A General Dictionary Historical and Critical

London: James Bettenham for G. Strahan, 1734-1738

"Bayle's Dictionary is a very useful work for those to consult who love the biographical part of literature, which is what I love most" – Samuel Johnson

"He sets forth things with such an odious accuraqcy, and puts the arguments for both sides before us with such shocking impartiality and is so intolerably intelligible that he puts even thoise of the most meagre understanding in a position to judge and even to doubt what is told them." –Voltaire

The second Edition. 10 volumes. Folio. Later 1/4 morocco over cloth. Bookplates. Library blind stamps to titles.

$1,500

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De Sesteritiis sev Subsecivorum Pecunia veteris Graecae & Romanae

FIRST EDITION. A key work on the monetary systems of ancient Greece and Rome. "Gronovius entered the University of Leiden in 1634 and completed his academic studies at Groningen. Upon matriculation he travelled throughout Italy, France, and England. During this period, he undertook extensive manuscript research which supplied him with abundant material for later editions of the Latin classics. While at Leiden he had studied with luminaries such as Daniel Heinsius, Vossius, and Grotius. Like many of his contemporaries, Gronovius had a preference for first-century Latin prose, and his editions of Livy, both Senecas, Tacitus, and Gellius met with much acclaim" (The Berlin Collection: Being a History and Exhibition of the Books and Manuscripts Purchased in Berlin in 1891 for the University of Chicago, 1979). 12mo. Bound in contemporary full polished calf, ruled in black on boards and spine, contemporary paper spine label. Title printed in red and black, woodcut printer's device on title; the text with some passages printed in Greek letter. A clean copy with only very minor occasional spotting and a few dampstains.

$500

Geschichte der Kunst des Alterthums

FIRST EDITION. "With the publication of his masterpiece, the 'History of the Art of the Ancients', his fame had become widespread. This was indeed the first work in the German language to achieve universal acclaim. Winckelmann had drawn attention for the first time to the importance of Greek ideals for the modern world, and, with his unique acquaintance with the surviving examples of classical art, amplified by wide and specialized reading, his authority was unquestioned" (PMM). “Winckelmann’s History had a remarkable impact for a scholarly antiquarian publication. It presented a comprehensive synthesis of available knowledge about the visual artefacts of the ancient world... Four main sculptural traditions were discussed in detail – the ancient Egyptian, Etruscan, Greek and Roman. What particularly caught the imagination of Winckelmann’s contemporaries, however, and still assures the book a place among the classics of art history, is what Winckelmann himself envisaged as its core, the eloquent and hugely ambitious attempt to redefine the history and aesthetics of the ancient Greek tradition. –Alex Potts, Flesh and the Ideal: Winckelmann and the Origins of the History“[Winckelmann’s] magnum opus is in a class apart, for it completely revolutionized the study of art by treating it organically (Winckelmann was the first to do so) as part of the growth of the human race” –E.M. Butler Quarto. Beautifully bound in recent full sprinkled calf, elaborate gilt tooling to boards, elaborately gilt spine in 6 compartments. Title skillfully mounted, occasional toning and scattered foxing throughout. [With:] Anmerkungen ber die Geschichte der Kunst des Alterthums. Dresden: Waltherische Hof-Buchhandlung, 1764 and 1767. 2 works in 4 volumes bound in one. (The text of Anmerkungen ber die Geschichte der Kunst des Alterthums is quite toned, much more so than the primary volume.)

$4,500

Osservazioni Istoriche Sopra Alcuni Medaglioni Antichi

FIRST EDITION.“Buonarroti, the great-nephew of Michaelangelo the Younger who was himself the great-nephew of the artist, was born in 1661 and at the age of twenty left his native Florence to go to Rome, where he spent the next eighteen years or so devoting himself largely to antiquarian studies. He filled notebook after notebook with sketches, some rapid and some very careful, of coins, medals and other small objects, and he quickly earned the reputation of being one of the greatest antiquarians of his day... Through his membership of Queen Christina’s circle and later of the Arcadian Academy, he met many of the leading figures of the intellectual community and became closely involved in some of the most important scholarly enterprises of the time... In 1698 Buonarroti published his first book, which was devoted to medals belong to Cardinal Capegna, his principal patron... As might be expected from an author coming from such a cultivated background... he shows a greater feeling for quality than was usual among numismatists.” —Francis Haskell, History and its images: Art and the Interpretation of the past. Quarto. Early vellum. Engraved title vignette and additional title, 33 engraved plates, 3 folding, numerous engravings in text, wood-engraved initials. Wear with loss at spine head; generally clean throughout. A very attractive volume.

$1,200

The Picturegoers

FIRST EDITION of Lodge's first novel. “it is a fine beginning, a serious book on serious themes, and impressive work for a writer who was only twenty-five when it was published and some years younger when he wrote it” (Merritt Moseley and Dale Salwak, David Lodge: How Far Can You Go?) Octavo, original cloth, original dust jacket. Book fine, dust jacket with fading to spine and mild soiling to rear panel.

$500

Nikolai Gogol

FIRST EDITION, FIRST ISSUE, INSCRIBED BY NABOKOV TO HIS WIFE, VERA. The inscription translates as "My beloved, here's a little book for you, my life, here's another little book for you, my love, there will be more little books". With small notations highlighting text throughout. Nikolai Gogol is one of Nabokov's earliest works in English. 12mo. Original cloth, first issue dust jacket. A fine copy.

Price On Request

As a Strong Bird on Pinions Free, and Other Poems

FIRST EDITION, SIGNED BY WHITMAN. “As a Strong Bird on Pinions Free”, before becoming the final addition to the final edition of Leaves of Grass, was published independently by Whitman in 1872, twenty years before the poet’s death. The title poem was written as a commencement for Dartmouth College as one of the few pieces Whitman recited publicly. With large Whitman signature across title page. Octavo, original dark green cloth; custom half-morocco box. Minor discoloration to pastedowns. a little fraying to spine ends and corners.

$7,500

On the Road

FIRST EDITION of the defining work of the Beat generation. ADVANCE COPY, with extremely rare additional printed white dust jacket announcing the publication over regular dust jacket: "This is a copy of the first edition of ON THE ROAD by Jack Kerouac. It will be published in September 1957 by The Viking Press and is certain to cause violently conflicting reactions among readers and critics. We believe that readers will find truth in the book; to some this truth may be beautiful, to others it may be ugly, but no one can fail to be impressed by what this books says and the way it says it." Octavo, original cloth, original dust jacket together with review copy white dust jacket; custom cloth box. Book fine, extremely vibrant original dust jacket with light edgewear including closed tear at top right corner of front panel. Exceedingly rare advance jacket with toning to spine, some soiling, and matching closed tear at top right corner.

$35,000

Call it Sleep

BEAUTIFUL SIGNED LIMITED EDITION from the Arion Press. One of 300 numbered copies (out of a total edition of 326), signed by Roth. Illustrated with 48 photographs of New York City in the period of the novel. At the time it was written, "Few publishers expressed interest in Call It Sleep because its moody undertones and true-to-life depictions of social and family conflicts were thought to be unmarketable to the nation's readers, who were struggling with the depression." It took decades until a critic wrote of it favorably enough to bring it to the public's attention again, when in 1964 Irving Howe published a review on the front page of the New York Times Book Review, making it a national bestseller. "For its combination of realistic detail, psychological symbolism, and modernist techniques, [Call It Sleep] marks an important transition in Jewish-American literature from the works of early immigrant writers such as Abraham Cahan and Anzia Yezierska to later modern voices such as Saul Bellow and Philip Roth" (American National Biography). San Francisco: Arion Press, 1995. Quarto, green half morocco, original decorated cloth, original decorated slipcase. A fine copy.

$750

Octopussy and The Living Daylights

"...And all this because of a man called Bond, Commander James Bond, who had turned up at ten thirty that morning in a taxi from Kingston."FIRST EDITION. Original cloth, first state dust jacket with the price intact on the front flap. Near fine copy in a very good or better example of the original dust jacket. A very desirable copy.

$375

Roma Sotteranea, or an account of the Roman Catacombs

"New Edition, Rewritten and Greatly Enlarged". Two volumes. Octavo. 23 chromolithographs, folding plan of the Cemmetary in pocket of rear board, numerous wood-cuts (1 folding); Woodburytype frontispice in volume II. Includes Northcote's EPITAPHS OF THE ROMAN CATACOMBS. A superb set: cloth clean, gilt bright, occasional trivial to extremities.

$650

The Works of the Learned Sr. Thomas Brown

FIRST EDITION. "Seventeenth-century readers approached Thomas Browne as an encyclopedic polymath with wide-ranging opinions of general interest in science and religion." –Claire Preston Reid Barbour, Sir Thomas Browne: The World Proposed Folio. Bound in full early calf, skillfully rebacked. Small repair at top margin of title, generally a sound, attractive copy.

$950

Some Famous Sailing Ships and their Builder, Donald McKay

FIRST EDITION. "McKay's skills as a shipbuilder were only exceeded by his chutzpah. He was the Stradivarius of clipper ships. McKay started the race to build ever bigger clippers and gave his ships such chauvinistic names as Sovereign of the Seas and Great Republic. In the first four years of the California gold rush, McKay's yards turned out 160 examples of what became known as "extreme clippers". His ships quickly dominated the trade to Hawaii, China, Australia, and the East Indies." –Richard F. Selcer, Civil War America, 1850-1875 Octavo. Deluxe original half morocco over marbled boards, marbled endpapers. With 10 color plates and 48 additional illustrations. Minor rubbing at corners. Neat contemporary inscription (frontispiece verso). Clean throughtout. An attractive volume.

$275

BAYLE, PIERRE