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
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
(Rockport, ME): Gehenna Press, 1998. Folio. (65)pp. From an edition of fifty, this is one of ten deluxe copies, accompanied by a page of Hecht's manuscript, three watercolor drawings by Baskin, one of the original woodcut blocks, and a suite of woodcuts printed in black with several hand-colored by Baskin..... More
Northampton, MA: Gehenna Press, 1972. Quarto. (14)ff. One of thirty-five copies. Signed by Baskin at the colophon. Eight etchings, each signed and numbered in pencil, all depicting figures formed after the fashion of Roman boundary markers. These stele, with the exception of the bird marker, preserve perhaps the most human..... More
(Leeds, MA): Gehenna Press, 1989. Quarto. (13)pp, (25)ff. One of thirty-eight copies. A collection of etchings of cats by the Italian artist Anna Maria Bartolini, some of which are printed on pink mulberry paper and tipped in. All are signed by the artist in graphite. Some of the cats are..... More
Northampton, MA: Gehenna Press, 1973. Folio. (68)ff. According to the Gehenna Press bibliography, from a planned edition of 400, including 150 deluxe copies with extra suites and 250 regular copies, only the latter regular edition copies were ever realized. However, this copy, oddly, is marked at the colophon with Roman..... More
(Chicago): Starshaped Press, 2017. Square quarto. (6)ff. One of fifty copies, signed by the artist, Jennifer Farrell. Letterpress-printed illustrations of girls formed from type ornaments accompany lyrics from songs by The Bodysnatchers, The Jam, Alex Chilton, and MC Lyte to present empowered, confident figures from subcultures that reappropriated the term..... More
Bob Ziering, 2009. Pastel on paper. Signed and dated by the artist, Bob Ziering. Exploratory artwork for the gay 2010 American short film Curious Thing directed by Alain Hain. This bold, emotional piece is Ziering at his most authentic; a celebrated commercial illustrator, it was only after more than forty..... More
Prague, Czechoslovakia and Vestal, NY: Robert Marx and Ivan Ruzicka, 1966. Octavo. (28)ff. One of twenty-five copies, signed by the artist, Robert Marx, and the translator and binder, Ivan Ruzicka, below the colophon, and initialled by Marx on the title page. Marx’s etched portraits of old women, all numbered and..... More
(Sacramento, CA): Deconstructed Artichoke Press, 2012. As much a love letter to baseball as an admonition of its cultural shortcomings, Thompson’s prose poem follows a softball player’s discovery of herself and of the gender bias in the game she adores. The text is loaded with as many questions as answers..... More
(Vancouver, B.C.): Heavenly Monkey, 2012. Octavo. 6ff. One of two artist's proof copies out of a total edition of fifty. Includes frontispiece and colophon illustrations, each reproducing one of the artist's original photograms as a photogravure; in the regular edition, each copy received only one of these. The second in..... More
(Rheinbach, Germany: John Gerard, 2005). Small quarto. (40)pp. One of twenty copies, signed by the artist. Each letter of this alphabet is scrawled in black over and over to fill the text area defined by Tschichold's canon of page construction, which is printed in red on every page. An interesting..... More
Victoria, Australia: 2010. Square 32mo. (14)pp., accordion-fold, decorated on both sides of the page. An original artist's book by Jennifer Gibney, with hand-drawn text and pen illustrations in black, sepia, and sanguine ink, housed within a hand-painted and decorated wooden box. The story concerns a jester-like character who is overwhelmed..... More
1928. Engraved print by Eric Gill illustrating a celebratory Christmas card for 1928. Affixed to cardstock. Fine. (Printed sheet measures 5 1/2 by 3 3/8; 141x86mm). More
(Pigotts: Rene Hague & Eric Gill, 1930). 24mo. (8)pp. One of 225 copies. The first piece of letterpress printing produced by René Hague and Eric Gill, copies of this booklet were distributed privately. The tale of Amnon's rape of his half-sister Tamar actually appeared in the Second Book of Samuel..... More
Capel-y-ffin, Abergavenny: Francis Walterson, 1927. Octavo. (vii), 46pp. One of 200 copies printed at the Shakespeare Head Press for Francis Walterson, signed by both Eric Gill and David Jones. This was the only book to be issued signed by the two. Illustrated with a frontispiece engraved by David Jones titled..... More
London: Jonathan Cape, 1931. Octavo. viii, 200pp. Illustrated with ten wood engravings by Eric Gill: three full-page, five half-page, and an ornamental device. Spine faded, else very good in green cloth. Laid in is a silhouette woodcut, signed by Gill, titled "Dumb-Driven Cattle." First produced in 1915, the woodcut was..... More
London: Sheed & Ward, (1931). Octavo. iv, 121 pp. First edition. One of 500 copies signed by Eric Gill and Rene Hague and printed by Hague & Gill. This is a presentation copy, inscribed on the colophon. Illustrated with twenty-five figures, including ten type specimens and four illustrations from wood..... More
London: Faber & Faber, 1933. 16mo. 32pp. Gill's opening engraving, "The Leisure State," hints toward his larger expostulary theme of labor and specifically the displacement of human work as a result of machinery. Gill expands his thesis to encompass the impact of unemployment on society at large, including its ramifications..... More
Paris: Louis Janet, (c. 1830). 48mo. 48pp., + engraved title page and six plates of engravings. A collection of titularly genteel love poetry, mostly penned by “Bernard,” whose brief biography appears as an introduction. The inserted plates show lovers in pastoral settings. Bound in a glass binding, with spine and..... More
Paris: Louis Janet, (c. 1820). 48mo. (ii), 48, (24)pp., + 6 plates. Engraved plates, title-page image, and decorative borders adorn this selection of pastoral and romantic poems. Throughout each verse are images of the lush French countryside, underscoring the expansive spiritual and emotional longing between lovers. After the poems is..... More
London: Gogmagog Press, (1965-66). Four small octavo volumes, each (26)pp. One of 100 copies printed on Hosho paper, signed by the artist/printer Morris Cox. Each volume contains a colorful panorama of nature printed from heavily textured blocks, which give the offset prints an embossed effect. The changing seasons appear in..... More
Pinner: Private Libraries Association, 1991. Two octavo volumes. 184pp; (26)ff. From an edition of 1650 copies, this is one of three special copies printed for the authors, signed by Morris Cox and with a second volume of twenty-six specimen leaves. Inscribed by Colin Franklin. Contains a selection of the writings..... More
London: Gogmagog Press, 1967. Small octavo. (28)pp., frenchfold. From an edition of 100 copies, this is one of 40 bound in Hana-asa paper, reserved for members of The Society of Private Printers. Signed by Cox and printed on Japanese handmade paper. Fourteen spare three-line poems, illustrated with three offset prints..... 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. From an edition of fifty copies printed and signed by Morris Cox, this is one of eleven out-of-series copies. Contains fifteen black & white satirical prints illustrating awkward moments, with captions in red. Spine cocked, else near fine in patterned paper boards with..... More
