A very rare, true incunable edition of this medieval mappamundi from the first Lyons printing of 1491. One of the finest examples we've seen of this map in any edition. It is a direct descendant of the 1475 world map that was published in the Rudimentum Novitiorum, which Shirley describes..... More
Rare, second Italian-language edition (first 1522) of the Herbarius latinus, an important document for the dissemination of botanical/medical knowledge in popular culture, particularly for the adoption of this originally German-printed Latin work for readers in the Veneto. According to Hunt, the woodcut on the title showing Saints Cosmos and Damian..... More
A very rare, 16th-century world that had been described as lost, until it surfaced in the catalogue of Guglielmo Libri in 1864. Shirley states that only four or five examples of the map are presently known. The weight of the paper strongly suggests the map..... More
Rare, anonymously authored German-language treatise on the art of surveying, first published in 1616, with copious practical information on measuring any type of terrain. Extensively illustrated with more than 100 woodcut geometrical diagrams and woodcut images of surveying instruments, the work shares much in common with the popular German manuals..... More
![Logica et Ethica [title label laid to spine] / Cursus philosophiae logica [manuscript title of...](/pictures/thumb/B5713.jpg?v=1523386191)
Unpublished 17th-century manuscript of formal student notes – likely from the University of Paris – relating to a curriculum of lectures on Logic, Ethics and Moral Philosophy. While first-hand records of university pedagogy from this period are rather rare in any form, the present manuscript is of special interest for..... More
Very rare first and only edition of this highly unusual 18th-century German work recording a lively conversation among early book printers – held from beyond the grave – in which they debate their respective roles in the invention and perfection of printing with movable type. The interlocutors are Johannes Gutenberg..... More
Two rare folio-size maritime insurance policies from 1770s Marseille relating to mercantile voyages to France’s American colonies in the Caribbean, and valuable witnesses to the more practical, bureaucratic aspects of maritime trade in late 18th-century France. Each document is illustrated with the three large woodcut seals of the city and..... More
Extremely rare first and sole edition of this Mallorcan festival book commemorating the festivities held in Palma on the occasion of Charles IV’s accession to the throne. The description, with its careful lists of the noblemen involved, constitutes a snapshot of Mallorcan society at the end of the eighteenth century..... More
Extremely rare sole edition of two German vaudeville songs satirizing the society-wide obsession with the yoyo, a toy which was popularized during the French Revolution, and subsequently became as ubiquitous across Europe as the Rubik’s cube in more recent times. Although images of it appear on ancient Greek vases, Western..... More
Highly finished preparatory design for a fresco or tapestry connected to the Albani family, whose coat of arms appears under the left-hand arch crowned with a cardinal's hat. Under the central arch of the drawing, preceded by a palafreniero, four servants in blue and white livery carry a red baldacchino..... More
Rare early 19th-century French popular broadside, here in fine contemporary hand-color, depicting the legendary Juif-Errant, or ‘Wandering Jew,’ the mythical immortal man said to have been present at the Crucifixion who was cursed thereafter to walk the earth ceaselessly until the Second Coming. The broadside has at its center a...... More
Rare, illustrated collection of nine ephemeral fête programs documenting three generations of royal entries into Barcelona: Charles III in 1783, his son Charles IV in 1802, and grandson Ferdinand VII in 1827. This group of pamphlets affords a comparison between royal entries staged before and after the French occupation of..... More
French surveying manuscript with twenty delicate watercolor and wash illustrations, presenting solutions to a range of topographic problems. The detailed diagrams note the locations of the requisite graphometers and levels, and the accompanying text includes calculations and formulae. The book includes a range of practical exercises, such as measuring the..... More
Rare. An appropriately elaborate and well-designed and executed broadside poster for what was at the time one of the great agricultural and industrial state fairs. The September 11, 1915 issue of The Prairie Farmer contained an article by the secretary of the Board that stated: “It, today, occupies a leading..... More
![Painted theater or festival decoration]. THEATER DECORATION, / / ANONYMOUS, FESTIVAL DECORATION](/pictures/thumb/22.jpg?v=1517517166)
Intriguing over-life-size painting of a female allegorical sculpture set in an architectural niche, a rare surviving example of a type of ephemeral decoration most closely associated with the scenography of the neoclassical theater and with the (often elaborate) temporary festival structures especially popular in Europe in the seventeenth and eighteenth..... More
First edition of this list of maritime prisoners exchanged between France and England during the American Revolution. The 36 articles of the cartel are chiefly concerned with settling a descending scale of prices for the transfer, as well as a fair rate of exchange. Article 2 gives a table of..... More
A very attractive plan of Paris produced by the mega-department store, Bon Marche, which is depicted from various perspectives in the four corners of this work. The plan clearly divides the city into its 19 arrondissements, each of which is prominently named. The Grands Magasins..... More
Very scarce, unusually well-preserved, large plan of Denver, appearing some 30 years after the founding of the city in 1858. Maps of this kind, as noted in the legend at top right, were expressly made and freely distributed to encourage investment in real estate. Because of their ephemeral nature, most..... More