
18TH-CENTURY BOOKS
Aa-Al Am-Az Ba-Beq Ber-Bo Bibles Bp-Bz
Ca-Cb Cc-Coq Cor-Cz Da-Di Dj-Dz
Ea-England English-Ez F Ga-Gp Gr-Gz Ha-Hb
Hc-Hz I-K La-Lel Lem-Log Loh-Lz Maa-Mar
Mas-Mz N-O Pa-Pi Pj-Pz Q-R Sa-Sch
Sci-Se Sf-Sol Som-Sz Ta-Th Ti-U Va-Wil Wim-Z
(Pollock vs. the Thane of Cawdor). Answers for John Campbel of Calder Esq; and Mr. James Anderson writer to the signet his factor: To the petition of Ruth Pollock, who calls herself relict of Captain George Campbel, son to the deceast Sir Hugh Campbel. [Edinburgh], 1717. Folio (30.5 cm, 12"). 4 pp.
$850.00
The battle between Ruth Pollock and the Campbells (or Calders, from their estate of Cawdor) rages on, with the Calder side strenuously denying that any legitimate marriage ever took place between her and Capt. George Campbell. Pollock, who called herself Campbell’s widow despite apparently never having been acknowledged as his wife during his lifetime, was claiming a portion of the estate of his father, Sir Hugh Campbell; in this response to some of her petitions, lawyer John Fleming, acting on behalf of the Campbells, discusses the merits of various claims as pertaining to estate law. OCLC, ESTC, and NUC Pre-1956 record
no holdings of this item.
Not in ESTC. Once sewn, now in a Mylar folder. Last leaf with closed tear partially repaired some time ago, costing or or obscuring a few letters to each line of about two paragraphs on either side of leaf. Age-toned, dust-soiled, creased.
It
Says SHE
LIES . . .
(Pollock
vs. the Thane of Cawdor).
Broadside. Begins:
"Memorial for John Campbell of Calder Esq...." [Edinburgh], 1718. Folio (31.2
cm, 12.25"). [1] p.
$900.00

Dated July 30 1718, this broadside is a rebuttal of certain financial
assertions made by Ruth Pollock in her ongoing legal battle against John Campbell
over the estate of Sir Hugh Campbell, which included Cawdor Castle (although
that legendary castle is not mentioned in this document).
This
is an uncommon legal item, with no holdings described by OCLC, RLIN, or ESTC.
Not in ESTC. Creased and dust-soiled, with a small hole in
lower margin not touching text and a few pinholes within text. Tipped onto
a leaf of 19th-century paper, now in a Mylar folder.
(Pollock
vs. the Thane
of Cawdor [Again]). Broadside.
Begins: “Memorial for John Campbell of Calder....”[Edinburgh], 1718.
Folio (31.5 cm, 12.4"). [2] p.
$900.00
Dated February 5th 1718, this broadside was part of a protracted
legal struggle between Ruth Pollock and John Campbell, grandson of Sir Hugh
Campbell, thane of Cawdor. Particularly in question here are the
marriage
articles between Sir Alexander Campbell and Elizabeth Lort,
John Campbell’s parents; the definition of impeachment of waste is discussed.
No
holdings of this uncommon item are listed by ESTC, RLIN, OCLC.
Creased and slightly dust-soiled but in overall good condition.
Tipped onto a leaf of 19th-century paper; now in a Mylar folder.
A
“Collection Discount” will be applied should anyone take
ALL THREE of the “Pollack Case” Broadsides . . .
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Pomey,
François. Pantheum mythicum, seu Fabulosa deorum historia
hoc epitomes eruditionis volumine brevitur dilucidéque comprehensa. Amstaelodami:
Ex officina Schoudeniana ; Trajecti ad Rhenum: Apud J.J. a Poolsum, 1777. Small
8vo (15.5 cm; 6"). [8] ff., 298, [7] ff., 27 plts. (4 fold.).
$625.00
Originally published in 1659, Pomey’s work on classical mythology was extremely popular and was reprinted many times during the following 150
years. This edition describes itself as “editio decima, denuò recensita, à quamplurimis erroribus repurgata, & aeneis figuris ornata.”
The work begins with an elaborate engraved title-page signed “G. Schoute, fecit,” followed by a printed title–page in black and red. The text
is printed in roman type with side- and shouldernotes and is illustrated with
27 plates, four of which are folding. The text is edited by Samuel Pitiscus (1637–1727).

Binding: Full vellum over paste boards, covers with bead and vine borders in gilt at outer edges and large gilt-stamped supralibros coat of arms of the Dutch town of Kampen, with the text “Pallas Minerva sospitatrix urbium.” Round spine with gilt rope-design roll forming spine compartments. Red leather author and title label.
Provenance: With the printed and folding ex-proemium of J.J.S. van Goltstein van Hoekenburg, Jan. 1819.
DeBacker-Sommervogel, VI, 976. Binding as above. All edges marbled. A very good copy; text block very slightly skewed in binding.
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Dealing Judicially with
Contraband Smugglers
Portugal. Sovereign (1750–77, Joseph). [drop-title] Eu El rey. Faço saber aos que este alvará virem: que tendo mostrado a experiencia as demoras, e embaraços, que ha, por occorrencia de outras dependencias, na execuçaõ das penas impostas aos contrabandos.... [Lisbon]: No publisher/printer, 1764. Folio (29 cm; 11.5"). [1] f., i.e., [2] pp.
$350.00

By this Alvará (13 September 1764) the king addresses matters of jurisdiction in cases against dealers in contraband sugar. (“Alvará, porque V. Magestade ha por bem ordenar que as diligencias preparatorias dos processos verbaes dos Contrabandos, apprehendidos na Alfandegado do assucar da cidade de Lisboa, se fação per ante o Juiz Conservador geral do Commercio. . . . ”)
There are two issues: in this issue on p. [1], the catchword is “hendidos,” and in the other catchword is “hendi-.”
WorldCat locates only the copy at the John Carter Brown Library.
Removed from a volume. Light brown stain in lower margin and an even lighter stain in top one; old foliation number neatly inked in upper outer corner of recto. A good exemplar. (28246)
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Hospital Reform for
the Benefit of Orphans
Portugal. Sovereign (1750–77, Joseph). [begins] Eu el rey. Faço saber aos que este Alvará virem: Que sendo o decurso dos tempos sujeito as grandes alterações, que vem a fazer necessarias muitas novas, e antes não cogitadas providencias ... Havendo sido util, e louvavelmente erigido o Hospital dos Expostos da Cidade de Lisboa.... [Lisbon]: Na Regia Officina Typografica., 1775. Folio (29 cm; 11.5"). 7, [1 (blank)] pp.
$475.00
The king has decided that reform and improvement aere needed at the Orphans' Hospital (Hospital dos Expostos) in Lisbon and here issues the decree specifying the changes. (“Alvará, por que Vossa Magestade he servido occorrer com as providencias necessarias para fazer em cessar os inconvenientes, que até agora se praticavam no Hospital dos Expostos: Dando nova forma para as creações, entregas, e educações delles . . . “).
No copies found via WorldCat or COPAC.
Removed from a bound volume; now in modern wrappers. Old foliation neatly inked in upper outer corners; clean, with wide margins. (28222)
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REFORMING the Queen's
Hydrotheraphy Hospital at Caldas
Portugal. Sovereign (1750–77, Joseph). [begins] Eu el rey. Faço saber aos que este Alvará virem: Que sendo o decurso dos tempos sujeito as grandes alterações, que vem a fazer necessarias muitas novas, e antes não cogitadas providencias ... Havendo sido util, e louvavelmente erigido o Hospital dos Expostos da Cidade de Lisboa.... [Lisbon]: [colophon: Na Regia Officina Typografica, 1775]. Folio. 38 pp.
$500.00

The Portuguese king decides to reform and reorganize the Hospital Real das Caldas (a thermal springs treatment center) that Queen Leonor established in 1484. The details of the innovations are detailed here. (“Alvará de Regimento, por que Vossa Magestade, annullando, cassando, e abolindo o antigo Regimento, chamado Compromisso do Hospital Real das Caldas . . . que depois delle se expediram; fazendo cessar a Inspecção, que sobre elle até agora teve a Meza da Consciencia, e Ordens; e separando-o da Adminstração dos Conegos Seculares de S. João Evangelista”).
No copy traced via WorldCat or COPAC.
Removed from a volume and laid into modern wrappers. Light stain in outer margin of last leaf with a trace of same showing on a few more inward; old foliation neatly inked in upper outer corners; generally clean, with good margins. One inked, contemporary marginal note. (28234)
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Life Insurance & Social Security
Price, Richard. Observations on reversionary payments; on schemes for providing annuities for widows, and for persons in old age; on the method of calculating the values of assurances on lives; and on the national debt. To which are added, Four essays on different subjects in the doctrine of life-annuities and political arithmetick. London: T. Cadell, 1783. 8vo. 2 vols. I: xl, 378 pp. II: [2], 324 pp., [1 (blank)] f., [2], 95, 24 (index) pp.
$1000.00
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Fourth, expanded edition, of a treatise which became the “bible” of actuarial science. Richard Price's (1723–91) method for calculating life expectancy was one of his most significant achievements. Life insurance companies would use this edition's mortality tables of Northampton, which were more accurate than the London tables, for many years to come. The book also includes a section on old-age pensions.
In addition to the dedication page, and prefaces to the first, third, and fourth editions, these volumes also include “additional notes and essays, a collection of new tables, a history of the sinking fund, a state of the public debts in January 1783, and a postscript on the population of the kingdom.” First published in 1771.
ESTC T12986; Goldsmiths-Kress 12495. Contemporary speckled sheep, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label, edges of boards tooled in gilt. Joints cracked and weakly holding. Covers darkened along top and outer edges; leather lost on corners. Light foxing to a few early and later leaves, including title-pages; offsetting from leather affecting only first three and final three leaves, at edges. Each volume pressure-stamped on the title-page and one other page. Title-page rectos marked with small inked initials in upper right corner, versos rubber-stamped with a five-digit number. Penciled notation at bottom margin of p. xxx (vol. I). Now housed in a blue cloth clamshell box with gilt-stamped leather labels. (24415)
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Anti-Muslim & Anti-Deist
Prideaux, Humphrey. The true nature of imposture fully display'd in the life of Mahomet. With a discourse annex'd for the vindication of Christianity from this charge ... eighth edition, corrected. London: E. Curll, J. Hooke, W. Mears & F. Clay, 1723. 8vo (20.2 cm, 7.9"). xvi (i.e., xvii), [3], 260 pp.
$300.00
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“Offered to the Consideration of the deists of the Present Age,” this is the eighth, corrected edition of a polemic originally published in 1697 by the dean of Norwich. Much read and widely influential on both English and American opinions of Islam, this work led to the common attachment of the “impostor” epithet to Mohammed's name in Western usage.
The “Discourse for the Vindicating of Christianity from the Charge of Imposture” has a separate title-page dated 1722, but its pagination is continuous with the first work.
ESTC T138493. Contemporary speckled calf, framed and panelled in blind with panel of contrasting calf decorated with blind roll and blind-tooled corner fleurons, rebacked with sympathetic calf, spine with gilt-dotted raised bands, gilt-stamped leather title-label, and blind-tooled compartment decorations; original leather showing minor acid-pitting with edges worn and rubbed. Ex–social club library: 19th-century bookplate, call number on endpapers, no other markings. Front free endpaper with upper outer corner repaired; browned, with offsetting to margins of first and last few leaves from turn-ins, yet not brittle. (27101)
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Prince, Thomas. A chronological history of New-England in the form of annals: Being a summary and exact account of the most material transactions and occurrences relating to this country, in the order of time wherein they happened, from the discovery by Capt. Gosnold in 1602, to the arrival of Governor Belcher, in 1730. With an introduction containing a brief epitome of the most remarkable transactions and events abroad, from the Creation.... Boston: Pr. by Kneeland & Green for S. Gerrish, 1736. 8vo (16.6 cm, 6.5"). [8], xi, [1], 20, 104, [2], 254 pp. (lacking title-page).
$500.00
Click either image above for an enlargement.
First edition of an extremely ambitious, painstakingly detailed history — “our most scholarly colonial work,” according to Howes. The Rev. Thomas Prince was minister of the Old South Church in Boston and founder of the New England Library (now the Prince Collection of the Boston Public Library); he began collecting the historical references that formed the basis of the present work in 1703, when he entered Harvard.
Dedicated to Jonathan Belcher, this first volume ends at the year 1630, with a note that the size of the undertaking had exceeded the expectations of both the author and the bookseller. The second volume did not appear until 1755, under the title Annals of New-England.
Sabin 65585; Evans 4068; Howes P615; ESTC W30371. On Prince, see: Dictionary of American Biography. Contemporary sheep, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label; leather rubbed and scraped, with spine label chipped. Front pastedown with institutional stamp; front free endpaper and fly-leaf with pencilled notations. Title-page lacking; first (dedication) leaf with signature “[W?] Nathans” and two early inked inscriptions on text pages reading “Nath[.] Mason his book.” Pages browned, most heavily the first 50 pages; some other staining; a few leaves with short edge tears, in two cases touching text without loss. Sound, and still interesting reading.
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THACKERAY
Admired These “Most Charmingly
Humorous
of English Lyrical Poems”
Some
Fellow-ADMIRER
Had
THIS
Set Bound
Prior, Matthew. The
poetical works...: Now first collected, with explanatory notes, and memoirs
of the author, in two volumes. London: Pr. for W. Strahan, T. Payne, J. Rivington,
et al., 1779. 8vo (19.4 cm, 7.6"). I: xvi, xxviii, 420 pp.; 1 plt. II:
[2] ff., xvi, 287, [1 (errata)] pp.
$400.00


Witty, amorous, sardonic works by the English poet-diplomat, edited by Evans and first thus. The DNB notes that among posthumous editions of Prior's works, "that of Evans . . . long enjoyed the reputation of being the best."
The "Story of the Country-Mouse and the City-Mouse," Prior's satiric and politically motivated response to Dryden's "Hind and Panther," is not included, but the long pieces "Solomon on the Vanity of the World" and "Alma" are present. The "Life of Mat. Prior" in the first volume commences beneath a small engraved portrait.
Binding: Later sprinkled calf, covers gilt-ruled with gilt inner dentelles, spines gilt extra with gilt-stamped leather title and volume labels. All edges saffron.
Provenance: Both volumes with armorial bookplates of Sir Robert D'Arcy Hildyard.
On Prior, see: Dictionary of National Biography, 397–401. Leather cracking over joints with hinges tender; spine tips a little dry and pulled; upper and outer edges of all covers somewhat darkened; light wear to extremities. Light foxing to some pages. In fact a very handsome pair.
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Propertius, Sextus. Sex. Aurelii Propertii elegiarum libri IV. Trajecti ad Rhenum: Barth. Wild, 1780. 4to (26.3 cm, 10.4"). [10], xiv, [2], 990 (i.e., 996; pagination repeats 627–32), [2] pp.
$450.00
First edition: Pieter Burmann the younger’s edition of Propertius, based primarily on Brouckhusius’s text and — after Burmann’s death — edited and completed by Laurentius Santen with commentary on the final elegy. Graesse points out some flaws in the text and exposition, but says that “les notes de Burmann sont de nouvelles preuves de son érudition,” and Dibdin agrees that the commentary is “a treasure of critical and philological learning.”
Binding/Provenance: Prize binding of contemporary vellum, covers framed and panelled in gilt rolls with gilt-stamped corner fleurons and gilt central vignette with the crest of the city of Amsterdam, spine with gilt-ruled raised bands and gilt-stamped decorations in compartments. The partially printed, partially inscribed, bound-in prize certificate reads “Ingenuo magnaeque spei adolescenti, Henrico Gerteler propter insignes in artibus humanioribus progessus,
in classe tertia . . . Quod testor R. v. Ommeren [/] Gymnasii publici Amstelaedamensis Rector,” dated 1791.
Brunet, IV, 905; Dibdin, I, 385–86; Graesse, V, 460; Sandys, II, 455; Schweiger, II, 831. Binding as above, vellum slightly darkened, lacking ties; spine with gilt dimmed and traces of a now-absent label and inked call number at foot of spine. Lower edges with institutional rubber-stamp; title-page with shadow of a pencilled numeral. Front free endpaper with paper adhesions from a now-absent bookplate; back pastedown with rubber-stamp and small adhesion. Pages clean save for offsetting to upper margins of a few, from a laid-in slip.
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AMERICAN
Sericulture a
Possible Source of
Revenue?
Pullein, Samuel. The culture of silk: or, an essay on its rational practice and improvement. In four parts... For the use of the American colonies. London: Pr. for A. Millar, 1758. 8vo. Frontis., xv, [1 (blank)], 299, [1] pp., plt.
$1250.00
Interest in the production of silk in the New World began with the Spaniards
in the 16th century, though despite the best efforts of many in Mexico, the
enterprise came to naught. Either undaunted by or unaware of the failure of
these earlier efforts, the English in the 18th century attempted the introduction
of sericulture into their regions of North America. This early English treatise
on the possibilities of silk culture in British North America was aimed at
planters and owners of land on which the essential mulberry trees could be
planted, and entrepeneurs looking to enter a new business at ground level.
In the period 1750 through 1820 there was considerable interest in the
development of this potentially lucrative enterprise. The work in hand is
divided into four parts: "I. On the raising and planting of mulberry trees.
II. On hatching and rearing the silkworms. III. On obtaining their silk,
and breed. IV. On reeling their silk-pods."
The two plates (one being the frontispiece) show various machinery and
tools for, and stages of, the production of silk. The author, a "reverend,"
flourished 1734–60.
Sabin 66625. Recent quarter calf, antique style. Round spine with raised
bands accented with gilt ruling. Gilt center devices in spine compartments.
Green morocco title-label. Marbled paper sides. Light foxing. A very good
copy.
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TWO Responses to
Anthony Collins
Pycroft, Samuel. A brief enquiry into free-thinking in matters of religion; and some pretended obstructions to it ... Cambridge: Pr. at the University Press for Edmund Jeffery & Jonah Bowyer, 1713. 8vo (19.8 cm, 7.75"). [2], 150, [2 (errata)] pp. (lacking half-title). [bound with] Addenbrooke, John. A short essay upon free-thinking. London: Jonah Bowyer, 1714. 8vo. [8], 16 pp.
$500.00
Click the interior images for enlargements.
First editions of these two responses to Anthony Collins's landmark treatise on freethought (and on either deism or atheism, depending on one's interpretation), the Discourse of Free-Thinking. Numerous attacks on the Discourse were published, including rebuttals by Richard Bentley, George Berkeley, and Jonathan Swift; the present two pieces are more obscure (the second was written by a
physician far better remembered today for his founding of a hospital for the poor than for his writings), but offer interesting perspectives on contemporary thought.
Provenance: The first work's title-page has “Ex dono Autoris” inscribed in the upper margin in an early hand.
Pycroft: ESTC T144698; Allibone 1712. Addenbrooke: ESTC T88427.
Recent marbled paper–covered boards, front cover with gilt-stamped leather title-label. Pycroft half-title lacking; title-page with annotation as above. Pages slightly age-toned, with light spotting to final leaves of Enquiry and throughout Essay. (20760)
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