BACON (Nathaniel):

An Historicall Discourse of the Uniformity of the Government of England. The First Part. From the first Times till the Reign of Edward the third. [And] The Continuation of an Historicall Discourse, of the Government of England, Until the end of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth. With a Preface, being a Vindication of the ancient way of Parliaments in England. By Nath. Bacon of Grays-Inn-gate..., 1651

London, Printed for Walbancke at Grays-Inn-Gate, 1647. 2 volumes in 1. Small quarto, 189 x 143 mms., pp. [xii]. 323 [324 blank, 325 - 335 index, 336 blank]; [xxiv], 307 [308 blank, 309 - 316 index], with second title-page at end of first part, recently rebound in attractive blind-panelled calf, red morocco label. A very good copy. "Bacon's greatest service to anti-Stuart causes came in the form of a political tract entitled An Historical Discourse of the Uniformity of the Government of England, which was probably written using notes collected by John Selden. Published in 1647 to justify the Long Parliament's war against Charles I, with a continuation appearing in 1651, the work has been referred to as 'the English Francogallia' (Burgess, 96). Contemporaries of various political leanings would have agreed. Indeed, according to Bacon's co-religionist and fellow anti-royalist Richard Baxter, An Historical Discourse was one of the four most influential tracts written in support of the parliamentarian cause," (Janelle Greenbery in ODNB).

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Book number: 9131

Catalogue: History

Keywords: history government prose

BATE (George):

Ristretto Delli Moti Moderni d'Inghilterra, Con vn breue Racconto Delle Ragioni del Rè, e del Parlamento. Tradotto dal Latino in Italiano dal Dottor Gio: Batt: Birago Auogadro Cutadin Venetiano. All'Illustriss. & Eccellentiss. Sig. Giovanni Pesaro, Caualier e Procurator di S. Marco.

In Venetia, Presso il Turrini, 1652. 12mo, 139 x 68 mms., pp. 221 [222 - 227 adverts, 228 blank], engraved Turrini vignette of a tower on its summit, with an angel playing a trumpet, out of which comes a scroll with the motto, "Deus et Fortitudo turis sic mea," contained within a frame, on title-page, contemporary vellum; some slight browning of text in first few leaves, with occasional stain, but a very good copy. The "Lettore" preceding the title-page is signed "Teodoro Veridico," the pseudonym that George Bate (1608 - 1668), the apologist for Charles I and later physician to Oliver Cromwell. The work, or at least the first part, appeared in Paris (but printed in London by William Dugard) in 1649 in Latin, Elenchus motuum nuperorum in Anglia. The English version, A Compendious Narrative of the Late Troubles in England, was published in London in 1652. This Italian translation from the Latin original is dedicated to Giovanni Pesaro (1589 - 1658), the 103rd Doge of Venice. The work was also published in Bologna the same year, with a different vignette on the title-page. F. F. Madan, in his "A Bibliography of George Bate's Elenchus Motuum Nuperorum in Anglia" (The Library [1951], no. 9) records the above imprint but not the one for Bologna, which would appear to be the sheets of the Turrini Press, with a cancel title-page. This Italian translation from the Turrini press, is uncommon, with OCLC locating only two copies, Bibliotheque Nationale de France and Newberry Library

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Book number: 6951

Catalogue: History

Keywords: history revolution prose

BELSHAM (William):

Memoirs of the Reign of George III. To the Session of Parliament ending A. D. 1793. Second Edition.

London: Printed for G. G. and J. Robinson..., 1795. 4 volumes. 8vo, pp. ix [x - xii blank], 364; xi [xii blank], 350; xi [xii blank], 359 [360 blank], xii, 431 [432 blank], including half-title in each volume, original boards, uncut; joints slightly cracked, paper missing from bases of spines on volumes 1, 2, and 3, some slight soiling of binding, but generally a good set in its original condition.

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Book number: 3582

Catalogue: History

Keywords: history binding prose

BIGLAND (John):

Letters on the Study and Use of Ancient and Modern History: Containing Observations and Reflections on the causes and consequences of those events which have produced conspicuous changes in the Aspect of the World, and The General State of Human Affairs.

[London]: Albion Press printed: By and for James Cundee..., 1805. 12mo, pp. 357 [358 adverts], contemporary tree calf, gilt spine, black morocco label; some war to extremities, but a good copy. Bigland (1750 - 1832) was a prolific author, and this was his second book. First published it 1804, it elicited this comment from the July, 1804 issue of the British Critic: "Mr. Bigland displays in this volume a well-cultivated and comprehensive mind. His style is generally correct though not highly polished; his information is extensive; and the many pertinent remarks and inferences, with which he has enriched this summary of general history, meet our cordial approbation."

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Book number: 5211

Catalogue: History

Keywords: history education PROSE

BINGLEY (William):

Animal Biography; Or, Authentic Anecdotes of the Lives, Manners, and Economy of the Animal Creation, Arranged according to the System of Linnaeus. Second Edition, With considerable Additions and Corrections.

London: Printed for Richard Phillips..., 1804. 3 volumes. 8vo, 210 x 130 mms., pp. xxiii [xxiv blank], 504 [505 - 512 indexes]; [ii], 554; [ii], 580, folding engraved plate of lioness and whelps in volume 1, recently rebound in black hard grain quarter morocco, marbled boards, red leather label; labels defective, but a very good set. Bingley (1774 - 1823) first published this work in 1802, and it was immediately popular. By 1842, it had reached six editions and had been translated into several European languages. He also published a dictionary of Musical Biography in 1814. The British Critic and Quarterly Theological Review noticed the work in 1803, commending it and remarking that "A desire to render his work useful to the female sex, and cause the study of biology to become a branch of their acquirements, has led Mr. B. to abstain from entering on those subjects which might be dangerous to the purity of the female mind; in this respect his work is more valuable than the writings of Buffon and his followers; among whom a contrary proceeding is so conspicuous. Partial collections of zoological collections are, from their delicacy and beauty, adapted to the manners of the sex; but we are doubtful if an attention to living animals (the part here principally illustrated) can, notwithstanding every caution, be recommended with propriety to female students."

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Book number: 8693

Catalogue: Natural history

Keywords: natural history birds prose

BIZOT (Pierre):

Histoire Metallique de la Republique de Hollande.

A Paris, Chez Daniel Horthemels Libraire..., 1687. FIRST EDITION. Folio, 370 x 235 mms., pp. [xiv], 317 [318 blank, 319 - 331 Index, 332 - 333 Errata and Privilege, 334 blank], engraved title-page (by S. La Clercinu Lalouette after Sébastien Le Clerc) preceding letter-press title-page, 12 full-page engraved plates, engraved vignettes in text, and culs de lampe, all finely executed, contemporary calf, old gilt spine, black morocco label; spine a little dried, some slight wear to joins, pp. 126 and 127 very browned. The French numismatist Pierre Bizot (1630 - 1696) made his reputation with this on the history of coins and medals of the Dutch Republic. He published a second part in 1690, but it only appeared in the Dutch editions, the first of which was published in that year. The coins and medals which he illustrates were themselves produced between 1566 and 1680. In the same year Bizot also published Theatre d'honneur des héros qui out sacrificé leurs vies pour la Republique de Hollande, o'u l'on voit gravez, sur le suivre, les Tombeaux magnifigues qui ont été en leur honneur et leurs épitaphes. Many of the engraved illustrations celebrate great moments in Dutch history. For example, in 1590, a turfship was the instrument by which the Dutch recaptured the port city of Breda from the Spanish, and Bizot records the feat in this work, with engravings (p. 63) of the medals struck. McGrath, Elizabeth: "A Netherlandish History by Joachim Wtewael," in Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes (1975).

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Book number: 8068

Catalogue: History

Keywords: history numismatics prose

[BOWDLER (Thomas)]:

Letters written in Holland in the Months of September October, 1787. To which is added A Collection of letters, and Other Papers relating to the Journey of the Princess of Orange, on the 28th of June, 1787.

London: Printed for the Benefit of A Charitable Institution at Bath, and sold by J. Robson and W. Clarke..., 1788. FIRST AND ONLY EDITION. 8vo, 205 x 120 mms., pp. [ii], 192, [3], 4 - 100, 2 folding engraved maps, contemporary lightly speckled calf, red leather label; binding very slightly dried but a very good to near fine copy. This work by Thomas Bowlder (1754 - 1825) was one of his earliest publications, written to chronicle the Prussian army's campaign against the Dutch. Commenting on the work in 1788, The Monthly Review was a bit sniffy: "These Letters appear to have been hastily written , and without any great prospect of awakening attention....," concluding, however, on a slightly less grudging note: "he is nevertheless a sensible and intelligent man, as may be gathered from several observations in his book; and has, undoubtedly, the merit of having given us an authentic detail of facts, which may prove highly useful to the historian...."

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Book number: 8276

Catalogue: History

Keywords: history war prose

CHAMBERLAYNE (John):

Magnæ Britanniæ Notitia: Or the Present State of Great Britain; With diverse Remarks upon The Ancient State thereof. The Thirty-third Edition of the South Part, called England; and the Twelfth of the North Part, called Scotland. To which is added, A Complete List of the Queen's Household.....

London: Printed for D. Midwinter, B. Motte and C. Bathurst..., 1737. 8vo, pp. [xiv], 443 [444 blank], 274, 67 [68 blank], engraved portrait frontispiece, contemporary calf; front joint cracked and tender, top and base of spine chipped.

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Book number: 4803

Catalogue: History

Keywords: history military

CHAMBERS (Robert), editor:

Cyclopædia of English Literature. A History, Critical and Biographical, of British Authors from the Earliest to the Present Times.

London and Edinburgh: William and Robert Chambers, 1858. FIRST EDITION. 2 volumes. Large 8vo (250 x 173 mms.), pp. xx, 812; xvi, 816, steel-engraved illustrations throughout text, contemporary half calf, gilt spines, morocco labels, marbled boards; lacks half-title in volume 1, front hinges both volumes a bit tender.

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Book number: 3881

Catalogue: Literary history

Keywords: literary history anthology literature

CHILDREY (Joshua):

Britannia Baconica: Or, The Natural Rarities of England, Scotland, & Wales. According as they are to be found in every Shire. Historically related, according to the Precepts of the Lord Bacon; Methodically digested ; and the Causes of many of them Philosophically attempted,M With observations upon them, and Deductions from them, whereby divers Secrets in Nature are discovered, and some things hitherto reckoned Prodigies, are fain to confess the cause whence they proceed. Usefull for all ingenious men of what Profession or Quality soever

London, Printed for the Author,, and are to be sold H. E. at the sign of the Greyhound in St. Pauls Church-yard , 1661. Small 8vo, 162 x 102, pp. [xxxii], 184, including initial blank, contemporary sheepskin, gilt rules across spine, black leather label; spine slightly dried, top and base of spine chipped, corners slightly worn, but a good to very good copy, with a number of notes in pencil on the front end-papers.. In his early life, the antiquary and astrologer Joshua Childrey (1625–1670) maintained himself by keeping a school, but he was also later appointed by Henry Somerset, later marquess of Worcester, as one of his chaplains, and was later Archdeacon of Sarum. "In Britannia Baconia, or, The Natural Rarities of England, Scotland and Wales (1660), also published in French in Paris in 1662 and 1667, Childrey relied mainly on descriptions of curiosities taken from other writers, but there are occasional references to his own observations. In it he alludes at least twice to what he had seen in his native Kent, and mentions visits to Wiltshire, Witney, and Gloucester Cathedral. He also restates his belief that astrology's reform, as Bacon had suggested, 'will not only try the truth of old Principles, but adde new ones: such (it is very likely) as the sons of [the] Art do not yet dream of' (Childrey, B5v–6v). However, it is significant that, after a decade of such efforts on his part, he was still relying principally on a rhetorical call to arms. None the less, the work was undoubtedly popular, and allegedly inspired Robert Plot's Natural History of Oxfordshire (1677)" (ODNB). ESTC distinguishes among three issues of this work, dated 1660, 1661, and 1662, but all with the same register. This one, ESTC R25345, seems to be the most common, and is, according to ESTC, an "imprint variant of the edition dated 1662."

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Book number: 9787

Catalogue: Natural history

Keywords: natural history astrology prose

CLARENDON (Edward Hyde), Earl of:

The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England, Begun in the Year, 1641. With the precedent Passages, and Actions, that contributed thereunto, and the happy End, and Conclusion thereof by the King's blessed restoration, and Return upon the 29th of May, in the Year 1660.

Oxford, Printed at the Theater..., 1705, 1706. 3 volumes in 6. 8vo, 192 x 128 mms., pp. [iv], 288, [2], 289 - 720; [x], 466, [2], 467 - 753 [754 blank]; [xvi], 364 [2], 365 - 773 [774 blank, 775 - 849 Index, 850 - 852 blank], engraved portrait in each volume, contemporary panelled calf, paper labels; joints a bit worn, but firm, and generally a good to very good set, with the ownership inscription of A. Burnaby, St. John's College, Cambridge, 1722 in each volume and his autograph on each title-page, and the bookplate of Barbara de Selincourt (whose portrait as a young girl was memorably painted by Herbert James Draper) on the front paste-down end-paper of each volume. Andrew Burnaby (1702 - 1776), who apparently acquired this set in 1722 when he was a student at St. John's College, named his son, the church of England clergyman and traveller, Andrew Burnaby (1732 - 1812) as well. "Clarendon remained in the mind because of his literary achievement—the fashioning of the most sophisticated and finely balanced history yet written in English (or written for a long time afterwards)—and for an unmistakable rhetorical voice. Clarendon's writings—and his own life—were steeped in the literary stoicism of the early seventeenth century; but in the History he created a distinctive work of art based on a highly wrought style, a forensic dissection of character and issue, and a sense of the depth of individuals' moral responsibility for their actions..." (Oxford DNB). Edward Hyde, first earl of Clarendon (1609–1674), began work on his history while he was in exile in Jersey, and it was first published in 1702.

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Book number: 6527

Catalogue: History

Keywords: history biography prose

COLLENUCCIO (Pandolfo):

Compendio delle Historie del regno di Napoli composto da Messer Pandolfo Collenutio, jurisconsolto in Pesaro.

In Venetia. Con privilegio del sommo Pontifice Paulo...& d Cesarea maestra, & de lo Illustrissimo senato Veneto per anni dieci 1548. Small 8vo, 143 x 100 mms., foliated [iv], 296, woodcut on title-page with female "Sibylla" within oval border, later 18th cneutyr quarter sheepskin, lightly marbled boards, green morocco label on spine; ex- library, with library stamp obscuring part of imprint on title-page, hand-written bookplate on front paste-down end-paper "has library mark of German [illegible] at Bologna." A good copy. The scholar and historian Pandolfo Collenuccio (1444 - 1504) graduated from Padua University in 1465 with a degree in law and and held various political offices; he is credited with obtaining the Lordship of Pesaro Giovanni Sforza , illegitimate son of Costanzo I. Exiled from his home town of Padua thanks to a dispute involving Sforza, he achieved some fame as one of the early Etruscan scholars. Many of his works were published after his death, as is the case with this volume, published first in 1539. The woodcut image of Sibylla on the title-page apears to be that of Sibylla, Queen of Jerusalem (c. 1160 - 1190).

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Book number: 9469

Catalogue: History

Keywords: history Naples literature

CRAWFURD (George):

The History of the Shire of Renfrew. A Genealogical History of the Royal House of Stewart, with a Genealogical Account of the Illustrious House of Hanover, from the time of their intermarriage with the Stewart family, to the present period. Also, A Genealogical History of the Nobility and Gentry of the County of Renfrew. And, An exact Survey of the County; together with the present State of the public Buildings, Manufactures, different Religions, &c. &c. Collected From the Public Records, ancient Chartularies, the Works of the best Historians, &c. Brought from the earliest Accounts to the Year MDCCX, by Mr. George Crawfurd: And continued to the present Period, by William Semple.

Paisley: Printed and Sold by Alex Wier...and by the Author, 1782. Small 4to, 208 x 182 mms., pp. viii, vi, 108, 334, 5 [6 blank], contemporary sheepskin, red leather label; tear in 2F1 (pp. 221 - 222) with loss of seven words on p. 221, very slight marginal worming of last few leaves, top and base of front joint cracked, top and base of spine chipped, binding a little dried. Crawfurd (c. 1695 - 1748) published this work in Edinburgh in 1710. Another edition of Semple's edition was published in 1818. He was employed by Simon Fraser to find support for Fraser's claim to the barony of Lovat, and though he carried out a lot of research for Fraser, he was never paid for it, even though Crawfurd's research was directly responsible for the success of Fraser's claim.

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Book number: 6395

Catalogue: History

Keywords: history genealogy prose Scottish Enlightenment

CRESCIMBENI (Giovanni Mario):

Comentarj intorno all' istoria Della Poesia Italiana ne' quali si ragion d'ogni genere e specie di quella scritti da Gio. Mario Crescimbeni Ripublicati da T. J. Mathias.

Londra: Presso T. Becket...dalla Stamperia di Bulmer e Co..., 1803. FIRST EDITION. 3 volumes. 8vo, 160 x 99 mms., pp. lv [lvi blank], vii [viii blank], 208 [209 - 212 index]; [ii] 3] 4 - 288 [289 - 292 index]; [ii] [3] - 270 [271 - 273 index, 274 blank], engraved portrait frontispiece in volume 1, contemporary straight grain blue morocco, gilt roll border on each cover, spines ornately gilt in compartments, blue morocco labels, all edges gilt, marbled end-papers; rear paste-down end-paper in volume three with what looks and feels like a white natural flaw in the marbling process, but a fine and attractive set. The Italian literary critic and poet Giovanni Mario Crescimbeni (1663 – 1728) published Istoria Della Volgar Poesia in 1698 and his Commentarii Intorno alla sua Istoria della Volgar Poesia in 1702 - 1711. The "Avvertimento" to the present volumes states, "L'Edizione seguita nella ristampa di questi scelti Commentarj è intitolata; 'L'Istoria della Volgar Poesia Scritta da Gio. Marion Crescimbini...nella Seconda Impressione, fatta l'anno 1714..., e in questa Terza publicata unitamente co i Commentarj ....In Venezia. Presso Lorenzo Basegio.' In Sei Volume in 4to." Mathias's introduction "Ai Poetici ed Eruditi Lettori Inglesi" occupies ight pages before the contents. Thomas James Mathias (1753/4 - 1835) was perhaps a better Italian scholar than as an English satirist, though his Pursuits of Literature, or, What you will, published in 1794 was a popular book for many years. He began publishing editions of Italian literature in 1802 and moved to Italy permanently in 1817.

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Book number: 9190

Catalogue: Literary history

Keywords: literary history literary criticism literature

[DALRYMPLE (Sir David, Lord Hailes)]:

Memorials and Letters Relating to the History of Britain in the Reign of James the First. Embellished from the Originals.

Glasgow: Printed by Robert and Andrew Foulis..., 1762. FIRST FOULIS EDITION. Small 8vo, 160 x 93 mms., pp. [xviii], 151 [152 errata], later 18th century polished calf, gilt borders on covers, gilt spine; lacks label, upper and lower joints very slightly cracked, but a good copy. The Monthly Review noticed the work in 1763 (Volume 27): "We have always considered James as the most beastly Monarch that ever disgraced the throne of this kingdoms; and this Collection affords a new and most remarkable instance of the most shocking depravity of his taste and manners.... As to the rest of the original letters, &c contained in this small volume, most of them certainly deserve the notice of the public. There are several written by the celebrated Bacon, and other eminent personages of those days; but it will exercise the reader's patience or sensibility, to bear with the continued repetition of such preposterous, fulsome, and slavish flattery as he will meet with in almost every Memorial, Letter, &c addressed to the British Solomon.-- In truth the English do not seem to have been the same kind of people in James's time as both their forefathers and their posterity were, nor to have been animated with the smallest spark of that glorious spirit of freedom they have since so nobly manifested on those GREAT OCCASIONS, which it is hoped that neither British Subject nor British Kings will ever forget." Gaskell 405. See also the letter from Robert Foulis to James Boswell, dated 8 Mah 1767, pages 397 - 398 in Gaskell.

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Book number: 9743

Catalogue: History

Keywords: history Britain prose