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
![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
(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
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
(Minneapolis): Minnesota Center for Book Arts, 2005. Tall quarto. (48)pp. From an edition of 226, this is one of 26 lettered copies, specially bound and with tipped-in editioned prints by five Minnesota artists. An anthology of original poetry from twelve Minnesota writers, including Robert Bly, Adrian Louis, Susan Steger Welsh... More
(Verona: Riva, Franco, 1976). Folio. 37pp., + (6)ff. plates. One of 75 copies, signed by the poet. Six poems by the Italian poet and Nobel Laureate Eugenio Montale, accompanied by six full-page etchings in sanguine of drawings by the poet. Several of the illustrations depict seaside scenes from the poet’s... More
Rome: Delfino, (1985). Folio. 106pp. According to the colophon, this is one of 1,200 copies. Illustrated with ten color lithographs after drawings by Henry Moore. The editor, Dr. Stanley Wells, notes in the Foreword that this work reveals an "unsuspected spiritual kinship between one of the greatest visual artists of... More
(Northampton, MA): Cheloniidae Press, 1986. 12mo. (34)pp., accordionfold. From an edition of 200 copies, this is a unique artist's copy, hand-colored and signed by Suzanne Moore. Calligraphic letters, designed by Moore, are blind-stamped one to a page of this lovely fold-out panorama. To this copy, Moore has added the text... More
West Hatfield: Pennyroyal Press, 1985. Folio. (50)ff. From an edition of fifty copies printed on Rives paper, this is one of twenty-five deluxe boxed sets with each print signed by the artist., Barry Moser. Contains all forty-nine wood engravings for the Pennyroyal Press Huckleberry Finn, printed in celebration of the... More
1987. Original pencil drawing of Capote on white paper. Barry Moser is known for his portraits, especially those of authors. These were usually done as wood engravings, but each portrait often began as a line drawing such as this. In 1987, the same year that this portrait was done, Moser... More
Amsterdam: (n.d.). Small octavo. (15)pp. With eight full-page illustrations, printed in orange and black. At the back of the volume are a head and two legs set to rotate on brass rivets; when unfolded, they align with the torso on the upper cover to create the illusion of a full... More
London: W. Warrington, 1836. Oblong 24mo. 24pp. Illustrated with nine leaves of engraved plates, three of which fold out, and one which has an overlay showing workers within the tunnel. An account of the construction of the Thames tunnel, the first known tunnel to have successfully been built underneath a.... More
Paris: A. Capendu, (c. 1900). Oblong octavo. (12)pp. Illustrated with six movable color images. These appear opposite poetic retellings of such familiar La Fontaine stories as "Le Corbeau et le Renard" ("The Dove and the Fox") and "La Cigale et la Fourmie" ("The Cicada and the Ant"). The illustrations move... More
(N.p. n.d.). Small quarto. (11)pp. Five movable color illustrations, along with various black & white images throughout. The movable images function through pull-tabs at the bottom of each page. They depict the titular anthropomorphic wolf planning to trick a family of goats, clambering down the chimney of their home, and... More
Amsterdam: Cohen Zonen, (n.d.). Octavo. (10)pp. Four full color movable images, and black & white illustrations throughout. The movables illustrate humans and animals taking part in charming circus scenes: monkeys clamber about a ladder, an elephant balances a clown upon its trunk, another well-dressed elephant plays the tuba in front... More
London: Motor Oils Dept., Shell-Mex and B.P., (c. 1933). Folio. 16pp. Five full-page color reproductions of automobiles and engines, all with one or more folding plates that, when lifted, reveal additional parts, plus one full plate of a "Chamber of Horrors" engine. These elaborate illustrations provide a hands-on learning experience... More
London: Dean & Son, (1857). Small octavo. (9)ff. A very unusual and humorous children's book, with seven movable pages. On each page is a cut-out character, lithographed and hand-colored, standing against a wall. The figure may be moved aside by means of a tab, exposing the revealing shadow he has... More
Esslingen: J. F. Schreiber, (n.d.). Small quarto. (7)ff. Six full-color movable images. For each, the upper half may be flipped downward to reveal the second half of the scene. Each is titled at the top and captioned by a four-line poem at the bottom. Mischievous children adorn each image. Their... More
London: Dean & Son, (n.d.). Small quarto. 8ff., printed one side only. Eight pages with full hand-colored images—sometimes more than one to a page—all of which bear movable features. These are manipulated through paper tabs toward the bottom of the illustration. Pulling a tab back and forth causes Mother Hubbard's... More
