
ILLUSTRATED
BOOKS \ CUTS & ENGRAVINGS
A
Ba-Be
Bf-Bz
Bibles
Ca-Ch
Ci-Cz
D
E-F
G
Ha-He
Hf-Hz
I-K
L
M
N-Pa
Pb-Pz
Q-R
Sa-Sh
Si-Sz
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U-Wa
Wb-Z
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Enchanting
19th-Century Reminiscences of the ROSE
The Queen of flowers: or, Memoirs of the rose. Philadelphia: Lea & Blanchard, 1841. 24mo (14.2 cm, 5.6"). viii, [13]–219 pp., 3 col. plts. Lacks frontis.
$60.00
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Epistolary musings on roses originally published as Memoirs of the Rose in 1824, here in their second edition. This version contains
three striking hand-colored lithographs of different rose species, including the Cabbage, Common Dog, and Damask.
Binding: Publisher's purple cloth, gilt-stamped title on spine; each cover framed in blind rules, with foliate and drawer-handle motifs surrounding a gilt leaf device at center. All edges gilt.
Bound as above, almost entirely sunned to brown and with a very little rubbing. Light to moderate age-toning and foxing throughout; lacks frontispiece, other three plates present and brightly colored.
Overall a handsomely done collection of letters about roses (and life). (35940)

Illustrated Florilegium for
American Children
Ramble, Robert [pseud. of John Frost]. A port folio for youth. Philadelphia: J. Crissy (pr. by J. Crissy & G. Goodman), 1835. 8vo (16.6 cm, 6.53"). Frontis., 352 pp.; illus.
[SOLD]
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Uncommon sole edition: Poems, tales, and short educational pieces, including many drawing parables from natural history and some based on historical events. One story, “The Miller's Daughter,” is set during the French Revolution and features an aristocrat in hiding, while another item offers a biography of Edward Drinker, born “on the spot where the city of Philadelphia now stands,” who lived to see both “the beginning and the end of the British empire in Pennsylvania” (pp. 277–78).
To catch and hold childish interest, snake charmers, murderous smugglers, diamond mines, and fatal balloon accidents are sprinkled throughout the more sedate moralizing items.
These pieces were collected from a wide variety of sources by prolific children's author John Frost. The stories are
illustrated with over 50 wood-engraved vignettes, some of which WorldCat attributes to Abel Bowen and Ezra Atherton.
Provenance: Front free endpaper with small, neatly inked gift inscription reading “Eliza M. Elliott [/] Presented by her brother, B. Elliott 1840"; preliminary leaf with early inked inscription with similar content, in a larger and less precise hand. Later in the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.
American Imprints 31768. Not in Osborne Collection. Publisher's printed blue paper–covered sides with roan shelfback, spine with gilt-stamped title; sides with small spots of discoloration and offsetting from leather, spine and edges rubbed with extremities chipped. Inked inscription on preliminary leaf (written inside a printed decorative flower urn vignette), this offset onto surrounding leaves including frontispiece. One leaf slightly crumpled during printing. Mild to moderate foxing throughout.
A solid and entirely enjoyable copy of this impressive, seldom-encountered collection. (41188)

A Review for
Printers & Bibliophiles
Randle, John & Rosalind, eds. Matrix 7. Number seven, winter 1987. Gloucestershire:
The Whittington Press, 1987. Imperial 8vo (28.7 cm, 11.3"). [6], 166, [2] pp.; illus.
$175.00
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Another volume of worthwhile and aesthetically pleasing reading for book arts enthusiasts, including “A Moroccan Diary” by Edwina Ellis, “Ornamented Types: the Making of the Edition” by Ian Mortimer, “On the Shape of Books” by Brooke Crutchley, “A Medley of Printers Past” by Ward Ritchie, “Letters from a Papermaker's Husband” by Brian Richardson, and a variety of other essays and reviews pertaining to typography, fine printing, and illustration, as well as two poems by Philip Gallo. This is
one of 960 copies printed, illustrated with an assortment of photographic plates, an oversized folding plate reproducing illustrations by Annie Newnham, tipped-in examples of printing, etc. The prospectus for Matrix 8 is laid in.
Publisher's printed yellow paper wrappers over printed paper–covered stiff boards; wrappers with spine sunned, minor edge wear. Contents clean and crisp. Very good. (34969)

The Illustrator's Copy
Raspe, Rudolph, et al.; John Carswell, intro.; Fritz Kredel, illus. The singular adventures of Baron Munchausen. New York: For the members of the Limited Editions Club, 1952. Small 4to (24.8 cm, 9.75"). xli, [1], 175, [1] pp.; illus.
[SOLD]
Click the images for enlargements.
The Limited Editions Club brings Rudolph Erich Raspe's dauntless Baron to life with many full-page and in-text pen and watercolor drawings by Fritz Kredel (1900–73), beautifully hand-colored by Walter Fischer. Kredel illustrates the Baron galloping on a half-horse, fighting off an attack dog, and dodging a wild sow, as well as many more humorous situations.
This is
one of 15 presentation copies (of a total of 1500 copies), as indicated by the publisher's blindstamp on the colophon, and is “numbered” with the initials “F.K.,” signifying that this was
Fritz Kredel's own copy; his signature also appears on the colophon.
Bibliography of the Fine Books Published by the Limited Editions Club, 221. Quarter black calf with gilt lettering to spine, and French marbled paper sides, this copy without the glassine dust jacket and the slipcase; rubbing to corners and spine-ends. Interior lightly age-toned with the very occasional finger-smudge.
A compelling copy from the artist's bookshelf; and the illustrations are amusing and bright! (39561)
For IMAGINARY TRAVELS, VOYAGES,
& PLACES, click here . . .
For LITERATURE, click here.
For HUMOR, click here.
For Books with SPECIAL
PROVENANCE, click here.

Science for Students, by
Imperial Command
Redlhamer, Joseph. Philosophiae naturalis pars prima seu physica generalis [and] pars II. Uranologiam, stoechiologiam, meteorologiam, geologiam, mineralogiam, phytologiam, et zoologiam complectens. Viennae Austriae: Ioannis Thomae Trattner, 1755. 8vo (16.9 cm, 6.625"). 2 vols. I: [8], 424, [4 (index)] pp.; 9 fold. plts. II: [4], 426 pp.; 16 fold. plts.
$450.00
Click the images for enlargements.
First edition of this important 18th-century textbook of natural sciences. The author (1713–61) was a Jesuit professor who taught theology at the University of Vienna, following a number of years of teaching philosophy and ethics at Linz and Graz. As part of her educational reforms, Empress Maria Theresa of Austria in 1753 issued
an order requiring professors to publish textbooks rather than dictate lecture notes; the present work was one of the first such to appear in response. Princeton asserts that this schoolbook was used for the instruction of Maria Theresa's eldest child, Prince Joseph (later Emperor Joseph II), and describes the first section as dealing primarily with Newton, with other sections presenting the principles of statics, mechanics, hydrostatics, gravity, electricity and magnetism. At the backs of the two volumes are a total of
25 engraved folding plates, each incorporating multiple figures illustrating experiments, anatomy, astronomy, calculations, etc.
Now uncommon: Searches of WorldCat find only four U.S. institutions reporting holdings (Princeton, CU Berkeley, Boston College, Brigham Young University).
DeBacker-Sommervogel, VI, 1574; VD18 80341896 & VD18 8034190X. Contemporary mottled calf, spines with cream leather title-labels and gilt-stamped decorations between raised bands; edges and extremities rubbed, spine gilt all but lost (motifs now appearing blind-tooled on casual inspection), vol. II with early hand-inked numeral on title-label. All edges speckled red. Vol. I front free endpaper with scorched area, some offsetting to title-page. Pages gently age-toned with small spots of light foxing, overall very readable.
This is a complete set of both volumes with all plates present, in contemporary bindings, and as such not often seen on the market. (40102)

Sentimental Stories An Elegant Margaret Armstrong Binding
Reed, Myrtle. The white shield. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1912. 8vo (20.5 cm, 8"). Col. frontis., [2], xi, [1], 343, [1] pp.; 4 plts.
$45.00
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Posthumously printed short stories from a popular author, with
music figuring prominently in several of the pieces. This is the stated fourth printing of the first edition, with a color-printed frontispiece and four additional plates done by Dalton Stevens.
Binding: Publisher's lavender cloth, front cover with lily design stamped in gilt, white, and purple, spine with decorative gilt-stamped title. Top edges gilt, others deckle.
Signed “MA,” Margaret Armstrong.
This is one of a series of twelve of Reed's books for which Armstrong did the designs, all on the same lavender cloth. The Reed covers are among her best-known, and this one is quite pleasing with its lily-petal mosaic effect.
Smith, American Fiction, 1901–1925, R-122; Gullans & Espey, Checklist of Trade Bindings Designed by Margaret Armstrong, 182. Bound as above, minimal rubbing to extremities and stamped lilies, minor sunning to spine; front cover clean and bright. Plates with small areas of spotting to upper edges, apparently from printer.
A very nice copy. (41298)

A U.S.–U.K. Collaboration
Reeves, James. The closed door. [Newark, VT]: Twinrocker & The Janus Press, 1977. 8vo (23.8 cm, 9.4"). [12] pp.; 1 illus.
$175.00
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First edition of these poems, preceded by a wood engraving printed from an original block by Richard Shirley Smith. Twinrocker, the Janus Press, and the Gruffyground Press are described as co-publishers in the colophon.
The edition was limited to a total of 240 copies; this is one of the 75 unsigned copies printed for the two American publishers, bound in hand-marbled Fabriano paper done by Susan Johanknecht and Claire Van Vliet. The text was hand set in Walbaum, also by Johanknecht and Van Vliet.
Fine, Janus Press 1975–80, 40. Publisher's lilac marbled paper–covered boards with tan shelfback, front cover with printed paper label. A clean and crisp copy. (32334)

Maps, Plates, Charts
— Coins,
Medals — Black
Sea Travels!
Reuilly, Jean, baron de. Voyage en Crimée et sur les bords
de la Mer Noire, pendent l'année 1803; suivi d'un mémoire sur le commerce de cette mer, et de notes sur les principaux ports commerçans. Paris: Chez Bossange, 1806. 8vo (20.5 cm, 8.1"). [8], xix, [1], 302, [2] pp.; 2 fold. map, 3 fold. plts., 3 fold. charts.
$925.00
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First edition: Baron du Reuilly's account of his travels in the Black Sea area, focussed primarily on trade and commerce but including illustrated chapters on coins, medallions, and antiquities as well as general descriptions of the area and people. In addition to the eight total oversized folding plates (two maps, three plates, and three charts), the work is illustrated with six chapter head vignettes designed and engraved by J. Duplessi Bertaux; the large map of the Crimea was designed by J.B. Poirson and engraved by P.F. Tardieu.
Not in Howgego; not in Goldsmiths'-Kress. Period-style quarter calf and marbled paper–covered boards, spine with gilt-stamped leather title and author labels and blind-tooled floral decorations in compartments. Half-title and title-page with institutional rubber-stamps dated 1879; half-title with upper and lower margins cut away and later repaired, inner margin reinforced. Pages and plates with
light to moderate foxing; a few pencilled English translations of obscure words. Large map with short tear from inner margin, barely extending into image. (24309)

Lima Mourns Charles III — Engraving by Vazquez — A RARE Type of Volume
from an
Interesting Press
Rico, Juan. Reales exequias, que por el fallecimiento del señor don Carlos III, rey de España y de las Indias, mando celebrar en la ciudad de Lima. Lima: En la Imprenta Real de los Niños Expósitos, 1789. Folio. [2] ff., 169, [1 (blank)] pp., [1] f., 50 pp., fold. plt.
$8750.00
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Fr. Rico, an Oratorian, describes the memorial services in Lima on the occasion of the death of King Carlos III, as well as the commemorative art work and its Neo-Latin epigraphs. Fray Bernardo Rueda's “Oracion funebre que en las solemnes exequias del Rey nuestro señor don Carlos III” has a sectional title-page and its own pagination.
The folding plate is of
the funeral monument erected in the king's memory. It is an extremely well executed, large engraving, signed by Vazquez and dated at Lima, 1789.
NUC and WorldCat locate only five U.S. libraries reporting ownership Yale, Notre Dame, the John Carter Brown, the Boston Public, and Duke with the last two copies lacking the plate. Searches of CCPB and the OPAC of the Spanish national library locate three Spanish libraries reporting ownership; COPAC finds no copies in Britain.
The number of “splendid ceremonies” books produced in colonial Peru is small: There is no census but we suspect the number to be around 20.
Other interesting aspects of the work are that it is an important source on the social and artistic life of Lima in the decade following the Tupac Amaru rebellion and that it is from one of Latin America's famous presses of “orphan children.”
John Carter Brown Library, Catalogue, 1493-1800, III,324; Medina, Lima, 1697; Sabin 73902; Vargas Ugarte, Impresos peruanos, 2546. Contemporary limp vellum with neatly inked title on spine; all edges inked decoratively. Old blurred stamp on front free endpaper, old single numerals very faintly on title-pages. Small tear in margin of plate, not into image. Overall a very good copy, very clean and with wide margins. (34668)

Lima
Mourns Charles III
Rico, Juan. Reales exequias, que por el fallecimiento del señor don Carlos III, rey de España y de las Indias, mando celebrar en la ciudad de Lima. Lima: En la Imprenta Real de los Niños Expósitos, 1789. Folio. [2] ff., 169, [1 (blank)] pp., [1] f., 50 pp., fold. plt.
$1275.00
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The above, in a lesser copy.
John Carter Brown Library, Catalogue, 1493-1800, III,324; Medina, Lima, 1697; Sabin 73902; Vargas Ugarte, Impresos peruanos, 2546. Contemporary limp vellum with late, neatly inked title on spine. Some foxing. Plate lacking lower half and small portion of upper one; a handsome skeleton (memento mori) archer is the focus of what remains. Bookplate sometime removed; rubber-stamps on several pages, including title, reading (yes, in English), “Bought of F. Perez Velasco October 1912.” (25771)

“The Then of Changeless Sunny Days — The Now of Shower & Shine —
— But Love Forever Smiling — As That Old Sweetheart of Mine”
Riley, James Whitcomb. An old sweetheart of mine. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill Co., 1902. 8vo (22.6 cm, 8.89"). [62] pp; 18 plts.
$120.00
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A charming, heart-warming gem by the well-known Hoosier poet,
featuring 18 plates of drawings by famed American illustrator Howard Chandler Christy and numerous pink-printed decorations by Virginia Keep. This testimony to love's endurance from the earliest blush of youth “till the golden hair was gray” is “an extended version . . . the short version first appeared in Old-Fashioned Roses, 1888" (BAL).
Binding: Publisher's blue-green cloth binding with front cover and spine stamped in gilt, burnt sienna, and green (we have seen a variant in a wine colored cloth). Front cover with a paper portrait onlay signed by Christy.
Provenance: Front fly-leaf with inked inscription “From the Hedding girls, Mar. 12, 1905.”
BAL 16657. Binding as above, slight rubbing to extremities, dust jacket and box not present.
A clean, fresh, very giftable copy — particularly for childhood sweethearts! (41260)

“Jes' Looky Hyonder, Hey?”
Riley, James Whitcomb. Riley songs o'cheer. Indianapolis: The Bobbs-Merrill Co., [1905]. 8vo (20 cm, 7.8"). 195, [1] pp.; illus.
$75.00
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First edition, first issue of this compendium bringing together poems previously published and these new elements: “Songs O'Cheer,” “Dedication to Bliss Carman,” “A Christmas Carol,” and “Her Smile of Cheer and Voice of Song.” The “Hoosier Poet” presents some verses in his classic midwestern dialect and some in more elegant verbiage, while
Will Vawter provided numerous full-page and in-text illustrations nicely evoking a nostalgic, mostly rural America to match.
Binding: Publisher's green cloth with a young farmer's vignette stamped in white, black, and gilt on the cover, spine with gilt-stamped title and bird vignette.
BAL 16671. Binding as above, dust jacket lacking, very minor rubbing to extremities and front cover vignette. Front pastedown with ownership inscription of Alice Grace Stone. Clean and fresh. (35049)

LEC: 50 Rilke Poems
Rilke, Rainer Maria. Selected poems of Rainer Maria Rilke. New York: The Limited Editions Club, 1981. 8vo (24.2 cm, 9.5"). xxxiii, [1], 129, [3] pp.; illus.
$75.00
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The Limited Editions Club takes on “Germany's greatest modern poet”: 50 poems from Rilke's early career, selected, translated, and annotated by Carlyle Ferren MacIntyre, with a preface by Harry T. Moore. The poems are
printed in English and German on facing pages, with mutedly melancholy, gray-toned, stippled full-page and in-text illustrations (four of the former, six of the latter) done by Robert Kipniss and lithographed by George C. Miller & Son. Katy Homans designed the volume; the text was printed in Dante type (both roman and italic) on Mohawk eggshell wove paper, and the binding was done by A. Horowitz & Son.
This is numbered copy 1063 of 2000 printed, signed at the colophon by the artist. The appropriate LEC newsletter is laid in.
Bibliography of the Fine Books Published by the Limited Editions Club, 518. Publisher's quarter navy buckram and light blue paper–covered boards, spine with author stamped in silver, in original matching slipcase; slipcase showing minor shelfwear with spine and edges gently sunned, volume spine likewise gently sunned, otherwise crisp and solid. (37247)

An Italian's
EMBLEMS in French with Engravings by a Dutchman
Ripa, Cesare. Iconologie, ou La science des emblemes, devises &c. Qui apprend à les expliquer, dessiner et inventer. Ouvrage tres utile aux orateurs, poëtes, peintres, sculpteurs, graveurs, & generalement à toutes sortes de curieux des beaux arts et des sciences. A Amsterdam: Chez Adrian Braakman, 1698. Small 8vo. 2 vols. I: Engr. title-page, [8] ff., 264 pp., 29 plates. II: Engr. title-page, [1] f., pp. 265–550; 51 plates, [6 (ads)] ff.
$950.00
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Ripa's Iconologia first appeared in 1593 in Italian, published at Rome and although unillustrated was an instant success with several subsequent editions and translations into German, Dutch, English, and French. The French is the work of Jean Baudoin (1590?–1650) and it first appeared in 1636. The
80 leaves of engravings contain six emblems each and are restrikes/reengravings of those created by the Dutch painter and engraver Jacob de Bie for the first French edition.
This later French reissue proudly proclaims on the black and red title-pages that it is, “Enrichie & augmentée dun grandnombre de figures avec des moralités, tirées la pluspart de Cesar Ripa. Par J.B.”
Querard, 2/3, 324; Vinet 114; Brunet, Supplement, 485; Landwehr 687; Adams, Rawles, & Saunders, Bibliography of French Emblem Books, F510. Contemporary sprinkled calf, gilt spine extra, rubbed at corners and two spine tips; age-toned and otherwise the occasional spot or instance of light foxing only.
A delightful little duo. (34958)
Classic
Collection / Uncommon
Illustrated Variant
[Roach, John, ed.]. The beauties of the poets of Great Britain,
carefully selected from the works of the best authors. Embellished with engravings on wood. London:
Sherwin & Co., 1821–22. 12mo (15 cm, 5.9"). 2 vols. I: [4], ii, 360 pp.; 9 plts. II: [2], iii, [1], 360 pp.;
9 plts.
$250.00
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Scarce-to-say-the-least illustrated variant of a long-popular anthology first published
in 1793. OCLC and NUC Pre-1956 fail to find any holdings of this edition, which is also not listed
by NSTC; from this time period, most catalogues and bibliographies find only the three-volume 1826
printing.
The contents of these two volumes appear to be based almost entirely on John Roach's Beauties of the
Poets of Great Britain, although Roach is not cited as the editor, the pieces are in a different order than
originally presented, and there are a few minor changes: “The Negro Boy” is not included here, while
several “runic odes” by Mathias and Penrose have been added. The expected highlights of Pope, Gray,
Cowper, Burns, Chatterton, Goldsmith, etc. are present, as well as lesser-known pieces such as Mrs.
Carter's “Address to Meditation,” Mary Darby Robinson's “Trumpeter,” and Helen Maria Williams's
“Sonnet to Twilight” and “Sonnet to Hope” (the latter memorized by Wordsworth, whose first
published poem was “Sonnet, on seeing Miss Helen Maria Williams Weep at a Tale of Distress”).
The volumes are illustrated with 18 wood-engraved plates signed by Sears, Willis, and others — not
the 1793 originals.
Provenance:
Ownership note of “Adams Jewett, M.D.” to top of title-page.
This ed.
not in NSTC, Lowndes, or Allibone. Not in British Library OPAC, not in NUC Pre-1956, not in
OCLC, not in COPAC. Recent marbled paper–covered boards, spines with printed
paper labels. Each title-page with early inked ownership inscription in upper margin as above. Some
pages with offsetting; spots of light to moderate staining; one page with pencilled annotation.
(25339)

“Full a Fun, Tales, An Rhymes” — “Printed for the Author”
[Robinson, Joseph Barlow]. [Works of Sammy Twitcher]. Owd Sammy Twitcher's
CRISMAS BOWK FOR THE YEAR 1870. Derby: Printed by the author, [1870]. 8vo (21.3 cm, 8.4"). 26 pp.; 4 plts. [with] Owd Sammy Twitcher's visit tu't Gret Exibishun e Darby. Derby: Pr. by the author, [1870]. 8vo. [24] pp. [and] Owd Sammy Twitcher's second visit tu't Gret Exibishun e Darby, wi' Jim. Pr. by the author, [1870]. 8vo. [24] pp. [and] Owd Sammy Twitcher's visit tu't watter cure establishment, at Matlock-Bonk. Darby: Pr. by the author, [1872]. 8vo. 54, [14 (adv.)], 22 (adv.) pp.; 4 plts.
$750.00
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Attractively bound collection of the first editions of these four humorous works written in thick Derbyshire dialect (the first sentence here reads “Frend, ah gey thee my hond, ah dunna mene tow fingers, bur a gud grip, az tha'll feel tinglin e aw thy veins”).
Three of the pieces include glossaries of some of the more opaque terms. Two of the essays recount
visits to the extensive and interesting Midland Counties Fine Arts and Industrial Exhibition of 1870, and the final entry features a lengthy appendix offering a more serious look at
Matlock-Bank, its hydropathic establishments, and its other landmarks, this in standard English. Mr. Smedley's Hydropathic Establishment, referenced in the text, is the first business appearing in the subsequent advertisement section, which is extensive, evocative, and contains
many ads embellished with little recommendations (by “Twitcher”?) in Darbyshire doggerel.
The author, who spent most of his life in Derby, was a sculptor as well as a Derbyshire historian, and he appears to have supplied the
original illustrations here himself. The two pairs of plates (one lithographed, one steel-engraved) are done in notably different styles — we suspect that two different engravers worked from Robinson's sketches. Robinson wrote one additional Twitcher piece in 1881, describing a visit to the Royal Agricultural Show, not included in this gathering.
All the Twitcher books are now scarce: WorldCat finds very few U.K. holdings of these titles and virtually no U.S.
Provenance: First text page with early pencilled ownership inscription of Mr. H. Mills in upper outer corner.
Crismas: NSTC 2R14138; Visit: NSTC 2R14139; Second Visit: NSTC 2R14140; Watter Cure: NSTC 0643751. Later quarter green calf and fine combed marbled paper–covered sides, spine with gilt-stamped title; minor shelfwear. Pencilled ownership note as above. Light age-toning; first two works with mild foxing and last leaves with avery light, old waterstain across a lower corner.
A highly personal production in text *and* illustration; an entertaining and very uncommon gathering. (36501)

“Afloat by the Heels, in That Terrible Ocean
In a Manner of Which You Can Scarce Have a Notion”
(Robinsonade — Not Defoe, Daniel). Robinson Crusoe: With thirty illustrations. London: Wm. S. Orr & Co. (pr. by Vizetelly Brothers & Co.), [ca. 1843]. 16mo (17 cm, 6.45"). Frontis., [2], 39, [1] pp.; 8 plts., illus.
[SOLD]
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Uncommon comedic verse retelling of the most famous castaway story of all (sorry Gilligan, sorry Tom “Cast Away” Hanks, Will “Lost in Space”), featuring
a total of nine sepia-tinted plates and a number of in-text vignettes. In this version, Crusoe stays lost mostly because he prefers to be his own king, free of civilization, rent, and taxes; once having left his island, he sells Friday and puts his mother in the workhouse. Among other cracks at contemporary societal quirks, the narrator suggests that Crusoe would have found his lack of a wife “the most pleasing of facts” if only he had read Malthus and Martineau, and the scanty costumes of the natives are compared to those at the ballet this season.
The wood-engraved frontispiece is signed “A.C.,” i.e., Alfred Crowquill, pseudonym of A.H. Forrester, while the other
tinted plates and black and white in-text illustrations are unsigned. While the exact publication date of this volume is difficult to identify, Orr published this popular piece in 1840 and 1844, as well as part of the 1843 edition of the Comic Album; it appears here as part of the “Comic Nursery Tales” series. This stand-alone printing is scarce: WorldCat locates only seven U.S. institutions reporting copies (Boston Public, Yale, Huntington, Lilly, Minnesota, Free Library of Philadelphia, SUNY-Stony Brook).Provenance: From the children's book collection of Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.
NSTC 2D7678. Not in Gumuchian; not in Osborne Collection. Publisher's original printed paper–covered boards; paper slightly darkened, edges and extremities rubbed, joints refurbished. Now in a sturdy, dark blue cloth–covered clamshell case and matching slipcase. Pages evenly age-toned. One leaf with tear from lower margin, touching two lines of text and lower edge of one illustration (without loss); one leaf with short tear from lower margin not touching text.
A worthwhile copy of this unusual parody, in its original binding and nicely box-housed. (39980)

“Improved Taste of Modern Time Must
Question the Crudities of Former Days”
Rocco, Sha [pseud. of Abisha Shumway Hudson]. The masculine cross and ancient sex worship. New York: Asa K. Butts & Co., 1874. 8vo (19 cm, 7.75"). 65, [7 (adv.)] pp.; illus.
$200.00
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First edition: A study of cruciform sexual symbolism in ancient religions, touching on Indian, Egyptian, Chinese, and other mythological connections to the shape of the cross. The volume is illustrated with in-text engravings of statues, relics, and other items, including the final chapter (“The Phallus in California,” about the results of the author's antiquity-hunting expedition in Stanlislaus County, CA), which features a representation of what the author says is misidentified as an “Indian pestle.”
Hudson was a Massachusetts-born physician and one of the founders of the Keokuk Medical College; his publisher here was the notable freethinker and
contraception advocate Asa K. Butts, who has supplied several pages of advertisements for some of his other publications.
Publisher's blue cloth, front cover with gilt-stamped title and fish vignette with blind-stamped decorative borders; spine slightly darkened, small spots of light discoloration, extremities rubbed. Sewing just barely starting to loosen but holding; pages clean.
A more than decent copy of this interesting and, shall we say, “highly personal” work. (35139)

A Young Ladies' Writing Club: The Fruits of their Labors in 1885
Handwritten, Illustrated, & Custom Bound
The Rocket Club. Manuscript on paper, in English. “Essays of the Rocket Club.” [England]: 1885. 4to (23.8 cm, 9.375"). [200 (195 used)] ff.; illus.
[SOLD]
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A remarkable collection: One year's worth of
original, handwritten pieces painstakingly composed and assembled by the members of a private “girls'” essay society, covering a wide range of literary, cultural, and historical topics, gathered in a luxurious custom binding. At the time this volume was commenced, the club was coming into its eighth year of existence — “a venerable age for an essay society” according to the author of the introduction, whose pseudonymous “Elm” signature often shows up in these pages graced by a sketched leaf. Following Elm's admonishment to write more things worth reading in the coming year are pieces like “Books for the Million” (regarding the advantages and disadvantages of booms in publishing and public libraries, signed by Pleasance), “The Ministry of Little Things” (a parable in verse, from Ivy), “A Day in the Orkneys” (a travelogue by Sirius), a lengthy essay on personal influence by Serapis, and groups of essays from multiple contributors on assigned topics including fashion, 17th-century poets, architecture (to which Elm had strong objections, considering it too broad a topic to address in this format), beetles, and “Music: Its Use and Influence.”
The essays seem to have been submitted on a monthly basis, with each club member having an opportunity to comment on the month' offerings. In some instances, the critical responses are as interesting as the original pieces!
As mentioned in the November criticism section, there were at least 16 members of the club, although some were more active than others. It seems all but certain that all of them were female, well educated, and sufficiently wealthy to participate in this type of leisure activity. Several made use of overtly feminine pseudonyms (Stella, Faith, the intriguing Duhitar) or self-identifiers (Elm mentions “us girls”); Sirius, Serapis, Aquarius, Nitor, and Tortoise are less obvious — but in at least one instance a Serapis essay bears a follow-up comment that begins “she wishes to say . . .,” and other critical responses give us additional she/her references for Key, ?, Aquarius, Pleasance, and Dragonfly. Ivy is an interesting case, rebutting a point on contemporary male fashion by describing men's style as “simple, sensible, & comfortable,” and then going on to say “as to women, they may attire themselves in any way almost that is most convenient,” which seems curiously self-distancing from feminine experience. One of the few specifically female-oriented topics, “Should the Franchise be Extended to Women?,” brings several references to “our” characteristics, and although no hardline declarations in favor of suffrage are made, several essayists tentatively conclude that single women running their own households should have the right to vote.
In addition to the beautifully hand-calligraphed and illuminated title-page, the volume also contains a number of mounted illustrations. These include a pencilled “design for a border,” symbolically signed by Key, which received high praise from the club members in that month's criticism section; five costume drawings in one of the essays on fashion, likewise symbolically signed by Dragonfly; five striking depictions of beetles, four in color (the one of an African beetle bearing the sub-caption “Drawn from life,” which has been followed with a pencilled question mark!); a sketch of an Irish “Bian” horse-drawn carriage (accompanying an essay on the life of Charles Bianconi); and six lovely painted landscapes (including coastline, mountain, and village scenes — some connected to a group of essays on “What Constitutes Beauty” and some to “A Type of English Scenery”).
Binding: Contemporary black morocco, covers framed in gilt rolls and fillets with inner blind roll and blind-tooled corner fleurons surrounding gilt-stamped title (“Essays of the Rocket Club. 1885); spine with gilt-stamped raised bands and gilt-tooled compartment decorations. Board edges with gilt roll, turn-ins with blind roll; marbled endpapers and top edges gilt.
Bound as above, spine head repaired and refurbished; somewhat rubbed and a little scuffed — a volume that was both used/referred to and treasured. Many leaves with short tears from outer margins, often with old, possibly contemporary repairs; some leaves showing faint, pressed-out creases most likely from mailing.
Unique, enjoyable, and eminently worthy of study. (36353)

A Happy Ending for Two Starving Wanderers
(AND for the People Who Help Them)
Roe, Nora A.M.; Davidson, Bertha G., illus. Two little street singers. Boston: Lee & Shepard, 1900. 12mo (18.9 cm, 7.44"). v, [1], 182 pp.; 8 plts.
$100.00
Click the images for enlargements.
Uncommon first edition: Set in and around Boston, this is an edifyingly heartwarming tale of two lost children — having been taken and trained as performers by a pair of Italian tramps — found, with the action opening just before Thanksgiving and the planned holiday meal providing a minor plot point. Among their saviors, most of whom receive various blessings in return, are a generous doctor, a protective Newfoundland dog (depicted in one of the plates), and most importantly an impoverished but kindly woman and her elderly mother suffering from dementia.
This appears to be not only the first but the only 20th-century edition of the only work published by Roe, whose name is also given as Mrs. Alfred S. Roe on the title-page; the eight plates were done by
popular children's illustrator Bertha G. Davidson.
A search of WorldCat finds this two-woman collaboration physically in only two U.S. institutions (Harvard and the University of Chicago).
Binding: Publisher's sage green cloth (unsigned) stamped in black, white, and gilt, with the two children dancing and playing their tambourines on the front cover, and good dog Napoleon on the spine.
Not in Wright. Publisher's cloth as above, spine very slightly darkened, minimal wear to extremities. Front fly-leaf with early pencilled ownership inscription. Pages faintly age-toned, otherwise clean.
A solid, pleasing copy of this scarce New Englandflavored item; a tale offering much sentimentality, but also plenty of realism. (41370)

French Translation of the NT with
Exegesis of Text
& of PICTURES
Rohault de Fleury, Charles. L'évangile études iconographiques et archéologiques. Tours: Alfred Mame et Fils, 1874. Folio (33 cm, 13"). 2 vols. I: Frontis., [8], vii, [1], 287 pp.; 53 plts. II: Frontis., [4], 320 pp.; 46 plts.
$350.00
Click the interior images for enlargements.
Sole edition. A study of the iconography of Jesus in Late Roman and Medieval art, from the 3rd to the 12th century. Each chapter (165 in all) covers a particular scene in the life of Jesus, and the text begins with a Catholic translation in French of the relevant passages from the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The text is accompanied by illustrations, copious interpretive notes of the iconography and critical commentary, both exegetical and archaeological. Officially endorsed by the Roman Catholic Church, the preliminary leaves including an “approbation” by the Archbishop of Tours and a letter from the Archbishop of Paris.
The book is illustrated with 100 engraved plates and numerous in-text engravings, as well as a frontispiece map of the Holy Land in each volume. The plates are mostly figural illustrations taken from paintings in catacombs and on sarcophagi, illuminated manuscripts, mosaics, ivory figurines, murals, etc. The title-pages are printed in black and red ink, and decorated with an engraved vignette.
Publisher's red cloth, stamped in gilt on the spines and front covers. Spines sunned and front cover of vol. II slightly sunned along fore-edge also; cloth of spines frayed at extremities and chipped in other places. Hinges (inside) of vol. I a little weak, stitching exposed; corners bumped with cloth damage; pages very shallowly bumped. Ex-library, with shelf labels on spines, institutional bookplates on front pastedowns, pressure-stamp to title-pages and one other page in each volume. Paper very good; pages clean and bright. (24688)

Progress — Easy, Clean, & Safe!
Rome Gas, Electric Light & Power Company. The dirt-less workman. Rome, NY: Rome Gas, Electric Light & Power Company, [ca. 1925]. 16mo (15.1 cm, 6"). [16] pp.; illus.
$75.00
Click the image for enlargement.
Uncommon electric promotional booklet: “Electric service in the home has become an essential comfort of our modern life” (p. 14), and this pamphlet encourages homeowners to get their houses wired for it, arguing that installations are clean and quick, and subsequent electric bills cheap. The text is illustrated with a cutaway diagram showing the process of wiring a three-story house with attic, photographs of electricians on the job inside various homes, exterior shots of older and newer buildings, and an interior image of an “American workingman's home, where . . . every possible economy is practiced.” The colophon labels this “Electrical Progress Booklet No. 1,” part of an advertising campaign noted at the time for its success.
Publisher's printed paper wrappers, stapled; small scuffs, back wrapper with streak of staining, pressure point from a front-wrapper scuff or prick unobtrusively carried throughout.
This ephemeral, eye-opening item is now scarce. (41057)

Nonesuch Press Edition: A Novel
C.S. Lewis & J.R.R. Tolkien Read Aloud
to
Make the Inklings Laugh
Ros, Amanda McKittrick. Irene Iddesleigh. London: Nonesuch Press, 1926. 12mo (20 cm, 7.9"). 151, [1] pp.; illus.
$125.00
Click the images for enlargements.
Nonesuch printing of the first novel from an Irish author who made a career out of being critically savaged for her florid and improbably alliterative prose. Anna Margaret Ross, who wrote under the “Ros” pseudonym, first published this tragic novel about a doomed marriage at her own expense in 1897; Mark Twain called it “one of the greatest unintentionally hilarious novels of all time,” and to this day it continues to be featured on lists of the worst books ever written.
“This edition follows exactly the text of the original Belfast issue of 1897 except that certain misprints have been corrected,” according to the edition statement; the text is ornamented with reproductions of the original
three wood engravings by W.M.R. Quick. The present example is numbered copy 719 of 1250 printed.
Provenance: Calligraphic bookplate of Norman J. Sondheim, American collector of fine press books.
McKitterick/Rendall/Dreyfus 33. Publisher's half sheep and pink, red, and brown mottled paper–covered sides, spine with gilt-stamped title; spine gently sunned, extremities a bit rubbed. Front pastedown with bookplate as above; light foxing to endpapers, with a very few faint spots elsewhere. Lovely Nonesuch production of a “must read it to believe it” novel! (32039)

Catalogue of His Own Collection — Early American Children's Books
Rosenbach, A.S.W. Early American children's books. Portland, ME: Southworth Press, 1933. Stout 4to (27 cm; 10.625"). lix, 354 pp., [86] leaves of plates; facsims. (some col.).
$575.00
Click the images for enlargements.
One of
88 copies on Zerkall Halle paper and bound in blue pigskin, out of a total edition of 585 copies, this being copy XIII (i.e., 13), signed
by Rosy below the number.
Rosenbach was the leading bookseller in America during the first half of the 20th century, helping to form the collections of Huntington, Folger, Widener, Doheny, Bell, Lilly, Clements, and many others. His personal collecting included American Judaica and Early American children's books. This is the highly illustrated and very bibliographically detailed catalogue of his personal collection of the latter. The collection was donated to the Free Library of Philadelphia.
The introduction is by A.E. Newton, Rosenbach's friend and customer, and a man whose own books on the joys of collecting helped fuel the fashion for it in the 1920s and 30s.
Blue pigskin, embossed in black on covers with an early American design; rebacked in plain blue morocco; abraded joints nicely refurbished. In the original black cloth slipcase but without the paper label. A good+ copy. (34040)

First Appearance of
Dulac's Pearlescent Illustrations
Rosenthal, Léonard; Edmond Dulac, illus. Au royaume de la perle. Paris: L'Édition d'Art, H. Piazza, [colophon: Printed by G. Kadar, 1920]. Folio (30.6 cm, 12.1"). 139, [1] pp.; 10 col. plts.
[SOLD]
Click the images for enlargements.
Lavishly produced history of pearls by a Parisian jeweler who achieved international prominence as a pearl merchant. Rosenthal first published this work in 1919 as a plain pamphlet, before commissioning a set of illustrations from Dulac that are
printed here for the first time, in a deluxe edition limited to 1500 copies, with this being numbered copy 293. Dulac's ten
color-printed, gilt-heavy illustrations gorgeously display his Middle Eastern and Indian inspirations, as well as a sensual appreciation of various
elegantly nude ladies associated with pearl lore and mythology. In addition to the ten plates, the chapters are decorated with underwater-themed decorative initial capitals printed in olive and black (featuring octopuses, jellyfish, dolphins, etc.), with each text page set off by a decorative head- and tailpiece in olive.
Binding: Contemporary half caramel morocco with sides of cafe au lait, cream-swirled marbled paper, and leather edges with gilt rules; spine with gilt-stamped title, gilt-dotted raised bands, and gilt-stamped compartment decorations. Combed marbled endpapers and top edge gilt.
Original silver and gilt sea-fan pattern on blue wrappers preserved and bound in. A signed binding stamped by Gruel on front turn-in.
Binding as above, showing mild wear to edges and extremities, front cover with one small unobtrusive scuff. Original silk bookmark present and attached, with lower end faded; all guard leaves present. Pages slightly age-toned, and with variable staining to top margins of first seven leaves including title-page and first plate with its tissue; same accident discernable on some leaves thereafter, with staining very light and/or confined to a bare short sliver at page edge. Pages otherwise clean and plates brightly beautiful.
A handsome production well showcasing Dulac's beaux-arts style. (38734)

Three Plates with Cottage Designs
(Rural
Housing Issues). Third annual report of the directors
of the Association for Promoting Improvement in the Dwellings and Domestic Condition
of Agricultural Labourers in Scotland. Edinburgh: Pr. for the Association by
William Blackwood & Sons, 1857.
$139.50
Click the images for enlargement.
Uncommon pamphlet, detail-packed as to both present housing realities and desirable changes, illustrated with three plates containing plans and elevations for cottage designs
by architect William Fowler.
NSTC 2A17980 (for all years 1855–61). Removed from a nonce volume. Title-page with small inked numeral in upper outer corner, otherwise clean. (17033)
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