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Newsletter from the Early Days of
the Bohemian Phase of the Thirty Years' War

Click the interior images for enlargements.

•  A very scarce newsletter from the heady early days of the Thirty Years' War: The Bohemian army under Mansfeldt entered Austria in November of 1618; in December of same year the Moravian Estates assembled to consider joining the Bohemian rebellion; in March, 1619, Holy Roman Emperor Matthias died of natural causes at Vienna; and early in June, Vienna came under siege and pro-rebel nobles menaced Ferdinand in his own throne room.

This and more is is recounted here. The title-page has a small woodcut of a city under siege.

Uncommon. VD17 records what appear to be five variants of this title, all from the same press, but not this particular one. All of the variants are rare with only one or perhaps two institutions reporting ownership. None of the institutions are in the U.S.

•  Not in VD17, but a variant of or related to 23:286673Q, 12:631632B, 12:190736S, 23:264664A, and 14:006772G.   Recent calf, spine with blind rules above and below each gilt-ruled band that extend onto the covers, forming a V terminating in a trefoil; spine otherwise entirely plain, without label. Covers ruled in blind in period style. Paper browned but not brittle; very good.  (24119)

Die Religion desZoroaster

•  Contains the Persian text of Daulat Shah Alai Samarkandi and the translation of the texts as edited by Justus Olshausen and Julius Mohl. An important text on the lasting influence of Zoroaster and with the life of the great poet Ferdusi (i.e., f Abu-'l Kasim Mansur). Click either image for an enlargement.

•  19th-century German boards covered with black mottled paper; abraded. Paper author/title label on spine, call number label on front cover. Ex-library with bookplate on front pastedown and call number in pencil on verso of title-page. No other markings. (19137)

Osiander’s Grund und Ursache — RADICAL Lutheranism, 1524

[Osiander, Andreas].

•  Convoluted language on the title-page is rendered clear at the beginning of the first chapter, where Andreas Osiander the elder (1498–1552), vicar of Saint Lawrence’s parish in Nüremberg at the time, explains why he and his colleagues have “put an end to the Mass.” Written early in his career, this pamphlet appears to have made Osiander’s reputation as a prominent Lutheran reformer. This is the rarer of two 1524 editions (we were able to trace only one copy in the U.S.), and it is listed by VD16 as the first. The other was printed in October of the same year by Hieronymus Höltzel, also of Nuremberg. More were printed the following year in Wittemberg, Leipzig, Augsburg, Zwickau, Erfurt, and later in Königsburg (ca. 1526) and Magdeburg (1545). This edition is printed in schwabacher with the title within a woodcut architectural border; a woodcut historiated initial is used twice.

•  Not in Adams. VD16 O1015; Soltész, Catalogus librorum sedecimo saeculo . . . in Bibliotheca Nationali Hungariae . . . , O176; Seebass, Bibliographia Oseandrica, 5.2. On Osiander, see: Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church 1014–15. Modern speckled paper wrappers. 19th-century elegant private library stamp, paper label with inked short title and remnants of another on title-page, small leather tab on the outer edge of leaf. A little tattering to title-page and top edge of F1 bumped; internally generally clean. Inked marginalia in an early hand: in German on the title- and last (blank) page and elsewhere in Latin, some letters shaved by the binder in a few places.

Famous “Medieval” Anti-Jewish Tract
Rare Translation

Click the interior images for enlargements.

•  Uncommon later printing in German of Epistola contra Judaeorum errores, an anti-Jewish work of the 11th century. Written originally in Arabic by the convert Samuel Abu Nasr ibn Abbas, son of Judah ibn Abbas of Fez, it was translated into Latin in the 14th century by the Spanish Dominican Alfonsus Bonihominis. In its original Arabic form, the work "claimed to prove the prophetic character of Jesus and Mohammed and argued that too many laws were added to the Torah by the Mishnah and Gemara. Buenhombre adapted the tract to present it as a Christian rather than Muslim polemic" (Jewish Encyclopedia). More recent scholarship (Marsmann, Epistel des Rabbi Samuel an Rabbi Isaak, 1971) indicates that Samuel is possibly fictitious and Alphonsus was probably, in fact, the author of the text. Uncommon edition: We locate only this deaccessioned copy in the U.S. and VD16 locates only three copies in Germany.

•  VD16 S1581. Removed from a nonce volume, in later wrappers. Dust-soiled. Library pressure-stamp and private owner's (old) inked signature on title-page. A very good copy. (21113)

Meant to be Entertaining — Still Is, for the Latinate!

•  Early edition, following the scarce first of 1749, of an entertaining and educational miscellany including collections of proverbs, riddles, and comic anecdotes, as well as a section on symbols and emblems. The title-page is printed in red and black, and the text in black-letter type for the German portions and roman for the Latin.

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.

One Drop-Dead Catalogue

•  Outstanding catalogue of an exhibition on architecture and engineering in time of war and of peace: books, cannon, instruments, drawings, and on and on.

“Ausstellungskataloge der Herzog August Bibliothek Nr. 42.” Text in German.

Great reference work.

•  Publisher's soft covers. Top right corner bumped.  (22585)

How WouldExpulsion “Go” in Portugal?

•  Seabra da Silva (1732–1813) was a fidalgo and close ally of Pombal in his war on the Jesuits. The present work is a translation of his 1768 work in Portuguese of Petiçaö de recurso apresentada em audiencia publica a Sua Magestade, sobre o ultimo e critico estado desta monarchia, depois que a Sociedade chamada de Jesus, foi desnaturalisada e proscripta dos dominios des França e Hispana. Click the interior images for enlargements.

It is a study of the Society of Jesus and its expulsion from Spain and France and the consequences thereof, and it was presented to Joseph of Portugal so that he might anticipate similar consequences following his order of expulsion.

•  DeBacker-Sommervogel, XI, 1205.   Contemporary vellum over paste boards. Blackened area on spine; bookplate. A clean copy. (20462)

Poetic Farm Management — In Latin & German

•  Herein are the first two books of the Georgics, Virgil’s instructions on the management of a farm, composed in the tradition of Hesiod’s Works & Days. The poem is translated into German and annotated by Johann Heinrich Voss, member of the Dichterbund (Poets’ League) of Göttigen, rector of the gymnasium at Eutin (where this work was accomplished), and friend of Goethe. Voss offers the reader both the Latin text (versos) and the German, poetic translation (rectos), with line numbers, and he divides the poem into "songs," with full German-language commentary on the poetry between them. For those interested in the history of technology, a plate presents — both in words and images—the evolution of the plough from the days of Hesiod to the time of Virgil.

Though an "odd vol," this is a pleasing book, done up in a typical German style of the era. Paper marbled in browns, black, and greens is used over boards, with slivers of leather at corners; a round spine bears gilt ruling and a cream-colored label with author, title, translator, and volume number. All edges are green and the whole is exceptionally well preserved.

•  Schweiger, Handbuch der classischen Bibliographie, II: 1206. Bound as above. Vol. 3 of 4. Some little foxing but almost no scuffing.

AnElaborate Christopher Hoffmann Binding

Click the middle or righthand image for an enlargement.

•  Following the American Revolution the Billmeyer printing firm assumed the mantle of printers supreme of German-language books, the Saurs who had previously worn that distinction having fled Germantown/Philadelphia because of their royalist loyalties. The work in hand is a substantial treatise of Schwenkfelder doctrine and a critical interpretation of the Gospels. In addition to the text, the work is noteworthy for the binding that surrounds it.

Binding: German-American bindings are renowned for their plainness, decoration typically consisting of a blind-tooled fillet or double-fillet; and indeed most of this edition of the Christliche Betrachtungen was got up in the usual plain calf style. But part was issued in an edition calf binding by Christopher Hoffman of Philadelphia County that employed seven tools!  This copy bears that elaborate edition binding, featuring a single fillet above and below each band on the spine; a triple fillet around the edge of the covers with a elaborate English-style roll immediately next to the fillet; floral stamps at the inner corners of that roll and fillet border; a central concentric panel defined by a double-fillet and a narrow roll along the fillet’s inside edge; different floral corner devices at the inner corners of the panel; and the floral device of the outer border repeated as the central device of the cover. All tooling is in blind. Leather and brass strap closures were supplied; this copy bears thebrass bosses at the four corners of each cover that were an option and are not found on all copies.

•  Evans 23975; ESTC W33606; Arndt & Eck 803. Binding: Bookbinding in America, 1680–1910 (i.e., Maser Collection) 16a. Ownership inscription dated 1795 on front free endpaper. Dark to light staining in upper and lower portions of first 100 and final 50 pages. Foxing, as in other copies. Binding lacks one clasp and is lightly rubbed; front joint (outside) is starting at lower one inch. Overall, rather a good copy of an important book in a most uncommon German-American binding.

Peaceable Kingdom but NOT a Peaceful Era

•  Zwick (ca. 1496–1542) writes on providence, good works, and the government of God. The title is enclosed in a woodcut border of a peaceable kingdom theme. Click the images for enlargements.

Uncommon in U.S. libraries: Via searches of OCLC, RLIN and NUC Pre-1956 we locate only this now-deaccessioned and one other copy.

Provenance: Signature of Howard Osgood on title-page and A2.

•  VD16 Z734.   Removed from a pamphlet volume and later in wrappers no longer present except for remnants on spine. Old library pressure-stamp on title-page, no other markings. A nice copy.  (19995)

(History Now Itself History). Baumgarten-Crusius, D. K. W. Die Geschichte der Schweiz.... (In series: Allgemeine historische taschenbibliothek für Jedermann; 5 Theil). Dresden: P. G. Hilschersche, 1826. 12mo. 2 vols. in 1. I: 162 pp. II: 180 pp.
$80.00

•  Contemporary quarter sheep with marbled paper sides, red and green spine labels; some foxing.

•  Contemporary quarter sheep with marbled paper sides, red and green spine labels; some foxing; small loss of leather.

•  Adapted from Ferdinand Denis's Résumé de l'histoire du Brésil. Three volumes were planned, but only two ever appeared. A very uncommon work.

•  Borba de Moraes (2nd ed.), Bibliographia brasiliana, 601; Rodrigues 1723. Contemporary quarter sheep with marbled paper sides, red and green spine labels; some foxing.

•  Contemporary quarter sheep with marbled paper sides, red and green spine labels; some foxing.

•  Two of Schneller's important histories in one handy volume.

•  Contemporary quarter sheep with marbled paper sides, red and green spine labels; some foxing; all edges red.

Art & Antiques

•  Highly illustrated auction catalogue of a notable private collection of art, silver, antiques, sculpture, etc.

•  Blue paper over light boards, paper slightly torn.

Baroque & Rococco Minor Arts

•  First edition. Illustrated exhibition catalogue auf Deutsche.

•  Publisher's illustrated boards. Good-plus condition.

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The Philadelphia Rare Books & Manuscripts Company