Search Results: Titles starting with C from Asher Rare Books

[1], 9 engraved ll.Complete series of 9 engraved prints by Robert van Audenaerde after Andrea Mantegna's paintings of Caesar’s triumphs, preceded by the title-print, commissioned by Cardinal Panciatico, with his arms at the foot of the title-print. Mantegna (1430/31-1506) created these paintings between 1484 and 1492 for the Ducal Palace in Mantua, commissioned by Duke Federico I Gonzago, or more likely his son Francesco II. They show the triumphal military parade celebrating Julius Caesar's victory in the Gallic Wars: a procession of Roman soldiers, musicians, exotic animals, war equipment and captives. These paintings are often acknowledged as Mantegna’s greatest masterpiece, because they form the most complete pictorial representation of a Roman triumph. His paintings became very popular, also for engravers and printmakers, and many print series followed, including one from his own workshop. The present series by the Ghent engraver Robert van Audenaerde (1663-1743) is one of the most beautiful… Read More

“182” [=184] pp.First edition of a work on fortification by the French colonel François Tissot, sometimes called Tissot-Grenus, expressing his "new ideas" on the subject. He deals with the construction of different types of fortresses, but most of the work is devoted to command and leadership, attack and defence, tactical formations and orders etc. The engraved plates show ground plans, profiles, battle plans, and tools and machinery. The present edition was published anonymously, only mentioning "Mr. le Colonel D***" on the title-page, but the second edition (London/the Hague, 1785) mentions "Colonel de Tissot Grenus" as the author.With a manuscript note at the foot of the third plate. Occasionally a small spot, overall in very good condition. Binding slightly rubbed along the extremities, but otherwise also very good.l Jähns, p. 2779; Jordan 0822; not in Sloos, Warfare.

[8], 380; [4], 403, [1 blank] pp.Very rare first edition of the Dutch translation of a novel about the California Gold Rush, originally published in Swedish in 1862 as Kalifornien och guldfebern. Including content on the Mormons and Indians in the area. An equally rare second Dutch edition or issue was published a year later by the widow D. Kunst.Spines a bit tattered and a few occasional spots, but otherwise in very good condition.l Howes V140; Kurutz 655c; NCC (2 copies); WorldCat (5 copies, incl. the 2 in NCC).

[6] including the frontispiece, plus 100 collotypes.1895 edition of the first volume of Ongania's collection of collotype views of Venice in an impressive imperial folio format and in the original publisher's binding. Its Venetian publisher and bookseller Ferdinando Ongania (1842-1911) was especially known for using the latest photographic techniques and the clarity of the collotypes in his publications. This series of views shows the canals, waterways and the lagoon of Venice, but also remarkable places such as the Piazza San Marco, the Palazzo Ducale, the Ponte dei Sospiri and the Canal Grande. But Ongania didn't show only the city’s majestic sights, boats and gondolas: he also shows the ordinariness and serenity of 19th-century Venice, sharply contrasting the tourist attraction Venice has become today.The present first volume of Ongania's collection was already issued in 1891 under the title Calli et canali in Venezia, also containing 100 plates, particularly of the main island of Venice. Several… Read More

XXXIX, [1 blank], 343, [1 blank], [3], [1 blank]; [3], [1 blank], 467, [1 blank], [3], [1 blank]; [3], [1 blank], 548, [1], [1 blank]; [3], [1 blank], 464, [3], [1 blank]; [3], [1 blank], III, [1 blank], 542, [2]; [3], [1 blank], 400 pp.First and only complete edition, containing about 2800 pages of official reports of one of the most important 19th-century circumnavigations of the globe, especially valuable for its information on Tahiti and Hawaii, and for its detailed view of the political manoeuvrings of the various colonial powers with each other and with the indigenous populations, both in the Pacific and elsewhere. The 31 stunning steel-engravings ("fine quality": Forbes) enrich the account greatly. Besides the well-known Pacific views (Hawaii, Tahiti, Tasmania, the Philippines, Vietnam) they include mosques at Karikal and Kolkotta in India and views of Oman, Mocha, Brazil, Peru, California and much more. Laplace also provides valuable information about trade on the coasts of the Arabian… Read More

[57] ll.Enlarged and corrected third edition, one of two issues, of the earliest printed secular Scottish songbook, published by John Forbes, book and music printer at Aberdeen. "As the sole publication of secular music in Scotland during the entire sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the three editions (1662, 1666 and 1682) of Cantus, songs and fancies by the Aberdeen printers John Forbes and son are of historical significance. ... the three editions present the 'cantus' voice of sixty-four songs, about a third of them unique to Scotland and nine found so far only in Songs and Fancies" (McLucas). Added to the present third edition are six "balletti" after Giovanni Giacomo Gastoldi (b.1555), and some popular English songs by Henry Lewis and Dr. Wilson. With the bookplate of the English musician, organist and tenor William Hayman Cummings on paste-down, and the bookplate of the Swiss pianist Alfred Cortot on first flyleaf. Lacking the woodcut frontispiece, replaced by the frontispiece from the 1879… Read More

24; 1-2, 5-26 (of 26) engr. ll.Ad 1: Only copy located, with the plates in their first state, of a print series depicting beggars and tramps published by Claes Jansz. Visscher after the original ca. 1625 print series by Jacques Callot, Capitano de Baroni. Hollstein notes that the stock list of Claes Jansz. Visscher's son Claes Claesz. Visscher II includes this title, but no copy could be located. The plates apparently descended to Carel Allard (active 1673-1707) for he published it with the plates in a second state, bearing his own name (known only from a copy at Yale University Library). Ad 2: A rare print series of tramps, cripples and beggars, originally engraved by Hondius after designs by the Dutch painter Pieter Jansz, Quast (ca. 1605-1647), first published in 1638 and still bearing that date at the end. The plates are here in their second state, reworked and published by Claes Jansz. Visscher and dated 1652 on the title-plate. Small spot on the title-page of the first work, a few faint stains… Read More

ll. 6-24 (of 24).All but the first five leaves of a very rare lithographic print series issued in parts. Most copies were probably cut up (and perhaps coloured) by children and destroyed in play. The human figures to be cut out include Turkish, Arabic, African and Near Eastern men and women (black and white) in Islamic clothing, some of the men with a variety of firearms, spears, daggers, pipes, prayer rugs, and other gear and goods. There are also camels, horses and donkeys, often with their gear for riding or for carrying loads. The wild animals include wolves, a hyena and an ostrich. Inanimate objects include containers for water, an incense burner, baskets, chests, barrels, camel saddles and much more. The series must have provided many children and adults with their first notion of Islamic society and culture and is rich in authentic details.With an occasional pencil mark. Lacking leaves 1-5, but otherwise in remarkable good condition. The whole is slightly browned and the edges somewhat… Read More

[14], 282 ll.First edition of an important work on the history of Genoa from its beginnings to 1527, finely bound by Albert Magnus. Though primarily concerned with Italian history it also discusses America, containing under the year 1493 (leaf 249) an interesting account of Christopher Columbus - a native from Genoa - called “the inventor of the navigation to the New World”. This copy has a very interesting provenance: it was in the possession of the great Dutch book collector Paulo van Uchelen (ca. 1641/42-1702), who had it bound by the most famous bookbinder of the Dutch golden age, Albert Magnus. In 1970 Herman de la Fontaine Verwey noted that Van Uchelen appeared to have had many of his books bound by a single workshop following a sort of Van Uchelen house style (the 1703 catalogue itself notes the great consistency of the bindings): gold-tooled vellum, each board with a frame of double fillets, with a crown inside each corner. With an early manuscript name on the title-page in brown ink: "M.… Read More

XX pp.Unrecorded nursery catalogue listing 323 flowers (numbered in eleven groups) offered for sale by a flower merchant named Guiot. Although the catalogue contains no imprint and does not give the merchant's address, he was probably in or near Barcelona, where the catalogue was printed. It gives the names and colours of 15 Plantas de Claveles [carnations], 35 Jacintos Dobles [hyacinths], 20 Narcissos muy Dobles [daffodils and narcissus], 25 Jonquilles Dobles [jonquils], 7 Varas de Jessé Dobles [amaryllis and related?], 25 Tulipas muy Raras [tulips], 12 Flores muy Raras, 4 Otras Flores muy raras, 15 Rosales odoriferous á cien hojas [roses], 100 Francillas dobles muy raras (plus 5 unnumbered sorts) [amphion and related?], and 60 Nemoras muy Dobles [nemoras].Two French publications on forestry appeared in Paris in 1770 under the author's name Guiot: Manuel forestier & portatif and l'Arpenteur forestier, (Bradley IV, 108 & 263) but this may have no relation to the (Barcelona?) flower merchant who… Read More

16 pp.Extremely rare illustrated catalogue of enameled metal signboards, plates and large copper letters intended for signs, name and number plates, a clock fave, etc. The catalogue was issued by the brothers Luigi and Giovanni Ravasi, described on the wrapper-title as the suppliers of the Italian State Railways and the Royal Navy. They offer enameled plates, etc. on iron, zink and copper. No other copies of the present catalogue, nor copies of other catalogues of the firm could be located or found recorded in the literature.Of special interest is the very large poster showing in full size specimens of the capital E of 5 different styles, each in 6 to 8 sizes (labelled Romano [clarendon], Fantasia [tuscan], Palla [tuscan-like], Bastone [sans-serif, with 3 alternative forms] and Capitale [with roman and clarendon characteristics], 3 to 15 cm), as well as pointing hands, panels and other decorations. The catalogue itself illustrates the signboards, plates, etc., ranging from simple house numbers to a… Read More

97, [1 blank], [1], [1 blank] pp.First and only edition of the standalone version of a systematic classification of European species of fish by the French naturalist Charles Lucien Bonaparte (1803-1857). This publication - in Latin but with an Italian title - was also published as part of the proceedings of the 7th congress of Italian scientists held in Naples in 1845, at which Bonaparte presided over the zoological commission. "As early as 1831 Bonaparte became interested on the great principle of classification and was critical of Cuvier's concepts. … In ichthyology Bonaparte made use of the location, the structure and the relationships of the branchiae in the classification of fishes. … Bonaparte tried to establish our knowledge of various zoological groups once and for all, and published numerous synopses, conspectuses, and catalogs" (DSB).Binding worn with the head of the spine damaged and a large tear at the back repaired with tape. Some foxing throughout but otherwise in good condition.l Dean… Read More

XXIII, 332; XI, 482; VIII, 337; VII, 524 pp.Catalogue of the famous auction of the library of Don Ricardo Heredia, Count of Benahavis. Heredia i.a. purchased the Salva library on February 13, 1872. Heredia´s collection was perhaps the greatest private collection of Spanish books ever formed and was sold en bloc to the Bibliotheca Nacional of Spain.Library stamp on title-page. A very good set.

7, (1), "72" [= 70], (2 blank) pp.French edition, with Latin descriptions, but preliminaries and notes in French, of a rare catalogue of succulents from the genus Aloe. A German edition appeared at the same time.Salm-Reifferscheid-Dyck (1773-1861) started collecting succulents at Schloss Dyck in 1800 after consorting with the leading French botanists in Paris and took lessons in paintings from Redouté after he saw the illustrations Redouté made for Candolle's Plantarum Succulentarum Historia. His succulent collection soon became unrivalled.Very good copy.l BMC NH, p. 1792; Pritzel 8008 note; Stafleu & Cowan 10126 note (4 copies); KVK (3 copies); Kew Gardens on-line Cat. (1 copy); not in OCLC.

58 pp.Auction catalogue with the art collection from De Merval, auctioned 9 May 1768 containing paintings, watercolours, reliefs and porcelain.Good copy, partly uncut.l Duplessis 596.

[16], [216] pp.First (and only 16th-century) edition, in the original Latin, of Placentius's history of the bishops and general history of the dioceses Tongres (Tongeren), Maastricht and Liège (Luik), in the eastern central Low Countries, up to 1506. What appears to be the book's first owner signed his name in red at the foot of the title-page and (with further information) at the foot of the first page of his manuscript index: "Pro Thoma. v. Ven[n]e, p[res]b[yte]ro in Oirschot convi[vio]rum" (For Thomas vande Venne, priest of the monastery in Oirschot [Brabant]). He came from a leading Oirschot family. His index has three parts, listing the 84 bishops by location and alphabetically, and indexing the most important subjects. These and his notes are written on a quire of 4 leaves. He probably also wrote the occasional annotations in the margins. Also with later owners’ inscriptions, including the Antwerp Jesuit Jean P. Clé (1722-1800) and the Comte d'Oultremont (Charles-Ignace (1753-1803) or Émile… Read More

[16], 99, [12] [1 blank] pp.First and only edition of this historical work on the Utrecht Diocese and on the abbots and priests of the most important medieval monastery in Holland, the Monastery of Egmont in the northern part of Holland by the Dutch historiographer Pieter Cornelisz. Bockenberg Goudanus (Gouda 1548-1617 Leiden). He wrote a history of Holland but came under attach of Janus Douza who had just written a history on the same subject. Through Johan van Oldenbarneveld Bockenberg was officially appointed Dutch historiographer in 1591.With a very interesting provenance: owner's entry on the title: 'Est Canonicarum Regularium in Wester-Blockero extra Horna'. The book belongs to the Regular Canons at Westerblokker near Hoorn, c. 40 km. north of Amsterdam. A 19th-century annotation on the verso of the front wrapper justly points out that this monastery - called 'Nieuwlicht' (Nova Lux), founded in 1388 - was demolished in 1573 (referring to Velius' history of Hoorn, p. 362). The author of the… Read More

[2], VIII, 149, [1]; [2], 244, [1], [1 blank]; 322, [1], [1 blank]; 327, [1]; 346, [1], [1 blank]; [4], 336, [3], [1 blank] pp.Rare and famous catalogue of the private library of one of the most important 18th-century book collectors, the Amsterdam tobacco merchant Pietro Antonio or Pierre Antoine Bolongaro Crevenna (1736-1792). In 1775, Crevenna began to publish a detailed descriptive catalogue of his collection in a limited edition of 150 copies for his friends, putting no copies on the market. Already when the first volume appeared the lucky recipients, including the great bibliophile Johan Meerman, recognized the importance of the catalogue, not only because of the importance of the library itself, which probably contained more than 20,000 books, but also because of the detailed bibliographical notes, carefully distinguishing editions and noting variants within editions. They convinced him that it should reach a larger audience and he increased the press run of the remaining volumes to 300 copies… Read More

XII, 149, 158 pp.First and only edition of the auction catalogue of one of the most celebrated collections of the 18th century, the art collection of Pierre Louis Paul Randon de Boisset (1708-1776), a high financial official of the French government. The collection contained paintings from the Italian school (Carraci, Reni etc.), Dutch school (Rubens, Bril, Jordaens, Van Goyen, Rembrandt etc.), French School (Poussin, Watteau etc.), marble and bronze sculptures, drawings and prints, a large collection of vases and other objects made of precious stones, Japanese lacquer, precious stones, furniture, porcelain etc. Lacking, as usual, the 8 pp. supplement with lots 888-904, otherwise a very good copy, priced throughout in a contemporary hand.l Jammes, Cabinets de Curiosités 291; Lugt 2652; Duplessis 965 (mentions an 8 pp. supplement).

XX, 733, [1 blank] pp.Reference work by Emmanuel de Margerie, author of many geological and geomorphological studies, that lists bibliographies that are published on geology, mineralogy and natural history in general. He divides them into two main sections, namely more general bibliographies and the more regional bibliographies, for example for Germany, Italy or France, but also Asia, Africa and the Americas. This catalogue is even nowadays still of value.With the bookplate of William P. Wreden (1910-1995) on the front pastedown. First few leaves a little loose, otherwise a hard cover copy of Margerie's bibliography in good condition.l DSB IX, p. 103.