Search Results: Titles starting with L from Michael R. Thompson, Booksellers, ABAA/ILAB

A Londres: 1775 Early edition of this influential utopian novel, noteworthy for being set in the future. "L'an deux mille quatre cent quarante was first published in 1771. It was swiftly banned in France and was put on the Inquisition's list of forbidden books in 1773, but it became a runaway best seller, going through at least twenty-five editions. Later mottled sheep. Gilt, flat spine, edges stained red. . Small octavo. Light dampstain in margin of half-title, a little light foxing. A very good copy. Gershon Legman's copy, with his signature and the date 1984 in ink on the front free endpaper. Mercier (1740-1814) was a prolific writer of plays, novels, and pamphlets. Firmly in the tradition of the Enlightenment, he was influenced by Rousseau, Diderot, Holbach, Mably, and others. Robert Darnton writes: "There is no better writer to consult," Robert Darnton writes, "if one wants to get some idea of how Paris looked, sounded, smelled, and felt on the eve of the Revolution" (The Forbidden Best-Sellers… Read More

Paris: Chez Marcilly, 1822 First edition. Seemingly intended as an annual, but no other issues appeared. Gold embossed gilt stiff paper wrappers. . Miniature ( " x 1"). . With eight hand-colored full-page illustrations. Some rubbing and some chipping to spine. Two small holes (seemingly made by a needle) at fore-edge, presumably for closure ties. Red armorial wax stamp to lower pastedown. A very good, bright, and clean copy. Annuals (sometimes referred to as literary annuals or keepsakes) were collections of literature and art published during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and were intended to be given as gifts. Though annuals did not emerge in the English-speaking world until the 1820s, literary almanacs had a long history in France and Germany, where titles like the Alamanch des Muses (1765 – 1833) and the Musen-Almanach (1796 – 1800) proliferated. Annuals were very popular among women, with many publishers marketing their annuals exclusively toward female audiences: German publisher… Read More

Paris: De l'Imprimerie de J.L. Boubers 1763 Scarce first edition of this Caraccioli title. . Contemporary stiff vellum, gilt pastepaper spine label, edges stained red. . Twelvemo. Old armorial bookplate, lightly browned. A very good copy. Caraccioli (1723-1803) was a prolific writer of poetry, fiction, history, and biography. He came out with an edition of Pope Clement XIV's letters, which attracted a good deal of notice; some thought that the letters were of his own authorship. Book collectors know Caraccioli for two color-printed books, Le livre de quatre couleurs (1757), and Le livre à la mode (1759).

Mill Valley, California: Sunflower Press, 1992 One of 30 copies on Frankfurt paper, signed and numbered in ink by Carol Cunningham on colophon. 20 additional copies were printed on Mohawk paper. . Blue cloth patterned in green and orange. Orange endpapers. Paper label on front cover printed with title and an orange sunflower within a decorative border. . Twelvemo. With 4 pp. bifold "Addendum" in pocket bound to rear pastedown. Orange sunflower frontispiece. Hand-stenciled and hand-painted illustrations throughout. Serigraph sample tipped in on ninth leaf. All type was hand-set by Cunningham A bit of toning and light wear; overall a bright, near-fine copy of a lively book. Carol Snell Cunningham (1925-2013) was a book artist and one of California's most significant 20th century female printers. Like her printing contemporary Jane Bissell Grabhorn (1911-1973), Cunningham had a humorous and eccentric style, and this bibliography showcases her playful color schemes and interest in cartoonish… Read More

Paris: Chez Pillot, 1770 First and only edition of a rare book. Searching OCLC, RLIN and COPAC, we could locate only copies at McGill, Koninklijke Bibliotheek, the Bibliotheque Nationale, and the National Library of Australia. The last of these is seriously defective. No catalogue listing assigns an author, and not in Barbier. Contemporary stiff vellum with gilt leather spine label. Twelvemo. Woodcut title-page vignette, woodcut headbands, tail-pieces and initial letters. A few spots on covers, including faint circular stain, minor foxing. A very good copy. This is a curious work, embodying enlightenment thought, and though the text is short in the use of proper names, the author is clearly familiar with Rousseau (the only philosopher mentioned in the body of the text, p. 189), Voltaire, and probably Locke and Hume. The work is dedicated to D***, and there are a number of quotes from the poetry of "D***" at the beginnings of chapters, along with quotes from Voltaire, Racine, Fenelon, Malesherbes,… Read More

Glasgow: Printed for Robert Urie, 1768 Three English-language editions were printed in 1768, one in London, one in Dublin, and one in Glasgow. All have different collations, and none name a translator. The Urie edition is rare: ESTC lists seven copies, three in North America (Toronto, North Carolina, Huntington Library). . Contemporary speckled calf with red calf spine label. Octavo, in fours. Binding extremities lightly worn, occasional light marginal dampstaining. Old ink signature on title-page, later ink signature and address on front free endpaper, bookplate of a third owner on front pastedown. Overall a good, clean copy, with wide margins, possibly a large paper copy.

Londres [i.e. probably Amsterdam]: John Adamson, 1777-8 First edition of an interesting collection of letters dealing with life in pre-revolutionary France. Topics include the monarchy, the legislature, the French economy, the clergy, the theatre, music and opera, salons, current scandals, d'Alembert, Voltaire, Rousseau, Benjamin Franklin, etc. Contemporary mottled calf, gilt spine with burgundy and black morocco labels, edges sprinkled blue. . Four volumes, twelvemo.`. Some light wear to edges. A little light browning. Overall a very good set. Mathieu Francois Pidansat de Mairobert (1727-1779) was born in Champagne and brought up in the house of Madame Doublet de Persan. He became a members of the literary society that held meetings there, and contributed to the society's manuscript journal, which was later used in the preparation of the Memoires secrets" (1770). He became 'censeur royal' and was elected an associate member of the Academy of Caen. His reputation suffered by his involvement in the… Read More

A Berne: 1760 First edition of Volume II, second edition of Volume I. . Contemporary mottled calf, gilt spines with burgundy and black morocco labels. . Two volumes, octavo. Corners, spine ends lightly worn in places, some light browning. A good, clean set. A detailed criticism of Voltaire's philosophical and religious ideas by Abbé Guyon (1699-1771), the historical writer whose work was severely criticized by Voltaire.

Leiden: Pierre van der Aa, 1715 First edition of this translation, the third into French (Others had appeared in 1550 and 1643), of More's major work. It contains all the plates; that at K2, depicting "a man and a woman in state of nature approving each other before marriage" (Gibson) is often removed. In our copy, the couple's nakedness has instead been obscured with smears of ink. Contemporary mottled calf, gilt-decorated spine with burgundy morocco spine label, edges stained red. Twelvemo. Engraved frontispiece and sixteen fine engraved plates, one engraved headband. Title printed in red and black. Joints starting to crack near foot of spine, preliminary and terminal leaf lightly browned. Otherwise a very good copy. With the engraved armorial bookplate of Jean-Pierre de Bougainville (1722-1769), who was secretary of the Académie Française from 1749, and who was associated with many of their publications. His library was auctioned in a ten-day sale in August, 1769. The lengthy introduction… Read More

London: Strahan and Co., 1868 First edition, presentation copy. A book of poetry and prose based on the author's travels in France. . Publisher's blue cloth boards stamped in gilt. . Top edge gilt. Neatly recased preserving original brown endpapers. . Octavo. With a frontispiece and eight plates. Spine darkened. Some soiling to endpapers. Bookplate (ca. 1903) to front pastedown. Author's presentation inscription to front flyleaf, as well as a separate gift inscription (of Caroline Fletcher Smith, gifting this book to the South Place Ethical Society in 1902). Some dampstaining to edges of leaves. Faint marginal toning. A good copy of a book that is scarce in commerce, presented by the author "To Sarah Lewin, from her affectionate friend," dated 1868. Bessie Parkes-Belloc (1829 – 1925) was a writer, journalist, and women's rights activist who advocated for women's employment opportunities. Emily Faithfull, Victoria Press founder and Queen Victoria's official printer, credited Parkes-Belloc as the… Read More

Paris: Libraire Damascene Morgand, 1907 First edition. Half black morocco over marbled boards, gilt spine, top edge gilt. Large octavo. Edges of boards lightly rubbed. Very good+. With the bookplate of San Francisco book dealer John Howell.

Paris: Jean Sesaint...et al 1750 First edition. Contemporary mottled calf. Gilt spine, tooled in compartments, morocco label. Marbled endpapers, edges stained red. A very pretty copy. Small octavo. [xxiv], 238, [2] pp. Cochet (d.1771) was professor of philosophy at the College Mazarin of Paris. His treatise on logic was said to have been the best elementary work on the subject that appeared in French. (Thomas, p. 631.)

A Paris: Chez maradan, Libraire… An VI, 1798 The very scarce first edition in French of Ann Radcliffe's Romance of the Forest, a novel of mystery, suspense, and terror, in which a kidnapped convent girl is imprisoned by a depraved marquis and finally rescued by a handsome cavalier. Contemporary calf, gilt, red and black morocco spine labels, edges stained green. Marbled edges, old French book label in each volume. . Two volumes, twelvemo. Four engraved plates. Some small pieces of calf missing from each board, small wormhole through first ten leaves of Volume I, touching a few letters. Overall a good, clean set.

Paris et Londres: Chez Truettel et Würtz, 1817 Contemporary quarter calf over marbled boards, spines gilt, with red morocco labels. . Two volumes, octavo. Small ink stain at lower margin of first four leaves of Volume I. Front board of Volume II shows some wear. A very good, attractive set. Lady Morgan's popular book was published both in French and English in 1817, with second editions following in the same year. This translation into French by Phillipe Alexandre Lebrun de Charmettes adds a number of notes and observations on her work. Lady Morgan's book also inspired another commentary, that of Auguste Jean Baptiste Defauconpret, Observations sur l'ouvrage intitule: La France; par Lady Morgan. Par l'auteur de Quinze Jours et de Six Mois a Londres

Madrid: Imprenta y Fundicion de Manuel Tello, 1887 First edition. Full mottled sheep with leather spine label, original wrappers bound in. Large octavo. Binding extremities rubbed, some scuffs. Some light browning to edges of text pages. A very good copy.

Amsterdam: chez E. van Harrevelt, 1759 The first edition was published in Paris in 1758 (Cioranescu 15473). Original marbled wrappers, uncut. Twelvemo. Spine worn in places, intermittent light dampstain near top margin. Still, a very handsome, large copy. The Marquis de Caraccioli (1723-1803) was born and wrote in Paris, though he studied in Mans and travelled in Italy, Germany and Poland. He was a prolific writer of poetry, fiction, history, and biography. A frequent topic was manners and the follies associated with them. He came out with an edition of Pope Clement XIV's letters, which attracted a good deal of notice; some thought that the letters were of his own authorship. Book collectors know him best for the color-printed book, Le livre de quatre couleurs (1757), and its successor, Le livre à la mode (1759). The present book was one of his most popular: at least eight editions were published in the decade following this first edition. The present edition, is however, rare: OCLC lists only the… Read More

Florence: Fratelli Alinari, Instituto di Edizioni 1960 One of 500 sets printed at the Stamperia Valdonega in Verona. Original half blue morocco over blue linen with gilt-lettered spine. Top edges gilt. . Folio, three volumes. . Heavily illustrated and featuring over 1,500 bindings. The set is illustrated with two color frontispieces, three tipped-in color illustrations, numerous text illustrations, and nearly 1,000 collotype plates, including nine folding plates printed on both sides and fourteen double-page illustrations. Endpapers have minor offsetting. A few tiny spots to some boards and slipcases. Still, quite a fine set. Tammaro de Marinis (1878-1969) was a Neapolitan bibliographer, book collector, and binding scholar. He is considered by many to be the leading Italian bibliophile of the twentieth century. After the war, he devoted himself to his work as a bibliographer. He founded the Cento Amici del Libro ("One Hundred Friends of the Book") in Milan with Ugo Ojetti. De Marinis' La Legatura is… Read More

Paris: Chez la Veuve Savoye, 1775 Nouvelle edition. Contemporary mottled calf, gilt. Lightly browned, occasional faint spotting, otherwise a very good, tight copy. 12mo., xlviii, 430 pages. Although Arnauld and Nicole were strongly Cartesian in their emphasis on method rather than the theory of pure logic, their work forged a revolution in the study of logic, leaving behind both inadequate scholastic and outmoded Ramesian approaches. The most famous logic text of the seventeenth century, known as the Port-Royal Logic, it set the form of manuals of logic for the next two hundred years and every edition is distinct as changes and additions were incorporated constantly. Not in Brunet.

Paris: Chez la Veuve Savoye, 1775 Nouvelle edition. . Contemporary mottled calf, gilt. . Twelvemo. Lightly browned, occasional faint spotting, otherwise a very good, tight copy. Although Arnauld and Nicole were strongly Cartesian in their emphasis on method rather than the theory of pure logic, their work forged a revolution in the study of logic, leaving behind both inadequate scholastic and outmoded Ramesian approaches. The most famous logic text of the seventeenth century, known as the Port-Royal Logic, it set the form of manuals of logic for the next two hundred years and every edition is distinct as changes and additions were incorporated constantly.

Paris: A Legrand et Pelicier, 1816 First edition. The rare first printing of this practical guide which went through at least four editions. It was intended to accompany a set of embroidery designs that was issued separately. Contemporary red similated morocco boards, gilt-decorated borders on covers. . Octavo. Fine hand-colored engraved plate of two women at an embroidery table. Binding extremities lightly worn. A very good copy. OCLC notes only one copy, at Central Connecticut State University.