Susanne Schulz-Falster Catalogue Ten

Musique, & la Danse ou Lettres de Mr. G... A Milord Pembroke.
Venise, Charles Pales, 1773.
[with:] GOUDAR, Sarah. Supplement au Supplement sur les
Remarques de la Musique et de la Danse ou Lettres de Mr. G...
A Milord Pembroke. [n.p.], 1774. £1800
Three parts bound in two volumes, 12mo, pp. [iv], 136; 95; 112 (tear
to p. 99); woodcut vignettes to all three titles; one signature coming
loose in part one; parts one and two bound together in contemporary
half calf over sprinkled boards, spine ruled and lettered in gilt; part three
uncut in contemporary stiV paste-paper wrappers; a good set.
First edition, very rare, of this fascinating ‘inside’ view of the Italian and
especially Venetian musical scene of the second half of the eighteenth century,
and in eVect the Wrst book to describe in detail the foundation of theatrical
dance and ballet. In the form of letters addressed to Lord Pembroke,
the emergence of ballet in Venice is described, with special emphasis on the
contribution of Noverre and Angiolini. Noverre is generally acknowledged
to have been the eighteenth century reformer of ballet, with his emphasis on
conveying dramatic action through movement, pantomime, and dramatic
gesture. Goudar provides Wrst-hand information on the dancers, their technique,
repertoire and life. In the second supplement the emphasis shifts to
opera, given an account of the Italian opera, its interpreters and the contemporary
theatrical scene.
Gregory & Bartlett, Catalogue of Early Books on Music, p. 112 (lacking part III);
Mars 97, 100, and 102 (apparently attributing the work to Ange Goudar alone);
OCLC records copies at Harvard, the Library of Congress and Brigham Young
only.
Argot Dictionary
143 [GRANDVAL, Nicolas Racot de.] Le Vice Puni, ou Cartouche.
Poeme, Nouvelle edition, plus belle, plus correcte, & augmentée par
l’auteur. Paris, Hague, M. G. de Merville, 1728. £300
8vo, engraved frontispiece, pp. [iv], 119, with 16 engraved plates in the
text, all after Bonnart; title printed in red and black, paper a little
browned throughout; bound in contemporary full calf, central blindstamped
vignette to upper board; a good copy with private book label
to front paste-down.
An interesting Argot dictionary is added at the end of Grandval’s satirical
poems, a parody of Voltaire’s Henriade, together with a take-oV on
Corneille and Racine. These poems were inspired by the story of the legendary
robber Louis Dominique Bourguignon (1693–1721), known as
Cartouche, who Wgured in more than one play of the period. His satirical
attacks are partly expressed in Argot, the dialect of the French underworld –
and the origin of the English term ‘Argot’. The Wrst edition had appeared in
1723, and it appears that the Argot dictionary and the plates were Wrst
susanne schulz-falster rare books catalogue ten
added to the 1725 edition. The Wfteen-page dictionary is in two parts: Argot-French
and French-Argot.
Bonaparte 3798; Gay III 1328; see Yve-Plessis, Bibliographie raisonné de l’Argot, p.
82 for other edition; Zaunmüller 142 (1750).
144 GRIENDEL VON ACH, Johann Frantz. Micrographia Nova:
oder Neu-Curieuse Beschreibung verschiedener kleine Körper,
welche vermittlst eines absonderlichen von dem Author
neuerfundenen Vergrösser-Glases verwunderlich groß vorgestellt
werden. Nürnberg, J. Ziegers, 1687. £3000
4to, pp. [viii], 64 with 31 (27 of which folding) plates with 55 Wgures;
typographic head and tail-pieces; title page discreetly mounted;
engraved plates irregularly trimmed, but no loss to images; occasional
light dust-soiling and browning; late eighteenth century stained vellumbacked
sprinkled boards; contemporary ownership inscription to front
pastedown, Bibliotheca M. Balthasar HoVman.
First edition of the German answer to Hooke’s Micrographia, and the Wrst
German book to be devoted entirely to the microscope, combining detailed
descriptions with intricate illustrations. Griendel’s design of the microscope
was a distinct improvement on Hooke’s and Leeuwenhoeck’s instruments,
as the object could be viewed at a greater distance from the lense, thereby
greatly increasing the Weld of vision. His instrument is of great interest ‘as