Marin

1665 · AQ31353 — London: Printed by T.R. for Thomas Dring at the George in Fleetstreet neer Cliffords-Inn 1665. 32 330pp 14. With extra-engraved title A1v included in the pagination. Contemporary gilt-tooled calf. Rubbed cracking to joints lacking lettering-piece and chipped to spine with neat repair to upper board at foot. Small paper flaw to D1 with loss of catchword to recto and two words of text to verso. Philip Bliss' copy with one line of manuscript notes identifying the author of 'Address to the translator' to a blank-fly leaf and his usual ownership marks the addition of a manuscript initial 'P.' before the printer's register B to leaf B1 followed by '35' indicating his year of acquisition. Earlier inscription 'M. Cowper. Fellow of A: S: Coll. Oxon' to head of title with partially erased note regarding ownership by his grandfather; later inscriptions of Robert and May Montagu to blank fly. With a manuscript note in an early hand to margin and foot of V7r with repaired paper excision/cuts to margins of V7-8. An interesting copy with double Oxford provenance and a curious eighteenth- century manuscript note of John Davies of Kidwelly's 1625-1693 English translation of L'art de connoistre les hommes Paris 1659 by French physician and philosopher Marin Cureau de la Chambre 1594-1669. A vaguely philosophical work on human character with diversions into astrology chiromancy metroscopy and physiognomy the extra-engraved title depicts scholarly study of human heads with both European and African examples displayed on a shelf. Evidently acquired by Oxford University Registrar antiquary and book collector Philip Bliss' 1787-1857 in 1835 this volume also bears the earlier inscription of 'M. Cowper' Fellow of All Souls Oxford. The curious inscription to the foot of pp.235 apparently in the same hand relates at a point of the text referring to weaknesses at times of eclipse the annotators experience of being seized with a 'death like coldness' at the time of 'a great Eclipse of the Sun in the year 1753.or 54' which could not be cured until the said eclipse had passed. ESTC R5716. Wing L128. First English edition. 8vo. Printed by T.R. for Thomas Dring at the George in Fleetstreet, neer Cliffords-Inn unknown