= years in the rare book world · 1971–2016 marking my 45 years in the rare book world marking my 45 JONATHAN A. HILL 9 2016 – BOOKSELLE| 1971 · - CATALOGUE 218 - · 1971 – NEW √ORK CI@√ 2016 9 marking my 45 2016 marking my 45 years in the rare book world – · 2016 1971 world book rare the in years 9 JONATHAN A. HILL, BOOKSELLER FOREWORD jonathan a. hill megumi k. hill yoshi hill - mobile: 917-294-2678 mobile: 917-860-4862 mobile: 646-420-4652 e-mail: jonathan e-mail: mkhnyc e-mail: yoshi @jonathanahill.com @aol.com @jonathanahill.com t has been another busy year during which many impor- tant books and manuscripts passed through our hands. 325 West End Avenue, Apt. 10B Many of the items described in this catalogue come from New York, New York 10023-8143 I recent dispersals, both public and private. Most notably, in the telephone: 646-827-0724 fax: 212-944-9603 bibliography section, there are a number of fine items from the home page: www.jonathanahill.com library of A.R.A. Hobson. The catalogue also benefits from the extended dispersal on to the market of the Wittelsbach Library of the dukes and kings of Bavaria. These books are all in splen- did condition, having been presented or purchased when pub- lished, and subsequently shelved and ignored for 150 years. This catalogue is a little more varied than usual, with a large “miscellaneous” section. As always, many appear items appear Member: International League of Antiquarian Booksellers, Antiquarian in sections where they might not be expected. Science and med- Booksellers’ Association of America & Verband Deutscher Antiquare icine can also be found in the Japanese section, auction cata- logues in the miscellaneous section, etc. Please refer to the index Terms are as usual: Any book returnable within five days of receipt, payment at the end. due within thirty days of receipt. Persons ordering for the first time are re- The most important news regarding our company is that our quested to remit with order, or supply suitable trade references. older son, Timothy “Yoshi” Hill, joined us on the 1st of June. Residents of New York State should include appropriate sales tax. Having graduated from college on a Sunday, he began working with us bright and early the next morning. He is bringing much- needed energy and ideas. jonathan hill Labor Day 2016 [ 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS - I Science, Medicine, and Natural History 9 II Japanese & Chinese Books, Manuscripts, and Scrolls 9 III Books in Many Fields 9 IV Bibliography & the History of Book Collecting 9 9 PART I = ScIENCE, MEDICINE, ‡ NATURAL HISTORY “Its Effect was Profound and Permanent”–Morton; Louis XV’s Copy 1. ADANSON, MICHEL. Familles des Plantes. One folding engraved plate. 2 p.l., cccxxv, 189, [1] pp.; 1 p.l., 24, [4], 640 pp. Two vols. 8vo, cont. pale brown morocco (a bit of wear), arms in gilt on covers of Louis XV, triple gilt fillet rounds sides, gilt fleur de lys in corners, flat spines gilt, crowns in gilt in four compartments, red morocco letter- ing pieces in the other two, dentelles gilt, red silk endpapers. Paris: Vincent, 1763. $9500.00 First edition of this important work in botanical classification, this is the copy of Louis XV, bound in pale brown morocco with arms in gilt on each cover. In this book Adanson proclaimed his contempt for “systems” and proposed a natural classification based upon all characters rather than upon a few arbitrarily selected ones, an attempt that brought him into conflict with Linnaeus. Adanson (1727-1806), was sent to Senegal in 1748 to catalogue the natural resources of the country. “The bewildering diversity of tropical vegetation makes the systems of classification proposed by Tournefort and Linnaeus appear pitifully inadequate, based as they had been on the wild flora of Europe and a limited number of culti- vated plants. .he concluded that, by making a large number of sys- tems and then putting together those plants which belonged together in the greatest number of systems without attaching greater impor- tance to one set of characters than another, he could make one gener- ally satisfactory natural system.”–from the “Introduction” to Vol. II, pp. xcii-xciii of the Hunt Botanical Catalogue. [ 9 The first volume contains a history of botanical classification and a detailed chronological table of botanical authors. Adanson was also a proponent of phonetic spelling and employed it to some extent in this work. Fine set. Engraved bookplate of Henri Lambert and another. 9 D.S.B., I, pp. 58-59. Hunt 577. Morton, History of Botanical Science, pp. 301- 11–“Its effect was profound and permanent.” A Classic of Mining & Metallurgical Technology; From the Library of the Third Duke of Alba 2. AGRICOLA, GEORGIUS. De Re Metallica Libri XII. Quibus Officia, Instrumenta, Machinae, ac omnia denique ad Metallicam spectantia, non modo luculentissimè describuntur, sed & per effigies, suis locis insertas, ad- junctis Latinis, Germanicisque appellationibus ita ob oculos ponuntur, ut clarius tradi non possint. Eiusdem de Animantibus Subterraneis Liber, ab Autore recognitus: cum Indicibus diversis. Woodcut printer’s device on title & on verso of last leaf, two folding woodcut plates (the second just shaved at head as usual), & about 270 splendid woodcuts (many full-page) in the text. 6 p.l. (sixth leaf blank), 502 pp., 37 leaves. Folio (319 x 210 mm.), cont. panelled calf (joints cracked but strong with some early repairs, head & foot of spine a little chipped), on the fore- edge the arms at head of the Davila family & at foot the arms of the dukes of Alba with the title in the center of the fore-edge, three (of four) brass corner-pieces (one of which is defective), one (of two) brass catches. Basel: [H. Froben & N. Episcopius], 1556. $275,000.00 First edition, and a fine, crisp, and large copy of “the first systematic treatise on mining and metallurgy and one of the first technological books of modern times. .The De Re Metallica embraces everything connected with the mining industry and metallurgical processes, in- cluding administration, prospecting, the duties of officials and compa- nies and the manufacture of glass, sulphur and alum. The magnificent series of two hundred and seventy-three large woodcut illustrations by Hans Rudolf Manuel Deutsch adds to its value. Some of the most important sections are those on mechanical engineering and the use 10 ] [ 11 of water-power, hauling, pumps, ventilation, blowing of furnaces, Alba passed to his daughter Beatriz Alvarez (b. 1534), who married Ál- transport of ores, etc., showing a very elaborate technique.”–Printing varo Pérez Osorio, fifth Marques de Astorga (d. 1567), whose family & the Mind of Man 79. also had a notable library and archive. The Alvarez library remained Agricola mentions a large number of minerals, many for the first in the Astorga family until the 19th century when it was purchased by time, and describes and illustrates numerous mining and metallurgi- Thomas Thorpe in about 1825. Approximately 4000 books were pur- cal processes, many of which are still in use. The separate parts of chased from Thorpe by the Advocates’ Library in Edinburgh; Phillipps the machinery are shown. Book V contains Agricola’s important con- and Heber also made important acquisitions. Thorpe then sold some tribution to physical geology; he recognized the influence of water manuscripts at auction (R.H. Evans, 2 March 1826). Another group of and wind on the shaping of the landscape and gave a clear account Astorga books and manuscripts was sold at auction in Paris in 1870. of the order of the strata he saw in the mines. Writing on the origin From the library of Otto Schäfer, with his stamp, sold to him by of mountains, he describes the eroding action of water as their cause, H.P. Kraus about 1960. with a perspicacity much in advance of his time. A fine and crisp copy preserved in a slipcase. The famous woodcuts depict various mining and metallurgical ma- 9 Dibner, Heralds of Science, 88. D.S.B., I, pp. 77-79. Hoover 17. Horblit 2b. chinery, men at work, and the first illustration of a railway (p. 276 — Partington, II, pp. 46-55. Sparrow, Milestones of Science, p. 8 & pl. 26. Astorga trucks containing ore on wooden rails). library: J.H. Loudon, “The Astorga Collection of Spanish Books now in the National Library of Scotland,” Le IIIème Congrès International de Bibliophilie, provenance: This copy comes from the important but relatively for- Actes et Communications (Barcelona: 1971), pp. 89-93. gotten library of Fernando Alvarez de Toledo, third Duke of Alba (1507-82), known as the best general of his generation and one of the greatest generals ever. He received a humanistic education at the du- Contains “His Most Important Contributions to Mathematics” cal court of the House of Alba where he learned Latin, French, Eng- 3. ARCHIMEDES. Monumenta Omnia Mathematica, quae extant. .ex lish, and German. Although one of the earliest Spanish noblemen to traditione. .Francici Maurolici. Woodcut printer’s device on title, nu- absorb and appreciate the tenets of the Renaissance, he was consid- merous woodcut illus. in the text, & a woodcut vignette on verso of ered to be “an educated anti-intellectual and a cosmopolitan xeno- final leaf. Title printed in red & black. 4 p.l., 296 pp. Folio, cont. vellum phobe.”–Maltby, Alba: Biography of Fernando Alvarez de Toledo, Third over boards (first four leaves with some light browning & staining). Duke of Alba, 1507-82, p. 20. Palermo: C. Hesperi, 1685. $13,500.00 Alba formed an important library, now dispersed and largely for- gotten. It was a so-called “vertical library” with the characteristic de- First edition of Maurolico’s important edition of Archimedes’ works, sign of the title and coats-of-arms of the Davila and dukes of Alba based upon an earlier partial edition by Borelli (Messina: 1670-72), families painted on the fore-edges of each volume.