Don Fernando, or Variations on some Spanish themes
by MAUGHAM, W[illiam] Somerset
London: William Heineman, 1935. FIRST TRADE EDITION. Black publisher’s cloth, in original black and gold dust-jacket; minor foxing, otherwise an excellent copy. First trade edition of Maugham’s second book about Spain. Apparently Maugham felt that his original impressions of Spain were rather conventional and typical of any other young person visiting a foreign country for the first time. So he looked beyond his first impressions to author a second book on Spain, providing a riveting portrayal of its food... Read More
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The unconquered
by MAUGHAM, W[illiam] Somerset
New York: House of Books, Ltd., 1944. FIRST EDITION. Original matte blue cloth. A fine copy signed and numbered by the author. From the Rothschild Library. First edition, number 231 of 300 printed. This is the original text of Maugham’s short story about the war in France. It was first published in a censored form in the April 10, 1943 issue of Collier’s Magazine. Rothschild & Whiteman, V, 243; Stott, A62; NCBEL, 4, 663.
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Ashenden or the British agent
by MAUGHAM, W[illiam] Somerset
London: William Heineman, 1928. FIRST EDITION. Blue publisher’s cloth, without the dust-jacket, some light wear to corners and extremities of spine, minor bumping to top cover; some light browning and offset to half-title. From the library of Florence and Edward Kaye, with their morocco bookplate, contemporary inscription to front paste-down. First edition. Based upon Maugham’s experience as a British secret service agent in Russia during the Russian revolution, this work is considered the forerunner of the genre of spy... Read More
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Of human bondage
by MAUGHAM, W. Somerset
New York: George H. Doran, 1915. FIRST EDITION. Publisher’s cloth; slight rubbing to head and tail of spine, small amount of water damage to right edges of the last 100 pages, otherwise a nice copy with the bookplate of Robert H. Campbell laid over an earlier inscription on the flyleaf. First edition (preceding the London printing), second or later issue, with the misprint on p. 257 corrected and no monogram on verso of title page. Regarded as Maugham’s greatest... Read More
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The astronomy of the Bible an elementary commentary on the astronomical references of Holy Scripture
by MAUNDER, E. Walter
New York: Mitchell Kennerley, 1908. FIRST EDITION. With 34 illustrations. Publisher’s cloth, author and title in gilt on front cover and spine. A fine copy from the library of Owen & Miriam Gingerinch with their large bookplate and small stamp of the Tredyffrin Observatory. First edition of Maunder’s commentary on astronomical allusions in the Bible. He feels that the importance in making these observations is necessitated by efforts to date the books and events of the Bible as well... Read More
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A treatise on electricity and magnetism
by MAXWELL, J.
Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1873. FIRST EDITION. Complete with both half-titles and all blanks. With 20 plates and 15 pages publisher’s advertisements (unopened). Rebound in modern cloth, author and title in gilt on spine; interior excellent. From the library of W[illiam[ H[enry] Dines (1855-1927), British meteorologist who was the leading inventor of meteorological instruments to measure atmospheric properties, with his small bookplate on both paste-downs. First edition, first issue of this classic work on the electromagnetic theory of light by... Read More
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A Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism
by MAXWELL, J. C.
Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1881. SECOND EDITION. Complete with both half-titles and all blanks. With 33 plates, 36 page-publisher’s advertisements dated Sept., 1881, plus another 8 pages of publisher advertisements. Original cloth, rebacked with the original spine laid down; interior excellent. Unopened. From the library of Stillman Drake, with his bookplate in both volumes. Second edition of this classic work on the electromagnetic theory of light by Maxwell (1831-1879), probably the greatest theoretical physicist of the nineteenth century. Here... Read More
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De imperio solis ac lunae in corpora humana et morbis inde oriundis. (bound with) A treatise concerning the influence of the sun and moon upon human bodies, and the diseases thereby produced
by MEAD, Richard
London: Joannem Brindley;, 1748. SECOND REVISED EDITION; FIRST EDITION IN ENGLISH. Woodcut head- and tailpieces. An excellent copy bound in contemporary half-morocco and marbled boards, marbled endpapers. From the library of Charles W. Pilgrim (1855-1934), once chairman of the New York State Commission on Mental Health. with his small bookplate on the paste-down. Second revised edition together with the first edition in English, translated by Thomas Stack. Mead here attempts to show the influence of gravitational forces on human... Read More
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An essay on the disease produced by the bite of a mad dog, or other rabid animal.
by MEASE, James (preface by LETTSON, J[ohn] C[oakley])
London: C. Dilly, 1793. SECOND EDITION. Half calf and marbled boards; spine rubbed and both inner hinges cracked but otherwise in very good condition. Second edition, though much enlarged from a first printing as a dissertation the prior year in Philadelphia. By the late eighteenth century, doctors and scientists were still trying to pinpoint the exact cause of rabies, which had been known since around 2000 BC. Ancient Mesopotamian laws dictated that the owner of a dog showing symptoms... Read More
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Nicoll’s birds of Egypt
by MEINERTZHAGEN, Richard
London: Hugh Rees Ltd, 1930. FIRST EDITION. Complete with author’s portrait on frontispiece, 3 folding maps, 38 plates (31 colored) after G.E. Lodge, Roland Green and H. Gronvold, text illustrations throughout. Original green cloth, gilt lettering, some rubbing to corners and edges of spine; despite minor browning to preliminary and blank leaves, a very nice wide-margined copy, uncut, from the library of Dr. James M. Dolan Jr., with his blind-stamp on title page. First edition of the most systematic... Read More
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In Diogenem Laertium aegidii menagii observationes & emendationes , hac editione plurimum auctae
by [DIOGENES]. AEGIDUS MENAGIUS
Amsterdam: Henric Wetstenium, 1692. Title in red and black with a small vignette. Contemporary vellum over boards, triple fillets enclosing double fillets with corner-pieces, with large center floral-decoration in blind, front and back; upper board separating, but still solid; red and black marbled endpapers, text somewhat soiled and spotted throughout. From the library of Schulbibliothek des Gymnasiums zu Salzwedel, with discard stamp and small German ownership signature. This second volume, complete in itself, is famous for the author's work... Read More
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La Philosophie des images enigmatiques
by MENESTRIER, Claude François
Lyon: Hilaire Baritel, 1694. Folding engraved plate. 19th-century calf-backed marbled boards. A good copy. First edition of this lengthy explication of occult talismans, pentacles, hieroglyphs, monuments, and characters found in esoteric ritual. Written by a Jesuit scholar, the text classifies enigmatic images according to their context and meanings without prejudicing Christian over pagan symbols. He identifies enigmas in Bible verses, classical poetry, the Kabbalah, and published prophecies and offers possible explanations and his reasoning. Menestrier here seeks to... Read More
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The pageant of Peking
by MENNIE, Donald (photograpoher) & WEALE, Putnam (text)
Shanghai (China): A.S.Watson, 1921. FIRST EDITION, SECOND ISSUE. Plates measure 7 ½ x 11 inches. Rubricated initials. Original blue silk cloth with Chinese cyphers, gilt lettering on front cover; silk repair to spine with slight stain in crease and on top edge of cover, still an exceptionally fine copy, complete with the original silk bookmark. From the library of Charles R. Crane, with his business card noting: “Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States of America.” Crane... Read More
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Memoria contra la inoculación, sacada de las dudas, i disputas entre los autores excitadas acerca la utilidad, o daños causados por la inoculación de las viruelas; y comprobada por el desengaño, que da al público
by MENÓS, Jaime
Manresa: Ignacio Abadal, 1785. FIRST EDITION. marbled wrappers. First edition. Little appears to be known about Dr Jaime Menós other than his presence as physician to the Spanish expedition against Algeria in 1775. As with today’s anti-vaxxers, his arguments protesting inoculation against smallpox were legion: inoculation caused as many deaths as smallpox; the medical basis for inoculation was ill founded; inoculation increased the danger of infection from smallpox and from other diseases; that it provided no protection against other... Read More
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The Durbar
by MENPES, Mortimer
London: Adam and Charles Black, 1903. FIRST EDITION. Complete with half-title and 100 colored plates. Contemporary half-calf over marbled boards, cover worn, especially the corners and edges; spotting on fore-edge, slight mended tear in margin of plate 79. Book label on top cover and bookplate on paste-down of the Norfolk & Norwich Library, Guildhall Hill, Norwich. First edition. This book is a lively account, profusely illustrated by the artist Mortimer Menpes, of the Durbar – celebrations in Delhi on... Read More
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Cosmographie élémentaire, divisée en parties astronomique et géographique
by MENTELLE, Edme
Paris, 1781. FIRST EDITION. 9 folding engraved plates (7 in contemporary hand color). Contemporary mottled calf, spine and label gilt, red edges, green silk marker. An excellent copy. First edition of this astronomical and geographical manual for children. Divided into two parts, the first opens with a mathematical guide for calculating sizes and distances in space, then focuses on universal astronomy, including celestial bodies, planetary movements, phenomena, and their atmospheric effects. It concludes with a discussion of astronomic understanding... Read More
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Le Vrai Cagliostro, ou le régulateur des actionnaires de la Loterie Royale
by [MENUT DE SAINT-MESMIN, Jacques-Julien; CAGLIOSTRO, Alessandro]
Paris, 1811. Engraved frontispiece portrait and 90 woodcut vignettes, one folding table. Later wrappers made from printer’s waste (worn). Uncut. Old armorial stamp on advertising leaf. In good, original condition. First edition, the only copy located, of this monographic cheat-sheet to winning the French lottery. The text expounds on lottery operations in both Paris and Brussels, offering mathematical commentary on the likelihood of a draw and financial risks to players. The author takes his assessments further into the esoteric,... Read More
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Faiseur de metier a bas....et faiseur de bas au metier
by [WEAVING]. Faiseur de metier a bas....et faiseur de bas au metier
[Paris ?]: n.p., n.d.. Text in double columns within decorated woodcut borders. Page 1 is a front wrapper; bound into recent marbled boards; some browning and marginal staining. One of the earliest books on the construction and operation of a textile machine that fashioned hosiery. This invention, introduced in the mid-eighteenth century, contains the oldest known drawing of a hosiery-knitting device. The text, which describes all the working parts of the machine and how to assemble it, also gives... Read More
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Gerichtlich medicinische Abhandlungen
by METZGER, Johann Daniel
Konigsberg: Gobbels und Unzer, 1803. FIRST EDITION. Contemporary patterned paper boards. An excellent copy. First edition of this supplement to the author’s Kurzgefaßtes System der gerichtlichen Arzneywissenschaft, a concise treatment of forensic medicine. This addenda was published 10 years later and covers fatal injuries, autopsy methods, stillbirths, lung sampling, hermaphrodites, hospitals, poisoning, and the characteristics of a murderer. The text also includes expert opinions by contemporary forensic doctors and newly enacted laws pertaining to hospitals and medical institutions in... Read More
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Die Kinetische Theorie der Gase...
by MEYER, Oskar
Breslau: Maruschke & Berendt, 1877. FIRST EDITION. Calf-backed marbled boards. First edition of the author's classic treatise on the kinetic theory of gases. Meyer's historical introduction traces the evolution of the theory, providing critical expositions from the works of Boyle, Bernoulli, Clausius, Maxwell, and Joule.
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Nature the utility of religion and theism
by MILL, John Stuart
London: Longmans, Green, Reader, and Dyer, 1874. FIRST EDITION. Complete with 2 half-titles and 2 pages of advertisements. Original green cloth, very lightly rubbed; previous owners bookplate. First edition of the author's Three essays on religion, published posthumously with an introduction by Mill's stepdaughter, Helen Taylor, who had assisted him since the death of her mother in 1858.
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Autobiography
by MILL, John Stuart
London: Longmans, Green, Reader & Dyer, 1873. FIRST EDITION, SECOND ISSUE, WITH THE ERRATA LEAF. Complete with half-title, errata leaf and 2 pages of advertisements. Original green cloth; light foxing on the preliminary and last blank leaves. From the library of Theodore Rathbone, with his signature dated Christmas, 1873. First edition. Autobiography of one of Victorian England's leading economic philosophers and proponents for equal rights for women.
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A system of logic, ratiocinative and inductive, being a connected view of the principal evidence, and the methods of scientific investigation
by MILL, John Stuart
London: John W. Parker, 1843. FIRST EDITION. Contemporary calf, spine gilt with twin labels, small portion of head of spine of Vol. I missing, marbled edges and endpapers; blank endleaves spotted as usual in most copies, text in excellent condition. First edition of the author’s most important work in pure philosophy. He here gives an account not only of logic, but of the methods of science and their applicability to social as well as purely natural phenomena. ... Read More
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Examination of Sir William Hamilton’s philosophy
by MILL, John Stuart
Boston: William V. Spencer, 1865. First American edition. Publisher’s pebbled cloth, boards with ruled borders, spine with title, etc., in gilt; a fantastic copy. First American edition of Mill’s review of Hamilton’s philosophical ideas, one of his most important works on religion. Mill attacks Hamilton’s philosophy with a positive statement of Utilitarianism, an ethical theory propounded by Jeremy Bentham which states that the best action is the one that maximizes utility. It is here that Mill sets forth his... Read More
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Marrow of practical medicine and family guide: containing a brief and accurate description of the character, causes, and symptoms of the diseases of men, women, and children, with the most appropriate treatment, “without poison or bloodshed.” To which is added a description of medicinal plants and herbs, their medical qualities, and appropriate doses: with plain and full directions for making the various compound medicines recommended for the cure of diseases, &c
by MILLS, William
St. Clairsville, O[hio]: Published by the Author, 1848. FIRST EDITION. Contemporary calf, boards worn and rubbed; interior with occasional browning and spotting. First edition of this practical guide to home medicine. Like many similar works, the author includes methods for recognizing symptoms of and treating diseases as well as maintaining good health and thus preventing a wide range of illnesses. His approach is holistic, emphasizing the importance of pure air, proper diet, exercise, and cleanliness. Of particular interest is... Read More
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