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...
East of the Sun, West of the Moon
by [Asbjornsen, Peter Christen] and [Moe, Jorgen Engebretsen]; Nielsen, Kay [Illustrations]
[London]: Hodder & Stoughton, 1914. First Edition. Hardcover. Very good. Nielsen, Kay. First trade edition, quarto size, 207 pp. Kay Rasmus Nielsen (1886-1957), was born in Denmark hearing the traditional Norse fairy tales related by his mother, studied art in Paris, and moved to London in1911. His artwork brought immediate critical acclaim with his first illustrated book, "In Powder and Crinoline" being published in 1913.
However, it was this work, "East of the Sun, West of the Moon", which, "y general consent, [is his] most spectacular and celebrated." One of his admirers, Martin Birnbaum, wrote of this book: "His most intricate inventions never seem laboured. Controlled in a measure by Norse ornamental traditions, he reaches an absolute equality with the poetical text..." (Dalby, p. 90).
Nielsen's style was heavily influenced by Japanese art, and his artwork "unite[s] strong linearity with delicate colouring. For example, the heroine of 'Prince Lindworm'...kneels in a perfect arc of physiologically impossible grace before a tree whose weeping branches echo her curves." (Zipes, p. 341).
Sadly, Nielsen's later years were marked with poverty, as his artwork was no longer in demand after WWII. If only he could know what a great gift his talents have given, and what joy his art has brought to so many.
___DESCRIPTION: Bound in dark blue cloth over boards, gilt lettering and elaborate designs on the front panel and spine, richly decorated endpapers by Nielsen in black and gold, illustrated and bordered title page in black, lettered tissue-guarded frontispiece one of twenty-five full colour illustrations bound in throughout, each tipped at the gutter edge onto heavy paper with borders of black and gold, in addition to the colour illustrations there are numerous black-and-white line in-text line drawings and decorations on every page, with each story opening with a three-line initial capital; binding is quarto size (11 3/8" by 9"), pagination: [i, title page with blank verso] [1-8] 9-205 [206].
___CONDITION: Very good overall, the boards clean, we had a professional (name available upon request) restore the joints and some damage to the spine and corners, the volume is now sturdily bound, the hinges are solid, the inside is clean other than two leaves with some offsetting from something laid in at some point in the past (not affecting any illustrations), and the sole prior owner marking we see a name lightly written at the top of the front free endpaper; the front board slightly bowed and some soil on the bottom edge of the text block. Overall a near fine interior with a good, but now sturdy, binding.
Offered by Swan's FIne Books.
ELIZABETH BENNET; OR, PRIDE AND PREJUDICE
by Austen, Jane; [Rébora, Sol]
Philadelphia: Carey & Lea, 1832. First printing. Near fine.. First US edition in a stunning fine art binding by the acclaimed Argentinian design bookbinder Sol Rébora. Austen's most beloved novel is simultaneously a unique production of profound artistic confidence and an entertaining popular love story: it builds on a long-established tradition of English courtship novels in conversation with many women authors before her like Frances Burney (from whose book CECILIA Austen may have borrowed the very phrase "pride and prejudice"). Austen admitted in a letter that she thought her book's heroine, Elizabeth Bennett, "as delightful a creature as ever appeared in print" (29 January 1813) – and generations of readers have agreed with her. First published in 1813 in three volumes, this is the first edition to appear in the United States, published in two volumes by Carey & Lea in an edition of only 750 copies.
Sol Rébora is an internationally recognized design bookbinder based in Buenos Aires. Her works embody a minimalistic elegance that is nevertheless subtly complex, as in the carefully structured multiple layers used here. They are not only visually stunning, but supremely tactile. From Rèbora's artist statement: "The cloth texture is achieved using silk with a patterned design that evokes the aesthetic of the time period in which the original edition was produced, creating a visual connection with antique paper. This design also appeals to the collective memory of how custom bindings from the early 19th century might have appeared, complete with deep-relief hot-stamping impressions." A magnificent, unique copy of an Austen first. Two 12mo volumes, 6.75'' x 4.25'' each. Modern full peach design binding by Sol Rébora in Can Can structure with one layer of cotton cloth and two layers of Japanese paper, each element hand-painted with acrylics and textured with a patterned design impressed with deep-relief hot-stamping from silk; spines and boards stamped in dark grey. Cotton and abaca handmade paper peach endpapers. Publisher's catalogue bound at front of Vol. I. 199, [1]; 209, [1] pages. Vol. I with early pencil inscription of the Portsmouth Athenaeum to fly leaf; early newspaper clipping on "Jane Austen's Genius" archivally tipped onto rear fly leaf. Some browning, light staining to text block, a few early marginal pencil notes. Bright.
Offered by Type Punch Matrix.
by Tolkien, J. R. R.
Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1938. First American edition. Near Fine/Good +. A Near Fine copy of the first American printing of this iconic work of imaginative fiction. Bowing Hobbit on the title page and misprint at Chapter VII (as required for the first printing), complete with the four color plates and numerous black and white illustrations. Boards only minimally toned/soiled, very slight loss at the upper corner of the text block (possibly nibbled?), but free of previous ownership markings and likely unread. In a Good example of the scarce first American dust jacket. Jacket price-clipped and with loss along the top of the front panel and at the crown. Despite the defects, a relatively attractive and unrestored example.
The Hobbit follows the exploits of Bilbo Baggins as he joins a company of Dwarves set on retaking their former kingdom from the dragon Smaug. A brilliant piece of writing, for any genre. The book has now been translated into fifty languages and sold a hundred million copies worldwide. "Though all is marvelous, nothing is arbitrary: all the inhabitants of Wilderland seem to have the same unquestionable right to their existence as those of our own world, though the fortunate child who meets them will have no notion—and his unlearned elders not much more—of the deep sources in our blood and tradition from which they spring." (C. S. Lewis for the Times Literary Supplement, Oct., 1937). Near Fine in Good + dust jacket.
Offered by Whitmore Rare Books.
by SCHMIED, FRANÇOIS-LOUIS, Illustrator. (BINDINGS - MIREILLE MAGNIN). SUETONIUS
Paris: F.-L. Schmied, 1928. No. 57 OF 175 COPIES, SIGNED BY SCHMIED. 290 x 193 mm. (11 1/2 x 7 1/2"). 4 p.l., 8, CCCXXVI [i.e., 326] pp., [4] leaves.
BOLD CONTEMPORARY ART DECO RED MOROCCO, GILT AND INLAID, BY MIREILLE MAGNIN (stamp-signed on front turn-in), covers decorated with multiple gilt and inlaind black morocco lines, inspired by the original printed covers (bound in here) and title page designed by Schmied, title inlaid in balck morocco on upper cover, smooth spine with gilt lettering, turn-ins with gilt rules and inlaid black morocco striped, red and gilt marbled endleaves, top edge gilt, other edges untrimmed. In a (slightly soiled) fleece-lined, leather-lipped slipcase. With decorative title and section titles printed in gold, and 23 COLOR ILLUSTRATIONS BY SCHMIED, comprised of nine vignette tailpieces, and 14 full-page plates, including 12 portraits. Front flyleaf with morocco armorial bookplate of Léopold Carteret. Ritchie 26. Black morocco strips on spine just a shade lighter than those on covers, otherwise a virtually pristine copy.
Providing aesthetic pleasure inside and out, this is the Carteret copy, in a very appealing Art Deco binding, of the beautifully illustrated Schmied livre d'artiste version of Suetonius' classic biographies of the first 12 Roman emperors. Immensely talented in all areas of book production, François-Louis Schmied (1873-1941) was one of the most important, original, and active figures in the world of artists' books. He was born and studied in Geneva, moved to Paris at 22 to make a living as a wood engraver, and joined the French Foreign Legion in his mid-40s, losing an eye in the Great War. It was after 1919 that Schmied began to focus primarily on the production of "éditions de luxe," and in the mid-1920s, he and his eldest son Théo managed an atelier that issued a distinguished series of sumptuous works in very small editions, largely for members of elite French bibliophile societies. The illustrations in the present volume place statue-like emperors in front of geometric, stage set-like backgrounds awash with patterns and the kind of muted, warm colors typical of Schmied illustrations. The binding by Mireille Magnin is careful and precise, with the crisp linear motifs matching those on the section titles within the book. Mireille was the daughter of Marius Magnin, who was known for his meticulous mosaic bindings. She joined the family workshop in the 1920s, and ran it until her retirement in 1961. The Roman biographer Suetonius (69-140?) wrote a considerable number of biographies as well as works on antiquities, natural science, and even linguistics, but all that have survived are his "Lives of Famous Men" (in part) and the present "Lives of the 12 Caesars," originally written in 121 A.D. Containing biographies of the Roman rulers from Julius Caesar through Domitian, it has remained of enduring interest mainly because of its material relating to the emperors' often scandalous private lives. Our copy is from the library of bookseller, publisher, and bibliographer Léopold Carteret (1873-1948). As one of the most prominent bibliophiles in Paris, he was called upon to provide expertise for numerous auctions, including the notable Henri Béraldi sale of 1934.
Offered by Phillip J. Pirages Rare Books.
by George Lucas (director, screenwriter); Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Peter Cushing, Alec Guinness (starring)
N.p.: N.p., 1977. Collection of 25 vintage borderless reference photographs from the 1977 film, including 23 matte-finish and 2 glossy. Several with manuscript pencil annotations to the verso, noting the film's title in French ("La Guerre des Etoiles").
The film that became a multibillion dollar media empire (pun intended), now including eleven additional live action films, animated shows, novels, comic books, video games, and countless tons of officially licensed merchandise, with no signs of slowing down. Winner of six Academy Awards and nominated for four more, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Supporting Actor for Alec Guinness.
Set a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, shot on location in California, Arizona, Mexico, Guatemala, Tunisia, and the UK.
Three photographs 10 x 8 inches, 22 photographs 9.5 x 7 inches. Near Fine.
Offered by Royal Books.
by JUDSON, Clara Ingram
Chicago and New York: Rand McNally & Company, 1923. Frances BEEM. [JUVENILE] [WOMAN AUTHOR] [WOMAN ILLUSTRATOR]. Frances BEEM, illustrator. First edition. 12mo; 72pp; red cloth over board, pictorial onlay on front board of a cottage in the woods with animals, black lettering on spine; gift inscription on ffep; color fp; vignette of a running mouse on title page; 7 full-page color illustrations + b&w illustrations throughout text; unclipped color pictorial dust jacket lacking price, publisher’s ad for other Judson books on rear panel, rear flap ads for Child Life magazine, chipping to edges with loss; fine in very good dj. Scarce; OCLC locates only 7 copies of this first edition. A little book for children about garden creatures during wintertime. This lovely story features anthropomorphic animals and teaches children how the animals find food and shelter. Rare in the dust jacket.
Clara Ingram Judson (1879-1960) was an American writer of children’s books, mainly non-fiction, with over 70 titles published. Frances Beem (1881-1971) was an American illustrator of children’s books and a high school teacher who won awards for her watercolors.
Offered by Sandra L. Hoekstra.
by PERRAULT, Charles
Amsterdam: Chez Jaques Desbordes, 1708. Full Description:
PERRAULT, Charles. Histoires ou Contes du Tems Passe. Avec des Moralitez Par le Fils de Monsieur Perreaul. de l'Academie Francois. Amsterdam: Chez Jaques Desbordes, 1708.
A very early rare edition of the "Mother Goose" fairy tales of Charles Perrault which is an exact reprint of the Dutch counterfeit published the same year as the first edition of Paris, 1697. Twelvemo (4 5/8 x 2 13/16 inches; 119 x 71 mm). [6], 175, [1, table] pp. With engraved frontispiece, title-page vignette, engraved head-and-tail-pieces and initials, and with eight engraved vignettes, one for each tale. Besides this copy, we could only find one other copy at auction in the past 40 years.
This edition features the eight tales found in the first edition, each illustrated with a vignette: Sleeping Beauty, Little Red Riding Hood, Bluebeard, Puss in Boots, The Fairies, Cinderella, Riquet with the Tuft, and Tom Thumb.
Beautifully bound by M. Godillot in full tan morocco. Boards triple-ruled in gilt. Spine elaborately stamped and lettered in gilt. Gilt dentelles. Marbled endpapers. All edges gilt. Top margin occasionally trimmed close, just touching headline. Previous owner's bookplate on front free endpaper. Housed in a morocco lined, marbled paper slipcase. About fine.
"The title gives the author as the Son of Monsieur Perrault of the Academie François [sic], as in the 1697 forgery. The dedication to Mademoiselle is signed P. Darmancour. In fact, the participation in the writing of the Tales of Perrault's youngest son, Pierre Perrault Darmancour (1678-1700), is now attested."
According to Alde, "This edition is extremely rare; it is missing from the BnF and all French public libraries. Tchemerzine mentions it without having seen it, according to Brunet's supplement, who himself only cites it from Baron Pichon's catalog (1869, I, no. 766: "Rare Edition," a red morocco copy by Trautz-Bauzonnet, acquired for 145 francs by Techener). It was not included in the collection of the Count of Lignerolles, who nevertheless owned eleven editions of the Tales published between 1697 and 1781 (1894, II, nos. 1911-1921)."
Offered by Heritage Book Shop.
by Nabokov, Vladimir
Paris: Olympia Press, 1959 Two volumes. First edition, fourth printing. Publisher's original green wrappers, printed in black and white. Near fine set, with light wear to edges of Vol. II wrappers including a small closed tear to right edge of front wrapper, a light scratch to rear wrapper of Vol. II, and "New Price" stamp to rear wrapper of Vol. I and a couple of other faint stamp marks to wrappers of both volumes. Overall, an attractive set, with very clean pages. A controversial novel due to its racy subject matter, Lolita tells the story of Humbert Humbert, a professor of literature with a penchant for pre-teen "nymphets." Specifically, Nabokov chronicles the unstable narrator's romantic interest in Dolores Haze, the daughter of his landlord and wife, whom he privately nicknames "Lolita." Lolita was first published in 1955 as part of Olympia Press' Traveller's Companion series, which included other literary classics like Henry Miller's Quiet Days in Clichy (1956) and William S. Burroughs' The Naked Lunch (1959). The Olympia Press was well known for its liberal selection of literature; many English-speaking authors published their books with Olympia in Paris after being rejected by other publishing houses. Notably, in 1962, Lolita was adapted into a film by Stanley Kubrick starring Sue Lyon and James Mason.. First edition, Fourth Printing. Soft Cover. Near Fine.
Offered by B&B Rare Books.
by POTTER, Beatrix
Philadelphia: Henry Altemus Company, 1904. First American Printing of Peter Rabbit In the Original Printed Dust Jacket.
POTTER, Beatrix. The Tale of Peter Rabbit. Altemus' Wee Books for Wee Folks. Thirty-one Illustrations. Philadelphia: Henry Altemus Company, 1904. First American edition, first printing. Sixteenmo. [3]-127, [3, blank] pp., including thirty-one color plates after the designs by Potter. With black and white rabbit vignette on half-title.
Original green cloth, cover stamped pictorially in black, white, blue, and red, spine and front cover lettered in red. Beige and white pictorial endpapers, not of Potter's design. Original beige dust jacket, printed in black, with Altemus ad on back panel, Peter Rabbit picture and lettering on front, and "Altemus' Wee Books for Wee Folks No. 3" lettered on spine. Jacket chipped at spine extremities, with slight loss, and very lightly browned. Small and inoffensive stain on rear free-endpaper. With a Christmas, 1904 ink inscription on half-title "'Merry Christmas'/for /Agnessita/from Aunty Jane/1904". A wonderful copy of this juvenile classic in the exceptionally rare dust jacket. Housed in a black cloth clamshell case.
"When Frederick Warne first published Peter Rabbit in London [in 1902], they sent a few copies to their firm in New York where, due to a misunderstanding, they were unfortunately sold before copyright was properly obtained. And for that reason the copyright for the book remains to this day in 'public domain' in the United States" (Quinby, p. 18). Altemus was the first to take advantage of this situation, copying the text and illustrations from Warne and issuing in 1904 not only the first pirated edition, but also the first edition printed in America. This edition was reprinted for several years without changing the date on the title-page; consequently, the 1904 inscription is the only sure way of identifying the first printing.
Quinby 2c. Linder, p. 109. V&A 1640 (fourth printing only).
Offered by David Brass Rare Books.
by Milne, A.A.; Shepard, Ernest H.
London: Methuen & Co. Ltd, 1928. First Edition. Hardcover. Near fine/very good +. Shepard, Ernest H.. First edition, first printing, duodecimo size, 190 pp. Alan Alexander Milne (1882-1956) will likely ever be remembered for having bequeathed "Winnie the Pooh" to the world. Begun with "When We Were Very Young", a book of poetry first published in 1924, its success set the stage for the Winnie-the-Pooh books, which employed his own son, "Christopher Robin", as a character.
With illustrations by Ernest H. Shepard (1879-1976), an English artist and book illustrator who created drawings for several of the Winnie-the-Pooh books; his gently playful illustrations are irrevocably connected to the Pooh books and provide a charming aesthetic to this classic collection of children's stories. As noted author Chris Loker points out in "One Hundred Books Famous in Children's Literature", "Milne was so aware of the extent to which Shepard's drawings contributed to the success of 'Winnie-the-Pooh' that he arranged for him to share in the royalties."
"The House at Pooh Corner" was the second volume of stories with Pooh as the main character, and the one which introduces "Tigger" to the world. Portions of this book have been adapted numerous times to songs and screen, and the book remains an icon of children's literature.
DESCRIPTION: Bound in full salmon cloth over boards, the front with gilt ruled border, gilt vignette of Christopher Robin with Pooh and Piglet in the center, the spine with gilt ruled borders at the head and tail, gilt lettering, top edge gilt, illustrated endpapers in black on salmon paper of the characters in silhouette dancing across the pages, frontispiece one of the full-page illustrations by Shepard, volume replete with the black-and-white line-drawings of Shepard's, both full page and in-text; duodecimo size (7 1/8" by 5 1/8"), pagination: [i-vi] vii-xi [1, blank] 1-178 [1, silhouette drawing]. The dust jacket of salmon laid paper shows the price of 7/6 net on the spine, vignettes in blue on the front and back panels and spine, front and spine with blue lettering.
CONDITION: Near fine, with clean boards, the salmon colour bright and unfaded, 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; some offsetting to the endpapers from the dust wrapper, a minute chip out of the top two leaves (pp. 1 - 4), and a very small light mark on pp. 92 and 93 (at the fore-edges), else fine. The dust wrapper better than very good, the panels and flaps clean and with only minute edgewear, the spine with sunning and showing more wear at both head and tail, with no loss of text although there are some short closed tears at the head of the spine. Overall a sparkling book in a better than very good jacket.
CITATIONS: Cutler and Stiles, p. 116; Payne, "Four Children's Books by A.A. Milne" ("Studies in Bibliography" Volume Twenty-Three, 1970), no. IV A.
Offered by Swan's Fine Books.
by DU MAURIER, Daphne
New York: Doubleday, 1939. First. hardcover. very good(+)/good. 457 pages, 8vo, burgundy cloth with embossed silver pictorial wrap-around band, d.w. New York: Doubleday Doran, 1939. First American Edition.
Ownership signature on flyleaf; end leaves darkened.l The dust wrapper is edge-worn with a triangular chip on the back panel and some tape reinforcement on the verso, but is price-intact, and very presentable. This is one of an unknown number of copies signed by DuMaurier on an inserted leaf.
Offered by Argosy Book Store.
The Hunting of the Snark; an Agony in Eight Fits
by Carroll, Lewis (C.L. Dodgson)
London: Macmilland and Co, 1876. First Edition. Small Octavo in Fours. First Issue, with "Baker" rather than "Butcher". 83 pp., (1) pp. publisher's ad, illustrated with nine illustrations by Henry Holiday.original covers bound in after ad. The popular poem of about a crew of ten attempting find the Snark, an animal which may turn out to be a highly dangerous Boojum. A lovely copy bound by Kelligram (signed binding) in full green morocco centrally decorated with onlays of red, brown, blue and red moroccoof a charature from the book hodling onto the ships railing framed in a floral gilt, spine lettered and decorated in gilt, inner gilt decortive turn-ins, brown cloth end sheets, all edges gilt, binding signed in gilt on front and rear turn-ins(front Brentanos and rear Kelligram).
Offered by Alcuin Books.
by KEES, Weldon
San Francisco: Adrian Wilson, 1954. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine with the scarce wraparound band. Cloth-backed decorative boards with paper spine label and wraparound band, issued without a dustwrapper. An intriguing copy of this beautifully printed collection, the last by Kees before his mysterious disappearance the following year, INSCRIBED and SIGNED by Kees on the front endpaper: "To Angela/for many favors,/Weldon/SF 1954."
Offered by Charles Agvent.
by Gerry, Vance
Pasadena: Weather Bird Press, 2003 One of fifty copies, printed by Vance Gerry. The numbered copies are all signed by Gerry, but this is not signed. It is not clear whether this is one of the fifty copies, or an extra copy, out of series. . Loose in tan handmade paper portfolio, with brown stencilled matching label affixed to front cover. . 12 x 9 1/2." . Twelve gatherings, loose, in portfolio. Ten pochoir illustrations of musicians playing ten different instruments (violin, clarinet, vibraphone, bass, trombone, saxophone, guitar, drums, trumpet and piano), together with descriptive text. Includes glossary of names and nicknames of mentioned musicians. A fine copy. The illustrations show the common instruments of jazz, but the depiction of the players is purely fictional and are not meant to portray particular jazz musicians" (introduction).
Offered by Michael R. Thompson Rare Books.
Snow Crash (Signed First Edition)
by STEPHENSON, Neal
New York: Bantam, 1992. First edition and first printing. Softcover. 440 pages. Uncorrected proof of Stephenson's third book, a modern classic science-fiction novel that was an instant success. A tight very good plus copy in printed wrappers with some light wear. Signed by Stephenson on the title page.
Offered by Jeff Hirsch Books.
by King, Martin Luther Jr.
New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1964. First Edition, First Printing. Cloth. Very good/very good. Signed first edition, first printing of Why We Can't Wait by Martin Luther King, Jr.. Octavo, xii, 178pp. Black cloth spine, gray boards, title stamped in gilt on spine. Slight bow to front cover. First edition statement on copyright page with "D-O," noting a first printing. Solid text block, light rubbing to edges, faint offsetting to endpapers, a very good example. In the publisher's first state dust jacket, $3.50 price and "0664" code on front flap, and no mention of the Nobel Peace Prize on rear panel. Light shelf wear, with dust remnants and small chips along edges. Three-inch closed tear to front panel, stabilized with archival tissue repair on verso. Signed by the author on the front free endpaper "Best Wishes / Martin Luther King." Housed in a custom black cloth clamshell, with title in gilt on spine. Why We Can't Wait details Martin Luther King Jr.'s prioritization of nonviolence in the Civil Rights Movement. He names events like Brown v. Board, the decolonization of Africa, and the centennial of the Emancipation Proclamation as reasons 1963 is the beginning of "The Negro Revolution." This book was published the same year King received the Nobel Peace Prize, and simultaneously increased circulation of King's Letter from Birmingham Jail.
Offered by The First Edition Rare Books.
by James, Henry
New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1917. The Large Paper New York Edition. One of only 156 sets. Photogravure frontispieces by Alvin Langborn Coburn. 26 vols. 8vo. Original quarter buckram and brown boards, uncut. The usual soiling to the white buckram spines, some labels very slightly chipped, overall very good. Bookplates of Katharine McBride. A nice set, comparative bright and fresh. The Large Paper New York Edition. One of only 156 sets. Photogravure frontispieces by Alvin Langborn Coburn. 26 vols. 8vo. The most essential and important edition of James, who selected the novels and tales, ordered them, and wrote the famous 18 prefaces for each novel and each volume of tales. The soft focus photogravure images by Alvin Langborn Coburn are evocative. The set was issued two volumes at a time between 14 December 1907 and 31 July 1909. Edel notes that the first printings of Vols. I-X consisted of 1500 copies each; subsequent volumes consisted of 1000 each; in April of 1918, two posthumous volumes, comprising The Ivory Tower and The Sense of the Past, were issued by the publisher in uniform format and binding. Large paper sets are rare.
Offered by James Cummins Bookseller.
by Thomas Jefferson
24/08/1816. A very rare letter in which he uses the word ""light"" as synonymous with liberty and scientific progress, a symbol for which he is now famous ""The mass of their people, within which term I include from the king to the beggar, is returning to Gothic darkness while the mass of ours is advancing in the regions of light."" Significantly, he directly criticizes Great Britain, saying “The English character is not of that cast which makes itself be loved.” This letter contains his most important statement on how American freedom and society are better than European ""Some greatly enlightened minds in Europe are in science far beyond any thing we possess; but...the mass of their people, within which term I include from the king to the beggar, is returning to Gothic darkness while the mass of ours is advancing in the regions of light""In 1795, Thomas Jefferson wrote to Tench Coxe a famous letter, ""This ball of liberty, I believe most piously, is now so well in motion that it will roll round the globe. At least the enlightened part of it, for light and liberty go together. It is our glory that we first put it into motion."" In melding together the ideas of light and liberty, and in giving to himself and his colleagues, to the Americans, the credit for a global move toward such light, he staked out a unique American position. America was, as a future president would say, that shining city on the hill. The idea of enlightenment, light and freedom as linked continues with us. He also used the pre-enlightenment era, ""Gothic"", as a means of highlighting American ingenuity.Indeed the title of one of the most influential compilations of his works is called ""Light and Liberty."
Offered by Raab Collection.
by Brooks, Terry
New York: Random House, 1977. First Edition. Near Fine/Near Fine. First edition, first printing. Signed by Terry Brooks on the title page and inscribed to former owner, dated 10/87.[viii], 726 pp. Bound in publisher's ochre paper covered boards over black cloth backstrip stamped in red foil. Near Fine with faint fading to spine ends and light toning to contents. In a Near Fine price-clipped dust jacket with light edge wear, tiny repair to edge of front flap and light tanning to verso. A nice signed copy of the first novel in The Sword of Shannara Trilogy.
Offered by Burnside Rare Books.
An album of gouache and watercolor paintings of furniture
by ARCHAMBAUT, Aline (1847-1908)
[Paris, 1890. Oblong folio (395 x 260 mm). 135 drawings of ornate furniture in lead and watercolor highlighted in gum arabic, on 104 leaves of heavy paper (later pencil foliation), including four mounted drawings on tinted paper and two smaller loose drawings, one of the latter signed A. Archambaut del., both with notes of measurements and pattern or stock numbers, the second with specifications of colors and material. No. 93, a bed, apparently unfinished. (Foxing and soiling to first and last leaves, occasional light foxing elsewhere, marginal soiling especially to first few leaves, fol. 104 detached, two drawings, on fols. 15 and 25 with small abraded areas, 5 other drawings with tiny abrasions or white flecks, the rest of the drawings in fine condition.) The drawings on guards, bound in half shagreen and pebble-grained cloth (rubbed), spine gilt lettered “Album Meubles Fantaisies.”***
A spectacular manuscript album of watercolor designs of colorfully decorated, painted and inlaid furniture, in Louis XV, Louis XVI, and Second Empire styles, by a female artist and furniture designer.
Depicted are commodes, large and small tables, desks, cabinets, wardrobes, sideboards, dressers, armchairs, mirrored stands, stands holding manicure sets, multi-drawered sécrétaires, beds, clocks, and even bellows and brooms for the chimney. Most are highly ornate and include colorful painted or inlaid decoration, meticulously rendered, often in minute detail, by the artist-designer. With their cabriole legs, serpentine curves, and lavish inlay and marquetry (cf. The Oxford Companion to the Decorative Arts), these delightful creations express to a sometimes impractical degree the late 19th-century vogue for Louis XV and Louis XVI-style furniture.*
The artist can be identified as Aline Anne Archambault, née Carrausse, thanks to the one signed drawing, which, although loosely inserted, is clearly by the creator of the album. The only child of the Paris furniture designer Jean Marie Carrausse, Archambault moved in artistic and artisanal circles: in 1877 she married Arthur Eugène Archambaut, a graveur ciseleur, or engraver of luxury metalwork; the four witnesses at their marriage were his uncle, a sculptor; his cousin, a printer; and two friends, identified respectively as a printer and a furniture maker (this information from Geneanet.org). The Victoria and Albert Museum holds six furniture drawings by her, also signed with her first initial and last name, and a few lithographs after her (one of the drawings, V&A accession number E.284-1952, has an additional printed signature, “P. Levant Carrausse del.,” clearly a member of her family). Since Aline was married and died in the 4th arrondissement in Paris, it is likely that this album was created there.
The title on the binding, “Album [of] Furniture Fantasies,” implies that at least some of the pieces were not intended to be built: they abound in bright colors and witty details, such as the tree-branches wrapping around two basket stands (fol. 17), or the wildly ornate bed with which the album ends. While the element of fantasy in these accomplished paintings is thus clear, many probably did function as specimens of furniture that could be ordered from members of the artist’s entourage of furniture makers. This is evident from the two inserted drawings, both of chests of drawers, which have measurement notes and stock numbers. One has the inkstamped name “G. Cauvet” on the verso.
The archival records indicate that Aline lost a daughter in infancy in 1877, when she was 30. She had no other children. The ebullient drawings in this album betray no hint of tragedy, and it is tempting to view them as a work of youth, before shadows arrived to dim the joy of creation.
* “The best known of the [nineteenth-century] revivals was that for Louis XV and Louis XVI furniture.... The Louis XV revival intensified during the Second Empire, when it departed so much from the 18th-c. prototype that it is best called `Rococo’.” (H. Osborne, ed., The Oxford Companion to the Decorative Arts (1988), p. 359)
Offered by Musinsky Rare Books.
The Easter Hat Throws Everything Else In The Shade
by PUCK
New York: Keppler & Schwarzmann, 1897. Keppler, Joseph. Offset color lithograph. Image measures 12 7/8" x 10 1/4"
Beautifully designed print showing a large Easter hat casting a shadow above a group of various individuals representing different political and social causes. The print is in very condition. Colors are bright and the image is unblemished. Minor toning to right margin, not affecting image.
Founded in 1871, Puck was the first American humor magazine to find widespread success, to which its caricatures and cartoons were a substantial contributing factor. It was published in English and German and reached a wide audience on both sides of the political spectrum by campaigning for good government. Its satirical cartoons provide an enlightening and entertaining look into this era of American politics.
Offered by Argosy Book Store.
by Brandt, Jerry; Freeman, Stanton J.; Subotnick, Morton; [Electric Circus]
[New York]: (Electric Circus), 1968. First edition. Near fine.. Original concert program for an evening organized by the legendary nightclub with performances by electronic music pioneer Morton Subotnick and New York Pro Musica, under the reassuring oversight of a Consulting Psychologist. The successor to Warhol's Exploding Plastic Inevitable, Brandt's Electric Circus opened in 1967 as "the latest total environment, McLuhanist discotheque," with light shows, jugglers, and acrobats (Newfield). The opening also featured a presentation of Subotnick's "Silver Apples of the Moon," an early work for synthesizer and the first electronic composition commissioned by a record company. Subotnick curated a series of Monday night concerts at the Electric Circus and, at Carnegie Hall in December of 1967, an "Electric Christmas."
Electric Easter, the sequel, likewise featured New York Pro Musica. Their inclusion was a suggestion by Dr. Edgar Coons, NYU psychology professor and former student of Virgil Thomson, who had had his mind previously blown by an Electric Circus light and rock show and "for reasons he leaves a bit vague" (Ross) thought an early music ensemble covering The Beatles's "Hello Goodbye" in faux-medieval French would be a good idea. Soul group The Chambers Brothers closed, performing Perusio's "Le grant désir". Critics loved it. 8.5'' x 5.5''. Original green and yellow bifold leaf. Minimal edgewear, very faint creasing. Bright and sharp.
Offered by Type Punch Matrix.
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