Grotius saw his book published for the first time in 1625 at Paris: It studies the legality of war and immediately established itself as a foundational work on the topic. Modern scholars regard it asfoundational in international law.

This edition contains added scholarship from Joannes Fredericus Gronovius (1611–71) and Jean Barbeyrac (1674–1744). In addition to De jure belli ac pacis the reader will find two other important Grotius tracts at the rear of the volume: Mare liberum and Libellus singularis de aequitate, indulgentia et facilitate, meaning the volume treats not just of law of war, but natural law, international law, maritime law, and law of the sea.

There are two issues of this edition, the other having “Ex Officina Wetsteniana” on the title-page in place of “Apud Janssonio-Waesbergio.” In both editions the title-page is printed in black and red, and of course, they have the same pagination. The work has side- and shouldernotes, an engraved portrait of Grotius, and an added engraved title-page.

•  Meulen & Diermanse (1950 ed), Grotius, 602.   Modern quarter claret-colored morocco with gilt-accented raised bands; gilt center device in each spine compartment. Marbled paper sides. Library pressure-stamps on title-page, no other markings; light age-toning and occasional spotting or foxing. A very nice copy with all edges decorated — more than “speckled,” not quite “marbled,” definitely attractive.  (26526)

heredity, marriage, and torture

The text is in Latin, decorated with woodcut initials, factotum initials, and intricate head- and tailpieces. The title-page, printed in red and black, features a large device of a fleur-de-lis in an elaborate cartouche.

Rare, WorldCat & NUC Pre-1956 locatingjust two copies in the U.S.

•  Palau 20846.   Modern boards covered with 18th-century religious manuscript on vellum, with red speckled edges and ink title to spine; tight, with paper cockled and boards a bit sprung. Title-leaf with small marginal tear and three repairs; the next 88 pages repaired/reinforced in upper outer margin; minor worming variously, mostly marginal and often unnoticeable; small hole from natural paper flaw on one leaf. Foxing generally, other spotting occasionally. A used, occasionally abused, still strong copy of a scarce work.  (30297)

•  American Imprints 5858.   Uncut copy. Publisher's quarter red cloth and plain paper–covered sides, spine with printed paper label; binding rubbed/soiled, spine sunned/discolored, spine extremities chipped. Ex–social club library: traces of now-absent label at head of spine, bookplate on front pastedown, call number in a 19th-century hand on pastedown and front free endpaper. No other markings. Pages generally clean, with text block firm.  (26284)

•  Martin & Walter 1607.   Sewn, never bound; title-page with affixed paper shelving label in lower inner corner, just barely touching but not obscuring two letters of publication information, and with pencilled monogram in upper outer corner. Page edges untrimmed; one signature unopened. Gently age-toned, otherwise clean and crisp.  (30699)

•  Martin & Walter 3914.   Removed from a nonce volume, title-page with paper shelving label in lower inner corner, early inked date addition within title and annotation in upper portion, and pencilled monogram in upper outer corner. Light foxing and the occasional other spot.  (30937)

•  Shaw & Shoemaker 1953. On Brown, see: Dictionary of National Biography, VII, 37–38 (under William Laurence Brown). Relatively unworn library buckram; library name pressure-stamped on covers and its bookplate to front pastedown. Hinges reinforced at rebinding with cloth and first few pages fragile along line of reinforcement; front free endpaper separated. Title-page and a few others faintly stamped, title-page with crossed-out ownership inscription. Some offsetting; a very few instances of pencilled underlining; corners occasionally dog-eared or chipped. Overall a fairly decent copy, suffering a bit from earlier "conservation." (2740)

•  Removed from a nonce binding, with stab holes, signatures intact but sewing gone; title-page with paper shelving label in lower inner corner, early pencilled inscriptions in upper portion. Edges uncut. Occasional light spotting, most to front wrapper, otherwise clean; some bits unevenly/lightly inked.  (30928)

Click either image for an enlargement.

Provenance: Pencilled note on endpaper, “From Ralph E. McCoy’s Library”; McCoy, emeritus Dean of Libraries at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, published widely on the First Amendment freedoms.

•  Howes C336; Sabin 12379; Shaw & Shoemaker 17193. Later quarter plain brown paper over contemporary tan paper–covered sides; edges and corners rubbed. Front free endpaper (modern) with pencilled note of McCoy’s ownership; front fly-leaf with pencilled gift inscription dated 1849. Offsetting and foxing throughout. A very sound copy.

•  Briseño, I, 74; Palau 59709.   20th-century Spanish sheep. Stitching holes in inner margins. Very clean. A very good copy.  (28505)

a Chartist poet, author, and proponent of political and sexual freedom for women

Provenance:  Residue of the stock of Seven Gables Bookshop (1930–79), via the son of Michael Papantonio (2009).

•  Very good condition. Tipped onto a slightly larger sheet. With the integral blank.  (25726)

Uncommon: WorldCat and NUC Pre-1956 locate only five U.S. institutional holdings.

•  Removed from a nonce volume. Title-page with paper shelving label in lower inner corner, pencilled initials in upper outer corner. A very few light spots, pages otherwise clean.  (31091)

No copy traced via WorldCat, COPAC, CCILA, or METABASE.

•  Light waterstain criscrossing text; one pin-type wormhole in left margin and many, very small ones in lower margin, occasionally into lower four lines of text not costing any words. Good++ copy.  (30891)

Uncommon: WorldCat locates only two U.S. institutional holdings.

•  Removed from a nonce volume; half-title with affixed paper shelving label in lower inner corner far from text. Occasional smudges and spots, pages largely clean.  (30684)

Uncommon: WorldCat and NUC Pre-1956 locate only seven U.S. institutional holdings.

•  Martin & Walter 9944.   Removed from a nonce volume. First page with paper shelving label in lower inner corner, touching lower edges of seven letters without obscuring sense, and with pencilled inscription in upper outer corner. Half-title and 22 pp. of additional supporting material lacking. Pages mildly age-toned with a handful of small spots, otherwise remarkably clean.  (30864)

First edition.

•  Sabin 19890; Dumond 63. Sewn, in original printed wrappers, slightly chipped. Five-digit number stamped on front wrapper, and a neat paper label at upper left corner. A very nice copy.

A search of RLIN, OCLC, NSTC, and NUC Pre-1956 shows only four U.S. holdings of this pamphlet.

•  NSTC 2N1853. Recent moiré cloth–covered boards. Title-page with small inked numerals in upper outer corner. One leaf with short edge tear just touching text.

Uncommon: WorldCat and NUC Pre-1956 locate only four U.S. institutional holdings.

•  Folded as issued, never sewn; outermost signature chipped at spine. First page with paper shelving label, not touching text, and with pencilled monogram in upper outer corner. Mild to moderate foxing.  (30820)

Click the image for an enlargement.

•  Removed from a nonce volume. Pages lightly creased but clean.  (27789)

Apparently little held in the U.S. for we trace copies atonly three North American institutions.

•  Not in Palau.   Removed from a nonce volume; nonce spine evident. Clean, even crisp.  (32723)

The text is printed in Latin, double-column, with a handful of large woodcut initials, a few tail ornaments, and one letterpress diagram. The title-page, printed in red and black, features Blaeu's large device of an astrolabe flanked by Time and Hercules. An index on the final two pages lists Grotius's correspondents and the corresponding letters, which are arranged chronologically in the text.

•  Meulen, Grotius, 1210; Brunet, II, 1766; Graesse, III, 163.   Contemporary northern-European style vellum over boards ruled in blind, panels with blind-stamped central cartouches, spine with seven raised bands and remnants of later paper labels, red speckled edges; vellum soiled and lightly rubbed at extremities with corners bumped. Ex-library with bookplate on front pastedown and later library marking in pen on second leaf; light foxing, a light waterstain across the lower outer corner of perhaps a dozen leaves, and scattered darker stains, with a few leaves browned; small tear in outer margin of title-leaf and another margin, small hole from natural flaw in outer margin of one leaf and small bit of paper torn away from lower corner of another. Very mild worming in middle of two leaves and final leaf, the latter repaired; additional very minor, “slim” worming mostly to margins at rear.A solid, handsome important book.  (30293)

•  Simply sewn. First page with paper shelving label, just barely touching lower edges of a few letters; faint rubber-stamp in red; pencilled monogram and lined-through early inked inscription in upper margin; small spot of soiling obscuring two letters of subtitle. Corners curled. One outer margin with line of staining; final leaf with short tear from outer margin, extending into footnote without loss of sense.  (30890)

•  ESTC T102145; Sabin 59081. Recent marbled paper–covered boards, spine with printed paper label. Original sewing holes visible in inner margins; some leaves lightly foxed, with final page darkened.

Uncommon: Only three U.S. institutions report holdings.

•  ESTC T3154.   Recent marbled paper–covered boards, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label. Lacking the half-title. Pages lightly age-toned. (21078)

•  ESTC N46161. Marbled paper–covered boards, old-style, front cover with printed paper label. Pages skillfully reinforced at inner margins; clean throughout.

A pointedindictment of the convict labor system as it existed in Georgia (and elsewhere in the U.S.), especially under the administration of Gov. Joseph E. Brown, Gen. [John B.] Gordon, and Alfred H. Colquitt; the latter was running for a second term as governor in 1880 and was opposed by Norwood, who proposed revising the State's convict labor practices.

This publication is popularly known as the “Chain Gang Catechism” for various reasons including the depiction on the front cover of a black chained convict. Also present in this great piece of campaign literature is “The convict laws of Mississippi (extract from Home rule in the solid South)” on pp. 5 to the end.

•  Not in Library Company, Afro-Americana (rev. ed.).   Cello tape reinforcing spine; printed on newsprint paper and brittle with chipping and a few short tears. Give all there has been against its surviving, this is a good++ copy.  (31346)

•  Martin & Walter, II, 17050.   Removed from a nonce volume. Half-title with paper shelving label in lower inner corner and pencilled monogram in upper outer corner. Pages faintly age-toned, otherwise clean.  (30873)

The double-page illustration is in color; it is of Münster and its churches and is dated April, 1748. The style is archaic and reminiscent of that used in the Nuremberg Chronicle.

Following Kerssenbroch's treatise are a number of leaves containing transcription of Latin documents from the 15th century and earlier.

The bulk of the text is written on paper with a fool's cap watermark and the counter mark “IV.” The hand is large and legible; the margins are generous.

Binding: Contemporary German half vellum with mottled paper sides (in shades of white, blue-green, and red); neat gilt leather title-label on spine, and all edges carmine.

Provenance:  Ex–Crozer Theological Library; then to Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School; deaccessioned.

•  On Kerssenbroch, see Catholic Encyclopedia (online). Volume bound as above; old bookplate and marks as per provenance. Text clean, ink good, and paper excellent.  (26020)

•  Stiff printed wrappers, center bit of top edge a trifle bumped. Near fine. (23499)

Uncommon: WorldCat and NUC Pre-1956 locate only three U.S. institutional holdings. The publication information comes from the colophon.

•  Later plain paper wrappers, front wrapper with paper shelving label in lower inner corner and pencilled initials in upper outer corner. Intermittent faint staining and spotting; one leaf with ragged lower margin.  (30934)

Uncommon: WorldCat and NUC Pre-1956 locate only three U.S. institutional holdings.

•  Removed from a nonce volume. First page with paper shelving label in lower inner corner, barely touching one letter of text, and with pencilled monogram in upper outer corner. Pages trimmed closely, in one instance touching a few letters without loss of sense. Mild waterstaining across lower and outer portions, pages otherwise crisp and clean.  (30837)

Click the image for an enlargement.

•  Evans 16773; Hildeburn, The Issues of the Press in Pennsylvania, 1685–1784, 4006. Five-digit number stamped above the title; pp. 1 and 2 separated from 3 and 4, and gutter margin repaired, reattaching the halves. Semicircular tear in lower, inside area of all pages, costing a total of 9 or 10 words.

The unsigned engraving, a riot of activity and heavy with allegory, as above, appears above letterpress text that keys various of the principal elements of the image (by letters of the alphabet) to explanations in doggerel verse.

Anthony Griffiths labels this work“a landmark in the history of English satire, being [the first discharge on] the first occasion that both parties conducted a political controversy in visual form” (p. 287), the two parties being L'Estrange and the Tories on one side and Stephen College and the Whigs on the other. (College's rebuttal was his Strange’s Case Strangely Altered.)

The engraving was printed on one sheet of folio-size paper and the letterpress text on another and the two were then glued together to form this one veryelephant folio broadside. Its printer was Mary Clark, who printed from 1677 until 1696. Her husband William was a bookseller: He died in 1688.

There was a second edition in 1681. Both are rare.

•  Wing (rev. ed.) L1226; ESTC R236846. Smith, Bibliotheca Anti-Quakeriana. On this print, see: Griffiths, The Print in Stuart Britain (London, 1998).   Paper adhering on the verso at the top and bottom from previous mounting to a board. Short nick in margins, some with old repairs. Text area browned; image area not.  Frankly, this is REALLY  SOMETHING.  (30979)

•  ESTC T117287; Pforzheimer 611.   Period-style calf, covers framed and panelled in gilt rolls with gilt-stamped corner fleurons and central decoration, spine with with gilt-stamped leather title-label, gilt-ruled raised bands, and gilt-stamped compartment decorations. Title-page with early inked ownership inscription (William R. Williams) in upper outer corner; preface with early inked initials in upper corners, partially effaced, resulting in small holes to upper outer corner (touching two letters of text without obscuring sense). Occasional early inked corrections and annotations; partial topical index filling final blank. One leaf with short tear from upper margin not extending into text, another with portion of lower foremargin torn away just touching (but not really “affecting”) print; scattered light smudges and a handful of pages with old marginal stains, ink-drop to fore-edge (closed) in Latin section, otherwise clean.  (30851)

Merlin also printed a duodecimo edition in 1767; in the present edition, “Fragmens de philosophie morale” is found on pp. 273–340, followed by the Addition and Approbation.

Provenance:  Front pastedown with large, round, gilt-stamped armorial leather bookplate of notable 19th-century bookseller and book collector James Toovey; smaller, round, gilt-stamped “I.T.” bookplate with motto “Inter folia fructus” (also Toovey's and of cream-colored leather); and bookplate of Sir Montague Shearman.

Binding:  Contemporary crimson morocco, covers framed in gilt triple fillets; spine gilt extra with gilt-stamped leather labels, board edges and turn-ins with gilt rolls. This volume (complete in itself) seems at one time to have been part of a set of Marmontel's works, and bears an (unnumbered) spine label reading “Oeuvres de Marmontel.”

•  Brunet, III, 1440; Cohen de Ricci, Guide de l’amateur de livres à gravures du XVIIIe siècle, 688; Graesse 406; Tchermezine 455.   Binding as above, with edges, extremities, and joints showing minor rubbing. Front pastedown with bookplates as above; front free endpaper with affixed slip of early cataloguing; rear pastedown with small chip out of paper. Light spots of foxing, slightly heavier around plates. All edges gilt.  (25776)

Moreover, Calleja labels all signatories to the “monstrous” constitution as rebels, traitors, infamous, and schismatics. They arespecifically named in one section of this broadside, their names set forth clearly in italic type.

We trace only one copy worldwide.

•  Not in Garritz, Impresos novohispanos; not in Harper, Americana Iberica; not in Sutro.   Very good condition. Printed on three sheets and glued together to form the whole. One sheet is blue paper. A significant document issued at a significant moment, and an impressive display piece.  (27947)

Uncommon: WorldCat and NUC Pre-1956 locate only two U.S. institutional holdings.

•  Removed from a nonce volume. Title-page with affixed paper shelving label in lower inner corner, touching three letters of publisher's information, and with pencilled monogram in upper portion. Pages slightly age-toned; title-page and one other each with small smudge, not obscuring text; one page with early inked annotation (in French) in lower margin.  (30811)

Many institutions report microform holdings, but very few hold actual copies.

•  Sabin 59986; Shaw & Shoemaker 1114. Contemporary-style quarter tan cloth over blue paper-covered sides, spine with printed paper label. Paper embrittled and somewhat fragile; pages age-toned and foxed.

Clicking on the righthand image above, and reading the last, italicized paragraph, is rewarding

OCLC and ESTC locate only six U.S. institutional holdings.

•  ESTC R40093; Wing (rev. ed.) R682; Smith, Anti-Quakeriana, 303.   Period-style calf, covers framed in blind double fillets, spine with gilt-ruled raised bands and gilt-stamped leather title-label. Title-page and first text page institutionally perforation-stamped, first text page with inked and rubber-stamped numerals in lower margin. Title-page with several tears repaired (with loss of a few letters from table of contents) and a sliver of the bottom edge replaced (with loss of lower portion of publication date); pages generally age-toned and soiled, first one with upper margin repaired. Edges trimmed closely and tattered. A “survivor.”  (26010)

Click the interior image for enlargement.

•  Evans 13585; ESTC W30498; Howes R-372; Trumbull, Connecticut, 1305; Adams, Amer. Pamphlets, 134j; Sabin 72151; Allibone 1839. On Robinson-Morris, see: Oxford DNB online.   Period-style quarter calf with marbled paper–covered sides, leather edges tooled in blind, spine with gilt-stamped title and elegant small decorations at head and foot. Pages age-toned; three leaves with minor staining. Title-page with repaired chip to outer margin, traces of early inked inscriptions in center of page, and partially shaved inscription in upper margin. Last text page with inked inscription in lower margin, partially shaved at beginning of inscription.  (24866)

Click the images for enlargements.

Presentation copy:  Front free endpaper inscribed “Compliments of the Author. To Dr. Franklin Feb. 19th 1930.”

•  Starr, Baptist Bibliography, S2241.   Publisher's maroon cloth, front cover and spine with gilt-stamped title; insignificant wear to corners and spine extremities, foot of spine with small area of faint discoloration. Title-page institutionally pressure-stamped, dedication page with inked notation along inner margin and rubber-stamped numeral in lower margin. Back pastedown with traces of now-absent bookplate. Sewing starting to loosen. Pages and plates clean.  (26041)

Binding:  Publisher's light brown near-herringbone cloth, covers elegantly stamped in border-and-medallion style in blind, with spine quite interestingly embossed in blind in “compartments” and lettered in gilt.

•  Bound as above, spines sunned and upper corners bumped; tops of spines slightly discolored and each with slight tearing in same area. A few gatherings carelessly opened, in one case with upper outer corners torn across yet no actual loss. Ex–social club library, and each volume has: 19th-century bookplate, call number on endpaper, no other markings. A nice set.  (28758)

•  Martin & Walter 31640.   Removed from a nonce volume. First page with paper shelving label, pencilled monogram in upper outer corner, and short tear from outer edge (not touching text). Spots of light staining, mostly confined to margins; several edge nicks.  (30828)

Uncommon: WorldCat and NUC Pre-1956 locate only seven U.S. institutional holdings.

•  Early blue patterned paste-paper wrappers, front wrapper lacking. Title-page with paper shelving label in lower inner corner, pencilled initials in upper outer corner. Page edges untrimmed. Light staining along spine.  (31191)

By the middle of the 18th century the Inquisition's power had waned and its role in daily life was confined almost exclusively to the censorship of books and attempting to control the spread of new ideas. During the French domination of Spain and the puppet reign of Joseph Bonaparte (1808–12), the Inquisition was abolished. The Cortes in 1813 debated reestablishing it and in the end decided not to.

•  Palau 74471.   Contemporary quarter speckled leather with gilt tooling on spine, marbled paper over boards on sides; front joint (outside) abraded and binding overall showing age, fading, and some use. As usual, lacking the frontispiece. Scattered light foxing. A good++ copy.  (30901)

The signers' facsimile signatures appear below the main italic text and within the decorative border.

Bidwell and WorldCat locateonly five institutional copies, none west of Charlottesville, VA.

•  Bidwell, “American history in image and text” (Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society, v. 98, pt. 2, 1988), 15; Printing the Mind of Man 220 (for first edition).   Printed on white-coated card stock. Very Good condition.  (28506)

At the heart of the controversy was Duane’s support of Jefferson for president and his exposure of the notorious Ross election bill by which the Federalists sought to thwart Jefferson’s bid for that office.

•  Evans 38856; ESTC W021879. Removed from a nonce volume. Clean and in nice condition.

Uncommon: WorldCat and NUC Pre-1956 locate only five U.S. institutional holdings.

•  Removed from a nonce volume; title-page with inked shelving number in lower inner corner and pencilled monogram in upper outer corner. A few lower outer corners bumped.  (30844)

WorldCat and NUC Pre-1956 locate only eight U.S. institutional holdings.

•  Martin & Walter 33276.   Simply stitched. Title-page with paper shelving label in lower inner corner, pencilled initials in upper outer corner. One leaf with tear from upper inner margin, touching a few letters without loss; last leaf with tear from foot along inner margin. Light to moderate foxing scattered throughout.  (30943)

This Boston edition most likely appeared shortly after the Philadelphia edition printed in the same year; among the prominent American women’s rights activists known to have read and been influenced by the Vindication are Judith Sargent Murray, Abigail Adams, and (later) Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

•  Evans 25054; ESTC W2450; PMM 242 (for first ed.); Windle, Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, A5d. Recent quarter calf over marbled paper–covered boards, spine with gilt-stamped leather title and author labels and gilt-stamped devices between raised bands. Half-title mounted; a few leaves with old repairs to lower inner margins. Pages age-toned, with offsetting, staining, and spotting.