Rare books from James & Mary Laurie Booksellers (A.B.A.A.)

Original hand-coloured engraving drawn by Georg Ehret and executed by J. M. Seligmann. Leaf measures 19.9 x 14.2 inches (50.5 x 36 cm). Fine condition. Matted and ready for framing. From Christoph Trew's magnificent HORTUS NITIDISSIMIS OMNEM PER ANNUM SUPERBIENS FLORIBUS published in three volumes over a 36 year period from 1750-1786. Painted in a more opaque gouache to resemble a painting rather than the traditional practice of using translucent water-colours that allowed more of the engraving to show through. Each piece was meant to capture the flower at the peak of it's beauty instead of focusing solely on scientific detail. Ehret contributed 44 of the 180 illustrations in the entire work and is the single most important botanical artist of the era. HORTUS NITIDISSIMUS is considered to be one of the most sumptuous of the florilegia. Being one of the most elusive of the great flower books, the opportunity to own one of these leaves is reserved for only the most discriminating collectors.

Halle: Johann Justinus Gebauer, 1752, 1753. 1st. Hardcover. Very good. Compiled and translated by Johann Friedrich Schröter. The introduction by Baumgarten is first published here and contains footnotes that are a list of books published on the Americas prior to the publication of this work. In original paper boards with titles stamped on leather labels on the spines. Complete with eight maps and sixty one plates, including frontispiece in volume one. Plates are bound into the rear of each volume on blank leaves and pull out of the text block. Each single page plate is folded once into the text block and were designed not to rest against any other printing so that none of the plates have any offsetting and have remained clean and bright. Part One is mainly a translation of MOEURS DES SAUVAGES AMERICAINS COMPARES AUX MOEURS DES PREMIERS TEMPS by Joseph Francois Lafiteau and published in Paris in 1723, which describes with great detail the customs, religious beliefs and social organization of… Read More

New York: Limited Editions Club., 1988. Hardcover. Fine condition in a fine clamshell box.. Robert Motherwell. Bound in publisher's original tan Irish linen with original lithograph by Robert Motherwell printed in black on red paper recessed into the front cover. Spine printed in black. Matching drop-back folding (clamshell) slipcase with spine printed in black. Illustrated by Robert Motherwell with 27 original lithographs in various sizes. One of 750 copies signed by the author and artist. There were also 20 additional exhibition sets of the illustrations and 50 signed numbered portfolios, both in wooden boxes. This large folio measures 18 1/2 x 22 inches. Published at $8,000.00. This copy has been kept in a vinyl and felt lined pouch and is flawless.

Madison, Wisconsin: Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers' Institute., 1931. 1st Edition. Hardcover. Exterior wear. Author's first book. Bound in publisher's original black and green cloth with spine lettered in gilt. 9 7/8 inches tall, 299 pages. Wear through the cloth at the spine and extremities. A few dime size gouges out of the upper rear cover. The text bloc is sound and tight. This copy has a presentation signed and dated by Aldo Leopold during the year of publication when Leopold was 44 years old. This is a remarkabley rare autograph that you may never see offered for sale in the future. Leopold's most famous book, A Sand County Almanac, was published in 1949, a year after he died helping a neighbor fight a wildfire. Thus, NO copies of that famous book can be found signed by the author. Leopold's importance as one of the founders of the science of wildlife management and the wilderness movement in America cannot be over estimated.

Santa Barbara: Black Sparrow Press, 1982. 1st . Hardcover. Fine/fine. Photographs by Michael Montfort. Bound in publisher's original tan paper boards with printing in blue, green and rust, with glossy photograph of Bukowski on the front cover. One of 125 numbered copies signed by Bukowski and Montfort, 100 of which were for sale. Illustrated with 20 tipped in glossy color photographs. Original acetate wrapper in fine condition. Housed in the publisher's original slipcase covered in marbled paper. Also enclosed is an 8 inch tall prospectus with a glossy photo of Bukowski on the front cover, signed by him along with the letter "J." This copy is accompanied by two additional items given to a good customer by John Martin and the Black Sparrow Press: one is a racing program from Santa Anita for Wednesday, December 30, 1981 with extensive notes by Bukowski in black felt tipped pen. Also included are two original drawings by Bukowski on one 8 1/2 11 inch sheet of paper with his signature "Buk" in the… Read More

London: George Routledge & Sons, n.d.. Hardcover. fine. The Aramis Edition bound in half blue levant and blue cloth. Front and back covers ruled in gilt. Title and decoration stamped in gilt on the spine with five raised bands. Top edge gilt. Eight inches tall.

New York: Appleton, 1866. 1st American edition / Ist edition, second issue.. Hardcover. Very good. In 1865 Macmillan printed this book in England and recalled it because John Tenniel, the illustrator considered the printing of the illustrations unsatisfactory. After consulting with Tenniel, Lewis Carroll authorized Macmillan to sell 1,952 bound copies to Appleton in New York with a new title page replacing Macmillan with D. Appleton and dated 1866. The new title page was tipped onto the excised stub of the Macmillan 1865 edition. Top edge and fore edge gilt. A few small waterspots on the front cover. The half title page has some writing on it and the lower fore edge corner has had a professional repair of the lower fore edge corner not affection the text. Spine a little darkened otherwise a tight copy. Michael Hancher, author of The Tenniel Illustrations to the "Alice" Books was in the shop this summer and examined our copy of this book. There is a census of the extant copies of the 1866 Appleton… Read More

New York: D. Appleton, 1901. Hardcover. fine. F.O.C. Darley. Grand Format Edition bound in contemporary black pebble-grained full morocco with marbled end papers. One of fifty numbered sets Editorial introductions by Paul Leicester Ford, Edward Everett Hale and Capt. Alfred T. Mahan. Each volume contains steel engravings reproducing the original illustrations by F.O.C. Darley with the frontispiece engraving colored by hand. Top edge gilt, fore edge uncut. Each volume is 8 1/2 inches tall. A stunning set.

New York: Colonial , 1902. Hardcover. Fine. Edited by Edmund Clarence Steadman and George Edward Woodberry. Bibliophile's Edition limited to ten numbered and registered sets signed by the editors and publishers. Bound in brown morocco with decorations stamped in gilt on the front and back covers and spine, five raised bands, top edge gilt, fore edge uncut with silk moire end papers. With over 50 full page illustrations. Contains engraved plates in three different states by J. Sartain from the original painting by S. Osgood, now owned by the New York Historical Society.

London: Macmillan, 1899 - 1900. Hardcover. Fine condition.. One of an edition of 675 copies. Livingston notes that "Alfred Ainger's edition is valuable chiefly for the admirably edited Letters ... which have never been superseded." The publication of this edition saw "further considerable additions" to the letters. This set has been bound by Birdsall in red morocco, gilt, and the front cover of each volume features a scene depicted in multicolored leather onlays measuring a generous 3 x 5 inches set within a single gilt frame. Meticulously executed, and showing a remarkable attention to detail, these bindings clearly reflect the period generally considered Birdsall's heyday, which was contemporary with the publication of this edition. This is a fine set, with each volume housed in a fleece-lined cloth slipcase. (Livingston, Appendix II, p. 278)

1993. Fine. Original color lithograph. One of 50 numbered lithographs signed by Baskin. 23 x 20 inches. Fine condition. Matted and framed to 28 x 28 inches.

London: Chapman and Hall, 1906-1908. Hardcover. Fine. Cruickshank, Phiz, Cattermole. One of 750 sets of the National Edition. With illustrators that include George Cruikshank, Hablot Knight Browne ("Phiz"), George Cattermole and many others. Bound in full red morocco with five raised bands on the spine, with spine panels ruled, lettered, and decorated in gilt. Full red and black morocco front and rear inner covers with five perimeter gilt rules and floreate corner decorations in gilt. Edges of spine and covers are decorated in gilt. Top edge gilt. A few volumes skillfully rebacked. Cancelled check signed by Dickens, dated 1864, mounted on the leaf preceeding the half title. Liberally illustrated with engravings laid onto heavy stock with captioned tissue guards. Occupies six linear feet on the shelf. The most authorative Dickens set with a stunningly beautiful full leather binding.

London: Sylvanus Urban, 1776. Hardcover. Fine. First time The Declaration of Independence was printed outside of the United States. Printed at St. John's Gate, for D. Henry, and sold by F. Newbery, on the Corner of St. Paul's Church-Yard, Ludgate-Street. Dated August, 1776, with the names and "Signed by" John Hancock and Charles Thompson listed at the end. Rebound in full black leather with five raised bands and spine stamped with "Gentleman's Magazine 1776" in gilt. Top edge in a faded gilt. Includes multple fold-out maps, charts and illustrations. Illustrations in text throughout, including a full-page plate titled Mirtilus and Chloe dated 1775. In addition to first non-U.S. printing of the Declaration of Independence, sections include "Late Voyages of the Refolution and Adventure," "List of Books,—with Remarks," "Summary of Preoceedings in the present Parliament," "Travels and Adventures of Wm. Lithgow," "Tendency of the levelling Principles of Dissenters," "Two very extraordinary Remedies for… Read More

New York: Viking Press, 1941. 1st . Hardcover. Fine/fine. Bound in publisher's original tan cloth with cover and spine stamped in green. Winner of the third Caldecott Medal and arguably the most difficult title to find. First issue dust jacket without the gilt Caldecott stickers on the front cover. Light sun-fading to the spine. Head and heel of the dust jacket lightly chipped. With almost invisible former owner inkless embossments on two interior leaves. Gutters on front and rear end papers lightly browned. The exterior of the cloth is fresh and bright as the day it was issued. An extremely difficult book to find in this condition.

London: William Stansby, 1616. 1st. Compiled and edited by Johnson, published in two sizes. This is the small-paper edition, originally 7 x 11 1/4 inches, trimmed here to 6 1/2 x 9 7/8 inches with no loss of text. Rebound in dark green morocco with five raised bands on spine; spine and covers stamped in gilt. Contains 842 of roughly 1025 original pages, including all plays: Every Man in his Humour, Every Man out of his Humour, Cynthias Revels, Poetaster, Seianus, Volpone or The Fox, Epicœne or The Silent Woman, The Alchemist, and Catiline, as well as epigrams and Jonson's poetry collection, "The Forrest." Missing engraved portrait, title, and contents page, along with five of seven introductory dedication pages. Missing engraved title pages to all plays but "Poetaster," along with the Entertainments, Panegyre, Masques, and Barriers which comprised the last 173 pages of the book. Two pages of introductory dedication have been rebound as final leaf.