Search Results: Authors starting with N from Asher Rare Books

XVI, 569, [1 blank] pp.Very rare first edition of a guide for government officials in the presidency of Bombay, an administrative subdivision of British India. The author, Alexander Kyd Nairne, worked for the Bombay civil service and the government had him compile the relevant information and write a handbook for other civil servants tasked with administering and collecting taxes. The book is divided into five parts and informs the reader of general and particular rules relating to imperial, provincial and local taxes and several important special cases and exceptions to the rules. Not much is known about the personal life of the author. A second edition appeared in 1878, while a third edition, revised by H.A. Acworth, appeared in 1884. All editions are rare.Binding somewhat soiled. Some slight foxing throughout and some browning in the endpapers, but overall in good condition.l KVK & WorldCat (2 copies).

XIX, [1 blank], 659, [1 blank] pp.First and only edition of a geographical handbook to the Arabian Peninsula and the Red Sea, published on behalf of the Naval Intelligence Division (NID) of the British Admiralty. "The text is aimed at arming British Naval officers with everything they need to know of the ways and worlds of western Arabia. They can learn the different types of myrrh; the nature and position of the port of Qunfidha in south-western Arabia; that both whooping-cough and chicken-pox 'are very common'; and that the telephone service in Saudi Arabia is 'rudimentary'" (Canton). At the end are some appendices, one containing a list of the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphs. Appendix D deals with plants of economic importance in the Arabian Peninsula, enlisting (fruit and nut)trees, medicinal plants, vegetables, spices and others, with a short comment on their usage.With some library and deacession marks. A few of the folding plates slightly frayed at the margin. Green cloth binding discoloured at the… Read More

XIII, 295 pp.First and only edition of a vividly written account of a voyage through Germany, Poland, Moldavia and the Ottoman Empire, beautifully illustrated with fifteen coloured aquatints after the designs of the author. Adam Neale (ca. 1780-1832) of Scottish descent, was an army physician and writer. His first work, Letters from Portugal and Spain (1809), was a description of the events he experienced with the British forces under Sir John Moore and Sir Arthur Wellesley during the terrible campaigns of Napoleon in Spain and Portugal. Neale subsequently visited Germany, Poland, Moldavia and the Ottoman Empire, ending up in Constantinople to take up his position as physician to the British embassy. The present work contains his autobiographical account of these travels from July 1805 to March 1806, partly through regions which had suffered, and were still suffering, the horrors and barbarism of the Napoleonic wars. The battle of Austerlitz had just taken place in December 1805. Neale added also many… Read More

[12], 67, [1] pp.Very rare issue of the first and only edition of a treatise on fortification, written by an engineer in service of the Margrave of Brandenburg and printed in Stargard. This richly illustrated book was written as a critique on Dutch military architecture. Neubauer considered the Dutch manner of building fortifications, and particularly the work of Hendrick Ruse, the most important Dutch military architect of the first half of the 17th century, too costly and time-consuming. In the Discoursus he presents a type of architecture which he believed was more readily realized and more practical. Curiously, there are three issues of this edition, differing only in their dedications: to the city magistrates of Breslau, Danzig or, as in the present copy, Frankfurt am Main.With the sides somewhat worn; paper browned and tears in three of the folding plates and two other plates expertly repaired; engraved title-page shaved; a fair copy.l Bubke, "Der Artillerie Ingerieur- und Architectur-Kunst… Read More

[1], [1 blank], [1], [1 blank], [8], 191, [1]; [1], [1 blank], [10], 134, [2 blank] pp.Jean-François Niceron (1613-1646) was a multi-talented individual who excelled in mathematics, painting and engraving, and a member of the scholarly order of the Minimes. He had a keen interest in optics and made significant contributions to this field. Niceron's Perspective, his most famous work today, is a practical publication that resulted from his extensive study of perspective theory. He observed that the illustrations in earlier treatises on this subject were often flawed and that the accompanying texts were too complicated for readers without prior knowledge. Niceron's intention in writing his book was to create an easily understandable treatise on perspective that could benefit a wide range of professionals, including painters, architects, sculptors, engineers and anyone involved in drawing. He believed that the principles of perspective could be explained through methods based on natural observation, such… Read More

[22], 314 pp.First edition of an informative work on old Latin abbreviations. The dedication is dated Tübingen, 4 March 1703. Text in Latin with quotations and examples in Greek and Hebrew.As the author writes in his preface, the work is necessary to be able to read and explain texts, for example inscriptions on old monuments, coins and other objects. The second edition was published in 1706 by Henricus Teering, also in Leyden.Johannes Nicolai (1665-1708) was professor of Classical Studies in Tübingen, but founded also a reputation as oriental and Hebrew scholar by his notes on the Jewish antiquarian works of Bertram, Sigonius and Cunaeus.Slightly foxed. Spine slightly worn. In good condition.l Ebert II, 14770.

[16], 249, [7] pp.First edition of the German translation of A lapidary, first published in English in 1652 and compiled by Thomas Nicols: ''the first independent gemological book by a British author ... based firmly upon Boetius de Boodt'' (Sinkankas). Nicols lists all the true gems, but also covers fossils, coral, pearls, amber, etc. For each he discusses the forms, appearance, properties (diligently but somewhat sceptically reporting magical, mystical and medical claims), origins, classification, uses, prices, engraving on gems, etc. Nicols makes an intelligent synthesis of the earlier literature, as well as original contributions primarily in practical aspects related to jewellery, such as enhancing stones with reflective foils or dyestuffs, hardening softer stones, and the related subjects of falsification and adulteration.With a few minor smudges. Binding slightly stained. Overall in very good condition.l Carter, Sea of Pearls, p. 92; Sinkankas 4757; Schuh II, 3527; VD 17, 3:302273B; cf. Hoover… Read More

16, 274, [14] pp.Enlarged second edition of the German translation of A lapidary, first published in English in 1652, compiled by Thomas Nicols, and in German in 1675: ''the first independent gemological book by a British author ... based firmly upon Boetius de Boodt'' (Sinkankas). Nicols lists all the true gems, but also covers fossils, coral, pearls, amber, etc. For each he discusses the forms, appearance, properties (diligently but somewhat sceptically reporting magical, mystical and medical claims), origins, classification, uses, prices, engraving on gems, etc. Nicols makes an intelligent synthesis of the earlier literature, as well as original contributions primarily in practical aspects related to jewellery, such as enhancing stones with reflective foils or dyestuffs, hardening softer stones, and the related subjects of falsification and adulteration. In the present edition the first section has been expanded to 35 chapters (instead of 25) and the second has 89 unnumbered chapters, as in the… Read More

VIII (I and III blank), [6], 484, [2]; [1], [1 blank], [1], [1 blank], [12], 455, [1] pp.First and only Dutch edition of Niebuhr's famous account of the Royal Danish Expedition (1761-67) to the Middle East, Egypt, Persia and India. This edition was translated from the original German - Reisebeschreibung nach Arabien und anderen umliegenden Ländern (Copenhagen, 1774-78) - and includes Niebuhr's map of Yemen in volume 1, which is the first exact map of the area, which remained the standard for the next 200 years. Carsten Niebuhr (1733-1815) was a Danish-German traveller and surveyor. He studied mathematics and became an engineer and as such joined a scientific expedition to the Middle East, sent out by King Frederick V of Denmark in 1760-1761. "The expedition had been proposed by the Hebrew scholar Johann David Michaëlis of Göttingen for the purpose of illustrating certain passages of the Old Testament ..." (Howgego). The expedition took Niebuhr and five others from Copenhagen to Constantinople and… Read More

VIII, [6], 409, [1], [1 blank]; VI, [10], 389, [1] pp.First French edition of an account on Arabia, translated from the German (Reisebeschreibung nach Arabien und anderen umliegenden Ländern, 1774) by F.L. Mourier. The title-pages are dated 1776-80; the colophons 1775-79. The famous account of the Royal Danish Expedition (1761-67) to the Middle East, Egypt, Persia and India, the first scientific expedition to this area. Niebuhr's "work on Arabia was the first European attempt at a complete account of Arabia, its people and their way of life. He amassed a vast quantity of factual information which he relates in a simple unrhetorical fashion, distinguishing clearly between things observed personally and things learned from others. The expedition, which lasted 6 years, was sponsored by the Danish King [Frederik V], and included the brilliant Swedish scientist, Peter Forsskal, who died while in Yemen" (Cat. Sotheby's, 13 Oct 1998, lot 1010). Of the five scientists, Carsten Niebuhr (1733-1815) was the… Read More

[8], 916, [18] pp.The sixth corrected edition of this comprehensive argument for the existence of God based on the purposefulness of nature. Nieuwentyt wanted to convince atheists and unbelievers (notably Spinozists) of the existence of God by describing the intricacies and laws of nature. The work was pivotal in introducing the new experimental philosophy of Boyle and others into the Dutch Republic.Spine slightly damaged, plates slightly browned and frayed. Very good copy of this interesting work.l Bierens de Haan 3561; Poggendorff II, p. 289; STCN (4 copies, including 1 incomplete); cf. Vermij, "Nature in Defense of Scripture", in: Van Berkel & Vanderjagt (eds.), The Book of Nature in Early Modern and Modern History, pp. 83-96.

21, [1 blank] pp.Dissertation on mammal taxonomy by the Swedish zoologist and archaeologist Sven Nilsson (1787 - 1883). It proposes different methods of classifying animals, often referring to Linneaus and Retzius. With some annotations and corrections in ink. Edges frayed.l WorldCat (6 copies).

[18], [2 blank], "162" [= 164], [2], [2 blank]; 41, [2], [1 blank] pp.Second edition of an account of the voyage to the Strait of Magellan and Strait of Le Maire (which they named Strait of San Vicente) and the first extensive exploration of the latter and its surroundings, by the brothers, Captains Bartolome Garcia (1574-1619) and Gonzalo (1578-1622) De Nodal. Philip III commissioned them to investigate the passage into the Pacific to the south of Tierra del Fuego in 1618 and they gained fame as the first to circumnavigate Tierra del Fuego in 1618-1619. The Dutch navigator Jacob Le Maire had discovered the strait 1615-1617, shortly before the Nodal brothers, and it is still known by his name. The De Nodals' map is more detailed than Le Maire's.From the library of Sir Thomas Phillipps. In good condition. An important work, printed and bound by the printer to the Spanish Royal Navy at Cadiz.l CCPB 000351938-4 (7 copies); Howgego, to 1800, N34; Palau 99486; Sabin 55395.

VIII, 90, [1], [1 blank] pp.Rare first edition of a work containing 20 adapted prophecies of the French apothecary and seer Michel de Nostradamus (1503-1566). Nostradamus's predictions, first published in 1555 as Les proheties, are here edited by an anonymous author, giving an explanation of and opinion about each prophecy. Each prophecy is preceded by an oval emblematic engraving, 6 signed by the Antwerp-based engraver Pieter Balthazar Bouttats (1666-1756). Since the engravings don't relate to the text, they were probably originally made to illustrate an earlier work, and were reused in the present work.With bookplate. Browned, with some occasional small spots or stains, but otherwise in good condition. Binding worn along the extremities, bottom of spine damaged.l Chomarat, M. & J.-P. Laroche, Bibliographie Nostradamus (Baden-Baden 1989) 372; WorldCat (6 copies).

[25] ll.Very rare first and only edition of a “memorial” addressed to the king, Philip III of Spain. Cosme Novella was initially denied permission to practice the profession of pharmacist in the apothecary of his father-in-law who had recently passed away. During the inspections by the “Colegio de Boticarios” (College of apothecaries) they had found deficiencies in the operation of the apothecary, but Novella was finally admitted after intervention of a municipal jury. In 1601 he was appointed as inspector to the pharmacy of the Hospital Real y General, where he found serious deficiencies in their preparations of medicines. This angered the management of the hospital, who held a high position in the College of apothecaries. The College restarted their inspections of Novella’s business and closed his store. The dispute then grew to a bigger scale, involving the royal chapter of pharmacists and physicians. In the present “memorial” Novella presents his case to the King. The royal sentence would… Read More