•  Publisher's printed paper wrappers; wrappers slightly darkened with spine rubbed and back edges chipped. Pages predictably age-toned; final advertising leaves with edges chipped. “You will never leave this room alive,” indeed!  (34859)

The text was set by hand in Palatino and Michaelangelo, and printed in black and grey on Shadwell paper; this is one of 250 copies printed.

•  Two Decades of Hamady & the Perishable Press, 21.   Publisher's tan paper wrappers, front wrapper with blind-stamped title. Minimal wear to extremities, otherwise a clean and fresh copy.  (30930)

The author travelled Europe in search of a certain old-world atmosphere. His descriptions of his discoveries in towns such as Clovelly, England; Carcassonne, France; and San Gimignano, Italy, are accompanied by 48 black and white photographs, as well as a map of Europe. This is the second printing.

Binding:  Publisher's olive cloth with white lettering to spine. On the front board, a picturesque townscape with white-stamped stone exteriors and maroon-stamped roofs against a gilt sky; the lettering is also in white. Signed by “GH,” presumably George Washington Hood.

•  Bound as above, extremely minor rubbing to extremities, faint scratches to gilt decoration, scrape to bottom page edges; faint foxing to the very top edge of the plates and several leaves. In a decorated binding as quaint as the towns!  (38922)

“Ostenso's major achievement, Wild Geese, was her only novel set in Canada. A compelling romance, it realistically explores the strange unity between man and nature, and the spareness of both physical and spiritual life in a pioneering farm community” (Canadian Encyclopedia). Widely regarded asa landmark in Canadian realism, it is set in a farming community on the windswept plains of northern Manitoba, where the independent and at times fiery Judith Gare struggles for freedom from her father's brutal, controlling rule. This is thefirst American edition, first printing (the work was also issued in 1925 by McClelland & Stewart in Toronto, and in Norwegian translation as Graagaas in Oslo).

Binding:  Publisher's gray cloth stamped in black and orange on cover with skyview of Canada geese in formation against setting sun with clouds, the lettering of title and authors in orange; lettering in black on spine, with three orange geese silhouetted against a black circle. Binding signed “H.o.H” (H.O. Hofman).

The illustrated endpapers, also featuring Canada geese, are also signed “H.O. Hofman” in upper right corner. This is one of the few instances we've seen of endpapers signed by the artist.

•  Ingles, Peel's Bibliography of the Canadian Prairies to 1953, 4939; Smith, American Fiction, 1901–1925, O-148; Minsky, American Decorated Publishers' Bindings, II, p. 72.   Binding as above; top and bottom of spine lightly pulled. Without the dust jacket. Very good.  (39277)

While WorldCat does locate an 1876 New York printing of Our Girls Songster (note the absence of an apostrophe), that edition is only 68 pages and the Brown University catalogue record specifies that it does not include music. NO institutional holdings of this much more substantial songster are reported. It should be noted that the front wrapper here does give the title as “Our Girls' Songster,” and also that there are 12 pages of publisher's advertisements present.

•  Publisher's cream paper wrappers with blue lettering and illustration of a young woman on front wrapper; spine paper chipped, rear wrapper absent, front wrapper foxed and with outer corners lost (cutting off the vol. number) and with short tear from spine. Interior age-toned and lightly foxed. An unusual survivor, profoundly evocative of cheerfully lowbrow 19th-century American entertainment.  (37925)

•  Fine copy in fine dust jacket, the flaps unclipped and retaining original price and month/year printing code.  (6815)

In addition to discussion of this ornament's use by those various printers, Pascoe also offers interesting and sometimes new biographical information on the printers based on archival documents. His assessment of each printer's skills is informed by his own eye and decades of experience as a hand-press printer. His text is illustrated by more than 20 color illustrations and by examples of each printer's signature.

In all, a totally satisfying work on the skills and personalities and, at times, the tribulations of these early New World printers — itself beautifully printed in Pascoe's own unmistakable style.

•  Issued in a strong soft white cover printed in black and red, within a dove grey typographic over-wrapper printed in darker grey and red. As new.  (40046)

Juan’s narrative quickly establishes him as a master prose stylist, like Duncan, and as printers they are also equals, in my opinion, having worked with both. His dual identity as American and Mexican gives this compelling memoir a topical appeal beyond that of hand-press printing or poetry” (John Ridland).

•  Hardcover, set in Espinosa Nova and printed digitally in black and red throughout; binding in shades of cream with vintage printshop cover illustration on front and John Ridland's summary on rear. New.  (38863)

•  Publisher's tan and brown printed paper–covered boards; spine somewhat darkened, paper chipped at spine and cracking along front joint. Front and rear free endpaper with inked presentation inscriptions dated 1914. Pages age-toned; one leaf with short tear from outer margin.  (33100)

Binding:  Publisher's brown cloth, gilt-and black-stamped.

•  A little spotting, a little shaken; a good++ copy.  (34001)

•  Palau 220783.   Contemporary quarter maroon sheep and red pebbled paper–covered sides, spine with gilt-stamped title and compartment decorations; spine attractively darkened, edges and extremities rubbed, sides with spots of discoloration. Front free endpaper with private shelf-code sticker; title-page with private collector's rubber-stamp. Pages age-toned, with some scattered small smudges or spots of light staining.  (29936)

•  Fine copy.  (30791)

Binding: Publisher's brown cloth, covers framed in blind, front cover with gilt-stamped urn of flowers, back cover with same design in blind. All edges gilt.

•  Faxon 655.   Bound as above, corners bumped/rubbed and base of rear joint and spine a little rubbed; gilt bright. Endpapers with early pencilled inscriptions, frontispiece with adhesion of a sliver of paper from title-page along inner margin, title-page with brown spot in lower margin offset onto lower edge of frontispiece. Sewing loosening with some early and final leaves starting to separate, title-page all but separated. Pages generally clean, with a few scattered spots; one upper margin with pencilled inscription mostly erased. A read and cherished copy, still sweetly sentimental and interesting to look at.  (30368)

The second sheet is for Stanfield's “Grand Local Diorama,” the grand finale of which involved the “magnificent display of the Falls of the Virginia Waters, seen through the Fairy Temple of Luminaria” — facilitated by a hydraulic apparatus capable of discharging 39 tons of water, “forming a coup d'oeil never before witnessed on any stage.”

A contemporary of Stanfield's once called him “the prince of scene-painters,” and his dioramas were legendary for their beauty and immersive effects.

•  Split halfway up center fold and neatly repaired from rear; one untrimmed outer edge slightly ragged. Gently age-toned. Delightful (and very displayable) piece of theatrical ephemera.  (36575)

The sections offering the house rules, by-laws, committee-lists, and so forth are expectably full of period flavor (the card room closes at midnight, no ifs, ands, or buts); but the simple listing of members and their business affiliations is suggestive as well.

The Club's published history seems to be readily available online; evocative ephemera like this, Not.

•  Original embossed ecru wrappers, light age-toning; edges lightly discolored. One member's name is checked in the roster, in ink; otherwise clean and very good.  (10346)

Provenance:  From the children's book collection of Albert A. Howard, sans indicia.

•  Original green wrappers with bird illustration on front wrapper and advertisement on rear. Minor soiling to two pages and small crease in upper corner of rear wrapper, else fine. A very attractive little “toy.”  (38780)

•  Original printed wrappers, with a faint fold mark across width of wrappers. Three small punch holes penetrating inner margins, from front to back, without touching text. Mild foxing in margins. Overall, a very good copy.  (9984)

Binding:  Publisher's purple cloth, gilt-stamped title on spine; each cover framed in blind rules, with foliate and drawer-handle motifs surrounding a gilt leaf device at center. All edges gilt.

•  Bound as above, almost entirely sunned to brown and with a very little rubbing. Light to moderate age-toning and foxing throughout; lacks frontispiece, other three plates present and brightly colored. Overall a handsomely done collection of letters about roses (and life).  (35940)

•  Not in Shaw & Shoemaker. Removed from a nonce volume; stapled and respined with archival tissue. Six-digit number stamped on title-page.  (198)

•  Publisher's printed yellow paper wrappers over printed paper–covered stiff boards; wrappers with spine sunned, minor edge wear. Contents clean and crisp. Very good.  (34969)

Binding:  Textured blue cloth, front board with corner maple leaves in blind and elaborate gilt center medallion with lettering. On the spine, the Baron appears to be cutting the rope he's hanging onto that dangles from the Moon, with a lion and alligator waiting underneath him. Undoubtedly he'll come out alive!

•  Bound as above; mild rubbing to extremities and rear board, spine cocked very slightly. Some occasional light foxing and general age-toning to interior. Fantastic fun for lovers of adventure and art. (39527)

This is numbered copy 1051 of 1500 printed; it wassigned at the colophon by the artist.

•  Bibliography of the Fine Books Published by the Limited Editions Club, 32.   Publisher's brown and orange cloth as above, spines with gilt-stamped titles; slipcase and wrappers lacking, bindings showing moderate shelf wear most pronounced at spine extremities. Clean.  (30404)

•  New. Publisher's blue cloth shelfback and French swirl marbled paper over boards; white paper label on front cover.  (35760)

This is the stated 16th printing, following the first of 1934, with a frontispiece showing Taos Pueblo.

•  Brown, Culinary Americana, 1972.   Publisher's chili red paper wrappers, printed in black, green, and dark red; mildly worn overall, front wrapper with maiden on horseback vignette now slightly faded, traces of ownership inscription in upper margin. Pages lightly age-toned, frontispiece and inner front wrapper with area of staining not obscuring image, final leaf with pinkish offsetting from back wrapper. A notably early entry in the rise of Tex-Mex cuisine nationwide, this waspublished in Missouri, not California, Texas, New Mexico, or Arizona.  (36158)

Binding:  Publisher's green cloth with a young farmer's vignette stamped in white, black, and gilt on the cover, spine with gilt-stamped title and bird vignette.

•  BAL 16671.   Binding as above, dust jacket lacking, very minor rubbing to extremities and front cover vignette. Front pastedown with ownership inscription of Alice Grace Stone. Clean and fresh.  (35049)

•  Bibliography of the Fine Books Published by the Limited Editions Club, 518.   Publisher's quarter navy buckram and light blue paper–covered boards, spine with author stamped in silver, in original matching slipcase; slipcase showing minor shelfwear with spine and edges gently sunned, volume spine likewise gently sunned, otherwise crisp and solid.  (37247)

•  NSTC 2R11677; Lowndes 2099; Hugo, The Bewick Collector, 434.   Contemporary half dark green morocco with red marbled paper sides, spine with gilt-stamped title; some rubbing and with a bit of green discoloration to paper of front cover. Minor offsetting to frontispiece and title-page; mild to moderate foxing in first third of volume and to last few pages.  (21934)

The contents of these two volumes appear to be based almost entirely on John Roach's Beauties of the Poets of Great Britain, although Roach is not cited as the editor, the pieces are in a different order than originally presented, and there are a few minor changes: “The Negro Boy” is not included here, while several “runic odes” by Mathias and Penrose have been added. The expected highlights of Pope, Gray, Cowper, Burns, Chatterton, Goldsmith, etc. are present, as well as lesser-known pieces such as Mrs. Carter's “Address to Meditation,” Mary Darby Robinson's “Trumpeter,” and Helen Maria Williams's “Sonnet to Twilight” and “Sonnet to Hope” (the latter memorized by Wordsworth, whose first published poem was “Sonnet, on seeing Miss Helen Maria Williams Weep at a Tale of Distress”).

The volumes are illustrated with 18 wood-engraved plates signed by Sears, Willis, and others — not the 1793 originals.

Provenance:  Ownership note of “Adams Jewett, M.D.” to top of title-page.

•  This ed. not in NSTC, Lowndes, or Allibone. Not in British Library OPAC, not in NUC Pre-1956, not in OCLC, not in COPAC.   Recent marbled paper–covered boards, spines with printed paper labels. Each title-page with early inked ownership inscription in upper margin as above. Some pages with offsetting; spots of light to moderate staining; one page with pencilled annotation.  (25339)

Binding:  Publisher's dark green cloth, front cover and spine with flowering branches stamped in black, spine with gilt-stamped title.

•  BAL 16902 (not matching either described binding); Wright, III, 4619.   Bound as above, extremities rubbed not too roughly; front cover with small areas of faint discoloration. Front free endpaper with inked ownership inscription (S.M. Woodburn) dated [18]81 and tear with a bit of loss from upper margin. Generally clean and nice with occasional light spots; ads at the back giving extra pleasure and interest.  (28406)

Binding:  19th-century black pebbled calf, spine with gilt title surrounded by various double gilt rules and arabesque stamps, covers framed with double fillets in blind around two drawer pulls connected by a rule of dots surrounding a mostly oval gilt foliate design. All edges gilt; original brown silk ribbon placeholder present. Front pastedown with binder's ticket of T. Edmondson, 38 Marketplace, Lancaster.

Provenance:  With gift inscription “Elisabeth Sophia Jameson to her much Loved Daughter Maryanne Jameson Lancaster July the 7 1848" on front fly-leaf in ink and a pencilled note “C.S.F. July 10 1915" immediately below. A small rubber-stamp green monogram, possibly C.S.F.'s, appears at the bottom of the title-page. Most recently in the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.

•  Binding as above, very gently rubbed at corners and joints, top back joint (outside) just starting, front cover very slightly splayed. Light age-toning throughout, a handful of specks, one small marginal spot. Provenance markings as above, binder's ticket offsetting to front endpaper. Despite the sound of the necessarily recited faults, this isa strong, lovely copy of this handsome production.  (38254)

This edition was designed by the great American typographer (or “typster,” as he labeled himself) Bruce Rogers, and he left his mark on its final page; it was limited to 425 copies printed at the Riverside Press in Cambridge, MA. Bound in maroon paper–covered boards with a white paper spine label printed in black, this is copy 405 and is in its original dust wrapper and with its box, beingrare thus.  The spare label is tipped in at the back.

•  Work of Bruce Rogers, 101.   Bound and in its box as above; dust jacket and box label sunned, box edges rubbed. The pristine text is, which can be read with enjoyment by peeping, is unopened and uncut.  (30539)

Try chocolate holiday treats like Melt-In-Your-Mouth Truffles, Monster Cookies, and Deep Fried Chocolate Ice Cream!

•  Publisher's green, red and white pictorial paper-covered boards with black lettering to spine and front board; extremities lightly rubbed. Very clean for a cookbook!  (38539)

•  Two Decades of Hamady & the Perishable Press, 90.   Publisher's paper wrappers, front wrapper with title printed in off-white. Crisp and clean.  (30903)

•  NSTC 2A17980 (for all years 1855–61).   Removed from a nonce volume. Title-page with small inked numeral in upper outer corner, otherwise clean.  (17033)

•  Sewn; wrappers chipped, front separating near spine; author's name pencilled on front. Ex-historical society copy with stamp on title-page. Some page edges irregular and with short tears.  (650)

•  Publisher's teal cloth, spines with gilt-stamped title; spines with gilt slightly dimmed and minor extremity wear, front cover of vol. II with a small light smudge. A solid and pleasant set, with its pages very crisp and clean.  (33164)

•  Publisher's red cloth, spines gilt-stamped, in matching slipcase; volume spines sunned, slipcase showing minimal shelfwear. Overall very clean and crisp.  (33160)

This is the second edition, following the (scarce) first of 1852; the front cover differs from the title-page in giving the publication information as Chicago.

Provenance:  Front pastedown with several early pencilled inscriptions, including one reading “To Vestilla from W.B. Lear, July 13th 1857.” A folded section from a smaller hymnal is laid in.

•  Publisher's quarter sheep and printed paper–covered boards; binding darkened and rubbed, front joint starting from head, front cover creased. Front free endpaper partially excised and back free endpaper lacking; front pastedown with inscriptions as above, back pastedown with early inked annotations and numerals. First three leaves with central tear affecting several words. Laid-in hymnal pages with upper edges chewed. Moderate foxing and intermittent waterstaining; some corners dog-eared. Interesting for its graphically appealing cover and the array of its “juvenile” repertoire choices.  (30255)