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US$20,000.00
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Item number:
01423.
Khayyam, Omar, Illustrated by: Elihu Vedder
Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, The Astronomer-Poet of Persia Rendered into English Verse by Edward FitzGerald with an Accompaniment of Drawings by Elihu Vedder
Publisher: Houghton, Mifflin & Company Boston 1884. First, Limited Edition of 100 copies, of which this is No. 22, signed by Vedder, with ornamental title page & 56 magnificent full-page Illustrations. Printed at the Riverside Press, Cambridge, MA. Brown flat-weave cloth over beveled boards; front cover with gilt lettering, dark brown-stamped ruled borders, symbolist design of vase, vine, swirl & stars, rear cover without decoration; spine with gilt lettering & dark brown-stamped ruled borders & ornaments; signed in gilt & dark brown-stamp on front cover, lower right 'V.'; slate coated endpapers; TEG, others untrimmed. Signed by Vedder on Limitation Page. In the ten months from May 1883 to March 1884, Elihu Vedder (1836-1923) completed a series of 54 drawings in pencil, ink, chalk, & watercolor to accompany this 1884 edition of the Rubaiyat. All of these original drawings, which were proclaimed a masterwork of American art, were included in a special exhibition of "Elihu Vedder's Drawings for the Rubaiyat" at the National Museum of American Art in 1998. The exhibition also included two first edition printings of this Rubaiyat with Vedder's "accompaniments" (he disliked the term illustrations) . Written ca. 1120 by Persian poet-philosopher Omar Khayyam (1048-1131), the Rubaiyat is a collection of quatrains, or poems of four lines, intended to prove the futility of mathematics, science, & religion in determining the meaning of life. First translated from Persian to English in 1859 by Edward Fitzgerald, editions of Khayyam's Rubaiyat have since appeared in numerous forms and languages, the best loved, best known, and most elaborate being this 1884 edition illustrated & designed by Vedder. Vedder was one of the first artists of his generation to train in Paris where he developed his Academic style and focused on what would become his favored subject: the classically proportioned female nude. Vedder also designed the book's cloth-bound cover, lining papers and eccentric hand-drawn letters. With his Academic and yet "visionary" style, Vedder was the ideal artist to interpret the Rubaiyat; he reconciled the critics who called for accurate depiction of observed reality with those who argued for feeling and emotion over objective form. Additionally, Vedder arranged the verses to express the three stages of existence explored in the Rubaiyat -- happiness and youth; death and darkness; and rebirth -- as well as to fit his own romantic interpretation of the verses. A prevalent device is his "cosmic swirl, " which, according to Vedder, represented the "gradual concentration of elements that combined to form life; the sudden pause through the reverse of the movement which marks the instant of life; & then the gradual, ever-widening dispersion again of those elements into space. "Vedder's edition of Khayyam's Rubaiyat was an instant success, selling out only six days after its debut in Boston on November 8, 1884. With the Rubaiyat, Vedder set the standard for artist-designed books in America and England. Critics
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AUD 21,881.84 |
CAD 20,345.88 |
EUR 14,803.85 |
GBP 13,333.33 |
JPY 1818182 |
MXN 250000 |
ZAR 147059 |
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US$4,995.00
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Item number:
01723.
Seneca, Lucius Annaeus
PHILOSOPHI STOICORUM OMNIUM ACUTISSIMI OPERA QUAE EXTANT OMNIA, COELII SECUNDI CURIONIS UIGILANTISSIMA CURA CASTIGATA, & IN NOUAM PRORSUS FACIEM, NIMIRUM PROPRIAM & SUAM, MUTATA: quorum lectio non modo ad bene dicendum,
Publisher: Ioannem Hervagium et Bernardum Brandun Basel 1557. Hardcover. (xvi), 761, (15 index) pp. Bound in contemporary vellum boards. IN LATIN. Edgewear, some very old tape repairs to boards. Titles in ink in a contemporary hand. On upper board ("L. Annaei Senecae | Opera omnia | (Basileae 1557) ") and spine ("L. Annaei Senecae Opumn") Very old damp-stain on rear board not affecting text block. Very light foxing throughout. Pages quite supple. One line of text written and then crossed out on title page. VERY GOOD. This is an extremely rare copy of the complete works of Seneca printed in Basel in 1557 by Johannem Hervagium and Bernardum Brandun. Lucius Annaeus Seneca (often known simply as Seneca, or Seneca the Younger) (ca. 4 BC-AD 65) was a Roman philosopher, statesman, dramatist, and in one work humorist, of the Silver Age of Latin literature. Born in Córdoba, Hispania, Seneca was the second son of Helvia and Marcus (Lucius) Annaeus Seneca, a wealthy rhetorician known as Seneca the Elder. Seneca's older brother, Gallio, became proconsul at Achaia (where he encountered the apostle Paul about AD 52) . Seneca was uncle to the poet Lucan by his younger brother Annaeus Mela. Tradition relates that he was a sickly child and that he was taken to Rome for schooling. He was trained in rhetoric and was introduced into the Stoic philosophy by Attalos and Sotion. Due to his illness, Seneca stayed in Egypt (from 25-31) for treatment. After his return, he established a successful career as an advocate. Around 37, he was nearly killed as a result of a conflict with the Emperor Caligula who only spared him because he believed the sickly Seneca would not live long anyway. In 41, Messalina, wife of the Emperor Claudius, persuaded Claudius to have Seneca banished to Corsica on a charge of adultery with Julia Livilla. He spent his exile in philosophical and natural study and wrote the Consolations. In AD 49, Claudius' new wife Agrippina had Seneca recalled to Rome to tutor her son who was to become the emperor Nero. On Claudius' death in 54, Agrippina secured the recognition of Nero as emperor over Claudius' son, Britannicus. Seneca acted as Nero's advisor for eight years from 54 to 62. Seneca's influence was said to be especially strong in the first year. Many historians consider Nero's early rule with Seneca and the praetorian prefect Sextus Afranius Burrus to be quite competent. Over time, Seneca and Burrus lost their influence over Nero. With the death of Burrus in 62 and accusations of embezzlement, Seneca retired and devoted his time to more study and writing. In 65, Seneca was accused of being involved in the Pisonian conspiracy, a plot to kill Nero. Then, having escaped the assassination attempt, he went home to commit ritual suicide. Tacitus gives an account of the suicide of Seneca in his book, the Annals, in Book XV, Chapter/Number 60 through 64. His wife, Pompeia Paulina, intended to commit suicide after but was forbidden to do so by Nero. She attempted suicide by cutting her wrists, but the wounds were bound
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AUD 5,464.99 |
CAD 5,081.38 |
EUR 3,697.26 |
GBP 3,330.00 |
JPY 454091 |
MXN 62438 |
ZAR 36728 |
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US$6,000.00
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Item number:
05489.
Blackstone, William
COMMENTARIES ON THE LAWS OF ENGLAND (FOUR VOLUMES)
Publisher: The Clarendon Press Oxford 1769. Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1766-1769. 4to (approx 8.25 x 10.5"). Four volumes: (iv), iv, 485, (i); (viii), 520, xix; viii, 455, xxvii; viii, 436, vii, (40) pp. Half calf over marbled boards, spines in six compartments separated by gilt borders, gilt titles and decoration on red and black labels in two compartments, volume numbers, gilt, in gilt borders in one compartment. Marbled endpapers. Illustrated with two copperplate tables, Table of Consanguinity and fold-out Table of Descents in Volume Two. MIXED FIRST AND SECOND EDITIONS IN MATCHING BINDINGS. Volumes One and Two are Second Editions, Volumes Three and Four are First Editions. All volumes are in excellent condition. The front hinges are starting in volumes one and two. A former owner's name (John Black) is neatly written on each title page. The boards are all very lightly bumped. The hinges in volumes one and two have been professionally reinforced (c. 1890?). Very light, mild foxing throughout. Both Tables are in excellent condition. VERY GOOD. "Blackstone's great work on the laws of England is the extreme example of justification of an existing state of affairs by virtue of its history. Until the Commentaries, the ordinary Englishman had viewed the law as a vast, unintelligible and unfriendly machine. Blackstone's great achievement was to popularize the law and the traditions which had influenced its formation. He takes a delight in describing and defending as the essence of the constitution the often anomalous complexities which had grown into the laws of England over the centuries. But he achieves the astonishing feat of communicating this delight, and this is due to a style which is itself always lucid and graceful." 1st Edition No Dust Jacket Hard Cover Very Good 4to - over 9¾" - 12" tall
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AUD 6,564.55 |
CAD 6,103.76 |
EUR 4,441.15 |
GBP 4,000.00 |
JPY 545455 |
MXN 75000 |
ZAR 44118 |
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US$3,995.00
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Item number:
00490.
Chair, Somerset De (Ed and Trans), Illustrated by: John Buckland-Wright
NAPOLEON'S MEMOIRS (Two Volumes)
Publisher: The Golden Cockerel Press London 1945. [Napoleon][Sangorski and Sutcliffe][Golden Cockerel Press]. 422, [1]; 78, [2] pp. 1st Printing. Woodcut Vignettes and Titles. Bound in full purple and green morocco gilt by Sangorski & Sutcliffe, engraved title vignettes and designs on the bindings by John Buckland Wright. Boards decorated with gilt bee tools and vertical gilt fillets, the spines titled in gilt and decorated with gilt bee and press device tools, in compartments separated by raised bands. Cartographic endpapers after de Chair. Top edge gilt, others uncut. Signed by the editor. With collotype reproductions of two portraits and a page of manuscript hand-written by Napoleon. FIRST EDITION, FIRST PRINTING, SPECIAL LIMITED EDITION (Number 42 of 50) Two hardcover volumes in their original yellow buckram slipcase. One (No. 42) of only 50 copies specially bound by Sangorski & Sutcliffe. The overall edition was limited to 500 numbered copies, of which this is one of fifty specially bound copies. FINE. Napoleon's Memoirs dictated to Baron Gourgaud at St. Helena, and smuggled to Europe, were first published in 1820.An English translation by Barry O'Meara, who had volunteered to go to St. Helena as Napoleon's British surgeon, was published in February, 1820, under the title Historical Memoirs of Napoleon, 1815, and French Editions were published that year in both Paris and Brussels. No English translation or edition had been published since O'Meara's translation of 1820, and de Chair was able to find copies of that translation only in the British Museum and the Bodleian Library at Oxford. His translation of Napoleon's Memoirs of the Waterloo Campaign was begun in the Wingfield Morris Orthopaedic Hospital, Oxford, on 17 July, 1943 and finished at Kinnerarach, Isle of Gigha, on 17 September, 1943."The bindings of the 'special' copies were perhaps the best to be found on any Cockerel book up to date, and could hardly be repeated, owing to the current scarcity of gold. Having used up the whole of his quota on these books, Mr. Bray of Sangorski and Sutcliffe gently dissuaded me from a repetition of such extravagance. At this date it was still possible to have leathers dyed to special colours, and the shades of purple and green were just what I had desired. " (Cockalorum 167) . "In addition to Napoleonic eagles on the title-pages, John Buckland-Wright also designed the bindings and devices on the spines. These include a bee, as this was adopted by Napoleon as a badge. His eagles are heraldically correctly portrayed as facing to the dexter, but Napoleon made it a personal point of difference to have his eagle facing to the sinister, thus following Roman precedent: the J. B. W. Eagles are therefore technically at fault. " (Reid A43) . "Designed, produced and published by Christopher Sandford at the Golden Cockerel Press, London in 13 point Perpetua type on Arnold's mould-made paper, and finished on the 28th day of August, 1945. Composition, presswork and collotyping under the supervision of F. J. New
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Appr.:
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AUD 4,370.90 |
CAD 4,064.09 |
EUR 2,957.07 |
GBP 2,663.33 |
JPY 363182 |
MXN 49938 |
ZAR 29375 |
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