Rare books from Design Books

Paris: Chez l'Auteur, 30 Rue Des Mathurins, 1939. Text in French. This is a very good copy of this portfolio in green paper-covered boards, containing 16 pages of text and notes and 30 photographic plates and 6 hand-colored watercolor plates. The text and plates generally very good, 2 plates with some foxing. The portfolio has some damp marks to the top corners, otherwise very good. This work appears to be a record of the author's collection of architectural elements and decorative art from his many excursions to the Orient. The photos appear to be of the author's own quarters at 30 Rue des Mathurins. A late work of undoubted "Orientalism", it sets out to create an atmosphere of The Thousand and One Nights. The 6 watercolor plates depict a man and a woman in Persian costume, inside the sumptuous dwelling, in romantic, but very chaste encounters. Absolutely charming work. Folio, 13" high X 10" wide. Quite rare among d'Allemagne's works. This book will be securely… Read More

Tokyo: Seibu Art Forum , 1988. This is a near fine softcover copy with virtually no wear. Signed and with a drawing of a man's head on the front endpaper, with two word inscription. Very clean inside and out. Spine not creased, binding firm. Text in English and Japanese. Essay by Yoshiaki Tono. 55 works in the exhibition, which consisted of paintings, drawings and sculpture. All works illustrated in color. 12" high X 9" wide, about 60 pages. A beautiful copy. This book will be securely wrapped and packed in a sturdy box and shipped with tracking.. Signed by Artist.. Soft Cover. Near Fine.

Berlin: Propylaen-Verlag, 1927. This is a very good hardcover copy in the familiar green paper-covered boards with gilt device to the front cover, and black leather spine with red panel printed with gilt titles. Text in German. This is one of the best one volume surveys of European architecture at the beginning of the 20th century. The work of over 100 architects is surveyed and classified by building types and styles. Profusely illustrated with 25 tipped-in color plates mounted on stiff black paper, and hundreds of black & white photos, plans and drawings. Thumbnail biographies. Index. The edges of the boards are rubbed, the corners a bit worn, but the leather spine is fine with no fraying or fading, or marks of any kind. Inside the book is generally very clean, but a couple of pages have edges or corners creased. The table of contents page has the blind stamp of the well known New York architectural firm Starrett & Van Vleck. 10 1/2" high X 7 1/2" wide, 607 pages. This book will… Read More

New York: Charles Scribner Son's, 1932. This is a very good hardcover copy of the first edition in black cloth, titles in gilt still bright to front cover and spine. Top of spine a trifle worn. Very clean inside and out, but some foxing to endpapers and a few tiny spots to title page. Illustrated throughout in black & white with photographs and drawings. Map as frontispiece. Glossary. Lacking jacket. 14" high X 11" wide, 191 pages. This book will be securely wrapped and packed in a sturdy box and shipped with tracking.. First Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good.

Venice, Italy: Francesco Brunello , 1925. This is an about very good hardcover copy of a scarce trade catalog from the Venetian retailer, Francesco Brunello. The brown cloth leatherette covers are held together by cord. The back cover is mostly missing. The front cover has the company name and title in gilt script. Clean inside and out. Inside are 29 original photographs mounted to gray card stock leaves. All photographs bear a handstamp, either to the photograph or the margin of the leaf, with Francesco Brunello's name and adress in Venice. The first two photographs are different views of Brunello's showroom. The rest of the photographs are of individual pieces of furniture, in older Italian styles, very ornate, with elaborate veneer work and gilt mounts. Most photographs also have a tipped-on label of typed, or occasionally hand-written paper giving the model number and describing the piece, its' general style and materials. Most photographs with photographer information stamped on the… Read More

London: B.T.Batsford Ltd., 1942. This is a very good hardcover copy of the first edition. Some foxing to the preliminaries, endpapers and the page-edges. This book was printed on a very soft paper and so has attracted some foxing. Previously owned by the collector of 18th century English porcelain and pottery, Margaret Davison Black, and with her signature on the front endpaper. Foreword by R.L.Hobson. 145 black & white plates. Errata slip tipped-in. Bibliography. 10" high X 8" wide, 579 pages. This book will be securely wrapped and packed in a sturdy box and shipped with tracking.. Hard Cover. Very Good.

Paris: A.Levy Editeur , 1880. This is an album of 50 lithographed images in black & white of designs ca.1880 of elaborate storefronts, and doors and other pieces of furniture from stylish shops. Also kiosks, etc, each plate with metric scale that indicates relative dimensions. All designs by the architect A.Sanguineti. Quarto size, 10 1/2" high x 8 1/2" wide. There is a light brown moisture-stain to most plates, down at the lower margin, sometimes affecting the image. The back cover is a brown marbled paper, no front cover. The title-page serves as front cover, although it is hard to tell if this is intentional. The book is covered with a protective mylar jacket. This book will be securely wrapped and packed in a sturdy box and shipped with tracking.. Original Wraps. Very Good.

Oxford, England: Museum of Modern Art, 1985. This is a near fine softcover copy with almost no wear. Signed by Michals as "Duane Duck" and inscribed, apparently to a family of ducks. Completely clean inside and out. Spine not creased. This is the 1985 edition, not the 1984. The book was printed again because of demand as the exhibition traveled through England. Short text by Marco Livingstone. Biography. List of works. Exhibition history. Illustrated in black & white with some color. Large 4to, 12" high X 8" wide, 160 pages. A near fine signed copy. This book will be securely wrapped and packed in a sturdy box and shipped with tracking.. Signed by Artist.. Soft Cover. Near Fine.

Stuttgart: Julius Hoffmann, 1930. This is a very good hardcover portfolio with the text booklet and 80 loose plates with only light wear. The hardcover portfolio has a printed salmon-colored title label, also the same label on the text booklet. The portfolio boards have a little light fading or discoloration, but still very good. The hard spine of the portfolio has the title printed in salmon colored letters also very good. The text booklet is also very good, with almost no wear, just one tiny inscription to the front endpaper of the booklet. The loose plates are also very clean and fresh. Text by Joseph Lux in German. All plates are reproduced in black & white. Seven drawings of interiors reproduced in black & white in the text booklet. This is the 7th edition of this important collection of Empire and Biedermeier furniture and decorative arts assembled by Joseph Lux and with his introduction and notes. All in all, one of the nicest copies of this we've seen. 13" high X 9"… Read More

Roma: Carlo Bestetti Edizioni D'arte, 1960. This is a very good hardcover copy in gray cloth covers printed in red and gold with tassel device on the front cover and title in faded gilt to the spine. Edges of the covers a bit toned. Small date on lower edge of front endpaper. Very clean inside. Text in Italian. The 2 page ENGLISH summary laid-in. This is a thorough survey of Italian craft and folk arts including sections on farm and agricultural implements, furniture, textiles and costumes, jewelry and personal ornament, ceramics and glassware, metalwork, cooking ware, wrought iron work, signage, theatrical and festival masks, religious arts, also a section on popular prints. Extensive bibliography. 553 illustrations including many color plates. Plus many more illustrations in the section on popular prints. List of craft makers and producers. 12" high X 10" wide, 451 pages. Large heavy book, foreign shipping will be extra. This book will be securely wrapped and packed in a sturdy box and… Read More

New York: American Art Galleries, 1929. This is a very good copy of the original catalog for the 1929 Girl Scouts Loan Exhibition, which has been bound in dark gray cloth, with red and gilt title label on the spine. The original green and gilt printed catalog cover bound in. Completely clean outside. Inside covers generally clean, but a few marks to front cover lower left, and one page with old tape repairs. This repaired page has a plate on each side (no.570-71), and the repairs are on either side of the photograph just touching its' border. A few pages have very faint tan streaks on them, possibly from the binding process. Also a few abrasions to texts. Otherwise very clean and fresh. Preface. Short texts introduce the sections. Texts by George S. McKearin, Andrew Varick Stout, Louis Guerineau Meyers and E.T.H. 926 works in the exhibition. All reproduced in black & white photographs. This historic exhibition was held at the American Art Galleries in New York from September 25th to October 9,… Read More

London: The Architectural Press, 1923. This is a very good hardcover set of the two volumes bound in gray blue cloth ruled and titled in gilt. They are both very clean inside and out. One volume belonged to the R.H. Macy Company and has a number of marks including blindstamps to a number of plates, a sign-out card on the rear endpaper, and a small paper label at the base of the spine. The other volume has a ghost of a circle on the front cover. Volume 1 is devoted to exteriors and volume 2 covers interiors and details. 200 black & white plates (100 per volume), both photographs and some measured drawings in volume 2. Volume 1 published in 1923. Volume 2 in 1924. 13" high X 8 1/2" wide, 16 & 19 text pages + plates. This book will be securely wrapped and packed in a sturdy box and shipped with tracking.. Hard Cover. Very Good.

Frankfurt A.M., Germany: Hobby Haas , 1974. This is a very good hardcover copy with just light wear. Bound in the original publisher's blue boards printed in black and white. Completely clean outside. Very clean inside, page edges darkening a little. Text in German. Preface in German and English. This is Band 3 only of this monumental multi-volume survey of old German toys reproducing many old catalogs by the Nurnberger toy manufacturers. Thousands of fine black & white illustrations of German toys, mostly metal toys, trains, boats, cars, trucks, planes, military equipment and magic props. Captions to illustrations are in German, English, French and Spanish. 12" high X 8" wide. This book will be securely wrapped and packed in a sturdy box and shipped with tracking.. Hard Cover. Very Good.

New York: Harry Abrams/Thames and Hudson, 1969. This is a very good hardcover copy in a very good dust jacket. A little clear tape to tips of jacket. Completely clean inside and out. Profusely illustrated with 220 black & white and 78 color plates tipped in. Introduction by John Russell. Select bibliography. Large folio, 13" high X 12" wide, 324 pages. Large heavy book, foreign shipping will be extra. This book will be securely wrapped and packed in a sturdy box and shipped with tracking. . Hard Cover. Very Good/Very Good.

Printed in Soviet Union , 1973. This is a fine hardcover copy in a near fine dustjacket and very good slipcase. Text in English and Russian. Introduction in English as well as descriptions of plates at end in English. 195 plates in black & white and color. All the furniture is 18th through late 19th century Russian work. Most photographs show the furniture in room settings, but close-ups of individual pieces. The book is organized into sections: 18th century, 19th century, to give the reader a sense of the development and styles. 12" high X 10" wide, 31 text pages + plates. This book will be securely wrapped and packed in a sturdy box and shipped with tracking.. Hard Cover. Fine/Fine.