Rare books from Rodger Friedman Rare Book Studio

ca1825 . Framed pen-and-ink portrait of an Eskimo--possibly a self-portrait--by "George" Niakungitok, with three annotations in German Kurrentschrift at the right. Drawing is 18 x 13 cm (total area with annotations: 19.5 x 24.5 cm) on larger laid paper, previously folded vertically in the center. In October 1820, Samuel Hadlock Jr. (1792-1829), a whaling captain from Maine, brought onboard his ship "Five Brothers" an Eskimo man from Labrador, and then picked up an Eskimo woman and child about 50 miles further down the coast. Hadlock was in Labrador to obtain a cargo of ice for the West Indies trade, but arranged with the families of the two young Eskimos to take them with him until the following summer. They were initially exhibited in New London, Connecticut, and by his uncle Epps Hadlock in New York and Philadelphia in early 1821 (See Hugh L. Dwelley, "Hadlock's Eskimos in New York," 1821). A recent widower, Samuel Hadlock then left his three children with his sister and sailed for Europe, where… Read More

N. p.: British North Greenland Expedition, 1951. 20 x 32 cm; [3], 44 leaves mimeographed typescript 40 original silver-gelatin photographs, two color folding maps in pocket at rear, and two original prick-through tracings of marks from plane table sheets. Original customs declaration and shipping despatch note to the Danish vice-admiral A.H. Vedel, who is named in the acknowledgements preceding the text. Bound in original plain printed boards with cloth backstrip, faded at edges and stained on upper board. Lower hinge distressed. Text and photographs in fine condition. Official report of the advance party of the British North Greenland Expedition (1952-54), in which four men made a preliminary reconnaissance of the isolated Northeast coast of the island. The full party of 30 people would create a base camp the following year based on this preliminary exploration. In August of 1951, the R.A.F. Coastal Command flew Simpson and three companions by "flying boat" to the remote coast of Queen Louise… Read More

Venice: Cornelio Adelkind for Daniel Bomberg, 1546. First edition. Very Good. Folio (32 cm); 93 leaves. Text in Hebrew. Title within architectural border (reproduced in Amram, "Makers of Hebrew Books in Italy," p. 215, also in the Jewish Museum's 1989 exhibition catalogue "Gardens and Ghettos: the Art of Jewish Life in Italy," page 50). Some section headings within ornamental borders. Bound in c19 or c20 dark red crushed morocco ruled in gilt and decorated with arabesques on both boards; spine with raised bands and compartments tooled and titled in gilt; green polished leather doublures with red crushed morocco dentelles bordered in pointillé accented with arabesques; green moiré free endleaves. Edges gilt. Binding not signed. Joints and crown adroitly reinforced with Japanese paper; corners somewhat worn down. Occasional (contemporary?) notes in manuscript in text; brief stain on leaf mem-tet, and lightly along the bottom edge of leaves nun-bet and nun-gimmel. Text otherwise pristine. Title page… Read More

Strasbourg: Daniel Elzevir and David Hautt, 1635-1636. First Latin edition of Systema Cosmicum and first edition of Nov-antiqua. Very Good. Three works in one volume. Quarto (22 cm); Systema cosmicum: [16], 495, [24] pages, including engraved title page, portrait and illustrations, Augustae Treboc[corum] [i.e., Strasbourg] : impensis Elzeviriorum, typis Davidis Hautti, 1635; Nov-antiqua: [8], 60 [4] pages, text printed in Latin and Italian in parallel columns, Augustae Treboc [corum], impensis Elzevirorum, typis Davidis Huatti, 1636; Tractatus: [8], 104 pages [lacks plate], Argentorati, typis Davidis Hautti, 1635. In early19th-century scarlet-dyed sheep uniquely embossed across the grain with rows of a toothed pattern, with gilt scroll border composed of interlocking fleurons and spine decorated and titled direct in gilt. Preserved in red cloth chemise and red cloth slipcase with 1/4 polished leather titled in gilt. Bookplate of Joannis De Bizzaro, and a manuscript note in Italian on first… Read More

Cambridge and London: Typis Academicis; Benj. Tooke, 1707. First edition. Very Good. Octavo (19cm); [8], 343, [1] pages (the last page blank) . Figure and diagrams in text. Running-title: Algebrae elementa. Editor's preface signed: G.W. [i.e. William Whiston]. In contemporary paneled calf, rebacked with new burgundy morocco spine label. Edges of boards rubbed. Early ink ownership inscriptions on blank endleaves (the contemporary autograph of Edward Harington, and the 19th-century mathematician William Fleetwood Sheppard). Half-title present. References: Babson Newton Collection; 199; ESTC; T018645; Bowes and Bowes, 277. William Whiston (the successor to Newton's chair at Cambridge) "extracted from Newton a somewhat reluctant permission to print" this remarkable "schoolbook" based on Newton's lecture notes (Babson Catalogue). So reluctant, in fact, that Newton kept his name out of it, and supposedly considered purchasing the press run in order to destroy it! (He later republished it himself.)… Read More

London: Henrie Tomes, 1605. First edition. Small quarto (19cm; [1], 45, 118 [i.e. 121] leaves, without the final blank and added leaves of errata at end that are present in some copies ("not often found," according to Gibson). Numerous errors in foliation. In recent tan calf tooled in blind in period style by Pat M. Bruno (bookbinder's ticket). Pages evenly toned with light scattered foxing, especially on first and last leaves. Marginal paper repairs in last two gatherings. Pages trimmed close, affecting shoulder notes. Provenance: British antiquary Francis Kilvert (1793-1863), his signature mounted, along with letter of presentation from Kilvert to his contemporary antiquary James Heywood Markland bound in ("Knowing your taste for literary curiosities, I venture to beg your acceptance of what I believe to be the editio princeps of Lord Bacon's Advancement of Learning....") References: STC (2nd ed.); 1164; Gibson, "Francis Bacon, a bibliography," 81; Pforzheimer; 36p Norman, 97. The only work… Read More

Amsterdam: Jan Rieuwertsz, 1677. Very Good. Quarto (21 cm); [40], 614, [34], 112, [8] pages. Woodcut device on title page; tail-pieces; initials. Woodcut diagrams and illustrations in text. Text mostly in Latin, some translated from Dutch, and some in Hebrew. Contents: I. Ethica, more geometrico demonstrata -- II. Politica -- III. De emendatione intellectus -- IV. Epistolae, & ad eas responsiones -- V. Compendium grammatices linguae Hebraeae. Full golden brown calf tooled in blind with border rules and panel rules enclosing small tooled fleurons, larger vegetal ornaments at corners of panel extending out toward the edges. Subtly rebacked. Speckled edges. Old ownership inscription on title page of "T. Lynford," possibly Thomas Lynford (d. 1724), a British divine once canon of Westminster Abbey. Title page slightly browned at edges, but otherwise an unmarred copy in excellent condition! Reference: Norman, 1988; see also PMM 153 ("The 'Opera posthuma' ... have served, then and since, ...… Read More

London: Methuen & Co., 1924-1928. First trade editions of all four titles. Very Good. 20 cm; four separate volumes as issued, in original dust jackets. Top edges gilt. Sound copies, without significant blemishes (some discoloration to endleaves, some ownership incriptions on endleaves or blanks). Dust jackets good only, spines darkened, with loss at crown, heel, and upper panel on Now We Are Six and When We Were Very Young; at crown on the House at Pooh Corner and Winnie the Pooh. Dust jacket edges variously frayed, with bit of stain along top edge of Winnie the Pooh. Protected from deterioration in Brodart. Please see images. The beloved set of four, all in first editions: When We Were Very Young (1924) in blue cloth, plain end papers, with no pagination on p. ix; Winnie the Pooh (1926) in green cloth, with map end papers, in orange (ish) dust jacket; Now We Are Six (1927) in red-rose cloth, with pink end papers illustrated in blue and light green dust jacket; and the House at Pooh Corners… Read More

London: J. Parsons, 1763. First edition in English. Very Good. Octavo (23 cm); xvi, 324 pages. Half title present. In contemporary speckled calf, a little scuffed and scratched. Red leather title label on spine. Gilt-tooled decoration on spine quite faded. Upper board re-attached with strong Japanese tissue and colored to match. Light dampmark along edges of pastedowns; few scattered spots. A clean copy in good shape! References: Ford, #386; Sabin 25573 The bibliographer Paul Leicester Ford explains that Franklin wrote the autobiography--a fundamental American text--in four distinct stages in his life, and so four different manuscripts were in circulation at the time of his death in 1790. Thomas Jefferson had one of the copies of the earliest installment, and perhaps his copy landed in the hands of French admirers who shepherded a translation of it into print in Paris in 1791, the first appearance in print of any portion of the autobiography. The London printer J. Parsons had the French… Read More

n.p. [Toscolano-Maderno]: Paganino e Alessandro Paganini, n.d. (likely between 1527 and 1533). Very Good. Octavo (16 cm); [248] unnumbered leaves, signed a-z, A-H\8. Italic type. Printer's cypher on verso of final leaf, reading "P. Alex Pag. Benacenses F. Bena. V. V.," generally interpreted to mean "Paganino and Alexander Paganini of Lake Garda made this. Viva Garda." Woodblock figures covering five pages at end, including an elaborate double-page map of the first canticle, and schematic representations of the "sins" outlined in the first and second canticles. In 19th- or early 20th-century white vellum over stiff boards, with gilt-tooled spine, and two red leather labels titled in gilt. Dated 1507 in manuscript on verso of final leaf. Mambelli assigns a date of 1506, even while acknowledging the opinions of others who assign dates of 1515 and 1527. References: Mambelli, 21 ("edizione assai rara e pregievole"); Adams D-91 (postulating date as c.1525); Olschki, catalogure LIII (1903) #… Read More

Venice: in aedibus Aldi, et Andreae soceri, 1516. First edition. Very Good. Folio (31 cm); [40], 862, [6] pages. Title page printed in red. Aldine anchor-and-dolphin device in red on title page, and again in black on verso of final leaf. In contemporary full vellum, titled in manuscript on spine with flourishes. Raised bands on spine. Signs of professional repair to vellum on spine and joints; renewed endleaves. Very occasional blemishes in margins of text; title page a bit dusty with two ink stains, early owner's name in lower margin and early ownership monograms flanking Aldine device. Latin distich in manuscript in 18th-century hand on verso of last text leaf. References: Renouard, p.79, #11; Adams, R-450; Ahmanson-Murphy 123. The anxiety of Humanist scholars over the decay and loss of Latin and Greek culture not only demanded bookhunters combing monasteries for lost texts, but also intense work on recovering fragments of text, wisps of references, second-hand reports or citations from… Read More

New York: George R. Lockwood, [1870 or 1871]. Seventh and final edition. Very good condition in good binding.. Octavo (29 cm); two works in 11 volumes, comprising The Birds of America in 8 volumes and The Quadrupeds of North America in 3 volumes. Collated complete (collation upon request) with 500 tinted and hand-colored lithographic plates of birds and 155 of mammals by W. E. Hitchcock and R. Trembly after Audubon, printed and hand finished by J.T. Bowen. Uniformly bound as issued in black half morocco over green marbled boards, with gilt edging where leather and paper meet. Spines in six compartments, with arabesque lozenges and corners in gilt, along with titles and volume numbers. Top edges gilt. Binding has been reinforced to functional condition, with all joints strengthened with Japanese paper repairs, corners and edges rebuilt where necessary, along with spine ends; some gaps in gilding on spines and labels. Bindings are presentable. Interior remarkably fresh and clean, without spots… Read More

Venice: Giovanbattista e Marchiò Sessa e fratelli, 1564. First Sessa edition. Very Good. Venice: Giovanbattista e Marchiò Sessa e fratelli, 1564. First Sessa edition. Very Good. Folio (32 cm); [28] 396 (erroneously numbered 392) leaves. Italic and Roman type, with the text of the poem in Italic surrounded by commentary in Roman. 96 woodcut illustrations in text, and celebrated portrait of author on title page, from which this edition derives its distinguishing nickname, "Dante del gran naso" or "Big-nose Dante." Sessa cat-and-mouse device on verso of last leaf. In 18th-century densely speckled leather binding, double fillet borders in blind, with five raised bands and compartments on spine decorated in gilt with hand tools. Red leather title label. Notes in ink on rear free endpaper dated 1807. Red speckled edges. Hinges splt but holding. First signature slightly sprung yet holding. Occasional scattered stains. A handsome copy in strong binding! References: Mambelli, 40; Adams D-103; STC Italian… Read More

Venice: Gli eredi di Lucantonio Giunta, 1541. First edition thus. Fine. Quarto (25 cm); 262 leaves. Title page in red and black. Text in italic type in two columns. In 19th-century polished white vellum, border in gilt with small "chain-link" tool. Spine elaborately gold-tooled in scallop pattern, with blue-dyed title compartment and year. Sky-blue pastepaper endleaves. Lengthy bibliographical note in manuscript on front blank. THIS COPY UNIQUELY SOPHISTICATED, possibly at the time of rebinding, with paper extensions attached to all margins, double-ruled in red ink, effectively adding 5 centimeters to the length of the page, and 2 centimeters to the fore-edge, and an attractive border to the text.. Odd. All edges gilt. References: Edit 16 5539; Fontanini, I, 258 f (noting as "scandalose" and "detestibili" the poem's libidinous passages); Camerini, 452 ("di singolare rarità"); Gamba, 161 ("Rarissimo"); Renouard, Notice sur la famille des Juntes, xxx ("Elle est très rare"); Harris,… Read More

Florence: Filippo Giunta, 1512. First edition. About fine.. Octavo (17cm); [80] pages. Italic type. In 18th-century polished red morocco, both boards double-ruled in gold with triple-ruled panel mitered at corners with fleurons. Gold-tooled spine in six panels, title stamped in gold. Gold edges and turn ins. Decorated "carta dorata" endleaves. References: EDIT 16,CNCE 1881; Camerini, Giunti tipografi editori di Firenze, I:2, p. 246, # 3; BM Italian, p. 30. Not in Renouard or Adams (Adams cites only the later Naples edition). Provenance: Armorial bookplate of Baron John Rolle of Stevenstone (1750-1842) on front pastedown; later armorial bookplate of Federico Lobetti Bodoni, and one other. Last leaf backed early on. Two bibliographical notes in pencil on front blank. Girolamo Angeriano was one of Giovanni Pontano's youngest students, joining Academy before 1495. Guided by Pontano, he soaked up the culture of Renaissance Naples, based in a classical yet lively and vibrant Latinity. Mario… Read More