Basel: Romano Hänni, 2018. Hardcover. A set of three books in the Words Make the Infinite Finite series. Volume VII is limited to 290 copies, Volume VI is limited to 187 copies, and Volume V is limited to 86 copies. Swiss book artist and typographer Romano Hänni (1956 - ) has been experimenting with unusual compositions of letter forms and symbols since the early 1980s. His intricate designs can seem somewhat whimsical but often are reactions to society, politics, and traumatic events. Creating things manually with the participation of all of the senses is very important to him. A master of visual poetry, he enjoys teaching to pass on his knowledge and skills. Each of these books was hand composed and hand printed in black, red, yellow, and blue ink. All are accordion structures with stiff paper illustrated wrappers, which when removed, allow the twelve pages of the contents to be unfolded into one continuous strip. With a paper band closure for the folded book. Includes a four page supplement featuring the title of the work and the colophon in both English and German. A small set in a slipcase measuring about 3.25 inches wide by 5 inches tall by 1.25 inches thick. In fine condition. Unpaginated. PRI/112818. Fine. More

New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1889. Hardcover. Hudson Edition. An attractive set bound in three quarter brown morocco over marbled paper covered boards with gilt titles, raised bands, and floral devices to spines. Minor rubbing and wear to edges of boards, bands, hinges, and corners. Minor bumping to some corners. Includes frontispieces and full page illustrations with tissue guards. Decorated initials begin each chapter. Clean and bright interiors with many unopened pages. Previous owner's signature in pen dated 1891 on the front free endpapers of each volume. Marbled endpapers and top edges gilt. LIT/041719. Very Good. More

Seattle: Marquand Editions, 2017. 1 of 50 copies signed by Reiko, Marquand, and Birnbaum. There were also five lettered hors de commerce. This splendid production honors the achievements of Reiko Sudo, considered one of the great textile designers of our time, the renowned "weaver of new ideas." Sudo and Ed Marquand of Marquand Editions worked together to design and produce this artists' book that offers an in-depth exploration of Sudo's textiles, techniques, materials and more. Over 140 distinct textiles are represented in four bento box-style book-objects: they include three scarves, a notebook of cloth samples and collages assembled by Sudo. The first box has two booklets, one with Sudo's autobiography and the other a detailed guide to the boxes including the colophon, and three beautiful scarves. Box two has the textile collages that demonstrate techniques and materials. Box three is the Nuno Compendium - a notebook of cloth samples. Box four contains tools and raw materials she uses in her practice. Each of the boxes is covered by lovely examples of Nuno textiles. The top box also has a fabric lid. Reiko Sudo is co-founder, current CEO, and design director of Nuno Corporation of Tokyo, universally recognized as one of the world’s most innovative textile companies. Her company takes the techniques, materials and aesthetics of traditional textiles and reinterprets them with cutting-edge technologies. Sudo and her design team, together with the company’s skilled weavers and dyers, have greatly broadened the parameters of contemporary design in the industry, experimenting with an eclectic array of materials, ranging from silk, cotton and polyester to hand-made paper and aluminum, and finishing methods that include salt-shrinking, rust-dyeing and caustic burning. The results are distinctive, intriguing and indisputably remarkable. Her works are represented in the permanent collections of many institutions, including the Museum of Modern Art; the Victoria & Albert Museum; and the Tokyo National Museum of Modern Art Craft Gallery [Nuno website]. Boxes measure 1.25 x 10.25 x 10.5 inches. In fine condition. ARTB/041919. Fine. More

Baltimore: Richardson and Bennett, 1871. Hardcover. SCARCE. A very attractive volume, despite being ex-library. Illustrated by Handann Brothers. Includes a history of the city by Brantz Mayer and over seventy biographical descriptions of notable Baltimorean men, each illustrated with an original photograph. Black full leather boards with gilt title, decoration, and raised bands to spine. Boards are beveled with gilt borders and decoration. This book has been expertly rebacked with the original spine mounted on the new leather spine. White library call number to spine, partially removed. Library stamp to bottom of title page and last page of text with call numbers to copyright page. Minor bumping to corners and minor wear to edges of boards. Gilt dentelles, full gilt edges, and later marbled endpages. Later silk headbands. Interior is very clean overall, though there are a few spots of foxing to several pages. Archival repairs to gutters of a few pages. Old pencil inscription erased from front endpaper, dated 1871. Illustrations include original tissue guards. Tight binding. 562 pages. BALT/041619. Very Good. More

New York: Harper and Brothers, 1847. Hardcover. First American Edition of Melville's second novel. This story is based on Melville's adventures and experiences during his years at sea between 1839-1844. It has been professionally rebacked in handsome dark green leather with gilt titling and elaborate ornaments to spine. The front cover features a gilt ship and embossed decoration. Wear to cloth on edges and corners. Original marbled endpapers. Foxing throughout, but heaviest to first several pages. With frontis map and text illustration. A nice copy of this literary landmark. 389 pages plus two sets of advertisements. LIT/091919. Very Good. More

Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott and Co, 1885. Hardcover. Revised Edition, Illustrated. Theater owner and playwright, Augustin Daly's copy, auction record 1545. Presentation copy from the author to Augustin Daly, dated September 6th, 1887. Also includes a tipped in letter from the author to Daly. Playwright, actor, and photographer, Harrison (1818 - 1902) is best known for his photographic portrait of Walt Whitman that appears in Leaves of Grass. He also wrote a stage adaptation of "The Scarlet Letter." 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. Minor spotting to leather on rear board. Short splits to leather starting along top and bottom of front hinge. Top edge gilt with marbled endpapers. Bound by R.W. Smith. Clean and bright interior. Mostly unopened pages. Auction record tipped into rear. 404 pages plus 8 pages of ads. DRA/031419. Very Good. More

Santa Cruz: n.d. This is an undated original photograph taken by Bill Richards, a Santa Cruz fisherman and photographer. The mounted photograph captures a blue whale breaching almost its entire length amidst sea birds swimming and fluttering over the water. On the back of the photo is a mimeographed sheet of paper recounting how Richards captured the picture after trying for over fifty years to "jump" his own whale out in the ocean and photograph him. Finally the day came. While out fishing off the coast of Santa Cruz, Richards spied a sooty cloud of "whale birds" through his binoculars and knew they must be following a whale. And so they were - a big "Sulphur Bottom Bull - a blue whale - all of seventy feet long and easily weighing seventy-five tons. Richards was able to get within 200 feet and watch him feed on thousands of sardines. But then a life or death drama ensued. A pair of killer whales, orcas, went by the boat toward the blue whale. Orcas are fast and ferocious and travel in small pods. Although much smaller, a few of them are capable of killing the largest of whales. They attacked this whale, causing him to rise out of the ocean in a mighty effort to escape. It was during this battle that Richards was able to get his prized photograph. The combat was continuing as the boat returned to shore. Richards writes that this was "probably the only photograph ever secured of the largest living creature know, taken in his native element, in a battle for existence." Given the mimeographed text and reference to Plastigmant camera lenses, the photograph probably dates from the 1950s. The photo is mounted on a bedraggled piece of grey cardboard, with the inscription "To my friend Charlie Bosworth from Bill Richards" written in white ink under the photo. The photo is in very good condition save for three marks that might have occurred during processing. They do not affect the image of the whale. It measures 8.5 x 10.5 inches. A unique item in very good condition. PHOTO/062719. Very Good. More

Dania Beach, FL: Claire Jeanine Satin, 1987-1997. A unique artists' book from Claire Jeanine Satin, a well known book artist, sculptor and designer of public art installations. Satin's work has been extensively exhibited and collected in the United States and in Europe, including at The Library of Congress, the National Museum of Women in the Arts, The Getty (CA), MOMA, and The Victoria and Albert Museum. She is known especially for her conceptual works in uenced by the ideas of her friend and mentor the composer/visual artist John Cage, and the conversion of ordinary industrial materials into environmental constructions and book works of layered transparent mass. She states that the title of the book comes from the fact that the Dallas Library owns one of her books. Materials and techniques used to create this intriguing book include: laser printing on paper, metallic overprinting, ink/handwritten script, hand printed acetate cover, and cotton string with beads The book is housed in a hand sewn black mesh polyester bag. The printing on the cover is as a result of 5 layers of handwritten reassembled text from John Cage’s Book “M” then printed in reverse. The end image is the chance markings of the spaces left in between the letters  The pages of the book have black, white and silver strips of images resembling film reels with cryptic handwritten notes along their bottom edges. Signed and dated on the last two pages. In fine condition. Measures 5.5 x 7 inches. Unpaginated. ARTISTSB/072419. More

New York: The Harry T Thomas Company, 1896. One of 540 copies of the scarce Autograph Edition signed by the author/artist. Francis Hopkinson Smith (1838-1915) was an American author, artist and engineer born in Baltimore, Maryland, a descendant of Francis Hopkinson, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. He became a contractor in New York City and did much work for the Federal government, including the stone ice-breaker at Bridgeport, Connecticut, the jetties at the mouth of the Connecticut river, the foundation for the Bartholdi Statue of Liberty in New York harbor, and the Race Rock Lighthouse off New London, Connecticut. His vacations were spent sketching in the White Mountains, in Cuba, in Mexico, and afterwards in Venice, Constantinople and Holland. He published various volumes of travel illustrated by himself, including this work on Venice [Wikipedia]. This beautiful large folio is extensively illustrated both in color and black & white. There are 20 full page color plates and 21 in b&w, all protected by tissue guards. In addition there are numerous color and b&w text illustrations throughout the book. In his preface Smith wrote that his aim was to describe and depict the beauties of Venice that one sees in the sunlight of a summer's day. Bound in contemporary brown three quarter leather with marbled paper boards and endpapers. Leather is scraped and scuffed, with tear along top of spine. Paper boards are also scraped and worn. The interior pages are quite clean and bright. There is a margin stain on the free front endpaper but the rest of the book is very good plus. A very desirable copy of this homage to the magical city of Venice. 140 pages plus plates. This is very heavy book that will require extra postage. ART/012319. More

Chicago: Starshaped Press, 2019. Hardcover. Number 21 of 100 copies, signed and numbered by the artist. "The Almighty Starshaped is an ornamental romp through the streets and alleys of Chicago, a colorful snapshot of street vernacular. Taking the form of a little black sketchpad, or piece book, its imagery is neither a glorification of glistening architectural facades, nor the seedy underbelly of the city’s infamy" (book artist). Black cloth boards with paper title pastedown to front cover. Letterpress printed using metal type and thousands of ornaments in multicolor on Mohawk Superfine White paper. Includes prospectus. Size: about 7.25 x 5.25 inches. [48 pages.] PRI/051319. Fine. More

Akron, OH: Saalfield Pub. Co., 1936. A charming complete set of five little books about Shirley Temple and her life, published when she was only eight years old and the country's number one box office draw. Each book has a pictorial cover and fourteen pages of black and white photographs of Shirley. The titles are: Shirley Temple Twinkletoes," "Just a Little Girl," "Shirley Temple Little Playmate," "Shirley Temple on the Movie Lot," and "Shirley Temple in Starring Roles." The books are all in very good to near fine condition. Housed in their original box covered with glossy white paper and with a color portrait of Shirley on the front. The box has some wear, soiling, and creases but still very nice. CHILD/110118. Very Good. More

Arlington, VA: Turtle Light Press, 2017. Hardcover. Number 7 of 18 copies. This is a magnificent artist’s book that pays homage to one of the greatest Hebrew-language poets, Yehuda Amichai. The Amichai Windows is an exquisite bilingual artist’s book in Hebrew and English of Amichai’s poems that opens a window on love, war, and being Jewish today. Through his poetry Amichai sang of the everyday experiences of private individuals caught in the middle of war and historical events. He was often considered for the Nobel Prize in Literature and his poems have been translated into more than 30 languages. Book artist and poet, Rick Black, fell in love with the poetry of Yehuda Amichai even before working for the Associated Press and The New York Times in Jerusalem, where he resided for six years. He particularly loved Amichai’s poems that dealt with family, love and war. He spent ten years creating this limited-edition artist’s book of the poet’s work. The book offers a visual odyssey through Jewish history as filtered through 18 poems. Each poem is wrapped and folded in an individual, handmade paper triptych. When one opens each triptych, one discovers a different world within. The book incorporates replicas of some of Amichai’s original, handwritten poems as well as over 100 collaged images of Jewish history and life that have been culled from archives around the world. There are also replicas of Amichai’s handwritten poems. Printed on handmade paper with deckled edges, with gold leaf highlights and blind embossments in some of the designs. The collection of triptychs and a 28 page guide are housed in a box enclosure shaped like a Jerusalem window. With a special introduction written by the eminent Hebrew literary critic and translator, Professor Robert Alter of the University of California at Berkeley. The newsletter of the American Jewish Libraries Association called The Amichai Windows “a major contribution to American arts and letters.” (Artist’s statement and descriptions). The book recently won the Isaac Anolic Jewish Book Arts Award. In fine condition. Fine. More