London: J. McGowan and Son, not dated; circa 1830. Hardcover. An uncommon later printing of this classic with only a handful of copies in institutional collections. Illustrated with 93 aquatints, including fold-out frontispiece. Bound in three quarter dark brown leather over marbled paper covered boards with black and gilt title labels to spines along with gilt rules and floral decorations. Rubbing to boards of both volumes, bumping to corners, wear to edges of boards and joints. Small losses to leather along rear joints of both volumes and foot of spine of first volume. Lacks preliminary pages from second volume including title page and part of contents list. The rear free endpaper is a also missing a large piece and the remnants as well as the facing pastedown are soiled. Penned signatures from previous owners dated 1830, 1850, and 1864 on front endpapers of both volumes and on title page. Illustrated with charming aquatints including a fold out to the first volume, illustrated half-title page, and 51 full page pages. The second volume has 41 full page plates and appears to be missing 5 to 8 plates (when compared with other listings, which all have variable plate counts). The fold-out frontispiece has been reinforced along the edge and there is a two inch long closed tear along one fold. Pencil marks to the versos of many plates, closed tears to the edges of some pages including plates, light dampstaining to margins of a few pages, and smudge marks to margins. Clearly this was a well-loved set. Volume I has 263 pages; Volume II has 311 pages. CHILD/012323. Very Good. More

London: J. Barnard & Son, no date, circa 1860. Hardcover. Includes: Heraldry, and Heraldic Painting: with a Complete Elucidation of the Laws, Usages, and Practice of Heraldry; and a Dictionary of Its Charges, Figures, and Language by Clifford, W.H.; J.C. Whimper (editor and illustrator). London: J. Barnard & Son, no date. 4 pages of ads, color frontis, 56 pages plus 8 pages of ads. A Manual of Illumination on Paper and Vellum by Bradley, J.W. and T.G. Goodwin. Revised and illustrated by J.J. Laing. London: Windsor & Newton, no date. Nineteenth Edition. 100 pages plus "index of illustrations" plates. A Guide to Animal Drawing for the Use of Landscape Painters by Charles H. Weingall. London: George Rowney & Co., 1868. Seventh edition. 50 pages plus plates of animals (horses, cows, deer, geese, rabbits, dogs, a cat, and more). All works have been trimmed and bound together in an "Emerson Binder" with internal clips and threaded needles intact. The boards are three-quarter black leather over pebbled black cloth. Gilt title, author, and volume on spine read: "Illumination Etc., IV, Kurtz." Presumably this was one of many works bound in a similar style by the previous owner, Charles M. Kurtz of New York. His bookplate, penned name, and stamp of gold skull and crossbones with - perhaps fraternity symbols? of Phi Delta Kappa surrounding it - on the front pastedown. His name also appears on preliminary leaves of several of the bound in books, along with different addresses and dates. A few sheets of lined notebook paper proceed the books. A hand written table of contents is present on the first page. Even toning to interior. Offsetting from leather turn-ins to to first and last few pages. Clean and bright overall. All pages including plates have been trimmed, in some cases affecting the edges of images or plate numbers. Chipping to cormers of several pages. Chalres McMeen Kurtz (1855 - 1909) was an American art critic, author, and museum curator. He studied at the National Academy of Design in New York City when he was using these books (based on the date of 1876 being written on the verso of the frontis of the heraldry book). Kurtz was involved with several major art exhibitions including the World's Columbian Exposition and Paris Exposition of 1900. ART/032323. Very Good. More

New York: Limited Editions Club, 1959. Hardcover. Number 1442 of 1500 copies. Signed by Fritz Eichenberg. Includes the suppressed chapter "Stavrogin's Confession," translated by Avrahm Yarmolinsky. Each volume is bound in illustrated cloth with metallic silver and gilt titles to spines. One volume is bound in red cloth and the other in blue. Light sunning to spines and gentle wear to edges. Clean and bright interiors with Eichenberg's detailed wood engravings throughout. Housed in the original black paper covered slipcase with gold paper title label to spine panel. Wear including chipping to paper along edges and corners of case. The top half inch of the title label, which affects the word "The" is no longer present. Continuously paginated, 619 pages plus notes. LIT/020223. Very Good. More

Boston: Lee and Shepard, 1867. Hardcover. Written by a Union solider about his horrific experiences as a prisoner of war during the Civil War. Born in Brewster, Massachusetts in 1835, Goss studied law at Harvard before becoming a soldier. He survived the war despite being crippled from injuries, and died at age 90 in 1925. Bound in the original maroon cloth boards with gilt title and illustration to spine. Includes three illustrations. Lacks map. Sunning and roll to spine. Rubbing and wear to covers, hinges, corners, and edges of boards. Tape repair to tear across one page, occasional spots of soiling to interior, and occasional pencil ticks to margins. Rear hinge is split and detached from textblock. Brown endpapers. 274 plus 2 pages of ads. CIV/031423. Very Good. More

Leipzig: Das Deutschen Buchgewerbevereins, 1933. Paperback. Thin quarto. This issue is dedicated to Rudolf Koch and full circle. Professionally restored with a modern tan paper spine. Original paper wrappers are attached to the modern spine and missing lettering has been hand calligraphed. Title to front wrapper only. Closed tears to wrappers repaired with archival tape. Dampstaining to edge of front wrapper and to margins of first few pages. Toning to pages. Occasional spots of foxing, but clean overall. Illustrated. Includes several tipped in color illustrations. Pagination: 353 - 412 plus several plates. BOB/020323. Very Good. More

New York: Charles B. Richardson, 1863. Hardcover. First Edition. Edward A. Pollard (1832 - 1872) was a Confederate sympathizer who authored several books about the war, advocating white supremacy and reopening the slave trade in several of his works. Bound in the original dark green publisher's binding with gilt title to spine and gilt design to front board. Minor sunning to spine. Chipping and wear to spine ends, especially head. Wear and rubbing to boards, edges, and corners of boards. Includes five portrait illustrations (including frontis) with tissue guards and a fold-out map of the Battle of Fredericksburg. The illustrations are printed on bright white fine paper; however the text is printed on thinner paper of lesser quality. The text pages are browned with offsetting from illustrations. 386 pages including appendix with chronology. CIV/031423. Very Good. More

"Tranquility" Southern MD: Prototype Press, 2021. Hardcover. Number 23 of 50 copies. A finely printed edition of M.F.K. Fisher's culinary classic about oysters, originally printed in 1941. Head of the Prototype Press, Mark Sarigianis, first encountered Fisher's book at the Mills College Library in CA and was entranced. He says: "Even though it was written in 1941, I was immediately struck by the passionate 'foodie' sensibilities with which she waxed poetic about oysters. In fact, she made any modern writer of the subject seem incredibly boring. A serendipitous connection led me to be able to ask M.F.K. Fisher's daughter, Kennedy Golden, directly for her permission to print the work." Sarigianis hired Martin Mazorra, a Brooklyn based artist with work in collections around the U.S., to create engaging anthropomorphic linocuts to illustrate the text. His playful illustrations pair nicely with Fisher's often humorous observations, such as this one: "An oyster will taste like what the taster expects, which of course depends on the taster. Myself, since I was seventeen I have expected all oysters to be delicious, and with very few exceptions they have been. In the same way, some people wait, if they manage to swallow these shellfish at all, to gag more or less violently. And they gag" (page 28). In addition to recipes accompanied by witty observations and commentary, Fisher includes chapters on the life of an oyster, people who have died from eating them, flavors of oysters depending on region, the making of pearls, personal oyster anecdotes, possible aphrodisiac qualities of an oyster, appropriate drinks to accompany a meal of oysters, and more.  Bound by the press in quarter white goatskin with handmade gray paper covered boards and silver title to spine. Clean and bright. Printed in Monotype Goudy Light with Windsor Elongated typeface for the blue headlines on custom paper from the Saint-Armand paper mill. The paper used for the binding and box were also produced by the Saint-Armand paper mill. Housed in a box covered in handmade white paper with a detachable magnetic lid. Issued with a custom oyster shucking knife, stamped with the title of the book and author, which can be used to assist with opening the lid of the box housing the book. 76 pages. PRI/031423. Fine. More