History of Ideas & Science

Presentation copy to the first Earl of Salisbury of the rare first English edition of a famous illustrated military manual, magnificently coloured by a contemporary hand

Splendid copy of this very rare English edition of De Gheyn's illustrated major military manual, with the plates in their first state, before they were numbered and with some details added during the colouring stage instead of being engraved (several puffs of smoke in the illustrations). The present copy is one of the three "presentation copies" of the first English edition (New Hollstein, The De Gheyn family, II, p. 159, 1b).

“Gothic architecture is the most completely organic form of the art which the world has seen,” one of 45 copies printed on vellum

First edition, one of only 45 copies printed on vellum, of Morris’s important statement on Gothic architecture and its relationship to art, labour, and society. A further 1,500 copies were printed on paper, in three impressions of 500 copies each. Gothic Architecture was the first Kelmscott Press book printed in sextodecimo and the first to employ the four-line initials subsequently used by the Press. Peterson A18.

Printed by prisoners of war in Japan, rare German study of Japanese sumo wrestling, illustrated with colour woodcuts

First and only edition of an unusual illustrated account of sumo wrestling, written in German and produced entirely within the Bandō prisoner-of-war camp in Japan during the final months of the First World War's aftermath.

A foundational study of financial bubbles and the psychology of crowds

First edition of Mackay's celebrated study of speculative bubbles, collective credulity and what he termed the "moral epidemics" of society, containing his famous accounts of the Mississippi Scheme, the South Sea Bubble and Dutch tulip mania. One of the earliest sustained popular examinations of the behaviour of crowds, the Memoirs has enjoyed an unusually long afterlife in the literature of financial speculation and remains frequently invoked in discussions of market bubbles and investor psychology.

A cartographic tour-de-force, a monumental bird’s-eye view of the lost 18th century Paris before it was transformed by Haussman, in a contemporary binding with the arms of the City of Paris

First edition of one of the most celebrated cartographical representations of Paris, commissioned by Michel-Étienne Turgot, designed by Louis Bretez and engraved by Claude Lucas. A monumental and remarkably detailed bird’s-eye view of the French capital, recording its architecture, streets, squares, gardens and urban fabric before the transformations of the 19th century. An excellent example, preserved in a contemporary binding bearing the arms of the City of Paris.

Durer’s three major theoretical works on art, measurement, proportion and fortification

Exceptional sammelband in a near contemporary German binding of Durer’s most important theoretical works on art, ground-breaking studies on measurement, proportion, and fortification, including the Underweysung, a very fine copy containing all the plates and in wonderful condition. These works introduced to Northern Europeans techniques of perspective and mathematical proportion in drawing, painting and architecture.

The first edition in Italian of the great medieval treatise on agriculture — one of the earliest printed books on wine, hunting and estate management

First edition in Italian, and the first edition of Crescenzi’s great agricultural treatise to be printed in Italy. One of the foundational works of European agricultural literature, it had previously appeared in only two Latin editions, at Augsburg in 1471 and Louvain in 1474. This Florentine edition of 1478 brought the text for the first time into the Italian vernacular and was followed by a second Italian edition at Vicenza in 1490.

Sammelband of works on the trials of two renowned women: Mary Blandy and Elizabeth Jeffries, for murder in mid 18th century Britain

A fascinating collection of works on the famous trials of Mary Blandy for the murder of her father and Elizabeth Jeffries for that of her uncle by her lover, John Swann. Both trials generated a great amount of public interest in mid-18th century Britain and sensationalised accounts such as these provide a valuable insight into the manner in which women who committed crimes were perceived. Moreover, the collection includes the testimony of the women themselves and detailed descriptions of their trials.

One of the most famous of all Spanish hunting books, and certainly amongst the best illustrated ones

First edition, arguably the most famous Spanish book on hunting, and certainly one of the most beautifully illustrated ones, by Juan de Noort. A “rare classic on Spanish hunting which was written at the period when the crossbow was giving way to the musket. The work is of interest to falconers and the last of the three books into which it is divided contains fifteen chapters on falcons” (Schwerdt).

Nostradamus’ Propheties, one of the earliest obtainable editions

The exceedingly rare complete edition of the Prophéties bearing the Benoist Rigaud imprint, this is the second complete edition of Nostradamus's Prophéties, of the utmost rarity, here in a fine copy in a contemporary binding.

An extremely rare set of official pro-treaty journals from the Irish Civil War

Extremely rare journal from the Irish Civil War, probably the only complete set in existence, covering the conflict from shortly after its outbreak in the summer of 1922 through the beginning of October, by which time the pro-treaty forces had established territorial dominance over most of Ireland. Representing the official standpoints of the Provisional Government, these volumes offer a rare and unique insight into the period leading up to the establishment of the Irish Free State, which remains relevant for politics on the island of Ireland to this day.

One of the earliest, if not the earliest, treatises composed in Spanish about dogs

First edition, an extremely rare Spanish Renaissance treatise devoted to the dog and the horse, among the earliest substantial vernacular Spanish works dedicated to these subjects and frequently described as the first work in Spanish devoted specifically to dogs. Both horse and dog are presented as faithful companions and indispensable collaborators in hunting, agriculture, travel, and war. Signed by the author on title.

First edition of Pernety’s account of Bougainville’s expedition to establish a French settlement in the Falkland Islands, with descriptions of Brazil, the Strait of Magellan and the Patagonians

First edition of Pernety’s account of the French expedition to the Falkland Islands (Îles Malouines) undertaken in 1763–1764 under the command of Louis-Antoine de Bougainville, with the purpose of establishing a permanent French settlement. Pernety, a Benedictine monk and naturalist who accompanied the expedition, provides one of the earliest detailed descriptions of the islands, their geography, natural history and the circumstances of their colonisation. The French settlement, established at Port Louis in 1764, marked the beginning of a period of competing European claims to the archipelago. France transferred its settlement to Spain in 1767, while Britain, which had established a separate settlement at Port Egmont in 1765, maintained its own claim, leading to the diplomatic crisis of 1770.

One of the first mineralogical textbook published in the Americas

First edition of the first mineralogical textbook published in the Americas—and the earliest systematic exposition of Wernerian mineralogy in Spanish. Andrés Manuel del Río, a student of Abraham Gottlob Werner at Freiberg, brought Werner’s classification to the New World, later expanding it through his own studies of Mexican geology. In 1795 he became the first professor of mineralogy at the newly founded Colegio de Minería in Mexico City. The work introduced European mineralogical science to Latin America and marks the beginning of modern geological study in the region. The second part appeared in 1805.

The First French Grammar Printed in the United States, written by an early Harvard French Instructor

Rare first edition of the first French grammar printed in the United States, a landmark of early American printing and language pedagogy, produced by Harvard’s first appointed instructor of French, printed in Boston. “One of the earliest books of its class printed in America.” (Sabin).

An early and exceptionally rare Spanish medical and pharmacological work, by Monardes; examining the competing traditions of classical and Arabic

First edition of this exceptionally rare and early Spanish medical and pharmacological treatise, historically attributed to Bautista Monardes but now more generally assigned to Nicolás Monardes (c. 1493–1588), whose later writings on medicinal substances from the New World would establish his international reputation and became the foundation for later works. The Pharmacodilosis belongs to an earlier phase of his career and addresses a central question in Renaissance medical practice: the relative merits of simple remedies and compound medicines. Monardes was witness to the debates surrounding pharmaceutical practice in Renaissance Spain; this is a significant work for the study of the medical culture of Seville in the decades preceding the introduction of American medicinal substances into European therapeutics.