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PROVENANCE!     
. . . the history of ownership of an object . . .
A-B   •   Bibles   •   C-D   •   E-H
I-L
  •   M-N   •   O-P   •   Q-S   •   T-Z


BOOKS with discoverable provenance do NOT necessarily command a premium price over other copies of the same edition. For example, the famous Sunderland Library at Blenheim was pleased to gatheranything interesting — it was wonderfully omnivorous! And that many of the books below are "Sunderland Copies" makes them cost no more — it only gives them a bit more charm for the same price, as the Sunderland sale was a major 19th-century biblio-event.

BUT! where it was a collector's pride and passion to collect only the finest copies of only the finest editions, or to have his books bound only by the finest binders of his era — and where he was careful always to maintain them in ways that kept them in peak condition — that's a different story. Copies carrying that collector's bookplate probably will cost a bit more than other copies — not really because of the "snob factor" in his onetime ownership, but simply because they are likely to be such
SUPER-EXCELLENT copies!

THE SIGNATURE in a 16th- or 17th-century scholar's working copy — or a 19th- or 20th-century bibliographer's copy — a cookbook bearing an 18th- or 19th-century century woman's name, with a note as to where she bought it — the 19th-century volume specially bound and inscribed to be a gift, or even a copy of a "souvenir" pamphlet with some long-ago tourist's name written on the cover — such ownership indications connect us to earlier book users and lovers in ways that bear notice.

Yet not USUALLY in ways that make one pay more.

Harper’s ILLUMINATED
1600 Historical Engravings” & Handsomely Bound
Family Records including Two for “Colored Servants”
(A FAMILY BIBLE).  Bible.  English. 1846. Authorized (i.e., "King James Version").  The illuminated Bible, containing the Old and New Testaments...With marginal readings, references, and chronological dates. Also, the Apocrypha....Embellished with sixteen hundred historical engravings by J.A. Adams, more than fourteen hundred of which are from original designs by J.G. Chapman. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1846. Folio (34.6 cm, 13.75"). Frontis., add. engr. t.-p., [4], 844, [2], 128, [6], frontis., add. engr. t.-p., [2], 256, 3, [1], 8, 14, 34 pp.; illus.
$2850.00
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This entry is repeated in the
“Bibles” section of this
catalogue . . .


Animal StoriesFly-Fishing, Too!
Aelianus, Claudius.  [4 lines in Greek, then] Aeliani de natvra animalivm.... Londini: Gulielmus Bowyer, 1744. 4to (26.2 cm, 10.4"). 2 vols. I: xiv, xxvii, [35 (index)], 603, [1] pp. II: [605]–1128, [88 (index and addenda)] pp.
$500.00

A Learned HUGUENOT Discusses theThrice-Holy Hymn
Allix, Pierre. Dissertatio de Trisagii origine. Rothomagi: Apud Joannem Lucas, 1674. 8vo (18.2 cm, 7.125"). A–I4; 70 pp., [1 (blank)] f.
$1000.00
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He Tries toCover It ALL!
Amelot de la Houssaye, Abraham-Nicolas, sieur.   Memoires historiques, politiques, critiques, et literraires. Par Amelot de la Houssaie. Ouvrage imprimé sur le propre manuscrit de l'auteur. Amsterdam: Michel Charles Le Cene, 1731. 12mo. 2 vols. I: 561 pp. II: 462 pp., [11 (adv.)] ff.
$350.00

Inscribed bythe Author
Angney, Lydia F.  California and other poems.  Gilroy, CA: Pr. for the author by A.C. Eaton, 1900. 8vo. 96 pp.
$50.00


Wildcats, Bears, Rabbits, Otters, Skunks, Buffalo, & Wapite”
“The Sooty Squirrel,” Badgers, Beavers, Ground-Hogs, Foxes, *&* the “Missouri Mouse”
Audubon, John James, & John Bachman.  The quadrupeds of North America. New-York: V.G. Audubon, 1854. Royal 8vo (27.5 cm; 10.75"). 3 vols. I: viii, 383, [1 (blank)] pp., 50 plts. II: [2] ff., 334 pp., 49 plts. III: v, [1], 348 pp., [1] f., 51 plts.
$14,750.00

Great Facsimile of aTruly Rare Book
Augustino, da Siena; & Alfred Fairbank.  Augustino Da Siena: the 1568 edition of his writing book in facsimile. London: Merrion Press, 1975. Small 4to. 21, [82] pp.
$75.00

Cortlandt Bishop Copy
Balzac, Honoré de. La Vendetta. Paris: A. Ferroud, F. Ferroud, Successor, 1904. Tall 8vo.
$900.00

The Private Edition, One of 12 Copies Only
A Family Copy
      A Conundrum Here as to Original” Bindings!
Barham, R. Harris.  The Ingoldsby legends or mirth and marvels by Thomas Ingoldsby Esquire [with] The Ingoldsby legends ... Second series. London: Richard Bentley, 1840 & 1842. 8vo. 2 vols. I: [6], v, [3], 338, [2] pp. with inserted extra-engraved title (a proof before letters), numbered colophon leaf, engraved title, and six etched plates; II: vii, [3], 288 pp. with engraved title and seven etched plates.
$12,500.00
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A Luxurious ProductionAn Interesting Provenance
Bartlett, William Henry.  The pilgrim fathers; or, founders of New England in the reign of James the First. London, Edinburgh, & New York: T. Nelson & Sons, 1866. 8vo (21.5 cm, 8.5"). Frontis., add. engr. t.-p. (incl. in pagination), x, [13]–230 (pagination skips 219/20) pp.; 26 plts.
$200.00


Greek–Dutch!A Dictionary, 1822
Bergman, Jean Théodore.  Handwoordenboek der Grieksche taal, volgens etymologische orde, ten dienste der scholen. Te Zutphen: H.C.A. Thieme, 1822. 8vo in 4s (22.5 cm, 8.8"). 2 vols. in 1. XXII, 532, [4], 533–996 pp. (pagination skips 305–08, text apparently uninterrupted).
$500.00
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St. Bernard from theGiunta Press
Bernard, of Clairvaux, St.  Opera, in duos tomos distincta. Quibua adiecimus eiusdem auctoris opuscula: quae, ut caetera eius scripta, coelestem, ac divinam sapiunt eruditionern. Nuncrens impressa accuratissime recognita, & repurgata: sedulaq collatione, ad antiquiorum exemplarium sidem, natiue integritati restituta. Cum amplissimis, ac locupletissimis indicibus, utrique tomo inseruientibus. Venetiis: Apud Iuntas, 1583. 4to. 2 Vols. I: [76], 435 ff. II: 503 ff.
[SOLD]
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First Printing in Europe of theBhagavadgita
Bhagavadgītā.  Bhagavad-Gita, id est Thespesion melos sive almi Krishnae et Arjunae colloquium de rebus divinis, Bharateae episodium. Textum recensuit, adnotationes criticas ed interpretationem latinam adiecit Augustus Guilelmus a Schlegel. Bonnae: in Academia Borussica Rhenana Typiis Regis, Prostat apud E. Weber, 1823. 8vo (23 cm; 9"). xxvi, 189 pp.
$3000.00


A Foreign Secretary's Copy . . .
Bloeme, A.  Question du jour pour l'epargue francaise. Le bilan actuel des travaux et l'avenir du canal de Panama. Bordeux: Imprimerie Bordelaise, 1889. 8vo. 64 pp.
$850.00

Lovely French PrintingGORGEOUS! French Binding
Boileau Despréaux, Nicolas.  Œuvres diverses du Sieur D*** avec le traité du sublime ou du merveilleux dans le discours, traduit du Grec de Longin. Paris: Claude Barbin (pr. by Denys Thierry), 1674. 4to (25.3 cm, 10"). π2A–R4S8T–Y4Z1*4a2-4b–o4; Frontis., [4], 178, [12], [3]–102, [10 (index & colophon)] pp., 1 plt.
$4000.00
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This Jesuit Got in aGreat Deal of Trouble
[Bougeant, Guillaume-Hyacinthe]. Amusement philosophique sur le langage des bêtes. La Haye: Antoine van Dole, 1739. 8vo (16 cm, 6.25"). 135, [1], 8, [48 (adv.)] pp.
$625.00

Large Scale” in Several Respects . . .
62 Engravings & Bedford Bound
Brayley, Edward Wedlake.  The history and antiquities of the abbey church of St. Peter, Westminster: Including notices and biographical memoirs of the abbots and deans of that foundation. London: J.P. Neale for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, & Brown, 1818–23. Folio (37.9 cm, 14.9"). 2 vols. I: [18], 227, [19], 72, [10] pp.; 13 plts. II: [2], 304, [40] pp.; 49 plts.
$3000.00
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With aCharming! Gilt! Cover Vignette
Browne, Daniel Jay. The American bird fancier; considered with reference to the breeding, rearing, feeding, management, and peculiarities of cage and house birds.... New York: C.M. Saxton, (copyright 1850). 12mo (19.2 cm, 7.5"). Frontis., 107, [1], 12 (adv.) pp.; illus.
$225.00


The Brinley Copy — ANOT Impartial” Connecticut Calvinist
Bulkley, John.  An impartial account of a late debate at Lyme in the colony of Connecticut, (on the three following heads, viz. I. The subjects of baptism. II. The mode of baptizing. and III. The maintenance of the ministers of the Gospel) giving a summary of what was there delivered, on both sides. Publish’d at the desire of some then present. Together, with a disswasive not to depart from the wholesome truths, which people have been instructed in. Also giving some account of the rise of the Antipedo-Baptist perswasion. N. London [i.e., New London, Conn.]: Pr. and sold by T. Green, 1729. 8vo (15 cm; 6"). [1] f., 199, [1] pp. (lacks “half-title”).
[SOLD]
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