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    Ioannis Baptistae Passeri. Pisauren. nob. Eugubini De tribus vasculis Etruscis encaustice pictis a Clemente XIV P.O.M. in museum Vaticanum inlatis dissertatio. — Florentiae: Typographia Moückiana, 1772.

    Owner’s wrappers, 28 x 21 cm, printed on laid paper, unpaginated, collated ffl, [A, B]4 C-G4, 2 ffl; total 28 leaves plus 5 engraved plates by Allegrini after Mariotti; engraved title-page (Vercruys after Soderini), head- and tailpieces (Gregori after del Moro) and initials. Owner's label to front pastedown: Marc Burdin, prêtre.  Title-page (engraved, red and black): IOANNIS BAPTISTAE PASSERI | PISAUREN. NOB. EUGUBINI | DE TRIBUS VASCULIS ETRUSCIS | ENCAUSTICE PICTIS | A CLEMENTE XIIII. | P.O.M. | IN MUSEUM VATICANUM INLATIS | DISSERTATIO. | {VIGNETTE} | FLORENTIAE. MDCCLXXII. | ~ | in Typographia Moückiana. Cum adprobat. || Dedication: ANTIQVARIAE. ERVDITIONIS. PROPAGATORI EXIMIO ABSOLVTISSIMAM . HANC. DISSERTATIONEM CLARISS. PASSERII DE . IMAGINIBVS . ET . SYMBOLIS TRIVM . VASORVM . ETRVSCI . OPERIS QVAE PRINCIPIS. NOSTRI.SANCTISS. ET. SAPIENTISS. LARGITATE IN . VATICANVM . MVSEVM A. SE. CVMVLATISSIME . DITATVM INVE CTA . FVERVNT REGINALDVS.COMES.ANSIDAEVS.PATR.PERVS. M. A. CARD. PRONEPOS DEVOTVS. NOMINI . MAIESTATIQVE . EIVS DEMISSISSIME. Translation: "To the most excellent promoter of antiquities, the most accomplished: This most complete dissertation concerning the images and symbols of three Etruscan vases, which were most abundantly bestowed by our most holy and wise Prince onto the Vatican museum, was composed by the illustrious Passerius. Reginald, Count of Ansidius, true ancestral father, grandson by blood of the Cardinal, devoted most humbly and devoutly to his name and majesty." Note: P.O.M. stands for "Papa Optimo Maximo", which translates to "Father Most Excellent." For a similar vase in this collection, see VO-0098. This vase is attributed to Apulia, ca. 330 BCE. Probably, Passeri was wrong in attributing this type of vessel to Etruscan vase painting, produced from the 7th through the 4th centuries BC. Contributors: Giovanni Battista Passeri (Italian, 1694 – 1780) – author. Francesco Moücke (Italian, fl. 1729 – 1787) – publisher. Pope Clement XIV [Ganganelli, Giovanni Vincenzo Antonio] (Italian, 1705 – 1774) – dedicatee. Artists:  Mauro Soderini (Italian, 1704 – after 1751) Carlo Spiridione Mariotti (Italian, 1726 – 1790) Lorenzo del Moro (Italian, 1677 – 1735) Engravers: Theodor Vercruys [Teodoro Vercruysse] (Dutch, 1678 – 1739) Francesco Allegrini da Gubbio (Italian, 1587 – 1663) Carlo Bartolomeo Gregori (Italian, 1702 – 1759)
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  • Vidame de Bozegy [i.e. Edmond Dardenne Bernard]. Les Filles de Loth et autres poèmes érotiques / [Illustrations de André Collot]. — Sodome [i.e. Paris]: imprimerie de la Genèse, 1933.

    Softcover, french flapped wrappers, 29 x 19 cm, in glassine dustjacket, text printed on laid paper, pp.: [1-10] 11-256 [8], total 264 pages plus 11 plates out of 12, hand-coloured etchings on wove paper laid in, extraneous to collation. Wrappers detached from the block. Some pages uncut. Below is the missing plate, according to honesterotica.com: Title-page: LES FILLES | DE LOTH | • | et autres poèmes | érotiques | recueillis par le | Vidame de Bozegy | • | A SODOME | — Imprimerie de la Genèse — | 1933 || Edition limited to 500 copies, this is copy № 54. Catalogue raisonné: Dutel III № 1575. Edmond Dardenne Bernard [Vidame de Bozegy] (French, 20th c.) – author. André Collot (French, 1897 – 1976) – artist.
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  • Marcel Vertès. Le Cirque: 14 Lithographies / Présénte par Jean Cocteau. — Monaco: Les Livres Merveilleux, 1949.

    Publisher’s peach cloth box 555 x 410 mm with coloured lithograph on the lid, autographed with crayons "Le Cirque | 14 LITHOGRAPHIES | DE | {vignette} | Vertes"; in-folio unbound 4 pp. booklet on laid paper watermarked “Marais” and 14 loose leaves of plates on laid paper 520 x 395 mm without a watermark with coloured lithographs signed “Vertes” and numbered “195/250” in pencil; interleaved with tracing paper. Box and plates foxed. Title-page (red and black): LE | CIRQUE | 14 LITHOGRAPHIES DE | VERTÈS | PRÉSENTÉ | PAR | JEAN COCTEAU || Imprint: LES LIVES MERVEILLEUX | MONACO | Il a été tiré de cet album : | 150 Exemplaires, | destinés à | l'Amérique, | distribués bar les soins de | Arthur H. Harlow | de New-York, | & | 100 Exemplaires, | réservés à la France. | 15 Avril 1949 || Limitation: Edition limited to 250 copies (150 for USA, 100 for France); this is copy № 195 printed for France as the American copies marked “Published by Arthur H. Harlow & Co., New York. Seller’s Description: VERTÈS, Marcel (Hungarian-French, 1895-1961). Le Cirque 14 Lithographies de Vertès. Présénte par Jean Cocteau. [Monaco: Les Livres Merveilleux, 1949]. [vi] pp. With all 14 lithographs, each signed by the artist and numbered “195/250”. Text and lithographs 15 ¼ x 20 ½”. In original publisher’s peach cloth box with printed label on lid (box foxed, soiled, lightly worn; lithographs and text foxed). Still, a very good example of this lovely collection, with an introduction by Jean Cocteau (1889-1963). Catalogue Raisonné: Vokaer № 50. Marcel Vertès [Marcell Vértes] (Jewish-Hungarian-French, 1895 – 1961) – artist. Arthur H. Harlow (American, c. 1877 – 1958) – publisher. Jean Cocteau (French, 1889 – 1963) – author.
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  • John Cleland. Nouvelle traduction de woman of pleasur ou fille de joie: Contenant les mémoires de Mademoiselle Fanny, écrits par elle-même. — London [i.e. Paris]: G. Fenton [i.e. Cazin], 1776.

    Hardcover volume, collated 18mo, 130 x 85 mm (2 parts in one). Contemporary burgundy morocco outlined with gilt triple fillet, flat spine gilt in compartments, brown morocco label gilt, all edges gilt, gilt dentelle, text printed on slightly blue laid paper with illegible watermark; dark blue endpapers, Tony Fekete (T. F.) bookplate by Wahorn to front pastedown. Frontispiece and 14 engraved plates by Elluin after Borel, with guard tissue. Graphite ms to h.t.: "Figures de Borrel. | Gravées pr. Elluin." Title-page: NOUVELLE TRADUCTION | DE | WOMAN OF PLEASUR, | OU | FILLE DE JOIE. | PAR M. CLELAND, | CONTENANT les Mémoires | de Mademoiselle FANNY, | écrits par elle – même. | AVEC FIGURES | — | PREMIERE (SECONDE) PARTIE. | — | ~ | A LONDRES; | Chez G. FENTON, dans le Strand; | — | M. DCC. LXXVI. || Collation: 18mo throughout A-O12/6, total 126 leaves plus 15 plates, incl. frontispiece. Pagination: separate for each part [1-5] 6-119 [120 blank], [1-3] 4-132, total 252 pages. Provenance: Tony Fekete (Christie’s 2014, № 54, p. 37; Price realized GBP 11,875): “[CLELAND, John (1709-1789).] Nouvelle traduction de Woman of Pleasur [sic] ou Fille de Joie. Contenant les Mémoires de Mademoiselle Fanny, écrits par elle-même. London [but Paris]: G. Fenton [Cazin], 1776. 2 volumes in one, duodecimo (128 x 80 mm). Printed on blue tinted paper. Frontispiece and 14 engraved plates on thick white paper by Elluin after Borel. (Short tear repaired in the margin of one plate, another plate with a faint dampstain touching the facing leaf of text.) Contemporary burgundy morocco, flat spine gilt in compartments, morocco label gilt, covers with a gilt triple fillet border, gilt edges, blue endpapers. THE MOST BEAUTIFUL 18TH-CENTURY ILLUSTRATED EDITION OF THIS CELEBRATED EROTIC NOVEL. An excellent copy bound in contemporary morocco. It is the second translation into French, but the first to include the exquisite plates by Elluin after Borel. These are some of the best illustrations by this remarkable partnership responsible for a number of important 18th-century libertine texts. Cohen-DeRicci 242-3; Dutel A-407 ; Gay-Lemonnyer II, 304; Pia Enfer, 915.” Catalogue raisonné: Dutel (I) A-407, p. 134; Cohen-DeRicci 242-3; Fekete (Christie's) 54, p. 37. Contributors: John Cleland (British, c. 1709 – 1789). François-Rolland Elluin (French, 1745 – c. 1822) Antoine Borel (French, 1743 – 1810) Hubert-Martin Cazin (French, 1724 – 1795) András Wahorn (Hungarian, b. 1953) Fekete, Tony Laszlo (Hungarian, b. 1972)
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  • [Nicolas Chorier.] Le Meursius françois, ou entretiens galans d’Aloysia, orné de figures. — Cythere [i.e. Paris: Cazin], 1782.

    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.
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  • W. S. Baker. American engravers and their works. — Philadelphia: Gebbie & Barrie Publishers, 1875.

    Hardcover, 19 x 13.8 cm, crimson buckram with tan paper label with lettering to spine; printed on laid paper; pp.: ffl [i-vi] vii-x] 11-184, collation 8vo, 1-118 124, total 92 leaves. Title-page: AMERICAN ENGRAVERS | AND | THEIR WORKS | BY | W. S. BAKER | Collige et inscribe | PHILADELPHIA | GEBBIE & BARRIE PUBLISHERS | 1875 || Motto: Collige et inscribe [Collect and record, lat.] Contributors: William Spohn Baker (American, 1824 – 1897) – author. George Gebbie (American, 1832 – 1892) – publisher. George Barrie (American, 1843 – 1918) – publisher. George R. Bonfield (British-American, 1802 – 1898) – dedicatee.
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  • [Jean-Baptiste de Boyer]. Thérèse philosophe, avec figures / 2 vol. — Londres [i.e. La Haye]: s.n., 1783 (Fake).

    $2,760.00
    Two volumes, 168 x 106 mm each, uniformly bound in faux mottled calf ruled in gilt, marbled endpapers. Vol. 1: 3 blank leaves of wove paper, 3 blank leaves of laid paper, half-title/blank, blank/frontispiece, ‘engraved’ t.p./blank, both printed on laid paper watermarked “ARCHES A LA | MAIN”; ‘letterpress’ t.p.,/blank, pp.: [1] 2-115 [116 blank], 3 blank leaves of laid paper, 3 blank leaves of wove paper; collated 12mo: π2 A-I6 K4; total 60 leaves plus 16 ‘engraved’ plates, incl. t.p. and frontis. Vol. 2: 3 blank leaves of wove paper, 3 blank leaves of laid paper, half-title/blank, blank/frontispiece, ‘engraved’ t.p./blank, no watermark, ‘letterpress’ t.p.,/blank, pp.: 1-77 [78 blank], 2 blank leaves of laid paper, 3 blank leaves of wove paper; collated 12mo: π2 A-F6 G3; total 41 leaves plus 24 ‘engraved’ plates, incl. t.p. and frontis. Dutel (I): A-1089, p. 325: in-8 (probably by size only, no formula suggested), pagination 115 and 77 as here, 2 frontispieces, 2 engraved titles dated 1873, “et 36 belles gravures de Binet”. Cohen-DeRicci: p. 734 bottom: in-12, no pagination, no formula. "Thérèse" was offered by a French seller user-75d14f4 on the online auction platform CATAWIKI in December 2021. The seller's description of this two-volume set was: "Re-edition, the date of which I was unable to determine. (London, no name, 1782) 2 duodecimo volumes of 115 and 77 pp., very lovely marbled sheepskin pastiche bindings, gilded triple fillets, adorned spines, black title labels. This classic of 18th-century clandestine erotica was written in 1748 by an author who has remained anonymous, attributed at the time to Montigny, which led to his internment in the Bastille. It is now attributed to the Jean-Baptiste de Boyer, Marquis d'Argens. Edition illustrated with 37 very unrestrained figures, engraved in intaglio after Borel, unsigned." I should have paid more attention to the first phase, about the re-edition, but I didn't. After a few bidding rounds, I won the book when the hammer price was 2,200 Euros. On the 28th of December, 2021, I paid for this little beauty $2,760. The book arrived a few days later.  The paper's quality and texture, the watermark, the absence of the platemark, and the lack of embossing on the back (text and plates) made me suspect it was a fake. The pages were absolutely flat to the touch!  I established clear evidence of a high-resolution 'xerox' copy using Celestron Micro Capture Pro micro-photography.  I wrote to the seller and the auction platform, explaining my doubts regarding its authenticity. To prove my point, I include a few micro photos of the "Thérèse" and some books printed at the end of the 18th century. I explained why I considered it a fake and requested a return/refund. After two months of email exchanges, the seller and the platform refused to pay me back. Today is the 2nd anniversary of the purchase. I still have the book. To celebrate my carelessness, I included it in my library to warn fellow book collectors about buying from an unknown dealer via certain online auction platforms. Ref.: Bamber Gascoigne. How to Identify Prints: A Complete Guide to Manual and Mechanical Processes from Woodcut to Ink. — Thames and Hudson, 1995.

    Thérèse philosophe, 1783.

    Late 18th century books
    Books used for comparison: [LIB-2743.2021] Restif de la Bretonne. Les parisiennes, ou XL caractères généraux pris dans les mœurs actuelles, propres à servir à l’instruction des personnes-du-sexe / 4 vol. — Neufchâtel, et Paris: Guillot, 1787. [LIB-3027.2022] [Héliodore d’Emèse]. Amours de Théagènes et Chariclée: Histoire Éthiopique / 2 vol. — Londres [i.e. Paris]: [s.n.], 1743. [LIB-3252.2023] [Nicolas Chorier.] Le Meursius françois, ou entretiens galans d’Aloysia, orné de figures. — Cythere [i.e. Paris: Cazin], 1782. Below is a Xerox copy for comparison.    
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  • [Henriette de Mannoury d’Ectot]. Le roman de Violette. — Sodome: Royne de Cythère, 1920.

    Softcover volume, 19.5 x 14.3 cm, olive French flapped wrappers, glassine dust cover, printed on laid paper (Hollande), outer and bottom margins untrimmed, some pages uncut; pagination: [2] blank, [i-iv] h.t./limit., t.p./blank, v-viii, 1-196 [197] [5], total 212 pages plus frontispiece; head- and tailpieces and in-text stencil-coloured etchings after Chéripoulos. Title-page (olive and black): LE ROMAN | DE | VIOLETTE | {vignette} | A LA ROYNE DE CYTHÈRE | SODOME | 1920 || Limitation: Cet ouvrage, achevé d'imprimer le cinq Janvier Mil Neuf Cent Vingt à trois cents exemplaires dont vingt-cinq exemplaires sur Japon Impérial contenant chacun un dessin original de Chéripoulos, numérotés de un à vingt-cinq; deux cent soixante-quinze exemplaires sur papier de Hollande, numérotés de vingt-six à trois cents; en plus cinq exemplaires de collaborateurs marqués de A à E. Le présent exemplaire porte le numéro 72. Edition: Printed on the 5th of January 1920 in 305 copies (№№ 1-25 on Japon Impérial, №№ 26-300 on Hollande, A–E for collaborators). Catalogue raisonné: Dutel III № 2339, p. 350. Contributors: Henriette de Mannoury d'Ectot [Henriette Nicolas Le Blanc] (French 1815 – 1899) Charles Auguste Edelmann [Chéripoulos] (French, 1879 – 1950).  
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  • NEW

    Lewis Carroll: Photos and letters to his child friends / Edited by Guido Almansi, notes by Brassai and Helmut Gernsheim. — Parma: Franco Maria Ricci, 1975 ©.

    Hardcover volume, 355 x 240 mm, bound in black cloth with gilt lettering to front and spine with a photo portrait of Mary Millais (1860-1944), in a black cloth clam-shell box 370 x 253 x 40 mm, with a shamrock diaper black paper adorned with publisher’s coat of arms pasted to the front. Pp.: [1-12] 13-213 [3], with 41 glued-in photomechanically reproduced photographs, chiefly from the Gernsheim Collection at the University of Texas, two of them of Alice Liddell (pp. 123 and 127). Printed on hand-made blue laid paper. Edition is limited to 3,000 copies, of which this is copy № 1200. Title-page: Lewis Carroll | Photos and Letters | to His Child Friends | Edited by Guido Almansi | Notes by | Brassai and Helmut Gernsheim | Franco Maria Ricci | 1975 || Colophon: This volume was printed in Milan, Italy, in the month of November 1975, under the direction of Franco Maria Ricci. The hand-made paper is the work of the Pietro Miliani mills at Fabriano. This first edition consists of three thousand numbered copies. Copy n. [1200]. Facsimile. Seller’s description: Near Fine condition Hardcover Signed by Franco Maria Ricci on the colophon page, Numbered and Limited Edition #1200/3000 of copies. Includes Notes by Brassai and Helmut Gernsheim, with 41 tipped-in sepia-toned photographs, 213 pages. "The Signs of Man Volume 3". Black boards bound in Orient silk with gold engraved lettering on the spine and cover and a sepia-toned photograph affixed to the front cover, handmade Ingres pastel paper manufactured by Cartiere Milliani in Fabrianoo with decorated endpapers and deckled fore-edge. Housed in a black clamshell case with clover leaf pattern in Very Good + condition with the exception that there is no spine label and very light wear to the extremities. Oversize folio: 9" x 13 3/4" Contributors: Carroll, Lewis (British, 1832 – 1898) – Author/Photographer Ricci, Franco Maria (Italian, 1937 – 2020) – publisher Almansi, Guido (Italian, 1931 – 2001) – editor Brassai [Halász, Gyula] (Hungarian–French, 1899 – 1984) – notes Gernsheim, Helmut (Jewish-German, 1913 – 20 July 1995) – notes  
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  • NEW

    Preparatory manuscript and 27 original and unpublished gouaches by Marcel Vertės for Lady Chatterley’s lover by D. H. Lawrence.

    Hardcover album 387 x 300 mm, bound in orange half-calf over green paper with vertical black zig-zag and embossed gilt rings, by Isy Brachot of Brussels; includes a photographic portrait of D. H. Lawrence pasted to front green ffl verso, ms title-page, six pages of ms text with a woodcut portrait of the same to page 2, 27 plates (including eight double-page), one blank leaf followed by ten pages of ms text and back green ffl with text to recto, 49 leaves total, plates on thick wove paper, text on Canson & Montgolfier watermarked laid paper, all unpaginated; in a slipcase. The title page indicates: “Vertés, a fashionable and popular designer from 1940 to 1960 […] attempted to illustrate in 1959 the famous novel by D.H. Lawrence, Lady Chatterley's Lover, but not getting along with his publisher, he sold his sketches for two thousand dollars to count Charles de Kerchove de Denterghem (1819 – 1882). Further, the t.p. reads: Les esquisses, lit-on encore sur cette page, furent reliées par Isy Brachot de Bruxelles. Elles furent classées par lui sans ordre, comme elles venaient. En préface figurent un bref résumé du roman, un historique des difficultés qu'il connut, un compte rendu de sa victoire finale. En postface sont transcrits, en langue originale, les scènes illustrées par Vertès dans l'ordre où elles se trouvent écrites, ainsi qu'une appréciation de l'art de Vertès. Michel Vokaer’s Bibliographie de Marcel Vertès (1967) does not mention this collection of sketches; however, it says that the artist had produced two test etchings for Lady Chatterley’s Lover around 1936, which remained unpublished. The gouaches were drawn in the US, and the texts accompanying them are in English, so one could suppose that the prospective publisher—who remains unknown—was American. Contributors: Marcel Vertès [Marcell Vértes] (Jewish-Hungarian-French, 1895 – 1961) David Herbert Lawrence (British, 1885 – 1930)
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