• A young woman playing a four-string musical instrument with a bow (kokyū). Series: Assortments of Beauties Accomplishments [美人芸盡] (Bijin gei-zukushi). Utagawa Kunisada [歌川 国貞]; a.k.a. Utagawa Toyokuni III [三代歌川豊国] (Japanese, 1786 – 1865). Signed: Kochoro Kunisada ga [香蝶楼 国貞画] in a red double gourd cartouche. Publisher: Ibaya Kyūbei [伊場屋久兵衛] (Japanese, 1804 – 1851); seal: Hanmoto, Kyū [板元久] (Marks 19-040 | 126e) Date seal: Bunsei 12 (1829). Censors' seal: Kiwame. Size: Fan print (uchiwa-e).
  • Engraved title: The | Costume | of the | Empire of Russia | {copper horseman vignette} | signed under: Printed for E. Harding at the Crown and Mitre Pall Mall || English title: COSTUME | OF THE | RUSSIAN EMPIRE, | ILLUSTRATED BY UPWARDS OF | SEVENTY RICHLY COLOURED ENGRAVINGS. | DEDICATED BY PERMISSION TO | HER ROYAL HIGHNESS | THE | PRINCESS ELIZABETH. | LONDON: | PRINTED BY T. BENSLEY, BOLT COURT, FLEET STREET; | FOR JOHN STOCKDALE, PICCADILLY. | 1811. || Paper: thick wove paper, the leaf with “Copper Horseman” watermarked J. Whatman 1808; the French title – Edmeads & Co 1809, E2 – E & P 1807, plates are not watermarked [NYPL: An “1803” copy of The Costumes of the Russian Empire has watermarks from 1796 (W Elgar), 1809 (Edmeads & Co), 1811, 1813 (J. Whatman), 1818, and 1829]. Collation: 4to; (1) engraved title by E. Harding (“Copper Horseman” monument of Peter the Great), (2) English title, (3) French title, (4) Dedication to her Royal Highness the Princess Elizabeth by E. Harding (1803), (5) Contents —> π5 a2 B-S4 T2, all second leaves in all quires but C and T signed “2”, 77 leaves total, unpaginated, plus 72 plates (34.5 x 25.5 cm), stipple and line engravings, hand-coloured, by John Dadley after William Alexander. Binding: 36 x 27 cm, straight-grain green morocco, blind-stamped palmette border withing gilt-stamped palmette border to boards, raised bands decorated in gilt, gilt in compartments, two brown morocco labels with gilt lettering, brown endpapers, 2 additional flyleaves at front and back, AEG. Authorship and artistic work are attributed to Alexander and Dadley, but not signed. 1st edition in 1803 was published by William Richard Beckford Miller (British, 1769 – 1844). Catalogue raisonné: Tooley (1906): p. 151. Contributors: William Alexander (British, 1767 – 1816) – artist, author. John Dadley (British, 1767 – 1817) – engraver. Thomas Bensley (British, 1759 – 1835) – printer. John Stockdale (British, 1750 – 1814) – publisher. Edward Harding (British, 1755 – 1840) – publisher of 1803 edition (author of dedication) Princess Elizabeth of the United Kingdom (British, 1770 – 1840) – dedicatee.
  • Publisher’s blue wrapper: DÜRERS | KUPFERSTICHE UND HOLZSCHNITTE. | EIN KRITISCHES VERZEICHNIS | VON | R. v. RETBERG. | MÜNCHEN. | THEODOR ACKERMANN. | 1871. || Title page: similar to front wrapper, 2.5 cm cut at the bottom, text not affected. Pagination: front wrapper with lettering in a frame, flyleaf, [4] 1-169 [170 blank] [2], flyleaf, back wrapper with imprint plus 2 plates (frontis., Il. entry №129, and op. p., il. entry 100 № 260, printed on laid paper without watermark). Collation: π2 1-88 9-134 142, plus 2 plates extraneous to collation, incl. frontispiece. Binding: 26.4 x 17.5 cm, quarter green morocco over marbled boards, black compartment fillets and lettering to spine, publisher’s wrappers preserved. Marks: bookplate 6 x 9 cm to front pastedown: “БИБЛИОТЕКА | ГОСУДАРСТВЕННОГО | ЭРМИТАЖА ИЗ СОБРАНИЯ | СТЕПАНА ПЕТРОВИЧА | ЯРЕМИЧА | (1869 – 1939)”, purple ink stamp “В ПРОДАЖУ”. To front wrapper: Ink manuscript on top “Dr. Lichtenstein”… etc., black ink seal of rampant lion and pencil number “949” in the middle; pencil marks to p. 162.

    Contents: Inhalt - Berichtigungen - Vorwort und Einleitendes - Dürers Lebenskizze - [Text] - Nachtrag zu Dürers "Lebenskizze". A critical directory of Albrecht Dürer (German, 1471 – 1528) copperplate engravings and woodcuts by Ralf von Retberg (German, 1812 – 1885): the description of 167 woodcuts and 103 copperplate engravings.

    Provenance: From the collection of a Russian artist Stepan Petrovich Yaremich, sold by Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg. Ref: Royal Academy.
  • Woodcut pictorial title page (red and black): THE | COMIC | HISTORY | OF | ROME | By GILBERT ABBOTT À BECKETT. | ILLUSTRATED BY JOHN LEECH. | BRADBURY AND EVANS, 11, BOUVERIE STREET. || Pagination: [iii-iv] – t.p. / imprint., [v]-vi – preface, [vii]-viii – contents, [ix]-xii – list of ills., [1] 2-308, lacking half-title (i-ii) otherwise as called for by Tooley (1935) p. 162. Collation: π1 b4 B-U8 X2 plus 10 plates, incl. frontispiece, of hand-coloured steel engravings and 98 in-text woodcuts by John Leech. Imprint: “LONDON: | BRADBURY AND EVANS, PRINTERS, WHITEFRIARS.”; same in the colophon on p. 308, in one line. Binding: 22 x 14.5 cm, full tan calf with gilt double-fillet border, spine gilt in compartments with red morocco label lettered in gilt, blind-stamped dentelle inside, marbled endpapers, additional flyleaf at the end (binding similar to 2-volume “The Comic History of England” LIB-2847.2021, making three volumes in total). Edition: 1st thus (in book form), without “and Co.” in the imprint on t.p. verso. Catalogue raisonné: Tooley (1935) p. 162. Catalogue raisonné: Hardie p. 210; Abbey, Life № 435, p. 365-6; Tooley (1935) p. 162. Contributors: Gilbert Abbott à Beckett (British, 1811 – 1856) – author. John Leech (British, 1817 – 1864) – artist. Bradbury & Evans (Whitefriars); William Bradbury (British, 1799 – 1869); Frederick Mullett Evans (British, 1804 – 1870) – printer.
  • Vol. 1: Title page (red and black): THE | COMIC HISTORY OF ENGLAND • | BY GILBERT ABBOTT A'BECKETT. | {vignette with one line caption} | WITH TEN COLOURED ETCHINGS AND ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY | WOODCUTS, | BY JOHN LEECH. | VOL. I. | PUBLISHED AT THE PUNCH OFFICE, 85, FLEET STREET. | MDCCCXLVII. || Pagination: [iii-iv] – t.p. / imprint., [v]-vi – preface, [vii]-viii – contents, [ix]-xii – list of ills. [1] 2-320, lacking half-title otherwise as called for by Tooley (1935) p. 161. Collation: 8vo; π3 b2 B-X8 plus 10 plates, incl. frontispiece, of hand-coloured steel engravings and 120 in-text woodcuts by John Leech. Vol. 2: Title page: similar but “VOL. II.” And “MDCCCXLVIII”; typeface “with ten coloured…” is different (sans serif). Pagination: [iii-iv] – t.p. / imprint., [v]-vi – advert., [vii]-viii – contents, [ix]-xii – list of ills. [1] 2-304, lacking half-title otherwise as called for by Tooley (1935) p. 161. Collation: 8vo; π3 b2 B-U8 X2 plus 10 plates, incl. frontispiece, of hand-coloured steel engravings and 120 in-text woodcuts by John Leech. Binding: two volumes 22 x 14.5 cm each uniformly bound in full tan calf with gilt double-fillet border, spine gilt in compartments with red and green morocco labels lettered in gilt, blind-stamped dentelle inside, blue marbled endpapers, all edges marbled, additional flyleafs at the front and end. Catalogue raisonné: Hardie p. 210-11; Abbey, Life № 434, p. 362; Tooley (1935) p. 161 Contributors: Gilbert Abbott à Beckett (British, 1811 – 1856) – author. John Leech (British, 1817 – 1864) – artist. Bradbury & Evans (Whitefriars); William Bradbury (British, 1799 – 1869); Frederick Mullett Evans (British, 1804 – 1870) – printer. Punch – publisher.
  • Title page: THE | VISION; | OR | HELL, PURGATORY, AND PARADISE, | OF | DANTE ALIGHIERI. | TRANSLATED BY | THE REV. HENRY FRANCIS CARY, A. M. | IN THREE VOLUMES. | THE SECOND EDITION CORRECTED. | WITH THE LIFE OF DANTE, ADDITIONAL NOTES, | AND AN INDEX. | VOL. I. (–II, –III.) | — | LONDON: | PRINTED FOR | TAYLOR AND HESSEY, FLEET STREET. | 1819. || Pagination: (I) [2] – t.p. / blank, [4] – preface, [2] – contents / blank, [2] – errata / blank, [i] ii-lii – life of Dante, [1-3] 4-303+colophon [304 blank]; (II) [2] – t.p. / blank, [v] vi-xi [xii blank] – chronological view, [1-3] 4-309 [310 colophon]; (3) [2] – t.p. / blank, [1-3] 4-297 [298 blank], [28 index, colophon]; as called for by Royal Academy. Collation: 8vo; (1) π5 b-d8 e2 B-U8; (2) π5 B-U8 X2 Y1; (3) π1 B-U8 X8 X3. Binding: 22 x 14 cm each, three volumes uniformly bound by Morrell (stamp-signed on FEP verso) in slightly marbled polished calf, gilt dentelle border to boards and inside, gilt ornamental spine with red morocco labels, peacock marbled endpapers, extra vergé flyleaves in front and back, AEG. Edition: 2nd, corrected. The 1st edition was published by J. Barfield in 1814. Contributors: Dante Alighieri (Italian, 1265 – 1321) – author. Henry Francis Cary (British, 1772 – 1844) – translator. James Augustus Hessey (British, 1785 – 1870), Taylor and Hessey (London) – publisher. Thomas Miller (British, fl. 1815 – 1819) – printer.
  • Pictorial album of 41 etchings, incl. two portraits, by various engravers after Achille Devéria, printed on India paper (after letters) and pasted on thick wove paper, bound with tissue guards in half calf over marbled boards bordered gilt, spine decorated gilt, marbled endpapers; base paper and tissue guards are substantially foxed, images mostly intact. The title page and the subscription page are bound-in at the beginning and at the end, respectively. Title page: (in ornamental frame): COLLECTION | DE VIGNETTES | POUR LES ŒUVRES | DE | J.-J. ROUSSEAU | GRAVÉES | PAR MM. FORSTER, LAUGIER, LEROUX, MULLER, ETC. | D'APRÈS LES DESSINS DE DEVÉRIA. | (pasted over) ÉPREUVES CHOISIES, SUR PAPIER DE CHINE. | {publisher’s device} | A PARIS, | CHEZ DALIBON, LIBRAIRE | DE S. A. R. MGR LE DUC DE NEMOURS, | Palais-Royal, galerie de Nemours. | M DCCC XXV. | Under the frame: Le portrait de Mme de Warens étant terminé, nous y avons joint trois vignettes pour former la quatrième livraison. — Le portrait de | J.-J. Rousseau avec deux vignettes en formera une aussi ; de cette manière le nombre des livraisons reste le même. || This collection was published by Dalibon the same year as the 25-volume Rousseau's Œuvres completes. Related persons: Jean-Jacques Rousseau (French, 1712 – 1778). Mme de Warens: Françoise-Louise de Warens [Louise Éléonore de la Tour du Pil] Swiss, 1699 – 1762). S.A.R. Mgr Le Duc de Nemours: Prince Louis of Orléans, Duke of Nemours [Louis Charles Philippe Raphaël d'Orléans] (French, 1814 – 1896). Contributors: François-Denis Dalibon (French, 1794 – 1853) – publisher. L'Imprimerie de Rignoux (Paris); Thomas-François Rignoux (1781 – 1863?) – printer. Achille Devéria (French, 1800 – 1857) – artist. Engravers : François Forster (French, 1790 – 1872) Jean Nicolas Laugier (French, 1785 – 1875) Jean Marie Leroux (French, 1788 – 1871) Henri Charles Müller (French, 1784 – 1845) Herbert König (German, 1820 – 1876) Louis Jean Désiré Delaistre (French, 1800 – 1871) Jean Louis Toussaint Caron (French, 1790 – 1832) Pierre Michel Adam (French, 1799 – 1853) Ferdinand Sébastien Goulu (French, 1796 – 1848) Jean-François Pourvoyeur (French, 1784 – 1851) Jean Baptiste Touzé (French, fl. 1810 – 1830) Narcisse Lecomte (French, 1794 – 1882) Louis Hercule Sisco (French, 1778 – 1861) Edme Jean Ruhierre (French, 1789 – fl. 1826) Auguste Thomas Marie Blanchard (French, 1819 – 1898) François Manceau (French, 1768 – after 1837) Gabriel Louis Lacour-Lestudier (French, 1800 – 1849) Fulley [Frilley?] Jean Jacques Frilley (French, 1797 – after 1850) Philippe Joseph Augustin Vallot (French, 1796 – 1870) Etienne Devilliers (French, 1784 – after 1844) Jean Bosq (French, fl. c. 1801 – 1844) Zachée Prévost (French, 1797 – 1861) Jean Baptiste Guyard II (French, 1787 – 1831/32) Antoine François Gelée (French, 1796-1860) Constant Louis Antoine Lorichon (French, 1800-1856?) Antoine Joseph Chollet (French, 1793 – after 1848) Adrien Migneret (French, 1786 – 1840) Alfred Johannot (French, 1800 – 1837) Arnold Jéhotte (French, 1789 – 1836) Hippolyte Prudhomme (French, 1793 – 1853) Achille Lefèvre (French, 1798 – 1864) Pierre Pelée (French, 1801 – 1871) Antoine [Tony] Johannot (French, 1803 – 1852) Pierre Joseph Tavernier (French, 1787 – after 1845) Leclerc (?) Levasseur (?)  
  • Pictorial album of 20 hand-coloured wood engravings by Firmin Gillot after Alfred Grévin; numbered 1 to 20, bound with tissue guards in half-brown cloth over marbled boards, publisher's gilt-lettered blue wrappers preserved, purple-blueish endpapers. Front wrapper (gilt on blue): LES FILLES D'EVE | ALBUM | DE TRAVESTISSEMENTS | PLUS OU MOINS | HISTORIQUES | Par A. GRÉVIN | — | PARIS | AUX BUREAUX : DU JOURNAL AMUSANT, DES MODES PARISIENNES | DE LA TOILETTE DE PARIS ET DU PETIT JOURNAL POUR RIRE | 20. Rue Bergère. || ; Henri Plon's imprint to back wrapper. Contributors: Grevin, Alfred (French, 1827 – 1892) Gillot, Firmin (French, 1820 – 1872) Plon, Henri (French, 1806 – 1872) Ref.: Metropoliten Museum.
  • 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)
  • Title page: AVENTURES | DE | ROBINSON CRUSOE | PAR | DANIEL DEFOE | TRADUCTION NOUVELLE | ☙ |EDITION ILLUSTREE PAR GRANDVILLE | ❧ |PARIS | H. FOURNIER AINÉ, ÉDITEUR | 16 RUE DE SEINE | — | M DCCC XL || {sic: no accents in EDITION ILLUSTREE) Pagination: [4] [1]-610, [2] [1]-4., 620 pp. total plus 82 leaves of plates, unpaginated. Collation: 2 binder’s blank leaves, front publisher’s wrapper, h.t / imprint, 2 copies of engraved frontispiece on china paper, t.p. / blank, etc., … text..., back wrapper and spine bound in; 4to: π2 [1]-774 (310 leaves total) plus 40 x 2 plates extraneous to collation. Illustrations: 2 head- and 2 tailpieces, 2 initials, 159 vignettes, and 40 lettered plates each in two variants: one printed on a regular page, and one printed on India paper and pasted to a page. Page size: 24 x 15 cm. Frontispiece: Cut on wood by Louis-Henri Brevière after J. J. Grandville and Français. “Robinson sits on a throne-like chair framed by exotic palm trees. The sculptural and quasi-royal representation of Robinson is flanked by his faithful dog and parrot. The hero’s tools (the gun and the axe) are prominently displayed. He looks to the horizon away to the left, rather than to the tiny ship that can be seen on the horizon. His overcoming of life’s difficult events is at the core of the representation. The massive plinth reinforces the aura of the hero, as do the tiny people admiring the sculpture and learning about the heroic figure. Friday is discreetly represented in a medallion on the plinth along with other decorations including goats and a «savage»". [Sitzia, E. (2020). Lost in Intersemiotic Translation? J.J. Grandville’s Illustration of Robinson Crusoe. Journal for Literary and Intermedial Crossings, 5(2). https://clic.research.vub.be/sites/default/files/atoms/files/SITZIA_FIN.pdf] The monument has an inscription: “ FERNAND | SUEZ” which we deciphered as either a tribute to Juan Fernández (Spanish, c. 1536 – c. 1604) or as a mention of the place where Crusoe’s adventures took place: Archipiélago Juan Fernández to which Isla Róbinson Crusoe belongs. Binding: 24.8 x 16.4 cm, by Emile Mercier, half green crushed morocco over marbled boards, gilt-ruled, spine ornately gilt, sunned to orange tone, marbled endpapers, publisher's pale yellow wrappers bound in; only the top edge trimmed. Contributors: Daniel Defoe (British, 1660 – 1731) – author. J. J. Grandville [Gèrard, Isidore-Adolphe] (French, 1803 – 1847) – artist. François-Louis Français (French, 1814 – 1897) – artist (frontispiece, landscapes). Engravers:  John Quartley (British, fl. 1835 – 1867) Matthew Urlwin Sears (British, 1799 – 1870) Adolphe Best (French, 1808 – 1860) One of the Guillaumots: Eugène Guillaumot (French, Paris 1813–1869), or Auguste Etienne Guillaumot (French,1844 – 1890), or his father Auguste-Alexandre Guillaumot (French, 1815 – 1892) Laisné [Alfred, Adèle, and Aglaé] (French, active 1835–1868) Antoine-Alphée Piaud (French, 1813 – 1867) Louis Dujardin (French, 1808 – 1859) A. Hans (nothing is known) Jean Louis Joseph Camille Lacoste (French, 1809 – 1866) Louis-Henri Brevière (French, 1797 – 1869) – vignettes. Provenance: Bishop, Cortlandt Field (American, 1870 – 1935) – bookplate; Mary S. Collins – bookplate by J. H. Fincken Robin F. Satinsky (American, 1919 – 2008) – Robin Collection bookplate. Catalogue raisonné: Brivois (1883) p. 155; Ray (French): № 193, p. 272; Carteret (1927): p. 241. All indicated in-8vo, which doesn't correspond to our in-4to copy.
  • Serial title: THE | LIBRARY OF ROMANCE. | EDITED | BY LEITCH RITCHIE. | VOL. II. | — | SCHINDERHANNES, | THE ROBBER OF THE RHINE. | BY THE EDITOR. | — | LONDON: | SMITH, ELDER, AND CO., 65, CORNHILL. | — | 1833. || Title page: SCHINDERHANNES, | THE ROBBER OF THE RHINE. | BY | LEITCH RITCHIE, | AUTHOR OF “HEATH’S PICTURESQUE ANNUAL,” “ROMANCE OF FRENCH | HISTORY,” “TURNER’S ANNUAL TOUR,” &c. | — | LONDON: | SMITH, ELDER, AND CO., 65, CORNHILL. | — | 1833. || Pagination: [1] 2 – prospectus, [i, ii] – serial title / imprint, [iii-iv] – t.p. / blank, [v] vi (mispaged iv) – advert. [vii] viii – contents, [2] f.t. / blank; [1] 2-314 – text, [2] – advert. vol. I and III; total number of pages 12+314+2=328 Collation: 8vo; π6 B-U8 X4 Y2, total number of leaves 164. Binding: 18 x 11.5 cm, dark green buckram (faux morocco), gilt lettering and design elements to spine, printer’s imprint to π4: Bradbury and Evans, moiré endpapers. Cat. raisonné: Sadleir (v.2) 3760a, p. 171. Contributors: Leitch Ritchie (British-Scottish, 1800 – 1865) – author. Schinderhannes [Johannes Bückler] (German, c.1778 – 1803) – character. Bradbury & Evans (est.1830) – printer. Smith, Elder, and Company (1816 - 1917) – publisher. George Smith (British-Scottish, 1789 – 1846) – publisher. George Murray Smith (British, 1824 – 1901) – publisher. Alexander Elder (British, 1790 – 1876) – publisher.
  • Pictorial title (coloured): Collection Artistique Guillaume et Cie |—| ALPHONSE DAUDET  | Trente ans | de Paris | PARIS | C. MARPON ET E. FLAMMARION | 26, RUE RACINE, 26 | 1888 || Title page: Collection Artistique Guillaume et Cie |—| ALPHONSE DAUDET | Trente ans de Paris | À TRAVERS MA VIE ET MES LIVRES | Illustré | PAR BIELER, MONTÉGUT, MYRBACH, PICARD ET ROSSI | Gravure de Guillaume Frères et Cie | PARIS | C. MARPON ET E. FLAMMARION | 26, RUE RACINE, 26 | 1888 | Tous droits réservés. || Pagination: [12] [1] 2-344 [6], total 362 pp., in-text illustration, head- and tailpieces, photomechanical reproductions. Collation: 12mo; π6, 1-2812 +1; total 181 leaves. Binding: 19 x 12.5 cm; red cloth, gilt lettering to spine, gilt lettering and vignette to front board and gilt device to back board; bookplate to front pastedown: Ex Libris Dr. Vodoz = Egg; Gift inscription to flyleaf in German, dated 30/12/87. Contributors: Alphonse Daudet (French, 1840 – 1897) – author. Ernest Biéler (Swiss, 1863 – 1948) – artist. Louis Montégut (French, 1855 – 1906) – artist. Felician Myrbach (Austrian, 1853 – 1940) – artist. Georges Picard (French, 1857 – 1943) – artist. Luigi Rossi (Swiss, 1853 – 1923) – artist. Ernest Flammarion (French, 1846 – 1936) – publisher. Charles Marpon (French, 1838 – 1890) – publisher. Alexis Lahure (French, 1849 – 1928) – printer. Guillaume Frères et Cie – engravers.
  • An uncut fan print shows a young woman holding a basket on a landscape background with hills and pines under a rising sun. Haruo Shirane: "Under the luni-solar calendar, the New Year coincided with the beginning of spring, making it the most important observance of the year for the aristocracy. In the Heian period, New Year ceremonies extended from New Year’s Day (Ganjitsu) to the Day of the Rat (Nenohi), which usually fell on the seventh day of the First Month, when courtiers went out to the fields (no), pulled up small pines, and gathered new herbs (wakana) as a prayer for long life. This ritual gradually spread to the provinces and to commoners, eventually resulting in the New Year practice of the gate pine (kadomatsu), in which a pair of small pines was placed at the gate of a house. A popular Heian-period painting topic representing the First Month was “prayers on the Day of the Rat” (Nenohi no asobi), which depicted the auspicious scene of pulling up small pines in a spring field. Both young herbs and gathering young herbs, particularly at Kasuga Field, became major poetic topics for the First Month, appearing in both the spring and celebration (ga) books of the Kokinshū (Collection of Japanese Poems Old and New, ca. 905). By the Kamakura period, the observance of the Day of the Rat had been abandoned at the imperial court, but the custom of gathering and eating young greens continued as the annual ceremony known as the Seven Grasses (Nanakusa). Note: The Heian-period ritual of pulling up the roots of small pines (komatsu ) on the first Day of the Rat derives from the homonyms ne (rat) and ne (root). Pulling up roots was auspicious, since it implied lengthening the year.  The rising sun (hinode) was considered an auspicious sight, particularly at the beginning of the year". [Haruo Shirane, Japan and the Culture of the Four Seasons. Nature, Literature, and the Arts. — Columbia University, NY, 2012]. Title: Gathering of the young herbs on the Day of the Rat [子の日乃若菜] (Nenohi no wakana). Series: Three elegant sources of light [風流三光の内] (fūryū sankō no uchi); meaning the sun, the moon and the stars). Artist: Utagawa Kunisada [歌川 国貞]; a.k.a. Utagawa Toyokuni III [三代歌川豊国] (Japanese, 1786 – 1865). Signed: Toyokuni ga [豊国 画] in a yellow toshidama cartouche. Publisher’s seal: Izuzen (Marks: seal 06-029 | U103b) Date and double nanushi censor seals: Mera and Watanabe, Kaei 6 (1853). A similar theme can be found in Kunisadai's triptych published in about 1844 (HARA SHOBO):

    豊国三代「豊歳子日若菜摘ノ図」

  • Title page: GUIDE DE L’AMATEUR | BIBLIOGRAPHIE | DES | OUVRAGES ILLUSTRES | DU | XIXe SIÈCLE | PRINCIPALEMENT DES LIVRES A GRAVURES SUR BOIS | PAR | JULES BRIVOIS | AUTEUR DE LA BIBLIOGRAPHIE DE L’ŒUVRE DE P.-J. BÉRANGER | MEMBRE FONDATEUR DE LA SOCIÉTÉ DES AMIS DES LIVRES | — | PARIS | LIBRAIRIE L. CONQUET | 5, RUE DROUOT, 5 | 1883 || Justification: Il a été tire : | 900 exemplaires sur papier vergé. | Et 50 exemplaires sur grand papier de Hollande. | Tous sont numérotés et paraphes par l’auteur. | № {188 signature} | Les numéros pairs portent le nom de M. L. Conquet. | Et les numéros impairs celui de M. P. Rouquette. | — | Le dépôt légal sera fait en France et dans tous les pays avec lesquels il | existe des conventions pour la propriété littéraire. | Tous droits réservés. || Pagination : [2] blank, [i-v] vi-xiii [xiv], [1] 2-468; the total number of pages = 484. Collation: π8 1-288   2910, an asterisk on leaf 295; the total number of leaves 242; 3 blank leaves of wove paper before and after collation. Imprint to 11 : Imp. de Mme de Lacombe; Imprint to 2910 : Nancy, imprimerie Berger-Levrault et Cie. Binding: ¾ polished distressed calf over marbled boards by the previous owner "E.D", gilt-stamped spine with gilt-lettered black label, peacock marbled endpapers, printed on laid paper. Contributors: Jules Brivois (French, 1832 – 1920) – author. L. Conquet (Paris) – publisher. P. Rouquette (Paris) – publisher. Berger-Levrault et Cie – printer.  
  • Title page: ПАНТЕОНЪ ЛИТЕРАТУРЫ | ТЕОФРАСТЪ. | ХАРАКТЕРИСТИКИ. | ПЕРЕВОДЪ СЪ ГРЕЧЕСКАГО | В. АЛЕКСѢЕВА. |—| С.–ПЕТЕРБУРГЪ. | Типографiя Н. А. Лебедева, Невскiй просп., 8. | 1888. || Pagination: [1-3] 4-32; 32 pages. Collation: 8vo; 1-28; 16 leaves. Binding: Modern owner’s grey wrappers, blank. Page size: 23.2 x 16 cm Contributors: Theophrastus [Θεόφραστος, Theόphrastos, Теофраст, Феофраст] (Greek, c. 371 – c. 287 BC) – author. Алексеев, Василий Алексеевич (Russian, 1863 – 1919) – translator. Лебедев, Николай Афанасьевич (Russian, 1813 – 1896); Типография Н. А. Лебедева (СПб) – publisher, printer.
  • Vol. 1 : Title : LES | RUES DE PARIS | PARIS ANCIEN ET MODERNE | ORIGINES, HISTOIRE | MONUMENTS, COSTUMES, MŒURS, CHRONIQUES ET TRADITIONS | OUVRAGE | RÉDIGÉ PAR L’ÉLITE DE LA LITTÉRATURE CONTEMPORAINE | SOUS LA DIRECTION DE | LOUIS LURINE | et illustré de 300 dessins exécutés par les artistes les plus distingués | TOME PREMIER | { publisher’s device «G.K.» in vignette} | PARIS | G. KUGELMANN, ÉDITEUR, 25 RUE JACOB | 1844 || Pagination: [4] [1] 2-396 [4], total number of pages 404, plus 21 wood-engraved plates, incl. frontispiece, extraneous to collation. Collation: 4to; π2 [1]4 2-504, total number of leaves 202, plus 21 leaves of plates. Vol. 2: Title: Same, “TOME SECOND”. Pagination: [4] [1] 2-411 [412] [4], total number of pages 420, plus 22 wood engraved plates, incl. frontispiece, extraneous to collation. Collation: 4to; π2, 1-524, total number of leaves 210, plus 22 leaves of plates. Binding: 27 x 17 cm, two volumes uniformly bound by the publisher in brown cloth, blind-stamped frame and gilt design (corners, coat of arms of Paris, lettering) to boards and spine, yellow endpapers. CONTRIBUTORS: Printer: Alfred Wittersheim (French, 1825 – 1881) Publisher: Georges Kugelmann (French, 1809 – 1882) Editor/Compiler: Louis Lurine (French, 1816 – 1860) Texts by: Briffault, Eugène (French, 1799 – 1854); Janin, Jules Gabriel (French, 1804 – 1874); Huart, Louis Adrien (French, 1813 – 1865); Burette, Théodose (French, 1804 – 1847); Beauvoir, Roger de (French, 1806 – 1866); Brot, Charles Alphonse (French, 1807 – 1895); Le Roux de Lincy, Antoine (French, 1806 – 1869); Achard, Louis Amédée Eugène (French, 1814 – 1875). Illustrated book, profusely illustrated with over 300 woodcuts by: ArtistsDaumier, Honoré (French, 1808 – 1879); Gavarni , Paul [Chevalier, Hippolyte Guillaume Sulpice] (French, 1804 – 1866); Nanteuil, Célestin François (French, 1813 – 1873); Baron, Henri (French, 1816 – 1885); Beaumont, Édouard de (French, 1821 – 1888); David, Jules (French, 1808 – 1892); Marckl, Louis (French, b. 1807); Schlesinger, Heinrich [Henri-Guillaume] (German-French, 1814 – 1893); Collignon, François Jules (French, d. 1850); Godefroy, Félix (French, 1765 – 1848); Lemercier, Charles Nicolas (French, 1797 – 1859); Loutrel, Victor Jean-Baptiste (French, 1821 – 1908); May, Edouard (French, c. 1807 – 1881); Moraine, Louis-Pierre René de (French, 1816 – 1864); Moynet, Jean Pierre (French, 1819 – 1876); Rossigneux, Charles (French, 1818 – 1907). Engravers: Bara, J. (French, b. c. 1812); Brugnot (French, fl.c. 1834 – 1873); Castan, André (French, 19th century); Budziłowicz, Ignacy (Polish-French, 1805 – 1863); Chevauchet (French, fl. 1837 – 1850); Pégard (French, 19th century); Czechowicz, A. (Polish-French, fl. 1840 – 1850); Debraine, T. Etienne (French, 19th century); Deschamps, M. (French, 19th century); Fauchery, Jean-Claude Auguste (French, 1798 – 1843); Ghouy, de (French, fl. mid-19th century); Montigneul, Émile (French, fl. 1840 – 1850); Joret, J. (French, 19th century); Fity, A. (French, 19th century); Guillaumot, Eugène (French, 1813 – 1869); Halley-Hiback (French, 19th century); Lacoste père et fils (French, fl. 1830s – 1860s); Lenepveu (French, 19th century); Lesestre, Jean Théophile Gustave (French, 1815 – 1873); Pannemaker, Adolphe François (Belgian-French, 1822 – 1900); Piaud, Antoine Alphée (French, 1813 – 1867); Pisan, Héliodore Joseph (French, 1822 – 1890); Pollet A. (French, 1840 – 1860); Pouget, Jean-Achille (French, fl. 1844 – 1877); Porret, Henri Désiré (French, 1800 – 1867); Pontenier, Auguste [Etienne, François] (French, 1820 – 1888); Rose, Alphonse Antoine (French, fl. 1840 – 1860); Timms, J. (English-French, fl. c. 1839 – 1865); Verdeil, Pierre (French, 1812 – 1874); Vien, Alphonse Jean-Baptiste (French, b. 1814).
  • Vol. 1: Title: MÉMOIRES | DE | MONSIEUR CLAUDE | CHEF DE LA POLICE DE SURETÉ́ SOUS LE SECOND EMPIRE | {single rule} | PREMIER VOLUME | publisher’s device «JR» in oval} | PARIS | JULES ROUFF ET Cie, ÉDITEURS | 14, CLOITRE SAINT-HONORÉ, 14 | {single rule} || Pagination: [4] – h.t., t.p., [1-3] – engraved t.p. w/portrait, 3-800 [4], in-text and full-page woodcuts; last two leaves (table) has numbered pages 1000 and 1001; the total number of pages 808. Collation: 4to; π2 [1]4 2-1004 Ω2, woodcuts by Quesnel and Ferdinandus, within collation; the total number of leaves 404. Vol. 2: Title: Same but “DEUXIEME VOLUME” Pagination: [4] – h.t., t.p., [801-2] – frontis., 803-2010, [6] – assassinats, [4] – table, in-text and full-page woodcuts; last two leaves (table) has numbered pages 2018 and 2019; the total number of pages 1224. Collation: 4to; π2 101-2524 Ω2, woodcuts by Quesnel and Ferdinandus, within collation; the total number of leaves 612. Binding: Two volumes 28 x 20.5 cm each, uniformly bound in quarter polished brown calf over marbled boards, blind-stamped florets and gilt lettering to spine, marbled endpapers. Contributors: Claude, Antoine (French, 1807 – 1880) – declared author of the text. Labourieu, Théodore (French, 1822 – 1889) – assumed author of the text. Quesnel, Désiré Mathieu (French, 1843 – 1915) – woodcut printmaker. Ferdinandus, Alexandre [Avenet, François] (French, 1850 – 1888) – illustrator. D. Bardin et Cie – printer. Jules Rouff (French, 1846 – 1927) – publisher. Jules Rouff et Cie (Paris, 1873 – 1982) – publisher. Note: Common opinion is that the text was produced by Théodore Labourieu, not by, Antoine Claude. The first edition was published by the same publisher in 10 volumes in wrappers without illustrations, between 1880 and 1883, after the death of Antoine Claude. As stated in WorldCat: “not written or sanctioned by him.” This two-volume edition was published later, with multiple woodcuts.
  • Artist: Utagawa Kunisada [歌川 国貞] a.k.a. Utagawa Toyokuni III [三代歌川豊国] (Japanese, 1786 – 1865). Signed: Kunisada ga [国貞画] in a yellow double-gourd cartouche. Publisher: Ibaya Senzaburo [伊場屋仙三郎] (Japanese, fl. c. 1845 – 1847). Date aratame seal: Bunsei 13 – Tenpō 1 (1830). Actor: Nakamura Utaemon IV [中村歌右衛門] (Japanese, 1796 – 1852); other names: Nakamura Shikan II [二代目中村芝翫], Nakamura Tsurusuke I, Nakamura Tōtarō. Play:  Yoshitsune’s Letter at Koshigoe [義経腰越状] (Yoshitsune Koshigoe-jo). Uncut fan print (uchiwa-e, 団 扇 絵), 229 x 267 mm, depicting kabuki actor Nakamura Shikan [中村芝翫] as Gotobei [五斗兵衛]. Nakamura Utaemon IV held the name of Nakamura Shikan II from the 11th lunar month of 1825 to the 1st lunar month of 1836. He was born as Hirano Kichitarō in Edo in 1796. Another fan print with the same subject in this collection [SVJP-0344.2021]: "...The play Yoshitsune Koshigoe-jo was originally written for the puppet theatre (Bunraku) and staged for the first time in the 7th lunar month of 1754 in Ôsaka at the Toyotakeza. It was a revision of two early plays, Namiki Sōsuke's Nanbantetsu Gotō no Menuki (1735) and Yoshitsune Shin Fukumijō (1744). The title, which suggested that the play focused on Minamoto no Yoshitsune, was in fact dealing with the siege of the Ōsaka Castle, led by Tokugawa Ieyasu to destroy the Toyotomi clan in 1614 and 1615. This play was quickly forbidden because of the 4th act in which Gotobei's wife fired a gun at Yoritomo (this was of course interpreted as an attack on the Shogunate). Yoshitsune Koshigoe-jo was revised in 1770 by Toyotake Ōritsu, who completely rewrote the 4th act for a puppet production at the Kitahorieza in Ōsaka". Yoshitsune Koshigoe-jo was staged for the first time in Edo, at the Ichimuraza on the 9th lunar month of 1790, and is still performed. Gotobei [五斗兵衛] (Gotohei or Gotobē), one of Yoshitsune’s loyal retainers, is forced to choose between his son’s life or his loyalty to Yoshitsune. Nishikidō brothers, who do not want Gotobei to become Yoshitsune's chief strategist, forced him to drink sake and get asleep. To prove Gotobei's military abilities, Izumi no Saburō fires a gun next to Gotobei's ear, and "he jumps up immediately, in full possession of his senses, ready to repulse any enemy". See: [LIB-1193.2013] Samuel L. Leiter. Kabuki Encyclopedia: An English-language adaptation of Kabuki Jiten. — Westport, CT; London: Greenwood Press, 1979; pp. 266-7). Ref:  [LIB-2993.2022] Fig. 24 in Israel Goldman. Japanese prints and paintings / 40th anniversary; Catalogue 27, 2021. Two more Kunisada's fan prints (in Paul Griffith's collection), depicting the same actor Nakamura Shikan II as Toneri Matsuōmaru [舎人松王丸] were published in 1832 by Iseya Ichiemon. The play was Sugawara's Secrets of Calligraphy [菅原伝授手習鑑] (Sugawara Denju Tenarai Kagami). See: [LIB-1212.2017] Robert Schaap. Kunisada: Imaging, drama and beauty / Introduction by Sebastian Izzard, contributions by Paul Griffith and Henk. J. Herwig. — Leiden: Hotei Publishing, ©2016.