Susanne Schulz-Falster Catalogue Ten - Schulz-Falster Rare Books

gutter margin, else clean; recent paste-paper boards, gilt-lettered spine
label.
Auction catalogue of the library of Delaleu, secretary to the King. Delaleu
was a very active purchaser at auctions, and his collection was one of the richest
of the time. In all there are 1956 lots, all priced in a contemporary hand.
The catalogue is presented in strict subject order and includes a Wnal index of
authors. There is also a list with reference numbers to Debure, so that the
reader may obtain further bibliographical information on selected lots.
The catalogue is sometimes found bound with the independently published
Collection des Estampes du Cabinet du Roi (pp. 6). This is not present
here.
Blogie II, 12; Peignot, p. 94; Pollard & Ehrman, p. 292; RLIN lists copies at the
Grolier Club and the Pierpont Morgan Library, OCLC adds a copy at UCLA.
87 DELLA PURIFICAZIONE, Alessandro. Arimmetica pratica.
Divisa in quindici Trattati. Seconda edizione. Roma, S. Michele a
Ripa, 1749. £750
4to, pp. xxiv, 824; numerous Wgures in the text, title vignette, woodcut
head and tail pieces and initials; lightly browned throughout, due to
paper stock, more pronounced in some signatures; contemporary full
vellum, gilt-lettered spine label; extremities rubbed, and some staining
to upper board.
Second edition (Wrst 1714) of this important introduction to arithmetic
and commercial mathematics, regarded by Riccardi as ‘one of the best and
most extensive treatises on practical arithmetic’. Della PuriWcazione
presents a thorough course of arithmetic, dealing with basic calculations,
interest and exchange calculations, of arithmetic and geometric progression,
calculations for gold and silversmiths, etc.
The Wnal chapter is devoted to calendars, and is illustrated with a halfpage
woodcut showing a ‘Cerchio perpetuo per l’epatta et auro numero’.
Cerboni p. 80; Riccardi I, c. 325; not in Historical Accounting Literature or
Herwood; uncommon, OCLC lists two copies, at Columbia and the University of
Michigan.
The First Modern Demographic Study
88 DES POMMELLES, Chevalier. Tableau de la Population de
toutes le Provinces de France, et de la Proportion, sous tous les
Rapports, des Naissance, des Morts & des Mariages depuis dix Ans,
d’après les registres de chaque Généralité, accompagné de Notes &
Observations. Mémoire sur les Milices, leur Création, leur
vicissitude & leur État actuel. Paris, 1789. £1600
4to, pp. [ii], 68, large printed folding table bound at end; uncut in
modern marbled boards, original wrappers, slightly dust-soiled, bound
in; a good copy.
susanne schulz-falster rare books catalogue ten
First edition, rare, of a detailed study of French population Wgures and their
changes, anticipating the methods of modern demography. Des
Pommelles’ study was prompted by the desire to calculate the numbers of
potential recruits for the milice, the defensive military forces of France. He
begins by giving an estimate of the French population, a Wgure which is
then veriWed by extensive calculations. He gives details of the male/female
ratio of births and deaths, the ratio of married to widowed, the number of
celibates of either sex, Wgures for the clergy and the nobility. In addition, he
adds comparative Wgures of births and deaths, diVerentiated by type of occupation,
type of residence (i.e. country or city dwellers) and according to
average temperature. A compilation of these Wgures is documented on the
large folding table. His detailed commentary on the table not only explains
his methods of calculation, but also gives details of the various factors
inXuencing the level of population.
Goldsmiths’–Kress 13816; INED 1396; Martin & Walter 10541; NUC lists just
two copies (MH-BA, NjP); RLIN lists only microWlms.
New Words
89 DESFONTAINES, Pierre François Guyot]. Dictionaire
neologique, à l’usage des beaux Esprits du Siècle avec l’Eloge
historique de Pantalon-Phoebus. [n.p.], 1727. £320
12mo, pp. [xx], 194; paper a bit browned; contemporary full blindstamped
calf, gilt-lettered spine label; a Wne copy.
Second edition (Wrst 1726) of this fascinating dictionary of newly coined
words, phrases, linguistic barbarities and neologisms which threatened the
purity of the French language. With biting irony Desfontaines reveals linguistic
weaknesses, pomposities and irregularities in the works of his fellow
authors. He certainly does not refrain from naming names and antagonising
his literary opponents. His linguistic criticisms include a list of authors
and titles mentioned and is followed by a satirical piece entitled Éloge
historique de Pantalon-Phoebus, the Wctitious biography of a composite personage
made up of the authors satirised. Desfontaines (1685–1745), a
former Jesuit and writer, is best remembered for his controversies with
Voltaire and his translation of Gulliver’s Travels.
Cioranescu 23305, Querard II, 507.
Coaches and Carriages
90 [DELISLE de SALES, Jean-Baptiste.] Lettres de Brutus, sur
les Chars Anciens et Modernes. Londres [i.e. Paris], 1771. £400
8vo, pp. xvi, 287; contemporary half calf over sprinkled boards; corners
worn; very faint dampstain to lower margin of Wrst two leaves.
First edition of this curious early work on coach traYc, accidents and traYc
congestion. Delisle de Sales (1741–1816) gives a brief history of carts and
carriages, featuring those of antiquity, Greece, Rome and China. He