Atlas novus, sine tabulae geographica...(1736) - Facsimile edition by SEUTTER Georg Matthäus

A Paris: De l'imprimerie de Didot, 1758. This 10.5 inch quarto is in very good condition, sound hinges, 171 pp. with all 22 maps (several folding), plans and views in very good or better condition on heavy paper. Contemporary calf boards with original marbeled pastedowns, two title pages (one decorative with attribution to Bellin), "Tables des Titres" and "Table des Cartes, Plans et Vues." Six compartment, banded spine, with red, gilt title label.Triple (French), gilt fillets on front and rear boards. Bellin was the first chief hydrographic engineer of the French Hydrographic Office (see Tooley's Dictionary of Mapmakers, revised ed.). Ref: Beinecke, Lesser Antilles Collection, 215; Sabin 4553. This is an extremely nice copy.. First Edition. Full-Leather. Very Good.

Edinburgh: John Hamilton, ca. 1831. Leatherbound. Very good +. 16, 288, 4 p. 49 cm. 68 hand-coloured maps, many fold-out, and one fold-out of Mountain Chains with b&w engraving. Plate 32 missing as stipulated in Contents. Scales differ. Rebound in half leather by Keith Felton. Gilt trim. Original boards. Occasional dampstains and thumbing. Tear in fold of plate 61. Repairs to edges and corners of Contents page. Earlier repairs to edges of Table of Mountain Chains, Chart of the World, fold-out map of the Russian Empire. Title continues: "Comprehending A Sketch of the History of Geography; A View of the Principles of Mathematical, Physical, Civil, and Political Geography; An Account of the Geography, Statistics, and History of Each Continent, State, and Kingdom, Delineated. And a Tabular View of the Principal Mountain Chains in the World. Engraved on Sixty-nine Copperplates, and Compiled from Materials Drawn from the Newest and most Authentic Sources." This magnificent atlas was published about 1831… Read More

Paris: Fabrique Générale d'Articles de Voyages, 1840. First Edition. Alexis Godillot (1816-1893) was a contemporary of Louis Vuitton (1821-1892) and first achieved renown in Paris for his beautiful hand-made luggage. With a workshop situated just a few blocks away from Vuitton's, this catalogue comes from this very early period of Godillot's life before he had revolutionised footwear by differentiating the moulding of the left shoe from the right and become the famous shoemaker who would go on to equip over one hundred thousand French soldiers for The Crimean War. 'Godillot' remains a slang French term for 'boot' to this day. The album features superb hand-coloured lithographs with an original sketch showcasing nearly one hundred accessories including bags, picnic baskets, apparel, wonderful old trunks, tents, and hammocks- true 'objets nomades' - many of which are in surprisingly bold and modern designs. A beautiful, rare, and precious catalogue of the articles a traveller might require for… Read More

Edinburgh: Printed for John Thomson & Co. for Baldwin, Craddick & Joy, London, & John Cumming, Dublin, ca. 1819-1825. Second Edition. Hardcover. Very good. xxviii, Plates, 18 p. 38 cm. Frontispiece Mountains table, title page vignette, engraving p. viii, 8 in-text illustrations before plates (6 colour, 2 tables), 44 engraved hand-coloured plates, most with small vignettes. Bound in half leather with marbled paper boards. New endpapers. Signed by previous owner William Hossack (1829) on front and rear endpapers. Foxing. Repaired edges to plates 36 & 37. An attractive atlas engraved by N. R. Hewitt from maps drawn by James Wyld the Elder (1790-1836). One of the foremost geographers of his time, Wyld is credited with introducing lithography to map printing during the Peninsula Campaign in 1812. A prolific publisher, he is reputed to have died of overwork. The detailed maps in this atlas emphasize Europe but there are several maps showing the Americas and Australia. Most maps feature a vignette… Read More

Two volumes. Tall Quarto (9 by 11 inches), near-contemporary half-calf and marbled boards. pp. xiii, (21), (1) 2-378; (xxviii), (389) 380-895. With half-titles in each volume and errata leaf with directions to the binder. FIRST EDITION of Godwin' revolutionary masterwork "his passionate advocacy of individualism, his trust in the fundamental goodness of man, and his opposition to all restrictions on liberty have endured" (PMM) a profound influence on Thomas Jefferson, who had the first American edition in his library and is viewed as Godwin's "American born counterpart." Along with those of Burke and Paine, Godwin's Enquiry was one of the most influential English political books of the late eighteenth century. It was an equally important landmark in the development of Utilitarian thought, and on political thinking in general. Godwin-the husband of Mary Wollstonecraft-"saw no good in human institutions and sought to put an end to all organized politics, religion and society… The Enquiry was, and… Read More

Brown cloth with blindstamped decorations to covers and gilt particulars to spine, which has been professionally rebacked. Light foxing throughout. Inscribed to "[Judge Elphinstone] Jackson with the author's best compliments-" at rear of book. Jackson was born in Calcutta, India, the son of a leading judge. Following his studies in England, he returned to India, and together with others founded the Indian Football Association in 1893. Photographic plates (each affixed to blank leaves contemporary with publication) of the Duke of Argyll, Alfred Ernest Alfred Duke of Edinburgh (signed and dated), Countess of Mayo, Sir Cecil Beadon (past Lt. Governor of Bengal), Lord John Lawrence (Governor-General of Bengal), Sir F.J. Halliday, Sir William Grey, Earl of Mayo, Queen Victoria (after a painting) and Ameer ali Kahn Bahadoor, Bahadoor gives a history of the recent British rule in India including his family's role in the rebellion (or in his words "mutiny") of 1857.; Royal octavo; 56, 378, 10… Read More

Illustrated with 12 folding engraved plates of optical/geometrical diagrams and a few woodcut diagrams and tables in text; large woodcut decorative tail-pieces, head-pieces and initials. 8vo. Contemporary full speckled calf; boards with double-fillet gilt-ruled borders; spine with five raised bands and gilt-lettered (faded) morocco label; edges speckled red. London: Printed for W. and J. Innys, printers to the Royal Society, 1718. Second English Edition revised and enlarged by Newton. First Octavo Edition. Second issue, with the title-page dated 1718 (the very rare first issue is dated 1717). The first edition appeared in 1704 in quarto. For this second edition the plates were newly engraved to fit the new octavo format. The most important feature of this second edition is that the number of Queries at the end was increased from 16 to 31, including the celebrated Query 28 on the nature of light. The Queries in the initial set were rather brief, but the later ones became more substantial, written as… Read More

One of the finest works of illustration ever published, marking the transition from Rococo to the Neo-Classical Era of European art.Illustrated with 139 full-page plates by Boucher, Eisen, Gravelot, Monnet, Moreau, and others. Plus engraved title, 3 pages of dedications, 4 fleurons on title pages, 30 engraved vignettes and 1 full-page cul-de-lampe by Choffard and Monnet closing Volume 4. Engraved by Le Mire and Basan. Large 4to. Full 18th century French marbled calf; spine with 5 raised bands; red and green morocco labels; gilt spines, gilt borders and edges; original hand-marbled endpapers. A Paris, Chez Leclerc. 1767 to 1771. 4 volumes. Ovid's Metamorphoses are of course, are some of the most famous stories to survive from antiquity; they tell, essentially, a history of the world in dactylic hexameter, the meter of the epics. Ovid's stories are as foundational to Western literature as any other book written; they include the story of Io and Jupiter, the stories of Cadmus, Pyramus and Thisbe (of… Read More

Rare complete copy of Keika Hasegawa's Keika Hyakugiku (100 chrysanthemums by Keika)(The British Museum only has Volumes 1 and 2, the Smithsonian only 2 and 3.)75 colour woodblock prints (all published), including eight double-page, from this seminal book on the cultivation of chrysanthemums. Volumes 1 and 2 published in July 1893 and Volume 3 published in December 1903. Chrysanthemum cultivation came to Japan from China in the 8th century and the flower was later adopted as the Emperor's crest. Over the centuries, extraordinary hybrids of elegant shapes and vibrant colours were produced, many of which are recorded in this book.Little is known about the artist Keika Hasegawa. (The name Keika is usually a woman's name.) Active in the final years of the 19th century, he also produced books of patterns for kimono and washi paper such as Biko Zukan (Art Book) 1894, and Kyoka Zuan (Patterns of Kyoto), 1897. Original wraps are grubby and worn, interior slightly browned and edges worn. A few prints with… Read More

Very good copy of the rare first edition of John Hill's famous herbal with contemporary hand colour.
With engraved allegorical frontispiece showing Health receiving tribute from Asia, Africa and America by Samuel Wale engraved by Henry Roberts, engraved coat of arms of the Duke of Northumberland on dedication, and 75 engraved botanical plates all finely coloured in a contemporary 18th-century hand.
The 75 plates show approximately 1,500 species of plants, flowers, herbs, vegetables, fruits, ferns, mushrooms, both native to Britain and foreign, all in distinctive 18th-century colour.
Plates drawn and engraved by Boyce, C. Edwards & Matthew Darly, Henry Roberts, R. Benning, etc.
Title page printed in red and black with allegorical vignette of Aesculapius and Flora gathering from the Lap of Nature by Samuel Wale, engraved by Charles Grignion.
Sir John Hill (1714–1775) was an English composer, actor, author and botanist. He contributed to contemporary periodicals and engaged in literary battles with… Read More