A large collection of Elzevir Republics, or the Respublicae; their prized description of European, non-European and ancient states. Thirty volumes, all bound uniformly in contemporary vellum, with manuscript titles to spines. Decorated with red gauffered edges, with the monogram "BD" stamped in gilt to each fore-edge.
 
A significant and attractive collection of Elzevir Republics. Comparable examples to our set are rare in commerce, and we cannot trace a similar set having sold at auction since the Earl Of Granard's (23 works in 25 volumes), sold at Sotheby in 1993. "Between 1625 and 1649, the Leiden publishing house Elzevir issued a series of thirty-five descriptions of all European, select non-European, and three ancient states, Greece, Israel and Rome. (...) Each volume depicted the respective country's geography, is landscape and various regions, its people and mores, its government, its economy, its kings and noble families, and, in some cases, its arts and sciences as well. (...) Owing to their small size, they caused a stir among early modern printers and quickly became famous as the first pocketbook series in history." -- Sina Rauschenbach, "Elzevirian Republics, wise merchants, and new perspectives on Spain and Portugal in the seventeenth-century Dutch Republic" (De Zeventiende Eeuw 29 (2013), pp. 81-100. This set comprosing: 1. Respublica, sive Status Regni Scotiæ et Hiberniæ. Diversorum Autorum. (1627) 2. Casparis Contareni patricii Veneti De Republica Venetorum Libri quinque. Item synopsis reip: Venetae, et alii de eadem discursus politici. Editio secunda auctior. (1628) 3. Respublica Romana. Regibus?? his olim totus promittitur orbis xxx ab hac terra cætera terra petes. Honori Urbis Veterane P. Scriverius Restituit (1629) 4. Gallia, sive De Francorum Regis Dominiis et opibus Commentarius. (1629) 5. De Regno Daniæ Norweglæ. Insulisque adjacentibus: iuxtà Ac De Holsatia, 6. Ducatu Sleswicensi, Et finitimis provinciis, Tractatus varii. (1629) 6. Hispania, Sive De Regis Hispaniæ Regnis et opibus Commentarius. (1629) 7. Respublica Hollandiae et Urbes. (1630) 8. Russia seu Moscovia itemque Tartaria Commentario Topographico atque politico illustratae. (1630) 9. Respublica Moscoviae et Urbes. Accedunt quaedam latinè nunquam antehac edita. (1630) 10. Belgii Confederati Respublica seu Gelriae. Holland. Zeland. Traject. Fris. Transisal, Groning. chorographica Politicaque descriptio. (1630) 11. De Imperio Magni Mogolis Sive India Vera Commentarius. E Variis Auctoribys Congestus. Cum Prvilegio. (1631) 12. Donati Iannotii Florentini dialogi De Repub. Venetorum Cum Notis et lib. Singulari de Forma eiusdem Reip. (1631) 13. Ioannis Leonis Africani Africae Descriptio IX. lib. absoluta. (1632) 14. Iohannis Leonis Africani De Africae Descriptione, Pars altera. (1632) 15. P. Gyllii de Constantinopoleos Topographia lib. IV. (1632) 16. F. Sprecheri Rhetia, Ubi Eius verus situs, Politia, bella, foedera, et alia memorabilia ac curatissimè describuntur. (1633) 17. Suecia, sive de Suecorum Regis Dominiis et opibus. Commentarius Politicus. (1633) 18. Iosiæ Simleri Vallesiæ et Alpium descriptio. (1633) 19. Sabaudiae Respublica et Historia. (1634) 20. Respublica et Status Regni Hungariae. (1634) 21. Turcici Imperii Status. Accedit De Regn. Algeriano atque Tunetano Commentarius. (1634) 22. Respublica Lutzenburgensis, Hannoniæ et Namurcensis. (1635, William Blaeu) 23. Status particularis Regimminis S.c. Majestatis Ferdinandi II. (1637) 24. Regni Chinensis descriptio. Ex variis authoribus. (1639) 25. Thomae Smithi Angli De Republica Anglorum Libri tres. Quibus Accesserunt Chorographica illius descriptio aliique politici tractatus. Editio ultima prioribus multo auctior. (1641) 26. Portugallia Sive De Regis Portugalliæ Regnis et Opibus Commentarius. (1641) 27. Respublica, Sive Status Regni Poloniæ, Lituaniæ, Prussiæ, Livoniæ, etc. Diversorum Autorum. (1642) 28. Respublica Bojema â M. Paulo Stranskyz. Descripta, recognita, et aucta. (1643) 29. Descriptio Regni Iaponiae Cum quibusdam affinis materiae, Ex variis auctoribus collecta et in ordinem redacta per Bernhardum Varenium Med. D. (1649) 30. Tractatus in quo agitur. De Iaponiorum religione. De Christianæ religionis introductione in ea loca. De eiusdem extirpatione. Adiuncta est de diversa diversarum gentium totius telluris Religione brevis informatio. Auctore Bernhardo Varenio, Med. D. (1649)
 
PROVENANCE: Early owner's monogram "BD" stamped in gilt to each fore-edge; Sir William Maxwell of Monreith (1715-1771), his bookplate to front pastedown.