Rare books from James Gray Bookseller

London: Printed for William Crook at the Green Dragon without Temple-Bar 1678, 1679. This copy is bound in later quarter calf. Hobbes: Wing H-2224; T.C. I. 296. In this edition the Latin poem is printed in a Roman type, and the English translation is in italic type. From 1608, Hobbes, at the age of 20, was appointed tutor to William, only two years his junior. In 1626, on the death of the first earl, Hobbes's patron succeeded to the peerage, but died in June 1628. During this interval Hobbes wrote a Latin poem, giving an account of a short tour of the Peak in Derbyshire, made in company with the second earl. It was, it appears, a new year's gift to his friend, who rewarded him with a gift of 5 pounds. The poem was first published in 1636. This version includes the original Latin and an English translation by 'a Person of Quality.' The Dukes of Devonshire owned Chatsworth House which features largely in the poem as one of the Wonders of the Peak.

London: William Godbid for William Shrowsbery, 1677, 1676. This copy is bound in full later panneled calf with a spine label. It is a very handsome copy. This copy was owned by Desmond Morris, and has his book plate. The problem of human origins, of how and when the first humans appeared in the world, has been addressed in a DSC_0042variety of ways in western thought. In the 17th century the predominant explanation for the origin of the world and the beings that inhabit it, especially human beings, was based on the biblical account of creation. It was almost universally accepted that humans had been created by a supernatural agent using supernatural means. But alternative explanations for the production of the first humans did exist, according to which the first humans were produced by nature through some form of spontaneous generation" (Matthew R. Goodrum). The word evolution (from the Latin evolution, meaning "to unroll like a scroll") appeared in English in the 17th century, referring to an… Read More

Rome: [Andreas Freitag],15 October 1492, 1492. Later black roan & gray boards, spine letters gilt.Binding slightly worn, first leaf lightly soiled. Ex-libris Walter Goldwater. Oration such as this are usually rare and short this one is both it is a tribute from the City of Lucca to the election of Pope Alexander VI. This is one of three almost simultaneously published prints of this on October 25, 1492 before the newly elected Borgia Pope Alexander VI. held this speech. - "This was the typical 'Oratio' - in the style of the times, both florid and unctous - which extolled the virtues of the Pope, traits which subsequent events failed to confirm!" (Bühler) According to Bühler's study, The Freitag printing was preceded by the editions of Stephan Planck (in Roman type) , whose corrections Freitag employed in his edition." CF Bühler, The Earliest Editions of the "Oratio" (1492) by Nicolaus Tygrinus (in: Gutenberg JB 1975, pp. 97-99)" Goff T563; HC 15751*; Pell Ms 10972; CIBN T-51; Nice 209; IGI… Read More

Augsburg: Hagenau(Augsburg): Heinrich Gran, for Johannes Rynman, 30 September, 1501. [imp[re]ssi ... p[er] industriu[m] Henricu[m] Gran i[, 1501. Folio π6 [chi]6 a-b8 c6 d-e8 f6 g-h8 i6 k-l8 m6 n-o8 p6 q-s8 t6 v-x8 y6 z8 A8 B6 C-D8 E6 F-G8H6 I-K8 L6 M-N8 O6 P-Q8 R6 S-T8 U6 X-Y8 Z6 [&]8 l[eaves 12 and 358 blank ]. ( 13, 357 ff. ). This copy is bound contemporary blind-stamped leather over wooden boards from an Augsburg workshop operating between 1482 and 15. ISTC ip00252500, citing holdings at 15 locations globally with none in the US or UK; ISTC No.ip00252500; Hain 12557*; VD16 P1165; Sajó-Soltész p. 767; Günt(L) p.65; Wilhelmi 479a; GW M30525. Hagenau(Augsburg): Heinrich Gran, for Johannes Rynman, 30 September, 1501. [imp[re]ssi ... p[er] industriu[m] Henricu[m] Gran i[n] imp[eri]ali oppido Hagenaw: expe[n]sis ac su[m]ptib[us] p[ro]uidi Joha[n]nis Rynman Finiu[n]t feliciter: Anno ... millesimoq[ui]nge[n]tesimoprimo. vltimo die Septe[m]bris] , (1430-1504). ¶ There is Early monastic ink title… Read More

[Ulm: Johann Zainer, not after 1479] (A copy now in Munich BSB has an ownership inscription dated 1479). [Peregrinus de Oppeln]. [daran: Quadragesimale] / [Jacobus de Voragine]. [und: Concordantia in passionem dominicam] / [Nicolaus de Dinkelsbuel]. Rubicated throughout. Bound in Calf over wooden boards, with catches and clasp restored.rebacked back restored using old material, cover covers rubbed and with small missing parts).I have located only two U.S.copies both defective. 238JPeregrinus: Sermones de tempore et de sanctis. Add: Jacobus de Voragine: Quadragesimale. Nicolaus de Dinkelsbuel: Concordantia in passionem dominicam Est autem huius operis ordo talis. Primo ponuntur sermones d[omi]nicales de tempore per anni circulu[m]. Secundo de sanctis, Tercio q[ua]dragesimale Jacobi de Foragine, Q[ua]rto concordantia quatuor euangelista[rum] in passiiones d[omi]nicam a magistro Nicolao Dinckelspubell collectam."/ At end of leaf m8: "Sermones Peregrini de tempore finiunt. ¶ Folio. "Pars I (188): a-d8,… Read More

Edinburgh: 1711: printed by James Watson, in Craig's-Closs, 1711. Printed: 1711 Folio, First collected edition [4],xlv,[3],243,[1];iv,60p,plates : ports ; 20 William Drummond is the last significant figure in Scottish poetry before the Eighteenth Century The gap between him and Alan Ramsay indicates a crisis in Scottish literary culture brought on by the departure of the Scottish court to London with the accession of James VI of Scotland to the throne of Great Britain James had been a patron of poets, dabbled in poetry himself and delivered himself of Rewellis and Cautelis [Do's and Don'ts] for its composition Not only had the court been a centre of literary activity where men of letters such as Drummond's uncle, William Fowler, and his friend William Alexander of Menstrie, later Earl of Stirling, gained employment, it had also given authority to Scots as a literary language These conditions were now abolished Poets who had published their work in Scots, followed James in revising it and publishing… Read More

Amsterdam: Apud Joannem Janssonium à Waesberge, & Viduam Elizei Weyerstraet, 1669. It is bound in full original calf with a gilt spine with an expertly executed early rebacking. Nothing is more beautiful than know all things" The 'Ars Magna Sciendi' is Kircher's exploration and development of the 'Combinatoric Art' of Raymond Lull, the thirteenth century philosopher. Kircher attempts in this monumental work to classify knowledge under the nine ideal attributes of God, which were taken to constitute the pattern for all creation. In the third chapter of this book is presented a new and universal version of the Llullistic method of combination of notions. Kircher seems to be convinced that the Llullistic art of combination is a secret and mystical matter, some kind of esoteric doctrine. In contrast with Llull, who used Latin words, words with clearly defined significations for his combinations, Kircher began filling the tables with signs and symbols of a different kind. By doing this Kircher was… Read More

Paris: Jacobeo, sub signo Pellicani ab Engleberto Marnefio, 1522. Second edition. Signatures: a-g8, h6(h5-6 both blank, half of h5 missing and lacking h6) LXII f. Bound in original vellum limp binding with hand lettering on spine "Cleree sermones/aVerdu DNI/1522": name on first page "Thomas Stevenson/Edinburgh/183. very good copy of a rare sermon. John Clérée dominican friar, preacher of the Late Middle Ages, is a little and unjustly forgotten nowadays. He was however very well known in the time of the kings Charles VIII and Louis XII, whose he has been the confessor. This study is based on the Quadragesimale said of Valenciennes. Clérée, using always of the rules of the scolastic Ars Praedicamdi, is nevertheless able to innovate by introducing in his sermons some dramatic dialogues. He is an accurate witness of the difficulties and problems of the french society about 1500 : the increasing inegalities between rich and poor ; the heaviness of the royal fiscality and of all kinds of taxes ; the… Read More

Venice: Presso la compagnia de gli Vniti, 1585. A later edition of the first rosary Book" in Italian.. This book has a wonderful contemporary binding, recently expertly rebacked. It is of red Morocco with gilt center images and borders gilt, with angels. Over 150 woodcuts (including repeats) comprising almost full-page cuts (1 on t.p.) within borders. All had previously appeared in earlier editions. Ornamental and pictorial border pieces on almost every leaf. ( The wood cut on leaf 173v is upside. Certainly, these books were very popular, that said, very few copies have survived. This edition is represented on OCLC by only two copies worldwide. 1 US copy Saint Benedict/Saint John's University. (SJU Alcuin Arca Artium Rare BookBX2163 .C37 1585). [The authorship of the work and the woodcuts are attributable to the Dominican Friar Alberto da Castello, identified as author or editor at the authorizations of the Venecian Inquisition, given 5 April 1521. (Francesco Pisano) Sander 6572-6573. See: Essling… Read More

Dresden: [Emserpresse?], 1524. First edition. A-E4, F2./ Errata on p. [44]. At first Emser was on the side of the reformers, but like his patron he desired a practical reformation of the clergy without any doctrinal breach with the past or the church; and his liberal sympathies were mainly humanistic, like those of Erasmus and others who parted company with Luther after 1519. As late as that year Luther referred to him as "Emser noster," but the Leipzig Debate in that year completed the breach between them. Emser warned his Bohemian friends against Luther, and Luther retorted with an attack on Emser which outdid in scurrility all his polemical writings. Emser, who was further embittered by an attack of the Leipzig students, imitated Luther's violence, and asserted that Luther's whole crusade originated in nothing more than enmity to the Dominicans, Luther's reply was to burn Emser's books along with Leo X's bull of excommunication. Emser next, in 1521, published an attack on Luther's Appeal to the… Read More

Padua: Petrumpaulum Tozzium : ex typographeio Laurentij Pasquati, 1616. First illustrated edition. Quarto 22 x 16 cm :signatures [manicule]⁴ a-d⁴ c² A-4P⁴ 4Q² [$2; b2 signed "a2", 4N signed "Nnn"]. This copy is bound in modern Parchment, a very nice copy great impressions. Title page in red and black, (5), (5) Catalogus, (28) Index, 614, (1), 60pp. 2 full page engraved plates, large folding astrological plate, numerous further engravings.

Cologne: Quentell, 1492. This copy has rubrication on the first few pages with a very nice Lombard initial at the beginning of the text. Quarto. 19 X 14 cm Signatures: a-g⁶ [Lacks leaves g 3.4; GW notes: "In einem Teil der Aufl. fehlt das Doppelbl. g3.4, dessen Ausfall keine merkliche Störung des Textes bedeutet."] {"In part of the edition the double sheet g3.4 is missing, the failure of which does not mean any noticeable disturbance of the text.}. Accipies Woodcut" used by Quentell; depicting St Gregory instructs two scholars, this was used from 1491 to 1495, This is designated as 'A i' or the first woodblock of this he used. cf. Proctor. Bibliographical Essays, pages 1-12.. The large woodcut on the title page has the famous inscription "Accipies tanti doctoris dogmata sancta"- ( ("You will receive the sacred tenets of a great doctor")) This is the first of several woodcuts known as the "Accipies Woodcut" used by Quentell; depicting St Gregory instructs two scholars, this was used from 1491 to… Read More

London: 1674: Printed by W. Godbid, for R.S. and are to be Sold by John Williams Junior, in Cross-Key Court in Little-Britain, 1674. Printed: 1674 1597-1663 Duodecimo, 575 x 35 inches The tenth edition [p]6, [*]5, A-L12, K6; A-C12; A-B12, C6 This copy Lacks the engraved portrait of Herbert by White. But does include the poems entitled "The Church Porch" and "The Church" appear in this edition as full paged engravings. This copy is water stained in the first few signatures, with the loss of some fore edge margins that have been repaired. It is bound in a fancy mid-nineteenth century of embossed calfskin in a neo-gothic blind tooled panel.(erbacked) The endpapers are marbled, The spine is handsomely tooled in blind as well, although the spine label has flaked off ¶This work contains 140 stanzic patterns, including the most famous shaped poem in the English language Herbert's reputation rests on this remarkable collection of poems which mark perfectly the Metaphysical tone of his spiritual unrest… Read More

Milan: Giacomo Ferrari, 1509. Editio princeps, a Latin translation of the Italian manuscript original, which was never printed. Bound in full early vellum. EDIT 16 CNCE 19894 JCB Lib. cat., pre-1675,; 1:49; Alden, J.E. European Americana,; 509/6; BM STC Italian, 1465-1600,; 281Thacher,; II, p. 100 (Miscellanea); Adams,; F1148; Isaac,; 13634; BM STC Italian, 1465-1600,; p. 281; NUC pre-1956Sabin; 26140; JCB; I, 49; Harrisse Additions; no. 34. Libreria Otto Lange. Catalogue No. 48. CATALOGUE OF BOOKS DEALING WITH NORTH AMERICA. Books published before 1551. (1925). Folio: 31 x 21 ½ cm. Editio princeps, a Latin translation of the Italian manuscript original, which was never printed. This copy is bound in full contemporary vellum. On leaf LL2a note on Gutenberg, the comment "a divine invention, and one quite apt for displaying human stupidity" (trans.) This is one of the early books, recording the discovery of America. On sig. LL2 the discovery by Columbus of a way to the Indies, shorter than any known… Read More

Brescia: Angelus Britannicus de Pallazolo Biblioteca Virtual del Patrimonio Bibliograìfico, 1498. ] Woodcut printer's device C on leaf o9 verso. For Britannicus's device C, see BM 15th cent., VII, 972 . Second edition variations in texts though. This is a large and clean copy. Bound in later full vellum, a large copy with some deckle edges. Octavo, 14 ½x10 Cm. Signatures: π4, a-n8, o10 [colophon], l8, m12, p8.[o10,m12, p8are blank and present]. Goff A1294; HC(Add) 1951; IGI 1013; Sajó-Soltész 406; IBE 126; IBPort 35; Madsen 442; Schmitt II 2828,15; Hubay(Eichstätt) 110; Oates 2628; Pr 6998; BMC VII 980; BSB- Ink L-136; GW 2972 (Pseudo-Augustinus. Title and list of contents π1r; Title page,a1r 1)[Pseudo-] Augustinus [Pseudo- Anselmus; Jean de Fécamp]. Meditationes, caption "Invocatio dei omnipotentis ad morum et vite reparationem", The invocation of the Almighty God for the reparation of character and life. 2) a2r-e5r; [Pseudo-] Augustinus. Meditationes, 3) e5r-i3r; [Pseudo-] Augustinus.… Read More