Rare books from AARDWOLF Fine Books

M. Clark for Samuel Mearne, in Little Britain, John Martyn, in St. Paul’s Church-yard, and Henry Herringman, in the New Exchange, London, 1680; 12mo; blank flyleaf, title page, A1-7, 1-222, 3 pg. index, Q1-9, blank, 1-28, blank, title page, I-X, 1-110, blank, 2 pg. index, page 111. The 1680 edition, containing three additional essays: "A Fragment Of An Essay On Fame," "A Civic Character Of Julius Cesar," and "A Civic Character Of Augustus Cesar," thus increasing the total number to sixty-one, plus the two titled works "Of The Colours Of Good & Evil," and "The Wisdom Of The Antients" (Sir Arthur Gorges translation). Attractive British armorial binding, finely rebacked by Rene Patron of Hollywood, California in brown calf with genuine raised bands, morocco label, and gilt spine titles. Quill & ink inscription on front pastedown: "The gift of Clement Watson of New Zealand, ‘81." Engraved armorial bookplate on rear pastedown (on a mount a… Read More

L’Edition D’Art H. Piazza, Paris, . Large folio containing twenty-four individual 10" x 13" color pastel portrait plates of famous French personages, by premier 18th century French portraitist Maurice Quentin de la Tour (1704-1788), each superbly reproduced in color lithograph on double-weight paper protected with its own guard tissue bearing the subject’s name in letterpress. Encased in the original marbled-board portfolio with linen tie and accompanied by the full-size six page booklet, printed on Rives paper, containing titles and biographical notes for each personage. Text in French. Includes portraits of Rousseau, Voltaire, Jean Restout, Mme. de Pompadour, Louis XV, opera singer Marie Fel, famed danseuse Mlle. de Camargo, Latour himself, and numerous other notables of 18th century French high society. No printed publication date (circa 1900). All prints sparkling and Fine. Portfolio case Very Good. A rare and beautiful item, with the only other copies on record in collections at… Read More

C. Hulmandel, London, 1832-1837; Hand colored stone lithograph by John and Elizabeth Gould of a Rufus-Backed Egret (Ardea rufsata ) from Gould’s "The Birds Of Europe," issued in parts between 1832-1837. Frame size 19 1/2" x 25 1/2", inside matte dimensions 13 1/2" x 19 1/2". Excellent condition, clean, vivid, no tears, or creases. Narrow mat burn. Original descriptive text leaf affixed to the back of the frame together with the shop label of prestigious Brooks Frame and Art Shop, Westwood Village, California, now long gone. A graceful and delicate ornithological subject. Ships to U.S. only.

Martinus Nijhoff, Haag, 1915; First Edition; octavo; red cloth, gilt titles and decorations; illustrated. Seven volumes, comprised of volumes I thru VI plus the supplemental volume VII, each with its own index at the front and containing, throughout the set, 38 full-page b&w illustration plates and over 300 reproductions of the artists’ signatures. Lacks volume VIII, the overall indexing register. Foremost reference source on 16th-18th century Dutch and Flemish artists, painstakingly compiled and published sequentially between the years 1915-1922 by prodigy Abraham Bredius (1855-1946), director of the Mauritshuis Royal Art Gallery at the Hague from 1889-1909 and world-renowned authority on 17th century Dutch/ Flemish art. Bound in the original publisher’s red cloth boards with gilt titles and seal on the front. All volumes in Very Good Plus condition, clean, crisp, bright, bindings tight, sound, and square, corners sharp. A legendary reference in exceptional condition. (See Mary W.… Read More

Weier near Horburg (Wihr-en-Plaine), 1751; tall quarto (8 1/2" x 13"), 418 pages. Original manuscript of the last will and testament of Maria Balzinger (Baltzinger), deceased wife of Mathias Steib, official of the local court and tenant of Pfalz-Zweibrucken ducal estate at Weier near Horburg in the Alsace region. Contains detailed inventories of all personal and real property for both spouses, complete with monetary valuations, the names of all family members and beneficiaries, and full transcriptions of the couple’s original marriage agreements recorded at the City Hall in Colmar, November 26, 1703. Text in German, entirely repeated in French, consisting of 209 leaves of handmade watermarked paper written both sides, for a total of 418 pages. A valuable primary resource, with genealogical and historical data for a privileged Alsace family. Dated at Weier near Horburg, September 13, 1751. Fine condition, in original sewn binding. There is a single small chip, 8mm x 5mm in size, on the… Read More

Goupil, Paris, 1880; Large woodburytype photograph by Nadar (Gaspard Felix Tournachon), of French playwright and operatic librettist Edmond Gondinet (1828-1888), whose work includes the text for the Leo Delibes opera "Lakme." Photo measures 7 1/2" x 9 1/4", mounted on 11" x 14" card. Complete with the original two 11" x 14" leaves of background and analytical text by Gustave Goetschy. From the eminent French 19th century "Galerie Contemporaine" photographic collection of leading figures from the arts and sciences, published by Goupil and issued in parts from 1876 to 1884. Fine condition. There is a miniscule (1/16") corner chip of the mounting card in the blank area at lower right. Light to moderate foxing of the text sheets. Text in French.

Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1940; First Edition; 8vo, 471 pages; publisher’s beige cloth; black spine titles over a red field. Hemingway’s dramatic semi-autobiographical tale of fate, courage, and death in the Spanish Civil War, released to considerable critical acclaim and recommended for the 1941 Pulitzer prize, though none was awarded that year. Source of the 1943 Oscar nominated film directed by Sam Wood starring Gary Cooper and Ingrid Bergman. Hemingway dedicated the book to comrade, paramour, and energetic war correspondent Martha Gellhorn, whom he married the following year. Very Good, pastedown margins lightly tanned, clean, crisp, corners sharp, binding tight, sound, and square, no ownership signatures or any other markings of any kind. Second issue dust jacket with photographer Lloyd Arnold’s credit beneath the rear panel photo, publisher’s price of $2.75, and Henry Seidel Canby blurb on front flap. Arnold was chief photographer for the Sun Valley Company and its Idaho… Read More

Country Life Ltd./ Charles Scribner’s Sons, London and New York, 1924; First Edition; folio (16 1/8 x 11 1/2"); green cloth; gilt titles and rules; top page edges gilt; marbled end papers; photo illustrated. Percy Macquoid and Ralph Edwards’ monumental work on English furniture, the enduring authority on the subject. Profusely illustrated with photographs in black and white plus 52 full-page color plates. All volumes Fine. Extraordinarily clean, crisp, bright, glossy, corners sharp, bindings tight, sound, and square, titles brilliant. Volume II and III have a single minuscule (1/8") cloth fray at the outermost tip of the lower right corner of the front board. No ownership signatures or any other markings of any kind. Small engraved bookplate at front of each volume. A sparkling set in first edition, complete with original dust jackets which bear some edge chipping and aged tape ghosts. Learned twenty-four page introduction by Henry Avray Tipping, notable designer and longtime… Read More

Viking Press, New York, 1935; First Edition; tall 8vo, 154 pages; red cloth; illustrated. Charles G. Finney’s first novel, a fantasy about a bizarre traveling circus that suddenly appears in the remote desert town of Abalone, Arizona carrying a load of extraordinary creatures overseen by a mysterious Chinaman. Winner of Best Book Of The Year at the first National Book Awards in 1935 and later adapted to the screen by Charles Beaumont and Ben Hecht for the 1964 MGM film "The Seven Faces Of Dr. Lao." It has been cited as a creative influence by numerous fantasy writers including Ray Bradbury, who expressed his greatest admiration for it. In his memoirs, author Charles Grandison Finney (1905-1984) revealed that the idea for "Dr.Lao" was conceived while he was stationed with the U.S. infantry in China from 1927-1929. After discharge, Finney moved to Tucson, Arizona and took a job as journalist for the Arizona Daily Star, where remained for forty years, and the fictional Abalone,… Read More

Durham, England, 1681; Final concord Latin indenture in highly mannered Gothic style, executed at the court of Durham during the reign of Charles II on the 26th day of May in the year 1681 before three identified justices and the Mayor of the City Of Durham. Plaintiff is John Garstell, deforciants are Mary Hopper and Anthony Craggs and wife Amice. At issue is a tenement comprised of messuage, an orchard, twenty acres of land, twenty acres of meadow, and twenty acres of pasture, together with all goods and appurtenances, at Wiserley, Weardale township, in the parish of Wolsingham, County Durham. A sum of 160 silver marks was paid, suggesting this property was almost certainly a freehold. Indeed the names of John Gastell, Anthony Craggs and John Hopper appear as Wolsingham freeholders for 1685 in H. Conyers Surtees’ "History Of The Parish Of Wolsingham." Freeholds in Wolsingham were scarce, as the vast majority of lands were retained by the See of the Bishop of Durham. Manuscript… Read More

Printed by E. Guyer, Harrisburg, PA, 1839; First Edition. 8vo, 16 pgs. A special message from Pennsylvania Governor Joseph Ritner (1780-1869) criticizing the rejection of his petition to the state legislature to provide payment to Pennsylvania militiamen for their service in putting down the recent insurrection at Harrisburg, commonly known as the "Buckshot War," giving a detailed chronology of the events leading up to the incident and explaining his reasoning in taking the actions he did, together with complete copies of the correspondence between state and federal officials involved in the matter –William B. Reed, Martin Van Buren, George Douglas Ramsay, A.J. Pleasonton, and J. B. Pointsett. The conflict began over a question of the legitimacy of the electoral vote count subsequent to the election of 1838. Both political parties in the State Legislature refused to seat certain members from the other side, resulting in a bitter fight and riot as onlookers stormed the chamber threatening… Read More

, circa 1850; 8" x 12 1/2" original 19th c. holographic manuscript of the first act of an unnamed stage play set amidst the inhabitants of Gordon Mansion, a prosperous Virginia Plantation. In an opening vignette a group of slaves lie about resting and singing when two, Sambo and Dulcimer, become engaged in name-calling, which quickly turns into a fight. A field boss arrives to break it up and drive them back to work with the crack of a whip. The story proper concerns an educated black slave by the name of Harry who is appointed overseer of the estate by Col. Gordon upon his deathbed and entrusted with the safekeeping of the Colonel’s daughter Nina. The Colonel then reveals that he, Harry, is his eldest son, thus making Nina Harry’s half sister. Harry gives his word he will carry out the Master’s wishes. Harry and Nina have been unexplainably close, and with his newfound knowledge Harry is torn between his desire to divulge to Nina the truth of their relationship, or keeping it… Read More

Rev. R. Davis & Brother, Philadelphia, 1834; octavo, 480 pages; full leather. Christian Frederic Crusé’s landmark translation into English, directly from the original Greek, of the whole of Eusebius’s 4th century Ecclesiastical History, which has enjoyed a prominent position in the study of Church history scholarship for over 180 years. Additionally includes ‘Annotations On The Life And Works Of Eusebius’ (translated from Valesius by S. E. Parker), a Chronological Table, a ‘List Of The Order Of Episcopal Succession In The Prominent Dioceses Mentioned By Eusebius, and a complete Index, Very Good, original leather binding, raised bands, marbled end papers, marbled page edges. General external surface rubbing, moderate leather wear of the bottom edge of the spine panel, edge marbling darkened with age, spine title labels absent, binding tight, sound, square, text clean, crisp, and bright. An essential resource.

Oneida Association, Oneida Reserve, NY, 1849; Unique collection of five first edition Oneida Association publications: 1.) "Confessions Of John Noyes," autobiography of controversial Oneida founder John Humphrey Noyes, (1849; 96 pages), who after undergoing a religious conversion in 1834 during a meeting conducted by fiery revivalist Charles Grandison Finney, decided to dedicate his life to the theology of Perfectionism, and by 1836 had established a commune of "Free Church," or "Bible Socialists," at Putney, Vermont where they remained for twelve years until forced to move to New York’s Oneida Indian Reserve to avoid prosecution for adultery, owing to their practice of universal marriage. "Confessions," published the first year at Oneida, is Noyes’ personal account of his life and religious evolution, plus a history of Perfectionism; (2.) Faith Facts, Or A Confession Of The Kingdom Of God And The Age Of Miracles, (1850; 40 pages), the first Free Church… Read More

Instant Analysis Records, U.S.A., 1988; Numbered limited edition boxed set (#009) containing five 12" vinyl LP’s of bootleg Beatle recordings, complete with both of the original 14" x 11" Beatles posters. Instant Analysis Records #BBR B0001. Contrary to the description on the box front, Disc 5 is actually a recording of the Beatles’ 1964 appearance on Alan Freeman’s BBC Pick Of The Pops radio show, containing live on-air repartee with Freeman interspersed with fifteen song performances. Side 1: I Saw Her Standing There, Goin’ To Kansas City, I Forgot To Remember To Forget, You Can’t Do That, Sure To Fall, Can’t Buy Me Love, Matchbox, and Honey Don’t. Side 2: Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby, I Call Your Name, I Got A Woman, You Can’t Do That, Can’t Buy Me Love, Sure To Fall, and Long Tall Sally. All discs in Fine, unscratched condition. Light corner wear of the box lid plus a short corner split at upper left. Quite scarce.