Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - August - 2018 Issue

Rare Books and Valuable Documents from Librairie Métamorphoses

Livres Rares from Metamorphoses.

Livres Rares from Metamorphoses.

Librairie Métamorphoses of Paris has issued a catalogue of Livres Rares & Documents Précieux. In English, that is Rare Books and Valuable Documents. Inside, the title page states more specifically (translated), valuable or unusual autographs, music & photographs. That leads to the obvious point - this catalogue is entirely in French. Not so obvious is that this reviewer has at best a most superficial understanding of the language. It is hard to describe items adequately from a reading that amounts to comprehending a few familiar words. I encourage readers who understand French to seek out the catalogue for themselves. The items are also primarily in French, but not exclusively so. Other languages appear, including several items in English.

 

We begin with what has generally been acknowledged as the finest European work on China of the 18th century. This is the 1735 first edition which was in French. The title is Description Geographique Historique, Chronologique, Politique, et Physique de l’Empire de la Chine et de la Tartarie Chinoise. The writer, or perhaps compiler, was Jean-Baptiste Du Halde, a Jesuit priest. Oddly, Du Halde never set foot in China. What he had were the accounts of 27 Jesuits who did travel there, along with information from others. This is a thorough book, covering subjects including geography, political institutions, history, education, medicine, science, language, and customs. There are 43 maps and many images within the four volumes. Additionally, it provides an account of Bering's voyage. Bering visited Kamchatka and Alaska. This was the first European description of Alaska and Bering's map was the first of what is today an American state. Item 24. Priced at €28,000 (euros, or approximately $32,748 in U.S. dollars).

 

Next we have a handwritten and signed poem by Guillaume Apollinaire. Apollinaire is the French surrealist writer, coiner of that term. The word first appeared in his drama, Les Mamelles de Tiresias, Drame Surrealiste... Apollinaire wrote this poem in 1917, just a few months before his surrealist drama. The poem's title is Le Pont, The Bridge. The bridge is a figurative, rather than a literal one. In the poem, two women speak across a river, forming a bridge of words on which others pass. I will not try to interpret its meaning any further. I struggle to understand the meaning of any poetry, let alone the surrealist variety. Apollinaire has signed his name at the bottom of the poem. Item 3. €18,000 (US $21,039).

 

Here is a set of books created for a certain privileged individual, though copies were available to the public, or at least those who could afford it. Item 75 is OEuvres de Jean Racine Imprimé par ordre du Roi pour l'éducation de Monseigneur le Dauphin, published in 1784. These are the works of Jean Racine, a five-volume set ordered up by King Louis XVI for the education of the Dauphin, Louis-Joseph. The Dauphin is the equivalent of a prince, though not just any prince, but the heir to the throne. Louis-Joseph was the first-born son of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. Normally, that would be a wonderful standing for a child of three, as Louis-Joseph was in 1784. However, the French Revolution was not far away, and both Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette would have their heads lopped off in another decade. Louis-Joseph was spared that ending. He was a sickly child, and unbeknownst to his family, he suffered from tuberculosis. He died from the disease a few months before the storming of the Bastille and the onset of the Revolution that would take his parents' lives. His younger brother succeeded him as Dauphin, only to die under unclear circumstances during his brutal imprisonment in the Revolution. €3,500 (US $4,079).

 

This is one of those books in English. Many books have been equaled if not surpassed in fame by their film adaptations. This is the only one I know of where this is true of a radio program. Item 100 is The War of The Worlds, by H. G. Wells. It is a first edition, published in London in 1898. It is the tale of an invasion by Martians. Many evidently thought such an event possible in 1938, though such seems impossible today, unless it is by some insidious virus brought home on a spaceship. While Wells and his story were based in England, the 1938 radio adaptation for which this book is known was made in America, where listeners heard an account of Martians landing and thought it was actually happening, rather than being a radio play. €2,000 (US $2,331).

 

Frank Lloyd Wright is likely the best-known American architect, not only of his era, but of any time. Those fortunate enough to live in one of the residences he designed would have been an unusual lot, unusual, in particular, in their wealth. However, Wright wanted to spread the beauty to those not so fortunate, so he teamed up with several corporate partners to provide goods regular folks could add to liven up their homes. They produced such items as furniture, paint, rugs, accessories, and this one - wallpaper. For this, he teamed up with F. Schumaker & Co. to produce Schumaker's Taliesin Line of Decorative Wallpapers. The Taliesin name came from the name of his estate in Wisconsin, though by the time this item was created (1955), he also had a Taliesin West outside of Phoenix. This piece was evidently a sample book as it contains 26 specimens of Wright's wallpaper. Item 101. €6,500 (US $7,575).

 

Librairie Métamorphoses may be reached at +33 (0)1 42 02 22 13 librairie.metamorphoses@gmail.com.

Rare Book Monthly

  • Jeschke Jádi
    Rare Book Auction 155
    Saturday April 26, 2025
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 962. Baird. United States Exploring Expedition. Philadelphia 1858.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 772. Edith Holland Norton. Brazilian Flowers. Coombe Croft 1893.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 49. Petrarca. Das Gluecksbuch, Augsburg 1536.
    Jeschke Jádi
    Rare Book Auction 155
    Saturday April 26, 2025
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 1496. Jacob / Picasso. Chronique des Temps, 1956.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 8. Augustinus. De moribus ecclesie. Cologne 1480.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 17. Heures a lusaige de Noyon. Paris 1504.
    Jeschke Jádi
    Rare Book Auction 155
    Saturday April 26, 2025
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 13. Schedel. Buch der Chronicken. Nürnberg 1493.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 957. Donovan. Insects of China. London 1798.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 123. A holy martyr. Tuscany, Florence, mid-14th century.
    Jeschke Jádi
    Rare Book Auction 155
    Saturday April 26, 2025
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 438. Dante. La Divine Comédie. Paris 1963.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 602. Firdausi. Histoire de Minoutchehr. Paris 1919
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 994. Westwood. Oriental Entomology. London 1848.
  • Sotheby's
    Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
    Sotheby’s: The Shem Tov Bible, 1312 | A Masterpiece from the Golden Age of Spain. Sold: 6,960,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: Ten Commandments Tablet, 300-800 CE | One of humanity's earliest and most enduring moral codes. Sold: 5,040,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: William Blake | Songs of Innocence and of Experience. Sold: 4,320,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: The Declaration of Independence | The Holt printing, the only copy in private hands. Sold: 3,360,000 USD
    Sotheby's
    Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
    Sotheby’s: Thomas Taylor | The original cover art for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Sold: 1,920,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: Machiavelli | Il Principe, a previously unrecorded copy of the book where modern political thought began. Sold: 576,000 GBP
    Sotheby’s: Leonardo da Vinci | Trattato della pittura, ca. 1639, a very fine pre-publication manuscript. Sold: 381,000 GBP
    Sotheby’s: Henri Matisse | Jazz, Paris 1947, the complete portfolio. Sold: 312,000 EUR
  • Fonsie Mealy’s
    Rare Books & Collectors’ Sale
    April 30th & May 1st
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Taylor (Geo.) & Skinner (A.) Maps of the Roads of Ireland, Surveyed 1777. Lond. & Dublin 1778. €500 to €750.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Messingham (Thos.) Florilegium Insulae Sanctorum seu Vitae et Acta Sanctorum Hibernia, Paris 1624. €350 to €500.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Heaney (Seamus). The Haw Lantern, L. (Faber & Faber) 1987, First Edn., Signed and dated. €225 to €350.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Valencey (Lt. Col. Chas.) Collectanea de Rebus Hibernicis, Vols. I-IV, 4 vols. Dublin 1786. €400 to €600.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Powerscourt (Viscount). A Description and History of Powerscourt, Lond. 1903. €350 to €500.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Moryson (Fynes). An Itinerary ... Containing His Ten Yeeres Travel Through the Twelve Dominions of Germany, Bohermerland, Sweitzerland…, Lond. (John Beale) 1617. €700 to €1,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: After Buffon, Birds of Europe, c. 1820. Approx. 120 fine hd. cold. plts., mor. backed boards. €125 to €250.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Dunlevy (Andrew). An Teagasg Criosduidhe De Reir Ceasda agus Freagartha... The Catechism or Christian Doctrine by Way of Question and Answer, Paris (James Guerin) 1742. €400 to €700.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: The Georgian Society Records of Eighteen-Century Domestic Architecture in Dublin, 5 vols. Complete, Dublin 1909-1913. €500 to €750.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Scale (Bernard). An Hibernian Atlas or General Description of the Kingdom of Ireland, L. (Robert Sayer & John Bennet) 1776. €625 to €850.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: [Johnson (Rev. Samuel)]. Julian the Apostate Being a Short Account of his Life, together with a Comparison of Popery and Paganism,L. (Langley Curtis) 1682. €300 to €400.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Nichlson (Wm.) Illustrator. An Almanac of Twelve Sports, Lond. 1898. €300 to €400.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Heaney (Seamus) trans. The Light of the Leaves, 2 vols., Mexico (Imprenta de los Tropicos/Bunholt) 1999. €1,500 to €2,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Fleming (Ian). Moonraker, L. (Jonathan Cape) 1955. €1,500 to €2,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Heaney (Seamus) & Egan (Felim) artist. Squarings, Twelve Poems, D. (Hieroglyph Editions Ltd.) 1991. €1,750 to €2,250.
  • Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: ANDERSEN'S EXTREMELY RARE FIRST APPEARANCE IN PRINT. "Scene af: Røverne i Vissenberg i Fyen." in Harpen, 1822.
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: FIRST ISSUE OF THE FIRST THREE FAIRY TALE PAMPHLETS, WITH ALL INDICES AND TITLE PAGES. Eventyr, fortalte for Børn. 1835-1837.
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: THE FIRST FAIRY TALES WITH A SIGNED CARTE DE VISITE OF ANDERSEN AS FRONTIS. Eventyr, fortalte for Børn. 1835-1837.
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: KARL LAGERFELD. Original pastel and ink drawing in gold, red and black for Andersen's The Emperor's New Clothes (1992), "La cassette de l'Empereur."
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: PRESENTATION COPY OF THE SIXTH PAMPHLET FOR PETER KOCH. Eventyr, Fortalte For Børn, Second Series, Third Pamphlet. 1841. Publisher's wrappers, complete with all pre- and post-matter.
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN RARE AUTOGRAPH QUOTATION SIGNED IN ENGLISH from "The Ugly Duckling," c.1860s.
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: HEINRICH LEFLER, ORIGINAL WATERCOLOR FOR ANDERSEN'S SNOW QUEEN, "Die Schneekönigin," 1910.
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: FIRST EDITION OF ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES IN ENGLISH. Wonderful Stories for Children. London, 1846.
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: ANDERSEN ON MEETING CHARLES DICKENS. Autograph Letter Signed ("H.C. Andersen") in English to William Jerdan, July 20, 1847.
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: PRESENTATION COPY FOR EDGAR COLLIN. Nye Eventyr og Historier. Anden Raekke. 1861.
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: DOLL HOUSE FURNITURE BY HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSON, DECORATED WITH FANTASTICAL CUT-OUTS, for the children of Jonna Stampe (née Drewsen), his godchildren.
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: PRESENTATION COPY FOR GEORG BRANDES. Dryaden. Et Eventyr fra Udstillingstiden i Paris 1867. 1868.

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