1822. 24mo, pp. [vi] blank, [iv] engraved frontispiece and title-page, 96, [6] blank; printed in red and black; faint dampstain affecting margins of engraved frontispiece and title-page, text lightly browned with some occasional minor soiling; a number of ink and pencil entries in the memorandum, seemingly in a single neat hand; in contemporary red morocco, with attractive silver clasp (still working), with front inner pocket, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt, with pencil holder (though pencil missing), covers a little scuffed and soiled, with light wear to extremities, but still an attractive copy. A most appealing pocket memorandum book in the original wallet binding with a silver clasp, issued by one of the leading pocket-book makers of the day, William Peacock, based in Salisbury Square London. There is increasing focus of study upon such pocket diary-cum-almanacs, which though at the time were widely purchased and used, became somewhat ‘invisible’ with the passing of time and neglected by academic study. Attractively printed, and with an elegantly engraved frontispiece depicting William IV landing at Torbay (signed ‘E. F Burney. Del, S. Springsguth, sculp’), the present example includes a blank diary section of pp. 52 corresponding to the weeks of the year, further divided into 7 boxes for each day. The inclusion of a finely executed frontispiece was a particular feature of the genre, and indeed between 1790-1809 Humphrey Repton supplied tiny water-colour views for Peacock’s other series, The Polite Repository. Though sadly anonymous, there are a number of entries in both pencil and ink, seemingly in more than one hand, and which includes a number of contact details and address (both in London and Paris), including for French and music teachers, a doctor, seamstresses, a hairdresser, laundress, upholsterer, restaurants, and hotels. Some of the notes date to the period 1826-1827.
A stationer and bookbinder, Peacock seems to have begun trading in 1779, later trading as William Peacock and Sons, and then as Peacock and Bampton between 1811-1827. ‘Peacock appears to have been one of the leading pocket-book makers. He published the untraced Historical Almanack, a cheaper pocket diary, advertised for the first time in November 1793 and 'ornamented with an elegant Frontispiece,' which appears to have run and been advertised up until at least 1837. [...] Apart from producing pocket books, Peacock was also active as a tanner, likely preparing some of the leather he would use in his bindings...’ (Sandro Jung, ‘Illustrated Pocket Diaries and the Commodification of Culture’, Eighteenth-Century Life, 2013, 37(2), pp. 53-84.) ‘the eighteenth-century illustrated pocket diary-cum-almanac is a largely neglected ephemeral genre, partly because it has, in Margaret J. M. Ezell’s term, remained “invisible”. Even though annual publications such as Thomas Baker’s Royal Engagement Pocket Atlas and William Peacock’s Polite Repository were once widely known and familiar to those who could afford them, their absence from historical narratives of late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century print culture, the history of the book, and publishing represents a significant gap in accounts of the consumption of printed ephemera. Too often, copies of these pocket books have been preserved largely because of who their owners were or because of the socio-cultural records they contain on day-to-day life in the period. In that regard, they have not been considered as important interventions in a sizeable market for illustrated pocket books the study of which will contribute to a more sophisticated understanding of processes of commodification, marketing, branding, and cultural production’ (ibid.)

1911. 8vo, ff. [1] title-page, [12] leaves of chromolithograph plates printed on china-coated paper on one side only, with 16 anatomical figures in all, text in Ottoman script; some browning and dampstaining throughout, and paper a little fragile with some chipping and loss at tail, though not touching images; stapled as issued in the original cloth backed pictorial boards, text block detached, covers damp-stained and soiled with some bowing to covers, extremities and corners rubbed and worn; a sound copy of a scarce ephemeral item. Scarce Ottoman educational pamphlet introducing the anatomy of the human body, issued by Dr Velis, a Ministry of Education Health Inspector, and seemingly intended as an aide-memoire for medical students. Less detailed than a true anatomical atlas, this slim volume includes 16 chromolithograph anatomical figures on twelve plates, each of which are annotated in Ottoman Turkish. The plates depict in turn (working from back to front): Front view of skeletal system and anatomical terms; Posterior view of the skeletal system; Front view of body muscles; Rear view of body muscles; Chest and abdominal cavity; the Heart, Lung and heart, Stomach and liver; Blood vessels, nerves and anatomical terms of the anterior part of the body; Blood vessels, nerves of the back of the body; Central nervous system appearance and lower face of the brain; Longitudinal section of the head and anatomical terms; the eye, and finally the Ear and middle ear bones. The pamphlet is discussed and illustrated in detail in an article by Ahmet Aciduman and Berna Arda of Ankara University, who suggest that the images were drawn from Western sources, and published in ca. 1911-1912.
See Aciduman & Arda Anatominin görsel boyutu üzerine tarihsel bir örnek: Harîta-i Vücûd-i Beser 1327 (1911/12) - https://www.researchgate.net/publication/329014033_A_historical_sample_on_the_visual_dimension_of_anatomy_The_map_of_the_human_body_1327_191112

1818. 12mo, pp. [2], 173, [1], with additional engraved title page with hand-coloured vignette, and five hand-coloured engraved plates including frontispiece; a little browned and dust-soiled, with a few small marginal tears but never with loss; with later signature on front paste-down; in contemporary publisher’s green cloth, spine lettered in gilt, head and tail of spine bumped and nicked, upper joint split and weak but holding. Scarce second edition, seemingly extra illustrated, (first 1813 as Les Histoires Merveilleuses, ou le petit peureux). An entertaining work for both parents and young children, intended to dispel superstitious fear of ghosts, spirits and things that go bump in the night, by instilling in them the importance of reason and courage to confront irrational fears. This second edition bears a variant engraved frontispiece to that found in the first edition, though which also bears the caption ‘Mr le curé va faire entrer le revenant’. An additional engraved title-page has been added, together with four further engraved plates, we believe not included in the first edition. All have been hand-coloured in the present copy, and are particularly striking and appealing.
The work of the educational writer Antoine Antoine de Saint-Gervais (1776–1836), the preface claims this to be the first work of its kind. According to Antoine, the noted philosopher John Locke suffered from a fear of the dark, on account of ghost stories told to him as a child by a servant. If even the great mind of Locke could be so affected, what hope for the rest of us, asks Antoine. ‘Nothing is more dangerous for new and inquisitive minds than such senseless tales... As it is almost impossible for the wisest and even the most attentive parents to protect their children from the talk of a foolish servant, or the tales of a sick imagination, it is therefore to reason that we must have recourse; with its help, we often succeed in destroying what stupidity and ignorance have established; but it is necessary to begin early: man loves the marvellous, he receives it avidly, and once he has begun to nourish his mind with it, it is very difficult for him to return to the truth, which seems too simple to him. It is to support the views of these sensible parents that I have composed the little work I present: it must please children with the marvellous stories it contains, and, what is essential, it must lead them to examine the causes of what seems supernatural to them; that is my goal. This book is the first of its kind intended for children’ (online translation of p. 6).
Adopting a conversational style, the stories revolve around the children of Monsieur and Madame de Verseuil, Albert, Victor and Cécile, and their governess Gertrude. The family had recently moved into an inherited gothic castle in Normandy, believed to be haunted, and it is not long before a series of ‘ghostly’ events begin to terrify the children. In an attempt to quell their fears, the parents, together with the village priest, encourage the children to question the evidence of their senses, and to use rational analysis to establish the causes behind the ‘supernatural’ phenomena they experience. One of the supposed spirits turns out to be nothing more than a simple bat. Further ‘scary’ stories are thus analysed and rationalised, until young Cécile finally announces to her mother that ghosts are only the product of a frightened imagination (p. 162). The children have been transformed from ‘petis peureux’ into ‘petis intrépides’ (p. 173).
The final leaf has an added date in pencil ‘Augst 27th 1842’, suggesting that a young English student has completed reading the work. A later English ownership inscription, dated 1892, has been added in ink to the front paste-down.

1873. 8vo, pp. 8; with large woodcut vignette; small split along joint of second leaf, p. 3 and 6 somewhat dust-soiled, with some minor spotting, evidence of previous horizontal folds leading to some soiling; unstitched, extremities a little nicked with a few small marginal tears; despite minor faults an appealing copy of a scarce chapbook. Scarce and appealing chapbook, promoting the forthcoming aeronautical exploits of the Belgian balloonist and aviation pioneer, Vincent de Groof (1830-1874), one of the first men to have attempted and briefly taken flight in an aircraft.
Details about de Groof’s early life are somewhat vague - as indeed appear to be later accounts of his various aeronautic attempts which frequently contradict themselves - but what seems undisputed was his determination to achieve human flight, by imitating that of a bird. As such, in 1862 he designed an early ‘ornithopter’, a machine with seven-meter-long bat-shaped wings made out of cane and waterproof silk, attached to a small wooden platform, and moved by arm-operated levers. He made his first successful launch from a house in Bruges.
His famous flying machine is depicted on the title-page of the present chapbook, which was published a few days before a planned demonstration in Brussels, presumably to drum up further support. Penned in a style reminiscent of a circus ringmaster’s patter, it humorously looks forward to the forthcoming event, which we are told ‘all of Brussels’ is a buzz with, ‘everyone seeking to predict the happy or unhappy outcome’. Whilst informally penned, it nevertheless contains a few prophetic overtones: ‘It is nothing less than a complete revolution in human and social existence that is being prepared and that the nineteenth century will bring about. Farewell to taxes, barriers, borders, limits of all kinds. Morals, politics, nationalities, legislation, everything is to be recast and remade with the flying man’ (p. 4). Or again: ‘I think I can already hear the dialogues of the future ringing in my ear: - Is Mr. Van Muler at home? - No, but he will be back soon. He left for China this morning, and tomorrow without fail he will be back’ (p. 5). It concludes with the rallying cry ‘To Monsieur Vincent de Groot, the flying man, will return the glory of an invention that will give humanity a new power’ (p. 8).
The anticipated Brussels experiment to land in the Grand-Place ultimately ended in failure, though de Groot was uninjured. Undeterred, in the following year in travelled to England to seek financial backing for his invention, where he partnered with the balloonist Joseph Simmons, with the plan that they would ascend in his balloon with the flying machine suspended underneath, and then launch from altitude. On June 29th 1874, the pair ascended from Cremorne Gardens to an altitude of between 300 and 400 feet, before the machine was dropped. Though it plummeted violently, de Groot was able to recover and land safely in Epping Forest. A few days later on July 9th, the pair launched again. After hovering over the Thames for some time, Simmons reduced the height to around 90 metres in preparation for separation. The decent came so low, in fact, that de Groof's ‘bat’ contraption was swinging dangerously close to the tower of St Luke's church, just north of King's Road. At this point, press reports again diverge in detail. Perhaps sensing he would hit the church, perhaps by accident, or maybe because he was ready to begin his stunt, de Groof cut the rope. His machine immediately flipped over and de Groot tumbled to the ground, landing in what is now Sydney Street. Some accounts suggest that he was killed immediately. Others say he lived long enough for his distraught wife to race to his side, before being carried to Chelsea hospital where he later died. There was almost a second tragedy. As soon as de Groof was loosed to his death, the unburdened balloon shot into the air, eventually reaching such a height that the pilot, Mr Joseph Simmons of Regent Street, passed out. On regaining consciousness, he found himself over Victoria Park, eventually coming down on railway tracks a mile from Chingford, narrowly missing a train.
We have found no record of any earlier edition, and indeed the present pamphlet is extremely scarce.

1819.]. 12mo, pp. 116; with woodcut frontispiece, woodcut title-page vignette, and 34 small wood engraved portraits; without front free endpaper; title-page with some offsetting from frontispiece, a little browned throughout due to paper quality, with some marginal soiling and foxing in places, some insignificant nicking to upper margin of p. 53, with some creasing in places; contemporary red morocco backed marbled boards, spine ruled in gilt, head of spine nicked with small loss, spine sunned with some ink staining at tail, joints rubbed, covers with some surface abrasions, extremities bumped and lightly worn; with contemporary(?) ownership signature of ‘Edward Lawrence, Marsh House, Thatcham, Berks’ on front paste-down; despite slight wear still an appealing copy. Scarce first edition of this attractive historical work for children, including 34 circular woodcut portraits of Scottish monarchs, and the work of Alexander Bower (fl. 1804-1830), one time teacher and then assistant-librarian at the University of Edinburgh. In his brief preface Bower notes that he has consulted ‘the best authorities on the subject, viz. Fordoun, Boethius, Buchanan, Leslie, Pinkerton, Lord Hailes, Robertson, Laing, &c. The transactions of a more recent date are taken from the most authentic sources; and nothing is advanced of the truth of which the young reader can have any doubt, if credit can be given to the early history of any nation’. Bower begins with the reign of Fergus I and concludes with the death of Anne in 1714. Barely a paragraph is given over to the Jacobite rebellions of 1715 and 1745, and Bower concludes by saying ‘During the reign of his present majesty, George III., very little can be mentioned in regard to Scotland which does not equally apply to the other parts of the British dominions. In every public question the Scots take a similar interest with their other fellow subjects; and in the late arduous contest in particular, have distinguished themselves by their loyalty and zeal for the prosperity of the public service’ (p. 111).
Bower published a similar abridged history of Ireland for children in 1819, and it is commonly assumed that the present work was published in the same year. He is also remembered for his ‘Account of the Life of James Beattie’ (1804), ‘Life of Luther’ (1813), a three volume ‘History of the University of Edinburgh’ (1817-1830) and ‘The Edinburgh Student’s guide’ (1824).

1782. 8vo, pp. xii, 294, [ii] errata; pp. 47 and 235 are cancels; with appealing woodcut head- and tail-pieces; some light foxing and soiling throughout, but otherwise clean and crisp; in later full marbled calf, spine in compartments with raised bands, tooled in gilt with red morocco label lettered in gilt, all edges red, head and tail of spine, joints, and extremities very lightly rubbed, one corner a little worn; with later 20th century gift inscription on front free endpaper; an appealing copy. First edition of this manual of obstetrics for midwives, written by Michel Chevreul (1745-1845), father of the chemist and founder of colour theory, Michel Eugène Chevreul (1786-1889). A noted surgeon and obstetrician, Chevreul helped to establish obstetrical schools in Anjou and Touraine, and was director of the medical school at Angers, where the present edition was published.
One of the ever growing number of 'man-midwife', or accoucheurs that emerged during the eighteenth century, Chevreul hoped that his simple and accessible book on the art of midwifery would help in some way to curb the ignorant and indeed pernicious practices found amongst poorly educated rural sages-femmes. Written shortly after the foundation of various provincial teaching establishments, notably in the province of Tours, he strongly advocates the benefits of improved education, to prevent unnecessary suffering. This simple work is divided into five sections, Chevreul having deliberately avoided the use of over complicated physiological or anatomical descriptions. The first section provides a basic introduction to the female anatomy, whilst explaining ways to assess the various stages of pregnancy, and containing a description of the foetus, the placenta, and the umbilical cord. Chevreul identifies four main types of childbirth, "le prématuré, en naturel, en laborieux, et en contre nature". Section two discusses natural childbirth, and how to distinguish between true and false labour pains. Difficult labours and presentations are discussed in the third section, i.e. those which present a danger to the mother or child due to internal complications and which might require some form of intervention, possibly by the use of instrument. More complicated deliveries, such as breach-birth are covered in section four, with the final section outlining abortions, premature births, false pregnancies and extra-uterine pregnancies.
A second edition of the present work, Chevreul’s only book publication, was published in 1826. An attractive and scarce manual.

1950. 8vo, pp. [iii] - 233, [1]; with 172 line drawings, diagrams and photographs throughout the text; aside from some very occasional and minor soiling and furling to corners, clean and crisp; in the original buff card wrappers, lettered in red, covers a little foxed and soiled, front cover lower corner with signs of creasing, extremities and corners lightly bumped and rubbed; a good copy. First edition of this detailed contribution to the corpus of works on cosmetic surgery, and discussing in particular rhinoplasty. Aesthetic or cosmetic surgeons had for many years laboured on the margins of medical respectability, as Galtier’s colleague M. Bouchet alludes to in his preface. France had been a little slow to recognise the importance of cosmetic surgery, in comparison to other nations, notably America. There psychiatrists had been more willing to refer patients to surgeons for the correction of nasal deformities which were causing them anxiety. However, little by little, as techniques had improved and procedures become safer, thanks in part to the developments made in plastic surgery during the war, cosmetic surgery was becoming a more recognised, and indeed more reputable, field of speciality. Echoing the sentiments of Suzanne Noël, Bouchet notes that the discipline can bring great hope and benefit to patients in a variety of trades, who feel that they need to improve their aesthetic appearance and to regain self-confidence. He hopes therefore, that this book will highlight the great service that cosmetic surgery can provide to many. Galtier describes in detail a number of procedures, including several case histories, aided by the inclusion of numerous diagrams and photographs.
Whilst the sentiments expressed may be similar to those of the pioneering cosmetic surgeon Noël (1878-1954), it is interesting to note that her fundamental work of 1926 ‘La Chirurgie esthétique’ is not mentioned in the bibliography at the end of the work, and as far as we can tell, no reference is made to her within the work, although it is true to say that rhinoplasty was not a technique for which she is best remembered.

1932. Boxed card game, 95 x 120 x 22mm, comprising two sets of cards, a blue set of 48 batting cards and a green set of 50 bowling cards, with folded book of rules, and three folded scorecard sheets printed on both sides, three cards neatly completed in red ink; a couple of cards a little browned, with some light soiling and furling to score sheets and rules; in the original decorative box, one corner of lid slightly worn, base of box a little foxed, with some light edge wear but otherwise very good. A charmingly illustrated card game in excellent condition that attempts to simulate the game-flow on an actual cricket match. Whilst no doubt of appeal to a devoted cricket fan, as the rules state it ‘can be played by anyone, old or young, male or female, cricketer or non-cricketer. It can by played in teams of eleven a side or any number below it down to one a side and is (as the inventor can vouch) a most satisfying game of Patience. All the form and thrills of cricket are here (without the “Rain stopped Play” notices!)... Matches should be two innings each side, the winner being the side which has scored most runs after four completed innings, or has dismissed its opponents twice for a smaller score’. The game consists of 98 colourfully designed cards: a blue set of 48 batting cards and a green set of 50 bowling cards. ‘From the bowling deck a number of individual bowler piles are created (i.e., 5 piles if 5 bowlers are indicated by the defensive player). The batting cards are then shuffled and split into 2 piles (1 for each batsman), then the 1st batsman flips a card from his pile. If a 2, 4, or 6 is played, the score is recorded and the 1st batsman continues play. If a 1 or 3 is played, the score is recorded and the play moves to the 2nd batsman. If a "How’s That" card is played, the defensive player flip the top card from the "active bowler" pile (i.e., the pile designated as the bowler for the current over) and scores the result (i.e., run out, stumped, Not out, Leg-bye, etc.). Batting cards are reshuffled every three overs; bowling cards are reshuffled every five overs. The game flow and rules closely follows the real game of cricket - an over consists of 6 bowled balls (cards) plus extras, batsman change sides after each over, 10 wickets taken constitute an inning, etc. As with the real cricket, the goal of the game is to outscore your opponent over two innings’.
The illustrations are redolent of Punch cartoons and also have a ‘Searlesque’ quality about them, although the box lid is signed ‘Stoke’ - whom we have so far been unable to identify. The game is commonly believed to have first appeared in 1932, though a games and toys trade catalogue dated 1953 makes an announcement for this ‘new cricket card game just published’. The present example does not have a price sticker on the box as sometimes found.

-1908.]. Large 8vo, pp. [vi], 503, [1] blank; with frontispiece, double-page map of the North Pole, and 46 illustrations, several full-page; paper a little browned and foxed due to quality; in the original red publisher’s cloth, with bevelled edges, all edges gilt, spine lettered and decorated in gilt, upper cover with mounted chromolithograph label of a polar bear on an ice flow, watching the arrival of an airship, blindstamped and lettered in gilt, with publisher’s monogram in blind on rear cover, head and tail of spine a little bumped, some soiling to spine, upper joint slightly cracked at head, lower joint with small split at tail, extremities lightly bumped; a good copy. First edition, handsomely published, of this romantic adventure story, and the work of the popular writer Emile-Augustin-Cyrpien Driant (1855-1916), writing under his pseudonym of Captain Danrit.
A French balloon, the ‘Patrie’ breaks free from its moorings, after an act of sabotage, setting adrift balloonist officer Lieutenant Georges Durtal, and Christiane de Soignes, whom Durtal had invited onboard. Driven by a storm the balloon reaches Norway, where it is picked up by an American billionaire aboard his yacht, who offers to hire the intrepid pair to help him win a bet to reach the North Pole. Durtel accepts and thus begins an exciting race to the Pole, against the backdrop of ensuring that the airship does not fall into German hands.
Driant drew inspiration from two unsolved mysteries of the day: the disappearance of the Swedish explorer Salomon Andrée’s 1897 expedition across the Arctic, and the 1906 disastrous flight of the French dirigible, the ‘Patrie’ which had disappeared at sea. In the present novel, the airship crash lands on the ice floe, the intrepid pair heading off on foot towards the North Pole. There they discover a Swedish flag, no doubt planted by members of the Andrée expedition, before discovering human remains in a nearby cave.
This tale of derring-do was also serialised in Le Journal des Voyages from October 18, 1908 to May 2, 1909.
Driant joined the military shortly after 1871, and went on to lead a distinguished career. He began writing and publishing in 1889, his military experiences very much forming a backdrop for most of his works. He attention turned fully to writing upon his retirement in 1905, when he began a career as a journalist, and continuing to publish fictional works. When war was declared in 1914, he asked to return to service, and was eventually killed during the battle of Bois des Caures in February 1916.

[1761]. Two volumes, 8vo; pp. xliv, 515; [iv], 560; with attractive woodcut title-page vignettes, woodcut arms and headpieces; faint dampstain affecting upper gutter of final few leaves of Vol. I, and also lower margins of ff. 451 to the end of Vol. II (though very faint), both volumes a little browned with occasional light spotting and soiling, though generally clean and crisp, in contemporary full speckled calf, spine in compartments with raised bands, ruled and decorated in gilt with red and green morocco labels, all edges marbled, retaining green silk markers, small nick with loss at head of spine and upper joint of Vol. I, small nick to tail, and to upper cover of Vol. II, with further light surface wear and to extremities and corners; a good copy. An uncommon introduction to science aimed at a female audience. Written in the form of a dialogue with an anonymous Comtesse, the work is modelled on those of Fontenelle and Algarotti, though according to the dedication to the Comtesse de Rochechouart, the present treatise offers a more complete course of physics than either previous work. The dedication also includes an interesting discussion on the education of women, contributing to the ongoing debate surrounding the role of women in society.
Prompted by the reappearance of Halley's comet in 1758, the countess is keen to understand the phenomena, but resents the fact that savants spend so little time on female education, and feels that most men want to limit their knowledge to 'feeble notions of geography, mythology and history'. Having emphasised that science is as much a practical study as a theoretical one, Devillers agrees to embark upon a course of instruction which he divides into 18 days, and deals with subjects such as pneumatics, hydrostatics and hydraulics, electricity (II, 1-65 with a section on medical electricity), gravity, the laws of motion, optics and the telescope and astronomy (days 16-18, II, 377-557).
Devillers moved to Lyons early in his career, and began lecturing on physics, later taking a room in the town hall to present his lecture series. He was elected a member of the Academy of Lyons, and was noted for his fine collection of instruments, or 'cabinet de physique'.

1800. 12mo, pp. xii, 154; with folding engraved frontispiece map of the world, a folding plate of the spheres, and two further engraved plates of ‘Geographical terms and figures exemplified’; lacking the front free endpaper; some occasional light soiling, upper margin of frontispiece with faint stain, otherwise clean and bright; with a few neat pencil markings throughout; with the signature of ‘A. W. Wells’ on front pastedown, and of ‘Parker’ on rear pastedown; a most appealing unsophisticated copy in the original full sheep, ruled in blind, spine in compartments with raised bands, some loss of spine at head and tail, and upper joint cracked but holding firm, extremities a little rubbed; with the name ‘Parker’ stamped in black vertically on upper cover. A charming unsophisticated copy and a scarce provincial printing of this popular geographical work, first published in French by the noted historian Abbé Pierre Nicolas Lenglet du Fresnoy (1674-1755) as Géographie des enfans in 1736, with the first English edition appearing in the following year. One of the earliest geography text-books aimed specifically at young children, the work comprises a series of sixty-six lessons, organised by country and area, and adopts the question and answer format to help instil into young minds. Thus they are given the key facts about major cities, rivers, population and systems of government. The final lessons introduce the reader to the use of the terrestrial globe, and concluding with a table of longitude and latitude. By studying for an hour a day, ‘all this knowledge may be acquired in less time than three months’ (p. x).
Not only aimed at children, however, as the preface notes: ‘This outline may likewise be useful even to those of riper years, for there are many, who, though they have had a good general education, are ignorant even of the first rudiments of this science... the least propensity to learning by the help of this short treatise, will be sufficient to acquire a general idea of the science. Young ladies, in two months time, may be instructed in the rudiments of Geography, and be able to give a pertinent answer to a question, that they would blush if they were unable to resolve’ (p.iv-v). As the present Shrewsbury printed ‘Twenty-second edition’ attests, the work proved to be extremely popular and enduring.
The author of several works, Du Fresnoy published his more extensive Methode pour etudier la geographie in 1716, the 1736 presumably an abridgement based upon that work.

1821. 12mo, pp. xii, 276; with engraved frontispiece, a wood-engraving of a magic lantern, and a number of tables within text; some offsetting on title-page, some light foxing and soiling, otherwise clean and crisp; a couple of small later pencil marginal annotations; in contemporary full tree calf, covers ruled in blind, spine attractively tooled with black morocco label, small nick at head of spine and small crack to upper joint, some light wear to extremities, but otherwise very good; with signature of Alexander Philip on front free endpaper, and his signature and doodling dated 1877 on verso of final blank. First edition of this uncommon scientific work for young adults, intended to both educate and amuse, and one of a growing number of Regency works published at the time celebrating science as an instructive and moral discipline, presented as being a more entertaining ‘mental amusement’ in contrast to more traditional and overtly didactic works for children. As befitting a school room setting, the work is a little more serious in tone than the book of chemical feats, ‘Endless Amusements’, that was published at around the same time, but nevertheless contains a myriad of mathematical experiments, a section on magic squares, chemical feats, and card and magic tricks to while away the hours, with further sections on acoustics, electricity, magnetism, pneumatics and optics, including a discussion and illustration of a magic lantern. As the author notes in his preface, he has drawn inspiration from Jacques Ozanam’s famous and popular 17th century work on recreational mathematics, Récreations mathématiques et physiques (1694), which was to go through numerous editions well into the 19th century.
Enfield appears to have been the author of a number works for children and young adult, including ‘Natural Theology’ (1808?), and a ‘Pronouncing Dictionary of the English Language’ (1808), but we believe is not to be confused with William Enfield (1741-1797), the Presbyterian divine, who is best known for his work of 1774, ‘The Speaker’.

1838. 12mo, pp. 400; with 70 full-page engraved plates each with two images; plates clean and bright, with some occasional light marginal staining, text on differing paper stock, a little browned and foxed throughout, with some sporadic minor dampstaining affecting margins; in contemporary green pebble-grained cloth backed marbled boards, spine ruled in blind and lettered in gilt, head and tail of spine a little bumped, corners a little worn, but otherwise a good copy. Scarce later edition of this attractive mnemonical treatise, and the first work by the noted educationalist and author of several historical works, Mme Laure Boen de Saint-Ouen (1799-1838). It was in the first edition of 1822, that Saint-Ouen unveiled her eye-catching pictorial system, using small emblems designed to represent significant events: for example a small upright chariot or ship signified a victory in battle, whilst an upside down equivalent depicted a loss. A sword represented an assassination, in contrast to an hourglass signifying a natural death. Such was the success and positive reception to the work and this new and effective method of teaching history, that Saint-Ouen was to subsequently publish a number of similar works, notably an extensive history of England (1825), as well as a history celebrating the life of Napoleon (1833). This 1838 issue is accompanied by 70 engraved plates, each with a circular portrait of the monarch under discussion, together with an accompanying ‘mnemonic medallion’ comprising a combination of emblems symbolizing the events of their life. Throughout the work, Mme Saint-Ouen poses a number of exercises and questions to test the student.
Her novel method was described by contemporary reviewers as being ‘well-conceived and well executed’ and did much to revolutionise the way that history was taught in French elementary schools. Her initial plans to publish a series of European histories to include studies of Germany, Russia, and Spain, were curtailed by her untimely death.
Though the title-page describes this as the second edition, another issue was published by Colas in 1826. All editions of her works appear scarce.

1890-1900. Oval composite plaque made from brass and nickel?, 70 x 115 x 1 mm, with horizontal central moulding, both sides engraved on recto; together with pp. [4] folded explanatory leaflet 212 x 135 mm, further folded down into four; paper a little browned; plaque slightly burnished; retained within the original printed card box, 120 x 80 x 7 mm, box a little foxed and sunned, with minor rubbing and wear to extremities; a very good example. A scarce medical curiosity - a French Vitalist-Metalotherapeutic device from the turn of the century, made from brass and seemingly nickel, patented and made by the ‘Société Électrogénique’, established in the mid 1890s by Eugène Legras (1856-?) and Édouard Moron (1850-1909). Particularly appealing, the device is housed within the original card box, and retains the printed explanatory relief, which guarantees the user of its authenticity and not a counterfeit. Recommended for the treatment of all pain by application to sensitive areas, and by extension supposed to cure all internal diseases, the plaque, sold for 4 francs, and was designed to be attached to clothing, and in particular night-gowns, patients recommended to keep between 3 and 7 plates close to the skin during the night, the number depending on the severity of the ailment.
Different metals are known to generate small electric currents when brought together, and this was thought to confer healing properties when held against the skin. In the late 1840s, a French physician, Dr Victor Burq, began using the external application of metals upon female patients being treated for hysteria, observing that their use triggered various physiological, muscular and nervous reactions, and in a number of instances seemed to offer some kind of cure. Thus ‘mettalotherapeia’ was born (see the Homeopathic Times, Vol III, p. 104 1852), with Burg’s therapy soon adopted by many contemporaries. Innumerable electro- or magnetotherapeutic pendants and devices were developed by physicians, chemists, and businessmen at the time, often without much medical knowledge, and were widely marketed across both America and Europe at the end of the 19th century when electrotherapy hit its peak. We have previously held pendants patented by E. Osselin and Joseph Raspail.
In late 1881 Charles Pinel (1828-1895, son of Scipion, and brother of Philippe), founded the first l’Institut d’Electrothérapie together with a colleague, with the commercial aim of distributing metal plates for medical use, called ‘dynamodermic plates’, so called because of the reactions they caused during application to the skin. An exponent of vitalism, the company expanded rapidly, but Pinel died unexpectedly in 1895, at which point Eugène Legras and Édouard Moron, neither men physicians, became involved. Moron appears to have used a number of pseudonyms, including Doctor Édouard de Monplaisir (named after a district of Sainte-Radegonde where his parents lived), Doctor Sosthène Faber (used in particular at the Rochecorbon Sanitorum they established in 1901), E. de Salerno, and De la Palette. Legras, whose name appears at the end of the present instruction leaf, oversaw the financial side of the business, which seemingly was renamed the Dynamodermic Institute and later the Electrogenic Society.
Clearly two entrepreneurial men, the business became very successful, thanks to prominent advertising in local, national and international newspapers, the creation of ‘Le Médecine Nouvelle’ Journal, and through a prestigious establishment in a Paris mansion at ‘19, rue de Lisbonne’, where as the instruction leaf reveals, free consultations were available from both ‘Dr. Péradon’, chief vitalist physician, who would also give correspondence consultations, as well as from the Director, ‘Dr. Dumas’. Personal consultations were given every day between 10am and 5pm. The sale of devices such as the present ‘plaque dynamodermique’ no doubt helped to pay for this free service. Demand was so strong that a production plant is established in Vernou-sur-Brenne, as noted on the present example. Priding itself on relieving and even curing a multitude of both nervous and physical diseases (including tuberculosis and cancer), the company prospered for more than 20 years, eventually opening their famous Rochecorbon Sanitorium in 1901, in Château de la Tour, on the outskirts of the town. Fortunes quickly changed however, and by 1905 the company had been declared bankrupt, although Legras and Moron, under the pseudonym of Doctor Sosthéne Faber, continued to run the Sanatorium until 1909, when Moron died. Despite attempts by Legras to keep the sanatorium going, it had closed by the start of WWI, when it was used as a military hospital.
Later examples of the ‘plaque dynamodermique’ were engraved ‘Rochecorbon’, and were used extensively as part of treatment plans.

1843. 8vo, pp. 54; with lithograph frontispiece portrait and with 38 lithograph plates (numbered 1 - 37, including 10 bis); lightly foxed and toned throughout, but generally clean and bright; uncut in the original blue printed wrappers, head and tail of spine a little chipped and worn, covers a little soiled, with a number of small marginal tears and some furling, with signature of ‘Hri de Crouzet de Rayssac’? at head of front wrapper; a very good copy. Extremely scarce first edition of this self-published treatise on the art of fencing with a cane, including 38 striking lithograph plates, the work of Louis Armand Victorin Leboucher (1807-1866), a professional teacher in the arts of boxing, and fencing with canes and sticks.
Basing himself in Paris, Leboucher established a school of self defence at the rue de la Michodière, and became renown as a powerful and, by the sounds of it, a fearsome fencer. As he notes in his preface, man’s first means of defence, other than the fist, would have been a large stick or club. Whilst carrying a firearm may not be socially acceptable, carrying a walking cane was commonplace, so why not learn to employ it for self defence if required when travelling. His methods focused upon strength and speed. As he continues, far from being futile as some may think, fencing with a cane was an essential personal defence skill, providing ‘a means of repulsion useful in certain circumstances’ (p. 4). It should also be seen as an acceptable and suitable form of gymnastic exercise and relaxation. He believes that his 25 lessons will be sufficient for any student to ‘obtain a degree of perfection which would otherwise require six months of practice’ (p.4). It will develop muscular strength in the arms, chest and legs, expand the lungs, and he claims that as a result of the training, most ordinary students should be able to carry out 150 blows in a minute. His students, he states, will be able to defend themselves with poise and dexterity, and he concludes by inviting the heads of military institutions, ‘who have not yet accepted our method, to make their students aware of the advantages of his theories, uniquely established as a system of personal defence’.
In addition to the present work, Leboucher published Théorie de boxe française (1844) and Théorie de boxe française et anglaise pour apprendre à tirer en 25 leçons (1853).
Though the signature is slightly obscure, we believe the copy to have once belonged to the Henri de Crouzet de Rayssac (1853-1930).

1920s?]. Offered together, three boxed reversible dissected wooden puzzles, each @ 125 x 175 x 4mm; each puzzle with chromolithograph sheet in landscape mounted on one side, and cut into 75 pieces; with image of camel in black on verso; puzzles a little dust-soiled; Series No. 4 and 6. contained in the original light blue paper card box with linen hinged lid, with mounted paper title printed in blue on upper lid, Series 10. in Navy blue hinged box lettered in gilt, all three with printed note adhered to inside lid, joints and extremities of boxes all a little rubbed and worn, most noticeably Series No. 4; most appealing examples. Three appealing and seemingly rare advertising solid wood reversible jigsaw puzzles, issued by the famous Birkenhead based shipbuilding company Cammell Laird & Co., Ltd. The company was formed in 1903 with the amalgamation of William and John Laird’s Birkenhead Iron Works and the Sheffield Steel firm of Charles Cammell & Co., Ltd. Known across the globe, the company built more than 1350 ships, playing a key role during both World Wars building both commercial and military vessels, being remembered in particular for the building of the Cunard White Star passenger liner Mauritania, and the first British aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal - both in 1938.
Described as a "Cam-Bru-Mac" Reversible Puzzle, the present examples, all scarce, were part of a series of similar games, and show in turn ’Casting a Large Ingot’, a picture of "Rolling a Locomotive Tyre. Sheffield and Birkenhead", and a ‘12,000 Ton Armour Bending Press’. Each puzzle has on the reverse, the famous logo of the company, a large black Camel.

1750. 4to; pp. [2], [2] title-page, 104, 95, 1-27, 38-52, 58-137; with hand-coloured title framed within armourial border, 25 throw out plates drawn in pen and ink and shaded, and numerous neatly drawn text figures and illustrations, some full-page and decorative, a number hand-coloured or shaded, and three mounted corrected images; penned in a single hand throughout; some occasional foxing and soiling, one or two small paper flaws, some edgewear to fore-edge of plates; final endpaper missing; bound in contemporary full calf, spine in compartments with raised bands, tooled in gilt, with evidence of previous lettering label, head of spine worn exposing headband, general light rubbing and scuffing to joints and covers, covers a little sprung, extremities and corners bumped and lightly worn. A most attractively compiled, and seemingly early to mid 18th century manuscript course on practical geometry. The name Chambaud appears on the first free endpaper, and with a further small signature of [?] Mercier found at the tail of the first page, though we have sadly been unable to discern the first name, but it could be Jean-Henri.
The volume begins with an attractively hand-coloured title framed within an armourial border incorporating a crown, a battle-axe, and six flags adorned with a blue cross. The compiler concludes the volume with a further small armourial flourish. Very much a practical work, full of day to day problems and examples, though with some occasional more whimsical and artistic illustrated section dividers (including flowers, and flower arrangements), the volume has the air of having been compiled by a either a French gentleman under private tutorship, or perhaps that of a student/apprentice surveyor or engineer. The volume has been divided into three parts, dealing in turn with ‘a treaty of practical geometry and practice of the compass’; ‘practical geometry or the measurement of surfaces’; and concluding with fractions. The whole volume is most attractively illustrated, containing numerous geometric figures, both within the text, and then 25 throw-out plates bound at the end of the volume. The majority have been rendered in pen and wash, though several have been hand-coloured, notably those at the beginning or end of a chapter.
As far as we can ascertain, there are no author citations within the manuscript, and so this does not appear to be a transcription of an already published work, and is very much practical rather than theoretical. Whilst the basic principles of geometry are outlined, and occasional remarks given, the focus is upon problems and examples to be solved, with no mention of theorems or corollaries. Having handled previous geometrical manuscripts, this does not feel, therefore as though it is following an academic course of instruction at a College.

1870. Large 8vo, pp. xxxii, [33] - 876; with 462 wood engravings; some occasional light foxing and spotting to early and later leaves but otherwise clean and bright, final endpaper somewhat creased; in contemporary sheep, spine in compartments with raised bands, with black morocco label lettered in gilt, label with slight loss of a couple of letters, spine darkened, covers a little stained and soiled with some scuffing, extremities bumped and lightly worn; a good copy. An appealing copy of an important classic in medical anatomy, first published in 1858, with the first American edition published in the following year. The present copy is the ‘New American from the fifth and enlarged English edition.’ The work remains as a standard work for the English-speaking world, and remains in print to this day.
‘The author's opening statement in the Preface reads: "This work is intended to furnish the Student and Practitioner with an accurate view of the Anatomy of the Human Body, and more especially the application of this science to Practical Surgery." The success of that intention for more than a century could be proclaimed by generations of medical students and doctors of medicine in the English-speaking world. Gray (1825-1861) was lecturer on anatomy at St. George's Hospital, London, and this lasting and monumental work, produced by a young man who died young, must be compared to the Fabrica of Vesalius, who produced his great work before the age of thirty years’ (Heirs 1914).
‘Such was the success of this enterprise that the first edition, seven hundred and fifty copies was sold out within two years, and the book has continued to appear in revised editions up to the present... The first American edition was published in June 1859 by Blanchard and Lea in Philadelphia, utilizing a complete set of wood blocks imported for the illustrations’ (Grolier, Medicine, 68).
‘The work was superior to other treatises on anatomy in three areas—the lucid and logical arrangement of a mass of detailed description; clear new drawings based on dissections by the surgeon-author and the artist, a physician; and sections on the surgical anatomy of defined areas, such as the axilla, the elbow, the popliteal space, the perineum, and the laryngotracheal region’ (Lilly Library, Notable Medical Books, 211).
‘The success of the book was not due to an absence of rivals. There were already several texts on anatomy... Gray's Anatomy, however, eclipsed all others, partly for its meticulous detail, partly for its emphasis on surgical anatomy, but most of all perhaps for the excellence of the illustrations, based on drawings by H. V. Carter [1831-1897], who assisted Gray with the dissections, and engraved by Messrs Butterworth and Heath with remarkable skill. The design of the book, and the skill with which the illustrations were interpolated in the text, could hardly have been improved. For a man in his early thirties it was a remarkable achievement’ (ODNB).

1680. 8vo, pp. 56; with appealing woodcut initial, and head- and tailpieces throughout; title-page a little dampstained, with some light foxing throughout; later ownership note at head of title-page in ms ‘Perugia, 23 Luglio 1894, Cant. 36’; recently bound to style using older marbled paper. Rare first edition of this collection of laudatory and elegiac compositions commemorating the death of the celebrated castrato singer Baldassare Ferri (1610-1680), considered to be one of the first great castrati singers. According to contemporary accounts he possessed a phenomenal voice and he performed at many of the Royal Courts across Europe. By the time of his death he had amassed a large fortune, and he was widely mourned, as the present compilation illustrates.
The collection was compiled by Ferri’s nephew Giovanni Angelo Guidarelli (1647-1720), and includes 43 poems and sonnets in Latin and Italian by many leading writers of the time, including members of the Arcadia. The various poems in ‘The cry of the swans on the death of the phoenix of music’, whilst exhibiting many familiar tropes of the genre, also provides a chronicle of Ferri’s life, in an attempt to preserve a sense of his incomparable and angelic music for future generations. Contributors include Calo Sabbatini, Batolomeo Colonna, Antonio Cinaronio, Domenico Anselmo, Fioravante Lancellotto, Nicola Barsanti, Marco Antonio Farina, Antonio Ferri, Camillo Boccaccio, Carlo Amadio, Carlo Battisti, Carlo Doni, Carlo Vuetti, Domenico Antisari, Vincenzo Alvitreti, Girolamo Ammiani, Iacomo Rangoni, and Ottaviano Ercolani.

ca. 1926.]. 8vo, pp. 48; with numerous illustrations; lightly browned and foxed throughout, with some minor edgewear, and a few pencil doodlings; stapled as issued in the original grey printed wrappers, detached and loose, covers a little creased and soiled; otherwise good. Later variant revised issue of a separately printed pamphlet which whilst available for separate purchase, was also offered free with the book ‘Vitalogy’. The larger work was first published in 1899, penned originally by George Wood and Edward Harris Ruddock. It was to go through several editions. This small supplement is usually ascribed to Horace Conger, however, and certainly by this later issue it is his name, together with Caroline P. Crane, that is on the title-page. It no longer includes the section entitled ‘Prevention of Pregnancy’.
‘In this illustrated pamphlet Conger very briefly describes the anatomy of the male and female sexual organs: the relation of constipation to “involuntary seminal emisions”... fetal development; the relation of constipation to sickness during pregnancy; prolapsus uteri; and several methods for preventing pregnancy’ (Atwater S-283). Atwater suggests that Conger was the original author of ‘Vitalogy’ and seems not to be aware of the Wood and Ruddock publication.