Rare first edition Olivier de Vrée’s (1596-1652) compendium of seals of the Counts of Flanders, a volume notable both for its antiquarian rigor – the work remains a standard reference on the subject – and for its some 300 copperplate engravings meticulously cataloguing the development of seals from the establishment..... More
First edition, first issue of this landmark in science by Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727), here in a remarkably well preserved, unrestored example. “Isaac Newton began his study of light and optics while an undergraduate at Cambridge, and continued it at his Lincolnshire home during the plague years 1665-6 when (he..... More
Extremely rare early 18th-century Italian handbook offering advice to husbands, wives and their priests about how to maintain a happy marriage (or at least how to keep the peace). Il marito e la moglie is the work of the Jesuit Fulvio Fontana (1649-1723), who shaped the manual for the use..... More
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
Extremely rare first edition of this luxuriously illustrated anthology of extracts from papal sermons delivered between 1703-09, in Latin prose and facing Italian verse: an unusual example of Baroque ecclesiastical culture from the pontificate of Clement XI. On the basis of extreme rarity and contents, the volume numbers among those..... More
Rare early edition of this popular late 17th- and 18th-century tourist guide to Naples, recognized as such by Schlosser et al. Although there were guides to Naples and its environs prior to Sarnelli, the number was modest and—in contrast to cities such as Rome—there was no canonical plan or order..... 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
Rare 1718 first Italian-language edition – published in the same year as the French original – of the only book you will ever need. Penned by the cleric Noël Eudes de L’Arche, and here translated by Arione Rochi da Matalona, The One-Book Man, or An Entire Library in One Little..... More
Very rare first edition of this account of Antonio de Albuquerque Coelho’s 1717-1718 journey from Goa to Macao. Part I describes his circuitous route to Johore (in modern-day Malaysia); Part II, his six-month stay in the province—and unforeseen involvement in the coup that allowed the Sumatran adventurer Raja Kechil to..... More
First edition of a sumptuous festival book commemorating the inauguration of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI in 1717 as Count of Flanders, featuring an allegorical frontispiece and six large folding plates, including four engravings of the extravagant firework displays that followed the ceremony. The book provides a meticulous day-by-day..... 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
Rare 1720 Spanish-language relacion of an eyewitness account by the Bishop of Marseille, Henri François Xavier de Belsunce de Castelmoron (1671-1766), concerning the Great Plague then sweeping Marseille. Belsunce de Castelmoron, who would become famous for his extreme bravery in staying in the city to attend to the sick and..... More
Rare first and only edition of one of the first, if not the first Western monograph devoted to a Russian work of art, namely the icon of the 4th-century warrior saint Theodore Straelates housed in the Rieterkirche St. Marien und Christophorus in Kalbensteinberg, Bavaria, an important pilgrimage church located on..... More
Rare first edition of this illustrated handbook of practical geometry and surveying equipment. The engineer supplies a panorama of the instruments used by city planners and surveyors in the early 18th C for leveling land, measuring dikes and embankments, calculating elevation and distance, etc. Following a primer on basic geometry..... 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 2-sheet etching/engraving (here complete with its third sheet of engraved text in Dutch and French) depicting a winter festival celebrating the running of the “Brewers’ Icebreaker” to clear the Amstel River at Amsterdam during the first years of the 18th century. This large print, with its hundreds of lively..... More
Rare first and sole edition of this encyclopedic illustrated survey applying the latest mathematical methods to theoretical as well as practical sciences (e.g. geography), by the 22 year old cartographer Mayer. The work was published shortly before the author joined the Homann Cartographic Bureau, where he served as one of..... More
Rare augmented edition of this analytic catalogue of the contents of the botanical garden at Bologna by Gaetano Monti, radically revising the 1724 edition of his father, Giuseppe Monti. The earlier publication employed Tournefort’s classificatory system, organizing plants according to structure of fruit and flower, but the younger Monti here..... More
Rare first edition of this Spanish translation of the life of Queen Maria Ana of Portugal. For a period of 8 years during her husband’s illness, Maria Ana controlled one of the most powerful European empires of the 18th century, and, according to Ritter, took a special interest in missionary..... More
First and only known edition of a German Baroque calligraphy manual for young students. Following the title page, in which the elaborately scripted title is flanked by a pair of winged cherubs, this slim volume begins with a demonstration of the accretive written symbol system common in 18th-century German and..... More
Rare first edition of the funeral-book of Maria Barbara of Portugal, Queen-consort of Spain and wife of Ferdinand VI, with a large folding plate of her catafalque. As with many books of exequies for European monarchs printed in America, the volume appeared over a year after the Queen’s death in..... More
Rare first and only complete edition of an early work on fossils in the Americas by “one of the founders of paleontology” (Mancini, p. 131), the Franciscan historian and naturalist José Torrubia (1698-1761). La gigantologia Spagnola is a much-expanded version, composed in Italian, of an essay which first appeared in..... More
First edition – and fine copy – of Piranesi’s incomparable reconstruction of Rome’s Campus Martius, a work famed for its archaeological ambition, its graphic inventiveness, and as a sourcebook for the architectural imagination which continues to influence architectural theorists and practitioners today. “An exceptional personality, Piranesi transfigured his personal failure..... 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