• Two 8vo volumes bound in one, 19 x 12.5 cm, in full mottled sheepskin with gilt-bordered boards, gilt decorated flat spine with gilt-lettered red and black calf labels, rebacked, marbled endpapers and edges, printed on wove paper, plates on thicker laid paper. Title-page: FABLES | MISES EN VERS | PAR J. DE LA FONTAINE. | TOME PREMIER (SECOND). | {medallion portrait} (printer’s device “PC”) | A PARIS, | CHEZ ANT. AUG. RENOUARD. | M. DCC. XCV. || Collation: Vol. 1: π2 (h.t./imprint, t.p. medallion portrait/blank), [1]-38 (Notice sur la vie…), 1-58 64 (Vie de la Fontaine, Épitre, Préface, Vie d’Ésope), [7]-148 156 χ3 (table); pagination [4] [i] ii-xlviii, [1] 2-234. Total 143 leaves (286 pages) plus 6 plates after Moreau le Jeune by Devilliers fratres (p. 112), E. De Ghendt (pp. 122 and 181), Jean Louis Delignon (p. 140), Delvaux (p. 197), and Ph. Trière (p. 219). Title medallion portrait of La Fontaine (G Rigault pinx. – C S Gaucher inc.) by Gaucher after Rigaud. Vol. 2: π2 1-158 164; pagination [4] [1] 2-247 [248 blank]. Total 126 leaves (252 pages) plus 6 plates after Moreau le Jeune by Devilliers fratres (p. 19), Villerey (pp. 37, 80, and 146), Bosq (p. 121), and Ph. Trière (p. 199). The book published in 1795 (An 3) supplemented with plates produced in 1811 and 1812 for Œuvres complèttes (sic) de Jean de la Fontaine published by Lefèvre in 1814. The reason for choosing this particular edition for someone's library shortly after 1814 was probably the absence of censorship in 1795. Catalogue raisonné: (1) Lewine [LIB-2538.2020] on p. 276 (Paris, chez Renouard, 1795, 2 vols., 8vo., medal portrait on first title, and 12 plates after Moreau by Delvaux, Bosq, Ghendt, Trière, and Villerey). (2) M.-J.-F. Mahérault. L' oeuvre de Moreau le Jeune : catalogue raisonné et descriptif avec notes iconographiques et bibliographiques. — Paris: A. Labitte, 1880. Contributors: Jean de La Fontaine (French, 1621–1695) – author. Jean-Michel Moreau le Jeune (French, 1741–1814) – artist. Hyacinthe Rigaud (French, 1659 – 1743) – artist. Antoine-Augustin Renouard (French, 1765 – 1853) – publisher. Pierre Causse (French, 1761 – 1834) – printer. Engravers: Charles Étienne Gaucher (French, 1741 – 1804) Etienne De Villiers [Devilliers, Devilliers fratres] (French, 1784 – after 1844) Emmanuel Jean Nepomucène de Ghendt (Flemish, worked in France, 1738 – 1815) Jean-Louis Delignon (French, 1755 – 1820) Rémi Henri Joseph Delvaux (French, 1748 – 1823) Philippe Trière (French, 1756 – c. 1815) Auguste Villerey (French, 1801 – 1846) Jean Bosq (French, fl. c. 1801 – 1844)
  • Hardcover volume, collated in-8o, 21.9 c 14.6 cm, bound in half red morocco over red buckram by Palmer, Hove & Co. (Manchester), ruled in gilt, marbled end-papers, top edge gilt, spine with raised bands, ruled in gilt, gilt lettering; bookplate "Ex libris William John Robertson" with black ink ms dated 1922 to front pastedown. Insert paper clipping “In Memoriam” marked “D.W. 25.1.61.” Graphite ms to t.p.: “[assisted by Karl Marx]”. Pp.: [i-v] vi-xv [xvi blank], [1] 2-500; collation: ffl blank first and last, π8 A-2H8 2I2. Title-page: HISTORY | OF | THE COMMUNE OF 1871. | Translated from the French of | LISSAGARAY, | BY | ELEANOR MARX AVELING. | LONDON: | REEVES AND TURNER, 196 STRAND. | 1886.|| Contributors: Hippolyte Prosper-Olivier Lissagaray (French, 1838 – 1901) – author. Eleanor Marx [Aveling] (British, 1855 – 1898) – translator. William John Robertson (Canadian, 1846 – 1894) – provenance. The Russian translation of the same title: [LIB-1158.2016] Э. Лиссагарэ. История Парижской Коммуны в 1871 г. (Дешевая библиотека, № 274) / Пер. под ред. В. Базарова. — С.-Петербург: Знание, 1906.
  • Hand-coloured woodcut on wove paper, 460 x 363 mm; black ink stamp “5054” to reverse. Four tiers with groups of people dressed in uniform, captioned: Bedeau — Suisse — Chanoines — Évêque — Porte croix — Évêque — Cardinal — Cardinal | Généraux français — Le prince Napoléon — L’Empereur et l’Impératrice — Marraine — Le Prince — Parrain | Meur l’Archevêque | Porte crosse Diacre servant | Préfet — Sénateur — Conseiller de cour — Président — Dames de la cour — Gral Piémontais — Chef arabe | Aide-de-camp de l’Empereur — Chambellan de l’Empereur — Ministre d’état — Ambassadeur de Turque | Ambassadeur d’Angleterre — Ambassadeur d’Autriche — Ambassadeur de Russie — Ambassadeur de Prusse — Gral anglaise — Lord anglais || Bottom left: Imprimerie Lith. de Pellerin, à Épinal; right: Propriété de l’Éditeur. — Déposé. Jean Charles Pellerin (French, 1756 – 1836) – printer/publisher.  
  • 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 red toshidama cartouche Block carver: Yokokawa Takejirō [横川竹二郎] (Japanese, fl. 1845 – 1863), seal: 彫竹 – hori Take. Publisher: Ibaya Senzaburō [伊場屋仙三郎] (Japanese, fl. c. 1845 – 1847). Media: Untrimmed fan print (uchiwa-e), 230 x 295 mm. Combined date seal and kiwame censor seal: Ansei 6 (1859). Title: Princess Sotoori [衣通姫] (Sotoori-hime) – Sotoori-hime was a concubine of Emperor Ingyo (reigned AD 412-53), and one of the Three Gods of Japanese Poetry [和歌三神] (Waka sanjin). Series: Chronicles of Elegant Women [風雅女史傳] (Fūga joshiden). The sign on the torii (Shinto shrine gates) reads: Mountain king shrine [山王宮] – it is the Sannō Shrine at the Nagata Riding Grounds in Edo. A print with these gates is at MFA (Boston) # 21.9853. Other prints from the same series in this collection: SVJP-0343.2021 — Tamagiku: SVJP-0400.2023 — Saiko: Note: Special thanks to Horst Graebner, who helped decipher and understand the meaning.  
  • A two-volume set: (1) Thomas Hugo. The Bewick Collector. A Descriptive Catalogue of the Works of Thomas and John Bewick; Including cuts, in various states, for Books and Pamphlets, Private Gentlemen, Public Companies, Exhibitions, Races, Newspapers, Shop Cards, Invoice Heads, Bar Bills, Coal Certificates, Broadsides, and other miscellaneous purposes, and Wood Blocks. With an Appendix of Portraits, Autographs, Works of Pupils, etc., etc. The whole described from the Originals contained in the largest and most perfect collection ever formed, and illustrated with a hundred and twelve cuts. — London: Lovell Reeve and Co., MDCCCLXVI [1866]. — [Printed by] J. E. Taylor and Co., printers. — pp.: [i-v] vi-xxiii [xxiv], [1] 2-562. (2) Thomas Hugo. The Bewick Collector. A Supplement to a Descriptive Catalogue of the Works of Thomas and John Bewick; Consisting of additions to the various divisions of cuts, wood blocks. etc., enumerated in that work. The whole described from the Originals contained in the largest and most perfect collection ever formed, and illustrated with a hundred and eighty cuts. — London: L. Reeve and Co, MDCCCLXVIII [1868]. — [Printed by] J. E. Taylor and Co., printers. — pp.: [i-vii] viii-xxxii, [1] 2-353. Both volumes in 8vo, 22.5 x 14.5 cm, hardcover. Contemporary dark brown half morocco, gilt-ruled, with 5 raised bands, gilt titles and decoration to spine, and marbled paper over boards. Top edge gilt; marbled endpapers. Binding splitting at pp.80/81 of the 1st volume. Armorial bookplate of Ralph Hart Tweddle to front pastedown. Ralph Hart Tweddle (1843 – 1895) was a British mechanical engineer, known particularly for inventing the portable hydraulic riveter, which greatly facilitated the construction of boilers, bridges and ships.  
  • Title: CONTES FANTASTIQUES | DE | HOFFMANN | TRADUCTION NOUVELLE ; PRÉCÉDÉS | DE SOUVENIRS INTIMES SUR LA VIE DE L’AUTEUR | PAR P. CHRISTIAN. | ILLUSTRÉS PAR GAVARNI. | {Publisher’s device} | — PARIS, | LAVIGNE, LIBRAIRE-ÉDITEUR, | 1 RUE DU PAON SAINT-ANDRÉ. | MDCCCXLIII. || Pagination: ffl, [i-vi] –h.t. / colopon, t.p. /blank, dedication /blank, [vii] viii-xix [xx][1,-3] 4-522, bfl, + woodcut illustrations by Brévière et Novionafter Gavarni: 10 full page plates, initials, tail pieces, and in text. Collation: [a]-b4 c2, 1-654 661. Binding: Quarter brown morocco over marbled boards, raised bands with gilt double fillets, gilt arabesque in compartments, title lettering. Catalogue raisonné: L. Carteret (1927), p. 295.
  • Coloured etching by E. Charreyre (French, fl. 1880 – ?) after a watercolour by Juan Antonio González, (Spanish, 1842 – 1914). A book illustration for 'Son Altesse La Femme' by Octave Uzanne (1851 – 1931), chapter: 'La Caillette' (Le lever d’une petite-maitresse au XVIIIe siècle). Published by Albert Quantin (French, 1850 – 1930) in 1885.

    Size: print 17.5 x 12 cm, pasted to leaf 27.7 x 19.5 cm.

  • 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).
  • Top right: EASTERN DIVISION OF | PARIS. | Containing the Quartiers | {5 lines in italic} | Published under the Superintendence of the Society for the | Diffusion of Useful Knowledge || Bottom left:  WESTERN DIVISION OF | PARIS. | Containing the Quartiers | {4 lines in italic} | Published under the Superintendence of the Society for the | Diffusion of Useful Knowledge || Under the frame: Drawn by W. B. Clarke, Archt. […] London: Published by Chapman and Hall, 186, Strand. April 1st, 1834. [...] Engraved by J. Shury || Dimensions: Sheet: 40.8 x 57 cm; Image: 38.7 x 52.5 cm. Contributors: William Barnard Clarke (British, 1806 – 1865) – artist. John Shury (fl. c. 1814-1844) – engraver. Chapman and Hall (London) – publisher. Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge (SDUK) (British firm, 1826 – 1846).
  • Superb Edo pictures illustrating dances (Odori keiyô Edo-e no sakae): Interior of an imaginary theatre with a performance of Shibaraku 「踊形容江戸絵栄」. Artist: Utagawa Kunisada [歌川 国貞] a.k.a. Utagawa Toyokuni III [三代歌川豊国] (Japanese, 1786 – 1865). Publisher: Nōshūya Yasubei (Japanese, fl. c. 1851 – 1870). Year: 1858 (Ansei 5), 7th month. Size: Vertical ôban triptych; 36.9 x 75.7 cm. Signed: 一陽斎雛獅豊国筆(年玉印) – Ichiyôsai Hinashi Toyokuni ga (on the left sheet only). Censor's seal: Horse 7 [午七 彫師]. Subject: Shibaraku. Ref.: MFA impression: 11.44263a-c; Robert Schaap. Kunisada (2016), p. 101 [LIB-1212.2017]. Ref.: [LIB-1197.2016] Arendie and Henk Herwig. Heroes of the Kabuki stage: an introduction to Kabuki with retellings of famous plays, illustrated by woodblock prints. — Amsterdam: Hotei Publishing, 2004; p. 38. [LIB-3316.2024] Chris Uhlenbeck, Jim Dwinger, Josephine Smit. The Riddles of Ukiyo-e: Women and Men in Japanese Prints. — Brussels: Ludion, 2023, p. 218-9, № 107.
  • Artist: Utagawa Hiroshige II (二代目 歌川広重] (Japanese, 1826 – 1869). Signed: Hiroshige ga. Publisher: Iseya Sōemon [伊勢屋惣右衛門] (Japanese, c. 1776 – 1862); seal: Hanmoto, Ue [板元 上] (Marks 19-047 | 156d). Combined date seal and kiwame censor seal: Bunkyū 2 (1862) Media: Fan print (uchiwa-e, 団扇絵), 230 x 296 mm.
  • Single volume, 17.1 x 11.2 cm, quarter black sheepskin over faux chagrin, gilt lettering to spine, marbled endpapers, bottom and outer margin untrimmed, pp.: [i-v] vi- xxxvi, [1] 2-218 [2], collated 4to: π2, a-d4, 1-274 282, total 256 pages or 128 leaves, plus 20 engraved plates by Paul Sellier, including frontispiece portrait of Alexis Piron after bust by Caffieri. Vol. 8 of Bibliothèque Libre, Œuvres badines de Piron, printed on February 15, 1872. Text printed on dense wove paper watermarked P or M, plates printed on India wove paper. A reprint of an edition published in 1796 plus illustrations. Title-page: ŒUVRES | BADINES | D’ALEXIS PIRON | PRÉCÉDÉES | D’UNE NOTICE SUR SA VIE | Nouvelle édition, ornée de 20 figures en taille-douce | {vignette} | IMPRIMÉ PAR LES PRESSES DE LA SOCIÉTÉ | A NEUCHATEL | – | 1872 || Limitation: 100 numbered copies, of which this is № 75. Catalogue raisonné: Dutel I: A-788; Pia: 953-6; Kearney 377 (Patrick J. Kearney. A Catalogue of the publications of Jules Gay, Jean-Jules Gay & Gay et Doucé, revised & expanded. — Santa Rosa, CA Scissors & Paste Bibliographies, 2019) Catalogue Poulet-Malassis & ses amis description: № 81. Alexis PIRON. Œuvres badines précédées d’une notice sur sa vie. Nouvelle édition ornée de 20 figures en taille-douce. [ Jules Gay] Imprimé par les presses de la société, à Neufchatel, 1872. In-8, xxxvi, 218 pages et un feuillet d’achevé d’imprimer de table, demi-basane noire, dos à faux nerfs, tête et tranches naturelles. Illustré d’un portrait et de 20 figures par Paul Sellier. Tirage limité à 100 ex. numérotés. De la « Bibliothèque libre ou collection choisie d’ouvrages du genre libre, imprimés ou réimprimés par les soins de la Société des Bibliophiles Cosmopolites et pour les membres de cette société, à cent exemplaires numérotés ». Bibliographie : Pia 1030, Enfer 1274, Lem 3-454, Gay 5-339, PC 353, G* 38, Pey 203, Dutel A-788." Contributors: Alexis Piron (French, 1689 – 1773) – author. Paul Sellier (French, 1842 – 19..?) – artist. Jules Léopold Gay (French, 1807 – 1887) – publisher.
  • Hand-coloured woodcut on wove paper, 409 x 280 mm; black ink stamp “5323” to reverse; attached to the sheet 487 x 320 mm. Top centre: "LE CAMP DE CHALONS."; left: "Nouvelle Imagerre d'Epinal"; right: № 452. Bottom left: "Imp lith. Pinot & Sagaire, libraires edit. à Épinal"; right: "Déposé". Image: 6-tier cartoon with captions about Napoleon III and his son Prince Imperial (Napoléon Eugène Louis Jean Joseph Bonaparte; 16 March 1856 – 1 June 1879). Le camp de Chalons Pinot & Sagaire (Épinal, 1861 – 1888) – enterprise, publisher/printer. Charles-François Pinot (French, 1817 – 1879) – publisher/printer.
  • Late 19th-century (1850-1870) Japanese export fan. This fan has a double leaf painted with a different design on either side. Ivory encrusted with gemstones (birds and shippomon motif). Painting by ukiyo-e artist and  printmaker Katsushika Isai (1821–1880) represents a riverside landscape with figures; birds and flowers on the reverse. Signed: Isai ga (為斎画) - "Painted by Isai".
  • Shibuichi Kozuka carved in low relief (takabori, usuniku-bori) and inlaid in gold and silver with design of Shoko, reading by moonlight, thatch, pine rosettes, and fool moon. According to Henri L. Joly [LEGEND IN JAPANESE ART. London, 1908; LIB-1416 in this collection] Shoko was a Chinese student of Taoism who was so poor that he had no money to buy illuminating materials and read by moonlight. Shoko mentioned in the article about another Chinese character - Shaen, who was reading by the light emitted by glow-worms (see page 310). Signed on the back: Haruchika (親) + kaō. Size: 97.3 mm (H) x 14.8 mm (W). Edo period, mid 19th century. NBTHK Certificate № 449542. Hamano Haruchika from Edo was a student of Haruyuki in 1848-54; Hamano School, Etchū Toyama Branch, according to M. Sesko's "Genealogy", page. 34. Most probably it is his work. Following the MFA data, it is also possible that "our" Haruchika is indeed Nara Haruchika or Tsuchiya Haruchika from Nara School; though I did not hind such artist in Markus Sesko books. However, in his "Toso-Kinko" on page 177 there is certain Shingorō who carried out his business under the name of Yanagawa Haruchika (1791-1857?)  
  • Ogata Gekkō [尾形月耕] (Japanese, 1859 – 1920). An uchiwa-e (fan-print) of advertisement of tobacco of Kagoshima Prefecture, c. 1890 (Meiji Period). Barefoot Tengu* is sitting on a torii (entrance to a Shinto shrine), smoking a cigarette through a mouthpiece. _______ * Tengu [天狗] (heavenly dog) is a type of legendary creature found in Japanese folk religion and are also considered a type of Shinto god (kami) or yōkai (supernatural beings).
  • Hardcover volume in 8vo, 21.2 x 15.4 cm, tan cloth with black on gilt background circular publisher’s device "TFU" to front cover, gilt-stamped compartments and burgundy labels with gilt lettering to spine. Ink inscription to fep verso dated Jan 18, 1907. Publisher's device and serial device to h.t. Title-page: ❦❦❦ THE MEMOIRS AND | TRAVELS OF MAURITIUS AUGUSTUS COUNT DE | BENYOWSKY | IN SIBERIA, KAMCHATKA, JAPAN, THE LIUKIU ISLANDS AND FORMOSA | FROM THE TRANSLATION OF HIS | ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT (1741–1771), | BY WILLIAM NICHOLSON, F.R.S., 1790 | EDITED BY CAPTAIN | PASFIELD OLIVER | ILLUSTRATED | LONDON: T. FISHER UNWIN, | PATERNOSTER SQUARE. MDCCCXCIII ❦❦❦ ||. Collation/Pagination: [1]-25plus 7 plates, incl. frontispiece and 1 map. [1, 2] – serial h.t. "The Adventure Series" / advert. THE ADVENTURE SERIES. Illustrated. Crown 8vo, 5s. 17 titles, [3, 4] – t.p. / blank, [5] 6-9 contents, [10] blank, [11, 12] illustrations/blank, [13] 14-52 introduction, 53-399, [400] colophon: THE GRESHAM PRESS, | URWIN BROTHERS, | CHILWORTH AND LONDON. Contributors: Publisher: T. Fisher Unwin (London); Thomas Fisher Unwin (British, 1848 – 1935). Author: Maurice Auguste count de Benyowsky [Мориц Август Бенёвский] (Polish-Slovak-Hungarian, 1746 –1786). Editor: Samuel Pasfield Oliver (British, 1838 – 1907). Translator: William Nicholson (British, 1753 – 1815). Originally published in 1790, in London (I have not seen it anywhere) and in Dublin by P. Wogan [etc.], and in 1791 in French, in Paris by Buisson; see LIB-2742.2021. For another copy of the same edition, see LIB-3139.2023. For the 1904 edition, see LIB-2703.2021.
  • A woodcut illustration after drawing by Leo von Elliot, published at Illustrirte Zeitung, 17 January 1863. English translation: Student bar "The Hole" in Brussels.

    The official name of this bar, located at Rue des Sols in Bussels, was "À la vue de l'Université" (In sight of the University). This was the place where the students of the Université libre de Bruxelles (Free University of Brussels), and especially the members of Société, ou Cercle, des Crocodiles (The Crocodile Society, or Circle), gathered in the 1860s.