BOOKS ABOUT BOOKS
A-C   •   D-G   •   H-N   •   O-Z

---

SEE ALSO . . . CLASSIC BOOKSELLING & BOOK AUCTION CATALOGUES

Enjoyable & ESSENTIAL

•  Are you a novice reader of rare book cataloguing who is just beginning to realize that there might be a difference between a "joint" and a "hinge"? Would you rather be asked for the proof of "E=MC²" than for the meaning of " *⁶a-z⁶A-R⁶S²**⁶)(⁶)()(4T⁶V-X⁴ "? Or are you on the other hand a connoisseur of the bibliographer's terms of art who savors the very sound and cadence — as well as the exact and enticing images that the words and sentences raise — in a description like the following: "18th-century olive morocco; round gilt spines extra without bands; gilt triple-line fillet frames on covers with gilt corner devices; single gilt rule on board edges; gilt inner dentelles. Dutch-style printed endpapers with gilt and green stars and dots on a white field. All edges gilt; all pages ruled in red in the 17th-century style"?

At once a great basic resource and a rewarding volume for browsing or bibliophilic pleasure-reading, this classic work by John Carter contains over 490 alphabetical entries offering definitions and analysis of technical terms as well as the jargon of book collecting and bibliography — with ample examples. A vice-president of the Bibliographical Society and Sandars Reader in Bibliography in the University of Cambridge, its author also worked for Scribner's and Sotheby's, and over the course of his active career he wrote or edited many well known and influential books about books. With Percy H. Muir, Carter was a prime mover of the legendary 1963 exhibition from which was derived that landmark text and guide among guides — Printing and the Mind of Man.

Carter's ABC (first printed in 1952) was revised and expanded by Nicolas Barker, his friend and the respected editor of The Book Collector, making good use of the author's own annotations and bringing to bear his own great knowledge and brisk style. A new introduction was also provided. This eighth edition incorporates the "lexicon of new bibliographical terms" brought into use by the Internet, in addition to other additions and amendments arising since the publication of the previous revised edition.

The result has been lauded as "the wittiest and most instructive alphabet for incipient bibliophiles ever compiled" (Books); it has been asserted that "No better guide to the whole subject has appeared in print" (Chicago Tribune). This is a book that no purchasing collector or cataloguer should think of as a frivolous expense, and a book that as a gift to a collector or cataloguer cannot fail to please.

•  New. Complete with printed dust jacket.

Limited Edition Facsimile

•  Number 86 of a limited edition of 300 copies of this facsimile of the Victoria and Albert Museum copy of this famous writing book.

•  Publisher's light boards with printed dust wrapper, in Mylar protective jacket. Nearly new.  (23241)

For CALLIGRAPHY / WRITING BOOKS,  click here.

“My Style of DrawingBIRDS”

•  Consists of two essays: “My style of drawing birds,” published in M. Audubon's Audubon and his journals, 1897; and “Method of drawing birds,” published in the Edinburgh Journal of Science, v. 8, 1828. The original manuscript is presented in fine facsimile showing several authorial corrections and emendations of the first draft, and with a transcription and an introduction. Limited to 400 copies.

•  Original green cloth stamped in gold, cloth slightly soiled and interior with a bit of cockling (not, really, staining) from moisture intrusion to lower margins. Though the price is much reduced here, recognizing faults, the book is actually less “reduced” than the price is!  (29037)

Real . . . REVELATIONS!

•  Major new, path breaking work revising what we know about trade and publisher's bindings in England, Scotland, and Ireland in the period to 1800. Excellently researched and written and appropriately and fully illustrated in color with examples of the bindings under discussion. A must for all collectors and libraries interested in the literatures and historical writings of Great Britain prior to the 19th century.

•  New, publisher's cloth, in dust jacket. (10888)

A KJV Facsimile withCritical Apparatus

•  1500 copies only were produced of this homage to the first edition of the King James Bible. A modern introduction discusses the history of the Bible in English, the textual sources and principles of translation used to produce the King James Version, the language of the translation, the KJV's early printings and errata, etc. Reproduced from the KJV's first edition are the 17th-century translators' letter of dedication to "the most high and mightie prince, Iames"; the translators' extensive preface "to the reader" (not published in subsequent editions); the 1611 Bible's calendar of readings and feast days, with its table for finding Easter; a handsome full-page plate showing the king's "lion and unicorn" arms, granting the first license for the Bible's printing; a table of Holy Land place names and an engaging double-page map of "Canaan"; and a 34-page section picturing "the genealogies recorded in the sacred scriptures . . . with the line of ovr saviovr Iesvs Christ obserued from Adam, to the blessed Virgin Mary," offering images (among others) of Adam and Eve, Noah's Ark, and the Tower of Babel.

As its text examples, this presents the OT book of Psalms and the NT book of John ONLY, complete as produced by Barker and with both the Old and New Testament title-pages reproduced—all at full size in full facsimile, on heavy beige "vellum" paper in dark brown ink. The chosen texts appear in their original "black letter" or "gothic" type, with some elements in roman and italic, and with their full complement of decorated and historiated initials.

•  New. Dark brown gilt and embossed leatherette over thick boards, dark brown moiré doublures. With one white ribbon place-marker and with all edges brightly gilt.

Hard-Core! Bibliography

We have ONE journal left:

(Bibliography Journals).  Bibliographical Society of America. The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America. Vol. 81:3, Sept. 1987. [New York], 1988. 8vo.
$5.00

•  Wrappers.

Blumenthal onthe Arts of the Book

Click the images for enlargements.

•  “An exhibition of books and ephemera,” with commentary by Blumenthal (founder of the press) and a final section dedicated to images of title-pages, illustrations, text, etc. 1500 paper-bound (and 400 cloth-bound) copies were produced of this key reference work on the Spiral Press.

•  Publisher's printed paper wrappers, showing minor traces of wear. Pages generally clean; one upper outer corner with minor spot of staining, a few samples of page layouts lightly annotated in pencil.  (29712)

AMERICAN  SAMPLERS

Click the image for an enlargement.

•  Unabridged republication of the 1921 first edition by the Massachusetts Society of the Colonial Dames of America. The work is illustrated with a frontispiece and 63 double-sided black and white plates, for a total of 127 images.

•  Publisher's printed paper wrappers, slightly age-toned, spine and one corner creased, with a few minimal nicks or bumps to edges. Pages clean.A nice copy.  (29383)

Louis XIV's Court Preacher

Click the images for enlargement.

•  Bishop Bossuet (1627–1704) was a renowned preacher, orator, and theologian of his time. He was also the court preacher to Louis XIV of France and not unexpectedly a strong advocate of political absolutism and the divine right of kings. His Catéchisme du diocèse de Meaux (1687) became a model in certain orthodox Catholic theological circles and was reprinted often in French. This is the first edition in Spanish, the translator being Miguel Joseph Fernández.

The title-page here is in black and red, opposite a fine frontispiece of Christ seated, surrounded by adults and children and the quotation from Matthew 19:14 (i.e., “Sinite parvulos et nolite eos prohibere ad me venire talium est enim regnum caelorum,” or in English, “Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven”). The engraving is by Juan Antonio Salvador after Maella.

Preceding the frontispiece is a leaf of publisher's advertising for other works by Bossuet and translations by Fernandez. Such advertising leaves in Spanish books of this era are very uncommon in our 30 years of experience.

Searches of NUC Pre-1956 and WorldCat locate no copies of this edition in U.S. libraries. Searches of COPAC found no Spanish-language 18th-century editions. Searches of the Catálogo Colectivo del Patrimonio Bibliográfico gave the best results, with 15 copies of this first edition found in libraries across Spain.

•  Palau 33620.   Contemporary vellum over light boards; button and loop closures (broken). Inconsistent browning varying from gathering to gathering, having to do with impurities in water used in paper manufacture and subsequent exposure to humidity. Light waterstain to foremargin of the frontispiece and slightly into the image. Withal, a rather good copy of a book that is difficult to find in today's market.  (29824)

A Fine, Substantial,BOTANICAL Bibliography

Click the images for enlargements.

•  Second edition of “Botanico-Periodicum-Huntianum.” A bibliography that seeks to be “a fairly, but not wholly, comprehensive listing by title of periodicals from 1665 to 2000 that regularly contain . . . articles dealing with the plant sciences, their history and bibliography.” Lists abbreviated titles, number of volumes, life span, etc. Entries are cross-referenced.

•  Publisher's green cloth. As new.  (29580)

All about Books . . . Printed for Book Lovers!

Click the images for enlargements.

•  Beautiful, limited Grolier Club edition of a classic work of biblophilia — a tribute to the pleasures of books and the proprieties of collecting and librarianship, written in the 14th century by a Benedictine bishop known for his extensive private library.

The first volume contains the original Philobiblon in Latin, printed in black-letter with red and gilt decorative capitals and typographic ornaments; the second and third volumes contain Andrew Fleming West's English translation (here in itsfirst appearance) and notes on the work. The third volume additionally contains several facsimile representations of different early printed and manuscript versions of the text. The edition was of 297 copies on paper and three on vellum, printed by the De Vinne Press.

Provenance:  Each volume with beautiful bookplates of Abram C. Bernheim (a businessman, philanthropist, and member of the Grolier Club) and Henry C. Bernheim.

Binding:  Publisher's cream parchment, yapp edges, front covers each with gilt-stamped reproduction of Bury's seal, spines with gilt-stamped title and volume number, endpapers in medieval design printed in black, red, and gilt. Outer and lower edges deckle.

•  Bindings as above, spines darkened, sides with minor to moderate dust-soiling. Front pastedowns and free endpapers with bookplates as above. Pages clean. A cherishable set.  (29765)

As Bibliographies Go, Delicious!

Click the image for an enlargement.

•  Essential for all collections — institutional or private — that include American cookbooks. The Lilly has one of the great collections in this field; Cagle is Lilly Librarian Emeritus and Stafford is a former Lilly Library editorial employee. Temporal coverage here is 1739 to 1950 and all items are given professional bibliographical treatment, including collation. The work also includes illustrations.

•  New, in dust jacket.  (29379)

AnotherTasty Cagle Bibliography

Click the image for an enlargement.

•  Expanded and revised second edition of Cagle's important 1990 bibliography of the Lilly's collection of European and British gastronomic literature, featuring books printed from 1475 through 1962. Included are a number of facsimiles of title-pages and illustrations.

•  New, in dust jacket.  (29380)

Wanting to Canonize Palafox y Mendoza, offering a
Bibliography of His Writings

Click the image for an enlargement.

•  First Madrid printing. Palafox y Mendoza was the archbishop and viceroy of Mexico who came into serious conflict when trying to bring the religious orders under his control. Efforts to canonize him began in 1726 and continue to this day. The present work is part of that effort; it includes a list of his sermons and writings.

WorldCat locates only three U.S. libraries reporting ownership.

•  Palau 209844; Medina, BHA, 3925; not in Sabin but see 58289 for the 1767 Puebla printing.   Removed from a bound volume; old sewing holes visible in inner margin. Very good condition.  (28194)

Sample for aNew Edition of a Popular ILLUSTRATED AMERICANUM

Click the images for enlargements.

•  A broken but still suggestive salesman's dummy for a new edition of the popular account by George Catlin (1796–1872), first published in 1841, “from a series of Letters and Notes written by [himself] during several years'residence and travel amongst a number of the wildest and most remote tribes” (p. [17]), illustrated with39 wood engravings, of which 30 are brightly hand-colored, depicting hunting scenes, battles, costumes, and customs, observed by Catlin during eight years (1832–39) among nearly 50 tribes.

“One of the most original, authentic, and popular works on the subject” (Sabin 11537), Catlin's illustrated account was reprinted six times in as many years, then reissued in various forms: This appears to be a sample of the forthcoming 1860 ed., not in Sabin, Field's Essay towards an Indian Bibliography, or Graff (although all three list the other editions).

We foundjust one similar example, at Yale; this has 40 plates. (The 1857 Philadelphia edition had 41.)

Binding:  Publisher's black leather, covers with blind-embossed rococo frame and central cartouche; smooth spine, marbled endpapers. Alternate, less expensive cloth binding sample for the same title, featuring asplendid gilt-stamped vignette of a native American in battle dress on horseback, on front pastedown.

Evidence of readership: Old pencil scribbles and a few instances of handwriting practice to a leaf or so of text and to the backs (never the fronts) of a number of plates.

•  This sample book not in Arbour. For the 1860 edition of Catlin, see: Field 261; Howes C-241; Wagner-Camp 84:20.   Binding as above, leather rubbed and faded overall. Quires and plates loose, detached completely from binding and each other; clearly lacking at least one plate, title-leaf, and pp. 7–10. Text and plates both soiled and stained though differently, the former most affected in gutters and with darker stains (and typically longer tears) than seen elsewhere; the plates are affected more towards outer edges, usually apparently more by “moisture” than “water,” with some chipped at corners, one tattered and this “stabilized” with old cello tape from rear, one with a long tear just skirting image, and others with the odd small rip at an edge. Some tissue guards present or partly so. Artwork vibrant, often stunning.  (30076)

“The most important documentary collection for colonial Spanish America”

•  Woodrow Borah writing in Latin America: A guide to the historical literature (a.k.a., “the Griffin guide”) declares, “This is the most important documentary collection for colonial Spanish America, an invaluable source, especially for materials pertaining to the sixteenth century.” The data on AmerIndians, customs, early contact, etc., is outstanding.

A mixed set in mixed bindings: all volumes except 11 are first editions, the exception being a 1966 reprint. Many original wrappers bound in. Volumes 1–10 in early quarter cloth, 11–42 in modern full cloth.

•  Griffin, Latin America: A guide to the historical literature, 2063; Palau 56442.   Bindings as above: Vols. 1–10 with abrasion/discoloration to spines, otherwise minor wear; moderate foxing, and some early annotations. Vols. 11–42, cloth bright; mostly clean internally, last 2 pages of last volume supplied in facsimile. Vol. 38 lacking fascicles 3, 4, 5, and 6.  (25828)

On Forman & Wise

•  Well written and documented account of Wise & Buxton Forman and their now notorious forgeries of books by 19th-century writers like the Brownings, Tennyson, Swinburn, Ruskin, and Stevenson.

•  New, in dust jacket. (3248)

For BIBLIO-FRAUD,  click here.

Black Sparrow PressChecklist

Click the images for enlargement.

•  First edition: Checklist of the poetry published by the Black Sparrow Press, with an introduction by Robert Kelly. This is one of 800 copies in wrappers; present here is anoriginal prospectus, rubber-stamped by Bradford Morrow Bookseller and dated 31 March 1981.

•  Publisher's printed paper wrappers, spine and edges lightly sunned, otherwise crisp and clean with prospectus laid in.  (29722)

Bibliotheca indosinica

•  Facsimile reprint of the original 1912–32 publication.

•  Very good in publisher's cloth.

(Crane, Hart).   Schwartz, Joseph.  Hart Crane: An annotated critical bibliography. New York: David Lewis, 1970. 8vo. xi, 276 pp.
$27.50

•  A detailed and valuative bibliography of writings about Crane. Intended for the extreme Crane enthusiast and Crane scholars.

•  Very good copy in dust jacket; dust jacket lightly foxing.

A Useful And Decorative Craft

Click the images for enlargements.

•  Thoroughly detailed and illustrated (with 156 wood engravings) guide to bookbinding, written by the former proprietor of a printing, bookbinding, and stationery business. The work was first published in 1885; this is the 1900 edition, based on the publisher's advertisements at the back.

Binding:  Publisher's brown pebbled cloth, front cover with elaborately blind-embossed arabesque brazier design and gilt-stamped title, spine with blind-stamped strapwork and gilt-stamped title.

•  NSTC 0163385.   Binding as above, very slightly cocked with minimal wear to extremities. Pages slightly age-toned, otherwise clean. A nice copy of a once very popular reference work.  (30271)

TO Part II

PLACE AN ORDER   |   E-MAIL US   |   PRB&M HOME