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

Paris: N. Giguet and L.-G. and J.-F. Michaud for H. Henrichs, 1803. Sheep-backed speckled boards, flat spine, gilt-lettered title. First Edition of this semi-autobiographical epistolary novel by one of the leading architects of the Holy or Grand Alliance, which held sway in Europe from 1815 to 1853. Born in Riga to a wealthy family with access to the court of Catherine of Russia, the author married a local noble and diplomat much her senior. She sought relief from their distant relations in imagining her husband as the lover described in the letters published here, a sentimental romance. Her subsequent profound religious conversion opened the door to apocalyptic faith and intimacy with Tsar Alexander I, whom she prompted to initiate the Grand Alliance. She was known for her wild expenditures and charismatic proselytizing and is the subject of more than a dozen books. In good condition. ¶Ungherini, Manuel de bibliographie...des femmes célèbres II(2): 110; Giraud, Nouvelle bibliographie du roman… Read More

Florence: L. Torrentino, 1551. CONTEMPORARY LACE-CASED INTERIM VELLUM BINDING (soiled), contemporary manuscript title on the spine and bottom edge, evidence of four pigskin ties, edges gauffered in blind; spine lining from a medieval vellum manuscript.             First Edition of the first full translation into any language. Completed in 1547 by Romolo Amaseo (1489-1552), it remained the standard Latin version into the 19th century. Pausanias' 2nd-century C.E. travelogue of Greece describes local history and legends, customs and superstitions, monuments and ruins, and is an important source for modern archeologists.             A REMARKABLE COPY, substantially taller and wider than the regular exemplars printed on median paper. Jean Grolier's in contemporary morocco measures 350 x 250 mm. I have found one large-paper copy in U.S. collections (Hofer-Harvard). In good condition (pale stain to the outer margins, foxing to parts of twelve quires). ¶Mortimer, 16th Century Italian Books 364… Read More

Breslau: D. Müller, 1629. Marbled boards (spine defective). Filled with pastoral imagery, these verses play on the name of the estate of the dedicatee, Duke Heinrich Wenzel von Münsterberg-Öls. Second printing, issued the same year as the first (slightly browned). ¶Dünnhaupt, Personalbibliographien zu den Drucken des Barock IV: 3041,105.2.

Padua: G. Manfrè for the Seminary Press, 1737. CONTEMPORARY ROMAN GILT CALF BY THE SALVIONI WORKSHOP WITH THE SODERINI ARMS embedded in the decor, outer border of a vine and foliage roll around a complex design of interlacing strapwork, lattice work, volutes, acanthus leaves, drawer handles, small blooms and acorns. Long stem flowers, stars, sphynxes, acanthus, palmettes, small blooms and dots frame the open central panel of mottled calf. Gilt trumpeting tritons in the spine compartments (rubbed), gilt red morocco label, pink speckled paper endleaves, all edges gilt.             Only Edition of this biography of the politician and diplomat, Piero Soderini (1451-1522), who ruled Florence between the Medici's ouster in 1502 and their return in 1512. Justificatory correspondence and documents make up three-quarters of the volume. Roman patrician Antonfrancesco Soderini (1660-1743) financed the book and commissioned Roman artists to design and cut the plates (P. Pilaja after G. Odam). In good… Read More

Rudolstadt: Court Printer C.P. Fröbel for J.K. Krieger in Kassel, 1817. Contemporary speckled sheep-backed marbled boards (worn), gilt-ruled flat spine. With: Walther, Friedrich Ludwig.             Die Lehre vom Dung.  Anspach, B.F Haueisen 1787. 8vo. xvi, 55p. With: Fischer, August Wilhelm.            Ueber das neu erfundene allgemeine Befruchtungsmittel der Erde. Magdeburg, J.C. Giesecken [1795]. 8vo. viii, 56p.               Ad I-III: Three treatises on agriculture and horticulture: the first two are first editions. Thon (I) treats the cultivation of various species of currants and gooseberries for wine. Walther (II) investigates manure and its uses. He includes a calendar for field fertilization. Fischer (III) advertises his "newly invented" fertilizer and its potential applications by farmers and gardeners (first published in 1794). Only the Thon is held by any North American institution. A modest copy (foxed, first quarter of the volume stained). ¶Ad I: Engelmann,… Read More