East Aurora, NY: The Roycrofters, 1934. Small quarto. (iii), iv, (2), 64, (2)pp. Pagination begins at 21. Sole copy printed. Signed by O. L. Moore, then-president of the Sales Book Manufacturers Association, which commissioned the book. At the signatory page are spots for other Association members to add their signatures..... More
East Aurora: Roycroft Press, 1900. Octavo. 8 ff., frenchfold. One of twenty-five (i.e., twenty-one) copies printed on vellum. Signed on the colophon by Elbert Hubbard, and with an inscription by the illuminator, Frances Carmody. Designed by Samuel Warner. Illustrated throughout with hand-illumined art nouveau borders. The Last Ride was the..... More
(N.p. Suze Woolf, 2020). Oblong altered live wood, with seventeen wood leaves. A remarkable structural production, Woolf's unique book intentionally takes up space in order to remind the viewer, spatially and metaphorically, of the importance of beetles to their ecosystems. As the climate heats up, beetle larvae no longer freeze..... More
Ottawa Hills, OH: 2023. 16mo. (15)pp. One of five copies, signed by the artist. Motifs of red handprints and a string of red dresses that continue across the entire accordion are visual, and visceral, emblems of the thousands of Indigenous women and girls living in Western states who disappear every..... More
Johannesburg: Taurus, 1980. Octavo. 48pp. Text in Afrikaans. Illustrated with line drawings in which cruder illustrations, as if drawn by the fictional title-character, Stanley, appear alongside more stylized images executed by a more practiced hand. Both depict scenes of everyday life that transition to observations of the school boycotts, the..... More
London: Dean & Son, (c. 1875). Small quarto. (iii), 8, (1)pp. Detailed, colored engravings by John Proctor are enhanced by sumptuous borders extensively highlighted in gold. The classic children's tale is told partially in prose, partially in verse, and is prefaced by "Pianoforte Music for 'Red Riding Hood'." Proctor acted..... More
London: Dean & Co., (c. 1820). 24mo. 11pp. Each page with a hand-colored engraving of a concept described below. Topics range from hot-air balloons, to the Romans landing in England, to an especially delightful view of Queen Victoria, from the perspective of young Peter as he and his father walk..... More
London: Dean and Sons, (c. 1880). 24mo. (6)pp. One of Dean and Son's Children's Coloured Toy Books. Six hand-colored illustrations accompany verses narrating the idiosyncracies and activities of the adventurous, but nonetheless neat, Henry. Dean also published this title as part of their series of Untearable Coloured Toy Books, which..... More
San Francisco: Book Club of California, (1931). Quarto. (x), 272pp. One of 300 copies printed by the Grabhorn Press. Illustrated with folding frontispiece, two folding maps, and three additional folding illustrations. In publisher's morocco-backed tan buckram boards, which show two minor abrasions at spine extremities. Overall, a fine copy of..... More
London: Religious Tract Society, (c. 1860). Fifteenth edition. Unpaginated. A handy compendium of verses from the Old and New Testaments, for the devoted on the go. Bound in wraparound red leather with gilt stamping. Mild exterior soiling and edgewear, else near fine. (2 1/2 by 2 1/4; 65x53mm). More
London: (Company of Stationers), 1866. (40)pp. Engravings across first three sets of facing pages, the middle four providing a view of Albert Hall. In addition to the expected calendrical information, this almanac also provides a table of British rulers' reigns through Queen Victoria, lists of the royal family, members of..... More
London: Company of Stationers, 1775. (24)pp. Opens with an engraving of a view of the Adelphi Buildings, spanning four pages. The almanac's calendar records the times of sunrise and sunset, as well as various saints' days and term times for academic institutions. The volume also provides a table of the..... More
(c. 1928). Original watercolor study, with wood engraving proof and print. Print signed by Wolf. The image ultimately appeared in Wolf's Welt/XII Tafeln, published in 1929. The present print's size is slightly off from that recorded by von Borries, suggesting that it was a separate production from that included in..... More
(Hammersmith: Kelmscott Press, 1896). Large quarto. 496 pp. One of 350 copies. Printed in red and black in Chaucer type and illustrated with four wood engravings by Edward Burne-Jones. This title bears the distinction of having been the longest in production of any Kelmscott title, with preliminary work beginning in..... More
NY: Limited Editions Club, 2003. Oblong folio. (9)ff, loose. One of 75 copies of this suite of etchings, each of which is signed and numbered by Mitchell. Each etching bears a title and subtitle, the latter usually naming the depicted figure's role in a musical quintet, the exception being a...... More
NY: Limited Editions Club, 1998. Folio. (i), 23ff. One of 300 copies. Signed by Maya Angelou and the artist, Phoebe Beasley. Illustrated with silkscreens of six collages by Beasley. This collection of poems by Langston Hughes was selected by Angelou, who also wrote the Introduction and Afterword. Although Hughes was..... More
1992. One of 1,000 copies, advertising The Sylvia Davis Collection of the Work of Edward Gorey, on view in the Department of Rare Books and Special Collection at the University of Rochester. Dancers, a skeleton, the Black Doll, a cat, a dog, idle children, and men in large coats dot..... More
(N.p. n.d.). Original etching, signed by Edward Gorey. One of 95 copies, of which this is one of 20 printed during Gorey's lifetime. The image depicts a retrospective, and rather flexible, elephant. Elephants held special meaning for Gorey, who named his home Elephant House, after an elephant-shaped toilet he found..... More
1935-1938. Signed by the artist, Cherry Barr Jerry. This painting depicts a rosy-cheeked young boy in a blue-collared shirt and patterned overalls. Jerry worked with a variety of media throughout her career, including embroidery, charcoal sketching, and other forms of decorative art. Her efforts grew out of her role as..... More
1935-1938. Signed by the artist, Cherry Barr Jerry. This painting depicts a rosy-cheeked Santa Claus, his mittened-hands as much a part of his red-robed outfit as a staple feature of the puppet's design. Jerry was an artist who explored a variety of media throughout her career, developing from a position..... More
1935-1938. Two original paintings, signed by the artist, Cherry Barr Jerry. The paintings show puppets, with chubby cheeks and mitten-hands, though these skew toward racist stereotypes in their depiction of African-American characters. Jerry was an art instructor in Racine, Wisconsin, during the Great Depression as part of the Works Progress..... More
Munich: Waldmann & Pfitzner, (c. 1953). Micro-miniature. One of the four books called Kleinsten Bücher der Welt, and referred to at the time as "the smallest book in the world." Printed in seven languages. Corners a trifle rubbed, else nearly fine in black leather with gilt bands to spine and..... More
London: Faber and Faber, 1995. Octavo. (xviii), 213pp. A series of lectures given by Heaney while Professor of Poetry at Oxford; the first, and titular lecture, was his inaugural address, and later appeared, abridged, in the Times Literary Supplement (1989). bound in gray cloth over boards. Trace rubs, else near..... More
London: Faber and Faber, 1990. Octavo. First edition. A compendium of Heaney's most familiar poems from across his body of work. Bound in tan cloth-covered boards, fine in fine dust wrapper. More
London: Faber and Faber, 1999. Octavo. First edition. In 1917, Janacek discovered Ozef Kalda's poems in a local newspaper, and set them to music. Here Heaney has translated and adapted Janacek's songworks into melodic English verse, a task certainly difficult but one in which Heaney has successfully preserved both lyricism..... More
