In their broadest sense, the book arts are at the core of our inventory. To be sure, the category encompasses the specialties that you see on our homepage, such as Fine Printing, Fine Binding, and Illustrated Books. However, it also includes such things as writing books and calligraphy, fore-edge paintings, books on papermaking, and leaf books.
Read more about one of the book arts, Fore-edge Painting
(San Francisco: Art Hazelwood, 2011). One of twenty copies. Screenprinted boards with cloth joints which open to create a theatrical stage that measures 28 inches in length, 12 inches in height, and 9 3/4 inches deep. Klaus-Ullrich Rötzscher designed the stage, and multi-disciplinary artist, Concord, Mass. native, and self-professed "instigator"..... More
Oxford: Alembic Press, 1992. Octavo. (38)ff. One of 150 copies. Contains a brief introduction on the development of the firm, and seventeen tipped-in samples of marbled papers produced for specific purposes, for customers ranging from Harrod's to a woman who wanted her lampshades to look like the feathers of her..... More
Marcham: Alembic Press, 2000. Octavo. 119pp. From an edition of 180 copies, this is one of twenty bound in leather and with extra samples tipped in. Bolton's oevre is a comprehensive and highly illustrated summation of all the Alembic Press' borders. It is, in its own way, a love letter..... More
Marcham, Oxfordshire: Alembic Press, 1995. (64)pp. One of 100 copies. A type specimen book focused on the range of blackletter typefaces that were cast primarily during the Victorian era. Contains an introduction by the proprietor of the Press, Claire Bolton, and a brief history of each typeface represented. Very fine..... More
Henley-on-Thames, UK: 1957. Small octavo. (i), (9)pp. Calligraphic manuscript on paper written in green and black ink with first line and small text initials in gold. Text opens with a large illuminated initial "O" with the watercolor figure of an owl; the text closes with another watercolor owl, this one..... More
Fairfax, CA: Jungle Garden Press, 1991. Oblong 24mo. (14)pp., accordion-fold. One of 55 copies designed, printed, and bound by Marie Dern at the Jungle Garden Press. A tongue-in-cheek printer's alphabet, with large initials in, appropriately, Caslon type. The initials are accompanied by humorous representations of the letters printed using numerous..... More
Cambridge, MA: Dept. of Printing and Graphic Arts, Harvard College, 1968. Square 16mo. (8)ff. One of 500 copies, signed by the artist. Marie Angel, who also contributed illustrations to A. Colish's 1974 edition of The Velveteen Rabbit, here adorns Dickinson's two poems with a diverse array of butterflies set softly..... More
Pasadena: Archetype Press, 2002. Printed in a variety of styles, using a variety of methods, this compilation of “isms” and ideologies provides highly visual humor and insight into topics ranging from ageism to materialism to conspiracy theories to psychoanalysis. A student production supervised by Gloria Kondrup and Heidrun Mumper-Drumm at..... More
(Melbourne): Masterthief, 2009. Folio. (44)pp. One of ten copies, signed by the artists, Peter Lyssiotis and Theo Strasser. An imposing work, monumental in many senses, Remembrance matches Robert Colvin’s poetry with hand-painted pages and original screenprints to underscore the consequences of actions, especially those by the military. It demands a...... More
Martin Lesinski, 2017. A book woven into being through the trials of military service, Beyond the Reach of Reason presents itself as a living thing. Lesinski’s poetry draws upon his experience as a combat veteran, a disabled veteran, and a disabled person living in American society. There is a heartbeat..... More
1977. Original conté pencil illustration, signed by the artist, Bob Ziering, depicting a Black youth breaking a chain, under which reads “No More” in block letters. The youth’s hands are drawn together as a single line, connected by a square border that immediately draws the eye to the desperate strength..... More
Mission, BC: Barbarian Press, 1994. Small quarto. (384)pp. From an edition of 430 copies, this is one of 250 in quarter cloth with patterned paper covers. Essays on wood engraving in Canada and in the USA are followed by approximately 150 examples of the artists' work. Text, including biographical notes..... More
Mission, BC: Barbarian Press, 1994. Small quarto. (384)pp. From an edition of 430 copies, this is one of 250 in quarter cloth with patterned paper covers. Essays on wood engraving in Canada and in the USA are followed by approximately 150 examples of the artists' work. Text, including biographical notes..... More
Mission, British Columbia: Barbarian Press, 2017. 24mo. (79)pp., + six loose plates. One of 60 deluxe copies. Engravings by John Lawrence printed largely from wood, with some detailed spots in larger engravings from polymer plates, all in the Press' customary assortment of bright colors. Texts from over forty songs and..... More
Glasgow: David Bryce & Son, (1901). 876pp. With 28 line illustrations. A later issue of the first complete miniature Bible, which was originally published in 1896, and issued with various imprints. Between the Old and New Testaments are the Shakespeare Family records, by W. S. Brassington, a rare feature of..... More
(Torrance): Labyrinth Editions, 1977. Translated by Enrique Sacerio-Gari. Tall quarto. (15)ff., frenchfold. One of 100 copies. Neruda's long poem celebrating the joys of the printed letter arranged in concrete typography by Bigus, who learned the craft of printing under the tutelage of William Everson and Jack Stauffacher at U.C. Santa..... More
North Hills: Bird & Bull Press, 1972. Oblong 16mo. 70pp. One of 140 copies. An early title, containing six articles on printing, papermaking, etc. Bound in vellum-backed pastepaper boards. Little rubbing to corners, else near fine. Prospectus laid-in. More
New Castle, DE: Oak Knoll Books, 1984. Scroll measuring 122 by 3 1/4 inches. One of 300 copies, printed in black with blue cherubim as ornament. This speech by Adelman was read at a meeting of the Friends of the Bryn Mawr College Library on April 3, 1981. In his..... More
North Hills: Bird & Bull Press, 1971. Quarto. 67pp. One of 255 copies. Contains some amusing essays on paper-making, and some paper samples, including two made "with the cooperation of certain local wasps." A brief history of printing gives credit to "a man named Gutenberg, probably a foreigner," who "wanted..... More
Newtown: Bird & Bull Press, 1987. Oblong octavo. 77pp.(25) ff. One of 325 copies. The first third of this handsome book consists of correspondence between Hans Schmoller and Morris dealing with the problems of the book itself. The second part by Tanya Schmoller is text about the Chinese tea chest..... More
Newtown, PA: Bird & Bull Press, 1984. Quarto. x, 49, 24 pp. + (31)ff. One of 500 copies. Contains three foldout plates, nineteen color reproductions of Japanese watercolors, and 30 illustrated facsimile pages of an eighteenth century Japanese papermaking manual. These woodcut facsimiles are printed on handmade Japanese gampi paper..... More
North Hills: Bird & Bull Press, 1964. Octavo. 91pp. One of 200 copies. A biography on the life and work of Thomas Bird Mosher, the remarkable New England publisher and literary pirate. The Passionate Pirate is one of Henry Morris's earlier titles. In making it, he was plagued with both..... More
Newtown: Bird & Bull Press, 1985. Octavo. 161pp. One of 325 copies. Illustrated with eighteen black & white photographs and drawings, fourteen full-color photographs of Kinder's bindings, and thirteen pages of black & white impressions of Kinder's bookbinding stamps. A thorough examination of one of America's finest binders and of..... More
Skokie, IL: Black Cat Press, (1977). Two volumes. 96pp., continuously paginated. One of 249 copies. Printed in two colors, with sample pages and pressmarks. Introduction by Richard Cady. Bound by Bela Blau in brown leather, gilt-stamped. Housed in a marbled paper slipcase. Fine. (2 3/4 by 2 1/4; 70x55 mm)..... More
Connecticut River Valley, MA: SAW Press, 2018. Ashes to Ashes was originally a performance piece held in 2016, in which Whitaker organized the first-ever funeral service to commemorate and mourn the thousands of African Americans who have been lynched and denied their last rites. Whitaker then worked with printer Michael..... More
