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Rodger Friedman Rare Book Studio

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Literature and History of Great Britain

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This selection contains 10 title(s) on 1 page.
This is page 1 with nrs. 1 to 10


	BARETTI, GIUSEPPE (1719-1789). Discours sur Shakespeare et sur monsieur de Voltaire par Joseph Baretti secretaire pour la correspondence etrangere de l'academie royale britannique ... Londres : chez J. Nourse, et à Paris, chez Durand neveu,, 1777, First edition. Octavo (21 cm); [4],185,[1] pages. Bound in old wrappers, worn, discolored, frayed, and backstrip perished. PRESENTATION COPY, inscribed on half-title "The Gift of the Author to Thomas Campbell" in Campbell's hand. The upper wrap is further inscribed by Campbell's brother's descendant, dated 1928, "This pamphlet was given by [Baretti] to the Rev. Thomas Campbell probably in 1777 or in 1781, when Campbell was in London to se Dr. Johnson..." The note proceeds to account for the ownership of the volume through the Campbell family, and gives a brief sketch of Thomas Campbell's career, and quotes a 1781 entry in his diary, "I went to see Dr. Johnson, found him alone. Baretti came soon after." Contents fresh. ¶ The combatative Giuseppe Baretti held strong views about his French contemporary, Voltaire. Baretti's career had been marked by literary feuds on the continent, and close friendships in England with Johnson and his circle. When Voltaire criticized a French translation of Shakespeare, Baretti retaliated with this booklet. It is, according to the Oxford DNB, "Baretti's most important work of [his late] period." The article continues, "Baretti's Discours sur Shakespeare et sur Monsieur de Voltaire attacked Voltaire for his lack of appreciation of Shakespeare's artistic merit, and for his limited knowledge of the English language and therefore of Shakespeare's plays. Baretti's decision to write the work in French (a language Johnson felt that Baretti knew as fluently as English) meant that it was accessible to readers on the continent, including Italy, where the classical tradition held sway and Shakespeare's plays were still very little known." Baretti is credited with raising Shakespeare's profile in Europe. Thomas Campbell, who owned this copy, is reckoned in the Oxford DNB as "one of the best pulpit orators in Ireland." USD 350.00 [Appr.: EURO 233.5 \| £UK 210.5 \| JP¥ 30890] Book number: 4917 Click here to order or inquire at Rodger Friedman Rare Book Studio.
	BARETTI, GIUSEPPE (1719-1789); SAMUEL JOHNSON. Easy phraseology, for the use of young ladies, who intend to learn the colloquial part of the Italian language. London, Printed for G. Robinson... and T. Cadell, 1775, First edition. Reference: Courtney and Nichol Smith, 127., Octavo (22 cm); iv,[3],vi-xv,[1],424 pages. Signature Bb (pages 185-192) supplied in facsimile. Full sheep, stamped "Yale College Library" on upper board. Rebacked with new leather spine. Original leather label retained. Corners rebuilt, endleaves renewed. Bookplates of Yale University Library (with withdrawal stamp) and Arthur Gordon Rippey. Contents basically clean, with occasional scattered foxing on title and early pages. ¶ Preface attributed to Samuel Johnson. "Between 1773 and 1776 Baretti became the language tutor to Hetty (Queeney), the daughter of Henry Thrale, brewery proprietor, and his wife, Hester Thrale, to whom he was introduced by Samuel Johnson. During these three years Baretti chose to live on and off at their villa at Streatham, where the Thrales were accustomed to entertaining artists, writers, and distinguished professional people. In 1775 they arranged for Baretti and Johnson to travel with them for two months to France. That same year, Baretti wrote and published a collection of dialogues, Easy Phraseology for the Use of Young Ladies, which had been originally intended for his pupil Hetty." --DNB USD 350.00 [Appr.: EURO 233.5 \| £UK 210.5 \| JP¥ 30890] Book number: 4919 Click here to order or inquire at Rodger Friedman Rare Book Studio.
	BARETTI, GIUSEPPE (1719-1789); SAMUEL JOHNSON. An Introduction to the Italian Language Containing specimens both of prose and verse ... with a literal translation and grammatical notes, for the use of those who, being already acquainted with grammar, attempt to learn it without a master ... London, for A. Millar, 1755, First edition. References: Courtney, p. 73; Chapman & Hazen, p. 139, Octavo (21 cm); xi, 467 pages. Bound in contemporary speckled calf, double gilt fillet on covers and on each side of the five raised spine bands; two old paper spine labels, one with title in manuscript. Corners very slightly bruised; upper cover and spine extremities rubbed. Manuscript table of contents in contemporary hand on lower free endleaf, and a few textual annotations in ink and pencil in two hands. Broughton Baptist Library bookplate. ¶ The cultural bosses in Milan, Turin and Venice made certain Giuseppe Baretti would never work in Italy after he published a merciless satire of one of their rank. Consequently Baretti moved to London (1751) where he became something of a professional Italian, translating, teaching, writing about and promoting Italian culture. He was welcomed into the circles of Samuel Johnson and Henry Thrale and, was a frequent guest at Streatham Park. (Later, when Baretti was tried for murder after stabbing a pimp to death, Johnson testified as a character witness, and Baretti was acquitted.) Here, in the same year that Johnson published his great dictionary, Baretti issued this selection of passages from 37 celebrated Italian authors with facing translations in English (including Castiglione, Machiavelli, Boccaccio, Ariosto, Tasso, Michelangelo, Petrarcae, and others, some of them unknown in English before). Baretti went so far as to translate a few of Milton's sonnets into Italian, probably at Johnson's suggestion. Johnson is credited with writing a portion of the Preface, and two extensive footnotes. USD 900.00 [Appr.: EURO 600.5 \| £UK 541 \| JP¥ 79432] Book number: 4916 Click here to order or inquire at Rodger Friedman Rare Book Studio.
	BARETTI, GIUSEPPE (1719-1789); SAMUEL JOHNSON. The Italian library. Containing an account of the lives and works of the most valuable authors of Italy. With a preface, exhibiting the changes of the Tuscan language, from the barbarous ages to the present time. London, A. Millar, 1757, First edition. Octavo (22 cm); [2],xciv,[2],343,[27] pages. Bound in contemporary full calf, worn, joints cracked but holding. ¶ Effectively exiled from Italy after he insulted the cultural and academic bosses there, Baretti settled in London. English awareness of Italian literature and art was practically non-existent, and Baretti energetically introduced Italian studies into England. He joined the society of Hentry Fielding, Joshua Reynolds, David Garrick, and, most importantly, Samuel Johnson. Under Johnson's patronage, he produced a series of works intended to promote Italian language and literature, including the Italian Library, which provided short commentaries on the lives and works of Italian writers, and a brief history of the development of the Tuscan language. Johnson wrote the stunning first paragraph of Baretti's preface. USD 350.00 [Appr.: EURO 233.5 \| £UK 210.5 \| JP¥ 30890] Book number: 4920 Click here to order or inquire at Rodger Friedman Rare Book Studio.
	BARETTI, GIUSEPPE (1719-1789). Scelta di lettere familiari. London, Giovanni Nourse, 1779, First edition. 12mo (19 cm); 2 volumes. [12], 304; [4], 311, [1 blank] pages. Bound in contemporary full speckled calf, with gilt-tooled border on all boards, spines tooled in gilt. One leather label (of four) remains. Joints cracked but holding. Contents clean but for very light and very occasional foxing. Bookplates and early owner's inscription tell remarkable provenance from Rosamond Sargent (autograph dated 1797; Sargent was a British ancestor of the American painter John Singer Sargent, and the subject of a portrait by the Scottish painter Allan Ramsay), to the library of Lavington Hall in Sussex, which passed from the Sargent family to the descendents of abolitionist William Wilberforce in 1836 (Lavington bookplate), to Dr. Octavia Margaret Wilberforce, the extraordinary British physician and feminist who developed a women's convalescent home at the estate of Elizabeth Robins (her American companion) at Backsettown (Wilberforce Library Backsettown bookplate). Between the author and the owners, the book is steeped in classical liberalism. ¶ Baretti produced this compilation late in life. According to the Oxford DNB, "Nourse invited him to compile an anthology of Italian letters as a language text for students of Italian. Not satisfied with those written by earlier Italian writers, Baretti chose instead to resort to letters that he himself had previously sent, or pretended to have sent, to friends and acquaintances. The result ... provided students with a useful variety of topics, vocabulary, and writing styles, as well as a showcase for English readers of his opinions on Italian language, literature, and society, and of his own ability as a writer of Italian prose." Scarce book. USD 400.00 [Appr.: EURO 267 \| £UK 240.5 \| JP¥ 35303] Book number: 4918 Click here to order or inquire at Rodger Friedman Rare Book Studio.
	DIBDIN, THOMAS FROGNALL. The bibliographical decameron; or, ten days pleasant discourse upon illuminated manuscripts and subjects connected with early engraving, typography, and bibliography. London, printed for the author, by W. Bulmer and Co. Shakspeare Press..., 1817, First edition. Reference: Windle A28; Jackson 40., Octavo (26 cm); 3 volumes. [vi], vi, [ii], ccxxv, 410, [2]; [iv], 535, [3]; [iv], 544, [4] pages, and 34 (of 38) plates (lacks the "Presentation in the Temple," which was not ready at the time of publication and is present, according to Jackson, "in only a few copies," as well as two facsimiles of illuminated capital initials and a facsimile from a book of hours. Bound in later half brown diced calf with pebbled cloth covers, five raised bands on spine, dark brown leather spine labels, top edges gilt. Labels flaked a little at corners, covers rubbed along edges and joints. Occasional staining of pages or plates. ¶ First and only edition (upon publication, Dibdin destroyed the plates in front of his friends at the Roxburghe Club). The text continues the dialogues begun in Dibdin's Bibliomania (1809), and ranges widely over topics that would seem endlessly dull to anyone not fascinated with the world of books and collecting, anyone, that is, not touched by (Dibdin coined the term) bibliomania. This set belonged to the liberal statesman, later Viceroy of India, George Frederick Samuel Robinson, the Marquess of Ripon and contains his bookplate in each volume. His father, Frederick John Robinson, was prime minister of Great Britain in 1827-28. Price reflects poverty of plates. Extra shipping charges apply. USD 600.00 [Appr.: EURO 400.25 \| £UK 360.75 \| JP¥ 52954] Book number: 4914 Click here to order or inquire at Rodger Friedman Rare Book Studio.
	MILTON, JOHN; BIRKET FOSTER, ILLUSTRATOR. Milton's L'Allegro and Il Penseroso: Illustrated with Etchings on Steel by Birket Foster London, W. Kent & Co., 1860. 28 cm; [4] pages, [24] leaves, each interleaved with onionskin. Portrait on title page, and 28 steel-engraved vignettes in text. Title page in red and black; text printed in red. Bound in full vellum with gilt-stamped border on both boards, leather title label, marbled endleaves by Tomes of Leamington. All edges gilt. Title label scuffed, vellum lightly soiled. Upper hinge splitting; lower hinge tender. Title page somewhat foxed, especially at edges; interleaves foxed; pages evenly toned, with light scattered foxing; first and last blanks toned darker. Early owner's inscription on front blank. ¶ One of several mid-19th-century editions of Milton's two pastoral poems illustrated with vignettes in the Victorian style by Foster. USD 300.00 [Appr.: EURO 200.25 \| £UK 180.5 \| JP¥ 26477] Book number: 4902 Click here to order or inquire at Rodger Friedman Rare Book Studio.
	PIOZZI, HESTER LYNCH THRALE (1741-1821); WILLIAM PARSONS; AND OTHERS. The Florence Miscellany. Florence, Printed for G[aetano] Cam[biagi], 1785, First edition, presentation copy. Reference: Rothschild 1437; Maggs catalogue 1083, #398 (this copy), Octavo (21 cm); 224 pages, including three pages of engraved music. Manuscript leaf in Piozzi's hand bound in. Bound in contemporary English tree calf, gilt, covers with an outer border of Greek key pattern between gilt fillets and framing an interlaced gilt inner border with tooled corner ornaments of flowers, board edges, turn-ins, and text block edges gilt; marlbed endleaves; expertly rebacked with wriginal backstrip laid down, corners repaired. Some very minor foxing. Manuscript alterations (by Piozzi) on pages 62, 209, 215. Censored lines on pages 9, and 27 left blank, but small pasted slip corrects text on page 20. Nineteenth-century bookplate of Walter Hamilton; penciled note of Pickering & Chatto on lower endleaf dated 1937. ¶ Presentation copy from Hester Lynch Piozzi to her friend and correspondent, the Cambridge professor of Arabic Leonard Chappelow, with his signature on the title page and note on the front fly-leaf, "Given to me by my Good Friend Mrs. Piozzi April 1787." Opposite Mrs. Piozzi's "Translation of an Italian Sonnet upon and English Watch," is inserted an AUTOGRAPH TRANSCRIPT of the original Italian poem in Piozzi's hand. The typographical error in the printed text annoyed her, as she wrote to Lysons from Rome in March, 1786, "They have printed it 'touched by a magic hand.' It should be 'wand,' for 'hand' comes in the line that rhymes to it." Here, she crossed out "hand" and wrote "wand" in black ink. The collection was a collaboration between four English ex-pats (Piozzi, William Parsons, Robert Merry and Bertie Greatheed) and their Italian friends, among them Piozzi husband (who contributed a musical serenade), Ippolito Pindemonte, Lorenzo Pignotti, Angelo d'Elci, Marco Lastri and Giuseppe Parini. Their idea was to reinvigorate poetry by injecting Italian poetic traditions into English letters. In addition to original poems, the volume notably translates selections from Petrarch, Dante, Tasso and Poliziano into English, as well as contemporary political odes and panegyrics to Italian patriots.The collection was written off as unserious by contemporary critics (in part due to it Piozzi's preface, which presents it as light amusement), yet it was the first important English engagement with Italian poetry after Milton, and it led English Romantics into Italian territory. The authors shared copies from the paltry print run between themselves and sent out copies to their friends. USD 8500.00 [Appr.: EURO 5669.75 \| £UK 5108.25 \| JP¥ 750188] Book number: 4924 Click here to order or inquire at Rodger Friedman Rare Book Studio.
	SKENE, JOHN. Regiam Maiestatem Scotiae, veteres leges et constitutions.... London, Apud Ioannem Billium [i.e., John Bill], 1613. Foliio (30 cm). Woodcut printer's ornaments; head and tail pieces. Spine perished; old calf-covered boards remain attached. Sewing is tender. Requires conservation, yet is complete and entire, including final errata leaf. Title page toned at edges. ¶ First London issue, with cancel title, of the 1609 edition published at Edinburgh, of the Scottish book of law. USD 400.00 [Appr.: EURO 267 \| £UK 240.5 \| JP¥ 35303] Book number: 4879 Click here to order or inquire at Rodger Friedman Rare Book Studio.
	LANCELOT; JOSEPH STEVENSON. The Scottish metrical romance of Lancelot du Lak. Now first printed from a manuscript of the fifteenth century, belonging to the University of Cambridge. Edinburgh, Printed for the Maitland Club, 1839, First edition. Reference: Graesse 4, 92;, 28 cm; xxiv, 185 pages. Bound in contemporary red half morocco over pebbled boards, edged with gilt rules . Spine decorated and titled in gilt. Marbled endleaves. Moderate wear, especially at extremities, with spine chipped a bit at heel. Two labels removed from pastedowns. A little foxing at front blank, and the pages are not bright, but text is effectively unblemished. ¶ First printing of a fifteenth-century Scottish version of the Arthurian romance that was composed for the court of James III. It survived in a unique (and incomplete) manuscript in the Cambridge library. The text was edited by the ilbrarian of Durham Cathedral, Joseph Stevenson, and publishd by the Maitland Club, an association dedicated to the promotion of Scottish literature and culture. USD 500.00 [Appr.: EURO 333.75 \| £UK 300.5 \| JP¥ 44129] Book number: 4904 Click here to order or inquire at Rodger Friedman Rare Book Studio.

10 titles found



Rodger Friedman Rare Book Studio Search Page	ANTIQBOOK's database


	BARETTI, GIUSEPPE (1719-1789). Discours sur Shakespeare et sur monsieur de Voltaire par Joseph Baretti secretaire pour la correspondence etrangere de l'academie royale britannique ... Londres : chez J. Nourse, et à Paris, chez Durand neveu,, 1777, First edition. Octavo (21 cm); [4],185,[1] pages. Bound in old wrappers, worn, discolored, frayed, and backstrip perished. PRESENTATION COPY, inscribed on half-title "The Gift of the Author to Thomas Campbell" in Campbell's hand. The upper wrap is further inscribed by Campbell's brother's descendant, dated 1928, "This pamphlet was given by [Baretti] to the Rev. Thomas Campbell probably in 1777 or in 1781, when Campbell was in London to se Dr. Johnson..." The note proceeds to account for the ownership of the volume through the Campbell family, and gives a brief sketch of Thomas Campbell's career, and quotes a 1781 entry in his diary, "I went to see Dr. Johnson, found him alone. Baretti came soon after." Contents fresh. ¶ The combatative Giuseppe Baretti held strong views about his French contemporary, Voltaire. Baretti's career had been marked by literary feuds on the continent, and close friendships in England with Johnson and his circle. When Voltaire criticized a French translation of Shakespeare, Baretti retaliated with this booklet. It is, according to the Oxford DNB, "Baretti's most important work of [his late] period." The article continues, "Baretti's Discours sur Shakespeare et sur Monsieur de Voltaire attacked Voltaire for his lack of appreciation of Shakespeare's artistic merit, and for his limited knowledge of the English language and therefore of Shakespeare's plays. Baretti's decision to write the work in French (a language Johnson felt that Baretti knew as fluently as English) meant that it was accessible to readers on the continent, including Italy, where the classical tradition held sway and Shakespeare's plays were still very little known." Baretti is credited with raising Shakespeare's profile in Europe. Thomas Campbell, who owned this copy, is reckoned in the Oxford DNB as "one of the best pulpit orators in Ireland." USD 350.00 [Appr.: EURO 233.5 \| £UK 210.5 \| JP¥ 30890] Book number: 4917 Click here to order or inquire at Rodger Friedman Rare Book Studio.
	BARETTI, GIUSEPPE (1719-1789); SAMUEL JOHNSON. Easy phraseology, for the use of young ladies, who intend to learn the colloquial part of the Italian language. London, Printed for G. Robinson... and T. Cadell, 1775, First edition. Reference: Courtney and Nichol Smith, 127., Octavo (22 cm); iv,[3],vi-xv,[1],424 pages. Signature Bb (pages 185-192) supplied in facsimile. Full sheep, stamped "Yale College Library" on upper board. Rebacked with new leather spine. Original leather label retained. Corners rebuilt, endleaves renewed. Bookplates of Yale University Library (with withdrawal stamp) and Arthur Gordon Rippey. Contents basically clean, with occasional scattered foxing on title and early pages. ¶ Preface attributed to Samuel Johnson. "Between 1773 and 1776 Baretti became the language tutor to Hetty (Queeney), the daughter of Henry Thrale, brewery proprietor, and his wife, Hester Thrale, to whom he was introduced by Samuel Johnson. During these three years Baretti chose to live on and off at their villa at Streatham, where the Thrales were accustomed to entertaining artists, writers, and distinguished professional people. In 1775 they arranged for Baretti and Johnson to travel with them for two months to France. That same year, Baretti wrote and published a collection of dialogues, Easy Phraseology for the Use of Young Ladies, which had been originally intended for his pupil Hetty." --DNB USD 350.00 [Appr.: EURO 233.5 \| £UK 210.5 \| JP¥ 30890] Book number: 4919 Click here to order or inquire at Rodger Friedman Rare Book Studio.
	BARETTI, GIUSEPPE (1719-1789); SAMUEL JOHNSON. An Introduction to the Italian Language Containing specimens both of prose and verse ... with a literal translation and grammatical notes, for the use of those who, being already acquainted with grammar, attempt to learn it without a master ... London, for A. Millar, 1755, First edition. References: Courtney, p. 73; Chapman & Hazen, p. 139, Octavo (21 cm); xi, 467 pages. Bound in contemporary speckled calf, double gilt fillet on covers and on each side of the five raised spine bands; two old paper spine labels, one with title in manuscript. Corners very slightly bruised; upper cover and spine extremities rubbed. Manuscript table of contents in contemporary hand on lower free endleaf, and a few textual annotations in ink and pencil in two hands. Broughton Baptist Library bookplate. ¶ The cultural bosses in Milan, Turin and Venice made certain Giuseppe Baretti would never work in Italy after he published a merciless satire of one of their rank. Consequently Baretti moved to London (1751) where he became something of a professional Italian, translating, teaching, writing about and promoting Italian culture. He was welcomed into the circles of Samuel Johnson and Henry Thrale and, was a frequent guest at Streatham Park. (Later, when Baretti was tried for murder after stabbing a pimp to death, Johnson testified as a character witness, and Baretti was acquitted.) Here, in the same year that Johnson published his great dictionary, Baretti issued this selection of passages from 37 celebrated Italian authors with facing translations in English (including Castiglione, Machiavelli, Boccaccio, Ariosto, Tasso, Michelangelo, Petrarcae, and others, some of them unknown in English before). Baretti went so far as to translate a few of Milton's sonnets into Italian, probably at Johnson's suggestion. Johnson is credited with writing a portion of the Preface, and two extensive footnotes. USD 900.00 [Appr.: EURO 600.5 \| £UK 541 \| JP¥ 79432] Book number: 4916 Click here to order or inquire at Rodger Friedman Rare Book Studio.
	BARETTI, GIUSEPPE (1719-1789); SAMUEL JOHNSON. The Italian library. Containing an account of the lives and works of the most valuable authors of Italy. With a preface, exhibiting the changes of the Tuscan language, from the barbarous ages to the present time. London, A. Millar, 1757, First edition. Octavo (22 cm); [2],xciv,[2],343,[27] pages. Bound in contemporary full calf, worn, joints cracked but holding. ¶ Effectively exiled from Italy after he insulted the cultural and academic bosses there, Baretti settled in London. English awareness of Italian literature and art was practically non-existent, and Baretti energetically introduced Italian studies into England. He joined the society of Hentry Fielding, Joshua Reynolds, David Garrick, and, most importantly, Samuel Johnson. Under Johnson's patronage, he produced a series of works intended to promote Italian language and literature, including the Italian Library, which provided short commentaries on the lives and works of Italian writers, and a brief history of the development of the Tuscan language. Johnson wrote the stunning first paragraph of Baretti's preface. USD 350.00 [Appr.: EURO 233.5 \| £UK 210.5 \| JP¥ 30890] Book number: 4920 Click here to order or inquire at Rodger Friedman Rare Book Studio.
	BARETTI, GIUSEPPE (1719-1789). Scelta di lettere familiari. London, Giovanni Nourse, 1779, First edition. 12mo (19 cm); 2 volumes. [12], 304; [4], 311, [1 blank] pages. Bound in contemporary full speckled calf, with gilt-tooled border on all boards, spines tooled in gilt. One leather label (of four) remains. Joints cracked but holding. Contents clean but for very light and very occasional foxing. Bookplates and early owner's inscription tell remarkable provenance from Rosamond Sargent (autograph dated 1797; Sargent was a British ancestor of the American painter John Singer Sargent, and the subject of a portrait by the Scottish painter Allan Ramsay), to the library of Lavington Hall in Sussex, which passed from the Sargent family to the descendents of abolitionist William Wilberforce in 1836 (Lavington bookplate), to Dr. Octavia Margaret Wilberforce, the extraordinary British physician and feminist who developed a women's convalescent home at the estate of Elizabeth Robins (her American companion) at Backsettown (Wilberforce Library Backsettown bookplate). Between the author and the owners, the book is steeped in classical liberalism. ¶ Baretti produced this compilation late in life. According to the Oxford DNB, "Nourse invited him to compile an anthology of Italian letters as a language text for students of Italian. Not satisfied with those written by earlier Italian writers, Baretti chose instead to resort to letters that he himself had previously sent, or pretended to have sent, to friends and acquaintances. The result ... provided students with a useful variety of topics, vocabulary, and writing styles, as well as a showcase for English readers of his opinions on Italian language, literature, and society, and of his own ability as a writer of Italian prose." Scarce book. USD 400.00 [Appr.: EURO 267 \| £UK 240.5 \| JP¥ 35303] Book number: 4918 Click here to order or inquire at Rodger Friedman Rare Book Studio.
	DIBDIN, THOMAS FROGNALL. The bibliographical decameron; or, ten days pleasant discourse upon illuminated manuscripts and subjects connected with early engraving, typography, and bibliography. London, printed for the author, by W. Bulmer and Co. Shakspeare Press..., 1817, First edition. Reference: Windle A28; Jackson 40., Octavo (26 cm); 3 volumes. [vi], vi, [ii], ccxxv, 410, [2]; [iv], 535, [3]; [iv], 544, [4] pages, and 34 (of 38) plates (lacks the "Presentation in the Temple," which was not ready at the time of publication and is present, according to Jackson, "in only a few copies," as well as two facsimiles of illuminated capital initials and a facsimile from a book of hours. Bound in later half brown diced calf with pebbled cloth covers, five raised bands on spine, dark brown leather spine labels, top edges gilt. Labels flaked a little at corners, covers rubbed along edges and joints. Occasional staining of pages or plates. ¶ First and only edition (upon publication, Dibdin destroyed the plates in front of his friends at the Roxburghe Club). The text continues the dialogues begun in Dibdin's Bibliomania (1809), and ranges widely over topics that would seem endlessly dull to anyone not fascinated with the world of books and collecting, anyone, that is, not touched by (Dibdin coined the term) bibliomania. This set belonged to the liberal statesman, later Viceroy of India, George Frederick Samuel Robinson, the Marquess of Ripon and contains his bookplate in each volume. His father, Frederick John Robinson, was prime minister of Great Britain in 1827-28. Price reflects poverty of plates. Extra shipping charges apply. USD 600.00 [Appr.: EURO 400.25 \| £UK 360.75 \| JP¥ 52954] Book number: 4914 Click here to order or inquire at Rodger Friedman Rare Book Studio.
	MILTON, JOHN; BIRKET FOSTER, ILLUSTRATOR. Milton's L'Allegro and Il Penseroso: Illustrated with Etchings on Steel by Birket Foster London, W. Kent & Co., 1860. 28 cm; [4] pages, [24] leaves, each interleaved with onionskin. Portrait on title page, and 28 steel-engraved vignettes in text. Title page in red and black; text printed in red. Bound in full vellum with gilt-stamped border on both boards, leather title label, marbled endleaves by Tomes of Leamington. All edges gilt. Title label scuffed, vellum lightly soiled. Upper hinge splitting; lower hinge tender. Title page somewhat foxed, especially at edges; interleaves foxed; pages evenly toned, with light scattered foxing; first and last blanks toned darker. Early owner's inscription on front blank. ¶ One of several mid-19th-century editions of Milton's two pastoral poems illustrated with vignettes in the Victorian style by Foster. USD 300.00 [Appr.: EURO 200.25 \| £UK 180.5 \| JP¥ 26477] Book number: 4902 Click here to order or inquire at Rodger Friedman Rare Book Studio.
	PIOZZI, HESTER LYNCH THRALE (1741-1821); WILLIAM PARSONS; AND OTHERS. The Florence Miscellany. Florence, Printed for G[aetano] Cam[biagi], 1785, First edition, presentation copy. Reference: Rothschild 1437; Maggs catalogue 1083, #398 (this copy), Octavo (21 cm); 224 pages, including three pages of engraved music. Manuscript leaf in Piozzi's hand bound in. Bound in contemporary English tree calf, gilt, covers with an outer border of Greek key pattern between gilt fillets and framing an interlaced gilt inner border with tooled corner ornaments of flowers, board edges, turn-ins, and text block edges gilt; marlbed endleaves; expertly rebacked with wriginal backstrip laid down, corners repaired. Some very minor foxing. Manuscript alterations (by Piozzi) on pages 62, 209, 215. Censored lines on pages 9, and 27 left blank, but small pasted slip corrects text on page 20. Nineteenth-century bookplate of Walter Hamilton; penciled note of Pickering & Chatto on lower endleaf dated 1937. ¶ Presentation copy from Hester Lynch Piozzi to her friend and correspondent, the Cambridge professor of Arabic Leonard Chappelow, with his signature on the title page and note on the front fly-leaf, "Given to me by my Good Friend Mrs. Piozzi April 1787." Opposite Mrs. Piozzi's "Translation of an Italian Sonnet upon and English Watch," is inserted an AUTOGRAPH TRANSCRIPT of the original Italian poem in Piozzi's hand. The typographical error in the printed text annoyed her, as she wrote to Lysons from Rome in March, 1786, "They have printed it 'touched by a magic hand.' It should be 'wand,' for 'hand' comes in the line that rhymes to it." Here, she crossed out "hand" and wrote "wand" in black ink. The collection was a collaboration between four English ex-pats (Piozzi, William Parsons, Robert Merry and Bertie Greatheed) and their Italian friends, among them Piozzi husband (who contributed a musical serenade), Ippolito Pindemonte, Lorenzo Pignotti, Angelo d'Elci, Marco Lastri and Giuseppe Parini. Their idea was to reinvigorate poetry by injecting Italian poetic traditions into English letters. In addition to original poems, the volume notably translates selections from Petrarch, Dante, Tasso and Poliziano into English, as well as contemporary political odes and panegyrics to Italian patriots.The collection was written off as unserious by contemporary critics (in part due to it Piozzi's preface, which presents it as light amusement), yet it was the first important English engagement with Italian poetry after Milton, and it led English Romantics into Italian territory. The authors shared copies from the paltry print run between themselves and sent out copies to their friends. USD 8500.00 [Appr.: EURO 5669.75 \| £UK 5108.25 \| JP¥ 750188] Book number: 4924 Click here to order or inquire at Rodger Friedman Rare Book Studio.
	SKENE, JOHN. Regiam Maiestatem Scotiae, veteres leges et constitutions.... London, Apud Ioannem Billium [i.e., John Bill], 1613. Foliio (30 cm). Woodcut printer's ornaments; head and tail pieces. Spine perished; old calf-covered boards remain attached. Sewing is tender. Requires conservation, yet is complete and entire, including final errata leaf. Title page toned at edges. ¶ First London issue, with cancel title, of the 1609 edition published at Edinburgh, of the Scottish book of law. USD 400.00 [Appr.: EURO 267 \| £UK 240.5 \| JP¥ 35303] Book number: 4879 Click here to order or inquire at Rodger Friedman Rare Book Studio.
	LANCELOT; JOSEPH STEVENSON. The Scottish metrical romance of Lancelot du Lak. Now first printed from a manuscript of the fifteenth century, belonging to the University of Cambridge. Edinburgh, Printed for the Maitland Club, 1839, First edition. Reference: Graesse 4, 92;, 28 cm; xxiv, 185 pages. Bound in contemporary red half morocco over pebbled boards, edged with gilt rules . Spine decorated and titled in gilt. Marbled endleaves. Moderate wear, especially at extremities, with spine chipped a bit at heel. Two labels removed from pastedowns. A little foxing at front blank, and the pages are not bright, but text is effectively unblemished. ¶ First printing of a fifteenth-century Scottish version of the Arthurian romance that was composed for the court of James III. It survived in a unique (and incomplete) manuscript in the Cambridge library. The text was edited by the ilbrarian of Durham Cathedral, Joseph Stevenson, and publishd by the Maitland Club, an association dedicated to the promotion of Scottish literature and culture. USD 500.00 [Appr.: EURO 333.75 \| £UK 300.5 \| JP¥ 44129] Book number: 4904 Click here to order or inquire at Rodger Friedman Rare Book Studio.