At Bromer Booksellers, we focus on the visual book, with fine images that both enhance narrative and stand alone as independent creations. Among our holdings in this area are costume books, emblem books, examples from the Art Nouveau and Art Deco periods, the fantasy illustrators in the tradition of Arthur Rackham, and modern books with original graphics. We look for the successful fusion of picture with text from any century, any country, and across a variety of artistic movements and media. We are especially fascinated with books of other cultures, and you will occasionally find items such as Japanese illustrated woodblock books and Eskimo tales without words ...
Read more about Illustrated Books
Dublin: Andrew Carpenter, 1979. First edition. From an edition of 125, this is one of 30 copies issued in black morocco and offered for sale. Illustrated with two lithographs by Louis Le Brocquy. Signed by Heaney, Le Brocquy, Liam Miller the designer, and the publisher, Andrew Carpenter. The book was... More
(Vancouver): Heavenly Monkey, 2007. Quarto. (5)ff. One of fifty copies signed by the contemporary Canadian artist Charles van Sandwyk. With six tipped-in plates, five of which are from the artist's earliest etchings, and one etching executed for this work. A brief essay about etching by van Sandwyk accompanies the artwork... More
Woodside, CA: Heyeck Press, 1995. Folio. 61pp. One of 90 copies. Signed by the author. Five full-page drawings by Okada, depicting various scenes from nature - a row of pines, leaves in the sun, and the like - in black and white. Printed using Centaur and Arrighi types on Barcham... More
(Boston: Godine Press, c. 1970). Framed etching measuring 11 by 8 inches. One of an unknown number of copies; the edition was probably no greater than 200. An image of an early flying machine crashed and abandoned in a field of clover, printed in green with a caption printed in... More
Tucson, AZ: Nazraeli Press, 2003. Square quarto. (22)ff. One of 500 copies, with an original silver gelatin print on the front cover. Signed by Rolfe Horn on the title page. A selection of twenty-eight reproduced photographs by Horn, featuring landscapes and architectural structures from around Oregon, California, Thailand, and Japan... More
(Paris: Perrigot-Masure, c. 1922). Framed sheet of handmade paper with a chiaroscuro watermark portrait of Dard Hunter as a young man, based on a photograph by Clara Ragna Johnson. To the left, his name is lettered in the style characteristic of the Arts and Crafts Movement. Sheets of this handmade... More
(Vienna): Jugend & Volk Wien Verlag, (1969). Oblong quarto. 210pp. One of 99 copies, signed and numbered by the artist, Wolfgang Hutter. Bound-in are three original lithographs, also signed and numbered by Hutter. An essay on the style of the Austrian neosurrealist artist, followed by a catalog of his works... More
London: Ward, Marcus & Co., (c. 1880). (8)pp., accordion-fold. A New Year's card consisting of a four-panel panorama brilliantly printed in bright colors with gold backgrounds. The card allegorically depicts the year in the stages of its "life": as a child, dreaming of pudding and music-filled fun; a young man... More
(Germany: c. 1856). Charming keepsake box, holding 14 items: three handwritten notes dated 1856 and 1858, eight additional blank sheets of note paper, a colorful floral print, a religious print of an angel guiding a child by the hand, and an image on paper over cardboard of a woman with... More
Paris: Meynial, 1923. Small quarto. 12pp., + (12)ff. colored plates. One of 600 copies. Art Deco legend George Barbier contributed fashion plates to several albums and almanacs starting in 1912 before finally, in 1922, starting his own publication titled Falbalas et Fanfreluches. Each annual issue included an almanac for the... More
Bruxelles: Ets. Guy Onkelinx, 1924. Small quarto. (40)pp. Illustrated with ten color plates of Art Deco jewelry design and six allegorical color plates, a full-page black & white unattributed image, and a small vignette by American artist Lawrence Sterne Stevens. The jewelry designs by Devos, an important Belgian jeweler, are... More
Ipswich, UK: Cowell's Anastatic Press, (c. 1850s-1860s). Quarto. (8)ff., final leaf blank. Lithographed throughout, and hand-colored in red, green, and blue, heightened with gold. Photographic reproduction of a madonna and child pasted to the title page as part of the decorative border. Each page shows a Christmas verse surrounded by..... More
Japan: (1918). 64mo. Eleven original sumi-e and watercolor paintings in an accordion-fold book. The paintings are dated Taisho 7, that is, the seventh year of the Taisho period, or 1918. The paintings depict various landscapes, flora, and fauna, and have been created by the artists Sekitai Nagasaka, Seisen Oka, Hiyakunen... More
Offenbach am Main: Gebr. Klingspor, 1930. Oblong 32mo. 24pp., frenchfold. Illustrated with elegant silhouettes of men and women dressed in the height of fashion, each framed by a colorful border. Facing each silhouette or pair of silhouettes is a passage of German verse. This particular copy is specially bound as... More
Paris: Libraire Henri LeClerc, 1907-1914. Six volumes (Première Partie Tomes I-III, Seconde Partie Tomes I-II, Troisième Partie). Variously paginated. First edition. One of 300 copies. Extensively illustrated with reproductions of 2,000 woodcuts. A monumental and exhaustive bibliography on the illustrated book in Venice from 1450-1525. Essling provides lengthy and thorough..... More
Boulogne-sur-Seine: Robert Blanchet, 1973. Square octavo. Ten sheets, folded so that one leaf is shorter than the other. From an edition of 220 copies, this is one of 176 regular copies printed on vélin de Rives and signed by the author, Michel Butor, and artist/publisher, Robert Blanchet. Illustrated with eight... More
Ottawa: Environment Canada, 1974. Quarto book, with five additional portfolio volumes. 79pp.; (8)ff.; (4)ff., + (5)ff. plates; (6)ff. plates; (5)ff. plates; (8)ff. plates. Limited edition publication produced by the Fisheries and Marine Service of Environment Canada “in the interest of the salmon’s survival.” The book describes the life cycle of..... More
London: John and Arthur Arch, 1816. Small quarto. Two volumes. xxii, 478, 478*pp. + (9)ff. plates; (479)-836pp. + (13)ff. plates. A valuable reference on the history of engraving in Europe, illustrated with numerous examples throughout the text and on inserted plates. Handsomely bound in full red straight-grain morocco, decorated with... More
London: John Murray, (1957). Oblong quarto. 76pp. Publisher's copy of the first edition. An instructional book on the creation of patterns, illustrated throughout with examples of two-, three-, and four-color patterns. The patterns themselves range from natural forms, such as flowers and insects, to geometric designs. Each page of the... More
(c. 1930s). A collection of sixteen vibrant watercolor designs by Vernon Grant for an apparently unpublished children's book called "The Two Elves." Grant was one of the most popular illustrators of the mid-20th century, and his distinctive whimsical style influenced many of his contemporaries, including Walt Disney. Grant is perhaps..... More
(c. 2009). Quarto. Eight-panel, life-sized self-portrait of fiber artist Sheryl Jaffe. Numbered "1/1" and signed by Jaffe to the interior of the box. In this "sculptural artist book," Jaffe is drawn lying on her back, nude, against a background of earthy greens, sunny yellows, and liquid blues. Climbing over the... More
(Japan: Sûzan Shobô, 1816). Small quarto. (19)ff. A Japanese book of color woodblock prints by Kameda Bôsai (1754-1826), one of the leading painters of the Nanga or Bunjinga (literati) schools of painting. The seventeen full-page illustrations, five of which extend across the page spread, are landscapes depicting mountainous terrain, comprised..... More
(Japan: c. mid-nineteenth century). Small quarto. (27)ff. A handmade book of delicate Japanese brush paintings of common birds, ranging from sparrows and songbirds to ducks and other fowl. The paintings are executed in a style similar to sumi-e. They are predominantly monochromatic with subtle gradations of black ink, accented with... More
Sydney, Australia: Beacon Press, 1948. Folio. 53pp. One of forty deluxe copies, signed by the author. A lovely production, illustrated with thirty-six color plates. The plates are genuine prints: beautifully made modern reproductions of the originals, done in Japan. The text traces the rise and fall of the Ukiyo-ye school... More
Kyoto: Geisodo Yamada Naosaburo, 1911. Small folio. Folding album consisting of twelve ink wash and color prints on thirteen sheets, each bearing Seiho's chop mark. One of the key figures of modern Japanese painting, Seiho (1864 - 1942) absorbed elements of European-style painting -- Impressionism, in particular -- and successfully... More
