Texas: (c.1940s). (1)ff., measuring 9 7/8 by 8 inches. Black & white photograph of the Texan writer and folklorist standing at his desk. On the wall hangs a longhorn skull, and books are piled high on the desk. A few fingerprint smudges, likely from the developing process, are present at... More
NY: Simon and Schuster, (1966). First edition of the author’s scarce second book. This copy is inscribed by Doctorow on the front endpaper, and even the inscription, “A rare edition,” attests to the scarcity of this title. Although not set in the future, Doctorow employs the science fiction device of... More
NY: Shackman, 1967. An uncut rectangle of cloth printed with three replicas of large, antique doll patterns, measuring 18 by 24 inches. The dolls are elaborately costumed in fancy nineteenth-century dresses with puffed sleeves and full skirts: one wears a dress with a tiered skirt trimmed with lace, a lace... More
London: Pollock's Rag Toys, 1967. Two hand-printed pieces of cloth with uncut patterns for very large rag dolls, measuring 22 by 25 inches. The costume styles date from the early nineteenth century. The first pattern, Little Lizzie, is a young girl dressed in a Regency-style empire dress in a blue... More
(Dublin): Dolmen Press, 1954. Tall octavo. 32pp. One of 225 copies. Printed in black with red initials and with a decorative title-page spread, two full-page illustrations, and six pictorial headpieces by Mia Cranwill. The tragic myth of Deirdre and the sons of Usnech, who were slain by the jealous Conchobor... More
Paris: Jacques-François Chereau, (c. 1747). Large folio. (1), (25)ff., plates. A reissue or reimpression published after the artist, Charles-Antoine Coypel, was named "Premier Peintre du Roi" in 1747; this series of twenty-five engravings was first presented as a deluxe portfolio in Paris, in 1724. The engravings were done after a.... More
(c. 1998). 7pp., accordion-fold. Personalized miniature book sent to Anne and David Bromer by French artist Bertrand Dorny. Dorny and his wife, Anne Walker, a fellow book artist who grew up around Boston, share a studio in Paris. Dorny and Walker and the Bromers were friends for many years, bonding... More
1998. 6pp., accordion-fold. Personalized miniature book sent as a New Year's greeting to Anne and David Bromer. French artist Bertrand Dorny, who makes extensive use of color, texture, and collage in his designs, and his wife, Anne Walker, a fellow book artist who grew up around Boston, share a studio... More
Antwerp: J.E. Buschmann, 1896. Octavo. 61pp. From an edition of 112, this is one of twelve copies for private circulation, and signed by the printer, Buschmann. Illustrated throughout by with eight fine full-page woodcut plates, several text figures, head- and tailpieces, and decorated initial letters printed in black and brown... More
(N.p.): Paul Hayden Duensing, (1969). One of 300 copies. Broadside measuring 31 1/2 x 25 1/2 inches (800x317mm), printed by offset. A selection of typefaces offered by the Typefoundry, including borders, ornaments, Hieroglyphics, and Greek, Russian, Japanese, Chinese, Hebrew, and Cherokee alphabets. One faint spot, else fine. More
Paris: H. Piazza, (1919). Quarto. 148pp., + (27)ff. plates. French edition. One of 1,500 copies. The twenty-seven color plates by Edmund Dulac are tipped-in with tissue guards. Floral and foliate borders in yellow surround the text and plates, referencing Eastern illuminated manuscripts. According to White, the "bright, enamel-like" colors of... More
London: Hodder and Stoughton, (1909). Quarto. (3), (74)ff. One of 750 deluxe copies, signed by the illustrator. Complete with twenty enchanting tipped-in color plates surrounded by decorative borders printed in bronze ink. The text is also enclosed by ornamental borders. Bound in decorative gilt-stamped vellum, bearing the title in Arabic-inspired... More
NY: Brentano's, (1920). Quarto. 151pp. One of 100 copies, signed by the illustrator, Edmund Dulac. With ten mounted color plates by Dulac. Rosenthal, a Parisian jeweler, commissioned Dulac to illustrate his work on the history and intrigue of the pearl. Drawing his inspiration from the Middle and Far East, these... More
Guy Oliver Duncan, (n.d.). Broadside measuring 21 7/16 by 13 3/4 inches. One of twenty-five numbered copies, signed by the author and printer, Guy Oliver Duncan. Contains six poems by Duncan: "Feelings of a Lost Conviction," "(I see nothing)," "The Rising Sun," "The Spires," "Vanda," and "The Call of the... More
(Germany: c. 1511). Woodcut measures 12 1/4 by 9 inches, in a handsome 18 1/2 by 15 1/4-inch frame. This original woodcut print by one of the masters of the Northern Renaissance is part of a series of illustrations depicting scenes from The Life of the Virgin. According to Meder... 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
N.P. n.d. Black & white photograph measuring 4 1/2 by 6 1/2 inches. A posed portrait showing a younger William Addison Dwiggins, likely in his early 40s, standing in front of a garden holding a hoe. The photographer is credited on the verso as C. H. Marble. Very fine. More
(Boston): Boston Public Library, 1974. 12mo. 24pp. With a frontispiece portrait of Dwiggins. Fine copy in wrappers, illustrated with a Dwiggins ornament on front cover. "Abbe Talk, Boston Library '74" written in pen on front cover. More
(Hingham, MA: Püterschein-Hingham, 1952). One of 100 copies. A woodcut in four colors cut by W. A. Dwiggins in 1921 and printed for the first time by Dorothy Abbe in 1952 from the original blocks. The lovely woodcut, in blue, yellow, orange, and black, illustrates Stravinsky's ballet Petrouchka, which tells... More
Brooklyn: Mergenthaler Linotype Company, 1939. Octavo. 27pp. Booklet announcing the new printing type Caledonia, designed by William Addison Dwiggins, with numerous specimens illustrating the typeface. Includes a note on the face by Dwiggins and a note on Dwiggins by "Hermann Püterschein," Dwiggins's alter ego and chief critic. A pencil note... More
(Hingham, MA): c. 1930s. A black & white photograph of a marionette made by W. A. Dwiggins, measuring 10 by 10 1/2 inches. The marionette is a likeness of F. Morton Smith, a Boston lawyer who was married to Margaret Coatsworth, the sister of the children's book author and illustrator... More
NY: Limited Editions Club, 1932. Quarto. 23pp.,(4)ff. One of 452 copies signed by Dwiggins. Dwiggins facetiously discusses the atrocities of the present design of currency and postage stamps, proposing new ones based on those issued by the fictional country of the Antipodes. Includes plates of Antipodean stamps, and a currency... More
Lisbon: (1813). 32mo. (157)pp., + folding map. An elegant embroidered hand-calendar, giving Feast Days, a Court Calendar, phases of the moon, eclipses, lists of kings, bishops, cardinals, and more. Includes the lineage of the Royal Family. Frontispiece is an engraved, hand-colored folding map of Portugal. In a white satin embroidered... More
Peking, China: Lotus Court, 1943. Quarto. (xvi), 46pp. Illustrated with forty-six tipped-in woodblock reproductions of traditional Chinese embroidery patterns, printed in red on handmade paper, tipped in. Frontispiece is a real tissue embroidery pattern backed with red paper for support. A fascinating reference book on Chinese symbolism. The Foreword lists... More
Cambridge: Riverside Press, 1903-04; 1909-14. Twelve octavo volumes. Autograph Centenary Edition. One of 600 copies signed by the publisher, and with an autograph manuscript leaf by Emerson bound in to the first volume. The original leaf, which has been expertly and invisibly repaired along the crease, is from "Man The... More
