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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Hamburg: Frederic Perthes, (c. 1833). Octavo. vi, (104), 32pp. French translation of German fables by Wilhelm Hey, printed on rectos only and accompanied by charming wood engravings by Otto Speckter. According to Hobbs, these fables “were originally devised not for publication but to cheer up [the author’s] children, sick with... More
(Moscow: 1929). Six pen-and-ink drawings colored with watercolor, with an expressionistic look, each measuring 7 3/4 by 6 1/2 inches. These delicate, stylized illustrations are tinted with shades of orange, purple, and green. The first drawing has the title and illustrator’s name, Ausbrey, below it in Russian. The images recount... More
(N.P. Interprint, late 20th century). Quarto. 23pp. One of 300 copies designed by Sarah Janson. This book is dedicated to Nina Vaughan, who died in 1970 at the age of 25, shortly after completing the image around which the story is based. The fantastical picture and the accompanying story, "represents... More
NY: Smith & Haas, 1933. Octavo. First edition. Faulkner's last poetry collection published during his lifetime has a title-page vignette and dust wrapper illustration by Lynd Ward. In A William Faulkner Encyclopedia, Stephen Hahn writes that "The poems in A Green Bough are remarkable for the degree to which they... More
New Orleans: Pelican Bookshop Press, 1926. From a total edition of 400 copies, this is one of 250 numbered copies. First edition, first issue. With illustrations of Sherwood Anderson and other famous Creoles, by William Spratling. Bound in green boards. This copy bears the white label, one of three variants... More
(N.p. Ferguson, William, n.d.). Print measuring 10 1/4 by 13 inches. One of 76 copies. A windmill design in green and brown, with the words "arena," "monte," "cielo," and "nieve" on the four blades. SIgned by the artist. Fine. More
(Hammersmith: Kelmscott Press, 1896). Folio. (556)pp. One of 425 copies. Contains 87 wood-engraved illustrations designed by Sir Edward Burne-Jones. William Morris, in addition to the "Chaucer" type designed expressly for this book, provided 26 nineteen-line initials, and numerous foliate and floral borders and initials. Burne-Jones called the book "a pocket... More
(Decorah, Iowa: Solmentes Press), 2013. Folio. (39)ff. From an edition of thirty copies, this is one of ten deluxe copies in a stunning designer binding of full white pigskin. At the center of the spine extending over both covers sits an acrylic-painted bowl of chili, garnished with spicy sour cream... More
NY: Macmillan and Company, 1894. 12mo. 274pp. A unique copy with beautifully executed original pen and ink drawings throughout showing the sights and landmarks of Shakespeare's country. Profusely illustrated with hand-drawn vignettes of the thatched cottages of Stratford-upon-Avon, landscape vistas of Warwick and Windsor, and other known British locations. The... More
Vancouver: Heavenly Monkey, 2018. Quarto. 63, (ii)pp. One of sixteen copies (Series 1). With four leaves tipped in, two of which originate from George Wither's A Collection of Emblemes, Ancient & Moderne (London, 1635); two are from the Nucleus Emblematum Selectissimorum of Gabriel Rollenhagen, and contain corresponding engravings that also... More
Middletown, CT: Wesleyan Art Laboratory, 1945-1966. A group of nine publications produced by the Wesleyan Art Laboratory. The Art Lab was Wesleyan's first studio art space, begun by Russell T. "Butch" Limbach, who arrived at the university in 1941 as an artist-in-residence. Limbach, whose work had been exhibited throughout the... More
Waltham Saint Lawrence: Golden Cockerel Press, 1926. Small quarto. 15pp. One of 250 numbered copies. The text is illustrated with six wood engravings by Eric Gill. The engravings are beautifully rendered interpretations of scenes from the last day of Jesus's life, from his vigil at the Garden of Gethsemane, to... More
Pasadena, CA: Archetype Press, 2005. Folio. (45)ff. One of 80 copies. Contains thirty-seven illustrations depicting American inventions ranging from the profound (Morse code, cloning, etc.) to the underappreciated (American cheese singles, flyswatter, etc.). Printed using "metal foundry type, wood type, linoleum blocks, laser-cut masonite, and digital polymer plates." Occasionally mixed... More
Flemington, NJ: St. Teresa's Press, 1970. Small quarto. 33pp. One of 125 copies printed on handmade paper. A beautiful book of familiar passages from the prophets, with a hand-illuminated title page and stylized opening initials in gold, silver, and other colors. Printed at the cloistered monastery of St. Teresa, this... More
Great Barrington, MA: Michael McCurdy, 2004. Quarto. One of eight copies. A suite of twenty-five laser prints of drawings by Michael McCurdy, each hand-colored, signed, and numbered by the artist. The drawings were originally done by McCurdy at the request of the University Press of Kansas, which commissioned the artist... More
(Hamburg): Raamin-Presse, 1982. Folio. xxxipp. From an edition of 220 copies, this is one of 40 copies signed by Quadflieg with an additional suite of the illustrations for the historiated initials printed on a single sheet, also signed by Quadflieg. Printed and illustrated with historiated initials by Roswitha Quadflieg. Grimm's... More
Alford, MA: 1962. Small quarto. 28ff. One of forty copies. Etched title page and twenty-six fine etchings by Fink, ranging thematically from portraits to botany to insects. Many of Fink's etchings have a decidedly Baskinesque aesthetic, but Fink's circle centered primarily in New York, where he was friendly with Jack... More
(Nutley, N.J.): Gianettino & Meredith, Inc. 1977. 12mo. (24)pp. From an edition of 275, this is one of fifty lettered copies in a cloth binding, signed by the artist, Jill Karla Schwarz. This humorous holiday list of thirteen "recipes" for turkey was appropriately filed by the author under the heading... More
(Wakefield, Yorkshire): Fleece Press, (1986). Large quarto. (10)pp., + (19)ff. One of 200 copies printed from the original blocks on handmade paper. Illustrated with twenty wood engravings by Underwood that were cut in the 1920s and 1930s. Underwood's Brook Green School produced a great many accomplished wood engravers, among them... More
(Wakefield, Yorkshire): Fleece Press, (1986). Large quarto. (10)pp., + (19)ff. Of an edition of 200 copies, this is one of twelve bound by James Brockman. Printed from the original blocks on handmade paper. Illustrated with twenty wood engravings by Underwood that were cut in the 1920s and 1930s. Underwood's Brook... More
Denby Dale: Fleece Press, (1995). Folio. 80pp. One of 240 copies. When John Buckland Wright died in 1954 his studio contained a number of his engraved woodblocks, mostly those for which he had a particular fondness. This volume publishes "all the engravings of bathers or of women in watery landscapes... More
(Wakefield, West Yorkshire): Fleece Press, 1993. Octavo. 28pp., + 42ff. One of 206 copies. Illustrated with forty-one plates of Buckland Wright's wood engravings, which represent a cross-section of his work in white line and silhouette engraving between 1929 and 1954. Extremely fine in vellum-backed Japanese wood veneer paper boards, housed in publisher's slipcase. More
(c. 1965-1975). Folk art chess set and table. This non-traditional chess set is based on the theory of evolution, with dinosaurs facing off against mammals. The field is alternating squares of brown earth and green & blue ponds. The pawns on each side grow through the early evolutionary stages: the... More
London: W. Bulmer, 1795; 1796. Quarto. Two books bound together in one volume: xx, 76; xv, vii, 126pp. First editions thus. With a fore-edge painting by the "double-line" painter depicting the pastoral village of Lissoy where Oliver Goldsmith spent his youth, standing in for the pseudonymous town of Auburn in... More
NY: Dodd, Mead, 1899. Three quarto volumes. xxvi, 330pp. From an edition of 268, this is one of thirty copies on Imperial Japon. In addition, this is a unique copy with an extra set of the 126 color photogravure plates printed on white satin and backed in celadon silk. The... More
