Both this and the first edition are scarce. Searches of OCLC, RLIN, and NUC Pre-1956 find only seven U.S. institutional holdings of the 1677 printing.

•  Barbier, Dictionnaire des ouvrages anonymes, IV, 213; BM STC French, 1601–1700, R1083. Contemporary speckled calf, spine gilt extra; leather slightly acid-pitted, with edges and joints rubbed and unobtrusive number inked on back cover, spine with gilt a bit rubbed and paper shelving label in uppermost compartment. Front pastedown with inked ownership inscription dated 1737.

Click the interior image for an enlargement.

Illustrated with a frontispiece portrait of the author, two folding maps (one showing the distribution of brothels), and a folding table.

Provenance:  Bookplate of Edwin A. Dalyrymple on front pastedown.

•  William Osler, Bibliotheca Osleriana: a catalogue of books illustrating the history of medicine and science, 3615 (first edition).   Contemporary half calf with marbled paper-covered sides, spines with blind-accented raised bands; gilt-stamped title on a red leather label; another compartment with gilt-stamped author's name and volume number; spine compartments framed in blind and each with a blind-tooled center device. Marbled endpapers. Fore- and bottom edges stained red. One folding map chipped at top edge and with shallow tear along two folds, without affecting map; folding table with shallow tear along one fold, just touching one letter. Overall, a very good set.  (24480)

•  Publisher's elaborately blind-embossed and gilt-stamped paper in imitation of leather. Spine chipped and worn at tips. Some loss of paper to covers, with a half-inch off on bottom front corner.

Extremely uncommon. Searches of OCLC, RLIN, and NUC Pre-1956 locate just three institutional holdings, only one in the U.S.

•  18th-century quarter sheep with speckled paper–covered sides, rubbed and abraded; front joint open and back joint starting, leather cracking and gilt lettering to spine all but lost. Front pastedown with pencilled notations and institutional bookplate, front fly-leaf and title-page rubber-stamped, front fly-leaf with inked ownership inscription dated [18]45. Pages untrimmed. Moderate foxing; some leaves with red staining along inner margin, not approaching text. Two leaves with small portion of lower margin excised; separate title-page for second work with small portion of outer margin excised and replaced some time ago with a scrap of paper bearing an early inked annotation.

The marginal notes here are printed in French!

•  Palau 221179; Peeters-Fontainas 1056; Gallardo 3449; Oxford Companion to Spanish Literature 457. 19th-century calf, old style. Scuffed and abraded. Front free endpapers starting to loosen and with a few tears in margins. Text clean and tight.

Caillet includes this “ouvrage remarquable” in his bibliography of theoccult, since “On trouve dans cette étude des fragments précieux des anciens traités vaudois.”

Uncommon: OCLC and NUC Pre-1956 locate only eight U.S. institutional holdings of this work, one since deaccessioned.

Provenance: This can be “walked back” not so much through collectors and institutions as through the shops of booksellers: Front pastedown with small New York bookseller’s ticket affixed over partially visible Paris bookseller’s ticket; title-page rubber-stamped in late-19th or early-20th century by a Spanish bookseller of Cadiz, and title-page verso bearing the attractive affixed printed advertisement of an earlier Cadiz bookseller.

•  Brunet, IV, 209-10; Caillet, Manuel bibliographique des sciences psychiques ou occultes, 8539; Graesse 208; Morgand and Fatout, Bulletin de la Librairie Morgand et Fatout, 5802 (for 1619 Chouët edition, first two parts only); Picot, Catalogue des livres composant la bibliothèque de feu M. le baron Rothschild, 2030 (for Berjon edition).   Contemporary vellum with yapp edges, covers framed in blind triple fillets, spine with title in an early inked hand, covers a little sprung; covers a bit darkened with light staining, spine with partially effaced inked shelving number; front free endpaper (only) lacking. Ownership indications as above; later in an American institutional library, with its pressure- stamp on title-page, first dedication page with neat inked numeral in lower margin, and lower (closed) edges rubber-stamped. First few leaves with spot of pinhole worming in inner margins, affecting three letters only; final portion of volume with worming in lower margins, affecting a few more letters and continuing through back cover. Pages age-toned and with instances of faint staining. An interesting copy of an interesting book.  (25534)

François Raymond Joseph de Pons (1751–1812) was archivist for the French Navy. This work also appeared in English, German, and Spanish editions; this is its first edition, and the sole French edition.

Provenance: Engraved armorial bookplates of Thomas Munro on front pastedowns. Unattributed note in pencil in top margin of half-title of vol. I (repeated in substance in the other volumes): “This was Talleyrand’s copy.”

Click the images for enlargements.

This volume, occasionally but not definitively attributed to Jean-Louis Barbeau de La Bruyère, is commonly known as the “Recueil d'Utrecht”; it appears here with a title-page printed in red and black.

•  Period-style deep brown calf, covers framed and panelled in gilt rolls with gilt-stamped corner fleurons, spine with gilt-stamped burgundy leather title-labels, gilt-ruled raised bands, and gilt-stamped compartment decorations. Light offsetting to first and last few leaves and scattered spotting, pages otherwise clean.  (27084)

Single-click the interior image for an enlargement.

•  Goldsmiths’-Kress 8461 (for first ed.); not in Garrison & Morton. Contemporary mottled calf, spine gilt extra with gilt-stamped leather title-label; leather rubbed at edges and joints, spine a bit scuffed, joints just starting at front foot and back head. Front fly-leaf with student’s inked ownership inscription dated 1768. Some instances of light spotting and age-toning, pages mostly clean. All edges marbled.

Signed Binding: Contemporary red straight-grain morocco, covers framed in substantial gilt and blind-tooled rolls with gilt-stamped corner fleurons, surrounding central gilt-stamped medallions of the French imperial eagle. Spines gilt extra in arabesque and foliate motifs with additional blind-tooling; board edges gilt-stamped and turn-ins with wide gilt rolls. All edges gilt. Bindings signed by Charles Hering — one of the most prominent English binders of the early 19th century.

This volume from the famous Didot press is illustrated with an oversized folding map of the Antilles and 28 steel-engraved plates depicting architectural, natural, and sociological views, including a railroad in Cuba, the harbor at Quebec, the Theatre St. Charles in New Orleans, an interior view of the “Pénitencier de Philadelphie” (Eastern State Penitentiary) and exterior view of the “Prison de Comté de Philadelphie” (Moyamensing Prison, prior to the addition of the Egyptian Revival-style debtors' apartment), “Guerriors Indiens, Chefs Assiniboins,” a bison hunt on horseback, and beavers at work.

•  Palau 256194; Sabin 68924.   19th-century quarter dark green morocco and marbled paper–covered sides, spine with gilt-stamped title; light rubbing overall, corners bumped, spine slightly sunned. Offsetting from plates and occasional light to moderate spotting.  (24885)

•  Binding as above, spine gilt dimmed, edges and extremities lightly worn. Lower page margins waterstained, with foxing throughout. (10712)

Scarce. OCLC, RLIN, and NUC Pre-1956 report only one U.S. holding of this item.

•  Contemporary quarter morocco with mottled paper-covered sides, spine with gilt-stamped title and gilt-ruled raised bands; spine slightly darkened, edges and corners showing traces of wear. Front pastedown with institutional rubber-stamp (no other markings). Publisher’s printed paper wrappers bound in; front fly-leaf partially adhered to front inside wrapper. Pages lightly age-toned, else clean. A good copy.

WorldCat locates only the Paris editions with a total of two libraries reporting ownership. Not in COPAC.

•  Not in Lindsay & Neu, but see 4839 for the Paris editions.   Removed from a nonce volume. Gatherings should be resewn as they are loosening one from another.  (25759)

The book is illustrated with 100 engraved plates and numerous in-text engravings, as well as a frontispiece map of the Holy Land in each volume. The plates are mostly figural illustrations taken from paintings in catacombs and on sarcophagi, illuminated manuscripts, mosaics, ivory figurines, murals, etc. The title-pages are printed in black and red ink, and decorated with an engraved vignette.

•  Publisher's red cloth, stamped in gilt on the spines and front covers. Spines sunned and front cover of vol. II slightly sunned along fore-edge also; cloth of spines frayed at extremities and chipped in other places. Hinges (inside) of vol. I a little weak, stitching exposed; corners bumped with cloth damage; pages very shallowly bumped. Ex-library, with shelf labels on spines, institutional bookplates on front pastedowns, pressure-stamp to title-pages and one other page in each volume. Paper very good; pages clean and bright.  (24688)

•  Brunet, IV, 1421. Contemporary black half morocco over blue pebbled cloth, spine beautifully gilt extra, leather edges ruled in gilt; volume clean and virtually unworn. Front pastedown with private collector’s bookplate and with institutional rubber-stamp (no other markings); some soiling and offsetting to front pastedown and free endpaper. Many leaves lightly to moderately foxed, a few more heavily — the paper here was not as good as it might have been. One leaf with short tear from upper margin, touching page number but not text. An attractive production.