Search Results: Titles starting with O from Antiquariaat FORUM BV

XXV, [1 blank], 501, [1 blank], [2] pp.First edition of this valuable narrative recording a trade mission to Kazembe IV. It was the last of three major Portuguese expeditions to connect the Portuguese territories of Angola in the west with Mozambique in the east. The expedition, fitted out with only one instrument (a compass), suffered from poor planning and failed in its objective to establish trade contacts with the Kingdom of Kazambe (in present-day Zambia). However, Gamitto, second-in-command of the expedition, was an observant traveller with a genuine interest in the customs and traditions of the peoples he encountered, and his narrative records valuable ethnographic information on the Malawi, the Cewa and Tumbuka, the Bisa, the Lunda, and the Bemba. Gamitto was the first to observe that the Malawi were matrilineal and described in full detail several technical processes and customs that have since disappeared. The fine plates show views, artefacts, and portraits, providing an excellent visual… Read More

37, [1 blank] pp.Historical treatise on the colours of national and other flags, particularly in the Russian Empire, published on occasion of the introduction of the first Russian state flag. Starting at the earliest moments in history that people grouped around a specific colour, it further describes more official associations of families and administrative and/or religious groups with colours, flags and banners before ending with states and nations. After summing up the national colours of dozens of states and principalities the second part describes the use of colours in the Russian Empire and its states. Aleksandr Petrovich Jazykov (1802-1878) was a Russian lieutenant-general and director of the St. Petersburg Imperial School of Jurisprudence, one of the most prestigious schools for boys. As an amateur historian he wrote treatises on several subjects linking Russia with other European nations, including the Russian church in Potsdam and Peter the Great’s visit to the Dutch Republic.Spine broken,… Read More

35, [1 blank]; [2], 37-73, [1 blank]; 47, [1 blank] pp.A catalogue with additional commentaries and revisions of Salm's regular lists of succulents. 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. The first listing of succulents was a short pamphlet printed in 1809, the next listing was published in 1816 and was followed by a more regular publication of catalogues printed in very small numbers. They acted as "exchange lists with the botanical gardens and private collectors with whom Salm-Dyck exchanged specimens" (Rowley).After his death in 1861 the collections at Schloss Dyck soon started to break-up. The herbarium was the first to go, but his unrivalled succulent collection survived until the First World War. What was left of his magnificent library was auctioned… Read More

[8], 157, [3] pp.First and only edition of well-illustrated observations on the structure of insect (and crayfish) eyes and a butterfly proboscis by a pioneer of French microscopy. It begins with two letters written by Puget to the Benedictine scientist François Lamy (1626-1711) in 1704, followed by 59 pages explaining the figures in the plates in great detail. The figures include original-size and microscopic (about 300x) views of the eyes of a crayfish, dragonfly and butterfly, as well as a butterfly proboscis and its interior structure.Although Robert Hooke had published his microscopic views of insects and other things in his 1665 Micrographia, little progress was made in the improvement of the microscope until the introduction of achromatic lenses in the mid-18th century. Puget (1629-1709), like Leeuwenhoek in Holland, therefore had to compensate for the limitations of his equipment with a keen sense of observation, insight and natural curiosity, experimenting, for example with a candle flame… Read More

XXVIII, 29-234 pp.First edition of a rare geographical and meteorological treatise on the winds and weather in different places around the world, written by James Capper (1743-1825). Capper was a former colonel in the East India Company, but after his return to England, he devoted much of his time to meteorology. In his present Observations of the winds and monsoons, Capper especially concentrates on the winds and weather of the East Indies, the coast of India and the Arabian and Persian Gulf, using information he obtained by his own observations, some ships' logs and earlier publications. He also discusses the meteorology of the Mediterranean, including Greece and the climate between the Adriatic and the Archipelago. Capper also introduces a new hypothesis in this work, namely that hurricanes are a type of whirlwind. With the bookplate, stamps and inscription of Francis Druce on the front pastedown, recto and verso of the first free endpaper and the title-page. Bookbinder's label on verso of the… Read More

36 pp.The rarer of two nearly identical 1674 editions of the charter of the Dutch West India Company (WIC) in 45 numbered articles. When the Dutch lost Brazil to Portugal in 1654 and their North American colonies, known as New Netherland, to England in 1664, it dealt a severe blow to the WIC, which went bankrupt in 1674 and was reorganised with the present new charter in that year. It still gives them a theoretical monopoly on trade in parts of Africa and the West Indies (the slave trade between them continued), noting in particular Saint Thomas, Principe, Curaçao, Aruba, Bonaire and other islands, as well as the Pomeroon and Essequibo colonies in and around today’s Guyana.With the spine reinforced with transparent tissue. With a few brown water stains, but otherwise in good condition.l Alden & Landis 674/139; JCB III, pp. 282-283; Knuttel 11112a (cf. 11112); STCN 85120855X 94 copies); Tiele/Muller 7124; Kress Library 1366; Sabin 56676; cf. Borba de Moraes, p. 624; Rodrigues 1794 (1623 ed.); not in Bosch.

51, [1 blank] pp.Rare eighth extension of the charter (octroy) granting the VOC (Dutch East India Company) a monopoly on trade, warfare, government etc., in the East Indies. It includes the first charter, granted in 1602, and the several extensions of the charter up to 1774. The first 6 quires are a reissue of the 1743 edition by Jacobus Scheltus, the last quire contains the 20-year extension granted for 1 January 1755, which was valid to the end of 1774. The Dutch East India Company (VOC) came into existence by merging various small trading companies into what was to become the world's largest trading company, building a trade empire with an extensive network of trade posts.Title-page stained and restored at the gutter and head, a marginal tear on the last page, restored. Binding slightly soiled. A good copy.l Landwehr & V.d. Krogt, VOC 21 (2 copies); STCN 204371082 (4 copies).

Unique collection of manuscripts and letters illustrating the relationship between British officials and the Princely State of Bhopal in the early 1870s. Unique among the princely states in India, Bhopal was ruled by a succession of widows (Begums) who governed with the consent of their people. For services rendered during the Indian Rebellion of 1857, Sultan Shah Jahan (1838-1901), the Begum of Bhopal was created a Knight Grand Commander in the Order of the Star of India in 1872, the second (of four) women to be invested in the order. Ironically Great Britain also had a female ruler, who was to be proclaimed Empress of India in 1877.One of the documents, the only one written in English, is a letter by Thomas George Baring (1826-1904), Baron Northbrook and Viceroy of India, addressed to the Begum. Northbrook thanks the Begum for her letter sent to him, where she had expressed her "acknowledgements for the honorable ceremonials" that attended her investiture and he promises to "forward to the Secretary… Read More

[96] letters ([138] written pp. on [97] ll.).A set of 96 letters from 20 Dutch diplomats throughout Europe, 52 in the year 1715 and 44 in the years 1725 to 1729, in copies made by the Dutch government as the letters came in. They give a remarkably detailed view of day to day activities in international diplomacy and local current events, forming a valuable primary source for any study of the period. A 1715 report from Turin gives information on troops in Malta, an 1728 report from Moscow ranges from the future Empress of Russia's pilgrimage on foot to a General setting off for Siberia to oversee the copper and iron mines, a 1729 report from Warsaw notes that they are warily keeping an eye on the Ottoman Porte in Constantinople. More than half the letters date from the year 1715, giving an extraordinary view of Europe in the aftermath of the War of the Spanish Succession, in the year of Louis XIV's death and during the Ottoman-Venetian War.Formerly folded. Two leaves show a small hole burned in the… Read More

Four issues of two different magazines issued by the Embassy of Oman in Washington: one issue of the Oman news, including articles on president Sadat's visit to Oman, minister al-Zawawi's visit to Saudi Arabia and King Khalid's visit to Oman; and three issues of the Oman report, including articles on His Majesty Sultan Qaboos, Oman's relation to the United States, archaeological excavations north of Muscat, portraits of the government of Oman, the forming of the Omani mining company, the building of a gas recovery plant, a new oil discovery in Dhofar and the legal system of Oman.A very good set.

[6], [2 blank] pp.Rare 16th-century news pamphlet on the Ottoman-Mamluk War (1516-1517). The booklet relates the events from June 1516 to July 1517, followed by an account of Sultan Selim's visit to Jerusalem. During the Ottoma-Mamluk war the Ottoman Sultan Selim I, known as "the Grim", conquered Syria and defeated the Mamluk Sultan in the Battle of Ridaniya. He subsequently captured and sacked Cairo, thereby placing the holy cities Mecca and Medina under Ottoman rule, which marked the beginning of Ottoman power in Arabia.With two bookplates, some browning, otherwise in very good condition.l Göllner 115; USTC 679549; VD 16, O 738.

[6], LXXXI, [1] ll.First edition of a pioneering and highly influential foundational work of anthropology that went through almost fifty editions in 100 years and was widely read throughout Western Europe. Written by the "father of scientific ethnography" (NDB), who based his information on several sources from antiquity, as he indicates in the title. It is the first printed compendium of the religion, laws and customs of the peoples of Africa, Asia and Europe. The chapters are classified by region, including Egypt, Assyria, Persia, India, Russia and Ethiopia. The part on India stands out among the rest because of the addition of new information drawn from recent explorations by Ludovico di Varthema, first published in 1510 (just ten years earlier).Although the many later editions of this foundation stone of anthropology are widely available, the present first edition is very rare on the market. It is also remarkable typographically, with the largest series of ornamented roman initials (A, C, D, M and… Read More

VIII, [22], 63, [5] pp.Third edition of a ground-breaking entomological colour-plate book, with 120 engraved and beautifully hand-coloured illustration plates showing not only the moths and butterflies, but also the plants that host them, first published and sold by the author himself in 1749, apparently a week before his death (a second edition appeared in 1773). From a young age, Benjamin Wilkes (ca. 1720?-1749) was a member of the Aurelian Society, which eventually evolved into the Royal Entomological Society. Wilkes himself published and sold the first edition of the book The English moths and butterflies, and commissioned the colourist, and the present edition was beautifully coloured for the publisher. The book's title places significant emphasis on the plates' colouration, and the artist's execution of the coloration suggests an accomplished colourist, likely affiliated with the publisher. To illustrate the book, Wilkes engaged the celebrated botanical artists Georg Dionysius Ehret and Jacob… Read More

[8] pp.The first of two editions (Landwehr) of Usselincx’s treatise on the importance of Dutch trade and commerce in the East and West Indies. This short book was part of the pamphlet war that accompanied the negotiations for an armistice between the Dutch States General and Spain that had been going on since 1606. During the negotiations, the Spanish side began to contest the right of the VOC to free passage and to free trade with the East and West Indies. The Flemish Dutch merchant Willem Usselincx (1567 - c. 1647) became one of the most outspoken critics of these planned restricions that would seriously affect his and his fellow merchant’s interest. His “Onpartydich discours opte handelinghe vande Indien” was, as could be expected, a not so much impartial comparison between the Spanish and Dutch interests in this matter. Usselincx took a firm stand on the Dutch side, arguing that the right to free passage and trade is a natural and innate freedom that should not become the bargaining chip of… Read More

[4], 23, [1] pp.First and only edition of a brief treatise by Seger Lakenman on reinforcing the dikes of West-Friesland, now the northern part of the province of North Holland in the Netherlands. The dikes were dangerously weakened because "sea worms" were voraciously eating their wooden piles. In 1732 the States of Holland and West-Friesland proclaimed a contest for a better type of dike. Lakenman responded with the present work, suggesting, among other things, the construction of a new inner dike, a so-called "inlaagdijk", and also including the estimated costs. His proposal, however, was rejected by the States. On the title-page Lakenveld is mentioned as the secretary of "Drechterland", a small community in the Dutch province of North Holland.Some marginal thumbing, a few small stains, and the plates very slightly browned, but otherwise in good condition, with the edges wholly untrimmed. Edges of the marbled paper wrappers slightly frayed, but otherwise good.l V.d. Aa XI, pp. 40-41; STCN 184404789.

[22], 791, [8] pp.The extensive and authoritative work by Everhard van Reyd containing a comprehensive and detailed history of the first half (to 1601) of the Eighty Years' War (1568-1648) between the Netherlands and Spain. Jan Jansz at Arnhem first printed and published Van Reyd’s account in 1626, twenty-four years after the author’s death but long before the War came to an end with the Peace of Münster in 1648, under the title, Voornaemste gheschiedenissen inde Nederlanden ende elders. Although the first edition, like the later ones covered events upto the year before the author’s death, the present second edition, beginning the title differently, notes that it has been checked against the author’s manuscript and adds some parts of that were omitted in the first edition, as well as correcting printers’ errors. It is therefore the first edition with Van Reyd’s complete text and the first edition in folio format. The similar 1644 edition has some additions to the year of publication (obviously… Read More

10 ll.First edition of the Dutch translation of the accounts of two British travellers, John Mildenhall (1560-1614) and John Cartwright, who travelled to Persia and the Moghul Empire. The accounts were originally edited by the British cleric Samuel Purchas (1577-1626) and published in his volumes with travelogues, entitled Purchas his pilgrimage. The majority of the work consists of John Cartwright's account of his voyage from Aleppo to Isfahan, illustrated with two engravings. "After separating from Mildenhall, Cartwright proceeded to Isfahan and continued to travel widely in the Middle East. The account of his journeys is one of the most valuable of the period" (Howgego). He describes the people, architecture, religion, geography, infrastructure, etc.Also included are two letters by John Mildenhall, written in 1509 and 1606. The first letter briefly describes his route from London to Kandahar in Afghanistan, via Smyrna, Istanbul, Aleppo, Urfa, and Van, with some occasional remarks on the cities, the… Read More

[152] ll.First Aldine edition of a collection of poems by three of the most important classical poets of the 1st century BCE, writing in the elegiac tradition, this copy with the outer forme of the first quire (A) in the corrected state, with "Propertius" on the title-page instead of the erroneous “Propetius” (a press variant: as far as we know, it is always correct in the running heads and where the three names on the title-page repeat on i8v). The poets Gaius Valerius Catullus (84-55 BCE), Albius Tibullus (55-19 BCE) and Sextus Propertius (50-15 BCE), had a strong preference for writing about intimate and familiar subjects such as love, eroticism, rejection and mourning, which sets their lyrical and elegiac poetry apart from the heroic poetry of many other, earlier classical poets, who often focused on the epic of heroes. In the present work, the poets express their love and desire for various women, among others "Lesbia" (Catullus), "Delia" (Tibellus) and "Cynthia" (Propertius). The present… Read More

[8], 272; [6], 277, [1 blank], [12] ll.Second illustrated edition, the first with the commentary of Costaeus, of the collected works of the Arabic physician Mesue the younger (also known as Masawaih al-Mardini), in Latin, with commentaries by Mondino de Liuzzi, Christoph de Honestis, Jacobus Sylvius, Giovanni Mardi and Johannes Costaeus. It includes the "Canones universalis", dealing with treatment regimens; the second part, "De simplicibus", about the properties of various pharmaceutical drugs; and the Grabadin, "the most popular compendium of drugs in medieval Europe, and ... used everywhere in their preparation" (Garrison). "The esteem in which these works were held is shown by the fact that a Latin translation of both was one of the first medical works to be printed (Venice, 1471)" (ibid.).With the bookplate of the American botanist Edward Sandford Burgess (1855-1928) on the front paste-down. Also with the bookplate of the Horticultural Society of New York on the first free endpaper, identifying… Read More

40, [10], 143, [19], 163-203, [1 blank]; [12], 48 pp.Ad 1: Rare third edition of Morgagni's expanded version of Valsalva's important De aure humana. "Valsalva's treatise is not only a worthy companion to Duverney's work but far surpasses it in richness of content and in a rare combination of precision and conciseness. The treatise deals with the anatomy and physiology of the organ of hearing and also contains chapters on the pathology of the ear" (Politzer).The Italian anatomist Antonio Maria Valsalva (1666-1723) was "without doubt, the most eminent scientist of the transitional period from the 17th to the 18th century" (Politzer) and his specialty was the anatomy of the ear. The treatise, first published in Bologna in 1704, was republished by Valsalva's pupil, Giovanni Battista Morgagni (1682-1771), who added his own work De aure humani tractatus, along with the anatomical letters that constitute an extensive commentary on Valsalva’s work. The preface includes the first and most important biography… Read More