Rare in the U.S.: We trace only the Getty copy of this edition, and earlier editions are no less rare.

•  Landwehr, German Emblem Books, 317. Boards covered in music-printed paper from an 18th-century antiphonal, spine with gilt-stamped leather title and author labels. Engraved title and pp. 49/50 (emblem VII) lacking. Title-page and next leaf with long-ago repaired holes, one on the latter affecting an initial on the verso; title-page with old inked device(?) and 19th-century institutional stamp on verso, showing through in part to recto; a small hole in a third leaf, taking perhaps a letter or two. Final blank leaf and two other leaves also stamped. One leaf torn from margins into text, repaired with Japanese tissue. Pages slightly age-toned, some with mild foxing or the odd spot. Faults noted, this is yet a worthwhile and studyable/enjoyable volume.

Of the ten engraved plates, eight depict various states of grace or lack thereof (the hearts of sinners are inhabited by loathsome beasts, while those of repentant sinners contain symbols of the Holy Ghost and of the crucified Christ); the remaining plates contrast the deathbed scenes of sinful and righteous individuals.

•  Shoemaker 8988. 19th-century quarter goat with paper-covered sides, limp and showing some water damage with much wear and abrading. Hinges (inside) cracked; covers not coming off, though one signature is separated. Pages age-toned and foxed with signs of exposure to water. Used!

Provenance: Title-page stamped by a private collector: “Thomas Witherell Palmer, Log Cabin Park” (Detroit).

•  Contemporary half calf with marbled paper–covered sides, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label and ornate gilt-stamped decorations within compartments; binding with light to moderate rubbing overall, with spine leather starting to show some cracking. All edges stained red. Delightful reading and looking, and a delightful copy.

Provenance: Inscription to Ellie Bond Robinson (from her cousin Elizabeth); elegant small booklabel, “Gardner.”

•  Publisher’s textured cloth, framed in blind, front cover with gilt-stamped title; covers and corners showing very slight traces of wear. Front free endpaper with small booklabel and with inked gift inscription dated 1887. One flap (“Circumspection”) lacking, with all other flaps present and working. An attractive copy of an uncommon item.

Uncommon.  Searches of OCLC, RLIN, and NUC Pre-1956 locate only three copies in U.S. libraries.

•  Goedeke, Grundriss zur Geschichte der deutschen Dichtung (for first ed.). 19th-century quarter morocco (refurbished) over paper-covered sides, spine with gilt-stamped title; edges of paper sides rubbed. Front pastedown with bookseller’s ticket from B. Westermann & Co. of New York, private collector’s 19th-century bookplate, and institutional stamp (no other markings). Small repaired hole to title-page, with four letters unobtrusively replaced. Foxed, with a few corners crumpled or dog-eared. One engraved plate from another work laid in. A pleasant, we would say “atmospheric” little volume.

The engraved frontispiece was done by Philipp Jacob Leidenhoffer after a design by Johann Asem; one of the engraved in-text emblems attributes its design to “I.C. Banaivir,” about whom no information could be found, while the others are unsigned.

The title-page bears an inked inscription reading “SanCto MarCo / In aVgIa DIVIte,” dated 1714; a few small scraps of paper with notes in an early inked hand are laid in.

•  Landwehr, German, 660; Praz 543. Contemporary mottled sheep, covers framed in blind triple fillets, spine thickly blind-stamped with arabesque motifs; binding rubbed and abraded with leather cracked over joints and spine, spine stamping dimmed, and shelving number inked on spine. A few spots of pinhole worming to front cover, front free endpaper, and first few leaves; front pastedown with old bookseller’s ticket. Some pages with light foxing; one leaf with an old repair to the upper corner and one with a short tear from the lower margin. An interesting rarity, and one worthy of study.