/Collection
  • Two volumes, 168 x 106 mm each, uniformly bound in faux mottled calf ruled in gilt, marbled endpapers. Vol. 1: 3 blank leaves of wove paper, 3 blank leaves of laid paper, half-title/blank, blank/frontispiece, ‘engraved’ t.p./blank, both printed on laid paper watermarked “ARCHES A LA | MAIN”; ‘letterpress’ t.p.,/blank, pp.: [1] 2-115 [116 blank], 3 blank leaves of laid paper, 3 blank leaves of wove paper; collated 12mo: π2 A-I6 K4; total 60 leaves plus 16 ‘engraved’ plates, incl. t.p. and frontis. Vol. 2: 3 blank leaves of wove paper, 3 blank leaves of laid paper, half-title/blank, blank/frontispiece, ‘engraved’ t.p./blank, no watermark, ‘letterpress’ t.p.,/blank, pp.: 1-77 [78 blank], 2 blank leaves of laid paper, 3 blank leaves of wove paper; collated 12mo: π2 A-F6 G3; total 41 leaves plus 24 ‘engraved’ plates, incl. t.p. and frontis. Dutel (I): A-1089, p. 325: in-8 (probably by size only, no formula suggested), pagination 115 and 77 as here, 2 frontispieces, 2 engraved titles dated 1873, “et 36 belles gravures de Binet”. Cohen-DeRicci: p. 734 bottom: in-12, no pagination, no formula. "Thérèse" was offered by a French seller user-75d14f4 on the online auction platform CATAWIKI in December 2021. The seller's description of this two-volume set was: "Re-edition, the date of which I was unable to determine. (London, no name, 1782) 2 duodecimo volumes of 115 and 77 pp., very lovely marbled sheepskin pastiche bindings, gilded triple fillets, adorned spines, black title labels. This classic of 18th-century clandestine erotica was written in 1748 by an author who has remained anonymous, attributed at the time to Montigny, which led to his internment in the Bastille. It is now attributed to the Jean-Baptiste de Boyer, Marquis d'Argens. Edition illustrated with 37 very unrestrained figures, engraved in intaglio after Borel, unsigned." I should have paid more attention to the first phase, about the re-edition, but I didn't. After a few bidding rounds, I won the book when the hammer price was 2,200 Euros. On the 28th of December, 2021, I paid for this little beauty $2,760. The book arrived a few days later.  The paper's quality and texture, the watermark, the absence of the platemark, and the lack of embossing on the back (text and plates) made me suspect it was a fake. The pages were absolutely flat to the touch!  I established clear evidence of a high-resolution 'xerox' copy using Celestron Micro Capture Pro micro-photography.  I wrote to the seller and the auction platform, explaining my doubts regarding its authenticity. To prove my point, I include a few micro photos of the "Thérèse" and some books printed at the end of the 18th century. I explained why I considered it a fake and requested a return/refund. After two months of email exchanges, the seller and the platform refused to pay me back. Today is the 2nd anniversary of the purchase. I still have the book. To celebrate my carelessness, I included it in my library to warn fellow book collectors about buying from an unknown dealer via certain online auction platforms. Ref.: Bamber Gascoigne. How to Identify Prints: A Complete Guide to Manual and Mechanical Processes from Woodcut to Ink. — Thames and Hudson, 1995.

    Thérèse philosophe, 1783.

    Late 18th century books

    Books used for comparison: [LIB-2743.2021] Restif de la Bretonne. Les parisiennes, ou XL caractères généraux pris dans les mœurs actuelles, propres à servir à l’instruction des personnes-du-sexe / 4 vol. — Neufchâtel, et Paris: Guillot, 1787. [LIB-3027.2022] [Héliodore d’Emèse]. Amours de Théagènes et Chariclée: Histoire Éthiopique / 2 vol. — Londres [i.e. Paris]: [s.n.], 1743. [LIB-3252.2023] [Nicolas Chorier.] Le Meursius françois, ou entretiens galans d’Aloysia, orné de figures. — Cythere [i.e. Paris: Cazin], 1782. Below is a Xerox copy for comparison.    
  • Copper tsuba of slightly elongated round form carved in low relief (usuniku-bori, katakiri bori) with the design of a mythical creature: a horse, however, with divided hoofs, with anthropomorphic (human-like) face though with a vertically positioned third eye on the forehead, and a corn. Certain elements of the image accentuated with gold iroe. On the back: flowers and grasses carved in katakiribori technique. Shakudō fukurin.

    Edo period.

    Dimensions: 70.7 x 70.2 x 3.7 mm In a custom wooden box.
  • A copper tsuba with ishime-ji ground carved and polished (migaki-ji) with sitting Daruma; his eyes are inlaid with shakudo and he has a golden earring. The reverse carved with four characters: 廓 然 無 性 (Kakunen-mushō). It is a Zen proverb that goes back to Bodhidharma (Daruma), meaning "boundless expanse and nothing that can be called holy." [Markus Sesko translation]. Shakudo fukurin.

    Unsigned.

    Edo period (circa 1800). Dimensions: 68.2 x 65.5 x 4.8 (center) x 3.2 (rim) mm
  • Copper tsuba of slightly elongated round form carved in low relief (shishiaibori and sukisagebori) and inlaid in gold, silver and shakudō with the design of dreaming Rosei (Lu Sheng): he is half-sitting by the pillow with his eyes closed, holding his fan, with a scroll by his feet, surrounded by flying butterflies.

    Edo period, first half of the 18th century.

    Dimensions: 70.8 x 67.1 x 5.0 mm. Signed on the reverse: Jōi (乗 意) + Kaō. Sugiura Jōi [杉 浦 乗 意] (1701-1761) was a master of Nara School in Edo; he was a student of Toshinaga [M. Sesko, ‘Genealogies’, p. 32]. “Sugiura Jōi (1701-1761) made many fuchigashira and kozuka, tsuba are rather rare.” [M. Sesko, The Japanese toso-kinko Schools, pp. 148-149]. On Rosei (Lu Sheng) dream's legend see Legend in Japanese Art by Henri L. Joly (1908 edition) on page 293.
  • Iron tsuba of ryō-mokko-gata form decorated with a spotted deer (Nara deer or sika deer) motif in low relief carving (sukidashi-bori) and flat silver inlay (hara-zōgan); deer's eyes and details in gold inlay. Signed on a copper cartouche: Noriyuki. Grass in low relief carving on the reverse. There were two Noriyuki in Hamano school - father (Noriyuki I, 1736-1787) and son (Noriyuki II, 1771-1852). Frankly speaking, I don't know which one made this particular piece. Edo period, late 18th or early 19th century.

    Size: 71.5 x 70.0 x 3.0 mm.

       
  • An iron tsuba of oval form decorated with a water plantain (omodaka) carved in low relief and water drops inlaid in gold.

    Signed: Bushū jū Masamitsu.

    Bushū-Itō school.

    Height: 71.8; Width: 67.3; Thickness: 3.6; Weight: 96 g.

    Mid to late Edo period; 18th-19th century.

    There were several tsuba artists with the name of Masamitsu. The one who worked with iron and spelled [正光] is mentioned at Markus Sesko's 'Genealogies' on page 106 in Akasaka School of Edo section as Masamitsu Gorōbei , student of Tadatoki, 4th generation Akasaka master. The name is not mentioned at Torigoye/Haynes 'Tsuba. An Aesthetic Study' in the list of Bushū-Itō family masters on page 181.
  • An iron tsuba of slightly vertically elongated circular form carved and pierced with a mass of ivy (tsuta) leaves and tendrils, details damascened with gold in nunome-zōgan technique. Hitsu-ana with raised rim.

    Unsigned.

    Chōshū school.

    Height: 72.0 mm; width: 69.0 mm; thickness: 4.7 mm; Weight: 92 g.

    According to John W. Dower, "ivy bears fairly close resemblance to both maple leaf and grape leaf". However, I consider this tsuba decorated with ivy leaves for several reasons, such as the lack of racemations in the presence of tendrils.
  • Iron tsuba of oval form carved with a landscape motif. Kogai-hitsu-ana plugged with shakudo. Sekigane of copper.

    Signed: Chōshū Hagi-jū Tomohisa saku (長州萩住友久作).

    Tomohisa, adopted son of Rokurō'emon, was 3rd generation master of Kawaji School from Hagi in Nagato (Chōshū), lived 1687-1743 [M. Sesko 'Genealogies', page 117].

    Edo period, circa 1700. Dimensions: 71.1 x 66.8 x 2.9 mm For his adopted son Hisatsugu work see TSU-0103 in this collection.  
  • Iron tsuba pierced and carved (marubori-sukashi) with the 'horse in the round' design. Possibly, Bushū-Ito school, 19th century (ca. 1800). Kogai-hitsu-ana plugged with shakudō.

    Size: 67.6 x 66.8 x 5.1 mm

    Unsigned.

    See:

      1. Robert E. Haynes. Study Collection of Japanese Sword Fittings. Nihon Art Publishers, 2010, p. 120: Iron plate carved and formed in the round as a tethered bull...Signed: Bushū jū Sadayasu saku.
      2. Robert E. Haynes. Masterpiece and highly important tsuba, etc... San Francisco, 1984 // Catalog #9.: Signed: Bushū jū Yoshifusa. Ca. 1800, H 6.7 cm, Th. 4.75 mm.
      3. The Hartman collection of Japanese metalwork. Christie's, 1976, p. 29, №59: Bushū type, 19th century. Reference to Takezawa, Nihon Toban Zuetsu №411 for a similar design signed Bushū Yoshifusa.

    Hartman collection, №59. 

    4. Japanese Sword Fittings from the R. B. Caldwell Collection. Sale LN4188 "HIGO". Sotheby's, 30th March 1994, p. 17, №24: An iron tsuba, by Heianjo Sadatsune, Edo period (18th century). In the form of a horse, standing with its head lowered and a rope halter attached to its bit and trailing beneath. Signed Heianjo Sadatsune, 7.3 cm. With NBTHK Tokubetsu kicho paper, dated Showa 49 (1974). GBP 600-700.

    The Caldwell Collection. Heianjo Sadatsune, Edo period (18th century).

     
  • Iron tsuba of mokkō-form with a pine and a frog on the face and a snail on the back, carved and inlaid with gold. Each figurative element of the design is signed on three inlaid cartouches: Masaharu (正春), Kazuyuki (一之), and Yoshikazu (良一) [read by Markus Sesko]. Snake, snail, and frog together make a design called "SANSUKUMI" - Three Cringing Ones [Merrily Baird]. The snail can poison the snake, the frog eats the snail, and the snake eats the frog. It's unclear whether the pine replaces the snake on this tsuba, or the snake is hiding in the pine? Anyway, the frog and the snail are clearly represented. "Maybe we have here a joint work with Masaharu (the silver cartouche next to the pine) being the master and making the plate and Kazuyuki and Yoshikazu as his students carving out the frog and the snail respectively". Copper sekigane.

    Dimensions: 70.9 x 67.2 x 3.0 mm. Edo period (18th century).

    Markus Sesko writes: "I agree, the frog and the snail most likely allude to the san-sukumi motif. It is possible that we have here an artist's choice to deliberately leave out the snake, maybe he thought that the motif is already obvious and there is no need to add a snake to make it clear that the tsuba shows the san-sukumi motif." [Markus Sesko].

    Kazuyuki (一之): adopted son of Kumagai Yoshiyuki, student of Ichijō (Gotō-Ichijō Scool) [M. Sesko 'Genealogies', page 19.] Masaharu (正春): Kasuya fam., student of Masamichi (1707-1757) who was the 4th generation Nomura School master in Edo. [M. Sesko 'Genealogies', page 49.]
  • Iron tsuba of circular form with a branch of loquat (biwa) pierced in positive silhouette (ji-sukashi) and carved in marubori technique (marubori-sukashi). Kozuka and kogai hitsu-ana are plugged with shakudo.

    Signature: Choshu Kawaji ju Hisatsugu saku. Chōshū school in Nagato province.

    According to M. Sesko 'Genealogies' Hisatsugu was a 4th generation Kawaji School master from Chōshū (present day Nagato), with the name Gonbei, formerly Toramatsu, adopted son of Tomohisa (1687-1743) [page 117]. For Tomohisa work see TSU-0104 in this collection.
  • Iron tsuba of round form decorated with the design of distant pines, torii, and crescent moon in openwork (sukashi). Copper sekigane.

    Size: 84.9 x 84.8 x 5.8 mm.

    Unsigned.

    Edo period, ca. 1750.

    Tosa Myochin or Akasaka school.

    Japanese Swords and Sword Fittings from the Collection of Dr. Walter Ames Compton (Part I). Christie's, New York, March 31, 1992, pp. 28-29, № 53:

    "A Tosa Myochin School Tsuba. Edo period (circa 1750), signed Toshu ju Kuniyoshi saku. The round iron plate pierced with a design of a temple gate (torii) and a pine tree. It has a round rim and there are some carved details on the surface of the design. The Tosa Myochin school, despite its foundation in the classic Myochin armor school tradition, worked mainly in the style of Akasaka school of Edo. [...] Many are equal to the mid to later Akasaka school work and the two types have frequently been confused. Signed examples are rare. Estimated price $1,500-2,000."

    Compton Collection, Vol. 1, №53

  • Large oval form tsuba decorated with two human figures (scholar and attendant) under the pine tree admiring a view of a waterfall on the face of the plate, and with stylized dragons carved on the reverse among the symbols of thunder inlaid in gold. The plate is carved in low relief with details inlaid with gold and silver.

    Signed: Yamashiro no kuni Fushimi no ju Kaneie [Kaneie of Fushimi in Yamashiro Province] [山城國伏見住金家], with Kaō. It is a fake signature (gimei).

    Size: Height: 91.9 mm; Width: 85.6 mm; Thickness: 3.4 mm; Weight: 169 g.

    This is a late Edo period, 19th-century export work to cater to the tastes of the European tsuba collectors. It does not have anything in common with the work of great Kaneie masters.

    SOLD
  • Silver Kozuka carved in kebori ("hair carving") with a ukiyo-e style half-length figure of a beautiful woman (possibly a courtesan) dressed in a splendid kimono and hair ornament (kanzashi). Signed on the back: Koreyasu/Zetai + kaō (是休「花押」)  - transcribed by Markus Sesko. Size: 96.8 mm (H) x 14.9 mm (W). Edo period, early 19th century. I managed so far to find the only mention of Koreyasu at Japanese sword-mounts. A descriptive catalogue of the collection of J. C. Hawkshaw, Esq., M.A., of Hollycombe, Liphook. Complied and illustrated by Henri L. Joly. London, 1910 [LIB-1439 in this collection], page 204: 2623. — F./v., nigurome, chased in relief and inlaid with Omori Hikoshichi (large faces). Signed : Koreyasu of Yedo. xix. 2624. — F.K., nigurome, chased and inlaid in relief with Omori Hikoshichi and the witch. Signed : Shinriusha Koreyasu. No pictures of items or signature provided.
  • Sentoku tsuba of oval form with Sennin (Chinese immortal) motif carved in low relief (katakiribori). The Sennin is depicted with a double gourd in his right hand and a child beside his left hip. A pine tree carved on the reverse.

    Signed: Sōmin saku (宗眠作) [M.Sesko]. Yokoya School (see The Japanese toso-kinko Schools by Markus Sesko, pp. 133-8).

    Edo period (second half of the 18th century). Dimensions: Height: 61.6 mm; Width: 56.4 mm; Thickness: 4.2 mm; Weight: 85 g.
  • Iron tsuba of round form decorated with design of keys to the storehouse of the gods in openwork (sukashi). Rounded rim. Copper sekigane.

    Unsigned. Early Edo period, 17th century.

    Size: 71.0 x 70.9 x 6.0 mm.

    Merrily Baird, Symbols..: The Key to the Storehouse of the Gods, one of the Myriad Treasures.

  • Iron tsuba of oval form pierced with design of slanting rays of light (shakoh), a Christian motif (Jesuit’s IHS symbol), and a pair of tassels in positive silhouette (ji-sukashi). Details on tassels carved in low relief. Traditional description of this kind of design is called “tokei”, or “clock gear”. Rounded rim.

    Unsigned.

    Edo period, 17th or 18th century. Possibly - Owari school.

    Size: 76.0 x 73.0 x 6.2 mm.
  • КУПИТЬ КНИГУ

    "Разговоры Макиавелли и Монтескье в царстве мертвых” (Dialogue aux Enfers entre Machiavel et Montesquieu) – это политический памфлет, направленный против Наполена III. В 25 диалогах представитель эпохи Просвещения благородный барон де Монтескье отстаивает позиции умеренного правления и соблюдения прав личности, а флорентийский политик Средневековья злокозненный Макиавелли берется доказать своему собеседнику, что управлять людьми можно только силой и хитростью, и что деспотия — это потребность современного общества. Собеседники заключают пари. Макиавелли шаг за шагом описывает те действия, которые предпринял Наполеон III для установления деспотии во Франции, и выигрывает пари.

    В начале XX века «Разговоры» Жоли были использованы в царской России для изготовления антисемитской фальшивки — печально знаменитых «Протоколов сионских мудрецов», книги, переведенной на все языки мира и своими тиражами уступающей только Библии. Плагиат был разоблачен корреспондентом газеты «Таймс» Филипом Грейвсом в 1921 г. Сравнением текстов “Разговоров” и “Протоколов”, равно как и поиском автора плагиата, занималось не одно поколение исследователей.
    В наше время о “Разговорах” знают в основном благодаря “Протоколам”, но книга Жоли представляет интерес отнюдь не только в связи с означенными “Протоколами”. Единственный до сих пор перевод “Разговоров” на русский язык был выпущен в 2004 году издательством “МК-Трейд” под названием “Диалог в аду между Макиавелли и Монтескье”. Это был перевод с немецкого перевода с французского языка. Предлагаемое читателю новое издание книги Жоли является переводом с французского оригинала, хотя и достаточно вольным, что отражено в заголовке: Разговоры Макиавелли и Монтескье в царстве мертвых, записанные злосчастным французом Морисом Жоли в правление императора Людовика-Наполеона и пересказанные полтора века спустя для русского читателя нашим современником. Морис Жоли писал о “политике макиавеллизма в XIX веке”. Однако теперь очевидно, что и в XXI веке политика макиавеллизма не претерпела существенных изменений. Старинный рецепт установления деспотии “в одной, отдельно взятой стране” хорош и по сей день.

    Published in San Francisco, California.

    Paperback, size: 110 x 148 x 10 mm

    КУПИТЬ КНИГУ

  • Hardcover volume, 22 x 15.5 cm, pictorial paper boards with black and white lettering to front and spine, a blurb in black on orange to back, pp.: [2] 3-437 [3], 3 ils. Title-page: ПОСЛЕДНИЙ | ПРИЮТ | МАРКО | ВОВЧОК | device {ИЗДАТЕЛЬСТВО | М. И В. КОТЛЯРОВЫХ} | Нальчик 2021 || Print run: 400 copies. Contributors: Марко Вовчок [Марія Олександрівна Вілінська, Marko Vovtchok] (Ukrainian, 1833 – 1907). Лобач-Жученко, Борис Борисович (Russian, 1899 – 1995). Collective: Мария и Виктор Котляровы, Александр Шепелев, Оксана Иваненко, Евгения Тютюнина, Наталья Смирнова, С. Л. Ращенко, Марина Лобач-Жученко.  
  • Hardcover volume from the series Masterworks of ukiyo-e, 26.3 x 19.2 cm, bound in unprimed canvas, red characters on black strip to front, red and black lettering to spine, tan flat endpapers, in a pictorial slipcase with series design (black lettering on silver spine); pp: [1-6]: h.t./frontis. (colour plate pasted in), t.p./imprint, contents/acknowledgements), 7-31 text, [32] blank, 33-96 (58 plates w/captions). Title-page (in frame): MASTERWORKS OF UKIYO-E | STUDIES IN NATURE | HOKUSAI-HIROSHIGE | by Muneshige Narazaki | Translated by John Bester | {publisher’s device} | KODANSHA INTERNATIONAL LTD. | Tokyo, Japan & Palo-Alto, Calif., U.S.A | {vertical, between rules 花鳥風月} || 花鳥風月 (Kachou Fugetsu) – beauties of nature. Series: Masterworks of ukiyo-e, № 11. Contributors: Muneshige Narazaki [楢崎 宗重] (Japanese, 1904 – 2001) – author. John Bester (British, 1927 – 2010) – translator. Katsushika Hokusai [葛飾 北斎] (Japanese, 1760 – 1849) – artist. Utagawa Hiroshige [歌川 広重] a.k.a. Andō Hiroshige [安藤 広重] (Japanese, 1797 – 1858) – artist.
  • Hardcover volume, 8vo, 21.5 x 14.5 cm, bound by Riviere & Son (stamped on fep verso bottom) in full brown calf, boards with triple gilt fillet border and gilt dentelle inside, spine with raised bands, gilt in compartments, black label with gilt lettering, all margins gilt, blue endpapers, bookplate of Arthur Rau pasted to front pastedown (text: Les hommes sont méchants mais leurs livres sont bons / Arthur Rau; signed: E. H. New – A.D. 1922), traces of removed owner’s label to fep recto; printed on laid paper. Title-page (engraved, in floral frame): LE TEMPLE | DE GNIDE. | Mis en Vers | Par M. Colardeau | {vignette with portrait of Pierre Corneille} | A PARIS | Chez le Jay, Libraire, Rue St. Jacques au dessus de | celle des Mathurins au Grand Corneille || Collation: 2 blanks, h.t., engraved t.p. with a portrait of Pierre Corneille, a8, A-E8 F4 (52 leaves), 2 blanks, plus 7 plates by various engravers after Charles Monnet. Pagination: [i] ii-xvi, [1] 2-88 (104 pp). Ref: MFA (Boston): accession number 37.1747 Catalogue raisonné: Lewine 114, Cohen-DeRicci 245-6. Contributors: Charles Monnet (French, 1732 – after 1808) – artist. Engravers:  Jean Charles Baquoy (French, 1721 – 1777) Nicolas Delaunay (French, 1739 – 1792) Isidore Stanislas Helman (French, 1743 – 1806) Louis Joseph Masquelier (French, 1741 – 1811) François Denis Née (French, 1735 – 1818) Nicholas Ponce (French, 1746 – 1831) Portrait(s) designed by: Guillaume Voiriot (French, 1713 – 1799) Author: Charles-Pierre Colardeau (French, 1732 – 1776) Publisher: Edmé-Jean Le Jay (French, 1734 – 1795) Bookplate artist: Edmund Hort New (British, 1871 – 1931) Provenance: Arthur Rau (British, 1898 – 1972); his obituary can be found in The Book Collector 1973, vol. 22, n°1, p. 86-89. According to the genealogy service Geni, Arthur Aron Rau was born to Jacob Aryeh Rau and Katharina (Kaethe) Rau, and has a sister Cecilia (Tsipporah) Rosenfelder and a brother Frederick Solomon Rau. He went to Oxford and then joined Maggs Brothers in their Paris establishment. "After some years there, he set up on his own, returning to England at the outbreak of the Second World War to be a schoolmaster for ten years". In 1949 he returned to Paris and retired in 1963, "and his last years he happily spent in Wensleydale...". All he published during his lifetime were two catalogues, Livres Rares Et Anciens. Manuscrits et Autographes. — Paris: Arthur Rau, 1932-3 and Cinquante Tres Beaux Livres Avec Un Appendice. — Paris: Arthur Rau, 1933. He also contributed to The Book Collector.
    Seller’s description: In-8° : [2]-t. gr.-xvi-88 pp. ; 7 h.-t. (qqs rouss.). - Poème d'après le roman de Montesquieu ill. de 7 eaux-fortes par Bacquoy, Delaunay, Née, etc., d'après Charles Monnet. Titre gr. orné d'un portr. de Corneille. Cohen, qui cite un ex. millésimé 1773, signale des ex. avec la date de 1772 ou sans date. - Réf. Cohen 245-246. - Conlon 72:675 (éd. à l'adresse d'Amsterdam et Paris, 1772). - Pas dans Reynaud. - Prov. Arthur Rau (1898-1972), gérant de la librairie Maggs à Paris avant d'ouvrir sa propre librairie en 1932 (ex-libris gr. par E.H. New, 1922 ; réf. BnF). - Traces d'ex-libris décollé à la garde sup.
  • Oblong hardcover volume, 13.3 x 21 cm, bound in brown buckram with embossed gilt lettering to front, pp.: [1-4] 5-482 [2] errata leaf laid in. Title-page: СОЮЗ СОВЕТСКИХ ПИСАТЕЛЕЙ СССР | СПРАВОЧНИК | на 1954 — 1955 годы | ИЗДАТЕЛЬСТВО «Советский писатель» | МОСКВА 1954 || On page 71, second from bottom: Варшавский Сергей Петрович, г. Ленинград, Ропшинская ул., д. 1/32, кв. 18, тел. В 3-56-00. Print run: 3,000 copies.
  • Hand-coloured woodcut on wove paper, 430 x 285 mm; black ink stamp “5051” to reverse. Top right: "GÉNÉRAL | de division." — "359." Bottom: "Imagerie de DIDION, à Metz. Déposé." Paulin Didion (French, 1831 – 1879) – publisher/printer.
  • Hardcover volume, 12mo, 125 x 85 mm, two parts in one, bound and gilded by Cuzin and Maillard, respectively, between 1876 and 1881, in crimson crushed morocco with raised bands and gilt lettering to spine, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt, gilt dentelle, signed 'Cuzin' to foot of front turn-in and 'Maillard dor.' to rear. Adorned with engraved frontispiece and 12 plates by Elluin after Borel. Text printed on a slightly bluish paper. Title-page: LE | MEURSIUS FRANÇOIS, | OU | ENTRETIENS GALANS | D'ALOYSIA. | ORNÉ | DE FIGURES. | — | TOME PREMIER (SECOND) | — | ✵ | A CYTHERE | — | M. DCC. LXXXII. || Collation: 12mo, π4 (2 blanks) A-Z6 χ1,+ π2 A-S6 (4 blanks) χ1, total 254 leaves; pagination: [8] [1] 2-277 [278 blank], [4] [1] 2-210 [8 blanks], total 508 pages, plus 13 engraved plates, incl. frontispiece. Catalogue raisonné: Cohen-de Ricci 240; Eros invaincu 17; Fekete 51; Nordmann (I) 91. Contributors: Nicolas Chorier (French, 1612 – 1692) – author. Antoine Borel (French, 1743 – 1810) – artist. François-Rolland Elluin (French, 1745 – c. 1822) – engraver. Hubert-Martin Cazin (French, 1724 – 1795) – publisher. Francisque Cuzin (French, 1836 – 1890) – bookbinder. Seller’s description: Erotica.- [Chorier (Nicolas)]Le Meursius François, ou Entretiens galans d'Aloysia, 2 parts in 1, half-title to each part, engraved frontispiece and 12 plates [by Elluin after Borel], handsomely bound in crimson crushed morocco by Cuzin, spine with gilt lettering and five raised bands, gilt tooled turn-ins by Maillard, signed 'Cuzin' to foot of front turn-in and 'Maillard dor.' to rear, marbled endpapers, g.e., fractional rubbing to extremities, an excellent copy, 12mo, Cythere [but Paris], [Cazin], 1782.
  • A set of 49 prints, heliogravures and etchings, tipped-in on 285 x 257 mm grey cards, in a green marbled folder with a gilt-lettered black label to the front. No publisher, no place, no year (s.l., s.n., s.d.), printed in circa 1910.
    1. Vlastimil Blažek (Czech, 1878 – 1950): heliogravure, sheet 180 x 137 mm, plate 152 x 114 mm; laid paper, black sepia ink; unsigned.
    2. Ex libris Gerhard Wunderlich (architect in Dresden): heliogravure, sheet 205 x 150 mm, plate 158 x 115 mm; wove paper, brown sepia ink; inscription: heliogravure, sheet 180 x 137 mm, plate 152 x 114 mm; laid paper, sepia ink; inscription to top “Es ist alles so eng”; signed “F (backwards). Bayros”.
    3. Ex libris William Lipka: heliogravure, sheet 140 x 125 mm, plate 112 x 98 mm; laid paper, black sepia ink; signature hardly legible.
    4. Nikolaus Schindler (amateur photographer in Vienna): heliogravure, sheet 142 x 150 mm, plate 110 x 117 mm; laid paper, black sepia ink; unsigned.
    5. Sussy de Coiquard: heliogravure, sheet 160 x 140 mm, plate 128 x 110 mm; laid paper, black sepia ink; unsigned.
    6. Illegible, looks like “Vielluer Febréy”: heliogravure, sheet 120 x 109 mm, plate 93 x 85 mm; laid paper, black, sepia ink; signed “F (backwards). Bayros:”.
    7. Ex libris Erich Liebermann-Rosswiese (Greman-Jewish, 1886 – 1942): heliogravure, sheet 180 x 139 mm, plate 118 x 88 mm; wove paper, black sepia ink; unsigned.
    8. Ex libris Dr. phil. Rudolf Ludwig: before letters, heliogravure, sheet 150 x 132 mm, plate 120 x 110 mm; laid paper, black sepia ink; unsigned. See [LIB-3258.2023] John Cleland. Die Memoiren der Fanny Hill. — Paphos [i.e. Vienna]: C. W. Stern, 1906.
    9. Unidentified: before letters, heliogravure, sheet 150 x 115 mm, plate 113 x 88 mm; laid paper, black sepia ink; signed “F. Bayros” in the manuscript. Circumstantial evidence tells that this bookplate belongs to someone A.W.(Artur Wolf). See №22.
    10. Lulu. Monachia. Gest. v. Ritter Dialekt und Junker Erich: heliogravure, sheet 204 x 152 mm, plate 160 x 118 mm; wove paper, black sepia ink; unsigned. See №20.
    11. Kellner Jstván: (István): heliogravure, sheet 118 x 100 mm, plate 85 x 70 mm; laid paper, black sepia ink; signed “Franz Bayros” in the script (hardly legible).
    12. Adyton: heliogravure, sheet 170 x 130 mm, plate 113 x 85 mm; wove paper, black, sepia ink; signed “F (backwards). Bayros”.
    13. 13.Ex libris George Arthur Buhl (American, 1883 – 1959): heliogravure, sheet 166 x 140 mm, plate 120 x 92 mm; wove paper, black sepia ink; inscription “!I will! | !And I can!”; bust inscribed “T. Carlyle”; signed “F (backwards). Bayros” (hardly legible).
    14. Ex-Libris Heinrich und Lise Fuhrmann: heliogravure, sheet 165 x 149 mm, plate 120 x 103 mm; wove paper, black sepia ink; signed “F (backward). Bayros”; inscription “So schaff ich am sausenden Webstuhl der Zeit und wirke der Gottheit lebendiges Kleid” (from ‘Faust’ by Goethe).
    15. Ex libris Gerhard Wunderlich (architect in Dresden): heliogravure, sheet 165 x 137 mm, plate 135 x 105 mm; laid paper, black, sepia ink; signed “F (backwards). Bayros”.
    16. Ex Libris Walther u. Amelia Fahrenhorst; Walter Fahrenhorst (German, 1871 – 1938): heliogravure, sheet 165 x 140 mm, plate 128 x 95 mm; wove paper, black sepia ink; signed “F. Bayros” in the manuscript. The inscription behind the strings: NITOR (lat. beauty, glamour).
    17. Ex Libris Margot Lewknecht; heliogravure, sheet 145 x 140 mm, plate 128 x 118 mm; laid paper, black sepia ink; signed “F. Bayros”.
    18. Ex Libris Walther Heinisch (publisher in Carlsbad); heliogravure, sheet 185 x 145 mm, plate 140 x 110 mm; wove paper, sanguine; male bust with an inscription to the base: “Arnold Boeklin” / Arnold Böcklin (Swiss, 1827 – 1901); inscription: “mit gêru scal man geba infâhan” – a line from Hildebrandslied, the earliest poetic text in German. Unsigned.
    19. Bookplate with music score GGDBGC; heliogravure, sheet 125 x 135 mm, plate 100 x 110 mm, with monogram «HCJ»; laid paper, brown sepia ink; signed “F. Bayros”.
    20. Bookplate with inscription: Lulu aus Praga | Gest v. Ritter Dialekt / Monachia / Monachia / und Junker Erich; heliogravure, sheet 182 x 147 mm, plate 160 x 120 mm, image 122 x 105 mm; wove paper, bluish-black sepia ink; unsigned. See №10.
    21. Bookplate, no inscription; heliogravure, laid paper, sepia ink, sheet 148 x 127 mm, image 84 x 79 mm; signed F. Bayros in the manuscript beneath the image.
    22. Ex libris Artur Wolf: heliogravure, laid paper, sepia ink, sheet 170 x 150 mm, image 120 x 105 mm; signed F. Bayros in the manuscript to the frame of the image. See №9.
    23. Ex Libris E. K. Weigl: heliogravure, laid paper, sepia ink, sheet 139 x 121 mm, plate 112 x 97 mm; unsigned; inscription above male portrait: “LEONARDO”.
    24. Ex libris Dr. A. Bergmann: heliogravure, wove paper, sepia ink; sheet 180 x 140 mm, plate 130 x 105 mm; signed F. Bayros in the manuscript.
    25. Grete Cäcilie (monogram “PS”): heliogravure, laid paper, sepia ink, sheet 161 x 130 mm, plate 128 x 103 mm, signature illegible.
    26. Emma Steigleder: heliogravure, laid paper, black ink, sheet 181 x 141 mm, plate 158 x 117 mm, signed F. Bayros in the manuscript. Inscription “Si vis amari, ama! Seneca” [If you want to be loved, love] to the attic of the arch.
    27. Bruno Fischer: heliogravure, laid paper, sepia ink, sheet 186 x 145 mm, plate 155 x 116 mm, signed “F (backward). Bayros”. Inscription to bottom “Gehl Weck’ ihn nicht auf seien wir froh dass er einmal schläft!”
    28. Harnasch: heliogravure, wove paper, sepia ink; unsigned; sheet 140 x 132 mm, plate 100 x 85 mm; unsigned.
    29. Eduard Klampfl: heliogravure, laid paper, sepia ink, sheet 165 x 145 mm, plate 135 x 110 mm, signed “F (backwards). Bayros”; portrait bust of the composer Richard Wagner (German, 1813 –1883).
    30. Jorge Monsalvatje: heliogravure, wove paper, sepia ink; sheet 189 x 160 mm, plate 150 x 115 mm; signed F. Bayros in the manuscript.
    31. E. K. W.: wove paper, sepia ink; sheet 150 x 120 mm; signed “Bayros”.
    32. Unidentified bookplate: wove paper, sepia ink; sheet 150 x 120 mm; signed “F. Bayros 09” in the manuscript.
    33. Ex-Libris Helene and Emil Lemberger: heliogravure (or soft ground etching), laid paper, sepia ink, sheet 180 x 163 mm, plate 150 x 130 mm, signed “F. Bayros” in the manuscript.
    34. M. Z.: wove paper, sepia ink; sheet 130 x 170 mm, plate 90 x 120 mm; signed “F (backwards) Bayros”.
    35. Ex libris Frankl Frigyes Vilmos: heliogravure (or soft ground etching), laid paper, sepia ink, sheet 140 x 148 mm, unsigned. Frigyes Frankl, born in Tejfalu, Szlovákia, died in 1943.
    36. Ex libris Anton Bürck: heliogravure, wove paper, sepia ink; sheet 170 x 137 mm, plate 123 x 104 mm; unsigned. Anton Burck (German,1881 – 1951) of Palatinate, Bavaria.
    37. Aus den büchern A. W.: heliogravure, laid paper, sepia ink, sheet 152 x 136 mm, plate 120 x 105 mm, signed “F. Bayros” in the manuscript.
    38. Ex libris Hans Hickl: heliogravure, laid paper, sepia ink, sheet 150 x 125 mm, plate 115 x 95 mm, signed “Ω”.
    39. Ex libris Karl Wehle: soft ground etching, laid paper, brown sepia ink, sheet 107 x 90 mm, plate 80 x 65 mm, inscription “Gut!” in the centre; unsigned. Karl Wehle (Austrian, 1901 – 1933)
    40. Ex libris Dr. Paul Berger: etching, laid paper, black ink, sheet 140 x 115 mm, plate 115 x 85 mm, signed “F (backwards). Bayros”.
    41. Unidentified bookplate: etching, laid paper, black ink, sheet 145 x 115 mm, plate 85 x 70 mm, unsigned.
    42. Ex Bibliotheca Erotica Carl Georg von Maassen: soft ground etching, india paper, black ink, sheet 76 x 78 mm, signed “FB”.
    43. Ex Bibliotheca Erotica Carl Georg von Maassen: soft ground etching, india paper, black ink, sheet 79 x 79 mm, signed “F. von Bayros”.
    44. Paul Mixa: soft ground etching, laid paper, sanguine ink, sheet 122 x 111 mm, plate 90 x 85 mm, inscription: “Gerne hör’ich wenn du singest und ich horche wenn du schweigest” [I like to hear when you sing and I listen when you are silent].
    45. Ex libris Drs Q. M. Vyskocil.: etching, laid paper, sanguine ink, sheet 141 x 115 mm, plate 115 x 75 mm, inscription: “MIT REINEN HAENDEN” [with pure hands], signed “F. Bayros” in the manuscript.
    46. Ex libris Andrée Bearn de Riquer: soft ground etching, laid paper, sanguine ink, sheet 136 x 88 mm, plate 100 x 62 mm, signed “F (backwards). Bayros”. Andrée Béarn [Marguerite Laborde] (French, 1880 – 1973), spouse of Alexandre de Riquer (Catalan, 1856 – 1920).
    47. Ex musicis Drs Blažek VL: etching, wove paper, sanguine ink, sheet 141 x 116 mm, plate 115 x 90 mm, inscription: “MIT REINEN HAENDEN” [with pure hands], signed “F. Bayros” in the manuscript. See Vlastimil Blažek (Czech, 1878 – 1950) № 1 in this series.
    48. Ex libris Paul Lindenberg: etching, wove paper, sanguine ink, sheet 130 x 114 mm, plate 95 x 90 mm, image 80 x 72 mm, inscription: “ad pios usus” (for pious uses); signed with monogram “F (backwards). B”.
    49. Unidentified bookplate: heliogravure, laid paper, sanguine ink, sheet 150 x 131 mm, plate 120 x 100 mm, signed “F. Bayros” in the manuscript.
  • Макиавелли Николай. Государь (Il Principe) и Рассуждения на первые три книги Тита Ливия. Пер. c итал. Н. Курочкина. Издание "Русской книжной торговли". - СПб.; тип. Тиблена и Ко. (Неклюдова), 1869. - 502 стр.

  • A cast iron painted 19th century style money box in the form of a negro, the arm articulated to insert coins.
  • Iron tsuba of round form with design of butterfly (left) and dragonfly (right) in openwork (sukashi), outlined with brass wire. Thin plate also decorated with five concentric circular rows of brass dots (nail heads) in ten-zōgan; brass wire outlines of the center of the plate. School: Ōnin ten-zogan. Late Muromachi period, 16th century. Diameter: 88 mm, thickness at seppa-dai: 3.1 mm. Another tsuba of similar design, Tōshō school, is illustrated in this collection; see TSU-0353.

    TSU-0353: Tōshō tsuba, Muromachi period.

    Reference to the design has been found at "Japanese Swords and Tsuba from the Professor A. Z. Freeman and the Phyllis Sharpe Memorial collections". Sotheby's, London, Thursday 10 April 1997; p. 18, item 37: "pierced with two large formalised butterflies...".

    A kamakura-bori tsuba. Momoyama period. Freeman & Sharpe Memorial Collections.

  • Iron tsuba of round form with circular iron wire fastened to the surface with iron and brass staples (mukade-zōgan); brass ring about 2.5 mm wide along the rim with chisel marks. Design repeats on the reverse. Copper sekigane. Early Edo, 17th century. Size: Height: 83.3 mm; width 83.9 mm; thickness at seppa-dai: 4.5 mm. Weight 173.6 g. Design is thought to resemble a centipede. "Centipede-like inlay (mukade zogan) of alternating iron and brass staples produce an appearance that was particularly favored by Takeda Shingen (1521-1573), one of the most powerful warlords of his time. The centipede is sacred to Bishamon (God of War) and especially propitious for a warrior. Shingen type, 16th century.” [The Peabody Museum collection of Japanese sword guards with selected pieces of sword furniture, by John D. Hamilton. Photographs by Mark Sexton. Salem, MA, 1975.] See also: http://varshavskycollection.com/shingen-tsuba/ SOLD
  • Kitagawa Utamaro. According to Chris Uhlenberg this is an illustration from the book Ehon koi no Onamaki, 3 vols, published in Kansei 11 (1799). Illustrated in b/w in: Hayashi Yoshikazu: Kitagawa Utamaro, in the series: Edo makura-e shi shusei, published in 1990, reissued 1994. Size: Chuban (25.5 x 18.5 cm), two book pages glued together.  
  • [SOLD]

    Iron tsuba of slightly elongated round form carved and inlaid in gold and shibuichi with a long-armed monkey hanging from a pine tree branch reaching for the reflection of a crescent moon in the stream. A pine tree carved with details inlaid in gold on the reverse. The design seems to be inspired by Kaneie work (Compton III, p. 10, №6a; Tsuba no bi, 1947, p. 33, №56).

    Dimensions: 76.8 x 74.2 x 3.6 mm. Mid-Edo period. Unsigned.

    Compton III, p. 10, №6a

    Tsuba no bi, 1947, p. 33, №56.

       
  • Iron tsuba of oval form with the motif of horse trappings in openwork (sukashi). Copper sekigane. Iron bones (tekkotsu) on the rim.

    Size: 80.4 x 75.8 x 5.2 mm

    NBTHK Certificate №454567, allegedly saying that it is Akasaka School, Muromachi period. A look-a-like tsuba in Robert. E. Haynes Catalog #7, 1983 on page 57 under №48 is described as follows: "A masterpiece second period Owari sukashi tsuba. The plate is of beautiful color and quality almost like velvet. The design is very hard to discern, it might be the horse trappings, or even a moon. The style and type of Owari tsuba shows the great tradition of the Momoyama period and why it was the renaissance in time, as well as the arts produced, through the long history of all Japanese art. Ca. 1580. Ht. 7.7 cm, Th. (center) 5.5 mm, (edge) 5.25 to 5.75 mm."

    Robert. E. Haynes Catalog #7, 1983, p. 57, №48.

    I believe we can safely attribute this tsuba to Owari School, c. 1580.    
  • Isoda Koryūsai (礒田 湖龍斎, 1735–1790), flourished: 1769 to 1790. The print lacks signature (signature erased).

    Attributed definitely to Koryūsai: Jacob Pins, #491 [p.202] - Saigyo Hoshi admiring Mount Fuji. Signature erased but convincingly attributed to Koryusai. Tikotin Museum, Haifa. Catalogue raisonné: Allen Hockley: A3-J-5 (p. 261).

    Saigyō Hōshi (西行 法師, 1118 – March 23, 1190) was a famous Japanese poet of the late Heian and early Kamakura period.

  • Iron tsuba of round form with brown patina decorated with the design of a Buddhist temple bell (tsurigane) in openwork (sukashi), with details outlined in brass wire (sen-zōgan), the outer ring  decorated with two rows of brass dots (ten-zōgan), and the bell details carved in sukidashi-bori as on kamakura-bori pieces.

    Ōnin school. Unsigned. Late Muromachi period, 16th century. Dimensions: 88.8 x 88.3 x 3.0 mm. As per Merrily Baird, two legends are usually associated with the image of tsurigane, a large, suspended Buddhist bell: one is that of Dojo Temple (Dojo-ji), and the other is of Benkei stealing the tsurigane of Miidera Temple. Interestingly, this type of bell (tsurigane) is not described as a family crest (mon), while suzu and hansho bells are.  
  • Iron tsuba with hammer marked surface and design of a plum and cherry blossoms to the right of nakaga-ana in openwork (sukashi). Raised rim, typical to katchushi school. The thickness of the plate provides for later Muromachi period making.

    Late Muromachi period (1514-1573). Size: 85.8 x 85.0 x 3.6 (center), 4.1 (rim) mm; weight: 136 g.  
  • Engraving by J.J. Balechou after E. Jeaurat.  A husband and wife ask a quack doctor for advice about health: he suggests substituting himself for the husband in the wife's affections, and she agrees: Épigrammes de Jean-Baptiste Rousseau (French, 1671–1741).

    Date: 1743.

    Size: 380 x 270 mm

    Inscriptions under the image:

    Top: Peint par E. Jeaurat | L'Operateur Barri | Grave par Balechou 1743

    Middle: Sur leurs santés un Bourgeois et sa femme

    Interrogeoient l'Operateur Barri, Lequel leur dit : Pour vous guérir, Madame, Baume plus sûr n'est que votre Mari, Puis se tournant vers l'époux amaigri, Pour vous, dit il, femme vous est mortelle, Las ! dit alors l'Epoux à sa femelle, Puis qu'autrement ne pouvons nous guérir, Que faire donc ? Je n'en sçai rien, dit elle,

    Mais, par Saint Jean, je ne veux point mourir.

    Rousseau Epig. X

    Center bottom: a Paris chez Lepicie Graveur du Roi au coin de l'Abreuvoir du Quay des Orfevres. Et Chez L. Surugue Aussi Graveur du Roi rue des Noyers vis a vis le mur de St. Yves Avec Privilege du Roi.
  • Artist: Utagawa Sadahide [歌川 貞秀], a.k.a. Gountei Sadahide [五雲亭 貞秀] (1807 – c. 1878/9). Publisher: Iseya Ichiemon [伊勢屋市右衛門] (Japanese, fl. c 1823 – 1864), seal name Kaku-Tsuji [角辻]. Signed: Gountei Sadahide ga [五雲亭貞秀画] Censor's seal: kiwame, date seal: Tenpō 3 (1832). Size: Uncut fan print (uchiwa-e); 218 x 282 mm. Portrait of a young woman dressed in a green kimono decorated with arabesque (karakusa) and flowers, her black obi adorned with a dragon, in a western-style frame, on a blue background; and a painting of a parrot on a pomegranate tree. A similar design was used by Sadahide in 1860, described in detail by Sebastian Izzard in his Japanese Prints of the Mid-Nineteenth Century: 1830–1865, September 20–October 24, 2006 exhibition: Picture of a Curio Shop in Yokohama: reverse painting on glass of a crimson parrot, coloured copperplate engraving of a mother and child (Yokohama urimono mise no zu: gyokuban abura-e, doban-e saishiki). Colour woodblock print: oban tate-e, 143/8 x 93/4 in. (36.5 x 24.8 cm.); Man-en I/3 (3/1860) Series: Picture of Goods for Sale in Yokohama (Yokohama urimono zue no uchi) Signature: Gountei Sadahide ga, double toshidama seal Publisher: Daikokuya Kinnosuke.
  • Title: Life in Paris ; | COMPRISING THE | RAMBLES, SPREES, AND AMOURS, | OF | DICK WILDFIRE, | OF CORINTHIAN CELEBRITY, | And his Bang-up Companions, SQUARE JENKINS | AND | CAPTAIN O’SHUFFLETON ; | WITH THE | Whimsical Adventures of the Halibut family ; | Including Sketches of a Variety of other Eccentric Characters in the | FRENCH METROPOLIS. | BY DAVID CAREY |[Vignette]| Embellished with Twenty-One COLOURED PLATES, representing SCENES from REAL LIFE, | designed and engraved by Mr. GEORGE CRUIKSHANK. | Enriched also with Twenty-Two Engravings on Wood, drawn by the same Artist, and | executed by Mr. WHITE. | LONDON : | PRINTED FOR JOHN FAIRBURN, BROADWAY, LUDGATE HILL; | Sold by Sherwood, Neely, and Jones ; Langman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown ; and | Baldwin, Craddoc, and Joy ; Paternoster-Row ; Simpkin and Marshall, Statio- | ners’ Court ; Whittakers Ave-Maria-Lane ; Humphrey, St. James’s | Street ; and Wilson, Royal Exchange. | 1822. ||

    Edition: 1st edition in book form, 1st issue; large-paper copy bound from the parts in original blue paper boards, "most scarce" (Cohn).

    Pagination: ffl, [i, ii] – h.t. ‘LIFE IN PARIS’ / ‘MARCHANT, Printer, Ingram-Court, London’, [2] – blank / Frontispiece (Ville la Bagatelle!!) hand-coloured, [iii, iv] – t.p. with vignette / blank, [v] vi-xxiv, [1] 2-489 [490 blank], [2] – 'TO THE BINDER' and 'Marchant, Printer, Ingram-Court, Fenchurch Street' "considered indispensable to a complete copy" (Cohn) / blank, bfl watermarked 1800; 21 hand-coloured aquatints and 22 wood-engraved text vignettes; cancelled leaves 143/4 and 335/6; pinholes from printing visible in most gatherings.

    Collation: 4to; [a]-c4, B-Z4 Aa-Zz4 3A-3Q4 3R1 + [Ω]1

    Binding: Original boards sometime re-backed with red paper, binder's end leaf watermarked 1800; red hard-grained morocco clamshell box.

    Catalogue raisonné: Albert M. Cohn, 1924: № 109 p. 37/8; Abbey, J. R. (Life in England), 112; Tooley (Some English Books with Coloured Plates) 129; Hardie (English coloured books) 199.

    Description of Shapero Rare Books, London: Of the copies that have come to auction since 1975 only one has been a large-paper copy in original boards. "The pictures are extremely spirited and true and are all the more wonderful in view of the fact that the artist’s continental experiences were limited to one day spent in Boulogne." (Hardie). In 1821, the journalist Pierce Egan published Life in London, an immediate success illustrated by the Cruikshank brothers, George and Robert. In order to capitalise on this success, another journalist, David Carey, decided to publish his own Life in Paris in monthly instalments (just like Life in London) and with a very similar frontispiece to the one that appears in Egan’s work; Life in Paris, however, was illustrated only by George Cruikshank. One of the earliest and most notable examples of the work of George Cruikshank, with fine, clean plates.
  • The pillow is moulded as a recumbent tiger, the details painted in dark brown and pale russet on a white slip and under a clear glaze, and the slightly dished top is painted with a winged beast. China, the Jin dynasty [金朝] (1115 – 1234). Dimensions: 12 x 34.5 x 19.5 cm
  • Softcover, 242 x 165 mm, French flapped wrappers with black and red lettering to front and spine, top edge trimmed, pages uncut, printed on wove paper watermarked BFK Rives in italic script; illustrations in colour. Title: JEAN DE LA FONTAINE | LES AMOURS | DE | PSYCHÉ ET DE CUPIDON | ÉDITION CONFORME AUX TEXTES ORIGINAUX | ÉTABLIE PAR | LOUIS PERCEAU | ET ORNÉE D’ILLUSTRATIONS EN COULEURS | PAR | CARLÈGLE | LE LIVRE DU BIBLIOPHILE | GEORGES BRIFFAUT, ÉDITEUR | 4, RUE DE FURSTENBERG, PARIS | 1932 || Limited edition: 1230 copies of which this ic copy № 247. Collated 8vo: π4 1-24 3-48 58 *58 6-168 χ2, total 134 leaves, incl. frontispiece. Pagination: [8] 1-253 [254] [6]. Colophon: Le volume des Amours de Psyché et de Cupidon de La Fontaine a été achevé d'imprimer le quinze juin mil neuf cent trente-deux sur les presses du maitre imprimeur Coulouma, a Argenteul, H. Barthélemy étant directeur. Coloris de E. Charpentier, Paris.  
  • Title: Издательство Путеводителей "Русскiй Бедекеръ" сущ. съ 1888 г. | Григорiй Москвичъ. | ИЛЛЮСТРИРОВАННЫЙ | Практический Путеводитель | по Одессѣ | с приложенiемъ: | очерка одесской выставки, плана Одессы, исполненнаго | в краскахъ, плановъ — порта, Куяльницкаго лимана, | расписанiя рейсовъ пароходовъ и тарифовъ, алфавита | и проч. | ИЗДАНИIЕ ШЕСТОЕ. | Цѣна 1 руб. (в переплетѣ) | ПРОДАЕТСЯ | во всѣх лучшихъ книжныхъ магазинахъ столицъ | и провинцiи. | ОДЕССА. | Типографiя и стереотипия И. Копельмана, Пушк. 34. | 1910. || Binding: Red cloth with gilt lettering to the front board: XXII-й ГОДЪ ИЗДАНIЯ XXII-й | ПУТЕВОДИТЕЛЬ | ПО | ОДЕССѢ | Г. МОСКВИЧА. | 6 изд. Цѣна 1 руб. | 1910. [Pictorial advert.], to the back board: Text. advert. in gilt; to spine: ОДЕССА. Pink end-papers with advertisement. Pagination: [i-ii - t.p. /advert.] [iii]-iv - preface to 6th edition; [v]-viii - content; [ix]-xvi - index; 11 leaves advert., unpag; [i]-xii - Odessa exhibition; [1] 2-240; [1] 2-8 - schedules; photo plates, 2 folding maps; in-16mo (numerical). Size: 16.5 x 10.5 cm.
  • POLEMIC AGAINST PRINTING | by | FILIPPO DE STRATA | Translated by SHELAGH GRIER | Edited and | Introduced by MARTIN LOWRY | University of Warwick | The Hayloft Press | 1986 || Publisher’s mustard wrappers w/ lettering, 18.5 x 12.5 cm, 20 unnumbered pages of parallel Latin text and English translation with English introduction; limited edition of 350 copies, 100 for private circulation and 250 numbered copies for sale of which this is №3, with ink inscription to the last page: To Beryl | on her birthday, 1986 | with love from | David ||  
  • Front wrapper: PARIS SOUS NAPOLÉON III | Mémoires d'un homme du monde | DE 1857 À 1870 | PAR LE COMTE DE ARTHUR GRANDEFFE | {publisher’s device} | PARIS: IMPRIMERIE ET LIBRAIRIE CENTRALES DES CHEMINS DE FER | A. CHAIX ET Cie | RUE BERGÈRE 20, PRÈS DU BOULEVARD MONTMARTRE | 1879 || Similar lettering to t.p. Softcover 18.5 x 12 cm, publisher’s original blue wrappers, first and last leaves glued to wrappers, unevenly trimmed, some uncut, pagination [4] [i] ii-vi, [1] 2-413 [414], authors advert to back wrapper; mispaginated pp. 136-141; collation: 18mo, π6, 1-2218 236. Sticker with gilt lettering to front wrapper “LIBRAIRIE CENTRALE | BERTRAND & QUEYROT | MENTON”; sticker to spine "577".  
  • Title: OVID'S | METAMORPHOSES | IN | FIFTEEN BOOKS. | Translated by the most Eminent Hands. | Adorn’d with Sculptures | London: | Printed for Jacob Tonson at Shakespeare’s–Head | over-against Katharine-Street in the Strand. | M DCC XVII. || Physical description: Folio, laid paper, engraved title as frontispiece, letterpress title-page, portrait of the dedicatee, the Princess of Wales, engraved by George Vertue (British, 1684 – 1756) after Sir Godfrey Kneller (German, 1646 – 1723), [4] – dedication with headpiece vignette engraved by Elisha Kirkall (British, 1682 – 1742) after Peter Berchet (French, 1659 – 1720 London), [i]-xx – preface, [4] – contents, 1-548; collation: π3 a-f2, B-Zzzzzz2, +15 full-paged engravings, one heading each book; bound in full contemporary tan English calf blind-tooled with a darker panel, raised bands, crimson label with gilt lettering, sprinkled compartments with blind tooling, rebacked, later endpapers, 15 1/4 x 9 1/2 in (39.5 x 26 x 5 cm). Contributors: Author: Ovid (Roman, 43 B.C. – A.D. 17) Translator: Sir Samuel Garth (British, 1661 – 1719) Translator: John Dryden (British, 1631 – 1700) Translator: Joseph Addison (British, 1672 – 1719) Translator: John Gay (British, 1685 – 1732) Dedicatee / Sitter: Caroline Wilhelmina of Brandenburg-Ansbach, Princess of Wales, Queen of England (German-British, 1683 – 1737) Engraver: Elisha Kirkall (British, 1682 – 1742) Artist: Peter Berchet (French-British, 1659 – 1720) Artist:  Sir Godfrey Kneller (German, 1646 – 1723) Engraver: George Vertue (British, 1684 – 1756) Engraver: Louis Du Guernier, the younger (French, 1677 – 1716) Engraver: Michael Vandergucht (Flemish, 1660 – 1725) Engraver: Elisha Kirkall (British, 1682 – 1742) Engraver: R. Smith (British, fl. early 18th century) Engraver: Matthys Pool (Dutch, 1670 – c. 1732) Publisher: Jacob Tonson, the Elder (British, 1655 – 1736)  
  • Black and white photographic half-length portrait of Fred Astaire [Frederick Austerlitz] (American, 1899 – 1987) in sailor's uniform, signed "Fred Astaire" in black ink. Probably, from "Following the Fleet", a 1936 American RKO musical comedy. Size: 26.2 x 20.6 cm sheet; 23.3. x 19.3 cm image. Certificate of authenticity from John Reznikoff, University Archives.
  • Iron tsuba of round form decorated with a deer and maple leaves in positive silhouette openwork (ji-sukashi), with details finely carved in low relief (kebori). Nakagō-ana plugged with copper fittings (sekigane). Traces of lacquer on the surface.

    NBTHK: Hozon, №424947.

    Design: An autumnal tsuba with an allusion to Kasuga Shrine in Nara.

    Attributed by NBTHK to Shoami. Age: Probably the Momoyama period (1574 – 1603) or early Edo period (1603 – 1650), but judging on the item's substantial size (diameter 86.6 mm) and considerable thinness (3.4 mm) may be attributed to earlier times (late Muromachi period, 1514 – 1573).
  • Half-title: STANDARD NOVELS. | № XLIII. | {6 lines of citation} | THE BETROTHED | COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME. | LONDON: RICHARD BENTLEY | (SUCCESSOR TO HENRY COLBURN) : | BELL & BRADFUTE, EDINBURGH; | CUMMING, DUBLIN. | 1834 || Illustrated title page: THE BETROTHED, | FROM THE ITALIAN | OF | ALESSANDRO MANZONI. | {vignette by S. Smith after F. Pickering} | LONDON: | RICHARD BENTLEY | (SUCCESSOR TO HENRY COLBURN.) | CUMMING, DUBLIN, – BELL & BRADFUTE, EDINBURGH, | GALIGNANI, PARIS. |1834. || Title page: THE | BETROTHED. | FROM THE ITALIAN | OF | ALESSANDRO MANZONI. | LONDON: RICHARD BENTLEY, 8 NEW BURLINGTON STREET | (SUCCESSOR TO HENRY COLBURN): | BELL & BRADFUTE, EDINBURGH; | AND CUMMING, DUBLIN. | 1834 || Frontispiece: vignette by S. Smith after F. Pickering. Pagination: [i-v] 6-xii, [1] 2-452 [2 blank] + 2 plates. Collation: [A]6 B-Z8 AA-FF8 GG2  + 2 leaves of plates; Note: A1, A2, A4, GG2 – unsigned; both frontispiece and illustrated title are extraneous to collation. Binding: 2/3 black calf over marbled boards, raised bands w/gilt elements, gilt lettering in compartments and gilt title on a crimson label to spine; contemporary, but not the original publisher's binding; size: 16.5 x 10.5 cm Bookplates: Yellow sticker to front pastedown “J. K. Higgins, Northampton” (unknown); Ex libris to the front flyleaf: “Hilda Moore” (probably Hilda Mary Moore (British, 1886 – 1929) – a British stage and film actress. Series: Bentley's Standard Novels, № 43, first series. Catalogue raisonné: Michael Sadleir (1951): p. 101. Original title: ALESSANDRO MANZONI : I PROMESSI SPOSI Contributors: Manzoni, Alessandro (Italian, 1785 – 1873) Pickering, Ferdinand (British, 1810 – 1889) – artist. Smith, Samuel S. (British, 1810 – 1879) – engraver. A. Spottiswoode (London); Spottiswoode, Andrew (British, 1787 – 1866) – printer. Bentley, Richard (British, 1794 – 1871) – publisher. For the Russian edition see [LIB-1333.2017]: Алессандро Манцони. Обрученные. Повесть из истории Милана XVII века / Перевод И. И. Шитца. (Итальянская литература). — М.-Л.: Academia, 1936.
  • Russian translation of: Alphonse Daudet. Trente ans de Paris à travers ma vie et mes livres; (Collection artistique Guillaume et Cie). — Paris: C. Marpon et E. Flammarion, 1888. Series: Книжки Недели, №2-4, 1888. Title: ТРИДЦАТЬ ЛѢТ ВЪ ПАРИЖѢ. | Альфонса Додэ. | Переводъ съ французскаго. | {in waving rules} Изъ "Книжекъ недѣли". | {waving rule} | С.-ПЕТЕРБУРГЪ. | Типографiя Н. А. Лебедева. Невскiй просп., д. № 8. | 1888. || Pagination:[2] [1] 2-108 [2] – back wrapper; total number of pages 112. Collation: 8vo; π7 1-28 7-88 98 78 (six 8vo gatherings) ω1; total number of leaves 56. Binding: 24 x 16.5 cm quarter brown morocco over marbled boards, blind lettering to spine; personal library stamp to a number of pages: “БИБЛИОТЕКА | АЛЕКСАНДРА ПЕТРОВИЧА | МАРТЫНЕНКО | №»; handwritten inscription to front flyleaf: «А. Мартыненко, г. Ленинград, 1943 г.» Contributors: Alphonse Daudet (French, 1840 – 1897) – author of the text. Лебедев, Николай Афанасьевич (Russian, 1813 – 1896) – printer. Гайдебуров, Павел Александрович (Russian, 1841 – 1893/4) – publisher.
  • Pictorial title (coloured): Collection Artistique Guillaume et Cie |—| ALPHONSE DAUDET  | Trente ans | de Paris | PARIS | C. MARPON ET E. FLAMMARION | 26, RUE RACINE, 26 | 1888 || Title page: Collection Artistique Guillaume et Cie |—| ALPHONSE DAUDET | Trente ans de Paris | À TRAVERS MA VIE ET MES LIVRES | Illustré | PAR BIELER, MONTÉGUT, MYRBACH, PICARD ET ROSSI | Gravure de Guillaume Frères et Cie | PARIS | C. MARPON ET E. FLAMMARION | 26, RUE RACINE, 26 | 1888 | Tous droits réservés. || Pagination: [12] [1] 2-344 [6], total 362 pp., in-text illustration, head- and tailpieces, photomechanical reproductions. Collation: 12mo; π6, 1-2812 +1; total 181 leaves. Binding: 19 x 12.5 cm; red cloth, gilt lettering to spine, gilt lettering and vignette to front board and gilt device to back board; bookplate to front pastedown: Ex Libris Dr. Vodoz = Egg; Gift inscription to flyleaf in German, dated 30/12/87. Contributors: Alphonse Daudet (French, 1840 – 1897) – author. Ernest Biéler (Swiss, 1863 – 1948) – artist. Louis Montégut (French, 1855 – 1906) – artist. Felician Myrbach (Austrian, 1853 – 1940) – artist. Georges Picard (French, 1857 – 1943) – artist. Luigi Rossi (Swiss, 1853 – 1923) – artist. Ernest Flammarion (French, 1846 – 1936) – publisher. Charles Marpon (French, 1838 – 1890) – publisher. Alexis Lahure (French, 1849 – 1928) – printer. Guillaume Frères et Cie – engravers.
  • Unbound, unpaginated album (28.5 x 19.5 cm) with 22 leaves (11 folded sheets 28 x 38 cm each), printed on thick wove paper watermarked Arches with text and 27 vignettes, in a 29 x 20 cm slightly beige slipcase. Publisher’s original flapped cream wrappers, lettering to front over the vignette: VERS LIBRES | par | RAYMOND RADIGUET | Champigny | Au Panier Fleuri || Half-title: VERS LIBRES over a ribbon covering a stick, garland, and flute. TitleVERS LIBRES | par | RAYMOND RADIGUET || {vignette} | Champigny | Au Panier Fleuri || Section titleVERS LIBRES over a vignette of a girl in a hat and with an umbrella on a beach. Illustrations: Cover vignette, frontispiece, tail- and a headpiece for the Note, and vignettes (total 27 illustrations) attributed Rojan (Feodor Rojankovsky). Poems: Chat perché; Champigny, Usée, Les fiancés de treize ans, Saison, Le petit journal, Ébauches, II Cinématographe. Edition: 1st; Limitation on the last page: the total print run of 125 copies, this copy is № 18. Illustrations printed in black and stencil-coloured (au pochoir). Catalogue raisonné: Dutel 2592; Nordmann (2): 450. Dutel counts vignettes as 27, Christie's (Nordmann) as 28. Dutel writes it is printed on vergé de Hollande (laid paper), our copy is as per Nordmann, on wove Arches. No one mentions the slipcase. The number of leaves: 20 per Dutel, 22 per Nordmann. Why Cinématographe numbered II is unclear. Contributors: Raymond Radiguet (French, 1903 –  1923) – author. Feodor Rojankovsky [Rojan; Рожанковский, Фёдор Степанович] (Russian-American, 1891 – 1970) – artist. Comparison of 1935 and 1937 editions reveals that, as usual, the earlier the better.
    1935 1937
  • Title-page (1): DI | GERVSALEMME | CONQVISTATA. | DEL SIG. TORQVATO | TASSO. | LIBRI XXIIII. | {engraved portrait of Torquato Tasso in lettered oval medallion surrounded with laurel branches} | IN PARIGI, | Appresso Abel L’ANGELIER | nella prima Colonna del palazzo. | M.D. CXV. || Title-page (2): DI | GERVSALEMME | CONQVISTATA. | DEL SIG. TORQVATO | TASSO. | LIBRI XXIIII. | ALL’ ILL. MO ET REV. MO| SIG. RE| IL SIGNOR. | CINTHIO ALDOBRANDINI | Card. Di San Giorgio. | Appresso Abel L’ANGELIERI | nella prima Colonna del palazzo. | M.D. LCXV. || Collation: 1st blank leaf with an extensive pencil MS in French and English (unsigned), 1st t.p. / blank (unsigned), 2nd t.p. / blank [ai] (unsigned), Dedication by Angelo Ingegneri dated 10-NOV-1592 (ã25), dedication by Torquato Tasso and Aux Lecteur by Abel L’Angelier ã5[i.e. 6]-[ã9]; 12mo: π12, A-Z12, 2A-2Q12 (2Q11 woodcut / blank, 2Q12 blank), total 480 leaves, with woodcut head- and tailpieces, historiated initials. Note: leaves D6, M3, M6, and N3 unsigned; leave E2 signed for F2, E4 – for F4, Z – for Z5, and A – for Aa. Pagination: 12 prelims unpag., 1-361, each leaf paginated as one page) [2]; with a lot of mispaginations: shall be 1-468, but after p.291 follows 278 (for 292), then 193 for 293, etc. Binding: 14.5 x 8.5 cm, 20th-century tan morocco by Zaehnsdorf (signed in gilt), gilt fleurons in corners and in compartments, raised bands, titles on spine, gilt dentelles, marbled endpapers plus 6 fep at the front (one with pasted clipping “A PARIS, Chez Fetil, Libraire, rue des Cor-| deliers, près celle de Condé, au | Parnasse Italien”, and 2 at the end. What connection has the 18th-century publisher with this edition remains unclear. “The Robin Collection” bookplate to front pastedown. Edges sprinkled red. Occasional damp staining to top margins. There is controversy regarding the year of this publication. It could be 1615 (MDCXV), however, both the publisher and the dedicatee were dead this year. Dedication by the publisher dated 1592. We agree with those scholars who suggest that MDCXV and MDLCXV were misprinted for MDXCV (1595). Provenance: The Robin Collection. Contributors: Torquato Tasso (Italian, 1544 –1595) – author. Angelo Ingegneri (Italian, 1550 – 1613) – author. Abel L'Angelier (French, 1553? – 1610) – printer, publisher. Cinzio Aldobrandini (Italian, 1551 – 1610) – dedicatee.
  • Title-page: COLETTE | L'INGÉNUE | LIBERTINE | ILLUSTRÉ DE VINGT POINTES SÈCHES ORIGINALES EN COULEURS | DE P.-E. BÉCAT | GEORGES GUILLOT, ÉDITEUR | 7, RUE PERRONET | PARIS (VIIe) || French flapped wrapper in a blue double slipcase with dark blue and gilt lettering to spine, 29.5 x 24 x 8 cm, in-folio, leaves 28.5 x 22.5 cm, unbound, with 20 coloured drypoint engravings, with tissue-guards, with 77 initials and tailpieces by Marie Monnier. Limited edition of 420 copies, of which this is copy № XXVII, one of 45 copies marked with Roman numbers and reserved for the artist and collaborators. Printed on November 1st, 1947. Pagination: [16] 1-215 [216] [6], 238 pages (119 leaves) total, incl. plates. Moderate foxing. Contributors: Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette [a.k.a. Colette] (French, 1873 – 1954) Paul-Émile Bécat (French, 1885 – 1960) Marie Monnier (French, 1894 – 1976) Solange et Georges Guillot – publishers. Georges Girard – printer, typography. Manuel Robbe – printer, drypoint engravings.
  • Hand-coloured etching by an anonymous artist, printed in July 1815. Description by British Museum (1866,0407.935): "Blücher (left) and Napoleon (right) support a heavy pier-glass in an upright position. Its solid base rests on the back of the prostrate Napoleon, from whose mouth issues a label: 'Si je pouvais encore me sauver! . . . mais non c'est fini Nicolas est pris.' The mirror, which towers above the head of its supporters, is framed by pillars, each surmounted by a fleur-de-lis. These also decorate the heavy superstructure which supports a trophy of two oval shields with the arms of Bourbon and Navarre, surmounted by a crown..., and four white flags. On the face of the mirror is a large Bourbon crown, and a lily plant. Blücher says: "Le Diable m'emporte s'il en réchappe." Wellington responds: "Pour cette fois nous en répondons." Inscription under the plate: 'Se vend chez Genty, rue St Jacques no.14' and 'Déposé au Bureau des Estampes'. Size: 33.2 x 25.7 cm