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
London: Cassell and Francis Walterson, 1929. Octavo. x, 325 pp. First edition. One of 100 copies signed by Eric Gill. A collection of the artist's writings, with a wood engraving by him on the title page. The colophon notes that this publication marks the first use of Gill's Perpetua type..... More
Capel-y-ffin, Abergavenny: Francis Walterson, 1927. Octavo. (vii), 46pp. One of 200 copies printed at the Shakespeare Head Press for Francis Walterson, signed by both Eric Gill and David Jones. This was the only book to be issued signed by the two. Illustrated with a frontispiece engraved by David Jones titled..... More
London: Jonathan Cape, 1931. Octavo. viii, 200pp. Illustrated with ten wood engravings by Eric Gill: three full-page, five half-page, and an ornamental device. Spine faded, else very good in green cloth. Laid in is a silhouette woodcut, signed by Gill, titled "Dumb-Driven Cattle." First produced in 1915, the woodcut was..... More
London: Sheed & Ward, (1931). Octavo. iv, 121 pp. First edition. One of 500 copies signed by Eric Gill and Rene Hague and printed by Hague & Gill. This is a presentation copy, inscribed on the colophon. Illustrated with twenty-five figures, including ten type specimens and four illustrations from wood..... More
London: Faber & Faber, 1933. 16mo. 32pp. Gill's opening engraving, "The Leisure State," hints toward his larger expostulary theme of labor and specifically the displacement of human work as a result of machinery. Gill expands his thesis to encompass the impact of unemployment on society at large, including its ramifications..... More
Ditchling, Sussex: Douglas Pepler, 1917. Fifteen sheets with multiple diagrams in pencil, ranging in size from 5 1/2 by 4 1/2 to 11 by 7 1/4 inches; eight sheets of pencil tracings on tracing paper, one of which is clipped to a woodcut proof; and one diagram rendered in blue..... More
Paris: Louis Janet, (c. 1830). 48mo. 48pp., + engraved title page and six plates of engravings. A collection of titularly genteel love poetry, mostly penned by “Bernard,” whose brief biography appears as an introduction. The inserted plates show lovers in pastoral settings. Bound in a glass binding, with spine and..... More
London: Gogmagog Press, (1965-66). Four small octavo volumes, each (26)pp. One of 100 copies printed on Hosho paper, signed by the artist/printer Morris Cox. Each volume contains a colorful panorama of nature printed from heavily textured blocks, which give the offset prints an embossed effect. The changing seasons appear in..... 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
London: Gogmagog Press, 1967. Small octavo. (28)pp., frenchfold. From an edition of 100 copies, this is one of 40 bound in Hana-asa paper, reserved for members of The Society of Private Printers. Signed by Cox and printed on Japanese handmade paper. Fourteen spare three-line poems, illustrated with three offset prints..... More
(London): Gogmagog Press, 1968. Octavo. (43)pp., frenchfold. One of twenty-six copies printed and signed by Morris Cox. Contains thirty-four "nature prints," actually made with plastic and gesso, with results resembling the vein patterns of leaves, which Chambers refers to as "a notable modern exploration of nature-printing." The title is printed..... More
(London): Gogmagog Press, 1962. Octavo. (24)pp., frenchfold. From an edition of fifty copies printed and signed by Morris Cox, this is one of eleven out-of-series copies. Contains fifteen black & white satirical prints illustrating awkward moments, with captions in red. Spine cocked, else near fine in patterned paper boards with..... More
(London): Gogmagog Press, 1962. Octavo. (24)pp., frenchfold. One of fifty copies printed and signed by Morris Cox. Contains fifteen black and white satirical prints illustrating awkward moments, with captions in red. Near fine in linen-covered boards with printed spine label. (Chambers 8). More
London: Gogmagog Press, (1975). Thin octavo. (viii), (24)pp. One of twenty-four copies signed by Morris Cox. A collection of Cox's more melancholy poetry, accompanied by four reverse/direct offset illustrations printed across double pages on gray, scarlet, gray-green, and blue papers. A scarce Gogmagog title, no copies of which were for..... More
(London): Gogmagog Press, 1972. Octavo. (96)pp., frenchfold. One of fifty copies signed by the printer-author. Illustrated with eight original intaglio engravings by Cox, printed in colors. "Each print has the device of a hand with pen or brush, entering from beyond the margins, drawing its composition (poem or picture) from..... More
London: Gogmagog Press, (1960). Octavo. (36)pp., frenchfold. One of fifty copies printed in various colors and signed by Morris Cox. Illustrated with four double-page color prints that accompany poetry by Cox, which he calls "a poem in three parts, being the apotheosis of an unknown woman victim of a war,"..... 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
Waltham St. Lawrence: Golden Cockerel Press, 1925. Small quarto. 42pp. One of 750 numbered copies. Illustrated with seventeen wood engravings by Eric Gill. Several initials in red. This is bibliographer and book historian John Carter's copy, with his booklabel on lower front pastedown. A fine copy in white cloth, gilt..... More
Waltham St. Lawrence: Golden Cockerel Press, 1929-1931. Four quarto volumes. 151; 189; 197; 219pp. One of 485 copies printed in red, black, and blue on handmade paper. Illustrated on every page with wood engravings by Gill, including leafy borders with figures, vignettes, and decorated initials. All of these are beautifully..... More
(London): Golden Cockerel Press, 1934. Tall octavo. (16)pp. One of 500 numbered copies. Illustrated with one full-page wood engraving and a four-line initial capital by Gill. This edition of Gill's "sermon," reflecting on the 136th Psalm, marks the first use of Gill's Perpetua Roman and Felicity Italic typefaces. Bound in..... More
(London: Golden Cockerel Press, 1950). Octavo. 40pp. From an edition of 500, this is one of 100 specially bound copies with an extra engraving. Illustrated with five copperplate engravings by John Buckland Wright, plus an elaborate title-page spread. Bound by Sangorski and Sutcliffe in gilt-stamped plum vellum boards. Minimal fading..... More
(Stuttgart): Edition Domberger, 1975. Single sheet, measuring 11 3/4 by 9 7/16 inches, showing a butler in tails observing an empty display case that had previously held "the Lisping Elbow," an illustration from Edward Gorey's book The Other Statue. Signed by the author with a note in pencil stating that..... More
(Stuttgart): Edition Domberger, 1975. Single sheet, measuring 11 3/4 by 9 7/16 inches, showing the title figure dramatically dressing while eating candied violets "from an unknown admirer," an illustration from Edward Gorey's book The Blue Aspic. Signed by the author with a note in pencil stating that this is an..... More
(Stuttgart): Edition Domberger, 1975. Single sheet, measuring 11 3/4 by 9 7/16 inches, showing a party scene from Edward Gorey's book The Blue Aspic. Signed by the author with a note in pencil stating that this is an "Artist proof for Domberger." The print is one in a series of..... More
