Hardcover
Shaker Herbs: An Essay by Cynthia Elyce Rubin with 19th-century Shaker Herb Labels
(Northampton, MA): Catawba Press, 1984. Approximately 2 1/4 x 2 3/4 ". 40 pp. LIMITED EDITION of 155 copies, this being #36. Printed green paper boards with title and decorative border on cover, labels tipped in as frontispiece and throughout the text, in fine condition. (Bradbury, Catawba Press 1)
The only miniature book printed by Barbara Blumenthal of Catawba Press, the essay has been reprinted with the permission of the Museum of American Folk Art in New York City. The essay starts with a short history of the Shaker religion and their industries, which included agriculture, medicine, seeds, and foodstuffs. The latter part of the essay details the medicinal properties of the herbs that the Shakers used in their medicinal recipes. A beautiful little books, interspersed throughout with lovely Shaker herb labels for added interest.
Shakespeare on Paper Mills
Santa Cruz, CA: The Good Book Press, 1988. [64] pp. Approximately 1 9/16 x 1 15/16". LIMITED EDITION of 200 copies, of which the first 100 copies are printed on paper made during Shakespeare's lifetime (from a damaged copy of Digestrum Novum: 1576) and the second 100 copies use Peter Thomas' handmade paper. This is #99 from the first set made. Gilt morocco spine, paper over boards, illustrated by Donna Thomas, very minor wear, in fine condition. (Bradbury, Peter and Donna Thomas, 26; P&D Thomas Bibliography A50).
A beautiful miniature by well-known book artists, authors, and paper-makers Peter and Donna Thomas, this book presents a fascinating study of paper-mills and paper-making, as seen and described in various Shakespeare works, particularly Henry VI, Part 2: Act 4, Scene 7.
Shakespeare's Seasons
(Manteno, IL): Bronte Press, 1998. (28) pp. Approximately 2 3/8 x 3". LIMITED EDITION of 60 copies, this being #32. Marbled paper boards, calligraphy and illustrations by Suzanne Pruchnicki, hand-colored by Suzanne and Paul Pruchnicki, signed by the artist/printer. A fine copy, delightfully done. (Bradbury, Bronte Press #50)
Exceprts from Shakespeare's verses on the happenings of the seasons, all beautifully hand-colored.
Song of Creation
Santa Cruz, CA: Peter & Donna Thomas, 1999. (8) pp. Approximately 2 1/8 x 2 3/4". LIMITED EDITION of 500 copies, this being #14. Cream paper over boards with scene of Yosemite on front label, eight page nested accordion binding depicting a 180 degree panoramic view of Yosemite Valley, in fine condition. (P&D Thomas Bibliography A96)
Peter and Donna Thomas call this "nested accordion pop-up fold book" which they later shortened to just a nested accordion binding. Based on a one-of-a-kind book from 1993 using water-color paintings made while backpacking in the California Sierra Nevada mountains. The background accordion is on green paper with plant-fiber inclusions.
Sonnets I
Levsa - Omszk: Anatoly Konenko, 1994. Approximately 1 1/4 x 1". Design binding by Anatonly Konenko. Brown leather over boards with textured label on cover and spine with matching attached book marker, illustrated endpapers, extra colored illustrations in the rear of the book with a tissue guard, illustrated frontispiece, beautiful gilt gauffered top edge, colorful illustrated dust jacket, all in fine condition. An exquisitely beautiful little package.
Miniature artisan Anatoly Konenko is an amazing miniaturist who creates fantastic mini art with extensive accomplishments. His work is coveted by book and miniaturist collectors all over the world, and many of his pieces are on display in museums. One of his works is the world's smallest manicure set that fits into the two halves of a poppy seed, with all items made of gold.
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.
The Cask of Amontillado
Boston: Anne & David Bromer, 1981. [21] pp. approx. 2 x 2 5/8". LIMITED EDITION of 150 copies, thirty-five of which are deluxe. Apart from the deluxe bindings printed by the Thistle Bindery which have a black inlaid morocco binding with box, this is a unique deluxe A/P edition in a custom Roland Meuter binding with pink leather, marbled aluminum covers and gilt top edge gauffered. Colored illustrations, signed by the illustrator on the colophon, housed in a wooden box with pink leather accents, in fine condition. (Bradbury, Bromer 7)
When Linnea Gentry moved her successful Amaranth Press from San Francisco to Santa Fe in 1980, she brought an exceptional sense of quality and a reputation as one of the Bay area’s most talented book artists. Gentry started her career as a designer at the EP Dutton firm in New York. In San Francisco she camped on the doorstep of the much-lauded Grabhorn Press, until she was taken on as a typesetting apprentice. She later launched her Amaranth Press where she turned out fine letterpress work for a discriminating clientele. In the mid-1970s she helped found and became production manager of Fine Print, an international journal of the book arts.
Her introduction to New Mexico came during childhood visits to her aunt, Helen Gentry, a renowned book designer and publisher who lived part-time in Santa Fe during the 1930s and 1940s and settled there after 1965. Colored by the elder Gentry’s circle of artist friends, the visits made a deep impression and influenced the Amaranth’s brief stay in Santa Fe before Gentry closed the press in 1983. (privatepress.org)
The binder, Roland Meuter, maintains an atelier in Ascona, Switzerland, where he continues to produce imaginatively designed bindings that attract considerable attention.
The Compleat Angler, or the Contemplative Man's Recreation, being a discourse of rivers, fish-ponds, fish and fishing
London: Henry Frowde, ca 1900. Approximately 1 1/4 x 2". 588 pp. Rare in Miniature Book format. Black leather over boards with gilt title in panel on spine, gilt top edge, frontispiece with no tissue guard and minor tear, Oxford University Press Warehouse Amen Corner E.C., based on fifth edition on India paper, final page separated but still included, in very good+ condition. (Welsh 7030, Bondy p. 117, Coigney 204)
Subtitled "The Contemplative Man's Recreation, Being a Discourse of Rivers, Fishponds, Fish and Fishing, not unworthy the Perusal of most Anglers." The Compleat Angler is a practical guide to the art of angling, or fishing; however, it also has political and historical underpinnings. What sets "The Compleat Angler" apart from other practical handbooks and puts it firmly in the realm of literature is its delightful style that is technically polished and charming to read and its abundance of insight into human nature.
The Exquisitry of William Lewis Washburn
New Britain, CT: REM Miniatures, 1999. (44) pp. Approximately 2 3/4 x 2 1/4". LIMITED EDITION of 99 copies, this being #28. Black buckram, printed paper label on upper cover, illustrated, unpaginated, slide-on paper sleeve, all enclosed in a decorated box with printed label. Signed presentation from the Massmanns on second free fly. A very fine copy; prospectus laid in. (Bradbury, REM, 100)
A tribute to William Lewis Washburn, publisher of miniature books and broadsides, with a short-title list of all his publications.
The Friar of Rubygill
n.p.: The Cherub Press, 1987. (6) pp. Approximately 2 3/4 x 2 3/8". LIMITED EDITION of 65 copies. Decorated handmade paper over stiff wrappers, printed paper lable on front cover, Hand-colored frontis by Kim Butcher. A fine copy, attractively printed.
Cherub Press is the publisher of the journal KABBALAH and many books and editions of Jewish mystical literature. This particular little story is an excerpt from Thomas L. Peacock's novel, "Maid Marion" (1822).