Provenance:  Front free endpaper with pencilled inscription: “A Christmas Present from Maria to Charlie, 1862.”

Binding: Publisher's pebbled rose-color cloth, front cover and spine elegantly gilt-stamped with foliate motifs, back cover blind-stamped. All edges gilt.

•  Faxon 738; Bradbury, Miniature Books, p. 165, no. 12; Welsh, Bibliography of Miniature Books, 6097 (for the other edition).   Binding as above, front cover gilt partially oxidized (not unattractively), spine evenly sunned, minimal rubbing to extremities. Spots of mild to moderate foxing. A treasurable “Gift.” (41619)

Thedelightful copperplate frontispiece was engraved by James Smither, a skilled artisan employed by the Continental Congress to produce currency plates — after which, an outspoken Tory, he was charged with counterfeiting and treason, and transported to Nova Scotia before eventually returning to Philadelphia in 1786. Smither's “Pastoral Scene” features a rustically clad couple, he playing pipe while she holds a book of music, with a child frolicking with the sheep at their feet.

Provenance:  With early inked inscription of Mary Batchelder on rear free endpaper; most recently in the children's book collection of Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.

•  Welch 1139.1 (cf. 1140.1); Evans 27667; ESTC W27590.   Contemporary quarter sheep and marbled paper–covered sides; rubbed and scuffed overall, paper cracked at hinges (inside) but sewing holding strongly. Title-page with upper outer corner excised, with loss of most of an early inked inscription by Batchelder; second inscription on back free endpaper. Two leaves of publisher's advertisements (only) not present here. Pages age-toned with occasional spots of foxing; two pages of second story with areas of more pronounced staining (candle wax?). A solid and pleasing copy of this interesting, uncommon item.  (41673)

Among the authors excerpted are Cadalso, Antonio Solis, Lope de Vega, Cervantes, Luis de Granada, López de Gómara, Gracián, and Feijóo.

Provenance:  Early 19th-century bookplate of James Bruce.

•  Shoemaker 22193.   Publisher's sprinkled sheep, flat spine with red leather title-label; binding scuffed and abraded, joints (outside) open but sewing seemingly strongly holding. Age-toning, and one leaf with an ink-drop not preventing reading; now in a basic phase case. By nature, expectably scarce, and in fact especially so out of the eastern U.S.  (38424)

Paul Hogarth'seight full-page watercolors and over a dozen black and white vignettes vividly illustrate the bomb-churned landscape of no-man's land, the explosions of rifle and gunfire, and the irony of well-fed generals enjoying life behind the lines. Dennis J. Grastorf designed the book using a 12-point Baskerville font with two points leading space in between the lines. David Daiches wrote the introduction.

This is numbered copy 538 of 2,000 printed, andsigned by the artist on the colophon. The monthly newsletter and prospectus are laid in.

Binding:  A natural-tone rough linen, stamped in black on each cover with a bugle design, and with black lettering to spine.

•  Bibliography of the Fine Books Published by The Limited Editions Club, 519.   Binding as above, in original glassine dust jacket and brown paper–covered slipcase with linen bottom and top edge, gilt lettering to spine; minor spot of rubbing and dent to spine of slipcase. Really in wonderful condition, superbly illustrated and designed.  (39032)

Provenance:  Front pastedown with bookplate of Robert Wayne Stilwell, front free endpaper with bookplate of Brian Douglas Stilwell. Front fly-leaf with faded inked gift inscription dated 1837.

•  Brooks 598; De Lama, II, 107; Giani 72 (pp. 54-55); Brunet, V, 156; Graesse, VI, 279.   Bound as above, extremities unobtrusively refurbished; front joint unobtrusively starting from head. Bookplates and inscription as above, front and back free endpapers with later pencilled bibliographical notes. Charming. (40170)

This isthe first issue of Schlegel & Tieck's literary annual, patterned on the original Musen-Almanach (1796–1800) of Schiller, to which both were contributors. They broke with Schiller's adherence to the “old” and championed Romanticism in their publication. All of the poems are early entrants in the German Romantic movement.

Besides being the title of both those annuals, “Musen-Almanach” is a long-established genre term for these literary annuals published in Germany from ca. 1770 to the middle of the 19th century.

•  Original publisher's wrappers with printed paper spine labe, grey-green outside, light blue inside; dust-soiled with spine darkest. Uncut and partially unopened, with occasional light foxing (only). A very good copy.  (33117)

•  Rulon-Miller, Quarter to Midnight, A.44.  Sewn in tan textured wrappers, in a matching jacket with a blue stamp of a well-dressed man on the front echoing the centerfold illustration. Pristine.  (30774)

Provenance:  Front pastedown with armorial bookplate of John Train.

Binding:  Contemporary maroon straight-grain morocco framed in wide gilt border and panelled in gilt single fillet, spine with gilt-stamped title and decorations, board edges (at corners) and turn-ins with gilt roll. All edges gilt.

•  NSTC 2S9246.   Binding as above, moderately rubbed; hinges (inside) slightly tender. Front free endpaper verso with inked ownership inscription.  Light to moderate foxing throughout, pages otherwise clean.  (30141)

Provenance:  Front fly-leaf with pencilled inscription: “Sarah & Thomas [/] From Father E [/] 'Merry Christmas' [/] 1864.” Later in the library of Robert L. Sadoff, M.D., sans indicia.

•  Bound as above, a little very light rubbing; gilt bright. Some offsetting to guard leaves and minimal foxing to margins of some plates — actually, remarkably little! A clean and attractive copy of this aesthetically pleasing collection.  (39861)

•  Wright, II, 2174; Sabin 78641.   Publisher's brown cloth, covers blind-stamped with star-shaped design, spine with gilt-stamped title and blind-stamped decoration; binding cocked and rubbed, spine extremities chipped. Ex–social club library: 19th-century bookplate and call number on pastedown and fly-leaf, front free endpaper lacking, title-page pressure-stamped. No other markings. Pages faintly age-toned, otherwise clean.  (26565)

•  ESTC T95509; NCBEL, II, 682. Old-style marbled paper–covered boards, spine with gilt-stamped leather title and date labels. Light waterstaining to upper and lower margins of first and last few leaves; title-page and a few others stamped by a now-defunct institution. Author’s name inscribed in an early hand at the end of the poem.  (8562)

Binding:  Brown (vol. I) and red (vol. II) morocco with beveled boards, five raised bands to spines and gilt lettering/devices in compartments; front covers with gilt tripled-rule borders, gilt lettering, blind-stamped corner decorations, and, within central oval frames defined by beaded gilt swags, compound recessed medallions each composed of a (faux?) tortoise shell oval surrounding and securing an inlaid silk panel embroidered with adifferently colored colorful wreath of flowers. Rear boards bear same borders and corner devices in blind, with a blind-stamped central quatrefoil medallion; all edges of both volumes gilt, with bookmarks of purple (vol. I) and green (vol. II) silk ribbon present. While the bindings are clearly intended as a pair, the differing colors of the leather, bookmarks, and flowers in the insets make this an interesting sort of set.

Evidence of Readership: On verso of front fly-leaf of vol. I, a previous owner's neat pencil notes on purchase history. Small, marginal pencil marks throughout the middle section of vol. I.

•  Bound as above, rubbed; vol. II lacking tortoise frame on front board, leaving board underneath exposed and embroidery slightly soiled (although, usefully, this shows some of the area's underlying construction). Minor foxing throughout, with more severe foxing to title-page and frontispiece of vol. I; bookmarks with fading and loss at ends. Charmingly bound set; blemished, still pleasant and sturdy.  (37361)

This isnumbered copy 974 of 1012 printed (1000 on paper, 12 on vellum), this copy being on Riccardi handmade paper.

•  Publisher's light blue paper–covered boards with blue-grey cloth shelfback, front cover and spine with gilt-stamped title; top edge gilt, other edges untrimmed. Binding mildly sunned overall especially to spine and outer board edges, the latter also a bit dust-soiled; spine cloth worn at extremities and endpapers with offsetting, front endpapers smudged. Internally clean and crisp. An elegant production.  (36891)

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)

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)

Numbered copy 1082 of 1500 printed, this issigned at the colophon by the illustrator. The appropriate LEC newsletter and prospectus are laid in.

•  Bibliography of the Fine Books Published by the Limited Editions Club, 443.   Binding as above, in original glassine wrapper and slipcase; wrapper with spine sunned and a few small edge chips, slipcase with one small nick at upper edge and label lightly rubbed, volume clean and fresh. A very nice copy.  (30712)

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)

•  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)

Owner's modification: The word “Pax” is neatly printed in black ink on the book's back cover, gently arced above the engraving; and “Roosevelt” has been similarly added to the back of the slipcase, with “Post Lux Tenebras” being artfully placed below the engraving.

•  Faxon 1303.   Binding as above, back inside cover with brown silk pull-tab intact, joints very skillfully refurbished with long fiber and then toned; extremities gently rubbed. Front free endpaper pencilled with old bookseller annotations. Pages and plates generally clean with very occasional light foxing; guard leaves with predictable offsetting. Case somewhat rubbed with extremities chipped at corners but completely sound and with the described embellishments. A lovely little gift book, with the original (and early for its kind) slipcase.  (36042)

•  Dreyfus, History of the Nonesuch Press, 73.   Publisher's printed paper–covered boards, front cover with printed paper label, in green paper–covered chemise lined with paper matching the book's, the whole in a likewise covered slipcase. Chemise with spine rubbed and slightly sunned, slipcase darkened with corners rubbed but quite solid. Volume itself fresh and unworn; mild offsetting to endpapers, pages otherwise clean and crisp.  (36909)

Modern readers may well find themselves taken aback by the harshness of the punishments doled out by a stern governess to Harry and Laura for such unforgivable (and amusingly depicted!) sins as inviting friends over to tea, tearing their clothes, or breaking a plate — although occasionally the siblings' boisterousness leads to genuine crises like a fire in the nursery. In the end, while neither the severity of the governess nor the kindness of their grandmother and uncle serve to dampen the children's spirits, the loss of their beloved older brother transforms them from “merry, thoughtless, young creatures” to mourners convinced of the frailty of earthly joy and the necessity of religion (p. 345).

Sinclair was Scottish-born and this is an early Scottish edition (stated fifth thousand) of this work, following the London first of 1826 and the Edinburgh first of 1839. The frontispiece here features two engraved vignettes, done by Lizars Lithography of Edinburgh, both scenes with early hand-coloring.

Binding:  19th-century half green calf, sides covered with veined and rippled marbled paper in shades of blue-green, cream, and gold, spine with gilt-stamped red leather title-label, gilt-dotted raised bands, and gilt-stamped floral compartment decorations. Marbled endpapers matching binding, with all page edges likewise marbled.

Provenance:  Title-page with early inked inscription of Marian Rogers, Beawell Rectory; most recently in the children's book collection of Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.

•  Opie A 1081. For 1844 ed., see Osborne Collection, p. 304.   Bound as above; spine sunned evenly to olive, spine label with small chip, joints and edges rubbed. Pages showing minor to moderate spotting and staining. A landmark of children's literature, in a surprisingly formal, adult binding. (41232)

•  Publisher's quarter orange cloth and dark green paper–covered sides, spine with title stamped in silver, in original dust jacket; jacket with spine extremities lightly worn, edges of back panel darkened, upper inner front corner and upper back corner each with short tear. One page with light smudge to lower outer margin. A nice copy of a signed Singer first edition.  (34092)

The volume was designed by Bruce Campbell and set in Centaur and Arrighi types, with the text printed by Hampshire Typothetae (under Harold McGrath's supervision) and the watercolors by the Princeton Polychrome Press; the binding was done by the Tapley-Rutter Company. This is numbered copy 1063 of 2000 printed, and it issigned at the colophon by author and artist. The monthly newsletter and prospectus are laid in.

This is one of six copies printed on blue paper of an edition of 250 copies.

Provenance:  Ca. 1930 bookplate of Henry Pennell Frank; most recently in the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.

•  Late 19th-century half black morocco and marbled paper–covered sides, spine lettered in gilt; blue endpapers; rubbed at corners and edges. A testament to 19th-century Shakespeare mania.  (40233)

This offering consists of the aforementioned two parts anda supplement with 26 extra tales taken from a newly discovered (in 1815) edition printed in 1567 by H. Wykes of theTales, and Quicke Answeres. Each section has a separate title-page and introduction explaining its Shakespearean connection and origin story, with canvassing also of the editor’s scholarly processes and his decisions to offer his tales with original orthography, in their full “licentiousness,” and with their original “moral reflections.” A short glossary of Elizabethan words is provided, and the second preface is signed in type “S.W.S.,” i.e., Samuel Weller Singer.

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

•  19th-century half black morocco and marbled paper–covered sides, spine lettered in gilt, with differently patterned marbled endpapers and black silk placemarker, top edge gilt; rubbed at corners and edges. Light age-toning with very occasional off-setting and a few spots, light pencilling referencing a 1925 Goodspeed’s price on title-page.A testament to 19th-century Shakespeare mania and a resonant, even cautionary tale for scholars of any ilk in any era.  (37850)

Offered with the prospectus.

•  Fine, Janus Press 1975–80, 43–44.   Publisher's natural Zaan paper wrappers, front wrapper with mauve-stamped decorations; wrappers with a few tiny spots blending rather well into the paper's heavy texture. Pages crisp and clean. A nice copy.  (37268)