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Rare Philosophy Books for Sale Online
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Rare early printing of Richard Hooker's monumental Of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Politie
HOOKER, Richard.
Of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Politie. [Of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity].
London: Printed by William Standbye, [1622].
Early printing of this important work by the influential English theologian. Quarto, quarter morocco with gilt titles and ruling to the spine in seven compartments within raised bands, red morocco spine label lettered in gilt, engraved title, divisional titles, and woodcut initials. In very good condition. Bookplate and period ownership inscription. Rare.
Price: $4,000.00 Item Number: 130372
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"People go off to marvel at the height of mountains and the great waves of the sea and the broad courses of rivers, and the flow of the ocean, and the circuits of the stars: but they neglect themselves": C.S. Lewis' copy of Sir Thomas Browne's highly influential 17th century Christian confessional Religio Medici; with Lewis' ownership signature and notes throughout
BROWNE, Thomas. [C.S. Lewis].
Religio Medici and Other Essays by Sir Thomas Browne.
London: Chapman & Hall, Ltd, [1911].
C.S. Lewis' copy of Browne's celebrated 17th century "confession of Christian faith qualified by an eclectic and generally skeptical attitude" (The Oxford Companion). Octavo, original boards, paper spine label, gilt vignette to the front panel, tissue-guarded engraved frontispiece portrait of Browne. British author and theologian C.S. Lewis' copy with his ownership signature to the front free endpaper, "C.S. Lewis April 1919", underlines, marks, and footnotes to several pages, most notably a lengthy quote from The Confessions of St. Augustine to page 29: "(1) Et eunt homines mirari alta montium et ingentes fluctus maris et latissimos lapsus fluminum et oceani ambitum…
Price: $12,500.00 Item Number: 122430
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A LANDMARK IN THE HISTORY OF PRINTING, AND ONE OF THE GREATEST ILLUSTRATED BOOKS EVER PUBLISHED: FIRST EDITION OF THE MONUMENTAL NUREMBERG CHRONICLE; Published in 1493 and containing over 1800 splendid woodcuts illustrating the history of the world from the Creation of man to the invention of the printing press
SCHEDEL, Hartmann.
Liber Chronicarum [Nuremberg Chronicles].
Nuremberg: Anton Koberger, 1493.
First edition of the most fully realized illustrated book of the fifteenth century and one of the most impressive volumes ever published. Imperial folio, bound in three quarter calf with five raised bands to the spine, morocco title labels lettered in gilt to the spine and front panel, copiously illustrated with 1,809 splendid woodcuts by Wohlgemuth and Pleydenwurff (the teachers of Durer), some full page, others double-page, illustrating Schedel's year-by-year account of notable events in world history from the Creation to the year of publication, including the creation of Adam and Eve, birth of Jesus Christ, invention of printing at Mainz,…
Price: $92,000.00 Item Number: 143505
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“For anyone who loves intensely lives not in himself but in the object of his love, and the further he can move out of himself into his love, the happier he is": Exceptionally Rare first edition in English of Erasmus' in Praise of Folly; elaborately bound in full crushed levant morocco by Sangorski and Sutcliffe
ERASMUS, Desiderius. Translated by Sir Thomas Chaloner.
In Praise of Folie: Moriae Encomium. A book made in latine by the great clerke Erasmus Roterodame. Enlightened by Sir Thomas Chaloner, knight. [In Praise of Folly].
London: Thomas Berthelet, 1549.
First edition in English of one of the most notable and popular works of the Renaissance which played an important role in the beginnings of the Protestant Reformation and swiftly brought its author international fame. First printing with 'latine' and the printer's initials 'TB.' to the title page. Octavo, bound in full crushed levant morocco by Sangorski and Sutcliffe, gilt titles and elaborate gilt tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, triple gilt ruling to the front and rear panels, gilt turn-ins and inner dentelles, all edges gilt, wide woodcut border to the title page signed…
Price: $275,000.00 Item Number: 139476
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First edition in English of John Calvin's Commentarie upon S. Paules Epistles to the Corinthians
CALVIN, John.
A Commentarie upon S. Paules Epistles to the Corinthians.
London: Imprinted by Thomas Dawson for John Harison and George Byshop, 1577.
First edition in English of John Calvin's commentaries on the Pauline Epistles. Octavo, bound in full speckled calf with raised bands to the spine, all edges red, rebacked. Title within architectual woodcut border, woodcut initials. In very good condition. First editions are rare.
Price: $6,000.00 Item Number: 96188
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"REDESIGNING THE SHAPE OF HISTORY AUGUSTINE WOULD DOMINATE WESTERN THOUGHT FOR THE NEXT MILLENNIUM": RARE SECOND EDITION IN ENGLISH OF AUGUSTINES CITIE OF GOD
SAINT AUGUSTINE,.
Of the Citie of God: With the Learned Comments of Jo. Lod. Vives. [City of God].
London: Printed by G. Eld and M. Flesher, 1620.
Rare second edition in English of Augustine's monumental work. Quarto, bound in half calf, woodcut printer's device to title. Translated by John Healey. In very good condition, bookplates, a few examples of marginalia. A nice example of this scarce and important work.
Price: $5,500.00 Item Number: 144119
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A fine set of the works of Theodoretus; Each Beautifully Painted on the front and back of each panel
Opera Omnia. Ed. Jac. Sirmond (Volumes 1-4), and J. Garnier (Volume 5).
Paris: Sebastian and Gabriel Cramoisy, 1682-84.
A fine set of the works of Theodoretus, Bishop of Cyrus, beautifully painted on each panel. Quarto, five volumes, bound in full 17th-century vellum, both covers on each volume fully painted with a scene from the life of Christ, gilt titles and tooling to the spine, brown and black morocco lettering pieces. The first four volumes were edited by J. Sirmond and were published in 1642. The fifth volume, not published until 1684, was completed by Sirmond's fellow Jesuit Garnier and contains an auctarium, comprising fragments of commentaries and sermons and some additional letters, together with Garnier's five learned but…
Price: $27,500.00 Item Number: 140490
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"Virtue which is not supported with gravity gains no repute among men": Rare Early edition of The Morals of Confucius; A Cornerstone of Chinese Philosophy
CONFUCIUS,.
The Morals of Confucius, A Chinese Philosopher.
London: T. Horne, 1706.
Rare second edition in English of The Morals of Confucius. Small octavo, bound in full contemporary sheep contemporary sheep. In very good condition, toning to the extremities.
Price: $3,200.00 Item Number: 107212
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Rare fifth edition of Erasmus' Praise of Folly with numerous splendid engravings after Holbein
ERASMUS, Desiderius.
Moriae Encomium: Or, the Praise of Folly. Made in English from the Latin of Erasmus.
London: Printed for J. Wilford, 1735.
Rare fifth edition in English of Dutch Renaissance theologian Erasmus’ classic satire which influenced the beginnings of the Protestant Reformation. 16mo, bound in full calf with gilt titles and tooling to the spine, double gilt ruling to the front and rear panels, marbled endpapers, illustrated with 46 engraved plates after Hans Holbein, 6 folding, and 2 engraved portraits including the frontispiece of Erasmus. In very good condition. Small bibliographic descriptions tipped in, period ownership inscription.
Price: $1,250.00 Item Number: 133450
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Rare First Edition of Thomas A Kempis' The Imitation of Christ
A KEMPIS, Thomas.
The Christian Pattern, or the Imitation of Jesus Christ, being an abridgement of the works of Thomas a Kempis. By a Female Hand.
Germantown: reprinted by Christopher Sowr, 1749.
First American edition of The Imitation of Christ and the first printing of any work by a Kempis in America and one of the earliest works of Catholic Americana. In very good condition with some browning to the text and rubbing to the extremities.
Price: $3,000.00 Item Number: 112577
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RARE FIRST EDITION OF JONATHAN EDWARDS TWO DISSERTATIONS
EDWARDS, Jonathan.
Two Dissertations, I. Concerning the End For Which God Created the World. II. The Nature of True Virtue.
Boston: S. Kneeland, 1765.
First edition of this important work by Edwards. Small octavo, bound in half calf over marbled boards, raised bands, morocco spine label. In very good condition. Rare.
Price: $9,800.00 Item Number: 142014
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"But the main thing in view all along has been to vindicate the moral character of the Deity from the injurious representations, either of designing, or well-meaning but mistaken men" First edition of James Dana's Second response to Jonathan Edwards' The Freedom of the Will
DANA, James (Jonathan Edwards).
The “Examination of the Late Rev’d President Edwards’s Enquiry on Freedom of Will,” Continued.
New Haven: Printed for Thomas and Samuel Green, 1773.
First edition of American Protestant clergyman James Dana's second published response to Jonathan Edwards' Inquiry into the Modern Prevailing Notions of the Freedom of the Will, preceded by Dana's prior examination of the same subject published anonymously in 1770. Octavo, original three-quarter period calf over marbled boards, gilt titles to the spine, morocco spine labels, raised bands. A rare and desirable example illustrating the tensions that shaped the Evangelical Revival in eighteenth century America.
Price: $975.00 Item Number: 82405
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First Edition of Institutio Ad Doctrinam Christianam Liberaliter Discendam
JOHANN SALOMO SEMLER,.
Institutio Ad Doctrinam Christianam Liberaliter Discendam.
Halae Magdebvrgicae, 1774.
First edition. Octavo, three quarters leather over marbled boards. In very good condition.
Price: $400.00 Item Number: 2416
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First Edition of Triomphe de l'évangile ou mémoires d'un homme du monde revenu des erreurs du philosophisme moderne Révolution, religion naturelle, philosophie; Finely Bound
OLIVADèS [COMTE DE PILO],.
Triomphe de l’évangile, ou Mémoires d’un homme du monde, revenu des erreurs du philosophisme moderne; ouvrage où l’on combat d’une manière victorieuse les sophismes de l’incrédulité, et dans lequel on démontre la vérité de la religion catholique. [Triumph of the Gospel, or Memories of a man of the world, returned from the errors of modern philosophy; work in which one victoriously fights the fallacies of unbelief, and in which one demonstrates the truth of the Catholic religion].
Lyon: Chez Bruyset aîné et Buynand, 1805.
First edition of this philosophic defense of Catholicism. Octavo, 4 volumes. Bound in speckled calf, gilt title to the spine with red and green labels. Engraved frontispiece in volume one. In very good condition. Scarce.
Price: $300.00 Item Number: 59046
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Rare first edition of Marshman's The Works of Confucius; complete with his Dissertation on the Characters and Sounds of the Chinese Language
MARSHMAN, Joshua [Confucius].
The Works of Confucius; Containing the Original Text, With a Translation. To Which is Prefixed a Dissertation on the Chinese Language and Character. [The Analects of Confucius].
Serampore: Printed at the Mission Press, 1809.
First English translation of the Analects of Confucius complete with the rare Dissertation on the Chinese Language and Character, here bound in a separate volume. Quarto, two volumes bound in three quarter morocco over marbled boards with gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, illustrated with 2 folding charts on Chinese characters, 4 further tables on 2 folding leaves, postscript at rear. In fine condition. Exceptionally rare, particularly with Marshman's separately printed dissertation present including the tables and charts.
Price: $35,000.00 Item Number: 131224
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THE FIRST JEWISH TRANSLATION OF THE PENTATEUCH INTO ENGLISH
LEESER, Isaac.
The Law of God.
Philadelphia: C. Sherman, 5605, 1845-46.
First edition of the “first English translation of the Pentateuch in America,” the 1845 Hebrew-English Bible by one of the most prominent and influential figures in American Jewish history. Octavo, 5 volumes. Translated by Isaac Leeser. Bound in contemporary polished calf, gilt titles and tooling to the spine, rebacked. Lightly rubbed, moderate wear. A very nice example of a scarce and important work.
Price: $22,500.00 Item Number: 49020
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THE FIRST JEWISH TRANSLATION OF THE PENTATEUCH INTO ENGLISH
LEESER, Isaac.
The Law of God.
Philadelphia: C. Sherman, 5605, 1845-46.
First edition of the “first English translation of the Pentateuch in America,” the 1845 Hebrew-English Bible by one of the most prominent and influential figures in American Jewish history. Octavo, 5 volumes. Translated by Isaac Leeser. Bound in full contemporary calf, gilt titles and tooling to the spine. In near fine condition. A nice example, rare in contemporary binding.
Price: $18,500.00 Item Number: 78547
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"Mary Baker Eddy was far ahead of her time in the emphasis she placed upon positive thinking, a force which modern psychology was belated in recognizing": Mary Baker Eddy's Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures; inscribed by her to her cousin, the daughter of President Franklin Pierce
EDDY, Mary Baker.
Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures.
Boston: Published by the Author, 1886.
Early printing of the central text of the Christian Science which continues to rank as a best-seller to this day. Octavo, bound in contemporary three quarters morocco over marbled boards, gilt titles and tooling to the spine, marbled endpapers, all edges marbled. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the second free endpaper in the year of publication, "Mrs. F. McNeil Potter, with love from the Author, 1886." The recipient, Frances Maria McNeil Potter was the niece of President Franklin Pierce and his sometimes hostess in the White house, assisting First Lady Jane Pierce after the death of the president's…
Price: $15,000.00 Item Number: 90463
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Scarce first English edition of Leo Tolstoy's Patriotism and Christianity
TOLSTOY, Leo.
Patriotism and Christianity.
London: Walter Scott, Ltd., 1896.
First English edition of Tolstoy's important work on non-resistance. Octavo, original cloth. With a note to English readers by John C. Kenworthy. Scarce.
Price: $1,500.00 Item Number: 127590