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Burgess (Anthony) A Clockwork Orange, first edition, original black boards, fine, first issue dust-jacket with wide flaps and priced at 16s., light fading to spine, minor rubbing to tips of spine and corners, an excellent example overall, 8vo, 1962. ⁂ A bright and sharp copy of Burgess' masterpiece, a cornerstone of 20th century British fiction.

Potter (Beatrix) The Tale of Two Bad Mice, first edition, first or second printing, colour frontispiece, plain title vignette and 26 colour plates, pictorial endpapers, occasional very light marking, ink gift inscription dated 1905 to half-title, original grey boards with mounted colour illustration, spine slightly faded and chipped at foot, small chip to head of spine, minor bumping to corners, still overall a very good and unusually sharp copy, [Linder p.424; Quinby 7], 16mo, 1904. ⁂ One of the most difficult titles in the series to find in first edition and good condition. The Tale of Two Bad Mice was jointly inspired by a pet mouse of Potter's and by Norman Warne's construction of a dollhouse for his niece. Potter adopted the mouse after it was caught in a trap and named in Hunca Munca. Hunca Munca turned out to be quite personable and proved a good drawing model for Potter, her cleanly habits even provided an inspiration for her fictional counterpart. Sadly Hunca Munca died after falling from a chandelier after playing with Potter.

Chatwin (Bruce) On the Black Hill, first edition, signed by the author on title, original boards, very light fading to top and bottom edge, dust-jacket, a fine copy, 8vo, 1982.

Dahl (Roald) Danny the Champion of the World, first edition, with A.L.s. from the author loosely inserted, jacket price-clipped, spine very slightly faded, 1975; The Twits, 1980; The BFG, 1982, first editions, the second and third with signed bookplates or cut signatures of the author and Quentin Blake to titles, illustrations, original boards, dust-jackets, near-fine overall, 8vo (3)

Fleming (Ian) Dr. No, first edition, first issue plain boards, dust-jacket, spine slightly browned, 1" chip to head of spine with loss to lettering, foot of spine and corners a little chipped, foxing and light pen marking to lower panel, light rubbing and creasing to head and foot, 8vo, 1958.

Fleming (Ian) Thunderball, jacket spine ends and corners a little chipped, light rubbing and creasing to head and foot, 1961; You Only Live Twice, first state, jacket spine browned, spine ends and corners a little chipped, 1964; The Man With the Golden Gun, erasure mark to head of title, second state plain boards, jacket spine slightly browned, spine ends and corners a little chipped, 1965, first editions, original boards, dust-jackets, very good or excellent copies; and a first edition of Octopussy, 8vo (4)

Fleming (Ian) The Spy Who Loved Me, first edition, pencil inscription to front free endpaper, original boards, dust-jacket, light patch of browning to lower corner of upper panel, otherwise a near-fine copy overall, 8vo, 1962.

Hardy (Thomas) Autograph Letter signed to Mr Dewar, 1p. with conjugate blank, 180 xx 110mm., on paper headed "Max Gate, Dorchester", 9th December, 1914, some light smudging, adhesion marks to verso; and a first edition of Satires of Circumstance (2) ⁂ A good letter from Hardy discussing Satires of Circumstance and the First World War. "I raked together all the verses I could fine to fill up my late volume - a heterogeneous lot! - & I fear I must pass over in silence the transit into next year, the times being too uncertain to inspire the right message... I hope that we shall see the light ahead before too long" George Dewar (1862-1934), editor of the Saturday Review (1914-17) and the Nineteenth Century (1919-25).

Hardy (Thomas) In Time of "The Breaking of Nations", first separate edition, number 12 of 25 copies signed by Clement Shorter, original purple wrappers, stitched, light fading to spine and margins, n.p. [Privately Printed], [1916]. ⁂ Scarce. First published in the Saturday Review, 29th January, 1916.

Potter (Beatrix) The Pie and the Patty-Pan, first edition, first printing with date on title and mottled lavender endpapers, colour frontispiece and 9 colour plates, plain illustrations in text, some very light scattered spotting, light browning to endpapers, original maroon boards with mounted colour illustration, spine very slightly faded, small patch of staining to head of lower joint, some minor finger-soiling, but still an excellent example, [Linder p.425; Quinby 9], small 4to, 1905. ⁂ Beatrix Potter's favourite of her own works after The Tailor of Gloucester. The illustrations for The Pie and the Patty-Pan, amongst Potter's best and her most fully-worked to date, were closely taken from the cottages and environs of the village of Sawrey.

Hughes (Ted) Earth-moon, first edition, letter A of 26 copies printed for the author, from an edition limited to 226, all signed by the author, printed in blue and black with illustrations by the poet in blue, signed and inscribed by Hughes with 4-line verse on half-title, original blue calf with design blocked in palladium on upper cover, top edge palladium, others uncut, slip-case (top edge faded), 12mo, printed by the Rampant Lions Press of Cambridge for the Rainbow Press, 1976. ⁂ The inscription reads, "How deep the moon's/Bowl can dip/Into human souls/For heaven to sip. Ted Hughes".

Huxley (Aldous) Brave New World, first edition, bookplate, original cloth, shelf-lean, dust-jacket, spine very slightly browned, chip to foot of spine affecting publisher's imprint, head of spine and corners a little chipped, short closed tears and creasing to head, 8vo, 1932.

Kavanagh (Patrick) The Great Hunger, first edition, number 17 of 250 copies, sword of light device by AE on title, colophon printed in red, original cloth-backed boards, paper label, uncut and unopened, two small spots to fore-edge, glacine wrapper, numbered in ink and with note in pencil on upper panel, slightly frayed at upper edge and rear panel defective, [Miller 70], 8vo, Dublin, Cuala Press, 1942. ⁂ One of the great achievements of 20th century Irish literature, a representation of the struggle and hardship of rural life in Ireland.

Lawrence (D.H.) Lady Chatterley's Lover, early pirate edition, one of 1500 copes, book label to rear pastedown, original boards, paper label to spine, spine lightly faded, 8vo, Germany [but ?Florence], Privately Printed, 1928. ⁂ Possibly the first of numerous pirate editions, scarce in good condition, a photographic facsimile of the first edition.

Lewis (C.S.) The Magician's Nephew, first edition, illustrations by Pauline Baynes, light foxing to endpapers, original boards, some light damp-staining to foot, dust-jacket, price-clipped, spine lightly browned, spotting to flaps and rear panel, rubbing to tips of spine and corners, still an excellent copy overall, 8vo, 1955.

Pound (Ezra) Personae & Exultations, first collected edition, one of 500 copies, scattered spotting, original boards, gilt lettering, some very minor bumping to spine ends, but a fine copy overall, glacine dust-jacket, light browning, some chipping to spine ends, uncut, 8vo, Elkin Mathews, 1913. ⁂ Scarce. Bound up from the first edition sheets with a newly-printed title and half-title.

Rowling (J.K.) Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, first edition, first printing, [one of 500 copies], usual light marginal toning, ink ownership inscription to pastedown, original pictorial boards, skilfully recased with lower joint repaired and retouched, corners strengthened and repaired, 8vo, 1997. ⁂ The author's first book and the first in the Harry Potter series, a modern cornerstone of children's literature.The final text leaf has 2 short repaired tears to foot. 

Rowling (J.K.) Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, first edition, original pictorial boards, slight shelf-lean, spine ends a little bumped, dust-jacket, minor creasing to head and foot, short chip to head of spine, still an excellent copy overall, 8vo, 1998.

Rushdie (Salman) Midnight's Children, first edition, first issue on American sheets, original cloth-backed boards, dust-jcaket, spine slightly faded, a little rubbed at head, excellent overall, 8vo 1981.

Potter (Beatrix) The Pie and the Patty-Pan, first edition, deluxe issue, colour frontispiece, 9 colour plates and numerous plain illustrations in text, some minor finger-soiling to margins, hinges skilfully repaired with endpapers neatly mounted on stubs, original blue cloth with illustration and decorations in gilt, lined and lettered in blue, spine slightly browned, small mark to foot of upper cover, a little rubbed at extremities, but an excellent, sharp copy overall, g.e., [Linder 425; Quinby 9], 8vo, 1905.

Waugh (Evelyn) When the Going Was Good, first American edition, signed presentation inscription from the author to Captain F. Bradfield to front free endpaper, colour frontispiece, foxing, title and frontispiece damp-stained at head and foot, original cloth, mottled, spine faded, spine ends and corners a little bumped, 8vo, Boston, 1947.

Potter (Beatrix) The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle, first edition, first or second printing with date on title and "How Keld" on p.20, colour frontispiece, plain title vignette and 26 colour plates, pictorial endpapers, original green boards with mounted colour illustration, spine sunned, minor bumping to spine ends and corners, but a sharp and excellent copy overall, [Linder p.425; Quinby 8], 16mo, 1905. ⁂ In creating Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle, Potter used the dual inspiration of her own pet hedgehog of the same name and a Scottish washerwoman named Kitty MacDonald with whom she was acquainted. Potter's description of Kitty MacDonald in her journal indicates how closely the character appears to have been modelled on her: "Kitty is eighty-three but waken and, delightfully merry... She is a comical, round little woman, as brown as a berry and wears a multitude of petticoats and a white mutch." Sadly, shortly after the publication of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle, the author's pet hedgehog began to sicken and was laid to rest in the garden of the Potter family home in Kensington.

Wells (H.G.) The Time Machine, first edition, first issue with 16pp. advertisements at rear beginning with "The Manxman", very light browning to endpapers, small ink inscription to head of front free endpaper, original cloth with letter and sphinx design stamped in purple, spine darkened, minor marking to upper cover, light finger-soiling, light rubbing to extremities, a good copy overall, [Wells 4], 8vo, 1895.

Wells (H.G.) The War of the Worlds, first edition, first issue with 16pp. advertisements at rear dated 1897, free endpapers browned, original cloth, spine darkened, spine ends and corners a little bumped, rubbing to extremities, very good otherwise, [Wells 14], 8vo, 1898.

Wells (H.G.) The Passionate Friends, first edition, signed presentation inscription from the author to Mrs W.E.Henley to front free endpaper, 12pp. advertisements, light browning to endpapers, original blind-stamped cloth, slight shelf-lean, spine slightly faded, rubbed at extremties, 8vo, 1913. ⁂ W.E.Henley (1849-1903), poet, critic and literary editor, author of the poem Invictus. Wells' first novel, The Time Machine, was first published in The New Review, then under the editorship of W.E.Henley. Wells expressed his gratitude for the opportunity this gave him by making Henley the dedicatee of the first one volume edition of that work.

Yeats (Willam Butler) The Wild Swans at Coole, first edition, one of 400 copies, charging unicorn device by Robert Gregory at beginning and colophon at end printed in red, receipt from the press made out to Cecil Harmsworth loosely inserted, also first prospectus from the Press dated April 1904 (as Dun Emer Press), a 1906 list of books and a pamphlet on the Dun Emer Industries, endpapers a little faded, original cloth-backed boards, paper label, uncut and unopened, boards a little faded at edges, very slight wear to top corner or upper board, [Miller 26; Wade 118], 8vo, Dundrum, Cuala Press, 1917.

Pontanus (Johannes Jovianus), Opera, collation: a-z aa-ii8, italic and some Roman type, woodcut printer's device to title and verso of final otherwise blank f., initial spaces with guide-letters, small repairs to upper margin of first few ff., some spotting, a few small stains, 19th century vellum, morocco label to head of spine, lightly soiled, rubbed, 8vo (158 x 88mm.), [Venice], [Aldus Manutius & Andrea Torresani], 1513. ⁂ Second Aldine edition, with works influenced by the astronomical science of the author's age. Literature: Adams P1858; Ahmanson-Murphy 109; Renouard, Alde, 63.7; EDIT 16 CNCE 37456.

Theocritus. Idyllia cum scholiis [graece], 2 parts in 1, collation: α4, β-λ8, μ4; Α-Ω4, αα-εε4, Greek type, woodcut device of Callierges to title and that of Benigno to verso of final f., initial spaces with guide-letters, woodcut strapwork head-pieces and decorations, some light staining, mostly marginal, 19th century polished calf, gilt, spine in compartments and with red morocco label, corners little worn, rubbed, 8vo (155 x 96mm.), Rome, Zacharias Callierges for Cornelio Benigno, 15 January, 1516. ⁂ The first edition of Theocritus to include the printing of the scholia, and the second Greek book printed in Rome, with a distinguished provenance. The Cretan Callierges began his Italian printing career in Venice, and then moved to Rome at the invitation of Pope Leo X, where he had a Greek type cast. 'As a printer of Greek, the achievements of Callierges are second only to those of Aldus. as an engraver of Greek type he is in a class by himself' (Barker, Aldus Manutius and the Development of Greek Script and Type, p.75). Provenance: Dr. William George (1697-1756), Dean of Lincoln and Headmaster of Eton College (see letter from Earl Spencer); John George Spence, 2nd Earl Spencer (1758-1834), politician, bibliophile and first President of the Roxburgh Club (engraved armorial bookplate with shelf mark); gifted by him to Thomas Gaisford (1779-1855), Regius Professor of Greek and later Dean of Christ Church, Oxford (ink gift inscription and an A.Ls from Spencer tipped-in presenting the volume; engraved armorial bookplate of Gaisford and his ms. table of contents in Greek). Spencer writes 'Having understood from Mr. Grenville that you are desirious of referring to the edition of Theocritus printed by Callierges & having fortunately a duplicate copy of that book by me; I have desired Mr Bliss who is returning from here to Oxford to take charge of the volume & beg you would do me the favour to accept it. The copy was in my original library here & formely belonged to Dr George the headmaster of Eton'. Literature: Adams T460; Mortimer, Italian, 497; K. Staikos, Charta of Greek Printing, pp.412-415

Gellius (Aulus) Noctium atticarum Libri undeuiginti, collation: ãã10 a-n8 o10 p8, Roman and some Greek type, title and large woodcut device of Jean Petit within woodcut historiated border, woodcut criblé initials (with later hand-colouring), occasional early ink marginalia and interlinear notes, occasional staining (mostly light), Paris, Badius Ascensius for Jean Petit, 1517 bound with Valla (Laurentius) Elegantiarum Libri sex Latine ligue studiosis perutiles ac pernecessarii nuper summa diligentia recogniti, edited by Badius Ascensius, collation: aaa8 A-X Aa-Hh aa6, Roman type, large woodcut device of Jean Petit to title, woodcut criblé initials (with later hand-colouring), occasional early ink marginalia, some damp-staining towards end, final f. holed with loss of several letters, Paris, Jean Petit & Wolfgang Hopyl, 1507, together 2 works in 1 vol., contemporary panelled calf over wooden boards, metal clasps, rebacked, corners repaired, creased and rubbed, folio (284 x 195mm.) ⁂ Two rare works, with USTC listing only three copies of the first and one of the second work. The first work is the first Badius edition of this version of the text and the second is the fourth Badius edition. Provenance: 'Guillemon' (early ink signature to title). Literature: I. Not in Adams; Renouard, Badius Ascensius, II, 463:2 II. Not in Adams.

Potter (Beatrix) The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle, first edition, first or second printing with date on title and "How Keld" on p.20, deluxe issue, colour frontispiece, plain title vignette and 26 colour plates, pictorial endpapers, small ink ownership inscription to half-title dated '07, original light pink cloth with mounted colour illustration, gilt lettering and decorations, corners and spine tips a little rubbed and bumped, light surface soiling, still a very good copy, [Linder p.425; not in Quinby], 16mo, 1905. ⁂ Seemingly one of the scarcer titles to find in the deluxe issue.

Orphic Forgeries.- Musaeus. Musaei opusculum de Herone et Leandro..., collation: a-k8, woodcut Aldine device on title, repeated on verso of final leaf, two charming woodcuts of Hero, Leander and the Hellespont between Sestos and Abydos, some light soiling, a few ink annotations, new endpapers, old limp vellum with yapp edges, 8vo (155 x 90 mm.), Venice, in aedibus Aldi et Andreae Soceri, November 1517. ⁂ The text of Musaeus (following the Aldine editio priceps of [1494/95]) is in Greek, with a Latin translation by Marco Musuro; the text of 'Orpheus' is in Greek only. The Argonautica and Orphic hymns follow the editio princeps of Philippo Giunta (Florence, 1500), while De Lapidibus - exposed as a fourth-century A.D. composition by Tyrwhitt in 1781 - is printed here for the first time: see Renouard, Aldus, p. 81. The surviving fragmentary 'Orphic' hymns, etc., are certainly not C7-C6BC, but (says a review of the recent standard edition-in progress) 'all pseudepigraphic', being Hellenistic and later: nonetheless they were long taken as genuinely ancient, by Dorat, Caster, and the young Scaliger, the last translating some as by Orpheus himself, 'vates vetustissimus'. Provenance: P.A.A. Deschamps (18th century ink inscription to title) Literature: Adams M1991; Ahmanson-Murphy 138; Renouard 81.8; EDIT16 CNCE 37563; Grafton, Scaliger, i:104-05 and n. 27; Sandys, ii:419. Bibliotheca Fictiva no. 33.

Mela (Pomponius) and others. De situ orbis..., collation: a-z8, A-F8, G4 (q8 and G3 blank), woodcut Aldine device on title and verso of otherwise blank G4, old vellum endleaves, new endpapers, contemporary vellum with yapp edges, repaired and recased, 8vo (160 x 100 mm.), Venice, in aedibus Aldi, et Andreae Soceri, 1518. ⁂ First Aldine edition of this geographical assembly: the brief guide to Roman topography and monuments in the first century A.D. (pp. 200-214), supposedly compiled by a contemporary, is more likely the work of a humanist of the late C15 or very early C16; the first printed editions appear to be Milan, c. 1503-06, and Venice, 1505 - good guess is Aulo Giano Parrasio (Parrhasius). Provenance: Signature on title-page of Jules de Thiballier of Nemours, the C16 Seigneur de Villebourgen, Marechal des Logis du Roi, and book-collector. Literature: Ahmanson-Murphy 171; Renouard 71:6; Adams M1053; EDIT16 CNCE 46864; Gaston, ed., Pirro Ligorio, 23-24; Renouard 1518:3 (p. 83); Bibliotheca Fictiva. no. 303

Hippocrates. Omnia Opera Hippocratis [graece], edited by Gianfrancesco Torresani, collation: *6 A-Z, AA-EE8 FF10, title in Greek and Latin, privilege from Pope Clement VII, dedicatory letter from Gianfrancesco Toressani to Giovanni Giorgio Trissino, and letter from Gianfrancesco Torresani to the reader all in Latin, index in parallel Greek and Latin, text in Greek, title with large woodcut printer's device, initial spaces with guide-letters, final f. with woodcut printer's device verso otherwise blank, little chipping and staining to outer edge of title, *1&6 narrow area of reinforcement to inner margin, occasional spotting, a few ff. lightly browned, a few small stains, 17th century calf, richly gilt spine with floral and foliage decorations in compartments, rubbed, gilt gauffered edges, a very good copy, folio (300 x 200 mm.), Venice, House of Aldus & Andrea Torresani, May, 1526. ⁂ Editio princeps of the Hippocratic Corpus. Torresani based his edition on a 15th-century manuscript (now Paris BnF gr.2141), and made corrections from another (now Venice Marc. gr. 269), which had once belonged to Cardinal Bessarion. The present edition was published a year after the first edition in Latin, which had been printed by Calvus in Rome. The Aldine edition marked a considerable improvement over the Latin in that 'it repaired a considerable number of accidental omissions and one long repetition that Calvus made because he followed only one manuscript. Moreover; by presenting the original text, it laid the necessary foundation for all further philological and medical study of the corpus' (Durling). The dedicatee Trissino was a grammarian, poet, dramatist and diplomat, whose own works were beautifully printed by Ludovico Arrighi . Provenance: 'J.E. Petrequin, acheté paris avril 1864' (ink inscription to foot of verso of front free endpaper).Please note: Lot 224 – There is a neatly repaired tear to the title.  

Dionysius Carthusianus. Insigne Commentariorum opus, in Psalmos omnes Davidicos..., collation: *4, A-Z6, a-z6, aa-ee6, ff4, AA-HH6, woodcut printer's device to title, woodcut initials, some marginal staining and a few wormholes, 18th century calf, rebacked, rubbed, folio (310 x 195 mm.), Cologne, Peter Quentell, March 1531. ⁂ First edition of the earliest work by Dionysius (1402-1471), the phenomenally productive Flemish theologian, Carthusian monk, ecstatic, and associate of Nicolas of Cusa, for whom he composed treatises refuting Muslim belief, superstition, and magical practices. His exegetical writings begin with the present commentary (1434) and go on to treat the entire New and Old Testaments, while his philosophical writings reflect the Christian Platonism of his namesake 'the Areopagite', and the mysticism of John and Hugh of St. Victor, and Saint Bonaventure. He also edited Boethius, Peter Lombard, and ps-Dionysius, simplified the text of Cassian, codified 'rules of Christian living' for churchmen and laymen alike, and agitated for military action against the Turks after the fall of Constantinople. 'He has been called the last of the Schoolmen', observes the Catholic Encyclopaedia', and 'he is so, in the sense that he is the last important Scholastic writer, and that his works may be considered to form a vast encyclopedia of the scholastic teaching of the Middle Ages: this their primary characteristic and chief merit'. The modern edition of Dionysius' Opera Omnia (ed. M. Leone, 1896-1935) runs to forty-four quarto volumes. The first edition of In Psalmos omnes Davidicos, the first stepping-stone toward that 'vast encyclopedia', is - despite its bulk - uncommon: COPAC lists only a 'Cathedral Libraries' copy, and other editions of 1534, 1539, 1547, 1558, to which may be added those of 1542 and 1548 (WorldCat). Literature: Adams D557 (three copies); VD 16 1922 (nine copies in Germany; apparently there are none in American institutions.)

Potter (Beatrix) The Story of a Fierce Bad Rabbit, first edition, in panoramic format, first issue with London & New York on the back of the wallet, comprising 14 colour illustrations facing text printed in green, all within green borders and linen-backed, title and imprint on mounted mottled rose paper, some superficial paper splitting at hinges, original red cloth wallet covers with mounted colour illustration, lettering and decorations in black, some light rubbing and surface soiling, but a near-fine example overall, [Linder p.183 & 426; Quinby 12], oblong 16mo, 1906. ⁂ In the scarce variant red cloth, possibly part of a trial run (see also lot 26) Fierce Bad Rabbit was created as part of a planned three book series for younger readers, only two of which were published in Potter's lifetime. The story was written for Louie Warne, Harold Warne's daughter, who had told Potter that Peter was far too good a rabbit and that she would like to read a story of a badly behaved one. The format was popular with the public but disliked by booksellers as the constant folding and unfolding of the book by browsing customers was liable to damage the book.

Duchesne (Leger) Praelectionum et poematum liber, collation: a-n8 (n8 blank), woodcut device on title, criblé initials, some worming, affecting text in first third of book and then only to inner margin, neat manuscript correction to 3 leaves in sig. k, modern calf, spine gilt, 8vo (165 x 95 mm.), Paris, Thomas Richard, 1549. ⁂ First edition, the prose critical treatise interspersed with verse dialogues, and concluding with fifty pages of epigrams, elegies, epitaphs and verse epistles. This is an early work of the prolific poet, philologist, and anti-Huguenot polemicist, whose assembly of neo-Latin poetry (Flores epigrammatum ex optimis quibusque authoribus excerpti, the second volume titled Farrago poematum, 1555-60) is the first of the 'General Anthologies and Collections' cited by Ijsewijn (1977 ed., p. 230). The work appears to be rare, USTC recording seven copies in continental Europe, and Harvard and Newberry in America; COPAC adds Cambridge, and the National Library of Wales. Literature: Adams D1021; not in the BN-Opale catalogue or the French Union Catalogue; Cioranescu 8628.

Macarius (of Egypt, Saint) Homiliae quinquaginta, collation: *2, A-Z8, a-m8, n4, Greek text, early ink marginalia, contemporary French calf, blind-stamped fillets, gilt corner and centre-pieces, spine repaired, rubbed, 8vo (165 x 100 mm.), Paris, apud Guil. Morelium, 1559. ⁂ Editio princeps, edited from a manuscript in the Royal Library, now in the Bibliotheque Nationale. Saint Macarius 'of Egypt' or 'Aegyptus' (= 'the elder', = 'the Great'), c.300-390 A.D., was one of the most famous early Christian solitary ascetics, a disciple of Saint Anthony, and the founder of a monastic community in the Scetic or Nitrian desert. The present fifty sermons, though attributed to him throughout the middle ages, and still half credited by some modern authorities (e.g., Schaff-Herzog), are most probably of much later composition, perhaps the work of the tenth-century Byzantine hagiographer Symeon Metaphrastes. The legends of Macarius himself have been re-examined in recent years: Dom Aelred Baker, e.g. ('Pseudo-Macarius and the Gospel of Thomas', Vigiliae Christianae 18:4 (1964), 215-25), concluding inter alia that he was a Syrian, not a native Egyptian. The Homiliae remain widely admired, however, for the mystical aspects of their theology, and for their supposed early (and 'desert') origin, via a critical edition of 1964 (ed. H. Doerries, E. Klostermann, and M. Kroeger), and new French and English translations. USTC locates no copies in America. Provenance: the Earls of Macclesfield (South Library bookplate and small embossed stamp to first 3 leaves)

Potter (Beatrix) The Story of a Fierce Bad Rabbit, first edition, in panoramic format, second issue with New York & London on the back of the wallet, comprising 14 colour illustrations facing text printed in green, all within green borders and linen-backed, title and imprint on mounted mottled rose paper, original green cloth wallet covers with mounted colour illustration, lettering and decorations in dark green, rubbed at extremities, finger-soiling, still an excellent example, [Linder p.183 & 426; Quinby 12], oblong 16mo, 1906.

Laudivius Zacchia. Lettere del Gran Mahumeto, Imperadore de Turchi..., collation: A-M8, title with woodcut device and head-piece, some water-staining, old small armorial stamp to title, new endpapers, contemporary limp vellum, spine ends nicked, 8vo (155 x 95 mm.), Venice, Gabriel Giolito G.G. de' Ferrari, 1563. ⁂ First Italian, and apparently the earliest vernacular edition of the celebrated Epistolae Magni Turchi, a best-selling fifteenth century literary invention by Laudivius Zacchia of Vezzano [= Laudivio da Vezzano, not to be confused with his C17 namesake, the Cardinal of Santa Romana and prosecutor of Galileo]. Translated here by the ubiquitous Lodovic Dolce, these letters purport to represent the correspondence of Mahomet II, the living conqueror of Constantinople and Byzantium, with governors and potentates from Persia to the Mediterranean islands, Greece, and Italy - through which Laudivio could highlight Turkish/Islamic territorial ambitions, as well as (by implication) political and ethical differences between East and West not always to the credit of his Christian contemporaries. The little collection proved hugely popular, calling for more than twenty incunabular editions, all now individually rare, and further reprints in the C16 and C17, including the English version of 1607 titled The Turkes Secretorie, which took them (historically) at face value. In many of these, the short text is paired, suggestively, with the fabricated letters of Phalaris, the C6 BCE tyrant of Agrigento, whose authenticity was widely suspected among learned C15-16 readers, and finally exposed as sophistic exercises by Richard Bentley in 1697. Literature: BM, STC Italian 455; Gollner 1047; Blackmer 955

Spinula (Publio Francesco) Opera, collation: A-C8, A-D8, A-G8, A-E8, A-C8, A-D8, A-G8, A-D8, divisional titles, each with woodcut device, some minor water-staining, modern marbled boards, 8vo (143 x 90 mm.), Venice, Girordano Zileti, 1563. ⁂ First and only edition(s), a substantial nonce-collection of neo-Latin verse by a Milanese classical scholar, apparently then domiciled at Venice: his dedicatory prefaces are all dated from that city in November and December 1562. Two are devoted to imitations of Horace, and (more unusually) Catullus. Spinula addresses his verses to a wide variety of contemporaries, ranging from personal friends and relations in Milan and Brescia, to monarchs and statesmen (the Emperor Maximilian, Queen Mary of England) and scientific and literary celebrities - the last including the physician Gabriele Falloppio (several), the classical scholar Carlo Sigonio (two), the historian Giovanni Battista Pigna, the fabulist Gabriello Faerno, the printers Paulus Manutius and Giordano Zileti (Spinula's own publisher), and - most provocative, and perhaps unfamiliar to biographers - an epigram 'De Torquato Taxo, Bernardi fil.' At the time of Spinula's Epigrammaton libri III (preface dated December 1562), the younger Tasso was just eighteen years only, but already famous as the precocious author of Rimualdo. The errata at the end are crossed through lightly in ink, and corrected in the text, presumably by Joannes Wilhelmus Velsius, the near-contemporary Dutch mathematician and physician who signs the title in ink ('Sum Ioannis Vilhelmi Velsij'). Literature: Adams S 1603; BM Italian (as 'Spinola') p. 637; EDIT 16 CNCE 41002. RLIN locates seven copies, one of them imperfect.

Barnaud (Nicolas) Le Reveille-Matin des Francois, et de leurs voisins, 2 vol. in 1, collation: a-b8, c4, A-K8, a-m8, early 18th century French red morocco, gilt, slightly rubbed, 8vo (160 x 100 mm.), 'A Edimbourg, De l'imprimerie de Jaques Jarnes' [i.e. Strassburg, Bernard Jobin], 1574. ⁂ The true first complete edition in French, or in any vernacular language, of a highly incendiary polemic, perhaps the most famous of all contemporary Huguenot writings, which justifies tyrannicide by dedicated rebels and 'soldats Chrestiens', and (in the new second dialogue) develops a theory of social contract and a plan for organized communal and 'federative' insurrection. Inspired by the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre at Paris (24 August 1572, which is described in the first dialogue), it has sometimes been attributed, wholly or in part, to Theodore de Beze, Francois Hotman, Huges Doneau, or Montaigne's friend Etienne de La Boetie, but the assembly and clandestine publication is now firmly ascribed to Nicolas Barnaud (1538-1604), a rather mysterious Huguenot alchemist/occultist. Barnaud travelled widely in Europe, first as a Calvinist activist, later attempting (it is thought) to establish a kind of international hermetic network along the lines of the Rosicrucians, associating with the likes of Thaddeus von Hajek, Anselmus de Boodt, and probably John Dee--who, like Gabriel Harvey, owned a copy of this seditious text. In its final form of two dialogues (the first dialogue appeared alone under a different title at Basel in 1573), the Reveille-Matin was published simultaneously in Latin, as Dialogi ab Eusebio Philadelpho cosmopolita in Gallorum et caeterarum nationum gratiam compositi, also with a false Edinburgh imprint, and translated into German in 1575 and 1593, still as emanating from 'Edimbourg'. STC distinguishes three discrete editions of the '1574' French version, of which this is demonstrably the first, with line 10 on p. 7 ending 'quon', and the errata on p. 152 all uncorrected. Provenance: the Earls of Macclesfield (South Library bookplate and small embossed stamp to first 3 leaves). Literature: STC 1464, evidently not in the British Library; Rothschild 3125 does not distinguish editions.

Frankfurt Book Fair.- Estienne (Henri) Francofordiense emporium, sive Francofordienses nundinae..., collation: *4, a-i8, k4, woodcut printer's device to title, decorative head-pieces and initials, some light foxing and water-staining, ex- British Museum duplicate with ink stamps to title and foot of final leaf, modern limp vellum, cloth slip-case, 8vo (170 x 100 mm.), [Geneva], Henri Estienne, 1574. ⁂ First edition and only edition of the printer's own laudatory account of the Frankfurt Fair based on his experiences selling books there the previous year. It includes descriptions of the merchandise for sale, including horses, weapons, clothing, household goods and many references to food and drink - "Besides praising the wines of Bacharach, Estienne cites a number of Greek and Roman authors who wrote for and against drunkenness" (Simon). It is a fitting testimonial to the Estienne dynasty of scholar printers, arguably the greatest dynasty of scholar-printers in history. Schreiber assesses it as "an extremely desirable and rare book, which today seldom comes on the market." Literature: Adams S1768; Renouard, Estienne 139:2; Schreiber, Estienne 189; Simon, Bibliotheca Bacchia II, 235. Provenance: H.P.Kraus bookplate (his sale, Sotheby's New York, 4 April 2003, lot 226).

Callimachus. Hymni (cum suis scholiis Graecis) & Epigrammata, edited by Henri Estienne and Nicodemus Frischlin, collation: ¶, ¶¶4 a-i aa-rr4, Roman, Greek and italic type, title with woodcut printer's device, woodcut head-pieces and decorative initials, lacking final blank, sigs. aa-ii misbound after sig. rr, title lightly browned, a few patches of light browning elsewhere, occasional spotting, modern calf, earlier red morocco label to spine, slightly marked, 4to (259 x 173 mm.), [Geneva], Henri Estienne, 1577. ⁂ The first critical edition of Callimachus, with the editio princeps of the Epigrams. 'The basis for all subsequent editions' (Hoffmann). Literature: Adams C232; Hoffmann I, 428; Renouard, Estienne, 145:3.

Neo-Latin Poets.- Marullo (Michele Tarcagnota) and others. Poetae tre elegantissimi..., collation: a-n8, o2; A-D8, E6; A-Y8 (final leaf blank), ruled in red throughout, typographic device to titles, decorative head-pieces and initials, lovely copy in 17th century smooth calf, gilt, spine gilt in six compartments, lettered in three, slight chip to head and foot of spine, joints just starting to crack, 8vo (112 x 75 mm.), Paris, apud Dionysium Duvallium, sub Pegaso, in vico Bellouaco, 1582. ⁂ First and only edition of this assembly of three neo-Latin poets: Marullo of Constantinople, the Greek scholar (1453-1500); Girolamo Angeriano of Naples (fl. 1500) and Johannes Secundus [Everard] of The Hague, author of Basia (1511-1536). The last two works have separate titles, dedications and foliation, as if for sale as individual works. There are two issues of this book (both equally scarce), one for Duval (as here), and one for Jacques du Puys.

Hierocles, Alexandrinus. Commentarius in aurea Pythagoreorum carmina [Graece]; bound with, Aurea Pythagoreorum Carmina, together 2 works in 1, collation: a12, A-O12, P6; a12, A8, B4, C8, D4, E8, F4, G8, H4 (a12 and H4 blank), woodcut devices on titles, contemporary limp vellum, 12mo (140 x 80 mm.), Paris, ex Typographia Steph. Prevosteau, 1583-85. ⁂ First work: editio princeps of the fifth-century neo-Platonist's only surviving complete work, a commentary on the Golden Verses attributed, no doubt falsely, to Pythagoras, widely celebrated in the Middle Ages and Renaissance. The Greek text was edited by Curterius from a manuscript in the library of his former pupil and dedicatee, Francois de la Rochefoucauld, newly appointed as abbot of Tournus, collated in part (by the help of correspondents) with a Vatican MS. Curterius provided his own Latin translation on facing pages, though the Latin version of Giovanni Aurispa had been available in print since 1474. Second work: first edition of Theodore Marcile's Latin version of the Golden Verses, which at once rivalled Curterius': the entire Greek and Latin texts, derived from Hierocles, appear here on facing pages, followed by an extended Latin commentary on the Greek terms and phrases. Marcile (or Marcilius, of Arnheim in Holland, 1548-1617) was a prominent classicist and occasional poet, the editor of Lucian, Martial, Persius, Horace, Catullus, Suetonius, Justinian, et al., and the successor to Jean Passerat as Professor of Latin at the College Royal de Paris. Verses in praise of Marcile by Jean Dorat (Greek, with a Latin translation) and Janus Fonteius are placed at the end of the book, and Marcile's dedication, in prose and verse, is also of considerable interest, being to three noble young English students in Paris-- presumably at one time his pupils--William, Charles, and Richard Percy, sons of Henry Percy, eighth Earl of Northumberland. The assembly of these two independent editions, as a kind of 'definitive Golden Verses', may have been the idea of their publisher Etienne Prevosteau, for a similar pairing is found in bound-together volumes at Harvard and in the Hunterian collection at Glasgow. Provencance: the Earls of Macclesfield (South Library bookplate and small embossed stamp to first 2 leaves); 'De Maupry' and 'Dumiens' (early French signatures to first title). Literature: Adams P2314 and 2313

Manilius (Marcus) Astronomicon, edited by Joseph Scaliger, 2 parts in 1, collation: α-δ4, A-R4; *-**4, ⁂2, a-3S4, woodcut device on titles, small hole in C1 with slight loss of text, astrological diagrams in text, Latin and Greek text with occasional Hebrew and Arabic (in the new type Raphalengius had acquired for the project), near contemporary mottled calf, gilt, rubbed, spine ends chipped, joints cracking, 4to, Leiden, ex Officina Plantiniana, apud Christopherum Raphelengium, 1600. ⁂ Scaliger's massively revised second edition of Manilius (first issued at Paris in 1579) is one of the monuments of late humanistic classical scholarship, and of scholarly polemic as well - in this instance against the whole school of modern astrology. Anthony Grafton devotes a sub-chapter of his magisterial Joseph Scaliger: A Study in the History of Classical Scholarship (ii [1992], 437-59) to 'The Second Manilius, 1597-1599: Reprises and Reprisals', pointing out that Scaliger here re-based his text on the recently-discovered C11 Gembloux MS, and that all his revised commentary took into account that new source, whereby 'in Scaliger's work as textual critic and exegete the second Manilius marked a culmination, perhaps the highest point on the high arc of his humanistic scholarship'. Provenance: Earls of Macclesfield (South Library bookplate and small embossed stamp to first 3 leaves). Literature: Smitskamp, Scaliger Collection, no. 98; Adams M 365.

Bell ringing.- Roccha (Angelo) De Campanis Commentarius, first edition, title within woodcut architectural title, 4 engraved plates (2 folding), woodcut decorative initials, X4 blank, ink stamp of religious institution to title, plates trimmed, some browning and spotting, occasional staining, modern calf, small 4to, Rome, apud Guillelmum Facciottum, 1612. ⁂ Rare early work on church bells and bell ringing. It includes a 6pp. section on horology and bells. Please note:Lot 250 – This is listed on COPAC.  

Kircher (Athanasius) Prodromus Coptus sive Aegyptiacus...,,, first edition, second issue, woodcut printer's device depicting Jesus sending the Apostles to preach to the world, with the motto 'Euntes in universum mundum praedicate evangelium omni creaturae', woodcut illustrations in text, light browning, tear to O4 with no loss, small hole to last leaf affecting text, but overall a very good copy, ownership note on title inked out, contemporary limp vellum, 4to, Rome, Congregatio de propaganda fide, 1636. ⁂ Literature: Merrill, 3; Caillet II, 5790; Brunet III, 668; Graesse IV, p. 22; Sommervogel IV, 1047.3.

Digby (Sir Kenelm) Two Treatises, in the One of Which, the Nature of Bodies; in the Other, the Nature of Mans Soule; is Looked Into: in the Way of Discovery, of the Immortality of Reasonable Soules, first edition, woodcut head- and tail-pieces and initials, lacking final blank, title a little soiled, with chipping and restoration to outer margin, 3N3 with lower corner restored, 18th century manuscript note addressed to James Wyld regarding the sale of a horse, upper hinge strengthened, bookplates, contemporary calf, rebacked, upper joint cracked ,corners and fore-edge strengthened and repaired, [Wing D1448], folio, Paris, Gilles Blaizot, 1644. ⁂ Digby's chief philosophical work, the publication of this volume marked the introduction of Gassendian and Cartesian atomism into England. He aimed to prove the immortality of the rational soul and its distinction from the material body. In the first treatise he provides the first important defence of Harvey's theory of circulation of the blood in English. The work also contains "the fullest early account in English of teaching the deaf to lip-read", a practice Digby had first observed at the Spanish court, and which he had reported to Prince Charles. Provenance: James Wyld Jnr.; John Farquhar Fulton (1899-1960), American neurophysiologist and science writer (bookplates)

Potter (Beatrix) The Story of Miss Moppet, first edition, in panoramic format, first issue with London & New York on the back of the wallet, comprising 14 colour illustrations facing text printed in green, all within green borders and linen-backed, title and imprint on mounted mottled rose paper, ink stamp reading "Property Room, Not To Be Taken Away" to verso of final panel, light damp-staining to head of panels and inside covers, original red cloth wallet covers with mounted colour illustration, lettering and decorations in black, printed lettering to tab reading "One Shilling Net", very short closed tear to clasp, some light rubbing but an excellent example overall, [Linder p.183 & 426; Quinby 11], oblong 16mo, 1906. ⁂ In the scarce variant red binding (see also lot 23), the ink stamp and the presence of the "One Shilling Net" lettering (not found on the usual blue-grey cloth copies), indicates that this may have been a rejected trial binding and that this copy came from the Warne archives. As the model for Miss Moppet, Potter borrowed a kitten belonging to a local mason which however proved to be a somewhat difficult subject, as she wrote in a letter of that year: "I have borrowed a Kitten and I am rather glad of the opportunity of working at the drawings. It is very young and pretty and a most fearful pickle."

Grandville (J.J. ) Un Autre Monde, first edition, 36 engraved plates (34 hand-coloured), light spotting on title, 19th century half morocco with floral patterned boards, a little rubbed, 4to, Paris, 1844.

Food & drink.- Smith (Eliza) The Compleat Housewife: or, Accomplish'd Gentlewoman's Companion, fifteenth edition, 6 folding engraved Bills of Fare, 2 plates with repairs verso, without loss, some spotting, modern calf-backed cloth, gilt spine in compartments, [Bitting p.438; Maclean pp.133-135; cf. Cagle 996], 8vo, For R. Ware, S. Birt T. Longman [et al.], 1753. ⁂ A scarce edition. The 1742 Virginia edition was the first cookery book published in America.

Potter (Beatrix) The Story of Miss Moppet, first edition, in panoramic format, first issue with London & New York on the back of the wallet, comprising 14 colour illustrations facing text printed in green, all within green borders and linen-backed, title and imprint on mounted mottled rose paper, very small corner crease to final panel, original blue-grey cloth wallet covers with mounted colour illustration, lettering and decorations in dark blue, clasp almost detached, some light marks to lower cover, minor rubbing, but an excellent copy overall, [Linder p.183 & 426; Quinby 11], oblong 16mo, 1906.

Potter (Beatrix) The Story of Miss Moppet, first edition in book form, colour frontispiece, plain title vignette and 14 colour plates, pictorial endpapers, original grey boards with mounted colour illustration, spine browned, some light marking to upper cover, very minor bumping to spine ends and corners but an excellent, sharp example overall, [Quinby 11a; Linder p.426], 16mo , [1916].

Potter (Beatrix) The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher, first edition, first or second printing, colour frontispiece, plain title vignette and 26 colour plates, pictorial endpapers, original green boards mounted colour illustration to upper cover, some very minor bumping to spine ends and corners, but a fine copy overall, [Linder p.426; Quinby 10], 16mo, 1906. ⁂ The inspiration for Jeremy Fisher came in part from the fishing trips of Beatrix Potter's father and the stories with which he would regale her upon his return. Potter had originally offered the story to Ernest Nister who had incorporated the drawings into their Holiday Annual 1896 (see lots 2 and 3). Following the publication of The Tale of Peter Rabbit, Potter purchased the drawings and blocks from Nister for £6 and eventually managed to publish her envisaged story around a decade after it was first proposed.

Potter (Beatrix) The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher, first edition, first or second printing, deluxe issue, colour frontispiece, plain title vignette and 26 colour plates, pictorial endpapers, tear with loss to p.17, not affecting image, some light soiling to margins, hinges tender, some pulling, ink gift inscription to half-title dated Xmas '07, original pink/brown cloth, mounted colour illustration, lettering and decorations in gilt, spine ends and corners a little bumped, light surface soiling to upper cover, extremities rubbed, g.e., [Linder p.427; not in Quinby], 16mo, 1906.

Potter (Beatrix) The Tale of Tom Kitten, first edition, first, second or third printing, colour frontispiece, plain title vignette and 26 colour plates, ink gift inscription to half-title dated Sept. 6th '07, pictorial endpapers, contemporary pencil inscription to front free endpaper, original light brown boards with mounted colour illustration, spine sunned and with chip to head, still an excellent copy, [Linder p.427; Quinby 13], 16mo, Warne, 1907. ⁂ The first three printings are all identical, however the pencil inscription, dated September 6th, 1907, indicates that this is likely from the first. Part of the inspiration for Tom Kitten came from the drawings Potter had produced whilst writing The Story of Miss Moppet (see lot 26). The setting was closely based on the farmhouse and gardens at Hill Top, even including Potter's personal furnishings in the illustrations. Tom Kitten remains one of the author's most enduring creations although she regarded it at the time as only a qualified success: "I am much pleased with Tom Kitten. Some of the pictures are very bad, but the book as a whole is passable, and the ducks help it out."

Potter (Beatrix) The Roly-Poly Pudding, first edition, second printing without "All Rights Reserved" to foot of title, signed by the author on half-title, colour frontispiece, pictorial title, 17 full-page colour illustrations and numerous plain illustrations in text, pictorial endpapers, original red cloth with mounted colour illustration , gilt lettering, light fading to spine, minor rubbing to spine tips and corners, a near-fine copy otherwise, 1908. ⁂ Scarce signed. Potter's promised sequel to The Tale of Tom Kitten, the illustrations were closely based upon the interior of the Hill Top farmhouse and the tale itself was inspired by a rat infestation she encountered upon first moving into the house.

Potter (Beatrix) The Tale of Samuel Whiskers. Or, The Roly-Poly Pudding, first edition thus, first issue with undated title and small advertisement to front free endpaper verso, colour frontispiece, plain and full-page colour illustrations, faint ink gift inscription dated 26.XII.26 and bookseller's stamp to front free endpaper, original light red boards with mounted colour illustration, light sunning to spine and covers, short splits to foot of joints, still a very good copy overall, [Linder p.427; cf. Quinby 15], 16mo, [1926]. ⁂ Frederick Warne & Co. republished The Roly-Poly Pudding in 1926 with the new title and in the smaller format in order to make it uniform with the rest of the series.

Potter (Beatrix) The Tale of Samuel Whiskers. Or, The Roly-Poly Pudding, first edition thus, second issue with undated title and without small advertisement to front free endpaper verso, colour frontispiece, plain and full-page colour illustrations, faint adhesion mark and pencil name to front free endpaper, original light red boards with mounted colour illustration, very light sunning to spine, minor rubbing, an excellent example, [Linder p.427; cf. Quinby 15], 16mo, [1926].