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Counting to Six — One of
65 Copies
Hill, Jennifer. Overpass. Six drawings. [Florence, MA]: Kat Ran Press, 2001. Folio (35.8 cm, 14.2"). [6] pp.; 6 plts.
$175.00
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First edition of the first Kat Ran “number book”: six drawings by Hill, illustrating the numbers one through six with images of imaginary structures. The images were printed from plates made at Wild Carrot Letterpress, with
additional hand embellishments made by the artist. The Gill Sans types were cast by Michael and Winifred Bixler, and composed and printed at Kat Ran on Twinrocker papers.
This is numbered copy 31 of only 65 copies printed (50 numbered, 15 lettered),
signed by the artist at the colophon.
The publisher's prospectus is laid in.
Publisher's cream-grey paper wrappers, front wrapper with title printed in dark brown. Very clean and crisp. (32691)

Master Violin Makers (Both Subjects & Authors) — Equally Masterful Binders
Extraordinary Provenance
Hill, William Henry; Arthur F. Hill; Alfred Ebsworth Hill. The violin-makers of the Guarneri family (1626–1762): Their life and work. London: William E. Hill & Sons, 1931. 4to (29.9 cm, 11.75"). xxxvii, [3], 181, [5] pp.; 58 plts., 2 fold. maps, illus.
$3250.00
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The first edition in its deluxe format, in an eye-catching Riviere binding: a carefully detailed, extensively illustrated examination of the careers and productions of all five of the master instrument-makers of the Guarneri family. The text is enhanced by
58 full-page depictions of known examples of Guarneri work, often in multiple views, with many color-printed and the rest in crisply impressed photogravure, along with two oversized, folding maps and numerous in-text illustrations. And it bears a touching dedication to the memory of William Hill (1857–1929), noting that this history “embodies the knowledge and considered views of three brothers who lived and worked in a life-long intimacy.” The Hill family was itself known for fine violin-making and expert instrument repair work, and the W.E. Hill & Sons firm continues to be active today.
This is hand-numbered copy 137 of only 200 produced in this special limited format, there having been apparently fewer than 700 copies produced for subscribers overall.
Binding: Signed brown morocco, covers framed and panelled in gilt double fillets with gilt corner fleurons and floral decorations enclosed by strapwork, front cover with central gilt-stamped Guarneri coat of arms, spine with gilt-ruled raised bands, gilt-stamped title and author, and gilt-stamped decorations in compartments. Turn-ins with one wide gilt roll and one narrow, joined by gilt double fillets. Page edges untrimmed. Binding dated 1931 (at spine foot) and gilt-stamped by Riviere & Son on lower front turn-in.
Provenance: From the library (sans indicia) of the great violinist Adolf Busch and by bequest to his daughter Irene Serkin and son-in-law Rudolph Serkin.
Binding as above; back cover with one scuff, front cover with small unobtrusive area of darkening towards upper outer corner. Offsetting to edges of free endpapers from turn-ins. Pages and plates clean and fresh.
A striking, elegant volume, of surpassing interest for music historians and aficionados. (39690)

Written & Owned by Violinists
Hill, William Henry; Arthur F. Hill; Alfred Ebsworth Hill. Antonio Stradivari his life and work (1644–1737). London: William E. Hill & Sons, 1902. Large 4to (30.1 cm, 11.875"). xvi, 303, [1] pp.; 30 plts.; illus.
$750.00
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First edition of the preeminent work on the preeminent name in violins. The Hill family was itself known for fine violin making (the W.E. Hill & Sons firm continues to be active today), making the three music-playing, instrument-restoring brothers who produced this text abundantly qualified to discuss not just the technical and historical but also the aesthetic qualities of Stradivari's work — and they do so here at length, with scholarly precision. The volume opens with an introductory note by Lady Huggins, and is
illustrated with 30 plates (many images of instruments printed in color) plus a genealogical tree, an illuminated title-page in red and black with the Stradivari device in red and gilt, and a number of in-text images.
Provenance: From the library (sans indicia) of the great violinist and conductor Adolf Busch — himself the owner of a Stradivarius instrument, a violin made in 1716 and now played by David Garrett — and by bequest to his daughter Irene Serkin and son-in-law Rudolph Serkin.
Publisher's (wide) quarter green calf and green cloth–covered sides, outer leather edges with blind roll, front cover with Stradivarius coat of arms stamped in gilt and red, spine with gilt-stamped publication information; spine and back joint sunned, corners and joints lightly rubbed. Top edges gilt, other edges untrimmed. Last two leaves of index starting to separate.
A nice copy of this critically important work of music history, with outstanding provenance. (39702)

A Stubborn Pig Is Rewarded with a Clean Sty & Good Food
History of the Little Dame Crump and her white pig. London: J.L. Marks, [ca. 1835-57?]. 12mo (17.5 cm, 6.875"). [8] ff.; illus.
$375.00
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The approximate date of publication is suggested by Brown's London Publishers and Printers c.1800–1870. The verse text, in letterpress, is below the large half-page,
brightly hand-colored, wood-engraved illustrations, the whole printed on one side of each leaf only, the leaves bound facing each other; the first and last leaves are pasted to wrappers.
Provenance: Signature of John Duncrist in upper margin of front wrapper; most recently in the children's book collection of Albert A. Howard, sans indicia.
Cf. Osborne Collection p. 631. Original printed green wrappers; wrappers in past separated from text block and expertly reattached. Light staining in some inner margins. A very nice copy. (38799)

“Once Upon a Time”
History of the sleeping beauty in the wood. Montrose [Scotland]: James Watt, [ca. 1840]. 32mo (11.5 cm, 4.5"). 32 pp.; illus.
$350.00
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This chapbook telling of the classic fairy tale is illustrated with wood engravings on the frontispiece and title-page, and with eight in-text pictures as well. It was issued as #4 in Watt's “Penny Books New & Improved” series.
NUC and WorldCat locate only two libraries worldwide reporting ownership (National Library of Scotland, Princeton).
Provenance: From the chapbook collection of Albert A. Howard, sans indicia.
Publisher's green wrappers, slight discoloration and a little paper loss at spine. Clean. (38786)

NEVER in Childish Hands — Cuts Very Well Impressed
The history of Tommy and Harry. York: J. Kendrew, [ca. 1820]. 16mo (10.3 cm, 4.1"). 30, [2] pp.; illus.
$250.00
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Virtually pristine copy of this penny toybook — a popular cautionary tale of two overly indulged brothers, one of whom prospers by way of his natural love of learning, and one of whom enjoys bad company and eventually goes to rack and ruin (not here, as some variants of this story have it, being eaten by wild beasts after a shipwreck, but rather more prosaically being sent to Newgate). The story is illustrated with eight woodcuts, two of which show the boys playing
badminton and marbles.
One signature at the back is unopened.
NSTC 2H10236. Publisher's light yellow printed paper wrappers, removed from a nonce volume. Clean, crisp, unread copy. (31946)

Holbein’s Dance of Death — HIS ALPHABET with “New” Borders
Holbein, Hans. L'alphabet de la mort de Hans Holbein entouré de bordures du XVIe siècle et suivi d'anciens poëmes français sur le sujet de trois mors et des trois vis publiés d'après les manuscrits par Anatole de Montaiglon. Paris: Edwin Tross, 1856. 8vo (21.8 cm, 8.625"). [96] pp.; illus.
$450.00
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Tross's careful and elegant 19th-century edition: The Dance of Death concept experienced a revival in French Romantic literature of the era and the main text here, in French and Latin, is prefaced by Anatole de Montaiglon's introduction (in French). The reproductions of Holbein's initials were done by Heinrich Loedel, and each page is given an
exquisite death-themed, wood-engraved border by Léon le Maire after designs from a Book of Hours printed by Simon Vostre. The alphabet is represented (excluding J and U) by magnificent engraved historiated letters, five of which are repeated.
Binding: Chocolate brown morocco, covers framed and panelled in blind with gilt-tooled corner fleurons and gilt strapwork central medallions; spine with blind-ruled raised bands and gilt-stamped title and date and cover fleurons repeated in compartments; turn-ins with wide composite gilt rolls. All edges gilt; striking and distinctive marbled endpapers.
Signed by binder L. Claessens with tiny stamp in roll on lower front turn-in.
Provenance: From the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.
Bound as above and in lovely condition; extremely minor spots of rubbing and scraping to boards, one raised band with a short cut(?) and a sliver of leather lost.
An overall wonderful copy of this beautiful reprint. (37923)

“Earning for Himself a Character for Courage, Integrity, & Truth”
Home at the haven. London: Groombridge & Sons [Richard Barrett, Printer], [1860s?]. (14.2 cm; 5.625"). 48 pp., illus.
$75.00
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A widowed mother and her two children move to the home of her late husband's brother in the English countryside, where Lucy and Edward learn important life lessons through building a boat. From the second series of the “Stories for Summer Days & Winter Nights” library.
This work includes a
frontispiece and five in-text wood engravings signed by Edward Whymper (1840–1911), an Arctic explorer and mountaineer best known for being the first to successfully ascend the Matterhorn.
Publisher's green printed wrappers, soiling and splitting along spine; one leaf separated, a light pencil mark or two, a handful of bent corners. (36537)

Chapman's Homer — Classicists' Provenance
Homer, & George Chapman, trans. [The whole works of Homer; prince of poetts In his Iliads, and Odysses]. London: Printed [by Richard Field, William Jaggard, and Thomas Harper] for Nathaniell Butter, [1634?]. Folio (28.1 cm; 11.125"). [26], 341, [9]; [12], 195–349, 352–76, [2] pp. Lacks engr. t-p. and 5 blanks.
$9500.00
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Chapman (1559/60–1634) completed translations of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey — long considered to be the definitive English versions — in 1611 and 1615 respectively, after several adventures as a playwright, including a short period of imprisonment with Ben Jonson for their anti-Scottish play Eastward Ho. In 1616, his two epic translations appeared with a general title-page proclaiming the volume Homer’s Works. The ESTC considers that 1616 volume to have been a “reissue of STC 13634 [the 1611 Iliad] and 13637 [the 1615 Odyssey]” and this, the 1634 edition, to be “a later state of STC 13624 [i.e., the 1616 Works].”
The volume in hand contains a reprinting of The Iliads, The Odysses with a cancel letterpress title-page, and a cancel leaf from the dedicatory epistle of The Odysses, all printed by Thomas Harper as described in the ESTC.
In simplified, perhaps less technical terms, it represents the second printing of the first collected issuance of Chapman’s Iliad and Odyssey in one volume, wherein a previous owner or dealer has substituted the engraved title-page from the 1611 edition of The Iliads for the missing engraved title-page for The Works, eliminating also five blanks!
Provenance: Signature of journalist and author William Agnew Paton dated 1896 on upper margin of title-page in ink and on front endpaper dated 1898 in blue crayon; Paton also added a presentation inscription in 1911 to Lewis Buckley Stillwell, a president of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers and long a trustee of Princeton University. Stillwell wrote an inscription to his son Richard in 1831, a year before Richard became the director of the Princeton-associated American School of Classical Studies in Athens. Later in the collection of Classicist Pierre A. MacKay (1933–2015), a Classicist also with Princeton associations.
ESTC S119225; STC 13624.5. 19th-century mottled calf with gilt-lettered leather label and gilt-stamped compartments on spine, covers delicately framed in gilt double-rules around simple gilt triple-ruled rectangle with crown stamps at corners, all edges gilt; endpapers chipping, binding worn and abraded, text resewn and reattached to binding, rebacked with 19th-century spine laid on. Marked and lacking title-page and five blanks as above, light pencilling on endpapers, a few very short tears at margins, one leaf with ink spotting; light to moderate age-toning with the occasional spot. (36544)

The Punishment of Tantalus in ART plus English, Greek, & Latin
RUZICKA Renders HOLBEIN
Homer; William Broome, transl.; Rudolph Ruzicka, illus.; et al. Tantalus. [Cambridge, MA]: The Cygnet Press, 1937. Sm. 8vo (17.1 cm, 6.75"). Frontis., [16] pp.
[SOLD]
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Limited-edition Cygnet Press chapbook showcasing
Ruzicka's delicately color-printed woodcut rendition of a design by Hans Holbein the Younger. “Since the pictorial representation would not be complete without a verbal explanation, the original eleven lines in Greek . . . are given together with a metrical translation of them by Alexander Pope's collaborator, the Rev'd William Broome,” followed by Pindar's account in Greek and in Sandys' English translation, and by 12 lines from Horace's first satire in the original Latin and in H. Rushton Fairclough's translation.
This is the fourth of a series of booklets intended for friends of Philip Hofer and George Parker Winship's Cygnet Press, with
only 200 copies printed (“more or less,” according to the colophon). The italic in which the English text is set and the Greek are both attractive fonts, and complement each other in pleasing fashion.
Provenance: From the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.
Chapbook in heavy cream wrappers sewn at spine, within publisher's gold-brushed black paper dust-wrapper; wrapper split along chipped spine, chapbook itself crisp and clean.
A handsome item of interest to classicists and aficionados of fine printing alike. (41015)

WONDERS ~ Oddities ~ *&* Good Old-Fashioned
ENTERTAINMENT!
(Varia Par Excellence across ALL FOUR VOLUMES)

Hone, William; George Cruikshank, Samuel Williams, et al., illus. The every-day book, and table book; or, everlasting calendar of popular amusements, sports, pastimes, ceremonies, manners, customs, and events, incident to each of the three hundred and sixty-five days, in past and present times ... [WITH!] The year book of daily recreation and information; concerning remarkable men and manners, times and seasons, solemnities and merry-makings, antiquities and novelties, on the plan of the Every-day book and Table book, or, everlasting calendar of popular amusements, sports, pastimes, ceremonies, customs, and events, incident to each of the three hundred and sixty-five days, in past and present times; forming a complete history of the year; and a perpetual key to the almanack. London: William Tegg & Co.; Glasgow: R. Griffin & Co.; Dublin: Cumming & Ferguson (pr. by J. Haddon), 1826–28; 1848. 8vo (22.8 cm, 8.98"). 4 vols. I: Frontis. (incl. in pagination), viii pp., 1720 col., 8 (adv.) pp.; illus. II: Frontis., [6] pp., 860, 888 col.; illus. III (marked II): Frontis., viii pp., 1712 col.; illus. IV: Frontis., [4] pp., 1644 col., [2] pp.; illus.
$625.00
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Originally issued as weekly numbers and here in their first book form: descriptions of the customs and traditions associated with various celebrations, many now obscure. Hone (1780–1842), a bookseller, author, and reformer noted for battling censorship and other injustices, here takes advantage of the topic's broad scope to incorporate an impressive variety of antiquarian anecdotes, folklore, natural history, travelogues, historical tales, and literary quotations (plus the odd scrap of sheet music) along with the hagiographies found in the Every-Day volume — though the Table Book, written in response to the success of the first series, dispenses with many of the religious associations and generalizes shamelessly in its topics. The Year Book, first printed in 1832 and appearing here in a slightly later edition, adds entries on an equally striking variety of subjects including chess, Old Edinburgh taverns, whale fishing, the life and songs of Walther von der Vogelweide, witches, “Lawless Day” at Exeter, morris dancing, the Riding of Lanark Marches, booksellers of Little Britain, “a Chinese tea-man's shop-bill,” and an array of biographical and historical notes along with astronomical, agricultural almanac, and medical information, while continuing with the generous helpings of poetry and illustrations seen in the previous volumes.
Americana content is not lacking, with entries appearing, e.g., on Niagara Falls and “Penn and the Indians.”
“These publications were at once popular, educational, quaint, and socially pertinent,” says the DNB. Assorted contributors including Charles Lamb supplied the pieces not written by Hone himself for this entertaining grab-bag, illustrated with
over 700 wood engravings, some of which were done by George Cruikshank.
Evidence of Readership: In addition to one mischievous artistic addition (pencilled glasses and a mustache on the illustration of Blind Hannah), there are several highly indignant comments regarding an account of duelling in Charleston, South Carolina: “A lie! . . . how English these lies are! English lies!” — obviously suggesting an American reader.
Cohn, George Cruikshank, 402 & 403; NCBEL, III, 1285. On Hone, see: DNB (online). All four volumes are in matching publisher's brown cloth bindings, covers with blind-stamped arabesques, spines with gilt-stamped title and volume number. Volumes worn overall, cloth splitting along spines of the hefty volumes and one with chip to cloth at top of spine, front covers and spines sunned, hinges (inside) starting. Ex–social club library: 19th-century bookplates, call number and paper label on endpapers, title-pages pressure-stamped. Some signatures opened roughly, with chipping and sometimes short tears; vol. II with occasional pencilled markings, including those embellishments to the image of Blind Hannah (col. 221/222), and one page with faint markings in light blue. Scattered minor foxing.
With all four volumes present, a massive amount of wonderfully various reading, offering engaging evidence of readership and lots and LOTS of evocative illustrations. (27545)

A Delightful, Eye-Pleasing Horace — A Chromolithographic Tour de Force
Horatius Flaccus, Quintus. The works of Quintus Horatius Flaccus illustrated chiefly from the remains of ancient art. London: John Murray, 1849. 8vo (22.5 cm, 8.8"). [6], 194, [6], 490, xiv pp.; 8 col. plts.
$550.00
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First edition of this
lavishly decorated, deluxe production of Horace's works in the original Latin, with a life of the author written in English by the Rev. Henry Hart Milman. Each page of the preface appears in a color-printed, antiquity-inspired frame (ochre, maroon, blue, green, or violet, with several different styles of frame used); the poems appear in simpler frames, but with each section preceded by a chromolithographed title-page (with a total of eight color plates), and almost every text page bearing an in-text wood engraving done by George Scharf after “remains of ancient art” (an index of the original sources and their locations is present at the back of the volume).
The decorative elements were created by architect and pioneering design theorist Owen Jones.
This volume's price at publication was two guineas which, although less than production cost, priced the work out of the market. McLean suggests most of the 2,500 copies were pulped!
Signed binding: Contemporary brown morocco, front pastdown stamped “J. Wright Binder.” Boards with triple fillet gilt border at edges; center panel on each board composed of a triple fillet outer border with a floral/vine gilt roll within; gilt corner devices with elements extending along the outer edges of the center panel. Board edges with double fillet rules, turn-ins with same gilt roll as in the center panels of the boards, cream calendared endpapers. All edges gilt.
Evidence of readership: 20th-century notes relating to the text on rear free endpaper.
Provenance: Large engraved armorial “Kimmel Park” bookplate of Hugh Robert Hughes of Kimmel (1827–1911), Co. Denbigh, and his small library shelf label to top of front pastedown. His signature in full, dated “June 11th 1855,” on front fly-leaf. “G.L.D. 1937" on front free endpaper.
NSTC 2H30539; McLean, Victorian Book Design, pp. 94, 174. Binding as above; joints (outside) abraded, so too lower edges of boards and corners. 20th-century notes as mentioned above; shelf label largely obscured by a later blank one; a very few dog-ears or short edge tears; age-toning with some foxing and other spotting, especially towards beginning and end.
A remarkable, wonderful book. (37188)

British Antiquity Printed at the Sign of the Unicorn
Howell, William. Medulla historiae Anglicanae. Being a comprehensive history of the lives and reigns of the monarchs of England. London: Printed for Abel Swalle, 1687. 8vo (19.6 cm, 7.75"). [14], 483, [1] pp.; 2 plts.
[SOLD]
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One of the most widely used English history textbooks of the 17th century, here in its stated third edition (following the first of 1679) with a “Continuation from the Year 1678 to 1684" updating the work to the death of Charles II. This edition opens with an
added engraved title-page depicting Britannia contemplating her coastline; another plate, titled “The Habits of the Ancient Britaines,” represents
a heavily tattooed couple with both the man and woman holding spears, and the man additionally carrying a severed head. Both copperplates were done by Frederick Hendrick Van Houe (1628?–98, sometimes given as Van Hove), a native of The Hague who studied under F. Bouttats in Antwerp, later worked as a draughtsman and engraver in The Hague, and only lived and worked in London late in life, arriving perhaps in 1692.
ESTC R14168; Wing (rev. ed.) H3142. Recent marbled paper–covered boards, spine with gilt-stamped leather label. Front fly-leaf gives the title twice in two different early inked hands, along with the inscription “Garenton”; back fly-leaf with early inked doodles. Pages and plates browned, especially around edges, with varying degrees of spotting and occasional ink spots or smears; ancient Britons plate with streak of staining at lower outer corner, touching caption but not image. One leaf with tear from upper margin, touching text without loss.
A classic Britannicum, very solid and readable. (41358)

Book of Designs for
Bakers & Confectioners
Hueg, Herman. Ornamental confectionery, and practical assistant to the art of baking in all its branches, with numerous illustrations. New York: H. Hueg & Co., © 1896. 12mo (14.5 cm, 5.75"). 48, 48 pp.; illus.
$175.00
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Illustrated promotional pamphlet: This
ephemeral sidekick to Hueg's popular
Ornamental Confectionery and the Art of Baking offers baking tips, recipes, and decoration patterns, combined with a product and book catalogue with price list. Some of the depicted cake structures and designs are jaw-droppingly ornate! Originally published in 1893, the pamphlet is now notably less common than its hardcover sibling.
Cagle & Stafford 389 (for first ed.). Not in Brown, Culinary Americana. Publisher's printed blue paper wrappers, spine and edges rubbed, front cover with spots of discoloration; offsetting inside wrappers from staples. Pages very slightly age-toned.
Delightful for those who like to bake, those who like to eat, or those who just like to appreciate implausible confectionery accomplishments. (35008)

Chromolithographed/ILLUMINATED Symbols & Stories
A Victorian “Medievalesque” Binding
Humphreys, Henry Noel. The miracles of our Lord. London: Longman & Co., 1848. 8vo (17.1 cm, 6.75"). iv pp; 16 double-sided col. plts.
$700.00
$700.00
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First edition of this Victorian interpretation of a medieval book of meditations: Biblical miracles, delicately calligraphed and
framed in 32 vividly illustrated, chromolithographed, illuminated borders. The main figures were adapted from the Old Masters and the decorative details “all strictly original, and not borrowed,” according to the artist (p. ii), a successful illustrator with particular interests in natural history, numismatics, and classical and medieval studies.
Binding: Publisher's boards of papier-mâché and black plaster, molded to resemble a medieval carved binding, each cover with six figural medallions surrounded by a border of interlaced vines and strapwork incorporating small creatures; spine with embossed title, edges and turn-ins with gilt roll. All edges gilt; marbled endpapers.
The following image of this very “matte” black binding is brightened, the better to show its detailed, deep relief work.
Ray, Illustrator and the Book in England, 232. Binding as above, small red shelfmark at foot of spine; corners and spine extremities chipped, one small chip to outer edge of back panel design, one very unobtrusive break in inner frame of front panel design, nicely refurbished. Sewing loosening as is common, with last leaf separated and previous one threatening; pages gently age-toned with occasional minor smudging in margins; text pages (not plate pages) foxed.
A striking binding and equally striking color-printing. (41192)
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