Sale 2468 - Early Printed, Medical, Scientific & Travel Books, March 8, 2018

61 c DIONYSIUS, the Carthusian [i. e., DENIS VAN LEEUWEN]. De quatuor novissimis hominis. [13], 304 [i. e., 307] leaves. 16mo, 118x75 mm, old limp vellum with spine title in ink and remnants of thong ties; contents browned with occasional marginal dampstaining, wormhole in gutter through first quarter of volume slightly affecting text, stains and old inscriptions on title, paper seal on verso. Later owner’s handwritten prayers in Spanish and pencil drawing of skull on endleaves. Branded ownership mark on bottom edges, possibly of the Convento de Santa María Magdalena de San Martín Texmelucan, Puebla (cf. CCMF/ BF-12060). Lyon: heirs of Jacobus Giunta, 1558 [300/500] Treatise on the Four Last Things (death, judgment, heaven, and hell) by the Flemish mystical theologian (1402-71), originally published in 1486. Expurgated copy, by order of the Mexican Inquisition, with the inscription of Fray Domingo de Salazar dated 1574 on title verso and text inked out on leaves 108-110. 59 c [DIDEROT, DENIS.] Le Fils Naturel, ou Les Épreuves de la Vertu. Comédie en Cinq Actes, et en Prose. Avec l’Histoire Véritable de la Pièce. 299 pages. 8vo, 183x118 mm, contemporary calf gilt with arms of Count Eugen Erwein von Schönborn (1727-1801) on covers and library label on front cover; contents generally clean, but with lower outer corner of G1 torn and restored with text loss; marbled edges. Amsterdam [i. e., Paris: Prault], 1757 [300/500] first edition of Diderot’s first play, intended as a vehicle for his controversial dramatic theories advocating innovative staging and the serious treatment of middle-class characters and concerns, which broke with the prevailing conventions of French theater. Accompanying the play are imaginary dialogues elaborating his ideas at length. Tchemerzine (1977) II, 941a. 60 c DIO CASSIUS. Dione Historico delle Guerre & Fatti de Romani. Italian translation by Niccolò Leoniceno. Title within woodcut historiated border with martial motifs; small woodcut portrait of the author and 22 oblong text illustrations. [6], 282 leaves. 4to, 206x146 mm, later 16th-century calf, flat spine gilt with leather lettering pieces, spine ends chipped, cover edges and corners rubbed, lower portion of front cover faded; contents generally clean apart from minor soiling and stains on title and last leaf and scattered cropped marginalia, some headlines shaved; red edges. 19th-century bookplate of the Conte di San Martino Valperga. (Venice: Niccolò d’Aristotile, March), 1533 [500/750] first illustrated edition and first in italian , the first vernacular version of the 3rd century Roman history by Dio Cassius. Sander 2436. 60