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, 1964. Octavo. 91pp. One of 200 copies. A biography on the life and work of Thomas Bird Mosher, the remarkable New England publisher and literary pirate. The Passionate Pirate is one of Henry Morris's earlier titles. In making it, he was plagued with both..... More
North Hills: Bird & Bull Press, 1976. Octavo. 70pp. One of "approximately 250 copies." Sumner's manual, first published in 1854, is full of very specific recipes. This is the first of Bird & Bull's excellent books on marbling. With an Introduction, Notes, and eleven marbled samples by Richard J. Wolfe..... 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
Newtown, PA: Bird & Bull Press, 1983. Oblong 12mo. 64pp., + (14)ff. One of 350 copies. An interesting, historic account on marbling taken from the Journal of the Franklin Institute of 1829. Minor toning to spine, some edgewear, else near fine in marbled boards, backed with gilt-stamped blue morocco. Prospectus..... 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
Newtown: Bird & Bull Press, 1985. Octavo. 161pp. One of 325 copies. Illustrated with eighteen black & white photographs and drawings, fourteen full-color photographs of Kinder's bindings, and thirteen pages of black & white impressions of Kinder's bookbinding stamps. A thorough examination of one of America's finest binders and of..... More
Parma: Bodoni, 1800. Folio. Three parts in one. 8, xxvii; 14, xliii; 11, xxxiii pp., + (35)ff. Contains thirty-five stipple-engraved plates, all but one in sepia, showing frescoes by the famed Renaissance painter Correggio at the Monastero de San Paolo in Parma. The engravings were done by Francesco Rosaspina after..... More
1930-1950. Forty-six quarto volumes, including the following: the original series (1930-1935) in twenty volumes; New Series (1935-1938) in twelve volumes; The Annual of Bookmaking (1938); New Graphic Series (1939) in four volumes; The New Colophon (1948-1950) in eight volumes; and the index to the original series. Lacks the New Colophon..... More
San Francisco: Lawton Kennedy, 1958. Small quarto pamphlet. (6)ff. One of 175 copies. A tongue-in-cheek guide to the lexicon of the rare book trade. For example, the entry for "Fore-Edge Painting" states "These are always 'exquisitely executed' even when done by someone's Aunt Esmerelda on a wet Sunday afternoon." Fine..... More
Los Angeles: UCLA, 1985. Octavo. x, 182pp. One of 350 copies printed by Patrick Reagh. Inscribed by Ruth E. Fine, one of the contributors. Fold-out map of Los Angeles opposite half-title. A very fine copy in cloth-backed boards. More
(London): Fortune Press, (1922). One of 100 deluxe copies with a limited, signed color etching. Warmly inscribed by Jean de Bosschère, "with greetings of spiritual brotherhood." With a color frontispiece, twenty-one full-page plates printed in black & white and sanguine, and numerous black & white illustrations throughout. The volume opens..... More
(Wakefield, Yorkshire): Fleece Press, (1986). Large quarto. (10)pp., + (19)ff. From an edition of 200 copies, this is one of twelve bound by James Brockman. Illustrated with twenty wood engravings printed on handmade paper from the original blocks that were cut by Underwood in the 1920s and ‘30s. Underwood’s Brook..... More
Boston, MA: Bromer Booksellers, (c. 1991). Small quarto. (56)pp. With photographic reproductions throughout in black & white. Catalogue number 66 issued by Anne and David Bromer of Bromer Booksellers. This catalogue, released in conjunction with a lecture delivered by Anne Bromer and an exhibition, celebrates "the fine art of calligraphy..... More
Bromer Booksellers. (96) pp. Our most ambitious catalogue to date, featuring fifty exemplary works in literature, illustration, miniature and children's books, fine printing and artistic bindings. Includes many rare, unique, and autographed items from the 16th century to the present. More
Watertown, MA: Bromer, Anne & David, 1978. 30pp. One of 150 copies printed at the Bird & Bull Press and signed by Henry Morris. This was the first—and last—miniature to be printed at the Bird & Bull Press, and the first Bird & Bull checklist to appear in print. Fne..... More
Boston: Bromer, Anne & David, 1984. Quarto. 38pp. First edition. One of 225 copies printed in three colors by Richard Bigus at the Stinehour Press. Illustrated with two wood engravings by Greg Dearth and a specimen sheet printed in three colors on parchment. Hand-bound by Claudia Cohen in quarter-vellum and..... More
Canton, NY: Caliban Press, 2001. Quarto. 117pp. One of 125 copies. Printed on handmade papers by Velma Bolyard, La Papeterie St-Armand, and Barcham Green, along with Arches, Frankfurt, and Mexican amate papers. Set in fourteen-point Dante type by M & W Bixler, and rain cut by Greg Lago. The book..... More
Los Angeles: Cotsen Occasional Press, 2009. Two volumes: one folio, one oblong quarto. (vi), 141; 231pp. A brightly printed history of Alunno, with frontispiece and examples in the first volume, the second being a facsimile of his Cartoni. Both bound in blue cloth with blind stamping to upper cover and..... More
Henley-on-Thames, UK: 1957. Small octavo. (i), (9)pp. Calligraphic manuscript on paper written in green and black ink with first line and small text initials in gold. Text opens with a large illuminated initial "O" with the watercolor figure of an owl; the text closes with another watercolor owl, this one..... More
Darmstadt: (N.P.), 1775. Oblong quarto. 31pp. First edition. An instructional book for calligraphy, with an ornate engraved title page followed by thirty plates of calligraphic examples by Johann Menzzer. The plates demonstrate a variety of hands using quotations, biblical passages, and alphabets in Latin, French, and German, and include elaborate..... More
1951. Quarto. 2ff. A portion of Milton's masterpiece, beautifully calligraphed on vellum in blue, gold, black, and red by Joan Pilsbury. The passage describes God's crafting of light on the fourth day of creation. Known for her steady hand, and for her work as a Scribe and Illuminator to HM..... More
(San Francisco: 2010). Quarto. 10ff. Original calligraphic manuscript by Ingmire of the text from a section of Paz’s poem “Blanco.” This poem, which was published in 1967, has been linked to Paz’s time in India, and it can be read as a figurative exploration of Indian religious philosophy. “The spirit..... More
Providence, RI: Skillman Avenue Press, 2016. Oblong 16mo. (27)pp. One of 150 copies. Signed by the author. Portraits of women appear on semi-translucent sheets laid over Cane's poems, which are structured as letters. Bound in pale blue paper with a cutout on the upper cover through which another portrait appears..... More
(NY): Center for the Book Arts, (2007). Octavo. 18ff. One of thirty-nine copies. A collection of thirteen poems from Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Experience, beautifully printed by nine compositor-printers at the Center for the Book Arts in New York. Each printer’s work occupies a single bifolium sheet, forming nine..... More
Cisco, IL: CHEC-Chess Enterprises, 1982. Broadside measuring 24 by 18 inches. Printed in green and red on ochre-colored paper, this piece offers humorous commentary on every square of a chessboard, from g6 ("Gee, Dad, it's a dragon!") to h2 ("An insignificant square which deserves no consideration"). Of d1, the starting..... More
