Histoire De l'Art Chez Les Anciens

The Hague: E. Van Harrevelt, 1766

FIRST EDITION IN FRENCH of this most important work in art history and criticism.

“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

Octavo.Two volumes bound as one. Recent crushed morocco, rebacked with the original spine laid down, marbled endpaper. Illustrated throughout. A handsome copy.

$1,000

offered by

An Essay on the Study of Literature

FIRST EDITION IN ENGLISH. Small octavo (12.5x18cm) Recent antique-style full marbled calf, blind tooled boards, 5 raised bands and 2 blind rules to spine, red Morocco label, modern endpapers. Significant repair to upper blank margin of title page, text generally clean with occasional spotting.

$1,500

Romanorum Imperatorum Effigies

1592 Edition of Cavalieri's Lives of the Roman Emperors, superbly illustrated with 157 engraved portraits (on 152 leaves). Octavo, bound in contemporary vellum. Engraved title within architectural border, crown at top, full-page engraved coat-of-arms of Cavalieri (browned), 157 portraits (on 152 leaves) by Cavalieri, printer's device on verso of final leaf. Early stamp to lower margin of frontispiece. Occasional light to moderate toning. An attractive copy in a lovely vellum binding.

$4,000

Personal Memoirs of P.H. Sheridan

FIRST EDITION. Octavo. Publisher's original cloth binding. Steel-engraved portrait frontispiece, plates and maps throughout, some of which are fold-out. A fine set.

$450

Aeschyli tragoediae VII

FIRST COMPLETE EDITION OF AESCHYLUS. With the editio princeps of the Agamemnon. “An excellent and beautiful edition... It is a much more valuable impression than either of its precursors.. what enhances the value of the edition is, that the Agamemnon is published in it, for the first time, complete.” -Dibdin, An introduction to the knowledge of rare and valuable editions of the Greek and Latin Classics Quarto. Early full tree-calf skillfully rebacked, spine in six compartments, red leather label. Gilt dentelles, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. Text generallly clean throughout; repaired tear to the lower portion of title page. A handsome copy of an important and distinguished edition.

$7,500

Oriental Assembly

FIRST EDITION of Lawrence's account of his journey on foot through northern Syria. Illustrated with 129 photographs taken by the author. Octavo. Original cloth, original brown paper dust jacket. First issue with page 16 mis-numbered. Fine in a superb dust jacket with only very minor occasional rubbing.

$500

Discours de la religion des anciens Romains

FIRST EDITION of Du Choul's superbly illustrated work on the religious customs, ceremonies and observances of the ancient Romans. Du Choul was one of the first antiquaries to give an interpretation of the images of medals, inscriptions, and bas-reliefs drawing on classical literary sources. “Du Choul ... literally [owned] his evidence, in the form of the coins that his book so lovingly reproduced. These bits of metal, whose exploitation for antiquarian purposes Du Choul was hereby pioneering, revealed to his proprietary gaze a rich religious life that he inevitably came to think of as his own... Du Choul’s interest in pagan survivals, then, reveals him as a true son of the Renaissance in his eagerness to reach across the centuries that separated him from his beloved Romans and to experience an intense feeling of cultural and even spiritual kinship with the classical age.”–David A. Lupher, Romans in a New World: Classical Models in Sixteenth-century Spanish America“It was Guillaume Du Choul... who would open in earnest the era of the study of Roman religion itself, in his Discours de la religion des anciens Romains... Du Choul’s work, which soon achieved notoriety ... made us of figurative sources. In particular, Du Choul analyzed coins, many of which had been brought to him by peasants working on his estates.” –Guy G. Strousma, A new science: the discovery of religion in the Age of Reason Lyon: Guillaume Rouille, 1556. Quarto. Half vellum over paper boards. Roman letter with Italic marginalia, illustrated with woodcut medallions by P. Eskrich in text. Very good overall, occasional light toning, a lovely copy.

$3,750

Het Gezantschap Der Neerlandtsche Oost-Indische Campagnie, aan den Grooten Tartarischen Cham, Den tegenwoordigen Keizer van China

FIRST EDITION.Lacking portrait and 2 folding views although that of Paolinxi was apparently never issued.Folio. Jan Nieuhoff (1618-1672) travelled in Brazil, the East Indies and China, and lost his life while on an expedition between Mozambique and Madagascar. His account of China is a famous book and was of enormous value in the dissemination of the knowledge of China throughout late 17th-century Europe. On the expedition Nieuhoff was accompanied by a number of scientists, whose studies of flora and fauna are illustrated in a series of delightful plates, alongside fine views of ports and towns.

$6,000

Sir Joshua Reynolds

FIRST EDITION, limited to 1110 copies. "Sir Walter Armstrong's large and richly illustrated work "Sir Joshua Reynolds (1900) treats the subject exhaustively, and contains a complete descriptive catalogue and directory of Reynolds's works – portraits and subject pictures – arranged in alphabetical order." – Estelle M. Hurll Folio. Cloth. Book. With 78 photogravures and 6 color lithographs. Original red cloth. Moderate soiling to cloth. Occasional minor foxing. A very appealing copy of this beautiful volume.

$250

Pompeiana. Topography, Edifices and Ornaments of Pompeii, the results of excavations since 1819

First expanded edition. The one volume edition of 1817-19 was written by John P. Gandy and illustrated by Gell. Excavations continued throughout the 1820s. The 1832 edition was written by Gell himself and covers the recent excavations. “Pompeiana, published in 1817-19 brought the first comprehensive account of the excavations to English-speaking readers... Numerous editions issued over the next six decades influenced popular culture through a skillful illumination of fact with lively pictorial images. The first edition is a topographical tour covering major public and domestic structures... while the revised sequel of 1832.. presents the results of recent exploration, in the course of which a number of spectacular residences and baths were uncovered. Bringing to light noteworthy examples of mythological paintings, excavations carried out during the 1820s opened a window into the living quarters of Romans whose libraries and walls were replete with the texts and images of classical mythology.” –Claire L. Lyons and Marica Reed, Antiquity Recovered: The Legacy of Pompeii and Herculaneum Imperial octavo. Two volumes. (17x26.5cm) Contemporary silken green cloth with gilt labels to spine. Complete with 87 full page plates. With an additional 30 vignettes tipped on india. Untrimmed. Minor foxing to preliminaries; an excellent set in an attractive early binding.

$950

Outlines from the Figures and Compositions upon the Greek, Roman and Etruscan Vases

1804 edition of Hamilton's celebrated Outlines from the Figures and Compositions upon the Greek, Roman and Etruscan Vases, illustrated with 62 engraved plates. Quarto. Half-title, 62 engraved plates by Kirk (uncoloured). Handsomely bound in quarter calf over vellum boards. Text and plates clean, small split at half-title (holding). Nice copy.

$950

Essai sur L'Étude de la Littérature

FIRST EDITION of Gibbon’s first published work (preceding the English edition by 3 years).“I was delighted by the copious extracts, the warm commendations, and the flattering predictions of the Journals of France and Holland: and the next year (1762) a new edition (I believe at Geneva) extended the fame, or at least the circulation, of the work. In England it was received with cold indifference, little read, and speedily forgotten...” –The Autobiography and Correspondence of Edward Gibbon Small octavo (11x17cm). Full contemporary calf skillfully rebacked. Some minor rubbing to extremities, front hinge repaired. Occasional foxing; a clean and very attractive copy of this scarce title.

$2,000

Antiquarum statuarum urbis Romae, primus et secundus liber

FIRST EDITION. An immensely important work in establishing the provenance of antique sculpture and an indispensable companion to the Grand Tour of Renaissance art lovers. Reprinted in many later editions. 100 copper engravings. True first edition. Quarto. (Printed before 1585: date was added to engraved title in 1585.) 17th Century mottled-calf binding, spine in 6 compartments with raised bands, gilt, morocco label. Engraved title and 100 plates detailing antique statues in 16th-century Roman collections. Binding scuffed at extremities; spine ends worn with some loss; evidence of stamp removal (title); generally clean throughout. An attractive copy.