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 ...
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(Rochester, NY): Leopard Studio Editions, 2014. (24)pp., accordionfold, with two four-page inserts sewn in. One of five copies, signed and numbered by the artist. A miniature artist's book by Sue Huggins Leopard based on the poem by Emily Dickinson, which reads: "Love is anterior to life, / Posterior to death... More
Paris: Fernand Mourlot, (1975). Elephant folio. (38)ff. One of 150 copies. Contains ten lithographs measuring 28 1/2 by 20 3/4 inches, each signed by the artist, Richard Lindner, and numbered and counter-initialed by Fernand Mourlot, the printer/publisher who produced the lithographs. In his introduction, Ionesco describes Lindner as "one of... More
London: Macmillan and Co. 1889, 1893. Two octavo volumes. xxiii, 400pp., + 3pp. advertisements; xxxi, 423 pp., + 5 pp. advertisements. First editions. Each volume inscribed to "Mrs. Morgan" by the author on the half-title, the first volume bearing Carroll's handwritten date of December 12. Apparently, this is the same... More
Brisbane: Locks' Press, 1979. Folio. (10)ff. One of 60 copies, signed by illustrator and Locks' Press co-founder Margaret Lock. Eight black & white engravings accompany Lear's nonsense poem about a man who has his toes stolen (possibly by mermaids) while swimming across the Bristol Channel. This is the first book... More
Boston: Impressions Workshop Inc./Cricket Press, 1965. Square quarto. (16)ff. One of 150 copies, signed on the colophon page by the poet, Bernard Bockes, and the illustrator, George Lockwood. Illustrated with fifteen fanciful woodcuts by Lockwood depicting insects, bats, dragons, and mythical beasts. Some are monochromatic prints, but others incorporate many... More
(Malente-Gremsmühlen): Turmpresse, 1930. Folio. 30ff. One of twenty-five copies. All pages with beautiful, brightly hand-colored woodcuts by Karl Lorenz, and all but the outer leaves are signed and dated by him in graphite. In this work, Lorenz takes on the twenty-six letters of the alphabet, and his thickly textured woodcuts... More
Munich: Josef Muller, (c. 1930). Quarto. 45pp. This book recounts the story of the Christkind (the "Christ child") who, in Germany, takes on a similar role to Santa Claus, giving out Christmas gifts to children without being seen. The Christkind figure originated as part of the Reformation of the 16th... More
Paris: Delarue, (c. 1820). 12mo. 90pp. With frontispiece and forty illustrations from engravings. Contains detailed explanations for performing a variety of magic tricks, including passing a ring through a stick, number divination, the “oeuf dansant,” and many others. Only three copies recorded in institutions, two of which are in the... More
(1860). Handscroll. An elegant makimono-e painting in sumi ink and color wash on paper by 83-year-old artist Toshin. Handscrolls are meant to be viewed right to left in sections, traveling arms-length by arms-length through the continuous landscape. This painting takes the viewer through each of the four seasons in a.... More
(England): 1849. Octavo. 5ff. Verse manuscript with original watercolor illustrations, including a full-page cover title and title-page and sixteen vignettes throughout. The text tells the tale of Timothy Brown, who is introduced as "a wild little lad" who constantly tears his clothes and searches for ways to spend his days... More
![Kak Rubanok Sdelal Rubanok : Skazka [How a Plane Made a Plane : A Fairy Tale]. Samuil Marshak.](/pictures/thumb/27525.JPG?v=1493395979)
Leningrad: Raduga, 1927. Small quarto. (12)pp. Bright color illustrations throughout. A rhyming Russian story for children, in which a worn-out old carpenter's plane makes a new plane, his "grandson," to carry on his work. The plane is aided in his work by fellow woodworking tools like the chisel, mallet, and... More
![[Travel sketches by a steamboat passenger].](/pictures/thumb/28068.jpg?v=1529093682)
(Ramsgate: (c. 1900). Oblong 48mo. (36)ff. Illustrated with thirty-six fine and accomplished pen-and-ink sketches by W.G. Bayly. The sketches provide a unique glimpse into Bayly's round-trip journey from Ramsgate to the Cape of St. Vincent, Port Said, Aden, the Bay of Biscay, Yangon, and finally Colombo in Sri Lanka. At... More
NY: McLoughlin Bros. (1900). Quarto. (14)pp. A colorfully illustrated alphabet, "mounted on linen." For each letter, costumed young boys and girls play soldiers, acting out military roles from buglers to nurses to generals. Some of the children represent soldiers from different countries, including a Highlander in a kilt, a French... More
(NY): McLoughlin Bros. (c. 1859-1862). 24mo. (8)pp. Part of the Mother's Series. Hand-colored illustrations throughout. Rhyming verse about Henry Brown, the son of a carpenter who works hard and studies hard. His good character earns him success, and he is rewarded with a place in Congress and a beautiful wife... More
NY: Bouillon-Sanders & Chopp, (1926). Quarto. (16)pp. Illustrated throughout in color and black & white, and in a bright orange binding featuring the main character, Willie, with fully movable arms. A "Willie Wait a Minute," who is always postponing his responsibilities to play just a minute longer, is able to... More
(Dutch: 18th century). Five bifolium sheets, each measuring approximately 7 5/8 by 10 3/4 inches. All contain images of Biblical scenes, composed of miniature writing known as micrography. The images, therefore, are composed of the words from the Biblical passages that describe the action being depicted. Four of these images... More
N.p. (1845). Octavo. (26)ff. A manuscript alphabet book of calligraphic paintings, signed by the artist, Jean Midolle. Includes an elaborately decorated title page, twenty-four letters, and "Fin." A renowned nineteenth-century Swiss calligrapher and miniature-painter, Midolle executed his alphabets in the gothic style of lettering to resemble the text of a.... More
NY: Greenwich Books, 1978. Oblong 16mo. (15)pp. One of 276 copies. Signed by the author on colophon. Signed by the illustrator thricely: on colophon, on title page, and on upper cover. A sharp and pessimistic critique of sex and love in the modern age. In black wrappers with an erotic... More
London: Methuen, (1926). First edition. One of 200 copies printed on hand-made paper, signed by Milne and Shepard. Milne's whimsical and beloved poems of his son, Christophe Robin and his bear, Pooh, accompanied by Shepard's familiar illustrations. Bound in quarter cloth with orange paper over boards and paper label. Second... More
London: Methuen, 1926. First edition. Limited to 350 copies printed on handmade paper and signed by Milne and Shepard. With all of the well-known and well-loved illustrations and a fold-out map of Pooh's and Christopher Robin's territory, which appeared in the ordinary edition as endpapers. Bound in quarter dark-blue cloth... More
London: Methuen, (1927). First edition. This famous collection of children’s verses, featuring Milne’s son, Christopher Robin, and his bear, is illustrated throughout with Ernest H. Shepard’s whimsical drawings. Signed at a later date on the title page by Shepard. Handsomely bound by Bayntun-Rivière in deep red morocco, with gilt ruled... More
Japan: (1918). 64mo. Eleven original sumi-e and watercolor paintings in an accordion-fold book. The paintings have been dated Taisho 7, that is, the seventh year of the Taisho period, 1918. The paintings depict various landscapes, flora, and fauna, and have been created by the artists Sekitai Nagasaka, Seisen Oka, Hiyakunen... More
(Japan: 1850). (8)pp. Four two-page, full color illustrations. A miniature volume depicting a series of scenes involved anthropomorphic mice. The mice wear traditional Japanese garb, sit against backdrops of mountains and villages, and take human-like postures, such as sitting cross-legged and bowing. It is possible that the volume portrays the... More
Boston: Bromer, Anne & David, 1982. 41ff. From an edition of just thirty-six copies, this one is unique. Inscribed by Robert Gould on the colophon to Anne and David Bromer. A miniature manuscript consisting of twelve original watercolor designs on soft gray paper by Gould, showing hearts embellished with symbolic... More
London: Darton, Harvey, & Darton and J. Harris, 1812. 96pp. A pocket-sized reference for children, with full-page engraved plates of each of the forty-eight birds, along with a description of the characteristics and mannerisms of each species. Occasional light internal spotting, else about fine. In a variant binding of olive... More
