Early Printed Books, Manuscripts and Decorative Prints
INGRAM, John H.. The Haunted Homes and Family Traditions of Great Britain
London, Reeves & Turner, 1929.
£80
12mo. xi, 641, 15 pp., illustrated with 17 b/w plates, including frontispiece. Coated cloth, gilt lettering to spine and original dust jacket. A fine copy.
ELLIS, William. History of Madagascar. Comprising Also the Progress of the Christian Mission Established in 1818: and an Authentic Account of the Recent Martyrdom of Rafaravavy, and of the Persecution of the Native Christians
London, Fisher, Son, & Co., 1838.
8vo, 2 vols: pp. xv (1), 517, illustrated throughout, with a coloured engraved frontispiece plate representing the local chief and governor Rafalarahy, 2 folding maps, of Madagascar and the city of Antananarivo, and several b/w plates; pp. xi (1), 537, ill., with several b/w plates, including frontispiece of Radama, king of the island. Complete with 24 plates, occasionally lightly spotted and browned, as well as endpapers and a very few initial a final leaves. Quarter calf, marbled paper and text-block edges. A lovely copy of this interesting work by Reverend Ellis, an English missionary active at the Society Islands, Hawaii and Madagascar, where he converted the sovereign and its people to Christianity.
PLUTARCH (NORTH, Thomas, Tr.). The Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romaines
London, Printed by Richard Field, 1612[-1610].
£1500
Folio. A⁸ B-5O⁶ 5P⁸; pp. (14), 1244, plus 16 leaves of table of contents (lacking first blank). Woodcut printer’s device on title page, head- and tail-pieces, large historiated and floriated woodcut initials (of different sizes and sets), woodcut portraits within beautiful ornamental borders. Two parts in one: the second part is “The lives of Epaminondas, of Philip of Macedon, of Dionysius the elder, and of Octauius Cæsar Augustus”, with separate title dated 1610. It is a translation by North of a compilation by Simon Goulart of Senlis, partly from the “Vitae excellentium imperatorum” of Cornelius Nepos (“Æmylius Probus”). Pagination and register are continuous. The lives of Hannibal and Scipio Africanus are attributed to Donato Acciaiuoli. Early ownership inscription in ink on title half cropped. A fresh, clean and crisp copy, with some very occasional minor spotting. Light soiling and creasing to title page. Bound in modern quarter calf and marbled paper over boards, corners reinforced with vellum. Black morocco label with gilt title to spine. Bookplate with coat of arms and motto “mediocria firma” glued to front pastedown. This is the fourth edition. An excellent copy.
BMSTC 20069; ESTC S115994
RUTTER, John. Delineations of Fonthill and Its Abbey
London, published by the author, 1823.
£1500
Folio, pp. xxiv, 112, (6). Half brown leather over marbled boards. Rubbed and worn on corners and spine. Black label on spine with lettering. 18 engraved plates (3 hand-coloured). A large folding plate with a map. Head- and tail-pieces with beautiful engravings, a set of two for each chapter. Large paper copy.
TACITUS, Cornelius. The Annales of Cornelius Tacitus: The Description of Germanie. Trans Richard Grenewey and Sir H. Seville.
London, Arnold Hatfield for John Norton, 1612.
4to. pp.[8], 271, [1]; [6], 12, 227, [3]. Roman letter, some Italic and sporadic Greek. Two titles and colophon. First title page with early autograph: “Th. Mostyn of Gloddaeth”. Gloddaeth Library label glued to front pastedown. Autograph of John Hurleston with mention of the purchase price of the book on top of dedication letter. Large historiated woodcut initials and tailpiece. Some worm tracks and small holes affecting the upper inner margins throughout and occasionally also the text, without any great loss. Text generally clean and crisp. Some very light dumpstaining to blank margins and upper outer corners, mostly at the beginning and end. A small hole due to candle burnt on the third leaf. Bound in worn contemporary full calf gilt. Red morocco label with gilt lettering to spine. A.e.b.. A fine copy.
This book contains the historical writings of the Roman historian Tacitus translated from Latin into English. The first part of the Annales tells the history of Rome until the age of Augustus. The second part is devoted to “The End of Nero and Beginning of Galba. Foure Bookes of the Histories of Cornelius Tacitus. The Life of Agricola. The fourth edition.”
ESTC S117625
HORSLEY, John. Britannia Romana: or the Roman antiquities of Britain: in three books
London, Printed for John Osborn and Thomas Longman, 1732.
£600
FIRST EDITION. Folio, pp. [8],xxxii,355,[1],353-520,[40], with half-title, 22 engraved maps (5 double-page) and 83 fine plates. Negligible small tears to blank margins of plates at p.113 and 158. Beautiful engraved head-piece to the dedication to Sir Richard Ellys by Vander Gucht. Very clean and crisp throughout. Bound in later full calf gilt (early C19th), smooth spine with with low-raised bands and red morocco label. Marbled pastedowns and fore-edges. Bookplate of Crewe Hall library. Bookseller’s label (Steedman of Newcastle). A fine copy.
John Horsley (c. 1685 – 1732) was a British antiquarian, known primarily for his book Britannia Romana.
ESTC T115200.
ACKERMAN, Rudolph (Publisher). A Picturesque Tour of the English Lakes, containing a Description of the most romantic scenery of Cumberland, Westmoreland, and Lancashire, with Accounts of Ancient and modern manners and customs, and elucidations of The History and Antiquities of that part of the country, &c. &c. Illustrated with forty-eight coloured views, drawn by Messrs. T. H. Fielding, and J. Walton, during a two years residence among the Lakes.
London, printed for R. Ackermann 1821.
£1350
4to (21×25,5cm), pp. vi [ii] 288 plus 48 coloured plates of landscapes. Title-page with coloured landscape vignette. Light browning. Bound in red half-morocco gilt and cloth boards, marbled pastedowns and endpapers, rubbed, original red morocco gilt spine with title relaid. a.e.g.
Brunet II 1248 (stating the edition carries no date). Graesse II 577 (dating it to 1822).
ACKERMAN, Rudolph (Publisher). A Picturesque Tour of the English Lakes, containing a Description of the most romantic scenery of Cumberland, Westmoreland, and Lancashire, with Accounts of Ancient and modern manners and customs, and elucidations of The History and Antiquities of that part of the country, &c. &c. Illustrated with forty-eight coloured views, drawn by Messrs. T. H. Fielding, and J. Walton, during a two years residence among the Lakes.
London, printed for R. Ackermann 1821.
£2850
Folio (36x29cm) , pp. vi [ii] 288 plus 48 coloured plates of landscapes. LARGE PAPER COPY. Title-page with coloured landscape vignette. Contemporary manuscript map of lakes loosely inserted in book. Bound in red half morocco gilt and cloth boards, marbled pastedowns and endpapers. Gilt title to spine. Untrimmed. An excellent copy.
Brunet II 1248 (stating the edition carries no date). Graesse II 577 (dating it to 1822).
PHILOSTRATUS (Blount, Charles, Tr.) The Two First Books, of Philostratus, Concerning the Life of Apollonius Tyaneus…
London, Printed for Nathaniel Thompson, 1680.
£1250
FIRST EDITION. Folio, pp. (viii) 243 (i), A-2G4 2H6. Roman and Italic letter. Title-page in black and red. Full-page woodcut chart on p. 145. Bound in contemporary mottled calf with morocco panels, blind-tooled and rebacked; covers, edges and corners restored. Inner hinges reinforced with woven tape. Some waterstaining throughout, a little light browning. A good copy.
Philostratus “the Athenian” was a Greek sophist of the Roman Imperial period. He is remembered for two works in particular: Lives of the Sophists and Life of Apollonius of Tyana. The latter was written between 217 and 238 AD, and tells the story of Apollonius of Tyana (c. 40 – c. 120 AD), a Pythagorean philosopher and teacher. Philostratus wrote the book for Julia Domna, wife of Septimius Severus and mother of Caracalla. The translator Charles Blount (1653-1693) was one of the leading deists of his time. He published the first of his major works, Anima Mundi, in 1679. It is an essay on pagan doctrines about the nature of the human soul and its destiny in the afterlife, drawing heavily on Montaigne. His Philostratus consists largely of his own notes to Philostratus, with roughly four pages of Blount to one of Philostratus. His commentary draws attention to analogies between Christ and Apollonius of Tyana, the miracle working mystic (or sham magician) Greek philosopher born just before Christ. John Leland in his View of the Principal Deistical Writers (1754) notes that Blount’s work was “manifestly intended to strike at revealed religion.” Justin A.I. Champion in The Dictionary of Seventeenth-Century British Philosophers notes: “The classical texts with its parallel between the life of the magus Apollonius and Christ was problematic enough; the inclusion of a digest of skeptical materialist, and irreligious material unencumbered with warnings of heterodoxy was to provide a provocative and dangerous resource to the literature public. There were consequently moves to have the work suppressed and even burnt.”
ESTC R4123; Wing (CD-ROM, 1996), P2132
AUTHOR’S PRESENTATION COPY TO ANDREW LUMISDEN
BOSWELL, James. An Account of Corsica, The Journal of a Tour to that Island, and Memoirs of Pascal Paoli. By James Boswell, Esq; Illustrated with a New and Accurate Map of Corsica.
London, Printed for Edward and Charles Dilly in the Poultry, 1769.
£6500
8vo, frontispiece plate with engraved portrait of Pascal Paoli by J. Lodge after Henry Bembridge, title page, “Letter” and “Preface” (pp. xxxii), large engraved folding map of Corsica (from the same plate as in the first edition, but with a scale of miles added), text from pp. 33 to 400. Bookplate to front pastedown of American collector Joseph Y. Jeanes from Philadelphia. Rebound in late C19th half red morocco and marbled paper over boards by the famous Philadelphia binders firm Pawson and Nicholson (see printed name to top outer corner of verso of first front endpaper). Corners and joints partly rubbed and worn, small tear to folding map, lightly yellowed throughout and occasional minor spotting. Waterstaining on head of flyleaf with Boswell’s inscription: “To Andrew Lumisden Esq: as a mark of sincere regard from the Author”. A very good copy.
Third edition of this famous account of Corsica by the English writer, novelist and travel diarist James Boswell, which is also an important presentation copy from the author to his dear friend Andrew Lumisden. The preface to this edition includes for the first time a eulogistic letter from George Lyttelton to Boswell in praise of Paoli. Boswell, a Scottish lawyer, is mainly remembered as the biographer of Samuel Johnson. He was invited to visit Corsica by Paoli in August 1764 whilst he was travelling in Italy. Boswell was determined to get to Corsica and stated that had he not received a formal invitation, he should still go, and probably be hanged as a spy. ‘He crossed from Leghorn to Corsica; saw the great Paoli; talked politics to him . . . He also took the liberty of asking Paoli “a thousand questions with regard to the most minute and private circumstances of his life” ’ (DNB). He apparently played Scottish airs to the Corsican peasantry. He returned to London with his head full of Corsica, and against Johnson’s advice, resolved to write an account of his experiences. This is a refreshing contemporary observation of eighteenth-century Corsica and covers a number of aspects; the first chapter consists of a geographical analysis of the Island followed by a historical and political overview. The book concludes with Boswell’s journal of his tour of the Island and the memoirs of Pascal Paoli. However, the book did not receive general approval. Walpole laughed at it and Gray described the journal as a “dialogue between a green goose and a hero”. Boswell never ceased to champion the Corsican cause and published a volume of “Essays in favour of the Brave Corsicans” in the spring of 1769. Andrew Lumisden (1720–1801), an “active and accurate antiquary”, was a Scottish Jacobite with whom Boswell became acquainted in Rome in 1765. They became good friends and Lumisden later assisted Boswell when he was writing the Life of Dr Johnson, by deciphering place names in the diarists’ journal of a French tour in late 1775.
Rothschild 446, 447.