Search Results: Titles starting with P from Bernard Quaritch Ltd

Second edition, scarcer than the first (also an Aldine, published in 1499), of the most beautiful illustrated book printed in Italy in the fifteenth century. Known for its fine woodcut illustrations, mysterious meanings, and the cryptic inclusion of Colonna's name, the Hypnerotomachia has been celebrated as the finest example of early Venetian printing.
'It is not easy to sum up in a few words the artistic and literary interest of the book. The woodcuts, one of which is signed "b" have been ascribed, as Pollard says, with no good reason to a dozen artists including Bellini. What is clear is that the artist who designed them was influenced by the work of Bellini, Carpaccio and perhaps Botticelli. They have a unique perfection and all that can be said with certainty is that the same hand may be traced in some other contemporary woodcuts. Why Aldus published this book is a mystery since he was mainly interested in producing editions of the Greek and Latin classics. In any case it was an expensive… Read More

An attractive Plantin-Moretus Pontifical, splendidly preserved in a richly baroque binding.
We would suggest that the striking binding was likely executed in northern Germany in the late seventeenth or early eighteenth century. This would be supported by an early Duisburg provenance – 'Bibliothecae Duysburgensis' may be Duisburg University, founded in 1655 and disbanded in 1818, although this volume has not been identified in the printed catalogue of the University of 1685 nor in the manuscript catalogues of 1717 or 1795-99.
The work is accompanied by printed music and by an unusually varied series of woodcut initials, illustrating (inter alia) David at prayer, the Annunciation, the Magi following the star and the Adoration, St Christopher carrying the Christchild, the Baptism of Christ, the Supper at Emmaus, the Crucifixion and several Stations of the Cross, the Turin Shroud, the Resurrected Christ and Christ in Majesty, Christ greeting Mary Magdalen, the Assumption, St John the Evangelist, St… Read More

First edition, very scarce in commerce, of an exhilaratingly spiteful attack on Pope in the wake of the publication of the Dunciad variorum, comprising seven different satirical texts, three in verse, issued in quarto to match 'the least pompous Edition of the Dunciad'.
Its authorship remains uncertain. Pope wrote to Lord Oxford on 16 May 1726: 'I see a Book with a Curious Cutt calld Pope Alexrs Supremacy &c. 4o. In it are 3 or 4 things so false & scandalous that I think I know the Authors, and they are of a Rank to merit Detection … The book is writ by Burnet, & a Person who has great obligations to me, & the Cut is done by Ducket'. He later ascribed it to Duckett and John Dennis.
Among the various charges laid at Pope's feet are his deformity ('Be his Crown Picked, to One Side reclin'd / Be to his Neck his Buttocks closely join'd')' his ingratitude to Wycherley; that he is a spy for the Tories ('he listed openly in the Tory Service'); and that he avoided facing his critics after the… Read More

4to, pp. 12, 730; title in red and black with woodcut device, text in Roman and Arabic script, tail-pieces; a little light foxing; very good in near contemporary half vellum over marbled boards; some wear to corners and edges, abrasions to boards; small ink stamp to half-title and title. The first complete Ottoman Turkish grammar published in Italian, compiled by the Catholic Armenian dragoman Cosimo Comidas de Carbognano (translator to Count de Ludolf, minister of the Two Sicilies to the Ottoman Porte in the late 18th century) and published by the Sacra Congregatio de Propaganda Fide. This grammar was written for the use of Franciscan missionaries in Istanbul, who sought to convert the Greek, Armenian, and Jewish residents of the city, as imperial edict banned them from proselytising Muslims.
Following the grammar come five charming dialogues presented in three columns (Turkish in Arabic script, Turkish in transliteration, and Italian). These comprise lively conversations between a husband and wife… Read More

Only edition, uncommon, of this analysis of the political and legal organisation of Italy, and proposals for its improvement, by the Prato lawyer and historian Giovacchino Domenico Ceri (1734–1798). The first part addresses the causes and consequences of the unfortunate state of Italian jurisprudence, and wonders why, in such enlightened times, Italy persists with the system it has. Ceri argues that a new code of civil law is required, and, in the second part of his book, describes how Italian legislation and jurisprudence might be reduced to a simpler and better system. Acknowledging the difficulties and the varieties of opinions about both the necessity of and the approach to reform, Ceri looks to Bacon, Leibniz, Montsesquieu, and Wolff, as well as to other European states to present a plan for improving the legal system, before proposing some general guidelines for how to approach reform, emphasising the centrality of legal education in the process. No copies recorded by OCLC outside… Read More

8vo, pp. xiii, [3], 479, [1, publisher's advertisements]; with coloured frontispiece of Dost Mohamed Khan, folding map of author's route, 6 tinted lithographed plates, and 12 woodcut illustrations within text; a little light foxing to plates and title, short split between title and frontispiece; an excellent, crisp and clean copy in original green cloth, covers blocked in blind, gilt-lettered spine, yellow endpapers; spine slightly faded, slightly bumped at spine ends; ink inscription dated May 1840 to front free endpaper, armorial bookplate of William Margetts to title verso, from the library of Franklin Brooke-Hitching; preserved in a morocco and marbled paper slipcase.First edition, a handsome copy. Vigne (1801-63) left Southampton for India in 1832, 'and, after passing through Persia, spent the next seven years travelling north-west of India. He visited Kashmir, Ladakh, and other parts of central Asia, besides travelling through Afghanistan, where he had several interviews with the emir, Dost… Read More