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
Boston: Damrell & Moore, 1854. 12mo. (8)ff. An 1850’s advertising pamphlet, printed by Damrell & Moore for the Oak Hall Clothing House in Boston. Contains a group of poems about the advantages of shopping at this “unrivalled emporium for gentlemen’s, youth’s, & little children’s ready-made clothing.” With seventeen wood engravings..... More
Florence, Italy: Michael Angelino Press, (c. 1930s). Small quarto. 264pp. With woodcut cover illustration and five erotic, half-tone reproductions of paintings by Mahlon Blaine. This book is part of the swelling trend in the 1930s for "privately printed" erotic books, which would often be published by anonymous or pseudonymous authors..... More
California: Ettan Press, 1978. Octavo. 17pp. One of 90 copies. Six color engravings by von Mengershausen, all numbered and signed with the artist's monogram. These illustrations, with earthy colors washed over classical imagery - a bas-relief, an amphitheater, statuary, and geological outcroppings - emphasize Holderlin's belief in the connection between..... More
(Oakland: Eucalyptus Press, 1989). Folio. (6)ff. One of seventeen copies. Illustrated throughout with linoleum block prints altered so that the images in each book are slightly different. One two-page spread depicts the foolish villagers peeking over the edge of the soup pot with surprised expressions on their faces. Printed, illustrated..... More
Zurich: Quaterino Verlag Luzern, 2013. Small quarto. 286pp. With facsimile illustrations of the manuscript, which is Zentralbibliothek Zurich, Ms. Rh. 167, along with close-up shots and other diagrams relevant to the particular essays on the manuscripts various features and history. Bound in full burgundy cloth with gilt stamping, along with..... More
Leipzig: Pavla Riube, (c. 1880). Small quarto. 8pp., + six plates laid in throughout. The chromolithographed images illustrate the major events of the story commonly known to English-speaking audiences as "Sleeping Beauty," from the princess's birth, to the pricking of her finger on the spindle, and, finally, to her reawakening..... 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
Praha [Prague]: Technologicko-Prumyslovým Museem [Technological Industrial Museum], 1914. 16mo. (v), 10, (4)pp. A student production, heavily ornamented with Cubist design principles, including three initials, a woodcut illustration, black decorative borders, fully illustrated endpapers, and an spectacular gilt cover design. The raw, saturated decorations reflect the weight of the book's text..... 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
Mission, BC: Barbarian Press, 1994. Small quarto. (384)pp. From an edition of 430 copies, this is one of 250 in quarter cloth with patterned paper covers. Essays on wood engraving in Canada and in the USA are followed by approximately 150 examples of the artists' work. Text, including biographical notes..... More
Seattle: Grey Spider Press, 1992. Oblong octavo. (26)ff. One of 75 copies, signed by the artist, Michael Dal Cerro. An illustrated alphabet, with woodcuts by Dal Cerro. The words and images chosen are nature-themed and carry a strong environmentalist message. Printed and bound by Chris Stern in green cloth, with..... More
(London): Gogmagog Press, 1968. Octavo. (43)pp., frenchfold. One of twenty-six copies printed and signed by Morris Cox. Contains thirty-four "nature prints," actually made with plastic and gesso, with results resembling the vein patterns of leaves, which Chambers refers to as "a notable modern exploration of nature-printing." The title is printed..... More
(London): Gogmagog Press, 1962. Octavo. (24)pp., frenchfold. One of fifty copies printed and signed by Morris Cox. Contains fifteen black and white satirical prints illustrating awkward moments, with captions in red. Near fine in linen-covered boards with printed spine label. (Chambers 8). More
Northampton, MA: Gehenna Press, 1969. Folio. (70)pp. From an edition of 200 copies, this is an out-of-series printer's copy inscribed by Leonard Baskin to Arno Werner, who bound the book. One of the major productions of Baskin's Gehenna Press. Illustrated with ten etchings by Baskin, nine of which are signed..... More
Flansham: Greenleaf Press, (1915). 16mo. (16)pp. Inscribed, "With best wishes from the folk at Flansham. Xmas 1915," and illustrated with nine tipped-in engravings. The publication and illustrations were done by Stuart, Robin, and John Guthrie, the sons of James Guthrie of the Pear Tree Press. This is the first book..... More
(Boston: Godine Press, c. 1970). Framed etching measuring 11 by 8 inches. One of an unknown number of copies; the edition was probably no greater than 200. An image of an early flying machine crashed and abandoned in a field of clover, printed in green with a caption printed in..... More
London: Clover Hill Editions, 1977. Quarto. 30, (5)pp. One of 80 copies, printed by Will Carter at the Rampant Lions Press on Barcham Green handmade paper, watermarked "Clover Hill." Illustrated with ten wood engravings by David Jones, this title is considered by many to be the artist's most important work..... More
Santa Barbara, CA: Simplemente Maria Press, 2019. Square octavo. (6)ff. booklet, + fourteen-panel accordion. One of twenty-five copies, signed by the illustrator, Mary Heebner, and the author, Stephen Kessler. The accordion pairs images from Heebner's collage series, Veiled/Unveiled, with lines of the poem "Cassandra," printed letterpress. The images are individually..... More
Portland, ME: Ascensius Press, 1989. Octavo. (viii), 37, (4)pp. One of fifty copies. Signed by the author, Kenneth Rosen, and the artist, Richard Wilson, at the colophon. Wilson's compelling woodcuts illustrate Rosen's lauded poems, underscoring their wit and emotion with sharp lines and deep blacks. An extra suite of the..... More
(Buxton, ME): Ascensius Press, 2020. Folio. (23)pp. One of twenty-six copies, this being one of the twenty of the regular edition. Frontispiece monoprint of a looming axe by Pixley. A warm edition, with numbers in brown and borders at head in gray and green, reflective of the familiar vigor of..... More
(Buxton, ME): Ascensius Press, 2020. Folio. (23)pp. One of twenty-six copies, this being one of the six of the deluxe edition. Frontispiece monoprint of a looming axe by Pixley. A warm edition, with numbers in brown and borders at head in gray and green, reflective of the familiar vigor of..... 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
NY: Vincent FitzGerald & Co., 1987. Quarto. (17)ff. One of 75 copies, signed by the translator, Michael Feingold, and the artist, Neil Welliver, whose five color etchings and double-page fold-out lithograph were printed by Shigemitsu Tsukaguchi. The translator served as the lead drama critic for the Village Voice until it..... More
