MARTINO PUBLISHING

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Jackson, Benjamin Daydon. GUIDE  TO  THE  LITERATURE  OF BOTANY  BEING A CLASSIFIED LIST OF BOTANICAL WORKS, INCLUDING NEARLY 6000 TITLES NOT GIVEN IN PRITZEL’S “THESAURUS”.   $65.

Cloth, Octavo.pp.xl.625. London: Longmans, Green & Co.,1881.

Jackson’s work describes approximately 9,000 works in the form of a short-title catalog, classified by type of publication. In all, Jackson was able to catalogue approximately 6,000 items that Pritzel had missed. Jackson’s work is thus a useful supplement to Pritzel’s famous bibliography.  Sheehy EC72. Besterman 928.

Jackson, A. V. Williams. Zoroaster, The Prophet Of Ancient Iran. $60.00

Octavo. xxiii, 312 p. illus., fold.col.map. New York, Macmillan: 1899

The work is divided in two sections. The first part is the story of Zoroaster's life. The second part of the work is given up to seven critical appendixes entitled, respectively, as follows: Suggested Explanations of Zoroaster's Name; On the Date of Zoroaster;, Dr. West's Tables of Zoroastrian Chronology; Zoroaster's Native Place and the Scene of his Ministry; Classical Passages mentioning Zoroaster's Name; Allusions to Zoroaster in various other older Literatures; Notes on Sculptures supposed to represent Zoroaster.

The list of books connected to the subject and the map of Persia and Afghanistan, with its key, are both valuable additions to the work.

This life of Zoroaster is an admirable piece of work, and both the author and all those interested in the subject are to be congratulated on the publication of this beautiful volume in which is told so well the story of the Prophet of Ancient Iran---From a contemporary review.

 

Jacob, John G. THE LIFE & TIMES OF PATRICK GASS. $45.00
Cloth. Octavo. 280 p. p., illus., 18 cm. Wellsburg, Va.: Jacob & Smith,1859.
Patrick Gass is the most famous member of the Corps of Discovery, except of course for Lewis and Clark themselves.
Jacob's biography of Gass, originally published in 1859, is notable for several reasons. Firstly, it is the first biography of any member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Secondly, it is one of the few 19th century publications on Lewis and Clark that has not been reprinted previously. Thirdly, the original edition is a scarce and collectible book in its own right. Of Irish ancestry, Sergeant Patrick Gass was born in Pennsylvania, June 12, 1771. He joined the army in 1789, and by 1803 was serving under Captain Russell Bissell's command at Kaskaskia, Illinois Territory. The Secretary of War instructed Captain Bissell to furnish Lewis and Clark "with one Sergeant & Eight good men." Gass was determined to join the exploring mission, but Bissell denied his transfer, wishing to retain Gass for his craftsmanship skills. Lewis interceded, and enlisted Gass on January 3, 1804, after Gass had made a personal appeal to him. Gass was not among the original three sergeants appointed at Camp Dubois. He was elected to fill the rank of sergeant by the vote of the men upon the death of Sergeant Charles Floyd on August 20, 1804. As his most lasting literary legacy, Gass holds claim to popularizing the explorers' proudly coined "Corps of Discovery" name, featured boldly on the title page of his 1807 published journal. Patrick Gass died April 2, 1870, at age 99 in Wellsburg, West Virginia. This edition is smythe sewn. The original book, printed on a primitive press, is plagued by broken type and weak letter pressing. The entire text has been reformatted in the interests of aesthetics and legibility.

 

 

 

Jannet, Pierre & - Payen, J-F & Veinant, Auguste Alexandre. BIBLIOTHECA SCATOLOGICA. Ou, Catalogue Raisonné Des Livres Traitant Des Vertus, Faits Et Gestes De Très Noble Et Très Ingénieux Messire Luc (A Rebours), Seigneur De La Chaise et Autres Lieux Mêmement De Ses Descendants Et Autres Personnages De Lui Issus: Ouvrage Très Utile Pour Bien Et Proprement S'entretenir Es-Jours Gras De Carême-Prenant, Disposé Dans L'ordre Des Lettres K, P, Q. $55.00
Cloth. Oversized Octavo. pp.xxxi. 144. Scatopolis {Paris}, 1849.

The American Heritage Dictionary defines Scatology as:1. The Study of fecal excrement, as in medicine, paleontology, or biology. 2a. An obsession with excrement of excretory functions. 2b. The psychiatric study of such an obsession. 3. Obscene language or literature, especially that dealing humorously with excrement and excretory functions.
This uncommon work on scatology has the distinction of beings the only bibliography on the subject mentioned in Besterman. Originally printed in a small edition of 150 copies in 1849, the bibliography describes in considerable detail 253 rare titles on scatology.
Each of the author's was a serioud and distinguished bibliographer and the material, though off-color, is treated with bibliographical precision. Many of useful annotations are provided for the books, as are selections from the books themselves.
Though once reprinted, no copies appear to be in print at this time. This a standard work on an off beat topic. Besterman 5595.

 

Jefferson, T. & W. Dunbar & B. Rogers. Documents Relating To the Purchase Exploration of Louisiana. $65.00

Hardbound. Octavo. English 45, 189, 76 p., folded map, ports. Boston : Houghton Mifflin & Co., 1904.

The two documents now first printed in this volume had been for the previous century in the custody of the American Philosophical Society. The first paper is written by Thomas Jefferson while President of the United States, which gives a summary of various claims of France, Spain and England to the territory in the Mississippi Valley, and lays down the boundaries of the Louisiana Purchase. The second manuscript is known as the Dunbar Journal and was kept by William Dunbar of Natchez. It records a voyage of exploration in company with George Hunter undertaken in 1804 under the auspices of Jefferson. It was part of Jefferson's plan to survey the vast new territory just coming into the possession of the United States. This manuscript was presented to the Society by Daniel Parker in 1817. Scarce in the original. Bookseller Inventory # 1272

 

Jenkins, James Ravis D. Sc., Ph.D. BIBLIOGRAPHY OF WHALING.     $55.

ISBN 1-57898-082-8. Large 8vo, 104pp. London 1948.

Jenkins  Bibliography of Whaling remains the only general whaling bibliography. It is still the necessary bibliography for collectors and dealers in the field. In fact, there are no other general bibliographies in English on the subject listed in Besterman.

 

Jennings, Oscar. Early Woodcut Initials;Containing Over Thirteen Hundred Reproductions of Ornamental Letters Of The Fifteenth And Sixteenth Centuries. $75.00

Hardbound. Octavo. English. x, 287 p., 1 l. incl. facsims. London, Methuen and co., 1908.

"Dr. Jennings has brought together a splendid collection of mediaeval and Renaissance initials, and the 170 pages of facsimiles, containing over 1300 specimens from the presses of Germany, Italy, France, Switzerland, Spain, the Netherlands and England, give a survey of the whole subject which could hardly, except in certain details, be bettered…. No book on initials hitherto produced has been so rich in beautiful things, and the author has wisely included, so far as possible, examples hitherto unpublished. The reproductions, moreover, are exceedingly good. The late gothic printers achieved in this department of the decoration of books, as in others, results that no later generation has excelled…" From Review Article in The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs . Vol. 13, No. 61 (Apr., 1908), pp. 41-42. Bookseller Inventory # 1252

Jillson, Willard Rouse.  RARE  KENTUCKY BOOKS  1776-1926.  $60.

Octavo.  pp.iii - xiii.  199.  Louisville, Kentucky, 1939.

This is one of the most comprehensive books on the subject listed in Besterman.  In all 500 books are expertly described. Jillson was a prolific bibliographer of Kentucky,  having written more than a dozen bibliographies about the State.  Rare Kentucky Books remains a standard work on the subject.   The first being Pownall’s  A Topographical Description of Such Parts of North America as Are Contained in the (Annexed) Map of the Middle British Colonies.... published in 1776.  Rare Kentucky Books was published in an edition of only 350 copies.   Besterman 3323.

 

 

Johnson, Merle. A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE WORKS OF MARK TWAIN.  $60.

 Octavo. pp.xii.274. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1935.

Mark Twain’s literary production covered a period of practically five decades. His range of activities included newspaper, magazine, book and speech. Since the publication of the first edition of Johnson’s bibliography in 1910, many early writings in newspapers and magazines were unearthed. This second edition is most authoritative. Johnson provides exhaustive collations, discusses end papers, fly leaves, copyright notices, cloth and cloth colors, and other publishing information. Analysis of the text is also provided, and mention is made of breaks in type, errors in the text, etc. The full table of contents for each work is provided. It is safe to say that Johnson’s bibliography remains one of the standard works on Twain and is an essential reference despite the publication of Blanck’s Bibliography of American Literature. The First edition of 1910 was limited to 500 copies and described 200 books. The revised and enlarged edition of 1935 that we are reprinting describes 300 items.  Besterman 6235.

 

 

 

 

 

Johnson, Obed Simon . A STUDY OF CHINESE ALCHEMY. $55.00

Oversized Octavo. Shanghai [China]: Commercial Press, 1928. xi p., 1 l., 156 p.

In China as elsewhere, alchemy is a doctrine aiming to afford an understanding of the principles underlying the formation and functioning of the cosmos. The alchemist overcomes the limits of individuality, and ascends to higher states of being; he becomes, in Chinese terms, a zhenren or Authentic Man. Chinese alchemy went through a complex and not yet entirely understood development along its twenty centuries of documented history. The two main traditions are conventionally known as waidan or "external alchemy" and neidan or "internal alchemy”. The bulk of the Chinese alchemical sources is found in the Daozang (Taoist Canon), the largest collection of Taoist texts. The cosmos as we know it is conceived of as the final stage in a series of spontaneous transmutations stemming from original non-existence. This process entails the apparent separation of primeval Unity into the two complementary principles, yin and yang. Their re-union generates the cosmos. When the process is completed, the cosmos is subject to the laws of cosmology. The alchemist's task is to retrace this process backwards. Alchemy, whether "external" or "internal," provides support to the adept, leading one to the point when, as some texts put it, "Heaven spontaneously reveals its secrets." Its practice must be performed under the close supervision of a master, who provides the "oral instructions" (koujue) necessary to an understanding of the processes that the adept performs with minerals and metals, or undergoes within himself. Modern study of the alchemical literature began in the present century, after the Canon was reprinted and made widely available in 1926. Johnson's work, originally published in 1928, remains one of the full book length treatises in English on the subject.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Joucla, Edmond. BIBLIOGRAPHIE DE L'AFRIQUE OCCIDENTALE FRANÇAISE.  $60.

Cloth. Octavo. 275pp. Paris:  Bibliotheque Internationale d'Edition, 1912.

 French West Africa was an administrative grouping under French rule from 1895-1958 of the former French territories of West Africa:  Senegal, French Guinea, the Ivory Coast, and the French Sudan, to which Dahomey was added 1899.  Mauritania and Niger were also part of the union at various times. Joucla's bibliography is one of the most difficult to find of all the bibliographies of this region.  In all 3750 works are described, covering all aspects of life in this region. The arrangement of the work is alphabetical by author.  Works in all languages are described to our knowledge the work has not been reprinted before.  Besterman 185.

Jouin, E. & Descreux, V. (Compiled by). BIBLIOGRAPHIE OCCULTISTE ET MACONNIQUE.  $75.

Cloth, 8vo. 653 pp. Paris: Emile-Paul, 1930

Only the first volume of this extremely rare bibliography of books on masonry and the occult was ever published.  Jouin’s work is a meticulous description of all books on the subject published before 1717.  The arrangement is chronological; the first work cited being published in 1468.  Most importantly, Jouin provides extensive notes on the books, many containing several hundred words.  Jouin explains the publishing history of a work, and provides important background information concerning the books and authors.  There is also important biographical information.  In all 982 books are described in detail. Besterman 4301-4302.  Not in Duveen.