Printed for W. Simpkin & R. Marshall. London. 1833. 12mo. 7x12cm. xii, 152pp. Engraved frontispiece. Part 2 has separate half-title and preface. Contemporary quarter calf, marbled boards. Gilt to spine. Chipped to head of spine, rubbed with wear to corners and edges. Lightly toned, some offsetting of frontispiece to title. "The Oeconomy of Human Life purports to be an English translation of an ancient Indian text found by a Chinese scholar in Lhasa." Attributed to Robert Dodsley, the bookseller, it became a bestseller. The first part is attributed to Robert Dodsley, dedicated to P. D. Stanhope, Earl of Chesterfield; the second is attributed to John Hill, also dedicated to the Earl of Chesterfield. A system of mystical instruction: a translation of the most ancient manuscript found in the Grand Temple of Thibet by Cao-Tsou. The original "author" has been variously identified as Dandamis, Confucius, Lao-tse or the Brahmins, and in the ancient Egyptian teachings of Amenhotep IV, Pharaoh of Egypt. Or there may have never been an original at all. The Economy was republished as 'Kuthumi' by the Theosophists in 1886. See: Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. Third Series, Vol. 19, No. 4 (Oct., 2009), pp. 439-458 Bray, John. The Oeconomy of Human Life: An 'Ancient Bramin' In Eighteenth-Century Tibet.
Chez Dufart, Imprimeur-Libraire. Paris. An. 6. [1798] 7 volumes in 3. 12mo. Tome Premier: 205pp, Engraved frontis.; Tome Second: 203pp, Engraved frontis.; Tome Troisieme: 195pp, Engraved frontis.; Tome Quatrieme: 183pp, Engraved frontis.; Tome Cinquieme: 158, (1)pp, Engraved frontis.; Tome Sixieme: 134, (1)pp, Engraved frontis.; Tome Septieme: 146, (1)pp, Engraved frontis. Quarter calf, marbled boards, spines in six compartments with gilt rules, lettering and embellishment. All edges sprinkled blue. Minor shelf wear. An attractive set.
Les Deux Oceans. Collection Hetzel. Imprimerie de A. Labroue. Bruxelles. 1854. 3 volumes. 12mo. 224pp; 210pp (2) adverts; 227pp. Contemporary quarter calf, gilt. Diamond embossed patterned boards slightly sunned/darkened. Jacques Arago (1790-1855) French writer, artist and explorer joined Louis de Freycinet on his 1817-20 voyages around the world aboard the ships Uranie and Physicienne. Arago died in Rio de Janeiro: he dedicates this to Dom Pedro III, Emperor of Brazil. [Patagonia, Chile, Hawaii, Brazil etc] Histoire de ma Jeunesse. Suite de la vie de Francois Arago. Imprimerie de A. Labroue. Bruxelles. 1854. 12mo. xxxiv, 218pp. Contemporary quarter calf, gilt. Floral embossed patterned boards slightly sunned. Francois Arago (1786-1853) French politician, polymath.
First edition. Chez Louis Janet Libraire, successor de son pere. nd [1820]. 12mo. 212pp. Engraved title page, 12 tissue guarded engraved plates. Marbled endpapers. Contemporary full red calf, spine with gilt rules, lettering and embellishment. Boards with double gilt border rules, foliar and floral embellishment, edge tooling, inner foliar curlicues. All edges gilt, silk ribbon bookmark. Small area of surface loss to lower board. Light spotting to free endpapers. L'Abbe Guy Toussaint Carron (1760-1821) born in Rennes, an author and French Roman Catholic priest who founded a number of social and educational institutions: schools, libraries and pharmacies while in exile in England. On the Bourbon Restoration in 1814, Carron returned to France and became head of the Institut de Marie - Thérèse. This children's book is extremely rare: 2 copies held in France (BM Lyon and BNF) are the only copies held worldwide.
John Warren. London. 1820. First edition. 12mo. viii, 137pp. Contemporary half calf, marbled boards, gilt. Rubbed to extremities. Endpapers and title page toned. Signature of Thos. Yarde to fep. "If it were necessary for me, and I rejoice that it is not, to account for the way in which the following Letters came into my possession. I think I could as satisfactorily acquit myself…I have merely availed myself of an opportunity…I shall only observe, that when the packet, which contained the letters in question, came into my hands, it was not padlocked…If a few secrets should escape, or a few uneasy thoughts spring out like the plagues from Pandora's box…no sting may for a moment, wound an honest bosom" A curiosity: a "passing smile at folly".
Morizot. [c.1856]. 12mo. 668pp. Engraved frontis., colour litho title, three further engraved plates. Contemporary morocco, spine in five, with gilt gothic cross motifs in gilt, inner gilt swags, Gothic cross clasps, all edges red with gilt gothic cross motifs. Marbled endpapers. Joints and corners rubbed.
De l'imprimerie de P. Didot L'Aine. 1795. Edition limited to 100 copies. Small Octavo. Half title, x (in smaller state), 173pp. Eng. frontis by Rouchard, 3 double engraved plates after Marillier (in two states). Fine copy in the original full crushed red levant morocco, raised bands to spine, inner gilt dentelles, silk bookmarker, teg. Provenance: A fine copy from the libraries of two notable bibliophiles. Bookplate of Lord Stanley of Alderley. John Thomas Stanley (1766-1850), 7th Baronet and First Baron Stanley of Alderley of Alderley Park, Cheshire. He undertook learned expeditions to the cultural centres of Europe, becoming one of the first explorers of Iceland. His daughter Isabella married William Edward Parry. Amédée Rigaud (1819-1874), circular bookplate, black and gilt with elaborate initial R, motto "bona fide sine fraude". This copy is listed in the Catalogue de Beaux Livres Rare et Curieux Composant le Bibliothèque de Feu M. Amédée Rigaud. Paris. Auguste Aubry. 1874. Amédée Rigaud began collecting fine and rare books in 1852.
