Antique & Collectible Books

Brown cloth with blindstamped decorations to covers and gilt particulars to spine, which has been professionally rebacked. Light foxing throughout. Inscribed to "[Judge Elphinstone] Jackson with the author's best compliments-" at rear of book. Jackson was born in Calcutta, India, the son of a leading judge. Following his studies in England, he returned to India, and together with others founded the Indian Football Association in 1893. Photographic plates (each affixed to blank leaves contemporary with publication) of the Duke of Argyll, Alfred Ernest Alfred Duke of Edinburgh (signed and dated), Countess of Mayo, Sir Cecil Beadon (past Lt. Governor of Bengal), Lord John Lawrence (Governor-General of Bengal), Sir F.J. Halliday, Sir William Grey, Earl of Mayo, Queen Victoria (after a painting) and Ameer ali Kahn Bahadoor, Bahadoor gives a history of the recent British rule in India including his family's role in the rebellion (or in his words "mutiny") of 1857.; Royal octavo; 56, 378, 10… Read More

1791. 1st Edition, Limited Edition . Hardcover. Very Good. Complete in 2 volumes. Illustrated with frontispiece portrait of Johnson by J. Heath after Sir Joshua Reynolds, and 2 additional engraved plates. All 3 plates with imprints dated April 10, 1791. Frontispiece with the original tissue-guard intact. 4to. Bound in contemporary (circa 1800) speckled calf with gilt armorial supralibros on all 4 covers, spines with raised bands; red morocco gilt-lettered labels; small black morocco circular volume-number labels. Printed by Henry Baldwin for Charles Dilly, London, 1791. First Edition. Limited to 1750 copies. Printed on light blue paper. Vol. I has the correct give reading on page 135, line 10, generally considered the second state (although, as Pottle notes, booksellers have given this rather uninteresting point more attention than it deserves.) The copies printed on light blue paper were presumably reserved for members of the nobility: When Boswell published his The Life of Samuel Johnson, the King… Read More

Paris: Fabrique Générale d'Articles de Voyages, 1840. First Edition. Alexis Godillot (1816-1893) was a contemporary of Louis Vuitton (1821-1892) and first achieved renown in Paris for his beautiful hand-made luggage. With a workshop situated just a few blocks away from Vuitton's, this catalogue comes from this very early period of Godillot's life before he had revolutionised footwear by differentiating the moulding of the left shoe from the right and become the famous shoemaker who would go on to equip over one hundred thousand French soldiers for The Crimean War. 'Godillot' remains a slang French term for 'boot' to this day. The album features superb hand-coloured lithographs with an original sketch showcasing nearly one hundred accessories including bags, picnic baskets, apparel, wonderful old trunks, tents, and hammocks- true 'objets nomades' - many of which are in surprisingly bold and modern designs. A beautiful, rare, and precious catalogue of the articles a traveller might require for… Read More

Paris: Meynial, 1925. First Edition. George Barbier. A complete and excellent set of the five annual issues illustrated with a total of sixty beautiful pochoir plates, complete with decorated pochoir title pages. 'Falbalas and Franfreluches' (Frippery and Finery: Fashion Diaries) represents a literary and artistic collaboration of unusual elegance and sophistication. French illustrator, George Barbier (1882 - 1932) spared no effort in the making of this beautiful collection, using the finest pigments and up to thirty stencils per print to create images of the highest quality reflecting fashionable themes of the day. The plates portray romance amidst exotic lands and ages past, including a native American idyll on the Missouri, a languid mistress cocooned in a hammock in the tropical Antilles, high baroque debauchery, and, of course, a myriad of lovers depicted in Paris at the height of the chic 1920s. Each annual includes twelve pages of fine writing by Barbier's contemporaries in the Parisian scene… Read More

Venice: Aldus Manutius, 1505. 1st Edition. Vellum. Very Good. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall. 1505 and 1518. 1st editions. Two volumes. Octavo (6"). Period vellum over paste board, gilt titles on slightly later morocco spine labels. Old hand written date and volume number in ink at foot of each volume's spine. [Vol.1] 242 unnumbered leaves; [Vol.II] 172 numbered leaves(Leaves 89, 91, 93, and 95 misnumbered 97, 99 101, and 103), Aldine Press anchor device on title and last page of both volumes. Very Good or better. A charming set of the first editions virtually never found in matching period bindings. Volume I's boards are moderately soiled, with drip staining and a small tear at the fore edge, exposing the paste board. Volume II is only very lightly soiled, with less edge wear than volume I. Both volumes have 19th century marbled paste downs, with matching book plates of Francesco Bubani, of Milano. Last gathering of volume I browned/browning, with some browning on the title page, just above the anchor… Read More

Half brown morocco; ruled raised bands, marbled boards. Mouradgea d'Ohsson was a Swedish historian and diplomat of Armenian descent. This important work is a large expansion of his 1824 publication which was the first serious study of Genghis Khan. Kenneth Meyer Setton, A History of the Crusades notes "among the general histories of the Mongols, d'Ohsson remains unequaled. Avowedly or tacitly most later works rely on it." Two folding genealogical charts; large 1824 folding map of Asia in the thirteenth century to rear of volume four. Previous owner's bookplates removed from front pastedowns. A nice wide-margined set (many pages yet uncut) in a sound period binding.; lxviii,452; 651; 624(1); 774.; 8vo (22 x 15 cm); All shipments through USPS insured Priority Mail.

Two volumes. Tall Quarto (9 by 11 inches), near-contemporary half-calf and marbled boards. pp. xiii, (21), (1) 2-378; (xxviii), (389) 380-895. With half-titles in each volume and errata leaf with directions to the binder. FIRST EDITION of Godwin' revolutionary masterwork "his passionate advocacy of individualism, his trust in the fundamental goodness of man, and his opposition to all restrictions on liberty have endured" (PMM) a profound influence on Thomas Jefferson, who had the first American edition in his library and is viewed as Godwin's "American born counterpart." Along with those of Burke and Paine, Godwin's Enquiry was one of the most influential English political books of the late eighteenth century. It was an equally important landmark in the development of Utilitarian thought, and on political thinking in general. Godwin-the husband of Mary Wollstonecraft-"saw no good in human institutions and sought to put an end to all organized politics, religion and society… The Enquiry was, and… Read More

London,A.andJ.Churchil,1701.
Folio. Contemp. full calf, 5 raised bands, Blindtooled covers, Cambridge-binding style. Rebacked, preserving most of original spine. Front free endpapers renewed. Engraved frontispiece (M. Vander Gucht Sculp). Printed title in red a. black. (6),4,(28),26,444 - (2),230,(28) pp. One folio (signature N) outside pagenumbering: "The World in Planisphere". Some textengravings, some wood-engravings in the text. With all 43 engraved maps interspersed in the text. A bit of corner of one leaf (pp.313-14) gone affecting a small part of the frame on the last map (Chili, Magellans-Land). Printed on good paper, a few scattered brown spots,mainly in first part. Some browning to two leaves in the first index (signaturee,1-2).
First edition. The work is, in effect, an enlarged edition of the "Thesaurus geographicus" (1695) omitting allexcept one of the small town plans but with additional maps marked as "New""(Shirley T.MOLL-1b, where the worldmap is missing).In 1701 he published A System… Read More

Amsterdam: Uitgeveij Contact, 25 juni 1947. Anne.Frank; 'Het Achterhuis, Dagboekbrieven van 14 Juni 1942 - 1 Augustus 1944'. Hard cover, pp 253. FIRST EDITION, FIRST PRINT, no dust jacket. First edition of the diary of Anne Frank in the original Dutch language. Small Octavo. One of 3000 booklets printed 75 YEARS AGO ON JUNE 25th 1947. Original white and red paper-covered boards. Illustration with 3 photo's of the hiding place ('Het Achterhuis'), 1 groundfloor-plan and 2 examples (facsimile) of the handwriting of Anne Frank. Introduction by Annie Romein-Verschoor.Title on the front board and the spine. A very good copy, some wear to the frontboard. Pages are slightly tanned after 75 years. No inscriptions.Anne began her diary on her 13th birthday, 12 June 1942 during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. The diary was found in the hiding place by Miep Gies, after Anne Frank, her Jewish family and other Jews were taken away to the concentration-camps. Miep Gies was one of the helpers during their time… Read More

Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1916 First edition ["Manuscript Edition"], publisher's maroon leather binding. Number 192 of 750 sets. 10 volumes. Each volume with frontis photogravures with numerous photogravures, halftones and maps. Extra-illustrated (as issued) with added hand-colored gravure frontispieces in the first eight volumes. Portion of an original leaf of manuscript by Muir inlaid to front flyleaf of volume I. Publisher's handsome three-quarter maroon levant morocco with maroon cloth sides, gilt-stamped lettering and floral ornaments on spine, four raised bands, top edges gilt, marbled endpapers. Bound by hand at the Riverside Press. Spines uniformly toned to a dark golden brown. A bit of minor wear or rubbing to some corners with a few just showing. Overall, a beautiful set. "The Writings" were sold by subscription only and could be bound to order. The publisher's normal binding was green buckram with leather spine labels. Copies bound in morocco are excessively rare. Our… Read More

NY : E.J. Hale & Son, 1878 Alexander Means was an inventor, physicist, poet and a past Emory College president at the original campus in Oxford GA. Many say he was the father of modern electricity. His famous light bulb experiment preceded Tesla and Edison by decades. This is a very rare first edition (1878). The book is in sound condition. Blue cloth cover intact as well as binding. Minor cloth fray on spine and damp stain on rear cover. What is most remarkable about this book is that it is inscribed by one of his former slaves after his freedom. The inscription reads " Susie , Accept this cluster of Poems by one of my old masters from your affecionate husband A.F.P Decatur Ga, Apr 1878. A most precious inscription to a valuable 19th C book.. 1st Edition. Hardcover. Good.

St. Joseph, MO: Combe Printing Company, n.d. (1894). Rare. Adams Six-guns 574; Dustin 86; Flake 2743; Graff 1035; Howes D183; Rader 1090. Very nearly the entire edition was lost in a flood, quoting Huntington No. 231. Streeter V-3090, which repeats the flood destruction.
Original blue cloth binding with red, black, and gilt lettering and decoration. Title page and author illustration plate detached and tipped in. Some other pages coming unbound but holding for now. Spine darkened and wear at extremities. While a mail carrier in Montana, Frank Grouard was captured by the Sioux, During the six years he was with them he learned their language and was familiar with Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull. Grouard served as a scout for Gen. Crook during the Sioux Campaign of 1876. The author relates not only the personal experiences of Grouard but also his account of events such as the Battle of the Little Bighorn as told to Grouard by participants.

1551 RARE Peter Apian Cosmographia Astronomy Navigation AMERICA Map Mathematics

Peter Apian was a 16th-century humanist who is remembered for his studies in astronomy and mathematics. His best and most-known work was his book on cosmography which was extremely influential into the 17th-century. In this work, Apian discusses navigation by use of astronomy, utilizing woodcut illustrations to depict aspects of astronomy and navigation. Other illustrations include zodiac characters, planets, maps, and navigational instruments.

Perhaps the most important aspect of this book is that it is one of the earliest works relating to America. In 1507, Martin Waldseemuler printed a map which included the word 'America' for the first time. 'Cosmographiae Introductio' was published as an accompaniment to that map.

This 1551 edition was collected and annotated by Gemma Frisius, a famed Dutch cartographer. The illustrations found in this work are utterly impressive – it even includes interactive engravings… Read More

Amsterdam: Uitgeveij Contact, 25 juni 1947. Anne.Frank; 'Het Achterhuis, Dagboekbrieven van 14 Juni 1942 - 1 Augustus 1944'. Hard cover, pp 253. FIRST EDITION, FIRST PRINT, no dust jacket. First edition of the diary of Anne Frank in the original Dutch language. Small Octavo. One of 3000 booklets printed 75 YEARS AGO ON JUNE 25th 1947. Original white and red paper-covered boards. Illustration with 3 photo's of the hiding place ('Het Achterhuis'), 1 groundfloor-plan and 2 examples (facsimile) of the handwriting of Anne Frank. Introduction by Annie Romein-Verschoor. Title on the front board and the spine. A 'good - 'copy; Some foxing of the boards. The book has had a professional restoration. The original spine has been re-attached to the renewed binding. The text Anne Frank Het Achterhuis has faded but is still visible. Pages are slightly tanned after 75 years. No inscriptions.Anne began her diary on her 13th birthday, 12 June 1942 during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. The diary was found in… Read More

London, John Fielding, in Pater-noster Row, 1786.. THE FIRST EDITION OF THE FIRST SEPARATE ACCOUNT OF NEW SOUTH WALES. Illustrated with 2 maps on 1 sheet, a chart of New Holland, New South Wales, Botany Bay, and the New Discovered Islands in the North and South Pacific Ocean, hand coloured in outline,1786, corrected second impression with longitude East from the meridian of Greenwich omitted from the first printing in frame at foot. Small slim folio, page size: approximately 235 x 185 mm, 9¼ x 7½ inches, no binding, stitched as issued, publisher's small device on title page, price one shilling and six-pence at bottom of title page, note to reader about the chart on reverse of title page, pages: [2], 33, [1] - adverts mentioning books by Captain Cook, loosely laid in purpose-made covers of modern half dark blue morocco over blue cloth sides, gilt title to upper cover, white pastedowns, in matching cloth slipcase with morocco round edges of opening. Title page slightly dusty with 2 small creases… Read More