Epistolas Ouidii: Cum commentariis Ubertini: Et epistolas Sabini poetae singularis: Ac epistolam Sapphos: Cum Domitio: Et opusculu[m] in Ibin: Cum [c]omentario eiusdem Domitii: singulaperoptime castigata lector candidissime bic inuenies.
Ovid

Quarto. (94)ff. This edition is based on the version published by Caligola Bazalieri's brother, Bazaliero Bazalieri, in July 1491. The text is Ovid's Heroides, a collection of imaginary letters written from ancient mythological heroines to the lovers who abandoned or mistreated them, including Penelope, Dido, Ariadne, Phaedra, Medea, and Sappho. Printed in Roman type, with wood-engraved initials. Caligola Bazalieri began his career as a printer by working at his brother's Press, and he printed his own title in 1492. It is rare to come across any of Caligola Bazalieri's editions: seventeen of the forty-two books that he published are known only as single copies or are "ghost" volumes, only known through bibliographies. This edition of the Heroides is unknown to all bibliographies and unrecorded in any institution. Bound in eighteenth-century red half morocco by Carlo Zehe. Spine in six compartments, gilt-titled in one, and with gilt floral decorations in the other five compartments. Some small spots of biopredation to spine, and minor dampstaining, else fine. Some contemporary notes and corrections written in the margins. From the library of Giacomo Filippo Durazzo, a Genoese nobleman.

Catalogue of the John Boyd Thacher Collection of Incunabula.
Ashley, Frederick W.

Quarto. 329pp. In the original binding of quarter brown leather over tan cloth boards. A nice copy that is worn, with some loss at head of spine, bumped at corners, and soiled. Unopened.

The Spider and the Flie, with an original leaf from the edition of 1556.
Heywood, John

12mo. (9)pp. One of fifty-five copies. Tipped in after the title page, the leaf features a large woodcut of John Heywood at his desk. On the window behind him, several spiders observe a fly trapped in a web. On the verso of the page are three verses above a woodcut ornament. This leaf book was printed as a Christmas keepsake for David Magee, who provided context for the leaf in the accompanying text. Magee described the woodcut scene of Heywood at his desk as "a refreshing picture of peace and leisure to be regarded with envy in these troubled days of 1939." First published in 1556, Heywood's long, involved allegory of religious controversy in sixteenth-century England, written in verse, used flies to represent Catholics and the spiders Protestants. Stab-bound in marbled paper wrappers. Occasional light soiling, else fine.

Catalogue 69: The Cradle of Printing; together with Catalogue 131: Monumenta Xylographica et Typographica, The Cradle of Printing, Part II.

Two quarto volumes. 99; 167pp. One of 600; 1200 copies. A set of influential catalogues from the bookseller H. P. Kraus containing early manuscripts and typographic rarities. First volume illustrated throughout with numerous tipped-in black & white photographs, line illustrations, and a few initials in red and blue; in addition, the second volume contains several full-page color plates. With laid-in newsletter from the bookseller, dated 1954, in the first volume, and a price list laid in the second. Volumes one and two are bound in blue paper and silk, respectively, with paper labels. Covers of both volumes show some wear to spines, light soiling, and toning; dampstain to front cover of volume two.

Apophthegmatum ex Optimis Utriusque Linguae Scriptoribus.
Lycosthenes, Conrad (Konrad Wolffhart)

Octavo. (24), 1130, (22)pp. First Lyon edition of Wolffhart's encyclopedic collection of apothegms from Classical sources. This edition appears one year after the first edition, which was published by his brother-in-law in Basel, and it is one of a handful of editions that appeared within Wolffhart's lifetime. He died in 1561. The publisher Frellon is noted for printing the 1547 edition of Icones Historiarum Veteris Testamenti, with Holbein's woodcuts, as well as for introducing John Calvin to the Spanish ecclesiastical fugitive Michael Servetus in 1546. Rare: only four institutional holdings of this edition have been recorded worldwide, three of which are in the United States. Occasional underlining and sporadic marginalia. Light marginal wrinkling and few chips to extremities of title page, else a fine copy. In a later binding of full vellum over boards.

"Die Beschneidung Christi" (The Circumcision of Christ).
Dürer, Albrecht

Woodcut measures 12 1/4 by 9 inches, in a handsome 18 1/2 by 15 1/4-inch frame. This original woodcut print by one of the masters of the Northern Renaissance is part of a series of illustrations depicting scenes from The Life of the Virgin. According to Meder, this separate print was made after the 1511 Latin text edition of The Life of the Virgin. The print's paper bears the fischblase (fish bladder) watermark, which indicates that the print dates to the sixteenth century; this is Meder's state e. In "The Circumcision," a sorrowful Mary watches as Christ, her child, undergoes the sacred rite. A man carrying a tall, braided candle stands on the left side, while Mary and the crowd of people in attendance fill the right side of the temple nave. Dürer's signature monogram is incorporated into the design, located on a slate in the bottom right of the scene. Dürer is known for his masterful, detailed wood engraving, and is recognized as one of the first European landscape artists. A few faint crease marks present. A rare, extremely fine example of the artist's virtuosic technique.

Nuremberg Reckoning Counter.
Anonymous

Also called "jetons" or tokens, these brass coin-like discs were used for casting accounts in the counting-houses of nobles and merchants. The practice was at its height in Nuremberg during its sixteenth-century trading boom. In the rest of Europe, this method of accounting declined in the later fifteenth century when Arabic numerals were adopted, and jetons were relegated to use as counters in gaming houses. After 1630, the practice fell into disuse in Nuremburg, and the manufacture of gaming jetons for export became a major industry. This sixteenth-century example is one of the "Rechenmeister" (reckoning master) group. On the obverse, the Rechenmeister stands behind a table covered with jetons, his moneybag at his right and his account book on his left. On the reverse is a raised, uppercase alphabet. The extra two letters, "HS," after "Z," are probably the signature of the maker, Hans Schultes. Because of the alphabet, earlier collectors called these counters "school pennies." Good to fine, with a nice brown patina except for the raised bits, which shine. Housed in a Wilbur Macey Stone bookstyle box, which is rubbed along the extremities. (See Mitchiner 1424-9; LXIVMOS 3, 11). (Diameter 1 1/16 in.; 27mm).

Commentaria.
Philiponus, Joannes

Quarto. 75ff. Woodcut device on title page and last leaf, several geometrical text figures, two ten-line and two five-line initial capitals. A book of commentary by the sixth-century Greek philosopher Philiponus, who also went by the name John the Grammarian for his scholarship on language. This copy of Commentaria features a colorful binding of Italian decorated paper, likely from the eighteenth century, and an unusual pastepaper spine. Front and back covers each bear two repeated illustrations of architectural landmarks within oval frames, and these are surrounded by floral designs. One of the illustrations shows the famous bridge at Bassano designed by the great sixteenth-century Italian architect Palladio; the other is likely a depiction of La Rotonda in Vicenza, also designed by Palladio. Slight wear to lower extremity and upper corners, worm holes to bottom interior margins affecting about two-thirds of the leaves to varying degrees, else fine and bright. Bookplate.

A Leaf From the Nuremberg Chronicle, Latin Edition: Liber Chronicarum.

Folio. (1)pp. A leaf from the first edition of the seminal work of gathered information on Christendom. The text is Gothic letter, 64 lines to a page, with illustrations by Michael Wohlgemut. This particular leaf represents the "sexta etas mudi," from folii CL and CLI. The recto illustrates the line of high priests, and the verso illustrates Theodelinda (d. 628), Queen of the Lombards and daughter of Duke Garibald of Bavaria. The woodcuts also depict her first and second husbands, Authari and Agilulph. Some faint toning along inner margin, else a fine and crisp specimen from this milestone of early printing.

A Leaf from the Nuremberg Chronicle, German edition: Das Buch der Croniken und Geschicten.

Folio. (1) pp. A leaf representing folii LXXXIII and LXXXIV, from the seminal work of gathered information on Christendom and milestone of early printing. The text is Gothic letter, with wood engravings by Michael Wohlgemut. On the recto, two banners of Roman authors gesture and dialogue with one another, while the verso illustrates portions of the line of Syrian kings and the line of bishops. The images are neatly hand-colored in a contemporary hand. Text in German. Light dampstain to page edge with light scattered foxing, else a fine specimen of one of the greatest pieces of incunabula.

A Leaf From the 1497 Edition of the Pirated Nuremberg Chronicle Printed at Augsburg.

Small folio. (1) pp. Referred to "the highest form of flattery" by Adrian Wilson, the pirated edition of the Nuremberg Chronicle was printed at Augsburg by Johann Schoensperger four years after the original Latin and German editions. This is leaf represents folii CXIX and CXX from "Sexta etas mudi" [sic], illustrated with images of various martyrs and popes, and includes of list of martyrs. All woodcuts have been very neatly hand-colored, and many letters in the main text are rubricated. Text in Latin. Light soils to bottom page edge, else a very fine and crisp specimen.

Auli Gellii Noctium Atticarium libri undeviginti.
Gellius, Aulus

Octavo. [32], 289, [51] ff. First Aldus edition, second issue with "duernionem" correctly spelled on the last leaf. Text in Latin and Greek. This miscellany, which encompasses fragments of a number of lost works touching on such subjects as archaeology, grammar and lexicography, is among the last books produced by Aldus Manutius prior to his death in April, 1515. Slight spotting to top and bottom edges of text block, few small wormholes at pastedowns, else internally quite clean and fresh. Bound in lightly soiled seventeenth century full vellum with yapped fore edges.

GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JOHN.

French, middle of the thirteenth century. A single leaf, 203 by 140 mm., written in a small gothic hand in dark brown ink with glosses in red. A small miniature at the foot of the text (33 by 19 mm) in blue, red, green and gold, showing John preaching (depicted in gold) above the image of a dove standing on a banner with the name "Johannes." Also a twenty line initial in blue, red, green, and gold. The leaf is in fine condition, matted. A beautiful example of a leaf from a deluxe copy of the Bible.

Oratio Dominica CL Linguis Versa, et Propriis Cujusque Linguae Characteribus Plerumque Expressa.
Marcel, J. J

Quarto. (vii), 150ff. Correct first edition of this work, distinguished from a contemporary pirated edition by the presence of the coat-of-arms of the French Republic as the title page device. A typographic tour of the world's languages, this work was printed to honor the visit of Pope Pius VII to France for the coronation of Napoleon in 1804, using types that had been taken out of Italy after Napoleon's invasion in 1796. It contains the Lord's Prayer printed in 151 different languages and dialects, including Hebrew, Chinese, Arabic, Norwegian, Croatian, and Ethiopian. The book is divided by geographic continents, comprising Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Americas. The section on the Americas shows nineteen Native American languages. A variety of typefaces are used, and each page features a decorative border in red. A few preliminary signatures are loose at the top and extremities show some rubbing and wear overall, else a fine copy bound in the original paste-paper boards with the original spine label.

Quinti Horatii Flacci Opera.
Horace

Two octavo volumes. (32), 265; (24), 191, (15)pp. Second issue. This edition was printed entirely from copper plates engraved by John Pine and is notable for the many vignettes that ornament the text. Illustrated with frontispieces, vignette titles, and numerous plates. In a binding of contemporary full red morocco by Derome, covers triple gilt-ruled, spines richly gilt-stamped, gilt dentelles, and marbled endpapers. Brief previous bookseller's description pasted onto front paste-down of first volume. An attractive and well-preserved set, with just minor wear to extremities and light sunning to spines. A.e.g. With the armorial bookplates of British politician Sir Charles Thomas-Stanford to front paste-downs of both volumes. From the collection of James Laughlin, American poet and the founder of New Directions Publishers, with his booklabels to both front free endpapers.

L'Evangile S. Jean.
Levien, J. R.

(i.e. Enkhuizen, Holland, 1971). (12)ff. One of an edition of 100 copies, inscribed and signed by Levien. A facsimile of a seventeenth-century miniature. The text is extracts from the Gospel of John. With frontispiece and illustrated title. Extremely fine in green grosgrain silk boards. (1 3/4 by 1 7/16; 45x36mm.).

HANDBOK FOR FORALDRAR. NE ABC OCH LASEBO. KINHALLANDE LASOFNINGAR.

Square 12mo. (vi), 104pp. + 5ff. engravings. An ABC book in Swedish, with four printed and four engraved alphabets and notes on the phonetics and history of them. Illustrated with a hand-colored engraved map of Europe and engraved plates of trees, parts of the body, classical nudes, and calligraphy. Contains many short readings in poetry, history, natural history, geography, and the arts, some printed in Roman and some in Gothic type. Some pen and pencil marginalia and a few passages crossed out with diagonal pen lines, possibly by a teacher. Some rubbing and wear, still a nice copy in original quarter-leather and boards.

Portraits of the Whole of the Royal Family, Engraved from the Original Pictures by Her Majesty's Most Gracious Permission to Whom They Are Humbly Dedicated by Her Dutiful and Obedient Servant E. Harding.

Folio. (21) ff. A handsome color stipple album of the Hapsburg family starting with two poses of King George III and continuing with likenesses of nineteen others, including Prince Octavus, who died at the age of four, and Princess Charlotte of Wales, who has a small golden bird perched on her outstretched hand. All color plates executed principally by Beechy and Bourlier. Title-page has a small etching of a scene of Windsor Castle, which is signed by G. Nash. With two pages of advertisements tipped-in after title-page, and one smaller formal portrait of Prince Octavus tipped-in between two others. The paper is watermarked 1802. Bound in one-quarter green morocco and boards with title and emblems gilt-stamped in compartments on spine. Corners bumped and spine slightly worn. Occasional light foxing throughout, but still a fine, bright, rich example of color stipple printing. All edges decorated with a red striped pattern. (Abbey 298).

Portraits des grands hommes, Femmes illustres, et Sujets memorables de France, graves et imprimes en Couleurs, dedies au Roi.

Three quarto volumes. (80); (80); (32) ff. An early color-printed work containing 192 etched and aquatinted plates. Oval portraits of French dignitaries are each followed by historical or military scenes in which the person portrayed took part, captioned beneath with a history of their achievements. We see Fontenelle viewing the moon through his telescope, Joan of Arc ordering the English to quit France, and the death of Montcalm (which bears an uncanny resemblance to the Death of General Wolfe). The portrait of Louis XVI, to whom the book is dedicated, is followed by an allegory of American Independence, with portraits of Franklin, "Waginston," and the King, "in which this historical development is represented as largely the work of France's ineffectual monarch" (Gordon Ray, The Art of the French Illustrated Book). The caption has Rochambeau, d'Estaing, and LaFayette winning the American cause, "supported by General Washington." Sergent was helped in his work by his wife, to whom he had taught engraving. Colin Franklin, in his Catalogue of Early Colour Printing, calls Sergent's work on this book "extraordinary" and, "as colour-printing, an harmonious and excellent achievement." It is a very early example of the use of color in aquatint -- England had not yet begun to use color in this fashion. Originally issued in forty-eight parts, the book has been bound into three volumes in contemporary calf, expertly rebacked. Volume III contains one of the original wrapper covers as the title-page. A fine set of this important work, preserved in a fleece-lined dropback box.