Libros raros de Martayan Lan, Inc.

Venice: Aldine Press, 1526. A fine and fresh copy of the editio princeps of the Hippocratic corpus, a collection of texts assembled in the third century B.C., including the Hippocratic Oath and many of the foundation texts of western medicine, traditionally attributed to the legendary physician and teacher Hippocrates of Cos. "It is uncertain which of them, if any, are directly connected with the historical physician Hippocrates of Cos, who flourished in the latter half of the fifth century B.C. Through the writings attributed to him Hippocrates is credited with developing the first system of empirical medicine based on clinical experience, and the Hippocratic Oath has long been regarded as expressing the fundamental ethical and moral standards of the medical profession" (Grolier, Medicine p. 3). The text was edited by Francesco Torresani, using a fifteenth-century manuscript now in Paris (BNF MS gr. 2141), with corrections provided by a second manuscript which belonged to Cardinal Bessarion… Leer más

Paris: for the author, 1588. First and sole edition of this profusely illustrated landmark on early technology, and along with Agricola’s De Re Metallica (1556), the most influential and copied of all the early illustrated manuals of inventions and machines.

Folio [20 x 30.5 cm], (4) ff. [including half-page engraved portrait on verso of 4th preliminary leaf], 206 pp.; (2) ff. [including second engraved title], 181 pp.; (1) f. [third engraved title], 1-60; 67-86 [i.e., 79] pp., 36 plates and 6 maps. Bound in contemporary vellum over pasteboards, edges of covers frayed and corners exposed; blank right corner of title and of preliminaries slightly dog-eared, some leaves a bit dusty; but generally an exceptionally fresh, altogether unsophisticated copy. Excellent.The preferred large format French language 3rd edition. This is a large and absolutely genuine example of this classic illustrated travelogue to the East and West Indies, termed by Lach "the most important of the firsthand accounts published independently of the great travel collections" (I.198). No other book contained so much practical intelligence on the East and West Indies as Linschoten's. Unhindered by the censorship that affected writers from the Iberian Peninsula, the author included such… Leer más

Folio [31.5 x 21 cm], (254) ff., including initial and final blanks, 96 woodcuts, of which 18 are full-page. Bound in late 17th-century vellum over boards, spine with raised bands, title neatly stenciled in gothic letters on spine. Housed in modern book box. Chapter headings neatly calligraphed in a contemporary hand in margins (chiefly in early signatures). A few cracks and some trivial soiling to covers. Portions of some blank margins of a handful of leaves unobtrusively renewed, with absolutely no loss to printed surface. A broad-margined, fresh, very appealing copy with excellent cuts of the woodblocks.Scarce second Latin edition (first 1472) of this treatise on the art of war, containing THE EARLIEST TECHNICAL ILLUSTRATIONS IN A PRINTED BOOK. According to Sander, this edition contains an original set of woodblocks which appear here for the first time; they are very slight reductions of the blocks of the original 1472 edition and are augmented by a single woodcut (f. r1 recto, two men sitting… Leer más

Lima: Geronymo de Contreras, 1621. Hardcover. Near Fine. 4to - over 9¾ - 12" tall. (8) ff., 142 (ie 137) pp., (3) ff. Elaborate woodcut tailpiece on fol. **3v. With pastedowns and endleaves from a contemporary 4to liturgical service book printed in red and black. Bound in contemporary flexible vellum. Early ownership inscription of the second Jesuit college in the Americas, "El Collegio de S. P[edr]o y S. Pablo" on title page, and personal ownership inscription in an early hand of a Jesuit father, Padre Diego de Lacios [?] on the front cover. Vellum somewhat shrunken due to age, exposing margin of a few leaves to minor soiling, otherwise an extremely crisp copy, excellent. A fine and very genuine copy of the rare first edition of Pablo José de Arriaga's rich account of the Indians of Peru at the turn of the 17th century. Intended as a manual to help clerics identify native "superstitions", the work is filled with minute details describing Indian ceremonies, medicines, and beliefs. Thanks to the… Leer más

Florence: Cosimo Giunti, 1612. Hardcover. Near Fine. 4to - over 9¾ - 12" tall. (2) ff, 77 pp, (1), (1) f with printer's emblem. Bound with: [GALILEI, Galileo & CASTELLI, Benedetto]. Risposta alle Opposizioni del S. Lodovico delle Colombe, e del S. Vincenzo di Grazia... Florence, Cosimo Giunti, 1615. (1) ff, (2), 319 [ie 335] pp with numerous mispaginations, (5) including printer's emblem. Bound in contemporary limp vellum with MS title on spine, "Galileo Galilei Opera', internally very fresh, an excellent copy in all respects. A remarkable pairing of two Galileana bound together by a contemporary follower of the power struggle between Galileo and the Aristotelians. The second augmented edition of Galileo's classic on hydrostatics, published the same year within months of the first edition, represents his first published work in physics (Drake, p. 179). The Discorso is hailed by historians of… Leer más

AMONG THE EARLIEST "MODERN" ANATOMICAL ILLUSTRATIONS IN WOODCUT
[4] ff, 106 pp, [1] ff with printer's device on verso, plus 40 engraved full-page plates.
[BOUND WITH:] ESTIENNE, Charles & RIVIÈRE, Estienne de la. La Dissection des parties du corps humain… Paris, de Colines, 1546. [8] ff, 405 pp, (1 integral blank), including 64 full-page woodcuts.
Folios, bound in early, possibly contemporary, reversed calf, covers somewhat worn, extremities with careful restoration. All pages neatly ruled in red/brown ink. With early ownership inscription scored on first tp. and several other inscriptions principally on rear paste down and verso of final blank; occasional marginal handsoiling; a few minor marginal tears neatly mended. Pages generally very clean. Attractive genuine copies of both works.
A handsome sammelband of the two most important anatomical works of the French Renaissance, both in their first French editions. Charles Estienne's superbly-illustrated Dissection des Parties du Corps Humain is… Leer más

Vallodolid: Heirs of Diego Fernandez de Cordova, 1603. Hardcover. Near Fine. Large quarto, [20 x 29 cm]. (4) ff., 24 ff., 207 (i.e. 205) ff.; 1 ff. terminal blank; 110 ff., 5 engraved folding maps, engraved arms on title pages, woodcut headpieces and initials. Contemporary limp vellum, remnants of ties, red sprinkled edges. Vellum slightly cockled, some rubbing and staining to covers, pen trials on lower cover. Early ownership inscriptions on title page, errata and at colophon, (see: Provenance information at the end of the description). Loss to corner of f. 50 of the first part, paper flaw at f. 40 of second part without any loss of printed text) light scattered staining & foxing; a few small wormholes to the margins of the first leaves: some minor spotting to some leaves and maps, minor marginal tear to Asia map, nonetheless a broad-margined, fresh copy. Unsophisticated and excellent. A very attractive example in nice original condition of the very rare 1603 reissue (new title page only) of the… Leer más

Paris: chez Abel L'Angelier au premier pillier de la grand Salle du Pallais, 1588. Hardcover. Very Good. 4to [24.3 x 18.8 cm]. [4], 496 ff., first leaf is an etched title, woodcut headpieces and initials. Bound in nineteenth-century red morocco, spine gold stamped in six compartments, gilt turn-ins, marbled endpapers, ribbon bookmark, all edges gilt. Minor rubbing and edge wear to spine and boards, book labels inside upper cover and on front flyleaf, title engraving trimmed at or just inside platemark as is usual, faint inscription of verso of f. (4), some edge wear to f. 2, small loss at corner of f. 247 (SSS iii), a few minor paper flaws, very occasional minor staining, very minor browning to a few quires. The first complete edition of Michel de Montaigne's (1533-92) Essais, one of the most influential and profound works of world literature. This is the last edition printed during the author's lifetime and the definitive text on which all later editions are based. The volume, the so-called… Leer más

Bordeaux: Simon Millanges, 1582. Hardcover. Very Good. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall. (4) ff, 806 pp, (1) ff. Bound in luxurious 19th century red morocco by Chambolle-Duru. Very good. Rare second edition, carefully corrected by Montaigne himself, of his chef d'oeuvre and a masterpiece of world literature. Montaigne continuously corrected his Essais throughout his lifetime, and modern commentators have often been able to trace the development of his thought through these changes, in addition to the reflections they provide of Montaigne's life experiences. The first of these corrected editions is the present work, published shortly after Montaigne's return from a voyage to Italy. The work is of particular American interest for one of the earliest and most astute accounts of Brazilian Indians published in the 16th century ("Des Cannibales," pp. 174-191), and certainly the most widely read account of Brazilian Indians known to Renaissance… Leer más

8vo. [16.8 x 10.5 cm], (4) ff., 134 (i.e. 131) pp. Bound in contemporary vellum, housed in modern book box. Signature I misbound. Impeccable copy, excellent.
Extremely rare first edition of the first French account of the East Indies to appear in print (cf. Lach & van Kley, III: 373), here in an impeccable copy bound in contemporary vellum. The work is that of the French adventurer François Martin de Vitré (c. 1575-c. 1631), who, upon his return to Brittany from the East Indies in 1603, prepared this lively account at the behest of King Henry IV (1553-1610). Martin's narrative inspired Henry in 1604 to establish the first iteration of the French East India Company (Compagnie des Indes Orientales) with designs on exploiting the treasures described in the present work (cf. Lombard, "Martin de Vitré, Premier Breton à Aceh").
Likely enlisted as ship's surgeon aboard the Croissant, François Martin of Vitré, along with several companions from Saint-Malo and Laval, sailed from Brittany in 1601,… Leer más

London: Senex et al.,, 1675. Hardcover. Very Good. Folio [66.5 x 3.90 cm]. (8) double-page engraved celestial and astronomical charts (see below for full contents). Bound in contemporary marbled boards with vellum spine, red sprinkled edges. Wear to head of spine, lettered on spine with title 'Stelleri Zodiacus Stellatus', rubbing to boards and board edges, bookplate of Macclesfield Library inside upper cover, shelf mark on front pastedown. A few minor edge mends to charts, very minor and entirely unobtrusive worming to a few leaves, very minor marginal hand soiling to a few charts, blind stamp of Macclesfield crest on blank first three leaves, the hemisphere charts with green marker threads intact. An intriguing collection of 8 very rare early English astronomical charts by the London cartographers and instrument makers John Seller (c. 1630-1697) and John Senex (c. 1678-1740), offering the most up-to-date… Leer más

London: Richard Field, 1591. Hardcover. Very Good. 4to in sixes [26.8 x 18.6 cm]. (9) ff., 423 pp., (1) p., (5) ff., with (1) full-page engraved frontispiece and XLVI full-page engravings, woodcut headpieces, tailpieces and initials, woodcut printer's device on colophon, ruled in red ink throughout. Bound in 17th-century paneled calf, rebacked with original spine laid down, raised bands, spine gilt in six compartments, old paper label in top panel, gold-tooled borders, gold-tooled cornerpieces and board edges, marbled pastedowns, marbled edges. Some rubbing and wear to spine and boards, corners neatly repaired. Preserved in a custom quarter red morocco box (some damage to spine of box). Marginal finger-soiling and occasional other minor old staining, some offsetting, a few edge mends (at title, final prelim. leaf, and pp. 59, 81, 103, 109, 290, 295), small corner loss at p. 237, inconsequential rub to plate IX, the occasional contemporary manuscript correction. Provenance: contemporary signature… Leer más

4to. [20.8 x 14.7 cm], [10], 123, [1] ff. (printer's device on verso). Bound in later red crushed morocco, raised bands, spine in six compartments, spine gold tooled and lettered, covers blind tooled, gold-tooled board edges, gold-tooled dentelles, blue ribbon bookmark, red sprinkled edges. Only very minor rubbing corners, bookplate inside upper cover. Title a bit dusty, inscription on title ("Masson"), minor pale spotting to first few leaves, a few minor marginal stains, contemporary signature to f. 80 ("Didier Langreve"?), verso of final leaf a bit dusty.Rare first French edition of the work considered "the first to give anything approaching a correct and detailed account of China and the Far East" (PMM), and perhaps the most influential travel book of all time. This first appearance in French should possibly be linked to topical interest in the wider world: The description of China in Münster's Cosmographia is mentioned in the preface and one should recall that the 1550s saw intensive French… Leer más

4to [21.0 x 15.0 cm], 2 parts in one vol., (viii) pp., 102 pp., 1 f. blank; (iv) pp., 60 pp., (8) pp. including terminal blank, with 39 white-on-black woodcuts in text (12 full-page, 14 half-page, and 13 quarter-page). Bound in contemporary limp vellum. Binding well preserved. A few minor spots, blindstamp on front flyleaf; inscription on title (crossed through) "Fra Giulio Amico J M C" and signature of same on f. †4v.; 18th-century astronomical annotations on pastedowns. A very clean, crisp copy.
First edition of this exceptionally rare and remarkable book on nebulae, the first of its kind, illustrated with striking white-on-black woodcuts. It is also a work of profound cosmological speculation placing it at the forefront of astronomical thought in the 17th century. Giovanni Battista Odierna (1597–1660) suggests in this work that all nebulae are composed of stars or stellar matter and that the centre of the Universe may lie far outside the solar system.
Odierna was a Sicilian priest and disciple… Leer más