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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Tokyo: Kodansha International, (1977). Quarto. 264pp. Illustrated throughout in color and black & white. An introductory reference book of Japanese printing up to 1868, with a glossary and an index of the most important artists and works. Fine in quarter yellow and blue cloth, with title in silver to spine... More
(London): Sotheby's Publications, (1987). Quarto. 2 volumes. 1-608; 609-1131pp., numbered continuously. Illustrated with 225 color plates and numerous black & white illustrations throughout. This detailed reference work also contains a glossary and indexes of works and authors. Hillier was the leading authority in Europe on the Japanese woodblock print, working... More
NY: Weatherhill, (1995). Square small quarto. X, 314pp. Illustrated throughout in black & white and color. Includes essays by Bruce Brooks Pfeiffer, Joan B. Mirviss, and John T. Carpenter, as well as an illustrated listing of the collection and an index of poets. Very find in blind-stamped brick cloth, with... More
Tokyo: Kodansha International, (1966). Folio. 274pp. Illustrated with 107 tipped-in color plates. A beautiful reference work tracing the Japanese print from the fifteenth century all the way through the ukiyo-e period into the nineteenth century. Adapted into English by C. H. Mitchell. Fine in black cloth, with fine dust wrapper... More
Tokyo: privately published, 1933. Quarto. XIII, 122pp. + 93 plates, four of which are in color. Of a total edition of 1000, this is one of 500 copies of the English edition sold in Europe and America, numbered and signed by the author. With a fold-out frontispiece wood engraving, "Woman... More
1935-1938. Six original paintings, all signed by the artist. This set of paintings vividly depicts six different puppets, each with caricatured features reminiscent of the traditional style of Punch and Judy: rosy cheeks, mitten-hands, and large eyes and mouths. The six images display a nurse with an infant, a jester... More
(London: c. 1928). Small quarto. 33pp. Signed by Alberto Sangorski. A unique manuscript on vellum, designed, illuminated, and calligraphed by Sangorski. A stunning work containing the title poem and five others: "To the River," "Dream Land," "The Sleeper," "To One in Paradise," and "Fairy Land." With an illuminated full-page frontispiece... More
Ditchling: St. Dominic's Press, 1923. Octavo. vii, 26pp. First edition. Printed in red and black, with a preface and notes by Eric Gill and Hilary Pepler. Illustrated with three wood engravings by David Jones and six by Gill. This is the fortieth St. Dominic's Press publication, and one of the... More
London: Clover Hill Editions, 1977. Quarto. 20pp. One of only seven copies printed on vellum by Will Carter at the Rampant Lions Press, and with a separate portfolio containing three sets of the wood engravings on vellum, handmade paper, and Japon. Illustrated by David Jones, this is considered by many... More
(Wales): 1980. Print measuring 20 by 17 inches. One of 50 copies. A delicate eight-pointed star radiates light, in shades of blue and tan. Signed by the artist. A renowned Welsh book artist, Jones has dedicated herself to the art of printing both words and images. With a blue mat... More
(Wales): 1980. Print measuring 20 by 17 inches. One of 50 copies. A luminous print in green and violet of a hyacinth, signed by the artist. The flower blooms against layers of overlapping leaves, which lighten into transparency as they extend upwards. A renowned Welsh book artist, Jones has dedicated... More
(Brecon: Red Hen Press, 2001). Folio. One of forty copies signed by the author/artist, Shirley Jones. A tribute to the cats and dogs of Jones's family, consisting of eleven essays illustrated with twelve grey and black mezzotints. The velvety tones of the mezzotints perfectly capture the softness of a tabby's... More
(Wales): 1980. Print measuring 20 by 17 inches. One of 50 copies. A bold color aquatint in brown, yellow, and tan, signed by the artist. This slightly abstracted sunflower is subtly shaded and textured. The flower's head is cradled within two outstretched leaves. A renowned Welsh book artist, Jones has... More
Fairfax, CA: Jungle Garden Press, 1994. Quarto. (18)ff. One of only three copies, signed by the illustrator, Carl Dern, and the printer, Marie Dern. A portfolio of eight pieces of original art by Carl Dern, mixing printing, watercolors, pen drawings, and collage. Playing with the concept of the livre d'artiste... More
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Newark / NY: Charles E. Graham & Co. (c. 1900). Quarto. (40)pp. Illustrated with sixteen bright full-page chromolithographed plates, including a magnificent two-page spread showing a yoke of oxen, plus another twenty-two pages of black & white illustrations. The book is divided into three sections: "Animal Pictures," "Our Bird Friends,"... More
(N.p. c. 1850. Small quarto.(6)ff. A book of six "metamorphoses"—moveable illustrations that change according to how the reader arranges their pages. Each of the six images has eight panels, four upper and four lower, creating four cohesive illustrations. But has the reader flips through the panels, the lower ones will... More
Baltimore: Raine, William, (c. 1840). 12mo. 6ff. Illustrated with hand-colored wood engravings throughout. The sequence of two-stanza verses highlights the rewards of good behavior and the consequences of poor behavior. This is a scarce chapbook, with just six copies recorded in institutional holdings. Raine published at the address shown on... More
Paris: Rignoux, 1823. Ten volumes, each with 48 pages. First edition. Illustrated with 68 plates from copper engravings and one folding map. Legrand's miniature library for children contains the following titles: Morale en Action; Mythologie; Geographie; Fables; Histoire de France; Contes; Animaux; Insectes; Mineralogie; and Botanique. Augustin Legrand (1765 -... More
Frankfurt: Berhnard Dondorf, (1854). Likely third edition. Set of eight chromolithographed three-dimensional topographic relief maps, each measuring 10 7/16 by 8 5/8 inches [265x219mm], in wooden frames. Each panel in this educational set demonstrates the topography, countries, and major features of a region: Australia and Polynesia, South America, Africa, Europe... More
Chelsea: (Southernwood Press, c. 1915). Small quarto. (23)ff. One of thirty copies printed on handmade paper. Illustrated throughout by Josephine Winser. The drawings illustrate popular nursery rhymes, including Humpty Dumpty, Baa Baa Black Sheep, Jack & Jill, and Sing a Song of Sixpence. Children take center stage in these depictions... More
NY: Century Co. (c. 1933). Octavo. (x), 246pp. Copiously illustrated by Palmer Cox. This was the first adventure of the Brownies written in prose, and it is advertised as having "a detailed, connected story, with a beginning, a middle and an end." A later issue, with the text, binding, and... More
Philadelphia: Morgan & Yeager, 1824. 12mo. 6ff. Illustrated with hand-colored wood engravings throughout. This poem formed part of a series of seven similar works collected under the title Grateful Tributes, published in London around 1812. As separate works, these titles were issued by various publishers and ascribed to various authors... More
London: J. Harris, 1806. 32mo. (16)ff. First edition, Moon's fourth state with 1806 date on front wrapper, but with SMC initials on the earliest-state engraved dedication page. Illustrated with fifteen hand-colored copperplate engravings. According to Moon, this is the most significant children's book published by Harris, and surely one of... More
NY: Scribner, 1925. Folio. 46pp. First edition. Described by Parrish's bibliographer, Coy Ludwig, as "sumptuous," this volume is considered to be the most outstanding example of Parrish's book illustration. Ludwig continues that the "illustrations, printed in rich colors...were the highest quality reproductions that could be had." Illustrations are from original... More
N.p. n.d. Small quarto. (ii), 36pp. This is a unique pre-production edition of Mary E. Williamson's children's book, which seems to never have been published. The text is handwritten in black ink, and the illustrations are hand-drawn and colored with ink and paint, all on boards. The story follows an... More
