Philadelphia: Gebbie and Barrie, circa 1880. Hardcover. Includes 60 plates and many wood engravings. Plates are by Charles Baugniet, W.A. Bouguereau, G.R.C. Boulanger, Alex Cabanel, J.L. Gerome, Hugues Merle, and many others. Bound in three quarter dark brown leather over pebbled black cloth boards with gilt title to spine and front cover. Rubbing and wear to boards and all leather. Pulls and rubbing to leather on spine and corners. Minor dampstaining to bottom corners of first few pages. Foxing, mostly to margins, of many pages including plates. Occaional smudge marks. Clean overall. Chipping and closed tears to front free endpaper. 187 pages plus plates. This is a heavy, folio sized volume and it may require an extra shipping fee.ART/062019. Very Good. More

London and Chicago: John Lane and the Bodley Head and Stone and Kimball, 1895. Patten Wilson. Hardcover. First Edition, Private Issue. Presentation Copy. This is the very scarce private version of Frederick Tennyson's last book. With a handwritten limitation notice on the half-title "Twenty five vellum bound copies of the first edition have been issued for private circulation, This is No. 16." It is inscribed: "To the Revd. W.B. Macleod With Capt. J. Tennyson's & the Authors Compliments Jersey Jan 1896." The recipient was the author of Frederick Tennyson: His Life and Work, published in 1896. Frederick Tennyson (1807-1898) was a poet and the older brother of Alfred Tennyson. Although a gifted poet, he was overshadowed by his brother throughout his life. Captain Julius Tennyson was the author's only son, and the book is dedicated to him and his sister, Sophia, whom Frederick called the companions of his old age. In original vellum with gilt title and author to spine, and gilt florettes and initial "F" to front cover. The spine is darkened and the covers are soiled and bumped but still nice. In very good condition with darkening to page edges. Frontispiece photograph of Tennyson and title page design by illustrator Patten Wilson. A lovely book with a charming association. 163 pages plus tipped-in errata sheet and 16 pages of publisher ads. POE/061313. Very Good. More

Bennington, VT: The Bird Press, 2016. Number 6 of 38 copies, signed and numbered by the artist and translator. A collaboration between the illustrator / book artist and translator. This is a new translation of the prologue and first part of Mayakovsky's first long poem, originally published in 1915. The Russian modernist poet and cultural icon Vladimir Mayakovsky (1893 - 1930) committed suicide in Moscow 15 years after publishing this piece. According to the translator: "Thorsten Dennerline's twisting artworks suspended against a blue-sky backdrop seemed fitting for the existential crisis in this poem. Mayakovsky writes in verbal cartwheels and associative flights of language, allowing wordplay, sonic riffs, and rhyme to drive his rhetoric and imagery. I sought to preserve both each line's intended meaning and Mayakovsky's rhythm and music. I also attempted to make the poem's diction smooth, accessible, and idiomatically modern to a 21st century American ear." Fascinated with the intensity of Mayakovsky's work and life as well as the historical happenings that influenced him, Thorsten decided to illustrate his work with "monsters." As the drawings developed with layers of ink and detail he "began seeing [them] as bodies, less as monsters and more as physical, mortal, vulnerable beings." Bound in yellow paper wrappers with black title to front cover and binding sewn with red thread along spine. Printed with lithography and letterpress at the Working Dog Press and Horton Tank Graphics. The plate lithographs were printed in sixteen layers of ink. Housed in a grey handmade paper wrapper featuring one of Thorsten's illustrations snaking around the front and rear panels along with another on the inside flap. Thorsten Dennerline creates paintings, drawings, and prints in addition to artists' books. He has exhibited work across the U.S. as well as in Chile and Denmark; and his work is represented in numerous collections including Yale University Library, the Library of Congress, UCLA, Stanford University, and the Kunstindustri Musset (Denmark). Size: 8.5 x 7 inches. ARTB/120120. Fine. More

London: Hurst and Blackett, Ltd, 1889. Hardcover. Theater owner and playwright, Augustin Daly's copy, auction number 3465. Illustrated by Alfred Bryan and W. H. Margetson. English comic actor and theater manager, J. L. Toole (1830 - 1906), managed the Folly Theatre towards the end of his life. He later changed its name to the Toole Theatre, and became the first actor to have a West End theatre named after him. Sadly, his theatre was demolished several years after the publication of this book and the company was disbanded soon after. Bound in three quarter tan leather over marbled paper covered boards with red label "Stage Biography" and green title / author label beneath. This is part of a series of books Daly had bound in a matching style, all labeled "Stage Biography." Rubbing, pulling, and wear to leather. Clean and bright interiors with illustrations. Unopened pages. Top edge gilt with marbled endpapers. Bound by R.W. Smith. Small remnant of auction record tipped into rear of first volume with pencil notation Daly / March 1900. Volume I: 292 pages; Volume II: 305 pages. DRA/031419. Very Good. More

New York: Charles L. Webster and Company, 1885. Hard Cover. FIRST EDITION, first state in uncommon variant binding of blue cloth. It has been rebacked with the original blue cloth boards attached and title strip laid down. The author and title are in black and gilt on the spine and front board. The cover also has a blind-stamped illustration of Huck in black and gilt. Minor wear to corners, darkening to board edges, and rubbing to boards. There is a photo-gravure portrait bust of Twain with facsimile signature, frontis illustration, and 174 text illustrations by E.W. Kemble. Lacks tissue guard between frontispieces. Light dampstain to corner of photo-gravure page. The interior is clean overall with occasional foxing and occasional spots of soiling, mostly to margins. Modern endpapers. Altogether a desirable copy of this milestone of American literature. 366 pages. LIT/092519. Near Fine. More

New York: Harper's, 1917. Softcover. Rare in the original wrappers. Six issues between May and November 1917. The letters were also published by Harper as two volumes in 1917. The letters were arranged with comment by Albert Bigelow Paine. Paine was an important Twain scholar and in addition to the letters, he published several other books about him including a three volume biography. Each issue’s cover is printed in a different color paper, most with pictorial front cover and advertisements on rear. Covers are all in very good condition, some with small tears to spine and creases to covers, three issues with Oregon State Library stamp to cover. Interior pages near fine. Wonderful advertisements and illustrations throughout each. Each issue is about 150-175 pages. Continuous pagination for the year’s issues. Very Good. LIT/091318. Very Good. More

London: Cassell and Company, 1890-1892, 1894. Hardcover. Volume FOUR only of a five volume series. This volume contains 36 black and white portraits accompanied by a brief, adulatory biographical piece. Subjects are drawn from many spheres of British society and culture, with an emphasis on royalty, the aristocracy, the stage, and the arts. Among those included are Prince Henry of Battenberg, Henry Irving, George Bernard Shaw, the King of Greece, Sir Edwin Arnold, Lady Randolph Churchill, and the Duke and Duchess of York and Bridesmaids. This is an ex-library volume with the bookplate of the City of York Public Library affixed to the front pastedown. In what was probably an effort to discourage readers from taking photographs, the library applied an unobtrusive but visible embossed stamp to the margins of the photos, not affecting the portrait itself. Despite these factors the photographs are still interesting and attractive. Bound in brown cloth with floral borders to front boards and titles in gilt to front and to spines. Some bumping and rubbing, remains of small white stickers at foot of spine, but otherwise in quite good condition. Save for the small embossed stamps, the photographs are in very good condition. 96 pages. PHOTO/081017. Very Good. More

Spain: 1650. A leaf from a Medieval Antiphonal or Choir Missal, Spain, circa 1650, in Latin on extremely heavy vellum. Text is in a Spanish rounded gothic hand (Rotunda). Music is on a stave formed of five lines. There are six lines of music and verse. Verso: six lines of music and verse. Framed. #2537. Near Fine. More

1852. Hardcover. Very good in the original black publisher's cloth with gilt title to spine and gilt emblem to front cover. Chipping to book cloth along the spine ends. Small chip to book cloth on rear hinge. Minor wear to corners and edges of boards. With numerous illustrations including a fold out map of New York, a fold out of Castle Garden, a fold out Plan of the City (1808), and more. A few of the fold outs have closed tears. 504 pages. NY/022118. Very Good. More

Verdigris, 2008. Hardcover. Number 3 of 50 copies. This is one of ten copies of the DELUXE EDITION which includes a monoprint signed by the artist with a caption hand written on the facing page. Judith Rotchild has created eleven exquisite mezzotint plates to illustrate Temple's poem.The book is bound in the accordion style with yellow and blue paper covered boards and title stamped in black to the front cover. The monoprint is contained in a portfolio with a black cloth spine and marbled paper covered boards. Both the print and portfolio are housed in a clamshell box with a black cloth spine and paper covered boards. A blue paper title label covers the spine panel of the box. Unpaginated [16 pages] ARTB/101010. Fine in Fine Box. More

London and New York: Harper & Brothers, 1899. Hardcover. First Edition. An excellent Author's Presentation Copy, inscribed "C.F.A. Voysey from H.G. Wells." Herbert George Wells (1866-1946) was a prolific writer in many genres but is best remembered for his science fiction novels, of which this is one. This dystopian work was first published in 1899, but Wells revised it in 1910 and published it as When the Sleeper Awakes. He was dissatisfied with this first version, saying it was written when he was under time pressures. The recipient is Charles Voysey, an important English architect and designer who was influenced by the Arts & Crafts and Art Nouveau movements. In 1900 he was the architect for Spade House, which Wells built in 1900 and lived in for the succeeding decade. Laid in is a Raphael Tuck and Sons "real photograph" postcard of Wells that is contemporary with the book and signed in ink below the image. Such an early photograph of Wells is uncommon and signed ones are rare. It is very likely that Wells gave this one to Voysey. Bound in original red cloth with gilt title and author to spine and front cover. Spine is faded, bumping to corners. Hinges tender, endpapers smudged, light spotting to half title page not affecting the inscription. An accession number is written in ink on the free front endpaper and there is a blind stamp "W.H. Smith and Son London" below it. Bookplate of John Richard Sofio to front pastedown. Housed in handsome beige cloth box with leather title and author label to spine. Very good condition. 329 pages. LIT/011416. Very Good. More

Baltimore: J. Murphy, 1846. Hardcover. Uncommon. Includes 12 issues from 1846 with articles on Native Americans, Lord Baltimore and the Maryland Charter, "Oriental Churches", Brazil, Maryland history, Festivals among the Jews, John P. Kennedy, as well as poetry, music, literature reviews, and foreign and domestic intelligence. Ex-library from St. Joseph's Seminary with gilt stamp to spine, sticker to spine. and library markings to endpapers. In a modern binding of black buckram over black leatherette covered boards with gilt title to spine. Occasional foxing throughout, which is heaviest on engravings and tissue guards. Occasional pencil markings, a few pen markings, and occasional soiling, but clean overall. Fold-out illustration of the sixth provincial council is torn and lacks the bottom portion. The other four full page engravings: Mt. St. Mary's College (MD) and St. Joseph's Sisterhood and Academy (MD), Pius 9th, and Gregorio XVI, are both present; although, both are foxed. 692 pages; however, pages 389 - 409 are missing; however nothing is called for on these pages within the contents and most issues end with a literary review section, which this issue ends with - so perhaps these pages never existed. REL/061820. Very Good. More