The Theory and Practice of Gardening by Dezallier d'Argenville, Antoine-Joseph; James, John [Translator] - 1712

Berlin: C.F. Henning, 1751. 1st Edition . Very Good. 3.75 x 6 inches (9.5 x 15 cm). Complete in two volumes. Full calf leather bindings, red leather title labels and gilt decoration to spines. Good solid bindings. Volume one has light rippling to the pages and foxing up to page 3, hole to front free endpaper and three small holes to leading blank, Volume II is very clean throughout. Engraved bookplate to front endpapers (Charles Grave Hudson - 1st Baronet Hudson, of Wanlip Hall, Leicestershire.) The first edition of one of Voltaire's most important works, a landmark in the development of historiography, published under the alternative pseudonym M. de Francheville. A very nice example. Overall condition is Very Good. Size: 3.75 x 6 inches (9.5 x 15 cm). Hardback. Printed pages: 12mo. [14], 488, [1] (Errata) + [2], 466, [2] (Errata)

New York: S. Converse, Printed by Hezekiah Howe, New Haven, 1828. First Edition. Very Good. First edition, first printing. Complete in two volumes. Contemporary mottled calf with black morocco spine labels lettered in gilt, with the "Additions and Corrections" leaf bound at the end of Volume II; November 28 Advertisement absent, as is nearly always the case. Engraved frontis provided in sympathetic facsimile, lacking tissue guard. Internally Very Good with offsetting and several instances of penciled marginalia. Previous owner name in light pencil on title page. One of only 2,500 copies. An extremely important early declaration of American cultural identity, which heralded the nation's linguistic independence from Britain, inspiring the many dictionaries that to this day carry Webster's name.

First volume only of the two-volume set with 100 plates published from 1794 to 1799.56 finely hand-colored etched and stipple- and line-engraved plates, heightened with gum arabic, by William Hayes and members of his family. [The family worked chaotically, issuing volumes with different numbers of plates to subscribers.] With two unnumbered plates (the Erne and King of the Vultures) and 54 numbered plates (Pl. 3 to Pl. 56) with their text pages.Second edition of this work on the birds of the famous menagerie at Osterley Park commissioned by the banker and politician Robert Child. Child may have obtained some of the exotic species from Asia and Africa from his business with the East India Company.The birds include endangered species such as the purple-naped lory, Lorius domicella 27, blue-headed quail-dove, Starnoenas cyanocephala 41, horned currasow, Pauxi unicornis 49 and critically endangered yellow-crested cockatoo, Cacatua sulphurea 56.Hayes was the first author to record a single private… Read More

Collection of 190 fine hand-coloured stipple and line-engraved fashion plates from two decades of Ackermann's influential Repository of Arts.Plates date from January 1809 to December 1828 and include examples of outfits for all times of the day and social occasions: morning dress, walking or promenade dress, full evening dress, opera and ball gowns, carriage or travel clothes, dinner, garden, mourning and wedding dresses. Some of the clothes and hats were designed by famous London dressmaker Miss Pierpoint of 9 Henrietta Street, Covent Garden, tailor and habit-maker Mr Barry of 55 New Bond Street, milliner and dressmaker Mrs Elizabeth Gill of 1 Cork Street, Burlington Gardens, Mrs Charlotte Bean of Albemarle Street, Mrs Griffin of Rider Street, St. James, and the notorious serial bankrupt Madame Ann Margaret Lanchester.The elegant ladies are shown dancing at balls, sitting on chaise longues, walking on beaches, reading love letters while strolling, playing the piano, looking at etchings, reading music… Read More

Very good copies of Volumes 3 and 4 only of the very rare four-volume, first edition of this beautiful German entomological classic.
Complete with 189 beautifully handcoloured engraved plates in two volumes. (The four-volume set contains 438 plates.)
Engraved and delicately hand-coloured by Johann Carl Bock, Johan Georg Sturm, Johann Georg Klinger, and others, after drawings by Esper.
Esper's illustrations depict the complete life cycles of many European butterflies and moths, many along with their host plants. Many specimens are shown in pupa, larva (caterpillar) and adult forms, while some adult butterflies and moths show alternate sides (upper and lower) of their wings on the left and right wings.
Volume 3: 1782, 396 text pages, 81 handcoloured plates I-LXXIX.
Volume 4: 1786, 372 text pages, 108 handcoloured plates LXXX-CLXXXIII (Noct. 1 to 104).
Eugen Johann Christoph Esper (1742-1810) was a German zoologist, entomologist and phycologist, professor of zoology at Erlangen and director of the… Read More

Venice: Sumptibus Caroboli, et Pompeati, 1768. Complete 17 volume set, bound in 16 leather folios. First editions. Published Venice: Sumptibus Caroboli, et Pompeati, 1768-1776. Folios, 8 3/4" x 12", full calf skin vellum with gilt embossed spine titles and marbled edges, 2-color title page in volume one with frontis portrait of pope Gregory, title page vignettes, tail pieces and historiated initials. Text in Latin, printed in 2 columns on heavy rag paper. Mild wear and soiling to the boards, name at bottom of title pages, paper label at foot of spines. An attractive, very good set. Text bright, unmarked, bindings tight. Scarce. . 1st. Full-Leather. Very Good. Folio.

Good+ hardcover. Text in Dutch. Contemporary vellum over boards; blind stamped central strapwork lozenge on each cover; raised bands on spine; 3 engraved title pages; woodcut decorative drop-cap initials and head and tail pieces; 686 numbered woodcuts by van Sichem. The vellum is in Very Good condition with some scuffing/light soiling; small splits at cover joints, head and tail but vellum remains supple; tightly bound; generally bright and clean interior with woodcuts ranging from Good to Fine condition; one leaf (3C6) has 2 cm abraded hole that doesn't affect text on recto but slightly affects woodcut on verso; leaf 3C7 has 2 small areas of text effacement (2 cm each). The work is complete but has numerous pagination errors and some signature errors. Pagination: Title Page 1, 2-598,Title Page 2, 600-722, Title Page 3 ,723-800. Collation: A-V8 2A-2V8 3A-3H8. 8vo, 19 x 13 cm. Cf, STCN #ppn 842875999; OCLC #1008001235.

New York: S. Converse, Printed by Hezekiah Howe, New Haven, 1828. First Edition. Very Good. First edition, first printing. Complete in two volumes. Contemporary mottled calf with black morocco spine labels lettered in gilt, with the "Additions and Corrections" leaf bound at the end of Volume II; November 28 Advertisement absent, as is nearly always the case. Engraved frontis provided in sympathetic facsimile, lacking tissue guard. Internally Very Good with offsetting and several instances of penciled marginalia. Previous owner name in light pencil on title page. One of only 2,500 copies. An extremely important early declaration of American cultural identity, which heralded the nation's linguistic independence from Britain, inspiring the many dictionaries that to this day carry Webster's name.

Beautifully signature-bound in publisher's raw tan linen; front board & spine decoratively lettered; decorative endpapers. Generally, a very good or better set with signature satiric & anarchistic illustrations. One of the most important illustrated radical periodicals. Artists include but are not limited to: A. Roubille, Gustave-Henri Jossot, Konrad-Wagner, Valery Muller, Hermann-Paul, Leonetto Cappiello, Jules Cheret, Juan Gris, Jules-Alexandre Grun, Jossot, Frantisek Kupka, Paul Iribe, Theophile-Alexandre Steinlen, Orazi, Adrien Barrere, Poulbot, H. G. Ibels, Kees van Dongen, Armand Gallo, Ricardo Flores, and many others. Being a periodical that did not shy away from less attractive topics, they covered such topics as crime, economy, leisure and travel, politics, current events, international relations, religion, health and even the Press itself. Color and black and white illustrations copiously throughout. Vol. 1, 2, and 9: front board and spine are beginning to detach but are still sturdy. 10 1/4… Read More

Beautiful full morocco with gilt detailing and rule; 5 raised bands. Elaborately designed doublures with gilt dentelles. Silk fly sheets. "The Delphic Edition of The Breviary Treasures consists of 475 copies printed on French hand-made paper, of which this copy is Number 94." xii, 214 pp. 6 3/4 x 9 1/4 inches.