• Two hardcover volumes 22.7 x 18.5 x 4.5 cm, uniformly bound in contemporary vellum with a blind border along the edges, handwritten title to spine, printed on laid paper with watermarks to ffls: “Leonard”, “ISRB”, and the arms of Amsterdam. Vol. 1: SPIEGEL van STAAT | des | VEREENIGDE | NEDERLANDS. | Waar in | De Macht en 't Vry Bestier, | Van yder der Zeven Verbonde PROVINCIEN en haar | byzondere Steeden, | Zo in Rechten als Regeeringen werd ontvouwd. | Aanwyzende | Aan, de In, en Uytheemschen, alle de Hooge en Lage Recht- | banken, Collegien en Ampten, dewelke in de zelve, tot | dienst van den Staat, en het Recht, zyn ingesteld. | Hoe, wanneer en waar, voor de zelve yets te verrichten is. | DOOR | Mr: ROMYN de HOOGHE. | EERSTE DEEL: | {fleuron} | t’ AMSTERDAM, | — | By JAN TEN HOORN, Boekverkooper 1706. Collation: 2ffl, *-**4, A-Z4 2A-Z4 3A-O4 4A-G4 5A-S4 6A-F4, 2ffl, (4G2 marked 3G2), total 372 leaves, plus 8 folded leaves of plates, t.p., and half-page vignette dedication by Romeyn de Hooghe. Pagination: [16], 1-267, 268-270 (marked 468-470) 271-480, [2] 3-55 [56], [2] 3-143 [144], [2] 3-44 [4], total 744 pages, ils. Vol. 2: SPIEGEL van STAAT. | VERVATTENDE | DE MACHT DER | GENERALITEYT. | De Edele Mogende Collegiën, | Hooge Rechtbaken, Steden, Schansen | en Onderhoorigheeden, | Welke van Hoog Mogende af angen. | DOOR | Mr: ROMYN de HOOGHE. | TWEEDE DEEL. | Met Figuuren. | {fleuron} | Te AMSTERDAM, | — | By JAN TEN HOORN, | Boekverkooper, 1707. Collation: 2ffl, *-**4, ***2, A-Z4 2A-T4, (A-Z)4, (2A-V)4 X2, 2ffl, total 352 leaves plus 9 folded leaves of plates, t.p., and half-page vignette dedication by Romeyn de Hooghe. Pagination: [20], 1-335 [336], 1-339 [340] [8], total 704 pages, ils. Contributors: Romeyn de Hooghe (Dutch, 1645 – 1708) Jan ten Hoorn (Dutch, fl. 1671 – 1715)
  • [Michael Hoyer]. Vita B. Ioannis Chisii a Maciaretto, ord. ermit. s. p. Augustini. — Antverpiæ, Apud Henricum Aertssens, Anno MDCXLI [1641]. Pagination: [2] *3+recto unpag. *4+recto unpag., [10], 5-135 [3]. Illustrations: Frontispiece missing, 4 copperplate engravings (pp. 22, 64, 90, and 120) by Pieter de Jode the Younger (1606–1674, Flemish printmaker, draughtsman, painter and art dealer) after Erasmus Quellinus the Younger (1607–1678, Flemish painter, engraver, draughtsman and tapestry designer). Size: Pott 8vo (15.5 x 10 cm), vellum binding. Expanded title: Vita Beati Ioannis Chisii, a Maciaretto, Ordinis Eremitarum Sancti Patris Augustini. [Translation: Life of Blessed Giovanni Chigi from Maciaretto, Order of Hermits of St. Augustine]. Blessed Giovanni Chigi (1300 - 1363) [1] was a lay brother of the Order of Hermits of St. Augustine. The Chigi family is a Roman princely family of Sienese extraction descended from the counts of Ardenghesca. The earliest authentic mention of them is in the 13th century, with one Alemanno, counsellor of the Republic of Siena. The Wikipedia article does not mention Giovanni Chigi, however, it states that one of the Chigi, Cardinal Fabio Chigi, was elected pope as Alexander VII at the Conclave of 1655. The book was published in 1641 with a dedication to the said Cardinal Fabio Chigi before he was elected pope. The town, Maciaretto, where Giovanni Chigi was from, is unclear because there is no such place in modern Italy, and there are two places called Macereto: (1) Macereto Alta/Basso in Perugia province and (2) Macereto in the municipality of Visso, in the province of Macerata, region Marche. I assume that our Giovanni Chigi was from the one that is closer to Siena, i.e. Macereto in Perugia province. Regarding the author. There is no author's name in the book. However, in various sources, the book is mentioned as written by Michel Hoyer, who was born in Hesdin, Flanders in 1593 and died in 1650. He pursued an ecclesiastical career and professed rhetoric at the College of Saint Pierre in Lille. He later joined the Order of Saint Augustine, in the convent of Ypres, and settled in various schools in the Netherlands. His reputation attracted many students, among them Albert Rubens (1614–1657), the eldest son of Peter Paul Rubens and Isabella Brant. Michel Hoyer wrote several books, the most known is Flammulae amoris, S.P. Augustini versibus et iconibus exornatae: Surprisingly, there is only limited information about Michel Hoyer in Spanish Wikipedia; other language versions of his biography do not exist. Another author mentioned in the book is some anonymous Augustinian from Cologne. Regarding the illustrations. In our copy, the frontispiece is missing. It was probably ripped off by some unscrupulous seller of antique prints. The image on the missing frontispiece is this: The names of the artists engraved in the bottom of the stone: E. Quellinus, delin. to the left and P. de Jode, fecit. to the right. We can infer that the other illustrations in that book are produced by the same duo. The image represents three cherubs: one with Athena's serpent in his left hand and a cardinal's hat in his right hand; another in Athen's helmet on his head and her owl beside his feet, with the staff of Mercurius (serpent-twined staff adorned with a winged hat) in his left hand, and the House of Chigi - Della Rovere coat of arms in his right hand; the third cherub depicted with the Hercules attributes - lion pelt and a  club. Regarding the publisher. Henricum Aertssens or Hendrik Aertssen, 1586-1658. Besides the other books, he published PIA DESIDERIA by Herman Hugo in 1636 [1621 french edition by Jean Cnobbartin in Antwerp in his collection LIB-1657.2018]. According to Nina Lamal [2], nothing is known about career of this publisher, besides what's said in Adresboek van zeventiende-eeuwse drukkers, uitgevers en boekverkopers in Vlaanderen / Directory of seventeenth-century Printers, Publishers and Booksellers in Flanders / Vlieger-De Wilde, Koen De (editor). The list of his publications can be seen here. Other artists who turned to the figure of Blessed Giovanni Chigi were Abraham van Diepenbeeck (painter) and Conrad Lauwers (engraver). The print is in Rijksmuseum, in Amsterdam. Here we see a more complex composition but with a clear reference to the work of Quellinus and de Jode: The cherub in Athena's helmet takes away the old coat of arms of the Chigi, and the other cherub points out to the new one, with papal symbols of St. Peter's keys, another cherub carries the papal tiara. Rijksmuseum dates the image as 1642 - 1685; most probably it is ca. 1655, when Fabio Chigi became Pope Alexander VII, and propaganda was focused on promoting his outstanding ancestor Giovanni, who died 300 years before. Giovanni Chigi is depicted here resurrected, accompanied by the archangel, and receiving the blessing from Jesus on the cross. 1 - Michael J. Walsh. A New Dictionary of Saints: East and West, p. 308. 2 - Nina Lamal. Publishing military books in the Low Countries and in Italy in the early seventeenth century in 'Specialist Markets in the Early Modern Book World', ed. Richard Kirwan, Sophia Mullins, Leiden: Koninklijke Brill, 2015, pp. 232-233.
     
  • Title: ДЖОЗЕФ КОНРАД |{device} | ТАЙНЫЙ АГЕНТ | • | НА ВЗГЛЯД ЗАПАДА | • |  Издание подготовил | В.М. ТОЛМАЧЕВ | Научно-издательский центр | «Ладомир» | «Наука» | Москва || Frontispiece: JOSEPH CONRAD |{device} | THE SECRET AGENT | • | UNDER WESTERN EYES || Pagination: [1-9] 10-595 [3] [2 advert.]. Binding: serial green cloth blind-stamped with a scroll adorned with gold lettering to board and spine, 22.5 x 17 cm. Original titles: [LIB-2762.2021] Joseph Conrad. The secret agent: a simple tale. — London: Methuen & Co., [1907]; [LIB-3213.2023] Joseph Conrad. The secret agent: A drama in three acts. — London, T. Werner Laurie, 1923.  
  • Exterior: 4to, 27.3 x 18 cm, quarter black morocco over marbled boards, double gilt fillet border, spine with raised bands, compartments framed in gilt with gilt fleurons, black label lettered in gilt; marbled endpapers. Inscription to half-title in the bottom: no 411. Bookplate to front pastedown. Title-page: LES | PRISONS DE PARIS | HISTOIRE, TYPES, MŒURS, MYSTÈRES | PAR | MAURICE ALHOY ET LOUIS LURINE | ÉDITION ILLUSTRÉE. | {vignette} | PARIS — 1846 | PUBLIÉ PAR GUSTAVE HAVARD | 24, RUE DES MATHURINS-SAINT-JACQUES. || Printer: Lacrampe et Comp. Collation: 4to; π2 a4 1-684 χ2; total 280 leaves and 34 leaves of plates. Pagination: first and last leaves blank; [2 -h.t./imprint.] [2 - t.p./blank] [2 dedication/blank] [i intro] ii-vi, [1] 2-544 [2 - list of plates/advert.] [2 - contents/blank]; total 560 pages, plus 34 wood-engraved plates, incl. a frontispiece by Laisne after Bertall, and numerous in-text woodcuts. Provenance: Bookplate of Selim Hippolyte Ansart (French, 1829 – 1897), commissar of police in the Second Empire and shortly after (chef de la police municipaie ; chevalier du 13 août 1867; vingt-trois ans de service effectif). Authors: Philadelphe-Maurice Alhoy (French, 1802 – 1856) Louis Lurine (French, 1812 – 1860) Artists: Bertall [ Bertal; Charles Albert d’Arnoux (French, 1820 – 1882) Jules [Jean-Baptiste] David (French, 1808–1892) Charles-François Pinot (French, 1817 – 1879) Eustache Lorsay [French, Eugène Lampsonius] (1822 – 1871) Pierre Édouard Frère (French, 1819 – 1886) Charles-Édouard de Beaumont (French, 1819 – 1888) Engravers Laisné Adèle / Aglaé / Alfred (French, fl. 1835 – 1868) Louis Dujardin (French, 1808 – 1859) François Rouget (Belgian, c. 1825 – ?) Janet-Lange [Ange-Louis Janet] (French, 1815 – 1872) Jacques Adrien Lavieille (French, 1818 – 1862) Timms (French, fl. c. 1839 – 1865) Félix Leblanc (French, 1823 – ?) Émile Montigneul (French, fl. 1840 – 1850)  
  • Title (Gothic typeset): Peter Schlemihls | wundersame Geschichte | Mitgeteilt | von | Adelbert von Chamisso | {publisher’s device} | — | Im Insel-Verlag zu Leipzig || Series: Insel-Bücherei, Nr. 194. Pagination: 8vo; [1, 2] 3-79 [80]; 4 photomechanical reproductions of woodcuts by Adolf Schrödter [1838] within collation. Binding: 18.5 x 12.5 cm, hardcover, original patterned paper over cardboard, title label in yellow and black pasted to cover, label to spine. According to Herbert Kästner Die Insel-Bücherei: Bibliographie, 1912 - 1999: 4 illustrations by Adolf Schrödter, produced for 1838 edition as wood engravings here reproduced by photogravure. There were four print runs of this edition:  1916: 1.-10. Tsd;  1923: 35. Tsd; 1940: 55. Tsd. There is currently no way to tell which one is this. Contributors: Chamisso, Adelbert von (German, 1781–1838) – author. Schrödter, Adolf (German, 1805 – 1875) – artist.  
  • Two-volume set. MÉMOIRES | DE | JACQUES | CASANOVA | DE SEINGALT | 1734 — Extraits — 1755 | COLLIGÉS PAR | RÉNE GROOS | ILLUSTRATIONS | DE | BRUNELLESCHI | {vignette} | GIBERT JEUNE | LIBRAIRIE D’AMATEURS | 61, BOULEVARD DE SAINT-MICHEL, 61 | PARIS || Pagination: [6], 1-345 [346], [8]; frontispiece and 15 colour plates (collotype), b/w tail-pieces and vignettes (offset). MÉMOIRES | DE | JACQUES | CASANOVA | DE SEINGALT | 1755 — Extraits — 1772 | COLLIGÉS PAR | RÉNE GROOS | ILLUSTRATIONS | DE | BRUNELLESCHI | {vignette} | GIBERT JEUNE | LIBRAIRIE D’AMATEURS | 61, BOULEVARD DE SAINT-MICHEL, 61 | PARIS || Pagination: [6] 1-337 [348] [8]; frontispiece and 15 colour plates (collotype), b/w tail-pieces and vignettes (offset). Limited edition, №2507 of 3000. Binding: original tan pictorial wrappers, in a slipcase.  
  • Title: L'ADAM | LASCIF | OU | LETTRES A LA MARQUISE |{fleuron}| AVEC | des figures finement gravées | pour animer par ces billets | fort galamment troussés | AU CARQUOIS D’ARGENT || Edition: Limited numbered edition of 252 copies, artist’s copy on Marais paper with watermark, final state. Pagination: [2] blanks, [2] h.t./tirage, [2] blank / exemplaire, [2] t.p. / blank, i-iii [iv], f.t. / blank; 13-183 [184] [2] blanks, [2] ex-libris / blank; frontispiece, 9 vignettes and 9 plates by Gaston Barret, dry point, sanguine; woodcut vignettes at the faux-title of each chapter. Binding: Unbound, in publisher's blue velour paper folder with gilt device to front cover, original wrappers with blue silhouette and grey medallions, in publisher's grey slipcase. Ref: (1) Jean-Pierre Dutel, Bibliographie des ouvrages érotiques publiés clandestinement en français entre 1920 et 1970, № 951, Inconnu à Pia. (2) Curiosa: An exhibition of illustrated erotic books 1987 — London: Hobart & Maclean, 1987, № 8. (3)  Honesterotica (793). Note: Most sources reference black prints, not sanguine. The publishing year was established by Jean-Pierre Dutel; in any case, it was published before the jury hearings at Cour d'Assises in Paris on May 29, 1956. The fact of hearings was not independently confirmed.
  • 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 ||  
  • Title page: L'AN DEUX MILLE QUATRE CENT QUARANTE. | Rêve s'il en fût jamais. | Le temps présent est gros de l'avenir... | Leibnitz. | {letterpress device} | A LONDRES. | MD CCLXXII. || Pagination: [i-iv] v-xii, 1-402 [2]; Collation: 8vo; π6 A-Z8 Aa-Bb8 Cc2. Binding: 19 x 12 cm, full mottled calf, rebacked, spine with gilt-lettered red label, compartments ruled gilt, with gilt fleuron ornament, marbled endpapers and all edges; printed on laid paper, with tall “s”. Probably published in Paris, anonymously. Handwritten nut-ink inscription to the title "Par Mercier". See also: LIB-0979.2016
  • Hardcover in blue cloth with gilt lettering to spine, pictorial dust jacket, 25.5 x 19.5 cm, pp.: [1-4] 5-452, +12 colour plates; 576 b/w plates within the pagination.
  • Front wrapper: In the three-compartment orange frame: 1st compartment: HISTOIRE DES DOCTRINES SOCIALISTES | *** (LES IDÉES ET LES FAITS) *** | 2nd compartment: BLANQUI | PAR | Maurice DOMMANGET | {circular device} | 3rd compartment: *** 1924 *** | LIBRAIRIE DE L'HUMANITÉ | 120 • RUE LAFAYETTE • 120 PARIS | Under the frame : Prix : 2 fr. 50 || Title page: HISTOIRE DES DOCTRINES SOCIALISTES | *** (LES IDÉES ET LES FAITS) *** | BLANQUI | PAR Maurice DOMMANGET | {device in a circle} | *** 1924 *** | LIBRAIRIE DE L'HUMANITÉ | 120 • RUE LAFAYETTE • 120 PARIS || Back wrapper: Advert. in an orange frame. Pagination: wrappers included in pagination ; [1-5] 6-95 [96-98] (total 49 leaves incl. wrappers). Collation: wrappers not included in collation: [1]-68. Binding: 18.5 x 12 cm; publisher’s blue wrappers with an orange frame, black lettering to covers and spine; uncut. Russian translation: LIB-2747.2021
  • Cover (in red and black): BÉRANGER | CHANSONS | GALANTES | {vignette} || Title page (in red and black): BÉRANGER | CHANSONS | GALANTES | ORNEES DE 16 AQUARELLES | PAR | ROJAN | {vignette} | ÉDITIONS DE LA BELLE ÉTOILE | PARIS || Pagination: [2] – front wrapper, [2] – blank, [1-4] 5-157 [3] [2] blank, [2] – back wrapper; the total number of pages 168 + 16 plates, numerous in-text head- and tailpieces in black. Collation: 4to; [1] 2-214, wrapped leaves included in collation; the total number of leaves 84 + 16 plates. Colour illustrations: 16 full-page colour plates and 4 colour headpieces are produced by the so-called Duval-Beaufumé process (collotype and stencil) of reproductions after Rojan’s watercolours. Tirage: Limited edition of 1500 copies, of which this is № 1434. Binding: Publisher's French flapped cream wrappers with red and black lettering to front wrapper and black lettering to spine, wove paper (vélin Navarre), uncut. Size: 243 x 195 mm. Contributors: Béranger, Pierre-Jean de (French, 1780 – 1857) – author. Rojankovsky, Feodor [Rojan; Рожанковский, Фёдор Степанович] (Russian-American, 1891 – 1970) – artist. NOTE on technique: Micro-photography reveals that this is not a collotype but some sort of photochemical reproduction method, such as a halftone screen. The colour was applied with a stencil, indeed.
  • Title page: The Art of the | French Illustrated Book | 1700 to 1914 | VOLUME I (II) | Gordon N. Ray | The Pierpont Morgan Library | Cornell University Press || Pagination: vol.1: [8] ix-xxxii, [2] 3-245 [3], illustr.; vol.2: [8] 247-557 [5], illustr. Both volumes paginater through out. Binding: 30.5 x 23.5 cm, two volumes uniformly bound in red cloth, gilt vignette to front cover, gilt lettering to spine; bookplate to front pastedown, ex-lib (Sweet Briar College Library) Contributors: Ray, Gordon Norton (American, 1915 – 1986) – author. Lange, Thomas V. – formal bibliographical description. Passela, Charles V. – photography. The Pierpont Morgan Library – Copyright © 1982
  • Vol. 1: Front wrapper (green and black): Pascal Pia | les | Livres | de l'Enfer | du XVIeme siècle à nos jours | TOME I | C. Coulet et A. Faure || Title page: Pascal Pia | les | Livres (historiated initial «L») | de l'Enfer | Bibliographie critique des ouvrages | érotiques dans leurs différentes | éditions du XVIe siècle à nos jours. | Tome I | A à L | C. Coulet et A. Faure | 5 rue Drouot | Paris 9e | 1978 || Pagination: [1-6] 7-413 [414]. Vol. 2: Front wrapper similar to Vol. 1 but “TOME II”; title similar to Vol. 1 but “Tome II | M à Z”. Pagination: [6] 415-837 [838] [2] – colophon / blank. Entries in the main sections are not numbered, each page has two columns of text and the columns are numbered 1-778 in vol. 1 and 779-1440 in vol. 2; p. 751– 792 – l'enfer BNF (numbered list); pp. 793-837 – index of authors, artists, editors, publishers, etc. Edition: 1st; limited to 900 copies, first 100 numbered 1-100 and printed on Ingres paper, next 800 numbered 1-800 and printed on Centaure Ivoire paper. This copy is № 34 (stamped in black) from the first hundred. Binding: 25 x 16.5 cm, both volumes printed on laid watermarked paper “Ingres”, untrimmed, uncut, uniformly bound in publisher’s wrappers lettered on front and spine. Contributors: Pascal Pia [Pierre Durand] (French, 1903 – 1979) – author/compiler. Imprimerie centrale de l'Ouest (Roche-sur-Yon) – printer.
  • 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
  • Printed on-demand, pictorial softcover, 22.9 x 15.2 cm, front: MARTIN | VAN MAELE |{fac-simile il.}| AN ILLUSTRATED | BIBLIOGRAPHICAL CHECKLIST | S. A. PERRY ||, blurb to back, lettering to spine, pp.: [12] [1] 2-207 [3] (total 222 pages), 107 reproductions of van Maele illustrations, 94 items bibliographical description. Title-page: S. A. PERRY. | Martin Van Maele | An Illustrated Bibliographical Checklist | 2015 || in a double-fillet frame. Colophon: Made in the USA | Las Vegas, NV | 26 December 2021. Maurice François Alfred Martin van Maële [Martin van Maële] (French, 1863 – 1926).
  • Description: one volume, 31.3 x 23.8 cm, bound in crimson cloth with gilt lettering to spine, in a pictorial dust jacket, lettered to front: GEISHA | {image} | Beyond | the | Painted | Smile | {image} || Title-page: GEISHA | Beyond | the | Painted | Smile | edited by the | Peabody Essex | Museum | published by | George Braziller, Inc. | in association with the | Peabody Essex Museum || Pagination: 1-159 [160], ils. Contributors: Lisa Dalby, Lesley Downer, Arthur Golden, Peter M. Grilli, Money L. Hickman, Allen Hockley, Andrew L. Maske, Yoko Yamamoto.
  • One hardcover volume, 30.2 x 25.3 cm, in red cloth blind stamped to front and spine with lettering, in pictorial dust jacket; pp.: [1-4] 5-359 [360], total 180 leaves, profusely illustrated. Subject: Japan; Theatre; Kabuki theatre; Kabuki actors; Woodblock prints. Contributors: Arendie Herwig (Dutch, fl. 2002 – 2016); Henk Herwig (Dutch, fl. 2002 – 2017).