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Raptis Rare Books | 226 Worth Avenue | Palm Beach, Florida 33480 561-508-3479 | [email protected] www.RaptisRareBooks.com Contents Ancient History, Philosophy & Religion...........................................................2 Travel & Exploration............................................................................................8 Americana............................................................................................................20 Science & Natural History ...............................................................................40 Modern History & World Leaders...................................................................50 Literature..............................................................................................................62 Economic & Political Philosophy...................................................................114 Children’s Literature.........................................................................................128 Fine Art.............................................................................................................136 Index..................................................................................................................137 Ancient History, Philosophy and Religion "BE KIND, FOR EVERYONE YOU MEET IS FIGHTING A HARD BATTLE": THE WORKS OF PLATO PLATO. TRANSLATED AND EDITED BY FLOYER SYDENHAM The Works of Plato. London: Various Publishers, 1759-1771. Finely bound 18th century printing of Plato’s works. Quarto, 2 volumes bound in full contemporary calf with gilt tooling to the spine in five compartments within raised gilt bands, red and green morocco spine labels lettered in gilt, double gilt ruling to the front and rear panels. Signed by the translator and editor, Floyer Sydenham on the dedication page. Containing: The Dialogues of Plato, A Synopsis or General View of the Works of Plato, Meno, A Dialogue Concerning Virtue, The Greater Hippias: Concerning the Beautifull, The Lesser Hippias: Concerning Voluntary and Involuntary Error, The Rivals Concerning Philosophy, The Banquet Concerning Love, and Proposals for a New Subscription. From the library of British Army officer Leonard Smelt who served as sub-governor to Frederick, Duke of York and the future George IV and became a close friend of Samuel Johnson and Oliver Goldsmith later in life with his bookplates to the pastedowns. Subsequently, from the library of English churchman and academic Charles Henry Hall who served as the Dean of Christ Church from 1809 to 1812 with his bookplates to the front free endpapers. In very good condition with noted provenance. $2,500 That Plato should be the first of all the ancient philosophers to be translated and broadcast by the printing press was inevitable." (PMM 27). Item #100405 RARE 16TH CENTURY PRINTING OF ARISTOTLE’S POSTERIOR ANALYTICS; BOUND WITH ANTONIUS ANDREAS’S QUAESTIONES SUPER XII LIBROS METAPHYSICAE ARISTOTELIS ARISTOTLE; ANTONIO ANDREAS. EDITED BY WALTER BURLEY AND ROBERT GROSSETESTE Analytica Posteriora [bound with] Quaestiones super XII libros Metaphysicae Aristotelis. Venice: Gregorium de Gregorijs, 1514. Rare 16th century printing of Aristotle’s Posterior Analytics; bound together with Spanish Franciscan theologian Antonius Andreas’s best-known work, Quaestiones super XII libros Metaphysicae Aristotelis. Quarto, bound in contemporary parchment over handmade paper-covered boards, woodcut initials, text in two columns. In very good condition. A rare and desirable collection. $6,000 The Posterior Analytics is a text from Aristotle’s Organon that examines demonstration, definition, and scientific knowledge. In the work, Aristotle distinguishes ‘demonstration’ as a syllogism productive of scientific knowledge, and ‘definition’ as the statement of a thing’s nature: the meaning of its name, or of an equivalent nominal formula. In the Prior Analytics, syllogistic logic is considered in its formal aspect; in the Posterior it is considered in respect to its matter. The “form” of a syllogism lies in the necessary connection between the premises and the conclusion. Aristotle concludes the book with the way the human mind comes to know the basic truths or first principles, which are not innate, because people may be ignorant of them for much of their lives. Of all types of thinking, scientific knowing and intuition are considered as only universally true, where the latter is the originative source of scientific knowledge. Item #104082 2 FIRST EDITION IN ENGLISH OF HUGO GROTIUS’ FOUNDATIONAL ON THE LAW OF WAR AND PEACE GROTIUS, HUGO The Illustrious Hugo Grotius of The Law of Warre and Peace with Annotations in III. Parts and Memorials of the Author’s Life and Death. London: Printed for T. Warren and William Lee, 1655. First edition in English of Grotius’ foundational work on international law. Small octavo, bound in full contemporary calf with red morocco spine label lettered in gilt, engraved frontispiece portrait of the author. In very good condition. Rare, with no other examples appearing at auction in the last 80 years. $22,500 A pre-eminent contributor to international legal doctrine, Hugo Grotius was an influential Dutch jurist, philosopher, and theologian. In this momentous work, Grotius describes situations in which war is a valid tool of law enforcement and outlines principles for the use of force. Though based on Christian natural law, Grotius advances the novel argument that his system would still be valid if it lacked a divine basis. In this regard he points to the future by moving international law in a secular direction. Barksdale’s translation, the first in English, includes an original biographical sketch of Grotius. This edition “is perceived to be part of a larger movement in England aimed partly at setting out an ideological alternative to reformation proposals under discussion and to clarifying the relations between civil and ecclesiastical authority in England” (Butler, xii). Item #111091 "MEN ARE DRIVEN BY TWO PRINCIPAL IMPULSES, EITHER BY LOVE OR BY FEAR": THE WORKS OF MACHIAVELLI; FINELY BOUND MACHIAVELLI, NICCOLO The Works of the Famous Nicholas Machiavel, Citizen and Secretary of Florence. Written originally in Italian, and from thence newly and faithfully translated into English. London: Printed for R. Clavel, 1695. Early edition in English of the works of Machiavelli, an important work of political science which includes The Prince. Folio, bound in full calf, elaborate gilt titles and tooling to the spine, raised bands, blind tooling to the front and rear panels. Includes: The History of Florence; The Prince; The Discourses of Nicholas Machiavel, Upon the First Decade of Titus Livius; and The Art of War (this last work is incomplete in this copy). Each with a separate dated title page but pagination and register are continuous. Also includes "Nicholas Machiavel's letter to Zanobius Buondelmontius", which is not in fact by Machiavelli but by Henry Neville. Translation attributed to Henry Neville. Wing M128. In very good condition. An exceptional example. $4,000 Although it is relatively short, Niccolo Machiavelli's The Prince is the most remembered of his works and the one most responsible for bringing the word "Machiavellian" into usage as a pejorative. It is often considered to be one of the first works of modern philosophy. Item #112475 3 RARE FIRST EDITION IN ENGLISH OF THUCYDIDES’ THE HISTORY OF THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR THUCYDIDES The Hystory, Writtone by Thucidides the Athenyan, of the Warre, Whiche was Betwene the Peloponesians and the Athenyans [The History of the Peloponnesian War]. London: William Tylle, 1550. First edition of one of the greatest of classic historical works. Folio, bound in 19th century full vellum, morocco spine label, marbled endpapers, title-page with elaborate historiated woodcut border. In very good condition with light toning to the text. Rare and desirable in this condition. $32,500 "The standards and methods of Thucydides as a contemporary historian have never been bettered. He began work at the very start of the events he records, and the penetration and concentration which he devoted to his account of the 'Peloponnesian War' (the war between Athens and Sparta from 431 to 404 B.C.) were based on the conviction that it would