Spring 1975. Broadside 4 x 10. Printed letterpress in black & red on tan paper, with large wood engraving of a thistle by Baskin. Fine. Probably printed at the Gehenna Press. The thistle was engraved in 1957 for a Spiral Press Christmas card. Fern 314. More
Easthampton: Warwick Press, 2006. 7 x 9 1/2. 64 pages (stenciled & calligraphic title page, 31 pages, 26 leaves with 22 paste paper specimens). Bound in paste-paper-over boards, exposed spine with Coptic sewing stitch. In orange paper chemise & matching slipcase with spine label. Fine. A delightful book. One of... More
(Manchester, England), 1904-1910. 5 1/2 x 8 1/2. Most issues are bound with original wraps into quarter morocco & woven cloth by Edward McLean. Thee issues are in their wraps, not bound into the single volume: I, 17 and II, 4 & 5. The separately printed Index to volume I.... More
Newtown: Bird & Bull Press, 1996. A 3 x 2 inch pewter plaquette, presented in the recessed compartment of a blue cloth folder stamped in silver. Front of the medal depicts a seated young woman at the sewin frame. The reverse side reads "Aux amis de la maison du livre/1900/Ch... More
Boston: Boss, 2004. 9 1/4 x 12 1/4. 140 pages with 75 illustrations (29 in color). Cloth gilt. A comprehensive history of the Club Bindery and its later incarnations is followed by detailed descriptions of the bindings, brass plate dies, tools, sketches, photographs, and binding furniture. Designed by Jerry Kelly, and printed in an edition of 500 copies. More
Newtown: Bird & Bull Press, 2004. Two vols. 6 x 9. 81 pages illustrated with 6 tipped-in color photos. 60 samples of book cloths from 5 producers are mounted in an accordion-fold portfolio. Both volumes in brown silk cloth, leather labels, in a matching slipcase. Fine, with prospectus. A fascinating... More
Furth, 18th century. Embossed and gilt paper made by Johan Lechner of Furth. Decorated area measures 14 1/2 x 12 1/2 inches (on a sheet 17 x 14 1/2. There are 4 rows each with 9 panels of gilt saints, on a green pastepaper ground. The "imprint" is difficult to... More
Italy, 18th century. A full, unused sheet measuring 15 1/2 x 13. Eight religious figures are printed in gilt on a blue pastepaper ground. In the top row, Joseph (with the Christ child) and Mary are flanked by Jesus and Ecce Homo. Saints Peter, Matthew, Simon, and Sebastian fill the... More
A full sheet 17 1/2 x 14 of block-printed pastepaper, bearing the same image twice, with a space for cutting them apart. The design consists of two rows: a large sunburst flower in the upper row, with smaller 4-petaled flowers suspending tassels in the lower row, all on a field... More
A full sheet 17 1/2 x 14 of block-printed pastepaper, bearing the same image twice, with a space for cutting them apart. The design consists of a blue checkered background with a large central floral wreath flanked by 4 smaller oval floral wreathes. The central wreathe surrounds a city (Venice?)... More
Embossed and gilt paper made by Paul Reymund, Nuremberg. Pattern No. 36: a floral diaper pattern on rose colored paste paper. The full sheet measures 16 x 13 1/2 inches. The design has a dentelle border formed of circles. Previously folded in half; fine condition. Signed in the design. Matted... More
Germany, 18th century. Gilt and embossed paper by Paul Reymund of Nuremburg--signed in the vine border. It is his design No. 16 -- rows of gold stars or snowflakes in two sizes on a full sheet of paper 17 x 14 inches. The design is impressed (as opposed to being... More
Embossed and gilt paper made by G. N. Renner & Abel, of Ausberg, printed in gold on a full sheet (16 x 13) of wove paper watermaked C B. This has a floral diamond pattern with a vine border. Some surface abrasion (or perhaps poor gilding). A very good specimen... More
(Northampton & Cambridge): Catawba & Kat Ran Presses, (2011). Nineteen original specimens, each 8 x 10 inches, are slotted into passe-partouts printed with the creator's name. A paperbound book (6 x 8 1/4) of 22 leaves gives a biography of each artist facing a reproduction of the paste paper. All... More
Tuscaloosa: Legacy Press, (2000). 5 1/2 x 10. x, 154 pages plus 5 original patterned paper specimens mounted. Quarter black cloth, black & white patterned boards by Gray Parrot. Fine. "Beginning in the 1950s, the American master of wood engraving, John DePol (1913–2004), cut small, endgrain blocks featuring subjects from... More
Los Angeles: Dawson's Bookshop, 1983. 8 1/2 x 11. xiii, 190 pages, color frontis, 5 leaves of plates (3 in color) and 6 samples of original marbling. Oatmeal cloth with inset marbled specimen by Rubovitz. Fine. One of 850 numbered copies. Inscribed by the author in the colophon. More
Boston: Harcourt Bindery, 1980. 9 1/2 x 12. Cloth, leather spine label. 25-page essay followed by 99 plates of dies, 2 tipped-in color photographs of stamped bindings. Fine. One of 500 copies, printed at The Heron Press in Dante types, and handbound at The Harcourt Bindery. The plates, which were... More
Fairleigh Dickinson Library, 1983. 6 1/2 x 12 1/2. 17 pages followed by 9 leaves with 13 mounted specimen of "Fairview" paste paper made in the 1930s by Delight Rushmore Lewis. There are also 5 smaller mounted specimens in the text. Quarter linen and boards. One of 70 copies signed... More
(Long Island, ca. 1980). 5 1/2 x 7. 8 pages. Booklet in a loose printed wrap of Howell's hand made paper. The booklet has photographs of six Howell hand-bindings for sketch books using some of his highly textured papers. The wrap is sheet of Howell paper, pastel colored with imbedded... More
Boston: L. C. page, nd. 4 x 6. 264 pages followed by a catalogue of other titles in this series of "Dainty Gift Books." Bound in ivorine (celluloid) with fluted edges gilt, hand painted with the scene of a fireplace, candle, and gentleman's cigar; stabbed & tied with ribbon. Very... More
(Wakefield), The Fleece Press, (1991). 47 mm x 70 mm (1 3/4 x 2 3/4 inches), 27 leaves, floral cloth, unpaged. Fine. One of 290 set in 8-point Van Dijck at the Rocket Press. More
Gloucestershire: Whittington Press, 1987. Two vols. 7 1/2 x 10 1/2. xii, 105 pages plus plates (mostly in color). Included in the pagination are 32 tipped-in large specimens by 16 Curwen artists, with notes about each on the facing page. Quarter morocco & patterned paper boards. Matching board portfolio containing... More
(Pico Rivera, 1994). 2 1/4 x 2 3/4. 161 pages. Seven wood engravings by John DePol. Gold-printed decorations for each chapter head. Full black morocco with abstract onlays of red & blue morocco, stamped all over with iridescent blue & green dots & one gilt circle, top edge gilt and... More
LA, 2000. 9 x 12. 127 pages, with 257 color illustrations. Quarter cloth & printed boards, dj. Fine. One of 500 copies in cloth. Part one presents a chronology of design trends during the 19th century. The second section presents variant bindings--differing in design, color, or materials--for the same book. More
Bird & Bull Press, 1991. 6 x 9. 79 pages (52 text pages, 12 mounted specimens). Quarter cloth & marbled boards, leather spine label. As new. One of 250 copies. "Spanish techniques differ from regular marbling. They are a lot more intricate, complex, and require mush more concentration." "I have... More
