Hilmi, Ibrahim. Postcard. Yemen.Istanbul, circa 1910.

A very rare Ottoman postcard depicting a map of Yemen, including the Ottoman-dominated northern and western parts of the country (Sana'a, Taiz, and Al Hodeidah), as well as the British-dominated southern regions (Aden). The card was part of a series made by Ibrahim Hilmi, one of the premier Istanbul cartographers of the era.

Ibrahim Hilmi Cigiracan (1876-1963) was one of the most important publishers and cartographers of the late Ottoman Empire. Born in Tulcea (now in Romania), he founded his first printing shop in Istanbul in 1896, under the name "Kitaphane-i Islami" (Islamic Library), largely producing religious books. Subsequently, Hilmi became interested in military affairs, geography and history, and changed the name of his press to "Kitaphane-i Islam ve Askeri" (Islamic and Military Library). He published about 200 military books, and his atlases (especially his "Pocket Atlas") were among the most popular cartographic items throughout the empire. During WWI, Hilmi gained the affection of the public for his charitable programme of sending free books to poor children in Anatolia.

Hilmi's enterprise thrived until Atatürk's Republican regime nationalized the publishing of law and school books in the 1920s, undercutting the most lucrative part of his business. However, Hilmi left an enduring legacy, having published over a thousand books on a wide variety of topics over three decades.

Very good, overall clean and crisp, just some very light even toning and slight stains to verso.

[Philatelie]. - Acavalos, Alexandre, chief accountant of the Ottoman Bank (fl. 1890). Copy ledger of 378 autograph letters signed (press copies).Cairo, 1886-1902.

Extensive collection of outgoing letters in French, Greek, and Italian, mostly on matters of philately, created by Alexandre Acavalos, chief accountant of the Ottoman Bank in Cairo. Clearly, Acavalos spared no cost nor effort in building his stamp collection, contacting renowned international collectors (Martin de Henry), publishers (the Senf Brothers in Leipzig), editors (Edmond Frémy) and postal and bank clerks around the globe, from Haiti to Tabriz, from Alexandria to New York, and from London to Barcelona, Delft, Paris, Bologna, Vienna, and Belgrade. Acavalos frequently ordered rare stamps from the well-known companies of Stanley, Gibbons & Co. in London, Yvert & Tellier in Amiens, and The Scott Stamp & Coin Co. in New York; he corresponded with specialist dealers such as Erard Leroy d'Etiolles, Th. Lemaire, Béla Székula, Philippe Kosack, and V. Robert.

Often, Acavalos accompanies his requests with lists of stamps available for trading; cover letters provide information about specimens sent. Receipts, payment instructions, bank mandates, and orders of books and journals (including the bulletin of the "Société Internationale du Canal Maritime de Corinthe" in Paris, 24 June 1887) give evidence of Acavalos' wide-ranging interests and pertinacity. In 1900 he corresponds with Albert Coyette, president of the French Philatelic Society and secretary of the panel for organising the "Exposition Philatelique Internationale de Paris", about the shipping and safekeeping his collection, which is to be exhibited in Paris.

Mandeville, John. The voyages & travels of Sir John Mandevile, Knight, … to the Holy …London, 1696.

A rare 17th-century English edition, with about 60 different woodcut illustrations, of a classic and partly fictional 14th-century account of travels presented as voyages of Sir John Mandeville through Turkey, Egypt, Ethiopia, Syria, Persia, Arabia, India and the East Indies. According to the story he set off on his travels in 1322 from Saint Albans in England, returned in 1343, wrote the present account in 1364 and died in 1371. It was originally written in French and is thought to have been compiled from various sources by Jehan d'Outremeuse (1338-1400) of Liege. A 1371 manuscript survives and it first appeared in print under the title Itinerarius in Dutch (ca. 1477), French (1480), German (1480) and other languages, and in English in Richard Pynson's edition of ca. 1497/98. It includes many well-known stories and illustrations of monstrous people and animals in exotic lands: a man with only one enormous foot that he can use as a parasol, a dog-headed man, a man with his face in his chest, a girl who turns into a dragon, griffins, nine-metre giants, ants that gather gold, diamonds that mate and give birth to baby diamonds and much more that spoke to the imagination (though the ox-headed man is presented as an idol that was worshipped, rather than a fantastic beast). The book also includes genuine descriptions of the regions covered and gave many Europeans their first notions of the Near East, Middle East, India and East Indies. It shows carrier pigeons, an elephant and other recognizable or plausible scenes. It also incorporates and illustrates some biblical stories. The part on Arabia includes an account of the birth of Mohammed. Most of the present woodcuts are loosely and indirectly based on those in the 1481 Augsburg edition, partly in mirror image. The book went through dozens of editions in English and other languages. It reached more or less the present form with the 1650 London edition, which may have used the same woodblocks (we have not had an opportunity to compare them). The imprint of the present edition names four London publishers, and one of them (Conyers) also advertises his edition of William Lithgow's Nineteen years travels (1692) at the foot of the last page. The book was registered for these four publishers in the term catalogue for Trinity 1696, issued in June. The printing was probably shared between two different anonymous printers: exactly half way through the book, between quires I and K, the running heads, the textura type used for the main text and the roman drop capitals opening the chapters change. The 1684 edition by four London publishers (none named in the present edition) not only uses the same woodblocks but is also typographically almost identical to the first half of the present edition and no doubt came from the same printer. The drop capitals differ, but those in the present edition have not been recorded before 1688. Samuel Roycroft and James Orme both used them, and Roycroft used at least several of the other types in the first half. The book is printed on coarse laid paper with no watermark. Halliwell, in his 1869 edition of Mandeville, noted the present edition for its woodcuts and reproduced at least many of them from the Grenville copy now at the British Library. Only 5 other copies are known, all in U.S. libraries. Robert Riviere (1808-82) established his famous bindery in Bath and moved it to London in 1840, gaining a reputation as one of England's best binders for the quality of his materials and workmanship. He signed his bindings "Bound by Riviere" from 1860 to 1880 (thereafter Riviere & son).

With an early owner's inscription faded on the title-page and 2 armorial bookplates on the paste-down: Sir Edward Sullivan (1822-85), Lord Chancellor of Ireland, and Allan Heywood Bright (1862-1941) in Liverpool, a member of Parliament, along with a loosely inserted signed autograph letter (ca. 1900) from Bright's brother Hugh Bright (1867-1935) in Leeds, giving him the book and noting that he bought it at Young's "some years ago". With 8 leaves with their margins extended at the fore-edge and foot ( N2-O4, Q1, probably sophisticated from another copy of the same edition), sometimes shaving a catchword or quire signature, the title-page and last page somewhat worn and dirty, but further in good condition, with a few minor marginal chips and tears restored or repaired and 3 leaves with minor water stains in one corner. The spine is slightly faded but the binding is still very good. A rare edition of Mandeville's voyages, illustrated with about 60 woodblocks cut ca. 1650.

Dinkel, Josef. Neueste Wagen nach deutscher, französischer, und englischer Bauart.Augsburg, 1845-1850.

Complete set of pattern books for coaches; the most beautiful and comprehensive series of its kind ever published. The personal copy of Duke Maximilian of Bavaria, to whom the work was dedicated. Exceedingly rare; only three complete copies are known in libraries and collections worldwide (the copy in the Bavarian State Library is incomplete, containing fascicules I-IV only). The magnificent work by the Munich draughtsman contains one hundred designs for sophisticated state coaches and everyday vehicles. The plates, beautifully coloured and many of them heightened in gold and silver, show open and closed coaches with two or four wheels, transport carriages, omnibuses, company cars, sleighs, railway carriages and a hearse; the plate printed in gold shows a sample of a monogram for coachmen's blankets or coach doors.

"Neueste Wagen" was most probably commissioned by Vinzenz Zanna & Comp.

publishers in Augsburg specialized in the distribution of maps since 1833 - and it is assumed that the careful hand-colouring of the plates was done on their premises. Dinkel's work, known in a few copies only, appeared in eight fascicules, each containing 12 and the last one 16 outline lithographs. Zanna dedicated Dinkel's work to Duke Maximilian of Bavaria (1808-88), father of the famous Empress Sisi. The dedication leaf is known in two versions: the paper embossed with a lozenge-shaped pattern recalling the Bavarian colors (as here) and with coloured lettering but without embossing.

Original wrappers slightly stained near the edges, otherwise a perfect copy from the Library of the Dukes of Bavaria at Tegernsee Castle.

Hilmi, Ibrahim. Postcard. Northern Arabian Gulf.Istanbul, ca. 1910.

This very rare Ottoman postcard features a map of the Northern Arabian Gulf, including what is today Qatar, Bahrain, the Saudi Arabian Gulf Coast (including Dhahran), Kuwait, Southern Iraq (including Basra), as well as south-western Iran. Interestingly, it shows the Arab Gulf States as being part of the Ottoman Empire, when in reality they were already British Protectorates. The card was part of a series made by Ibrahim Hilmi, one of the premier Istanbul cartographers of the era.

Very good, overall clean and crisp, just some very light even toning to verso.

Album amicorum of Hans Georg Mergenthaler.Schintau and Melk, 1591-1597.

A fine late 16th-century friendship album using an interleaved set of equestrian engravings (from a series by Abraham de Bruyn) to form a pre-illustrated album into which the owner's friends and eminent acquaintances could inscribe their names. While the humanistic tradition of such "alba" would reach its height in the mid-18th century and continued well into the early 19th, the fashion for alba containing woodcut or engraved illustrations to nest among the entries was a phenomenon of the later 16th and early 17th century. They could be acquired ready-made from several publishers, but as often as not, an owner might choose to assemble his own from material at hand. In this case, the Swabian pharmacist H. G. Mergenthaler used a selection from De Bruyn's "Diversarum Gentium Armatura Equestris" (Lipperheide 2898), published in 1577, fourteen years before he began his album, to form a record that charmingly interweaves the portraits of horsemen from throughout the world with the handwritten entries by the learned friends and acquaintances he made during his journeys as a student.

The eldest son of a pharmacist in Göppingen, in the duchy of Württemberg, Hans Georg Mergenthaler (b. 1566) took up his father's profession and in 1591 established himself in the Hungarian village of Sempte (now Šintava, Slovakia) and later in Melk in Lower Austria. "Mergenthaler's album provides a window into the jaunty travelling years of a young journeyman pharmacist. He inserted empty leaves into a fragmentary costume book, the engravings of which depict cavaliers, noblemen and other horsemen of various nations, thus obtaining an 86-leaf small quarto volume which he used as a friendship album to commemorate his travelling years as well as his friendships in later life. Despite their brevity the inscriptions provide vivid evidence of his life and circumstances. Born in Göppingen, he arrived in January 1591 at the small market town of Schintau in the Hungarian county Nyitra, where his cousin Job Rieder lived, and soon rose to the position of pharmacist to Count Salm" (cf. Blümml).

Contents: fol. 1r Johann Marx Rieter from Kornburg, 16 March 1596, with a painted coat of arms; 5r "Jodocus Pinsintus Bambergensis", pharmacist, 20 June 1595; 9r Bernard Buzin from Brussels; 17r Gregor Hartner, 1591 (calls Mergenthaler "his dear son"); 19v Egidius Netsch von Wartperg, 1594; 20v Hans Heinrich von Hubegk, 12 July 1591 ("Frisch, frey, frölich / Arm vnndt erlich"); 26v Matthias Weihenmair, 30 March 1591 ("Veracht mich nit vnnd die Meinen / Beschau vor Dich vnnd die Deinen / Sihe an Dich, vnnd nicht mich / Thu ich Vnrecht, so hüet Dich / Vrteil auch nit, wie Du mich siehst..."); 44v Hans Elliot, 12 March 1597; 53v Job Rieder, 22 Feb. 1591; 57v Jörg Zneymer, 22 Feb. 1591 ("Vil Wunder im Weinfaß"); 58r Adam Vuechselmeyer, 24 Feb. 1591 (Mergenthaler's predecessor at Sempte, quoting Martial, with a riddle, "Si caput est currit, Ventrem coniunge uolabit / Adde pedem commedis, et sine ventre bibis", and the solution in cipher: "Muscatum"); 60v Christoph Lemmel, 26 May 1591 ("Spes mea in Christo"); 64v Thomas Mayr, 28 Feb. 1596; 73v Hans Gayer, 15 Jan. 1591 (the earliest entry, in verse: "Offt einer kriegt und suecht sein Nutzen / Bis im auff d: Hauben wüerd ein Schmutzen / Drumb es dem gar ein süeß Ding ist / Der Krieg erfuer zu diser Frist"); 82v Veit Heyninger, 1591; 84r Georg Börkh, 1595; 85r Georg Megklin from Kempten, 12 Feb. 1591; 86r Joh. Martin Pfeffer, 12 Aug. 1591 ("Virtute decet, non sanguine, niti"); 86r Luitprecht Hilenpegg, 1591 ("G.E.H.", treasurer of the lordship of Schintau).

Of the 76 engravings in De Bruyn's costume series, Mergenthaler used 51; they include 13 plates of oriental interest showing Arabian, Ottoman, and Persian horsemen. All leaves mounted on strong paper, many showing small tears to the borders and paper flaws, some leaves with more significant loss. Occasional fading to ink; some foxing and stains. Covers rubbed and bumped, edges irregular. A charming survival.

Simpson, William / Kaye, John William. India Ancient and Modern. A Series of Illustrations of the Country and …London, 1867.

A fine set of Simpson's views of India, monumental even in the reduced form in which the financial circumstances of the times forced the publisher to recast the work, originally planned to comprise five times the present scope.

Famed for his pictures of the Crimean war theatre, Simpson was commissioned to illustrate a work on India that was to rival David Roberts's "Holy Land". He arrived in Calcutta in 1859 and joined the party of the Governor-General, Lord Canning, on a tour of the area where the mutiny had taken place. Over three years he visited much of the subcontinent, including the Himalayas, Kashmir, Ceylon, Tibet and its Buddhist temples, and upon his return submitted 250 watercolours to his publishers. However, in the wake of the Panic of 1866, the wealthy English patrons and subscribers on whom Day & Son had banked shrunk away from so costly an undertaking, and the publisher - already under pressure since cheaper wood engravings had turned chromolithographs into a luxury - issued a series of merely 50 chromolithographed plates. Simpson's original watercolours, much to the artist's chagrin, were ultimately sold off as bankrupt stock. The work remains a magnificent achievement, presenting a detailed and wide-ranging representation of India immediately after the Sepoy Rebellion.

Light spotting to tissue guards; some plates lightly soiled in the margins with very occasional fraying to edges. Bindings professionally repaired and sympathetically rebacked with the original spine laid back. Removed from the Library of the Birmingham Assay Office, one of the four assay offices in the United Kingdom, with their inconspicuous library stamp to the flyleaves. Very rare: we have traced only three other copies of this work at auction in nearly 50 years.

Florus, Lucius Annaeus. Lucii Flori bellorum Romanorum libri quattuor ex vetustissimo exemplari …Vienna, 23 July - 13 Sept. 1511.

I: Pretty edition by Johann Camers; published only two days after Cuspinianus's more common Vienna edition (which was printed by J. Winterburger). With a dedication by the publishers to Francesco II Sforza, about "ars illa imprimendi". Denis explains the simultaneous publication of two Florus editions in Vienna by a possible quarrel between Camers and Cuspinianus. Slightly browned and fingerstained; numerous marginialia and annotations by a contemporary humanist's hand.

II: Second 16th century edition. An epic recasting of the Acts of the Apostles, explaining the stories with far-fetched allegories and numerology. First quire misbound (A1, 5, 2, 6); wants ff. A3-4. Waterstained throughout. Title-page and beginning have remargined paper defects; numerous marginialia and notes by a contemporary humanist's hand.

III: Rare Strasbourg edition of Sallust. Before the last leaf (with a brief Life of the author and the colophon), this copy contains an additional leaf from Schürer's 1513 Sallust edition (VD 16, S 1368), with a different Life of Sallust and the colophon of that edition. Title-page somewhat stained; numerous marginalia by a contemporary humanist's hand.

IV: First work of the Italian-English humanist, first printed in 1498: one of the most popular Renaissance collections of proverbs. Somewhat browned and stained; occasional waterstains. Some passages in Greek.

V: Early edition of this oft-printed principal work: a veritable encyclopaedia of humanist memorial culture, treating the origins of philosophy, medicine, astrology, pharmacy, magic, etc. "Remplie de détails et d'anecdotes curieuses" (Caillet III, 675).

Slightly browned and waterstained; last leaf professionally remargined. Altogether a fine sammelband on classical and neo-Latin literature and historiography in a contemporary binding.

Reger, Max, composer and conductor (1873-1916). 89 autograph letters and postcards signed.Leipzig, Meiningen, Tegernsee and other places, 1909-1915.

Remarkable series of 89 autograph letters and postcards to his publishers Hugo and Gustav Bock. To judge from the catalogue of Reger's letters made available online by the Max-Reger-Portal, only some 30 items in the present collection would appear to be recorded or published: some of them are to be found, often only in extract form, in Lotte Taube's "Max Regers Meisterjahre (1909-1916)" (1941); others survive institutionally in Meiningen in the form of transcripts. The correspondence reveals in great detail Reger's relationship with the Berlin publishing firm of Bote & Bock, discussing many of Reger's compositions, including op. 76, 82, 100, 106, 112, 113, 115, 117, 118, 120, 123, 125, 126, 128, 129, 130, some letters with musical examples.

Hugo Bock (1848-1932) had run the venerable German publishing house of Bote & Bock from the age of 23 and was largely responsible for building the company's international reputation; Gustav Bock (1882-1953) was Hugo's eldest son. In 1908, the year before the present correspondence begins, the company acquired the firm of Lauterbach & Kuhn in Leipzig, and thus the rights to much of Reger's music. This move angered Reger, who made it his aim to end his relationship with the company as quickly as possible. In the end, up to 1913, Bote & Bock published Reger's works bearing the opus numbers 103b to 129, among them the third clarinet sonata (op. 107), the three Geistliche Gesänge (op. 110), as well as the great Meiningen orchestral works. The last letter in the series dates from August 1915; only nine months later the composer was dead.

Some letters docketed by the recipients, some with punch holes, a few newspaper cuttings. Overall in good condition.

Zwemer, Samuel. Arabia: the Cradle of Islam. Studies in the geography, people and politics …Edinburgh & London, preface dated: Dec. 1900.

An account of the history, geography, religion, and political and social situation of the Middle East, and especially of the Arabian Peninsula, from a Christian missionary point of view. This information is presented alongside accounts of the author's experiences, and it is illustrated with images of local peoples, landscapes and examples of Arabic script and music. According to the preface, this second edition of Zwemer's first work, first published in 1899/1900, was published in order to correct some minor errors that had made their way into the first edition because of the physical distance between the author and the publishers. At the time of publication, Zwemer was doing missionary work in Arabia, while his work was being published in the U.S. The present copy was published in Edinburgh and London, but apparently (according to the verso of the title-page) printed by the Caxton Press in New York.

Reverend Samuel Marinus Zwemer (1867-1952), sometimes nicknamed "the Apostle to Islam", was an American missionary, traveller and scholar. He was a part of the Reformed Church of America, meaning that his beliefs and later missionary work were rooted in Calvinistic traditions, and he was ordained within that church in 1890. Together with James Cantine and John G. Lansing, Zwemer founded the Arabian Mission, which was active from 1889 until 1913. During that time, Zwemer was active in Iraq, Bahrein, and several locations in Arabia. He also worked in Egypt and travelled extensively throughout Asia Minor. From 1929 until his retirement at the age of 70 in 1937 he taught at the Princeton Theological Seminary, as a professor of missions and as a professor of the history of religion.

Binding rubbed, soiled and slightly damaged around the corners, edges foxed, water stain in the top margin of the first leaves (until p. 14), hinges weak. With an inscription in German on the first flyleaf dated 17 January 1904; cut-out picture of a Bedouin woman pasted on the verso of the half-title.

Friedell, Egon, Austrian writer (1878-1938). "Die Reise in die Vergangenheit". Autograph manuscript, signed within the …No place, 1935.

Original manuscript of the unfinished first draft of Friedell's science fiction novella "Die Reise mit der Zeitmaschine", a wry homage to H. G. Wells's 1895 classic "The Time Machine" which purportedly reproduces the Time Traveller's narrative of his later journeys. Friedell signs his name repeatedly in the spoof correspondence between himself and Wells. As the cardboard envelope shows, Friedell had sent his manuscript to Zsolnay in the autumn of 1935, but was apparently turned down - since Hitler had seized power in 1933, German and Austrian publishers had become wary of Jewish authors, and none dared handle a work by so conspicuous a member of the Viennese fin-de-siècle cabaret and café culture reviled by the Nazis. Nevertheless, Friedell extensively revised his manuscript, and the later version was published from his posthumous papers by R. Piper & Co. early in 1946, eight years after the author's suicide and only months before Wells's death (the book bears the military censorship imprint, "Published under Military Government Information Control License [...] 6870th District Information Services Control Command, U.S. Army"). An English translation, by Eddy C. Bertin, appeared in 1972 ("The Return of the Time Machine", New York: DAW Books). Two years later, this unique piece of German-language science fiction was re-published by Diogenes in Switzerland, who have kept it in print ever since ("Die Rückkehr der Zeitmaschine", last reprinted in 2009).

The present first version (dedicated to "All Kantians!"), which differs markedly from the published text, has hitherto not been studied. The developed story ends at the point at which the Time Traveller picks up the Sunday Times (corresponding to the ninth of the eleven chapters of the printed version). Several closely written additional pages contain further colour-coded notes, fragments and keywords for use in the subsequent narrative, some of which are so prophetically accurate that the present-day reader can hardly resist the notion of Friedell having stepped into a Time Machine of his own: "the future: radioactivity, smashing the atom [...] Einstein".

Occasional insignificant wrinkles; perfectly preserved. Includes a copy of the printed first edition.

Tosti, Francesco Paolo, Italian composer and educator (1846-1916). 2 autograph letters signed.London, 9 Feb. 1908 and n. d.

The charming dated letter to an unnamed friend was to congratulate him on his wife and to introduce a singer named Violet Clarke: "D'abord toutes mes chaleureuses félicitations pour la belle et aimable femme, que j'espère avoir le plaisir d'entendre un de ces jours. Voici une charmante amie à moir, Miss Violet Clarke. Elle chante bien et a une jolie voix. Met toi à ses ordres. Tâche de lui être utile, et ton vieux copain te sera reconnaisant [!]".

The second letter to a Miss Edwards, according to the envelope, is a curious mix of French and Italian. Tosti apologizes for having to move an appointment due to rehearsals for a concert with the famous soprano Emma Nevada, her daughter Mignon Nevada, and other artists, complaining of his bad luck: "Absolumment je n'ai pas de chance ! L'uomo propone e la donna dispone ; dice il proverbio ! Io invece accomodo a mio modo il il proverbio, in questo caso, e dico : Un povero Maestro si propone di passare un agréable après-midi, e le stelle artiste dispongono il contrario. reve. Devo domani nell'après-midi fare una ripetizione (per un Concerto da Lady Scott di Martedi sera) con l'Albani [Emma Albani] con Nevada con De Loria [?] e con Nevada [...]". If the rehearsals were to take place in his house, he would have invited her to assist, but as they were not, Tosti asks the recipient to visit him some other day, also sending greetings to a Miss Nox.

Largely forgotten today, Tosti was the most popular composer of songs in England around the turn of the century and a highly respected musician. Having already gained a good reputation at the court in Rome, Tosti migrated to London in 1875 and was appointed singing master to the Royal family in 1880. By 1885 his songs were extremely popular in Victorian England and he received staggering fees from his publishers. Tosti was appointed professor at the Royal Academy of Music in 1894 and was knighted by his friend King Edward VII in 1908.

On stationery with embossed letterhead "2. Mandeville Place W." Traces of folds. The letter to Miss Edwards with traces of former mounting.

Rimsky-Korsakov, Nikolai, Russian composer (1844-1908). Autograph letter signed.Brussels, 13 Mar 1900.

Insightful letter to the Russian-French journalist Michel Delines in Nice, concerning rehearsals in Brussels, obligations in St Petersburg, and the possibility of staging his operas at La Monnaie in Brussels under the forthcoming directorate of Maurice Kufferath. Rimsky-Korsakov was rehearsing "daily the programme of the concert" after which he would have to return to St Petersburg, as he was "obliged to attend the rehearsals of two symphony concerts", complaining that, "as a professor at the Conservatory", he is "always busy and obliged to be there". Concerning the staging of his operas in Brussels, Rimsky-Korsakov stresses that it is "premature to talk about it, because the theatre has not yet passed under the directorate of Kufferath". In addition, the librettos would have to be translated, "which depends on the publishers (Belaieff and Bessel)". In closing, Rimsky-Korsakov promises to "see to it that Belaieff" sends Delines "the scores of his operas that he does not know yet" but declines a visit in Paris due to his aforementioned obligations.

Rimsky-Korsakov first met Michel Delines in the summer of 1889 when he conducted two concerts on the occasion of the World Exhibition. Delines, born as Mikhael Osipovich Ashkenazi (1851-1914), had been active in revolutionary circles in Odessa and went into exile in 1878, eventually settling in Paris. There he made a name for himself as a journalist and as a promoter and translator of Russian literature, including works of Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky. In 1888, Delines was introduced to Tchaikovsky and subsequently started to promote Russian music in his new home. He translated the libretto of "Yevgeny Onegin" and facilitated its French premiere in Nice in 1895. As this beautiful letter shows, Delines was also eager to promote Rimsky-Korsakov's music in the francophone world. The composer appreciated Delines' efforts, including a translation of his opera "Sadko". In his autobiography, Rimsky-Korsakov has warm words for the journalist: "We also made the acquaintance of Michel Delines, subsequently translator of Onyegin and of my Sadko. With the exception of Delines, all these acquaintanceships proved most superficial [...] Delines was a kind man, danced attendance upon us, aided us in many things" (My Musical Life, New York 1945, pp. 303f.).

On stationery with lithographed letterhead of the "Hotel Metropole Bruxelles". Traces of folds; minor tears to the vertical fold.

Hilmi, Ibrahim. Memâlik-i Osmânîye cep atlasi. Devlet-i `Aliye-i Osmânîyenin ahvâl-i …Istanbul, 1907 CE = 1323 Rumi.

This edition of Hilmi's "Pocket Atlas" captures the Ottoman Empire during the twilight of the Hamidian Era, when it still controlled territories on three continents, extending from Albania to Yemen. With 64 highly attractive colour lithographic plates, the atlas features an especially extensive collation of thematic maps and diagrams, more that we have encountered in other issues, including detailed maps of the empire's various vilayets. Notably, the book's coverage of the Arabian Peninsula is excellent, with a double-page map of the entire peninsula; a custom map of the route of the Hejaz Railway (due to be extended as far south as Medina in 1908); a map of the Basra Vilayet (with southern Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar, as well as parts of today's Saudi Arabia); as well as separate maps of Yemen and Asir.

Binding worn with a few chips of minor loss, especially along hinges, but holding firm; old repairs to lower margin of upper cover. Internally light, even toning to text pages and some marginal chips to few leaves and plates, not affecting printed area. Maps generally clean and bright, just some offsetting to 4 maps. A fine edition.

Krauss, Johann Ulrich. Heilige Augen- und Gemüths-Lust: vorstellend alle Sonn- Fest- und feyertägliche …Augsburg, 1706.

First edition and a superb luxury copy of Krauss's emblematic interpretation of Biblical scenes entitled "Holy Delight of the Eye and Heart", which represents one of the high points of the Baroque period in Southern Germany. All the engravings are specially printed on thick card paper and beautifully coloured in gouache and watercolour, heightened in gold.

Johann Ulrich Krauss (1655-1719) was one of the most successful engravers and publishers at Augsburg in the latter part of the 17th century. This monumental emblem book was conceived as a suite to his famous Picture Bible or Bilderbibel (1698-1700) and follows the same illustrative formula, in which the upper portion of each plate contains an illustration of a Bible scene and the lower portion an engraved circular emblem. Each plate is devoted to a different Saint's day, and each emblem is printed within an elaborate cartouche or frame (the frames serve to emphasise the painterly aspect of these coloured scenes), itself often incorporating small medallion vignettes or emblems. In his artistic style Krauss's ornamental engravings - represented here by the varied and imaginative emblem cartouches - were widely influential in Germany, through their use as models for cabinetmakers, woodworkers and other craftsmen. In this coloured copy, those engravings with frames particularly serve to emphasise the painterly aspect of the scenes.

The artistic colouring of this copy adds expressive details and nuances of light, hue and shadow not supplied by the engravings themselves. It was likely executed, possibly under the artist's direction, either for presentation to a high-ranking patron or on commission for a wealthy customer. To avoid bleed-through of the colour the plates were specially printed on heavy, card-like paper, making this copy nearly twice as thick as ordinary copies. With its characteristic German Baroque palette of delicate pinks and blues and rich greens, enhanced by sparingly but gorgeously applied touches of gold, the colouring transforms many of the pictorial illustrations into veritable miniature paintings.

A coloured copy of Krauss's Bilderbibel, also on thick paper, is recorded (cf. Tenschert catalogue XLVIII, 98), but we can trace no other coloured copies of the present edition. In his 1933 study of the illustration of the Bilderbibel and its suites, Otto Reichl made no mention of any coloured copies.

Occasional minor marginal soiling or paper discoloration, small marginal repairs to 2 text leaves, plate 32 with small light stain, small tear to head of spine; else fine.

Andersen, Hans Christian, Danish poet (1805-1875). Autograph letter signed.Denmark, 31 Mar 1870.

To General Christensen, in Danish. Andersen states that it has been a "peculiar pleasure" to make his correspondent's acquaintance, remarking "There are men to whom we feel drawn at once at the first meetings, and who become dear to us, and you are such a man. It is wonderful to me to think of, that we will probably never meet again, for I don't think I will ever come to America, although I am certainly not wanting in the desire". The author further adds that he promised Christensen's wife a small bouquet, "but the flowers must be fresh; it is the colour grouping that has an effect, if the flowers are dried the effect is mostly gone. I must therefore choose such colours that will keep best, but the appearance at best is not promising; yet it is flowers and greens from Danish soil, and my cordial greeting, and remembrance of the land of your birth, you must take as an evidence of my sincere good will" and also writes "You will soon depart for the great land beyond the ocean, bring my friends, old and young, my heartfelt love, and if you meet Mr. Marcus Spring and his wife Rebecca, remember me to them [...] Remember me also to the publishers of the Riverside Magazine and my dear friend there, Mr. Horace C. Scudder [...]".

Accompanied by a contemporary English translation in the hand of Christensen and also including an A.L.S. by Christensen, two pages, 8vo, Copenhagen, 7th April 1903, to Miss. M. D. Holliday in Brooklyn, New York, in English. Christensen states that he is anxious to meet his correspondent's wishes, as a proof of his friendship, and sends her "a letter which I received [from] Hans Christian Andersen more than 32 years ago, on my first visit to my native city after 20 years absence", further commenting "It is a valuable memento indeed - the signatures of the roy[al?] persons are very difficult, almost impossible to obtain [...] But Andersen's letter is worth them all!" - Marcus Spring (1810-1874) American Cotton Merchant, creator of the Raritan Bay Union, a utopian community in New Jersey. Husband of Rebecca Buffum (1812-1911) from 1836.

Horace Scudder (1838-1902) American Man of Letters and Editor, best known for his children's books.

All three letters are slightly worn to the edges, evidently a result of them having been removed from an album, only very slightly affecting a few words of text, but not the signatures.