Illustrated Books

Graz: Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt, 1985. Hardcover. Fine. Fine condition two volumes in slipcase. Complete color facsimile edition of the 394 pages (197 folios) in original size (304 x 204 mm). The manuscript contains 51 full page miniatures with rich gold ornaments and numerous splendid initial letters. The binding is an all leather binding, with all pages hand cut according to the original. The commentary volume has a detailed scholarly commentary. Limited and numbered edition, limited to 500 copies, with each volume numbered by hand (this is volume 194). The codex dates from about 1200, Northern France. Undeniably the greatest painting to employ ridged drapery is in the Psalter (Chantilly, Musee Conde Ms. 1695; ills. 190-193) made for Queen Ingeborg of France. The standard of the manuscripts illumination is such as can only be described by epithets of superlatives. Its full page miniatures are by two illuminators, one working in an older tradition than the other, but throughout there is… Read More

London: Cyril Beaumont, 1918. Tijtgat, Edgard. Octavo. (iii), 16, (1+16)ff., frenchfold. From an edition of fifty copies, this is one of ten printed on chine and signed by the artist. This is the story of Little Red Riding Hood, with woodcut text and illustrations by Belgian artist Edgard Tijtgat. Sixteen illustrations, hors texte, appear in two states: color and bistre. Tijtgat's illustrations are bold and expressionistic in style, and also deceptively innocent: things do not end well for Red Riding Hood in Charles Perrault's moral and more sinister version of the tale. Floral motif on the endpapers and repeated throughout the book. Tijtgat is associated with the Brabant Fauvists, a Belgian movement focused on pure, bold colors and simplified lines, similar to the Fauves led by Henri Matisse in France. During World War I, Tijtgat set up his printshop in England, where this book was published. Light foxing to upper margins of a few pages, some faint offsetting from prints, short closed tear to spine… Read More

Sonoma, California:: Eastside Editions,, 2004.. Edition of 20. 22 x 17"; 28 pages. Letterpress printed. Twelve multiple-plate color etchings with linocut borders. 11 text pages with decorative linocut border. Printed on handmade Abaca paper. Bound in cloth covered boards. Slipcased. Edition of 20: 10 portfolio sets; 10 book sets. Colophon: "Cyrano De Bergerac was the true life inspiration for the romantic figure of Edmond de Rostand's 19th century plan and one of the more curious thinkers in early modern Europe. He was a satirist, swordsmen, poet, and philosopher who indeed had a prodigious appendage. The book, excerpts of which are translated here under the title Journeys to the Moon and Sun, consist in equal parts of sci fi, philosophical speculation, metaphysical drama, theological humor, and freak show satire. The scales of the world are turned upside down and found to be wanting. "  David Berona, Image & Narrative, "Art Hazelwood: A Graphic Witness of… Read More

Paris: Jacques-François Chereau, 1747. Coypel, Charles-Antoine. Large folio. (1), (25)ff., plates. A reissue or reimpression published after the artist, Charles-Antoine Coypel, was named "Premier Peintre du Roi" in 1747; this series of twenty-five engravings was first presented as a deluxe portfolio in Paris, in 1724. The engravings were done after a series of paintings illustrating scenes from Don Quixote that Coypel had designed for a popular set of tapestries, which were woven continuously between 1714 and 1794. Coypel supervised the portfolio's production, and, according to the title page, the engravings were done by "les plus habiles artistes en ce genre." These artists included L. Surugue, F. Joullain, C. N. Cochin, and eight other engravers, who sign the plates. Coypel's depictions of scenes from Don Quixote differed significantly from previous illustrations of Cervantes's classic in that they were less focused on humor, and were more courtly and sophisticated, taking into account the… Read More

Louis Janet. Paris. ND. circa 1875. Third edition. Small 8vo. (5.9 x 4.4 inches). xvi, 157pp. Thirteen hand coloured illustrated plates (including extra title page) with movable pull tabs to change the image. An asterisk next to the text tells when the movable should be used to animate the scene. A crease to the top of the half title page and a few minor thumb marks to a handful of leaves, otherwise a very good, fresh and clean copy in the publishers red morocco-grained cloth with blind stamped decorative border to both boards. Gilt lettering to the front board. Coated mid brown endpapers. All edges gilt. A superior copy of this rare movable. First issued in 1831, there was a second issue in 1837 and then this third, circa 1875, with the text printed by Ducessios of Paris. All three printings are rare, and copies in such good condition and with all tabs present and easily workable, as this one even more so. Sometimes described as the first interactive book published, this is certainly the first to use… Read More

ILLUSTRATED WITH 66 POCHOIR WOODCUTSThe Fables of Aesop. Printed from the Veronese Edition of MCCCCLXXIX in Latin Verses and Italian Version by Accio Zucco, with the Woodcuts Newly Engraved and Coloured After a Copy in The British Museum. (With) The First Three Books of Caxton's Aesop containing the Fables Illustrated in the Verona Aesopus of MCCCCLXXIX.Epilogue by Giovanni Mardersteig. Illustrated with 66 full-page woodcuts by Anna Bramanti. Woodcuts are pochoir colored by Daniel Jacomet to recreate the illuminated miniature effect of the British Library copy of the Veronese Aesop of 1479 (upon which the present edition is based). The fleurons, first adopted in 1479, were engraved by Charles Malin. 8vo. Publisher's ¼-green morocco; decorated boards; top edges gilt; acetate dust wrappers; enclosed in morocco-tipped slipcase.Officina Bodoni, Verona, 1973. Limited to 160 numbered copies set in Centaur types, printed on Magnani mould made paper with goose watermark. 2 volumes. Volume I contains the… Read More

One of the finest works of illustration ever published, marking the transition from Rococo to the Neo-Classical Era of European art.Illustrated with 139 full-page plates by Boucher, Eisen, Gravelot, Monnet, Moreau, and others. Plus engraved title, 3 pages of dedications, 4 fleurons on title pages, 30 engraved vignettes and 1 full-page cul-de-lampe by Choffard and Monnet closing Volume 4. Engraved by Le Mire and Basan. Large 4to. Full 18th century French marbled calf; spine with 5 raised bands; red and green morocco labels; gilt spines, gilt borders and edges; original hand-marbled endpapers. A Paris, Chez Leclerc. 1767 to 1771. 4 volumes. Ovid's Metamorphoses are of course, are some of the most famous stories to survive from antiquity; they tell, essentially, a history of the world in dactylic hexameter, the meter of the epics. Ovid's stories are as foundational to Western literature as any other book written; they include the story of Io and Jupiter, the stories of Cadmus, Pyramus and Thisbe (of… Read More

8° (mm 153x104); cc. (46). Al frontespizio, bellissima silografia raffigurante un erudito nel suo studiolo. Testo in carattere romano, diposto su due colonne. Piccoli capilettera silografici. Marocchino nero giansenista: titolo al dorso, dentelles interne e taglî in oro. Copia molto bella.Extremely rare Italian version - probably based on the first Italian translation of the previous year (Venice, Zorzi di Rusconi, 1514) - of this famous novel, one of the masterpieces of early Spanish literature. Rarissimo volgarizzamento – verosimilmente coniato sulla prima traduzione italiana dell'anno precedente (Venezia, Zorzi di Rusconi, 1514) – "di questo celebre romanzo, tra i capolavori della letteratura spagnola; e pubblicato per la prima volta a Siviglia nel 1492. Esso apre l'interpretazione delle posteriori raffigurazioni letterarie in materia d'amore: influì sulla Celestina, sull'Amadigi di Gaula, sulla Diana, sulla Galatea e sugli episodi sentimentali del Don Chisciotte" (C.A. Chiesa, Libri… Read More

Paris: Charpentier, 1884. Limited Edition. Fine. Fine. James Jacques Joseph Tissot (1836-1902). 8vo 10 1/2 x 6 7/8 in. (266 x 175 mm). No. 5 of 20 deluxe illustrated copies printed on imperial japon paper from a total edition of 550. This copy includes 10 original etchings, signed in pencil by James J. Tissot (1836 - 1902) and a second state of each etching, with page number and red ink stamp printed on holland paper. 380 pp. including half title, limitation page, title, dedication, preface and colophon; paper uncut and in exceptionally attractive condition with no spotting or foxing. Binding by Charles Allô, half blue morocco with gilt fillets, gold speckled paper on boards, marbled endpapers, 5 raised bands, title in gilt, compartments with elaborate gilt tooling and red roses; original wrappers bound in; t.e.g.; spine lightly sunned and some chipping to the edges of the boards; binding tight and square. From the library of GUY BIGORIE: Small ticket with GB initials pasted on the inside front… Read More

4° (mm 200x135); cc. (8), segnate A-B4. Al frontespizio, silografia dell'Angelo al di sopra di un'altra silografia scenico-narrativa (mm 90x115); alla carta B1r, silografia a tre quarti di pagina (mm 73x102); al verso dell'ultima carta, la medesima silografia del frontespizio. Elegante legatura tardo-ottocentesca - verosimilmente inglese - in marocchino marrone con filettatura in oro ai piatti e titolo in oro lungo il dorso. Bell'esemplare.
Provenienza: Fairfax-Murray ? (cfr. Sander, 6220 [nota]); Libreria Il Polifilo, Milano (Cat. XIII [1947], n. 69).
Rarissima edizione fiorentina, splendidamente illustrata da tre silografie scenico-narrative. Cioni, 175-76; De Batines, 35-36; Sander, 6220 [nota]; Kristeller, 185.
Quella del frontespizio, reimpressa al verso dell'ultima carta, riprende il legno della prima edizione [Firenze, fine del sec. XV- inizi del sec. XVI, cfr. Sander, 6215, tav. 646, De Marinis, 166, tav. CXCVIII). Il secondo legno, che rappresenta un giovane uomo inginocchiato davanti a un… Read More

4° (mm 192x140); ll. (6). Title with large woodcut vignette; another large woodcut vignette to title and head of de' Crescenzi section. Binding of 20th century - signed "Wheeler" - in olive green morocco, gilt. A nice, unsophisticated copy.Extremely rare edition, exquisitely popular, which combines poetic entertainment with the purpose of a peasant almanac, describing when to sow and when to transpose, and from month to month how to do the recollections. It includes a list of tasks for each month taken from Pietro de' Crescenzi (Bologna, 1233 – 1320).After the octaves of the Operetta - Incipit: "Chi si diletta nuove cose udire / sempre levato tien l'occhio e la mente" -the booklet hosts:c. A2v: Operetta piaceuole di tre panieri di frutte - with grapes "lugliola […], moscadella, pisana e la vernaccia, zibibbo, razzese e corso, greco, trebbiano e malvagìa fine, […] canaiuola, galletta e passerine, sancolombane e zappolino et martinacce e lonze e le caprine", figs, pears, apples, etc. - per… Read More

East Hampton, New York:: Barry McCallion,, 2021.. Edition of 3 variants. 9.25 x 12.25"; 78 pages (57 numbered, 11 unnumbered). 9 folders of original paintings and excerpted text. Laid in relief-carved/ acrylic painted folder with star cutouts ion front cover accented in blue and red outlines as well as gold foil accent in center of each. Materials: unbleached Abaca paper; Old Holland oil paint, Richard de Bas paper. Housed in black cloth clamshell box with handwritten paper title on spine and starry night illustration on front cover. Signed and dated by McCallion. Text excerpts from publication: Nienke Bakker, Leo Jansen and Hans Luijten, editors "'Vincent van Gogh A Life in Letters". London, Thames & Hudson, 2020. Barry, McCallion, Colophon: "Within twenty years of his death in 1890, extracts from Vincent Van Gogh's letters appeared in magazine articles, accompanied exhibitions, and were published as an edition by Ambroise Vollard. In 1914, Theo's widow, Jo van… Read More

San Juan Capistrano, California:: Inkswine Press,, 2022.. Edition of 6. 9.5 x 15 x 3" (24 x 40.6 x 7.5 cm) closed extends to 9.5 x 64 x 1 inches (24 x 162.6 x 2.5 cm); 76 pages. 32 multi-color woodcuts, plus relief etchings and vignettes. Hand-printed on rag paper. Letterpress printed text using Cromwell and Metropolis types. Signed and numbered. Dirk Hagner: "'We saw a flood' is about our ignorance and complicity we exhibit in the destruction of this world brought on by human caused climate change. Its underlying verse structure is based on the anonymous 17th-century British verse 'I saw a peacock, with a fiery tail', an example of a nonsense or 'trick' poem part of a rich tradition of verses rooted in Anglo-Saxon riddles. "This work has been a year in the making. It consists of two facing books of 76 total pages, which are to be viewed and read in tandem. The odd pages of the left-hand book show changing groups of faces with the first half of a verse,… Read More

Collins. London. 1968. FIRST EDITION. 4to. (10.3 x 7.6 inches). 32pp. Illustrated in colour by the Author. Original colour illustrated boards and in the rare original dustwrapper. Two pages with minor blemishes but overall a bright and clean copy in the original colour printed dustwrapper, which reproduces the board illustrations and lettering. Some minor bumping to the board edges. One small closed tear (less than 1 inch) to the bottom front hinge of the wrapper, which also has some light creasing to the edges but overall this is a superior copy of the notoriously rare book. ---- A better than very good First edition of Judith Kerr's first, and most beloved book. Never out of print and with sales exceeding 5 million copies, it has been animated for television and adapted into a hugely successful stage play. The first edition is rare, especially so in the original dust-jacket.

Hammersmith: Printed by William Morris at the Kelmscott Press, circa 1893.. KELMSCOTT BIFOLIUM circa 1893 (i.e. pair of conjugate leaves). Proof sheet of the opening page from the KELMSCOTT CHAUCER. This proof page was typeset in 1893 in a very small number and distributed to William Morris's friends. It contains a variant type setting of the text, eventually rejected by Morris. Bifolium pages approximately 415 x 285 mm, 16¼ x 11¼ inches, [1]-2 and [15]-[16] comprising 2 illustrated pages and 2 text pages, printed in Chaucer type with side-notes in red, 2 wood-engraved illustrations designed by Edward Burne-Jones, wood-engraved borders and one very large initial plus 5 large and 7 smaller initials by William Morris, folio Proof of one of the most famous pages in printing history, with variations in the typesetting from the final version. A shallow crease due to folding the sheets to house in a another Kelmscott book, a little pale foxing, mostly to margins, edges slightly dusty, otherwise very good… Read More