Rare books from James & Mary Laurie Booksellers (A.B.A.A.)

Original hand-coloured engraving drawn by Georg Ehret and executed by J. M. Seligmann. Leaf measures 19.9 x 14.2 inches (50.5 x 36 cm). Fine condition. Some cosmetic retouching in gouache. Matted and ready for framing. From Christoph Trew's magnificent HORTUS NITIDISSIMIS OMNEM PER ANNUM SUPERBIENS FLORIBUS published in three volumes over a 36 year period from 1750-1786. Painted in a more opaque gouache to resemble a painting rather than the traditional practice of using translucent water-colours that allowed more of the engraving to show through. Each piece was meant to capture the flower at the peak of it's beauty instead of focusing solely on scientific detail. Ehret contributed 44 of the 180 illustrations in the entire work and is the single most important botanical artist of the era. HORTUS NITIDISSIMIS is considered to be one of the most sumptuous of the florilegia. Being one of the most elusive of the great flower books, the opportunity to own one of these leaves is reserved for only the most… Read More

Original hand-coloured engraving drawn by Georg Ehret and executed by J. M. Seligmann. Image measures 19.9 x 14.2 inches (50.5 x 36 cm). Fine condition. Some cosmetic retouching in gouache. Matted and ready for framing. From Christoph Trew's magnificent HORTUS NITIDISSMIS OMNEM PER ANNUM SUPERBIENS FLORIBUS originally published in three volumes over a 36 year period from1750-1786. Painted in a more opaque gouache to resemble a painting rather than the traditional practice of using translucent water-colours that allowed more of the engraving to show through. Each piece was meant to capture the flower at the peak of it's beauty instead of focusing solely on scientific detail. Ehret contributed 44 of the 180 illustrations in the entire work and is the single most important botanical artist of the era. HORTUS NITIDISSIMIS is considered to be one of the most sumptuous of the florilegia. Being one of the most elusive of the great flower books, the opportunity to own one of these leaves is reserved for… Read More

Fine. Original hand-coloured engraving drawn by Georg Ehret and executed by J. M. Seligmann. Leaf measures 19.9 x 14.2 inches (50.5 x 36 cm). Fine condition. Matted and ready for framing. From Christoph Trew's magnificent HORTUS NITIDISSIMIS OMNEM PER ANNUM SUPERBIENS FLORIBUS published in three volumes over a 36 year period from 1750-1786. Painted in a more opaque gouache to resemble a painting rather than the traditional practice of using translucent water-colours that allowed more of the engraving to show through. Each piece was meant to capture the flower at the peak of it's beauty instead of focusing solely on scientific detail. Ehret contributed 44 of the 180 illustrations in the entire work and is the single most important botanical artist of the era. HORTUS NITIDISSIMIS is considered to be one of the most sumptuous of the florilegia. Being one of the most elusive of the great flower books, the opportunity to own one of these leaves is reserved for only the most discriminating collectors.

Original hand-coloured engraving drawn by "E" and executed by J. M. Seligmann. Leaf measures 19.9 x 14.2 inches (50.5 x 36 cm). Fine condition. Matted and ready for framing. From Christoph Trew's magnificent HORTUS NITIDISSIMIS OMNEM PER ANNUM SUPERBIENS FLORIBUS published in three volumes over a 36 year period from 1750-1786. Painted in a more opaque gouache to resemble a painting rather than the traditional use of water-colours that allowed more of the engraving to show through. Each piece is meant to capture the flower at the peak of it's beauty instead of focusing solely on scientific detail. Several artists from different European nations were involved in this project giving a multi-ethnic flavour to the complete work. HORTUS NITIDISSIMIS is considered to be one of the most sumptuous of the florilegia. Being one of the most elusive of the great flower books, the opportunity to own one of these leaves is reserved for only the most discriminating collectors.

Original hand-coloured engraving drawn by Georg Ehret and executed by J. M. Seligmann. Leaf measures 19.9 x 14.2 inches (50.5 x 36 cm). Fine condition. Matted and ready for framing. From Christoph Trew's magnificent HORTUS NITIDISSIMIS OMNEM PER ANNUM SUPERBIENS FLORIBUS published in three volumes over a 36 year period from 1750-1786. Painted in a more opaque gouache to resemble a painting rather than the traditional practice of using translucent water-colours that allowed more of the engraving to show through. Each piece was meant to capture the flower at the peak of it's beauty instead of focusing solely on scientific detail. Ehret contributed 44 of the 180 illustrations in the entire work and is the single most important botanical artist of the era. HORTUS NITIDISSIMIS is considered to be one of the most sumptuous of the florilegia. Being one of the most elusive of the great flower books, the opportunity to own one of these leaves is reserved for only the most discriminating collectors.

Original hand-coloured engraving drawn by Georg Ehret and executed by J. M. Seligmann. Leaf measures 19.9 x 14.2 inches (50.5 x 36 cm). Fine condition. Matted and ready for framing. From Christoph Trew's magnificent HORTUS NITIDISSIMIS OMNEM PER ANNUM SUPERBIENS FLORIBUS published in three volumes over a 36 year period from 1750-1786. Painted in a more opaque gouache to resemble a painting rather than the traditional practice of using translucent water-colours that allowed more of the engraving to show through. Each piece was meant to capture the flower at the peak of it's beauty instead of focusing solely on scientific detail. Ehret contributed 44 of the 180 illustrations in the entire work and is the single most important botanical artist of the era. HORTUS NITIDISSIMUS is considered to be one of the most sumptuous of the florilegia. Being one of the most elusive of the great flower books, the opportunity to own one of these leaves is reserved for only the most discriminating collectors.

Halle: Johann Justinus Gebauer, 1752, 1753. 1st. Hardcover. Very good. Compiled and translated by Johann Friedrich Schröter. The introduction by Baumgarten is first published here and contains footnotes that are a list of books published on the Americas prior to the publication of this work. In original paper boards with titles stamped on leather labels on the spines. Complete with eight maps and sixty one plates, including frontispiece in volume one. Plates are bound into the rear of each volume on blank leaves and pull out of the text block. Each single page plate is folded once into the text block and were designed not to rest against any other printing so that none of the plates have any offsetting and have remained clean and bright. Part One is mainly a translation of MOEURS DES SAUVAGES AMERICAINS COMPARES AUX MOEURS DES PREMIERS TEMPS by Joseph Francois Lafiteau and published in Paris in 1723, which describes with great detail the customs, religious beliefs and social organization of… Read More

New York: Limited Editions Club., 1988. Hardcover. Fine condition in a fine clamshell box.. Robert Motherwell. Bound in publisher's original tan Irish linen with original lithograph by Robert Motherwell printed in black on red paper recessed into the front cover. Spine printed in black. Matching drop-back folding (clamshell) slipcase with spine printed in black. Illustrated by Robert Motherwell with 27 original lithographs in various sizes. One of 750 copies signed by the author and artist. There were also 20 additional exhibition sets of the illustrations and 50 signed numbered portfolios, both in wooden boxes. This large folio measures 18 1/2 x 22 inches. Published at $8,000.00. This copy has been kept in a vinyl and felt lined pouch and is flawless.

Madison, Wisconsin: Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers' Institute., 1931. 1st Edition. Hardcover. Exterior wear. Author's first book. Bound in publisher's original black and green cloth with spine lettered in gilt. 9 7/8 inches tall, 299 pages. Wear through the cloth at the spine and extremities. A few dime size gouges out of the upper rear cover. The text bloc is sound and tight. This copy has a presentation signed and dated by Aldo Leopold during the year of publication when Leopold was 44 years old. This is a remarkabley rare autograph that you may never see offered for sale in the future. Leopold's most famous book, A Sand County Almanac, was published in 1949, a year after he died helping a neighbor fight a wildfire. Thus, NO copies of that famous book can be found signed by the author. Leopold's importance as one of the founders of the science of wildlife management and the wilderness movement in America cannot be over estimated.

Santa Barbara: Black Sparrow Press, 1982. 1st . Hardcover. Fine/fine. Photographs by Michael Montfort. Bound in publisher's original tan paper boards with printing in blue, green and rust, with glossy photograph of Bukowski on the front cover. One of 125 numbered copies signed by Bukowski and Montfort, 100 of which were for sale. Illustrated with 20 tipped in glossy color photographs. Original acetate wrapper in fine condition. Housed in the publisher's original slipcase covered in marbled paper. Also enclosed is an 8 inch tall prospectus with a glossy photo of Bukowski on the front cover, signed by him along with the letter "J." This copy is accompanied by two additional items given to a good customer by John Martin and the Black Sparrow Press: one is a racing program from Santa Anita for Wednesday, December 30, 1981 with extensive notes by Bukowski in black felt tipped pen. Also included are two original drawings by Bukowski on one 8 1/2 11 inch sheet of paper with his signature "Buk" in the… Read More

London: George Routledge & Sons, n.d.. Hardcover. fine. The Aramis Edition bound in half blue levant and blue cloth. Front and back covers ruled in gilt. Title and decoration stamped in gilt on the spine with five raised bands. Top edge gilt. Eight inches tall.

New York: Colonial , 1902. Hardcover. Fine. Edited by Edmund Clarence Steadman and George Edward Woodberry. Bibliophile's Edition limited to ten numbered and registered sets signed by the editors and publishers. Bound in brown morocco with decorations stamped in gilt on the front and back covers and spine, five raised bands, top edge gilt, fore edge uncut with silk moire end papers. With over 50 full page illustrations. Contains engraved plates in three different states by J. Sartain from the original painting by S. Osgood, now owned by the New York Historical Society.

1993. Fine. Original color lithograph. One of 50 numbered lithographs signed by Baskin. 23 x 20 inches. Fine condition. Matted and framed to 28 x 28 inches.

Warrington: William Eyers, 1777 and 1784. 1st. Hardcover. large 4to., contemporary half calf and marblrd boards. Front hinge separated. 21 folding plates with some offsetting. 820 pp. First major practical work on prison reform. An immensley influential book by the high sheriff of Bedford gaol that found permanent support in the Howard League. "His single-handed campaign not only caused a revolution in his lifetime, but is the direct progenitor of subsquent work in the most critical branch of penal reform." - Carter & Muir, Printing & the Mind of Man, 224. The fine plates include plans of the jails Howard visited in Paris, Rome, Milan, St. Petersburg, Moscow, Amsterdam, ect.; and the layout of an ideal prison that would put in effect the reforms he urged. EB (1911), XIII, pp. 832-3. There was an additional appendix in 1880. Kenneth Nebenzahl's description laid in from I'm sure is decades old.

December 3, 1830. Fine. Land grant on vellum signed by President Andrew Jackson during his first term. Also signed by Elijah Hayward, Commissioner of the General Land Office. The land grant gives George McCormick eighty acres in Washtenaw County, Michigan. Official seal of the Land Office affixed. Certificate No. 3119. Recorded Vol. 7, page 165. December 3, 1830. Vellum shows some soft folds should come out. Signatures are strong and unfaded. Heading reads THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Lead in to Jackson's signature reads "In Testimony whereof, I, Andrew Jackson, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, have caused these letters to be made PATENT..." 15 5/8 x 9 3/4 inches.