Search Results: Titles starting with A from Patrick Olson Rare Books

FOR PROVINCIAL SURGEONS --- [24], 255, 255-413, [17] p. | 12mo | ã^12 A-K^12 L^12(L7+chi1) M-R^12 S^12(-S11) | 142 x 90 mm --- First and only edition of the provincial surgeon's only book, a medical treatise blending the scientific and the spiritual. The author divides his work into three parts: (1) an overview of the various natural beings (estres naturels), including an examination of the soul; (2) a discussion of conception, the fetus, and birth, a comprehensive account that must have been useful for those tasked with delivery; and (3) a broad overview of the body and soul, which covers the heart, breathing, and blood circulation, in addition to some metaphysical topics. ¶ We learn from the preface that Golles has 40 years' experience as a surgeon, a dozen of them as surgeon to the poor (Chirurgien ordinaire des pauvres). He wrote the book for the benefit of his young colleagues, covering everything that should make a skilled surgeon (toutes les parties qui peuvent faire un habile… Read More

4 volumes | 12mo | 160 x 100 mm ¶ Volume 2 dated 1812, all others 1807. First and only edition of Martin Smart's translation, excepting the large paper edition here reported by the publisher. ¶ Illustrated with 100 copper plates, including several library scenes, and many signed by Tomlinson or Warner (some misbound, but all present). Publisher's ad at end of v. 4 for a large paper edition of Gil Blas and a matching edition of Don Quixote. Includes a translator's preface and life of the author. ¶ Apparently an unrecorded variant of this Phillips edition, as records in OCLC and Copac offer no evidence for any volumes dated 1812, as found here with a cancelled v. 2 title page. --- CONDITION: Contemporary sprinkled brown calf; spines with black leather labels and gold tooling. ¶ Lacking final leaf of v. 4 (additional publisher's ad?); spines badly rubbed, the first two volumes lacking their labels; mild scattered foxing; light dampstaining to last two plates in v. 1; v. 2 frontispiece and… Read More

HOSPITAL CHARITY HYMNAL IN DELUXE BINDING ¶ VIII, 526, [10] p. | 8vo | pi^4 A-2H^8 2I^8(2I7+[dagger]^8) 2K^4 | 181 x 106 mm ¶ Stated twelfth edition of this Hessen hymnal, published for the benefit of a hospital dedicated to serving invalids, soldiers, and orphans. Includes 733 hymns, here printed without music, and with an extensive index. --- PROVENANCE: Initials WK in gold on the front cover. --- CONDITION: Contemporary black straight-grain leather, the front board dated 1830 and bearing the initials WK in gold; boards with a gold border; spine partially gilt; gilt edges; highly polished blue paper endleaves. In a contemporary marbled slipcase. ¶ Leather just lightly rubbed, with a roughly square-inch spot on the bottom of the front board mildly disturbed by the removal of a sticker; gentle wear at the extremities. ¶ A well preserved example of a personalized devotional binding.

HEAVILY ANNOTATED ALMANAC ¶ [2], 80, 77-346, [2] p. | 8vo | pi1 A-E^8 2E^2 F-X^8 Y^6 | 196 x 123 mm ¶ The 1721 almanac for France's political and business elite, including the monthly calendars and astronomical tidbits typical of almanacs, but also birth dates of French royalty, the names of countless French office holders, administrative details on major French institutions, important fair dates, and details on the country's many postal routes. The book essentially functions as a handbook to the French government. ¶ Established in 1700 and remaining in print through 1919, the Almanach royal evolved from a similar publication Laurent d'Houry first issued in 1683. The series was among the first specialized almanacs in France, providing readers with "access to sources of information that could help them cut through the complexity of the administration (urban and economic growth had made such information more necessary than ever). Time still played a central role in these new almanacs, but… Read More

CHARITABLE ALMANAC FEATURING REVOLUTIONARY CULT --- 168; [1], 4-140; 35, [1]; viij, 40; civ, 120 p. | 12mo | A-G^12; A^12(-A12) B-E^12 F^10; A-C^6; a^4 A-C^6 D^2; *^12 b-d^12 e^4 A-E^12 | 152 x 86 mm --- The French Revolution brought with it a degree of religious chaos. At one end was simple suspicion of the long-established state-sanctioned Catholic order. At the other were extreme breaks from this tradition, evident most readily in the state-sponsored Cult of Reason and Robespierre's Cult of the Supreme Being. The former lasted a whole year, and the latter couldn't outlive Robespierre, executed in 1794. Yet some of those desires for a new religious order remained. Enter the Théophilantropes. "Trite and naïve though the pronouncements of the Théophilantropes may seem, the cult is extremely significant historically. Here we have an attempt to find common ground between all religions and sects" (McIntosh). This new religion took pains to espouse only those beliefs and values upon which… Read More