Advertisements on the last page, notably forpatent medicines.

•  Drake 13678.   Uncut copy; later stitching; corners cut. Slight dog-earing, title-page a little tattered. Early inked ownership signature at top of title-page and some marginalia or interlineations.  (9959)

•  Original slipcase, sides covered in patterned black cloth, bottom in another textured black cloth, front with color-printed illustration as above, back plain with small “Fabrication Française” paper label affixed; slipcase with edges and extremities rubbed, illustration slightly darkened. Plates very slightly dimmed, edges lightly spotted, images themselves overall clean. Uncommon and very appealing.  (31431)

•  Original self wrappers [unbound; removed]. There is a small chip out of the inner edges of the leaves and the top corners of the first two leaves are lightly creased. Very good.  (17404)

Theatrum Terrae Sanctae is famous for its engraved maps, but the work is justly sought for its descriptions of Palestine and the antiquities of Jerusalem. Additionally the work contains a chronology from Adam to 1585, the year of the author's death.

The work begins with an engraved allegorical title-page, has woodcut initials and tailpieces, and bears12 folding or double-page engraved maps. The text is printed in roman type in double-column format.

The title is within a typographic border; text is printed in double-column format, in roman type.

•  Palau 2864. 19th-century half sheep with marbled paper sides; binding shows wear. Lower margin of title-leaf and leaves of the preliminaries with minor worming; repaired with pasted-over paper. Some side- and shouldernotes shaved with loss. Sporadic soiling, not severe.  (16919)

The work is illustrated witheight wood-engraved vignettes, including on the front and back wrappers. The elegant and charmingcrab on the front wrapper is at first a bit of a puzzle, but then the crab is sometimes seen as a Christian symbol of resurrection because it sheds its shell; or, perhaps, the printer simply found his crab elegant and charming and wanted to use it!

This printing is uncommon; WorldCat locates only two U.S. institutional holdings.

•  Publisher's printed blue-green paper wrappers; light, unobtrusive crease to front wrapper, carrying through to first leaf. A very few light spots, pages otherwise clean. Showing little to no wear overall — unusually so for this genre.  (31451)

•  ESTC T88657; Dibdin, I, 232; Schweiger, I, 2. Contemporary vellum-covered boards, covers framed and panelled in blind with central blind-stamped strapwork medallions, spines with gilt-stamped leather title and volume labels; front joints repaired and now strong, vellum soiled. Front free endpapers with early inked owner's name as above; shadow of shelf number once pencilled on title-page, erased. Spotting of various sorts and minor smudging in upper margins of some pages; leaves otherwise clean.  (13557)

Provenance:  Front pastedown with 20th-century bookplate of Kenneth Rapoport (an American collector of early and scientific books).

Binding:  16th-century dark red morocco, unusually and interestingly gilt-ruled in all-over vertical stripes on covers and horizontal stripes on spine, in imitation of the Aldine binding style of Diego Hurtado de Mendoza (1504–75, a Spanish diplomat, poet, humanist, and governor of Granada), differentiated by the addition of a gilt roll frame and a central cartouche of two cherubs maintaining either a baronial coronet or a very fancy halo over a partially obscured coat of arms: a possibly leonine creature rampant, sable. (The spine bears a more elaborate coronet.) Evidence of silk ties at top, bottom, and fore-edges of the binding; all edges gilt.

Searches of NUC and WorldCat locate only eight copies in North America.

•  Renouard, Alde, 1549:5; Adams A255; Index Aurel. 100.894; Graesse, I, 28; Brunet, I, 76.   Binding as above, spine with later gilt-stamped leather title-label; extremities rubbed, edges and spine extremities refurbished some time ago, joints starting from extremities and spine leather with small cracks, furniture now lacking with four small holes left behind on each cover. Endpapers and first few leaves with slim tracks of worming, affecting a few letters of text without loss of sense. Ahandsome volume despite above notes, and an impressive, uncommon example of the Torresani-Aldine partnership.  (31311)

•  Adams A475; Index Aurel. 102.349.   Contemporary vellum, worn and darkened, lacking ties. Hinges (inside) with insect damage causing partial opening, text block starting to pull away from spine. Front free endpaper with two inked ownership inscriptions, one dated 1620 and one 1898. Small area of worming to upper inner margins of about 40 leaves, minor and not approaching text. Scattered instances of early inked underlining and a very few marginalia, pages otherwise pleasingly clean. Ready for many more years of use!  (26501)

Provenance: Title-page with early inked name “Timothy Tynell” in upper margin and ink smear to inner margin; early inked gift inscription (“J. Sadler given to him by W. Clanton”) between verses on p. 3.

•  ESTC T86344.   19th-century half calf over marbled paper, much worn and abraded with covers detached, last few leaves starting to separate, and leather partially lost over spine; an ex-library, reading copy worthy of rebinding — covers pressure-stamped by a now-defunct institution, title-page and several others rubber-stamped, back free endpaper with pocket. Lacking extensive (25 pp.) subscribers' list (only). Pages with light to moderate spotting and a few short edge tears, not touching text.  (17696)

•  Bibliography of the Fine Books Published by the Limited Editions Club, 396.   Binding as above, in original glassine dust wrapper and publisher's slipcase; volume clean and fresh, wrapper with small chips to spine extremities, slipcase gently sunned and with a little soiling, one corner bumped.  (30120)

This sole edition is ornamented with a woodcut printer’s device and a woodcut headpiece and initial; the text is referenced with sidenotes.

Rare: Only two copies traced in the U.S. via OCLC, RLIN, and NUC Pre-1956.

Provenance: Bookplate of Virtue & Cahill Library (the library of Portsmouth’s Catholic Cathedral) no. 8783, with a large overlaid rubber-stamp thereon starkly, blackly noting the dispersal and eventual sale of the library “following enemy action”—the cathedral having been bombed by the Germans in 1941.

•  On Allix, see: The Dictionary of National Biography, I, 334–35. 19th- or early 20th-century half calf over marbled paper, spine with gilt title; edges of leather with a dog’s tooth roll in blind. Leather rubbed, especially on joints and edges. Some soiling and waterstaining, mostly light and most notable on early leaves, with some small wormholes in the margins; a little fine chipping and some shallow dog-ears. Old inked ownership inscription on title-page, crossed out but still legible.  (10686)

Binding:  Publisher's apple green paper–covered boards in original matching slipcase with gilt-stamped spine title. All edges gilt.

•  Binding as above: lower front and back edges each with tiny bump, extremities showing very slight rubbing, slipcase with edges rubbed and a few small spots of discoloration. Front free endpaper with pencilled annotations in French. Pages and plates clean. Really in quite remarkable condition.  (30574)