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Valentini, Agostino. La patriarcale basilica Liberiana. Roma: a spese di Agostino Valentini, 1839. Folio extra (47.5 cm; 18.75"). [4] ff., 118 pp.; 1 fold. plt., 102 plts.
$600.00
Click any image where the hand appears on
mouse-over, for an enlargement.
Italian-language work on the art and architecture of the Liberiana basilica in Rome, illustrated with more than 100 impressive full-page engravings (as well as one oversized, folding engraving) of the church’s art and sculpture, along with its architectural detail, plans, and design. Detailed explanations of the plates, which were engraved by Domenico Feltrini, are provided.
This handsomely printed and produced volume forms the second part of the author's “Quattro principali basiliche di Roma,” which also includes works (not present here) on the Vaticana and Lataranense.
Publisher's half vellum with marbled paper–covered sides, spine gilt extra with gilt-stamped leather labels; boards a little abraded and showing wear. Front pastedown with institutional bookplate; front fly-leaf with bookseller’s pressure-stamp in upper corner. Occasional light foxing.
A handsomely produced, still very impressive volume.
Valla
Meets Erasmus
Valla, Lorenzo.
Laurentii Vallae ... In novum testamentu[m] annotationes, apprime utiles. Basileae:
[colophon: apud And. Crat. {Andreas Cratander}], 1526. 8vo. [8] ff., 346 pp.,
[2] ff. (lacks final leaf).
[SOLD]
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Two Renaissance Humanists combined to make this a significant work: Valla (1407–57) offers notes on the (Latin version) of the New Testament and Desiderius Erasmus (1469–1536) provides a foreword in the form of a letter to Christopher Fischer. The first edition of the Annotationes appeared posthumously in 1505 and Erasmus was the work's editor.
Printed in an italic type with some Greek as well, this bears a sprinkling of historiated woodcut initials and woodcut headpieces; the printer's device on the title-page is particularly elegant.
The woodcut “M” beginning Matthew's Gospel shows a soldier with sword throwing dice on a drum-head.
Adams V192. Full calf by Grace Bindings (signed on the lower rear turn-in), antique style. Lacks final leaf (end of index and colophon); a little light waterstaining to lower margins of last leaves present. Handsome. (21776)
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Vallejo, Fernando de. Pregon en que su magestad manda, que por quanto el abuso de las guedejas y copetes con que andan algunos hombres, y los rizos con que componen el cabello ha llegado à hazer escandalo en estos reynos, ningun hombre pueda traer guedejas ni copete. Madrid: En la imprenta de Francisco Martinez, 1639. Folio (28.2 cm, 11.1"). [4] ff.
$750.00
Proclamation regarding acceptable and unacceptable hairdressing practices for men — in particular, the scandalously long hairdos or wigs worn by fashionable beaux.
Click the image for an enlargement.
Palau 236209. Removed from a nonce volume. Pages creased, with small areas of light waterstaining to upper and lower inner margins; title-page with early inked numeral and shadow of pencilled numeral in upper margin.
Vallejo, Fernando de. Pregon en que su magestad manda, que ninguna muger de qualquier estado y calidad que sea pueda traer, ni traiga guardainfante, ò otro instrumento, ò trage semehante, excepto las mugeres que con licencia de las justicias publicamente son malas de sus personas. Madrid: En la imprenta de Francisco Martinez, 1639. Folio (28.2 cm, 11.1"). [4] ff.
$750.00


Declaration forbidding farthingales (the “guardainfante” was so-called because it could be used to conceal pregnancy) and excessive displays of decolletage by women except for prostitutes and ladies with special licenses.
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Palau 236212. Removed from a nonce volume. Title-page with small early inked numeral and shadow of pencilled numeral in upper margin; publication authorization leaf with small hole just touching letters, without loss of sense.
Vallisneri, Antonio. Dell’uso, e dell’abuso delle bevande, e bagnature calde, o fredde... terza impressione. Napoli: Felice Mosca, 1727. 4to (23.5 cm, 9.25"). [2] ff., 124, 48 pp.
$775.00
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Third edition, following printings in 1720 and 1725. Vallisneri (often given as Vallisnieri), a prominent 18th-century physician and naturalist who provoked controversy both for writing in the vernacular Italian and for emphasizing empirical evidence over accepted theory, here discusses the healthfulness of hot versus cold drinking water, wine, and baths — having first experimented on himself. Tea and coffee are specifically mentioned in passing (only) — in reference to the quantities drunk in Constantinople as opposed to western Europe. The work is followed by Giovanni Batista Davini’s De potu vini calidi, a shorter essay on the use of heated wine, which preceded Vallisneri’s treatise in the first edition.
Bitting 117 (second ed.); Cagle 1132 (first ed. of Davini only); Osler, Biblotheca Osleriana, 2428 (first ed.); Vicaire 250 (second ed.); not in Hünersdorff, Coffee. Contemporary vellum, darkened, with a few pinholes of insect damage and some minor spots of staining. Title-page with inked ownership inscription in Latin, dated 1728. Pages a bit cockled, with edges darkened; most mildly to moderately foxed.
Valois, Adrien de. Valesiana ou les pensées critiques, historiques et morales, et les poesies latines .... Paris: Chez Florentin & Pierre Delaulne,
1695. 12mo (15.5 cm, 6.2"). Frontis., [30], 234, [10], 88 pp.; 2 fold. plts.
$250.00

Early, pirated edition, following the first of 1694: Critical and literary extracts from the writings of a prominent historian and scholar of the Middle Ages (also known as Hadrianus Valesius), the brother of equally distinguished
scholar Henri de Valois. The collection was edited by the author’s son, numismatist Charles de Valois.
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The present example is a fictitious imprint, printed in Amsterdam and counterfeiting the Parisian edition of the same year (actual place of printing from NUC Pre-1956 628:472, cf. E. Weller, Die falschen und fingierten Druckorte, II, 57). The volume’s two folding, engraved plates (unsigned) depict antiquarian coins and medals, while the mythologically inspired frontispiece includes a portrait of de Valois.
Later half sheep with speckled paper–covered boards, rebacked with speckled calf preserving original gilt-stamped leather title-label; sides and edges scuffed, with leather chipped at corners. Front pastedown with 19th-century
private collector’s bookplate, partially chipped; preface with numeral inked in lower margin. Pages crisp and clean. All edges stained red.
Vanière, Jacques. Praedium rusticum. Editio nova longè auctior & emendatior. Tolosæ: Petrum Robert, 1742. 12mo (17.3 cm, 6.8"). [4] ff., 319, [7 (index)] pp.
$350.00
Attractive edition of the Jesuit Vanière's agriculturally themed neo-Latin poetry, originally published in 1696. This printing features woodcut headpieces, along with decorative capitals and a title-page vignette. Goldsmiths’-Kress 7892.2; DeBacker-Sommervogel, VIII, 444. Contemporary speckled calf, spine gilt extra with gilt-stamped leather title-label; binding scuffed and rubbed, with leather cracking over joints and spine extremities chipped. All edges speckled red. Front free endpaper and fly-leaf partially affixed to front pastedown; front pastedown with inked initials. Pages beautifully clean.

Mexican Colonial Imprint — Its Excellent Engraving of a
Miraculous Image
PRESENT
Velasco, Alfonso Alberto de. Exaltacion de la Divina Misericordia en la milagrosa renovacion de la soberana imagen de Christo Sr. Nro. crucificado. México: Imprenta del Lic. D. Joseph de Jauregui, 1776. 8vo (20.5 cm, 8"). [7] ff., 112 pp., [1] f.; 1 plt.
$750.00
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The history of the town of Izmiquilpa's statue of Christ Crucified, to which many miracles are attributed. Dating from about 1545, there, it had been moved in the 17th century to the Convent of San José of the Discalced Carmelite Women in Mexico City. A striking etched plate showing the miraculous image — done in the Mexican Baroque style — faces p. 1; this engraving is apparently lacking in many copies (it was probably often removed and used as an icon in its own right).
This popular work was first published in 1688 (or possibly 1685).
Palau 357046; Medina, Mexico, 10530. 20th-century Mexican black mottled binding, gilt extra on covers, with gilt inner dentelles; marbled endpapers. Old private ownership stamp on title-page. Occasional spotting. (23965)
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Venanson, Flaminius. De l’invention de la boussole nautique. Naples: Chez Ange Trani, 1808. 8vo (22.5 cm, 8.9"). 172 pp.
$750.00
Sole edition: History of
the nautical compass, in which the author attempts to assign credit for the invention of that device not to ancient Chinese or Arabic minds but rather to marine pilot Flavio Gioia d’Amalfi, with much accompanying praise of the “supériorité maritime” of the medieval Italians.
Scarce: OCLC, RLIN, and NUC-Pre1956 locate only six U.S. holdings.
Brunet, V, 1118. Contemporary limp paste paper–covered wrappers, spine with hand-inked label; paper chipped at edges and front joint open; spine label darkened and peeling. Front pastedown with bookseller’s ticket and institutional bookplate; front free endpaper and title-page with institutional stamp; front free endpaper with ownership inscriptions dated 1829. Pages untrimmed.
Venegas, Francisco Javier. Broadside. Begins: Don Francisco Xavier Venegas...La freqüencia con que se ancia al público en esta capital el extravío de niños y niñas de corta edad.... [in text: Mexico, 14 December 1811]. Folio (31.5 cm; 12.5"). [1] p.
$750.00
The number of small children who are reported as missing in the capital is alarming and the authorities have learned that there are two causes: child abandonment and child abduction. In the latter case the adult hides the child and eventually “finds” him or her for the frantic parents—for a finder’s fee. In either case, the viceroy calls on citizens to report all incidents of child abandonment and of children being seen in houses where no children live.
Printed on BLUE paper.
Not in Medina, Mexico; not in Sutro. Grajales 1287. Removed from a nonce volume and irregular in left margin. Revenue stamps on the verso. Venegas’s manuscript paraph (rúbrica) appended to his name in type.
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Venezuela. Constitution. Constitucion politica del estado de Venezuela, formada por su segundo congreso nacional, y presentada á los pueblos para su sancion, el dia 15 de agosto de 1819–9.o. Angostura: Impresa por Andres Roderick, 1819. Small 4to (18.8 cm, 7.4"). 67, [1 (blank)] pp.
$25,000.00
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The first printing of the first constitution of Venezuela and the first constitution adopted by any Latin American nation. (The Argentine Constitution of April, 1819, was rejected by the provinces and never adopted.)Bolívar had strong ideas about what the nature of the constitution should be, and he expressed them forcefully to congress as it worked on the constitution, but in the end, the legislators went their own way. Two years later, because Bolívar had freed Colombia and much of Ecuador, Venezuela merged with those two regions to form the free nation of Grand Colombia, being the former territory of the Viceroyalty of New Granada.
Searches of the standard library databases fail to find any copy of this important publication held by any U.S. library. Bolívar himself imported the press on which this outstanding document was printed, obtaining it in Trinidad. The man in charge of the press was Andrew Roderick, almost certainly an Englishman, but at least one source labels him Belgian, which seems most unlikely.
Not in Palau; not in Medina, Imprenta en algunas ciudades de la América Española. In modern wrappers.
A very clean and crisp copy of a certifiable rarity.
Vettori, Pietro. Petri Victorii variarum lectionum libri XXV. Lugduni: Apud Joannem Temporalem, 1554. 4to. [alpha]4 [beta]2 a-z8 A-G8 H4 I-K8 L4 M8 N2 (-H4, blank); [6] ff., 486 pp., [31] ff.
$975.00
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Vettori (1499–1585) was an outstanding scholar with a facile pen and a waiting audience. Sandys characterizes him as “certainly the foremost representative of classical scholarship in [Italy] during the sixteenth century.” He also lauds Vettori for his great scholarship of Greek.”

Like the first, this second edition of Vettori’s criticism of Cicero is in Latin with quotations and examples in Greek. It is self-described on the title-page as “quae corrupta, mutila, & praeposterè sita admiserat prima editio, haec 2. sedulò castigauit, suóque loco restituit.” The volume begins with the printer’s device on the title-page bearing the motto “Et fugit interea fugit irreparabile tempus,” and prints the text in a clear roman type accented with historiated and portrait woodcut initials and woodcut head-pieces.
A handsome production.
Provenance: 17th-century near-calligraphic ownership inscriptions on title-page of the Jesuit College at Tudela, Spain; and of G.M. Desmarsall.
Adams V687. Recent deep walnut full calf old style, by Grace Bindings (signed in blind at inner area of rear cover, lower turn-in): Round spine with raised bands accented in gilt and with blind-tooled devices in compartments; oxblood leather label, gilt-lettered; fillets extending onto covers from each band to terminate in trefoils and covers framed in blind double fillets. Lacks one internal blank leaf (only). All edges marbled. A very good copy.
Skirmish before
the Somerville Expedition
Vidaurri, Santiago. Letter Signed to the town government of Linares. Monterrey: 29 July 1842. Small 4to (22 cm; 8.5"). 1 p.
$350.00


In his role as Secretary of the government of Nuevo Leon, Vidaurri writes to the officials in Linares, N.L., informing them of the success that Gen. Pedro de Ampudia achieved in Matamoros in a skirmish with an unnamed force. At this time the skirmish almost certainly would have been with Texans who were probing in anticipation of the Somerville Expedition that occurred late in the Fall of 1842.
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Written in a clear hand and with the integral blank leaf. Paper good and document attractive. (21767)
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Villemarest, Charles Maxime Catherinet de. The hermit in Italy, or observations on the manners and customs of Italy .... London: Geo. B. Whittaker, 1825. 12mo (19.9 cm, 7.9"). 3 vols. I: vii, [1], 267, [1 (blank)] pp. II: [4], 281, [1 (blank)] pp. III: [4], 295, [1 (blank)] pp.
$450.00
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First English edition of L’Hermite en Italie, a sequel to Etienne de Jouy’s L’Hermite de la Chaussée d’Antin, ou observations sur les mœurs et les usages français. These engaging vignettes of travel experiences throughout Italy are interspersed with historical digressions as well as with personal anecdotes. A fourth volume later appeared in the original French, but was not yet available to be translated as part of this edition.
Many sources, including OCLC, attribute this work to de Jouy himself, but the Monthly Review of May, 1825 admits that the “similarity of title, of decorum, of form, and of manner,” as well as the title-page’s claim that this is a continuation of de Jouy’s work, all misled their reviewer and a number of others into that incorrect and much-perpetuated citation. The travelogue has more recently been attributed to Louet de Chaumont, among others, while Barbier and Quérard suggest that it may have been compiled by de Villemarest from de Chaumont’s notes and manuscripts.
NSTC 2H18614. Publisher’s plain paper-covered boards, sometime rebacked with speckled paper and old printed paper labels laid on, the set now in a recent case with sides covered in blue cloth and speckled paper; extremities rubbed, covers with spots of discoloration, retained spine labels chipped and darkened. Front pastedowns each with institutional bookplate (no other markings). Hinges (inside) reinforced some time ago. Vol. II with one signature separated. Pages untrimmed and clean save for scattered small spots of foxing. A strong, agreeable set.
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Enlightenment-Era Ideals of Religious Tolerance
& Crime & Punishment
Voltaire, François-Marie Arouet de. A treatise on toleration; The ignorant philosopher; and A commentary on the Marquis of
Becaria's treatise on crimes and punishments. London: Fielding & Walker, 1779. 8vo. [4], iv, 224 [i.e., 234], [2], iii, [1], 86, [2], ii, 50 pp. (lacking frontis. portrait).
[SOLD]
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First edition of these three translations by the Rev. David Williams. Voltaire's impassioned plea for impartial justice for Protestants and Catholics alike led to a renewed investigation of the Jean Calas case and to Calas's eventual exoneration, several years after his execution for having allegedly murdered his son to prevent the son's renunciation of Protestantism in favor of Catholicism. This English translation of the Traité sur la tolérence (originally published in 1763) is accompanied here by the same translator's renditions of Le philosophe ignorant (a treatise on skepticism and the nature of philosophical comprehension, originally published in 1766) and Commentaire sur le livre Des délits et des peines (an important contribution to penological reform,
also originally published in 1766).
Williams, a Welsh philosopher, was a founder of the Royal Literary Fund and a close friend of Oliver Goldsmith.
These collected translations are fairly widely held institutionally, but seldom seen on the market.
ESTC T51661; Lowndes 2792; Allibone 2736. Recent period-style mottled calf, framed and panelled with gilt rules and gilt-stamped corner fleurons, panelling in contrasting calf, spine with gilt-stamped leather title and author labels, raised spine bands set off by gilt double fillets. Frontispiece portrait lacking. Light foxing; one leaf with tear from lower margin, extending into five lines of text. (23537)
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Vossius, Gerardus Joannes. Etymologicon linguae latinae. Praefigitur ejusdem de litterarum permutatione tractatus. Amstelodami: Apud Ludovicum & Danielem Elzevirios, 1662. Folio (35.4 cm, 14"). *4 A–F4 G6 2A–2G4 H–Z4 Aa–Za4 Aaa–Zzz4 Aaaa–Gggg4; [34] ff., 606 pp., [1 (blank)] f.
$1100.00
Latin etymological dictionary by Gerardus Vossius, edited and published posthumously by his son Isaac. Gerardus Johannes Vossius (1577–1649) was rector successively at Dordrecht and Leyden and one of the most noted classicists of his day—writing on a wide range of subjects, especially Latin grammar, philology, and rhetoric. This work gives detailed etymologies of the Latin vocabulary, with cognates and parallels in other languages, as well as examples of usage, prefaced by a lengthy list of variant spellings to assist the reader.
This first edition has a title-page in black and red with the printer’s device of the Amsterdam Elzevirs, “Ne Extra Oleas”—showing Minerva with owl and shield next to an olive tree—and it is printed in two columns in roman, italic, Greek, and Hebrew, ornamented with woodcut initials.
Willems, Les Elzevier, 1295. On the Vossius, father and son, see: Sandys, History of Classical Scholarship, 307–309 and 322–23. Contemporary English calf ruled in blind, bumped and abraded with a little loss on corners and edges; joints fully open at base and some chipping at head and foot of spine. Paper, ink-lettered spine label; inked call number and date on title-page. Pastedowns entirely gone and remnants of a manuscript used as binder’s waste visible at gutters, inside covers; due to the pastedowns’ removal, much of the binder’s construction can readily be examined here. A little light waterstaining and browning to first and last leaves (only). All edges red.

“I
Must
GO to WORK at Once”
Waitt, Isabel Woodman. The what-shall-I-do girl. Boston: L.C. Page & Co., 1913. 8vo. Col. frontis., x, 322, [6], 4 pp.; illus.
[SOLD]
Stated first edition, first issue of this epistolary novel in which Joy Kent's old school friends take turns writing frankly to her about the pros and cons of potential occupations for her: journalist, book agent, matron of an orphanage, milliner, stage performer, beautician, music teacher, nurse, stenographer, telegrapher, librarian, etc. — although each and every correspondent closes by urging Joy to get married rather than attempt to make her own way in the “work-a-day” world! The work is illustrated with a color frontispiece and charming black-and-white vignettes of the various women at work, done by Jessie Gillespie.
Publisher's brown cloth, front cover with gilt-stamped title and affixed color-printed illustration; spine and corners showing
light wear, otherwise a beautiful copy. (23636)
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FIRST
English Translation of
the
Apostolic Fathers
Wake, William, ed. & trans. The genuine epistles of the Apostolical Fathers S. Barnabas, S. Clement, S. Ignatius, S. Polycarp. The shepherd of Hermas, and the martyrdoms of St. Ignatius and St. Polycarp, written by those who were present at their sufferings. London: Ric. Sare, 1693. 8vo (18 cm, 7"). [6], 196, [6], 9–168, [173]–547, [9 (index)] pp.
$600.00
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First edition of the first English-language collection of these early Christian writings, translated by William Wake, archbishop of Canterbury. The First Epistle of St. Clement to the Corinthians has a separate title-page and pagination (with continuous register); the Epistle of St. Polycarp to the Philippians, Genuine Epistles of St. Ignatius, and Martyrdoms of St. Ignatius & St. Polycarp have separate title-pages but continuous pagination; and Part II (the Epistle of St. Barnabas, Shepherd of Hermas, and Second Epistle of St. Clement to the Corinthians) has a separate title-page with full publication information.
Wing (rev.) G523A; ESTC R10042; Allibone 2534. Contemporary speckled calf, framed and panelled in blind with blind-tooled corner fleurons, rebacked some time ago with speckled calf preserving original gilt-stamped leather spine label and rebacking extending into lower portion of front cover; corners rubbed, spine label cracked. Free endpapers lacking. Front pastedown with inked presentation inscription to a seminary and two small adhesions from a now-absent bookplate; title-page with early inked owner's name in upper margin. Pagination skips 169 through 172, with text and signature collation uninterrupted. Very minor small area of waterstaining to lower inner margins of about half of the volume, pages otherwise clean. (20831)
Walker, Clement. Relations and observations, historicall and politick, upon the Parliament, begun Anno Dom. 1640 ... together with an appendix, touching the proceedings of the Independent faction in Scotland. [London?], 1648. 4to (18.3 cm, 7.25"). A–T4t2V–Z4Aa2; [12], 174 pp. [with] An appendix to the History of Independency ... London, 1648. 4to. a–c4(-c4); [2], 20 pp. [with] Anarchia Anglicana: Or, the history of Independency. The second part. [London], 1649. 4to. A–Z4Aa–Kk4; [8], 256 pp.; 1 double-page plt. [with] The high court of justice; or Cromwells new slaughter house in England ... [London], 1651. 4to. A–I4; 71, [1 (blank)] pp. [with] M., T. The history of Independency. The fourth and last part. London: H. Brome & H. Marsh, 1660. 4to. A–R4; [8], 124 pp.
$1000.00
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mouse-over, for an enlargement.
First edition under this title of the first two parts of this anti-Puritan history of the rivalry between the Presbyterian and Independent factions of Parliament, with early printings of the third and fourth parts. The brief introductory portion, originally titled The Mystery of the Two Juntos, was first published in 1647; after the second part (Anarchia Anglicana) appeared in the following year, Walker was sent to the Tower and died there shortly thereafter. The third (The High Court of Justice; or Cromwells New Slaughter House in England) and fourth part (History of Independency) are present here in 1651 and 1660 printings, respectively.
This variant reads “II. Bookes”on line 7 of the title-page; R4 is cancelled and not present here, as is the case in most copies. The second portion has a separate title-page printed in red and black, giving Anarchia Anglicana: Or, the History of Independency as the title and the pseudonymous Theodorus Verax as the author.
Relations: ESTC R205117; Wing (rev.) W334A. Appendix: ESTC R233193; Wing (rev.) W321A. Anarchia: ESTC R27579; Wing (rev.) W317. High Court: ESTC R207365;Wing (rev.) W325. History, fourth part: ESTC R18043; Wing (rev.) M81B. Fourth part: Issued as part of Wing W324, “and possibly separately” as well according to ESTC. Contemporary calf, covers framed and panelled in blind with blind-tooled corner fleurons, sometime rebacked with first leaves tipped (back) in; spine with new gilt-stamped title, sides rubbed and abraded. Front free endpaper lacking. Front pastedown with old institutional bookplate and pencilled notations, title-page with faded rubber-stamp (and with author’s name added in an early hand), back pastedown and lower edges of closed book rubber-stamped. Two title-pages with one short tear from outer edge each, not touching text; title-page verso with shadows of pencilled numerals. Lower and outer margins trimmed closely, in some cases touching catchwords, signature marks, or shouldernotes.
A
Useful
Gift Book
(Wallet Binding). Le souvenir, or, picturesque pocket diary for 1827.
Containing an almanack, ruled pages for memoranda, corrected lists of both houses
of Congress, intercourse with foreign nations, literary selections, and a variety
of useful information. Philadelphia: A.R. Poole, [1826]. Frontis., engr. t.-p.,
[6], 1732 (lacking 3336), [34], 68 (lacking 55/56) pp.; 6 plts.,
illus.
$325.00
[This image is almost life-size]
Not only a beautiful little gift, but genuinely practical: This
contains a calendar, an engagement book (some leaves of which bear pencilled
appointments and notes), and handy government "contact" information in addition
to its selections of light reading, among which are a handful of Byron's poems
and several highly melodramatic short stories. Should the bearer grow weary
of reading, there are also a number of stamp-size engraved plates ready for
admiration.
The present volume was the last to appear of four issues of this annual,
which commenced its run in 1824. The binding style, which incorporates a wallet-pocket
and pencil holder, is uncommon, though the first such American bindings date
from the late 1790s.
Faxon 763 (for the 1826 edition); Shoemaker 26110. Green straight-grain
morocco wallet binding, framed in wide gilt rolls; worn, with portions of
binding faded to brown and hinges tender. Back pastedown with pencilled ownership
inscription; some engagement pages filled in. Several leaves removed, some
leaving traces. Some plates with spots of foxing. Clearly not only used but
actually carried around on a regular basis; still appealing and intriguing.

Anti-British & Early American
Catholicum
Walsh, Robert, Jr. An appeal from the judgments of Great Britain respecting the United States of America. Part first, containing an historical outline of their merits and wrongs as colonies; and strictures upon the calumnies of the British writers. Philadelphia: Pub. by Mitchell, Ames, and White; W. Brown, Pr., 1819. 8vo. lvi, 512 pp.; errata slip.
$225.00

First edition of a vituperative anti-British study of British mistreatment of America in which the author quotes individual passages from the many published attacks on the new American nation by the British — launching fiery returns. In the book's dedication to Robert Oliver, an Irishman, Walsh says, “In the same nation which [the Irish] have always found a tyrannical mistress, [America], throughout her colonial existence, found a jealous step-mother, and now finds a malevolent scold.” He candidly admits that his purpose is “a collateral retaliation for [Great Britain's] continued injustice and invective.” Little wonder the DAB records that this work “brought congratulatory notes from Jefferson, John Adams, and John Quincy Adams and a vote of thanks from the Pennsylvania legislature, but occasioned denunciatory notices in British publications.”
Of particular note is the lengthy section on the American slave trade, Walsh justifying it against fierce British attacks and describing the state of the institution as he saw it, at the time.
Provenance: Released as a duplicate from the greatest collection of American Catholica in the world, the Georgetown University Library, with a few of the requisite and expected stamps; Walsh, a leading literary critic and editor of the American Quarterly, was an early and distinguished Catholic-American literateur.
Parsons 631; Shaw & Shoemaker 50024; Sabin 101158; Howes W67. On Walsh, see: The Dictionary of American Biography, XIX, 391–92. Recent quarter natural linen shelfback with blue-green paper sides in the style of the era. Library markings noted
above. A very good copy. (24005)
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Warburton, Eliot, editor. Memoirs of Horace Walpole and his contemporaries; including numerous original letters chiefly from Strawberry Hill. London: Henry Colburn, 1851. 8vo (21.5 cm, 8.5"). 2 vols. I: Frontis., xi, [3], 506 pp. II: Frontis., [2] ff., 577, [1] pp.
$200.00

First edition of this life of the fourth Earl of Orford, the noted author and wit who established his own printing press at Strawberry Hill and his home in Twickenham; his novel The Castle of Otranto is credited with beginning the gothic movement in English literature. The New Cambridge Biography of English Literature attributes the editorship of the present work to R.F. Williams, despite Warburton’s presence on the title-page.Provenance: First and last leaves stamped by the Lyceum Library of Hull (founded in 1807, and later dispersed in a famous sale).
NCBEL, II, 1591. On Walpole, see the Dictionary of National Biography. Contemporary half calf over marbled paper–covered sides, spines with gilt-stamped leather title labels and gilt-stamped floral decorations in compartments. Board edges rubbed, with the spine gilt somewhat dimmed. All page edges marbled to match the boards.
Elegant.
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Puritan Ex-Pat
Repatriated & Re-“Involved”
Ward, Nathaniel. A word to Mr. Peters, and two words
for the Parliament and kingdom. Or, An answer to a scandalous pamphlet, entituled, A word for the Armie, and two words to the kingdom: subscribed by Hugh Peters. Wherein the authority of Parliament is infringed, the fundamentall laws of the land subverted; the famous city of London blemished; and all the godly ministers of the city scandalized. In vindication of all which, this small treatise is published, by a friend to the Parliament, city, and ministery of it. London: Pr. by Fr: Neile for Tho: Underhill, 1647. Small 4to. [1] f., 38 pp.
$875.00
Ward (1578–1652), a clergyman and compiler of a law code for Massachusetts, was a Puritan who lived in Massachusetts from 1633 to 1646. The present work was written in “Answer to a scandalous pamphlet, entituled, A word for the Armie, and two words to the
kingdom: subscribed by Hugh Peters;” which in turn was a reply to Ward's A Religious Retreat Sounded to a Religious Army in which Ward called for state control of the army — a bold suggestion during the Civil War!
Click the image for an enlargement.
Wing (rev. ed.) W792; Thomason E.413[7]; Sabin 101330; ESTC R21688. Removed from a nonce volume. Old two-digit number in upper outer corner of title-page. Sewing starting to separate. In modern wrappers. (20998)
Morgan Library — 39
Plates & Many More Images
Ward, William Hayes. Cylinders and other ancient Oriental seals in the library of J. Pierpont Morgan. New York: Privately Printed, 1909. Folio (31.3 cm, 12.3"). 129, [3] pp.; 39 plts.
$300.00
Click the interior images for enlargements.
First, privately printed limited edition, designed by Frederic Fairchild Sherman. This is no. 126 of 250 copies printed, and is illustrated with 39 plates each depicting numerous examples of ancient Assyrian, Babylonian, Cypriote, Syro-Hittite, Sabean, Phoenician, and Persian cylindrical ownership seals. Provenance: Seminary bookplate with annotation, "Presented by John Pierpont Morgan.
Publisher's quarter vellum and paper-covered sides, spine with gilt-stamped title; top corners bumped (one crumpled), sides with a few faint smudges, spine irregularly darkened and with indistinct remnant of old inked call number. Front pastedown with institutional bookplate noting presentation from Morgan himself, and rubber-stamp; title-page and two others pressure-stamped; one preliminary leaf with inked numeral and provenance note. Back pastedown with traces of now-absent pocket, offset onto endpaper. Pages clean. Upper edges gilt. An ex-library copy, but also one offering an interesting suggestion in the provenance; an elegant production full of interest and pleasure for reader or reference-seeker. (21052)

Against! “Secret Confederations”
Warfield, Charles. The kingdom and glory of the branch, and testament of the west. Baltimore: William Wooddy [sic], 1833. 8vo (21.9 cm, 8.6"). 261, [3 (blank)], 263–341, [1 (blank)] pp. (lacking port.).
$500.00
Click the interior images for enlargements.
Sole edition of these mystical meditations composed by the eccentric founder of the Branch Tabernacle in Baltimore. Anti-Masonic sentiments are woven throughout, e.g., “General George Washington, of N. America, used a Masonic influence to the best of Purposes; and we know that a man of less virtue, would have acted very differently. . . . If secret Orders are patronized, at large,— their pretentions will extend to Legislative counsels, and to the Judiciary, and Executive departments, and, that too, with much unfairness.” (pp. 180–81). Warfield also has a great deal to say about government, U.S. law, women, and slavery, all mixed in virtually at random with his religious proclamations.
Scarce. Only 11 institutions, all in the U.S., report holdings via OCLC.
Sabin 37866; American Imprints 22538. Period-style quarter tan cloth with light blue paper–covered sides, spine with printed paper label. Frontispiece portrait lacking. Light to moderate foxing. (23903)
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Wasson,
Valentina Pavlovna, & R. Gordon Wasson. Mushrooms, Russia and history.
New York: Pantheon Books, 1957. Folio (12.9", 32.5 cm). I: XX, [2], 213, [5] pp.;
37 plts. II: XI, [3], 215–432, [4] pp.; 46 plts.; illus.
$4800.00

Hefty monograph on the history, science, linguistics, folklore,
art, and eroticism of mushrooms—and, not least, their gastronomical role;
also present is an account of sacred mushroom consumption that brought a great
deal of attention to psychoactive fungi and to the Wassons’ experiences
therewith, strongly influencing the psychedelic movement.
Valentina Wasson’s upbringing in mushroom-loving Russia inspired this
work, although directly Russian-related material is scant compared to the
masses of international lore compiled here. Befitting a labor of love, the
volume was handsomely printed by the prestigious Stamperia Valdonega (following
Hans Mardersteig’s design) on heavy paper with deckle edges. Its pochoir
plates reproduce beautiful life-sized watercolor paintings of mushrooms done
by naturalist Jean-Henri Fabre, and other numerous plates depict other works
of interest such as Gainsborough’s “Mushroom Girl.”

Provenance:
From the library of chef and culinary collector Louis I. Szathmary,
with the laid in, retained carbon of a letter from him to Ralph Geoffrey Newman
(the late, noted, Chicago bookseller); this thanks Newman for “the interesting
information on the Mushroom book.” A duplicate copy of Newman’s
purchase invoice, with Szathmary’s cheque photocopied onto it, is also
present.
This is copy number 412 of a limited edition of 512.
Green publisher’s cloth, spines with gilt-stamped labels,
housed in the original neat buckram-covered slipcase. Corners and spine extremities
show slight traces of wear with bindings otherwise crisp and clean; slipcase
likewise shows only the faintest of wear. (In our rather bad photograph,
the slipcase looks a tad bowed; in real life, it is NOT.) Glassine
wrappers present (somewhat yellowed, a bit short as issued, and one with
a bit missing at top of that
spine). Top edges gilt. Pages and plates clean.
A
lovely association copy of this significant and uncommon mycological text.
Waterford
(Ireland). The great charter of the liberties of the city of Waterford,
with explanatory notes. To which is added a list of the mayors, bailiffs, &
sheriffs of the city of Waterford, from the year 1377, to the year 1803, inclusive.
Kilkenny: J. Reynolds, 1806 [but 1831?]. 8vo (23.8 cm, 9.4"). 110, [14 (1 blank)]
pp.
$1750.00
Waterford’s original charter, granted in 1171 and expanded
by King John in 1210, was revoked on more than one occasion over the city’s
ongoing resistance to Protestantism. It was first printed in 1752 in two editions,
one in the original Latin and the other in an English translation by Timothy
Cunningham. The present printing of the charter issued by Charles I, only the
second edition in English, covers the legalities of the rights of mayors, sheriffs,
and citizens, as well as those of trade issues including the making and selling
of usquebagh. The list of city officials extends to 1831 rather than
the 1803 described by the title, but these leaves were almost certainly added
later to remainder copies, as the paper is different. According to RLIN and
OCLC, this rare item is
held by only one institution
outside of Ireland; no holdings
are listed by NUC Pre-1956.
NSTC C4545. Period-style calf, framed and panelled in gilt rolls,
panels with gilt-stamped corner fleurons, spine with gilt-stamped leather
label and gilt-stamped shamrock devices in compartments. Title-page mounted;
one leaf with paper flaw with absence of a few letters, one lower outer corner
torn away. Pages with edges untrimmed, last few chipped, some slightly dust-darkened;
previous sewing holes visible.
Manuscript notes extending
the roster of sheriffs added to the bottom of two pages.
Neatly
Organized &
Careful
Scholarship
Waterland, Daniel. A
critical history of
the
Athanasian creed. Representing the opinions of antients and
moderns concerning it.... Cambridge: Pr. at the University Press for Corn.
Crowfield,
1724. 4to (20.5 cm, 8"). [12], 184 pp.
$285.00
Click the interior images for enlargements.
First edition of this then ground-breaking study of the "Quicumque
vult," the classic summary of orthodox Catholic doctrine on the Trinity and
the Incarnation originally attributed to St. Athanasius. Waterland works from
the best sources available to him in his analysis of the text's origins, and
provides a convenient chart laying out the positions taken by various 17th-
and 18th-century writers on the creed's authorship and date; in addition to
the other evidence he offers the Latin text side by side with similar passages
from known authors. In the end, Waterland concludes that the creed came from
the hand of Hilary, Bishop of Arles ca. 429 a.d. The last chapter prior to the
appendices is Waterland's argument in favor of retaining the creed as part of
the litany of the Anglican Church, in which the author rebuts the points made
by Clarke.
ESTC T111484. Neat library cloth, front cover with paper label;
clean and showing next to no wear. Slim binder's slip bound in between title-page
and dedication. Preface and parallel passages set with narrower margins than
the rest of the book; in these sections, binder's trim is close, shaving a
few letters. Some page corners crumpled. Light waterstaining to upper margins
of first and last few leaves; title-page with early inked ownership inscription
and scattered small smudges. Overall sturdy, mostly clean, and extremely readable.
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