Rare books from Riverrun Books & Manuscripts

Leipzig: Georg Voss, 1804. Title creased and dust-soiled, final plate creased, lower wrapper detached. Oblong folio (18 x 10.75 inches; 455 x 273 mm). Engraved title in the form of a sampler, 52 pages, 50 engraved plates, consisting of 25 plates in two states, colored and uncolored. 19th-century stiff marbled paper wrappers; modern cloth-backed fitted case. SCARCE: Only the Metropolitan Museum of Art copy of this edition is located in the US. Copies of the 1802 French edition are held by the Smithsonian and Winterthur, and of the 1800 edition at U. Michigan and the Clark Art Institute. European online library databases record only a handful of copies of each edition in German, Swiss, French and British libraries. No copies have appeared at auction in the past century, according to databases. A beautifully illustrated manual for knitting and crocheting. This is the second, enlarged edition in German and the third edition overall, following a French version published in 1802. Netto's goal was to… Read More

From the Bart Auerbach Collection. In fine condition. 2 pages, 4to, on two sheets of "Doubleday, Page & Company" letterhead (where Norris was an editor). A reply to Richards' letter of November 4, mostly discussing the sale of 'The Octopus' to Tauschnitz, for which Norris got £30 which was split with Richards who had published the London edition that September. Norris writes that 'The Pit', sequel to 'The Octopus', "is coming on, and I believe-firmly-will be much stronger"; and writes of receiving the 'Octopus' contract and of receiving British reviews. "Watch out for a man named Friedman who has writ 'By Bread Alone'. Did you get Dreiser's 'Sister Carrie'?" Norris was responsible for the publication of 'Sister Carrie' in 1900 by Doubleday, Page; the publishing firm, however, did not distribute the book and it was suppressed. Norris died in October 1902 at the age of 32. His letters are very rare. 'Collected Letters', ed. J. S. Chrisler, no. 103. (BA).

San Francisco: W. E. Wood, 1903. From the Bart Auerbach Collection. Stains on seven pages from clippings once laid in, a marginal tear on a leaf from rough opening, slightly soiled on rear cover, front inner hinge tender. 8vo. Frontispiece portrait of Bierce. Original dark green cloth, gilt pictorial stamping and lettering, top edges gilt, others uncut; black cloth folding case. First edition, state 1 (BAL). This is the dedication copy to the designer of the binding, inscribed by Bierce in pencil on the front free endpaper: "To Herman Scheffauer. Bierce within and Scheff without, / This book is foreordained, no doubt, / To fame whene'er (all other books / Being lost) the last man living looks / For something great in art and rhyme / To help him pass away the time. / Ambrose Bierce / Oct. 30, 1903." The printed dedication reads: "With pride in their work, faith in their future and affection for themselves, an old writer dedicates this book to his young friends and pupils, George Sterling and Herman… Read More

From the Bart Auerbach Collection. Binding worn, some leaves lightly creased. 15 pages, folio (13 x 8 inches), written in pencil on rectos only, in at least three numbered sections, being a combination of rough notes and more formal correspondence to Russell Doubleday; with four large pencil drawings and one plan by Tarkington. Bound in limp brown sheep. Provenance: from the collection of Frank Nelson Doubleday. Tarkington offers meticulous advice about how the characters in 'Penrod' are to be depicted-particularly the title boy: "Penrod should not look tall, athletic, graceful; neither should he seem quite so short and awkward; nor must he seem either modish nor too extremely." The first page bears a drawing of what the author means: "A very vague suggestion. I mean something like this." Tarkington offers suggestions on the depiction of other characters as well. H also discusses the binding of the book which he argues should, like the illustrations, support his notion that "The value of Penrod is… Read More

From the Bart Auerbach Collection. 14 pages, all but one quarto in size and all but one single-spaced; written from Paris and Toulon, 23 February 1931 to 27 January 1932, the correspondence relating to the book and its publication, etc.; one letter with marginal fraying, another a bit wrinkled, and another with a marginal tear. The letter of 8 November 1931 is published -- from a carbon copy in the Ford archive - in Letters of Ford Madox Ford, ed. R. M. Ludwig, Princeton University Press, 1965, pp. 202-3. A portion of another letter (of 10 May 1931) is printed in David Dow Harvey, Ford Madox Ford ... a Bibliography, New York, 1972, p. 75; Harvey also prints a total of three sentences from two other letters on pp. 75 and 77. WITH: (1) The contract for Return to Yesterday, 4 pp., folio, signed by Ford and a Gollancz representative, 30 March 1931; (2) A handwritten sheet by someone at Gollancz, 1 p., 4to, listing publication date, sales numbers and royalty payments for the book (apparently through… Read More

From the Bart Auerbach Collection. Fine, chatty letters to a good friend, in very good to fine condition. A total of 6 pages, 4to, half are single-spaced, at least 2600 words, with three envelopes. 20 September 1962: "... I guessed you were in Hollywood... because I've seen you in TV plays coming out of there... I had a letter a couple of years ago... from Hedy Lamarr. It was business, and I disappointed her in the end... she thought she had to let me know or to remind me that there are as many nice and reasonable people in Hollywood as anywhere else... I'm very glad if my stories meant something to you... I hope to hell I see you one of these months, Gerry..." 20 May 1964: Salinger devotes about half of the first page (of two single-spaced) to an amusing account of a "really nutty, unblanaced" so-called Hollywood producer showing up to talk about a movie sale. He then praises her TV acting career and warns her about her upcoming marriage to Budd Schulberg (she became his third wife that July):… Read More

From the Bart Auerbach Collection. Consisting of 188 autograph letters signed, and one autograph postcard signed (336 pages, 12mo and 8vo), plus 25 related items. As below:. Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1836-1912). 38 autograph letters signed, 52 pages, nearly all 12mo, about half in French, most signed "L Alma-Tadema" (a few signed just with initials), one letter with small ink sketch of Deschamps, another letter with a fore-edge a bit chipped; docketed by Deschamps and a few with his penciled notes on versos. Written from London, Naples, and Menton, 1872-1888. With six related items: three letters to Alma-Tadema from others regarding his paintings; two letters (1883 & 1910) from his wife and daughter (also painters) to Deschamps; and a pictorial invitation to an Alma-Tadema exhibition. Alma-Tadema writes about: sales of his paintings (with some prices) - payments for paintings - paintings mentioned are "Sappho," "The Audition," "La Cleopatra" - arranging meetings - portraits - arranging for paintings… Read More

From the Bart Auerbach Collection. 20 pages, 4to, the ribbon copy, double-spaced, with revisions (some extensive) in ink by Woolrich. There are about 65 words in his hand on 8 pages (2 and 14 have the majority) and about 30 crossouts/deletions on 7 pages (2 having about half). In very good condition. "The Number's Up," a horrific story of a young couple taken for a ride by gangsters, was first published in Beyond the Night (Avon Books, 1959). It was reprinted in Nightwebs in 1971 (also by Avon). Woolrich mate rial of this nature is very rare on the market (with no typescript or manuscript material appearing at auction in the past century according to records). [BA]. "After that there was silence for a while, only the sound of the shovel biting into the earth, and the hissing splatter of the loose dirt as it sailed off it. "They stood him up, his back to the well. "In the dark, desperate sky, just above the scalloped line some treetops made, three stars formed a pleading little constellation. No… Read More

From the Bart Auerbach Collection. 15 pages, folio (13 x 8 inches), in ink on rectos only, heavy tan paper (slightly toned), tied at extreme upper left corner (first and least leaves loose); in a tan half-morocco slipcase (a bit scuffed). The manuscript in very good condition. From the Beerbohm collection of the actor and director Robert Montgomery. On the verso of the first leaf Beerbohm has made three pencil sketches of James Pethel which he has crossed out. (A drawing of Pethel from a Beerbohm sketch-book is reproduced in the New York Review of Books edition of 'Seven Men'.) The three sketches include one of Pethel with a cigar and one of him wearing a hat. He is described with both when he is introduced in the story and pictured in the NYRB illustration. "James Pethel" was written in 1912 and first published in the 'English Review' in December 1914. The 21-page manuscript of that was lot 327 in Sotheby's sale 'Catalogue of the Library and Literary Manuscripts of the Late Sir Max Beerbohm',… Read More

From the Bart Auerbach Collection. In fine condition. Comprising: 29 typed letters signed, 5 typed postcards signed, and 2 autograph postcards signed, all from McGuane to Oppenheimer, and one typed letter signed (carbon copy, with holograph note) from McGuane to William B. Decker (senior editor at Dial Press); written from Palo Alto (and elsewhere in California) and Grosse Ile, Michigan, 10 June 1966 to 4 December 1967. A total of 30 letters and 7 cards, 41 pages (the letters all 4to, and all but one single-spaced). WITH: Carbon copies of 33 letters from Dorothea Oppenheimer to McGuane (her side of the correspondence); carbon copies of 7 letters from Oppenmheimer to various editors and publishers; and 6 typed letters signed, 4 carbon copies, and 2 photocopies of letters from editors and publishers to Oppenheimer (mostly) or McGuane. McGuane's letters and cards are primarily on the writing, the revising, and the efforts to get 'The Bushwacked Piano' published. (Although the first written, it was… Read More

From the Bart Auerbach Collection. A total of 12 pages, 8vo, in ink, both letters with a few minor horizontal fold separations, but in very good condition. With an apparently unrecorded photographic portrait of Lanier. ALS of 24 August 1878: 7 pages, blue ink on white paper, with numerous revisions. The letter is a lengthy proposal to Kirk for writing an introduction for the use of colleges and universities to a book of worthy English sonnet writers through Shakespeare. This would include many minor Elizabethans and would introduce Bartholomew Griffin, "a poet to our public of whom probably not a hundred persons in the United States have ever heard... though beyond question worthy of any man's acquaintance." This project plus a paper on "Old Sonnet-Makers" for the magazine were turned down by Lippincott's. ALS of 15 June 1880: 5 pages, dark brown ink on gray-tan paper, with revisions. Lanier begins: "With inexpressible delight I've got a signing-pen [for the writing of poetry] in my hand. [He… Read More

Augsburg: Christoph Mang, 1603. Folio (344 x 243 mm). Engraved title, 3 leaves preliminary text, 51 double-page engraved star maps by Alexander Mair, on guards throughout, letterpress descriptive text printed on rectos/versos of the maps, printer's woodcut device on colophon page, woodcut headpieces, initials and tailpiece. (Engraved title darkened and backed in heavy paper repairing long tear, dedication leaf with repaired tear affecting headpiece and a few letters on verso and with upper and lower margins strengthened, worming at gutters slightly affecting maps 20 and 24, small light crease to map 42, faint dampstain to upper fore-corners). 18th-century vellum over pasteboard, title lettered on spine. Provenance: Augsburg, Benedictines of Sts. Ulrich and Afra (contemporary inscription on title, 18th-century engraved bookplate); Augsburg Stadtsbibliothek (19th-century inkstamp on title, later withdrawal stamp on verso); Haskell F. Norman (his sale, Christie's New York, 15 June 1998 lot 278); Edward… Read More

London: T. Bensley for J.C. Stadler, to be sold by Boydell and Co. and others, 1808. Folio (518 x 351 mm). 20 plates and illustrations, including an engraved hand-colored plan; 19 aquatints, 9 hand-colored (6 of these with overslips, one with overpage, one double-page, one folding), 2 with sepia wash, all by Stadler after Repton (last plate with tear repaired on verso, some creasing to overslips, a few small marginal stains). Earth 20th-century quarter cloth (rebacked preserving original spine); cloth folding case. The Edward Tufte copy, with book label. First edition. "Repton's shift in scaling dramatizes the visual consequences of his plans. In the before flap on tip, the Brighton pavilion appears hidden, isolated, distant--impressions intensified by the tiny person and by the over-writing on the shadowy building. When the flap is raised to reveal the proposed redesign, the space between us and the pavilion has now become intimate and comfortable, filled with well dressed visitors... Repton… Read More

Paris, 1740. Folio (553 x 439 mm). Folding index map and very large perspective plan on 20 sheets by Claude Lucas after Louis Bretez, sheets 18 and 19 joined, decorative engraved border with fleur-de-lys cornerpieces, title in elaborate figural cartouche. (Index with short tear to fold, a few maps with repaired tears.) Contemporary French calf gilt, the sides with an alternating palmette and fleur-de-lys border, fleur-de-lys in corners and central coat-of-arms of the City of Paris (rebacked, corners repaired, some wear). Edward Tufte copy, with book label., A CARTOGRAPHICAL TOUR-DE-FORCE: the 20 sheets form a single enormous plan (approximately 3200 x 2500 mm). This takes the form of a bird's-eye-view with a decorative border and exhibits enough detail to still be of use to researchers into the pre-Haussman architectural history of Paris. Brunet I:1224 (giving the date of publication as 1740); Cohen-de Ricci 807.

London: T. Bensley for J. Taylor, 1803. 4to (356 x 290 mm). Engraved frontispiece portrait after S. Shelley, and 27 plates, aquatints and line-engravings, 12 with overslips, one folding, many hand-colored or tinted, a further 11 aquatint and engraved plates in the text, 2 with overslips, vignette on p. 8, woodcut diagrams, one hand-colored on p. 219. (Some occasional pale offsetting.) Modern green half morocco, uncut. The Edward Tufte copy, with book label. First edition of Repton's second treatise, a less scenic work than Sketches and Hints but one reflecting the increasing alignment between landscape and architecture, and the kind of tidying up exercise recommended on a gentleman's estate. "Humphry Repton, the British architect, used before/after flaps in some 100 presentations during the early 1800s, both in his books on landscape theory and in pitching proposals to clients. His redesigns could easily be presented without flaps--though without magic--by means of spatial parallelism, by paired… Read More