New Arrivals
A to Z in Filigree
San Rafael, CA: Feathered Serpent Press, 1982. (32 pp). Approximately 3/4 x 1/2". LIMITED EDITION of 295 copies, this being #51. Red leather with gilt designs on covers, all edges gilt, marbled endpapers, miniature bookplate of Grace Broecker (a major collector of miniature books), miniature bookplate of Robert E. Massmann (publisher of books at REM Miniatures), a fine copy. (Bradbury, Feathered Serpent Press, 3)
A beautiful book, both inside and out. Contains filigree alphabet letters and two bookplates of people well-known in the miniature book trade.
Munkássakk (Worker's Chess)
Budapest, Hungary: Alföldi Nyomda, 1984. 160 pp. Approximately 1 3/4 x 2 1/2". Text in Hungarian. LIMITED EDITION of 400 copies, this being #2. Light brown leather over boards, Title in black on cover with chess board and knight piece illustration, seven black and white photographs, many chess diagrams, slight wear to cover, otherwise in near fine condition.
One of the best known printing houses in Budapest for the last 40 years, the Alföldi Printing House prints both large books and miniatures for both foreign and domestic markets. Their talent, inventiveness, and artistic ability were noted by Louis Bondy in his miniature book reference (p. 176).
Medea: Freely adapted from the Medea of Euripides
New York: Random House, 1946. 107 pp. Approximately 6 x 9 1/2". First Edition, first printing. Dust jacket has some darkening to the spine and sun fading on both covers, some chipped and rough edges with a missing small piece at the top of the spine, otherwise in very good condition; Orange paper over black cloth boards,copper lettering crisp on spine, Paul Elder & Co. Bookstore label on rear pastedown endpaper, first printing indicated by the missing word "least" on line 21 of p. 99, in near fine condition.
Medea is a Greek play by Euripides (first produced in 431 BC) that poet Robinson Jeffers has modernized. For instance, he replaces the Greek chorus by three women who represent women in their youth, middle age, and elder years. The play centers around a deeply flawed but strong and powerful heroine with themes of racism, sexism, political power, and justice. Robinson Jeffers (1887 - 1962) was an American poet best known for his work about the central California coast.
Christmas in the Olde Coaching Days
[Manteno, IL]: Bronte Press, 1989. Approximately 2 3/4 x 2 1/8", oblong. (22) pp. First Edition. LIMITED EDITION of 75 copies, this being #61. Decorated paper boards with printed labels, letterpress, hand-colored illustrations by the author, signed and numbered on the colophon by Pruchnicki, in fine condition. (Bradbury, Bronte Press 21)
Printing since 1981, Bronte Press miniatures are notable in that all of the illustrations are original works and are often hand-colored. This beautiful miniature tells a charming story of a coachman's adventures during the Christmas season.
The Pioneer History of Meigs County
Columbus, OH: Berlin Print Co., 1908. Approximately 5 1/2 x 8". Black cloth over boards, gilt lettering on cover and spine although very faded on spine, some ink and wear to front cover, overall edge wear and rubbing, ink writing on front free endpaper, frontispiece, many black and white plates, index, a few notes and fingerprints throughout some foxing, otherwise in very good condition.
Stillman Carter Larkin (1808 - 1891) was a member of the Meigs County Pioneer Society and they worked to collect and keep the history and stories of the early pioneer settlers of Meigs County, Ohio. With an excellent index, you can find biographies, name, photos of graveyards and homesteads, along with fascinating stories of these early settlers.
Licence Renewed
London: Jonathan Cape, 1981. Approximately 5 1/4 x 8". Pictorial jacket is in near fine condition, with only a tiny bit of wear at the bottom of the spine, not price-clipped. Black cloth over boards with crisp gilt lettering on spine, slight bumping to spine bottom, some slight foxing to page edges, otherwise in near-fine condition. Overall, a lovely copy of this first edition of the first James Bond continuation novel by John Gardner.
John Edmund Gardner (1926 - 2007), was a British novelist who not only wrote fourteen original James Bond novels, but also wrote the novel versions of two Bond films. The exciting plot of this book, from the jacket, involves the deranged Dr. Anton Murik, a terrorist named Franco, and a beautiful woman, of course, named Lavender Peacock.
Double O Seven. James Bond. A Report.
London: Neville Spearman, Holland Press, 1964. 160 pp. Approx. 5 1/2 x 8 1/2". Dust Jacket in fine condition. Black cloth over boards with crisp and bright silver lettering lettering on spine, SIGNED and INSCRIBED on the front free endpaper to Raymond Toole-Stott (an MBE, a well-known collector of circus books and bibliographer, as well as a personal friend of Somerset Maugham), very minor foxing to top edges, otherwise in near-fine condition.
Oswald Frederick Snelling (1916 - 2001) was a British author, best known for this book, the only analysis of the James Bond series that was personally authorized by Ian Fleming. Snelling met Fleming while working at Sotheby's Rare Book Department. Selling over a million copies, Double O Seven was published in several languages and was published in the American market in 1965.
Masses of St. Francis of Assisi and of St. Anne, Facsimile
Yorktown Heights, NY: Belser Incorporated, Publishers, 1988. 63 pp. Also described as Vat. Lat 11254 - Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, this is a facsimile copy of the 16th century work by an unknown artist. Summary book approximately 4 1/8 x 5 3/4", 63 pages. First limited and numbered edition for the English-speaking market of 1000 copies, this being #101. Miniature book with leather binding and gilt decorations on the cover, measuring 1 x 1 1/2", 30 pages, is an exact reproduction of the original in terms of color/size/extent, housed in a silver case with necklace, all original packaging intact, all in fine condition.
The miniature book itself is very charming. It contains beautiful color pictures and ornamental designs as well as the masses by St. Francis of Assisi and St. Anne. St. Francis was best known for being humble and living a life close to that of Jesus Christ and the "F" on the outer locket is a tribute to his work. St. Anne was the mother of Mary and grandmother of Jesus Christ and the "A" on the outer locket is a tribute to her work. The summary book was written by Dr. Robert Moynihan, a veteran Vatican analyst and the founder and editor-in-chief of "Inside the Vatican" magazine. A beautifully packaged and meaningful collection, showing only 1 holding for the English version in Worldcat.
Adlai: The Wit and Wisdom of Adlai Ewing Stevenson
Sausalito, CA: Castle Baird Press, 1993. 32 pp. Approximately 2 x 2 1/2 ". LIMITED EDITION of 75 copies, this being #8. Printed paper boards with design and lettering by Susan Acker and Mary McDermott at the Feathered Serpent Press, printed endpapers with the United Nations emblem repeated, US Postage stamp of Adlai Stevenson tipped in at front, Doonesbury cartoon by Gary Trudeau folded in, miniature bookplate of well-known scholar and miniature book collector Kalman Levitan (also the founder and first president of the Miniature Book Society) on front paste-down endpaper, signed by both the author and publishers, in fine condition. (Bradbury, Castle Baird 3)
A brief but compassionate bio about Adlai Stevenson II (1900 - 1965), a Governor of Illinois, a U.S. Presidential Candidate, and a U.N. Ambassador. levitan
Poems of Rudyard Kipling
(Pettigrew, AR): Burt Randle, 1940. (34 pp). Approximately 1/2 x 3/8". LIMITED EDITION of unknown quantity, usually done in 50 - 80 copies at most. Green leather cover which is rubbed and has a few spots on the rear cover, paper label on front cover, wire clasp. A very good copy, scarce. (Bradbury, Burt Randle, 5)
The miniature books published by Burt Randle were usually "photographic reproductions of his [Randle's] very small handwriting" according to Bradbury. This is a very tiny collection of some of Kipling's inspirational poetry. "Lest we forget".