Hardcover
The Forgotten Village: Life in a Mexican Village
New York: Viking Press, 1941. 143 pp. Approximately 7 x 10". First Edition with the words "First Published in May 1941" on copyright page. Coarse buckram cloth over boards with bright green illustration on front cover, top edges stained green, slight toning of paste-down endpapers, near fine condition. Very good pictorial dust jacket, a few short closed tears, original price of $2.50 present, some chipping and loss, some toning to back cover. (Goldstone & Payne A14a)
From the front dust jacket flap, "This is a story of the little pueblo of Santiago on the skirts of a hill in the mountains of Mexico. And this is the story of the boy Juan Diego and of his family and of his people, who live in the long moment when the past slips reluctantly into the future." Photographs from the motion picture throughout.
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).
The Good Time Primer
Boston: Educational Publishing Co., 1898. Hardcover, 5 1/2 x 7". 147 pp. Red cloth spine wrap with pictorial paste-down cover, some edge wear and corner bumping, some loss of paste-down on the back cover, stains to paste-down endpapers, previous owner's gift inscription to ffep, color and b/w illustrations throughout, good + condition. Currently, no other copies in the trade. American Primers, 534.
A lovely children's primer with repetitive phrases for teaching and nature lessons designed to "stimulate the powers of observation." The legend of Hiawatha is included to appeal to pupils and encourage them to express their ideas. The author has also included character-building stories intended to "teach perserverance, obedience, truthfulness, and love."
The Griffin
San Diego, CA: Ash Ranch Press, 1989. 36 pp. Approximately 2 7/16 x 2 7/16". LIMITED EDITION of 126 copies, this being #34. Red leather over boards, blind stamped griffin design on cover with gilt title on spine, letterpress, marbled endpapers, illustrations throughout, signed on the colophon by the publisher, in fine condition. (Bradbury, Ash Ranch Press #14)
The subtitle of the book says, "The Griffin. A note on a fabulous creatures rise from a guardian of gold to a symbol of printing." A lovely little history with illustrations about the griffin symbol.
The Haploids
New York: Rinehart & Co., 1952. 248 pp. Approximately 5 1/4 x 7 3/4". First edition. Signed/inscribed by the author to "Loren Lewis, a good friend who I have found has an eye for the same sort of thing I have...Thanks. Jerry Sohl." Illustrated dust jacket with slight wear and some creases and minor chipping in very good + condition, not price-clipped; Black cloth over boards with title and design in color on spine, minor tanning, in near fine condition.
Jerry Sohl (1913 - 2002), was an American science fiction author who also wrote television scripts for such series as The Twilight Zone, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Outer Limits and the original Star Trek series. This thrilling book is about the plot to exterminate the entire male population of the world. A classic in the genre.
The Immortal Lovers: Heloise and Abelard
Doubleday 1960 first hardcover printing. Book is tight and square. Dust jacket is bright, with minimal edge wear and corner bumping, small stain on spine. Interior is clean, no bookstore stamps or writing. Age toning is present as is common in books of this vintage. According to the jacket "This is a truly stirring recreation of two of history's most heroic and romantic figures."
The Ingoldsby Legends, or Mirth & Marvels
London: J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd., 1955. 638 pp.. Approximately 5 x 7 1/4". Dust jacket has slight sunning to spine and minor chipping to the top edge of spine, price clipped, otherwise very good. Green cloth over boards with gilt-decorated illustration and lettering on spine, colour frontispiece, green tint to top edge, previous owner's name on ffep. A near fine copy.
Beautifully illustrated by Arthur Rackham throughout, this book is a collection of legends, myths, poetry and ghost stories written by an English clergyman naned Richard Harris Barham under the penname of Thomas Igoldsby. First printed in this edition 1898; this is a later printing. The best-known poem of the collection is the Jackdaw of Rheims about a jackdaw who steals a cardinal's ring and is made a saint.
The Jumblies
(Shaker Heights, OH): Wind & Harlot, 1991. (38 pp.) 2 7/8 x 2 1/4"; LIMITED EDITION of 74 copies, this being # 17. Transluscent paper protecting pale green boards with printed title label on spine, marbled endpapers, 7 hand-colored illustrations by Bonnie Baris, printed on handmade Hayle paper from Barcham Green in England, in fine condition.
A charming little poem, and rather fanciful as well, about some people traveling on the sea in a sieve to the land of the jumblies. (Bradbury, Wind & Harlot, 10)
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.
The Love Affairs of an Old Maid
Harper & Brothers 1899 hardcover in good condition. No dust jacket. Book has some edge wear and corner bumping, loose hinge in front and back but no loose pages, spine is slightly frayed on ends. Interior is clean, no bookstore stamps but previous owner's name stamp is on front endpage. Age toning is present as is common in books of this vintage. Blue-gray cloth-covered boards with angel figure illustrated in silver. Shield depicts a cat, a tea kettle, an a tea cup. Non-fiction, memoir, or at least it claims to be. Sexuality.