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These shelves highlight the bindery
work of the “hand” era — both typical and exceptional, usually in leather.
Later “fine” binders also appear here. We
include some
publisher's cloth and leather machine-era bindings of unusual interest
or quality; and at times we'll even parade a pre–World War I paper binding
here, just to remind you (and ourselves) that those were out there! For
separate additional shelves devoted entirelyto PUBLISHERS' CLOTH — click here. 
Or for SETS,
click here.
|
The City's Progress — With Fore-Edge Painting 
(A
Most Typically Pretty Binding of Its Sort & Period).
Bunyan, John. The holy war, made by Shaddai upon Diabolus,
for the regaining of the metropolis of the world; or, the losing and taking
again of the town of Mansoul. London: Religious Tract Society (pr. by R. Clay,
Sons, & Taylor), [ca. 1850?]. 12mo (15.5 cm, 6.1"). xii, 347, [1] pp.
Click the images for enlargement.Fore-Edge: This displays a pretty rendition of what a hand on the fly-leaf has denominated “Bunyan's cottage, Elstow,” being of his birthplace, near Bedford; in its greens, red, blues, tans, and whites, it incorporates a couple seated on a bench in front and several other onlookers, including a mother holding a young child who points at the house.
Binding: Contemporary black morocco, covers framed in gilt double fillets with gilt-tooled trefoil and fleuron corner decorations surrounding an elaborate arabesque medallion, spine compartments with gilt-stamped frames and decorations, board edges with gilt roll. All edges gilt.
Provenance: Front pastedown with armorial bookplate of John Train.
• Binding as above, minor wear to corners and extremities. Small spots of foxing to front free endpaper and fly-leaf, pages otherwise clean. A lovely volume. (30140)
An
Elegant Production!Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-lettres. Choix des mémoires de l’Academie Royale des inscriptions et belles-lettres. Londres: T. Becket & P. Elmsly, 1777. 4to (27 cm, 10.6"). 3 vols. I: [2], iii, [1], lx, 656 pp. (pagination skips 17–32, text uninterrupted). II: [2], iii, [1], ccviii, 495, [1 (blank)] pp. III: [2], iii, lxviii, [1], 696 pp.; 1 fold. plt., 2 plts.
Click the image to the left The third volume includes two plates and one oversized, folding plate reproducing two inscriptions and a frieze, engraved by E. Malpas.
Uncommon outside of Great Britain.
• ESTC T113913; Brunet, I, 26; Lowndes, I, 5. Contemporary treed calf, spines gilt extra, with gilt-stamped leather title and volume labels; leather worn at edges and moderately rubbed with joints cracking. Front pastedowns with private bookplates and signs that a plate was removed on front free endpaper (one vol. endpaper holed); impressions of old pencilled shelf numbers on title-pages (and one lightly inked old date). First two leaves of vol. III with upper margins stained and final leaf browned; some pages with a few spots of faint foxing, most clean and crisp.
For more SETS, click here.
Not THAT AgricolaAgricola, Johann. Siebenhundert und funfftzig deutscher sprüchwörter ernewert und begessert durch Johan. Agricola. Mit vielen schönen lustigen und nützlichen historien und exempeln erkleret und ausgelegt. Wittenberg: Gedruckt bey J. Krafft, 1592. Small 8vo. )(8 *8 A–Z8 Aa–Xx8 (-Xx8, a blank) [14], 350 ff.
Click the interior images for enlargements. 
Binding: Contemporary alum-tawed sheep over wooden boards with partially bevelled edges. Elaborately blind-embossed with a roll and a center panel ornament. Front cover with initials “H. S.” and date “1597” in gilt. Rear cover with gilt putti in the areas where initials and the date appear on the front.
Evidence of readership: Marginalia in the prefatory index; very scattered early underscoring.
• VD16 A969; Goedeke, II, 8. Binding as above, lacking clasps and with old paper spine label; ex-library with bookplate and call number in old, faded, white numbering on spine. Title-page browned and tipped in; loss of paper to fore- and bottom margins of same. Some age-toning to paper and several leaves with natural paper flaws, repaired with archival tissue; three other leaves also with natural paper flaws repaired at time of binding or shortly after printing. Approximately 12 leaves with inkstains, sometimes obscuring text. One leaf (178) with a hole costing a significant loss of text. A marginally acceptable copy as regards text, in a good binding.
Lovely Production of a Timeless Story Alcott, Louisa May. Little women or Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy. New York: Limited Editions Club, 1967. 8vo. viii, [6], 428, [4] pp.; 14 plts. (2 double).
Click the images for enlargements. 
• Bibliography of the Fine Books Published by the Limited Editions Club, 396. Binding as above, in original glassine dust wrapper and publisher's slipcase; volume clean and fresh, wrapper with small chips to spine extremities, slipcase gently sunned and with a little soiling, one corner bumped. (30120)
Splendors
(Barbaric &
Otherwise) of
the
Russian Empire
[Alexander, William]. Costume of the Russian empire, illustrated by upwards of seventy richly coloured engravings. London: E. Harding et al., 1803. Folio (33.7 cm, 13.25"). [152] pp.; 70 col. plts. (of 73).
Click the images for enlargements. 
wedding
traditions. Many of these descriptions are decidedly focused
on the otherness of the practices in question; some achieve a level of
generalization that is rather breathtaking, e.g., “The Lapland women are
short, but often well formed, obliging, modest, and extremely irritable.”
• Lipperheide 1341; Abbey, Travel, 244. Binding overall rubbed and somewhat rough, front joint (outside) starting and back hinge (inside) likewise. Offsetting from plates, instances of light foxing and occasional soiling throughout. Plates 16, 29, and 39 excised some time ago, with faint pencil marks on contents list indicating their absence. An imperfect copy, still offering an array of engaging images and elegantly bound, with its sociologically intriguing text intact. (28807)
A
Handsome
DATED
Binding
— Initials,
“A.W.” — 1539
Arrianus.
[three lines in Greek, romanized as] Arrianou Peri Alexandrou anabaseōs
historiōn biblia oktō. [then in Latin] Arriani De expeditione sive
Rebus gestis Alexandri Macedonum regis libri octo, nuper & reperti, &
quàm diligentissimè in lucem editi. Historiam quoque eandem, olim
quidem a Bartholomaeo Facio latinitate donatam, nunc vero ... mendis repurgatam,
hic adiungi curavimus ... Basileae: [Robertus Winter, 1539]. 8vo. Vol.
1 of 2. 13, [1] pp., [321] ff. (lacks last 8 leaves).
Click the middle and righthand images for enlargement. Present here is vol. I containing the original Greek text, the Latin translation
having been printed in a separate volume. Incomplete at the end, it lacks
the final eight leaves or the last part of the Indica (37.3–43.14),
only, with Arrian's Anabasis Alexandrou (Campaigns of Alexander)
appearingcomplete
as Books 1–7.
Binding: Contemporary alum-tawed pigskin over bevelled boards, remnants of the metal closures. Covers elaborately blind-embossed with several rolls and devices. Front cover has in its center panel the initials “A. W.,” the date 1539, and medallions of Manfred of Saxony and Luther, while the rear cover's center panel has medallions of Melanchthon and Erasmus.
• Graesse, I, 227; Legrand, Bibliographie hellénique, III, 388; Adams A2009. Binding toned to a pleasing dark tan. Old bookplate on front pastedown. Front free endpaper torn with loss. Vol. I only, and lacking those final eight leaves; the Anabasis complete. (20418)
The Private Edition, One of 12 Copies OnlyA Family Copy Barham, R. Harris. The Ingoldsby legends or mirth and marvels by Thomas Ingoldsby Esquire [with] The Ingoldsby legends ... Second series. London: Richard Bentley, 1840 & 1842. 8vo. 2 vols. I: [6], v, [3], 338, [2] pp. with inserted extra-engraved title (a proof before letters), numbered colophon leaf, engraved title, and six etched plates; II: vii, [3], 288 pp. with engraved title and seven etched plates.
Click any image where the hand appears on
Sadleir's analysis suggested to him the following probable sequence: a) the private edition, b) copies of the public edition with p. 236 in the same form as it appears in the private edition, c) copies of the public edition with p. 236 blank; and d) copies of the public edition with the complete new version of the text on p. 236.
However, the remnants of the binding preserved at the back of the present first volume — see note below and
Barham began writing the short pieces making up this series as contributions to his friend and classmate's Bentley's Miscellany. The subject matter was “at first derived from the legendary lore of the author's ancestral locality in Kent, but soon [was] enriched by satires on the topics of the day and subjects of pure invention, or borrowed from history or the ‘Acta Sanctorum’. . . . The success of the ‘Legends’ was pronounced from the first, and when published collectively in 1840 they at once took the high place in humorous literature which they have ever since retained” (DNB).
Provenance: With R.H.D. Barham’s signature as noted above, and with the armorial bookplate of Sir David Lionel Salomons (1851–1925) in each volume.
• NCBEL, III, 365; Sadleir 156a; Tinker 216 (public edition); Carter, Binding Variants, p.92. Bindings a bit darkened and slightly discolored at extremities, light rubbing to joints, some foxing to the prelims of the first volume, with an old tide-mark in the lower gutter areas of the plates; a tipped-in bookseller's description in the first volume. 
A very good, very interesting example of a very rare thing.
First
Publicly Available, “Real” Editions,
Signed Bindings[Barham, Richard Harris, a.k.a.] Ingoldsby, Thomas. The Ingoldsby legends or mirth and marvels. London: Richard Bentley (pr. by Samuel Bentley), 1840–47. 8vo (20.5 cm, 8.1"). 3 vols. I: Engr. t.-p., v, [3], 338, [2] pp.; 6 plts. II: Engr. t.-p., vii, [3], 288 pp.; 7 plts. III: Engr. t.-p., vi, [2], 364 pp.; 6 plts.
18 plates engraved by George Cruikshank, John Leech, and John Tenniel.
Bindings: Contemporary signed bindings by E.P. Dutton & Co., of red morocco with covers framed in gilt triple fillets; spines with raised bands, gilt-stamped titles, and compartments framed in gilt double fillets. Board edges gilt-ruled, gilt inner dentelles. Upper page edges gilt. 
Original cloth covers and spines bound in at the back.
• Sadleir 156b, e, & f; NCBEL, III, 365. Bindings as above, spines and upper board edges darkened with a bit of rubbing; free endpapers with offsetting from turn-ins. One volume with lower part of cover stained and the lower inner margin of the title-page and plates (not the text leaves!) waterstained. One plate evenly age-toned.
For more SETS, click here.
This Example Worthy of a
Medieval Lady Bédier, Joseph, ed. Le roman de Tristan et Iseut. Paris: L'Édition d'art, 1926. 8vo. [8], xii, [2], 222, [8] pp.
Click the images for enlargements. Binding: 20th-century hand-painted vellum, front cover with sailing ship between decorative bands accomplished in a style reminiscent of the Bayeux Tapestry, spine with title and decorations, back cover with castle tower and distant ship motif. Publisher's original tan paper wrappers with Celtic motifs bound in.
• Binding as above, vellum slightly darkened, clean and tight. Front pastedown with small rubber-stamped monogram “MG.” Pages gently age-toned, else clean. One of the great medieval romances, and a truly lovely object. (30283)
The Preeminent History of theEdict of Nantes Benoist, Élie. Histoire de l'Edit de Nantes, contenant les choses les plus remarquables qui se sont passées en France avant & après sa publication, à l'occasion de la diversité des religions.... Delft: Adrien Beman, 1693–95. 4to (24.4 cm, 9.6"). 5 vols. I: [70], 467, [5], 98, [22] pp. (lacking add. engr. t.-p.). II: [32], 612, [4], 98, [32] pp. III: [32], 656, [2], 197, [27] pp. IV: [4], 628 pp. V: [6], 631–1019, [29], 199, [49] pp.
The text is enlivened by decorative capitals and, in the first volume, an engraved allegorical headpiece.
• Barbier, Dictionnaire des ouvrages anonymes et pseudonymes, 680. Contemporary mottled sheep, spines gilt extra with gilt-stamped leather title and volume labels, board edges blind-tooled; bindings rubbed overall with a gouge or two and corners bumped/abraded, spines with unobtrusive remains of old paper shelving labels and extremities chipped, joints tender with some starting. Each volume with institutional bookplate on front pastedown. Vol. I with additional engraved title-page excised; vol. II with some lower outer corners bumped. Faint to moderate intermittent offsetting throughout, and the occasional smudge to a margin (see pictures); vol. III with more noticeable browning and occasional spotting. All edges marbled, some now faded; ribbon placemarkers. A handsome and very usable set of an important work. (25842)
GOOD
for Both Reading &
Reference
(Bindings, Reference). Fogelmark, Steffan. Flemish and related panel-stamped bindings: Evidence and principles. New York: Bibliographical Society of America, 1990. Tall 8vo. xviii, 252 pp., 42 plts.
• New, in publisher's gilt-stamped green cloth.
Lovely
French Printing — GORGEOUS!
French BindingBoileau
Despréaux, Nicolas. Œuvres diverses du Sieur D***
avec le traité du sublime ou du merveilleux dans le discours, traduit du
Grec de Longin. Paris: Claude Barbin (pr. by Denys Thierry), 1674. 4to (25.3 cm,
10"). π2A–R4S8T–Y4Z
Click any image where the hand appears on
• Brunet, I, 1056; DeBacker, Auteurs du XVIIe siècle, 1020; Tchemerzine, II, 271. Binding as above, nearly perfect save for just a touch of rubbing to the spine extremities, in cloth-covered slipcase, worn, with cloth starting to split over edges. Frontispiece and title-page separating from binding; title with red-tinted signs, near edges, that the marbling process did not go entirely smoothly; upper margins of several other leaves with hints of very faint waterstaining. Otherwise, clean and quite lovely.
“Large Scale” in Several Respects . . .62 Engravings & Bedford Bound Brayley, Edward Wedlake. The history and antiquities of the abbey church of St. Peter, Westminster: Including notices and biographical memoirs of the abbots and deans of that foundation. London: J.P. Neale for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, & Brown, 1818–23. Folio (37.9 cm, 14.9"). 2 vols. I: [18], 227, [19], 72, [10] pp.; 13 plts. II: [2], 304, [40] pp.; 49 plts.
Click any image where the hand appears on 
Provenance: Each front pastedown with armorial bookplate of William Arthur, sixth Duke of Portland.
• NSTC 2B46491; Allibone 240; Brunet, II, 1215. Binding as above, minor shelf wear to lower edges and corners, vol. I with front board expertly reattached and with small dent to outer edge of front cover. Joints delicate, due to size and weight of volumes, but holding. A few pages and plates with faint foxing, otherwise clean. (24100)
For more SETS, click here.
Byronic Scenes & Verses — 126 Plates & Two Fore-Edge Paintings Brockedon, William. Finden's illustrations to the Life and works of Lord Byron. London: John Murray, [1833–37]. 8vo (23.7 cm, 9.3"). 2 vols. I: Add. engr. t.-p., [2], iv, [176] pp.; 64 plts. II: Add. engr. t.-p., iv, [176] pp.; 60 plts.
Click the images for enlargements. 
The artist labelled the locations within the paintings — a most unusual occurrence.
• NSTC 2B49714. Not in Ray, English Illustrated Books. Bindings as above, moderately rubbed but overall looking distinguishedly aged; vol. I with first three leaves hinged in, both volumes nicely and delicately refurbished around extremities and joints, with head caps rebuilt and abraded areas conservatively toned. Vol. I's added title-page incorrectly bound in at the front of vol. II and vice-versa; paper foxed, as was its inclination.
With its labelled fore-edges and very elegant binding, this is a desirable set. (28714)
A Fine SetBrowning, Robert. Poetical Works. Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1906. 8vo (19.5 cm, 7.7"). 6 vols. in three. I: Frontis., [ii], xxx, [2], 26, 436 pp. II: xviii [i.e., 16], 426 pp. III: Frontis., [ii], x, 496 pp. IV: xvi [i.e. 14], 472 pp. V: Frontis., [ii], xii, 416 pp. VI: xvi [i.e. 14], 492 pp.
Click the images for enlargements. Each volume is introduced by George Willis Cooke, author of the Guide Book to the Poetic and Dramatic Works of Robert Browning, and concluded with his notes. Indices of first lines and titles are included at the end of the final volume.
Binding: Turquoise half-morocco over blue and gold marbled boards with matching marbled endpapers; spines with raised bands, compartments with gilt-tooled author and title labels or modest and attractive gilt tooling. All top edges gilt, blue silk place markers.
• Bound as above; spines sunned to a handsome olive, boards lightly scuffed and a bit worn along the joints. One section of some 16 leaves in vol. II (as per spine) with a lower corner bumped/crumpled; one group of upper corners in vol. III with a small worm-piercing at outer edge. Ungilt page edges with light age-toning, spotting, and the occasional small nick; mostly, unopened. Nice to hold and behold. (30001)
A SET of This Anglican Classic inRed Morocco Burnet, Gilbert. The history of the reformation of the Church of England. London: W. Baynes & Son (pr. by Charles Wood), 1825. 6 vols. 12mo (15 cm, 5.9"). I: Frontis., add. engr. t.-p., xxxvi, 474 pp. II: Add. engr. t.-p., [4], 456 pp. III: Frontis., add. engr. t.-p., xliv, 536 pp. IV: Add. engr. t.-p., [4], 494 pp. V: Frontis., add. engr. t.-p., lxiii, [1], 399, [1] pp. VI: Add. engr. t.-p., [4], 457, [3] pp.
Click the images for enlargements. 
Bindings: Contemporary crimson straight-grain morocco, covers framed in gilt double fillets surrounding one gilt and one blind-tooled roll. Spines with gilt-stamped titles, three wide bands of gilt-stamping, and raised bands with triple gilt-stamped fillets. All edges gilt.
• NSTC 2B60409. Bindings as above, spines and board edges slightly darkened, corners and edges showing minor wear, spine leather with small surface cracks, two spines with extremities refurbished, one volume with front joint carefully repaired. Front pastedowns each with institutional presentation bookplate, front fly-leaves each with early inked ownership inscription. Vol. V with front fly-leaf and frontispiece separated; vol. VI with outer edges of three early leaves tattered and some lower corners dog-eared. Pages very slightly age-toned, otherwise clean. A lovable set. (25537)
Very,
Very Scottish — Burns
In a Tartan MAUCHLINE BindingBurns, Robert. The poetical works and letters of Robert Burns, with copious marginal explanations of the Scotch words, and life. Edinburgh: Gall & Inglis, [ca. 1880]. 8vo (17.5 cm, 7"). Frontis., add. t.-p., xxxii, [3]–642 pp.; 6 plts.
Click the images for enlargements. 
Difficult
to photograph, easy to enjoy in hand.
Fore-edge painting: A pleasantly bucolic scene of Ripley Castle in Harrogate (according to an endpaper annotation), with a few human figures dotted about the landscape.
• Binding as above, covers with minor scuffs, spine bands and extremities rubbed; leather consolidated, hinges (inside) skillfully repaired with long-fiber tissue. Scattered mild to moderate foxing in first and last sections; faint smudging to two pages. (28711)
Byron's Magnum Opus in aNice Small Edition Byron, George Gordon Byron, Baron. Don Juan, in sixteen cantos, with notes. London: Scott, Webster, & Geary, 1835. 12mo (13.5 cm, 5.4"). Frontis., add. engr. t-.p., 359, [1] pp.
Click the images for enlargements. Binding: Contemporary brown sheep in imitation of morocco, covers blind-stamped in arabesque patterns, spine with decorative gilt-stamped title, turn-ins with gilt roll. All edges gilt.
• Binding as above, moderately rubbed. Front free endpaper with pencilled ownership inscription. Tiny curve of waterstain at upper inner portion of frontispiece and additional engraved title-page, well away from images; pages otherwise clean. (29976)
For FINE, ATTRACTIVE, & INTERESTING For LITERATURE, click here. For “GIFTABLES” — mostly $150
 TO Part
II . . . |