139 items found

A beautifully preserved copy with the very rare red ornamental border and an interesting provenance

Appianus Alexandrinus

Historia Romana. De Bellis Civilibus.

€25,000.00

The foundation of modern ichthyology - a wide-margined copy of the first edition

Belon, P. [Petri Bellonii Cenomani; Pierre Belon du Mans]

De Aquatilibus. Libro duo, cum eiconibus ad vivam ipsorum effigiem, quoad eius fieri potuit, expressis.

€5,000.00

The most important of the three first 'modern' works on fishes

Rondelet, G.

Libri de piscibus marinis in quibus verae piscium effigies expressae sunt [including] Universae aquatilium historiae pars altera cum veris ipsorum imaginibus.

Lugduni [Lyon], Matthias Bonhomme, 1554-1555. Two volumes in one. Folio (32.0 x 20.4 cm). Title page with an engraved allegorical vignette, [xiv], 583, [xxii] pp.; second title, [x], 242, [ix] pp., for a total of 880 pp., including two with an engraved (frontispiece) portrait of the author; ca 470 woodcut illustrations, including one mounted (as usual). Embossed vellum dated. Spine with five raised bands and script title. Boards richly blind-tooled, with rolled, floral borders and central oval cartouche with coat of arms dated 1676. Brass clasps. Edges speckled red.

€6,500.00

An exceedingly rare contemporary coloured copy

Gesner, C. [Gessner]

Icones avivm omnivm, quae in historia avivm. [Icones avium omnium, quae in historia avium].

Tiguri, C. Froschovervs, 1555. Folio (36.5 x 24.4 cm). Title page with hand-coloured woodcut vignette, dedication on verso; pp. 3-127 (descriptions and illustrations). Index on pp. [128-135]. End-piece woodcut portrait of the author; verso [p. 136] blank. Contemporary style, gilt-ornamented vellum. Spine with gilt bands and floral vignettes; boards with two triple-gilt borders, the innermost with gilt floral cornerpieces and diamond-shaped rectangle.

€25,000.00

First work against persecution and prosecution of witches, by the founder of medical psychiatry

Wier, J.

De praestigiis daemonum, et incantationibus ac ueneficiis libri V. recogniti, & ualde aucti. Authore Ioanne Vviero Graviano, illustrißimi ducis Cliuiae, Iuliae, &c. medico. Praeter locupletem accessionis cumulum, ut lectoris memoriæ consuleretur, in capita quoque iam sectus est quilibet liber: cuius argumentum in praefatione comperies. Acceßit index amplißimus.

€6,500.00

From the library of a Nobel Prize laureate: The first accurate description of the anatomy of a venomous snake

Severinus, M. A. [Severino]

Vipera pythia. Id est, de viperae naturae, veneno, medicina, demonstrationes, & experimenta nova.

€750.00

The second, better-illustrated edition in a beautiful, contemporary binding

Schott, G.

Physica curiosa sive mirabilia naturae et artis libris XII comprehensa, quibus pleraq[ue] quae de angelis, daemonibus, hominibus, spectris, energumenis, monstris, portentis, animalibus, meteoris.

Herbipoli (Würzburg), Johann André Endter & Wolfgang Endter junior, 1667. Thick 4to (20.6 x 16.8 cm) [21.6 x 19.5 x 9.8 cm]. Half-title, engraved title by I. Sandrart, letterpress title page in red and black, verso with engraved coat of arms ‘Honi soit qui mal y pense’. 1460 ([l], 1389 [xxi]) pp.; 61 engraved plates, numbered I-LVIII; A-C, of which six larger, double-folded. Contemporary, extensively blind-tooled pigskin boards. Spine with four raised bands. Boards with bevelled edges and with two leather straps and brass clasps. Edges blue.

€6,800.00

The first illustrated English bird book

Charleton, J.

Onomasticon zoicon, plerorumque animalium differentias & nomina propria pluribus linguis exponens. Cui accedunt mantissa anatomica; et quaedam de variis fossilium generibus.

London, Jacobus Allestry, 1668. Small 4to (19.9 x 14.9 cm). Title page, 363 pp. [xx, 309, xxxiv]; eight large, engraved plates (of which six folded); four text illustrations (one page-sized). Contemporary full calf. Spine with four raised bands; compartments with gilt floral vignettes and gilt title. All edges red.

€1,250.00

Rare early work on Spanish ornithology

Ferrer de Valdecebro, A.

Govierno general, moral y politico hallado en las Aves mas generosas, y nobles, sacado de sus naturales, virtudes, y propiedades le escrive el Padre Maestro Fray Andres Ferrer de Valdecebro...le consagra al gloriosissimo Padre, y apostol Valenciano San Vicente Ferrer.

€3,600.00

A rare work by one of the best 17th century Dutch painters and engravers

Hooghe, R. de

Attacque van Golt Steyn. [Original print].

€150.00

Early investigation into the peculiar turtle skeleton

Lachmund, F.

Testudo ex suo scuto, ut vulgus putat, exire non potest [AND] Vespertilionem habere caudam, sceleton ejus domonstrat. [Contained in:] Miscellanea curiosa medico-physica Academiae naturae curiosum sive ephemeridum medico-physicarum germanicarum annus quartus et quintus.

€500.00

A spectacular "Wunderkammer"

Brown, E.

[Wunderkammer - Giant Library] Durch Niederland, Teutschland, Hungarn, Serbien, Bulgarien, Macedonien, Thessalien, Oesterreich, Steirmarck, Kärnthen, Carniolen, Friaul, &c. gethane ganz sonderbare Reisen...