Search Results: Titles starting with V from Comellas Rare Books

Madrid, por Thomas Junti, 1622. Large folio. 3 leaves (including the engraved title page). 78 numbered leaves. 3 large folding copper-engraved plates. 19th century half-shagreen. First Edition, extremely rare, published simultaneously with an edition in Spanish, of the account in Portuguese of the celebrations performed in Lisbon during the visit of King of Spain Philipp III for the presentation of his son, the future Philipp IV. The work was redacted by Joao Baptista Lavanha (1550-1624), a Portuguese geographer and historian hired by the Spanish crown. It contains the detailed description of the festivities, ceremonies and speeches which took place during the King's visit, as well as the text of a theatre play performed by the Jesuits ("El rei D. Manuel Conquistador do Oriente", staging a representation of Vasco de Gama) and the account of the bullfights organized in front of the sovereign. Spectacular engraved illustration by Hans Schorquens representing the magnificent commemorative archs built at… Read More

Paris, chez Arthus Bertrand, chez Amiot et chez l'Auteur, 1839. Large 8vo. XVI. 291 pages. 24 out-of-text engravings and 1 folding map. Green half-calf, smooth ornate back (binding of the time). First Edition. The appearance of steamboats at the beginning of the 19th century revolutionized transport in the Mediterranean by freeing it from weather conditions while speeding up transit times. In 1833 was organized the first experimental cruise to the Levant, with on board about sixty European personalities including Prince Maximilian of Bavaria, brother of King Otto of Greece to whom the book is dedicated, the Duchess of Berry and her husband Prince Lucchesi-Palli, the Prince and Princess of Beaufremont, etc. The journey of the ship, the "François 1er", joined Marseille to Constantinople, including stops in Sicily, Malta, Greece, Turkey and Asia Minor. The author, who had taken part in the expedition, describes not only the stopovers but also the socialites that took place on board, including the… Read More

London, printed for Jacob Tonson, and Thomas Bennet, 1702. Folio. Engraved frontispiece. 3 leaves. 288 pages. 4 leaves. Engraved portrait of the author and 213 illustrations on 98 full-page plates, many of them folding. Full speckled calfskin, decorated flat spine, gold lace around the covers (early 19th century binding). First English Edition of one of the most beautiful illustrated works on the Levant. Cornelius De Bruyn (1652-1726/7), Dutch traveler and painter, had spent several years in the Levant between 1678 and 1685. The work collects the observations and illustrations made during this trip. De Bruyn was primarily a landscape artist, which is evident in the highly detailed panoramas of this work which include views of Smyrna, Constantinople, the Bosphorus, Rhodes, Tyre, Alexandria, Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Aleppo, Palmyra etc. The costume boards mainly depict different types of Greek and Turkish hairstyles. Uniformly browned paper. Copy from Thomas Hutton's library with a pencil mention on the… Read More

2 works in 3 folio-sized volumes. 1). Engraved frontispiece. 7 leaves. 472 pages. 23 pages. 31 full-page plates, including 17 folding. + Engraved frontispiece. 3 leaves. 496 pages. 39 pages. 21 full-page plates, including 1 detached and 9 folding. 2). Engraved frontispiece. 4 leaves. 480 pages. (i.e., 478). 1 leaf. 9 full-page plates, including 1 folding Full brown calf, spine richly decorated with raised bands (contemporary binding). Unusual collection of three volumes in identical bindings, published several years apart and including all of the notes from the travels of Aubry de La Motraye, French traveler, diplomat, collector and explorer (1674-1743). In the notice to the reader, the author indicates that he has included 'a great variety of remarks and observations on so many subjects that one would have to have a very strange and very extraordinary taste not to find lots of fun and educational things.' 1). First French Edition illustrated with two frontispieces, fifty-two plates (often folding)… Read More

A Cologne, chez Jaques Kainkus, 1710. 12mo. Portrait. 3 leaves. 508 pages Full calf, ornate smooth spine, traces of blindstamped coat of arms on the boards (period binding somewhat restored). Utopian novel in which the hero, following a double shipwreck, discovers the island of Brustol and its social organization. The country is divided into equal, symmetrical cantons. Poverty is unknown, the inhabitants practice polygamy and strict equality reigns. "Of the robinsonnades, the best, rare enough today, is certainly that of Tyssot de Patot: Voyages et Aventures de Jacques Massé. It is the work of an intelligent and educated man" (translated from Lichtenberger). This edition, dated 1710, seems in reality to have been published in 1734 (cf. Rosenberg). A good copy. I.N.E.D., 4369. Lichtenberger, Le Socialisme au 18e siècle, 44. Valette, Catalogue Utopies, 314. Cioranescu, 62587. Soboul, Utopies au Siècle des Lumières, Microéditions Hachette, 021.

A Amsterdam, chez les Frères Wetstein, 1718. 2 volumes, folio. Frontispiece. 4 leaves. 252 pages. 110 full-page plates, including 78 folding plates (some of very large size, such as the views of Moscow and Isfahan measuring nearly 2 meters in length), and 20 engraved figures at mid-page within the text. + 1 leaf. pages 253-468. 152 plates, including 125 folding plates and 22 engraved figures at mid-page within the text. Full brown calf, decorated ribbed spine (contemporary binding). First French Edition of the important illustrated account of Cornelius Le Bruyn's journey to Russia, Persia, India and Java. During a first expedition in 1674, the Dutch traveler and painter Cornelius Le Bruyn (1652-1726) stayed in the Levant for seven years, traveling mainly in Asia Minor, Syria, the Holy Land and Egypt. On his return he had published his "Voyage to the Levant" (1702) in English and, encouraged by its success, he decided to undertake a second, more extensive expedition. In 1701, Le Bruyn therefore… Read More