ALCUIN BOOKS~ Scholarly and Rare

Gazuli, Muhammad Ibn-Sulaiman (Jazuli). Dalail Al-Hairat. Near East: Manuscript, . 117 leaves with front and back leaves illuminated with rich color symmetrical designs, rest of text inside ruled red and blue lines with five accent images dividing text. The work is regarded as the first major book in Islamic history which compiled litanies of peace and blessings upon the Prophet Muhammad. Among some Sunni religious orders, most notably the Shadhili-Jazuli order, its recitation is a daily practice; in others, however, it is a purely daily practice. The work begins with the ninety nine names of God and then the collection of over one hundred names of the Prophet. Its greatest popularity is in the Levant, Turkey, the Caucasus and South Asia though now it has spread to Europe, India and Indonesia. Manuscript copies such as this one were attempts to create an ideal symmetry and were pocket book size as this one so they could be carried easily so that devotion could be taken at moments throughout the day. Copies meticulously by hand such copies as this one began to be copied in the late 18th century until printed copies began to reach the masses in the Islamic world. This copy eventually came into the position of a California family and was later given in Los Angeles in 1937 Daisy Benani to a Mr. D'Orr as a gift. We should note that most surviving copies had fewer than 110 leaves so this is one of finest to appear in recent years. A near fine copy with the original symmetrical case that is in tact with the spine only in need of repair.

[013918] $3500

Miller, Joe. Joe Miller's Jests; or, the Wits Vade Mecum....London, 1739. [186-? reprint] A nice copy of the reprint of the classic teller of jokes in the 18th Century. A very good copy in one-half red morocco over paper cover boards.

Simmons, Marc. Along the Santa Fe Trail. ill. Myers, Joan. Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press, 1986. Limited Edition. Small Folio. Half-Leather. Slipcase. Signed by Author. Fine / No Jacket. Small folio, xxi, 184pp. Pages 90-184 are photographs with titles. Half-leather spine, letters in gilt, with woven cloth boards and matching slipcase. Marbled endpapers. This special binding and slipcase are by Virginia Marquis. Book design by Emmy Ezell, typeset at the University of New Mexico Printing Plant in Goudy Old Style. Duo Tone plates were printed by offset lithography in Japan by Dai Nippon Printing, Ltd. Text was printed by Thomson-Shore, Inc. Books were bound by John H. Decker & Sons. Contains a 2-page map of Santa Fe Trail. An original palladium by Myers is laid in with its original tan card stock envelope: 10 1/2 X 8 1/2 inches, signed in pencil by Joan Myers in 1982. This beautiful collector's item is signed by author and artist, #5 in a limited edition of 20. A gorgeous example of fine books.

Du Pin, Louis Ellies, 1657-1719). De Antiqua Ecclesiae Disciplina; Dissertationes Historicae. Cologne: Huguetanorum, 1691. 4to - over 9¾" - 12" tall. The brilliant French Ecclesiastical Historian who earned his doctorate at the age of 23 and conceived the idea of writing a history of the church that was suppressed in 1693 as closer to Jansenism than to that of the Roman Catholic Church. Later on his plan for a union of the English and Gallican churches led to the seizure of his papers. This volume deals with how the early church policy and discipline was carried out. Bound in a contemporary calf and the spine with six raised bands, the volume is in very good condition with only the lightest external wear. Scarce in this condition.

A NICE SIGNED LETTER AND INSCRIBED PHOTOGRAPH OF FRANK SINATRA
FROM A BLEAK TIME IN HIS CAREER

Sinatra, Frank. IMPORTANT SIGNED SINATRA LETTER AND PHOTOGRAPH AT A PIVOTAL POINT IN HIS CAREER. , 8"x10" B&W photograph inscribed "To Rose Mary, fondly, Frankie". A few small spots at right of picture. Accompanied by 1 TLS on letterhead of THE FRANK SINATRA PROGRAM. May 15, 1947. Not only signed by type by Frank Sinatra to Rose Mary, the editor of the Super Sinatra fan magazine. Aside from his continued use of the adjective "swell," he informs her that his last program for Old Gold would be on June 4th [1947], a program where he sang six Gershwin songs that were to be a part of his repertoire. He notes that we would be back on the air on the Hit Parade in September (September 6, 1947] with Axel [Storndahl, the arranger he had hired away from Tommy Dorsey, causing further animosity between the two] and the Pied Pipers. (Later that year he would be joined by Doris Day.) It was this stint on the Hit Parade where he exercised considerable artistic control. Although his career was at a crossroads, he recorded 73 songs for Columbia that year but had only a small hit; it was this year when the 'Mortimer incident' took place beginning a decline placing this as the period that appeared to be one of the low points of his career. Photographs and accompanying letters from this period are scarce.

A PRISTINE SIGNED COPY OF DENIS JOHNSON'S
FIRST BOOK THE MAN WHO WALKED AMONG THE SEALS

Johnson, Denis. MAN AMONG THE SEALS. Iowa City: Stone Wall Press, 1969, Cloth. Near Fine. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. 55 pp. Limited to 260 copies. Glassine cover wraps, paste-down spine label. Novelist's first published book. signed on ffep

SAGGI DI ASTRONOMIA POPLARE. Torino: San Giuseppe Delgi Artigianelli, 1911, Cloth. Very Good. First Edition. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. The rare bound journals [1911-1917] in two bound volumes found only in the Torino Library in Europe. These contain articles by such leading astronomers as [to be continued]

A BEAUTIFUL EXAMPLE OF THE GREAT ART OF ARTHUR SECUNDA
WITH AN ORIGINAL HENRY MILLER POEM

Secunda, Arthur; Henry Miller . Secunda Provence "O Lake of Light". Scottsdale, Arizona: Arthur Secunda, 2002. First Edition. 4to - over 9¾" - 12" tall. Original Cloth in Case. Fine.