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SAKI (Hector Hugues Munro dit.)
Le thé.
Couverture blanche souple et imprimée. Papier jauni. Ex-libris en relief sur la page de titre.
Reference : 61870
Non-donné. L'o&il de la lettre. 1988. 30 pp. In-12. Broché. Très bon état. 1 volume. Traduit de l'anglais par J. DEREGNAUCOURT.
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5 book(s) with the same title
A truly splendid and unique collection of 23 Hans Christian Andersen-items that together tell the true story of Andersen's life and sheds light on all aspects of his life and work. The collection is divided into the following (full descriptions belo... - [MAGNIFICENT HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN-COLLECTION]
(1822) - 1872.
With the present Hans Christian Andersen-collection, we have aimed not at an exhaustive collection of ALL of his many writings nor at a LARGE collection, but at an exquisite, chosen collection that tells us the true story of Andersen's life. A collection that enlightens us about both the author and the man Hans Christian Andersen and that sheds light on all aspects of his life and work. A collection that epitomizes quality, scope, and importance, not merely numbers of items nor works that are not particularly important in his life's work. Every one of the 23 items in the present collection has been carefully chosen to represent a certain Aspect of Hans Christian Andersen at a certain time of his life, in an attempt to get as close to the great fairy tale author as possible. The items basically span his entire career - from his first book, published at the age of 17 (and only known in about 10 copies) to an original manuscript poem by the ageing author at the age of 67. The 23 carefully chosen and unique items cover his earliest publications that are of extreme scarcity, his three seminal fairy tale cycles that catapulted him into fame and created the genre of the fairy tale, for which he is now famous world-wide, five magnificent presentation-copies (among them an absolutely magnificent copy of his very first fairy tale, one of the best presentation-copies known) that each give us an insight into the poet Andersen and into his circle of friends, six splendid original letters that are all different in style and content and written from all over the world (among them one of the extremely rare letters known by him written in English, in Latin hand), an original manuscript, which is an extreme scarcity on private hands and something one may never come by again, two books from Andersen's own library, which is extremely rare to find, as only 75 such books are known and almost all of them are in institutional holdings, and finally the three main translations that ensured his fame in the rest of the world: the most important translations into German, English, and French respectively. The collection is divided into the following seven categories, and below follows a short preview and introduction to each. Upon request, a document with full, elaborate descriptions of each item will be provided. 1. Debuts/earliest publications (see also 3.1.)2. The three fairy tale collections/cycles3. Presentation-copies (see also: 2.3.)4. Letters5. Manuscript6. Books from Andersen's library7. The three main translations1. Debuts/earliest publications1.1. Ungdoms-Forsøg / Gjenfærdet ved Palnatokes Grav, en Original Fortælling" og Alfsol, en original Tragoedie. Ungdoms=Forsøg. Kjöbenhavn, [1822]. The extremely rare first printing of Hans Christian Andersen's first book - with facsimiles of the title-page, the contents-leaf and a further four leaves. The book is exceedingly rare. A title-issue appeared in 1827. No more than about ten copies in all of both the first issue and the title-issue are known to exist - only a couple of them are known in private collections, and less than a handful of copies are known outside of Denmark. The present publication, his first book, is of immense importance to Andersen's life and work and is arguably THE most important piece of Anderseniana. 1.2. Ved min Velgører Provst Gutfelds Død. Slagelse, 1823.The extremely rare first printing of the 1823-issues of this slightly obscure newspaper, which contains Hans Christian Andersen's third publication. This exceedingly rare piece of Anderseniana was published when the master of the fairy tale genre was merely 17 years old, namely in February 1823. The present publication constitutes one of the two pieces of publication that are at the epicentre of the coming-to-be of the greatest poet and author to emerge from Danish soil. This little piece is a heartfelt, almost perfectly stylized poem that constitutes an obituary of Hans Christian Andersen's early benefactor, Gutfeld, who was responsible for Collin accepting to be Andersen's benefactor. It was due to Gutfeld and his belief in Andersen that he made it on into the world and was taken seriously enough - at the mere age of 17 - to later be allowed to follow his heart and his life dream - that of writing.1.3. Fodreise fra Holmens Canal til Østpynten af Amager i Aarene 1828 og 1829. Kjöbenhavn, 1829. The rare first edition of Hans Christian Andersen's debut novel, ""Journey on Foot"", here in the extremely scarce original printed wrappers. Andersen himself considered this book his debut and refers to it as ""my first publication"". It came to play a tremendous role in the development of his writing and constitutes one of his most important works. It is the first piece of Andersen that yields any success and the first work for which he gained any recognition. ""It is a well-known fact that Hans Christian Andersen made his début as a writer three times during his youth. The first time he published a book was in 1822, when ""Youthful Attempts"" came out... He was 17 years old, penniless and in need for help, but the main part of the circulation ended up in the paper mill... The second time he made his début was in 1829, when he published ""Journey on Foot from Holmen's Canal to the Eastern Point of Amager"", a book which can hardly be classified as a travel book.. it seems a subtle and humorous arabesque and a literary satire. This book was published in the year after he had left grammar-school and was qualifying for the entrance examination to academic studies at the university. It can rightly be regarded as a key, which enables us to understand the entire development of his later production...2. The three fairy tale-collections2.1. Eventyr fortalte for Børn. (1.-3. Hefte) + Eventyr fortalte for Børn. Ny Samling (1.-3. Hefte). 2 Bind. Kjöbenhavn, 1835-1847. A lovely set of this exceedingly rare collection of Andersen's earliest fairy tales. This legendary fairy tale-collection that created the fairy tale-genre and brought Andersen international fame, consists in six parts that together make up two volumes. As with most of the other few existing copies, the present set is a mixture of issues and likewise has certain wants concerning title-pages, half-titles and tables of contents. ""During Andersen's lifetime 162 of his Fairy Tales were published, but the scarcest and most difficult to obtain are these six little pamphlets. We do not know exactly how many, or how few, copies were printed, but we do know that no copy with all the title pages and tables of contents has ever been offered for sale.""2.2. Nye Eventyr. 2 Bind (5 samlinger). Kjøbenhavn, 1844 - 48.First edition of Hans Christian Andersen's seminal second collection of fairy tales - the publication that made him internationally famous - with all five collections in first issue, also the first, which is of the utmost rarity. It is in this legendary first collection that we find the first printing of ""The Ugly Duckling""(not as is indicated in PMM in his first). The rarity of the first issue of volume 1, collection 1 is legendary. It was published on November 11th 1843 (dated 1844 on the title-page) in a very small number, probably due to the poor sales of Andersen's first fairy tale collection. Against all belief, this first collection sold out within a few days, catapulting Andersen into worldwide fame, and a second issue was published already on December 21st 1843. Thus, only very few copies of the first issue exist, and almost all collections of the ""New fairy Tales"" are bound with the second issue or the third of 1847, meaning that they do not contain the actual first printing of ""The Ugly Duckling"", ""The Nightingale"", ""The Angel"", and ""The Sweethearts"". 2.3. Nye Eventyr og Historier. 3 Series, 10 collections. Kjøbenhavn, 1858-1872.A splendid fully complete copy of Andersen's third fairy tale collection, WITH ALL 10 ISSUES IN FIRST EDITIONS, FIRST ISSUES, ALL IN THE ORIGINAL PRINTED WRAPPERS, AND ONE OF THEM WITH A SIGNED PRESENTATION-INSCRIPTION BY ANDERSEN - WITH 39 FAIRY TALES IN THEIR FIRST PRINTINGS. It is highly uncommon to find all ten issues of the series together, let alone in the original printed wrappers, each of which is a scarcity on their own. To our knowledge, only one other such set exists in a private collection, and that is in far from as fine condition as the present, where all but one of the issues (which does not have the back wrapper) are fully complete with the spines, exactly as issued. 3. Presentation-copies3.1. Digte. Kjöbenhavn, 1830.THE RARE FIRST EDITION - PRESENTATION-COPY, IN THE EXCEEDINGLY SCARCE ORIGINAL PRINTED WRAPPERS - OF ANDERSEN'S THIRD BOOK, CONTAINING HIS FIRST FAIRY TALE. The magnificent presentation-inscription - hitherto unknown and unregistered - is arguably one of the most important Andersen-presentations known to exist. It is inscribed to Henriette Collin, the then fiancée, later wife, of his closest and most important friend, who was more like a brother to him, Edvard Collin. It is one of the very early Andersen-presentations known. This first published collection of Andersen's poetry constitutes Andersen's third published book (at the age of 24) and contains, at the end, the first printing of any of his fairy tales, being also his very first fairy tale ""The Ghost"" (or ""The Spectre""). This is the first time that Andersen uses the term ""Eventyr"" (fairy tale), the term which came to denote the genre for which he received world-wide fame as one of the most important writers of all time. 3.2. Nye Eventyr. Tredie Samling. Kjøbenhavn, 1845.An excellent presentation-copy of the first edition of the third ""collection"" of Andersen's second fairy tale-collection, containing five of his best fairy tales in the first printing - among them the cherished tales ""The Red Shoes"" and ""The Shepherdess and the Chimney-Sweep "". Inscribed copies of Andersen's fairy tales are very rare and extremely sought-after. But the present presentation-copy is even more interesting, as it is inscribed to a fellow author of tales for children - ""The poet Kaalund/ in kind remembrance/ of our first meeting/ the 29th of April 1845/ from the [NEW FAIRY TALES] (the printed half title) 's author."" -in the collection of Andersen's fairy tales that appeared almost simultaneously with Kaalund's renowned ""Tales for Children"" (""Fabler for Børn""). 3.3. Historier. Anden Samling. Kjøbenhavn, 1853.First edition, in splendid condition, with the original printed wrappers, of the second part of Andersen's ""Story""-collection, containing first printings of four of his famous fairy-tales. With a lovely, poetical presentation-inscription to Frederikke Larcher, signed ""H.C. Andersen"", translated as thus: ""I put my bouquet on the board of the stage/ you yourself make the impression of a fresh bouquet"". Frederikke Larcher was a stage actress, and Andersen might have given the little book as a gift upon her last performance.3.4. Nye Eventyr og Historier. Anden Række (første samling). Kjøbenhavn, 1861.An excellent copy, in the original printed, illustrated wrappers, of the separately published first part of the second series of ""Nye Eventyr og Historier"", with a lovely presentation-inscription to the title-page, translating thus ""The splendid, the spirited,/ Mrs. Agentinde Renck/ send this bouquet of stories/ from my garden of poetry this spring/ Most heartfelt and respectfully/ H.C. Andersen."" This splendid volume contains first printings of one of Andersen's most famous, most beloved and most frequently recounted fairy-tales/stories: ""What the Old Man does is Always Right"". Apart from that masterpiece of moral story-telling, the present publication contains five other of Andersen's great stories in first printings.3.5. Da Spanierne var her. Originalt romantisk Lystspil i tre Acter. Kjøbenhavn (Copenhagen), 1865. An excellent copy of the first edition of Andersen's famed play, in the scarce original binding and with a magnificent presentation-inscription to Rudolph Kranold, who at the time was director of the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen. His short reign here (until 1866) coincides exactly with the work on and premiere of one of the plays that was very closest to Andersen's heart, namely ""When the Spanish were Here"", which premiered at the Royal Theatre on April 6, 1865. Reading Andersen's diaries allows us to actually follow the play the entire way through to the stage. It is evident, both from his diaries and from the present presentation-inscription, that the play meant a lot to Andersen. As the inscription indicates, he's anxious that the play not be taken down again and he clearly asks Kranold to take good care of this play that is close to his heart. 4. Letters4.1. Autographed letter, signed in full (""Hans Christian Andersen""), in English, for the Scottish author William Hurton. Dated ""Copenhagen 2 October 1851"".The present letter is of the utmost interest, as it is written in English (in Andersen's own hand!) and also in Latin letters, as opposed the gothic handwriting that Andersen usually uses. Letters and inscriptions in Andersen's Latin hand are of the utmost scarcity. Out of the few known letters in Andersen's hand, we have even fewer letters by him written in English. He made an exception for William Hurton, to whom a few letters have been preserved, demonstrating his reverence for this Scottishman so fascinated by Andersen himself. Almost all of these letters are in institutional holdings, and the present one on private hands is a true scarcity. 4.2. Autographed letter, signed ""H. C. Andersen"", for Frederik Bøgh. Dated ""Basnæs ved Skjelskjør/ den 3 Juli 1862"". 4 pages.This very lengthy letter from Andersen to Frederik Bøgh is interesting in several respects. First of all, Andersen here mentions several of his works: new songs for the revised version of his opera ""The Raven"", proofreading and numerous comments for the ""new edition of Fairy Tales and Stories"", and a brand new fairy tale: ""Finally, I have written a new fairy tale: ""Snowdrop""."" Furthermore, Andersen talks about his health and problems he has with his eye as well as the weather and his impending travel plans. It is clear from the letter that he is very close to his young student friend Bøgh. 4.3. Autographed letter, signed ""H. C. Andersen"", for Frederik Bøgh. Dated ""Tanger I Marokko/ den 8 Nov: 1862."".An absolutely splendid letter with rare observations about Moroccan culture, the people, how they dress and behave, the food, the landscape, etc. It is clear that Tanger, with its ""wild, romantic nature"", its palm trees, its wilderness, the wild boars and hyenas, is very far from the coldness of the North. Andersen's fascination with the ""half naked men"" and women in horrible dress, with the bare headed Moorish Jews in kaftans, ""the naked brown kids that screamed and roared"", and the slaves that carry goods, leaps from the pages of the letter and paint a picture of a place that to a Dane in 1862 must seem oddly fascinating and so different. There is no doubt that this rich culture served as direct inspiration for Andersen's story-writing. 4.4. Autographed letter, signed ""H. C. Andersen"", for Frederik Bøgh. Dated ""Toledo den 6 December 1862"".A splendid letter from Toledo, which Andersen paints so clearly as only he can. ""Toledo is a dead city, but with the life of poetry"", he writes, after having described in detail, to his dear friend back home, the ruins and the melancholy that is Toledo. 4.5. Autographed letter, signed ""H. C. Andersen"", for ""Kjære William"" (i.e. William Melchior). Dated "" Frijsenborg den 27 August/ 1868. "". A lovely, cheerful birthday letter for the young birthday boy William Melchior, who was turning 7 years old. The letter is utterly charming and describes the journey of the birthday letter itself, flying over land and sea, from Jutland to Copenhagen. The letter not only portrays the ease with which Andersen communicates with children, it also constitutes a miniature version of beloved Andersen-stories such as ""Little Tuk"" and ""A Piece of Pearl String"". 4.6. Autographed letter, signed ""H. C. Andersen"", for Frederik Bøgh. Dated "" den 9 Maj 1873"".This Beautiful little letter for Nicolai Bøgh bears witness to the heartfelt bond that Andersen felt towards his young friend. This little gem of a letter is very poetical - most of it is almost like a poem, describing the sun coming through the clouds and liking the clouds to snow and the heaven to Paradise. Furthermore, Andersen mentions his friends' illness, liking him to a bird that needs to be free. Bøgh had fallen ill the previous year, from an illness that would eventually kill him 9 years later, at the mere age of 45. 5. Manuscript5.1. Original handwritten and signed manuscript for a poem entitled ""Stormfloden"" (i.e. The Storm or The Storm Surge). November (22nd), 1872. 1 1/2 handwritten pp.Original manuscripts by Andersen are of the utmost scarcity, and only very few are known on private hands. The present is the manuscript for a poem that Andersen wrote just a couple of years before he died and which was published as the preface to a ""Christmas Present"" by Vilhelm Gregersen in December 1872, just a few weeks after Andersen wrote it. The poem is very dramatic and doomsday-like, but has an uplifting an upbuilding ending. It is inspired by the dramatic storm or storm surge that hit Copenhagen on November 13th, 1872.6. Books from Andersen's Library6.1. F. ANDERSEN, C.J. HANSEN, J.P.E. HARTMANN, P. HEISE and A. WINDING. Ni Fleerstemmige Mandssange. Udgivne af Foreningen ""Fremtiden"". Kjöbenhavn, 1866.Hans Christian Andersen's own copy, with his ownership signature to the bottom of the front wrapper, of this pamphlet of ""Nine Polyphonic Male Songs"". The pamphlet contains nine lovely songs written by the greatest Danish authors of the period, set to music by the most famous Danish musicians of the period. Andersen's contribution is the song ""Hun har mig glemt"" (She Has me Forgotten), which he had printed for the first time in 1854, but in a different version, with different wording. Here, it is set to music by F. Andersen. 6.2. G.h. [GEORG EMIL BETZONICH]. En Kjærligheds-Historie. Fortælling. Kjøbenhavn, 1862.A truly rare example of a book that has belonged to Andersen, with a long presentation-inscription from the author to Hans Christian Andersen to front free end-paper, dated on Andersen's 58th birthday. The author of the novel Georg Emil Betzonich (1829 - 1901) is not a famous author today, nor was he very famous at the time. It is interesting, however, that Andersen kept his book in his library. The book passed to Edvard Collin, who inherited Andersen's entire estate, when Andersen died in 1875, and also Collin kept it. It was sold at the auction of his belongings in 1886.7. The three main Translations7.1. Jugendleben und Träume eines Italienischen Dichters. Nacch H.C. Andersens Dänischen Original: Improvisatoren. Ins Deutsche übertragen von L. Kruse. 2 Theile. Hamburg, August Campe, 1835.The very rare first edition of the first German translation of Andersen's first novel, ""Improvisatoren"", being the first of Andersen's books to be translated into any foreign language. It is fair to say that no other translation before or after was as important to Andersen as the present. Before the work even appeared, Andersen had a list of recipients for the German translation. Among these was Adalbert Chamisso, to whom he wrote in April 1835: ""Here I send you my Italian son" he speaks the German language, so your family can also understand him. I wish that in the great Germany people will be aware of my book and that I may deserve that awareness. That Kruse is introducing me as an author of novels should be somewhat of a recommendation"… For making such an effort of being known outside of little Denmark, I think, I cannot be blamed."" 7.2. Danish Fairy Legends and Tales. (Translated by Caroline Peachey). London, William Pickering (Chiswick), 1846.The very rare first edition - ANDERSEN'S CLOSE FRIEND HENRIETTE SCAVENIUS' (BORN MOLTKE) COPY - of this highly important Andersen-translation, which contains the very first appearance in English of some of Andersen's most famous and beloved fairy tales: ""The Emperor's New Clothes, ""The Nightingale"", ""The Wild Swans"", ""The Buck-Wheat"" and ""The Dustman"", and for the first time we here find the titles ""The Ugly Duckling"" (previously called ""The Ugly Duck"") and ""The Real Princess"" (previously called ""The Princess and the Peas"").7.3. Contes pour les enfants. Traduit du Danois par V. Caralp. Illustrations à deux teintes par Derancourt. Paris, Morizot, (1848).Extremely scarce first edition of the first translations of any of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales to appear in French. This first French Andersen-collection constitutes the introduction of Hans Christian Andersen's works in French literature, the introduction of the fairy-tale-genre in France, and a cornerstone in the history French children's literature.
BRAHE, TYCHO (LUCIUS BARRETTUS -i.e. pseud. for ALBRECHT CURTZ edt.).
Reference : 60739
(1666)
Historia Coelestis. (on verso of title-page:) Ex libris commentariis manu-scriptis observationum vicennalium. 2 Parts. - [THE FIRST AND ONLY EDITION OF BRAHE'S OBSERVATIONS - THE BASIS FOR THE RUDOLPHINE TABLES]
(Augsburg, Simon Utzschneider, 1666). Folio. Both parts bound together in one contemporary full vellum binding with gilt leather title-label to spine. Green silk ties. A bit of discolouration to spine and title-label worn, but otherwise remarkably fine. Square corners, no bumping or tearing, and completely tight. Internally extraordinarily well kept, seemingly unread. The leaves are completely white, fresh, and crisp. Armorial book plate to inside of front board and the ownership signature of Otto Friedrich von Buchwald. 20th century machine-written bookseller's description lightly pasted in between front end-papers. Small armorial stamp to top of title-page. Two xylographic title-pages, engraved portrait of Brahe with his sextant, double-page engraved frontispiece depicting the four emperors with terrestrial and celestial globes, and one plate engraved plate depicting Brahe's observatory at Hven (after p. CVIII). (6) ff. + CXXIV pp. + pp (1)-544 + (2 ff., after the second xylographic title) + pp. 547-912 + (2 ff.) + pp. 913-977 + (1 p., i.e. colophon). Fully complete, though no blank at the end. With numerous magnificent woodcut figures and illustrations in the text, many of them large.
Exceedingly scarce first - and only complete - edition of Brahe's groundbreaking astronomical observations. These are the observations that formed the basis for Kepler's Rudolphine tables (1627) and the observations that lie at the heart of both Brahe's and Kepler's astronomical breakthroughs. On his deathbed (1601), Brahe had urged Kepler to publish the vast observations as soon as possible, but this seminal collection of immense importance to the future of astronomy remained unpublished, until the Jesuit Albert Curtz edited them and had them published, as they are here, in 1666. 68 pages of the observations were published later, in Paris ca 1680, but apart from that torso, this is the only edition of Brahe's vast observations to have been published. Brahe’s observations that are published here on their own for the first time and form the basis for the Rudolphine Tables constitute the first modern – and by far the most important – attempt at making a complete catalogue of astronomical observations. These observations were of fundamental importance to establishing the movement of the planets, including whether the sun or Earth is at the centre of the solar system. The observations presented in this extraordinary work go as far back as 721 and contain the incredibly vast observational data that Brahe and his assistants gathered with the aid of his seminal instruments. Brahe’s instruments were of monumental importance to the beginning of modern empirical science and crucial to the new astronomy, observing the stars and the planets with a hitherto impossible accuracy. “The instruments of Tycho Brahe represent a major achievement in astronomical science, because they provided much more accurate readings than previously possible, and on the basis of Tycho Brahe's observations Kepler determined the laws of planetary motions and from these laws Newton discovered the law of gravity. Not until the invention of the telescope some years after Tycho Brahe's death was it possible to get more accurate readings.” (From the Brahe exhibition at the Royal Library of Denmark). Although the idea of a “star catalogue” was by no means new, Brahe’s star accurate observations presented a completely novel basis for the understanding of the heavens. “The Rudolphine Tables”, named for Rudolf II, Holy Roman emperor and patron of Kepler and Tycho, published by Kepler in 1627 are based principally upon these observations by Brahe and is by far the best and most important of the pretelescopic catalogues. It is accurate to a few minutes of arc and contains positions for 1,005 stars (increased by Kepler from Tycho’s 777) and tables and directions for locating the planets. ”Hipparchus completed the first known catalog in 129 BCE, giving the celestial longitudes and latitudes of about 850 stars. This work was enlarged and improved by Ptolemy, the Alexandrian astronomer and mathematician, in his Almagest (c. 140 CE). At Samarkand (now in Uzbekistan), Ulugh Beg (1394–1499), grandson of Timur (Tamerlane), working in his own observatory in the years 1420–37, compiled a catalog that became known in Europe in the 1500s and was printed there in 1665. The last and finest catalog of the pretelescope era was made by the skilled Danish observer Tycho Brahe (1546–1601). It was included in expanded form in the Rudolphine Tables of the mathematical astronomer Johannes Kepler. Tycho’s catalog was the first in which Greek letters were assigned to stars to indicate their relative brightnesses within each constellation.” (Encycl. Britt.) In short, the importance of Brahe’s observations to astronomy and our knowledge of the heavens can hardly be exaggerated. “Copernicus had largely based his work on a body of existing observations of the heavens. Although he did some observational work, the bulk of his contribution was focused on re-evaluating existing data from a different perspective. However, Tycho Brahe had a different approach. Born in 1546, (three years after the publication of Copernicus' “De Revolutionibus”) Brahe became a famous astronomer, well known for his unprecedented collection of astronomical data. Brahe's contributions to astronomy had revolutionary impacts in their own right. In 1563, at age 16, he observed Jupiter overtaking Saturn as the planets moved past each other. Even with his simple observations he saw that existing tables for predicting this conjunction were off by a month, and even Copernicus's model was off by two days. In his work, he demonstrated that better data could help to create much more robust models. In November of 1572 Brahe observed a new star in the constellation of Cassiopeia. With a sextant and cross-staff he was able to measure the star's position and became convinced that it was in the realm of the supposed unmoving fixed stars. This observation was inconsistent with the longstanding belief that the celestial realm was a place of perfect and unchanging fixed stars. Alongside this development, the appearance of a comet in 1577 provided additional evidence that things did change and did move in the celestial sphere. Based on careful measurements, Brahe was able to identify that the comet was outside the sphere of the moon and he eventually suggested it was moving through the spheres of different planets. As a result of these observations, Brahe put forward a new model for the cosmos. In Brahe's model, all of the planets orbited the sun, and the sun and the moon orbited the Earth. Keeping with his observations of the new star and the comet, his model allowed the path of the planet Mars to cross through the path of the sun. Many scientists have been critical of Brahe's model as a backward step in the progress of science. However, it is critical to remember the value that Brahe's system offered. This system had the advantage of resolving the problem of stellar parallax. One of the persistent critiques of Copernicus's model (and even of Aristarchus model in ancient Greece) was that with a moving Earth one should expect to see parallax movement of the stars. As the Earth changes position in relationship to that of the stars, one would expect to see the stars change position relative to each other. Copernicus' answer was that the stars had to be so distant that it wasn't possible to detect parallax. Still, the distance required to make this work was so massive as to be a problem for the system. This was not a problem for Brahe's system because his model allowed for the circles in the heavens to intersect. Brahe's model was not a step backward but revolutionary in the sense that it was a competing way to make sense of the data the heavens provided. Johannes Kepler, born in 1571, made major contributions to astronomy as his work mixed sophisticated mathematics and astronomy with mystical ideas about astrology... Kepler worked for Tycho Brahe, publishing an extensive amount of Brahe's data in “Rudolphine Tables”. Although he used much of that data for his own publications Kepler's work would significantly depart from Brahe's. … Using Tycho Brahe's observational data, Kepler was able to fine tune the movements of the planets and demonstrate that the movement of Mars could be described as an ellipse. … Kepler's work foreshadowed the discovery of one of the fundamental forces of physics, the law of gravity.” (Library of Congress: Finding our Place in the Cosmos with Carl Sagan).
The Civil War in France. Address of the General Council of the International Working-Men's Association. - [MARX' SEMINAL DEFENSE OF THE PARIS COMMUNE]
High Holborn, for the Council by Edward Truelove, 1871. Small 8vo. Near contemporary quarter cloth with silver lettering to front board. Binding with signs of use, but overall good. One closed marginal tear and title-page with a few brownspots, otherwise very nice and clean. 35 pp.
Exceedingly rare first edition (with the names of Lucraft and Odger still present under ""The General Council"") of one of Marx' most important works, his seminal defense of the Paris Commune and exposition of the struggle of the Communards, written for all proletarians of the world. While living in London, Marx had joined the International Working Men's Association in 1864 - ""a society founded largely by members of Britain's growing trade unions and designed to foster international working class solidarity and mutual assistance. Marx accepted the International's invitation to represent Germany and became the most active member of its governing General Council, which met every Tuesday evening, first at 18 Greek Street in Soho and later in Holborn. In this role, Marx had his first sustained contact with the British working class and wrote some of his most memorable works, notably ""The Civil War in France"". A polemical response to the destruction of the Paris Commune by the French government in 1871, it brought Marx notoriety in London as 'the red terror doctor', a reputation that helped ensure the rejection of his application for British citizenship several years later. Despite his considerable influence within the International, it was never ideologically homogenous... (homas C. Jones: ""Karl Marx' London"").The work was highly controversial, but extremely influential. Even though most of the Council members of the International sanctioned the Address, it caused a rift internally, and some of the English members of the General Council were enraged to be seen to endorse it. Thus, for the second printing of the work, the names of Lucraft and Odger, who had now withdrawn from the Council, were removed from the list of members of ""The General Council"" at the end of the pamphlet. ""[Marx] defended the Commune in a bitterly eloquent pamphlet, ""The Civil War in France"", whose immediate effect was further to identify the International with the Commune, by then in such wide disrepute that some of the English members of the General Council refused to endorse it."" (Saul K. Padover, preface to Vol. II of the Karl Marx Library, pp. XLVII-XLVIII).""Written by Karl Marx as an address to the General Council of the International, with the aim of distributing to workers of all countries a clear understanding of the character and world-wide significance of the heroic struggle of the Communards and their historical experience to learn from. The book was widely circulated by 1872 it was translated into several languages and published throughout Europe and the United States."" (The Karl Marx Archive)Marx concluded ""The Civil War in France"" with these impassioned words, which were to resound with workers all over the world: ""Working men's Paris, with its Commune, will be forever celebrated as the glorious harbinger of a new society. Its martyrs are enshrined in the great heart of the working class. Its exterminators history has already nailed to that eternal pillory from which all the prayers of their priests will not avail to redeem them.""The address, which was delivered on May 30, 1871, two days after the defeat of the Paris Commune, was to have an astounding effect on working men all over the world and on the organization of power of the proletarians. It appeared in three editions in 1871, was almost immediately translated into numerous languages and is now considered one of the most important works that Marx ever wrote. "" ""The Civil War in France"", one of Marx's most important works, was written as an address by the General Council of the International to all Association members in Europe and the United States.From the earliest days of the Paris Commune Marx made a point of collecting and studying all available information about its activities. He made clippings from all available French, English and German newspapers of the time. Newspapers from Paris reached London with great difficulty. Marx had at his disposal only individual issues of Paris newspapers that supported the Commune. He had to use English and French bourgeois newspapers published in London, including ones of Bonapartist leanings, but succeeded in giving an objective picture of the developments in Paris. ...Marx also drew valuable information from the letters of active participants and prominent figures of the Paris Commune, such as Leo Frankel, Eugene Varlin, Auguste Serraillier, Yelisaveta Tornanovskaya, as well as from the letters of Paul Lafargue, Pyotr Lavrov and others.Originally he intended to write an address to the workers of Paris, as he declared at the meeting of the General Council on March 28, 1871. His motion was unanimously approved. The further developments in Paris led him, however, to the conclusion that an appeal should be addressed to proletarians of the world. At the General Council meeting on April 18, Marx suggested to issue ""an address to the International generally about the general tendency of the struggle."" Marx was entrusted with drafting the address. He started his work after April 18 and continued throughout May. Originally he wrote the First and Second drafts of ""The Civil War in France"" as preparatory variants for the work, and then set about making up the final text of the address.He did most of the work on the First and Second drafts and the final version roughly between May 6 and 30. On May 30, 1871, two days after the last barricade had fallen in Paris, the General Council unanimously approved the text of ""The Civil War in France"", which Marx had read out.""The Civil War in France"" was first published in London on about June 13, 1871 in English, as a pamphlet of 35 pages in 1,000 copies. Since the first edition quickly sold out, the second English edition of 2,000 copies was published at a lower price, for sale to workers. In this edition [i.e., MECW], Marx corrected some of the misprints occurring in the first edition, and the section ""Notes"" was supplemented with another document. Changes were made in the list of General Council members who signed the Address: the names of Lucraft and Odger were deleted, as they had expressed disagreement with the Address in the bourgeois press and had withdrawn from the General Council, and the names of the new members of the General Council were added. In August 1871, the third English edition of ""The Civil War in France"" came out, in which Marx eliminated the inaccuracies of the previous editions.In 1871-72, ""The Civil War"" in France was translated into French, German, Russian, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Flemish, Serbo-Croat, Danish and Polish, and published in the periodical press and as separate pamphlets in various European countries and the USA. It was repeatedly published in subsequent years....In 1891, when preparing a jubilee German edition of ""The Civil War in France"" to mark the 20th anniversary of the Paris Commune, Engels once again edited the text of his translation. He also wrote an introduction to this edition, emphasising the historical significance of the experience of the Paris Commune, and its theoretical generalisation by Marx in ""The Civil War in France"", and also giving additional information on the activities of the Communards from among the Blanquists and Proudhonists. Engels included in this edition the First and Second addresses of the General Council of the International Working Men's Association on the Franco-Prussian war, which were published in subsequent editions in different languages also together with ""The Civil War France"". (Notes on the Publication of ""The Civil War in France"" from MECW Volume 22). Only very few copies of the book from 1871 on OCLC are not explicitly stated to be 2nd or 3rd editions, and we have not been able to find a single copy for sale at auctions within the last 50 years.
O Proischozhdenii Vodov... [Russian: On the Origin of Species]. Perevel c anglijskago [translated from English by] S.A. Rachinsky. - [""THE MOST IMPORTANT BIOLOGICAL BOOK EVER WRITTEN"" (FREEMAN)]
S.-Peterburg, 1864. 8vo. Bound in a beautiful half calf recent pastiche-binding with marbled papers over boards and elegant gilding to spine. End-papers renewed. Stamp to half-title, title-page and first leaf of text. First leaves evenly browned and dampstain to outer margin affecting last 50 ff. A few occassional brownspots throughout. XIV, 399, (1) pp. + 1 plate with genealogical tree (between pp. 92/93).
First edition of the first Russian translation of Darwin's ""Origin of Species"", a main reason for the widespread effect of Darwinism in Russia, where the theory met less resistance in the 1860'ies than it did in Western Europe. In Russia, Darwinism had a profound influence not only upon the different sciences, but also on philosophy, economic and political thought, and the great literature of the period. For instance, both Tolstoy and Dostoevsky referenced Darwin in their most important works, as did numerous other thinkers of the period.""In 1864, S.A. Rachinsky, professor of plant physiology at St. Petersburg University, produced the first Russian translation of the ""Origin"". Although not a masterpiece of translation art, the book sold out so quickly that in 1865 it went through a second printing. By this time Darwin's ideas were discussed not only by scientists but also by such popular writers as Dmitri Pisarev and M. A. Antinovich."" (Glick, p. 232). Rachinsky began translating the ""Origin"" in 1862 and wrote an important article on the theories presented in it, while working on the translation. This article and the translation of the ""Origin"" into Russian were responsible for the great success and rapid, widespread knowledge of Darwinian theory of evolution in Russia. ""Darwin was concerned that the ""Origin of Species"" reach naturalists across the world, but translations of that complicated work raised problems for Darwin. If he found it difficult to make the reader ""understand what is meant"" in England and America, at least in those two countries he and the reader were discussing the ""Origin of Species"" in the same language. Foreign language editions raised not only the thorny question of translating Darwinian terms, but also the problem of translators, who often thought it proper to annotate their editions to explain the ""significance"" of Darwinism. The first Russian translation of the ""Origin of Species"" (1864) appeared, however, without any comment whatever by the translator, Sergei A. Rachinsky, professor of botany at the University of Moscow. Rachinsky had begun the translation in 1862 and published an article on Darwinism while continuing work on the translation in 1863."" (Rogers, p. 485). In the year of publication of the translation, 1864, Pisarev wrote a long article in ""The Russian Word"", which purports to be a review of this translation" the critic complains about the absence of notes and commentaries by the translator. Pisarev furthermore points to several errors in the translation and to numerous infelicities of expression. Acknowledging the importance of the work, however, and of the spreading of Darwinism in Russia, he goes on in his own essay to provide a much more popular account of Darwin's theory and to impress upon his readers its revolutionary significance.Nikolai Strakhov also reviewed the translation immediately upon publication, acknowledging the effect it would have. Strakhov, however, recognized potential dangers inherent in the theory and expressed them in his review of Rachinsky's translation. He praised the work for its thoroughness and rejoiced in the evidence that man constituted the highest stage of organic development" but then he went on to argue that by moving into questions of philosophy and theology, the Darwinists were exceeding the limits of scientific evidence. Like Pisarev, Tolstoy enthusiastically embraced Darwinism. ""The first mention of Darwin in Tolstoy's literary ""Nachlass"" is found in one of the drafts to ""War and Peace"". There Darwin is listed, apparently quite favorably, among leading thinkers ""working toward new truth"" [...] Thus by the late 1860's the name of Darwin as a leading scientist was already familiar to Tolstoy and duly respected."" (McLean, p. 160). A fact which is often overlooked is that Tolstoy actually knew Rachinsky quite well. Interestingly, it was in a letter to Rachinsky, in reply to a question about the structure of ""Anna Karenina"", that Tolstoy made the famous statement (that all Tolstoy scholars and lovers know by heart): ""I am proud of the architecture - the arches are joined in such a way that you cannot discover where the keystone is"". Like Strakhov, however, Dostoevsky, acknowledging the significance of the ""Origin"", saw the dangers of the theory. In the same year as the publication of Rachinsky's translation, he lets the narrator in ""Notes from Underground"" (1864) launch his attack on Darwinism , beginning: ""As soon as they prove you, for instance, that you are descended from a monkey, then it's no use scowling, you just have to accept it.""In ""Crime and Punishment"" (two years later, 1866) the Darwinian overtones inherent in Raskolnikov's theory of the extraordinary man are unmistakable. He describes the mechanism of ""natural selection,"" where, according to the laws of nature, by the crossing of races and types, a ""genius"" would eventually emerge. In general, Darwinian themes and Darwin's name occur in many contexts in a large number of Dostoevsky's works.Freeman 748. See: James Allen Rogers: The Reception of Darwin's Origin of Species by Russian Scientists. In: Isis, Vol. 64, No. 4 (Dec., 1973), pp. 484-503.Thomas F. Glick: The Comparative Reception of Darwinism. 1974.Hugh McLean: In Quest of Tolstoy. 2008.
De aureo Cornu. Dissertatio. - [THE FIRST AND MOST IMPORTANT TREATISE ON THE GOLDEN HORN]
Hafniae (Copenhagen), Melchior Matzan, Joachim Moltke, 1641. Small folio. Bound in an newer absolutely exquisite full mottled calf pastiche-binding with five raised bands and gilt title-label to richly gilt spine. Gilt ornamental borders with gilt corner-pieces to boards, all edges of boards gilt, and inner gilt dentelles. Title-page restored at inner hinge, far from affecting print. Some leaves slighly dusty and some mostly light brownspotting. Overall very nice indeed. The folded plate neatly re-enforced at the foldings, from verso, and on stub. ""Dupl"" written in hand to upper right corner of title-page and with two stamps to verso: ""Museum Britannicum"" and ""British Museum Sale Duplicate 1787"". (8), 72 pp. + large folded engraved plate of the horn.
Exceedingly scarce first printing of one of the most important works in Scandinavian history. Worm’s monumental 1641-treatise is the first and single most important work on what is arguably the most famous Danish cultural artifact, namely the first Golden Horn, and constitutes our primary source of knowledge of that now lost treasure. For Danes, the Golden Horns, discovered on 1639 and 1734 respectively, with their amazing, complicated, and tragic story, constitute the Scandinavian equivalent to the Egyptian pyramids and have been the object of the same kind of fascination here in the North, causing a wealth of fantastical interpretations, both historical, literary, mystical, linguistic, and artistic. The two golden horns constitute the greatest National treasure that we have. They are both from abound 400 AD and are thought to have been a pair. A span of almost 100 years elapsed between the finding of the first horn and the finding of the second. Although the first was by far the most important, both findings are now a fundamental part of Danish cultural heritage. In 1802 the horns were stolen, and the story of this theft became the greatest Danish detective story of all times. The thief was eventually caught, but it turned out that he had melted both of the horns and used the gold for other purposes. Before the horns were stolen, a copy of the horns was made and shipped to the King of Italy, but the cast which was used to make this copy was destroyed, before news had reached the kingdom of Denmark that the copies made from the cast were lost on their way to Italy, in a shipwreck. Worm's work constitutes not only the earliest description of the seminal first horn, but also the most important source that we now have to the knowledge of the horn. It is on the basis of the description and depiction in the present work that the later copies of the first horn were made. Both horns were found in Gallehus near Møgeltønder, the first in 1639, by Kirsten Svendsdatter, the second in 1734, by Jerk (Erik) Lassen. Kirsten Svendsdatter made her discovery on a small path near her house, initially thinking that she had stumbled upon a root. When she returned to the same place the following week, she dug up the alleged root with a stick, and mistook it for an old hunting horn. She brought it back home and began polishing it. During the polishing of it, a small piece broke off, which she brought to a goldsmith in Tønder. It turned out that the horn was made of pure gold, and rumors of Kirsten's find quickly spread. The horn was eventually brought to the King, Christian IV, and Kirsten was given a reward corresponding to the gold value of the horn. The king gave the horn to his son, who had a lid made for it so that he could use it as a drinking horn. An excavation of the site where the horn was found was begun immediately after, but nothing more was found - that is until 95 years later when Jerk Larsen was digging clay on his grounds - merely 25 paces from where Kirsten had found the first horn. The year was now 1734. The horn that Larsen found was a bit smaller in size and was lacking the tip, but it still weighed 3,666 kg. After the horn had been authenticated, it was sent to King Christian VI, where it was placed in a glass case in the royal art chamber, together with the first horn. Before being placed here, a copy was made of both horns. These copies were the ones lost in the ship wreck, however, and as mentioned the casts had already been destroyed. In the fatal year of 1802, the gold smith and counterfeiter Niels Heldenreich broke in to the royal art chamber and stole the horns. By the time the culprit was discovered, the horns were irrevocably lost - Heldenreich had melted them and used the gold to make other things, such as jewellery. A pair of earrings that are still preserved are thought to have been made with gold from the horns, but this is all that we have now have of the original horns. New horns were produced on the basis of the descriptions and engraved illustrations that were made after the finding of the horns. The plate in the present work constitutes our main source of knowledge of the appearance of the first horn and is the single most important depiction of it, forming the basis of the reproductions. ""The longest of the golden horns was found in 1639 and described by Ole Worm in the book 'De Aureo Cornu', 1641 (a treatise which is also included in his greater ""Danicorum Monumentorum"" [1643]). The German professor at Soro Academy Hendrich Ernst, disagreed with Worm’s interpretation of the horn. Ernst believed that the horn came from Svantevits temple on Rügen, while Worm interpreted it as a war trumpet from the time of Frode Fredegods, decorated with pictures, calling for virtue and good morals. Worm immediately sent his book to Prince Christian and the scholars at home and abroad. You can see in his letters, that not only did the horn make an impression, but also the letter and the interpretation. In that same year there were such lively discussions on the horn among the scholars of Königsberg, now Kaliningrad! In 1643 Worm reiterated the description of the golden horn in his great work on Danish runic inscriptions, 'Monumenta Danica'. In 1644, his descriptions of the horn reached scholars and libraries in Schleswig, Königsberg, London, Rome, Venice and Padua. Several learned men wrote poems for him, and the golden horn was mentioned in an Italian manus. Map Cartoonist Johannes Meyer placed the finds on several of his map of South Jutland. When the Swedish commander Torstensson attacked Jutland in 1643, Peter Winstrup wrote a long poem in Latin addressed to the bishop of Scania (which at that time still belonged to Denmark), the poem was called 'Cornicen Danicus'. It was immediately translated into Danish, entitled 'The Danish Horn Blower'. He interpreted the horn and its images as a warning of war, and his interpretations were very hostile to the Swedish. Paul Egard and Enevold Nielssen Randulf were among some of the other scholars who interpreted the Golden Horn In the 1640s. They were both deans in Holstein, and had a more Christian interpretation of the horn. All these works were illustrated with copies of Worms depictions of the horn. The Golden Horn remained known throughout the 1600s, both in terms of interpretations of the horn and designs. The found of the short golden horn in 1734 renewed the interest of the meaning of the horns."" (National Museum of Denmark). This monument of Danish cultural history is incredibly scarce in the trade. We have never seen a copy before, and there is not a single auction record traceable.
