A designer binding is the most visible of all the book arts. To those artists whose medium is the binding of a book, the old adage that you can't judge a book by its cover is untrue. From colored leathers and gold foil, vellum and exotic woods, the artistry of a book is vividly ...
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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
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
Venice: Ferd. Ongania, 1879. Two miniature volumes bound as one. 354; 231pp. One of 1000 copies. With two portrait frontispieces and numerous exquisite engraved vignettes throughout. Contains six sonnets which had recently been discovered by G. Veludo, the dedicatee. Ongania explains in his preface that this edition is uniform with..... More
Leipzig: Robert Crayen, n.d. (c. 1830). Two oblong octavo volumes comprising seven parts. (118); (120); (122); (122); (120); 120; (ii), 120; (iv), (124)pp. A collection of sheet music and lyrics for pianoforte gathered from a variety of composers, including Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven. This set features wrap-around fore-edge paintings by..... More
London: Oxford University Press, (1925). Octavo. (ix), 1456, (iv), (130)pp. Later printing. With a large fore-edge painting by Miss C. B. Currie, which, according to the signed statement on the front endleaf, depicts "(a) view of the entrance to the avenue from Clare Hall Piece, Cambridge." It is identified as..... More
London: Saunders and Otley, 1836-38. Three octavo vols. 304; 304; 304pp. Engraved titles with vignettes, as well as nearly 150 engravings throughout the set. A testament to British literature and artistry, with the poetic pillars of Chaucer, Spenser, Donne, Shakespeare, Dryden, Burns, Wordsworth, Shelley, Coleridge, and myriad other writers comprising..... More
NY: Dodd, Mead, 1899. Three quarto volumes. xxvi, 330pp. From an edition of 268, this is one of thirty copies on Imperial Japon. In addition, this is a unique copy with an extra set of the 126 color photogravure plates printed on white satin and backed in celadon silk. The..... More
London: J. Murray, 1778. Octavo. xlv, 256pp. This copy is extra-illustrated with four inserted plates by Bartolozzi, which are printed in bistre. Bound in full vellum by Edwards of Halifax. Both covers are underpainted in black, with a bucolic scene of a couple courting beneath a tree in a park..... More
London: Longman, Brown, Green & Longmans, 1842. Small quarto. xlviii, 320pp. Enriched throughout with engravings that bring both pastoral and romantic themes to bear on Thomson's celebrated poetic cycle. Completed by some of the most eminent illustrators and artists of the era, including John Bell, Thomas Crewsick, and Thomas Webster..... 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
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
Newtown: Gregynog Press, 1931. Octavo. (10), 25, (3)pp. From an edition of 250 copies, this is one of twenty-five printed on Japanese vellum and bound after a design by Blair Hughes-Stanton himself. It marks Hughes-Stanton's first contribution to the Press' run of special bindings, and the advent of a shift..... More
London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1851. Small octavo. (viii), 100pp. Heavily ornamented with illuminated initials, borders, and tail-pieces. The title page is in full color, with a lush border featuring miniatures of the masks of comedy and tragedy and a portrait of Shakespeare, plus an illustration of Macbeth behind..... More
(Vancouver): HM Editions, 2019. Square octavo. (64)ff. One of six A.P. copies, signed by Hodgson and Cohen at the colophon. An astonishing compilation of designs representing a study of patterns as individual specimens. Conceived as a successor to Hodgson and Cohen's other productions, including Decorating Paper (2015) and Folding Paper..... More
NY: Center for the Book Arts, 2020. Quarto. (40)ff. One of nine copies. A multimedia, journalistic response to the climate of white privilege and fragility surrounding and in the aftermath of the 2016 election. Ana Paula Cordeiro, an immigrant from Brazil, found herself perceived as an other, often with fearful..... More
Sydney: Ant Press, 2019. 16mo. (44)pp. One of six copies, signed by the artist, Monica Oppen. Oppen’s photographs depict the clamor of Sydney’s Central Station, showing all manner of bodies, movements, and faces turned away. In presenting a stream of figures all in a state of transience, all moving from..... More
A nineteenth-century French solid gold enamel binding containing five bone leaves. First appearing around 1820, the carnets de bal were used to record the order of an evening's dances, as well as the name of the partner for a particular dance. This opulent example is decorated with a leaf border;..... More
Sudbury, MA: Kurbel Books, 1984. (20)pp., accordionfold. Panorama with initials illuminated in gold and colors by E. Helene Sherman, and illustrated with six Italian postage stamps showing the Saint's life. Translated by Rev. Joseph L. Curran. Layout by Robert E. Massmann. Bound by Bela and Mariana Blau in full blue..... More
Bellamar, Cuba: Ediciones El Fortín, 2014. Octavo. (10)pp. One of fifty copies. An artist’s book of multi-dimensional, tactile design, layering organic materials, transparent sheets, and tipped-in pages to explore the Jewish-Latin identities of its authors. Illustrations include paper collage, calligraphy, and hand-colored printed drawings, which fold out to reveal scenes..... More
Matanzas, Cuba: Ediciones Vigía, 2013. Octavo. 59pp. One of 200 copies. Nancy Balboa’s illustrations celebrate Cuba’s agriculture, and draw a parallel between its grassroots rural life and its heritage of grassroots revolution. Martí, considered by many the “patron saint” of Cuba, was at the forefront of such organic, popular activism..... More
Newton, IA: Tamazunchale Press, 1987. 31pp. Truman Capote's essay describes his first meeting with French author Colette, during which she gave him a crystal paperweight and inspired him to start collecting the objects for himself. The book has been specially bound by Tom McEwan to reflect the world in miniature..... More
London: Methuen, (1927). First edition. This famous collection of children’s verses, featuring Milne’s son, Christopher Robin, and his bear, is illustrated throughout with Ernest H. Shepard’s whimsical drawings. Signed at a later date on the title page by Shepard. Handsomely bound by Bayntun-Rivière in deep red morocco, with gilt ruled..... More
London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, (c. 1915). 702pp. An unabridged Book of Common Prayer. Gorgeously bound in maroon morocco with a hallmarked Birmingham silver plaque affixed to the front cover, featuring five cherubs. Very fine. A.e.g. (Bromer/Edison, p. 81). (2 1/8 by 1 7/8; 53x47 mm). More
(New Britain, CT): Robert E. Massmann, 1980. (6); (6); (10)ff., frenchfold. One of 68 copies printed at Art Press. Fascinating in form and content, this book addresses two great papermakers in an octagonally-shaped book bound as a triple dos-à-dos. The first part is about Hunter, the second about Elliott. The..... More
