Wells, H.G

The Undying Fire: A Contemporary Novel.

London : Cassell and Company, Ltd, 1919.

First British edition of Wells’ philosophical reimagining of the Book of Job set against the moral and scientific crises of the modern world. Octavo, original publisher’s green cloth. In very good condition, signature to the front free endpaper.

Kingsley, Charles

Twenty-Five Village Sermons.

London : John W. Parker, 1849.

First edition of this collection of mid-19th-century sermons. Duodecimo, bound in three quarters  morocco over marbled boards by Tout & Sons with gilt titles and floral tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, gilt ruling to the front and rear panels, top edge gilt, marbled endpapers. In near fine condition, bookplateContinue reading "Twenty-Five Village Sermons."

Thirteenth to Fifteenth Century Illuminated Book of Hours Leaf Book.

.

Exceptionally rare illuminated Book of Hours leaf book, containing various illuminated leaves from several Books of Hours, most executed in France. Duodecimo, bound in full late 19th century velvet, script on vellum, illuminated. Comprised of 30 individual leaves ruled in black and red ink and culled from 5 Books of Hours, including one prayer bookContinue reading "Thirteenth to Fifteenth Century Illuminated Book of Hours Leaf Book."

Hitchens, Christopher

God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything.

New York : Twelve/ Hatchette Book Group, 2007.

First edition of this classic polemic by Hitchens. Octavo, original boards. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the title page, “For Linda Heheman Christopher Hitchens.” Fine in a near fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Anne Twomey.

The Entry of Christ into Jerusalem Devotional Painting.

.

Rare late 18th to early 19th-century devotional painting on panel depicting the entry of Christ into Jerusalem. Oil and tempera on thick wood panel, devotional painting in the iconographic tradition. In good condition with scattered chipping and wear.

Edwards, Jonathan

Twenty Sermons, on Various Subjects.

Edinburgh : Printed for M. Gray, 1789.

Rare early Edinburgh printing of Jonathan Edwards theological collection of sermons. Octodecimo, bound in full contemporary calf. In good condition.

Kingsley, Charles

Politics for the People.

London : John W. Parker, 1848.

First edition of this collection of essays and sermons on political reform in England. Octavo, bound in three quarters turkey morocco over marbled boards with gilt titles and floral tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, top edge gilt, marbled endpapers. In near fine condition with light rubbing, bookplate to theContinue reading "Politics for the People."

West, Stephen [Jonathan Edwards]

An Essay on Moral Agency: Containing Remarks on a Late Anonymous Publication, Entitled, An Examination of the Late President Edward’s Inquiry on Freedom of Will.

Salem : Printed by Thomas C. Cushing, 1794.

Second edition of this work defending Jonathan Edwards treatise Freedom of the Will. Octavo, bound in full calf with gilt titles to the spine in six compartments within gilt bands, morocco spine label. In very good condition, bookplate to the front pastedown.

Spink, Kathryn. [Mother Teresa]

For the Brotherhood of Man, Under the Fatherhood of God: Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Her Missionaries of Charity & Her Co-Workers.

Surrey : Colour Library International, 1981.

First edition of this work regarding Mother Teresa. Octavo, original cloth, illustrated. Lengthily inscribed by Mother Teresa in the year of publication on the front free endpaper, “My dear Sisters, Let us love Jesus with undivided love and others as He loves each one of us. God bless you, M. Teresa mc, 6/7/81.” Near fineContinue reading "For the Brotherhood of Man, Under the Fatherhood of God: Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Her Missionaries of Charity & Her Co-Workers."

Merton, Thomas

The Seven Storey Mountain.

New York : Harcourt, Brace & World, 1948.

Early printing of the author’s classic work. Octavo, original cloth. Very good in a very good price-clipped dust jacket, bookplate to the front free endpaper.

Translated by George Sale

The Koran, Commonly Called the Alcoran of Mohammed, Translated into English Immediately from the Original Arabic; with Explanatory Notes, Taken from the Most Approved Commentators.

London : Printed by C. Ackers for J. Wilcox, 1734.

First edition of George Sale’s important translation of the Koran, the first to translate the original text directly from the Arabic into English. Quarto, bound in full contemporary calf, rebacked, morocco spine label within five raised bands, folding engraved map with inset view of Mecca, engraved folding plate with plan and view of Mecca, 3Continue reading "The Koran, Commonly Called the Alcoran of Mohammed, Translated into English Immediately from the Original Arabic; with Explanatory Notes, Taken from the Most Approved Commentators."

Leeser, Issac

Discourses on the Jewish Religion.

Philadelphia : Sherman & Co, 1836.

Rare first edition of one of the ‘major builders of American Judaism’, Isaac Leeser’s Discourses on the Jewish Religion. Octavo, volume I, bound in full morocco. In very good condition with some toning throughout, Philip Sufrin & Sons Co. bookbinder’s stamp to the front pastedown, and a previous owner’s decorations to the fore edges.

Jones, James Athearn

Traditions of the North American Indians: Being a Second and Revised Edition of ‘Tales of an Indian Camp’.

London : Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, 1830.

The second and best edition of this firsthand account of Native American traditions and folklore. Duodecimo, three volumes bound in contemporary three quarter green morocco over marbled boards with gilt titles and ruling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, beautifully etched frontispieces by W. H. Brooke in each volume, illustrated withContinue reading "Traditions of the North American Indians: Being a Second and Revised Edition of ‘Tales of an Indian Camp’."

Illuminated Czech Prayer Book.

[Czech Republic] c. 1830.

Rare wonderfully illustrated Czech prayerbook. Duodecimo, bound in half leather over gray boards with approximately forty-five pages of added prayers appended and without all leaves before page twenty-five, illustrated with botanical decorations, calligraphic rubrics and borders ruled in red, and two full-page, had-colored illustrations of the penitent Mary Magdalene and a IHS monogram surrounded byContinue reading "Illuminated Czech Prayer Book."

Hopkins, Samuel [Jonathan Edwards]

The Life and Character of the Late Reverend, Learned, and Pious Mr. Jonathan Edwards, President of the College of New-Jersey. Together with Extracts From His Private Writings & Diary, and Also Seventeen Select Sermons on Various Important Subjects.

Northampton : Andrew Wright for S. & E. Butler, 1804.

Finely bound edition of this biographical account of Jonathan Edwards’ life, ministry, and theological contributions. Octodecimo, bound in full calf with gilt titles and ruling to the spine in six compartments within raised bands, morocco spine labels. In very good condition with light rubbing and toning, annotations from the previous owner in the margins toContinue reading "The Life and Character of the Late Reverend, Learned, and Pious Mr. Jonathan Edwards, President of the College of New-Jersey. Together with Extracts From His Private Writings & Diary, and Also Seventeen Select Sermons on Various Important Subjects."

The Holy Bible, Conteining the Old Testament and the New. Newly Translated out ot the Originall Tongues: and with the former Translation diligently compared and revised By his Majesties Special commandement. Appointed to be read in Churches.

Imprinted at London : Robert Barker, Printer to the Kings most Excellent Majestie, 1613 [-1612].

Exceptionally rare 1613 printing of Robert Barker’s Geneva Bible. Quarto, bound in full contemporary calf with elaborate gilt decorations to the spine in six compartments within raised bands, gilt ruling and panelling to the front and rear panels with flueron cornerpieces, gilt turn-ins, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt, ribbon bound in. Two title pages withinContinue reading "The Holy Bible, Conteining the Old Testament and the New. Newly Translated out ot the Originall Tongues: and with the former Translation diligently compared and revised By his Majesties Special commandement. Appointed to be read in Churches."

Eliot, T.S

Ash-Wednesday.

New York : The Fountain Press Inc./London Faber & Faber Ltd, 1930.

Signed limited edition of T. S. Eliot’s classic “conversion poem.” Octavo, original cloth decorated in gilt. One of six hundred numbered copies, this is number 329. Boldly signed by T.S. Eliot on the colophon. In near fine condition, bookplate to the front pastedown. A very sharp example.

Smith, William

A Concise Dictionary of the Bible, For the Use of Families and Students.

London : John Murray, 1865.

First edition of Smith’s Concise Dictionary of the Bible. Octavo, bound in full dark green leather with gilt titles to the spine in six compartments within raised bands, gilt inner dentelles, all edges gilt, illustrated throughout. Presentation copy, inscribed by former Prime Minister Arthur Balfour on the front flyleaf, “John Hewy Havadine, with all goodContinue reading "A Concise Dictionary of the Bible, For the Use of Families and Students."

Schedel, Hartmann

Liber Chronicarum. [The Nuremberg Chronicle].

Nuremberg : Anton Koberger for Sebald Schreyer and Sebastian Kammermeister, 1493.

First edition of the Nuremberg Chronicle, the most extensively illustrated book of the 15th century, from the St. Petersburg library of William Tooke. Imperial folio, bound in three quarter calf over paper-covered boards, morocco spine label lettered in gilt, elaborate gilt tooling to the spine, five gilt-tooled raised bands, rebacked, decorated with 1809 woodcut illustrationsContinue reading "Liber Chronicarum. [The Nuremberg Chronicle]."

[Burnet, Gilbert]; Collected out of Mezeray, Thuanus, and other approved Authors

A Relation of the Barbarous and Bloody Massacre of About an Hundred Thousand Protestants, Begun at Paris, and Carried on Over All France by the Papists, in the Year 1572.

London : Printed for Richard Chiswel, 1678.

First edition of this seventeenth-century Protestant account of the 1572 St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre. Small octavo, bound in full red morocco by Zaehnsdorf with gilt titles and elaborate tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, triple gilt ruling to the front and rear panels, top edge gilt, gilt turn-ins and innerContinue reading "A Relation of the Barbarous and Bloody Massacre of About an Hundred Thousand Protestants, Begun at Paris, and Carried on Over All France by the Papists, in the Year 1572."

Kepler, Johannes

Ioannis Keppleri Mathematici, Ad Epistolam Sethi Calvisij Chronologi Responsio. Qua Perversi Sensus Verborum Euangelistae Criman Dilutiur, & in Authorem Retorquetur. [Johannes Kepler Mathematician, Response to the Letter of the Chronologist Sethus Calvisius. In Which the Accusation of a Distorted Meaning of the Words of the Gospel is Dispelled and Turned Back Upon the Author.]

Frankfurt : At the press of Godofredus Tampachius, Printed by Erasmus Kempffer, 1614.

Rare first edition of this treatise concerning the Gregorian calendar’s important dates in religious history. Octavo, limp paper boards, decorated with woodcut ornaments. In very good condition with toning and chipping. From the library of professor, astronomer, historian and bibliophile Owen Gingerich.

Translated by Rabbi Isidore Epstein

The Babylonian Talmud.

London : The Soncino Press, 1935-1952.

First complete English translation and first Soncino edition of the Babylonian Talmud, a revered and significant work of Jewish scholarship. Octavo, 52 volumes in the original publisher’s deluxe full pebbled morocco with gilt titles and raised bands to the spine, gilt Soncino Press insignia to each front panel, gilt-ruled turn-ins and inner dentelles, top edgeContinue reading "The Babylonian Talmud."

Pope John XXIII [Martin Luther King, Jr.]

Pacem in Terris: Encyclical Letter of His Holiness Pope John XXIII. [Peace on Earth].

Glen Rock, NJ : Paulist Press, 1963.

Original printed pamphlet of Pope John XXIII’s 1963 Pacem in Terris. Boldly signed by Martin Luther King, Jr. at the bottom of the title page. Martin Luther King Jr. was a Baptist minister and activist who became the most visible spokesperson and leader in the civil rights movement from 1954 through 1968. He is bestContinue reading "Pacem in Terris: Encyclical Letter of His Holiness Pope John XXIII. [Peace on Earth]."

Apcar, Amy

Melodies of the Holy Apostolic Church of Armenia: The Liturgy as Sung in Ordinary, During Lent, and on Festivals.

Leipzig : Printed by Breitkopf & Haertel, 1920.

Second and enlarged edition of these rich chant traditions of the Armenian Apostolic Church. Octavo, three volumes, written in English and Armenian, bound in three-quarters morocco with gilt titles to the spine, gilt cross vignette to the front panels, musical stanzas throughout. Written down in modern notation by Amy Apcar. In very good condition.