In their broadest sense, the book arts are at the core of our inventory. To be sure, the category encompasses the specialties that you see on our homepage, such as Fine Printing, Fine Binding, and Illustrated Books. However, it also includes such things as writing books and calligraphy, fore-edge paintings, books on papermaking, and leaf books.
Read more about one of the book arts, Fore-edge Painting
(Risbury, Herefordshire: Whittington Press, 2011). Small quarto. (vi) (12) pp. + 24 plates. From an edition of 240, this is one of forty copies printed on Batchelor's Otter paper, bound in full vellum, and with an accompanying portfolio of proof engravings and one additional color engraving. These engravings by Lucien..... More
Los Angeles: Plantin Press, 1983. Quarto. 190pp. One of 850 numbered copies printed by the Plantin Press for Dawson's Book Shop. Signed and dated by the author, Phoebe Jane Easton. Illustrated with six tipped-in specimens of marbled paper, mounted color frontispiece, and color plates. Some foxing to upper cover and..... More
Oxford: Plough Press, 1985. Octavo. 79pp., + 39ff. of marbled paper samples. The first edition of this work was printed in 1853; this is a reprint of the larger, more concise second edition of 1881 printed in London at George Bell and Sons. Foreword by Geoffrey Wakeman. The nearly 60..... More
Middletown, CT: Price, Robin, 1998. Quarto. (36)pp. One of 150 copies. Signed by the illustrator, Keiji Shinohara, below the colophon. Decorated throughout with woodcuts in soft grays, greens, browns, and reds. The woodcuts interplay with the text itself, recreating in a visual way the experience of sitting in person for..... More
NY: Fuchs & Lang Mfg. Co., (1943). Oblong 24mo. A catalog of hundreds of examples of offset lithography inks, in an array of colors, from "Tomato Red" to "Deep Milori Green" to "Bronze Blue", all exemplified through a rotation of several decadent Art Deco images. The inks are displayed in..... More
Saint Paul, MN: Blinc Publishing, 2008. Broadside measuring 19 by 12 1/2 inches. One of 150 numbered copies, signed by the printer, Bill Moran. Printed on the occasion of APHA's 33rd Annual Conference, October 10-12, 2008, this broadside is decorated with wood type printed in various fonts, sizes, and colors..... More
Mapplewood, NJ: Hammond Incorporated, 1981. Broadside measuring 25 by 18 3/4 inches. A map showing the different parts of a book, illustrated with three black & white photographs showing a hardcover book, softcover book, and a book's interior. The photographs are labeled with every aspect of book structure, from the..... More
Vienna: 1978. Brimming with original illustrations in various media, including pen and ink, graphite, engraving, and watercolor, some signed and colored, plus a mounted copper plate. The illustrations are then presented as reproductions in tandem with text descriptions, thus providing a unique work explicating different reproduction techniques. Fielder covers well-known..... More
Athens, GA: Press of the Nightowl, 1990. Octavo. 34pp. One of thirty-three copies. Signed by the author, Alexander Lawson, and the printer, Dwight E. Agner. Four wood engravings by Joseph Sanders, one of which is the frontispiece. A brief history of the function and techniques of type compositors. Fine in..... More
Austin: Taylor, W. Thomas, 1983. Folio. 67pp. Limited to 325 copies printed at the Wind River Press. Catalogue of an Exhibition Held at the Grolier Club, New York, December 19, 1978-February 3, 1979, with a Selection of Books and Press Histories by Ruth E. Fine and William Matheson and Bibliographical..... More
Portland, ME: Baxter Society, 2014. Quarto. 269pp., + 47ff. of specimens. From an edition of 100 copies, this is one of ten lettered copies specially bound with a set of type specimens printed by the Stinehour Press. Signed on the colophon page by Stinehour, Scott Vile, the designer, Sam Ellenport..... More
London: Bertram Rota, (1983). Folio. 50pp. One of 80 copies signed by Lubbock. Designed and printed by Will Carter at the Rampant Lions Press. Lubbock's text is illustrated with eight full-page plates by him, six of which are double-page. Printed from copper-plates worked by aquatint, etching, and engraving, these colored..... More
(N.p. Rebecca Press, c. 1985). Oblong broadside. One of nineteen copies. Signed by the artist, Alan James Robinson. A printing of all six woodcuts featured in the miniature Rebecca Press publication, Nightingale and the Rose, showing the story from the nightingale taking flight to its fall on the thorn of..... More
Oxford: Oxford Polytechnic Press, 1984. Revised first edition. Robinson’s classic introduction to the craft of bookbinding, with the inclusion of the original artwork for the book’s jacket design. The artwork is rendered in oil on board, painted in black and white on a gray background, and is framed in natural..... More
Chicago: Banghart & Fischer Craft Materials, 1912. Octavo. (8)pp., accordion-fold. Each page bears four samples, each labeled with its name, size, and price per sheet. For each style, the samples of every color option are stacked atop one another and stapled to the page. At the rear is tipped in..... More
(Burford, Oxfordshire): Cygnet Press, 1984. Octavo. (44)pp. One of 250 copies, with fourteen samples of European marbled paper tipped in. Includes the principal antique patterns, such as Antique Spot, French Shell, Italian Shell, English Stormont, Gloster, and Peacock. With an Introduction by Bernard Middleton. Blue boards lightly sunned, else near..... More
(N.p. n.d.). Forty distinct samples, detailing a variety of patterns and colors, with particular attention to variations of the snail pattern. All but one cut down from larger sheets into strips; the other is wrapped around them. Some rubbing to edges, else a near fine collection, housed in an envelope..... More
(Mattapoiset, MA: Busyhaus Publications, 1983). Small oblong octavo. 65pp. One of 200 copies bound in hardcover. Illustrated with photographs of the artists, tipped-in paper samples, and woodcuts by Michael McCurdy. Introduction by Don Guyot. Apart from the description of the work of the twelve artists, among whom are Faith Harrison..... More
Nekoosa, Wisc. Great Northern Nekoosa Corporation, (n.d.). Small quarto. (3), (15), (15), (18)pp. Presented as four sets of sample papers, colors, embossing, and rendering techniques. The former are gathered under the title "Color on Color", while the latter appear under "Finishing Touches". These two sections are bound dos-a-dos in thick..... More
(Flemington, NJ: St. Teresa's Press, 1966). Small quarto. 14pp. One of 150 copies. With a lovely hand-painted title page and decorative initials modeled after the Book of Kells. Letterpress printed in Solemnis and Palatino Italic on handmade English paper. A short-lived and very fine small press, St. Teresa's flourished in..... More
Worcester: Stanbrook Abbey Press, 1983. Oblong 16mo. (10)ff. From an edition of 55, this is one of thirty copies bound in full leather and signed by all concerned in its production: Margaret Adams, the illustrator; George Percival, the binder; Jenny Hancox, the calligrapher; Dame Hildelith Cumming, the manager of the..... More
Tokyo: John Weatherhill, Inc., 1972. Folio. 123pp. One of 183 copies, printed on handmade Japanese paper and signed and sealed by the author and the artist. A collection of Japanese tales of the supernatural "mono no ke" illustrated by Sumiyoshi with paintings composed of the title or theme of each..... More
Mill Valley: Sunflower Press, 1987. (30)pp. One of forty copies signed by the printer, Carol Cunningham. With illustrations printed in various colors, some hand-colored and one highlighted with gold. A brief history of the manufacture, trade, and uses of silk in Eastern and Western fashion. Bound in multi-colored silk over..... More
(London): Theatre Royal, 1829. Broadside playbill for Wednesday, Jan. 21, 1829 at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, advertising "a musical piece called The Sublime & Beautiful," followed by "The Farce of the Invincibles," and a "New Comic Pantomime" called "Harlequin and Little Red Riding Hood; or the Wizard and the..... More
St. Louis: Castle Square Opera Co., 1900. Lace-trimmed handkerchief printed on one side only. Issued to commemorate the twenty-seventh week of opera in English by the Castle Square Company, this program was printed for "Souvenir Week," which ran from December 10th to the 15th. A key piece of text from..... More
