Illustrated Books
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
Les Souverains de l'Europe.
(France: H. Rousseau, c. 1846-8). A set of three hand-colored wooden jigsaw puzzles lithographed by J. Froment and measuring 13 by 10 inches (33x25cm). Each puzzle is illustrated with six portraits of European rulers, in full regalia, with detailed jewels, orders, decorations, and crowns. Among the countries represented are Portugal..... More
Animal Hunt.
NY: Citadel Press, 1944. Square octavo. (15)ff. A picture-puzzle book, in which Frye's illustrated panels have punch-outs for the young reader to play with, and between these are sheets of lyrics from Deutsch. An introductory leaf provides instructions, so that the book may be read as a story, as a...... More
Der Ausgestossene.
Hamburg: Raamin-Presse, 1976. Quarto. (40)pp. From an edition of 170, this is one of twenty copies with an additional two plates signed and numbered by the printer and illustrator, Roswitha Quadflieg. Translated into German from the original French by Elmar Tophoven, the short story "L'Expulsé" ("The Expelled") first appeared in..... More
The Followers.
(Hamburg): Raamin-Presse, 1977. Quarto. 24pp. From an edition of 120 numbered copies signed by the artist/printer, Roswitha Quadflieg, this is one of forty copies printed in English, and from those forty, this is also one of ten with an extra signed etching. The text is from Adventures in the Skin..... More
Aesop's Fables.
London: Heinemann, 1912. Quarto. xxx, 224pp. First trade edition. Contains thirteen color plates tipped-in on brown paper, and 53 illustrations in black & white. Translated by V.S. Vernon Jones, with an Introduction by G.K. Chesterton. Save for the smaller trim size, the trade edition is identical to the signed, limited..... More
The Pied Piper of Hamelin.
London: Harrap, (1934). Octavo. 45pp. One of 410 copies signed by Rackham. With four color plates, numerous black & white illustrations, and pictorial endpapers. A pleasantly bright copy, fine in gilt-titled vellum wrappers. T.e.g. In slightly worn original slipcase with printed label. (Latimore & Haskell, p. 71). More
The Wild Swans.
Van Nuys, CA: Barbara J. Raheb, 1979. 62pp. One of 300 copies. Full-page illustrations throughout add to the fairytale fantasy. Bound in maroon leather over boards, gilt-bordered and -titled. Fine. (1 by 11/16; 25x18mm). More
The Sphere of Rocks and Water.
London: Bertram Rota, (1983). Folio. 50pp. One of 80 copies signed by Lubbock. Designed and printed by Will Carter at the Rampant Lions Press. Lubbock's text is illustrated with eight full-page plates by him, six of which are double-page. Printed from copper-plates worked by aquatint, etching, and engraving, these colored..... More
Ye Beatyfycatyon of ye Novyce.
Chicago: Will Ransom, 1923. Small octavo. (12)ff. One of 270 copies. Three illustrations of courtly scenes: a man reading a declaration, a group of people around a feast, a knight on a horse with a lady behind him. Seven-line illuminated initial printed in blue, red two-line initials throughout, red border..... More
Venus Explor'd. A Study of the Female Form.
(Fayettesville, MD): Rebecca Press, 1980. (48)pp. One of 500 copies, signed by the publisher. Contains sixteen black-and-white figural photographs by Noel M. Izon, with text by K.N. Izon and quotations from well-known poems. Fine in gilt-stamped gray cloth. (2 1/2 by 3 1/8; 64x80mm). More
Flirtations.
(Hyattsville, MD): Rebecca Press, 1984. 64pp. From an edition of 200, this is one of forty copies specially bound. A little manual divided into four chapters: Handkerchief, Parasol, Fan, and Glove, giving the significance of each gesture. Very fine in cream-gray morocco with gilt tooling and stamping, and with a...... More
Flirtations.
Hyattsville, MD: Rebecca Press, 1984. 64pp. One of 200 copies, signed by Rebecca Bingham. A little manual divided into four chapters: Handkerchief Flirtations, Parasol Flirtations, Fan Flirtations, and Glove Flirtations, giving the significance of each gesture. Very fine in mauve silk damask, with printed label. (2 1/2 by 3; 64x75mm)..... More
Erté Maquettes.
Hyattsville, MD: Rebecca Press, 1984. (58)pp. From an edition of 2,200, this is one of 200 specially bound deluxe copies, signed by Erté, this one out of series and noted as the binder's copy. Erté, whose fashion images adorned the pages of Harper's Bazaar from 1932 to 1937, was one..... More
Erté Maquettes.
Hyattsville, MD: Rebecca Press, 1984. (58)pp. From an edition of 2,200, this is one of 200 specially bound deluxe copies, signed by Erté. Erté, whose fashion images adorned the pages of Harper's Bazaar from 1932 to 1937, was one of the most prominent French illustrators of the Art Deco period..... More
Lady Letters.
Hyattsville, MD: Rebecca Press, 1986. (36)pp. One of 200 copies published on the occasion of the 1986 Miniature Book Society Conclave. An Art Deco alphabet with each letter formed by a woman with a "haute couture" costume. Bradbury records two binding states, self-wrappers and paper boards; this is neither, being..... More
Rebus-Spiel.
(Vienna: c. 1810). Single folio sheet, on which is printed twenty rebus cards, to be cut out. Each card has a very fine hand-colored stipple engraving. A few examples are: a man bowing before a statue of Cupid, a sunset, three children sledding, and Napoleon sitting on an upper-case “B.”..... More
Tongue-in-cheek manuscript rebus.
Boston: 1888. (5)ff. Hand-written rebus with cut-out illustrations pasted on the letterhead of "Howard Gannett, Publisher and Bookseller." Provides humorous prescriptions for obtaining and retaining good health, which include "Sleep without boots near an open (window)" and "Rise before you wake up-- early before the (stars) have gone." The result..... More
The Woman and the Knife.
NY: Red Ozier Press, 1981. Broadside measuring 14 by 29 inches. One of 75 copies. Illustrated with a black & white collage by John Digby. Text printed in burgundy and black on gray paper. Fine. (Peich 28). More
James Reid: Selected Wood Engravings.
Boston, MA: Brier Hill Press, 2013. Quarto. Two booklets, both (16)pp., and two portfolios of prints. One of 125 copies, signed by the printer, Robert Strossi. The second booklet in this copy is identical to the first, but not numbered or signed and with frontispiece and caption directly printed onto..... More
The History of Whittington and His Cat.
(Derby: Richardson, n.d. (c. 1835). 48mo. (12) pp. (wrappers included in pagination). Title-page vignette and six small woodcut illustrations. Rare provincially-published abridgement of the Dick Whittington tale, known only in one institutional copy. Front wrappers toned, otherwise near fine. More
Poem in October.
(Poiano, Italy: Franco Riva, 1979). Folio. (6)ff. One of 120 copies. Illustrated with a frontispiece etching by Italian artist Ernesto Treccani, with his signature in pencil below. A translation of Dylan Thomas' poem into Italian by Anna Maria Faccini. Part of the "Lectura Dominica" series issued by Franco Riva. Leaves..... More
Woodcuts for the Nightingale and the Rose, published by the Rebecca Press.
(N.p. Rebecca Press, c. 1985). Oblong broadside. One of nineteen copies. Signed by the artist, Alan James Robinson. A printing of all six woodcuts featured in the miniature Rebecca Press publication, Nightingale and the Rose, showing the story from the nightingale taking flight to its fall on the thorn of..... More
Norman Rockwell's Hometown.
NY: Windmill Books, 1970. Quarto. (23)ff. Comforting tales of middle America, illustrated by one of the nation's most beloved artists. Near fine in full green cloth and dust wrapper. More
The History of Duke Whittington, Lord Mayor of London; With the Adventures of His Cat.
Banbury: J. G. Rusher, (1814). 64mo. 16pp. Illustrated with engravings throughout, which follow Whittington's rise from poverty to mayoralty, with the help, and occasional troublemaking, of his cat. Bound in paper wrappers, somewhat toned and with a tear along the tail of the spine. Near Fine. More