Rare books from Bruce Marshall Rare Books

Large Vellum Document [580 x 410mm], Westminster, Aug 11th, 1657.
Address and Title illuminated in Gold Script with Large Seal of the Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland.
The English ship Resolution, laden with cloth, tin, lead and money bound for Scanderone [the port of Aleppo] was attacked by 7 ships from Tripoli, near Candy and taken in defiance of capitulations. Cromwell demands an inquiry and that these Sea Rovers should be punished.
'As we have now done to the grand signor your lord and master, so doe we also to you complaine of an Act of violence and injustice towards divers Merchants of this Commonwealth interested in an English Ship called the Resolution which being laden with Cloth, Tynn & mony & bound for the Grand Signors owne port of Scanderone in a peaceable course of Trading, was notwithstanding in her way neare Candy assaulted by seven Tripoly men of warre actually engaged in the Grand Signors service, & by them carried to Rhods, where the Captaine Bassa both secured the… Read More

Jean Baptiste Coignard, Paris, 1690, 12mo, title with woodcut device, contemporary sprinkled calf gilt.
First printed in Paris in 1689, with the same imprint. According to Brunet's listing of the 1689 and this 1690 edition "C'est cette [1690] edition que, jusqu'a preuve contraire, nous considerons comme le premiere".
Account of the aristocratic author's two years buccaneering in the West Indies, and the Pacific coast between Guatemala and Chile, presenting both the romantic and bleak sides of the life of a pirate. His principles would not allow him to let his crew molest priests, nuns and churches, and after taking a Spanish town, they would all attend Mass before looting.
An adventurer of aristocratic descent, Raveneau de Lussan sailed at the age of 22 in 1679 from Dieppe to Santo Domingo. To pay off his debts, he joined a band of buccaneers and sailed for almost two years with them (from November 1684 to February 1686). The relation of his adventures is realistic and even brutal.
This, his only… Read More

London H.M. for B. Lintot & R. Gosling, 1712, 8vo [200 x 120mm], contemporary panelled calf gilt, rebacked, 24], 456, [12] pp. with 16 engraved plates and 4 folding maps including a map of the world, some folding, a fine copy. First and Best Edition of this famous Buccaneering Voyage.
A consortium of prominent citizens of Bristol, England's second largest port in 1708, purchased two ships: the 320 tons, 30 guns ' Duke' and the 260 tons, 26 guns ' Duchess'. This work by Edward Cooke is one of two published simultaneously, describing their pursuit for Spanish gold with William Dampier in his third and final circumnavigation of the world, acting as pilot to the voyage. They captured the Spanish Treasure Galleon Nuestra Senora de la Encarnacion Disengano carrying a hold of gold and jewels. They brought the treasure back to Bristol amid huge celebrations and national interest.
Cooke was second Captain of the Duchess, part of the buccaneering expedition of Capt.Woodes Rogers circumnavigating the globe,… Read More

London, E. Newbury, 1785, Second and enlarged edition, Contemporary calf gilt, with a folding engraved map and 10 engraved plates, one folding which is the first representation of Hawaii.
This work is attributed to Lieutenant John Rickman, who served as second lieutenant on the 'Discovery', Charles Clerk, Commander. This is the first full account in English of Cook's third voyage and has an important description of the death of Cook in Hawaii.It was first published in 1781, three years before the official account.
"This anonymous journal, of Captain Cook's third voyage, was once believed to have been written by John Ledyard, who had actually made liberal use of Lieutenant Rickman's account; hence the confusion. This narrative anticipated the government's authorized account by two years. All the journals kept on board were claimed by the Admiralty, thus the author remained strictly anonymous. The text, especially as regards details of Cook's death, differs considerably from other accounts." Hill
Hill,… Read More

[Reading: Published May 19, 1823, by J. Rusher, King Street, Reading; and W.H. Timms, engraver, tinter of prints, and mounter of drawings, &c. No. 6, St. James's Place, Hampstead Road, London, 1823], title & dedication (with imprint) and 12 fine hand-coloured aquatint plates, tissue guards, contemporary half calf, marbled sides, neatly rebacked , slim oblong folio (25 x 33.5 cm)A very scarce colour plate book by Timms, with only one copy found (Yale).
The attractive views include: London Road from Reading; Horne Street & St. Giles Church; Duke Street from the Bridge; King Street; View of the Corn Market, Obelisk & St. Lawrence Church; St. Mary's Church; View of Reading from Red Lane; Part of Castle Street from the Turnpike; Coley House; Caversham Park; Sonning; and Caversham Bridge.
Abbey, Scenery 294 Please go to www.marshallrarebooks.com for many more books on this subject.

London: for Timothy Childe, 1698, 8vo (17.2 x 10.7 cm)pp. [6] 120, 5 engraved folding plates, contemporary ownership inscription 'B Barnes' to head, contemporary panelled calf, restored.
The Rare First Edition in English of one of the first scientific inquiries into the possibility of extra-terrestrial life, first published in Latin earlier the same year as Kosmotheros, sive de terris coelestibus, earumque ornatu, conjecturae. 'Huygens's reasoning is that it is in the creation of life and living beings that the wisdom and providence of God are most manifest. In the Copernican world system ... the earth holds no privilieged position among the other planets. It would therefore be unreasonable to suppose that life should be restricted to earth alone' (DSB).
Christiaan Huygens Dutch physicist, mathematician, astronomer and inventor, who is widely regarded as one of the greatest scientists of all time and a major figure in the scientific revolution. In physics, Huygens made groundbreaking contributions in… Read More

Venice: [Jacobus Pentius, for] Melchior Sessa and Petrus de Ravanis, 15 July 1520, 4to (210 x 150mm), Full Contemporary Calf, Gilt Device within gilt frame with ornate gilt cornerpieces, gilt border on upper and lower covers, rebacked replacing original spine, Large woodcut of an astronomer and Sessa's device on title, many woodcuts illustrating signs of the zodiac, gods of antiquity, celestial spheres, and astrological predictions, woodcut initials.A Fine Copy of the Second edition of the Compilatio by the 13th-century astronomer, Leopold of Austria. Primarily a work of astrology, the sixth book concerns meteorology both from a theoretical and a practical point of view, and thus includes, for example, folkloric methods of weather prediction.
Although virtually nothing is known of the author, the work was influential in the late Middle Ages, being cited by the great astronomer, Pierre d'Ailly, and admired by Regiomontanus, who proposed to edit an edition of the work.
Adams L-516; BLSTC Italian… Read More

London, J.Pine, 1739, First Edition, Folio(560 x 390mm), contemporary mottled half calf gilt, spine restored, with engraved title with allegorical historiated border, printed dedication, 2 pp list of subscribers, 23pp text, 5 double-page plates each with 2 engraved maps,double-page map of the British Isles showing the track of the Armada,
10 double-page engraved plates of the sea battles printed in green and blue, all within highly decorative allegorical borders, incorporating medallion portraits, and 2 double-page engraved maps of Devon and Cornwall and the Thames(not in the Berlin Catalogue and present in only a few subscribers copies), all engraved by Pine after Gravelot and Lempriere.
Subscribers Copy of one of the finest naval works ever produced.
After the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 Lord Howard of Effingham,
commander of the British Fleet, commisioned Robert Adams to produce a series of charts representing the various phases of the action during the battle.The Dutch artist H.C.Vroom… Read More

Venice. Per Magistrum Gullielmum de Tridino de Monteferrato, 14,January,1491,
4to (199 x 150 mm). 48 leaves. 42 lines. Full-page woodcut on verso of title-leaf showing Astronomia enthroned flanked by Urania and Ptolemy, large woodcut of the "Sphaera mundi" on a3v, each hand coloured and 7 of the diagrams of planetary orbits partially coloured or with outline colour, margins a little trimmed, not affecting text, 17th century blind stamped pigskin, rebacked, with central lozenge on both covers, binding with blind stamp date 1602, brass clasps.

This incunable edition of Sacrobosco's Sphaera Mundi contains two further treatises, J. Regiomantanus, Disputationes contra Cremonensia and G. Peurbach, Theoricae novae planetarum.
Sometime around 1230, Johannes de Sacrobosco (ca. 1200 – ca. 1250), a teacher at the University of Paris, composed an introductory astronomy textbook for his students. In this small text, known as the Sphere (De sphaera), Sacrobosco offered a concise and non-technical description… Read More

London: for Mount & Davidson on Towerhill, 1792, Folio [480 x 320mm], Contemporary Mottled Calf, Spine Gilt on Black, with 22 Double-Page and Folding Charts, 2 small charts, and numerous engravings of charts, navigational instruments, profiles, headlands throughout, small stain on title. A Very Fine Copy.
A Splendid example of this atlas with its series of stunning maps and charts and explicit sailing directions and notations. The charts describe the River Thames, Newcastle trade routes, the coastlines and various ports of England, Scotland, Ireland, Flanders and the Netherlands, France, Portugal, Spain, the Strait of Gibraltar, the Coast of Africa including the Canary Islands and the Cape Verde Islands.

Woodcut map of the Americas, second state with 'Peru' written horizontally, double-headed eagle holding the coat of arms of Castile and Leon, image 166 x 130mm. (sheet 188 x 140mm.), [Antwerp, 1566, 1567 or 1583]
An extremely rare map of the Americas.
This scarce map is filled with place names along the coastlines, an uncommon feature for a map of this region in the mid-sixteenth century. The map was published by Jean Bellere, a Dutch printer and publisher, and first appeared in Lopez de Gomara's La Historia General de las Indias in 1554. The detail in North America was derived from the explorations of Ayllon, Gomes and Fagundes. Lucas Vazquez de Ayllon was a Spanish explorer who initiated the first European attempt to establish a settlement in the area now known as the United States. In 1526 Ayllon established the colony of San Miguel de Gualdape in what is believed to be either present-day Georgia or South Carolina. Ayllon died in the settlement, which lasted only a few months due to a scarcity of… Read More

Japan. Circa early-Edo Period, [1700- 1750] Complete Set with 200 cards, 100 painted illustrated cards and 100 poem cards. In fine condition, [780 x 560mm], in fitted lacquered caseA SPLENDID SET OF HAND PAINTED PLAYING CARDS.
The poems and illustrations have been hand-painted (in colours in the case of the illustrations) on the card faces which are made of silk. Silver- coloured paper has been pasted on the backs and borders of the cards. The cards themselves are flecked with gold dust, and come in their silver coloured wrapping papers. The wrapped cards come in gold brocade cloth cases with a chrysanthemum pattern, all preserved in a black lacquered case, the inside of the case is painted in gold.The 'Hyakunin Isshu' established in the late Heian period (mid 13th century) is a collection of 100 famous poets and their works. It is thought that the Hyakunin Isshu' began to spread to the upper class as a card game around the 16th century in the Warring States period. From the 17th century onwards… Read More

FIRST EDITION, 30 hand coloured lithograph plates from Lawson's 'Scotland Delineated', many signed by the artist, wide margins, very occasional marginal chipping, not affecting image, London, Joseph Hogarth, 1847RARE SIGNED copies of some of the most attractive views of Scottish Scenery and a major achievement in British lithography. It was published in parts by Joseph Hogarth. Hogarth commissioned important landscape artists to produce drawings of Scottish scenery, while Lawson supplied the accompanying text. The enterprise failed due to the high cost which comes with working with so many skilled artists. The collection includes:
W. Leitch. The Town & Castle of Dumbarton from the Leven. Hand-coloured lithograph, mounted on card; David Roberts. Edinburgh from Calton Hill. Hand coloured lithograph; George Cattermole. Fishmarket Close Edinburgh. Hand col. Lithograph; George Cattermole. Dowie's Tavern Liberton's Wynd Lawnmarket Edinburgh. Hand-col. Litho. ; W.L.Leitch. New Assemble Hall, Edinburgh. Hand… Read More

Edinburgh, Privately Printed Limited Edition 1893, Large Oblong Folio ( 430 x 590 mm) ,Original Brown Cloth Gilt, Title Printed in Red and Black, Dedication and Twenty Finely Etched Old Coloured Golfing Scenes
First Edition Signed by the Author. A scarce work illustrating the older courses in Scotland. Each plate is titled on the tissue guard.
The courses illustrated are: Dunbar ; North Berwick; Gullane; Luffness; Musselburgh; Leith; Leven; Elie; St Andrews; Carnoustie; Montrose; Aberdeen; Perth; Stirling; Bruntsfield; Lanark; Glasgow; Machrihanish; Prestwick and Troon.John Smart was born in Edinburgh Oct 16,1838. His father was Robert Campbell Smart, the famous engraver. Educated at Leith High School he received his first instruction in art at the school of the Board of Manufacturers. In 1858 he was apprenticed to an engraver, but as he showed great talent for landscape, later became a pupil of Horatio McCulloch, R.S.A. Smart was an original member of the Royal… Read More

FIRST EDITION, Folding engraved map showing California as an island, 4 engraved plates, 2 folding. Contemporary blind-panelled calf, spine with gilt-lettered morocco label, (193 x 120mm), London: Printed for J. Senex, W. & J. Innys, J. Osborn & T. Longman, 1726.
FIRST EDITION of one of the most famous buccaneering voyages. This privately-funded privateering voyage sought to duplicate the success of Woodes Rogers' highly profitable voyage of 1708-1711.
Shelvocke commanded the Speedwell and John Clipperton commanded the Success. They were jointly involved in raids against Spanish shipping on the west coast of South America. Shelvocke parted from Clipperton to conduct his own raids in Peru and to sail up the coast to Cabo San Lucas where he remained for some months and wrote one of the earliest descriptions of the Indians of Baja California. He also was one of the first to suggest the possibility of finding gold in California.
Controversies surrounding the voyage began with his unjustified attack on… Read More