18412 [ALER, Paul] GRADVS AD PARNASSUM, sive novvs synonymorvm, ephithetorum, et phrasium poeticarum, thesaurus... Edition vndecima. Parisiis: apud Simonen Benard, 1674. 8vo, (172x110mm), [4],1159,[7]p. some browning and occasional light staining of the text. Contemporary sprinkled calf, head and tail of the backstrip and corner tops worn, the front head-fore corner particularly so, early owners' signatures and arithmetical calculations on the endleaves. £200.00
Gradus ad Parnassum(A Step to Parnassus) compiled by the Jesuit Paul Aler, is a dictionary of Latin prosody much used in both English and continental public schools, particularly during the 17th and 18th centuries.

16024 ANDRIES, Judoco. FAUSTUS, ANNUS, MENSIS, HEBDOMAS, DIES, HORA, MOMENTUM ULTIMUM CHRISTIANI. Monasteri Westphaliae [Münster]: typis Bernarde Raesfeldi [Bernard Raesfeldt], 1643. 12mo, (125x75mm), [12],550p. 2 wood-cuts in the text, minor paper faults in K12 and Z5 and generally lightly browned throughout, early owner's signature at the head of the title. Contemporary calf, edges and backstrip rubbed, front joint repaired. Later bookplate of the bibliotheca SS Redemptoris. Ad S. Mariam Magdalenam, Brussels, with their rubber-stamp on the title verso. £125.00
The first published work of the Jesuit Judoco Andries (1588-1658), sometimes called Joes Andries.

18164 [ANON.] NUOVO DIZZIONARIO ITALIANO FRANCESE, E FRANCESE ITALIANO, conformato a buoni, ed appruovati autori moderni, e per perfezzione del libro, e fodisfazzione de' vari virtuosi... Generva: stampato nel Castello di Duillier in Elvezia. Si vende apresso Gio Herman. Widerhold, 1677. 8vo, (184x110mm), [14],1,008p. some slight spotting throughout, the half-title present, pages 951 to the end containing a gazetteer of places, small piece torn from the head-fore corner of the front free endleaf and first fly-leaf. Contemporary vellum, slightly soiled, yap edges, backstrip lettered in manuscript and carrying at the head a small leather eliptical onlay carrying the book number from the library of the Earl of Roden whose armorial bookplate is present on the front pastedown, together with a shelf label. A small, home-made shaped and cut paper placemarker was found in the book at cataloguing, this has been preserved in a small envelope inside the front cover. £185.00

16030 ARISTOPHANES. ARISTOPHANIS COMOEDIAE DUAE PLUTUS & NUBES: cum scholiss Graecis antiquis, quibus adjiciuntur notae quaedam, gemino indice. In usum studiosae juventutis. Londoni: impensis Rob. Clavell, ad insigne Pavonis Coemet Paulino, 1695. 8vo, (167x106mm), [24],463,[30]p. + 2p bookseller's adverts. Parallel text in Greek and Latin, date fures excised on the title and an early ink-stain and some mss additions on p304, otherwise a clean, crisp copy. Contemporary panelled calf, lacking the backstrip and the front cover detached. £120.00

8994 BAKER, Richard. A CHRONICLE OF THE KINGS OF ENGLAND From the Time of the Romans Government unto the Reign of King Charles. Containing all Passages of State and Church, with all other Observations proper for a Chronicle. Faithfully Collected out of Authors Ancient and Modern; and digested into a new Method. The Second Edition, Enlarged with divers Additions, Marginall Notes, and the names of several Mayors and Sheriffes of London, … London: Printed by J. Flesher and E. Cotes: and are sold by Laurence Sadler at the signe of the gilded Lyon, and by Thomas Williams at the signe of the Bible, in Little-Britain. 1653. Folio, (320x205mm), [12]625,[1],[30]p. index. Ornately engraved title by W. Marshall, incorporating portraits of the author & King Charles and figures of a Roman, Saxon, Dane, & Norman, together with bird's-eye views of Verolam, Lincoln, London, & York, and printed title in black and red, paper fault with some slight loss in the tail of  2I6 & 2K1, some very occasional slight spotting. Nineteenth-century cloth, lacking the backstrip, early owner's signature of H. Hall on the title,  and later bookplate of Martin Holmes. £115.00
Dibdin in his Library companion, calls Baker 'versatile, but as I take it, of shallow parts; and yet, such was the popularity of his flimsy performance, that not fewer than eight editions of it went through the press after his death.' Lownes states that although the 1730 edition is 'the best,' the earlier editions 'contain many curious documents, and several interesting particulars omitted' by Phillips and later editors.

16052 BIBLE 1542. LIBRI PROPHETARUM. Esaias... Malachias. Item machanæorum libri duo. Lugduni [Leiden]: apud Seb. Gryphium, 1542. 8vo, (122x78mm), 931p, lacking pages 917-920, some staining particularly noticeable in the tail-spine corner from the beginning to page 67, in the head-fore corner of page 61, and again in the head-fore corner from page 833 to the end; 2 front blanks both badly worm-eaten and with some slight worming to the title; some early underscoring and marginal annotation, rubber-stamp of the Bibl. Capuciner Munster on the title. Lacking the front cover and spine, the rear cover ruled in blind and further ornamented small five-petal floral blind stamps and the brass studs of former clasp mounts. A list of the contents in manuscript capitals on the fore-edge. £300.00

16053 BIBLE 1661. LE NOUVEAU TESTAMENT DE NOSTRE SEIGNEUR JESUS-CHRIST. De la traduction des Docteurs de Louvain... [bound with] LES EPISTRES DE S. PAUL, de la traduction des Docteurs de Louvain:.. 2 volumes in 1, Paris: (1) chez George Josse. (2) de l'imprimerie d'Est Maucroy, 1661. 8vo, (120x64mm), [4],403; 315p. title-page of the first named title in red and black with engraved vignette, a small hole (without textual loss) in the final leaf of the second named title. Modern morocco, rather crudely executed. £350.00

Woman Printer
16111 COMENIUS, Johan Amos. JANUA LINGUARVM TRILINGUIS; novissime ab ipso authore recognita, aucta, emendate: adjunctis metaphrasi Graeca et Anglicana versione. Londoni: ex officina Elizabethae Redmayne, 1685. 8vo, (181x116mm), [16],331,[5]p. 8 engraved plates (2 loose), browned and somewhat stained throughout and with crude repairs to several paper tears mainly in the preface. Early 20th century half morocco, marbled cloth sides, joints rubbed and split at the head. Signatures of J Warhery 1747, James Parker 1768, and Samuel Hutchings 1795, and a gift inscription to Albert H. Blanchard 1847. £450.00
An uncommon and early example of work from this woman printer who took over the business of her husband John Redmayne at his death in 1683 and continued it until c.1707. This is her sole edition of one of the most successful pedagogical works of the seventeenth century which was originally intended as a first reader for teaching Latin and the vernacular. The Janua Linguarum evolved into a thesaurus, many parts of which were devoted of practical information about daily life and the natural world. This edition is set in three columns: the English text in italic type, Latin in Roman and the 'old' Greek in an attractive Greek typeface.

16365 DOMENICHI, Lodouico, &c. VITE DI PLUTARCO CHERONEO DE GLI HUOMINI ILLUSTRI GRECI ET ROMANI. Tradotte per M. Lodouico Domenichi, & altri. Et diligentemente confrontate co' testi Greci per M. Lionardo Ghini... Parte Seconda only. Venetia: appresso Marco Ginami, 1620. 4to, (203x150mm), [40],536p. printer's device on the title and ornate wood-engraved ornaments frames on the section titles, together with several head- and tail-pieces. Rebound in the mid-late 18th century, and shaved a little closely with occasional minor loss,  in half vellum with leather spine lettering piece, (some worm activity in the spine) the sides covers with an attractive block-printed dominotier paper which is a little worn, rear hinge split. £125.00
A very attractive example of decorated paper on a handsome example of Venetian printing employing a delicate italic typeface.

16131 FORTIN, Philippe. TESTAMENT OU CONSEILS FIDELES D'UN PERE A SES ENFANS. Ou sont contenus plusieurs raisonnemens Chretiens, moraux & politiques. Nouvelle edition, Paris: chez Nicolas Le Gras, 1697. 12mo, (160x92mm), [12],417p. ornament head- and tail-pieces and initial letters, title page slight soiled, otherwise a good copy in eighteenth century sprinkled calf, backstrips with raised bands, ornately gilt tooled in the compartments and with a red leather letting piece, joints and edges slightly rubbed. Early armorial bookplate and the later bookplate of Bibliotheca SS Redemptoris, Bruxelles, together with their rubber-stamp on the verso of the front free endleaf and title; red edges. £115.00
A popular and influential work by a retired soldier who sought to present a testament of his aims to be both a good father and a loyal subject to his king.

16607 [GEARING, William, or George and/or William GEAVES.] THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF GREAT BRITAIN, from the birth of our saviour, until the year of our Lord, 1667. With an exact succession of the bishops, and the memorable acts of many of them. Together with an addition of all the English cardinals, and the several orders of English monks, friars, and nuns in former ages. London: Printed for P.Chetwin, and T. Passinger, and to be sold by Thomas Taylor, 1675. 4to, (215x166mm), [16],441,[17],[2]p. the final errata leaf present. Some spotting throughout. Modern paper-covered boards, £225.00
Estc notes that this book is sometimes attributed to William Geaves and George Geaves, a not unacceptable suggestion given that the dedication leaf is signed G.G. In this copy an early manuscript addition to the initials spells out the name Gearing, which would support Estc's main attribution were it not for the fact that Gearing's forename is William and furthermore, Estc attributes another anonymous work: Status ecclesiae gallicanae.... by the author of the late history of the church of Great Britian to William Geaves. We confess ourselves confused!

16618 [GEARING, William, or George and/or William GEAVES.] STATUS ECCLESIAE GALLICANAE: OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY OF FRANCE. From the first plantation of Christianity there, unto this time: describing the most notable church-matters and several councils holden in France, with their principal canons: the most famous men, and most learned writers, and the books they have written...  London: Printed for Thomas Passenger... and Ralph Smith..., 1676. 4to, (216x165mm), [16],228,215,[15],[1]p. with the preliminary imprimatur leaf (signed by Roger L'Estrange) & the final errata leaf, title in red & black. Modern paper-covered boards. £200.00
Described on the title as 'By the author of the late history of the church in Great Britain', this title is attributed to William Greaves by ESTC who, however, attribute that title to William Gearing. The dedication is signed G.R. and this has been extended in manuscript in an early hand to read G.Gearing, which might support Estc's attribution were it not for the fact that Gearing's forename is William.

16632 [GOODWIN (or GODWYN), Thomas] ROMANAE HISTORIAE ANTHOLOGIA RECOGNITA ET AUCTA. An English exposition of the Roman antiquities: wherein many Roman and English- offices are parallel'd, and divers obscure phrases explain'd. For the use of Abingdon School. Newly revised and enlarged by the author. London: printed by J.C. [James Cottrell] for Peter Parker, 1671. 4to, (181x138mm), [6],270,[20]p. lightly browned throughout, early and inoffensive ink 'decoration' in the head margin of the title-page. Modern Ingres paper covered boards. £95.00
Written by the onetime master of Abingdon School and the only school text-book on the subject for a century. The author wrote of this work: 'If it fail to please, put it down to the whispered chatterings of the noisy boys amongst whom the work had its origin; but if approved ascribe it to the continuous questionings of the boys.'

16646 [GOODWIN (or GODWYN), Thomas] ROMANAE HISTORIAE ANTHOLOGIA RECOGNITA ET AUCTA. An English exposition of the Roman antiquities: wherein many Roman and English- offices are parallel'd, and divers obscure phrases explain'd. For the use of Abingdon School. Newly revised and enlarged by the author. London: printed by R.W. [Robert White] for Peter Parker, 1674. 4to, (181x138mm), [6],270,[20]p. lightly soiled throughout, library stamp on the title. Contemporary sheep with line-tooled frame to the front and rear covers, edges rubbed and the backstrip slightly degraded. £125.00
Written by the onetime master of Abingdon School and the only school text-book on the subject for a century. The author wrote of this work: 'If it fail to please, put it down to the whispered chatterings of the noisy boys amongst whom the work had its origin; but if approved ascribe it to the continuous questionings of the boys.'

16971 HENAO, Gabrielis De. SCIENTIA MEDIA HISTORICE PROPUGNATA sev ventilabtum repurgans veras a falsis nouellis narrationibus, circa disputationes celeberrimas de scienta media. Lugduni [Lyon]: Philippi Borde, Laurentii Arnaud, & Claudii Rigaud, 1655. Folio, (344x230mm), [8],92p. A fine, large, wood-engraved printer's device on the title and an engraved armorial device at the head of the dedication leaf; browned throughout, occasionally a touch heavily so, and with some damage to the fore margin of the final leaf. Contemporary full vellum, the front joint split and the front cover almost detached, some vellum missing from the head and tail of the backstrip. £425.00
An extremely rare Lyon printing of a major work by one of Spain's most voluminous authors who was regarded as the most learned men of his country in the seventeenth century. The book first appeared in Salamanca in the same year.

John Day printing
16695 HUMPHREY, Laurence. IOANNIS IUELLI ANGELI, EPISCOPI SARISBURIENSIS VITA & MORS, eiusq[sic]; verae doctrinae defensio, cum refutatione quorundam obiectorum, Thomae Hardingi, Nicol. Sanderi, Alani Copi, Hieronymi Osorij Lusitani, Pontaci Burdegalensis. Londoni: Apud Iohannum Dayum typographum [London: John Day printer], 1573. 4to, (177x133mm), [32],269,[21]p. wanting the errata leaf and conjugate blank, engraved portrait mounted on later handmade paper, the title set within and ornamental frame of printers' ornaments, with handsome wood-engraved initial letters and textual ornaments, a little browned here and there and with a faint stain from 2H2 to the end, some early marginal annotation and textual underscoring. Modern binders' cloth with the binder's ticket on the rear pastedown endleaf. £400.00
The first edition of Humphrey's life of Bishop John Jewel which also provides a vivid account of life at the University of Oxford during the reign of Edward VI. This book is also an example of the work of England's premier printer of sixteenth century and includes in the memorial verse that conclude the book two examples of his printing in Hebrew.

16698 IRSON, Claude. METHODE ABREGE E ET FAMILIERE POUR APRENDRE en peu de temps a bien lire, a prononcer agreablement, & a ecrire corectement en Francois. Ouvrage tres-utile non seulement aux Etrangers; mais ausi aux Francois, qui desirent se pergectionnere en notre languem ou meme enseigner les autres. Paris: chex Pierre Baudiun... 1667. 12mo, (150x87mm), [22],262p. 2 leaves apparently excised from the preface and 4 other text leaves partly stained. Contemporary semi-limp vellum, endleaves of printers' waste. £65.00

17567 JACKSON, Thomas. A TREATISE OF THE CONSECRATION OF THE SONNE OF GOD TO HIS EVERLASTING PRIESTHOOD. And the accomplishment of it by his glorious resurrection and ascention. Being the ninth book of commentaries upon the apostles creed. Oxford: printed by Leonard Lichfield, 1638. Sm4to, (190x145mm), [24],355p, the final three pages supplied in facsimile, slightly browned throughout. Disbound. £50.00
Born in County Durham and educated at Queen and Corpus Christi Colleges, Oxford, Jackson held the important vicarage of St Nicholas, Newcastle before becoming Dean of Peterborough. Of his writings the DNB states 'despite a difficult style and some incoherence, [his works] were much esteemed by later generations of high-church and Anglo-Catholic theologians.'

18171 [LANCELOT, Claude & Pierre NICOLE.] EPIGRAMMATUM DELECTUS EXOMNIBUS TUM VETERIBUS, tum recentioribus poetis accurate decerptus, &c. Cum differtatione, de vera pulchritude & edumbrata, in qua ex certis principiis, rejectionis ac selectionis epigrammatum causae reduntur. Adjectae sunt elegantes sententiae ex antiquis poetis parce sed severiori judicio selectae. First English edition, Londini: impensis Mosis Pitt, 1683. 8vo, (144x93mm), [56]128, 229-537p (as is correct), page 278 misprinted as 178, the final blank present, faint(ish) stain largely confined to the the tail half of the leaf throughout and part of the front free end-leaf cut. Later (?18thcentury) Panelled calf, joints and backstrip repaired. Previous owner's signature: 'E Libris J Crutchley e Coll. Reg. Oxon.' on the front pastedown endleaf and the later bookplate of St Mary's College, Oscott, Birmingham. £150.00
The compilation of this collection of Latin epigrams is attributed to two prominent members of the Port-Royal school, it was adopted for use as a text book at Eton College and remained in use there until well into the eighteenth century.

17562 [LANEY, Benjamin.] THE STUDY OF QUIET, in two sermons upon the same text, fitted to give an allay to the heats of these unquiet distempered times. In which are particulary conteyn'd necessary instructions to the syudent about way and means of attaining the fruits of his study, and setting him out of danger and necessity of seeking it by the new device of comprehension. London: [printed for Timothy Garthwait], 1668. Sm.4to, (189x144mm), [2],73-150p. some slight browning. Disbound. £25.00
Issued as part of Five sermons preached before his majesty... 1669, though the present title has a separate title-page. Laney, an impressive scholar and preacher and committed royalist, was ejected from his position as Master of Pembroke College, Cambridge 'for opposing Parliament and other scandalous acts.' He went into exile with the future King Charles II and was well rewarded for his loyalty be being appointed successively Bishop of Peterborough, Lincoln, and finally Ely. His sermons emphasized the need for good living and liturgical worship within the tradition of the early church and he held that all sermons should be measured against scripture, easily comprehended, and applied to the hearer's lives.

17563 [LANEY, Benjamin.] TWO SERMONS, OF A PRAYER TO GOD, AND OF HEARING HIS WORD; preached at Whitehall before the King in Lent. To rectifie some mis-understanding, through which the use and benefit of two necessary parts and duties of religion in much perverted. London: printing for T[imothy]. Garthwait, 1668. sm.4to, (188x143mm), [2],70p. some slight browning, disbound. £25.00
ESTC records several copies and notes that it was also issued as part of Five sermons preached before his majesty... 1669. Laney, an impressive scholar and preacher and committed royalist, was ejected from his position as Master of Pembroke College, Cambridge 'for opposing Parliament and other scandalous acts.' He went into exile with the future King Charles II and was well rewarded for his loyalty be being appointed successively Bishop of Peterborough, Lincoln, and finally Ely. His sermons emphasized the need for good living and liturgical worship within the tradition of the early church and he held that all sermons should be measured against scripture, easily comprehended, and applied to the hearer's lives.

12850 LUCIAN of Samosta. OEUVRES DE LUCIAN DE SAMOSA te avthevr Grec. De nouueau traduites en Francois & illustrees d'annotation &c. de maximes politiques en marge, par I.B [J. Baudoin]. Paris: chez Iean Richer, rue S.Iean de Latran... [1613.] 4to, (246x175mm), [2 engraved title], [2 dedication], [2 Vie de Lvcian], [8 table],577, [20 index]p. collates: [*1] á2 é4 A-7I4. The engraved title (no letterpress title) with 10 compartmented images surrounding the lettering. The title partly soiled and with two holes, one in the head margin, another with some loss from one of the images and some fragmentary loss from the fore-edge margin (just crossing the plate line). The first and last few leaves slightly damp stained in the fore and tail margins and with margins tears (with loss) in the fore-margin of the final three text leaves and rear blank. Contemporary limp vellum, soiled, one vellum fore-edge tie and the stub of another still present. A gift inscription (dated 1902) from H. Harrison to Abbe L Roller on the he turn in of the front cover, and another later signature (in ball-point pen for God's sake!) on the fore-edge turn in, and the bookplate of  J.R. Nicholas Ross. £475.00

16820 LYNDE, Humphrey VIA TUTA: THE SAFE WAY. Leading all Christians, by the testimonies, and confessions of our best learned adversaries, to the true, ancient, and Catholique faith, now professed in the Church of England. London; printed by G.M. [G. Miller] for Robert Milbourne..., 1628. 12mo, [24],323,[1]p. one leaf (L7) supplied in facsimile and a small paper repair to the fore margin of the title leaf. Sometime rebacked in near contemporary calf, floral ornament with the initials of a previous owner 'T F' in the centre of both the front and rear covers. £200.00

16978 MANASSEH, [Ben Joseph] Ben Israel. MANASSAE ORATIO, ESDRAE LIB. III & IV. Cum indice bibliorum triplici. Coloniae: Jacobum Naulaeum, 1678. 24mo, (115x57mm), 64,[96]p. A small piece cut from the title with slight textual loss from the verso. Bound with: NOVUM TESTAMENTUM Domini Nostri Jesu Christi . Vulgate editionis juxta exempla Vaticanum anni 1592. Coloniae: Jacobum Naulaeum, 1679. 24mo, (115x57mm), 398,[18]p. Engraved title. Contemporary vellum. £375.00
A rare copy of the first-named title which we are unable to locate in any library in the British Isles. The author established the first Hebrew Press in Amsterdam but is perhaps best known for his efforts to obtain the readmission of Jews into England during the Commonwealth. Copac records only the National Library of Scotland and Trinity College Dublin copies of the New Testament, from the same printing house as the Manasseh, which are here bound together.

16990 MARANA, Giovanni Paolo. THE EIGHTH AND LAST  VOLUME OF LETTERS WRIT BY A TURKISH SPY, who lived five and forty years undiscover'd, at Paris: giving an impartial account to the Divan of Constantinople, of the most remarkable transactions of Europe... [First edition], London: printed by J.R. for J. Hindmarsh and R. Sare, 1694. 12mo, (155x90mm), [24],357p. engraved frontispiece, lightly browned throughout. Disbound £55.00
Several sources attribute editorship of the English translation to Robert Midgley although his role, or that of William Bradshaw (who may have provided the translation and who was described by Dunton in his Life and errors as 'the best accomplished hackney-writer I have ever met with) in the publishing history and authorship of The Turkish Spy have never been fully established. Giovanni Paolo Marana, a Genoese refugee at the court of Louis XIV, published the first volume in Italian in 1683. A French version, L'espion du grand seigneur (1684-6), in three volumes and 102 letters, attributed to Marana, reached nine volumes in various editions by 1756. The expanded English version, eventually in eight volumes and containing some 600 letters, was first published in the years 1687 to 1694. A footnote in Nichols's Literary Anecdotes, concerning the authorship of The Turkish spy, reads: 'the following memorandum was taken from a copy of the original conveyance in the hands of the late Mr. Charles Bathurst, bookseller in London, in May 1767: Dr. Robert Midgely, of the parish of St. Michael Bassishaw, London, conveys 27th Dec. 1693, to Jos. Hindmarsh, Rd. Sare, and Henry Rhodes [a subsequent publisher of some of the volumes], all the copy-right in the Turkish Spy in 8 volumes. ... translated, written, and composed, by himself. Afterwards: written originally in Arabick, translated into Italian, and from thence into English. Last of all, he calls himself the sole author of these copies or books. He sold the copy for £209. 11s. 9d.' As DNB notes, All this is very detailed, but not definite proof of Midgley's authorship. The Turkish spy is, however, of greater importance than the problem of its authorship, as it is the first example of a literary genre: the description of a country and its customs, people, and institutions laid bare in a series of letters by a foreigner, and won great contemporary popularity by thrilling and satisfying the new bourgeois reading public with its pseudo-secret revelations of the intrigues of a foreign observer in the capital of one of the most powerful monarchies of western Europe.

16991 MARANA, Giovanni Paolo. THE EIGHTH AND LAST  VOLUME OF LETTERS WRIT BY A TURKISH SPY, who lived five and forty years undiscover'd, at Paris: giving an impartial account to the Divan of Constantinople, of the most remarkable transactions of Europe... [Second edition?], London: printed Henry Rhodes,... and R. Sare, 1702. 12mo, (155x90mm), [16],357p., lightly browned throughout. Contemporary sprinkled calf, heavily worn at the joints with some loss of leather. £40.00
Several sources attribute editorship of the English translation to Robert Midgley although his role, or that of William Bradshaw (who may have provided the translation and who was described by Dunton in his Life and errors as 'the best accomplished hackney-writer I have ever met with) in the publishing history and authorship of The Turkish Spy have never been fully established. Giovanni Paolo Marana, a Genoese refugee at the court of Louis XIV, published the first volume in Italian in 1683. A French version, L'espion du grand seigneur (1684-6), in three volumes and 102 letters, attributed to Marana, reached nine volumes in various editions by 1756. The expanded English version, eventually in eight volumes and containing some 600 letters, was first published in the years 1687 to 1694. A footnote in Nichols's Literary Anecdotes, concerning the authorship of The Turkish spy, reads: 'the following memorandum was taken from a copy of the original conveyance in the hands of the late Mr. Charles Bathurst, bookseller in London, in May 1767: Dr. Robert Midgely, of the parish of St. Michael Bassishaw, London, conveys 27th Dec. 1693, to Jos. Hindmarsh, Rd. Sare, and Henry Rhodes [a subsequent publisher of some of the volumes], all the copy-right in the Turkish Spy in 8 volumes. ... translated, written, and composed, by himself. Afterwards: written originally in Arabick, translated into Italian, and from thence into English. Last of all, he calls himself the sole author of these copies or books. He sold the copy for £209. 11s. 9d.' As DNB notes, All this is very detailed, but not definite proof of Midgley's authorship. The Turkish spy is, however, of greater importance than the problem of its authorship, as it is the first example of a literary genre: the description of a country and its customs, people, and institutions laid bare in a series of letters by a foreigner, and won great contemporary popularity by thrilling and satisfying the new bourgeois reading public with its pseudo-secret revelations of the intrigues of a foreign observer in the capital of one of the most powerful monarchies of western Europe.

16984 MARANA, Giovanni Paolo THE FOURTH VOLUME OF LETTERS WRIT BY A TURKISH SPY, who lived five and forty years undiscover'd, at Paris: giving an impartial account to the Divan of Constantinople, of the most remarkable transactions of Europe... [First edition], London: printed by J. Leake, for Henry Rhodes, 1692. 12mo, (152x88mm), [24],359,[1 adverts]p. engraved frontispiece, lightly browned throughout and rather more heavily so towards the end. Contemporary sprinkled calf, the joints split and the front cover heavily worn. £50.00
Several sources attribute editorship of the English translation to Robert Midgley although his role, or that of William Bradshaw (who may have provided the translation and who was described by Dunton in his Life and errors as 'the best accomplished hackney-writer I have ever met with) in the publishing history and authorship of The Turkish Spy have never been fully established. Giovanni Paolo Marana, a Genoese refugee at the court of Louis XIV, published the first volume in Italian in 1683. A French version, L'espion du grand seigneur (1684-6), in three volumes and 102 letters, attributed to Marana, reached nine volumes in various editions by 1756. The expanded English version, eventually in eight volumes and containing some 600 letters, was first published in the years 1687 to 1694. A footnote in Nichols's Literary Anecdotes, concerning the authorship of The Turkish spy, reads: 'the following memorandum was taken from a copy of the original conveyance in the hands of the late Mr. Charles Bathurst, bookseller in London, in May 1767: Dr. Robert Midgely, of the parish of St. Michael Bassishaw, London, conveys 27th Dec. 1693, to Jos. Hindmarsh, Rd. Sare, and Henry Rhodes [a subsequent publisher of some of the volumes], all the copy-right in the Turkish Spy in 8 volumes. ... translated, written, and composed, by himself. Afterwards: written originally in Arabick, translated into Italian, and from thence into English. Last of all, he calls himself the sole author of these copies or books. He sold the copy for £209. 11s. 9d.' As DNB notes, All this is very detailed, but not definite proof of Midgley's authorship. The Turkish spy is, however, of greater importance than the problem of its authorship, as it is the first example of a literary genre: the description of a country and its customs, people, and institutions laid bare in a series of letters by a foreigner, and won great contemporary popularity by thrilling and satisfying the new bourgeois reading public with its pseudo-secret revelations of the intrigues of a foreign observer in the capital of one of the most powerful monarchies of western Europe.

16989 MARANA, Giovanni Paolo. THE SEVENTH VOLUME OF LETTERS WRIT BY A TURKISH SPY, who lived five and forty years undiscover'd, at Paris: giving an impartial account to the Divan of Constantinople, of the most remarkable transactions of Europe... Second edition, London: printed by J.R. for J. Hindmarsh and R. Sare, 1694. 12mo, (155x90mm), [24],357,[2 adverts]p. engraved frontispiece with a small piece torn from the tail-fore corner without loss of image, lightly browned throughout, early owner's signature James M at the tail of the frontispiece. Disbound £50.00
Several sources attribute editorship of the English translation to Robert Midgley although his role, or that of William Bradshaw (who may have provided the translation and who was described by Dunton in his Life and errors as 'the best accomplished hackney-writer I have ever met with) in the publishing history and authorship of The Turkish Spy have never been fully established. Giovanni Paolo Marana, a Genoese refugee at the court of Louis XIV, published the first volume in Italian in 1683. A French version, L'espion du grand seigneur (1684-6), in three volumes and 102 letters, attributed to Marana, reached nine volumes in various editions by 1756. The expanded English version, eventually in eight volumes and containing some 600 letters, was first published in the years 1687 to 1694. A footnote in Nichols's Literary Anecdotes, concerning the authorship of The Turkish spy, reads: 'the following memorandum was taken from a copy of the original conveyance in the hands of the late Mr. Charles Bathurst, bookseller in London, in May 1767: Dr. Robert Midgely, of the parish of St. Michael Bassishaw, London, conveys 27th Dec. 1693, to Jos. Hindmarsh, Rd. Sare, and Henry Rhodes [a subsequent publisher of some of the volumes], all the copy-right in the Turkish Spy in 8 volumes. ... translated, written, and composed, by himself. Afterwards: written originally in Arabick, translated into Italian, and from thence into English. Last of all, he calls himself the sole author of these copies or books. He sold the copy for £209. 11s. 9d.' As DNB notes, All this is very detailed, but not definite proof of Midgley's authorship. The Turkish spy is, however, of greater importance than the problem of its authorship, as it is the first example of a literary genre: the description of a country and its customs, people, and institutions laid bare in a series of letters by a foreigner, and won great contemporary popularity by thrilling and satisfying the new bourgeois reading public with its pseudo-secret revelations of the intrigues of a foreign observer in the capital of one of the most powerful monarchies of western Europe.

17061 PARIS, Matthew. [OPERA] MATTHAEI PARIS MONACHI ALBANENSIS ANGLI, HISTORIA MAJOR. Juxta exemplar Londinense 1571, verbatim recusa, Et cum Rogeri Wendoveri, Willielmi Rishangerei, authorisque majori minorique historiis chronicisque Mss...  London: Richard Hodgkinson for Cornelius Bee & Laurence Sadler, 1640. Folio, (350x227mm), [50],1009,[125],310,[14]p. frontispiece portrait engraved by T. Cecill, the seperate part title to Vitae Duorum Offarum present and carring the imprint of Miles Flesher as printer, dated 1639, paper reapir to the final leraf (without loss) and some slightly soiling of the first (licence) and final leaf. Contemporary, or near-contemporary, calf, the joints and corner tips sometime repaired, some slight scratching of the leather surface and some wear to the edges, armorial bookplate of Victor Albert George Charles Villiers, Early of Jersey; Osterley Park. £325.00
Based on an earlier work by Roger of Wendover and also known as Flores historiarum, and probably based on an earlier St Albans chronicle, this new edition which appeared in 1640 was evidently a direct result of Matthew Parker's work. Indeed it was originally intended to be a mere reprint of Parker's edition, and its editor, Dr William Wats, who was chaplain to Prince Rupert, did not begin work on it until the text up to the annal for 1188 had been printed off. Wats's edition, though far from perfect, was a definite advance on Parker's. It was reissued twice (Paris, 1644; London, 1684), and was not superseded until Luard undertook in 1869 to re-edit the whole of the Chronica Majora for the Rolls Series. (Vaughan, Matthew Paris).

18422 PENN, William NO CROSS, NO CROWN. A discourse shewing the nature and discipline of the holy cross of Christ, and that the denyal of self, and daily bearing of Christ's cross, is the alone way to rest and the kingdom of God... Second edition, London: printed and sold by Benjamin Clark, 1682. 8vo, (168x105mm), [22],415,[1]p. some browning throughout, lacking the front blank and with the final text leaf mounted (at an earlier date) on a guard at the inner margin with some very minor loss from the letterpress. Contemporary sprinkled and panelled calf, blind tooled, joints and edges rubbed, joints neatly repaired; early owner's signature of Joseph Jarrett, dated 1769 on the front pastedown endleaf together with several practise attempts at his Initials and forename, with a later excised signature dated 1854. £400.00
First published in 1669 and here expanded; Estc offers 15 locations for copies of this issue of the second edition, one of three variants to appear in the same year. Penn sets out the rules for Quaker behaviour: rejection of hat honour, titles, the vanity of apparel, and promotion of the use of ‘thee’ and ‘thou’ when addressing one another, regardless of title, were the outward hallmarks of a simpler approach to life. Penn listed scriptural reasons for the rejection of outward vanities, observing ‘Honour was from the beginning, but hats, and most titles, here of late; therefore there was true Honour before hats or titles, and consequently true honour stands not therein’. Furthermore, he urges people to look further than man's outward appearance, not accepting any man just ‘for his gay cloathing, rich attire, or outward appearance.’ As Penn became more involved in the politics of dissent, he found it increasingly difficult to maintain the standard he set in this work. Nevertheless, it was the first coherent guide on Quaker behaviour. (DNB)

Early Oxford imprint (established press)
17590 RAINOLDS, John. DE ROMANAE ECCLESIAE IDOLATRIA, IN CULTU SANCTORUM, Reliquiarum, imaginum, aquae, salis, olei, aliarumq; rerum consecratarum, & sacramenti eucharistiae, opera inchoati libri duo... Oxoniae: apud Josephum Barnesium, 1596. 4o, (197x145mm), [14],646p. head and fore margins very lightly browned but generally a remarkably good copy. Modern half sprinkled calf, marbled paper sides, red edges. £350.00
A relatively early example from the first properly established University Press at Oxford. In 1584 Convocation had lent Joseph Barnes, a bookseller licensed the by the Vice-Chancellor since 1573, £100 'that he might have a press in the University for printing books the more easily.' Joseph Scaliger of Leiden regarded Rainolds as both a profoundly erudite scholar and a towering pillar of the reformed churches. Rainolds had a formidable reputation as a disputant in the Puritan cause and enjoyed a successful career both in the Church and at Oxford despite not meeting with the total approval of the divine Gloriana. Elizabeth I's objections stemmed from his continued extremism, his radical preaching at Oxford and his writings in support of Calvinistic positions which were at variance with those of the English Church. All of which may explain why when Elizabeth visited Oxford in 1592 she 'schooled Doctor Reynalds for his precisenes, willing him to follow her lawes and not to run before them.'

14461 SCHOTTEN, Martin Printer. A LEAF FROM von PASSAU, DIE VIERUNDZWANZIG ALTEN ORDER DER GOLDINTRON... Strasbourg [Strassburg]: Martin Schotten, 1483. Single leaf, folio, 291x182mm), unsigned leaf, 40 lines with space left for a rubricated initial on the recto, black letter. Slightly browned. £55.00

15997 SEASON, Henry. SPECULUM ANNI: OR, AN ALMANACK FOR THE YEAR OF OUR LORD 1740. Being bissextile or leap-year. From the world's creation according to profane history 5689. From the account of scripture 5662. Wherein you'll find all things necessary for such a treatise...  London: printed by A. Parker, for the Company of Stationers. 1740. 8vo, (159x98mm),  [48]p. printed in red and black, tax stamp on the title, as also a previous owner's rubber-stamp. Original title-wrapper, sometime disbound. £60.00
Rare, ESTC records only a single copy in the UK of this, the seventh appearance of Season's almanac. Of the several contemporary almanac compilers, Season was the most outspoken regarding the Stationers' Company's poor payments; claiming in his 1751 issue that he and his colleagues in the 'noblest branches of mathematics' should be less well-rewarded than 'a French cook, Italian songster, or even an English dapper-witted dancing-master.'  The final page of this issue carries a list of books printed for the Stationers' Company.

Elzervir printing
18770 SLEDIANUS, Johannes. DE QUATUOR SUMMIS IMPERIIS libri tres: postrema editione hac accurate recogniti. Amstelodami [Amsterdam]: Ludovicum Elzevirium, 1654. Cr.8vo, (114x52mm), 309,[23]p. Engraved title-page. Near-contemporary calf, two-line gilt border with floral corner ornaments, joints and head and tail of the backstrip worn, the front joint splitting at the head, marbled paper end-leaves on the pastedowns only, the front overlaid by a later bookplate. £125.00
An extremely popular and important Reformation text which, in tracing the history of the Babylonian, Persian, Greek and Roman empires, posited a view of a linear progression of history. This typographically attractive edition follows in the great tradition of the justly-renowned Elzevir miniature classics which, for the elegance of design on such a scale and the clarity and regularity of the type, have remained unsurpassed.

16081 VEREPAEUS, Simon. (Simonis Verepaei) RUDIMENTA SIVE LATINAE GRAMMATICSE LIBERI. Parve liber: magnus si te modo cerneret auctor,... in usum studiosae Juventutis. [Antwerp] Antverpiae: typis Reneri Sleghers, [1675?] 8vo, (144x92mm), 111p. partly set in black letter type, several instances of early underscoring and marginalia. Contemporary sheep, rather worn and with some loss of the leather at the tail-fore corner of the front cover, this replaced by coloured Japanese paper. Early gift inscription on the front pastedown endleaf and numerous notes and references on the rear. £85.00

Interesting Vellum Binding
17017 [VIEXMONT, Claude De & Pedro De SOTO.] METHODIS CONFESSIONUS, hoc est, ars sive ratio, &c. bevis quaedam via confitendi, in qua peccata & eorum remedia plenissime continentur. Ad haec XII. articulorum fidei cum pia, tumerudita explanatio. [Antwerp] Antverpiae : in audibus Ioan Steelfij, 1556. cr.8vo, (88x70mm), 272 leaves, printer's device on the title, paper repairs to the first six leaves with minor textual loss to three, and a small worn trail in the head of the final three leaves. Contemporary (?original) full vellum, blind tooled roll within a three line frame on the covers and with a diagonal blind fillet in the spine compartments, painted red vellum lettering piece (blank) on the backstrip, the covers slightly distorted. £300.00
A rare Antwerp printing of this popular schoolbook for teaching Latin grammar through confession and penitential prayer. First published in Paris in 1531 for students of the College of Navarre, the book appeared under several variations of the title and was probably first revised by Pedro de Soto (probably the Jesuit of the same name) at the time of a Venice edition of 1545. A number of editions appeared in France, Germany, Italy and the Low Countries in the next half-century; none of them now in any way common as befits a schoolbook that should have worn out through continual use. Despite the faults noted above, the internal condition on the whole is clean and bright and the manner of binding worthy of attention. The semi-stiff vellum binding has slightly distorted with time (or storage conditions) but not unduly so and is attractively ornamented with a blind tooled frame on the front and rear covers, vellum ties at the fore-edge have however, been lost. Is it impossible that this is an early example of a 'publisher's' binding? Vellum would make an excellent and hard-wearing material for a book designed for frequent, and perhaps rough, handling. Another point leading us towards this possibility is the cost-conscious construction of the binding which is composed of two pieces of vellum, one covering the front board and extending around the spine and about a quarter of the way across the rear board, where it overlays another piece of slightly different coloured vellum. However, the tooling is unbroken leaving us to suspect that this was as originally bound. An interesting little book we submit.

18002 VINES, David. THE POSTURE OF DAVID'S SPIRIT when he was in a doubtfull condition. Opened in a sermon preached before the honourable House of Commons at Margarets Westminster, upon October 11, 1644. Being a day especially set apart for a publicke humiliation. London: printed by I.N. [i.e. John Norton], for Abel Roper, 1644. Sm.4to, (176x130mm), [2],[4],26p. title page set within a fleuron border, slightly creased at the head at the time of printing, the leaf carrying the Commons order to print present before the title rather than at the end of the text. Modern binder's boards, slightly soiled, bookplate. £120.00
Vines, the vicar of both Weddington and Caldecot parishes in Warwickshire prior to his ejection from the livings, was regarded as an 'orthodox divine' and was frequently invited to peach before the Long Parliament. In this sermon he expresses his dismay at religion being debased into 'a kind of philosophy of opinions.'

16679 WOOD, Anthony. HISTORIA ET ANTIQUITATES UNIVERSITATES OXONIENSIS. 2 volumes Oxonii [Oxford]: e Theatro Sheldoniano, 1674. Folio, (420x275mm), [8],414; 447,[3]p. Lacking the plates but with the added engraved title-page to volume 1 present, and with 3 engraved dedcation leaves at the start of volume 2, together with a number of engraved headpieces, initials letters and text vignettes. lightly browned. Contemporary calf, worn and the joints broken. Armorial bookplate of L'Abbe de Rothelin. £250.00
'Wood had been at work of his history of Oxfordshire since 1660. He left his own account of his dealing with [Dr John] Fell, who wanted the history of the University only, and in Latin. He smoothed Wood's path to important documents in London, but annoyed him by censoring the text, which he [later] got translated. Fell paid for this and the costs of printing... The University paid Wood £100 for the copy and £50 for his extra trouble. It was a handsome book, dedicated by the undertakers... to the King. The engraved title significantly shows the King handing a charter to the kneeling person of the University, who offers him the book in return; in the background the [Sheldonian] theatre can be seen. (Barker, Oxford University Press and the spread of learning.)