Manuscripts and Letters
80 items found
Lacretelle, J. C. D., De
Histoire de France, pendant le dix-huitième siècle.
Paris, Treuttel et Würtz, 1819-1826. 14 parts in 14. 8vo (21.5 x 13.5 cm). Frontispiece (portrait of the author), 6,136 pp.; seven additional frontispieces, 204 portraits, (four hand-coloured), 69 original letters of which many large, folded, six letters in facsimile, 12 signed printed documents, 13 original printed billets, 67 other engraved plates of which 13 tinted and two large, folded and hand-coloured. Uniform original red half morocco over red grained boards. Rich gilt spines.
Read more[Berkeley, M. J. (ed.)]
Lancashire fungi.
Lancashire, unpublished manuscript, 1872-1885. Folio (33.0 x 25.5 cm). 61 leaves, each with one or more (up to five) original watercolours - several heightened with gum arabic - mounted on rectos, and several additional ones on versos. Contemporary full calf. Spine with five gilt-bordered, raised bands and red morocco label with gilt title. Boards with double, gilt borders and gilt daisy corner pieces, and blind-rolled border, with blind-tooled fleur-de-lis motif corner pieces. Marbled endpapers with blind-tooled floral dentelles. All edges gilt.
Read moreVaillant, L. [L.] and M. [F.] Bocourt
Mission scientifique au Mexique et dans l'Amérique Centrale. Recherches zoologiques pour servir à l'histoire de la faune d'Amérique Centrale et du Mexique. Poissons.
Paris, Mission du Mexique et dans l'Amérique Centrale, 1874-[1915]. Large 4to (35.5 x 27.5 cm). Title to the Zoology section, title to part IV, half title to the ichthyology, [i ("avis"), 265 pp.; 31 plates, numbered 1-16, 1bis, 1ter, 5bis, 5ter, 5quat, 8bis, 9bis, 10bis, 10ter, 11quint (error for 10quint?), 11bis, 11ter, 11quat, 13bis, 13ter; all with original descriptive text leaves, of which 26 in fine chromolithography with additional hand-colouring; plates 1bis, and 1ter tinted, and plates 9bis, 10ter, and 10quint plain, as always. Printed wrappers to part IV, dated 1874, bound in. Contemporary half morocco over marbled boards. Spine with five raised bands, and gilt title. Marbled endpapers. Top edge gilt.
Read moreEscher, M. C.
Escher Adventures in Perception. [With handwritten letter by Maurits Escher to Han van Gelder, who produced an Oscar-nominated film about the artist and his work].
Laren, the artist, 1970. Handwritten letter in black pen, dated "Laren, 27-XII-'70", written on a folded postcard featuring Escher's "Cycle", produced in 1970 by The Vorpal Galleries in San Francisco, CA.
Read moreLloyd, T.
Trevor Lloyd's sketchbooks of New Zealand.
New Zealand, ca. 1925. In two volumes. Folio (35 x 25 cm, and 36 x 33 cm). The first of white paper, with his name handwritten on the second leaf, and (68 groups of) illustrations, mostly on leaf rectos only, a few using both sides of a leaf. The second, largest, of brown paper, with his name written on the front cover. Inserted: one sheet of trace paper with pencil drawing, and 24 leaves with colour pencil sketches of New Zealand landscapes, and people.
Read moreVuijk, J.
[Original orchid drawings and descriptions]
Amsterdam, [unpublished], ca. 1950-1975. A huge collection of more than a thousand sketches, drawings (b/w line drawings in pencil or ink, and in [full] colour) of wild orchids, with additional annotations - in Dutch, with Latin names. On 376 leaves, including 41 partially or (near) completely in original watercolours. Preserved in contemporary folders, titled by the author.
Read moreLeuba, [F.]
Monographie du genre Morchella. Traité au point de vue historique, botanique et chimique.
[Switzerland], unpublished, 1875. Folio (31.2 x 24.0 cm). Script title page with watercolour vignette, handwritten preface by the author, dated 15 Août 1875 (verso blank), 16 pp. of handwritten descriptive text; nine watercolour plates with script captions. Later half morocco over marbled boards. Marbled endpapers.
Read moreMacInnes, D.G.
A study of fossil Mammalia from East Africa [original manuscript].
Unpublished [n.d., but ca 1938.] 4to (26.0 x 20.4 cm). Original typed manuscript with 336 pp.; 143 original photographs in various sizes, and some original drawn maps. Full contemporary dark blue cloth with gilt title on spine.
Read more[Trade Catalogue]
Walking stick knobs and handles. [Original drawings]
France, unpublished, ca. 1880-1900. Folio (39.0 x 28.0 cm). 151 cards, each with one to four individual pencil or ink designs, mounted on 52 stiff paper leaves. Dark green limp cloth. Spine with blind-stamped rectangular compartments, central floral vignettes and title; front board with gilt and black ornamental border, rear board with large, black intricate, oriental vignette.
Read more["JAM" (R. de Bouillé, Comte)]
[Original watercolour sketches of French landscapes]
[France], no place, no publisher, ca. 1863-1890. 13 oblong sheets (22.3 x 29.2 cm), all with fine watercolour paintings, either full-sized, or smaller, in a drawn rectangular frame. And one drawing on slightly smaller paper, more sketchy, in pencil.
Read moreFauché, B.
Histoire naturelle, botanique.
[France, unpublished, ca. 1850]. Folio (39.8 x 28.8 cm). Title page with polychrome title and vignette, heightened with gold; 15 tissue-guarded plates with watercolour images of fungi (1) and flowering plants with explanatory text leaves in fine calligraphy. Original full embossed and pebbled black calf; gilt-stippled board edges and fine gilt inner dentelles. Iridescent endpapers. Spine with five raised bands and gilt title; front board with gilt initials "B. F." (= Berthe Fauché); rear board with gilt vignette "Maison des Oiseaux". All edges gilt.
Read moreHeetman, A. J. A. [and] F. Heetman
Heetman Collection of stained glass designs.
Rotterdam, Heetman, 1919-ca. 1971. Various material and sizes; predominantly original designs in pencil and watercolour, or white drawing ink. Also some framed drawings, numerous photos and photo negatives of original artwork and examples obtained by Heetman from other sources, as well as printed matter containing Heetman designs. In all many hundreds of items.
Read moreSand, M.
Manuscript of: Catalogue raisonné des lépidoptères du Berry & de l'Auvergne ( Cher, Indre, Creuse, Puy-de-Dôme, Cantal) ( France centrale) Deuxième Partie - Microlepidoptera.
Paris, E. Deyrolle [published edition], 1871-[shortly before] 1879. 4to (22.1 x 14.6 cm). [179] pp., followed by ca. 100 blanks. Original green half sheep over marbled boards. Printed label on front board. [AND] 12 pages of manuscript text pertaining to this work and in particular the preface. In a contemporary envelope [AND]. A signed letter (draft?) 92 pp. (folded), by the author on paper with his blind-stamp, directed to one of his correspondents.
Read moreSepp, J. C. [S. C. Snellen Van Vollenhoven]
Proof prints from: Nederlandsche insecten, naar hunne aanmerkelijke huishouding, verwonderlijke gedaantewisseling en andere wetenswaardige bijzonderheden, beschreven en afgebeeld door Jan Christiaan Sepp. Tweede Serie. Eerste - Tweede deel.
Amsterdam, J. C. Sepp & Zoon, 1860-1870. 79 folio sheets (26.5 x 21.3 cm), numbered V-L (first part), and I-XXXIII (second part).
Read moreLacaze-Duthiers, [F. J.] H. de
Three important, published works by Henri Lacaze-Duthiers, including a collection of proof copies and handwritten notes and corrections to one of them.
Paris, 1877-1885. Various sizes. 468 pp. [160, 220, 88]; 28 [8; 14; 6] lithographed plates, of which 22 hand-coloured. Preserved in a clamshell box covered in burgundy cloth (30.4 x 25.2 x 9.2 cm) with printed label.
Read more[Manetti, F. S]
Storia naturale degli uccelli trattata con metodo e adornata di figure intagliate in rame e miniate al naturale. Ornithologia methodice digesta atque iconibus aeneis ad vivum illuminatis ornate. [Two counterproofs in original water colouring, of Plate 37, Falco albanella torquata, and of Plate 48, Falco vulga barletto.]
[Florence, 1776]. Two single sheets (each 47.1 x 35.8 cm). Hand-coloured and captioned.
Read moreMüller, R.
Projectionslehre. [Album with original drawings of geometric constructions].
Germany, unpublished, ca. 1895. Oblong folio (33.0 x 50.2 cm). 36 leaves with numerous original drawings of geometric constructions in black, red, and blue ink. Contemporary blind half linen over marbled boards. Gilt title and author's name on the front board. Pictorial, early Jugendstil endpapers.
Read more[Original drawings]
Mongolian horsemen with falcons, cats and rabbits. [Eight original paintings on silk].
Mongolia, mid to late 19th to early 20th century. Oblong (27 x 35 cm). Eight paintings on silk, each mounted on large, iridescent silk sheets, and framed behind glass. Early to mid-20th century black varnished, bevelled wooden frames, each measuring 38.0 x 47.5 cm.
Read moreTollmann, A.
Das Neogen am Südwestrand des Leithagebirges zwischen Eisenstadt und Hornstein. Dissertation zur Erlangung des Doktorgrades an der Philosophischen Fakultät der Universität Wien.
Wien, [not published], 1953. Small folio (29.8 x 21.0 cm). 226 pp.; 28 text figures (tipped in), three large folded maps (one hand-coloured), five folded tables and graphs. Black half cloth. Hand-written label on the spine.
Read more[Cars]
Large original watercolour illustration of a 1920's luxury model.
[No place, no publisher, ca. 1925-1930]. Large, oblong sheet (61.6 x 22.7 cm) with watercolour (partly paint-brushed) illustration of a ca. 1925 luxury car; mounted on another contemporary card board (same size).
Read moreReineck, A.
Anglertagebuch. Meine Erlebnisse am Wasser.
[Frankfurt am Main, unpublished, 1930-1933]. Oblong folio (20.5 x 26.4 cm). "Frontispiece" self-portrait of the author in pencil and watercolour; 40 pp. with handwritten text [in German] and numerous illustrations in pencil or ink, a cut-out ink drawing by the author mounted on the rear board. Bound in gilt-green-black pochoir "camouflage" boards. In a custom-made marbled slipcase (27.3 x 22.4 x 1.9 cm), with a photocopy of the latter drawing mounted on the front board.
Read moreStainton, H. T.
A Manual of British Butterflies and Moths. Volumes I-II. [Complete].
London, John van Voorst, 1857-1859. Two volumes in two. 8vo (17.7 x 10.5 cm). I (1857): xii, [v; on five leaves], 2, 338 pp.; II (1859): xi 480 pp., [xviii; on 18 leaves], numerous woodcuts. Uniform contemporary half calf over marbled boards, blind-tooled spine with five raised, gilt-bordered and stippled bands, red morocco label with gilt title.
Read moreFieber, F. X.
Genera Hydrocoridum secundum ordinem naturalem in familias disposita. Cum tabulis quator. [AND] Species generis Corisa monographice dispositae cum tabulis duabus. [AND] Rhynchotographieen. Drei monograpische [sic] Abhandlungen. [AND] a handwritten letter to a colleague.
Prag [Prague], Gottlieb Haase Söhne, 1851. Three works in one. 4to (26.1 x 20.6 cm). 143 pp. [31; 48; 64], including three title pages; six engraved plates [4; 2; 0]. Contemporary marbled boards with green paper spine cover with script title. Speckled edges.
Read more[after T. H. Ekart]
Synopsis Hepaticarum. Descriptiones Jungermanniarum. [Original Manuscript].
France, no place, no date [ca. 1860-1880]. Small folio (24.7 x 20.0 cm). Manuscript of 46 pp. with 31 original, fine, mounted, ink drawings of liverworts, most with handwritten descriptions at the foot or on loose leaflets. Patterned quarter linen over burgundy grained linen. Marbled endpapers
Read more[Bertholet, D.]
Radiations. [Results of early experiment with radiated soil and vegetables]
Paris, unpublished, 1925. Two handwritten letters, dated "8 nov. 1925" and "24 12 1925", one letter typed (carbon copy) with two additional leaves, dated "le 22 novembre 1925", and a six pp. letter (carbon copy - versos blank), dated "II décembre 1925"". two cardboard sheets, with six and five photos respectively, showing "radiated" and "control" fields, or plants, mounted.
Read more[Carriages]
Two fine, original drawings of carriages.
No place, no publisher, 1906-1907. Two oblong drawings: one in thin ink lines with fine gouache colouring, over 15.0 x 23.0 cm, in oblong cardboard frame (30.5 x 23.5 cm); the other in sharp pencil, and with an overlaying, smaller board with the carriage top (over 16.2 x 24.7 cm) in oblong cardboard frame (32.1 x 43.4 cm).
Read moreHarrison, D. L.
The Mammals of Arabia. Volumes I-III [Complete].
London, Ernest Benn, 1964-1972. Three volumes in three. Large 4to (29.6 x 20.3 cm). 670 pp. [I (1964) xx, 1-192 pp.; II (1968) xiv, 193-381 pp.; III (1972) xvii, 382-670 pp.]; three frontispieces, 465 distribution maps and text figures, 266 tables, one large folded map. Original uniform red buckram with gilt titles on spines.
Read moreJordan, D. S.
Fishes. [AND an autographed letter by the author].
New York, NY, D. Appleton, 1925. 4to (25.5 x 18.1 cm). xv, 773 pp.; Chromolithographed frontispiece with printed tissue-guard, and 17 other full colour plates after original watercolours, and 763 fine text figures. Original blind-stamped and gilt-lettered cloth. Top edge gilt.
Read moreCoupin, H. [E. V.]
Album général des cryptogames. Avec la collaboration de M[ademois]elle Fernande Coupin. Algae. [Complete].
Paris, E. Orlhac, [1911-1912]. 4to (27.5 x 18.6 cm). 394 plates with explanatory text leaves, title pages and indexes. Contemporary half calf over marbled boards. Spine with five raised bands and gilt title. Marbled endpapers.
Read more