//Hardcover
  • 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.    
  • Folio (240 x 320 mm), hardbound in blue-aubergine cloth with gilt lettering and decoration. Album with Avant-Propos and 34 hand-colored lithographs by Bertall, numbered 1 through 34. Details in Russian: "Памяти парижской коммуны".
  • Title: A GENERAL | HISTORY | OF | QUADRUPEDS. | – | THE FIGURES ENGRAVED ON WOOD BY THOMAS BEWICK. | {vignette} | — | NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE : | PRINTED BY AND FOR S. HODGSON, R. BEILBY, & T. BEWICK, | NEWCASTLE: SOLD BY THEM, BY G. G. J. & | J. ROBINSON, AND C. DILLY, LONDON. | 1790. Pagination: [4 blanks], [i, ii] – t.p. / blank, [iii, iv] – advertisement / index, v-viii – index, [1] 2-456 [4 blanks]. Collation: demi 8vo; a⁴ A-Ee⁸ Ff⁴. A3 unsigned, catchword at p.375 THE instead of WE. Variant A (with a fly facing upward). Size: 21.8 x 14 cm; page 21.2 x 13 cm. Woodcuts: 260 descriptions of quadrupeds; 200 figures of quadrupeds, 104 vignettes, tailpieces, etc. Binding: Full marbled calf, gilt double border, black label with gilt lettering to flat spine. There were 1,500 copies Demy copies printed. Catalogue raisonné: S. Roscoe (1953): pp. 5-11; Hugo (1866): pp. 22-23.
  • Title page: The Mathematical Theory | Of Communication | By CLAUDE E. SHANNON | and WARREN WEAVER | THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS PRESS: URBANA | 1949 || Pagination: [8] [2] 3-117 [3 blanks]. Size: 23.5 x 16 cm Binding: Publisher’s burgundy cloth, silver lettering to spine, yellow pictorial DJ with lettering: THE MATHEMATICAL THEORY OF | COMMUNICATION | {8 lines of text} {graph} | CLAUDE SHANNON   WARREN WEAVER || Contributors: Shannon, Claude Elwood (American, 1916 – 2001) Weaver, Warren (American, 1894 – 1978)
  • Vol. 1: THE | POEMS | OF | OSSIAN. | TRANSLATED | By JAMES MACPHERSON, Esq; | IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. I. | A NEW EDITION. | LONDON: | PRINTED FOR W. STRAHAN ; AND T. CADELL, | IN THE STRAND. | MDCCLXXXIV.|| Vol. 2:THE | POEMS | OF | OSSIAN. | TRANSLATED | By JAMES MACPHERSON, Esq; |  VOL. II. | A NEW EDITION. | LONDON: | PRINTED FOR W. STRAHAN ; AND T. CADELL, | IN THE STRAND. | MDCCLXXXV.|| Vol.1: [i-v] vi-xiii, [2] 3-404 pp; vol.2: [6], [2] 3-435 pp. Two volumes, 22.5 x 14.7 cm; hardcover; full calf with the spines later professionally rebound; original boards with sympathetic repairs to the margins and corners.5 raised bands, red label with gilt lettering to Sp. Bindings remain firm, page blocks firm, boards stained, pages a little rippled, with occasional marks throughout. spotting and marks to endpapers. James Macpherson (British, 1736–1796) was a Scottish writer, poet, literary collector and politician, known as the "translator" of the Ossian cycle of epic poems. Publishing Year: 1784 Publisher: W. Strahan and T. Cadell
  • Title in black and red: LIFE IN ENGLAND | in Aquatint and Lithography | 1770—1860 | ARCHITECTURE • DRAWING BOOKS | ART COLLECTIONS • MAGAZINES | NAVY AND ARMY • PANORAMAS ETC. | FROM THE LIBRARY OF J. R. ABBEY | — | A BIBLIOGRAPHICAL | CATALOGUE | — | LONDON | PRIVATELY PRINTED | AT THE CURWEN PRESS | 1953 || Pagination: 2 blank leaves, [2] – limited edition 114 of 400 / blank, [i, ii] – h.t. / blank, [2] blank / frontis., [iii, iv] – t.p. / printer, v – contents, [vi] –blank, vii-ix – list of plates, [x] – blank, xi-xiii – list of ill., [xiv] – blank, xv-xxi – preface, xxii – blank; [1, 2] f.t. / blank, 3-427 [428], 2 blank leaves. Binding: Hardcover, 32 x 25.5 x 6.5 cm; brown cloth, red label with gilt lettering to spine, tan DJ with lettering to front and spine.
  • THE | ADVENTURES | OF | TELEMACHUS, | THE SON OF ULYSSES. | Translated from the French of | Messire François Salignac de la Mothe–Fenelon, | Archbishop of Cambray. | BY | JOHN HAWKESWORTH, L. L. D. | — | LONDON: | Printed for the AUTHOR, by W. and W. Strahan, | M DCC LXVIII. || Binding: half polished brown calf over marbled boards, wave ruled blind, gilt fillet ruled compartments, black label with gilt lettering to spine; 29.5 x 24.5 cm; marbled endpapers. Pagination: 2 blank leaves (wove paper), [I, ii] – t.p. / blank, [iii] iv – dedication, [v] vi-xv – subscribers, [xvi] blank, [xvii] xviii-xix – preface, [xx] xxi-xxxv – contents, [xxxvi] – errata, subscribers omitted, [1] 2-462, printed on laid paper, 2 blank leaves (wove paper). Collation: 4to; A4, a-c4 d2, B-Z4 Aa-Zz4 Aaa-Mmm4 Nnn3; 24 head- and 24 tailpieces engraved by Charles Grignion the Elder (British, 1721 – 1810) after Samuel Waly (British, 1720 – 1786). Original: François Fénelon. Les Aventures de Télémaque, fils d’Ulysse. See № LIB-2522-2020 in this collection. Not in Lewine, 1898; Not in Cohen De Ricci, 1912.    
  • Жан де Лабрюйер | ХАРАКТЕРЫ, | ИЛИ | НРАВЫ | НЫНЕШНЕГО | ВЕКА | Перевод с французского | Э. ЛИНЕЦКОЙ И Ю. КОРНЕЕВА | ИЗДАТЕЛЬСТВО | «ХУДОЖЕСТВЕННАЯ ЛИТЕРАТУРА» | МОСКВА  • ЛЕНИНГРАД | 1964 || Pagination: frontis., [2] 3-413 [414-416]; print run 50,000 copies. Collation : 8vo, [1]-268. Binding: 21 x 13.5 cm, olive buckram, lettering to cover and spine. Jean de La Bruyère (French, 1645 – 1696). Юрий Борисович Корнеев (Russian, 1921—1995). Эльга Львовна (Лейбовна) Линецкая [b. Фельдман] (Russian-Jewish, 1909 — 1997)
  • DJ: Graham Greene | Travels with my aunt || Title page: TRAVELS | WITH MY AUNT | A NOVEL | Graham Greene |{publisher’s device}|  THE BODLEY HEAD | LONDON SYDNEY | TORONTO || Edition: 1st edition, 1st printing. Binding: 20.5 x 13.5 cm; publisher's green cloth, gilt lettering on spine, pictorial dust-jacket. Pagination: [1-8] 9 – 319 [320]. Collation: 16mo; [1]16, 2-1016 (total 160 leaves). Contributors: Graham Greene (British, 1904 – 1991) – author. Stephen Russ (British, 1919 – 1983) – DJ artist. The Bodley Head – publisher. William Clowes & Sons, Ltd. (Beccles) – printer.
  • Pictorial title page in blue and black: Louis Icart | Erotica | William R. Holland | {vignette} | Schiffer | Publishing Ltd | 4880 Lower Valley Road, Atglen, PA 19310 USA || Pagination: [1-6] 7-175 [176], plates within pagination. Binding: black cloth, blue lettering to front cover and spine, marbled endpapers, pictorial dust jacket: Louis Icart | Erotica | William R. Holland | With Value Guide | A Schiffer book for collectors || Contributors: Louis Icart (French, 1888 – 1950) – artist. William R. Holland (American, fl. c. 2000) – author. Schiffer Publishing Ltd., – publisher.
  • Title page: THE | VISION; | OR | HELL, PURGATORY, AND PARADISE, | OF | DANTE ALIGHIERI. | TRANSLATED BY | THE REV. HENRY FRANCIS CARY, A. M. | IN THREE VOLUMES. | THE SECOND EDITION CORRECTED. | WITH THE LIFE OF DANTE, ADDITIONAL NOTES, | AND AN INDEX. | VOL. I. (–II, –III.) | — | LONDON: | PRINTED FOR | TAYLOR AND HESSEY, FLEET STREET. | 1819. || Pagination: (I) [2] – t.p. / blank, [4] – preface, [2] – contents / blank, [2] – errata / blank, [i] ii-lii – life of Dante, [1-3] 4-303+colophon [304 blank]; (II) [2] – t.p. / blank, [v] vi-xi [xii blank] – chronological view, [1-3] 4-309 [310 colophon]; (3) [2] – t.p. / blank, [1-3] 4-297 [298 blank], [28 index, colophon]; as called for by Royal Academy. Collation: 8vo; (1) π5 b-d8 e2 B-U8; (2) π5 B-U8 X2 Y1; (3) π1 B-U8 X8 X3. Binding: 22 x 14 cm each, three volumes uniformly bound by Morrell (stamp-signed on FEP verso) in slightly marbled polished calf, gilt dentelle border to boards and inside, gilt ornamental spine with red morocco labels, peacock marbled endpapers, extra vergé flyleaves in front and back, AEG. Edition: 2nd, corrected. The 1st edition was published by J. Barfield in 1814. Contributors: Dante Alighieri (Italian, 1265 – 1321) – author. Henry Francis Cary (British, 1772 – 1844) – translator. James Augustus Hessey (British, 1785 – 1870), Taylor and Hessey (London) – publisher. Thomas Miller (British, fl. 1815 – 1819) – printer.
  • Title page: DIALOGUE AUX ENFERS | ENTRE | MACHIAVEL | ET MONTESQUIEU | OU LA POLITIQUE DE MACHIAVEL | AU XIXe SIÈCLE, | PAR UN CONTEMPORAIN. | {6 lines of citations} | ~ | BRUXELLES, | IMPRIMERIE DE A. MERTENS ET FILS, | RUE DE L’ESCALIER, 22. | 1864 ||

    Description: 18.5 x 12 cm, quarter red morocco over marbled boards, spine with raised bands ruled blind, gilt lettering, marbled endpapers.

    Collation: 12mo; fep, 3 blanks, π4 1-2712, 292, 3 blanks, fep.; total 180 leaves. Pagination: [6] [2 h.t] [2 t.p.] [i] ii-iii [iv] [1] 2-337 [338] [2 errata] [6]. Bookplate to front pastedown: “Le Mis de Biencourt” (probably Mademoiselle Anna Charles de Biencourt). See other copies: LIB-2913.2021 and LIB-0460.2015. Other related objects: SVVP-0062.2021. The publication was funded by the author and smuggled into France. Contributors: Maurice Joly (French, 1829 – 1878)  
  • Description: Oblong volume, 22 x 27 cm, quarter cloth over marbled boards with gilt Zichy’s signature fac-simile and gilt lettering to spine in dust jacket lettered “The | Erotic | Drawings | of | Mihály | Zichy” on both front and back, blurbs on flaps, unclipped; printed on wove paper, unpaginated. Title-page: THE EROTIC DRAWINGS | OF | MIHÁLY ZICHY | Forty drawings | GROVE PRESS INC. | NEW YORK || Collation: (1) h.t., (1) t.p./copyright, (1) Preface; (40) leaves of plates, (1) blank; total 44 leaves. The plates are photomechanical offset copies made from the photogravures of 1911 Leipzig private press edition [SVE-0501.2021] of 300 copies, the copy used for reprint was № 277; photogravures were made from the original watercolours and crayon drawings produced by Zichy in 1874-1879; the original album of 51 compositions was sold at Christie’s sale of Gérard Nordmann collection on December 14-15, 2006 in Paris. Ref.: Bibliothèque érotique: Gérard Nordmann; Livres, manuscrits, dessins, photographies du XVIe au XXe siècle / Catalogues de ventes, seconde partie. — Paris: Christie's, 2006; p. 280, № 564 (drawings); №  565 photogravures [LIB-2810.2021]. See a copy of the Leipzig album № 285 in this collection [SVE-0501.2021].
  • Description: One volume, 8vo, 22 x 14.5 cm, in brown paper boards with orange and black lettering to spine, pictorial dust jacket, unclipped “PRICE | 30s net | IN U.K. ONLY”, collated [A]-S8, pp.: [i-vi] vii-xiii [xiv blank], 1-273 [274 blank], 144 leaves total. Edition: 1st English edition. Original title: Das Sogenannte Böse: zur Naturgeschichte der Aggression. — Wien : Dr. G. Borotha-Schoeler, 1963. Contributors: Konrad Zacharias Lorenz (Austrian, 1903 – 1989) – author. Sir Julian Sorell Huxley (British, 1887 – 1975) – author of the foreword. Marjorie Latzke [Kerr Wilson] (American, 20th century) – translator from German. Methuen & Co Ltd. (London) – publisher. Cox & Wyman Ltd. (Fakenham, Norfolk) – printer.
  • Title-page: CURIOSITÉS | DE L’HISTOIRE | DU VIEUX PARIS | PAR | P. L. JACOB | BIBLIOPHILE | { LES NOMS DES RUES | LES RUES DE CITÉ | LES RUES HONTEUSES AU MOYEN AGE. | PROMENADES DANS LE VIEUX PARIS EN 1834. | PHYSIOLOGIE DU PONT NEUF. | BICÊTRE } | PARIS | ADOLPHE DELAHAYS, LIBRAIRE-ÉDITEUR | 4-6, RUE VOLTAIRE, 4-6 | – | 1858 || Description: Hardcover, in-16o, 17 x 11 cm, quarter brown morocco over marbled boards, spine with raised bands, gilt lettering, gilt fleurons, marbled endpapers, original wrappers with red and black lettering within red frame bound in, some pages uncut. Collation: 8vo; π2 14, 2-238 244, total 186 leaves between original wrappers. Pagination: [4] [1] 2-364 [4], total 372 pages. Catalogue raisonné: Vicar: I, 770. Contributors: Printer: Simon Raçon et Comp. (Paris). Author: Paul Lacroix [P. L. Jacob] (French, 1806 – 1884). Publisher: Adolphe Delahays (French, mid-19th century).
  • Hardcover, 20.7 x 13 cm, paper boards and spine, silver and gilt lettering, pictorial endpapers, pp.: [1-5] 6-321 [5] [10 advert.], in-text ill., total 336 pages plus 12 (8+4) leaves of plates. 944 entries (1921-1938), plus a list of new books published between 1991 and 2004. Title-page: В. В. Крылов | Е. В. Кичатова | ИЗДАТЕЛЬСТВО | «ACADEMIA» | ЛЮДИ И КНИГИ | 1921 ~ 1938 ~ 1991 | Под общей редакцией | В. А. Попова | ~ | {publisher’s device} | Москва | 2004 || Print run: 2,000 copeis. Contributors: Крылов, Вячеслав Викторович (Russian, 1940 – 2005) Кичатова, Екатерина Вячеславовна (Russian)  
  • 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, 20 x 14 cm, owner’s later green buckram with the original wrapper pasted to front board: wood engraving printed in green (egg and dart border with “1925” on top and “ИЗД-ВО «БЫЛОЕ» ЛЕНИНГРАД” in the bottom, inside the border a pictorial frame, depicting chains, manacles, and axes with red and green lettering inside: “ЦАРСКАЯ РОССИЯ (framed) | РУССКИЙ | РОКАМБОЛЬ | ПРИКЛЮЧЕНИЯ | МАНАСЕВИЧА-МАНУЙЛОВА | {fleuron}”; in the bottom corners of the frame monogrammed letters “В” and “Б”, for Вениамин Белкин (Veniamin Belkin).  Pagination: [1-4] 5-239 [240]; collated 8vo: [1]-158, total 120 leaves. Title-page: — | К. Бецкий и П. Павлов | РУССКИЙ РОКАМБОЛЬ  | (ПРИКЛЮЧЕНИЯ И. Ф. МАНАСЕВИЧА-МАНУЙЛОВА) | — | ИЗДАТЕЛЬСТВО «БЫЛОЕ» | ЛЕНИНГРАД • 1925 || Print run: 5,000 copies. Contributors: Вениамин Павлович Белкин [Veniamin Belkin] (Russian, 1884 – 1951) – artist of the cover. К. Бецкий (pseudonym), real name Иосиф Яковлевич Кобецкий (Jewish-Russian, ? – ?) – author. П. Павлов (pseudonym),  real name Павел Елисеевич Щеголев (Russian, 1877 – 1931) – author. Иван Фёдорович Манасевич-Мануйлов [Исаак Тодресович Манасевич, Ivan Manassievitch-Manouïlov] (Jewish-Russian, 1869/71—1918) – character.