1. Congo / Kongo – Leopold II of Belgium (1835-1909) – King of the Belgians and Owner / Absolute Ruler of the Congo Free State from 1885 to 1908.

Collection of four very important and meaningful manuscript letters by Leopold II to his administrator and Foreign Minister of the Congo – Free-State, Baron Adolphe de Cuvelier (1860-1931) with a total of 16 pages filled with Leopold’s instructions on pressing issues regarding a warning about an imminent visit by the Rector of the Mill-Hill Missionaries [probably Herbert Alfred Henry Vaughan (1832 – 1903)] and Leopold’s qualification of the visit of being detrimental to the Congo Free State (″ne travaillent pas pour l’État”). Leopold continues in another letter to talk about the hostile positions of english officials (consuls) and missionaries (″que les consuls anglais et les missionnaires anglais se conduisent bien mal envers l’État”). Interestingly, Leopold also touches on the nuisance of the german press criticizing Belgian Railway Lines and he is of the opinion that this is all happening in order to force the german parliament [″Reichstag”] to finance the building of the Tanganyika Railway [between Dar es Salaam and Kigoma]: (″cherche à effrayer l’opinion [en] Allemagne à propos de mes chemins de fer afin d’obtenir du Reichstag des fonds pour la ligne allemande vers le Tanganika”.

16 pages of MLS, Manuscript Letters (signed) on 10 leaves of Leopold’s official stationery “Château de Laeken” and “Palais de Bruxelles”. Laeken / Brussels, Château de Laeken [Palace of Laeken], 1901 – 1906. The leaves with different sizes (13,5 cm x 9 cm) and (18 cm x 11,5 cm). Excellent condition. Unsigned. Tremendously rare to find original letters by Leopold II on the open market in which the Colonial Free State and the protection against inquisitive visitors is discussed in such clear and instructive fashion. Leopold’s correspondence with Adolphe de Cuvelier shows how he is very much trying to still protect and influence the narrative of his Colonial Slavery Outpost even in the final years of his life.

2. Pincierus, Johannes / Pincier, Johannes / [ExLibris Adam Gottlob von Moltke – (Gut Bregentved / Gut Niendorf)]

Otium Marpurgense, in sex libros digestum: Quibus fabrica corporis humani, in fertis passim disputationibus, historiis & fabulis ad rem pertinentibus, facili ac perspicuo carmine describitur á Johanne Pinciero, Medicinæ Doctore.

Herbornæ Nassoviorum [Herborn], 1614. Octavo. [16], 423 p. Hardcover / Original, very decorative 17th century binding in full leather with coat of arms supralibro of Danish Statesman and Diplomat, Adam Gottlob Moltke to boards. Binding with some minor cracks to spine but still holding, boards slightly rubbed and partially with minor loss to leather but with the original spine-label intact and the binding overall still in splendid glory / Extrem seltene Publikation des Wetteraner Mediziners, Johannes Pincier, Professor in Herborn und Marburg sowie Leibarzt in Dillenburg und Braunfels. Aus der Bibliothek des dänischen Oberhofmarschalls am Hof in Kopenhagen, Adam Gottlob Moltke (1710 – 1791).

3. Florence / Pisa – Carocci, G. et al.

Collection of six stunning, early 19th-century gouache-aquatints of Florence and Pisa including a rare segment showing a Funerary Procession in front of Giotto’s Campanile, part of the complex of buildings that make up Florence Cathedral on the Piazza del Duomo in Florence, Italy. These very able and fantastically hand-coloured, original artworks, represent the peak of high-quality souvenirs for the European Traveller on their Grand Tour. [Loggia dei Lanzi / Cattedrale di Firenze / Piazza S. Trinita / Campanile Della Cattedrale di Firenze / Ponte S. Trinita / Campanile Di Pisa].

Original Aquatint (hand-applied water-colouring over copper engraving). Florence / Pisa, [c.1820]. Plate Sizes vary: 31 cm x 22.1 cm. Sheet Sizes vary: 34.6 cm x 26.5 cm. Original Gouache-Aquatint (hand-applied water-colouring over copper engraving). Florence/Pisa, [c.1820]. Plate-Sizes vary: c. 31 cm x 22.1 cm. Sheet Sizes vary: c. 34.6 cm x 26.5 cm. Besides some smaller damages to the Ponte S. Trinita-artwork in very good, actually stunning, condition. Clean, crisp and brightly coloured. All of these artworks are beautifully framed and the price includes worldwide free shipping per UPS – courier.

4. [John Minihan Collection] – Minihan, John / Heaney, Seamus.

Original photograph of Seamus Heaney at his 70th birthday in his home in Dublin, in the year 2009 / Titled and Signed by John Minihan in 2014 / The vintage photograph is here framed together with the original commemoration Stamp and signed First Day Cover of Anpost [The photograph was used as a Template for the creation of the Anpost Stamp in 2014].

Vintage Photograph on archival paper / Vintage First Day Cover with extra signature by John Minihan. Dublin, 2014. Image of the Photograph: 16 cm x 24 cm / First Day Cover: 18 cm x 12 cm. Overall Framed Size: 79 cm wide x 53,5 cm high. From the personal library of irish photographer John Minihan. Titled and signed by John Minihan. Beautifully framed (see multiple images on our website). Our company knows of an edition of four photographs and signed First Day Covers, which we bought from John Minihan in 2014 and which he signed in 2014. Later, signed First Day Covers are circulating and we have some of those in our archive for sale. But since John Minihan has sold the rights to most of his iconic images to UCC in Cork, none of the photographs are reprinted by the photographer and that makes this combination of the signed Seamus Heaney photograph, combined with the First Day Cover, signed actually on August 28th of 2014, very scarce. We have an edition of 3 (three) left. One is part of the “John Minihan Photography Collection”, which we are selling on our website (see under “Libraries & Collections”) and two are for sale on the free international market. The here offered, beautifully framed version, is one of these two. The price includes free shipping as a framed version within Ireland / The price includes free international shipping per UPS Courier but only unframed (we pay for framing in your home-country) !

5. [John Minihan Collection] – Minihan, John. (*1946)

Samuel Beckett – photographed in Room 604 at The Hyde Park Hotel in London, 1980. [Artist Proof] !

Rare, modern print of the 1989 Original / Vintage Photograph on archival paper. London, c. 2010. Photograph: c. 50 cm wide x 38 cm high / Framed: 60 cm wide x 47 cm high. Titled and signed by John Minihan. From his personal Archive. Marked as A/P (Artist Proof) by John Minihan.

6. [Lloyd, Sampson / Lloyds Bank / Lloyds of Birmingham] Sewel, William.

History of the Rise, Increase, and Progress Of the Christian People called Quakers, Intermixed with Several Remarkable Occurences. [Provenance: Personal copy of the Brimingham Quaker – Family of Sampson Lloyd, iron manufacturers and founders of Lloyds Bank in England and Wales]. Written Originally in Low-Dutch by William Sewel, and by himself Translated into English. Now Revis’d and Publish’d, with some Amendments.

First English-language edition, following the low Dutch edition of 1717. London, Printed and Sold by Assigns of J.Sowle, at the Bible in George-Yard, Lomabrd -street, 1722. Folio (21 cm x 31 cm). [12], 723, [19] pages (including a thorough Index), plus 4 unnumbered pages of a catalogue of “Books Printed and Sold by the Assigns of J. Sowles”. Hardcover / Original, late 18th century leather with original spine-label and ornament to boards. Six raised bands; spine starting but still firm and holding. Overall very good condition. Bookplate / Exlibris of Arthur Hofmann to pastedown. Excellent and interesting provenance this being one of the most important publications on Quaker – History and originating from one of the oldest and most influential Quaker – Families in England and Wales.

7. Ligon, Richard.

A True and Exact History of the Island of Barbadoes [sic] / [Barbados]. Illustrated with a Map of the Island [missing], as also the Principal Trees and Plants there, set forth in their due Proportions and Shapes, drawn out by their several and respective Scales. Together with the Ingenio that makes the Sugar, with the Plots of the several Houses, Rooms, and other places, that are used in the whole process of Sugar-making; viz. the Grinding-house, Still-house, and Furnaces; All cut in Copper.

[Second Edition]. London, Printed, and are to be sold by Peter Parker, at his Shop at the Leg and Star over against the Royal Exchange, and Thomas Guy at the corner Shop of Little Lumbard-street and Cornhill, 1673. Small-Folio (19 cm x 29 cm). [II], 122 pages plus an unnumbered Index-page (bound, according to instructions for the bookbinder after page 84), lacking the Fold-out-Map of Barbados but including all six illustrations of Plants, as well as the three diagrams of Houses and Production-Rooms for Sugar. 19th-century Hardcover (half-leather with gilt lettering on spine). Condition of Binding: Very good condition with only minor signs of wear to the binding / Condition of bookblock: Original, front free endpaper was preserved and bound in. Rear endpaper missing. The original endpaper includes two historical ownership-signatures in ink (c.17th or early 18th century) as well as several annotations in ink and pencil. The previous owners seem to have been one Richard Gardner and there is an additional notation verso which reads: “E[x] Libris Richmondi Garnays [or Garneys]”. Some ink-annotations or corrections throughout the book. Signs of old bookworm – damage and very few abrasions due to fire-sparks (few pages effected only). Some plates with professional repairs, some tears. Some professional paper-repairs and re-enforcements to title-page and Content-Page. All the described flaws sound worse than they really appear. All plant-plates in strong impresion. A scarce publication ! From the library of Rev. William Andrew Lamb, Kilcoleman Park, County Cork.

8. Pugilism (Boxing) – Baert-Duholant, Charles-Alexandre-Balthazar-François de Paule baron de / Jean-Denis Barbié du Bocage.

Tableau de la Grande-Bretagne, De L’Irlande et des Possessions Angloises dans les quatre parties du Monde. [Large Paper Copy / Better Paper Copy / Exemplaire de Luxe] [With five (5) large, folded Maps by Jean-Denis Barbié du Bocage: Large, oblong folded Map/Plan of Gibraltar / England / Scotland / Ireland / India] / [With four (4) stunning copper-engravings: Grotte de Fingal, Chaussée des Géants / Plan et vue de Gibraltar / Combat de Boxe (Pugilists)] / [With two (2) portraits: 1.Portrait of William Pitt (after William Owen) and 2. Portrait of Charles Jacques Fox (after Karl Anton Hickel)].

Four Volumes (complete set). Paris, Chez H.J.Jansen, L’An 8me [1800]. Octavo (21.5 cm x 14 cm). Collation: Volume I: (8), 459, (1), 11 pages with Eleven (11) copper-engravings of which are: 5 Maps / Plans and 4 Engravings: The folded view of Fingals Cave (″Grotte de Fingal dans l’Ile de Staffa” – (20.5 cm x 31.5 cm) / “Folded Plate of the Giants Causeway (″Vue occidentale de la Chaussee des Geans et des Caps voisins” (20.5 cm x 39 cm)) / Fantastic, large Map/Plan of Gibraltar by Jean-Denis Barbié du Bocage, with a Birds-Eye-View of the Ville de Gibraltar (20.5 cm x 65.5 cm) [also showing the Ville Irlandaise on Gibraltar] / Scenic View of Gibraltar (″Vue de Gibraltar, prise du cote de l’Espagne” (20.5 cm x 33 cm) / Large Fold-Out-Map of England by Jean-Denis Barbié du Bocage with an Inset-View of Stonehenge (47 cm x 51 cm) / Large Fold-Out-Map of Scotland by Jean-Denis Barbié du Bocage, including the Western Isles and Shetland, with a stunning Inset-View of the irish pilgrimage-mountain Croagh Patrick [Craig-Phadrick] in Westport, Ireland (37 cm x 50 cm)/ Large Fold-Out-Map of Ireland with an Inset-View of the Lakes of Killarney (39 cm x 44.5 cm) / Volume II: 532, (1), 12 pages with Large Fold-Out-Map of India (″Possessions Anglaises”) by Jean-Denis Barbié du Bocage – the large India-Map showing areas as far as Tibet, Siam, Sumatra and the Andaman Islands, Ceylon, Burma (48 cm x 43 cm) / Volume III: 502, 48, (2) pages with two portraits: Guillaume Pitt [William Pitt] & Charles Jacques Fox (each 20.5 cm x 12.5 cm)/ Volume IV: 486, 22, (2) pages with the very famous Fold-out-Illustration of Pugilists / Boxers at Odiham in Hampshire [″Combats de Boxers a Odiham”] showing a boxing-match between Humphrey and Mendoza (32 cm x 20.5 cm). Hardcover / Original, very decorative original half leather bindings with gilt lettering and ornament on spine. Volume One professionally rebacked by an english master bookbinder. All four Volumes in protective Collector’s Mylar. Excellent condition with only minor signs of external wear. From the library of François-Xavier de Valenzi with his bookplate / exlibris to the pastedowns of each Volume. Maps in this de Luxe Edition are all considerably larger than in the normal-paper-edition and all the maps and illustrations are in superb condition. An underestimated collectable.

9. Britton, John.

The Architectural Antiquities of Great Britain Represented and Illustrated in a Series of Views, Elevations, Plans, Sections and Details, of [Various] Ancient English Edifices: With historical and descriptive accounts of Each. [Including the rare Volume V: “Chronological History and Graphic Illustrations of Christian Architecture in England – Embracing “A Critical Inquiry into the Rise, Progress and Perfection of this Species of Architecture; Also Eighty-six Plates of Plans, Sections, Elevations and Views with Historical and Descriptive Accounts of each Edifice and Subject; an Alphabetical List of Architects of the Middle Ages and Chronological Lists of Ancient Churches, Sepulchral Monuments, Pulpits, Fonts, Stone Crosses, etc. – A Dictionary of Architectural Terms and copious Indexes].

First Edition. Five Volumes [complete set]. London, Printed for Longman, Hurst, Rees and Orme; J.Taylor, Architectural Library and the Author, 1807 – 1835. Quarto (24 cm x 30 cm). Complete with 278 plates. Original Hardcover (Volume I professionally rebound, Volumes 2, 3, 4 and 5, professionally repaired). All Volumes in protective Mylar. Very good condition with only minor signs of wear. Only very few plates with faded dampstain to outer margins. An extraordinary set of architectural scenery in high-quality engravings.

10. [Boyle Bernard, Richard (Dean of Leighlin)] Buffon, Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de.

Buffon’s Natural History, Abridged – Including the History of the Elements, The Earth, Mountains, Rivers, Seas, Winds, Whirlwinds, Waterspouts, Volcanoes, Earthquakes, Man, Quadrupeds, Birds, Fishes, Shellfish, Lizards, Serpents, Insects & Vegetables. Illustrated with Great Variety of Copper Plates. With 106 [of 107 Plates] in absolutely stunning condition, spread throughout the two Volumes. Including the two often missing and very rare fold-out-plates of Snakes.

Two Volumes (complete set). London, Published as the Act directs for C. & G. Kearlsey, Fleet Street, 1792. Octavo (15 cm x 21,5 cm). Volume I: Frontispice [″Nature lamenting over the Tomb of M. de Buffon & exhibiting a Portrait of that distinguished Naturalist”], Engraved Titlepage [with a scene of grieving onlookers to the outbreak of the Volcano / Mount Vesuvius], XXXVII, Errata-Leaf, 353 pages / Volume II: Engraved Titlepage [with a scene of fowling at the steep cliffs of St.Kilda)], 494 pages including a thorough Index. With 106 [of 107 Plates] spread throughout the two Volumes. Including the two often missing and very rare fold-out-plates of Snakes. Hardcover / One Volume rebound to style and one Volume in its original 18th century full leather. Original bookplate / Exlibris of Dean Richard Boyle Bernard, Dean of Leighlin and MP for Bandon Bridge to pastedown of Volume I. Both Volumes now housed in a bespoke built Solander Box. Very good condition with only minor signs of wear.