Small 8vo. Full calf with black leather and gilt spine label. iv, 588pp, (2pp). Good plus. Almost, but not quite, rates very good, for it's tight,... More

Small 8vo. Full calf with black leather and gilt spine label. iv, 588pp, (2pp). Good plus. Almost, but not quite, rates very good, for it's tight, clean and quite handleable. Though quite edgeworn and age toned (with darkening at tail of spine), the spine and rear cover (archivally rehinged) are original, while the front calf board and front pastedown are expert modern "aged" replacements (also archivally hinged); text block moderately age toned throughout, with sporadic foxing. Housed in a black cloth clamshell case. Rare first edition of this coveted cornerstone of any Mormon collection, with the two-page "Testimony" at the conclusion. Supposedly printed in an edition of 5000 copies. Inner front flyleaf bears a pencilled vintage ownership signature (ca. early 20th century), from whose family this long buried copy emerges. All in all, a lovely copy of this desireable rarity. 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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Lima: Francisco del Canto, 1617.. [16],799,[45]pp. Small quarto. Later vellum with pigskin ties, manuscript title on spine, brand on top edge.... More

Lima: Francisco del Canto, 1617.. [16],799,[45]pp. Small quarto. Later vellum with pigskin ties, manuscript title on spine, brand on top edge. Modern bookplate on front pastedown. Internally clean. Near fine. In a cardboard slipcase. First edition of the "first American work with substantial portions devoted to law of the sea and customs regulating sea-borne commerce" (JCB Maritime Books 459). A general encyclopedia of legal knowledge concerning trade by land and sea, it was drawn up for the use of merchants, agents, navigators, lawyers and consuls. It was reprinted nine times in Spain in the 17th century and fifteen more times in the 18th century. By the nature of its subject, it clearly was an important and heavily used reference, and consequently has become rare, especially in fine condition. This is the first major work on commerce, banking, and trade published in the New World, and stands among a mere handful of books to be first printed in the Americas and then exported to Spain. At the time of publication there were only three presses in the New World, in Mexico City, Puebla, and in Lima. The book's printer, Francesco del Canto, was the successor to Peru's first printer, Antonio Ricardo, who began printing in South America in 1585. This is the most extensive work published in South America up to the time, and surpassed only by a few works published in Mexico in all of the New World. A very rare work, with only two copies traced at auction in at least 100 years. Not in HAS, Salva, Kress or Sabin. A lovely copy of an early Lima imprint and an Americanum of surpassing importance. MEDINA (LIMA) 73. PALAU 114526. Less

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