[Adagio Press] Strouse, Norman H. and John Dreyfus

C-S The Master Craftsman

Harpers Woods, MI: The Adagio Press, 1969. Hard Cover. INTERESTING ASSOCIATION COPY WITH RELATED MATERIAL LAID IN.  This beautiful copy is inscribed by author John Dreyfus to noted Chicago book collector and philanthropist Samuel R. Rosenthal, "for Sam R Rosenthal after a splendid evening John Dreyfus 16 December 1978 Chicago."  Rosenthal and his wife, Marie-Louise, had a pre-eminent book collection that concentrated on livres d'artistes, illustrated books, and private press. This is 39 of 75 folio copies issued with one vellum leaf and one handmade paper leaf laid in from books printed at the Doves Press. There were 329 copies originally printed of this Adagio Press edition (although fewer than 180 were offered for sale), each with two Doves Press leaves: 12 with  both Doves Press leaves printed on vellum; 75 with one leaf on vellum and the second on handmade paper; and 242 with both leaves printed on handmade paper. This copy has an octavo vellum leaf from Goethe's "Faust," issued in 1906, and a folio double leaf on paper with Leviticus 16-22 from the famed Dove's Bible. The Adagio Press was founded in the late 1950s by Leonard Bahr, who signed the colophon.  In Roderick Cave's The Private Press, second edition, he cites the Bible as the most substantial title printed by the press.  In 1970, Strouse had sent two letters to Rosenthal, included with this copy, offering C-S The Master Craftsman. Strouse said that he would make Rosenthal's copy "a little special" by putting in a double leaf from the Bible. Two letters dated 1978 are laid in from Dreyfus to Rosenthal and his wife. These letters and the 1978 inscription indicate that he got to know Rosenthal around this time.  In one letter, Dreyfus expresses his appreciation for their expressions of sympathy over the tragic death of his son. There are a few handwritten additions to the text of Dreyfus's essay in this copy, which may have added when he inscribed the book, but this is conjecture. The book is hand sewn and bound in quarter vellum with Cockerell marbled paper covered boards and gilt title to spine.  It is printed in red and black Palatino Roman and Pascal types on handmade Tovil paper.  In addition to the Doves Press leaves, laid in are the prospectus, a mounted photograph of Cobden-Sanderson with Emery Walker developed from the original negative, a smaller copy of the photo, and a pamphlet issued in 1971 titled "A Letter from Stella."  This pamphlet reprints the text of the last letter written by Cobden-Sanderson to his daughter, Stella, a few hours before he died, with an introduction by Strouse. [54 pages.]  PRI/042309. Fine.

Barrie, J. M.; Doyle, Arthur Conan

Jane Annie, or The Good Conduct Prize

London: Chappell & Co. 1893. Paperback. This is a very scarce item with an interesting history. J.M. Barrie (1860-1937) and Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) met early in their writing careers when they both wrote for the magazine The Idler. They were both Scottish and passionate about cricket, and they became great friends. Their odd collaboration in writing this operetta came about because Barrie had agreed to write the libretto. He became ill, however, perhaps suffering a nervous breakdown, and his friend Doyle came to his rescue by collaborating with him on the work. Despite their efforts, the operetta was a failure, which apparently bothered them very little. In the original printed wrappers. This is very nice copy of this uncommon work, particularly in this condition. This is a variant issue of this unusual collaboration. Housed in slipcase with the bookplates of Lord Ezher and Clark Hunter. LIT/100709. Very Good.

Beaumont, Francis and John Fletcher

Fifty Comedies and Tragedies. All in one Volume. Published by the Authors Original Copies, the Songs to each Play being added

London: Printed by J. Macock for John Martyn, Henry Herringman, Richard Marriot, 1679. Hard Cover. SCARCE. Although this is the second edition of this collection of Beaumont and Fletcher’s Renaissance Comedies and Tragedies, it is considered the definitive edition because it includes a number of works that were not included in the 1647 folio.  This edition also includes actor lists and the songs that accompanied the plays. Bound in brown three quarter leather with marbled brown paper covered boards.  There is a leather title label in the second of five compartments with gilt title. There have been repairs to the leather over time and there are many scuffs and rubbing to both the spine and boards. The hinges are cracked but the text block is firm and tight. The frontispiece and the title page have been mounted in.  The title page has a narrow two inch tear on bottom right. The interior pages are clean with minor foxing and browning on many pages that do not affect the text. A previous owner has written in corresponding page numbers on the contents page in antiquated ink. There is a dark brown spot and tiny hole on one leaf.  Still in reasonably nice condition. The pagination runs to page 578, and then the numbering starts anew with the play The Queen of Corinth, and continues to page 557. . Very Good.

Beerbohm, Max

Seven Men

London: William Heinemann, 1919. Hard Cover. A very nice ASSOCIATION COPY. Beerbohm signed and inscribed the book “For CS Evans from his friend Max 1919.” Evans was the chairman of Beerbohm’s publishing company, Heinemann, and he and Evans were close friends. Max Beerbohm, of course, is known as one of the leading critics, caricaturists, and writers of his day. This book is the first edition in the primary binding of dark blue cloth with gilt title and author to spine and front board. It is in very good plus condition with a small nick to the top of the front board, some chipping to corners and spine, and four darker blue spots to front. No dust jacket. Interior pages are clean with some browning to margins of pages. 219 pages plus four pages of publisher ads. LIT/091608. Very Good +.

[Bracketpress] Mitchinson, John

On the Visionary Work and Revolutionary Life of an Idle Idol: William Morris

Bracketpress, 2008. Hard Cover. 1 of 60 copies. This essay, first written for the Idler, appeared in issue No. 41 - The Q.I. Issue, published on the fist day of May 2008. Fine in grey cloth backed grey paper covered boards with black title to front board. Pristine interior printed in Morris Golden type with Morris ornaments and frontispiece illustration by Edward Burne-Jones (reprinted from 'A Dream of John Ball and A King's Lesson' by William Morris) on Zerkall edelweiss halbmatt paper. Includes a laid-in 4 page facsimile letter by Morris. 13 pages. MOR/062309. Fine.

Cook, E.T. [Edward Tyas]

Autograph Letter Signed to Alfred Harmsworth

1901. . E.T. Cook. ALS to Alfred Harmsworth, 4 pages, 16 January 1901. Good literary letter in which journalist and editor Cook gives detailed views on a new periodical Harmsworth was considering to start. Good.

Doyle, Arthur Conan

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

London: George Newnes, Limited, 1892. Sydney Paget. Hard Cover. FIRST EDITION, mixed state. This collection of short stories by Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) ensured his lasting popularity and fame. It includes such classics as “Scandal in Bohemia,” “The Red-Headed League,” and “Speckled Band.” It was followed in 1894 by a second compilation, The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes. This volume is a mixed state: the front cover has a black and white illustration with a banner, “The Strand Library.” The street sign is not blank. The end papers are the variant light orange peacock design. Page 317 has the uncorrected “Miss Violent” rather than “Miss Violet.” Bound in the original blue cloth with gilt title and author to spine and front cover. Fraying to spine edges and beveled board edges, bumping and rubbing but still in nice condition. The hinges havenbeen expertly restored. Interior pages are clean and bright except for what appears to be a small cigarette (or Calabash pipe?) burn affecting the bottom margins of pages 282-289. Page 285/286 has an actual burn hole. Housed in light blue half morocco slipcase. 317 pages. LIT/072009. Very Good.

Field Marshal Lord Roberts of Kandahar

Forty-one Years in India from Subaltern to Commander-in-Chief. with portraits and maps. 2 volumes

London: Richard Bentley and Son, 1897. Hard Cover. Seventh edition. The autobiography of Lord Roberts (1832 - 1914) which recounts many events of the Indian Mutiny. He arrived in India as a young cadet in 1852 and went on to serve as the Commander-in-Chief in India from 1885 - 1893. He later became the Commander-in-Chief of the the entire British Army. An exceeding popular book , it went into the eight printing during its first year of publication. Near fine in dark blue cloth boards with gilt titles to spines and gilt emblems to front boards. Clean, bright interiors with 29 illustrations. Tight bindings. 511 pages in volume I; 522 pages in volume II; 64 pages of ads. TRA/041409 This set may require an extra shipping fee. Near Fine.

[Fleece Press] Wright, John Buckland; Christopher Buckland Wright

Endeavours and Experiments: John Buckland Wright's Essays in Woodcut and Colour Engraving together with other blocks remaining in his studio

Upper Denby, Huddersfield: Fleece Press, 2004. Hard Cover. Deluxe Edition. 45 of 54 deluxe copies which include two tipped-in color prints and a signed loose print of Cafe Dansant No. 2. Laid in is a signed typed letter from printer Simon Laurence on his letterhead dated October 12th, 2003. This the fourth book in the John Buckland Wright series printed by the Fleece Press. It contains the “free” or autonomous prints not published in the previous volumes including book illustrations, commercial work and designs for cards, announcements and publishers’ marks. It addition it features a descriptive account of all the rejected and unfinished blocks in the studio. A description and printed examples of Wright’s experiments with color which culminated in two engravings “The Blue Dress” (1952) and “The Red Room” (1952) are also included; Wright died before completely finishing the latter. Before the printing of this book, neither of these engravings had been editioned. A print of Wright’s larger wood engraving, Cafe Dansant No. 2 (1930) accompanies several of the volumes in this series including this one. Fine in quarter vellum with patterned paper boards and gilt title to spine. Pristine interior with many tipped-in illustrations, some of which are in color. Printed in Modern No. 7 type set at Whittington by Peter Sanderson on Magnani Avorio Biblos paper and bound by Smith Settle. The tipped-in reproductions were printed in Sheffield by J.W. Northend Fine Print. The print and book are housed in a fine orange cloth clamshell box with paper title label to spine. 71 pages. PRI/122409. Fine.

[In Cahoots Press] Chadwick, Macy

The Topography of Home

Oakland: In Cahoots Press, 2009. Hard Cover. Macy Chadwick formed the In Cahoots Press in 2002. Her work often addresses memory, communication, and connections between people. She is currently teaching book arts and letterpress at the Academy of Art University, the San Francisco Art Institute, and the San Francisco Center for the Book. 2 of 50 copies. Signed and numbered by the artist. “The Topography of Home is the artist’s attempted reconciliation of living in the present while longing for the remembered feelings of the past, embodied in her childhood hometown. Imagery of letterpress printed maps convey a more emotional than geographical terrain; events and places are recorded and revisited, worried over and longed for. The book’s pages are punctuated with silk tissue apertures, allowing the viewer to look ahead to a piece of the imagery on the next page, and then, as the page is turned, to look back at a small part of the image on the page before. This sequential aspect of the book literally and metaphorically has the reader both seeing the past through the present and looking forward through history’s gauze” (Macy Chadwick). Fine in blue paper covered boards with title pastedown to front board. Printed with pressure prints and polymer plates on Mohawk Superfine and French’s Extra Blue Butcher paper. The window images are hand-stenciled on Silk Tissue. [21 pages.] ARTB/043009. Fine.

[Kelmscott Press] Meinhold, William Translated by Francewsca Speranza, Lady Wilde

Sidonia the Sorceress

Hammersmith: Kelmscott Press, 1893. Hard Cover. 1 of 300 paper copies. Ten other copies were printed on vellum. As discussed by William Peterson in his bibliography of the Kelmscott Press, William Morris considered Sidonia to be a masterpiece of its kind. It was also a great favorite of many Pre-Raphaelite writers and artists, including Edward Burne-Jones and Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Burne-Jones did two water-color paintings based on the story. This favored translation was done by Lady Wilde, the mother of Oscar Wilde. Despite the book’s importance to Morris and his colleagues, the Kelmscott Press edition did not sell well and 30 copies, including this one, were bound in half holland and donated to British and American libraries (Peterson A19). This copy has a label attached to the front pastedown that reads “Given by Mrs. William Morris in Memory of Her Husband.” It was given to the Camberwell Public Libraries in London. The bookplate of the reference department is affixed to the front pastedown and there is a small, inconspicuous ownership stamp on the colophon page. The book is a large octavo in size. There are general signs of handling and use to the exterior. The binding has chipped in the corners of the front and rear boards, and the linen spine edges are worn. The paper label is wrinkled but present. The book is printed in Golden type on Flower paper. There are beautiful borders and initials throughout. The side notes and chapter titles are printed in red. The interior is pristine save for some splitting along the front and back joints. 455 pages. MOR/110409. Very Good.

[Knight Library Press] Lopez, Barry; Robin Eschner (etchings)

The Letters of Heaven

Eugene, OR: Knight Library Press / University of Oregon, 2000. Robin Eschner. 62 of 125 numbered copies. Signed by the author and artist. An additional 10 lettered artist’s copies were also printed. This wonderful short story by Lopez was originally published in the Fall 1997 issue of The Georgia Review. In the story, a Peruvian man writes of the effects on his life and faith from having read at different points in his life, secret love letters written in the 17th century between Rosa and Martin. The two were later canonized as saints, and the writer comes to understand their divinity and love of God as expressed in the letters. The book is a beautiful production from the Knight Library’s fine press publishing program. It was designed, printed, and bound by Sandy Tilcok. It is printed on Heine paper using Bembo types. There are five lovely tipped-in hand-colored etchings done by Robin Eschner. Marilyn Reaves did the calligraphic title, headings, and ornaments. The colophon describes the cover as being made by laminating two handmade papers of brown and rose. The covers are fastened by thin leather straps for which instructions are provided on a laid-in card on how to re-tie them in the original intricate fashion. Unpaginated. ARTB/120209.

May, Phil

What a Feed I've Had (ink drawing)

No Binding. A delightful ink drawing by English illustrator, Phil May (1864 - 1903), who made regular contributions to many periodicals, including the Sydney Bulletin, St. Stephens Review, Daily Graphics, and Punch. He also published his own annuals from 1892 - 1905 and supplemented these with additional larger albums. Examples of his work can be found at the Victoria & Albert Museum and the British Museum. May, a short man of slight build, has drawn himself in a wonderfully comic manner, as is typical of his self-portraits. He depicts himself as being enormously fat and smoking a cigar following a meal. The drawing is inscribed by May and reads: “Menu. Savoy Omlette, Cold Beef (plat de jour), Spring Onions (off), Cabbage (pickled)” and is titled “What a Feed I’ve Had.” It is also signed by the artist, “Fill May.” The drawing has been mounted on a piece of archival board and matted. The bottom right corner of the paper is missing; to make this less evident; the board behind the drawing has been watercolored in light blue to match the color of the paper. There are a few light spots of foxing to the paper. Ink drawing measures 7 x 5 inches. The mat measures 19 x 12.5 inches. ART/050609. Very good.