The biblical text begins on 6r and all of the text leaves bear illuminated, polychromatic, and illustrated borders on two of the four sides of the page. Each border is unique, there are no repeats.  The text is enlivened with infills of red, green, and gold, as well as vines and even bowls with flowers. The many human faces that appear in some of the borders may well be those of friends, neighbors, or acquaintances.

The leaf/page construction of the manuscript is this, with a very few exceptions: a leaf of parchment is folded in half and sewn to the binding at the open end, thus leaving inner “pages” blank, as with Asian books. The text of this manuscript, then, is present on the outer surfaces of the folded leaves.

Binding:  Dark brown leather with a richly embossed border on the covers that has been gilt over the embossing, and an inner frame offering a central lobed oval with pendants and corner pieces with arabesque designs on a gold ground. Modeled on that “used in the 17th and 18th centuries to produce sharp inlaid medallion designs of the Persian-style binding. The supporting board was hollowed out in the exact shape of the stamp to be used, then the dampened leather was placed over the board. When applied to the leather, the heated stamp molded into the contours of the board and created a deep impression. The gilt patterns were applied to paper, perhaps because paper took the gilding more readily than leather. The paper was then placed between the leather and the stamp, hence becoming sealed to the leather during the stamping process” (Beinecke Library Exhibit “Islamic Books and Bookbinding,” Arabic ms. 166, http://www.library.yale.edu/neareast/exhibitions/Islamic_book2.html ).

Pastedowns of lighter brown leather with inlaid blue leather central lobed oval; pendants and corner pieces with arabesque designs All edges gilt.

•  Binding as above, spine expertly repaired using the Japanese long-fiber method and then toned. One blank leaf with a cut. Folded edges of two bifolia partially opened. A beautiful, curious, and sumptuous production; an extraordinary relic of a legend in lettering. (35510)

A full list with pagination and illustration information as well as ESTC and Gaskell numbers is available on request.

•  All volumes uniformly bound in 18th-century polished calf, spines with raised bands, gilt ruling, and gilt lettering on leather labels;  a beautiful “long shelf of short books” with spines slightly faded, slightest rubbing, occasional instances of a bit of leather lost to old worm along a joint or an abrasion to a spine or cover; all edges speckled red. Offsetting from turn-ins onto endpapers, pencil annotations in one volume, touch of ink at foremargin of three leaves of another; signatures trimmed closely on third volume of Virgil, first volume of Milton's Paradise Lost “bookmarked” with two paper scraps bearing manuscript annotations, skeleton frontispiece of Young's “Night Thoughts” with an inch-long internal, closed tear to background with no loss, and the maps to Pope's Iliad and Dryden's Virgil in excellent condition. A handsomely bound, sturdy, and appealing representative collection of the Foulis Press.  (35997)

This is a stunning printing of Washington's famous message.  The text is printed in gold ink in four-column format within an elaborate engraved border printed in silver on bright white calendered paper. The firm of “White & Durand” is listed in the 1834–35 New York city directory as specializing in “specimens of xylographic engraving and printing in colours” and seems to have done a good business in labels for drug store bottles. An earlier incarnation of the firm “A.B.C. Durand, Wright & Co.” had specialized in banknote engraving as early as 1825, and certainly the border here is of that style and quality.

The firm was renamed in the 1835–35 city directory to “Wright & Prentiss.”

Searches of NUC, WorldCat, and the OPACs of the American Antiquarian Society and the Library of Congressfail to locate any other copies.

•  Date attribution based on admiring notice in an 1834 trade journal. Minor indications at some edges of the item having been pinned or tacked for display; faint instances of old staining at edges, in one case slightly into border.An excellent copy of an important and absolutely lovely production.  (33580)

large, magnificent Benedictine Psalter

The text appears here in sepia ink in a large Renaissance rotunda hand, set forth to the point of our bracket above, illuminated and featuringa large miniature of Kind David filling the center of a large initial B. Along the bottom margin in three medallions are Saints Mark, Benedict (center bottom), and Laurence; the right margin has two additional medallion portraits of unidentified female figures. The margins are garnished with gilt and bright-colored flowers, among which hidesthe small image of a deer — “As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God”?

•  Matted and under glass in an elegant 20th-century gilt frame, ready for hanging. We have not opened this to discover whether Psalm 1 continues (or Job concludes) on the other side of the leaf, but the suspicion must be, given the beauty and quality of the side showing, that this is a leaf that would benefit from double-glazing showcasing both sides.  (33296)

In this English printing, the text changes to a completely different typeface at p. 20.

•  ESTC T51670; Goldsmiths'-Kress 06815.   Recent marbled paper–covered boards, front board with printed paper label. Pages age-toned, first and last dust-soiled and last with a corner slimly chipped. An interesting attempt at rebutting some of the critiques of the diplomatic resolution of the Anglo-Spanish War.  (34402)

•  Publisher's cream paper–covered boards, spines with stamped titles and heraldic rampant lion decorations; spines darkened (uniformly so), some spines chipped or scuffed. Preface and last text page of each volume with pencilled ownership inscription of J.C.B., dated 1923, except vol XV, marked as read in 1959 by J.D. Bowman. Vol. VI with newspaper clippings affixed to free endpapers, offset onto pastedowns. Vol. VIII with frontispiece separated and laid in, first few lower outer corners bumped, small pencilled marks of emphasis. Vol. IX with small scuff to front cover, small pencilled marks of emphasis, newspaper clipping affixed to back pastedown. Vol. XI with lower portion of one leaf torn away, with loss of portions of eight lines. Vol. XIII with front joint cracked and spine paper partially detached, reinforced some time ago with cellophane tape. Vols. XIV and XIX with back endpapers bearing inked and pencilled annotations. An enjoyably readable tour of famous lives in a “period” edition.  (33428)

This isnumbered copy 459 of a total of 503 printed (394 for sale in Great Britain, 104 for sale in America, and 5 special copies on vellum), signed B.G.G. on the limitation.

•  Publisher's quarter tan cloth and brown paper–covered sides, front cover and spine each with printed paper label; corners bumped, spine darkened, spine label chipped. Pages clean; edges deckle with a very few signatures uncut.  (33816)

For this miniature book she provides an essay about the Newbery printing firm, the origin and development of miniature Bibles, and the printing of Newbery's 1780 printing of The Bible in miniature, or a concise history of the Old & New Testaments. Tipped in on p. 3 is a leaf from that famous Thumb Bible, the leaf here being pp. 87–88.

The edition of this mini was limited to 125 (unnumbered) copies.

•  Disbound and Dispersed 168.5 (giving incorrect measurements and pagination).   Publisher's brown half-morocco with marbled paper sides. Fine copy.  (34814)

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)

This fan likely predates 1930, that being the date when the A.H. Lewis Medicine Company (pictured as the product manufacturer on the reverse of this fan) became the Lewis-Howe Company and began major commercial production ofTums.

•  Paper fan with reinforced “wood”-patterned cardboard handle, horizontally creased along attachment of paddle to handle; darkened overall, with illustration spotted or “freckled.” Quaintly endearing as a medical and commercial Americanum.  (36565)

•  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)

•  Publisher's quarter vellum and textured tan cloth–covered sides, spine with gilt-stamped title. One preliminary leaf excised. A very nice copy.  (33507)

Provenance:  Front pastedown with early inked ownership inscription of yachtsman, mountaineer, and amateur scientist Captain M[arshall] Hall (1831–96), a Fellow of the Geological Society and one of the founders of the Mineralogical Society, as well as the organizer of the deep-sea dredging cruise of the “Norna” in 1870; title-page with partially shaved early inked inscription of James Casey.

•  VD17 12:169331M; Coumont, Demonology and Witchcraft, A21.83; Wellcome, I, 142.   Contemporary vellum, spine with hand-inked title; vellum dust-soiled with chip to back joint, front free endpaper lacking. Front pastedown and title-page with inscriptions as above. Pages age-toned, some lower corners bumped; one leaf with tear from outer margin, touching a few letters without loss. A nice copy of a perennially intriguing work, with additional interest from its provenance.  (35467)

•  Medina, Mexico, 79191; Palau 6095; on Alcocer, see: Archivo biográfico de España, Portugal e Iberoamérica, fiche 23, frames 47–49.   Contemporary cockled vellum, lacking the buttons for its loops, and lacking also the engraving; a very few light stains to a very few pages. Actually, quite a nice copy of the text.  (36658)

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)

The booklet includes on its final three pages “A short-title list of items exhibited in Some of Our Best Friends: Books Selected from Collections of Members of the Philobiblon Club, at the Rosenbach Museum & Library, 12 February – 9 May 1993,” and that is preceded on pp. 1–53 by a reprint of “A loan collection of decorative bindings, rare books, manuscripts, and other bibliographical specimens from the libraries of Philadelphia,” being the catalogue of an 1893 book exhibit at Philadelphia's Academy of the Fine Arts that partly led to the Club's formation. This is not a social history of the Club, but rather an excellent snapshot of its founding and centennial members' leading book interests.

•  New. Original tan wrappers. Saddle-stitched.  (35805)

The ESTC general note for this edition reads: “An edition ascribed to John Fell, Bishop of Oxford, of anonymous works all published separately between 1658 and 1678. The three forming the first part have special title pages; those in “The second part” have half titles only. The editor calls them “the genuine and only writings of our author” and mentions a number of spurious ones recently published.”

•  ESTC R20055; Wing (rev. ed.) A1082.   18th-century half calf and marbled paper–covered sides, much worn and rubbed, leather all but lost over corners and portions of paper lost; sewing loosening in early sections with text block starting to pull away from spine, mounting of tipped-in frontispiece partially split, first few leaves separating. Front pastedown with two institutional bookplates; lower (closed) edges, front free endpaper, frontispiece recto (not image), and back pastedown rubber-stamped. Title-page with early ownership inscription neatly inked in upper outer corner. One leaf (in preface to first work) with lower portion torn away, with loss of most of eight lines on each side; one leaf with short tear from lower margin extending into a few lines without loss; one leaf with lower outer corner torn, touching a few words without loss. Intermittent instances of light to moderate waterstaining to varying portions of leaves; two to three spots of pinhole worming throughout, sometimes touching individual letters without loss of sense, with spots slightly larger in beginning of second part. Last section with puncture hole affecting a few letters, not obscuring sense. Lower outer corners of a few leaves proud and bent in. Faults to be noted for sure, but complete except for the noted lines in that preface and a wholly useable copy of the main text by Allestree.  (35286)

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 thedispersal 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)

•  This edition not in VD18.   Modern light brown paper-covered boards with paper spine label. Ex-library with faint blind-pressure stamp on title- and one other leaf and librarian's pencil notations on verso of title-page. Scattered foxing, occasional stray stain. Overall a good, solid, clean copy.  (33597)

Fray Antonio de Contreras, another Mercedarian, engraved the likeness of the elaborate cenotaph that the viceroy had constructed for the day honoring the late queen.The plate is large and folding.

The poems are romances, redondillas, sonnets, decimas, etc. One poem is even an example of concrete poetry and two others are in Portuguese! (by Antonio Alberto, and Juan Julian Capetillo de la Sota, who also supplied a poem in ENGLISH). The poets include Viceroy Jose Manso de Velasco; Nicolás Sarmiento de Sotomayor y los Ríos del Campo, IV conde del Portillo; various other nobles; and one woman, Josefa Brava de Lagunas y Villela.

Provenance:  19th-century bookplate of Guillermo Miguel Irarrazabal.

The number of “splendid ceremonies” books produced in colonial Peru is small: There is no census but we suspect the number to be fewer than nine.

Searches of NUC and WoldCat find only five copies in U.S. libraries, not all of them complete with the plate. Searches of WorldCat, COPAC, CCPB, and KVK locate only 4 other copies worldwide.

•  Medina, Lima, 1103; Vargas Ugarte, Impresos peruanos, 1736.   Contemporary limp vellum, lacking ties. Unidentified rubber-stamp on front free endpaper (smudged, indistinct). Repair to rear free endpaper and small repair to folding plate. Clean, crisp, unwormed. A very good copy.  (34629)