2554 - 3406 OLD and RARE BOOKS
- A few plans/ map w. sm. tears/ weak spots along folds; upper hinge weak. Owner's entry on frontcover and on verso 1 plan; covers discol. and sl. stained; paper over spine loosening at frontcover.
- (Sl.) browned and waterst. almost throughout (2nd part worse); upper pastedown detached; hinges weak. Vellum wrinkled, partly dam. along edges and w. large restored part at lower edge frontcover.
= Cockle 703/ 809 (note), Pohler III, p.694; cf. Sloos 08014/ 18015; cf. Pollak 57/ 58. First French translation of 2 of Stevin's main works on military engineering. "A native of Bruges, Stevin is known as the "Father" of modern statics (...). Stevin took part in the siege of Jülig in 1610, and used his experience in the formulation of his books. He innovatively bound together castrametation with siege strategy, tactics and fortification design, creating a scientific axis between them. Furthermore, the use of sluices made a virtue out of the excessive water channels of Holland, by placing them at the center of a new national fortification method." (Pollak). SEE ILLUSTRATION PLATE CXLVIII.
- Owner's annot. and stamps on first blank and title-p.
ADDED 1 other (not related).
- A few wormholes and (closed) tears; plates occas. sl. yellowed and w. paper straps at inner margin; one plate w. sl. crudely repaired tear; lower pastedown detached and w. old owner's entry. Vellum dam./ loosening at lower corners and upper edge covers.
= Cockle 684: "This is a very famous work, holding a prominent place in the history of artillery"; Pohler III, p.668; Brunet V, p.1000; Graesse VII, p.222. First published in Spanish in 1613. SEE ILLUSTRATION PLATE CXLVIII.
- Spine faded; spine-ends worn.
= One of the most fundamental works on liberal thought and politics. PMM 345; Encyclopedia of Philosophy V, p.320f: "Mill thought that his essay On Liberty was the most likely of all his works to be of enduring value. In it he maintained the view, which he had expressed as early as 1834, that "the sole end for which mankind are warranted, invidually or collectively, in interfering with the liberty of action of any of their number, is self-protection". Mill argued for this view especially in regard to freedom of thought and discussion. "We can never be sure," he wrote, "that the opinion we are endeavoring to stifle is a false opinion; and if we were sure, stifling it would be an evil still" (...) Even eccentricity is better, he held, than massive uniformity of personality and the stagnation of society that would result from it (...) Democratic tyranny would be far worse, he held, than aristocratic or despotic tyranny, since it would be far more effective in utilizing the most efficient of means of social control, the pressure of public opinion. Against this the only reliable safeguard would be the development of personalities strong enough to resist such pressures".
- Plates loose; sl. yellowed; hinges weak; lacks endpapers; owner's entry in pen and ink on title crossed out. Binding worn (paper over boards partly worn off).
= Bierens de Haan 1296 note.
- Partly waterst.; upper hinge widening; title-p. creased and reattached. Binding worn.
= Bierens de Haan 2751. One of the most important books on mills.
- Bookblock sl. warped. Binding sl. worn. = Welsh 602.
- Lacks one leaf (L1) and first free endpaper; bookplate on upper pastedown; occas. cut trifle short, occas. affecting letters.
= Goovaerts 1403; Waller 1088; Welsh 5289; Bondy, Miniature books p.29; not in Scheurleer.
- Upper hinge broken; occas. sl. yellowed/ browned. Rebacked; binding worn/ chipped along edges.
= Kress B751; Goldsmiths 12953 (ed. 1785); Martin-Walter III, 24429; Cioranescu 45200. The rare first edition, followed one year later by a Dutch, a German and an English translation. "Written in favor of the Dutch, when Joseph II demanded the opening of the Scheldt on behalf of the Brabancons" (Watt).
- One vol. lacks first blank. A few pages sl. duststained. Corners and spine-end(s) sl. worn/ chipped; covers sl. rubbed. Vol. 1 and 3 all joints for the greater part split.
= The second collective edition, revised, corrected and greatly enlarged by the author. Copies are known with and without (2) maps. Our copy with maps. Cioranescu 46064; Tchemerzine VIII, 463,a (without maps). Florilège du livre Français imprimé au Pays-Bas no. XII: "Après la mort de Montesquieu Richer avec le concours du fils de l'auteur publia une édition des ouvrages, qui, dans une belle typographie, parût à Amsterdam en 1758".
- One vol. lacks first blank; a few lvs. sl. duststained. Corners and spine-end(s) sl. worn; covers sl. rubbed; vol. 3 upper joint partly split. Otherwise a good set.
= The second collective edition, revised, corrected and greatly enlarged by the author. Copies are known with and without (2) maps. Our copy without maps. Cioranescu 46064; Tchemerzine VIII, 463,a (also without maps). Florilège du livre Français imprimé au Pays-Bas no. XII: "Après la mort de Montesquieu Richer avec le concours du fils de l'auteur publia une édition des ouvrages, qui, dans une belle typographie, parût à Amsterdam en 1758".
= A fine copy of the very rare first French translation of Thomas More's Utopia to appear after 1550. Willems 1628: "Volume rare"); Rahir 1928. SEE ILLUSTRATION PLATE CXLIX.
- First ±60p. of the first vol. restored in upper outer corner; first ±60p of the second volume restored in lower outer corner (both with some loss of text). Otherwise fine.
= Zischka p.XXXVII: "1674 Wagte der Franzose Louis Moréri die Herausgabe eines nicht lateinischen, in einer Landessprache abgefaßten Lexikons (...) inhaltlich steht das Buch am Beginn einer neuen Entwicklung und es sollte zum Ausgangpunkt für eine Reihe von Nachfolgern und fremdländischen Bearbeitungen werden. (...) Das Werk ist als historisch-biographisches Lexikon noch heute nicht ohne Wert und bleibt vor allem eine ergiebige Quelle für Histörchen und Lebensgeschichten aus dem 17. Jh., es beruht auf weitläufigen Quellenstudien und schüttet eine krause Fülle von Begebenkeiten vor dem Leser aus, was wohl seine einstige Beliebtheit erklärt".
- Occas. foxed (plates not affected). Spine-ends sl. worn/ sl. chipped. A fine, complete set.
= Rubens p.1103-1215, 1244-1273; Sabin 62600 (praising the engravings). One of the main sources documenting the history of religion, with extensive descriptions of the Jewish and Roman Catholic faith (incl. the activities of the inquisition), Greek-Orthodox and Protestant churches, Quakers, Anabaptism, Freemasonry, Islam, Buddhism, Chinese and Persian religions, American and African creeds etc. The first vol. i.a. dealing with the rites and customs of the Dutch Jewry in the 17th and 18th century, with very fine plates. SEE ILLUSTRATION PLATE CXLIX.
- All vols. bookplate of J.J.A. Poley and F. Poley-Scheele on upper pastedown; occas. sl./ trifle foxed/ browned; vol. I and IV partly wormholed in blank margin; vol. I upper hinge nearly broken; vol. IV partly waterst.; fold plate w. (closed) tears in blank margin. Vellum sl. soiled.
- Lacks vol. I and X and the frontisp.; all vols. owner's stamp and sm. annot. on title-p.; occas. sl. foxed. Spines sunned/ worn.
= The final conclusion of the negociations of Breda (1574-1575). The negociations were broken off by the Spanish and the hostilities were resumed. After these peace talks the position of William of Orange as leader of the revolt was strengthened (which was the primary goal of the talks from the 'Dutch' side).
- Occas. sl. foxed. Covers sl. rubbed; corners sl. bumped.
= Cf. Haitsma Mulier/ Van der Lem 7b and De Buck 2674.
- All vols. title-p. w. sm. library stamp in lower blank margin; occas. sl. foxed/ browned, vol. XII sl. worse; vol. I lacks 2 preliminary index lvs.; vol. VIII partly wormholed in outer blank margin, not affecting text; vol. IX a few lvs. misbound but complete. A few spine-ends chipped/ dam.; some backstrips leather sl. cracked/ rubbed; most corners bumped.
= The rare first edition. Haitsma Mulier/ Van der Lem 7d: "Van Aitzema verzamelde een indrukwekkende documentatie voor zijn historisch werk (...)"; De Buck 2562 (other ed.). Rare and complete set of the first and only 4to-edition.