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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Guadalajara: Grafica de Comala, 2019. Octavo. 18pp. One of 60 copies, signed by the artist, Nacho Gomez Arriola. Illustrated throughout with Arriola's linocuts in shades of blue, red, and purple, and printed on paper made from agave fiber. A portfolio of ten additional plates, all signed and employing a rainbow..... More
Windsor, VT: 1899. (2)ff. In this revealing letter, Maxfield Parrish bemoans last-minute controversies and deadlines related to The Bodley Head's 1899 publication of Kenneth Grahame's The Golden Age. Primarily his complaints stem from the poor quality of the reproductions of his illustrations—Parrish provided nineteen full-page images and twelve tailpieces for..... More
Flansham: Greenleaf Press, 1917. (9)ff. Small quarto. A portfolio of eight wood engravings in black & white, with the title page printed in copper ink. The publication and illustrations were done by Stuart, Robin, and John Guthrie, the sons of James Guthrie of the Pear Tree Press. The Greenleaf Press..... More
Flansham Bognor: Pear Tree Press, 1919. Quarto. 14ff. One of thirty copies signed by James Guthrie on the colophon. With sixteen illustrations by Guthrie printed in single, two, or three colors directly from the plates. Six plates feature calligraphic text and illustration; seven plates contain calligraphic text only; three plates..... More
(Flansham, Bognor: Pear Tree Press, 1937). Quarto. 32, (ii)pp. One of 250 copies. Illustrated with a colored wood-engraved frontispiece portrait of Edward Thomas by Robin Guthrie, and with several engravings, colored vignettes, and two intaglio plates by James Guthrie. One of these intaglio plates reproduces an advertisement for Thomas's first..... More
(Flansham): Pear Tree Press, (1920). Octavo. 25pp. This collection of short children's poems is heavily illustrated with wood engravings by Stuart Guthrie, son of Pear Tree Press founder James Guthrie. The six full-page illustrations and fourteen smaller images used as head- and tailpieces are printed in four colors: blue, green..... More
Newark, NJ: Barton Press, 1969. Octavo. Seven folders, printed on three sides, + 5 silkscreen sheets. One of 200 copies, signed by the illustrator, Henry Pearson. Five colorful silkscreens, in a design form that is much like "op art," each signed on the back by Pearson, are laid-into folders on..... More
London: Warren Editions, 1981. One of fifty copies. An enchanting peep show by the well-known children's author and illustrator Harold Jones. Comprised of six layered panels, plus the illustrated front panel bearing the title and viewing aperture. Looking into the viewing aperture reveals a glimpse deep into a forest filled..... More
(Berlin: Oscar Michaelis, 1896). Printed by S. Schottlaender, Breslau. A colorful telescopic view of the Industrial Exhibition’s main hall, comprised of six bright, chromolithographed panels attached on the sides by accordion-folded paper. The front panel shows the outside of the hall, and the viewer looks through a small hole to..... More
(Mount Horeb, WI): Perishable Press, 2003. Small quarto. (20)ff. One of 109 copies. The four artists contributed a total of ten illustrations, hand-printed from unmounted eleven-point dies, in a variety of colors. The book also employs five typefaces hand-set in five different sizes and imprinted on five different mould-made papers..... More
Goshen, NH: Phineas Press, 1973. Small broadside measuring 12 7/8 by 6 3/8 inches. One of 100 copies. Illustrated and designed by Caldecott Award-winner Nonny Hogrogian, with a line drawing of two sleeping cats. A dreamy poem about the anticipation of starting a new garden after moving to New Hamphire..... More
London: Grant & Griffith, 1852. Oblong quarto. (5)ff. Five hand-colored plates illustrate comical urchins demonstrating the senses, including the rare “Seeing” plate, which shows two boys peering into a box-shaped peep-show at a fair while the proprietor says, “Now then gents, open yr eyes, blow yr precious noses, and don’t..... More
(Risbury, Herefordshire: Whittington Press, 2011). Small quarto. (vi) (12) pp. + 24 plates. From an edition of 240, this is one of forty copies printed on Batchelor's Otter paper, bound in full vellum, and with an accompanying portfolio of proof engravings and one additional color engraving. These engravings by Lucien..... More
Basel: Franklin Éditeur, 1997. Oblong 24mo. (22)ff., unbound, printed rectos only. One of 50 copies, signed by the artist, Richard Franklin, below the colophon and inscribed as an hors d'commerce copy. Franklin's haunting woodcuts of wasted and deformed figures—often skeletal, and as horrified as they are horrifying—bookend the text and..... More
NY: Thomas Nelson, 1928. Oversized proof plate from Willy Pogany's Mother Goose, illustrating the numbers one through five and a child's finger in the mouth of a caught fish. Below the image is the rhyming text, whose simple, clever meter assists a young learner in remembering their numbers. Plate shows..... More
(N.p. c. 1970). Silkscreen broadside. The image shows Richard Nixon, printed in blue with his arm raised and two fingers extended in his trademark salute, under the red word "Impeachment." Nixon's form is cleverly constructed from various post office stamps, including "Void" taking the shape of his mouth, "Cancelled" standing..... More
Cambridge, MA: Pomegranate Press, 1972. Broadside. About 300 copies. A striking presentation of this fanciful poem, silkscreened in turquoise, purple and orange by Karyl Klopp. Very fine. (Measures 25 inches wide by 19 inches tall). More
Cambridge, MA: Pomegranate Press, 1973. Folio broadside. One of fifty copies. Signed by Karyl Klopp, proprietor of the press. A twenty-five-line poem by Mark Van Doren, beautifully printed on cream-colored paper and featuring an illustration by Karyl Klopp beside the text. Van Doren's long career as a poet and writer..... More
London: Bancroft & Co, (c. 1960). Quarto. 7, (1)pp. Tri-fold pictorial boards, with lower cover unfolding into a table-top pop-up image of the many animals boarding Noah's Ark. The scene has a humorous flair; a fox plays chess with a stork and a panther, a male crocodile smokes a pipe..... More
(1968). An uncommon die-cut pop-up card depicting a nativity scene set in ancient Bethlehem, beneath palm trees and a starry night sky. Cattle, goats, sheep, and an elephant surround the manger, as the magi and others bring gifts. Presiding over the scene is an angel carrying a banner proclaiming "Gloria..... More
NY: Pre-Columbian Press, 1960-61. Octavo. 31pp. One of 500 copies, signed by Rau. Drawings accompany each of the eight sites described, and a map prefaces the text. Bound in sienna boards printed with Mayan hieroglyphs. Spine slightly tilted, else near fine in near fine dust wrapper. 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: Gotham Book Mart, 1995. First edition. One of 776 sets, signed by the author/artist, Edward Gorey. Contains twenty tarot-like cards with a booklet of interpretations. The cards include "The Écorché," "The Bundle," "The Ladder," and "The Limb." Fine in illustrated box, as issued. (Toledano A113b). 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
Vienna: 1978. Brimming with original illustrations in various media, including pen and ink, graphite, engraving, and watercolor, some signed and colored, plus a mounted copper plate. The illustrations are then presented as reproductions in tandem with text descriptions, thus providing a unique work explicating different reproduction techniques. Fielder covers well-known..... More
