hardcover
P.T. Barnum's Circus Museum and Menagerie
New York: White & Allen, 1888. (64) pp. Approximately 10 1/2 x 12 1/2". 1st edition. Color lithographed paper over boards, beautifully illustrated with full page color plates and many black and white illustrations, beautiful lithography by G.H. Buek & Co., some edge wear and light toning, one page has slight tear at the bottom, light soiling to margins of some pages, otherwise, very good condition.
Phineas Taylor Barnum, usually referred to as P.T. Barnum (1810 - 1891) was an American showman, politician, author, publisher, philanthropist and businessman. He said of himself, however, "I am a showman by profession...and all the gilding shall make nothing else of me." (Kunhardt 1995). Told in the form of a story for children, this stunning and scarce book showcases many of the acts, animals, and curiosities that appeared in Barnum's circus, such as Jumbo the Elephant, Che-Mah the Dwarf, and many other exotic animals.
Paisley American Folk
Wigtown, Scotland: The Gleniffer Press, 2000. 65 pp. Approx. 1 1/2 x 2". LIMITED EDITION of 260 copies, this being #39. Lovat green linson boards, perfect bound, copper gilt title and illustration on cover and copper gilt author on spine, special endpapers, original packaging, hand numbered on the colophon, in fine condition.
This book tells some stories of immigrants moving from Paisley, Scotland for a better life in America. Dr. Sylvia Clark is a noted local historian, writer and scholar who resides and Paisley.
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.
Perfumed Garden
Lake City, CO: Ravenpress, 2002. [24] pp. (Box) Approximately 1 1/2 x 3 x 2". LIMITED EDITION of 20 copies, this being #17. Outer box is highly decorative carved stone with brass hinge, printed bottom liner, in fine condition; Marbled paper over boards with printed title label on front cover, printed as leaves and pasted to form pages, and pasted to endpapers to mount in marbled boards without spine, copies of watercolor illustrations, numbered and signed on the colophon by the publisher, in fine condition.
From page 1: "The Perfumed Garden by Sheikh Zefzawi is likely the most famous of the Arab love manuals. This miniature book is based on Nafzawi's descriptions of the eleven basic lovemaking postures". Alicia Bailey began publishing under the Ravenpress imprint in 1996. Ravenpress publications are held in private, public and special collections worldwide. Bailey thinks of the artists' book works she creates as interactive sculptures realized in the form of the book. She works in a wide variety of materials, including those not often associated with the book form, thus necessitating structural redesign and innovations.
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".