Niagra Falls, NY: Carol Schwartzott, 1994. Number 126 of 500 copies. Signed by the artist. A sweet little book with a poem about flowers and illustrations of flowers, umbrellas, and rain with peek-through holes cut into some pages. Accordion bound in yellow paper wrappers with yellow ribbon fastening cover to text block and dark grey title label pastedown to spine. Housed in a blue cardstock box with grey title label to spine panel. Unpaginated. [32 pages.] Size: book is about 3 x 2.75 inches; box is about 3 x 3 inches. ARTB/121619. Fine. More

Freeville, NY: Carol Schwartzott, 2019. Hardcover. Number 3 of 12 copies. Signed by the artist. Digitally printed with hand-colored prints on Hannemuhle archival paper, with the addition of fine Japanese and Chiyogami papers. Bound in blue and white stiff Japanese paper wrappers with five signatures sewn into accordion folds. Includes ten hand-colored prints. Housed in a blue and white folding paper covered box with paper / plastic rod closure and paper title label to spine panel. Size: 4.25 x 4.25 inches. Unpaginated. [30 pages.] ARTB/121619. Fine. Fine. More

Freeville, NY: Carol Schwartzott, 2019. Number 6 of 10 copies. Signed by the artist. Bound in an accordion structure with hand colored, collaged elements including palmistry diagrams on each page. Includes two pages of text, Nine illustrations, and colophon. Housed in a altered Altoid box that has been collaged with a map of London and other papers on both interior and exterior. The box is titled in gold on the front panel. The book and box both come in a handmade black felt carrying case with red ribbon pull ties. Unpaginated. [18 pages.] Size: book is about 3.5 x 2 inches; box is about 3.75 x 2.25 inches. ARTB/121619. Fine. More

Niagra Falls, NY: Carol Schwartzott, 1994. Number 403 of 500 copies, Second edition. Signed by the artist. A sweet little book with two quotes about gardens and illustrations of seven flowers with peek-through holes cut into some pages. Accordion bound in decorative color paper wrappers with yellow ribbon fastening cover to text block and grey title label pastedown to spine. Housed in a white cardstock box with grey title label to spine panel. Unpaginated. [22 pages.] Size: book is about 3 x 2.75 inches; box is about 3 x 3 inches. ARTB/121619. Fine. More

Freeville, NY: Carol Schwartzott, 2008. Number 6 of 7 copies signed and numbered by this noted book artist. She writes of her beautifully conceived and executed production: "This work was originally created for a fund-raising auction. "Faces in the Wild" is an annual artist auction aimed at raising awareness and funds for wildlife protection. When I came across Spix's Macaw I immediately thought of presenting this endangered species within a cabinet, a technique that I began using early on in my career as a book artist and continue to enjoy. I frequently find small stashes of interesting materials and am also the recipient of many delightful hand-me-down gifts from friends and very often they seem to find a use in my art. So, the Spix's Macaw project soon housed not only the remaindered book I found on EBay, but a collection of molted feathers from a parakeet, nuts and seeds from some old potpourri, dried moss from last summer's flower arrangements, and any number of stencils and paper trimmings that I recycled from past projects." She describes the work as: "A modern curiosity cabinet, I like to think of it as a contemporary 'time machine' that visualizes the environment and habits of Spix's Macaw, an endangered and extinct in the wild bird." The assemblage is housed in 8 x 10 x 4 inch painted wooden box. Materials include a used picture frame, paper cut-outs of Macaws, glass bottles containing an assortment of found and collected items including birdseed, parakeet feathers, nuts, dried moss, remaindered book, paint, thread, ribbon. Original maps and bird illustrations from the artist's personal collection of old books were scanned and printed on an Epson Photo 2000 using archival inks and paper. These scans were later hand-embellished using paint, colored pencils, graphite, and inks. Stencils are the artist's hand-cut original designs, printed using water based paints. Shelves and stops are constructed of archival foam core, covered first with Japanese paper and recovered with a variety of printed and hand modified papers. The box houses two layers: above is the book [Spix's Macaw: The Race to Save the World's Rarest Bird by Toney Juniper (Atria Books, 2002)] and below the cabinet with the contained ephemera and three-dimensional exhibit. In fine condition. ARTISTSB/120319. More

Japan: Kototsubo, 2019. Number 8 of 18 copies. Signed and numbered by the book artist Miyako Akai. and author Larry Seidman. This exquisite miniature book is a collaboration between Larry Seidman and Miyako Akai, both members of the Miniature Book Society. Larry, a Virginia pediatrician, wrote the poem, and the description and discussion of the book. Miyako , an award winning miniature book artist, made the book and translated the English text to Japanese. Larry described the project of making this book as a spiritual journey and dedicated it to his mother, who died at age 96. Larry writes in the colophon: "For the past 20 years I have shaped citrus peels in my kitchen. Working with pink grapefruit peels takes patience and cooperation to turn them inside-out into boxes without breaking, like working with a bonsai tree. They are shaped with rubber bands on a wooden form and dried hardening slowly; then the “pith” is sanded, trimmed and the two halves nested into each other. A thin layer of coconut oil is applied for a hand-rubbed finish which brings out the “grain” of the skin with tones of pink, orange and yellow. This helps the box to remain supple and flexible. The smell of citrus can be heightened by scratching the inside of the box. {I have looked] through many hundreds of orange and yellow jingle shells found at the shore of Sunken Meadow Beach, Long Island, New York. They protect the vulnerable mollusk inside. They are like little jewels that glow in the light and sound like coins when jingled together. Miyako Akai writes: "The grapefruit peel boxes have a pleasant smell. They have the feel of natural “fruit leather”. I tooled the gold leaf decoration [on the top] to make the boxes more beautiful, so that people will appreciate the skin on the inside of the peels. The many jingle shells look like the inside segments of lemon and orange citrus fruits, but they are actually the outside of shells. I put them together and bound them in one gold yarn to make a book. Because I think that many things are connected and a book is one connection. There are three books: first the poem printed on translucent pastel colored Japanese papers- next the shell necklace book - and the final colophon. The box is the cover of the book. Shells are pages of the book. Materials are shells + peels devoid of original living source. Where has the inside of them gone? When your fingers touch the outside of them, you will feel something, that is your “inside-out”. The round outer box is 3 inches in diameter. A beautiful work in fine condition. ARTISTSB/111119. More

Chicago: Starshaped Press, 2019. Hardcover. Number 6 of 50 copies. Signed and numbered by the book artist. This powerful book was created by book artist and printer Jen Farrell to describe the pain and anguish she experienced as Jo, her young daughter, was treated in 2018 to stem the growth of tumor nodules around her right lung. She writes: "While the treatments were challenging, the fallout that followed over the winter was unbearable. The chest pressure, pneumonitis and inability to breathe sent us to the hospital repeatedly, with unsatisfactory results. By ‘unsatisfactory’ I mean punching-a-hole-in-the-wall angry at the lack of understanding about why Jo had these side effects and the weeks, sometimes months, it took to get appointments with specialists. I sought solace in songs that directed my frustration away from people around me. One of these was Black Star’s Respiration, with lyrics that expressed a metaphorical difficulty to breathe in an urban environment. Many of the words applied to our reality; rewriting the lyrics was an outlet for acknowledging the trauma....Respiration is a rewrite of the song, but in this case applied to watching my child struggle to breathe." The book unfolds as a poster measuring 20x14 inches that folds down to approximately 5x 7 inches within red paper covered boards. The covers are printed in two colors on Mohawk Keakolour and the interior text is printed on Fabriano Tiziano paper with ‘fuzz’ in the texture as a nod to the scarring fuzz in Jo’s lungs. The book is accompanied by a white folded paper reference guide to the lyrics with notes on Jen's rewrites. In fine condition. Fine. More

New York: Socialist Party. Paperback. Circa 1940s. 8vo. Scarce. White side stapled paper wrappers with black title to front wrapper. Minor yellowing to edges. 31 pages. IND/092419. Very Good. More

Cambridge: Tidewater Publishers, 1955. Hardcover. New illustrated edition, this story was originally published in 1884. It includes three different stories - one about an iron smelting company which exploits bog iron deposits in Worchester County, one about the kidnapping of slaves and free negroes by the Joe Johnson-Patty Cannon gang near where Maryland and Delware join, and one about the "hat." The central character, Meshach Milburn unites the three intertwined stories. Blue cloth boards with gilt title to spine and gilt illustration of a man in a hat to front board. Clean overall with occasional smudge marks / stains to interior. Includes several black and white illustrations. In worn orange jacket with black title to spine and front panels. Jacket is sunned along spine and edges with the spine panel faded to white. Dampstain to rear panel of jacket and tears to edges. 565 pages. MD/122719. Very Good / 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 and Brothers, 1927. Hardcover. Includes 174 line drawing illustrations by Kemble. Quarto. Yellow cloth boards with black title to spine and front cover. Minor soiling to spine and boards with minor wear to corners and edges. Rolled spine. Light cockle to bottom edges of some pages, but no visible dampstain. Clean interior. 366 pages. CHILD/011320. Very Good. More

Philadelphia: Penn Publishing Company, 1906. Hardcover. Uncommon. A fascinating collection of epitaphs arranged by unconcious humor, deliberate humor, conjugal, derogatory, occupational, puns, children and infants, pathetic, brief, etc. Green cloth boards with faded white title to spine and green decoration to front cover. Chipping to white title on front cover and rubbing to boards. Minor wear to corners and edges. Browning to endpaper, else clean. 168 pages. POE/112719. Very Good. More

Baltimore: Mayor and City Council, 1877. Hardcover. Scarce. This book details the history of Baltimore's City Hall beginning in 1801 when an ordinance was passed to purchase land on which to erect the building. Due to various problems, mostly related to the budget, construction did not begin until the fall of 1867 and was not completed until the fall of 1875. The architect and designer of all plates (except for the frontispiece) was George A. Frederick. This copy LACKS the fold out frontispiece. Good in green cloth boards with gilt title to spine. The front board is present but detached. About an inch along the head of the spine is missing (affecting the title). The spine cloth is torn in a few places. There are a few light smudge marks to the interior; otherwise, very clean. Includes ten plates of which one folds out. The illustrations show exterior views of the building and also floor plans for each level. Includes laid in 5 page history of City Hall (from 1976) AND two original checks from 1869 written from the account of City Hall - one for $1197.50 to Burns Russell and Co. (for B??s Eleven) and one for $453.27 to Wm Robertson (to defray expenses of Committee's visit to New York to examine methods of heating and ventillating public buildings) 141 pages plus plates. BALT/011420. Very Good. More