This leaf of The Golden Legend has on its recto, and continuing on the verso, the final portion of account of the nativity of the Virgin, which recounts episodes from her mature adulthood andshows the Mother of God as a powerful figure with a powerful sense of what is due her.  She promises death within 30 days to a bishop who has removed from office an unsatisfactory priest that she appreciates as specially devoted to her (he is reinstated and the bishop lives); she intercedes in another vision with her “debonayre sone” to reverse the damnation of a “vayne and ryotous” cleric who, on the other hand, has been specially devoted to her and her Hours (he reforms). In a third case, she redeems from the grasp of hell a bishop's vicar who, disappointed of promotion in office, had engaged “a Jewe [who was] a magycyan” to facilitate his signing in his own blood a soul-sacrificing deal with “the devyll” (the vicar repented).  The Marian section closes with an account of “Saynt Jherom's” devotion to her. All this is followed on the verso by the beginning of the life of St. Adrian of Nicomedia, who before his conversion to Christianity and subsequent martyrdom was a Herculian Guard of the Roman Emperor Galerius Maximian. He is the patron saint of soldiers, arms dealers, guards, butchers, victims of the plague, and epileptics. The text is printed in double-column format inEnglish gothic type.

Provenance:  From an offering of leaves from this edition of The Golden Legend by the Dauber & Pine Bookshops, New York City, in ca. 1928 .

English incunable leaves are increasingly difficult to obtain.

•  STC (rev. ed.) 24876; ESTC S103597; Duff 411; Copinger 6475; Goff J-151; ISTC ij00151000.   Removed neatly from a bound volume. With a “cover leaf” in approximation of a title-page, reading “The Golden Legende. J. de Voragine. Printed by Wynkyn de Worde 1498. Dauber & Pine Bookshops, Inc. New York.” A striking relic recounting multiple miracles and presenting Mary as a most interesting personality.  (40744)

This, the editio princeps, was edited by and has the notes of Matthew Bust (1543 or 1544–1613), Fellow of Eton College and father of his namesake who was Master of Eton (1611–30). The prefatory matter and notes are printed in Latin in italics and the main text is in a large greek face; the actual printer's name is from STC.

Searches of STC, WorldCat, and ESTC locate many copies in Britain and even Europe, but only five in U.S. libraries.

Provenance:  18th-century ownership inscription at top of title-page: “Petri Bonifantii.” Most recently in the collection of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.

An amazing early English schoolbook!

•  STC (rev.) 14622; ESTC S103427.   20th-century quarter red morocco with red cloth sides. Light age-toning and some stray ink spots. In fact, very good.  (37309)

The text is neatly printed in roman in single-column format with capital spaces with guide letters (unaccomplished) and marginal notes; the title-page contains the iconic Aldine device.

Provenance:  Early ink signature “Alexii Feni” on title-page; most recently in the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear of both the text and its clamshell housing.

•  Adams C1559; UCLA, Aldine Press: Catalogue of the Ahmanson-Murphy Collection (2001), 674; EDIT 16 CNCE 27775; Renouard, Alde, p. 186, 5; Goldsmid, Aldine Press at Venice, *546. On John Chrysostom, see: New Catholic Encyclopedia, VII, 1041–44.   16th-century limp vellum with title label on spine and evidence of ties; vellum wrinkled and stained, significant portions lacking on spine, edges of endpapers tattered with some paper loss and text block recently reattached. Housed in a maroon cloth clamshell with black leather labels. Light to moderate age-toning and staining with the occasional spot, several leaves with waterstaining to bottom corner or small marginal worm tracking; a handful of creased corners, a few examples of hurried paper manufacture, chipping to edges of first and last few leaves of text including title-page. Provenance marks as above, one early inked correction to a marginal note.  (38092)

This isnumbered copy 262 of 450 printed.

•  Olive cloth–covered boards, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label; spine and board edges sunned, extremities slightly rubbed, lower front board edge with small dent. Front pastedown with bookplate of one of Harvard's undergraduate houses (with small deaccession stamp); title-page with pressure-stamp from the same house, with deaccession stamp on the reverse. Pages gently age-toned. Clean.  (33613)

•  Sewn plain wrappers with pictorial cutout overlay. Fine.  (24123)

Provenance:  18th-century bookplate of Beilby Thompson of Eserick (1742–99 ), who may famously be remembered for having gradually bought up and relocated the village of Eserick to move it away from his house. Later in the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.

Binding:  18th-century calf in a modified Cambridge-style binding. The covers' central panels, stained black and outlined in a filigree roll, are surrounded by a wide frame of tan calf; beyond that, at the boards' edges, is a 1.5" outer border of sprinkled calf. Blind-tooled rules and beading articulate the intersections, with black(?)-stamped devices accenting the tan compartments' corners, in the speckled section, and with the chains connecting those devices to the innermost panel being also (sometimes?) blackened. The round spine has raised bands accented by gilt rules above and below each band, and a gilt-stamped label with the author's name abbreviated.

•  Renouard, Estienne, 79/2; Adams J494; Hoffmann, Bibliographisches Lexicon der gesamten Literatur der Griechen, II, 502–503, & 648; Shaaber, Sixteenth-century Imprints, J111; Armstrong 138, 222; Mortimer, French, II, 335; Schreiber, Estienne, 107.   Bound as above, front board recently expertly reattached; endpapers chipped and front one with upper outer corner torn away. A very nice, very wide-margined copy.  (40074)

This is thefirst book-form edition of the translation, following its original appearance in Keene's Anthology of Japanese Literature; three hundred copies were set by hand in Garamond and printed on Masa paper by Fredericks and David Beeken.

•  Original hand-stitched wrappers resembling bamboo grain, with paper label on front wrapper, in paper overlay matching the endpapers; outer overlay with minor edge wear and with small annotation (possibly from publisher) on label. A lovely and uncommon production.  (35979)

This limited edition keepsake pamphlet is one of 50 printed by Martino Mardersteig at theOfficina Bodoni, handset using a variant of Dante type on Magnani handmade paper.

•  On the poem, see: Milnes, ed., Life, Letters, and Literary Remains, of John Keats, pp. 83–86.   Stitched in gray paper wrappers with author and title printed in black on front cover. Fine.  (30803)

•  Peterson, Kelmscott Press, A48.   Original blue paper–covered boards with linen backing, showing almost no wear. Small, neatly pencilled ownership inscription in upper outer corner of front flyleaf, dated '97; printed clipping regarding publication laid in. Pages very clean and fresh. A desirable copy of a beautiful production.  (41191)

This isnumbered copy 298 of 750 printed by R. & R. Clark in Edinburgh for the Nonesuch Press, with the four collotype illustrations printed by the Chiswick Press.

Provenance:  Front pastedown with calligraphic bookplate of Norman J. Sondheim, American collector of fine press books.

•  Dreyfus, History of the Nonesuch Press, 75.   Publisher's quarter blue-grey paper with taupe paper–covered sides, spine with printed paper label, in original dust wrapper with black-stamped spine label; binding very slightly cocked with corners rubbed; wrapper sunned with edge chips and short tears, and interior tape reinforcements to two tears at spine and one at back fold. Offsetting from jacket flaps to endpapers; front pastedown with previous owner's pencilled annotations. A clean, solid, andquite pleasant copy.  (33868)

one of 350 copies printed at the University of California Press for the Book Club of California

Provenance:  Front free endpaper with inked gift inscription from historian Carl Wheat, author of Mapping of the Trans-Mississippi West, to Joe Blumenthal (of Spiral Press fame), a “fellow member of WOOFFB.”

•  Publisher's quarter vellum and marbled paper–covered sides, spine with gilt-stamped author/title; minimal shelfwear to outer corners. A fresh, clean copy with an interesting inscription.  (30622)

The Fortsas hoax is legendary for having fooled many renowned collectors and dealers near the mid-point of the 19th century (1840, to be precise) into travelling to the small town of Biche, Belgium, for an auction ofnonexistent unique books that were bibliographically unknown!

•  Publisher's quarter off-white cloth and rose-colored paper over boards, with map endpapers. Top edge gilt.   (36339)

•  Publisher's blue-green cloth, white spine label with blue lettering; one very faint scuff to front board. In original tan paper slipcase; light spot of sunning to one side. Interior is bright. A beautiful copy!  (38304)

The paper is of an extremely high quality, and near-vellum-like in its feel; the title-page and several others are given touches of red; every page bears a beautiful border of swooping vines printed in blue.

•  Bradbury 32.   Publisher's limp vellum, spine with blue-stamped title; slightly (and unsurprisingly) sprung. A clean, crisp copy.  (35731)

This is numbered copy 110 of 500 printed andsigned at the colophon by the artist.

•  Publisher's blue linen–covered boards, front cover with gilt-stamped vignette, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label, in striped paste paper–covered slipcase; volume crisp and clean.  (35259)

This edition waslimited to 1500 numbered copies, of which this is number 545.

•  Publisher's quarter tan cloth with marbled paper–covered sides, spine with gilt-stamped black leather title-label; outer edge of front cover sunned, spine slightly darkened with label a little rubbed on one side. Very occasional spots of foxing, with pages otherwise clean and crisp and theillustrations fresh.  (40534)

Searches of NUC and WorldCat locate only four U.S. libraries (Wesleyan, Boston University, Johns Hopkins, The Bridwell) reporting ownership of this quarto format edition.

•  Brooks 1105; Brunet, III, 846; De Lama, II, 199; Giani 199 (p. 77).   Contemporary quarter vellum and Bodoni orange paper–covered boards, spine with gilt-ruled bands and gilt-stamped leather title and date labels; corners and edges much rubbed, sides with light scuffing, vellum slightly darkened. Bookplates as above; front free endpaper with small oval of offsetting from monogram label. Occasional faint foxing, pages overall giving a clean, fresh impression.  (40200)

•  Publisher's cloth, without glassine dust-wrapper and with top edge just a little darkened; unworn and otherwise clean. Insert present as noted, a bit browned or age-toned at lower left edge.  (34768)

This isone of 183 copies total, signed on the half-title by the author.

•  Two Decades of Hamady & the Perishable Press, 32.   Publisher's navy and white patterned paper–covered boards, front cover with blind-stamped and printed paper title-label. A crisp, clean copy.  (31277)

An elegant edition in Roman type, with historiated woodcut initials, including one of a bear chasing a boy and another of a very “busty” seraph.

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

Evidence of readership: Occasional early underlinings.

WorldCat locates only one U.S. library (University of Illinois) reporting ownership.

•  Pettegree & Walsby, French Books, 77263; Moreau, IV, 461.   20th-century grey paper boards; edges sprinkled red. Text clean, save for a few scattered spots on title-page and verso of last leaf; wanting final blank. Lower outer corner of one leaf torn away, just touching one letter, small paper flaw to outer blank margin of one leaf. A handsome Vascosan production. (40843)

Some of the poems collected here were previously published in Field, The New Yorker, Ploughshares, and Western Humanities Review. For this edition from theAralia Press, 175 copies were printed by Michael Peich at West Chester University using Spectrum types on dampened Frankfurt. Nadya Brown contributed the blue title-page vignette of a man in a rowboat. This copy issigned by Levine in pencil below the colophon.

•  Gray paper wrappers with Nadya Brown's drawing reproduced in black on front cover. Fine, in mylar wrappers.  (30802)

The 29 letters, catalogues, and offprints gathered here are OFFERED AS A COLLECTION ONLY. For detail, click to the full description in our collection of COLLECTIONS, here.  (30413)

Robert L. Dothard designed the volume, which was printed on specially made Curtis Archer white paper and bound by Frank D. Fortney of the Russell-Rutter Co. This is numbered copy 1557 of 2250 printed, one of the 750 copies intended for institutional and professional distribution outside the Club.

Provenance:  Laid in is a promotional letter from the Club addressed to Leonard F. Bahr, proprietor of the Adagio Press; the original, unused subscription form and envelope are also present.

•  Bibliography of the Fine Books Published by the Limited Editions Club, 294.   Publisher's quarter black morocco with red cloth sides, front cover with embossed leather medallion, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label; spine sunned with label scuffed and a spot, front joint gently refurbished, slipcase worn with one joint broken and reinforced. Cover and contents bright and clean.  (33425)

It is handsomely printed using several point sizes of roman and italic, with center justification in the top portion and full justification below. Around the printed area are wide margins on the four sides, which margins contain16 large, crisp, evenly spaced impressions of the city of Toledo's double-headed eagle, with crown above, sword in its right talon and mace in its left.

Broadsides were an important source of income for handpress-era printers in Europe and Spanish America and the printers offered “package deals” to the families of the graduate and post-graduate degree postulants; the packages were geared to the students' families' economic means. Broadsides could be large (folio) or small (8vo), have an engraving or not, have a border of type ornaments or not, and be printed on standard paper or colored paper (usually blue); if one splurged, one could get the announcement printed, as here, on silk. The usual total number of copies printed for each candidate is unknown at this time, but is likely to have been only one or two dozen, and we also don't know if more than one silk copy was printed when that top option was in fact ordered. In extravagant cases, one can imagine one for the degree candidate, one for the parents, one for each godparent, etc.; still, such cases would probably have been few.

Certainly, the printers would have been willing to rake in as much money as possible, on each happy occasion, and these richly beautiful silk mementos — doubtless proudly displayed for years going forward in homes or offices — would have been excellent ongoing advertisements. Equally clearly, however, the number of copies of all of the defense broadsides surviving is small, and the survival of those on silk is very small.

No copies of this broadside are traced via the usual bibliographies, nor via NUC, WorldCat, COPAC, KVK, CCPB, or the OPACs of University of Toledo and the national library of Spain.

•  Rose-colored silk, with old folds; sun-fading variously and rather attractively approaching pinks and apricots. Sides “accented” by an attractive retained green and white selvage edge; bottom edge hemmed and top one, possibly once so, now with fraying and a bit of ravelling; near the broadside's center, a round hole costs six letters. Still, at 230+ years old, frankly gorgeous.  (39844)

•  Metallic marbled paper-covered boards, front cover with printed paper label. Clean and pleasant, in original glassine dustwrapper remarkably intact.  (31136)

The correspondence was also issued in separate parts, and as part of the Opera omnia in seven volumes with a general title-page dated 1614.

•  Bibliotheca Belgica, L406 (Opera), L257 and L258.   Contemporary vellum single-ruled in blind with an ornate central cartouche and four fleurons stamped in black on each cover, manuscript title on spine with raised bands accented by black ruling; red speckled edges, and evidence of four ties. Front joint repaired and new endpapers, text with dust-soiling and a handful of small stains, mild foxing on a few leaves and browning in some sections; faint curves of waterstaining along edges in a few places, small marginal tear on one leaf. A nice copy of a handsome Plantin–Moretus printing.  (30963)

Provenance:  Signed by Eric Gill (“Eric G”) at the end of his foreword; additionally, elegantly inscribed to rare book collector Clark Stillman by the artist's brother and biographer Evan R. Gill, dated 28 September 1937.

Searches of NUC and WorldCat located only three copies in U.S. libraries.

•  Publisher's printed paper wrappers; wrappers detached, sunned, and chipped. Pages clean.  (36969)

Provenance:  On the front pastedown, the bookplate of Brian Douglas Stilwell.

Searches of NUC and WorldCat locate only four U.S. libraries reporting ownership of this edition (Harvard, Kansas, University of Texas-HRHRC, Princeton Theological).

•  Brooks 507; Giani 44 (pp. 47–48).   Binding as above, rubbing to extremities and to spine/joints; somewhat noticeable scrape to length of front board and bump to bottom edge, very small spot of discoloration to top edge of front board, small scrape to rear board and rubbing to fore-edge. Without the initial and final blanks (i.e., two blank leaves total). Provenance marks as above; occasional light foxing to leaves, interior otherwise in very nice condition.  (40159)

The Plantin Press first published this work in 1566, and the title-page here bears Christopher Plantin's “Labore et constantia” compass device. The edition is rather rare, being reported in only three U.S. institutions.

Binding:  18th-century mottled calf, spine with gilt-stamped red leather spine label and gilt floral decorations in compartments. Marbled endpapers and all edges red.

•  Schweiger, II, 574. This edition not in Brunet or Graesse.   Bound as above, extremities rubbed; back free endpaper with old repair and front fly-leaf affixed to front free endpaper with early inked ownership inscription showing through on verso. Pages age-toned with mild staining; a few small, early inked marks of emphasis and one early inked marginal annotation. An elegant little production in a sound and pleasant copy.  (33944)

This is Baskerville's second printing of Lucretius and the first in twelvemo format: The 1772 first printing had been a quarto. The text is printed using his Bourgeois font and the Greek seems to be Caslon's Long Primer. Gaskell tells us that following Baskerville's death, 980 copies were remaindered in 1775.

Provenance:  Bequest to Yale University of Norman Holmes Pearson, properly deaccessioned.

Binding:  18th-century red morocco with a gilt roll forming a border on the perimeter of the boards; round spine divided into compartments using a roll featuring chain links, with author's name gilt in one compartment and the five others each with the center device of a lyre, Greek key roll in gilt at base of spine. Board edges tooled in gilt with a rope design; turn-ins tooled using two rolls, one of which is dentelles. Green stone-pattern endpapers and all edges gilt.

•  Gordon 20A; Gaskell 50; ESTC T50366.   Binding as above. Front joint (outside) cracked, abraded, and with loss of most leather; scuffing to both joints and to spine ends. Library bookplate on front pastedown, discreet deaccession stamp on verso of title-page. A “decent” copy of a good press book.  (39839)

Provenance:  Front free endpaper with inked inscription of Caroline Duffield, dated Feb. 22, 1830; most recently in the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.

•  NSTC L2746.   Contemporary treed calf, covers framed in gilt rolls, spine with gilt-stamped red leather title-label and gilt-ruled compartments, turn-ins with gilt roll; leather — sometime shellacked or otherwise “sealed” — showing expectable acid-pitting and crackling, front joint cracked (sewing holding) and leather chipped along back joint, edges and extremities rubbed, spine head chipped. Half-title lacking. Two leaves each with short tear from upper margin, not touching text. Pages lightly age-toned, with minor offsetting from plates; minor foxing to plates. A dignified and attractive copy, reflecting an 18th-century aesthetic.  (41042)