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17TH-CENTURY BOOKS
A-B Bibles C D-F G H-J
K-La Lb-Lz M-O P Q-S T-Z
Anglican Moral Theology from
“the Shakespeare of Divines”
Taylor, Jeremy. Ductor dubitantium, or the rule of conscience in all her generall measures; serving as a great instrument for the determination of cases of conscience. London: Pr. by James Flesher for Richard Royston, 1660. Folio (32 cm, 12.6"). 2 vols. I: Add. engr. t.-p., [6], xl, 559, [1] pp.; 1 plt. II: [2], 558, [2] pp.
$1500.00
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First edition: Important philosophical treatise on conscience, casuistry, and Christian ethics, written by the Bishop of Down and Connor. The controversialist Taylor, crowned “the Shakespeare of divines” by Ralph Waldo Emerson, was the subject during his career of a number of accusations of crypto-popery, but the present work — the first of its kind — was designed as a “complete protestant answer to the many Roman Catholic manuals of casuistry” (according to the Oxford DNB online) and intended to provide an authoritative Anglican reference on the subject.
The portrait of the author was engraved by Pierre Lombard, while the added engraved title-page is unsigned. Each of the four books here (in two volumes) has a separate title-page; the main title-pages are printed in black and ruled in red. The text is in English, Greek, and Latin. A printed addenda slip is affixed to the final text page of vol. II, above the catalogue of books sold by Richard Royston. Leaf L6 in vol. II is a cancel (and separated).
Provenance: Vol. I added title-page recto with inked ownership inscription dated 1781 (“T. Moore”); vol. II front fly-leaf with inked ownership inscription dated 1696 (“Guilel. Rayner”) and another (of “T. Moore's”) dated 1781.
ESTC R20123; Wing (rev.) T324; Allibone 2348. On Taylor, see: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography online. Recent quarter calf and marbled paper–covered sides, leather edges tooled in blind, spine with gilt-stamped title and volume labels and gilt-stamped decorations between raised bands. Ownership inscriptions as above. First few leaves of vol. I (including regular and added title-pages) with tiny spots of worming; slightly larger sections of same to inner margins of some subsequent leaves; a number of pages in both volumes with scattered spots of worming, touching letters but not affecting sense. Light waterstaining to outer margins of some leaves. One leaf in vol. II separated.
Significant and attractive. (24889)
Taylor, Jeremy. Vnum necessarium. Or, the doctrine and practice of repentance. Describing the necessities and measures of a strict, a holy, and a Christian life. And rescued from popular errors. [with his] A further explication of the doctrine of originall sin. London: James Flesher for R. Royston, 1655. 8vo (19 cm, 7.5"). A–Z8Aa–Zz8Aaa4; engr. t.-p., [46], 448, [8], 449–690 (i.e., 746), [6 (index)] pp. (pagination incorrect); 1 fold. plt.
$650.00
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either image above for an enlargement.
Second edition of the Unum necessarium, following the first of 1653, followed by the first edition of the Further Explication. Jeremy Taylor (1613–67), a High Church divine and chaplain to Charles I, was well known as a theologian and one of the school of Caroline Divines who brilliantly systematized Anglican theology in the 17th century. The first of these present works caused him some difficulty, as some of its arguments were widely considered unorthodox and antidoctrinal; the Further Explication was Taylor’s attempt to clarify his position.
The engraved frontispiece by P. Lombart depicts Jesus in shepherd guise, and is followed by a title-page printed in red and black. An oversized, folding plate shows a contrite heart accompanied by scriptural figures and allegorical images; this is also signed, Lombart. Both works came off the press with incorrect pagination, the latter with apparent page count being thrown significantly off.
Provenance: Front pastedown with armorial bookplate of Charles Grave Hudson.
ESTC R203751; Wing (rev.) T415. Contemporary speckled calf, framed in blind, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label; leather cracked over joints and spine. Occasional pencilled bracketing.

English/Latin Edition — Roman Comedy
Terentius, Publius. Terence in English. Fabulae comici facetissimi et elegantissimi poetae Terentii omnes anglicae factae & hac noua forma editae. Londini: Iohannes Legatt celeberrimae Academiae Cantabrigiensis typographi, 1614. Small 4to (8.5", 21 cm). [4] ff., 332, 335–428 pp. (mispaginated, but complete).
$975.00
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Third edition of Richard Bernard's translation of Terence, the first in English, with the Latin text preceding it before every scene; present here are the complete six comedies. The first edition was 1598.
Schweiger, II, 1079; ESTC S118348. Contemporary calf, recently
rebacked; spine with raised bands, gilt-stamped title and gilt date at base.
Covers crudely blind-tooled in concentric compartments; clearly a provincial
binding. “Ding” to top of front cover and bits of leather lost at
at edges and corners of both covers; offsetting from leather along margins of
endpapers and final page of text. Title-page mounted, with chips at corners,
costing the first letter of title and a portion of three additional letters.
Pages age-toned, with occasional soiling, some heavy soiling on title-page,
and some mild foxing or the odd spot. A handful of leaves (including title-page)
with extensive ownership signatures or penmanship trials in early inked hands,
extending sometimes over type. Closely trimmed, in some cases into tops of letters
of heading; chip at outer margin of pp. 175–76 without costing any text.
Complete, despite irregular pagination. (23771)

Early Apologetics — Copy with Ties to
Social Gospel
Tertullianus. Q. Septimii Florentis Tertulliani apologeticus et ad Scapulam liber. Accessit M. Minucii Felicis Octavius. Cantabrigiae: ex officina Joan. Hayes, 1686. 12mo (13.5 cm; 5.25"). [4] ff., 135, [1 (blank)] pp., [1] f., 11, [1(blank)] pp., [33] ff., 74 pp; [1 (ads)] f.
$350.00

A nice pocket edition of Tertullian's Apologeticum, together with Minucius Felix's Octavius and Tertullian's Ad Scapulam. The Octavius is edited by F. Balduinus, and it and Ad Scapulam have sectional title-pages.
Provenance: Ownership inscription on front fly-leaf: “Ernst Rauschenbusch, Elberfeld, 18 Aug. 1792.” 19th-century signature on front free-endpaper of “A[ugust] Rauschenbusch.” Ernst was the grandfather of Walter Rauschenbusch, he of the social gospel movement; and August was Walter's father.
Wing (rev. ed.) T784; ESTC R38803. Contemporary vellum over paste boards, vellum age-soiled. Internally very good. (24655)

Treatises that Launched
1000 Rebuttals
Tombes, John. Anthropolatria; or, the sinne of glorying in men, especially in eminent ministers of the gospel. Wherein is set forth the nature and causes of this sinne, as also the many pernicious effects which at all times this sinne hath produced, and with which the church of Christ is still infected. With some serious disswasives from this sinne, and directions to prevent the infection thereof. A discourse usefull, and in these times very seasonable. London: Pr. by G. Miller for John Bellamy, 1645. 4to (19.2 cm, 7.55"). [4], 19, [1] pp. [bound with the same author's] Two treatises and an appendix to them concerning infant-baptisme.... London: George Whittington, 1645–46. [10], 34, [2], 82, (75)–(82), 83–176, [10] pp.
$850.00
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Tombes was one of the dominant voices in the heated infant baptism controversy, and his anti-baptism Two Treatises inspired numerous responses from the leading theologians of the day.
Anthropolatria is here in its first edition, variant issue with the words “to the Honourable Societies of the Temples” added as part of the author statement; another edition (ESTC R200049) has simply “at the Temple” instead.
The Two Treatises — Tombes's “Exercitation about Infant-Baptisme” and “An Examen of the Sermon of Mr. Stephen Marshal, about Infant-Baptisme” — each have a separate title-page in addition to the main title, which gives a publication date of 1645. The first separate title-page states “Printed by M.S. for George Whittington, 1646" and the second “Printed by R.W. for George Whittington, 1645,” implying that this copy has been supplied with the second state of the “Exercitation.”
Uncommon: Both works are scarce. OCLC, ESTC, Wing, and NUC Pre-1956 find five U.S. locations for each work, with one holding deaccessioned in each case.
Anthropolatria: ESTC R235187; Wing (rev. ed.) T1796; McAlpin, II, 380. Two Treatises (1645): ESTC R200471; Wing (rev. ed.) T1825. Recent marbled paper wrappers. Title-page closely trimmed at bottom, just touching border, and upper portion with a crescent of soil; instances of soil to margins at page-edges variously throughout, and, otherwise, only the odd light spot. Some upper and lower corners crumpled; one leaf with paper flaw in outer margin affecting a few letters of the shouldernote. (25043)

Tombes Defends His
12 Arguments
Tombes, John. An apology or plea for the Two treatises, and appendix to them concerning infant-baptisme; published Decemb. 15. 1645. against the unjust charges, complaints, and censures of Doctor Nathanael Homes, Mr Iohn Geree, Mr Stephen Marshall, Mr John Ley, and Mr William Hussey; together with a postscript by way of reply to Mr Blokes answer to Mr Tombes his letter, and Mr Edmund Calamy, and Mr Richard Vines preface to it. London: Giles Calvert, 1646. 4to (19 cm, 7.5"). [8], 157, [3 (2 blank)] pp.
$950.00
First edition of this entry in the infant baptism controversy, written by one of its prime movers, “wherein the principall heads of the Dispute concerning Infant-Baptism are handled, and the insufficiency of the writings opposed to the two Treatises manifested” (as per the title-page). Tombes was an accomplished, Puritan-leaning preacher whose career was derailed by his vocal opposition to the rite; his Two Treatises ignited a particularly heated debate, with numerous responses published.
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Uncommon: ESTC, OCLC, Wing, and NUC Pre-1956 report 10 U.S. holdings, one of which has been deaccessioned.
ESTC R201072; Wing (rev. ed.) T1801. On Tombes, see: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography online. Recent marbled paper wrappers. Some light age-toning; one leaf with tiny pinhole affecting four letters, otherwise a clean, fresh copy. (25025)

The Lost Andrade Copy? — Dedicating a School for Girls
Torres, Ignacio de. Sermon de Santa Rita de Cassia, qve en la solemne fiesta, qve le consagra annual la devocion de el Licenciado Antonio Gonzalez Lasso. Mexico: Por Juan de Ribera, en el Empedradillo, 1682. Small 4to. [6], 12 ff.
$3000.00
The charming parochial church in Tlaxcala was where Dr. Torres preached this sermon on the occasion of the dedication of the new building of the “Colegio de Niñas,” i.e., a secondary school for girls. The tie-in to St. Rita is that she was herself the patron of a school for girls.
In his sermon, Torres discusses the need for and goodness that comes from schools for girls. The text is printed in roman with side- and shouldernotes in italic, and contains two woodcut initials.
Rare: Medina knew of this only from the Andrade copy. WorldCat finds no copies, nor does COPAC; no copy was found via the OPACs of the Spanish National Library and the Mexican National Library. We must wonder if this IS the Andrade copy that was seen by Medina.
Medina, Mexico, 1260; Andrade 763. Modern full red morocco, gilt extra on covers and spine; gilt roll of a chain design on the turn-ins. Partial, unidentified marca de fuego on top and bottom edges. A two-digit number in ink in margin of title-page; an old waterstain curving across the bottom outside page corners, light in front and heavier towards the back. In a neat cloth slipcase. (25764)
Traslado de una compendiosa relacion, que fue escrita de Milan à un señor desta Corte, de las gloriosas vitorias que ha tenido el excelentissimo señor Marques de Leganes en el dicho estado, contra las armas de Francia, y coligados. Madrid: Por la viuda de Juan Gonçalez, 1638. Folio (28.2 cm, 11.1"). 3 ff.
$750.00
Account of battles against the French, with the Spanish forces led by Don Diego Messia, Marquis of Leganes and governor of Milan.
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Almirante, Bibliografía militar de España, 694; Palau 339184. Removed from a nonce volume; creased, with pages slightly age-toned.

The Rules CONFORMED to by
Elizabethan Non-Conformists
Travers, Walter. A directory of church-government. Anciently contended for, and as farre as the times would suffer, practised by the first non-conformists in the daies of Queen Elizabeth. London: John Wright, 1644 [i.e., 1645]. 4to (19.8 cm, 7.75"). [24] pp.
$900.00
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First edition of this English translation, generally attributed to Thomas Cartwright, of the “Disciplina Ecclesiae sacra.” Content is both dry and not, e.g., the entire section “Of Holidaies” reads, “Holidaies are conveniently to be abolished”; a paragraph speaking to the proper naming of children also notes that a woman may not alone present a child for baptism; and we learn that “him that shall Preach” shall not preach from the Apocrypha.
This is partly in black-letter.
ESTC R212376; Wing (rev.) T2066. 19th-century half morocco over textured cloth-covered sides, spine with gilt-stamped title; corners and edges showing moderate rubbing, front cover with small unobtrusive scuff. Title-page darkened and with old perforation- and pressure-stamps, old paper adhesions, inner margin reinforced, and small label in lower inner margin; perforation-, pressure-, and rubber-stamps (these last being numbers) to other leaves also. Age-toned, with dust-soiling and the odd spot or marginal tear. (19584)

Preached in Morelia, Printed in Puebla
Trejo, Antonio de. Oracion evangelica del pasmo de la
penitencia S. Pedro de Alcantara, en fiesta que celebró en su dia. Puebla: Por los Herederos del
Capitan Juan de Villa-Real, 1699. Small 4to (18.5 cm; 7.25" ). [7] ff., 32 pp.
$1450.00
First published work of this author. Our sermonizer was the guardian of the
convent of St. Bonaventure in Valladolid, now Morelia, and it was in that city in western Mexico
that he gave voice to this sermon on the feast day of St. Peter of Alcantara (1499–1562). The
work had to be printed in Puebla (or Mexico City) for Valladolid did not have a printing press
until the 19th century.
Click the images for enlargements.
This is printed in roman and italic type, the title-page with a double border of printer's
ornaments. Adorning the dedication leaf is a woodcut of the coat of arms of the bishop of
Valladolid. The text has three large woodcut initials and side- and shouldernotes.
In the U.S., we locate only the copy at the John Carter Brown Library.
Medina, Puebla, 204; Beristain, III, 199. Removed from a nonce volume; closely trimmed at top, affecting some page numbers, type borders, and the word
“approbacion” at the top of that leaf. Brown stains variably, as from spilled sacramental oil.
(26395)

Early Cöthen Imprint, in Syriac
Trostius, Martin. Lexicon Syriacum ex inductione omnium exemplorum Novi Testamenti Syriaci adornatum; adjecta singulorum vocabulorum significatione latina & germanica, cum indice triplici. Cothenis Anhaltinorum: Officina Cotheniana, 1623. 4to (19.8 cm, 7.75"). [4] ff., 722 pp.
$1200.00
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Syriac in the classical Edessene literary form is still the sacred language of several Eastern Churches and is the language of this lexicon. The dialect in ancient times was spoken in the north of Syria and in Upper Mesopotamia around Edessa.
Trost (1588–1636), a professor of theology at Wittenberg, compiled this dictionary and issued it two years after publishing his much-praised edition of the Syriac New Testament with an accompanying Latin translation; the Lexicon was likewise lauded, primarily for its completeness.
This and Trost's Syriac New Testament are among the earliest books printed in Cöthen, Upper Saxony.
This is the sole edition of the dictionary and it is uncommon in commerce.
Graesse, VII, 103; VD17 12:128565E. Period-style calf, framed in blind; spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label, blind-tooled decorations in compartments, blind- and gilt-ruled raised bands with blind-tooling continued onto boards, ending in trefoils; signed in blind on lower rear turn-in by Grace Bindings. Title-page institutionally pressure-stamped, dedication with numeral rubber-stamped in lower margin. Pages age-toned; title-page and last two index leaves with moderate staining and spotting (in part from old binding).
A strong, handsome book. (25212)
Urbis,
& Orbis. Broadside.
Begins: "Vrbis, & Orbis. Sanctissimus D.N. Clemens Papa X de consilio Ementissimorum
Cardinalium Sac. Rituum Congregationi Præpositorum ad preces sibi porrectas...."
Guatemala: José Pineda Ibarra, 1673. 4to. Two copies printed on an uncut
half sheet (one on recto, one on verso); size of sheet 31 x 21 cm.
$12,000.00

All 17th-century, and even 18th-century, printing from Guatemala
is extremely rare, and the decree in hand is unrecorded. Our image above
shows clearly that we have in hand an intact bifolium, i.e., two copies, as
printed, on an uncut half sheetone on the recto (at right, in the image,
showing through the paper), and one on the verso (at the left)the
two never having been separated.
Guatemala was the fourth Latin American city to have a printing press (after
Mexico, Lima, and Puebla de los Angeles); the press was brought at the instigation
of the bishop of Guatemala, Payo Enríquez de Ribera, who wished to
have a work of his own published. In reply to the bishop's appeal for a printer,
José Pineda Ibarra arrived at Antigua in 1660. He had worked as an
assistant to several printers in Mexico, but according to Medina did not have
his own press; when Payo de Ribera's representative found him, he had moved
to Puebla, but was apparently not doing well there. (Medina does not list
him as a printer in Puebla—presumably he was again working for others.)
The bishop apparently paid for the press that was taken to Guatemala, and
Pineda Ibarra later purchased it from him. Torre Revello (quoted in Furlong)
remarks that despite the dearth of materials, Pineda Ibarra managed to print
exceedingly well: "Ningún tipógrafo de los que le sucedieron,
durante el periodo colonial, logró superar la pulchritud y elegancia
de sus trabajos." This example shows not only several sizes of type, but a
woodcut of a papal tiara, at the top of the edict, flanked by typographical
ornaments; a line of typographical ornament also appears on either side of
the date of the edict, near the bottom of the page.
The various religious orders in Guatemala had promised to make
it worth the while of a printer to come, by giving him commissions. Judging
from the list of over 30 works Pineda Ibarra printed before 1673—eulogies,
sermons, constitutions, regulations, descriptions of religious festivities—the
orders fulfilled their promise; his major productions, however, were Bishop
de Ribera's Explicatio apologetica nonnullarum propositionum . . . ,
1663, and Diego Saenz Ovecuri's La Thomasiada, 1667. Also a bookseller
and binder, Pineda Ibarra died in 1679. He was succeeded in 1681 by his son,
Antonio de Pineda Ibarra, under whom the press operated until 1721.
The text in hand, a papal edict of 23 July 1672, changes the
office for St. Peter Nolasco used by Mercedarians from semiduplex to duplex,
at the request of the Queen of France. The Orden Real de Nuestra Señora
de la Merced, Redemción de Cautivos, was already established in Guatemala
(cf. Medina, Guatemala, 38), and probably paid Pineda Ibarra to print
this work.
Not in Medina, Guatemala; on the printer,
see: Medina's introduction, pp. xviii–xx. Not in Valenzuela, Imprenta
en Guatemala; O'Ryan, Bib. Guatemalteca; NUC; BMC.
See, however, Oswald, p. 539; Furlong, Orígenes, p. 91; and
Woodbridge and Thompson, Printing in Colonial Spanish America, pp.
81–84.
Vallejo,
Fernando de. Pregon en que
su magestad manda, que por quanto el abuso de las guedejas y copetes con que andan
algunos hombres, y los rizos con que componen el cabello ha llegado à hazer
escandalo en estos reynos, ningun hombre pueda traer guedejas ni copete.
Madrid: En la imprenta de Francisco Martinez, 1639. Folio (28.2 cm, 11.1"). [4]
ff.
$750.00
Proclamation regarding acceptable and unacceptable hairdressing
practices for men — in particular, the scandalously long hairdos or wigs
worn by fashionable beaux.
Click
the image for an enlargement.
Palau 236209. Removed from a nonce volume. Pages creased, with
small areas of light waterstaining to upper and lower inner margins; title-page
with early inked numeral and shadow of pencilled numeral in upper margin.
Vallejo, Fernando de. Pregon en que su magestad manda, que ninguna muger de qualquier estado y calidad que sea pueda traer, ni traiga guardainfante, ò otro instrumento, ò trage semehante, excepto las mugeres que con licencia de las justicias publicamente son malas de sus personas. Madrid: En la imprenta de Francisco Martinez, 1639. Folio (28.2 cm, 11.1"). [4] ff.
$750.00


Declaration forbidding farthingales (the “guardainfante” was so-called because it could be used to conceal pregnancy) and excessive displays of decolletage by women except for prostitutes and ladies with special licenses.
Click the image for an enlargement.
Palau 236212. Removed from a nonce volume. Title-page with small early inked numeral and shadow of pencilled numeral in upper margin; publication authorization leaf with small hole just touching letters, without loss of sense.
Valois, Adrien de. Valesiana ou les pensées critiques, historiques et morales, et les poesies latines .... Paris: Chez Florentin & Pierre Delaulne,
1695. 12mo (15.5 cm, 6.2"). Frontis., [30], 234, [10], 88 pp.; 2 fold. plts.
$250.00

Early, pirated edition, following the first of 1694: Critical and literary extracts from the writings of a prominent historian and scholar of the Middle Ages (also known as Hadrianus Valesius), the brother of equally distinguished
scholar Henri de Valois. The collection was edited by the author’s son, numismatist Charles de Valois.
Click the interior image for an enlargement.
The present example is a fictitious imprint, printed in Amsterdam and counterfeiting the Parisian edition of the same year (actual place of printing from NUC Pre-1956 628:472, cf. E. Weller, Die falschen und fingierten Druckorte, II, 57). The volume’s two folding, engraved plates (unsigned) depict antiquarian coins and medals, while the mythologically inspired frontispiece includes a portrait of de Valois.
Later half sheep with speckled paper–covered boards, rebacked with speckled calf preserving original gilt-stamped leather title-label; sides and edges scuffed, with leather chipped at corners. Front pastedown with 19th-century
private collector’s bookplate, partially chipped; preface with numeral inked in lower margin. Pages crisp and clean. All edges stained red.
An Archbishop's Entail
Venero y Leyva, Carlos. Documents (some signed), in Spanish, on paper. Toledo, Spain: 16 May 1642. Folio (31.5 cm; 12.35"). [38] pp.
$225.00


Jeronimo de Venero y Leyva, the archbishop of Monreal, in the kingdom of Sicily, established an entailed estate in 1626, dying in 1628. The first family member to succeed to the entail was Carlos Venero y Leyva, a priest in Toledo. This
substantial cahier deals with the terms of the entail, succession to it, its restrictions, and its endowment; all as specifically relating to Don Carlos and the situation in 1642.
Click the image for an enlargement.
Bound in a vellum wrapper handsomely indited on the front with two abstracts of the contents, writen in a fine modified gothic script. The documents' texts are written on paper in a hurried notarial hand, sometimes a little difficult to decipher.
A clean, attractive manuscript. (26980)
Vetancurt, Agustín de. Arte de lengva mexicana.... Mexico: Francisco Rodriguez Lupercio, 1673. Small 4to. π4A–P4 (-π2,3); [4 (of 6)], 49 [i.e. 50], [8] ff.
$12,500.00

In the 17th century, the study of Nahuatl (commonly called Aztec) reached a pinnacle, springing from the herculean, fruitful efforts of 16th-century Franciscan scholars and the perspicacious, intuitive understanding of the early-17th-century Jesuit linguist, Father Carochi. Later in the century another major figure was to appear: Agustín de Vetancurt (1633–1700), a distinguished Franciscan scholar and writer, the author of the Teatro mexicano, and vicar of the chapel of San José de los Naturales in the Franciscan monastery in Mexico City, in which latter role he perfected his understanding of Nahuatl.
Click any image where the hand appears on
mouse-over, for an enlargement.
At the end of this highly important and extremely rare grammar are found a comprehensive index, a short catechism, and instructions on the commandments and the sacraments of the Catholic Church, being
all in Nahuatl. Part One of the text expresses Vetancurt's important insight that Nebrija's classical, early-16th-century paradigm for the study of European languages, specifically Latin and Spanish, had its shortcomings when applied to the major New World language under scrutiny—though in the end he resigns himself to using that five-part organization, which was the one most familiar to his readers.
We note that virtually all bibliographies have failed to state that leaf E1 is misfolioed as 14 (it should be 15 and the error is not corrected subsequently), and that leaf H4 is misfolioed as 19 (that error not affecting the subsequent numbering).
Provenance: Marca de fuego of an unidentified Mexican conventual library.
Viñaza 204 (failing to note error in foliation, as do all bibliographies except Graff); Medina, Mexico, 1103; Newberry Library, Indian Linguistics in the Edward E. Ayer Collection, Nahuatl 237; García Icazbalceta, Lenguas, 80; León-Portilla, Tepuztlahcuilolli, 2816; Sabin 99385; Pilling 4002. Graff 4475 (this copy; giving correct collation). On the marcas de fuego, see: Sala, Marcas de fuego, pp. 28 and 39. On Vetancurt, see: Archivo biográfico de España, Portugal, e Iberoamérica, fiche 118, frames 17–36 and 73–74. Contemporary limp vellum, shrunken and cockled, missing pieces along fore-edge of front cover and at base of spine. Some burn holes at tops of some pages resulting from embers’ straying during the branding of the book. Inner margins with expanded openings and occasional tearing around the sewing stations (i.e., paper has suffered from tight binding). Lacks two preliminary leaves containing approbations. Some foxing; last leaf (only) with foremargin insect-eaten. Text of the grammar complete.
A significant work seldom acquirable.

Spanish Southwest Mexican Art New World Biography
Vetancurt, Agustín de (a.k.a., Vetancur). Chronica de la Provincia del Santo Evangelio de Mexico. Quarta parte del Teatro mexicano de successos religiosos. Mexico: por María de Benavides, viuda de Juan de Ribera, 1697. Folio (30 cm; 11.875"). [12], 136, [4], 153, 56 pp.
$6750.00
Click the images for enlargements.
This is part 4, issued separately, of the author's Teatro mexicano: descripción breve de los sucesos exemplares. The Chronica de la provincia del Santo Evangelio gives detailed descriptions of the Franciscan houses and missions in all of New Spain — especially in Mexico City and Puebla, but also in such far-flung areas as New Mexico and California. Henry Raup Wagner, the dean of bibliographers of the Spanish Southwest, labels the Chronica “a prime authority for the history of New Mexico.” Vetancurt further offers a marvelous section on various apparitions of the Virgin across New Spain, each being given a lengthy paragraph with full details. He ends his volume with a menology of Franciscans and a biographical list of the bishops, writers, and other notables who served or lived in New Spain; a number of these figures were martyrs and their stories are recounted.
It must be pointed out, because it is often forgotten, that art historians will find the Chronica to be rich in architectural detail and brimming over with information about art work in 17th-century New Spain churches and convents. Guillermo Tovar de Teresa, the great historian and bibliographer of colonial-era Mexican books containing information on Mexican art, writes of the Chronica, “Para la historia del arte en México durante el Virreinato es capital; su lectura es imprescindible para los estudiosos de la arquitectura de los siglos XVI y XVII.”
Provenance: Augustinian monastic library of Morelia (marca de fuego on upper edge of closed book; on verso of title-page in an 18th-century hand: “pertenece al convento de San Augustin de Valladolid”); private use of Fr. Manuel Aigustin Farias (noted on the verso of title-page in an 18th-century hand, prelim. p. 12, first p. 1); later owned by José Martín de Infanzón (prelim. p. 9).
Medina, Mexico, 1684; Palau 361217; Sabin 99386; Andrade 1073; Tovar de Teresa, Bibliografía novohispana de arte, 105; Wagner, Spanish Southwest, 68. Early vellum over boards, rebacked; new endpapers and title-page backed for strength. Stray stains and ink markings variously, the latter in margins; minor worming in some lower margins, with waterstaining notable in the final section and a brown stain perhaps of another nature in upper gutter-ward areas of the same section, sometimes into text. Final six leaves with loss of lower outer corner, including some text; paper replaced and text in excellent facsimile. Volume now housed in a quarter blue morocco tray case with gilt spine.
(26824)

Uncommon & Oft-Cited
Treatise on Baptism
Visconti, Giuseppe. Iosephi Vicecomitis Ambrosiani collegii doctoris Observationes ecclesiasticae in quo de antiquis baptismi ritibus, ac caeremoniis agitur.... Parisiis: Apud Laurentium Sonnium, 1618. 8vo (18.5 cm, 7.25"). [6], 912, [70 (index)] pp.
$475.00
Click the images for enlargements.
Second edition: Important study of the development of canon law on baptism. A historian and antiquarian, the author was one of the earliest members of the college of doctors associated with the Biblioteca Ambrosiana, the historic Milan library established in 1609; he was invited to join the college by the library's founder, Cardinal Federico Borromeo, who tasked him with studying ecclesiastical rites.
The first edition of 1615 is scarce, as is this second edition, of which at least two variant issues appeared in 1618. All have the same pagination but attribute their publication to Droüart, Cramoisy, or (as in this case) Laurent Sonnius; presumably at least one of the title-pages is a cancel. All are uncommon: OCLC locates only two U.S. institutional holdings of this Sonnius printing. The work bears a woodcut title vignette, headpieces, and initials, with copious printed shouldernotes to the text.
Starr, Baptist Bibliography, V551. On Visconti, see: Feller, Dictionnaire historique, 71. Later quarter mottled calf and speckled paper–covered sides, spine gilt extra with gilt-stamped leather title-label, rebacked preserving most of original spine; edges and extremities rubbed, spine with area of discoloration from now-absent shelving label, original spine leather chipped and cracked. Title-page with institutional rubber-stamps, numeral, and pressure-stamp; one additional page pressure-stamped. Pages age-toned with occasional light spotting and title-page dust-soiled; one spot of pinhole worming to first quarter of volume, not touching text. Early inked inscription on title-page inked over, one instance of early inked underlining. Sound and handsome. (25877)
Vossius, Gerardus Joannes. Etymologicon linguae latinae. Praefigitur ejusdem de litterarum permutatione tractatus. Amstelodami: Apud Ludovicum & Danielem Elzevirios, 1662. Folio (35.4 cm, 14"). *4 A–F4 G6 2A–2G4 H–Z4 Aa–Za4 Aaa–Zzz4 Aaaa–Gggg4; [34] ff., 606 pp., [1 (blank)] f.
$1100.00
Latin etymological dictionary by Gerardus Vossius, edited and published posthumously by his son Isaac. Gerardus Johannes Vossius (1577–1649) was rector successively at Dordrecht and Leyden and one of the most noted classicists of his day—writing on a wide range of subjects, especially Latin grammar, philology, and rhetoric. This work gives detailed etymologies of the Latin vocabulary, with cognates and parallels in other languages, as well as examples of usage, prefaced by a lengthy list of variant spellings to assist the reader.
This first edition has a title-page in black and red with the printer’s device of the Amsterdam Elzevirs, “Ne Extra Oleas”—showing Minerva with owl and shield next to an olive tree—and it is printed in two columns in roman, italic, Greek, and Hebrew, ornamented with woodcut initials.
Willems, Les Elzevier, 1295. On the Vossius, father and son, see: Sandys, History of Classical Scholarship, 307–309 and 322–23. Contemporary English calf ruled in blind, bumped and abraded with a little loss on corners and edges; joints fully open at base and some chipping at head and foot of spine. Paper, ink-lettered spine label; inked call number and date on title-page. Pastedowns entirely gone and remnants of a manuscript used as binder’s waste visible at gutters, inside covers; due to the pastedowns’ removal, much of the binder’s construction can readily be examined here. A little light waterstaining and browning to first and last leaves (only). All edges red.
FIRST English Translation of
the Apostolic Fathers
Wake, William, ed. & trans. The genuine epistles of the Apostolical Fathers S. Barnabas, S. Clement, S. Ignatius, S. Polycarp. The shepherd of Hermas, and the martyrdoms of St. Ignatius and St. Polycarp, written by those who were present at their sufferings. London: Ric. Sare, 1693. 8vo (18 cm, 7"). [6], 196, [6], 9–168, [173]–547, [9 (index)] pp.
$600.00
Click the interior images for enlargements.
First edition of the first English-language collection of these early Christian writings, translated by William Wake, archbishop of Canterbury. The First Epistle of St. Clement to the Corinthians has a separate title-page and pagination (with continuous register); the Epistle of St. Polycarp to the Philippians, Genuine Epistles of St. Ignatius, and Martyrdoms of St. Ignatius & St. Polycarp have separate title-pages but continuous pagination; and Part II (the Epistle of St. Barnabas, Shepherd of Hermas, and Second Epistle of St. Clement to the Corinthians) has a separate title-page with full publication information.
Wing (rev.) G523A; ESTC R10042; Allibone 2534. Contemporary speckled calf, framed and panelled in blind with blind-tooled corner fleurons, rebacked some time ago with speckled calf preserving original gilt-stamped leather spine label and rebacking extending into lower portion of front cover; corners rubbed, spine label cracked. Free endpapers lacking. Front pastedown with inked presentation inscription to a seminary and two small adhesions from a now-absent bookplate; title-page with early inked owner's name in upper margin. Pagination skips 169 through 172, with text and signature collation uninterrupted. Very minor small area of waterstaining to lower inner margins of about half of the volume, pages otherwise clean. (20831)
Walker, Clement. Relations and observations, historicall and politick, upon the Parliament, begun Anno Dom. 1640 ... together with an appendix, touching the proceedings of the Independent faction in Scotland. [London?], 1648. 4to (18.3 cm, 7.25"). A–T4t2V–Z4Aa2; [12], 174 pp. [with] An appendix to the History of Independency ... London, 1648. 4to. a–c4(-c4); [2], 20 pp. [with] Anarchia Anglicana: Or, the history of Independency. The second part. [London], 1649. 4to. A–Z4Aa–Kk4; [8], 256 pp.; 1 double-page plt. [with] The high court of justice; or Cromwells new slaughter house in England ... [London], 1651. 4to. A–I4; 71, [1 (blank)] pp. [with] M., T. The history of Independency. The fourth and last part. London: H. Brome & H. Marsh, 1660. 4to. A–R4; [8], 124 pp.
$1000.00
Click any image where the hand appears on
mouse-over, for an enlargement.
First edition under this title of the first two parts of this anti-Puritan history of the rivalry between the Presbyterian and Independent factions of Parliament, with early printings of the third and fourth parts. The brief introductory portion, originally titled The Mystery of the Two Juntos, was first published in 1647; after the second part (Anarchia Anglicana) appeared in the following year, Walker was sent to the Tower and died there shortly thereafter. The third (The High Court of Justice; or Cromwells New Slaughter House in England) and fourth part (History of Independency) are present here in 1651 and 1660 printings, respectively.
This variant reads “II. Bookes”on line 7 of the title-page; R4 is cancelled and not present here, as is the case in most copies. The second portion has a separate title-page printed in red and black, giving Anarchia Anglicana: Or, the History of Independency as the title and the pseudonymous Theodorus Verax as the author.
Relations: ESTC R205117; Wing (rev.) W334A. Appendix: ESTC R233193; Wing (rev.) W321A. Anarchia: ESTC R27579; Wing (rev.) W317. High Court: ESTC R207365;Wing (rev.) W325. History, fourth part: ESTC R18043; Wing (rev.) M81B. Fourth part: Issued as part of Wing W324, “and possibly separately” as well according to ESTC. Contemporary calf, covers framed and panelled in blind with blind-tooled corner fleurons, sometime rebacked with first leaves tipped (back) in; spine with new gilt-stamped title, sides rubbed and abraded. Front free endpaper lacking. Front pastedown with old institutional bookplate and pencilled notations, title-page with faded rubber-stamp (and with author’s name added in an early hand), back pastedown and lower edges of closed book rubber-stamped. Two title-pages with one short tear from outer edge each, not touching text; title-page verso with shadows of pencilled numerals. Lower and outer margins trimmed closely, in some cases touching catchwords, signature marks, or shouldernotes.

Puritan Ex-Pat
Repatriated & Re-“Involved”
([A
to] ZEALOTRY?). Ward, Nathaniel. A word
to Mr. Peters, and two words for the Parliament and kingdom. Or, An answer to
a scandalous pamphlet, entituled, A word for the Armie, and two words to the
kingdom: subscribed by Hugh Peters. Wherein the authority of Parliament is infringed,
the fundamentall laws of the land subverted; the famous city of London blemished;
and all the godly ministers of the city scandalized. In vindication of all which,
this small treatise is published, by a friend to the Parliament, city, and ministery
of it. London: Pr. by Fr: Neile for Tho: Underhill, 1647. Small 4to. [1] f.,
38 pp.
$875.00
Click
the image for enlargements.
Ward (1578–1652), a clergyman and compiler of a law code for Massachusetts, was a Puritan who lived in Massachusetts from 1633 to 1646. The present work was written in “Answer to a scandalous pamphlet, entituled, A word for the Armie, and two words to the
kingdom: subscribed by Hugh Peters;” which in turn was a reply to Ward's A Religious Retreat Sounded to a Religious Army in which Ward called for state control of the army — a bold suggestion during the Civil War!
Wing (rev. ed.) W792; Thomason E.413[7]; Sabin 101330; ESTC R21688. Removed from a nonce volume. Old two-digit number in upper outer corner of title-page. Sewing starting to separate. In modern wrappers. (20998)