BOOKS IN FRENCH
BOOKS IN FRENCH
Marmontel's
Political-Philosophical
Novel with
Gravelot's
Illustrations
(A
FRENCH ENLIGHTENMENT TREASURE). Marmontel, Jean François.
Bélisaire. Paris: Chez Merlin, 1767. 8vo (19.9 cm, 7.8"). [4], x, 340,
[6] pp.; 4 plts.
Click the images for enlargements. Merlin also printed a duodecimo edition in 1767; in the present edition, “Fragmens de philosophie morale” is found on pp. 273–340, followed by the Addition and Approbation.
Provenance: Front pastedown with gilt-stamped armorial bookplate of notable 19th-century book collector Edward Hailstone, gilt-stamped “I.T.” bookplate with motto “Inter folia fructus,” and bookplate of Sir Montague Shearman.
Binding: Contemporary crimson morocco, covers framed in gilt triple fillets; spine gilt extra with gilt-stamped leather labels, board edges and turn-ins with gilt rolls. This volume (complete in itself) seems at one time to have been part of a set of Marmontel's works, and bears an (unnumbered) spine label reading “Oeuvres de Marmontel.”
• Brunet, III, 1440; Cohen de Ricci, Guide de l’amateur de livres à gravures du XVIIIe siècle, 688; Graesse 406; Tchermezine 455. Binding as above, with edges, extremities, and joints showing minor rubbing. Front pastedown with bookplates as above; front free endpaper with affixed slip of early cataloguing; rear pastedown with small chip out of paper. Light spots of foxing, slightly heavier around plates. All edges gilt. (25776)
This
entry is repeated in the
The Augsburg Confession — 51 Documents
The
First Much Annotated
(A
FRENCH REFORMATION LANDMARK). Chytraeus, David.
Histoire de la confession d'Auxpourg, contenante les principauls traittez &
ordonnances, faittes pour la religion, quand l'electeur Iehan, duc de Saxe auec
les citez & autres princes protestants presenterent leur confession de foy
(icy inserée) a l'Empereur Charles V. os estats generauls de l'empire,
tenus a Auxpourg, 1530. Anvers: Chez Arnould Coninx, 1582. 4to (24.3 cm, 9.55").
[8], 835, [5] pp.
Click the interior images for enlargements. 
Rare. OCLC lists only four U.S. holdings and one deaccessioned copy (the present example).
• Brunet 22420; Graesse, II, 154. Not in Adams. 19th-century quarter olive morocco with marbled paper–covered sides, spine with gilt-stamped author/title; edges and extremities rubbed. Top edge gilt. Front pastedown with bookplate as above; title-page and first text page each with early inked ownership inscription. Four leaves with small repaired tears from outer margins and three likewise from upper margins, not touching text in any case. Extensive early inked marginalia in first document, scattered examples elsewhere. (23536)
This entry is repeated in the
An Elegant Production!Académie
des Inscriptions et Belles-lettres. Choix des mémoires de l’Academie Royale des inscriptions et belles-lettres. Londres: T. Becket & P. Elmsly, 1777. 4to (27 cm, 10.6"). 3 vols. I: [2], iii, [1], lx, 656 pp. (pagination skips 17–32, text uninterrupted). II: [2], iii, [1], ccviii, 495, [1 (blank)] pp. III: [2], iii, lxviii, [1], 696 pp.; 1 fold. plt., 2 plts.
Click the image to the left The third volume includes two plates and one oversized, folding plate reproducing two inscriptions and a frieze, engraved by E. Malpas.
Uncommon outside of Great Britain.
• ESTC T113913; Brunet, I, 26; Lowndes, I, 5. Contemporary treed calf, spines gilt extra, with gilt-stamped leather title and volume labels; leather worn at edges and moderately rubbed with joints cracking. Front pastedowns with private bookplates and signs that a plate was removed on front free endpaper (one vol. endpaper holed); impressions of old pencilled shelf numbers on title-pages (and one lightly inked old date). First two leaves of vol. III with upper margins stained and final leaf browned; some pages with a few spots of faint foxing, most clean and crisp.
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He Tries toCover It ALL!
Amelot de la Houssaye, Abraham-Nicolas, sieur. Memoires
historiques, politiques, critiques, et literraires. Par Amelot de la Houssaie. Ouvrage imprimé sur le propre manuscrit de l'auteur. Amsterdam: Michel Charles Le Cene, 1731. 12mo. 2 vols. I: 561 pp. II: 462 pp., [11 (adv.)] ff.
Provenance: From the collection of 19th-century scholar Dr. Johann August Neander (1789–1850), a convert from Judaism who became a leading scholar of Christian church history.
• Brunet 18324. Contemporary calf, spine with raised bands, gilt-stamped compartment decorations at top/bottom, and later black leather gilt-stamped labels; covers blind-tooled in concentric compartments. Rubbed with bits of leather lost at extremities; offsetting from leather along margins of endpapers and title-pages. Marbled endpapers, free ones missing in both volumes; front pastedowns each with library bookplate and both title-page versos with call number in pencil. Initial pages of vol. II toned. A good solid set. (21186)
Limited to 200 Copies — A Polyglot “Song of Moses” Bargès, Jean Joseph Léandre. Notice sur deux fragments d'un Pentateuque hébreu-samaritain rapportés de la Palestine par M. le sénateur F. de Saulcy. Paris: Imprimerie Polyglotte Édouard Blot, 1865. 8vo (24.5 cm, 9.6"). [6], 91, [1] pp.; 1 fold. plt.
Click the interior images for enlargements. Uncommon: OCLC and NUC Pre-1956 locate only five U.S. holdings.
Provenance: Ownership label of George Williams (1814–78), who served as Vice-Provost of King's College from 1854 to 1857.
• Recent marbled paper–covered boards, front cover with gilt-stamped red leather title-label. Title-page with small affixed slip with ownership inscription of George Williams of King's College. Occasional edge nicks and short tears, and a number of leaves with old creases or the odd smudge; last leaf with old, small repairs to margins, and one other leaf with very good repair from blank reverse to an interior tear (no text lost or even affected). (25368)
The Preeminent History of the
Edict of Nantes Benoist, Élie. Histoire de l'Edit de Nantes, contenant les choses les plus remarquables qui se sont passées en France avant & après sa publication, à l'occasion de la diversité des religions.... Delft: Adrien Beman, 1693–95. 4to (24.4 cm, 9.6"). 5 vols. I: [70], 467, [5], 98, [22] pp. (lacking add. engr. t.-p.). II: [32], 612, [4], 98, [32] pp. III: [32], 656, [2], 197, [27] pp. IV: [4], 628 pp. V: [6], 631–1019, [29], 199, [49] pp.
The text is enlivened by decorative capitals and, in the first volume, an engraved allegorical headpiece.
• Barbier, Dictionnaire des ouvrages anonymes et pseudonymes, 680. Contemporary mottled sheep, spines gilt extra with gilt-stamped leather title and volume labels, board edges blind-tooled; bindings rubbed overall with a gouge or two and corners bumped/abraded, spines with unobtrusive remains of old paper shelving labels and extremities chipped, joints tender with some starting. Each volume with institutional bookplate on front pastedown. Vol. I with additional engraved title-page excised; vol. II with some lower outer corners bumped. Faint to moderate intermittent offsetting throughout, and the occasional smudge to a margin (see pictures); vol. III with more noticeable browning and occasional spotting. All edges marbled, some now faded; ribbon placemarkers. 
A handsome and very usable set of an important work. (25842)
Voice
of the
Huguenots
in EXILE
Benoist, Elie. Histoire et apologie de la retraite des
pasteurs, a cause de la persecution de France. Francfurt: Jean Corneille, 1687. 8vo (16.3 cm,
6.4"). [10], 286, [8] pp.
Click the images for enlargements. This was most likely a false imprint, probably printed in the Netherlands; no other works printed by “Jean Corneille” are recorded, and no other works by Benoist were printed in Germany during the time of his exile.
Uncommon: OCLC locates only six U.S. institutional holdings, one of which has since been deaccessioned.
• VD17 12:116486H; Barbier, Dictionnaire des ouvrages anonymes et pseudonymes, 800. Period-style speckled calf framed and panelled in gilt with gilt-stamped corner fleurons, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label, gilt-dotted raised bands, and gilt-stamped compartment decorations; binding signed in blind on lower rear turn-in by Grace Bindings. Title-page and last page institutionally pressure-stamped; title-page verso with rubber-stamp “Ex Biblioth. Regia Berolinensi,” with superimposed deaccession stamp; first page of preface with inked numeral in lower margin; lower (closed) edges rubber-stamped. Front fly-leaf with annotations on Benoist and first portion of volume with inked marginalia in an early hand. Pages age-toned with light spotting. (25851)
ROMAN Political Science in itsOriginal State Bilhon, Jean Fréderic Joseph. Du gouvernement des Romains, considéré sous le rapport de la politique, de la justice, des finances, et du commerce. Paris: Chez Louis (pr. by Pierre Didot l'Ainé), 1807. 8vo (21.2 cm, 8.4"). viii, 312 pp.
Click the interior images for enlargements. Uncommon: OCLC and NUC Pre-1956 find only eight U.S. holdings.
• Goldsmiths'-Kress 19346.100. Publisher's rose paper wrappers, rebacked in paper wrapper edges chipped and hinges (inside) reinforced. Half-title and title-page institutionally rubber-stamped, front pastedown with institutional bookplate and early inked numeral, half-title with small inked ownership inscriptions. Signatures unopened, edges untrimmed; pages age-toned throughout, some with a little foxing; a nice copy. Now housed in a neat rose-maroon cloth clamshell case with gilt-stamped leather title-label. (25268)
Lovely French Printing — GORGEOUS! French BindingBoileau
Despréaux, Nicolas. Œuvres diverses du Sieur D*** avec le traité du sublime ou du merveilleux dans le discours, traduit du Grec de Longin. Paris: Claude Barbin (pr. by Denys Thierry), 1674. 4to (25.3 cm, 10"). π2A–R4S8T–Y4Z
Click any image where the hand appears on
• Brunet, I, 1056; DeBacker, Auteurs du XVIIe siècle, 1020; Tchemerzine, II, 271. Binding as above, nearly perfect save for just a touch of rubbing to the spine extremities, in cloth-covered slipcase, worn, with cloth starting to split over edges. Frontispiece and title-page separating from binding; title with red-tinted signs, near edges, that the marbling process did not go entirely smoothly; upper margins of several other leaves with hints of very faint waterstaining. Otherwise, clean and quite lovely.
The PLATES areInteresting & um, Explicit Boitard, Pierre. Nouveau manuel complet du naturaliste préparateur, ou l’art d’empailler les animaux, de conserver les végétaux et les minéraux, de préparer les pièces d’anatomie normale et pathologique ... nouvelle édition. Paris: Librairie encyclopédique de Roret, 1852. 12mo (14.7 cm, 5.8"). [4], 510 pp.; 4 fold. plts. (of 5).
Click the interior images for enlargement. 
• Contemporary quarter morocco with pebbled cloth–covered sides, spine with gilt-stamped title; corners and spine extremities rubbed. Front pastedown with private collector’s bookplate, this and the front free endpaper then institutionally rubber-stamped. One plate lacking (no. 5). Pages slightly age-toned; plates with small spots of light foxing. (20363)
A Jesuit Pioneer inIndia & Japan Bouhours, Dominique. La vie de Saint François Xavier, de la Compagnie de Jésus, apostre des Indes et du Japon. Nouvelle édition. Paris: Chez Guillot, 1787. 12mo (16 cm, 6.5"). 2 (of 2) vols. I: 24, 442, [2] pp. (lacks frontis.) II: [4], 418, [1] pp.
Click the interior image for an enlargement. The New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia notes that Dominique Bouhours (1632–1702) was best known to English readers as the author of this much-reprinted work and an earlier life of Ignatius of Loyola; for a long time these were “the most widely circulated biographies” of the two saints. Bouhours also achieved prominence for his anti-Jansenist writings.
The pair of volumes were nicely printed, with some nicely engraved head- and tailpieces. The text offers sidenotes.
Rare. A search of OCLC records only two copies, of which this is one, now deaccessioned.
• De Backer-Sommervogel, I, 1904–1905; Cordier, Bibliotheca Japonica, 146. Recent full calf, covers framed and panelled with single gilt fillets and with gilt-stamped corner fleurons; spines gilt extra, with gilt-ruled raised bands, gilt-stamped leather title and volume labels, gilt publication date at foot, and elaborately gilt-tooled floral decorations in compartments; marbled endpapers. Tear in outer margin of pp. 269/270, just barely touching sidenotes; very occasional foxing; offsetting from leather of previous binding affecting first and last leaves at margins, including title-pages. Ex-library, with faint penciled notations on verso of title-page and at base of following page in each volume. Vol. I lacks the frontispiece portrait. Faults noted, still a good copy and in an attractive binding. (24526)
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Gastronomic Masterpiece ILLUSTRATED — Limited Edition Brillat-Savarin, Jean Anthelme. Physiologie du goût ou meditations de gastronomie transcendante. Paris: Les Arts & Le Livre, 1926. 2 vols. 8vo (24 cm, 9.4"). I: xlii, [2], 252 pp.; illus. II: [4], 300, [2] pp.; illus.
Click the images for enlargements. Provenance: Front pastedown of vol. I with bookplate of Francis de Neufville Schroeder, a descendent of the first mayor of New York.
• Not in Bitting. Contemporary half red morocco and marbled paper–covered sides, spines with gilt-stamped author and title; corners and joints showing some shelf wear, spines slightly darkened. Vol. I front pastedown with bookplate as above. Original yellow wrappers in near-perfect condition; overall, a lovely set. (25885)
Principles
ofNatural
LawBurlamaqui, Jean Jacques. Principes du droit naturel. Geneve: Chez Barrillot & fils, 1747. 4to (24.3 cm, 9.55"). XXIV, 352 pp.
This may be a later issue of the 1747 first edition; the last line of p. 7 here begins with “de l’esprit” and the first line of p. 223 with “tage au préjudice.” A companion volume to the present work, Principes du droit politique, was to be printed posthumously in 1754 and it is not present here — this volume being a very satisfactory stand-alone, arriving at a conclusion describing the “heureux accord de la lumière Naturelle & Révélée.” (Conceiving of the two works as vols. I and II of a larger whole is an anachronism in period to 1766 when de Felice was to bring them together for the first time.)
• Not in Brunet. Recent quarter calf over marbled paper–covered sides, spine with gilt-stamped leather labels and gilt-stamped decorations in compartments. Pages age-toned, with light foxing in spots; outer and lower edges of title-page showing offsetting from original turn-ins.
 TO Part
II .
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