First edition.
Minor marginal tears to the boards, a few spots of foxing.
Not recorded by Sabin.
New edition, partly original, published anonymously (see Sabin 20,288).
Disbound copy, preserved in a modern marbled paper wrapper.
Abbé Louis Genty (1743–1817) is better known for his Influence de la découverte de l’Amérique sur le bonheur du genre humain, published in 1788, but this Dissertation appears here in a form close to its first draft.
Second edition of this French version (the first having appeared in 1781), approved by the author, of the Memorial most humbly addressed to the sovereigns of Europe, on the present state of affairs (London, July 1780) (cf. Sabin 64827).
Disbound copy, presented in a modern marbled paper wrapper.
This text had in fact been the subject of an earlier translation based on the Translation of the memorial by Edmund Jennings and John Adams, which failed to satisfy Pownall (namely the Pensées sur la Révolution de l'Amérique-Unie, issued with the Amsterdam imprint in 1780).
The substance of the various versions nonetheless converges, forming a prescient exhortation to the sovereigns of Europe to confer together in order to enter into commercial and economic relations with the future power that Pownall already discerned in the English colonies of America.
Rare first edition of this lecture delivered at the Cercle de France in Paris on January 8, 1958, no copy referenced in Worldcat. Light foxing to the front board.
Rare utopian pamphlet celebrating the creation of Brasilia and laying the theoretical foundations for the cities of the future. Inscribed and signed by Robert Miocque to his friend Marcel Dollfus at the top of the first page of text.
First edition, completed at the end of the volume with a folding table printed off text (cf. Sabin 28336; Howes 318).
Bound in full flexible beige boards, the manuscript spine title clumsily restored with an adhesive strip and now largely faded; sprinkled red edges.
A dampstain affecting the upper right corner of the opening leaves; a few scattered foxmarks.
The folding table bound at the end of the volume is not recorded by Sabin. It summarises the key geographical data for each state (natural resources, population in 1790 and 1810, universities and colleges, representation in Congress, etc.).
Father Giovanni Grassi of the Society of Jesus spent several years in Georgetown, where he served as rector of the seminary.
First edition of the French translation (cf. Sabin, 43416; Smith, Pacific Northwest Americana, 6381; Pilling, Bibl. of the Algonquian Languages, 327; Hoefer, XXXII, 566-567).
Illustrated with a portrait of the author after Sir Thomas Lawrence as frontispiece to the first volume and, at the end of each volume, three engraved maps showing the route from Fort Chipewyan to the Arctic Sea in 1789 and to the Pacific Ocean in 1793, together with the portion of North America lying between the 40th and 70th degrees north latitude and the 45th and 180th degrees west longitude.
Handsome half red shagreen bindings, flat spines ruled in gilt with quintuple fillets, traces of former labels at the head of each spine, minor rubbing to joints, red boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns; mid-19th-century bindings.
Repair to the half-title of volume I.
A pleasing copy of this major exploration narrative.
An extremely rare first edition of this valuable statistical survey of Bolivia; absent from both Palau and Sabin. Only one copy recorded in the CCFr (BnF).
Chuquisaca, Imprenta de Sucre, 1851, octavo,
Contemporary half brown sheep, smooth spine decorated with double gilt fillets, marbled paper boards with losses, worn corners and edges, blue-speckled edges; a modest binding of the period.
Copy slightly trimmed.
José Maria Dalence (1782–1852), a jurist and prominent political figure of the independence period (1825), here provides one of the most precise demographic, ethnographic, and economic portraits of the young nation.
First edition.
A single copy recorded in the CCFr (Roanne).
Contemporary half green calf, smooth spine cracked and with losses, marbled paper boards, original printed wrappers preserved, binding of the period.
Lower board tending to detach.
The Venetian historian Ronaldo Fulin (1824–1884) produced numerous publications and original studies based on the exceptionally rich holdings of the Archivio di Stato of Venice.
The question addressed in this communication is linked to the presumed relations between Columbus and Venice (see the accompanying letters).
Copy from the library of the celebrated Americanist Henry Harrisse (1829–1910), a specialist of the earliest discoveries of the New World, with an autograph inscription by Ronaldo Fulin at the head of the front wrapper.
Henry Harrisse enhanced this pamphlet with seven autograph signed letters, mounted, in French or Italian, generally accompanied by their envelopes: 1. One from the Italian historian Cesare Cantù (1804–1895), dated 10 December 1881. – 2. One from the Columbian scholar Marcello Staglieno (1829–1909), dated 3 August 1888. – 3. One from the director of the Archivio di Stato of Venice (signature illegible), dated 27 June 1888. – 4. A card from the publisher B. Calore, dated 17 December 1881. – 5.–6. Two letters from the philologist and Hispanist Alfred Morel-Fatio (1850–19245), dated 2 and 9 December 1881. – 7. One letter from Henry Vignaud (1830–1922), in his capacity as First Secretary of the United States Legation in Paris from 1882 to 1909, dated 30 May 1888.
Most of these letters revolve around the existence of a purported letter from Christopher Columbus to the Senate of Venice, prior to the voyages of exploration.
Complete autograph manuscript of 50 pages, written on the recto of each leaf and containing numerous deletions and revisions.
The manuscript was published in the December 1872 issue of the Bulletin de la Société de Géographie.
Full red shagreen binding, spine with five raised bands decorated with gilt fleurons and double gilt panels adorned with floral tools, double gilt fillets on the boards, comb-marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt dentelle border on the pastedowns, gilt edges on the boards, corners rubbed, contemporary binding.
The leaves are numbered 1 to 50 in the upper left corner; an earlier numbering, struck through, appears in the upper margin.
The study is divided into three parts:
The first part traces the history of navigation in the Sargasso Sea from the Phoenicians, who were the first to report floating banks of algae in the Atlantic. They were followed by the Carthaginians, Arabs, and Portuguese. But it was Christopher Columbus who, in 1492, provided the first serious observations of this maritime phenomenon. Gaffarel then refers to the voyages of Gonneville, Jean de Léry, and André Thévet, cites Humboldt, and finally discusses recent scientific explorations: in 1851–1852 by the campaign of the Dolphin, Captain Lee, and in 1855 by that of the brig Méléagre, Captain Leps.
In the second part, the author examines the geography of the Sargasso Sea, noting that its extent and boundaries have always remained uncertain. He then develops three hypotheses regarding their origin, the most plausible being that the sargassum forms around the Gulf Stream, whose warm and relatively calm waters offer favourable conditions for its proliferation. The text then discusses the different species of sargassum, their mode of growth, and their accumulation, which created the strange appearance that once frightened early navigators.
Finally, the author considers the resources of the Sargasso Sea: by analogy with the harvesting of seaweed along the French coasts—where, once reduced to ash, it provides an excellent fertiliser—one might imagine exploiting the algae of the Sargasso Sea for the extraction of mineral substances, though this would require specially equipped vessels. He concludes: “La mer des Sargasses est donc une véritable région promise.
Tous, plus ou moins, directement ou non, agriculteurs pour nos champs, malades pour nos santés, industriels pour nos usines […] citoyens pour notre patrie, nous n’avons qu’à gagner à l’exploitation des richesses inconnues de cette mer…” (p. 50).
Bound at the end:
First edition of the French translation prepared by F. Soulès of "An account on the present state of Nova Scotia", originally published in 1786.
Our copy is offered unbound.
Pages 31 to 39 are devoted to fishing practices.
First French edition, translated from the third English edition (Sabin, 30036.).
Each volume features a steel-engraved frontispiece.
Covers soiled, front boards detached, minor losses and tears to board margins, some foxing, cracked spines with losses; our copy in wrappers is housed in a modern brown full-cloth slipcase.
The second volume also includes a section on "Passage to Montreal and Quebec" (pp. 317-342) and "The Character of the Canadians" (pp. 331-332, 339-342).
Manuscript ex-libris signed Delecey de Mécourt on the front covers.
First edition of the French translation and notes prepared by Billecocq (cf. Sabin, 41879; Leclerc, 943; Field, 947; Howes, 443; Staton-Trenlaine, Bibliogr. of Canadiana, 597 for the original edition).
Half mottled calf, smooth spine decorated with gilt tools, brown shagreen title-piece, marbled paper boards slightly darkened and faded at the edges, red edges; modern binding.
Stamp on the half-title, a light marginal dampstain affecting the outer margins of the final leaves.
Illustrated with a folding copper-engraved map by P. F. Tardieu, “Des pays situés à l'ouest du Canada”.
“The interest of the work lies in the detailed and relatively objective descriptions it provides of Indigenous life (…) The work is also of great value for its extensive lists of terms used by the Inuit, the Agniers, the Algonquins, the Mohegans, the Chaouanons and the Saulteaux.” Cf. Dictionary of Canadian Biography, IV, pp. 524–525.
First edition of this paper on cassava and the cultivation of peanuts, read before the General Assembly of the Royal Aragonese Society on 22 August 1800.
Our copy is preserved in modern plain beige wrappers, with a few insignificant spots of foxing.
From the library of the comte de Lasteyrie du Saillant, the renowned agronomist, with his red printed stamp on the title-page.
First edition, illustrated with 39 double-page colour maps.
Publisher’s binding of brown textured cloth backed with matching corners, smooth spine without lettering, showing rubbing with some fraying to the cloth; title stamped to the upper board; marbled endpapers; corners worn. Publisher’s binding.
Scattered, insignificant foxing; the table of contents leaf is creased; a dampstain with discoloration and paper loss to the foot of the rear board.
This is the last of the major general atlases of the French colonies to appear before the upheavals of the Second World War. Through both text and cartography, it offers an exceptionally comprehensive survey of France’s overseas possessions, each geographical area being treated in a separate section (North Africa, French West Africa, French Equatorial Africa, Madagascar and the Mascarenes, Indochina, Oceania, the Antilles, the French Mandate in the Levant), concluding with a substantial index.
The son of the explorer Maurice Grandidier, Guillaume Grandidier (1873–1957) was above all a geographer, and — like his father — a specialist on Madagascar.
Laid in: Study map of the principal transport routes of Central-West Africa (southern Sahara), a large folding map (with significant paper loss along one fold).
First edition of the French translation, one of 25 numbered copies on pur fil, the only copies printed on deluxe paper.
Blood red morocco binding, gilt title lenghtwise, black stingray boards framed in morocco, gilt decorative paper endleaves, original wrappers preserved, top edge gilt, an elegant binding signed Boichot. Front free endpaper slightly toned, otherwise a handsome untrimmed copy.
Illustrated with original woodcuts by Jean-Gabriel Daragnès.
New edition and the first printing of Jacques Tardi’s illustrations.
Publisher’s white boards, smooth spine.
A handsome copy.
Presentation inscription, dated and signed by Jacques Tardi to Joëlle Passani, with an original black-felt drawing depicting a sorrowful-faced Bardamu in a small vignette.
New edition, embellished at the close of the first volume with a folding plate printed out of text (cf. Palau 17346).
Cherry half-shagreen bindings, spines with four raised false bands decorated with gilt fillets and double gilt panels, gilt lettering at the foot of the spines, slight rubbing to the headcaps, blind-tooled frames on the textured cloth boards, pebble-paper endpapers and pastedowns, a few bumped corners, period bindings.
Rear board of the first volume partially soiled.
New edition prepared under the supervision of the physician Rafael Ángel Cowley Valdés-Machado (1837–1908) and Andrés Pego, gathering three major sources for Cuban historiography: José Martín de Arrate y Acosta’s (1701–1765) Llave del Nuevo Mundo. Antemural de las Indias Occidentales, a meticulous portrait of eighteenth-century Cuban society first published only in 1830; Ignacio Urrutia y Montoya’s (1735–1795) Teatro Histórico, Jurídico, Político, Militar de la Isla Fernandina de Cuba, of which only the first part had appeared in 1795; and finally Antonio José Valdés’s (1770–1824) Historia General de la Isla de Cuba y en especial de la Habana, published in 1811.
Provenance: from the library of Ricardo Quintiliano Garcia, his name gilt-stamped at the foot of the spines; with his presentation inscription to his brother dated 15 July 1877 on the front flyleaf of the first volume.
Second edition, partly original as it is considerably expanded (cf. Sabin 59254, Howes 7805, F. Monaghan 1171).
Half black shagreen binding, smooth spine decorated with gilt double fillets and a gilt pastoral motif, a restored tear to the headcap, black paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, contemporary binding.
Scattered foxing.
Provenance: Copy from the library of Marquis Claude-Emmanuel-Joseph-Pierre de Pastoret (1755–1840), with his heraldic device gilt-stamped at the foot of the spine.
Very rare first edition of this address delivered on the seventy-eighth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
No copy listed in the CCF. Not in Sabin.
Rear wrapper missing, a few minor marginal foxings.
Born in Pennsylvania, David Lawrence Gregg (1819–1868) was appointed by President Franklin Pierce to negotiate the annexation of the Kingdom of Hawaii with King Kamehameha III, a mission that ultimately failed. The king died on December 15, 1854, and the attempts to integrate Hawaii into the United States were abandoned by his successor, Kamehameha IV.
Extremely rare first edition of the French translation by Luc de la Porte (cf. Lust 24. Cordier, Sinica, 12. Palau 105509. Sabin 27780. Wagner (SW) 7bb. Leclerc (1878) 258. Streit IV, 1999. Alden European Americana 588/37 – 8 copies recorded in the U.S.A. Atkinson 339.)
Contemporary full brown calf binding, spine with five raised bands decorated with double gilt compartments, joints and spine restored, gilt fillets partly faded on the edges, red edges. 17th-century binding.
Minor stain to margin at the beginning of the volume; tear to margin p. 62.
Extremely rare first edition of the French translation of one of the finest missionary accounts of 16th-century China; it includes a significant section on the Americas, notably the recent discovery of New Mexico by Antonio d'Espejo in 1583. It was through this work that Abraham Ortelius was able to complete the American section of his atlas (Sabin 27775).
Manuscript ex-libris on the title page: Cadt. Berdeilh; autograph letter signed by Marie de Berdeilh, dated Mirepoix, January 10, on the front endpaper; and an acknowledgment of debt signed by the same, mounted to front pastedown. Ex-libris of Gaston Héliot, an antiques dealer specializing in Chinese and Japanese curiosities c. 1920–1930.
Autograph letter dated and signed by Alexis Léger, 26 lines in blue ink, written from Washington to his friend Emily Amram, describing the torments of his convalescence following a "stupid accident".
Folds inherent to mailing.
The poet thanks his friend for her floral attentions during his illness: "combien la présence de vos fleurs m'a aidé contre les mauvaises ombres pendant mes jours de réclusion !" and, much to his regret, must once again postpone the visit he had promised her: "une mauvaise grippe washingtonnienne, qui m'a surpris, déjà fatigué, peu après mon retour chez moi, achevé de me déprimer, et pour ne pas accabler encore l'affectueuse sollicitude de bons amis comme vous et Phil, je n'ai su, écœuré de moi-même, que me condamner au silence et à la solitude."
He intends to banish his dark thoughts by granting himself a stay by the sea in the South: "Je pars demain pour le sud et vais demander au voisinage de la mer la possibilité de me libérer, par la natation; des dernières traces de mon stupide accident."
First edition of the French translation prepared by Jean-Nicolas Jouin de Sausseul (see Quérard VII, 330, who erroneously lists 4 parts; Cioranescu XVIII, 59 618; not in Sabin).
Full mottled fawn calf binding, smooth spines divided into compartments and decorated with gilt fleurons, some rubbing, light brown morocco title labels, green morocco volume labels, gilt rolls slightly faded at the headcaps, single gilt fillet framing the boards, gilt fillets along the edges, bumped corners, red edges, contemporary bindings.
Two small patches of missing leather to the lower cover of the second volume.
The original English edition appeared in 1781 under the title Emma Corbett.
One of the earliest English novels inspired by the loss of the American colonies; it enjoyed great success in Britain. Samuel Jackson Pratt (1749–1814) was a prolific man of letters whose works achieved a popularity comparable to that of Mme Cottin, a writer of a similar period and sensibility.
First French edition, one of 25 numbered copies on Hollande paper, deluxe issue.
This second volume of La comédie américaine was first published in English as The Ski Bum.
Fine copy.
First edition.
Publisher’s binding, smooth olive-green cloth spine partially faded, upper headcap trimmed, cream boards speckled with pink, bumped corners, shadowed endpapers.
Signed autograph inscription by Thomas Nelson Page at the head of the title page.
First edition of the French translation, of which no deluxe copies were printed.
Crease to the upper left corner of the lower cover and the last leaves.
Illustrations.
Precious inscribed copy to Bernard Kouchner: "To my dear friend Bernard always true to his beliefs and a great partner. With deep admiration and affection. Madeleine 15/11/03."
First edition, one of 50 numbered copies on alfa, only deluxe copies. Some light foxing, mainly on the endpapers.
Rare signed presentation copy in French: “To my friend René Jasinski, in token of gratitude and friendship, these few scenes of Jewish life in New York. T. Twersky”, with a sentence in Hebrew translated by the author in French on a laid-in leaf: “Translation of the Hebrew inscription: sixth day of the week ‘Pekoudè’, year 5692 since the creation of the world, in the holy community of Paris”, (Friday, 4 March 1932 according to our calculation).
First edition of this album of caricatures by Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi which he numbered and initialled (copy no. 36, followed by his initial). Printed "in small numbers” (Bartholdi Museum), with only six located in institutions (Colmar Museum, BnF, Harvard, UPenn, NYPL, Rutgers University).
Publisher’s blue cloth binding, smooth spine gilt-lettered along its length, upper board numerously framed in black, anchors and stars stamped in black at the corners, title and date gilt-stamped; lower board numerously framed in black, black stars at the corners and a central anchor, red edges. Slight rubbing to joints, faint mottling to the lower part of the upper board, a few plate tabs slightly split at foot, not affecting the integrity of the binding.
Illustrated with an engraved title-frontispiece, a half-title featuring the head of the Statue of Liberty, and 30 full-page hand-coloured lithographs.
Exceptionally rare copy of Auguste Bartholdi’s caricature album created on board the steamship bound for the United States for the 1876 Philadelphia World’s Fair, where he exhibited part of the Statue of Liberty.
This curious album contains the only caricature of the Statue by Bartholdi ever published: a vignette on the half-title depicting the top of Lady Liberty’s crowned head with her amused eyes emerging above the Atlantic. Moreover, the profits from the album were donated to the Franco-American subscription fund for the statue's construction.
First edition, illustrated with a frontispiece portrait of Magellan and four maps and plans depicting the Strait of Magellan (cf. Sabin, 16765; Leclerc, 1971; Chadenat, 552).
Our copy does not include the appendix published in 1793. "A work difficult to find with the second part" (cf. Chadenat).
Full brown calf binding, spine with five raised bands framed by gilt fillets and decorated gilt compartments, gilt rolls on the caps, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, red edges, gilt fillets along the edges, modern binding in period style.
An engaging account of this region of South America, containing the following illustrations: Carta Esferica de la parte sur de la America Meridional, año 1788. – Carta reducida des estrecho de Magallanes, año 1788. – Primer plano de varios puertos del estrecho de Magallanes, levantados el año de 1786. – Segundo plano de varios puertos del estrecho de Magallanes, levantados el año de 1786.
Fine copy formerly belonging to naval captain Gaston de Rocquemaurel (1804–1878), second-in-command to Dumont d’Urville during the South Pole and Oceania expedition from 1837 to 1840, with his signature on the title page.
Handsome example of a binding executed in imitation of the eighteenth century.
Rare first edition (cf. Sabin 28075).
The CCFr records only 2 copies: Paris (BnF) and Saint-Geniez-d'Olt (Aveyron).
Spine discreetly restored, small corner losses to soiled boards, author's name crossed out in ink on the title page, some foxing.
This study, intended to reconcile the interests of France, the Black population, and the planters in the question of the emancipation of slaves, comprises the following sections: I. Usefulness of the colonies. – II. Opposing influences on the colonies. – III. Systems [of emancipation]. – IV. Compensation. – V. Religious means. – VI. Present moral state of the colonies. – VII. Free labor. – VIII. The mulattoes. – IX. Comparison between various forms of slavery.
Opposed to the immediate abolition of slavery, the author emphasizes the role of religion in achieving the emancipation of Black people. A journalist and polemicist writer, Gougenot des Mousseaux (Coulommiers, 1805 – ibid. 1876) is known for his works on magic, esotericism, and secret societies.
An ultramontane Catholic, antisemitic and legitimist, he opposed political and dynastic Orléanism.
First edition consisting of a collection of editorials published in La Censura in 1849 and 1850, presented by Tomas Aznar Barbachano and Juan Carbó.
Cf. Sabin, 55255. Not in Leclerc.
Front cover and spine lacking, rear cover preserved but detached, soiling to the title-page.
Very rare (no copy in French public collections).
First edition, illustrated throughout the text.
Some foxing, light rubbing without consequence to the spines, small losses of green paper on the endpapers.
Contemporary manuscript ex-donos on the endpapers as a gift.
Publisher’s full blue cloth, smooth spines decorated with black Greek key motifs, black Greek key borders on the boards, upper boards adorned with a marine illustration, publisher’s black monograms stamped on the lower boards, green paper endpapers and pastedowns, wrappers preserved.
Rare French first edition, translation by Butel-Dumont.
Full brown sheep binding, smooth spine decorated with gilt and tooled compartments, modern red morocco lettering-piece, restored tear and wear to the spine, one joint split at foot, marbled endpapers, gilt fillets to board edges, rubbed corners, contemporary binding.
The Acadia map is missing from our copy. It is extremely rare and is only found in a few copies. Sabin 35958. Leclerc 732.
Bookplate of the Marquis de Bassano pasted on a pastedown.
First edition in English.
Elegant pastiche marbled paper Bradel binding by Thomas Boichot, black morocco title-piece, covers preserved (small marginal repairs to upper cover).
Autograph inscription signed by Josselin de Jong to head of upper cover.
First edition of one of the most important revolutionary publications against the African slave trade and the first manifesto of the Society of the Friends of the Blacks, founded in February 1788 by Jacques-Pierre Brissot, Étienne Clavière, and Mirabeau, barely nine months after the London Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade, which served as their model.
First edition, not issued for sale (cf. Sabin 30913).
Some defects with losses along the spine, minor corner creases to the boards, endpapers browned, otherwise a clean and attractive copy internally.
Published in the very year of Maximilian's coronation. The Austrian author supports the acceptance of the crown by the archduke prince, an opinion not shared by many of his compatriots. Contains reflections on the Mexican nation, the two Americas, United States politics, etc.
First edition, illustrated with a frontispiece, in-text illustrations and maps, and a double-page map at the end.
Literary collaboration by Joseph Sachot.
Drawings, cover design and maps by André Millot.
Contemporary binding in green half shagreen with corners, smooth spine without title, marbled paper boards, illustrated wrappers bound in on tabs and preserved.
A compelling account of the life and conditions of Inuit populations: Father Roger Buliard (1909–1978), an Oblate of Mary Immaculate, served for fifteen years as a missionary in the Arctic before joining the Canadian military chaplaincy.
The book was a great success upon publication and inspired many future explorers.
Our copy includes an autograph note signed by Roger Buliard to a friend nicknamed Titi, written on thin paper and dated March 19, 1950.
Also included:
I. Two handwritten postcards addressed to the recipient of the note, along with newspaper clippings.
II. A small oblong 12mo green cloth album with eyelets and ties, containing 29 original silver print photographs, small in format (from 12 x 7 cm to 4 x 4 cm), mounted on heavy paper, depicting the author and various moments from his 1947 expedition.
A delightful ensemble.
Extremely rare first edition of the French translation prepared by Désiré Mouren.
There appears to have been no Portuguese edition of this pioneering work in the field of oceanography.
Losses to the spine, upper cover starting to detach, small marginal losses to the boards.
Francisco Calheiros da Graça (1849-1906), a Brazilian naval lieutenant, took part in the operations against Paraguay and conducted several scientific studies and hydrographic surveys.
Extremely rare.
Manuscript ex-libris on the upper cover.
First edition, one of 10 numbered copies on imperial japon, ours one of 3 hors commerce lettered copies, a deluxe issue following 6 on chine.
Bound in full sienna morocco, flat spine, gilt date at foot, moiré-effect endpapers and pastedowns, gilt fillet border on pastedowns, original wrappers and spine preserved (spine restored and backed), gilt edges, chemise edged in sienna morocco, slipcase in wood-effect board with white felt lining, contemporary binding signed by Roger Arnoult.
Our copy is enriched with a one-page signed autograph letter by Jean Cocteau, mounted on a guard, written from La Roche-Posay in Vienne, probably addressed to Pierre Benoit, in which he humorously evokes Charlie Chaplin, his fragile health, and his boredom: "... Me voilà dans ce film de Charlot : \"Charlot fait une cure\" - parmi les clowns et clowneries du mercurochrome... Le docteur H. arrive à éteindre mon fer de travail avec ses pelotes d'épingles aquatiques. Mon ventre gargouille. Si tu venais ce serait une très bonne cure. Que penses-tu de cette publicité pour La Roche : La Roche source d'ennuis."
A handsome copy, finely bound by Roger Arnoult, a graduate of the École Estienne, active until 1980, who collaborated with and worked for the foremost binders of his time such as René Aussourd, Anthoine-Legrain, Paul Bonet, Georges Cretté, Pierre-Lucien Martin...
Very rare first edition of this pamphlet, absent from all bibliographies consulted on the subject (Borba de Moraes, Rodrigues, Maggs, Bibliotheca brasiliensis, Robert Bosch), as well as from the national libraries of Brazil and Portugal.
Tears and losses at the corners of the covers, spine reinforced with a brown adhesive strip, a few small spots of foxing.
New edition bringing together, in addition to Cortés's own correspondence, a collection of documents relating to the conquest of Peru, including letters addressed to the conquistador by his principal lieutenants (cf. Palau 63 205. Leclerc 2575.)
A pupil of Silvestre de Sacy in Arabic, Pascual de Gayangos y Arce (1809-1897) was one of the foremost Spanish orientalists of the nineteenth century; his research was chiefly devoted to Muslim history.
Spine cracked with small losses, a tear at the upper left corner of the front cover, some foxing, tears and marginal losses to the rear cover.
Reprint of a photograph showing a young Shirley Temple lying on a bed.
A fine copy.
Inscribed and signed in black felt-tip pen by Shirley Temple, dated 1988, to the renowned autograph collector Claude Armand.
First edition (cf. Sabin 47206. Leclerc 952.).
Some joints cracked at head and tail, minor marginal losses of no consequence to the temporary wrappers.
The author, Italian by birth, emigrated to America before the Revolution and settled in Virginia near Monticello.
His book, written in collaboration with Condorcet, is of particular interest with regard to the history of independence and the government of the United States, cf. Fay pages 24-25: "Compilation très exacte, qui réfute les théories de Mably et de Raynal et constitue un répertoire précieux de renseignements de tous ordres sur les États-Unis."
Rare and appealing copy preserved in its original stitching and in plain pink temporary wrappers.
First edition of this preliminary study to the monumental Historia fisica, politica y natural de la isla de Cuba (Paris, 1832-1861).
Cf Kress 26 754. Palau 284 794. Sabin 74 919.
Contemporary half calf, flat spine decorated with gilt fillets and fleurons as well as a large blind-stamped fleuron, gilt rolls at head and tail, marbled paper boards with some rubbing along the edges, a few small bumps to the extremities, sprinkled edges.
Headcaps rubbed, tear to leaves v–vi with loss of a few letters on the final leaf, title-page slightly soiled, a faint dampstain affecting the lower margin of the first few leaves.
Inscribed by Ramon de La Sagra to the naturalist and explorer Alcide Dessalines d'Orbigny (1802–1857), whom he must have met during a stopover in Cuba on the course of the seven-year journey he undertook in South America for the Muséum (1826–1834).
The final letter of the word 'auteur' shows a small loss in the calligraphy.
First edition, very rare (cf. Lorenz XII, 926).
Half caramel calf with corners, spine with four raised bands ruled in black, brown shagreen lettering-piece, restored original wrappers and spine bound in, modern binding.
Loss of paper to the upper right corner of the half-title, some passages underlined in pencil, pp. 399-400 detached with loss of text.
An important work: one of the most comprehensive studies on Toussaint Louverture and the revolution in Saint-Domingue.
This was his final work, published on the occasion of the centenary of the French Revolution. It recounts, in particular, the events following the slave rebellion in Saint-Domingue in August 1791, the abolition of slavery in the colony in August–September 1793, the Convention’s decree of emancipation on 16 Pluviôse Year II (4 February 1794), and the protracted war waged by the French troops—dispatched by Napoleon Bonaparte to the colony in December 1801—against the newly freed slaves, ending with the French defeat in November 1803 and the proclamation of independence.
First edition in Spanish, printed simultaneously with the French edition (Not cited by Sabin, who records only the French version under no. 39838).
Contemporary mottled tan sheep bindings, spines with four raised bands decorated with gilt dentelle and floral tools, red morocco lettering- and volume-pieces, headcaps shaved, gilt dentelle framing on the boards, marbled endpapers, corners rubbed, bindings signed "Felipe Montilla, Merida de Yucatán".
Joints split at head and foot of the first volume, joints rubbed, small marginal tears to a few leaves of the first volume without loss of text, light waterstaining to the edges of both volumes.
This collection of documents constitutes a complete history of the French intervention in Mexico and the ill-fated imperial venture of Maximilian.
First edition, consisting of the facsimile of the author’s autograph manuscript.
Publisher’s binding in full white boards, smooth spine, covers illustrated with drawings by Oscar Niemeyer.
A handsome copy, complete with its illustrated dust jacket showing very minor tears and insignificant losses.
Work illustrated with drawings by Oscar Niemeyer.
Rare presentation copy, dated and signed by Oscar Niemeyer to Georges and Alice (Raillard).
Georges Raillard was an art critic and a close friend of Antoni Tàpies and Joan Miró; his wife Alice translated into French the leading Brazilian authors of the second half of the 20th century, such as Jorge Amado.
Second edition only one month after the first edition.
Spine lightly wrinkled, small signs of folding in the margins of the boards, a light mark on the second board.
Claude Couffon, a French specialist and translator of the major Spanish-speaking writers of the second half of the 20th century, translated Chronicle of a Death Foretold a few years later.
On the last page, below the colophon, Gabriel García Márquez specified an address in Barcelona, that of his famous literary agent for Spain: “c/o Agencia Carmen Ballcells Urgel 241, Barcelona, 11.”
Rightly considered as one of the most important works op the Spanish language, the novel by García Márquez, however, had difficult beginnings after a first refusal by the avant-garde Barcelona publisher Seix Barral: “This novel will not be successful [...], this novel is useless.”
García Márquez sent it from Mexico to the Argentinian publisher Francisco Porrúa who immediately perceived the power of this unknown Colombian writer: “It wasn't a question of getting to the end to find out if the novel could be published. The publication was already decided from the first line, in the first paragraph. I simply understood what any sensible publisher would have understood: that it was an exceptional work.”
Finished printing in May 1967, Cien Años de Soledad appeared in bookshops in June with 8,000 copies selling out in a few days. The second print on 30 June will have the same success, as will the editions that follow week after week. More than half a million copies were sold in three years.
Several copies were later inscribed by Gabriel García Márquez who over the years has become one of the most famous South American writers, translated into 25 languages. However, contemporary autograph inscriptions on the first prints are extremely rare, even more so to one of his French translators who will contribute largely to his international renown.
Rare first edition of the French translation prepared by Thomas-François Dalibard at the request of the Comte de Buffon (cf Wheeler Gift 367d. Waller 11339. DSB V, pp. 129-139).
Full mottled calf, spine with five raised bands ruled in gilt and decorated with double gilt compartments with floral tools, red morocco lettering-piece, gilt rolls on the caps (partly rubbed), restorations to head and tail of spine as well as to the corners of the boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt fillets on the edges, marbled edges, contemporary binding.
Some foxing, a dampstain to the upper right corner of the first endpaper.
The English first edition was published in London in 1751 under the title "Experiments and observations on electricity made at Philadelphia in America" (cf. Norman 830 for that edition).
Second edition of the French translation (Sabin 98442).
Bound in modern pastiche half beige calf, smooth spines ruled in gilt with double fillets, red morocco title labels and brown morocco volume labels, marbled paper boards.
The final two leaves of volume two have been restored, with loss of text: a few letters are missing from page 381, and there is a loss of text on pages 383–384, which comprise the table of contents; occasional light spotting, blind stamps to the lower right corner of title-pages.
Complete set including the atlas, sixth and final volume, illustrated with 17 plates and 9 maps.
A handsome copy of this celebrated voyage of exploration through the Pacific and along the west coast of America.
First edition of this highly important work, presenting the full text of all decrees and ordinances relating to trade with the Americas, primarily the West Indies (cf. Sabin 11812. Leclerc 113. Barbier I, 649 c. Ined 1038, 1783 edition).
Illustrated with two engraved frontispiece titles and ten maps (nine folding), depicting South America, North America (repeated in vol. 2), Martinique, Guadeloupe, Saint-Domingue (2), Cayenne and its surroundings, Louisiana, the Guinea coast, as well as twelve engraved plates showing botanical specimens (sugarcane, cotton, tobacco, cocoa), genre scenes (a Black king dispensing justice, a slave market, turtle fishing), various tools and objects (ventilator, suction pump), industrial activities (plantation layout, sugar mill, indigo workshop), etc.
Bound in modern pastiche bindings: half mottled tan sheep over marbled boards, spine with five raised bands adorned with gilt garlands, double gilt panels, red edges.
Minor black ink stains to the edges of volume one, a pleasant copy overall.
First edition of this significant publication issued by the Commission of Inquiry tasked with collecting all available data and documentation on the cultivation, production, and sale of tobacco.
Illustrated with numerous folding tables and a folding map of France, printed in lithography by A. Cabassol and bound out of text.
Apparently not recorded in the Bibliothèque nationale de France.
Contemporary half calf binding, flat spine rebacked and decorated with gilt fillets, morocco labels in light brown, some rubbing to the spine, marbled paper boards with minor marginal flaws, marbled endpapers, sprinkled edges.
Some spotting to top edge; an embossed ownership stamp appears on the first leaf, with the initials CA in a medallion (possibly Caroline Augusta of the Two Sicilies, Duchess of Aumale?).
Comprehensive alphabetical index at the end of the volume.
First edition, printed in a small number of copies, of this offprint from the Annales des sciences physiques et naturelles, d'agriculture et d'industrie de Lyon, I, 1838, illustrated with 3 lithographed plates including one folding. (cf. Stafleu, II, 2645. Not in Pritzel.)
Upper right corner of the front wrapper restored.
An appealing copy, bearing a presentation inscription from the author on the front wrapper: "Hommage à M. Lemaire. Offert par l'auteur". This may refer to the botanist Charles Lemaire (1800–1871), author of the Flore des serres et des jardins de l'Europe and a specialist in cacti—plants that are almost exclusively native to the Americas.
Minor tears and marginal losses to the wrappers; some foxing.
Rare.
Rare first edition, printed in five-column format and illustrated with 27 color maps.
According to the CCF, only the BnF holds copies of this edition.
Some light foxing.
Publisher’s binding in green half cloth, plain flat spine in canvas, soft vellum frame on the upper cover, lower cover in full soft vellum, gilt title on upper board; damage to the lower right corner of the upper cover, restored binding.
Candido Mendes de Almeida (1818–1881), lawyer and politician, took a particular interest in matters of education.
Rare first edition of the Spanish translation commissioned by Emperor Maximilian I, with the French text printed opposite (Not in Sabin. Not held at the BnF).
French and Spanish texts printed side by side in two columns.
Contemporary binding in navy blue half calf, spine with four raised bands framed with gilt garlands and decorated gilt compartments, restored to spine and joints; marbled paper boards, cat's-eye patterned endpapers and pastedowns.
Stamp of the Centro de estudios jurídicos "Lex" Mexico, Jul 16 1934, on the half-title and fore-edge ; clean and attractive interior condition.
First edition of the French translation by Philippe Florent de Puisieux (see Chadenat 1412 and 6038; Brunet 27050; Polak 5580; and Sabin 3968 for the English edition).
The first volume retains its engraved frontispiece.
Contemporary full calf bindings, spines with five raised bands decorated with double gilt panels and ornamental tooling, red morocco labels for title and volume number, gilt roll tooling on the caps, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, partially faded gilt fillets on board edges, red edges.
Two scratches and two small losses to the upper covers of the first two volumes.
A handsome copy, attractively bound, from the library of Darest de Saconay, with his armorial bookplate pasted on the inside covers.
First illustrated edition, featuring 82 drawings by Tiret-Bognet and a color map of the Saint Lawrence River. Publisher's 1890 EX catalogue bound in at rear.
Binding with the two elephants, Lenègre type 3. Rear cover Lenègre type e.
Spine lightly faded, internally clean and well preserved.
In Famille sans nom, Verne recounts the story of a French-Canadian family during the Patriote Rebellion (1837–1838) against British injustice.
First edition of the French translation of England, The United States and the Southern Confederacy, originally published the previous year in London (Sabin 76968).
Copy belonging to the philosopher Charles Renouvier (1815–1903), with a manuscript presentation inscription at the head of the front wrapper.
Spine cracked with small losses and tears. Some light foxing; slight marginal tears to the wrappers.
First edition, of great rarity (cf. Sabin 4182).
Bradel-style binding in full orange paper-covered boards, with a brown shagreen spine label; modern binding.
A very good copy.
A vindication of France’s conduct during the uprising of the British colonies in America.
First edition of this French translation prepared by Abbé J.B. Morvan de Bellegarde, who here renders six of the nine books of the celebrated Brevissima relación by Las Casas, first published in Seville in 1552 (cf. Sabin 11273. Medina BHA 1085n. Streit I:733. Palau 46966. JCB (4) 344-345. Leclerc 337. "European Americana" 697/33).
Contemporary full marbled calf binding, spine gilt in compartments with decorative tooling, red morocco label, gilt rolls to head and tail caps, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt fillets to board edges, red edges.
Minor repairs to joints, discreet restoration in the inner margin of the frontispiece.
A handsome copy.
Las Casas wrote this text in 1549 to defend himself against accusations from Spanish colonizers following his advocacy on behalf of the Indigenous peoples. In this impassioned denunciation, he condemns the colonial system introduced in the Indies by the Spanish, a system founded entirely on violence and plunder. The publication caused considerable stir in Spain and led to the abolition of the encomiendas—a land allocation system which, under the guise of converting and assisting the natives, legalized one of the most brutal forms of slavery. From a historical perspective, this work stands at the origin of the concept of the "noble savage", which, through missionary apologetics, would inspire the primitivist movement that ultimately gave rise—within Rousseau's thought—to a return to nature and to the new moral, political, and aesthetic sensibilities of the 19th century. Cf. Dict. des œuvres.
First edition of this significant travel account, which retraces a major circumnavigation with key stopovers including Île Bourbon, Pondicherry, Singapore, Manila, Macao, Tourane, the Anambas Islands, Java, Surabaya, Port Jackson, Santiago, Valparaíso, and Rio de Janeiro.
The atlas volume contains 56 plates and maps, 13 of which are hand-colored (cf. Sabin 6875; Borba de Moraes I, 115; Ferguson 2236; Nissen ZBI, 483; British Museum (Natural History) II, 605).
The text volumes are bound in contemporary navy blue half calf, flat spines faded and decorated with gilt and blind-ruled fillets, gilt roll-tooled head- and tailpieces, marbled paper-covered boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, some rubbing to joints, edges and corners. Contemporary bindings.
The atlas volume is bound in contemporary violet half calf over marbled boards, flat spine with gilt and blind fillets, joints split at head and foot, gilt roll-tooled head- and tailpieces, marbled endpapers and pastedowns. Contemporary binding.
Some foxing, mainly affecting the text volumes; corners of the atlas worn; small tear without loss on p. 81 of vol. I.
Attractive promotional album, complete with its 600 sepia-toned photographs (small prints, each approximately 7 x 5 cm), produced by the La Corona cigar brand. Each vignette was originally included inside the brand's cigar boxes and was meant to be collected and mounted in the album, following a well-established marketing model that remains in use to this day.
Publisher’s original flexible boards with black cloth tape along the margins; some scuffing to covers, corners rubbed.
Very rare first edition.
No copies listed in the CCF or WorldCat.
Official recognition by the Peruvian Senate of the rank of Rear Admiral granted to Antonio Ambrosio de La Haza Rodriguez (1825–1891), one of the most distinguished naval officers of the Andean Republic.
He served as Minister of War in 1877 and as Commander-in-Chief of the naval forces in 1878–1879.
A handsome copy.
First edition.
Bound in full cherry red morocco, smooth spine richly gilt with romantic typographic ornaments, gilt roll tooling on the caps, boards framed with double gilt fillets and interlaced motifs with gilt corner fleurons, gilt AO monogram stamped at the center of the boards, gilt garland border on the pastedowns, moiré sky-blue silk endpapers and pastedowns, trace of a removed bookplate on one pastedown, gilt fillets on the edges, all edges gilt, contemporary binding.
The sections relating to the colonies are as follows: Martinique, pp. 199–203; Guadeloupe and dependencies, pp. 204–209; French Guiana, pp. 210–212; Bourbon, pp. 216–220; French settlements in Oceania, pp. 223–224.
Copy from the library of Antoine-Marie-Philippe d'Orléans, Duke of Montpensier (1824–1890), youngest son of Louis-Philippe, with his gilt AO monogram stamped at the center of the boards. OHR 2590 (tool not listed).
A very handsome copy, finely bound in a period romantic binding with the Duke of Montpensier's monogram.
Very rare first edition (see Ryckebusch 6726).
Only two copies listed in the CCFr: Paris (BnF) and Poitiers.
Unbound copy presented in original grey paper wrappers, handwritten title on the spine (partly missing), some foxing mostly at the beginning and end of the volume.
A staunch advocate for the abolition of slavery, the author structures his study as follows: I. On Slavery. – II. On Emancipation. – III. Essay on the History of the Colonies. – IV. On the Colonial System. – V. Note on Algeria.
This well-documented text is supplemented with statistics and numerous historical observations: "La servitude est un crime et un malheur ; il faut donc l'abolir, et j'ajoute qu'il importe qu'on ne tarde pas à le faire" (chap. II, p. 58).
French economist Michel Gustave Pastoureau Du Puynode was born in 1817 in Les Forges de Verrières (Vienne). Appointed to the Ministry of Justice in 1845, he resigned his post during the Revolution of 1848 and declined the position of Secretary General at the Ministry of the Navy offered to him by Schoelcher. He was one of the principal contributors to the Journal des économistes and a member of the Société d'économie politique until around 1898, the probable year of his death.
A precious copy bearing, at the head of the half-title, a signed autograph inscription by Gustave de Puynode: "A Monsieur le Cte Victor du H[amel], hommage de l'auteur".
Writer and politician Victor Du Hamel (1810–1870) was the author of several novels and was appointed prefect of the Lot in 1849.
A very rare work, offered as is.
First edition with all first printing features, one of the press copies.
Exceptional presentation copy inscribed by the author to the famous singer Yvette Guilbert, to whom Céline himself sang and offered one of his scandalous compositions, “Katika la putain,” [Katika the Whore] later renamed “À Nœud coulant” [With a Slipknot"] "A madame Yvette Guilbert en témoignage de ma profonde admiration. LFCéline.”
Beneath Céline's inscription, the actor Fabrice Luchini added: “A Yvette Guilbert in memoriam. FLuchini” ; and on the half-title, actor Jean-François Balmer wrote in turn: “Merci en bon voyage. JFBalmer.”
With pasted-in entry tickets to their respective performances of Voyage au bout de la nuit at the Comédie des Champs-Élysées for Luchini, and at the Théâtre de l’Œuvre for Balmer.
Very rare first edition illustrated with 3 lithographed plates (including a frontispiece), (cf. Polak 4516).
Only two copies listed in the CCF (BnF and Caen). Other copies are reported in Bayeux and Granville.
Copy preserved in its original wrappers, with blue paper covers showing minor losses to the corners; dampstains affecting the lower margin of the second half of the volume, without any loss of text.
Bookseller's label pasted on the inside of the upper cover, printed stamp of the same bookseller on the title page, blindstamp of a bibliophile on the half-title and the verso of the frontispiece.
Rare account of the shipwreck off the coast of Newfoundland on 29 May 1826, of a vessel from Granville engaged in cod fishing. The author served as second-in-command on board. Other pamphlets circulated on the subject, most of them based on this present account.
First edition of the French translation, illustrated with a folding copper-engraved frontispiece by Bénard: "Mort du Capitaine Cook à Owhy-hée, Fevrier 1779," and a folding map titled "Carte montrant la route suivie par M. Cook… dans son troisième et dernier Voyage."
See O'Reilly and Reitman, 419. See also Hill, p. 253, for the first English edition. Forbes, Hawaiian National Biography, 45.
Contemporary binding in half marbled calf with vellum-tipped corners, spine decorated with gilt floral compartments, red morocco title label, marbled paper boards, red edges.
Restored loss to the title page. The half-title is lacking in our copy; the boards are modern.
"An apocryphal account of the third voyage, published surreptitiously more than two years before the official edition. Hocken […] attributed it to Ledyard, who also wrote a narrative of the expedition. But F. W. Howay […] demonstrated that the true author was John Rickman, lieutenant aboard the Discovery. Includes some unpublished details and episodes." Cf. O'Reilly (no. 415). "All the journals kept on board were claimed by the Admiralty, thus the author remained strictly anonymous. The text, especially as regards details of Cook’s death, differs considerably from other accounts." Cf. Hill.
This work also contains one of the earliest high-quality accounts of the Hawaiian Islands: see Forbes, p. 23.
Very rare first edition of this work, never reprinted.
Only one copy listed in the CCF (Versailles).
Contemporary bottle green half shagreen binding, spine with four raised bands ruled in gilt and adorned with double gilt compartments and gilt floral motifs, gilt title at foot, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, sprinkled edges.
Some foxing; Mexican peddler's stamp on title page.
Only edition of this collection presented from a Mexican perspective, with an introduction by José Maria Lafragua Ibarra (1813–1875).
Name R. Criado stamped in gilt at foot of spine.
First edition of this work published "by order of His Majesty the Emperor and under the supervision of the Minister of Public Instruction" (cf. Leclerc (1878) 2283).
The first volume is illustrated with 70 colour-printed plates, all hors-texte.
Contemporary half red shagreen bindings, spine with four raised bands adorned with double gilt fillets and floral gilt tooling, gilt decorative rolls at head and foot, some rubbing, cloth boards with blind-stamped borders and central device, bindings of the period.
Some rubbing to boards, water stains to the upper corners affecting the first 10 leaves of both volumes, one quire in the first volume becoming loose, boards slightly discoloured or soiled along right margins, two corners lightly bumped.
Charles Étienne Brasseur, known as Brasseur de Bourbourg (1814–1874), a French missionary in Mexico and Central America, is regarded as one of the pioneers of pre-Columbian archaeology and history. Deeply engaged in the study of indigenous languages, he announced in 1863 that he had discovered the key to transcribing the Mayan script. He later presented his principles of decipherment in the present work on the Troano Manuscript.
Volume I contains an exposition of the Mayan graphic system, for which 600 characters were specially cast at the Imprimerie Impériale. It is followed by a facsimile of the Troano Manuscript reproduced in 70 lithochrome plates. Volume II features the grammar, chrestomathy, and a Maya–French–Spanish vocabulary.
Very scarce.
Very rare original edition printed in a very limited number of copies of this excerpt from the Annales des Sciences naturelles of April 1825 (cf. Ronsil, Bibliogr. ornithologique française, 2476.)
Missing at the Bn.
Copy presented under a plain blue waiting cover.
A stain on several leaves, a word corrected in ink on page 7.
Quoy and Gaimard were naturalists of the expedition of discoveries around the world commanded by Captain Freycinet.
First trade edition, issued after just 50 deluxe copies.
A pleasant copy illustrated with drawings by the author.
Rare (possibly complete) collection of this popular Chilean weekly printed in Valparaíso, not listed in the catalogue of the National Library’s periodicals.
Contemporary binding in red half sheep, smooth spine decorated with double gilt and black fillets, black morocco title label, marbled paper-covered boards, comb-marbled endpapers and pastedowns.
Although primarily concerned with historical and political matters—featuring frequent polemics against Spain and Peru—this provincial paper also aspires to literary status, including numerous poems, occasionally illustrated with small wood engravings. The "classified ads," of particular interest, along with the theatre listings, offer a vivid glimpse into daily life in a mid-19th-century Chilean city.
The final page of each issue carries advertisements. A few insignificant spots of foxing.
Very scarce.
First edition of the French translation by A.J.B. Defauconpret (see Sabin 73385).
Illustrated with a frontispiece portrait of the author in the first volume, and in the second volume with a folding map and two plates depicting a view of the Victory and a view of the Filson Islands.
Contemporary green half calf bindings, flat spines decorated with triple gilt fillets, rubbed headcaps, joints slightly split at the head, green paper-covered boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, corners of the first volume slightly bumped.
Some foxing.
First edition of this biography of the renowned explorer.
Illustrated with a frontispiece portrait and a folding lithographed map bound at the end of the volume.
Copy preserved in a plain temporary wrapper.
Some light foxing, traces of damp-staining along the lower edge of all leaves.
Rare.
New edition printed in 250 copies at the government's expense, intended to provide work for typographic workers (cf. Sabin 11841. Leclerc 697).
Contemporary half blue calf bindings, flat spines decorated with double gilt fillets and blind-stamped typographic motifs, gilt decorative rolls at foot of spines, restored with minor rubbing to the spines, marbled paper boards, hand-marbled endpapers and pastedowns, marbled edges.
Some occasional light foxing.
A rare copy, handsomely bound in contemporary bindings.
Second edition of the French translation, expanded with a few remarks and illustrated with a map of the North Atlantic and 9 folding plates outside the text (natural history, views, Inuit types, etc.), cf. Sabin 22312n. "European Americana" 750/110. See Leclerc 717 for the first French edition published a year earlier.
The plates are captioned in both French and Dutch; the original English edition was published in London in 1748; the first French edition appeared in Paris in 1749.
The work opens with a historical account of earlier attempts to discover a route to the East Indies via the Northwest Passage.
Contemporary binding in full marbled calf, spine with gilt compartments decorated with floral tools, some fading to the gilt, modern havana morocco label, gilt roll tooling on the caps, gilt dentelle frame inside the boards, marbled edges, gilt fillets along the board edges.
The text begins with a chronicle of the various efforts made up to 1746 to discover the Northwest Passage.
Henry Ellis, the English traveller, was born in 1721 and died in Naples on January 21, 1806. As hydrographer and mineralogist, he took part in the 1746 expedition aimed at finding a northern route to the Indies and published this account, which includes valuable observations on Inuit customs. He was later appointed governor of Georgia and Nova Scotia.
Ink ownership inscription at the foot of the title-page.
A handsome copy.
Rare first edition, illustrated with a folding map bound at the end of the volume (cf. Backer & Sommervogel VIII, 827).
Only one copy recorded in the CCF (BnF).
Contemporary full black shagreen binding, spine with four raised bands adorned with blind-ruled fillets, minor rubbing to spine, covers framed with double and single blind fillets with corner volutes, some rubbing to covers, bumped corners, sprinkled edges.
Father Benito Viñes [Poboleda (Tarragona) 1837 – Havana 1893] arrived in Havana in 1870, where he was appointed director of the magnetic and meteorological observatory, a position he held until his death. His studies on Caribbean hurricanes remain authoritative works in the field.
First edition of the French translation established by P. Arsène Mousqueron, an employee of the French telegraph administration, with the collaboration of Manuel Rouaud y Paz Soldan.
Contemporary black half shagreen, spine with four raised bands decorated with blind-ruled fillets, restored to spine and joints, black paper-covered boards framed with blind tooling, yellow paper endpapers and pastedowns.
Some minor foxing.
This highly detailed geography of each Peruvian province also includes studies on the country's production and trade, merchant navy, political education, and territorial organization.
First edition, illustrated with 26 folding tables framed typographically. (Not listed in Sabin, who only records under no. 22885 another economic publication by the same author, printed the same year.)
Contemporary half havana sheep binding, flat spine decorated with double gilt and blind fillets, brown sheep title label with minor losses, gilt date at foot, marbled paper boards slightly faded at the margins, some paper losses to the covers, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, rubbing to edges, corners worn.
Joints restored; small tear affecting the text on pages 83–84 of the second part.
A rare and highly valuable source on the dire state of the Mexican economy in the final years of Santa Anna’s dictatorship.
The folding tables provide a detailed account of the country’s production (notably tobacco), report on the national debt, break down military expenditures (army and navy), customs revenues (by region), the state of taxation, and more.
One table is devoted to lottery revenues.
The second part of the work, containing supporting documents, bears a separate title: "Documentos que se acompañan al presupuesto de hacienda para el quinto año economico".
A good copy.
Provenance: from the library of A. Montluc, Consul General of Mexico in Paris, with his bookplate on the front pastedown.
First edition, illustrated with a frontispiece portrait, two folding colour maps, and 34 plates outside the text.
Publisher’s binding in full green percaline, flat spine decorated with blind-stamped panels and fillets, gilt date at foot; some rubbing to one joint, slightly frayed, cold-stamped frame on covers, brown paper endpapers and pastedowns, corners slightly bumped.
Inscribed, dated and signed on the front free endpaper as a gift.
New edition of the French translation (cf. Sabin, 90059).
Contemporary red half shagreen binding, flat spine decorated with gilt and blind fillets, gilt floral rolls at head and foot, marbled paper boards, hand-marbled endpapers and pastedowns, original pink printed cover (blank) preserved, 20th-century binding.
Some foxing, a tiny nick at the foot of the spine.
Third volume of the Voyages, relations et mémoires originaux pour servir à l'histoire de la découverte de l'Amérique, edited by Henri Ternaux-Compans.
This is the first French version of Hans Staden's account, a native of Homburg in Hesse, originally published in German in Marburg in 1557 (one small quarto volume). De Bry later translated it into Latin and included it in his Collection of Great Voyages.
Staden recounts his journey to Brazil, where he stayed from 1547 to 1555, and describes in detail the customs and way of life of the Tupinambá people among whom he was held captive.
First edition of these extremely scarce memoirs (cf. Bourquelot V, 374. Tulard 1007. Bertier de Sauvigny 720).
Contemporary bindings in brown half sheep, flat spines decorated with gilt Romantic rolls and black floral tools, red morocco labels for volume numbers and titles, marbled paper-covered boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, some corners worn, marbled edges.
Spine of volume four damaged, restorations to the spines, two lower caps rubbed, occasional foxing.
The Countess Merlin was born Maria de las Mercedes de Santa Cruz y Montalvo (1789–1852) in Havana.
Her memoirs offer valuable anecdotal insight into society life in Cuba, the Peninsular War, and more.
Composite copy: the first volume corresponds to the second American edition, which is partially original (with the shortened title Incidents of Travel in Yucatan), while the second is the first edition (with the full title); the text of the first volume being expanded compared to the 1841 edition. This title, originally printed in 15,000 copies, was a tremendous success and saw numerous reprints between 1841 and the author’s death in 1852 (cf. Sabin 91 297 and 91 299).
Illustrated with 96 engravings distributed as follows: 54 illustrations (some full-page in-text), including 21 plates out of text (among them a folding map and a folding frontispiece) for the first volume; for the second: 42 out-of-text plates, including 2 double-page spreads.
Contemporary early 20th-century bindings in black half shagreen, spines with five raised bands framed by blind tooling, minor rubbing to spines, slight discoloration to outer margins of boards, marbled paper-covered boards, comb-marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt top edges.
This work holds a major place in American travel literature: it marked the public’s first real encounter with the vestiges of Maya civilization. But it is not solely archaeological in focus: as a travel narrative, highly fashionable at the time, it blends anecdotes, character portraits, detailed descriptions of visited sites, extensive commentary on the political context and the civil war then tearing Central America apart, as well as the pioneering archaeological component, which in fact constitutes only about one-third of the work.
Born into a wealthy New York family, John Lloyd Stephens (1805–1852) undertook two expeditions to Central America following his 1836 meeting with the draughtsman Frederick Catherwood (1799–1854). Upon the death of the United States envoy to the Federation of Central America, Stephens leveraged his political connections to obtain a diplomatic mission to the region from President Van Buren. Central America at that time was in complete turmoil: a civil war raged between the federal government and the various states within the Federation. Stephens hoped that his diplomatic passport would afford him some protection during the journey. On 3 October 1839, Stephens and Catherwood sailed from British territory toward Belize, beginning a journey of several months that would take them to Copán, Quiriguá, Toniná, Palenque, and finally Uxmal. The second expedition, undertaken in October 1842 following the phenomenal success of their first publication, took the pair from Uxmal to Tulum, via Sayil, Labná, Kabah, and Chichén Itzá, covering over forty Maya sites. The text of this second edition reflects the added knowledge gained during this follow-up expedition.
Provenance: From the library of explorer and archaeologist Alexis-Antoine-Maurice de Périgny (1877–1935), with his pictorial bookplate mounted on the front endpapers.
De Périgny’s principal expeditions focused specifically on Mexico and Central America (Guatemala, Costa Rica, 1909–1913). He himself published Le Yucatan inconnu (1908) on the region.
First edition, very rare, of this album illustrated with 12 lithographic plates by Émile Verdier after drawings by the author (1 frontispiece and 11 plates, including one large folding plate depicting Pointe-à-Pitre) (cf. Sabin 8949).
Text and illustrations by Armand Budan.
Contemporary binding in brown quarter cloth with corners, smooth spine with long chocolate shagreen title-piece, boards covered with marbled paper framed by blind fillets, blue endpapers and pastedowns, sprinkled edges, early 20th-century binding.
The plates depict: Palmiste River. Heights of Petit-Bourg; Forest interior. Road to the Soufrière; View of the Soufrière from Versailles; The Yellow Baths near the Soufrière; Basse-Terre. View from the Empress’s Battery; Vauchelet Waterfall. Near Camp-Jacob; The Saut de Constantin. Near Basse-Terre; View of the port and the town of Le Moule; The village of Anse Bertrand. Grande-Terre; The Cow Hole (Anse-Bertrand); General view of the Port and the town of Pointe-à-Pitre taken from Morne-à-Caille.
The painter Armand Budan was born in Guadeloupe in 1827 and died in 1874. He painted the frescoes in the chapel of Saint-Pierre & Saint-Paul in Pointe-à-Pitre, rebuilt after the 1843 earthquake, as well as the decorative paintings of the municipal theatre.
Regarded as one of the first photographers in the Antilles, Budan launched a subscription for the publication of La Guadeloupe pittoresque in November 1862.
A few minor foxing spots, not affecting the overall condition.
A handsome and very rare copy.
Uncommon first edition containing highly interesting observations on life aboard the Newfoundland fishing vessels (cf. Sabin 11020).
The chapters on whaling and seal hunting were overlooked by Thiébaut, Jenkins, and Vaucaire.
The author, Constant-Jean-Antoine Carpon (1803–1872), was a medical officer and surgeon in the merchant navy. He began his career in 1826 and continued until 1865, taking part in numerous fishing expeditions to Newfoundland.
Contemporary quarter maroon paper binding, flat spine slightly faded and decorated with blind-stamped fillets, brown paper boards with minor rubbing.
Some light foxing.
Inscribed by Constant-Jean-Antoine Carpon to Monsieur Lefevre-Deumier on the half-title page.
First edition of the author's first work; Aboal Amaro, Amerigo Vespucci, page 31. Leclerc, 263 (does not mention this edition). Sabin, 10704.
Contemporary limp cream paper boards, plain spine, original binding.
Spine worn with some loss, a marginal stain affecting two leaves at the beginning, otherwise a clean and attractive copy.
This essay, in which the author argued "with a certain force of reasoning" (Larousse) that Vespucci discovered America before Christopher Columbus, was awarded the prize of the Academy of Cortona in 1788. The Florentine scholar Stanislas Canovai (1740–1811) devoted his life to restoring the reputation of the famed navigator Amerigo Vespucci, publishing several works on the subject. The last of these, published posthumously in 1817, is mentioned by Sabin with the following comment: "It is hardly possible to understand how calumnies against Amerigo, which have so long been taught in every school, could have, for many years, survived this excellent refutation."
Leclerc notes: "A dissertation much attacked, which gave rise to numerous inquiries into early Spanish voyages to the Indies." Dedication epistle to Giovanni Luigi di Durfort.
Manuscript ex-libris on the title page and engraved armorial bookplate pasted on the front pastedown.
