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•  Recent wrappers. Pages clean; two leaves shaved at bottom with very minor loss.

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Binding:  Publisher's tan cloth, front cover pictorially stamped in black and white; designed by Thomas Watson Ball and with his “B” cipher. The cover depicts a richly dressed man at a tickertape machine. Top edge gilt.

•  Bound as above; black stamping showing light wear: a solid, clean copy.  (22208)

•  Publisher's purple cloth, stamped in gilt on the spine; boards lightly soiled, corners bumped; spine sunned, pulled at head and foot, cloth of spine with a couple of very tiny tears and black spots. Front pastedown with bookplate. Small piece cut from bottom blank areas of four leaves of preliminaries, blank leaf at front torn out. Several pages with stains in margins. Very good. (14498)

Meade was, briefly, a member of the 3rd Philadelphia Battalion, but saw no military action himself; his grandson was Gen. George Gordon Meade, commander of the Army of the Potomac.

•  On Meade, see: Dictionary of American Biography, XII, 473–74. Creased along folds, with a few ink blotches and very minor offsetting. Later pencilled note beneath signature.

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According to the colophon: “Finit explicatio formalis totius primae partis Summae theologiae Sancti Thomae Aquinatis . . . Die 21. Decembris anni 1611 . . . Mantuae in aedibus Sanctissimae Inquisitionis.” The earliest edition in any U.S. library is the Venice, 1614 edition. This 1622 printing is reported as owned by only one U.S. institution, this copy having been deaccessioned by the other library of record.

•  VD17 12:643261D.   Contemporary vellum over light boards, small area of discoloration on spine; lacks the silk ties, bookplate removed, old library pressure-stamp on title (properly deaccessioned), NO rubber stamps. All edges stained blue. A very nice copy. (20728)

Also included is a woodcut map showing Europe, the Atlantic, and the New World.

•  Palau 159680; Alden & Landis, European Americana, 609/77; Medina, BHA, 123. Old vellum; red leather, gilt-lettered spine label; some staining, and chipping to edges and label. Old, careful repairs to interior worming occasionally cost individual letters (but never sense) or a little loss to an illustration. Old rubber-stamps and red and black ownership label on title-page; inked notations on title-page and front pastedown. All edges speckled red.

The last leaf, filled on both sides, lists a “Grand Assortment” of books available from “J O H N M E I N”;  these are of a variety of sorts, but the one that gets an all-caps headline is a new edition of Fordyce's Sermons for Young Women!

•  Evans 10687; Drake 3164; ESTC w22665.   Sewn in original marbled wrappers. Usual foxing and light age-toning of almanacs of this era and region. Some dog-earing and “thumbing”; small piece of wrapper missing from lower spine. Else very good.  (18214)

The sole Aldine edition of these works, it is also the editio princeps of Publius Victor, the second edition of Antoninus Augustus' Itinerarium, and the third edition of Dionysius in Latin.

As is to be expected, the text is in italic with spaces and guide letters provided for (unaccomplished) initials.

The register (leaf G2 recto) lists a gathering *4 that is not found here or in any known copy, so the reference would seem to be incorrect.

Binding:  18th-century English sprinkled tan calf, gilt spine extra and board edges gilt-tooled.

•  Renouard, Alde, 83; Adams M1053; Schweiger, II, 607 (“seltene Ausg.”).   Bound as above, small darkened spot near top of spine; joints starting to open but covers still nicely attached; without the final two leaves (one blank, one with Aldine device).  Bookplate. Title-page holed at gutter, not nearing device; light waterstaining and a bit of dust-soiling to first and last leaves. Interior otherwise clean, even bright.  (25876)

And, indeed, this account of a young man's experiences on the Neversink on a voyage around “The Horn” recounts the cruelty and hardship that Melville and all seaman experienced on naval vessels, but it also tells of camaraderie and good times.

Evidence of readership: Foremargins with finger oil staining. Notes in margins: p. 275, “this book is full of folly and exagerations” (sic); p. 345, “perfectly just”; p. 389, “what an improbable story — a regular U.S. Sailor wearing a rag[g]ed white jacket, a regular non-descript”; p. 403, “mis print”; lower area below final line of text: “damn bad,” “not good,” “good for the devil.”

Provenance:  From the library of the German Society of Pennsylvania.

•  BAL 13662; Wright, II, 1871.   Slightly later quarter sheep with marbled paper sides; binding shows wear, refurbished. Text with staining and spotting as evidence of heavy reading and use; last several gatherings with reinforcement at gutter. Various margins with short tears. Two leaves misbound; lacks two leaves of advertisements. Ex–social club library: call number on endpaper and at top of title-page, pressure- and rubber-stamp on title-page, three pages with light rubber-stamp, no other library markings. Now in a half-calf clamshell case with gilt spine. A copy with a distinct, interesting, and perhaps further-explorable history!  (26827)

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•  Contemporary mottled calf, spines with gilt-stamped leather title-labels, spine compartments with gilt-stamped floral decorations; covers mildly acid-pitted and considerably abraded, with leather lost at head of spine, corners, and joints. Spines with paper shelving labels or remnants thereof; front pastedowns each with bookplate. All edges marbled. Faint pencilled marginalia and bracketing; intermittent offsetting.  (22804)

•  Publisher’s cloth, spine with printed paper label; spine and back cover scuffed, spine label darkened and chipped. Front pastedown with institutional stamp. Many signatures unopened. Pages slightly age-toned, else clean; paper embrittled, with a few short edge tears.

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•  Goldsmiths'-Kress 13422.18. Contemporary mottled green paper over cartonneé covers: paper browned, torn, and chipped, especially along spine and edges. Uncut copy. Light soiling on deckle edges, endpapers, and title-page. Some light waterstaining in parts. Pencilled notes on front free endpaper.

•  Wing (rev. ed.) M1784; ESTC R23540. In later wrappers. A very nice copy. (21024)

•  Contemporary vellum, spines with gilt-stamped leather title and volume labels and gilt-stamped decorative bands; bindings lightly soiled, with spine labels chipped and rubbed, spines with shelving numbers in white. All page edges stained gold. Front pastedowns with institutional bookplates, title-pages with shadows of pencilled numerals. Vol. III lacking half-title. Intermittent light foxing, most pages clean. (14112)

The force behind this edition was archbishop Francisco Antonio Lorenzana (1722–1804), a patron of Hogal's press and of the arts, who soon after assuming the archbishopric of Mexico in 1766 saw the need for a concilium. In preparation for it he paid Hogal to publish or republish, as was the case, the acts of the first three provincial councils of Mexico, held respectively in 1555, 1565, and 1585; these appeared in 1769 and 1770. In 1771 he himself held the fourth Mexican provincial synod; ironically, those acts were not published until 1898.

•  Medina, Mexico, 5299; Palau 142387; Sabin 42063.   Recent Spanish sheep mottled in the Valenciana style. Occasional light waterstain in some upper margins, never in text. Paper crisp and printing very sharp. A very good copy.  (26797)

Evidence of readership: In addition to the expected marking in margins indicating important statement in the text (which is extensive in this copy), folios 17r, 17v, and 18r of the second foliation have interesting marginalia .

The Third Mexican Concilium, which was celebrated in Mexico city in 1585, had been called by Archbishop Moya de Contreras with the object of producing a comprehensive and compulsory social code for New Spain. The code was shaped, but only those rules directly affecting the conduct of priests (regular and secular) and nuns (cloistered and not) were promulgated.

The force behind this edition was archbishop Francisco Antonio Lorenzana (1722–1804), a patron of Hogal's press and of the arts, who soon after assuming the archbishopric of Mexico in 1766 saw the need for a concilium. In preparation for it, he paid Hogal to publish or republish, as was the case, the acts of the first three provincial councils of Mexico, held respectively in 1555, 1565, and 1585; these appeared in 1769 and 1770. In 1771 he himself held the fourth Mexican provincial synod; ironically, those acts were not published until 1898.

•  Medina, Mexico, 5361; Palau 142389; Sabin 42064 .   Recent Spanish sheep mottled in the Valenciana style. Minor worming at some inner margins, never in text. Paper crisp and printing very sharp. A very good copy.  (26794)

Sabin calls this work a “rare and valuable compendium of the old mining laws and mineral customs.” Galvez was a special commissioner charged with making reforms in the governing of Mexico; his work greatly influenced the 1786 replacement of the Mexican provinces with 12 intendencias. The 18th century saw a rebirth of the Mexican and the Peruvian silver industry as new technologies and techniques were introduced. Concomitant with the increased production was increased wealth for the mine owners and the crown.

•  Palau 251938a; Medina, Lima, 1636; Sabin 56260.   Recent calf bordered in gilt tooling, spine with gilt bands and floral devices in compartments, gilt-stamped leather title label; a few very small scuffs to covers. All edges sprinkled blue and red. Title-page recto and verso with inked ownership inscriptions in an early hand. Final leaf with repairs to outer edge; penultimate two leaves with lower corners torn away, outer edge of one with small chewed portion. Occasional spots of foxing. Two worm pinholes to title-page; more extensive worming to inner margins of central 20 leaves, on some pages touching text without affecting comprehensibility. Handsome.  (3039)

This is a states' edition, promulgated by José Gómez de la Cortina, Governor of the Federal District.

•  Streeter, Texas, 880.   Very good condition. Lacking the integral blank leaf.  (24618)

•  Publisher's textured taupe silk binding, front cover with patterned coral silk insert; spine with gilt-stamped title. Dust wrapper and original slipcase present, lower back corner of jacket slightly crumpled; otherwise a gorgeous, clean copy in an undamaged slipcase.  (24683)

Blockley, in which the land in question was located, was a township located in West Philadelphia from about 1677 until its consolidation with the city in 1854. The name has lingered, although it has been superceded in general usage by the broader term “University City.”

•  Parchment crisp and untorn, with outermost folded portions lightly spotted; front with early inked title as given above, plus pencilled numerals. An evocative document connected to some very prominent names, in excellent condition, with its seal protected for its intended reuse by a diamond-shaped paper covering.

The binding is full rusty-brown Nigerian goat, stamped in gold on the spine. The etchings are by Leonard Baskin, a series of five portraits tracing the downward spiral of Willy Loman — a powerful complement to Miller's portrait of a salesman at the end of his career and at the end of his rope! The plates, printed by Bruce Chandler, are each protected by a brown paper tissue guard. The book is designed by Benjamin Schiff, who chose a Bulmer font for the text.

This offering includes the monthly newsletter but not the mailing notice.

•  Limited Editions Club, Bibliography of the Fine Books Published by The Limited Editions Club, 1929–1985, 540.   Binding as above. One of the tissue guards is loose but otherwise undamaged. Fine, in the original slipcase. A handsome production of one of the most performed plays in the world!  (21754)

TWO nicely accomplished pen-and-ink drawings of ships

One leaf bears a number of small photographs of young men, labelled “1915” — possibly classmates from St. Paul’s?

•  Publisher’s cloth wrappers, front cover gilt-stamped “Autographs”; edges and extremities chipped. Text block partially separated from spine. Some fading to colored pages, with occasional very slight offsetting or ink smearing.

Binding: Contemporary olive morocco, covers framed in gilt single fillet, spines with gilt-stamped title. All edges gilt.

•  NSTC T1207 (for 1801 and 1809 eds., not citing this ed.). Bound as above; spines darkened (not unattractively), some corners bumped. Front pastedowns each with armorial bookplate, one volume with additional private collector’s bookplate affixed and others with that bookplate laid in. Occasional small spots of faint foxing; one page with two drops of spilled wax.

The illustrations are full-page watercolors, six in all, by Edmund Dulac. The LEC Bibliography says they were "printed in process offset," but this is in error: The mailing notice asserts they were "reproduced in six printings by the Sun Engraving Company," and a member of the family that owned that enterprise observes to us that it did not in fact have offset presses—while it was noted for its color letterpress productions, including the original (1940) Szyk Haggadah.

The design is by John Dreyfus, who chose a monotype Bembo font printed by the University of Cambridge Press; the engraving of the music was done by G.T. Friend. The binding is quarter gold-stamped vellum with marbled paper sides; top edges are gilt. Since Hubert Foss and Edmund Dulac both died during the production of this book, a one-page photo-print from The Times of London's obituary section summarizing the achievements of these two men has been included with this offering. The monthly letter and mailing notice are also present.

•  Limited Editions Club, Bibliography of the Fine Books Published by The Limited Editions Club, 1929–1985, 250. Two tiny stains on the fore-edge, a penstroke marking p. 54, and two other pen-point spots. With the original slipcase.

•  STC (rev.) 17947; ESTC S121879; Allibone 1325; Vancil 165. On Minsheu, see: Dictionary of National Biography.   Period-style morocco framed and panelled in gilt rolls with gilt-stamped corner fleurons, spine with original gilt-stamped leather title-label, gilt-ruled raised bands, and gilt-stamped decorations in compartments (signed by Grace Bindings in blind at inner area of rear cover, lower turn-in). Title-page institutionally rubber-stamped. Some age-toning and light to moderate spotting; one leaf with tear from outer margin into several lines of text, without loss; last leaf with small hole affecting a few words. (21047)

Scarce: OCLC records only one holding of another issue.

•  Half leather over marbled paper boards, stamped with gilt rolls and lettering, rubbed and spine slightly cocked; leather with some loss at spine extremities, corners, and over back joint. Bookplate of a Catholic seminary library on front pastedown, rubber-stamp on free endpapers, ink numeral on first leaf and rear free endpaper, properly deaccessioned. Tiny chip to upper outer corners throughout; light, even faint, waterstaining to lower corners and outer margins. Pleasanter in hand and under eye than it sounds, this isan interesting snapshot of early-'30s Catholic life in, and as viewed from, the American South.  (17149)

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•  Recent quarter calf, round spine; raised bands accented with gilt beading, gilt center devices in spine compartments, and two green spine labels. Combed-pattern marbled paper sides. Lacks the half-title, only; occasional light foxing. A very good copy of an interesting and now uncommon book.  (22228)