Binding:  Contemporary speckled calf framed and panelled in blind with roll-bordered panel in plain calf, blind-tooled corner fleurons.

•  ESTC T79993.   Binding as above, rebacked some time ago with mottled calf, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label and gilt-ruled raised bands, and gilt floral decorations in compartments; upper corners refurbished, edges and extremities rubbed, hinges (inside) cracked, volume holding. A copy without the general title-page, and with bookplate as above. First and last few leaves (including frontispiece) with offsetting to margins from pastedowns; back free endpaper with a corner torn away; pages age-toned, with some instances of mild foxing. A nice 18th-century look at Jonson, with the bonus of the contemporary theatrical catalogue. (35449)

Provenance:  From the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear of both book and housing.

•  Adams A263; Mortimer, French 16th-Century Books, 3; Brunet, I, 77; Schreiber, Catalogue 37, no. 2; Dibdin, Greek and Latin Classics, p. 237; Hoffmann, Bibliographisches Lexicon der gesammten Literatur der Griechen, I, p. 32; Gruys Early Printed Editions (1518-1664) of Aeschylus, no. II-3 (p. 31-46). On Turnèbe, see: Renouard, Imprimeurs parisiens.   19th-century speckled calf, board edges with gilt zigzag rolls, all edges speckled red; recently rebacked, top edge darkened, boards worn with loss of most gilt, new endpapers with some discoloration and one pencilled phrase. Housed in a navy blue cloth clamshell case with two gilt red leather spine labels. Title-page and first few leaves affected by two unsuccessful leaf repairs leading to chipping, glue action, and a few tears; remainder of text with several pagination errors, a handful of spots, one edge tear from paper manufacture, and one waterstained bottom corner. Ownership label as above, a few leaves with light marks in pencil, one underline in ink.  (38365)

•  Publisher's quarter cream textured cloth with light blue fleur-de-lis printed paper sides, spine with printed paper label; lacking the blue dust-wrapper, small spot of staining at head of spine, otherwise a very nice example.  (28209)

•  NSTC B758. Contemporary half calf with marbled paper–covered sides, spines with later gilt-stamped leather labels; spines slightly darkened, corners and spine extremities rubbed. Pencilled bracketing and marks of emphasis; some light to moderate foxing. (20026)

A total of 26 lettered copies were issued in the binding described above. In addition to beingsigned by Bradbury and Weist on the title-page, the present example is anout-of-series copy marked (in red ink, on the title-page) as the publisher's copy.

This is numbered copy 1063 of the 2000 printed, signed by both Levine and Bentley at the colophon. The monthly newsletter is laid in.

Binding:  Full black linen, stamped in gold on the front cover from a design by Levine, with gilt lettering to spine.

Binding, slipcase, and illustrations all properly evoke the grittiness of the London underworld.

•  Bibliography of the Fine Books Published by the Limited Editions Club, 529.   Bound as above, in original black slipcase with gilt lettering to spine; minor rubbing to slipcase. A highly enjoyable copy of a fine production.  (39034)

•  ESTC N2497. Recent marbled-paper wrappers, front wrapper with paper title label. Lacking half-title. Title-page with lower corner neatly off, otherwise in excellent, clean condition.  (3247)

1) [drop title] Comedia famosa. El monstruo de los jardines. [colophon: Barcelona: por Francisco Suria y Burgada], no date [1760–70]. [18] ff. “Num. 39" in upper right corner of first page.

2) [drop title] Comedia famosa. Apolo y Climene. [colophon: Valencia: En la imprenta de la Viuda de Joseph de Orga, 1767]. 42 pp. “N. 121" in upper left corner of page 1. Colophon pasted over with a slip: “Se hallara esta con un surtido de Comedias antiguas y modernas, Tragedias y Saynetes en la Libreria de Gonzalez, calle de Atocha, frente de la Casa de los Gremios.”

4) [drop-title] Los tres mayores prodigios. Comedia famosa. No place: no printer/publisher, no date [Spain, ca. 1750]. [24] ff. No sequence number on first page.

5) [drop-title] Comedia famosa. El laurel de Apolo. No place: no printer/publisher, no date [Spain, ca. 1750]. [16] ff. “Num. 157" in upper right corner of first page.

7) [drop-title] Comedia famosa. Ni amor se libra de amor. No place: no printer/publisher, no date [Spain, ca. 1750]. [24] ff. No sequence number on first page.

8) [drop-title] Comedia famosa. Auristela y Lisidante. [colophon: Barcelona: por Francisco Suria y Burgada], no date [1760–70]. [18] ff. “Num. 73" in upper right corner of first page.

9) [drop-title] Comedia famosa. Fineza contra fineza. No place: no printer/publisher, no date [Spain, ca. 1750]. [24] ff. No sequence number on first page. Comprised of pp. 449 through 496 of vol. 2 of the 1760 Apontes edition of Comedias del célebre poetia [sic] español, don Pedro Calderón de la Barca.

10) [drop-title] La gran comedia. Los tres afectos de amor, piedad, desmayo, y valor. No place: no printer/publisher, no date [Spain, ca. 1761]. 49 pp. No sequence number on first page. Comprised of pp. 1 through 49 of vol. 5 of the 1760 Apontes edition of Comedias del célebre poetia [sic] español, don Pedro Calderón de la Barca.

11) [drop-title] Comedia famosa. El hijo del Sol Faeton. [colophon: Barcelona: por Francisco Suria y Burgada], no date [1760–70]. [20] ff. “Num. 43" in upper right corner of first page.

12) [drop-title] Comedia famosa. Eco, y Narcisco. [colophon: Valencia: En la imprenta de la Viuda de Joseph de Orga, 1767]. 36 pp. “N. 117" in upper left corner of page 1.

13) [drop-title] Comedia famosa. Darlo todo, y no dar nada. [colophon: Barcelona: por Francisco Suria y Burgada], no date [1760–70]. [20] ff. “Num. 80" in upper right corner of first page.

14) [drop-title] Comedia bvrlesca. Cefalo, y Pocris. No place: no printer/publisher, no date [Spain, ca. 1750]. [16] ff. No sequence number on first page. (pseudo-Vera Tassis, IX, 9).

15) [drop-title] La gran comedia. Zelos avn del ayre matan. No place: no printer/publisher, no date [Spain, ca. 1683–1715]. 38 pp. No sequence number on first page. This pp. 259–296 of Vera Tassis, II, 7.

16) [drop-title] Comedia famosa. De la estatua de Prometeo. No place: no printer/publisher, no date [Spain, ca. 1750]. [18] ff. Num. 194" in upper right corner of first page. Lower margin closely trimmed with loss of some signature markings.

17) [drop-title] El mayor encanto amor, comedia famosa. No place: no printer/publisher, no date [Spain, ca. 1750]. 48 pp. No sequence number on page 1. (pseudo-Vera Tassis, II, 2).

18) [drop-title] Comedia famosa. Amado, y aborrecido. No place: no printer/publisher, no date [Spain, ca. 1750]. [18] ff. “Num. 314" in upper right corner of first page.

19) [drop-title] Comedia famosa. El golfo de la Sirenas. Egloga piscatoria. [colophon: Barcelona: por Francisco Suria y Burgada], no date [1760–70]. [12] ff. “Num. 47" in upper right corner of first page. Some words in English translation in margins, 19th-century hand.

•  Unless otherwise stated, all reference numbers are to Riechenberger, Bibliographisches Handbuch der Calderon-Forschung. 1) 1476; 2) 388; 3) 2622; 4) 1852; 5) 2579; 6) 997 (Pseudo-VeraTassis 3); 7) 1502 (Pseudo-VeraTassis 3); 8) 467; 9) 1023; 10) 1871; 11) 1174; 12) 896; 13) 736; 14) 603; 15) 613; 16) 972; 17) 1352; 18) 319; 19) 2564.   20th-century quarter brown calf with marbled paper sides; spine titled in gilt “Comedias famosas.” Condition of sueltas and plays greatly variable from clean to browned and waterstained; some few closely trimmed with actual texts never touched. Item 4: lacks first gathering (i.e., the “loa”). Item 7: last leaf tattered with small loss of perhaps ten words. A handy and informative collection.  (35212)

There were subsequent editions in 1840, 1844, 1852, 1855, and 1860.

Some copies are reported on WorldCat as having only 255 pp., meaning they lack the leaves with the “Indice de dicciones anticuadas, licenias y contracciones poeticas contenidas en este volumen,” “reglas esenciales para los estudiantes del espanol,” “Tabla de las materias contenidas en este volumen,” and “Fe de erratas.”

•  Shoemaker 35095.   Quarter off-white linen with blue-green paper sides and paper spine label, in style of U.S. books of the 1820s. Light age-toning; brown stain in upper outer corner of last few leaves.  (38586)

•  Removed from a nonce volume, upper edges untrimmed; waterstaining to lower inner portion throughout, and light foxing. A scarce find.  (36584)

T.M. Cleland illustrated the book with 16 hand-colored drawings of actors in period costume performing scenes from the play; he also designed it, choosing a monotype Janson font and a full maroon linen binding elaborately and charmingly blind-embossed on both covers. A contrastingly simple black leather spine label is stamped in gold with author and title.

This offering includes the monthly newsletter and mailing notice. T.M. Cleland signs the colophon.

•  Limited Editions Club, Bibliography of the Fine Books Published by The Limited Editions Club, 1929-1985, 301. A fine copy with the slipcase.

First printing. The diary has been reduced in length by about one-third for publication and edited by Colin Franklin. It covers a low point in Craig's life, but is detailed and tells of his friends Beerbohm, Isadora Duncan, Lovat Fraser, and others; the more offensive anti-Semitic, pro-Nazi comments were omitted.

“Three hundred fifty copies of tYay!his book have been printed at the Bird & Bull Press in March 1982. The text is composed in Baskerville types by Mackenzie-Harris Corp., printed on mouldmade Bugrabutten paper and bound by Gray Parrot. This is copy No. 149.”

FYI: Original publication price was $160. And it's still a lovely book.

•  Heaney, Thirty years of Bird & Bull, A34.   Publisher's quarter tan goat with tan and white paper sides. Clean and fresh.  (36133)

Signed Binding: Publisher's teal pebbled cloth, front covers with striking chariot and armorial scene in light blue, tan, and gilt. The “Cibeles” statue found in Madrid's Cibeles Plaza and the coat of arms (and gilt monogram) of the city of Madrid appear with de la Cruz's name stamped in gilt below; spines offer gilt-stamped title and black-stamped griffin decoration. Cover of vol. II is signed “J. Orba.” All page edges are stamped in a Greek key pattern in blue and gilt.

Provenance:  Half-titles each with old-fashioned rubber-stamp of José Carmona y Ramos.

•  Palau 65340.   Bindings as above, edges and extremities showing minor shelfwear, back cover of vol. I with small spots of faint discoloration, front joint of vol. II rubbed. Collector's stamp as above, each front pastedown with small paper label bearing hand-inked numeral. Pages age-toned; edges slightly embrittled, occasionally with small chips or short tears. Scattered light smudges in vol. I; vol. II with mild to moderate foxing. A peacocky set.  (29262)

•  Fair in printed paper wrappers, front cover torn nearly in half.   (438)

•  Fine.  (19234)

•  On Dunlap, see: Oxford Companion to the Theatre, 211. American Imprints 24237; BAL 5026; Howes D571; Sabin 21303.   Publisher's quarter green diced cloth and tan paper–covered sides, spines with gilt-stamped title; edges and extremities rubbed, corners bumped, spines sunned, sides with spots of staining and discoloration. Front hinges (inside) tender. Ex–social club library: spines with paper shelving labels, front pastedowns with 19th-century bookplates and inked shelving numbers, title-pages and one other in each volume rubber-stamped, no other markings. Some outer corners of vol. II lightly waterstained; a very few instances of small spots of staining.  (27558)

•  Publisher's light green cloth with silver-stamped lettering to spine; dust jacket lacking, front board warped ever so slightly and with very faint lines of discoloration, rubbing to joints. Small bookseller's ticket of Mary Glasgow & Baker Ltd. (London) on front pastedown. Light foxing to fore-edge and interior. A solid, sturdy, signed copy.  (37949)

Signed binding: Contemporary half tan morocco with marbled paper–covered sides, spine with raised bands each accented above and below with single gilt rule and single black rule; gilt-stamped title, spine compartments framed in gilt with gilt dots in each corner and each with gilt center device. Front free endpaper stamped “Bound by Sangorski & Sutcliffe.” Top edge gilt; silk ribbon place marker.

•  Binding as above, spine slightly sunned, corners and extremities showing minor rubbing. Front pastedown with private collector’s armorial bookplate. Pages clean. (19752)

This particular edition has long been a mystery, but a fine cataloguer at the University of Salamanca has worked out what many others have not: This printing of Raquel, is a “separada del vol. I. de las “Obras poéticas” de Huerta, editadas por Sancha en 1778–79,” and this is why it seems complete by the pagination and signature collation, but yet seems to lack a title-page. It doesn't: One was never printed for it.

•  Aguilar Piñal, IV, 862; Herrera Navarro, Autores teatrales, 205; Palau 99106; Rodríguez Moñino, Antonio Sancha, 162.   Contemporary acid-stained sheep (“pasta espanola”), spine label lost. Light foxing and old staining. Upper margin of the plate closely cropped, taking upper portions of all letters of first line of caption but not rendering reading impossible. A nice copy.  (34987)

•  Spine and covers chipped, rear cover separating, lower corner of front cover dog-eared. Title-page chipped at one corner.  (310)

•  NSTC 2H15366; Cagle 736 (for first and third eds. only.); Goldsmiths'-Kress no. 25858.17 (first ed.).   Publisher's olive green textured cloth, covers and spine blind-stamped, front cover with gilt-stamped armorial vignette, back cover with gilt-stamped device and motto, spine with gilt-stamped title; spine slightly sunned, extremities mildly rubbed. Hinges (inside) of this hefty volume now cracked, with joints tender but holding. One plate (the map dated 1560) with pencilled annotations. Some plates faintly age-toned; pages with a few instances of light foxing. A workfull of valuable and interesting detail in a nice, clean, and (as handled with care) sound copy.  (37084)

This copy complete with the half-title.

•  ESTC T30532.   Removed from a nonce volume, first and last few leaves delicately attached; light to moderate age-toning, pencilled date on margin of half-title.  (37193)

playlets

•  Publisher's printed cream-colored paper wrappers, front wrapper with cornucopia design in navy and gold; back lower outer corner bumped, light dust-soiling to back wrapper. One page with small affixed sticker in upper portion, partially obscuring header but no other text.  (30227)

Kelly, the son of an Irish tavern-keeper, launched his London literary career by contributing to newspapers while working as a copying-clerk to an attorney. After marrying a needlewoman, he moved to Middle Temple Lane, where the DNB says “he laboured untiringly as literary hack.” Next he gained fame as a theater critic, publishing two books criticizing the actors of the Drury Lane Theatre and of Covent Garden; Garrick, whom Kelly had prudently praised in the first book, then encouraged Kelly to write plays himself.

Kelly’s first production, this play enjoyed great success both onstage and in print. Garrick wrote the prologue and epilogue to the rather provoking tale of an entire circle of friends attempting to get themselves successfully paired off, most of them foolishly determined to marry people they don’t love for the sake of nobly sparing everyone else’s feelings, and all of them completely misunderstanding the true natures of the various relationships.

This is almost certainly the first edition; of the four printings in 1768, one identifies itself as the fourth edition and the other two both seem to have been labelled “A new edition.”

•  ESTC T230322; CBEL, II, 845.   Quarter cloth over marbled paper-covered sides, worn, spine with shelving label. Half-title and two other pages very faintly stamped by a now-defunct institution. First and last few leaves with light foxing.  (2039)

Kleist's life was a troubled one financially, psychologically, and creatively. The Encyclopaedia Britannica (11th ed.) characterizes him as “by far the most important North German dramatist of the Romantic movement, and no other of the Romanticists approaches him in the energy with which he expresses patriotic indignation.”

Searches of NUC and WorldCat locate only two copies in U.S. libraries, but we know of a third.

•  Later 19th-century blue-green marbled paper–covered boards; foxing and browning as typical of the paper with but a few odd spots additionally, and perhaps six leaves with a stain as from a spill, extending across text but not hampering reading. Very readable in both senses; a decent, solid copy of an important work of German literature.  (33011)

true first edition of the unofficial second series

several on plays and actors

The first series made its first appearance in book form in London, 1823. The authorized second series was not published until 1833, under the title The Last Essays of Elia; the pieces selected for the unauthorized American second series offered here are different from those contained in that volume, and mistakenly include three essays written by other hands.

•  Shoemaker 33813 & 33814; NCBEL, III, 1225; NSTC 2L2346.   Vol. I: Uncut copy. Publisher's quarter once-red cloth and paper sides, covers printed with “Elia” within a simple frame, spine with printed paper label; binding rubbed and lightly soiled, spine sunned to yellow. Repaired tear to one leaf, touching text without loss; remarkably clean and sound. Vol. II: Contemporary speckled sheep, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label; rubbed, and head of spine chipped with old refurbishing. Ex–social club library: 19th-century bookplate and call number ticket on front pastedown, front free endpaper with inked numerals, title-page pressure-stamped. Author's name inked on title-page; front free endpaper and title-page reinforced at fore-edge (the latter from the back). Both volumes age-toned, with intermittent spots of staining; advertisements absent. The set now housed in a quarter blue morocco and blue cloth–covered clamshell case with marbled paper–covered sides and gilt-stamped spine.  (26434)

Provenance:  From the children's book collection of Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.

•  Osborne Collection, p. 278; Opie R 76. On authorship, see: Nicoll, A History of English Drama, 1660-1900, III, p. 283.   Publisher's dun wrappers; light soil. Very good.  (38793)

Binding:  Publisher's tan cloth, front cover with double iris design stamped in green, white, and violet.

•  Binding as above, minimal rubbing only. Pages and plates clean. A beautiful copy.  (28613)

•  Gamba 2323; not in Brunet. Contemporary vellum over paste boards, outer edges yapp, spine with hand-inked title; vellum torn and partially lost over lower edge of front cover, with signs of wear and small spots of staining elsewhere. Ex-library, front pastedown with Italian institutional bookplate; yet volume otherwise free of markings. Title-page verso with affixed scrap of paper. Intermittently occurring light dampstaining in upper margins; otherwise clean.  (17693)

•  Contemporary vellum, spines with gilt-stamped leather title and volume labels and gilt-stamped decorative bands; bindings lightly soiled, with spine labels chipped and rubbed, spines with shelving numbers in white. All page edges stained gold. Front pastedowns with institutional bookplates, title-pages with shadows of pencilled numerals. Vol. III lacking half-title. Intermittent light foxing, most pages clean.  (14112)

The binding is full rusty-brown Nigerian goat, stamped in gold on the spine. The etchings are by Leonard Baskin, a series of five portraits tracing the downward spiral of Willy Loman — a powerful complement to Miller's portrait of a salesman at the end of his career and at the end of his rope! The plates, printed by Bruce Chandler, are each protected by a brown paper tissue guard. The book is designed by Benjamin Schiff, who chose a Bulmer font for the text.

This offering includes the monthly newsletter but not the mailing notice.

•  Limited Editions Club, Bibliography of the Fine Books Published by The Limited Editions Club, 1929–1985, 540.   Binding as above. One of the tissue guards is loose but otherwise undamaged. Fine, in the original slipcase. A handsome production of one of the most performed plays in the world!  (21754)

•  Publisher's quarter cream parchment paper and blue paper sides, front cover and spine with gilt-stamped leather title-labels, in original blue-gray paper dust jacket with black-stamped title and edition information; binding in beautiful condition, jacket with small edge chips and spine head splitting. Pages clean. A nice copy.  (29707)

Wikipedia explains: “An Old Folks Concert was a form of musical and visual entertainment at which early American compositions by such composers as William Billings and Daniel Read were sung in period costume, while demonstrating early singing school methods.”

WorldCat locates only four copies.

•  Publisher's printed wrappers. Some staining, scuffing, and corners creased; still, good.  (37026)

•  Bibliography of the Fine Books Published by the Limited Editions Club, 445.   Publisher's quarter red cloth and firework-printed paper–covered sides, spine with printed paper label, in original glassine wrapper and matching slipcase; glassine wrapper with small portion torn away from lower back edge and nicks to lower edge and spine head, slipcase with one nick to paper at one edge of foot, volume clean and lovely. Overall in beautiful condition.  (34066)

While WorldCat does locate an 1876 New York printing of Our Girls Songster (note the absence of an apostrophe), that edition is only 68 pages and the Brown University catalogue record specifies that it does not include music. NO institutional holdings of this much more substantial songster are reported. It should be noted that the front wrapper here does give the title as “Our Girls' Songster,” and also that there are 12 pages of publisher's advertisements present.

•  Publisher's cream paper wrappers with blue lettering and illustration of a young woman on front wrapper; spine paper chipped, rear wrapper absent, front wrapper foxed and with outer corners lost (cutting off the vol. number) and with short tear from spine. Interior age-toned and lightly foxed. An unusual survivor, profoundly evocative of cheerfully lowbrow 19th-century American entertainment.  (37925)

Provenance:  An armorial bookplate of 19th-century English book collector Edward Cheney with the motto “Fato Prudentia Major” appears on the front pastedown; most recently in the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.

•  Bongi, Annali di Gabriel Giolito de’ Ferrari, I, p. 147 (1547 ed.); EDIT16 CNCE 26527. This edition not in Adams, Brunet, or Graesse. On Parabosco, see: Treccani (online).   Vellum over boards, publication information inked on spine; evenly dust-soiled with ink faded. One tiny chip along edge of title-page; otherwise, light age-toning with a handful (only) of small light stains. Bookplate and label as above. A pretty, pocket-sized play from a great 16th-century press.  (39555)

•  Adams P238, P239, P246 (1560 ed. only), P243; Brunet, IV, 356. Contemporary vellum-covered boards, spine with inked title; vellum slightly soiled, with spine title faded. All edges stained blue. First title-page mounted and several leaves with outer margins or upper outer corners reinforced, two pages with loss of a few letters at upper outer corners. Second play lacking two preliminary leaves and final register leaf. Two leaves with annotations in an early inked hand, now faded; pages with intermittent mild waterstaining.  (14697)

Parker's biography is well illustrated with 32 black-and-white plates (including his frontispiece portrait) featuring the many people he met throughout his “lives” — early life, musical life, theatrical life, and pageant life (as the book is sectioned).

Binding:  Half red morocco double gilt-ruled, over red cloth sides; five raised bands to spine, lettering or elegant gilt floral decoration in ruled compartments. Top edge gilt, fore- and bottom edges untrimmed. Signed by Bickers & Son.

Provenance & added material: Previously owned by Parker's friend “Saint” (unidentified; see further). Mounted on front free endpaper, a black and white photograph of Parker in front of shelves holding a glass collection; mounted underneath is a clipping from a letter: “Your very affectionate, Luigi.” On following verso, a newspaper clipping of an interview from 1932 is tipped in; on the next recto is mounted a letter to “Saint” (a delightfully written apology for the friend's absence in the book) with, on its second leaf, an original poem asking his friend to “accept this trivial book.” Additional newspaper clippings laid in. On rear pastedown, a black and white photograph with a small ink note indicating it is of Parker's salon; on rear free endpaper, Parker's obituary clipped from the Illustrated London News (as indicated by previous owner's pencilled note) dated 1944. Occasionally a pencilled word or checkmark; one clipping with cut-off words supplied in ink.

•  Bound as above, minor rubbing to corners, small stain and light fading to boards; offsetting to endpapers and soiling from glue used to attach ephemera, evidence of one glue-in removed. Evidence of readership as above; one checkmark in old-fashioned red pencil. A splendid, unique volume containing intriguing related ephemera — clearly owned by a special friend of Parker's.  (38018)

Provenance:  Front pastedown with bookplates of Brian Douglas Stilwell and Robert Wayne Stilwell; front free endpaper with inked inscription: “Dono del mio amico Stratico,” dated 1792. Stratico may well have been Simone Stratico, professor of mathematics, nautical science, and hydraulics, and from 1772 librarian, at the University of Padua.

Searches of NUC and WorldCat locate only three U.S. libraries reporting ownership (Rochester Institute of Technology, Duke, Harvard).

•  Brooks 237. Not in Brunet, not in Graesse.   Contemporary brown calf–backed tan paper–covered boards, spine with gilt-ruled raised bands and gilt-stamped leather title-label; sides lightly scuffed, spine foot with traces of a now-absent label. Endpapers with bookplates and inscription as above, and with pencilled reference notes. One leaf with short tear from lower margin, possibly started as a paper flaw.  (40126)

•  Palau 220783.   Contemporary quarter maroon sheep and red pebbled paper–covered sides, spine with gilt-stamped title and compartment decorations; spine attractively darkened, edges and extremities rubbed, sides with spots of discoloration. Front free endpaper with private shelf-code sticker; title-page with private collector's rubber-stamp. Pages age-toned, with some scattered small smudges or spots of light staining.  (29936)

In addition to the piece about Shakespeare's youth, the company was also acting Romeo and Juliet, withFanny Kemble portraying Juliet in “her 14th appearance on any stage,” and The First of May and The Robber's Wife were additionally on the bill.

•  As issued; lightly age-toned and creased, and slightly unevenly trimmed with header shaved. Short tear from margin touching four lines of text, without loss; “Garden” portion of header chipped. Interesting documentation of the 19th-century English theatre world's engagement with Shakespeare, and of the Kemble family's progress.  (37055)

The second sheet is for Stanfield's “Grand Local Diorama,” the grand finale of which involved the “magnificent display of the Falls of the Virginia Waters, seen through the Fairy Temple of Luminaria” — facilitated by a hydraulic apparatus capable of discharging 39 tons of water, “forming a coup d'oeil never before witnessed on any stage.”

A contemporary of Stanfield's once called him “the prince of scene-painters,” and his dioramas were legendary for their beauty and immersive effects.

•  Split halfway up center fold and neatly repaired from rear; one untrimmed outer edge slightly ragged. Gently age-toned. Delightful (and very displayable) piece of theatrical ephemera.  (36575)

In the series Collection des auteurs classiques, françois et latins, this was issued in the same year in 4to and 18mo formats. The present, octavo format is not only handsomely conceived butvery “handy in the hands.”

Binding:  Full crushed red morocco, gilt spine and boards, signed Petit Succs. de Simier; gilt rule on board edges, gilt rolls on turn-ins, marbled endpapers, green silk placemarkers. All edges gilt. Each volume in a light board open-back slipcase covered with marbled paper.

Provenance:  Bookplates of Casimir L. Stralem, Clarence E. Clark, and Brian Douglas Stilwell, the trio presenting an appealing set of styles.

WorldCat locates copies of this edition in this format at only four U.S. libraries (UCLA, Georgetown, Library of Congress, Harvard).

•  Bulletin de la Librairie Morgand et Fatout 10951; Brunet, V, 1078–79; Jammes, Les Didot, 25.   Bound as above, joints of all volumes slightly cracking with volumes otherwise only lightly worn; some tape repairs to the delicate slipcases. Age-toning and foxing of faintest varieties only. Very Good. (40317)

These volumes offer his “Composiciones líricas originales” in vol. I and “Composiciones dramáticas originales” in vol. II. The frontispiece is a fine lithographic portrait of Don Ignacio, in Romantic style of course; there is a liberal use of handsome tailpieces. The whole was compiled and edited by the author's brother Antonio.

This first edition is uncommon in our experience as dealers in Mexicana.

Provenance:  Masonic stamp, “Porfirio del Rio” on title-page; inscription to fly-leaf of A. Quijano, 1916.

•  Palau 273981; Sabin 72510.   Handsome contemporary quarter red morocco with red mottled paper sides, boards rubbed; spine exuberantly tooled in gilt, bright. Foxing and spotting variously; provenance indications as above.  (31961)

Provenance:  Front free endpaper with inked ownership inscription of Richard Wattel; back free endpaper with inked note: “H.h Price ex dono Rich. Wattel 17 June 1810.”

•  Gregg, Bibliography of the English Printed Drama to the Restoration, L8d; ESTC R8556; Wing (rev. ed.) R2214; Sweet & Maxwell 241.   Contemporary sheep framed in double blind fillets; rubbed, especially at spine and extremities, with sewing starting to loosen and text block separating from spine, back joint just starting from foot. Frontispiece with small smudge in lower portion (not touching main figure); pages lightly age-toned.  (34493)

Provenance:  From the library of Robert L. Sadoff, M.D., sans indicia.

•  NCBEL, III, 1138; NSTC 2R21229.   Contemporary tree calf, covers framed in small floral gilt roll, spine with gilt-stamped red and green leather title and author labels, spine compartments with gilt-stamped floral decorations, board edges and turn-ins with gilt rolls; minor rubbing to spine, joints, and extremities. Light foxing. An interesting piece, in distinguished dress. (39827)

Sent from Shaw's home in Ayot St. Lawrence and postmarked in Hertfordshire, both cards areinscribed in Shaw's distinctive hand and signed with his initials.

•  Cards crisp and clean, one with pair of staple holes.Delightful and characteristic Shavian ephemera.  (37045)

George Him both illustrated and designed the book, and also signed the colophon. The book is heavily illustrated with a considerable number of black-and-white line-and-wash drawings and 14 full-page color illustrations which were hand-colored by the pochoir process at the studio of Walter Fischer. These drawings are both beautiful and witty. In one color plate, for example, we see a line of picketing Egyptian soldiers carrying placards reading, “Egypt for the Egyptians,” and “Caesar Go Home,” the latter appearing in “Egyptian Hieroglyphs”; in another plate, we are treated to a breathtaking scene of the library at Alexandria being consumed by fire; in yet another drawing, we see an amusing little rendering of Belzanor's description of a seven-armed wife-eating Roman soldier! Him chose a monotype Plantin font for the text which was printed in Bloomfield, Connecticut, at the Sign of the Stone Book.

This is numbered copy 44 of 1500 printed, with the colophon signed by Him. The appropriate Club newsletter is laid in.

Binding:  Full bright red “vellum book-cloth” stamped on the front with a double-eagle (one American, one Roman) design in gold, and stamped on the spine in black and gold leaf with a design of a Roman legionary standard bearing the title and the author's initials. The endpapers are “nugget-gold” Tweedweave, and the top edge stained yellow.

•  Bibliography of the Fine Books Published by The Limited Editions Club, 381.   Binding as above, in the original slipcase covered in “nugget-gold” paper and stamped in black and gold; slipcase showing traces of scuffing to sides. Some finger smudges to front free endpaper. A fine copy, and a great treat for a Shaw-lover! (39030)

Binding: Bound in quarter Irish natural linen with paper-covered sides bearing portraits of Eliza and Candida; the burgundy leather spine label is stamped in pure gold leaf.

•  Bibliography of the Fine Books Published by the Limited Editions Club, 478.   Binding as above, minor rubbing to linen. In original brown paper–covered slipcase with tan paper spine label printed in brown; small bump to one case corner, very slight rubbing to edges. A crisp, bright copy.  (39041)

Attributed to Luke Shepherd by Halkett and Laing, this is a satirical poem, a dialogue in verse, on the Eucharist, and could even be seen as a short play. It is printed in gothic (black letter) type witha large woodcut of a procession of the Eucharist on the title-page.

None of the copies reported to WorldCat, COPAC, or NUC are described as printed on vellum. The copy that Alston found at the British Library is not findable via the BL OPAC.

Provenance:  Early 19th-century manuscript ownership on front fly-leaf: “Thomas Briggs Esq., Edgeware Road.” Most recently in the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.

•  Alston, Books Printed on Vellum in the Collections of the British Library, p. 35; Halkett & Laing (2nd ed.), III, p. 192; Halkett & Laing (3rd ed.), J21 (var.) l NSTC, I, S1667.   Original dun colored boards with beige linen shelfback; rebacked, and binding discolored. “25 copies Printed on chosen Parchment” written in ink in an early 19th-century hand in lower margin of the title-page. Foxing, heaviest on last three leaves; last page (a publisher's note and colophon) lightly inked and so a little faint. A nice find for the collector of printing on vellum, letterpress facsimiles, or reprints of rare 16th-century English tracts.  (34699)

Provenance:   From the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.

•  Halkett & Laing (2nd ed.), III, p. 192; Halkett & Laing (3rd ed.), J21 (var.) l; NSTC, I, S1667.   Original dun-colored boards; discolored with abrading along board edges and joints (outside). Foxing to blank pages and lesserly to text; stock of the text pages tan. A classic 19th-century production.  (39519)

The texts of both bills are present here, along with Sheridan’s analysis of how each would address “the question of right between the public and the [East India] Company” (p. 39).

•  ESTC T30944; Goldsmiths’-Kress no. 13610. Recent marbled paper–covered boards, front cover with gilt-stamped leather title label and spine with gilt-stamped leather author label. Half-title and several other pages stamped by a now-defunct institution. Pages with edges untrimmed and a few small spots of staining; mostly, clean.  (10859)

•  Publisher's half vellum with printed paper sides, spine with gilt-stamped title; dust jacket lacking as now seen with most copies, vellum dust-soiled with a little rubbing, paper slightly darkened and with two small chips., small chip to paper at bottom edge of front cover and one to lower outer corner of back cover. Internally clean and crisp. Enjoyable.  (34010)

[drop-title] Comedia famosa. El doctor Carlino. [colophon: Barcelona: En la oficina de Pablo Nadal, 1798]. 4to (21.1 cm, 8.3"). 32 pp. “Num. 60" in the upper left corner of the first page.

[drop-title] Comedia famosa. Un bobo hace ciento. [colophon: Valencia: en la Imprenta de la Viuda de Joseph de Orga, 1763]. 32 pp. “N.60" in upper left corner of the first page and “Pag. I” in upper right.

[drop-title] Comedia famosa. Las Amazonas de escitia. [colophon: Valencia, en la Imprenta de la Viuda de Joseph de Orga, 1764]. 32 pp. “N.68" in upper left corner of the first page and “Pag. I” in upper right.

[drop-title] Comedia famosa. Amparar al enemigo. [colophon: Valencia, en la Imprenta de la Viuda de Joseph de Orga, 1765]. 32 pp. “N.85" in upper left corner of the first page and “Pag. I” in upper right.

[drop-title] Comedia famosa. El alcazar del secreto. [colophon: Valencia, en la Imprenta de la Viuda de Joseph de Orga, 1765]. 32 pp. “N.86" in upper left corner of first page, and “Pag. I” in upper right.

[drop-title] Comedia famosa. Erudice y Orfeo. [colophon: Valencia, en la Imprenta de la Viuda de Joseph de Orga, 1765]. 32 pp. “N. 89" in upper left corner of first page, and “Pag. I” in upper right.

[drop-title] Comedia. El amor al uso. [colophon: Madrid: en la Libreria de Quiroga, 1799]. 32 pp. “I” in upper right corner of first page.

[drop-title] Comedia famosa. El mayor triunfo de Julio César, y batalla de Farsalia. [colophon: Valencia, en la Imprenta de la Viuda de Joseph de Orga, 1770]. 36 pp. “N.162" in uppper left corner of first page and “Pag. I” in upper right.

The Spanish National Library attributes this title to Francisco de Alsedo Herrera, not Solis.

[drop-title] Comedia famosa. La gitanilla de Madrid. [colophon: Valencia, en la Imprenta de Joseph, y Thomàs de Orga, 1780]. 32 pp. “N.232" in upper left corner of first page and “Pag. I” in upper right.

Binding: Full dark caramel calf single-ruled in gilt around blind-ruled border, gilt board edges and blind-patterned turn-ins, spine gilt extra with two black spine labels lettered in gilt. Marbled endpapers and brown speckled edges, green ribbon place holder.

Provenance:  19th-century bookplate of Robert Henry Clive on rear pastedown.

•  On the comedias sueltas, see: Bergman & Szmuk, Comedias Sueltas; McKnight & Jones, Catalogue of Comedias Sueltas; Sullivan & Bershas, Comedias Sueltas.   Bound as above; extremities rubbed with loss to gilt on board edges, joints starting but volume strong, boards with a few stains and scratches. Sticker on front free endpaper. Gentle age-toning and occasional cases of foxing, most noticeable in El amor al uso, otherwiseclean and crisp.  (30950)

•  Garrison A7.1.a. Publisher’s olive paper–covered boards, front cover and spine stamped in gold; lacking the now seldom-seen dustwrapper, spine very slightly darkened, extremities showing touches of wear. Top edge gilt. Front free endpaper with inked ownership inscription dated 1903. Pages clean. A good-looking copy.  (15733)

•  This ed. not in Brunet.   Contemporary vellum-covered boards, spine with delightful hand-inked title andship and whale silhouettes; extremities rubbed, one corner bumped, spine with small chip affecting one word of title. All edges sprinkled red. Front pastedown with the Haverford College institutional bookplate (properly deaccessioned in 2017 with rubber-stamp marking) and adhered traces of now-absent bookplate, title-page and one other pressure-stamped. A very few instances of light spotting and one pencilled annotation in Italian, pages otherwise clean. An engaging copy.  (38979)

Binding:  Publisher's quarter parchment over handsome, textured, swirl-printed tan paper; spine with gilt-stamped author and title. Edges uncut.

•  Bound as above; corners bumped, spine darkened and rubbed, joints also rubbed. Title-page with small paper adhesion, one other page with light smudge, a little light dust-soiling along the uncut lower edges, otherwise clean.  (29724)

•  Publisher's printed copper-colored paper wrappers; back wrapper lacking, front wrapper separating from foot and with small nicks to outer edge. One leaf with closed slit across, not spoiling sense of text; outer edges waterstained. A nice encapsulation of mainstream “presentable” thought on the literature, culture, politics, etc. of the day.  (35088)

The caption title reads: “Smith, with a copy of the 'Fugitive Slave Law,' eagerly inquiring the way to Canada.”   The text printed within a wavy border.

WorldCat locates only the copy at the Library Company of Philadelphia, this being its deaccessioned duplicate.

•  Old folds, dust-soiled, other stains. Evidence of old stitching. A decent copy of a rarity.  (38404)

The fore-matter offerings here are: “On Picasso's Desire and T.S. Eliot's Sweeney Agonistes” by J[udith?] M[alina?]; “Reply” by William Carlos Williams; and “In response to a request for a manifesto on music, 1952" by John Cage.

The first year's program announces these productions: Gertrude Stein's “Ladies' Voices,” Pablo Picasso's “Desire,” T.S. Eliot's “Sweeney Agonistes,” Kenneth Rexroth's “Beyond the Mountains,” and Paul Goodman's “Faustina.”

Also present are a few advertisements, and lists of “Who's Who in the Casts,” the staff, and the directors and sponsors of the theater. The image on the front wrapper is a reproduction of a sketch by Picasso of the design for his famous sculpture “Man with a Lamb.”

Curiously, this group of avant garde artists apparently did not feel sufficient solidarity with the working man to have the program printed at a union shop. In fact, it has the feel and look of an “in house” production.

WorldCat finds onlyfive copies.

•  Printed on cheap brown paper and saddle stitched; upper inner corners of wrappers (only) chipped. A very good copy.  (36241)

Provenance: With laid-in invoice from the Davenant Bookshop in Oxford, dated 1924.

•  McKittrick/Rendall/Dreyfus 17. Publisher’s quarter brown buckram over tan paper- covered sides, spines with printed paper labels; gently worn, two labels chipped, one volume with cloth of a darker shade and noticeable rippling thereto. Two volumes with hinges slightly tender. Page edges untrimmed, some signatures uncut. It should be remarked that, by some unexpected trick of the camera, our righthand picture above makes this set look a bit smarter than it is; that said, though — it is rightly priced for its real condition and still worthy of purchase.