Year: 2015

October 2, 2010

PRINTED 1556: THE FIRST EDITION OF THE EXPANDED MAGNA CARTA

Of Fundamental importance to constitutional law in England, the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

Magna Charta cum statutis quae Antiqua vocantur, iam recens excusa, & summa fide emendata, iuxta vetusta exemplaria ad Parliamenti rotulos examinata : quibus accesserunt nonnulla nunc primum typis edita, apud Richardum Totelum, 12. Iun., 1556.  London : In aedibus Richardi Tottelli, 1556. Contains Magna Carta and statutes passed before the reign of Edward III. Latin and Law French. Imprint from colophon in v. 2. Vol. 2 has title: Secunda pars veterum statutorum. 2 vols in 1; Vol. 1: [8], 170, [2] leaves; v. 2: 72 leaves.  16mo.,  14 x 10.5 cm.,  Later period-style calf and endpapers, old stain to inner margin of first title, some browning and spotting, a couple small holes, some annotations in a contemporary hand, handsome ornamental woodcut initials. Internally, VERY GOOD AND COMPLETE.  $3800.00

This is the first printing of Tottel’s expanded Magna Carta. “The edition of [the Magna Carta] by Tottell in 1556 is the most known; it varies from Pyson’s and Berthelet’s  in some readings of the text of the statutes, and it is enlarged by the addition of “certain statutes with other needful things taken out of old copies examined by the rolls,” printed at the end of the first part.  Editions by Tottell were also printed in 1576 and 1587.  There is reason to conclude that the copy used by Coke in his Second Institute was the[Tottell] edition of 1587.  [Ref: Monthly Magazine and British Register 1812; pg. 336.   Also See Maxwell. Bibliography of English Law. i. pg. 350]

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posted in: Rare Books

October 2, 2010

PRINTED 1682: THE ICONOGRAPHY OF Johann Wilhelm Baur

LARGE OBLONG FOLIO:  145 Magnificent Engraved Plates

“INCLUDING PALACES, GARDENS, HISTORIES, AND OTHER THINGS IN ITALY WORTH VIEWING”

Baur, Joh Wilhelm.  Iconographia, complectens in se passionem miracula, vitam Christi universam, necnon prospectus rarissimorum portuum, palatiorum hortorum, historiamque aliarum rerum, quæ per Italiam spectatu sunt dignæ … incisæ a Melch. Kyssel. [Augsburg, M. Kysel] Augustæ Vindelicorum 1682.  145 of 146 plates, frontis, 1 general t.p., 4 divisional title pages; lacking only plate 29 in part I and thus one of the most complete copies sold at auction.   OBLONG FOLIO 36 x 27.5 cm., Engraved portrait mounted on blank flyleaf, general t.p. heavily creased and worn, first divisional t.p., also creased, some soiling, foxing, last several plates also with creasing, some old sanguine numbering (incorrectly numbering some plates, corrected in pencil); the whole in half vellum and marbled boards as depicted.   Part 1: Emblematic engravings and the Life of Christ, 36 of 37 plates;  Part II: Birth and Miracles of Christ, 37 plates; Part III: Views in Italy  36 plates;  Part IV: Seaports, Gardens, and Palaces, 37 plates.

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posted in: Rare Books

October 2, 2010

A MAGNIFICENT AND VERY RARE ILLUSTRATED RENAISSANCE BOOK OF THE PRINCES OF TYROL

PRINTED 1599: FOLIO. SPLENDID ENGRAVINGS.

[ Custos, Dominicus][Henning, Marcu] Tirolensvum Principum Comitvm : Der Gefürsten Grafen zu Tyrol ; Von Anno 1229 biß Anno 1600 ; Eigentliche Contrafacturen ; Sampt Historischer Beschreibung, auß hieuor außgangnem Latein, durch dessen Autorn verteutscht ; Gedruckt zu Augsburg in verlegung Dominici Custodis. Augspurg : Custos, 1599. [74] p. illus., ports. 30 cm. 32 engr. incl. title. COMPLETE COPY.. Engraved t.p., with old marginal repair, some staining as depicted, small marginal tears and some wormhole to last three leaves, later endpapers, full vellum. VERY RARE; only in incomplete copy without the colophon leaf has appeared in 30 years of the American Bool Prices Auction Records.

These magnificent engravings are after the paintings in the The Spanish Hall at Schloss Ambras, one of the most important freestanding halls of the Renaissance with full-length portraits of the princely rulers of the Tyrol. I have attached a photo at the end from Wikipedia which depicts the famous Hall.

“Dominicus Custos (1560 Antwerp – 1612 Augsburg), was a Flemish artist, printer and copperplate engraver, who worked in the service of Emperor Rudolph II in Prague… Custos and the humanist Marcus Henning collaborated in producing the work “Tirolensium principum comitum” which appeared in 1599 and depicted 28 Counts of Tyrol from Albert IV (1190-1253) to Rudolf II (1552-1612). Custos was responsible for the engravings while Henning took care of the text and eulogies.” [Wikipedia]

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posted in: Rare Books

October 2, 2010

THE SPLENDID COMBINATION OF POE AND RACKHAM


1st ed.  PRINTED 1935 in a Handsome Sangorski and Sutcliffe Solander Box

Edgar Allan Poe; Arthur Rackham.Tales of mystery & imagination London : G.G. Harrap, 1935. Ill. on lining papers. Cover title: Poe’s tales of mystery & imagination. 317 p., [29] leaves of plates : ill.(some col.) ; 26 cm. FIRST RACKHAM EDITION.  FINE COPY in Rare Original Dust Jacket with minor ships and repairs to head of spine of jacket. In a fine Black Morocco Solander Box by famed bindery, Sangorski and Sutcliffe.  $750.00


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posted in: Rare Books

October 2, 2010

Printed 1800: THE FIRST COLLECTED EDITION OF ROBERT BURNS

SPLENDID COPY IN CONTEMPORARY TREE CALF

[Robert Burns]; [James CURRIE, M.D.]The Works of Robert Burns; with an account of his life, and a criticism on his writings. To which are prefixed, some observations on the character and condition of the Scottish peasantry. [By James Currie.]. Printed by J. M’Creery: Liverpool; for T. Cadell, Jun. & W. Davies: London, 1800.  4 Vol.  a  COMPLETE AND VERY HANDSOME COPY in full polished tree calf, some bumping to corners, foxing  and browning as usual,  partial loss to blank flyleaf in Vol I. and partial marginal loss and creasing  to half-title of Vol III not affecting text.  Frontis. portrait; and four different woodcut vignette on the  title-pages by the eminent Thomas Bewick.  RARE.    $950.00

This is the FIRST PUBLISHED COLLECTED EDITION OF BURNS, edited by the prominent Scottish physician James Currie and issued soon after Burns’ death.  It contains previously unpublished songs and poem, including “Auld Land Syne”, that now popular song sung at the stroke of midnight of every New Year as “Should Old Acquaintance be forgot”, here formally attributed to Burns for the first time.

“Soon after Burns’s death it was decided that a collected edition of his works should be undertaken, but it was difficult to find anyone to shoulder the task, which eventually fell to Dr. James Currie, a native of Dumfriesshire who practiced medicine in Liverpool. His main objective was to raise money for the poet’s family, and so he felt he must not offend any of the people whom Burns had known or met. For this reason Currie deliberately omitted material from his biography that would have resulted in a more rounded portrait of his subject. The edition immediately became the standard biography and text for the poems and letters of the poet. This inaccurate biography and mangled text gave the world a woefully biased picture of Burns (for instance that he was a drunkard, when his letters and contemporary reports about him shed quite a different light on him), a picture which persisted well into this century” [See: http://www.sc.edu/library/spcoll/britlit/burns/burns1.html]

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posted in: Rare Books