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London, 1929. 4to. Entire vol. X, 1929, bound in black full cloth with gilt lettering to spine. Hinges a bit weak and end-papers renewed. A few leaves loosening a bit. All in all a good, sound copy. Book plate of Frank J. Farrell to inside of front board. Pp. 226-228, (2 pp. - photographic illustrations), pp. 229-236. [Entire volume: VII, (1), 407 pp.]. Seminal first printing of the groundbreaking paper that announces for the first time one of the most revolutionizing discoveries of modern times, namely penicillin. Fleming's accidental discovery and isolation of penicillin in September 1928 (published here for the first time) marks the introduction of the age of useful antibiotics. This magnificent discovery would not only completely change the world of modern medicine, it would change the course of history, continually saving millions of lives around the world. "When I woke up just after dawn on September 28, 1928, I certainly didn't plan to revolutionise all medicine by discovering the world's first antibiotic, or bacteria killer. But I suppose that was exactly what I did." (Alexander Fleming). Fleming reported his great discovery in the present paper published in "British Journal of Experimental Pathology". An original offprint of the paper was also made, but that is of the utmost scarcity and possibly only one copy has survived (although some estimate three copies to be in existence). For a long time, a reprint from 1944 was thought to be the original offprint, but that later turned out not to be the case. The 1944 reprint was commissioned by Fleming himself, because he could locate no copies of the original. PMM 420a; Norman 798; Grolier 96.

(Josse Bade & Guillaume de Marnef), (on colophon:) August 6, 1515. 8vo. Wonderfully bound in a mid-19th century full morocco binding with broad gilt ornamental borders to boards, raised bands and richly and exquisitely gilt spine. Broad inner gilt ornamental borders to baords and gilt decoration to edges of boards. All edges gilt. Hinges expertly restored.With the gilt leather bookplate of Edward Hailstone to inside of front board and with the engraved armorial bookplate of C.L.F. Robinson to front free end-paper. Old printed private library number to verso of front free end-paper. Early owner's name to title-page and early, neat handwritten notes to first couple of leaves. Ff. 67-68 with a clean cut tear to the middle, no loss. First couple of leaves a little darkened. Overall in excellent condition with clear and fresh imprints. Title-page printed in red and black, with half-page woodcut ullustration and with Marnef-device. 107, (1) ff. Illustrated throughout with 115 magnificent woodcuts (including the one of the title-page), most of them ca 1/3 page, two of them full-page. Exceedingly scarce early edition of Badius’ great Navis Stutifere, his moral magnum opus and one of his most important works. The work was inspired by Brandt’s “Das Narrenschiff”, and like Brandts’ work, Badius’ Navis Stultifere (which uses the same title in Latin and refers to Badius on the title-page) is also a treatise on contemporary morals and the vices of man, written in Latin verse and with prose commentaries. This magnificent work is considered one of the most beautiful French books from the beginning of the 16th century. This is the fourth edition of the work, magnificently illustrated with the wonderful suite of the 114 original woodcuts from Brandt’s work (1494). The first edition was published in 1505 and the second and third in 1507 and 1513 respectively. All of the early editions are of the utmost scarcity. Badius’ Navis Stultifera must not be confused with his Stultiferae Naves from 1500, which Badius characterized as a supplement to Brandt’s work, directed at women, whereas the present work, which was first published in 1505, is a moral work in its own right, inspired by Brandt’s, together with Badius’ own prose interpretations, being a much freer, original, and personal. The work should also not be confused with a mere Latin translation of Brandt’s work, as this is Badius’ interpretation and original rendering of moral values inspired by Brandt, not an actual translation. If anything, it can be called an original reworking, with original prose commentaries, of Brandt’s “Narrenschiff”, caricaturing the human vices of different social classes. Badius has divided the text into 113 verse parts, each of them accompanied by a prose explanation differing significantly from Brandt’s text. Each verse chapter is also accompanied by one of the magnificent woodcuts as well as a poem. The poems are frequently drawn from the classics such as Virgil, Horace, and Juvenal, but also from Baptista de Mantua. As the frequent reprinting of it also points to, Badius’ great moral work was hugely influential. As Renouard suggests (I:164), the quotations and moral commentary, plus its frequent reprinting in the early 16th century, could point to its use as a school text. "The role of printers and the printing press as agents of cultural change in the period of transition between medieval and early modern times is generally considered to be of major importance. The development and spread of printing in the last decades of the fifteenth century and the first half of the sixteenth century was a significant factor in the diffusion of humanist thought and criticism. Some of the printers who presided over the publication of classical and contemporary works were active scholars and committed humanists themselves, supplying comments on the works that came off their presses. In France one of the most influential scholar-printers of the era was the Flemish-born Jodocus Badius Ascensius (1462–1535). From 1503 onwards, he ran his own printing office in Paris, where he published an impressive number of classical and humanist texts, often preceded by a preface in his own hand. Best known for his activities as a printer-publisher, Badius was also a renowned grammarian, poet, commentator and creative writer." (Anne-Marie De Gendt: On Pleasure..., p. (67)). This lovely copy has excellent provenance: 1.Edward Hailstone (1818-1890), Yorkshire solicitor and churchwarden, renowned British book collector and antiquary; fifth son of the botanist Samuel Hailstone (1767-1851). 2.Colonel Charles Leonard Frost Robinson, also a great book collector, who immigrated to America from England in 1907 and in 1911 became the president of the Colt Firearms Company in Hartford, Connecticut. Only 9 or 10 copies of the 1515-edition are listed in libraries worldwide, and the book, in all its early editions, is very rare in the trade. We have only been able to find very few copies at auction within the last 50 years. Brunet I, 1206; Renouard II, 84:6.

Havniae (København), N. Möller (et Filii) og N. Christensen, 1788-1806. Folio. Bound in two contemporary half calf bindings (vol. 1-4) with single gilt lines to spines. Gilt leather-title-label. Small tear to upper part of one hinge of vol. I. Marbled paper over boards. Spines with light signs of wear. Four engraved title-vignettes. (2),VI,52; (4),56; (4),71,(1); (6),46 pp. + 160 engraved plates (complete). Both plates and text have been printed on thick, heavy paper and are in excellent condition. Vol. II, however has a bit of marginal brownspotting to the first text-leaves. A few plates with minor, vague, marginal brownspotting. Apart from the 160 plates in b/w as issued, there is an unusual "appendix volume" that contains the first 120 plates (I-CXX) of the work, corresponding to the plates of vols. I-III, in beautiful ORIGINAL HAND-COLOURING. Furthermore, the binding has belonged to our famous zoologist OTTO FABRICIUS (internationally renowned for his "Fauna Groenlandica" (1780) ). At the foot of every plate, Fabricius has added species- and figure-determination in his own hand, outside of the print. That these denominations are in Fabricius' hand is evident from a handwritten note on the front free end-paper: "The designations here written are added by the zoologist professor Otto Fabricius, at whose auction this work is bought by H.B. Melcior." ("De her anførte skrevne benævnelser ere tilföiede af Zoologen professor Otto Fabricius, paa hvis Auktion dette værk er kiöbt af H.B. Melcior."). Melchior was a teacher at Herlufsholm and founded the natural history collections of the school. On the front free end-paper there is a stamp from the library of the school (Herlufsholms Bibliotek). This collection is bound in a contemporary full mottled calf binding with richly gilt spine. Small holes to boards. Binding with some wear. The plates are fine and fresh. Complete copy (of all that appeared) of this extremely rare work, which constitutes the highlight of Danish zoological literature of the 18thy century. The work was meant to be a counterpart to Bibliotheca Danica, but it was never completed. Here we have the work with the Latin text and all the plates that were issued. The publishing began already in 1777, when Müller issued the plates for the first two volumes separately, with no text. The publishing history is complicated, but it is thoroughly described in Jean Anker's monograph about the work (1950). The work describes the marine fauna in Denmark and Norway, and according to Anker, it is a foundational work of marine biology. Müller was one of the first to make widespread use of a bottom scraper - "Müller must therefore be regarded as one of the real pioneers in marine biology" (Anker). There are only very few copies of the work which have all plates in hand-coloured condition. In the present copy, all issued plates are present in b/w, and in addition we have plates 1-120 in hand-coloured condition. Bibl. Danica II,168. - Jean Anker "Otto Friderich Müller's Zoologia Danica" (1950) - Nissen ZBI,2932.- Gosch, Afd. III, pp. 176-80.

Paris, Imprimerie de la République, an VIII [i.e. 1800]. 4to. Bound in a lovely full mottled calf binding with fine, gilt ornamental borders to boards, double gilt line-borders to all edges of boards and a richly gilt spine. Spine with gilt red leather title-label and with the gilt monogram of Joséphine and Napoléon - "JB" - to lower spine. Neatly rebacked. With a handwritten inscription for Napoleon to title-page "Au Citoyen Bonaparte/ premier Consul de la République francaise/ De la part du Conseil [de]/ L'Ecole Polythechnique", with a signature underneath and the stamp of the Ecole Polytechnique. The inscription is slighly cropped at the outer margin. A bit of brownspotting here and there. (4), VII, (1), 477, (3) pp. First edition, original offprint from Journal Polytechnique, Tome III, Cahiers 7 & 8, of Prony's magnum opus "Mécanique phlilosophique". The three parts here are all that appeared, as the planned two parts announced on the verso of the extra title-page never appeared. A truly splendid copy from Napoleon's library, with the gilt monogram of him and Joséphine from the library at Malmaison and with a presentation-inscription for Napoléon, which is rare. Books from the library at Malmaison do occasionally appear on the market, although they are rare. They are usually taken to be mainly Joséphine's, as she spent more time there. This, however, is a rare exception. First, we know that Napoléon actually did spend time at Malmaison at the time that he was given the present volume, around 1800, second, it bears an inscription for him, which is rare, determining for a fact that this was one of his books, not Joséphine's. Together with the Tuileries, Malmaison was the French government's headquarters from 1800 to 1802, exactly the time that Napoleon will have been given the present book and incorporated it in his library. Many of the books at the Malmaison library were books on things like gardening that Joséphine cared a great deal about. These were clearly her books. And some of the books, like the present, were clearly those of Napoleon himself. Napoleon was a voracious reader and he spent much time in his library studying his books. He had a personal librarian, always travelled with books, and took pride in constructing portable libraries as well as the rooms for his own actual library. On 9 July 1800, he gave the commission for a study to be built in place of the three small rooms situated on the south corner pavilion of Malmaison. Fontaine removed the partition walls and commissioned the Jacob brothers to make the teak woodwork. On 18 September, Fontaine wrote: “Everything is now in place, and even though the First Consul found that the room looked like a church sacristy, he was nevertheless forced to admit that it would have been difficult to do better in such an unsuitable space”. The paintings of the great ancient and classical authors which surround Apollo and Minerva on the ceiling were probably executed by Lafitte. Napoleon had been an avid reader since he was quite young, and when he began studying at the École Militaire in Paris, he continued to read classics, literature, and philosophy, as he would throughout his life, but he also read more scientifically and strategically aimed books. “His appetite for reading books continued as he rose in power. In 1798, about to depart on the Egyptian campaign, he gave Bourrienne a list of books he wanted in his camp library. These included works in Sciences and Arts (e.g., Treatise on Fortifications), Geography and Travels (e.g., Cook’s Voyages), History (e.g., Thucydides, Frederick II), Poetry (e.g., Ossian, Tasso, Ariosto), Novels (e.g., Voltaire, Héloïse, Werther and 40 volumes of “English novels”), and Politics and Morals (the Bible, the Koran, the Vedas, etc.)” (Shannon Selin: Bonaparte the Book Worm), giving us a great insight into his preferences at the time. Prony, with his great Mechanical Philosophy, will have fallen perfectly amongst these great writers, when Napoleon returned to Malmaison, combining politics, science, and philosophy. It is not difficult to see how Napoleon will have been intrigued by mechanical philosophy, which is a form of natural philosophy that compares the universe to a large-scale mechanism. Mechanical philosophy is associated with the scientific revolution of Early Modern Europe, and one of the first expositions of universal mechanism is found in the opening passages of Hobbes’s Leviathan. Prony, in the present work, argues that mechanical principles in the practical arts themselves call for philosophical analysis. Baron Gaspard de Prony (1755-1839) was a French mathematician and engineer. He was educated at the Benedictine College at Toissei in Doubs. From there, he entered the École des Ponts et Chaussés in 1776, where he studied engineering until graduating in 1779. “In 1780 he became an engineer with the École des Ponts et Chaussés and after three years in a number of different regions of France he returned to the École des Ponts et Chaussés in Paris 1783. This was the same year he published his first major work in the Académie des Sciences on the forces on arches. Monge was impressed with this paper and realised that de Prony was someone of great potential. In 1785 de Prony visited England on a project to obtain an accurate measurement of the relative positions of the Greenwich Observatory and the Paris Observatory. Two years later he was promoted to inspector at the École des Ponts et Chaussés. Around this time he was involved with the work on the Louis XVI Bridge in Paris which is now called the Pont de la Concorde. Further promotion in 1790 was followed the next year by his being appointed Engineer-in-Chief of the École des Ponts et Chaussés. This promotion was as a result of the opening of the Louis XVI Bridge. Also around 1791 de Prony was working on geometry with Pierre Girard. Then in 1792, de Prony began a major task of producing logarithmic and trigonometric tables, the Cadastre. With the assistance of Legendre, Carnot and other mathematicians, and between 70 to 80 assistants, the work was undertaken over a period of years, being completed in 1801. […] In 1794 the École Centrale des Travaux Publics was founded by and was directed by Carnot and Monge. It was renamed the École Polytechnique in 1795 and de Prony was certainly one of the main lectures by this time. He is listed among the first teachers at the university […] In 1798 de Prony refused Napoleon's request that he join his army of invasion to Egypt. Fourier, Monge and Malus had agreed to be part of the expeditionary force and Napoleon was angry that de Prony would not come. It did mean that de Prony was to fail to receive the honours he deserved from Napoleon but de Prony's wife was a close friend of Joséphine and this probably saved de Prony from anything worse. In 1798 de Prony achieved his ambition of being appointed director of the École des Ponts et Chaussés. His desire for this post was almost certainly a main reason for his refusing to join Napoleon. As director he began producing a number of important texts on mathematical physics.” (From University of St. Andrews scientific biographies). The present book and its presentation to Napoleon comes from this time, linking the two even closer. After Napoleon was defeated, the reorganization in France included a reorganization of the École Polytechnique, which was closed during 1816. De Prony lost his position as professor there and was not part of the reorganization committee. However, as soon as the school reopened, de Prony was asked to be an examiner so he continued his connection yet only had to work one month per year.

London, Darling & Son, 1891. 8vo. Disbound. Stamp to p. 1. 1 .p + 1 plate. Scarce original printed patent for the world's first energy-generating wind-mill, the "Blyth Turbine", being the first wind turbine used to convert wind energy into power.Blyth's seminal invention marked the dawn of wind turbine development. Although previously credited with being the first to use a wind powered machine to generate electricity, it is now an accepted fact that the American inventor Charles Brush came second to Blyth and his wind mill. There were, of course wind mills before the time of Blyth, but these were used to pump water or grind grain, and Blyth's groundbreaking invention, described and patented for the first time here, is the first used to convert wind energy into power. Blyth experimentend, prompted by his friend Lord Kelvin, with three different turbine designs, which ultimately resulted in a 10-meter-high, cloth-sailed wind turbine, which was installed in the garden of his holiday cottage at Marykirk in Kincardineshire. He used the electricity it produced to charge accumulators, and the stored electricity was used to power the lights in his cottage, which thus became the first house in the world to be powered by wind-generated electricity. The wind turbine in Blyth's garden is said to have operated for 25 years."The first person to harness the wind to produce electricity was a Scotsman, James Blyth ('America reaps the wind harvest', 21 August). He first consulted his colleague, Lord Kelvin, about the possibility of using a windmill for the purpose. Kelvin thought it would be possible and urged Blyth to set up a large horizontal windmill at his holiday home in Marykirk near Montrose in 1888. Blyth lit his own house and offered to light the streets of Marykirk, but his offer was not accepted because the villagers thought electricity was the work of the devil. He did, however, provide emergency power for the local asylum." (Price, Trevor J.: James Blyth - Britain's first modern wind power pioneer, Wind Engineering, Volume 29, Number 3, May 2005 , pp. 191-200(10)).

Nürnberg, Homannischen Officin, n.date (maps ca 1720-39). Large folio. 54,5x32 cm. Contemporary, probably original, limp full calf with flap ("portmanteau"). (Only 4 maps with dating: 2 with 1732, 1728 and 1739).Cover with blind-tooled frames inside which a crowned monogram and the number 50 (= number of plates). Binding worn at edges, covers and back somewhat rubbed. Flap torn and partly with an old repair. Fine allegorical engraved hand-coloured title, printed title with Index (these 2 leaves strengthened in lower margin, no loss of image), and all 49 engraved maps, all in fine original hand-colouring and in double-folio. In excellent condition, with large cartouches (cartouches uncoloured). A few maps with insignificant small tears in folding. The title-page engraved by Michael Rössler, pointing to an early issue of the atlas, and before the publishing house had its name changed to Homann Erben (from 1730). A fine, complete and early atlas from the famous Nürnberger map-maker and publisher, J.B. Homann, geographer to the Kaiser (Emperor). The atlas comprises: Engraved Title. The hemispheres. Europe. Asia. Africa. America. Spain & Portugal. France (Galliæ). England. Holland & Belgium. Belgia etc.. Holland. Schweitz. Italy. Savoye. Milano etc.. Florenz. Naples. Sicily. Germany. Austria. German Provinces 18 maps. Slesvig. Holstein. Scandinavia. Denmark. Sweden & Finland. Poland. Preussen. Russia. Hungary & Greece. Palestine.

Oxford, E Theatro Sheldoniano, 1681. Folio. Nice contemporary full calf with five raised bands and single gilt line-decorations to spine. Gilt title-label and gilt lettering to spine. Double blindstamped borders to boards. All edges of boards gilt. A bit of wear to hinges and capitals, but overall very nice. Internally very clean and fresh with only minimal, light occasional browning. With the book-plate of Gaddesden Library to inside of front board. Engraved device to title-page. (14), 312; (4), 88 pp. Rare first edition of the founding work of Western medieval philosophy, the main work by "the one important philosophical thinker to appear in Latin Christendom between Augustine... and Anselm." (Encycl. of Phil.). This magnum opus of medieval thought is considered the "final achievement" of ancient philosophy (Burch: Early Medieval Philosophy, 1951) and is one of the few true defining moments of medieval philosophy. It not only marks the beginning of Western medieval philosophy, it also anticipates German idealism. Kolakowski identifies "De divisione naturae" as the archetype of Hegel's Phenomenology of Mind (see "Main Currents of Marxism"), the Hegelians considered him the father of German idealism, and Hegel states that "Scholastic philosophy is considered to begin with John Scotus Erigena who flourished about the year 860, and who must not be confused with the Duns Scotus of a later date... With him true philosophy first begins, and his philosophy in the main coincides with the idealism of the Neo-Platonists." (From Hegel’s Lectures on the History of Philosophy: Part Two. Philosophy of the Middle Ages). As the dialectical reasoning in the “De divisione naturae” prefigures Hegel, its theory of place and time as defining structures of the mind anticipates Kant. As Gordon A. Leff also points out, Eriugena stands out as the one original thinker in the period from Boethius to Anselm. He is responsible for a revival of philosophical thought which had remained largely dormant in Western Europe after the death of Boethius and creates the only philosophical system to emerge in more than half a millenia. He is the forerunner to speculative idealism, considered a “Proclus of the West” (Hauréau, 1872) and the “Father of Speculative Philosophy” (Huber, 1861). According to The Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy, Eriugena is "the most significant Irish intellectual of the early monastic period. He is generally recognized to be both the outstanding philosopher (in terms of originality) of the Carolingian era and of the whole period of Latin philosophy stretching from Boethius to Anselm"; Gersh praises his notion of structure, which places him amongst modern writers rather than medieval ones, stating also that "(i)n some respects, Western medieval philosophy can be viewed as beginning with the brilliant and controversial ninth-century thinker JohnScotus Eriugena." (Gersh, p. 125). His magnum opus "synthesizes the philosophical accomplishments of fifteen centuries and appears as the final achievement of ancient philosophy" (Burch). Eriugena became extremely influential throughout the later Middle Ages and directly influenced Bernard of Clairvaux, Hildegard van Bingen, and Nicolas of Cusa. He also anticipates Thomas Aquinas in saying that one cannot know and believe a thing at the same time, and exercised a direct influence on modern philosophy. After the rediscovery of his magnum opus, which was printed for the first time in 1681 (the present work), his astonishingly modern train of thought and his immensely important philosophical system came to directly influence some of the most important thinkers of the modern era, most significantly probably Hegel. Eriugena is often referred to as “the Hegel of the 9th century”, and he thus also became a primary influence upon Marx’ dialectical form. Schopenhauer stresses the importance of the rediscovery of Eriugena with the present publication and says in Parerga and Paralopomena (vol. I) “ After Scotus Erigena had been lost and forgotten for many centuries, he was again discovered at Oxford and in 1681, thus four years after Spinoza's death, his work first saw the light in print. This seems to prove that the insight of individuals cannot make itself felt so long as the spirit of the age is not ripe to receive it.” “In the later Middle Ages both Meister Eckhart of Hochheim (c.1260–c.1328) and Nicholas of Cusa (1401–64) were sympathetic to Eriugena and familiar with his “Periphyseon”. Cusanus owned a copy of the “Periphyseon”. Interest in Eriugena was revived by Thomas Gale’s first printed edition of 1687 (recte: 1681). However, soon afterwards, Thomas Gale’s first printed edition, the “Periphyseon”, was listed in the first edition of the “Index Librorum Prohibitorum”, and remained on it, until the Index itself was abolished in the 1960s. In the nineteenth century, Hegel and his followers, interested in the history of philosophy from a systematic point of view, read Eriugena rather uncritically as an absolute idealist and as the father of German idealism. The first critical editions of his major works were not produced until the twentieth century (Lutz, Jeauneau, Barbet) [...] Eriugena is an original philosopher who articulates the relation between God and creation in a manner which preserves both divine transcendence and omnipresence. His theory of human nature is rationalist and intellectualist but also apophatic. His theory of place and time as defining structures of the mind anticipates Kant, his dialectical reasoning prefigures Hegel. But above all, Eriugena is a mystic who emphasizes the ultimate unity of human nature and through it of the entire creation with God.” (SEP). Eriugena - who Bertrand Russel also considered "the most astonishing person of the ninth century" - had been commissioned by Charles the Bald to translate the writings that were then thought to be by Dionysius (the learned pagan converted by St. Paul). Eriugena had taught himself Greek and succeeded in an excellent translation. "He went on to translate various other Greek Christian texts, by Gregory of Nyssa and the seventeenth-century Maximus the Confessor. All these influences along with his wide reading of the Latin fathers (especially Ambrose and Augustine) and his enthusiasm for logic.. are combined in his masterpiece "Periphyseon ("About Nature"; it is also sometimes known as "De divisione naturae", "On the division of nature"), written in the 860s. The "Periphyseon" has been seen by some as continuing a tradition of Greek Neoplatonic thought, and by some as anticipating nineteenth-century German Idealist philosophy". (Stephen Gersh, Johannes Scotus Eriugena and Anselm of Canterbury, p. 121. In: Marenbon, Medieval Philosophy, 2004). Although the beautiful Oxford-imprints from the second half of the seventeenth century are usually not rare in themselves, the present work is very scarce indeed. A reason for this might be that the book was placed on the “Index Librorum Prohibitorum” right after publication and remained on it, until the Index itself was abolished in the 1960s. This editio princeps of Eriugena’s main work also contains Eriugena’s translation of one of the works that influenced him the most, namely the “Scholia Maximi in Gregorium Theologium”, which also appears here in print for the first time. Johannes (c.800–c.877), who signed himself as “Eriugena” in one manuscript, and who was referred to by his contemporaries as “the Irishman” (scottus—in the ninth century Ireland was referred to as “Scotia Maior” and its inhabitants as “scotti”) is the most significant Irish intellectual of the early monastic period. He is generally recognized to be both the most outstanding philosopher (in terms of originality) of the Carolingian era and of the whole period of Latin philosophy stretching from Boethius to Anselm… Eriugena’s uniqueness lies in the fact that, quite remarkably for a scholar in Western Europe in the Carolingian era, he had considerable familiarity with the Greek language, affording him access to the Greek Christian theological tradition, from the Cappadocians to Gregory of Nyssa, hitherto almost entirely unknown in the Latin West… Eriugena’s thought is best understood as a sustained attempt to create a consistent, systematic, Christian Neoplatonism from diverse but primarily Christian sources. Eriugena had a unique gift for identifying the underlying intellectual framework, broadly Neoplatonic but also deeply Christian, assumed by the writers of the Christian East… Overall, Eriugena develops a Neoplatonic cosmology according to which the infinite, transcendent, and “unknown” God, who is beyond being and non-being, through a process of self-articulation, procession, or “self-creation”, proceeds from his divine “darkness” or “non-being” into the light of being, speaking the Word who is understood as Christ, and at the same timeless moment bringing forth the Primary Causes of all creation. These causes in turn proceed into their Created Effects and as such are creatures entirely dependent on, and will ultimately return to, their sources, which are the Causes or Ideas in God. These Causes, considered as diverse and infinite in themselves, are actually one single principle in the divine One. The whole of reality or nature, is involved in a dynamic process of outgoing (exitus) from and return (reditus) to the One. God is the One or the Good or the highest principle, which transcends all, and which therefore may be said to be “the non-being that transcends being”. In an original departure from traditional Neoplatonism, in his dialogue Periphyseon, this first and highest cosmic principle is called “nature” (natura) and is said to include both God and creation. Nature is defined as universitas rerum, the “totality of all things”, and includes both the things which are (ea quae sunt) as well as those which are not (ea quae non sunt). This divine nature may be divided into a set of four “species” or “divisions” (divisiones) which nevertheless retain their unity with their source. These four divisions of nature taken together are to be understood as God, presented as the “Beginning, Middle, and End of all things”.” (SEP).

(Antwerp, Gerard Leeu, undated but between August 2, 1487 & 1489) 4to (204 x 141 mm). In 19th-century half vellum over marbled paper covered boards. Old paper-label stating "Bernadus" pasted on to lower part of spine. Light wear to extremities, spine slightly discoloured and boards with a few scratches. First 6 ff. reinforced by fragments of a 13th-century manuscript on vellum. Ex-libris pasted on to back free end-paper. Title woodcut illustration depicting the Annunciation (belongs to a quarto series of 68 blocks by the "Second Gouda Woodcutter", specifically to the 44 blocks copied from Israhel van Meckenem’s smallest Passion series. The present impression is the sixth - see Bibliothek Otto Schäfer, vol. 1, p. 165). Title-page slightly soiled. Lower margin of title-page with annotation in contemporary calligraphed hand "Liber monasterij bemensis premonstratensium ordinis huesden" (see below). Lower blank margins throughout carefully washed and pressed. Housed in a green slipcase. 30 ff. Provenance: - The Abbey of the Prémontrés of Berne (near Heusden, Netherlands); contemporary manuscript inscription: "Liber monasterij bemensis premonstratensium ordinis huesden". (15th/16th century).- Portsmouth/Bishophouse (United Kingdom), Virtue & Cahill Library (Christie’s 5-7-1967.) Nr. 8, bought by Breslauer.- 1968: Sold by Breslauer to:- Otto Schäfer Collection, Schweinfurt (Federal Republic of Germany), with its "OS" stamp. Exhibited at “Druckgraphik des 15. Jahrhunderts”, organized by Mr. Otto Schäfer in 1973 for the Fränkische Bibliophilen-Gesellschaft, Schweinfurt (N° B.83, described p. 64 of the catalog). Katalog der Bibliothek Otto Schäfer Schweinfurt, no. 42. Second - being the first illustrated - edition of Bernard of Clairvaux’s seminal work on the Virgin Mary, her virtues, her role in salvation and her theological significance. It is structured as a commentary on the passage from the Gospel of Luke (1:26) where the angel Gabriel announces the Incarnation to Mary. Bernard was a produtive writer on various aspects of the Bible and Christianity. As a devoted Mariologist, he emphasized Mary's central role in Christian theology and preached effectively on Marian devotions, making the present publication one of the most representative and influential of all his works. It was pivotal in shaping Medieval and Renaissance Marian devotion. Antwerp rapidly emerged as a dominant center for illustrated books in the late 15th century, with Gerard Leeu, the printer of the present work, at the forefront of this movement. He was among the most prolific printers of his time, using over 850 different woodblocks across his works:"Antwerp rapidly became the main centre for illustrated books in the Low Countries and Gerard Leeu was without doubt the most prolific printer of them, with more than 850 different woodblocks used in the books he produced. He collaborated with anonymous engravers, whose names came from their place of activity: from the First and Second Gouda woodcutters, to the Master of Haarlem and the First Antwerp Woodcutter. Leeu also obtained many other engravings from colleagues such as Jacob Bellaert (fl. 1483-1486) from Haarlem, or Heinrich Knoblochtzer (c. 1445-1500) from Strasbourg. As evidence of his good relationships with certain other printers, Leeu did not hesitate to lend them woodblocks, as, for example, he did with Johann Koelhoff (c. 1502) in Cologne and Arend de Keysere († 1489) in Ghent. After his death, his collection of woodblocks was dispersed amongst several printers, such as, in Antwerp, Adriaen van Liesvelt (fl. 1494-1500), Dirk Martens, Roland van den Dorp († c. 1500) and Henrick Eckert, as well as the Zwolle-based Peter Os van Breda (fl. 1480-1510). Leeu is a perfect example of a printer who used all available means to get hold of the materials required to illustrate his editions, and, in contrast to some others, he never resorted to using less competent engravers who would simply copy woodcuts that appeared in the publications of competitors." (Adam, The Emergence of Antwerp as a printing centre, p. 21). The present work has a most fascinating provenance. The earliest recorded ownership of this book places it in the Abbey of the Prémontrés of Berne, located near Heusden in the Netherlands. It was most likely placed in this library immediately or shortly after printing, judging from the inscription on the title-page. The Abbey of Prémontré was among the monasteries suppressed after the French Revolution and it was demolished in 1790. At some point, the book crossed the North Sea and found its way to England. By the mid-20th century, it was housed in Portsmouth, specifically at the Bishophouse, and became part of the Virtue & Cahill Library collection. The book was later sold at Christie’s auction on July 5–7, 1967 (catalogued as Nr. 8), where it was purchased by Bernard Breslauer. In 1968, Breslauer sold the book to Otto Schäfer, the noted German collector and industrialist. Schäfer’s collection in Schweinfurt was renowned for its focus on early printed books and illustrated incunabula. During its time in the Schäfer Collection, the book was exhibited in 1973 as part of the “Druckgraphik des 15. Jahrhunderts” exhibition, organized for the Fränkische Bibliophilen-Gesellschaft in Schweinfurt. BM 15th century IX, p. 193 Goff B400 Hain-Copinger 2864-2865 Schäfer 42 ISTC: ib00400000 OCLC only listS one copy in the US (Cambridge MA, Harvard University, Houghton Library)

Paris (Imprimerie de Ducessios), Louis Janet (Vve Magnin & Fils), (1875?). Small 8vo (binding: 14,8 x 11,2 cm.). Original full red cloth with gilt title to front board. All edges gilt. Very neatly rebacked. A splendid copy, with only minor occasional, light brownspotting and nice and bright text-leaves. One leaf of text (pp. 115-16) has had the lower corner torn off, so a part of that text-leaf is missing. Plates are in splendid condition - nice, clean, and crisp -, and all moveable parts present, fully intact and fully workable. XV (including the handcoloured title-page with moveable parts), (1), (137) pp. + 12 magnificent plates in wonderful original hand-colouring and with moveable parts. Incredibly scarce third issue (with the original plates and moveable parts of the first issue) of one of the most important and rarest children's books ever produced, namely the first printed book with pullable parts, sometimes called "the first interactive book". In all, three issues of the work appeared. All three are of the utmost scarcity, as only 20 copies (apart from the present) in all, from either of the three issues are known. And of these 20 copies, at least five are incomplete. Of the three issues, the third is the scarcest, as only two or three other copies apart from the present are known. Two of these are in institutional holdings, and a third, which is possibly the third issue, is in a private collection in Japan. The first issue of the work is thought to have appeared in 1831 and the second around 1837. The three issues are quite easily distinguishable, although some variants appear. The first issue was printed by Doyen, and the second and third by Ducessois. Magnin, the successor of Janet, adopts the name "Veuve Magnin et Fils" in 1867, and the copies that bear this imprint on the title-page thus belong to the third issue. Saint-Alban argues that it was printed in 1875. But the setting seems to be exactly the same as the preceding issue (which has the preliminary leaves reset in comparison to the first issue), and the plates and moveable parts are certainly those of the first issue. Possibly, only the first three leaves (half-title and title-pages) are actually in a new printing, with new publisher and printer, and the rest are the same as the second issue. And possibly, only the 15 first pages differ from the first issue, so that the rest is actually the same printing throughout all the issues. In the introduction to this wonderful book, the author explains to his young readers - whom he addresses directly - that he has invented the present "mechanism" in order to rediscover the magic of the metamorphoses caused by the fairy wands and "to bring into action" the scenes from the history". The book is truly splendid, in both beauty, detail, and innovation. Brès is known as the creator of some of the most beautiful children's books ever produced, accompanied, by wonderful coloured engravings. In the present work, he excelled completely and introduced an entirely new way of creating children's books, which was far ahead of its time. In fact, the kind of interactive book that Brès here introduces, pioneered the interactive books that were to appear in the 1930'ies.

London, The Modern Press, 1883. Royal8vo. Entire volume present, in the original olive green full cloth binding with gilt lettering to spine. Front board with black line-borders, black vignette, gilt lettering and gilt ornamentation depicting the sun. Spine with small mark and professional repairs to head and tail of spine. Light occassional brownspots to first leaves, otherwise a fine and clean copy. (Capital:) Pp. 57-68; 145-150. (Entire volume:) IV, 600 pp. Housed in a cloth clamshell box with gilt lettering to spine. The exceedingly rare first British translation of any part of ‘Das Kapital’ and the first English translation of any part of the work to be published in Britain. When Karl Marx was finalizing the first volume of “Das Kapital”, he was already planning an English translation; British socialism was dominated by trade unionism and Marx wanted to propagate his ideas among the British working class. It would take 16 years, however, before the present translation was published and a full 20 years before the first full translation of the first volume of Das Kapital was published. The present work is of the utmost scarcity and we have not beeen able to find a single auction record of it. Marx' research for ‘Das Kapital’ was in large part carried out in the reading room of the British Library, and the British working class during the industrial revolution in the late 18th century and early 19th century was highly important to Marx' class analysis. Consequently, Marx was eager to have an English translation published and for years, Marx and Engels tried to find an English translator and an editor for “Das Kapital”. While several unauthorized translations were planned and even begun, nothing came of it in Marx’s lifetime. The present book is the first volume of a journal, edited by Ernest Belfort Bax & James Leigh Joynes, which specialized in the publication of free-thinking and radical works. It was published from 1883 to 1889, and To-Day's guiding principle was to 'shake itself free from all fetters, save those of truth and taste'. Its political stance is indeed bold and not entirely unfitting for a first translation of ‘Das Kapital’: 'the equal rights of every human being to health, wealth, wisdom and happiness shall be our watchword'. Two sections of ´Das Kapital´, namely: I. The Serfdom of Work; II. The Lordship of Wealth. According to the heading, the second installment is being translated from the French edition of 1872, but a footnote states: “this chapter is translated from the second and third sections of chapter X of the original". The first complete English book edition appeared in 1887, under the title Capital: A Critical Analysis of Capitalist Production. It was translated by Samuel Moore and Edward Aveling (the partner of Karl Marx's daughter Eleanor), overseen by Engels.

Paris, 1932. 8vo. Original grey printed wrappers with signs of reading, but overall very good. A bit of wear along hinges (with very neat, barely noticeable professional restoration), a few smaller creases to front wrapper and an old owner's inscription in red crayon. A small closed tear to back wrapper. Many notes and underlinings (by Mijolla - see note below) and inlaid are sevaral leaves with notes. Inscribed to half-title. (14), XIII, (1), 381, (3) pp. Housed in a custom-made blue cloth box with see-through front board and gilt lettering to spine. Very rare first edition, presentation-copy with an exceptional provenance, of Lacan's groundbreaking doctoral thesis, which constitutes the foundation of all his later work and inaugurated a new era in psychology and psychiatry. The copy is inscribed and signed by Jacques Lacan to professor Hesnard - highly important fellow psychiatrist famous for introducing Freud in France - in November 1932 ("à monsieur le professeur Hesnard en signe de ma respectueuse sympathie, Jacques Lacan, Ce 26 novembre 1932"). Furthermore, the copy has been in the possession of the important psychoanalyst and historian Alain de Mijolla (1933-2019) and bears his extensive notes and underlinings. Lacan, who is often referred to as "the most controversial psycho-analyst since Freud", "the father of French psychoanalytical thinking", and a towering intellectual giant of the twentieth century, plays as dominant a role in modern psychology and the development of psychological thought as Freud. It is his doctoral dissertation (the present work) that constitutes the inaugural moment in his work. "Lacan's theoretical engagement with psychosis constitutes a central platform for his ventures into psychoanalysis; from his doctoral thesis on paranoia in the 1930s through to his seminar on Joyce in the 1970s, the question concerning the psychoanalytic treatment of psychosis was at the forefront of his clinical work." Aimée, Lacan's patient and subject of his thesis, bears the same importance for the history of psychology as Anna O., the patient in Freud and Breuer's "Stydies of Hysteria". Aimée was a thirty-eight-year-old woman, who had tried to stab the celebrated actress Huguette Duflos and was thus imprisoned, in April 1931. The story immediately reached the press, and "Aimée" (Lacan's pseudonym for her) became famous in the whole country. Lacan began to see her one month later at the Sainte-Anne Hospital. Through biographical inquiry, Lacan established a classic picture of her and noticed a development that would come to play a central role in his psychological theory: after three weeks of incarceration, Aimée was almost completely out of her delusional state, which Lacan considered evidence of the acute nature of her paranoia. This connection, which according to Lacan meant that she found consolation only in her punishment, not in the act itself, caused Lacan to propose a new diagnostic category, namely "self-punishment paranoia." "It [i.e. "De la Psychose Paranoïaque"] took on the importance that had previously been accorded to studies in hysteria in the rise of the international movement. Just as Freud had given hysteria its patents of nobility in endowing it with full-fledged existence as an illness, so Lacan, forty years later, gave paranoia, and more generally psychosis, an analogous place within the French movement" (E. Roudinesco: La Bataille de cent ans, l'histoire de la psychanalyse en France, Vol. 2, p. 114). With Lacan's doctoral dissertation, Aimée quickly became a cause celebre for the surrealists. In the "De la Psychose Paranoïaque", Lacan also included a selection of Aimee's copious writings, which were produced at the height of her psychosis. This also contributed to the immediate importance of the work and to the spreading of Lacan's novel theories. "Certainly it was this feature which was seized upon by its first surrealist readers, and which gave to this medical thesis right from the start a position in contemporary, even avant-garde thinking, which was markedly different from the usual dustgathering oblivion that is the fate of such work." (Olga Cox-Cameron: Lacan's Doctoral Thesis: Turbulent Preface or Founding Legend?) "Jacques Lacan is regarded as the father of French psychoanalytical thinking. He trained in mainstream psychiatry and his doctorate thesis was supervised by Gaétan de Clérambault. After the Second World War he became a cult figure in French intellectual circles, mixing Freudian ideas with social comment. As with many French intellectuals, he founded an ephemeral one-man movement with many followers" (Preface to the English translation (1986)). "Jacques Lacan (April 13, 1901 to September 9, 1981) was a major figure in Parisian intellectual life for much of the twentieth century. Sometimes referred to as "the French Freud," he is an important figure in the history of psychoanalysis. His teachings and writings explore the significance of Freud's discovery of the unconscious both within the theory and practice of analysis itself as well as in connection with a wide range of other disciplines. Particularly for those interested in the philosophical dimensions of Freudian thought, Lacan's oeuvre is invaluable. Over the course of the past fifty-plus years, Lacanian ideas have become central to the various receptions of things psychoanalytic in Continental philosophical circles especially." (SEP). Provenance: Angelo Louis Marie Hesnard (1886-1969) was an extremely important early French psychonanalyst and psychiatrist famous for his contributions to French sexology in the 30'ies and his groundbreaking early studies on Freud. He was a founding member of the Société psychanalytique de Paris, founded in 1926, and he occupies a central role in the history of modern psychoanalysis, being the co-author of the first French work on psychoanalysis and the person who introduced Freudian psychoanalysis to France. In the fifties he debated with Jacques Lacan over the meaning of Freud's saying "Where It was, shall I be"; but when debarred by the IPA from the roster of training analysts as a representative of the chauvinist wing of French psychoanalysis, he followed Lacan into the École Freudienne de Paris in 1964. "HESNARD, ANGÉLO LOUIS MARIE (1886-1969)A psychoanalyst, doctor with the French Navy, and professor at the École Principale du Service de Santé de la Marine... He was coauthor of the first French work on psychoanalysis and one of the founding members of the Société Psychanalytique de Paris (SPP). He was the son of Angélo Théodose Hesnard and Lélia Célénis Rosalie Blancon, from a family of judges. His brother Oswald, who had a degree in German, helped him understand Freud's writings.After completing his studies in Pontivy, he entered the École de Santé de la Marine et des Colonies in Bordeaux on October 20, 1905. A student of Albert Pitres, then of Emmanuel Régis, he wrote his dissertation in 1909 on "Les troubles de la personnalité dans lesétats d'asthénie psychique," in which there is a reference to Freud. He continued his military career in Toulon, then, from 1910 to 1912, on the armored cruiser "Amiral Charner" in the Middle East.Upon his return in 1912 he was appointed assistant at the Clinique des Maladies Mentales at the University of Bordeaux, where he rejoined Emmanuel Régis, who encouraged Hesnard to study Freud. On January 2, Freud wrote to Karl Abraham, "Today I received a letter from a student of Régis, in Bordeaux, written on his behalf, apologizing in the name of French psychiatry for its present neglect of Ya." According to a letter to Ernest Jones on January 14, the reference is to the "apologies from the French nation" that Freud received. This was followed in 1913 by the publication of "La doctrine de Freud et de sonécole" by Emmanuel Régis and Angélo Hesnard in "L'Encéphale"." La Psychanalyse des névroses et des psychoses " appeared in 1914. It was a lengthy précis-and as faithful as it was possible to be at the time-of Freud's principal theories, as Sándor Ferenczi noted in the review of the book he wrote in 1915. This was followed by an examination of the criticisms the theories had received from various authors, and finally by several commentaries, of which Hesnard claimed, after Régis' death, that he-Régis-was the principal author.They recognized that "Freud's system seems to constitute, regardless of what one may say, one of the most important scientific movements of the current psychological period." Nonetheless, their remarks essentially referred to what appeared to them to be no more than "ingenious assumptions" that were both original and well understood, since-and this is an argument that would be repeated for decades to come-"Freud's method of conception is based on that of Janet, whom he has constantly been inspired by. Transforming the term 'psychological analysis,' employed by Janet, into psychoanalysis has changed nothing in the method used by both students of Charcot." The causal importance given to sexuality or symbolism was also criticized. While Freud, in his "On the History of the Psychoanalytic Movement" (1914d), concluded that "Régis and Hesnard (Bordeaux) have recently [1914] attempted to disperse the prejudices of their countrymen against the new ideas by an exhaustive presentation, which, however, is not always understanding and takes special exception to symbolism," he reproached Hesnard for years for this type of finding. In France the work remained the only extensive essay on psychoanalysis for nearly twenty years and was reprinted in 1922 and 1929." (Encycl.). Alain de Mijolla (1933-2019) was a psychoanalyst in the Societe psychanalytique de Paris in 1968, and by 2001 a training analyst there. He also created and chaired the International Association of History of the Psychoanalysis (AIHP) and received the Mary S. Sigourney Award in 2004 (stating about him: A renowned author and lecturer, editor and influential researcher of the history of psychoanalytic ideas, Dr. de Mijolla conceived and has directed and edited an authoritative Dictionnaire International de a Pysychanalyse in French and now in English. This dictionary, which has received widespread acclaim in Europe, is an extremely important undertaking for the whole psychoanalytic community. More than four hundred scholars have contributed to this dictionary, which is a landmark in its field. This dictionary of analytic concepts and terms includes commentaries on international psychoanalysis as well as brief biographies of the major pioneers of psychoanalysis. He has also contributed widely in the field of psychoanalytic history and is President of the International Association for the History of Psychoanalysis, which received a Sigourney Award in 2001.He wrote numerous articles and important works in the history of phychoanalytic and edited psychoanalytical collections at several publishers, including the three volumes of the "International Dictionary of Psychoanalysis." He is famous for his studies of Freud that shed new light on the history of psychology and on Freud himself, and he drew Freud into contemporary times, famously stressing the difficulties of representing the psychoanalytic setting in cinematic terms. The first edition of "De la Psychose Paranoïque" is of great scarcity, especially in wrappers and fully complete as here, with the half-title and the 7 unnumbered leaves with printed dedication to family, friends, and mentors. Furthermore, presentation-copies of this landmark work are of extreme scarcity, and the provenance of the present copy is very hard to beat.

Paris, (Jehan Loys, for:) Vincent Sertenas, 1545. Small folio. Nice eighteenth century full calf binding with six raised bands to richly and elegantly gilt spine (matching the style of the illustration-borders) and triple gilt line-borders to boards., spine richly gilt with seven raised bands. A bit of wear ti extremities. Title-page has been professionally restored and re-enforced, and the upper 3 cm with the first line of the title has been reinstated. Otherwise, the copy is in excellent condition, with only very mild, light brownspotting, clear, bright paper, and good margins. CCCL, (1) ff. Roman type, italic side-notes, translator's note to the reader in verse and errata on final, unnumbered leaf. Colophon on verso of last leaf, with Loys' large woodcut device, title woodcut of Homer as the Fountain of Poetry (14,2 x 10,4 cm.), ten woodcuts, one at the beginning of each book (the first the same size as the title-llustration, the rest ab. 8,6x8,6 cm.) and all set within the same four-piece ornamental border, the upper border containing the French royal arms, the lower a small coat-of-arms (possibly Salel's), lovely large initials. Very rare first edition of Salel's groundbreaking translation of The Iliad, constituting the first serious attempt at a modern verse rendering of either the Iliad or the Odyssey and one of the most important Homer-translations ever made. This first successful version of the Iliad in modern French verse served as the basis for other early vernacular translations, perhaps most famously the first English (Arthur Hall, 1581), which is a direct translation of Salal's. This splendid work is furthermore renowned for its beauty and is considered "one of the handsomest books printed at Paris" (Fairfax Murray). The translation includes the first 10 books of the Iliad. Salal died, before he could finish the remaining books, which were translated by Amadis Jamyn and published in 1577. "Hugues Salel was a compatriot of Clement Marot, Eustorg de Beaulieu, and Olivier de Magny. He was born, according to the Abbé Goujet, toward the end of 1504, in Casals, Quercy, in P6rigord (Cahors). He is therefore, like several of the poets of the first half of the century, a man of the South. Salel began writing verse at a very early age. At the order of the king, Francis I, he undertook a translation of the Iliad. As a reward he was made "valet de c hambre'" of the King, and in 1540 we find him as the first "abbé commendataire" of the abbey of Saint-Chéron of the diocese of Chartres. From letters of the King, dated from Fontainebleau in 1544 (January 18), we learn of the permission granted to Salel to publish his translation of the Iliad"… (Hugues Salel, Poet and Translator (uchicago.edu)) "The history of the first translations of the Homeric poems into the main European languages is fascinating, for it often reveals both the political and cultural mood of the recently created European nations. With the multiplication of printed editions of the poems, an increasingly larger pool of scholars made enthusiastic attempts to translate an ancient language into a new idiom. These new versions were not only philological achievements at that time but also a reason for national pride, since an ancient epic could be made alive within the context of new national exploits. The second half of the sixteenth century represents the high point in the assimilation of Homer into French humanist culture. Unlike England… France, and particularly Paris, quickly followed Italy's example to provide its own Homeric texts... This trend was particularly strong after the founding of the Còllege de Lecteurs Royaux by François I in 1530. This institution was established to teach the three ancient languages-Greek, Latin, and Hebrew-and to provide its students with editions and commentaries of ancient texts. Moreover, French translations also contributed to the awareness of the Homeric epics. The first successful version in modern French verse was made by Hugues Salel who translated the first ten books of the "Iliad" (From the exhibition "Translating Homer", Curated by Pablo Alvarez, Special Collections Library). Ezra Pound in his essay on Salel calls this translation of Homer "delightful… he has authenticity of conversation as would be demanded by an intelligent audience not yet laminated with aesthetics; capable of recognizing reality. He has the repetitions of the chanson de gestes. Of all the French and English versions, I think Salel alone gives any hint of some of these characteristics' (Homer: Printed editions of the Iliad and Odyssey in Greek and in Translations and Landmarks in Homeric Scholarship). "The first serious attempts at a modern verse rendering (of the Iliad and Odyssey) were made in France by Hugues Salel, with his 1545 version of the Iliad" (Gilbert Highet, The Classical tradition: Greek and Roman Influences on Western Literature, p. 114). The book is renowned for its splendid woodcuts, one at the beginning of each book. These woodcuts are set within magnificent ornamental borders containing the French royal arms and "are clearly influenced by Geoffrey Tory with their lack of shading and outline depiction of the figures, and may be the work of the Maître à l'F gothique (Brun's appellation), Mortimer's F artist (sometimes identified as the Lyonese printer François Fradin), whose woodcuts illustrate several of Denys Janot's imprints. The italianate style introduced into the French book by Tory, and continued in volumes from the press of Denys Janot, reaches its height in these illustrations." (Mortimer). The work is very rare, and we have only been able to locate three complete copies sold at aution over the last 50 years. Brunet III, 290Harvard/Mortimer 293

(Köln (Cologne), Ulrich Zell / Zel, ca. 1469). Large 8vo. Block measuring 21,5 x 14 cm. Printed in Gothic type, 27 lines to a page, 4-, 3-, 2, and 1-line initial spaces. Initials, paragraph marks, underlines, and capital strokes supplied in red throughout. Antoninus' "Defecerunt..." begins on f. (4r), ending with a colophon on f. (139r); Chrysostomos' "Sermo..." begins on f. (139v). Bound in a beautiful 19th century full polished calf with five raised bands to spine, gilt title-labels, inner gilt dentelles, and all edges of boards gilt. The hinges are worn and weak and cracked at the top. Marbled end-papers. Inside of front board with the book plate of Gilbert R. Redgrave. 144 ff. (including final blank). Internally a bit of soiling and browning and with numerous contemporary handwritten marginal notes throughout, some shaved when bound. The first leaf is with a slightly later 15th century handwritten inscription stating the provenance of the copy: "Mo[aste]rii Neostadiensis Ord[inis] S. Pauli Eremit[ae]" (i.e. Order of Saint Paul the First Hermit, Monastery in Neustadt), being the Pauliner-monastery in Wiener Neustadt outside of Vienna. There are two further inscriptions, both in contemporary hand, presuambly the same as that of the marginal notes throughout. They are on f. (65r) and f. (143v) and state that the book belongs to the Augustinian order of the St. Ulrich-Kloster ("mo[na]sterii S. Udalrici") in Wiener Neustadt. Exceedingly scarce early incunable-printing, possibly the first printing of both texts, being Antoninus’ “Confessionale” (the one known under the incipit “Defecerunt scrutantes scrutineo” (f. 4r) – one of the most influential confession books ever written, on the powers of the confessor, the seven deadly sins, the manner of interrogating persons of varying status, and absolution and the imposition of penance -, together with (Pseudo-) Chrysostomos’ “Sermo de Peonitentia” The venerated Catholic saint, Dominican friar, and Archbishop of Florence Antoninus Florentinus (1389-1459) had a great reputation for theological learning and had assisted as a papal theologian at the Council of Florence. Hist most important works – both written before and printed before his Summa Theologica -, are arguably his guides for confessors, which for centuries were highly regarded by the clergy as an aid and constituted a major development in the field of moral theology. Antoninus published three separate works that are all entitled “Confessionale”. They are distinguished by their incipit, the present being “Defecerunt…”, the most fundamental and influential of the three. The two others have “Curam illius habe”, also known as the “Specchio di coscienza”, which is an instruction manual for the sacrament of confession, written in Italian for a Neapolitan gentleman, directed at advising lay men and women, and “Curam illius habe,” also known as the “Medicina dell’anima”, which is an instruction manual directed to priests. Unlike the other two manuals, the “Defecerunt…” was published in Latin. It was “completed before July of 1440. This latter work is Antonin’s most popular by far, to judge by the number of manuscript copies, printed editions, and vernacular translations (Italian, Spanish, Croatian).” (Jason A. Brown: St Antonin of Florence..., 2019, pp. 44-45). Printed together with the “Defecerunt” Confessionale is the important “Sermo de poenitentia”, long ascribed to Chrysostomos, in which he deals with penance, also possibly printed here for the first time. The printing history of the work is quite complicated. There is no date and no printing place in the earliest printings of this foundational Catholic work, and numerous versions of it were printed. Furthermore, much of the “Defecerunt” seems to have been incorporated into his later, also highly influential “Summa” (see 3.17 – de statu confessorum). “The Confessionale “Defecerunt” exists in two known recensions, a briefer and a longer. These are distinguished by their incipits. The briefer recension incipit: Defecerunt scrutantes scrutinio ... Scrutantes aliorum peccata sunt confessores. Scrutinium autem est inquisitio facta in confessione. The longer recension incipit: Defecerunt scrutantes scrutinio ... Scrutinium quidem est confessio, in quo et penitens scrutatur conscientiam suam et confessor cum eo. It would be a tenable hypothesis, a priori, that the longer recension is original, that its material was copied into the Summa at the relevant places, and that the briefer recension was produced by abbreviating the longer one. Having examined early printed editions of the “Defecerunt” and considered their text against the autograph manuscripts, I consider it more likely that the longer recension is the later one, and represents an expanded version produced by adding in material from the Summa at corresponding places in the original Confessionale.” (Jason A. Brown: St Antonin of Florence..., 2019, p. 112). The present version – arguably the earliest – is the briefer, which was then later elaborated upon. As all bibliographers agree, it is clear from the characters that this copy was printed by Zell in Køln (Cologne), and no later than 1469 (some say no later than 1468, some just state “ca. 1470”)). Zell printed more than one version around the same time, but this seems to be the first of them – corresponding exactly to Hain 1162. In all, between 50 and 60 incunable editions of the work appeared in Latin, along with editions in Italian and Spanish, testifying to the enormous impact the work came to have on Catholic penitence. According to Gesamtkatalog der Wiegendrucke, 44 copies, including single fragments, are known to exist in public holdings, and at least one copy is known to exist on private hands. Hain-Copinger: 1162; GW: 2082; Brunet: I:333; Graesse I: 154. Provenance: During the reign of the pietist Habsburger Friedrich III (1440-1493), the small town of Wiener Neustadt near Vienna witnessed a blossoming of new clerical orders. They were more than doubled. To the already established monasteries were added, among several others, both an Augustiner-Kloster (which took over St. Ulrich), in 1459, and the Paulinerkloster (the one for St. Paul the First Hermit), in 1480. As is evident from the inscriptions in the present copy, it has belonged to both these orders, the first of which will presumably have acquired it at its appearance, where it was thoroughly read and annotated. With a decree of December 20th 1459, Pope Pius II allowed for a Augustinian Canon-monastery in Wiener Neustadt and thus fulfilled a longstanding wish of Kaiser Friedrich III. In June 1459, a decisive prerequisite for the founding of this monastery had taken place – the Secular Canons had renounced their parish church St. Ulrich in the Western suburb of Wiener Neustadt, which was now at the disposal for the Augustinian Canons. Friedrich III had very specific requests for the Augustinian Canons of Wiener Neustadt, and in accordance with these, Pope Pius II prescribed a dress for them that differed from the usual colour. Instead of a white habit, they were to wear a brown habit with a gold-coloured cross on the right side; the almucium (fur shoulder cloak), worn over the habit, was to be white on feast days and in church (instead of the usual black), while on ordinary days and outside of church, a brown almucium was to be worn. Like the provost of the secular canons, the provost of the Augustinian Canons also had the right to pontificals. The founding of the Augustinian Canons' foundation is recorded in a relief on Friedrich III’s tomb in the St. Stephan Cathedral in Vienna. On both sides of St. Ulrich, enthroned in the center, kneels an infulated priest, presumably the provost and dean. This group is surrounded by thirteen (also kneeling) canons. The inscription reads: "CANONICI REGULARES S. ULRICI NOVE CIVITATIS."

S.-Petersburg, 1899 [recte October 1898]. 8vo. Bound in an excellent newer red half morocco in perfect contemporary style, with five raised bands and gilt author and year to spine. Marbled edges and beautiful marbled en-papers. Old owner's stamps to title-page ("Biblioteka Aleksandova, S. 1873 F.", "Iz knig Avrutina M.V.", and the number "21162"), otherwise also internally very nice and clean. (4), 290 pp. Very rare first edition of Lenin's first published book, the seminal miscellany of his economic papers, which constitute the first outline of his revolutionary ideas. The work consists in five economic essays/studies, four of which are published here for the first time ("The Handicraft Census of 1894-95 in Perm Gubernia and General Problems of "Handicraft" Industry"; "Gems of Narodnik Project-Mongering"; "The Heritage We Renounce" - all three written in exile in 1897 - and "On the Question of Our Factory Statistics", written in 1898), and one of which ("A Characterisation of Economic Romanticism") had been published the previous year, in installments, in the magazine Novoye Slovo, April-July 1897. Before the present publication, only very few of Lenin's papers and articles had been published, and none of them in book form. The present publication brings to light Lenin's elaboration of the tasks of the Russian Marxists (both as to their programme, their tactics, and the organization as such) ("The Heritage We Renounce") and gives us the basis for his take on Marxism. Much of the original material published here was used by Lenin, both directly (e.g. the "Handicraft Census") and indirectly (forming a basis for the work) in his later published book "The Development of Capitalim in Russia" (1899), which established his reputation as a Marxist theorist. Furthermore, the present publication constitutes Lenin's earliest economic writings directed against the Narodniks. As a whole, the present publication gives us the first rounded picture of Leninist thought and provides us with the basis for Leninist economics and politics. That which Lenin develops in the present studies and essays forms the basis for the capitalist and Marxist thought that he is later to present and which becomes the standard introduction to the Russian economy for later generations of Marxists. The work is of great scarcity and was presumably printed in very small numbers.

[Nuremberg], Christian de Launoy seel. Erben, 1764 [recte: 1763-66]. Folio. Contemporary half calf with gilt lines to spine. Corners a bit bumped. In magnificent, completely clean and fresh condition. (6), 8, (4), 72, 40, (8), 26 ff. + 51 magnificent engraved plates - all plates in astonishing, contemporary hand-colouring. Plates numbered as thus: 1-5 + 2b (i.e. 6 plates - depiting the microscope), I-XXX + A-E (i.e. 35 - details of floral structure and pollens), Anhang 1-10 (i.e. 10 - mainly insects). The plates are engraved by (and coloured by/under the auspices of) Christoph Keller after drawings by Gleichen-Russworm. With several beautiful, large engraved vignettes (by Johann Michael Stock, efter Keller). The scarce first edition of this splendid work, in which the outstanding microscopist Baron Gleichen-Russworm recorded his observations of plants and insects. The 51 astonishingly beautiful hand-coloured copperplates show the morphology of plants and insects in great detail as well as his magnificent specially constructed microscope and its different parts, making it of the utmost importance to the history of the microscope as well as the fertilization processes in plants. With his thorough study of the pollen, stamens, and pistils as well as the process connected with them, magnificently presented in great detail on beautifully produced plates, the work became a great source of inspiration for many biologists and microscopists of the 18th century. The microscope described and depicted here was frequently reproduced from the detailed plates and Gleichen-Russworm's experiments widely repeated in order to investigate the true nature of the plant. The plates depicting the microscope are among the most frequently reproduced depictions of microscopes. The work appeared in three fascicles, between 1763 and 1766 and were issued with a title-page stating 1764. Wilhelm Friedrich von Gleichen, known as Russworm (1717 - 1783) belongs to the outstanding microscopists of the eighteenth century. He was the elder son of Heinrich von Gleichen and Caroline von Russworm. "He received little formal education and in 1734, after some years as a page at the court of Prince Thurn und Taxis in Frankfurt, he decided to make his career in the forces of the margrave of Bayreuth. [...]. Gleichen-Russworm remained in the army until 1756, when he resigned his commission in order to devote himself to the management of the Greifenstein estates, inherited from his mother in 1748. His first published writings appeared after his departure from Bayreuth, in the periodical "Fränkische Sammlung aus der Naturlehre, Arzneigelahrtheit, Ökonomie und der damit verbundenen Wissenschaften"; they deal, inter alia, with natural history, physics, and chemistry but are, for the most part, quite fanciful.[...] In the summer of 1760 Gleichen-Russworm made the acquaintance of Martin Ledermüller, who had already begun publication of his "Mikroskopische Gemüths- und Augenergötzungen" (1759-1762); it was this work which led Gleichen-Russworm to concentrate on microscopy. Ledermüller visited Schloss Greifenstein in 1762, and Gleichen-Russworm continued to benefit from his advice until the former took offense at certain criticisms of his work which appeared in "Geschichte der gemeinen Stubenfliege" (1764).Gleichen-Russworm was particularly interested in the processes of fertilization in plants and animals, and in 1763 he published the first fascicle of Das neueste aus dem Reiche der Pflanzen. This work contains fifty-one colored plates illustrating numerous details of floral structure and various pollens; in addition, his interest in the construction of the microscope is reflected in the six plates devoted to the different modifications and accessories which he designed for the instrument. His account of the pollen of Asclepias syriaca L. in Auserlesene mikroskopische Entdeckungen (1777-1781) contains what appears to be the first observation of a pollen tube, although he remained unaware of its significance." (D.S.B.). Nissen BBI: 716. Pritzel: 3367 (merely stating 46 plates). Honeyman: 1515. Wellcome: III:125 (merely having an incomplete copy of the French translation).

Haag, Nijhoff, 1888-1889. Text-volumes in lex-8vo, two volumes, identically bound in near contemporary burgundy half cloth with the original printed front wrappers preserved an pasted on to front boards. the original printed paper spine labels have also been preserved an pasted on to spines. Wear to capitals, corners, and hinges. Blindstamped library imprint to top of front boards (Colonial Office Library). Bound with both half-titles. The half-title of vol. 1 mounted, as is the title-page of vol. 2. Stamps to title-pages (Arab Boreau Cairo and Colonial office Library). Otherwise a clean and fine copy with no noteworthy flaws. XXIII, (1), 228, (2) pp. + 3 genealogical tables and 2 folded maps + XVIII, 397, (1) pp. The atlas volume consists of the printed table of contents and all 65 photographs and lithographs inserted into a 19th century full vellum photograph album with sturdy leaves. The album itself has some wear, but is sturdy, robust and crarming. It artistically shows the craftmanship of the stiching by displaying parts of the sewing cords on leather onlays on the spine. Leather ties. In all, there are 75 illustrations, consisting in four chromolithographic plates, 6 tones lithographic plates (one double-page and folded) and 65 original photographs of varying sizes. Some are full-page, some are mounted four to a page, and some that have originally been four (and in one case three) to a page have here been individually mounted on a leaf each. Although taken out and mounted in to the present album, all numberings (I to XL) have been preserved, as have the titles of the pictures. Generally in very good condition, although one lithograph has a closed tear. Scarce first edition of the standard scientific work on Mecca, the first of its kind ever to be published. This magnificent work constitutes a pivotal historical source for our knowledge of the Holy City, for some the Forbidden City. It is arguably to date the most important Western account of Islam's holy city, not least due to the magnificent photographs taken by Snouck Hurgronje himself and his student Al-Sayyid Abd al-Ghaffar, a Meccan doctor, who became the first Arab photographer of Mecca. The work gives us the most unique insight into the people, the life and faith of Mecca at a most crucial time for both the city and the Arabian peninsula. "The 21st century reader should realize that the present book is a classic, but in many ways also a modern book. It describes Meccan society in the 1880's, and as such it is an important historical source - in fact till today the only one on the subject." (Intruduction by J.J. Witkam to the English translation, p. (XIII) ). "Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje, (born Feb. 8, 1857, Oosterhout, Neth.-died June 26, 1936, Leiden), professor and Dutch colonial official, a pioneer in the scientific study of Islam.While serving as a lecturer at the University of Leiden (1880-89), Snouck Hurgronje visited Arabia (1884-85), stopping at Mecca. His classic work "Mekka", 2 vol. (1888-89), reconstructs the history of the holy city and sheds light on the origins of Islam, early traditions and practices, and the first Islamic communities. The second volume, translated into English as "Mekka in the Latter Part of the 19th Century" (1931), contains many details of daily life in Islamic culture and deals with the Indonesian Muslim colony at Mecca." (Encycl. Britt.). "Our standard scientific work on Mecca and the pilgrimage we owe to the next Christian pilgrim on our roll, Prof. C. Snouck Hurgronje... [H]e journeyed to Mecca, where for six months he lived as a student of the Koran, and gathered the material for his monumental work on that city. As Burckhardt had been mainly interested in the topography of the city, and the pilgrimage ceremony, Snouck Hurgronje interested himself particularly in a social study of the Meccan community, and so complete is his work that he has left nothing to later writers save to note the changes made by passing years." (Arthus Jeffery, The Moslem World, Volume 19 (1929), pp. 232-3). Much speculation has been given to the circumstances under which Snouck Hurgronje succeeded in being able to enter Mecca the way he did. No other Western scholar had been given the opportunity of entering the Holy City this way. "Ever since Snouck Hurgronje published his monograph on Mecca, the book has amazed its readers. Mecca was and is the Holy City for some, the Forbidden City for others. How had a young Western scholar succeeded, and in such a short time, to become accepted by the Meccans as one of them and to write such a detailed description of Mecca's society? Since Snouck Hurgronje has mostly kept silent about this remarkable feat, stories of legendary proportions were bound to come into circulation..." (Witkam, p. (XIII) ).Through mediation with the Ottoman governor in Jeddah, Snouck Hurgronje, who was fluent in Arabic, was examined by a delegation of scholars from Mecca in 1884 and, upon successful completion of the examination, was allowed to commence a pilgrimage to the Holy Muslim city of Mecca in 1885. His chief object was to become intimately acquainted with the daily life of the Mekkans and of the thousands of Muhammadans from all parts of the world living in Mekka for material or spiritual purposes.A pioneering traveler, he was a rare Western presence in Mecca. He embraced the culture and religion of his hosts with passion, to such an extent that he successfully gave people the impression that he had converted to Islam. But what is just as astonishing as his entering so fully into life in Mecca and being able to report so intimately and lively on it, is his accompanying photographic documentation. Also in this respect, he is a pioneer. In his day, a camera probably weighed ab. 40 kilos, and one needed a number of chemicals in order to develop the pictures, which would have been done on site. Having been forced to leave Mecca due to a misunderstanding, after five months, Hurgronje gave the photographic equipment to a local physician he had been staying with, Al-Sayyid Abd al-Ghaffar, who began using the camera and sent images back to Hurgronje in the Netherlands. Thus, Abd al-Ghaffar became Mecca's first home-grown photographer. Many of the photographs were originally credited solely to Hurgronje, but they are now jointly credited, with experts unable to tell who shot what.

Helmstadt, C. G. Fleckeisen, 1799. 4to. Bound uncut in a very nice recent pastiche-binding in brown half calf with elaborately gilt spine and marbled paper covered boards. With repair to title-page, not affecting text. Small restorations to upper margin of leaf A2 and A3. Brownspotted throughout. 39, (1) pp. + engraved plate. Rare first edition of Gauss's first book in which he proved the fundamental theorem of algebra which states that every non-constant single-variable polynomial with complex coefficients has at least one complex root. Gauss received his doctorate degree for this work, which is considered his first great work. It marks the beginning of an extraordinary ten years often referred to as his 'Triumphal Decade' with landmark achievements such as the publication of 'Disquisitiones Arithmeticae' and the calculation of the orbit of the newly discovered planet Ceres. On june 16, 1799, even before the thesis was published, Gauss was awarded the title Doctor Philosophiae after the usual requirements of an oral examination, particularly tedious to Gauss, was dropped. In a letter to Bolyai, Gauss's close friend, Gauss described his thesis: "The title describes the main objective of the paper quite well though I devote to it only about a third of the space. The rest mainly contains history and criticisms of the works of other mathematicians (name d'Alembert, Bougainville, Euler, de Foncenex, Lagrange, and the authors of compendia - the latter will presumably not be too happy) about the subject, together with diverse remarks about the shallowness of contemporary mathematics" "Professor Pfaff, Gauss's formal research supervisor, shared with Gauss an interest in the foundations of geometry, but it is mere speculation that the two discussed this topic. Gauss's dissertation is about the fundamental theorem of algebra. The proof and discussion avoid the use of imaginary quantities through the work is analytic and geometric in nature; its underlying ideas are most suitably expressed in the complex domain. Like the law of quadratic reciprocity, the fundamental theorem of algebra was a recurring topic in Gauss's mathematical work - in fact, his last mathematical paper returned to it, this time explicitly using complex numbers." (Gauss, A Biographical Study, p. 41). "There is only one thing wrong with this landmark in Algebra. The first two words in the title would imply that Gauss had merely added a 'new' proof to others already known. He should have omitted "nova". His was the first proof . Some before him had published what they supposed were proofs of this theorem - usually called the fundamental theorem of algebra - but logical and mathematical rigor Gauss insisted upon a proof, and gave the first" (Bell, Men of Mathematics, p. 32) "Gauss ranks, together with Archimedes and Newton, as one of the greatest geniuses in the history of mathematics." (Printing & the Mind of Man). Dibner 114

Amsterdam, Jan Janssonius, 1631. Folio. Contemp. hcalf. Raised bands. Compartments gilt with floral stamps. Titlelabel with gilt lettering. Repairs to spine ends and hinges. Marbled coverpapers. Covers a bit rubbed. Endpapers renewed. Engraved frontispiece title, engraved portrait. (24),(10) pp. and 110 fine engraved plates (67 to the first part, 43 to the second), depicting 560 plants, usually life-size. A few minor brownspots. Scarce early (the first 1612) edition of Sweert's famous Florilegium, at first intended to be both a catalogue for selling plants and bulps and a picture-book of plants, but the later editions (as here) became a true Florilegium for collectors and botanical scientists. The first part deals with bulbous species, and the second with species having "fibrous" roots (fibrosae radices). Thirty-three tulip heads are paraded in regular columns. The American contingent is represented by the sunflower, cactus, agave, pineapple and Canna. Sweerts and Johann Theodor de Bry were the first to establish the convention of portraying lower stem with bulb or root alongside severed upper stem and flower in order to reproduce the plant life-size on the page. "Sweert prepared his Florilegium as a guide of his available stock for the Frankfurt Fair of 1612. The plates, depicting some 560 bulbs and flowers, were from the Johann Theodore de Bry Florilegium which in turn was based on that by Pierre Vallet. His attractively depicted bulbs sparked their popularity, leading to 6 editions of the work between 1612 and 1647, and a demand which would later result in "Tulipomania". At the time of the fair Sweert was in the employ of Emperor Rudolf II as head of his gardens in Vienna. He borrowed freely from plates that had been published before, so that many of those that appeared in the Florilegium had been cultivated in the gardens of King Henry IV of France at the Louvre." (Wikipedia).Nissen, 1921. - Hunt, 196 (1612-edition).

Hauniæ (i.e. Copenhagen), 1855. 8vo. Bound in a lovely recent red half morocco with five raised bands and gilt title and year to spine. Red marbled paper over boards and lovely blue marbled endpapers. All edges gilt. A damp stain throughout - to most of the leaves it it only marginal, but on the first leaves it touches the text slightly and to the last couple of quires more. Apart from that, only lighter brownspotting. One leaf (pp. 65-66 with a restored tear, affecting text, but with barely any loss of lettering (half of an L and half of an e are very vague). First leaf of text with a marginal annotation and hand pagination. (4), X, 470 pp. Exceedingly scarce first edition of the work that founded Pali-studies in the West, the foundational first Western publication of Theravada-Buddhism, namely Fausböll’s critical edition of the Dhammapada, being the first European edition of a complete Pali-text as well as the first Latin translation of the Dhammapada, today probably the most frequently translated Buddhist text in the world. This Latin translation is also the first full non-Asian translation. Excerpts of the Dhammapada had appeared in English in the periodical The Friend printed in Colombo, Sri Lanka, but a full English translation, which is based upon Fausböll’s version, only appeared in 1870. The first German translation appeared in 1860. But none of these other earliest translations had anywhere near the impact that Fausböll’s critical edition along with the Latin translation came to have upon the study of Buddha and Buddhism in the West. With Fausböll’s publication, the Dhammapada was introduced in the West, where it came to find great dissemination and is now the most frequently translated Buddhist text in Europe. The Dhammapada, the extremely influential collection of sayings of the Buddha in verse form, constitutes one of the most widely read and best known Buddhist scriptures. The original version of the Dhammapada is in the Khuddaka Nikaya, a division of the Pali Canon of Theravada Buddhism. Each saying recorded in the collection was made on a different occasion in response to a unique situation that had arisen in the life of the Buddha and his monastic community. “The Dhammapada is the best known and most widely esteemed text in the Pali Tipitaka, the sacred scriptures of Theravada Buddhism. The work is included in the Khuddaka Nikaya ("Minor Collection") of the Sutta Pitaka, but its popularity has raised it far above the single niche it occupies in the scriptures to the ranks of a world religious classic. Composed in the ancient Pali language, this slim anthology of verses constitutes a perfect compendium of the Buddha's teaching, comprising between its covers all the essential principles elaborated at length in the forty-odd volumes of the Pali canon.” (The Dhammapada. The Buddha's Path of Wisdom. Translated from the Pali by Acharya Buddharakkhita with an Introduction by Bhikkhu Bodhi, 1996). Buddhist tradition has it that shortly after the passing away of the Lord Buddha, five hundred of his disciples met in council at Rajagaha in order to recall the truths they had received from their spiritual teacher during the previous forty-five years. They wanted these truths about moral and spiritual conduct to live on forever and for Buddha’s message to be available for all future disciples. The followers and Arhat felt the responsibility to convey the teaching and discipline of the Buddhist order as faithfully and truly as possible, and having no written texts to rely on, they prepared the many discourses for recitation with repetitions in various contexts, so that they could be remembered. Like the verses of Homer and other ancient works that were only written down later. “At that time, according to the Sinhalese, the Dhammapada was orally assembled from the sayings of Gautama given on some three hundred different occasions. Put in verse form the couplets contrast the vanity of hypocrisy, false pride, heedlessness, and selfish desire with the virtues of truthfulness, modesty, vigilance, and self-abnegation. The admonitions are age-old, yet they strike home today, their austerity of purpose fittingly relieved by gentle humor and earthy simile. Subsequently, several renditions of the Dhammapada in the Sanskrit and Chinese languages came into circulation; likewise, a number of stanzas are to be found almost verbatim in other texts of the canonical literature, testifying to the esteem in which its content was anciently held. Since first collated, the Dhammapada has become one of the best loved of Buddhist scriptures, recited daily by millions of devotees who chant its verses in Pali or in their native dialect.” (Bodhi, 1996). “The Dhammapada, an anthology of verses attributed to the Buddha, has long been recognized as one of the masterpieces of early Buddhist literature. Only more recently have scholars realized that it is also one of the early masterpieces in the Indian tradition of kavya, or belles lettres.” (The Dhammapada. A Translation. translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu). Viggo Fausböll (1821-1908) was a Danish educator, translator, orientalist, linguist, and most of all a pioneer of Pali scholarship. He studied at the University of Copenhagen, where he later became professor, teaching Sanskrit and Esat Indian philology. His magnum opus is his groundbreaking 1855 commented edition of the Dhammapada, with Latin translation, which founded Pali scholarship in the West and formed the basis for later translations and editions. A new edition of it appeared in 1900. Fausböll became Knight of Dannebrog in 1888, Dannebrogsmand in 1891, and Commander 2nd degree in 1898. The work is of the utmost scarcity outside of institutional holdings. We have never seen a copy in the trade before, and we have not been able to trace a single copy at auction.

Kazan, Kazan University Press, 1855-56. 4to (263 x 216 mm). In a nice later half calf binding with four raised bands and marbled paper covered boards. Extracted from "Uchenye zapiski, Imperatorskago Kazanskago Universiteta", 1855, vol. 1. Two library-stamps to p. 51 with offsetting to p. 50 and small stamp to last free end-paper. With very light creasing to outer margin, otherwise a fine and clean copy. 56 pp. Exceedingly rare first appearance of Lobachevsky’s landmark 'Pangeometry', a seminal work that serves as a synthesis of his exploration into non-Euclidean geometry and its practical applications and is widely considered his clearest account of the subject. It is also the conclusion of his life's work and the last and final attempt he made to acquire recognition. Lobachevsky's contributions not only marked a turning point in mathematical thought, but were also a catalyst for profound shifts in physics, and philosophy as they expanded the boundaries of human understanding, challenging 2000 year old conventional wisdom; consequently, he is often referred to as "The Copernicus of Geometry". Lobachevsky wrote his Pangeometry in 1855, the year before his death, at a time when he was completely blind. He dictated two versions, a first one in Russian (the present), and a second in French. Despite his revolutionary work, Lobachevsky’s received little, if any, attention from the scientific community. One reason for this was that his works were published in very small numbers in relatively obscure journals – they seem to have had minimal circulation even within Russia. The present treatise contains basic ideas of hyperbolic geometry, including the trigonometric formulae, the techniques of computation of arc length, of area and of volume, with concrete examples. It also deals with the applications of hyperbolic geometry to the computation of new definite integrals. “Lobachevskii’s geometry represents the culmination of two thousand years of criticism of Euclid’s fifth, or parallel, postulate, which states that given a line and a point not on the line, there can be drawn through the point one and only one coplanar line not intersecting the given line. As this postulate had stubbornly resisted all attempts (including Lobachevskii’s) to prove it as a theorem, Lobachevskii came to the realization that it was possible to construct a logically consistent geometry in which the Euclidean postulate represented a special case of a more general system that allowed for the possibility of hyperbolically curved space. Lobachevskii’s system refuted the unique applicability of Euclidean geometry to the real world, and pointed the way to the Einsteinian concept of variably curved space” (Norman 1379.). “At the same time as Lobachevsky, other geometers were making similar discoveries. Gauss had arrived at an idea of non-Euclidean geometry in the last years of the eighteenth century and had for several decades continued to study the problems that such an idea presented. He never published his results, however, and these became known only after his death and the publication of his correspondence. Janos Bolyai, the son of Gauss’s university comrade Farkas Bolyai, hit upon Lobachevskian geometry at a slightly later date than Lobachevsky. Since Gauss did not publish his work on the subject, and since Bolyai published only at a later date, Lobachevsky clearly holds priority.” DSB. Lobachevsky's non-Euclidean geometry paved the way for further advancements in mathematics, including the development of differential geometry and the study of Riemannian manifolds. These areas of mathematics have found applications in fields as diverse as physics, engineering, and computer science. Furthermore, his work laid the groundwork for Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity, which relies on the concept of curved spacetime. It showed that there is no single "correct" geometry, but rather multiple valid systems. This led to a broader understanding of the nature of axiomatic systems and their relation to reality - implications that extend well beyond the realm of mathematics, shaping our understanding of space, reality, and the limits of human knowledge.

Ferrara, Benedetto Mamarello, 1590. Small 8vo. Later half vellum with gilt title-label to spine. Marbbled paper over boards. A faint damp stain to the last few leaves, otherwise a nice and clean copy. Old ownership-signature to last leaf. Bookplate to inside of front board. Large woodcut device to title-page. Woodcut initials and headpieces at beginning. (8), 170, (5) pp. The very scarce first edition of the first translation into any language of any part of Montaigne's Essays, namely Naselli's monumental first Italian translation, which came to pave the way for later translations of the work, among them Florio's first English from 1603. Montaigne's magnum opus was published in 1580, and in 1588, the final edition appeared, constituting the definitive text of the work and that on which all later editions were based. With his seminal work, Montaigne not only created a novel genre of writing, he also founded modern scepticism and the revival of ancient scepticism, and he paved the way for the modern philosophy and thought presented by Bacon, Decartes and Newton. "Unlike anti-intellectuals like Erasmus, Montaigne developed his doubts through reasoning. Unlike his skeptical predecessors who presented mainly a series of reports on the variety of human opinions, Montaigne worked out his complete Pyrrhonism through a sequence of levels of doubt, culminating in some crucial philosophical difficulties... The occurrence of Montaigne's revitalization of the Pyrrhonism of Sextus Empiricus, coming at a time when the intellectual world of the 16th century was collapsing, made the "nouveau Pyrrhonisme" of Montaigne not the blind alley that historians like Copleston and Weber have portrayed, but one of the crucial forces in the formation of modern thought... It was also to be the womb of modern thought, in that it led to the attempt either to refute the new Pyrrhonism, or to find a way of living with it." (Popkin, vol. II, 1960, pp. 54-55). There are many important aspects of Montaigne's groundbreaking work, which has been subject of an uncountable number of scholars throughout centuries. But one aspect which seems to have been forgotten in recent times is one that is emphasized by Naselli's extremely important first ever translation of the work. As the Italian title will reveal, the work was also widely viewed - and intended - as a political council book. Naselli bases his translation on Montaigne's own final edition from 1588 and publishes it merely two years later, including 42 of 94 chapters of the first two books. His translation is the one closest in time to the original appearance of the work and is the only one published in Montaigne's own life-time. It is thus in a unique position to tell us about contemporary views on the work and its use. "One enormously important prose genre upon which Montaigne draws most heavily consists of political advice books for courtiers and princes that proliferated in great number and with great social and political impact in the late Renaissance. Montaigne's appropriation of the political counsel genre has gone largely unnoticed by contemporary scholars, and bringing it into focus has significant implications for our understanding of the "Essais"... bringing it to the foreground allows us to challenge more robustly the common conclusion that Montaigne's unique project "is not a political work."Many in the first generation of Montaigne's reception appear to have seen the "Essais" principally as a contribution to the political contribution to the political counsel literature. For example, Girolamo Naselli's 1590 Italian translation of the "Essais is titled "Discorsi morali, politici e military", while John Florio follows Naselli's lead in the title of his 1603 English translation, "The Essayes or Morall, politike and militaire discourses". And when Francis Bacon enthusiastically adopts Montaigne's novel "Essai"-form for his own ends, he does so as a useful means of giving "Councels Civill and Morall", not simply musings personal and poetic." (Thompson, Montaigne and the Tolerance of Politics, p. 21). As is mentioned on the title-page, this first translation also contains another, long "questione". "In this deliberative discourse, very different in kind from anything a modern reader would associate with "Essais", and apparently composed soon after the winter 1576-7 Estates General of Blois, the author argues methodically and resolutely against those at the assembly who in a public "ragionamento" demonstrated the employment of foreigners in a republic to be universally undesirable, and who nearly succeeded in having this position passed into law." (Boutcher: The Scool of Montaigne in Early Modern Europe, vol. 2, p. 136).

Paris, Charles de Sercy, 1691. Small 8vo. Contemporary full mottled calf with five raised bands to richly gilt spine. All edges of boards gilt. Spine worn, especially at top and bottom, which lack pieces of leather (conserved). Outer hinges worn and weak, so capital bands are showing, but inner hinges are fine and tight. First ab. 10 leaves with a mostly light damp stain. Last 17¤ of leaves with small worm-holes, almost solely marginal, not affecting text, and mostly single holes. All in all internally very nice and clean. [20], 505, [46] pp. Exceedingly scarce first edition of one of the most important cookbooks ever printed, being the first to contain alphabetized recipes. In this masterpiece in the history of cookery, we find the first printed recipe for crème brulee, the first printed recipe for meringue and the first known food recipes to contain chocolate. Furthermore, Massialot’s magnum opus includes the “Macreuse en ragout au chocolate”, which is possibly the first known Aztec recipe in a European cookbook. “Massialot, who lived from 1660 to 1733, served as chef de cuisine for various high-ranking Frenchmen, including Philippe I, Duke of Orléans. He’s best known for his “Nouveau cuisinier royal et bourgeois”... In the book he not only laid out recipes for the meals he prepared for royals, but he was also the first to alphabetize recipes, and both meringues and crème brûlée made their first appearances in the book.” (Dan Meyers in The Daily Meal: 10 Chefs Who Changed the Way We Eat). “Le cuisinier royal et bourgeois” consists of two parts, the first consisting in descriptions of menus for a whole year. Many of these had been prepared at court and both dates and hosts are mentioned in the book. The second part consists in the actual cookbook and constitututes the first cookbook in which the recipes are alphabetically ordered. They are ordered to the chief ingredient and there are often variations for flesh- and fishdays. The book is now worldwide-famous for the invention of crème brulée, for the first recipe of meringue and for the novel recipes containing chocolate: one in a sauce for wigeon or scoter, the other in a sweet custard. Up until then, chocolate had been consumed solely as a drink. Another of Massialot’s innovations presented in the present work is that of adding a glass of white wine to fish stock. The “Macreuse en ragoût au chocolate” (duck stewed in chocolate)-recipe, which also appears here for the first time and is thought to be the first known Aztec recipe in a European cookbook, was reproduced by Alexandre Dumas in his dictionary of cookery in 1872, where he calls it a “masterpiece.” Massialot was extremely influential, both in France and abroad. The recipes in the present work were initially intended for nobility, but they eventually made their way to public restaurants founded by former cooks of the court after the French Revolution. The book is one of the key foundation stones for restaurants as we know them today. The work was extremely popular and kept appearing throughout several centuries. A second edition appeared in 1693, a third in 1698, and then it appeared again in 1705 and 1709. In 1712 it was expanded to two volumes and in 1733-34 it was revised and expanded to three. The work was translated into English as early as 1702 as “The Court and the Country Cook” and had an enormous influence on English cooking as well. François Massialot (1660, in Limoges– 1733, in Paris) served as chef de cuisine (officier de bouche) to various illustrious personages, including Phillipe I, Duke of Orléans, the brother of Louis XIV, and his son Philippe II, Duke of Orléans. In his preface, Massialot describes himself as "a cook who dares to qualify himself royal, and it is not without cause, for the meals which he describes...have all been served at court or in the houses of princes, and of people of the first rank." Serving banquets at places like the Versailles, this can hardly be said to be an overstatement. The first edition of this milestone of cookery is of the utmost scarcity. According to OCLC, merely five copies are located worldwide (two in the US and three in Europe) and not a single copy is traceable at actions. Vicaire: 573 (“Première edition, très rare”).

Rome, Typographia Medicea, 1590 (-1591). Folio. Completely uncut in the original blank interim wrappers (with slight offsetting to verso of front wrapper). Newer paper backstrip matching the paper of the wrappers. Some leaves browned. Occasional brownspotting. An overall excellent copy. Housed in a old vellum chemise with ties and handwritten title (EVANGELIUM) to spine. Old, amorial, vague red stamp to title-page, colophon, and p. 97, from the Bibliotheque Impériale (now Bibliotheque Nationale), with a small deaccession-stamp to title-page. Magnificently illustrated with 149 large woodcut engravings in the text. 368 pp. Arabic text within double-frame border througout. Beautifully printed on very heavy paper. The scarce editio princeps of the Arabic translation of the New Testament, magnificently printed in Granjon's famous font (considered the first satisfactory Arabic printing type, appearing here for the first time) and beautifully illustrated with 149 woodcut illustrations in the text. This work constitutes the very first printing by the Typographia Medicea-press, a printing-house set up by Pope Gregor XIII and Cardinal Ferdinando de Medici in order to promote and distribute Christian scriptures to the East. This splendid work is considered the first successful printing of Arabic. Apart from the Latin part of the title-page and the colophon, the book is in Arabic throughout. Two issues of the work were printed almost simultaneously, the Arabic-only text, which has the year 1590 on the title-page (and 1591 on the colophon), and the interlenear Arabic-Latin edition, which has 1591 on the title-page. The Arab-only edition, with 1590 on the title-page, is generally considered the first. "Its first great Arabic publication was this edition of the Gospels, bearing the date 1590 on the title page, and 1591 at the end. Two versions appeared, one solely in Arabic and one with an interlinear Latin translation." (Library of Congress).The work was edited by Giovanni Battista Raimondi (1536-1614), a renowned Orientalist and professor of mathematics at the College of the Sapienza in Rome. Raimondi had travelled extensively in the Middle East and had thorough knowledge of Arabic, Armenian, Syrian and Hebrew. He is, however, most famous for being the editor at the Typographia Medicea-press; together with French engraver Robert Granjon (who also created the Arabic typography of the present work) "bettered all previous attempts [to print in Arabic] in Europe, and would remain unsurpassed long after the press had closed. (Boogert, "Medici Oriental Press, Rome 1584-1614")."Antonio Tempesta, the engraver (cutter: Leonardo Parasole), had studied under Santi di Tito and Joannes Stradanus at the Accademia del Disegno in Florence (later working with Stradanus and Vasari on the interior decoration of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence), before travelling to Rome, where he executed various commissions, including frescos for Pope Gregory XIII in the Vatican and decorations for the Villa Farnese. Simultaneously with his frescos and panel paintings, he executed a large number of engravings. The illustrations for the present work are remarkable examples of Tempesta's work, noteworthy for their clear composition and narrative of the episodes depicted. Despite the extremely high quality of the prints, the press never became an economic success and it went bankrupt in 1610. Scholars have noticed that presenting a work with beautiful scriptural illustrations, as the present, to Arabic-speaking Muslims, when Islam forbids religious illustration, showed little understanding of the culture and almost certainly hindered Pope Gregory XIII's missionary efforts."The press was not only an intellectual enterprise; it was also a commercial one. Raimondi clearly hoped to sell his books in the East, rather than the West, because the selection of the works he produced showed little consideration with the type of material European scholars in this period needed. While the works failed to sell in the Ottoman Empire, however, they did significantly stimulate the study of the Middle East in Europe.Ferdinando de' Medici had ordered Raimondi to print 'all available Arabic books on permissible human sciences which had no religious content in order to introduce the art of printing to the Mohamedan community.' Only more than a century after the Medici Press in Rome had closed, did it finally have the envisaged impact in the Levant; Ibrahim Müteferrika, the first Muslim printer, referring to it in his plea to the sultan to allow him to open his own printing house at Istanbul, which happened in 1729." (Boogert, "Medici Oriental Press, Rome 1584-1614").The copy was previously in the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, at the time when it was entitled "Bibliothèque Imperiale", which was its name, inbetween, from 1849 to 1871. Thus, the book entered the library in Napoleonic times and was later deaccessioned. Brunet II, 1122-23Schnurrer 318Adams: B:1822

Paris, Firmin-Didot, 1822. 4to. Contemporary half calf with gilt spine. Old paper label to top of spine. Two old stamps to foot of title-page and old inscription to top of title-page. Half-title browned, otherwise just a bit of mild scattered brownspotting. A mild damp stain to lower blank margin of ab. 20 leaves, far from affecting text. A nice copy. Plates with light brownspotting. (4), XII, 639 pp. + 2 plates. First edition of Fourier's seminal main work, an epochal achievement in the history of science, being "the first outstanding publication on the conduction of heat" (Milestones of Science) and the "source of all modern methods in mathematical physics involving the integration of partial differential equations in problems where boundary values are fixed." (Cajori). "Fourier demonstrated that problems in mathematical physics can be solved for any complex condition when one knows how to solve the simple periodic initial condition." (Milestones of Science). The great achievements that Fourier presents us with in the present work can be seen as twofold, treating first the formulation of the physical problem as boundary-value problems in linear partial differential equations, which extended rational mechanics to fields outside those Newton had defined in his "Principia", and second "the powerful mathematical toold he invented for the solution of the equations, which yielded a long series of descendants and raised problems in mathematical analysis that motivated much of the leading work in that field for the rest of the century and beyond." (D.S.B.).Dibner: 154.Sparrow: p. 31. Barchas: 740.Norman: 824.

Kjöbenhavn, 1805 (-ca. 1807). Queer-folio (binding measuring 25,2 x 32 cm). Bound in a later (ca. 1920'ies), elegant brown full calf binding with gilt ornamentations to spine. Boards with gilt line-frames, gilt rosettes as those on spine and larger gilt corner-decorations. All edges of boards gilt and inner gilt dentelles. Front board with gilt title in the middle. Neatly rebacked. Minor wear to back board and a few smaller stains to front board and spine. Overall very nice. Bound with one of the very scarce printed title-labels. This is for the third issue, dated 1805 (the collection was issued in six issues, all dated between 1805 and 1806. They appeared in blue wrappers with printed title-labels, of which the last number in the year and the number of the issue were left blank to be added in hand, as they are here. Only a few examples of these title-labels have been preserved). All 36 engraved and hand-coloured plates (all measuring 16 x 21 cm) mounted on leaves of thick cardboard-like paper (measuring 24,5 x 31 cm). All images with original handwritten description in Danish underneath. Occasional brownspotting, but overall in very nice condition. Exceedingly scarce collection of all 36 plates that were issued of Truslew’s spectacular “Ships in the Sea”, this being one of three complete copies known. Only two complete copies exist in public institutions (Handels- og Søfartsmuseet at Kronborg and the Danish Royal Collection of Graphic Art), and this is the only known complete copy on private hands. The 36 highly interesting plates that constitute this rare work occupy a central role in the history of Danish art, culture, and in the history of wartime. It is with this work that the tradition of Danish marine art is founded and it is inextricably linked with the name of one of the greatest Danish artists of all time: C.W. Eckersberg (known as “the father of Danish seascape painting”). It is generally accepted that Eckersberg with all likelihood drew the illustrations for Truslews etchings. “Ahead of his major travel to Paris and Rome in 1810-16, he (i.e. Eckersberg) had executed a number of ship portraits that were issued by N. Truslew in 1805 under the title “En samling skibe i næsten alle mulige stillinger i søen 1-6 Hæfte”. It is (a collection of) 36 coloured aquatints that could be engraved after the drawings of Eckersberg”. (Own translation from Danish, from “Den Danske udvikling of marinemaleriet. C.W. Eckersbergs arbejder af maritime karakter”, pp. 10-11). Not much is known about the amateur artist Niels Truslew, who was born in 1762 and was employed for decades in the office of the commercial house of the merchant Niels Ryberg. We know for certain, however, that Eckersberg and Truslew knew each other, and we know that for a while they worked together. It has also been proved beyond doubt that one of Eckersberg’s early watercolours from 1804 is the model for plate nr. V in the present collection. “[T]he role of the young Eckersberg, who became his generation’s most prominent painter, in the creation of the engravings is of considerably (sic) interest. Though it is true that it is not known with certainty just how much Eckersberg was involved, the series is evidence of a Danish background for the famous seascapes which Eckersberg first began to paint in the 1820‘s. In the period after he had done his early watercolour, he had been in Paris as a student of David, and it has been thought that the source of inspiration for Danish sea painting should therefore be found in the south. Truslew’s engravings show, however, that there was a native background for Eckersberg’s seascapes which, at the same time, of course, must be seen in the context of a larger European tradition.” (Møller, Lorentzen & Møller: Niels Truslew – Skibe I Søen 1805. 1979. Pp. 121-22). Apart from its obvious artistic importance, this scarce collection sheds light on a highly important period in Danish history, right between the Battle of Copenhagen (1801) - between Admiral Nelson’s squadrons and the anchored Danish ship blocks – and the bombardment of Copenhagen (1807) by the British. It is a period in which Danish maritime trade blossomed anew under the shelter of neutrality, and a period that saw a dramatic increase in popular interest in maritime subjects. The work is novel in several respects and is not merely a collection of ship portraits as such. It is also not a catalogue of ship types, as one finds in the 18th century, nor a collection meant for students. Truslew portrays the ships in action, and the illustrations are of one or more ships in function, in specific situations. Sometimes they will be exposed to the raging of the elements (it is probably not a coincidence that it is an English ship that is hit by lightening!), but most of them are seen in undramatic, everyday situations. The choice of ships is highly interesting, as it includes both English, American, Russian, French, Dutch, and Swedish ships, as well as Danish. And seeing that the interest lies in portraying contemporary ships, not historical ones, it becomes and important historical source. The American schooner, for instance, alludes to the West Indies. Sweden, France, and Russia are represented by warships, whereas there is not a single English warship. What is also unusual for this type of illustrations of the period, in both Denmark and abroad, is Truslew’s ability to create space around the ships, to put them in perspective and create an overall effect of space. These 36 plates are extremely rare and as mentioned, only two complete copies exist in public institutions. These two known copies vary from each other, however. The plates of the copy at Handels- og Søfartsmuseet has both German and Danish text, and the plates are numbered in the plates. That of the Royal Collection of Graphic Art has the Danish handwritten text under the plates and no numbering, as our copy. It is that copy that is used for the 1979-publication, “Truslew – Skibe i Søen”, which reproduces all of the plates. Our copy confirms exactly to that, with a few small variations: The handwritten text on plate VIII in our copy says “En Brig…” in stead of “En dansk Brig” The colouring of the American flag on plate XXXII varies a bit, as the red stripes are much clearer in our copy The handwritten text on plate XXXVI in our copy reads “anker” in stead of “ankeret”.