Very rare separately issued view of Castel Sant’Angelo in Rome, etched by Giovanni Maggi (1566-1618) and printed in 1600 by Andrea Vaccari (d. 1627) in honor of a certain Manilio Orlandi (fl. c. 1550s-c. 1602), captain of munitions (capitano di bombardieri) at Castel Sant’Angelo. The etching is unusual among printed..... More

Rare, separately issued etching depicting the architect-engineer Domenico Fontana’s (1543-1607) technical plan for the 30 April 1586 lowering of the Vatican Obelisk from its ancient placement on the south flank of Saint Peter’s, whence it soon would be moved to its current location as the centerpiece of the Piazza di..... More

A fresh and bright example of this rare separately issued version of Giovanni Battista Falda’s (1643-78) important 1667 two-sheet plan of Rome (called the pianta piccola), republished during the first half of the 18th century by the Amsterdam publishers Johannes Covens (1697-1774) and Cornelis Mortier (1699-1783). “Falda’s pianta piccola was..... More

Very rare first and only edition of this extraordinary 18th-century folio atlas – entirely engraved and consisting of 26 folding and 2-full-page plates – devoted to the practice of carpentry in the construction of civic, commercial, domestic and princely architecture using the latest “German, French and Italian methods” (f. 1)..... More

  One of Des Barres's rarest works, much less often seen on the market than his chart of New York Harbor.  A superb example of Des Barres's five profile recognition views that realistically portray what an 18th-century pilot would have seen at various points in sailing into New York Harbor..... More

Rare first edition of one of the earliest works on the subject of scurvy by the well-known anatomist, undertaken to survey the incidence of the disease in the ducal territories around Wittenberg, and consequently qualifying as an example of public health medicine. According to O’Malley, its positive result was the..... More

Very large, 4-sheet wall map, published for the Imperial Military Reserve Association, which presents a comprehensive (and graphically attractive) overview of the South ​Manchurian Railway (Mantetsu) as it stood in late 1931. Intended for ephemeral, official use and not as a decorative object, the map is remarkable for having survived..... More

An attractive and genuine copy of the scarce  first edition of the “ most important” of Louis Hennepin’s writings (Howes),  his first published work, the first book to print the name “Louisiane,” and the earliest printed account of La Salle’s 1678-9 journey to what is now Illinois.  The word “Louisiane”..... More

Rare first illustrated edition (1603) of Cesare Ripa’s (c. 1560-c. 1622) emblem book.  A landmark compendium of allegorical personifications, his Iconologia, is a summa of ancient, medieval and early modern information on such images and a sourcebook of unparalleled richness which continues to guide artists and scholars more than four..... More

Rare first edition of this profusely illustrated technological classic on the use of a quadrant and related instruments by Petrus Apianus (1492-1552), “a pioneer in astronomical and geographical instrumentation, and one of the most successful popularizers of these subjects during the 16th century” (DSB). The Instrument Buch is among the..... More

Rare first illustrated edition – and fine copy – of Leon Battista Alberti’s (1404-72) L’Architettura (De re aedificatoria), the first modern architectural treatise, here in the influential translation of Cosimo Bartoli (1503-72), who was one of the most important proponents of the use of the vernacular in 16th-century technical publications..... More