Search Results: Titles starting with D from Asher Rare Books

[22], 28, [16], 16 pp. plus 109 plates; 64, 32 pp. plus 173 plates.The second, much enlarged edition by the Dutch classical scholar Jacobus Gronovius of the first extensive repertory of Greco-Roman rings with intaglio-carved gems by Abraham Gorlaeus (Van Goorle; 1549-1608), which Gorlaeus had published in 1601 with the title Dactiliotheca seu annulorum sigillarium quorum apud priscos tam Graecos quam Romanos usos (1601) as a catalogue of engraved gems in his cabinet of curiosities.The present edition is also remarkable as one of the earliest books too incorporate - at the end of vol. 2, pp. 1-32 - a medieval treatise on precious stones by Marbodi, the bishop of Rennes (ca. 1035-1123): Marbodaei Galli Poetae vetusti, Carmen de gemmis sive lapidibus pretiosis. The poem is written in exquisite Latin metre and each of the 63 sections is devoted to a single gem, explaining its formation, appearance, etymology, exotic origins, medical properties and preparations. In his prologue Marbodi says it is partly… 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

[4], 364 pp.The rare first edition of Johannes Lehman de Lehnsfeld’s Dutch translation of the fourth enlarged edition of Fisher’s English travel journal: A journal of a voyage of discovery to the Arctic regions, in His Majesty's ships Hecla and Griper, in the Years 1819 & 1820, by the ship’s surgeon Alexander Fisher. This is an account of the first voyage commanded by the famous explorer of the Arctic Sir William Edward Parry (1790-1855) to search for the non-existent North West Passage. On his 1819 expedition, from May 1819 to late October 1820, he penetrated through the Parry Channel and Barrow's Strait as far as Melville Island (75° 30’ N, 111° 30’ W). Parry's voyage, which had taken him through the Parry Channel three quarters of the way across the Canadian Arctic Archipelago was probably the single most productive voyage in the quest for the Northwest Passage.Fisher's detailed journal is a valuable supplement to Parry's official account (Journal of a voyage to discover a North-west… 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

[4], 169, [3]; 152 pp.First edition of a pictorial maritime encyclopaedia and dictionary, written by the famous Danish shipbuilder Diderik Hansteen Funch (1791-1856). The first part describes and illustrates numerous aspects of shipbuilding and rigging, including timber work and framing, knot making and. The second part is a dictionary of terminology used for ship parts and details, as well as for the sailing itself, including the whole typical seamen's vocabulary.Funch was one of the most important builders and designers of warships in Denmark of his time, building both sailing vessels and paddle steamers. "Ships designed according to Funch's system had parabolle waterlines and curves; all the curves were thus mathematically determined. Funch's system seems to have influenced ship design in the provinces from about 1830 to 1845-50" (Nielsen). He described his ideas on shipbuilding in several books for which he also prepared the drawings.With the blind library stamp of 'Det Lergenborgske bibliothek'… Read More

VIII, 578, [2] pp.Enlarged second edition of an important treatise on strata from the Jurassic period by the German mineralogist Friedrich August von Quenstedt (1809-1889). The work can be seen as a precursor of Quenstedt's famous work Der Jura, published in 1858. Quenstedt distinguished 18 zones from the Jurassic period in the earth of Württemberg based on petrifications and paleontological features. He describes the various stones, petrifications and fossils found in the strata, paying attention to different species and the quantity of fossils in specifying areas and periods. Included at the end is a list of fossils and petrifications.Lacking first flyleaf. Some minor foxing. Binding rubbed along the extremities. Overall in good condition.l BMC NH, 1633; DSB XI, p. 235; Zittel, pp. 148, 461, 505.

[63], [1 blank] pp.First German edition, of a rare and important early biography of the famous Dutch heretic and Anabaptist David Joris. Banished from Holland for his overt rejection of the abuses of the Roman Catholic Church, Joris fled to Friesland, where he met the Anabaptists. He joined them in 1533 after his baptism and tried to appease the disputing parties within the sect. Ecstatic and susceptible to flattery, he declared himself a prophet with a divine mission and supernatural powers. Soon he got many followers, but he and his group were also severely persecuted. In 1554, he came to live in Basle after five years on the run from the Dutch authorities. There he lived with his family as a rich and respected citizen under the name of Jan van Brugge, pretending to be a Reformed refugee while he still kept in touch with his followers in the Southern Netherlands. The present biography is especially valuable for Joris's life in Basle (1554-1556). With a small hole in 1 leaf, waterstains in the… Read More

39, [1 blank]; 32; 24; 24; 24; 40; 38, [2 blank] p.Collection of seven pamphlets on current affairs, most importantly the Glorious Revolution and the Nine Years' War against France. The first five pamphlets contain (satirical) dialogues on current politics as seen through magic glasses and binoculars, the sixth a dialogue between the ghost of Charles V and a doorkeeper and the seventh a farcical play in verse.In 1677 the Dutch stadholder Willem III married Mary Stuart, the Protestant daughter of the Catholic King James II of England, and in 1688 they accepted the English crown together as King William III and Queen Mary, starting the so-called Glorious Revolution. That also made him the undisputed leader of the European coalition of England, the Dutch Republic, Austria and the German Protestant states against the aggressive policy of France in the person of King Louis XIV.With a manuscript table of contents on the first flyleaf, listing 6 of the 7 parts. Some leaves slightly browned and the binding a… Read More

[1], [1 blank], [1], [1 blank], [3], [1 blank] pp. and 24 double page charts.First and only edition of this collection of 24 charts of the monthly currents in the Gulf of Guinea and around the equator, off the coast of West-Africa. There are 2 charts for every month. The first of the two contains observations of the currents for every square degree, with a distinction between the Guinea-current (which principal direction is east, printed in black) and the Equatorial-current (which principal direction is west, printed in red), and tables containing relevant information on, for example, the wind and temparature of the seawater. The second chart actually contains four smaller charts that are more detailed and show the currents under the influence of wind and other variables. The 24 charts are prefaced by a short introduction by P.F. Heerdt and a three page detailed explanation of the charts and their functions. All text is printed in Dutch and in French, any text in the charts themselves are only in… Read More

XXII, 332, [2]; LXXII [= LXXIV], 434, [1], [1 blank]; LX, 538, [2] pp.First Dutch edition of Crawfurd's major History of the Indian Archipelago, with a preface by the translator, Pieter de Haan. Crawfurd was part of the British expedition to Java in 1811 and held several senior post during the British occupation of the island. He befriended Javanese aristocratic literati and studied both Javanese and ancient Kawi, thus acquiring an intimate knowledge of Indonesian culture. The present work is an in depth account of the archipelago, more specifically of Java, treating its native population, agriculture, sciences and arts, languages, religions, history and legislation. The coloured plate shows a Papuan boy and a native from Bali. The accurate map is by John Walker and includes the Philippines.Some browning, joints of first volume splitting, otherwise in very good condition.l Bastin & Brommer 124; Saalmink, p. 435; Tiele, Bibl. 283.

XII, [2], 150 pp.First edition of an account of the battle that nearly ended the voyage of the Dutch corvette Medusa on its way to Yokohama, written by the commander of the ship François de Casembroot (1817-1895), captain-lieutenant in the Royal Dutch Navy. On 11 July 1863, the Medusa was attacked by the ships and batteries of the daimyo of Chôshû, Mori Takachika, as she passed through the straits of Shimonoseki at the entrance to the Inland Sea. The Chôshû were resentful of the official policy to welcome foreigners in Japan and attacked the Dutch ship. Although the crew bravely fought back, Medusa was struck 20 times and four members of the crew were killed. The following year this incident lead to the so-called Shimonoseki Campaign in which Dutch, French, British and American ships retaliated and secured a safe passage for foreign shipping through this important stretch of water.Fair copy, spots throughout (including the maps), the sides of the first and last three leaves lined with tape and a… Read More

[12], 267, [1]; [4], 308 pp.The Silesische Robinson is a very rare Dutch translation of Christian Stieff’s Schlesischer Robinson Oder Frantz Anton Wentzels v. C. eines schlesischen Edelmanns Denkwürdiges Leben, first published in Breslau and Leipzig in 1723/24, one of the first pseudo Robinson works in the German language. In his preface, the author Christian Stieff (1675-1751) sets about to provide the story of an exemplary life worth emulating to the noble youth that he imagined would read his work. It tells the story of Frantz’s journey from his Silesian home through Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, the Cape of Good Hope, East India, his capture and subsequent transport to Haiti as prisoner. Luckily he manages to regain his freedom and subsequently serves as seaman on board a pirate ship and journeys to England and Russia. As fantastic as the storyline sounds, Stieff managed to add plenty of details of contemporary social life and even political policy in Europe, such as the measures taken… Read More

[12], 227, [25]; 125, [17] pp.Two works by Giacomo Filippo Tomasini (1595-1655). The first and main work deals with hospitality and gastronomy in Roman antiquity and the use of coins, "tesserae hospitales", entitling the bearer to hospitality on his travels. The plates show examples of these coins and scenes of eating and drinking. The second work is a biography of Livy, which is bound with the first as usual.Untrimmed. In very good condition.l Simon 1466.

[4], 195, [1 blank] pp.Rare first and only Dutch edition of the Pharmacopoea Svecica, first published in 1775, but here translated after the second edition of 1779.“There was no such compilation in Sweden in the 16th century, and the need for one was not felt until the 17th century, which saw the rise of the first apothecaries. … A Pharmacopoea Holmiensis (i.e. Stockholm) was put together (1686). It was not widely distributed in the country, and the need for a more complete compilation led to court physician A. Bäck being commissioned to compose a new pharmacopoeia. He was assisted by Linnaeus, who primarily contributed to the section on the effects and uses of medicines. This document, (Materia medica), contained some 380 simple substances, the section on “Praeparata et Composita” some 400 chemical preparations - as well as a list of substances to induce vomiting (emeticorum), compounds containing mercury, opium, and an alphabetical index. The pharmacopoeia also described how plant drugs should… Read More

24, 454, [25], [1 blank] pp.First edition of Agelli's translation (and first separate edition of any version) of Cyril's "the adoration and worship of God in spirit and in truth", a commentary on the Old Testament concerning Mosaic law, written in the form of a dialogue between Cyril and Palladius. It is the first commentary by the patriarch of Alexandria, Cyril of Alexandria (ca. 376-444), whose "precision, accuracy, and skill … as a theologian has often been remarked" (The Oxford Dictionary of Saints). "St. Cyril uncovers this mysterious, allegorical, and immutable sense of Mosaic Law and adds a coherent sketch of Old Testament foundations of spiritual preparation. In particular he dwells on the Old Testament prototypes of the Church" (Florovsky). It is published by the female printer Sybille de la Porte (1540-1608), widow of the printer Henry de Gabiano.With 17th-century owner's inscription on title-page. In very good condition with a minor water stain in the outer margin of ca. 20 leaves, some… Read More

[8], 96 pp.First edition, posthumously published, of a rare work on the shifting of the equinoxes due to the precession of the earth’s axis, written by the famous Leiden professor Josephus Justus Scaliger (1540-1609), edited by his student Janus Rutgersius (1589-1625), who lived in Paris until 1613 and who dedicated this work to Pierre Dupuy, one of the Paris scholars with whom Rutgersius was on friendly terms. His dedicatory letter on ã2r-3v is dated from Paris, 23 May 1613. After Scaliger's work follows an excerpt of his letter to David Rivaldus, dated Leiden, 16 April 1604, on pp. 91-96. The larger of the two initials shows (inside the letter Q) what appears to be a hunchbacked astronomer with two globes, a book and other items.Scaliger put the study of ancient chronology on a scholarly footing by studying not only Christian, Greek and Roman chronology, but also Jewish, Islamic, Babylonian and Egyptian chronology and comparing them, culminating in his most famous work, De emendatione temporum… Read More

[2], 184 pp.Second copy located of the first and only edition of "Confessions of a libertine", an 18th-century Dutch picaresque, erotic novel in which the principal narrator Karel tells his fiancée Charlotte about his promiscuous past. The story starts with how his father met his mother, Julia, in the monastery where he grew up in. Julia was the 17/18-year-old daughter of the abbot, who was "taught" all about sexuality by her father at an early age. The abbot passed away soon after Karel's father left for the army, and was replaced by a 45-year old Franciscan monk who took turns with both mother and daughter. The situation became unsustainable because of the mother's jealousy of her daughter, causing Julia to flee to her lover; Karel was conceived the following night. The life of Karel's parents gives a glimpse of the story that follows, often taking place in a religious environment. The novel does not only detail the sexual encounters however, but also provides arguments for free morals, for… Read More

[312]; [64] pp.Rare and beautifully produced edition, printed in Rouen for Jean Macé in Rennes, of a famous book by Boethius, with commentaries by Thomas Aquinas and Josse Badius Ascensius skilfully arranged in smaller type around Boethius's text. Added with a separate title-page is the famous pseudo-Boethius text on school discipline together with Quintilianus's text on the duty of pupils, also in edited by Josse Badius Ascensius, and also with Badius's comments in small print around The importance of the book can hardly be exaggerated. All through the Middle Ages it found a large number of commentators and imitators, inspired philosophy as well as literature, and was considered most suitable for use at schools. It inspired great authors like Jean de Meung, Chaucer and Dante. The added treatises were basic sources for ideas about the organisation of education, the duties of students and - especially in the Renaissance - all questions of education.A few small wormholes in first leaves, a few… Read More

[16], 156, [2], [2 blank]; [40], 346, [6] pp.Ad 1: First edition of a work on God's creation of Earth, by the well-known Portuguese rabbi, writer and printer Menasseh Ben Israel (1604-1657), who established the first Jewish printing office in the Netherlands. The work presents 30 questions, or "problems", concerning God's creation of the Earth, which Menasseh tries to answer and explain, citing or referring to passages of the Tenach. Problems include "on which day were demons created?" and "was there another world or earth before God created this one?". The preliminaries including an important poem by Caspar Barlaeus, which caused the Amsterdam authorities to consider the reintroduction of censorship for Jewish publications. As this didn't happen, Barlaeus's poem can be seen as an indicator of the relationship between Jews and Christians, and the religious tolerance in Amsterdam during the Golden Age.Ad 2: First edition of a work on the resurrection of the dead by the same author. The work is divided… Read More

[8], 374 pp.Second copy located of the 1696 edition of Dirck de Hollander's standard revision of a standard Dutch mathematical exercise book (with answers) for use in schools. The present edition describes itself as the fifth, but is at least the tenth and probably little changed from the 1685 edition, which also called itself the fifth. All 17th-century editions are very rare, the STCN recording 3 copies of one (1664) and no more than 2 copies of any other (some are not recorded in the STCN at all). The simple assignments are designed to teach basic arithmetic and bookkeeping for practical commercial purposes. David Cock was an Arnhem school master, active as such in at least the years 1641 to 1652. His present text book was his most successful work, with many further editions and adaptations to 1799.Slightly browned, but still in good condition. Boards slightly warped. A valuable window into 17th-century Dutch education and training for trade and commerce.l Bierens de Haan 902; Muller, Pop. proza… Read More