A selection of books for the California Virtual Book Fair March 4-6, 2021

DEBORAH COLTHAM RARE BOOKS 0044 (0)1732 887252 [email protected]

1. ARESCHOUG, John Erh. ALGÆ SCANDINAVICÆ EXSICCATÆ Fasciculus primus [-Fascisculus secundus], in quo continentur... Gothoburgi, excudit M. Prytz. Venditur Lundae apud C. W. K. Gleerup. 1840.

Two parts in one volume, small folio; I. ff. [1] title-page, [1] blank, 25 samples on 13 leaves, sample 25 in small paper envelope, sample 17 no longer present; II. ff. [1] title-page and ‘Fautori’, [1] blank, a further 25 samples (nos 26-50) on 12 leaves, samples 41, 47 and 50 in envelopes; each sample with small typed label mounted below; a number of samples somewhat fragile, so only partially remaining, but predominantly intact; some offsetting caused by samples, notably to first title-page; small hole in first blank, paper a little browned throughout with some occasional minor finger-soiling; with a few small neat manuscript corrections in brown ink; in contemporary blue paper-backed boards, title in ink on spine, head and tail of spine bumped, joints a little rubbed and worn with minor loss of paper, most prominent at tail of upper joint, some minor dampstaining evident, covers lightly spotted and scuffed, extremities a little rubbed and worn; three contemporary signatures on front paste-down, two dated 1843 and 1847, though neatly crossed out; a good copy. £850 A rare, albeit somewhat fragile, mid 19th century scientifically published album of Scandinavian algae specimens, containing 50 mounted dried examples, gathered by the noted botanist and phycologist John Areschoug (1811 - 1887), Associate professor of botany in Lund from 1839, and professor of botany at Uppsala from 1859, and who made a special study of algal flora of Scandinavian coastlines and of the Bohuslän archipelago in particular. He was one of the first at Uppsala to give practical lessons in microscopy. The red algae genus Areschougia from the the family Areschougiaceae is named in his honour. The delicate samples have each been carefully mounted on paper, with some of the smaller examples folded into smaller paper envelopes for added protection - 25, 41, 47 and 50, with 41 and 47 seemingly microscopic slide preparations. Only sample 17 appears missing, though a number of samples are only partially complete, emphasising the fragility of such collections. At the bottom of each leaf has been mounted a printed label, giving the number, name, physical and geographical location, and month in which they were collected: ‘1. Fucus serratus Linn. Mollsund Bahsusiae – Aug’. For the most part, however, the specimens still retain their vibrant colour and texture, a great variety of species on display, of various shapes and sizes, some being almost transparent, others far more robust, with a couple partially calcified. They retain an elegance and beauty, and one can easily imagine them once floating in the sea. Further parts were to follow, all of which are scarce, the third part containing samples 51-84 being published in the following year, though which is not present here. In total, according to the University of Auckland, the series ran to 12 volumes, concluding in 1879, although we have so far found no other examples of later issues. A contemporary review in Botaniska Notiser för å 1839 och 1840 (1841) provides some interesting insight into the issues surrounding the publication of such a work, stating that Areschough had previously attempted to published a dried collection of Scandinavian algae, but which did not reach ‘bookstores on the ground that he did not have a sufficient number of instructive specimens of all the species’. He therefore began a new collection, of ‘well-chosen’ specimens, in the words of the reviewer. He is probably best remembered for his 1850 work Phyceae Scandinavicae Merinae. See R.E. Fries, 1950, A Short History of Botany in Sweden; OCLC notes parts I- III at the New York Public Library, with the New York Botanical Garden library having 9 parts, and Auckland noting 12 volumes in 9, concluding in 1879.

Attacked by Goblins - psychotic hallucinations or Demonic possession? 2. BERBIGUIER DE TERRE-NEUVE DU THYM, Alexis-Vincent-Charles. LES FARFADETS ou tous les demons ne sont pas de l'autre monde. Paris, Chez l'Auteur et P. Gueffier... et chez tous les Marchands de nouveautés des quatre parties du Monde. 1821.

Three volumes, 8vo; pp. lciv, 1 - 176, 173-362; pp. 463, [1] blank; pp. 477, [1]; with three lithograph frontispieces and a further 6 (one folding) lithographs; aside from some occasional light foxing and marginal browning, generally clean and crisp, though with a couple of small burn holes (Vol. II, p. 15, and Vol. III p. 209), a small paper flaw affecting upper blank gutter of Vol. I p. 281, with a few neat marginal repairs (Vol. I, p. 82, Vol. II, pp. 186-8, 265-7, 317-9, 461-4, and Vol. III half-title), with upper gutter of Vol. III pp. 67-69 nicked; recently rebound in modern calf, with new labels in red and green on spine, lettered in gilt. £1,600 First edition of this extraordinary work, of note for the striking plates drawn by Quinart and lithographed by Langlumé, and considered by many to be one of the strangest publications of the 19th century. Alexis-Vincent- Charles Berbiguier (1765-ca. 1851) ‘believed himself to be plagued by a host of demons whom he referred to as farfadets (”goblins”). He claimed not only to have been repeatedly victimized by these demons (among other things, they were responsible for the death of his pet squirrel, Coco), but he also allegedly carried out extensive correspondence with them, both sending and receiving letters from the various emissaries of Hell. Berbiguier wrote and illustrated his three-volume autobiography and published it between the years of 1818 and 1821, for the benefit of others who might learn how to battle with demons through his own experiences. He titled the massive, rambling work, Les Farfadets... (Goblins, or Not All Demons are from the other world)’ (Belanger, p. 69). For some time he was treated by Philippe Pinel (1745-1826) at the famous Hôpital de la Salpêtrière, but without success, indeed Berbiguier coming to believe that Pinel himself, was a ‘representative of the Devil’ (Vol. I. p. 4), Pinel coming under frequent attack throughout the work, and accused of colluding with occult forces. Limited to a small print run, Berbiguier eventually destroyed almost all of the copies after publication, though whether from remorse or from fear of retribution from the forces of evil, remains unknown to this day. This rare and curious ‘autobiography’ has given rise to numerous studies and publications, both from a medical and literary point of view. The work is discussed at length by Massimo Introvigne in Satanism: A social History (ff. 74): ‘In 1821, Alexis-Vincent-Charles Berbiguier published a book... that few approved of but many read. In elegant Paris of the Restoration, reading Berbiguier became almost an obligation. References to him by several contemporary authors show the popularity of Berbiguier, later usually listed among the “cranks” or simply consigned to psychiatry... Les Farfadets...is, effectively, a paradoxical and wonderful work, which deserves its fame. The portrait decorating the first of Berbiguier’s three volumes, a marvellous lithography that became a rarity sought by bibliographers, portrays him as the “scourge of the farfadets”. Farfadet in French, means “leprechaun”, but the author defined farfadets as “the élite secret service of Beelzebub”. Although the demons themselves are occasionally defined by Berbiguier as farfadets too, there is no doubt, through his three volumes, comprising almost one thousand five-hundred pages, that most farfadets are human beings, who became “agents” of the Devil and Satanists. The work of Berbiguier opens with an erudite introduction, a Preliminary Discourse that was probably written by François-Vincent Raspail (1794-1878) who, together with lawyer J. B. P. Brunel (1789-1859), edited Berbiguier’s manuscript giving it a literary form... Theology and experience, Berbiguier argued, prove not only that the Devil does exist, but also that there are men and (more often) women who bond with him through a demonic pact... Animated by the Devil, farfadets can manipulate nature, causing rain and snow, and invisibly sneak into the houses of their victims. The can also modify the behaviour of animals and even “animate” inanimate things. The pious man can however defeat Satanists through prayer and the use of herbs such as laurel and thyme, where are feared by the devils themselves. The first volume portrays the poor Berbiguier, who at the age of thirty- two moved from his birthplace in Carpentras, where he was born in 1764, to Avignon. He worked there as an employee for the Lottery, and then as the bursar in the Hospice of Saint Martha. One of the housemaids convinced him to consult tarot cards with a soothsayer known as “La Mansotte”. This initial excursion into occultism was the event that “put him in the hands of the farfadets” and was the source of all evils for Berbiguier. The poor man never slept again from this moment on: the Satanists, invisible, crept into his house and into his bed and tormented him with every sort of offence... He approached for help both an exorcist and several doctors in Avignon: among whom two named Bouge and Nicolas who, unfortunately for him, were disciples of Mesmer and tried to “magnetize” him. Berbiguier saw in magnetism and mesmerism, just like in tarot reading, an artifice of the Devil, so he did not regard his declining condition as a surprise... The pilgrimage to different doctors continued, among others to the famous Philippe Pinel (1745-1826) of the Salpêtrière Hospital. Pinel sent him to an exorcist priest, who however did not believe in the diabolical nature of his ills. Pinel and his collaborators for a while indulged Berbiguier, suggesting placebos and ceremonies both bizarre and harmless to free him from spirits they regarded as imaginary, but eventually sent him away and treated him as a lunatic. Berbiguier ended up believing that almost all doctors were farfadets and that Pinel was actually the “representative of Satan” on Earth’ (Introvigne, and see Vol. I. p. 4). Berbiguier provides extensive information about what he perceives to be the court of Hell, and throughout the three volumes recounts numerous encounters between himself and other ‘Satanists’, both male and female, including a failed priest, Étienne Prieur, a magician Adélio Moreau (1789-1861), and other personalities including Marie-Anne Lenormand (1772-1843), the famous tarot card reader of the period, and whom Berbiguier believed to be a leading Satanic Grand Mistress. ‘The most famous pages of the book are those dedicated to the epic of the squirrel Coco, Berbiguier’s only inseparable friend, destined to a cruel fate... The farfadets, in their nocturnal visits... in invisible form, lashed out at Coco, and finally killed him by inducing him to go in between the mattress and the bed of his unhappy owner, who at the same time was violently thrown on that bed by a farfadet, causing the immediate death of the little creature’ (ibid, and see Vol. II. 78-79). ‘Berbiguier ruined himself by sending copies of his luxuriously bound text to sovereigns, newspapers and libraries. He later had all the remaining copies burned, an action which makes his work today a bibliographic rarity, we don’t know if out of fear of being considered a madman or of further persecution by the farfadets. Although other sources considered him “healed” and dead in Paris in 1835, it appears that in 1841 he was still chasing after farfadets, in spite of his miserable condition, in the Carpentras home for the aged’ (ibid).

As Introvigne notes, some scholars have subsequently questioned whether the whole work in fact that of the editors, hoping perhaps to create a literary sensation and capitalise upon the 19th century fascination with the occult. Barbier certainly seems to suggest that it is more the work of Raspail and Brunel. Many contemporaries widely regarded him as a madman, but a madman who told certain truths, and the work certainly found a wide contemporary readership, and was cited by several authors and known to the eminent demonographer Collin de Plancy, who cites the work in the ‘Dictionnaire Infernel’. Today, it is widely believed that Berbiguier was indeed suffering from some form of monomania or psychosis, and indeed the Dictionnaire encyclopédies des sciences médicales, of 1868-69 devote a passage to Berbiguier describing him as the ‘most famous of the hallucinated monomaniacs’, who ‘devoted all of his time defending himself from the insults and attacks of goblins, to hunting down these fantastic beings, to imprison them in boxes or in bottles, to prick them with pine like butterflies’. Of his name, Berbiguier notes that the addition of ‘de Terre-Neuve du Thym’ was not through some improbably claim to nobility, but more simply from the idea that Terra Nova fishermen catch many fishes, as he hoped to catch many farfadets, and from his desire to retire and cultivate thyme, a plant that was effective in driving out demons (Vol. I, pp. xiii-xiv). A second edition was finally published in 1990. Barbier, II. p. 14; Caillet, 973; Vicaire I, p. 338; for a detailed discussion see Massimo Introvigne, Satanism: A Social History, ff. 74; see Belanger, The Dictionary of Demons, p. 69; see Grillot de Givry, Witchcraft, Magic & Alchemy, ff. 141; see Ariane Gélinas, Le ‘Fléau des farfadets’, http://oic.uqam.ca/sites/oic.uqam.ca/files/documents/p-11-2-gelinas- le_fleau.pdf; On Berbiguier as a psychiatric case, see A. Blavier, Les Fous littéraires, cit, pp. 467-468; and Jacques Lechner, A. V. C. Berbiguier de Terre-Neuve du Thym, ‘L’homme aux farfadets, MA Thesis Strasbourg School of medicine, 1983.

Luxuriously produced celebration of famous ‘Wunderkammer’ Cabinet 3. BÖTTIGER, John. PHILIPP HAINHOFER UND DER KUNSTSCHRANK GUSTAV ADOLFS IN UPSALA I - [IV]. [Übersetzung von Dr. Ernst A. Meyer Stockholm. Gedruckt in 200 Numerierten exeplaren in der Hofbuchdruckerei idun in Stockholm...Heliogravüren, Klischees und pläne ausgeführt in der Lithographischen anstalt des generalstabs]. Stockholm: Verlag der Lithographischen Anstalt des Generalstabs. 1909-1910.

Four volumes, folio; I. pp. [x], 74, [1], with 8 text figures, and 10 heliogravures each with printed tissue sheet (nos. 1-10); II. pp. [x], 98, [1], [1] tipped in slip, with 101 text figures, 19 heliogravures with printed tissue sheets (nos. 11-29), two folding plates and 8 lithographs; III. pp. [xiv], 109, [3], [ii] half title, 24 of printed music, [1] tipped in slip, with 51 text figures, and four heliogravures with printed tissue sheets (nos. 33-33); IV. pp. [xiv], [ii] ‘Bihang’, [31], [1] blank, with 78 plates of mounted half-tones (nos. 34-108); aside from some very occasional minor foxing

or soiling, clean and crisp; a lovely wide-margined set, printed on fine laid paper, bound in tan half-goatskin over marbled boards, spines in compartments with raised bands, ruled and lettered in gilt and black, some minor wear, but otherwise a lovely copy. £1,500 First edition of this luxuriously produced and exquisitely illustrated limited edition, one of only 200 copies (though unnumbered), celebrating the famous 17th century artistic curiosity cabinet created by the Augsburg merchant, banker, diplomat and art collector Philip Hainhofer (1578-1647). One of a number of specially commission Kunstschränke formed during the Thirty Years War, it was purchased by the city, and handed over as a gift to King Gustav II Adolf of Sweden, when he marched into Augsburg on April 24th 1632. The magnificent cabinet of curiosities and art objects was moved to Sweden in 1633 and set up at Svartsjö Castle. The gift also included an attendant carpenter, to take care of the cabinet, and he remained with the collection until his death in 1651. At that time it was moved to Uppsala Castle, and was donated by King Charles XI to Uppsala University in 1694, and is now on display in a room in the Museum Gustavianum. Hainhofer is considered to be one of the most important figures in the sphere of art and collecting in the first half of the 17th century, due to his diplomatic and political career, which enabled him to travel extensively through Italy, Germany and the Netherlands. Fluent in several languages, he conveyed political and cultural information, and even represented his patrons at princely ceremonies such as baptisms and marriages, as well as at political gatherings. Expanding his field of enterprise, he began to trade in art and luxury items, including books, acting as agent for a number of leading European princes. He began to develop his own personal Kunstkammer, which came to play a part in his commercial activities, curiosities being be exchanged or sold, between patrons. We have no inventory of his own collection, but his enthusiasm with cabinets of curiosities led him to visit several of the great princely collections of the age, and his own collection, according to Boström was also visited by many distinguished guests. ‘His truly original achievement lies in his pieces of multi-purpose furniture, especially his great Kunstschränke. These Mehrzweckmöbel, manufactured under his supervision by dozens of artists and craftsmen from various guilds, are, or were at least intended to be, miniature Kunstkammern... these cabinets were made to commission’ (Boström, in Impey, Origins of Museums, p. 92). ‘We are better informed about the Kunstschrank of Gustavus Adolphus. It was manufactured between 1625 and 1631, remaining in Hainhofer’s house until the Swedish king’s troops entered Augsburg in April 1632. The Lutheran councillors, who were reinstated by Gustavus Adolphus, wished to welcome the king with a magnificent gift, so the council bought the cabinet from Hainhofer for 6,500 thalers. The presentation took place in the Fugger palace, with Hainhofer demonstrating it for the king, whom he describes as ‘versed in all sciences and a master of all arts’. Hainhofer had played an important role as mediator between Catholics and Lutherans prior to the surrender of Augsburg... Hainhofer’s Kunstschränk give expression to the desire for an all-embracing documentation of the world and of human activities. In the Uppsala cabinet the animal, plant and mineral kingdoms are represented, the four continents known at that time and every historical period from antiquity up to Hainhofer’s own day. Instruments fulfilling the needs of practical everyday life, of work and study, stand alongside those supplying pastimes and aesthetic pleasure. As with the Kunstkammern, this quest for universality it modified by a focus on the rare, the peculiar, the precious and, in the case of artefacts, on objects characterized by artistic refinement, a high level of craftsmanship and the surmounting of technical difficulties’ (p. 95). Other notable Hainhofer cabinets include that of the Duke Phillip II of Pomerenia, for whom he created the Pommerscher Kunstschränkt (Pomeranian curiosity cabinet), made in 1615-1617, and considered to be the finest and most famous of all the examples. Sadly it was destroyed in a fire during a Berlin bombing campaign at the end of WWII. Another Hainhofer cabinets, created for Augustus Duke of Brunswick- Luneberg is preserved in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, with a further example found in Florence. John Böttiger (1853-1936) was a noted Swedish art historian, and Royal Court archivist and curator from 1892 to Oscar II. The present beautifully produced description of the history of the collection and its rich content, was one of a number of works published by Böttiger, to raise public awareness of, and interest in,

art history and treasures, having published another magnificent four volume work between 1895-1989 giving a history and descriptive list of the Swedish State Collection of Woven Wallpapers. See Hans-Olof Boström, Philip Hainhofer and Gustavus Adolphus’s Kunstschank in Uppsala, Chapter 11 in The Origins of Museums, edited by Oliver Impey and Arthur MacGregor.

‘The Matisse of Mathematics’ 4. BYRNE, Oliver. THE FIRST SIX BOOKS OF THE ELEMENTS OF EUCLID in which coloured diagrams and symbols are used instead of letters for the greater ease of learners By Oliver Byrne surveyor of her Majesty’s settlements in the Falkland Islands and author of numerous mathematical works. London William Pickering [Chiswick, printed by C.Whittingham] 1847.

4to, pp. xxix, [i] blank, 268, with smaller 8vo four page publisher’s catalogue tipped in; with numerous diagrams, symbols and letters printed in four colours (red, blue, yellow and black), wood engraved initials and decorations, printed in Caslon using long s’s on wove paper; as usual, foxed and marginally browned throughout with some offsetting, foxing quite prominent in places; upper edge untrimmed, with a couple of very small nicks in places; bound in contemporary green linen backed publishers drab grey boards, with printed paper label on upper cover (a little soiled), and smaller paper label at head of spine (slightly chipped), head and tail of spine a little bumped, covers scuffed and scratched, extremities rubbed, with some wear along upper fore-edge, corners bumped and worn. £8,000 First edition of this renowned and remarkable Victorian four-colour printed book, the innovative conception of the mathematician, educator, civil engineer, and Her Majesty’s surveyor of the Falkland Islands, Oliver Byrne (1810-1880). The familiar Euclidian diagrams are transformed into Mondrian-like designs and the text is littered with little coloured symbols representing angles, lines and points. Byrne hoped that by replacing the identifying letters with colour coded symbols he could simplify Euclid and make the theorems stick in the memory more readily. Ruari McLean, in Victorian Book Design, calls it ‘one of the oddest and most beautiful books of the whole century... a decided complication of Euclid, but a triumph for Charles Whittingham’. It was one of a very small number of British books displayed at the Great Exhibition of 1851 - no surprise perhaps, since Whittingham was on one of the Juries of the exhibition. Each proposition is set in black Caslon italic, with a beautifully engraved four-line initial vignette: ‘the rest of the page is a unique riot of red, yellow and blue: on some pages letters and numbers only

are printed in colour, sprinkled over the pages lke tiny wild flowers, demanding the most meticulous register: elsewhere, solid squares, triangles and circles are printed in gaudy and theatrical colours, attaining a verve not seen again on book pages till the days of Dufy, Matisse and Derain’ (McLean). This innovative graphic design and style ‘anticipates the pure primary colors, asymmetrical layout, angularity, lightness of plentiful empty space, and non-representational (abstract, “denaturalized”) shapes characteristic of 20th-century Neo-Plasticism and De Stijl painting’ (Tufte), so typified by Piet Mondrian and later Bauhaus. The work was published by William Pickering and printed by Chiswick Press, who as McLean notes, was at the time ‘the foremost name in Victorian book design’, and ‘synonymous with good typography and printing’. Chiswick Press was operated at that time by Charles Whittingham, nephew its founder, and Pickering and Whittingham collaborated in a number of innovative publications around that time. The initial letters for this edition were made by Mary Byfield, noted for her ornamental wood- blocks in particular, and who worked regularly at wood-engraving for the firm, together with Whittingham’s daughters Charlotte and Elizabeth. Extremely difficult and expensive to produce, requiring exact registration of the pages in order to print each colour, the typeface, and the vignettes, only 1000 copies were originally published. Seen at the time as something of a curiosity, the book was sold for an extravagant price, placing it out of reach of the very audience whom Byrne hoped to reach. Consequently, it did not sell well, and led to financial hardship for the Chiswick Press. Whether or not Byrne’s efforts complicate or simplify Euclid has long been a point for some debate amongst mathematicians. What is unquestioned, however, is that Byrne’s depiction of Pythagoras is a classic, rightly feted as one of the most innovative and visually stunning renderings of Euclidean geometry ever produced and a landmark of Victorian colour printing. Keynes, Pickering, p. 37 & 65; McLean, Victorian Book Design, p. 70; Tufte, Envisioning Information, pp. 84-87; see the Mathematical Association of America website for Susan Hawes and Sid Kolpas’ biography of Oliver Byrne, https://www.maa.org/press/periodicals/convergence/oliver-byrne-the-matisse-of-mathematics-biography-1810- 1829; see Julie L. Mellby’s online article ‘Euclid in Color’ on the Princeton Graphics Arts website.

‘Minds have no Sex’ - One of the first works on chemistry by a woman, aimed at women 5. [CHEMISTRY.] MEURDRAC, Marie. DIE MITLEYDENDE UND LEICHTE CHYMIE. Dem löblichen Frauenzimmer zu sonderbahrem Gefallen. In Frantzösischer sprach beschrieben durch Jungfer Maria Meurdrac, nunmehr in Teutsch übersetzt und zum zweyten mahl herausgegeben von J. L. M.C. Sampt einem tractätlein wie man allerhand wolhriechende sachen künstlich praepariren sol durch Johann Muffatz. Frankfurt, In verlegung Johann David Zunners, 1676.

12mo, pp. [viii], 312, [18] index, [2] approbation and blank; with woodcut head- and tail-pieces; quite prominently browned throughout due to paper quality, some gatherings less badly affected; 3 cm horizontal worm-trail at head of title-page though without loss of text, affecting the following pages through to p. 47 decreasing in prominence, touching a few letters but without loss of meaning, with further worming to upper and lower outer margins of index, again without significant loss, worming also evidence in both paste-downs and free endpapers; in contemporary blindstamped vellum, ruled in blind (gilt having faded), title in manuscript on spine and with further manuscript notes on upper cover and spine, with blocked gilt supralibros on both covers, ‘M.G.A.S. 1668’, the armorial device of Archbishop Maxmilián Gandolf Küenburg (1622-1687); despite the faults an appealing copy. £2,500 Rare second German edition (first German 1673) of this important manual of chemistry, first published in French in 1666 (Lachymiecharitable et facile, en faveur des dames, first issue however misprinted as 1656), and

here translated by Johann Lange (according to VD) and with additions by Johann Muffatz. Containing receipts for producing all kinds of medicinal receipts as well as for cosmetics and perfumes, the work is considered to be one of the earliest if not 'the first major treatise on chemistry written by a woman since Maria the Jewess 1600 years earlier' (Alic, pp. 95-6), and over recent years has become the focus of much academic study. 'Her six-part work covered laboratory principles, apparatus and techniques, animals, metals, the properties and preparation of medicinal simples and compound medicines, and cosmetics. The treatise also included tables of weights and of 106 alchemical symbols. She based her work on the alchemical precept that substances were formed of three principles: salt, sulphur and mercury. In the foreword of her book, Meurdrac described her quandary: When I began this little treatise, it was solely for my own satisfaction and for the purpose of retaining the knowledge I have acquired through long work and through various oft-repeated experiments. I cannot conceal that upon seeing it completed better than I had dared to hope, I was tempted to publish it: but if I had reasons for bringing it to light, I also had reason for keeping it hidden and for avoiding exposing it to general criticism. I remained irresolute in this inner struggle for nearly two years: I objected to myself that it was not the profession of a lady to teach; that she should remain silent, listen and learn, without displaying her own knowledge; that it is above her station to offer a work to the public and that a reputation gained thereby is not ordinarily to her advantage since men always scorn and blame the products of a woman's wit … On the other hand, I flattered myself that I am not the first lady to have had something published; that minds have no sex and that if the minds of women were cultivated like those of men, and if as much time and energy were used to instruct the minds of the former, they would equal those of the latter' (ibid).

Some confusion has existed over the dates of original publications. It is now widely accepted that, although the Ferguson Collection copy is dated 1656, this was in fact a misprint for 1666, the work soon being re-issued with a cancel title to make the date correction. The error was perpetuated in many bibliographies however. Similarly, Ferchl notes that the first German edition was 1665, but again this appears to be erroneous, with no copies located on OCLC. We previously handled a copy of the 1673 edition, and which at the time we stated as being the second German edition, based upon Ferchl. The present copy, which has been completely reset, is clearly stated as being the second edition on the title-page. A third edition was published in 1689. Meurdrac’s book appeared in twelve European editions, including an Italian edition in 1682. ‘Except for the first French edition, her text had a publisher, thus suggesting that her book was of continuing value’ (Grolier, p. 93). ‘Marie Meurdrac... was one of two girls born into an aristocratic French family in north-central France. While her older sister took pleasure in riding and hunting, Marie, more serious, involved herself in community life, serving as godmother to several village children. Records indicate that in 1625 she married Henri de Vibrac, commander of Charles de Valois’s guard unit, and that she lived in the château of Grosbois. Except for Meurdrac’s friendship with the Countess de Guiche, a woman of illustrious lineage who welcomed her into the château - and to whom Marie would later dedicate her treatise - little is known about Meurdrac’s life. The historian JeanPierre Poirier suggests that Meurdrac was not satisfied simply overseeing

the management of the château. The widowed countess, similarly restless, recognized a kindred spirit in Meurdrac and became her benefactress, supporting her decision to dedicate herself to the study of chemistry and its benefits for the women in the community. Meurdrac and the countess endeavoured to improve the lives of less fortunate women. Self-taught, Meurdrac began be reading contemporary pharmaceutical works... apparently she performed a large number of chemical experiments, and the results provided the source material for her chemical book... Her decision to publish was rooted in her unwavering belief that her practical book was useful in remedying women’s illnesses as well as a guide to the preservation of their health. Unquestionably an early feminist who broke ground in an area where few women dared to tread, Meurdrac felt that no sharing knowledge that could ameliorate the lives of others would be a betrayal of the Catholic principle of charity as well as incompatible with her inquisitive temperament’ (Grolier, p. 93). Alic, pp. 95-6; Anders, 33 Alchemist Innen, ff. 80; Brüning, Bibliographie der alchemistischen Literatur 2344; Cole 935 (for the first Italian edition); see Duveen p. 402 for 1674 and 1687 French editions); Ferguson II, p. 92 (this edition); Ferchl 394 (seemingly erroneously stating 1665 as the First German edition); Grolier, Extraordinary Women, pp. 93-94; Hurd-Mead p. 426; Ogilvie, II, p. 889; Neville II, p. 167 (first French edition of 1666); Proffitt, p. 390; VD17 14:630105Y; VD17 23:305334B for 1673 edition, which though calling for a plate notes that neither Wolfenbüttel or Weimar have one: a digital copy at Dresden does reveal an image at the end of the work - but it is an appealing engraving by Melchior Hafner of six cherubs - with an inscription about childhood below and which has clearly been added to the copy by a private owner at some point and is unrelated to the work; Waller 11196 (this edition); for a detailed discussion see Lucia Tosi (2001) Marie Meurdrac: Paracelsian Chemist and Feminist, Ambix, 48:2, 69-82, DOI: 10.1179/amb.2001.48.2.69; see also Sandy Feinstein, ‘Chemistry by a Lady for Ladies: Education in the Alchemical Arts’, Chapter 5 ff. 53 in ‘Dominant Culture and the Education of Women, edited by Julia C. Paulk, 2008.

6. [COMPUTERS.] GOLDING, Henry Albert. HORSE POWER COMPUTER FOR STEAM, GAS & OIL ENGINES. London, Charles Griffin & Company, Ltd., Exeter Street, Strand. 1908.

Boxed set, comprising square varnished thick card calculator 167 x 167mm, with three moving circular pieces of graduating size fastened centrally with brass rivet, retaining original tissue guard;together with accompanying text pamphlet of pp. 12, stitched as issued; calculator a little browned and stained, some minor marginal browning to outer margins of pamphlet; housed within the original white paper-covered card box, quite significant loss and wear to one edge, with a couple of further small nicks to lid edges; some minor soiling but otherwise good. £200

An original and sophisticated circular slide-rule/ logarithmic calculator, or computer, designed for solving the numerous problems connected with the power, size and speed of steam engines of all kinds. The calculator has four parts, fastened with a brass rivet, each with a printed scale, which rotate and line up to allow the reading of pipe diameters, the stroke of pistons, cylinder diameters, the BHP of an engine, the IHP of an engine, and all manner of engine design requirements. Whereas the instrument only works for steam engines, the twelve page booklet and the given examples therein are extended to three sources of energy: steam, gas and gasoline/petrol, and diesel oil. ‘The computer is an ingenious form of mechanical calculator for solving the numerous problems connected with the power, size, and speed of steam engines of all kinds. Its action is based upon the well-known principle of logarithmic calculation, the operations of multiplication and long division being effected mechanically by the addition and subtraction of distances proportional to the logarithms of the quantities represented...’ (Introduction). Not in Origins of Cyberspace.

Striking Metallotherapy device 7. [ELECTRO-GALVANIC PENDANT.] [MORON, Edouard and Eugéne LEGRAS.] MÉDECINE NOUVELLE PLAQUES DYNAMO-DERMIQUES Epithème Vitaliste. Brevetées S.G.D.G. Paris, 19 Rue de Lisbonne. n.d. but ca. 1890-1900.

Oval composite plaque made from brass and nickel?, 70 x 115 x 1 mm, with horizontal central moulding, both sides engraved; together with pp. [4] folded explanatory leaflet 212 x 135 mm, further folded down into four; paper a little browned; plaque slightly burnished; retained within the original printed card box, 120 x 80 x 7 mm, box a little foxed and soiled, with minor rubbing and wear to extremities; a very good example. £485

A scarce medical curiosity - a French Vitalist-Mettalotherapeutic device from the turn of the century, made from brass and seemingly nickel, patented and made by the Société Électrogénique, established in the mid 1890s by Eugène Legras (1856-?) and Édouard Moron (1850-1909). Particularly appealing, the device is housed within the original card box, and retains the printed explanatory relief, which guarantees the user of its authenticity and not a counterfeit. Recommended for the treatment of all pain by application to sensitive areas, and by extension supposed to cure all internal diseases, the plaque, sold for 4 francs, and was designed to be attached to clothing, and in particular night-gowns, patients recommended to keep between 3 and 7 plates close to the skin during the night, the number depending on the severity of the ailment. Different metals are known to generate small electric currents when brought together, and this was thought to confer healing properties when held against the skin. The French physician Victor Burq, in around 1849, discovered that placing various metals on the bodies of female patients being treated for hysteria, triggered various physiological, muscular and nervous reactions, and in a number of instances seemed to offer some kind of cure. Thus ‘mettalotherapy’ was born, and Burq’s work soon became quite influential and was adopted by many contemporaries. Innumerable electro- or magnetotherapeutic pendants and devices were developed by physicians, chemists, and businessmen at the time, often without much medical knowledge, and were widely marketed across both America and Europe at the end of the 19th century when electrotherapy hit its peak. We have previously held pendants patented by E. Osselin and Joseph Raspail.

In late 1881 Charles Pinel (1828-1895, son of Scipion, and brother of Philippe), founded the first l’Institut d’Electrothérapie together with a colleague, with the commercial aim of distributing metal plates for medical use, called ‘dynamodermic plates’, so called because of the reactions they caused during application to the skin. An exponent of vitalism, the company expanded rapidly, but Pinel died unexpectedly in 1895, at which point Eugène Legras and Édouard Moron, neither men physicians, became involved. Moron appears to have used a number of pseudonyms, including Doctor Édouard de Monplaisir (named after a district of Sainte-Radegonde where his parents lived), Doctor Sosthène Faber (used in particular at the Rochecorbon Sanitorum they established in 1901), E. de Salerno, and De la Palette. Legras, whose name appears at the end of the present instruction leaf, oversaw the financial side of the business, which seemingly was renamed the Dynamodermic Institute and later the Electrogenic Society. Clearly two entrepreneurial men, the business became very successful, thanks to prominent advertising in local, national and international newspapers, the creation of Le Médecine Nouvelle Journal, and through a prestigious establishment in a Paris mansion at ‘19, rue de Lisbonne’, where as the instruction leaf reveals, free consultations were available from both ‘Dr. Péradon’, chief vitalist physician, who would also give correspondence consultations, as well as from the Director, ‘Dr. Dumas’. Personal consultations were given every day between 10am and 5pm. The sale of devices such as the present ‘plaque dynamodermique’ no doubt helped to pay for this free service. Demand was so strong that a production plant is established in Vernou-sur-Brenne, as noted on the present example. Priding itself on relieving and even curing a multitude of both nervous and physical diseases (including tuberculosis and cancer), the company prospered for more than 20 years, eventually opening their famous Rochecorbon Sanitorium in 1901, in Château de la Tour, on the outskirts of the town. Fortunes quickly changed however, and by 1905 the company had been declared bankrupt, although Legras and Moron, under the pseudonym of Doctor Sosthéne Faber, continued to run the Sanatorium until 1909, when Moron died. Despite attempts by Legras to keep the sanatorium going, it had closed by the start of WWI, when it was used as a military hospital. Later examples of the ‘plaque dynamodermique’ were engraved ‘Rochecorbon’, and were used extensively as part of treatment plans. See https://phare-rochecorbon.org/2013/08/28/le-sanatorium-vitaliste-de-rochecorbon/

8. ESSER, Johannes Fredericus Samuel. BIOLOGICAL OR ARTERY FLAPS OF THE FACE With 420 plates and a list of the Author’s Publications. Published by: The Editor of the “Institut Esser de Chirurgie structive”. Monaco. [n.d. but ca. 1934-5].

Large 4to, with somewhat erratic and complicated pagination, pp. [ii], 7, [ii] preface, [9]-20, 21-22 large folding leaf, 23-26, 27, [i] blank, 28-29 one folding leaf, 31-32, 33, [1] blank, 34-35 one folding leaf, 37-38, 39-40 one folding leaf, 41-42 one folding leaf, 43-44, 45-46 one folding leaf, 47-49 one large folding leaf, 51-52, 53-54 one folding leaf, [ii] unnumbered, 55-57, [ii] blank, 58-60, [i] blank, 61-68, [i] blank, 70-73, [i] blank, 74-76 one folding leaf, 77-78, 79-81 one folding leaf, [i] blank, 82-90, 91 - [92] one folding leaf, 93-95, [ii] blank, 96-99, [ii], 100-102, [ii] blank, 103-6 one folding leaf, 107-9, [ii] blank, 110-112, [113]-114 folding leaf, 115-117, [i] blank, 118 folding leaf, 119-125, [ii] blank, 126-132, 133 folding leaf, 134 folding leaf, 135-138, [ii] folding plate, 139-144, [ii] blank on which tipped 147-148 folding leaf, 149-151, no pp. 152-3 as usual, 154-155, [ii] blank, 156-176, [iv] including red and black printed leaf listing the members of the Institut’s ‘Grand Conseil’; with eight line drawings (of which four on one folding leaf), three small half tone figures on p. 85, and 54 plates (of which 17 are folding) depicting 402 images; plates usually included in pagination, though not always, and not all blanks included; some occasional light marginal foxing and finger-soiling, leaves all slightly cockled suggesting possible dampness at some point, though no evidence of water-staining; uncut in the original full tan goatskin, upper cover and spine with title stamped in gilt, spine a little sunned, surfaces a little spotted and scratched, extremities quite rubbed and lightly worn; with binder’s ticket ‘Encuadernación F. Fernandez Libras Madrid’ on front paste-down. £2,000 Scarce first English edition of this graphically illustrated, privately printed, and little-known work on facial plastic surgery by the noted Dutch plastic surgeon, art dealer, merchant and champion chess player, Johannes "Jan" Fredericus Samuel Esser (1877- 1946). The work was published and sold not only to highlight his pioneering work in the field of plastic surgery, but also in an effort to raise funds to establish his proposed 'Institut Esser de Chirurgie Structive', an independent training centre for plastic and reconstructive surgery where the wounded and deformed could be treated regardless of their financial situation or citizenship. As far as we can tell, all were produced by hand in limited numbers, making it therefore one of the most scarce items in the plastic surgery canon. Johannes 'Jan' Esser (1877-1946) was a prolific author and published extensively during his career in a number of scholarly journals. He travelled world-wide disseminating on the basis of his own personal experience and observations, the possibilities of plastic and "structive" surgery, especially in Europe and both Americas, for the surgical treatment, rehabilitation and return to society of mutilated war victims, and subsequently those in the wider society with facial disfigurements who were often regarded as outcasts. Esser conceived of the idea to establish some kind of independent centre of plastic and reconstruction surgery, where all could be treated regardless of their financial situation or citizenship, under the banner of the 'L'Institut Esser de Chirurgie Structive'. To this end many of his publications, finely produced on high quality paper and attractively bound, were issued as a way to raise funds for the Institut, although ultimately his dream was never realised, even if his work at the time did much to convince international experts of the importance of the emerging discipline in the wider sphere of surgery. His achievements, however, appear to have been somewhat overlooked by later historians Esser was one of the first physicians in Holland to have studied both dentistry and medicine, a unique and fortunate combination that lead him to invent the skin graft inlay technique: an operation that is still named after him. After two years of training with Professor Laméris in Utrecht, he spent half a year studying in Paris with Hippolyte Morestin (1869-1919), a French surgeon who had specialized in plastic surgery, and who made important contributions, especially in the field of facial malformations. When the war broke out, Esser offered his services as a surgeon to the governments of several of the belligerent countries. The Austro- Hungarian government accepted his offer, provided he would bring his own nursing staff with him. During the entire war, Esser devoted himself to the treatment of wounded soldiers, first in various hospitals in Austria, finally in Berlin. During this time he became known for his use of a dental impression compound, to aid in facial reconstruction, a technique first invented by the English dentist Charles Stent (1807-1885) in 1856. In 1917, in his Studies in plastic surgery of the face, Esser used the term ‘stent’ to describe his use of the technique; since no earlier written appearance of the term has been found, Esser is credited with having coined it. 'In the International literature on plastic surgery he is quoted as being one of the pioneers and inventors of reconstructive surgery, of the same stature as Joseph and Lexer in Germany, Gillies and Kilner in Great-Britain, Morestin in France, Burian in Czechoslovakia and Staige Davis in the United Statesof America. Yet in his native country, Holland, he was barely noticed. He travelled all over the world with the aim of spreading, on the basis of his personal experience, the possibilities of plastic and "structive" surgery, especially in Europe and both Americas, for the surgical treatment, rehabilitation and return to society of the mutilated war victims who were regarded as outcasts of society... The development of the Esser-inlay, published in both the German and American surgical journals, marked the beginning of an era in plastic surgery and was used extensively throughout the First and Second World War. His discovery of the "biological" arterial flap, used then as a pedicled flap and more recently as a free flap has revolutionized reconstructive surgery. Another of his innovations, the bilobed flap, it still used extensively for the reconstruction of certain facial and nasal defects' (preface, Haeseker). To achieve his aim of the international dissemination of his methods, and the benefits and importance of plastic surgery, Esser had the work translated into a number of languages, with further Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and Hungarian editions published, and all of which are themselves scarce (if indeed they all made it into print). A shared trait with that of the English edition, is the somewhat erratic pagination and collation, with amendments made to the number of plates included, and how they are bound in (some folded, others tipped in). All give the impression of the books being individually put together and bound, emphasising our view that all were produced in limited numbers. As the present copy reflects, however, 'his dexterity and love for manual craftsmanship is reflected in his beautiful leather bound collection of atlases

of war injuries, made by the old master book-binders in Antwerp' (Haeseker). The Madrid Binder’s ticket on the present copy suggests that he also reached out to other European craftsmen. What becomes clear from a study of not only the present edition, but of subsequent translations into French, German, Dutch and Spanish, is that it is a somewhat complicated bibliographically. Confusion seems to exist as to when exactly this original edition was published, with projected dates ranging from 1928 through to 1935. A number of libraries on OCLC suggest 1928, but both the bibliography included here and in a later Dutch edition handled of 1938, lists a work of 1929 under the title 'Artery Flaps with 407 plates' and which according to the Dutch edition was reissued in 1932. An article with a similar title was published in a journal in 1933 (the final item 92 in the bibliography included here). According to the Dutch bibliography the present English edition was first published in Monaco, under the auspices of the Institut de Esser de Chirurgie Structive, in both 1934 and apparently reissued again in 1935 (Edition complétée), although with no obvious identifying variant issue points as far as we can establish, we are unsure as to quite how these two issues differ, if at all. The date of 1928 must therefore be erroneous given that the bibliography included ends in 1933. Further more at the end of the work is a page entitled in red and black Gothic type 'Institute Esser de Chirurgie Structive Grand Conseil', followed by a long list of names under various sub-titles. Under the sub-title "Conseil Grand" a number of nobel prize winners are identified, including Arthur Harden and Sir Frederick G Hopkins who both won in 1929 (as did Prince Louis de Broglie though it doesn't specify the year in his case). It also cites Einstein as being a Professor of 'Paris, Madrid, U.S.A.'. Einstein spent much for 1930-31 as California Tech. All editions are scarce. See Barend Haeseker, Dr J.F.S. Esser and his contributions to Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (Thesis 1993); see also Jan M. Hilert and Johannes F. Hoenig, The Plastic Surgeon Johannes Fredericus Samuel Esser (1877 to 1946), M.D., D.M.D., and his unknown period during 1917 and 1925 in Berlin, Germany in Eur. J. Plastic Surg (2009) 32:127-130; OCLC locates copies at Oxford, Cambridge, UCLA, Michigan, Minnesota (1934/35), and the Wellcome, British Library, Wisconsin, Columbia (dated 1928 but bearing similar imprint and collation).

With the bookplate of Joseph Claude Anthelme Recamier on front pastedown 9. [FAUX BOOK OR ‘BLOOK’.] NINETEENTH CENTURY MUSIC BOX HOUSED WITHIN A HOLLOWED OUT VOLUME OF ‘JOURNAL DE MEDECINE, CHIRURGIE, PHARMACIE, &c, ... par M. Vandermonde... Janvier 1760, Tome XII. A Paris, Chez Vincent, Imprimeur-Libraire de Mgr le Duc de Bourgogne, rue. S. Severin...’ 1760.

Later seemingly 19th century music box, the mechanism housed within hollowed out 8vo, with the winding key located at the rear of the book; in the original mottled calf, spine in compartments with raised bands, expertly repaired and

rebacked, with attractive gilt floral endpapers; ex-libris bookplate on front pastedown, ‘Ex Bibliotheca Joseph-Claudii- Anthelmi Recamier, Doctoris magni Parisiensis nosocomii Medici’; a most appealing example. £1,500 An unusual example of a faux book, ‘buch atrappe’, ‘faux livre’, or ‘blook’ (the term coined by Mindell Dubansky for her own collection of ‘things that look like a book, but aren’t’), in this case housing what we believe to be a 19th century music box mechanism, added to a hollowed out and customised volume of the 18th century French medical ‘Journal de Medecine, Chirurgie, Pharmacie’, from January 1760. The winding key is located in at the rear of the volume, and once turned, the music plays when the front cover is lifted. The tune is frustratingly familiar, and as yet unidentified, though possibly a Strauss Waltz. The volume has an interesting provenance, having the bookplate on the front paste-down of Joseph Claude Anselme Recamier (1774-1852), the noted French gynaecologist and a pioneer in the study of cancer metastasis. A unique example.

How to Prevent hospital cross-infection 10. [NURSING.] NIGHTINGALE, Florence. INTRODUCTORY NOTES ON LYING-IN INSTITUTIONS. Together with a proposal for organising an Institution for Training Midwives and midwifery nurses. London: Longmans, Green, and Co. 1871.

8vo, pp. xvi, 10; with fiven engraved architectural plans (one folding), and smaller plans within text, and numerous statistical tables; a number of early preliminary leaves discretely strengthened at gutter; lightly browned throughout, a couple of the plates slightly shaved along fore-edge clipping a couple of letters; ex-libris from Battersea Public Library, with their stamp on verso of plates, and at head of p. 1, tail of p. 99, and on final leaf; in modern black

cloth, with red morocco label lettered in gilt on spine; with later book-plate of Margaret Yvonne Williams mounted on verso of title-page. £2,200 First edition of this rare volume. In 1860 Nightingale laid the foundation of professional nursing with the establishment of her nursing school at St Thomas’ Hospital in London. It was the first secular nursing school in the world, now part of King’s College London. The following year Nightingale secured funding to train midwives for service among the poor, and arranged for suitable young women to receive six months practical training in midwifery by professional physician-accoucheurs. This training programme continued for six years but was abandoned after an epidemic of puerperal fever – the greatest post-natal killer of the nineteenth century. A vicious and usually fatal form of septicaemia, puerperal or childbed fever was known to occur in maternity hospitals far more frequently than at home births, and to spread faster in crowded wards than in those with fewer patients. Its cause was unknown. Already interested in hospital design, this unfortunately event, along with the discovery that no trustworthy statistics of mortality of ‘lying-in institutions’ existed, prompted Nightingale to embark on gathering the facts presented in the current rare volume. From 1868 she constantly badgered Douglas Galton, Sutherland, Farr and many others to obtain the necessary facts and data to produce this, the most detailed work on the subject to have been published up to that time. In this precise statistical analysis of the facts, gathered from several sources across the major cites of Europe, Nightingale explores the mystery of puerperal fever and its possible causes. The work discusses the maternal death statistics of lying-in institutions and makes suggestions, with accompanying plans, for changes to hospital layouts to help prevent cross-infection between patients, and thus reduce maternal deaths, in particular stressing the necessity of good ventilation and condemning those hospitals with overcrowded wards. Published in 1871, just before Pasteur’s work on germ theory proved that the problem could be all but eradicated if doctors washed their hands more rigourously, this work remains clear, scholarly and engaging, and was widely well received, and proved instrument in helping popularise the graphical presentation of statistical data. Bishop & Goldie, Bio-Bibliography of Florence Nightingale, 102.

11. [PARIS - JARDIN DU ROI.] BOITARD, Pierre. LE JARDIN DES PLANTES Description et moeurs des mamifères de la ménagerie et du Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle... précède d’une introduction historique, descriptive et pittoresque par M. J. Janin. Paris, J. J. Dubochet et Ce Éditeurs, rue de Seine, 55. 1842.

Large 8vo, pp. [vi] including initial blank, lxvi, [ii], 472, [ii] blank; with four full-page hand-coloured ornithological plates (retaining tissue guards), two wood-engraved portraits of Buffon and Cuvier by Karl Girardet, one folding aquatint plan (somewhat foxed and cropped close at head shaving title), 51 full-page wood engraved

plates, and with coloured title-page vignette and a further 214 charming coloured wood engraved head and tail- pieces; small nick with loss at title-page gutter, and small dink at head of p. 373, some foxing and soiling throughout to both text and plates, the plates at p. 92, 313, 373 and 428 very browned being printed on different paper stock; with old accession numbers in ms at head of front paper, and also stamped at lower corner; small paper pocket mounted on front pastedown, to house original engraved entrance ticket for four people, and signed in a contemporary hand ‘P(?) D, de Blainville’; in contemporary green morocco backed pebble cloth, covers ruled in blind, spine attractively tooled and lettered in gilt depicting birds, flowers, trees, a bear, giraffe and monkeys, all edges gilt, with moiré endpapers,inner hinges starting but holding firm, both upper and lower joints cracked at head, with 6cm split to upper joint, surfaces a little rubbed, corners bumped with signs of previous minor repairs; housed within later red paperbacked card slip-case. £775 Rare deluxe hand-coloured edition of this copiously illustrated guide to the menagerie within Paris Natural History Museum. The work of Pierre Boitard (1789-1858), with an extensive historical introduction by Jules Janin (1804- 1874), the work appears to have been originally published in weekly parts in the magazine ‘Le Pantheon populaire illustre’ the previous year, before being published in book form in 1842. A two volume companion work, under a similar title, was also published between 1842-43, and which described the plants within the famous gardens themselves, penned by Pierre Bernard, Emmanuel Le Maout, and published by L. Curmer (see Grolier 65 and 66). Brivois, Bibliographie des ouvrages illustrés du XIXème, p. 213; Carteret III, Le Trésor du bibliophile, p. 97; Nissen ZBI 454; Vicaire I, Manuel de l'mateur de livres du XIXème, 837.

Luxurious Art Deco commemorative album produced for the Colonial Exhibition of 1931 12. [PARIS METRO.] METRO - LE CHEMIN DE FER METROPOLITAN DE PARIS [Cet ouvrage a été édite par Les Ateliers A.B.C. 52, rue Mathurin-Régnier Paris (15o) en Avril 1931.]

Large 4to, pp. 60; with four ‘faux’ mounted colour paintings on dark green paper, 13 vibrant chromolithographs on seven leaves (including one double-page), and numerous heliogravures and graphs within the text; paper very lightly browned throughout, with some occasional light foxing and soiling otherwise clean and crisp; in the original striking silver gilt boards, lettered in black, and with depiction of the Paris Metro system in red, black, white and blue, with notable Art Deco inspired paste downs by Débatier, covers a little stained, scratched and scuffed, extremities bumped and lightly rubbed; a lovely copy. £350

Surprisingly uncommon and beautifully produced commemorative work, issued by the ‘Compagnie du chemin de fer Métropolitain de Paris’ (CMP) to coincide with the Colonial Exhibition of 1931. Clearly taking inspiration from the iconic 1927 film ‘Metropolis’, this vibrantly illustrated work, and a fine example of the use of infographics, provides a history of the Parisian underground railway from its inception in 1855, through the inauguration of the first line in 1900, up until the present day, with a look at the current state of the system and a glimpse of future developments. Copiously illustrated with black and white heliogravure photographs, vibrant colour maps and graphs, and with a further four ‘faux’ mounted artworks illustrating the ‘Viaduct d’Austerlitz’; the Viaduct B. Auguste Blanquè’; the ‘Station “Madeleine”’; and ‘une station de Métro’. The atmospheric front paste-down, signed by Debadier, is very redolent of the time and most effective. OCLC locates only one copy at the Danish National Library.

Kaufmann's wonderful Posographe - an ingenious calculating machine 13. [PHOTOGRAPHY - EXPOSURE CALCULATOR.] LE POSOGRAPHE Breveté S.G.D.G. Kaufmann, Constr.r 11 r. République. Puteaux. n.d. but ca. 1922.

Small rectangular double-sided calculator, 130 x 85 x 4mm, central metal plate fixed within nickel frame, with two engraved and enamelled labels, one for outdoors, one for indoors, each divided into several sections and including diagrams, with seven movable and interconnected pointers fixed to the frame; slight wear to corners of printed labels and which are slightly lifting, some light soiling and tarnishing to metal; housed within the original dark green cloth backed slip case, with metal closing clasp, blindstamped ‘Le Posographe’ on upper cover, light wear but otherwise good. £325 An appealing example of this early portable analogue computer for the keen photographer, to help calculate the ‘Temps de Pose’ or exposure time, and very evocative of the photography of the late 19th and early 20th century at a time when you had to ‘pose’ the subject, immobile, usually for some considerable time, to capture the image on the negative. This double-sided, pocket-sized metal calculator has a central plate, upon which are two engraved and glazed labels. Around the edge are seven pointers which at first glance appear to be fixed to the frame, but which are in fact moveable and interconnected: moving any of the six smaller ones (aperture, month, time of day, cloudiness, location etc.) will move the larger one, to show the exposure time. ‘Kaufmann’s Posographe is nothing less than an analog mechanical computer for calculating six-variable functions. Specifically, it computes the exposure time (Temps de Pose) for taking photographs indoors or out (depending on which side you use). The input variables are set up on the six small pointers; the large pointer then gives you the correct time. The variables are very detailed, yet endearingly colloquial. For outdoors, they include the setting -- with values like “Snowy scene”, “Greenery with expanse of water”, or “Very narrow old street”; the state of the sky -- including “Cloudy and somber”, “Blue with white clouds”, or “Purest blue”; The month of the year and hour of the day; the illumination of the subject; and of course the aperture (f-number). For indoor photos, we have the colors of the walls and floor; the location of the subject relative to the windows (depending also on the number of windows, and indicated by the little diagrams); the extent of sky in the window, as seen from the location of the subject (again illustrated in little pictures); the sunlight level outside, and how much of it, if any, enters the room; and the aperture. The output indicator actually has four points, designed to show the respective exposure times for different emulsion types’ (see Nathan Zeldes, online article). Although not present here, instruction manual’s were available, and which included a diagram of the ingenious internal mechanism of the calculator, an image of which Nathan Zeldes reproduces in his article, and showing a series of hinged and articulated brass levers. Zeldes also quotes from the manual: ‘Determining the exposure time required to obtain a perfect negative is one of the great difficulties of the photographic technique. When looking at the collection of the amateur photographer, one finds numerous photos that are washed out and without details, hardly usable. Each of these, not to mention those that have been scrapped, represents the unnecessary expense, a loss of time, and especially a very unpleasant disappointment, which usually has no other cause than excessive or insufficient exposure time’ (Zeldes, Oughtred Journal, p. 36). ‘Auguste Robert Kaufmann was born in Paris on October 22nd, 1885... the family left Paris during the First World War to the more tranquil town of Boullay-les-Troux, where Auguste Robert and his wife Henriette settled after the war. Kaufmann himself had served in a logistics transport unit of the French army during the war. Kaufmann was an enterprising man; when he was 25 he already had a successful workshop in Puteaux (a suburb of Paris) that produced award-winning motorized ride-in cars for children. He subsequently developed and sold a tuner for violin strings. By 1922 he was advertising himself as a general mechanical constructor, owner of a small firm for technical studies, design and construction. He was also an avid amateur photographer which gave him the incentive to develop the device presented here’ (ibid). Kaufmann produced an English version to be used with the Pathé-Baby Amateur Movie Camera - the ‘Baby-Ciné Posograph’. Sadly Kaufmann died in a car accident in 1927, aged just 42, only five years after he had patented this clever and simple device. See Nathan Zeldes, Kaufmann’s Posographe, in the Journal of the Oughtred Society, Volume 28, Number 1, Spring 2019; see also https://www.andreruiter.nl/posographe-by-kaufmann; a photocopy of the manual will be supplied.

14. [PORTABLE CELESTIAL PLANISPHERE.] PLANISPHÈRE CELESTE MOBILE à l’aide duquel on peut dans moins d’une minute connaitre l'etat du ciel, par un élève de Delambre. Prix 3. 50, Audin Quai des Augustins, No. 25. Gravé par Bonnet, Rue Mr Le Prince, No. 43. [Paris, n.d. but ca. 1825.]

Rectangular hand-coloured engraved paper and card celestial planisphere, 270 x 207 x 4mm, with large central volvelle with horizontal and vertical string guidelines, retaining the original card turning disk on verso, with two smaller apertures at tail for the date and the ‘Etat de la Lune’, both lacking their turning dials on verso but still easy to turn and use, with further engraved instructions on the surrounds; a little stained and soiled, small hole in centre of upper margin presumably from previous hanging attachment, some evidence of possibly rodent damage on verso, but not affecting chart itself; front and rear card bound at edges with blue paper border to form a holder, some rubbing and wear to extremities, with contemporary book-binder label on verso; despite flaws and appealing example. £985 An appealing and early 19th century portable and easy to use rectangular planisphere showing the constellations with stars in graduated sizes, and which is hopes will enable the user to ‘learn about the state of the sky in less than a minute’. A central volvelle displays the constellations, as well as marking the months, days, hours and seasons, and which can be turned using a dial on the verso. Two further apertures reveal smaller dials inside, which allow the user to set the date and the ‘Etat de la Lune’. The two dials for these are lacking on the present example, but they are still usuable. Further printed instructions are given. By setting the day of the month, and the hour, one would be able to ‘immediately know the position of the constellations, their shape, and their name’. The present example has been engraved by ‘Bonnet’ and was available for sale for ‘3 fr. 50’ from the Librairie Audin in Paris. On the verso is a printed book-binder’s label: ‘Rabiot, Papetier-Relieur, fait cartonnages en tous genres, nétoie les gravures et leur remet des marges, colle les cartes géographiques et plans sur toile, et généralement tout ce qui concerne son état. A Paris, Rue des Fossés St-Germain- Auxerrois, no 26, au 1er’. The BnF locates a single sheet Audin advertisement for ‘Publications Nouvelles’, dated November 15th 1825, and which promotes the planisphere: ‘Qu’on se représente deux cercles, l’un marquant les mois et les jours, l’autre les heures; on met le jour du mois sur l’heure où l’on veut observer le ciel, et l’on connait aussitôt la

place des constellations, leur forme, leur nom. Il ne s’agit pas ici de science ni de travail: dans moins d’une minute on peut apprendre à connaitre l’état du ciel’.

15. SEIFFER, Dr W. SPINALES SENSIBILITÄTSSCHEMA für du segmentdiagnose der rückenmarkskrankheiten zum einzeichnen der befunde am krankenbett. Berlin, Verlag von August Hirschwald. 1906.

Small folio, pp. 8; with 40 leaves of printed diagnostic charts, illustrating the same two images of a rear and front image of the body, each leaf serrated at gutter and designed to be torn off and completed by the physician, with blank lines are tail of each leaf for notes; in modern grey paper wrappers, stab sewn, retaining the original front printed grey wrapper and bound in, and with facsimile of original title-page mounted on upper cover; ex-libris for the Royal College of Surgeons, with stamp on original wrapper, title-page, and with two stamps on verso of each leaf of plates, dated 1906. £350 Rare second edition of this unusual practical neurological aid, intended to be used ‘at the hospital bedside’ to help the segmental diagnosis of spinal column diseases for individual cases, and thus form part of a patients case notes file. After a brief introduction, the pamphlet is made up of 20 identical sets of detachable anterior and posterior outline sketches of the body, upon which the practitioner could mark the particular areas of sensitivity on the body. As the introduction notes: ‘The present scheme is intended to fill a gap in the series of schemes available so far. The latter dealt only with the boundaries of the peripheral nerve districts, which are known to be totally different from those of the spinal or root areas on the skin. These and other disadvantages, in particular the lack of sufficiently marked fixed points on the sink and the bone system, make the peripheral sensitivity schemes unsuitable for spinal purposes’ (google translation). Designed to be used and effectively destroyed, the survival of complete copies is therefore rare. The work was first published in 1901, seemingly both separately, and as a journal article in the Archiv für Psychiatrie und Nervenkrankheiten. It was to prove popular with both a third and fourth editions appearing in 1911 and 1917. Friedrich Wilhelm Seiffer (1872-1917) was a noted German neurologist and psychiatrist. He received his medical doctorate from Strasbourg in 1895 and subsequently worked at a private mental health institution in Pankow-Berlin. He subsequently worked at the psychiatric clinic of the Berlin-Charité. He was the author of further works on the general diagnosis and treatment of nervous diseases in 1902, and ‘Studies on the

sense of vibration or the so-called ‘bone-sensitivity’’ in 1903, together with Rydel.

16. [STUDENT ARITHMETIC.] JOLY, Théophile. EXTENSIVE AND MOST ATTRACTIVE MANUSCRIPT NOTEBOOK ‘CAHIER L’ARITHMÉTIQUE’ appartient a moi, Théophile Joly. [title repeated on final leaf Cahier, d’arithmétique, appartenant à Théophile Joly ? & [sic] with imprint on inside rear cover Fait a Lonzac, le premier Avril Dix Huit Cent Cinquante Un]. 1851.

Large Folio, 450 x 295mm, bound manuscript in a single calligraphic hand in a variety of colours, ff. 158; with watercolour illustration mounted on front paste-down (presumably a self portrait of Joly in local Saintongeois costume), with numerous section headings stencilled in black and block lettering (a number misspelt and with corrections), the first leaf heading surrounded by ornate garland in green, brown and ochre, with the copious calculations throughout embellished with underlining in green, brown or ochre; with neat pen illustrations depicting a number of instruments on ff. 113; lightly foxed and soiled throughout, with a few ink smudges, one or two minor marginal nicks and losses but nothing significant; seemingly self-bound and stitched in contemporary paste-paper card wrappers, with title in manuscript on upper cover, evidence of previous tear on upper cover neatly repaired, some small loss along spine at stitching points, covers a little soiled with dampstaining at head of rear cover; overall a little dog-eared, but nevertheless charming for its unsophistication. £1,350 A charming, unsophisticated, and one of the most substantial manuscript exercise books we have handled, and the work of the young student Théophile Joly, from Lonzac, a commune of Haute Saintonge in the Southwestern department of Charente-Maritime. Joly’s notebook is an appealing example of a cyphering book, i.e. a manuscript written either by a student or teacher and with a particular focus upon mathematical content. Printed books were rarely used, and teachers would compile manuscript sum books to be used as teaching aids, and from which the students copied, often embellished with calligraphic headings and flourishes, ink and wash sketches and diagrams, etc. The content often followed a prescribed pattern, containing rules, cases, problems, and solutions to exercises associated with a well-defined progression of mathematical (usually arithmetic) topics. The present example very much follows this traditional format, though Joly refrains from overly embellishing his course-work - perhaps being of a less artistic temperament, or perhaps reflecting a more rigourous approach to learning instilled by his tutor. His headings are seemingly stencilled in black block lettering - several of which have been misspelt and which have then been corrected. Clearly worked quite hard, the volume contains very few introductions to the arithmetical processes under discussion, but instead is focused almost entirely upon the problems to

be solved together with the calculations. Few illustrations are included, although one or two small diagrams are to be found, but a full page illustrations depicting ‘les instruments de la géometrie’ is found on ff. 113. Perhaps compiled in preparation for a trade or mercantile apprenticeship, the arithmetic processes and examples are derived from, or relate to, various professions, including banking, land surveying, brewing, notaries, and as such throws a fascinating light upon contemporary educational priorities of the time.

Joly has clearly given way to a few moments of light-relief however. An appealing water-colour depiction of a young man in local costume has been pasted onto the inside front cover - and which may well be a self- portrait. Furthermore, in a moment of boredom perhaps, at the tail of ff. 22 we find what appear to be five ‘brass rubbings’ depicting the faces of a 2 and 5 franc coin, and which are dated 1838 and 1839. He frequently signs his name throughout the work as well. Seemingly also self-bound, though perhaps a less sophisticated example than some previously handled, Joly’s notebook is in many ways all the more charming for this ‘home-made’ feel!

17. TRIM, (RATISBONNE, Louis, pseudonym). LE CALCUL AMUSANT. La Table de Pythagore Servie aux petits enfants par Trim et ornée par Bertall. [colophon: Coulommiers. Imprimerie Paul Brodard]. [imprint from upper cover], Paris, Librairie Hachette et Cie. Boulevard Saint-Germain, 79, [n.d. but ca. 1862.]

4to, ff. [1] title-page, 22; each leaf incorporating hand-coloured engraved illustrations; some occasional minor browning and dust-soiling; final endpaper a little creased with small nick at lower edge; in the original blue cloth backed pictorial boards, hand-coloured, head and tail of spine very lightly rubbed, some minor soiling to covers. £300

First edition (variant issue) of this most attractive mnemonical work, introducing the young reader to the basics of counting and multiplication, through the use of a series of appealing illustrations and rhyming couplets. ‘Le roi Holopherne et Judith, Six foix huit font quarante-huit’. Louis Ratisbonne (1827-1900) was born in Strasbourg. During an extensive literary career, he collaborated on the Journal des débats from 1853 to 1876, became librarian of the Palais de Fontainebleau in 1871, of the Bibliothèque du Luxembourg in 1873, and then of the Senate in 1876. His most important work was a verse translation of the Divine Comedy, which was recognised by the L’Académie française. In the work of children’s literature, his fame rests under his pseudonym of ‘Trim’, Ratisbonne penning a series of popular and attractively illustrated instructional albums for young children, all published by Hachette. OCLC locates copies at Princeton, the University of Southern Mississippi, the British Library, the BnF and the National Library of Spain; tall appear to have a variant colophon: that of Charles Lahure et Cie, and the date is taken from a BnF copy of the same title.

Innovative and compact merging of word and image offering an unprecedented vision of the human body 18. WATERSTON, David and Edward BURNET. THE EDINBURGH STEREOSCOPIC ATLAS OF ANATOMY New Edition. Section I Abdomen. Contents 50 Plates. [- Section V Lower Limbs]. [Copyright T. C. & E. Jack, Edinburgh, & 34 Henrietta Street, London. W.C.] [n.d. but ca. 1907.]

Together five boxes, Sections I-V, 240 x 190 x 80mm, and with the accompanying wooden and metal viewer; I. Abdomen containing 50 thick cards with mounted stereographs on each; II. Perimeum, Pelvis, and Thorax, containing 50 thick cards with mounted stereographs on each, box without the internal cloth tie; III. Thorax, containing 52 thick cards with mounted stereographs (Axilla no 1 stained); IV. Central nervous System, containing 52 thick cards with mounted stereographs (a couple or cards with ink underlining); V. Lower Limb, containing 46 thick cards with mounted stereographs; in all, 250 cards; cards all a little browned and lightly foxed, but otherwise good, stereographs all good; in the original dark pink cloth boxes, all five with title and explanatory labels on fore-edges (labels are somewhat browned, scuffed and faded in places), all five boxes somewhat faded, frayed and worn, with some splitting to joints, Box 3 most noticeably worn; some wear evident on viewer. £1,800

‘New edition’ of this remarkable, graphic, and at times gruesome pathological atlas of anatomy prepared under the auspices of the Department of Anatomy at the University of Edinburgh, and of particular appeal in retaining the original wooden and metal stereoscopic viewer, most often now missing. The five ‘volumes’ of boxed illustrations (resembling books with spine titles and designed to fit library shelves), contain some 250 thick cards each mounted with stereoscopic images together with accompanying explanatory text, and provide a vivid, realistic and unprecedented three dimensional view of the entire human body, helping students to gain important insights into the structure and spaces of the body.

The invention of photography had a big impact on anatomical teaching, but, like drawings, was limited by being a two dimensional representation. Stereoscopy in fact predates photography, but its mass appeal depended entirely upon the development of photographic processes. Originally little more than an optical toy, once it was amalgamated with photography it became a uniquely powerful medium. ‘Stereo photography combined the work of two Victorian inventors, Sir Charles Wheatsone and Sir David Brewster, who used photography to popularise their discoveries. Stereo negatives when exposed in a camera produced two almost identical photographs which were then placed in a viewer that enabled them to be seen three dimensionally’ (Powerhouse Museum). Stereographs, double images (taken from positions equivalent to those of the left and right eyes) presented side-by-side on a flat card and looked at through a special viewer, were displayed to great effect at the Great Exhibition in 1851, and quickly became something of a phenomenon. Initially largely for domestic use, the educational opportunities, especially for the medical profession, were soon recognised. Improved photographic technology in the second half of the 19th century further simplified the production of stereographs. The first first atlas of medicine was produced by Albert Neisser (1855-1916), who between 1894 and 1911 produced 57 boxed sets.

The date of the original edition of The Edinburgh Stereoscopic Atlas of Anatomy is unclear though is believed to be around 1905-1906 (based on contemporary reviews, although Roberta McGrath in ‘Seeing Her Sex’ p. 144 suggests 1890), with this, the ‘New Edition’ thought to date from 1907. David Waterston, was a lecturer and senior demonstrator at the Anatomical Department of Edinburgh and prepared the anatomical dissections. The first edition was issued by the Caxton Publishing Company. Over time, it was expanded to ten volumes, that included 324 stereographs, with issues also produced in the US and Canada.

An equally graphic ‘Edinburgh Stereoscopic Atlas of Obstetrics’ was issued in 1908-1909, edited by George Simpson and Edward Burnet.

A veritable Who’s Who of European High Society at the height of the Belle Époque 19. [WOMEN IN SOCIETY.] DIETZ, Catinka de. LARGE OBLONG SOUVENIR ALBUM OF CALLING CARDS COMPILED BY THE NOTED VICTORIAN CONCERT PIANIST Catinka Mackenzie de Dietz, containing over 400 calling cards, greeting cards, printed menus, invitations, mourning cards, and post cards, from friends, colleagues and associates from across European High Society. [n.p.], [n.d. but ca. 1890-1901.]

Large oblong album, 270 x 420 mm; ff. 33 leaves of thick paper 264 x 410mm; with 399 late Victorian calling cards, greeting cards, menus, invitations etc neatly mounted and organised, with a further 7 items loosely inserted, front and rear endpapers also used, four pages unused, and one calling card blank; a number of the cards signed or with manuscript messages of greeting, several of the mounted items with neat manuscript annotations penned below by Dietz; some light foxing, soiling throughout, with some offsetting and see-through caused by the glue, a few cards now a little faded, one or two slightly creased, and with a couple of small marginal tears; in the original ribbed brown publisher’s cloth, ruled in blind with ‘Souvenir’ in gilt on upper cover, lower joint split at tail, spine somewhat sunned, small loss of cloth on upper cover, rear cover crinkled and stained at tail, with some wear along upper margin, corners a little bumped and worn. £2,500

An extraordinary turn of the century personally compiled album of printed calling cards and correspondence, received over a number of years by Catinka [also Cathinka] Mackenzie de Dietz (1813- 1901), noted concert pianist and former pianist to the Queen of Bavaria. As such, it throws a fascinating light upon her social circle, forming a veritable ‘Who’s Who’ of European Royalty and High Society, and made even more appealing by her acerbic and often slightly scandalous annotations!

Dietz ‘made her Paris debut on 7 February 1836 at the Salle Pleyel with the first movement of Hummel's Concerto in A Minor and Kalkbrenner's staple debut piece - his Grand Duo in D for two pianos, Op. 128 - with Thalberg. Her career revolved around placements at royal courts. By 1840 she was pianist to the queen of Bavaria; the following year she played at the French court and was appointed pianist to the queen of the French in 1845. She composed salon pieces, played regularly for Queen Victoria, and was reported to have written an oratorio for which Queen Victoria accepted the dedication. Her pianistic style was Classical, firmly within the Kalkbrenner tradition. She sometimes published under her married name, Mackenzie von Dietz.’ (Katherine Ellis, "Female Pianists and Their Male Critics," Journal of the American Musicology Society Vol. 50 2/3, p. 359). She married William Mackenzie Shaw, Managing Director of the Antwerp and Rotterdam Railways, and they apparently divided their time between Paris and Saint Germain, no doubt entertaining quite extensively, if the present array of cards is anything to go by. Amongst the small number of loosely inserted additional material, are the two black-edged mourning invitations printed by Catinka for her husband after his death on December 7th 1890. The souvenir album houses predominantly elegantly printed calling cards, though Dietz has also retained and mounted a handful of greeting and Christmas cards, invitations, menus, and clippings. European Royalty are well represented, with several cards given by Princes, Princesses, Counts and Countesses, Viscountesses, and Barons. A high percentage of the cards have been given by other women. Others reveal her various artistic relationships, and as a whole, the album provides a wonderful snap-shot of social connections and late Victorian high society. A number have been inscribed by the giver with messages of esteem, whilst of particular appeal, Dietz herself has frequently added a little note below the card (usually in French, though sometimes English), and which often prove to be quite humorous and sometimes a little acerbic, adding some delicious flavour to this Who’s Who of the Belle Époque.

Under the card for ‘Le Comte de Barck’ she has written ‘c'est dangereuse de s'embarquer avec lui?; Alderman Wilson of Beckenham apparently gave very good dinners; Mrs Crawford Bromehead apparently ‘found the tenors kinder than her husband,’; Mrs Baker ‘was a prim lady’; Mrs R. E. Hamer ‘Her pretty face greeted her two husbands’; under the card for Lady Caroline Murray ‘Sa famille ne payait pas ses dettes’; under the card for M. & Madame Ernest du Fresnel ‘Out of sight, out of mind’; for the painter James Frutier she notes that he ‘sells spinach’; E. Nathan, ‘miaule sur son violoncelle et fait le tendre auprès du beau sexe’, whilst Camille Philipp ‘est sourd et pourtant la déesse de la mélodie lui prodigue ses faveurs’ (is deaf and yet the godess of melody lavishes him with favours). The lawyer Malioche apparently ‘does business with lost funds’, whilst she describes Georges Stigelli as ‘a heavy German who made himself an Italian singer by adding an i to his name’; whilst Albert Anschutz, a professor of piano, ‘gives music lessons, cleans, composes lullabies and prepares baths for Madame’. Increasing attention is being given to the study of Victorian card ephemera, including calling cards, of which the present album provides a comprehensive and unique example. As the 19th century progressed, rules of deportment became more rigid, and cards helped define the complicated new social code and express its growing sentimentality. Barbara Rusch provides some insight into their importance in her essay ‘The Secret Life of Victorian Cards’ on the Ephemera Society of America’s website. ‘Cards were the ambassadors of social convention, and their subtle, covert messages were well understood by those who used them as tools in the creation of an image of respectability in an increasingly demanding and judgemental world. Particularly noteworthy are cards of social and cultural significance such as the visiting card. In Our Deportment, published in 1890, John Young observes: “To the unrefined or under-bred, the visiting card is but a trifling and insignificant bit of social paper; but to the cultured disciple of social law,

it conveys a subtle and unmistakable intelligence. Its texture, style of engraving, and even the hour of leaving it to combine to place the stranger, whose name it bears, in a pleasant or a disagreeable attitude, even before his manners, conversation and face have been able to explain his social position.”... The use of cards in 19th-century daily life represented and helped define class, breeding, and status. They were a form of social contract, a common language, and ideology through which the Victorians communicated with one another, maintained moral standards and disseminated popular culture’ (Rusch).

Pointed Social Commentary on wealth and poverty - ‘One of the handsomest table books of the season’ 20. [WOMEN IN SOCIETY.] GRAY, William. SOCIAL CONTRASTS Portrayed in a series of twenty two coloured lithographic plates from pen and ink sketches. London: William Oliver, 3 Amen Corner, Paternoster Row. And all Booksellers. [n.d. but 1865.]

Oblong quarto, ff. [1] lithograph title-page (bound a little tightly partially obscuring image at gutter), [1] contents, 12 leaves of hand-coloured chromolithographs heightened with gum arabic, (10 with two images, and two full page single image), eleven of the original tissue guards remaining, although all browned, with marginal nicks, tears, and fraying; plates all somewhat foxed and soiled in places, most with some nicking and fraying to fore-edge, most noticeable along the final plate, but with occasional further edgewear; with faint ownership signature on front free endpaper; in the original brown publisher’s cloth, attractively tooled and lettered in gilt and blind, with bevelled edges, all edges gilt, moiré endpapers, inner hinges repair with tape, with further evidence of previous repairs to spine, including slightly crude though relatively unobtrusive tape repair at tail, spine somewhat darkened, boards a little soiled, scuffed and bowed, despite wear, still a good copy of an uncommon work. £1,850 First edition of this seemingly little known, but fascinating, beautifully produced, and highly evocative mid- Victorian social commentary, which shines a light upon the perils facing women in Victorian society in various London settings, by vividly contrasting the lives of rich and poor women. Gray’s work perfectly encapsulates the Victorian obsession and fascination with vice and the darker side of society, and the ongoing tension that ran throughout the Victorian era between moral crusaders and those who enjoyed the many pleasures and excitements to be found. The twenty-two vignettes on twelve leaves, together with the striking title-page, comprise two full page plates, ‘Boxing Day, 10am’ and ‘Boxing Day, 10pm’, with the other ten leaves all featuring side by side lithographs, reflecting the ‘social contrasts’ between the wealthy and downtrodden, the public and private lives for some London women, with the overall suggestion being that there is often only a very fine line between success and poverty. Whilst perhaps less famous than the social satire of Cruikshank or Mayhew, Gray’s work provides a valuable contribution to those interested in both women studies, social history, and indeed in publishing history due to the expense of the production. Music Hall life and ballet dancers feature quite prominently. Thus we see an elegant ballerina on stage ‘Coming out in the lime light’ juxtaposed with the same young lady leaving the stage door ‘Going Home in the Rain’. ‘In Luck and Out of Luck’ present side by side an elegant young woman dressed in her finery enjoying an evening out, in contrast to another heading towards a pawnbroker. ‘The Work Room and the

Ball Room’ highlight two tired looking seamstresses working by candlelight in a room barely fit for habitation, whilst two more fortunate women grace a ball, the implication being that they are no doubt wearing a dress made by the same seamstress. The dangers of ‘demon drink’ and sexual misbehaviour loom large. In one image we see an older lady who has clearly succumbed to alcoholism, whilst another depicts a younger lady heading towards the same fate, enjoying ‘fruits’ i.e. a bottle of wine. A group of young dancers are seen backstage ‘behind the curtain’, being ‘entertained’ by adoring male fans. This suggestion of young music hall girls being on a slippery slope to becoming ‘fallen’ is echoed in another image ‘Going to the bad’.

Gray’s work was enthusiastically advertised in the March 31st issue of ‘The Bookseller’ (1865) which promoted the ‘magnificently-coloured lithographic plates, copied from the original “coloured pen and ink sketches” designed and executed by William Gray. The amount of labour and time expended upon the production of these coloured plates is unequalled in the annals of Lithographic Art. No expense will be spared in their execution: and for the purpose of better imitating the originals, the plates will be printed firstly by the lithographic process in three or four tints, and afterwards forwarded to Paris, there to be completed in water colours by hand, under the Artist’s immediate superintendence... As only a limited number of this work will be bound, an early application is requested, in order that intending subscribers many not be disappointed. “Social Contrasts” is appropriately bound in cloth and gilt, with thick bevelled boards, and, when complete, will make one of the handsomest table books of the season’ (p. 130).

No doubt intended as a thought-provoking contribution to the ongoing anti-vice debate for discussion around wealthy dining tables, a further review in the same issue of ‘The Bookseller’ suggests that Gray had succeeded in alerting contemporary readers to the uncomfortable tension between titillation and morality: ‘Mr William Oliver, who has recently commenced business in Amen Corner, Paternoster Row, publishes a volume, which in its way, is the most striking thing we have seen since the appearance of George Cruikshank’s “Bottle” [a sensation when published in 1847, depicting in eight plates a drinker’s decline from first glass to unemployment, poverty, violence and insanity]. It is by a new artist, William Gray, and is entitled “Social Contrasts”... All are thoughtful studies, and preach more impressive sermons on a painful subject, than even Mr. Spurgeon [Charles Spurgeon the noted preacher] or the Bishop of Oxford could deliver. Shall we add that like many other erring objects, the pictures in this volume are so pretty, that we look on them with great enjoyment’ (p. 157). OCLC locates copies at Arizona, the Library of Congress, Amherst, Harvard, Cincinnati, the BL, Oxford.