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
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
(Darmstadt: Ernst Ludwig Presse, 1911). Quarto. (120)pp. From an edition of 500 copies, this is one of fifty printed on Japon. Title-page calligraphy and 150 decorated initials designed by Friedrich Wilhem Kleukens. The text of the Press's fifteenth book is Martin Luther's translation from the last edition of the German..... 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
San Francisco: Arion Press, 1980. Tall quarto. Unpaginated. One of 275 copies, signed by Andrew Hoyem, the printer, and by Ray Bradbury, who wrote the Introduction. A strikingly visual presentation of this science fiction classic. Illustrated with die cutouts of geometric shapes, all of which have been hand-colored. Bound concertina-style..... More
(Columbus, OH): Logan Elm Press, 1990. Quarto. (38)pp. One of 115 copies, printed on handmade paper and signed by the poet, David Citino, the artist, Anthony Rice, and the designer of the book, Robert Tauber. A stunning production crafted in advance of the quincentennial celebration of Columbus’s voyage. Illustrated throughout..... More
Hammersmith: Doves Press, 1916. Octavo. 96pp. One of 150 copies. This is Cobden-Sanderson's third, and final catalogue raisonné, which not only describes the entire printed oeuvre from the Doves Press, but also reprints all the minor pieces—known as Parerga—in their entirety. Those minor pieces include "Salve Aeternum Aeternumque Vale," which..... More
Middletown, CT: Price, Robin, 1998. Quarto. (36)pp. One of 150 copies. Signed by the illustrator, Keiji Shinohara, below the colophon. Decorated throughout with woodcuts in soft grays, greens, browns, and reds. The woodcuts interplay with the text itself, recreating in a visual way the experience of sitting in person for..... 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
(West Yorkshire): Fleece Press, 2002. (64)ff. From an edition of 285, this is one of 100 copies for which Stephen Byrne made a delightful miniature paper mould, with true papermakers’ copper mesh, to accompany the book. A reprint of Churchyard’s 1588 ode to papermaking, printed on handmade paper and illustrated..... More
(Wakefield, W. Yorkshire: Fleece Press, 1989). 38pp. One of 200 copies signed by the author, Ward Ritchie, and by the printer, Simon Lawrence. Engravings by Anthony Christmas. A brief history of private presses, along with the memoirs of a master printer who learned his trade in the Thirties in Paris..... More
Northridge, CA: Lord John Press, 1981. 29 pp. From an edition of 400, this is one of 100 copies specially bound by Bela Blau. Signed by President Gerald R. Ford. The text of a September 1980 address given to the Visa International Convention in Quebec encouraging world peace for economic..... More
London: Oxford University Press, (1925). Octavo. (ix), 1456, (iv), (130)pp. Later printing. With a large fore-edge painting by Miss C. B. Currie, which, according to the signed statement on the front endleaf, depicts "(a) view of the entrance to the avenue from Clare Hall Piece, Cambridge." It is identified as..... More
London: Longman, Brown, Green & Longmans, 1842. Small quarto. xlviii, 320pp. Enriched throughout with engravings that bring both pastoral and romantic themes to bear on Thomson's celebrated poetic cycle. Completed by some of the most eminent illustrators and artists of the era, including John Bell, Thomas Crewsick, and Thomas Webster..... More
Santa Cruz, CA: William James Association, 1976. Elephant folio. 15ff., loose. One of 200 copies. To commemorate the bicentennial of the founding of the United States, seventeen printers contributed broadsides in their own styles, illustrating in image and type statements from various founding fathers. The participating printers included William Everson..... 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
(N.p. c. 1900). A collection of paper weaving and embroidery samples, which evince a careful study of Froebel's gifts. While the paper weaving section adopts a repetitive color palette (green, yellow, lavender) for what appear to be a relatively rote set of patterns, the larger embroidery section presents an array..... 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
(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
(Northampton: Gehenna Press, 1969). Octavo. 25ff., housed in paper wrapper. One of 250 copies. With 21 woodblock illustrations of creatures fantastic and familiar printed in a variety of colors on nine different oriental papers, each print signed by the artist, Wang Hui-Ming. Box shows some rubbing, but sheets all pristine..... More
Northampton, MA: Gehenna Press, 1972. Quarto. (14)ff. One of thirty-five copies. Signed by Baskin at the colophon. Eight etchings, each signed and numbered in pencil, all depicting figures formed after the fashion of Roman boundary markers. These stele, with the exception of the bird marker, preserve perhaps the most human..... More
Bob Ziering, 2009. Pastel on paper. Signed and dated by the artist, Bob Ziering. Exploratory artwork for the gay 2010 American short film Curious Thing directed by Alain Hain. This bold, emotional piece is Ziering at his most authentic; a celebrated commercial illustrator, it was only after more than forty..... More
Pinner: Private Libraries Association, 1991. Two octavo volumes. 184pp; (26)ff. From an edition of 1650 copies, this is one of three special copies printed for the authors, signed by Morris Cox and with a second volume of twenty-six specimen leaves. Inscribed by Colin Franklin. Contains a selection of the writings..... More
Berkeley, CA: Pacific Film Archive, 1973. Broadside measuring 24 by 18 1/4 inches. One of 500 copies. Designed by California artist David Lance Goines and printed in 10 colors, this advertisement for a film series at the Pacific Film Archive features an image of Veronica, daughter of Solome, who took..... More
Oakland, CA: Karl Kardel Co., 1974. Broadside measuring 24 by 18 1/4 inches. One of 1,850 copies. Designed by California artist David Lance Goines and printed in 8 colors, this advertisement for Karl Kardel Co. features a bumblebee over an ochre background. The design was inspired by an unknown philosopher's..... More
