Asher Rare Books

Madame de Pompadour’s “histoire scandaleuse”. One of the few copies surviving the protective efforts of the French ambassador

[KERSTEMAN, Franciscus Lievens]. Historie van mevrouwe de hartoginne van Pompadour. [Wrapper-title: Levensbeschryving van de hartoginne van Pompadour].
Zaltbommel, Johannes Willem Kanneman, 1761. 8vo. With engraved frontispiece and title-page printed in red and black. Recased in 18th-century vellum, later endpapers, preserving the original publisher's printed wrappers. [8], 207, [1 blank] pp. Full description

€ 1,750

Dutch Literature France French Literature Women History

Very rare Dutch picaresque novel, with the female protagonist getting caught by pirates
and ending up in the household of an Arabic slave trader

[KERSTEMAN, Petrus Lievens]. De vermakelyke avanturesse, of de dienstmaagd van fortuin. Vervattende hare zonderlinge levensgevallen, ontelbare wederwaardigheden en rampen; zeltzame ontmoetingen, en koddige vryagien; deszelfs driejarige dienst als lakye, gevangenneming op de Moorsche kusten, en hare slavernye in Asia by de Arabieren.
Amsterdam, Steven van Esveldt, 1754. 8vo. With engraved frontispiece. Contemporary mottled half calf, gold-tooled spine, later endpapers. [4], 360 pp Full description

€ 3,500

Arabian Peninsula & Gulf States Dutch Literature Mutiny, Piracy & Shipwrecks North Africa Slavery Travel & Voyages Africa Travel & Voyages Middle East Women History

Very rare enlarged Dutch edition of a beautifully illustrated fable book

KRAFFT, Joannes Laurentius. Den schat der fabelen.
Brussels, widow of G. Jacobs, 1739-1740. 3 volumes. 8vo. With 3 different engraved frontispieces and 115 engraved illustrations, all designed and engraved by the author. Contemporary polished calf, gold-tooled spines. [24], 384, [8]; [40], 395, [7]; [24], 432, [8] pp. Full description

€ 3,250

Dutch Literature Fable Books Literature

The past and present of the oral traditions of Bedouin tribes in Arabia,
discussed by a renowned Dutch scholar of Arabian languages and cultures

KURPERSHOEK, Paul Marcel. Oral poetry & narratives from Central Arabia.
1. The poetry of ad-Dindân A Bedouin Bard in Southern Najd.
2. The story of a Desert Knight The legend of Sçwîh al-'Atâwi & Other 'Utaybah Heroes.
3. Bedouin poets of the Dawâsir Tribe Between Nomadism & Settlement in Southern Najd.
Leiden, New York, Köln, Brill, 1994-1999. 3 volumes. Large 8vo. With 2 portraits as frontispieces in vols. 1 and 2. 16 pages with illustrations and 2 maps at the end of vols. 2 and 3. Red cloth with title information in gold on front cover and spine of all 3 vols. All 3 vols. have a dust jacket. XVII, [5 368, [4]; XIV, [4], 512, [2]; XX, 506, [4] pp. Full description

€ 850

Arabian Peninsula & Gulf States Language & Linguistics Literature Saudi Arabia

Primer in a Bantu dialect for the Finnish Lutheran mission in Namibia

KURVINEN, Pietari. Ondonga kielen ABD. Ensimäinen irja Ondonga kielellä . . . =ABD Moshindonga. Omukanda uatango koshindonga ua piangoa . . .
Helsinki, Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seuran [=Finnish Literature Society], 1876. 8vo. With 2 title-pages, the first in Finnish and the second in Ndonga, a brief preface in both languages, but with the sample texts in Ndonga. Contemporary brown textured cloth. [4], 32 pp. Full description

€ 2,500

Church History & Missions Language & Linguistics Protestant Reformation Southern Africa

How to become a Don Juan

[LACLOS, Pierre Ambroise François Choderlos de]. Les liaisons dangereuses, ou lettres recueilles dans une société, & publiées pour l'instruction de quelques autres. Par M. C..... De L.
Amsterdam; Paris, Durand Neveu, 1782. 4 volumes bound as 2. 12mo. Contemporary sprinkled calf, blind-tooled double fillet frame on boards, sewn on 5 supports, gold-tooled spine with gold-tooled brown leather labels and red sprinkled edges. 248; 240; 230; 256 pp. Full description

€ 2,950

French Literature Women History

Poetry in praise of education

LAFARGUE, Étienne de. Poëme sur l'éducation, dédié à M. Le Comte Charles, fils de M. Le Duc de Luynes.
Paris, Guillot, Librairie de Monsieur, 1788. Small 8vo. With full-page engraved plate showing a young boy studying at home with his private tutor and his father watching, 4 finely engraved headings for each stanza of the educational poem, and several charming woodcut tail-pieces to the added fables and miscellaneous poetry. Contemporary gold-tooled green morocco. [4], XVIII, 135, [9] pp. Full description

€ 1,950

Education & Pedagogy Fable Books Literature

More than 550 emblems explained

LA FEUILLE, Daniel de. Essay d'un dictionnaire contenant la connoissance du monde, des sciences universelles, et particulierement celle des medailles, des passions, des moeurs, des vertus et des vices, &c. Representé par des figures hyerogliphiques, expliquées en prose & en vers.
Wesel, Jacobus van Wesel, 1700. 4to. With engraved frontispiece and 48 engraved plates (incl. 2 double-page). Contemporary half calf, gold-tooled spine. [8], 144, [8] pp. Full description

€ 1,250

Emblem & Songbooks Emblems French Literature

Illustrated edition of Jean de la Fontaine's fables, intended for a young public

[LA FONTAINE, Jean de]. La Fontaine en estampes, ou nouvelle édition des fables, plus complète que les précédentes; précédée de la vie de l'auteur, extraite du nouvel ouvrage de M. Walckenaer.
Paris, Auguste Nepveu, 1821. 4to. With an engraving on the title-page (Aesop talking with the animals before a bust of La Fontaine) and 110 half-page engravings illustrating the fables. Contemporary half brown sheepskin, sewn on recessed supports, purple decorated paper sides, gold-tooled spine with title and author in gold, gilt edges, silk endpapers and paste-downs. "XXIV" [= XXVIII, pp. XXV-XXVI and XXVII-XXVIII are misbound), 462 pp. Full description

€ 3,500

Children's Books Fable Books

A masterpiece of rococo book illustration, with all images in the "covered" state,
a few rarer than the "uncovered"

LA FONTAINE, Jean de. Contes et nouvelles en vers.
Amsterdam [= Paris], [Joseph-Gérard Barbou], 1762. 2 volumes. 8vo. With engraved portraits of La Fontaine and Eisen and 80 engraved plates after drawings by Eisen and engraved by Aliamet, Baquoy, Choffard, Delafosse, Flipart, Lemire, Leveau, De Longueil and Ouvrier, and 4 vignettes and 53 head- and tailpieces by Pierre-Philip Choffard. An engraving of Le calendrier des vieillards in its découvert state is loosely inserted in volume 1. Contemporary gold-tooled red morocco, gilt edges. XIV, [2], 268, [2], 16; VIII, [2], 306, [8], [2 blank] pp. Full description

€ 15,000

Erotica French Literature

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