Antiquarian Books from Cole & Contreras

London: Longman Brown Green Longmans & Roberts, 1857. AN EXCELLENT COPY OF THE FIRST EDITION, IN THE ORIGINAL CLOTH. XL, 530 pp. + a folded map and EIGHT COLORED LITHOGRAPHED PLATES (complete). 8vo. Publisher's gilt cloth. All edges gilt. Very minor fding and wear to binding, but still tight. Some foxing, mainly to… Read more about this item

Paris: Ph.-D. Pierres, 1782. Three volumes, complete. FIRST EDITION of this scholarly, encyclopedic, and highly entertaining history of French gastronomy. XIII, (3), 373, (1); (4), 383, (1); (4), 363, (1). Half-titles present (they are often missing). The author originally set out to write an extensive work covering all facets of private life in France, but… Read more about this item

Paris: Chez Mme la veuve Charles Béchet, 1830. FIRST EDITION OF THIS EXTREMELY EARLY AND IMPORTANT ANTI-COLONIAL TREATISE BY A PROMINENT FRENCH POLITICIAN. 95 pp. While he focuses on Algeria, Lacuée supports his arguments with experiences and economic data from other colonies as well. His conclusion is unequivocal: colonization is wrong by all measures. … Read more about this item

Paris: Firmin-Didot, 1909. First and only edition. 38 pp. INSCRIBED AND SIGNED IN INK BY POINCARÉ. Poincaré was named to the Académie Française in 1909, and went on to serve as president of France from 1913 to 1920--a period that included all of World War I. Large 4to. Bound in recent cloth. Original… Read more about this item

Paris: Glyptographie Silvestre for Marpon & Flammarion, 1892. A LARGE-PAPER COPY OF THE FIRST EDITION of this landmark study of Occitanian history and culture, including Gascony, Provence, the Alps, and Piedmont. XX, 21-287 pp. ONE OF ONLY 50 NUMBERED COPIES PRINTED ON FINE JAPANESE PAPER, THE ONLY LARGE-PAPER COPIES (the regular edition was printed on cheap wood-pulp… Read more about this item

Paris: Eugène Rey, 1904. One volume bound as two, complete. ONE OF ONLY 20 LARGE-PAPER COPIES OF THE FIRST AND ONLY EDITION of this spectacular, monumental, and scholarly historical dictionary of Paris, with exhaustive articles on ALL of the streets, monuments, personalities, etc. of the Ville Lumière. XVI, 1695 pp. ONE OF ONLY 20 NUMBERED COPIES… Read more about this item

Paris: Saintin, 1810. FIRST EDITION, FIRST ISSUE OF THE FIRST FRENCH BOOK ON GRAPHOLOGY, THE FOUNDATION OF MODERN GRAPHOLOGY. 2, 52 pp. + 25 plates (a hand-colored engraved frontispiece and 24 lithographed plates with a total of 43 writing samples.) The 24 plates of handwriting include samples from Elizabeth I, Mary Stuart, Bossuet, Racine, Frederick the Great,… Read more about this item

Paris: Firmin-Didot, 1923. Poincaré's carte de visite, with four lines of autograph text and his monogram signature. THE TEXT MENTIONS M. (André) MAGINOT, THE MINISTER OF WAR WHO WAS TO PROMOTE THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE FAMOUS "MAGINOT LINE". Poincaré (1860-1934) was elected to the Académie Française in 1909 and served as president of France from 1913 to… Read more about this item

Rouen: Imprimerie Lefèvre, 1841. A UNIQUE COPY OF THE FIRST AND ONLY EDITION OF THIS GROUNDBREAKING STUDY. 2 leaves, 180 pp + 17 etched plates, complete. Vicaire (V, 8-9) affirms that there are no large-paper copies of this book, but the copy we offer proves him wrong: it is printed with large margins on spectacular chamois… Read more about this item

Rennes: Mme Veuve Frout, 1825. AN EXTREMELY RARE GUIDE FOR TRAINING INFANTRYMEN / RIFLEMEN, of which only one other copy is recorded. xiv, 11 (engraved music), 112 pp + 26 folding plates (complete). Text and plates printed on fine laid paper; music printed on fine wove paper. 8vo. Unprinted wraps, as issued. Traces of… Read more about this item

Boston: Printed by Charles Folsom for Charles Bowen, 1833. FIRST EDITION OF THIS EARLY AMERICAN CLASSIC, printed at the University Press of Cambridge, which was to become the Harvard University Press. xvi, 296 pp. Printed on good wove paper. UNCUT IN THE ORIGINAL CLOTH, WITH THE ORIGINAL PAPER SPINE LABEL. A bit of wear to… Read more about this item

Londini (i.e., London): Typis excudebat A. MacIntosh, Spitalfields, for the London Society for Promoting Christianity Amongst the Jews., 1817. An outstanding copy, in its original binding, of this early translation of the New Testament from Greek into vocalized Hebrew. 246 leaves (492 pp). Beautifully printed on fine wove paper. 8vo. Bound in the original paneled… Read more about this item

Paris: Chez P. Didot, fils ainé de F. A. Didot l'ainé, 1790. AN ENTIRELY UNCUT COPY OF THIS MASTERPIECE OF NINETEENTH CENTURY PRINTING. xl, 222, 2 pp. One of a series of French and classical texts printed by Didot, on the orders of Louis XVI, for the education of his son, the heir to the throne (who, it… Read more about this item

St.-Léger: (not published), 1844. AN UNPUBLISHED AUTOGRAPH MANUSCRIPT BY BY NOTED NAPOLEONIC MILITARY FIGURE JULES-ANTOINE PAULIN (1782-1876). 68 pp. of neat cursive script in black ink on fine laid paper, titled at the beginning and signed at the end. The manuscript is an intimate and detailed (about 20,000 words) account of the Battle of Burgos (also called… Read more about this item

Novara, 1814. A unique manuscript on vellum signed by Victor Emmanuel I, celebrating the accomplishments and character of Vittorio Chiorando, his Minister of Finance, and granting him an annual stipend of 2450 lire. SIGNED BY KING VICTOR EMMANUEL and by other officials. 4 pp, sewn into another vellum bifolium for protection. 4to (28 x… Read more about this item

Calcutta: Printed by P. Pereira, at the Hindoostanee Press, for the British and Foreign Bible Society, 1816. FIRST EDITION OF MARTYN'S TRANSLATION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT INTO PERSIAN. English title + 741 pp entirely in Persian. Printed on good wove paper. 8vo. Bound in recent boards with leather spine label. ENTIRELY UNCUT. A… Read more about this item

Marseille and Paris: G. Charpentier, 1886. Two volumes, complete. A PRISTINE LARGE-PAPER COPY OF THE FIRST AND ONLY EDITION OF THE WORKS OF THIS IMPORTANT PROVENÇAL WRITER AND POET, with facing-page French translation. LXVIII, 394 + etched portrait of the author by F. Desmoulin; 430 pp. From a total edition of 1050 copies, this is one… Read more about this item

Paris: Editions Bossard, 1923. ONE OF ONLY 25 LARGE-PAPER COPIES OF THE FIRST AND ONLY EDITION of this poetic yet precise account of the author's travels. 3, VI, 7-339 pp. + frontispiece portrait of author. One of only 25 copies printed on fine Dap-Cau wove paper, made in Vietnam. 8vo. Elegantly bound in three-quarters red… Read more about this item

Paris: Béthune et Plon, 1836. ONLY 25 COPIES PRINTED. First and only edition of this rare and beautifully-produced genealogical study. 1, 264 pp plus TWO LARGE HAND-COLORED FOLDING PLATES, one being the family tree and the other depicting 38 coats of arms and seals, colored with minute attention to detail. Text printed on fine laid paper;… Read more about this item

Paris: P. Dupont for Challamel, 1869. FIRST AND ONLY EDITION of this extremely rare mariner's guide to the coast of northern Brazil. VIII, 154 pp + numerous sea-charts and views of the coast. Text on good wove paper; plates on excellent wove paper. Numerous tipped-in correction slips throughout. 8vo. Bound in publisher's pink printed boards. … Read more about this item