The work is illustrated with a fine full-page engraving by Jose Morales of the biographee kneeling in devotion before an elegant shrine to the Christ Child in her book-graced cell. A woodcut of the Trinity appears at the top of the dedication page, and there are a few nice initials and head- and tailpieces.

Provenance:  Marca de fuego in upper edges of the Convento de San Cosme of the Franciscans of Mexico City, and another marca de fuego in the lower edges.

•  Medina, Mexico, 5022; Puttick & Simpson, Bibl. Mej., 1703.   Contemporary limp vellum with remnants of green silk cord ties, with title, cross, and old red shelfmark inked to spine; text block loose, held by threads. Light waterstain across early leaves and the occasional spot or soiling elsewhere; worming in lower margins, extending into text beginning on p. 355, touching or costing letters but not whole words (some appropriately repaired). A nice book.  (29522)

•  Sabin 48484.   Contemporary Mexican mottled sheep with gilt spine extra; leather lightly worn at edges and with some scuffing. First and last few leaves with soiling/staining, and a few leaves browned due to the nature of their paper; else, clean with only the odd spot or smudge.  (27521)

There is also some Americana interest when the author discusses in several places the drinking of chocolate.

•  Bitting 117 (second ed.); Cagle 1132 (first ed. of Davini only); Hünersdorff, Coffee, I, 395; Osler, Biblotheca Osleriana, 2428 (first ed.); Vicaire 250 (second ed.); Alden & Landis, European Americana, 727/231.  Contemporary vellum, darkened, with a few pinholes of insect damage and some minor spots of staining. Title-page with inked ownership inscription in Latin, dated 1728. Pages a bit cockled, with edges darkened; most mildly to moderately foxed.

•  Goldsmiths’-Kress 7892.2; DeBacker-Sommervogel, VIII, 444. Contemporary speckled calf, spine gilt extra with gilt-stamped leather title-label; binding scuffed and rubbed, with leather cracking over joints and spine extremities chipped. All edges speckled red. Front free endpaper and fly-leaf partially affixed to front pastedown; front pastedown with inked initials. Pages beautifully clean.

Uncommon: OCLC and ESTC locate only four U.S. institutional holdings of this edition, one of which has since been deaccessioned.

Provenance: Old inked signatures of “John R. Brown,” “Tho. Smith,” and “Rev. Thos. Smith.”

•  ESTC N028205; Overton, Evangelical Revival in the Eighteenth Century, 103–04.   Contemporary treed sheep, rebacked with complementary speckled calf, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label and raised bands ruled in gilt; corners and edges rubbed, sides scuffed, lower outer portion of back cover discolored. First preface page with rubber-stamped numeral, first and last text pages with institutional rubber-stamp in lower margins. Front fly-leaf, upper outer corner of title-page, and verso of title-page with inked ownership inscriptions as above. Four pages of contents bound in at back of volume. Pages age-toned, a few with light to moderate foxing; outer edge of title-page browned. A solid, in fact pleasant book.  (25929)

Provenance: With the armorial bookplate of D. Feliciano Ramirez de Arellano, Marqués de la Fuensanta del Valle, and bookseller's ticket from a Lisboa dealer.

•  Palau 361040. Contemporary treed calf, spine gilt extra with gilt-stamped leather title label, covers showing only light wear; joints and board edges rubbed, leather lost over spine head and cracking over foot, spine also with small traces of paper label. Hinges slightly tender.

Father Vilaplana (1712–63), a native of Benimarfull, Valencia, Spain, was a Franciscan, a university lecturer in theology, and an “examiner” for the Inquisition. His handbook gives examples of abuses, lays out the pertinent canon laws and papal edicts, and has a section of questions to be asked of accused priests during court proceedings. The work also discusses punishment and other disciplines that the crimes demand.

Since abuse of the confessional fell under the authority of the Inquisition, this work is de facto a manual for Inquisitors.

This is the “Editio secunda locupletior in paucis.” The Bibliotheca Mexicana was the private press of the great bibliographer, writer, and secular cleric Juan Jose de Eguiara y Eguren.

•  Medina, Mexico, 5026; Palau 365782.   Contemporary limp vellum, rodent-gnawed along several edges with a small loss of vellum. Front endpapers with loss to silverfish. Text unwormed and clean.  (29773)

Although touted as “Primera parte” on the title-page, there were no further parts; this Historia is complete, “all published.”

•  Palau 366681; Medina, Biblioteca hispano-americana, 2051; Sabin 99643; Leclerc 1546; Salvá 3422; Heredia 3407; Alden & Landis, European Americana, 701/262. On Villagutierre, see: Archivo biográfico de España, Portugal, e Iberoamérica, fiche 1019, frames 213–16. 19th-century Spanish sheep (“pasta española”), covers abraded and with pinhole-type worming to spine; loss of lower inch of spine leather to insects. Browning to text due to impurities in water during paper manufacture. Small insect damage to margins of first four leaves, not touching any text; similar small damage in inner margins of last four leaves. Over all, a decent copy of a scarce work.

•  Bengesco, Voltaire, 514; Cohen & de Ricci 1035; Graesse 393. Not in Ray, Art of the French Illustrated Book.   Mid-19th-century half dark green morocco and marbled paper–covered sides, leather edges with gilt fillet, spine with gilt-stamped title; spine faintly sunned, minor wear to corners and spine extremities. Top edge gilt. Front pastedown with unidentified dolphin and anchor bookplate. Tissue guard present following frontispiece but not elsewhere. Original ribbon bookmarker present and intact. A very few instances of small, light spots, most pages and certainly the “figures gravèes”) clean and fresh.  (28347)

•  NSTC T53304.   Removed from a nonce volume; half-title and two final advertisement leaves lacking. Title-page with early inked inscription in upper outer corner, partially shaved; title-page verso with old-fashioned institutional presentation rubber-stamp dated 1915. Pages clean.  (27654)

Provenance:  “Jos. Clementson” rather beautifully indited on title-page and p. 1; a “Basinghall Street” address provided in the former place, but the surname there some time ago inked through.

•  ESTC T63197; Hazen 65; NCBEL, II, 1589; Printing & the Mind of Man 211 (for first edition).   Recent quarter calf and marbled paper–covered sides, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label and interesting, rather deeply blind-tooled compartment decorations; binding clean, fresh, and handsome. Contemporary ownership inscriptions inked as above; frontispiece with small area of offsetting from ink and crease across one corner. One plate with lower outer corner torn away, affecting caption but not image. Pages faintly age-toned, with scattered light spotting only. A delightful book.  (28372)

After staying in Cadiz for several months (a sojourn left undetailed here, with a teasingly blank gap of three pages), Walton departed for London aboard the Cross Isle, under Capt. Robert Leake. That passage was more dramatic than the first, involving sightings of Spanish and French ships of war and a collision between the brigantine Betsy of Hull and the Crescent.

Many entries in this journal are dedicated to the weather (including the types and directions of wind encountered) and to record of Walton's dining companions at various points along the way (“Capt. Silvester, onboard the General Washington,” among others). Others mention the commemoration of the birthday of “the late unfortunate Queen of France . . . celebrated with all the Splendor of Cadiz,” the cargo rescued from the unfortunate Betsy (“very valuable, being of Silks & choice Goods of Leghorn”), and a stop at Cork.

Walton's serviceable script is generally decipherable throughout. The paper bears a Britannia watermark, sans motto or initials, resembling but not identical to Britannia examples in Churchill's Watermarks in Paper.

•  Sewn, with pencilled annotation on front wrapper; front wrapper tattered and with an ink-spill along outer edge of front wrapper and on first text page partially obscuring a few words of text. Folded, with short tears starting along some folds; light waterstaining to upper outer corners and on a couple of leaves elsewhere; lower corners bumped. An evocative “read”!  (25689)

•  ESTC T36741. Now in a Mylar folder; edges uncut. Some creasing, with ink markings from press.

Click the images for enlargements.

Provenance:  Covers gilt-stamped with the device of Francis Egerton, 1st Earl of Ellesmere.

Binding:  Contemporary calf framed in gilt triple fillets and blind roll, rebacked preserving original spine gilt extra with gilt-stamped leather title-label; covers gilt-stamped with supra-libros as above. All edges marbled.

Uncommon: OCLC and NUC Pre-1956 find only six U.S. locations.

•  Bound as above; spine leather with small chips and cracks, sides with small unobtrusive areas of rubbing and light discoloration. Binding overall solid and still attractive; interior clean and nice.  (25320)

The title-page is printed in red and black, and the text is decorated with foliate initials and woodcut head- and tail-pieces.

Uncommon: OCLC locates only seven U.S. institutional holdings, one of which has since been deaccessioned.

•  Pirenne, Bibliographie de l'histoire de Belgique, 2125.   Recent quarter calf with sides covered in German-style brown paper speckled with black, leather edges tooled in blind, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label and gilt-dotted raised bands. All edges stained red. Pages lightly age-toned, with some mild offsetting; first and last few leaves foxed; clean.  (25854)

The title-page proclaims “This book is not to be sold, but given away.”

•  ESTC N9602. Recent marbled paper–covered boards, spine with printed paper label. Title-page with repairs to margins and one page crease; title-page verso rubber-stamped by a now-defunct institution. First few leaves with inner margins repaired. Pages untrimmed, and gently age-toned.

•  Disbound, but preserving original front printed wrapper; very dust-soiled; untrimmed.

•  ESTC T25456. Sewn, signatures separating, now in a Mylar folder. Edges untrimmed. Title-page with small numerical stamp and slight spotting; title-page and page edges darkened; a copy dog-eared and bumped.

Fifth edition of the Voyage from London and second edition of the Continuation.

•  Voyage from London: Sabin 103534; Alden & Landis 739/343; ESTC T29204. Continuation: Sabin 103535 & 103538; Alden & Landis 739/340; ESTC T34033 & T34025.   Recent full calf antique-style with gilt concentric panels on covers and gilt corner-devices on same; round spine with raised bands, each accented by gilt rules. 19th-century wood-engraved portrait of Whitefield added as a frontispiece. A very pleasing volume.  (21775)

Here he not only rebuts Gibson's charges, but also accuses the Church of England of preaching false doctrine.

•  ESTC T44854; Sabin 103577.   Recent quarter calf and marbled paper–covered sides, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label and gilt-ruled raised bands. Lacking half-title and final advertisement leaf; p. 3 incorrectly numbered 1, matching ESTC's description. Pages lightly age-toned, a few with small areas of staining in outer margins.  (25955)

•  ESTC T222052.   Recent quarter calf and marbled paper–covered sides, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label and gilt-ruled raised bands. Pages age-toned, edges slightly ragged. Inner margin of title-page with staining just touching text, and an unobtrusive repair.  (25958)

Click the images for enlargements.

Whitworth was perhaps the most effective English ambassador to Russia in the first half of the 18th century. His Account was originally written for the foreign office and remained in manuscript till Walpole printed it. The DNB (on-line) writes of it, “Succinct and perceptive, it was a survey of Petrine Russia which held its readership through to the century's end and beyond.”

Horace Walpole (1717–97), the 4th earl of Orford, is best remembered as the author of the Gothic novel The Castle of Otranto. Among bibliophiles he is also remembered for his private press, variously known as the Officina Arbutana or the Strawberry Hill Press. Walpole's almost fantastic wealth allowed him the connoisseur's luxury of maintaining this noble enterprise, which he operated in the arena of the rebirth of fine printing in Great Britain that was being carried on by the Foulis brothers, Baskerville, and others.

Provenance:  20th-century bookplate of William & Helena Hand.

•  Hazen (1973 ed.), Bibliography of the Strawberry Hill Press, 5; ESTC T138827; Rothschild 2560; Cox, I, 195.   Contemporary sprinkled calf, gilt spine extra, gilt dull; joints and hinges with good repairs. Two old booksellers' descriptions taped to front pastedown. Off-setting from the turn-ins on the front and rear free endpapers and fly-leaves, title-page, and errata leaf; else, quite clean. A handsome book.  (26862)

•  ESTC T167984. On Williams, see: The Dictionary of National Biography, LXI, 390–93. Removed from a nonce volume. Occasional spots of foxing with some offsetting around plates; some leaves dog-eared.