paperback
04 in Transport
[Berkeley, CA]: never mind the press, 1990. Approximately 7 1/4 x 11 1/2". LIMITED EDITION of 30,all of them being #1 with different birdnames, this one being "Coot". Moriki paper covering wheeled box with paper label on cover and spine and cutout on front cover, in fine condition. Four stitched binding books from a series of habitats, printed between 1889 and 1990, on waxed masa paper with linocuts, handmade paper covers by Beth Herrick & Heather MacDuffie of Port & Starboard Press in Mt. Desert, Maine, signed on the box colophon by author, in fine conditon.
Book Artist Alisa Golden is well-known with many institutions holding her innovative material. She received a BFA in Printmaking with High Distinction in 1985 from California College of the Arts (formerly CCAC). The habitat books are subtitled as follows: A Feather is Cut to Resemble a Knife (woods), Filling a Hole (subwoods), People in Pieces (city), and Lite Screened Familiar (subcity). A beautifully created and written collection.
200 Decorative Title-Pages
New York: Dover Publications, 1964. Softcover, First Edition. Large trade paperback, stiff orange pictorial wraps, sunned spine, small puncture to right upper corner of front cover and free endpaper, some creases and tanning.
A lovely book that is concerned with decorative title-pages and covering all periods of the printed book with beautiful and valuable archive of type faces, designs and motifs.
A Book is Made
London: British Federation of Master Printers, (1960). 31 pp. Approximately 1 3/4 x 1 1/8". Limitation not stated. White wrappers with gold lettering on front cover, one black and white illustration, printed by Jarrold & Sons, Norwich. A very good plus copy, somewhat scarce.
The interesting essay of a display organized by the British Federation of Master Printers on books and their publication.
A Letter from John Steinbeck Explaining Why He Could Not Write an Introduction for This Book
New York: Random House, 1964. 8 pp. Approx. 6 1/4 x 9 1/4". Printed orange wrappers with black ink, in original mailing envelope (which has a slight corner crease), both in fine condition. (Goldstone & Payne A41)
Steinbeck's introduction to "The Thinking Dog's Man" by Ted Patrick, was issued separately in advance of the book as a promotional item; no copies were for sale. This copy once belonged to veteran Milwaukee bookseller Harry Schwartz (the mailing envelope bears his address). A fine, fresh copy in the original printed mailing envelope of this very scarce Steinbeck "A" item.
A Miniature Book, Tie, and Suspenders from the estate of Julian Edison
New York: Abrams and The Grolier Club, 2007. Miniature edition and exact facsimile of the larger book "Miniature Books: 4,000 Years of Tiny Treasures" by Bromer & Edison; Maroon silk tie with white/gold/red tiny books from His Favorite Tie Neckwear housed in original plastic box packaging; Navy silk suspenders with red/green/gold books and bronze clasps from Paul Stuart, made in England, all from the estate of Julian Edison, all in fine condition.
Julian Edison (1929 - 2017) was an internationally renowned miniature book collector and co-author with Anne. C Bromer of Bromer Booksellers. Julian was an influential support of Washing University Libraries in St. Louis and the Special Collections there has been renamed the Julian Edison Department of Special Collections.
Assorted Stories: Prose Words
Minneapolis: Coffee House Press, 1987. [20] pp. Approximately 7 1/2 x 7 1/2". LIMITED EDITION of 400 copies, this being #253. Grey handmade Canterbury cover stock with title and illustration on front, paper sewn inside, handset in Ehrhardt type, illustrated by Peter Bailey, signed and numbered on the colophon by the author and artist, in fine conditon.
Travers Rafe Lee Harwood (1939 - 2015), was an English poet, often associatiod with the British Poetry Revival. Except for a brief time in Greece and the United States, he mostly lived in Brighton. He had an involvement with the New York School of poets and was a member of the Poetry Society in Britain. He was a union official and was involved with the Labour Party in its radical years and his political leaning were evident in his poetry in the early 1980s. There is a Rowan Tree planted in his honor in New York City's Central Park as well as a paving stone along the park's Literary Walk. This is an interesting collection of short stories with various titles, such as: Hommage a Beatrix Potter, A Rangoon Creeper, Purple Sheets, Dream Bed, Woolly Rhinoceros, Mosquito Nets, Nautical Business, and Booth's Bird Museum.
Bathtub
[Oakland, CA]: Rebis Press, 1975. Approximately 7 x 7". LIMITED EDITION of 1,000 copies. Illustrated stiff paper covers, stitched binding, illustrated by John Wehrle, offset printing, published on an N.E.A. grant, very slight discoloration, minor crease to back cover, in near fine conditon.
Rebis Press was an influential small press in the San Francisco Bay Area. It was a joint venture of Betsy Davids and Jim Petrillo, who were colleagues at California College of the Arts and Crafts (CCAC). They were collaborators and teachers whose content is highly personal. Bathtub is a treasure -- a wonderful story about a flying bathtub that travels the world. Clever illustrations by John Wehrle place Bathtub in familiar famous art scenes.
Catacomb Years
New York: Published by Berkley Publishing Corporation Distributed by G. P. Putnam's Sons, [1979]. 396 pp. Approximately 5 1/2 x 8 1/4". Advanced copy, uncorrected proof for limited distribution of the first edition. A presentation copy with inscription by Bishop. Orange/yellow card stock outer wrap, corners slightly bumped, black titles on cover page, near fine condition
The prequel to this book, "Little Knowledge" and then this book, "Catacomb Years" are about a theocratic regime repressively dominating the near-future America, until a visiting alien race is also converted, thus beginning the destablization of society. (Clute and Nicholls, "The Encylopedia of Science Fiction", p 126.)
Catching a River: Delta, The Island, and The Dreamfish
[Berkeley, CA]: never mind the press, 1993. Approximately 4 x 6". LIMITED EDITION of 40, this being #35. Outer mesh envelope created to look like a fishing net of sorts with decorative tie ribbons, in fine condition. Three printed paper folding envelopes (made of cotton, flax and wild iris leaves), hand stitched with various themed embelishments such as miniature menu, map, message in a bottle, and fortune teller fish, creatively stitched with artistic cut-outs, in fine conditon.
Book Artist and author Alisa Golden is well-known with many institutions holding her innovative material. She received a BFA in Printmaking with High Distinction in 1985 from California College of the Arts (formerly CCAC). These books were part of an Art-by-Mail subscription, No. 2, in 1993.
God's Wanderers: A Year End Reverie
[Seal Harbor, ME]: High Loft, 1980. [11] pp. Approximately 5 x 7 1/4". LIMITED EDITION of 200 copies. Green stiff paper covers with printed and designed title lable pasted down on front cover, stitched binding, set by hand, printed, & bound at High Loft by August Heckscher, with T.R. Coleman and Karen MacDonald (from the colophon), slight foxing on a few pages and page edges, in near fine conditon.
August Heckscher II (1913 - 1997) was an American author, correspondent, speech writer and biographer as well as an arts consultant in the White House during John F. Kennedy's administration. He was also a NY parks commisioner among other things during his diverse career. He wrote a well-known biography of Woodrow Wilson. This sweet little pamphlet tells a more personal story of how some places can "speak distinctly" and provoke certain feeling and storytelling. Worldcat shows 6 library holdings, including the Grolier Club. (as of 1/20)