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
(North Hills): Bird & Bull Press, 1963. Octavo. 59pp. One of 169 copies. A collection of five essays on hand papermaking, with contributions by Dard Hunter, J. Barcham Green, John Mason, Henry Morris, and Norman H. Strouse. Six wood engravings and many amusing drawings illustrate the process of hand papermaking..... More
Oldham: Incline Press, 1997. Quarto. vi, 120pp. One of 300 copies. Contains seven essays on the subject of patterned paper by Paul Nash, Phyllis Barron, Sebastian Carter and others. With numerous samples of paper tipped in. Bound in yellow and red patterned paper backed in yellow cloth. Housed in a...... More
Hawaii: Printed for the author by Andrew Hoyem at the Arion Press, 1983. Folio. From an edition of 95 copies, this is one of twelve containing thirty-five samples. Includes tapa samples from the Hawaiian Islands, Fiji, Futuna, Marquesas, Mangreva, Tahiti, Samoa, etc. Each sample is identified and housed in its..... More
1990. Octavo. (23)pp. Frontispiece photoreproduction portrait of Sobota, followed by forty samples of her marbled papers and fabrics. The catalog handily demonstrates Sobota's eye for color and innovative designs, as well as her mastery of various weights of paper and textile. Bound in marbled cloth, threaded and stamped in gold..... More
Santa Cruz: Peter & Donna Thomas, 1993. Quarto. (120)pp. One of 195 copies. With an introduction by Peter Thomas. The book highlights a variety of visual and textural qualities found in today’s handmade papers, and includes thirty-two folio-size samples, each of which has a statement from the papermakers printed on..... More
Santa Cruz: Peter & Donna Thomas, 1999. Quarto. 20ff., + 30 specimen sheets. One of 150 copies. Illustrated with line drawings by Donna Thomas. Published as a companion volume to the Thomases’ A Collection of Paper Samples from Hand Papermills in the United States of America (1993), this work contains..... More
Rutland, VT and Tokyo: Tuttle, 1952. Four small folio volumes. No limitation indicated; Schlosser (No. 63) notes that 250 copies were planned, "but there is no indication as to the final size of the edition." This is one of the finest studies of Japanese papermaking, brimming with specimens, including old..... More
(N.p. J.R. van Oostrum, 1992). Quarto. This is a unique copy bound to display ten folded sheets of van Oostrum’s marbled papers in a simple and portable fashion. The papers exemplify a range of color schemes and techniques, including rippling, Spanish marbling, and peacocks. The star of the volume is..... More
Guadalajara: Grafica de Comala, 2019. Octavo. 18pp. One of 60 copies, signed by the artist, Nacho Gomez Arriola. Illustrated throughout with Arriola's linocuts in shades of blue, red, and purple, and printed on paper made from agave fiber. A portfolio of ten additional plates, all signed and employing a rainbow..... More
North Hills: Bird & Bull Press, 1980. Small quarto. 78pp., + 14ff. One of 300 copies. Translated from the German with an Introduction and fourteen original marbled specimens by Richard J. Wolfe. Illustrated with numerous black & white photographs showing Weisse at work. The large marbled samples by Wolfe are..... More
(N.p.): Richard J. Wolfe, 1981. Octavo. (xiv), 145pp. One of 500 copies, of which 450 were for sale. This copy signed by Wolfe on the title page. Four textual illustrations and eight color plates that reproduce the Mann family's decorative papers. Bound in marbled paper boards backed with black cloth..... More
Newtown: Bird & Bull Press, 1987. Octavo. 108pp. One of 310 copies, of which 275 copies were for sale. With an introduction and thirteen original marbled samples by Richard J. Wolfe. Printed in red and black on the sumptuous Italian handmade "Umbria" paper. Bound in paper marbled by Wolfe, backed..... 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
Windsor, VT: 1899. (2)ff. In this revealing letter, Maxfield Parrish bemoans last-minute controversies and deadlines related to The Bodley Head's 1899 publication of Kenneth Grahame's The Golden Age. Primarily his complaints stem from the poor quality of the reproductions of his illustrations—Parrish provided nineteen full-page images and twelve tailpieces for..... More
Cambridge, MA: Runcible Books, (1977). 48mo. Ten cards. One of forty copies, signed by Parry on the colophon card. Eight of the cards feature fanciful drawings of signature Bostonians, reproduced by Xerox and hand-colored by the artist. All held in a Cockerell-covered portfolio. Fine. More
(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
Evanston, Ill. Press of Ward Schori, (n.d.). 73pp. A book of quotations about the art of lettering, printed in red and black in the calligraphy of G. Harvey Petty. Bound in tan boards by John LaRivière, with a line drawing of a quill and ink well on the front cover..... 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
Tokyo: Kyoiku Shuppan, 1952. Octavo. Variously paginated. An impressive, weighty exploration of Japanese printing techniques and bookmaking processes. Included are examples of color printing methods, a suite of tipped-in swatches of leathers, fabrics, and papers, a selection of exemplar paper sheets, and illustrated expositions on various manners of binding, editing..... 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
