• One volume, 25.8 x 20.7 cm, laid paper 25.2 x 19.5 cm, platemark 13.3 x 7.7 cm, wide margins; bound in calf, ruled in gilt, rebacked, raised bands, blind-stamped flower lozenges in compartments, crimson label with gilt lettering, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt, gilt dentelle inside, engraved bookplate to front pastedown: lettered ribbon: “VINCTUS NON VICTUS”, chained Lion Passant in a collar, below “Maurice B. Worms. Title-page: MONUMENS | DU | CULTE SECRET | DES | DAMES ROMAINES , | POUR SERVIR DE SUITE | AUX MONUMENS DE LA VIE PRIVÉE | DES XII CÉSARS. | {VIGNETTE} | A CAPRÉE. | CHEZ SABELLUS. | M. DCC. LXXXIV. || Collation: [A]2 B-G2 2A-Z2 Aa2 Bb1, total 63 leaves, plus engraved title/frontispiece and 50 plates, all unsigned, first and last blanks. Pagination: [i-ii] iii-xxvii [xxviii] 1-98, ils., total 126 pages. Catalogue raisonné: Cohen-De Ricci: 475; Lewine: 233; Dutel (1650-1880) № A-729, p. 223; Pia (1978): col. 884-5, pp. 467-8. Author: Pierre-François Hugues d'Hancarville (French, 1719-1805) – author. Provenance: Maurice Benedict Worms (Austrian, 1805 – 1867), son of Benedikt Moses Worms (1769 – 1824) and Schönche Jeannette Rothschild (1771 – 1859), maternal grandson of Mayer Amschel Rothschild (1744 – 1812), the founder of the House of Rothschild.
  • Vol. 1: THE | POEMS | OF | OSSIAN. | TRANSLATED | By JAMES MACPHERSON, Esq; | IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. I. | A NEW EDITION. | LONDON: | PRINTED FOR W. STRAHAN ; AND T. CADELL, | IN THE STRAND. | MDCCLXXXIV.|| Vol. 2:THE | POEMS | OF | OSSIAN. | TRANSLATED | By JAMES MACPHERSON, Esq; |  VOL. II. | A NEW EDITION. | LONDON: | PRINTED FOR W. STRAHAN ; AND T. CADELL, | IN THE STRAND. | MDCCLXXXV.|| Vol.1: [i-v] vi-xiii, [2] 3-404 pp; vol.2: [6], [2] 3-435 pp. Two volumes, 22.5 x 14.7 cm; hardcover; full calf with the spines later professionally rebound; original boards with sympathetic repairs to the margins and corners.5 raised bands, red label with gilt lettering to Sp. Bindings remain firm, page blocks firm, boards stained, pages a little rippled, with occasional marks throughout. spotting and marks to endpapers. James Macpherson (British, 1736–1796) was a Scottish writer, poet, literary collector and politician, known as the "translator" of the Ossian cycle of epic poems. Publishing Year: 1784 Publisher: W. Strahan and T. Cadell
  • Full Title: THE | ORIGIN AND PROGRESS | OF | WRITING, | AS WELL HIEROGLYPHIC AS ELEMENTARY, | ILLUSTRATED BY ENGRAVINGS TAKEN FROM | MARBLES, MANUSCRIPTS AND CHARTERS, | ANCIENT AND MODERN. | ALSO, | SOME ACCOUNT OF THE ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF PRINTING. | – | By THOMAS ASTLE, Esq. F.R.S. F.S.A. and | Keeper of the RECORDS in the Tower of LONDON. | – | LONDON: | Printed for the AUTHOR; | Sold by T. PAYNE and SON, B. White, P. Elmsly, G. Nicol, | and LEIGH and SOTHEBY. | M DCC LXXXIV. Pagination: ffl [i, ii] - t.p., blank, [iii, iv] - dedication, blank, [v] vi, vii - contents, [viii] - blank; [i] -xxv - introduction, [xxvi] blank; 1 - of the origin and progress... - 235 [236] blank (229-235 additions and corrections); on p. 235 imprint: FROM THE PRESS OF J. NICHOLS, MDCCLXXXIV; bfl; 31 plates: op. p. 64 (folding), 66, 70, 72 (2), 76, 80 (2, on recto and verso), 82 (2, on recto and verso), 84, 92, 94, 96 (folding), 98 (folding), 100, 102, 104 (folding), 106 (folding), 108 (folding), 112 (folding), 128 (folding), 140 (2, on recto and verso), 142, 146, 150 (folding), 158, 160, 176, 178, folding platessigned "B. T. Pouncy". Collation: [A4] a–c4 π1 B-Z4 Aa-Ff4 Gg2 Hh4. Size: 4to, 29.1 x 24.3 cm. Binding: contemporary full polished brown calf professionally re-backed, single-fillet gilt border to covers, raised bands, black title label with gilt lettering and gilt fillets, gilt year lettering to bottom. Printed on laid paper, margins marbled. Bookplates: "Alex-r Carlile" to front pastedown, "Nicholas Wall. Sometime his book" to back pastedown. To front pastedown: pencil inscriptions and pasted clipping about the book.