•  Charming and charmingly illustrated Victorian tales, poems, and songs for children, many featuring animals — plus a series of lessons on astronomy. Almost every page incorporates a steel- or wood-engraved image; variously sized, many of these are full-page. (The final illustration, of a young miss playing piano with her little lapdog “singing” along, is especially appealing.) Music is included for “The Old Year and the New,” “Chipperee, Chip,” “Song of the Cat,” and many other tunes.

•  Contemporary half roan and marbled paper–covered sides, spine with gilt-stamped title and date; binding scuffed. Two leaves with chips in lower margins, with loss of about four letters; two pages with spots of staining, pages otherwise clean. This copy evidently was never abused by childish hands, although the magazine certainly deserved to be pored over — really, this is a wonderful little book.  (29570)

The author was a dedicated observer of meteors and comets and published several well-received works on those subjects in addition to his religious and philosophical treatises.

Rare: OCLC and ESTC locate only one U.S. holding, since deaccessioned; there are only two holdings found in the U.K.

•  ESTC T68482.   Recent marbled paper–covered boards, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label; yellow wrapper with early hand-inked title bound in. Title-page institutionally pressure-stamped and a five-digit number inked twice to the first page of the preface; no other markings. First and last few leaves with minor foxing; other scattered spots mostly confined to margins. Occasional pencillled annotations.  (25768)

This includes, among other interesting morsels historical, moral, and agricultural, a long essay onshooting stars.

•  Later sewing; spine reinforced with archival tissue. Title-page and last page with shallow tears in blank area of outer margin. Shallow dog-ears, occasional edge chips. Small hole on pp. 27/28, touching but not costing three letters. Light foxing.  (27818)

The volume ends with a “Corona Florida a la Santisima Trinidad,” being a small literary collection of coplas, canciones, and a romance“en Metafora del Sol, que discurre por los doce signos del Zodiaco.”

Binding: Publisher's mottled sheep, gilt spine extra. Marbled endpapers; all edges red.

•  Medina, Mexico, 8016.   Binding lightly worn. A few gatherings starting to extrude. A very good, clean copy.  (26851)

•  Good. Sewn; in original printed wrappers. Wrappers lightly soiled and chipped in the margins; front wrapper partially detached. Pages a little brittle with small tears and chipping in the margins. (1279)

astronomy

•  American Imprints 46-3993; NSTC 2L4514. Recent black moiré silk, spines with gilt-stamped leather title-labels. Vol. II half-title and title-page with faint spots of waterstaining, pages otherwise clean. A very nice example of one of the best-selling scientific works of its time. (30342)

A search of WorldCat locates only four copies in the U.S. and another of COPAC finds only the British Library copy.

•  Palau 201032; Almirante, Bibliografia militar de España, 575.   Early limp vellum, old author, title, and device inked on spine; recased and new endpapers supplied in front, with ties renewed. Added engraved title supplied in facsimile, so too the volvelle; interior tear without loss precisely along the outer edge of the text block on pp. 1/2, evidence of printer misjudgment in the impression. Old inked notes on inside of rear cover, and in a few other places; some instances of old, generally faint waterstaining or minor ink-accident; generally, a clean copy.  (28466)

"Porta's system . . . leads him constantly to conclusions of analogies between plants, animals and men. Similar humours are found in various apparently unrelated organisms. Plants and animals that correspond in shape are interrelated. A leaf formed like a stag horn shares the character of the deer. The horse is a noble animal, therefore it is a sign of nobility to walk erect with the head held high. Men who resemble a donkey are like that animal: timid, stupid, nervous. He who looks like an ostrich is akin to it in character: he is timid, elegant, vicious, stolid. A man who reminds us of a swine is a swine, eating greedily and having all the other characteristics, such as rudeness, irascibility, lack of discipline, sordidness, lack of intelligence [and] modesty. In a similar way, men who look like ravens are impudent; those who resemble oxen are stubborn, lazy, irascible; men who have lips shaped like those of a lion are hearty, magnanimous, courageous; others who make us think of a ram are timid, malicious and humble. When practising medicine, Porta had many occasions to observe his patients, and to study their character and complexion; the results of this studious inquiry are laid down in his book." (Seligmann)

Appended to Della fisionomia humana are the Fisionomia naturale of Giovanni Ingegneri († 1600), the Physionomia of Polemon (ca. a.d. 88 – a.d. 145) in an Italian translation, Porta’s Della celeste fisionomia (a repudiation of astrology), and two short related treatises by Livius Agrippa and Luigi Settala (1552–1633). Della celeste fisionomia has a number of interesting woodcuts showing pagan gods and constellations.

•  Seligmann, The History of Magic, 319. On physiognomy, see: Thorndike, History of Magic and Experimental Science, VII, 448 & following. On Porta, see: Webster’s New Biographical Dictionary 811. Vellum over paste boards, soiled and cockled with a little chipping; vellum along front joint cracked but joint strongly holding. Ex-library: paper labels on spine and rubber-stamps, including one on title-page. Edges bumped and pages severely cockled (though with no waterstaining); some soiling especially to top edges and margins, with a few edge chips.Plates in very clear, strong impressions. Price reduced for faults, but a volume offering much despite them. (4654)

Binding:  Later (but not recent) vellum over flexible boards, gilt-ruled round spine with two gilt labels (red and black); blue speckled edges and a green silk marker.

Provenance:  Bookplate of John B. Doukas, front pastedown; undeciphered ownership inscriptions in early ink on the title-page, one dated 1567.

•  Renouard, Alde, 87, 7; Adams P2215 & P1860 (Opera); Isaac 12895; Graesse, V, 498; UCLA, Aldine Press, 183. Not in Schweiger.   Bound as above, somewhat soiled and spotted and lightly rubbed at extremities; vellum pierced at spine corners in association with sewing. Title-page and final three leaves reinforced at gutter to cover wormholes; some other almost-piercings visible in index. A bit of foxing only, some leaves lightly browned, and a faint waterstain to outer margin of perhaps 20 leaves at mid-section. Temoine folded in at f. 22.  (30104)

a note has been added at foot of p. [34], correcting information given in the calendar pages about a solar eclipse on April 24th.

•  Drake 3819; Shaw & Shoemaker 43108.   Uncut copy; old stitching. A very good copy.  (9622)

The present volume (XIV) covers 2 January 1808 through 16 April 1808, in other words till just before news arrived of Napoleon's treachery in Spain, with coverage of the war in Europe; British military actions in the Caribbean, Uruguay, and Argentina; ship arrivals; cargoes unloaded; notices from the provinces; Miranda's revolt in Venezuela; and even acomet seen in Europe.

Provenance:  Ex-John Carter Brown library, properly deaccessioned.

•  Sewn, removed from and now loosely laid into its original Mexican mottled sheep binding, this with a modestly gilt spine bearing a green leather gilt title-label and with an old paper label on its front cover. Some issues lightly soiled or with a bit of spotting/staining, else generally clean and very good.  (29691)

Click the image to the left
for an enlargement.

The printed Career is followed in this little volume by an extended manuscript section containing neatly written excerpts from Wooley’s Science of the Bible or an Analysis of the Hebrew Mythology.

•  Contemporary half calf over textured cloth, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label and gilt-ruled raised bands; front cover detached, leather scuffed. All page edges marbled. Upper portion of front free endpaper torn away; two front fly-leaves partially excised. Back free endpaper with pencilled owner’s name. Printed portion very slightly age-toned, with faint creasing to first section.