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
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
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
(Northampton: Gehenna Press, 1968). Square octavo. 23ff. One of 250 copies, of which this is one of 70 in the first binding by Arno Werner, whose copy this was. Inscribed by Harold McGrath, the pressman, to Werner at the colophon. A collection of head and tailpieces from 16th- and 17th-century..... More
Mission, BC: Barbarian Press, 1994. Small quarto. (384)pp. From an edition of 430 copies, this is one of 250 in quarter cloth with patterned paper covers. Essays on wood engraving in Canada and in the USA are followed by approximately 150 examples of the artists' work. Text, including biographical notes..... More
Poestenkill, NY: Kaldewey Press, 2007. Octavo. (21)ff. One of twenty-one copies, inscribed by the artist, Gunnar Kaldewey, in addition to a signature at the colophon. A retelling of a Japanese folktale, lustrously illustrated with leaves of watercolors interleaved with uncut sheets of tissue. Stab-bound with rivets in red, blue, and..... More
(North Hills): Bird & Bull Press, 1967. Octavo. 121pp. From an edition of 500 copies, this is an out-of-series copy in a 1968 trial binding by Jean Millard. According to a penciled note on the front endpaper, there were two copies bound thus, and the note mentioned that "L. Schlosser..... More
Rotterdam: W. L. & J. Brusse, 1903-1910. Octavo. (vi), vii, (v), 159, (3)pp. A deluxe copy of the translation of Morris' work into Dutch, the regular edition of which was printed in 1903. Drawn title page and frontispiece, along with five Morris-like illustrations interspersed throughout. With typography in red and..... More
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
NY: Vincent FitzGerald & Co., 1987. Quarto. (17)ff. One of 75 copies, signed by the translator, Michael Feingold, and the artist, Neil Welliver, whose five color etchings and double-page fold-out lithograph were printed by Shigemitsu Tsukaguchi. The translator served as the lead drama critic for the Village Voice until it..... More
(Dallas: Ondine Press, 1977). Octavo. 19pp. One of 145 copies. Highlights an address given by Franklin at Perkins Chapel to mark the acquisition of the Sir Emery Walker copy of the Doves Press Bible printed on vellum by the Bridwell Library. Few marks to rear board, else fine in cream..... More
Batenburg & Joppe, Netherlands: Karli Frigge, 1984-1992. Frigge's periodical sample books, with prices, for samples #1 through #225, lacking #74 through #125 and with #150-152 presented twice, but with one different paper and in an alternate format. A remarkable and near-comprehensive collection of Frigge's papers, exhibiting her unique technical mastery..... More
NY: 2006. Square octavo. Four-fold enclosure. Unique. Acrylic on textured boards with added wires, pompoms, and button snap closure. The folds reveal a gray-white woodland scene, blue at the edges, with a line from Robert Frost's "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" painted on the bottom panel: "The woods..... More
Paris: Librairie Gründ, 1950. Quarto. 237pp., + 48 plates, nine of which are in color. One of 700 copies. This authoritative text and bibliography on the French “Game of the Goose” and its derivatives is illustrated throughout with images relating to the game, including many whimsical geese. The plates are..... More
1896-1905. A collection of nine color Christmas cards for the years 1897 through 1905, designed by Georgie Gaskin for Laurence W. Hodson and his family. The cards feature delicate vining borders intertwined with banners that extend the Christmas greeting for that year. The subjects of the cards include the Hodson..... More
1896-1905. 5ff. An original pen & ink drawing and two proofs, one hand-colored and one printed, plus a final printed copy of a Christmas card designed by Georgie Gaskin for Laurence W. Hodson and his family. The card is for the year 1896 and depicts Santa Claus, heavily laden with..... More
(Northampton): Gehenna Press, 1965. 16mo. (14)ff. One of 100 copies, signed by Leonard Baskin. After acquiring several Jan van Krimpen fonts in three sizes, modeled on chancery script, Baskin designed this book. It contains eleven mottos, each decoratively printed with different sizes of type in subtle variations of color. One..... More
(Northampton, MA: Gehenna Press, 1967). Quarto. (31)ff. One of 250 copies, this one inscribed in pencil from Leonard Baskin to Ben Tighe, a well-known bookseller in the Northampton area. The inscription is curiously dated "1947" in Baskin's hand. Using the collection of type ornaments owned by Bruce Rogers, Baskin has..... More
Northampton, MA: Gehenna Press, 1959. 12mo. (12)ff. One of 200 copies. With original woodcuts to title and colophon by Leonard Baskin. Printed in green, black, and orange. Some rubbing, else a near fine copy in stiff floral-patterned wrappers with printed label. More
