Title: Nouveau dictionnaire des passagers ...

Publisher: Leipzig:Joh. Friedrich Gelditsch und sohn.

Publication Date: 1712

Binding: Hardcover

Book Condition: Very Good

Edition: 1st

FIRST EDITION. (12), 1021, 446 printed pages. Two parts in one volume. Preliminaries with decorative initial capitals. Frontispiece engraved on wood and unique to this, the first edition (the royal orb is engraved on the left foregound -not on the small table- and the title cartouche is not supported by cherubs, as they are in the 1739 edition). Woodcut floriate tailpiece. With the discreet ownership ink stamp of Berthold Schaefer of Breslau, an author and historian whose work was published between 1913-26. Three other ownership inscriptions, all on the front free endpaper.Final preliminary leaf missing its lower corner, just affecting the printed binder's signature at the foot of the margin. 13 x 19 x 10 cm. Bound in contemporary full parchment over stiff boards and with vellum slotted bands. Front hinge cracked but firm; rear hinge with minimal & old wormhole. Spine lettered in contemporay hand. Binding exquisitely patinated with very slight wear and rich centuries-old handling depths & shades of beautiful discolouration. Johann Leonhard Frisch (1666-1743) was a German linguist who had a diverse career, starting as a singer, serving as an interpreter in the German army and progressing to the position of headmaster of a school in Berlin. As a man of letters of the time, he pursued many interests, including natural history and the collections of specimens to form the Cabinet of Curiosities so beloved of this early scientific era. His bird collection formed the basis for the drawings in one of his works. His French to German dictionary was republished in 1730, 1737, 1739, 1746, 1761, 1766 & 1771. WorldCat locates just two copies of this scarce FIRST EDITION, both in Germany. Bookseller Inventory # 4364