Recently acquired rare and antiquarian books - June-July 2010

Here are some recent acquisitions Special Collections materials, with some brief notes.

Le Roy, G. H. Le globe-Montgolfier. A Paris: Chez l'auteur, rue Basse, porte Saint-Denis, cul-de-sac St.-Laurent, 1783. Poem about the first manned hydrogen-powered balloon ascent, that of the Globe, which took place less than 2 weeks after the Montgolfier brothers’ flight. The Globe was designed by the French physicist Jacques Charles, and constructed by the Robert brothers, artisans who constructed a rubber coating for the balloon chamber.

Histoire Secrette di prince Croquéton et de la princesse Foirette, donné tout nouvellement au public. Et enrichie de figures en taille douce. Dated 1716. Manuscript. A manuscript with pasted-in illustrations cut from an early edition of this work, whose scatological humor is evident from the title.

Forfait, Pierre-Alexandre-Laurent. Lettres d'un observateur sur la marine, sur son organisation actuelle, et sur la guerre continentale et maritime en général. Paris: Impr. de Clousier, 1802. Forfait was briefly Minister of the Marine under Napoleon, proposes reforms to break the British hold on the Channel.

Ubaldini, Giovanni Paulo. Dieci paradosse degli academici intronati da Siena. In Milano: appresso Gio. Antonio degli Antonij, 1564.

Le Rideau levé; ou, Coup-d'oeil général sur les prisons de Paris, offrant un grand nombre d'anecdotes sur les prisonniers de toutes classes qui y ont été détenus depuis vingt ans; orné d'une jolie gravure. Paris: Laurent-Beaupré, 1815. Description and anecdotes of life in Parisian prisons under Napoleon. “colorful and gossipy accounts” (dealer’s description).

Concone, Francesco. Giurisprudenza femminile ossia breve trattato: in gui si espongono tutte materie di diritto a cui più specialmente prendono parte le donne, secondo il nuovo codice, come anche si dà a una breve notizia delle cose e delle parole legali che più importa conoscere per chi non è iniziato nello studio della giurisprudenza: opera utile non solo alle donne, ma anche ai mariti, ai padri di famiglia ec. ec. Torino: Presso Fumero Maggiore, contrada di Po, casa Spanna, no. 33, 1839. “First edition of this rare handbook of law and jurisprudence for
women, an interpretation of the paragraphs in the new civil law, based on the Code Civile relating to women” (dealer’s description)

Mnémophile. Les Goguettes du bon vieux temps, ou, Recueil choisi de chansons joyeuses: de vaudevilles, cantiques, rondes, et pots-pourris gaillards, publiés dans le cours des XV, XVI, XVII, et XVIIIe siècles. A Paphos [i.e. Paris]: Chez les vieux marchands de nouveautés, 1810.