Bauman Rare Books – Catalogue April 2011: Exceptional New Acquisitions / Spring 2011

Bauman Rare Books: Catalogue April 2011

Our catalogue for Spring consists almost entirely of new acquisitions. We are especially pleased to feature a rare first edition of GALILEI, Galileo. Dialogo… sopra i due massimi Sisstemi del mondo tolemaico. Florence, 1632, his famous defense of the Copernican system and arguably one of the most controversial books ever printed, which remained on the index of prohibited books for nearly 200 years.

Mas para além desta obra da maior relevância para a o património cultural da humanidade, poderemos encontrar algumas outras obras com bastante interesse e grande raridade.

Começo por destacar:

 

1. ADAMS, Ansel. Portfolio One. Twelve Photographic Prints. San Francisco, 1948. Elephant folio (14 by 18 inches), 12 gelatin silver prints individually mounted on heavy card stock, each signed on mount, four-page booklet, signed and numbered, loose as issued, folding cloth portfolio, partial ties.

Adams’ monumental folio Portfolio One, the first of seven that he completed over a 28-year period, one of only 75 copies, dedicated to Alfred Steiglitz with Adams’ portrait of him, with 12 gelatin silver prints, each mounted on heavy card stock (total measuring 14 by 18 inches), signed by Adams on the mount and with Portfolio stamp on the reverse of mount. Complete with the original booklet signed and numbered by Adams in bold red crayon as issued, and with the original folding cloth portfolio, rarely found.

2. SHAKESPEARE, William. The Historie of Henry the Fourth. London, 1639. Slim quarto, early 19th-century three-quarter calf over paper boards, custom chemise and full brown morocco box.

An exceptional complete copy of the extraordinarily rare 1639 Shakespeare quarto edition of Henry IV, Part I. This is the earliest obtainable quarto edition of one of the greatest and most important of Shakespeare’s history plays. Henry IV, Part I, likely written in 1597, is one of Shakespeare’s greatest and most important history plays, introducing the memorable characters of Prince Hal, Hotspur and Falstaff. “For his sources Shakespeare consulted the second edition of Holinshed’s Chronicles (1587), Samuel Daniel’s The Civil Wars (1595), and an anonymous play, The Famous Victories of Henry V (1594). In this last source Shakespeare found the name of Sir John Oldcastle, a Protestant martyr, which he changed to Sir John Falstaff when Oldcastle’s relatives protested… Most critics agree that Henry IV, Part I, marks the first totally successful product of Shakespeare’s mature talent. The verse is lively and expressive, depending less on formal rhetoric than a sure sense of individual characters… Moreover, for the first time in any of his history plays, every character in the Henry IV plays is completely individuated by diction and speech rhythms” (Ruoff, 190-1).

Only 17 Shakespeare plays were separately printed prior to 1640 (the rest appearing only in the First and Second Folio). Of the plays appearing in quarto editions, Henry IV, Part I was perhaps the most popular, with nine distinct editions appearing between 1598 and 1700. This 1639 edition is identified by Bartlett and Pollard as the eighth edition, the last early (pre-1640) printing of Henry IV, Part I. In their 1914 census of the Shakespeare quartos, Bartlett and Pollard list only 19 existing copies of this 1639 quarto edition, some defective or restored, most in libraries or institutional collections; their updated 1939 census listed 27 copies. Rosenbach called this 1639 printing a “very rare early edition” (Rosenbach 39:4) and valued it accordingly (asking $1600 in 1920). STC 22287. Jaggard, 328.

This copy is complete and essentially in excellent condition; the text is lightly browned, primarily around the edges, with a few very minor stains and small marginal tears; the early calf is somewhat age-worn with the front board separating at the joint. The first few pages of text have a number of corrections in red ink in an 18th-century hand, evidently based upon readings from the folios. Few Shakespeare quartos remain undiscovered, and of those that are known, only a handful will ever come onto the market. A superb Shakespeare item of the utmost rarity and desirability.

For similarly scarce and desirable quarto editions of Macbeth, Hamlet, Julius Caesar and Othello, please turn to pages 84 - 87.

Bom ainda só vimos duas obras e as bolsas já devem estar vazias, mas o problema (e será mesmo só esse?) é que há mais!

Ora vejam-se os já referidos Galileo. Dialogo.

3. GALILEI, Galileo. Dialogo di Galileo Galilei… sopra i due massimi Sistemi del mondo tolemaico, e copernicano. Florence, 1632. Octavo, early full brown calf, endpapers renewed.

First edition of the work that led to Galileo’s persecution by the Inquisition, his famous and celebrated defense of the Copernican system, with 31 in-text woodcut illustrations and diagrams. This copy with the iconic engraved frontispiece depicting Aristotle, Ptolemy and Copernicus discussing their astronomical theories—issued separately and often not present.

“Eight years after Pope Paul V had forbidden him to teach Copernican theory, Galileo received permission from a new Pope, Urban VIII, to discuss Copernican astronomy in a book, so long as the book provided equal and impartial discussions of the Church approved Ptolemaic system. Galileo’s Dialogue concerning the two chief world systems held to the letter of this command: the device of the dialogue, between a spokesman for Copernicus, one for Ptolemy and Aristotle, and an educated layman, allowed Galileo to remain technically uncommitted. After the book’s publication, however, Urban took offense at what he felt to be its jibes against himself and ordered Galileo to be brought before the Inquisition in Rome” (Norman 858).

The iconic engraved frontispiece depicting Aristotle,

Ptolemy and Copernicus discussing their astronomical theories

The Dialogo was suppressed by the Church five months after its publication and formally condemned in June 1633. Galileo’s defense of “the Copernican heresy” resulted in his permanent house arrest. Soon thereafter he was forced publicly to recant his defense of Copernicus. The book “remained on the Index Librorum Prohibitorum until 1823. It is an eternal reminder of human endeavor and human fallibility… The Dialogo, far more than any other work, made the heliocentric system a commonplace. Every fear of Galileo’s enemies was justified; only their attempts to stifle thought were vain” (PMM 128). Frontispiece in the fourth state (of four), as usual, with artist’s signature present. With pasted cancel slip correcting the shoulder note on page 92 and manuscript addition of letter H to diagram on page 192, both as usual; without final blank leaf only (KK4), often not present. Horblit 18c. Dibner 8. PMM 128. Norman 858. Interior generally quite clean and fresh, with only a few instances of faint foxing and a very few pages lightly embrowned. Frontispiece and title page skillfully rehinged, most likely at the time when the early calf binding received expert restoration. An extremely good copy of this extraordinary scientific landmark, most desirable with iconic frontispiece engraving, often not present.

Depois destas obras, que julgo poderem interessar a qualquer bibliófilo, segue-se um conjunto de obras mais viradas para o mercado americano, mas pelo meio encontramos algumas utras de interesse mais generalista, como este exemplar:

27. ASHMOLE, Elias. Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum. Containing Severall Poetical Pieces of our Famous English Philosophers, who have written the Hermetique Mysteries in their own Ancient Language. London, 1652. Quarto, contemporary calf rebacked.

Very rare, complete first edition of Ashmole’s anthology of classic alchemical poems, in contemporary calf. Illustrated with 13lovely, finely detailed engravings (seven full-page), two woodcuts and one folding engraving. “The most important English alchemical text” (Duveen), reputed to have been heavily consulted by Isaac Newton in his studies (Churton, Magus: The Invisible Life of Elias Ashmole).

Complete copies are extremely rare.

“The greatest virtuoso and curioso that ever was known or read of in England before his time,” Ashmole’s “interests and achievements bridge the often invisible boundaries of seventeenth-century English magic and science” (Linden). Ashmole was a leading representative of the early 17th-century “great revival of interest in the occult sciences;” the Theatrum Chemicum remains “his best-known work” (Pyle, 27-28). The work is his “major contribution to the preservation of early English alchemical texts written in poetic form… a means of paying tribute to Thomas Norton, George Ripley, Chaucer, John Dastin, Edward Kelly and John Dee—more than thirty identified and anonymous pieces in all—that have their Englishness in common” (Linden). Owner signature inked out on title page. Repair to title page. Page 17 with clean 1-3/4” closed tear extending from foremargin into text. A very rare, complete copy of “the most important work of English alchemy” (Duveen).

E vamos encontrar alguns exemplares que passaram pela mãos de todos nós, enquanto crianças – mais que não fosse em banda desenhada, como é o caso dos livros de Walt Disney (quantos de nós os guardámos ... e em que estado estão?), destaque-se:

59. DISNEY, Walt. Walt Disney’s Version of Pinocchio. New York, 1939. Tall quarto, original half blue cloth, pictorial boards, dust jacket.

First edition, boldly inscribed, “To Charles D. Lowry Jr with my best wishes, Walt Disney.” Extensively illustrated with artwork from the Disney Studios motion picture, this book was published one year prior to the film’s release. Disney’s second full-length animated feature, Pinocchio won Academy Awards for Best Score and Best Original Song, Leigh Harline and Ned Washington’s “When You Wish Upon a Star,” which quickly became a beloved standard and the “theme song” of the Walt Disney entertainment empire. Book with very faint dampstain along top edge of front and rear boards, dust jacket with only minor wear to extremities and three small tape repairs to verso. Pinocchio was made early in the life of the Disney Studio, and first edition runs of Disney books during this period were not large. Very rare inscribed by Disney.

Seguem-se algumas obras sobre economia – bem a propósito com a crise global do sistema económico.

Ainda, antes de terminar, encontraremos as obras de Shakespeare, já atrás referidas: “An Extraordinary Selection Of Shakespeare Quartos.”

“Unsurpassed In The West’s Imaginative Literature”: Extremely Rare 1683 Quarto Edition Of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, One Of The Earliest Obtainable Editions 118. SHAKESPEARE, William. The Tragedy of Hamlet Prince of Denmark. London, 1683. Slim quarto, 19th-century threequarter black morocco. Exceptionally rare and desirable 1683 quarto edition of Hamlet, Shakespeare’s most famous tragedy. The existence of eleven quarto editions of Hamlet between 1603 and 1703 is a clear indication of its immense popularity. This 1683 edition is the eighth quarto edition, published two years before the Fourth Folio.

All of the quarto editions are scarce, and those published before the Fourth Folio are particularly desirable. Jaggard, 307. Bartlett 86. Bartlett & Pollard, 12 (locating only 21 copies). With gilt bookplate from the library at Beeleigh Abbey, the estate of bibliophile W.A. Foyle, cofounder of Foyle’s Bookshop on Charing Cross Road. Foyle amassed one of the largest private collections in history after purchasing Beeleigh Abbey in the 1940s: his collection sold inthree massive auctions at the turn of the 21st century and his library realized a record 19 million dollars, the highest amount ever paid for a private European collection.

Small early ink notations to edge of title page, final text leaf. Interior quite fresh with very minor expert archival paper restoration to title-page gutter edge, repair to closed tear, tiny marginal repair to D1, expert restoration to margins of M4 only affecting catchword. A very handsome copy of this extremely rare quarto edition of Shakespeare’s immortal Hamlet. The quarto editions of Shakespeare’s plays (appearing between 1594 and 1709) were the first separate printings of the individual plays; for sixteen of those plays, the first quarto editions precede the plays’ appearances in the monumental First Folio of 1623.

Of the 20 plays which appeared for the first time in the First Folio, only three were issued in subsequent quarto editions: Julius Caesar and Macbeth — each offered here — and The Taming of the Shrew. All of the quarto editions are exceptionally scarce and desirable: many of the known copies are now in institutional collections, and of the remaining copies, many are incomplete. Shakespeare quartos rarely appear on the market in any condition: we are pleased to be able to offer here six separate quarto editions, each complete and in exceptional condition.

Bom aqui está o convite para leitura deste catálogo, como sempre com obras de elevado interesse … claro que os preços podem “assustar” um pouco.mas isso é uma outra questão.

Saudações bibliófilas.