History, Law & Philosophy

[MANUSCRIPT - FLAGS - JAPAN]. "All the flags from 1893".
Japan, 1893. Collection of drawings of 131 flags, banners etc. on separate leaves of varying sizes, most of them coloured.
With: (2) [MANUSCRIPT]. [Decorated Japanese rice-paper].
Japan, [1893?]. Ten sample leaves 928 x 38 cm) of so-called rice paper (actually cut in small sheets from the pith of the rice-paper plant, Tetrapanax papyrifer), decorated with varying designs, like flowers, fans and traditional Japanese dolls.
19th-century wrappers of thick handmade Japanese paper, reinforced with straps of paper containing Japanese characters and blue and red stamps; with the title of ad 1 in Japanese characters on the front wrapper. [131]; [10] ll. Full description

[MANUSCRIPT LETTER - VOC - CEYLON]. [Mattheus SCHENKENBERG]. [Contemporary copy of a letter dated 3 January 1699 from Mattheus Schenkenberg to his uncle Harmen van Soelen].
[Jaffanapatnam, Ceylon, 3 January 1699]. Folio (33 x 21 cm). The Dutch letter is written in a neat late 17th-century cursive hand in brown ink. Folded and kept together by an orange, white and blue piece of string in the left margin (1.5 cm from the edge of the leaves, in the middle). [5], [3 blank] pp. Full description

[MANUSCRIPT - GERMAN & LATIN - HERALDRY - LITURGY]. MAYER, Lieven. (Drop-title on f. 5r:) Der hochen Deutschen Ritterordens Buech ...
[Germany], [after 1606, perhaps before 1618]. 4to. Manuscript in German and Latin on paper, written in a 17th-century hand. With 3 heraldic crosses showing the coats of arms of the Teutonic Order (a black Maltese cross) and 4 drawings showing costumes of several members of the order, all executed in watercolour highlighted with eggwhite. 20th-century mottled sheepskin, sewn on 5 supports, each board with a frame of blind double fillets crossing at the corners, with blind double fillets across the spine, title stamped in green roman capitals in the 3rd of 6 compartments. [5], 129 ll. Full description

[MANUSCRIPT - PORTUGAL]. MARTÍNEZ DE HERRERA. Relacion del sucesso, prissiones, y castigos de Gabriele Espinosa, que se fingiò Rey D. Sebastian de Portugal, y de Fray Miguel de los Santos, religiosso agustino portugues, vicario del convento de mo[n]jas augustinas de Nra. Sra. de Gracia de la villa de Madrigal... confessor del dicho Rey d. Sebastian y de ... Ana de Austria (hija del Sr. D. Juan de Austria).
(In the text:) Seville, 1684. 4to. With the title written in brown and red ink within a hand-drawn frame and some bird-figures below the last line on the title-page (in red ink). The text is written in a fine 17th-century hand, in brown ink. Contemporary limp vellum, with a manuscript title on the spine and remnants of ties. [1], [1 blank], [124], [6 blank] ll. Full description

[MANUSCRIPT - SIGNATURES - THE NETHERLANDS]. Handteekeningen van I. Gecommiteerde Raden van de Staten van Holland... II. Vorsten, staatsmannen, krijgsbevelhebbers, geleerden enz. ...
[The Netherlands, early 19th century]. Large 4to. With 162 signatures on 160 vellum or paper cuttings (mostly vellum, including 2 cuttings with 2 signatures each), mostly from the 17th century, some from the 18th century and a few from the early 19th century. Further with one large printed coat-of-arms (of the Wassenaer family) on the verso of the title-page, an engraving (ca. 9.5 x 7 cm) showing the house of Jacob Cats on the verso of leaf 34, and with 19 printed coats-of-arms on the versos of several leaves (16 depicting a coat-of-arms with the name of the family below and 3 blank shields). The title-page, headings, and captions all in a very neat late-18th-century or early 19th-century cursive script, written in Dutch using brown ink. Splendid late 18th-century (ca. 1790) gold-tooled red morocco, sewn on 4 supports with a smooth spine, bound by the so-called Second Dissertation Bindery (Leiden ca. 1780-ca. 1794; Storm van Leeuwen IIA, pp. 350-358), with 4 closing loops on the front board (1 top edge, 2 fore-edge, 1 bottom edge) connecting to 4 closing knotted buttons on the back board. Both boards show 3 gold-tooled floral frames built up from 2 different rolls with small corner pieces in between, the inner frame with 4 larger floral corner pieces and a large lozenge shaped centrepiece built up from multiple impressions of 5 different floral and animal stamps. Further with a gold-tooled spine and board edges, gilt edges, and marbled endpapers. [1], 40 ll. Full description

[MANUSCRIPT - UTRECHT - STRICK VAN LINSCHOTEN, Johan]. [Fair copies of and extracts from official documents, from 1605 to 1635, concerning Johan Strick van Linschoten (1583-1648), initially Canon and finally Secretary of the Oudmunster chapter church in Utrecht, and influential member of the States Assembly of the province of Utrecht; Prince Maurits and others].
[Utrecht], ca. 1621-ca. 1635. Folio (31 x 20 cm). Contemporary sheepskin parchment, with remnants of leather ties. Manuscript title on the spine and writing on the front board. [5 blank], "260" [= 263], [1] ll. Full description

[MARCEL, Jean-Joseph?]. [Islamic coins and medals].
[Paris?], [ca. 1791-ca. 1817?]. Mostly folio (31.5 x 21 cm). A manuscript compilation of loose leaves and bifolia, with about 104 drawings (some in ink; some in coloured gouaches, many including gold, silver and other metallic colours) and about 53 engravings (some black on white; some white on black) each drawing and engraving showing the obverse and reverse of an Islamic coin or medal (except for about 3 that show only one side). Most of the drawings and engravings are on slips attached to leaves with notes in Arabic and French.Loose leaves and bifolia. [ca. 150] ll. Full description

MARCELLUS EMPIRICUS. De medicamentis Empiricis physicis ac rationalibus liber.
Basel, Froben, 1536. With a woodcut caduceus device on title-page and several woodcut initials. Set in roman types.
With: (2) [THORER, Alban]. [De re medica].
(Colophon: Basel, Andreas Cratander, 1528). With the first leaf of the main text in a 4-piece woodcut border (3 initalled I.F.), Cratander's woodcut device on the last otherwise blank leaf, showing Occasio, the goddess of chance, and dozens of charming woodcut initials. Set in roman types. 2 works in 1 volume. Small folio (30 x 22 cm). 20th-century half parchment. 252, [12]; 125, [1] ll. Full description

[MARGHINANI, `Ali ibn Abi Bakr] (Charles HAMILTON, transl.). The Hedàya, or Guide; a commentary on the Mussulman laws: translated by the order of the Governor-General and Council of Bengal.
London, Thomas Bensley, 1791. 4 volumes. Small folio (22 x 27.5 cm). Modern half calf in period style, marbled sides, gold-tooled smooth spine divided into six fields by rolls, black morocco spine label in the second field, the others with an arabesque ornament. [2], LXXXIX, [1], XII, 561, [3]; VIII, 727, [3]; VIII, 609, [3]; VIII, 574, [54] pp. Errata leaf at end of each volume. Full description

[MARITIME HISTORY]. Beschryving van de konstryke verciering en voortreffelyken toestel, ... ter gelegentheyd van het twee honderd-jaerig jubilé van de ... victorie, ... over een veel talryker Turksche vloot by Lepanten in 't jaer 1571. den 7. October, gemeenelijk genaemd, den zeeslag van Don Jean, van Oostenrijk, ... van den 6. tot den 13. October, van dit ... jubeljaer [chronogram 1771].
Antwerp, Pieter Johannes Parys, (approbation: 1771). 4to. With 3 engraved illustrations in the text. Lacking the integral frontispiece. 19th-century chemical-marbled glazed paper wrappers. 79, [1] pp., lacking frontispiece (pp. 1-2). Full description