Search Results: Titles starting with N from Phillip J. Pirages Fine Books and Medieval Manuscripts

London: W. H. Allen & Co, 1888. First Edition in English. 225 x 145 mm. (9 x 5 3/4"). viii, 403, [1] pp.Translated and edited with a biographical sketch and notes by Raphael Ledos de Beaufort. Contemporary blue half morocco, raised bands, spine in gilt-ruled compartments with alternating wreathed "N" or eagle centerpiece, top edge gilt. With two photogravures and facsimile of will as called for, and EXTRA-ILLUSTRATED WITH 48 PLATES, consisting of 43 black & white engravings and five color plates, four of these double-page. With a half-page typewritten description tipped in at front. ◆Spine darkened (with dulling to gilt), joints rather flaked, minor rubbing to extremities, a few plates slightly foxed, other trivial imperfections, but a solid, still very good copy. This is a defense of the French emperor against his critics, written by Napoléon's nephew, pretender to the imperial throne, augmented with extra illustrations of persons and places discussed in the text..

Waltham St. Lawrence: Golden Cockerel Press, 1945. No. 412 OF 500 NUMBERED COPIES. 317 x 190 mm. (12 1/2 x 7 1/2"). 422, [2]; 78, [2] pp. Two volumes bound in one. Translated and edited by Somerset de Chair. HANDSOME RED MOROCCO BY BAYNTUN (RIVIERE) (stamp-signed in gilt on rear turn-in), covers with double gilt rule surrounding a field of alternating gilt tools (a bee, and the letter "N" encircled by a wreath), upper board with inset WATERCOLOR OVAL PORTRAIT OF NAPOLEON, with two flags, a gun, and a saber outlined in gilt appearing to cross behind it, lower cover with large gilt armorial device, raised bands, compartments ruled in gilt with bee or "N" tool at the center, gilt lettering, thick turn-ins with gilt rules and decorative cornerpieces, blue watered silk endleaves, top edge gilt, others untrimmed, original map endpapers bound in. Volume I with a frontispiece portrait of Napoleon, volume II with a black and white photograph of a modern sculpture of the general, title page of each volume… Read More

Berlin: George Bondi, 1923. FIRST EDITION. 245 x 170 mm. (9 3/4 x 6 3/4"). viii, 528 pp. Regal red pebble-grain morocco, gilt, by W. Collin, Berlin (stamp-signed on rear turn-in), covers with fillets enclosing a leaf roll frame with fleuron cornerpieces, central gilt "N" surrounded by laurel wreath, raised bands, spine gilt in compartments with fleuron center- and cornerpieces, gilt titling, all edges gilt. With eight portraits of Napoleon after Gros, Ingres, David, and others. ◆One small stain affecting one letter, paper lightly and evenly toned, but a VERY FINE COPY with no signs of use or wear inside or out. This German biography of the French emperor by lawyer, poet, and historian Berthold Vallentin (1877-1933) was handsomely bound by a prestigious Berlin bindery. Founded by Wilhelm Collin in 1845, the firm of W. Collin was Court Bookbinder to the Prussian Empire in addition to being a notable trade bindery. After Wilhelm's death in 1893, the firm was headed by his son Georg, who had trained… Read More

Paris: H. Daragon, 1904. UNIQUE OUT-OF-SERIES COPY MADE FOR THE AUTHOR, printed on Japon and with multiple additional illustrations (from a total edition of 215 copies, 200 on papier vélin du Marais, 10 on Holland paper with the etching in two states, and five on imperial Japon with the etching in four states). 158 x 118 mm. (6 1/4 x 4 1/2"). 4 p.l., [11]-66 pp. EXQUISITE RED MOSAIC MOROCCO BY JOLY FILS (stamp-signed on front turn-in), covers framed by multiple gilt rules enclosing an diapered panel with ogival inlays of black morocco tooled with gilt eagle or laurel wreath, raised bands, spine panels with inlaid ogival centerpiece of black morocco tooled with gilt eagle, black morocco cornerpieces studded with gilt dots, gilt lettering, densely gilt turn-ins, red silk endleaves, all edges gilt. In chamois-lined chemise of matching red half morocco over marbled boards, spine tooled in gilt, in matching morocco-trimmed slipcase. With four illustrations in the text, as called for, and… Read More

Edinburgh: Printed for, and sold by the author, and by John Bell, Parliament-Square, 1785. FIRST EDITION. 215 x 127mm. (8 1/2 x 5"). xx, 412 pp. Contemporary sprinkled calf, cover with gilt catkin border, raised bands, spine panels with graceful floral sprig, red morocco label. With three engraved plates showing farm plans or machinery, one of these folding. Fussell, "More Old English Farming Books, 1731 to 1793," p. 127; ESTC T78088. See Holmes, Heather. "The Circulation of Scottish Agricultural Books during the 18th Century," in Agricultural History Review 54, I, pp. 45-78 (2006). ◆Shallow scratches in the leather, but AN IMMACULATE AND ESPECIALLY LUSTROUS COPY. This work setting forth a new, practical system for Scottish agriculture is offered here in preternaturally fine condition. The earliest 18th century works on Scottish agriculture focused on particular crops, implements, or varieties of livestock; these were followed by explanations of the scientific aspects of agriculture, based on… Read More

Edinburgh: W. H. Lizars, [1845-46]. Second Edition. 165 x 108 mm. (6 1/2 x 4 1/4"). 40 volumes.. QUITE ATTRACTIVE CONTEMPORARY HALF MOROCCO, HANDSOMELY GILT, THE VOLUMES BOUND IN FOUR DIFFERENT COLORS TO REFLECT THE VARIOUS MEMBERS OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM (the 14 volumes on birds bound in red with buckram boards, the 13 volumes on mammals in dark green with watered silk boards, the seven volumes on insects in dark blue with buckram boards, and the six volumes on fish in deep purple with watered silk boards), all the volumes with gilt-decorated raised bands, spines uniformly gilt in compartments with lozenge centerpiece composed of drawer handle stamps and enclosing a small flower, the whole surrounded by triangular scrolling cornerpieces; endpapers not uniform--by design: the mammals, fish, and insects with tartan endpapers, the birds with an unusual maze-like design; all edges marbled. WITH A TOTAL OF 1,360 ZOOLOGICAL PLATES, INCLUDING 1,280 PLATES OF VARIOUS ANIMALS, ALL BUT A FEW HAND COLORED,… Read More

London: Chapman and Hall, 1892. FIRST EDITION. 228 x 148 mm. (8 7/8 x 5 7/8"). vii, [i], 388 pp. Pleasing half green morocco by Baytun (stamp-signed in ink on verso of free endpaper), raised bands, compartments ruled in gilt and with either gilt lettering or a gilt bird motif. With 23 black & white illustrations and four plates (including frontispiece). Title and one other leaf with small blind stamp of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society. Wilson 6; Payne A5a (1000 copies printed); Casey Wood 393: 'charming work'; Hilton 4835; Spain & Spanish America I, 338. ◆Joints and edges slightly rubbed, upper corners a little bumped, light fading to cloth, but a pleasing binding in excellent condition overall; contents with occasional minor foxing, but very clean throughout. Beginning in his youth, Argentinian-born William Henry Hudson (1841-1922) was fascinated with, and a keen observer of, the natural world. He had a special interest in birds, which became the subject of a large fraction of what he… Read More

Zürich: Brodtmann, 1824. FIRST EDITION. 324 x 235 mm. (12 3/4 x 9 1/4"). Engraved title page, IV, 349, [5] pp. Two volumes.. Text volume in speckled paper boards backed with sprinkled calf, raised bands, one red and one black morocco label. Plates in contemporary black quarter roan over green marbled boards, vellum tips, flat spine with gilt rules, rolls, and lettering. WITH 177 HAND-COLORED LITHOGRAPHED ILLUSTRATIONS, comprised of pictorial title page and 176 plates, 17 of humans, the rest of mammals, the majority with original tissue guards. TItle page of text volume with ink stamp of Physiologisches Institut Tübingen and handwritten shelf[?] notation. Nissen ZBI 3672. ◆Text volume with corners rather rubbed, half-inch of leather lifting at head of spine, text with isolated short marginal wromtrails, occasional minor brown stains (from laid-in botanical specimens), but general clean and fresh in a solid binding. Plate volume with cover surfaces and extremities somewhat rubbed, corners gently… Read More

Single column, 32 lines in Caroline minuscule.With one slightly larger than one-line initial in red.See: Herrick, "Imagining the Sacred Past: Hagiography and Power in Early Normandy."Removed from a binding and thus with some moderate browning and soiling, a series of small holes near inner margin affecting a couple of letters, no more than a line or two of text cut away at the bottom, but the rest of the text intact and very legible, the ink dark and the script quite pleasing.Featuring a pleasing late Caroline hand, this leaf contains text from the "Vita Taurinii," a hagiography of St. Taurin (d. ca. 410), first bishop of Évreux, in Normandy. The author of the "Vita" is known as Pseudo-Deodatus, most likely an 11th century monk who falsely refers to himself on the present leaf as the godson of the saint ("Ego autem deodatus filiolus eius . . ."). Pseudo-Deodatus also places St. Taurin far earlier in the Christian chronology than we know to be true, claiming that, as a child, the future saint was left… Read More

London: Thomas M'Lean, 1823. FIRST EDITION, with pre-publication watermarks. 270 x 370 mm. (10 1/2 x 14 1/2"). Title page, followed by plates. FINE HONEY BROWN MOROCCO BY MORRELL (stamp-signed on front turn-in), covers with large frame of thick and thin gilt rules with sprays of leafy branches emanating from each corner, upper cover with gilt titling within the frame, raised bands, spine gilt in compartments with acorn centerpiece and leafy sprays at corners, gilt titling, turn-ins with ornate gilt roll, marbled yellow endpapers, top edge gilt. In a modern brown buckram slipcase. WITH 12 FINE HAND-COLORED PLATES by Egerton on paper with 1822 watermarks, all with guards. Front pastedown with bookplate of Maxine and Joel Spitz; verso of front free endpaper with book label of Thomas Kelly. Abbey, "Life" 286 (with 1824-25 watermarks); Tooley 204. ◆A touch of chafing (from slipcase?) to covers, just a hint of rubbing to joints and extremities (now scarcely noticeable after refurbishing), three small… Read More

Basel: Ludwig König, 1615; 1607; Oppenheim: Hieronymus Galler for the Heirs of Johann Theodor de Bry, 1614;, 1616. Second Edition of the first work, FIRST EDITION of the second and third works; First Latin Edition of the fourth work. 165 x 102 mm. (6 1/2 x 4"). 16 p.l., 674 (i.e. 676), [8] pp., [2] leaves (blank) (lacking three preliminary leaves of text); 8 p.l., 107, [1] pp., [2] leaves (blank); 77, [1] pp., [1] leaf (blank); 22, [2], 157, [11] pp. Four works bound in one volume.. 18th century stiff vellum with blind-tooled fillets on covers, flat spine with faded ink title (older repairs to hinges). With a total of 25 full-page and 16 smaller illustrations within text; first work: 18 full-page, three in text; second work: three full-page, three in text; third work: two full-page, eight in text; fourth work: two full-page, two in text. Title page of first work printed in red and black. Front pastedown with bookplate of Dr. Kohlrausch; verso of title page with two ink stamps; third work with… Read More

Cambridge: Printed at the Riverside Press, 1892. No. 1 OF 250 COPIES. 202 x 140 mm. (8 x 5 1/2"). 3 p.l., 168 pp.Translated by Charles Eliot Norton. HANDSOME BROWN CRUSHED MOROCCO, GILT, BY THE CLUB BINDERY (stamp-signed on verso of front free endpaper), covers with gilt French fillet border, central panel with double gilt rule frame and oblique fleuron cornerpieces, raised bands, spine gilt in compartments with floral cornerpieces and central floral ornament enclosed by a lozenge of small tools, gilt titling, densely gilt turn-ins, top edge gilt, other edges untrimmed. Verso of front free endpaper with morocco bookplate of Henry William Poor. For the binding: "Bound to Be the Best: The Club Bindery" 45. ◆Free endpapers with the usual offset shadow from binder's glue, a couple of trivial spots internally, just the slightest hint of use to the binding, but A VERY FINE COPY--the text clean, fresh, and bright, and in a lustrous, virtually unworn binding. Adorning a 13th century classic, this is a… Read More

London: Smith, Elder and Co, 1844. FIRST EDITION. 200 x 124 mm. (7 7/8 x 4 7/8"). Two volumes.. Very attractive contemporary cadet blue three-quarter morocco over pale blue watered silk, raised bands, spines handsomely gilt in compartments with floral sprig centerpiece and volute cornerpieces, marbled endpapers, top edges gilt. With 10 engraved portraits. ◆Top inch of silk on one board faded by sun, one plate with closed one-inch fore-edge tear (not affecting image), other minor internal imperfections, but A VERY PRETTY SET, especially fresh and clean inside and out, and with bindings that are remarkably bright. Poet Richard Hengist Horne (1802-84) patterned this collection of critical essays about contemporary writers after the acclaimed collection of essays "Spirit of the Age; or Contemporary Portraits," published by his idol William Hazlitt in 1825. Among the writers included in the work were Dickens, the Brownings (Mrs. Browning is given credit for contributing at least one of the chapters),… Read More

London: Printed for Tho. Woodward [by William Bowyer], 1726. FIRST EDITION. One of 1,000 copies (according to Bowyer's ledgers, per ESTC). 360 x 222 mm. (14 x 8 3/4"). 12 p.l., 456 [i.e. 452] pp. (4L2v is numbered 316-320). Contemporary calf, covers with gilt roll frame, oblique floral cornerpieces, rebacked in olive-brown calf, raised bands flanked by scrolling gilt rolls, panels with decorative gilt centerpiece, red morocco label, marbled endpapers and edges (neat repairs to head edge and to corners). With engraved frontispiece, five small engravings in the text, and two engraved plates of plants. Front pastedown with armorial bookplate of Charles Gresley; pp. 286, 288-290 with contemporary ink annotations to (folded) fore margins. Henrey 945; ESTC T146573. ◆Boards with a number of small abrasions, but the restored binding sound, and perfectly agreeable; isolated faint dust-soiling to head margins, other trivial imperfections, but the text in very fine condition, especially clean, crisp, and… Read More

Rheims: Jean de Foigny, 1582. FIRST EDITION IN ENGLISH of the Roman Catholic version of the New Testament. 235 x 160 mm. (9 1/4 x 6 1/4"). 14 p.l., 745, [27] (tables, glossary, and errata) pp.Translated by Gregory Martin, with William Allen, Richard Bristow and William Reynolds as revisers. Early 19th century English diced russia, gilt fillet border on covers, spine panels with gilt fleuron centerpiece, gilt titling, turn-ins with gilt chain roll, marbled edges and endpapers (very expert repair to a short portion at head of front joint). Title page with early inscription at foot: "Guil. Har." (very likely indicating the name "William Harvey"); marginal notes in the same hand on pp. 320 and 392, pointing out some inconsistencies in the footnotes; title also with 1849 owner signature of John Fairford; last page inscribed (in a different early hand) "Ei debes quod habes cui debes quod es," a slight adaptation of St. Ambrose's commentary on Luke 18:20 ("Honor thy father and mother"), meaning "To the one… Read More

London: Printed by C. Whittingham for T. Heptinstall, 1798. 254 x 156 mm. (10 x 6 1/8"). 1 p.l., 22 pp., [1] leaf, 364 pp. CONTEMPORARY ACID-TREATED CALF BY CHARLES HERING [SR] (his ticket on verso of front free endpaper), covers framed by onlaid black morocco tooled with gilt floral rolls, central panel with large stencilled urn on a speckled ground, raised bands, spine compartments with gilt rule border and foliate cornerpieces as well as an oval urn-and-palm-frond centerpiece stamped in black, black and red morocco labels, turn-ins with gilt Greek key roll, brown endpapers with gilt floral frames, all edges gilt (front joint expertly renewed). Engraved title page, engraved frontispiece portrait, and eight engraved plates, all but one with tissue guards. ◆Rear joint, backstrip, and extremities a bit rubbed, spine a little crackled, faded, and abraded, title page and plates a bit foxed, leaves slightly browned at edge; not without condition issues, but still a carefully restored volume with most… Read More

London: Secker & Warburg, 1949. FIRST EDITION. 192 x 125 mm. (7 1/2 x 5"). 312 pp. DRAMATIC BLACK MOROCCO WITH INLAID DESIGN, covers with central panel dominated by the all-seeing eye of Big Brother inlaid in vellum, green, and black on a background mosaic of geometrical compartments in shades of red, the eye radiating gilt rays, four more "eyes" peering at the central eye from each corner, raised bands, spine panels with gilt fleuron at center, two red morocco labels, marbled endpapers, rear pastedown with binder's leather label dated 2022 and with a tree-like design that may include the initials :"J I." ◆Pristine text in a new binding. Orwell's classic dystopian novel is offered here in a memorable binding that plays homage to one of the story's most infamous motifs. The modern design features two perpetually open eyes, which can be fully appreciated when the binding is completely open and the covers are seen side by side. Alert and unflinching, the eyes look directly at--or perhaps… Read More

London: Arthur L. Humphreys, 1904. 216 x 159 mm. (8 1/2 x 6 1/4"). 2 p.l., 310 pp. BEAUTIFUL DARK BLUE CRUSHED MOROCCO, HANDSOMELY GILT, BY ZAEHNSDORF (signed on front turn-in and with the stamped oval, normally marking the firm's best work, on the rear pastedown), gilt boards framed with multiple wide, narrow, and stippled rules and with center panel featuring five rows of large floral blooms on curved stems with small foliate tools, raised bands, spine gilt in compartments with identical large floral centerpiece (the binding with a total of 31 large gilt flowers in all), turn-ins with floral and foliate gilt decoration, blue silk endpapers, top edge gilt, other edges untrimmed. A Large Paper Copy printed on fine paper. Front pastedown with the bookplate of the noted fine bindings collector Robert Marceau. Title page printed in red and black. ◆Spine very slightly and uniformly sunned to a deep blue, otherwise a virtually pristine copy printed on fine bright paper. This wide-margined imprint on… Read More

Basileae: apud Ioannem Hervagium, 1559. 333 x 216 mm. (13 1/8 x 8 1/2"). 8 p.l., 3096 columns [misnumbered; actually 2192 columns, or 1096 pp.], [6] leaves. Contemporary blind-stamped pigskin over substantial bevelled wooden boards, covers with concentric frames formed by thick and thin rules and three decorative rolls, one featuring sheaves of grain, one with medallions and foliage, and one with four portraits (the Madonna and Child, David, Isaiah, and Paul), the latter signed with the initials "MB" and dated 1553; raised bands, ink titling on spine, lower third of spine painted red with library shelf location in black, remnants of two clasps. With printer's device on title page and in colophon, and with historiated woodcut initial. Front pastedown with ink inscription "Approbatus ['Approved by censor'] / 1578"; title page and introduction with printer's name and editor's name scratched out in ink, presumably by the censor (the obliterated words helpfully written in by a subsequent user); title… Read More

Bloomsbury: Nonesuch Press, 1937. FIRST EDITION. 258 x 162 mm. (10 1/8 x 6 3/8"). 130 pp., [2] leaves. Publisher's blue buckram, upper cover with gilt lettering and publisher's device, smooth spine with gilt titling. With older acetate jacket, front flap taped to front pastedown. With printer's device on title page, nine vignettes in the text, and 11 lithographic reproductions of sample leaves and bindings of earlier editions of Dickens. Dreyfus 108. ◆Half-inch white spot to front board, head of spine a little frayed, small adjacent areas along top edge of boards rather rubbed, a little rubbing to corners, small glue stain to rear free endpaper, but a very good copy, internally fresh and clean. This substantial, hardbound prospectus issued for one of the masterworks of the press contains essays on the illustrators of Dickens' works by Arthur Waugh, "A Bibliographical List of the Original Illustrations to the Works of Charles Dickens, Being Those Made under his Supervision," compiled by Thomas… Read More