New Arrivals
Benjamin Franklin, September 17, 1787
Salisbury, CT: Lime Rock Press, 1981. 25 pp. Approx. 1 x 1". Printed with two bindings: one suede and the other cowhide. Brown leather with Franklin's signature in gilt on the cover, marbled endpapers, housed in clear plastic case, in fine condition. (Bradbury, Lime Rock 10)
From the Great American Speeches series, this little book relays the speech Franklin gave, urging his fellow delegates to join ranks in signing the new United States constitution. His speech was given a standing ovation. Lime Rock Press is the private press of Whitney North Seymour, Jr. and is run also by his wife and daughters who contribute photography, art, printing and binding.
Samuel Adams, April 1, 1776
Salisbury, CT: Lime Rock Press, 1981. 25 pp. approx. 1 x 1". Printed with two bindings: one suede and the other cowhide. Brown leather with Adams' signature in gilt on the cover, marbled endpapers, housed in clear plastic case, in fine condition. (Bradbury, Lime Rock 9)
From the Great American Speeches series, this little book relays the rousing speech Adams gave to the citizens gathered at the State House in Philadelphia trying to galvanize them into action after the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Lime Rock Press is the private press of Whitney North Seymour, Jr. and is run also by his wife and daughters who contribute photography, art, printing and binding. Samuel
Patrick Henry, March 28, 1775
Salisbury, CT: Lime Rock Press, 1981. 25 pp. Approx. 1 x 1". Printed with two bindings: one suede and the other cowhide. Brown leather with Washington's signature in gilt on the cover, marbled endpapers, housed in clear plastic case, in fine condition. (Bradbury, Lime Rock 8)
From the Great American Speeches series, this little book relays the famous climactic paragraphs of Henry's speech to the Second Virginia Convention urging independence from the British crown. Lime Rock Press is the private press of Whitney North Seymour, Jr. and is run also by his wife and daughters who contribute photography, art, printing and binding.
Cats
Spartanburg, SC: Kitemaug Press, 1968. [8] pp. Approx. 1 1/8 x 13/16". Tan paper wrapper with title on cover, 4 unnumbered leaves, letterpress, illustrations of cats, in fine condition. Very scarce - not found in WorldCat at this time (6/22). (Bradbury, Kitemaug Press 5)
Kitemaug Press is run by Frank J. Anderson and is a private press. The name Kitemaug comes from the Mohegan Indian language and it means "the place of good fishing." Anderson started printing in 1965 so this book is from very early on in his career.
Zsolnay: Ceramics Factory, Pecs
Budapest, Hungary: Helikon Kiado, 1997. 175 pp. Approximately 2 x 3". Decorated porcelain cover over green velvet boards with gilt title on spine, yellow slipcase, all edges gilt, profuse colored photographs, slight crack to porcelain cover, otherwise all in near fine condition. Text is in English.
This cute little book contains the history of the state-owned Zsolnay factory with many examples of their eclectic collection of art nouveau, art deco, and stylized folk art.
A Darkness at Sethanon
Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, 1986. 426 pp. Approximately 5 1/2 x 8 1/2". Illustrated dust jacket crisp and clean with only minor wear, unclipped wrapper with price of $17.95 intact, in near fine condition. Blue paper boards with black cloth spine, gilt lettering on spine is sharp, some spotting to top page edges, map endpapers, inscribed on the title page, "For Diane - Keep fighting the darkness. Best. Raymond E. Feist", the Diane in this case refers to Diane Peterson, also known as "The Book Lady" - a well-known antiquarian book dealer in the California Bay Area, in near fine condition.
Raymond E. Feist (1945 - ) is an American author of fantasy fiction, best known for his series of novels called The Riftwar Cycle, this being the finale of that series. As stated on the dust jacket, "This thrilling finale is high fantasy at its very best -- alive with enchantment, romance, and the heady clash of steel on steel."
Bernhardt Wall in Miniature
Worcester, MA: Robert C. Bradbury, 2007. 31 pp. Approximately 2 1/2 x 3". LIMITED EDITION of 45 copies. Blue cloth over boards with pictorial paper label on upper cover, marbled endpapers, letterpress, three mounted illustrations, in fine condition.
Bernhardt Wall (1872 - 1956) was an American historian and lithographic illustrator. He was known as the "Postcard King" as he designed more than 5,000 comic cards. He worked with a variety of publishers over his career and specialized in famous people and historical events. Each copy of the regular edition is illustrated with three original miniature etchings by Bernhardt Wall, at least one of which is an illustration. Special copies have thematically related illustrations and deluxe copies have additional etchings mounted in matching volumes. This little book includes bibliography/listing of miniature illustrations by Wall. Only 2 library holdings and not in the trade at the moment (5/22). Somewhat scarce.
The Story of Word Pictures
Santa Cruz, CA: The Good Book Press, 1984. 14 pp. Approximately 2 x 2 1/8". LIMITED EDITION of 200 copies, the first fifty are hand-painted and bound in leather, this being #197 of the regular printing. Pale green paper wrap with design and title on cover and spine in fine condition. Green boards with design on front cover, printed on a hand-operated printing press on Peter's handmade paper, one minor foxing spot on rear endpaper, numbered on the colophon, in near fine condition. (Bradbury, Peter and Donna Thomas 11).
Peter and Donna Thomas, well-known book artists, authors, and paper-makers, have been operating their private press since 1976. This is a lovely little book with elfin maidens and wizards and words by the author on how to gather pictures in your own head.
The Library of Alexandria
Ann Arbor, Michigan: Alvey Jones, [2021]. LIMITED EDITION of 2, this being #2. Tan cloth over clamshell box with green spine cloth, lime green acrylic label on cover and green speckled marbling on box edges, enclosed are twenty-six miniature books (scrolls) in various media such as paper and wood (scrolls are non-removable), in fine condition.
Alvey Jones is a painter, printmaker and book artist whose work has been exhibited locally and nationally and is in many public and private collections in the United States and Europe. He has a BFA in illustration and design, an MA in art history and he mostly creates miniature books. This book is an homage to the famed ancient library at Alexandria, Egypt, which ceased to exist by the end of the Third century CE and contains miniature books (scrolls) in several languages.
African Game Trails: An Account of the African Wanderings of an American Hunter-Naturalist
New York: Scribner's, 1910. 585 pp. including index. Red cloth over boards with three-quarter brown leather in a deluxe binding of the first trade edition, front board almost detached with some splitting at the spine of the rear board, gilt lettering and decoration on spine, over wear and rubbing to the cover, top edge gilt, both dates on the title page and copyright match as 1910, seal on the copyright page of Conkey Hammonds, black and white photographs throughout, some water stains to fore-edges but no effect on the text, browning and stains to a few page edges and a tear to the last page of the index, otherwise a nice copy in very good condition.
This book contains the chronicles of President Theodore Roosevelt's African expedition sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution to collect specimens for the Smithsonian's new Natural History Museum. In the name of science, Roosevelt trapped or killed approximately 11,397 animals, met many native people and local leaders and also collected flora and fauna over a 10 month period.