Rare first and sole edition of one of the few works published in Europe to record detailed, first-person observations made at Jesuit astronomical observatories in China in the 17th century, and one of the first works to convey information on Chinese observational data and astronomical traditions to a Western audience..... More

Scarce first and only edition of the first fully-fledged study of the Greek Orthodox Church, extensively illustrated, and an important addition to the nascent German tradition of studying the history of religious traditions without partisan intent. Heineccius was a Lutheran, and he pursues his object of study as an antiquarian..... More

Very rare first and sole edition of this professional guide to assaying gold, silver and assorted precious metals by a practicing Madrid assayer, of interest for the international as well as mercantile history of Spain in the last years of her imperial period. The work treats the physical properties..... More

Rare first edition of an early illustrated mineralogical treatise devoted to the element iron, written by the noted Venetian physician, apothecary and collector Giovanni Girolamo Zannichelli (1662-1729). While Zannichelli’s stated purpose is to introduce readers to his iron-based medicinal distillation, called ‘Iron Snow’ or ‘Snow of Mars’ (nix ferris; nix..... More

Finely illuminated, early 18th-century Venetian manuscript issued by the city’s Magistrato alla Sanità (Health Department) as a license to certify the physician Antonio Damugliano (d. 1747) to practice medicine in the Venetian Republic using his propriety formula for topical salves (balsami) to treat “wounds and ulcers” (f. 3v-3r). The manuscript..... More

Rare compilation of anti-Jesuit apocrypha: the famous ‘Monita secreta’ is found here alongside a purported condemnation of the Jesuits by the Faculty of Theology in Paris in 1554, as well as a translation of a prophecy of Saint Hildegaarde commonly seen as fortelling the fall of the Order. The present..... More

A fine pen-and-ink drawing and a very rare letterpress broadside, both relating to the baker’s trade in 18th-century Brussels. The drawing depicts St. Honoratus of Amiens (d. c. 600), a bishop saint who came to be especially venerated by bakers in France following the donation of land by the Parisian..... 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

Rare first edition of this richly illustrated work on practical perspective. “This is one of the most beautiful comprehensive ‘monumental’ treatises written in the eighteenth century” (Descargues, Perspective, pp. 138-44). Kemp identifies Heineken’s text as one commonly used by 18th-century artists to master the technicalities of perspectival representation (The Science..... More

The first edition of a rare suite of 23 splendidly engraved plates of drawing models for art students by the Bolognese artist Lodovico Mattioli (1662-1747). The models were adopted from works by Agostino Carracci, Jusepe de Ribera, Federico Barocci, and Carlo Maratti. The 23 finely executed plates represent a variety..... More

Rare first edition of the polymath Poleni’s letters to his contemporaries on astronomy, mathematics, hydraulics and physiology, which establish the author’s place as one of the foremost Italian scientists of his day. The collection includes letters to J. G. Marinoni (on the recent eclipse of the sun, and experiments in..... More

Rare, large-format engraved broadside produced in 1730 as part of the celebrations of the 200th anniversary of the Augsburg Confession (1530), one of the foundational documents of Lutheranism. The subject of the print is the famous Tranquebar Mission in southern India, which was established by King Frederick IV of Denmark..... More