‎Sweeney, Naoíse Mac‎
‎The West‎

‎Atlas des Indes Occidentales, ou Description Géo-Hydrographique des Régions, des Côtes, des Isles, & des Mers, connues sous le nom d'Indes Occidentales, dans laquelle On trouve réunis tous les Détails Géographiques & Nautiques qui appartiennent à c... - [THE WEST-INDIES]‎

‎London, Robert Sayer & Jean Bennett, 1777. [Engraved title: London, Sayer & Bennett, 1775]. Folio. Recently bound in a magnificent pastiche-binding of brown half calf with six raised bands and gilt red leather title-label to elaborately gilt spine. Vellum corners and lovely marbled paper over boards. The binding is made over the original one, preserving the original sewn spine underneath as well as the original end-papers. An excellent, beautiful copy. Very clean and fresh. Only minor, light browning to a few maps, and last map with a bit more staining. One map with a small tear to lower margin, far from effecting engraving. Previously in the possession the Danish medieval estate Ravnholt, since the 18th century owned by the noble family of Sehestedt Juul, with discreet stamps from this ownership to title-page: ""Sehestedt Juel"" and ""Rauenholdts Bibliothek"". Title-page (French) + 6 pp. of preface (French) + (2) pp. of index (French) + double-page engraved, illustrated title (English) + 36 double-page and 3 single-page engraved maps, all (but one) dated London, Sayer, 1775 (one map - Antigua - without the year, but London, Sayer). ‎

‎Scarce first French edition - consisting in all the original 39 maps of the 1775 English edition (all (but Antigua) dated 1775) and the engraved double title-page in English, preceded by a French title, preliminary discourse (also in French), and index - of Jeffery's seminal West-India atlas, one of the most important works on the West Indies and the work that we have to thank for the introduction of ""Carribean"" as the designation that was to become standard on maps. The work played a pivotal rôle in the geo- and cartographical denomination of places and areas in this part of the world. In his preface, Jefferys does away with previous terms applied by geographers: ""La division des Espagnols, & elle se trouve tout-à la fois physique & politique, fut adoptée bientôt par les Anglois, les Hollandois & queslques autres peuples"" la plûpart des navigateurs & des marchands en s'y conformant, ont imposé depuis longtemps à tous les Géographes la nécessité de diviser l'Amerique en trois parties, savoir, ""Amerique du Nord"", ""Indes Occidentales"", ""Amerique du Sud."" Mais les Géographes, surtout les Francois, ont perséveré dans leur ancienne division, probablement parce qu'ils aiment à se répéter, & souvent aussi à se copier l'un l'autre."" (From the preface, p.2). (i.e.: ""The division of the Spanish, and this is found in both physics & polics, was soon adopted by the English, the Dutch & some other populations"" the main part of navigators and merchants have complyed herewith and have long made clear to geographers the necessity to divide America into three parts, namely, ""North America"", ""West Indies"", ""South America."" But geographers, especially the French, have persevered in their old division, probably because they like to repeat, and often also to copy, one another"").But not only does Jefferys extend this denominal division of America to geographers and cartographers, he also (re-)introduces the designation that was to become standard of the Caribbean: ""Les premier Espagnols l'appellèrent Mer du Nord lorsqu'ils eurent découvert une nouvelle mer au delà de l'isthme de Panama. Quelquefois on lui a donné le nom de ""Mer Caribe"" ou ""Caribenne"", qu'il auroit mieux volu adopter que de laisser anonyme un aussi vaste espace."" (From the preface, p. 2, 1).- ""Although the best-known sea of the New World, the Caribbean remained nameless longest. It was the original Mar del Norte, a term promptly extended to all parts of the western atlantic. Velasco tried to find a proper name for it, saying: ""de los Canibales llaman el golfo grande del mar Océano desde de Deseada y Dominica por toda la costa de Tierra Firme, Yucatán, Golfo de Tierra Firme y de las islas del mar del Norte."" This compiler in Spain, regarding the maps before him, made the distinction we do between Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico. (Gulf of Tierra Firme was that of Darién.) Velasco remained in manuscript until the nineteenth century, and I do not know that his Gulf of the Cannibals was ever thus known. In the introduction to his ""West Indian Atlas"", Thomas Jefferys wrote, two centuries later: ""It has been sometimes called the Caribbean-Sea, which name it would be better to adopt, than to leave this space quite anonymous"""" he did so on his map. North European nations at the time were in possession of the Carib islands (the Lesser Antilles) and it is perhaps thus that Jefferys introduced the designation that was to become standard on maps but was not adopted in Spanish lands."" (C.O. Sauer, ""The Early Spanish Main"", p. 2). As one of the earliest documentations of the West Indies, Jefferys' seminal ""West-India Atlas"" was informed by prevailing attitudes about the legitimacy of Britain's colonial enterprises and contemporary debates surrounding the abolition and emancipation movements and played a significant rôle in the spreading of knowledge regarding this part of the world. Jefferys himself, one of the most prominent and prolific map publishers and engravers of his day, was opposed to the slave-trade, which unfortunately hinged upon the sugar trade that the atlas was designed to aid, and also spoke out against it. The English cartographer Thomas Jefferys (c. 1719-1771), ""Royal Geographer to King George III"" was the leading map supplier of his day and as such had access to information that many other cartographers did not. He engraved and printed maps for government and other official bodies and produced a wide range of commercial maps and atlases, most famously of America and the West Indies.Having died in 1771, he did not live to see the publication of his great ""West India Atlas"", which was published by Robert Sayer, who, in partnership with John Bennett, had acquired his maps. Thus, the West India Atlas was published posthumously, under Jefferys' name. Philips III:p. 570.‎

‎Dhammapadam. Ex tribus codicibus hauniensibus palice edidit, latine vertit, excerptis ex commentario palico notisque illustravit. - [FIRST FULL TRANSLATION OF THE DHAMMAPADA - FOUNDING PALI STUDIES IN THE WEST]‎

‎Hauniæ (i.e. Copenhagen), 1855. 8vo. Bound in a lovely recent red half morocco with five raised bands and gilt title and year to spine. Red marbled paper over boards and lovely blue marbled endpapers. All edges gilt. A damp stain throughout - to most of the leaves it it only marginal, but on the first leaves it touches the text slightly and to the last couple of quires more. Apart from that, only lighter brownspotting. One leaf (pp. 65-66 with a restored tear, affecting text, but with barely any loss of lettering (half of an L and half of an e are very vague). First leaf of text with a marginal annotation and hand pagination. (4), X, 470 pp. ‎

‎Exceedingly scarce first edition of the work that founded Pali-studies in the West, the foundational first Western publication of Theravada-Buddhism, namely Fausböll’s critical edition of the Dhammapada, being the first European edition of a complete Pali-text as well as the first Latin translation of the Dhammapada, today probably the most frequently translated Buddhist text in the world. This Latin translation is also the first full non-Asian translation. Excerpts of the Dhammapada had appeared in English in the periodical The Friend printed in Colombo, Sri Lanka, but a full English translation, which is based upon Fausböll’s version, only appeared in 1870. The first German translation appeared in 1860. But none of these other earliest translations had anywhere near the impact that Fausböll’s critical edition along with the Latin translation came to have upon the study of Buddha and Buddhism in the West. With Fausböll’s publication, the Dhammapada was introduced in the West, where it came to find great dissemination and is now the most frequently translated Buddhist text in Europe. The Dhammapada, the extremely influential collection of sayings of the Buddha in verse form, constitutes one of the most widely read and best known Buddhist scriptures. The original version of the Dhammapada is in the Khuddaka Nikaya, a division of the Pali Canon of Theravada Buddhism. Each saying recorded in the collection was made on a different occasion in response to a unique situation that had arisen in the life of the Buddha and his monastic community. “The Dhammapada is the best known and most widely esteemed text in the Pali Tipitaka, the sacred scriptures of Theravada Buddhism. The work is included in the Khuddaka Nikaya (""Minor Collection"") of the Sutta Pitaka, but its popularity has raised it far above the single niche it occupies in the scriptures to the ranks of a world religious classic. Composed in the ancient Pali language, this slim anthology of verses constitutes a perfect compendium of the Buddha's teaching, comprising between its covers all the essential principles elaborated at length in the forty-odd volumes of the Pali canon.” (The Dhammapada. The Buddha's Path of Wisdom. Translated from the Pali by Acharya Buddharakkhita with an Introduction by Bhikkhu Bodhi, 1996). Buddhist tradition has it that shortly after the passing away of the Lord Buddha, five hundred of his disciples met in council at Rajagaha in order to recall the truths they had received from their spiritual teacher during the previous forty-five years. They wanted these truths about moral and spiritual conduct to live on forever and for Buddha’s message to be available for all future disciples. The followers and Arhat felt the responsibility to convey the teaching and discipline of the Buddhist order as faithfully and truly as possible, and having no written texts to rely on, they prepared the many discourses for recitation with repetitions in various contexts, so that they could be remembered. Like the verses of Homer and other ancient works that were only written down later. “At that time, according to the Sinhalese, the Dhammapada was orally assembled from the sayings of Gautama given on some three hundred different occasions. Put in verse form the couplets contrast the vanity of hypocrisy, false pride, heedlessness, and selfish desire with the virtues of truthfulness, modesty, vigilance, and self-abnegation. The admonitions are age-old, yet they strike home today, their austerity of purpose fittingly relieved by gentle humor and earthy simile. Subsequently, several renditions of the Dhammapada in the Sanskrit and Chinese languages came into circulation" likewise, a number of stanzas are to be found almost verbatim in other texts of the canonical literature, testifying to the esteem in which its content was anciently held. Since first collated, the Dhammapada has become one of the best loved of Buddhist scriptures, recited daily by millions of devotees who chant its verses in Pali or in their native dialect.” (Bodhi, 1996). “The Dhammapada, an anthology of verses attributed to the Buddha, has long been recognized as one of the masterpieces of early Buddhist literature. Only more recently have scholars realized that it is also one of the early masterpieces in the Indian tradition of kavya, or belles lettres.” (The Dhammapada. A Translation. translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu). Viggo Fausböll (1821-1908) was a Danish educator, translator, orientalist, linguist, and most of all a pioneer of Pali scholarship. He studied at the University of Copenhagen, where he later became professor, teaching Sanskrit and Esat Indian philology. His magnum opus is his groundbreaking 1855 commented edition of the Dhammapada, with Latin translation, which founded Pali scholarship in the West and formed the basis for later translations and editions. A new edition of it appeared in 1900. Fausböll became Knight of Dannebrog in 1888, Dannebrogsmand in 1891, and Commander 2nd degree in 1898. The work is of the utmost scarcity outside of institutional holdings. We have never seen a copy in the trade before, and we have not been able to trace a single copy at auction.‎

‎Beskrivelse over Eylandet St. Croix i America i Vest=Indien. (i.e. English: ""Description of the Island of St. Croix in America in the West Indies""). - [EARLIEST ACCOUNT OF ST. CROIX UNDER DANISH RULE]‎

‎Kjøbenhavn, L.H. Lillies Enke, 1758. 4to (203 x 160mm). In a very nice contemporary half calf binding with five raised bands and gilt ornamentation to spine. Lower compartment of spine with some loss of leather. Marbled boards with wear. End-papers renewed but with near contemporary paper. Previous owner's name to title-page. Internally very nice and clean. 72 pp.‎

‎The extremely scarce first edition of the first printed account of the island of St. Croix under Danish rule. It contain descriptions of the geology, topography and natural history and present detailed descriptions of sugar cultivation and production and the conditions of the slaves. Haagensen settled on the island immediately after Danish occupation (1733) as plantation owner and Danish official. In 1725, St. Thomas Governor Frederik Moth encouraged the Danish West Indies Company's directors to consider purchasing Saint Croix (then known as Santa Cruz). On 15 June 1733, France and Denmark-Norway concluded a treaty by which the Danish West India Company bought Saint Croix for 750,000 livres. Louis XV ratified the treaty on 28 June, and received half the payment in French coins, with the remaining half paid in 18 months. On 16 November 1733, Moth was named the first Danish governor of Saint Croix. The 1742 census lists 120 sugar plantations, 122 cotton plantations, and 1906 slaves, compared to 360 whites on the island. By 1754, the number of slaves had grown to 7,566. That year, King Frederick took direct control of Saint Croix from the company. For nearly 200 years, Saint Croix, St. Thomas and St. John were known as the Danish West Indies. By the mid to late 18th century, ""at the peak of the plantation economy, the enslaved population of Saint Croix numbered between 18,000 and 20,000, the white population ranging between 1,500 and 2,000"". (Loftsdóttir, Kristin, and Gísli Pálsson, ""Black on White: Danish Colonialism, Iceland and the Caribbean""). In 1916, Denmark sold Saint Croix, St. Thomas, and St. John to the United States, formalizing the transfer in the Treaty of the Danish West Indies, in exchange for a sum of US$25 million in gold. Sabin 29406 Reid 98 Bibl. Danica III, 647.‎

‎Chenen Wu. Journey to the West. Journey to the West. In English /Chenen Wu. Jou‎

‎Chenen Wu. Journey to the West. Journey to the West. In English /Chenen Wu. Journey to the West. Puteshestvie na Zapad. Chinese Classics, Classic Novel in 4 Volumes. Translated by W. J. F. Jenner. Book in English. 4 books. Beijing. Foreign Languages Press. 2014. 2346c. We have thousands of titles and often several copies of each title may be available. Please feel free to contact us for a detailed description of the copies available. SKUalb2f5dcddb15963286.‎

‎Materiality of Sound in Chant Manuscripts in the West. Scriptor, Cantor & Notator (Volume I)‎

‎, Brepols, 2023 Paperback, 328 pages, Size:216 x 280 mm, Illustrations:107 b/w, 33 tables b/w., 2 maps b/w, Language(s):English, Italian, French. ISBN 9782503606149.‎

‎Summary Scriptor, Cantor & Notator is an innovative multi-author project dealing with the complex interconnections between learning, writing and performing chant in the Middle Ages. A number of different methodological approaches have been employed, with the aim of beginning to understand the phenomenon of chant transmission over a large geographical area, linking and contrasting modern definitions of East and West. Thus, in spite of this wide geographical spread, and the consequent variety of rites, languages and musical styles involved, the common thread of parallels and similarities between various chant repertoires arising from the need to fix oral repertories in a written form, and the challenges involved in so doing, are what bring this wide variety of repertoires and approaches together. This multi-centric multi-disciplinary approach will encourage scholars working in these areas to consider their work as part of a much larger geographical and historical picture, and thus reveal to reader and listener more, and far richer, patterns of connections and developments than might otherwise have been suspected. Scriptor, Cantor & Notator is published in two books. The first, The Materiality of Sound in Chant Manuscripts in the West, brings together articles on several different families of early music scripts in the Latin West and provides a vividly diverse picture of some of the best current scholarship on the various types of ancient and medieval musical notation. TABLE OF CONTENTS Methodology Concepts and Taxonomies of Music Scripts (Rankin, Susan) Design, and the Historiography of Early Music Scripts (Varelli, Giovanni) Appunti metodologici sullo studio del canto liturgico (Albiero, Laura) Indeterminacy. New Aspect of Meaning in Gregorian Chant (Mascareñas Garza, Óscar) Guiding Silence. The Function of Melodic Interruptions in Medieval Chant (Lousberg, Leo) « Et gloriosus in saecula ». Paléographie des notations franques nord-occidentales (970-1120) (Goudesenne, Jean-François) Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Reuniting Fragments and Reconsidering the Scribal History of the Beneventan Zone (Nardini, Luisa) Frammenti di un antifonario in notazione nonantolana (Roncroffi, Stefania) Notation in Transition? A Palaeographical Study of the Insular Missal EXcl 3515 (Mannion, Anne) Regional Scripts and Repertories Notazioni neumatiche dei secoli XI-XII nella Biblioteca Capitolare di Verona. Riflessioni e spunti di ricerca (Cunego, Giovanni) La notation musicale dans la Catalogne médiévale. Autour des origines et son évolution (Garrigosa i Massana, Joaquim) The Scribe and the Notator as the Bearer of Identity. Bohemian Notation in Late Mediaeval Manuscripts of Central Europe (Veselovska, Eva)‎