Editiones princeps and first editions of sacred texts, spiritual and confessional books, religious treatises, theology

First edition, no copies in North American libraries; only four copies known in Europe (Mazarine, Méjanes, BnF, Lausanne). Illustrated throughout with numerous headpieces, historiated initials, and tailpieces. Contemporary full vellum binding, smooth spine gilt-tooled gilt floral tools twice framed in gilt, morocco lettering-piece, boards framed in gilt, centre oval palm wreath, enclosing the initials "I.H.S." (Jesus Hominum Salvator), superimposed over a former cypher "H. D. B.", the lower board with the same wreath enclosing the initials "MA" (Mater Amabilis), tie holes, traces of a library label at the foot of spine, gilt edges, some foxing and marginal worm holes to the boards, upper corner. Worm gallery affecting pp. 11 to 156, dampstain to the upper margin of pp. 319 to 429.

An exceptionally rare work of the Catholic Counter-Reformation by Didière Gillet, self-described as "une simple femme de village," [a simple peasant woman] virtually unknown to modern scholarship.

A probably unique copy, comprising pulls of proofs of Masonic illustrations containing 38 plates, the majority double-page, numbered in red pencil from 1 to 40 (discontinuous numbering, with bis plates).

Not recorded in Caillet or Dorbon.

Bound in full black cloth, smooth spine, no lettering, title label pasted onto the upper cover, modern binding.

A restored tear in the left margin of plate 10, two angular tears in the left margin of plate 12 without affecting the image. Published by the Masonic booksellers Teissier et Cie, lithographed by J. Rigal et Cie and, in some cases, by A. Appert.

A highly interesting document on nineteenth-century Freemasonry

Very scarce first edition of the Armenian translation, illustrated with a lithographed frontispiece and title-frontispiece printed on tinted heavy stock by Weger (Leipzig), together with several in-text figures reproducing seals.

The CCFr records only copies of the French edition (indeed, the same year 1871 saw the publication of a first French translation; a second French edition was issued in Paris in 1888, at which time a German version was also printed at the Leipzig address).

Bradel binding in half brown percaline, smooth spine gilt-ruled and tooled with a gilt frieze, marbled paper boards, endpapers soiled, corners rubbed, edges sprinkled in blue.

Some minor foxing, chiefly at the beginning.

Apart from the frontispiece and title-frontispiece, the entire text is printed in Armenian. Fumagalli, Biblioteca Etiopica, 304.

Father Dimotheos Vartabet Sapritchian, an Armenian priest from Constantinople, travelled to Ethiopia in 1867 with one of his compatriots, Archbishop Isaac.

The travellers, who carried to King Theodore of Abyssinia a message from the Armenian patriarch, entered the country via Wahni in the west and crossed the regions of Bagemder and Tegré before embarking at Massawa.

The first part contains the narrative proper; the second offers observations on the country’s history, manners, and customs.

It also includes reflections on the Ethiopian Church, the clergy, baptism, confession, penance, marriage, funerary rites, festivals, and more.

A rare Jerusalem imprint: printing in the city is thought to date back to 1823.

Rare first edition (cf. Tailliart 3062).

A disbound copy preserved in a plain brown paper wrapper, the titles handwritten in ink on the spine and upper cover, with a faint marginal dampstain to the title-page.

Edmond Doutté (1867–1926) was a sociologist, orientalist and Islamic scholar — fluent in both Arabic and Berber —, a multifaceted French intellectual and, above all, a French explorer of Islam and the Maghreb in his time, to whom Marcel Mauss paid tribute ("explorateur complet, géographe, géologue, naturaliste, anthropologue, ethnographe, sociologue, historien, linguiste, agent d'information")

Rare first edition, illustrated with two vignettes: one on the title page and another at the head of the opening text leaf (cf. Backer & Sommervogel VII, 185, no. 58.)

See Brunet, "Recherches sur les imprimeries imaginaires, clandestines et particulières", p. 19.

Printed on the private presses of the Turin Court of Appeal, the work offers a detailed account of the miraculous phenomena reported in Rome between July 1796 and January 1797. The author rebuts, in particular, the sceptical reactions of the "fiers à bras du philosophisme".

Our copy is preserved in its original drab paper wrappers, the spine cracked, the covers soiled, a few spots, a pale dampstain at the head of the first leaves, and an inked stamp on the title-page.

Jean-Joseph Rossignol, born in Vallouise or La Pisse (Hautes-Alpes) on 3 July 1726, entered the Society of Jesus in 1742. He taught the classics, rhetoric, and philosophy at Marseille and, after the suppression in France (1762), at Vilna, where he directed the observatory. After 1773 he joined the Collegio dei Nobili in Milan, where he taught physics and mathematics for eighteen years. He died in Turin in 1817.

Rare first edition (cf. Caillet 3017).

Full porphyry calf binding, smooth spine decorated in the grotesque style, small losses and rubbing at the foot of the spine, tan calf title label with a small loss and restoration, triple gilt fillet framing the boards, gilt rolls on the caps partially faded, marbled edges, contemporary binding.

An interesting dissertation written by President de Brosses (1709–1777) for the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, “on ancient myths, theurgy, magic, and secret cults.”

A collection of four extremely rare first editions:
- Thuileur des trente-trois degrés de l'écossisme (1813), “a rare and sought-after work and one of the best thuileurs in existence...” (Caillet, I, 2910). With a frontispiece and 14 plates (one folding) as well as a large folding table at end;
- Récapitulation de toute la maçonnerie ou Description et explication de l'hiéroglyphe universel du maître des maîtres (1812) with two plate;
- l'Explication de la croix philosophique (1806) with a folding plate showing the eponymous cross;
- l'Explication de la pierre cubique (1806) with a folding plate describing the stone.
This copy is further enriched with a small insert (8 x 10.5cm) entitled “Couplets d'obligations”, bound at page 30; these songs “to be sung at the end of every Masonic banquet.”

Contemporary half brown calf over green paper boards, spine with numerous gilt dentelles and fleurons, red russia title label.
A very good copy.
Crossed out pen and ink ex-libris to title.

Very rare first edition of this publication by the young Belgian Orientalist Eugène-Vincent-Stanislas Jacquet (1811-1838), whose career was as swift as it was promising, but tragically cut short by tuberculosis.

Illustrated with a figure at the end of the text.

Only one copy in the CCF (Lyon).

Some minor foxing.

Binding in half black shagreen, smooth spine decorated with cold-stamped garlands and golden fillets, black oasis leather title label, cold-stamped garland on black silk boards, a slightly bumped lower corner, modern binding.

First edition (the work was reissued several times up to 1954), illustrated with a double map as frontispiece and numerous black-and-white in-text illustrations (cf. Hage Chahine 1925).

Contemporary binding in black half shagreen with corners, spine with five raised bands decorated with gilt floral motifs, gilt fillet framing on marbled paper boards, comb-marbled endpapers and pastedowns, all edges gilt, original illustrated wrappers preserved in color.

The title is somewhat misleading: the book is not a history of the cult of the Virgin Mary in Lebanon, but rather a richly illustrated travelogue across the country from one sanctuary to the next, featuring nearly 660 photographic reproductions.

A handsome copy in an appealing period binding.

Rare first edition of this predominantly folkloric and literary work: the Forest of Bréchéliant, also known as the Forest of Paimpont, is traditionally identified in Breton folklore with the mythical Forest of Brocéliande from Arthurian legend.

Illustrated with 14 full-page plates in the first volume and 21 in the second.

Our copy was uniquely extra-illustrated at the time with 59 postcards and 2 original photographs mounted on thin cardboard and bound into the volumes.

Contemporary half black shagreen bindings, flat spines with gilt compartments and decorative gilt typographic motifs, marbled paper-covered boards, comb-marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt top edges, original wrappers preserved.

The author of this text had no particular intention of reinforcing the authority of a location now regarded as such—if one may speak of a myth layered upon a myth. Trained as a chemist, Félix Bellamy (1828–1907) of Rennes eventually abandoned retorts to embrace the arcane.

A handsome copy, remarkably enriched.

Rare first edition of this doctoral thesis in medicine, presented and defended on Thursday, April 7, 1892. (Copies held in the BnF, BIUM, Bulac, and Strasbourg libraries according to the CCF.)

Spine restored and reinforced, lacking the rear cover, front cover partially detached. The work addresses various public health issues related to the legal departures of pilgrims from Tunisia and Algeria to Mecca for the annual Hajj.

Very rare, but as is.

Contemporary ownership inscription in the upper right corner of the first page.

First edition of the French translation by David Durand, illustrated with 5 plates (4 folding), including a genealogical chart (cf. Brunet IV, 1203. Hage Chahine, 3949).

Contemporary full stiff vellum, spine with five raised bands, lower joint split, black morocco lettering-piece, bumped corners.

Some inevitable soiling due to the binding, light foxing to initial and final leaves, ff. 107–108 and 109–110 restored and trimmed short.

The De Religione Mohammedica was first published in 1705, and reissued in 1717 in an expanded edition.

The Dutch orientalist Adriaan Reland (1676–1718) pursued a broad range of scholarly interests, but this presentation of the Muslim religion—based on authentic Islamic sources—is considered his most important work.

First edition, one of 50 copies printed on Lancey watermarked paper, the only copies on deluxe paper.

A handsome copy despite some foxing on the boards.

Inscribed by Maurice Gorrée’s brother to him and his family as a gift.

First edition of the French translation prepared by J. de Rey-Pailhade and Henry-Joseph Sauvaire, issued in a small printing as an offprint from the Journal asiatique.

A few small spots of foxing; a pleasing and uncommon copy.

Half green cloth, smooth spine with red morocco title-label, ‘œil-de-chat’ patterned paper over boards, sprinkled edges.

Illustrated with two double-page plates outside the text.

Born in Marseille, Henri Sauvaire (1831–1896) began his career in the consular service before turning to Near-Eastern archaeology.

On the half-title, a presentation inscription in the hand of Henri-Joseph Sauvaire to the archaeologist Alban-Emmanuel Guillaume-Rey (1837–1916), a specialist in medieval Syria.

Rare first edition, illustrated with a large folding plate containing a hand-coloured map.

Cf. Ferguson I, 814 ("Section 12 deals with Australia and New Zealand"). Not recorded by Sabin and by most other bibliographers.

Bradel case binding in paper-covered boards, beige wrappers, smooth spine with some rubbing, blind title to the spine, original plain wrappers preserved; modern binding.

Small marginal losses to the corners of the first few leaves, not affecting the text.

The plate outside the text offers a world map in which the Protestant areas are shown in pink, together with a detailed list of the various missionary societies by region or city.

Numerous regions are covered: West Africa (especially Sierra Leone), Southern and Eastern Africa (with references to Madagascar and Mauritius), the Black Sea (Constantinople, Odessa and the Edinburgh Society for the Jews), Tibet, China, India, Ceylon; a whole chapter is devoted to Australasia (New Holland (Australia) and New Zealand), and another to Polynesia, with "les 4 grandes îles de George [Otahiti (Tahiti), Eiméo, Tetaroa, et Tapuamanu]; les 5 grandes îles de la Société [Huaheine, Raiatea, Teha, Borabora, et Marua] ; les 11 grandes îles Sandwich, dont la principale est Owhihée", British and Dutch Guiana, the West Indies (Tobago, Grenada, Saint Vincent, Barbados, Dominica, Antigua, Saint-Barthélemy, Haiti, Jamaica, the Bahamas, Bermuda), the tribes of North America, Greenland, Siberia, etc.

The names of the missionaries in the field are given, together with fascinating details on local conditions around 1820.

The author of this work may be the Swiss pastor and theologian François Samuel Robert Louis Gaussen (1790–1863), born in Geneva to a family originally from Languedoc.

Manuscript ex-libris "Dr Karl J. Lüthi, Bern" on a pastedown.

Rare first edition issued as an offprint from the Journal asiatique, no. 7.

Contemporary half aubergine calf binding with corners, smooth spine gilt with Romantic arabesque tools, minor rubbing to the spine, gilt garland frame to the marbled paper boards, orange paper endleaves and pastedowns, rubbed corners; a period binding.

Dampstaining affecting the first half of the volume, some foxing.

Concise manual of the Hanafi rite, one of the four Sunni schools of jurisprudence, the oldest and notably the one recognised as official within the Ottoman Empire.

Antoine-Joseph Du Caurroy (1775–1853) served as an interpreter at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

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).

First edition of this Roman missal. Each text page within an engraved border containing multiple vignettes that change throughout the pages, after French manuscripts of the 15th century. Engraved title and 10 engravings in borders. The 5 chromolithographs may have been added, as they are not part of most copies. A frontispiece is sometimes mentioned, but the presence of a chromolithographic title with Curmer's name suggests they were added.

Contemporary full chocolate morocco Jansenist binding signed L. Curmer, in gold letters at the top of the first endpaper. Decorative gilt board-edges. All edges gilt. Scarlet silk endpapers with a monogram on the first endpaper. Light rubbing traces, corners and raised bands. Very handsome copy, with fresh paper.
Collection of all masses for the days of the year, holy days, Easter, Pentecost, etc...

Rare first edition. Published in Avignon according to Barbier; however, J.-P. Perret records it as printed in Yverdon.
Contemporary full marbled and polished calf. Smooth spine gilt-tooled. Tobacco-colored morocco labels for title and volume numbers. Lacking head of volume I. Upper joint of volume II split at head. Volume number label on volume I rubbed. Two bumped corners on volume I. In volume II, faint waterstain from title page to p. 60. Otherwise, a clean and well-preserved copy. A good example overall.

First edition, rare. This is the second book devoted by the author to this subject. Manuscript bibliographical note on the endpaper, in black ink, by F. Annibal Destouches, 1834.
Half glazed camel calf binding. Spine with false raised bands decorated with fleurons. Long-grain morocco boards with gilt roll border.
Contemporary full brown sheep binding, speckled. Decorated spine with raised bands. Gilt title. Small lack at head. Tailcap partly worn. Upper joint cracked at head and foot over 7 cm. Corners bumped.

Second Elzevir edition of Milton's first text, which was originally published in 1651 in Amsterdam. First edition of Milton's Second and Third Defences.
Full polished tobacco calf bindings, ca. 1820. Spines with raised bands, decorated with four floral tools, fillets and rolls. Chocolate morocco title and volume labels. Cold-stamped border on the boards with small corner fleurons. Inner roll-tooled border. All edges gilt. A handsome copy.


NB: This volume is available at the bookshop on request within 48 hours.