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
Oakland, CA: Karl Kardel Co., 1974. Broadside measuring 24 by 18 1/4 inches. One of 1,850 copies. Designed by California artist David Lance Goines and printed in 8 colors, this advertisement for Karl Kardel Co. features a bumblebee over an ochre background. The design was inspired by an unknown philosopher's..... 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
(London): Golden Cockerel Press, 1945. Quarto. 92pp. One of 500 copies. Six engravings by Webb, illustrating various military exploits and battles recounted in the text. The original work, titled Gesta Francorum et Aliorum Hierosolimitanorum, was the diary of a cavalry officer in Asia Minor, Syria, and Palestine. The original mauscript..... More
(London): Golden Cockerel Press, 1934. Tall octavo. (16)pp. One of 500 numbered copies. Illustrated with one full-page wood engraving and a four-line initial capital by Gill. This edition of Gill's "sermon," reflecting on the 136th Psalm, marks the first use of Gill's Perpetua Roman and Felicity Italic typefaces. Bound in..... More
London: Golden Cockerel Press, 1952. Tall quarto. 80pp. From an edition of 360 copies, this is one of 60 deluxe copies, signed by the artist, John Buckland Wright, and the author, Phyllis Hartnoll. Illustrated by Buckland Wright with eight aquatints, printed from the copper plates. Only the deluxe copies had..... More
(Waltham Saint Lawrence): Golden Cockerel Press, 1928. Quarto. 101pp. One of 500 copies. Illustrated with wood engravings and all but two initial capitals by Robert Gibbings. The remaining two capitals—“Lamia” on the title page and “IT” on page 18—were engraved by Eric Gill. A fine copy of what the Press..... More
Waltham Saint Lawrence: Golden Cockerel Press, 1931. Octavo. 66pp. One of 500 copies, signed by Powys. Five intertextual wood engravings by Nash. Backed in blue morocco with pattered paper covers. Spine somewhat sunned, faint edgewear, else near fine. (Chanticleer 76). More
(London): Golden Cockerel Press, 1948. Tall octavo. 28pp. From an edition of 750, this is one of 100 copies specially bound and with an extra engraving. The twelve engravings by John Buckland Wright, with their supple lines and rich settings, perfectly complement Swinburne’s long erotic poem. In full sienna morocco..... More
(London): Goode Bros. c. 1875. (47)pp. Illustrated throughout with black & white lithographs, this little book includes excerpts from several Old Testament stories. In dark violet gilt-stamped wrappers. An unusually fine copy. (Bondy 162). (2 1/4 by 1 5/8; 58x40mm.). More
Boston: Bromer Booksellers, 1996. Small quarto. 26 pp. From an edition of 2,000 copies, this is one of 200 copies signed and numbered by Edward Gorey. Bromer special holiday catalog with previously unpublished, full-color cover design by Gorey, who created the artwork originally for a Nieman Marcus holiday catalogue. When..... 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
1979. First edition. A set of thirteen postcards. Each card features a creature interpreting amusing adjectives starting with the letter "I", such as "Indecency", "Inquisitiveness", and "Ineptitude". Housed in an envelope, toned at edges, else near fine. (Toledano A75b). More
c. 1964. Four sheets, three of which measure 8 1/2 by 11 inches; the single sheet of text is smaller, measuring 8 by 6 inches, and is on blue paper. The pages reveal the unfolding of Gorey's creative process in developing the story and preliminary illustrations for his book, The..... More
San Francisco: Pomegranate, 2003. First edition. Signed by Kevin McDermott, who is responsible for the text and photographs, and John Updike, who wrote the Foreword. A visually stunning tour of Gorey's home, with McDermott's writing describing each room and its function, along with anecdotes about Gorey. Cloth binding in fine..... More
NY: Young Scott, 1967. First edition. Signed by Gorey. A lively retelling of some of the most well-known fables from the American South. Spot of soiling to spine, else near fine in illustrated library binding, as issued. (Toledano B31a). 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. Faint toning to edges of covers, else near fine 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
San Francisco: Grabhorn Press, 1953. Small quarto. (vi), 191pp. One of 180 copies printed in French Lettre Bâtarde on handmade paper. Illustrated with six striking color woodcuts by Mary Grabhorn. The most beautiful of the Grabhorn Press Shakespeare series. Slight separation at title page gutter, faint foxing to one page..... More
NY: E. P. Dutton and Company, (c. 1870's). 16mo. (62)pp., including illustrations and advertisements. Part of the "Our Boy's Little Library" series. Copiously illustrated with nearly forty black & white engravings and sixteen three-line initials. Artists include noted English engravers Kate Greenaway, Robert Paterson, William Luson Thomas, and George Pearson..... 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
(Newtown): Gregynog Press, 1929. Quarto. 189pp. One of 225 copies. Ornamented throughout with initial capitals, calligraphed by Horace Bray, printed in red and blue. Four of the psalms, as well as the title-page, show extra decoration by Bray, with wood-engraved flowering vines printed in red and black. Bound in half-morocco..... 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
Categorey, Pomegranate, n.d. Donald and the..., Abrams, 2004. Dracula Toy Theater, Pomegranate, n.d. Eclectic Abecedarium, Pomegranate, n.d. The Gashlycrumb Tinies, signed label, Harcourt, 1997. The Iron Tonic, Harcourt, n.d. The Unstrung Harp, Harcourt, 1999. The Wuggly Ump, Adama, 1963. More
The Curious Sofa, Harcourt, 1997. The Eclectic Abecedarium, Pomegranate, n.d. Donald Has a Difficulty, Abrams, 2004. The Gashlycrumb Tinies, Harcourt, 1997. The Gilded Bat, Pomegranate, n.d. The Twelve Terrors of Christmas, Pomegranate, 2006. The Unstrung Harp, Harcourt, 1999. More
