Book History, Education, Learning & Printing

[ARABIC-SCRIPT PRINTER’S WOODBLOCK]. Hand-cut woodblock bearing the text "Safr Nishd al-nishad li-Süleyman ..." (Book of the Song of songs of Solomon) in naskh Arabic script.
[Probably Ottoman provinces, mid-18th century (ca. 1750)]. A single hand-cut woodblock (17 x 9 x 2.2 cm, with protrusions to the left and right making it wider - 11 cm - near the head to accommodate the wider 2nd line) intended for use as printing block, with 6 lines of text, together with an inked impression on 18th century paper (16.5 x 10.5 cm). Full description

[ARABIC & ENGLISH VOCABULARY AND PHRASE BOOK]. The interpreter in the Arabic and English Languages, consisting of nouns, epithets (or adjectives), verbs & afterwards some compendious examples.
Ca. 1830s. 4to (21.5 x 27 cm). With 2 folding tables, 17 lines to the page, written in red and black ink. Contemporary navy blue morocco, with the title lettered in gold on spine, marbled endpapers. [6], 237, 238-266, [10] pp. Full description

ARAYA, Fernando de. Conclusiones mathematicas, practicas, y especulativas defendidas en el principio del segundo año ...
Manila, Nicolas de la Cruz Bagay, 1758. 4to. With engraved frontispiece equestrian portrait of Ferdinand VI, King of Spain and Emperor of the Indies. Contemporary salmon-coloured silk over flexible boards, preserved in modern portfolio. [4], 4 ll. Full description

ARCUSSIA, Charles d'. La fauconnerie ... Divisee en trois livres. Avec une briefve instruction pour traitter les autours, sur la fin de l'oeuvre, ...
Paris, Jean Houzé, 1599. 8vo. With Houzé's woodcut device, 6 full-page engravings of birds of prey (12.5 x 8.5 cm) plus 3 (of 5) repeats and all on integral leaves. Red goatskin morocco, signed in the foot of the front turn-in by M[arcel] GODILLOT (active as bookbinder 1938-1975), with wide gold-tooled turn-ins and gold fillets on board edge. 272, [8] pp. Full description

ARENA, Filippo. La natura, e coltura de' fiori fisicamente esposta.
Palermo, Angelo Felicella, 1767-1768. 2 text volumes (4to), bound as 3, and 1 plates volume (oblong folio). With 65 engraved plates printed in colour, occasionally combining up to 6 colours on one plate. The first plate (here wholly printed in dark green) serves as an (allegorical) frontispiece and includes the name of the author and that of Mario Cammerari, the second plate depicts tools, seeds and details of flowers, the third plate contains parterre designs and the other plates depict flowers (several to each plate). Modern flexible boards, covered with decorated paper. VIII, 440; VIII, “116” [= 416]; [2], 167, [1 blank], [8] pp. plus 65 plates. Full description

ARGENSOLA, Bartolome Leonardo de. Conquista de las islas Malucas.
[Madrid, Alonso Martin, 1609]. Small folio (22 x 30 cm). With an engraved architectural title-page showing an allegorical scene (the Moluccas represented by a native woman with feather headdress, cornucopia and sword, riding a crocodile, with the Spanish royal coat of arms in the sky) and a sleeping lion (representing the author?) in a separate cartouche below. Early 18th-century richly gold-tooled red morocco, each board with a large centrepiece a petit fers made partly with pointillé stamps. (Integral?) engraved title-page + [10], “407” [= 411], [1 blank] pp. Full description

ARIAS MONTANUS, Benito (editor). Novum testamentum Graecum.
[Geneva], Petrus de la Rouière, 1619.
With: (2) PAGNINI, Sante (translator) and Benito ARIAS MONTANUS (editor). Biblia Hebraica eorundem Latina interpretatio ...
[Geneva], Petrus de la Rouière, 1618. 2 works in 1 volume, both in 4 parts. Folio. With numerous decorated woodcut initials and woodcut headpieces, the work is printed in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew type. Contemporary blind-tooled vellum with remnants of closing ties, red gauffered edges. [8], 271, [1 blank], [50], [2 blank], [4], 70, [2 blank], 167, [1 blank]; 183, [1], 283, [1 blank], 84, 203, [1 blank] pp. Full description

ARNAULD D'ANDILLY, Angélique de Saint Jean. Relations sur la vie de la Reverende mere Angelique de Sainte Magdelaine Arnauld, ou receüil de la mere Angelique de Saint Jean Arnauld d'Audilly, sur la vie de sa tante la mere Marie-Angelique de Sainte Magdelaine Arnauld, & sur la réforme des abbayes de Port-Royal, Maubuisson & autres, faite par cette Sainte Abbisse.
With: (2) ARNAULD, Angélique de Sainte Magdelaine. Mémoires pour servir à la vie de la R. Mëre Marie Angélique de Sainte Magdelaine Arnauld, reformatrice de Port Royal.
[France], 1737. 2 works in 1 volume. 12mo. Contemporary mottled calf, gold-tooled spine with red morocco title-label, marbled edges and marbled endpapers. VII, 291; IV, 145 pp. Full description

ASCONIUS PEDANIUS, Quintus. Expositio in IIII orationes M.T. Cic. contra C. Verrem [&c.]
(colophon:) Venice, heirs of Aldo I Manuzio & Andrea Torresano, December 1522. 8vo. With Aldos woodcut anchor and dolphin device on the title-page, repeated on the verso of the last otherwise blank leaf (each with letterpress "AL ... DVS" flanking the device), with spaces (with guide letters) left for manuscript initials, not filled in. Set in Aldos famous italic (with upright capitals), the worlds first italic printing type, first used in 1501 (showing the alphabet a-z and A-N in the register of quires above the colophon). Dark purple sheepskin (ca. 1880?). [12], 283, [1] ll. Full description

[ASSAROTTI, Ottavio Giovanno Battista]. Dottrina Christiana. [Manuscript in Italian].
[Genoa, ca. 1815/20]. 8vo. With 117 (of 118) full-page hand-coloured drawings, each in a frame of double rules (20.5 x 14 cm), with lively illustrations of the Christian doctrine, and text in Italian. Contemporary half calf, gold-tooled spine. 117 (of 118), [3 blank] ll., including the last 3 blanks. Full description