Rare books from Michael Laird Rare Books LLC

Paris: Guerin et Delatour, 1762. First Edition. Hardcover. Very good. Dates: 1762-1766. Quarto. Eight volumes in seven, COMPLETE THUS, with 202 folding engraved plates, illustrating more than 4000 coins and medals (!). The eight volumes contain numerous elaborately engraved vignettes, head- and tailpieces throughout. Collation: pp. iv; 220; 22 engraved folding plates. + xxviii, 207 (1); xviii, 255 (1); liv, 288 (1), including Tables; 136 folding engraved plates. + iv, 356; iv, 376; 32 folding engraved plates. + xii, 70; 2 folding plates; viii, 200; 10 folding plates. BINDINGS: Elegant contemporary blue morocco, smooth spines gilt, all edges gilt, lower compartments gilt with the original shelf-marks of the first owner Chretien Francois de Lamoignon (1735-1789), inner dentelles gilt, marbled pastedowns and endpapers (spines lightly faded to chestnut brown, one headcap chipped). ¶ The Lamoignon copy of the catalogue of the finest private numismatic collection ever formed by a single individual, a… Read More

1871. Hardcover. Very good. Oblong folio (350 x 450 mm). With 32 watercolors of high quality by Annibale Angelini delineated from the original frescos. Original red pebbled cloth (shaken), upper cover with the crowned monograph of Prince Camillo IX (Vittorio Emanuele) Massimo. In excellent unrestored state. Preserved in a protective case. An important discovery. This album of watercolors is the only surviving record of the once spectacular frescos and interiors of the elegant garden Casino Felice of the Villa Peretti Montalto alle Terme (later known as the Villa Massimo), built for Sixtus V by famed Roman architect Domenico Fontana. After centuries of neglect, the Villa, its two palaces, and its lush gardens were destroyed in the 1880s in order to make way for the central railroad station in Rome, the Roma Termini. The long-lost frescos of the Casino Felice are of the greatest interest to scholars of Renaissance Italian art: among the artists were C. Nebbia, F. Rosselli, D. Cresti (called il… Read More

Venice: Giordano Ziletti, 1574. First Edition in Italian. Folio. [18] ff., 296 pp. Collation: *8 **6 ***4 A-Z6 AA10, COMPLETE. Ziletti's device on title, 5 large woodcuts showing operations (2 on the battlefield), numerous woodcut illustrations of surgical instruments and heads with incisions, occasional staining or soiling; title with outer corners extended; fol. f5 with marginal infill, gathering AA at end with old ink stain to top margin, extending perhaps 5 mm and not affecting text, N1-2 with old ink stain in the lower margin, likewise not affecting text; Interesting early annotations to the first 35 pages, including early ownership inscriptions on title (dated 1605). Recent full vellum antique. FIRST VERNACULAR EDITION. Recognized as one of the foremost sixteenth century accounts of surgery in Italy, this was preceded only by this publisher's Latin edition of the previous year; our edition contains MORE woodcuts of surgical instruments and illustrations of the removal of bullets by field… Read More

(Lyon or Paris), 1570. The coffret measures (in mm) ca. 280 (long) x 190 (wide) x 115 (high): around sides are four looped metal fittings for leather straps, all five original hinges on back, on front the original iron hasp facade with forged "pine leaf" decoration, keyhole & lock mechanism; on slightly dome top nine iron reinforcements, the whole fixed with original nails; original linen lined interior. This artifact has many serious condition problems: the left side of the lid is present but detached; many areas of the wood are chipped, wormed, and/or defective, but there are no signs of restoration whatsoever. Affixed to the inside of the lid is a large woodcut (ca. 250 x 170 mm) of two lovers (see below). The woodcut is torn, chipped and damaged, with evidence of old insect activity; there is loss of considerable portions of text and image, including the left portion of the man, the banderole above him, and the dog at his feet. With many significant faults, and priced accordingly. Preserved in a… Read More

Boston in New-England: Ad 1: Printed by B. Green, and J. Allen; Ad 2: B. Green, 1722. First Edition and Second Edition. Ad 1: 16mo. Lacks pp. 1-14 (including title), and pp. 199-208, [2] at end. Bound in contemporary American sheep over scale-board (VERY WORN: SEE IMAGES). Preserved in a cloth protective case with 4-flap lig-free chemise. Ad 2: 40 pp. (lacks title-page). Stitched as issued (text stained). Preserved in a mylar L-sleeve. FIRST EDITION. Very rare early American Judaica, the last copy on the market appearing ninety-three years ago in a 1929 Goodspeed's catalogue (untraced). Seventeenth-century American books on the Jewish Conversion Question are almost unobtainable in any condition. This 1700 first edition of "The Fountain Opened" is distinguished by the fact that only SEVEN American Judaica books preceded it. The work is #8 in A.S.W. Rosenbach's "Books and Pamphlets by Jews or Relating to Them, Printed in the United States, From the Establishment of the Press." Whereas our copy is… Read More

Parma: Bodoni, 1786. Very good. 4to (300 x 218 mm). Engraved title-vignette and head-piece, [8], lxxiii, [3], 164 pp. Preliminary leaves: title-page with engraved vignette, verso blank + dedication leaf to Jose Nicolas de Nibiano, verso blank + 2 unnumbered leaves dedication to Anton Raphael Mengs with half-page engraving signed "Lucatelli inv. et delin., Cagnoni sc." ADDED: "Valorissimo signor Marchese" (4 ff. - see below). Contemporary Viennese tree calf by Georg Friedrich Krauss with his gilt binder's stamp impressed in gold at the top of the front pastedown ("Krauss Buchbinder in Wien"), smooth spine richly gilt with green gilt morocco label, foot of spine with narrow rectangular red morocco onlay with black initial "T" (for Teschen?), both covers framed by gilt multiple rules and ornamental borders, doublures gilt. Endpapers of light blue colored paper. Later engraved armorial bookplate to front pastedown (see below) with residue opposite. Dedication leaf with erased manuscript ownership… Read More

Madrid: Antonio de Sancha, 1784. Near Fine. 2 vols., quarto (255 x 200 mm). L (i.e. 50) pp. + [8] pp. (Subscribers), 489 pp.; [4], viii, 460 pp. Illustrated with 2 engraved portraits (one of Cortes, the other of the author) + 24 full-page engraved plates after designs by Titian (sic), Josef Ximeno, Ildefonso Vergaz, and Juan Moreno Tejada y Arnal, many of which were engraved by Ferdin Selma. With 2 folding maps (one in each volume): "Mapa geográfico de una parte de Nueva España" and "Mapa de las lagunas, ríos y lugares que circundan a México." Fine engraved head- and tailpiece vignettes. Both half-titles present. Our copy is lacking the 3-page list of Subscribers in vol. II that was bound at the end of some, but certainly not all, copies. Near contemporary Madrid binding by Santiago Martin Sanz: smooth calf treated to resemble blue marbling, Neo-Classical palmette boarder gilt around sides, smooth spine decorated with multiple impressions of a single gilt roll, two red morocco labels on each… Read More

Madrid: Ruiz de Murga, 1700. First Edition. Small 4to (204 x 146 mm). Bound in contemporary Spanish sprinkled calf, red spine label (extremities somewhat rubbed but perfectly sound). 71 ff. including title-page printed in red and black + 210 pp. + 3 ff. Signatures: [pi]² [par.]⁴ 2[par.]⁴ 2[par.]⁴ 3[par.]⁴ 4[par.]⁴ 5[par.]⁴ 6[par.]⁴ a-c⁴ 7[par.]⁴ 8[par.]⁴ 9[par.]⁴ 10[par.]⁴ *⁴ 2*⁴ 3*⁴ 4*⁴ (+ 1 f. Advertensia, as in the Princeton copy) A-Z⁴ Aa-Dd⁴. (H2 wrongly signed "H3"). Title in red and black; initials; head and tail pieces. The engraved portrait of Sor Juana is here present in facsimile on old paper, OTHERWISE COMPLETE. Faint waterstaining to pp. 121-160 in outer fore-margin (not objectionable), the paper stock strong and clean. Preserved in a protective blue cloth case, leather label. FIRST EDITION of "the first statement in this hemisphere to argue a woman's right to study and teach and learn." (Peden / Stavans). This is, of course, Sor Juana's magisterial… Read More

Edinburgh: Assigns of Alexander Kincaid, 1787. Very good. Two works in two volumes. Large Octavo (211 x 130 mm). Collation: BIBLE: A-4A8, complete. PSALMS: A-E8, complete. Contemporary Scottish bindings: red morocco, elaborately tooled in gilt to a "Chippendale" motif, smooth spines gilt; marbled endpapers, a.e.g. (in vol. 1 the front joint expertly repaired and tape removed from inner hinges). Preserved in a protective cloth case. INNOVATIVE AND HIGHLY UNUSUAL SCOTTISH CHIPPENDALE ROCOCO BINDINGS, COMBINING CHINOISERIE AND NEOCLASSICAL ELEMENTS, EXHIBITING THE INDEPENDENCE OF SCOTTISH WORK AT THIS TIME. The present example is a striking hybrid of late 18th-century decorative art in Britain, the likes of which we have not encountered hitherto. Here "oriental" birds and peacocks are juxtaposed with patriotic depictions of Britannia (uncharacteristically surmounted by a fleur-de-lis), bold anchors, columns, sunbursts, dripping garlands, flowers, sheaves of wheat, and urns. Presented in the… Read More

Milan: various publishers, 1584. Very good. Three works in one volume, folio (300 x 200 mm). [Collations below]. Various blemishes and signs of age and use, some staining (persistent at the back). Bound in 17th- or 18th century pressed paper boards covered with a vellum manuscript leaf (see below), smooth spine (defective at head and tail), printed paper label (see below). Accompanied by a recent export license. Preserved in a cloth protective case. THE SPECTACULAR MANUSCRIPT "WASTE" IN THIS MILANESE LEGAL SAMMELBAND WAS LIKELY PRODUCED IN THE LATE 10TH- OR EARLY 11TH-CENTURY IN A NORTH ITALIAN SCRIPTORIUM. THE MOST IMPORTANT WORK IN THIS SAMMELBAND WAS ANNOTATED BY A KNOWN PAVIA NOTARY. The primary fragment covers the boards and is a double-column bifolium from a noted Missal (leaf c. 350 x 280 mm, 31-lines per page), decorated with a large foliate initial T in red and green, red rubrics, majuscules highlighted in red and 15 lines of music with cheironomic neumes in "campo aperto." The texts come… Read More

Tokyo: Daiichi Shobō, 1934. First Edition in Japanese. Very good. Two vols., 8vo (205 x 155 mm). 654; 603 pp., COMPLETE. Original western bindings of flexible blue cloth, original dust jackets (chipped and somewhat soiled, jacket of v.1. with minor mending), later glassine jackets. Text with some foxing, light dampstaining to leaf extremities. Faint pen mark to fore-edge of vol. 2. With the keninshi (検印紙) stamps of authenticity affixed above the colophons of both volumes as a countermeasure against conterfeits. On both of the stamps there is the seal (in red) of the family name (Itō) of the main translator Itō Sei. Overall in very good condition, suitable for exhibition and study. Protective light-blue cloth case. First printing of the first complete edition of Joyce's Ulysses in Japanese, which is at the same time the first complete non-European translation of the work. It also predates the publication of Ulysses in the United States (Random House, 1934) and England (John Lane, 1936).… Read More

Rome: Tipografia delle Scienze Mathematiche e Fisiche, 1862. Very good. 2 vols., folio. Numerous diagrams; occasional light spotting and foxing. Modern brown morocco, uncut. In slipcases. EDITIO PRINCEPS OF THE WRITINGS OF FIBONACCI, THE GREATEST MATHEMATICIAN OF THE MIDDLE AGES, STILL THE ONLY COMPLETE EDITION PUBLISHED. IN THE HISTORY OF MATHEMATICS THIS UNABRIDGED EDITION OF THE LATIN TEXT IS ESSENTIAL, AND WAS THE VEHICLE BY WHICH FIBONACCI'S WORKS WERE DISSEMINATED THROUGHOUT MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY CULTURE. Rare in private ownership. Sold at Sotheby's forty years ago, ours is ONLY copy that has ever appeared at auction according to Rare Book Hub which currently lists more than 13 million records in the Rare Book Transactions database; furthermore, it is the only copy currently available on the market. Leonardo of Pisa (ca. 1170-1250), a.k.a. Fibonacci, is justly considered to be the most important mathematician of the Middle Ages, if only for being the first Christian mathematician to… Read More

London: Printed by J. and T. Carpenter, 1803. First Edition. Very good. Large 4to. [4], xii, 43, [1] pp. + [3] page list of published works by John Malton and James Malton. Complete with aquatint half-title and 34 plates of which 29 are stunningly hand-colored and 5 are full-page plates (plans) printed in sepia only. The plates are watermarked "Whatman 1801." Contemporary acid-treated calf, unusually acid-treated with decorative lozenges surrounded by a gilt Greek-key border, flat spine, black lettering piece partially chipped, binding extremities somewhat worn, black, white, red and green marbled pastedowns and endpapers, overall in BEAUTIFUL CONDITION, the paper and plates unspoiled and extremely fresh. EXQUISITELY HAND-COLORED COPY, RARE THUS. Only edition of this very little-known, beautifully illustrated volume of imaginative designs of country "tiny houses" houses and small castles in the neo-Gothic style. In his own words the author / artist asserted that the goal of the present work was… Read More

London: Robt. Sayer, 1768. Second edition. Very good. Folio (341 x 230 mm). Complete with 12 leaves (including title-page). Engraved throughout. Early (original?) drab blue wrappers (a little soiled), bound by Riviere in later red half morocco over comb-marbled boards, comb-marbled pastedowns and endleaves, one or possibly two labels removed from inside front cover leaving a tape residue. Each plate carefully numbered in pencil. In VERY FRESH STATE, WITH FINE IMPRESSIONS OF ALL THE PLATES. MATTHIAS LOCK WAS THE FIRST ENGLISH DESIGNER TO CAPTURE THE SPIRIT OF THE FRENCH HIGH ROCOCO; HE INSPIRED THOMAS CHIPPENDALE AND WAS LIKELY TO HAVE BEEN HIS MENTOR. These imaginative and exuberant designs are indicative of Lock's seemingly effortless style. "His scrolls, dragons, flowers, masks, birds and Chinese men are all handled with a zest and freedom rare in the English product, with a strong dash of asymmetry. [...] This evidence of an ability to teach design, combined with Lock's activity as a Rococo… Read More

London: Library of Imperial History, 1976. Fine. Complete set of 38 volumes. The bindings elaborately produced in full white vellum (natural variation in the vellum color), covers decorated in 22 ct. gold with Churchill's armorial device, all edges gilt, marbled endpapers, silk place markers. All original leatherette slipcases present, some with cosmetic defects (nothing structural) from having been squeezed together on the same shelves UNTOUCHED for almost fifty years, the result being small portions of adjacent slipcase covers peeled away. Some volumes (e.g. Vol. 1) are very tight in their slipcases on account of the natural vellum bindings swelling. NONE of the slipcases are bumped or split, and the bindings and the contents of every volume are in IMMACULATE CONDITION, without blemishes (of any kind), bookplates, inscriptions, or ownership stamps. FIRST COMPLETE COLLECTION OF CHURCHILL'S WRITINGS, AND THE MOST LAVISH ISSUE OF IT. All of Churchill's book length writings are included, many in new… Read More