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
NY: Stephanie Brody-Lederman, 2018. Octavo. 22pp. Unique, initialled by the artist, Stephanie Brody-Lederman. Mixed media on heavy paper, including acrylic paint, graphite, ribbons, pompoms, and dice. Fashioned after a didactic sketchbook, in which the artist must follow directives to draw certain objects, such as an orange vase, a white flower..... More
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
(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
Houston, TX: Ganzeer, 2020. Original illustration, signed by the artist, Ganzeer. Produced for his op-ed, “The Fate of Egypt,” which ran in Middle East Eye in February 2020, the illustration shows a diverse array of Egyptians protesting the dictatorial regime of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who rose to power in..... More
(c. 1999). Two posters, one featuring an armed young man beneath the Vietnamese flag watching an American fighter plane crash, and the other depicting Ho Chi Minh amidst the flags for North Vietnam and the Viet Cong. Though reproductions, these posters mark a shift in post-war Vietnam, in which propaganda..... More
AZAD, 2010. Octavo. Trifold with internal flap structure. One of five copies, of which this is the first, signed and dated by the artist, Laimah Osman. Interacting with the multiple flaps of this book reveals permutations of cut-out bullets, soldiers, and civilians with raised arms, which overlay inkjet-printed maps of..... 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
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
Newark, VT: Janus Press, 2000. Oblong 32mo. A single sheet, cut into thirds and folded to create twenty-four panels. One of 200 copies. Illustrated with color printing from cuts salvaged from the Lyndonville Printing Co. Created for Susan Johanknecht and Katharine Meynell’s exhibition, “Volumes (of Vulnerability),” Claire Van Vliet’s book..... 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
Petersham, MA: 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
Praha [Prague]: Technologicko-Prumyslovým Museem [Technological Industrial Museum], 1914. 16mo. (v), 10, (4)pp. A student production, heavily ornamented with Cubist design principles, including three initials, a woodcut illustration, black decorative borders, fully illustrated endpapers, and an spectacular gilt cover design. The raw, saturated decorations reflect the weight of the book's text..... More
Paris: Chez le Fuel, c. 1820. 24mo. 7ff., including title page, and pages for every month, each decorated with an engraving within a roundel. This is followed by a folded palimpsest of heavy coated ivory-colored paper with the days of the week printed in gold. This appears to have been..... More
