Search Results: Titles starting with R from Asher Rare Books

[2], 318, [10] pp.This particular account on Chinese cults, known as the De cultu sinensis, was authored in 1668 and published posthumously. It was written by Prosper Intorcetta (1625-1696), who embarked on a journey to China in 1656 alongside Father Martini and a group of fifteen other priests who were engaged in missionary work in the province of Jiangxi. Intorcetta, who assumed the Chinese name of In-to-tsé and the nickname of Koi-ssé, was imprisoned in Canton in 1664. After his initial release, he managed to travel to Rome in 1671 to witness the fate of his fellow missionaries, before being arrested again in 1690. Alongside his work on the translation and study of Confucius' classics, for which he proposed a complete translation, the present work played a crucial role in the establishment of the subject of sinology in Europe, as it dates back to the early years of missionary presence in China. Furthermore, it contributed to enhancing understanding of the Chinese language. The De cultu sinensis… Read More

Extremely rare series of 18 beautiful hand-coloured lithographs showing stage designs for the Real Teatro San Carlo, one of Italy's most famous opera houses. The striking plates include scenery for Zelmira (1822), the acclaimed opera by Rossini, who was the artistic director of the San Carlo from 1815 to 1822. Each lithograph has a hand-written caption and is dedicated to Maria Cristina Ferdinanda di Borbone, principessa delle Due Sicilie (1806-1878).Pasquale Canna was a distinguished, prolific, neo-classical stage designer who made a career as a painter and scenographer in Parma, Venice, Milan and Naples, working for such famous theatres as La Scala (Milan), the San Carlo and the Teatro del Fondo (Naples). The present brightly coloured plates are an impressive visual record of the eventful history of the San Carlo, published during the great age of Neapolitan opera. Some spotting, some insignificant waterstains, front inner hinge cracked, binding slightly chafed, otherwise in very good condition.l… Read More

VII, [1], 68, [2] pp.First edition of a monograph on horses, describing and illustrating the breeds, hair and the way horses move, written by the veterinarian and director of the royal veterinary institute at Stuttgart Gottlob Adolf von Rueff (1820-1885). The 32 plates (image size 11.5 x 16 cm) generally show the detailed image of the horse in black with a buff background tint (including a decorative border) and reddish brown, grey and sometimes also dark brown tints, making 4 or 5 blocks for each plate. Each includes a caption (below the border) giving the name and sort of breed, along with the Votteler and Henzler's names. The same publisher issued a second edition in 1878.As usual with this kind of publication, an occasional tint block is printed a millimeter or so out of register. Spine faded; the text leaves with some foxing. Colourful plates of horses in good condition.l Nissen, ZBI 3494; not in Mennessier de la Lance; Podeschi; for the author: ADB XXIX, p. 588.

[2], 81, [1 blank] pp.First and probably only edition of General Guillaume Henri Dufour's report on his victory in the Sonderbund War of 1847. He led the army of the Swiss Federation to defeat the Sonderbund (the alliance that seven largely Catholic Swiss cantons had formed against the federal government) in a campaign that lasted only from 2 to 29 November and claimed fewer than a hundred lives. The cantons that opposed the federal government (Lucerne, Fribourg, Valais, Uri, Schwyz, Unterwalden and Zug) agreed to accept national rule in religious matters.With an early owner's name on front paste-down. Somewhat foxed, but otherwise in good condition, with a small tear in 2 maps and an occasional minor stain. Front hinge cracked. Important primary source for the Sonderbund War in Switzerland.l Barth 5719; WorldCat (6 copies); not in Jähns; for Dufour: NBG 15, col. 67.

[2], 151, [1] pp.Published report of the prosecutor Jacobus Spoors on the 1796 surrender to the British Royal Navy of a Dutch expeditionary force sent to recapture the Dutch Cape Colony. The affaire sent shockwaves through the Batavian Republic and the stately publication on offer here presents the official printed edition of the report concluding the inquiry into the matter by the prosecutor Jacobus Spoors.Rear-Admiral Engelbertus Lucas, the figure at the core of this affair had moored nine warships with about 2000 marines under his command in the Bay of Saldanha, about 125 km up the west coast of Africa from Capetown. Lucas was taken entirely by surprise as he suddenly found himself hemmed in from both sides: British troops had first taken control of the city of Saldanha and in rapid succession, a British fleet under the command of Admiral George Elphinstone blocked the bay and effectively trapped the Dutch fleet. Surrender was the only viable option for Lucas and after only one day, the Royal Navy… Read More

[3], 272 ll.Written around 1280, the Rationale divinorum officiorum is considered one of the principal sources for the western church liturgy. It focuses on the allegorical interpretation of the liturgy based on Amalario's work, and Duanti is recognized as an excellent compiler. The book is divided into eight volumes and provides an elaborate account of the laws, ceremonies, customs, and mystical interpretations of the Roman Rite. The first volume discusses religious art and architecture, such as the church, altar, pictures, bells, churchyard, and more. The second volume is dedicated to the ministers, while the third volume focuses on vestments. The fourth volume discusses the Mass, the fifth covers the canonical hours, the sixth volume is about the Proprium Temporis, the seventh is about the Proprium Sanctorum, and the eighth covers the astronomical calendar, the manner of finding Easter, Epacts, and more. The Rationale is considered the most comprehensive medieval treatise of its kind, serving as a… Read More

24, [4], 32, [4] pp.Presentation copy of a rare publication, presented as an extract from Gendrin's Récit historique, exact et sincère, par mer et par terre, de quatre voyages … published in Versailles 1856. About half of the material is taken from the 1856 edition (the introduction, a poem by Dorlin Père, the author's portrait and 8 plates), but the other half is newly included here: 36 pages with lithographed reproductions of letters received after the 1856 publication."Gendrin worked in the upholstery trade in Paris, and in 1816 travelled with his employer who was moving to Rio de Janeiro. After some time he was able to set up his own business, a shop in which he sold snuff, snuff-boxes, mirrors, .. [etc.] Business proved profitable, but having been informed by French colleagues who travelled to Chile of the good commercial opportunities offered by that country, he sold his shop, invested everything in suitable merchandise, and left for Valparaiso, sailing around Cape Horn. He also set up… Read More

[2], 50 pp.Extremely rare first (and only early) edition of a decree of 15 January 1792 by King Charles IV of Spain. It establishes a college in Granada for educating American and Philippine youth of noble birth. The decree specifies a broad curriculum of political, military, ecclesiastical and legal subjects, with the intent to educate the students for royal service. Besides these theoretical topics, the students would also learn equitation (horsemanship), dancing, fencing and other arts appropriate to their social status. The decree also describes admissions procedures, guidelines for the curriculum and administration, qualifications for the staff and rules of conduct extensively and precisely. Students, for example, are not allowed to use slaves or personal servants, and twenty scholarship students are to be exempted from all fees (one or two each from specified provinces in the Americas and the Philippines), while other students have to pay fees on a sliding scale. The decree gives a glimpse of… Read More

[4], III, [1], 423. [1] pp.Inteded as a practical handbook for physicians and pharmacists for their daily practice. The work provides an alphabetically sorted overview of current medicines and provides a synopsis of the terms and terminologies used in the official pharmacopies in the Netherlands in the first half of the 18th century. It was an enormously handy work as it described very briefly the properties of each medicine, exact dosage information for internal and external application of each medicine and lists possible negative drug interactions and and contraindications. Cornelis van Eldik (1791-1857) was a Dutch physician specializing in obstetrics. He taught medicine and served on several medical committees in Nijmegen. Alongside his friend, Doctor A. Moll, he edited a highly successful medical publication, the Practisch Tijdschrift voor de Geneeskunde in al haren omvang. Van Eldik authored several works, primarily in the field of obstetrics, but also on general medicine.Spine slightly damaged… Read More

pp. [15], 16, 23-188, 197-386, [387]-[412] (minus 16 scattered pp.), including integral paste-downs, and about 160 pp. blank except for the page number.A recipe book in Dutch probably written beginning around 1720 but with additions to at least 1758. Most of the recipes are medicinal, but about 15 written pages near the end, separated from the others by numerous blanks, contain culinary recipes. Among the medicinal recipes one also finds a few for ink, shoe polish and other things. The medicinal recipes include treatments for the plague, rabid dog bites, jaundice, worms, warts, scurvy, toothache, headache and many other ailments. Unusually, the complier cites about a dozen sources for the medicinal recipes. The culinary recipes include several kinds of pancakes, waffels and "poffertjes" (a popular Dutch treat like tiny puffy pancakes), tarts, cookies and other sweet treats.A small number of leaves had been used for something else before the present text, but they were removed and the rest recased in… Read More

70, [2] pp.First (and only separately published) edition of a very rare work on the palaeontology of the Rhinoceros, with a large folding lithograph after drawings by the author. Christol (1802-1861) took an early interest in palaeontology and collected fossils. In 1829 he dared to challenge Cuvier's then still largely dominant views of human origins. The title-page notes that he was already a member of the Académie Royale des Sciences and several other scientific societies at the time of publication, though the present publication is apparently his rather late doctoral thesis (see DSB). Presentation copy with inscription "Donné par Monsieur le Christol" 18 December 1838 on back of title-page. The wrapper is slightly tattered. In very good condition and untrimmed, with many bolts unopened.l Engelmann, p. 613; WorldCat (5 copies); not in Nissen; for Christol: DSB III, p. 264.

XVI, 271, [1 blank] pp.Third edition of the French translation of a work on hell by the English clergyman Tobias Swinden (1659-1719). Besides the punishments one can expect in hell, it mostly deals with the location of hell. Stating that the fire in hell isn't a metaphor, but real fire, and that the fire was eternal, Swinden places the hell in the sun. He includes different opinions on the placement of hell, refuting the idea of fire (and hell) being inside of the earth. He also tries to reconcile science and religion, referring to Copernicus and Tycho Brahe, and agreeing that the sun, and not the earth, is the center of the universe and not the earth. In spite of the scholarly approach of the work, it became rather popular and appeared in various editions and translations.With two bookplates on paste-down. Title-page slightly soiled, margins slightly browned throughout and with a few small spots. Binding only slightly soiled. Overall in very good condition.l Caillet 10495; STCN 297970747.

[4], XXIV, 587; [4], 500; [4], 432; [4], IV, 691; [4], 687, [1]; [4], 452; [4], 533, [1]; [4], 462, [1]; [4], 332; [4], 501, [1 blank], [1]; [4], 494, [1]; [4], 94; 106 pp.Fourth and most extensive edition of a fundamental classic of vertebrate palaeontology by the French naturalist and zoologist Georges Cuvier (1769-1832), edited by his brother Friedrich Cuvier. "In the whole literature of comparative anatomy and palaeontology there is scarcely any work that can rank with this great masterpiece of Cuvier.""We follow him in his attempts to identify the remains of the fossil mammalian by comparison with existing mammalian species, and we realize with him the necessity of a thorough examination of the bony skeleton of existing mammals before such a comparison can be effected" (Zittel).From the library of the 19th-century Uruguayan homeopath Dr. Juan Christiano d'Korth who set up a practice at Montevideo in 1847. With his name on the spines and library stamps on the title-pages. In very good condition,… Read More

[ca. 300] pp.Anonymous manuscript recipe book (ca. 1865), by a Dutch pharmacist from the Twente region in The Netherlands. The book contains about 150 leaves filled with manuscript recipes and formulas to cure animals. For example: a cure for a sow that will not let her piglets drink, or for a cow that retains her placenta. The book also contains recipes for humans (yellow fever) and domestic recipes like making piccalilli, several types of spiced wine and a trick to keep eggs fresh for months. With many lists of ingredients with prices. Mainly written in Dutch, but also French and German. Written in multiple hands, but the main and earliest one dates from 1862. Later dates are noted throughout, as well as some printed notes pasted in that date from the early 1900's. This indicates that the book had several subsequent users. Named places are Almelo, Borne, Oldenzaal, Deventer, Zenderen, Hengelo and Rijssen, which all lie in the rural northern Twente region. This recipe book gives an insight in Dutch… Read More

[4], 60 pp.Rare copy of a pamphlet on the massacre of the Waldensians in Piedmont in 1655. It is probably a second edition as the title-pages mentions: "Jouxte la copie impriméé à Haerlem 1663", though no copies from this previous Haarlem edition are known. The Waldensians are a Christian movement with its origins in the later Middle Ages in France and they were persecuted as heretics from the 12th century onwards. From the early 17th century they were considered as early forerunners of the Reformation. In 1655 the Duke of Savoy commanded the Waldensians of Piedmont to attend Mass or leave in 20 days. The remaining Waldensians were massacred, causing indignation throughout Europe.Some waterstains in the upper margins; wrappers with slightly rubbed edges and spine restored with cello tape. Otherwise a good copy of this rare pamphlet on the Piedmont massacre.l Bibliografia Valdese 1672; STCN (1 copy); Tiele, Pamfletten 5035; WorldCat (3 copies); not in Knuttel.

[8], [ca. 780] pp. containing 92 numbered items (2 folding).Very interesting collection of 92 numbered ordinances, resolutions, instructions, orders and lists concerning the army and naval forces of the Dutch Republic during its golden age, dating from 1591 to 1716. At least seven times over a period of nearly fifty years, the printers to the States General produced similar preliminaries to reissue and/or reprint a series of previously published official documents. The first - with documents 1-72 - by Jacob Scheltus in 1675. Expanded versions followed in 1688 and 1722, the latter by Paulus and Isaac Scheltus. Since Jacob is not otherwise recorded after 1712, the present edition (containing a document dated 1716) may have been printed by Paulus Scheltus under Jacob’s name.The documents include ordinances on the military discipline, (no.1, 1705), “placaten” (publicly posted documents) on the engaging of soldiers and seamen, orders on armament, payment, instructions for admirals, officers, provost… Read More

58 pp.Second recorded copy of the first edition of a collection of texts on astronomy and physics by the French Capuchin monk Emmanuel de Viviers, originally published in the Journal Historique between 1719 and 1725. Not only the first but also the second edition published in 1728 is very rare, and both are not mentioned in the authoritative reference works in this field. With owner's inscription on title-page and flyleaf struck through and dampstains in last few leaves. Good copy of a very rare work .The following texts are included:1) Horologe astronomique, & universelle;2) Observations sur les eclypses;3) A qu'elle heure l'eclypse du soleil du 22. May 1724. doit paroitre en Lorraine;4) Questions faites à l'autheur du traité des eclypses sur ce qui concerne la lueur de la lune & c.;5) Remarques sur l'eclypse du soleil du 22. May 1724;6) Machine perpetuelle pour les eclypses & un calendrier universel;7) Nouveau systheme pour découvrir l'erreur des philosophes sur la maniere dont se fait la… Read More

[16], 262, 35 [1 blank], 23 [1 blank], 49 [1 blank], [2], 81 [1 blank]; [12], 306, 1 [1 blank] pp.Ad 1: First edition (first issue) of a very interesting collection of voyages made to Africa and America, translated from the French, Latin and Portuguese originals and edited by Henri Justel (1620-1693). The work is richly illustrated with engravings, some showing Caribbean pottery, and engraved maps of New England, Jamaica , Barbados and Abyssinia. Ad 2: First edition (second issue) of an important work on Constantinople. In 1680 Guillaume-Joseph Grelot, an artist-traveller, having spent some time in Constantinople, first published a book of engravings after his drawings, along with extensive commentary and accounts of his adventures. His book immediately went through several editions. Even his English publisher bragged of Grelot's success with Louis: "The King of France was so pleased with these draughts, that he commanded the author to make them publick, and gave him his letters patents, strictly… Read More

XVIII, [1], 20-50 pp.First edition of a brief work on molluscs, worms and zoophytes, by the French zoologist François Marie Daudin (1774-1803). He describes several molluscs, including four new species of worms (worm snails), giving a brief physical description in Latin, and a physical and habitat description in French. All the species are depicted on the engraved plates. Other sections contain comments on several mollusc families and the classification of molluscs. Only a few small spots. Binding rubbed, slightly worn along the extremities. Overall in very good condition.l BMC NH, p. 425; Junk, Thes. libr. conchyliorum 86.

[1], [1 blank], 6 pp. plus 37 engraved plates with title-print & 42 lion prints.First edition of a complete set of six series of lion prints (30 full-page, 12 half-page, on 36 inserted leaves) engraved by Bernard Picart (1673-1733), including at least 8 from his own drawings from life and others after drawings by various masters, including 18 after Rembrandt. Series A begins with a print showing 12 detail figures of paws and claws and continues with prints showing 2 lions each (except 1 showing 1 lion). Series B shows lion heads (1 to 3 per print), all after Le Brun. The rest show one lion each (except 1 showing 2 lions). They depict male and female lions standing, reclining and eating.Picart, a celebrated French artist-engraver, studied with his father and worked in Paris together with François Chéreau, who sold the present print series there. He came to Holland in 1710, living and working in Amsterdam from 1711 to his death in 1733.One print (B3) is sophisticated, coming from another early… Read More