Sebastopol, CA: Deeply Game Publications, 2022. Hardcover. 1 of 20 copies. Sara Press says of her book: "What if there was a standard-issue handbook that resolved grief, discord, paradox and ancestral trauma? As young artists, we dreamed of a world where there were no rules, but in this time of internal & external chaos, we wish there were more definitive answers. During a particularly difficult year, we traded sketchbooks back and forth, completing each other’s empty hands with objects that communicated our struggles and sought solutions. We know nothing is simple, but we indulged ourselves with the fantasy that things could be. We knew our drawings, born from questions, would contain all the answers if seen in the right combinations. So we indexed them with the moral authority of any other handbook grasping at truths, and solved all the world’s problems." Sara and Tiana's book addresses such problems as dealing with intolerable grief, dismantling capitalism, how to raise a child, and when to shut up, among many other topics. Each problem refers to one or more drawings of hands. The book is accompanied by a life-sized gypsum cement hand that cradles it for display in different ways. Book is bound in grey cloth with titling in black to cover. Minor rubbing to back cover otherwise fine. The text is letterpress printed and the water color pencil drawings of hands are digitally printed with Indigo Electroink on Mohawk Superfine paper. Housed in a brown cardboard box with the title inserted into a metal slot on the front. An inventive work in fine condition. Measures 5 x 7 inches. 84 pages. ARTISTSB/060222. Fine. More

London: Ralph Smith, 1700. Hardcover. A unique copy of a first edition Restoration comedy from the personal library of actor and theater manager John Philip Kemble. The volume is initialed, collated, and pronounced perfect on the title page in ink by Kemble along with the date. John Philip Kemble (1757 - 1823) was an important English actor who also achieved fame as the manager of the Drury Lane and Covent Garden theaters. He was also known for assembling a theatrical library that was unrivaled. After he retired in 1819 he sold his collection of 4000 plays and forty volumes of playbills to Cavendish, the 6th Duke of Devonshire. The Devonshire collection is now part of the Huntington Library in San Marino, California. The remainder of Kemble's library was auctioned by Evans in Pall Mall over ten days beginning January 21, 1821 (from the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography). George Farquhar (1677 - 1707) was an Irish playwright of real comic power who wrote for the English stage at the beginning of the 18th century. He stood out from his contemporaries for originality of dialogue and a stage sense that doubtless stemmed from his experience as an actor. His early plays were primarily spirited variations on a theme: young men have their fling for four acts and reform, unconvincingly, in the fifth. The plays have freshness, however, as well as wit and a lively human sympathy (Encyclopedia Britannica). For this copy each individual page has been meticulously framed on slightly larger sheets of contemporary white paper. It has been beautifully bound by Riviere and Son in full tan calf with gold tooling and lettering. The spines have five raised bands with gilt decorated compartments and there are two leather labels, one with the play's title and author, and the other stating "J.P. Kemble's Copy." With gilt dentelles, marbled endpapers, and all edges gilt, with a few splash marks on cover otherwise in near fine condition. The pages of the play are browned with occasional spots of foxing and soiling but text is completely legible. In very good condition. Measures 6.5 x 9 inches. 54 pages. DRAMA/012121. Near Fine. More

London: Golden Cockerel Press, 1937. This is a collection of prospectuses for five of the books issued by the famed Golden Cockerel Press in 1937. There are six prospectuses, with two copies for one of the titles. They are held in a green folder with a stylized illustration of a cock in a cocked hat and frock coat in black and the title "The Golden Cockerel Private/ Press Books /Spring List 1937." The inside two pages of the folder are printed with an essay about the private press - what it is and isn't - and an announcement for the upcoming publication of Paradise Lost in May. The back of the folder has a notice to subscribers that most of their editions are oversubscribed upon announcement, and excerpts from positive reviews of some of their earlier publications. The prospectuses are as follows with information from the Cock-a-Hoop bibliography published by the Private Libraries Association in 1976: P118. The Book of Days by Llewlyn Powys. Four pages, printed on Batchelor laid hand-made paper, with a collotype reproduction of an etching by Elizabeth Corsellis and a specimen page. 13 1/8 x 9 3/8 inches. 4,000 copies. P120. Bligh's Voyage in the Resource. Two copies. One sheet, two pages, printed on white laid paper, with a wood engraving by Peter Barker-Mill. 12 1/8 x 7 1/2 inches. 5,000 copies. P121. A Croppe of Kisses by Ben Jonson. Four pages, printed on white laid paper with a Cockerel device on the front, with a specimen page and an appreciation. Inserted is the subscription form. 12 1/8 x 7 3/8 inches. 5,000 copies. P122. Ana the Runner by Patrick Miller. Four pages, printed on white wove paper. with a wood engraving by Clifford Webb on a specimen plate and a specimen page from chapter I. 8 3/4 x 5 5/8 inches. 7,000 copies. P123. The First Fleet with introduction and notes by Owen Rutter. Two pages, printed on white laid paper, with a wood-engraving by Peter Barker-Mill. 12 1/4 x 7 1/2 inches. 5,500 copies. The prospectuses are all in near fine condition, the larger ones with horizontal fold lines from mailing. The green folder holding the items is faded lightly worn and creased around the edges. There is a horizontal fold line for mailing. The folder measures 9.5 x 13.5 inches. A very nice representative collection of ephemera from this renowned 20th century private press. Very good condition. PRI/041223. Very Good. More

Portland, OR: Anne Greenwood, 2018. Number 3 of 10 copies in the deluxe edition, signed and numbered by the book artist. This deluxe edition includes a hand-written poem in a rear folder with a bound in fabric piece. Vestiges was conceived in Iceland where Anne was an artist-in-residence in April and May 2018. This striking work includes folded, sewn, dyed, and printed crinoline cloth pieces accompanied by text. They beautifully capture the almost intangible nature of vestiges - things disappearing or no longer in existence. The book's wrap-around cover is white crinoline. The book is printed with Weiss Italic type on Mohawk Superfine paper by Diane Jacobs of the Scranton Press in Portland. The text is hand-written and authored by the artist as are the hand-dyed fabric manipulations (from the colophon). Anne Greenwood is a well-known artist who has exhibited widely and whose works can be found in museum and library collections around the country. She was born on the high Dakota Plains and was led to an art degree by her artist grandmother. In 1990 she moved to Portland, Oregon and began her career as an artist and horticulturalist. Anne’s artwork explores an interest in folk art and speaks of her kinship with the natural world and how this influences her connection to daily life. She makes objects, installations, and works with her community. In 2002, Anne set up a textiles studio integrating handwork, book arts, and textiles into an interdisciplinary practice. From Anne's artist's statement: "My artistic practice navigates an infinite network of connections: narrating the simple and complex, physical and ephemeral, past and present, within the context of place, history, and transformation. I form relationships that expand and fortify admiration and reverence, leading to the discovery of new truths about the world around us. I enter into inquiry-based community engagement through arts education, residency, public work, studio practice, and collaboration. " A lovely work in fine condition. ARTS/031419. Fine. More

London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1893. Maurice Greiffenhagen. Hardcover. First Edition of this Aztec romance. Author's Presentation Copy, inscribed "To Andrew from his affec brother H Rider Haggard 1894." Henry Rider Haggard (1856-1925) was the author of a number of adventure novels set in exotic locales. His books, including She and King Solomon's Mines, are still popular today. Haggard traveled to Mexico in 1891 to do research for this book and sadly his young son died while he was away. The book describes the first interactions between the Spanish and South American natives, as well as murders, shipwrecks, and slavery. Colonel Andrew Haggard, who had a distinguished military career - he was one of he first British officers to command in the Egyptian army - was also a successful novelist, travel writer and poet. It is known that Andrew helped Rider with the writing of Dawn and he likely played an important role in helping his younger brother with the several bestsellers which revolved around Egypt and mummies. There are 25 black and white illustrations by the British painter and illustrator Maurice Greiffenhagen. He was Haggard's friend, which led him to illustrate several of his adventure books, starting with She in 1889. Bound in the original publisher's blue-green cloth with gilt author and title to front cover and spine. Light bumping, small chip to bottom of faded spine. Hinges a bit tender but text block is tight. Interior pages are clean. Bookplate of collector Mark Samuels Lasner to front pastedown. Very good condition. 325 pages plus 24 page publisher's catalog. LIT/012016. Very Good. More

Minneapolis: Indulgence Press, 2012. Portfolio. Number 7 of 10 copies. Signed and numbered by poet and illustrator. This is one of several books produced by Wilber "Chip" Schilling, owner of the Indulgence Press, in collaboration with author-artist Thomas Rose. In this book they created a beautiful and mysterious work that combines Rose's haunting photographs with the poetry of Lo Ch'ing, a noted modern poet from China. In his foreword, Rose states that "art deals with primary intention and those aspects of objects and space that are unavailable to logic. His images are constructed from various sources including shadows and reflections. They are illusions, reflections in glass. Lo Ch'ing's poems give these images...depth and richness." The pairings of the photographs and poems are open-ended and ambiguous, allowing for conjecture as to how the images and text meet. The eight photographic prints are originals by Rose, and Lo Ch’ing wrote the interpretive poems for this book, with his original brushwork and translations. They were printed letterpress from plates by Schilling. Each image is printed in color on a fine woven paper. Each poem is printed in Chinese and English along with the striking black brushwork on a light and semi-transparent paper that slightly reveals the image beneath. The elephant folio sized sheets are housed in a green and black cloth portfolio with diagonal boards that fasten with a black bone closure. A stunning production from the noted Indulgence Press in fine condition. PRI/121312. Fine. More

London: James R. Osgood, McIlvaine & Co., 1893. Hardcover. First edition. An excellent association copy of one of James's major books of essays. It is his presentation copy to Lucy Clifford, “Mrs. Clifford from her friend & servant Henry James.” Henry James (1843-1916) was one of the most important writers in American letters as well as one of its most productive and influential. Lucy Clifford (1846-1921) was a British novelist and dramatist with a wide circle of literary friends, most notably Henry James. From their letters it is clear that she held a special place in his affections and was one of his closest friends and confidantes. (See “Bravest of women, finest of friends”: Henry James’s Letters to Lucy Clifford, ed. Marysa Demoor and Monty Chisholm, 1999). The essays include pieces on James Russell Lowell, Fanny Kemble, Gustave Flaubert, Henrk Ibsen, and Mrs. Humphrey Ward. Bound in original beige cloth with gilt author and title to spine and front cover, and an Art Nouveau style decoration on front.Light rubbing, bumping, and three ink stains on front cover. Interior pages show slight aging to margins but are otherwise clean. A nice copy in very good condition. Housed in a cream cloth covered clamshell box with black and gilt title label to spine. 320 pages. LIT/011416. Very Good. More

Newark, VT: The Janus Press, 1992. Paperback. 8 of 150 copies. Signed by the author, artist, and binder. Inscribed from Ruth Fine to Nina (Matheson), a bibliophile, ex-rare book dealer, and the director emerita of the Johns Hopkins Welch Medical Library, on occasion of her 60th birthday. Born in 1933, Claire Van Vliet is one of the most acclaimed book artists practicing today. For over 60 years Van Vliet and her Janus Press have produced wonderful works of art in book form. Van Vliet started Janus Press, located in Vermont, in 1955. The press embodies the age-old tradition of book making, yet it also experiments with innovative book formats and structures. In addition to the more than 90 artist’s books that Van Vliet has published, she has also created hundreds of drawings, prints, pulp paintings, and broadsides. She has been a recipient of many awards and honors, including a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship in 1989. According to "The Janus Press - Fifty Years" (2006), This was Claire Van Vliet's first book publication after her receipt of the MacArthur. She says that the non-adhesive book structure used for this publication "just fell into place, came out of the blue, fully formed, in Abiquiu" (page 29). The poems featured in this book and the drawings that inspired them were also created in New Mexico, not far from where Claire was visiting in Abiquiu. The book was later completed at Claire's home in Vermont. Bound in an interesting binding structure of 40 french-folded sheets held together with woven strips of vellum. Illustrated with line drawings of skulls by Ruth Fine, printed from polymer relief plates. The poems are printed in Gill Sans Light caps on Barcham Green Royal Watercolour Society paper. The book is housed in two non-adhesive fitted slipcases of drum vellum and Barcham Green Renaissance IV paper. Clean and bright. Unpaginated. [40 pages.] Size: 8 x 10 inches. ARTB/102623. Fine. More

Berkeley: The Codex Foundation, 2019. One of 50 copies. The CODEX Foundation recently published WORDS on the Edge, a limited edition portfolio of poetry and lyric prose in broadside format. This portfolio, consisting of twenty-six poems and lyrical texts powerfully addressing themes of nature and its irresponsible destruction, is a part of an international artists' intervention—EXTRACTION: Art on the Edge of the Abyss that is sponsored by the CODEX Foundation as a commitment to art and the environment. It is a multimedia, multi-venue, cross-border art intervention that will investigate extractive industry in all of its forms, from mining and drilling to the reckless exploitation of water, soil, trees, marine life, and other natural resources. For this impressive project, twenty-six notable poets, artists, and writers were paired with an equal number of highly regarded letterpress printers from four countries to produce an editioned broadside/print especially for this portfolio. Poets and writers include Margaret Atwood, Wendell Berry, Peter Coyote, Jo Harjo, and Barry Lopez among many others. Printers include Peter Koch, Ninja Press, Taller Martin Perscador, Barbarian Press, Foolscap Press, and Midnight Paper Sales. The broadsides have all been signed by the writer and the printer. They of course vary greatly with the use of different papers, types, and illustrations and all display a beautiful mastery befitting the importance of the effort. The broadsides are housed in a handsome custom box. Size: Folio, about 19 x 12.5 inches. In fine condition. PRI/052720. Fine. More

Brazil: Ministerio da Educacao e Cultura, 1965. Paperback. Number 12 of 200 copies numbered and signed by the author. An additional 800 unsigned copies were printed. Elephant folio. A collection of 50 poems by Stella Leonardos illustrated with 3 lithographs by Pedro. Portuguese author and painter Antonio Pedro (1909 - 1966) helped introduce Surrealism into Portuguese painting during the 1930s. Bound in white and green paper wrappers with green title to front cover. Minor browning to spine and edges of wrappers and a few small closed tears to edges of wrappers. The interior is clean overall with minor browning to edges of pages. Some light foxing / light soiling to margins of some pages. Small closed tear to margin of one of the prints, which does not effect the image. Includes a postcard on the letterhead of the Brazilian minister of education and culture dated 7/6/65 with a brief handwritten note in Portuguese. Unbound as issued in large folded sheets. 91 pages plus plates, notes, and index. IN PORTUGUESE. POE/010715. Very Good. More

1885. Linden Lindenia Orchid, Jean Linden (1817-1898), was a famed orchid hunter, organizing many trips to hunt orchids in their native habitats all over the world, and importing over a thousand species back to Belgium. Along with Conrad Loddiges in England, they published the superb work, Iconographic des Orchidees, in two parts. This print is from the first series published from 1885-1894. The framed print measures 10 1/2 x 14 inches. #43393. Fine. More

Philadelphia: Luminice Press, 2023. One of 14 copies signed by the book artists. This charming and informative book, Spider and the Stars, is a Luminice Press artist book by Thomas Parker Williams and Mary Agnes Williams. It combines an original illustrated story for young readers with factual information about spiders and the curious way they travel long distances. Called ballooning, this form of spider travel appears to be flying, but in fact spiders take advantage of the Earth's electric field to become airborne. This particular spider became so airborne that she soared past the earth and planets to weave her webs among the stars! Book artist and printer Thomas Parker Williams began creating artists' books in 1998 while also painting. As of 2009 he has limited his art practice exclusively to artists' books. In that year he also began collaborating with his wife, photographer Mary Agnes Williams. In 2013 they started Luminice Press, incorporating letterpress printing into artists' books and broadsides. The artists' books draw on a range of conceptual sources in creating their books, including mathematics, music, literature, theology, philosophy, astronomy, natural sciences, and Eastern thought. Books by Williams or the Luminice Press may be found in over 75 public collections around the country. For this delightful collaboration, both artists developed the concept and design and did the printing. Thomas did the illustrations, the moveable pop-up and the binding. Mary Agnes wrote the original story and handset the text. The round black cover has a smaller cut out circle. It is laser cut wood with oil-based pochoir printed paper. The outer circle depicts the starry skies, while the spider and her web are visible in the smaller circle. When the cover is opened the spider and her web are fully visible. On the first page is a large brown, cream, and orange spider with moveable head and legs that pop open. There are 16 pages that tells the spider's story with colorful images of her and her adventurous travel to outer space. They are done in oil-based pochoir over linocut flood coats, with hand painted accents. The text is hand set in Janson and Janson Italic on Arches book paper and letterpress printed. Housed in an acrylic case with a brown title inset. In fine condition. The book measures 7.5 x 8 inches closed. The pop-up spider opens to 19 x 24 inches. ARTB/050523. Fine. More