Books about Books

Chicago: University of Chicago, 1963. Hardcover. VG+/VG. ...with an introductory essay by Stanley Morison and supplemental material by Kennth Day. Large 4to, black cloth, gilt titles, xiii, 66, 377 plates, index. VERY GOOD+ book / VERY GOOD jacket: dj has some lite edgewear, discoloring and rubbing to spine (in mylar) A must-have for your book arts collection.

Mindata Publishing Company, 1980. 1st Edition. Cloth. Near Fine/Near Fine. No date, c. 1980. Nine volumes. Quarto. Ringed binders with numbered fiche in slotted panels inside, gilt titles and decoration on front and spine. Near Fine, covers slightly bumped, spine gilt dull on a few volumes, contents Fine, index leaves tanned on edges. A vast archive of the auction houses' London sales from Edwardian days through the 1970's. All but the painting volumes have an index, as issued. Over 77,000 items on 1055 fiche and divided into nine parts: FURNITURE: Including Ormolu and musical instruments; SILVER: Including Objects of Virtù, Fabergé and jewellery; CERAMICS: English and Continental items, glass and Art Nouveau; ORIENTAL: Chinese porcelain; also Japanese arms and lacquer, Islamic rugs and MSS; GENERAL DECORATIVE & APPLIED ART: Including sculpture, arms and armour, clocks, antiquities, tribal art, tapestries and icons; DUTCH & FLEMISH SCHOOL PAINTINGS; BRITISH SCHOOL;… Read More

This book is aimed at collectors of Lionel Davidson and Dick Francis books. It was developed with Davidson and Francis - is a tribute book involving two major thriller writers with an introduction by Len Deighton. It comprises interviews with the subjects, a critical look at the development of the adventure/thriller form by Michael Johnson (owner of Scorpion Press and contributor to books on crime writers), and an annotated bibliographies, book summaries, including print run sizes.The book is signed by Francis and Davidson and is numbered 1/250.. crime

[A tale] Illustrated by Dugald Stermer. 69 pp. 6,9x4,7 cm. The Somesuch Press, Dallas, Texas, 1984. No. 212 of 325 numbered copies, printed from Trinité type by Joh. Enschedé en Zonen, Haarlem Holland and bound by Reliure d'Art du Centre S.A., Limoges, France.
--- Text in english. Leather bound, gilt lettering and decoration on front cover. All edges gilt. Numbered and signed copy. No wear. Unmarked.

Aberystwyth: National Library of Wales, 1998. Book. Fine. Hardcover. First Printing of the First Edition. Fine, unread copy, in jacket with insignificant traces of use..

London: Macmillan and Co., Limited, 1924. First Edition. hardcover. Very Good+. 9 3/8" × 6 1/8" × 1" (23.8 × 15.6 × 2.5 cm) . First Printing. Printed by R. & R. Clark, Limited, Edinburgh. Tall 8vo. Bound in publisher's original hardcover quarter Holland-backed blue paper boards, with white linen spine and paper title label. Uncut, deckled edges. [ix], [1], 176, [4] pp. Photogravure frontispiece portrait of Morris engraved by Emery Walker from a photograph by Sparling, with tissue guard present. Includes 16 plates and examples of types and illustrations from the Kelmscott Press. Henry Halliday Sparling (1860–1924) provides an informative history of William Morris's Press. Sparling was a former Kelmscott Press employee and as the husband of Morris's daughter, May Morris, from 1890–1898, was keenly familiar with Morris and his Press. Sparling provides a clear account of the day-to-day workings of the Press, as well as a close examination of Morris's intentions and printing achievements.… Read More

London: Macmillan and Co., Limited, 1924. First Edition. hardcover. Fine. 9 3/8" × 6 1/8" × 1" (23.8 × 15.6 × 2.5 cm) . First Printing. Printed by R. & R. Clark, Limited, Edinburgh. Tall 8vo. Bound in publisher's original hardcover quarter Holland-backed blue paper boards, with white linen spine and paper title label. Uncut, deckled edges. [ix], [1], 176, [4] pp. Photogravure frontispiece portrait of Morris engraved by Emery Walker from a photograph by Sparling, with tissue guard present. Includes 16 plates and examples of types and illustrations from the Kelmscott Press. Henry Halliday Sparling (1860–1924) provides an informative history of William Morris's Press. Sparling was a former Kelmscott Press employee and as the husband of Morris's daughter, May Morris, from 1890–1898, was keenly familiar with Morris and his Press. Sparling provides a clear account of the day-to-day workings of the Press, as well as a close examination of Morris's intentions and printing achievements. Includes… Read More

Engraved portrait front. of Cornelis Ploos van Amstel signed R Winkeles sculp. 1799 - J. Buys pinx. 1766. XXIV, (2), 319 pages; 227 (1), 82 pages. Priced throughout in a contemporary hand, including two manuscript total values at the end of each volume. Cont. Dutch red half vellum bindings, with gilt black morocco labels. First volume with printed original front wrapper with title mounted onto front cover. Lower spine end of volume I minimally frayed. (222 x 138 mm). Covers rubbed. Nagler, Neues allgemeines Künstler-Lexikon, XIII, p. 28 and Wurzbach, Niederländisches Künstler-Lexikon, II, p. 333. Nieuw Nederlandsch biografisch woordenboek VI, pp. 1139-1140. First and only edition of this sale catalogue of a remarkable collection of prints, drawings and paintings, illustrated books, Kunstkammer pieces, and optical and mathematical instruments and including a major collection of Rembrandt prints brought together by Cornelis Ploos van Amstel (1726 - 1798), a painter, engraver, printer and publisher… Read More

New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1920. First Edition, First Printing. Hardcover. Octavo, 347 pages; VG-/G; Light brownish spine with red lettering; Dustjacket has significant fading and water-staining to the spine, chipping at head/tail of spine and top corner of front cover, and one closed tear at bottom of front cover; Boards show moderate edgewear at head/tail of spine and moderate cornerwear to all corners; name of previous owner appears on front paste-down, and a bookseller plate appears on the back pastedown; CX consignment; Shelved in Room G. 1346220. Special Collections.

New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1926. First Edition. Hardcover. Octavo, 285 pages; VG/VG-; spine age-toned, with black lettering; dust jacket blue, protected with a mylar covering; mild shelf wear and soiling; small chips missing at corners of flap folds; four-inch closed tear to jacket front; crown and tail of jacket spine missing; age-toning to spine; small chips missing from upper edge of jacket back; inscribed by Van Vechen at front free endpaper; uncut pages throughout; pages clean; CX consignment; Shelved in Room G. 1346279. Special Collections.

Oxford and London: B.H. Blackwell and Simpkin, Marshall & Co, 1891. First Edition. Possibly the earliest work by the noted literary critic and Shakespearean authority; Was awarded The Chancellor's prize while Chambers was still a student at Oxford. Forgeries provides a scholarly, yet lively and interesting look at the forgery of books, documents and manuscripts throughout history. 8½ x 5½". 37. Original printed tan wrappers with side stitched thread binding. 40 pp. Wraps soiled, one inch closed tear and "C" inked to front wrap. Pages toned with neat penciled annotations of a critical and academic tone throughout. Quite scarce first printing in good or better condition, none in orig. binding found in commerce at this time. OCLC suggests this edition held in European libraries, but none in North America.

Octavo (9 X 6 inches) Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1953. First Edition. 686 pages arranged by date (the earliest entry is dated 1491, and refers to a work by Plutarch), Author Index, Journal Index, hardcover, very good condition, original green cloth binding.

From the Introduction: "This volume consists of a chronologically arranged bibliography of world literature on meteorites and related subjects." "In this volume an attempt has been made to incorporate contributions to the science of meteorites dating from antiquity to recent times."

San Francisco: The Book Club of California, 2009. First Edition. Fine. Signed, Limited to 500 copies, Large Quarto [13.25x10in]; xv, 324 pp., frontispiece of Kings River Canyon view of Mt. Hutchings, 92 images and illustrations, some in color throughout text, extensive appendices, endnotes, references, bibliography and index; Forest green linen cloth covers with black linen back strip, gilt lettering on spine, inset paper label with title and illustration of Yosemite on front, watercolor illustration of Yosemite Valley from Mariposa Trail [1889, Andrew Melrose] on front and back end papers; Negligible shelf wear, minor scratch to lower spine, signed by author on half-title page and four-page prospectus tipped in. [BCC #225]. James Mason Hutchings (1820-1902) was one of the many Englishmen that came to California in 1849 for the Gold Rush. He made his fortune in mining and was one of the early promoters of the wonders of Yosemite Valley and the National Park. As a businessman, he established a hotel… Read More

Billingshurst: The Bookplate Society in association with The Keridwen Press, 1988. 1st edition. Paperback. Octavo (21 x 15 cm). 35 pages, 23 of which are b&w reproductions of the bookplates. (Also a b&w photograph of the artist as a frontispiece.) Part of a limited run of 500 copies, 140 of which were numbered and signed by the author. This is copy number 75: the number is inked on the reverse of the title page, the signature on the Introduction page that follows it. Very Good in Good jacket. Text a little shelf-soiled in its bottom corner, near the fore-edge. Jacket has faded around the spine, which is also a bit tanned at its foot.

Full brown debossed cloth with gilt particulars to spine and covers. Scarce Schoff illustrated edition. Minor foxing to first few pages affecting frontispiece with tissue guard. The usual toning from frontispiece to next page, as well as minor staining to occational edges not affecting text. Small ink notation to corner of title page (see image). Overall a clean tight copy with no previous owners' names.
6 x 9.25 in