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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London: Griffith & Farran, 1876. Quarto. 21pp. Illustrations and text printed together anastatically. Kemp's elaborate calligraphy and illustrations imbue her rhymes with whimsy, making them more worthy of the category of fairy tale rather than nursery rhyme. Exceedingly rare. Bound in red cloth stamped in black and gold. Light soiling..... More
Buenos Aires: Editorial Sudamericana, 1939. Four quarto vols. (26); (28); (24); (26)pp. A collection of four children's titles, each robustly illustrated with vibrant color images by Ballester Peña. The titles are: 1. Historia del General San MartÃn. An approachable retelling of José de San MartÃn's heroics in the liberation of..... More
NY: Frederick A. Stokes Company, 1932. Octavo. 31pp. The twenty-seven pages of text are joined by twenty-seven reproduced drawings by Vivier, who illustrates scenes from President Lincoln's life in his characteristic silhouette style. Both the images and the text evoke Lincoln the legend as much as Lincoln the man. Bound..... More
Yorkshire: Taylors Printers, (c. 1930). Six vibrant posters advertising pantomime shows with familiar titles: Goldilocks, Red Riding Hood, Aladdin, Babes in the Wood, Jack and the Beanstalk, and Mother Goose. For all except Babes in the Wood and Mother Goose, the story's protagonist, regardless of gender, has been replaced by..... More
Guildford: Circle Press, 1986. Small folio. (36)pp., french-fold. From an edition of 80 copies, this one is designated "A.P." Signed by the illustrator, Ronald King, and the poet, Roy Fisher. Illustrated in color with numerous photo-collage vignettes, seven tableaux from drawings, and twelve movable puppet designs by King. The puppets..... More
Paris: La Bibliotheque de Arts, 1968. Quarto. 130pp. Of an edition of 600 copies, this is one of 40 with two original engravings numbered signed by Ciry. In this copy, one engraving is of Salome, completed in 1949, and the other is of Saint Sebastian, completed in 1950. The catalog..... More
(Novato, CA): Marcie Collin, 1972. (18)pp. One of fifty copies. Woodcuts printed in pink face each page of the lyrics of this old French song. Bound in quarter blue paper with neon pink marbled papers over boards and woodcut to paper label at upper cover. Sunning to spine, else near..... More
London: A. Park, c. 1840. Quarto. 6ff. First and last page pasted to inside covers. Illustrated with sixteen handcolored lithographed engravings, presumably by the publisher, Arthur Park, an engraver, lithographer, and artist who produced figures and scenes for juvenile toy theaters. He emigrated to America in 1842. Part of the..... More
Bath, PA: Little Farm Press, 1990. (12)pp. One of 200 copies, printed to commemorate Conclave VIII of the Miniature Book Society, which took place in Glasgow. Signed by the publisher, Jane Conneen. A hand-colored thistle appears on the title page and on every verso of this bonny wee book. Bound..... More
Zurich: J. H. Locher, (c. 1848). 48mo. (21)ff. accordion-fold. A panorama of color illustrations for each of the twenty-two Swiss cantons. Each image depicts Swiss citizens in traditional garb and at work or leisure characteristic to their canton; two cantons, Valais and Tessin, share an illustration. Date derived from the..... More
(France / China: c. 1900). Octavo. (22)pp. Album of Chinese landscapes in original watercolors, facing depictions of women's antique costumes painted on silk, interleaved with tissue. "Chinoiserie" refers to European art characterized by imagery of a romanticized China, a notion that similarly underpins the genre of costume books, which presented..... More
1965. An original abstract painting signed and dated by the artist, Morris Cox, measuring 37 by 23 inches. Executed in acrylic on masonite in a palette of green, red, blue, and black, the image suggests a mountain range and setting sun with a crashing wave in the foreground. Framed in..... More
Gogmagog Press. 18 by 23 inches. Acrylic on Masonite, with oil glaze and wax varnish. Predominately in yellows and blues, showing a woman's face and her hand holding a posy of sunflowers. The outlines are incised, and the centers of the flowers are built up in relief. Framed to 20..... More
London: Gogmagog Press, (1977). Octavo. (30)pp., frenchfold. One of 90 copies printed on handmade mingei paper, and signed by the author/artist. Illustrated with four dramatic two-page colored intaglio prints by Cox, showing Victorian death scenes, two of them somewhat surrealist in influence. Cox's poems offer a modern twist on sentimental..... More
NY: Century Co., (c. 1933). Octavo. (x), 246pp. Copiously illustrated by Palmer Cox. This was the first adventure of the Brownies written in prose, and it is advertised as having "a detailed, connected story, with a beginning, a middle and an end." A later issue, with the text, binding, and..... More
(Weimar): Cranach Press, 1931. Tall octavo. 32, (2)pp. From the French edition of 164 copies, this is one of 50 on Japon. Printed in blue and black, and illustrated throughout with eleven wood engravings and decorative initials by Eric Gill. This ancient dialogue between the Bride and Groom is one..... More
Detroit: Cranbrook Press, 1901. Small quarto. (viii), 108pp. Illustrated throughout with colored and illuminated initials and borders featuring a sweeping color pallette, all crafted after those found in books and missals from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Interspersed are engraved portraits of notable printers and designers, from Gutenberg to William..... More
London: Cresset Press, 1930. Small quarto. xxiii, (i), 133, (2)pp. One of 350 copies. Fully illustrated title page and twelve additional color stenciled illustrations, one for each month, by John Nash. A faithful reproduction of Spenser's cycle of eclogues, heralding both the agrarian bliss of the turning of the year..... More
(Ditchling, East Sussex): 1930. Watercolor over pencil on paper. A devoted image of Saint Gertrude meditating on St. Paul's letter to the Ephesians. Not to be confused with Gertrude the Great, this is Gertrude of Nivelles, seventh-century abbess and founder of the Abbey of Nivelles, who is remembered for her..... More
(Thetford, VT): Cricket Press, 1965. Quarto. (12)ff. One of twenty-two copies. Subtitled "The First Miracle, John 2," the book tells the story of the Wedding at Cana. The text is printed in red, and faces the tipped-in illustrations. Heavily influenced by Leonard Baskin's early work, there are nine exquisitely fine..... 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
(Havana): 1893. Broadside dinner menu printed on yellow silk with hand-embroidery at head. Mounted at top to larger, folded piece of red silk, hand-embroidered with "Mr. R. A. C. Smith." The menu begins with a statement announcing the dinner's honoree: "The Phoenix Tourists, / - to - / Mr. R...... More
London: Sampson Low, Son, and Marston, 1870. 16mo. iii, (1), 199pp. Engraved portrait of Napoleon at title page, along with head- and tailpieces throughout the text. Third edition. Resplendant in a Cosway binding by Rivière & Son in full blue morocco with a matching design to both covers: gilt rule..... More
Chelsea: (Southernwood Press, c. 1915). Small quarto. (23)ff. One of thirty copies printed on handmade paper. Illustrated throughout by Josephine Winser. The drawings illustrate popular nursery rhymes, including Humpty Dumpty, Baa Baa Black Sheep, Jack & Jill, and Sing a Song of Sixpence. Children take center stage in these depictions..... More
Sherman Oaks, CA: Joseph J. D'Ambrosio, 1982. Octavo. (21)ff. One of fifty copies. Signed by D'Ambrosio at the title page, as well as below each of the four original serigraphs that comprise the book's central section, "Ladies of the Garden." Illustrated throughout with images of flora as backdrops to the..... More
