Search Results: Titles starting with N from Comellas Rare Books

A Cither, 1747. 2 parts in 1 volume, 12mo. 2 leaves. 107 pages. 2 leaves. 88 pages. Contemporary full calf, gilt spine with nerves (slightly restored). First Edition. Anonymous account of the amorous initiations of a fifteen years old young man, that passions lead to disguise as a woman to enter a convent. Heraldic ex-libris of Loppin de Masse (Burgundy) and ancient manuscript signature on the title page. Stain on the latest leaf, otherwise a nice copy.

S.l.n.d. (1764). 8vo. 48 pages. Modern boards, red edges. Rare First Edition of this account of an episode from the war between France and England in India in 1762. In this conflict, the French army led by Lally and then by the Comte d'Estaing, won important victories (Muscat, Sumatra, Saloma and Manna, etc.). This work is particularly noteworthy for the first-hand narrative it gives of the shipwreck of the English East Indianman Fattysalam, off the coast of Coromandel on 28 August 1761. "The Fattysalam had been built at Bombay, and had never been employed in the Indian seas. She was intended to carry a great part of the stores taken by the English, and nearly 500 troops, which had been thought fit to send to Bengal, because after the regiment of Pondicherry, they were not wanted on that coast'' (Duncan, The Mariner's chronicle). The author, Meusnier de Querlon (1702-1780), captain in Lally's regiment, was then taken prisoner by the English, and was one of the 12 survivors of the shipwreck. After… Read More

A Dijon, chez Mairet, papetier, 1818. 12mo. 228 pages. 5 lithographic plates, off-text. Contemporary half-calf, smooth back decorated with gilt fillets. First Augmented Edition, printed in Châtillon-sur-Seine, of the first French work on lithography. It was published for the first time in Dijon in 1818, just before Senefelder's famous treatise on the same topic. Gabriel Peignot stated about the 1818 edition, in "Essai historique sur la lithographie", that everything is so substantial in this work that it is impossible to give an analysis of it, so it should be copied in its entirety. It includes, among other things, a description of the various lithographic processes ("Dessin à l'encre", "Dessin à la pointe", etc.), recommendation about the choice of stones and inks, and printing advices ("Choix des couleurs à imprimer, et manière de les broyer", etc.) This edition was enlarged for the first time with an essay on binding, which includes explanatory details on gilding and the color of the skins. A… Read More