Search Results: Authors starting with M from Asher Rare Books

[40] ll. + 37 plates.Fine copy of the first edition, one of three simultaneously published issues, of a touristic series of aquatint views of the Netherlands, published by Evert Maaskamp (1769-1834). It contains 37 sepia aquatints, showing architecture (including the Royal Palace of Amsterdam and the ruins of the castle at Wijk bij Duurstede), statues of Dutch national heroes such as Michiel de Ruyter and Erasmus, and several cities and harbours: Amsterdam, Utrecht, Broek in waterland, Nijmegen, Rotterdam, Vlissingen etc. Others depict scenes of Dutch culture, like ice skating and a funeral procession. Each aquatint is accompanied by a letterpress leaf explaining the illustration in both Dutch and French.Fine copy, only two small stains, not touching the plates, and some subtle, minor restorations to the spine.l Landwehr, Coloured plates 369; WorldCat (10 copies, including 2 undated).

[13] ll.Charming collection of 13 sepia aquatint plates with views of Amsterdam, published by Evert Maaskamp. They include the Royal Palace (interior and exterior), the stained glass windows of the Oude Kerk, a theatre, a concert at the Felix Meritis and several views of Amsterdam's famous canals. All but the last plate were also issued by Maaskamp in 4 instalments with a letterpress title-page, Nouvelle statistique historique d'Amsterdam, each instalment accompanied by 8 pages of text, dated 1812 by Landwehr. At least the present series appears to be later, for the laid paper tissue guards, from a single paper stock, match one from 1826 (Voorn, Noord-Holland 184). With bookplate on paste-down. One plate with a marginal water stain, not affecting the image, some occasional offsetting on the tissue guards and the back of previous plates, some other plates slightly stained in the margins, but otherwise in very good condition. Binding worn along the extremities.l Cf. Landwehr, Coloured plates 365 and 452.

[4], V, [1 blank], 364 pp.First and only edition of a monograph on the butterflies of Madagascar by the French entomologist Paul Mabille (1835-1923). It was published as volume 18 & 19 of Grandidier's Histoire physique, naturelle et politique de Madagascar. A very good copy, with crisp impressions on notably white paper.l Nissen, ZBI 1676.

[4], 232 pp.A detailed scholarly study of ancient sources for the history and geography of the Canary Islands, attempting to prove that the Portuguese discovered them before Islamic explorers, and that Islamic geographers knew them only through classical Greek and Roman sources. The main text is followed by extensive notes from a wide variety of sources and transcriptions of numerous primary sources, some in Greek or Arabic. In passing it also provides a wealth of information about navigation in the Mediterranean and Atlantic by classical Greek and Roman and by Islamic explorers. While Macedo's claim for Malocello's discovery of the Canaries in 1336 is no longer accepted, the Islamic geographer Idrisi noted a Portuguese voyage to the Canaries already before 1154.In fine condition and wholly untrimmed, giving very large margins. The modern wrapper is slightly tattered.l Porbase (1 copy); cf. Innocêncio IV, 96 and XII, 80 (issue in proceedings); for the author: Protásio, "MACEDO, JOAQUIM JOSÉ DA… Read More

15, [1 blank] pp. plus plates.Very rare publication with 10 very detailed plates depicting the anatomy of the horse. In his preface the author-artist Joseph Machold (1824-1889), painter, illustrator and a former officer in the Austrian army, explains that this publication was made by order of the Austrian army to educate the soldiers in the anatomy of the horse and that the Ministry of War gave him the opportunity to conduct the studies he needed to produce it in the royal veterinary institute in Vienna. His paintings were lithographed by Varrone and the plates printed by F. Köke in Vienna. Holzhausen, the printer of the letterpress text, was printer at the printing office of the Imperial University.With an ink stamp twice on the front wrapper. In very good condition, with marginal restorations to the title-page, some text-leaves frayed and marginally soiled; the plates with some spotting. Front wrapper soiled and with tears repaired. Rare anatomical plates of the horse, published to educate soldiers… Read More

[6], LXIII, [1 blank], [10], 139, [1 blank]; [4], 88, XX pp.Improved edition of this standard work on Hindu and Muslim law by Sir William Hay Macnaghten (1793-1841), a British diplomat in India who was important in the First Anglo-Afghan War. Macnaghten went to India in 1809, where he served as an administrator and diplomat in Madras and Bengal. Here he acquired a knowledge of Hindu and Muslim law. The treatises on Hindu law in the present book involve topics as proprietary right, inheritance, the property of women, partition, marriage, adoption, slavery etc. For Muslim law, Macnaghten wrote also upon these topics, but moreover also on missing persons, gifts, parentage, endowment, debts and securities nad other judicial matters. Altogether a highly important standard work, printed in Calcutta, on Hindu and Mahomedan law.With the library stamp of the Moonsiff's Court on the half-title, title-page and the last page.Binding slightly worn around the edges, some foxing, otherwise in good condition.

[68]; [12]; [12] ll.Ad 1: Very rare first edition of Macropedius's Adamus, a popular school drama on the history of mankind since the fall of man until the birth of Jesus. Macropedius's comedies and tragedies, inspired by the plays of Plautus and Terence, are outstanding specimens of Renaissance Latin school drama. These school dramas had an instructive function in humanistic education as well as the added advantage of familiarizing the pupils with Latin metrics and language through their participation in the performance.Ad 2: Unrecorded third or fourth (?) edition of a very popular collection of proverbs and sayings from Greek poets translated in Latin. Ad 3: Erasmus's catechetical poem Institutum hominis Christiani, (G1-4), Isocrates's Paraenesis ad Demonicum (G5v-H3v) with a preface by Erasmus referring to Agricola (G4v-5), and the Greek Dicta Periandri, explained by Erasmus (H3v-4), followed by the publisher's device (H4v). These are complete works extracted from an edition that included others… Read More

[2], "123" [= 125] ll.The second Cologne edition of two of the most important sixteenth-century textbooks on the art of letter writing, by Macropedius (along with two smaller works) and Hegendorf, often published together. Georgius Macropedius or Joris van Lancvelt (1487-1558) devoted a lifetime of hard work to teaching in the schools of the Brethren of the Common Life. By 1510 he had begun teaching at Bois-le-Duc and his Asotus, the first of the Latin School plays for which he is best known today, was composed there. Macropedius was ordained as a priest and went on to teach at Liege (ca. 1525-1529) and Utrecht (ca. 1529-1556). In addition to the twelve plays, he published Latin School songs and textbooks on grammar, dialectic and prosody (two of these smaller works are included in this edition).With an early owner's name struck through on the title-page, a couple marginal annotations and a few brief passages underlined. Ten lines of a sample letter concerning theology on P1v have been marked for… Read More

[32], “353” [= 351], [1 blank]; [2], "292" [= 296], [24] pp.A French translation of Maffei's celebrated Historiarum Indicarum. Divided into 16 books, it describes the Portuguese discoveries and missionary work in India, the East Indies, Persia, Japan, China, Brazil and other parts of America. "Maffei writes extensively about Brazil, describing it very accurately" (Borba de Moraes), in fact devoting three chapters to the subject. Book six is devoted to China and includes a description of tea, to which Maffei ascribed several health benefits, regular consumption resulting in a "long and healthy life" ("Elles les ... fait vivre longues années, presque sans aucune langueur", p. 230). The translation is by Abbé Michel de Pure (1634-1680). Title-page with stamp and owner's inscription. Lower corner of title-page torn off (ca. 10 x 5 cm), stamp on leaf A1 partly cut out, slightly shaving a few letters of the text, slightly browned. Binding worn, spine damaged, hinges cracked, corners damaged. A… Read More

[72], 478, [2 blank]; 401, [7]; 152, [12] pp.Early 17th-century edition of a classic work on "the Indies", including both the West and East Indies, considered the best (Sabin) and the most complete (Borba de Moraes) of the many Latin editions. Most of Maffei's work is concerned with the Portuguese conquests and the Jesuit stations in India, the East Indies, and regions around the Arabian Sea to about 1557. The first 5 books appear to follow rather closely the model of Barros. Book VI, dealing with China and book XII, which is mainly concerned with Japan, are heavily indebted to Valignano's account of those countries. The second part includes a selection of Jesuit letters written from the Indies and translated by Maffei.It is bound with Maffei's renowed life of Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus.Several owners' entries on title-page of first work, some browning, new endpapers, binding slightly dirty, otherwise in good condition.l Ad 1: Alt-Japan-Katalog 916; Borba de Moraes, p.… Read More

[8], 272 pp.Good association copy of the first and only edition of a "work which no student of the history of falconry should neglect" (Harting). The author argues that people in the Middle Ages particularly honoured the falcon as the star of the hunt. He goes into the Medieval style of training falcons and the cures for many diseases that could affect them. He derives his information from multiple Latin sources. These Latin treatises, still largely unpublished, are presented in the first chapter, while the following three critically analyse the information they provide concerning birds, taming and hunting techniques, and medical applications.Signed presentation copy from the author to Florian Pharaon (1827-1887), the first Arab editor at Le Figaro, and the translator of an Arabic hunting work into French. Some spotting, binding rubbed. Otherwise in good condition.l Harting 211; Schwerdt II, pp. 2-3; Thiébaud 621.

312 pp.Very rare first edition of an important Jesuit report from Japan and China, written during a period when Jesuit missionaries and Japanese converts to Catholicism suffered numerous horrific martyrdoms and persecutions. It recounts in gruesome detail the martyrdoms being suffered throughout the Christian community in Japan; other subjects are briefly mentioned.The provincial Gironimo Majorica (1589-1656), born in Naples, wrote the first letter (pp. 1-158), dated from Macao, 30 September 1623. He reported on the state of the Jesuit colleges at Goa, Chaul, Tana, Bassein and elsewhere in the year 1620. In the following year he wrote a similar but briefer report that mentions the printing of Marco Giorgeo's catechism in the Kanarese language of West India. The present more extensive letter is a compendium of reports garnered from refugees and from a few letters carried by them from prisoners and those in hiding.The letter of 1622 from China (pp. 159-248), written by Nicolas Trigault from Hangchow, is… Read More

324 pp.Second edition by Trachsler at Zürich, but the first with the Leipzig address added, of the German translation of the popular French Robinsonade for children by Jeanne-Sophie Mallès de Beaulieu, Le Robinson de douze ans, first published at Paris in 1818. The engraved plates show exceptionally fine colouring, each plate in its own way is transformed into a real work of art. All early editions, both in French and in German, are very rare. The earliest German edition listed by Gumuchian is a new translation from 1836, which he labels "très rare".Binding very llightly rubbed, otherwise in fine condition.l Otto Brunken et al., eds., Handbuch zur Kinder- und Jugendliteratur. Von 1800 bis 1850, 582 note; Ullrich IV, 117 f; WorldCat (2 copies); cf. Gumuchian 4946 (new German translation of 1836.

268 pp.Very rare first (and only?) edition of a detailed description of a journey from Marseille to Manila, undertaken in 1870-1871. The author travelled through Aden, Ceylon, Singapore and Hong-Kong. Written by the author Jules de Man (1824-?) with the purpose of amusing his friends who were curious about his journey to the Philippines, as stated in the preface on p. 5, probably published as a limited edition. The book contains many picturesque anecdotes and ends with a presentation of the commercial and agricultural resources of the country, then ruled by Spain.With a dedication inscription on the verso of the half-title-page: "A mon vieil ami | le gros Louis [?]autermann | L'auteur J de Man | Anvers Juin 1875". The binding is slightly stained and rubbed, the front (inner) hinge cracked, book block and binding still attached. Occasional minor foxing. Otherwise in good condition.l Nardin Denis, Bibliographie des ouvrages en français sur les Philippines, n. 99. In: Archipel, volume 9, 1975, pp. 57-68… Read More

37, [1 blank] pp.Rare compilation of papers for the parliament of the United Kingdom, commonly found bound in series, related to a plan concerning the rescue of shipwrecked persons. The proposal included the placement throughout the country of so-called "Manby mortars" throughout the country. This mortar fired a shot with a line to a wrecked ship and could be lighted with a special wind-proof pistol. The line could be used for communication purposes, as well as to connect to specially designed lifeboats.George William Manby (1765-1854) was an English author and inventor. Appointed barrack-master at Great Yarmouth in 1803, he witnessed the wrecking of the brig Snipe in 1807, with over 60 casualties. This tragedy inspired him to think about both the equipment available for rescue and the means of communication between a wrecked ship and the shore. Manby's inventions were brought before parliament in 1810 and an agreement to place them along the coast was finally reached in 1816.Water stain in foot… Read More

[268] pp.Journal of accounts of the cloth dyeing factory of Joannes Baptista Joffroy (1699/1708-post 1772?) in Mechelen (Malines) in the Southern Netherlands (now Belgium) under the Austrian Habsburgs, beginning on 1 April 1734 and ending with 21 August 1759. Most of the entries are for accounts receivable, but the journal also records deliveries of materials and goods to the firm and payments made for them, as well as other transactions or events, occasionally not monetary. The entries record a wide variety of cloths, almost entirely wollens: most common are laken, serge and “kastor" but also flannel, "Fries", "perpetuan", ratiné, etc., and sometimes combinations. An unusually detailed note, apparently for incoming cloth includes "tricots". The entry usually indicates the colour the cloth was dyed, most often green or blue, but also yellow, bay (reddish brown), red and others. Some are more specific. The records of goods received and their payments are especially interesting for the materials and… Read More

[2], [2 blank] pp.Autograph letter by the New Zealand scientist George Malcolm Thomson, addressed to the French zoologist Alphonse Milne-Edwards. Thomson (1848-1933) was a New Zealand scientist, teacher, educationalist, and politician. He was born in Calcutta, India, and grew up in Scotland before emigrating to New Zealand at the age of 20. Before emigrating, he briefly studied chemistry and botany at the University of Edinburgh. Later in life, as a teacher and scientist in New Zealand, he had a great interest in these and other natural historical subjects.The addressee of the present letter is Alphonse Milne-Edwards (1835-1900), a French zoologist and naturalist and the son of the renowned French zoologist Henri Milne-Edwards. After obtaining a medical degree in 1859, Alphonse started out as the assistant to his father at the Jardin des Plantes in Paris. Later in life, he became the director of the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle. In his studies, Milne-Edwards mainly focussed on fossil birds… Read More

[8 blank], [1], [1 blank], [1], [1 blank], [187], [9 blank] pp. including frontispiece.A beautifully produced manuscript, probably prepared for publication but apparently never published, listing more than a thousand events of historical importance (including the birth and death dates of important people) with a special emphasis on Dutch artists. The main text forms a calendar with two days per page, listing events for the relevant day from many different years. Although it includes events going back to 17 CE, most entries date after the Union of Utrecht (1579) gave birth to the Dutch Republic and many give the birth or death dates of Dutch artists. The book was compiled by the Amsterdam apothecary Joannes Dylius (ca. 1746/47-1807) and has its origins in a similar publication by the famous historian of the Dutch Revolt, Geeraert Brandt, Daghwyzer der geschiedenissen (1689), and a new version compiled by Govert Klinkhamer, Dagwyzer der geschiedenissen (1775). Writing of the "Rocaille-and-flower… Read More

Original official ordinance by the knighthood, noblemen and cities of the province of Holland representing the States of Holland (signed by the great statesman Johan van Oldenbarnevelt), giving a detailed picture of the careful balance that had to be struck between individual rights and general good in maintaining the reclaimed Dutch polder lands in the 16th century, in this case concerning water control in the Land van Arkel, a region around the towns of Arkel and Gorinchem and some villages and polder lands to their north and east. The officials had already taken all measures they could independently, improving the existing windmills and building new ones to pump the rising water up into the rivers, but the windmills were unable to perform optimally because willows, orchards and other planted trees on private properties around the windmills were interfering with the wind. The request was granted by the present ordinance. It gave them the authority to forbid further planting within 50 roeden (about… Read More

[4] pp.Exceptionally rare and almost unknown medicinal treatise by Najib Al-din Abu Hamid Muhammad b. Ali b. 'Umar Al-Samarqandi (?-1222), an important Persian physician who lived during the Islamic Golden Age (8th century-13th century CE). It discusses different heart medicines, primarily herbs and spices, including their use, composition and dosage. The text is complete and only known in manuscript form. We have not been able to trace any other copies in sales records of the past 100 years.Al-Samarqandi was born in Samarqand, in current day Uzbekistan, which was then part of Persia. He was an outstanding physician and a prolific medical writer. His most well-known work is Kitab Al-asbab wa'l- 'alamat ("The book of causes and symptoms"), which was widely read and commentarised in the Arab world for centuries. Little else is known about Al-Samarqandi's, except that he, together with almost 1,5 million other Persians, died violently during the Mongol conquest of Herat, in present day Afghanistan. The… Read More