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
(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
Detroit, Cranbrook Press, 1902. Octavo. 40pp. One of 210 copies, printed by the author, George G. Booth, who was the co-founder of the Cranbrook Press. A group of essays of a philosophical and personal nature, one set in Naples and one in Mexico. With decorative interlace initials to each chapter..... More
Maple Shade, NJ: Pickering Press, 1985. Octavo. (28)pp., frenchfold. One of 100 copies printed in black and brown. "A warm, witty, wry collection of observations by famous (& infamous) writers who 'draw the line in such a way as to define themselves.'" (Prospectus). This charming little book is printed in..... More
Tuscaloosa: Legacy Press, 2000. Octavo. x, 154pp., + 5 specimens. One of 130 copies, signed by both Baker and DePol at the colophon. Replete with reproductions of DePol's many pattern designs, both for his papers and from engravings. Baker's accompanying text, which includes a biographical sketch, provides necessary context, both..... More
Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1972. Small quarto. (iv), 361pp. Morison's thorough treatise on the sociopolitical evolutions of script styles, specially bound by Garth While in full vellum. While's clever take on Morison's text sets the title and a short description over a fragmented manuscript design, all painted, with the fragments shaded..... More
Hammersmith: Doves Press; Hammersmith Publishing Society, 1900; 1902. Two octavo volumes. (iv) 10pp.; (40)pp. The Ideal Book is one of 300 copies and is George Parker Winship's copy, with his bookplate to the front paste-down. Only the second title to have been issued by the Doves Press, the essay by..... More
(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
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
(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
(Istanbul: Ebristan, 2004). Marbled paper with calligraphy measuring 23 3/4 by 32 inches. Ebru, or marbling, is one of the oldest arts in Turkey. In addition to being used in book binding and design, it was often used as a background for calligraphy and is considered high art. In this..... More
(Istanbul): Ebristan, 2008. Original marbled paper art by Turkey's premier paper marbler, Hikmet Barutçugil, with dusky swirls of pale peach, green, blue, and mauve. Signed and dated by the artist. Emerging from the center of the marbling is a small, detailed drawing in brown ink of the entrance archway to..... More
(Istanbul: Ebristan, c. 2003). Original marbled paper by the premier marbling artist in Turkey, Hikmet Barutçugil. Signed by the artist. Barutçugil has developed his own technique for creating flowers within his marbled patterns, inspired by his wife, Füsun Hanim. In this delicate example, two carnations grow from the same root..... More
(Istanbul): Ebristan Yayinlari, 2003. Original marbled paper by the premier marbling artist in Turkey, Hikmet Barutçugil. Signed and dated by the artist. Ebru, or marbling, is one of the oldest arts in Turkey. In addition to being used in book binding and design, it was often used as a background..... More
(Istanbul: Ebristan, 2008). Marbled paper measuring 23 3/4 by 32 inches, with elegant marbled calligraphy in Arabic. The script translates to say "One who conducts business in a Halal fashion is the beloved servant of Allah." This superb example of Ebru, the ancient Turkish art of paper marbling, has a...... More
London: For A. Millar and W. Sandby, 1757. Quarto. v, [2], xviii, [2], 513, [1]pp. Second edition. Illustrated with 15 maps (of which 9 are folding), 23 plates (of which 3 are folding), and numerous ornaments and initials from copper engravings. Considered by many to be the best description of..... More
Van Nuys: Hoffman, Richard J., 1988. 82pp. One of 250 copies signed by the printer. Text first published in 1921. The type ornaments chosen by Hoffman are arranged chronologically by designer (Garamond, Granjon, Rogers) and printed in color. The introduction refers to the printer's late friend, who insisted that the..... More
(NY: New Directions, 1969). Oblong quarto. 33pp. One of 100 copies printed at the Thistle Press and signed by the illustrator, Fritz Eichenberg. Illustrated with five full-page wood engravings in black & white. With an extra suite of the plates, each one signed by the artist. Suite is housed in..... More
Lyon: Léon Sézanne, (c. 1870). Oblong quarto. 32pp. A rich collection of embroidery patterns, including alphabets and fashionable monograms produced by the company founded by Henri Cartier-Bresson's father. The designs herein hint at the sleekness of twentieth-century styles, with the sharp linework of Art Deco. Given the fragility of the..... More
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
Washington, D.C. Platt Studio, 2006. Folio. (6)ff., loose. All prints signed and titled by the artist, Michael B. Platt. The five prints in this series are a visceral, grief-stricken response to Hurricane Katrina and its aftereffects on the city of New Orleans and environs. The natural disaster decimated communities, especially..... More
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
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
Boston: L. Prang & Co., 1883. Octavo. An elaborate birthday card, with two color illustrations of flowers in vases on the interior panels. The left-hand panel bears a short poem, and the right-hand panel offers the recipient best wishes for their next year. Both are printed on pillowed silk. Bound..... More
(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
Stuttgart: Julius Hoffmann, (1908). Oblong folio. 25pp. + 50ff. loose plates, one of which is in full color. One of 400 numbered copies. This guide to Austrian printed ephemera is illustrated throughout with black-and-white reproductions of valentines, greeting cards, paper games and dolls, and more. The extra plates show examples..... More
