Cerca libri

Memoirs of a captivity in Japan, during the years 1811, 1812, and 1813; with observations on the country and the people … second edition. Including:-RIKORD, Petr Ivanovich. Account of voyages to the coasts of Japan; and of negotiations with the Japanese, for the release of Captain Golownin and his companions.-Account of the voyages of Messrs. Chwostoff & Dawidoff.London, Henry Colburn & Co., 1824. 3 volumes. 8vo. With an additional facsimile map, copied from the French edition of 1818, inserted in volume 2. Modern red cloth.

GOLOVNIN, Vasilii Mikhailovich. · 1803 · A. Asher & Co. B.V.

€1,500.00 ($1,653.31 | £1,251.22 | ¥264,044)

IV, 315, [1 blank]; [2], 356, [2]; VIII, LXXXIX, [1 blank], 302 pp.Second edition of the English translation of a primary source for the history of Russian-Japanese relations in the aftermath of disputes that began during Ivan Krusenstern's voyage around the world (1803-1806) fo…

Lettres et memoires pour servir à l'histoire naturelle, civile et politique de Cap Breton, ...The Hague, Pierre Gosse; London, Jean Nourse [printed in England], 1760. 12mo. Half brown morocco (ca. 1885?), by Frank J. Pfister in New York, gold-tooled spine, round gold stamp of Henry Gurdon Marquand on the front.

[PICHON, Thomas]. · 1700 · A. Asher & Co. B.V.

€1,250.00 ($1,377.76 | £1,042.68 | ¥220,037)

XVI, 327, [1 blank] pp.Surprisingly rare first edition of a detailed description of Cape Breton Island and what is now Prince Edward Island (then called Île Saint-John) in Nova Scotia, Canada, the two together then comprising the French colony Île Royale. It gives detailed and a…

Werelt-boeck, spieghel ende beeltenisse des gheheelen aerdtbodems, ...The Hague, Albrecht Heyndricxz., 1595. Folio. 17th-century parchment, new endpapers.

FRANCK, Sebastian. · 1499 · A. Asher & Co. B.V.

€8,500.00 ($9,368.76 | £7,090.23 | ¥1,496,249)

CXXXIIII, [4] ll.Fourth Dutch edition of a description of all lands and peoples of the world and particularly their customs and religious beliefs, with chapter 4 devoted to America and chapter 3 on Asia giving extensive coverage to Syria, Arabia and the Middle East, including a …

[Two autograph letters, signed, attempting to secure promised payments for the booty of the captured English frigate HMS Liverpool by the French privateer Le Grand Décidé, one addressed to Auguste-Anne de Bergevin, Commissaire principal de Marine in Bordeaux, and the other to the brothers Amédée & Eugene Larrieu in Bordeaux, who sold the booty].Bordeaux, 30 June & 18 November 1820. Folio (32.5 x 21 cm) & 4to (19.5 x 20.5 cm). In dark brown ink on paper.

PLEUC or PLEVE?, Jacques René. · 1799 · A. Asher & Co. B.V.

€1,750.00 ($1,928.86 | £1,459.75 | ¥308,051)

[2], [2 blank]; [2], [2 blank] pp.Two letters by Jacques René Pleuc (or possibly Pleve), officer of the infamous French 18-gun privateer Le Grand Décidé which had been operating out of Bordeaux since 1799 under its captain Duchesne Lasalle for its owner Pierre Leleu. With the ca…

Recueil de questions, proposées à une société de savants, qui par ordre de Sa Majesté Danoise font le voyage de l'Arabie.Amsterdam, S.J. Baalde; Utrecht, J. van Schoonhoven & comp., 1774. 4to. Set in roman type with incidental Greek, Hebrew, Arabic, Syriac and 1 word in Coptic. Near-contemporary tanned sheepskin, gold-tooled spine.

MICHAELIS, Johann David. · 1762 · A. Asher & Co. B.V.

€3,500.00 ($3,857.72 | £2,919.51 | ¥616,102)

[4], XLIV, 256, [16], 38, [2 blank] pp.Hans Bernhard Merian's French translation of Michaelis's Fragen an eine Gesellschaft gelehrter Männer (1762), prepared during the early stages of Carsten Niebuhr's Danish expedition to the Middle East. It is the first edition in any languag…

Itinerarium Aegypti, Arabiae, Palaestinae, Syriae, aliarumque regionum orientalium.Nuremberg, Abraham Wagenmann, 1621 (colophon: Nuremberg, printed by Abraham Wagenmann, 1620). Small 4to. With finely engraved full-page portrait of the author by Peter Isselberg, full-page engraved Fürer von Haimendorf coat of arms, 6 folding engraved plates. Contemporary limp sheepskin parchment.

FÜRER VON HAIMENDORF, Christoph. · 1565 · A. Asher & Co. B.V.

€12,500.00 ($13,777.59 | £10,426.81 | ¥2,200,366)

[16], 118, [114] pp.Posthumously published first edition, second issue, of an account of a 1565/66 pilgrimage to the Middle East, primarily Egypt and Palestine, by the Nuremberg Ratsherr Christoph Fürer von Haimendorf (1541-1610). Fürer visited Alexandria, Cairo, the Sinai, Rose…

Museum Etruscum exhibens insignia veterum Etruscorum monumenta aereis tabulis CC. nunc privum edita et illustratum.Florence, Gaetano Albizzini, 1737. 2 volumes. Folio (27.5 x 37.5 cm). With 200 engraved plates (12 folding), and 1 folding plate with Etruscan script. Contemporary vellum.

GORI, Antonio Francesco. · 1697 · A. Asher & Co. B.V.

€6,500.00 ($7,164.35 | £5,421.94 | ¥1,144,190)

LXVIII; [2], XLII, 471, [1] pp.First two volumes of a rare monograph on Etruscan antiquities, written by the Florentine antiquarian Antonio Francesco Gori (1697-1757). In the 1730s, there was an enormous archaeological activity around Tuscany, accompanied by an equally intensive…

[Letter to Jacques de Germigny in Constantinople (Istanbul)].Chenonceaux, 2 September 1584. Folio (34 x 24 cm). Signed letter in French, in brown ink on paper, written in a clear gothic hand. Folded for sending and addressed on the outside, with a slot for a ribbon and traces of a red wax seal.

[LETTER - SIGNED]. MEDICI, Catherine de'. · 1519 · A. Asher & Co. B.V.

€12,500.00 ($13,777.59 | £10,426.81 | ¥2,200,366)

[1], [3 blank (except for address)] pp.A signed letter written by Catherine de' Medici (1519-1589) from her favourite palace, Château de Chenonceau near the small village of Chenonceaux in the Loire valley near Tours, to Jacques de Germigny (d.1587? not 1596?), French ambassador…

Histoire naturelle des quadrupèdes ovipares et des serpens [= Histoire naturelle, vols. XXXVII-XXXVIII].Dordrecht, A. Blussé and son, 1799. 2 volumes. 4to. With 63 engraved plates. 19th-century uniform half calf, gold-tooled spines.

[BUFFON, Georges Louis Leclerc and] Bernard Germain Étienne de la Ville-sur-Illon, comte de LACÉPÈDE. · 1707 · A. Asher & Co. B.V.

€2,500.00 ($2,755.52 | £2,085.36 | ¥440,073)

10, 276, [2]; 14, "280" [= 284] pp.The reptile and amphibian section of Buffon's monumental work on the general and particular natural history. Many species (frogs, snakes, lizards, salamanders, turtles, etc.) are depicted in their natural habitat. The work is here in the new ed…

Vaticinium Severi, et Leonis Imperatorum, in quo videtur finis Turcarum in praesenti eorum imperatore, una cum aliis nonnullis in hac re Vaticiniis ...Brescia, Pietro Maria Marchetti, 1596. Small 8vo (14.5 x 10 cm). With 16 numbered engraved emblematic illustrations. Contemporary limp sheepskin parchment.

LEO VI (the Wise) of Byzantium and Antonius SEVERUS of Rome (attributed). · 1622 · A. Asher & Co. B.V.

€4,500.00 ($4,959.93 | £3,753.65 | ¥792,132)

106, [6 blank] pp.First edition of the so-called Oracles of Leo the Wise, with a bilingual (Latin an Italian) text and 16 lovely and rather surreal engravings: an emblematic book of prophecies traditionally attributed to Leo VI (866-911/12), Emperor of Byzantium from 866 to his …

O Muata Cazembe e os povos Maraves, Cheva, Muiza, Muembas, Lundas e outros da Africa austral.Lisbon, Imprensa Nacional, 1854. 8vo. With 22 hand-coloured lithographed plates, and a folding lithographed map (45 x 28 cm), hand-coloured in outline. Contemporary straight-grained, gold-tooled black sheepskin, gilt edges.

GAMITTO, Antonio Candido Pedroso. · 1798 · A. Asher & Co. B.V.

€9,000.00 ($9,919.86 | £7,507.30 | ¥1,584,263)

XXV, [1 blank], 501, [1 blank], [2] pp.First edition of this valuable narrative recording a trade mission to Kazembe IV. It was the last of three major Portuguese expeditions to connect the Portuguese territories of Angola in the west with Mozambique in the east. The expedition,…

Tooneel decoratief, voorgesteld in op steen geteekende platen door F.J. Pfeiffer Jr. Amsterdam, Coenraad Weddepohl, 1845. Folio. With a lithographed portrait of the artist (mounted), 8 lithographed plates of stage designs, and 9 poems in red decorated letterpress frames, the lithographs by Desguerrois & Co. With the 8 plates of stage designs hand-coloured as published. Original publisher's cloth, with a gold-blocked lyre in the centre of each board.

PFEIFFER, François Joseph junior, Jacob van LENNEP and Gerrit van ENST KONING. · 1778 · A. Asher & Co. B.V.

€2,500.00 ($2,755.52 | £2,085.36 | ¥440,073)

[2 blank], [1], [1 blank], 10 pp., [9] ll. + plates.First and only edition of a memorial to the costume and stage designer François Joseph Pfeiffer Jr. (1778-1835), with a biographical sketch by Gerrit van Enst Koning (1794-1853), lithographic portrait, lists of his work and col…

Rudimenta linguae arabicae. Florilegium sententiarum arabicarum ut et clavim dialectorum ac praesertim arabicae adjecit Alb. Schultens. Editio altera, aucta indicibus.Leiden, S. & J. Luchtmans & Jean le Mair, 1770. 4to. With engraved publisher's device on title-page. Contemporary half calf.

ERPENIUS (VAN ERPE), Thomas. · 1584 · A. Asher & Co. B.V.

€850.00 ($936.88 | £709.02 | ¥149,625)

[6], 374, [174] pp.Fifth, enlarged edition of the groundbreaking introduction to the Arabic language by Thomas Erpenius (1584-1624), the first professor of Arabic at Leiden University. He printed and published the first edition himself in 1620, one of the earliest major works us…

Generale beschrijvinghe van Indien. Ende in 't besonder kort verhaal van de regering, ceremonien, handel, vruchten en geleghentheydt van 't Koninckrijck van Gusuratten, staende onder de beheerschinghe van den Groot-Machtighen Koninck Cajahan: anders genaemt den grooten Mogor ... Hier achter is by-gevoeght de aenwijsinge van meest alle kusten, drooghten ende reeden, om door gantsch Indien te zeylen.Amsterdam, for Joost Hartgers, 1648. 4to. With woodcut printer's device on the title-page. 19th-century marbled wrappers.

TWIST, Johan van. · 1643 · A. Asher & Co. B.V.

€2,500.00 ($2,755.52 | £2,085.36 | ¥440,073)

[1], [1 blank], 94 pp.Third edition of this description of Northwest India and of the cotton, silk and indigo trade by Johan van Twist (d. 1643), Dutch merchant and envoy of the Dutch East India Company (VOC), and director of the VOC in Ahmadabad, the capital of the modern state…

La veille d'Austerlitz. With: (2) La Nuit de Lodi. (3) Clémence de l'empéreur.Paris, Ulysse, [1814 or 1815]. Three (from a set of four?) jigsaw puzzles (each 19.5 x 24.5 cm), each comprising an engraved print mounted on thin wood, coloured by a contemporary hand and cut to form a jigsaw puzzle, with an engraved caption and short description below the image. Kept in the original publisher’s paperboard box covered with green paper, with an etched and engraved sample print for a fourth puzzle (with a caption headed “Équité de l'empereur”) mounted on the top, coloured by a contemporary hand and framed with strips of gilt paper embossed with a decorative pattern. Each puzzle with the original pink paper wrap-around slip preserved.

[NAPOLEON BONAPARTE - PUZZLES]. · 1769 · A. Asher & Co. B.V.

€3,000.00 ($3,306.62 | £2,502.44 | ¥528,088)

A nice and colourful set of jigsaw puzzles depicting scenes from the life of Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821), 2 of the puzzles and the sample plate with address «Ulysse Paris» engraved in the image. Each puzzle has 20 pieces. The first depicts Napoleon Bonaparte calmly sleeping i…

Characteres ethici, sive Morum descriptiones. Graecè et Latinè. Cum notis & monitis Ioannis à Werdenhagen.Leiden, Joannes Maire, 1653. 24mo. With a vignette on the title page built up from typographical ornaments, the work is partly printed in Greek type. Contemporary vellum.

THEOPHRASTUS. · 1581 · A. Asher & Co. B.V.

€450.00 ($495.99 | £375.37 | ¥79,213)

359, [1] pp.Miniature edition of the "Moral Characters", a major work of ancient philosophy, by Theophrastus (ca. 371-287 BCE). The work is published with the Greek and Latin texts on opposite pages, to which are added the extensive notes and comments, of over 200 pages, by Joha…

[Photograph of a dhow in the harbour of Abu Dhabi with two large cranes in the background].[Abu Dhabi, 1970s?]. Photo: ca. 50.5 x 63.5 cm; paper board: ca. 56 x 68.5 cm. A large photographic print in colour mounted on thick paper board.

[PHOTOGRAPH - ABU DHABI]. · 1970 · A. Asher & Co. B.V.

€5,000.00 ($5,511.04 | £4,170.72 | ¥880,146)

Large photograph showing a dhow in the harbour of Abu Dhabi; the dhow's sail and mast are down and 6 people are pulling a rope on the front of the boat. The photo was taken from the water and overlooking what would become the second-most populous city in the United Arab Emirates…

Opera. Nunc primum in lucem edita. quorum cataalogum proxima facies enumerabit.Utrecht, Herman van Borculo, 1541. 8vo. With Borculo's woodcut device on the title page and full-page woodcut device with the motto “Felici genio vivax liber arte per orbem,/Chalcographa missus, non minus volat.” on the verso of the last leaf. 18th-century limp vellum.

SECUNDUS, Janus. · 1511 · A. Asher & Co. B.V.

€7,500.00 ($8,266.55 | £6,256.09 | ¥1,320,219)

[328] pp.First edition of the collected works of Janus Secundus (or Jan Everaerts, 1511-1536), the most celebrated Neo-Latin poet of the Netherlands, author of the world famous Basia (Kisses). Apart from some scattered occasional poems (see: Dekker, Janus Secundus), nothing of h…

Ursach, warumb Erasmus vo[n] Roterodam, in einer schrifft an den Bepstlichen Legaten und Cardinal Compeium, bedenckt, das es nicht gut sein sol das Rö. Key. Maiestat, die Lutherische, und andere lere mit dem schwerdt dempffe &c. In Sibenzehen Artickel gestellet.[Strasbourg or Nuremberg, Georg Ulricher or Wolfgang Heußler, 1531 or 1546]. 4to. Modern blind-tooled, mottled calf, with a double fillet border on both boards.

[ERASMUS, Desiderius]. · 1474 · A. Asher & Co. B.V.

€2,750.00 ($3,031.07 | £2,293.90 | ¥484,080)

[3], [1 blank] ll.Rare German edition of a letter Erasmus sent to the papal legate Lorenzo Campeggi (1474-1539) on August 18, 1530. In this letter, Erasmus expresses his fear that the Holy Roman Emperor would declare war to the Protestant German princes, and explains in 17 artic…

Catalogue raisonné des différens objets de curiosites dans les sciences et arts, qui composoient le cabinet de feu Mr. Mariette Controleur général de la Grande Chancellerie de France, honoraire Amateur de l'Academie Rle. de Peinture, et de celle de Florence.Paris, the author and G. Desprez, 1775. 8vo. With an engraved allegorical frontispiece, an engraved title page, 4 engraved plates (3 full-page, 1 folding), and 1 folding leaf with extensive engraved notes on one of the objects. Further with woodcut head- and tailpieces, and decorated woodcut initials. 19th-century marbled paper over boards.

BASAN, Pierre-François (engraver). · 1694 · A. Asher & Co. B.V.

€4,500.00 ($4,959.93 | £3,753.65 | ¥792,132)

XVI, 418 pp.The renowned auction catalogue of Pierre-Jean Mariette's celebrated art cabinet. The catalogue was compiled by Pierre-François Basan and it serves as an extensive overview with illustrations of Mariette's collections. An indispensable reference for scholars of 18th-c…