Rare books from Georg Schneebeli :: Rare Books & Prints

First edition. The careful decoration and the expressive design make "Die Fischer" a book-artistic gem from the time of the early Art Nouveau.
Description: vellum spine with Art Nouveau decorated paper boards, upper board with paper lettering label printed in black. Endpapers in the same decor as the cover. In original light brown cardboard slipcase. Octavo: 18 × 12 cm; pp. 94. All edges gilt.
Ref.: Schauer: i, 28; ii, 5. Wilpert; Gühring: 698, 3
Condition: A couple of gatherings with cords visible at gutter, but still unbroken. Apart from that, a very good copy, complete, in the rare original cardboard slipcase.

First edition of Doves Press's second Catalogue Raisonné.
Description: Linen spine and blue paper-covered boards. Titled on the upper cover THE DOVES PRESS. Octavo: 24 × 17 cm; pp. [1], 12. Printed from 'Doves' type on 'Doves' paper. Paragraph marks, section headings, etc., in red.
Ref.: Cowan 96; Tidcombe 27
Notes: The second Catalogue Raisonné (the first Catalogue Raisonné was published in 1908) includes books published to June 1911 and an introduction and additional comments by T. J. Cobden-Sanderson. 250 copies on paper. The final Catalogue Raisonné (1916) states the number of copies is 350, in error (Tidcombe). Boards showing some soiling and foxing, internally, clean, bright and free of marks. Generally a very good copy.

First edition with wood engravings by Frans Masereel. No. 115 of the limited edition of 250 on laid paper. Signed by Frans Masereel in the imprint.
Description: Original half calf over marbled boards, gilt title to spine. Quarto: 28 × 18,5 cm; pp. 57, [4] ll. With 37 original woodcuts (of which 7 full-page, printed recto only) by Frans Masereel.
Ref.: Ritter: C 29, S. 258; Rodenberg: 448
Condition: Binding somewhat scuffed at joints and corners and partly faded. Contents clean and free of marks, but slightly toned with age. Overall a very good copy.
Notes: The Ballad of Reading Gaol was printed by Offizin Mandruck in Munich as the 11th Obelisk print with the original English text. The woodcuts were cut by Masereel in early 1923 and were printed from the original woodblocks. In addition to this edition, 70 copies were published, numbered I to LXX, in which the full-page woodcuts were also signed by Masereel, and 20 unnumbered and unsigned copies.

First edition of Baruffaldi's ode to tobacco, particularly snuff.
Description: Contemporary vellum, morocco label lettered in gilt to spine. Octavo: 21 × 15 cm; pp. 240. With the printer's mark of Pomatelli, 2 title vignettes and 2 text initials.
Ref.: opac.sbn.it: IT\ICCU\VIAE\001766
Provenance: On the front pastedown the bookplate of the Marchese di Salza; stamp of the Rothamsted Experimental Station (today: Rothamsted Research). On the rear pastedown the bookplate of John William Ward, Earl of Dudley (1781–1833).
Condition: Binding stained and wavy. Contents show light marginal browning and occasional staining, with small parts of the text missing on page 171.
Notes: Girolamo Baruffaldi (1675–1755) was a priest, scholar, poet, and dramatist. He established the Vigna Academy in Ferrara and served as the archpriest of the parish church of Cento in addition to holding the position of a professor of Sacred Scripture and Rhetoric at the University of Ferrara. Baruffaldi showed a keen interest in… Read More

First edition in French detailing superstition and the cult of witchcraft in India. Translated into French by Thomas La Grue from the Dutch.
Description: Contemprary calf, gilt titles to spine and decoration in compartments between five raised bands. Octavo: 24 × 18 cm; pp. [7] ll., 375. With an engraved frontispiece plate and seven engravings, (five of which are full-page), and one fold-out plate.
Ref.: Graesse: xi, 147
Provenance: Handwritten bookplate of Stanislaj de Guaita and a small bookseller's label of the Librairie Sainte-Marie, Moissac, on the front pastedown.
Condition: Binding scuffed and bumped, front joint starting but firm, capitals with losses. The rear flyleaf removed. Textblock a little shaken, somewhat toned, stained and waterstained throughout. Quire H (pp. 57–66) is missing. Chip to pp. 67 not affecting text, paper repair due to loss of paper in outer margin on pages 357–373, not affecting text. A burned hole with minor text loss in quire Vu. Annotations in a early hand on… Read More

A lecture delivered by William Morris at the Working Men's College, London on December 10, 1881. The 3rd of six lectures by Morris published in the same format.
Description: Pale blue paper over boards, with the title page text reproduced on the upper front cover, cloth spine. Octavo: 21 × 14.5 cm; pp. [2] 45. Printed from 'Golden' type on fine mould-made paper.
Enclosed: Loosely inserted a printed note from the publisher indicating that the book may not be sold for a discounted price.
Ref.: Walsdorf 73
Condition: Minor age toning to covers, a bit of edgewear. Endpapers and pages are clean and bright, pages are unopened, hinges are sound. A very good copy.
Notes: In this lecture, Morris discusses pattern designing of various materials and predicts the influence and execution of floral and landscape motifs later found in the works of such people as Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848–1943) and the Rookwood Pottery Company (1880–1940).

First edition of Louis Antoine de Bougainville's account of his famous circumnavigation between 1766 and 1769.
Description: Near contemp. green and brown morocco, separated with gilt fillet; spine with 4 raised bands decorated with gilt fillets; gilt titling on spine. Brown marbled endpapers. Quarto: 27 × 20 cm; [4] ll., 417, [3] pp. With 20 maps (17 fold-outs, incl. the large world map) and 3 engraved plates.
Ref.: Brunet i, 1167; Hill p.31; Sabin ii, 6864
Condition: Boards somewhat rubbed and bumped. Pages slightly yellowed with age, occasional light mainly marginal spotting, some maps slightly tanned.
Notes: French Navy admiral and diplomat Louis Antoine de Bougainville (1729–1811) was commissioned by Louis XV in 1766 to circle the Earth in a voyage of exploration with the frigates La Boudeuse and L'Etoile. The purpose of this expedition was to explore the Pacific, especially the Australian coast and New Guinea, to examine the geographical and ecological conditions for economic benefit and… Read More

A masterpiece of Chinese multi-block colour printing, masterfully reprinted, in exactly the same technique as the original and printed on the most magnificent paper.
Description: 4 vols. stab bound with gold speckled, ochre coloured paper wrappers, paper label with calligraphic lettering to front; housed in the original silk brocade folding box with calligraphic paper label and 2 bone clasps. Quarto 31 × 21 cm; unpaginated. With 283 woodblock prints on double-folded leaves (coloured [taoban], black and white, embossed [gonghua]).
Ref.: Cahill, Pictorial Colorprinting in China and Japan; Tschichold, 1970; Wright, Fashioning Biography
Condition: A near fine copy.
Notes: The late Ming/early Qing dynasty publisher Hu Zhengyan (ca. 1584–1674) is one of the most frequently studied figures in the history of Chinese prints. Hu came to Nanjing in 1619 and opened a print shop which he called Shizhuzhai (Ten Bamboo Studio). Hu was a successful publisher and businessman, producing a variety of books, for which… Read More

A beautifully designed and produced edition with with 18 original drypoint etchings by André Michel (1900-1972). No. 232 of a limited edition of 275 copies.
Description: Folded sheets loosely inserted in a glassine-wrapped portfolio; housed in a pull-off box of quarter morocco and paper-covered boards; the box with a rounded spine. Quarto: 34 × 28 cm; pp. 138, [1].
Condition: The spine of the box is slightly faded and the glassine is somewhat darkened due to age. Otherwise in very good condition.
Notes: André Marie de Chénier was a French poet and journalist born in Constantinople on 30 October 1762 and executed by guillotine in Paris on 25 July 1794 at the age of 31. His oeuvre includes rewrites of ancient poems, philosophical and political poems characterised by the period of the French Revolution.

A fine edition of Maeterlinck's play L'Oiseau Bleu (The Blue Bird), featuring stunning artwork by French illustrator André Marty (1882–1974).
Description: Quarter sheepskin over marbled paper covered boards, with gilt titles and decoration to spine. Octavo: 20 × 14 cm; pp. 171, [3]. 27 full-page and in-text illustrations. Top edge gilt.
Condition: Spine ends somewhat nibbled. Pages slightly toned due to their age, one mark in the margin of page 103. No foxing. Else a very good copy.

First edition of the poem with an illustration by Raymond Gid. Limited to 145 copies, of which this is no. 128.
Desciption: Unbound folded sheets (as issued) in printed wrappers. Octavo: 20 × 16 cm; 16 ll.; pp. (9-28) paginated A-T. 1 drawing by Raymond Gid. Printed from different typefaces (Plantin, Gill, Bodoni, Garamond) in different sizes (16, 18, 24 pt.).
Ref.: Coron: Les Éditions GLM, 64
Condition: Cover somewhat toned, with occasional small marks and creases, water stain at lower margin. Pages slightly yellowed in outer margins.

The first translation of the 'Commentarii' into French.
Description: Contemporary vellum, spine lettered in ink. Quarto: 25 × 20 cm; [18] ll., 623, [1], 64, [36] pp. Engraved frontispice.
Condition: Binding somewhat soiled and stained, title on spine somewhat faded. Occasional paper repairs to endpapers and cracked at head and tail. Pages slightly toned, light dampstaining to first few leaves. Some pencil notes and comments. Missing plate 'Pont de César'.

First edition of the first published lecture by William Morris. Scarce in this exemplary state.
Description: Sewn as issued in publisher's printed light blue paper wrappers. Duodecimo: 18 × 12 cm; pp. 32.
Condition: Light age toning to edges of covers. Internally clean and free of marks. According to its age a near fine copy.
Notes: In 'The Decorative Arts' Morris first formulated his guiding principle that the decline in the artistic quality of the things around us was the result of the separation of art and craft, and that only a reunion of art and craft could lead to better design. Morris repeated and refined this idea in various lectures he gave between 1877 and 1885. It was also this principle that eventually led to the founding of the Kelmscott Press.

Rare edition by Officina Bodoni with songs by Robert Burns translated into Swiss German. Limited edition, number 69 of only 100 numbered copies. Dedication copy.
Description: Publisher's pigskin, double-ruled border to boards in black, gilt spine label, in original slipcase. Octavo: 20 × 13 cm; pp. 119, [2] ll. Title page with coloured woodcut vignette. Top edge gilt. Bilingual text: English-Swiss-German.
Provenance: Dedication by Georg Reinhart in his own hand on the front flyleaf, dated 1950.
Ref.: Schmoller: 93
Condition: Slipcase somewhat dusty. Spine somewhat faded. Binding, endpapers and textblock otherwise impeccable.
Notes: The volume presents a selection of poems by the Scottish poet Robert Burns (1759–1796) compared with the original English text and the Swiss German translation by August Corrodi (1826–1885). Privately printed by order of the Winterthur patron Georg Reinhart and not published in the trade. With a manuscript dedication by Georg Reinhart.

One of the very few copies of this work. Complete with the handwritten addressed envelope. Limited edition of 111 copies, of which this is number xli.
Description: Sewn as issued in original printed wrappers and original glassine jacket. Quarto: 31 × 21 cm; [14] ll. (unpaginated). Printed from 16 pt Astrée on hand-made paper, edges uncut.
Enclosed: Original envelope with the address of the recipient of this print.
Provenance: Personal copy of Count E. da Silva Ramos (presumably father of racing driver Hernando "Nano" da Silva Ramos).
Condition: A few pages with a small spot of paper browning. Otherwise an excellent copy.
Notes: In its 16-year history, the Société de Bibliophiles Les Plaquettes has published only two works. The first was published in 1939, the second in 1943, and both works were only printed in small editions for members of the Société. This is the reason for the present edition of 'Éloge de la plaquette' being only 111 copies. In this text, Fernand Fleuret analyses the… Read More