most lavish books
of the eighteenth century” (Thackray) and remains the chief monument of Hamilton’s extraordinary
legacy. A copy with a sterling provenance, purchased at the time of publication by the 5th Earl of Essex
and bound with his crest. Like his contemporary Hamilton, the Earl was a member of the prestigious
Society of Antiquaries, in connection with which the present copy was possibly acquired.
75. [JESUITS]. Les Intrigues secrettes des Jesuites, Traduites du Monita Secreta; Où l’on a joint L’Extrait de la Faculté
de Theologie de Paris de l’an 1554. Et La Prophetie de Sainte Hildegarde, morte en 1181. Turin [ie Paris?], Jacques
Daniel, 1718. Small 8vo., ct marbled wrappers.
$1650
Rare compilation of anti-Jesuit apocrypha: the famous ‘Monita secreta’ is found here alongside a purported
condemnation of the Jesuits by the Faculty of Theology in Paris in 1554, as well as a translation of a
prophecy of Saint Hildegaarde commonly seen as fortelling the fall of the Order. The present work bears
a transparently false imprint (“chez Jacques Daniel, a good subject of the Prince, at the Sign of Truth”).
The Monita secreta was a guide allegedly written by the Jesuits explaining how to gain riches and make influential friends; it was influential in blackening the reputation of the Order throughout Europe.
76. [FRENCH REVOLUTION / FÊTES] / LÉARDI, PAOLO. Oraison funèbre de sa majesté très chrétienne
Louis XVI, roi de France et de Navarre, prononcée en Latin, dans la Chapelle du Quirinal, en Présence de notre TrèsSaint Père […]. Rome, Lazarini, 1793. Large 4to, modern marbled boards. $1200
Rare and beautifully-printed French language euolgy to Louis XVI, published in Rome following the
king’s execution. The work includes a full-page engraving of the catafalque prepared for the ceremony
in the Grand Chapel of the Quirinal, as well as numerous engraved header and footer vignettes and engraved decorative initials. The address laments the horrors of the revolution and celebrates all aspects
of Louis’ life, from his religious devotion to the growth of commerce in Asia, Africa, and the Americas
under the enterprising king.
With a Large Engraving Printed in Lima
77. [LIMA IMPRINT] / LUXAN, Mariano. Relacion
Funebre de las Reales Exequias …de la Serenissima Magestad…
La Señora Doña Maria Barbara de Portugal, Catholica Reyna de
las Indias... Lima, Imprenta Real for Pedro Nolasco Alvorado, 1760. 4to, ct calf.
$9850
Rare first edition of the funeral-book of Maria Barbara
of Portugal, Queen-consort of Spain and wife of Ferdinand VI, with a large folding plate of her catafalque., as
celebrated in Lima.
The Cries Of Bologna: Homage to Annibale Carracci
78. MITELLI, Giuseppe Maria. Di Bologna Arti Per Via D’Annibale Caracci Disegnate, intagliate, et offerte Al
grande, et alto Nettuno Gigante. Rome, Giovanni Jacopo de Rossi, ca. 1660.
[Bound with]:
L‘Enea vagante Pitture del Caracci. Rome, Giovanni Jacopo de Rossi, 1663. Folios, 18th C German marbled
calf.
$22,500
Rare complete suite of this 17th-century Italian book of “cries,” presenting Mitelli’s engraved adaptations
of 41 drawings executed by Annibale Carracci, depicting rustic tradesmen and women hawking meat,
cheese, vegetables, kitchen instruments, pottery, etc. “Mitelli was an able and imaginative artist and an
early political and social caricaturist who not only drew the images but wrote the verses as well. ... The
images have much of the spirit of Caracci’s, and for the most part adopt his motifs but they are nonetheless his own, no figure being close enough to his model’s to be called a copy” (Beall, p. 321).
79. [ST PETER’S / ST CHARLES
BORROMEO / GIOVANNI
RAINALDI] / MAGGI, Giovanni.
Descrittione dell’apparato, et Theatro fatto
dentro la gran Chiesa di S. Pietro in Vaticano per la canonizatione di S. Carlo Borromeo. Rome, Andrea Vaccario, 1610.
49 x 38 cm to platemark.
$5850
Extremely rare etched broadsheet
depicting the apparato designed by
Girolamo Rainaldi in honor of the
canonization of Charles Borromeo.
Interestingly, the design was ‘copied
in a certain sense’ by one of Rainaldi’s
main competitors in the Roman architectural market, no less a maestro than
Gian Lorenzo Bernini – who used it
for later canonizations in 1623 and
1629.
In Contemporary English Morocco
“One of the Most Influential Books Ever Published
in This Country” (Yates)
80. MONTAIGNE, Michel de / FLORIO, John. Essayes written in French. London, Melchior Bradwood for Edward Blount and
William Barret, 1613. Folio, with engraved portrait. Ct English red
morocco. $14,000
Scarce second edition, in a contemporary English morocco binding, of the first translation of Montaigne into English by the celebrated Italian linguist and lexicographer John
Florio (1533-1625), arguably the most influential translator
of the Elizabethan era. Florio’s translation of the Essays was
a watershed event in the evolution of the English language.
81. [DRAWING MANUAL] / PIAZZET(T)A, Jean Baptista. Nouveau Livre du Dessein qui contient xxv Figures dessinée par le
célebre Jean Baptista Piazzeta. Np, np, nd (c. 1775). 4to, engraved title
and 24 plates. Original blue wrappers.
$3850
Extremely rare drawing book containing 24 plates of the male nude, almost certainly to be associated
with Piazzetta’s founding in 1750 of a Scuola di Nudo. The work shows the usual poses of the male nude,
generally derived from famous examples of antique sculpture, using a novel pattern of cross-hatching to
indicate shadow.
82. [PILGRIMAGE / LORETO]
MESSAGER, Jean. Alma Domus
Urbs Agerquae Laureti Miracula ac
Iter e Nazareht in Italiam Picenumquae.
[Paris, Messager, before 1617?]. 50 x
37 cm to platemark. $3850
Fine souvenir broadsheet by the
French engraver and publisher Jean
Messager, probably produced in
Paris for Loreto-bound pilgrims.
The sheet bears an engraved dedication to Marie de’ Medici, surviving
widow of Henry IV and acting Regent of France during the infancy of
Louis XIII.
The Death Sentence of Sir Walter Raleigh
83. [RALEIGH, Walter, Sir] / [BACON, Francis]. A declaration of the demeanor and carriage of Sir Walter Raleigh, knight, as well his voyage, as in, and sithence his Returne; and of the true motives and inducements which occasioned
His Maiestie to proceed in doing iustice upon him, as hath bene done. London, Bonham Norton and John Bill,
1618. 4to., later paneled calf.
$6500
Rare first edition, first issue, of Francis Bacon’s defense of the execution of Sir Walter Raleigh by James I,
with (according to Bacon) “very material” additions by the king himself. The work describes the circumstances surrounding Raleigh’s final voyage to America in 1618 with the purpose of locating a fabled
gold mine, and includes the text of Raleigh’s commission.
First Separate Work on Stage Design
84. SABBATTINI, Nicola. Pratica di Fabrichar Scene, e Machine ne’Theatri...Ristampata di nouo coll’ Aggiunta del
Secondo Libro... Ravenna, Pietro de’ Paoli, e Gio. Battista Giouannelli Stampatori Camerali, 1638. 4to, 18th
C calf.
$45,000
First complete edition of the first book exclusively devoted to theater scenography, stage architecture, machinery and special effects, significantly augmented from the first edition of the previous year to
include a second book dealing with stage machinery and scene changing in theater and festival productions. The work constitutes our principal source for the scenic practice of the Italian Renaissance theater.
85. SAINT BERNARDINO DA SIENA. Quadragesimale de christiana religione. [Basel, Johann Amerbach,
not after 1489.] Folio, near ct calf over wooden boards, rebacked.
$12,500
Scarce second edition (first, Utrecht 1475) of the Lenten sermons of S. Bernardino da Siena, whose
scathing critiques of ostentatiousness and power-politics in Renaissance Italy earned him enduring fame
among the masses. There is no copy of the first edition in America.
The Most Influential Italian Architectural Treatise of the 17th Century
86. SCAMOZZI, Vincenzo. Dell’ Idea della Architettura Universale. Venice, [Giorgio Valentino], 1615. 2 volumes, with 44 engraved plates (of which 4 double-page) and numerous woodcuts. Folio, ct vellum.
$18,500
First edition of the most influential Italian architectural work of the early 17th century, the final codification of the doctrine of the orders and assorted classicizing tenets by Palladio’s most gifted student.
Of the ten books intended by Scamozzi for his treatise, only books I and III and books VI to VIII were
completed by 1615.
87. [ARTISTIC ANATOMY] / SQUANQUERILLO, Constantino. Tratta di Anatomia Pittorica. Rome,
Tipografia delle Belle Arti for Filippo Lustrini, 1841. Folio with 65 plates, ct half calf.
$6850
Extremely rare first edition of one of the earliest lithographic artistic anatomies to be published
in Italy, after designs by the artist Constantino Squanquerillo. The plates are dated over a 4 year period
(1836-40) and signed by 4 different lithographers (Battistelli, Rosi, Martelli, Wieller-Martelli), perhaps
suggesting the relative difficulty of depicting complex structures in the new medium (in our experience,
early Italian lithography tends to be highly schematic). According to Garrison-Morton, the first lithographic anatomy to be published was Jules Cloquet’s Anatomie de l’Homme. 5 vols (Paris, 1821-31).
Incunable Art of War
88. VALTURIUS, Robertus. De Re Militari. Colophon: Verona, Boninus de Boninus, 1483. Folio, with 96 woodcuts.
17th C vellum over boards.
$95,000
A very appealing copy of the scarce second Latin edition
(first 1472) of this treatise on the art of war, containing
the earliest technical illustrations in a printed book.
According to Sander, this edition is illustrated by a new
set of woodblocks, which are very slight reductions of the
blocks of the original 1472 edition, and is augmented by a
single woodcut. The design of the woodcuts has been variously attributed to the Alberti pupil Matteo de’ Pasti or Fra
Giocondo, the Veronese architect who produced the first
illustrated Vitruvius (1511).
With a Full-Page Woodcut
89. SPELT, Heinrich [i.e. VOGTHERR, Heinrich the
Elder?]. Der Ainfeltig Glaub. [Augsburg], “Heinrich Spelt, a
common Brother in Christ to all Believers”, 1524. 4to, modern
boards.
$3300
Very rare first edition of this early Lutheran pamphlet apparently authored by the woodcutter and publisher Heinrich
Vogtherr the Elder. The impressive title page shows Christ on
the Cross, Adam and Eve, devotees worshiping the Lamb of
Christ, and the Pope holding audience in a small temple, beneath the inscription “He will sit in the temple [of God]” – a
prophecy from Thessalonians concerning the Antichrist.
Christ, the Apostles, and Saint Paul
In Large Format
90. WEERT, Jacques de & WIERIX, Hieronymous (after Martin de VOS). [Christ
and the Apostles]. [Antwerp], Johannes Ditmer, [ca 1595]. Large folio, 14 engraved
plates. Modern linen.
$5850
Extremely rare suite of 14 very fine largeformat devotional prints engraved by Jacques
de Weert and Hieronymous Wierix after designs by the great Flemish Mannerist Martin
de Vos. Each sheet, measuring 41 x 28.5 cm,
consists of a full-length figure against a scenic background, with a title at the head of
the engraving and a motto at the foot. The
album is enriched by brief (and one or two
more extended) annotations written on the
versos and in blank margins, an unusual example of contemporary reception.
91. WIERIX, Anton after Jan SNELLINCK and Martin de VOS. [The Story of Samson]. [Antwerp],
Gerard de Jode, [ca. 1583]. Suite of 7 plates, 28.5 x 21 cm to platemarks. Disbound. $3850
Very rare series of 7 engravings depicting the travails of Samson in his struggle against the Philistines.
Captions in Latin explain each plate as well as giving Biblical references to the relevant passages in
Judges.
“Unveils… the most notable paintings and sculptures of Bologna”
92. ZANTI, Giovanni de. Nomi, et cognomi di tutte le strade, contrade, et borghi di Bologna… Con alcune cose piu
notabili della citta: tanto di scoltura, come di pittura. Bologna, Pellegrino Bonardo, [1583]. 4to, with full-page
woodcut view of Bologna and title-page vignette. Ct vellum.
$11,500
Very rare first edition of the first printed guidebook to Bologna, providing an introduction to the
life of the city, describing its streets and the famous families who live on them, its festivals, churches,
paintings, sculpture, and monuments by the local cicerone Giovanni de Zanti. Zanti highlights which
artworks should not be missed by the visitor wandering the city in the 1580s, mentioning many of the
greats who to this day form part of the art historical canon—Michelangelo, Parmigianino, Filippino
Lippi, Rafaello, and Perugino—and a number of other less eminent “talents” who were names once:
Innocenzo da Imola, Prospero Fontana, Amico Aspertini or Alfonso da Ferrara (Alfonso Lombardi).
Gart der Gesundheit N o 56
Isidore N o 10