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Catalogue 72
Books
from the Past
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1.
[ANON]. État actuel de l'Inde, Et considérations
sur les établissemens & le commerce de la France dans
cette partie du monde, sur les améliorations dont ils sont
susceptibles, & sur la meilleure maniere d'y faire le commerce.
A Londres; Et se trouve à Paris: Chez Madame veuve Laurent
Prault, Libraire, 1787. $450
8vo; pp. iv, 224. Recent quarter calf over marbled boards; blind
tooling of fleurs-de-lis on spine, gilt title and bands; decorative
devices at end of some sections. Small burn hole affecting two letters
on one page; lower edge of one page stained with printer's ink.
A very good copy of a scarce work.
Kress B: 1209A; JFBL: E154; not in Goldsmiths' nor in Muller. The
Compagnie des Indes (French East India Company) was initially established
in 1664 by Jean-Baptiste Colbert, under King Louis XIV, in order
to trade with India. The Company's first operations were based in
India, and later with other trading partners in America and Africa.
It was more successful in India than elsewhere; Pondicherry remained
a major trading post until the British captured it in 1761. The
Company's operations were suspended in 1769, but reinstated under
Louis XVI in 1785. This work, written by a shareholder of the newly
revived company, is an historical guide to the various ports of
trade and their business practices. It is a very interesting account
of the commercial activity in the French colonies before the French
Revolution.
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2.
[ANON]. Wonderlijcke Autentijcke Missive, Geschreven uyt
het diepste der helsche Afgront: Door Belzebub, Oversten der Duyvelen.
Aen de Clergie of Vergaderinge der Geestelijhkheyt tot Parijs. Gedruckt
in de Brouwery van de Werelt, daer de Verraders haer loon ontfangen.
[June 15], 1672. $650
Small 4to; pp. 7, [1], (blank); sewn as issued; printed in Black
Letter, save for the final page; signed at end "Belzebub, oversten
der Duyvelen, Griffier ordinary Secretaris de Hel". The title-page
vignette is of St. George and the Dragon, and a woodcut illustration
on verso of the title is of a malevolent-looking monk carrying a
club.
Knuttel 2-II: 10246. We have located five copies only: BL, Andover-Harvard
Theological Library, BNF (2 copies); Mich. (Spec. Coll.) has a variant
spelling in the title ("Afgrond" for "Afgront").
Written at the beginning of the so-called "Dutch Wars"
in 1672, in which year France (with 6000 English troops under the
Duke of Monmouth) declared war on the United Provinces. The title
translates loosely as "A wonderful and authentic missive written
from the deepest abyss of Hell, by Beezlebub, chief of the demons,
to the clergy or assembly of clergy in Paris, printed in the Brewery
of the World, where the traitors receive their due." A piece
of propaganda aimed at the Capucins and Jesuits to capture as many
souls as possible in the ensuing battles between the Protestant
Dutch and the Catholic French and English.
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3. AQUINO, CHARLES d'. Fragmenta Historica de Bello Hungarico
Authore Carolo de Aquino Societatis Jesu. Romae, Ex typographia
Hieronymi Mainardi, MDCCXXVI (1726). First edition. $1,100
12mo; 125, [1] (Blank); contemporary full vellum, lettered in manuscript
on spine; small inked signature of Jesuitical college on title;
wanting final endpaper; a fine copy of a scarce work.
De Backer & Sommervogel I:494, 17; we have located a copy at
the Bib. Nacional de Brasil, but not in COPAC nor RLIN, nor do we
locate copies in the Hungarian collections of various American libraries
(LofC., Stanford, etc.) . The author (1654-1737) was from a noble
family of Rome and professor of rhetoric in that city. He was author
also of several military and agricultural works, as well as historical
essays. This work is an overview of the history of Hungary, including
the conflicts of the various countries in the region and the incursion
of the Turks, and results of the Turkish Wars.
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4. ARISTOTLE. I Tre Libri Della Retorica d'Aristotele a Theodette;
Tradotti in Lingua Volgare, Da M. Alessandro Piccolomini. Nuovamente
Dati in Luce. Con la Tavola de Sommarii. In Venetia, Appresso Francesco
de' Franceschi Sanese, MDLXXI [1571]. $2,150
4to; pp. [6], [6] (tavola and errata), 292; three historiated initials;
58 foliated initials; personal blindstamp on front fly-leaf; seminary
stamp on title in margin; perforated seminary stamp on title, p.
[1] and p. 292. Engraved device of printer on title, with motto
"Per me qui si riposa in ciel si gode"; pictorial head-piece;
tail-pieces. Quarter calf over mottled boards, rubbed at edges;
spine gilt and blind-stamped in compartments; small paper shelf-label
on spine and front paste-down; light staining on lower edges of
some leaves. The dedication by Piccolomini is dated XV Decembre
1570.
BMSTC 74; Harvard. Aristotle wrote several treatises during the
later part of his life when he taught philosophy at the Lyceum school
(335 BCE-322 BCE). The Rhetoric, which discusses three main considerations
in making a persuasive argument, is thought to be compiled of Aristotle's
lecture notes and those of his pupils. This edition was translated
by Alexandro Piccolomini (1508-1578), Bishop of Patras, a scholar
of literature, philosophy, and astronomy (Cath. Encycl.). It was
printed by Francesco de Franceschi Senese (c.1530-c.1599), who was
active in Venice from 1561 to 1599. He published mainly classical
works with commentary by experts in the fields of philosophy, science,
the military and music (Diz. Biogr. Ital.), and his device is beautifully
engraved here on the title.
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5.
[BACON, FRANCIS, 1561-1626]. Fr. Baconi de Vervlamio Historia
Naturalis & Experimentalis de Ventis, etc. Amstelodami, Ex Officina
Elzeviriana, Anno 1662. $425
12mo. pp. [16], 232, [16]; engraved title page. Signatures: *8,
A-K12, L4. Brown suede; green silk damask endpapers; gilt lettering
on spine and front; wanting front free endpaper; historiated head-pieces;
tail-piece (Rahir, Elzevier, 16, 57); foliated initials; hinges
cracked; small wormhole at upper gutter of first few leaves, with
loss of a few letters; one leaf has small tear at lower right corner;
another leaf has small stain top right margin; printing flaw lower
corner of last leaf, obliterating some text, and blind-emboss at
same place.
Willems 1277; Pieters 296; Goldsmid 21. Copies at: BL, Oxford, Wellcome;
BNF. Francis Bacon, described by DNB as "the British Socrates,"
was educated at Cambridge and studied law at Gray's Inn. He was
elected to Parliament during the contentious period of religious
division, and he wrote many opinions on the issue, which he hoped
would bring him favour with Queen Elizabeth. He allied himself with
the Earl of Essex, but the friendship was tested many times over
the years, with both men having alternating high profiles at Elizabeth's
court. Bacon was a prolific writer, not only in parliamentary opinions
and on works of law, but he also wrote literary, scientific and
philiosophical essays. Included in this volume are works on wind,
heat, motion and physics: Historia Naturalis & Experimentalis
de Ventis; Historia Naturalis et Experimentalis de Forma Calidi;
De Motus Sive Virtutis Activavariis Speciebus; Ratio Inveniendi
Causas Fluxus et Refluxus Maris. "Like all works of Bacon published
by Elzevier, except for one, this was previously printed by Hackius
in 1648, in the same format and with the same title engraving"
- Willems. The publishers, Louis and Daniel Elzevier of the well-known
printing family, were active in Amsterdam from 1655 to 1664.
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