• Footed plate with scalloped rim, centre decorated with running yak or another even-toed animal among flowers, jewel diaper pattern to the inner lip; foliage motif to the outside is bordered with foliage above and lotus leaves below. Porcelain with underglaze blue decoration. Ming Dynasty [大明] (1368 – 1644); Wanli Era (1572 – 1620); Late 16th – Early 17th century. Diameter: 25.5 cm; Height: 4.2 cm
  • Plate with crane, bird, plants, and four treasures. Porcelain with underglaze blue decoration and illegible factory mark to the bottom. Ming Dynasty [大明] (1368 – 1644); Wanli Era (1572 – 1620); Late 16th – Early 17th century. Diameter: 19.5 cm; Height: 3 cm
  • Title (black and red): ANTIQUITATES CHRISTIANÆ: |—| OR, THE | HISTORY | OF THE | LIFE AND DEATH | OF THE | HOLY JESUS: | AS ALSO THE Lives, Acts and Martyrdoms | OF HIS | APOSTLES. |—| IN TWO PARTS. |—| The Firƒt Part, containing The Life of CHRIST, written by | Jer. Taylor, Late Lord Bishop of Down and Connor. | The Second, Containing The Lives of the APOSTLES, with an | Enumeration, and ƒome Brief Remarks upon their firƒt Successors in | the Five Great APOSTOLICAL CHURCHES, | By WILLIAM CAVE, D. D. Chaplain in | Ordinary to His MAJESTY. | By whom alƒo is added an APPARATUS, or Diƒcourƒe Introductory to the whole Work, | concerning the Three Great Diƒpenƒations of the Church, Patriarchal, Moƒaical, and Evangelical. |—| THE EIGHTH EDITION. |—| Orig. contr. Celƒ. lib. 1. in Proœm. p. 1, 2. | [text in Greek] |—| LONDON, | Printed by R. N. for Luke Meredith, at the Sign of the Star in | St. Paul's Church-Yard, MDCXCIV. Collation of this book is unusual, it is called "Folio in 6s" (three sheets are folded in half to create a gathering of 6 leaves). Two unsigned leaves: (1) Engraved frontispiece "The Annunciation" by Willian Faithorne "the Elder" (British, 1616 – 1691), recto blank; (2) engraved title by the same engraver, verso blank; (*) gathering of 4: black and red title page, verso blank; epistle; to reader; imprim. (Ato Sƒ6) Engraved portrait of Jeremy Taylor by Pierre Lombart (French, 1612 – 1682); faux title page: "The Great Exemplar of Sanctity and Holy Life... MDCXCIII"; dedication; contents, then to the end of the first book. (A-Z4 Aa-Bb4 Cc2) The second book has collation in quarto: Faux title page: "Antiquitates Christianæ: or the Lives, Acts and Martyrdoms... MDCXCIV", etc. to the end. Full formula: π*4 a-c6 d8 A-Z6 Aa-Sƒ6 A-Z4 Aa-Bb4 Cc2 Pagination: [12]  I-LI [LII] [12] I-XXVIII, i-vi, (1st book): [2] I-145 [146-150] 151-432 [12]; (2nd book): [8]  i-xiv, 1-188. 22 plates : frontis., t.p., portrait, one folding before p. 65, two after pp. [146], [150], 282, 304, 364, 386, 414, [422], and numerous head-pieces. Size: 36 x 23.5 x 5.7 cm Binding: full calf with the later spine, raised bands; front board with remnants of gilt ruling and blind stamped border, back bord probably original with a blind-stamped centre panel with fleurons.      
  • Iron tsuba with design of bamboo and sparrow (take-ni-suzume) in openwork (sukashi). Rounded rim. Copper sekigane. Akasaka school. Unsigned. Attributed to second generation Tadamasa Shōzaemon (died in in the fifth year of Enppo, 1677). Early Edo period: 17th century (Kan-ei Kanbun era). Height: 79.0 mm. Width: 77.5 mm. Rim thickness: 5.5 mm. Center thickness: 6.6 mm. Provenance: Sasano Masayuki Collection, № 222: "It is believed that sparrows nest in a bamboo grove". According to Merrily Baird [Merrily Baird. Symbols of Japan. Thematic motifs in art and design. Rizzoli international publications, Inc., 2001], "a bamboo grove is said to be emblematic of security as the bamboo is resilient even in the face of high winds and heavy rains. [...]  The association of the sparrow (suzume) with bamboo is an old one found in Japanese poetry, paining, and design. The bird is said to be obsessed with its honor, especially the repaying of debts".  
  • A portrait of Marcello Malpighi from his book Opera posthuma: figuris aeneis illustrata, quibus praefixa est ejusdem vita a seipso scripta, Londini:Churchill, 1697. Inscription: Marcellus Malpighius | Medicus Bononiensis mortuus 29 Novemb. Anno Dom. 1694. Anno aetatis 67. I. Kip. sculp.

    Marcello Malpighi (10 March 1628 – 29 November 1694) was an Italian biologist and physician, who is referred to as the "Father of microscopical anatomy, histology, physiology and embryology" [Wikipedia].

    From European Journal of Anatomy 22(5):433-439 · September 2018, an article by Sanjib Ghosh and Ashutosh Kumar 'Marcello Malpighi (1628-1694): Pioneer of microscopic anatomy and exponent of the scientific revolution of the 17th Century': Italian anatomist and an eminent scientist who significantly contributed to the advancement of the anatomical sciences in the 17th century. Malpighi was one of the first to use the compound microscope (an instrument designed by Galileo in 1609) and made the most important discovery of his life in 1661 when he identified capillaries as connecting vessels between small arteries and veins in the lungs. Malpighi thus provided the missing link in William Harvey's theory of blood circulation. He made significant contributions in the field of embryology based on his observations on chick embryo, and his efforts provided deep insights into the development of the heart and the nervous system. His communications based on microscopic studies scripted valuable details on the structural organization of organs like the liver, kidney and spleen. He identified the hepatic lobule as the fundamental unit of the liver and noted that bile was being secreted by these lobules and not from the gall bladder (the popular belief then). In the kidney, he discovered the glomerulus (Malpighian Corpuscle) and was the first to observe the convoluted tubules in the renal cortex. He was the first to describe the presence of lymphatic bodies (Malpighi's Corpuscle) in the spleen. Although he was exceedingly successful in his scientific activities, his life was fraught with unfortunate events and savage criticism from detractors arising out of professional jealousy and personal feuds. Nevertheless, his exploits were instrumental in understanding the human microscopic anatomy (histology) and his accomplishments have etched his name in the pages of medical science forever.

    The portrait was engraved by Johannes "Jan" Kip (1652/53, Amsterdam – 1722, Westminster) - a Dutch draftsman, engraver and print dealer.

  • Title page (with tall “s”): THE | ACCOMPLISHMENT | OF THE | PROPHECIES, | OR THE | Approaching Deliverance of | the CHURCH. | A work, wherein it is proved, that the Papism | is the Antichristian Empire; that that Empire is not far | from its ruin ; that the present persecution may end in | three years and a half. After which, the destruction | of Antichrist shall begin, which shall be finished in the | beginning of the next Age ; and lastly, the Kingdom | of Jesus Christ shall come on the Earth. | — | The second Edition Corrected and Enlarged by almost | a third part, and the explication of all the Visions of the Re- | velation, and of many Chapters concerning mystical Theology. | — | 2 vols. In 1, | — | Written in French by Mr. PETER JURIEU , the present | Minister of the French Church at Rotterdam. And from | this second Edition faithfully Englished. | — | LONDON , Printed in the Year 1687. || Pagination: ffl, [48] 1-271 [272 blank] + 3-99, 200-396, bfl. Note: part 2 starts with page 3, page 99 recto is paginated 200 on verso, instead of 100; total number of pages in part 2, thus, is 294. Collation is uninterrupted. Collation: *-**8 A-S8 + Aa7 Bb-Ss8 Tt4. Note: no leaf Aa1, leaf Tt4 unsigned; 307 leaves total. Binding: Full brown calf, boards ruled blind with double-fillet, flat spine stamped blind with a diaper, double-fillet ruled compartments, black label with gilt lettering. Printed on laid paper, with marginal notes. Yellow sticker to front pastedown G. Batenham, Bookseller, Northgate, Chester. Author: Pierre Jurieu (French, 1637 – 1713). Translator unknown. Publisher unknown.

    English translation of the book:Pierre Jurieu. L'accomplissement des Propheties ou la delivrance prochaine de l'Eglise. —Rotterdam: Acher, 1686.