Rare books from Irving Book Company

Cambridge: Printed by J. Bentham, Printer to the University; and sold by W. Thurlbourn and T. Merrill; J. Whiston, R. Dodsley, and M. Cooper; J. Fletcher; and J. Hildyard, 1750. First Edition. Hardcover. Very good. Heavy edgewear; endpapers excised. Small, unobtrusive previous ownership signature in contemporary hand on title page. Binding square & tight, text otherwise clean & bright. Zeuxian Society (Caldwell Institute) bookplate to front pastedown, with the motto nunc adbibe puro pectore verba (Hor. Ep. 1.2.67 'now drink up words with a bright, undefiled mind'). The Caldwell Institute, named after Joseph Caldwell, the first president of the University of North Carolina, was a short-lived, early 19th-century Presbyterian school in North Carolina designed to provide a classical education imbued with Christian principles.. 8vo. 5.25 x 8.25 in. viii, [1] contents, [1 blank], 398 pp. + 16 pp. index. Text in English, with notes in English, Latin & Greek. Contempoary brown calf, with five raised spine… Read More

New York: Benziger Brothers, 1926. First Thus. Hardcover. Very fine in chipped & lightly toned original glassine dust jacket.. 32mo. 3.375 x 5.25 in. 416 pp. Full black flexible cloth (imitation leather), titles in gilt, all edges red, with green ribbon-marker; in publisher's spider-web glassine dustwrapper. 'To Which Are Added Practical Reflections and a Prayer after Each Chapter together with an Appendix Containing Prayers for Mass and other Devotions.' Illustrated with three black & white plates, including frontis., viz. the Crucifixion, the Agony in the Garden, and the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Translated by the famous Bishop RICHARD CHALLONER. Imprimatur &c. A pristine copy in original glassine wrapper. Very scarce thus.

[Milan]: Arnoldo Mondadori, 1972. First Italian Edition. Paperback. Light spotting to top edge, else fine in fine jacket.. 8vo. 5.25 x 7.75 in. 252, [12] pp. Blue wrappers, in brown & orange dust jacket. Page-facing translation, with text in Italian and English. A fresh, crisp copy. The scarce Italian issue of Olson's great poetic work.

Cleveland: George A. Exline, 1938. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine in very good dust jacket and good original box. Glassine dust jacket with wrinkle to front panel and small closed tear from rear inside flap; box seperated at 2 of 4 corner-joints, with large scrape from bottom. Overall quite presentable.. 4to. 9.25 x 12.25 in. Unpaginated. Black quarter-cloth over black & white decorative folk cloth, with black cloth title label inset on upper cover, titles in gilt; in original glassine dustwrapper. Presented in publisher's matching box. Fully illustrated with black & white photographs by Edouard Evartt Exline. ('Something of what the visitor saw, during the season of 1937, is to be found within the pages of this book.'). 'As long as the wild orchid blooms in the moss of Spring and the wind rips through the blue spruce on Winter mountain tops, the Smokies will be a land appart, for over all, in this Valhalla, is the hand of the Great Sprit, unchanging, everlasting.' One of 1000 numbered copies.… Read More

[New York]: Limited Editions Club, 1986. First Thus. Hardcover. Fine in fine original slipcase.. 4to. 9.25 x 11.75 in. xviii, 289 pp. Handsewn & bound at Jovanis Bindery in green quarter-leather, Nigerian Oasis Goat, over 'Irish handkerchief' linen; and presented in publisher's beige buckram slipcase with dark green 'Ultra-Suede' interior. Printed on moldmade paper by Wild Carrot Letterpress and Heritage Printers. Illustrated with 6 tissue-guarded photogravures by Robert Ballagh, including frontispiece, printed on handmade paper from Cartiere Enrico Magnani. Introduction by Thomas Flanagan. Folded LEC newsletter laid in. Limited edition, numbered 783 of 1000 copies and signed by editor Flanagan and artist Ballagh at colophon.

Tours: A. Mame et Fils, 1897. First Thus. Hardcover. Near fine in very good slipcase. Light shelfwear. Some loss of matter from base of slipcase-shelf, with wood showing; slipcase remains quite sturdy & sound. Bindings square & tight, texts clean & bright.. Two-volume set. 48mo. 2.75 x 4.875 in. 349; 320 pp. Teal marbled half-calf over marbled boards, titled & ornamented in gilt on spine, all edges gilt, with marbled endpapers and ribbon markers. Presented in Marian blue imitation leather display-shelf, lined in gold velvet or velveteen, with imitation dentelles. Both volumes printed in red & black, with rubricated capitals and decorative borders. Illustrated with several full-page reproductions of black & white drawings. Text in French, with some Latin. An charming, sumptuously bound set of A. Mame et Fils nos. 152 & 166, respectively.

(The Hague): Henricus Justice, 1765. First Thus. Hardcover. Very good. Light rubbing to joints, with light edgewear. Light foxing throughout otherwise clean texts. Bindings square & tight.. Complete in five volumes, bound in three. 8vo. 6.25 x 9.5 in. [18], 139 + [1]; [14], 142; [6], 155 + [1], [2] + 87 + [1] pp. Bound for Anatole de Montaiglon in polished red quarter-calf over brown marbled paper, titled in gilt on spine, top edge gilt; with Dutch double-comb marbled endpapers. Numerous vignettes, plates & portraits by Venetian engraver Giovanni Marco Pitteri. Vol. 5 contains the Index by Christoph Saxe; Vol. 2 includes a folding map ('Aeneae Errores') engraved by Herman Condet. Based on the critical text of Pieter Burman and Nicolaas Heinsius. The infamous Henry Justice, Lord of the Manor of Rufforth, inveterate bibliophile and book-thief, was eventually sentenced to exile for robbing the Cambridge University Library, before residing in Italy & expiring at The Hague. Henry's wife, travel-writer… Read More

Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1886. Early Printing. Hardcover. Very good. Some mottling & light wear to covers; light rubbing to fore-corners and crown & foot of spine. Light toning to edges of textblock. Binding square & tight, text clean & unmarked.. 16mo. 4.875 x 7 in. viii, 292, [20 ads] pp. Yellow cloth, titled & decorated in black; floral Victorian endpapers. Tissue-guarded grey & pink frontis. map. Illustrated with 4 black & white plates by F.T. MERRILL. A nice copy of this early printing of the First American Edition, first published in 1884 -- a year after the First English Edition. Scarce.

London: William Innys, 1728. First Edition. Hardcover. Just about fine.. Crown 8vo. 4.875 x 7.5 in. [xii], 416, [4] pp. Tastefully rebound to style in full dark chocolate calf, with five raised bands & leather spine label titled in gilt; all edges sprinkled red. Dedication to the honorable Mrs. BERKLEY, whose patronage, writes Mr. ALTIERI, 'will, in a great Measure, recommend [his book] to the candid Acceptance of the Ladies, for whose Improvement it was chiefly intended'. Includes also a note to the Reader. Ferdinando Altieri was an Italian professor living in London. Two years earlier he had published his Dizionario, approved by Lowndes (though the present work is not there mentioned). Here we have a handsomely printed little work for e.g. English noblemen about to embark on their grand tour. ESTC T89754. A pristine copy of a very scarce volume.

London: J. Buckland, J. Rivington, et al., 1790. Second Edition. Hardcover. Moderate edgewear; heavy toning, chipping & wear to spines; heavy rubbing to fragile joints. Hinges sound, contents generally very clean & tight. Missing spine labels, though some fragments remain. Board detached from Vol. 19; Vol. 46 in poor condition, with large strip from spine. A good antiquarian set overall.. Complete in 75 volumes. 8vo. 4 x 6.5 in. Contemporary tree calf, ornamented in gilt, beautifully marbled endpapers. This second edition is augmented with works from an additional fourteen poets. Illustrated with several engraved plates. Johnson's last major work, first published 1779-81.

New York: Inskeep & Bradford, 1809. First Edition. Hardcover. Very good. Joints neatly repaired. Occasional, light scattered foxing to margins. Previous ownership signature in contemporary hand to title pages. Lacking frontis. plate of New Amsterdam. Bindings square & tight, text otherwise unmarked.. Two volumes in 12mo. 4.5 x 7.25 in. xxiii + [1 blank], 268; 258, [2 blanks] pp. Contemporary tree calf, morocco labels titled in gilt. Washington Irving's first major book. One of 2000 copies. BAL 10098. Howes I-83.

Paris: La Sausse, 1803. Second Edition. Hardcover. Near fine. Some rubbing to extremities. Binding square and tight, text clean and bright.. 12mo. 4.25 x 6.75 in. viii, 351, [1 blank] pp. Contemporary marbled calf, ornamented and titled in gilt, all edges marbled, with green ribbon marker. Nouvelle Édition of 'Sighs and Exercises of a Christian Heart' by JEAN-BAPTISTE LASAUSSE (1740-1826), author of 'Le vrai Pénitent' etc. Text in French. 'A l'usage des filles de la Sagesse de Lusignan' ('For the use of the Daughters of Wisdom of Lusignan') inscribed, in contemporary hand, on front pastedown. OCLC records one copy of this edition in libraries worldwide. All J.-B. LASAUSSE's early publications are quite scarce. This is an exquisite copy of a rare volume that belonged to the Daughters of Charity at the very beginning of the Napoleonic Empire.