La Haye: D.A. Daamen, 1939. Paperback. Number 221 of 500 copies. With full page erotic illustrations by Bantizinger, in a style similar to Matisse. In cream paper wrappers with black title to front wrapper. Tape repair to front wrapper near front joint. Chipping and browning to wrappers and spine panel. A few spots of soiling to wrappers. Clean, bright interior with full page (mostly erotic) illustrations for each of the 12 poems. IN FRENCH. Size: Thin folio. About 13.75 x 9.75 inches. FRE/021323. Very Good. More

Toronto: Cheshire Cat Press, 2023. Hardcover. Number 20 of 42 copies. Signed by Tannenbaum, Richards, Malcolm, and Walker. Quarto. A parody of Lewis Carroll's "Hunting of the Snark", written during the COVID-19 quarantine, that involves an expedition to cure infectious diseases by procuring a tissue sample from the elusive Snark, which is said to have immunity to all germs. Unfortunately, all but one of the crew members takes ill and dies from one of the diseases they set out to cure. Includes the Snark Map and a table of diseased crew members. The author of the introduction, which discusses infectious diseases during Carroll's lifetime is Catherine Anne Richards (1963). She is a retired English paediatric surgeon with a passion for Carrollinia. The author of this parody, Alison Crane Tannenbaum (1946), is a neurobiologist that spent most of her career in biomedical research at the National Institute of Health. Bound in red cloth boards with leatherette title label to front cover and gilt title to spine. Printed in New Caledonia type on Velin BFK Rives paper by George Walker and Andy Malcolm. With wood engravings by Walker, made from end grain end grain maple wood. The engravings of each crew member are underprinted with engravings based on photographs of viruses, which were provided by the author. Housed in slipcase covered in same cloth as book with gilt titling to cover and spine. In fine condition. 54 pages. PRI/030923. Fine. More

London: Doves Press, 1902 - 1905. A lovely example of the fine printing of the famed Doves Press. This leaf, printed on paper, has pages 105-106 from the third book of Milton's Paradise Lost. These are in fact the last two pages of that book. Page 105 begins with the text "The works of God, thereby to glorifie/The great Work-Maister, leads to no excess/That reaches blame..." Printed in black ink with Book 3 in red in the margins. Slight tear to bottom edge of margin, otherwise fine. PRI.032123. Fine. More

The Hague: De Zilverdistel, 1915. One of 200 copies. This book in German was published by De Zilverdistel in the Hague. This was the first private press in the Netherlands, operating 1910-1922. It was founded by the poets Jan Greshoff, J.C. Bloem and Pieter N. van Eyck. They were later joined by the designer and printer J.R. van Royen. When he joined in 1913, De Zilverdistel became a true private press. Van Royen focused on the manual printing of the books, first on a hand press at Joh. Enschedé and Sons, later on his own press. The first item printed by De Zilverdistel on its own press in 1915 was a brochure about De Zilverdistel. In total sixteen books were published with him until 1919. Georg Philipp Friedrich Freiherr von Hardenberg, pen name Novalis, (1772-1801) was a German aristocrat and polymath, who was a poet, novelist, philosopher and mystic. He is regarded as an idiosyncratic and influential figure of Early Romanticism. Novalis's early reputation as a romantic poet was primarily based on his literary works, which were published by his friends Friedrich Schlegel and Ludwig Tieck shortly after his death, in 1802. These works include the collection of poems, Hymns to the Night and Spiritual Hymns, and his unfinished novels, Heinrich von Ofterdingen. These are included in this anthology. [Wikipedia] Bound in the original vellum, with De Ziiverdistel's star shaped printing ornament stamped in gilt on the front cover. Gilt title to spine. Vellum is discolored and the covers are bowed. Slight wrinkling to pastedowns. Interior pages are clean and bright, with text printed in black, red, and blue. Uncommon in the trade. A very nice copy. Measures 5.5. x 7.5 inches. 127 pages. PRI/031523. Very Good. More

New York: Kelly-Winterton Press, 2012. Paperback. 1 of 133 copies. A lovely new book from Jerry Kelly's Kelly-Winterton Press. It is the first book printed in the digitized version of Zapf Civilite, done with the permission of Hermann Zapf. The five poems included here are attributed to Shakespeare. In dark grey stitched wraps with title in black on cover. Signed by Jerry Kelly in pencil on the front free endpaper. In fine condition. 11 pages. PRI/020323. Fine. More

United States: Dolphin Moon Press, 1978. Softcover. CAIM, Volume 4, Number 1, Supplement 3. CAIM is the chief publication of Dolphin Moon, a nonprofit press. A 5-page poem. Light brown paper cover with brown title to front cover. Saddle-stitched. Approximately 6"x4". PRI/012523. Very Good. More

Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin, and Company, 1892. Hardcover. Later edition. Includes over 20 photogravures and many line drawings by Frederic Remington. Originally published in 1855, Longfellow's epic poem is based on Ojibwe legends and is set at the Pictured Rocks on Lake Superior. The American painter and illustrator Frederic Remington (1861 - 1909) was well known for his images of the West, cowboys, and Native Americans. According to the introduction: "Mr. Longfellow made Indian pictures in verse and Mr. Remington has made Indian pictures in design, studying to make them correspond in spirit with the poet's conception, but not attempting to square the poet's description with the actual realities of Indian life as he knows it by observation. The pen-and-ink drawings which decorate the margin of the text are, on the other hand, faithful representations of a large number of actual objects, in use among Indian tribes, or associated with their life. Most of these objects are mentioned in the poem, but many are not, for the artist was desirous of making this collection of drawings a museum of Indian curiosities, and in pursuit of his object he has drawn both from his own large accumulation of material obtained in observations made during frequent intercourse with Indian tribes, and from a diligent study of objects as stored in museums or pictured by trustworthy artists" (xi). Bound in full tan leather boards with gilt title to spine and front board with gilt illustration of geese to front cover. Sunning and roll to spine. Rubbing to boards and heavy wear to edges of boards including small chips to leather and a minor dampstain to the edge of the rear board. Lacks front free endpaper. Toning to edges of pages, but overall very clean and bright. 242 pages. POE/022823. Very Good. More

Haarlem: Palladium, 1925. Paperback. 1 of 160 copies. A collection of poems. Bound in chipped blue paper wrappers with black title and red press stamp to front panel. Both covers are present but detached. Printed for Palladium under direction of J. van Krimpen on the handpress of Joh. Enschedé. In Dutch. 16 pages. PRI/011623. Good. More

Haarlem: De Tuinwijkpers [Garden City Press], 1969. Paperback. Number 72 of 74 copies. De Tuinwijkpers was the private press of Samuel Lois (Sem) Hartz, a Dutch graphic designer and copperplate engraver. He was particularly well known for his stamp designs, banknotes, and typefaces. He worked at the printing firm Joh. Enschedé and Sons in Haarlem for most of his life. The Dutch poet and Jewish historian Jaap Meijer (1912 - 1993) wrote under the pseudonym Saul van Messel when publishing poetry. Bound in rose color paper wrappers with white title label to front wrapper. Slight fading to spine and white spot of soiling to front panel. Clean, bright interior. Printed in Jan van Krimpen's typeface, Cancelleresca Bastarda on handmade paper by Barcham Green. In Dutch. 31 pages. PRI/022823. Fine. More

East Hampton, NY: Barry McCallion, 2020. Hardcover. Signed and dated by the book artist on the colophon. This is a striking unique work by noted book artist Barry McCallion. Mr. McCallion has had a lengthy career in the book arts following his graduation from Columbia and move to the west coast for a period of time. His work can be found in many institutional and private collections. His career has been documented in a fine article by Mark Segal in the East Hampton Star in 2013: “A Springs Artist’s Creative Odyssey." In the article, Segal also writes extensively about Mr. McCallion’s "astonishingly beautiful and utterly unique books," saying "they use an impressive range of materials and techniques. … It’s difficult to do justice to the variety and complexity of the books in words or in photographs. They are ideally experienced by hefting and opening the boxes and exploring the contents in what becomes a very personal exploration of an artwork.” In this complex artist's book, Mr. McCallion explores and illustrates this famous poem by William Butler Yeats. "Byzantium" is Irish poet Yeats's meditation on the relationship between mortality and immortality, the physical world and the spiritual world, and humanity and art. The artist writes in his colophon: "Opposites fascinated Yeats - all things antithetical: material, immaterial, changing and changeless, profane and sacred. Byzantium offers the reader Yeats's vision of the complex workings of the flesh and the spirit. In the poem, the great cathedral gong presides, tolling midnight over two worlds: the disdained world of everyday, messy with 'complexities of mire or blood,' and the gold-glittering city of Byzantium, where souls come to be purged." Each page of the book has a line of the poem. Mr. McCallion says that in an attempt to better integrate words and pictures, he cut the words apart and arranged them irregularly on the page. The book is made on Richard de Bas cream wove paper. Brushed India ink colors provide a platform for the work's various drawings, collages, and acrylic paintings. Page edges are untrimmed. The book was bound by Joelle Webber of Mermaid Bindery in dark red cloth with a black image of a dolphin affixed to the cover. Housed in a beige cloth covered clamshell box with a large title label to spine. In fine condition. Book measures 6.75 x 10.25 inches; box measures 7.5- x 11 inches. 40 pages. ARTB/012523. Fine. More