Paul B. Victorius (London)

(17.5 cm), 136 pp., illustrations. 500 items; priced. Publisher’s printed wrappers. - The first of Paul Victorius’ London catalogues, offering the 1735 first edition of Linnaeus’s Systema Naturae (item 449, Sold); a set of Marx’s Das Kapital (1867-1894), in wrappers, with presentation inscriptions from Friedrich Engels to his secretary, Louise Kautsky (item 491, £55); and many unusual books in interesting copies. Born in New York, Victorius arrived in London in 1924 with the intention of obtaining a medical degree, but soon abandoned his studies to become a rare book dealer. After the outbreak of War, he returned home, settling eventually in Charlottesville, Virginia, where he opened a shop selling books, maps and prints. Victorius formed a significant collection of Darwin-related material (sold in 1949 to the University of Virginia Library); his shop on University Avenue, managed by Richard Freeman, endured until 2013.