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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(The Netherlands: c. 1890). A late nineteenth-century chromolithographed and embossed Dutch postcard, measuring 5 3/8 by 3 1/2 inches (137x88mm). The postcard is made up of two layers, between which spin three wheels printed with the days of the week, dates, and months. The front of the card shows three... More about Mechanical Perpetual Calendar Postcard
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 about Oak Hall Pictorial
Zurich: Maison Kratz, 1956. Lithographic print measuring 23 1/4 by 18 7/8 inches. One of 200 numbered copies, this one signed by the artist, with his name incorporated into a small drawing of a bull's head, and inscribed vertically, "For Martin Oberstein cordially 30 12 56." The lithograph is printed... More about "Les Enfants de L'Artiste"
(Campden: Essex House Press, 1904). Octavo. 22pp. One of 150 copies printed on vellum. The twelfth of the "Great Poems" series published by the Press. Illustrated with a hand-colored frontispiece and colophon device by C. R. Ashbee, and illuminated with initials throughout in blue, red, green, and gilt by Miss... More about Goldsmith's Deserted Village
(London: Essex House Press, 1901). 16mo. 400pp. One of 250 copies printed under the care of C.R. Ashbee. With a wood-engraved pictorial frontispiece by Reginald Savage, and numerous initials surrounded by flowers called "pinks," designed by Ashbee. Woolman, an eighteenth-century New Jersey Quaker, advocated the simple and unostentatious life, and... More about A Journal of the Life and Services of John Woolman
(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 about Chili Recipe
Grasmere: The Wordsworth Trust, 2007. Small quarto. 376pp. One of 200 copies. Frontispiece and thirteen additional watercolors by Esslemont. Wordsworth's spiritual autobiography, presented in epic style, receives reverent treatment. Though it is, as Wordsworth's final line states, "of substance and of fabric more divine" than that which shapes and binds... More about The Prelude
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 about Der Archipelagus
(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 about Stone Soup
(Santa Cruz): Lime Kiln Press, 1981. Folio. 37pp. One of 115 copies printed, illustrated, and signed by William Everson. This book was Everson's final offering as Master Printer of the Lime Kiln Press. Illustrated with two woodcuts, and printed in black with red and blue initials on paper specially made... More about American Bard. Being the Preface to the First Edition of Leaves of Grass Now Restored to its...
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 about Cinquante Fables pour les Enfants
(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 about Original Drawings for "The Fox and the Stork"
(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 about Fairy Tale. A Picture by Nina Vaughan
Milan: Ing. C. Olivetti & C., 1978. Quarto. lxx, (36), 109, (5)pp. One of 250 copies. From the series "Documenti sulle arti de libro", of which this is number twelve. A studious discussion of manuscripts, with Bussi's introduction in Italian followed by facsimile manuscript pages and transliterations in Latin. Bound... More about Prefazioni alle Edizioni di Sweynheym e Pannartz
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 about Der Rheinaur Psalter
Tokyo: Kodansha International Ltd., 1971. Oblong quarto. 154, (7)pp. One of 1500 copies. A thorough academic and artistic discussion of the Genji Scroll, which is generally considered the Eastern equivalent in historical significance and exemplary craftsmanship to the Bayeux Tapestry. The production of the book reflects, as much as it... More about The Tale of the Genji Scroll
Leipzig: Pavla Riube, (c. 1880). Small quarto. 8pp. plus six plates laid in throughout. The chromolithographed plates illustrate the stages of the story, commonly known to American audiences as "Sleeping Beauty", from the princess' birth, to the pricking of her finger on the spindle, to her reawakening by the prince... More about Spiashchaia Tsarevna [The Sleeping Princess
(France: c. 1850). 48mo. 16ff. accordion-fold. Each page with an engraved illustration, hand colored with details precisely illuminated in gold. The story follows the brutal, cannibalistic terror of a local ogre, who is finally slain by a valiant French knight. Bound in protective boards covered in red brocade paper, with... More about Tale of the Death of an Ogre
London: Golden Cockerel Press, 1961. Quarto. 147pp. One of 500 copies. The illustrations by Carlile "are in the traditional eighteenth century style of Bengal, sharp white lines on a black background, overprinted in brown." Bound in gilt-stamped brown cloth. Faint toning to top of upper cover, minimal rubbing to corners... More about Folk Tales and Fairy Stories from India
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 about A Green Bough
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 about Sherwood Anderson & Other Famous Creoles: A Gallery of Contemporary New Orleans
(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 about Para un Molinero de Vientos
(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 about The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer now Newly Imprinted
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 about Shakespeare's England
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 about 26 Etchings by Shelly Fink
