9 721 résultats
- J. Johnson & Th. Payne, London 1813, in-4 (20,5x26,5cm), xviii ; 423 pp. (4 p.) et (2 p.) iv ; 408 pp., 2 volumes reliés. - Narrative, of a five years' expedition, against the revolted negroes of Surinam, in Guiana, on the wild coast of South America J. Johnson & Th. Payne, London 1813, 4° (20,5x26,5cm), xviii; 423 pp. (4 p.) and (2 p.) iv; 408 pp., 2 volumes bound. Second edition, actually third. First published in 1796. Illustrated with 79 full-page plates and 3 folding maps. Sixteen prints engraved by William Blake after drawings by the author. Modern half roan, red and green morocco title and marbled endpapers. Light foxing to some pages, otherwise a good copy. The Anglo-Dutch officer Jean Gabriel Stedman (1744-1797) put down slave rebellions in Surinamen Dutch Guiana from 1772 to 1777. William Blake's impressive portraits of tortured slaves were widely distributed by the anti-slavery movement. Although in the service of the crown and therefore of the colonizers, Stedman was soon regarded as a prominent figure of the abolitionist movement. Publisher Joseph Johnson (1738-1809), one of the most important in the United Kingdom, became known for publishing the works of radical thinkers and dissidents such as Mary Wollstonecraft, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Paine. As a member of the Society for Constitutional Information seeking to reform Parliament, he published numerous political works supporting the rights of slaves, Jewish people, women, prisoners, and other oppressed peoples around the world. [FRENCH VERSION FOLLOWS] "Seconde édition" en réalité troisième de cet ouvrage publié pour la première fois en 1796. Elle est illustrée de 79 planches hors-texte et 3 cartes dépliantes. Seize des estampes ont été gravées par William Blake d'après les dessins de Stedman. Reliure moderne en demi basane fauve à coins, dos à cinq faux nerfs sertis de doubles filets dorés, pièces de titre et de tomaisons de maroquin rouge et vert, plats de papier à la cuve. Quelques pages très légèrement roussies, sinon bel exemplaire. L'officier anglo-néerlandais Jean Gabriel Stedman (1744-1797) participa à la répression des révoltes d'esclaves au Surinam de 1772 à 1777. Les impressionnantes planches de William Blake décrivant les supplices infligés aux esclaves, furent reprises et largement diffusées par le courant anti-esclavagiste. Par ce témoignage Stedman, pourtant au service de la couronne royale et donc des colonisateurs, fut élevé au rang de héraut du mouvement abolitionniste. D'ailleurs, l'éditeur Joseph Johnson (1738-1809), l'un des plus importants du Royaume-Uni, était connu pour publier des travaux de penseurs radicaux et de dissidents tels que Mary Wollstonecraft, Benjamin Franklin et Thomas Paine. Membre de la Society for Constitutional Information, un groupe activiste visant à réformer le Parlement, il publia de nombreux ouvrages politiques soutenant les droits des esclaves, des juifs, des femmes, des prisonniers et d'autres peuples opprimés à travers le monde.
4to. Pts. I/1, II/1, and III/1 (= all published) in 1 vol. 47, 48, 16 pp. With 33 (30 coloured) engraved plates (some folding). Contemp. marbled boards. Only edition. "Now rare collection" (cf. Hayn/G.). Contains the Nuremberg "Schembart" play, a carnival masque with 20 coloured zinc engravings, edited from old mss. Other items include various treatises on the history of Nuremberg and a book of Nuremberg costumes (with 10 coloured engravings). Only the first issue of each of the three parts saw publication. - All costumes are pictured in beautiful original colour; also includes a facsimile of Martin Luther's "Praise of Music". - Some browning and brownstaining (mainly concerning the endpapers); 2 plates are loosened. No other complete copy listed in auction records of the last decades. Lipperheide Dfe 19. Hayn/Gotendorf V, 427. Pfeiffer 33848, 33792 und 33958.
Folio (212:324 mm). 188 (instead of 192), (18) pp. With engr. t. p. and 37 engr., folding views, maps, and plans. Contemp. vellum with ms. spine title. Remains of ties. First printing of the first edition (distinguished by the line break on p. 3, left column, last 2 lines: "... von // dem Lande den Namen/ gleich wie mit einer // Mauer/ umbgeben ..."). "The first and second edition are of a high quality: light-coloured paper, good impressions, and excellent engravings" (Nebehay/W.). - Hand-coloured title engraving. Occasional slight browning. Small edge defect to the view of Schlan (not touching the image) professionally restored; Hollar's four-page view of Prague somewhat wrinkled and assembled out of order. Wants pp. 163-166; plates complete including the plan of Trachenberg (not in the list of plates and often missing). From the library of the Regensburg jurist Sebastian Seelmann, a member of Harsdörffer's "Pegnesian Order of Flowers" since 1668 (under the name of "Silvius"), with his autogr. note of ownership on the engr. t. p . and the acquisition date "1704". VD 17, 23:301612X. Wüthrich IV, 51. Nebehay/Wagner 405. Schuchhard 14 A.
5 photo albums with more than 1,000 black-and-white original photographs (40 x 52 mm to 205 x 254 mm), 5 booklets of certificates, 2 driving licences, 4 identity cards, 1 passport, 1 membership book (navigators and engineer officers' union), 1 membership card (merchant navy officers' guild), 2 forms, 1 grade card. Intriguing material documenting the career of a Royal Navy officer serving aboard the oil tanker "Stanvac Manila", operated by the Socony Vacuum Oil Company, in the mid-20th century. Unusual in its extent, the collection reflects almost every step of his career, spanning more than 60 engagements on 20 different vessels from 1928 onwards. It includes Owen's continuous certificate of discharge up to 1957, giving the name of each ship he served on, the date and place of his engagement and discharge, his rating, a brief description of the voyage, and a report of his character, signed by a superior. Among the more remarkable entries are his engagement as third mate during "special operations for the liberation of Europe" in 1944, his service aboard the "Stanvac Manila", which he boarded for the fifth time in Bahrain in 1951, and his five years aboard the "Hua Heng", which he boarded and disembarked from several times in Singapore. - Further, the archive comprises identity cards featuring Owen's picture and fingerprints, as well as certificates of his advancement from lifeboatman (1937) to master of vessels of more than 1,600 gross register tonnage (1981). A certificate of proficiency in radiotelephony and a medical certificate deeming him "physically unfit for naval service" in 1940 are also included. - The collection is topped off by several photo albums mainly illustrating the voyage of the "Stanvac Manila", providing views of the places visited along the way, including Bombay, Sydney, Brisbane, Manila, San Francisco, Hong Kong, Istanbul, Madeira, New Zealand, Abadan, and the Panama Canal, depicting local ports and scenery, landmarks, coal workers, farmers, cattle and dolphins, as well as other vessels, including the SS Langleeridge in Portland, Maine, sailboats in Auckland, the "Stanvac Manila" crew, and impressive weather phenomena. - Signs of use; several photographs loose. A rare survival reflecting the eventful career of a British naval officer.
Folio (215 x 320 mm). 2 pts. in 1 vol. (24), 534, 559, (1) pp. (313-320 counted as columns). Title page printed in red and black. With 9 engr. plates. Contemp. blindstamped pigskin over wooden boards (wants clasps). First German edition of this history of the Jesuit mission in Japan, first published in 1689. Accounts of the country, its inhabitants, and their customs. The plates show costumes, buildings and scenes of martyrdom. Although the book was widely translated, the Catholic church curiously took exception to it: "Crasset's history was scarcely original, for it was drawn in great part from the work which Father Solier had issued in 1627; he merely retouched the style and continued the narrative from 1624 to 1658. The objection is made that the work lacks precision, is heavy, and is crowded with details. The author attributed the origin of the persecution of 1597 to the imprudence of the friars in making their religious ceremonies too public" (Cath. Ency. IV, 468). - Binding well-preserved. Title page and gutter near end show insignificant worming (no loss to text); slight brownstaining. From the library of the Canons Regular in Polling, Upper Bavaria, secularized in 1803 (their engr. bookplate, dated 1744); later stamp of the Bad Tölz Franciscan monastery (closed in 2008) on title page. Alt-Japan Kat. 379. Cordier 401. De Backer/Sommervogel II, 1641, 21. Fromm 6191. Laures 612. Streit VI, 1441.
London, G. Robinson, 1778. 4to. Later (19th Century) hcalf. Raised bands, richly gilt spine. Fronthinge broken, but block fully intact. Stamps on title-page. (3),II,III,IV,(9-)649,(3) pp. 1 folded table, 1 folded chart. First leaves lightly brownspotted. Scattered faint marginal brownspots. Wide-margined.
Kopenhagen, Nicolaus Möller, 1774-78. 4to. Bound in 2 contemp. hcalf. Gilt spines. Title-and tome-labels with gilt lettering. A paperlabel pasted on upper part of spines. Slightly rubbed. Stamps on title-pages. 2 engraved titlevignettes. Halftitles. XVI,(6),505,(1) "(16),479 pp. 1 large folded map, outlinecoloured ""Tabula Iteneraria... Terrae Yemen... 1763."" and 124 engraved maps and plates (complete). A dampstain on lower part of leaves in volume 2, increasing towards end. Printed on good paper. A few scattered brownspots.
- Chez Jean-Léonard Pellet, Genève 1781, in-8 (12,5x20cm), xvj ; 348pp. (1) et xij, 378pp. (1) et (4) VII (1) 372pp. (1) et xij, 308pp. (1) et (4) VII (1) 259pp. (2) et xij, 308pp. (1) et xvj, 359pp. (1) et XII, 352pp. (1) et viij, 262pp. (1) et VI, 348pp. (1), 10 volumes reliés. - Troisième et dernière édition, la meilleure et la plus complète quant au texte, portant le nombre de volumes à 10 contre 7 parus jusqu'alors, ici en titre de relais à la date de 1781 ; on trouve en effet des exemplaires avec des pages de titre aux 2 dates de 1780 et 1781. L'oeuvre parue dans une version luxueuse, in 4 et dans cette version in-8. L'illustration comporte un portrait de Raynal par Cochin (avec la mention : Le défenseur de la liberté, de la vérité...) au frontispice du tome I et 9 belles figures en frontispices des autres volumes, par Moreau le Jeune et gravés par De Launay, Delignon et Simonet. L'atlas in-4 est paru à part et pouvait se joindre à l'édition selon la volonté de l'acquéreur. Les volumes sont bien complets de tous les faux-titre et des 10 feuillets d'errata in fine. Reliure en plein maroquin vert d'époque. Dos lisse orné. Pièces de titre et de tomaison en maroquin rouge. Triple filet d'encadrement sur les plats. Dos uniformément éclaircis. Traces de frottement. Superbe exemplaire, très rare en maroquin vert. Ex libris Edmond et Jules de Goncourt dessiné et gravé par Gavarni. Signature d'Edmond de Goncourt au-dessus de l'ex libris. On notera que les beaux livres du XVIIIe sont rares dans la bibliothèque des Goncourt. Publiée pour la première fois en 1771 en 7 volumes, avec la collaboration de D'Holbach et Diderot, l'Histoire philosophique des deux Indes, a connu un succès fulgurant dans toute l'Europe et l'Amérique ; son succès est essentiellement dû à la critique sévère du colonialisme, de l'exploitation, de l'esclavage et du mercantilisme. Il fut condamné à être supprimé par arrêt du Conseil du 19 décembre 1779 et condamné au feu par arrêt du Parlement de Paris du 25 mai 1781. Livre emblème du siècle des lumières, se présentant comme une histoire du commerce international, L'oeuvre est avant tout un violent brûlot contre le colonialisme européen et son arrogance, l'esclavagisme et l'asservissement des peuples, contre l'église qui prête son concours à l'hypocrisie européenne. Le résultat ne se fit pas attendre, et le livre fut brûlé en place publique à Paris. On sait aujourd'hui que Diderot a collaboré dès la première édition et qu'il a supervisé l'organisation des textes, qu'il perfectionnera dans la troisième édition (en ajoutant de nombreux textes de sa plume et de celles d'autres collaborateurs, tel D'Holbach), transformant l'oeuvre initiale en une véritable machine de guerre du parti des philosophes. Le livre n'est d'ailleurs nullement qu'accusations, il cherche au contraire et implore même des solutions pacifiques, d'ententes entre les peuples. L'histoire ne s'y trompa pas puisqu'elle vit en Raynal un promoteur de la Révolution française. C'est une oeuvre extrèmement riche, une encyclopédie des voyages européens et une histoire coloniale de tous les continents et de tous les pays conquis et colonisés par les Européens. [ENGLISH DESCRIPTION ON DEMAND]
London, Lockyer Davis, 1777. 4to. In recent marbled paper wrappers. Extracted from ""Philosophical Transactions"". Including title-page of volume 61 and 66. Leaves reinforced/mounted in margin. Light offsetting from folded plates as usual. Pp. (2), 401-406, 447-450, (4), 397-436 pp. + 3 folded plates.
Amsterdam, Gerard van Keulen, 1720. 4to. In recent half cloth with black leather title-label with gilt lettering to front board. Gilt stamp to front board. Small stamp to lower margin of title-page, not affecting text, otherwise fine. (1)-31 pp. [Sabin want 40 pp., which includes another work: ""Korte Beschryving van de Westkust der Straat Davids, ofte anders Noord Amerika genoemd"", not present here].
Paris, Imprimerie Royal, 1835. 8vo. Bound entirely uncut and unopened in a recent half cloth binding with gilt lettering to spine. 3 small stamps to title-page and light occassional marginal brownspotting, a fine copy. 247 pp. + folded map.
Frankfurt am Mayn, Garbe, 1762. 8vo. Very nice contemporary full mottled calf with five raised bands to richly gilt spine. Titlelabel with gilt lettering. A bit of wear to spine, causing slight loss of leather and a neat restoration to lower compartment. A paperlabel pasted on top of spine. Small loss of leather to back board. A stamp on title-page (Holstein=Holsteinborg). (70), 397 pp., 4 folded tables, paginated 391-97. Internally clean, some quires printed on thick paper.
Nürnberg Johann Hofmann, 1688-89. (The engraved allergorical title having: Amsterdam, Beÿ Jacob von Meursen nachgelassene Witve, 1681). Folio. Cont. full calf, raised bands, old repairs to top and bottom of spine. Richly gilt compartments. Crowned royal monogram on covers inside gilt frames, gilt stamps at corners. Some wears to covers, scratches. Engraved allegorical title, printed title in red/black. 200,(4) pp titlepage,400,(8) pp., 10 double-page engraved maps and plans, 29 engraved plates (of which 21 are double-page) and 29 half-page engravings in the text. The first ab. 35 leaves with a small wormtract in outer margin. A few scattered brownspots, otherwise clean.
Large 8vo. 268 pp. 10 full page mounted photographic plates, with 10 further photographic plates mounted in the text. Contemporary calf, expertly rebacked with the original spine laid down, gilt, a.e.g. bookplate to front pastedown. First edition. An unusual work illustrated with photographic illustrations by G. Liquier. In the 1860s photographic printing became cheaper and several publishers used the technique as an alternative to lithographic or woodcut illustration. Ferguson, 12251.
Amsterdam, Marc-Michel Rey, 1769-70 and 1770. Bound in two fine uniform cont. hcalf., raised bands, gilt back, tome-and title-labels gilt. (Chappe in the first volume and Kracheninnikow in the second). 2 htitles, 2 titles. (4),VIII,(4),686 pp. 7 engraved plates (incl. folded frontispiece) and 5 folded tables. - 2 htitles, 2 titles (each with engraved vignette). (4),XVI,439 (4),492 pp. + Avis au Relieur, and 7 folded engraved plates, 2 large folded engraved maps. Printed on fine clean writing-paper.
Paris, L. Hachette et Cie, 1860-1914. 4to. Bound in 88 uniform contemporary half calf bindings with 5 raised bands (except for two volumes in half cloth). (Each year up to 1894 in 2 parts, 1895-1914 each year in one volume). Some top of spines with wear, some traces of use, otherwise a fine set. Profusely illustrated with large wood-cuts (full-page, half-page and smaller) and maps.
8vo. (12), (2), 453 [but: 451; omitting 177/178] pp., ff. 454-456, 457-480 [but: 470], 481-653, (1) pp. With engraved portrait frontispiece. Contemporary blindstamped leather over wooden boards on 4 raised bands; giltstamped oval armorial supralibros to both covers. All edges red. 2 clasps. Rare first edition of this eyewitness account of the Great Northern War, in which the "Little Prince" Maximilian Emanuel of Wuerttemberg-Winnental (1689-1709) took part on the Swedish side. Captured by the Russians in the Battle of Poltava, he died at Dubno. On his journeys he was accompanied by the preacher J. W. Bardili (1676-1740, grandson of the physician Carl Bardili), who later published the present report, containing numerous interesting geographico-cultural observations on Belarus, Smolensk, Sivershchyna, Volhynia and the Ukraine: "The country known as Ukrainie is splendidly fertile and produces such amounts of crops that they can impossibly be stored away, for which reason a large proportion of grain is used for brandy, a drink of which the inhabitants are not only great connoisseurs, but of which they are also wont to possess quite significant quantities. The grass is rich [...]. Thus fed, the Cossacks' horses grow very strong and durable, and they are able to remain outside, throughout summer and winter, until they are five or six years old, and only then are they slowly accustomed to the saddle and bridle" (cf. p. 422). From p. 481 onwards, the book contains an anonymous account of the ensuing events informed by the operations of the Ottoman Empire (such as the Turkish captivity of Charles XII at Bender). - Some occasional browning and staining due to paper. The half-title belonging to the appendix ("Reise-Beschreibung von Pultawa nach Bender", pp. 481 ff.) is erroneously bound after the preliminaries. Both covers bear the giltstamped arms of the Benedictine monk and scholar Gottfried (Johann Georg) Bessel (1672-1749), the probably most important abbot of the Austrian Abbey of Göttweig (1714-49), which he had rebuilt in 1718, following a fire, based on plans by Johann Lucas von Hildebrandt. Hailed as "Germany's Mabillon" for his pioneering work in diplomatics and the auxiliary sciences of history, Bessel authored the "Chronicon Gotwicense" and served as rector of the University of Vienna from 1714 to 1716. Estreicher XII, 370. Warmholtz 5546. ADB XXI, 76.
Oblong folio (501 x 302 mm). Album of 82 photographs mounted on 14 loose brown cardboard sheets, unbound, with blank cover sheet. Sizes ranging from 10 x 6 to 15 x 26 cm. Photographs of the Summer Palace, Tan Chueh Ssu Monastery, a trip to Mt. Connelly (Ching Shi Chien) with views taken on the road from Wang Ping Kou to Men Tou Kou following the river, of Fengtien troops marching westwards to meet the Shanhsi raiders, the Tan Han Ling Pass with the temple, Pan Chiao-Erh, Tan Chueh Ssu main gate, Shan-Hai-Kuan (wall, gates and towers, temple precincts, surrounding landscape, trolley line), etc., many captioned in ink in English. - Provenance: From the collection of Johannes Gottfried William Schröder (1870-1942). Born in India, the brother of the German poet Rudolf Alexander Schröder grew up in Bremen, trained as a merchant and visited India, China, Japan, and America. He established his own business in Shanghai in 1906. His intimate knowledge of East Asia led him to embrace the philosophy of anthroposophy.
Vortitel, Titel, (12) SS. Mit 102 (teils doppelblattgr.) Tafeln. Originaler goldgeprägter Pergamentband mit Kopfgoldschnitt. Folio. Erste Ausgabe, sehr selten. Prachtvolle Monographie der im Ionischen Meer gelegenen Insel Ithaka, welche Heimat des Odysseus gewesen sein soll. - Tadellos erhalten.
8vo. (6), 116 pp. With a folding lithographed plan of Saint-Denis. Contemporary dark green cloth, rebacked with the original backstrip laid down. Rare first and only edition of a firsthand account of the British invasion of the Island of Bourbon (Réunion) in 1810 by "an officer of the expedition", sometimes ascribed to Charles Telfair (1778-1833), an Irish botanist who visited Réunion and Mauritius in 1810 as a ship's surgeon to the Royal Navy. The author briefly narrates the events leading up to the invasion, and in more detail describes the invasion itself, providing much information on the ships, squadrons, regiments and officers involved. "His object was to commemorate facts, while he was a spectator of them, and to stamp them with the sentiments they excited" (p. [5]). Also included are the general instructions and directions to officers at the head of brigades, issued by Lt. Col. Keating (pp. 38-53), and transcripts of letters, decrees and newspaper articles (or extracts thereof) relating to the invasion (pp. 54-102). The book closes with an appendix on the island's "value" as a colony, observing its population, climate, agriculture, trade, and infrastructure (pp. 103-116). The island of Bourbon in the Indian Ocean had been in French hands since 1715, until the British Royal Navy invaded it in 1810. The main objective of the expedition, led by Josias Rowley (1765-1842), was to capture the island as well as Mauritius so as "to secure, on the most permanent foundation, the dominion of England against the hostile attempts of France" (p. 4); the French retreated to the islands after raiding British convoys from India. Though the British kept hold of Mauritius, the island of Bourbon was returned to France at the Congress of Vienna of 1814. It was renamed "Réunion" when the house of Bourbon abdicated during the French Revolution of 1848. - Browned and foxed throughout, otherwise in good condition. Binding rebacked and restored. J. McAleer, Britain's Maritime Empire (2016), p. 87.
Small 8vo. 333, (1); 303, (25) pp. With engraved frontispiece (repeated in volume 2) and 2 title-pages printed in red and black. Contemporary mottled, tanned sheepskin, rebacked with the original backstrip laid down and a new red title-label. "Best" (Howgego) edition of this account of an imaginary voyage based on the story of the VOC ship Vergulde Draeck that was wrecked on the coast of western Australia in 1656. First published anonymously by the French writer Denis Vairasse (1635-1700), simultaneously in French and English, in five parts over the years 1675 to 1679. At this time Europeans still knew almost nothing about Australia, and the utopian wild stories of the book caught the imagination of the public and went through many editions. - "In Vairasse's story, one of the boats sent out to seek help, returns with news of the discovery of a civilized country where its crew were imprisoned and then released by an armed force from Sporunde, a vassal state of the great kingdom called Sevarambia in the interior. The Sporundeans, who speak Dutch and Spanish as a result of prior European encounter, take the crew to their city where they are welcomed in friendship. On the return of the boat, the survivors of the Dragon d'Or are then taken to Sporunde, from where [Captain] Siden and his companions proceed on a journey to Severambia" (Howgego). "With its emphasis on Deism, Reason, and the full dignity of man, the novel rejects most of what France had stood for from the Huguenot Wars to Louis XIV, and announces instead the dawn of 18th century Enlightenment and 19th century Liberalism" (Friederich). - Some pages a bit browned and rebacked; generally in good condition. From the library of the Swedish antiquarian bookdealer Björn Löwendahl (1941-2013). Barbier II, 768. OCLC 22754709. R. Davidson, A book collector's notes, p. 43. Howgego, Invented narratives, V1. Cf. Friederich, pp. 20-22.
Large 4to (206 x 280 mm). 111 leaves, folded (double leaves in oriental style). Early 20th century calf-backed marbled boards, lettered on spine "Inscription sur Tuiles des Tsin et des Han". First edition of this historical manual of Chinese inscriptions of honorific and noble titles. The first of three volumes that would appear until 1794. - Paper flaw to title page, repaired on verso; occasional foxing to margins. A good copy. OCLC 40844063.
4to. [2 blank], [2], VIII, 297, [1] blank pp. Contemporary red half roan. Second edition of a handbook that was essential for English speaking persons who wished to obtain competence in Mandarin with the required knowledge of vocabulary and functional grammar and an awareness of the main types of verbal interaction. - The author Joseph Edkins was a prominent English Sinologue who lived in China for 57 years and published fourteen books on the language and culture of the country, amongst others a catalogue of the Chinese collection of the Bodleian Library (1876). His first publication was a Grammar of the Shanghai dialect (1853), making this Mandarin Grammar his second dictionary. It was his only book that had a second edition. He was forward thinking with the idea that the European and Asian languages have common roots, and thus shared ancestors. - With the bookplate of John Lawson on paste-down. In good condition.
4to (160 x 189 mm). (16), 168 pp. Title-page printed in red and black. With woodcut head- and tail-pieces and decorative initials. 18th or early 19th century full vellum with gilt spine, giltstamped green spine label, and handwritten place and date to spine. All edges sprinkled red. First edition, rare. - The first grammar of the Icelandic language, and indeed the first complete grammar of any Scandinavian language. Jonsson's seminal work promotes the wealth and elegance of his native tongue, utterly "insisting on the precedence of Icelandic over the other nordic languages" (Jauman). Composing what is essentially an invitation to study Icelandic, Jonsson systematically applied to his mother tongue the insights he had gained studying other languages including Hebrew, Greek, Latin, English, and German. - Title-page a little stained and spotted, lightly browned throughout. Large tears to a4 and b4 torn, repaired with loss to text. Larger traces of worming to most leaves to circa D1, thereafter diminishing to one or two small holes within text, disappearing entirely from O3 onwards. Still a good copy of a classic of 17th century linguistics. - Provenance: from the collection of Sir Walter Halsey (1868-1950) with his armorial "Gaddesden Library" bookplate to front flyleaf. BL-STC Scandinavian R 478. Bruun IV, 58. Fiske 306. 378. Jauman/Stiening, Neue Diskurse der Gelehrtenkultur in der Frühen Neuzeit. OCLC 792882312.
8vo. 3 vols. (8), 478, (2) pp. (8), 432, (4) pp. (8), 520 pp. With a total of 9 engraved plates (3 folding), 5 (instead of 6) folding engraved maps (1 repeated), and a 2-part table. Contemporary full French mottled calf with gilt cover borders and leading edges; spines prettily gilt. Marbled endpapers. Top edge gilt, remaining edges red. First edition of this important collection of treatises and essays, one of the author's most sought-after works. The first volume appeared separately in 1824; the three-volume set to which the collection was subsequently expanded usually contains the first volume in the 1826 re-issue only. Several of the treatises make use of Middle Eastern sources or discuss the languages of the region. - Very early in life, Klaproth (1783-1835) devoted his energies to the study of Asiatic languages, publishing his "Asiatisches Magazin" in 1802. He was appointed to the academy in St. Petersburg, and in 1805 he was a member of Count Golovkin's embassy to China. On his return he was despatched by the academy to the Caucasus on an ethnographical and linguistic exploration (1807-08) and was afterwards employed for several years in connection with the academy's Oriental publications. In 1815 he settled in Paris, where in 1816 Humboldt helped procure him the title and salary of professor of Asiatic languages and literature from the king of Prussia, with permission to remain in Paris as long as was requisite for the publication of his works. - Apparently lacking a map in volume 2. The folding map of the Potocki Archipelago is found in both the first and the second volumes. A good, clean set in contemporary bindings, the spines bearing the crowned monogram MED. Provenance: from the collection of Roberto Gulbenkian (1923-2009). A rare work; only three other copies in auction records of the last three decades. Cordier Sinica I, 68. Lust 91. Morrison II, 139. Howgego II, p. 326, K15. Henze III, 41.
