Search Results: Authors starting with B from Knuf Rare Books

1861. Paris, Auguste Durand & Poitiers, Létang, 1861. (iv),84pp. Original decorated wrappers. The collection belonged to a certain M. Barbier. Catalogue describing 834 items, a.o. history, theology, belles-lettres & beaux-arts.

1690. Paris, Chez Antoine Dezallier, 1690. 12mo. First edition. xxv,(2),615,(1)pp. Eighteenth century French mottled calf, fully gilt spine, head and foot of spine chipped, small areas of leather loss on both bds, otherwise a good copy. Armorial bookplate Bibliothèque de Mouchy. Baillet was, from 1680 to his death, librarian to M. de Lamoignon, advocat-general to the parlement of Paris, of whose library he produced a manuscript catalogue raisonné in 35 folio volumes. It seems ironic that one should need to cosult Barbier to discover the author of this pioneering work, but the effort is rewarding, for here we read that - Cet ouvrage [était] le premier publié en France sur ce genre de recherches bibliographiques. The subject is approached from various angles, the psychology of pseudonymity, the various types of cognomes etc. This was a preliminary treatise, which should have been followed by a Recueil des Auteurs Déguisés but unfortunately the author died in… Read More

1866. London, Puttick and Simpson, 1866. 82pp. 8vo. Self paper wrappers.

1798. Vienne, J.V. Degen, 1798. xviii, 124, ix pp. Original marbled paper wrappers. Catalogue of all the prints by Lucas van Leyden preceded by a biography. Lucas van Leyden (1494 – 8 August 1533), also named either Lucas Hugensz or Lucas Jacobsz, was a Dutch engraver and painter, born and mainly active in Leiden. He was among the first Dutch exponents of genre painting and is generally regarded as one of the finest engravers in the history of art. Lucas was first trained by his father, Huygh Jacobszoon; later, he entered the workshop of Cornelis Engelbrechtsz(oon), a painter of Leiden. His paintings, as well as his prints, reveal his unique approach to subject matter and style, though Lucas is more highly regarded today as a printmaker than as a painter. He was extraordinarily precocious.

1789. Paris, 1789. 2 vols. 8vo. 348 & 306 pp. 2 frontispieces. Original half calf. (hinges weak, spines very rubbed, covers rubbed, top of spine leather damaged). Interior nice and clean. Second edition (first 1767). The two frontispieces are by Cochin and Peter Delin. The title mentions 50 engravings. These could be purchased apart from the book and it is very rare to find them with the book. I have never seen them together. [c.f. Brunet I, 686].

Paris, Jean de Heuqueville, 1609. 489 pp. Original vellum binding decorated in a geometrical pattern in ink by Bedigis. (size c. 11 x 18 x 6 cm). (bottom of spine very slightly dam.). Ex-libris of the calligrapher on the inside front cover: "Bédigis à Paris". And with dedication by the author on the titlepage: "Ex dono Authoris / A Monsieur l'Archevêque de Tours". The first word of the title "Receuil" is written in black ink and substitutes part of the original title which must have read "Second volume" as this is the second volume of a series of books by Servin but they were all published separately and with many years between them.Louis Servin (1555 - 1626) was a French magistrate. In 1589, as France was being devastated by the civil war, Henri III chose to make Tours the capital of his kingdom. He appointed Servin as advocate-general in which capacity he served until his death. The book was a gift from the author to the archbishop of Tours. At the time of publication this was François de la… Read More

1845. London, J. Bellchambers, 1845. 8pp. Small 8vo. (Lightly soiled at top and fore edge. Closed tears at bottom edge, corners creased and folded). Catalogue of books that includes works by Chaucer, Bunyan and Shakespeare, portraits, sketches and engravings.

1761. Canonibus Traduntur. Romae, Expensis Jo: Baptistae Novelli, 1761. 2 parts in one volume. 348 & 307pp. Large 4to. Contemporary vellum binding (some light foxing throughout). Edges stained dark blue. Pope Benedict XIV (Prospero Laurenzo Lambertini - 1675-1758) was Pope from 1740 onwards. The Catholic Encyclopedia says: "Benedict XIV is best known to history as a student and scholar. Though by no means a genius, his enormous application coupled with more than ordinary cleverness of mind made him one of the most erudite men of his time and give him the distinction of being perhaps the greatest scholar among the popes... A temporal sovereign Benedict governed the States of the Church with wisdom and moderation and introduced many reforms for the purpose of diminishing abuse and promoting the happiness and prosperity of the people... In purely spiritual matters the influence of Benedict left a lasting impression on the entire Church and its administration. His Bulls and Encyclicals which… Read More

1690. Amsterdam, by Aart Dircksz. Ossaan, Boekverkooper op den Dam, no date. (but 1690?) 16pp. Unopened. Stitched as issued. Some foxing and dustsoiling. Hans Willem Bentinck, Earl of Portland (1649-1709). There is no date on this pamphlet but there exists an English edition (London, Richard Baldwin) dated 1690.

1775. Madrid, Joachim Ibarra, 1775. 527pp. 4to. Original limp vellum with red leather titleshield (vellum a bit soiled but interior nice and clean). First edition of this very useful work giving numerous tables of exchange rates for the use of merchants and bankers. The work was much valued in the eighteenth century and a second edition did not appear until the nineteenth century.

(Leipzig), Foire de Jubilate, 1809. 8vo. 304 pp. Original thin grey wrappers made of reused paper with the top of the back cover strengthened and traces of a stamp on the inside back cover. (paper more or less browned and foxed throughout, title a bit dustsoiled & top right corner of the titlepage strengthened). Ex-libris 'Biblioteca Fagnani M" (Federico III Fagnani) pasted on the verso of the title. Rare catalogue of French books for sale at Paul Jacques Besson in Leizpig. Not much is known about Besson or his life. The present catalogue shows which books in French were available in Leipzig. The catalogue contains over 4000 items that are arranged alphabetically by title. The catalogue starts (pages 3 - 11) with the 'Editions Stéréotypes de Didot et d'Herhan' and then continues alphabetically by title. It was published on the was published on the occasion of the 'Foire de Jubilate', the annual fair that was held in Leipzig after Easter. It was the most important book fair in Germany at the time. In… Read More

1726. (London, c. 1726). 8vo. 16pp. Disbound. The first 10 pages of this catalogue are devoted to general books. For each book a size and price are stated. The rest of page 10 and page 11 contains 'Libri in Usum Scholarum'. Pages 12 to 16 contain newly published books each of these with a very extensive description, the year it was published and the price. The second half of page 16 contains a short list of plays that are sold at one shilling each, without giving more than the title, among which are of course some of Shakespeare's plays. Rare catalogue of Arthur Bettesworth who worked at Paternoster Row between 1726 and 1738. His will was proved on June 9th 1739 (cf. Plomer 1726-1777). Plomer also mentions Bettesworth in the dictionary of 1668-1725 as working at the Red-Lion on London Bridge between 1699-1737. He says: "Chiefly a publisher of divinity, though he published many novels, &c., and, like all booksellers on the Bridge, dealt in some questionable literature".

1876. Paris (1860). 3rd. ed., 1876. 691 pp. Illus. (Title page sl. stained). Index. 1/2 Leather. Spine dam.

Caen, 1881. 12mo (180 x 118 mm). 2 unnumbered leaves + 94 pages in manuscript. 3/4 red morocco, marbled boards, title in gold on spine. Manuscript in a delicate hand in black ink with red accents.A lovely manuscript in a legible hand that is a copy of an article on bookbinding by Charles Blanc on bookbinding that had been published in 'La Gazette des Beaux-Arts' in two instalments in October and November 1880. The manuscript is dated "Caen, 1881". The manuscript is enhanced by several remarkable ornament drawn in ink: a title-frontispiece with a lovely decorative border a headband, a decorative letter and two tailpieces as well as a reproduction of a bookbinding executed for Grolier. The frontispiece is signed 'G. Le Vard d'après Le Potre'. This could be a drawing by Gustave Le Vard (1843-1919), president of the 'Société des antiquaires de Normandie' and the author of 'La Décoration des habitations particulièrement édifiées à Caen aux XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles'. The engraving is probably copied… Read More

Paris, G. Cavelier, 1751. With full-page engraved portrait of the author, 40 full-page plates with calligraphic specimens engraved by C.A. Berey. [12], 20, 411, [5] pp. Contemporary calf, gold-tooled spine. Binding slightly damaged at top and bottom of spine; some staining in the lower part of the pages throughout & paper in lower margin page 20 a bit torn.A later, enlarged, edition of this popular and attractive French writing manual. The 40 plates are divided into two sections, the first titled 'Nouveaux exemplaires d'ecriture d'une beauté singuliar', the second 'Exemplaires d'ecriture Italienne batarde'. In addition to handwriting, the text includes chapters on manners, orthography, composition, and arithmetic. Blegny, a Paris writing master, first published his manual in 1691, and it stayed popular throughout the 18th century. [Bonacini 223 (the calligraphed specimens only, undated); cf. Berlin Kat. 5119 (ed. 1735); Gumuchian 5170-5171 (editions 1735 and 1751); Marzioli 57 (ed. 1691)].

1930. Ouvrage accompagné de la reproduction de 173 miniatures dont une planche en couleurs. Paris, 1930. 129pp. + 100 plates. Folio. Wrs. (some foxing throughout).

1677. Germanopolis, (i.e. Frankfurt-am-Main), 1677. (2)ff., A-X8, Y4 (= 174ff). 8vo. Woodcut arabesque on titlepage & arabesque tailpiece. Decorative initials. Contemporary calf. Spine gilt. Front hinge a bit weak, but holding well. The right margin of the titlepage cut out (to erase annotation), with no loss of text. Contemporary doodling on inside front cover. First edition of this work by Johann Heinrich Boecler (Cronberg 1611-1672), published posthumously by Samuel Schotten from Boecler's notes and with Boecler's introduction. Boecler studied in Strasbourg under Matthias Bernegger and became a philologist, lawer and professor of history at Strasbourg. Later he was appointed royal historiographer of Sweden. Boecler wrote extensively on Classical military history and on the works of various Classical authors, including Herodotus, Polybios, Flavius Josephus, Suetonis and Tacitus and is considered to be one of the most important political historians and philologists onf the 17th… Read More

1850. (Groningen), A.L. Scholtens, (1850). 26pp. Orwrs. When in 1850 a new university building was opened in Groningen this was celebrated for days with all sorts of festivities. The procession of the city's booksellers was one of these festivities and the report of it we find in the present little work. Scarce.

1866. Paris, 1866. 37pp. 453 items described. Nineteenth century half green morocco, marbled boards. Original printed wrappers bound-in. (some soiling). Jean-Jacques de Boissieu (1736 – 1810) was a French draughtsman, etcher and engraver. He was born at Lyon, and studied at the École Gratuite de Dessin in his home town, but was mostly self-taught. He began making prints in the period 1758–1764, then went to Italy in the retinue of the ambassador Louis Alexandre, Duc de la Rochefoucauld d'Enville [1743–1792]; he met Voltaire on his way, and returned with a collection of landscape drawings. He also realised some plates for the Diderot-d'Alembert Encyclopédie. He continued to produce prints in Lyon, which earned him a reputation as the last representative of the older etching tradition. Boissieu made many etchings of the Roman and Dutch countryside, as well as the countryside around Lyon. He was also sought after as a reproductive engraver. His pupils included… Read More

A la Haye, 1761. 8vo. 111, (i) pp. Modern half calf binding. Uncut. Some dustsoiling on the titlepage and around the edges.
First edition of this work by Louis Bollioud de Mermet (1709-1796) that discusses all aspects of bibliomania, the obsessive pursuit of book and compulsive book buying. The term 'bibliomania' was already in use in England in 1734 but the present work is one of the earliest works that use the term. De Bollioud Mermet who was a book collector himself states on page 9: 'En effet, avoir des collections de livres avec l'incapacité ou le défaut de volonté de lire & d'étudier, c'est un étrange manie, une aveugle ostentation. Entasser des amas de volumes sans nécessité, sans discernmenent, c'est une inutilité absurde, une vaine superfluité..." Scarce on the market. [c.f. Brunet VI ('Table'), 1795].