Hardcover
Passion Play
New York: St. Martin's Press, 1979. 271 pp. First Edition. Approximately 6 1/2 x 9 1/4". Illustrated dust jacket in fine condition. Black cloth 1/4 bound over red boards, signed on front free endpaper, some foxing to top edges, otherwise in near fine condition.
From the dust jacket: "Passion Play bears the stamp of Jerzy Kosinski's power and eloquence, heightened by an unusual tenderness and humanity. Fabian is the author's most romantic, most vulnerable hero - but also his most sexually driven - making Passion Play an indelible narrative of love and loss." Also from the dust jacket: "He seeks out women whom he met as girls, in whose minds he planted a seed of himself in preparation for a future harvest of seduction". A predator or a tender person? You'll have to read it to find out.
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.
Pax in Any Language Spells U.N.
Newport Beach, CA: Perky Co., 1984. Approximately 2 1/2 x 3 ". 27 pp. LIMITED EDITION of 200 copies, this being #101. Blue cloth over boards with gilt title and author on cover, letterpress by Castle Press, tipped-in flag reproduction, color illustrations, in fine condition. (Bradbury, Perky Co. 1)
From the colophon, "This book printed in the year of the 1984 California Olympics". It is the only book listed as being issued by this press, according to Bradbury. It is a sweet little patriotic book with a history of the United Nations and what it stands for.
Peer Gynt
London: George G. Harrap & Co., Ltd., 1936. First trade edition. Brown cloth over boards, sharp gilt title and decorations to cover and spine, some edge wear, illustrated endpapers, top edge stained with minor foxing, twelve color plates with captioned tissue guards intact, numerous other small illustrations throughout, in very good condition.
Peer Gynt, by Henrik Johan Ibsen (1828 - 1906) was written in 1867. Born in Norway, Ibsen was a major 19th-century playwright, theatre director, and poet. He is often referred to as "the father of realism" and is one of the founders of Modernism in theatre. He is the most frequently performed dramatist in the world after Shakespeare. Peer Gynt is a Norwegian fairy tale on which the play is loosely based, and several of the characters are modelled after Ibsen's own family, notably his parents. Peer Gynt has also been described as the story of a life based on procrastination and avoidance. Brockett and Hildy (2003, 391).
Pensées Genevoises
Geneva: Andre Kundig, 1963. 96 pp. Approximately 1 x 1 1/2". Yellow simulated leather wraps with red lettering to cover, in the French language, bookplate of E. Helene Sherman pasted-down to inside front cover, in fine condition.
Translation of title is Geneva thoughts, this sweet little book contains philosophical thoughts, proverbs, sayings, and quotes such as, "you whoever has a beautiful wife don't hold a handsome valet near her if you don't want him to be her darling" or "willingly people who are so proud and colorful, when they find resistance, appease their fury." E. Helene Sherman, whose bookplate is in the front of this book, was an American artist specializing in calligraphy and book illumination. Her artwork includes altarpieces for the National Cathedral in Washing, D.C. and Saint Patrick's Cathedral in New York City. Sherman illustrated many miniature books for REM Miniatures and Kurbel Books.
Peter Rabbit Pop-up
Agoura Hills, CA: Barbara J. Raheb, 1993. (10) pp. Approximately 1 1/8 x 1". LIMITED EDITION of 150 copies, this being #13. Green pyroxylin cover with gilt to cover and spine, marbled endpapers, hand-colored illustrations on every page, all pop-ups functional, signed by the publisher, in fine condition. (Bradbury, Barbara J. Raheb, 444)
A classic children's tale of Peter Rabbit, running away from Mr. McGregor and losing his jacket along the way. First published privately in 1901, this is a scarce and beautiful miniature edition.
Poems
Austin, TX: Amistad Press, 1977. (40) pp. Approximately 1 x 1 3/8". LIMITED EDITION of 75, this being #18. Faux blue leather over boards with gilt bird decorations on cover and gilt initials of publisher on spine, illustrated throughout, fine condition. (Bradbury, Amistad Press 14)
A lovely book, both inside and out, with 8 poems by Martha D. Fletcher. According to the intro, Fletcher was from Alabama and taught various school levels, including some college. She is inspired by nature and infuses her poems with her love of nature and humankind. The author and her husband wish all who read her poems "happiness in life and thought".
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".
Portsmouth Plaza. The Cradle of San Francisco.
San Francisco: John Henry Nash, 1932. 464 pp. Approximately 7 1/2 x 10 3/4". First Edition. One of 1,000 unnumbered copies. Slipcase in fair condition with case cracked, tape repairs, original paper lable on spine; Vellum-backed marbled boards, some wear to board edges, gilt lettering on vellum, which is slightly dirty and peeling in a few places, interior is bright with no foxing, errata slip tipped in at rear, in very good+ condition.
A beautiful, privately printed book about the history of San Francisco with profuse illustrations by William Wilke (1879-1958), a San Francisco native. The author, Catherine Coffin Phillips (1874-1942) was an author as well as a printer, book collector and historian.
Prelude to Space
[New York]: Gnome Press, Inc., 1954. 191 pp. 5 1/2 x 8"; First American edition, first printing; Illustrated dust jacket by EMSH with some slight rubbing, original price of $2.50 intact, in very good condition; Blue boards with red lettering on spine, some foxing to page edges, age toning of paper throughout, some stains to front cover, a lovely copy in very good condition.
Sir Arthur Charles Clarke (1917 - 2008) was a British science fiction writer, among other things . Best known for his screenplay for 2001: A Space Odyssey, he was a lifelong advocate of space travel.