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Two Leaves from the Roman de la Rose, 14th century, Which Defined Love and Literature in the Western World

Two Leaves from the Roman de la Rose, 14th century, Which Defined Love and Literature in the Western World by Medieval History, Literature, Law|All Medieval Historical Documents

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Seller: The Raab Collection
Title
Two Leaves from the Roman de la Rose, 14th century, Which Defined Love and Literature in the Western World
Author
Medieval History, Literature, Law|All Medieval Historical Documents
Seller
The Raab Collection (United States)
Description
1350. This work takes its place on the lineage of great early works, along with the Arthurian tales These are exceptionally early witnesses to this most important literary text, the most popular secular work of the entire Middle Ages Appearances of this seminal text are uncommon, only a handful having reached the market in decades Linguistic variations suggest a non-Parisian scribe; evidence of re-use in the 17th century from manuscript markings[video width=""1920"" height=""1080"" mp4=""https://cdn.raabcollection.com/wp-content/uploads/20231204130246/Roman-de-la-Rose.mp4""][/video] The influence of the Old French allegorical poem, the Roman de la Rose, ripples through the Middle Ages into the Renaissance even into Modernity, attracting the attention, and inspiring the works, of Chaucer, Dante, and C. S. Lewis. Lewis even stated that in cultural importance it ranks second to none except the Bible and the Consolation of Philosophy (Allegory of Love, 1936, p. 157).The Roman de la Rose, according to Lewis, was an important step in the development of Western literature and thought. He wrote, in the above work, “We have seen how… in the hands of a great poet, the Arthurian story, treated in terms of courtly love, produced the first notable examples of psychological or sentimental’ fiction… The radical defect in Chrétien’s poetry is that these two kinds of interest lie side by side in it without being really fused. The emotions of Lancelot and Guinevere are not really illustrated, save in a very shallow sense, by their adventures; their adventures are not really explained by their emotions.”This defect of emotional appeal, of the primacy of love, is rectified, per Lewis, in Roman de la Rose. “But the whole truth about Guillaume (author of the Roman) is missed until we see that he is more of a realist than Chrétien (Chretien de Troyes, fl. c. 1160–1191, was the author of some of the fundamental texts of Arthurian lore). Of the two things that he found in Chrétien it was the fantastic that he rejected and the natural that he used.”The great success, then, of the Roman de la Rose, was fairly novel use of allegory to highlight the emotional journey of love as it would have appeared to someone at that time and in a courtly setting.Summary of the Romance of the Rose:In 1230, Guillaume de Lorris began the dream-vision poem, a first-person narrative describing the efforts of a young man, stricken by the arrows of the God of Love, to obtain his beloved, the Rose. Guillaume’s Amant (Lover) wished to tell the reader all that he knew of love, and the poem describes a dream in which Amant is taken by Oiseuse (Leisure) into a pleasure garden where he meets the allegorical figures of Deduiz (Pleasure), Deliz (Delight), Cupid and others, finally catching sight of and falling in love with the Rose. He is held back by the figures of Dangier (Danger), Honte (Shame), Mal Bouche (Scandal), and Jalousie (Jealousy) who imprison the Rose in a castle after Amant attains a kiss from the Rose.Death claimed Guillaume before he was able to conclude his work. He is only remembered to us through a mention by the poem’s successive author, Jean de Meun, a friend of Dante, who resumed the poem around 1275, adding around 17,700 more lines to the approximately 4,000 extant lines. There are therefore 2 authors for this same work, separately themselves by a relatively great span of time, each with his own milieu and sensibilities.Both authors use the allegory to examine philosophical cruces emerging in the 13th century, through scholasticism, such as free will and determinism, optics, and the adjusting social orders which put mendicant friars in positions of increasing power. However, Jean’s vision for how the Lover relates to his beloved— what he is prepared to do— diverges from Guillaume’s.Jean provides a mirror for the turn from chivalric romances and courtly love which guided Guillaume. Jean’s social and political commentary sees the Lover deceiving and achieving the Rose in a way that that shifts away from the idealized and innocent sensuality of the first part of the poem to a biting satire on contemporary society blended with an overt realization of sexuality. Jean’s Amant makes war on the castle, debates with Reson (Reason), Nature and Genius, and finally enters the inner chamber of the Rose. His advice to the lover includes sections on how a man should keep his mistress (study the arts, ignore any infidelities, offer flattery but never advice) and how a lady might keep her male lover (use false hair, make up and perfume, avoid getting so drunk you fall asleep at dinner, only have intercourse in the dark to hide imperfections of the body, and avoid poor men and foreigners - except very rich ones).[caption id=""attachment_25767"" align=""alignnone"" width=""1600""] Notes from use in the 17th century[/caption]The Manuscript & the Manuscript Tradition:Manuscript scholars have attempted to calculate the survival rate of medieval texts. Usually this calculation is done by comparing the catalogues of library books with known copies. Earlier in 2022, a team at the University of Antwerp has applied statistical principals usually used for tracking wildlife to estimate that approximately 9% of medieval manuscripts have survived to present day.Johns Hopkins University and the Bibliotheque nationale de France have listed 324 known manuscript copies of the Roman de la Rose from the 13th, 14th, and 15th centuries, exceeding the number of manuscripts of the works of Dante and Chaucer. With the suggestion of an original 3,600 copies of the Roman de la Rose, based on the 9% survival rate, we are looking at what remains of a medieval best-seller. Yet few of these reach the market.Medieval manuscript poem, 14th century France, consisting of 2 double-sided folia from the Roman de la Rose, from key sections of this great manuscript (see “further details” below for a detailed entry and the Johns Hopkins system of categorization).  There are manuscripts notations from use in the 17th century, likely as binding.This fragment opens with Friend’s advice to the lover to guard that Scandal doesn’t see him approach the castle where the Rose is kept. If the lover is spotted by Scandal, he should not show hatred or rancor towards him (‘de hayne ne de racune’), because “a wise man covers his bad humour… those who deceive deceivers do a good deed and all lovers, at least the wise ones, should do so” (‘sages hommes son maul talent ceuvre... cil fet bone euvre qi les decheveeurs decoivent…faire le doivent tretuit amans, au mains li sage.” The scribe of this text has stricken through a line of his text, “si sachies que cil fet bone euvre,” which he was a repeat of two lines above. Jean de Meun’s jaded narrative has Friend giving the lover the advice to “serve and honor” Scandal and all his lineage (’tout son lignage’), because it is “no sin to trick those who are tainted by trickery,” (‘De ceus bouler nes pas pechies qi de bouler sont entechies’). And Scandal is, indeed, a boulierre, a trickster. Friend goes on to explain the shameful tricks that Scandal’s bad mouth plays on men to steal— money and reputation. Friend warns that Old Woman and Jealousy also guard Bel Acueil (Warm Welcome), the lover’s companion who has also been taken into the castle. Through false courtesy, bribes, and weeping— even false weeping— will be needed for Amans to make his way through the castle.At this point the fragment breaks off and resumes nearly a thousand lines later. The break in lines from one folio to the next, from lines 7301-7379 to 8415-8575, occurs because of the way the book was put together. Large leaves of vellum were folded in half to create bifolia, which were in turn nested into one another to create gathering of folios (or pages in a modern sense). Since the folded bifolia were still attached a loose bifolia will contain text that jumps from one folio to the next. This is to say that the text on a bifolium will not follow sequentially unless it is the very center of the quire.We reenter the narrative as Friend is telling of an idyllic time which slides slowly towards Jean de Meun’s cynicism, but also with a great statement of the primary of love over earthly, physical power and domination — “No king or prince had yet committed any crime by robbing and seizing from another. All were accustom to being equal, and no one wanted any possessions of his own. They knew well the saying, neither lying nor foolish, that love and lordship never kept each other company nor dwelth together. The one that dominates separates them” (“N’encor n’avoit fet roy ne price, Meifet qui lautrui tout et pinche, Testuit pareil estre souloient, Ne riens propre avoir ne vouloient. Bien savoient ceste parole, Qui nest mencongiere ne fole, Conques amour et seignourie, Ne sentrefirent compaignie, Ne ne demourerent [pas] ensemble: Cil qui mestrie les dessemble’). Immediately following this, the relationships between a jealous husband and frivolous wife is examined. Jealousy laments his own marriage and the bygone days of women, like the Grecian Penelope of Homer’s Odyssey,a who waited loyally on Odysseus’s return.A Note on the Rarity:The text is far from common on the market, with the vast Schoenberg database listing only ten codices appearing at auction since the 1970s, and only three of those of the fourteenth century: Christies', 7 June 2006, lots 23 and 31 (once Phillipps MS. 2838 and 4185, now both Senshu University, Japan); and another in the same rooms, 9 July 2001, lot 12; Sotheby's, 17 June 1997, lot 6 (once Phillipps MS. 129); Drouot, 16 December 1994, lot 1; another in the same rooms, 9 December 1992, lot 371; Ader Picard Tajan in Paris, 16 September 1988, lot 152 (this previously in Sotheby's, New York, sale of Carleton Richmond's library in 1981); the Astor copy sold in Sotheby's, 21 June 1988 (then Beck collection and stolen); Christie's, 25 June 1980, lot 232 (once Phillipps MS. 4357, now in the Ferrell collection); another sold in Ader Picard Tajan in Paris, 20 May 1980, lot 60; and that sold in Sotheby's, 13 July 1977, lot 48, to Peter Ludwig and thence to the Getty Museum. Fragments seem to come to the market even less frequently, with the last examples in Christie's, 30 May 1984, lot 200 (a small miniature trimmed to its edges, from a manuscript of the second half of the fourteenth century); Alde Libraire Giraud Badin, 8 June 2012 (a fourteenth-century leaf most probably the missing first leaf of Columbia University, Plimpton MS. 284); and two fifteenth-century bifolia recovered from bindings, sold through Dreweatt’s, 6 July 2017, lots 34 and 35.The Scribe and His France:While the parent manuscript of the present leaves was probably a Parisian product and made for an aristocratic audience in the early 14th century, the scribe of the manuscript probably came from farther afield than the Île-de-France.Comparing the paleographic style, the manuscript is similar to a manuscript at Oxford, Bodleian MS Selden Supra 57, composed in 1348 in Paris, arriving in the Bodleian Library in 1659. However, a comparison of a sampling of 10 lines from both manuscripts reveals an interesting linguistic difference between the Parisian manuscript and the fragments here.Lines 7307-7316, Selden Sura 57 on left, fragment on right, with differences in bold.Nene fetes chiere neisune/ ne faites chiere neysuneDe haine ne de rancune;/ de hayne ne de rancune ;Et se vous ailleurs l'encontrez,/et se vous ailleurs lencontres,Nul mautalent ne li montrez:/nul mautalent ne li monstres :Sages hons son mautalent cueure,/ sages hommes son mautalent ceuvre,Si sachiez que cil font bonne eure/ si sachies que cil fet bone euvreQui les deceveours decovient;/ qi les decheveeurs decoivent;Sachiez ainsi fere le doivent/ sachies qu’ainssi faire le doiventTrestuit amant, au mainz li sage./ tretuit amans, au mains li sage.Male Bouche et tout son linage,/ Male Bouche et tout son lignage,We can examine another stylistically manuscript from Central France, likely Paris, in the 4th quarter of the 14th century, London, British Library MS Add. 42133.Lines 7307-7316: Add. 4233 (left), Selden Sura 57 (middle), fragment (right), with differences in bold.Nene fetes chiere nisune/ Nene fetes chiere neisune/ ne faites chiere neysuneDe hayne ne de racune/ De haine ne de rancune;/ de hayne ne de rancune ;Et se vous ailleurs lencontrez/Et se vous ailleurs l'encontrez,/et se vous ailleurs lencontres,Nul maltalent ne li monstrez/ Nul mautalent ne li montrez:/nul mautalent ne li monstres :Sages hommes son maltalent cueure/ Sages hons son mautalent cueure,/ sages hommes son mautalent ceuvre,Si sachiez que cil font bonne oeure/Si sachiez que cil font bonne eure/ si sachies que cil fet bone euvreQi les deceveurs decoivent/ Qui les deceveours decovient;/ qi les decheveeurs decoivent;Sachiez quainsi fere le doivent/ Sachiez ainsi fere le doivent/ sachies qu’ainssi faire le doiventTretuit amant au mains lo sage/ Trestuit amant, au mainz li sage./ tretuit amans, au mains li sage.Male Bouche et tout son linguage/ Male Bouche et tout son linage,/ Male Bouche et tout son lignage,Comparing the fragment of the Rose with the other dated and located copies of the same text invites out the linguistic diversity of Old French (the pre-Modern French in use from the 8th to 14th centuries). “Old French” is somewhat of an umbrella term, housing the attested dialects that comprised the linguistic landscape of the Francophone region. The French spoken in the Paris region at this time is known as Francien, in Champagne it is Champeniose, Picard is Picardie, Normans spoke Normand, and the French of England is often called Anglo-Normand. These are only a sampling from the five linguistically distinct regions in the overarching region of langue d’oil France (roughly, the distinction between Northern France, where they say oui for yes, and Southern France where they say oc for yes). A simplified map of the langues de oil are represented below:While some differences in the orthography of the Rose texts can be due to the lack of standardization in spelling in this period, the differences can help us better understand the most likely profile of the scribe, and can likely rule out a Parisian scribe who would have been native in the Francien-dialect. We begin to suspect that the scribe of these fragments was more likely to have come from a region outside of Paris. The data suggests Hainaut, Orleans, Indre-et-Loire, or Ardennes as likely regions with overlap of the linguistic features. Two of these areas, Hainaut and Ardennes, are geographically close, north and northeast of Paris, while Indre-et-Loire and Orleans are further southwest from Paris.Though inconclusive, we can begin to paint a picture of our writer: a talented scribe arriving in Paris and adapting the Parisian style of writing but never losing his regional flare, or maybe he was commissioned by a family of one of these areas and was delighted for the opportunity to produce a manuscript in his own dialect rather than Francien.Further details:Jean de Meun section of Roman de la Rose, in Old French with regional features from outside of Paris, illuminated manuscript on parchment [northern France, mid-fourteenth century] Two large leaves, each with double column of 40 lines of an early gothic French vernacular hand (with lines 7301-7379 and 8415-8575 of the poem), with one-line initials offset in margins, 2-line initials in gold on blue and dark-pink grounds heightened with white penwork), but with an apparent quire signature ""VII'"" at foot of verso of second leaf, recovered from an account book binding (that dated ""1622"" and ""1623""), and so with some stains, cockled areas, later scrawls, discoloration to outer surfaces of that binding and holes, but overall in good and presentable condition, each leaf approximately 330 by 225mm. (written space 226 by 167mm.) These are exceptionally early witnesses to this most important literary text, the most popular secular work of the entire Middle Ages.  Manuscript notations from use in the 17th century, likely as binding.Provenance: Recently discovered in an American collection.Johns Hopkins Standardized Section Headings:Folio 11. Amans (Lover) and Amis (Friend) discuss the situation, Amis assuring Amans that the situation is not desperate; no prison can hold Bel Acueil (Warm Welcome) once he has awarded Amans a kiss (J3b, 1-99, Lines 7204-7302)2. Amis counsels Amans to play nice with Male Bouche (Slander) (J3c, 1-66, 7303-73683. Amis counsels Amans to be sweet to Vielle (Old Woman) and Jalousie (J3d, 1-32, 7369-7400)Folio 2:1. Amis (Friend) observes that things have not always been so; during the golden age, love was sincere and loyal, not rapacious (J3o, 1-96, lines 8323-8418)2. Amis interrupts himself to note that love is incompatible with domination, beginning an account of a jealous husband, Jalous (Jealousy) (J3p, 1-18, 8419-8436)3. Amis, in the voice of the husband, berates his wife for carrying on when he goes off on business and for paying attention to young men (J3q, 1-94, 8437-8530)4. Jalous laments that he should have followed the advice of Theofrastus and never married: whether a women is ugly or beautiful, she will betray her husband (J3r, 1-42 , 8531-8572)5. All women can be seduced; women like Penelope or Lucrece no longer exist (J3s, 1-72, 8573-8656)See Also:Price, Michael, “‘Lost’ Medieval Literature Uncovered by Techniques Used to Track Wildlife,” Science, Feb. 17. 2022Solly, Meilan, “How Much Medieval Literature Has Been Lost Over the Centuries,” The Smithsonian, March 8, 2022
Four Language Passport for the Whaling Ship Sarah, Signed by Millard Fillmore as President

Four Language Passport for the Whaling Ship Sarah, Signed by Millard Fillmore as President by Millard Fillmore|Daniel Webster

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Seller: The Raab Collection
Title
Four Language Passport for the Whaling Ship Sarah, Signed by Millard Fillmore as President
Author
Millard Fillmore|Daniel Webster
Seller
The Raab Collection (United States)
Description
14/07/1851. The noted whaling ship Sarah was out of Nantucket but often docked in the whaling hub of New Bedford. A book speaks of this ship, and reveals the length of its journeys and value of its cargo, stating that “In1830 the whaling ship Sarah returned home to Nantucket Island, carrying 3,500 barrels of valuable whale oil after a voyage of nearly three years.” This amount of whale oil would have been worth about $90,000 back then, equal to millions of dollars today.Ezra Smalley was a whaling captain originally from Nantucket, and he was booked to captain the Ship Sarah on its voyage in 1851.Document signed, as President, Washington, July 14, 1851, being a passport providing that “Leave and permission are hereby given to Ezra Smalley, master or commander of the Ship called Sarah of the burthen of 370 tons, lying at present in the port of Mattapoisett [near New Bedford, Massachusetts] bound for the Pacific Ocean and laden with Provisions, stores and utensils for a whaling voyage, to depart and proceed…on his said voyage…” The document is countersigned by Secretary of State Daniel Webster, and also signing is William T. Russell, Collector for the Port of New Bedford. The passport is in four languages (English, Spanish, French, and Dutch), as befits a ship’s traveling in international waters. The ship is recorded as having stopped at the Galapagos Islands on this voyage, confirming its Pacific Ocean destination.This voyage on the Sarah was to be Smalley’s last. The New York Times reported on June 3, 1852, that “Captain Ezra Smalley, of the ship Sarah…died at sea on board his ship, on the 2d of January, 1852, off New Zealand…” His wife, it said, was by his side, telling us that at least some captains took their wives with them.Passports for whaling ships signed by Fillmore as President are rare. A search of public sale records going back over 40 years shows none having reached that marketplace since 1989.
Poems on Several Occasions

Poems on Several Occasions by ADAMS, John

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Seller: Heritage Book Shop, LLC
Title
Poems on Several Occasions
Author
ADAMS, John
Seller
Heritage Book Shop, LLC (United States)
Description
Boston: Printed for D. Gookin, 1745. Boston: Printed [by Rogers and Fowle] for D. Gookin, 1745. First edition, printed posthumously. Small octavo (5 3/4 x 3 3/4 inches; 145 x 95 mm). [8], 176 pp. Printers' names supplied by Evans. We could find no copies at auction in over 50 years. The final chapter of this book is John Adam's translation of "The Revelation of St. John the Divine" also know as the "Book of Revelations" or the "Apocalypse of John", being the last chapter of the New Testament. This is the first full version of this book of the Bible to be printed in English in America. Because England did not allow the printing of English Bibles in the colonies, no Bibles were printed in America in English until the Aiken "New Testament" of 1777 followed by the full Bible by Aiken in 1782. The first Bible ever printed in American is known as the "Eliot Indian Bible" which was printed in 1661 in the Native American Wampanoag language. In this Bible the "Book of Revelations" has chapter headers in English, but the full text is only in Wampanoag. Very few other early books contain parts of the Bible, those of which including the Bay Psalms Book of 1640 and the Massachuset Psalter of 1709. This present copy printed in 1745 seems to be the earliest American example of the full "Book of Revelations" and one of the earliest full books of the bible in English in America. Bound by the Adams Bindery in full red morocco. Spine stamped and lettered in gilt. All edges gilt. Gilt dentelles. Marbled endpapers. Silk page marker. Previous owner's bookplate on front pastedown. Some occasional minor toning. Overall about fine. A rare example of early American poetry. Contains a poem On the Death of the late Reverend and Learned Dr. Cotton Mather, Feb. 13, 1727-8. "Though pervaded by the Puritan Spirit ye (poems) reveal a more purely aesthetic purpose, and a more careful style, than can generally be found before the latter years of the Century."--Cambridge History of American Literature. John Adams, "poet and minister, was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of John Adams, a shopkeeper, and Hannah Checkley. His family relocated in Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia, several years before the young Adams matriculated at Harvard College. Adams graduated from Harvard in 1721... While Adams's contemporaries knew him best as a minister, what is most memorable about him now is his poetry. His uncle Matthew Adams is largely responsible for John's reputation as a poet, having in 1745 gathered together enough of the younger man's verse to create a volume of 176 pages. Many of the poems, such as "The Perfection of Beauty," a paraphrase of Canticles 5:9, display a Platonic treatment of traditional Christian typology. Much of Adams's poetry is devoted to a treatment of the nature of poetic inspiration... In Adams's six translations of selections from Horace's Odes, however, the poet makes a marked shift from the Puritan habit of composing devotional verse toward the position that poetry should concern itself with aesthetic matters of taste... In such poems, Adams, along with his contemporaries Jane Turell, Mather Byles, and Joseph Green, was among the first Americans to depart from the belief that literature should serve religious conviction rather than provide pleasure." (American National Biography). ESTC W28916. Evans 5527. Sabin 222. HBS 68573. $10,000.
Poésies de Paul Verlaine

Poésies de Paul Verlaine by Verlaine, Paul

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Seller: Whitmore Rare Books
Title
Poésies de Paul Verlaine
Author
Verlaine, Paul
Seller
Whitmore Rare Books (United States)
Condition
Near Fine
Description
Paris: Librairie Albert Messein, 1926. First edition. Near Fine. One of 500 copies on "papier Vélin à la forme," out of a total edition of 550 numbered copies. Eighteen large octavo volumes (9 13/16 x 6 1/4 inches; 249 x 160 mm.). All illustrations in pochoir. Publisher's harlequin leather (calf and morocco) in brown, purple, tan, red, green, gray, orange, black, and maroon by René Kieffer (with his ticket on front free endpaper of most volumes). Covers decoratively stamped in blind, spines decoratively stamped in blind and lettered in gilt with three raised bands, top edge gilt, others uncut, decorative endpapers. Original wrappers bound in. Spines gently faded, otherwise an excellent set. Comprising: Poèmes Saturniens. Illustrations de H. Bouché-Leclercq (1914); La Bonne chanson. Illustrations de Paul Guignebault (1914); Fêtes galantes. Croquis et vignettes de Robert Bonfils (1915); Romances sans paroles. Illustrations en couleurs de Ch. Picart le Doux (1920); Parallèlement. Illustrations de R. Drouart (1921); Jadis et naguère. Illustrations de Léon Voguet (1921); Amour. Illustrations de Th. Hummel (1922); Bonheur. Illustrations de Pierre Peltier (1923); Chansons pour elle. Illustrations de Quint (1923); Liturgies intimes. Illustrations de G. Assire (1923); Sagesse. Illustrations de Daniel Girard (1924); Élégies. Illustrations de André Cahard (1924); Dans les limbes. Illustrations de Gaston Nick (1924); Odes en son honneur. Illustrations de Paul Baudier (1924); Chair. Illustrations de Maurice Guy-Loé (1925); Dédicaces. 220 Dessins d'Alfred Le Petit (1925); Épigrammes. Dessins d'Alexandre Barte (1926); and Invectives. Illustrations de Maurice Tellier (1926). French lyric poet Paul Verlaine (1844-1896) was "first associated with the Parnassians and later a leader of the Symbolists. With Stéphane Mallarmé and Charles Baudelaire he formed the so-called Decadents...[In 1886] his first volume of poetry appeared. In addition to virtuoso imitations of Baudelaire and Charles Leconte de Lisle, Poèmes saturniens included several poignant expressions of love and melancholy. In 1870 Verlaine married Mathilde Mauté; in the delicious poems written during their engagement (La Bonne Chanson, 1870), he sees her as his long-hoped-for savior from his erring ways. Their marriage, however, was soon shattered by Verlaine's infatuation with the poet Arthur Rimbaud...Verlaine abandoned his wife and infant son in July 1872 to wander with Rimbaud and write 'impressionist' sketches for his next collection, Romances sans paroles (1874; 'Songs Without Words')...At the time of publication the author was serving a two-year sentence at Mons for shooting Rimbaud during a quarrel in July 1873. Leaving prison in January 1875, Verlaine tried a Trappist retreat, then hurried to Stuttgart to meet Rimbaud, who apparently repulsed him with violence. He took refuge in England and taught for more than a year before returning to France. From this period (1873-78) date most of the poems in Sagesse ('Wisdom'), including outstanding poetical expressions of simple Roman Catholic faith as well as of his emotional odyssey...The death of his favorite pupil in 1883, as well as that of the poet's mother in 1886, and the failure of all attempts at reconciliation with his wife broke down whatever will to respectability remained, and he relapsed into drink and debauchery. Jadis et naguère (1884; 'Yesteryear and Yesterday') consists mostly of pieces written years before but not fitting into previous carefully grouped collections. Similarly, Parallèlement (1889) comprises bohemian and erotic pieces often contemporary with, and technically equal to, his 'respectable' ones" (Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature). Near Fine.
La Brebis Galante. With 3 original etchings and numerous illustrations by Max Ernst. 1949.

La Brebis Galante. With 3 original etchings and numerous illustrations by Max Ernst. 1949.

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Seller: Marninart, Inc (ABAA-ILAB)
Title
La Brebis Galante. With 3 original etchings and numerous illustrations by Max Ernst. 1949.
Seller
Marninart, Inc (ABAA-ILAB) (United States)
Condition
Very Good+
Description
The Gallant Sheep (La Brebis Galante). 1949, Les Editions Premiers. Paris, France. The book contains three original etchings in color and numerous illustrations, most of which are pochoirs, by Max Ernst. Copy numbered 70/316 with an inscription signed by the artist "To Simon Bilew to read while traveling and forget on a train. Sincerely. Max Ernst". The original cover has some tears on spine and original glassine is worn, cover detached at the spine but pages remain attached and intact.
Vintage Photograph of Jackson circa 1907

Vintage Photograph of Jackson circa 1907 by Jackson, Giles B[eecher], 1853-1924

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Seller: McBlain Books
Title
Vintage Photograph of Jackson circa 1907
Author
Jackson, Giles B[eecher], 1853-1924
Seller
McBlain Books (United States)
Condition
Very Good
Description
Richmond, Va: Jefferson, 1907. Very Good. Approximately 10 x 14 cm. Cardstock on which it is mounted identifies (rather faintly) the photography studio as Jefferson, Richmond, Va, 627 Broad St. Upper right corner gone on cardstock mount which also has some old staining along some edges as well as moderate soiling. Photograph is clean and has nice detail. Jackson was born enslaved in Goochland County, Virginia. He was the first African American certified to practice law in Virginia in 1887. Jackson was involved in the National Negro Business League when it was organized by Booker T. Washington in 1900 and served as that organization's initial Vice President. Jackson was the moving force behind the Negro Building at the Jamestown Ter-Centennial Exposition in 1907. The photography studio (Jefferson) which took this photo was operated by James Conway Farley, an African American photographer who is now generally regarded as the first nationally recognized African American photographer. Farley relocated his studio to the 627 Broad St. address in 1907. 1907 (or maybe 1908) also works as the likely date for this photograph. Phil's recollection is that a similar, but not quite identical, photographic image of Jackson appears in "The Industrial History of the Negro Race of the United States" by Jackson and Daniel Webster Davis which was published in 1908. He suspects that both photos were taken by Farley at the same sitting.
Stroud's Digest On the Diseases of Birds

Stroud's Digest On the Diseases of Birds by STROUD, Robert

7 to 14 days for delivery
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$800.00
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Seller: Between the Covers- Rare Books, Inc. ABAA
Title
Stroud's Digest On the Diseases of Birds
Author
STROUD, Robert
Seller
Between the Covers- Rare Books, Inc. ABAA (United States)
Condition
Very Good
Description
Minneapolis: Marcus and Stroud, 1943. Hardcover. Very Good. First edition thus (revised from his 1933 book *Diseases of Canaries*). Illustrated by the author. Flexible cloth boards. Small owner's label and gift inscription, small tear on title page else a nice, very good or better copy. A very scarce first edition, a practical overview of bird diseases and their cures written in prison by "The Birdman of Alcatraz." Stroud's life story was the basis for the 1962 film *Birdman of Alcatraz* directed by John Frankenheimer, and featuring Burt Lancaster. Lancaster, Thelma Ritter, and Telly Savalas were all nominated for acting Oscars for their roles.
Hereward the Wake, Last of the English

Hereward the Wake, Last of the English by Kingsley, Charles

7 to 14 days for delivery
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$500.00
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Seller: Nelson Rare Books, ABAA/ILAB
Title
Hereward the Wake, Last of the English
Author
Kingsley, Charles
Seller
Nelson Rare Books, ABAA/ILAB (United States)
Condition
Very good in publisher's gilt stamped red morocco cloth, recased with spines laid down, some staining to boards, bookplates in e
Description
London and Cambridge: Macmillan and Co, 1866. Very good in publisher's gilt stamped red morocco cloth, recased with spines laid down, some staining to boards, bookplates in each volume and prior owner stamp/inscription in each, and blind stamp for "W H Smith & Son Library, 186 Strand" being Smith's short-lived lending library but without other indications of library ownership (Sadleir's copy had the same blind stamp).. First edition in book form, in publisher's cloth. Hereward was an enigmatic Anglo-Saxon landholder from Lincolnshire, who "was elevated by a historical novel written by Charles Kingsley . . . into one of the most romantic figures of English medieval history: an outlaw and national hero famous for his determined resistance to the Norman invaders of 1066, and a forerunner of the greatest outlaw of English popular mythology, Robin Hood." Dalton, The Outlaw Hereward the Wake (2009). It is even believed that Tolkien read Hereward and used several of its distinctive word choices in his own works. Gilliver, Marshall, Weiner, Tolkien and the Oxford English Dictionary (OUP 2006). 8vo. 2 vols. viii, 365pp., [1], [2, ads]; viii, 402pp., [2, ads]. Parrish, pg. 49-60. Sadleir 1338.
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The Dark Lady by Auchincloss, Louis

7 to 14 days for delivery
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Details
$375.00
( US$)
Seller: Sanctuary Books
Title
The Dark Lady
Author
Auchincloss, Louis
Seller
Sanctuary Books (United States)
Condition
Near Fine
Description
Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1977. Advance Reading Copy (ARC) / Galley / Uncorrected Proof. Paperback. Near Fine. Wraps; 8vo; pp. 246. Wraps, manuscript spine. Inscribed by the author on the title-p., "For Bev Chaney, with all best wishes, Louis." Covers the faintest bit rubbed; top corner very lightly bumped. SOLD WITH the Master Proof, long loose and folded sheets, with handwritten corrections, stamps (the date, 18 Feb 1977, and "Master Proof").
La Casa dei demoni

La Casa dei demoni by Nicola Guiducci

2 to 8 days for delivery
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$125.00
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Seller: Gerard Koskovich Queer Antiquarian Books
Title
La Casa dei demoni
Author
Nicola Guiducci
Seller
Gerard Koskovich Queer Antiquarian Books (United States)
Condition
As New
Description
Artist's chapbook by photographer and musician Nicola Guiducci juxtaposing de­tails of paint­­ings by Théodore Géricault and pages from Percy Bysshe Shelley's poem "Adonais" with nude photographs of a handsome, tattooed young man plus one of a young man in frumpy drag. All were shot in the baroque interiors of the Milan apart­ment of cultural impresario Oliviero Leti, who uses the space as an invitation-only club. Al­though the colophon indicates a limitation to 100 signed copies, no signature appears in this copy or the one other I have inspected. Copy offered here hand-numbered in silver ink: 032. No holdings in WorldCat or OPAC SBN (Servizio Bibliotecario Nazionale).
Publisher's Promotional Poster for VAMPIRE; THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO THE WORLD OF THE UNDEAD

Publisher's Promotional Poster for VAMPIRE; THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO THE WORLD OF THE UNDEAD

7 to 14 days for delivery
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$60.00
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Seller: Dale Steffey Books, ABAA
Title
Publisher's Promotional Poster for VAMPIRE; THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO THE WORLD OF THE UNDEAD
Seller
Dale Steffey Books, ABAA (United States)
Condition
Fine
Description
No Place: Viking Studio Books Poster. Fine. Poster. First Printing. 17" x 22". Original publisher's promotional poster, 22" w x 17" h, for the book written by Manuela. Dunn-Mascetti, published 1992, the poster with different photographs than the original dust jacket and with a darker feeling. An uncommon poster, well suited for framing, distributed in short supply at the ABA trade show in 1992. All posters shipped loosely rolled in mailing tube..
Deconstructing Osama: The Truth About the Case of Manbaa Mokfhi
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

Deconstructing Osama: The Truth About the Case of Manbaa Mokfhi by FONTCUBERTA, Joan

3 to 14 days for delivery
Standard Shipping: $7.00
Details
$50.00
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Seller: Jeff Hirsch Books, ABAA
Title
Deconstructing Osama: The Truth About the Case of Manbaa Mokfhi
Author
FONTCUBERTA, Joan
Seller
Jeff Hirsch Books, ABAA (United States)
ISBN
9788496540903
Description
Barcelona: Actar D., 2007. First edition. Softcover. First printing. Artist's book. Text in Arabic, Catalan, English and Spanish. Includes over 100 color and black and white images. A fine copy in leather wrappers and still in the publisher's shrinkwrap. An as new copy.
No image available

Mostra di sculture e disegni scenografici del Seicent e del Settecento dalla Accademia di Belle Arti di Bologna

7 to 14 days for delivery
Standard Shipping: $7.00
Details
$30.00
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Seller: Hackenberg Booksellers ABAA
Title
Mostra di sculture e disegni scenografici del Seicent e del Settecento dalla Accademia di Belle Arti di Bologna
Seller
Hackenberg Booksellers ABAA (United States)
Description
Bologna: Accademia Clementina, 1968. 27p., plus 26 pages of b/w plates, original stiff printed wrappers, quarto format.
The Dawn of Wisdom

The Dawn of Wisdom by HERRING (Ann)

5 to 10 days for delivery
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Details
$25.00
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Seller: BATTLEDORE LTD
Title
The Dawn of Wisdom
Author
HERRING (Ann)
Seller
BATTLEDORE LTD (United States)
Description
(JAPANESE Children's Books). HERRING (Ann): The Dawn of Wisdom: Selections from the Japanese Collection of the Cotsen Children's Library. [Los Angeles:] Cotsen Occasional Press [2000]. Profusely Illustrated in color. 4to., x 136 pp.; printed pictorial wrappers. First edition of this important monograph on Japanese children's books in the Cotsen Children's Library from the late 17th century to the present focusing not only on books and magazines but also on printed games, puzzles, posters, broadsides, prints, panel-theater-sets, educational material for home and school use, and playing cards. This selection of items gives a survey of the early production of books for children from the Heian Period (794-1185), Tokugawa (Edo) period (ca. 1615-1868), the Meiji Era (1868-1911), Taisho Democracy and its influence (1912-1932), the strong Nationalist sentiments from the 1930s onwards, and the reconstruction period from 1945.
The Basil and Josephine Stories
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

The Basil and Josephine Stories by Fitzgerald, F. Scott

5 to 14 days for delivery
Standard Shipping: $6.00
Details
$20.00
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Seller: Weller Book Works ABAA/ILAB
Title
The Basil and Josephine Stories
Author
Fitzgerald, F. Scott
Seller
Weller Book Works ABAA/ILAB (United States)
ISBN
9780684133980
Condition
Very Good
Description
Charles Scribner's Sons, 1973. Very Good. Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Basil and Josephine Stories. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1973. xxix, 287pp. 8vo. Hardcover. Book condition: Very good. Book plate of former owner on front paste down. Dust Jacket Condition: Very good. Covers lightly rubbed.

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