Plutarch Plutarch's lives in eight volumes translated from the greek with notes Historical and Critical from M. Dacier. 1727, London, Printed for J. Tonson (7 3/4 X 5 in.) Beautifully rebound in brown full-Morocco leather by Bayntun in the early 20th century. Gilt spine and board details and all gilt edges grace this set. (see illus.). There are fifty-nine (59) full page engravings mostly with Louis Chéron as designer (inv.) and Gerard Vandergucht as engraver (sculpt.). Louis Du Guernier is the designer and engraver of some engravings in the early volumes and Giles King is the engraver of all frontpieces. There is a minor, well-mended, repair to a back hinge of one volume; otherwise the condition of the binding and text block is excellent. The pages are bright and the paper of good quality; very little foxing, a few minor smudges, etc. A very handsome set. $1100.00	MORE
MOLL, HERMAN Bowles's Geographica Classica; or, the Geography of the Ancients,as contained in the Greek and Latin Classies, exhibited in 32 Maps ..Principally designed for the Use of Schools. 1732, London, Bowles & Carver, (20 x 17cm.) Maps engraved by Herman Moll with commentary by William Stukeley, M.D. Quarter leather spine and leather tips with marbled boards. Binding sound but board warn and spine missing one cm. on top edge. Original spine label present and legible. All 32 maps present. Maps are all double-page or fold-out and are mounted with original linen hinges. A fine double page title engraving also linen mounted. Engraved title page followed by a typeset title page in Latin and English (pg. 2 & 3) a preface in side-by-side Latin and English (pgs.4-7) and 'A Table of the Maps' also in side-side Latin and English (pgs. 8-11) A very rare atlas Herman Moll (1654-1732) came to London in about 1678 from Germany or Holland and worked as an engraver for Moses Pitt, among others. He clearly had a talent for making interesting friends and provided maps for Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe and Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels. He also knew explorer/buccaneer William Dampier and the chemist Robert Boyle. From 1689, he had his own London shop. Maps of a uniquely Moll character began to appear during Queen Anne's reign, and his individual style of mapmaking grew increasingly more distinct as his career progressed. Herman Moll, was one of the most significant and distinctive European cartographers of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. He enjoyed a lengthy and productive career that spanned almost six decades and yielded more than two dozen geographies, atlases, and histories, as well as myriad separate maps, charts and globes spanning the known world. Although generally not held in high regard for the originality or content of his cartography, he possessed a strong and tasteful design sense that, when combined with his engraving talents, led to the creation of unique and aesthetically pleasing maps, some of which must be considered graphic masterpieces. Moll and his maps also flourished during the fascinating and dynamic era of the British Enlightenment and the early, heady days of empire. The cartographer eventually became part of a number of impressive circles that gathered regularly at London coffeehouses and which included, among others, the scientist Robert Hooke, the writers Daniel Defoe (Robinson Crusoe) and Jonathan Swift (Gullivers Travels), the buccaneers William Dampier and Woodes Rogers, and the field archeologist and antiquarian Rev. Dr. William Stukeley. Over the years they and others came together in loosely knit and shifting groups and developed an intellectual and commercial interdependence around the themes of geography, cartography, literature and empire. Although he spent most of his working life in London, Moll probably was born in the once-great German Hanseatic city-state of Bremen in 1654 and likely came to London in the mid-1670s as a refugee from the turmoil of the Scanian Wars, during which Bremen was overrun. Moll probably learned his engraving skills in his native Bremen or elsewhere on the Continent before coming to England. He was part of an already well established North German movement to England and especially London that climaxed with the accession of King George I and the House of Hanover in 1714. --Dennis Reinhartz, The Cartographer and the Literari: "Herman Moll and His Intellectual Circle" $1500.00
Chassepol, François de   A treatise of the revenue and false money of the Romans. [By François de Chassepol] To which is annexed, a Dissertation upon the manner of distinguishing antique medals from countrfeit ones. [By Guillaume Beauvais] Translated form the Original Printed at Paris 1740 1741 (1st English edition), London, Printed for J. and P. Knapton (7 7/8 X 5 in.) The 1st French language edition of this work was published in Paris in 1676. Armoral bookplate Handsome turtle-shell leather binding is strong with a firm text block. $400.00	MORE
The history of Titus Livius, with the entire supplement of John Freinsheim; tr. into English, and illustrated with geographical and chronological notes .. Livy 1744, London, James Bettesham, (20 x 13 cm.) 5 volumes 6 engraved maps (2 by H. Moll) and 9 pictoral engravings BOOKPLATES of Elphinstone Castle, (Carberry Tower, Scotland) Signature of William Elphinstone on every titlepage An English translation of Livy with commentary by John Freinsheim. Each volume contains a foldout map, volume 4 contains 2 maps: Vol. I Romanum Imperium (Italy, Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica) Vol. II Gallia Vol. III Romani Imperii (Central Italy) Vol. IV Expedition of Hannibal Spain & Portugal (by Herman Moll) Vol. V Africa (by Herman Moll) Full leather with raised bands. All volumes are loose or near loose, but spine tape make them good reading copies. Text and engravings are in very good shape. Given the provenance of this set as well as the maps and engraving, it would be well worth a rebind using the original boards. $350.00
d'Arnay, Jean Rodolphe The private life of the Romans; wherein several of the customs of modern times are traced to their origin; and many abstruse passages in the Latin classics elucidated 1761 (1st edition), Edinburgh, A. Donaldson and J. Reid (6 3/4 X 4 1/8 in.) More information can be found here Binding and text block are very sound. $200.00	MORE
Millot, Claude François Xavier Elements of ancient history 1797, New York, Mott & Lyon 8vo 2 volumes Full leather binding fairly solid, vol. 2 front cover sewn on, an early repair. Contents very good English translation from the French of this classic ancient history. Scarce American edition. $150.00