Search Results: Titles starting with G from Bruce McKittrick Rare Books

[Geneva: Henri II Estienne], 1589. 18th-century gilt-paneled sprinkled calf (worn), spine and label gilt, edges sprinkled blue and green.           EDITIO PRINCEPS of the surviving political and geographical fragments of this pupil of Aristotle, here integrated into Estienne's commentary. His dialog on the customs of the ancient Athenians completes the volume. In good condition (slightly browned), Macclesfield blind stamps and bookplate. ¶Renouard, Annales...des Estienne 153,3; Cioranesco 9673.

[Geneva]: Henri II Estienne, 1557. Vellum over flexible boards, flat spine.             Editiones Principes of fragmentary Greek historical and geographical texts dealing with, i.a., elephant hunts, Persia, Rome, the Nile, gold mining in Egypt, the Red Sea, Ethiopians and Arabians. Arthur Freeman places Ctesias first among literature's great "travel liars" for his tales of India. Also in first edition are two previously unknown fragments of Appian discovered by Estienne and thirty pages of his notes. In good condition. ¶Renouard, Annales...des Estienne 117,6; Freeman, Bibliotheca fictiva 3 & 8 & no. 5.

[Geneva]: H. II Estienne, 1557. Mid-19th-century gilt- and blind-decorated calf (hinges worn), spine and lettering gilt, marbled edges, red silk marker. With: Maximus Tyrius.             Sermones siue Disputationes XLI.  [Geneva], H. II Estienne 1557. 8vo. [xvi], 320p.              Ad I-II: Editio Princeps of these Greek lectures on moral philosophy, here with the Latin translation of Cosimo de' Pazzi (1466-1513). Estienne edited the Greek text, added critical notes and substantially emended the Latin version. In good condition (first title cut close at the top), scattered early manuscript annotations, bookplate of Bob Luza (1893-1980). ¶Renouard, Annales...des Estienne 116,2.

Paris: G. Chaudière, 1585. Contemporary olive gilt-ruled morocco (corners bumped, light scuffs, faded) WITH THE BACHELOR ARMS OF JACQUES AUGUSTE DE THOU and his largest cipher in the gilt-ruled spine compartments (O-H-R 216, fers 1 & 3), all edges gilt.             EDITIO PRINCEPS of two thirds of Isidore of Pelusium's letters, among the largest epistolary collections of early monasticism. The remaining letters were published in two supplements, twenty and forty years later, respectively. Isidore addressed Emperor Theodosius II about tax relief and was on a first-name basis with bishops, local monks, common soldiers and professionally literary elites. This correspondence treats Greek authors, rhetoric, Scriptural commentary, government, women, disease, Jews, sex and seduction, predestination, heretics - in short "the vicissitudes of ecclesiastical, monastic, civic and intellectual life in a newly Christianized Roman Empire" (Larsen). It is a major source for early 5th-century social customs… Read More

Milan: A. Agnelli, 1757. Contemporary red morocco with gilt drawer handles, swags, thistles, lilies and small birds, flat spine gilt (small neat repair), gilt embossed paper endleaves, all edges gilt, green silk marker.             ONLY EDITION of Kydones' fourteenth-century Greek translation of the chanted portion of the Ambrosian Rite Christmas Day mass. The Father of Liturgical Hymnody in the West, Saint Ambrose (c. 333-97) established a widely accepted liturgy that influenced Gallican and Mozarabic Rites and resonated with Eastern Christians. It still has millions of adherents in and around Milan.            Byzantine imperial administrator and diplomat, Kydones strengthened relations with the West during his Italian sojourns between 1355 and 1369. He befriended humanists and promoted Greek culture and the unification of Eastern and Western Churches. He converted to Catholicism and translated numerous works from Latin into Greek, including these psalmelli, which were sung by the… Read More

[Venice: G. Leoncini with] Andrea Kunadis' Greek types, 1584. CONTEMPORARY ALLA GRECA BINDING OF BLIND-DECORATED CALF OVER WOODEN BOARDS, outer rule frames, central rectangle of a foliage roll, Christogram in the center (slight loss to both panels), the same roll repeated on the flat spine, a pair of metal catchpins and catches, book block edges flush cut. Apparently the ?second printing of the Eastern Orthodox hymnal: "one of the two most important poetic forms in medieval Byzantine religious poetry...chanters would use them [hirmologia] to learn the basic melodies" in the liturgy (New Grove2). Created in the 9th century to be sung by the whole congregation, the Hirmologion provides the first stanza (hirmos) of each of the roughly one thousand odes that make up the kanones. The congregants sing the remaining verses and their melodies from memory.  In the early 1520s Kunadis issued a series of Greek service books. With those same types and blocks, Giacomo Leoncini produced liturgical books in… Read More

Vienna: Imperial and Royal Court and State Printer, 1808. SUPERB CONTEMPORARY VIENNESE PAINTED AND GILT ETRUSCAN BINDING of light tan calf decorated with freehand designs, morocco onlays, multicolor stenciling and delicate tooling (the initials PG on the spine and rear panel remain unresolved). The spine compartments are also painted and tooled; gilt-lettered black and beige morocco labels, gilt crowned pg in the top compartment; board edges gilt.  The elaborately decorated dark green silk pastedowns have wide gilt rose morocco borders, gilt green silk flyleaves and a set of red and black marbled flyleaves. The book block edges are gilt over a hand drawn design. First Complete and First Illustrated Edition, presentation copy. "The archduke was without doubt the most trusted and skilled general in the [Hapsburg] army" and one of the best strategists in the anti-Napoleonic camp (Eysturlid). As Field-Marshal, he (1771-1847) thoroughly reorganized the Austrian army between 1800 and 1805 along the lines… Read More