Paris: Teriade Editeur, 1956, first Chagall edition, two volumes, number 246 of 275 exemplars (total edition 295), printed on Montval paper, signed... More

Paris: Teriade Editeur, 1956, first Chagall edition, two volumes, number 246 of 275 exemplars (total edition 295), printed on Montval paper, signed by Marc Chagall on the justification page. The complete book with the Bible text, illustrated with 105 original etchings by Marc Chagall; pp. 124 + 108, loose leaves in 2 thick Arches paper folders with four folded flaps and black printing on the front, inside publisher's 2 board chemises covered with grey paper printed in gold on the spine for each volume; housed in publisher's slipcase. In very close to excellent condition. Size of each book 18 x 13.5 x 3 in (46 x 35.5 x 7 cm); overall size 18.5 x 14 x 5.5 in (47 x 36 x 14 cm). References: Rauch 148; Klipstein 1960, The Artist & The Book 53; Cramer 29; Sorlier 199-303 (p.62); Monod 1532; The Artist & The Book in France p.326; Meyer 24; From Manet to Hockney 88. Aside from totally insignificant imperfections on the chemises and slipcase, this is a superb exemplar of a book that is now quite rare, especially in this condition (very clean and bright, no habitual foxing, no tears, no creases, no staining). Less

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Amsterdam: Covens and Mortier and Covens Junior, 1780. Copper-engraved map, engraved by H. Klockhoff, after Bernard Romans, with original outline... More

Amsterdam: Covens and Mortier and Covens Junior, 1780. Copper-engraved map, engraved by H. Klockhoff, after Bernard Romans, with original outline colour, in very good condition, period-style black and gold frame. 22 x 26 1/4 inches. A very rare and highly attractive map of Connecticut and Long Island This beautiful and important map was one of four of Bernard Romans' maps of various parts of the American colonies to be re-engraved and published by the renowned Dutch firm of cartographers Covens and Mortier and Covens Junior. The present map is taken from the extremely rare 1777 map currently known in only four examples. No copies of this 1780 version are recorded as having sold at auction in the past thirty years. Connecticut is shown divided into six counties, each of which is outlined in colour, with the main towns coloured in red. The beautiful vignette- cartouche containing the title (in the lower right corner) is of a naturalistically presented Connecticut village scene. Born in Holland, Bernard Romans arrived in America in 1757 and spent a number of years working in the southeast. His two large `whole sheet maps' of Florida were completed in 1774, and at about this time he moved to Hartford, Connecticut. During the Revolutionary War he served in New York on the American side. All of his maps are extremely scarce, in most cases being known by only a few copies, and it is only through re-engraved versions such as the present example that the present generation of map collectors can hope to own examples of this important American cartographer's work. Cf. Diamant, Bernard Romans Forgotten Patriot of the American Revolution (Harrison, NY, 1985), pp.132-134; McCorkle, New England in Early Printed Maps, C780.1; Sellers & Van Ee, Maps & Charts of North America & West Indies, 1023; Thompson, Maps of Connecticut (1940 ed.), 28; Wheat & Brun, Maps Printed in America before 1800, 261-3 Less

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London: Thomas Newcombe for John Holden, 1649. Very rare first English edition and fine copy of one of the most important works of Western... More

London: Thomas Newcombe for John Holden, 1649. Very rare first English edition and fine copy of one of the most important works of Western Philosophy ever written, Descartes’ Discourse, containing for the first time in English the phrase which is not only the conceptual cornerstone of Rationalism, generally considered the beginning of modern philosophy, but is synonymous in the cultural imagination with the very field of Philosophy: “I think, therefore, I am.” This English edition was the earliest recorded in the inventory of John Locke’s library (see J. Harrison/ P. Laslett, The Library of John Locke. 2nd ed #2451), and it is generally considered that Locke’s encounter with the ‘New Philosophy’ as it was known in England in the 1660’s, led him to write the Essay, his philosophical masterpiece. “Descartes’ purpose is to find the simple indestructible proposition which gives to the universe and thought their order and system. Three points are made: the truth of thought, when thought is true to itself (thus cogito, ergo sum), the invincible elevation of its partial state in our finite consciousness to its full state of the infinite existence of God, and to the ultimate reduction of the material universe to extension and local movement. From these central propositions in logic, metaphysics and physics came the subsequent inquiries of Locke (164 eg Essay on Human Understanding), Leibniz (177, Th?ic?, and Newton (161 Principia); from them stem all modern and scientific thought.” – PMM 129 (1637). Rather typically for English books of the period, the work is known in issues regarding the title page (and only the title page). These have not been well defined, and the circumstances of the translation’s commissioning and publication are simply unknown: as of 2002, when a series of facsimiles of Descartes’ works in English and related 17th c Cartesian writings was published, the translator of the present work remained unknown (see R. Ariew & D. Garber, Descartes’ Works in Translation, vol. I, p. ix.) According to the entry in the Norman catalogue, several states of the title are known: the title of the Norman copy is ‘A Discourse of a Method for the well guiding of Reason’, and it contains a signature marking, A4—highly exceptional if not unique for a 17th century English book; it does not contain Descartes’ name on the title. This is such an egregious and uncommon error that it is most likely the sign of the earliest state. Another title gives a different spelling ‘for Wel-‘ and Discovrse’; and yet another, like the Norman copy, omits Descartes’ name. OCLC lists 5 copies in American libraries: UCLA, Newberry, Northwestern, Harvard and Wisconsin. Wing adds Folger. In British libraries, Wing lists Oxford, Cambridge (King’s), Patent Office (London), National Library of Scotland. Through additional searching, we have also located two copies at the BL (one with the variant title), and one at Yale (Cushing Medical Library). Remarkably, the book is sufficiently rare that it is not included in the excellent Descartes bibliography of Guillebert; it was NOT included in the Biblioth?e Nationale’s anniversary exhibition celebrating the 300th anniversary of the publication of the Discours in 1937, and to this day there remains no copy of the present translation in the Biblioth?e Nationale. Finally, it is missing from (at least) two major collections of 17th century English printed books of this level of importance: the Morgan Library and the Huntington. * Wing D1129; Norman 624 (variant imprint); J. Harrison/ P. Laslett, The Library of John Locke. 2nd ed #2451 not in Guillebert; Julien Cain/ Biblioth?e Nationale. Descartes. Exposition organis?pour le III i? Centenaire du Discours de la M?ode. (Paris 1937).. 8vo., 4.5 X 9 cm], (7) ff., of which the first two are blank and integral, 127 pp. (verso blank). Bound in contemporary calf ruled in blind, gilt spine and edges of covers faded and rubbed. Binding a bit shaken, and joints a bit fragile. Minor toning in margin, but a remarkably fresh copy in its original binding, housed in modern bookbox. Less

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