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Book History, Education, Learning & Printing / Book History, Calligraphy & Printing

Rare 17th-century writing book & instructions, for learning without a master

ALLAIS, Jean Baptiste. L'art d'ecrire.
Paris, chez l'auteur, 1680. Folio. With large woodcut vignette on letterpress title-page, a woodcut headpiece, 2 woodcut decorative initials, decorations built up from cast arabesque fleurons, an engraved calligraphic title-page and 22 (of 23) engraved leaves with calligraphic writing samples and illustrations, all engraved by Louis Senault. Contemporary calf, gold-tooled spine, and unusual marbled paste-downs. [4], 12 pp. plus 23 (of 24) engr. ll. Full description
€ 2,250
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Italian florilegium, only copy known with 65 plates printed in up to 6 colours

ARENA, Filippo. La natura, e coltura de' fiori fisicamente esposta.
Palermo, Angelo Felicella, 1767-1768. 2 text volumes (4to), bound as 3, and 1 plates volume (oblong folio). With 65 engraved plates printed in colour, occasionally combining up to 6 colours on one plate. The first plate (here wholly printed in dark green) serves as an (allegorical) frontispiece and includes the name of the author and that of Mario Cammerari, the second plate depicts tools, seeds and details of flowers, the third plate contains parterre designs and the other plates depict flowers (several to each plate). Modern flexible boards, covered with decorated paper. VIII, 440; VIII, “116” [= 416]; [2], 167, [1 blank], [8] pp. plus 65 plates. Full description
€ 85,000
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First Aldine edition of Pedanius's commentaries on Cicero's orations

ASCONIUS PEDANIUS, Quintus. Expositio in IIII orationes M.T. Cic. contra C. Verrem [&c.]
(colophon:) Venice, heirs of Aldo I Manuzio & Andrea Torresano, December 1522. 8vo. With Aldos woodcut anchor and dolphin device on the title-page, repeated on the verso of the last otherwise blank leaf (each with letterpress "AL ... DVS" flanking the device), with spaces (with guide letters) left for manuscript initials, not filled in. Set in Aldos famous italic (with upright capitals), the worlds first italic printing type, first used in 1501 (showing the alphabet a-z and A-N in the register of quires above the colophon). Dark purple sheepskin (ca. 1880?). [12], 283, [1] ll. Full description
€ 4,500
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73 proof impressions of all 12 illustrations

BAYARD, Émile. [Proof impressions of illustrations for Alphonse Daudet's Fromont jeune et Risler aîné].
[Paris, 1885]. Folio (35 x 29 cm). Proofs of 12 engraved plates in many different states, giving 73 prints in total, engraved by Jules Massard and Eugène Abot after Emilé Bayard (image size 10.7 x 7.3 cm; plate size 19 x 14 cm). Contemporary half goatskin morocco. Full description
€ 4,750
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Bellarmino's Arabic catechism with the rare Arabic instructions for confession and communion

BELLARMINO, Roberto. [Title in Arabic] | Dichiarazione piú copiosa della dottrina cristiana... Tradotta dalla lingua italiana nellaraba, e dora di bel nuovo stampata.
Rome, [Propaganda Fide], 1770.
With: (2) BORGIA, Stefano. Irsad li-ajl al-i'tiraf wa-tanawul al-qurban, ... [= Instructions for confession and communion]
[Rome, Propaganda Fide, 1770?].
2 works in 1 volume. 8vo. The catechism with a woodcut of fruits and branches on the title-page and 2 woodcut headpieces The instructions with the title in a decorative border built up from cast fleurons, 1 woodcut headpiece and several further decorations built up from cast fleurons. Except for the bilingual title-page to the Bellarmino and the imprimatur on the last printed page of the Borgia, both works are set entirely in Arabic type. Contemporary half sheepskin, manuscript title on spine, paste paper sides, sprinkled edges. 411, [1 blank]; 109, [1 blank], [1], [3 blank] pp. Full description
€ 4,500
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First edition of the so-called Golden Bible, by the Augsburg Benedictine Abbeys printing office
set in nearly the first (and the best early) roman printing type north of the Alps
Robert Proctors copy, with generous margins

[BINDO GUERRI of Siena] with a prologue by Antonius de RAMPIGOLLIS. Reportatorium Biblie aureum [= Biblia aurea].
[Augsburg], [printing office of the Abbey of Saints Ulrich and Afra], [in the period 1473 to early 1475]. Chancery (Foolscap) folio (28 x 22 cm). With the title in a note following the prologue, at the foot of the first page (and abbreviated at the end of the book), a 2-page alphabetical table of contents and the main text comprising 139 entries.
Burgundy goatskin morocco (ca. 1890?). With the armorial bookplate of Robert Proctor. [231], [1 blank] pp. Full description
€ 16,500
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Beautiful commemoration of the Imperial success against the French at Acqui Terme in Piedmont, printed in gold and in a gold-brocade wrapper

BIORCI, Guido. Applausi poetici alla vera rigenerazione del Piemonte operata nel 1799. Dalla divina provvidenza col celebre valore delle armi Austro-Russe.
Acqui Terme (between Torino and Genoua), Giovanni Francesco Arcasio, [1799?]. 4to. With woodcut arms on first leaf. Printed in gold throughout. Gold-brocade decorated paper wrappers, showing an embossed floral pattern with hunters, a wild boar, deer and dogs scattered through it, in gold, orange, yellow, lavendar and blue. In modern clamshell box. [1], [1 blank], [8], [2 blank] pp. Full description
€ 4,000
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First edition of first French translation of Boccaccio's first work, with woodcut illustrations

BOCCACCIO, Giovanni. Le philocope ..., contena[n]t l'histoire de Fleury & Blanchefleur, divise en sept livres traduictz d'Italien en Francoys par Adrian Sevin ...
Paris, Jean André, bookseller to the University (colophon: printed by Denis Janot), 1542 (colophon: 24 February 1542). Folio (31.5 x 21.5 cm). With Jean André's woodcut device on the title-page and 15 woodcut illustrations plus 21 repeats in the text (mostly 5.5 x 8 cm, each in any of several 4-piece decorative borders, including 8 foot pieces, each with a different coat of arms; one illustration 13.5 x 8.5 cm with an 8-piece decorative border), 5 woodcut decorated initials (2 series) plus 1 repeat, and many spaces with guide-letters for manuscript initials (not filled in). French calf (ca. 1760?), richly gold-tooled spine, gilt edges. VI, CLXXIIII ll. Full description
€ 12,500
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Famous Dutch anatomist on the conflicting demands of family life, academic career and scientific pursuits

[AUTOGRAPH]. CAMPER, Petrus. [Autograph letter, signed, to Reinier Arrenberg].
Groningen, 2 February 1773. 4to. Brown ink on laid paper, addressed on the outside and with an armorial red wax seal.
With: (2) [PORTRAIT]. [PUJOS, André]. P. Camper, ...
[Paris, André Pujos, 1786]. 4to. Mezzotint portrait on laid paper. [1], [1 blank, except for the address]; [1] ll. Full description
€ 4,750
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Paris manual for priests, by the Bishop of Condom with Clichtove’s work on the priesthood, inaugurating Parisian Renaissance typography: two Paris first editions (1519) bound for a relative of Clichtove’s editor

CLICHTOVE, Josse (Judocus CLICHTOVEUS). De vita et moribus sacerdotum, opusculum: singularem eoru[m] dignitatem oste[n]dens, & quibus ornati esse debea[n]t virtutibus: explanans.
Paris, Henri Estienne I, 1519 (colophon: 4 August). With woodcut title-page with the letterpress title and imprint in the central opening; further with about 21 woodcut initials (4 series, mostly criblé) plus about 4 repeats.
With: (2) MARRE, Jean. Enchiridio[n] sacerdotale concinnatu[m] ad salutarem eruditionem Christifideliu[m] ab lo[n]ge revere[n]do in Christo patre d[omi]no Ioanne Mare Co[n]domien[sis]. episcopo. In quo haec sunt capita. ...
[Paris], (colophon: Jodocus Badius Ascensius, 25 November 1519). With numerous woodcut decorated initials (4 series, the largest 45-47 mm. criblé initials). 2 works in 1 volume. 4to (20 x 14 cm). 16th-century blind- and gold-tooled calf, each board in a panel design, with the owner's name "D. Ioa[n]mes[!] Lassere" on the front and motto "memento mortis" on the back, the motto and fleurs-de-lis on the back in gold. 75, [1 blank]; “LXI” [= LXXI], [1 blank] ll. Full description
€ 7,500
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Eyewitness account of a 1570 diplomatic mission to the Ottoman court,
with 28 fine original colour drawings and samples of Turkish decorated paper

[DIPLOMATIC MISSION]. BRAECKLE, Jacques de. Memoires du voiage de Constantinople de Jacques de Bracle seigneur de Bassecourt.
[Various places, [1570 or very soon after]. 4to (main text & decorated paper) & 8vo (transcription & drawings) (21.5 x 14.5 cm). Manuscript in French, written in brown ink on paper in a Flemish bastarda gothic hand, with about 26 lines per page. With 8 contemporary half-sheet specimens of Turkish decorated "silhouette" paper (folded to make 16 leaves in 2 quires), a series of 28 drawings in brown ink and coloured gouaches, highlighted in gold (mostly costume figures, some showing the Sultan and other leading figures, others showing anonymous types from various ethnic and religious groups), plus a ca. 1800, transcript of the complete text and biography of the author (with his arms in colour). Modern sheepskin parchment. [2 blank], [34]; [5 blank], [62 incl. a few blank], [1 blank] pp. plus 8 double leaves of decorated paper and [36], [4 blank]; [2], [2 blank] pp. of 18th-century additions. Full description
€ 180,000
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Entomologists in the network of freemasons between American and the French Revolutions

FORSTER, Johann Reinhold. [Letter to an unnamed fellow freemason in Braunschweig, probably Ferdinand, Herzog von Braunschweig-Lünenburg or someone in his inner circle].
Halle (Saale), 9 August 1781. 4to. Autograph letter in German, signed, written in brown ink on laid paper in a clear German hand, with foreign words and names in a Latin hand. [4] pp. Full description
€ 12,500
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Rare first edition of a work of great importance to the history and development of colour printing
and one of the earliest examples of Didots fine printing in his revolutionary types

FOSSÉ, Charles-Louis François. Idées dun militaire pour la disposition des troupes confiées aux jeunes officiers dans la defense et lattaque des petits postes. Dédié à M. Le Duc du Chatelet.
Paris, François Ambroise Didot l'ainé, 1783. 2 parts in 1 volume. Large 4to. With 11 colour-printed crayon-manner plates (10 folding) by Louis-Marie Bonnet, 1 similar armorial headpiece for the dedication to the army general and diplomat Louis Marie Florent, Duc du Châtelet (1727-1793), Didots woodcut device on title-page ("FAD" in clouds with putti and garlands, "[Pierre Charles] Jombert inv. Milliere sculp. 1782"). Contemporary boards covered with blue paper, untrimmed and with some bolts unopened. [14], 116, 60, [24] pp. Full description
€ 6,500
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Splendid manuscript on the state, condition and organization of the French Royal navy in 1732,
from the library of Henri Beraldi

[FRENCH ROYAL NAVY]. [Binding title:] Abregé de la marine du Roy 1732.
[Paris?, 1732]. 13.5×19 cm. Manuscript in brown-black, red and blue ink on vellum, some of the lettering and borders gilt. With a beautiful frontispiece painting in coloured gouaches (14×9.5 cm) pasted on the page facing the opening of the text, showing a small warship at a shipyard in a small harbour being repaired by workmen. Contemporary red morocco, gold-tooled spine, gold-tooled fillets on boards and board edges, richly gold-tooled frame, gilt edges. Frontispiece plus [2], 26 ll., including 2 double and 1 larger folding. Full description
€ 95,000
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One of the earliest separate works devoted entirely to ice-skating,
printed by a typefounder praised in Balzac's "Illusions perdues"

GARCIN, Jean. Le vrai patineur, ou principes sur l'art de patiner avec grace, précédé de réflexions et de remarques critiques sur la manière de quelques patineurs inélégans, ainsi que sur les différens formes de patins, le choix quel'on doit en faire, et les variations dont cette chaussure est susceptible.
Paris, Delespinasse, Delaunaux, Nepveu, the author (printed by Joseph-Gaspard Gillé fils), 1813. 12mo (18 x 10.5 cm). With 8 numbered engraved plates, namely a frontispiece view of a skating rink with many skaters, engraved by Ambroise Tardieu, and 7 images of individual skaters, each in a different pose. Later blue paper wrappers. Preserved in modern half morocco slipcase. XXIV, 93, [1 blank] pp. Full description
€ 5,500
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"Father of History" in elegant & famous first Greek edition by Aldus Manutius, from the Arenberg library

HERODOTUS. [Historiarum] libri novem. Quibus musarum indita sunt nomina.
(Colophon: Venice), Aldus Manutius, (colophon: September 1502). Folio (29.5 x 20 cm). With Aldus's anchor and dolphin device on title-page and the verso of the last leaf. Late 19th-century blind-tooled, polished tan calf, the central panel with the arms of the Dukes of Arenberg. [140] ll. Full description
€ 69,500
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The first book printed with roman type in Turkey

[HOLDERMANN, Jean-Baptiste Daniel]. Grammaire Turque ou méthode courte et facile pour apprendre la langue Turque ...
Istanbul, [Ibrahim Müteferrika & Zaïd Aga Effendi], 1730. 4to. With a double-page engraved table of Arabic letters in 7 different styles. Set in roman type with frequent Turkish words and phrases in naskh Arabic type. Contemporary blind-tooled calf. [16], 194, [6] pp. Full description
€ 25,000
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Calligraphic copybook by a 14-year-old Dutch boy in 1761

JONG, Jacobus de. Geschriften.
Noordwijk-Binnen, 1761. Oblong folio (21 x 33 cm). Manuscript calligraphic copybook in brown ink on paper, with a calligraphic title-page followed by sample texts (mostly from the Old and New Testament) in Dutch in a roundhand script with decorative flourishes, and verses by Jacob Cats on the outside of the first and last leaves, the last illustrated with a penwork father, son and a large fish eating a small fish. Side-stitched, with the first leaf and last leaf serving as wrappers. [31] ll. Full description
€ 1,750
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Artist's book on trees, the sixth publication of the Kaldewey Press

KALDEWEY, Gunnar A. Trees.
(colophon: Poestenkill, New York, Kaldewey Press), 1988. Very large oblong folio (48 x 61 cm). With 17 artists prints (the artist calls them "linecut-monoprint illustrations") on hand-coloured backgrounds. Spine of Brazilian rosewood. Kept in a wooden box as published with two ties, and an illustrated printed paper label on the front. One of an edition of 51 copies, signed by the author-artist-printer. 7 ll. Full description
€ 1,950
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Colour-printed emblematic polemics for and against war with the Ottoman Empire

[LA HAYE, Jean de]. Peristromata Turcica, sive dissertatio emblematica, praesentem Europae statum ingeniosis coloribus repraesentans.
With:
(2) [HARSDÖRFFER, Georg Philipp]. Germania deplorata, sive relatio, qua pragmatica momenta belli pacisque expenduntur.
(3) [MILAG, Martin]. Aulaea Romana, contra Peristromata Turcica expansa: sive dissertatio emblematica, concordiae Christianae omen repraesentans.
(4) [Anonymous French critic of Cardinal RICHELIEU]. Gallia deplorata, sive relatio, de luctuoso bello, quod rex Christianissimus contra vicinos populos molitur.
[Nürnberg, Wolfgang Endter] (ad 1 with a false colophon: Paris, Toussaint du Bray), [each title-page with a chronogram:] 1641 (ads 1-2, 4) & 1642 (ad 3). 4 editions published together in 1 volume. 4to. With 4 letterpress title-pages in red and black, each with the date in a chronogram, 2 engraved title-plates plus 12 full-page engraved emblematic illustrations, all on integral leaves, each with a small plate nested in a larger plate (7 in the Peristromata with a varying rectangular central plate in dark blue or black and the same outer plate of a Persian carpet in orange; 7 in the Gallia with a varying oval central plate and the same outer plate representing peace with the palm tree in a landscape device of the Fruchtbringende Gesellschaft and a border representing war with military attributes). Further with 5 woodcut head- and tailpieces (plus 8 repeats), 21 "woodcut" decorated initials (5 series, at least some actually metal castings made from woodcuts) plus 8 repeats, and cast vine-leaf ornaments, acorns and other fleurons. Set in roman and italic types with incidental Greek and Hebrew. Light brown calf (ca. 1820?) by Charles Murton (ca. 1795?-ca. 1860?) in London, with his stamp on the front paste-down, sewn on 5 cords, gold-tooled spine with black morocco label, gold thick-thin fillets on boards, gold-tooled board edges, blind-tooled turn-ins, curl-marbled endpapers (white, red, blue, yellow and blue-green in that order), and an orange silk ribbon marker. 46, [1], [1 blank]; [3], [1 blank], 34; 64; 51, [1 blank] pp. Full description
€ 25,000
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Drawing of a scene on the Coromandel Coast for an engraving in a book by Johann Georg Jacobi

[COROMANDEL COAST]. LIPS, Johann Heinrich. Die Küste Coromandel.
[Zürich, 1803]. Pen drawing (10.3 x 6.3 cm) in grey ink with washes on paper (12.5 x 8.5 cm), signed by the artist in the lower right corner of the illustration and with the title in pencil in the lower margin. The whole mounted on a larger paper leaf (with notes: "dessin no 522" and "Lips f." in ink), with a passepartout and in a gilt wooden frame. Full description
€ 6,500
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17th-century engraved book on mathematics & fortification

LUDERS, Theodoric. Traicté mathematique contenant les principales definitions, problemes et theoremes d'Euclide. l'Arithmetique decimale. . . . La fortification Hollandoise. Francoise. Italienne. Et Espagnolle.
Paris, [Jean Jombert], 1680. With engraved title-page, engraved table, and 34 numbered engraved plates (11 double-page).
With: (2) LUDERS, Theodoric. Traité d'arithmetique contenant les reigles necessaires aux marchands, banquiers, changeurs, &. financiers: . . .
Paris, [Jean Jombert], 1680. 2 works in 1 volume. Large folio (50×34.5 cm). Contemporary mottled calf, richly gold-tooled spine (rebacked with original backstrip laid down). Full description
€ 9,500
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A great compendium of canon law, finely printed in Antwerp for the English market

LYNDWOOD, William. Provinciale seu constitutiones Anglie: cum summarijs, atque justis annotationibus, politissimis caracteribus, summaque accuratione rursum reuise, atque impresse.
Including: BADIUS, Jodocus (Josse BADE). Tabula indices.
London, Franciscus Bryckman (colophon: Antwerp, printed by Christoffel van Ruremund, 20 December 1525). 2 parts in 1 volume. Folio. With two title-pages, each in a woodcut border. The first shows above heaven with the holy trinity surrounded by the heavenly population, and below the world with the pope and the king kneeling before the church, surrounded by the clergy; on the second title-page the coat of arms of England, a Tudor rose with the "IHS" and Saint George and the dragon. Printed in black and red throughout. Contemporary calf in modern slipcase. CCLV [= CCLVJ], [28] ll. Full description
€ 7,000
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Three very rare 16th-century humanist school books

MACROPEDIUS, Georgius. Adamus Macropedii fabula Christianae pietatis plaena. In qua "koozikoos" oste[n]ditur, quo pacto lapsus homo post multas multorum saeculorum calamitates et miserias per Christum ab initio promissum, tandem[ue] mundo exhibitum, saluti restituitur.
Utrecht, Herman van Borculo, 1552.
With:
(2) Sententiae singulis versibus contentae, ex diversorum poëtarum sententiis Graecis, Latinae redditae.
[Colophon:] Antwerp, Johannes Loeus, 1544.
(3) ERASMUS, Desiderius. [Drop title:] Christiani hominis institutum.
Including: ISOCRATES. [Drop title:] Ad demonicum paraenesis.
[Antwerp, Jan Verwithagen?, 1551?]. With a large woodcut device on the last page. The Erasmus is a complete work extracted from an edition also containing other works and therefore lacks the general title-page and begins with quire G. 3 works in 1 volume. Small 8vo (13.5 x 9 cm). 18th-century gold-tooled calf. [68]; [12]; [12] ll. Full description
€ 4,500
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Extraordinary writing masters copy-book (1634-1643) with 9 knotwork decorative initials A-I/J (9-13 cm) with stylized figures, inspired by mediaeval forms

[MANUSCRIPT - CALLIGRAPHY - FRENCH]. [Writing masters copy-book].
[Liège?], 1634-1643?. Oblong 4to (17.5 x 21.5 cm). A manuscript writing masters copy-book in French, written on the rectos only, mostly in black ink on paper, each of the first 9 leaves beginning with a very large (9-13 cm) decorated initial drawn in pen and ink, displaying knotwork (sometimes making heart forms) and extensive stylized pictorial elements - both reminiscent of mediaeval Keltic examples - and coloured by a contemporary hand: A-I/J in alphabetical order, and the same letter of the alphabet written below the initial in several styles of gothic capitals and usually also minuscules (A-E in black, F-I/J in red). The two remaining leaves, also in an upright gothic cursive, show an 8-line model text (a letter to a friend, Antoine van Rosendal, dated from Liège, 5 June 1643) with a 2-line minuscule alphabet (beginning with a capital A) below and several other As separately; and a complete capital and minuscule (24-letter) alphabet, including W (6 lines); both with penwork flourishes, including (in the former) a round spiral incorporating 6 faces in profile. Sewn through 3 holes in a contemporary sheepskin parchment wrapper. Kept in a 20th-century French curl-marbled paperboard folder, in a matching marbled slipcase. [11], [10 blank] ll., the 10 blanks including 3 small fragments. Full description
€ 12,500
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Beautiful examples of 18th-century penmanship by 2 Dutch brothers

[MANUSCRIPT - CALLIGRAPHY]. WALBEEK, Willem and Frans WALBEEK. [Three calligraphic prize books by Willem and Frans Walbeek].
Warmond (near Leiden), the Netherlands, 1752-1756.
Comprising:
(1) WALBEEK, Willem. Prijs boek. Inhoudende verscheyde geschriften.
Warmond, 1752.
(2) WALBEEK, Willem. Prijs-boek. Inhoudende eenige schriften.
Warmond, 1753.
(3) WALBEEK, Frans. Prijs boek.
Warmond, 1756.
Three oblong albums (ca. 35 x 44 cm). With the same hand drawn illustration of 2 putti holding a laurel wreath on the title-pages of ads 2 and 3, and an ink drawing of a compass (drawing instrument, or other measuring instrument) as part of a calligraphic exercise also in ads 2 and 3. Contemporary marbled paper wrappers. [12]; [1 blank], [13]; [10] ll. Full description
€ 3,500
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Important study on the Irish language and typography

MARCEL, Jean Joseph. Alphabet Irlandais, précédé d'une notice historique, littéraire et typographique.
Paris, Imprimerie de la République, Nivose An XII [= December 1803/January 1804]. Royal 8vo (23.5 x 16 cm). With Marcels JJM monogram on the title-page and extensive letterpress tables (many in frames of thick-thin rules) showing upper and lowercase alphabets of the larger Irish type, abbreviations, etc. Contemporary blue paste-paper wrappers. 104 pp. Full description
€ 3,500
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The best Malay dictionary, with detailed definitions and noting related Hindi words

MARSDEN, William. A dictionary of the Malayan language, in two parts, Malayan and English and English and Malayan.
London, printed for the author by Cox and Baylis, 1812. 4to. Set in roman and Arabic types with incidental Devanagari and italic. Modern blue cloth with a morocco spine label, retaining the nonpareil-marbled edges from the previous contemporary binding. [1], [1 blank], XV, [1], 589, [1], [2 blank] pp. Full description
€ 1,950
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First Aldine edition of Martial: one of the first books set in the world’s first italic type

MARTIALIS, Marcus Valerius. [Epigrammata].
(Colophon: Venice, Aldus Manutius, December 1501). 8vo (16 x 10 cm). With 15 (mostly 6-line) spaces with printed guide letters left for manuscript initials. Except for an occasional word in Greek, the book is set entirely in the world's first italic printing type (with small upright capitals, which are also used, usually letterspaced, for running heads, headings, the opening line of each liber, etc.). Francesco Griffo cut it for Aldus, who uses it here 8 months after he introduced it in his Virgil. Tanned sheepskin (ca. 1700?), gold-tooled spine and board edges. [381], [3 blank] pp. Full description
€ 4,750
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First edition of an instructional miniature library on all school subjects

[MINIATURE BOOKS - DUTCH]. Bibliotheek in miniatuur.
Comprising:
(1) De aardrijkskunde.
(2) De gewijde geschiedenis.
(3) Vaderlandsche geschiedenis.
(4) Natuurlijke geschiedenis der viervoetige dieren.
(5) De natuurlijke geschiedenis der vogelen.
(6) Natuurlijke geschiedenis der insekten, kruipende dieren en visschen.
(7) De kruidkunde.
(8) Zedelijke verhalen.
(9) Arabische vertellingen.
(10) De mythologie.
Amsterdam, M. Westerman, 1823. 10 volumes. Ca 7.7 x 6.5 cm. With 31 engraved plates and 5 engraved maps, including a folding world map. In the original pink and green cardboard case with glass lid, green printed paper wrappers, with cream paper dust jackets with the titles in manuscript on the front. Full description
€ 3,750
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Beautiful, entirely engraved, calligraphic prayerbook

MOREAU, Pierre. Les Sainctes prieres de l'ame Chrestienne Escrites & gravées apres le naturel de la plume.
Paris, I. Henault, 1656. Small 8vo. With fine engraved calligraphic title within architectural borders, engraved dedication to the Queen of France, 31 mostly full-page illustrations, some repeated, representing Christ on the cross, Mary with child, the Seven Deadly Sins, etc., and 179 engraved pages with calligraphed prayers within richly decorated borders with flowers, fruits, animals, insects, etc. Contemporary sharkskin, spine ribbed, with silver clasps including monogram. 212 pp. Full description
€ 4,250
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381-page prospectus for a "world-class" commercial dictionary in 5 folio volumes, never published

MORELLET, André. Prospectus d'un nouveau dictionnaire de commerce.
Including: Catalogue d'une bibliotheque d'économie politique.
Paris, Les freres Estienne, 1769. 8vo. Contemporary tan calf, gold-tooled spine, gold triple fillet border on both sides, gold fillet on board edges, gold-tooled turn-ins, decorative endpapers (block-printed in gold), edges gilt over marbling. VIII, 381, [3], 34, [2 blank] pp. Full description
€ 8,500
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Children’s book with wonderful hand-coloured moveable dolls

[MOVABLE DOLLS, subject]. De weldadige Louize of het meisje in zesderlei gedaanten. Een onderhoudend geschenk voor meisjes. Met zeven gekleurde beweegbare plaatjes.
Amsterdam, Gebroeders van Arum, [1828]. 12mo. One paper doll printed on cardstock plate with slits above left shoulder and below feet, into which tabs on six outfits printed on cardstock plates can be placed. Paper doll and outfits are hand-coloured. Rear paste-down functions as an envelope. Contemporary boards, upper board is printed with title and a decorative border. In custom box. 62 pp. Full description
€ 2,500
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Rare imprint from Chili

NOÉ, Juan Nicolas. Epitome de gramatica Castellana. ... Para escuelas primarias.
Valparaiso, Imprenta de la Bandera, 1837. 12mo. With the title in woodcut borders, a woodcut printer's vignette and some woodcut head- and tailpieces. Contemporary blue paper wrappers, with protective paper cover. [2], 155 pp. Full description
€ 1,250
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The first publication of the Ethiopic Genesis

OTHO, Georg. Palaestra linguarum orientalium, hoc est: quatuor primorum capitum Geneseos, I. Textus originalis tam ex Judaeorum quàm Samaritanorum traditionibus. II. Targumim seu paraphrases orientales praecipuae, nempe I. Chaldaicae, (Onkelosi, Jonathanis et Hierosolymitana) II. Syriaca, III. Samaritana, IV. Arabica, V. Aethiopica, VI. Persica. Omnia cum versione Latinâ ...
Including: OTHO, Andreas. Glossarium linguarum orientalium octuplex: Hebraicum, Chaldaicum, Syriacum, Samaritanum, Arabicum, Aethiopicum, Persicum et Rabbinicum ...
Frankfurt am Main, published by Friedrich Knoch, printed by Martin Jacquet, 1702. 4to. With one woodcut initial. Set in roman, Arabic, Hebrew, Samaritan and Ethiopic types. 2 parts in 1 volume. Nineteenth-century half calf with marbled sides. [18] 140, 147, [3] pp. Full description
€ 3,950
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Illustrated first edition of the Dutch translation of "Der goldene Thron", intended for women & men

OTTO VAN PASSAU. Boeck des gulden throene of der xxiiij ouden.
Utrecht, "tC", (30 March) 1480. Folio. With 24 illustrations in text (ca. 9 x 6.2 cm), printed from 1 complete woodcut (plus 4 repeats) and 15 components assembled in different combinations, all rubricated and with architectural frames. Each of the 24 chapters begins with a large manuscript initial, 11 with two or more colours and others with interior white decoration. A smaller initial with penwork opens the book's first page and there are numerous further 1-line and 2-line initials. Woodcut printer's device at the end. Contemporary (Utrecht?) blind-tooled calf over wooden boards, each board in a panel design; rebacked. [4], 197 ll. Full description
€ 185,000
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Beautiful lithographed plates after a manuscript description of Russia from 1674

PALMQUIST, Erich. Nagre widh sidste Kongl. ambassaden till Tzaren i Muskou giorde observationer öfwer Ryszland, dess wäger, pasz med fästningar och gräntzer - Sammandragne aff Erich Palmquist anno 1674.
Stockholm, Generalstabens Litografiska Anstalt, [1898]. Large oblong folio. With the 1674 title-page, the text, 14 maps and charts, 13 full-page illustrations and several figures on one page (1 page illustrating flags hand-coloured as published). All lithographed after the original manuscript. Paper imitating tree calf, with a gilt-stamped frame, gold-tooled spine. [72] pp, some leaves printed on one side only. Full description
€ 8,500
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First edition of a well-illustrated account of Phipps's arctic expedition

PHIPPS, Constantine John. A voyage towards the North Pole undertaken by His Majesty's command 1773.
London, William Bowyer and John Nichols for J. Nourse, 1774. Large 4to. With 15 large double-page and larger folding engraved plates, and many letterpress tables in the text. Contemporary tree calf, gold-tooled board edges, rebacked soon after with a richly gold-tooled spine with globes and numerous floral stamps, red morocco spine-label. VIII, 253 pp. Full description
€ 4,000
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A nearly complete collection of the earliest Propaganda Fide exotic alphabets (1629-1776), including Arabic, Burmese, Ethiopic, Greek and Syriac

[PROPAGANDA FIDE]. (1) Alphabetum Armenum iussu S.D.N. Gregorii XV. ...
(2) Alphabetum Aethiopicum, sive Abyssinum.
(3) Alphabetum Arabicum ...
(4) Alphabetum Barmanum seu Bomanum ...
(5) Alphabetum Brammhanicum ...
(6) Alphabetum Chaldaicum, ...
(7) Alphabetum Chaldaicum ...
(8) Alphabetum Cophtum sive Aegyptiacum ...
(9) Alphabetum Graecum ...
(10) Alphabetum veterum Etruscorum ...
(11) Alphabetum Ibericum, ...
(12) [Alfabeta].
(13) Alphabetum Hebraicum ...
Rome, Propaganda Fide, 1629-1776. 13 works in 1 volume. 8vo and small 4to. Sheepskin parchment (ca. 1776). Full description
€ 12,500
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Illustrated catalogue of enameled metal signboards, plates and large letters, with a very large poster showing full-sized specimens

RAVASI, Fratelli. Catalogo 1913 ... Placche ferro smaltato e lettere rame ...
Milan, Ravasi brothers (colophon: Stabilimento Grafico Matarelli), 1913. Oblong 8vo (16.5 x 24 cm). With very large, loosely inserted, oblong folding tinted lithographed poster (61 x 90.5 cm), showing types and other decorations in full size in black and white on a green-grey background, and 100 numbered half-tone illustrations in text. Also with a tipped in circular letter on pink paper introducing the catalogue, by Luigi and Giovanni Ravasi. Stapled in publisher's gray paper wrappers, printed in blue. 16 pp. Full description
€ 850
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Signed autograph letter from Redouté acknowledging payment from the Paris bookseller L. Debure for Les Roses

[AUTOGRAPH]. REDOUTÉ, Pierre-Joseph. [Letter acknowledging payment from the Paris bookseller Debure for Les Roses, part 30].
Paris, 18 February 1824. 4to (24.5 x 18.5 cm). Autograph letter, signed, written in brown ink on paper, with a note in a different hand recording a related payment. [1], [1 blank] pp. Full description
€ 6,500
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A picturesque journey through Switzerland

[REICHARD, Heinrich August O.]. Malerische Reise durch einen großen Theil der Schweiz vor und nach der Revolution.
Jena, H.W.Ch. Seidler, 1805. 8vo. With engraved frontispiece with 4 medallion portraits, engraved title-page with the title on a rock in an alpine scene, 54 numbered engraved plates (1 folding) and 2 folding leaves with built-up letterpress music. With the 4 costume plates hand-coloured. Later 19th-century half cloth. XVI, 414, [2] pp. Full description
€ 1,750
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Fine calligraphic manuscript teaching traditional science to the son of Comte de Choiseul-Gouffier,
French ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, finely bound in contemporary gold-tooled morocco

[MANUSCRIPT]. REMY, Claude. Traité des elemens présenté à M. Raoul de Choiseul-Gouffier.
Paris, 1786. Small 8vo. Calligraphic manuscript written in French in dark brown ink on paper, in a formal Latin script hand (a French-style "batard"), with an ornamental, calligraphic title-page in reddish brown, green, dark brown and black ink, each page in a thick-thin-thin border with circular decorations in each corner and centred at the head, running heads in the border, the heading of the "Avertissement" in a decorative script, and calligraphic chapter headings in circular or rectangular decorations and sub-headings in decorated horizontal bands. Contemporary red, gold-tooled morocco, the smooth spine divided into 6 panels (separated by lines flanked by dotted lines), the 2nd with a dark green title-label, each of the others with an 8-petalled flower, 10 dots, a decoration in each corner and another at each side, and a decorated band at the foot; each board with a border of thin-thick-thin fillets with a decoration stamped on each corner and a 6-petalled flower inside each corner; gold-tooled turn-ins, gold fillets on the board edges (altogether about 130 impressions of 13 tools), gilt edges. [2], 186, [4] pp. Full description
€ 16,000
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Woodcut copybook by Augsburg writing master and woodblock cutter

ROGEL, Hans the elder. Capital und Versal Buech, allerhanndt grosser und kleiner Alphabeth, zue den Hauptschrifften und Büechern, dessgleichen in Canntzleyen unnd gemein, zuegebrauchen ganntz zierlich geordiniert.
Augsburg, Johann Jacob Schönig, [1680/94, printed from the woodblocks of 1568]. Oblong folio (21 x 34 cm). With a richly calligraphic woodcut title-page (18 x 28 cm), with text in white fraktur lettering on black, with a white panel at the foot with the letterpress imprint in a fraktur type; and 9 (of 10) full-page woodcuts (about 17 x 25.5 cm) showing alphabets in white on black, one dated 1568: 8 with decorated gothic capitals (versals: 22-150 mm) and 1 with textura capitals, textura lowercase and roman capitals, all versos blank. With a small and perhaps fragmentary manuscript on parchment (2 ll., 11.5 x 13.5 cm, written on both sides): a Protestant copybook written (soon?) after 1557, probably in Basle or vicinity, with 7 writing samples, including alphabets of capitals and minuscules, the first two pages in fraktur gothic styles, and the last two in humanistic styles. Vellum (ca. 1985?), in a cloth slipcase. [10 (of 11)] ll. Full description
€ 4,750
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1506/07 missal in red and black, with hundreds of criblée initials and 1 woodcut, all hand-coloured, and double-impression plainchant music: a rare early masterpiece of Kervers book production from the library of Jean Baptiste III Verdussen

[ROMAN MISSAL]. Missale ad consuetudinem Ecclesie Romane; ...
[Paris], Thielman Kerver, [colophon: anno domini 1506. x. kalendas apriles = 23 March 1507]. 8vo. Printed in red and black throughout in 2 columns, with Kervers finely executed criblée armorial device on the title-page, a crucifixion woodcut, hundreds of impressions of at least 28 finely executed lombardic initials with decorations, as well as dozens of spaces left for manuscript initials, about half with printed guide letters, and a two-impression plainchant music type. The capitals are rubricated throughout. The main text is set in a rotunda gothic type, and the Canon in a larger textura gothic. The woodcut crucifixion, Kervers device and the criblée initials are all coloured by a contemporary hand. Gold- and blind-tooled black goatskin morocco (1st half of the 18th century), the front board dated "ANNO|DOMINI|1506" in gold, and the spine-title "MISSALE|ROMANUM" in gold, marbled endpapers, gilt edges, 2 brass fastenings. [8], 233, [3] ll. Full description
€ 18,500
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One of the few illustrated books printed by Bodoni, splendidly bound

[ROSSI, Giovanni Gherardo de]. Scherzi poetici e pittorici.
(Colophon: Parma, Giambattista Bodoni, 1795). 8vo (22 x 14 cm). With engraved title-page and 40 engraved plates (plate size: ca. 7 x 11 cm). Richly gold-tooled red morocco by Rémy Petit (active 1855-1900), spine with 5 raised bands resulting in 6 compartments, one with black title-label and the other five gold-tooled with black oval inlays; the sides with gilt triple fillet borders, corner ornaments with same oval inlays and a central oval ornament (gold on green); further with gilt fillets on board edges and richly gold-tooled turn-ins with a floral motive, gilt edges. [52] ll. Full description
€ 7,200
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Rare early Rouen edition of La Salle's Christian courtesy, in civilité type

SALLE, Jean Baptiste de la. Les règles de la bien-seance et de la civilité Chretienne. Divisées en deux parties. Pour l'instruction de la jeunesse.
Rouen, François Oursel, 1729. 8vo. With ornamental woodcut on title-page and some woodcut initials, head- and tail-pieces. Main text in civilité type. Contemporary calf, gold-tooled spine with red label, red sprinkled edges. [16], 240 pp. Full description
€ 1,950
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Pioneering work on colour printing, first and only edition, signed by the author, with spectacular colour plates

SAVAGE, William. Practical hints on decorative printing, with illustrations engraved on wood, and printed in colours ...
London, printed by the Type Press [and by John Johnson] and published for the proprietor by Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme and Brown; Robert Triphook and 4 others, "1822" [= 1818-1823]. 2 parts in 1 volume. Large 4to (28 x 23 cm). With 2 colour-printed letterpress title-pages (one printed in gold), a colour-printed frontispiece and 34 other wood-engraved illustration plates, mostly printed in colour; 2 leaves of type specimens, 6 leaves showing 18 colour ink swatches, and 9 pages showing 9 of the woodblocks after they were defaced to make a reprint impossible. Dark blue half goatskin morocco (ca. 1950) by Banyan-Rivière in Bath, gold-tooled spine. Copy no. 58, signed by the author. [1], [1 blank], "vi" [= viii], 118 (lacking 101-102), [10] pp. plus the plates and the 1818 notice. Full description
€ 10,000
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The Rothschild copy of the first edition, in Latin, of this incunabula illustrated with 1809 plates

SCHEDEL, Hartmann. Liber chronicarum.
Nuremberg, Anton Koberger, 12 July 1493. Folio (31 x 43 cm). With a woodcut title-page and 1809 woodcuts in the text (including 2 double-page maps and 29 double-page views, and 8 full-page illustrations) by Michael Wolgemut and Wilhelm Pleydenwurff or their workshop (probably also some executed by the young Albrecht Dürer). 18th-century red morocco, with 6 raised bands on the spine with a gold-tooled green morocco label, the boards are gold-tooled in the style of the royal Parisian bookbinder Augustin du Seuil (1673-1746). [20], [5], 299, [1] ll. (including blank leaves 259-261). Full description
€ 150,000
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17th-century experimental multi-colour printing: magnificent views of the greatest Dutch palaces

CALL, Jan van; Petrus SCHENCK. [A series of 15 magnificent color-printed plates of the most impressive Dutch palaces of the Stadtholders: Het Loo (Apeldoorn), Huis ten Bosch (The Hague), Honselaarsdijk (near Naaltwijk) and Sorgvliet (The Hague).]
Amsterdam, Petrus Schenck, ca. 1695. 4to (20 x 24.5 cm). 15 (from a series of 25) colour-printed plates (plate size ca. 13 x 17 cm). Loose leaves. Full description
€ 6,500
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Illustrated account of Antwerp at the start of the 17th century

SCRIBANI, Charles. Antverpia.
Including: [SCHONDONCK, Gilles]. Hê prôtogeneia kai epistrephomonê tychê tês Anbersês.
Antwerp, Jan Moretus I, 1610. With an engraved printer's device on title-page and a woodcut printer's device on the otherwise blank page following the main part.
With: (2) SCRIBANI, Charles. Origines Antverpiensium.
Antwerp, Jan Moretus I, 1610. With an engraved printer's device on title-page, woodcut printer's device on the otherwise blank last page, folding engraved map of Antwerp and 6 double-page engraved plates. 2 works in 1 volume; 1st work in 2 parts. 4to. Contemporary vellum. [8], 146, [1], [1 blank]; 1-24; 1-172, [3], [1 blank] pp. Full description
€ 3,000
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First edition of a famous collection of nearly 200 sermons: the earliest dated book printed in Zwolle
and a rare early experiment labelling double-page openings, this copy in an unrecorded variant

[SERVASANCTUS DE FAENZA and others] (spuriously attributed to Saint BONAVENTURA). [Sermones de tempore et de sanctis].
(Colophon: Zwolle, [Johannes de Vollenhoe], 1479). Small (Chancery) folio (27.5 x 20.5 cm). With one 5-line and hundreds of 2- and 3-line spaces left for initials, filled in with manuscript "Lombardic" capitals in red; manuscript paragraph marks in red; and capitals rubricated throughout. Set entirely in a single textura gothic type (103 mm/20 lines) in 2 columns of 39 lines to the page. Early 18th-century tanned sheepskin. [1 blank], [340] ll. Full description
€ 35,000
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A bestseller of illustrated 17th-century travel literature, probably printed by Izaak Elzevier

SPILBERGEN, Joris van and Jacob Le MAIRE. Miroir Oost & West-Indical, auquel sont descriptes les deux dernieres navigations, faictes es années 1614. 1615. 1616. 1617. & 1618.
Amsterdam, Johannes Janssonius [printed by Izaak Elzevier?], 1621. Oblong 4to (17.5 x 23 cm). With 24 (of 25) engraved plates, including 5 double-page and 10 larger folding. Modern vellum. [4], 172 pp. Full description
€ 16,500
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An early mention of Australia and a window into early 17th-century Spanish daily life

SUAREZ DE FIGUEROA, Christobal (Thomaso GARZONI). Plaza universal de todas ciencias, y artes, parte traduzida de Toscano, y parte compuesta por el doctor Christoval Suearez de Figueroa.
Perpignan, Luis Roure, 1630 (colophon: 1629). 4to. With title printed in woodcut border with large woodcut coat of arms; interesting woodcut initials and head- and tailpieces. Contemporary mottled calf. [8], 379, [1 blank] ll. Full description
€ 6,500
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Skillful calligraphic copy-book by a student of the Haarlem schoolmaster Hermanus van der Laan

WALBEEK, Willem. Livre d'ecrire ... a l'ecole de Monsieur Hermanus vander Laan ...
Haarlem, 30 October 1749-13 January 1750. Folio (31 x 20 cm). Manuscript calligraphic copy-book with Dutch texts (except for the French title-page and colophon), written in black ink on laid paper, with a calligraphic title-page followed by 43 pages of calligraphic examples on 23 leaves. An additional loosely inserted leaf has one additional full-page example, also by Walbeek. Contemporary decorated paper wrappers (block-printed flower pattern with a dotted background). [1], [1 blank], [45], [1 blank] pp. plus 1 loosely inserted leaf. Full description
€ 2,500
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64 books books found / Show pages