book-aesthete

Mock Beggar Hall Robert Graves. Hogarth Press. 1924. First...

Thu, 13 Dec 2012 10:52:00 -0500

Mock Beggar Hall
Robert Graves. Hogarth Press. 1924.

First Edition. Original dark grey boards, the imposing overall front cover design is by William Nicholson and printed in black, Simon Nowell-Smith’s book label, untrimmed.

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Myrrhina

O, why judge Myrrhina
As though she were a man?
She obeys a dark wisdom
(As Eve did before her)
Which never can fail,
Being bound by no pride
Of armorial bearings
Bequeathed in tail male.

And though your blood brother
Who dared to do you wrong
In his greed of Myrrhina
Might plead a like wisdom
The fault to excuse.
Myrrhina is just,
She has hanged the vain rogue
By the neck from her noose.

Through the Looking-Glass Lewis Carroll. Bound By Kelliegram....

Wed, 12 Dec 2012 10:10:51 -0500

Through the Looking-Glass
Lewis Carroll. Bound By Kelliegram.
With Fifty Illustrations by John Tenniel. London: Macmillan and Co., 1927.

A spectacular Kelliegram pictorial binding, ca. 1927, stamp-signed “Kelliegram Binding London,” of full dark green crushed morocco. Covers decoratively panelled in gilt, with five characters from the story depicted in multi-colored morocco onlays on each cover. The front cover with central onlay of Humpty Dumpty in brown, red, pale green, black, blue and beige morocco and corner onlays of: the White Queen, the Red Queen, Haigha (the Messenger), and Hatta (the other Messenger). The lower cover reiterates the upper’s design with a central onlay of the Walrus in brown red, pale green and beige morocco and corner onlays of: the Carpenter, the Old Sheep, Tweedledum & Tweedledee, the Frog and the Carpener. Spine richly gilt in compartments with dots and pictorial devices. Five raised bands with gilt dots. Turn-ins with gilt corner devices. Amber silk endpapers. All edges gilt.

Spells and Philtres Clark Ashton Smith, Sauk City, WI: Arkham...

Tue, 11 Dec 2012 10:11:55 -0500

Spells and Philtres
Clark Ashton Smith, Sauk City, WI: Arkham House, 1958.

First edition / First printing. Octavo. Hardcover. A very good copy in a very good dust jacket. One of 519 copies. Jacket art by Frank Utpatel. Jaffery, Horrors and Unpleasantries #51.

Printing with the Handpress: Herewith a Definitive...

Mon, 10 Dec 2012 11:46:31 -0500

Printing with the Handpress: Herewith a Definitive Manual…to Encourage Fine Printing through Hand-craftsmanship
Allen, Lewis M.. Kentfield, CA; Allen Press, 1969

Illustrated by Victor A. Seward. Decorations engraved on wood by Mallette Dean. Printed in Romanée type designed by Jan Van Krimpen for Joh. Enschedé en Zonen, on hand-made paper from Wookey Hole Mill in England with the watermark of the Allen Press. 12x8, decorative full linen with “hand” design based on a 15th century woodcut, acetate cover. One of 140 copies, handset and printed by Lewis & Dorothy Allen.

One of the most beautiful and sought-after productions from the Allens, considered by many their masterwork. Allen Press 34.

cover-duende: the devil’s dictionary by ambrose bierce The...

Sun, 09 Dec 2012 11:42:38 -0500

cover-duende:

the devil’s dictionary by ambrose bierce

The Devil’s Dictionary is a satirical “reference” book written by Ambrose Bierce. The book offers reinterpretations of terms in the English language, lampooning cant and political doublespeak, as well as other aspects of human foolishness and frailty. It was originally published in 1906 as The Cynic’s Word Book before being retitled in 1911. Modern “unabridged” versions that include Bierce “definitions” that were for various reasons missed by earlier editions continue to be popular a century later.

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A classic.

Love your site. He's not a superstar, but you might want to look into the work of Charles Ricketts and the Vale Press. Beautiful books as art, and the artist whom Mr. Beardsley kind of ripped off, as he himself acknowledged. Not that I don't love Mr. B.

Thu, 06 Dec 2012 12:04:38 -0500

Thank you! And thanks for the tip - I will certainly look into his work.

Monody Melville, Herman. Grasse, Prometheus Press, 1982. One of...

Thu, 06 Dec 2012 10:30:16 -0500

Monody
Melville, Herman. Grasse, Prometheus Press, 1982.

One of five copies signed by artist Frederic Prokosch

[6] + 1 blank leaf + [1] pp. With hand-painted frontispiece illustration, signed with artist’s initials. 15.8x11 cm. (6¼x4¼”), saddle-sewn blue wrappers, paper cover label, clear jacket. Number “alpha” of 5 copies, printed on Guerimand paper.

Three Volumes Illustrated by Aubrey Beardsley - Malory’s...

Tue, 04 Dec 2012 15:03:21 -0500

Three Volumes Illustrated by Aubrey Beardsley
- Malory’s Morte D’Arthur. New York: Dutton, 1927, limited to 1600 copies, publisher’s gilt cloth, t.e.g.;
- Fifty Drawings by Aubrey Beardsley„ New York, 1920, numbered 233 of 500 and signed by the publisher, ornately stamped gilt publisher’s cloth;
- A Second Book of Fifty Drawings, London, 1899, limited to 1,000 copies, red publisher’s cloth, pictorial gilt stamped, spine worn and faded, all titles illustrated throughout.

Tales of Mystery and Imagination Edgar Allan Poe. New York,...

Mon, 03 Dec 2012 10:29:06 -0500

Tales of Mystery and Imagination
Edgar Allan Poe. New York, Tudor Publishing Co. 1933
Illus. Harry Clarke.

412 pp. 8 tipped-in color plates and 24 monochrome plates by Harry Clarke. (4to), black cloth, paper label on front, pictorial dust jacket. First Tudor Edition.

The Shakespeare Hero & Heroine Calendar for 1895 Place:...

Fri, 30 Nov 2012 10:14:45 -0500

The Shakespeare Hero & Heroine Calendar for 1895
Place: London
Publisher: Raphael Tuck & Sons
Date: [1894]

12 leaves, chromolithographed with gilt. 29.5x24.5 cm. (11½x9¾”).
Ornate calendar featuring passages and characters from Shakespeare’s plays, “Designed in England, Printed in Germany.” Each leaf with two holes at top, but the ribbon that once connected them is gone.

The Bells and Other Poems Edgar Allan Poe. New York and London,...

Thu, 29 Nov 2012 10:13:09 -0500

The Bells and Other Poems
Edgar Allan Poe. New York and London, Hodder and Stoughton, [c.1912]

Unpaginated. Twenty-eight color plates by Edmund Dulac, other illustrations in text. (4to) 28x22 cm. (11x8¾”), original beige cloth, spine & front cover elaborately embossed and gilt lettered. First Dulac Trade Edition. Forty-six poems by Poe handsomely illustrated by Dulac.

Punch’s Pocket-Book for 1872, Containing a Calendar, Cash...

Wed, 28 Nov 2012 09:50:22 -0500

Punch’s Pocket-Book for 1872, Containing a Calendar, Cash Account, Diary and Memoranda for Every Day in the Year, And a Variety of Useful Business Information
London, Punch Office, 1872

176 pp. Hand-colored folding frontispiece and additional illustrated title page, numerous inserted illustrations. (12mo) 12.3x8.5 cm. (4¾x3¼”) wallet-style black morocco, gilt-stamped figure of Mr. Punch on front. Illustrations by John Tenniel, Charles Keene, L, Sambourne, etc.

The Martian Chronicles Ray Bradbury. Avon CT, Limited Editions...

Tue, 27 Nov 2012 10:06:25 -0500

The Martian Chronicles
Ray Bradbury. Avon CT, Limited Editions Club, 1974.

Illustrated by Joseph Mugnaini. Black cloth, speckled with white, glassine dust jacket, matching board slipcase. No. 1935 of 2,000 copies. Signed by the author and illustrator at the limitation.

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“Science is no more than an investigation of a miracle we can never explain, and art is an interpretation of that miracle.”

― Ray Bradbury, The Martian Chronicles

Additional illustrations....

Mon, 26 Nov 2012 14:51:38 -0500

Additional illustrations....:

….from the previously posted ‘Faust’ volume illustrated by Willy Pogany. Thank you, FYVI.

Faust Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Illust. Willy Pogany. London,...

Mon, 26 Nov 2012 10:38:35 -0500

Faust
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Illust. Willy Pogany.
London, Hutchinson & Co. [c.1908]

xx, 210 pp. 16 color plates by Willy Pogany (printed on linen). (8vo) original cloth. Early edition.

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“Whatever is the lot of humankind
I want to taste within my deepest self.
I want to seize the highest and the lowest,
to load its woe and bliss upon my breast,
and thus expand my single self titanically
and in the end go down with all the rest.”
― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Faust

fuckyeahvintageillustration: The firelight fairy book by Henry...

Sun, 25 Nov 2012 20:47:53 -0500

fuckyeahvintageillustration:

The firelight fairy book by Henry B. Beston, illustrations by Maurice E. Day. Published 1919 by The Atlantic Monthly press.

See the complete book here.

kritseldis: Chained books from the former St.Nicholas’s Church...

Sun, 25 Nov 2012 11:21:13 -0500

kritseldis:

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

Charles O’Malley: The Irish Dragoon Charles Lever. ...

Wed, 21 Nov 2012 10:10:47 -0500

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.

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

Tue, 20 Nov 2012 17:31:38 -0500

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.

Siete Poemas Sajones; Seven Saxon Poems Jorge Luis Borges. ...

Wed, 14 Nov 2012 10:08:41 -0500

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.