1907-8.]. 8vo, pp. [ii], 18, [ii] blank, with 106 loose leaves of photographic reproductions; title-page slightly foxed and browned, with further light browning and soiling throughout, with occasional minor edge-wear; loosely housed within the original grey cloth backed printed card portfolio, with printed label on spine, itself house within original maroon slip case with printed label, extremities somewhat rubbed and worn, but otherwise a good copy. Attractive and uncommon early 20th century facsimile, slightly reduced, of the original manuscript drawings that are believed to have formed the template for the famous woodcut illustrations for Guido Guidi’s famous ‘Chirurgia’ of 1544, considered to be one of the most beautiful scientific books of the Renaissance.
The work was edited by Henri Auguste Omont (1857-1940), the librarian of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, who notes in the introduction that the present work, published under the auspices of the Bibliothèque Nationale Département des Manuscrits, reproduces the illustrations from their Latin manuscript 6866 - the dedication copy to King Francis I of Guidi’s translation of a tenth-century illustrated Greek manuscript collection of works by ancient Greek surgeons, compiled by the Byzantine physician Nicetas. Brought to Italy by Janus Lascaris in 1495, this codex (now Florence, Laur. Plut. LXXIV, 7) was used by the Florentine physician Guido Guidi (ca. 1508-69) for the preparation of this Latin translation. Guidi, a native of Florence and grandson of the painter Domenico del Ghirlandaio, was physician to Francis and the first professor of medicine at the Collège de France (1542-48). The woodcuts, probably by Francois Jollat, were based on drawings that were copied in turn from the tenth-century codex.
‘This series of facsimiles... with its wealth of detail and valuable references, has served as the foundation for all subsequent studies on this aspect of Vicus Vidius’s work’ (Kellett, The School of Salviati and the Illustrations to the Chirurgia of Vidus Vidius, 1544, Med Hist. 1958 Oct: 2(4):264-8.)
"In 1542, Guidi presented an illustrated copy of this manuscript, along with his own Latin translation (likewise illustrated), to Francois 1 of France [...] Guidi had his Latin translation printed by Pierre Gaultier, a printer residing at the castle of Benvenuto Cellini, where Guidi also lived during the time he spent in Paris. The Chirurgia was the only one of Guidi's works published during his lifetime. The exquisite woodcuts of apparatus adorning Guidi's text are copies of the drawings in Guidi's Latin manuscript, which have been claimed, on the basis of a brief reference in the manuscript, to be the work of the Italian mannerist Francesco Primaticcio (1504-1570). However, for both stylistic and logistical reasons, it is more likely that the drawings were made by the school of Francesco [Rosso] Salviati (1510-1563); [...] The images themselves have been traced back from the Nicetas Codex to the commentary on the Hippocratic treatise Peri arthron (On the joints) composed in the first century B.C. by Apollonius of Kitium (fl. 81-58 B.C.)" (Norman 954).
The text (not reproduced here) included Latin translations of treatises on surgery by Hippocrates (De ulceribus, De fistulis, and De vulneribus capitis), Galen (De fracturis, De articulis, De officina medici, and De fasciis), Oribasius (De laquis and De machinamentis), and others, with commentaries by Galen and other ancient writers. Hippocrates' treatise on dislocations and Soranus' work on bandages are illustrated with woodcuts, many of them full-page, which illustrate the treatments discussed in the text.

1928. 8vo, pp. xvi, 202, [1] limitation statement; with one folding engraved plate (slight offsetting onto text); some occasional minor marginal browning; uncut and partially unopened in the original ochre goatskin, ruled in gilt, top edge gilt, spine a little darkened in places, covers with some light spotting and soiling, and small dink on lower cover, with usual browning of endpapers from turn-ins, and turn-ins themselves slightly soiled; with a number of contemporary and later newspaper and catalogue clippings relating to William Harvey and this edition, loosely inserted by a previous owner; a good copy. Number 1249 (of 1450 copies) of the finely printed Nonesuch Press edition, issued to celebrate the tercentenary of the printing of the first edition of the most famous book in the history of medicine. This is the only modern edition of the 1653 text of the De motu cordis - which had been the first English edition of Harvey's seminal work on the circulation of the blood. Printed on handmade Van Gelder paper by Joh. Enschede en Zonen in Haarlem, the engraved folding plate is by Charles Sigrist after a drawing by Stephen Gooden.

1903]. Large 8vo, pp. [vii], 126, [ii, plates half-title]; with striking chromolithograph frontispiece, 21 folding double-page chromolithograph plates mounted on guards, with a number of half-tone images and text diagrams in the text; title-page a little foxed, with further light foxing and soiling throughout, though otherwise clean and crisp; in a contemporary presentation binding of full dark calf, all edges marbled and with marbled endpapers, spine in compartments with raised bands, with deep tan morocco label lettered in gilt, elaborately tooled in gilt, with gilt armorial lozenge on upper cover, ‘Presbyterian Ladies College, Sydney’, head and tail of spine and joints somewhat rubbed and lightly worn, with further light rubbing to extremities, covers very lightly scuffed and stained, otherwise very good; with presentation book-plate on front pastedown from the College, ‘First Prize, the gift of the College Council, awarded to Marjorie Smythe for Latin Class I, Christmas 1905’. An attractive presentation copy of the uncommon first edition of this most attractively illustrated layman's guide to astronomy. The full gamut of 'heavenly knowledge' is covered by Heath, who was first assistant astronomer at the Royal Observatory in Edinburgh. Most of the plates, including the celestial maps, are on a blue background. They are all attractively executed and informatively annotated. The particularly striking chromolithograph frontispiece depicts 'the total eclipse of July 28th 1851, Bue Island, Norway', and is taken from a drawing by Piazzi Smyth. This charming atlas has been bound for presentation by the Presbyterian Ladies College in Sydney, (established in 1888 and still running today), and awarded in December 1905 to Marjorie Smythe for her achievements in Latin. The copy later was in the collection of Richard Green, and was sold by Christie's at the sale of his scientific collection in New York on June 17th 2008 (part of lot 314).

1847. Large oblong folio, pp. [iv], 24, [2]; with 22 letterpress tables (20 double-page), each with line-engraved geometric projection, and three further engraved plates; paper a little browned throughout due to paper quality, some light foxing to the engraved plates; an attractive, seemingly deluxe copy in contemporary red morocco, all edges gilt, spine in compartments ruled and lettered in gilt and blind, covers with central gilt garland within blind and gilt ruled borders, with gilt dentelles and attractive embossed floral endpapers, head and tail of spine a little worn, extremities of covers slightly darkened with some minor surface wear and soiling, corners a little worn; a most attractive copy. First edition of this detailed and practical computational work for civil engineers, providing cubic metric tables to assist in the volumetric calculation of earthworks in relation to railway, canal and road cuttings and embankments. This attractively produced work is dedicated to Baron James de Rothschild, the banker par excellence of the industrial era, and founder of the Compagnie du chemin de fer du Nord in 1845.
According to Hughes, this is the first work of its kind, published at the behest of Rothschild, and in response to the civil engineering challenges being posed by the rapid expansion of the French transport infrastructure. His aim was to ‘make the calculations required by these major works faster and more reliable’ (dedication). ‘The ability to be able to calculate in a prompt and reliable manner, the volumes of cuttings and embankments in the construction of a railway, canal, road, etc., is so generally desired that we hope that practical men will favourably receive a work which, by its use, will bring great speed combined with great accuracy to their operations.’ (preface)
This appears to be a deluxe edition, with the tables printed on one side only to enable them to be bound as double-page plates for ease of use. Contemporary catalogues of the publisher Mathias note that the price of this edition was 23 francs, as opposed to 18 francs for an ordinary edition. The three engraved plates are from drawings by the author, who was himself a civil engineer - although we have so far been unable to find any further biographical information.
The Compagnie du Chemin de Fer du Nord operated the railway network in Northern France from 1845 to 1938, and was founded by Rothschild and his associates on the 20th September 1845. It operated the state concession of lines from Paris to the Belgian border via Lille and Valenciennes, together with associated branch lines. It retained the name Compagnie du Chemin de Fer du Nord despite the absorption of other companies in the Northern France sector. It soon attracted a high volume of traffic, and served as a model for other major companies.

1890. 8vo, pp. 48; with additional loosely inserted pp. 4 pamphlet; with steel engraved image of the hydropathic establishment on final page; title page and final verso somewhat browned, with further light browning throughout due to paper quality; advertisement on rear inside cover; in the original green decorative wrappers, front wrapper with discrete tape and paper repairs visible on inside cover, rear joint with 4cm split at tail, covers a little browned; preserved within protective dust-jacket; a good copy. Scarce brochure promoting the various uses of the health drink ‘Hunyadi János’, a ‘bittersalzquelle’ tonic derived from a spring of bitter waters found in Budapest, Hungary. The spring had been discovered by Andreas Saxlehner in 1862, and which he named the ‘Hunyadi Spring’. He was given permission by the Municipal Council of Buda to bottle and sell the waters, creating the trading name of ‘Hunyadi János’ (after the renown 15th century General and Hungarian Governor). Other competitors soon began selling similar products, however, adopting the epithet ‘Hunyadi’, and which quickly became a generic term applied to bitter waters. Though Saxlehner died in 1889, his wife retained the business, and in 1895 the Hungarian courts granted her exclusive use of the word. The tonic was sold world-wide, and indeed the firm brought a case before the U.S. Supreme Court in 1900, seeking compensation for a trade infringement against the wholesale importer Eisner & Mendelson Co.
The present short treatise is the work of Plinio Schivardi (1833-1908), at the time the Medical Director of the Recoaro Thermal Spa in the Italian province of Vincenza. A pupil of Duchenne, Schivardi is best known for having brought to Italy his knowledge of electrotherapy, collecting these experiences in his 1872 work Manuale teorico pratico di elettroterapia. Divided into twelve short chapters, Plinio discusses in turn the benefits of natural purgative water over those from pharmacies; the particular benefits of ‘Acqua di Hunyadi János’; provides general instructions on its appropriate use; the particular benefits for those suffering from constipation, obesity, for those with liver complaints, for tropical diseases, those suffering from nervous and mental complaints, and on use by women and children. Published only a year after Saxlehner’s death, and in the light of competition from other rivals, the work was no doubt an attempt to cement the tonic’s priority over those of other tonics.
A small additional four page pamphlet is loosely inserted by Dr. Riccardo Curti, on Liver Diseases and Mineral Waters, and which had first appeared in ‘Italia Termale’ on March 16th 1890.

1810-1824.]. 12mo, pp. [iv] including wood engraved frontispiece and title-page, [5] - 35, [3] blank; text including 7 full page wood engravings, with two small tail-pieces; clean and bright; stitched as issued in the original blue semi-stiff wrappers, with mounted etched engravings to both covers, spine and covers a little rubbed, else a very good copy. An appealing introduction to London for young readers, one of a number of small popular guide-books to the city produced by the publisher Thomas Tegg. Tegg (1776-1845) set up shop in 1805 at 111 Cheapside, where he quickly established a publisher’s list of best-selling sixpenny abridgements of popular works, song-books as well as dealing in publishers’ remainders. He is particularly noted for his ‘New Picture of London’ (1803, reissued in 1814), and had previously published ‘The curiosities of London: containing a descriptive and entertaining sketch of the British Metropolis’ (ca. 1810) also bound in blue card wrappers with mounted engravings on each cover. He became a highly respected figure in the City, and issued some 4000 publications during his lifetime.
The attractive engravings depict: The Tower of London (front cover), St Paul’s (rear cover), The Royal Exchange and Bank, Newgate, St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, Somerset House, Carlton House, The Horse Guards & Admiralty, House of Lords, Foundling Hospital

1883.]. Small folio, pp. [ii] title-page, with 12 engraved colour maps mounted on guards, of which 9 are in relief; fore-edge of title-page somewhat soiled and furled, lower corner of map 5 torn and missing, light foxing and browning throughout due to card and paper quality; a few neat ink and pencil annotations to maps visible; original red blind-stamped publisher’s cloth, upper cover lettered in gilt, head and tail of spine nicked and worn, joints rubbed, spine and vertical section of rear cover sunned, some light spotting and soiling to covers, extremities and corners bumped and lightly worn; still a good copy. Assumed first edition of this rare and innovative elementary atlas for young readers by the geographer and future politician Henri Mager, printed almost entirely in relief. The atlas includes 12 maps illustrating a planisphere (not in relief), physical Europe, political Europe (not in relief), physical France, political France (not in relief), the French colonies, the Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Australia and The Alps.
Mager was born on May 17, 1859 in Paris, and eventually became a member of the Superior Council of the Colonies and Chargé de Mission in Madagascar. He travelled extensively around the world, often on behalf of the government, and notably between July 1896 and September 1897. He is also remembered for his more extensive atlas of 28 maps, ‘Atlas Complet de géographie en relief’. Neither were dated, though contemporary advertisements suggest that they were published between 1880-1883.

1870. 12mo, pp. [iv] additional engraved title-page and title, 280; lightly browned throughout with some occasional spotting, more prominent stain to pp. 77-81 seemingly caused by a previous pressed flower or leaf no longer present; original tan morocco backed Mauchline ware wooden boards, made from ‘the Breadalbane Woods, Aberfeldy’, all edges gilt, with gilt tooled turn ins, engraving of the Tay Bridge, Aberfeldy on upper cover together with a verse by Burns, and a view of Aberfeldy on rear cover, lower rear corner missing, with some minor scuffing to surfaces; an appealing copy. An appealing example of a Scottish souvenir Mauchline Ware binding. Mauchline, located 11 miles inland from the Scottish coastal resort of Ayr and for some time the home of Robert Burns, was the centre of the industry, which at its peak in the 1860s, employed over 400 people in the manufacture of small, but always beautifully made and invariably useful wooden souvenirs and gift ware. Views of Scotland dominated the transfer ware. "Burnsian" views, by far, formed the largest single grouping and views associated with Sir Walter Scott probably the second. In addition to virtually every town and village, producers immortalised a great number of beauty spots, country houses, churches, schools, ruins and even cottage hospitals in transfer ware. The Isle of Wight was particularly popular, probably due to Victoria's love of the place. The industry flourished for 160 years and during that period hundreds of thousands of high quality wood ware souvenirs were despatched around the world and were much favoured by affluent Victorian travellers.
The tail of the upper board is signed ‘John Harrower, Jeweller, Aberfeldy’.

1868. 12mo, pp. 188, [4] publisher’s advertisements; lightly browned throughout with some occasional foxing; original green morocco backed Mauchline ware wooden boards, ‘Made of Birman Wood’, all edges gilt, with gilt tooled turn ins and moiréd endpapers, transfer of the Pass of Killicrankie on upper cover, with verse from Macbeth on rear cover, head and tail of spine nicked with minor loss, both lower corners slightly chipped, with some minor surface scuffing; still an appealing copy. An appealing example of a Scottish souvenir Mauchline Ware binding. Mauchline, located 11 miles inland from the Scottish coastal resort of Ayr and for some time the home of Robert Burns, was the centre of the industry, which at its peak in the 1860s, employed over 400 people in the manufacture of small, but always beautifully made and invariably useful wooden souvenirs and gift ware. Views of Scotland dominated the transfer ware. "Burnsian" views, by far, formed the largest single grouping and views associated with Sir Walter Scott probably the second. In addition to virtually every town and village, producers immortalized a great number of beauty spots, country houses, churches, schools, ruins and even cottage hospitals in transfer ware. The Isle of Wight was particularly popular, probably due to Victoria's love of the place. The industry flourished for 160 years and during that period hundreds of thousands of high quality wood ware souvenirs were despatched around the world and were much favoured by affluent Victorian travellers.
The present example appeals to both lovers of music and Shakespeare - the binding apparently ‘made of Birnam Wood’, and includes three lines from Act 5 of Macbeth: ‘As I did stand my watch upon the hill, I looked towards Birnam, and anon me thought the wood began to more’. The cover is also signed ‘Anderson, Bookseller, Dunkeld’.

1700. 12mo in 8s and 4s, pp. [28], 187, [1], [iv] half-title and errata leaf, ix, explanatory leaves for six copper-engraved plates (nos 1-7 and containing 8 figures), [2] blank, pp. 90 ie 120, (pagination error after p. 96), [2]; with a couple of small woodcut figures within text, and woodcut head- and tail pieces; lightly browned throughout with some occasional light foxing and soiling, first two plates a little oxidised but not affecting image; without the front free endpaper; four lines of ms notes, seemingly late 18th century, on rear pastedown; 19th century sheep back over marbled boards, spine in compartments with raised bands, tooled and lettered in gilt, small nick with loss at head of upper joint, upper joint starting but holding firm, joints and extremities lightly rubbed and worn; with engraved armourial book-plate on front pastedown ‘Ex Libris Henr. Petit Doct. Med. Suessionæi’; a good copy. First edition of this important work by the distinguished French surgeon and comparative anatomist, Jean Méry (1645-1722), dealing principally with his theories ‘de la manière dont la circulation du sang se fait dans le foetus humain’ (p. 1). Whilst ultimately his views were proved to be erroneous, the work is important in the history of circulation, for the ensuing controversy and long-running debate which it provoked for a number of years within the French medical community and Academy of Sciences.
Published in the year that Méry became chief surgeon at the Hôtel-Dieu, the work is divided into two sections, and whilst the title-page suggests that his discussion on lithotomy will dominate the work, it is in fact his observations on blood circulation in the foetus which form the majority of the volume, spanning 187 pages and including seven finely engraved copper plates on six leaves. Although having worked closely with Claude Perrault (1613-1688) and, in particular, J. G. Duverney (1648-1730) on a number of comparative anatomical works, Méry and Duverney had become estranged after 1693 over their differing interpretations of mammalian foetal circulation. He strongly opposed Duverney’s theories, and claimed, wrongly, that the blood flowed from the left to the right through the foramen ovale in the interatrial septum, having initially formulated this theory from a false analogy between a tortoise heart and a foetal mammalian heart. ‘The outstanding differences between Méry's view and the traditional ones were his beliefs that the so-called valve of the foramen ovale was not a valve at all but the caudal part of the inter-atrial septum, that the venous return from the left lung of the foetus was the only blood which passed through the foramen ovale and that it did so from left to right, and that there was a considerable pulmonary blood flow in utero’ (Franklin, Jean Méry and his ideas on fetal blood flow, Annals of Science, 1945, 5, pp. 203-228). His ‘physiological views were derived partly from the literature, partly from his own experimental and clinical work, partly from his anatomical findings, and partly from the results of injection of air or of fluids into the vessels of soft anatomical specimens’ (ibid). ‘Méry erred in assuming that the cross section of an artery is the only factor determining the amount of blood that can flow through it. He compounded this error by his method of measuring the relative cross sections of the arteries. He may have used fresh preparations for his measurements on cows and sheep. For those on human beings, he probably used preserved specimens, dried ones as a rule. The results were inconsistent at best’ (online Encyclopedia).
Méry includes a number of published responses to his theories in the present work, as well as discussing Harvey’s view, one that he shared, that blood which passes through the arterial canal goes from the pulmonary artery to the aorta, thus escaping the lung. The debate was to rage for some two decades, with numerous arguments presented on both sides of the controversy. Méry held his views against all opposition until his death.
In the second, separately paginated, section of the work, Méry turns his attention to lithotomy, and in particular to the work of the famous itinerant lithotomist Frere Jacques Beaulieu (also known as Jacques Baulot 1651-1720). A Dominican friar, with scant knowledge of anatomy, in 1697 he was was invited to demonstrate his methods under the supervision of Méry, who at his own private practice in Paris had gained a particular reputation for the procedure. Jacques was first required to demonstrate his method on a cadaver and afterwards allowed to conduct lithotomies on patients. Out of 71 patients 53% died from complications with Méry conducting autopsies to identify the causes. This led to Frere Jacques being debarred from conducting surgeries in Paris.
Born in 1645, the son of a master surgeon, Méry studied at the Hotel Dieu, graduating with a thesis on the anatomy of the ear. He was appointed surgeon there in 1681 later becoming chief surgeon. As his career progressed he received appointments as chief surgeon to the queen and senior surgeon at the Invalides hospital for veterans. A dedicated teacher, he stressed the importance of careful observation, and he was the driving force behind the building of the surgical amphitheatre and the establishment of courses in anatomy and surgery. He described several structures, such as the eustachian tube and the urethral glands, for which he received no recognition in that they were later described by other investigators and named after them. In Paris he was known to have an extensive anatomy cabinet of human and animal specimens that he himself had carefully dissected, notably a display of nerves from origin to insertion that he had spent many years to dissect.

1840. Large 8vo, pp. viii, 272; with sixteen folding lithograph plates; preliminary leaves and final two gatherings a little browned and foxed (possibly differing paper stock), with occasional light spotting and soiling throughout, but otherwise quite clean and crisp, upper corners of plates a little furled, fore-edge of plate XIII dust-soiled with small marginal tear and signs of folds having been repressed, with further light foxing to some of the plates, but generally bright; a presentation binding in full green morocco, spine in compartments with raised bands, lettered and decorated in gilt, boards ruled, and stamped in gilt on upper cover ‘École d’Accouchement de Paris. 6. Prix de vigilance clinique. Décerné à Mademoiselle Beauregard, 1859’, upper cover a little darkened in places with some worming, with further silverfish wear to rear cover, joints and extremities lightly rubbed; a good copy. An attractive presentation copy awarded to a young student midwife at the Parisian École d’Accouchement, of the first French edition of Naegele’s important obstetrical work. His work constitutes ‘the first description of the obliquely contracted or Naegele pelvis. Because of its rarity and the difficulty of recognizing it clinically in living subjects, the obliquely contracted pelvis, with its most often fatal consequences at delivery, was unknown until Naegélé's study of 37 cases. He suggested diagnostic aids for its recognition’ (Garrison & Morton 6257 for the original German edition of 1839.)
A handwritten note on the front free endpaper reveals the recipient to be ‘Julie Dubut née Beauregard sage-femme, [Gabriac?] 1857-1908’, with the binding itself noting that she had received the 6th prize for clinical vigilance by the Paris midwifery school for the year 1859.
‘Naegele [1778-1851] was professor and director of the Obstetrical Hospital at Heidelberg, and it was there, in 1839, that he wrote this highly regarded and original work on the obliquely contracted pelvis. The work was of immediate value to practicing obstetricians; the ensuing years have added little information to his original observations. The beautifully rendered lithographs are reproduced faithfully in this, the first edition in English published 100 years later’ (Heirs 1339 for the first English edition of 1939).

1814. Small square 48mo, (65 x 60mm), pp. 96, with 47 full-page engraved plates; corner of front endpaper creased; in the original printed pink paper-covered boards, slight wear at tail of spine, boards a little rubbed and worn, else a good copy. First edition of one of a number of miniature books for children, illustrated by Alfred Mills, (1776-1833), and published by Darton, Harvey and Darton and J. Harris. ‘These London printed volumes became immensely popular and are much loved by children to this very day. There were issued in pink boards with the title and prince printed on the front-cover and a list of the other available titles on the lower cover. These copies were priced one shilling and sixpence while those bound in red or green roan were priced two shillings... each volume has 96 pages’ (Bondy, Miniature books, p. 63-4). ‘The author recommends Priscilla Wakefield’s Perambulations in London for a fuller account of ‘the curiosities of London’ (Osborne).

1951. 8vo, pp. xxiii, [i], 558; with a number of diagrams within text; pp. 224-5 creased with small tear at lower margin, p. 258 creased, gutter exposed at p. 383, lightly toned throughout; in the original blue publisher’s cloth, spine lettered in gilt, lower corner of upper board bumped, with the original grey price-clipped dust-jacket, spine somewhat browned with a few small chips and splits, preserved within protective glycine jacket; with the signature of Phyllis Fox and the date ‘Jan 31, 1956’ on front free endpaper; a very good copy. Second edition, and a nice association copy, of this classic textbook on applied mathematics, originally published in 1933, once belonging to the noted American mathematician and computer scientist Phyllis Fox (1923-2017), with her signature on the front free endpaper. The signature is dated January 31, 1956, Fox purchasing the volume while working on the numerical solution of partial differential equations for UNIVAC for the Computing Center of the United States Atomic Energy Commission at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences of New York University.
In addition to the present work, the English applied mathematician Louis Melville Milne-Thomson CBE FRSE RAS (1891–1974), is best remembered for his works on Theoretical Hydrodynamics (1938), and Theoretical Aerodynamics (1948), as well as for his work developing mathematical tables such as the Jacobian Elliptic Function Tables (1932). The Milne-Thomson circle theorem and the Milne-Thomson method for finding a holomorphic function are named after him. His works proved popular and went through several editions.

1839. Miniature 64mo, 20 x 14mm; ff. [30]; engraved throughout with wood-engraved frontispiece of Victoria, and six wood-engraved portraits and laudatory verse by Letitia Landon; in the original green gilt decorated stiff paper wrappers, all edges gilt, joints rubbed with some loss, with original matching slipcase, possible loss at tail; despite wear an appealing example of a scarce ephemeral item. A charming and exceptionally tiny miniature or ‘bijou’ almanac. ‘Albert Schloss’s English Bijou Almanac series was published for the years 1836-1843, and then continued as the Bijou Almanac by T. Goode for 1845-46, 1851-52. Bondy, (p. 42) praises the original series for its ‘true miracles of engraving illustration, binding and presentation. Each of them has six miniscule engravings, almost all portraits of famous writers, musicians, painters or stage performers. These portraits are accompanied by poems in praise of the personalities they depict’. The 8 issues are surprisingly elusive’ (Joffe and Neelands, Miniature Books). The portraits included for this 1839 edition are of the Duke of Wellington, Lady Blessington, Sir Thomas Lawrence, Beethoven & the soprano Giuditta Pasta, soprano, together with accompanying verse by the English poet and novelist Letitia Elizabeth Landon (1802-1838), as well as a historical calendar and information on royal and noble families. According to Bromer and Edison, Schloss had engaged the specialist engraver Benjamin Rees Davies for the series, who engraved each work on a single steel plate. The type is less than 3-point.
‘In the presentation of miniature books Albert Schloss in London reached a high degree of sophistication. The English Bijou Almanacks... were issued in delicately coloured and gilt-stamped flexible boards, in elegant and splendidly decorated morocco or vellum bindings, always protected by matching slipcases’ (Bondy). Elegantly fitted cases, with accompanying miniature magnifying glasses, could also be acquired to keep such vulnerable treasures safe - though is no longer present here, making it’s survival even more remarkable.

[1907]. 8vo, pp. 336; with engraved frontispiece depicting radiator covers of the 15 leading marques of the day and 65 text engravings; lightly browned throughout with some minor foxing, gutter slightly cracked at title page, minor nicks to upper fore-edge of pp 315-324; contemporary red limp cloth, with decorative end papers, covers and spine lettered in gilt, head and tail of spine slightly bumped, joints and extremities lightly rubbed with some minor soiling; a good copy. First edition of this uncommon dictionary of terms relating to cars and motoring. In his preface Abel Ballif, President of the Touring Club of France from 1894-1918, praises the clear and concise technical information provided in such an accessible format, which for the subject matter, appears to have been a novelty at the time of publication.

n.d but ca. 1856]. Leporello, of 89 small circular discs comprising of an engraved view and descriptive letterpress text, each measuring 71mm in diameter, the first disc recto an engraved title, so image sequence 1-88, intended to be hinged together to form a long leporello, though a number of hinges now broken, and some previous attempts at repairs appear to have affected the order of the discs; some light soiling from tape hinges in places and with some occasional minor foxing; housed within original green papier-mâché lidded box 81mm in diametre, attractively embossed in gilt with bee design, with metal rim and central gilt medallion portrait of Napoleon mounted on upper cover, embossed and decorative gilt ‘N’ on lower cover, and gilt medallion mounted on inside of lid ‘le Sénat et le Peuple AN XIII’; decorated case itself housed within large round lidded green box 90mm in diametre 38mm in height, with printed engraved label on upper cover, label and outer box a little soiled, upper lid neatly repaired, though both cases lightly rubbed and worn around edges; a most attractive example. A most attractive and skilfully executed typographical curiosity - a miniature medallion book celebrating the life and times of Napoleon I. Reminiscent of Edward Orme’s two aquatint medallion series celebrating military and naval successes against Napoleon published in 1815, and presented in a series of 88 finely executed illustrations together with accompanying descriptive text. Originally mounted on ribbon, the intended effect was to form a leporello, thus ‘unfolding’ the extraordinary life and military career of the Emperor. Over time, a number of the hinges have now broken, and previous attempts at repairs have seemingly altered the intended sequence so that it no longer forms a continuous sequence. Nevertheless, the discs are all present, and the sequence concludes with the final scene and text describing his tomb and final resting place in 1841, when his body was moved from St. Helena and moved to Paris.
The illustrations are often described as having been etched, and at the time of handling a previous example, it seemed likely that the date of production was around 1841, to coincide with the return of his ashes to Paris, after his initial burial on St. Helena. The Swiss Coup-D’Oeil sur les travaux de la Société Jurassienne d’émulation, pendant l’année 1856 (Porrentruy, V. Michel, June 1857), however, notes that at a recent exposition that ‘M. le colonel Theubet nous a présenté, par l’entremise de M. Kohler, un travail de sa composition: Napoleon le grand, médaillons historiques, suite de 88 sujets tirés de l'histoire de l'empereur et dessinés par lui d'aprés Vernet, Raffet, accompanée d'une texte explicatif dont l'impression remarquable fair honneur à notre typographe bruntrutain, M. Michel’ (p. 43). The Bibliographie de la France of 1856 gives a lengthy description of what we assume must be the same publication, though listed under ‘Impressions lithographiques’ and which gives an imprint of ‘Imp. Lith. de Marie, à Paris, A Paris, chez M. Susse, place de la Bourse, Pris 5 f’. It goes on to say that the ’88 médaillons dessinés par Collet, d’après meilleurs artistes, divisés en 5 séries, avec un text explicatif extrait des ouvrages sur la vie de Napoléon. Texte imprimé à Porentrui (Suisse), chez Victor Michel. … C’est ce travail que présente M. le chevalier V. Theubet, colonel, officier de la Légion d'honneur, à tous ceux dont le coeur battra toujours au nom de Napoléon’ (p. 911). A further review found in the 1856 Moniteur de l’armée notes that the medallions were joined together by a silk ribbon, and that it was available from ‘Le dépôt des Médaillons historiques est a Paris, chez MM. Susse frères, place de la Bourse’ for 5 francs, and that it would make an ‘agreeable gift’ for the children of the military and of men who may have served under Napoleon. Antiquarische Catalg von Felix Schneider, 1889, Catalogue CCVIII, item 217, describes the illustrations as ‘eaux-fortes’, however, and that it was an ‘opuscule charmant, singulier et rarissime’ (p. 10).
Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte had proclaimed himself Emperor of France as Napoleon III in 1852, and internationally tried to emulate his uncle Napoleon Bonaparte. 1856 saw the birth of his son and heir-apparent, and the conclusion of the Crimean War, with the Paris Peace Conference a high-water mark for his regime. A celebratory life of the First Emperor, just as the Second Empire was emerging, and in such an unusual and typographically appealing format, would no doubt have found an enthusiastic audience.

As a Mark of Esteem and gratitude for her devotion to the Queen’s Brave Soldiers’. by J. Pinches, London, [1855-6]. Round white metal medallion with plain edge, 41mm in diametre, pierced for suspension,with some slight tarnishing and discolouration and some minor edgewear; without the original box; good. Uncommon and attractive medal by Pinches of London which was struck in 1856 and sold at the Crystal Palace in May of that year to commemorate the unveiling of the Scutari Monument by Queen Victoria in the presence of Crimean veterans. As contemporary reviews reveal, Baron Marochetti’s monument of four weeping angels was greeted with considerable disdain and indeed was quite unpopular, many aggrieved that he had won the commission without a preliminary public competition. The Crystal Palace statue was a facsimile in imitation granite of the actual monument erected at Scutari. Known as the "Lady with the Lamp," Florence Nightingale is considered by many to be the founder of modern nursing, revolutionizing the practice during her role as a managing nurse during the Crimean War. Her skills as a statistician aided in her preparation of visual data, further allowing vital information to be disseminated and better care thus administered.

1868. 8vo, pp. viii, 75, [3] (including table of contents); including musical notations, and seven full-page engravings and four engraved tail-piece vignettes; with discrete tear repairs at upper fore-edge of half-title and to pp. 9-10, and a further neat paper restoration at lower margin of pp. 43-44; lightly foxed throughout with some occasional spotting and soiling, foxing a little more prominent to half-title and final leaf; in recent blue marbled boards, with some minor wear to extremities; a good copy. Rare first edition of this attractively illustrated gymnastics manual for young children, the work of the leading French educationalist Marie-Pape-Carpentier (1815-1878) who was instrumental in the development of the public nursery school system in France.
The work begins with a preface outlining her general philosophy: ‘the child who plays is better and learns more than the child who is bored’. She encourages the practice of playful gymnastic games suitable for young children, and punctuated by songs, both of which they should be able to understand and perform easily, such as marches, circles, and skipping. The work then describes seven games: ‘The Good Housewife’, ‘The Wheat Game’, ‘The Good Gardener’, ‘The Little Workers’, ‘The Little Chimney Sweep’, ‘The Silkworm’, and ‘The Alone Girl’. Each is illustrated with a large full-page composition by Emile Bayard, Hercule Catenacci and Edmond Morin, and is structured around song scores.
Salles d'asile came to prominence in the early 19th century. Initially charitable institutions catering for the young children (from the ages of two to six) of poor working mothers, they were formally organised by the state in 1837. Often poorly funded, their remit was the subject of some debate, with opinion divided as to whether their purpose was to provide rudimentary education, or rather to merely provide a type of day care to keep poor children off the streets so that their parents (especially mothers) could work.
Pape-Carpentier had been appointed director of the main salle d’asile in Le Mans in 1842, and in 1846 published Conseils sur la direction des salles d’asile, which not only won a prize from the Académie Française, but attracted the attention of the philanthropist Mme Jules Mallet, a prominent figure on the largely female commission overseeing the salles d’asile. Mallet had long hoped to create a school to train nursery school teachers, and in 1847 persuaded her nephew, the education minister Baron Narcisse-Achille de Salvandy, that Carpantier should head the teacher-training school. The fall of the July Monarchy in February 1848 initially threatened Carpantier's direction of this fledgling institution, but thanks to interventions on her behalf by both Mme Mallet and the famous chansonnier Pierre-Jean de Béranger, with the new education minister, Hippolyte Carnot, in 1848 Carpantier was named director of the official école normale maternelle. At the same time she became the member of a Parisian education commission, a testimony to both her expertise and acceptability to the new republican leaders. It was at this time that Carnot renamed the salles d'asile to écoles maternelles, also removing them from the category of ‘charitable establishments’, now deemed inappropriate for an educational institution. Although Carnot hoped that economic progress would one day make mothers's work outside the home unnecessary, he, like Carpantier, recognized the unavoidable necessity of work for many poor women.
‘[Marie Pape-Carpantier] is one of those women unjustly forgotten even though she played a fundamental role in education. [...] In her first educational work - she would write around twenty, as well as books for children - she revealed ‘the secret of good teachers’. It was so successful that she was appointed director of the École normale maternelle created by the Revolution of 1848. She fought to ensure that the school for very young children was more than a day-care: material improvement of the classroom, importance of object lessons, awakening, gymnastics. Her books won various prizes, including that of the Académie française, influenced the policy of the Minister of Public Instruction Victor Duruy and caught the attention of Victor Hugo. Marie Pape-Carpantier also strove to defend the status of women: she was the first woman to speak at the Sorbonne. [...] Considered by her opponents as a free thinker, she was finally dismissed in 1874’. (online translation of Colette Cosnier, Marie Pape Carpantier: de l école maternelle à l école des filles, Paris, L'Harmattan, 1993).

[n.d. but ca. 1821-1823.]. 8vo, ff. [18] leaves, printed on one side only, with hand-coloured engraved frontispiece and a further 14 hand-coloured engraved illustrations in the text to make a total of 15 not 16 illustrations as stated by title (other editions make a similar error); all slightly crudely coloured; lightly browned and soiled throughout, with some occasional offsetting and bleed through from ink and colour; stitched, as issued, in original publisher's printed pictorial salmon wrappers, spine rubbed and worn with some loss, with 5cm split at tail but still holding firm, wrappers rubbed and dust-soiled, with some surface loss notably at lower rear corner; though a little dog-eared, overall an appealing copy. Uncommon and attractively illustrated late Regency rhyming riddle game for children, and seemingly an early edition with the A.K. Newman & Co. Dean & Munday imprint. A test of both memory and counting, the format is akin to that of the ‘Twelve Days of Christmas’, and indeed its appear to date back to a similar time. Of the party who intend on playing one is appointed Treasurer who begins the game by passing an item, 'a penknife, pocket-book, or thimble' are among the suggestions to the person sat next to him stating 'Take this', the player responds 'What's this?', to which the Treasurer replies 'A gaping, wide-mouthed, waddling Frog'. The sequence is repeated, a line added to the nonsense verse with each turn. If a player misremembers a part of the increasingly complex rhyme he or she forfeits and must enact a penalty. Suggested penalties include 'Submit to be tickled by the company for five minutes', and 'Spell and pronounce this word twice within ten minutes, without a blunder - Al-di-bo-ron-ti-phos-ky-phor-ni-os-ti-kus'.
As with many similar chapbooks of the time, dating of the first edition seems unclear. As far as we have been able to establish, one of the earliest appearances of the rhyme in print was in ‘Mirth without Mischief. Containing the Twelve Days of Christmas, the play of the Gaping-wide-mouthed waddling frog, love and hatred, the art of talking with fingers, and Nimble-Ned’s alphabet and figures’ published by Davenport in 1780. It seems likely that, was in the case of the French inspired Twelve Days of Christmas, that the recited rhyme in various forms was already popular. In 1817 E. and J. Wallis issued ‘The Gaping Wide-mouthed Waddling Frog, adapted to a Game of Forfeits, coloured Plates’. The Osborne copy, and which appears to compare to the present copy, is dated to 1822 - from an manuscript inscription. A watermark date can be seen on [f.6] of 1821. A copy which sold at Christies in 2003, and which they suggested was 1822, had a variant title-page correcting the number of embellished engravings from sixteen to 15 as is in fact the case. Interestingly, that copy had ‘just 13 illustrations which are fully paginated’ (Christies, Dr Nigel Temple Collection of Children’s Books, 2003, lot 53).