17th Century Literature

Butler, Samuel. "Hudibras. The First Part. Written in the time of the late Wars". [4], 268 pages. First Authorized Edition, first issue, with "Saint" in imprint spelled out in full; errata is present, lacking the imprimatur leaf (dated Nov. 11, 1662), and all textual errors uncorrected. London: Printed by J.G. for Richard Marriot, 1663. [bound with] "Hudibras. The Second Part. By the Author of the First". [4], 216 pages. Also, third part dated 1678. Bound in exceptionally fine binding and in very good condition with the bookplates of Daniel Henry Holmes, an avid book collector. This edition certainly is one of the rarest being that it is a first issue. A pirate copy came out the year before in 1662 and all proceeds from the sale of the book by the thief were recovered by Butler. Collation is as follows: [2 blank], TP, A3-8, B8-I8, K-R8, 2nd TP, B-I8, K-O8, P4, 3rd TP, A-I8, K-R8, S7, [2 Blank].Hudibras by Samuel Butler is a critique of the English Civil War and pokes at the Puritans and their military… Read More

London: Various Publishers, 1715-1741. Leatherbound. Very good. 15 volumes. 20 cm (quarto) full leather bindings with contemporary mottled calf boards. Respined in matching mottled calf. Minor repairs and staining in endpapers. Hinges secure but some are cracked on the interior. A touch of foxing, but most pages crisp and clean. This set is composed of rare editions printed during the author's lifetime. Most are first quarto printings. Set contains Pope's prose works as well as translations of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey. Please contact us for more detailed cataloguing of each volume.

London: Robert Barker...by the Assignes of John Bill, 1633. Very Early Elizabethan Printing. Tooled leather. Very Good +/Custom Case. 12mo, original tooled leather 17th century binding, engraved frontispiece, very closely cut borders, all edges gilded, original green silk page divider, [viii blank] + ~ 524 + [vi blank] pages. THE NEW TES_/ TAMENT / Of our Lord and / S A V I O V R / - Jesus Christ Newly translated out of the / Originall Grrek : and / with the former transla- / tions diligently compared / and revised , by his Maie- / sties special commande- / ment. ---------------------------- Imprinted at London / By Robert Barker, Printer / to the Kings most Excel- / lent Majesty, and by / the Assignes of John Bill, 1633. Cum privilegia. A GEM! In an original tooled leather binding, no less. Beautiful clear type. Minimal wear. Some pages so closely cropped by the printer that the chapter headings at the top have been partially excised, though not the text. In order to ensure its… Read More

Thomas Warren, 1654. Book. Illus. by Cleyn, Francis. Fair. Full-Leather. 1654 folio edition with illustrations by Francis Cleyn, engraved by Wenceslaus Hollar and Pierre Lombard. 102 copper plates. Title page has 'adornd' without apostrophe. Initial illustration on 'The Life of Publius Virgilius Maro' page has three women with tree. Ham Court bookplate, with its inked shelf numbers, bearing the arms of Martin of Ham (presumably for the Rev Joseph Martin, died 1828, book collector). Leather boards with gilt decoration. Both boards detached, scuffed, have scratches, small chips at edges/corners, and top and bottom of spine, wear to leather. Map has small tears. Some damp staining to margins. A few creased pages..

1664 1st ed NEW YORK George Downing Discourse on DUTCH Settlements Indians 2v
Two exceedingly rare first editions of George Downing's defense of New York!
George Downing was an Irish preacher and political apologist known for his service under Oliver Cromwell in Scotland. In 1664 he wrote a short political letter describing the details of his arrangement of the acquisition of New York from the Dutch. 'A Discourse', as it is called, was written to clear his own name from any misconduct in the exchange. One of the most notable discussions in this work is a report on the miserable interactions of the Dutch settlers with local Indian tribes, as well as business and trade in New York. It should be noted that this work is considered one of the earliest works relating to New York in English! (Stevens).
A year after his first letter was written, he wrote his own reply – a work, which according to 'Rare Americana', was
"privately printed, and relates principally to the affairs of the English and Dutch West… Read More

1675 Don Quixote de la Mancha Cervantes Thomas Shelton English FOLIO Chivalry
"One of those universal works which are read by all ages at all times."
– Printing and the Mind of Man, on 'Don Quixote'
Miguel de Cervantes's 'Don Quixote' is one of the most famous works of literature and is one of the most popular adventure tales to be written. It was first translated into English in 1612 by Thomas Shelton who, according to Chisholm, created a "racy, spirited rending of the original" even though it was initially filled with translation errors. However, the DNB states that Shelton's translation "realizes Cervantes' manner more nearly than any successor". It should be noted that Shelton's English was not only the first English translation but the first translation of 'Don Quixote' in any language!
The Shelton edition was published again in 1652, on which this 1675 third edition was fully based. Both parts printed in one tome as originally intended by Scot and Basset. Thomas Shelton's English was the… Read More

8°; cc. (12), pp. 669, (3). Elegante legatura novecentesca firmata da Brugalla in marocchino decorato in oro, con astuccio. Bellissimo esemplare.
Exceedingly rare first edition of the Italian translation of the Primiera parte of Quijote.
Rius, 780; Suñé, 819 ("La version esta hecha con bastante fidelidad, tomada de la edición de Bruselas de 1607"); Palau, 53135. Sul traduttore, cfr. P. Scapecchi, Venezia e Firenze unite dalla prima traduzione italiana di 'Don Chisciotte', in Quixote/Chisciotte mdcv-2005. Edizioni rare e di pregio, traduzioni italiane e straniere conservate nelle biblioteche veneziane, Venezia, Sale Monumentali della Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, Libreria Sansoviniana, 18 novembre 2005 – 2 gennaio 2006, Mostra a c. di D. Ferro, Catalogo a c. di A. Scarsella, Venezia 2006, pp. 33-37; S. Trovato, Andrea Baba stampatore veneziano, in Quixote/Chisciotte MDCV-2005…, pp. 39-52.
La traduzione del Franciosini sarebbe stata ripubblicata solo tre anni più tardi, nel 1625,… Read More

Paris: Chez Barrie Frères and George Barrie & Son, [1891]. First Thus; Astral Edition. Full leather. Very good. Louis Leloir; Maurice Leloir; Jacques Leman; Edward Heduouin. Scarce (one copy in Worldcat). A exquisitely bound, very good first thus, limited edition in full crushed Levant morocco leather with gold tooling. Number 35 of 100 copies on Japan Vellum paper that were offered by subscription only. Binding is sturdy and square. All edges in brilliant gilt. Marbled endpapers. Over 150 engravings, some colored, all with captioned tissue guards. Original title pages to each play are reproduced in French. Text in English. Heavy rubbing to all joints, with dye transferring to one's fingers from rubbed joints .Rubbed corners. Still a lovely and prestigious set, even with the flaws noted below. Quarto, 9 x 12 inches tall. Illustrations by Mm. Louis Leloir, Maurice Leloir, Jacques Leman [and] Edmond Hedouin Heavy set will require additional postage billed at actual… Read More

Rare. 91pp + 4pp preliminary 'To The Reader', Prologue and Production details, 1pp Epilogue. Bound in later brown wrappers with title feintly written in pencil to front. Opens at title page, which has been tipped in and has a strip of paper strengthening to verso of leading edge. The pages are closely cropped to upper and lower edges. Minor loss to lower corner of rear cover, and crease to upper corner.Sir Patient Fancy: A Comedy, Aphra Behn's first overtly political play, was performed in Dorset Garden on 17 January 1678. In An Account of the English Dramatick Poets, Gerard Langbaine noted that Sir Patient Fancy was based loosely on Moliere's last play, Le Malade imaginaire, which had been staged in Paris in 1673 and printed in 1675.

4? Edición . Pergamino. Aceptable. Encuadernación de tapa blanda. Condición: Aceptable. Inencontrable 4º edición de la segunda parte del Quijote (1617), que vió la luz en Lisboa a pocos meses de la muerte de Cervantes. 8º m.:13 cm x 18,5 cm, encuadernado en pergamino de época. Para esta edición se siguió el texto de la edición de Madrid de 1615, como se aprecia en este ejemplar de Lisboa, se omiten la aprobaciones del ejemplar de Madrid y se incorporan las de Portugal del 12, 22 y 25 de Agosto y 10 de sept de 1616, aunque la tasa se despachó en Lisboa el 17 de enero de 1617.( Ver imágen colgada de la página). Bien sabido es, que la segunda parte del Quijote se publicó por primera vez por Juan de la Cuesta en Madrid , en la imprenta Francisco Robles en 1615. En 1616 fue impresa por 2ª vez por Huberto Antonio en Bruselas y la tercera por Pedro Patricio Mey en Valencia. En 1617 se publicó… Read More

1696 Thevenot Voyages Curious CHINA Ethiopia MAPS Jeronimo Lobo MEXICO Spain
Malechisedech Thevenot was a 17th-century French historian, known for an extensive list of scholarship. One of his best works was 'Relations de Divers Voyages Curieux' – a collection of descriptions of various world discoveries.
Notable contents found in this book include:
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Chinese Empires: Xanxi, Xangtung, Honan, Sushuen, Kiangsi, Kinagnan, Quangtung,
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Japanese Empires
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Ethiopian history, lower and upper Ethiopia
·
Giovanni Grueber in China
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Life of Confucius
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Voyages of Jerónimo Lobo
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History of Mexico and Spanish voyages in Central America
·
Portuguese conquests in the orient
This highly valuable and extremely desirable volume contains 15 full-page and double-page engravings, illustrations that are known to be extracted and framed. It is incredibly rare to find these illustrations still intact in the book itself.
Item number: #21339
Price: $3500… Read More

Volume I--(Second Edition) The Fables of Aesop Paraphras'd in Verse: Adorn'd with Sculpture. London: Printed by Thomas Roycroft for the Author, 1668. Second edition with new title page, a re-issue of the 1665 edition sheets. This volume contains the frontispiece, engraved vignettes and initials, (missing Ogilby portrait), and has all eighty-one full-paged plates in fabulous condition. Light yellowing/browning of initial few pages as regular. Volume II--(Second Edition) Aesopics, or a Second Collection of Fables, illustrated with sixty-eight full-paged plates in early issue before captions were added. Pages are remarkably clean without any browning. Large folio volumes, both illustrated throughout; Wenceslaus Hollar (1607-1677) engraved eighty-eight of the illustrations for these works, the others were executed by Dirck Stoop (c. 1610-1686) and Francis Barlow (c. 1626-1704). Both volumes are uniformly re-bound with original leather panels inset in full brick morocco bindings with gilt titles.

London, Printed by Tho. Cotes for Richard Allot at his shop at the signe of the Black Bear in Paul's Church-Yard, 1632.. COMPLETE PLAY EXTRACTED FROM THE SECOND FOLIO OF SHAKESPEAR'S WORKS 1632. There is a loose typed letter from a London Bookshop, giving the publisher and date and stating that the binding is by the fine binder, Bernard Middleton. Slim folio, approximately 310 x 210 mm, 12½ x 8¼ inches, printed in double columns, head and tail pieces, pages: 107-128, finely bound in full mottled two toned panelled calf, gilt title to upper cover. Pages 110 &111; have a small pale stain (see attached images), slight pale staining to 4 inner margins, nowhere near text, slight rippling to pages, occasional small pale mark of no consequence, otherwise a very good clean copy. See: W. W. Greg, A Bibliography of the English Printed Drama to the Restoration, Volume 2, page 550. All the printer's mistakes to catchwords in this copy are the same as listed in Greg. MORE IMAGES ATTACHED TO THIS LISTING, ALL… Read More

1695 MILTON 1st Collected ed Paradise Lost & Regained FOLIO Illustrated Tonson
"The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven."
― John Milton, Paradise Lost
An impressive and highly desirable collection of John Milton's poetical works published in 17th-century London. While countless editions of Milton were published over the centuries, this particular version is perhaps one of the most desirable. Published in one folio tome, this 1695 Tonson printing is the 'first collected edition' of the works of Milton making it one of the most valuable editions of Milton in existence. It, of course, contains both 'Paradise Lost' and 'Regained', but also "Samson Agonistes", 'Notes', and 'Poems on Several Occasions' all with striking, full-page engravings.
Item number: #23375
Price: $3500
MILTON, John
The Poetical works of John Milton.
London: Tonson 1695. First edition.
Details:
· Collation: Complete; 5 parts in 1
o Paradise Lost – [6], 343 (i.e., 345)
13 engraved… Read More

Published by In the Savoy, Printed by T.N. for Henry Herringman at the Blew Anchor in the Lower Walk of the New Exchange, London, 1670. Frontispiece, (16), 208, [28], 67 pages. Two volumes bound in 18th c. calf with royal coat-of-arms stamped center of front board, bordered with triple rules in blind with acorn decorations stamped at corners, edges dyed red. Near Fine, the label perhaps refreshed at a later date, with the bookplate of Gower Earl Gower front paste down and Gower's coat-of-arms printed verso of title page of Steps to the Temple, Lord Gower having obviously had this copy bound to his specifications. TWO VOLUMES bound as one. "Steps to the Temple" and "The Delights of the Muses" are actually the 3rd editions even though stating second edition, while "Carmen Deo Nostro" and "Poemata et Epigrammata, Quae Scripsit Latina & Graeca" are both second editions. John Leveson-Gower, 1st Earl Gower, PC ( 1694 -1754) was an English Tory politician… Read More