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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NY: Targ Editions, 1982. One of 250 copies. With a signed frontispiece by Gorey, and inscribed by the author, D. R. Bensen, to the noted book collector Stuart B. Schimmel. Bound in purple cloth with a translucent glassine dust wrapper, which is illustrated with four different-colored images by Gorey. Small... More
NY: Gotham Book Mart, 1971. First edition. One of twenty-six lettered copies, signed by Gorey. A suspenseful, nonsensical tale intended “to make all serious men mad, mad, mad, and to amuse children little little little.” Slight toning to spine and rear wrapper. Overall, nearly fine in illustrated wrappers. (Toledano B49a)... More
NY: Gotham Book Mart, 1973. One of 100 deluxe copies, signed by the artist, Edward Gorey, and specially bound. A Gorey favorite, with fifty numbered cats, pictured in color, and posed in various settings and manners. Cat number thirty-one wears a striped scarf and stands on the seat of a.... More
Worcester, MA: Metacom Press, 1989. Tall, thin quarto, measuring 11 1/4 by 2 1/4 inches. (4)ff., (or 36, depending on how you count). One of 500 copies signed by Gorey. This unusual cut-figure book follows two characters, V and W, who resemble salt and pepper shakers and experience changeable fates... More
NY: Albondocani Press, 1986. First edition. One of 300 copies, signed by the author. This collection of comically desolate scenes includes such settings as "An unsuccessful vista" and "A less than ornamental pond." Rocks, hedges, plants, and stones become "objects of pity." Very fine in illustrated wrappers. (Toledano A92b). More
NY: Gotham Book Mart, 1973. First printing. One of 100 numbered copies in a special binding. Ballet was a subject very close to Gorey's heart, and this book was written in celebration of the New York City Ballet's 50th season. Spine has a bit of toning, which is a result... More
Cambridge, MA: Halty-Ferguson, 1980. First edition. One of 400 copies, signed by Edward Gorey. A selection of urns designed to hold all manner of things, from croquet balls and cartes de visite to flotsam and vapours. Fine in illustrated wrappers. (Toledano A80b). More
NY: Albondocani Press, 1983. First edition. One of 400 copies, signed by Edward Gorey. A disconcerting little book without any words, only unsettling images of people with shriveled prunes for their heads. Very fine in illustrated wrappers. (Toledano A88b). More
NY: Congdon & Weed, 1982. First edition. Signed by Gorey. The tale relates a "curious culinary adventure...and an instance of startling Sensibility," complete with familiar Gorey characters in fur coats and patterened frocks. Book shows scant rubbing to edges, in original dust wrapper, slightly rubbed and with minor tear. Near... More
NY: Abrams, 1996. First edition. Contains an interview with Gorey, analysis by art critic Karen Wilkin, and 200 illustrations. Very fine in illustrated dust wrapper. More
NY: Gotham Book Mart, 1974. Large oblong octavo. (9)pp. First illustrated edition. One of 1,000 copies, signed by Gorey on the title page. Illustrated throughout in black & white. Corner of one page slightly creased, else a fine copy in tan wrappers. (Toledano B59c). More
Boston, MA: Earthlight Gallery, 1980. Poster for the exhibition of paintings and drawings by fantasy artists Barry Windsor-Smith and Robert Gould at the Earthlight Gallery in Boston. The exhibit was held from November 22 through December 31, 1980. The exhibit poster features the illustration "The Head of Perseus" by Windsor-Smith... More
San Francisco: Book Club of California, 1959-1965. Folio. Four volumes: "Figure Prints of Old Japan." 1959. (110)ff., + 52 plates. One of 400 copies. "Landscape Prints of Old Japan." 1960. (110)ff., + 50 plates. One of 450 copies. "Ukiyo-e: The Floating World." 1962. (92)ff., + 28 plates. One of 400... More
A collection of sixteen vibrant watercolor designs by Vernon Grant for an apparently unpublished children's book called "The Two Elves." Grant was one of the most popular illustrators of the mid-20th century, and his distinctive whimsical style influenced many of his contemporaries, including Walt Disney. Grant is perhaps best known... More
(San Francisco: Richard A. Gleeson Library, 1970). Large quarto. French-folded single sheet. Sketch of the poet Robert Graves to the front cover. On the interior, the printed text faces a facsimile of the original, handwritten poem. Printed by Lawton and Alfred Kennedy and presented to the joint meeting of hte... More
(c. 1895). A wooden folding fan with a printed satin leaf showing three scenes of children at play, illustrated in the style of Kate Greenaway. The image is in muted shades of red, pink, green, blue, and orange and depicts boys and girls in typical Greenaway period dress of bonnets... More
(Berkeley): Rasmussen Press, 1974. 81pp. One of 200 copies, this one being an unnumbered gift edition inscribed "To Doris- In memory of K.G." Illustrated with five sets of verses and drawings compiled by Lucile Rasmussen from those published in the Ladies' Home Journal, which were never published in book form... More
London: Medici Society, (1970). Small folio. (266) pp. One of 1050 copies signed by Francis Russell Flint, the artist's son. This richly illustrated work covers the varied career of this Scots artist, perhaps best known for his work with the Riccardi Press. It was published on what would have been... More
North Wales: Gregynog Press, 1991. Folio. 72pp. One of 450 copies. Contains a frontispiece portrait of the author and seven more large wood engravings in color by Gaylord Schanilec. Cut with exquisite precision, and printed in deep, strong colors, this suite of realistic illustrations suits the powerful sequence of Civil... More
Paris: Moreau, (1983). Oblong 12mo. (26) pp. Illustrated by Baltazar. From an edition of 220 copies, this is one of forty signed by the author and by the illustrator, and handcolored. Reproduced entirely by serigraphy, the text is from the author's own manuscript. The abstract black and white illustrations have... More
(Lexington, KY: Anvil Press, 1979). Quarto. (12)pp., (37)ff. One of 50 copies printed in American Uncial on Canson paper. A compilation of 36 plates printed from blocks cut or engraved by Victor Hammer. Several plates are hand-colored and all are tipped-in. Book compiled and designed by Carolyn R. Hammer and... More
1785. Handwritten and hand-illustrated broadside. This broadside, adorned with flourishes in brown ink and a center illustration in full color, presents Castle's scornful opinion of gambling. It begins with a short definition of gaming—"The Diversion of Cards and Dice"—followed by the warning that it is an activity leading to "Avarice"... More
London: Rainbow Press, 1975. First edition. One of 150 copies signed by the author. With full page two-color illustrations by Barrie Cooke. Handsomely printed early limited edition prints eight poems thematically related to Heaney's poetic pursuit of the archaeology of Ireland's violent past. These poems were published a month ahead... More
Dublin: Hieroglyph Editions Ltd, 1991. First edition. From an edition of 100 copies, this is one of 60 that were offered for sale. Illustrated with four lithographs by Felim Egan, who designed the book. Signed by Heaney and Egan. This is the first separate appearance of twelve poems from the... More
Dublin: Andrew Carpenter, 1979. First edition. From an edition of 125, this is one of 30 copies issued in black morocco and offered for sale. Illustrated with two lithographs by Louis Le Brocquy. Signed by Heaney, Le Brocquy, Liam Miller the designer, and the publisher, Andrew Carpenter. The book was... More
