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“Nothing is so indecent that it cannot be said to another person if the proper words are used to convey it": Rare First Edition in English of Boccaccio's Decameron
BOCCACCIO, Giovanni.
The Decameron.
London: Isaac Jaggard, 1620.
First edition in English of Boccaccio's masterpiece, published by Jaggard published three years prior to his printing of the Shakespeare First Folio. Boccaccio's masterpiece. Folio, 2 volumes, bound in full morocco by Riviere, gilt titles and tooling to the spine, all edges gilt, errata leaf at end of volume one, B1 is a cancellans, woodcut titles each with 6 vignettes, 98 woodcut vignettes in text chiefly repeating the title vignettes, woodcut initials, head- and tail-pieces. In near fine condition. First editions are rare.
Price: $60,000.00 Item Number: 128726
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Rare collection of the works of Thomas Paine; finely bound with a rare early printing of John Quincy Adams' response to Paine's Rights of Man
PAINE, Thomas.
Common Sense: Addressed to the Inhabitants of America, Plain Truth, Rights of Man Parts I & II, and An Answer to Pain’s Rights of Man.
J. Almon, J.S. Jordan, and J. Stockdale: London, 1776-1793.
Finely bound collection of the works of Thomas Paine, including the rare first British editions of Common Sense and Plain Truth (London: J. Almon, 1776), second editions of Rights of Man Parts I & II (London: J.S. Jordan, 1791-1792), complete with half-titles present, and a rare early printing of John Quincy Adams' response to Paine's Rights of Man (London: J. Stockdale, 1793), attributed to his father John Adams and written when John Quincy Adams was 26 years old. Octavo, bound in three quarters morocco over marbled boards with gilt titles and tooling to the spine, red morocco spine label, all…
Price: $60,000.00 Item Number: 96237
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"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit": One of Only 50 sets of The Works of Aristotle; Signed by Translator Thomas Taylor in volumes 1 and 4.
ARISTOTLE; TRANSLATED BY THOMAS TAYLOR,.
The Works of Aristotle.
London: Robert Wilks, 1806-12.
Exceptionally rare complete set of the first edition in English of the works of Aristotle, limited to only 50 sets, signed by the translator Thomas Taylor in volumes one and four. Quarto, 11 volumes, bound in full contemporary calf, gilt titles and tooling to the spine, morocco spine labels, ribbon book marks bound in, marbled endpapers, all edges marbled. The set composes of the following: Volume 1: The Organon, 1807, signed at the end by the translator Thomas Taylor, and with A Brief Notice of Mr. Thomas Taylor, the Celebrated Platonist, with a Complete List of his Published Works, by…
Price: $55,000.00 Item Number: 138648
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"The first American bestseller": Exceedingly Rare first edition of Susanna Haswell Rowson's Charlotte: A Tale of Truth
ROWSON, Susanna Haswell.
Charlotte. A Tale of Truth.
Philadelphia: Printed by D. Humphreys for M. Carey, 1794.
Exceedingly rare first American edition (and the earliest obtainable example) of the first American bestseller. Octavo, two volumes bound into one in three quarter calf over marbled boards, morocco spine label lettered in gilt, marbled endpapers. Although the first American edition was preceded by the first English edition published in 1791, no examples of the first English edition have been traced at auction. In very good condition. Bookplate of D. Appleton to the pastedown, bibliographic description tipped in. Housed in a custom cloth chemise and half morocco clamshell slipcase. Exceedingly rare with only one other example of the first American…
Price: $50,000.00 Item Number: 125183
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"History became legend. Legend became myth. And for two and a half thousand years, the ring passed out of all knowledge": THE LORD OF THE RINGS TRILOGY; each volume signed by J.R.R. Tolkien
TOLKIEN, J.R.R.
The Lord of The Rings Trilogy: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, The Return of the King.
London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd, 1963.
Complete set of each title of the The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, each volume signed by J.R.R. Tolkien on the title page. Octavo, 3 volumes, original publisher's cloth, all edges gilt, ribbon bound in, folding map at rear of each volume. Each volume is signed by J.R.R. Tolkien on the title page. The Fellowship of the Ring is a thirteenth impression, very good in a very good tenth impression dust jacket; The Two Towers is a tenth impression, very good in a very good eighth impression dust jacket; The Return of the King is a tenth impression, very good…
Price: $48,000.00 Item Number: 147003
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“When you get an idea into your head you find it in everything": Rare First Edition of Victor Hugo's Notre-Dame de Paris; One of only 1100 examples
HUGO, Victor.
Notre-Dame de Paris.
Paris: Charles Gosselin, 1831.
First edition, first printing of Hugo's masterpiece, one of only 1,100 examples. Octavo, 2 volumes, bound in half calf. The publisher Charles Gosselin published the novel on 16 March 1831 in an edition of 1,100 copies as was his usual practice. It was such a sensation that an additional three printings had to be published the same year. The first impression of 1100 copies was separated into four groups, each bearing a fictitious edition statement on the title-page, a scheme designed to make the public believe that the novel was selling rapidly. "This first edition is the rarest of all…
Price: $48,000.00 Item Number: 139559
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Exceedingly rare new and revised edition of M. de Bourrienne's Life of Napoleon extra-illustrated with additional portraits and views and over 50 autograph letters and notes signed by Napoleon I, members of his family, and royal associates
DE BOURRIENNE, Fauvelet. [Napoleon].
Memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte.
London: Richard Bentley and Son, 1885.
Exceedingly rare edition of M. de Bourrienne's Life of Napoleon extra-illustrated with additional portraits and views and over 50 autograph letters and notes signed by Napoleon I, members of his family, associates, and the author bound in. Octavo, bound in three quarters scarlet morocco with gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, marbled endpapers, top edge gilt with others uncut, tissue-guarded frontispiece and full color portrait to each volume, illustrated with engravings issued in the initial publication and over 100 extra portraits and views bound in. With over 50 autograph letters signed bound…
Price: $45,000.00 Item Number: 117078
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"FAST BY THE ORACLE OF GOD, I THENCE INVOKE THY AID TO MY ADVENTUROUS SONG": FIRST EDITION OF JOHN MILTON'S MASTERPIECE PARADISE LOST
MILTON, John.
Paradise Lost: A Poem in Ten Books.
London: Printed by S. Simmons, and are to be sold by T. Helder, at the Angel in Little Brittain, 1669.
First edition of Milton's masterpiece, "one of the greatest works of the human imagination" (DNB). Small octavo, bound in full contemporary sprinkled calf, smooth spine gilt, red morocco lettering-piece gilt. Title-page and text within ruled border; woodcut headpieces and initials opening each book. (Without blank A1 after cancel title, F3 with paper flaw affecting rule border and shoulder notes, tiny mostly marginal wormhole to a few leaves.) Provenance: Elizabeth Gordon (signature on title verso dated 1686); Robert Chilton Pearson (bookplate); Patrick & Julie Pearson (bookplate). With the cancel title-page corresponding to Amory’s fourth issue, title page with "Angel" in the…
Price: $45,000.00 Item Number: 119536
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Leo Tolstoy's Childhood, Boyhood, Youth; Inscribed by Him to His Doctor
TOLSTOY, Leo.
Sochinenia Grafa L.N. Tolstogo [Childhood, Boyhood, Youth].
Moscow: Typ. I.N. Kushnerev i Ko, 1893.
Early Russian printing of Tolstoy’s trilogy Childhood, Boyhood, Youth. Quarto, original half leather. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the title page to his doctor, “To Dmitry Vasil’evich Nikitin. Leo Tolstoy. 28 March 1903.” With an original photograph of Tolstoy with Dmitry Nikitin opposite the title page. The recipient, Dmitry Nikitin was Tolstoy’s family doctor who described him as ‘‘a very attentive person [who] knows everything that medicine knows now.” The son of a priest from a small village, served as Tolstoy’s first family and later treated M. Gorky. Beginning in the 1850s, Tolstoy had to turn to doctors…
Price: $45,000.00 Item Number: 133583
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Rare first edition, first impression of Charles Dickens' Great Expectations; bound in full royal blue crushed levant morocco by Bayntun Bindery
DICKENS, Charles.
Great Expectations.
London: Chapman and Hall, 1861.
First edition, first impression of Dickens' rarest novel. Octavo, three volumes bound in full royal blue crushed levant morocco by Bayntun Bindery with gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, gilt ruling to the front and rear panels, gilt turn-ins and wide gilt inner dentelles stamp-signed by Bayntun, all edges gilt. The earliest impression of Dicken's rarest novel. This copy agrees in all points with Margaret Caldwell's extensive analysis of the differing impressions in the Clarendon edition of Great Expectations. As in the Lawrence Drizen copy sold in 2019 at Sotheby’s and in…
Price: $45,000.00 Item Number: 142357
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“THE SOUTHERN STATES HAD RIGHTFULLY THE POWER TO WITHDRAW”: JEFFERSON DAVIS’ HISTORY OF THE CONFEDERACY, FIRST EDITION; INSCRIBED BY HIM TO HIS PHYSICIAN
DAVIS, Jefferson.
The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government.
New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1881.
First edition of Jefferson Davis’ important history of the Confederacy, inscribed by him to his doctor. With 18 maps (14 folding) and 19 plates, including stipple-engraved portraits of Davis, members of the presidential staff, General Lee, and others. Thick octavo, original three-quarter brown morocco, original brown cloth gilt, patterned endpapers, with steel-engraved plates, including frontispiece portraits, wood-engraved plates, maps. Association copy, inscribed by him in volume one, "Maurice Davis M.D. with the respects of the Author." The recipient was his friend and physician, when the Davis' were in London. Dr. Maurice Marcus Davis (1821-1898) acted as physician to the Davis’s whilst…
Price: $42,000.00 Item Number: 129632
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Rare 16th century printings of John Wolfe's Fictitious Italian editions of Machiavelli's Discourses and The Prince; finely bound together in full morocco
MACHIAVELLI, Niccolò.
Discorsi Di Nicolo Machiavelli Pra La Prima Deca Di Tito Livio [bound with] Il Prencipe di Nicolo Machiavelli. [Machiavelli’s Discourses bound with The Prince].
Palermo: Apresso gli heredi d'Antoniello degli Antonielli , 1584 [London: John Wolfe].
Rare 16th century printing of John Wolfe's famed fictitious Italian editions of Machiavelli's fundamental works of political history and philosophy. Octavo, elaborately bound in full crushed morocco with gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, double gilt ruling and central motifs to the front and rear panels, gilt turn-ins. In near fine condition with occasional contemporary marginal notes. Rare.
Price: $40,000.00 Item Number: 129484
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"Madam, you inrich the very cloaths and jewels you wear! You brighten all the Hemisphere about you, like the dazling sun in its full meridian!": Exceptionally rare first edition of James Bland's An Essay in Praise of Women
BLAND, James.
An Essay in Praise of Women: Or, A Looking-glass for Ladies to See Their Perfections In.
London: Printed for the Author, and Sold by J. Batley, 1733.
First edition of the English physician's immensely popular early 18th century essay. Octavo, bound in full contemporary calf with a burgundy morocco spine label lettered in gilt, gilt ruling to the spine in six compartments within raised bands, double gilt ruling to the front and rear panels, elaborate woodcut initials, headpieces and tailpieces. There were two issues of the first edition of Bland's Essay published in 1733, one sold by J. Batley adn the other by J. Roberts. Both issues are scarce, with no copies appearing in auction records. The work proved so popular upon publication in 1733 that a second edition…
Price: $40,000.00 Item Number: 139649
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“But, first, remember, remember, remember the signs. Say them to yourself when you wake in the morning and when you lie down at night, and when you wake in the middle of the night": Exceptionally rare complete first edition set of C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia
LEWIS, C.S. Illustrations by Pauline Baynes.
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, The Silver Chair, The Horse and His Boy, The Magician’s Nephew, The Last Battle.
London: Geoffrey Bles/The Bodley Head, 1950-1956.
Complete first edition set of C.S. Lewis's best-selling work, one of the best-selling series of all time which has sold 120 million copies in 47 languages. “Adored by children and academics alike, these books are extremely collectable, sought-after, and scarce” (Connolly, 186). Octavo, seven volumes, original publisher's cloth, each volume illustrated with plates, in-text illustrations, and maps by Pauline Baynes, including colour where called for. Comprising first editions of: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, covers with light toning to the extremities, dust jacket with some restoration and repairs, 1950; Prince Caspian, price-clipped dust jacket with repairs and restoration,…
Price: $40,000.00 Item Number: 147528
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First edition of Guillaume Apollinaire's Poems (1898-1913); inscribed by him and Pablo Picasso
APOLLINAIRE, Guillaume. [Pablo Picasso].
Alcools: Poems (1898-1913). Avec un Portrait de L’Auteur par Pablo Picasso.
Paris: Mercure de France, 1913.
First edition of Apollinaire's first collection of poems, signed by him and Pablo Picasso. Octavo, bound in three quarter morocco with gilt titles and raised bands to the spine, patterned endpapers, frontispiece portrait of the poet by Pablo Picasso. Association copy, inscribed by both Apollinaire and Pablo Picasso on front free endpaper, "A A P.N. Roinard son admirateur Guillaume Apollinaire" and "et pour Robert Valançay Picasso Paris Janvier 1940 et I." Apollinaire has also made five corrections to the text in ink on pages 71, 77, 92, 110 and 189. The recipient of Apollinaire's inscription, Paul-Napoléon Roinard, was a French…
Price: $35,000.00 Item Number: 128083
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Rare first edition of Marshman's The Works of Confucius; complete with his Dissertation on the Characters and Sounds of the Chinese Language
MARSHMAN, Joshua [Confucius].
The Works of Confucius; Containing the Original Text, With a Translation. To Which is Prefixed a Dissertation on the Chinese Language and Character. [The Analects of Confucius].
Serampore: Printed at the Mission Press, 1809.
First English translation of the Analects of Confucius complete with the rare Dissertation on the Chinese Language and Character, here bound in a separate volume. Quarto, two volumes bound in three quarter morocco over marbled boards with gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, illustrated with 2 folding charts on Chinese characters, 4 further tables on 2 folding leaves, postscript at rear. In fine condition. Exceptionally rare, particularly with Marshman's separately printed dissertation present including the tables and charts.
Price: $35,000.00 Item Number: 131224
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“My work is not a piece of writing designed to meet the needs of an immediate public, but was done to last for ever": Rare First Edition in English of Thucydides The History of the Peloponnesian War
THUCYDIDES,.
The Hystory, Writtone by Thucidides the Athenyan, of the Warre, Whiche was Betwene the Peloponesians and the Athenyans [The History of the Peloponnesian War].
London: William Tylle, 1550.
First edition of one one of the greatest of classic historical works. Folio, bound in 19th century full vellum, morocco spine label, marbled endpapers, title-page with elaboarate historiated woodcut border. In very good condition with light toning to the text. Rare and desirable in this condition.
Price: $32,500.00 Item Number: 111546
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"Even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these": Exquisite first edition large paper set of Loddiges' Botanical Cabinet; containing 2000 numbered hand-colored botanical plates by George Cooke
LODDIGES, George. Plates by George Cook.
The Botanical Cabinet Consisting of Coloured Delineations of Plants, from all Countries.
London: John & Arthur Arch; Hackney: Conrad Loddiges & Sons, et al, 1818–1833.
Rare first edition, large paper issue set of Loddiges' renowned Botanical Cabinet with 2000 numbered hand-colored plates by George Cooke. Octavos, 20 volumes bound in three quarters morocco over marbled boards with elaborate gilt tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, red morocco spine labels lettered in gilt, all edges marbled. Illustrated with 2000 numbered hand-colored botanical plates by George Cooke. In near fine condition. Armorial bookplates. An exceptional collection, most rare and desirable in a complete set.
Price: $32,500.00 Item Number: 109061
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Samuel Johnson Pratt's Family Secrets; from the library of President George Washington; with a small note in his hand tipped in
PRATT, Samuel Johnson. [George Washington].
Family Secrets: By Mr. Pratt. Volume III. [From the Library of George Washington].
London: Printed for T.N. Longman, Paternoster-Row, 1798.
Octavo, bound in full contemporary calf with a burgundy morocco spine label lettered in gilt, gilt ruling to the spine. Vol. III of the original five volumes. Tipped in to the pastedown is a small clipped note in the hand of George Washington which reads, "with the said" and the bookplate of Benjamin Lincoln Lear. The set in which this volume originated was listed in a manuscript by Washington's private secretary Tobias Lear titled 'Catalogue of Books received from Washington' and bears the bookplate of Lear's son Benjamin Lincoln Lear. Tobias Lear served as Washington's personal secretary from 1784 until…
Price: $30,000.00 Item Number: 139518
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“THE FATHER OF MODERN DEMOCRACY”: First edition in English of Aristotle's Masterpiece Politiques, or Discourses of Government
ARISTOTLE,.
Politiques, or Discourses of Government.
London: Adam Islip, 1598.
Rare first edition in English of one of the world’s most important and influential political texts, “the most valuable work on that branch of philosophy that has descended to us from antiquity.” Small folio, bound in full leather, gilt titles and tooling to the spine, front and rear panels. In near fine condition, bookplate, small name to the title page, small paper repair to the first few pages. First editions are exceptionally rare.
Price: $30,000.00 Item Number: 138658
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“THE GREATEST HISTORICAL WORK EVER WRITTEN”: Rare complete first edition set of Edward Gibbon's Masterpiece The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire; with a rare first edition, first issue of Vol. I; from the library of legendary aviator Steve Fossett
GIBBON, Edward.
The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.
London: Printed for W. Strahan; and T. Cadell, 1776-1788.
Rare full first edition set, first state of volume one, of Gibbon's landmark work of historiography with three engraved folding maps by Kitchin of the Western and Eastern Roman Empire and of Constantinople and frontispiece portrait of Gibbon. Quarto, 6 volumes bound in three quarter calf over marbled boards with gilt titles and tooling to the spine. Vol. I: undated engraved portrait frontispiece by Hall after Joshua Reynolds, 12pp. contents, x4 and a4 are cancels, errata leaf; Vol. II: full-sheet folding map of the Eastern Roman Empire by Thomas Kitchin dated 1 January 1781 bound before p.1, half-sheet map of…
Price: $30,000.00 Item Number: 129094
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THE FIRST ILLUSTRATED EDITION OF ULYSSES: SIGNED BY JAMES JOYCE AND HENRI MATISSE
JOYCE, James and Henri Matisse.
Ulysses.
New York : Limited Editions Club, 1935.
First illustrated edition of Joyce’s landmark Ulysses, one of only 250 examples signed by James Joyce in pen and Henri Matisse in pencil, with 26 illustrations by him, one of the 20th-century’s most desirable illustrated books, combining the work of two great modern artists. Large quarto, original gilt-stamped pictorial brown cloth, original slipcase. In fine condition with the rare original slipcase which is in good condition and original glassine jacket. With an introduction by Stuart Gilbert. An exceptional example, most rare in this condition and in the seldom seen glassine jacket.
Price: $30,000.00 Item Number: 140072
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“Of all creatures that breathe and move upon the earth, nothing is bred that is weaker than man”: exceptionally rare sixteenth century printing of Homer's Odyssey in Latin
HOMER. TRANSLATED BY RAPHAELLO MAFFEI,.
Odissea Per Raphaelem Volaterranum in Latinum Conversa (The Odyssey of Homer translated by Raphael of Volterra in Latin).
Rome: Per Lacoubum Mazochium, 1510.
One of the earliest Latin translations of Homer's epic poem, translated from the Greek by Roman Hellenic scholar Raphaello Maffei (Raphael of Volterra). Quarto, bound in contemporary vellum, rebacked, woodcut titles and printer's device to the title page and at end of text. From the library of Robert R. Dearden, Jr. of Philadelphia with his bookplate to the front panel. American bibliophile and author Robert R. Dearden was known for his extensive rare bible collection with a focus on early editions of American Bibles. He authored the book The Guiding Light on the Great Highway (1929), elaborately illustrated with photographs…
Price: $30,000.00 Item Number: 88060
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Exceptionally rare second edition of Ye Zipei’s complete map of the world, one of only two known copies produced by terrestrial globe expert Liu Yan
YAN, Liu (Liu Dezhi). [Ye Zipei].
Complete Map of the World with All Nations.
China: Wanguo Dadi Quantu, 1851 [Xianfeng period].
Exceptionally rare second edition of Ye Zipei’s complete map of the world, one of only two known copies produced by terrestrial globe expert Liu Yan. The terrestrial map is comprised of six accordion-style albums bound in handmade paper with white titular labels lettered in hand to each front panel. A woodblock print in red and black ink, the map features two hemispheres defined by straight meridian and circular parallel lines and a ground of red grids. The left hemisphere centers on the south pole, while the right one on the north pole; both are bordered by the equator, adopting the…
Price: $30,000.00 Item Number: 131424