Rare books from William Matthews, Bookseller / The Haunted Bookshop

Paris: Gissey, etc., 1739. First edition.. cat40a. 12mo. [160]pp. Full contemporary calf, spine decorated and lettered in gilt. Marbled end papers. A very good copy, scattered foxing throughout. Published in English in 1739 as: "A philosophical amusement upon the language of beasts", this work was censured, and led to the author being imprisoned, then exiled from Paris for a time.

NY: Putnams, 1907. . Printed wrappers. 32pp. Moderate soiling of front cover, pencil note on upper cover, small ink date stamp on rear cover, very good condition. Prints only the story "The Earth-Quake Child". One of two copies prepared for submission to the Library of Congress to secure an American copyright. Rare.

Stratford-upon-Avon: Celandine Press, 1980. First edition. . Marbled boards, green cloth spine with printed paper label. Copy number 122 of 150 copies printed, signed by Jennings and Rossiter. A fine copy. The publisher's prospectus is laid in, noting that this is the first book of the press.

Los Angeles: Black Sparrow, 1972. First edition. Included are all three issues of the first edition: 1.) Copy 'F' of 26 lettered copies, signed by Morris. Boards, blue cloth spine. Original glasine wrapper. Fine. / 2). Copy 129 of 300 numbered copies, signed by Morris. Boards, cloth spine. Original glasine wrapper. Fine. / 3). Original wrappers lettered in red and blue-grey. Small pencil mark on page edges, but a fine copy. One of 1500 copies. / The three versions of the Black Sparrow first edition, all in fine condition, as one lot.

[Berkeley, Calif. : The Associated Student Publications, University of California, Berkeley], 1915.. First edition. Cream wrappers, front cover designed and lettered in brown. Wrappers a bit spotted, a bit of wear to corners, small bookplate and ownership signature, a clean very good copy. This compilation contains contributions by Frederick Schiller Faust [aka "Max Brand"], Sidney Coe Howard, others. Very scarce.

[Berkeley]: Oyez, 1968. . First edition. Folio, broadside poem, measuring 20 X 28 inches. Printed by Graham Mackintosh, the entire edition was 179 copies. (There were 75 signed copies - this is not one of them). Fine condition. Beautifully printed.

anticat16. London: Goulding & D'Almaine, [c.1825]. Oblong, half-calf & marbled boards, spine designed and lettered in gilt. Marbled end papers. The boards very rubbed, wear to corners, front board detached, yellow tape marks to front end papers from ancient tape, last leaf and rear end paper detached; basically very good otherwise. 246 pages. The first three numbers bound together, each with an engraved title page; a fourth part was published, not present here. At the front is a decorative engraved title page, with the title spelled: Duetts. A scarce compilation of the popular songs of the day.

Paris: chez Chereanau, [1719].. Oblong small 4to. Full vellum with ties. Wear at edges, chip from fore-edge of lower front cover,blank end leaves are heavily annotated and written-upon in 18th & 19th century hands. Old stains to margins and a few maps, old paper-tape repairs to the verso of the Asia map, but generally very good. Engraved allegorical title page, 3 plates (two of globes), and 24 maps opposite explanatory text in French. 23 maps have contemporary hand-colouring in outline; a couple have attractively coloured cartouches. The Globe Terrestre map, of two hemispheres, is holed, slightly affecting the title. The map of North America shows California as an island. This is the second or third edition of this atlas, originally by Antoine Menard, first published by Chiquet in [1711 & 1713], with most of the maps dated 1709-1711. In this 1719 edition Chiquet has removed Menard's name entirely; on many of the maps (such as L'Amerique Septentrionale) he has changed it to his own name and altered… Read More

Paris, 1684. . Large double-hemisphere map, 36 x 25 inches (framed: 38 x 26.5 inches). Attractively coloured, decorative cartouche and embellishments. Modest wear at fold, some light marginal stains, an attractive copy. This map has been mounted on cardboard via an unknown process, but there is no evidence of damage. This looks to be Shirley's state 4 of the first plate, with Cordier's name beneath the left hemisphere (Cordier Sculp.) and a date of 1684. The first plate exists in four states, dated 1674, 1679, 1681, and 1684 (this one). An enlarged version of a previous map by Nicolas Sanson, beautiful and striking. Wheat 65, citing the 1684 edition.

Paris: Combette, 1856. [issued 1859?]. . 4to. Quarter-calf & red patterned boards, the front cover designed and lettered in gilt, the spine lettered in gilt on a black panel. Marbled end papers. Decorative engraved double-page title, statistics table, and 92 numbered double-page maps. At the rear are an additional 6 double-page maps of the continents, and two large folding maps of France and the two-hemisphere Mappemonde. Bound at the rear is a final map, a single-page Carte Speciale, of the war in Italy, dated 1859. Almost all maps have contemporary colouring in outline. Some chipping at lower spine, a bit of wear along upper hinge, inner front hinge cracking, an attractive very good copy in general. A complete copy, 101 Maps in all, plus the decorative title.

London: Printed for the Proprietor, 1797-1808.. 16 Volumes. 8vo (actually a small 4to.), the volumes measure just under 5 x 8 inches. 19th century tree-calf, spines designed in gilt, lettered in gilt on panels of black. A few slightly cracked hinges and modest shelf wear, a very nice clean set. This is a uniform binding of two separate sets; the first set, of ten volumes, has the legend "Barr's Buffon" at the head of the title page. The second set, of six volumes, is issued anonymously. In all, 136 plates, most coloured by hand. Internally very fresh, almost no foxing to be seen. Typically, the plates are not in the exact order given in the individual volumes. In this case, the final (supplement) volume contains several plates which are listed in earlier volumes, but not present there. One plate from Volume 11 (a Parrot?) appears never to have been bound-in. In all a clean and attractive set of Buffon, quite handsome.

London: Laurie, 2nd August, 1819. . A large copper engraved "blueback" map on paper, backed with the usual blue manila paper. Large coloured circular-bordered title in upper left, lettered in script. Entire map with contemporary colouring in outline. Thirteen small inset maps. Imprint at bottom: Published 2nd August, 1819, by Richard Holmes Laurie, Chart Seller to the Admiralty, &c.&c. No. 53, Fleet Street, London. Image size is 173cm x 76cm, on a sheet measuring 175cm x 78cm. The map is in five sections, four the same size and one smaller. Some splitting at folds, fraying to upper edge but very little loss, very good condition generally. Beneath the title is a note on the map: "Accompanied with an enlarged Book of Sailing Directions". WorldCat lists an edition of Laurie's book of directions [not present here]: "Laurie and Whittle's New Sailing Directions for the Mediterranean Sea ... Written to accompany the New Chart of the Mediterranean Sea, and compiled from the best Authorities, aided by several… Read More

Amsterdam: Blaeu, [c.1635].. Copper engraved map on laid paper, large coloured cartouche in upper left, and a smaller one on upper margin. Hand-colouring to entire map. Plate size is 50cm x 38cm, on a sheet measuring 64cm x 54cm. Text on verso is in Dutch, headings are SARLAT and Het Bisdom SARLAT IN PERIGORT. Tailpiece and initial on verso. Page number on verso is 40, signature mark Qq. Imprint at lower right: Amsterdami Apud Guiljelmum Blaeu. Short tears to margins, small yellowed tape repair on verso by fold, a clean very good copy. Probably from the Dutch edition of the atlas: Theatrum Orbis Terrarum sive Atlas Novus / Volume II, published by Willem and Joan Blaeu, [1635-1655]. [Dutch title: Toonneel // des Aerdrycks, // ofte // Nievwe Atlas, // Dat is // Beschryving // van alle Landen; // Nu nieulycx uytgegeven, // Door // Wilhelm: en Iohannem Blaeu. Amsterdami; // Apud Guiljelmum // et 1ohannem Blaeu. // Anno MDCXXXV]. A map of the Sarlat region of France by Joannes Tardo, including Bergerac,… Read More

Nuremberg: Homann Erben (Homann Heirs), 1743. . A copper engraved map on laid paper, uncoloured decorative cartouche in upper left corner, inset maps in lower corners, text in German and French at top; text on map is in French. Map is partially coloured, inset maps coloured. Imprint at top: geschehen, vor gestellet wird. Ans Licht gestellt von Homoen Erben A1743 (and in French:) mise au jour par les Heritiers de Homan, l'An 1743. Verso blank. Plate measures 57cm x 51cm, on a sheet measuring 60cm x 54cm. Margins have been strengthened and slightly extended by pasting paper strips to the verso all the way around. Tear in upper margin, a couple of creases, tape repair on verso at top of fold, old stain to upper right corner; a clean very good copy. This map describes the 1741 Battle of Prague during the War of the Austrian Secession. The upper left cartouche prints a Legende, which contains an alphabetical key to locations and events, while the inset map at the lower right contains an alphabetical key… Read More

London: Printed for Abel Swall and Tim. Child, 1695. First edition. . 4to. Full contemporary calf, the covers panelled and with floral motifs; upper cover detached, wear and chipping to the spine and corners. Upper margin cut from the title leaf, ownership signature at the upper margin of the second leaf. Foxing and yellowing to early and late leaves, quite heavy in some places, minor worming to margins of early and late leaves, a few old marginal stains, generally very good. Complete with two inserted plates, and 56 maps & plans within the text. Of two recorded variants, this is of the variety with the description of the index on the title page reading: "With an Alphabetical Table of all the Towns Names". The other (earlier, we believe) variant reads: "With an Alphabetical Table of the Names of Places". In the copy offered here, the Index following Page 506 is titled: "The Index." However, the catchword on page 506 is "AN", which is the first word on the Index page of the copy described by EEBO, the… Read More