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
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 about Ars Calligraphica et Typographica
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 about Catalogue 127: An Extraordinary Gathering
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 about Mystique of Vellum. Containing an introduction by Dechard Turner and a historical essay on vellum...
The Hague: J.B.W. Editions, 1935 (i.e. 1956). Small quarto. (14)pp. Although the colophon indicates a limitation of 50 copies, only 25 were actually bound and issued. This is the French version of the poem, printed for the artist in Holland before the war. Copies were available from Golden Cockerel at... More about L' Apres-Midi d'un Faune: Eclogue
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 about The Tempest
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 about Anleitung zur Schönschreibkunst
(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 about The Word
Utrecht: Catharijne Press, 1988. (34)pp. From an edition of 165 copies, this is one of fifteen deluxe copies hand-colored by Luce Thürków and with the Art Nouveau initials beautifully heightened with gold. Extremely fine in full green limp suede with gilt-stamped label on the front cover. Housed in original green..... More about Florilegium: A Collection of Flower Initials Designed by Maurice Dufrène
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 about "Complete Guide to the Chessboard"
Boston: L. Prang, 1876. Octavo. xxxiii, 274pp., + thirteen plates. American edition, revised and enlarged by the author. With an introduction by Edward C. Pickering, a professor of Physics at MIT. Illustrated throughout with many woodcuts, as well as the thirteen chromolithographed plates. The first plate depicts the spectra of... More about The Theory of Color in its Relation to Art and Art-Industry
(France / China: c. 1900). Octavo. (22)pp. Album of Chinese landscapes in original watercolors, facing depictions of women's antique costumes painted on silk, interleaved with tissue. "Chinoiserie" refers to European art characterized by imagery of a romanticized China, a notion that similarly underpins the genre of costume books, which presented... More about Chinoiseries / Costumes d'Antan
Hammersmith: Doves Press, 1911. Octavo. 12pp. Second edition. One of 350 copies. Included are descriptions of all books printed to that date, the introduction by T. J. Cobden-Sanderson from the first edition of 1908, and his additional comments for this edition. Expected toning to extremities, else a fine copy in... More about Catalogue Raisonné of Books Printed & Published at the Doves Press, 1900-1911
Hammersmith: Doves Press, 1909. Octavo. 159, 23pp. One of 250 copies, printed in red and black. With the famous flourished opening initial "W" calligraphed by Edward Johnston in green. Two spots of soiling to upper cover, else fine in full limp vellum by the Doves Bindery. More about The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet Prince of Denmarke
Harper Woods: Adagio Press, 1969. Folio. 54pp. With a Preface by Strouse and a Note by the Printer, Leonard F. Bahr. From an edition of 329, this is one of ten copies made up of leftover sheets from the original printing. It contains three leaves: and octavo sheet from Tasso... More about C-S The Master Craftsman. An Account of the Work of T.J. CobdenSanderson
(N.p.): Paul Hayden Duensing, (1969). One of 300 copies. Broadside measuring 31 1/2 x 25 1/2 inches (800x317mm), printed by offset. A selection of typefaces offered by the Typefoundry, including borders, ornaments, Hieroglyphics, and Greek, Russian, Japanese, Chinese, Hebrew, and Cherokee alphabets. One faint spot, else fine. More about "Types of the Private Press and Typefoundry of Paul Hayden Duensing"
N.P. n.d. Black & white photograph measuring 4 1/2 by 6 1/2 inches. A posed portrait showing a younger William Addison Dwiggins, likely in his early 40s, standing in front of a garden holding a hoe. The photographer is credited on the verso as C. H. Marble. Very fine. More about Original photograph
(Hingham, MA): c. 1930s. A black & white photograph of a marionette made by W. A. Dwiggins, measuring 10 by 10 1/2 inches. The marionette is a likeness of F. Morton Smith, a Boston lawyer who was married to Margaret Coatsworth, the sister of the children's book author and illustrator... More about Photograph of a Dwiggins marionette: F. Morton Smith
Northampton: Edward's Press, 1974. Full title: Several Essayes or Counsels, Civill and Morall, by the Viscount St. Alban, or Francis Bacon Interspersed With more Essayes, Paternal Instructions, and Poems by his Countrymen and Contemporaries: Sir William Cornwallis, the younger, and Sir Walter Raleigh. Octavo. (42)pp. One of "forty-odd" copies numbered... More about Bacon Interspersed
NY: Elston Press, 1901. Small quarto. (xv), 68pp. One of 485 copies on Holland hand-made paper, in boards with vellum spine. Unopened. Decorated with initials by H. M. O'Kane, floral devices, and a printer's device on the title page. The text is a 1345 treatise on book collecting written by... More about Philobiblon
Peking, China: Lotus Court, 1943. Quarto. (xvi), 46pp. Illustrated with forty-six tipped-in woodblock reproductions of traditional Chinese embroidery patterns, printed in red on handmade paper, tipped in. Frontispiece is a real tissue embroidery pattern backed with red paper for support. A fascinating reference book on Chinese symbolism. The Foreword lists... More about Embroidered Wishes
1860. Single leaf measuring 5 by 7 3/4 inches. A drawing of a young man and woman glancing shyly at each other, with their noses drawn in an angular fashion so as to point at each other. Below the figures is penned words “i cant [sic] stop long this time.”... More about Illustrated Manuscript Valentine
Argus Books. Broadside measuring 25 by 19 inches. A reproduction of a notice posted by order of the Sacramento City Settlers' Association on June 14, 1850 warning the unwary of "a number of men with remarkable principles, who go among those who have newly arrived and offer to sell or... More about "Notice to Immigrants!!"
(c. 1940-1945). Oblong 24mo. (30)ff. An autograph book made by Albert "Al" Cummings between 1940 and 1945. Includes messages in morse code, poems (good and bad), and cartoons from friends, neighbors, sailors on the SS Fairfax, and soldiers from the 32nd Ordnance Company identified as being from all around New... More about World War II-Era Autograph Book
Petersham, Massachusetts: Lone Oak Press, 2005. Oblong quarto. 89pp. From an edition of fourteen deluxe copies and 70 standard copies, this is one of five deluxe copies chosen to be specially bound for the international traveling exhibit "InsideOUT: Contemporary Bindings of Private Press Books," and as such, it does not... More about Of Woodland Pools, Spring-Holes & Ditches
(Hammersmith: Kelmscott Press, 1896). Folio. (556)pp. One of 425 copies. Contains 87 wood-engraved illustrations designed by Sir Edward Burne-Jones. William Morris, in addition to the "Chaucer" type designed expressly for this book, provided 26 nineteen-line initials, and numerous foliate and floral borders and initials. Burne-Jones called the book "a pocket... More about The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer now Newly Imprinted
