Susanne Schulz-Falster Catalogue Ten

plates, comprising an alphabet of extraordinary half-page decorative initials,
which incorporate appropriate Wgures, such as monkey (AVe) for A,
barber (Barbier) for B, a Wsherman (Fischer) for F, organ player (Organist)
for O and dentist (Zahnarzt) for Z.
Becker, 172; Bonacini 16; Doede 205.
Public Accounts in the French Revolution
2 ALLAIS, Robert. Constatons avant tout l’état des choses, ou
principes pour l’établissement et le maintien d’une bonne méthode
de Comptabilité. Paris, [n.p.], 1790. £850
4to, pp. 77, 5 large folding printed tables; marginal damp stain to lower
corner, not aVecting any text, but stronger on plates, with some fraying
of lower corner; a very wide-margined copy, apart from the stain very
clean; recent boards.
First edition, very rare, of a detailed introduction to double entry bookkeeping,
published in the midst of the French Revolution. The author argues
that especially at times of political turbulence it is of utmost
importance to apply strict accounting methods to public Wnance. He cleverly
combines a critique of Necker’s Compte Rendu with a general introduction
to the procedures of double-entry book-keeping. He proposes the
drawing up of draft accounts, with clear payment schedules, for both incoming
and outgoing funds, together with more detailed individual accounts,
all of which is demonstrated on the elaborate folding tables.
Not in Historical Accounting Literature or Herwood; not in Kress, Goldsmiths’,
RLIN or OCLC, just one copy recorded in Bibliothèque Nationale.
Before the Palm Pilot
3 [ALMANAC.] RIDERS, Cardanus [pseud.]. Riders (1724)
British Merlin. Adorn’ed with many delightful Varieties and Useful
Verities, for the Year of our Lord God, 1724. London E. R. Nutt,
1724. £650
12mo, pp. 48, Wrst part interleaved; title printed in red and black,
headlines and saints’ days printed in red throughout; half page
anatomical woodcut of the ‘zodiacal’ man; contemporary London red
goatskin, gilt, sides decoratively gilt; spine gilt in compartments, tooled
with royal cipher, gilt edges, original silver fore-edge pin-slots, 3 (of 4)
original silver bosses incised with abstract design, later metal stylus pin.
One paper and two heavy ass’s skin free endpapers for marking with the
stylus provided; tax stamp visible on title; contemporary manuscript
notes on blanks, including some sums, a page of accounts and two
recipes; an attractive copy.
Riders’ British Merlin was one of the longest running British almanacs, published
under the control of the Stationer’s Company from 1656 to the early
susanne schulz-falster rare books catalogue ten
nineteenth century. It contains a calendar of the year together with some
astronomical data, medical information, interesting facts and statistics,
moral precepts and proverbs. The almanac thus fulWlled a variety of roles,
providing information and entertainment at a time when reading matter
was scarce. At the same time it fulWlled a secondary role as a diary and notebook,
for which numerous blank pages were inserted, especially the two
inserted leaves of ass’s skin, or possibly specially coated paper, on which one
could easily write with a stylus, and subsequently erase the information.
The numerous manuscript annotations provide a fascinating insight into
early eighteenth century life.
Even though these almanacs were produced in large numbers, only few
examples have survived. It is particularly appealing to Wnd it well-preserved
in its original red goatskin binding.
The Constitutions of the Original United States of America – a
Blueprint for Reform
4 [AMERICAN CONSTITUTION.] Recueil des Loix
Constitutives des Colonies Angloises, Confédérées sous la
dénomination D’États-Unis de L’Amérique-Septentrionale. Auquel
on a joint les Actes de d’Indépendance, de Confédération & autres
Actes du Congrès général, traduit de L’Anglois. Philadelphie [i.e.
Paris], Cellot & Jombert, 1778. £850
12mo, pp. [xii], 370; woodcut vignettes; occasional light spotting;
contemporary full mottled calf, spine decoratively gilt in compartments,
gilt-lettered spine label, discreet repairs to corners and upper joint; from
the library for American Studies in Italy with bookplate to front pastedown
and circular stamp to title; a good copy.
First edition, uncommon, of the earliest collection of the constitutions of
the thirteen original states of the newly created United States of America.
Immediately after the Declaration of Independence, the thirteen former
British colonies began writing a new series of constitutions, the most important
being those of Pennsylvania and Virginia. These documents were
received with great interest abroad and were almost immediately translated.
The present translation being the earliest one. The work was compiled by
Regnier, and dedicated to Benjamin Franklin.
Included are a very early French translation of the Declaration of Independence,
the Acts of Confederation, the Recommendations of the Continental
Congress, the diploma given to General Washington by Harvard College,
and the Navigation Act, followed by the individual constitutions of the thirteen
original states, etc., as well as a population table of the states, with a
total number of inhabitants of just 3,056,678.
Sabin 68448; JCB 2507; Barbier IV 103; Howes R111.