18th Century Antiquarian Books

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
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
Rome Antique Notitia: or the Antiquities of Rome Basil Kennett 1763, London, J & R Tonson etal., (21 x 13.5 cm.) The consummate British guide to Rome for over a century, this copy is the 13th edition. Full leather boards with taped spine. Eleven (11) engravings, some fold-out. SOLD
Various A UNIVERSAL HISTORY FROM THE EARLIEST ACCOUNTS TO THE PRESENT TIME COMPILED FROM ORIGINAL AUTHORS (Vol.14 only) 1780, London, C.Bathurst,J.F.and C. Rivington, (et al), (22 x 14 cm.) A Roman History from the Captivity of Valerian to the Death of Justinian the Great. Original Leather binding repaired at spine; contents VG with moderate foxing. Three fold-out copper-plate engravings: 1. Map of the 'Bosphorus, Maeotis, Iberia, Albania and Asiatic Sarmatia' 2. The Historical Pillar - The Hippodrom and the Thebian Obelisk 3. The Thracian Bosporus - 'Outside Prospect of the Church of Sancta Sophia--the Whole View of the church SOLD
[264 copper plate engravings of Antiquities in the Uffizi Gallery] David, François-Anne Le Museum de Florence; ou, Collection des pierres gravées, statues, médailles et peintures, qui se trouvent à Florence, principalement dans le cabinet du grand duc de Toscane; gravé par m. David. Avec des explications françoises, par m. Mulot 3 volumes 1787, Paris, M. David, (25 x 19 cm.) Three volume set describing the antiquities in the collection of the Grand Duke of Tuscany which are now in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. Vol. 1 describes ancient gemstones and has 96 full page engraved plates Vol. 2 continues ancient gemstones and also has 96 full page engraved plates Vol 3 is a discussion of ancient stauary and contains 72 full page engraved plates Francois Anne David (1741 - 1824) was a highly regarded engraver working in Paris at the close of the eighteenth century. Born in 1741, David garnered a reputation as a talented portrait engraver. He was the master of J. P. Lebas and a regular exhibitor at the Paris Salon from 1802 to 1819. He was an esteemed member of the Academy in Rouen and in Berlin, and his prints can be found in some the most noted European museums --Donald A. Heald Marbled board with leather spines worn. Binding good; boards loose but holding in Vol. 3. Plates are clean. SOLD
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

Rome Antique Notitia: or the Antiquities of Rome Basil Kennett 1763, London, J & R Tonson etal., (21 x 13.5 cm.) The consummate British guide to Rome for over a century, this copy is the 13th edition. Full leather boards with taped spine. Eleven (11) engravings, some fold-out. SOLD

[264 copper plate engravings of Antiquities in the Uffizi Gallery]

Rome Antique Notitia: or the Antiquities of Rome
Basil Kennett
1763, London, J & R Tonson etal., (21 x 13.5 cm.)

The consummate British guide to Rome for over a century, this copy is the 13th edition.
Full leather boards with taped spine. Eleven (11) engravings, some fold-out.

SOLD