VITA e COMMERCIO LETTERARIO di GALILEO GALILEI Nobile e Patrizio Fiorentino Mattematico e Filosofo Sopraordinario de' Gran Duchi di Toscana COSIMO E FERDINANDO II. Scritta da GIO. BATISTA CLEMENTE DE NELLI...

TWO VOLUME SET - Complete in These Two Volumes (Four Parts, in Two Volumes). TEXT IN ITALIAN.

Losanna (LAUSANNE) : 1793. Publisher unstated.

FIRST EDITION. Contains the FIRST BIBLIOGRAPHY of the works of GALILEO.

I collated these two volumes page-by-page with copies from the Rare Book Rooms of Harvard University, the University of Michigan, and Cambridge University.

Two Hardcover Books, blue cloth covered boards, 7.5x10 inches.

Pagination:

VOLUME I: Frontispiece, xvi Introductory pages, 471 Text pages (actually 467 pages because pagination skips to page 429 after page 424 - as normal - text flows correctly - collates correctly with rare copies at Harvard and Cambridge), + one blank.

VOLUME II: [2], 471-961 pages.

The two volumes are ILLUSTRATED with TEN (of TWELVE) plates, namely: 2 engraved frontispiece portraits of Galileo (one in each Volume), 7 (of 9) engraved plates, and 1 large folding genealogical chart / plate. Four of the original nine plates were fold-open, but 2 of those 4 (plates IX and X) are now lacking (being the 2 of 12 plates that are missing).

Condition:

The covers are soiled and worn, the blue cloth covering is rubbed, splotchy, split at the spine folds, worn through at the corners, and chipped away at the spine ends, nonetheless the covers are present and still bound well to the inner pages; there is a splattering of dark blue spots to the bottom page edges of Volume I and to the top page edges of Volume II (page edges of the closed books).

Volume I has some old shorelining / water staining to the margins of various pages here and there throughout - nothing too significant except in the margins of a few pages where the margin soiling is heavy; overall the pages are in remarkably bright condition.

Volume II has shorelining / water staining to the upper margin area of the frontispiece and title page; is missing the leaf that would be pages v/vi - consisting of a "Part Three" title page and its blank verso (i.e. no text is missing); there is shorelining / light water staining and soiling to the top blank margin of a number of pages here and there throughout, not affecting text; leaf consisting of pages 521/522 has a stiff crease that appears to be a binder's error (text is complete); there are wormholes / small worm lines to the bottom blank margin of the latter pages, not affecting text; the upper corner area of pages 951-960 is soiled and foxed; page 961 (the last page - the verso is blank) has its upper portion torn away, including approximately 3 lines of 2 column.

The plates are all bright and clear, some with mild margin soiling and/or margin shorelining. The fold-open genealogical chart has some splitting at the folds and tearing near the gutter, but is overall solid, bright and clear.

A SOLID SET of these TWO VOLUMES with 10 of 12 plates and only the faults as described above. The covers are worn, but internally both volumes are still tight, bright and clear. A very presentable set.

RARE and IMPORTANT 1793 First Edition Books on GALILEO.

From an 1861 Sotheby auction catalog - the "Catalogue of the Mathematical, Historical and Miscellaneous Portion of the Celebrated Library of M. Guglielmo Libri":

******Nelli. VITA e COMMERCIO LETTERARIO di GALILEO GALILEI... Scritta da GIO. BATISTA CLEMENTE DE NELLI... Losanna, 1793.

A most valuable contribution to scientific biography, giving full particulars of Galileo's friends and opponents, and containing extracts of numerous unpublished letters of Galileo and his friends which Nelli was prevented by death from publishing in extenso, and which were only partially published in the last edition of Galileo's works.******

CAGLIOSTRO (Joseph BALSAMO) : La Franc-Maçonnerie et l'Occultisme au XVIIIe siècle (Freemasonry and Occultism of the 18th century). D'Apres des Documents Inedits (From Unpublished Documents). By Henri d'ALMERAS.

PARIS : Société Française d'Imprimerie et de Librairie, 1904. First Edition. TEXT IN FRENCH.

Hardcovers (front cover disbound but present),

leather covered spine and paper covered boards, top page edges gilt, marbled endpapers. Pagination: [2] blank prelim leaf, [1] first title page with small engraving of Cagliostro, [1] blank verso, [1] half title page, [1] Du Meme Auteur / List of Author's Previous Works, [1] Frontispiece leaf with tissue guard, [1] title page, [1] blank verso, 386 pages.

Condition: The front cover is disbound but present, the rear cover's spine fold is worn and tender but holding, the spine covering is chipped and peeling, the boards are worn at their edges and have some scratches and rubs. Internally, the pages are toned along their edges, there is a previous owner's signature on the first blank page, otherwise the pages are tight, bright, clean and unmarked.

A complete copy of this SCARCE 1904 work on the Freemason and Occultist, Cagliostro, by the noted historian Henri d'Almeras.

About CAGLIOSTRO (from Wikipedia):

******Count Alessandro di Cagliostro, b.1743 d.1795, was the alias of the occultist Giuseppe Balsamo (Joseph Balsamo).

Cagliostro was an Italian adventurer and self-styled magician. He became a glamorous figure associated with the royal courts of Europe where he pursued various occult arts, including psychic healing, alchemy and scrying. His reputation lingered for many decades after his death, but continued to deteriorate, as he came to be regarded as a charlatan and impostor, this view fortified by the savage attack of Thomas Carlyle in 1833, who pronounced him the Quack of Quacks. W.R.H. Trowbridge in his Cagliostro: the Splendour and Misery of a Master of Magic (1910), attempted a rehabilitation.

Portuguese author Camilo Castelo Branco credits to Balsamo the creation of the Egyptian Rite of the Freemasons and intensive work in the diffusion of Freemasonry, by opening lodges all over Europe and by introducing the acceptance of women into the community. Occult historian Lewis Spence comments in his entry on Cagliostro that the swindler put his finagled wealth to good use by starting and funding a chain of maternity hospitals and orphanages around the continent. Occultist Aleister Crowley believed Cagliostro was one of his previous incarnations.******

GARNETT YOUNG AND ASSOCIATES, by Garnett Young. Self-Published, San Francisco, undated but known to be 1960. Printed by The Filmer Brothers Press, San Francisco. First Edition. Hardcover Book in Dustjacket, grey faux-leather covered boards, gilt titling on spine, 5.5" x 8.5", [xiv] +114 pages. Illustrated with a few b&w photographs. Basically an autobiography of the "Business Side" of Garnett Young and the pioneering electrical equipment companies with which he was associated, including Charles F. Sloane Co.; Brown, Spear, Sloane Co.; Simplex Wire & Cable; Telephone-Electric Equipment Co.; and his self named Garnett Young and Company. Condition: VERY GOOD book, just lightly used and still tight, bright, clean and unmarked; in a GOOD MINUS dustjacket that has several 1" closed edge tears, creasing to the bottom margin, and some soiling, but is bright and still doing its job.

AN OBSCURE FAMILY : THE BUFFETTS IN AMERICA, by DORIS BUFFETT.

SIGNED and INSCRIBED on the title page by the Author, DORIS BUFFETT, Warren Buffett's sister: "With best wishes / Doris Buffett".

Large format hardcover book in dustjacket, 9.5x13 inches, 272 pages. Illustrated throughout.

NEAR FINE book, tight, bright, clean and unmarked; in a VERY GOOD dustjacket that has some creasing at the spine ends but is overall solid and bright. A lovely, very presentable copy.

Self-published, designed and produced by "Volume 3" (volume3.net), and printed by Capital Offset Co., Concord, New Hampshire, 2012. First and Limited Edition, limited to only 500 copies.

From the book designer's website:

******AN OBSCURE FAMILY : THE BUFFETTS IN AMERICA...Pages: 272, Trim size: 9.5 x 13 in., Illustrations: 213, Inks: Four-color, Text paper: 80# Mohawk Superfine, Binding: Smyth sewn and casebound, PRINT RUN: 500 COPIES.******

From the front dustjacket flap:

******An Obscure Family: The Buffetts in America is the culmination of Doris Buffett's ambitious project to compile her family's genealogy. Interwoven with her careful documentation of all standard genealogical records, one will find interesting commentary, historical accounts, hundreds of photographs, personal letters, pages from a marvelous children's story, diary entries, family bible pages, and more. This book is a gift to all Buffetts present and future.******

INTERNATIONAL BUYERS PLEASE NOTE: This book is heavy and will require additional shipping charges. After placing your order you will be notified of the charges and be able to accept or reject them before payment is taken. Thanks!

MARK TWAIN DAY BY DAY - Volume I and Volume II, covering the years 1835-1885 and 1886-1896.

Each Volume is SIGNED and INSCRIBED on a blank prelim by the AUTHOR to HAL HOLBROOK, as follows:

Vol. I: "To Hal Holbrook / with appreciation for his performances / David H. Fears / Sept. 24, 2009".

Vol II: "To Hal Holbrook / with appreciation of his style / David H. Fears / Sept. 24, 2009".

Two volumes of four volumes, the final two being published in later years.

Hardcover books, no dustjackets as issued, cloth covered boards, front covers titled in gilt, spines titled in black, 8x11 inches, thick and heavy volumes, 1150 and 1281 pages respectively.

This work is considered to be the most comprehensive chronological examination of the life of Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens). It is incredible in its minutiae, and the research is exhaustive.

Published by Horizon Micro Publishing, LLC, Banks, Oregon. Volume I is a second printing, published in 2009; Volume II is a first printing, also published in 2009. Both volumes were printed in a very limited number, and each volume has a small handwritten number in the upper corner of the rear pastdown. Vol. I is #103, and Vol. II is #75. The publisher is actually a dba of the author.

I spoke to the author, David Frears, in May 2022. He was 79 and had recently undergone 5-way heart bypass surgery. He sounded good. I asked him about the volumes which he signed to Hal Holbrook. He said he presented these two volumes to Holbrook personally, and subsequently he and Holbrook corresponded for awhile. He treasured the handwritten letters he received from Holbrook. Fears said that in 2009 when he presented these two volumes to Hal Holbrook they were the only two he had written, that's why there are only two. He was working on Volume III at the time and wasn't even aware he would write a Volume IV. Frears also told me that the volumes were printed in a very limited number, about 100-125 copies each, and that he numbered them. He added that most of the volumes were sold before they were printed, primarily to Universities and Twain scholars. He said he didn't print many copies because he didn't want to end up with extras of these heavy books, that he was too old for that. He said I was very lucky to have the Holbrook copies.

CONDITION: Both volumes are in VERY GOOD condition, the cover corners are lightly bumped, there is some soiling to the page edges (page edges of the closed book), and there are light signs of handling and use; overall the volumes are tight, bright, clean, clear and unmarked. Solid, nice, very presentable copies.

RARE, especially with the presentation to HAL HOLBROOK

About HAL HOLBROOK (from Wikipedia):

******Harold Rowe Holbrook Jr., b.1925 d.2021, was an American actor, television director, and screenwriter. He first received critical acclaim in 1954 for a one man stage show he developed, Mark Twain Tonight!, performing as Mark Twain. He won the Tony Award for "Best Actor in a Play" in 1966 for his portrayal of Twain. He would continue to perform his signature role for over 60 years, only retiring the show in 2017 due to his failing health. Throughout his career, he also won five Primetime Emmy Awards for his work on television and was nominated for an Academy Award for his work in film. It is estimated that there were over 2,100 performances of Mark Twain Tonight! Holbrook portrayed Mark Twain for longer than Samuel Clemens did.******