Our members list new acquisitions and recently cataloged items almost every day of the year. Below, you'll find a few highlights from these recent additions...
1960s Martin Luther King Jr. March on Washington Pins
by Martin Luther King, Pins Civil Rights
6 civil rights buttons from the 1960s for Martin Luther King Jr.'s March on Washington, SNCC, and Youth Caucus. One measures 3.5", one 2.25", two 1.75", one 1.5", and one 1" in diameter. Two pins have black and white photographs of MLK, both quoting his most famous "I have a dream" speech which was stated at the 1963 March on Washington. There are three pins made for the March on Washington with one being from the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) which was co founded by King. The SNCC was essential in organizing the March on Washington and it's likely those three pins were worn during the actual march. All pins are in very good condition.
Offered by Max Rambod, Inc.
Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?
by King Jr., Martin Luther, 1929-1968 [Jessica E. Holland, 1947(?)-1989]
New York: Harper & Row, 1967. 1st ed. [so stated]. Also has "D-R" code. Hardcover. Near Fine/Near Fine. 209p. Original light bronze paper-covered boards backed in black cloth. dj. 21 cm. Jacket has only modest edge-wear, mostly at top of flap fold and at bottom of backstrip where some chipping and short tears are visible. INSCRIBED by King on front free endpaper. ("To Dr. and Mrs. Jesse Holland With best wishes for Peace and Brotherhood Martin Luther King Jr.").
Dr. Holland and his wife lived in a big old Victorian house in an exclusive area of Far Rockaway on Long Island. Family members believe that Dr. Holland and his wife were donors to Martin Luther King, Jr. or the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Included with the book is an 18 x 25 cm. photo of MLK, Jr. and Jessica E. Holland, the Holland's daughter, standing outside an unidentified building. King is holding some items including an unidentified issue of a Birmingham newspaper in one hand and has his other arm casually around Jessica who has a giggly expression on her face. The photo is undated but was almost surely taken by her father in 1967 or 1968 with the Minolta camera that his family says he often carried slung around his neck. The family also says that Dr. Holland was a great doctor but not a great photographer. The location of the photo is unidentified but was probably at or near some place where Jessica was working or volunteering with the SCLC or King.
Jessica shows up in a couple of Barnard Bulletins put online by the institution's Barnard Digital Archives. Both articles relate to Jessica, then identified as class of 1968, and her participation in a February 8, 1967 sit in outside the room on campus where the CIA was conducting employment interviews. Jessica was given a formal letter of censure by the institution's Judicial Council for that participation. She was also warned that a repeat offence would subject her to suspension. A friend who knew her during the period of her life remembers Jessica as having been a member of Students for a Democratic Society (S.D.S.). Family members believe that Jessica took the 1967-68 academic year off from Barnard College to work or volunteer with King and the SCLC. Her family does not know exactly what she did to help King and the SCLC but she was described in a memorial tribute by the editors of Oral History Review as "a key member of Dr. Martin Luther King's staff at the Southern Christian Leadership Conference." Jessica apparently returned to Barnard for the next academic year after King's assassination. She graduated Barnard in 1969 and subsequently completed the Graduate Seminar in Oral History at Columbia University. Jessica later worked as a corporate oral historian. Her clients included the New York Stock Exchange, McKinsey and Company, Philip Morris and AT&T. She had just begun or committed to begin work on the oral history of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts before she died while on vacation in France in 1969 when she and her bicycle were struck by a car.
Offered by McBlain Books.
Blue Velvet (Original photograph of David Lynch released to promote the 1987 film)
by David Lynch (subject)
London: Universal Pictorial Press and Agency, 1987. Vintage borderless photograph of director David Lynch to advertise his 1987 film "Blue Velvet." With a mimeo snipe on the verso dated 17th February 1987, along with the stamp of Universal Pictorial Press in London.
8 x 10 inches. Near Fine, with brief separation at the bottom left corner.
Offered by Royal Books.
by LYNCH, David
(Paris): Foundation Cartier pour l'art contemporain, 2007. Hardcover. Near Fine. First edition. Quarto. Illustrated. Slightly bowed with some edgewear else near fine. A collection of artwork by director David Lynch as well as essays and an interview with Lynch published for the debut of his exhibition at the Foundation Cartier; includes two CDs.
Offered by Between the Covers Rare Books.
by Tellier, Jules; Rhys, Brian (Translator); Nash, Paul (Illustrations)
[Waltham St. Lawrence]: The Golden Cockerel Press, 1928. Limited Edition. Hardcover. Near fine/very good. Nash, Paul. One of 400 copies, octavo size, 37 pp., with dust jacket. A "philosophical novel" by Jules Tellier (1863-1889), wherein "an old scholar in Algeria...grapples with his inner conflicts concerning faith as he faces his mortality. The novel explores themes of religious doubt, the search for truth, and the contrasting concepts of paradise in Christianity and Islam..." (n.b., quotes from the web site of Project Gutenberg).
With four wood engravings by Paul Nash (1889-1946), considered "one of the more important and influential painters in Britain in the 20th century...In addition to painting, Nash illustrated nearly twenty books and....[t]his work forms an important part of his artistic output..." (n.b., from Horne, p. 332).
DESCRIPTION: Quarter bound in blue buckram with sides of marbled paper over boards, gilt lettering on the spine, wood-engraved frontis by Nash, a small Nash wood engraving on the title page, two more full-page wood engravings bound in; Caslon O.F. type on English hand-made paper, octavo size (8 78" by 5 7/8"), pagination: [i-ii] 1-34 [1, colophon]; limited edition of 400 copies (per the colophon; Chanticleer states 500), this no. 169. The jacket of orange paper with the front panel a mirror of the title page in black, title on the spine in black.
CONDITION: Volume near fine, with clean boards, straight corners without rubbing, a strong, square text block with solid hinges, the interior is clean and bright, and entirely free of prior owner markings; a minute amount of light sunning to the head and tail of the spine, else fine. The publisher's jacket a solid very good, largely clean but with light overall dustiness, the spine sunned, and a fair amount of edgewear due to the jacket having been cut a quarter-inch taller than the book.
Offered by Swan's Fine Books.
by Fuller, Thomas
London: by J. F. for John Williams, 1650. First edition. Very good-. Two parts, folio (32.2 by 21.3 cm). Register continuous, though pagination in two series. Sequencing varies from pages to leaves; double-suite plates (generally) account for gaps in pagination, though not included in the register.
First edition of this pioneering biblical atlas, whose title references the mountain peak in Moab (modern Jordan) from which Moses first surveyed the Promised Land (Deut. 34.1-4). A Pisgah-Sight of Palestine is the earliest serious effort by an English scholar to present a comprehensive historical and geographical description of the Holy Land. Its author, the Church of England clergyman Thomas Fuller (1607/8-1661), was a leader of the moderates in the Commonwealth church and in the negotiations for the Restoration. "The interregnum, which brought many radical and unwelcome changes as far as Fuller was concerned, was, paradoxically, a remarkably productive period for him as a scholar and writer" (Patterson). His influence was "secured by a remarkable range of contacts in society, by his sermons, distinguished equally for their topicality and restraint, and by an impressive series of books. Much in demand with the reading public, these were at once scholarly, exemplary in their moral attitudes, and graceful in style" (Sandler). Among those works is the present volume, an opulent folio, elegantly printed and profusely illustrated with highly-decorative double-suite maps of the territories allotted to the Israelite tribes amidst the adjoining kindgdoms, along with depictions of Jerusalem and its sanctuary in the First- and Second Temple eras. The nearly six hundred pages of text "follows pretty closely the Theatrum Terrae Sanctae of Adrichomius (1590), the standard work on the subject, with chorographical descriptions of the land of Canaan, the sites being identified by the biblical events that occurred there. Both Fuller and Adrichomius draw their information not only from the Bible itself but from Josephus and the Early Fathers, from more modern authorities such as Bochart and Villalpandus, and from the accounts of recent travelers" (Sandler). Fuller's "Pisgah-Sight of Palestine was well received. Part of the reason for its success may be that it "carried perhaps an implied message: if ancient Jerusalem and its temple could be rebuilt, so, too, could the nearly shattered Church of England." (Patterson).
The large folding map of the Holy Land, along with 26 of the other folding plates and the engraved title page were colored by an early hand in brick red, bright green, yellow, cerulian blue, and brown. All of the maps are fully colored; some of the other plates more sparsely so.
The collection of armorials engraved on the page facing the opening of the text pays tribute to the noblemen who supported Fuller's project. [From the Latin]: "Reader, you must know that this fetus of ours would have expired in great pain (though the cost was excessive) in the very birth itself, if some benevolent hands of Maecenas had not given birth to it with the help of our efforts." The folding map of Palestine displays in marginal vignettes the arms of three of these benefactors: James Cranfield, 2nd Earl of Middlesex; Robert Cordell; Sir William Paston. The other armorials are apportioned among the margins of the 27 folding plates.
Provenance: early manuscript notes appear on the margins of four text pages and the map of the territory of Dan; stamp of Trinity College, Bristol appears at the verso of the large folding map.
Offered by Eric Chaim Kline Bookseller.
by JOYCE, James (1882-1941)
.jpg)
Paris: Shakespeare & Co, 1922. 4to. Number 701 of 750 copies printed on handmade paper (from an edition of 1,000). Publisher's original blue wrappers, front wrapper lettered in white. Housed within a custom morocco-backed cloth box. Wear to wrapper edges and spine, unrestored.
Provenance: Signature on the front endpaper of Burton Rascoe (1892-1957), American journalist, editor, and literary critic
The rare first edition of James Joyce's Ulysses, one of the most important works in modernist literature.
The publication history of Ulysses is as storied and intriguing as the novel itself. This first edition was published on February 2, 1922, by Sylvia Beach, an American expatriate and the owner of the Shakespeare and Company bookstore in Paris. Due to its controversial content, which led to obscenity trials and bans in various countries, Joyce faced significant difficulties in finding a publisher. Beach took the courageous step to publish the book herself, ensuring its availability to the public. Beach commissioned printer Maurice Darantiere in Dijon to print 1,000 numbered copies consisting of 100 signed copies on Dutch handmade paper, 150 numbered copies on vergé d'Arches paper, and 750 copies on handmade paper, plus an extra 20 unnumbered copies on mixed paper for libraries and press. Tasked with typesetting Joyce's ever-changing text, Darantiere also faced challenges related to the cover. Joyce insisted that the cover must resemble the colours of the Greek flag, blue and white, an allusion to the book's connection to Homer's Odyssey and the Greek literary tradition. Despite Darantiere's efforts with various blue papers, none met Joyces exacting standards. With less than a month until publication, Joyce sent the small Greek flag from Shakespeare and Company to artist Myron C. Nutting, who identified the correct pigment. Darantiere then lithographed the "Greek-flag blue" onto white paper, creating the distinctive blue cover of this first edition. Ulysses is a cornerstone of literary modernism. Joyce's experimental use of language and his focus on the inner thoughts of characters influenced countless writers and redefined the possibilities of the novel. The work delves into themes of identity, consciousness, and the mundane aspects of daily life, elevating them to profound significance. The novel's stream of consciousness technique, in particular, was groundbreaking, offering readers direct access to the inner workings of characters' minds. This approach has been emulated and celebrated in modern literature, making Ulysses a touchstone for both writers and scholars. The novel continues to captivate readers, its complex layers and intricate prose inviting ongoing interpretation and admiration as a timeless exploration of human consciousness and the complexities of existence.
Offered by Donald A. Heald Rare Books.
THE BIRDS OF AMERICA, FROM DRAWINGS MADE IN THE UNITED STATES AND THEIR TERRITORIES
by AUDUBON, JOHN JAMES
New York: George R. Lockwood, [1870-71]. Final Octavo Edition. 275 x 175 mm. (10 3/4 x 7"). Eight volumes.
Publisher's full dark brown morocco, boards with intricate blind-stamped frame and central arabesque, raised bands, blind-tooled compartments with small centerpiece, turn-ins with floral gilt roll, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. With numerous woodcuts (mostly of avian digestive systems) in the text and 500 HAND-COLORED LITHOGRAPHIC PLATES. Tyler, "Audubon's Great National Work" 129, 165 note 10; Nissen IVB 51; Sabin 2364; Reese, "Nineteenth Century Color Plate Books" 34; Wood p. 208; Zimmer, p. 25. ◆A couple of volumes with joints and extremities lightly rubbed, occasional faint foxing or trivial marginal stains, but A VERY FINE COPY, clean and fresh internally, with richly colored plates, in the little-worn original bindings.
This is an exceptionally clean, fresh copy, inside and out, of one of the key books in any natural history library and one of the great books in the history of American publishing. The story of the conception and creation of Audubon's monumental achievement, the double elephant folio "Birds of America" (1827-28), is the stuff of legend, but its size and its expense put it beyond the reach of all but an elite few. The first octavo edition, issued in parts in 1840-44, was greeted with great enthusiasm by both critics and book buyers. Reese calls it "probably the greatest commercial success of any color plate book issued in 19th-century America." Although the illustrations had necessarily been reduced in size, they nevertheless were always characterized by pleasing composition, almost always characterized by a convincing verisimilitude, and not infrequently characterized by a richness and intensity of coloration. According to Tyler, the illustrations in our edition were printed, where possible, from the same stones and stereotype plates that had been made in the 1840s and 1850s. And these were never used again, as some time after 1871, a fire broke out in the Lockwood warehouse, and the Audubon plates were destroyed. Copies of the first (and other earlier) octavo printings of Audubon's "Birds" are obtainable, but at a substantially higher price than the present one. This final printing of the work offers the same contents, and our copy is unsurpassable in terms of condition, with both the contents and the bindings showing so little evidence of use.
Offered by Phillip J. Pirages Rare Books & Manuscripts.
Farewell Address of President Jimmy Carter; January 14, 1981
by Carter, Jimmy
[Winston-Salem, NC]: Palaemon Press Limited, 1981. First Edition / Limited Edition. Cloth. Very good. Limited edition of the Farewell Address of President Jimmy Carter, signed on the title page.. Thin octavo, [11pp]. Blue cloth binding, silver title on spine. Sunning to spine. Heavy paper printing, with loosely stitched pages. Publisher's slipcase with title printed on paper label. Sunning to slipcase, faint dampstain to front panel, light wear to label on side panel. From a limited edition of 300 copies, signed by President Carter on the title page, this copy being number 49. This copy has the full signature "Jimmy Carter" on the title page. A scarce work. A scarce limited edition printing from former President Carter.
Offered by First Edition Rare Books.
[78 rpm vinyl record] Yodeling Cowboy
by Rodgers, Jimmie - SIGNED
Camden [NJ]: Victor Recording Co., 1933. First Edition.. Framed. A fine copy of the record.
The father of country music signed this copy of the Yodeling Cowboy (flip side is Blue Yodel # 9 with none other than Louis Armstrong). The record bears the shop label of Moeller's Radio Shop / Bastrop, LA.. Rodgers died the following year in 1933. The foundation record of American country music.
Offered by Palinurus Antiquarian Books.
It Melts in Your Mind, Not in Your Mouth:" The Destroy All Monsters Sticker Assortment (Two Packs)
by KELLEY, MIKE AND DESTROY ALL MONSTERS
Detroit: The End is Here Productions, 1996-2002. Both packs (7.5 inches square) still sealed, with baggies stapled to printed toppers; near fine.. Two separately issued sticker/ephemera packs from the art-rock band Destroy All Monsters. Approximately two dozen items in each pack.
Offered by Harper's Books.
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Signed limited edition)
by Dali, Salvador (illustrator); Lewis Carroll
New York: Maecenas Press, 1969. First edition. Fine/Fine. Limited edition of 2500 copies, signed on the title page by Dali, this being number 1638. Folio measuring 430 x 285mm, with Mandeure paper pages loose as issued and housed in the publisher's quarter leather clamshell case. A Fine set in Fine clamshell. Complete with the original leather straps and horn clasps intact. Complete, with the original etched frontis and all 12 original color illustrations present. This set basically as new, with the original paper wrapper, shipping box, styrofoam inserts, etc. (all with matching limitation numbers).
Based on the beloved fantasy by Lewis Carroll, Salvador Dali's rendition of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland exceed surrealist expectations. As the reader travels through Dali's Wonderland, they are treated to a brilliantly coloured illustration, giving insight into how the painter experienced Carroll's story. An unforgettable adaptation. Fine in Fine dust jacket.
Offered by Whitmore Rare Books.
Hotel Cro-Magnon [The Publisher's Copy, Signed]
by ESHLEMAN, Clayton
Santa Rosa: Black Sparrow Press, 1989. First Edition. Deluxe Issue, one of likely a half-dozen copies specially bound and designated for the author, printer, and a few key individuals involved with production, this one marked "Publisher's Copy" and signed by the author on the colophon. Octavo (23.5cm); decorative paper-covered boards and patterned cloth backstrip, with title label mounted to spine; publisher's original acetate dustjacket; [8],9-161,[3]pp, with a tipped-in leaf following the copyright page, reproducing a color photograph of the Hotel Cro-Magnon at upper half, with a holograph poem and drawing by Eshleman beneath. Faint foxing to upper edge of textblock, else Near Fine in a lightly rubbed, Near Fine dustjacket.
Offered by Lorne Bair Rare Books.
New York, New York: McLoughlin Bros, 1890. Fair. Light dust soiling. Damage to box with some loss, tears, modern tape repair to aprons. Warping from previous changes in humidity.. A charming boxed game of "leap frog" from McLoughlin Bros., allowing players to simulate the hopping of frogs on a game board. This set appears complete with the original box (11" by 9.25" by 0.75"), spinner (3.25" by 3.25"), and sixteen (16) small 0.5" wooden tokens. The printed directions sheet is pasted inside the upper lid, and the game board on the lower, depicting a group of five frogs leaping around a marsh. The upper lid depicts three rambunctious boys (no girls) leaping over each other. The object of the game is for one player to "capture" all of the other player's tokens by leaping over them.
Offered by Eclectibles.
You Can Find Inspiration in Everything and if you can't, look again
by SMITH, Paul
London: Violette Editions, 2001. A fine copy, without the original polystyrene slipcase. 4to. Original color-illustrated cloth, lettered in silver on black cloth backstrip. FIRST EDITION, PRESENTATION COPY, inscribed by Paul Smith in 2001 on the front free endpaper. In this wide-ranging compendium on fashion and art, Smith collaborated with Richard Williams, James Flint, Glen Baxter, Paul Slater, Mick Brownfield, Hans-Ulrich Obrist, Semir Zeki and Jim Davies.
Offered by Riverrun Books.
Back Stage Passes or Patches for Various New Wave Music Tours, 1980-1990
by (Billy Idol, The Cars, Tears for Fears, Sting, Power Station, The Police, and U2.)
California, 1980. Unbound. Near Fine. A collection of eight fabric sticker backstage passes or patches featuring new wave bands performing in San Francisco circa 1980s. The passes vary in size from 3½” x 3¼” to 5” x 3”. Light soiling from the back of the stickers peeling with some fraying, near fine.
All items are near fine with light soiling and edgewear. The bands include several popular new wave artists such as Billy Idol, The Cars, Tears for Fears, Sting, Power Stations, The Police, and U2. The passes were previously owned by a back stage employee for concerts in the California area. The passes are for popular venues in San Francisco such as the Cow Palace and Bill Graham presents at the Fillmore. Many of the passes are brightly colored with printed pictures and band logos showing the typographic designs of the time.
Offered by Between the Covers Rare Books.
SCIENCE PAST - SCIENCE FUTURE. Inscribed and signed by Isaac Asimov.
by Isaac Asimov
Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1975. Book. Very good+ condition. Hardcover. Signed by Author(s). Early printing. Octavo (8vo). x, 346 pages of text. Hardcover binding with minor wear and minor bumping to the edges. The unclipped dustjacket is slightly shelfworn and minimally discolored; protected in archival Mylar. Signed, dated and inscribed by Isaac Asimov to Pat in ink on the title page; Pat later wrote a presentation inscription on the title page. The bookplate of that second owner is affixed neatly to the front endpaper. The text is clean and unmarked. No edition or printing statement on the copyright page: presumed to be an earlyreprint. A collection of 42 essays by Asimov.
Offered by Kurt Gippert Bookseller.
Printed in Germany, c. 1960. Cards. Color illustrated shaped card. Near fine. 11.5 x 10 cm. Color illustrated, shaped pop-up card with envelope featuring a family gathering around a table under a trellis covered in greens. When closed, the words A Happy New Year is printed in English and Hebrew. Clean and crisp.
Offered by lizzyoung bookseller.
The Runaway Bunny; Pictures by Clement Hurd
by Brown, Margaret Wise
New York: Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1942. First Edition, First Printing. Cloth. Fine/near fine. The first edition, first printing of The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown, in the publisher's scarce first state dust jacket.. Octavo, [ii], [38pp]. Light green cloth, title stamped in red on cover. Stated "first edition," with "M-Q" date code below. Illustrated endpapers. Two unopened leaves within the text block. A fine example, free of notable wear. Housed in custom blue cloth clamshell, title in gilt over red morocco label on cover. In the publisher's first state dust jacket, $1.50 on front flap, advertisements for "The Runaway Bunny" on front flap, and "When the Wind Blew" on rear flap. Short closed tear to top edge of rear panel, small loss along top quarter of the spine, bright illustrations, a near fine example. The final manuscript for The Runaway Bunny was submitted to Ursula Nordstrom at Harper & Brothers in October of 1941. For the work, Margaret Wise Brown received an advance of $400. The manuscript was passed to Clement Hurd, the illustrator of Runaway Bunny and Goodnight Moon, who was unsatisfied with his final contribution to the book. He asked Harper & Brothers in 1966 for permission to re-illustrate the work, and a new edition was issued in 1972. This work was hand-set in Weiss Bold by Edna Rushmore, at the Golden Hind Press in Madison, New Jersey. (Dear Genius: Letters of Ursula Norstrom, 1998).
Offered by First Edition Rare Books.
Some of These Days: The Autobiography of Sophie Tucker
by TUCKER, Sophie
Privately Printed, 1945. hardcover. very good(+)/very good. 309 pages. 8vo, light blue cloth with maroon spine lettering, d.w. (edgeworn, spine sunned). Privately Printed, (1945). Boldly inscribed by Tucker on the dedication page. A very good (+) copy in a very good dust wrapper.
Privately Printed before the first trade edition.
Offered by Argosy Book Store.
by Orwell, George
London: Secker & Warburg, 1949. First Edition. Fine/Fine. An absolutely superlative copy of the first British edition, first printing of Orwell's iconic novel. Bound in publisher's pale green cloth with maroon lettering to spine. Trace erased pencil to front free endpaper and rear pastedown, still easily Fine with bright cloth and stamping, vivid topstain, in a Fine unclipped jacket. A towering classic of twentieth century literature that frustrates collectors, as copies in jacket nearly always turn up rubbed and faded--this example will not frustrate. A once in a lifetime copy, and the nicest we have ever seen by many orders of magnitude.
Offered by Burnside Rare Books.
French Fries. A New Play, written by..
by Bernstein, Dennis & Warren Lehrer
Rochester: Ear/Say, Visual Studies Workshop, 1984. Quarto (27.5 x 21 cm.), 104 pages. Three colors on acid-free Mohawk Superfine. Color separation by Phil Zimmermann. Subtitle from second title page following copyright page. ~ FIRST EDITION; number 470 of 700 signed and numbered copies, with the signature of Warren Lehrer.
An artist’s book rightfully considered to be a masterpiece of offset color lithography. Described by Johanna Drucker in The Century of Artists’ Books as, "a carnivalesque-pop-art amusement- motel-and-theme-park of visual and typographic devices." The authors state “French Fries is a quick service circus of culinary discourse, argument, dream, loss and twisted aspiration” (introduction). The project statement describes the work, "This book/play presents a day in the life of the original DREAM QUEEN restaurant (a restaurant that grew to become the third largest burger chain in the western hemisphere). Before the book/play begins, 83-year-old Gertie Greenbaum is found dead in a pool of blood and ketchup. Four customers and three employees (each set in his or her own typographic voice and color) give testimony to how Gerite died, and continue their day discussing food, money, religion, politics, love, loss, dreams, memories, and fading aspirations. The text is illuminated with icons and images that evoke the fast food tableau, and the internal projections of the characters." And others have commented, “Lehrer pioneered what might be best termed 'typographic performance' in his 1984 book/play French Fries, a hot type cacophony of word and image that is today considered by historians one of the lynchpins of the deconstructionist era…” (Steve Heller, Eye Magazine); “Without a discernable grid, the typography [in French Fries] flows freely across the pages, interspersed with images and marks evoking the ambiance and mood of the situation. Except for the work of the famous French designer Robert Massin, I had never seen an approach to typography quite like this before… I could experience the relationship between the text and its visualization, and I saw how effective it could be. Somewhere between seeing the books of Edward Rusha and Warren Lehrer’s French Fries, I discovered that my options as a graphic designer had expanded by tenfold” (Rudy Vandlans, Emigre Magazine, The Last Issue).
Clean and bright; lightest bit of rubbing to the white portion of the cloth. In original ketchup-resistant faux-leather cloth and die-cut over boards]. Very near fine. Scarce.
Offered by Rabelais: Thought for Food.
by Churchill, Winston S.
New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1958. First American edition. Hardcover. Very good +/Very good. 521; 433; 402; 403pp. Octavo [21.5 cm] 1/4 red and black cloth spines with light gray cloth covered boards. Gilt stamped title and light decoration on each spine. Publisher's red topstain. Some bumping to spine ends and corners. Mild rubbing to extremities. Spines of each dust jacket moderately sun toned. Chipping to edges and sporadic small losses around folds. Mild moisture damage to the dj of volume 2.
Offered by Ken Sanders Rare Books.
The Story of the Tower (Signed First Edition)
by WRIGHT, Frank Lloyd
New York: Horizon Press, 1956. First edition and first printing. Hardcover. A look at the Price tower in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. Includes 130 illustrations of which 6 are in color. A clean very near fine copy in a near fine dust jacket with some tiny chipping to the spine ends and some other very minor wear. Signed and inscribed by Wright on the front free endpaper in the year of publication. A very nice copy.
Offered by Jeff Hirsch Books.
by Vevey; Vignerons; Wine Scroll
1833. [VEVEY]. [Fête des Vignerons, 1833]. Continuous panorama scroll, containing 30 consecutive lithographs (numbered 1-30) from the 1833 Festival of the Vignerons at Vevey, hand-coloured at the time of publication, backed with linen and conjoined to form a continuous scroll of 14.4 meters long. Plate size: oblong folio, 170 x 470 mm., in a new cloth folding box. Lausanne: Lithographie de Spengler & Cie, [1833].
An extremely rare, complete copy, in contemporary hand-colouring of this remarkable series of plates in scroll format depicting the 1833 Festival of the Vingerons at Vevey, Switzerland -- since 1791 this ancient festival has been celebrated five times per century. The scroll shows the entire procession in panorama format; the procession moved in three groups: Herds and Flocks (plates 1-8), the Harvest (plates 9-18), and Winemakers (plates 19-30). The festival celebrates the vineyards and wine production in the Vevey area. The artist of the work was Christian Gottlieb Steinlen (1779-1847), a resident of Vevey who acted as the official artist for the 1833 Festival (see Thieme-Becker).
Sources for the Festival of the Winegrowers are unusually diverse: besides Greco-Roman gods such as Bacchus (Plates 20 & 22) there were representations of Judeo-Christian myths such as the story of Noah (first winegrower in the Bible -- see Plate 27). OCLC records only the copy at Getty Center in the U.S. Vicaire 270. Brunet I, 616. Lipperheide 2870. Ruggieri 1142. Vinet 787. Brun, Schweizerisches Künstler-Lexikon IV, p. 415. Thieme-Becker XXXI, pp. 574-5.
Offered by Ursus Books.
by Sexton, Anne
Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1971. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine. Limited to 500 copies signed by Sexton on the limitation page. Foreword by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. Drawings by Barbara Swan. Fine in an about Fine slipcase, a ghost mark from a sticker on the front panel. Red cloth on the boards with a paste-down label on the spine. Square and firmly bound with gilded edges, clean internally. A collection of poems fashioned as retellings of Grimm's fairy tales.
Offered by Carpetbagger Books.
by Brock, Alice May; Guthrie, Arlo
Random House, 1969. Hardcover. Very Good/Good. Signed. Signed by both Arlo and Abe Guthrie on dust jacket. Laid in is an article from 1995 (which is when Abe dated his signature) stating that the pair would perform in Coos Bay, Oregon. Illustrated boards under matching dust jacket, 10-1/4" x 7-1/4", 148 pp. Rubbing and edgewear to DJ with a few small chips; book itself clean & solid, though missing the record. Third printing.
Offered by Crooked House.
The Boardgame Book
by Bell, R. C.
Los Angeles: The Knapp Press. Distributed by The VIking Press, New York, 1979. First Edition. Hardcover. Cloth. Slipcase -- paper pastedown. Like New/Like New. Slipcase: Like New. Fabulous book on the wide range of historic boardgames, with resplendent color photos showcasing the sheer beauty of these games. Folio. 33 by 28cm. With five large fold-outs, separate from book, fitting with book into slipcase.
Offered by White Fox Rare Books & Antiques.
by Sabuda, Robert
(New York): (Simon & Schuster), 1997. Fine.. Special limited first edition of this elaborately engineered pop-up counting book — with an additional pop-up on the front board not found in the trade edition. 8'' x 6.5''. Original purple cloth with pop-up envelope mounted to front board. In original purple cloth slipcase. Illustrated in color with ten interior pop-ups. One of 175 numbered copies signed by Sabuda in pencil. Slightest fading to spine, else crisp and clean.
Offered by Type Punch Matrix.
by GOREY, Edward (1925-2000).
New York:: Looking Glass Library, 1959., 1959. 5.5x4 inches. [32] pp. Color figures. Original printed wrappers; a bit browned, subtle creasing or otherwise 'evidence of use'. Good. First edition, limited to 600 copies, issued as a Christmas keepsake by the Looking Glass Library, which was an offshoot of Random House. It was the first limited edition book of Gorey and his first color-printed book, though it was his fifth book. In his lifetime it is calculated that Gorey produced some 500 books. "The Bug Book is one of Edward Gorey's cuter novellas. The story has all the happiness, drama, trauma and retribution of many a classic novel. This deceptively simple story focuses on some brightly colored bugs whose contented lives are threatened when a bully bug disrupts their happy existence. The beleaguered bugs hold a secret meeting and deal with the interloper in a permanent way, later enjoying their victory over the dreaded foe." / "Originally conceived as a 1959 Christmas greeting, the privately printed paperback first edition of this book is Mr. Gorey's first limited edition book. Only 600 copies were produced under the Looking Glass Library imprint and it was meant to be used as a holiday keepsake by the publishers. This is also Edward Gorey's first story to appear in color, albeit simplistic primary colors." – Irwin Terry, Goreyana. / REFERENCE: Toledano A5a. NOTE: Looking Glass Library: Epstein & Carroll Associates was a division of Random House founded in 1959 and managed by Jason Epstein, Clelia Carroll, and the illustrator Edward Gorey. It published 28 titles in the Looking Glass Library, and only those titles, between 1959 and 1961. A few reprints were issued through the 1960s, and some titles reissued in the 2010s.
Offered by Jeff Weber Rare Books.
by Tolstoi [Tolstoy], Count Lyof
.jpg)
London: Vizetelly & Co, 1886. First U.K. edition. Near Fine. The rare first UK edition of Tolstoy's masterpiece. Rebound in full blue crushed morocco by the Chelsea bindery. Top edges gilt, dark maroon end papers, front and rear cloth covers bound in at the end. Three octavo volumes, all dated 1886 on the title pages, collating: viii, 9-429; iv, 5-360, [32 p. publisher's catalogue, dated Sept. 1886]; iv, 5-387, [4 p. publisher's catalogue]; complete with all half-titles. A few spots of foxing on the early leaves, otherwise an excellent copy overall. Housed in a matching blue, lined slipcase. The first UK edition is notoriously rare on the market.
The author’s epic novel of the Napoleonic Wars, which gives them a human face through the poignant impact they have on several interrelated characters. A story of love and tradition amidst a crumbling society and a radically changing world. A novel brimming with enlightenment and modern theories. Virginia Woolf wrote: “There remains the greatest of all novelists—for what else can we call the author of War and Peace? ... Even in a translation we feel that we have been set on a mountain-top and had a telescope put into our hands. Everything is astonishingly clear and absolutely sharp.” Undoubtedly a masterpiece of world literature, and in our opinion, the greatest work from the Russian literary canon. Near Fine.
Offered by Whitmore Rare Books.
by VARNEDOE, Kirk
New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1994. First. paperback. near fine. Cy Twombly. Illustrated throughout in color and b/w. 175 pages. Slim oblong 4to, stiff pictorial wrappers. New York: Museum of Modern Art, (1994). First softcover edition. A near fine copy. Published in conjunction with the exhibition. Ownership signature of National Gallery Modern Art Curator, Nan Rosenthal on the half title page.
Offered by Argosy Book Store.
by DICKENS, CHARLES
London: Chapman and Hall, 1843. first edition. original cloth. Very Good. A REMARKABLE SET OF THE CHRISTMAS BOOKS, INCLUDING TWO FIRST EDITIONS OF THE CHRISTMAS CAROL: A BEAUTIFUL UNRESTORED FIRST ISSUE AND A VERY RARE TRIAL ISSUE. A set assembled with care at an early date with first editions of all five titles. In addition to The Christmas Carol, The Chimes and The Battle of Life are also represented in two states or issues for a total of eight volumes. All from the collection of Elton Hoyt, a wealthy 20th-century Cleveland mining executive, with his bookplates. Housed together in an early box by Sangorski and Sutcliffe.
“In October 1843 [Dickens] had the sudden inspiration of writing a Christmas story intended to open its readers' hearts towards those struggling to survive on the lower rungs of the economic ladder and to encourage practical benevolence, but also to warn of the terrible danger to society created by the toleration of widespread ignorance and actual want among the poor. The result, written at white heat, was A Christmas Carol: in Prose, published by Chapman and Hall on 19 December as a handsomely bound little volume with four hand-coloured illustrations by John Leech, price 5s. This ‘Ghost Story of Christmas’, as it was subtitled, was a sensational success. The story of the archetypal miser Scrooge's conversion to benevolence by supernatural means, and the resulting preservation of the poor crippled child, Tiny Tim (‘who did NOT die’), was greeted with almost universal delight (in the February 1844 number of Fraser's Thackeray called it ‘a national benefit and to every man or woman who reads it a personal kindness’)...” (Dictionary of National Biography).
A Christmas Carol - Two Copies:
1) FIRST EDITION, FIRST ISSUE:
This is the traditional first edition, first issue, with half-title in blue, title page in blue and red, title page dated 1843, “Stave I” as the first chapter heading, binding with 14mm the shortest distance between blind-stamped leaves and gilt wreath, and “D” in Dickens unbroken. With green endpapers (although this is not an issue point since first issues came out with either green or yellow endpapers, though green endpapers are generally preferred). London: Chapman and Hall, 1843. Octavo, original cinnamon ribbed cloth with gilt decorations and blind-stamping, all edges gilt. A particularly nice copy – very rare in such good condition with no restoration and gilt bright. (The spine ends in particular are often pulled or torn – in this copy they are fine.) With occasional spots of soiling and small snag to cloth on lower joint. Text clean. Complete with two pages of ads are rear and four hand-colored plates by Leech. With contemporary inscription on front pastedown and bookplate of Elton Hoyt.
2) FIRST EDITION, TRIAL STATE:
With the very rare green half-title and red and green title page, as Dickens originally envisioned it. According to Eckel: "The proof copies, which were still in their experimental stage, had the Title-page printed in Red and Green, dated 1844, with 'Stave I' as the chapter heading, and with the half-title printed in green. Both green and yellow end-papers were tried" (Eckel, p. 111). Unusually, this copy has the later reading “Stave One” as the chapter heading. The red and green title page is how Dickens originally wanted the book to appear, but upon seeing the appearance of the green he was disappointed with the color and changed his mind to the standard red and blue of the first edition. The 1844 date on the title page also indicates a trial or proof state, for it was the publisher’s standard practice to date December books with the coming year’s date, but Dickens argued (and won) for 1843, since it was being issued for Christmas, 1843. With the yellow endpapers. Binding with 14mm as the nearest point between blind and gilt-stamping but with “D” in Dickens slightly broken.
London: Chapman and Hall, 1844 [but 1843]. Octavo, original cinnamon ribbed cloth with gilt decorations and blind-stamping, all edges gilt. Complete with two pages of ads are rear and four hand-colored plates by Leech. With ownership signature dated December 25, 1843 (!) on front free endpaper and bookplate of Elton Hoyt. Cloth with front panel clean and gilt bright, spine with toning and small loss at spine ends. A line of bubbling to back board, slight at top of rear joint. Some soiling to title, but text and plates generally clean. An exceedingly rare form of the book.
The Chimes – Two Copies:
With the first edition, first issue (with “Chapman and Hall” within the title vignette), and first edition, second issue (“Chapman and Hall” outside the vignette) of The Chimes. London: Chapman and Hall, 1845. Octavo, original red cloth gilt, all edges gilt. The first issue a beautiful copy with only very minor wear; the second issue very nice with some light toning and wear to spine (and with same ownership signature as the trial copy of A Christmas Carol.
The Cricket on the Hearth:
First edition, second issue (as usual), with two pages of ads. London: Bradbury and Evans, 1846. Octavo, original red cloth gilt, all edges gilt. With December 1845 ownership signature. Bookplates. A beautiful copy.
The Battle of Life – Two Copies:
With the first editions, second state (as usual), with a banner but without Cupid on the vignette, and fourth state (with Cupid). Note: The second state was available on the publication date, December 19, 1846. London: Bradbury and Evans, 1846. Octavo, original red cloth gilt, all edges gilt. Elton Hoyt bookplates. Light ownership signature to fourth state. Second state with mild discoloration to cloth on spine and rear board; fourth state fine.
The Haunted Man:
First edition (only issue or state). London: Bradbury and Evans, 1848. Octavo, original cloth gilt, all edges gilt. With illustrations by, among others, a young John Tenniel. Some splitting to cloth at joints, otherwise fine.
Offered by Manhattan Rare Books.
Chicago: Geo. M. Hill Co, 1900. First edition, second state. With the following points: on p. [2], the publisher's advertisement has no box; on p. 14, line one begins "low wail of..."; p. 81, fourth line from bottom has "pieces"; p. [227], line 1 begins: "While The Woodman..."; and the colophon is reset in thirteen lines with no box; with broken type in the last line of p. 100 and p. 186. The verso of the title-page has a press-printed copyright notice, with the "R"'s having tails that are on a line with the rest of the printing. Second state of plate facing p. 34 without the two dark-blue blots on the moon and the second state of plate facing p. 92 without the pink shading at the horizon. Quarto (8 5/16 x 6 3/8 inches; 211 x 165 mm). 259, [1, blank], [1], [1, blank] pp. Twenty-four inserted color plates (including title).
Original light green cloth pictorially stamped and lettered in red and a darker green (variant C with publisher's imprint at foot of spine in red in serifed type, with the "C" of "Co." encircling the "o"). Pictorial pastedown endpapers (issued without free endpapers). Spine with the slightest amount of fraying to head and tail. Cloth is very bright and clean without any restoration and text is extremely clean, without any tears. Front and back inner hinges with some repair. Previous owner's old ink inscription on preliminary leaf, dated 1903. Overall, a near fine copy of a book usually found in poor condition. Housed in a custom quarter red morocco over marbled boards clamshell.
Offered by Heritage Book Shop.
Wicked (Original script from the 2003 musical play)
by Stephen Schwartz (music, lyrics); Winnie Holzman (book); Joe Mantello (director); Gregory Maguire (novel); L. Frank Baum (novel); Idina Menzel, Kristin Chenoweth, Joel Grey, Norbert Leo Butz, Michelle Federer (starring)
N.p.: N.p., 2003. Vintage script from the 2003 musical play, belonging to uncredited cast member Walter O'Neil, with his manuscript pencil and ink annotations throughout, noting blocking and staging directions.
Based on Gregory Maguire's 1995 novel, a revisionist imagining of L. Frank Baum's 1900 novel "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" from the perspective of Elphaba, the misunderstood Wicked Witch of the West. A wildly successful musical which made its Broadway debut at the Gershwin Theatre on October 30, 2003, named one of the highest-grossing Broadway productions and running for 6,836 performances to date. Nominated for ten Tony Awards and winning three, including Best Actress in a Musical for Idina Menzel.
Set in the magical land of Oz.
Housed in a black three-ring binder. 149 leaves, with last page of text numbered II-9-146. Xerographic duplication, rectos only, with white revision pages throughout, dated variously between 4/03/03 and 6/20/03. Pages Near Fine.
Offered by Royal Books.
by Bierce, Ambrose
San Francisco: W. E. Wood, Publisher, 1903. First Edition. Hardcover. Very good. First edition, second issue with the corrected couplet on page 71. The major collection of Bierce's later poems. Although he defined poetry in "The Devil's Dictionary" (1906) as "[a] form of expression peculiar to the Land beyond the Magazines," Bierce (1842-1914?) was a talented poet whose work in the medium reveals a vulnerability and tenderness that is rarely seen in his prose. From the library of Edward Robeson Taylor (1838-1923), the 28th Mayor of San Francisco (1907-10), with his bookplate to the front pastedown. The bookplate of American lawyer, journalist, and educational figure John Francis Neylan (1885-1960) appears on the front flyleaf. Octavo: xiv, [2], 396 p. Original burgundy cloth binding, with a striking design by Herman George Scheffauer stamped in gilt and lavender. Light foxing to the prefatory and concluding leaves and along the edges. Some mild wear to the corners and tips; otherwise very good.
Offered by johnson rare books & archives.
My Further Disillusionment in Russia
by Goldman, Emma, 1869-1940
Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Page & Company, 1924. 1st ed. Hardcover. Very Good/Good. xv, 178p. Original cloth. dj. 19 cm. Jacket has spots and chipping, including good-sized chips around both ends of backstrip and at another at the upper right corner on front panel, The cover has some edge bumps and a some other wear. Spine lettering all there but not bright. This book was published a year after Doubleday published Goldman's "My Disiluusionment in Russia." "My Further Disillusionment" contains the last twelve chapters of Goldman's manuscript for "My Disillusionment in Russia" that had not been turned over by the newspaper syndicate from whom Doubleday bought the rights to the book. Goldman, a committed anarchist rather than a statist Communist, was appalled by Bolshevik Russia. "It is not so much the Bolsheviki who killed the Russian Revolution as the Bolshevik idea. It was Marxism, however modified; in short, fanatical governmentalism." [pp. 157-158].
Offered by McBlain Books.
Biscuits Lefevre-Utile Nantes. (poster)
by Unknown artist
Paris.: F. Champenois, Circa 1900. Good plus, soiling mostly affecting the margins.. 51.3x36 cm.. A nice image of young lady with a box of biscuits on her arm and eating a biscuit. Mounted to stiff board backing with two grommets for attachment to a wall. weight: 1.2 lb. Chromolithograph print mounted on board.
Offered by Lee Johnson's Zephyr Books.
Original concept illustration for the cover of Broad Stripes and Bright Stars
by Grover, Beatrice Beard
No place, 1941. Original concept illustration for the cover of Broad Stripes and Bright Stars, Beatrice Grover’s patriotic children’s book published in New York by the Greystone Press in 1941. Aimed at elementary school children during World War II, the book focuses on the American revolution, personifying the thirteen original colonies as plucky, independent children of Mother England. This watercolor cover design, rendered in red, white and blue, depicts a large children’s chorus (including a number of immigrants, and one girl who appears to be Native American) singing the national anthem, accompanied by a small original band of colonial children on piano, flute, recorder, horn, violin, harp and xylophone. The published image would include a version of the colonial musicians, but replace the diverse chorus with the American flag. Beatrice B. Grover (1901-1994), a New York City native, was a skilled painter, lithographer, and illustrator. A graduate of the Spence School and the Art Students League, she continued her studies in Paris, and became a member of the National Association of Women Artists. Represented by the Betty Parsons Gallery, she enjoyed many one-woman art shows in New York City and lived to see her work enter the collection of the Museum of Modern Art. A lively original process painting. Watercolor on illustration board, measuring 13 x 11.75 inches. Signed “Beatrice B. Grover” and dated in lower right image; captioned and initialed in pencil to verso: “He called this song The Star Spangled Banner. When the various states heard it etc.” A few printer’s measurement marks in outer margins, brown artist’s tape to edges of verso.
Offered by Honey & Wax Booksellers.
by Haviland, Mary S. and Fanny L. Warren
New York: National Child Welfare Association, 1923 First edition. The National Child Welfare Association published the present posters during the height of the Progressive Movement in America. They illustrate the importance of health eating for children, based on recent innovations in nutrition science, and would have been used as teaching tools . Printed card stock richly illustrated in color. . Three posters, 11 in. by 16 in. . Includes posters one, two, and five of a larger set, though we were unable to determine how many posters were originally included in the series. With lovely half-page color illustrations by Fanny L. Warren and verse by Mary S. Haviland. Some light creasing at corners and small holes from removed tacks. A very good, bright example of these rare posters. The Progressive Movement focused on federal welfare programs and was responsible for mother's pension laws, forerunners of the Social Security Act; and the founding of the National Child Labor Committee. The Children's Bureau, a federal agency that focuses exclusively on children's welfare, was also a result of the movement; its first chief, Julia Lathrop (1858 – 1932), was the first woman selected by a President to head a federal agency (Children's Bureau website).
Offered by Michael R. Thompson Rare Books.
by COHEN, Leonard.
NY:: Viking Press,. Very Good in Very Good dust jacket. 1965. Hardcover. The author's second book and first collection of poems. First American edition. Appears to be inscribed by the author to a previous owner but not signed. Some light wear at the spine ends and corners and on the front board, else very good in a very good (minor shelf wear, two short closed edge tears) dust jacket. ; 88 pages.
Offered by Grendel Books.
LA SCIENCE DU BONHOMME RICHARD
by Franklin, Benjamin
Paris: Imprime par C.L.F. Panckoucke, 1827.. [6],xvi,16pp., plus a [1]p. prospectus on a folio sheet laid in. Large folio. Original printed wrappers. Wrappers worn, torn along the spine. A few instances of foxing. Very good. From a printing of 200 copies. An elaborate oversized printing of a part of Franklin's WAY TO WEALTH, by a reverent French printer. The preface extracts Franklin's recollections of his work as a printer from his AUTOBIOGRAPHY. Scarce.
Offered by William Reese Company.
Original Cartoon Drawing Signed of Wednesday and a cat
Charles Addams
Addams has drawn Wednesday of the Addams Family who stands full length with her arm around a cat almost as tall as she is, about three inches. Sketched in black ink and wash and signed, "Chas. Addams." The drawing is rendered on an 8 5/8 x 5 inch card stock. Addams created the characters that became known as The Addams Family, the basis for two live-action television series, two cartoon series, several motion pictures and a musical comedy. Addams also created a syndicated comic strip, "Out of This World," which ran in 1956.
Offered by Schulson Autographs.
Bill Mauldin Says..."Shut up, kid. You got no business discussin' serious matters." New York: The Writers' Board. 1945. Staple bound wrappers. 8 pages including front and back covers. Measures 5.5" x 7.5". Black and white illustrations by Mauldin throughout.
The original speech was made by famous W.W.II era liberal cartoonist, Bill Mauldin when he delivered it at the New York Herald Tribune Forum in 1945, and reprinted from the November issue of the New York Herald Tribune. The front opens with a smiling portrait of the cartoonist with the following speech headlined "Mauldin Says Bigotry at Home Mocks Sacrifices of Soldiers." His speech touches on the racial misconduct of Black Americans and Japanese Americans, and states that we "may have won only battles, not the war to crush hate," and encourages remembrance of "what heroes died for." The cartoons laid within satirize blue collar American biases with one showing an unkempt man in conversation with two car repairmen; "Musta been purty awful, havin' to mix with them there iggerant, uneddicated furriners." Signed by the original owners on the first page "Horace + Ann Fong -- 1943." Overall very good condition.
Offered by Max Rambod, Inc.
by Virgilius Maro, Publius (70-19 B.C.E.)
Strasbourg: Johann Grüninger, 28 August, 1502. FIRST ILLUSTRATED EDITION OF VIRGIL'S WORKS. Edited by Sebastian Brant (1457-1521). Illustrated with 214 large woodcut illustrations, including one double-page; 5 in contemporary color. Hardcover. Fine. Bound in an unusual binding of 17th c. Dutch vellum, dyed brown, the boards paneled in gold, with attractive gold-tooled ornaments at the interior angles and a large central arabesque, also gilt, at the center of both boards (Corners bumped, upper hinge starting, slim 3-inch split to vellum of upper board, remains of original green silk ties.) Internally a very fine copy with minor cosmetic faults: title and one prelim. leaf strengthened in the gutter, a few headlines cut close in the prelims, small marginal repair to corner of leaf A6, shine-through from colored woodcut on folio leaf N4 recto, leaf x10 with light ink stain in the woodcut, scattered minor marginal damp-stains, leaf aa1 with repaired tear (no loss), final gathering lightly browned. Five of the woodcuts (on leaves C4, K1, N4, aa8, and bb5) have contemporary (i.e. 16th c.) coloring. A few others are partially colored. The 1502 Virgil, the first to be illustrated, was edited by the imperial councilor, poet, and satirist Sebastian Brant, author of the "Ship of Fools"( Das Narrenshiff, 1494). The book was printed by Brant's frequent collaborator, Johann Grüninger, who was renowned for his illustrated books. The book is extraordinary in the number and variety of its illustrations. There are 143 illustrations in the "Aeneid", 10 in the "Eclogues", 39 in the "Georgics", and 21 for the shorter and spurious poems. Another full-page woodcut graces the title page.
There is still debate over the identity of the artist who created the woodcuts. That Brant himself was involved in the creation -or at least the design- of the images, is strongly suggested by Brant himself in the book.
"n the introductory promotional poem, Brant stresses the importance of visual art as a medium. He makes the argument that visual art should hold a valued place in the humanities, just as it did in ancient times, when important public figures were painters, and when important painters were publicly honored. He also speaks of expanding the audience for the poem beyond the highly learned scholars who were the audience for 'Aeneid' editions hitherto. Aeneas himself, he points out, is nowhere said to have been learned, yet he fed his soul on images, such as the reliefs on the temple of Juno at Carthage."(Francese)
"A poem at the end of the volume... reveals that Brant envisioned the widest audience possible for this book, and that he added the pictures to make the poem accessible to the unlearned:
Virgilium exponant alii sermone diserto.
Et calamo pueris: tradere et ore iuvent.
Pictura agresti voluit Brant: atque tabellis:
Edere eum indoctis: rusticolisque viris.
Nee tamen abiectus labor hie: nee prorsus inanis.
Nam memori servat mente figura librum.
(Let others explain Vergil in eloquent speech and be pleased to hand him down to boys in written and spoken form; Brant wished to publish him for unlearned and peasant folk in rustic pictures and drawings. Nevertheless, this task is neither lowly nor wholly useless, for the picture preserves the book in the remembering mind.)"(Kallendorf, The Aeneid Transformed, p. 139)
"The subtle detail of the woodcuts would certainly escape the spectator who could not read the text and seem, rather, calculated to appeal to one whose familiarity with the poems would allow him to appreciate precise visual allusions. In several cases, Brant's work incorporates details drawn from the commentators' interpretations. As a humanistic scholar, he is said to have placed the stamp of his own thorough knowledge of Virgil upon the book by providing master sketches for the illustrators."(Eleanor Winsor Leach).
Offered by Liber Antiquus.
by ETTEILLA [ALLIETTE, Jean-Baptiste]
Paris: Grimaud, 1890. Deck of 78 chromolithographed playing cards, each with a central vignette with text above and below, a black line border around the vignette and outer edge, and the card number in the upper left and lower right corners. Versos are alike with a repeating blue floral field. In excellent condition. Later printing of the first 78-card tarot deck specifically designed for cartomancy. Designed by Jean-Baptiste Alliette, who went by the anagram Etteilla, this deck first appeared in 1788 and remains the tarot standard today. Prior to its production, tarot decks varied widely, had fewer cards, and were not used to tell fortunes. Etteilla claimed that he learned about the 78-card method by reading the so-called "Book of Thoth," a book of magic purportedly belonging to the Thoth, the Egyptian god of wisdom and later known as Hermes Trismegistus.
Offered by Rootenberg Rare Books.
ARMED SERVICES EDITION PAPERBACK BOOKS (LOT OF 80 BOOKS)
Council on Books in Wartime, 1943. Armed Services Edition paperback books ( lot of 80 books with 42 small & 29 large). Measurements: ~5.2 in x 6.5 in and 3.8 in x 4.5 in. Condition: Good. Age toning. Mild to moderate wear to spines, edges and corners.
We added nine more books to the lot (not pictured in primary group photograph but shown in last two photos). These books measure ~6.5 in. x 4.5 in. (4 books) and ~5.5 in. x 3.8 in. (5 books).
Offered by Second Story Books.
View all new listings on abaa.org...
Browse recent catalogs of rare books and print ephemera from ABAA members...
Please note, all items are unique, so if a link takes you to a blank page, the book has been sold!