Florence: Demetrius Damilas [in the shop of the Printer of Vergilius (C 6061)] for Bernardo and Nero De' Nerli and Giovanni Acciaiuoli, 9 December... Ouvrir

Florence: Demetrius Damilas [in the shop of the Printer of Vergilius (C 6061)] for Bernardo and Nero De' Nerli and Giovanni Acciaiuoli, 9 December 1488 [not before 13 January , 1488/89]. 2 volumes, Median folio (332 ?238 mm). Lately rebound to style using 18th-century brown morocco, spine decorated in blind with urn and lyre devices etc in compartments between five raised bands, sides panelled in blind with matching tools and floral devices within a latticework central panel, based on a Florentine binding executed in 1504 (illustrated in Tammaro de Marinis, La Legatura Artistica, Florence 1960). 439 leaves (of 440, lacking final blank), 39 lines, Greek letter, 2- and 10-line initial spaces. Ex-libris University of Lyon, with stamp Acad. Lugd. and release stamp dated 1843 on the first leaf; later in the libraries of Constantine Radoulesco and H. Bradley Martin (Sotheby's New York, 14 June 1990, lot 3355). Unrubricated, occasional marginalia in an attractive contemporary cursive hand; a good clean copy. Editio princeps of the writings attributed to Homer, including the Iliad and the Odyssey, two of the earliest, most important and influential works of European literature. "The Iliad and the Odyssey are the first perfect poetry of the western world. They spring fully grown, their predecessors lost, and the magic has persisted ever since. The legends of the siege of Troy and the return of Odysseus are the common heritage of all … The form, the action and the words have had incalculable influence on the form, action and words of poetry ever since; the composition of the Aeneid, the Divine Comedy, Paradise Lost, and many others, has been determined by the Iliad and the Odyssey. Their popularity never diminishes" (PMM). The editor Demetrius Chalcondylas was professor of Greek at the Florentine Studio from 1475 until 1491. The type is that of Demetrius Damilas, a scribe who had previously been active in the printing of Greek books in Milan since 1476. It was based on the handwriting of Michael Apostolis, which was simpler and more distinct than Damilas's own elegant but elaborate hand. This monumental printing is the first large-scale printing in Greek, and also probably the first Greek book printed in Florence. (The rare Erotemata by Emanuel Chrysoloras, which survives in only two copies, was printed in Florence either in 1475 or c. 1488-94.) The text of Homer was not printed again in Greek until Aldus's octavo edition of 1504, which was based directly on Chalcondylas's text. The Batrachomyomachia ("Battle of the Frogs and Mice"), a pseudo-Homeric text, which is also included here with the Iliad, Odyssey and Homeric Hymns, had been earlier printed in an unsigned Greek-Latin edition printed perhaps at Brescia or Ferrara, which is known only from the unique copy in the John Rylands University Library, Manchester. Despite the lengthy and circumstantial colophon, bibliographers have had trouble in agreeing on the correct imprint and date. Robert Proctor (The Printing of Greek in the Fifteenth Century, 1900, p. 66 sqq.) argued that the edition was actually printed in the shop of Bartolommeo di Libri, whose type was used to print the dedication to Piero de' Medici on the first page. BMC assigned the edition rather to the Nerli brothers, but Roberto Ridolfi (La stampa a Firenze nel secolo XV, 1958, p. 95 sqq.) has pointed out that the Nerli were well-born and wealthy Florentines whose role would have been a purely financial one. He has instead assigned the Homer to the anonymous Florentine shop, the Printer of Virgil (Copinger 6061, Goff V183), which flourished from 1488 to 1490 or so. Ridolfi supposes that only the first, dedication page was printed in di Libri's shop, more than a month after the completion of the edition proper, this page hitherto having been planned as a blank. Fermer

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London: Taylor & Francis for Henry Sotheran & Co, 1891-98. 2 volumes in 8 original parts, large folio. (22 3/16 x 15 1/16 inches). Smaller... Ouvrir

London: Taylor & Francis for Henry Sotheran & Co, 1891-98. 2 volumes in 8 original parts, large folio. (22 3/16 x 15 1/16 inches). Smaller format letterpress "Notice to Subscribers" tipped in at front of part VI, smaller format "Completion of the work" notice from the publishers tipped in at front of part VIII. 79 fine hand-coloured lithographic plates by William Mathew Hart, after his own drawings (52) and John Gould (20) or John Gerrard Keulemans (7), 13 uncoloured illustrations. Original pictorial grey paper-covered boards, dark blue cloth spines, the upper cover of each part with the letterpress title beneath a large wood-engraved title vignette, the eight parts contained in two dark green morocco-backed cloth boxes, the spines in six compartments with raised bands, lettered in the second and third compartments, the others with repeat decoration in gilt made up from various small tools. A very fine copy of this, the first monograph devoted to these remarkable birds and the "last of the fine bird books" (Fine Bird Books p.107). This copy, in original parts, with the best colouring of any copy that we have handled in past forty years. The remarkable-looking Birds of Paradise have captivated western science since Magellan first brought back a skin of such a creature in 1522. The skins, highly prized by East Indian natives, was given by the ruler of Batchian (in the Mollucas) as a gift to the King of Spain. The legs and wings of the bird, however, had been removed when skinned, presumably to better show its impressive plumage. When asked why the bird had no wings or feet, the natives replied that none were needed as the bird simply floated in its heavenly paradise. Thus, the earliest descriptions of the species, and indeed even its scientific naming by Linnaeus in the 18th century as Paradisaea apoda (legless bird of paradise), perpetuated that myth. Due to the remote nature of their rain forest habitat in New Guinea, it was not until the mid-19th century that these remarkable birds were first scientifically observed and accurately described. Gould had intended to publish a the first monograph devoted to the birds of paradise following completion of his Birds of New Guinea, but he did not live to do so. When Sharpe took over the task of completing that work, he appealed for subscribers for the proposed monograph. The response was clearly enthusiastic as within three years the first part of the present work was published. Some of the plates had previously appeared in Gould's Birds of New Guinea as "Messrs. Sotheran purchased the stock of Gould's works after his death [and] acquired the stones with which he had intended to illustrate his Monograph... Many of them were broken or otherwise damaged, and of these some have been redrawn or replaced by new plates by Mr. Hart. Since Gould's time, however, many marvelous new species have been discovered, and these have been described and figured in the present work" (Appendix). As the small format slip in part six makes clear, the timing of the publication of the work could not have been better, as so many beautiful new species were discovered whilst the work was in preparation that Sharpe felt justified in extending the size of the work from six to eight parts. Copies of this work were issued at a later date with inferior hand-colouring. The quality of the colouring of the plates in the present copy is outstanding, and it is only with examples of this work in the original parts that the colouring can be guaranteed to be contemporary with the original publication dates. Copies such as the present example are very rare: only three are listed as having sold at auction in the past thirty years. Fine Bird Books (1990) p.107; Nissen IVB 581; Ripley 263; Wood, p.565; Zimmer, p.581. Fermer

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[Washington. 1830s-1870].. Various paginations, most often 4pp. to 10pp. each. Folio. Original self- wrappers, often string- or ribbon-tied. On the... Ouvrir

[Washington. 1830s-1870].. Various paginations, most often 4pp. to 10pp. each. Folio. Original self- wrappers, often string- or ribbon-tied. On the whole, very good to near fine. In cloth chemises and half morocco and cloth slipcases, spines gilt. An outstanding collection of rare treaties between the United States of America and scores of Indian tribes, negotiated from the 1830s to the 1860s. Individually and collectively, the treaties document the history of relations between the United States and the Indians, as the American government sought through negotiations to acquire more and more land, and Indian tribes were pushed westward and onto progressively shrinking reservations. These treaties illustrate a developing progression in attitude by Washington toward the Indians, as they are treated first as sovereign nations, then as undeclared enemies, and eventually as subject peoples. The earliest treaty in the collection was proclaimed by Andrew Jackson in the 1830s, and the latest by Andrew Johnson in 1870. With the exception of the Northeast, they cover every part of the continental United States, from treaties with the Appalachicola tribe in Florida to the Nez Perce, Nisqually, and other tribes in the Northwest, and the Navajo, Apache, and others in the Southwest. A number of the treaties were concluded in Washington, but the majority were negotiated on reservations, in the territories, and in military forts. Many of the most prominent Indian leaders of the day took part in the negotiations, and the American government was represented by notables such as Henry Ellsworth, William Tecumseh Sherman, Kit Carson, James Gadsden, and Henry Schoolcraft, among others. The treaties cover all aspects of relations between the United States, its citizens and military, and the Indian tribes. In virtually all of the treaties tribes cede land in one area for a reservation elsewhere (usually further west), often with financial consideration involved. Boundaries of Indian lands are carefully described and delineated. Some of the treaties unite tribes, while others seek the cessation of hostilities between warring bands. Many provide the protection of the federal government, while other treaty articles make provisions for the construction of schools, or even offer citizenship to an entire tribe. Usually the United States government makes certain to secure the right to build military bases or roads through Indian lands. These treaties are all extremely rare, printed by the government in very small numbers for the use of negotiators and government officials. Attractively printed and presented, including one treaty printed in the Choctaw language, their survival is a marvel. Goodspeed's Book Shop in 1939 and Edward Eberstadt & Sons in 1940 issued catalogues of these Indian treaties. Due to their fundamental importance, many of the treaties are listed in Sabin, though their dates of issuance range beyond the limits set for that bibliography. In the foreword to their catalogue, the Eberstadts wrote: "In the field of Americana few aspects of the subject compare in interest and importance with that of the relationship between the whites and the Indians, and the treaties which were the written manifestation of that relationship. These treaties, often the result of the white man's greed for lands and gold are, in effect, the fundamental documents of our national domain. In no more revealing way can the local history of America be preserved in our historical libraries and collections than by the accession of various of these original treaties by which was acquired the basic claim to this land of ours." Since the Eberstadt catalogue, only the collection of Frank T. Siebert, offered at auction in 1999, matches the current grouping in size and scope. A fundamentally important collection of documents, tracing the history of American expansion in the 19th century and presenting the official record of relations between the United States and American Indians. A complete list describing each treaty is available upon request. Fermer

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