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"May blessings be upon the head of Cadmus, the Phoenicians, or whoever it was that invented books." -Thomas Carlyle

Welcome to my virtual book collection. Since collecting actual books is somewhat cost-prohibitive, I've begun to amass all of the books I would love to have if I had the means. Some are new, lots are old, all are unique or beautiful or unusual or in some other way have captured my fancy. Enjoy browsing!

Special Collections: Fine Bindings ~ Fairies and Fairy Tales ~ Terror and Madness ~ Poetry ~ Food, Drink and Apothecary ~ Science Fiction ~ Illuminations, Lettering and Hand-Coloring ~ Magic ~ Supernatural and Occult ~ Alchemy ~ Science and Technical ~ Maritime ~ Costumes ~ Humor ~ Children's books ~ Legend of King Arthur ~ Americana ~ 18th Century ~ 19th Century

Authors and illustrators: Edgar Allan Poe ~ Jules Verne ~ Edmund Dulac ~ Kay Nielsen ~ Arthur Rackham ~ Edward Gorey ~ Charles Dickens ~ H.P. Lovecraft ~ William Hope Hodgson ~ Mark Twain ~ Lewis Carroll ~ Salvador Dali ~ George Cruikshank ~ Emily Dickinson ~ Geoffrey Chaucer ~ H.G. Wells

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Beautiful Women in History & Art
Beatrice Erskine. London: George Bell & Sons (Hallett Hyatt), 1905.

Tall, thick quarto, mid-20th-century full red morocco, raised bands, elaborately gilt-decorated and inlaid spine, gilt cover borders, inlaid centerpieces, red and green morocco doublure inset with Cosway-style watercolor miniature surrounded by eight small pearls, watered-silk free endpapers, all edges gilt.

Spectacular edition of “these portraits of beautiful women, seen against a background of history,” with 38 rich photogravures of contemporaneous paintings, including portraits of Madame de Pompadour, Marie Antoinette, Lady Hamilton and Joan of Arc. Luxuriously bound by Sangorski & Sutcliffe in the Cosway style, with beautiful inlaid centerpieces and splendid watercolor painting of Joan of Arc set into the doublure. From the famous Doheny library, sold in 1987.