Illustrated Wonders & Varia

A rigorously assembled selection of antiquarian books documenting the visual culture of the early modern period. 

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  • La grande danse macabre

    Anonymous

    La grande danse macabre

    1728

    Fully illustrated Bibliothèque bleue edition (with noble provenance) of one of the most famous books of the late Middle Ages.

    ¥513,700 JPY
  • Atlante monumentale del Basso e dell'Alto Egitto

    Segato, Girolamo; Valeriani, Domenico

    Atlante monumentale del Basso e dell'Alto Egitto

    1837

    45 hand-colored plates for over 300 images of ancient Egypt in large folio format

    ¥1,316,300 JPY
  • Fabulae centum ex antiquis auctoribus delectae

    Faerno, Gabriele

    Fabulae centum ex antiquis auctoribus delectae

    1564

    First Edition, Second Issue

    One hundred Aesopian fables illustrated by Du Pérac after Ligorio: classical antiquity reimagined for Counter-Reformation education

    ¥834,700 JPY
  • Symbolicarum quaestionum de universo genere

    Bocchi, Achille

    Symbolicarum quaestionum de universo genere

    1574

    Second Edition

    The best of Renaissance thinking in 151 emblems, with Parmigianino and Agostino Carracci’s marks on the plates.

    ¥337,100 JPY
  • Les décorations murales de Pompéi; with Choix des plus belles et intéressantes peintures de Pompéi

    Presuhn, Émile

    Les décorations murales de Pompéi; with Choix des plus belles et intéressantes peintures de Pompéi

    1878

    First Edition

    An archaeological masterpiece: 65 chromolithographs preserving Pompeii's vanished frescoes.

    ¥353,200 JPY
  • Le Cabinet de la Bibliotheque de Sainte Genevieve

    Du Molinet, Claude

    Le Cabinet de la Bibliotheque de Sainte Genevieve

    1692

    First Edition

    Forty-five plates to document one of the first museums and libraries, still shimmering with Baroque wunderkammer flair.

    ¥931,000 JPY
  • Cursus Theologicus

    Gervasius Brisacensis

    Cursus Theologicus

    1706

    Early 18th-century vellum binding with curious provenance.

    ¥40,200 JPY
  • Der Eislauf oder das Schrittschuhfahren

    Zindel, Christian Siegmund

    Der Eislauf oder das Schrittschuhfahren

    1825

    First Edition

    Early ice skating manual, with charming illustrations and Goethe poetry

    ¥545,800 JPY
  • Le Dessinateur, pour les fabriques d'etoffes d'or, d'argent et de soie

    Joubert de l'Hiberderie, Antoine-Nicolas

    Le Dessinateur, pour les fabriques d'etoffes d'or, d'argent et de soie

    1765

    First Edition

    First edition of the first printed French manual of silk design, published against the wishes of the Lyon silk guild

    ¥401,300 JPY
  • La Magia e l'Ipnosi

    Papus (Gérard Encausse)

    La Magia e l'Ipnosi

    1930

    Early Italian translation of a leading French occultist manual, with hypnosis, magic, and vampirism all together

    ¥11,300 JPY
  • Traité d'équitation

    Montfaucon de Rogles, Charles Antoine

    Traité d'équitation

    1778

    First Edition

    First edition of the only written treatise by a Versailles écuyer, with nine plates

    ¥192,700 JPY
  • Il dilettante de' cavalli

    Brezé (Bersezio), Gioachino Bonaventura Argentero (marchese di)

    Il dilettante de' cavalli

    1795

    Second Edition

    Horse husbandry by a skilled military, naivë woodcuts and expert plates

    ¥104,400 JPY
  • Dressage par le surfaix-cavalier des chevaux de cavalerie, d'attelage et de course en six et douze leçons

    Marie-Isabelle, Madame

    Dressage par le surfaix-cavalier des chevaux de cavalerie, d'attelage et de course en six et douze leçons

    1858

    Second Edition

    The first training method for horse and rider published by a woman, a Paris milliner turned écuyère who trained the Tsar's own horses. Illustrated

    ¥88,300 JPY
  • Pork Cuts

    Armour and Company

    Pork Cuts

    1910

    A pocket guide to Armour's global pork trade, from the days when Dale Carnegie was one of its salesmen

    ¥32,200 JPY

Illustrated Wonders & Varia

This collection features foundational emblem books, isolarii, and artistic treatises distinguished by exceptional woodcuts and copperplate engravings. From the rigorous geometry of Renaissance proportion to the elaborate allegories of humanist thought, these volumes trace the evolution of the illustrated book. A curatorial view of how early printings deployed visual marvels to map the world, codify art, and explore the limits of human imagination.

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