First edition, one of 822 numbered copies on pur fil paper, the only deluxe paper issue after 109 reimposed copies.
A pleasing copy despite two small areas of sunning at the head and foot of the spine.
First edition of the French translation, for which no deluxe paper copies were issued, with the correct "achevé d’imprimer" dated February 1939.
A fine copy, complete with its illustrated dust-jacket, as usual showing only slight rubbing and minor marginal tears, not affecting its overall appearance.
The work is illustrated, facing the title-page, with a map of the south-eastern United States during the Civil War.
First edition, decorated with provincial coats of arms, as well as elaborately engraved headpieces, initials and tailpieces.
Contemporary mottled brown calf, spine richly gilt with fleur-de-lys tools, red morocco title and numbering pieces, gilt roll to the board edges, red mottled edges, marbled endpapers and pastedowns.
Spine headcaps lacking, wear to the hinges, boards slightly warped, gilding rubbed to the board edges, scuffing and scratching to the boards, corners and board edges rubbed.
Occasional light foxing throughout.
Third edition, one of 200 numbered copies on handmade wove paper, the only large-paper issue.
Bound in red half-shagreen, spine with five raised bands framed by gilt dotted fillets and gilt double fillets, marbled paper boards, sprinkled top edge, pastedowns and endpapers in marbled paper, original front wrapper preserved, lower edge and fore-edge uncut.
Corners with light wear.
Illustrated.
An attractive copy.
Provenance: Paul Verneyras, who joined the French Resistance in 1940 and became an active member of the Libération-Nord movement, later serving as an MRP municipal councillor for the 6th arrondissement sector of Paris from 1945 to 1947.
Rare collection of pamphlets printed in Toulon or Marseille, notably during the Restoration period, several of which implicate senior military figures of the First Empire.
The first item is: "Ordonnance du Roi, Portant règlement sur les Franchises du Port de Marseille et Suite de l'Ordonnance..." printed in Toulon, by Alx (sic) Curet, (1815), 16 pages, comprising an extract from the Moniteur of 24 February 1815.
Bound in half ivory vellum with corners, smooth spine, manuscript inscription in black ink to spine, blue pasteboards with some surface abrasions, contemporary binding.
Some foxing. A few nicks to the edges.
Bound in continuation:
1) Jugement rendu par la Chambre des Pairs qui condamne à la peine de mort, le Maréchal Ney, ex-Pair de France. Toulon, Impr. de Calmen, n.d. (1815), 4 pages.
Comprising an extract from the Moniteur of 7 December 1815. A rare pamphlet published in Toulon on the very day of Ney's execution. "Maladroit et susceptible, Ney ne veut pas être traité comme un tambour. Il veut être jugé par la Chambre des pairs… Quelle erreur! il se retrouve condamné à mort malgré la déposition de Davout en sa faveur - Davout qu'il a si mal traité" (Tulard, 1237).
2) Ordonnance du Roi…. Toulon, Alex. Curet, (1815), 8 pages.
Extract from the Moniteur of 8 December 1815, setting out the terms of the amnesty granted to all those who, directly or indirectly, had taken part in Napoleon Bonaparte's rebellion and usurpation — illustrating Louis XVIII's attempt to pursue a policy of reconciliation — together with moving (if incidental) details concerning the death of Marshal Ney, published on the day following his execution.
3) Pétition lue à la Chambre des Députés sur la haute trahison du Maréchal Masséna. Toulon, Impr. de Calmen, (1816), 8 pp., likewise an extract from the Moniteur of 7 February 1816.
This petition, apparently brought by the inhabitants of the Bouches-du-Rhône, heaps opprobrium upon the Marshal, accusing him above all of having facilitated Napoleon's return from the Isle of Elba. "Affaibli par une maladie de poitrine, taraudé par le chagrin" (Tulard, 1151), Masséna was to die one year later.
4) Mémoire de M. le Maréchal Masséna. Toulon, Alex Curet, (1816), 8 pages.
Extract from La Quotidienne of 2 March 1816, summarising Masséna's memoir in response to the charges laid against him by the petition of the citizens of Marseille.
5) Robert, Louis-Joseph-Marie: "L'Hermite de St. Jean, ou Tableau des Moeurs et fêtes marseillaises, depuis la Restauration des Bourbons, n° 39." Marseille, Antoine Ricard, n.d. (1815), 16 pages.
A single fascicle from this rare series, of which the Bibliothèque nationale de France holds no complete set.
6) Dupin, Charles: "Des Intérêts de Marseille et de toutes les villes maritimes de la France." Ibid., id., n.d. (1815), 8 pages.
7) Barère: "Convention nationale. Rapport sur l'assassinat de Collot-d'Herbois, représentant du peuple, lu à la Convention Nationale, au nom du Comité de Salut Public". Printed in (Paris), by Charpentier, n.d. (Year II – 1794), 15 pages.
8) Honoré-Pelletier: "Honneur aux dames, ou Leur apologie, Épître à Juvénal et Boileau." Paris, chez l'auteur, Martinet, n.d., 14 pages.
9) Comte de Salaberry: "Concernant les épurations dans plus d'un ministère et dans les grandes administrations" printed in Toulon, by Calmen, n.d., 24 pages.
A rare and curious collection of pamphlets, almost all printed in Toulon or Marseille at the fall of the Empire.
The fascicles concerning Ney and Masséna are particularly striking.
A rare collection of pamphlets censuring several of the foremost Marshals of the First Empire.
First edition, illustrated with figures in the text (cf. Hage Chahine, 4405.)
Contemporary bradel binding in full beige percaline, smooth spine darkened, olive green shagreen lettering-piece, binding of the period.
Occasional foxing.
The sole edition of one of the earliest works by the numismatist Gustave-Léon Schlumberger (1844-1929), who specialised in the history of the Crusades and the Byzantine Empire.
Autograph inscription signed by Gustave-Léon Schlumberger to the archaeologist Alban-Emmanuel Guillaume-Rey (1837-1916), a specialist of medieval Syria.
Partly pre-original edition for the first work and first complete edition for the second.
See F. Monaghan 239 and 240. Cited by Lasseray, "Les Français sous les treize étoiles"
Bound in at the end: "Guerre d'Amérique. 1780-1783. Journal de campagne de Claude Blanchard", printed in Paris by Librairie J. Dumaine and L. Baudoin in 1881.
Contemporary half blue percaline, smooth spine decorated with a gilt fleur, double gilt fillet at foot, brown shagreen title-piece with rubbing, marbled paper boards with a few scratches, marbled endpapers and pastedowns.
The half-title of the second volume was not bound in.
The pre-original edition bears manuscript annotations.
New edition, partly original, constituting a revised and expanded version of the author’s doctoral thesis.
A few minor spots of foxing.
Contemporary full fawn calf, smooth spine gilt with decorative friezes and floral tools, slight rubbing to the joints, red shagreen title label, gilt rolls to the spine ends, marbled endpapers, marbled edges, gilt fillets to the board edges, period binding.
A military physician, the author took part in the Russian campaign and was attached to the Imperial Guard field hospitals in Vilna under the command of Larrey.
First edition.
Minor spotting to the boards.
Our copy is preserved in its original wrappers, under plain white provisional covers.
Then French minister to the Court of Saint Petersburg, Louis-Philippe de Ségur (1753-1830) intervened in the constitutional debate that was stirring the National Assembly concerning the attribution of the right to declare peace and war (to the King? to the Assembly?).
New edition, limited to 2,000 numbered copies on Lafuma vellum.
Signed autograph presentation inscription by Henri Barbusse beneath the limitation statement: "A Marcel Granoux fraternellement. Henri Barbusse."
Included are an original photograph of Henri Barbusse (8.9 × 13.8 cm, from the G.L. Manuel Frères studio), showing him full face, together with two typed letters dated 28 April and 2 July 1930, signed by Henri Barbusse, concerning an article he was late in sending and a copy of Le Feu that he promises to inscribe and forward to his correspondent.
The first typed letter also bears two manuscript corrections by Henri Barbusse.
A fine and cohesive ensemble.
New illustrated edition with plates hors-texte.
Bindings in half red shagreen with corners, spines with four raised bands gilt with dotted tooling and decorated with double gilt compartments; some rubbing to the spines; two water stains, to the left margin of the upper board of the first volume and to the right margin of the lower board of the second volume; a few marks to the corners; boards of cat’s-eye paper framed with double gilt fillets; marbled endpapers and pastedowns.
At the head of the first volume, a signed autograph presentation inscription by Lazare-Hippolyte-Sadi Carnot to General Henri Joseph Brugère.
First edition, one of 13 numbered copies on imperial Japan paper, deluxe issue.
Spine and boards very lightly and marginally sun-toned, without significance.
Rare and pleasing copy, with full margins and uncut.
First edition printed in 500 copies on rag vellum, numbered and signed by Ferdinand Bac.
A pleasing and scarce copy, with a bookplate and a bibliophile’s label pasted to the verso of the upper cover.
Autograph signed inscription by Ferdinand Bac to Maître Gilbrin in violet ink: "... en souvenir de l'aimable visite à la \"surintendance\" de Compiègne, le nonagénaire Ferdinand Bac mai 1949." enhanced with an original pencil drawing depicting Napoleon III in profile, overlooking the signed inscription.
First edition, one of the 10 numbered and justified copies on japon paper, the only large-paper issue announced.
Contemporary half brown morocco binding in the Bradel style, smooth spine, marbled paper boards, handmade endpapers, bookplate affixed to the front pastedown, original wrappers and spine preserved, top edge gilt, period binding.
Signed and dated autograph inscription from Jean Puget to his publisher Pierre Briquet: "... en souvenir des jours héroïques..."
Provenance: from the personal library of publisher Pierre Briquet, with his bookplate affixed to the front pastedown.
Exceptionally rare copy featuring the censored passages restored in black ink, likely by the publisher, on pages 92 and 118.
First edition printed on regular stock.
Small tears to the head and foot of the spine.
Fine presentation inscription, signed by Henri de Montherlant to Georges Bataille.
First edition, one of 170 numbered copies on pur fil.
An agreeable copy preserved under a double wrapper.
Rare and important first edition.
Our copy is sold unbound. A minor worm-trail on all leafs' heads, not affecting text.
The work describes the dress, headdress, arsenal and equipment of soldiers and officers of the French army; it also addresses the cavalry, dragoons, and hussars.
The chapter devoted to the distinctive uniform of each regiment includes a list of these regiments, some of which took part in the American Revolutionary War.
First edition (see Sabin 97501).
A light dampstain to the right margin of the opening leaves.
Half brown cloth binding, smooth spine with a brown sheep lettering-piece, boards with marbled paper; a modest later binding.
After distinguishing himself—at times infamously—during the wars of the French Revolution, notably in Vendée, Louis-Marie Turreau [1756–1816] later served in Italy and captured the city of Susa.
He held the post of Ambassador to the United States from 1804 to 1811 and was created Baron of the Empire upon his return. His Aperçu of 1815 offers a bitter critique of the federal government. Turreau’s name is inscribed on the Arc de Triomphe de l’Étoile (see Hoefer).
First edition of the French translation prepared by Lamole de Tamayo of this monumental publication, long sought after for its exceptionally rich iconography: 107 plates hors texte, including 2 in colour (mostly portraits), 2 folding colour maps, and a very large number of in-text figures and photographs (portraits, views, reproductions of early engravings, types and costumes, portraits, etc.).
Publisher’s bindings in half brown shagreen, smooth spines decorated with gilt fillets and dotted tooling, as well as blind-stamped panels; gilt titles and ornaments in relief on the green percaline boards; publisher’s bindings signed E. Domenech-Barna.
Some rubbing to the spines with lightening, two lower caps with losses and one flaw, occasional internal foxing.
Edition issued after William Robertson’s History of America (cf. Sabin 38363, which records a work comprising the history of these three explorers under a collective title, printed in 1781).
Bound at the end is: "Kurzgefasste Geschichte des Ferdinand Cortez, Eroberers von Mexico und Franz von Pizarro ersten Entdeckers und Eroberers von Peru", published in Frankfurt by Eichenberg in 1781.
Contemporary early twentieth-century half red shagreen, spine in five raised bands ruled in gilt, minor rubbing to the spine, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns.
Some light scattered foxing.
The preface to the work on Cortez notes that publication was delayed because the manuscript had been mislaid.
First edition (cf. Sabin, 64,876).
Spine cracked with small losses; slight marginal tears and losses to the wrappers.
The subject of this dissertation does not, of course, concern the State of the same name (a member of the Confederacy during the Civil War), but the vessel, the CSS Alabama, a sloop of war with combined steam and sail propulsion, built in Great Britain in 1862. It served in the Confederate States Navy until it was sunk on 19 June 1864 following a naval engagement with the Union sloop of war USS Kearsarge off the port of Cherbourg, France.
In the aftermath of the war arose the Alabama Claims, demands for damages brought by the Federal Government of the United States against the Government of the United Kingdom for the latter’s clandestine assistance to the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War.
The dispute was resolved only by recourse to an international court of arbitration which sat at Geneva in 1872 and was composed of representatives of the United Kingdom (Alexander Cockburn), the United States (Charles Francis Adams, Sr.), the Kingdom of Italy (Federigo Sclopis), the Swiss Confederation (Jakob Stämpfli), and the Empire of Brazil (Marcos Antônio de Araújo).
The Alabama Claims case marked the first submission of an inter-state dispute to supra-national arbitration, and the tribunal convened for this purpose laid the foundations of modern public international law. The lawyer Paul-Ernest Pradier-Fodéré (1827–1904) was a specialist in international law, which he had been teaching since 1857.
First edition, illustrated with a folding map at the end of the volume (see Fumagalli 730, and Gay, 2674bis (collation of the first two parts only: 292 pp.).
The third part of this history of the "Ethiopia of the Ancients" is devoted to Christianity, the religion most widely practised in Abyssinia.
Occasional light foxing, chiefly affecting the folding map.
Half blue shagreen binding, spine with five raised bands gilt with dotted tooling and decorated with double gilt panels, slight rubbing to the spine, dark navy percaline boards framed with blind fillets, a small loss of percaline at the foot of the upper board, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, speckled edges, contemporary binding.
First edition, illustrated with two plates, including an engraved portrait frontispiece by S. Desmaretz and Couché after Scheibler, together with an engraved headpiece by De Launay (cf. Quérard, VII, 240; Polak, 7650).
Account of the career of Jean Bart, squadron leader in the French Navy and Knight of the Royal and Military Order of Saint Louis, forming part of the collection devoted to the nineteen engagements of this celebrated seaman, engraved by M. Le Gouaz; followed by historical, biographical and topographical notes on the origins of Dunkirk and the political importance of its port (...). With engraved plates and vignettes. Dedicated to H.E. the Minister of the Navy and the Colonies. Paris, Arthus Bertrand [printed by P. Didot the Elder], 1807, 8vo.
Contemporary half cherry calf, smooth spine very slightly cocked and tooled in gilt with fillets, garlands and fan tools, marbled paper sides, marbled edges, corners a little rubbed; mid-19th-century binding.
Paper repairs to the lower outer corners of pp. 125–126 and 127–128.
The only edition of this very rare short monograph, published as much in praise of Dunkirk as of Jean Bart. The second part bears its own title: Coup-d'oeil sur Dunkerque, sa population progressive depuis 1685 jusqu'en 1789, et le grand nombre de ses célèbres marins qui ont précédé et suivi Jean-Bart. A lawyer from Dunkirk, Louis-Eugène Poirier (1753–1818) came to notice after the fall of Robespierre for his vehement denunciation of the actions of Joseph Lebon at Arras.
Rare first edition.
Our copy is preserved disbound.
The sole edition of this uncommon pamphlet issued in the context of the Russian Campaign: "Ce Précis historique sur les Cosaques ne pouvait paraître dans une circonstance plus favorable que dans le moment où la Russie est devenue le théâtre de la guerre".
The son of the Paris bookseller Noël-Jacques Pissot (1724–1804), Noël-Laurent Pissot (1748–1815) at first followed in his father’s footsteps: admitted to the booksellers’ guild on 19 April 1768, he worked chiefly in partnership with him and specialised in the publication and sale of works in English or translated from the English. From July 1797 he was, together with his father, employed at the Bibliothèque de l’Arsenal, and from 1802 onwards he published numerous historical works and essays, novels, melodramas, and political pamphlets, notably of an anti-Bonapartist nature.
First edition, illustrated at the end of the volume with a folding plate showing surgical instruments (cf. Garrison & Morton 2158.1; V. Rozier 3346).
A copy preserved in the original wrappers, in contemporary orange marbled paper without lettering.
Spine split; a light dampstain to the lower margins of the first few leaves.
Percy stresses the importance of immediate care for the wounded on the battlefield. "One of Napoleon's leading surgeons, Percy laid down his principles of the practice of military surgery in the same year he was appointed médecin consultant of the Army of the North. He divised his own instrument for bullet extraction, the tribulcon. He was responsible with Larrey, for the invention of special ambulances and squads of litter-bearers..." (Garrison & Morton).
New edition of the French translation of this work, originally published in 1731 in two quarto volumes (see Brunet IV, 456).
This edition is illustrated with 8 folding plates, comprising 3 maps and 5 views.
Contemporary full marbled tan calf bindings, smooth spines richly decorated with gilt floral panels, bronze calf lettering- and volume-pieces, small wormholes to the spines, gilt rolls to the caps, single blind fillet framing the boards, marbled endpapers, gilt fillets to the board edges, red edges, bindings of the period.
Repairs to the joints, a few occasional spots of foxing.
The translator of this French version, written "en un style aisé, clair, même élégant", was Abbé Nicolas Gédoyn [Oréans, 1667 near Beaugency, 1744], known both for his translations and his scholarly works.
Born into an old and distinguished family of the Orléanais, he studied at the Jesuit college and entered the Society of Jesus as a novice in 1684.
He subsequently taught humanities and rhetoric at the college of Blois
Owing to ill health he left the order and entered the secular clergy. He settled in Paris, where in 1701 he was appointed canon of the Sainte-Chapelle.
Through his elderly kinswoman Ninon de Lenclos he became friendly with M. Arouet, the father of Voltaire, and discovered the future great writer in his earliest attempts. Appointed Abbé of Sainte-Sauve de Montreuil (diocese of Amiens), he resigned this benefice in favour of the abbey of Notre-Dame de Beaugency.
Extremely rare collection of three works, in original anonymous editions, devoted to the Eastern Question and the policy France should adopt to counter Russian ambitions in the Ottoman Empire.
The author is believed to be one Mignonneau, a former war commissioner.
Bound in full mottled calf, smooth spine richly decorated with gilt crossbands, brown calf title label, rubbing to joints and spine, gilt roll partially faded on head and tail, triple gilt fillet framing boards, handmade paper endpapers and pastedowns, gilt turn-ins, corners slightly worn, all edges gilt, contemporary binding.
Minor angular losses to boards, light dampstaining to lower margin of leaves in the second work.
The set comprises the following:
1) "Considérations politiques, par M.***"
(S.l., 1783, title and 77 pp. First edition. (cf. Conlon 83: 1465. N.U.C.: NM 567505.))
2) "Ces réflexions devoient, avec beaucoup d'autres, faire suite aux Considérations politiques ; mais le tout n'étant pas encore rédigé, les circonstances du moment m'ont déterminé à faire paroître celles-ci sur-le-champ."
S.l.n.d. [c. 1783], 44 pp. with simple title. First edition. (cf. Conlon 83: 1464 locates no copies in France. N.U.C. locates only one copy at the Library of Congress. The RLG Union Catalog mentions another at the University of Chicago.)
The first half of this work is devoted to the invasion of Crimea, the second to Russia's claims regarding the "etiquette of the court" governing international relations and their true significance.
3) "Lettre à M. le Comte de ***, octobre 1784".
S.l.n.d. [c. 1784], title and 49 pp. First edition. (cf. Conlon 84: 1533 locates no copies in France. N.U.C. mentions only the copy at the Library of Congress.)
This third work denounces Russia's expansionist policy. The author reveals, among other things, Catherine II's designs on Armenia and also discusses the potential interest Turkey might have in liberating Greece.
Substantial collection of theses submitted to the Special School of Medicine of Strasbourg between 1803 and 1808, composed in Latin or French and arranged in reverse chronological order.
Contemporary binding in speckled fawn half sheep, smooth spine decorated with triple gilt fillets, black sheep lettering-piece partly rubbed, vellum tips, yellow edges, corners worn; period binding.
I. ORDINAIRE (Désiré): Dissertation sur l'influence de l'habitude sur les facultés physiques et morales de l'homme (2 ll. unnumbered, 33 pp.). The Fourierist Désiré Ordinaire (1773-1847) was professor of natural history, then academy inspector and rector of the Academies of Besançon (1821-1824) and Strasbourg (1824-1831).
II. TOURTELLE (Marie): Essai physiologique et médical sur la mort sénile (2 ll. unnumbered, 44 pp.).
III. MICHAUD (Claude-Florent): Essai sur les tempéramens (2 ll. unnumbered, 15 pp.).
IV. MOREL (Claude-Louis): Essai sur quelques-unes des hémorragies utérines qui ont lieu pendant la grossesse, avant et après la parturition (2 ll. unnumbered, 16 pp.).
V. PION (Antoine): Dissertation sur quelques principes d'hygiène, relatifs aux troupes à cheval (2 ll. unnumbered, 12 pp.).
VI. GRÖSER (Johann): De Anatomiae pathologicae utilitate (title, 17 pp.). Johann Gröser (1784-1862) was a physician from Mainz.
VII. LEMOINE (J.): Dissertation sur la vaccine (2 ll. unnumbered, 12 pp.).
VIII. GREUTER (Hermann Joseph): Dissertatio medico-chirurgica de fistula lacrymali eamque sanandi methodis (2 ll. unnumbered, 20 pp.).
IX. FREUDENBERG (Gerhard): Considérations sur la nature des fièvres intermittentes (2 ll. unnumbered, 26 pp.).
X. BURKARD (Bernhard Joseph): Dissertatio inauguralis medica de remediis in febribus intermittentibus cortici Peruviano substitutis, et praesertim de kali carbonico alternatim cum opio adhibendo (2 ll. unnumbered, 20 pp.).
XI. [NICOLON (Jean-Jacques):] Observations sur la ménorrhagie et l'aménorrhée (= Observations sur la ménorrhagie qui survient à l'approche de l'âge critique, et sur l'aménorrhée par vice de conformation, 25 pp., lacking the title page).
XII. DECHESNE (Nicolas-Louis-Joseph): Dissertatio medico-practica de febre adynamica (1807, title, 13 pp.).
XIII. REDING (Johann Ludwig): Specimen inaugurale physiologicum de caloris animalis genesi (1807, 2 ll. unnumbered, pp. 5-29).
XIV. SCHILLING (Jean-Louis): Dissertation sur l'enclavement des différentes parties du foetus pendant l'accouchement (2 ll. unnumbered, 40 pp.).
XV. HECK (Heinrich Daniel): Dissertatio inauguralis medica de phthisi pituitosa (1807, 22 pp.).
XVI. LEFILS (Jean-Pierre): Dissertatio inauguralis physiologica sistens digestionis quaedam momenta (1807, 29 pp.).
XVII. BOTTIN (Jean-François): Dissertation médico-chirurgicale sur les maux vénériens de l'enfance (1807, 2 ll. unnumbered, 29 pp.). The author was a relative, doubtless a nephew, of the celebrated Sébastien Bottin (1764-1853), to whom he dedicates his thesis (as well as to Percy).
XVIII. LEBRETON (Jean-Ferdinand): Dissertation sur le scorbut (1806, 11 pp.).
XIX. SCHMITZ (Franz): De Respiratione cutis dissertatio inauguralis physiologica (1806, 24 pp.).
XIX. BOURDET (Antoine): Essai sur les loupes (1806, 2 ll. unnumbered, 28 pp.).
XX. CLERC (C.-A.-B.): Dissertatio de viarum urinariarum calculis (1805, 2 ll. unnumbered, 15 pp.).
XXI. COMPAGNY (Charles-Émilien): Dissertation sur les crises (1804, 2 ll. unnumbered, 7 pp.).
XXII. DEVILLIERS (Claude): Des Avantages de l'onguent de styrax dans la gangrène humide ou pourriture d'hôpital (1804, 2 ll. unnumbered, 20 pp.).
XXIII. BRION (F.-M.): De l'Hydropisie de la poitrine, produite par une métastase arthritique ou rhumatismale (1804, 2 ll. unnumbered, 15 pp.).
XXIV. HUSER (Dominique): Observationes practicae de febri intermittente praecipue quotidiana, variis symptomatibus stipata, quae in regione Sulz, departementi superrhenani, epidemice quasi regnavit (1803, 2 ll. unnumbered, 11 pp.).
A rare and pleasing ensemble.
Eighteenth-century manuscript (second half), comprising 258 foliated pages.
Contemporary binding, expertly restored in full tan calf, with a smooth spine adorned with gilt compartments and decorative gilt tooling, some now faded; signs of rubbing; title label missing; gilt rampant lion at the centre of both boards; handmade paper endpapers and pastedowns; gilt double fillets on board edges; corners slightly worn.
Notable manuscript featuring extracts and summaries of orders and dispatches issued by the Ministry of the Navy during the Regency and the first year of Louis XV’s reign.
Collated from original documents, carefully dated and with folio references, these extracts are written in a highly legible hand.
Topics covered include: general armament; the War of the Quadruple Alliance (1718, 1719, 1720); Barbary States; Guinea Coast; colonies; trade (Spain, Portugal, Guinea, Compagnie d’Afrique, Compagnie des Indes); justice, police, and discipline; munitions; goods and timber; fishing; ports and roadsteads; prizes, and more. The manuscript is in excellent condition, preserved in its original binding.
Contemporary pencil note on the front endpaper: "Aux armes [du] Maréchal Duc de Duras, de l’Académie française" [1715–1789].
Rare illustrated first edition with two large folding plates (Lugeol system; regulatory system) (see Polak 6168).
Lettered spine restored and reattached; pleasing internal condition.
The only edition of this scarce work (the 1845 edition noted by the Bibliothèque nationale appears to be a misreading).
Jean-Gustave Lugeol (1799–1866), who entered the navy in 1813, held the rank of captain in 1843; he took part in most naval campaigns of the Restoration and the July Monarchy; promoted to rear admiral in 1852, he remained on active service until 1864.
Rare first edition.
Our copy is offered unbound, preserved in comb-marbled paper wrappers, red edges.
The sole and scarce edition of this treatise written by a surgeon-major of the Santerre and Touraine regiments.
First edition of these important memoirs covering the years 1747 to 1783 (cf. Sabin 39271).
Contemporary full mottled calf, smooth spine gilt with fillets, roulettes and floral tools, some rubbing with small losses of leather at the foot of the upper board, marbled endpapers, gilt fillets to the edges, marbled edges; period binding.
Upper cap and corners restored.
The duc de Lauzun (1747–1793) accompanied the comte de Rochambeau during the French expedition to America; he recounts this campaign in his Mémoires, pp. 339–375.
The editorial history of this publication deserves notice: the original manuscript having not been recovered, the text—issued some twelve times to the present day—was established from copies circulating under the Empire; its authenticity was nevertheless confirmed by Talleyrand.
In the first edition, published in 1822 (the present copy), several passages suggesting a liaison between Marie-Antoinette and Lauzun were removed or altered.
These passages reappeared in 1833, in a parallel printing juxtaposing the expurgated passages with a manuscript version presented as original. It was not until 1858 that the first unexpurgated edition was issued, with a biographical notice by Louis Lacour.
Very rare fully mimeographed first edition of this course prepared for officers of the French Army of the Levant, issued locally under the French Mandate in Syria and Lebanon.
No copy recorded in the CCF. Not in Hage Chahine.
Minor marginal tears to the wrappers, a manuscript ex-libris on the upper wrapper, and a hole in the lower wrapper also affecting the final page but not the text.
The Belgian Jesuit and orientalist Henri Lammens (1862–1937) spent almost his entire life in Beirut; he was the first to apply to the study of the origins of Islam a critical method as rigorous as that used for any historical subject, which earned him much hostility and repeated cautions from his superiors.
As a result, his major biography of Muhammad, completed as early as 1914, remained in manuscript.
First edition of this rare imprint from the Vivarais.
A single copy recorded in the CCFr (Grenoble).
Contemporary half brown cloth binding, smooth spine without lettering with a small scuff, boards of vat-made paper; a modest 19th-century binding.
Charles La Font de Savine (1742–1814), Bishop of Viviers and later of Ardèche (1778–1793), was one of only four bishops in office in 1789 to swear the constitutional oath. The "citoyen Savine" was subsequently required to surrender his pectoral cross and all episcopal insignia, together with his letters of priesthood, on 1 December 1793, and to resign his public office as bishop of the diocese of Ardèche; arrested as a suspect on 15 May 1794, he was transferred to Paris. During his imprisonment, he recanted his oath before being released in October 1794.
Rare illustrated first edition, complete with three folding maps printed at the end of the volume: Cercle de Biskra, Zaatcha et les oasis voisines, Plan des attaques de Zaatcha du 7 octobre au 26 novembre 1849 (cf. Playfair 2479. Tailliart 1903.)
Bound in modern half black shagreen, spine with five raised bands, gilt date at foot, minor rubbing to foot of spine, comb-marbled paper sides, brown paper endleaves and pastedowns, top edge gilt.
Occasional foxing, manuscript bookplate in violet pencil on a flyleaf.
First edition, printed in a limited number, of this extract from the Mémoires de la Société nationale des antiquaires de France, volume XXXIX.
Only two copies recorded in the CCFr (BnF and BULAC). Not listed in Hage Chahine.
This fascicle is illustrated with one in-text figure and two folding plates; our copy is exceptionally enhanced with an additional hand-coloured plan, featuring manuscript annotations in pencil.
Contemporary half-cloth binding in almond percaline, smooth spine with a central gilt ornament and double gilt fillet at the tail, red morocco leather title label, pebbled paper boards, original rear wrapper preserved.
Archaeologist and orientalist, Baron Emmanuel Guillaume-Rey (1837–1916) authored several works on the history of the Near East, particularly on the military architecture of the Crusaders in Syria and Latin rule in the Orient.
Bound in at the end is the author’s "Supplément à l’étude sur la topographie de la ville d’Acre au XIIIe siècle", extracted from the Mémoires de la Société nationale des antiquaires de France, volume XLIX, printed in Paris in 1889 (title, 18 pp.), and illustrated with a large folding plate.
First edition of the French translation.
Loukia Droulia (849) records this work without having been able to examine it. Not in Blackmer and Atabey, who describe the English edition published the same year (A narrative of Lord Byron's last journey to Greece).
Contemporary full mottled beige calf, flat spine elaborately decorated with gilt garlands and fleurons, red morocco lettering piece, minor rubbing at the foot of the joints, gilt tooling to spine-ends, borders of gilt dotted rules, gilt garlands to the boards also framed in gilt, edges framed in gilt, marbled edges.
A few minor and unobtrusive spots.
Pietro Gamba (1801-1826) was the brother of Byron’s mistress, Teresa Guiccioli; he became Byron’s secretary and accompanied him on his final journey to Greece. Prize copy awarded on 22 August 1831 at the Collège royal of Tours (prize label pasted to the front endpapers). A fine copy.
First edition of the French translation (cf. Sabin 26375).
A defence of Catholic principles addressed to a Protestant minister (…) preceded by a notice on the author’s life and virtues. Translated from the English by Prince Augustin Galitzin. Paris, Ch. Douniol [printed by Simon Raçon et Comp.], 1856, 12mo.
Contemporary half navy blue shagreen, spine with four raised bands ruled and panelled in gilt, slight unobtrusive rubbing to the spine, marbled boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns.
Scattered foxing.
A work of religious controversy; the preface offers interesting information regarding Prince Galitzin’s activities in the United States.
Bound after it: Alexandre Pushkin, "Le faux Pierre III", printed in Paris by Plon in 1858 (2 ff.n.ch. and 192 pp.), being the first edition of the French translation by Prince Augustin Galitzin.
Very rare first edition of this substantial memorandum on the "Pierre Calvet Affair", which unsettled Canada in the aftermath of the American War of Independence.
Sabin 21044. In the CCF, copies only at the BnF and Rouen.
A few light spots of foxing; a faint marginal dampstain to the fore-edge of the front endpaper.
Half green sheep with corners, smooth spine slightly darkened and ruled in gilt, gilt fillet border to the marbled paper boards, a central gilt cartouche bearing a crowned cipher to each cover. Corners rubbed, a few scuffs to the edges, bookplate pasted to one pastedown, lemon-coloured edges; nineteenth-century binding.
Parallel to the work The Case of Peter Du Calvet (784), addressed to the English courts, this volume presents the case for a Canadian readership.
The merchant Pierre Du Calvet (1735–1786), a French Protestant, settled in New France in 1758; he remained there after the British annexation and pursued a persistent political campaign on behalf of the inhabitants of the Province of Quebec, both to obtain a constitution and to secure fair justice for the former French subjects.
The present text concentrates on his disputes with Governor Frederick Haldimand (1718–1791) and on his brief imprisonment.
A forerunner of the long struggle waged by the citizens of the Province of Quebec for recognition of their political rights within the British Empire,
Du Calvet nevertheless remained largely forgotten in Quebec’s historical memory.
His actions, and even his name, were widely overlooked by posterity until the republication of his memorandum in 2002.
First edition (cf. Cordier, Sinica, 1643).
Small tear and minor loss at the head of the spine; covers slightly soiled.
A highly interesting trilingual lexicon, presenting Chinese ideograms alongside their phonetic transcription, published in the immediate aftermath of the French expedition of 1858.
It includes, for example, practical phrases such as how to ask "Quelle est la nature de la rade ?" or how to reply that a general is "très brave ; il ne recule devant rien".
Claude-Philibert Dabry de Thiersant (1826–1898) began his career as a naval officer before turning to diplomacy, a path that led him to hold several consular posts in the Far East. Unsurprisingly, the greater part of his scholarly work is devoted to China and Tonkin.
First edition.
Our copy is offered in loose sheets, unbound.
Very rare first edition of this Mauritian imprint of a charitable lecture delivered during the war in the island’s second city, by the Solesmes Benedictine Dom Paul Chauvin (1866–1937), preacher and prior of the Parisian Abbey of La Source.
Only one copy recorded in the CCF (Rennes).
Bradel-style binding in half brown glacé morocco, smooth spine, date and place gilt at foot, top edge gilt, sides in handmade paper, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, original wrappers preserved, contemporary binding.
At the head of the title page, an autograph inscription by Paul Chauvin to the Duke and Duchess of Bauffremont (the sixth duke, Pierre-Eugène de Bauffremont, 1843–1917, a noted collector of Mauritian literature).
Rare first edition of this pamphlet printed at Carouge, Switzerland. Deschamps, 276, records 1789 as the date of the first book printed in that town (on the authority of a note by Ternaux).
Our copy is preserved in its original stitched wrappers, within a modern blank temporary cover.
Title-page and final leaf slightly soiled, early marginal note in the right margin of p. 19, blue pencil annotations at the foot of pp. 10 & 11.
A text violently hostile to Kellermann (1735–1820) and to the French presence in the Alps.
Kellermann commanded the Army of the Alps while Bonaparte was conducting his Italian campaign.
First edition (cf. Quérard II, 140).
Our copy is preserved in its original publisher’s wrappers, under the plain pink provisional cover; the spine is split and faded with losses, and there are small marginal tears to the covers.
A scholar and statesman from Île de France (present-day Mauritius), J.-F. Charpentier de Cossigny (1736–1809) was elected deputy for the island to the Constituent Assembly. He returned there in 1800, sent by Bonaparte to announce the advent of the Consular regime and to serve as Director of gunpowder manufacture in Port Louis.
But because he sought to employ enslaved workers while paying them as free men, he encountered such fierce opposition from the colonists that he chose to abandon his plans and return to France to devote himself to his scientific work.
In this memoir, addressed in 1792 to the Minister of the Navy, he sets out the results of his research aimed at improving the safety of gunpowder manufacture.
First edition (cf. Playfair, 533; Tailliart, 2295).
Spine cracked with small tears, some foxing.
General considerations on the colonisation of Algiers, its aims and its results. On the Arabs. The various systems of occupation, etc.
At the head of the front wrapper, an autograph presentation inscription from Amédée Hippolyte de Brossard to Marshal Clausel.
First edition, illustrated with a map of the Mexican states at the time of the Conquest in 1521, by Malte-Brun (see Sabin 7429, Leclerc 1079, Brasseur de Bourbourg, Bibliothèque Mexico-Guatémalienne, p. 27, Numa Broc, Amérique, pp. 45-47).
Originally engraved by Erhard Schieble, this map is presented here as an early facsimile, likely produced by the publisher to complete his copies.
Bound in half havana shagreen, spines with four raised bands decorated with gilt tooling and gilt panels and fillets, orange shagreen title labels, minor rubbing to spines, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, twentieth-century bindings.
Waterstains, mainly affecting volumes III and IV.
This foundational work on the history of Mexico is divided as follows: I: Heroic Times and History of the Toltec Empire. – II: History of Yucatan and Guatemala; with that of Anahuac during the Aztec Middle Ages, up to the establishment of the monarchy in Mexico. – III: History of the States of Michoacan and Oaxaca, and of the Anahuac Empire up to the arrival of the Spanish. Astronomy, religion, sciences, and arts of the Aztecs, etc. – IV: Conquest of the Mexican and Guatemalan States, etc. Establishment of Spanish government and the Catholic Church. Ruin of idolatry, decline and subjugation of the indigenous race.
A former professor at the Quebec Seminary and later Vicar General in Boston, Abbé Étienne Charles Brasseur de Bourbourg (1814–1874) traveled as a missionary to Mexico and Central America. He developed a keen interest in vanished civilizations and was appointed official archaeologist of the French expedition to Mexico in 1864.
"By turns archaeologist, ethnologist, historian, and linguist, Brasseur de Bourbourg, alongside Désiré Charnay, was one of the founders of Americanist studies in France in the mid-nineteenth century" (Numa Broc).
Second edition, partly original, as enlarged (cf. Barbier II, 241: gives "Deslandes". Polak 1130. INED 737. See Sabin 19744 for the first English edition published the same year.)
Full brown sheep binding, smooth spine gilt-ruled and decorated with gilt compartments and floral tools, rubbing to the joints, gilt rolls on the head- and tailcaps partly dulled, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt fillets on the board edges faint in places, red edges, a period binding.
Some repairs to the spine.
Pages 191 to 252 contain the "Mémoire historique sur les Indes Braves, et les Forbans François du Golfe de Darien".
This edition appeared in the same year as the original; the historical memoir on the "Indes Braves" and the French buccaneers of the Gulf of Darien (Caribbean), which is not by Boureau-Deslandes, is published here for the first time.
"Contains many interesting notices relating to America, particularly the design of Cromwell to become possessor of that country, the expedition of Thomas Gage, etc." (cf. Sabin).
The Gulf of Darien lies in the Caribbean Sea between the Panamanian and Colombian coasts. "Place tenue par la marine chez les peuples de l'antiquité et en France depuis le commencement de la monarchie (...) Critique du luxe, éloge des manufactures : l'une des plus graves conséquences de la révolution de l'Edit de Nantes fut le départ d'ouvriers ; il faudrait imiter Edouard IV qui fit venir en Angleterre des ouvriers spécialisés" Cf. INED.
First edition, illustrated with 2 engraved portraits on separate leaves by Adam after Du Simitière (Washington and Arnold), and with 1 folding plan (forts, batteries and the post of West Point in 1780) (cf. Sabin 3302; Quérard I, 173).
Contemporary half polished brown calf, smooth spine ruled in triple gilt fillets, gilt decorative rolls at head and foot, orange calf lettering-piece, minor rubbing to spine and joints, marbled paper sides, marbled endpapers and pastedowns.
Occasional foxing, manuscript corrections in black ink on the second page of the introduction.
First edition of the penultimate royal military yearbook issued (cf. Grand-Carteret, Almanachs, 158; Saffroy, Almanachs et annuaires, 306).
This comparatively scarce state was published without interruption from 1744 to 1789.
A transverse fold affecting the upper cover, with a tear to the verso.
Contemporary old red morocco, smooth spine gilt with friezes and fleurs-de-lys, covers framed with triple gilt fillets, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt rules to the edges, corners rubbed, all edges gilt; contemporary binding.
Our copy contains numerous contemporary cancellations and manuscript additions within the text; followed by 15 unnumbered leaves filled with manuscript supplements ("Contrôle par ancienneté le 3 mai 1788, Gardes du Roy pour 1788 depuis le 3 may jour de la revue", etc.).
Copy bound in full contemporary red morocco.
First edition (cf. Grand-Carteret, Almanachs, 158; Saffroy, Almanachs et annuaires, 306).
Contemporary full old red morocco, smooth spine gilt with friezes and fleurs-de-lys, one joint split at the head, boards framed with triple gilt fillets, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, bookplate laid down on a pastedown, gilt edges to the boards, corners slightly rubbed, all edges gilt; binding of the period.
This rather scarce issue was published without interruption from 1744 to 1789.
Provenance: from the library of the heraldist Olivier Le Bas, with bookplate laid down on a pastedown.
An attractive copy, handsomely bound in contemporary full red morocco.
Rare first edition of the illustrated French translation, complete with two folding maps of Northern Asia, one showing the region at the time of the conquests of Genghis Khan (or Zingis-Chan), the other representing the contemporary state of Asia (cf. Brunet, I, 19; Chadenat, 1782).
Translated from the Tartar manuscript of Abulgasi-Bayadur-Chan and enriched with a large number of authentic and highly curious remarks on the true present state of Northern Asia, together with the necessary geographical maps. By D***. Leiden, Abram Kallewier, 1726.
Contemporary full brown calf bindings, spines with five raised bands highlighted by gilt rules and decorated with gilt compartments filled with floral tools, red and brown morocco lettering and volume labels, gilt rolls to the headcaps, boards framed with a single blind fillet, marbled paper endpapers and pastedowns, gilt fillets to the board edges, red edges; bindings of the period.
Small paper losses to the title pages, filled and neatly restored with paper.
Contents comprise: 1. History of the generations of the Tatars from Adam to Mogull or Mung’l-Chan. – 2. History of the generations of the Tatars from Mung’l-Chan to Zingis-Chan. – 3. History of the reign of Zingis-Chan. – 4. History of Ugadai-Chan, third son of Zingis-Chan. – 5. History of Zagatai-Chan, second son of Zingis-Chan, and of the princes of his posterity who ruled over the cities of the kingdoms of Cashgar and Ma-urenner. – 6. History of Taulai-Chan, youngest son of Zingis-Chan, and of his descendants who ruled in the land of Iran. – 7. History of Zuzi-Chan, eldest son of Zingis-Chan, and of his descendants who ruled over the Kipchaks. – 8. History of Scheybani-Chan, son of Zuzi-Chan, and of his descendants who ruled in the land of Ma-urenner, in Crimea, and in the country of Turan. – 9. History of the descendants of Scheybani-Chan who ruled in the land of Charass’m.
Khan of Khwarezm (situated south of Turkestan) and descendant of Genghis Khan, Abulghasi Behader (or Bahadür) was born in 1605 at Urgench (Khwarezm); he ascended the throne in 1644 and abdicated shortly before his death in 1663.
After his abdication, he composed a genealogical history of the Tatars in Tatar, which was first translated into Russian and then into German by Swedish officers exiled to Siberia after the battle of Pultava.
The original text was not printed at Kazan until 1825 under the title Historia Mongolorum et Tatarorum.
First edition of the French translation, established from the second edition.
Our copy, preserved in its original wrappers under a plain provisional cover, is complete with its coloured map, almost invariably lacking.
The only French translation, uncommon, of "A sketch of the military and political power of Russia in the year 1817", an anti-Russian pamphlet composed in the context of the growing opposition between Great Britain and Russia, once the aftermath of the Empire had been settled.
General Robert Thomas Wilson (1777-1849) had served in 1812 as liaison officer with Alexander’s army.
Provenance: copy from the library of Armand-François-Théophile d'Oilliamson (1792-1862), son of General Count d'Oilliamson (1738-1830), bearing his manuscript ex-libris on the half-title.
First edition, illustrated with a folding plate printed outside the text, of these essays by « M. L. C. D. M. D. L. D. G. D. C. D. M. L. C. D’A [i.e. Monsieur le chevalier Duvernois, maréchal des logis of the guards of the comte d’Artois] ».
Cf. Quérard, Supercheries littéraires, II, 700. Blackmer 1725. Hage Chahine 4990. Atabey 1280.
Our copy is preserved in its original wrappers, under plain grey covers, the spine unlettered and bearing traces of manuscript inscription.
Light marginal dampstaining affecting several leaves.
Verdy du Vernois (1738-1814) later became chamberlain to the King of Prussia and the author of several works on the military art, history, and the origins of certain sovereign houses of Germany.
His geographical essays on Turkey, on the military constitution of the Turks, and on the principal events of the war of 1768 between Russia and the Porte, may serve as a continuation to the memoirs of Baron de Tott.
The folding table, placed at the beginning of the volume, presents the genealogy of the Turkish emperors.
First french edition forming volumes 18 and 19 of the Voyages, relations et mémoires originaux pour servir à l'histoire de la découverte de l'Amérique, issued by H. Ternaux-Compans (cf. Sabin, 98793).
Some foxing, light dampstaining to the upper margins of most leaves of the first volume, marginal losses to the spine and boards.
A member of the Society of Jesus and a native of Quito, Don Juan de Velasco withdrew to Italy following the expulsion of his order.
It was there that, in 1789, he composed his Historia del Reino de Quito.
The work comprises three parts: natural history, civil history, and geography.
The present publication contains the second part.
In preparing it, the author relied on works published by Xerez, Oviedo, Cieça de Leon, Zarate, Acosta, Rodriguez, as well as on several manuscript sources.
First edition.
Half pearl-grey calf binding, smooth spine decorated with double gilt fillets and gilt floral ornaments, black morocco title label, author’s name in navy blue morocco, boards covered with decorative patterned paper, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, modern binding.
The Centrones (or Ceutrones) were one of the Gallic peoples who controlled the Alpine passes of the Little and Great St Bernard, with Axima (Aime) as their capital.
A few pencil annotations in the margins of certain leaves, minor rubbing to the boards of the binding.
Second edition, partly original as enlarged, illustrated with a lithographed frontispiece and two lithographed plates printed hors-texte.
Bradel binding in full paper boards covered with red shell-patterned paper, smooth spine, red shagreen title label, restored wrappers preserved and mounted on guards, modern binding.
This memoir, published by order of the Royal Academic Society of Savoy, of which the Comte de Boigne was president, notably recounts his travels in India.
Benoît Leborgne, Comte de Boigne, served in India and received from Prince Sindiah the supreme command of his troops, to whom he imparted European discipline and manoeuvres.
With them he won resounding victories. Upon the sovereign's death, the celebrated general returned to his native city and made numerous donations to the city of Chambéry.
George-Marie Raymond succeeded the count at the head of the Royal Society of Savoy.
The illustration consists of three portraits: that of the Comte de Boigne, placed as the frontispiece, and those of the Mughal emperors Maladjy-Sindia and Shah-Aulum.
Uncommon first edition, issued anonymously: as early as 1817 the second edition bears the author's name (cf. Davois III, 117. Tulard 1194.)
Contemporary half blond sheepskin binding, smooth spine decorated with gilt fillets and fleurons, joints split and repaired, blue paper-covered boards with a few scuffs, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, speckled edges.
An interesting account of the Russian campaign, which the author, the Vicomte de Puybusque or Puibusque (1792-1841), experienced as a military intendant: it abounds in little-known details concerning the Grande Armée and the Imperial Guard.
Bound at the end is Thomas Lindley’s: "Voyage au Brésil ; où l'on trouve la description du pays, de ses productions, de ses habitans, et de la ville et des provinces de San-Salvadore et Porto-Seguro. Avec une table correcte des latitudes et longitudes des ports de la côte du Brésil, ainsi qu'un tableau de change, etc. Traduit de l'anglais par François Soulès" published in Paris by Léopold Collin in 1806 (xiv-216 pp. Borba de Moraes I, 485. Rodrigues 416)
Rare first edition of the French translation.
The English merchant Thomas Lindley chartered a cargo vessel and travelled to Brazil to sell his own goods, but was arrested and convicted of smuggling.
He spent a year in Brazilian prisons.
Rare first edition of the French translation, illustrated with a facsimile plate.
According to the CCF, copies are held only at the BnF, Sainte-Geneviève, the Assemblée nationale and Bayonne.
Contemporary half brown sheep, smooth spine gilt with romantic arabesque tools, some rubbing and small losses to the joints and edges of the boards, marbled paper boards, endpapers of marbled paper, armorial bookplate pasted to a pastedown, speckled edges, contemporary binding.
Some light foxing.
The only French edition, very rare, of this account of the end of the First Carlist War (1833-1839), which concluded with the Convention of Ognate on 29 August 1839, between General Espartero (on the liberal side) and Rafael Maroto (on the Carlist side). Don Carlos ("Charles V") was then forced into exile in France.
Provenance: copy from the library of the Comte Freslon de La Freslonnière, with his armorial bookplate pasted to a pastedown, probably Gabriel-François (1784-1857), a graduate of the École Polytechnique, who took part in the Spanish campaigns under the Empire.
Rare first edition (subsequent editions incorporated the successive campaigns, ultimately forming a set of five volumes).
Only two copies of this edition recorded in the CCF (Rouen, Tours).
Nineteenth-century binding in cherry long-grain half morocco with corners, smooth spine ruled in gilt, red paper-covered boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns.
Minor black marks to the spine, a few light spots of foxing.
The attribution to Thomas Graham, Baron Lynedoch (1748-1843), is traditional; if correct, the work is by a participant in the campaign, who embarked relatively late on his military career: in 1795 he was stationed at Gibraltar, but soon wearied of garrison life and obtained leave to join the Austrian army on the Rhine as a British commissioner.
In this capacity he took part in the 1796 campaign and later assisted Wurmser in the defence of Mantua when it was besieged by the French forces of General Bonaparte.
Provenance: from the library of the Château de Sancerre (Marnier-Lapostolle family), with their ink stamp at the upper right corner of the front free endpaper.
First edition illustrated with 2 folding tables.
Only two copies recorded in the CCF (BnF and Strasbourg).
Bradel binding in full black paper boards, smooth spine decorated with gilt fillets and a gilt fleur-de-lys tool, tan shagreen title label, upper corners slightly rubbed, speckled edges. Slightly later binding.
Offset from an old paper in the left margin of the title page.
Despite its great popularity, the publication of "Histoire de Napoléon" by Philippe-Paul de Ségur (1780-1873), issued in 1824, prompted numerous reactions, responses, and corrections from many participants in the Russian campaign (Gourgaud’s, of extreme violence, remains particularly well known, as does the duel that followed).
For despite a romantic and epic style that accorded well with contemporary expectations of historical narrative, the work abounded in inaccuracies, errors, and above all judgments liable to offend contemporaries.
Baron von Völderndorff (1783-1847) was among these actors, having taken part in the Russian Campaign within the Bavarian corps commanded by General von Wrede.
Provenance: copy from the library of King Ernest Augustus of Hanover (1771-1851, uncle of Queen Victoria), with his ink stamp on the title page.
Rare first edition.
No copies recorded in the CCF.
Our copy is issued in its original wrappers, in temporary grey paper covers, with a later title label to the spine.
Some losses to the temporary covers, a small hole to the title page also affecting the following four leaves with loss of letters.
A very rare record of the forces engaged on both the Spanish and French sides during the Peninsular War (1808-1814).
It comprises a sequence of 149 tables arranged chronologically, from the state of the regular troops in 1808, prior to the French intervention, through to 10 March 1814.
Though unofficial in nature, it constitutes an essential source for historians of the period.
First edition.
Bradel binding in full blue paper-covered boards, smooth spine, red morocco title label.
Only two copies recorded in the CCF (BnF and Bibliothèque Thiers).
This rare text constitutes an extract from a larger work which appears not to have been published, the opening title bearing Chapter 15, Des Places fortes, and an advertisement on p. 139 indicating Chapter 16, De la Stratégie.
The work concludes with an interesting list of French fortified places, with an indication of the garrisons required for their defence.
Son of the celebrated René-Louis de Girardin d'Ermenonville, Lieutenant-General Count Alexandre-Louis-Robert de Girardin (1776-1855) distinguished himself during the Napoleonic Wars, particularly in the French campaign where he defeated the Russians at Champaubert.
Appointed Master of the Hunt to Louis XVIII and Charles X, he was sidelined under Louis-Philippe and devoted himself to questions of military policy. In this treatise on fortified places he demonstrates the futility of fortifying capitals such as Paris, as the government was beginning to envisage. Events proved him right in 1870.
Autograph inscription from Alexandre de Girardin d'Ermenonville to the Duke of Fezensac.
He is Raymond Aimery de Montesquiou-Fezensac (1784-1867), likewise a general of the Empire and Peer of France (he notably delivered in 1841 a remarkable speech on the fortifications of Paris projected by Thiers).
Rare collection of 16 hand-coloured engravings, comprising a frontispiece and 15 plates, illustrating the virtues of soldiers and young men during the Consulate period.
Contemporary half bronze calf binding, smooth spine decorated with gilt fillets, dotted tools and floral ornaments, minor rubbing to the spine, brown morocco title label, boards, endpapers and pastedowns of marbled paper, ex-libris pasted on the front pastedown.
An attractive copy.
Rare first edition, illustrated at the end of the volume with a folding map printed outside the text and with outline colouring.
Our copy has been extra-illustrated with a folding engraving "Vue générale de l'île d'Elbe et de la ville de Porto-Ferrajo" (Paris, Pillet, numbered 26).
Contemporary half calf over corners, smooth spine gilt with fillets, date gilt at foot, burgundy calf title label lettered lengthwise, some rubbing to joints and edges, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers, contemporary binding.
The only edition, very scarce, of this account strictly contemporary with Napoleon’s arrival on the island of Elba.
The final two leaves contain a brief account of the Emperor’s abdication and his embarkation.
The final lines: "On assure que les deux forteresses de l'île d'Elbe seront occupées désormais par des détachements de troupes françaises et alliées".
Ink stamp of the Paul Tasuille collection (?), library shelfmark numbering, bookseller’s descriptive label on a flyleaf.
First edition printed in a small number of copies of this offprint from the Mémoires de la Société des antiquaires de France, vol. XX.
The work is illustrated at the beginning of the volume with two folding plates engraved by Charles Oury after drawings by Delamare, gathering several figures.
Contemporary half black shagreen, spine with four raised bands decorated with blind fillets and gilt fleurons, minor rubbing to the joints, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers, speckled edges, contemporary binding.
Foxing.
A former student of the École Polytechnique and an officer, Delamarre (1793-1861), who adopts a particle on the title-page for greater distinction, joined the Commission d'exploration scientifique d'Algérie (1839-1850), where he stayed from 1830 to 1835, from 1839 to 1845, and again from 1850 to 1851.
He was successively in charge of the drawings (2,500 drawings produced), then associate member, and finally full member of the Commission. The philologist Charles-Alphonse-Léon Renier (1809-1885) was entrusted, between 1850 and 1852, with collecting the Roman inscriptions of Algeria.
Wet stamp of Léon Renier at the foot of the title-page.
First edition illustrated with 5 plates hors texte (3 portraits and 2 views) and 1 facsimile (cf. Tailliart 184).
Contemporary bindings in fawn half calf, smooth spines gilt with fillets, red shagreen title labels, black shagreen volume labels, marbled paper sides, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, bindings of the period.
Waterstaining at the end of volumes I and III.
The section relating to Algeria appears in vol. III, chap. V, pp. 127 to 164.
The author stayed in Bône as a divisional officer from December 1837 to 9 February 1838.
These few pages abound in characteristic details concerning the indiscipline of the army, its poor discipline and appearance, the negligence and incompetence of its commander, administrative irregularities, the poor quality of provisions, and the personal expenses imposed on officers.
Rare pre-first edition offprint of Charles de Gaulle's article Les Origines de l'armée française, published in issue 520 of the Revue d'Infanterie in January 1936. This 44-page text will be entirely reprinted two years later as the first chapter of his celebrated work La France et son armée, published by Plon in 1938. Our copy is enriched with an autograph inscription signed by the author "to M. Jean Auburtin": "With profound and faithful friendship. C. de Gaulle."
Blue wrappers slightly sunned at extremities, spine and upper joint rebacked, minor losses to spine, vertical crease probably from mailing, old creases to upper right corners, some ink stains on lower wrapper, old stamp affixed and partially torn on same wrapper.
First edition illustrated with three folding maps out of text.
"This work is one of the best contemporary accounts of the Greek War of Independence". Atabey 1014.
Minor losses to the corners of the spines and boards, uniformly browned boards, a few small spots of foxing.
Maxime Raybaud (1795–1894) was a senior officer in the Corps of Philhellenes and aide-de-camp to the President of the Executive Power of the Greek government.
He assisted the insurgents between 1821 and 1823, and again in 1825 and 1826.
First edition featuring the celebrated original color stencil "Aidez l'Espagne!", printed on Arches paper by Joan Miró.
With literary contributions by Christian Zervos on Pablo Picasso's "Guernica", as well as texts by Jean Cassou, Georges Duthuit, Pierre Mabille, Michel Leiris, Paul Éluard, René Char...
Illustrated with numerous reproductions of works by Pablo Picasso and Joan Miró’s "Le faucheur".
Some rubbing and small tears to the spine, as often, a vertical crease to the rear wrapper, otherwise a fresh and well-preserved copy.
Original black and white photograph depicting Boris Yegorov in flight suit.
A fine copy.
Rare autograph of Boris Yegorov in blue ink in the left margin of the photograph.
On 12 October 1964, aboard Voskhod 1, Boris Yegorov made his sole flight as a physician, participating in the first mission in history to carry three crew members.
Provenance: from the collection of the renowned autograph collector Claude Armand.
Original black and white photograph depicting Moshe Dayan in a frontal pose, looking to his left.
Envelope and a printed sheet inscribed: "STATE OF ISRAEL with the compliments of The Minister of Defense" enclosed.
Signed by Moshe Dayan in blue ballpoint pen at the foot of the portrait.
Provenance: from the collection of the renowned autograph collector Claude Armand.
First edition.
Full olive morocco binding, smooth spine lavishly decorated with gilt fillets, rolls and fleurons, red morocco title-label, gilt rolls and tools, covers stamped with dentelle decoration, central monogram "CB" stamped at center of covers and framed by multiple fillets and rolls and surmounted by a ribbon, roll border on covers, gilt dentelle interior, pink marbled paper pastedowns and endpapers, gilt fillet on edges, all edges gilt, contemporary binding attributable to the great binder Derôme le jeune. Marginal tear with loss of one word and page number (p. 57). Marginal tear without loss p. 113 and p. 451. Very light rubbing on half a centimeter of the upper joint, otherwise a superb copy in perfect condition.
Decorated with a fleur-de-lis title vignette as well as head- and tailpieces.
Sumptuous dentelle binding attributable to Derôme, on this rare book of hours for use by pupils of the École royale militaire.
Several gilt tools are identical to the binding bearing Derôme's label preserved at the Bibliothèque nationale de France (RES-G-370).
Worldcat records only one other institutional copy (BnF).
A masterpiece of 18th-century binding in perfect condition.
"For a few months now, we have been witnessing a regularised passive hunt for patriots, too highly noticed, it seems, at a time when risking their own life and that of their family's was not a shopfront item.
The odious thing about this way of acting is that it is strangely reminiscent of the Hitlerians. We dishonour, then we wait and see. Regardless of the esteem in which a person is regarded, a police visit always leaves a hint of ambiguity, it is believed. Vigilance more than ever, solidarity.” (7 December 1945 addressed by René Char to Francis Ponge)
The first and only edition of this legendary “Céreste Affair” poster printed by René Char with a very few copies and posted in the small village of Céreste, the heart of his resistance network. Paper slightly yellowed, some small marginal tears not affecting the text.
Extremely rare, this poster is absent from all institutions and auction houses. The Bibliothèque Nationale de France itself only has a reproduction offered by Pierre-André Benoit.
The famous placard marks the end of the loving and combative relationship between René Char and the village of Céreste which was nevertheless Captain Alexandre's HQ and the birthplace of one of his most moving romantic adventures with his lover nicknamed “la Renarde” (the Vixen).
First edition, one of 100 numbered copies on hollande paper, deluxe issue (only the first volume numbered).
Each volume includes a historical introduction by Philippe De Gaulle.
Ex-libris pasted to the front of each volume.
A very fine copy with wide margins, complete in twelve volumes of this important work, commencing in 1905 and concluding in April 1969.
First edition, one of 350 numbered copies on handmade paper, ours unnumbered, the only deluxe copies.
Half-shagreen red binding, spine with five raised bands highlighted with gilt dotting and decorated with double gilt fillets, small stains on spine, marbled paper boards, endpapers and pastedowns, front cover preserved, corners very slightly bumped, speckled top edge, contemporary binding.
Precious autograph inscription dated and signed by Marcel Bleustein, who took the pseudonym Blanchet during the Resistance, to Paul Verneyras.
Press man, union activist and politician, Paul Verneyras joined the Resistance from 1940 by participating in the development of the Libération-Nord movement with Gaston Tessier. For his action during the occupation, Paul Verneyras was decorated with the rosette of the Resistance and made officer of the Legion of Honor.
Moving tribute from one Resistant to another Resistant.
First edition, one of 150 numbered copies on vellum, the only deluxe copy.
Bound in half red chagrin, spine with five raised bands set with gilt dotted lines and decorated with double gilt fillets, marbled paper boards, endpapers and flyleaves of mould-made paper, first cover preserved, speckled top edge.
A pleasant copy.
First edition, one of 100 numbered copies on handmade vellum, the only deluxe copies.
Bound in half-red shagreen, spine with five raised bands decorated with gilt dots and ornamented with double gilt fillets, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, front cover preserved, top edge speckled.
Preface by General Roques.
Handsome copy complete with its folding map at the end of the volume.
