{"title":"Fine Bindings","description":"\u003cp\u003eDecorative, handcrafted, or luxury bindings in leather, gilt, or artistic materials.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"bible","title":"BIBLE","description":"\u003cp\u003eRare edition of this book of Psalms beautifully bound in a London  sombre  binding of finely worked blind tooling on black morocco. This binding is very similar in style to a binding by the  Sombre binder  illustrated in the Henry Davis gift Catalogue (vol II, 116) and shares the same tools as another  Sombre  binding in the online British library catalogue of bindings, BL Shelfmark c72e7, an Eikon Basilike printed in London in 1649. These bindings were most often made in Puritan London where ostentation was frowned upon though a dislike of display did not deter people from wanting to own sumptuous bindings on books that they would use in public. The richness of the binding was effectively disguised with this  black on black  work. It is also thought that Restoration period,  sombre  bindings, using only blind stamps, were produced for periods of mourning at Court; with the great plague of 1665 and the fire of London a year later many were mourning in London. \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n The design, tooling, work and materials on this copy are of the highest quality. The style of the binding heavily influenced the arts and crafts movement and the tooling on this binding is reminiscent of the work of Cobbden Sanderson at the Doves Press bindery at the end of the C19.  Another fashion which first begins to be notable around 1670, and which remained in Vogue well into the first half of the eighteenth century, was a taste for  Sombre  bindings, typically found on bibles, prayer books and other devotional texts.  Pearson English Bookbinding Styles, 1450-1800. A rare book of Psalms; containing the prose text of psalms and canticles without commentary and includes the  Canticum D. Ambrosii et Augustini  at the end. The engraved title page, with a portrait of King David, is altered from a plate occasionally used as a frontispiece to the Sternhold and Hopkins psalms where it has 4 lines of text below the portrait. \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n The Psalter was published to the order and probably at the cost of the chapel of Peterhouse, where Cosin, Master of the College, was engaged in the reformation of worship in the newly built chapel; Young was also his publisher. Dispersals of chapel furnishings were made in the 1650s, presumably as a result of religious changes following the Civil War. A number of copies bear similar annotations. \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n Our thanks to Scott Mandelbrote, Fellow of Peterhouse for providing this information.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BIBLE","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57816066228559,"sku":"L1118","price":3250.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1016\/2425\/0703\/files\/Psalter-1.jpg?v=1781795330"},{"product_id":"catholic-church-curia","title":"CATHOLIC CHURCH, CURIA","description":"\u003cp\u003eAn exceptional ms. copy of the papal bulls and statutes setting out the duties powers and privileges of the Apostolic Protonotaries of the Roman Church from the 1560 s until the early C19th. This was the, or an official copy used either by the Protonotarial office or by one of their number, perhaps the figure depicted in the gilt oval on the upper cover. The papal Bulls forming and reforming the office from Callistus to Adrian VI occupy the first 21 pages, the relevant statutes pp. 23-43 and further Bulls of Urban VIII and Alexander VII from pp 43-59. Pp. 60-64 comprise the agreement of the protonotaries drafted 21st September 1661 concerning the division of their emoluments, signed by each of them and formally attested by the Curial pro-secretary Giovani Manfroni and the final pages the reforms of Gregory XVI. \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n The Protonotaries Apostolic were members of the highest college of prelates of the Roman Curia, deriving their office from the seven regional notaries of Rome in late antiquity, and the senior lawyer-administrators of the C16 Catholic church charged with the issue of Papal Bulls and other legislative or quasi legislative Papal documents. On the further development of Papal administration , secular and religious, they remained the supreme palace notaries of the Papal Chancery and in the middle ages were very high ranking officials. Sixtus V increased their number to 12, though  honories  were also appointed, Gregory XVI re-established the college of real protonotaries with seven members in 1838. The pronotarial office is of particular interest as at the same time the precursor of the modern state bureaucracy and a functional link with the ancient world. \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n This remarkably beautiful almost  treasure  binding is an extremely scarce survivor of a binding style typical of de luxe presentation copies from the mid C15 to mid C17 centuries . Unfortunately plush velvet is not a durable material and gilt ornaments tended to part company with their binding at the first opportunity. It is of the utmost rarity to find one on the market intact with all its ornaments in place. The eight cornerpieces (approximately 4 x 41\/2  including frame) recount sequentially the events of the Passion from the Garden of Gethsemane to Burial in the Tomb. The representations are life like, the action vivid and the relief and general condition is excellent. They were probably made for and are certainly contemporary with the binding. They are almost certainly Roman (cf Rossi Placchette 65 -151 and may derive from the frescos of Sebastiano del Piombo in the church of San Pietro in Montorio in Rome, at least one of which according to Vasari is according to designs given him by Michelangelo. The four clasps are likely to form part of the same set. \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n The two central ornaments are somewhat lighter in style and of sharper execution on finer metal, the work of a gem carver or expert goldsmith. The designer was clearly influenced by Renaissance Mannerism but the approach of the baroque is sensible. The upper cover figure may well be modelled on a monumental sculpture of the period whilst the lower suggests a copy of a sculptural stemma, perhaps from the wall of the Protonotarial office itself. The feeling for the monumental and architectural combined with a fineness of detail points towards the body of work generally attributed to Guglielmo de la Porta 1490-1577. There is stylistic similarity too betwenn the cornerpieces and certain of De la Porta s known work eg. the silver plaque of the flagellation now in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Interestingly De La Porta also worked under the influence of Michelangelo and his workshop specialised in the manufacture of bronzes of contemporary art.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"CATHOLIC CHURCH, CURIA","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57816066556239,"sku":"L1159","price":49500.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1016\/2425\/0703\/files\/DSC_8222.jpg?v=1781795329"},{"product_id":"hermogenes","title":"HERMOGENES","description":"\u003cp\u003eRare and important edition of the rhetorical works of Hermogenes complete with the separately paginated commentary which is often missing (see Brunet). This is the first edition of the translation of Gaspard Laurent, and of his extensive commentary. Laurent, a French Huguenot in origin, established himself at Geneva where he taught literature (1597) and in 1600 became Rector of Academy. He published principally on religious topics but he had a particular interest in public theological disputations and may well have been attracted to Hermogenes as a practical manual of reference. The especial importance of the volume however lies with the binding which is at once unusual, lovely and skilfully executed. It must be one of relatively few volumes in De Thou's extraordinary collection (Bibl. Thuanae part II, p.241) that he did not have rebound with his own arms - really the highest compliment. An early typed note in the book states that at W.H. Corfield's sale in 1904 the binding was described as French and there are common elements but there seems no reason to suppose that the volume travelled very far from the press before it was bound. Despite the unusual huntsman tool however we have been unable to find a comparable or identify the binder, so the only description we can offer is 'probably Geneva' 1614 or shortly thereafter.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"HERMOGENES","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57816067539279,"sku":"L1013","price":4750.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1016\/2425\/0703\/files\/DSC_9052.jpg?v=1781795327"},{"product_id":"cicero-marcus-tullius","title":"CICERO, Marcus Tullius","description":"\u003cp\u003eA very rare and most attractive copy of Cicero's letters, beautifully printed in an elegant minuscule Italic by Simon de Colines, in a fine contemporary Parisian gilt tooled binding. \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n  First Colines pocket edition of Cicero s  Epistolae familiares', a rare book of which we were unable to locate another copy. [Schreiber s copy is also very incomplete, ending with book VIII] Renouard, whose note for this edition is particularly garbled and incomplete, states that this was the only Colines imprint to bear Henri (sic) Estienne s device. The text was overseen by Claude Chaudière, Regnault s son. In the preface Claude emphasises his position as Colines' grandson on his mothers side, and the care he has taken in establishing the text. After Colines  death, in 1546, Regnault and Claude were to take over the printing house.  Schreiber. Renouard had probably never seen a copy as there is no sign of Estienne s device. \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n Surprisingly, the work is particularly rare. We have located four copies on worldcat only, at Illinois, North Carolina, Glasgow and the Danish Nat. Lib.; the BNF does not have it and none are recorded in Italian libraries. \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n The binding is quite sumptuous for a pocket edition, almost certainly from Paris, and is similar in style, though on a miniature scale, to bindings of the same period by Claude De Piques, see British library Catalogue of Bindings shelfmark c20c15 and c48c2. s \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n Written over the course of many years from 65 B.C. onwards and compiled by Cicero's personal secretary Tiro, the letters are often written in a subtle code to disguise particular political contents. The work is made up of Cicero s letters to his friends, acquaintances and also their replies, there is one to a conspirator in Caesar s murder,  I congratulate you. I rejoice for myself. I love you. I watch your interests; I wish for your love and to be informed of what you are doing and what is being done,  ( Fam. vi. 15). We know from others that Cicero thought about publishing some of his letters during his lifetime, but it is generally agreed that the Ad Familiares were published by Cicero s friend Tiro, who suppressed his own letters and included those written to him at the end. \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n Cicero s letters are among the most valuable sources of information on the period, we learn from him a great deal about daily life in Rome and the provinces, especially the province of Cilicia of which Cicero was sometime governor. There is no other period of antiquity for which we still possess such an immediate and intimate record and in such domestic detail.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"CICERO, Marcus Tullius","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57816127340879,"sku":"L1852","price":3950.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1016\/2425\/0703\/files\/frontcover_56b3a2cf-6629-4b3f-8e20-12206ae0e7be.png?v=1781795275"},{"product_id":"wishart-george","title":"WISHART, George","description":"\u003cp\u003eA fine, large paper copy of this most interesting contemporary biography of the feats of the great Scottish General, James Montrose, in a stunning contemporary morocco binding attributable or very close to the great French binder Le Gascon, from the exceptional library of Bolongaro-Crevenna.  Dr. George Wishart was born in 1599  In 1626 he moved to St. Andrews as second charge, and it has been conjectured that is was there that he first met the Earl of Montrose, who matriculated at the University of St. Andrews in 1627  When the Presbyterians obtained the ascendancy, Dr. Wishart fled to England with Archbishop Spottiswood. On 19th October 1639, he was appointed to a lectureship of All Saints Church, Newcastle, and in 1640 he was presented at St. Nicholas Church, Newcastle. When Leslie and the Scots army took Newcastle on 19th October 1644, Wishart was taken prisoner, and, on the charge of corresponding with royalists, was imprisoned in the Thieves  Hole, Edinburgh. After 7 months in prison, Wishart was liberated when the Marquis of Montrose arrived in Edinburgh after his victory at Kilsyth on 15th August 1645. Wishart joined the royal army at Bothwell, and was appointed private chaplain to the Marquis of Montrose. In this capacity he accompanied the Marquis in his campaign both at home and abroad, and his narrative of Montrose s campaign is that of an eye-witness and biographer. It was first published in Amsterdam   1647. When the Scottish Parliament tried Montrose in abstentia in 1649, Wishart s book was brought as evidence against him. A bounty was pledged by Parliament and the Church of Scotland for his capture, and he was sentenced in abstentia to be hanged with Wishart s book around his neck. The sentence was carried out in the following year after Montrose was captured and brought to Edinburgh.  The Wishart Society. \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n  Les reliures de Le Gascon sont de veritables objets d art.  Edouard Rouveyre.  Connaissances n écessaires √† un bibliophile.  This binding is very similar in style and the tools are nearly identical to a binding attributed to Le Gascon in a Sotheby s sale at Paris, 2011, sale PF1113, lot 51, the 1595 edition of the works of Montaigne. It shares the same oval centre surrounded by near identical scrolled tools and pointill é work.  The style of Le Gascon, so-called, was in vogue between the years 1640, and 1665  Herbert P. Horne  An Essay in the History of Gold-Tooled Bindings . \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n The binding is also very similar in design and tools to another binding attributed to Le Gascon in the Tenschert Catalogue  Biblia Sacra  2004, no. 59, a Greek New Testament. Many of the best binders of the period imitated the work of Le Gascon, who was then at the height of fashion, and if this binding is not by Le Gascon or his atelier, it is by someone who was imitating him as closely as possible. The gilding and use of pointill é tools is particularly fine, the morocco is of the highest quality. As this is a large paper copy in a very rich binding, it was almost certainly made for presentation, though there is no indication of to whom. \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n A wonderful copy from the extraordinary library of Bolongaro-Crevenna, the francophile Italian merchant from Amsterdam, whose magnificent collection was sold in Paris between 1775 and 1793. This work was in his sale of History books in 1789 lot 6506; see  Catalogue des livres de la bibliothèque de M. Pierre Antoine Bologaro-Crevenna   Volume 4  Amsterdam, chez Changuion 1789.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WISHART, George","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57816133042511,"sku":"L2211","price":4250.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1016\/2425\/0703\/files\/L2211-Wishart-1.jpg?v=1781795254"},{"product_id":"bible-3","title":"BIBLE","description":"\u003cp\u003eA rare edition of this finely printed Protestant bible in a beautiful and richly worked contemporary mosaique morocco binding, immaculately preserved, with its original silvers clasps and catches, a most handsome present commissioned for the wedding of in Geneva in1617 of Louis Dufour and Catherine Franconis. The Société Genevoise de Généalogie states that Catherine Franconis married, on 2nd February 1617, at the Temple of Saint-Gervais in Geneva, Louis Dufour and they later had a daughter Madeleine Dufour which confirms that this bible must have been made as a wedding gift. Their names are jointly stamped on the verso of the catches with the date 1616. The lovely Geneva binding is a very fine example of the best bindings of the period, extremely finely and delicately worked for its small size, with tiny inlays of darker morocco, making for a subtle all over design. The shape of the Bible with its large flat spine allowed the binder to create a most unusual panel design on the spine mirroring those of the covers. The silver clasps and catches are very beautifully worked in very fine grotesques and survive in perfect condition, as does the rest of the binding. This Bible was exhibited in the exhibition ‘Ten centuries of the French Book’ (Dix siècles de livres français) organised by the Musée des Beaux-Arts at Lucerne on the 9 July to 2 October 1949 (cat., n°357)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis Geneva Bible, beautifully printed in a very fine minuscule Roman type, imitates, on a small scale, the great Estienne folio Bibles of the previous century. It is completed with the addition of a Psalter, by the same printer, probably intended to accompany this Bible, though they are not always found together. The Psalter is followed with the ‘forme des prières ecclésiastiques’, the catechism, and the confession of faith in 40 articles by the Reformed Church of France. (“Confession de foi faite d’un commun accord par les François qui désirent vivre selon la pureté de l’Evangile de Nostre Seigneur Jésus-Christ”). A finely printed Bible remarkably preserved in a most beautiful contemporary binding.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BIBLE","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57816133894479,"sku":"L2196","price":9500.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1016\/2425\/0703\/files\/L2196-2.jpg?v=1781795217"},{"product_id":"bale-john-bade-conrad","title":"BALE, John [BADE, Conrad]","description":"\u003cp\u003eA beautiful copy of this rare and most influential translation into French, by the celebrated protestant publisher and author Conrad Bade, in a most elegant French binding. The binding, exceptionally well worked in gilt using fine crushed red morocco, is very much in the style of Derome the younger (see British Library Shelfmark c42c9 with his ticket). However it is almost certainly the work of the highly skilled if little known Jean-Baptiste Gosselin (whose niece married Michel Derome) and who, it is claimed, executed special bindings for Louis XVI. According to Erick Aguirre, who himself supplied this information, Gosselin bound several copies of the Bale for the bookseller Guillaume-Luc Bailly in about 1785. M. Bailly's price codes are in very small letters at the foot of the final end-paper. Mr. Aguirre has also identified this copy as lot 3913 in the 1803 M éon sale (little red numbers on foot of t-p) where it was purchased by Morel de Vind é. \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n Bale (1495-1563), a former Carmelite monk who converted to protestantism, later bishop of Ossory, was one of the most outspoken English Protestants of the first half of the C16. After the fall of his patron, Thomas Cromwell in 1540, he fled to Germany, where he busied himself in composing the bitter diatribes which earned him the nickname \"Bilious Bale\". On the accession of Edward VI he returned to England to share in the triumph of the reformers and publish in London the works composed in exile. Bale initially wrote this work in Latin and it was first published in Basel in 1558. It was translated into English, with additions by John Studley, as  The Pageant of Popes  in 1574. The French is the first translation into the vernacular. Conrad Bade is justly recognised as a hugely important publisher just for the publication of his friend Calvin s works but was also a satirical author in his own right. He published his most famous satirical work the  Alcoran des Cordeliers  in 1556 and followed this with another attack on the abuses of the Church with his  Satyres Chrestienes de la Cuisine Papale .  The third polemical work which Badius printed was a translation from Bishop John Bales history of the Popes, Acta Pontifcum Romanorum. Its most interesting feature to us is Bale s preface in praise of Geneva as it appeared to him in 1558. In this work, which was produced in 1561, Badius reveals himself as a poet, by his versification of the various rhymes in the original,  Like so many who tried their hand at verse in this period, he was never a great poet, yet he was at least spirited and readable which is more than could be said of most of his contemporaries.  Lewis Lupton  Conrad Badius . \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n A very fine copy of this extremely rare work from William Beckford s library. William Thomas Beckford (1760   1844) extraordinarily wealthy English novelist, art critic, travel writer and politician, now chiefly remembered as the author of the Gothic novel Vathek and builder of the remarkable Fonthill Abbey, the enormous gothic revival country house, largely destroyed. Beckford's fame rests as much upon his eccentric extravagances as a builder and collector as upon his literary efforts. The opportunity to purchase the complete library of Edward Gibbon gave Beckford the basis for his own library, which was extensive, and dispersed over two years in 1883-4.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BALE, John [BADE, Conrad]","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57816134385999,"sku":"K42","price":13500.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1016\/2425\/0703\/files\/K42-Bale-Bade-1-e1466263738521.jpg?v=1781795215"},{"product_id":"warwick-guy-de","title":"WARWICK, Guy de","description":"\u003cp\u003eA wonderful, most beautiful copy, with remarkable provenance, of this extraordinarily rare chivalric romance concerning the English knight Guy de Warwick, almost certainly the only surviving copy in private hands and one of three known copies; the other two are held at the Bibliotheque National de France (one of which is substantially damaged).This copy of this work epitomises all the elements of bibliophilic desirability; it is beautifully printed with wonderful illustration, it was exceptionally bound by the Royal binder for a group of the most discerning bibliophiles, it has exceptional royal provenance, and is of the utmost rarity. \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n The work was bound by Luc-Antoine Boyet (who would shortly after become the Royal binder in 1698) for a member of a very select group of bibliophiles known as  Les Curieux  made up of at least four members, Duvivier, Leriche, La Vieuville, and an as yet unidentified  Grand Curieux . Isabelle de Conihout and Pascal Ract-Madoux describe them in detail, for the first time as a group, in the  Reliures Francaises du XVII. Chefs-D Oeuvres du Mus ée Cond é  pp 64-110. The books bound for this group were exclusively important and extremely rare works in French or works translated into French and were bound by Luc-Antoine Boyet in what they describe as an  archa√Øsantes  style. The identical gilt shield with a date between 1695-6 (here Janvier 1696) occurs on many of these binding, see Conihout Ract-Madoux page 65 figure 1. The tools on this binding also correspond to those given by Conihout Ract-Madoux as those of Boyet s gilder, most notably the central fleuron on the spine (p. 110 figure 2) and the roll used on the inner dentelle p. (p. 110 figure A). These tool occur on the almost identically gilt spine of No. 26 in the catalogue which has the date 1695. Conihout Ract-Madoux suggest that the great bibliophile Jerome Duvivier was at the heart of this group of collectors and it is possible that this book was bound for him as he rarely signed his books, whereas the others in the group were prone to do so. \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n This volume then made its way into the library of Louis Alexandre de Bourbon, Comte de Toulouse, the youngest son of Louis XIV and his mistress Madame de Montespan. Louis Alexandre was created Count of Toulouse in 1681 at the time of his legitimation, and, in 1683, at the age of five, grand admiral. Though his father had legitimated him and his three surviving siblings, and even declared his two sons by Madame de Montespan fit to eventually succeed him to the throne of France, this was not to be, as immediately after Louis XIV's death the Parlement of Paris reversed the king's will. \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n Guy of Warwick is the English hero of a popular Romance in England and France from the 13th to 17th centuries. The story of Sir Guy is considered by scholars to be part of the romances of English heroes that form a loose corpus of Medieval literature that in general deals with the locations, characters and themes concerning England, English history, or English cultural mores, and shows some continuity between the poetry and myths of the pre-Norman or  Anglo-Saxon  era of English history as well as themes motifs and plots deriving from English folklore. Following tests of his skill and strength with dragons, monsters, giants, a great boar and the legendary Dun Cow, earning him the hand of his beloved, Guy comes to regret his violent past, and embarks on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and, on his return, secludes himself in a hermitage in repentance. The chronicles of Thomas Rudborne and John Hardyng treat Guy as an historical figure (cf. Richmond 1996, ch. 4,5). Thus, like King Arthur and Robin Hood, Guy became a figure of legend, and the text became increasingly popular through the 18th and 19th centuries. The 25 fine woodcuts in this copy were either commissioned for this edition, or, as seems more likely from the fact their size makes them extend beyond the column widths, were designed to be used interchangeably in other chivalric works. They differ considerably in iconography, style and format from those of the Paris 1525 edition printed by Regnault \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n A wonderful copy of this most rare and beautiful work.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WARWICK, Guy de","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57816134418767,"sku":"K41","price":75000.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1016\/2425\/0703\/files\/K41-5.jpg?v=1781795215"},{"product_id":"florus-lucius-annaeus","title":"FLORUS, Lucius Annaeus","description":"\u003cp\u003eA very beautifully bound copy of this exceptionally rare edition, finely bound in a style that is very close to or imitates bindings made for the Cardinal de Granvelle or Mahieu by the Fugger or Apple binder, though French. The binding, apparently made at the very end of the C16th, seems closer to those of the mid century, though freer in style. The scrolled corner pieces with a distinctive leaf in the outer corner look like a conscious imitation of the Fugger binders distinctive tool. It is exceptionally finely worked for such a small binding, totally unsophisticated, and very well preserved. An inlay has been added to the centre of the binding in red morocco probably to cover a monogram or cypher that the new owner wished to cover. Many armorial bindings had their arms removed during the revolution so as to disguise their noble or ecclesiastic provenance which could have been dangerous or embarrassing to the owner. Unfortunately we have not been able to identify the small princely armorial stamp on the title-page. \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n This edition of Florus is exceptionally rare; we have located only one copy in libraries, at San Diego State University. There is apparently no copy held in French or any other European library. Neither is it recorded in either of the Lyon bibliographies, Baudrier or Gultlingen. \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n Lucius Annaeus Florus (74 AD   130 AD) was a Roman historian who lived in the time of Trajan and Hadrian. He compiled, chiefly from Livy, a brief sketch of the history of Rome from the foundation of the city to the closing of the temple of Janus by Augustus (25 BC). The work, is a panegyric of the greatness of Rome, the life of which is divided into the periods of infancy, youth and manhood. It is often wrong in geographical and chronological details. In spite of its faults, the book was much used as a handy epitome of Roman history in the Middle Ages, and survived as a textbook into the nineteenth century. In the manuscripts, the writer is variously named as Julius Florus, Lucius Anneus Florus, or simply Annaeus Florus. From certain similarities of style, he has been identified as Publius Annius Florus, poet, rhetorician and friend of Hadrian, author of a dialogue on the question of whether Virgil was an orator or poet, of which the introduction has been preserved. The Epitome of Livy is Florus' most famous work, offering a unique insight into the lost books of the famous History, only around a quarter of which survives. \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n A very beautiful and most intriguing binding.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"FLORUS, Lucius Annaeus","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57816135565647,"sku":"L2584","price":4950.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1016\/2425\/0703\/files\/L2584-1.jpg?v=1781795209"},{"product_id":"bible-with-psalms","title":"BIBLE [with] PSALMS","description":"\u003cp\u003eA rare complete  Geneva  Bible, with the Psalms, published clandestinely in Amsterdam for the English market with a false date and imprint. The binding is very finely worked and shares the same overall design with many bindings in the British library, often with royal, or noble arms, but most particularly with a Scottish binding Shelfmark C21d12, which also has a floral border. The use of black calf and a decoration of repeated rose tools on the spine is particularly striking and effective. \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n The exiled English community at Geneva, during the reign of Queen Mary, became a centre for Bible study and under the guidance of Whittingham, a new translation of the Bible was undertaken. The present edition was the work of William Whittingham, Anthony Gilby, Thomas Sampson, and perhaps others, revised by Laurence Tomson, with the Franciscus Junius translation of Revelation translated to English by Tomson. The Bible that was produced at Geneva used several devices to help the reader study, understand and interpret. The script was divided into numbered verses for the first time. An  argument  was also used before each book and chapter to help explain the meaning. The marginal notes amount to 300,000 words or about a third of the complete length. The translators used these scholarly annotations to clarify ambiguous meanings and for cross-referencing. King James, to impose his version, discouraged the printing of the Geneva version from 1611. The authorities of the seventeenth century were also suspicious of these marginal annotations, believing that they encouraged sedition. Indeed, James claimed that some notes were  very partial, untrue, seditious, and savouring too much of dangerous and traitorous conceits.  His attitude is perhaps unsurprising when notes such as Exodus 1:19 claimed that a disobedient act against a king was lawful. Despite royal antipathy, the Geneva Bible remained popular, often described as the  Bible of the people . It was not generally used in the Church of England as the notes were sometimes too Protestant for the Elizabethan religious settlement; it was however used in the Scottish Kirk. Indeed, in 1579 a Scottish edition of the Geneva version was the first Bible to be printed in Scotland. According to Darlow and Moule, between 1560 and 1644 at least 140 editions of the Geneva Bible or Testament appeared. It was the Bible of Shakespeare and as late as 1643, Cromwell s New Model Army was carrying the Soldier s Pocket Bible made up of extracts. This edition contains two false title pages and was certainly produced outside the monopoly of the Stationers Company. Despite the fact that unlicensed foreign texts infringed this monopoly, imported material had a sizeable share of the English and Scottish book market in the seventeenth century. Here the false imprint dates to the reign of Elizabeth I when Geneva Bibles were less controversial. The illegal transportation of books into the country was certainly monitored by the authorities. William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury from 1633-45, admitted that he had suppressed the Geneva Bible during his time in office at his trial, stating that he had suppressed this version, not only because of the controversial marginal notes, but also because he was trying to protect the economic position of English printers. John Frederick Stam was an established printer at Amsterdam who particularly targeted the English book market becoming one of the leading printers of English texts in the Netherlands, mainly producing Bibles, generally printed with false title pages which credited the printing to Barker.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BIBLE [with] PSALMS","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57816137138511,"sku":"K65","price":15000.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1016\/2425\/0703\/files\/K65-1.jpg?v=1781795201"},{"product_id":"adamson-john","title":"ADAMSON, John","description":"First edition, second issue, with the portrait of James I, of this important collection of neo-latin poems, epigrams, and panegyrics, all dedicated to James I on his return to Scotland in 1617. On the 15th of May, 1617, King James VI \u0026amp; I landed at Port  Seatown  (now Seton) to begin what would be his only homecoming tour of Scotland. since leaving Scotland 14 years earlier. James stayed in Scotland until the beginning of August of that year and, although primarily resident in Edinburgh, he spent much of his time touring his northern kingdom. James visited Scotland under the pretence of celebrating his fiftieth year as King of Scotland; however, the political motives of James s trip to his homeland are now clear in hindsight: his main objective was to try to align the Church of Scotland more to the Anglican Church, evident in his passing of the Five Articles of Perth in the year following this tour. During James s visits to the cities, towns, villages and boroughs of Scotland many formal presentations of verse and addresses were given to the King. In 1618 a collection of these poems, addresses and a record of where the King and his entourage visited was printed in Edinburgh. The first work is a collection of poems, speeches and philosophical discussions, mostly in Latin. It is found in various states and is frequently accompanied by the second work, a further collection of Latin poems written by Scottish authors including David Hume of Godscroft and David Wedderburn on the occasion of James s return to England. It was edited by John Adamson who refers to the work in the dedication to the first work.\r \r  With over sixty individual contributors, it includes many more Latin poets that the Delitae Poetarum Scotorum, and all of them write at the same point in time and in the same context, namely the return of King James VI and I to Scotland, after fourteen years, in 1617. Its acclamations are delivered with considerable ingenuity and skill in more than 130 poems, which range in length from short epigrams to much longer hexameter panegyrics. Such an assembly of verso to celebrate an itinerant sovereign has few if any parallels in any neo-Lain context. Moreover the Muses Welcome is presented as a travelogue: a record, with precise dates, of the king s journey or  progress  through some fifteen towns and other places in his northern realm, from Dundee to Drumlanrig (two visits are noted for Stirling and at least two for Edinburgh). .. The Muses Welcome is a snapshot of Scotland in a particular summer, or rather a group photograph (one of the livelier kind). A real work of cerebration as well as celebration by Scottish towns and cities The Muses Welcome is testimony to Scotland s cultural and educational achievements, at a moment which coincides with the zenith of Scottish Latin verse. Finally   The Muses Welcome is a delight to handle and peruse, because of its generous dimensions its use throughout of a large Italic font, its ample spacing This fine appearance is hardly surprising, for it was commissioned by the King himself .. and entrusted by him to Edinburgh s leading printers. He also made careful provision for the distribution of eighty copies, which may or may not comprise the whole print run.  Roger P.H. Green. The King Returns: The Muses  Welcome (1618). This copy, richly bound with his arms is most certainly one of the copies made for distribution by the king.\r \r The Muses Welcome is truly a treasure trove of early seventeenth-century poetry and includes unattributed dedications by Sir Francis Bacon, identified by his family s motto  Mediocra Firma  found at the foot of his dedications (3rd leaf recto, pp. 115, 153, 168). A very fine copy of this most important work, most probably a presentation from James I.","brand":"ADAMSON, John","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57816137302351,"sku":"K58","price":29500.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1016\/2425\/0703\/files\/DSC_8210.jpg?v=1781795200"},{"product_id":"thucydides","title":"THUCYDIDES","description":"\u003cp\u003eBeautifully printed edition of Claude de Seyssel s translation into French of Thucydides  famous History, beautifully preserved in a simple but very elegant binding made for the library of the most celebrated English collector of the C16th, the  English Grolier , Thomas Wotton of Boughton Malherbe, Kent.  Thomas Wotton, the  English Grolier  was the first Englishman to collect a planned library of gold-tooled bookbindings. About 140 volumes have survived from his library. A large group of these bears the Grolier-like tooled inscription Thomae Wottoni et Amicorum , some have stamped armorials, some ..have the simple tooled date 1552, and some have no special signs of ownership on their covers but can be traced back to him by provenance. Wotton belonged to a prosperous Kentish family  is not known to have attended either of the English universities, but his library suggests an educated man with good knowledge of Latin the language of scholarship; he did not own any Greek texts.  Needham. According to Nixon, this binding is part of  group IV. Simple bindings before 1553, type D ..  Binding [with] ownership inscription in the form THOMAE WOTTONI ET AMICORUM and the date 1550. In place of the medallions, this has a lozenge containing four impressions of a tool . \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n Thucydides has been described as the father of  scientific history  because of his strict standards of evidence gathering and analysis of events in terms of cause and effect. He has also been called the father of the school of political realism viewing relations between states as based more on might than right. His text is still studied in military colleges throughout the world. Thucydides also makes the interesting, if somewhat cynical, analysis of human nature in explaining human behaviour in the context of wars, plagues and all sorts of disasters. Viewed in the highest regard by subsequent Greek historians, then ignored throughout the Middle Ages, Thucydides had some influence on Machiavelli, but much more on Hobbes who translated him, and was idolised by Schiller, Schlegel, Nietzsche, Macauley and von Ranke. Woodrow Wilson read him on the way to the Versailles conference, and Thucydides  influence was increasingly felt in international relations during the period of the cold war. The Peleponnesian War of which Thucydides wrote was an epic 27 year struggle for supremacy between Athens and Sparta and their respective allies. It probably continued after Thucycides  death. Thucydides is the political historian par excellence, a meticulous recorder of public events, in which he had fought and from which he was never far removed. He assiduously researched written documents and personally interviewed eye-witnesses whose testimonies he wrote up into somewhat stylistic speeches. \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n Seyssel, (c.1450-1520) was a Savoyard scholar, diplomat, and churchman, successively Bishop of Marseille and archbishop of Turin. He served under Louis XII and was sent on diplomatic missions in Flanders, Switzerland, England and Italy. He collaborated with the Byzantine refugee Janus Lascaris on translations of ancient Greek historians, Lascaris translating from Greek to Latin and Seyssel from Latin to French; between them they produced the first French translations of Herodotus, Thucydides, Diodorus, Appian, and Xenophon. \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n A lovely copy of this work from perhaps the most famous collection of bindings owned by an Englishman. Books from Wotton s library are exceptionally rare and have been always been highly sought after by book collectors.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"THUCYDIDES","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57816137826639,"sku":"K91","price":40000.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1016\/2425\/0703\/files\/DSC_7955.jpg?v=1781795194"},{"product_id":"walther-johann","title":"WALTHER, Johann","description":"\u003cp\u003eCrisp copy of a German poem written to commemorate the death of Martin Luther in 1546, when the volume was first printed in five impressions (no priority has been established). Johann Walther (or Walter) (1496 1570), the  father of Lutheran church music , was composer and then director of the chapel choir of Frederick III, Duke of Saxony. In 1524, he published  Geistliches Gesangbuechleinin , a hymnal for Lutheran choirs, with a foreword by Martin Luther himself; the  Deutsche Messe  followed in 1527. For two decades, Walther worked incessantly with Luther to adapt Catholic church music to the needs of Lutheran liturgy, for instance, by introducing hymns into the mass and encouraging people to sing them at home and make them part of their everyday lives. The  Epitaphium  is Walther s tribute to a religious personality who had also become a close friend. The poem depicts Luther as a heroic figure whom Death cannot overpower and the Devil s bite cannot hurt, a soul who has escaped from the hellish torments reserved to Papists to revive in the teachings of God s word and the light of Christ. The fine woodcuts after Lucas Cranach the Younger immortalise Luther and Frederick III, one of the earliest defenders of Lutheranism and founder of the University of Wittenberg, where Luther taught. \u003cbr\u003e\n \u003cbr\u003e\n  The striking binding is made of two non-sequential leaves from the same manuscript in superb condition. It is probably a C15 German lectionary, with excerpts from the Acts of the Saints and Martyrs, associated with their calendar dates of worship. The front cover features passages from the acts of St Mathias (February 24) and the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste (March 10), while on the back are extracts from the lives of St Peter and Paul (including Acts 1:21-26 and 12:2-8), interspersed with orations.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WALTHER, Johann","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57816138580303,"sku":"L2748","price":4950.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1016\/2425\/0703\/files\/frontcover_2d4127df-f89c-4889-9c1d-2abc3a65732f.png?v=1781795192"},{"product_id":"calvin-jean","title":"CALVIN, Jean","description":"\u003cp\u003eVery good, handsomely bound copy of this immensely influential work by Jean Calvin (1509-1564), a French theologian who contributed to the introduction of the Reformation to France and Switzerland. First published in Latin in 1536, the  Institutio  presented a systematic analysis of Protestant doctrines with the purpose of dissociating the new religious ideas from attacks against established political authority launched by the Anabaptists and condemned by Francis I, to whom the work is dedicated. In this third, expanded Latin edition the twenty-one chapters discuss fundamental theological questions like the knowledge and understanding of God s divine nature, the doctrines of justification by faith alone and of predestination which differentiated Calvin s thought from Luther s. His influential theories inspired, among others, the religious and political ideas of the French Huguenots and the Scottish, English, and Irish Presbyterians.  The elegant and uncommon early C16 binding, the detail of which remains very crisp, celebrates the political and religious pre-eminence of the Holy Roman Empire over the Ottomans. It portrays Emperor Charles V, Ferdinand, King of Bohemia, and Andreas de Auria (Andrea Doria) this being his sole recorded occurrence on German bindings according to the Einbanddatenbank (EBDB r004398). Andrea Doria (1466-1560), a most successful admiral of the Republic of Genoa, was in the service of Charles V from 1528 to the 1550s, fighting the Ottomans and helping him to strengthen his hold over Italy. The rolls have been traced to the workshop of Hans Reisspergk in Saxony, where they were used between 1533 and 1560 (Haebler I, 369, 4). The costumes reflect the fashion of the 1530s, when Charles V and Andrea Doria defeated the Ottomans in Tunis, and Ferdinand withheld their invasion of Hungary events which the binding may be celebrating with images of the victors.  The remarkable provenance of this copy is traceable to the Lower Silesian city of Breslau (Wroc aw). The first owner was Ambrosius Moibanus (1494-1554), an influential Lutheran theologian who studied at Cracow and Wittenberg, where he met Melanchthon. He was pastor at St Elizabeth s Church in Breslau from 1525, and among the first to introduce the Reformation into Silesia. Moibanus wrote a Catechism, hymns, and epistles (some to Calvin concerning the reception of the Reformation in Hungary and Poland). He strongly believed in the importance of women s education, which he promoted at his parish school. The second ex-libris is of his fifth son, Ambrosius (1546-1598). He taught theology in Wittenberg, became pastor at St Elizabeth s, and was in possession of his father s books by 1569 as stated on the t-p of an incunabulum now at Harvard. In 1570 the younger Ambrosius donated this copy to his brother-in-law, M. Salomon Frenzel von Friedenthal (1529-1602), and his sons, including the future humanist Salomon Frencelius. M. Salomon was appointed pastor of St Elizabeth s in 1567, and left Breslau for Brzeg in 1571. The annotations in this copy reflect the interests of its Protestant readers. It was probably Moibanus the elder who annotated sections rejecting as  error et stultitia  the doctrines of the Anabaptists, whose persecution he encouraged.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"CALVIN, Jean","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57816139530575,"sku":"K120","price":15000.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1016\/2425\/0703\/files\/IMG_5661-e1507729084471.jpg?v=1781795186"},{"product_id":"lentulo-scipione","title":"LENTULO, Scipione","description":"\u003cp\u003eVery rare, beautifully printed, first edition of the translation into English of this Italian grammar, from the library of Sir Edward Coke, finely bound with his monogram on the covers. The work is a translation of Lentulo s  Italicae grammatices praecepta  by Henry Grantham, a popular Italian grammar, republished in 1587.  One other Grammar was issued in England just prior to the publication of [Florio s]  Firste Fruits , a translation of Scipione Lentulo s  Italicae gramatices praecepta ac ratio  by Henry Grantham (who in 1567 also published a translation of a fragment of Boccaccio s Philocolo,  A pleasaunt disport of divers noble personages ), the original of which Migliorini notes was written specifically with foreigners in Italy in mind. An  Italian grammer  appeared first in 1575 (reprinted in 1587) and provided a solid basis for the beginners acquisition of Italian, based as it was upon  the most servicable among the many [such] works then available in Italy   it is not only extremely clear, but completely unadorned, even more so than Thomas, for the most part schematic, with little commentary of exemplification, to the point that it often seems more a grammatical survey than a grammar   Michael Wyatt.  The Italian Encounter with Tudor England: A Cultural Politics of Translation.  \u003cbr\u003e\n Hassel catalogued 1,237 items from the library of Sir Edward Coke, which reveal the great variety of his reading; apart from the expected yearbooks, Reports and Registers of Writs, there are such diverse items as Diodorus Siculus and Dante, a Welsh grammar and works on Husbandry. Hassel states in his letter inserted with this copy  This would be one of the very few Italian books included in Sir Edward s collection in its original binding which does not contain marks of having been derived from Sir Christopher Hatton. Hardly any of the Italian books have Coke s autograph or binding: and nearly all the Italian books (when this evidence has not been destroyed by 18th century rebinding) have either the binding or autograph of Christopher Hatton.  Hailed by Sir Robert Phelips as  that great monarcha juris , and by Richard Cresheld as  that honourable gentleman to whom the professors of the law, both in this and all succeeding ages are and will be much bound , Sir Edward Coke was the finest lawyer of his generation. Sir Roger Wilbraham thought his legal talents were  above all of memory , while Sir Julius Caesar ranked him as  one of the greatest learned men amongst the common lawyers of England . Even James I, who grew to detest him, acknowledged Coke as  the father of the laws . Much of Coke s legal skill relied upon a sharp intellect and a prodigious capacity for work ..but it was also the product of immense learning. Coke collected a huge library of books and manuscripts, and by his death he owned around 1,200 volumes, considerably more than most college libraries of the period. Naturally many were law books, but the largest part of the collection was concerned with historical matters. Although not a member of the Elizabethan Society of Antiquaries, Coke regarded it as essential to study the past in order to comprehend England s laws and constitution. He applauded Edward I as  our Justinian, the wisest prince that ever ... [was] till our king , and was almost as much in awe of Edward III, whose reign he regarded as the golden age of Common-Law pleading. Through historical study, Coke concluded that ultimate sovereignty lay with the Common Law. Not merely was this superior to Civil or Canon Law, but both Parliament and the king were subject to its authority. In an era when the Crown increasingly operated outside the strict parameters of the Common Law, this was a dangerous view to hold.  Andrew Thrush and John P. Ferris  The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1604-1629.  \u003cbr\u003e\n A beautiful copy of this rare work with exceptional provenance.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"LENTULO, Scipione","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57816140841295,"sku":"L2520","price":19500.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1016\/2425\/0703\/files\/L2520.jpg?v=1781795180"},{"product_id":"aretino-pietro","title":"ARETINO, Pietro","description":"\u003cp\u003eA very lovely copy, beautifully bound for Charles de Valois, the son of King Charles IX of France, of these rare editions of Aretino printed clandestinely by John Wolfe in London. These English editions of Aretino s work, particularly the comedies, pose the question as to whether Shakespeare had read Aretino in this form.  All of the four comedies provide significant cues for Shakespeare s plays especially for the plot construction of such works as the Taming of the Shrew, the Comedy of Errors, and Twelfth Night, where we find some unique solutions in the comedic structure which were anticipated by Aretino s innovative theatre.  Michele Marrapodi.  Shakespeare and the Italian Renaissance:.  It is certain that Arteino was of great influence on other contemporary English writers who borrowed heavily from his works, particularly Jonson and Middleton.  One of the more versatile and prolific writers in the Italian vernacular, Peter Aretino made a significant impact on the literary, political, social, and artistic world of 16th century Italy. .. At the court of Rome, Aretino developed his skill at political and clerical gossip in the form of pasquinades and lampoons. During his stay there, Aretino also drafted La Cortigiana (The Courtesan) in which he satirized the papal court and Baldesar Castiglione s manual for courtly behaviour, Il Cortegiano (the Courtier). While Aretino is frequently described as an anti-classical, anti-humanistic, and scurrilous author who proudly posted of never having studied Latin, La Cortigiana reveals a rich heritage of sources, includingVirgil, and Erasmus, and the contemporary humanistic treatise . In 1534 Aretino published the first part of I Ragionamenti, a series of dialogues in which prostitutes vividly discuss their profession. Like many of his other works, this play interweaves literary and historical plots with a satirical target as it parodies the literary form of the dialogue and Neoplatonic theories then in vogue as embodied in Pietro Bembo s  Gli Asolani . Jo Eldridge Carney  Renaissance and Reformation, 1500-1620: A Biographical Dictionary.  \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n  The printer John Wolfe worked for some years in Florence, and was active in London between 1579 and 1601. In the early1580 s he decided to print, though surreptitiously, Machiavelli s two most controversial works as well as Aretino s Ragionamenti in Italian. His work did not have an outright clandestine nature, but by inserting fictitious Italian cities as places of publication on the frontispiece he was able to avoid the control of the Stationers  Company  In practice, Wolfe was printing for three different categories of readers. English people who could read Italian; the Italian community in England; and the foreign market. Evidence of the latter is offered by his involvement in the Frankfurt book fair in which books in the English language were not normally present; the two former categories indicate an intellectual elite.  Giuliana Iannaccaro.  Enforcing and Eluding Censorship: British and Anglo-Italian Perspectives.   by printing in foreign vernaculars, and using a fictitious imprint, (Wolfe) could evade the restrictions imposed on his business by the monopolist printers Wolfe became the recognized leader of the whole movement against privileges  Woodfield,  Surreptitious Printing in England . Another reason for his surreptitious printing was to circumvent the new papal Index which limited what could be printed by Italian firms \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n Charles de Valois d Angouleme, (1573   1650) was the illegitimate son of Charles IX, king of France, and Marie Touchet. He was born at the Ch√¢teau de Fayet in Dauphin é in 1573. His father, dying in the following year, commended him to the care of his younger brother and successor, Henry III who faithfully fulfilled the charge, commending him in turn, on his deathbed, to Henry IV of France. He fought for Henry IV, then for Louis XIII at the siege of La Rochelle and in the wars of Languedoc, Germany and Flanders. His library, particularly rich in Italian and Spanish works, was bequeathed by his eldest son, Louis de Valois, Count of Alais, to the Monastery of Guiche, in the Charolais and was dispersed during the Revolution. \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n A beautiful, exceptionally preserved copy, of these rare and important editions of Aretino.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"ARETINO, Pietro","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57816142184783,"sku":"L2796","price":10500.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1016\/2425\/0703\/files\/L2796-Aretino-1.jpg?v=1781795172"},{"product_id":"breviarium-romanum","title":"BREVIARIUM ROMANUM","description":"\u003cp\u003eRare edition of this beautifully printed Roman Breviary, in a stunning contemporary French  alla greca  binding of the finest quality, in a similar style to bindings made by Claude de Piques or Gommar Estienne, finely worked to an allover gilt strap-work design. The binding is particularly fine, beautifully worked with a very elegant and deceptively simple design. It is very similar in style to a binding in the British Library, attributed to Claude de Piques, BL Shelfmark c19b7. It seems incongruous to find such a non classical or Greek work bound in the  alla greca  style, but it is by no means unique. The BL has two such examples from the same period; an edition of Alberti s L Architecture et art de bien bastir, (Davis 396) bound in a very ornate but similar strap-work design, either by Etienne Gommar or possibly Claude de Piques, and an edition of St. Augustines Confessions (Davis 425). Both these non-classical works were bound at the same period in the same  alla greca  style. The motto on the covers, roughly translates as  let us not tire of doing good  is taken from Paul s letters to the Galatians 6:9. \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n This beautifully printed breviary is an early edition of Cardinal Quignon s short lived revised version. There had been, in the earlier part of the sixteenth century, attempts to reform the services of the Church. These reforms had the sanction of the Papacy, and Clement VII entrusted the task to the celebrated Cardinal Quignon. His first revision of the Breviary was issued between February, 1535, and July, 1536, and in these eighteen months went through some ten editions. A second recension was published in July, 1536, and became immensely popular. Its use was prohibited by Paul IV in 1558, afterwards permitted again by Pius IV. Pius V however renewed the prohibition, and the use of Quignon s Breviary died out in the Roman Church. \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n A stunning copy of this rare breviary in a most beautiful binding.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BREVIARIUM ROMANUM","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57816142250319,"sku":"K123","price":29500.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1016\/2425\/0703\/files\/K123-3.jpg?v=1781795171"},{"product_id":"bible-biblia-latinogallica","title":"[BIBLE] Biblia Latinogallica","description":"\u003cp\u003eA very handsome copy of this uncommon polyglot Latin and French bible, beautiful bound in a most unusual binding, incorporating a very distinctive and charming hunting scene. The bindings seems to be transitionary between mid and late C16th styles; the slightly archaic use of the block stamped corner-pieces, and central arabesque, contrasts with the fine scrollwork of the panels. The Bible is not just beautifully bound it is also extra illustrated, bound with a series of woodcuts from another bible, and again, at a later date, with the tipping in of a fine engraved map of the Holy land by Paul Godet Des Marais. The extra illustrated woodcuts have all had their binding instructions inked over but have been placed in the text where they should correctly appear. Chambers describes the Bible; Geneva version (independent revision drawing on nearly all previous versions for the OT, N1560 for NT; eclectic choice of arguments and chapter summaries; very few marginal notes). The Latin is the Pagninus version according to LeLong. This edition was printed by Jaques Bourgeois for himself, Estienne Anastasse, and Louis Cloquemin; it was reissued, with slight Changes in 1572 by Sebastien Honorati.  The NT is the Calvin-Beza revision (first published in 1560 by Robert Estienne) which was to remain authoritative until the definitive revision of 1588.  \u003cbr\u003e\n A most beautifully bound and intriguing polyglot Bible.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"[BIBLE] Biblia Latinogallica","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57816143692111,"sku":"L2797","price":12950.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1016\/2425\/0703\/files\/DSC_8595.jpg?v=1781795168"},{"product_id":"dionysius-halicarnassensis","title":"DIONYSIUS, Halicarnassensis","description":"\u003cp\u003eA fine copy of this beautifully printed edition, in a beautiful contemporary Scottish armorial binding, with the arms of John Stewart, 5th Earl of Atholl, and remarkable Scottish provenance. The M M monogram above the arms could have been added later, possibly the initials of one of John s descendants from the Murray family. Early Scottish armorial bindings are particularly rare. Of particular interest is the autograph Robertus Lindesius on the title which could very well be that of the Scottish chronicler Robert Lindsay of Pitscottie (c. 1530 c. 1590).  Scottish historian, of the family of the Lindsays of the Byres, was born at Pitscottie, in the parish of Ceres, Fifeshire, which he held in lease at a later period. His Historie and Cronicles of Scotland, the only work by which he is remembered, is described as a continuation of that of Hector Boece, translated by John Bellenden. It covers the period from 1437 to 1565, and, though it sometimes degenerates into a mere chronicle of short entries, is not without passages of great picturesqueness. Sir Walter Scott made use of it in Marmion; and, in spite of its inaccuracy in details, it is useful for the social history of the period. Lindsay s share in the Cronicles was generally supposed to end with 1565; but Dr Aeneas Mackay considers that the frank account of the events connected with Mary Stuart between 1565 and 1575 contained in one of the MSS. is by his hand and was only suppressed because it was too faithful in its record of contemporary affairs. The Historie and Cronicles was first published in 1728. A complete edition of the text (2 vols.), based on the Laing MS. No. 218 in the university of Edinburgh, was published by the Scottish Text Society in 1809 under the editorship of Aeneas J. G. Mackay. The MS., formerly in the possession of John Scott of Halkshill, is fuller, and, though in a later hand, is, on the whole, a better representative of Lindsay s text.  \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n This beautifully printed edition of Dionysius  most important work is edited by by Sigmund Gelenius, with an additional chronology supplied by Henri Glareanus.  Gelenius at one time studied Greek under Marcus Musurus and visited Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica, and France before returning to Prague, where he lectured privately on Greek authors and entered into correspondence with Melanchthon.   Probably in 1524 he moved to Basel, where he lived in Erasmus  household. He spent the remainder of his life working for the Froben press as a scholar, editor, corrector, and translator from the Greek, even declining a position as professor of Greek at Nuremberg for which he was recommended by Melanchthon in 1525 and 1526.   in his day there cannot have been many major productions of the Froben press which did not benefit from his selfless scholarly devotion.   There is also evidence that he collaborated on a number of editions by Erasmus   Erasmus held Gelenius in high regard as is attested to by himself and others  Contemporaries of Erasmus, II, pp. 84-85.  Glareanus  annotations arose from a cultural, intellectual and even religious background that was very different from that of his predecessors. In sixteenth-century Basel, Henricus Glareanus was part of a flourishing community of scholars and printers engaged in the business of bookselling and publishing. Both emulating the Aldine model and pursuing the footsteps of Erasmus of Rotterdam, they collaborated to produce new editions of classical and patristic texts, which were based on a critical study of the manuscripts. This marked in the words of Hans-Hubertus Mack, the origins of classical philology as a scholarly discipline.  Marijke Crab.  Exemplary Reading . \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n Historian and rhetorician of the first century BC, Dionysius of Halicarnassus left Greece for Rome where he researched and composed a history of the city in twenty books. This tenth book is nearly complete while later ones are fragmentary. Informed by the classical concept of history as a source of exemplary and instructive ethical models, the text aimed to justify Roman rule over Greece and argued for a Greek origin of Roman ancestry. It is followed by De compositione, seu orationis partium apta inter se collocatione, a work on different styles of rhetoric. \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n A remarkable copy; beautifully bound with extraordinary provenance.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"DIONYSIUS, Halicarnassensis","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57816143921487,"sku":"K69","price":10000.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1016\/2425\/0703\/files\/DSC_1112.jpg?v=1781794952"},{"product_id":"holkot-robertus","title":"HOLKOT, Robertus","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe handsome C15 binding, with floral diaper tools in blind, reprises a pattern found in Southern Germany from c.1500 (e.g., Goldschmidt II, 42). \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n Fine copy of the fifth edition on this extremely influential medieval commentary on the  Book of Wisdom . The English Dominican Robert Holkot (or Holcot, c.1290-1349) was a renowned philosopher and biblical exegete, professor of theology at Oxford and a follower of William of Ockham s scholasticism. Intended as a manual for preachers, his  Supra sapientiam Salomonis  features over 100  lectiones  which interpreted, illustrated, questioned, doubted and responded to specific theological  loci , according to the Scholastic method. These included the meaning of  wisdom , its acquisition, how it never  rottens away  and is linked to justice, and in keeping with Holkot s interest in moral wisdom why princes and magistrates should study to achieve it through piety and philosophy. Holkot made original use of his biblical, patristic and classical sources including Seneca and Lucan. He used anecdotes and fables on Greek gods and mythological figures drawn, for instance, from Ovid s  Metamorphoses , like the story of Echo, as well as vivid comparisons which preachers could use in their sermons: e.g., wisdom and falsity do not mix well in a person, like gold and tin in an alloy or syllables in a stammering mouth. Holkot s commentary was possibly a source of Geoffrey Chaucer s  Nun s Priest s Tale ; first printed in 1476, it went through five editions in less than twenty years. \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n The annotators were monks of the Order of Hermits of St Augustine in the Monastery of Seemannshausen in South Bavaria, where this copy was probably kept until the Secularisation of the early C19. The first wrote marginalia in black ink summarising key passages; in his ex-libris on the front pastedown he calls himself  lector  and  praedicator  hence he was probably a teacher of philosophy in a religious school but also  exul , his handwriting suggesting British origins. Another annotator, who may also be the rubricator, highlighted Holkot s sources in red, particularly Ovid (whom he marked in red as  poe[ta] ). He was much offended by a passage, which he crossed out, concerning the foundation of the Augustinian monastic rule and the orders that followed it, including the Hermits of St Augustine. Holkot stated that, as a Manichaean youth, Augustine had been neither a monk nor a hermit, and he mocked the traditional origin of these orders who traced their foundation to the saint s early adhesion to monasticism.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"HOLKOT, Robertus","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57816145822031,"sku":"L2863","price":8500.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1016\/2425\/0703\/files\/Holkot-L2386-1.jpg?v=1781794945"},{"product_id":"basil-the-great","title":"BASIL THE GREAT","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe handsome binding with phoenixes and interlaced cranes, the detail of which remains very crisp, reprises early C16 exemplars produced in Lyon (e.g., BL, C66g11). They were based on a t-p produced by the Flemish artist Guillaume II Leroy for the Lyonnaise printer-bookseller Simon Vincent. As proved by a copy of Paulus Venetus s  Summa philosophiae naturalis  (Lyon, Antoine Du Ry for Simon Vincent, 1525) present in our web catalogue  where the t-p and matching binding appear together, the latter was probably Vincent s  marque de libraire . In 1561, Antoine II Vincent (1500-68), one of Simon s grandsons, was entrusted with the establishment of a branch of the press-bookselling business in Basle. Seen the peculiarity of this binding design, it was probably still in use in Antoine II s shop. The mozarabic corner and centrepieces were probably added; they resemble the binding on BL, Add. MS 28751, produced in Spain in the C16. \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n The fine painted fore-edge with foliage and masques follows the mid-C16 fashion in Switzerland, where this kind of decoration lingered longer than in the rest of Europe (e.g., Davis II, 224, 225, 226). \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n Excellent, clean copy of the first edition of St Basil s complete works edited by the Reformed humanist Wolfgang Musculus, professor of theology at Bern. Basil the Great (d. 379AD), Bishop of Caesarea, was one of the most influential Byzantine Church Fathers, admired for his theological arguments against heresy, his preaching and exegetic skills, theorisation of communal monasticism and ideas on the value of classical education. The  Omnia sive Recens Versa  opens with his key works against heresy, with particular attention to the confutation of Arian theories on the differentiation of the nature of the Holy Trinity and the Holy Spirit. His sermons on psalms, capital sins, drunkenness, luxury and the lives of the early martyrs illuminate his moral exegesis and desire to provide practical guidance for good Christian life. The homily on the usefulness of the study of  gentile authors  like Homer and Hesiod was a landmark in the debates of late antiquity and the early middle ages concerning the spiritual value of classical readings for the education of Christian youth. The last part of the volume is devoted to his numerous works on monasticism and asceticism, with admonitions on the regulations and sacrifices required by communal and solitary life. To this revised edition, based on Erasmus s Greek editio princeps of 1532, Musculus added a long table of  loci communes  listing key theological and exegetic  commonplaces  for meditative reading and textual interpretation e.g.,  the devil s ways to lure the wealthy ,  those who sin by ignorance do not go unpunished  and  the solitude of the soul curbs passions . For their profound appeal to an all-embracing spirituality and Christian morality, St Basil s works played a fundamental part in post-Reformation theological controversy.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BASIL THE GREAT","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57816145920335,"sku":"L2729","price":3500.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1016\/2425\/0703\/files\/DSC_8583.jpg?v=1781794943"},{"product_id":"paruta-paolo","title":"PARUTA, Paolo","description":"\u003cp\u003eA magnificent copy, superbly bound in fine contemporary red morocco for presentation to Pope Clement VIII, with his arms finely painted on the covers, of the first edition of Paruta s most celebrated work on Politics. The work was brought to press by the author s son, Giovanni, shortly after Paulo s death in 1598. It gives an excellent overview of the political theories of a Venetian, anti-Machiavellian statesman, and exerted a profound, though not always recognised, influence on the political science of the seventeenth century: Paolo Peruta (1540-1598), entered the service of the Serenissima whilst still very young, was a diplomat and senator, governor of Brescia and finally Proveditor of St. Mark s (in 1596). Paruta was also an important Venetian historian and political theorist.  Born in Venice of a noble family from Lucca, Paruta studied in Padua before returning to Venice in 1561, where he held many important diplomatic and political positions for the Republic, including the post of city historian after the death of Pietro Bembo in 1579. Paruta continued this ongoing civic project but wrote his own contribution to the history in Italian rather thatn Latin. His Istorie veneziane (1605, the History of Venice) treats the events that occurred between 1513 and 1552 in twelve books. It received an English translation in 1658 by Henry Carey, Earl of Monmouth, an important English interpreter of the works of Paruta, Campanella, and Boccalini  It is Paruta s political treatises that are most influential. In the Discorsi politici (1599, Politick Discourses   also translated by Carey in 1657), Paruta continues the debate opened by Machiavelli s Discorsi on the causes for Roman greatness, offers explanations of his own, which often take issue with Machiavelli s, and accentuates the importance of the mixed form of government he believed Venice to posses. Unlike Machiavelli, who emphasized a state s establishment, the more conservative Paruta was most interested in its preservation. This book was an important source for Montesquieu s Considerations sur les causes de la grandeur des Romains et de leur decadence (1734).  Cassell Dictionary Italian Literature. \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n Clement VIII, born Ippolito Aldobrandini, was Pope from 2 February 1592 to 1605. He was renowned for his political astuteness; perhaps the most remarkable event of his reign was the reconciliation to the Church of Henry IV of France, after long negotiations, carried on with great dexterity through Cardinal Arnaud d Ossat, that resolved the complicated situation in France. Henry embraced Catholicism on 25 July 1593. After a pause to assess Henry IV s sincerity, Clement VIII braved Spanish displeasure, and in the autumn of 1595 he solemnly absolved Henry IV, thus putting an end to the thirty years  religious war. The connection between Paruta and the Pope was a real one as Paruta had been the Ambassador for the Republic of Venice to the Pope from 1592 to 1595. His negotiations with Clement VIII, though often difficult, had always been successful. In 1598 Paruta had been sent to Ferrara to  compliment  the Pope for his conquest of the duchy   which Venice, in fact, very much disapproved of. \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n A magnificent copy of this important first edition.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PARUTA, Paolo","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57816146608463,"sku":"L2802","price":18500.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1016\/2425\/0703\/files\/L2802-1-1.jpg?v=1781794939"},{"product_id":"barberini-maffeo-pope-urban-viii","title":"BARBERINI, Maffeo [POPE URBAN VIII]","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe beautifully gilt binding appears to borrow, with plainer intentions, the design and rhombus-shaped decorations on BL C108h12, produced c.1630s by the Rospigliosi bindery (i.e., Gregorio and Giovanni Andreoli) in Rome. Very good, crisp copy, in fine impression, of Maffeo Barberini s  Poemata . Born in Florence, Barberini (1568-1644) was educated by the Society of Jesus in Rome and earned a doctorate in law at Pisa. Thanks to his uncle, Pope Clement VIII, he was appointed papal legate at the French court. In 1623, he was elected Pope with the name of Urban VIII; during his pontificate, Galileo was called to Rome to disown his cosmological theories. A great patron of scholars and artists like Athanasius Kircher and Claude Lorraine, Barberini was himself a talented poet. First printed in Venice in 1628,  Poemata  gathers his most important compositions in Latin and Greek, from biblical paraphrases to reflections on virtues and vices, poems addressed to scholarly friends and relatives, odes to saints and even musings elicited by the sight of beautiful statues. The collection blends the versatile erudition of late humanism, the jovial nature of  alba amicorum  and the darker undertones of international politics. Three poems are devoted to the seminal studies on the  marvels  of the animal and botanical world written by Ulisse Aldrovandi,  guardian of Nature . Another celebrates the saintly death of the Catholic Mary Queen of Scots, beheaded in 1587; the darkness which has covered the earth is lit up not by the burning torches at her funeral but by the stars in the heavens.  De sole et ape  provides a key to the typographical iconography of the volume, decorated with shining suns and the bees of the Barberini. The explanation of the emblematic motifs is that bees  wax can survive the heat of fire, be used to make torches and, like the sun, can chase darkness away. This edition the second to be printed by the  Typographia Camerae Apostolicae  which had retained the privilege since 1631 was advertised as revised and re-set with new and more elegant types.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BARBERINI, Maffeo [POPE URBAN VIII]","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57816146739535,"sku":"L2705","price":3500.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1016\/2425\/0703\/files\/L2705-1.jpg?v=1781794938"},{"product_id":"isocrates","title":"ISOCRATES","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe remarkably unrestored binding was probably made in Florence, where small blind- tooled round tools were often used alongside mudejar decoration (e.g., de Marinis I, 1006). Through its allusive Greek-style appearance, with double endbands and knotwork, it sought, like luxury  alla greca  bindings in the libraries of wealthy humanists, to create a material connection with the greatness of classical antiquity. \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n Well-read and apparently unrecorded second edition of the first Greek-Latin text of Isocrates s  Orationes tres . One of the greatest Greek rhetoricians, Isocrates (436-338BC) worked as a writer of judicial speeches and established a successful, prestigious and \u003cbr\u003e\n expensive school of rhetoric in Athens. He saw expression and rhythm as fundamental stylistic principles, rhetoricians as professionals with wide-ranging knowledge, and rhetoric as a discipline concerned not solely with theoretical speculation and political debates but also practical questions, including judicial and civil matters. The stylistic quality and thematic breadth of his orations only 21 of which were available in the mid-C16 made them ideal texts for classical studies. First printed in 1549, this collected edition featured three orations. The first,  To Demonicus , advises youth on how to cultivate the best and most virtuous aspirations and bear a fair yet disenchanted demeanour towards the world. The second,  To Nicocles King of Cyprus , is a defence of monarchy as a form of government which exalts the best and expects rulers to treat the state as something which concerns them personally and not, like democracy, as something which concerns others. The third,  To Nicocles , is a  mirror for princes  advising the king on how to rule wisely, creating, for instance, laws that are  just, expedient and consistent . The meticulous annotator, Nicola \u003cbr\u003e\n Zani, was a student of Latin and Greek. He glossed the texts highlighting important passages and providing Latin translations to difficult Greek words. He also noted the meaning of two unusual words:  bubo , the barn owl, and  inguinis , where  pudenda  are located probably a schoolboy.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"ISOCRATES","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57816146936143,"sku":"L2739","price":2950.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1016\/2425\/0703\/files\/L2739-6.jpg?v=1781794938"},{"product_id":"lucian-of-samosata","title":"LUCIAN OF SAMOSATA","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe handsome printed armorial ex-libris belongs to the bibliophile Hans (J√°nos) Teilnkes, citizen of Breslavia (or Presburg), then in Hungary and now in Slovakia. It was probably printed in Nuremberg, hence the Germanisation of his name into Hans, and is reputed to be the first ex-libris ever to be used in Hungary. This copy probably never travelled far from Breslavia. It was originally a prize book given to the student Joannis (J√°nos?) Talirasy by a teacher probably named Christophorus Borbonius. \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n A very good copy of fascinating provenance of Lucian of Samosata s satirical masterpiece against the traditional representation of Greek deities, translated into Latin and edited by the humanist Ottmar Luscinus. Originally from Syria, Lucian (c.125-180AD) was a Hellenistic author renowned for his very successful, mordant works in prose, poetry and dialogue form, inspired by the philosophical current of the Cynics and their indifference towards received conventions.  Dialogues of the Gods  teased the portrayal of Greek gods and goddesses immortalized in Homeric poems, with both a complicit yet disenchanted eye. It features 75 dialogues between deities and heroes of the heavens, sea and underground, including Jove, Prometheus, Neptune, Hermes, Apollo, Bacchus as well as nymphs. For instance, the Cyclops Polyphemus complains with his father Neptune about how Ulysses blinded him in his sleep in Homer s  Odyssey ; after mocking his son s incompetence, Neptune concludes ominously that, although he may not be able to cure blindness, he has full power over mariners; and Ulysses  is still navigating . As proved by the provenance of this copy, in the Renaissance Lucian s works were deemed useful for the education of youth for their engaging content and brilliant style. A great promoter of the teaching of Greek in Strasbourg, Luscinus explained in the preface how he had been taught Greek on Lucian s  Dialogues . Widely translated, Lucian s writings influenced European authors including Shakespeare and Marlowe, and inspired fundamental works of Western thought like Thomas More s  Utopia .\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"LUCIAN OF SAMOSATA","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57816153260367,"sku":"L2592","price":3950.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1016\/2425\/0703\/files\/IMG_4205.png?v=1781794930"},{"product_id":"carmina-with-pindar","title":"[CARMINA] [with] PINDAR","description":"\u003cp\u003eBeautifully printed and rare edition of this collection of Greek poetry including the works of Pindar, edited by Henri Estienne, in a stunning contemporary French fanfare binding, very much in the style of those executed for Jaques August de Thou at the same period. They contain selected works by the Greek poets Alcaeus, Sappho, Stesichorus, Ibycus, Anacreon, Bacchylides, Simonides and Alcman and includes also many other short poems concerning these poets by contemporary and later authors, both Greek and Latin. Edition in two volumes, but each presented as a separate publication, of some Greek poets, in Greek with Latin translation. Edited and translated by Henricus Stephanus.  Voet. \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n The binding is very similar a fanfare binding made for Jaques August de Thou in the British library, shelf-mark c19b12, using the same, or a near identical, winged cherub tool, and is very similar in overall design. This binding is in De Thous arms as a bachelor so cannot have been made before 1587. See also two other bindings in the BL, both for De Thou, shelf-marks c19b11, c19b16 also with very similar bindings. The fanfare style had its beginnings in around 1560, gradually becoming more complex and intricate, covering the entire binding with small compartments with torsades, spirals of leafy stems, and branches, the whole worked with a multitude of small tools. The style reached its peak towards the end of the C16th. Needham points out  It was much more common for fanfare bindings to be found on special presentation copies and gifts  as they were so time consuming and expensive to make  A finite library of good books could be bound luxuriously as a cabinet of treasures  We have been unable to identify the first owner whose monogram is stamped at the centres. \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n The work has prestigious later provenance belonging to Chr étien-François de Lamoignon (Paris, 1735   1789) a French statesman and magistrate. Lamoignon was the Keeper of the Seals of France from 8 April 1787 to 14 September 1788. In this position, he was responsible for issuing the Edict of Versailles in 1787, which granted civil status and freedom of worship to France s Protestants, and for the abolition of judicial torture. On his death his magnificent library was bought in its entirety by Jean Gabriel M érigot who made a catalogue for its sale in 1791.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"[CARMINA] [with] PINDAR","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57816155324751,"sku":"L2682","price":5750.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1016\/2425\/0703\/files\/L2682-1.jpg?v=1781794916"},{"product_id":"book-of-common-prayer","title":"[BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER]","description":"\u003cp\u003eA very handsome copy of this Book of Common prayer from the Laudian heyday, completed with the Psalter, both charmingly printed in Black letter, in a beautiful contemporary Royal binding with the arms of Charles I. The binding is similar in style to one in the British library shelfmark c47k4 also with Charles royal arms, on a work dated 1635, with a sem é of tools and large blocked corner-pieces. It is possible the binding was made for use in one of the Royal chapels. In 1633 Land was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury and for the next seven years he applied his considerable energies to the promotion of a national church that in its liturgy, its discipline and canons was sacramental without being Catholic and protestant without being puritan. His efforts ended in apparent ignominious failure on the scaffold, but though he could not force the establishment of his principles during his lifetime, the Anglican church he envisaged was the one to which it eventually became. The Booke of Common prayer contains,  A proclamation for the authorizing an uniformitie of the Booke of Common Prayer to bee used throughout the Realme.  This proclamation was put into practise with the production of a Book of Common Prayer for Scotland with disastrous results.  King Charles was firmly of a mind to extend Anglican forms to Scotland, particularly as expressed in the Book of Common Prayer, and the great majority of the Scottish people were equally determined to resist. Charles was not one for compromise, and so had the Scottish Bishops, with the approval of Archbishop William Laud, draw up a Book of Common Prayer for Scotland. This Book was promulgated in 1637 and was immediately denounced by the Scottish people; it was never even put into use  The Book of Common Prayer for Scotland (1637). It caused riots on its first use in St. Giles Church in Edinburgh. \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n  The English Book of Common Prayer was the first single manual of worship in a vernacular language directed to be used universally by, and common to, both priest and people  . one of the greatest of all liturgical rationalizations  (PMM) \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n A very beautiful contemporary Royal binding.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"[BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER]","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57816161124687,"sku":"L2214","price":5250.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1016\/2425\/0703\/files\/IMG_20191018_143158-scaled.jpg?v=1781794896"},{"product_id":"antiquarum-statuarum-urbis-romae","title":"ANTIQUARUM STATUARUM URBIS ROMAE","description":"\u003cp\u003eA lovely copy of this suite of prints in a beautiful, most unusual and ingenious binding by the M.M. atelier in Paris, incorporating two large wallets to store drawings or prints. The binding was undoubtedly made with the idea in mind that a collector, perhaps on a grand tour of Italy, could use the wallets to store the engravings or drawings he found on his travels, to perhaps paste them into the blank leaves at a later date, or to make notes or drawings directly on these leaves. We have found other books with J M Tourret s label but nothing about his life, or his collection. The book is a most ingenious design, beautifully bound, a wonderful object, that gives an insight into collecting on the grand tour. \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n The binding can be attributed to the  MM  binder; the corner-piece tool on the covers corresponds exactly with that identified as tool  MM6  in cyclopedia.org. These bindings  range from 1770 to at least 1786. .. This able binder appears to be a master of the classic dentelles of the 60 s and may have apprenticed with a famous royal binder from that period. At the same time he uses tools in the same fashion as Jubert in the mid 80 s. It would not surprise me if these two binders were about the same age and apprenticed with Derome, Douceur or Dubuisson. Unlike the work of Jubert we do not see the inclusion of any Derome tools or fers √† l oiseau in the decoration of these bindings. From the very first examples we see bindings of a very important and high standing. A 1776 Royal Almanach with the arms of Louis XVI. Somehow I doubt whether one goes from apprenticeship to royal bindings all that quickly. .. Also note Douceur s influence in the tools, flowers and floral motifs dominant.  cyclopedia.org \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n The fine set of Prints are by the publisher printmaker Giovanni Battista de  Cavalieri  Engraver, printer and print publisher, from Villa Lagarina near Trento. Active in Venice and from 1559 in Rome. In 1577 he had a bottega in Parione which he let out to a cartolaio, Girolamo Agnelli. His own house was in the vicolo di Palazzo Savelli, with a workshop next to it. He was the brother-in-law of Lorenzo Vaccari. .. By 1560 he seems to have been publishing his own plates. He entered into partnerships for publishing: in 1567 with Perino Zecchini de Guarlottis ..and in 1576 with Lorenzo Vaccari. In 1577 he was employing a printer: Francesco Cornuti. He acquired old plates that he recut. He published plates by his contemporaries, including Cort. He himself engraved after works of many artists, including Francesco Salviati, Daniele da Volterra, Raphael, Michelangelo, Polidoro da Caravaggio, Livio Agresti and Baccio Bandinelli. He also made copies of earlier prints. His subject matter included the devotional, topographical, antiquarian, didactic and  popular . He published a number of important series: the  Pontificum Romanorum Effigies  of 1580 and the  Romanorum Imperatorum Effigies  of 1583; the  Ecclesiae Militantis Triumphi  of 1583 and the  Ecclesiae Anglicanae Trophaea  of 1584; the  Antiquarum Statuarum Urbis Romae , the first book of which was first published before 1561\/2 (Book 1 and 2 together, before 1584; Books 3 and 4 in 1594).  M. Bury,  The Print in Italy 1550-1625 , British Museum. Brunet states that there is a copy of this set at the Bibliotheque Imperiale that contains 82 engravings though also states that sets generally vary largely in the number of plates included. He concludes  Au reste, il est difficile de dire rien de bien exact sur le nombre et l ordre de ces planches qui ont  ét é publi ées √† plusieurs reprises sans num érotage et sans table  (Brunet).\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"ANTIQUARUM STATUARUM URBIS ROMAE","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57816165482831,"sku":"L3195","price":4250.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1016\/2425\/0703\/files\/L3195-2.jpg?v=1781794874"},{"product_id":"mexia-pedro","title":"MEXIA, Pedro","description":"\u003cp\u003eA stunning copy of this work, the second edition of the English translation by Traheron of Mexia s  Historia imperial y ces√°rea , enlarged by the historian Edward Grimstone, in a remarkable Royal binding for Charles I. This work was printed the same year as Charles  trip to Spain for the  Spanish match .  The other English-Spanish translation published in this annus mirabilis was an edition of Pedro de Mexia s The Imperiall Historie, first published in 1604, with additional material written by the Sergeant at arms Edward Grimestone and dedicated to Lionel Cranfield the Lord High Treasurer.  Alexander Samson  The Spanish Match: Prince Charles s Journey to Madrid, 1623 . The superb binding is similar in style and structure to one in the BL shelfmark c18c4, also with a dentelle border with an all over semi of small tools around the arms of Charles I. It is the work of the highest quality using the finest materials. It was most probably made for Charles  library, and not just for one of the Royal chapels. It is hardly a coincidence that this work was published the year of Charles I s trip to Spain for the  Spanish Match , and the combination of this work in this binding would suggest a presentation copy to Charles, probably from Grimestone. \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n  One of the later royal historians appointed in the age of Charles V, Mexia shared with his predecessor the distinction of writing a text that was popular both in Spain and abroad. Eight Castilian editions of his Historia Imperial y Cesarea were printed between 1545 and 1665 in Seville, Madrid, Basel and Antwerp. The Italian translation by Ludovico Dolce was even more successful. Between 1558 and 1688 at least seventeen Italian editions were printed in Venice, some of which included the lives of Charles V, Maximilian II, and Ferdinand. A German translation was printed in Basel in 1564, and two English translations by William Traheron and Edward Grimestone were published in London in 1604 and 1623, respectively. In total, at least twenty-eight editions were printed in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, making it the most successful of the Spanish Imperial histories after that of Guevara. It surpassed Guevara, however, in the influence and reputation that it enjoyed in Spain, where it was considered a fundamental work by the educated class in the later half of the sixteenth century. Viewed as free of lies and exagerations of chivalric literature, the Historia Imperial was considered by some contemporaries to be the first general work of humanist history written in Castilian.  Thomas James Dandelet.  The Renaissance of Empire in Early Modern Europe.  \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n  Grimeston wrote a number of  continuations  to large scholarly works including two editions of the Historie of France .. and his translation of Pedro Mexia s The Imperiall Historie (1623) whose continuation had some topical overlap with Grimeston s continuation for the third edition of the History (1621) . Anders Ingram.  English Literature on the Ottoman Turks in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries . \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n A stunning Royal binding.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"MEXIA, Pedro","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57816165941583,"sku":"L3056","price":13500.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1016\/2425\/0703\/files\/L3056-7.jpg?v=1781794873"},{"product_id":"drexel-jeremias-1","title":"DREXEL, Jeremias","description":"\u003cp\u003eRare edition of a curious booklet illustrating the dreadful tortures for sinners in hell, first published in Munich in the same year. Raised a Lutheran, Jeremias Drexel (1581-1638) converted very early to Catholicism and joined the Society of Jesus. He was a prolific and successful writer of devotional books, widely read and translated. Besides teaching rhetoric in Dillingen, he served as a preacher for 23 years at the court of Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria, and his wife, Elizabeth of Lorraine. This work is said to have been presented to them, though the dedication addresses the apostolic nuncio in Germany, bishop Pier Luigi Carafa (1581-1655), whose arms appear at foot of title.  \u003cbr\u003e\n Eight torments are described, commented on, and vividly illustrated with fine engravings, i.e. darkness, lamenting, hunger and thirst, stench, fire, excruciating remorse, ill company and desperation. The engraving related to lamenting shows an improbable music sheet with notes and lyrics ( Vae vae vae, ah ah ah ah, heu eheu aeternitas ) of the chant of sorrow sung by the damned.  \u003cbr\u003e\n This copy comes from the library of two eminent British collectors, William Beckford (1760-1844) and the 10th Duke of Hamilton (1767-1852). It was bought at the famous  Hamilton Palace sale  at Sotheby s on 11 July 1882, lot 2625, as the additional leaf makes clear. The printed note is by the winner of the bid, Bernard Quaritch himself (1819-1889). Doubtless bound for Beckford, such a sumptuous binding is quite remarkable on a small format edition.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"DREXEL, Jeremias","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57820123660623,"sku":"L1878","price":4250.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1016\/2425\/0703\/files\/wholebook_1dd74e09-db28-460c-8ea9-19be8037a933.png?v=1781794855"},{"product_id":"manuzio-paolo-2","title":"MANUZIO, Paolo","description":"\u003cp\u003eAldine edition of an important Renaissance commentary on Cicero s most famous epistolary collection, first published in 1547. Paolo Manuzio (1512-1574) was one of the most prominent humanists of the late Italian Renaissance. The youngest son of Aldus, he was a very influential scholar and publisher in his own right, living up to the family tradition. A master of the epistolary genre with very successful collections both in Latin and vernacular, he was especially engaged as a scholar in Latin literature. His commentaries on the works of Cicero and his polished Latin prose won him long-lasting fame throughout Europe. Under his management, the Aldine press flourished once again, after the dark times of the early 1530s. He also acted as the official printer to the Academia Venetiana between 1558 and 1561, while in the following nine years he ran the first papal press in Rome. Cicero s letters to his friend Atticus, written from 68 to 44 BC and traditionally arranged in 16 books, provide an unparalleled insight not only into the author s daily life and always provoking thoughts, but also into the decades preceding the fall of the Roman Republic.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"MANUZIO, Paolo","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57820305621327,"sku":"L2293b","price":1650.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1016\/2425\/0703\/files\/frontcover_6593e793-ca55-4c2b-abac-df61f8f48016.png?v=1781794849"},{"product_id":"bg-mazzella-scipione-with-de-bry-theodor","title":"BG. [Mazzella Scipione.] [with] DE BRY, Theodor.","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe beautifully illustrated, rare and important eleventh vol of Theodor De Bry s Small voyages containing three important travel accounts including the relation of Vespucci s third and fourth voyage to America, in a stunning, finely preserved, contemporary morocco binding from the library of James I, very much in the style of Bateman. The first part contains all the plates from Mazella s history of the kings of Naples. The Small Voyages were printed in a total of 13 parts and an Appendix, at Frankfurt from 1597 to 1633; this is the sole Latin edition of part eleven of the Small voyages. This eleventh part contains three narratives: 1) [p. 5-10] The relations of the third and fourth voyages of Vespuccius to America, in 1501 and 1503; it is a reprint of selections of the author s: Mundus novus, first printed under title: Albericus Vespuccius Laurentio Petri Francisci de Medicis salutem plurimam dicit Amerigo Vespucci, Paris, 1503 but generally known as: Mundus novus. 2) [p. 11-46] An account of Robert Coverte s travels by land through Persia and Mongolia [here, Church is incorrect. Instead of Mongolia, it is the Mogul Empire], after his shipwreck off Surat. This relation was first printed in English, at London in 1612; it is a translation of  A true and almost incredible report of an Englishman, that (being cast away in the good ship called the Assention in Cambaya the farthest part of the East Indies) trauelled by land through many vnknowne kingdomes, and great cities, by Robert Coverte, first printed London, 1612  3) [p. 47-62] A geographical description of Spitzbergen and a refutation of the claims of the English to the northern whale fisheries, with the journal of the voyage of Willem Barentsz and Jan Corneliszoon Rijp, in 1596, Cf. Church. It is a translation of: Histoire du Pays nomm é Spisberghe collected and edited by Hessel Gerritsz, printed in Amsterdam, 1613, which is, in turn, a translation of selections of his: Descriptio ac delineatio geographica detectonis freti; sive Transitus ad occasum, supra terras Americanas, in Chinam atque Japonem ducturi, recens investigati ab M. Henrico Hudsono Anglo, first printed in Amsterdam, 1612. There are two states of the title page: in the first one, the vignette has two natives and a centre engraved portrait of Olivier van Noort, with two map hemispheres; the other has a native woman on the left with her child and a native man on the right with two ships in the centre. This copy contains the rare Plate VII, of a woman being carried in state to be burned with the body of her husband. This is often replaced by the plate, in which a woman is represented as throwing herself into the funeral pyre of her husband, used as plate IX.  JCB. \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n  The language of Vespucci s first public letter is compatible with the idea of a  new world  under and subordinate to the known configuration of lands. But in his second published letter Vespucci treats the southern and northern parts of the area he and Columbus explored as a single continent that is not Asia. This was a stunning breakthrough in the state of knowledge, one Columbus never achieved  Wills, Letters from a New World. \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n This marvellous copy, with two works of particular interest to the English, comes from the library of James I (1566-1625), the first and probably the most learned  King of Great Britain  as ruler of both Scotland and England.  He studied Greek, French, and Latin and made good use of a library of classical and religious writings that his tutors, George Buchanan and Peter Young, assembled for him. James s education aroused in him literary ambitions rarely found in princes but which also tended to make him a pedant.  EBO. His numerous books were often customised with his arms by the royal binder, John Bateman, who employed various style, material and techniques (M. Foot, The Henry Davids Gift, I, pp. 38-49, 52). This copy is of exceptional quality even within Bateman s refined and wide-ranging output.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BG. [Mazzella Scipione.] [with] DE BRY, Theodor.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57820341961039,"sku":"L2228","price":19500.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1016\/2425\/0703\/files\/Untitled-42_d5a4bb79-5a04-48bd-8311-0188ce5fe46a.jpg?v=1781794842"},{"product_id":"bentzius-johannes","title":"BENTZIUS, Johannes","description":"\u003cp\u003eAn elaborately bound copy of the second, substantially enlarged edition of this scarce Latin-German lexicon. The lovely contemporary binding of German influence, as shown by the traces of green, black and red paint on the vellum, suggests this was a present. Johann Bentz (fl. late C16-early C17) from Brussels was professor at Strasbourg, and the author of Latin textbooks on rhetoric and grammar. This is the second, much enlarged edition ( alterum ), published by the same printer in the same year as the first ( primum ). Like the first, it is divided into subjects (or  loci ), e.g., God, the soul, justice, temperance, history, the state, geometry, medicine, astronomy, the graphic crafts and the  evil  arts. Under  De graphicis artificiis  are  typographia ,  typographus ,  excudere ,  operae typographicae ,  typus ,  loculi  or  capsulae  (the printers  type drawers),  praelum ,  sphaera ,  atramentum typographicum  (blank ink),  minium  (red ink),  fusor typorum  (the type founder),  bibliopegus  (bookbinder), and  compingere  (to bind). In most sections, Latin words are listed alphabetically, with a German translation. This second edition was reset in double column, and substantially revised with additional Latin and German synonyms, and long lists of related Latin phrases (either adjectives or verbs), so that the young owner could learn how to write in Latin on specific subjects (traditional and contemporary) using an idiomatic language. A detailed subject and a diagrammatic index were added as preliminaries, and the work concluded with an 83-page dictionary of all the German words mentioned in the work. A scarce work of linguistic and typographical interest.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BENTZIUS, Johannes","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57820344648015,"sku":"L3193b","price":7950.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1016\/2425\/0703\/files\/spinebook.png?v=1781794823"},{"product_id":"roseo-da-fabriano-mambrino","title":"ROSEO DA FABRIANO, Mambrino","description":"Superbly bound studied and portrayed in Hobson \u0026amp; Culot,  Italian and French C16 Bookbindings , n.11 (pp.36-37), from the library of Michel Wittock, a major C20 collector of fine bindings. The binding bears the trademark tools small ivy leaves, lotus tools and the apple-shaped centrepiece, here flanked by the owner s initials (e.g., de Marinis I, 2162 and 1707, and Henry Davis Gift II, 293-95) of the Venetian Apple Binder (so named by M. Foot), active c.1530-50s (Henry Davis Gift I, 309-15). He is also known as Fugger Binder (preferred by Hobson and Schunke), as most of the books in the bibliophile Johann Jakob Fugger s library came from his workshop; he also worked for Cardinal Granvelle and Thomas Mahieu. The same gilt initials AA flanking the apple tool are present on similar bindings gracing five other works (one unnoticed by Hobson \u0026amp; Culot, now Folger 182-313q), all printed in Venice between 1527 and 1546. According to Hobson \u0026amp; Culot,  it is possible though this is pure guesswork that A A stands for Arnoldus Arlenius, of s Hertogenbosch, who in 1546 was employed in Venice as the librarian of the Spanish ambassador, Diego Hurtado de Mendoza . Mendoza, himself a renowned bibliophile, was employing a Venetian binder, Andrea di Lorenzo, who used very similar tools to the Apple Binder.\r \r This most influential and much reprinted  mirror for princes  was originally published in Castilian as  Relox de Pr‚àö‚â†ncipes  (Valladolid, 1529) by the Franciscan Antonio de Guevara (1481-1545). It first appeared in Italian in 1543 in a shortened form, translated and revised by Mambrino Roseo da Fabriano. Guevara s  Relox  was divided into three sections brought together by the protagonist, the Philosopher-Emperor Marcus Aurelius instructing Princes on the importance of Christian faith, their relationship with their wife and children, and political virtues. Reprinted nearly two dozen times in the C16, Mambrino s translation was a collection of selected passages, under a title which reprised Erasmus s famous  Institutio Principis Christiani  (Buescu,  Corte , 93).\r \r Simplifying for a wider audience the genre of the  mirror for princes , the  Institutione  gathers exemplary anecdotes from the lives of ancient princes. It includes the customary warnings on the importance of virtue (e.g., patience and understanding of poverty) and the abhorrence of vice which might endanger the state (e.g., flattery and ambition). But it also covers topics closer to a prince s family life. With an eye to a broader readership among aristocrats and the upper middle classes, Mambrino translated sections concerning the fundamental role played by women in the career of a prince, with instructions to princely wives how best to love their spouses, and to their husbands how pregnant princesses should be carefully looked after. A section is also devoted to the education of heirs, and the major role played by nurses; these should be  good orators  and  learned, if possible , women of this kind being still possible to find,  though more rarely, in modern times .","brand":"ROSEO DA FABRIANO, Mambrino","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57820344942927,"sku":"L2827","price":9750.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1016\/2425\/0703\/files\/L2827-1.jpg?v=1781794821"},{"product_id":"euclid-with-archimedes","title":"EUCLID. [with] ARCHIMEDES.","description":"The superb binding bears the monogram and arms (a fess, two stars in chief, a crescent in point) of Louis Bizeau (fl. first half of C17), a prominent bibliophile of whom little is known (Olivier,  Manuel de l amateur de reliures , V, pl. 486). Some of his bindings c.1645-50 have been linked to the same workshop as worked for Dominique S éguier (Quaritch,  Examples of the Art of Book-Binding , 108-9). His books, like this, had ruled pages, gilt edges and marbled pastedowns.\r \r Excellent, well-margined copies, in fine impression, of Francesco Commandino s Latin translations of Euclid s  Elements  and Archimedes s  opera omnia , with Commandino s commentary, the last two issued together. These texts provided the foundations of modern mathematics and physics. Commandino (1509-75) was a humanist from Urbino renowned for his translations of the ancient Greek mathematicians including Aristarchus of Samos and Pappus of Alexandria. Several of his Latin renditions of Greek mathematical terms, for which he relied on previous adaptations by Roman authors like Cicero and Vitruvius, became the standard. Euclid (4 th century BC) was the first to reunite mathematical findings from the ancient world into a coherent, bi-dimensional system centred on simple axioms of plane geometry, based on angles and distance, from which further propositions (or theorems) could be deduced. His  Elements  began with the crucial definition of  point ,  that which has no part nor size  and which is only determined by two numbers defining its position in space the fundamental notion on which the Euclidean geometrical system is based. Archimedes (287-12BC) was a mathematician, inventor, astronomer and engineer from Syracuse. The  Opera non nulla  includes all his recorded writings, except for the treatise on floating bodies and that on the method of mechanical theorems, which was discovered later. This edition the sole Aldine of Archimedes s works illustrates superbly his theorems on the area of circles, parabolae, spirals, spheres and cones, concluding with the famous  De arenae numero , a calculation of the amount of sand grains needed to fill the universe. It is followed by Commandino s commentary on Archimedes s works, where geometrical diagrams are substituted by numerical calculations.\r \r Charles Bruce (1682-1747), Earl of Ailesbury, Viscount Bruce of Ampthill and Baron Bruce of Whorleton, was a keen book collector. A catalogue of his vast library, comprising over 8,000 volumes, at Tottenham in Wiltshire, was printed in 1733 the second earliest catalogue of an English private library ever published (Pollard \u0026amp; Ehrman, 274-75), this copy being n.17, p.83. The library was eventually sold at Sotheby s in 1919. His first-born, who died in 1738 before succeeding his father, is probably the Robert Bruce who signed the copy in 1729.","brand":"EUCLID. [with] ARCHIMEDES.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57820347171151,"sku":"K124","price":15000.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1016\/2425\/0703\/files\/DSC_9470.jpg?v=1781794810"},{"product_id":"hotman-francois-with-mynsinger-von-frundeck-joachim","title":"HOTMAN, François. [with] MYNSINGER von FRUNDECK, Joachim.","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn a solid, handsome pigskin binding. The centrepieces are signed G.K. (Georg d. ‚àö√ë. Kammerberger, EBDB w000435 and Haebler I 221-225).  The Kammerbergers were a family of bookbinders, whose workshops in Wittenberg were active during a large part of the C16 and throughout the C17 century. The company probably flourished under Georg Kammerberger the Younger in the 1590s, who was elected Master of the Guild in 1592  (Haebler). This binding is stamped with the finely cut arms of Christian I, Elector of Saxony, and those of Johann Georg, Elector of Brandenburg. Christian I married Sophie of Brandenburg, Johann Georg s daughter, in 1586; after her husband s death in 1591, she became Regent (Sophia Electrix) during the minority of their son, until 1600. Given that, during the Regency, her personal arms were used in escutcheons and medals, this binding was probably produced for her library in the preceding years, with the Saxon and Brandenburg arms identifying her status as wife and daughter. \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n Two important commentaries to Justinian s  Institutiones  a cornerstone of the Western legal system. Justinian I (482-565) ruled for forty years over the Byzantine empire and succeeded in temporarily rekindling the former splendour of Rome by reclaiming Italy, Dalmatia and Spain from the Ostrogoths and Visigoths.  Institutiones  is part of his  Corpus iuris civilis , the first codification of Roman law. Based on the  Institutiones  of Gaius, and other authorities, including Ulpian, it is a compendium of the basic institutions of Roman law devised by Theophilus and Dorotheus, two Byzantine law professors, under the supervision of Tribonian. François Hotman (1524-90) was a French Protestant lawyer associated with the anti-absolutist faction. In his revolutionary  Anti-Tribonian , he advocated the substitution, in France, of Roman law based on Justinian, a change the king could have enforced with a legislative act. With a philological approach, he  favoured an alliance between law and history in order to distinguish between  old law  and  new law , that is, between obsolete law and authoritative law , being concerned with  salvaging what still had practical value  among Roman laws (Kelley,  François Hotman , 189). His  Commentarius , also featuring a life of Justinian, sought to highlight Roman laws still relevant to the present, distinguishing originals and interpolations by later jurists, including the berated Tribonian. Joachim Mynsinger von Frundeck (1514-88) was a German jurist and writer, a judge at the Imperial Chamber of Justice in Speyer and later Vice-Chancellor of Helmstedt University. He was the first to publish documents of the so-called  cameralistic jurisprudence , the decisions of the Imperial Chamber based on confidential consultation. Here in a scarce German edition,  Apotelesma  was organised  in the form of  glossae  or annotations to single passages in the text, accompanied by brief comments. (Padoa-Schioppa,  History , 269). Subjects include the laws relating to agriculture, wills, evidence, landed property and inheritance.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"HOTMAN, François. [with] MYNSINGER von FRUNDECK, Joachim.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57820348350799,"sku":"L3403","price":5950.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1016\/2425\/0703\/files\/DSC_8605.jpg?v=1781794804"},{"product_id":"ulrich-herzog-zu-mecklenburg","title":"ULRICH, HERZOG ZU MECKLENBURG","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe superb contemporary German binding, lavishly decorated with lacquer paint, is very unusual. The upper centre panel, with the Virgin and Child standing on a crescent, surmounted by a (ducal) crown held by angels, is so uncommon that EBDB lists no other instances. The closest contemporary models are the bindings of Paul Droscher (EBDB w004602) (fl.1589-1601), active in Wittenberg, Saxony, near Leipzig, where this edition was printed. Although our binding does not bear his initials, the influence of colour and design is apparent. Droscher s usually feature a centre (sunken) panel with a standing Luther or Melanchthon, cornerpieces with interlacing ribbons, and ropework borders all hand-coloured with bright, lacquer-like pigments; one sample (Sotheby s, 14 Jul 2020) bears on the spine very similar blind-tooled stars and fleurs-de-lys to ours.  \u003cbr\u003e\n \u003cbr\u003e\n   T  he Virgin s ducal crown suggests this was probably a presentation copy. Since the work was printed in Leipzig, it is plausible that a copy would have been sent to the local Duke (and Elector) of Saxony. In 1600, the Lutheran Sophie of Brandenburg was regent for her son. The unusual Marian centre panel was certainly suitable for a female dedicatee. A good candidate for the initials ( F√ºrstin von Brandenburg Herzogin zu Sachsen Cleve J√ºlich ?) in the 1682 ex-libris is Magdalene Sibylle of Brandenburg-Bayreuth (1612-87), Electrix of Saxony until 1680, though she preserved the title of duchess to her death in 1687. In the C19 the copy was in the library of Georg II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen; it may have descended through the extended family.   \u003cbr\u003e\n \u003cbr\u003e\n     A very good copy of the scarce second, revised edition of this lavishly decorated Catechism by Ulrich III, Duke of Mecklenburg-G√ºstrow (1527-1603). An educated Lutheran prince and skilled diplomat, he corresponded with scholars like Tycho Brahe and David Chytraeus; through his marriage into the House of Denmark, he was Charles I of England s great-grandfather. First published in 1594, the work was intended as a private instrument of prayer and meditation. It gathers together, through a collection of scriptural  sententiae , 24 key questions of Christian doctrine, including sin, death, damnation prepared by the devil, Judgment Day, the joy of eternal bliss, justification, the knowledge of divine truth, the invocation of the saints, and New Testament sacraments. In 1561, Ulrich had been among the staunch Protestants who left the Naumburg Diet in protest against revisions of the Lutheran Confessio Augustana, approved instead as a concession to Frederick, Elector of Saxony. This is mentioned in the letter to the reader. The early annotator of this copy was especially interested in Luther s theological stance, which Ulrich occasionally inserted within comparative discussions on a specific subject. E.g., he included Luther s view on Christian death, as  an entrance into eternal life , among those of authorities like Cyprian, Bernardus, Augustine and even Euripides!\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"ULRICH, HERZOG ZU MECKLENBURG","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57820353593679,"sku":"L3511","price":15000.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1016\/2425\/0703\/files\/Untitled-30_4e4727de-8d8d-49f3-a3fc-af641b197d75.jpg?v=1781793814"},{"product_id":"trippault-leon","title":"TRIPPAULT, L éon.","description":"\u003cp\u003eExceptionally rare first edition, and a fine copy, beautifully bound by Hardy, of this French Greek dictionary published in Orleans, relating to the etymology of French words derived from the Greek. Léon Trippault, sieur de Bardis, was a lawyer in Orléans and one of the first authors to contemplate the origin of the French language; he was convinced of the Greek origin of French and tried to prove it through a series of works including this dictionary in which he traces French words back to Greek. His thesis had its basis in the myth that France’s first kings came from Greece, or that France was named for Francion, a son of Hector, who escaped the sack of Troy. Henri Estienne similarly looked for Greek origins for the French language, assimilating the glory of Classical Athens with sixteenth-century France.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e“In the 16th century, the history of the French language served as primary evidence in the history of French institutions. The history of those institutions was itself crucial to the debate on the role of the monarchy, which in turn related to the Wars of Religion. French clearly had close affinity to Latin, and thus to Italian and Spanish. However, humanist admiration for Greek, Reform interest in Hebrew, and concurrent bursts of celtomania and xenophobia led to theories about the origin of the French language that resolutely pursued the implausible. The thesis that French had Greek origins was supported by a number of Classical and biblical sources (Léon Trippault provided a summary in an appendix to his Celt hellenisme, ou etymologic des mots francois tirez du graec. Plus. Preuves en general de la descente de nostre langue, 1580). Many historians of French claimed that the Gauls spoke Greek or some closely related language. In this way, native gallican interests could be allied with the most prestigious of the ancient languages (and opposed to Italian\/Latin). This linkage took on political significance in works, such as François Hotman’s Franco–gallia (1573), in which evidence from diachronic linguistics was adduced to provide an historical basis for elected, constitutional monarchy and customary law, as opposed to divine-right absolute monarchy and Roman law. At the same time, other scholars sought to establish links between Hebrew and French. Guillaume Postel .. provided a basis for this work, which received occasional mention in the works of Joachim Perion (Dialogorum de linguae Gallicœ origine, eiusque cum Grœca cognatione, libri quatuor, 1555) and Trippault, and culminated in Estienne Guichard’s L’harmonie étymologique … Such historical evidence was necessarily impressionistic, generally based on word-lists of fewer than 500 entries (Joachim Perion, Léon Trippault). The dangers of basing such conclusions on small lists of words led the more linguistically sophisticated Henri Estienne to argue not for a Greek origin of French, but rather closer affinity between constructions of modern French with ancient Greek (Traicté de la conformité du langage françois avec le grec, 1565).”  D.A. Kibbee. ‘Renaissance Linguistics: French Tradition.’\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eA fine copy of this beautifully printed, and very rare little dictionary.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"TRIPPAULT, L éon.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57859627319631,"sku":"L3399","price":8750.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1016\/2425\/0703\/files\/Untitled-17_7a7d4ac9-adf8-40c7-9bc3-6e92139a624f.jpg?v=1781793804"},{"product_id":"paracelsus","title":"PARACELSUS.","description":"\u003cp\u003e.This copy was in the library of Sigmund von Polheim (1531-98), Herr zu Polheim, Parz und Steinhaus, Austria. After studying at the court of Lorraine and elsewhere abroad, he married Potentiana von Hohenfeld and moved to Schloss Parz, in Grieskirchen. Inspired by his humanist scholarly education, he decorated the castle in a Renaissance style; in particular, the southern façade bears the largest cycle of frescoes ever produced in northern Europe. He promoted local schools and was a music lover.  \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n .A very good, clean copy of these scarce medical Paracelsiana. The Swiss Theophrastus von Hohenheim (1493\/4-1541) used the pseudonym Paracelsus for most of his successful career as an alchemist, philosopher and physician. He was very influential in the development of empirical observation and the use of chemistry (embracing toxicology) in medical practice, though associated with Hermetic and occult philosophies. After his death, many spurious alchemical texts were attributed to him for marketing purposes and printed individually or in collections, as here. Hence their complex bibliographical history and his increasing reputation as a magician. Of the three works in this collection, the first  Verantwortung  comprises seven defences of Paracelsus s theories. The sections on natural magic, cosmology and demonology drew from his magnus opus  Astronomia magna , only printed for the first time in 1571. Among other things, the work addresses his views on toxicology and chemistry (e.g., arsenic and quicksilver), and the  false art  of alchemists. The second  Labyrinthus Medicorum Errantium  focuses on the  mistakes  of physicians following the  old medicine , not the  book of nature , i.e., the knowledge of the chemical composition of basic natural elements, which Paracelsus strongly advocated. In particular, the section concerning why  a physician without the knowledge of alchemy cannot call himself a physician  explains his views on the workings and abuses of alchemy. Other discuss the importance of the  Liber experientiae , the only true medical book of any use, by which science and experience should proceed together through  experimentation , or the importance of natural magic as  teacher  to medicine. The third work  Von den Tartarischen Kranckheiten  is devoted to illnesses caused by the accumulation of  tartarus , a dry deposit formed of coagulated salt, as a result of the digestive process. In the form of grit or small stones, it could build up in the teeth, lungs, stomach or kidneys. The work discusses its nature, kinds, formation (in men and women), illnesses caused, body parts affected, and treatments. This study  epitomises and applies all that is essential in Paracelsus  reform of pathology.   embedded in [the] idea of tartar, one can find such notable protoscientific observations as the appreciation of acid as a potent factor in digestion and of albumen in urine as an important indicator of disease  (Pagel, 157). An attractive copy of this scarce medico-alchemical work.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PARACELSUS.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57859628990799,"sku":"L3400","price":6500.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1016\/2425\/0703\/files\/L3400-1.jpg?v=1781793799"},{"product_id":"ausonius-with-scaliger-joseph","title":"AUSONIUS. [with] SCALIGER, Joseph.","description":"\u003cp\u003e.The most attractive contemporary binding  ‚àö‚Ć fond d or  was probably produced in Lyon. It reprises the style of Henry Davis Gift, 106 (on a 1570 Lyonnaise Gryphius), and Belin Cat., 194. LVD. D.S.P. was probably Louis (c.1579-1654), last Marquis de Saint-Priest of the original line. Gentleman of the King s Chamber, he attended scholarly academies, was appointed royal diplomat, and resided in Saint-Priest castle near Lyon (Gauer, 17).  \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n .An exquisite pocket student book comprising the first Gryphe edition of Ausonius s complete works, edited by Joseph Scaliger (1540-1609), and the first edition of Scaliger s related commentary. Though bibliographies record them as a single work, Scaliger s commentary being mentioned in the first t-p, they intended to also be sold separately. Ausonius (c.310-95) was a renowned poet and rhetoric teacher in Burdigala (Bordeaux); among his pupils was the future Pauline, Bishop of Nola. He was also tutor to the son of Emperor Valentinian I, and converted to Christianity late in life. A perfect tool for a Renaissance schoolboy, this collection includes Latin epigrams, occasional poetry addressed to acquaintances (including contemporary rhetoric and grammar professors), four-verse poems on the Roman Emperors, ancient philosophers and cities in Gallia, idyllia, eclogues and epistles, with a final section of Greek epigrams on moral and mythological subject. Scaliger s major editorial contribution to the Ausonian corpus is epitomized in the  Lectiones . It is a detailed commentary with copious emendations to the received text published by Étienne Charpin in 1558, who updated the 1472 editio princeps on the basis of a new ms. recently rediscovered in Lyon. Whilst preparing his edition, Scaliger, then in France, corresponded with Élie Vinet, author of a 1551 edition. They had access to the ms., owned by the humanist Jacques Cujas, and reassessed several of Charpin s editorial choices.  Both Vinet and Scaliger are rightly regarded by modern editors as major contributors to the text of Ausonius; between them they provide some 300 useful emendations  (Green, 357-8). A lovely copy.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"AUSONIUS. [with] SCALIGER, Joseph.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57859629318479,"sku":"L3554","price":3500.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1016\/2425\/0703\/files\/DSC_9132.jpg?v=1781793797"},{"product_id":"aristophanes-3","title":"ARISTOPHANES.","description":"\u003cp\u003e.First edition in Italian of this important collection of eleven of Aristophanes  comedic plays by Italian translators Pietro Rosettini and Bartolomeo Rositini (both C16th c.). Andreas Divus was the first to circulate Latin translations of Aristophanes  plays in 1528, and their success lead to several translations and adaptations into modern languages. These influenced Renaissance and post-Renaissance literature, inspiring figures like Racine and Goethe to compose based on popular texts like The Wasps and The Birds.  \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n .Aristophanes was the greatest of the Athenian comic dramatists. For richness and fertility of imagination probably only Shakespeare is comparable and Aristophanes  direct influence on English literature was considerable; the comedies of Jonson, Middleton and Fielding derive from him. Apart from constituting one of the surviving glories of Hellenic culture, Aristophanes  comedies are an invaluable source for its social history. His surviving plays   out of a probable forty or fifty   provide us with an accurate if satirical commentary on the political, religious, sexual, economical and domestic life of Athens over a period of thirty six years. His changes in style and content match the concurrent constitutional and social changes in the State itself. The plays  themes are invariably contemporary; a mocking mirror to the condition of the city. \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n .This copy was in the 1775 sale of the collection of Dr Anthony Askew (1722-1772), who had attempted  to secure a complete series of all the Greek classics ever published  (De Ricci p. 52), and in 1792 in the sale of the collection of Denis Daly (1748-1791), Irish landowner and politician.   \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n .Charles Williams-Wynn (1775-1850), was a British Tory politician from an illustrious Welsh family who was a Member of Parliament for Old Sarum and Montgomeryshire. Charles Meek (1885-1965) was a well-known anthropologist and colonial administrator. Robert J. Hayhurst (mid 20.th. c.) was the head of a successful group of pharmacies and a prolific book collector.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"ARISTOPHANES.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57859631513935,"sku":"L3172","price":3500.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1016\/2425\/0703\/files\/1-3_fdcf3743-ee9c-49ac-b50a-f2ae037759de.jpg?v=1781793793"},{"product_id":"case-john","title":"CASE, John.","description":"\u003cp\u003e.Handsomely bound and rare treatise by the Aristotelian writer and Englishman, John Case (d. 1600). Case was a chorister at New College and Christ Church Oxford before being awarded a scholarship at St John s in 1564. At university Case acquired a reputation as a disputant. The English antiquary Anthony Wood (1632-1695) stated he was  popishly affected  and  a man of an innocent, meek, religious and studious life. . He married Elizabeth Dobson, widow of John Dobson, the keeper of Bocardo Prison. Case obtained leave from Oxford in order to read logic and philosophy to young men, specifically Roman Catholics, in his house in the city. Over time it became a largely attended philosophical school as Case s reputation grew. Among his pupils was the controversialist Edward Weston (1566-1635). He wrote handbooks for his students which proved extremely popular. On top of his work in logic and dialectics he was an authority on music and a distinguished physician, becoming M.D. in 1589. His portrait resides in the Bodleian.  \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n .This work is a commentary on the pseudo-Aristotelian economics (the attribution of  Oeconomica  to Aristotle is spurious, ESTC). It is peppered with Case s neo-scholastic debate, which reframes the ancient text within its early modern British context. It is exceptional in its mention of the household, gender roles and romantic relationships, therefore providing many insights into marriage and the lives of women during this period. An anti-Machiavellian narrative characterises Case s writing, and his opinions on women can be labelled as feminist.  [With] its sophisticated views on the role of imagination and representation in marriage, its forceful insistence on marriage as a concord based on virtue and consent, and its consistent picture of wedlock as a corporate rather than an individualistic institution, the Thesaurus Oeconomiae is in both intellectual and emotional terms the most complex analysis of marriage that any early modern English writer produced.  (Knapp, Robert S.  Is it appropriate for a man to fear his wife? : John Case on Marriage.  English Literary Renaissance Vol. 28, No. 3, Studies in Gender Relations, 1998).\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"CASE, John.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57859633021263,"sku":"L3639","price":5950.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1016\/2425\/0703\/files\/1-7_2fd62064-d3b9-42ad-a2d4-740c1b16097c.jpg?v=1781793789"},{"product_id":"gerolamo-cardano","title":"GEROLAMO CARDANO","description":"\u003cp\u003eTwo influential works by the Italian polymath Gerolamo Cardano (1501-1576) in a beautifully decorated contemporary binding by the German bookbinder  Meister des Kolumbaquartiers  (Schunke 1937, 336; Einbanddatenbank 129874b), based in .Cologne.  \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n Expert in mathematics, biology, physics, astronomy, astrology and author of more than 200 works on medicine, Cardano is today most known for introducing the use of negative numbers in Europe for the first time (Ars Magna, 1545). The first edition of De Astrorum Iudicii represents one of his most controversial works on astronomy and astrology. Structured as a four-part commentary on the Tetrabiblos (in Latin translation) by the Greek philosopher and mathematician Ptolemy (100-170 AD), the book presents a series of astrological techniques aimed at demonstrating that all the main events in people s lives can be attributed to the stars. In addition, the brief related volume  Geniturarum Exempla  contains twelve horoscope examples illustrated with attractive diagrams and symbols, among them the horoscope of King Edward VI and of the Archbishop John Hamilton of St. Andrews (Genitura I and II). To these eminent personalities, Cardano predicts a bright future; however, it appears that the latter was hanged by the reformers, while the former died of tuberculosis not long after the publication of this work. The author goes as far as casting the horoscope of Christ: accused of heresy by the Inquisition for these pages, Cardano was imprisoned in 1570.  \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n De Subtilitate Libri XXI is widely considered Cardano s masterpiece and, due to its enormous success, it continued to be reprinted long after the author s death. It is an encyclopaedia of natural science and metaphysics, divided into twenty-one books which respectively deal with: 1) matter and its natural motion, 2) the elements, 3) the sky, 4) light, 5) mixtures and compounds, 6) metals, 7) stones, 8) plants, 9-10) animals, 11-12) humans, their appearance and temperament, 13) the senses, 14) soul and intellect, 15)  de incerti generis aut inutilibus subtilitatibus , 16) Sciences, 17) Arts, 18) Miracles, 19) Demons, 20) Angels, 21) God and the universe. This edition constitutes Cardano s update to the first of 1550, and it accounts for more recent geographical discoveries and philosophical discourses. Among the detailed woodcut illustrations, the ones representing machines are perhaps the most fascinating: these include a suction pump, .the .Archimedean screw, a hoist, and many others. In the pages discussing engineering, Cardano also informs us that Leonardo da Vinci tried to fly, but he failed. In the section regarding the sky (Liber III) the author describes the stars observed by Amerigo Vespucci during his third voyage to the Indies.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"GEROLAMO CARDANO","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57859633807695,"sku":"L3648","price":17500.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1016\/2425\/0703\/files\/L3648-1.jpg?v=1781793787"},{"product_id":"missal-4","title":"MISSAL","description":"\u003cp\u003eAn exceptional, sumptuously bound and handsomely decorated copy of a Clementine Missal printed in Rome in 1609, containing all instructions, chants, prayers and readings necessary for the celebration of the Mass promulgated by Pope Pius V after the Council of Trent and revised, not very successfully, by Pope Clement VIII. \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n The superb binding, in red velvet with applied silver plates on all sides, is a work of great elegance and expertise in the Roman baroque style. Bindings embellished with precious metals were typically produced for Liturgical texts, and this tradition dates back to the Middle ages. Red velvet became popular during the 16th and 17th centuries, and it was combined with silver due to the attractive contrast between the colours and textures of the materials. In Italy, this type of binding decoration appears more frequently on Missals compared to other liturgical texts, and it is common especially during the 17th and 18th centuries. \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n Similar luxury bindings were usually commissioned by members of the private √®lite, churches and senior clergy; often, they were used on presentation copies for princes of the state or church. The lower cover bears the portrait of a pope: this remarkable and quite rare feature   images of saints and of the virgin Mary are more standard centrepieces in this type of binding   indicates that this work might have been commissioned by or gifted to a Pope, or realised in his memory. A C20 German bookseller note on the front pastedown identifies the portrait with that of Paul V, pope when this edition was printed. Although this is a possibility, the image   which depicts a shaved man, with prominent cheekbones, a narrow mouth and a nimbus around his head   does not resemble the typical iconography of Paul V, who is always represented wearing a beard and was never beatified. Moreover, if this binding was contemporary with the book s publication, it would represent a rather early example for its style. We have not been able to identify this pope with certainty, but another possible suggestion   on the basis of the iconography   is Benedict XIII, pope between 1724 and 1730. The process for his beatification was opened for the first time in 1755, and a date around this period for the binding is possible according to the style of the decoration. \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n The slightly worn bookmarks, finger marks and wax stains indicate that this book has been actively used during the mass. Interestingly, although heavy and richly decorated altar missals such as this one were usually destined to remain in the same church or monastery, the final additions in this copy suggest that it had travelled from Rome to northern Italy   perhaps with its owner. These final pages, i.e. from (xx) onwards, were attached to the Missal in a later date and include lists of additional local festivities printed in Asti in 1744, Turin in 1793, Alessandria during first half of the 19th century (Piemonte) and Milan in 1793 (Lombardy). \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n Three of the nine splendid plates depicting the major feasts   Crucifixion, Ascension and Pentecoste   are signed by Philippe Thomassin (1562-1622). A French publisher and engraver emigrated to Rome, he often engraved plates after the works of famous painters including Raphael and Parmigianino.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"MISSAL","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57859635544399,"sku":"L3615","price":9750.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1016\/2425\/0703\/files\/1-4_b32533f4-4679-4297-8ce1-f43404143dab.jpg?v=1781793778"},{"product_id":"savonarola-girolamo-2","title":"SAVONAROLA, Girolamo.","description":"\u003cp\u003eMost handsomely bound and of impeccable provenance, by the Italian preacher and friar Girolamo Savonarola (1452-1498) and edited by the German jurist and publicist Christopher Besoldus (1577-1638). Savonarola was active in Renaissance Florence and was known for his religious prophecies and abhorrence of secular arts and culture. His works called for the Christian faith to be revered with renewed respect and intensified practice, the present volume being no exception. Savonarola called for reform in light of the corruption of the Roman Church and papacy, and commanded his followers to return to Christian doctrine and live a simple, puritanical life away from the excesses of Rome. He claims prophetic gifts, and experienced visions of biblical floods, a  new Cyrus  that would invade Italy from the north, and predicted Florence would become a New Jerusalem, if people would adhere to his teachings. Having risen to the upper ranks of Florentine life to become its virtual ruler, he fell from grace due to his extreme views and incensement of the mob and was eventually tried and condemned to death. \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n Christopher Besoldus was a prolific publisher, with over 100 scholarly writings known today. He knew 9 languages including Latin and Hebrew and, though born Protestant, publicly converted to Catholicism in 1635. His publications are seen as one of the significant causes of the Thirty Years  War; he wrote on topics ranging from federalism, public finance and the dependency of the W√ºrttemberg monasteries on the Empire. \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n Jacques-Auguste de Thou (1553-1617) was one of the most important book collectors of his time, his library amassing over eight thousand volumes. The arms on the cover of the present work are from his marriage to Gasparde de la Ch‚àö¬¢tre (1577-1616), his second wife and mother to six of his children. This work can be traced from his library where it passed to the Abbot Jacques-Auguste de Thou who sold it at auction in 1679. It was bought by the Marquis de M énars and resold in 1706 to Cardinal Armand-Gaston de Rohan. Following his death it was inherited by his nephew Charles de Rohan (1715-1787), Prince of Soubise, ally of Louis XV. His library was auctioned in 1788-89 after his death. The bookplate on the pastedown is of Charles Maurice de Pourtal√®s (d. 1951).\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"SAVONAROLA, Girolamo.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57859637608783,"sku":"L3714","price":3250.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1016\/2425\/0703\/files\/L3714-4.jpg?v=1781793777"},{"product_id":"rogers-samuel-6","title":"ROGERS, Samuel.","description":"\u003cp\u003eMagnificent first illustrated edition of the banker-cum-poet Samuel Roger s popular poem. This work contains the first illustrations J.M.W. Turner executed for a work of literature, altogether forming a most attractive volume of early Victorian craftsmanship. Rogers was of considerable means, in part thanks to his banking enterprises and his father s death which left him a handsome income. Because of this, he was able to perfect his passion for poetry in relative leisure. He was part of an important circle of Victorian artists and writers including Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Opie, Ruskin, Tennyson and Adam Smith, among others. Having established himself in London, Rogers travelled to the Continent in 1814 and kept a diary of his experiences. He returned again seven years later, and out of these inspiring trips emerged his longest and most important work, Italy. It was published in stages; the first part, without illustrations in 1821-22, then revised and expanded in 1823 and 1824. The second part was published in 1828, and finally Rogers commissioned this intensely revised, grand and sumptuously illustrated edition in 1830. It was this edition that made the work a commercial success. \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n The work is in the form of chaptered poems within which his wondrous impressions of the countryside of Italy are wrought in charming verse. Lake Como, Venice, the Alps, Naples, Florence and Rome are discussed and exalted through poetic musings. Corresponding with each section are either headpiece beautiful landscapes by Turner or tailpieces by Stothard which depict figural episodes. The steel engravings were executed by the brothers Thomas and John Bewick using the latest Victorian technology. Roger s presided over each vignette, commanding small adjustments and insisting on them being completed in his favoured style, the Neoclassical. This luxurious creation created a new standard for illustrated books and was an enormous success, selling 50,000 copies by 1847. The work had a profound effect on John Ruskin, who received the 1830 edition for his 13th birthday. \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n The blind stamp to the fep indicates the address of the Scottish naturalist and archaeologist, James Ritchie (1882-1958). Ritchie was Professor of Natural History at the University of Edinburgh as well as President of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n Turner's \"delicate and graceful vignettes, which are miracles of fine detail, seem fairly to float upon the page\"   Ray 13.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"ROGERS, Samuel.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57859638526287,"sku":"X76","price":2750.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1016\/2425\/0703\/files\/1-10.jpg?v=1781793777"},{"product_id":"augustine-of-hippo-1","title":"AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO.","description":"\u003cp\u003eA rare and splendidly bound copy of this collection of sermons by St. Augustine. This particular edition is the result of a collaboration between two German pioneers of early printing. Heinrich Gran is one of the first printers in Alsace, who established the first printing house in Hagenau. The majority of the works he produced during the first three decades of the XVI century are theological, and the present volume is a remarkable example. During this period, the publisher Johann Rynmann of Augsburg was one of his major clients, financing 174 out of 213 works released by the press. Considered to be the first non-printing publisher in history, Rynmann used to commission the production of books by others, to focus on their distribution. The handsomely decorated binding has been realised by an unidentified German bookbinder. The blind tooled motifs depicting Holy Roman Emperors, religious scenes and muses were quite popular during the XVI century in Germany, and very similar examples were in use in Munich, not far from Augsburg where Rynmann was based (see for example: Muses EBDB 132934m; religious roll 132577m).  \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n Augustine of Hippo, commonly known as St. Augustine, is one of the most important Church Fathers of the Patristic period and among the most prolific Latin authors. His major writings   especially De Civitate Dei and Confessiones   are milestones of Western thought which had a fundamental influence on the subsequent development of the theological and philosophical disciplines. There exist between 400 and 500 sermons by Augustine, most of which were taken down by scribes as he preached so that written copies could be available to those who could not attend. Faithful to what Augustine actually said, the sermons reveal Augustine s use of the so called  sermo humilis  ( humble speech ), that is a new and simplified style of language that could make the complex content of the Scriptures accessible to common people. Conversely to the scholarly style of his major works, the sermons allow us to appreciate the playfulness in Augustine s choice of Latin puns. This edition, in addition to the sermons, also includes two exegetical works: In epistolam canonicam beati Ioannis  and  In evangelium Ioannis . \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n  Ioannis Modrevius  is probably the Polish  Jan Modrzewski . Unfortunately, it has been impossible to identify him with certainty. Interestingly, however, he shares the surname of the important Polish Renaissance scholar, humanist and theologian Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski (1503-1572). Considered the  father of Polish democracy , Modrzewski graduated in Krakow and then completed his studies of theology in Germany, where he met the reformers Martin Luther and Philip Melanchton. He travelled to France (where this book was printed) and Switzerland. Abroad, following the orders of his protector and reformer Jan _aski (1499-1560), he bought the library of Erasmus and transported it to Poland.  \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n A beautiful and rare copy, only two examples are recorded at auction in the last 50 years.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57859638624591,"sku":"L3630","price":4250.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1016\/2425\/0703\/files\/1-6_5d14ea24-c4c1-4c56-bb74-75c42dc2be86.jpg?v=1781793776"},{"product_id":"alamanni-luigi","title":"ALAMANNI, Luigi.","description":"\u003cp\u003eA beautifully bound copy in top quality morocco of this finely printed edition of Alamanni s didactic poem on agriculture. An Italian statesman and poet, Luigi Alamanni (1495-1556) studied philosophy in Florence and attended gatherings at the Orti Oricellari, a famous meeting place for the Florentine social and intellectual  élite and an anti-Medicean circle. Here, he became friends with Machiavelli. In 1522, after participating in an unsuccessful conspiracy against Giulio de' Medici (afterwards Pope Clement VII), he fled to France and became one of the leading poets at the court of King Francis I. \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n  La Coltivazione  is Alemanni s most celebrated and famous work, dedicated to King Francis I and first published in Paris by Robert Estienne in 1546. Drawing inspiration from Vergil s Georgics, Rucellai s  Api  (= bees) and Columella s Latin works on agronomy, in this didactic poem Alemanni describes everything concerning cultivation and rustic life. The work is divided into six books and elegantly written in  versi sciolti , namely hendecasyllables without rhyme.  This poem has preserved a considerable reputation, from the great purity and elegance of the style, as well as from the methodical arrangement and the sagacity of its agricultural precepts  (Simonde de Sismondi). \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n The fine red morocco binding is similar in style to the bindings made by the Derome le Jeune (1731-1788, see Bibliotheca Bibliographica Breslaueriana n. 17) and Louis Doceur (d. 1769; see  Louis Doceur 1746  on Cyclopaedia.org). Two exceptionally skilful craftsmen, they are among the most celebrated eighteen century French binders: their richly gilt and decorated bindings were sought after and expensive. The inner dentelle motif and the small dot tool with a cross appear almost identical to a binding signed by Antoine Durand (active c. 1765, see  Antoine Durand 1769  on Cyclopaedia.org for a similar binding sold at Christies in 2004). The design of the compartments on the spine is also very similar. Master bookbinder from 1765, Durand married the daughter of the king s bookbinder, Guillaume Mercier.  Durand was named official binder of the Royal Library as well as binder for the city of Paris, he went on to become the binder of the comte de Artois and the duc d'Angoul‚àö‚Ñ¢me  . This signifies that he was a busy and successful binder who also moved in Royal circles  (Cyclopaedia.org). \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n This copy is from the library of the engraver and printer Wilfred Merton (1888-1957), who was also an avid book and manuscript collector specialising in rare Oriental printing and papyri.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"ALAMANNI, Luigi.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57859638690127,"sku":"L831","price":3500.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1016\/2425\/0703\/files\/DSC_9167.jpg?v=1781793774"},{"product_id":"luther-martin-4","title":"LUTHER, Martin.","description":"\u003cp\u003eHandsome copy of the second edition of this collection of Luther s writings, in a beautiful contemporary German binding. The elegant blind tooled palmettes and this religious roll depicting figures of the Old Testament were both popular decorative motifs in the mid. 16th century (see EBDB 128997b and 100083n), and often used combined. Interestingly, similar examples appear on the binding of another volume of Luther works, produced in Leipzig by Thomas Stelbogen (Henry Davis Gift 335). The upper cover bears the ownership stamp of Frau Margarethe von Hassenstein (c. 1514-1555), from the house of the Burgraves of Meissen (Saxony). Born Magarethe von Plauen, she married the Bohemian politician Bohuslav Felix von Hassenstein and Lobkowitz (1517-1583). An educated woman and assiduous Lutheran, her name appears frequently in the writings of Johannes Mathesius (1504-1565). Mathesius was a German minister and Lutheran reformer who had the privilege to assist, as a guest in Luther s home, to a series of his discourses, which he then published in the famous work  Table talk . \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n A professor of theology and monk, Luther (1483-1546) is the initiator of the protestant Reformation. This collection contains a multitude of his writings, the majority of them being sermons. Among the most noteworthy, is Luther s famous commentary on chapters 5, 6 and 7 of the Gospel of Matthew: in his discussion, he strongly criticised the Catholic view and wrote: \"there have fallen upon this [fifth] chapter the vulgar hogs and asses, jurists and sophists, the right hand of the pope and his Mamelukes.\" Another interesting chapter is concerned with the text of the  Donation of Constantine    the Roman imperial decree by which Constantine the Great supposedly entitled the pope extensive temporal privileges   translated and commented on by Luther. Although this Latin document was declared a fake by Lorenzo Valla in 1440, the Church continued to defend its authenticity for centuries. After reading Valla s treatise in 1520, Luther frequently mentioned this as an example to condemn the corruption and greed of the Catholic Church. \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n This volume includes an important preface by the theologian Philip Melanchthon (1497-1560). A friend and collaborator of Luther, he wrote a fundamental systematic theology based on the reformer s ideas. The editor, Georg R√∂rer (1492-1557), is one of Luther s most reliable reporters. The volume also features the remarkable contributions of Caspar Creuziger (1504-1548), a humanist and professor of theology at the University of Wittenberg who wrote an important biography of Luther and assisted him in revising the German Bible.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"LUTHER, Martin.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57859638919503,"sku":"L3566","price":2750.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1016\/2425\/0703\/files\/DSC_8950.jpg?v=1781793773"},{"product_id":"albertus-magnus-1","title":"ALBERTUS MAGNUS.","description":"\u003cp\u003eA good copy of this fascinating treatise on animals, printed in Venice by the heirs of the distinguished Octavianus Scotus, in a beautiful English contemporary, probably London, binding. The two ornamental rolls appear not to have been identified by Oldham. \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n A German Dominican friar, bishop and philosopher, Albertus Magnus (c. 1200-1280) is regarded as the most learned and prolific scholar of the Middle Ages, the only one to whom the epithet  Magnus  ( The great ) was applied. Known by his contemporaries as the  Doctor universalis , he was later beatified and proclaimed Doctor of the Church. Albertus was active in almost all departments of learning, and the influence of his writings and commentaries on theology, logic, metaphysics, psychology, and the natural sciences was immense.  He combined elements of Aristotelism, Neo-Platonism, Christian theology and Muslim and Jewish philosophy, which he formed into one great system; but his chief aim as a philosopher remained the reconciliation of Aristotelianism with Christian teaching.   Thomas Aquinas attended his lectures, and Dante placed both master and pupil among the  Spiriti Sapienti  in the heaven of the sun  (PMM 17). \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n This remarkable work on zoology in 26 books is Albert s longest commentary on Aristotle s natural treatises, which also integrates material from Thomas of Cantimpr é s encyclopedic  On the Nature of Things  and Albert s own studies on animals. Albert began to observe the habits of animals during childhood, and, in contrast to the long-established tradition of bestiaries in which creatures were described in an allegorical way, in his  De animalibus  he presents the behaviours and physiognomy of animals on the basis of empirical observation. The first 19 books recount the contents of Aristotle's  Historia animalium ,  De partibus animalium  and  De generatione animalium , dealing with the anatomy and physiology of different animals compared to humans, their reproduction and life cycle, and the procedures to be followed when studying them. Books XX-XXI contain Albertus  synthesis of the previous. Finally, books XXII-XXVI constitute a dictionary of animals, in which separate sections are dedicated to quadrupeds, acquatic animals, serpents and  vermins , listed in alphabetical order and individually described. In all, there are 477 species in this encyclopaedia. Remarkably, Albert is the first naturalists to describe the garden dormouse, the marten, the weasel and the rat. He recognised three types of European squirrel before the concept of subspecies was introduced into biology, and he is also the first writer to portray whales in realistic terms. Although this is not a medical text, a wide range of therapeutic data is also included, particularly in relation to the diseases of horses and falcons, which Albertus knew very well from his personal experience.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"ALBERTUS MAGNUS.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57859639607631,"sku":"L3628","price":6500.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1016\/2425\/0703\/files\/1-3_70d4c663-c82c-4781-bd09-4e000a4036cc.jpg?v=1781793772"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1016\/2425\/0703\/collections\/Screenshot_2026-06-13_at_6.00.52_PM.png?v=1781370076","url":"https:\/\/www.sokol.co.uk\/collections\/fine-bindings.oembed","provider":"Sokol Books Ltd","version":"1.0","type":"link"}