A. Asher & Co. B.V.

[Title in Greek then Latin:] Tragoediae septendecim [recté octodecim], ex quib[us]. quaedam habent commentaria. & sunt hae. Hecuba[,] Orestes[,] Phoenissae[,] Medea[,] Hippolytus[,] Alcestis[,] Andromache[,] Supplices[,] Iphigenia in Aulide[,] Iphigenia in Tauris[,] Rhesus[,] Troades[,] Bacchae[,] Cyclops[,] Heraclide[,] Helena[,] Ion[, Hercules furens].(Colophon to each volume: Venice, Aldus Manutius, February 1503). 2 volumes. 8vo. With Aldus's anchor device on the last page of each volume, printed in Aldus's beautiful Greek type.Matching limp vellum (made from 2 leaves from a ca. 1560/70? Spanish legal manuscript), constructed or reconstructed ca. 1900.

EURIPIDES. · 1545

€35,000.00 ($38,576.37 | £29,199.31 | ¥6,160,148)

[268]; [190] ll."Exceptionally important" (Lowry) first edition, in the original Greek, of most of the surviving plays of Euripides. It contains 18 plays, fourteen printed here for the first time and four for the second (and in a much more accurate text). This first edition of...

Commentarioli in olynthiacas, philippicasque Demosthenis orationes. Enarrationes saneque necessariae in tredecim orationes Demosthenis. ...Dictionarium decem Rhetorum. [preceded by the titles in Greek].(Colophon: Venice, heirs of Aldus Manutius, and his father-in-law Andrea Torresano d’Asola [& sons], June) 1527. Folio (31 x 21 cm). With Aldus's famous woodcut dolphin device on the title-page and an older but very similar version on the verso of the otherwise blank last leaf. Set in Greek type (the Upianus in 1 column; the Harpokation in 2 columns) with incidental roman. Recased in 18th-century vellum over flexible boards.

ULPIANUS of Emesa and Valerius HARPOCRATION.

€12,000.00 ($13,226.18 | £10,011.19 | ¥2,112,051)

119, [1] ll.Second edition of the Greek commentaries and scholia on Demosthenes written by Ulpian of Emesa who taught rhetoric at Antioch in the reign of Constantine (324-337 AD) and wrote a number of declamations and rhetorical works. He is best known as the reputed author of...

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.

QUINTILIANUS, Marcus Fabius. · 1515

€4,500.00 ($4,959.82 | £3,754.20 | ¥792,019)

[4], 230 ll.Second Aldine edition, describing itself as revised, but almost a page-for-page reprint of Aldus's 1515 edition, of the complete text of Quintilian's De oratoria, on the teaching of speaking and writing. Quintilian (Spain ca. 35 - 95 AD) gave up teaching and presen...

[Institutiones oratoriae]. (Colophon: Venice, "aedibus Aldi et Andreae soceri" [= Aldus Manutius & Andre Torresani d'Asola], August 1514). 4to. With Aldus's famous woodcut anchor device on the title-page, repeated on the back of the last text page. Gold-tooled red morocco (ca. 1700), rebacked and given a black morocco spine label in the 19th century.

QUINTILIANUS, Marcus Fabius. · 1501

€5,000.00 ($5,510.91 | £4,171.33 | ¥880,021)

[4], 230 ll.The first Aldine edition (the only one produced by Aldus Manutius himself) of the complete text of Quintilian's De oratoria, on the teaching of speaking and writing. It covers not only the theory and practice of rhetoric, but also the foundational education and dev...

Dapes inemptae, oft de Mouffe Schans, dat is de soeticheyt des buyten-levens, vergeselschapt met de boecken. [Netherlands, 1619(?) (not after 1621)]. 12mo. Recased in 17th-century vellum.

HONDIUS, Petrus. · 1637

€8,500.00 ($9,368.55 | £7,091.26 | ¥1,496,036)

64 pp.Second copy located, of the first edition of a Dutch poem celebrating life on the country house Moffenschans (literally "Trenches of the Krauts"). It's the second known Dutch poem in the genre known as "hofdicht" (country house poetry) and particularly interesting becaus...

Monographie ou histoire naturelle du genre groseillier contenant la description, l' histoire, la culture et les usages de toutes les groseilles connues.Paris, P. Dufart, 1829. 8vo. With an engraved frontispiece showing the portrait of the author and 24 lithographed full-page plates by A.M. Canneva, L.A. Canneva and A. Pascal, printed by Langlumé, including 23 contemporary handcoloured. Original printed paper wrappers.

THORY, Claude Antoine. · 1759

€3,500.00 ($3,857.64 | £2,919.93 | ¥616,015)

[4], XVI, 152 pp.Rare first edition of a specialist work on currants and gooseberries by Claude Antoine Thory (1759-1827). With a description of the characteristics of various species and their growing, together with recipes on ice cream, jams, syrups, wines, conserves etc. Th...

Ostindien, seine Geschichte, Cultur und seine Bewohner. Resultate eigener Forschungen und Beobachtungen an Ort und Stelle. Deutsche Original-Ausgabe.Leipzig, Hermann Costenoble, 1857. 2 parts in 1 volume. 8vo. Contemporary half sheepskin, gold-tooled spine.

MÖKERN, Philipp van. · 1750

€2,500.00 ($2,755.46 | £2,085.66 | ¥440,011)

XII, 395; [6], 327 pp.Second edition of a history of the colonial activities of the British East India Company, the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and the Portuguese in the East Indies, written by Philipp van Mökern, a merchant who lived in India for fifty years. The work is d...

Historiarum Indicarum libri XVI. Selectarum, item, ex India epistolarum libri IV...Antwerp, Martinus Nutius, 1605. 8vo. With woodcut device on title-page and woodcut initials. Contemporary vellum with faint manuscript title on spine and a small gilt-stamped rooster in the centre of the boards, remains of ties.

MAFFEI, Joan Petro. · 1557

€6,500.00 ($7,164.18 | £5,422.73 | ¥1,144,027)

[72], 478, [2 blank]; 401, [7] pp.Early 17th-century edition of a classic work on "the Indies", including both the West and East Indies, considered the best (Sabin) and the most complete (Borba de Moraes) of the many Latin editions. Most of Maffei's work is concerned with the ...

Beschreibung der Stadt Amsterdam: Darinnen von derselben ersten ursprunge bis auf gegenwärtigen Zustand, ihr unterschiedlicher anwachs, herliche Vorrechte, und in mehr als 70 Kupfer-stükken entworfene führnehmste Gebeue, zusamt ihrem Stahts-wesen, Kauf-handel, und ansehnlicher macht zur see, wie auch was sich in und mit derselben märkwürdiges zugetragen, vor augen gestellet werden.Amsterdam, Joachim Noschen, 1664. 4to. With a richly engraved allegorical frontispiece, a large engraving in the text showing two prisoners at work in the Amsterdam penal institution, the "Rasphuis", and 73 (one added twice) engraved plans and views of Amsterdam (1 full-page, 68 double-page, 4 folding). Contemporary overlapping vellum.

ZESEN, Philipp von. · 1619

€7,500.00 ($8,266.36 | £6,257.00 | ¥1,320,032)

[8], 398, [22] pp.Very rare complete first edition of a richly illustrated description of Amsterdam and its history, with the almost always missing "List of plates", which Nijhoff and Van Hattem have found in only one other copy, bound at the end. Considered "one of the nicest...

Ondonga kielen ABD. Ensimäinen irja Ondonga kielellä . . . =ABD Moshindonga. Omukanda uatango koshindonga ua piangoa . . .Helsinki, Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seuran [=Finnish Literature Society], 1876. 8vo. With 2 title-pages, the first in Finnish and the second in Ndonga, a brief preface in both languages, but with the sample texts in Ndonga. Contemporary brown textured cloth.

KURVINEN, Pietari. · 1870

€2,500.00 ($2,755.46 | £2,085.66 | ¥440,011)

[4], 32 pp.A rare primer of the Bantu dialect Ndonga or OshiNdonga, spoken by the Ovambo people in the kingdom of Ondonga in what is now northern Namibia and southern Angola, still spoken today by some 1 million people. It was published by the printing office of the Finnish Li...

Naufrage des isles flottantes; ou Basiliade du célébre Pilpai. Poéme heroique. Traduit de l'indien par Mr. M******.A Messine (Paris), Par une Société de Libraires, 1753. 2 volumes. 12mo. With an engraved allegorical frontispiece with the portrait of the "author/translator", both titles printed in red and black, and two engraved title vignettes. Contemporary marbled calf with triple gilt fillet along the edges.

[MORELLY, Etienne-Gabriel]. · 1717

€1,500.00 ($1,653.27 | £1,251.40 | ¥264,006)

[4], XLI, [2], 216; [4], 307 pp.Original edition of one of the most important utopias of the 18th century, generally considered as the earliest predecessor of communism, written by Etienne-Gabriel Morelly (1717-1778), a somewhat mysterious writer of whom hardly anything else i...

Explicatio in symbolum apostolorum, & decalogum.Leiden, Joannes Maire 1641. With:(2) ERASMUS, Desiderius. Enchiridion militis Christiani.Leiden, Joannes Maire, 1641.(3) ERASMUS, Desiderius. Modus orandi Deum.Leiden, Joannes Maire, 1641.(4) ERASMUS, Desiderius. De sarcienda ecclesiae concordia, deque sedandis opinionum dissidiis, cum aliis nonnullis lectu dignis, liber. Ex editione Frobenianâ, anni MDXXXIII, cum gratiâ & privilegio Caesareo.Leiden, Joannes Maire, 1642. 4 works in 1 volume. 12mo. With Maire's woodcut devices on all four title pages, several woodcut decorated initials throughout. Contemporary overlapping vellum, sewn on 3 supports laced through the joints, blue edges.

ERASMUS, Desiderius. · 1641

€1,250.00 ($1,377.73 | £1,042.83 | ¥220,005)

264; 330 [2 blank]; 144; [1], [1 blank], [6], [4 blank], 176, [2 blank] pp.Fine Sammelband with four theological works by Desiderius Erasmus, all published by the well-known Leiden printer Joannes Maire. The present work containing four 17th-century editions reflects the endur...

Bergues sur le Soom assiegée le 18 de Jullet 1622, et des-assiegée le 3 d'Octobre ensuivant. Selon la description faite par les trois pasteurs de l'église d'icelle.Middelburg, Jean vander Hellen for Rombout van Hamerste, 1623. 4to. With a woodcut vignette on the title page, 2 decorated woodcut initials, and several headpieces made up of typographical ornaments.19th-century gold-tooled red morocco with the title lettered in gold on the spine.

[RIJCKE, Lambertus de, Nathane (de) VAY & Job de RIEU]. · 1622

€4,500.00 ($4,959.82 | £3,754.20 | ¥792,019)

[16], 281, [11] pp.Very rare first French edition of a historical account of the second siege of Bergen op Zoom (1622) during the Eighty Years' War, beautifully bound by the Swiss bookbinder Hans Asper (1880-ca. 1941). Bergen op Zoom was besieged by the Spanish Marquis Ambrosi...

La nouvelle Troye ou memorable histoire du siege d'Ostende le plus signalé qu'on ait veu en L'Europe. En laquelle sont descripts & naïfvement representés en diverses figures, les assauts, deffenses, inventions de guerre, mines, contremines, retranchemens, combats par terre & par mer & autres choses remarcables, advenues de part & d'autre, avec ce qui s'est passé par chascun jour durant le-dit siege depuis le 5 Juing 1601 jusqu'au 20 Septemb. 1604 qu'elle fut renduë. Recoeuillie des plus asseurés memoires.Leiden, Louis Elzevier, 1615. 4to. With an engraved frontispiece portrait of Maurits van Nassau, an engraved vignette on the title page, the engraved coat of arms of Maurits van Nassau on the back of the title page, and 12 (of 14) folding engraved plates. Later gold-tooled red morocco with triple fillet panelling (ca. 1885), richly gold-tooled spine, gold-tooled turn-ins, marbled enpapers (Riviere & Son).

HAESTENS, Henrick Lodewijksz van. · 1629

€2,500.00 ($2,755.46 | £2,085.66 | ¥440,011)

[10], "293" [= 295], [1] pp.First edition of the French translation of one of the earliest accounts of the famous siege of Ostend, Belgium, by the Spanish army, written by the publisher Henrick van Haestens (d. 1629). The first edition in Dutch was published by Van Haestens hi...

De quatuor artibus popularibus, grammatistice, gymnastice, musice, & graphice, liber.Amsterdam, Johannes Blaeu, 1650. Small 4to. With Blaeu’s woodcut device on the title-page, 3 woodcut decorated initials. Later blue paper wrappers, title label pasted on spine.

VOSSIUS, Gerardus Joannes. · 1577

€1,250.00 ($1,377.73 | £1,042.83 | ¥220,005)

[14], 94, [12] pp.First edition of a posthumously published work on writing, gymnastics, music and painting by the famous Dutch scholar and scientist Gerardus Joannes Vossius (1577-1649). Franciscus Junius edited it and wrote the dedicatory letter that introduces it. In the fi...

Du Royaume de Siam. Amsterdam, Abraham Wolfgang, 1691. 2 volumes bound as 1. 12mo. With the same woodcut printer's device on both title-pages, 2 folding engraved maps, 17 double-page engraved plates with printed music, Siamese alphabets, inhabitants etc., 21 full-page engraved plates, engraved headpiece and several woodcut illustrations in text. Contemporary vellum.

LOUBÈRE, Simon de la. · 1642

€8,950.00 ($9,864.53 | £7,466.68 | ¥1,575,238)

[8], 436, [2]; [4], 324, [1], [1 blank] pp.Second edition, published in the same years as the first, of a comprehensive work on the history of the kingdom of Siam, "Universally regarded as the finest work on seventeenth-century Thailand" (Wyatt). The French diplomat Simon de L...

Compendio della storia della persecuzione mossa contro la Cattolica religione nell' impero della Cina l'anno del signore MDCCLXXXIV.Florence, Gaetano Cambiagi, 1789. 8vo. Contemporary (?) vellum.

MATTEI, Giuseppe. · 1784

€3,500.00 ($3,857.64 | £2,919.93 | ¥616,015)

131, [1 blank] pp.Only edition of a rare account on the 1784/1785 persecutions of Catholic missionaries in China written by an eye-witness, the Italian Franciscan missionary Giuseppe Mattei. In 1784, Mattei, together with Atto Biagini, Giovanni da Sassari, Luigi Landi da Signa...

Medicinalium observationum exempla rara. Accessere & alia quaedam, quorum elenchum pagina post praefationem exhibet.Leiden, Christophe Plantin, 1585. Small 8vo (16 x 10 cm). With Plantin's woodcut compasses device on the title page. Contemporary reversed parchment (made from the lower part of a leaf from a 16th-century legal document in German, with a reference to Basel).

DODOENS (DODONAEUS), Rembert. · 1418

€5,500.00 ($6,062.00 | £4,588.46 | ¥968,023)

[16], 298, [6] pp.Second edition, adding a chapter with an additional case study, and only Plantin edition of an important collection of medical case studies and other medical observations by the great botanist Rembert Dodoens. Dodoens took many from his own medical practice a...

Oraison funebre de Monseigneur Visdelou Jesuite, Evêque de Claudiopolis, vicaire apolostique de la province de Kuey-cheu dans l'empire de la Chine, & administrateur de la province de Huguang dans le même empire, &c. décéde le onze Novembre 1737. & inhumé dans l' eglise des RR. PP. Capucins de Pondichery, missionaires apolostiques, & curés en lad. ville. Prononcée le onze Décembre de la même année par le R.P. Norbert de Bar Le Duc, Capucin missionaire apolostique.[Avignon?], 1742. 8vo. Contemporary calf, gold-tooled spine with red label, marbled endpapers, red edges.

NORBERT de Bar-le-Duc (= Pierre PARISOT or NORBERT von Lothringen). · 1656

€2,500.00 ($2,755.46 | £2,085.66 | ¥440,011)

[12], 201, [1], XVI pp.Second (or third?) edition of the funeral oration for the sinologist and mathematician Claude de Visdelou (1656-1737), by Father Norbert of Bar-le-Duc (1703-1769), dedicated to Pope Benedict XIV. The oration proved highly important in the so-called “Stru...

Memoirs of James Hardy Vaux, a swindler and thief, now transported to New South Wales for the second time, and for life. Written by himself. Second edition.London, Whittaker, Treacher, & Arnot, 1830. 12mo. Publisher's green cloth.

VAUX, James Hardy. · 1782

€450.00 ($495.98 | £375.42 | ¥79,202)

[2], XXIV, 288 pp."Fourth" edition, as part of a series of notable autobiographies, of the first full-length autobiography written in Australia. In his memoirs, James Hardy Vaux (1782-after 1841) describes the first 32 years of his life, during which he was twice transported t...