Hardcover
Two Bear Cubs
California: Yosemite Association, 1997. (36) pp. Approximately 10 x 10 3/4". First Limited Edition of 200 numbered and 26 lettered copies, this being #13. SIGNED by both author and illustrator. Pictorial boards with full color illustrations throughout. Extra illustration for limited edition only, not in trade copies. Fine in fine dust jacket in fine slipcase.
Authentic Southern Sierra Miwok Indian legend a retold by the author with information about the tribe. Beautifully done.
Up 65 Years to Larchmont
Los Angeles: Bela Blau, 1970. 31 pp. Approximately 1 3/16 x 1 5/8". Brown-red leather over boards with gilt title on cover and gilt publisher on spine, decorative endpapers, frontispiece, letterpress and gilt leather by Bela Blau, in near fine condition. (Bradbury, Dawson 37)
A lovely little book about the various locations over the years of Dawson's Book Shop in the Los Angeles area, known as "one of the six renaissance miniature book publishers in the U.S. during the early 1960s." (Bradbury) Bela Blau, along with his wife Mariana, came to the U.S. from Hungary in 1956 and established a bindery business. An amazing award winning binder, his leather work and attention to detail is remarkable.
Usher's Passing
New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1984. 401 pp. Approximately 6 1/4 x 9 1/4". First edition, first printing. Illustrated jacket in fine condition. Black cloth 1/4 bound over red boards, gilt title on spine, signed by author on title page, in near fine condition.
Inspired by Edgar Allan poe's story "Fall of the House of Usher", this book covers the idea of what would have happened if all of the Usher's hadn't died. Set in North Carolina, present day, five generations of Usher's tell their story.
Vincent in Arles: Four Letters to Theo
Velp, Netherlands: Catharijne Press, 2003. Approximately 1 7/8 x 2 1/2 ". 59 pp. DELUXE LIMITED EDITION of 20 copies (I - XX), this being #IV. Blue cloth slipcase containing a 5 euro coin showing van Gogh's portrait made up of the letters of his name; the coin was issued in 2003 by the Royal Dutch Mint in honor of the 150th birthday of Vincent van Gogh (1853 - 1890). Tan cloth over boards, blue endpapers, tipped in frontispiece and tipped in illustrations (color plates), printed in 6 point Swift font, in fine condition.
According to the publisher's introduction, "This miniature book is a tribute to the remarkable artist, reviled during his life, celebrated after his death." Even though Van Gogh wrote over 200 letters while staying in Arles, these 4 letters to his brother Theo give us some insight into his thought processes during this zenith of his career.
Vintage Miniature Bookends
Vintage Miniature bookends, ca 1960's. Painted white wood, felt underneath. One has a ceramic deer and the other one is an elephant. Some minor wear, otherwise in excellent condition.
Visions of Barsoom: 100 Years of John Carter (TM)
[Pasadena, CA]: Robert B. Zeuschner, 2012. 12 1/2 x 18". First edition. Outer orange envelope, slightly creased and marked, title and illustration in black, signed by artist Thomas Yeates, in very good + condition. Inside the envelope are 25 lithographed images printed on slick paper, some of them quite rare, celebrating Edgar Rice Burroughs' famed swordsman who traveled from Earth to Mars, sizes of image vary, 3 plates are signed by artist Thomas Yeates, stiff cardboard keeps plates in place, one page folded pamphlet describes the production and plates in detail, signed by the compiler, all in fine condition.
This portfolio was published for the Edgar Rice Burroughs convention in Woodland Hills, California. The compiler, Robert Zeuschner) has published a scholarly book on Burroughs and has been the assistant editor of the Burroughs Bulletin. Most of the original images are the property of Edgar Rice Burrous, Inc. The plates range from 1913 to 2011. The art on the envelope is by Thomas Yeates and appears on page 69 of the combined volume, "John Carter of Mars", Fall River Press, 2009. It depicts a scene found in chapter 10 of A Princess of Mars: "Springing upward, I struck him full in the face as he turned at my warning cry, and then as he drew his short-sword I drew mine and sprang up again upon his breast, hooking one leg over the butt of his pistol and grasping one of his huge tusks with my left hand while I delivered blow after blow upon his enormous chest." (from the pamphlet inside)
Wallace Stegner: A Descriptive Bibliography
Lewiston, ID: Confluence Press, Inc., 1990. First Edition. No dust jacket, as issued. Green cloth over boards with crisp gilt design on cover and lettering on spine, signed by Stegner and the author on the title page, limited to 1,000 copies, no edge wear and looks unread, really minor foxing to top page edges, otherwise in near fine condition.
Wallace Earle Stegner (1909 - 1993) was an American novelist and short story writer. He won a Pulitzer Prize in 1972 for "Angle of Repose" and the National Book Award for "The Spectator Bird" in 1977. He won numerous other awards and his legacy lives on in many parts of the United States and Canada, with a Stegner Fellowship program in creative writing at Stanford University being one of the highlights. This is a must-have for any Stegner collector.
War in Cuba or the Great Struggle for Freedom
Chicago: The Dominion Company, 1896. 656 pp. 6 1/2 x 8 1/2"; Grey cloth over boards with pictoral stamped illustration and lettering on cover and spine, some lettering in gilt, minor corner bumping, torn top spine head, marbled edges, floral patterened endpapers, many black and white engravings and phototype engravings throughout, in very good + condition.
A comprehensive book on the struggle for Cuba to become independent from Spanish dominion. Part I talks of the great insurrection. Part II contains the complete history of Cuba, beginning from its discovery by Columbus to the present time. Part III gives a more picturesque description of the lush and tropical Cuba along with the manners, customs, and characteristics of the Cubans. A complex, at times barbarous look at the "Queen of the Antilles".
Watchers
New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 2007. 352 pp. Approximately 6 1/2 x 9 1/2". Illustrated jacket in very good condition with some rubbing, a tiny tear to the top of the back cover, some minor edgewear, not price clipped. Black paper over boards with black cloth spine that has crisp gilt lettering, full number line from 1 to 10, signed on the half-title page "To Diane -- Woof! Arf! Wuf-wuf!. Woooooof. Dean Koontz. 2/19/98." the Diane in this case refers to Diane Peterson, also known as "The Book Lady" - a well-known antiquarian book dealer in the California Bay Area, in fine condition.
Dean Ray Koontz (1945 - ) is an American author who writes primarily suspense thrillers with elements of horror, fantasy, science fiction, and mystery. He has sold over 450 million copies of his books. This story is credited as being one of the better known books to have established him as a best-selling author. It was loosely adapted into film in 1988 starring Corey Haim, Michael Ironside, Barbara Williams and Lala Sloatman.
Water
New Britain, CT: REM Miniatures, 2003. 2 1/4 x 1 5/8". (vi), 4 pp, (1) page. LIMITED EDITION of 100 copies. Black buckram with hand-colored paper label on upper cover , cover label & frontispiece by Seth Massmann, hand coloring by Eloise & Robert Massmann. A fine copy in stiff gray paper publisher's sleeve.
From the proceedings of the Company of Amateur Brewers, 1932.