• Title: A SENTIMENTAL | JOURNEY | THROUGH FRANCE AND ITALY | BY | LAURENCE STERNE | ILLUSTRATED BY | MAHLON BLAINE | {vignette} | Illustrated library | HALCYON HOUSE | GARDEN CITY, NEW YORK || Pagination: [1-6] – first leaf blank, h.t., t.p., 7-192, total 192 pages; frontispiece plus 4 plates within collation, and a headpiece, all photomechanical reproductions of Mahlon Blaine’s pen drawings. Binding: 20.5 x 14 cm, off-white pictorial paper boards decorated with black ivy-clad pink lattice, black lettering in a pink frame to spine, pink pictorial dust jacket with spine sunned to beige. Contributors: Sterne, Laurence (British-Irish, 1713 – 1768) – author of the text. Blaine, Mahlon (American, 1894 – 1969) – illustrator (pseudonym: G. Christopher Hudson). The Illustrated library series was started by Halcyon House, a reprint division of Doubleday Publishers, in 1950. This edition of Sterne with Blaine’s illustrations is a reprint of the same, published by Three Sirens Press of New York in 1930. Blaine's illustrations of this kind are pen drawings, not wood engravings.
  • Six shot 11-millimetre Lefaucheux Brevete M-1854 single-action pin-fire revolver, serial #34755. French large calibre revolver features octagon to round barrel, non-fluted cylinder, walnut grips with the heavy pommel.

    Manufactured in Paris.

    Dimensions: L: 29.5 cm; H: 15.5 cm; Barrel: 16 cm.
  • Front wrapper and title page (in red and black): LES CONTES DE | CHARLES | PERRAULT | ILLUSTRATIONS | EN COULEURS | DE | BRUNELLESCHI | {vignette} | GIBERT JEUNE | LIBRAIRIE D'AMATEURS | 61, BOULEVARD SAINT-MICHEL, 61 | PARIS || Pagination: [2] – blanks, [2] – h.t. / limit., [2] – t.p. / blank, [4] – preface, [2] – d.t.p., 1-168 [169-70], [4] – table, [2] – imprint / blank; total 188 pages (94 leaves) with 55 in-text illustrations, plus 16 colour plates extraneous to collation, incl. frontispiece. Edition: Limited edition of 1,000 copies, this copy is № 1 (stamped in black). Printed on the 31st of October 1946 by J. Dumoulin (H. Barthélemy – director, Louis Malexis – mise en page); stencil-colouring (au pochoir) by E. Charpentier under direction of the artist. Binding: 26.7 x 20.3 cm, publisher’s flapped pictorial wrappers, vignettes and lettering to front wrapper and spine, publisher’s device to back wrapper, uncut. Fairy Tales by Charles Perrault (French, 1628 – 1703): Griselidis (Griselda) — Peau d'Asne (Donkeyskin) — Les Souhaits ridicules (The Ridiculous Wishes— La Belle au Bois dormant (Sleeping Beauty) — Le Petit Chaperon rouge (Little Red Riding Hood) — La Barbe-Bleue (Bluebeard) — Le Maistre Chat ou Le Chat Botté (Puss in Boots) — Les Fées (The Fairies) — Cendrillon ou La Petite Pantoufle de verre (Cinderella)— Riquet à la Houppe (Riquet with the Tuft) — Le Petit Poucet (Hop-o'-My-Thumb) Description of the stensil (au pochoir) technique.
  • Title-page (in red and black): PARALLELEMENT | PAR PAUL VERLAINE | Orné d’une lithographie de Vertès | Éditions de Cluny, Paris | 35 Rue de Seine 35 || Description: 18.8 x 12.4 cm, French flapped cream wrappers lettered to front and spine, 1st blank leaf, [1-2] h.t. in red / limitation, 3-4] t.p. / blank, 5-127 [128], last blank leaf, plus frontispiece (colour lithography) by Marcel Vertès. Edition: printed on December 5, 1934, by Ducros & Colas in Paris, limited to 2 copies on Japon Nacré (A and B); 3,000 copies on Vergé de Voiron (1-3,000); and several not for sale copies on Papier d’Arches, numbered with Roman numbers. This copy is №282. Contributors: Paul Verlaine (French, 1844 – 1896) – author. Marcel Vertès [Marcell Vértes] (Jewish-Hungarian-French, 1895 – 1961) – artist. Maitres-imprimeurs Ducros et Colas (Paris) – printer. Éditions de Cluny (Paris) – publisher. Other names: Marcel Vertès, Marcel Vertes, Marcell Vértes
  • "In the olive grove", etching on laid paper. Signed on the plate and inscribed "L'olivierade Monaco, 76" (sic.). Owner's stamp LvM on verso.

    Dimensions: Paper: 44 x 30.5 cm; Plate: 40 x 27 cm; Image: 35 x 24.5 cm.

    Catalogue raisonné: Arthur Hubschmid (1977): 323; Graphics irreverent and erotic (1968): 323.

  • Top: THE ENVIRONS OF PARIS. || Bottom centre: Published by Baldwin & Cradock, Paternoster Row, | Under the Superintendence of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. | March 1st. 1832. || Bottom right: J. & C. Walker sculpt. || Dimensions: Sheet: 34.7 x 40.5 cm; Image: 30 x 37 cm. Contributors: J & C Walker (British firm, fl. 1820 – 1895) Walker, John (British, 1787 – 1873) Walker, Alexander (British, 1797? – 1870) Walker, Charles (British, 1799? – 1872) Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge (SDUK) (British firm, 1826 – 1846)

  • Quaritch's description: Single sheet (435 x 625 mm); coloured lithograph by Kirchmayr after a drawing by M. Fontana; hand-painted details; signed to lower left ‘M. Fon[tana]’ and to lower right ‘M. Fontana Edit. Prop. S. Giacomo dall’Orio in Isola N°.1481’; lower margin with the title ‘Il bombardamento di Venezia nell’Agosto 1849’ and key; restored tears in many places, especially along upper and lower blank margins, some affecting print; losses to lower left corner, affecting a small portion of the print, ruled border, and key, restored and re-drawn where needed; loss to the upper left corner of blank margin; two small areas of restoration to the centre of upper blank margin; the whole sheet backed; nevertheless a remarkable survival. Exceedingly rare and striking lithograph of Venice as seen from Fusina, depicting the first ever aerial bombardment in history. The bombardment took place in 1849, under the orders of Field Marshal Josef Radetzky (1766–1858), to quell the revolts that had started the previous year during the First Italian War of Independence. This curious and little-known action was the brainchild of Colonel Benno Uchatius, a brilliant young officer in the Austro-Hungarian Artillery. After long months of unsuccessful siege, Uchatius decided to deploy an unusual weapon: a hot air balloon able to bomb the city from above. Having calculated the wind speed and direction and evaluated the requisite dimensions of the hot-air balloon, Uchatius set up a workshop near Mestre, where a group of engineers and craftsmen began to manufacture a balloon equipped with a large wicker basket which could transport two crewmen and approximately one hundred kilograms of small long-fuse devices (metal spheres filled with gunpowder, pitch, oil and five hundred rifle buckshot). The initial trials, however, proved to be a disaster, because the balloon would drift off course, making it impossible to accurately deploy the bombs. Uchatius then hit upon the idea of using several smaller unmanned balloons roped together. These were to be launched over the city and, using the position of the first ‘pilot’ balloon, which was unarmed, the Austrians could calculate the correct fuse settings for the bombs. The ‘bomber’ balloons had a cloth envelope of one hundred cubic metres and a reduced load of about twenty kilograms of ordnance. According to Uchatius’ calculations, the line of balloons, launched from Mestre, would reach the lagoon city in thirty-five to forty minutes, carried by the north-west wind. In July 1849, a first launch was attempted, but when a breeze began to blow from the sea some of the balloons broke the connecting ropes and floated away, while others settled in the water in front of the northern part of the city, where a curious crowd of Venetians observed the failure of the enterprise and commented colourfully on the ‘buffoonery of Radetzky’. Uchatius’ second attempt, which is depicted in this lithograph, was also largely unsuccessful: only a few of the unmanned bomber balloons reached their target, and some even drifted back over the Austrian lines. Uchatius, having accomplished the first ever aerial bombardment, and having designed the first ever military ‘drones’, was forced to abandon the project permanently. Another fascinating aspect of this work is the vantage point used to depict the city of Venice, seen here from Fusina, a very rare viewpoint that makes this piece even more remarkable. We were unable to locate any copies in any institution or bibliography. G. Kirchmayr (fl. mid-19th century) is mentioned at British Museum database as "Lithographer active in Venice; related to Venetian painter Cherubino Kirchmayr (b. 1848)?" However, I was not able to find that name on the print. Not much is known of M. Fontana either.  
  • Bowl with tapered sides, lavender-blue glaze and a large purple splash on the interior; yellowish rim; foot unglazed. China, the Yuan Dynasty [大元] (1279 – 1368). Diameter: 21 cm; Height: 9 cm.
  • Title: THE LIFE OF LOUIS ADOLPHE THIERS | BY | FRANCOIS Le GOFF | DOCTEUR-ÈS-LETTRES | TRANSLATED FROM THE UNPUBLISHED MANUSCRIPT | BY | THEODORE STANTON, A. M. | {motto: Patriam dilexit, veritatem coluit.} | NEW YORK | G. P Putnam's Sons, 1879 | 182 FIFTH AVENUE | 1879 || Pagination: 2 blank leaves, frontis.: portrait of A. Thiers engraved on wood by J.I. Pease w/ tissue guard, [2] fac-simile of Thiers’s handwriting / blank, [2] - t.p. / copyright, [2] – dedication / blank, [2] – translators note / blank, [2] contents / blank, [vii] viii-xi [xii], [1] 2-353 [354 blank], [4] advert., 2 blank leaves; ill.: frontis., 1 woodcut plate, 1 folding manuscript fac-simile. Binding: dark-green cloth with bevelled margins, a gilt fac-simile of Thiers’s handwriting to front board, gilt lettering to spine. Note: The motto on the title page (Patriam dilexit, veritatem coluit) is taken from A. Thiers tomb on Père-Lachaise cemetery in Paris: "He cherished his homeland and worshipped the truth".  
  • Title page: ТОРКВАТО ТАССО | ОСВОБОЖДЕННЫЙ | ИЕРУСАЛИМ | ПЕРЕВОД С ИТАЛЬЯНСКОГО | РОМАНА ДУБРОВКИНА | {publisher’s device} | САНКТ-ПЕТЕРБУРГ | ИЗДАТЕЛЬСТВО ИВАНА ЛИМБАХА | 2020 || Frontispiece recto: Torquato Tasso portrait by Aegidius Sadeler; verso: TARQUATO TASSO | GERUSALEMME | LIBERATA || Pagination: [1-4] 5-607 [608], il. in text by Charles-Nicolas Cochin, the Younger (French, 1715 – 1790). Hardcover, pictorial paper board, lettering to spine, 25 x 15.5 cm. Print run: 1,000 copies. Original: Torquato Tasso. La Gerusalemme liberata (it.) Translation from the Italian and a foreword by Roman Doubrovkine [Роман Дубровкин] (Russian-Swiss, b. Published in 2020 by Издательство Ивана Лимбаха in St. Petersburg. In this collection: LIB-2639.2021 with illustrations by Hubert François Gravelot (French, 1699–1773); LIB-2636.2021 with illustrations by Bernardo Castello (Italian, 1557–1629), and another translation into Russian by В. С. ЛИХАЧЕВ LIB-2654.2021.  
  • Title: S. ROSCOE | THOMAS BEWICK | A BIBLIOGRAPHY RAISONNÉ | OF EDITIONS OF THE | GENERAL HISTORY OF QUADRUPEDS | THE HISTORY OF BRITISH BIRDS | AND THE | FABLES OF AESOP | ISSUED IN HIS LIFETIME | GEOFFREY CUMBERLEGE | OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS | LONDON  NEW YORK  TORONTO | 1953 || Pagination: [2], [i-iv] v-xxx, 1-198 [2]; collation: 8vo, [a]-b8, B-N8, O4, all plates within collation. Binding: 25.5 x 16.5 cm, tan cloth, black babel with gilt lettering, letterpress dust jacket. Contributors: Roscoe, Sydney – author. Cumberlege, Geoffrey Fenwick Jocelyn (British, 1891 – 1979) – publisher. Batey, Charles – printer
  • Iron tsuba of round form decorated with a ladle, pestle, mortar, and rice sickle in positive silhouette openwork (nikubori-ji-sukashi). Slightly rounded rim with iron bones (tekkotsu). Seppa-dai plugged with copper fittings (sekigane). Silver patina. The design resembles mochi-making utensils; mochi (rice cake) symbolizes longevity. Kanayama school, c. 1590 (Momoyama period). Note: unusually large size for a Kanayama tsuba: diameter 79.5 mm, thickness at seppa-dai: 5.5 mm, at rim: 6.0 mm. Concerning the design: While the ladle and pestle are clear, the mortar (under the seppa-dai), and the sickle (to the left) require certain imagination.
  • Two volumes uniformly bound by J. Mackenzie, in brown straight-grain morocco, boards with 7 gilt fillet border, fleuron corners, spine with raised bands, gilt in compartments, gilt-lettered DIBDIN’S | LITERARY | REMINISCENCES | I (or) II | 1836. All margins gilt, cream endpapers, armorial bookplate of William Henry Rossington to the front pastedown. Vol. 1: Title page: REMINISCENCES | OF | A LITERARY LIFE; | BY THE REVEREND | THOS. FROGNALL DIBDIN, D.D. | {vignette} | {one line citation | Richard de Bury} | LONDON: | JOHN MAJOR, 71, GREAT RUSSELL-STREET, | BLOOMSBURY. | MDCCCXXXVI. || Pagination: [4] two blank leaves, [i-v] vi-xxxii [4] list of plates, corrections, [1] 2-556 [4] two blank leaves. Collation: 8vo; [a]8 b8 [c]2, B-Z8, AA-MM8 NN6, 5 plates (incl. frontis. portrait by James Posselwhite after George Richmond) extraneous to collation, and a few vignettes in text. Vol. 2: Title page: REMINISCENCES | OF | A LITERARY LIFE; | WITH ANECDOTES OF BOOKS, | AND OF | BOOK COLLECTORS: | BY THE REVEREND | THOS. FROGNALL DIBDIN, D.D. | PART THE SECOND. | LONDON: | JOHN MAJOR, 71, GREAT RUSSELL-STREET, | BLOOMSBURY. | MDCCCXXXVI. || Pagination: [4] two blank leaves, [2] title/blank, 557-982, [1-3] 4-44 index, [4] two blank leaves. Collation: 8vo; [NN]2 OO-ZZ8 3A-3Q8 3R3, B-C8 D4, 5 plates (incl. frontis. “The Library, Eshton Hall”) extraneous to collation, and a few vignettes in text. Catalogue raisonné: Windle, Pippin (1999): A62 / pp. 171-177. Contributors: Author: Thomas Frognall Dibdin (British, 1776 – 1847) Artists: George Richmond (British, 1809 – 1896); Mary Dawson Turner [neé Mary Palgrave] (British, 1774 – 1850); Frederick Mackenzie (British, 1788? – 1854); C. J. Stewart (British, fl. 1830s). Copper engravers: James Posselwhite (British, 1798-1884); Philip Audinet (British, 1766 – 1837); William Henry Worthington. (British, c. 1790 – after 1839); Samuel Rawle (British, 1771 – 1860); Samuel Freeman (British, 1773 – 1857); James Thomson (British, 1788–1850). Wood engravings by John Byfield (British, 1788-1841) and his sister Mary Byfield (British, 1795 – 1871). Printer: William Wilcockson, Rolls Buildings, Fetter Lane. Publisher: John Major (British, 1782 – 1849) Binder: John Mackenzie (British, 1788 – c.1850) – held the office of bookbinder to both King George IV and King William IV. Bookplate: Colonel William Henry Rossington (American, 1848 – 1908)
  • Title page: Title page: MODERN | FILM | SCRIPTS | THE THIRD MAN | a film by | Graham Greene | and Carol Reed | Lorrimer, London. Pagination: [1-4] 5-134 [2] blank; pasted into the last page: The film The Third Man is owned and distributed by British | Lion Films Ltd. Binding: publisher’s pictorial wrappers with the film still and lettering in white to front, and in black to back, and spine. Size: 20.2 x 14 cm. The Third Man is a 1949 British film directed by Carol Reed, written by Graham Greene and starring Joseph CottenAlida ValliOrson Welles, and Trevor Howard. Contributors: Graham Greene (British, 1904 – 1991) – author. Carol Reed (British, 1906 – 1976) – film director. Lorrimer Publishing Limited (London) – publisher. Villiers Publications, Ltd. (London) – printer.
  • Title: ABC | FOR | BOOK-COLLECTORS | BY | JOHN CARTER | {publisher’s device} | RUPERT HART-DAVIS | SOHO SQUARE LONDON | 1952 | [TITLE-PAGE] || Pagination: [1-6] 7-191 [192 advert.], total number of pages 192. Collation: 8vo; [A]8 B-M8, total number of leaves 96. Binding: 21 x 13.5 cm, aubergine cloth, gilt lettering to spine, pictorial endpapers; cream unclipped (15s. net) dust-jacket with the sea-green panel in a border, with a fleuron frame, black and cream lettering, and publisher’s device to front; lettering to spine and back; folded prospectus insert loose. Edition: 1st. Contributors: Carter, John Waynflete (British, 1905 – 1975) – author Hart-Davis, Sir Rupert Charles (British, 1907 – 1999); Rupert Hart-Davis Ltd. (London) – publisher. Hazell, Watson and Viney, Ltd. – printer.
  • Title page: IL | GOFFREDO | OVERO | LA | GIERUSALEMME | LIBERATA | DI TORQUATO TASSO. || Engraved title: On the banner: IL GOFFREDO | OVERO | LA GIERUSALEMME | LIBERATA | DI TORQUATO TASSO ||; under the image, within frame: IN PARIGI NELLA STAMPERIA REALE MDC XLIV. Signed: J. Stella InvenitÆgid Rousselet  Sculpsit (with tall “s”) || Collation: 2 blank leaves with donation ink inscription to recto of the 1st: “Ex Dono Patruelis Do Roberto Willughby” [i.e. Robert Willoughby]; t.p. / blank, engraved t.p. by Gilles Rousselet after Jacques Stella / blank, “Allegoria dell poema” 4 leaves, 1st two leaves signed iij and iiij, respectively; π6 A-Z4 Aa-Zz4 Aaa-Rrr4, 2 blank leaves at the end; text paginated from 1 to 502 [2] (p. 503 tailpiece, p. 504 blank); a printable area marked with vertical and horizontal double lines; total: 252 leaves of text (504 pages), 6 prelims and 4 blanks. Illustrated throughout with head- and tailpieces, and historiated initials. Binding: 18th-century red crushed morocco, triple-fillet gilt border, triple-fillet gilt frame, panel with gilt lozenge centrepiece, lozenges at corners, marbled endpapers, AEG, crudely rebacked retaining original spine with raised bands, gilt in compartments, crimson label with gilt lettering; The Robin Collection bookplate to front pastedown. Provenance: The Robin Collection; Robert Willoughby family. Contributors: Torquato Tasso (Italian, 1544 –1595) – author. Jacques Stella (French, 1596 – 1657) – artist. Gilles [Aegidius] Rousselet (French, 1610 – 1686) – engraver.
  • Title-page (in red and black): TALES AND NOVELS | OF | J. DE LA FONTAINE | WITH 12 ORIGINAL ETCHINGS | BY | CLARA TICE | VOLUME ONE (TWO) | {arabesque} | PRIVATELY PRINTED | AT THE PRINTING HOUSE OF G. J. THIEME | NIJMEGEN ~ HOLLAND | 1929 || Collation: 8vo. Vol. 1: π8 (2 blanks, h.t. / limitation №103 of 990, frontispiece etched portrait of La Fontaine w/ tissue guard, 4 leaves uncut with table and preface), 1—138, incl. 2 final blanks, paginated: xvi, 204 [4], plus 5 etchings besides frontis., all with tissue guards, by Clara Tice, in sepia. Vol. 2: π8, 1-188, paginated: xvi, 270 [271] epitaph, [272] blank, plus 6 etchings w/ tissue guards, by Clara Tice. Binding: 25.3 x 16.8 cm, quarter faux parchment over light blue publisher's boards, gilt lettering to spine. Ticket to front pastedown in each volume: “FROM THE COLLECTION | OF PRINCETON ANTIQUES BOOKFINDERS”, etc.  Etchings printed on wove paper, text – on laid paper; untrimmed, uncut. Edition: limited, privately printed run of 990 copies of which this is №103.
  • Etching and drypoint, signed in pencil by the artist under the plate; 2nd state. Pasted on a sheet of blue paper. Fragment of "La messe de Gnide". Owner's stamp 'LvM' on verso.

    Dimensions: Blue paper: 32 x 27 cm; Laid paper: 30.7 x 22 cm; Image: 12.5 x 4 cm.

    Catalogue raisonné: Arthur Hubschmid (1977): 364; Graphics irreverent and erotic (1968): 59; Rouir: 508.

  • Above the frame: PLAN DE PARIS EN MDCCCLIII. Below the frame: Gravé par F. DELAMARE […] PARIS. TYP. DE FIRMIN DIDOT FRÈRES, 56, RUE JACOB. […] PANICONOGRAPHIE DE GILLOT. Q. ST. MICHEL 23. Dimensions: Sheet: 37 x 52.5 cm: Image: 33 x 50 cm. Technique: Photozincography Contributors: Ferdinand Théodore Delamare (French, fl. 1850 – 1889) – engraver. Firmin Didot Frères ; Firmin Didot (French, 1764 – 1836) – publisher. Firmin Gillot (French, 1819 – 1872) – printer.  
  • LA PUCELLE | D'ORLÉANS, | POËME HÉROÏ-COMIQUE, | EN DIX-HUIT CHANTS. |{vignette}| A GENEVE. | M. DCC.LXXXVIII.|| Pagination: engraved frontis., engraved portrait, [1, 2] – t.p. / blank, [3] 4-304; plates: engraved frontispiece, engraved portrait of Jeanne d'Arc and 18 engraved plates (the so-called 'suite anglaise' by Marillier, Clément-Pierre (French, 1740 – 1808) after Duflos, Pierre (French, 1742 – 1816). Publisher: Cazin, Hubert-Martin (French, 1724 – 1795). Modern binding to imitate full mottled calf of the 18th century, gilt double-ruled boards, gilt decorated spine with the crimson label “LA PUCELLE”, AEG, laid paper. Size: 13.3 x 8.7 cm; 18mo. Catalogue raisonné: Cohen, De Ricci 1032 (for 1777 and 1780 editions). J. Lewine p.559 (for 1777 16mo and even 12mo editions). The 'correct' 1st thus edition is called suite anglaise because instead of 'chant number' it's printed 'book number' on top of the pages. This copy is definitely a later pirated edition.
  • Title (black and red in pictorial frame): The Fairy Tales | of the | Brothers Grimm | Illustrated by Arthur Rackham. | Translated by | Mrs. Edgar Lucas | Doubleday, Page & Co | New York 1909. Pagination: [i-iv] – h.t., t.p., frontis., v-xv [xvi], 1-325 [326] colophon., [1 blank sheet], bfl; 40 tipped-in color plates (offset chromolithograph) with lettered guards, numerous in-text woodcuts. Collation: 4to; a-b4, A-2S4. Edition: 1st deluxe American large-paper edition, limited to 50 copies, Rackham’s facsimile signature to h.t. verso. Binding: Original full limp suede binding with yapp edges, gilt-ornamented and lettered spine. Top edge gilt, other uncut. Moiré endpapers. Printed on laid paper. Marbled endpapers.
  • Hardcover, serial design green buckram with gilt lettering on an embossed scroll to front cover, gilt lettering to spine. 23 x 18 cm.

    Pagination: [6] – serial h.t. / Sumerian title, t.p. / editorial board, f.t. / blank, [7] 8-212 [4], errata slip insert, 3 plates extraneous to pagination.

    Title (in black and red): ЭПОС | О | ГИЛЬГАМЕШЕ | «О ВСЕ ВИДАВШЕМ» | {device} | ПЕРЕВОД С АККАДСКОГО  | И. М. ДЬЯКОНОВА | ИЗДАТЕЛЬСТВО АКАДЕМИИ НАУК СССР | МОСКВА – ЛЕНИНГРАД | 1961 ||

    Epic of Gilgamesh translated from the Akkadian by Igor Mikhailovich Diakonoff (Russian: И́горь Миха́йлович Дья́конов; 12 January 1915 – 2 May 1999).

  • Title: MEMOIRS AND TRAVELS | OF | MAURITIUS AUGUSTUS COUNT DE | BENYOWSKY | MAGNATE OF THE KINGDOMS OF HUNGARY AND POLAND, ONE OF | THE CHIEFS OF THE CONFEDERATION OF POLAND | ETC., ETC. | Consisting of his Military Operations in Poland, his Exile into Kamchatka, | his Escape and Voyage from that Peninsula through the Northern | Pacific Ocean, touching at Japan and Formosa, to Canton | in China, with an Account of the French Settle- | ment he was appointed to form upon the | Island of Madagascar | WITH AN INTRODUCTION, NOTES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY | BY | CAPTAIN S. PASFIELD OLIVER || Half-title (ornamental, in black and red): MEMOIRS & | TRAVELS of | MAURITIUS | AUGUSTUS | COUNT | DE | BENYOWSKY | LONDON•KEGAN• | PAUL•TRENCH• | TRÜBNER•&•Co 1904 || Pagination: [i, ii] – owner pasted wood engraving “A woman of Kamchatka” / Dryden House advert., [iii, iv] – serial title / MAB (years), frontis. Portrait of MAB by Walter L. Colls w/guard, [v, vi] – ornamental h.t / copyright, [vii, viii] – t.p. / list of ill., ix-xxxvi, 1-635 [636]. Collation: 2 blank leaves (binding), [a]-b8 c2 1-398 406, 2 plates, 2 blank leaves (binding). Binding: Modern ¾ morocco over marbled boards, raised bands, gilt fleur-de-lis-cross in compartments, burgundy label with gilt lettering, by Atkinson Book Binders, Salisbury (sticker to back pastedown). Contributors: Printed by Neill and Co., Edinburgh. Published by Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co.; Kegan Paul, Charles (British, 1828 – 1902). Author: Maurice Auguste comte de Benyowsky [Мориц Август Бенёвский] (Polish-Slovak-Hungarian, 1746 –1786). Editor: Samuel Pasfield Oliver (British, 1838 – 1907). Translator: William Nicholson (British, 1753 – 1815). Originally published in 1790, in London (I have not seen it anywhere) and in Dublin by P. Wogan [etc.], and in 1791 in French, in Paris by Buisson.
  • Title: THE SLEEPING | BEAUTY | TOLD BY C S EVANS | AND ILLUSTRATED BY | ARTHUR RACKHAM | LONDON WILLIAM HEINEMANN | PHILADELPHIA J B LIPPINCOTT Co || T.p. verso: LONDON WILLIAM HEINEMANN, 1920. Pagination: [1, 2] – h.t. / advert., [3, 4] – “WH” publisher’s device / frontis., [5, 6] – pictorial t.p. / publisher, year, [7, 8] – silhouette girls / Briar rose w/pasted offset ill., [9] 10-110 [2] – imprint / blank]. Collation: 8vo; B-G8, 3 double-leaf 3-colour woodcut illustrations extraneous to collation, in-text woodcuts. Illustrations: 25 full-page silhouettes, comprising 9 in colour (frontispiece and 4 double plates)--and 16 in black (including 4 double illustrations); one mounted coloured plate; silhouette head- and tailpieces and other silhouettes throughout the text, in black. Binding: Quarter cloth with black lettering, pictorial boards, pictorial endpapers. Size: 26 x 19.5. 1st edition. Inscription to h.t.: "To Dear Julia, Xmas 1947."
  • Small stoneware cup with rounded sides raising from a short foot to an inverted rim; glazed inside with a green and brown six-petal design on a blue background with creem dots. Amber glaze outside, blue bottom, foot unglazed. Dia: 10 cm; H: 4 cm.
  • Iron tsuba of round form, tapering from centre to the rim, decorated with eight roundels – circular emblems of flowers and/or family crests (mon) made of cast brass, pierced and chiselled in kebori, and with flat brass inlay (hira-zōgan) of water plantain (omodaka) and seaweed all over the plate. Hitsu-ana outlined in brass. Four positive silhouette roundels are 3-, 6-, 9-, and 12 – pointing crests/flowers; four negative silhouette roundels – bellflower, cherry and plum blossoms. Yoshirō school (Kaga-Yoshirō). Unsigned. The Momoyama or early Edo period, end of the 16th to the first half of the 17th century (1574-1650). Size: H: 88.3 mm; W: 88.7 mm; Thickness 4.0 mm (Seppa-dai), 3,2 cm (rim). Other Kaga-Yoshiro tsuba in this collection: TSU-0334: 7.7 cm; TSU-0342.2017: 89.6 cm; TSU-0344: 8.1 cm; TSU-0329: 8.0 cm; TSU-0376.2018: 8.1 cm; TSU-0379.2018: 8.2 cm. We see that the usual size is about 8 cm; larger pieces, such as this one and TSU-0342.2017 dedicated to Hachiman, are rare. Article about Yoshiro tsuba.
  • Title (chain border): CANDIDE | VOLTAIRE | ILLUSTRATIONS BY | MAHLON BLAINE | {vignette} | NEW YORK | WILLIAMS, BELASCO | AND MEYERS || Title verso: (top) COPYRIGHT, 1930, BY WILLIAMS, BELASCO & MEYERS || (bottom) PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA | BY J. J. LITTLE & IVES COMPANY, NEW YORK || Pagination:[1-6] 7-144, headpiece, frontispiece and 5 plates after Blaine’s pen drawings, within the pagination. Binding: 25 x 16.5 cm; blue cloth, blind-stamped frame, stamped-gilt lettering to front board and spine, thick wove paper, upper edge blue, fore-edge untrimmed, yellow vergé endpapers. Arouet, François-Marie [Voltaire] (French, 1694 – 1778)– author. Woolf, Herman Irwell [Chambers, Dorset] (British, 1890 – 1958) – translator. Blaine, Mahlon [Hudson, G. Christopher] (American, 1894 – 1969) – illustrator. Williams, Belasco and Meyers (NY) – publisher. J. J. Little & Ives Company (NY) – printer. See the Cameo Classic reprint [LIB-2777.2021].
  • 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: PROCESSES OF | GRAPHIC REPRODUCTION | IN PRINTING | BY | HAROLD CURWEN | [space] | LONDON | FABER AND FABER | 24 RUSSELL SQUARE || Pagination: [i-vii] viii-xvi [6] [1-3] 4-142 [2], ills. Collation: 8vo; π3 [A]8 B-K8, 14 plates extraneous to collation, in-text illustrations; (quire K – 'Binding'). Binding: 22.8 x 15 cm, black cloth, gilt lettering to spine; calligraphic MS bookplate to fep "Dorothy Mahoney | 1942." Edition: 1st edition, printed by The Curwen Press in Plaistow. Contributors: Harold Curwen (British, 1885 – 1949), grandson of John Curwen (British, 1816 – 1880) – author. The Curwen Press (Plaistow, London) – printer. Faber and Faber Limited (London) – publisher. Dorothy Mahoney – provenance; author of the book The Craft Of Calligraphy, first published on October 12th, 1981 by Pelham Books. The 1st American edition was published the same year in New York by Oxford University Press [LIB-2835.2021].
  • Binding: Grey double-slipcase 34 x 16.5 cm, pictorial folder, French flapped pictorial wrappers, both folder and wrapper with green ms lettering and vignette in sanguine, green ms lettering to spine. Collation: folio in-4to, two leaves in wrappers at the front and back, π8, 104 [11]2, total 50 leaves, incl. plates. Pagination: [4], [2] h.t. / limitation, [2] blank, [1-3] blank, [4-6] frontis., t.p., blank. 7-86 [2] [4] colophon, 100 pages total. Title-page (sanguine and black): COMPLEXES | 40 | DESSINS DE | Vertès | PREFACE DE | PIERRE MAC ORLAN | ANDRÉ SAURET | ÉDITIONS DU LIVRE ★ MONTE-CARLO || Illustrations: One on the front covers, one on the back one headpiece vignette, 37 plates, incl. frontispiece in colour and three on a double-page (full leaf), and one original pencil drawing. Limitation: 890 copies of which 40 (№ 1-40) signed by the artist and contain one original drawing; this copy is № 27. Edition: published by André Sauret, lithographs after Vertès drawings by Georges Duval, printed by Fernand Mourlot; text printed at “La Ruche” under the direction of A. and P. Jarach. Print run completed on November 9, 1948. Contributors: Pierre Mac-Orlan (French, 1882 – 1970) – author. Marcel Vertès [Marcell Vértes] (Jewish-Hungarian-French, 1895 – 1961) – artist. André Sauret (Monaco, fl. 1952 – 1976) – publisher. Other names: Marcel Vertès, Marcel Vertes, Marcell Vértes
  • One of 64 wood engravings by Robert Dill after Joseph Kuhn-Régnier (French, 1873 – 1940), stencil-coloured (au pochoir technique) by Ateliers Jacomet in Paris for the 4-volume edition of Littré’s “Œuvres complètes d'Hippocrate” by Javal & Bourdeaux in 1932-34. The edition was limited to 2,335 numbered copies, 2,000 of them on Vélin teinté du Marais paper., numbered from 336 to 2,335. Contributors: Joseph Kuhn-Régnier (French, 1873 – 1940) – artist. Robert Dill – engraver. Atelier Jacomet (Paris); Daniel Jacomet (French, 1894 – 1966) – printer. Les éditions Javal & Bourdeaux (Paris) – publisher. Émile Littré (French, 1801 – 1881) – translator/ editor. Hippocrates (Greek, c. 460 – c. 370 BC) – author.
  • A very thin kobushi-gata form iron tsuba decorated in openwork (sukashi), some openings filled with grey metal (silver or pewter) treated in a way to resemble cracked ice, ginkgo leaf to recto and plum blossoms to verso in low-relief (takabori) and gold inlay (zōgan), and unevenly folded over rim (hineri-mimi). The overall theme of the piece is linked to the icy ponds, falling ginkgo leaves and blossoming plums in the late winter.

    Size: 84 x 80 mm, thickness (center): 2 mm.

    Signed: Yamashiro no kuni Fushimi no ju Kaneie [Kaneie of Fushimi in Yamashiro Province] [山城國伏見住金家], with Kaō.

    Probably the work of Meijin-Shodai Kaneie (c. 1580 – 1600).

    The silver or pewter inlays likely a later work that may be attributed to Goto Ichijo (1791 – 1876) or one of his apprentices in the late 19th century, possibly as a tribute to the great Kaneie masters. Here is an article by Steve Waszak dedicated to Kaneie masters and this tsuba in particular.

    Kaneie

    For many tosogu aficionados, this name reigns supreme among all tsubako across Japanese history.  The first Kaneie is celebrated for many things.  He is recognized as being the first ever to bring pictorial landscape subjects to a canvas so small as that of a tsuba plate.  His skill in being able to render classical Chinese landscape themes while working with a material as unyielding as steel, and to do so with the sensitivity he does, is nothing short of astounding.   The quality of his workmanship — especially that of his exquisitely carved motif elements and the extraordinary deftness of his tsuchime (槌目 or 鎚目, hammer-blow) utilizing such thin plates — astonishes even to this day.  His sensibilities concerning the shaping of his sword guards and the presentation of the rims were no less innovative than his subject matter.  He was among the very first to regularly sign his name as a tsuba smith.  And it is likely that he served the great warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi in the latter years of the 16th century.
    Despite the great fame and reputation of Kaneie, very little of the lives of the two men who are seen by most scholars as the “true Kaneie” tsubako of the Momoyama and earliest Edo Periods is known to us now.  They were both smiths working in steel, with occasional added soft-metal inlay (usually serving to highlight features), and both made sword guards of the same style, using subject matter focused on landscapes, allusions to historical events, or religious themes.  The first of these men is often referred to as “O-Shodai,” or Great First Generation, while the second is known as “Meijin-Shodai,” or Famous First Generation.  While some see subsequent generations stemming from these first two men, others have the O-Shodai and the Meijin-Shodai as THE two true Kaneie and make a sharp distinction between these two smiths and any others who may share the name.
    The work of the O-Shodai may appear with two different mei.  One of these is written “Joshu Fushimi Ju Kaneie,” while his work may also carry a mei reading “Yamashiro no Kuni Fushimi Ju Kaneie.”  It is thought by some scholars that the earlier works present with the “Joshu” mei, while his later works feature the “Yamashiro” mei.  However, there are only some five or six tsuba extant with the “Joshu” signature, so we should not necessarily see works with the “Yamashiro” signature as dating only to the latest years of his working life.  The answers to the questions of exactly when Kaneie might have begun his life as a tsubako, or how old he was when he moved to sign his works with the “Yamashiro” mei, will probably remain shrouded in uncertainty.
    The association between Kaneie and Toyotomi Hideyoshi is speculative, to be sure, but the circumstantial evidence is tantalizing.  The area of Fushimi is thought to have been an entirely unremarkable land prior to Hideyoshi’s building of a castle there, so it would seem unlikely that the first Kaneie would have been working in such a nondescript place, much less including the place name in his mei, before Hideyoshi’s putting it on the map, so to speak.  Why emphasize such pride of place in one’s signature unless the place itself carries a certain weight?  The name “Kaneie” translates roughly to “gold family,” which, given Hideyoshi’s notorious love of gold, would seem too much of a coincidence when combined with the explicit mention of Fushimi in the signatures.  Combine this with the consideration of what is an equally compelling relationship between the celebrated tsubako Nobuie and Oda Nobunaga (“Nobuie” means roughly “of the family of “Nobu”), whom Hideyoshi served as a top general until Oda’s demise in 1582, and the circumstantial evidence becomes even harder to deny the plausibility of.  Oda, ever the innovator, may have been the one responsible for birthing the practice of tsubako regularly signing their works.  Having a superb smith like Nobuie affix the name to the tsuba as a regular practice establishes a sort of “brand name,” a brand coming with the seal of approval of Oda Nobunaga.  It is more than possible that Nobunaga may have then used these valuable sword guards as rewards given to vassals and other important relations to honour them for their services to him, a practice that would have allowed Nobunaga to avoid having to use gold, guns, swords, horses, or land to do so.  The awarding of a magnificent Nobuie tsuba to a deserving warrior, an appreciated ally, or a family member would bring honour to the recipient, of course, but would also honour the maker of the sword guard, and even the giver of the object. Such a way of thinking would be absolutely typical of him, and given that both Oda Nobunaga and Nobuie were men of Kiyosu in Owari in the early Momoyama Period, it does not strain credulity to imagine that the above dynamic could have occurred in just this way.  If indeed it did, Toyotomi Hideyoshi is unlikely to have let this pass unnoticed.  He may even have been so honoured himself!  When he rose to power very shortly after Oda’s death, then, and when he reinforced and consolidated that power in the late 1580s and early 1590s, which included the building of the castle at Fushimi, perhaps he sought to emulate the Oda vision and practice of establishing a “royal tsubako.”  If so, Kaneie would have been that smith.
    As noted, this scenario is speculative, and not a little romantic.  This does not mean, however, that it is in fact not likely, for there would be a number of coincidences involved for it to be entirely false.
    Tsuba scholars will say that Kaneie’s skills in the making of his sword guards indicate an armour-making background.  This is an interesting viewpoint, but one can’t help but wonder how many armourers were possessed of such fluent literacy in lyrical Chinese historical tales that they could then represent them as motifs on steel plates.  Kaneie subjects often are in the form of Chinese landscapes and allusions, as noted, one of which — The Eight Views of the Xiao and the Xiang — was very well known as a famous subject of Chinese painting and poetry from the Song Dynasty.  There exist Kaneie tsuba which depicts at least some of these “views,” and it seems unlikely that if one or more of them were to be created, not all of them would be, in a sort of “series.”  The cultural and literary fluency Kaneie would seem to have had, then, may suggest a Buddhist background, and indeed, some of the subjects seen are explicitly Buddhist in nature.  Perhaps his background then, somehow offering a dovetailing of metalwork and Buddhist teachings; in any event, we are all the richer for at least some of the works of Kaneie to have survived to reach us today.
    One of the hallmarks of Kaneie tsuba (real ones) is the extreme thinness of the plate, combined with utterly superb tsuchime expression of that plate.  To be able to hammer the plate to achieve such strength of expression while the plate is so thin is seen by the Japanese as practically miraculous.  A notable and important kantei point between the early masterpieces by the two “Shodai” Kaneie and the tsuba made by followers is this thinness of the plate.  Another kantei point:  because the plate is so thin when raised areas representing motif elements are present, they are inlaid into the plate, because trying to carve them from such a thin plate would be practically impossible:  the likelihood of piercing the plate would be high, and the plate in that area, even if not pierced, would be significantly weakened by trying to manage the raising of a motif element from the plate.  In real Kaneie works, then, one would expect any raised motif elements to be inlaid.
    Other highlights:  the “Shodai” Kaneie are famous for the kobushi-gata (拳形) or “fist-shaped” design in their work, but despite this, there actually aren’t that many extant sword guards boasting this shape.  Another feature for which the Kaneie are justly famous is their folding over of the lip of the rim onto the plate in a very tasteful manner, just here and there, rather than uniformly across the tsuba.  However, again, this feature is actually not commonly seen, either.  The combination, then, of a kobushi-gata shape with the rim folded over in just a few areas is that much rarer.
    Which brings us to the featured piece.
    Here is a Kaneie tsuba, a “Meijin-Shodai” Kaneie, which presents with a very thin plate, being between 1.5 and 2mm in thickness.  The motif elements are inlaid, as we should expect.  The sugata (姿, shape) is Kobushi-gata with the rim folded over in only a few places, representing a relatively infrequently encountered form, as stated.  The tsuba here is fortunate not to have any added hitsu-ana, unlike many or most other Kaneie do.  The sukashi elements are fascinating to consider, being difficult to determine the meaning of; however, the raised elements clearly point to a seasonal motif, with cherry and plum blossoms on the omote for Spring, and ginkgo on the ura for Fall.  The inlaid metal in two of the openings — silver, shibuichi, or pewter, perhaps — is very likely a later addition, probably 19th-century, and more specifically, late-19th-century.  The finishing on these inlaid portions has all the hallmarks of Goto Ichijo workmanship.  Namely, the treatment of the surface of the inlay to resemble fallen snow (in the Japanese sense of things) is expressed in a very Ichijo sense of things, and, given the great importance of Kaneie tsuba, and the seasonal expression the motif of the guard has, it is plausible that the inlay is Ichijo work or that of one of his top students.  In any event, this inlay complements the rest of the tsuba beautifully.  The inlay also resembles the art of kintsugi (金継ぎ, golden joinery) or the Japanese practice of ceramic repair using lacquer when a piece is particularly special or important.  In this way, a nod is given to Tea Culture, too, creating a wonderful blending of associations and allusions, typical of the highest Japanese aesthetic sense.
    At 8.4cm, the tsuba is of an excellent size and is in great condition (no rust, no deep rust pitting, no fire damage).  There is, intriguingly, one small sign of battle damage at 6:00 on the guard:  it would seem a sword blow cut into the tsuba at the rim, and penetrated slightly into the plate.  The superb repair represented by a little stitch or two right at the rim and along a few millimetres of the plate is visible on very close inspection.  The repair is old, probably nearly contemporary with when the tsuba was made.  Given the high status of Kaneie in their lifetime (as tsubako for Hideyoshi, one might imagine their importance), and given the obvious high quality of this piece, it is not surprising that the finest repair efforts were put into its care.
    The name Kaneie justly enjoys its fame and accolades as pre-eminent among the tens of thousands of tsubako in Japanese history.  We are fortunate indeed to have had a small number of the works of the early masters survive to this day.  The first of their kind, and as most scholars and aficionados would wholeheartedly agree, the best of their kind, Kaneie sword guards remain among the very finest examples of the Japanese metal-working traditions.
  • Plate with crane, bird, plants, and four treasures. Porcelain with underglaze blue decoration and illegible factory mark to the bottom. Ming Dynasty [大明] (1368 – 1644); Wanli Era (1572 – 1620); Late 16th – Early 17th century. Diameter: 19.5 cm; Height: 3 cm
  • ERNEST HEMINGWAY | A Moveable Feast | {Citation} | CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS, | New York || Pagination: [12] – incl: advert., h.t., t.p., colophon, contents, preface, and note, [1, 2] - f.t. / blank, 3-211 [212]. Publisher’s cloth-backed stamped boards, original dust jacket. Ref.: Hanneman A31a.
  • Title: COSTUMES ET MODES | D’AUTREFOIS | HORACE VERNET | Incroyables | et | Merveilleuses | Paris | 1810–1818 | TEXTE PAR | ROGER–ARMAND WEIGERT | Conservateur au Cabinet des Estampes | de la Bibliothèque Nationale | ÉDITIONS ROMBALDI | PARIS || Content: 24 photomechanical reproductions of the images from Bibliothèque nationale de France, printed on vélin paper from Papeteries Aussedat by Papeteries de la Moselle printing presses and stencil-coloured by Edmond Vairel. Text printed by Imprimerie Kapp on October 20, 1955. A print run of 4,000 copies, of which this is №122. Exterior: Pink lettered dust jacket over wrappers. Pagination: loose double leaves, [4 blanks] [4 h.t. and t.p.], i-xi [xii], 24 unnumbered plates, [4 blanks].  

    Weigert, Roger-Armand (French, 1907-1986).

    Émile Jean-Horace Vernet [Horace Vernet] (French, 1789 – 1863). Gatine, Georges Jacques (French, 1773 – after 1841).  
  • Round plate with a polichrome design of repeating stylized flowers on the rim and a pond reflecting the sun surounded by flowers at the centre. Diameter: 34 cm, Haight: 4 cm.
  • Title: LES | CURIOSITÉS DE PARIS | PAR | CH. VIRMAITRE | PRÉFACE DE M. XAVIER EYMA | PARIS | P. LEBIGRE-DUQUESNE, LIBRAIRE-ÉDITEUR | 16, RUE HAUTEFEUILLE, 16 | 1868 || Collation: 18mo, π6; 1-1918. Pagination: [2] – pictorial title by A. Gill, engr. Marchandeau / blank, [2] – t.p. / blank, [2] dedication to Émile de Girardin / blank, [vii] viii-xii – préface; [1] 2-360, bfl. Note: pp. 223/224 and XIX chapter’s f.t. unpaginated and loose, but collation is not interrupted. Other chapters f.t. paginated. Binding: hardcover, quarter brown buckram over marbled boards, flat spine, gilt fillets, gilt lettering over the black label. Contributors: Charles Virmaître (1835 – 1903) – text. Xavier Eyma (1816 – 1876) – text / preface. André Gill (French, 1840 – 1885) – artist / pictorial title. Marchandeau (French, fl. c. 1867) – engraver / pictorial title.
  • Cover: LA | NOUVELLE PHÈDRE | ET | LE DIRECTEUR DE L'ODEON | PAR | PAGES (DU TARN) | PRIX : 50 CENTIMES | PARIS | GUSTAVE HAVARD, LIBRAIRE–ÉDITEUR | BOULEVARD SÉBASTOPOL (RIVE GAUCHE) et rue de la Harpe. | 1858 || Pagination: [1-3] 4-48. Collation: 8vp; [1]-38 (total 24 leaves) Binding: publisher’s wrappers. Printer: Imprimerie Bonaventure et Ducessois (Paris); Ducessois, Théodore (French, 1804 – after 1864.) Bonaventure, Jules-Frédéric (French, ca. 1816 – 1891) Pagès (du Tarn) (French, fl. 1838 – 1872) – known absolutely nothing. Other works: La France, ode (M. Papailhiau, 1840); Aux Électeurs ... du Tarn (Soupe, 1848) ; Les Funérailles de Napoléon, ode (Pilout, 1840) ; Mazagran, 4, 5 et 6 février 1840, chant héroïque (M. Papailhiau, 1840) ; Herminie, ou l'Amour et l'honneur, tragédie en 5 actes, en vers (Moquet, 1872) ; Lettre à S.E. le ministre de l'Intérieur sur la nouvelle Phèdre et le Théâtre français (Moquet, 1856), etc. There is also a humorous book by Antony de Menou, which does not contain anything of substance: Un contemporain: biographie de Pagès (du Tarn). — Paris: Masgana, 1857. Antony de Menou is an obscure figure in his own right. An article about him can be found at Les derniers bohêmes by Firmin Maillard (1833 – 1901) [LIB-2652.2021].
  • Title (historiated border, three-compartment): CAMEO CLASSICS | {rule} | CANDIDE | BY | Voltaire | WITH ILLUSTRATIONS | BY | Mahlon Blaine | {rule} | GROSSET AND DUNLAP | NEW YORK || Pagination: [1-6] 7-144, total 144 pages; frontispiece plus 4 plates within collation, head- and tailpieces – reproductions of Mahlon Blaine’s pen drawings. Binding: 21 x 14 cm, cream cloth with the cameo of Johann Gutenberg to front cover, gilt lettering to front cover and spine, in acetate dust jacket, in a pictorial slipcase. Arouet, François-Marie [Voltaire] (French, 1694 – 1778)– author. Woolf, Herman Irwell [Chambers, Dorset] (British, 1890 – 1958) – translator. Blaine, Mahlon [Hudson, G. Christopher] (American, 1894 – 1969) – illustrator. Grosset and Dunlap (NY) – publisher. J. J. Little & Ives Company (NY) – printer. Cameo Classics series was published by Grosset & Dunlap (New York) in 1935 – 1948 as a cheap reprint of illustrated classic editions, in this case – of Williams, Belasco and Meyers publication of Candide in 1930 (see LIB-2792.2021). The Cameo Classics books had a clear, acetate dust jacket and were boxed in a buckram alligator skin patterned slipcase with an illustrated cover. The price per volume started at 69 cents and was gradually lowered to 59 and 50 cents per volume by the late 1930s. Candide was translated into English quite a few times, starting from Tobias George Smollett (British-Scottish, 1721 – 1771) and up to today's translators. For some reason, the translator's name is almost never indicated. This translation, published by Williams, Belasco and Meyers in 1930 and reprinted by Grosset and Dunlap in c. 1935, was performed by Herman Irwell Woolf under the pseudonym of Dorset Chambers and first published in London by F.B. Neumayer in 1919. This edition was mentioned in the letter from Joseph Conrad to his son Borys in 1922, May 10.
  • Serial number 8697, barrel 14.5 cm, calibre 9 mm Lefaucheux M-1858 double-action pin-fire revolver manufactured in the late 1860-s. Produced in France with no retailers marking but having French proofs on front of the cylinder and right side of barrel trunnion. The metal remains in the white with small gold wire inlays. Fluted 2 piece ebony grips. This pattern has been observed in civil war photographs and excavated from battlefields and camps in the United States. Dimensions: L: 25 cm; H: 13 cm; Barrel: 14.5 cm.
  • Vol. 1: Front wrapper and title page (in red and black): CONTES | ET | NOUVELLES | DE | LA FONTAINE | ILLUSTRATIONS | EN COULEURS | DE | BRUNELLESCHI | {vignette} | PREMIER ET DEUXIÈME LIVRE | GIBERT JEUNE | LIBRAIRIE D'AMATEURS | 61, BOULEVARD SAINT-MICHEL, 61 | PARIS || Pagination: [2] – blanks, [2] – h.t. / limit., [2] – t.p. / blank, [6] – advert., [2] – d.t.p., 1-164 [165-6], [4] – table, [2] – imprint / blank, [2] – blanks; total 188 pages (94 leaves) with 35 in-text black illustrations, plus 16 colour plates extraneous to collation, incl. frontispiece. Vol. 2: Front wrapper and title page similar to Vol. 1 but TROISIÈME, QUATRIÈME ET CINQUIÈME LIVRE under the vignette. Pagination: [2] – blanks, [2] – h.t. / limit., [2] – t.p. / blank, [2] – d.t.p., 1-233 [234], [4] – table, [2] – colophon / blank, [2] – blanks; total 250 pages (125 leaves) with 42 in-text black illustrations, plus 16 colour plates extraneous to collation, incl. frontispiece. Edition: Limited edition of 3,000 copies, this copy is № 1 (stamped in black in vol. 1). Printed on the 10th of June, 1938 by J. Dumoulin (H. Barthélemy – director, Louis Malexis – mise en page); stencil-colouring (au pochoir) by E. Charpentier under direction of the artist. Binding: Two volumes 26.3 x 20.3 cm, uniformly bound in publisher’s pictorial flapped wrappers with vignettes and lettering to front wrapper and spine and publisher’s device to back wrapper. Description of the stensil (au pochoir) technique.
  • Vol. 1: Title page (in red and black): CONTES | ET | NOUVELLES | DE | BOCACE | FLORENTIN. | Traduction Libre, | Accommodée au gout de ce temps, & en- | richie de FIGURES en TAILLE- | DOUCE gravées par Mr. Romain | de Hooge. | TOME PREMIER. | {device} | A AMSTERDAM, | Chez GEORGE GALLET. | — | M. DC. XCIX. || Collation: 2 binder’s blank leaves, etched frontispiece or title, t.p. in red and black, *8 **4 (starting at *3, frontis. within collation of lacking one leaf) A—Y8 Z7, no final blank; 44 in-text half-page vignettes and one tipped-in additional plate (p. 212) in novella XXV (day 3, story 6: "Ricciardo Minutolo loves the wife of Filippello Fighinolfi, and knowing her to be jealous, makes her believe that his own wife is to meet Filippello at a Turkish bathhouse on an ensuing day; whereby she is induced to go thither, where, thinking to have been with her husband, she discovers that she has tarried with Ricciardo"), showing the ending of the story (45 illustrations total) Pagination: 12 unpaginated leaves [i-xxiv], pg. starts at A1, [1] 2-366. Vol. 2: Title-page: same as in vol. 1 but all in black and TOME SECOND. Collation: A-2D8 2E4, 56 in-text half-page vignettes. Pagination: [1,2] (t.p.), 3-427 (text) [13] (table, last page blank). Edition 1st edition, 2nd printing, edition of 1699 considered by most a re-issue of the 1697 edition. Description in Auction Sale Van Gendt, 1977, no. 1108: "The first, which has exactly the same collation was published by Gallet in 1697. It seems possible that the 1699 edition is, in fact, of the same issue, and that only the first quires of both volumes, which include the title pages were replaced by new ones with the new date, to make the book look more up to date. - The edition of 1702, also published by Gallet has "seconde édition", which, we think, sustains our theory." Binding: Two volumes uniformly bound by Chambolle-Duru in red crushed morocco, ruled gilt with triple-fillet, gilt dentelle inside, raised bands, gilt in compartments, AEG, marbled endpapers; to FEP verso in vol. 1 pasted a clipping, and in both volumes – bookplate “EX LIBRIS HELGE LOEWENBERG DOMP”. Provenance: Helge Loewenberg-Domp (Jewish-German, 1915 – 2021) Catalogue raisonnè: Landwehr (1970): № 88, p. 193 [LIB-2547.2020]. Contributors: Giovanni Boccaccio (Italian, 1313 – 1375) – author. Romeyn de Hooghe (Dutch, 1645 – 1708) – artist, etcher. Chambolle-Duru; René Victor Chambolle (French, 1834 – 1898), Hippolyte Duru (French, 1803 – 1884) – binder. George Gallet (Dutch, 17th-18th century) – printer, publisher.  
  • Sanguine print on toned China paper pasted on cream wove paper sheet, depicting a dressed-up man trying to copulate with a hanged sow. Inscription on top of the plate: "Ne faites pas aux truies ce que vous ne voudriez pas qu'on vous fit", and below: "Visection" (sic.). Owner's stamp 'LvM' on verso.

    Dimensions: Paper: 26.8 x 20.6 cm; India paper: 21.5 x 16.2 cm; Image: 19.3 x 14.2 cm.

    Catalogue raisonné: Arthur Hubschmid (1977): 661; Graphics irreverent and erotic (1968): 42.

  • In pictorial frame: A PLAN of | the CITY of PARIS. || Under the border: Published by I. Stockdale Piccadilly 1800 || Dimensions: Sheet: 29 x 34.5 cm; Image: 22.7 x 25.9 cm.
  • Pre-Columbian, Peru, Wari (Huari) culture, ca. 650 to 1000 CE.

    A hand-built polychrome ceramic stirrup vessel depicting the head of a jaguar. Painted with a sienna-hued base, this spotted beast features an abstract visage of almond-shaped eyes opened wide with long feather-like lashes, a rectangular nose protruding from a nasal bridge decorated with a quadrilateral motif, and a large open mouth, showing both upper and lower teeth, which are also spotted, all painted in shades of cream, black, cream, grey, light grey, and beige. Highly burnished, the lustrous vessel exhibits two spouts, also functioning as ears of the jaguar, with a flat handle arching between them. This tool would have been a grave good intended to hold some kind of libation or offering and was likely made in a specialist workshop.

    Colours: Sienna (base), black, cream, grey, light grey, beige (7 colours).

    Dimension: Width (mouth-to-mouth): 15 cm; Height: 14.5 cm; Diameter of the body: 10.5 cm. Provenance: Hans Juergen Westermann collection, Germany. The Wari State was the first expansionistic power to develop in the Andean highlands. It was located in Vilcabamba, modern Espiritu Pampa (Plain of the Spirits), Echarate District of La Convención Province in the Cuzco Region of Peru. The Wari expanded around AD 650 and by the time of their collapse in AD 1000 they controlled much of the central Andes.
  • Title: CONTES FANTASTIQUES | DE | HOFFMANN | TRADUCTION NOUVELLE ; PRÉCÉDÉS | DE SOUVENIRS INTIMES SUR LA VIE DE L’AUTEUR | PAR P. CHRISTIAN. | ILLUSTRÉS PAR GAVARNI. | {Publisher’s device} | — PARIS, | LAVIGNE, LIBRAIRE-ÉDITEUR, | 1 RUE DU PAON SAINT-ANDRÉ. | MDCCCXLIII. || Pagination: ffl, [i-vi] –h.t. / colopon, t.p. /blank, dedication /blank, [vii] viii-xix [xx][1,-3] 4-522, bfl, + woodcut illustrations by Brévière et Novionafter Gavarni: 10 full page plates, initials, tail pieces, and in text. Collation: [a]-b4 c2, 1-654 661. Binding: Quarter brown morocco over marbled boards, raised bands with gilt double fillets, gilt arabesque in compartments, title lettering. Catalogue raisonné: L. Carteret (1927), p. 295.
  • Title: FLATLAND | A Romance of Many Dimensions | With Illustrations | by the Author, A SQUARE | “fie, fie, how franticly I square may talk!” | NEW AND REVISED EDITION | LONDON | SEELEY & Co., 46, 47 & 48, ESSEX STREET, STRAND | (Late of 54 Fleet Street) | 1884 || Pagination: 2 blank leaves, [2] – h.t. / blank, [2] – t.p. / imprint., [2] – dedication / blank, [ix] x-xvi, [1, 2] f.t. / blank, [3] 4-102, 2 blank leaves; in-text woodcuts. Collation: [A]8 B-H8. Binding: original wrappers in pictorial parchment jacket, printed on laid paper, lower and lateral margins untrimmed. Note: This is the 2nd edition published the same year as the 1st, revised, as stated. I did not compare the two, neither I am planning to acquire the first 1st edition in a foreseeable future. This is a lifetime edition, handled by the Author himself, and that's enough for me to be quite happy.
  • Front wrapper (in black and red, in a red frame): (top left) ГОСУДАРСТВЕННАЯ | ОРДЕНА ЛЕНИНА | БИБЛИОТЕКА СССР | ИМЕНИ В. И. ЛЕНИНА — (top right) {СК} (white stylized letters on red background) | СВОДНЫЙ | КАТАЛОГ | РУССКОЙ | НЕЛЕГАЛЬНОЙ | И ЗАПРЕЩЕННОЙ | ПЕЧАТИ XIX ВЕКА | КНИГИ И ПЕРИОДИЧЕСКИЕ ИЗДАНИЯ | (bottom left) МОСКВА • 1982 || Title page: ГОСУДАРСТВЕННАЯ ОРДЕНА ЛЕНИНА БИБЛИОТЕКА СССР| СВОДНЫЙ КАТАЛОГ | РУССКОЙ НЕЛЕГАЛЬНОЙ | И ЗАПРЕЩЕННОЙ  ПЕЧАТИ | XIX ВЕКА | КНИГИ И ПЕРИОДИЧЕСКИЕ ИЗДАНИЯ | 2-е ДОПОЛНЕННОЕ И ПЕРЕРАБОТАННОЕ ИЗДАНИЕ | Часть 2. Книги Н–Я. Периодические издания. | (1159–2576) | МОСКВА 1982 || Publisher’s wrappers, 21.5 x 14.5 cm, lettering to front and spine; pagination: [2] – t.p. / imprint, 3-230 [2]. Науч. ред.: Итенберг, Борис Самуилович (Russian, 1921 – 2016). «Сводный каталог русской нелегальной и запрещенной печати XIX века. Книги и периодические издания» состоит из трех частей: Часть 1. Книги А–М. (№ 1–1158) [LIB-2648.2021] Часть 2. Книги Н–Я. Периодические издания (№ 1159–2576) Часть 3-я. Приложения. Вспомогательные указатели. Список источников. [LIB-2661.2021]
  • Title: OLD DUTCH | POTTERY AND TILES | BY ELISABETH | NEURDENBURG | LITT. D., READER IN THE HISTORY OF ART AT | THE UNIVERSITY OF GRONINGEN. TRANSLATED | WITH ANNOTATIONS BY | Bernard Rackham | DEPUTY KEEPER, DEPARTMENT | OF CERAMICS, VICTORIA AND | ALBERT MUSEUM | […] | WITH ONE HUNDRED AND TWELVE | ILLUSTRATIONS OF WHICH NINE | ARE IN COLOUR | LONDON: BENN BROTHERS, LIMITED | 8 BOUVERIE STREET, E.C. 4 | 1923 || Verso to half-title: Of this book 100 copies only for sale have been printed on English | hand-made paper, bound in pigskin and signed by the Authoress | and Translator. These copies also contain an extra colour plate. | This in Number “7” (in manuscript) | Two signatures (ink, manuscript) || Pagination: [i, ii] – h.t. / tirage, [iii, iv] – t.p. / imprint, [v, vi] – dedication to Dr. A. Pit / blank, vii-xv [xvi blank] [1, 2] 3-155 [156 blank], frontispiece (colour) and 59 leaves of plates (9 colour) with 112 figures, with lettered protective sheets. Collation: 4to in 8th; [A]8 [B]8 C-K8 L6; frontis., +59 leaves of plates. Binding: 30 x 24 cm, Full dark brown pigskin with gilt ornament to front board and gilt lettering to spine; printed on thick wove paper, top edge gilt, others untrimmed. Contributors: Neurdenburg, Elisabeth (Dutch, 1882 – 1957) – author [autograph]. Rackham, Bernard (British, 1876 – 1964) – translator [autograph]. Brendon, William (British, 1845 – 1928) – printer. Mayflower Press (Plymouth), William Brendon & Son, Ltd. – printer Benn Brothers Ltd. (British company, 1880 – 1987) Benn, Sir John, 1st Baronet (British, 1850 – 1922)
  • Iron tsuba of round form, on both sides decorated in low relief (kebori) with a dragon, eyes inlaid in brass. NBTHK: Hozon, № 4011013. Kamakura-bori type of tsuba. Med-Muromachi period, c. 1450. Diameter: 90 mm; Thickness (centre): 3.3 cm, Thickness (rim): 2.4 cm Reference: Japanese Swords and Sword Fittings from the Collection of Dr Walter Ames Compton (Part I). — NY: Christie's, 1992, p. 10, №2. Obviously, Compton's tsuba has an altered nakago-ana and placed on the photo upside down. Compton's tsuba has a raised mimi, while mine does not. Two other examples of the same design may be found at: (1) Christie, Manson & Woods auction sales “Kotetsu”, 1980, page 12, №10 and (2) Professor A. Z. Freeman and the Phyllis Sharpe Memorial collections №36, pp. 18-19. Both have raised mimi, the latter classified as Katchushi tsuba. More about Kamakura-bori tsuba here.  
  • A woodcut illustration after drawing by Leo von Elliot, published at Illustrirte Zeitung, 17 January 1863. English translation: Student bar "The Hole" in Brussels.

    The official name of this bar, located at Rue des Sols in Bussels, was "À la vue de l'Université" (In sight of the University). This was the place where the students of the Université libre de Bruxelles (Free University of Brussels), and especially the members of Société, ou Cercle, des Crocodiles (The Crocodile Society, or Circle), gathered in the 1860s.
  • Title page: ACROSS THE RIVER | AND | INTO THE TREES | BY | ERNEST HEMINGWAY | CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS | NEW YORK | 1950 || Pagination: [12] 1-308; total 160 leaves. Binding: black cloth, gilt Hemingway's fac-simile to front board, lettering to spine, pictorial dust jacket designed by A. Ivancich; $3.00 price clipped from top of front flap. Bookplate of Feodor Rojankovsky to front pastedown. Size: 21.5 x 15 cm. Edition: 1st edition, 1st printing; DJ with yellow on spine (later copies have orange); letter “A” and the Scribner’s device to copyright page. Provenance: Rojankovsky, Feodor [Rojan; Рожанковский, Фёдор Степанович] (Russian-American, 1891 – 1970) Contributors: Ernest Hemingway (American, 1899 – 1961) – author. Adriana Ivancich (Italian, 1930 – 1983) – artist of the dust jacket (Ivancich inspired the figure of Renata in the novel). Charles Scribner's Sons – publisher.  
  • Lefaucheux model 1858 pin-fire self-cocking revolver with ejector rod, folding trigger and polished walnut grips, manufactured in Paris.

    Stamped on barrel: E. LEFAUCHEUX BRte S.G.D.G. À PARIS.

    Serial number LF 9018; in a wooden case. Dimensions: Case: 23 x 13 x 6 cm; L: 20.5 cm; H: 9 cm; Barrel: 9 cm. Eugene Lefaucheux (French, 1820 – 1871) was the son of Casimir Lefaucheux (French, 1802 – 1852).
  • Title page (in red and black): LA | GERUSALEMME | LIBERATA | DI TORQUATO TASSO | Con la Vita del medesimo , Allegoria del Poema , Argomenti incisi | ne’Rami del Tempesta , ed Indice di tutti i Nomi proprj , | e Materie principali contenute nell’Opera ; | e con le Annotazioni | DI SCIPIONE GENTILI | E DI | GIULIO GUASTAVINI. | A Sua Eccellenza il SIGNOR | D. ORAZIO ALBANI | Principe di Soriano, &c. | {printer’s device} | URBINO, MDCCXXXV. | — | Nella Stamperia della Venerabile Cappella del SS. SAGRAMENTO per Girolamo Mainardi | Stampator Camerale a sue proprie spese . Si vendono dal medesimo in Roma | nella sua Libraria all’insegna di S. Crescentino, e nella Stamperia Camerale  | CON LICENZA DE SUPERIORI. || Half-title: Title page: IL | GOFFREDO | OVVERO | LA GERUSALEMME | LIBERATA | DI | TORQUATO TASSO. || Collation: 4to; [2] blank leaves, [1] – h.t. / blank, [1] – t.p. / blank, [1] – dedication signed *2, [2] – vita, 1st signed *3, [2] – allegoria, [3] – indice, first two signed ** and **2, respectively, [1] – frontispiece to Canto Primo —> total 13 prelims; π13 (incl. 2 blanks), A-Z4 Aa-Bb4 Cc6 Dd-Qq4, χ1 (blank); 20 engraved frontispieces, one headpiece and initials, some historiated. Frontis. to Cantos II-XX incl. in collation and pagination; the number of leaves from A1 to Qq4 = 158; pagination: 1-316. The total number of leaves incl. prelims and blanks = 172. Note: three first leaves in the Cc quire of six leaves are signed; all other four-leaf quires only have the first two first leaves signed. Frontispiece to Canto Quarto cut down and laid down on D2v (as in Christie’s copy sold on  6 Jun 2010 – Live Auction 5475 – Fine Printed Books and Manuscripts, lot 168, price realized GBP 600). Illustrations: Frontispiece to Canto Primo signed “Arnoldo van Westerhout formis Roma”. Headpiece to Canto Primo signed “Eq. Petrus Leo Ghezius Inu. et. delin. — Frãn. Aquila incid.” Other plates unsigned but all attributed to Westerhout after Antonio Tempesta; Numeration of frontispieces in roman numbers, IIII for VI, VIIII for IX, XIIII for XIV, inverted numbers XVII, XVIII, and XIX, respectively: IIVX, IIIVX, and IIIIVX. Binding: 35 x 24 cm, 34 x 23 cm leaves, contemporary calf, rebacked retaining original spine, verso front flyleaf stamped “RESTORED BY MACDONALD CO. | NORWALK. CONN. Marbled endpapers, all edges red. Speckled calf, gilt triple-fillet borders, with remnants of blind-stamped and gilt design to an upper inside corner, spine with raised bands, gilt acorn tooling in compartments, later crimson label with gilt lettering. Damp staining to inside edges affecting all leaves. The Robin Collection bookplate to front pastedown. Provenance: The Robin Collection. Contributors: Torquato Tasso (Italian, 1544 –1595) – author. Scipione Gentili [Scipio Gentilis] (Italian, 1563 – 1616) Giulio Guastavini (Italian, fl. 16th century) Antonio Tempesta [Tempestino] (Italian, 1555 – 1630) – artist. Arnold [Arnoldo] van Westerhout (Flemish, 1651 – 1725) – artist, engraver. Pier Leone Ghezzi (Italian, 1674 – 1755) – artist. Francesco Faraone Aquila (Italian, c. 1676 – c. 1740) – engraver. Girolamo Mainardi (Italian, c. 1679 circa – 1763) – printer, publisher. Orazio Albani (Italian, 1576 – 1653) – dedicatee.