Paperback
04 in Transport
[Berkeley, CA]: never mind the press, 1990. Approximately 7 1/4 x 11 1/2". LIMITED EDITION of 30,all of them being #1 with different birdnames, this one being "Coot". Moriki paper covering wheeled box with paper label on cover and spine and cutout on front cover, in fine condition. Four stitched binding books from a series of habitats, printed between 1889 and 1990, on waxed masa paper with linocuts, handmade paper covers by Beth Herrick & Heather MacDuffie of Port & Starboard Press in Mt. Desert, Maine, signed on the box colophon by author, in fine conditon.
Book Artist Alisa Golden is well-known with many institutions holding her innovative material. She received a BFA in Printmaking with High Distinction in 1985 from California College of the Arts (formerly CCAC). The habitat books are subtitled as follows: A Feather is Cut to Resemble a Knife (woods), Filling a Hole (subwoods), People in Pieces (city), and Lite Screened Familiar (subcity). A beautifully created and written collection.
200 Decorative Title-Pages
New York: Dover Publications, 1964. Softcover, First Edition. Large trade paperback, stiff orange pictorial wraps, sunned spine, small puncture to right upper corner of front cover and free endpaper, some creases and tanning.
A lovely book that is concerned with decorative title-pages and covering all periods of the printed book with beautiful and valuable archive of type faces, designs and motifs.
A Book is Made
London: British Federation of Master Printers, (1960). 31 pp. Approximately 1 3/4 x 1 1/8". Limitation not stated. White wrappers with gold lettering on front cover, one black and white illustration, printed by Jarrold & Sons, Norwich. A very good plus copy, somewhat scarce.
The interesting essay of a display organized by the British Federation of Master Printers on books and their publication.
A Letter from John Steinbeck Explaining Why He Could Not Write an Introduction for This Book
New York: Random House, 1964. 8 pp. Approx. 6 1/4 x 9 1/4". Printed orange wrappers with black ink, in original mailing envelope (which has a slight corner crease), both in fine condition. (Goldstone & Payne A41)
Steinbeck's introduction to "The Thinking Dog's Man" by Ted Patrick, was issued separately in advance of the book as a promotional item; no copies were for sale. This copy once belonged to veteran Milwaukee bookseller Harry Schwartz (the mailing envelope bears his address). A fine, fresh copy in the original printed mailing envelope of this very scarce Steinbeck "A" item.
A Miniature Book, Tie, and Suspenders from the estate of Julian Edison
New York: Abrams and The Grolier Club, 2007. Miniature edition and exact facsimile of the larger book "Miniature Books: 4,000 Years of Tiny Treasures" by Bromer & Edison; Maroon silk tie with white/gold/red tiny books from His Favorite Tie Neckwear housed in original plastic box packaging; Navy silk suspenders with red/green/gold books and bronze clasps from Paul Stuart, made in England, all from the estate of Julian Edison, all in fine condition.
Julian Edison (1929 - 2017) was an internationally renowned miniature book collector and co-author with Anne. C Bromer of Bromer Booksellers. Julian was an influential support of Washing University Libraries in St. Louis and the Special Collections there has been renamed the Julian Edison Department of Special Collections.
Andrew Smith Hallidie, Originator of Cable Railway Transportation
San Francisco: Lawton Kennedy, 1940. Softcover, 7 x 10 1/2". 14 pp. Limited edition of 200 copies, this is #59; stapled pamphlet, stiff paper wrap has some soiling and edge wear, b/w frontispiece portrait of Hallidie, inscription by the author on the colophon, very good condition.
This is a reprint of an article that first appeared in the California Historical Society Quarterly, Vol. XIX, No. 2, June, 1940. An interesting read on the originator of the cable car system of San Francisco.
Assorted Stories: Prose Words
Minneapolis: Coffee House Press, 1987. [20] pp. Approximately 7 1/2 x 7 1/2". LIMITED EDITION of 400 copies, this being #253. Grey handmade Canterbury cover stock with title and illustration on front, paper sewn inside, handset in Ehrhardt type, illustrated by Peter Bailey, signed and numbered on the colophon by the author and artist, in fine conditon.
Travers Rafe Lee Harwood (1939 - 2015), was an English poet, often associatiod with the British Poetry Revival. Except for a brief time in Greece and the United States, he mostly lived in Brighton. He had an involvement with the New York School of poets and was a member of the Poetry Society in Britain. He was a union official and was involved with the Labour Party in its radical years and his political leaning were evident in his poetry in the early 1980s. There is a Rowan Tree planted in his honor in New York City's Central Park as well as a paving stone along the park's Literary Walk. This is an interesting collection of short stories with various titles, such as: Hommage a Beatrix Potter, A Rangoon Creeper, Purple Sheets, Dream Bed, Woolly Rhinoceros, Mosquito Nets, Nautical Business, and Booth's Bird Museum.
Bathtub
[Oakland, CA]: Rebis Press, 1975. Approximately 7 x 7". LIMITED EDITION of 1,000 copies. Illustrated stiff paper covers, stitched binding, illustrated by John Wehrle, offset printing, published on an N.E.A. grant, very slight discoloration, minor crease to back cover, in near fine conditon.
Rebis Press was an influential small press in the San Francisco Bay Area. It was a joint venture of Betsy Davids and Jim Petrillo, who were colleagues at California College of the Arts and Crafts (CCAC). They were collaborators and teachers whose content is highly personal. Bathtub is a treasure -- a wonderful story about a flying bathtub that travels the world. Clever illustrations by John Wehrle place Bathtub in familiar famous art scenes.
Bears, Pirates and Silver Lace
Portland, OR: Binfords & Mort, 1944. Hardcover, First Edition, 5 1/2 x 8". 134 pp. INSCRIBED by author, red cloth over boards with black lettering and picture of a pirate and treasure chest on front cover and black lettering on faded spine, some stains to cover, minor rubbing at corners, gift inscription on ffep and inscription from author on dedication page, very good condition.
Authentic stories of the early days of California, gathered from American and Spanish families. Illustrated in color and b/w by Phil Nesbitt.
Beau-Beau's 123
Watertown, MA: Kurbel Books, 1985. (21) pp. Approximately 2 1/2 x 2 1/2". LIMITED EDITION of 500 copies, this being #68. Pictorial paper wrappers with accordion fold pages, in pictorial paper wrappers, all housed in a clear plastic box, illustrated by author, layout by Robert E. Massmann, frontispiece portrait by Fred G. Moynihan, Jr., in fine condition. (Bradbury, Kurbel Books #4)
A counting book and a commemoration at the same time, showing the ten stages in this dog's life as told in illustrated pictures and hand-colored numbers.