Latin Missal from the late 1700s

Missale Romanum ex decreto sacrosancti concilii tridentini restitutum, S. pii v. pontificis maximi jussu editum, Clementis VIII & Urban VIII. auctoritate recognitum.
Venetiis [Venice]: Typis Francisci ex Nicolao Pezzana, 1772.

In Latin. In an early full dark brown full leather binding with raised bands and decoration to spine. One (of two) clasps remains; however, the corresponding latch is no longer present and the leather is torn. Heavy wear to leather on spine ends, corners, edges, and bands. Rubbing to boards. Chipping and minor loss to leather on spine ends and edges of boards. Printed in black and red with musical scores, one full page illustration, and decorated initials. Ribbon page markers affixed to margins of five pages. Spots of foxing and soiling throughout including evidence of dampstaining, mostly in margins. Textblock is interspersed with printed text from the 1860s, some of which is tipped-in and some is sewn in to rear. A few splits to interior binding. Loss to corners of several pages. Handwritten note in pen to rear free endpaper. 412 pages, Commune Sanctorum - cxvi pages, In Festo S. Fidelis A Sigmaringa Martyris - 4 pages, Missae Propriae Sanctorum - (4), Missae Propriae Mysteriorum Passionis (8), Die VII Decembris i Vigilia Immaculatae Conceptionis Beatae Mariae Virgins (4), In Festo Sancti Eliae Prophatae (3). Very Good. (#36702)

Price: $250 

Mary Stuart - Queen of Scotland

Stranguage. William (pseudonym of William Udall).
The Historie of the Life and Death of Mary Stuart Queene of Scotland.
London: John Haviland, 1624.

This is an early history of the life and death of Mary Queen of Scots (1542-1587). Her life was turbulent, filled with marriages and intrigue. As a great-granddaughter of Henry VII of England, Mary had once claimed Elizabeth's throne as her own and was considered the legitimate sovereign of England by many English Catholics, including participants in a rebellion known as the Rising of the North. Perceiving Mary as a threat, Elizabeth had her confined in various castles and manor houses in the interior of England. After eighteen and a half years in captivity, Mary was found guilty of plotting to assassinate Elizabeth in 1586 and was beheaded the following year at Fotheringhay Castle. Mary's life and subsequent execution established her in popular culture as a romanticized historical character [Wikipedia].

The book is dedicated to King James I, son of Queen Mary, by its putative author, William Stranguage, a pseudonym used by the historian William Udall. It is in fact based largely on a translation of the relevant passages of William Camden's Annales Rerum Anglicarum, et Hibernicarum, Regnante Elizabetha, ad Annum Salutis M D LXXXIX. William Camden (1551 – 1623) was an English antiquarian, historian, topographer, and herald, best known as author of Britannia, the first chorographical survey of the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Annales, the first detailed historical account of the reign of Elizabeth I of England.

Bound in contemporary mottled brown leather with gilt rulings to covers. The book has been rebacked with a later brown leather spine with five raised bands and gilt titling. The elaborate, etched title page is present but the frontispiece portrait of Queen Mary is missing. There are miscellaneous ink markings on the title page along with a couple of brown ink smears. The text pages are generally very good, with browning and occasional spots throughout. Ownership signature on free front endpaper, written in ink on a piece of paper affixed to the upper corner. Beneath it are what appear to be the numbers 731 in ink. Very good condition save for the missing frontis. Measures 7 x 11 inches. 250 pages. Very Good. (#36704)

Price: $500

Latin - Greek New Testament Dictionary - from late 1600s

Pasoris, Georgii.
Georgii Pasoris Manuale Novi Testamenti, Praeter Indicem Anomalorum & difficiliorum vocabulorum libellumque de accentibus, Indice Latino instructissimo recens auctum, Ut Dictionarii tam Graeco-Latini quam Latino-Graeci usum praestare possit.
Tiguri [Zurich]: Ex Typographeo Bodmeriano, 1687.

In Latin. A Greek-Latin and Latin-Greek dictionary for the New Testament. Bound in full vellum boards with inked title to spine "Manuale Graecuii." Soiling and discoloration to spine and boards. Small library stamp to front pastedown. Rear hinge is split and textblock is detached from the rearboard, but textblock binding remains tight. This split provides an unusual glimpse into the inside of this early binding. Small split to front hinge as well. Penned markings to title page, dampstaining to margins and corners of some pages, foxing, and browning. Text remains bright. Soiling to edges of textblock. [6] 502 pages, Index, 43 pages - Accentibus. Very Good. (#36707)

Price: $150 

Late 16th Century Book on St. Benedict - filled with illustrations

Passeri, Bernardino, artist and Aliprando Caprioli, engraver.
Vita et Miracula Sanctissimi Patris Benedicti. Ex Libro II Dialogorum Beati Gregorii II Papae.
Romae (Rome): n.p., 1579.

Quite scarce. This was an important and influential late 16th century book on St. Benedict. It is a masterpiece of engraving. Benedict of Nursia (480 - 547), known as Saint Benedict, was an Italian Christian monk, writer, and theologian who is venerated in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Oriental Orthodox Churches. He is a patron saint of Europe. He was the founder of the Benedictine monastery at Monte Cassino and father of Western monasticism; the Rule that he established became the norm for monastic living throughout Europe. Bernardino Passeri and Aliprando Caprioli were the artists who drew and engraved this remarkable series of scenes from the life of St. Benedict. Bernardino Passeri (1530 - 1590 ) was a draftsman, engraver and painter active in Rome between 1576 and 1585. As a painter in Rome, what is known of him are exclusively the drawings he provided for the illustrations of a small number of books printed in Rome and Antwerp. The fifty drawings from the life of Saint Benedict of Nursia , engraved by Aliprando Caprioli and which adorn the Vita et miracula sanctissimu patris Benedicti are entirely his own. Printed in Rome in 1579 and reprinted several times, his illustrations would have a decisive influence on fixing the saint's own iconography, being much imitated by later artists. Aliprando Caprioli (1540-1590) was an Italian engraver, born in Trento and active in Rome between 1575 and 1599, producing portraits and historical subjects in the style of Agostino Carracci and Cornelis Cort. This copy of the book has unfortunately had a rather rough trip since its appearance almost 450 years ago.

It is bound in what may be contemporary vellum. The vellum is soiled, stained, abraded, and bumped. The spine is torn and reveals the signatures beneath it. The cover has a hand drawn emblem and title, with the words "Venezia 1606." The pastedowns are torn and loose and expose the vellum folds underneath. The text block is detached, and a couple of pages are loose. The pages have been trimmed along their margins up to the edges of the images, and their fore-edges are chipped and ragged. The versos of the pages are soiled and stained. Fortunately the engraved images are still generally in good or better condition,with stains and spots along the bottom edges. The book was printed with an engraved title page and 49 full page plates. Unfortunately, ten of the plates are missing. They are plates 2-3; 6; 7-8; 27-28; 34;40; and 48. Plates 36-37 are bound in after plate 38. Despite all of its flaws, this is still an opportunity to have a copy of this uncommon book and its extraordinary engravings. Measures 8.5 x 11.75 inches. Good. (#36668)

Price: $850 

Satirical Poetry from mid-1700s

Cambridge, Robert Owen; J. Wall and L.P. Boitard (illustrators).
The Scribleriad: An Heroic Poem. In Six Books.
London: Printed for R. Dodsley in Pall-Mall and sold by M. Cooper, 1751.

First edition of this mock-heroic satirical poem filled with literary jokes and social criticisms. The hero is Martinus Scriblerus, a persona created by Alexander Pope, John Arbuthnot, and Jonathan Swift used to publish satirical writings.

In modern full leather binding by S. Russell Hawe of Lorton, VA from the late 1980s. This collection of six books includes a frontispiece illustration of a satyr (representing Comic Poetry) who has overthrown the Sphynx (representing False Science). Each of the six books also includes a frontis, making a total of seven full page engravings. Red and gilt title label to spine with raised bands and faded gilt decoration to compartments. Engraved title page. Minor foxing to interior, but clean overall. Separate pagination: xvi, 31, 31, 31, 32, 32, 27, [8 page index]. Very Good. (#36698)

Price: $325 

Tonson Edition of Shakespeare's Timon of Athens (1734)

Shakespeare.
Timon of Athens, A Tragedy.
London: Jacob Tonson, 1734.

Jacob Tonson (1656? - 1736) was one of the most influential publishers in England. and the premier publisher of his age. In 1709, he famously purchased the “copyright” to Shakespeare. Tonson and his family over the next fifty years went on to publish some of the most significant editions of the collected works of Shakespeare, edited by the likes of Nicholas Rowe, Alexander Pope and Samuel Johnson. This volume of Timon of Athens is one of the many plays that Tonson published in 1734. The several titles were the first of Shakespeare's plays to be published individually rather than in the folios or Tonson's multi-volume sets of Shakespeare in 1709. Tonson entered into a feud in 1934 with another bookseller over the rights to see copies of Shakespeare's plays. Due to the Copyright Act of 1709, any “rights” that the firm previously held expired in 1731. Regardless of the law, the Tonsons and the other proprietors continued to hold claim to the rights and they actively intimidated their competitors from trying their publishing luck with the Bard. When in 1734 a small-time London bookseller named Robert Walker began to produce inexpensive editions of the individual plays, Tonson threatened Walker with litigation to cease production. Undeterred by Tonson’s threats, and eventual bribery, Walker called his bluff and continued to sell the plays, offering volume title pages for the plays to be bound in seven volumes, if desired. Realizing that he did not have any lawful recourse, Tonson counter-produced his own editions of the individual plays, to eventually be bound in eight volumes, publishing more copies, at a lower cost than Walker’s. While trying to out-sell each other, the two booksellers took to issuing “advertisements” with their publications, in an attempt to defame the othe [Folger Shakespeare Library].

This copy of Timon has one of these advertisements, printed on the verso of the title page under the list of characters. Bound in modern black pebbled cloth with title and year published in gilt to front cover. Slight rubbing and bumping. Marbled red endpapers. The text pages are browned and have occasional spots but are still quite nice and readable. With a frontispiece illustration by Paul Fourdrinier, the 18th century engraver. Very good condition. Measures 4 x 6.5 inches. 72 pages. Very Good. (#36672)

Price: $500

Original $8 Bill from late 18th century Maryland

[Colonial Maryland Eight Dollar Bill].
Annapolis: A.C. and W. Green, 1770.

An interesting and uncommon piece of early Maryland currency. This $8 bill was issued in Annapolis on March 1, 1770. It is signed in ink by Robert Couden and John Clapham, two Annapolis government and political officials. The serial number is 9117, also written in ink. The bill was printed by Anne Catherine Green, wife of printer Jonas Green and an early woman printer herself in Annapolis, and her son William.

The bill is browned with a bit of light chipping. Small closed tear along bottom, and there is clear tape along a crease or closed tear running down the middle. There are ornamental designs on both sides and the Sparrow seal is printed on the front of the bill. This seal first appeared in 1765 on the title page of the Reverend Thomas Bacon's compilation of the Laws of Maryland, and until 1793 it ornamented printed editions of the session laws of the Assembly. Carved on a wood block by Thomas Sparrow, ward and employee of the Annapolis printer, Jonas Green, the Sparrow seal bears the Latin motto "Crescite et Multiplicamini," which means "Increase and Multiply." Very good condition. Measures 2.5 x 4.75 inches. Very Good. (#36703)

Price: $200 

First Edition in Publisher's Binding with Cover by Margaret Armstrong

Du Maurier, George.
Trilby. A Novel.
New York: Harper & Brothers, 1894.

First Edition. with Illustrations by the Author. Cover design by Margaret Armstrong. Tan cloth boards with gilt title to spine and illustration of a spider web, heart, and wings in gilt and green to the front board. Browning to spine and edges of boards. A few spots of soiling to front board and chipping to spine ends and corners. Bookplate to front pastedown. Occasional spots of foxing and soiling to interior and toning to margins. Cracks to both hinges but textblock remains attached to binding. A good reading copy. 464 pages plus 4 pages of ads. Good +. (#36693)

Price: $25

First Edition, First State of Gone With the Wind

Mitchell, Margaret.
Gone with the Wind.
New York: Macmillan Company, 1936.

First Edition, First State with "published May 1936" on the copyright page. A lovely copy of this classic work in the original dust jacket. "The stirring drama of the Civil War and Reconstruction is brought vividly to life in this really magnificent novel" (jacket).

Bound in grey cloth boards with dark blue title to spine and front board. Gentle bumping and light rubbing to corners. A few short closed tears to the book cloth along the spine ends. Offsetting to endpapers and light, even browning to interior. Small spot of soiling to top margin of first few pages and occasional finger smudges to margins, else clean and bright. In illustrated first edition, first issue dust jacket with dark brown title to spine and front panels. The price of $3.00 is printed on the bottom corner of the front flap and the rear panel of Macmillan Spring Novels features "Gone with the Wind" in the second column in the second position underneath "South Riding." There are a few chips to the edges of the jacket, creases, wear, and several long closed tears along the edges of both panels and across the spine. The jacket is protected from further damage with a removable mylar cover, but has not been taped or repaired in any way. 1037 pages. Very Good / Very Good. (#36661)

Price: $4,800

The First Interior Design Book
First Edition - by Elsie de Wolfe

de Wolfe, Elsie.
The House in Good Taste.
New York: The Century Co., 1913.

First Edition. Illustrated with over 50 photographs in black and white. American actress Elsie de Wolfe (1859 - 1950) was also a prominent interior designer, socialite, and author. She married English diplomat Sir Charles Mendl in the 20s and became known as Lady Mendl; although, she was openly gay and lived with her lesbian partner in New York and Paris. According to The New Yorker, "Interior design as a profession was invented by Elsie de Wolfe" (2009). Her stylistic choices were heavily influenced by 18th century French and English art, theater, and fashion. She was known for her disapproval of Victorian tastes - especially William Morris's wallpaper and furniture (so, clearly - we would not have been friends!) She concludes her first chapter with this prophetic observation: "To most of us in America who must perforce lead workaday lives, the absence of beauty is a very distinct lack. I think, indeed, that the present awakening has come to stay, and that before very long, we shall have simple houses with fire-places that draw, electric lights in the proper places, comfortable and sensible furniture, and not a gilt-legged spindle-shanked table or chair anywhere. This may be a decorator's optimistic dream, but let us all hope that it may come true" (page 16).

Bound in the original blue-grey cloth covered boards with gilt title to front board and spine. Gilt and pink illustration of an interior scene to the front board. Rubbing and wear to joints, corners, and edges of boards. A few spots of soiling to boards and browning to spine. Occasional finger smudges and spots of foxing to margins, but clean overall. 322 pages.  Very Good. (#36671)

Price: $200 

Kelmscott Press - Edward Burne-Jones Illustration

[Kelmscott Press]
Burne-Jones, illustrator.
Frontispiece Woodcut From Love is Enough.
[Hammersmith]: [Kelmscott Press], [1897].

This is an uncommon proof page for the beautiful frontispiece woodcut illustration for Love is Enough, or The Freeing of Pharamond: A Morality, drawn by the artist Edward Burne-Jones and engraved by W.H. Hooper. Love is Enough was the final publication of the Kelmscott Press, published one year after the death of founder William Morris. It is mounted on board and measures 28.5 x 20.6 cm (11.25 x 8 inches). There are some hints of rubbing and soiling but is otherwise in near fine condition. (#36659)

Price: $685

Unique Design Binding - Argentinian Binder
Turkey Hill Press

Hikmet, Nazim; Sol Rébora (binder); Randy Blasing and Mutlu Konuk (translators); Harry Reese and Sandra Liddell Reese (design, art, and production).
On Living.
New York: Turkey Press, 2016.

A unique design binding. The text is 1 of 100 copies, issued in a variable edition, of which 30 were offered for sale. The copies not offered for sale were offered as gifts of the press in celebration of the 70th birthday of Harry Reese and the 42nd anniversary of Turkey Press. Reprinted with permission of the translators and Persea Books. Includes the original red pastepaper wrappers bound in as well as two colorful decorative papers. Nâzim Hikmet (1902 - 1963) was a Turkish-Polish poet, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, director, and novelist that spent much of his adult life in prison or exile due to his political beliefs. A poignant poem about living fully without dwelling too much on the reality of death, written in a conversational tone.

Bound in a flexible grey leather binding "Link-in-1" structure with gold hand-made paper linked in. This particular design structure was created by the binder, Sol Rébora. The leather is printed with an embossed pattern, which was designed by the binder. The title and author's name are hand stamped in black and red on the boards. The name of the binder is stamped in black to the inside of the front cover. Grey suede endpapers as well as several fine papers. Housed in a stiff silver paper enclosure with textured grey leather spine titled in red. Unpaginated. [12 pages.]

Sol Rébora is a designer bookbinder working in Buenos Aires, Argentina, since 1999. She is a well-recognized practitioner, receiving awards both in Argentina and abroad. Her work encompasses innovative and experimental work in designer binding and contemporary conservation methods. She studied with Deborah Evetts, Monique Lallier, Pascale Therond, Edwin Heim, Helene Jolis, Sün Evrard and Kathy Abbott, among other teachers. She currently works and teaches courses out of her studio in addition to giving lectures and workshops in person and online at schools including the SF Center for the Book and Iowa University Center for the Book, American Academy of Bookbinding and Penland School of Crafts. She has participated in group exhibitions such us Epémère, Tomorrow’s Past and Les Pages Bien Gardees. Sol’s work may be found in many privet collections and inside of institution’s collections in USA, Mexico and UK such as Athenæum Library and British Library. Fine. (#36587)

Price: $1,200 

Unique Artists' Book on Egypt

Krause, Dorothy Simpson.
Early Explorations.
Cairo, Egypt: Dorothy Simpson Krause, 2010.

A unique book from noted book artist Dorothy Simpson Krause and signed by her. She is a painter, collage artist and printmaker who incorporates digital mixed media into her art. Her work is exhibited regularly in galleries and museums and featured in numerous current periodicals and books. In her artist's statement she says: "My work includes large scale mixed media pieces, artist books and book-like objects that bridge between these two forms. It embeds archetypal symbols and fragments of image and text in multiple layers of texture and meaning. It combines the humblest of materials, plaster, tar, wax and pigment, with the latest in technology to evoke the past and herald the future. My art-making is an integrated mode of inquiry that links concept and media in an ongoing dialogue – a visible means of exploring meaning."

Dorothy's books are often inspired by her travels, such as this one paying homage to Egypt. Vintage photographs of Egypt are collaged on pages that have been aged with tea, coffee, and walnut ink. They are sewn into a paper cover with embossed hieroglyphic-like symbols, using book artist and binder Cherryl Moote’s embellished two-sewn-as-one binding with three beads along the spine. This intriguing work is housed in a wooden box with a cut out opening on the top of its lid to shows the book's decorative symbols. In fine condition. The book measures about 5.5 x 5.5 inches. Box measures 7 x 8.5 inches. Unpaginated [24 pages]  (#36646)

Price: $450 

Women of the Bible
Unique Artists' Book Object

Krause, Dorothy Simpson, book artist.
Family Portraits.
Fort Lauderdale, FL: Dorothy Simpson Krause, 2019.

A unique book from noted book artist Dorothy Simpson Krause. This massive book was made from the cover of a vintage leather bible, with a spine with titling the width of its metal closures. Instead of text pages the binding covers a wooden box. It opens to reveal two "pages" with copies of engravings by Gustave Doré, framed by paper that is ornately decorated and with the title at the top. The engravings were selected to highlight strong women ancestors, Eve, Delilah, Judith, Mary Magdalene and the Virgins of Jabesh-Gilead. Affixed to the interior of the spine between the two pages is a list of each woman depicted with a relevant biblical quote. The book is housed in a heavy vintage brown wooden box with metal findings. An impressive production in very good condition. The book measures 12.5 x 9.5 x 3.75 inches. The box measures 16 x 12 x 7 inches. Very Good. (#36596)

Price: $2,100 

Ninja Press - Letterpress Edition of W.S. Merwin's Poem

[Ninja Press]
Merwin, W.S., poet; Carolee Campbell, designed, printer, and book artist.
The Real World of Manuel Cordova.
Sherman Oaks, CA: Ninja Press, 1995.

Number 129 of 160 numbered copies, with 18 produced hors de commerce. Signed by the poet on the limitation page. Carolee Campbell's Ninja Press began in 1984. Since that time, she has produced about 30 books of poetry and many broadsides that are renowned for their fine craftsmanship and distinctive artistry. She is recognized as one of the most important of contemporary book artists practicing today.

In book artist Russell Maret's magnificent bibliography of the press, Dispatches From the Lizard Brain, he documents the life and work of Carolee Campbell. The foreword and afterword of the bibliography beautifully describe Campbell's ethos as an artist and bookmaker that has informed her work since she began making books in 1984. Russell Maret writes of her: "It takes a special kind of person to know that what one is working on is not ready to be discussed. It takes someone...who unhurriedly allows her books to germinate in her lizard brain until they are ready to be dispatched into the world. With each new book Carolee teaches the rest of us how it should be done - not how to make books like hers , but like her, to make books the way the books want to be made."

Manuel Cordova is perhaps one of the best known productions to be issued by the press. The poem was written by the esteemed American poet W.S. Merwin. From the prospectus: "This special edition [of the book] may be unfolded and read in hand, stanza by stanza, or opened entirely, thus revealing all forty-three, fourteen-line stanzas. Fully extended, the book is fifteen feet long. The five-color image of a river undulates alongside the poem, printed in black, while the [type] setting of the poem itself mirrors the serpentine meanders of the river." A five-color printed river design runs parallel to the text of Merwin's poem, which is printed in black. Campbell wrote in her chapbook, Chasing the Ideal Book:..."this book comes closest to my never-ending chase for The Ideal Book." Designed, printed, and bound by Carolee Campbell.

From the colophon: The type is Samson uncial. Printed on handmade papers of persimmon-washed kakishibu for the text and raw flax paper for the enclosure. The enclosure is fastened with alum-tawed goat skin and bone. The map of the world printed on the liner of the enclosure is from the original, the first to show the world's currents, drawn in 1665 by Athanasius Kircher. The map is hand-tinted in five colors echoing the colors of the river. Housed in a plexiglass slipcase. In fine condition.

The book can be found in many institutional collections including the Getty Center, the New York Public Library, Houghton Library at Harvard University, Yale, University of Illinois, Brown, the British Library, and at Trinity College in Dublin. Fine. (#36660)

Price: $2,500

Jamaican Book Artist
Limited to 15 Copies

[Spell & Bind Press]
Krähn, Tiana, book artist.
Matriarch.
Penngrove, CA: Spell & Bind Press, 2022.

Number 5 of 15 copies. Tiana Krähn is an accomplished book artist who makes small edition, hand-bound, letterpress printed poetry and story books under the name Spell & Bind Press. She writes about her work: "For me, hand setting type is a meditation. There is intention behind each letter, each word, each sentence. I believe that words, like spells cast into the world, should be carefully chosen. As I work I have pause to examine my motives. Poems and stories open portals in and out of other realms. Printing on a letterpress machine is such a physical process, and as the weight of the words sink deep within the page, I am always struck by the permanence of this action, and the beauty of marks that make meaning out of chaos and ink. The binding of books is yet another ritual I relish. It is work full of metaphor where each stitch is a scaffold in the building of a physical home to our thoughts and feelings, resulting in an intimate object to be kept close or to be shared. That is the magic of it all."

Matriarch commemorates two great women who held positions of power within the complicated systems that both honored and enslaved them in their particular roles. One of the two women is the Queen Elizabeth II. The other is the book artist's great-grandmother, Alice Watson Ford. They were mothers, grandmothers and great grandmothers with an immeasurable influence. One a monarch, the other a Jamaican woman, and dedicated queen to her small community, the two women were similarly employed. This book references complex feelings and experiences due to Jamaica once being a colony of Great Britain, an influence which remains ever present. Krahn writes that when creating this book about holding her great grandmother in reverence, Queen Elizabeth died. She decided it made sense to hold them up together, to explore their roles and to commemorate them with a carefully considered comparison of two women in positions of power, beloved, and not forgotten.

This handsome work is a triptych bound by Mark Summers of Namnavoe Book Binders in hand dyed dark brown Fair Goat Skiver and tooled with 23 carat gold leaf. The title and floral ornament on the cover and the spine has the initial M and press name all in gold leaf. The covers open to reveal interior frames that hold original intaglio prints depicting images of the two queens. The center between the two frames has a pocket in which sits a sewn single signature booklet that has been letterpress printed on white vintage WH Hodgkinson paper. With a burlap sleeve holding the book closed with an image of the British flag. Accompanied by a single sheet with the book artist's background on creating this book. In fine condition. Measures 5 x 6 inches, Unpaginated. Fine. (#36619)

Price: $1,500 

Pop-Up Book - Modern Telling of Nursery Rhymes

Petit, Marianne R.
21st Century Nursery Rhymes.
New York: Marianne R. Petit, 2020.

Number 5 of 5 copies. A dark modern day reinterpretation of seven classic nursery rhymes. Georgie Porgie who "kissed the girls and made them cry" is portrayed in this version as a middle-aged sex offender. Jack "be nimble" is shown jumping over a wall to escape ICE. John who "went to bed with his britches on" is a drug addict. Humpty dumpty, the old woman that lived in a shoe, and others are also shown with sinister implications. All seven rhymes are illustrated with pop-ups. The book is an accordion and can be displayed open to show each rhyme simultaneously. Size: 8 x 10 inches closed. 80 x 10 inches open. [8 pages.]

Marianne is "an artist and educator whose work explores fairy tales, anatomical obsessions, and collective storytelling practices through mechanical books that combine animation and papercraft. My interests are in combining technology, traditional book arts, and sequential storytelling to create new forms of narrative for the 21st century. [Her] artwork has appeared internationally in festivals and exhibitions, been featured in publications such as Hyperallergic, Make, and Wired, and broadcast on IFC and PBS. My movable books can be found in numerous museum and library collections including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the British Library, the Berlin Public Library, Boston Library, as well as numerous University and private collections. [She is] an Associate Arts Professor at New York University’s ITP and IMA (Interactive Media Arts) Program located in the Tisch School of the Arts in New York. I am a co-founder of the Interactive Media Arts Program at NYU Shanghai and I also serve as an Associate Vice Chancellor for Global Network Academic Planning for the University. I received the University Distinguished Teaching Award in 2016" (artist's statement). Fine. (#36709)

Price: $900

Palmistry - Limited to 10 Copies
Nearly a Miniature

Schwartzott, Carol, book artist.
Cheiromancy: The Language of the Hand (Palmistry).
Freeville, NY: Carol Schwartzott, 2019.

Number 3 of 10 copies. Signed by the artist. Bound in an accordion structure with hand colored, collaged elements including palmistry diagrams on each page. Includes two pages of text, Nine illustrations, and colophon. Housed in a altered Altoid box that has been collaged with a map of Europe and other papers on both interior and exterior. The box is titled in gold on the front panel. The book and box both come in a handmade navy blue felt carrying case with pink ribbon pull ties. Unpaginated. [18 pages.] Size: book is about 3.5 x 2 inches; box is about 3.75 x 2.25 inches. Fine. (#36556)

Price: $200 

Illustrations & Poetry for Children - in a lovely publisher's binding
First US Edition

Stevenson, Robert Louis; Charles Robinson (illustrator).
A Child's Garden of Verses.
New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1895.

A delightful collection of poetry with charming illustrations by Charles Robinson. Very good in the original green cloth boards with gilt illustration to front board and spine. Gilt title to spine. Minor fading to spine, gentle bumping to corners, and minor wear to spine ends. Offsetting throughout the interior from illustrations and even toning throughout, but clean and bright overall. Bookplate to front pastedown and ownership signature in pen dated 1895. A classic children's book. 137 pages. Very Good. (#36675)

Price: $75