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...
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.
The Haggadah [SIGNED BY THE ILLUSTRATOR, ARTHUR SZYK]
by Szyk, Arthur (illus.); Cecil Roth (ed.)
London: Beaconsfield Press, 1940. Hardcover. Near fine condition. Arthur Szyk. 92/125 on vellum. Large quarto. 59 Japan accordion-folded leaves: xxvi, [92] pp. Full blue levant morocco binding with gilt design, by Sangorski and Sutcliffe. Housed in three-quarter morocco, velvet lined box. One of 125 copies (no. 92) printed on vellum for sale in the British Empire. Signed by Arthur Szyk and the editor Cecil Roth at the limitation page. Profusely illustrated with illuminations and drawings by Arthur Szyk, 48 of which are in color.
Considered to be Szyk's magnus opus juxtaposing the traditional Passover narrative with the anti-Semitism of the Nazi era. "While the miniature paintings depict historical scenes, in the text illuminations Szyk has combined figures in historical costume, characters from the east European ghetto, and young Jewish pioneers in Palestine. These figures illustrate a continuum, making the point that the struggle for freedom cannot be relegated to the past but is very much a current and contemporary concern" (Joseph P. Ansell, p. 93). Text in Hebrew and English on facing pages, typefaces designed by Szyk.
As is common, occasional light wrippling, especially at top margin; and offset staining along outer margins of first and last blank page; small, strictly marginal stain at limitation page and at final illustration.
Provenance: Dated gift inscription at blank front endleaf to Max Rosett, December 1946, from Joseph, a friend in the publishing business. Max and his father, Moritz, did business in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Ohio as M. Rosett, Private Bankers; the 1914 collapse of their firm was the second largest banking bankruptcy at the time (NY Times).
Offered by Eric Chaim Kline Bookseller.
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
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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.
Daisy Miller and Other Stories (Armed Services Edition, T-18)
by JAMES, Henry
New York: Editions for the Armed Services, 1945. Softcover. Very Good. Armed Services edition. Oblong 48mo. Wrappers. Approximate measurements are 5 1/2" x 4". Pages age-toned with small tear in foredges and chip on top corner on title page, top corner on front wrapper creased, wrapper lightly rubbed, a very good copy. Armed Serviced, T-18.
Offered by Between the Covers Rare 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 HEPWORTH, George H[ughes]
New York: Harper and Brothers, 1881. First American Edition. Octavo. 17.5cm. Publisher's slate grey cloth titled and decorated in maroon and gilt to spine and front board. 196pp. Scuffing and abrasion to corners and spine ends with some thumbing of the cloth there and there and a little group of cosmetic pinholes to the cloth of the rear spine hinge, strong and handsome, a very good copy with some minor wear. Internally clean. Coated brown endpapers.
A rather peculiar little weird novel involving reincarnation, soul mates, some kind of unbreakable linkage between people that defies death, and an early grasp of what Steiner, Cayce et al referred to as the Akashic Records, although the concept was introduced in a complete form by Madame Blavatsky a little in advance of the publication of this novel. The idea is essentially that records of everything humanity has ever experienced are stored in a kind of collective archive that we can all have access to if we simply learn how ("This handy correspondence course will have you walking the Boughs of Agartha within 10 simple lessons!"), although in the case of this novel it is more concerned with there being a mysterious framework for steering two lovers back together again after death and time have separated them.
A distinct oddity from a man who joined the Union Army as a Chaplain during the US Civil War, found the duties of battlefield chaplain too tedious for his tastes, and had himself transferred to the 4th Louisiana Native Guards or the Corps D'Afrique, an African American regiment of freed slaves and free men of color which later became the 76th United States Colored Infantry, and who took part in the Mutiny of Fort Jackson in 1863 after the regiment was stationed with white Union troops. Hepworth was a strong voice for the better treatment of veterans of color, and his unimpeachable depictions of the lives of people of color in Louisiana and during the Civil War made some mainstream contribution to the gradual changing of attitudes and responsibilities. Chaplain Hepworth was clearly not a man to shy away from asking the big questions.
Offered by Lorne Bair Rare Books.
Package Design: The Forces of Visual Selling
by SUTNAR, Ladislav
New York: Arts Inc, 1953. A fine and tight copy in an about very good plus price clipped dust jacket with some small chips from the base of the front panel at the spine, chips to the spine ends and some small edge tears and some scratches as well. Still, a very bright and pleasing copy of an uncommon book in any jacket.. Oblong 4to. Original cloth; dust jacket. First edition. Another tour de force on the importance of design elements in the marketing of products.
Offered by Riverrun Books.
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.
by Houdini, Harry
London: George Routledge & Sons, LTD, 1910. 109, [3] pp. Good condition with soiling to the covers and a 2" split along spine. A guide to escaping handcuffs written by this famous magician.
Offered by DeWolfe & Wood.
North American Herpetology; or, a Description of the Reptiles Inhabiting the United States
by HOLBROOK, John Edward
Philadelphia: E.G. Dorsey for J. Dobson, Robert Baldwin, et al., 1842. 5 volumes, 4to. 11 1/8 x 9 inches. 147 hand-colored lithographic plates, errata slips tipped in before tables of contents in volumes I, II, IV, and VI, errata leaf at end of Volume V. 19th-century brown morocco and pebbled grain cloth, spines decorated and titled in gilt, top edges gilt
Provenance: Ostrom Enders (American diplomat, 1931-1996, bookplates). Holbrook's great work, the first comprehensive study of the reptiles of North America.
The first edition of this work was issued in 1836-38 and is a notoriously difficult work to find, and the fourth volume of that edition is virtually unobtainable. Bennett remarks that this expanded second edition, with thirty-six additional plates and their descriptions of new specimens, "was not a mere extension of the first, but an entirely revised classification made necessary by new information and new specimens." He also states that the second edition is "the first anybody is likely to complete in fine condition." The great Philadelphia lithographer, Peter S. Duval, executed the plates for both editions, entirely redrawing the lithographic stones for the second edition. Several of the plates are what Duval dubbed "lithotints," plates with several tones of printed color which were then finished by hand. Born in South Carolina, Holbrook spent four years in Europe after gaining a degree in medicine from the University of Pennsylvania. He formed particular friendships with a group of eminent French zoologists, including Valenciennes, Duméril and Bibron. Their major area of study was reptiles, and Holbrook decided to follow their lead, returning to America in 1822 and settling in Charleston. While practicing medicine and filling the post of professor of anatomy at the newly constituted University of South Carolina, he undertook the preparation of the present work. According to the DAB, the second edition "at once took its place as one of the most valuable works upon reptiles published ruing the nineteenth century, receiving notable recognition in Europe, where Holbrook was regarded as the leading American zoologist of his day" The work includes thirty plates of turtles and terrapins, an alligator, thirteen lizards, forty-seven snakes, twenty-four frogs and toads, and thirty-two salamanders and others. The text about each species generally includes a detailed description (color, dimensions, etc)., geographial distribution, habits, and general remarks. Holbrook intended the work to include "with a few exceptions...descriptions of such Reptiles only as inhabit the United States, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Rocky Mountains, and from Canada to the confines of Texas."
Offered by Donald A. Heald Rare Books.
by (VELLUM PRINTING). (RICCARDI PRESS). SWINBURNE, ALGERNON CHARLES
London: Printed in the Riccardi Press fount by the Chiswick Press for the Medici Society Ltd, 1923. No. 9 OF 12 COPIES ON VELLUM, of which 10 were for sale (and 1,025 copies on paper, 1,000 of them for sale). 236 x 164 mm. (9 1/4 x 6 1/2"). xix, [1], 79, [5] pp.
Publisher's limp vellum, gilt lettering to upper cover and flat spine, four original green silk ties. Printer's device on final leaf. Front free endpaper with ex-libris of L. W. Jordan Jr. Tomkinson, p. 153; Ransom, p. 397. ◆Half a dozen pages with naturally occurring darker grain on the hair side of the vellum, otherwise A PRISTINE COPY inside and out.
Looking much as it did the day it left the press, this is one of the especially sought-after luxury editions printed on vellum by the Riccardi Press of the Medici Society between 1909-24. First published in 1865 to great acclaim, this dramatic work of verse by Swinburne (1837-1909) is based on the Greek myth of the Calydonian boar hunt. In it, Meleager, the huntress Atalanta, and other heroes from across Greece battle a monstrous boar sent by Artemis to punish the city of Calydon, whose king had neglected to pay the goddess her proper tribute. Meleager's decision to award Atalanta the boar's pelt sparks outrage among the male hunters, and the ensuing fallout eventually leads to the tragic death of Meleager at the hands of his own mother. Britannica tells us that, in this piece, Swinburne "attempted to re-create in English the spirit and form of Greek tragedy" in "Atalanta," and that "his lyric powers are at their finest in this work." Founded by Herbert Horne, the Riccardi Press was adopted as the imprint of the Medici Society in 1909 and issued books until 1933. According to Tomkinson, "the books have nearly all been printed at the Chiswick Press (under the supervision of Charles T. Jacobi until his retirement in 1922) and published by Philip Lee Warner, who was Publisher to the Medici Society until his death in 1925. . . . The aim of the Press has been to produce finely printed books at reasonable prices and for sale through the ordinary channels of trade. . . . All editions are strictly limited, and the type is distributed after the edition has been printed." This copy is close to pristine, with no signs of wear, and it features beautiful, buttery soft vellum leaves that offer a very pleasurable tactile experience.
Offered by Phillip J. Pirages Fine Books.
Protect Your Family. Register and Vote!
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
[Albany: NAACP Northeastern Region, 1965. Very good plus.. Four-color broadside, 14 x 11 inches. Soft central horizontal crease, minor adhesive remnants on verso from former mounting. A striking four-color broadside produced by the New York State Conference of the NAACP in Albany to encourage African American men and women to exercise their voting rights in the mid-to-late 1960s, likely in the aftermath of the Civil Rights Act of 1965. The poster is illustrated with three pairs of African American men and women - an elderly couple, a middle-aged couple, and a pair of young people, to highlight the importance of voting for the future of the African American people. The bottom margin of the broadside carries a purple stamp from the NAACP's Northeastern Region, New York State Conference in Albany. The trade union printer's slug at bottom right indicates the poster was printed in Washington, D.C., so the NAACP may have used these posters in numerous locations. No copies of this broadside are reported in OCLC. A stunning artifact from the height of the successes achieved by the Civil Rights Movement.
Offered by McBride Rare Books.
Jack-O-Lantern Pumpkin Head with Straw Hat--Halloween Decoration
1950 · Made in U.S.A. [Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania].
Made in U.S.A. [Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania]: [The Beistle Company], 1950. Ephemera no binding. Very good +. [EPHEMERA] [HOLIDAY: HALLOWEEN]. 9” x 6 ½”; color printed stiff die-cut shaped paper pumpkin head with hat and scarf marked “Made in U.S.A.;” unpunched hole for hanging, printed in yellow, black and orange; small crease to wheat and one scarf corner; very good plus. Schneider 113. Unmarked Halloween decoration made by the prolific American party decoration company, The Beistle Company, during the Luhrs ownership. The Beistle Company was founded by Martin Luther Beistle in 1900 and started manufacturing paper Halloween party goods in the 1920s. Henry E. Luhrs, Beistle’s son-in-law, took over the company in 1935 after Beistle’s death.
Offered by Sandra L. Hoekstra.
by Downing, Tod
Garden City, NY: The Crime Club - Doubleday & Co, 1934. 1st Edition. Hardcover. Fine/Near Fine. 8vo., 311pp. Beautiful Stated First Edition of this uncommon mystery. Bound in black cloth with titles in red on spine. Gorgeous blind-stamped skull on front board. Square, tight and clean throughout with little or no wear. Perhaps a hint of softness to spine ends and faint off-setting to the end-papers from the jacket flaps. Both quite minor. Unfaded red top-stain. Remarkably well-preserved. Incredibly fresh and bright clipped dust-jacket. has a tiny nick at the top rear fold and mild rubbing to the heel. Front panel has an almost invisible 1" closed tear at the top edge. A few areas of professional color touch-ups. A simply gorgeous collectable copy of an uncommon title in any condition and scarce in this high grade
Offered by Brenner's Collectable Books.
Three (3) 1950's Glow-In-The Dark Children's Halloween Masks
United States: Masklite, 1950. Very good. Light toning, spotting. Three cut-out pieces lacking (an eye, a nose, a mouth).. Three (3) delightful children's Halloween masks, each printed in black and orange, and with added ink that glows in the dark. Includes a Native American mask (complete with of-the-era stereotyping), an owl mask, and an old crone smoking a pipe. They each can be held up to a source of light for a few seconds to then glow-in-the-dark, and one has its original printed slip promoting the "Masklite" brand of "Luminous" glowing technology. Each measures approx. 6" by 7" by 2", and is held together with metal grommets on either side, which also serve as places for a string to be tied to keep it on the face.
Offered by Eclectibles.
The Theory of the Leisure Class
by Veblen, Thorstein
Norwalk: Easton Press, 1994. Hardcover. Near Fine. Introduction by John Kenneth Galbraith. Near Fine. Green leather, scuffed at the raised bands on the spine, with gilt lettering and designs on the spine and boards. Square and firmly bound with gilt edges and a sewn-in bookmark, with the unused and laid-in bookplate and original receipt, clean internally.
Offered by Carpetbagger Books.
by GYSIN, Brion
NY: The Grove Press, 1986. Very scarce first edition, first printing. Brion Gysin [1916–1986] was a British-Canadian painter, writer, sound poet, performance artist and inventor of experimental devices. “The Last Museum” is a fantastical and nearly inaccessible last novel from Gysin, who was a friend of and collaborator with William S. Burroughs, and who here appears to be re-writing Naked Lunch. Derivative, obscure, and filled with in-jokes from another era, Burroughs said that Gysin “was the only man I ever respected." A very scarce book!. 8vo., black boards in dust jacket; 186 pages. Introduction by William S. Burroughs. A fine copy in an equally fine d/j.
Offered by Antic Hay Books.
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.
Old Greenbottom Inn and Other Stories
by McClellan, George Marion, 1860-1934
Louisville, 1906. 1st ed. Hardcover. Good. frontis, 210p. Original red cloth. 20 cm. Cover heavily soiled with some discoloration. Good-sized piece which includes some bottom half of last line of text torn from bottom of one text leaf and re-attached with archival quality tranparent adhesive paper tape. No Jacket. A scarce book containing five short stories, the first three of which, including "Old Greenbottom Inn," are set in Alabama, by this African American writer from Kentucky. Book dedicated on what is usually the copyright page to Professor W. H. Councill.
Offered by McBlain Books.
by PINDER, Ulrich
1506. Title flanked by 3 woodcut stars & a small man-in-the-moon (each hand-colored); on title verso a full-page circular woodcut of a physician demonstrating uroscopic analysis to a student, surrounded by a border of 20 urine glasses with xylographic abbreviated captions of different diagnoses (each hand-colored in different shades); table on Aii with the same urine glasses with full (unabbreviated) typographic captions, each hand-colored; smaller woodcut at beginning of each of three parts depicting a physician attending a patient in bed & performing the diagnostic procedure described in that section (the first finely hand-colored); and numerous woodcuts in the text including many illus. of urine glasses. 2 p.l., ccv leaves (lacking the final leaf - a blank). 4to (214 x 152 mm.), cont. blindstamped calf over wooden beveled boards (a few unimportant wormholes), two (of four) catches, clasps lacking. [Nuremberg: F. Peypus? for the Author, 1506].
First edition, and a very fine copy in a handsome contemporary blindstamped binding of this well-illustrated book, privately printed at the author's own press. The coloring of the woodcuts is strictly contemporary. This is one of earliest books printed from a physician's private press, which was set up in Pinder's home in Nuremberg, where he was city physician.
The three Epiphaniae treat the colors of the urine and their significance, the movement of the heart and pulse, and the various fevers and feverish states caused by emotions and diseases.
This work also includes Gilles de Corbeil's Carmina de Urinarum Judiciis, but omits the epilogue found in Choulant's edition of that text. "Pinder's edition is not listed in Choulant's bibliography of printed editions of Gilles, and contains a number of variant readings not recorded by him."-Durling 3652.
A fine copy. Printed bookplate of Anton Jonas Kilianstein (d. 1638), who studied medicine at Ingolstadt. He became professor of anatomy and surgery there and also served as rector of the University (see Hirsch, III, p. 524). Engraved armorial bookplate of Fr. Xav. de Hieber, dated 1773.
Offered by Jonathan A. HIll, Bookseller.
by Torre, Vincent
[Norfolk, VA]: The Ink-Well Press, 1954. Book. Near Fine. Printed Wrappers. First Canadian Edition. 12mo - over 6¾ - 7¾" tall. Limited Edition of 100 unnumbered copies.Nineteen woodcuts printed in black on tan and gray paper, laid in to gray illustrated fold over wrappers with small flaps. Torre originally intended 26 woodcuts, but published with 19, with twenty-six lined out and 19 inked in at colophon page. Near Fine, slight corner bends. OCLC locates five institutions with holdings; the Univ. of Minnesota copy also noted with 19 woodcuts. SCARCE.
Offered by Dale Steffey Books.
Contempo [Vol. 1, No. 13 (Dec 1 1931)]
by [Huges, Langston]
Chapel Hill, North Carolina: Contempo, Ltd, 1931. Fair. About 17" x 12½" (issued). Newsprint. Pp. 4. Fair: bottom tattered, with about 3" of loss and susceptible to more; moderate foxing to lower quarter; some small stains and spotting.
This is an issue of Contempo, a fairly well-known North Carolina periodical, invaluable for its distinction of holding the first printed appearance of Langston Hughes' controversial poem "Christ in Alabama."
Hughes wrote the poem in 1931 in response to the infamous Scottsboro case, in which two white women falsely accused nine young Black men of rape. He sent it to Contempo that October, and the paper printed it a few days before his scheduled speech at UNC Chapel Hill. Each of the first three stanzas places a member of the Christian holy family in a southern racial context: "Christ is a N****r," mother Mary "Mammy of the South," and "God's His Father - /White Master above." The fourth and final stanza evokes a tortured, Black Christ "On the cross of the South."
In this issue, Hughes' poem appears front and center, underneath a provocative block-print image by African American artist Zell Ingram. The image shows a silhouetted figure, completely Black, save for a stigmata on each hand and the lips, which are white. The two leading articles surrounding it (one also by Hughes) both address the Scottsboro case. In his editorial, Hughes deemed the white female accusers "prostitutes," described the Alabama court proceedings as "absurd farces" and articulated that "the South ought to be ashamed of itself."
The authors of a scholarly article entitled "'Mammy of the South / Silence Your Mouth': The Silencing of Race Radicalism in Contempo Magazine" (https://doi.org/10.26597/mod.0000) argued that the issue was a "bold, courageous, and perhaps even foolhardy effort by young, liberal-minded, white editors to condemn racial injustice and protest the Scottsboro Trials before a national audience." They posited that "Contempo defied southern racial codes not only by publishing such blunt rebukes, but even more flagrantly by inviting an African American writer to voice them." What happened next was even more startling, however; after the backlash this issue received,
"coverage of Scottsboro all but vanished from the magazine, and near silence ensued on the subject of racism . . . Contempo continued to publish inflammatory articles by white writers on topics such as censorship, pornography, and communism, and to champion experimental writers such as Faulkner and Joyce. These loud radical discourses distract from the silencing of race in Contempo, a silence that extends from the pages of the magazine through to the annals of literary history."
Though the physical condition of this copy's lower half leaves something to be desired, the leading articles, poem and artwork have managed to escape mostly unscathed, save a few small spots only barely affecting a couple characters of text.
Contempo is reasonably well-represented in OCLC, and exact holdings are difficult to ascertain.
Offered by Langdon Manor Books.
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.
by Rithcie, G. W. H. and Riordan, Roger.
New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1886. Folio. Green beveled cloth, stamped in black and gilt. Boards with some wear, rubbing, and staining, plates near fine. Library labels on front and rear pastedowns, shelf mark at foot of backstrip, closed tear in front free endpaper. A good ex-library copy, properly released. § Ten finely-printed etchings by masters of the art form, each with a tissue guard and a page of descriptive text by G. W. H. Ritchie and Roger Riordan.
Offered by John Windle Bookseller.
Typed Letter Signed [TLS] introducing The Lord of the Rings
by TOLKIEN, J.R.R.
Oxford: np, 1953. First edition. custom folder. Very Good. EIGHT MONTHS BEFORE PUBLICATION, TOLKIEN ANXIOUSLY INTRODUCES HIS MASTERPIECE, THE LORD OF THE RINGS, TO A FAN OF THE HOBBIT. Tolkien had begun work on The Lord of the Rings in December of 1937 and by early 1950, after over twelve years of labor, the writing was essentially complete. The road to publication, however, was not an easy one, for Tolkien feared his book would have difficulty finding an audience. In February, 1950, he wrote about his concerns to his publisher (Allen & Unwin): "My work has escaped from my control and I have produced a monster: an immensely long, complex, rather bitter, and rather terrifying romance, quite unfit for children (if fit for anybody)." (Carpenter, 213).
Tolkien's admission that he had produced a "monster" turned out to be prescient, for seeing the book through publication proved to be a challenge for both him and his publisher and three years after completion, the first volume (The Fellowship of the Rings) was still not in print.
At the time of the present letter - December 2, 1953 - publication finally seemed imminent, and Tolkien was understandably nervous. Writing to Mrs. F.L. Perry, a fan of The Hobbit, he explains the delays in publication (it was supposed to be published by Christmas, 1953), worries that the book will be too long and expensive to reach a wide audience, introduces the world of The Lord of the Rings and expresses his hopes that she will like the book despite humbly worrying that it is filled with too much history, geography, and genealogy.
His was right to be concerned about further delays in publication - the first edition of The Fellowship of the Ring wouldn't actually appear until July 29, 1954 - but of course his other major concern - that the book would not find an audience - was wildly misguided.
Offered by Manhattan Rare Books.
OUR BODIES OURSELVES. A Book by and for Women
by Boston Women's Health Book Collective
New York, NY: Simon and Schuster, 1973. Book. Very Good+ condition. Paperback. First thus edition. Quarto (4to). xii, 276 pages of text. Paperback binding has minor creasing and handling wear to the front cover, and a few pages have creases to the corners. Illustrated. First Thus Edition. Stated on copyright page: First printing. This work is revised and expanded from the 1971 First Edition. The text is clean and unmarked..
Offered by Kurt Gippert, Bookseller.
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.
by Gerald Durrell; Ralph Thompson [illus.]
New York: The Viking Press, 1956. Very Good +/Very Good +. New York: The Viking Press, 1956. First Edition. Octavo (22 cm); [6], 238pp. Publisher's illustrated dust jacket with price intact ($3.75). Boards full bound in mint green cloth with dark green stamping. Dust jacket generally scuffed and rubbed at margins with sunning to spine. Board margins lightly soiled with corners and spine ends bumped. Page edges toned and lightly soiled. Small sticker to back paste down. A Very Good or better copy in like dust jacket.
A recounting of British naturalist Gerald Durrell's trip to Argentina and Uruguay with his new wife to gather zoological data on the animals of the area and potentially the animals themselves.
Offered by Capitol Hill Books.
by ROOSEVELT, Eleanor
1954. unbound. very good. T.L.S. to her UNESCO and Institute of International Education colleague, by the First Lady, author, and diplomat. 1 page on personal stationery, 6" x 7" (staple holes in upper left; pencil check mark through recipient's name; receipt stamp in upper right). Val-Kill Cottage, Hyde Park, New York. Dec. 27, 1954. "...I was indeed interested to see the material you sent him and appreciate your sending me copies. I do hope my numerous requests of you are not too troublesome!..."
Offered by Argosy Book Store.
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