Philosophia Naturalis Principia Mathematica. Cambridge, 1713

SECOND EDITION. . Newton’s Principia is “generally described as the greatest work in the history of science.  Copernicus, Galileo, and Kepler had certainly shown the way; but where they described the phenomena they observed, Newton explained the underlying universal laws.  The Principia provided the great synthesis of the cosmos, proving finally its physical unity” (PMM).

$55,000

The Complete Writings. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1902

First edition of “the first comprehensive collection of Whitman’s work.” This is the rare deluxe issue printed on Japan vellum, number 2 of only 10 such sets, in the magnificent original morocco binding.

$38,000

La Historia di Italia. Florence: Lorenzo Torrentino, 1561

FIRST EDITION. A “masterpiece of scientific history,” Guicciardini’s History of Italy was “undoubtedly the greatest historical work that had appeared since the beginning of the modern era. It remains the most solid monument of Italian reason in the 16th century, the final triumph of that Florentine school of philosophical historians which included Machiavelli …” (Britannica, 11th ed.).

$28,000

General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money. London: Macmillan, 1936

First edition of this classic of modern economics, “on which Keynes’s fame as the outstanding economist of his generation must rest” (DNB).

$24,000

On the Origin of Species by means of natural selection, or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life.. London: John Murray, 1860

SECOND EDITION. On the Origin of Species is “certainly the greatest biological book ever written” (Freeman) and “the most important single work in science” (Dibner).

$19,000

The Second World War. London: Cassell, 1948-1954

FIRST ENGLISH EDITIONS. Signed and dated by Churchill in the first volume.

$18,500

Some Account of the Pennsylvania Hospital; From its First Rise, to the Beginning of the Fifth Month, called May, 1754. Philadelphia: B. Franklin and D. Hall, 1754

FIRST EDITION of Benjamin Franklin’s account of the Pennsylvania Hospital, the first hospital established in the British colonies, co-founded by Franklin with his friend Dr. Thomas Bond. It remains a leading medical institution in Philadelphia.

$17,500

Torat ha-Elohim. The Law of God [Five Books of Moses]. Philadelphia: C. Sherman, 5605-6 (1845-46)

FIRST EDITION IN ENGLISH of the Pentateuch translated by a Jew and the first American translation of the Torah. Isaac Leeser was the single most influential Jewish figure in 19th-century America. His many accomplishments include establishing the vernacular sermon as a permanent feature in the American synagogue, publishing the first successful American Jewish newspaper, and founding the first American rabbinical school.

$17,000

Uncle Tom’s Cabin; or, life among the lowly. Boston: Jewett, 1852

FIRST EDITION, FIRST PRINTING. “These books are of such paramount historical importance that it is difficult to evaluate them as literature” (Merle Johnson). “Three thousand copies were sold on the day of publication, and before its first anniversary, over 300,000 copies were sold in America … More than twenty London editions appeared in 1852, so the English audience must have been as large as the American. No other American novel has been translated into so many foreign languages” (Grolier/American).

$15,000

The Jewish Manual; Or, practical information in Jewish and modern cookery, with a collection of valuable recipes and hints relating to the toilette. Edited by a Lady. London: Boone, 1846

FIRST EDITION. The first Jewish cookery book in English, this book is a landmark in Jewish social history.

$15,000