New Arrivals
Birds in Paradise (or) Life Upon a Japanese Screen
Los Angeles, CA: The Paper Source Museum & Gallery, 1984. Approximately 21 x 17", oblong. LIMITED EDITION of 100 copies, this being #36. Broadside is a serigraph image over text, signed and numbered in pencil by the artist, in fine condition.
Joseph D'Ambrosio (1934 -2009) was an American artist and binder. He left a career in engineering to pursue a new career in making artist’s books. He wrote, set type, printed designs, did the artwork and the binding. His books were considered works of art and were signed and numbered similar to limited edition fine art prints. D’Ambrosio also produced many broadside posters on fine papers that were issued in conjunction with his book projects and for special events. This broadside from 1984 is a promotional work for his book of the same title.
D'Ambrosio: The Book as an Art Form
Gualala, CA: North Light Gallery, 1983. Approximately 17 x 21". LIMITED EDITION of 100 copies, this being #60. Broadside is a serigraph image with text, signed and numbered in pencil by the artist, in fine condition.
Joseph D'Ambrosio (1934 -2009) was an American artist and binder. He left a career in engineering to pursue a new career in making artist’s books. He wrote, set type, printed designs, did the artwork and the binding. His books were considered works of art and were signed and numbered similar to limited edition fine art prints. D’Ambrosio also produced many broadside posters on fine papers that were issued in conjunction with his book projects and for special events. This broadside from 1983 is a promotional work for his book of the same title.
Figbash Acrobate
Dallas, TX: Aredian Press, 2022. Approximately 2 x 2 1/2 x 3 1/4". LIMITED EDITION of 5 copies, this being #3. Jacob's Ladder design binding by Patrice Miller of Aredian Press. Decorated heavy boards, Edward Gorey House print, tissue, poly strapping, and ribbon, numbered and signed on the colophon, in fine condition. The black bookcloth covered enclosure is candy-box styled with a lift-off lide and a hot pink laval lining, in fine condition.
Another beautifully designed and original book by Patrice Miller, constructed from an Edward Gorey House print binding design, text and illustrations and commissioned by The Edward Gorey Charitable Trust. Patrice Miller's work has found its way to private and university collections, in the states and abroad. Human foibles, nature’s panoply, and artistic cleverness cannot help but inform future work. She continues to bind, and rebind, in Dallas, Texas.
Little Tree
Dallas, TX: Aredian Press, 2022. Approximately 2 x 3". LIMITED EDITION of 10 copies, this being #6. Design binding by Patrice Miller of Aredian Press, red and gold patterned paper over boards with paper label on removable band, red felt spine, book is not rectangular - rather top right edge is slanted in, Christmas tree inside opens up, poem inside enclosed in its own little section, signed and numbered by the publisher on the colophon, in fine condition.
Lovely poem by e.e. cummings (1894 - 1962) about how cherished a Christmas tree is. Patrice Miller's work has found its way to private and university collections, in the states and abroad. Human foibles, nature’s panoply, and artistic cleverness cannot help but inform future work. She continues to bind, and rebind, in Dallas, Texas.
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."
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.
Medieval Labours
Sorbie, Scotland: Final Score, 2007. Approx. 2 x 2 5/8". LIMITED EDITION of 25 copies, this being #3. Brown cloth over boards with gilt-bordered paste-down label on cover, each copy individually illustrated using egg tempura paint on vellum with gold, signed on the colophon by both authors, in fine condition.
This beautiful book contains 13 illuminated illustrations accompanying each month of the year plus the title page. The text describes the work to be completed for each month in medieval times. For example, January described bread baking with a medieval recipe, while June talks of estate management. Only one OCLC holding at this time, from the collection of Muriel Underwood - a US Marine, member of the Caxton Club, longtime member of the Miniature Book Society and miniature book publisher herself.
Springtime a la Carte, Mamon and Archer, Last Leaf
Hyattsville, MD: Rebecca Press, 1988. 3 volumes, each 2 x 2 9/16". Textured homemade paper over boards (mauve, purple, dark green), beautiful endpapers, metallic slipcase, title on cover and spine, photocomposed, small illustrations, handsomely bound by Donald Brady, illustrated by Edith Caro, Limited edition of 200 copies, each volume numbered and signed by publisher Rebecca Bingham, in fine condition. (Bradbury, Rebecca Press 17-19)
Rebecca Saady Bingham has been designing and publishing miniature books since 1983. Her beautiful books are best known for their artistic details in the illustrations and bindings. She has complete control over the whole process, from choice of subject, to book design and types of materials used. These delightful books tell three short stories by O. Henry, a pseudonym of William Sydney Porter (1962 - 1910), an American author whose tales romanticize the commonplace, often set in New York City.
Wallace Stegner: A Descriptive Bibliography
Lewiston, ID: Confluence Press, Inc., 1990. First Edition. No dust jacket, as issued. Green cloth over boards with crisp gilt design on cover and lettering on spine, signed by Stegner and the author on the title page, limited to 1,000 copies, no edge wear and looks unread, really minor foxing to top page edges, otherwise in near fine condition.
Wallace Earle Stegner (1909 - 1993) was an American novelist and short story writer. He won a Pulitzer Prize in 1972 for "Angle of Repose" and the National Book Award for "The Spectator Bird" in 1977. He won numerous other awards and his legacy lives on in many parts of the United States and Canada, with a Stegner Fellowship program in creative writing at Stanford University being one of the highlights. This is a must-have for any Stegner collector.
To Rule the Night
Philadelphia & New York: A. J. Holman Company, 1973. 5 3/4 x 8 1/2"; First Edition, Second Printing. Photographic dust jacket has some chips and creases, particularly at the spine extremities, a tear on the back cover which has been clumsily taped, in good condition. Black cloth over boards with gilt title on spine, gift inscription on front free endpaper and previous owner's signature on verso of half-title page which was signed by the Jim Irwin, foxing to page edges, otherwise in very good condition.
James Benson Irwin (1930 - 1991) was an American astronaut, US Air Force pilot, aeronautical engineer and test pilot who served as the Apollo 15 Lunar Module pilot. He was the eighth person to walk on the moon. This autobiographical story tells of Jim's boyhood, his marriage, his career, his voyage on Apollo 15 and his spiritual life, which is weaved throughout.