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kritseldis:

Chained books from the former St.Nicholas’s Church Library. Aurelius Augustinus. Prima [undecima] pars librorum. Basilae [Basel], 1506

(via antikvarne-knjige)

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Charles O’Malley: The Irish Dragoon
Charles Lever. Illust. Arthur Rackham. New York, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1897.

16 full page illustrations by Rackham. (8vo), original maroon cloth, spine and cover stamped in gilt. First American Edition.

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A Hornbook for Witches
Leah Bodine Drake. Sauk City: Arkham House, 1950.

8vo, publisher’s black cloth, spine gilt-lettered, endpapers browned from oxidation of binder’s glue as usual; dust jacket designed by Frank Utpatel, some light edgewear and mild tanning; bookplate of Rev. Alfred J. Miller on front pastedown.

First edition, from an original printing of 553 copies, in scarce unclipped jacket. From this small print run, Drake herself received 300 copies from the publisher due to the fact the she helped subsidize the production costs.

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Siete Poemas Sajones; Seven Saxon Poems
Jorge Luis Borges. Verona: Plain Wrapper Press, [1974].

Printed in maroon and black in Horizon Light type on Richard de Bas handmade paper, text in Spanish and English, 8 embossed vignettes by Arnaldo Pomodoro. Folio, original full vellum with three vertical bas-reliefs of gilded bronze inset into upper cover, spine titled in brown.

Aigned limited edition, number 22 of 100 copies from a total edition of 120. signed by the author and artist in the colophon. A beautiful and impressive production. Copies are difficult to locate outside institutional holdings and rarely to appear at auction; ABPC records only three copies sold.

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Portrait of Mabel Dodge at the Villa Curonia
Gertrude Stein. Florence, Private Printing, 1912.

8vo, original hand-made floral Florentine wallpaper wrappers, neatly split along fold, small creasing to upper front wrapper; printed paper label on front cover, faint foxing; small finger smudge at margin of one page.

First edition, one of 300 unnumbered copies and ex-collection artist Arthur Dove with his signature in pencil on the recto of the rear wrapper. This copy with the printer’s imprint at the foot of page [12]. Often cited as the first American abstract painter, Dove was well acquainted with Stein and they moved in the same circles in New York and Paris, and Stein’s language experiments may be seen as a linguistic corollary to Dove’s early experimental oil abstractions.

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In Many Wars by Many War-Correspondents.
Lynch, George and Palmer, Frederick; editors.

Photographic frontispiece and several full-page illustrations (one folding). 8vo, original pictorial printed silk over card covers with silk ties, soiled with scattered staining; rear free endpaper torn. (Tokyo): Tokyo Printing Company, (1904)

First edition, with mounted signature of Jack London and 44 other war correspondents. A collection of articles, including London’s piece entitled “A Camera and a Journey,” covering the Russo-Japanese War. Page iii of Contents has pasted over correction of “by Richmond” in place of [Richard] Smith. A total of 49 contributions, 45 of them with the autograph of the author mounted to the page at the end of their contribution. A legendary rarity and one of the most elusive signed Jack London items. BAL 11883.

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The Thin Man.
Dashiell Hammett. New York, 1934.

8vo, original green cloth, front cover with central design of blue mask within red border, blue and red geometrical design on spine, rear cover with “Borzoi” device, slight lean, small spot of staining to lower front cover, mild discoloration; top edges stained burgundy; offsetting to endpapers from old extraneous preservation jacket.

Signed first edition of Hammett’s final work and the introduction of the well-lubricated married sleuths Nick and Nora Charles. Layman A6.1.a.

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The Moonstone
Wilkie Collins, with illustrations by Stan Washburn

Text from Arion Press:

“The Arion Press is proud to announce the publication of a deluxe illustrated limited edition of Wilkie Collins’ The Moonstone. A masterpiece of detective fiction by the inventor of the genre, it is, in the words of Dorothy Sayers, “probably the very finest detective story ever written”. No less demanding a reader than T. S. Eliot called it “the first, the longest, and the best of modern English detective novels,” taking pains to remind us that the genre was “invented by Collins and not by Poe”. The Moonstone was first published in 1868, as a serial in Charles Dickens’ periodical All the Year Round, and in three volumes by Tinsley Brothers, London; a revised edition appeared in 1871. It is the latter text that we have followed. Collins’ prefaces to both are included in the Arion Press edition.”

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Gemme d’Arti Italiane. Volume 13 only. Engraved additional title and 9 plates after paintings by contemporary Italian artists. 4to, original cream boards elaborately chromolithographed and embossed in colors and gold with ornate border surrounding oval centerpiece depicting elegantly dressed woman removing necklace from jewel box on front cover and floral arrangement on rear cover, flat spine gilt with ornamental strapwork panel, white textured paper endleaves, faint soiling along joints and cover edges, minor wear to spine ends, cover corners bumped; scattered foxing variously affecting engraved matter; board folding case. Milan, Venice, & Verona: P. Ripamonti Carpano, [1860]

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Oregon Voters’ Pamphlet 1912 Page 2

On November 5 1912, by a vote of 52% in favor, women in Oregon won the right to vote - eight years before the 19th Amendment / Susan B. Anthony amendment is ratified and becomes law. There is lots of interesting information on the history and timeline of suffrage in Oregon here.

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[4], 257 pp. Illustrated by Wilhelm von Raulbach with engraved frontispiece, added engraved title and 36 plates. (Folio)35.5x28 cm. (14x11”), original full red publishers morocco pictorially stamped in gilt and blind, spine gilt, all edges gilt.

Fine steel-engraved plates of anthropomorphic animals by Raulbach illustrating Goethe’s version of the famous allegory which first appeared in the 13th century and is known in English literature as “Reynard the Fox.”

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Author: James, Henry
Title: The Beast in the Jungle. A Psychological Novel
Place: Kentfield, CA
Publisher: Allen Press
Date: 1963

Preface by Clifton Fadiman. With 16 duo-tone color engravings by Blair Hughes-Stanton. (Folio) 15x10, decorative gray boards, acetate cover. 1 of 130 copies on hand-made paper, text printed in seven colors, by the Allen Press.

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Hello book lovers,

First, I apologize for the long and unexpected hiatus from updating Book Aesthete. Sometimes life just throws you a few loops and you find yourself completely unmotivated towards any non-life-sustaining activities. I will attempt to regain momentum, although it’s possible that the scope and focus may shift a bit.

Second, an excellent reason to update once again: “Black Labyrinth”. A new imprint has been launched, featuring original horror/thriller stories by a variety of authors, all illustrated by one of my all-time favorite literary illustrators Santiago Caruso. Check it out - I can’t wait for the first release, a novel by the suitably disturbing Tom Piccirilli. I will post pictures and thoughts once I have it in my eager little hands.

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Humboldt County California Wants Your Factory
Eureka, CA
Publisher: Times Publishing Company
Date: 1917

[48] pp. 30.5x23 cm. (12x9”) original illustrated wrappers. First Edition.
Elaborate and uncommon promotional brochure for Humboldt County, issued by the Humboldt Times. OCLC locates only 7 copies of this title.