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236 title(s) found
displaying results: 1 - 236

[A'KEMPIS, THOMAS]. Counsels Selected from the Imitation of Christ. Selected and Illuminated by K. K.
"London R. Hardwicke & G. Wakeling N.d. 8vo., publisher's green cloth over beveled boards with giltdecoration and titling on the upper cover, repeated in blind on the lower cover; a.e.g. FIRST EDITION (there were copies bound in brown cloth as well, according to Waddleton). Tipped-in "Notice" and Errata Slip at the front. The compiler-illuminator, a certain K. K. of Tunbridge Wells, has employed black-type for the central text, which is placed within a three-sided, decorative gothic double-border PRINTED IN GOLD, within which one line of text is printed in large red gothic type. The fourth outer gold border is composed of a floral vine. Each page has a decorated initial letter printed in red and complimentary line fillers. The chapter openers are further decorated with flowers, fruit and leafy vines in natural colors. A most attractive example of mid-Victorian chromolithography by an anonymous-but-pious person also responsible for a similar work entitled, The Changed Cross. See: Waddleton Chronology p. 166. PUBLISHED FOR THE ILLUMINATOR"
Price: USD 275.00 other currencies   details     inquire
offered by: The Book Block   (USA)
[Combe William] THE ENGLISH DANCE OF DEATH FROM THE DESIGNS OF THOMAS ROWLANDSON. And THE DANCE OF LIFE.
"London R. Ackermann 1815-1816 & 1817 Three vols. Lg. 8vo. (9 3/4x 6 1/4 inches), in the publisher’sremainder binding of orange vertical ribbed cloth, with blind blocked decoration on the covers and gilt decoration (featuring a large femur and a country Church graveyard on the Dance of Death volumes, and dancing figures on “Life”). Top edges gilt, other edges untrimmed. In very nice condition with a just a minimum of handling wear. With binder’s ticket of Remnant & Edmonds in two of the volumes; and the oval, embossed bookplate of: F. R. Atkinson Pendleton, Oak House. 36 hand-colored aquatints by Thomas Rowlandson in each volume of the Dance of Death, and 24 in the Dance of Life, plus engraved, hand-colored titles and frontispieces for each title. Abbey states that the Dance of Death was issued in 24 serialized parts from April 1814 until March 1816; this is the FIRST EDITION in book form. Rowlandson's contribution to the Dance of Death genre is notable and is nicely summarized by Aldred Warthin; "The work consisted of seventy-four full-page color prints, with a poem by William Combe. Rowlandson's clever and humorous spirit found a congenial field in the depiction of these subjects. Many of his plates are highly original and curious, and extremely interesting as revealing the morals and manners of the English people in the early nineteenth century. They are all intended to convey a powerful moral lesson..." This is a brilliantly hand colored copy, with occasional minor offsetting onto the facing text pages and no foxing, typical problems that turn up in sets that have been rebound and which were put into presses during the process. It is also the largest possible copy, taller (by three-quarters of an inch) and wider (by three-eights of an inch) than the average rebound set that appears at auction. VERY NICE. Warthin, A. The Physician of the Dance of Death. NY, 1931. pp. 93-98. Abbey/Life 263 & 264. Tooley 410 & 411. Douce. pp. 199-200. Susan Minns Collection 524. A BEAUTIFULLY COLORED COPY IN THE PUBLISHER’S CLOTH"
Price: USD 3,950.00 other currencies   details     inquire
offered by: The Book Block   (USA)
[Combe William] THE TOUR OF DOCTOR SYNTAX in Search of a Wife. A Hudibrastic Poem.
"Philadelphia J. Clarke, Printer 1829 8vo., full tan sheep with plain sides; spine with a black morocco label and gilt decoration. Light occasional foxing. First American edition, reprinted from the last London edition. The frontispiece, a Rowlandsonesque engraving, shows the good doctor astride his horse setting out in search of a wife. First published in England in 1821, this tour of the clergyman-schoolmaster was Combe's third Syntax parody of those popular books and picturesque travels of the day (and particularly those of William Gilpin). Scarce, thus. FIRST AMERICAN EDITION"
Price: USD 150.00 other currencies   details     inquire
offered by: The Book Block   (USA)
[Combe William] THE ENGLISH DANCE OF DEATH FROM THE DESIGNS OF THOMAS ROWLANDSON. And THE DANCE OF LIFE.
"London R. Ackermann 1815-1816 & 1817 Three vols. Lg. 8vo. (9 1/4x 5 1/2 inches), in nineteenth century mottled calf with gilt decorated spines and morocco title labels. Bindings with worn spots but very solid, joints and all. Bound by Riviere & Son. (who placed the Indexes at the back of each volume); a.e.g. 36 hand-colored aquatints by Thomas Rowlandson in each volume of the Dance of Death, and 24 in the Dance of Life, plus engraved, hand-colored titles and frontispieces for each title. Abbey states that the Dance of Death was issued in 24 serialized parts from April 1814 until March 1816; this is the FIRST EDITION in book form. Rowlandson's contribution to the Dance of Death genre is notable and is nicely summarized by Aldred Warthin; "The work consisted of seventy-four full-page color prints, with a poem by William Combe. Rowlandson's clever and humorous spirit found a congenial field in the depiction of these subjects. Many of his plates are highly original and curious, and extremely interesting as revealing the morals and manners of the English people in the early nineteenth century. They are all intended to convey a powerful moral lesson..." This is a delicataely hand colored copy, with occasional minor offsetting onto the facing text pages and no foxing, typical problems that turn up in sets that have been rebound and which were put under excessive pressure during the process. Several of the engravings deserve special attention (although as a suite, they all are highly representitive of the artist). Among our favorites are: The Antiquarian and Death (I, p. 15), The Quack Doctor (I, p. 85), The Gaming Table (I, p. 258), The Astronomer (II, p.38), Time, Death and Eternity (II, p. 290). A Very nice, ATTRACTIVELY PRICED, set. Warthin, A. The Physician of the Dance of Death. NY, 1931. pp. 93-98. Abbey/Life 263 & 264. Tooley 410 & 411. Douce. pp. 199-200. Susan Minns Collection 524. A Handsome Set of Rowlandson’s Best"
Price: USD 2,300.00 other currencies   details     inquire
offered by: The Book Block   (USA)
[Crébillon Claude Prosper Joylot ] Le Sopha, Conte Moral. Gaznah (De l'Imprimerie du Très-Pieux, Très Clément, & Très Auguste Sultan des Indes), L'an de Hegire M.C.XX.
"[Paris] 1742 Two vols. bound in one. 8vo., full crushed oasis niger with a double gilt fillet border on each cover; smooth spine with horizontal gilt bands, title in gilt in the second compartment; a.e.g. An ATTRACTIVE BOOK. First edition (there is a Dutch edition and an English edition of the same year). Nicely printed, with decorative headpieces and the title printed in black and red. Crébillon, son of the French (melo-?)dramatist of the same name, wrote novels and dialogues that reflect the moral laxity of his day. La Sopha, for example, tells the experiences of a man transformed by metempsychosis into a sofa, and the scandalous adventures that take place on it. His other works include L'Ecumoire (1733) and La Nuit et le moment (1755). He was like his father, one of the dramatic censors of the French government. A scarce book, with OCLC reporting five copies (Yale, Harvard, Princeton, U. of Pa. and Oxford). A HANDSOME COPY OF A SCARCE BOOK"
Price: USD 695.00 other currencies   details     inquire
offered by: The Book Block   (USA)
[Dillon R. C.] .]. THE LORD MAYOR'S VISIT TO OXFORD in the Month of July, 1826.
"London Longman, Rees, Orme, Browne and Green 1826 8vo., publisher's plain reddish-brown cloth, spine repaired, with a gilt-stamped leather title label. Frontispiece engraving of the Lord Mayor of London (W. Venables) and his party's embarkation at Oxford by Henry Smith, marked "Proof." An earlier bookseller's description on the front pastedown says it all: "This serious absurdity was so much quizzed that the Lord Mayor induced his over-ernest chaplain to surpress it. A very severe review of the volume was written by Theo. Hook. The whole volume is filled with the grossest flattery and adulation: in one passagee he insinuates that the sun shone with unwonted splendour in honour of this his patron's visit to Oxford." Scarce. And an early cloth publisher's binding. IN AN EARLY PUBLISHER'S CLOTH BINDING"
Price: USD 125.00 other currencies   details     inquire
offered by: The Book Block   (USA)
[Holbein Holbein] DER TODTEN-TANZ...LA DANSE DES MORTS....
"Basel Chez Maehli-Lamy 1843 8vo., three-quarter morocco over marbled boards, with the title stampedin gilt on the spine, extremities lightly rubbed. This bilingual edition begins with a short history of the subject, followed by a series of woodcuts portraying the usual array of humankind confronting Death personified. A number of the plates bear the initials GS along with a rendering of a knife to signify the name of the wood cutter, George Scharffenberg, who first cut these images into wood in 1576. As Aldred Warthin [The Physician and the Dance of Death] points out, "Most of these [18th century editions by de Mechel] have 41 woodcuts [as does ours], 27 from Holbein, 7 from the Basel Totentanz, and 7 probably from the Totentanz in Berne...Numerous cheap reproductions of these were issued in Basel during the first half of the nineteenth century." Our edition has cuts that measure a generous 4 3/8 x 3 inches and are close copies of the originals. In over thirty years of searching, it is the very first copy of this edition we have seen. See: Warthin. p. 83-84 [illustrations], and 89. Not in Minns. A 19TH C. DANCE OF DEATH WITH WOODCUTS BY SCHARFFENBERG"
Price: USD 625.00 other currencies   details     inquire
offered by: The Book Block   (USA)
[LACKINGTON JAMES]. MEMOIRS OF THE FIRST FORTY-FIVE YEARS OF THE LIFE OF...THE PRESENT BOOKSELLER in Chiswell-street, Moorfields, London.
"London Printed for and Sold by The Author N.d. [1791] 8vo. (8 1/4 x 5 1/4 inches), nineteenth century tree calf with a narrow leafy border on the covers; spine with five raised bands and gilt decoration within the compartments, except for the one that contains the title information. All edges marbled to match the end leaves. The half title is wanting. First edition of a frequently reprinted autobiography (by 1793 there were copies with the words 13th edition on the title), the DNB calls it, "...an interesting picture of bookselling life." Lackington was a vain but warm-hearted, shrewd man of business, whose first object in life was to make money. As soon as he had acquired a fortune he seems to have lost any love of books which he may have had. The caption beneath Lackington's engraved frontispiece portrait immodestly reads: "J. Lackington, Who a few years since, began Business with five Pounds; now sells one Hundred Thousand Volumes Annually." Self promotion or not, it is always beneficial to have a collection of letters and anecdotes written by another contemporary of Dr. Johnson and Boswell, to mention just two others actually concerned with the sale of their books. FIRST EDITION NICely BOUND"
Price: USD 475.00 other currencies   details     inquire
offered by: The Book Block   (USA)
[Lenglet-Dufresnoy, N.] ed. LE CABINET SATYRIQUE, ou Recueil de vers Piquans & Galliards de ces temps.
"Au Mont Parnasse [Amsterdam?] De l'imprimerie de messer Apollon 1697 Two vols. 8vo., full crushed crimson morocco with triple gilt fillet borders. In the center of both upper covers is the gilt-stamped design of the former owner: a serpent holding a long quill, writing in an open book the words of a muse or spirit pictured above. The initials on the book, F.L., are those of the collector, F. Lachèvre, whose bookplate, featuring a skull resting on an open book, is in both volumes. Spines with five raised bands and elaborate gilt tooling in the compartments. Board edges gilt, inner gilt dentelles, a.e.g. Both volumes ruled in red throughout; BOUND BY CUZIN and signed on the lower front turn-in. FINE. The compilation of this collection, with its fictitious imprint, has been variously attributed to Charles de Beauxoncles, Charles Besnacon and Berthelot (the editor of UC's Melvyl catalogue adds, "without sufficient reason"), as well as to original publisher, Antoine Estoc. It consists (358 pp. in volume one and 330 pp. in volume two) of satyrical and erotic poetry from sixteenth and seventeenth century France. A similar collection with a similar title appeared in 1618 and there have been other editions published into the twentieth century; the 1924 two-volume edition published in Paris by J, Fort reproduces the title-pages of the first four editions. A very fine set of a scarce and curious work. University of California Libraries do not have a copy of this edition. Harvard catalogues an undated [ca. 1700?] edition. See Brunet I, 1446 for comparison. RULED IN RED, BEAUTIFULLY BOUND, CURIOUS BOOKPLATE"
Price: USD 1,975.00 other currencies   details     inquire
offered by: The Book Block   (USA)
[MacBear Alexander] A DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE or an Explanation of the Proper Names & Difficult Words in the Old and New Testament. First American edition from the second London edition, enlarged.
"Worcester Isaiah Thomas 1798 8vo., contemporary tree calf with a red morocco spine label. A full-page advertisement for Thomas's "Printing in its Great Variety," type set within an oval leafy border, appears on U4v (there is a small hole in the ad affecting the floral border and two words of text on the recto), U5-6 list of books for sale in his bookstore in Worcester. The author, Alexander MacBear died in 1784 and his name does not appear on the title-page. The book consists of 236 unnumbered pages with the entries in alphabetical order. A fine example of the bookmaking skill of Isaiah Thomas, one of America's foremost printers. Uncommon, especially in this condition. Evans. 33638 FIRST AMERICAN EDITION"
Price: USD 575.00 other currencies   details     inquire
offered by: The Book Block   (USA)
[Sterne Laurence] THE BEAUTIES OF STERNE: Including All His Pathetic Tales, and Most Distinguished Observations on Life. Selected for the Heart of Sensibility.
"London T. Davies, et. al. 1782 8vo. (6 3/4 x 4 1/2 inches), contemporary burgundy morocco with a double gilt fillet border on the covers; spine with five raised bands, gilt decoration, and a green morocco title label. A VERY NICE COPy with minor occasional browning, in a handsome contemporary binding. Although first published in 1782, this popular compilation from the author's oeuvre, here designated A NEW EDITION, was often reprinted, the selection being altered from edition to edition. The alphabetical Table of Contents leads the reader to a variety of excerpts (the letter D. for example): The Dwarf, Reflections on Duty, Difference in Men, Defamation, Dissatisfaction, Distress, and Corporal Trim's Reflections on Death. A very nice copy. NICELY BOUND IN BURGUNDY MOROCCO"
Price: USD 475.00 other currencies   details     inquire
offered by: The Book Block   (USA)
[Sterne Laurence] A SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY THROUGH FRANCE AND ITALY. BY MR. YORICK.
"London J. Creswick & Co. 1794 Sm. 8vo. (6 1/4 x 4 1/16), full acid calf with a single narrow floralborder on the covers; spine with five raised bands and elaborate gilt decoration. Board edges gilt, inner gilt dentelles, a.e.g. (by Zaehnsdorf). This exceptionally well printed edition with its six engravings by W. Bromley after drawings by M. Archer employs excellent typography and a few well chosen head and tail pieces, making it highly attractive and readable. The unfinished narrative attacks sentimentalism wherein Sterne playfully moralizes so as to present an almost delicate caricature of moralizing itself. It is hard to understand today how for so many years it was read with great seriousness. It was first published in 1768, the year of Sterne's death. BEAUTIFULLY BOUND—WITH SIX FINE ENGRAVINGS"
Price: USD 425.00 other currencies   details     inquire
offered by: The Book Block   (USA)
[Thackeray William Makepeace] THE SNOB: A Literary and Scientific Journal. Vol. I, Nos. 3, 4, 5 & 6..
"Cambridge W. H. Smith 1829 Sm. 4to., each number consists of six pages, printed on different colorpaper; the four issues are housed together in a chemise within a burgundy morocco solander case. The Snob was edited by Thackeray while an eighteen year old undergraduate at Cambridge. Included here in No. 4 is his FIRST APPEARANCE IN PRINT, a parody of Tennyson's prize poem, "Timbuctoo." According to the British Library Catalogue, Nos. 3-5 are fourth editions; No. 6 is a fifth edition (the Library does not possess the first editions of any numbers of The Snob!) Later in his career, Thackeray published "Snobs of England, by one of themselves," in Punch (1846-47), consisting of descriptions of various types of English snobs. These papers were later republished as The Book of Snobs (1848). A fine (and rare!) example of where it all began. HIS FIRST PUBLISHED WORK"
Price: USD 875.00 other currencies   details     inquire
offered by: The Book Block   (USA)
[Van Sichem Georg]. DER TODTEN-TANZ, wie derselbe in der Weitberühmten Stadt Basel...
"Basel Gebrüdern von Mechel 1796 [1843] Tall 8vo., later quarter cloth over 19th century boards withmorocco corners. Quite a nice copy. The work contains 41 large woodcuts of the Dance of Death (many signed with the initials GS), partly after the renowned Basel paintings and partly after Holbein's designs, with descriptive text above and below the images. There is an inserted frontispiece on thin yellow paper which depicts a view of Basel, entitled: "Der Todten-Tanz zu Basel. Anno MDLXXVI." As Aldred Warthin (The Physician of the Dance of Death) explains, "This mixture of subjects led to the belief that Holbein painted the Basel [Dance of Death] wall paintings; and in the Frölich edition of 1608, and in the editions following, issued by Conrad de Mechel, and the de Mechel Brothers, there is perpetuated the same confusion between Holbein's work and the Basel frescos." Most of these editions have 41 woodcuts, 27 from Holbein, 7 from the Basel Todtentanz, and 7 probably from the Todtentanz in Berne, according to Warthin. See: Minns Collection. Nos. 23 (for the 1608 edition) and 32 (for the 1796 Gebrüdern von Mechel edition). Warthin. pp. 83-89. UNCOMMON (AND MISLEADING)"
Price: USD 875.00 other currencies   details     inquire
offered by: The Book Block   (USA)
[Williams Samuel] SIX WOOD-BLOCKS TO ILLUSTRATE MCQUINN'S DESCRIPTION OF THREE-HUNDRED ANIMALS. 1812.
N.p. McQuinn 1812 8vo. (9 1/4 x 7 1/4) quarter morocco clamshell case with five raised bands and gilt titling. The velvet lined case contains six engraved rectangular boxwood blocks of varying sizes from 1 1/2 x 1 1/4 inches to 2 3/4 x 1 7/8 inches, along with two proof pulls and a copy of the original description from Chas. J. Sawyer (Lon.), dated October 10, 1968 for a customer in the United States. The blocks' subjects are: The Ass (1135), The Heron (1208), The Eagle (1182), The Meadow Lark (1205), The Turtle (1240) and the Cuckoo (1185). The numbers correspond to those in Thomas Hugo's Bewick Woodcuts, Impressions of 2,000 Woodcuts by T. and J. Bewick. (1870), and were long thought to be the work of Bewick. A copy of a note from Ian Bain, Bewick expert and editor of several books about Bewick, makes clear that the blocks are in fact by Samuel Williams, which he cut in reverse after Bewick, for McQuinn’s 1812 publication, A Description of More than Three Hundred Animals. The blocks came into the possession of Henry Bohn, who published an augmented edition of McQuinn's book in 1840 in which he used Bewick's name to boost his sales. The blocks were later acquired by Hugo and published by him in 1870 where he, too, credits them to Bewick. BOXWOOD BLOCKS ENGRAVED AFTER BEWICK
Price: USD 2,250.00 other currencies   details     inquire
offered by: The Book Block   (USA)
] DÜRER ALBRECHT THE LITTLE PASSION...with an Introduction by Austin Dobson.
"London Geo. Bell & Sons 1894 Tall 8vo. (9 x 6 1/4 inches), publisher's printed paper wrappers, withthe original glassine dust jacket. Fore and lower edges untrimmed. Copy No. 37 (of 75) printed on Japan Vellum at Chas. Whittingham's Chiswick Press. FINE. In addition to the 36 plates plus the title-page engraving of the "Man of Sorrows," the work contains a frontispiece self-portrait of the artist and an Introductory essay on Dürer by Austin Dobson, who explains that the plates "...are here printed from stereotypes of the original blocks." The impression are in fact excellent. The period 1508-1511 marks the height of Dürer's graphic work on religious subjects. In 1511 alone he produced three great cycles: The Great Passion, The Life of the Virgin and, named for its smaller format, The Little Passion. The last, with its thirty-six woodcuts and the "Ecce-Homo" on the title-page, is generally regarded as his masterpiece. This is, perhaps, the most desirable facsimile edition ever published, and is quite scarce. ONE OF JUST 75 COPIES ON JAPAN VELLUM"
Price: USD 750.00 other currencies   details     inquire
offered by: The Book Block   (USA)
] M'EWEN WILLIAM. "Grace and Truth; Or, the GLORY and FULNESS of the REDEEMER Displayed. In an Attempt to explain, illustrate, and enforce the most remarkable TYPES, FIGURES, AND ALLEGORIES OF THE OLD TESTAMENT."
"Edinburgh John Gray & Gavin Alston 1763 8vo., full polished tan calf with a double gilt fillet border on both covers; spine with five raised bands and fanciful gilt decoration within the compartments, including diagonal crosses, typical of the bindings of the FOULIS PRESS. Title on a red morocco label; a.e.g. This attractive volume is divided into three books: Typical Persons, Typical Things, Typical Places, followed by the author's Thoughts on Various Subjects. Nice 18th century bookmaking. BOUND BY THE FOULIS PRESS?"
Price: USD 300.00 other currencies   details     inquire
offered by: The Book Block   (USA)
] Rhemrev [pseud.]. Trans. BIG GAME HUNT IN JAVA.
"[Leiden] 1884 8vo., publisher's yellow wrappers. Printed in Leiden in Javanese, the work deals witha big game hunt in Java. There are four double-page color lithographs (signed in the stone P. J. Mulder) that help tell the story. They are printed in green-brown-red-blue tints and depict (1) The campsite; (2) The hunter and his guide in thick cover aiming at a tiger at close range; (3) The hunter holding his rifle watching the dogs flush out a wild boar; and, (4) Two groups of hunters and their guides, one group carrying a recently killed deer. An interesting combination of exotic letterpress text and color lithography. Undoubtedly uncommon. FOUR DOUBLE-PAGE COLOR LITHOGRAPHS OF HUNTING"
Price: USD 575.00 other currencies   details     inquire
offered by: The Book Block   (USA)
Á KEMPIS THOMAS. THE IMITATION OF JESUS CHRIST, Translated...with Introduction and Notes by T. F. Dibdin.
"London William Pickering for John Major 1828 8vo. (8 1/2 x 5 1/2 inches), full dark navy crushed morocco with a triple gilt fillet border; within the large cover panel is an over all blind blocked design composed of arabesque scrolls with intricate turns and whorls. Spine with five raised bands and triple gilt rules in the five compartments, inside of which there is complicated blind decoration; the remaining compartment is reserved for the title information, which is gilt stamped. Board edges gilt, inner gilt dentelles, a.e.g. Signed on the inner front board: J. MACKENZIE, BOOKBINDER TO THE KING. The Imitation of Jesus Christ has been since its initial publication in the 15th century one of the most widely read, often published books in the world. Its four books tell the story of the gradual movement of the soul away from earthly attachments towards Christian perfection in its union with God. Over the centuries it gained readers because of its simple and sincere religious ideas. This nicely printed edition (Keynes calls it ugly), contains a fourteen page list of Subscribers. Some foxing at the beginning and the end, apparently originating with the engraved frontispiece and a small engraving on the last leaf. In this fine example of English romantic bookbinding by one of the King’s own bookbinders, it is all the more desirable as a specimen of the work of one of England's finest 19th century publishers. See: Keynes, Sir. G. William Pickering Publisher. p. 75 FINE ROMANTIC BINDING BY J. MACKENZIE"
Price: USD 495.00 other currencies   details     inquire
offered by: The Book Block   (USA)
ÆSCHYLUS AGAMEMNON, CHOEPHOROI, EUMENIDES.
"Greenbrae The Allen Press 1982-83 Two vols., tall 8vo. Volume I bound in full native dyed terra-cotta goatskin with black onlays, blind tooled, carrying, in black Greek characters, the name Agamemnon across the top of the front and back boards (and spine), and the name Æschylus across the bottom. Full black goatskin inner doublures, leather joints, red Japanese endpapers, silk headbands. Volume II in a similar design but with the colors reversed; across the top, in terra-cotta Greek characters, is the word Choephoroi, and across the bottom is the word Eumenides. The doublures are terra-cotta, the joints, endpapers and headbands as before. Each is housed in a quarter-morocco clam-shell case. Each volume is signed by the binder. Limited to 140 copies by the Allen Press, they were the only limited edition in English translation, and represent the 48th and 49th books of the press. The type is Menhart Unciala, printed in black and brown; the running heads are Solemnis and Libra types, Greek-letter calligraphy and decorations are from Greek sources. The all-rag paper is handmade and especially watermarked at the Richard de Bas mill in France. The books were printed on dampened sheets on an Albion press made in Scotland in 1882. Denise Lubett, Fellow of the Designer Bookbinders since 1971, is one of the 38 binders who was asked to contribute a chapter to A Bookbinders' Florilegium, a publication of the H.R.C., in which these artist-craftsmen talk about their approach to the art of binding books. We quote: "...great purity of style and design usually bring forth great beauty...if we no longer bind books so that they become too fragile to handle...if we can ascertain that this bound book can be handed down for a number of generations, then we will have achieved a better and more significant role as modern bookbinders." The volume we are offering epitomizes these ideas. THE ALLEN PRESS PRINTING BOUND BY DENISE LUBETT"
Price: USD 5,500.00 other currencies   details     inquire
offered by: The Book Block   (USA)
ALCIATI, ANDREA CLARISSIMI VIRI D. ALCIATI EMBLEMATVM LIBRI DVO.
"Lyons J. de Tournes & G. Gazeau 1556 Sm. 8vo., full green morocco with a pair of double gilt filletborders trapping a beaded border; floral gilt corner fleurons; the spine is decorated in a Greek key design, without titling. A.e.g. over red staining, printed floral endpapers. A handsome, unsophisticated binding of indeterminate age in fine condition. Ruth Mortimer points out that this series of 113 woodcuts was designed for the first de Tournes-Gazeau edition of 1547, and continued in use into the seventeenth century. The subjects were freely adapted from the Paris blocks--either directly or through Lyons copies used in editions by Jacques Moderne in 1544 and 1545—with considerable skill in added detail. The series is attributed to BERNARD SALOMON and are considered, "the most skillful of the Alciati interpretations." The Hofer-Harvard copy Ms. Mortimer describes is the 1580 sixth de Tournes edition. Our edition contains EXCELLENT IMPRESSIONS of the blocks and wide margins except for the title-page border which is closely trimmed along the right edge with minimal loss. Lower right corner of the first two leaves restored from the verso with a small ink addition to the border. UNCOMMON IN ANY EDITION, just one copy shows up in auction records for the past twenty-six years. See also: Cartier vol. 2. Brunet I, p. 148 (1547 edition only). Praz p. 6 (1547 edition). THE PERFECT FUSION OF FRENCH AND ITALIAN TASTE"
Price: USD 3,750.00 other currencies   details     inquire
offered by: The Book Block   (USA)
ALDRICH, THOMAS BAILEY. MERCEDES, AND LATER LYRICS.
Boston Houghton, Mifflin 1884 Tall 8vo., publisher's gray cloth with a paper spine label, a little chipped. First edition, moderate handling wear. The title piece, based on an incident related in the Mémoirs of the Duchess d'Abrantes, is a love story, which was dramatized by the author and produced in 1894. BAL 325.
Price: USD 40.00 other currencies   details     inquire
offered by: The Book Block   (USA)
Appian of Alexandria Delle Guerre Esterne
"Venice Pietro di Nicolini da Sabbio 1538 8vo. (6 1/4 x 4 1/4 inches), late 17th or early 18th century vellum over stiff boards with a red morocco title label; edges stained yellow. A few early marginal notes in brown ink; a very nice copy. Title-page with a large woodcut historiated border, the book’s 191 foliated leaves are nicely printed in italic type by Paolo Manuzio, whose name is absent from the volume. The Aldine Press had closed in 1529, upon the death of Andrea Torresano, and was subsequently reopened by Paolo Manuzio in 1533 who managed it for the heirs of Aldus and Torresano until 1540, when the heirs of Torresano began printing on their own, and the Aldine shop resumed printing under their own imprint: Aldi Filli. During the period 1533-1540 editions were issued using the imprint: Heirs of Also Manuzio & Andrea Torresano. In addition, they occasionally printed books, sometimes unsigned, for other printers and publishers, as here. The text of Delle Guerre Esterne was translated into Italian by Alessandro Braccio. Appian of Alexandria lived during the reigns of Trajan, Hadrian and Antonius Pius. He had an active political career and in retirement he turned to writing history, completing a history of Rome in 24 volumes (of which nine volumes survive complete, seven others in fragments). He is best known for his observations of military matters. An uncommon Aldine edition anonymously printed during the interregnum of the great house. See: Renouard. p. 116 no. 3. Adams A-1357 Nelle case di Pietro di Nicolini da Sabbio"
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ARTMAN WM. AND L.V. HALL. Beauties and Achievements of the Blind.
"Rochester Published for the Authors 1879 8vo., publisher's brown pebbled cloth decorated in blind and gilt; head and foot of spine slightly rubbed (otherwise quite fresh). Opposite the frontispiece (and before the title) is an eight-line quotation from Isaiah XLII, 16 PRINTED IN LARGE BLIND EMBOSSED LETTERS. First edition. The book begins with memoirs of eminent blind authors, including Homer, Milton, Ossian followed by more contemporary writers and concludes with a section of Collected Poems by Hall and other blind authors. EMBOSSED-TYPE FRONTISPIECE"
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B. H. The Shipwrecked Mariner
"N.p. N.d. [ca. 1840] Card and mounted paper (approx. 6 x 6 3/4 inches). A trompe l'œil "book" showing a frontispiece night-time scene of a young sailor seated on an outcropping overlooking the turbulent sea, with a large bird soaring above. Beneath the portrait are three lines of verse, "The Shipwrecked Mariner," signed H. B. Opposite, painted in colors on translucent paper is an oval wreath of flowers (verso blank). On the recto of the card itself, which is painted to resemble a fully-dimensional open book, is a full-color, typical trompe l'œil montage of contemporary prints and an artist's palette & brushes. In the print at the center of the group is the legend "Scraps in a Great Variety." A unique and most appealing bibelot; an excellent example of the Trompe L'Œil genre."
Price: USD 1,600.00 other currencies   details     inquire
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Bacon Sir Nicholas The Recreations of His Age.
Oxford Daniel Press 1919 Sm. 4to., bluish-green wrappers with yapp edges, a little worn in places, with the title lettered on the front cover. 130 Copies printed by Dr. Daniel, probably in 1903, were found in sheets after his death. A title-page a short preface by Mr. Madan were added at the Clarendon Press and the edition was issued by Mr. Leslie Chaundy, a bookseller of Oxford who also bound in a notice slip at the front. The work contains thirty-six beautifully printed, unpublished poems by Sir Nicholas Bacon, the Lord Keeper of the Great Seal from 1558 until his death in 1579, printed from a manuscript volume. Desirable in the wrappers. See: Madan 58. Ransom. p. 246. IN THE DISTINCTIVE DANIEL PRESS WRAPPERS
Price: USD 225.00 other currencies   details     inquire
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Barrington Archibald MANUAL FOR STUDENTS OF BRITISH ARCHITECTURE...[Bound with] TABULAR DISPLAY OF BRITISH ARCHITECTURE
"London Geo. Bell 1843 [Bound with] THE HAND-BOOK OF ARCHITECTURE: being a concise account of the different styles of architecture, which have been or are in use in England. London (Tayas), N.d. 8vo. (6 1/2 x 4 1/4 inches), full dark green straight grain morocco with gilt borders on the cover, the title (“British Architecture”) in gilt on the upper cover; smooth spine with gilt bands. Fine. In this "custom-made" volume on British architecture, the original owner had his binder convert the second work, Tabular Display of British Architecture, from a lithograph measuring 42 x 20 inches, into twenty 6 1/2 x 4 inch leaves, each mounted onto stiff paper and then tabbed into the first section of the volume. The companion Manual for Students..., containing 36 pages and a Glossary of Architectural terms at the end, follows. That work is followed by the unrelated, anonymously published 58-page Hand-book of Architecture with its own numerous illustrations. OCLC locates four copies of the Manual and has a separate listing for the Tabular Display, citing two copies; it moreover locates just one copy of the Handbook. The three works together here in this unusual format make for a very interesting volume. THREE WORKS MOROCCO BOUND TO FIT THE POCKET"
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BARTHÉLEMY JEAN-JACQUES. SYPHILIS. Poem en Deux Chants...avec des notes par le docteur Giradeau de Saint-Gervais.
"Paris Bechet & Labé N.d. [1840] Tall 8vo., full 19th century vellum over stiff boards, decorated with a double black fillet outer border, surrounding a central border composed of two black lines spaced about half an inch apart, except where the lines swell (once along each side), to allow for the placement of a black-stamped skull and crossed bones, each about an inch tall. Near the top of the central panel the title, Syphilis, is stamped in black and afterwards canceled. There is a small black-stamped owl on each cover (later addition?). Spine without title but with three smaller skull & bones at the top, middle and bottom. All edges stained black; lightly foxed. Inserted are two engraved portraits of the author of the original Latin poem Syphilidis, sive Morbi Fallici, libri tres, Girolamo Fracastoro (1483-1553), which was published in Verona in 1530, and which is reproduced in part here, translated into French. Barthélemy's poem is in two parts: La Mal and La Remède and is accompanied by a short Biographie de Fracastor and extensive Notes. A uncommon book in a highly attractive emblematic "Memento Mori" binding. See: Geo. Vicaire. p. 329. EMBLEMATIC BINDING 19TH CEN."
Price: USD 975.00 other currencies   details     inquire
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Baskin Leonard “...The Prisoners of the Earth.”
"N.p. 1980 Watercolor on paper (22 1/4 x 15 1/2 inches), matted, framed and glazed. Signed and dated, Baskin 1980, lower center; signed and dated ind inscribed "Lament" on the verso. The work consists of seven heads in three rows, forming an inverted triangle, with Hebrew calligraphy separating the rows. It illustrates verse 3:34 from The Book of Lamentations. The watercolor has been reproduced on the dust jacket of The Six Days of Destruction by Elie Wiesel & Albert H. Friedlander (Paulist Press, 1988). Leonard Baskin is one of the most important American artists working today. His sculpture, prints, drawings, watercolors and the books of his Gehenna Press are represented in Museums throughout the world, and his monumental bronze relief fills a fifty foot wall at the recently dedicated Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial in Washington, D.C. EVOCATIVE WATERCOLOR WITH HEBREW CALLIGRAPHY"
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Beattie George JOHN O' ARNHA: to which are added THE MURDERIT MYNSTRELL and Other Poems.
"Montrose Printed for John Smith Bookseller 1826 Tall 8vo., publisher's printed gray boards reprinting a modified version of the title-page (the cover quotes excerpts from poems by Burns, Shakespeare and an anonymous poet; the title-page contains one poem longer poetic quotation, also anonymous). Spine with printed title and decoration. WONDERFULLY PRESERVED in a cloth chemise and folding case. Although the title-page refers to this as the "fifth edition" that attribution is questionable. The British Library records nothing before 1847; NUC records just three copies of this same 1826 edition, nothing earlier; the only auction record for the work dating back to 1966 is for an edition of 1883. In addition to the appeal of these posthumously published poems in Scottish dialect (they first appeared in The Montrose Review), there are seven primitive, charming hand-colored etchings depicting witches, demons and dragons. Beattie (1786-1823), was the son of a Kincardinshire crofter who established himself successfully as an attorney at Montrose and in the end committed suicide from disappointment in love. His principal poems were contributed to the above mentioned Montrose Review. To find a copy of what must have been a very popular work in such fine condition is remarkable IN THE PUBLISHER'S PRINTED BOARDS"
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Bellarmino Roberto Francesco Romolo, saint De Arte Bene Moriendi: libri duo
"Coloniæ Agrippinæ [but Amsterdam] Apud Cornelium ab Edmond [i.e. G. J. Blaeu] 1634 12mo. 4 7/16 x 2inches), contemporary burgundy morocco with a series of triple gilt fillet borders forming an inner panel with a coat of arms in the center; spine with four raised bands, gilt tooling and titling. Board edges gilt, inner gilt dentelles; a.e.g A characteristic 17th century Dutch book (with its false Cologne imprint) opens with an historiated engraved title-page featuring an elegantly dressed man facing a draped skeleton holding a scythe; in the lower compartment is an angel resting one arm on a skull, with a broken hourglass and some flowers. On the verso of A2 there is a portrait of the Cardinal, facing the first page of text. Another engraving (A8 verso) depicts what must be a wake, with people eating and drinking, while in the background an angel leads a figure towards Heaven. The author of this contemplative work was a distinguished theologian, writer, and cardinal, born at Montepulciano, 4 October, 1542; died 17 September, 1621. It was first published in 1620, and editions appeared in several languages into the eighteenth century. In addition to his writings on a variety of subjects, he became involved with the early stages of the Galileo case, and when the Holy Office condemned the heliocentric theory it became Bellarmine's official duty to signify the condemnation to Galileo and receive his submission. Cardinal Robert Bellarmine stood, at the time of Galileo's first published writing on the subject of Copernicanism, as the Church's chief guardian against deviationists and its chief defender of orthodoxy.  Bellarmine had waged many battles on behalf of papal power.  He sought to create a papal superstate guided by the decisions of the Council of Trent.  Bellarmine attacked anti-Catholic laws in England, angering English leaders--many of whom accused him of responsibility for the infamous "Gunpowder Plot" to blow up Parliament.  In 1600, he framed the decision that brought Giordano Bruno, convicted heretic, to his death by fire at the stake. Bellarmine took on few of the splendid trappings that usually accompanied life as a cardinal.  He lived a prayerful and ascetic lifestyle.  Although noted for his candor and temper, Bellarmine also could be easygoing and even childlike.  One historian notes that he was famous for his "lighthearted punning." This work, written during one of his last annual retreats, is divided into two books, the second of which begins with a full-page engraving (K7 verso), showing a man in his bed surrounded by family and church preparing to die peacefully. The art of dying well has been the subject of prints and books since the middle ages, and people have always looked to the church for guidance. A very nice copy of an uncommon book. The Art of Dying Well"
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Bettens Edward D. Picture Buying.
"New York Edward Detraz Bettens 1919 8vo., original green cloth with gilt decoration. This is a sequel to the author's Painter and Patron in which, among other things, he asked for the opinion of its readers on the "advisability of Museums of Art cultivating the habit of buying paintings direct from living artists." Here he reprints letters from a variety of people closely involved with the question who offer their opinions, suggestions, criticism, etc. The Louise E. Bettens Fund, controlled by the FOGG MUSEUM at HARVARD, made possible the purchase of pictures by artists such as: SARGENT, WHISTLER, COPLEY and HOMER (to name but a few), and was established to, "encourage and advance Painting by citizens of the United States, including women, as well as men." ONE OF 650 PRIVATELY PRINTED COPIES"
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Bewick Thomas A GENERAL HISTORY OF QUADRUPEDS.
"Newcastle upon Tyne Printed by Edward Walker, for T. Bewick 1811 4to., newly bound in period stylequarter green polished calf over marbled boards; spine with simple gilt decoration and a red morocco title label; t.e.g., other edges untrimmed. A TALL COPY in a handsome binding by Gray Parrot of Hancock, Maine. Bewick 326 engravings include most of the animals from A (Adive) to Z Zorilla) listed in the five-page index of this sixth edition. In addition, there are four proof pulls of the following Bewick cuts: A rural scene, A wanderer with a dog, Sowing crops, and a Fishing scene, laid in. Of the many books claimed as Bewicks, probably only the Quadrupeds and the two volumes of Birds, with some question about the second volume, were designed and executed by Bewick himself. See Hugo. p. 24. WITH FOUR BEWICK PROOFS LAID IN"
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Bewick Thomas A GENERAL HISTORY OF QUADRUPEDS.
"Newcastle upon Tyne Printed by Edward Walker, for T. Bewick 1807 Lg. 8vo. (9 7/8 x 6 1/8 inches). Full black straight-grained morocco with a double gilt fillet border surrounding a Greek key gilt border; four blind fleurons in the corners. Spine with five raised bands (overstamped in gilt) with gilt fleurons and blind blocking within the compartments. Board edges gilt, inner gilt dentelles, a.e.g. A VERY TALL, HANDSOME COPY notwithstanding some minor spots on the first few leaves. This LARGE PAPER copy with its generous margins is designated the fifth edition. Comparisons with ordinary copies makes it clear that this was an edition earmarked for collectors and destined to be preserved. This copy is virtually in AS ISSUED condition. See: Roscoe 5 a-c. LARGE PAPER COPY—BEAUTIFULLY BOUND"
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Bird F. J. "THE AMERICAN PRACTICAL DYER'S COMPANION; Comprising a Description of the Principal Dye-stuffs and Chemicals Used in Dying, their Nature and Uses; Mordents, and How Made...by Wood, Aniline and Other Processes."
Philadelphia Hanry Carey Bird & Co. 1882 8vo. (9 x 6 1/4 inches), publisher's burgundy pebbled cloth, gilt stamped on the slightly faded spine. A very nice copy with all 173 specimens of silk, wool, flannel, fleece, dress goods, hosiery yarns, and cotton present in FINE CONDITION. FIRST EDITION. In addition, the work contains over 800 recipes for the making of colors and shades, including a chapter entitled, New Receipts and Colors. This interesting and useful book is further enhanced by the presence of an Appendix with conversion tables, a Glossary of useful terms, and a 15 page Index. Not frequently met with, especially in such nice condition (the book was invariably used to death). WITH 173 DYED FABRIC SPECIMENS
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Blinn Carol J. On Becoming Three & Thirty
Easthampton Warwick Press 1976 8vo., stitched into green pastepaper wrappers with a paper label on the cover. One of 150 copies printed in van Krimpen's Spectrum type on Nideggen paper, in which the artist-printer-publisher describes the Warwick Press from inception to its three year anniversary and coincidentally celebrates her thirtieth year. There is a striking self-portrait on the title and a drawing of two ducks on the colophon, both touched with color. The colophon is signed by Ms. Blinn and is also inscribed. FINE, AS ISSUED. AN EARLY BOOK OF THE PRESS
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Blinn Carol J. A Poultry Piece: Being a Discourse on the Joys of Raising Ducks and Geese.
"Easthampton Warwick Press 1978 Lg. 8vo., handbound in blue/brown pastepaper boards with the title lettered in gilt on the spine. One of 250 copies printed in van Krimpen's Spectrum type on Mowhawk Superfine paper, the author-illustrator-publisher, Carol Blinn, provides the reader with four delicately hand-colored illustrations [each of which has been signed] to support her text, which she calls a "personal journal of her vivid memories of her former country life." In absolutely fine condition, and with the original publisher's Prospectus. IN HANDSOME PASTE PAPER BOARDS"
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Borup Thomas Larsen Det menneskelige Livs Flugt, eller Doden-Dands...Besorget til sine Landsmænds Rytte og Fornøjelse af ...
"Copenhagen J. H. Schubothe 1814 Small 4to., more-or-less contemporary marbled boards with a moroccospine label and a gilt cypher on the cover (by Gustave Hedberg, Stockholm, with his ticket). Woodcut title-page with two skulls followed by 36 large (5 x 5 1/4 inch) woodcuts and verses devoted to the Dance of Death. Although the theme is traditional--Death in the form of a skeleton ushers away people of every class to their final reward: the Pope, Emperor, King, Queen, right on down to the child and the humble beggar--the artistic treatment of the figures is quite unlike anything by Holbein or Hollar in the 16th and 17th centuries, or for that matter Matthias Merian, or Bewick a century later. Printed on a rough-textured paper altogether appropriate for these "FOLK ART" DEPICTIONS, the scenes (each of which is attractively framed) are more satirical or playful than frightening. Each is accompanied by twenty-eight lines of verse, set in gothic type. The final image is that of Jesus Christ triumphing over Death. We found JUST TWO REFERENCES. The Minns Catalogue ("The Dance of Death," a Collection sold in New York by AAA in 1922. No. 63), calls it "[a] rare and curious Dance of Death, not listed by Bibliographers." Aldred Scott Warthin, The Physician of the Dance of Death (NY, 1931, pp. 83-84), writes, "A Danish version of the Dance of Death is given in a series of curious woodcuts issued in Copenhagen in 1814..." He goes on to describe the general caracteristics of the book before looking closely at the figure of the Physician, the subject of his study, "It is a simple, naive, conventional representation of the subject." He then reports, "In 1838, an edition, Det Menskliga Lifwets, was published in Fahlun, Sweden. The same woodcuts used in the Danish edition are repeated, reduced in size and reversed [a reproduction of the Physician appears on p. 80]." Although the title-page calls it the third edition, neither of these two references mention any earlier appearance of the book. We found NO COPY OF ANY EDITION IN THE BRITISH LIBRARY. Indeed, a very fine copy of a RARE AND CURIOUS DANCE OF DEATH. "Rare and Curious Danish Dance of Death""
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Bowen Thomas A COMPANION FOR THE PRISONER. A COMPANION FOR THE PRISONER.
"London F. C. & J. Rivington 1820 bound with; [________] YOUNGE, Rev. DUKE. A Manual of Instructionand Devotion FOR THE USE OF PRISONERS. London (F. C. & J. Rivington), 1821. $195. Two vols. in one. 8vo., contemporary tree calf with double horizontal gilt fillets on the spine and two red morocco lettering pieces. In the center of the front cover the name, Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, is blind stamped within an oval laurel wreath; the binder has signed the lower inside corner of the front board: Russell July, 1823. There are some pencil drawings and a crude alphabet on the blank front flyleaves and pastedown along with the name, Ernest William Higgs, whose name is also written in pencil at the conclusion of the Preface. The fourth edition of the first work and the third edition of the second, the volume was intended to help an English prisoner discover the errors of his way. Finding both works handsomely bound together and in very fresh condition, along with what may be the prisoner's own notations, makes the volume unusual and attractive. IN CONTEMPORARY BLIND STAMPED [SPCK] ACID CALF."
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Bracher & Co., T. W. Catalogue of Hatters' Specialties.
"Stockport W. Bracher & Co. Ltd N.d. [1929] 4to., original gilt stamped rust cloth; FINE. In his Introduction to this Jubilee Catalogue, the company founder, T. W. Bracher, traces the company's accomplishments, especially "Brachering," a revolutionary means of trimming headwear, an innovation that has, "...ensured that the name T. W. Bracher will be as long remembered in hatting as are the names of Crompton, Arkwright and Hargreaves in the cotton trade." The catalogue, HANDSOMELY PRINTED on coated paper, pictures the firm's line of hatbands (grouped within blue borders), labels (red borders), and "Flexible Labels, Leathers and Tips" (printed nine-to-the-page in GOLD, over a COBALT BLUE background, within gold borders). Bracher prided itself on being able to print or stamp on material of any kind; this catalogue was intended to exemplify their abilities. HATS • GOLD (ON BLUE) PRINTING • ART NOUVEAU BORDERS"
Price: USD 395.00 other currencies   details     inquire
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Bres Jean-Pierre La Dame Blanche. Chronique des Chevaliers a l'´Ecusson Vert .
"Paris chez Lefuel ca. 1828 Six vols. 8vo. (5 7/8 x 4 inches), each bound in light-weight boards covered with ivory coated paper, onto which six highly decorative, hand-colored engravings have been printed—the title of the work and volume number placed within a gothic architectural framework—all housed in a paper-covered decorated box trimmed with ribbon-printed gold foil, the cover of which carries the hand-colored engraved general title. The box is slightly worn at the extremities and soiled; the six books are in REMARKABLY FINE condition. Each volume contains, in addition to the engraved color covers, a full-page, hand-colored (with added gold) plate of a medieval scene, with a protective tissue guard. The letterpress printing is the work of Firmin Didot. The entire production brought about by Valentin Lefuel whose firm flourished during the period 1806-1829 or 1830 in their premises on rue Saint-Jacques where they published almanacks, miniature books, religious books, among other works in elegant bindings. Jean-Pierre Bres, which may well be a nom de plume, is also the acknowledged author of another six volume set, Contes de Robert mon Oncle, published in Paris, chez Louis Janet, Libraire, during the same period. In that set—also similarly boxed—the smaller format books are bound in stiff, paper-covered, pink boards with blind embossing (See: Gumuchain 910). Our set is listed in Gumuchain as 911, and is rare in any condition. MEDIEVAL CHIVALRY HANDSOMELY PRINTED, BOUND AND BOXED"
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Burnet John A Practical treatise on Painting in Three Parts.
"London jas. Carpenter 1828 4to. (10 3/4 x 8 1/8 inches), full crushed brown morocco with a triple gilt fillet border surrounding a series of blind blocked borders and four small corner fleurons; the spine, which is lightly sunned, has four raised bands and is nicely gilt titled and decorated within the compartments. Board edges gilt, inner gilt fillets, a.e.g. Signed in gilt on the inner front fore-edge turn-in: COLNAGHI COCKSPUR STREET. The work with a general title (above) contains three separate essays as follows: Practical Hints on Composition in Painting (1828); Practical Hints on Light and Shade in Painting (1827); and, Pracitcal Hints on Colour in Painting (1828). Each essay contains a section of etched illustrations, some by Burnet himself but most after the world's acknowledged masters: Titian, Vandyke, Rubens, Rembrandt, et. al. There are over 100 etchings from celebrated pictures of the Italian, Venetian, Flemish, Dutch and English schools. Particularly good are the hand-colored examples from the last part. The book was very popular as evidenced by the fact that it was published well into the last third of the century. The three sections, each with its own title-page, are designated respectively third, second, and second edition. The letterpress is nicely printed by Chas. Whittingham. Colnaghi & Son, one of London's leading art dealers since the eighteenth century, is seldom thought of as a source of finely bound books. Ramsden (London Bookbinders 1780-1840), however, on page 52 makes the following observation about a Colnaghi bound book seen in 1951 at Marks: "Impressed in gilt on the inside edge of a russia binding on an 1818 publiction." A scarce example. Signed Binding: COLNAGHI COCKSPUR STREET"
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Bynner Witter Tiger.
"New York Mitchell Kennerely 1913 8vo., crimson publisher's cloth; tiny piece missing from the bottom of the free end leaf, and a sketch (of a stage from above) in one margin. First edition of this one-act play set in New York near Times Square. Bynner was also known for his poetry and translations, some of which were from the Chinese. ONE OF HIS EARLIEST PUBLISHED BOOKS"
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Cicero PARADOXA. M.T. CICERONIS AD M. BRVTVM. CUM F. SYLVII AMBIANI COMMENTARIIS.
"Paris Jodocus Badius Ascensius 1532. Sm. 4to. (8 1/8 x 5 8/16 inches), recently bound in the antique style in full tobacco color goat with triple blind ruled borders surrounding a narrow scroll border, which is bordered by a pair of blind fillets; plain spine with blind-blocked horizontal bands. A large copy with a few underlinings, a touch of occasional spotting, including a small black ink spot on the title; the last four leaves of the b signature roughly opened along part of the extreme bottom margin; otherwise a very attractive copy of an uncommon edition. Cicero's stoic maxims, dedicated to Brutus, with commentary by Franciscus Sylvanus are here applied to everyday life. Not only Rome's greatest orator, Cicero was perhaps its most articulate philosopher, and through his philosophical treatises he helped make Latin a strong, yet surprisingly flexible, vehicle for logical speculation. This edition was printed by Josse Bade (1462-1535), a Fleming who moved to Paris and Latinized his name to Jodocus Badius Ascensius. He is the first of three great French printer-scholars (the other two are Henri Estienne and Geoffroy Tory), who were enamored of humanism and worked to spread abroad the works of classical authors. Led by Bade, they each resolutely broke with French gothic tradition, and employed for their publications the beautiful roman types created by Janson and Aldus Manutius. Moreau locates copies in the British Library, the Bibliotheque National, the Laurentian Library (Florence) and in the Folger. Not in Adams. No copy located on OCLC First Search. WOODCUT OF THE PRINTER'S SHOP ON THE TITLE-PAGE"
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Clark Richard An Account of the National Anthem Entitled GOD SAVE THE KING!...Selected, Edited, and Arranged by...
"London Printed for W. Wright 1822 8vo. (8 3/4 x 5 1/2 inches), three quarter acid calf over marbledsides; spine with four raised bands, green title label; t.e.g., other edges untrimmed. FINE. The author, a Gentleman or His Majesty's Chapels Royal, relied upon original material from Sion College as well as the records of the Merchant Tailor's Company and the manuscript check book in His Majesty's Chapel in compiling voluminous record of this instantly recognizable melody. The plates include a number of excellent portraits along with the music; the book opens with an eight page List if Subscribers headed by George the Fourth (6 copies). 38 ENGRAVINGS INCLUDING THE MUSIC—FINELY BOUND"
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CORNER JOHN. PORTRAITS OF CELEBRATED PAINTERS with Medallions from their Best Performances, with Authentic Memoirs from Established Authorities.
"London Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, Brown & Green 1825 Tall 4to. (13 x 9 1/4 inches), newly bound inperiod style quarter morocco over marbled sides with hidden morocco corners, red morocco title label on the spine; all edges marbled. Some light, widespread foxing but generally a clean attractive copy. For each of the twenty-five artists represented, Mr. Corner has produced an engraved portrait within a frame, after an existing painting or drawing. In the lower margin of each, he has reproduced a miniature of one of the artists' well known works, or a detail there from. The engravings are printed on India paper, which has been pasted onto to the page opposite a short biography of the artist. The list of artists includes many of the world's best known painters from Europe and the United Kingdom: Vandyck, Titian, Raphæl, Durer, Holbein, Caracci, and Sir Peter Lely to mention but a few. A VERY NICE COPy of an uncommon title. A VERY TALL LARGE PAPER COPY"
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offered by: The Book Block   (USA)
Crane Hart VOYAGES, SIX POEMS FROM WHITE BUILDINGS. With Wood-Engravings by LEONARD BASKIN.
"New York Museum of Modern Art 1957 Oblong folio in blue paper wrappers with a two-color label on the upper cover; laid into a blue-paper-covered board folder with another label. A VERY FINE copy; just some sunning to the spine of the folder (which is generally found in disrepair or lacking altogether) One of 975 copies for sale SIGNED by Baskin at whose Gehenna Press it was printed for The Museum of Modern Art. The type is Perpetua and the six boxwood engravings and lone woodcut have been pulled on Italian and Japanese hand-made papers in a variety of colors. The book has been recognized for inclusion in The Artist & The Book 1860-1960 (No. 13), which mentions that it was honored as one of the "Fifty Books of the Year 1957" by the American Institute of Graphic Arts. In addition to commenting on the book's complexity Baskin says, "...its bizarries of sequence reveal far more about my struggles with typography & woodengraving than about Crane." See: The Gehenna Press. The Work of Fifty Years. No. 11. "A terribly overcomplicated book..." Baskin"
Price: USD 575.00 other currencies   details     inquire
offered by: The Book Block   (USA)
Dobson Ausrin The Story of Rosina and Other Verses...Illustrated by Hugh Thomson.
"London Kegan, Paul, Trench, Trübner 1895 8vo. (7 x 5 inches) full green marbled calf sides with twospaced gilt fillets forming the borders; spine with five raised bands with elaborate gilt decoration within four compartments, the other two with red morocco labels on which the title information has been stamped in gilt. Board edges gilt, inner gilt dentelles; a.e.g. Original decorated cloth cover and spine bound in at the back. Stamped name of the bookseller, Charles Sessler—Philadelphia, on the front end leaf. A FINE EXAMPLE of marbling calf with acid (it is usually done on natural calf), and is the first copy we have seen in color. FIRST EDITION. The work follows the highly successful Ballad of Beau Brocade in which Dobson and Thomson collaborated. Henry Austin Dobson (1840-1921) was an accomplished writer of light verse, with a wide knowledge of the 18th century, which can be attested to by his biographies of some of its literary super stars. Hugh Thomson (1860-1920) is said by Gordon Ray (The Illustrator and the Book in England from 1790 to 1914) to have modeled his style of illustration after Randolph Caldecott's Old Christmas, "...but since Caldecott illustrated one other book in this manner and Thomson illustrated scores, the latter is properly regarded as the chef d'école." A nice example of the work of the two, in a very attractive and most unusual binding. See: Ray pp. 180-181. IN AN UNUSUAL ONE-OF-A-KIND BINDING"
Price: USD 295.00 other currencies   details     inquire
offered by: The Book Block   (USA)
DUMAS ALEXANDRE LA BOUILLIE DE LA COMTESSE BERTHE.
"Paris J. Hetzel N.d. [ca. 1845] 8vo., publisher's diagonally grained blue cloth with an elaborate outer frame stamped in black, inside of which is another elaborate gilt-stamped oval frame (which incorporates part of the black border), inside of which is an oval-shaped picture of soup being served from a large copper pot. This scene has been PRINTED IN COLOR CHROMOLITHOGRAPHY and then pasted in place. The spine is heavily decorated in gilt and black; the rear cover is framed in a black-stamped border. All edges are gilt in a copper-rainbow foil, plain gray endpapers. The binding is signed in gilt (as part of the plaque) by the designer, A. Souze, the binder, LeNègre, and the publisher. A most original (Experimental?) binding combining a variety of techniques to achieve its effects. We have never run across such a combination before. This is one of the many popular children's stories by Dumas père, whose complete works fill 103 volumes in the Calmann-Lévy edition. It is handsomely decorated with numerous wood-engravings by Albert-d'Arnoux Bertall (1820-1882) who made humorous desigsn for Parisian periodicals by the thousands and drew many illustrations for popular editions of the day, including Brillat-Savarin's Physiologie du goût (1848). SGD. BINDING ONLAID WITH COLOR CHROMOLITHOGRAPHY"
Price: USD 475.00 other currencies   details     inquire
offered by: The Book Block   (USA)
DÜRER ALBRECHT. THE LITTLE PASSION. With Poems of the First Edition of 1511 by Benedictus Chelidonius Musophilus in Latin with English Version.
"Verone Officina Bodoni 1971 8vo., (9 x 6 1/4 inches), publisher's quarter pigskin spine over Fabriano paper sides; title in gilt on the spine and the emblem of the press in gilt on the cover. In a matching sliding case, which is slightly rubbed at the extremities. Copy No. 17 (of 140). Original Prospectus laid in. Dürer's Small Passion of 1511, considered by many to be his masterpiece of this genre, was published by Giovanni Mardersteig to celebrate the five hundredth anniversary of the artist’s birth. The woodcuts are here re-engraved by Leonardo Farina, master wood engraver. This Officina Bodoni publication follows the first edition of 1511, reprinting the original Latin verses by Fr. Benedictus Chelidonius (Benedikt Schwalbe), humanist and poet. Mardersteig simultaneously published editions in Italian and German, but here the reader is offered a literal translation IN ENGLISH by Robert Fitzgerald, himself a poet, so that one might have some idea of the poetic content of the Latin originals. The period 1508-1511 marks the height of Dürer's graphic work on religious subjects. In this edition, as in the original, the woodcuts face the Latin poems, which are thought to have been commissioned by the artist as a complement to them. A very handsome edition of Dürer’s Passion. Mardersteig 173 and 171 (Italian edition). Barr 86. THE SMALL PASSION NEWLY CUT ON WOOD"
Price: USD 1,450.00 other currencies   details     inquire
offered by: The Book Block   (USA)
ESPENCE CLAUDE d' TRAICT´CONTRE L'ERREUR VIEIL RENOUVELLÉ, DES PREDESTINEZ.
Lyons Jean de Tournes 1548 8vo., full contemporary calf with two sets of triple blind fillet borders forming a large central compartment, with small gilt fleurons in each corner and a large one in the center. The spine, which has been artfully rebacked, has five raised bands with gilt fleurons in each compartment. Corners and endleaves renewed. A VERY NICE EXAMPLE OF A RENAISSANCE BOOK OF THE PERIOD with de Tournes' Viper woodcut device on the title (Cartier 2E), foliated and grotesque woodcut initials, arabesque headpieces and culs-de lampe. This work on predestination is one of the earliest works of the author (1511-1571), a Catholic theologian and rector of the Sorbonne. D'Espence was one of the most genuinely ecumenical figures of his time in French religious life. He was a moderate who truly believed in the possibility and desirability of a reunion between Rome and the Protestants, and was an outspoken opponent of persecution. Predictability, he was the subject of many attacks from both sides of the schism and played a significant role in the Colloquy of Poissy (1561). See: Cartier 113. Not in Adams, BM. NUC/RLIN/OCLC cite Harvard, the Folger and the Smithsonian only. Printed by Jean de Tournes
Price: USD 1,750.00 other currencies   details     inquire
offered by: The Book Block   (USA)
Farnsworth Sidney ILLUMINATION AND ITS DEVELOPMENT IN THE PRESENT DAY. Illustrated with Drawings and Diagrams by the Author.
"New York Doran N.d. [ca. 1920] 8vo., publisher's blue cloth. The author, himself a talented calligrapher-illuminator, admits that so many books have been written on the subject of illumination, "...that it may seem quite superfluous to add yet another to the long list." Instead, he has decided to treat the subject from a present-day standpoint for the student who might wish to practice this art today. The book is clearly written and amply illustrated. AGOOD HISTORY WITH PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS"
Price: USD 30.00 other currencies   details     inquire
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Fitzgerald Edward EUPHRANOR. A Dialogue on Youth.
"London William Pickering 1851 8vo., publisher's green grained cloth with blind decoration on both covers; spine with the title stamped in gilt. Minor rubbing at the spine ends but an excellent, fresh copy preserved in a cloth clam-shell case. FIRST EDITION OF THE AUTHOR'S FIRST BOOK, a Platonic dialogue on how contemporary education warps the minds of young men; it was published anonymously. Except for a few contributions to periodicals, Fitzgerald had nothing published until 1849 when he wrote a memoir to go with a collection of letters and poems of Bernard Barton. He next published, anonymously, Euphranor: a Dialogue of Youth in 1851 and Polonius: a Collection of Wise Saws and Modern Instances in 1852. In 1853 was published Six Dramas of Calderon, "freely translated by Edward Fitzgerald," the only book to which his name was attached during his lifetime. He is best remembered as the translator of the Rubaiyat, recognition for which came after his death. SCARCE. See: The Modern Library at Watlington Park. p. 110. Keynes [Wm. Pickering]. p. 54. Prideaux, pp. 1-3. AUTHOR'S FIRST BOOK"
Price: USD 625.00 other currencies   details     inquire
offered by: The Book Block   (USA)
GIARRÉ GÆTANO. Alfabeto di Lettere Iniziali Adorno di Animali e Proseguito da Vaga Serie di Caratteri.
"Firenze Giacomo Moro 1797 Folio, contemporary brown pastepaper-covered wrappers a little worn at the very edges. Preserved in a quarter-morocco clamshell case. First edition (with brilliant impressions) of one of the most imaginative works of calligraphy and decoration that, according to Morison, revived Italian calligraphy at the close of the eighteenth century: "...the disappearance of calligraphy in Italy at the end of the seventeenth century was not so final as had at first seemed the case. The market for writing books appeared to go underground for a hundred years, only emerging at the end of the eighteenth century, when the Florentine master, Gætano Giarré began to produce some entirely and refreshingly novel books, in neo-classical style." Each of the 25 copper-engraved leaves including the title is beautifully decorated with floral garlands, arabesques, birds, animals, vases, trophies and masks. These decorations surround the various calligraphic examples which follow the initial letters that begin a saying or verse. There are examples of alphabets other than roman, including Greek and Hebrew. But it is the decoration--especially the birds and animals--that makes this book especially handsome and desirable. This large, bright example surely must have been pulled near the beginning of the print run for it clearly preserves the lightly engraved author's signature at the bottom of the plates. See: Morison, S. Early Italian Writing Books: Renaissance to Baroque. "...beautifully decorated with floral garlands, arabesques, birds, animals, vases, trophies and masks."- MORISON"
Price: USD 5,250.00 other currencies   details     inquire
offered by: The Book Block   (USA)
Godine David R., Compiler Lyric Verse. A Printer’s Choice.
"Lunenburg David R. Godine 1966 Tall 8vo., paper spine with printed titling over marbled boards; ina matching slipcase. One of a total of 500 copies printed in black and brick red at the Meridan Gravure Company, this on Curtis Tweedweave. David Godine made a personal selection poems in Latin, Italian, French and English, which were set in a variety of types in several sizes, to produce an appealing book. He has gone on to publish other limited editions and press books, and thousands of high quality trade books, many of which are devoted to scholarly subjects invariably avoided by more commercially minded publishers. FINE. AN EARLY EFFORT"
Price: USD 275.00 other currencies   details     inquire
offered by: The Book Block   (USA)