• Hardcover, 20.5 x 15.2 cm, pictorial paper over cardboard, cloth-backed; pp.: [1-2] 3-98 [2], last page blank; collated 8vo: 1-58 610; 50 leaves total. Title-page: МАРКО ВОВЧОК | МАРУСЯ | ПОВIСТЬ | УКРАЇНСЬКЕ ВИДАВНИЦТВО | — | КРАКІВ    1943    ЛЬВІВ || Contributors: Марко Вовчок [Marko Vovchok; Марія Олександрівна Вілінська] (Ukrainian, 1833 – 1907) – author. «Українське видавництво» у Кракові-Львові [Verlag: „Ukrainischer Verlag“]– publisher. З друкарні „Поспішної“, Краків, Райхсштрассе 34 [Buchdruck. „Pospieschna“, Krakau, Reichsstrasse 34] – printer. Reichsstrasse (Krakow, Poland) = Ulica Karmelicka (Kraków, Poland). The French version of the Ukrainian name Маруся —> MAROUSSIA. The French version of the book: LIB-2674.2021. Other variants of the author's name Марко Вовчок: Markowovzok and Marko Vovtchok.  
  • Hardcover volume, 28.7 x 24.7 cm, pictorial paper boards, pictorial endpapers, pp. :[1-6] 7-224, 207 colour ils. Published on the occasion of an exhibition at the Morgan Library & Museum, 10 March to 4 June 2023. Title-page: SUBLIME IDEAS | — | DRAWINGS BY | GIOVANNI BATTISTA | PIRANESI | John Marciari | THE MORGAN LIBRARY & MUSEUM, NEW YORK | in association with | PAUL HOLBERTON PUBLISHING || Contributors: John Marciari (American, b. 1971) – author. Giovanni Battista [Giambattista] Piranesi (Italian, 1720 – 1778) – artist.
  • Hardcover volume, 12mo, 125 x 85 mm, two parts in one, bound and gilded by Cuzin and Maillard, respectively, between 1876 and 1881, in crimson crushed morocco with raised bands and gilt lettering to spine, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt, gilt dentelle, signed 'Cuzin' to foot of front turn-in and 'Maillard dor.' to rear. Adorned with engraved frontispiece and 12 plates by Elluin after Borel. Text printed on a slightly bluish paper. Title-page: LE | MEURSIUS FRANÇOIS, | OU | ENTRETIENS GALANS | D'ALOYSIA. | ORNÉ | DE FIGURES. | — | TOME PREMIER (SECOND) | — | ✵ | A CYTHERE | — | M. DCC. LXXXII. || Collation: 12mo, π4 (2 blanks) A-Z6 χ1,+ π2 A-S6 (4 blanks) χ1, total 254 leaves; pagination: [8] [1] 2-277 [278 blank], [4] [1] 2-210 [8 blanks], total 508 pages, plus 13 engraved plates, incl. frontispiece. Catalogue raisonné: Cohen-de Ricci 240; Eros invaincu 17; Fekete 51; Nordmann (I) 91. Contributors: Nicolas Chorier (French, 1612 – 1692) – author. Antoine Borel (French, 1743 – 1810) – artist. François-Rolland Elluin (French, 1745 – c. 1822) – engraver. Hubert-Martin Cazin (French, 1724 – 1795) – publisher. Francisque Cuzin (French, 1836 – 1890) – bookbinder. Seller’s description: Erotica.- [Chorier (Nicolas)]Le Meursius François, ou Entretiens galans d'Aloysia, 2 parts in 1, half-title to each part, engraved frontispiece and 12 plates [by Elluin after Borel], handsomely bound in crimson crushed morocco by Cuzin, spine with gilt lettering and five raised bands, gilt tooled turn-ins by Maillard, signed 'Cuzin' to foot of front turn-in and 'Maillard dor.' to rear, marbled endpapers, g.e., fractional rubbing to extremities, an excellent copy, 12mo, Cythere [but Paris], [Cazin], 1782.
  • Title (black and red): ДЖЕЙМС МАКФЕРСОН | ПОЭМЫ ОССИАНА | {device} | ИЗДАНИЕ ПОДГОТОВИЛ | Ю. Д. ЛЕВИН | ИЗДАТЕЛЬСТВО «НАУКА» | ЛЕНИНГРАДСКОЕ ОТДЕЛЕНИЕ | ЛЕНИНГРАД | 1983 || Title verso: РЕДАКЦИОННАЯ КОЛЛЕГИЯ СЕРИИ | «ЛИТЕРАТУРНЫЕ ПАМЯТНИКИ» | (list of names) | Ответственный редактор | академик М. П. АЛЕКСЕЕВ (in frame) | Редактор перевода | Э. Л. ЛИНЕЦКАЯ. Frontispiece (black and red): JAMES MACPHERSON | THE POEMS OF OSSIAN | {device} || Print run: 30,000 copies. Collation: 8vo; [1]8 2-378. Pagination: [1, 2] – serial h.t. / frontis.] [3, 4] – t.p. / editorial board] [portrait / blank] [5, 6] – original t.p. fac-simile / text, 7–589 [590] – imprint, [2] – advert.; 3 leaves of plates. Binding: serial green buckram blind-stamped with a scroll adorned with gold lettering to board and spine. Джеймс Макферсон. Поэмы Оссиана. Ю. Д. Левин. Э. Л. Линецкая.  
  • 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    
  • Title: РУССКIЕ ГРАВЕРЫ | И | ИХЪ ПРОИЗВЕДЕНIЯ | СЪ 1564 ГОДА | ДО ОСНОВАНIЯ АКАДЕМIИ ХУДОЖЕСТВЪ. | Изследованiе Д. Ровинскаго. | Изданiе графа Уварова. | МОСКВА. | Въ Сѵнодальной типографiи, на Никольской улицѣ. | 1870. || Pagination: [2] orig. wrapper / advert., [2] t.p. / imp.[i] ii-x, [1] 2-403 [404], [2] orig. wrapper / advert. Collation: 8vo; π6 (incl. t.p.), 1-258 χ2 Binding: Owner’s ½ black morocco over marbled boards, raised bands, gilt-ruled, florets and lettering in compartments, blue endpapers, uncut, untrimmed, original wrappers preserved. Size: 29.5 x 19 cm
  • Of the limited edition of 1150 copies, this is №54 (on Japan paper, signed by Bartsch and by von Bayros). Owner's binding imitating quarter-morocco, a red label with gilt lettering to spine (possibly by Ms Hunt, who was an amateur bookbinder). Bookplate on front pastedown: "Ex libris Rachel McMasters Miller Hunt | S. B. Hill Dec 1913 | A.J. Downey Sc." Alfred James Downey (1882-1944). Rachel McMasters Miller Hunt (1882-1963). Sarah B. Hill had done lettering for Ms Hunt. On back pastedown: Stamp "Hunt Libraries CMU" and sticker "Gotham Book Mart | 128 West 45th street | New York". This is from an edition of Carcassonne:
  • Half-title: THE CONNOISSEURS LIBRARY | GENERAL EDITOR : CYRIL DAVENPORT | […] | ENGLISH COLOURED BOOKS || Title: ENGLISH | COLOURED BOOKS | BY | MARTIN HARDIE | [device: THE CONNOISSEURS LIBRARY] | METHUEN AND CO. | 36 ESSEX STREET | LONDON || Dedication: TO MY WIFE | LOVE’S LABOUR : LOVE’S GIFT Pagination: ffl [i, ii] – h.t. / blank, [2] – blank / frontis. In colour, [iii, iv] – t.p. / First Published in 1906, [v, vi] – dedication / blank, vii-xxiv; 1-339 [340] bfl; 27 sheets of plates, colour and b/w. Collation: 8vo; a8 b4 A-X8 Y2. Binding: Hardcover, 26.3 x 19 x 5.7 cm; red cloth, blind-stamped with repeated fleuron, gilt floral designs and lettering in the frame to front cover, elaborate gilt floral design and lettering to spine; top margin gilt, other untrimmed, some pages uncut; plates w/guards. Printed on laid paper. Printed in Scotland by T. and A. Constable, at the Edinburgh university press. Contributors: Martin Hardie (British, 1875 – 1952) – Author Cyril Davenport (British, 1848 – 1941) – Editor of the series Sir Algernon Methuen (British, 1856 – 1924) – Publisher Thomas Constable (British, 1812 – 1881); Archibald Constable (British, 1774 – 1827) – Founders of the Publishing House "T. and A. Constable".  
  • ATLAS | SHRUGGED | AYN RAND | {Publisher's device} | RANDOM HOUSE | NEW YORK || Pagination: [2] - h.t. / advert., [2] – t.p. / colophon, [2] – dedication / blank, [2] – contents / cont., [1, 2] ¬ f.t. / blank, [3] 4-1168 [1169] blank, [1170/71] about the author [1172] blank, two blank leaves. Original green cloth with gilt lettering, black label with gilt lettering and publisher device to spine; top margin green, lateral margin untrimmed. Stated first edition, first printing. Original dust jacket with $6.95 printed price and 10/57 code present on the front flap.
  • Title: AN ESSAY | ON THE | PRINCIPLE OF POPULATION; | OR, | A VIEW OF ITS PAST AND PRESENT EFFECTS | ON | HUMAN HAPPINESS; | WITH | AN INQUIRY INTO OUR PROSPECTS RESPECTING THE FUTURE | REMOVAL OR MITIGATION OF THE EVILS WHICH | IT OCCASIONS | BY T. R. MALTHUS, A. M. | Late Fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge, and Professor of History and Political Economy in the East-India College, Hertfordshire. | IN THREE VOLUMES. | VOL. I. [or II. or III.] | THE FIFTH EDITION, | WITH IMPORTANT ADDITIONS. | LONDON: | JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE-STREET. | 1817. || Pagination and collation: Vol. 1: ffl, [i, ii] – t. p. / imprint., [iii] iv-xvi, [1] 2-496, bfl; A-Z8 2A-2I8. Vol. 2: ffl, [i, ii] – t. p. / imprint., [iii]-iv – contents, [1]-2-507 [508], bfl; [A]2 B-Z8 2A-2I8 2K6. Vol. 3: ffl, [i, ii] – t. p. / imprint., [iii]-iv – contents, [1]-2-500, bfl; [A]2 B-Z8 2A-2I8 2K2. Binding: Three volumes printed on wove paper, uniformly bound in quarter brown polished calf, blind-ruled, black label, ruled and lettered in gilt to spine, green buckram boards; 22.2 x 13.5 cm. Edition: 5th edition, corrected with a new preface, an updated appendix of Malthus’ responses to his critics, and addition of several chapters to the whole: on France, England, and on the poor laws. Lifetime edition. Ref.: Einaudi 3670; Goldsmiths’ 21761; Kress B.6974; Mattioli 2210. Printed by W. Clowes: William Clowes Ltd. (London). Clowes, William (British, 1779 – 1847). Malthus, Thomas Robert (British, 1766 – 1834). Murray, John (British, 1737 – 1793) Murray, John II (British, 1778 – 1843) John Murray (publishing house)
  • 26 x 18 cm, black cloth, white lettering to cover and spine, pictorial DJ, pp. [1-4] 5-207 [208 colophon], 233 b/w illustrations; essay by Wilhelm M. Busch.
  • Cover: Ch. Virmaitre | LES | VIRTUOSES | DU | TROTTOIR | {publisher’s device} | PARIS | P. LEBIGRE-DUQUESNE, ÉDITEUR | 16, RUE HAUTEFEUILLE, 16 | 1868 || Title: Similar. Imprint: De Rouge Frères, Dunon et Fresné (Paris). Pagination: [1-7] 8-161 [162], [2] – table, [2] – advert., [14]; 90 leaves total; publisher’s cream wrappers with red lettering in double frame. Collation: 12mo in 6th; [1]-136, 1412. Charles Virmaître (French, 1835 – 1903).
  • Five volumes, uniformly bound in marbled three-colour stained polished calf, spine with raised bands, gilt in compartments, crimson label with gilt lettering “CONTES DE BOCCACE”, cream label with volume number, marbled endpapers and all edges; bookplate pasted to first blank flyleaf “BIBLIOTHÈQUE DE LAJUDIE” depicting a coat of arms over an anchor, anchors and tulips scattered in the upper section, globe in the lower section, in a frame. Size: 21 x 14 cm. Translated by Antoine Le Maçon (French, 1500? – 1559). Vol. 1: [4] two blank leaves, portrait by Louis Lempereur after Hubert Gravelot, engraved t.p.: LE | DECAMERON | DE JEAN | BOCCACE. | TOME I. | Londres | 1757. | H. Gravelot Inv. […] T.P. N 21 […] J. Aliamet Sculp. ||, engraved frontispiece to Vie de Jean Bocace by Lempereur after Gravelot; Pagination: [i] ii-viii (Vie de Jean Bocace with head- and tail-pieces); [1] 2-320 [2] one blank leaf. Collation: 8vo; a4 A-V8, 164 leaves + 6 blanks + 24 plates (incl. portrait, frontis., and t.p.) extraneous to collation, 1 headpiece and 18 tailpieces. Vol. 2: [4] two blank leaves, engraved t.p.: LE | DECAMERON | DE JEAN | BOCCACE. | TOME II. | Londres 1757 | H. Gravelot inv. […] T.II. N.1. […] N. LeMire Sculp .||; Pagination: [1] 2-292 [2] one blank leaf. Collation: 8vo; A-S8 T2, 146 leaves + 3 blanks + 23 plates (incl. t.p.) extraneous to collation, and 18 tailpieces. Vol. 3: [4] two blank leaves, engraved t.p.: LE | DECAMERON | DE JEAN | BOCCACE. | TOME III. | Londres 1757 | Gravelot inv. […] T.III. N.1. […] Aillamet Sc. ||; Pagination: [1] 2-203 [204] [2] one blank leaf. Collation: 8vo; A-M8 N6, 102 leaves + 3 blanks + 23 plates (incl. t.p.) extraneous to collation, and 18 tailpieces. Vol. 4: [4] two blank leaves, engraved t.p.: LE | DECAMERON | DE JEAN | BOCCACE. | TOME IV. | Lond 1761 | Gravelot invenit […] T.IV. №.I. […] Alliamet Sculpsit. ||; Pagination: [1] 2-280 [2] one blank leaf. Collation: 8vo; A-R8 S4, 140 leaves + 3 blanks + 23 plates (incl. t.p.) extraneous to collation, and 20 tailpieces. Vol. 5: [4] two blank leaves, engraved t.p.: LE | DECAMERON | DE JEAN | BOCCACE. | TOME V. | Londres 1761 | Gravelot, inv. […] T.V. N.1. […] Aillamet Sc. ||; Pagination: [1] 2 [3] 4-269 [270] [2] one blank leaf. Collation: 8vo; A-Q8 R7, 135 leaves + 3 blanks + 23 plates (incl. t.p.) extraneous to collation, and 22 tailpieces. Total plates: 24+23+23+23+23=112; total vignettes: 19+ 18 + 18 +20 + 22 = 94; total etchings and engravings: 213. Ref: MFA ACCESSION NUMBER 37.1371a-e; Cohen-de Ricci 160; Ray, French Illustrated Book, 15 / p. 39-41; Metropolitan Museum, NY (Accession Number: 17.3.2641). Contributors: Authors: Giovanni Boccaccio (Italian, 1313–1375);  Filippo Villani [Philippe-Matthieu Villani] (Italian, 1325 – 1407)Illustrated by: Hubert François Gravelot (French, 1699–1773). Artists: Charles Eisen (French, 1720–1778); François Boucher (French, 1703–1770); Charles-Nicolas Cochin le fils (French, 1715–1790), Jacques Aliamet (French, 1726–1788) Engravers: Jean Charles Baquoy (French, 1721–1777); Jean Jacques Flipart (French, 1719–1782); Louis Legrand (French, 1723–1807); Noël Le Mire (French, 1724–1801); Louis Simon Lempereur (French, 1725–1796); Catherine Elisabeth (Cousinet) Lempereur (French, born in 1726); Jean-Jacques André Le Veau (French, 1729–1786); Pierre Etienne Moitte (French, 1722–1780); Jean Ouvrier (French, 1725–1784); Jean Jacques Pasquier (French, died in 1785); Pierre (Pitre) Martenasie (Flemish, worked in France, died in 1770?); Augustin de Saint-Aubin (French, 1736–1807); Dominique Sornique (French, 1708 – 1756); Jacques Nicolas Tardieu (French, 1716–1791). Publisher: Prault (French, 18th century) Note: MFA copy has a slightly different collation: [v. 1] 152 leaves, plus plates; [v. 2] 136 ll., plus pls.; [v. 3] 98 ll., plus pls.; [v. 4] 131 ll., plus pls.; [v. 5] 124 ll., plus pls. This is their description: "First edition with these illustrations; a French translation (Cohen-de Ricci 160) appeared slightly later. Gravelot designed 89 of the 111 plates, and all 97 of the tailpieces, his largest single commission. Some 115 of his preliminary sketches by this series are in the Rosenwald Collection, Library of Congress; 131 of the final engraver's models are in the Widener Collection at the National Gallery of Art; and two other finished drawings are in the Ray Collection, Pierpont Morgan Library. Ten plates were designed by Eisen, and Cochin and Boucher had six each. As some plates in the later volumes are dated as late as 1761, the actual issuing of the volumes apparently extended to that date."
  • Title page: Sheila Cousins | TO BEG | I AM ASHAMED | {publisher’s device} | THE OBELISK PRESS | 16, PLACE VENDOME | PARIS || Pagination: [2] – blanks (in wrapper), [4] – h.t. / blank, t.p. / publisher's note & copyright, [1] 2-270, [4] uncut (in wrapper), total 280 pages. Collation: 8vo; [A]8 B-Q8 R4 S8; total 140 leaves. Binding: Publisher’s yellow wrappers, lettering to spine:| TO BEG | I AM | ASHAMED |—| SHEILA | COUSINS | {publisher’s device} |  THE | OBELISK PRESS | PARIS ||; lettered front wrapper in red and black: To beg | I am ashamed |—| by | Sheila Cousins |—| The autobiography | of a London prostitute | Only authorized edition | Complete and unexpurgated | {publisher’s device} | THE OBELISK PRESS ||, publisher’s device in red to back wrapper; margins untrimmed; in an owner slipcase. Edition: 1st edition, France, May (i.e. June) 1838; presumably the first impression. Size: 19 x 14.5 cm. Contributors: Graham Greene (British, 1904 – 1991) – author. Ronald Matthews (British, 1903 – 1967) – author. The Obelisk Press – publisher.
  • Title page: CATALOGUE | DES | OUVRAGES, ÉCRITS | ET DESSINS | DE TOUTE NATURE | POURSUIVIS, SUPPRIMÉS OU CONDAMNÉS | DEPUIS LE 21 OCTOBRE 1814 JUSQU'AU 31 JUILLET 1877 | Edition entièrement nouvelle, considérablement augmentée | SUIVIE DE LA TABLE DES NOMS D’AUTEURS ET D’ÉDITEURS | ET ACCOMPAGNÉE DE NOTES BIBLIOGRAPHIQUES ET ANALYTIQUES | PAR | FERNAND DRUJON | {publisher’s device} | PARIS | LIBRAIRIE ANCIENNE ET MODERNE | ÉDOUARD ROUVEYRE | 1, RUE DES SAINTS-PÈRES, 1 | 1879 || Pagination: [2] [i-v] vi-xxxvii [xxxviii blank] [1] 2-430 [2] 1-16, total number of pages 2+38+430+2+16=488. Collation: 8vo; π4 i-ii8 1-258 26-294 ω8, total number of leaves 4+(2x8)+(25x8)+(4x4)+8=244; 2 binder’s blank leaves before the front wrapper, 2 blanks after the wrapper, blank / avis important, h.t. with gift inscription from publisher to Anger / limitation, t.p. / blank, [text], 17 leaves of advert., 2 blanks before back wrapper, 1 binder’s blank after. Binding: 28.3 x 19 cm, tree-quarter beige buckram over marbled boards, spine: brown leather label with gilt double fillet top and bottom, gilt lettering, stamped in gilt with a lily and a year of publishing, gilt double-fillet to tail; publisher’s wrappers bound in. Bookplate with motto “AGE DICANT” to front pastedown. Gift inscription: "À mon ami Anger | Hommage de me bien dévoué | Édouard Rouveyre". Possibly Pierre Anger (1854-19..).
    Edition: 1st edition, this copy is from an unnumbered print run. Despite the note "Edition entièrement nouvelle, considérablement augmentée" this is obviously the 1st edition.
    Contributors: Drujon, Fernand (French, 1845 – 1912) Rouveyre, Édouard (French, 1849 – 1930)
  • Engraved title-page: L'AMINTA | FAVOLA BOSCHERECCIA | DI | TORQUATO TASSO | Aggiuntovi il Poemetto | Amore Fugitivo |{vignette} | IN VENEZIA | MDCCLXIX |—| PRESSO ANTONIO ZATTA | CON LICENZA DE’ SUPERIORI || in historiated frame, signed below: “Pet. Ant. Novelli in — Fambrini inci.” Pagination: [i] ii-xxiv, [1-2] 3-84, total 108 pages, ils. Collation: 12mo; a12, A-C12 D6, last blank; first 6 leaves signed in 12-leave quires, first 3 in D; total 54 leaves plus 9 plates, incl. engraved title and frontispiece, and numerous head- and tailpieces by Fambrini after Novelli. Binding: 18.6 x 11 cm, contemporary tree calf, rebacked, crimson label with gilt lettering; clipping and bookplate of The Robin Collection to front pastedown; verso front flyleaf stamped “RESTORED BY MACDONALD CO. | NORWALK. CONN.” Additional blank leaves at front and back. Provenance: Satinsky, Robin F. (American, 1919 – 2008); The Robin Collection. Contributors: Torquato Tasso (Italian, 1544 –1595) – author. Pietro Antonio Novelli (Italian, 1729 – 1804) – artist. Ferdinando Fambrini (Italian (1764 – c.1793) – engraver. Antonio Zatta (Italian, c. 1722 – 1804) – printer, publisher.  
  • Title-page: COLETTE | LA | VAGABONDE | LITHOGRAPHIES EN COULEURS | DE MARCEL VERTÈS | PARIS | A LA CITE DES LIVRES |—| M DCCCC XXVII || Binding: French flapped wrappers 28.5 x 22.5 cm, in glassine dustcover, front wrapper lettered similarly to title-page but in red and black: COLETTE | LA | VAGABONDE | LITHOGRAPHIES EN COULEURS | DE MARCEL VERTÈS | PARIS | A LA CITE DES LIVRES |—| M DCCCC XXVII ||, in a red marbled cardboard folder 29 x 23 cm with paper label to spine, slipcase missing. Pagination: [2] 1st leaf blank, [2] h.t. / limitation, [2] t.p. / blank, [2] d.t.p. /blank, [3] 4-277 [278 blank], [4 colophon], ils. Collation: π3 1-354 χ1, plus 15 leaves of plates extraneous to collation, incl. frontispiece, chromolithographs by Marcel Vertès. Edition: Limited edition of 305 copies of which this is № 15 (out of numbers 10-24) printed on Japon Impérial paper with three additional suites of plates in black, sanguine and colour, plus 4 refused plates. Printed on the 15th of September 1927: text by Robert Coulouma (Argenteuil, director H. Barthélemy), lithographs by E. Duchatel (Paris) and published by La cité des livres. Missing black versions of LIB-2892.2021-5 and LIB-2892.2021-10 (43 out of 45 prints in place). Refused plates: Plates in black, sanguine, and colour. Contributors: Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette [a.k.a. Colette] (French, 1873 – 1954) – author. Marcel Vertès [Marcell Vértes] (Jewish-Hungarian-French, 1895 – 1961) – artist. Other names: Marcel Vertès, Marcel Vertes, Marcell Vértes
  • Description: Softcover 4to volume 25 x 19.7 cm in publisher’s French flapped tan wrappers, in glassine DJ, lettering to front. Printed on watermarked “Arches” laid paper, margins untrimmed, pages uncut. Illustrated with 24 in-text coloured etchings, and 59 vignettes, initials, and tailpieces engraved on wood by Gilbert Poilliot after Maurice Leroy. Front wrapper: GABRIEL SOULAGES | LE | MALHEUREUX | PETIT | VOYAGE {vertical} | AUX ÉDITIONS DU CHARME || Title-page (red and black): GABRIEL SOULAGES | LE MALHEUREUX | PETIT VOYAGE | Illustrations de MAURICE LEROY | {fleuron} | ÉDITIONS DU CHARME | PARIS – 1942 || Pagination: [1-8] (leaf in wrapper, t.p., dedication, d.t.p.) 9-187 [188] [4] (table, colophon, leaf in wrapper), total 192 pages , incl. in wrappers. Limitation: Limited to 750 copies, 25 copies (№ 1-25) on Vélin d’Arches with the original drawings and several suites of plates, 59 copies (№ 26-84) on Vélin d’Arches with the original drawings and several suites of plates, 100 copies (№ 85-184) on Vélin d’Arches with one suite of woodcuts and one of the etchings, 216 copies (№ 185-400) on Vélin d’Arches without enrichment, 350 copies (401-750) on Vélin des Papeteries Lana (Docelles); besides there are 10 copies numbered I-X for the artist and collaborators. This copy is № 266. Edition made under the direction of Sven Nielsen and Robert Meiffrédy; printed on April 29, 1942, at Dumoulin under the direction of H. Barthélemy. Etchings were printed at La Tradition under the direction of H. Durupt and the artist. Gabriel Soulages (French, 1876 – 1930?) – author. Maurice Leroy (French, 1885 – 1973) – artist. Gilbert Poilliot (French, fl. 1938 – 1952) – wood engraver. Sven Nielsen (Danish, 1901 – 1976) – publisher. Robert Meiffrédy (French, 20th century) – publisher.