• Title: Emblemata | Florentii Schoon~ | hovii I. C. Goudani, | Partim moralia | partim etiam Civilia. | Cum latiori eorundem ejusdem | Auctoris interpretatione. | Accedunt et alia quædam | Poëmatia in alijs Poëma | tum suorum libris non | contenta. | Amstelodami. | Apud | Joannem Janßonium •1635• Size: 20 x15.5 cm, small 4to Edition: 3rd edition (the first two editions being by Burier, Gouda, 1618 and by Elzevir, Leiden, 1626. Collation: ¶/*6, A-Z4, Aa-Ff4, Gg2. Pagination: [2] - enrgaved t.p. / blank, [6] - dedication, [2] - lectori benevolo, [2] - in commend. / frontis. engraved portrait of  Gerardus Traudenius – academic/intellectual; author/poet (Dutch, fl. 1615 – 1623), 1-235. Illustrated with engraved title, portrait of dedicatee, and 74 engraved emblems by Crispijn van de Passe the Younger (1594/5 – 1670). Binding: bound in full contemporary Dutch blind-stamped parchment over thin boards, laced case construction, inked title to spine, no flyleaves, signature washed from the title, the blank margin of title trimmed away at head, slight marginal water stain to the first signature, front bottom board corner bumped.  
  • Magazine article by Edgar Jepson: The Iron Tsuba of Japan (Section: Oriental Art), published in volume Vol. 70 (September–December) of The Connoisseur: An Illustrated Magazine for Collectors, Vol. 70 (September–December); pp. 143-152 / C. Reginald Grundy [ed.] — London: Published by the Proprietor, W. CLAUSE JOHNSON, at the Editorial and Advertisement Offices of The Connoisseur, 1924. Owner's half black morocco, gilt lettering to spine, blue cloth boards. Two volumes bound together without original covers. Size 28.5 x 22 cm. Vol. 1: The Connoisseur | An Illustrated Magazine | For Collectors | Edited by C. Reginald Grundy | Vol. LXIX. | (MAY—AUGUST, 1924) | LONDON | Published by the Proprietor, W. CLAUSE JOHNSON, at the | Editorial and Advertisement Offices of The Connoisseur, | at 1, Duke Street, St. James's, S.W. 1 | 1924 || Pp.: [i-ii] iii-xviii [xix] [1, 2 - plate] 3-249 [250]. Vol. 2: The Connoisseur | An Illustrated Magazine | For Collectors | Edited by C. Reginald Grundy | Vol. LXX. | (SEPTEMBER—DECEMBER, 1924) | LONDON | Published by the Proprietor, W. CLAUSE JOHNSON, at the | Editorial and Advertisement Offices of The Connoisseur, | at 1, Duke Street, St. James's, S.W. 1 | 1924 || Pp.: [i-ii] iii-xxii [2 blanks] [1, 2 - plate] 3-261 [262]. The Iron Tsuba of Japan by Edgar Jepson The heart of Japan was in the sword. However admirable may be the paintings, the prints, the netsuke, the lacquer, or the bronzes of the Japanese masters, the supreme artistic achievements of Japan were the blades of Masamune, Muramasa, Sadamune, and Rai Kunitsugu. But not a little of the heart of Japan went also in the tsuba, the guard which protected the hand that wielded the blade, into the iron tsuba of the fighting Samurai. Beside the forgers of the iron tsuba of Japan the ironsmiths of the rest of the world have been mere children. The earliest tsuba were of bronze or copper, often gilded. It is probable that they were replaced by iron tsuba during the Kamakura period, the great fighting era, which lasted from A.D. 1185 to 1333. During the later half of the twelfth century leather tsuba, strengthened by thin iron plates or a metal rim, also replaced the bronze and copper tsuba. It was at this time that a family of armourers of the name of Masuda, and in particular Masuda Munesuke, the founder of the Myochin family, began to forge iron tsuba — thin, round plates of great hardness and density. But it is probable that no tsuba perforated with a view to decorative effects were forged before the end of the fourteenth century. These fourteenth-century tsuba are exceedingly rare in England. I have seen none in the museums, none in the famous collections that have been sold during the last ten years. Those photographed in Herr Oeder's book might easily be the fifteenth century. No. 1 is a curious cup-shape tsuba decorated with a bronze and copper inlay. No. 2, with its edges curiously twisted in the forging, looks like Myochin work. But it is not of the Myochin iron. The Myochin family produced some of the greatest ironsmiths of Japan. Armourers first of all, tsubasmiths, forgers of sake-kettles, articulated reptiles, crustacea, and insects — everything that can be done with iron they did; they pushed their medium to its limit. They were forging iron tsuba in 1160, and they were still forging them in 1860. And it was their own iron, or rather their own steel. They discovered the secret of it early, and they kept that secret in the family for all those hundreds of years. There is no mistaking a Myochin tsuba: balance it on your finger and tap it with a piece of metal, always it gives forth a clear bell-like ring that you get from the work of no other ironsmith, Japanese or European. Always the Myochin tsuba is before everything a protection to the hand of the swordsman; to that everything is, as it should be, subordinated. No. 3 is a Myochin tsuba of the fifteenth century, and probably of the early fifteenth century. No. 4, by Myochin Munetaka, perforated with a grotesque figure, is an example of that twisting and twisting of the iron in the forging till it forms a pattern like the grain of wood. The Myochin smiths invented these wood-grain tsuba, and no other smiths equalled them in their forging. In the sixteenth century, the fighting tsuba was probably at its best. It was a century of great tsubasmiths. Then the first Nobuiye, whose tsuba fetched £100 apiece, circa 1800, in Japan, and the first Kaneiye flourished. No. 5 is a tsuba forged by a great smith, Iyesada of Sotome, in the manner of Nobuiye I, decorated with the karakusa tendrils that Nobuiye delighted in, with lightning and clouds. No. 6 is a guard of Sanada Tembo, the chief smith of the Tembo family, stamped, punning fashion, with the character Tembo. Akin to the Tembo tsuba were those of the Kiami and Hoan smiths. Then also the Heianjo smiths and the Owari smiths, especially those of Nagoya and the Yamakichi family, forged their strongest tsuba. Those of the Yamakichi were tested after the forging by being pounded in iron mortars — at least, so the legend runs. But they were a sternly utilitarian family, and I have never seen a Yamakichi tsuba of any beauty. In the later half of the fifteenth century arose the fashion of decorating tsuba with an inlay, zogan, of bronze. The Heianjo tsuba, forged at Kyoto in the latter half of the fifteenth and the beginning of the sixteenth century, were often thus inlaid. The earliest of them were called "Onin", of which No. 7 is an example. In addition to the bronze inlay around the edge, it is inlaid with a representation, some say, of snow; others say, of the duckweed on a pond. No. 8 is probably a Heianjo tsuba, but I am not quite sure about it. The inlaid acacia branches might be very early Shoami work. But to judge by the iron, it is a fifteenth-century tsuba; and the authorities place the beginning of the Shoami school not later than early in the sixteenth century. No. 10 is an example of the Fushimi-zogan, a flat inlay of a light-coloured bronze. These tsuba took their name from the fact that they were first forged at Fushimi, in Yamashiro, in the sixteenth century. It is of the type known as Mon-zukashi, perforated with crests (mon) à jour. The Yoshiro-zogan tsuba were also first forged at Fushimi by Yoshiro Naomasa. They were distinguished from the Fushimi-zogan by the fact that their inlay was generally a little raised-not always-for the inlay of No. 9, a tsuba forged by a later nineteenth-century Yoshiro, is quite flat. It is an interesting tsuba, for, with its decoration grown florid and excessive, it marks the intermediate stage between the simple and delightful designs of the genuine fighting tsuba and the elaborate pictures in gold and silver on the tsuba of the eighteenth-century smiths of Awa and Kyoto, which have become mere ornaments of the goldsmith. The Gomoku-zogan (No. 11) tsuba were probably first forged earlier than the Fushimi and Yoshiro-zogan tsuba. This inlay, in slight relief, is a representation in a light-coloured bronze and copper of twigs caught in the eddies of streams. The seventeenth century and early eighteenth century were the great periods of perforated tsuba. The designs, and they are often admirable, are for the most part in plain fretwork; but they are also chased. No. 12, a crane under an acacia, is a tsuba of a Higo smith, great forgers of fighting tsuba during this period. These smiths also excelled in nunome zogan, a very thin gold and silver inlay, with which they further decorated their perforated guards. The smiths of the Umetada and Shoami families also forged iron tsuba during this period; but their designs, though sometimes pleasing enough, are rarely fine. The best work of Myoju Umetada is in sentoku, not iron. The Choshu smiths, coming later, surpass the perforated guards of both the Umetada and Shoami smiths in beauty of design. No. 13, a lotus in the round, not only fretwork, but also engraved, is a good example of the admirable balance they so often attained in their designs. It is a sufficiently realistic lotus, but yet of a delightful simplicity. In considerable contrast is No. 14, the dragon by Soheishi Soten — one of the only two authentic tsuba of his forging known — the first forger of hikone-bori tsuba, which were in extraordinary favour in Japan during the eighteenth century, and illustrated every important event in Japanese history. It is on the elaborate side, but fine, strong work, and an excellent guard to the hand, for the lighter and more open part, which gives the design its admirable balance, is on the inside, and not exposed to the full swing of an opponent's blade. A few years ago there was a tendency to decry the Namban tsuba as having sprung too directly from foreign sources. But though the original suggestion may have been Chinese, or, as some say, Portuguese, the Japanese made it entirely their own, as characteristically Japanese as anything can well be, but, it must be admitted, of a decadent period. The school took its rise at the beginning of the seventeenth century, and the early tsuba were forged of a specially hard iron, the Wootz, imported from Southern India. No. 15, the signs of the Zodiac, is an excellent tsuba from the fighting point of view. Both it and No. 16 are of quite charming, if elaborate, design, and both of them, with their delicate scroll-work, so astonishingly undercut, are the very last word in the work of the ironsmith-veritable iron lace. To return to the simpler perforated tsuba, the smiths of Akasaka, a suburb of Tokyo, produced probably the most charming designs. Their style derives considerably from the Higo smiths, and their earlier fighting tsuba are very like the Higo tsuba. But always their work was just a little lighter than that of the Higo smiths, and in the end they moved right away from them and became the forgers of very light guards indeed. No. 17, is a representation of the Hiyokudori, the fabulous double bird, in which were reincarnated the souls of the two lovers, Gompachi and Komurasaki; and No. 18, “the tsuba of a hundred ducks "— there are about forty — are characteristic designs of the school. In the work of the Akasaka smiths the balance, which makes the design of a good tsuba so admirable and delightful, attains its height. This admirable balance seems often to be obtained by a deliberate sacrifice of symmetry. About nine hundred and ninety-nine European ironsmiths out of a thousand would have made the right and left sides of the Hiyoku-dori line by line, and perforation by perforation, exactly alike; he would have cut out exactly as many ducks on the one side of “the tsuba of a hundred ducks” as on the other, and made each duck on the right side correspond exactly in position and attitude with a duck on the left side. By variations the tsubasmith attained a finer balance, almost a higher symmetry. No. 19, often called by collectors the "rose-window" tsuba, but really a stylised chrysanthemum, is a favourite design of the Akasaka smiths, but Hizen work and inlaid in the Hizen manner with gold nunome. No. 20 is a Satsuma tsuba of the middle period. The Satsuma smiths of the nineteenth century produced probably the most ornate of all the iron guards, for the most part calibashes and beans with their leaves and tendrils realistic in the extreme, but of charming design. Few crafts have been carried further than that of the tsubasmith; few crafts working in a difficult medium have handled more subjects with greater feeling for beauty or greater liveliness of fancy. It is interesting to note again and again how school influences school, and smith influences smith. But, as in all the applied arts, the finest tsuba were forged by men who never lost sight of the purpose of a tsuba, that it is before everything a protection to the hand, and never subjected that purpose to a passion for virtuosity. Illustrations: No 1. FOURTEENTH-CENTURY TSUBA, WITH BRONZE AND COPPER INLAY No. 2. FOURTEENTH-CENTURY TSUBA, RESEMBLING MYOCHIN WORK No. 3. MYOCHIN TSUBA, FIFTEENTH CENTURY No. 4. MYOCHIN TSUBA, NINETEENTH CENTURY No. 5. SIXTEENTH-CENTURY TSUBA No. 6. SIXTEENTH-CENTURY TSUBA BY IYESADA OF SOTOME BY SANADA TEMBO No. 7. ONIN TSUBA No. 8. HEIANJO (?) TSUBA No. 9. YOSHIRO TSUBA, NINETEENTH CENTURY No. 10. FUSHIMI-ZOGAN, NINETEENTH CENTURY No. 11.- GOMOKU-ZOGAN, SIXTEENTH CENTURY No. 12. HIGO TSUBA, SEVENTEENTH CENTURY No. 13. CHOSHU TSUBA, SEVENTEENTH CENTURY No. 14. SOTEN TSUBA, SEVENTEENTH CENTURY No. 15. NAMBAN TSUBA, EIGHTEENTH CENTURY No. 16. NAMBAN TSUBA, NINETEENTH CENTURY Nos. 17. AND 18. AKASAKA TSUBA, EIGHTEENTH CENTURY No. 19. HIZEN TSUBA, EIGHTEENTH CENTURY No. 20. SATSUMA TSUBA, EIGHTEENTH CENTURY    
  • A two-volume set in the contemporary full calf, imitating the editorial cloth binding. Vol. 1: SCÈNES | DE LA | VIE PRIVÉE ET PUBLIQUE | DES ANIMAUX | VIGNETTES | PAR GRANDVILLE. | — | ÉTUDES DE MŒURS CONTEMPORAINES | PUBLIÉES | SOUS LA DIRECTION DE M. P. – J. STAHL , | AVEC LA COLLABORATION | DE MESSIEURS | DE BALZAC. – L. BAUDE. – E. DE LA BEDOLLIERE. – P. BERNARD. – J. JANIN. | ED. LEMOINE. – CHARLES NODIER. – GEORGE SAND. | [VIGNETTE] | PARIS. | J. HETZEL ET PAULIN , ÉDITEURS , | RUE DE SEINE-SAINT-GERMAIN , 33. | 1842 Pagination: [2 blanks] [2 - ht. / imprim.] [2 - blank / frontis.] [2 - t.p. / blank] [4] [1] 2-386 [6 - table] [2 blanks], 96 whole-page wood-engravings after Grandville, vignettes within the text including head and tailpieces, together with a frontispiece. VOL. 2: SCÈNES | DE LA | VIE PRIVÉE ET PUBLIQUE | DES ANIMAUX | VIGNETTES | PAR GRANDVILLE. | — | ÉTUDES DE MŒURS CONTEMPORAINES | PUBLIÉES | SOUS LA DIRECTION DE M. P. – J. STAHL , | AVEC LA COLLABORATION | DE | MM. DE BALZAC, – L' HERITIER (DE L' AIN), – ALFRED DE MUSSET – PAUL DE MUSSET, | CHARLES NODIER, – MADAME M. MENESSIER NODIER, – LOUIS VIARDOT. | [VIGNETTE] | PARIS, | J. HETZEL , ÉDITEUR , | RUE DE SEINE-SAINT-GERMAIN , 33. | 1842 Pagination: [2 - ht. / imprim.] [2 - blank / frontis.] [2 - t.p. / blank] [1] 2-390 [6 - table], 105 whole-page wood-engravings after Grandville, vignettes within the text including head and tailpieces, together with a frontispiece. Size: Each volume 27 x 18 cm; In-4to (usually classified as 8vo, however, the numeric signatures provide for gathering in-quarto). Binding: Full burgundy calf, gilt embossed Grandville's characters to boards and spine, lettering to spine, white moire end-papers to vol. 1, and yellow end-papers to vol. 2, all margins gilt. Combination of the 1st and 2nd print-runs of the 1st edition. Ref.: L. Carteret, 1927: pp. 552-558. Wikipedia; Gallica; Hathi Trust. In: British Museum, MET, RISD Museum, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.
  • FABLES | DE FLORIAN | ILLUSTRÉES | PAR J.-J. GRANDVILLE , | SUIVIES | DE TOBIE ET RUTH , | Poëmes tirés de l'Ecriture Sainte | ET | PRECEDEES D'UNE NOTICE SUR LA VIE ET LES OUVRAGES DE FLORIAN , | PAR P.-J. STAHL. | [Vignette] PARIS. | J.-J. DUBOCHET ET Cie , ÉDITEURS , | 1842. Pagination: ffl, [2 blanks] [i, ii - ht/imp.] [2 - blank/engr. t.p. by Grandville] [iii, iv - t.p./blank] [v] vi-xx; 2 sheets of plates, [3] 4-292, bfl; engraved t.p. + [79] leaves of plates + 5 faux t.p. (total 85 plates) Size: In-8vo, 23.8 x 15 cm. Binding: Orig. blind-stamped navy cloth with gilt Grandville characters to boards and spine. First edition, first printing. Reference: Léopold Carteret (Le trésor du bibliophile. Epoque romantique. 1801-1875 / Livres illustrés du XIXe siècle. – Paris: L. Carteret; imprim. Lahure, 1927). Wood engravers: Adolphe Best (French, 1808 – 1860): 22 plates Louis-Henri Brévière (French, 1797 – 1869): 3 plates Brugnot (French, active 19th century): 7 plates Prosper-Adolphe-Léon Cherrier (French, born 1806): 6 + Tobie et Ruth + vignettes Louis Dujardin (French, 1808 – 1859): 2 plates Monogram GO–> (possibly for Godard) : 1 plate Halley-Hiback (French, 19th century): 1 + vignette Henri-Désiré Porret (French, 1800–1867): 2 + vignette Lacoste père et fils aîné et Auguste-Alexandre Guillaumot (French, 1815 – 1892): 5 plates Quichon (French, 19th century): 10 plates + Tobie et Ruth François Rouget (Belgian, born bef., 1825): 19 + vignette Unsigned or with an illegible signature: 6 plates
  • Full Title: THE | ORIGIN AND PROGRESS | OF | WRITING, | AS WELL HIEROGLYPHIC AS ELEMENTARY, | ILLUSTRATED BY ENGRAVINGS TAKEN FROM | MARBLES, MANUSCRIPTS AND CHARTERS, | ANCIENT AND MODERN. | ALSO, | SOME ACCOUNT OF THE ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF PRINTING. | – | By THOMAS ASTLE, Esq. F.R.S. F.S.A. and | Keeper of the RECORDS in the Tower of LONDON. | – | LONDON: | Printed for the AUTHOR; | Sold by T. PAYNE and SON, B. White, P. Elmsly, G. Nicol, | and LEIGH and SOTHEBY. | M DCC LXXXIV. Pagination: ffl [i, ii] - t.p., blank, [iii, iv] - dedication, blank, [v] vi, vii - contents, [viii] - blank; [i] -xxv - introduction, [xxvi] blank; 1 - of the origin and progress... - 235 [236] blank (229-235 additions and corrections); on p. 235 imprint: FROM THE PRESS OF J. NICHOLS, MDCCLXXXIV; bfl; 31 plates: op. p. 64 (folding), 66, 70, 72 (2), 76, 80 (2, on recto and verso), 82 (2, on recto and verso), 84, 92, 94, 96 (folding), 98 (folding), 100, 102, 104 (folding), 106 (folding), 108 (folding), 112 (folding), 128 (folding), 140 (2, on recto and verso), 142, 146, 150 (folding), 158, 160, 176, 178, folding platessigned "B. T. Pouncy". Collation: [A4] a–c4 π1 B-Z4 Aa-Ff4 Gg2 Hh4. Size: 4to, 29.1 x 24.3 cm. Binding: contemporary full polished brown calf professionally re-backed, single-fillet gilt border to covers, raised bands, black title label with gilt lettering and gilt fillets, gilt year lettering to bottom. Printed on laid paper, margins marbled. Bookplates: "Alex-r Carlile" to front pastedown, "Nicholas Wall. Sometime his book" to back pastedown. To front pastedown: pencil inscriptions and pasted clipping about the book.
  • Pliny's Historia Naturalis. Engraved Title: C. PLINIUS S. Vande Menfchen, Beeften, Vogelen en Viffchen. [Pliny the Elder. Of Men, Beasts, Birds, and Fish]. Title: C. PLINII | SECUNDI | Des wijd-vermaerden Na- | tuur-kondigers vijf boecken handelende van de nature. | Handelende van de Nature | I. Vande Manfchen. | II. Vande viervoetige en kruypende Dieren. | III. Vande Vogelen. | IV. Vande kleyne Beeftjes of Ongedierten. | V. Vande Viffchen, Oefters, Kreeften, &c. | Hier zijn by ghevoeght / de Schriften | van verscheyden andere oude autheuren / de | natuer der dieren aengaende; | En nu in defen leften Druck wel het vierde part | vermeerdert , uyt verscheyden nieuwe Schrijvers | en eyghen ondervindinge : en met veel | kopere Plaeten verciert. {Device} | t' AMSTELREDAM , | By Iooft Hartgers, Boeck-verkooper op den Dam | bezijden het Stadthuys, 1650. Pagination: [1, 2] - engraved t.p. / blank, [3, 4] - text t.p. / Aen den nauw-keuringem Lefer..., 5-802, 52 engraved plates; colophon on p. 802 bottom: "Gedruckt by Chiftoffel Cunradus, ..." Collation: A-Z1-12, Aa-Kk1-12 Size: 12mo, 14 x 9 cm Binding: Vellum The first Dutch version, consisting of extracts from books 7-11 from Pliny's "Natural History" was published in Arnheim by Jans Janzen in quarto in 1610. Our copy is one of the Amsterdam editions and the only one in duodecimo. According to WorldCat, there is not a single copy of this edition in the US libraries. Printed by Christoffel Cunradus ( Freiberg , c. 1615 - Amsterdam , 1684) for publisher Joost Hartgers (Dutch, fl. 1650). See Gudger, E. W. "Pliny's Historia Naturalis. The Most Popular Natural History Ever Published." Isis 6, no. 3 (1924): 269-81. Accessed September 23, 2020. http://www.jstor.org/stable/224311.
  • Fables de La Fontaine / édition illustrée par J. J. Grandville (in 2 volumes). – Paris: H. Fournier Ainé, Perronin, 1838. Imp. H. Fournier et Ce, 14 rue de Seine (Premier Tirage). Vol 1: [2 - ht, imprim.] [2 - blank with handwritten inscription, frontis.] [2 - t.p., blank], [ [i] ii-xxviii - épitre, préface, [2 - plate 'fables', [1] 2 - dedication, [3, 4 - pltate: livre 1, blank] [5, 6 - plate: blank, cigale] [7] 8 - fab.1 (the subsequent plates are not paginated) - 292. (245-246 - Avertissement), (247-248 - A mamdam de Montespan); Wood engravings: frontispiece + half-title Fables + 7 running half-titles Livres des Fables + 72 plates. Vol. 2: [2 - ht, imprim.] [2 - t.p., blank] [1, 2 - plate 'livre 8', blank] [3] 4-312 (191-192 épilogue), (195-196 Au duc de Bourgogne), (268 - fin des fables), (269-296 Philemon et Baucis | D. O. M. | La Martone Déphèse | Belphegor), (297 -308 notice), (309-312 table); Wood engravings: 5 running half-titles Livres des Fables + 1 half-title Philemon et Baucis  + 48 plates. Size: 8vo, 23.2 x 15 cm. Binding: Full tree-calf, flat spine stamped with gilt, red and brown labels with gilt lettering, marbled endpapers. Handwritten nut ink inscription to blank recto of frontispiece: the history of Millet-Fontaine family (provenance?) There were two print-runs in the year 1838. According to Léopold Carteret (Le trésor du bibliophile. Epoque romantique. 1801-1875 / Livres illustrés du XIXe siècle. – Paris: L. Carteret; imprim. Lahure, 1927, pp. 357-9), the first run (Premier Tirage) published by H. Fournier and Perrotin, while the Second Tirage by H. Fournier Ainé. Though, the initial cap character "N" at p. xiii (vie d'Ésope) in this copy is formed by 'faite de lignes bouclées' as in the first print-run, rather than by 'petits carreaux noirs et blances' as in the second. We can conclude with confidence that this copy belongs to Premier Tirage. Wood engravings (135 plates, including frontispiece, and numerous headpieces and initial letters) were cut by the following artists (the first number is the number of the chapter ('livre'), the second – the number of the fable within the 'livre': Wood engravers: John Bastin, (British, fl. 1840 – 1850): 6-6, 7-13, and 8-9. Alexandre Belhatte (French, born in 1811): 3-11 and chapter title pages to 'livres' 6, 11, 12, headpices on p. 117 in vol. 2, and 'Philemon et Baucis' section title page. J. Constantine Beneworth (active France, 19th century): 1-6. Louis-Henri Brévière (French, 1797 – 1869): 1-10, 2-7, 6-10, 6-21, 7-4, 8-10, 8-27, 9-3, 10-4, 12-11, frontispice, together with François-Louis Français (French, 1814–1897), and 'Fin des fables' tailpiece. Brévière et Hébert: Louis-Henri Brévière (French, 1797 – 1869) and César-Auguste Hébert (French, active 19th century): 1-1, 1-2, 1-13, 1-18, 2-2, 2-11, 3-1, 3-3, 3-4, 3-18, 4-20, 4-21, 4-22, 5-5, 5-20, 6-2, 6-8, 7-3, 8-7, 8-12, 8-14, 8-17, 9-14, 10-6, 10-16, 11-6, 12-4, 12-25. Joseph-Hippolyte-Jules Caqué (French, 1814 – 1885): 7-11 and headpieces on p. 251 in vol. 1 and on p. 197 in vol. 2. Prosper-Adolphe-Léon Cherrier (French, born 1806): 8-6. Henry Isidore Chevauchet (French, fl. 1837 – 1850): 1-19, 2-4, and 4-5. Louis Dujardin (French, 1808 – 1859): 10-9. Pierre-François Godard (French, 1768 – 1838): 1-5, 1-16, 5-2, and 10-11. Charles David Laing (British, fl. 1836 – 1853): 7-9. Lacoste père et fils aîné et Auguste-Alexandre Guillaumot (French, 1815 – 1892): 1-4, 1-20, 9-17, and 11-5. Laisné (Alfred, Adèle, and Aglaé) (French, active 1835–1868): 5-8, 6-5, 6-17, 8-2, 8-15, 9-9, 9-10, 11-1, 11-8, 12-10. (Alfred, Adèle, and Aglaé) Laisné (French, active 1835–1868): 5-8, 6-5, 6-17, 8-2, 8-15, 9-9, 9-10, 11-1, 11-8, 12-10. Théodore Maurisset (French, fl. 1834 – 1859): 2-14 and 6-13. Antoine-Alphée Piaud (French, 1813 – 1867): 1-17, 2-9, 2-16, 4-1, 4-4, 5-15, 5-17, 5-18, 5-21, 8-22, 8-23, 8-25, 9-19, 10-13, 11-3, 11-9, 12-13, 12-15, 12-21, three 'livres': 3, 9, 10, and headpiece on p. 71 in vol. 2. Roux-Jourdain: Two 'livre' title pages, 1 and 2. John Orrin Smith (British, 1799 – 1843): 2-13, 2-18, 3-9, 3-14, 4-9, and 4-14.L. Chauchefoin (French): 2-3 and 5.13. Matthew Urlwin Sears (British, 1799 – 1870): 10-1 and 12-9. Monogram TM or MT (possibly for Théodore Maurisset): 6-16 and 10-3. Monogram GO–> (possibly for Godard) : 5-3, 7-1, and 9-5. Monogram B and BV: 4-11, 12-6, 'livre' 4, and headpieces on p. 1 in vol. 1 and on p. 167 in vol. 2. Unsigned or with an illegible signature: "fables' section title, 1-3, 1-9, 3-5, 3-8, 4-15, 4-18, 5-10, 7-7, 7-16, 9-2, 9-4, 12-2, 12-3, 12-17, and two 'livre' title pages, 5 and 8. Little is know about Matthew Urlwin Sears. He was a wood engraver of good reputation who is known to have worked in London in the early 1820s, Paris and Leipzig. Listed as "wood engraver" on records of the UK Printing Historical Society. Work The British Museum owns three of his earliest published works, engravings for Northcote's Fables (1828). He authored "Specimen of stereotype ornaments, 1825" which was reprinted as a facsimile in 1990 by the Printing Historical Society (London), with a foreword by James Mosley. He is mentioned by Pierre Gusman in "La Gravure sur Bois en France" (Paris, 1929). Laurent's Histoire de l'Empereur Napoleon, (1839) is one of many publications on which both Sears and his partner John Quartly worked, as well as numerous other engravers. His work appeared in "Aunt Effie's Rhymes" (1852) and "Uncle Tom's Cabin", by Harriet Beech Stowe (Edinburgh: Adam and Charles Black, 1853) [Claire-Juliette Beale, December 2009].
  • Herni Cohen. Guide de l'amateur de livres à gravures du XVIIIe siècle (6e édition) / Revue, corrigée et considérablement augmentée par Seymour de Ricci, préface par R. Portalis; 2 Volumes. – Paris: Librairie A. Rouquette, 1912. – Achevé d'Imprimer à Melun par Émile Legrand le 25 juin MDCCCCXII [1912]. Vol. 1, Première partie – ABAA-LUY: ffl [4 blanks] [2 - orig. grey front wrapper w/title, verso blank] [2 blanks] [2 - ht, tirage] [2 - blank, frontis. w/protect. sheet] [2 - blank, frontis. w/protect. sheet] (double frontis. - correct), [2 - t.p., blank] [i - avant-propos w/vignette] ii-vi, [vii - préface w/vignette] viii-xxvi; [1-2 - Tome 1, I] 2-668 (two numbers per page), [2 - fin, blank] [2 blanks] [2 - orig. grey back wrapper, recto blank] [orig. spine strip] [4 blanks] bfl. Vol. 2, Seconde partie – MAB-ZUR : ffl [4 blanks] [2 - orig. grey front wrapper w/title, verso blank] [2 blanks] [2 - ht, blank] [2 - t.p., blank] [2 - blank, frontis. w/protect. sheet] [2 - blank, frontis. w/protect. sheet] (double frontis. - correct), [1-2 - Tome II, 22] 671-1248 (two numbers per page), [2 - printer, blank] [2 blanks] [2 - orig. grey back wrapper, recto imprim.] [orig. spine strip] [4 blanks] bfl. Size: Super Royal 8vo, 26.2 x 17.2 x 5.1 cm. Binding: Contemporary blue half morocco over marbled boards, marbled end-papers, top margin gilt, gilt lettering to spine (title, owner: P. R.).; bookplate pasted to verso of the first blank leaf: " Ex Libris R. Decamps Scrive." – for bibliophile René Descamps-Scrive (French, 1853 –1924). Original wrappers preserved. Printed on Hollande paper, copy № 2 of the first 50; total print-run 1050 copies. Catalogue raisonné of French illustrated books of the 18th century.
  • Les Aventures de Télémaque, fils d'Ulysse, Par feu Messire François de Salignac de la Mothe-Fénelon, Précepteur de Messeigneurs les Enfants de France, & depuis Archevêque - Duc de Chabray, Prince du Saint-Empire Romain, &c. / Nouvelle édition enrichie de figures en taille-douce. – À Maestricht, Chez J. E. Dufour & Ph. Roux, Imprimeurs-Libraires associés. M. DCC. LXXXII. Pagination: ffl, [i, ii - ht, explication] [2 - blank, frontis. portrait] [iii, iv - t.p., blank] [v - discours] vi-xxviii, [1] 2-484, bfl; 1 folding map and 24 plates engraved by Jean-Baptiste-Pierre Tardieu. Size: 8vo, 21 x 13 cm. Binding: full contemporary mottled calf, marbled end-papers, all margins red, raised bands, floral gilt elements in compartments, red title label, head- and tail-band absent. Point of issue: the vignette in Liv. 1 is upsidedown. Liv. 1 & 8 plates signed: Gravé par Tardieu résident à Malines. Jean Baptiste Pierre Tardieu (French, 1746 – 1816) - engraver and cartographer from a large family of artists and engravers. For English translation of this book see № LIB-2683-2021 in this collection.  
  • Hardcover volume, 8vo, 24.3 x 16.5 cm, bound in contemporary full marbled calf, spine with raised bands, gilt floral tools in compartments, gilt title lettering, marbled end-papers and all edges, printed on laid paper 23.9 x 5.5 cm with a watermark, entirely engraved (frontispiece, title, nine plates, and text), gatherings not indicated. Title-page (engraved, vignette, tall 's') LE | TEMPLE | DE | GNIDE | Nouvelle Edition, | Avec Figures | Gravées par N. LE MIRE, | des Acad. De Vienne en Autriche et de Rouen, | D’apres les Dessins de Ch. Eisen. | Le Texte Gravé par Droüet. | — | {3 lines quotation from Gallien} | A PARIS | Chez le Mire Graveur | Rue St. Etienne des Gres. | AVEC PRIVELEGE DU ROI. | 1772. || Frontispiece (engraved, vignette): Portrait medallion inscribed "CHARLES SECONDAT DE MONTESQUIEU — N. Le Mire del et sc", signed beneath "N. le Mire sculp 1771"; under the plate: "Dessiné par Ch. Eisen, et Gravé par N. le Mire." Pagination: frontispiece, t.p. / explication, dedication, [i] ii-vii [viii blank] 1-104 [105-6 blanks]; engraved throughout, plus 9 plates by Le Mire after Eisen.
    Catalogue Raisonné: Cohen-de Ricci 726-27; Ray, French Illustrated Book, №32/p. 61-2.
    Ref.: MFA (Boston): Accession Number 37.1726.
    Charles Eisen (French, 1720 – 1778) – artist. Noël Le Mire (French, 1724 – 1801) – engraver, publisher. Droüet (French, 18th century) – text engraver. Charles Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu (French, 1689 – 1755) – author.
  • Engraved title-page: Contes | Moraux | Par | M. Marmontel, | de l'Academie Françoise. | A Paris | Chez J. Merlin Libraire, | Rue de la Harpe, | M DCC LXV ||
    Description: 3 volumes, 8vo, 20.4 x 13 cm, first issue, bound in the contemporary speckled calf, all edges gilt, spines gilt with double red/brown lettering labels (vol 1. labels missing); raised bands, gilt in compartments, double gilt-ruled borders; marbled endpapers. With the contemporary signature in each volume of Caroline Marlborough of Blenheim Palace, and bookplates of Lord F. A. Spencer. This is certainly Lady Caroline Russell, wife of George Spencer, Fourth Duke of Marlborough; she was daughter to the Duke of Bedford and was married in 1762. She died at Blenheim in 1811. The later bookplate in each volume pasted to the front pastedown of her son Francis Almeric Spencer (British, 1779-1845). Pagination: Vol. I: [two blank leaves] [half-title, verso blank] [recto blank, frontispiece on verso: portrait of Marmontel by St. Aubin after Cochin] [engraved t.p. by Duclos after Gravelot, verso blank], [i] ii-xvi, [table des contes with 5-line Errata (autograph Lordine Marlborough), verso blank], [1] 2–345 [346-50 blanks]; 9 plates after Gravelot by: Baquoy, de Longueil (2), Legrand, Leveau (2), Rousseau, Voyez, and unsigned (1). Vol. 2: [two blank leaves] [half-title, verso blank] [engraved t.p. by Duclos after Gravelot, verso blank]  [table des contes with 10-line Errata (autograph Lordine Marlborough), verso blank], [1] 2–376 [377-50 blanks]; 9 plates after Gravelot by: de Longueil (5), Leveau (2), Pasquier and  Rousseau. Vol. 3: [two blank leaves] [half-title, verso blank] [engraved t.p. by Duclos after Gravelot, verso blank]  [table des contes with 9-line Errata, verso blank] [two leaves: approbation and Privilege du Roi] [1] 2–312 [313-16 blanks]; 5 plates after Gravelot by: de Longueil (2), Le Mire (2), and Pasquier. Catalogue raisonné: Cohen-De Ricci 686-7; Gordon N. Ray. The Art of the French Illustrated Book 1700 to 1914. — NY, London: The Pierpont Morgan Library; Cornell University Press, 1982, Vol. 1. pp. 44-5. [In their copy vol. 2 and 3 in a different order]; MFA ACCESSION NUMBER 37.1488a-c Illustrated by: Hubert François Gravelot (French, 1699–1773) Engraved by: Jean Charles Baquoy (French, 1721–1777) Engraved by: Antoine Jean Duclos (French, 1742–1795) Engraved by: Louis Legrand (French, 1723–1807) Engraved by: Noël Le Mire (French, 1724–1801) Engraved by: Jean Jacques André Le Veau (French, 1729–1785) Engraved by: Joseph de Longueil (French, 1730–1792) Engraved by: Jean Jacques Pasquier (French, died in 1785) Engraved by: Jean François Rousseau (French, born in 1740) Engraved by: Nicolas Joseph Voyez l'ainé (French, 1742–1806) Portrait(s) designed by: Charles-Nicolas Cochin le fils (French, 1715–1790) Engraved by: Augustin de Saint-Aubin (French, 1736–1807) Author: Jean-François Marmontel (French, 1723–1799) Publisher: Joseph Merlin (French, 1718–1783) Printer: Pierre-Alexandre Le Prieur (French, born in 1722)
  • [François Marie Arouet de Voltaire]. La Pucelle d'Orléans, poëme, divisé en vingt chants, avec des notes. Nouvelle édition, corrigée, augmentée & collationnée sur le manuscript de l'auteur. – [Geneva: Gabriel Cramer], 1762.
    Illustrated book with 20 etchings and numerous woodcut vignettes.
    Illustrated by: Hubert-François Bourguignon, a.k.a. Gravelot (French, 1699–1773) Author: François Marie Arouet de Voltaire (French, 1694–1778) Printer: Gabriel Cramer (Swiss, 1723–1793)
    Pagination: [2 blanks, "Ex libris JCP" to recto] [2 - h.t., blank] [2 - t.p., blank], [i] ii-viii, [1] 2-358 [2 blanks]; 20 engraved plates, unsigned, one before every chant, by Gravelot (Hubert-François Bourguignon).
    Year of Publication: 1762
    Place of Publication: Geneva, Switzerland
    Size: 8vo, 19.8 x 12.6 x 3.7 cm.
    Binding: Full mottled calf, restored, flat spine, decorated in gilt, red labels with gilt lettering "Oeuvres de Voltaire; La Pucelle, tom XXII"; marbled endpapers and all margins.
    CATALOGUE RAISONNÉ: Cohen-de Ricci 1029.
    Mentions: MFA: ACCESSION NUMBER 25.701.
    Another copy in this collection: LIB-2580.2020.
                   
  • M. de Chertablon. La maniere de se bien preparer a la Mort par des Considerations sur la Cene, la Passion, et la Mort de Jesu-Christ. – Antwerp: George Gallet, 1700. Pagination: ff, [2 - blanks] [2 - t.p., blank] [3 - advert.] 4-63 [64]; 42 copper etched plates by Romeyn de Hooghe: A, B, C, 1-39; [20 - Dutch plate description of the David de la Vigne's Miroir de la bonne mort], bf. Full title: La maniere de se bien preparer a la Mort par des Considerations sur la Cene, la Passion, et la Mort de Jesu-Christ, Avec de très-belles Estampes Emblematiques, Expliquées par Mr. de Chertablon, Piêtre & Licentié en Theologie. Vivere totâ vitâ discendum est; & quòd mage fortasse miraberis, tôtâ vitâ discendum est mori. Seneca de brevit. vitæ. Cap. VII. A Anvers, Chez George Gallet. M DCC, Avec Approbation. / David de La Vigne. Spiegel om wel te sterven, annwyzende met beeltenissen van het lyden onses zaligmaakers Jesu Christi. Verzierd met 42 fyne Geërste Kopere Platen, Door Romain de Hooghe; Te Amsterdam, Voor dezen gedrukt by J. Stigter. Size: 4to, 27.2 x 21.6 cm. Binding: Late 19th century brown calf over marbled boards, spine with gilt lettering, raised bands, double fillet blind panels in compartments; marbled end-papers; bookplate of Samuel Ashton Thompson Yates library, AD 1894. Book illustrated with 42 copperplate etched engravings by Romeyn de Hooghe (Dutch, Amsterdam 1645–1708 Haarlem). According to Bonhams: the plates were "first printed for David de la Vigne's Miroir de la bonne mort. Each of the plates depicts a man contemplating a religious image in order to ease the passing of death, accompanied by commentary and an appropriate verse of scripture for each plate. The present French edition is bound with, as issued, the Dutch translation of David de La Vigne's aforementioned work."  
  • Елизавета Николаевна Данилова. "Завещание" Петра Великого / Под ред. Александр Игнатьевич Андреева. // В сборнике: Труды Историко-архивного института, том 2, 1946. (Кафедра вспомогательных исторических дисциплин). – с. 202-270. Москва: Главное архивное управление МВД Союза ССР. Историко-архивный институт, 1946. Тираж: 3000 экз.
  • Two-volume edition, financed, arranged and managed by Fermiers généraux. Vol. 1. Title : CONTES | ET | NOUVELLES | EN VERS, | Par M. de La Fontaine. | TOME I. | {vignette} | A AMSTERDAM. | — | M. DCC. LXII. || Pagination: [2] – blanks [i, ii] – h.t. / blank, [iii, iv] – t.p. / blank, v-xiv, [1] 2–268 [269-70] – table, [4] – blanks, plus frontispiece by Fiquet after Rigault, t.p. vignette, vignette, headpiece, and 23 tailpieces by Choffard, 39 plates by various engravers after Charles Eisen. Vol. 2. Title: same but TOME II. Pagination: [2] – blanks] [i, ii] – h.t. / blank, [iii] iv-viii [1] 2–306 [307-10] – épitaphe / table, [4] – blanks, plus frontispiece by Fiquet after Vispré, t.p. vignette, vignette, headpiece, and 29 tailpieces by Choffard, and 42 plates after Charles Eisen (Ray only cite 41 plates). Binding: 2 volumes, 19.8 x 12.2 each, uniformly bound in full Spanish mottled calf, boards triple ruled in gilt, flat spine with triple bands, double ruled and tooled in gilt, black title labels lettered in gilt, all margins gilt, marbled end-papers, in cardboard slipcases, openings leathered. In vol. 1 a manuscript plate 4.8 x 8.2 cm pasted to page [1]: "Cette Édition est très rare n’y ayant | eu que 30 Exemplaires de livres, ou la figure principale dans le Cas de Conscience page 143 Tom 2 est nud tandis que dans les autres Éditions cette Figure est voilée par un feuillage". Contributors: Jean de La Fontaine (French, 1621–1695) – author. Fermiers généraux and Jean Baptiste Séroux d'Agincourt (French, 1730 – 1814) – publisher. Joseph Gérard Barbou (French, 1723–1790) – printer. Artists: Charles Eisen (French, 1720 – 1778) François Xavier Vispré (British-French, c.1730 – 1789 or after) Hyacinthe Rigaud [Jacint Rigau-Ros i Serra] (Catalan-French, 1659 – 1743) Engravers: Joseph de Longueil (French, 1730 – 1792) Noël Le Mire (French, 1724 – 1801) Jean-Jacques André Le Veau (French, 1729 – 1786) Jacques Aliamet (French, 1726 – 1788) Jean Charles Baquoy (French, 1721 – 1777) Pierre-Philippe Choffard (French, 1730 – 1809) Jean Jacques Flipart (French, 1719 – 1782) Louis Simon Lempereur (French, 1725 – 1796) Jean Ouvrier (French, 1725 – 1784)

    Étienne Ficquet (French 1719 – 1794)

    Catalogue raisonné: Ray (French): №26, pp. 54-56; Cohen-DeRicci: 558-571; Lewine: 278-280.
  • L'Imitation de Jésus-Christ / Traduite et paraphrasée en Vers François Par P. Corneille. — A Paris, Chez Pierre Rocolet, Imprimeur & Libraire ordinaire du Roy, au Palais, en la Gallerie des Prisonniers, aux Armes du Roy & de la Ville. M. DC. LVI. Avec Approbation des Docteurs, et Privelege de sa Majesté. Paris: Pierre Rocolet, 1656. Half-title: Les Quatre Livres de L'Imitation de Iesus-Christ. Traduites et paraphrasez en vers françois Par P. Corneille. — pp.: ff [2 pictorial ht, verso blank] [2 title, blank] [10 epistre] [2 av lecteur] [2 approbation, frontis.] 1-551 [552-60 table, privilege] bf. 8vo, 24.7 x 18.7 cm, hardcover; full speckled brown calf, gilt double-ruled boards, spine with raised bands, gilt double-ruled compartments with lozenges, sprayed margins; pages darkened. Purple ink stamp of Diocèse de Valencia to half-title. Nut ink ex libris handwriting on front paste-down. Plates: Half-title: unsigned copper engraving with the coat of arms of Pope Alexander VII (r. 1655 – 1667) which contains an oak tree in the top left and bottom right quarters (from Della Rovere family, Dukes of Urbino), the top right and bottom left quarters feature a mountain of six coupeaux in base with three stars above (from Chigi family). Four copper engravings inbound at the beginning of each book signed 'F. Chauueau in et fe.': Page 1: Jesus teaches His disciple. Page 113: Annunciation. Page 183: Jesus meets Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. Page 459: Last Supper. François Chauveau (10 May 1613, Paris – 3 February 1676, Paris), a French painter and engraver. Thomas à Kempis (c. 1380 – 25 July 1471), a German-Dutch canon regular. Pierre Corneille (1606 – 1684), a French poet and playwright. Pierre Rocolet (1610 – 1662, active circa 1638 à 1662), a French publisher and printer.
  • An annual publication of Kokusai Tosogu Kai / 16th International Convention & Exhibition in Hamburg, Germany: Museum Für Kunst Und Gewerbe / Museum of Arts and Crafts, September 11-12, 2020 and Berlin, Germany: Samurai Art Museum, September 13-14, 2020. Publisher: Tokyo: Kokusai Tosogu Kai, 2020. Pagination: [1-3] 4-103 [1]. Size: Medium 4to (30.3 x 21.6 cm), hardcover, original illustrated paper boards, in a slipcase. Tsuba from this collection depicted on the title page and pp. 59-60: TSU-0342.2017, TSU 0376.2018, and TSU 0379.2018. See also here.
  • Конволют из 3-х номеров журнала "Иртыш, превращающийся в Ипокрену". Ежемесячное сочинение издаваемое от Тобольского Главного Народного Училища. — В типографии у В. Корнильева. — Тобольск: Тобольское главное народное училище, 1791 г. — 60, 62, 54 с. (Дореформ. орф.). July (Июль) 1791. — pp.: Missing title, table of content unpag., verso blank, [1] 2-60. June (Июнь) 1791. — pp.: Title with censor stat. on verso, table of content unpag., verso blank, [1] 2-62. August (Август) 1791. — pp.: Title, table of content unpag., verso blank, [1] 2-54. Bound in this order. "The Irtysh river turning into Hippocrene" was the first monthly magazine in Russian Siberia published in 1789 — 1791 in Tobolsk. It was featuring journalism, commentary, poetry, the fiction of provincial and metropolitan authors, as well as translations of various articles from foreign journals. It was published by Department of Tobolsk Public Education and printed in the establishment of Kornil'ev (Корнильев), a local merchant.  The idea of publication belonged to Pankraty Sumarokov (1765 — 1814), a grandnephew of Alexander Sumarokov, distinguished Russian humanist and homme de lettres of Catherine the Great epoch. Pankraty was also the chief editor of the publication. Initially, the print run was 300 copies; reduced in 1791 to 106 copies only.