A beautiful, large-scale, combined map and nautical chart of the Windward island, still under French control today. It was one of the many Caribbean sugar-producing islands, as evidenced by the several windmills on this map. It also shows military installations, towns, estates, roads, churches and parish houses and depicts the..... More

Rare first French edition (first German: 1759) of this account of Charles XII’s exile in Turkey, published on the request of Voltaire to supplement his biography of the monarch and validate it vis-à-vis the rival biography published by Nordberg. Baron de Fabrice (1683-1759) had accompanied the Swedish king during his..... More

First enlarged edition of an illustrated merchant’s guide to the duties and tariffs levied by the Spanish crown on exports from the Americas, chiefly gold and silver, but also concerning timber, textiles, furs, coffee, spices and foodstuffs. After first offering a general overview of Spanish colonial commerce with Western Europe..... More

First edition (12mo) of Rousseau’s classic treatise on education, illustrated with 5 full-page engravings. Émile provides Rousseau’s most widely read statement on the essential goodness of human nature, tracing the natural development of a child brought up in the country in accordance with nature and free from the corrupting influence..... More

The development of mechanical farm implements was one of the important achievements of 18th-century technology. The "Academia dei Georgofili" was formed in Florence (where one of its buildings remains) for the purpose of improving Tuscan agriculture. In this book, Giuseppe Rigacci describes a new sowing machine and a hoe..... More

A handsomely bound copy in contemporary gilt calf of the rare first edition of an illustrated treatise on the two famous Marian icons housed at the church of Santa Maria presso San Celso in Milan. The Notizie istoriche intorno alla miracolosa imagine at once stresses the miraculous nature of these..... More

First edition and internally a fine, untrimmed copy of this general treatise on perspective by the astronomer and mathematician Eustachio Zanotti. "Eustachio Zanotti's treatise, as would be expected from a scientist of his quality, provides an analytical treatment of the mathematics of perspective at a highly professional level... He..... More

Only edition of this unusual volume surveying the wooded holdings of the Count of Eu, in Upper Normandy, a work comprised entirely of 40 fine, single-sided engravings, including a pictorial title page, 13 calligraphic plates of text, charts and tables, 5 botanical and industrial images, and 21 handsome, precise maps..... More

An untrimmed and largely unopened copy of the  first edition of this work on the biographies of well-known architects, very rare in this state: a work whose importance to the historiography of architecture equals that of Vasari for Renaissance artists, just as the author intended. After historical surveys of ancient..... More

Rare first edition of this landmark in the history of personal hygiene. Perret, a barber-surgeon, is commonly credited with having invented the first safety razor, appearing both in print and pictured for the first time in the present work. Being clean shaven was a mark of respectability in Enlightenment Paris..... More

First and only edition of a landmark book on bridge engineering, important not only for its bold solution for a complex site but also for many novel machines used in the course of construction. "Since its appearance the present work has been recognized for its great utility to engineers charged..... More

The first and only edition of a rare treatise in 17 chapters, dedicated to advising women on a wide range of topics including dress, beauty, physical and mental health, passion pursuit, pregnancy, and breastfeeding. The book does not particularly favor religion or intellectual pursuits, but highlights horseback riding, hunting, travel..... More