Rare books from Setton Book Collection

Publisher unknown, 1784.Mirabeau's classic and important work against injustice and the exercise of arbitrary and absolute power. Widely read at the time, it added fuel to the fire of the coming French Revolution. This 1784 edition includes the second part of this famous work, dealing with life in prison, which was to be destroyed by the Prussian authorities at the request of the French government, and may be considered rare. This edition also includes L'Éspion Dévalisé by Baudouin de Guémadeuc, (attributed to Mirabeau). 630+ pages. 20 cm x 12.5 cm x 4 cm. Contemporary French calf binding; no foxing on the great majority of pages.

Few scratches on hinge, slight discoloration of cover, mild age-browning of pages, Very little foxing. Five raised bands on spine, title, author and date gilt stamped in compartments. Aspin's classic, highly specific, detailed, interesting and actually quite readable accounts of naval and military campaigns and encounters with France, Spain, Native Americans, the new United States of America during the American Revolution, wars in India, as well as conflicts with Holland, Cuba, Napoleon, the storming of Algiers and the freeing of Christian slaves, etc.. Many coloured (aquatint) plates. 3 Page edges gilded. 784 pages. A rare and handsomely bound little book in Very Good condition.

Three volumes, near fine; this book appears unused. Eminent 19th century medieval historian, patriot and activist Henry Charles Lea's famous and exhaustive compendium of materials concerning witchcraft from the writings of the early Hebrews down to 1547. A rather amazing collection of materials, both legal and historical, concerning the origin, development, traditions, influence, stages of belief and influence, and differences by region in the practice of witchcraft, magic and sorcery. Organized and edited from Lea's notes by Arthur Charles Howland, Professor of History at the University of Pennsylvania, who also verified Lea's citations. Inscribed gift of editor.

In 2 volumes. All pages tight, a little foxing and age-darkening, a couple of small tears, page edges age-soiled, particularly on top. Monumental sculptures in the cemetery of Bologna, formerly the Certosa – Zecchi's famous and rare work of Bolognese history, with 160 copperplate engravings of tombstones and funerary monuments erected to eminent persons buried there, along with the inscriptions and brief biographical notes in Italian and French. With views of the Certosa cemetery and environs, the grand hall of tombs, etc.
Includes the indices and the history and fold-out plan of the Certosa ("Ridotta a Cimitero Comunale) di Bologna. Includes the material published in 1829.
Engravings chiefly by Francesco Franceschini and Pietro Romagnoli, after local Bolognese engraver Gaetano Canuti. Originally issued in monthly fascicles.

557 pages. Very good condition, with a few penciled numbers from owner's cataloging, a little age-soiling on cover and a couple of slightly bumped corners; all pages clean, tight and secure, except title page, which has detached.Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan's classic and highly influential study of the importance of sea power (he invented the term). According to naval historian Suzanne Geissler, Mahan may have been the most influential American author of the 19th century, certainly in terms of his influence on the navies of the world at the time, and up until today; arguably his work was pivotal in establishing the United States as a world power.

330 pages, 165 tissue-protected illustrations, coated paper. The covering of the spine is partially detached, and there is some rubbing and bumping. The binding is tight, and all pages are intact and clean. Bears the bookplate of Kenneth M. Setton of the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study, and Vernon Watney (presumably Vernon James Watney of the famous brewery, and thus probably from his library at Cornbury Park in Oxfordshire).John Willis Clark (1833-1910), eminent Cambridge academic and polymath, wrote a groundbreaking study of the physical and technical characteristics of libraries from ancient times to about 1800, including the storage, care, protection, classification, regulation, retrieval, and provisions for the use of books, scrolls, documents, etc. The subject was, as he says in the preface, "entirely new" at the time.

179 pages. Rebound in full vellum; binding tight, all pages clean, no tears, no repairs, some pencil marks. Very slight foxing here and there and delicate age-tinting. Five raised bands, title stamped in gold on red leather label.Scholar, poet, musician, literary figure and Cardinal Pietro Bembo's (1470-1547) vernacular translation of his famous history of Venice (originally in Latin).

The Charles Dickens Edition, 545 pages with eight illustrations.A very nice contemporary (undated) copy of Dickens's classic, published between 1867 and 1879 (Chapman and Hall published some undated editions during that period). Very good condition, with some foxing on illustrations and a little rubbing on edges, hinges, heel and head of spine. All pages are tight, clean and unmarked, with very slight age-darkening; binding tight, completely intact; some slight bumping of corners.

Dust Jacket a little frayed at top of boards and head of spine, spine of jacket tanned, volume itself in fine condition, no marks, no corner bumps, has inscription from author on flyleaf, his obituary pasted on inside of flyleaf. Page tops dyed. 300+ illustrations.John McAndrew's magisterial and comprehensive study of a virtually neglected subject: the history, development and functions of the unique structures built to accommodate the worship of the huge numbers of indigenous people converted to Christianity by the few hundred friars accompanying the Spanish conquistadors. Such rapid conversion of so many people had never happened before, and provisions had to be made for them in the absence of traditional European (or local) structures of worship. Combining indigenous and European roots, traditions, building techniques, practices and customs resulted in what McAndrew calls "...what may be the most dramatic American architectural innovation before the skyscraper: the outdoor church of… Read More

Edition of 1854: "New edition, for the most part re-written." 460 pages plus fold-out map. Rebound in 1959. Bears name of K.M. Setton (1914-1995) of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, and his initials on spine. Very little age-darkening, spine somewhat tanned, Small abrasion on upper left corner of front board. Small tear and inexpert (tape) repair on fold-out map, but all present and readable. Binding tight, all pages tight, bright, unstained and untorn. Bound with 1859 Murray's Handbook Advertiser.John Murray's famous Handbooks for Travelers accompanied Victorians as they traveled throughout Europe, Asia and North Africa.in an era of burgeoning railroads and flourishing British imperialism. This is a through compendium for the well-to-do traveler in Greece in the middle of the 19th century, with many practical hints and "maxims," information and advice on routes, traveling with servants, hiring horses, preserving health, shooting and firearms, the state of the Greek church,… Read More

85 pages. In Catalan and English. Translation by the Irish poet, critic, editor and broadcaster Pearse Hutchinson (1927-2012).Corners bumped, spine of dust jacket tanned and a little soiled; spine of volume also slightly tanned, Binding tight and sound, volume unmarked.Josep Carner i Puig-Oriol (1884-1970) was a Catalan poet, diplomat, journalist, editor, playwright, linguist and nationalist who was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature 7 times.

Very Good; faded spine, Vol 1 has slight tear in tissue protecting frontispiece, frontispiece picture of Emma is detached. Some pages (pedigrees in Vol 2) uncut.The first rst American edition of Henrietta Emma Litchfield's famous biography and collection of Darwin family letters. Henrietta ("Etty") was Charles and Emma Darwin's fourth child.This work contains a large number of letters from Charles, as well as from other family members, and has been an invaluable source of information about Darwin's family and daily life and thoughts. It was at first privately printed and circulated among family and friends. This is the first published edition.

Dr. Andrew Burghardt (1924 - 2020) of McMaster University was a renowned expert in political and historical geography, a councilor of the Canadian Association of Geographers, and was awarded an Austrian medal of honor for his writings on Burgenland.Burgenland ("Land of Castles") today forms the easternmost province of Austria, was the western edge of the medieval Kingdom of Hungary and since the end of Frankish occupation in the 10th century had been mostly Germanic but politically Hungarian.Prof. Burkhardt gives the first comprehensive treatment of this transitional region between the Alps and the Hungarian plains. This is a major contribution to recent historical scholarship of eastern Central Europe, and a relatively hard-to-find book.A small amount of fraying on head of spine of volume and a small dent. Otherwise tight, bright unmarked and intact. Dust jacket has a small piece missing at head of spine; see photographs.

Memoirs of the American Philosophical Society, Volume 93.This volume is in new condition, with a 1 1/4" tear on top front of the dust jacket, a 1/2" tear and a water spot on the bottom front of the dust jacket (which does not penetrate to the front board of the book). A couple of small soil spots on dust jacket. Volume shows no bumping, tanning, marks of any kind, no bookplates, not an ex-library copy. (Note: what appear to be gray stains on pages on lower right of some photographs are shadows of our inept photographer.)This out-of-print classic work by arguably the greatest Mayanologist of the 20th century is the last volume of Thompson's three works on Mayan hieroglyphic writing. It is a standard text for students of Mayan writing, and while more knowledge has been gained in the 50 years since its publication, it remains a foundational work in the field.

Near fine: a couple of very minor scratches on spine, a little fraying at head of spine, slipcase shows a little shelf wear. Interior of volume and front and back boards are pristine.This volume was a personal gift from Rainier III, Prince of Monaco (1923 - 2005) to the eminent medievalist Kenneth M. Setton (1914 – 1995) on the occasion of a visit by Prince Rainier and Princess Grace to her hometown of Philadelphia in the 1960's. (Professor Setton was at the time Director of Libraries at the University of Pennsylvania.) Bound into the volume is the prince's card, with a note in his handwriting to professor Setton.This is a deluxe binding on heavy hand-laid paper with deckled edges and gilt page tops. It is one of a limited number of copies; this copy however is not numbered, apparently because it came from the royal family. It appears to be similar to the 400 Papeteries du Marais exemplars as the pages do not bear the watermarked arms of the Grimaldi family. This edition was published on 11… Read More