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Early Printing & Manuscripts / History, Law & Philosophy

Medical secrets plus a largely imaginary Medieval European view of India

[ACHILLINI, Alessandro]. Secreta secretorum Aristotelis.
Including:
ARISTOTLE [pseudo]. Maximi philosophi ... de signis aquarum: & tempestatum.
ARISTOTLE [pseudo]. Maximi philosophurum ... de mineralibus.
ALEXANDER OF APHRODISIAS. De intellectu.
AVERROES. De beatitudine anime.
ACHILLINI, Alexander. De universalibus.
ALEXANDER THE GREAT [pseudo]. De mirabilibus Indie.
(Colophon: Lyon, Antoine Blanchard, 1528. Small 8vo. With a title-page with a 4-piece decorated woodcut border with flowers, birds and snails, woodcut printer's device on last page, 6 woodcut initials and a leaf ornament. Set in 3 sizes of rotunda gothic types, with the title in roman capitals. Contemporary blind-tooled sheepskin(?) parchment over wooden boards, in a panel design with quadruple fillets and 2 decorative rolls, brass catch-plates and anchor-plates (straps and clasps lost). LXXXIII ll. Full description
€ 11,500
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The book that opened America

ACOSTA, José de. Historie naturael ende morael van de Westersche Indien.
Enkhuizen, Jacob Lenaertsz. Meyn (colophon: Haarlem, printed by Gillis Rooman), 1598. 8vo. With a woodcut decoration on the title-page. Vellum (ca. 1700?). [7], 398, [8] ll. Full description
€ 7,500
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Venice school edition of Aesop with numerous fables by other authors, the 3rd edition of this collection

AESOP. Fabellae Graece et Latine, cum aliis opusculis, quorum index proxima refertur pagella.
Venice, (colophon: Giovanni Farri and brothers), 1542. Small 8vo (16 x 11 cm). With 1 woodcut decorated initial but further with spaces left for manuscript Greek and Latin initials (with printed guide letters). Contemporary limp sheepskin parchment, with fragments of a vellum manuscript used to reinforce the spine. 364, [4] pp. Full description
€ 2,500
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The roads of the Roman Empire and a late antique “Michelin guide” for Rome

[ANTONINUS PIUS], Vibius SEQUESTER, Publius VICTOR & DIONYSIUS Periegetes. Itinerarium provinciarum Antonini Augusti. Vibius Sequester De fluminum, & aliarum rerum nominibus in ordinem elementorum digestis. P. Victor De regionibus urbis Romae. Dionysius Afer De situ orbis Prisciano interprete.
Lyon, heirs of Simon Vincent (colophon: printed by Nathias [recté Mathias] Bonhomme, [ca. 1540]. Small 8vo. With Vincents woodcut device on the title-page. Nineteenth-century vellum, gold-tooled spine with brown title label lettered in gold, marbled endpapers. 206, [1], [1 blank] pp. Full description
€ 2,750
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First printed world-corpus of classical inscriptions

APIANUS, Petrus. Inscriptiones sacrosanctae vetustatis non illae quidem Romanae, sed totius fere orbis summo studio ac maximis impensis Terra Marique conquistae feliciter incipiunt.
Ingolstadt, Petrus Apianus, 1534. Folio (21 x 29.5 cm). With title-page printed in red and black, large emblematic woodcut after Albrecht Dürer (hand-coloured and highlighted with gold ca. 1730), woodcut coat of arms of Raimund Fugger (hand-coloured and highlighted with gold), 184 woodcut illustrations and 7 large woodcut initials. Nearly every page framed by 4 woodcut decorative border strips (several varieties). Contemporary vellum. [40], CCCCCXII, [8] pp. Full description
€ 9,500
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First printed world-corpus of classical inscriptions, with numerous woodcuts including one after Albrecht Dürer

APIANUS, Petrus and Bartholomeus AMANTIUS. Inscriptiones sacrosanctae vetustatis non illae quidem Romanae, sed totius fere orbis . . .
Ingolstadt, Petrus Apianus, 1534. Folio (31×22 cm). Title-page with a large woodcut (15×16 cm) by H. Brosamer after Albrecht Dürer, Apianus's woodcut device above the colophon, woodcut coat of arms of Raimund Fugger (who helped finance the publication), and numerous woodcut illustrations by Brosamer, M. Ostendorfer, G.A. Benewitz and others, most showing sculptural elements from tombs, most pages in woodcut borders, usually assembled from 4 blocks each. 19th-century red half calf, gold- and blind-tooled spine. [40], CCCCXII, [8] pp. Full description
€ 4,950
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First Aldine edition of Pedanius's commentaries on Cicero's orations

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
€ 4,500
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First edition of the first Italian translation of Augustine's "De civitate Dei"

AUGUSTINE of Hippo (Saint AUGUSTINE). De la cita d'Dio.
[Venice?, Antonio di Bartolommeo Miscomini, ca. 1477? (not after 1483)]. Folio. Printed in two columns, each 47 lines, with spaces for 3-6 line initials left blank. Early 19th-century gold-tooled calf. [1 blank], [322], [1 blank] ll. Full description
€ 19,000
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First edition of the "Divisiekroniek", with 239 woodcut illustrations, in an interesting binding

[AURELIUS, Cornelius]. Die cronycke van Hollandt, Zeelandt en[de] Vrieslant beghinnende va[n] Adams tiden tot die geboerte ons heren Jh[es]u[m] voertgaende tot de[n] jare M.CCCCC. ende Xvij.
Leiden, Jan Seversz., 18 August 1517. Folio. With the title-page printed in red and black with a large woodcut between different woodcut borders, and 239 woodcuts in text, including 121 woodcut portraits. Black blind-tooled goatskin (1637), with gold-tooled title and binding date on side. [2], 436 ll. Full description
€ 45,000
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The most important expanded edition of the famous “Divisiekroniek”, the Dutch national chronicle, complete with the map of Holland in its first state

[AURELIUS, Cornelius and Ellert de VEER]. Die cronycke van Hollant, Zeelant ende Vrieslant. Dordrecht, Peeter Verhaghen, 1591, 1591, 1590. 3 volumes bound as 1. Small folio (30.5 x 20.5 cm). With 3 title-pages, each with a different woodcut full-length portrait (the first count of Holland Dirck I, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and King Philip II of Spain), 1 double-page engraved map of Holland in part 2 (in its first state), and 36 woodcut portraits in text. Blind-tooled vellum (ca. 1740?). [6], 264; [6], 162; [1], 1-110, 110-130, [6] ll. plus the map. Full description
€ 6,500
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Second part of the first ever series of children's books

BAÏF, Lazare de and [Charles ESTIENNE (editor)]. De vasculis libellus, adulescentulorum causa ex Bayfio decerptus, addita vulgari Latinarum vocum interpretatione.
Paris, Roberti Stephani [Robert Estienne], (colophon: 13 October) 1543. 8vo. With a woodcut printer's device on the title-page. Later blueish-grey paper over boards with the title printed in black on the spine. 52, [3], [1 blank] pp. Full description
€ 1,750
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The pedagogical essentials of the Renaissance collected, together with Greek epistles

[BECH, Philipp, ed.]. De disciplina puerorum, recteque formandis eorum & studiis & moribus, ...
Basel, Joannes Oporinus (colophon: Bern, Samuel Apiarius, March 1556).
With: (2) [MOREL, Guillaume, ed.]. Graecorum veterum selectae brevesque epistolae.
Paris, Guillaume Morel, King's printer for Greek, 1562. With a remarkable woodcut device on the title-page. With the Greek text set in Claude Garamont's famous Grec du Roi and the Latin translation set in his Aldine-style italic. 2 works in 1 volume. 8vo (15 x 10 x 4.5 cm). Richly gold-tooled tanned sheepskin (ca. 1700), gilt edges. 31, [21]; [16], "840" [= 804] pp. Full description
€ 12,500
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The first history of Christianity in England,
in contemporary blind-tooled calf with a roll showing Reformation portraits

BEDA VENERABILIS (The Venerable BEDE). Ecclesiasticae historiae gentis Anglorum libri quinque diligenti studio à mendis, quibus hactenus scatebant, vindicati.
Including: BEDA VENERABILIS. Epitome sive breviarium totius praecedentis historiae Anglorum ...
Antwerp, Joannes de Grave (Gravius), 1550. Folio. With De Grave's woodcut armorial device on title-page (repeated on the otherwise blank final leaf) and 30 woodcut decorated initials. Contemporary blind-tooled calf, each board with a double border made from a roll with 4 heads in profile, not labelled but showing Martin Luther, Philipp Melanchthon, Desiderius Erasmus and apparently the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V rather than the more common Jan Hus, each in an oval wreath and separated by foliage (bilaterally symmetrical both vertically and horizontally). [6], 263, [1 blank], [12] pp. Full description
€ 4,000
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A commentary on and epitome of Laurentius Valla's De Elegantiis

BIENATO, Aurelio. In elegantiarum sex libros Laurentii Vallae disertissimi epithomata nuper recognita.
Venice, Giovanni Antonio Nicolini da Sabbio, for Melchiorre Sessa, 1539. Small 8vo. With Sessas charming woodcut device showing a cat with a mouse in its mouth, with motto "Dissimilium infida societas" below, repeated on the last page. Later half vellum, gold-tooled spine, boards covered with decorated paper. 63, [1] ll. Full description
€ 6,500
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Standard work on Roman law by a famous French jurist and philologist

BRISSON, Barnabé. De formulis et sollemnibus populi Romani verbis, Libri VIII...
Frankfurt, Joannes Wechel and Petrus Fischer and consorts, 1592. 4to. With title-page printed in red and black, woodcut printer's device, woodcut head- & tail pieces and initials. Contemporary gold-tooled calf. [8], 750 [= 760], [84] pp. Full description
€ 1,250
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One of the most important textbooks on logic, highly praised by Melanchthon

CAESARIUS, Johannes. Dialectica ... nunc recens Hermani Raiani Welsdalii fructuosis scholiis illustrata, & in multis locis emendata. Accessit huic Ioanni Murmelii Isagoge in decem Aristotelis Praedicamentas.
Venice, Giovanni Maria Leni, 1579. 8vo. With Lenis woodcut device on the title-page (a figure holding a set square up to the sun, in a scrollwork cartouche with motto, "In eo qui fecit me omnia possum") which has the letterpress title "Dialectica" in a woodcut factotum with scrollwork and putti at the head, and woodcut decorated initials. Set in roman and italic type with occasional Greek. Contemporary vellum. "189" [= 179], [1 blank] ll. Full description
€ 2,500
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The future King Philip II of Spain’s travels from Spain to the Low Countries: eye-witness account by his tutor

CALVETE DE ESTRELLA, Juan Cristóbal. El felicissimo viaje d'el muy alto y muy poderoso Principe Don Phelippe, hijo d'el Emperador Don Carlos Quinto Maximo, desde España à sus tierras dela Baxa Alemaña: con la descripcion de todos los estados de Brabante y Flandes. Escrito en quatro libros, ...
Antwerp, Martinus Nutius I, 1552 (colophon 25 May 1552). Small folio (27 x 19.5 cm). With the woodcut arms of Charles V on title-page, a full-page woodcut triumphal arch erected in Ghent for Philip's entry, Nutius's woodcut device at the end, and dozens of woodcut decorated initials (4 series). Near contemporary limp vellum, with 6 fragments of a 16th-century manuscript reinforcing the spine of the bookblock, blind- and (later) gold-tooled spine. [8], 335, [19] ll. Full description
€ 9,000
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Rare Italian translation of an originally Spanish chivalric novel

[CAMILLI, Camillo (translator)]. Historia del nobile, et valoroso Cavalier. Felice Magno, figliuolo del Re Falangrè della Gran Brettagna, & della Reina Clarinta, nella quale si raccontano i suoi grandi, & maravigliosi fatti tradotta con somma diligenza di Spagnuolo in lingua Italiana.
Verona, Sebastiano dalle Donne for Francesco de Franceschi Senese, 1587. 8vo. Contemporary limp sheepskin parchment. [12], 298 ll. Full description
€ 7,500
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Contemporary accounts of two power struggles, in Italy and in the Low Countries

CAPELLA, Galeazzo Flavio. De rebus nuper in Italia gestis [in the running heads: "De bello Mediolanensi"] libro octo ...
(Colophon: Antwerp, Maarten de Keyser), 1533.
With: (2) SERVILIUS, Johannes (Jan KNAAP). Geldrogallica conjuratio in totius Belgicae clarissimam civitatem Antverpiam, duce Martino Rosheymio, ...
Augsburg, Heinrich Steiner, 1544. 2 works in 1 volume. Small 8vo (15 x 10 cm). Contemporary vellum wrappers, with 2 fragments of the March and April calendar leaf (in red and black) of a manuscript Missale romanum (ca. 1475/1500?) used as end leaves. 96; [44] ll. Full description
€ 4,500
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One of the most influential works of mythological commentary of the 16th and 17th centuries

CARTARI, Vincenzo [& Antoine du VERDIER]. Imagines deorum, qui ab antiquis colebantur: in quibus simulacra, ritus, caerimoniae, magnaque, ex parte veterum religio explicatur: olim a Vincentio Chartario Rhegiensi ex variis auctoribus in unum collectae, atque in Italica lingua expositae: nunc vero ad communem omnium utilitatem Latino sermone ab Ant. Verderio domino Vallisprivatae, &c. expressae, atque in meliorem ordinem digestae. Quibus acc. duo indices: prior, imaginum: posterior, rerum atque verborum, quae toto libro continentur.
Lyons, Etienne Michel (colophon: printed by Guichard Julliéron), 1581 (colophon: August). 4to. With Michel's woodcut publishers device on the title-page (an Ottoman man and a fruit tree with motto "virtutes sibi invicem adhaerent"), a full-page woodcut portrait of Antoine du Verdier, a small woodcut illustration and 89 beautiful large woodcuts (13 x 9.5 cm) of classical mythological gods and heroes in the text. Modern sheepskin parchmen. [8], 359, [57] pp. Full description
€ 2,950
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First edition of a rare work about the Orient and the crusades

CENTENO, Amaro. Historia de cosas del oriente primera y segunda parte...
Cordoba, Diego Galván, 1595. 2 parts in 1 volume. 4to. With a woodcut coat of arms on the title-page and the divisional title-page for part 2, an elaborate Jesuit woodcut IHS vignette on the verso of the last leaf above the colophon and woodcut initials throughout, with a few typographical or woodcut tail-pieces, al text is set within a simple woodcut frame. Later tree marbled sheepskin. [8], 138, [4] ll. Full description
€ 28,000
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Ordinances for the Low Countries, issued by Charles V, 4 October 1540, with more in manuscript,
issued by Mary of Hungary, governor of the Low Countries, 14 February 1549

[CHARLES V, Emperor]. Les ordonnances[,] statutes, & edictz, que lEmpereur Charles cinquies. de ce nom, tousjours auguste, a faict publier en la ville de Bruxelles ...
Brussels, Marck Martens; Antwerp, "en l[]escu dArtoys, sur le Pont de Chambre" [= the printing office of Jacob van Liesvelt], [privilege dated from Brussels, 7 October 1540]. 4° (20.5 × 15 cm). Title-page with an elaborate large woodcut showing the Imperial coat-of-arms. 20th-century half sheepskin parchment, boards covered with 2 leaves from Froben & Petris 2° Latin Bible, Basel, 1498, red edges. [20] pp. Full description
€ 9,500
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First and only Aldine edition of the liveliest most extensive extant Roman history of Alexander the Great

CURTIUS RUFUS, Quintus. Quintus Curtius. [De rebus Alexandri Regis Macedonum libri III-X.]
Venice, heirs of Aldo I Manuzio & Andrea I Torresano, July 1520. 8vo. With Aldos woodcut anchor and dolphin device on the title-page, repeated on the verso of the otherwise blank last leaf (each with letterpress "AL ... DUS" flanking the device). Set in Aldos famous italic (with upright capitals), the worlds first italic printing type, first used in 1501. Richly blind-tooled brown goatskin morocco (early 20th-century with the older bookplate moved to the new paste-down?). [8], 170, [2] ll. Full description
€ 2,250
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Naval convoys for merchant ships; import and export taxes on 430 goods, under the short-lived British governorship of the Netherlands

DUDLEY, Robert, Earl of Leicester. Placcaet op tstuck vande convoyen (mitsgaders licenten, ...) ghedaen ... by zyne Excellentie, tot Utrecht den laetsten Aprilis, anno. M. D. LXXXVI.
Utrecht, widow of Coenraet Henricksz, 1586.
With: (2) DUDLEY, Robert, Earl of Leicester. [Incipit:] ¶ Robert, Grave van Leycester ..., allen ... die deze ... sullen sien oft hooren lesen saluyt. Alsoo ...: so ist dat wy ... goet ... geacht hebben, alle de ... lysten vanden goedere[n] gaende naer ... vreemde lande[n], ..., te redigeren en[de] dresseren in ee[n] sijste[! = lijste], ....
(Colophon: Utrecht, printed by Hendrick van Borculo, [1586]). 2 works sewn together. 4to. Disbound. [8]; [17], [1 blank] pp. Full description
€ 750
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Pro-war pamphlet by a patriotic nobleman

[PAMPHLET - DUTCH-SPANISH WAR]. Een goedt advijs, opt stuck vande vrede ende oorloghe in dese Nederlanden: by een edel-man ende oprecht lief-hebber syns vader-landts ende der ghemeyner ruste, aen eenen synen goeden vriendt, by forme van missive, overgheschreven. Na de copie.
[Delft], [Aelbrecht Hendricksz.], 1584. 4to. Woodcut interlaced capital 'o' on title, woodcut headpiece. (14, 2 blank) pp. Full description
€ 395
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Rare pamphlet from the entourage of William the Silent, Prince of Orange

[DUTCH WAR OF INDEPENDENCE]. Abschrifft und gruendlicher Bericht eines schreibens der Ritterschafft, Edlen, und Stett, in Holland, in namen und von wegen der Stende derselben Landtschafft, an die Herren, welche das ampt aller Stend der Niderland tragen: Sie darinnen vermanet, dass sie einhelliglich (der Koeniglichen Man von Spannien zu gutem) dieselbige Land, auss des Hertzogen von Alba, und seiner Spanniart gewalt und Tiranney, widerumb zu ihrer alten Welfart und Freiheit helffen bringen.
[Germany?], 1574. 4to. With a woodcut arabesque ornament on the title-page. Modern boards. [37], [3 blank] pp. Full description
€ 3,250
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Erasmus on the Latin language: two foundationalworks in a very attractive contemporary binding

ERASMUS, Desiderius. De duplici copia verborum ac rerum commentarii duo.
(Colophon: Mainz, Johannes Schoeffer, August 1521). With title in woodcut architectural border; 6 large, beautiful woodcut initials. With 1 initial coloured by hand.
With: (2) ERASMUS, Desiderius. Parabolae sive similia.
(Colophon: Basle, Johannes Froben, July 1521). With title in an elaborate woodcut border, first page of the dedicatory letter by Erasmus to Petrus Aegidius on back of title-page with a border made of woodcut strips, Froben's large woodcut device on the last page, and 2 decorative woodcut initials. 2 works in 1 volume. 8vo. German contemporary richly blind-tooled calf, in a panel design. The central panel on each board is filled with dozens of impressions of 3 floral stamps, 1 on the front board and 2 on the back. [16], 247, [1 blank]; 191, [1] pp. Full description
€ 12,000
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Response to French lawsuits against the Jesuits in the late 16th century

FON, René de la (pseudonym of Louis RICHEOME). Response de Rene de la Fon pour les religieux de la Compagnie de Jesus. Au playdoyé de Simon Marion en l'arrest donné contre iceux le 16. Octobre 1597.
Villefranche, Guillaume Grenier, 1599. 8vo. With a small vignette on the title page built up from typographical ornaments and 2 headpieces built up from typographical ornaments. Later vellum with leather ties. "238" [= 239], [1 blank] pp. Full description
€ 3,500
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Affirming the rights of Emperor Charles V to the Duchy of Gelre and the County of Zutphen

[GELDERLAND]. Het bescheet vanden Keyser Kaerle de vijfde van desen name, uutgegheven inden Rycxdach van Reynsborch Int iaer ons heeren M.D. ende XLI. vanden goeden rechte dat hij heeft tot ten hertochdom van Geldre ende Graefschap van Zutphen, Ende oock de wederlegghinghe, ende wederbescheet van heer Willem hertoch van Cleve te Franckfoort ghedaen Int iaer ons heeren M.D. XXXIX overgeset uiten latijn in duytsche.
Antwerp, Marten Vermeere, [1541]. 4to. With the woodcut coat of arms of Charles V on title-page. 19th-century half calf, brown decorated paper sides. [64] ll. Full description
€ 5,000
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The Emperor Charles V rights to Gelderland and Zutphen

[GELDERLAND - CHARLES V]. Assertio juris Imperatoris Caroli huis nominis quinti, in Geldriae Ducatu, & Zutphaniae Comitatu, aedita in Comitijs Ratisbonensibus, anno M.D.XLI. & confutatio oppugnationum Guilielmi Cliviae Ducis, Franckfordiae exhibitarum, anno M.D.XXXIX.
Nuremberg, Johann Petri, [1541]. Large 8vo. With a large ornamental woodcut coat-of-arms of Charles V, 11 woodcut initials with pictorial decoration. 18th-century gold-tooled calf, richly decorated spine. [45], [1 blank] ll. Full description
€ 3,900
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"Most realistic, least moralizing and most informative" account of the Ottoman Empire

GIOVIO, Paolo. Commentario de le cose de' Turchi, ...
(Colophon: Rome, printed by Antonio Blado "in le case de" Gioanbatista di Massimi, 1535). 4to (20 x 14 cm). With Blado's woodcut device on title-page (repeated below the colophon). Modern blue-grey paper wrappers made with ca. 1750 materials. [84] pp. Full description
€ 4,500
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Latin dialogues by the rector of the Deventer Illustre School, leading humanist
and teacher of Erasmus and Pope Adrian VI

HEGIUS (VAN DEN HECK), Alexander. Dialogi. De scientia et eo q[uo]d co[n]tra Academicos. De tribus anim[a]e generibus. De incarnationis misterio dialogi duo quib[us] ... Dialogus physicus. De sensu et sensili. De arte et inertia. De rhetorica. De moralibus. Eiusde[m] Farrago cui addita invectiva eius in modos significandi ... Epistola una et altera eius ceteris apud suos latentibus.
(Colophon: Deventer, Richard Pafraet, 1503). Small 4to (21 x 14.5 cm). With spaces left for 3- to 5-line manuscript initials (most with printed guide letters). Set in a rotunda gothic type with the title, colophon, running heads, etc. in a larger textura gothic and the author's name in a still larger rotunda, with occasional words in Greek. With one blue "Lombardic" initial filled in in manuscript, capitals and paragraph marks rubricated throughout. Half tan sheepskin (ca. 1860?). [170] pp. Full description
€ 7,500
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Collection of four works on Roman history

HERODIAN. Historiae libri VIII.
With:
(2) AURELIUS VICTOR, Sextus. A D. Caesare Augusto usque ad Theodosium excerpta.
(3) EUTROPIUS. Historiae libri X.
(4) PAUL THE DEACON (PAULUS DIACONUS). Libri VIII. ad Eutropii historiam additi.
Florence, Filippo Giunta, 1517. 4 works in 1 volume. Small 8vo. With Giuntas woodcut device on the verso of the otherwise blank final leaf. Later half calf. [4], 90; 127, [1 blank] ll. Full description
€ 4,000
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"Father of History" in elegant & famous first Greek edition by Aldus Manutius, from the Arenberg library

HERODOTUS. [Historiarum] libri novem. Quibus musarum indita sunt nomina.
(Colophon: Venice), Aldus Manutius, (colophon: September 1502). Folio (29.5 x 20 cm). With Aldus's anchor and dolphin device on title-page and the verso of the last leaf. Late 19th-century blind-tooled, polished tan calf, the central panel with the arms of the Dukes of Arenberg. [140] ll. Full description
€ 69,500
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A 16th-century introduction to legislation and jurisprudence

HOPPERS, Joachim. De juris arte libri tres. Eiusdem, juris civilis, sive ad pandectas libri sex priores.
Louvain, Petrus Colinaeus, 1555. 4to. With a woodcut printer's device on title-page (repeated on the last page), and many woodcut initials. Contemporary limp sheepskin parchment. [12], 505, [2], [1 blank] pp. Full description
€ 3,500
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Superb Humanist "Sammelband"

HORACE. [Opera] cum quattor commentarijs.
Venice, printed by Philippus Pincius for Benedictus Fontana, 1495-1496. With large woodcut printer's device on last leaf, and numerous woodcut initials.
With:
(2) PERSIUS. [Opera] cum tribus commentariis.
Venice, Giovanni Tacuino de Tridino, 4 November 1499. With woodcut printer's device on verso of penultimate leaf, and fine woodcut on title-page.
(3) JUVENALIS. [Opera] cum commento Ioannus Britannici.
Reggio Emilia, Francesco de Mazalibus, 1503. With fine woodcut at the head of text, and some woodcut initials. 3 works in 1 volume. Folio. Contemporary blind-tooled vellum over wooden boards with 2 brass clasps. [264] ll. Full description
€ 25,000
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One of the foundational texts of the Western legal tradition, printed by a woman for the first time

JUSTINIANUS I, Emperor and Jean CHAPPUIS (editor). Codex. Codicis d[omi]ni Justiani sacratissimi principis libri novem...
Paris, Yolande Bonhomme for Jean Petit, 1538. 4to. With the woodcut printer's device of Thielman Kerver on the title-page, one full-page woodcut illustration, a near full-page woodcut illustration of emperor Justinian I, and numerous woodcut initials throughout. The title-page and text are printed in red and black. Contemporary blind-tooled pigskin, with the manuscript title on the spine and the front board. [40], CCCCCCCIIII, ll. Full description
€ 6,500
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Early humanist edition of Lactantius' most important works, printed in Venice

LACTANTIUS, Lucius Caecilius Firmianus and Giovanni Andrea BUSSI) (editor) [and others]. Opera [and additional works].
Comprising:
(1) LACTANTIUS, Lucius Caecilius Firmianus. De divinis institutionibus
(2) LACTANTIUS, Lucius Caecilius Firmianus. De ira Dei.
(3) LACTANTIUS, Lucius Caecilius Firmianus. De opificio Dei.
(4) LACTANTIUS, Lucius Caecilius Firmianus. De phoenice carmina.
(5) LACTANTIUS, Lucius Caecilius Firmianus. [Epitome divinarum institutionem]. Nephytomon.
Additional works:
(6) RAUDENSIS, Antonius. [Lactantii Firmiani errata].
(7) GENUENSIS, Adam. His carminibus frater Adam Genuensis increpat fratrem Antonium. [Incipit:] Hic male corripuit stolidis Antonius aussis.
(8) BUSSI, Giovanni Andrea. Ioannis Andreae episcopi Aleriensis ad Paulum secundum Venetum pontificem maximum epistola.
(9) OVIDIUS, Publius Naso. Metamorphoses (extract).
(10) ALIGHIERI, Dante. Comedia, inferno XXV (extract).
(11) FORTUNATUS, Venantius. [De christi resurrectione]. [Incipit:] Lactantii fir. de resurrectio[n]is dominicae die/ [S]alve festa dies toto venerabilis aevo.
(Colophon:) Venice, Theodorus de Ragazonibus, 1390 [=1490]. 5 works and 6 additional texts in 1 volume. Folio. The text is set in Roman type with some incidental Greek.20th-century goatskin parchment, with the author and title stamped on the spine with black foil, the name of the author added in manuscript on the bottom edge of the book block. [1 blank], [147] ll. Full description
€ 6,000
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A rare Czech translation of a Turkish chronicle

LEUNCLAVIUS, Joannes. Kronyka Nowa O Narodu Tureckem, na dwa Djili rozdelena.
Prague, Daniel Adam, 1594. 2 volumes bound as 1. Small 4to (19.5 x 15.5 cm). With the title-page of volume 1 printed in red and black, and the colophon with large woodcut printer's device; the 2nd volume with woodcut ornament on the title-page, and the colophon with a woodcut vignette. Contemporary blind-tooled vellum, with 2 leather straps with brass clasps (later). [12], 28, [1], [3 blank]; [16], 385, [18], [1 blank] pp. Full description
€ 6,500
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Important edition of Livy with accurate criticism on the chronology of Roman history

LIVIUS, Titus. Historiarum ab urbe condita, libri qui exstant XXXV cum universae historiae epitomis Caroli Sigonij scholia, quibus ijdem libri, atque epitomae partim emendantur, partim etiam explanantur, ab auctore multis in partibus aucta.
Venice, in aedibus Manutianis (= Paulus Manutius & Aldus Manutius the younger), 1572. 3 parts in 1 volume. Folio.
With title to each part with a large woodcut printer's device surrounded by an allegorical border.
Modern vellum with title in ink on spine, new endpapers. 590, [54], 399, [1 blank]; 109, [1 blank]; 52 pp. Full description
€ 3,500
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The rare first Livius translation into Dutch printed in the Northern Netherlands

LIVIUS, Titus. De Roomsche historie oft gesten, door den alder welsprekensten ende vernaemsten histori-schrijver Titum Livium beschreven. Waer uut niet alleen alle wereltlijcke staten tot vromicheyt ende ridderlijcke manlijcke feyten beweecht ende ghedronghen, maer oock alle ander staten tot grooter recreatien ende gheneuchten des herten ghetrocken sullen worden.
Leiden, Jan Paedts Jacobszoon & Jan Bouwensz., 1585. 4 parts in 1 volume. Folio. With a general title-page and three divisional titles. Contemporary blind-tooled calf over thick bevelled wooden boards with modern leather ties and straps. [12], 301 ll. Full description
€ 3,750
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A great compendium of canon law, finely printed in Antwerp for the English market

LYNDWOOD, William. Provinciale seu constitutiones Anglie: cum summarijs, atque justis annotationibus, politissimis caracteribus, summaque accuratione rursum reuise, atque impresse.
Including: BADIUS, Jodocus (Josse BADE). Tabula indices.
London, Franciscus Bryckman (colophon: Antwerp, printed by Christoffel van Ruremund, 20 December 1525). 2 parts in 1 volume. Folio. With two title-pages, each in a woodcut border. The first shows above heaven with the holy trinity surrounded by the heavenly population, and below the world with the pope and the king kneeling before the church, surrounded by the clergy; on the second title-page the coat of arms of England, a Tudor rose with the "IHS" and Saint George and the dragon. Printed in black and red throughout. Contemporary calf in modern slipcase. CCLV [= CCLVJ], [28] ll. Full description
€ 7,000
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Three very rare 16th-century humanist school books

MACROPEDIUS, Georgius. Adamus Macropedii fabula Christianae pietatis plaena. In qua "koozikoos" oste[n]ditur, quo pacto lapsus homo post multas multorum saeculorum calamitates et miserias per Christum ab initio promissum, tandem[ue] mundo exhibitum, saluti restituitur.
Utrecht, Herman van Borculo, 1552.
With:
(2) Sententiae singulis versibus contentae, ex diversorum poëtarum sententiis Graecis, Latinae redditae.
[Colophon:] Antwerp, Johannes Loeus, 1544.
(3) ERASMUS, Desiderius. [Drop title:] Christiani hominis institutum.
Including: ISOCRATES. [Drop title:] Ad demonicum paraenesis.
[Antwerp, Jan Verwithagen?, 1551?]. With a large woodcut device on the last page. The Erasmus is a complete work extracted from an edition also containing other works and therefore lacks the general title-page and begins with quire G. 3 works in 1 volume. Small 8vo (13.5 x 9 cm). 18th-century gold-tooled calf. [68]; [12]; [12] ll. Full description
€ 4,500
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The wisdom of Ibn Sina, Ibn Rushd, and Abu Ma'shar al-Balkhi, received in an early incunable

MAGNI, Jacobus [Jacques Legrand]. Sophologium.
[Strasbourg, R-printer (Adolf Rusch), ca. 1468]. Folio (21 × 28.2 cm). With the text set in 35 lines, spaces for initials show tiny guide letters, rubricated throughout, with 3- and 5-line blue or red Lombardic initials. 18th-century gold-tooled red morocco, gilt edges, marbled endpapers. 217 (of 218) ff. (lacking the final blank).Roman type, Full description
€ 75,000
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A popular collection of fictional lawsuits concerning love

[MARTIAL d'Auvergne]. LIII. arrests d'amours. Arresta amorum. Accuratissimis Benedicti Curtii Symphoriani commentariis ad utrusque iuris rationem, forensiumque actionum usum quàm acutissimè accommodata. Le tout diligemment reveu & corrigé en une infinité d'endroits outre les precedentes impressions.
Rouen, Thomas Mallard, 1587. 16mo. With title within an ornamental woodcut border. 19th-century gold-tooled red sheepskin. 899 [=897], [58], [1 blank] pp. Full description
€ 1,950
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Beautifully hand coloured copy of an abundantly illustrated work
detailing the genealogy of the Counts of Flanders

MARTIN, Cornelis and Pieter BALTEN (illustrator and publisher). Les genealogies et anciennes descentes des Forestiers et Comtes de Flandre, avec brieves descriptions de leurs vies et gestes le tout recueilly des plus veritables, approvees et anciennes croniques et annales qui se trouvent...
Antwerp, (colophon: Andre Bax for) Pierre Balthasar (also known as Pieter Balten), [1580]. Folio. With an engraved title-page, a full-page engraved plate with the dedication, a full-page engraved plate showing the coats-of-arms of the Foresters of Flanders and the counts of Flanders and a map of Flanders, a full-page engraving showing verse below an allegorical scene of death, 40 full-page engraved portraits of the Foresters and Counts of Flanders, 30 small coats-of-arms in the text, and numerous woodcut decorated initials. All illustrations (except for the initials) are expertly coloured by hand. Contemporary parchment, sewn on 4 supports laced through the joints, with remnants of green closing ties. [6], 119, [2], [1 blank] pp. Full description
€ 12,500
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The rise and fall of the Greeks as a mirror for the Dutch Republic

MEESTER, Andries de (Andreas DEMETRIUS). Der Griecken opganck ende onderganck.
Dordrecht, Isaac Jansz. Canin, 1599. 4to. With the opening words of the title printed from a woodblock, a fine engraved biblical scene with a Latin motto apparently intended as Ecclesiastes 10:8 (a warning of the consequences of injustice) on title-page, and a folding engraved map of Ancient Greece by Joannes van Doetecum (not included in all copies). Contemporary gold-tooled calf. [10], 288, [19] ll. Full description
€ 2,750
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The first Roman geography of the world, including the Arabian peninsula and the Gulf,
in the rare 1502 edition of its first accurate printed text

MELA, Pomponius. De situ orbis Hermolai Barbari fideliter emendatus.
[Venice], (colophon: printed by Albertino da Vercelli, 14 May 1502). Small 4to (20.5 x 15.5 cm). With printed guide letters left for manuscript initials (not filled in). Gold-tooled red half sheepskin (ca. 1820?). XXIIII ll. Full description
€ 6,500
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The first contemporary history of the Netherlands. In the first Latin edition, with a rare portrait of the author

METEREN, Emanuel van. Historia Belgica nostri potissimum temporis Belgii sub quatuor Burgundis & totidem Austriacis principibus coniunctionem & gubernationem breviter. Turbas autem, bella et mutationes tempore regis Philippi, Carli V. Caesaris filii, ad annum usque 1598. plenius complectens, conscripta.
[Cologne, A. Mylius, 1598]. Folio. With letterpress title-page in engraved border with scenes of trade and war (Verduyn, pl. XIV), additional engraved medallion portrait of the author mounted on blank back of title-page, by Hendrik Hondius the Elder, double-page engraved map of the Netherlands, by Frans Hogenberg and 22 engraved portraits on 19 plates. Contemporary vellum. [8], "623" [= 643], [1] pp. Full description
€ 2,000
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Highly important work on Portuguese law, written by order of the king

NUNEZ DO LEÃO, Duarte. Leis extravagantes collegidas e relatadas pelo licenciado Duarte Nunez do liam per mandado do muito alto & muito poderoso Rei Dom Sebastiam nosso Senhor.
Including: NUNEZ DO LEÃO, Duarte. Annotacões sobre as ordenacões dos cinquo livros.
Lisbon, Antonio Gonçalvez, 1569.
Folio. With the woodcut coat-of-arms of King Sebastião on the title-page and the divisional title-page of the second work, 6 large historiated woodcut initials, and numerous small decorated woodcut initials.
Later vellum, with the manuscript title in Gothic script on the spine, red sprinkled edges. [4], 218, [16]; 8 ll. Full description
€ 6,500
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Rare ordinance addressing the negligence of officers of the law, in order to prevent a further rise in crime in Holland

[ORDINANCE - CRIME - HOLLAND]. [CHARLES V]. Ordonnancie va[n] die Keyserlijcke Mayesteyt roerende die dootslaghers cessionanten ende banckeroeten. Ghepubliceert inden jare duysent vijfhondert vier ende veertich.
The Hague, sold by Frans Duyck Pietersz. (colophon: Delft, printed by Symon Jansz.), May 1544. 4to. With the woodcut crowned coat of arms of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V (with the order of the Golden Fleece, a column on either side and the motto "plus oultre") on the title-page. Set in 2 sizes of textura gothic type, with 2 lombardic initials (cast type). Modern half brown buckram, marbled paper sides, blue endpapers, with an older (ca. 1840?) front wrapper bound in. [1], [1 blank], [12], [2 blank] pp. Full description
€ 1,950
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Practical handbook for Venetian merchants

PASI, Bartolomeo. Tariffa de i pesi, e misure corrispondenti dal Levante al Ponente: e da una terra, e luogo allaltro, quasi p[er] tutte le parti dil mondo: con la dichiaratione, e notificatione di tutte le robbe: che si tragono di uno paese per laltro ... Con la sua tavola copiosissima, e facilissima a trovare ogni cosa per ordine.
Venice, (colophon: Pietro di Nicolini da Sabbio), 1540. 8vo. With the title in an architectural woodcut border. 17th-century limp sheepskin parchment. [11], [1 blank] 200 ll. Full description
€ 12,000
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International weights, measures and monetary units in the 16th century

PASI, Bartolomeo. Tariffa de i pesi, e misure corrispondenti dal Levante al Ponente.
Venice, per Paolo Gherardo (colophon: per Comin da Trino), 1557. 8vo (15.5 x 11 cm). With the title in a woodcut border of 4 matching parts, and with a crowned eagle device. 18th-century half green morocco, gold-tooled spine. [12], 200 ll. Full description
€ 4,750
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King Philip II mortgages then sells his lands of Voorburg and Voorschoten
near The Hague to help fund his wars

[MANUSCRIPT]. PHILIP (FELIPE) II, King of Spain. [Mortgage agreement, granting Jan Hanneman, Steward General of North Holland, the rights to the tithes of the King's lands of Voorburg and Voorschoten].
The Hague and Brussels, 1557 (with additions to 1565). Folio (36 x 25.5 cm). Manuscript mortgage agreement, signed by King Philip's representatives, written in brown ink on parchment in a nearly upright cursive gothic hand. With a typescript transcription of the main text and an interlinear translation in Spanish. [2 blank], 9, [1 blank] pp. Full description
€ 6,500
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16th-century royal decree on marine insurance, printed by Plantin

[PHILIP II, King of Spain]. Ordinancie, statuyt ende policie gemaect byden coninck onsen aldernadichsten Heere, op tfeyt vande contracten vande asseurancien ende versekeringen in dese Nederlanden.
Antwerp, Christoffel Plantin, 1571. 4to. With armorial woodcut on title-page. Modern vellum. 15, [1 blank] pp. Full description
€ 7,500
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“German” Europe in the early 16th century, and Hispaniola in America

PIRCKHEIMER, Willibald. Germaniae ex variis scriptoribus perbrevis explicatio.
Augsburg, Heinrich Steiner, 1530. Small 8vo (15.5 x 10.5 cm). Title in a wide woodcut ornamented border, 2 woodcut historiated initials. Set in an Aldine-style italic with a word of Greek. Modern brown shell-marbled boards. [69], [3 blank] pp. Full description
€ 3,750
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Papal bull elevating Cosimo I de’ Medici to become first Grand Duke of Tuscany

PIUS V, Pope. Freiheit und Bulla des allerheiligsten in Gott vatters und Herren, Herren Pii, des namens fünfften Bapsts, uber die Erhoehung und Schoepffung des durchleüchtigsten Fürsten und Herren, Herren Cosmi Medices, Hertzogen zu Florentz, &c. Zu einem Groszhertzoge und koenigmässigem, der provintz Ethrurien, ime underworffen. Geschehen zu Rom, den 27. Augusti. Anno M.D. LXIX.
[Germany], 1570. Small 4to (20 x 15 cm). With a woodcut figure of the Pope on the title-page. Set in Schwabacher gothic type with fraktur headings and incidental roman. Half maroon goatskin morocco (1930s?), gold-tooled spine. [12] pp. Full description
€ 1,950
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First edition of the history of the dioceses Tongres, Maastricht and Liège

PLACENTIUS, Johannes Leo. Catalogus omnium antistitum Tungarorum, Traiectensium, ac Leodiorum, & rerum domi, bellique gestarum compendium.
Antwerp, Willem Vorsterman, [1530?; preface dated 14 September 1529]. Small 8vo (13.5 x 10 cm). Title with woodcut coat-of-arms of Cardinal Everard van de Marck in a 4-piece woodcut border, a large woodcut coat of arms on the last page, 2 woodcut illustrations, one showing Mary and Jesus with Saint Anne (63 x 42 mm), and the other a bishop in his study (45 x 43 mm), each in the same 4-piece woodcut border (different from that on the title-page). Capitals rubricated throughout, some woodcuts also rubricated and some headings and other words underlined in red. Vellum (ca. 1700?). [16], [216] pp. Full description
€ 8,500
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In a 17th-century richly gold-tooled Jesuit prize-binding

PLUTARCHUS. Moralia, quae usurpantur. sunt autem omnis elegantis doctrinae penus: id est, varij libri: morales, historici, physici, mathematici, deniq; ad politiorem litteraturam pertinentes & humanitatem: omnes de Graeca in Latinam linguam transscripti.
Basel, Thomas Guarini, 1570. Folio. With woodcut printer's device on title-page and repeated on last page, some mathematical woodcuts in text and numerous historiated woodcut initials. Early 17th-century Jesuit prize binding in richly gold-tooled light brown calf, sides with arabesques in the style of Gascon, richly gold-tooled double borders and inner panel with small bands in a geometrical pattern. [12], 857, [91] pp. Full description
€ 4,250
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Proclamation forbidding trade and shipping in enemy territories,
with a recital of Spanish crimes against the Dutch

[PROCLAMATION]. Placcaet van ... den Staten Generael ... daer by de Spaigniaerts ende alle heure goederen, voor goede prinse verclaert worden.
The Hague, Aelbrecht Hendricksz, 1599. 4to. With the woodcut arms of the States General on the title-page. 19th-century blue paper wrappers. [11], [1 blank] pp. Full description
€ 395
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A Zeeland proclamation against grain monopolies, printed by Richard Schilders

[PROCLAMATION - NETHERLANDS - ZEELAND]. Placcaet ende ordonnantie vanden Staten van Zeelandt, teghens den opcoop ende uuytvoer vande inlandtsche granen.
Middelburg, Richard Schilders, 1595. 4to. With the woodcut coat of arms of Zeeland on title-page. Disbound. [7], [1 blank] pp. Full description
€ 1,250
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The statutes of Forcalquier and the Counts of Provence

[PROVENCE - FORCALQUIER]. MASSÉ, Louis and others. Statuta provinciae Forcalqueriique comitatum. Cum commentariis L. Massae I.C.... Accesserunt F. Fortii, I.C. Andini, in illa curia advocati, notae ad marginem. Cum indice. On à ajousté un livret, de la genealogie des Comtes de Provence, tiré du livre en Latin de feu Maitre F. de Clappiers, sieur de Vauvenargues, conseiller du Roy, en la Cour des Aydes, & Chambre des Comptes en Provence.
Aix-en-Provence, Nicolas Pillehotte & Jean Tholosan, 1598. 2 parts in 1 volume. Large 8vo. Title printed in red & black with woodcut fleur de lis (coat-of-arms of the Départ. Alpes-de Haute-Provence), woodcut coat of arms of Forcalquier and initials in text; the second part with woodcut coat-of-arms of Henri IV on its part-title and woodcut initials. Later vellum with printed title on spine. [15], [1 blank], 216; [24] pp. Full description
€ 1,950
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Second Aldine edition of the most important Roman work on rhetoric, from the library of Joseph Romilly

QUINTILIANUS, Marcus Fabius. Institutionum oratorium libri XII diligentius recogniti M D XXII. Index capitum totius operis. Conversio dictionum Graecarum, quas ipse author in latinum non transtulit.
(Colophon: Venice "In Aedibus Aldi, et Andreae soceri" [= André d'Asola & sons], January 1521 [= 1522]). Narrow 4to in 8s (21 x 13 cm). With Aldus's anchor and dolphin publisher's device on the first and last pages. Set entirely in a single size of Aldine italic, with some headings, running heads, etc., set in its (upright) capitals. Gold-tooled red morocco (ca. 1700), each board with delicate centre-piece a petit fers, rebacked in gold-tooled red morocco. [4], 230 ll. Full description
€ 4,500
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Newly edited works on rhetoric, in Aire-sur-la-Lys prize binding

RUTILIUS LUPUS, Publius and 15 others (François PITHOU, ed.). [Antiqui rhetores Latini.] ... Omnia ex codd. manusc. emendatiora vel auctiora.
Paris, Adrien Périer (ex officina Plantiniana), 1599. Large 4to. Set in roman types with incidental italic, Greek and Hebrew. Contemporary gold-tooled calf with 18th-century restorations, with the arms of Aire-sur-la-Lys (an eagle) flanked by "S.P.Q. ... Arien[sis]". Rebacked with the original backstrip laid down. [4], 382, [15], [1 blank] pp. Full description
€ 2,950
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The "Mirror of human life", printed at Rome in 1473, with contemporary marginal manuscript notes:
set in one of the first roman printing types ever produced

SÁNCHEZ DE ARÉVALO, Rodrigo (Rodericus SANCIUS or ZAMORENSIS). Speculum vit[a]e human[a]e.
Rome, Joannes Philippus de Lignamine, 31 July 1473. Small folio (26.5 x 20 cm). With spaces left for 2 large (6-line) and about 80 small (3-line) initials. Text block 19.5 x 11.5 mm with 31 lines per page. Set in a single roman type throughout (Lignamine 125R). Limp sheepskin parchment (ca. 1740/50). [163] ll. Full description
€ 22,500
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Comparing Charlemagne and the French King Henri IV

STUCKI, Johann Wilhelm. Carolus Magnus redivivus, hoc est, Caroli Magni Germanorum, Gallorum, Italorum, et aliarum gentium monarchae potentissimi, cum Henrico M. Gallorum & Navarrorum rege florentissimo comparatio: utriusq[ue] regis historiam breviter complectens, quam regum & principum speculum possis appellare.
(Colophon: Zürich, Johann Wolf), 1592. Small 4to (19.5 x 15 cm). With a woodcut portrait of Charlemagne and Henry IV on title-page, two woodcut initials and a woodcut printer's device on the last leaf. 19th-century half calf, gold-tooled spine. 79, [1] ll. Full description
€ 1,750
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16th-century Antwerp edition of "The Twelve Caesars"

SUETONIUS Tranquillus, Gaius. Caesarum XII libri, iam denuo bonorum exemplarium & commentariorum ope emendati, cum M. Antonii Coccii Sabellici commentariis, nihil annotatu dignum dissimulantibus. Jo. Baptistae Egnatii Veneti, annot. in Suetonium. Annotata in eundem, & loca aliquot restitutae per D. Erasmum Roterodamum.
Antwerp, Jan van der Loe, 1548. 8vo. With woodcut device on title-page and numerous woodcut initials in text. Later marbled boards. [24], 661, [1 blank] pp. Full description
€ 1,750
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Definitive edition of the first substantial Dutch manual on the notary's practice

THUYS, Jacques. Ars notariatus. Dat is: Conste en[de] stijl van notarischap: begrepen in Theorijcke ende Practijcke... Desen derden druck, grootelijcken vermeerdert ende verbetert ...
Antwerp, Arnout s'Conincx, 1590. Small 8vo (15.5 x 10 cm). With woodcut publisher's device (with letterpress motto "Virtute et constantia") on title-page, a woodcut tail-piece and woodcut decorated initials (3 series). Set in textura types with incidental roman, with sample documents set in civilité with incidental italic. 17th-century parchment. [16], 231, [1] pp. Full description
€ 2,500
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The first dictionary of classical mythology

TORRENTINUS, Hermannus. Elucidarius carminu[m] et historiaru[m] vel vocabularius poeticus co[n]tine[n]s fabulas: historias: provincias: urbes: insulas: fluvios: et montes illustres.
(Colophon:) Hagenau, Heinrich Gran for Johann Rynmann, 1510. 4to. 19th-century blind-tooled red morocco, with a gold-tooled centre-piece on both sides, title, date and location of printing lettered in gold on the spine, gold- and blind-tooled broad turn-ins, gilt edges, blue endpapers. [1 blank], [60], [1 blank] ll. Full description
€ 2,250
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The most important classical dictionary of its time, bound with the rare first and only edition
of a polemic against medical malpractice

TORRENTINUS, Hermannus (Herman van der BEKE). Elucidarius poeticus continens historias poeticas, fabulas, insulas, regiones, urbes, fluvios, montesq[ue] insigniores, atq[ue] huiusmodi alia, omnib[us] adolescentibus in poesi versantibus oppidoquam necessarius, ...
Cologne, Eucharius Cervicornus (colophon: Godefried Hittorp), July 1529. With the title in an elaborate woodcut architectural border with the Cologne coat of arms in the head, the death of Cleopatra in the foot, further figures in the right and left sides and 3 putti, one holding a shield with a monogram or mark, perhaps of the artist or woodblock cutter. Set in roman types with 8 and 14 mm roman capitals used as initials.
With: (2) FREUDENBERG, Aethon Johann von. De abusu & impostura medicantiu[m] libellus perquam utilis jucundusq[ue] omnibus, quibus cum medicis erit negocium.
Marburg, Eucharius Cervicornus, 1538. With 1 woodcut decorated initial (white on black with floral decoration) and a vine-leaf ornament (Vervliet 7). Set in roman type with the dedication in an Aldine-style italic and with occasional words in Greek.
2 works in 1 volume. 8vo. Sheepskin parchment (ca. 1700?), sewn on 4 supports, red edges, first title lettered in ink in the second spine compartment. [85], [1 blank]; [23] ll. Full description
€ 10,000
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First edition of Vadianus’ important description of the world, including the very rare map

VADIANUS, Joachim (Joachim von WATT). Epitome trium terrae partium, Asiae, Africae et Europae compendiariam locorum descriptionem continens ...
Zürich, Christoph Froschauer, 1534. Folio. With woodcut printer's device on title-page, numerous decorated woodcut initials and a double page woodcut world map "Typus cosmographus universalis" after Sebastian Münster. Modern calf. [44], 273, [1] pp. Full description
€ 38,500
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Rare early Paris edition of an influential humanistic educational treatise by a great neo-Latin poet

VEGIO, Maffeo. De liberorum educatione aurei libri sex noviter recogniti Francisci Philelphi. poete. Oratoris. philosophique prestantissimi. Succincto cum iudice [recté indice]: et brevibus marginariis annotationibus obscurarum sensa dictionum aperientibus. Nicolai Bonespei trecensis campani cura superadditis.
(Colophon: Paris, "apud Gourmontios" [= the brothers Robert, Gilles and Jean de Gourmont], 1508). Small 4to (19 x 13 cm). With numerous printed so-called Lombardic initials, but also with 2 spaces (with guide letters) left for manuscript initials (not filled in). Set in a roman type with the beginning of the title and one heading in a large rotunda gothic type with decorated capitals. Blind-tooled calf (19th century? in a "Medieval" style). CXXVIII, [6] ll. Full description
€ 9,500
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