Augsburg: Heirs of Jeremias Wolff 1740. Folio. 12 9/10 x 19 4/5 inches. First edition. 2 works bound in one volume. 11 engraved calligraphic title pages in French and German 10 in first work one in second text in French and German one engraved dedication leaf at beginning of first work 102 fine engraved plates after Kleiner 90 in the first work with 9 folding and 12 in the second work. Late nineteenth-century brown half Morocco over wood-grained paper boards gilt-framed spine compartments.<br/> <br/> First edition with 102 fine plates of a masterpiece of Baroque architecture: the Belvedere Palace and Gardens in Vienna brought to life by Salomon Kleiner's unequaled engravings. Together with the wonderful illustrations of the Prince's menagerie.<br/> <br/> These fine engravings depict a masterpiece of Baroque architecture: the Belvedere Palace and Gardens in Vienna summer home of Prince Eugene of Savoy. The masterwork of architect Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt Belvedere is displayed here in all its glory in artist Salomon Kleiner's detailed engravings of the exterior the garden and the many splendid rooms. The second work is a charming view of the Prince's menagerie filled with exotic animals and plants. Born into a noble French family--and rumored to be the illegitimate son of Louis XIV-- Eugene 1663-1736 was thwarted in his military ambitions by the Sun King's disfavor. Consequently he moved to Austria and offered his services to the Holy Roman Emperor. He became Field Marshal of the Austrian army and teacher of Frederick the Great. The rewards Eugene received for his military success enabled him to become a patron of Baroque architecture; the Belvedere planned and constructed by the most distinguished architects engineers landscapers and decorators was the grandest of his residences and a worthy rival to his nemesis Louis XIV's Versailles. Kleiner's scenes show the beautiful palace and grounds enlivened by fashionable figures of the sort Prince Eugene entertained at his many hunting parties. This delightful menagerie established in 1717 comes to life in Kleiner's engravings which depict chatty parrots stately elk exotic birds mischievous apes and a regal and rather disdainful lion.<br/> <br/> Berlin Katalog 2117. Brunet III.674. Goldschmidt XX.8.24. Graesse IV 28. Jessen 1060. Lewine p. 263. Lipperheide 686. MMA Bulletin 1929.XXIV pp.322-326. Nissen ZBI 2212 second work only. S.K.B. 2117. Univ. Cat. I.999. Heirs of Jeremias Wolff unknown
Auburn Buffalo Cincinnati: Derby and Miller; Derby Orton and Mulligan; Henry W. Derby 1853. First edition. First edition. First printing with no mention of additional printings in thousands at top of title page. 4 ads xvi 17-336pp. Bound in publisher's brown cloth spine lettered in gilt boards stamped in blind with original yellow coated endpapers. Illustrated with seven full page illustrations including the frontispiece of the author. Housed in a leather backed custom clamshell case. About Very Good with cloth worn along edges exposed boards along bottom edge rubbed spine lettering. Contents significantly foxed and printing quality of pages varies as is typical. A presentable copy of the sought-after first printing in its original binding with no discernible sophistications; quite rare thus. <br /> <br /> <p>A ex-slave memoir by an African American man who had been a free landowner in New York but during an 1841 trip to the nation's capitol was drugged kidnapped and sold into slavery. He lived for twelve years in bondage in the Red River region of Louisiana. Upon publication Frederick Douglass hailed his story as a work whose "truth is far greater than fiction. It chills the blood." Also the basis of an award-winning 2013 film. Derby and Miller; Derby, Orton and Mulligan; Henry W. Derby unknown