Rare books from Mary Louise Bryan/Paralos Gallery

Greece: Paris "Imprimerie de Dondey-Dupré, Rue St Louis, No 46, Au Marais." 1825-37. Coloured lithograph of the Parthenon from Louis Dupré's " Voyage â Athènes et â Constantinople...". Original hand colour; verso blank; blind stamp of Dupré as issued. The view shows the façade of the Parthenon upon the Acropolis. Inside the temple can be seen the mosque built by the Turks. The view also shows houses upon the Acropolis rock. Bright & clean; thinning to paper of upper margin ( due to removal of mount/passepartout?). Louis Dupré [1789-1837]. A pupil of Jacques-Louis David in Paris, Louis Dupré became resident in Rome and was appointed official painter to the prince Jerome Bonaparte, in 1811. In 1819 he traveled to Greece. He was received by the French consul Fauvel in Athens and introduced into Greek society allowing him to make his paintings of important personalities of the time, both in Athens and in Joannina where he portayed Ali Pascha, his family and attendants. He continued to… Read More

Greece: Venice. Guilelmus Anima Mia, Tridinensis, 1485-6. Woodcut map with original handcolour of Kea from the first printed maritime atlas: Bartolomeo Dalli Sonetti's "Isolario". text to verso [ sonnet: description of Andros ] The island within a wind rose has 2 settlements shown; the largest is the capital Ioulis where the Venetians built a castle when they recaptured the island in 1296 [It was still Venetian at the time of the "Isolario" falling to the Ottomans in 1527]. The cartography is naive and bears little relation to reality. Light dampstaining to lower part of page; ink number to upper right corner. From the FIRST EDITION OF THE FIRST PRINTED MARITIME ATLAS, the only incunable edition, and the only fifteenth-century book illustrated with nautical charts. The first in a long series of printed Italian island-books, the "Isolario" provides a detailed survey of the Aegean archipelago. The appealingly decorative charts clearly derive from the portolan manuscript tradition: each chart is… Read More

Greece: Venice. Guilelmus Anima Mia, Tridinensis, 1485-6. Woodcut map with original handcolour of Serifos from the first printed maritime atlas: Bartolomeo Dalli Sonetti's "Isolario". text to verso [ sonnet: description of Fermania/Kithnos ] The island within a wind rose has the town of Chora marked in the centre. The cartography is naive. Light dampstaining to lower part of page; ink number to upper right corner. From the FIRST EDITION OF THE FIRST PRINTED MARITIME ATLAS the only incunable edition, and the only fifteenth-century book illustrated with nautical charts. The first in a long series of printed Italian island-books, the "Isolario" provides a detailed survey of the Aegean archipelago. The appealingly decorative charts clearly derive from the portolan manuscript tradition: each chart is projected on a wind-rose marked with compass bearings, the orientation varying from chart to chart. Tony Campbell writes "Bartolommeo dalli Sonetti's Isolario breaks new ground in a number of ways. It is… Read More

Greece: Paris "Imprimerie de Dondey-Dupré, Rue St Louis, No 46, Au Marais." 1825-37. Coloured lithograph of the Olympieion with the Acropolis from Louis Dupré's " Voyage â Athènes et â Constantinople...". Original hand colour; verso blank; blind stamp of Dupré as issued. The view shows the Temple of Olympian Zeus, with the Acropolis in the background; from this angle it is possible to see part of the town , the Plaka district, on the Acropolis slopes. Interestingly Dupré illustrates a gathering of Turks beside the temple seemingly being addressed by an Imam, suggesting that the space was used as an open air mosque. Bright & clean; slight crease causing lightening of the colour of the sky in the middle of the view. Louis Dupré [1789-1837]. A pupil of Jacques-Louis David in Paris, Louis Dupré became resident in Rome and was appointed official painter to the prince Jerome Bonaparte, in 1811. In 1819 he traveled to Greece. He was received by the French consul Fauvel in Athens and… Read More

Greece: Venice. Guilelmus Anima Mia, Tridinensis, 1485-6. Woodcut map with original handcolour of Patmos from the first printed maritime atlas: Bartolomeo Dalli Sonetti's "Isolario". text to verso [ sonnet: description of Lipsos ] The island within a wind rose has the Monastery of Saint John of the Apocalypse in the centre of the island within the town of Chora the capital. The Cave of the Apocalypse is also marked, plus 2 other settlements The cartography is naive but if seen as just the southern part of the island it makes more sense. Light dampstaining to lower part of page; ink number to upper right corner. From the FIRST EDITION OF THE FIRST PRINTED MARITIME ATLAS, the only incunable edition, and the only fifteenth-century book illustrated with nautical charts. The first in a long series of printed Italian island-books, the "Isolario" provides a detailed survey of the Aegean archipelago. The appealingly decorative charts clearly derive from the portolan manuscript tradition: each chart is… Read More

Greece: Venice "Marco Boschini Venetiano, al Serinissima Principe E Regal Collegio di Venetia" 1651. Copper engraved map of Crete, the general map of Marco Boschini's "Il tutti di Regno di Candia." folded, verso blank. 2 medallions, 1 with the lion of Venice surmounted by a crown. A detailed map showing the mountainous nature of the island, and naming of all the coastal settlements; Elizabeth Clutton feels that it was based on the earlier map of Francesco Basilcata. Dark impression; very pale dampstain to upper margin. Marco Boschini, [1613-78] Venetian painter and engraver, published two important works regarding Greece. " Il regno tutto di Candia" in 1651. (1st & only edition). Boschini started work on the survey of Crete in 1645, the year in which the Turks invaded the island. In his dedication to the work he mentions a large map of the island dated 1645 [of which only 2 copies are recorded] there is no copy of the complete work known of this date. Boschini published the work in 1651, when… Read More

Illustrated Books: London: Printed by T. Bensley, and published by the author. 1797-1815. 10 vols, 4to. With 9 (of 10) titles, and 654 of 664 plates, colour-printed and finished by hand. Contemporary full crimson straight-grained morocco, apart from the last volume which has been bound in contemporary half morocco. Plates 163-8 in volume 3 misbound between plates 156 & 7. A superb and unusually complete set, clean, bright and in a fine contemporary binding. Andrews himself drew, engraved and hand coloured all the plates. The absence of plates from the final volume is explained by a handwritten note, loosely inserted into the final volume, expressing the frustration of the original owner, who had been collecting the parts of Andrews' work as they were issued for the best part of twenty years and finally ran out of patience: "This volume wants a number - with the index - of which Mr Andrews had long promised to give - to compleat the 10th vol. - which finishes the work -but after 2 or 3 years… Read More

Classical Authors: Haganoae Iohannem Secerium March 1530. [4], 106 Bl ; 142. 2° Woodcut initials and headpieces. Titles preceded by vine-ornament Text in Greek and Latin; each part separately foliated. Editio princeps of the first 5 books, the only fully preserved portion of Polybius's history of the rise of the Roman empire from 220 to 146 B.C.; books 6-40 survive in fragmentary form. The revival of interest in the study of Polybius was due to Pope Nicholas V (1447-1455), the founder of the Vatican Library. Soon after his election he seems to have urged Cardinal Perotti to undertake a Latin translation of the five books then known to exist. On the 3d of January 1454 the Pope writes again to Perotti thanking him for the third book; and in a letter to Torelli, dated 13th November 1453, Perotti says that he had finished his translation of Polybius in the preceding September. This translation was first printed in 1473. The Greek text was not printed till this edition in 1530, the first five books in… Read More

Philhellenic: Paris "Imprimerie de Dondey-Dupré, Rue St Louis, No 46, Au Marais." 1825-37. Coloured lithograph of Dimitrius Mavromichalis from Louis Dupré's " Voyage â Athènes et â Constantinople...". Original hand colour; verso blank; blind stamp of Dupré as issued. The image shows the young warrior holding a sword against a background of the wild Mani countryside and sea. As one of the later lithographs it is more than likely that it was posed for and painted in Paris where Demetius Mavromichalis , the fifth and last son of Petrobey, Mavromichalis was studying between 1828 and 1831. It is beleived that Dupré wished to honour the heroic history of the Mavromichalis family and its role in the Revolution. The Swiss Philhellene Jean-Gabriel Eynard isbeleived to have recommended Demetrius for his" sweet character and good behaviour" though he had reservations about the progress of his studies and the debts he was running up. Born in !809 the youngest son of Petrobey Mavromichalis, he would… Read More

Classical Authors: Genevæ- Geneva/ Lugduni- Lyon Euststhium Vignon / Bartholemæum Vincentium. 1577. [4] map[8] pp109 [12.]Blank; &: [8][10] pp109 [2][6]. First separate edition of works attributed to Arrian of Nicodemia which appeared simultaneously at Geneva and Lyons in 1577 with the translation and commentary of Johann Wilhem Stucki. This example has the Geneva imprint of the Ponti Euxini and the Lyons imprint of the Maris Erythræi. The texts of both works were first published by Froben in 1533 in the anthology Arriani & Hannonis periplus. Plutarchus de fluminibus & montibus. Strabonis epitome. The woodcut map of the Black Sea is the first printed map of the sea, it is decorated with ships, monsters and mermen. The Peripilus Ponti Euxini takes the form of a letter, from Arrian to the Emperor Hadrian in Rome, who was particularly attached to geographical research and had visited in person a large portion of his extensive dominions. It contains an accurate topographical survey of the… Read More

Atlas & Travel Books: Paris J. J. Blaise 1782. Folio; Engraved allegorical title, [4] xvi (letterpress title) pp 204 . Directions to binder on rear paste down. Full calf; spine gilt; 6 raised bands; labels. With copper engraved vignette title, 13 maps, 2 of them folding, 32 full-page views, 27 sheets of half-page plates, maps and plans, 29 full-page plates (largely of architectural details), 4 costume illustrations on 1 sheet and 14 illustrative head- and tail-pieces. Tissue guards to plates. First edition, first issue, (the Discours Préliminaire concluding on the fourth line of page xvi.) of Choiseul-Gouffier's magnificent Voyage pittoresque de la Grèce . Based on Choiseul Gouffier´s own account of his travel in 1776 as member of Marquis de Chabert´s expedition for mapping the Eastern Mediterranean. First Volume only, complete in itself, it would later be reissued with a second volume in two parts published in 1809 and 1822. From Toulon, the French frigate Atalante sailed to Sardinia,… Read More

Americas: Amsterdam. Covens et Mortier c1741. Copper engraved map from Covens & Mortier's " Nieuwe Atlas, Inhoudennde vier Gedeeltens der Waereld.. " Original full wash colour; verso blank. Covens and Mortier edition of the key sheet to Popple's 20 sheet map with inset views of New York, Quebec, Mexico City and the Niagara Falls [black& white as issued] 18 coloured inset plans of ports and islands.[ see item 3062] Black & white title cartouche as issued. To lower right corner is the "the Approbation of the Right Honourable the Lords Commissioners of Trade and Plantations," Popple's map had quasi-official status, and a copy was sent to each of the governments of each of the colonies and the approbation of Edmund Halley: "I have seen the abovementioned Map, which as far as I am Judge, seems to have been laid down with great Accuracy, and to shew the Position of the different Provinces & Islands in that Part of the Globe more truly than any yet extant." Popple's famous map on 20 sheets appeared… Read More

Americas: Amsterdam. Covens et Mortier c1741. Copper engraved maps[ 4 sheets] from Covens & Mortier's " Nieuwe Atlas, Inhoudennde vier Gedeeltens der Waereld.. " Original full wash colour; verso blank. Covens and Mortier edition of Popple's map of the British Empire in America on 4 sheets. with titles in French above each map: A) Nouvelle Carte Particulére de la Amerique ou sont exactement marquéese une Partie de la Baye d'Hudson, le Pays Kilistinons, la Source de la Grande Rivière de Mississipi, le Pays des Illinois &c.; B)Nouvelle Carte Particulére de la Amerique ou sont exactement marquées la Nouvelle Bretagne, le Canada ou Nouvelle France, la Nouvelle Ecosse, la Nouvelle Angleterre, la nouvelle York, la Pensilvanie, Mary-land, la Caroline septrionale, l'Ile de terre Neuve. le Grand Banc &c.; C)Nouvelle Carte Particulére de la Amerique ou sont exactement marquées les Provinces suivants comme la Caroline meridionale, la Floride, la Louisiane, le Mexique,le Jucatan, le Guatimala, le… Read More

Philhellenic: London " Engraved by Robert William Smart, and Henry Pyall, after drawings made by Sir John Theophilus Lee under the immediate inspection of Capt. Lord Vis. Inglesre".. Printed by: I Fisher. c1828. Aquatint of the Battle of Navarino by John Theophilus Lee, The !st edition with dedication; To His Royal Highness William Henry Duke of Clarence. ... With text below describing the battle in English and French. 'This Celebrated Action was fought on the 20th. October 1827, in the Bay of Navarin on the western Coast of the Morea, by the Combined Squadrons of Great Britain, France and Russia; under the Command of the British Vice Admiral Sir Edward Codrington, assisted by the French Rear Admiral Chevalier de Rigny, and the Russian Rear Admiral the Count Heiden, against the united Turkish, Egyptian, and Tunisean Fleets, comprising 65 Vessels of War, viz. 3 of the Line, 4 Double Banked Frigates, 15 Frigates, 26 from 20 to 24 Guns, 12 smaller Vessels, 5 Fire Ships. The Combined Allied… Read More

Asia: Amsterdam Apud Johannem Guiljelmi F. Blaeu. c1655. Original coloured, copper engraved figure map of Asia from volume 2 of Joan Blaeu's "Theatrum Orbis terrarum, sive atlas novus .pars secunda. " Double page; folio; Latin text to verso. The famous figure map of Guillaume Blaeu has 9 town views in upper border and 10 costumed figures in side borders, there are numerous galleons and monsters to the sea; a large elephant to the body of the map. A reduction of Blaeu's famous wallmap of Asia of 1608, the first edition of this map was published in 1630 The map contains extensive details on what was known of Asia in the early 17th century. Korea is still an island. Japan has a predominantly east to west direction. In China, the Great Wall is shown along with the in-land lakes. The 9 cities depicted above are: Candy, Calecuth, Goa, Damasco, Jerusalem, Ormus, Bantam, Aden and Macao. The vignettes at the sides depict 10 costumes. Bright original outline colour; good impression; small spot to lower… Read More