Item 12 is Enquiries Touching Languages and Religions Through the Chief Parts of the World, by Edward Brerewood. Brerewood was an English scientist and general scholar at the turn of the 17th century. He wrote primarily about religion, but also on the evolution of language. Brerewood never published his writings, but after his death in 1613 at the age of 48, his nephew began publishing his work. The most important was this one, first published in 1614 (offered is a copy of the third edition from 1635). Perhaps the most notable of his anthropological conclusions was that America's native population had descended from Asian Tartars. At the time, the competing theory was that they were one of the lost tribes of Israel. Time has proven Brerewood's belief to be the accurate one. $595.

 

Item 32 is one of the most respected and thorough studies of the lands and people of that part of the world described in the Bible. The title is The Ancient Near East c. 3000-300 BC. This two-volume work was written by Amelie Kuhrt, noted British scholar and historian, and published in 2002. $100.

 

Item 9 is one of the bookends of obsessive collector Thomas Frognall Dibdin's books on collecting. Years earlier, he had written about "bibliomania," the obsessive desire to obtain books that he enjoyed, or suffered from, depending on one's point of view. While his love for books never faded, in time he became disenchanted with the marketplace. The price of books declined, and after a particularly disastrous auction, Dibdin made his thoughts known in this follow-up work:  Bibliophobia. Remarks on the Present Languid and Depressed State of Literature and the Book Trade. In a Letter Addressed to the Author of the Bibliomania. By Mercurius Rusticus, published in 1832. Dibdin was the author of Bibliomania, and was, in effect, writing a letter to himself under a pseudonym. $795.

 

Matthew David Jones, Antiquarian Bookseller, may be reached at 415-516-6193 or matthew@hitliterature.com.