8,930 results
1837ref. ABC_47967Rio de Janeiro 1837. Ad 1: 19 x 32 cm. Passe-partout: 365 x 47 cm. Sepia ink on paper. Ad 2: 245 x 34 cm. Passe-partout: 37 x 44 cm. Sepia ink on paper with blue and sepia ink washes. Two ink drawings on paper depicting the same view of Guanabara bay with a banana plantation and the Pao de Açucar near Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. This scene has also been included in Flora Brasiliensis as plate LV in volume 1.1. Plate LV is lithographed after a drawing by Belgian artist and botanist Benjamin Mary 1792-1846 made in 1837. The largest drawing of the two present here ad 1 is believed to be this drawing by Mary.Flora Brasiliensis is a 15-volume work on Brazilian plants edited by botanist Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius and others. It was published between 1840 and 1906 and systematically categorised the known plants in the region. The numerous plates were designed by many different artists including Benjamin Mary. He lived in Rio de Janeiro from 1832-1837 so his Brazilian drawings were based on his own observations. Although the present drawing is unsigned it can be attributed to Mary due to stylistic similarities with his other works its exact likeness to the litho in Flora Brasiliensis and its provenance both drawings are from the collection of the Von Martius family.The second drawing depicts the same scene but is clearly made by a different artist. It is signed "A. L." in the lower left corner. This work has been attributed to Carl August Lebschée 1800-1877 a German artist who also made drawings for the Flora Brasiliensis. However this is uncertain because he typically monogrammed his work with C. L.Both drawings in very good condition.l Cf. for the Flora Brasiliensis: Borba de Moraes 525 f; Nissen BBI 2248; Stafleu & Cowan 5538. ABE CAT Art History unknown
1928ref. 6418London: Robt. Riviere & Son 1928. Special edition. Octavo 8 x 5 3/8 inches; 204 x 137 mm. ii blank iii-viii 75 1 imprint pp. With twelve illustrations by Gilbert James hand-colored and heightened with gold and printed with blue initials for each stanza. Caslon Old Face type on Studio hand-made paper some light marginal foxing to plates otherwise fine. Bound ca. 1928 by Rivière & Son stamp-signed on front turn-in in full blue crushed levant morocco. Front cover with a central oval panel with an onlaid brown-spotted serpent twining around a large gilt chalice. This central panel is surrounded by a floral border of inlaid green flowers on orange stems with bunches of grapes in purple. Inside a double-ruled gilt border on each cover is stanza number fifty-eight "Oh Thou who Man of baser Earth didst make And who with Eden didst devise the Snake: For all the Sin wherewith the Face of Man Is blacken'd Man's Forgiveness give - and take." Rear cover with a similar oval panel also surrounded by a floral border of inlaid green flowers on orange stems with bunches of grapes in purple and with a single onlaid green flower and a central inlaid bunch of purple grapes. Spine with five raised bands decoratively bordered in gilt with inlaid purple morocco bunches of grapes in five of the panels and gilt lettered in the other double gilt ruled board edges elaborate gilt turn-ins featuring a vine motif marbled paper doublures and endleaves all edges gilt. Upper joint expertly and almost invisibly repaired otherwise a near fine example of a late twenties Rivière 'Inlaid' binding. Engraved bookplate of Willsherr Lodge the home of Samuel Clay Williams 1884-1949 lawyer and tobacco magnate on front pastedown. "The Riviere Bindery was one of the most notable and prolific shops in London's West End from about 1840 through 1939" Princeton. Bath-based Bayntun Bindery acquired the firm in 1939 transforming into the "Bayntun-Riviere bindery" which is still in existence and family owned. A similar binding but without the quotations on the borders of both covers was sold in the Chevalier sale at Christie's New York Friday November 9th 1990 lot 63; it had been previously sold to Paul Chevalier by David Brass and then later to another private collector. Loosely inserted in the Chevalier copy was a pencilled note identified by a second description as being in the hand of George Napier an Edinburgh collector who commissioned a number of bindings. Napier explains his purchase of the book from Rivière in 1932 and that he commissioned the special border now decorating the book. He adds that "George" at Rivière's explained that the chalice and serpent motif was designed by Alberto Sangorski brother of George Sangorski the binder and concludes with the mention of the "Great Omar" which sank with the Titanic. Fitzgerald attributed the original work to the famed astronomer and mathematician Omar Khayyum and this collection of quatrains rapidly became a favored text of the Pre-Raphaelites. "Like the Odyssey or the Vita Nuova it was once the most widely known and quoted work of Victorian poetry in the world" and its place in Western culture at the time was secured by Fitzgerald's "epigrammatic sophisticated often mordant verses that display Fitzgerald's adroitness in handling this stanza form" Warner. Yet with rise of Modernism the Rubaiyat fell out of style for a time its lush and romantic orientalism considered out of step with the concerns of those who were living through a devastating World War. But the beautiful surviving copies in exceptional vellum silk and leather alongside recently released critical editions have helped draw attention back to the Rubaiyat's beauty and its role in inspiring so many monumental pieces of Victorian art and literature. Here illustrations by Gilbert James 1865-1941 illustrate the dramatic and sensorial prose. Robt. Riviere & Son unknown books
1928ref. 6418London: Robt. Riviere & Son 1928. Special edition. Octavo 8 x 5 3/8 inches; 204 x 137 mm. ii blank iii-viii 75 1 imprint pp. With twelve illustrations by Gilbert James hand-colored and heightened with gold and printed with blue initials for each stanza. Caslon Old Face type on Studio hand-made paper some light marginal foxing to plates otherwise fine. Bound ca. 1928 by Rivière & Son stamp-signed on front turn-in in full blue crushed levant morocco. Front cover with a central oval panel with an onlaid brown-spotted serpent twining around a large gilt chalice. This central panel is surrounded by a floral border of inlaid green flowers on orange stems with bunches of grapes in purple. Inside a double-ruled gilt border on each cover is stanza number fifty-eight "Oh Thou who Man of baser Earth didst make And who with Eden didst devise the Snake: For all the Sin wherewith the Face of Man Is blacken'd Man's Forgiveness give - and take." Rear cover with a similar oval panel also surrounded by a floral border of inlaid green flowers on orange stems with bunches of grapes in purple and with a single onlaid green flower and a central inlaid bunch of purple grapes. Spine with five raised bands decoratively bordered in gilt with inlaid purple morocco bunches of grapes in five of the panels and gilt lettered in the other double gilt ruled board edges elaborate gilt turn-ins featuring a vine motif marbled paper doublures and endleaves all edges gilt. Upper joint expertly and almost invisibly repaired otherwise a near fine example of a late twenties Rivière 'Inlaid' binding. Engraved bookplate of Willsherr Lodge the home of Samuel Clay Williams 1884-1949 lawyer and tobacco magnate on front pastedown. "The Riviere Bindery was one of the most notable and prolific shops in London's West End from about 1840 through 1939" Princeton. Bath-based Bayntun Bindery acquired the firm in 1939 transforming into the "Bayntun-Riviere bindery" which is still in existence and family owned. A similar binding but without the quotations on the borders of both covers was sold in the Chevalier sale at Christie's New York Friday November 9th 1990 lot 63; it had been previously sold to Paul Chevalier by David Brass and then later to another private collector. Loosely inserted in the Chevalier copy was a pencilled note identified by a second description as being in the hand of George Napier an Edinburgh collector who commissioned a number of bindings. Napier explains his purchase of the book from Rivière in 1932 and that he commissioned the special border now decorating the book. He adds that "George" at Rivière's explained that the chalice and serpent motif was designed by Alberto Sangorski brother of George Sangorski the binder and concludes with the mention of the "Great Omar" which sank with the Titanic. Fitzgerald attributed the original work to the famed astronomer and mathematician Omar Khayyum and this collection of quatrains rapidly became a favored text of the Pre-Raphaelites. "Like the Odyssey or the Vita Nuova it was once the most widely known and quoted work of Victorian poetry in the world" and its place in Western culture at the time was secured by Fitzgerald's "epigrammatic sophisticated often mordant verses that display Fitzgerald's adroitness in handling this stanza form" Warner. Yet with rise of Modernism the Rubaiyat fell out of style for a time its lush and romantic orientalism considered out of step with the concerns of those who were living through a devastating World War. But the beautiful surviving copies in exceptional vellum silk and leather alongside recently released critical editions have helped draw attention back to the Rubaiyat's beauty and its role in inspiring so many monumental pieces of Victorian art and literature. Here illustrations by Gilbert James 1865-1941 illustrate the dramatic and sensorial prose. Robt. Riviere & Son unknown
1892ref. ST17864eLondon: Kegan Paul Trench Trübner & Co 1892. No. 10 OF 450 LARGE PAPER COPIES 250 for England and 200 for America SIGNED by the author on the limitations page. 253 x 178 mm. 10 x 7". xiii 3 83 9 pp. ELEGANT CONTEMPORARY TAN MOROCCO GILT BY RIVIERE & SON stamp-signed on front pastedown "Bound by Riviere & Son for L. Samuel Montagu 1893" covers with gilt rule and bead-and-star roll border intricate dentelle frame Pegasus ornament at center raised bands spine compartments with central fleuron enclosed by a lozenge of star tools curling cornerpieces gilt lettering densely gilt turn-ins marbled endpapers top edge gilt other edges untrimmed. Original ivory cloth binding bound in. With 50 illustrations by Hugh Thomson 25 of these plates printed on Japanese vellum. Signed on title page by the artist. AN IMMACULATE COPY. This collection of 18th century-style ballads by a poet of the Aesthete School comes in a refined binding that captures the elegance of that time. Described by Day as a "genteel bureaucrat" who specialized in "the graceful insouciance of 'vers de société' rather than the 'flowers of evil'" favored by others of his cohort Henry Austin Dobson 1840-1921 wrote light witty verse that reflected his fascination with the 18th century. Day notes that "he could write heroic couplets with much of Pope's conversational ability" and "could reproduce the elaborate French stanzas" of triolet ballade and rondeau with a finesse matched by few Englishmen. Dobson's extensive knowledge of the 18th century was so respected that DNB says "any publisher intending to reissue an eighteenth-century work went to Dobson for an introduction." Our binder Riviere is one of the foremost names in English binding partly because the firm did consistently fine work and partly because it was so long in business. Robert Riviere began as a bookseller and binder in Bath in 1829 then set up shop as a binder in London in 1840; in 1881 he took his grandson Percival Calkin into partnership at which time the firm became known as Riviere & Son and the bindery continued to do business until 1939. This binding was done for L. Samuel Montagu perhaps Louis Samuel Montagu 1869-1927 son of financier Liberal MP and philanthropist Samuel Montagu 1st Baron Swaythling. While the delicate filigree tooling is very characteristic of Riviere's finishing the Pegasus centerpiece is not a regular Riviere tool and was perhaps particular to this client. In any case the brilliant gilt and intricate finishing make for a memorable piece of work. Kegan, Paul, Trench, Trübner, & Co unknown books
1892ref. ST17864eLondon: Kegan Paul Trench Trübner & Co 1892. No. 10 OF 450 LARGE PAPER COPIES 250 for England and 200 for America SIGNED by the author on the limitations page. 253 x 178 mm. 10 x 7". xiii 3 83 9 pp. ELEGANT CONTEMPORARY TAN MOROCCO GILT BY RIVIERE & SON stamp-signed on front pastedown "Bound by Riviere & Son for L. Samuel Montagu 1893" covers with gilt rule and bead-and-star roll border intricate dentelle frame Pegasus ornament at center raised bands spine compartments with central fleuron enclosed by a lozenge of star tools curling cornerpieces gilt lettering densely gilt turn-ins marbled endpapers top edge gilt other edges untrimmed. Original ivory cloth binding bound in. With 50 illustrations by Hugh Thomson 25 of these plates printed on Japanese vellum. Signed on title page by the artist. AN IMMACULATE COPY. This collection of 18th century-style ballads by a poet of the Aesthete School comes in a refined binding that captures the elegance of that time. Described by Day as a "genteel bureaucrat" who specialized in "the graceful insouciance of 'vers de société' rather than the 'flowers of evil'" favored by others of his cohort Henry Austin Dobson 1840-1921 wrote light witty verse that reflected his fascination with the 18th century. Day notes that "he could write heroic couplets with much of Pope's conversational ability" and "could reproduce the elaborate French stanzas" of triolet ballade and rondeau with a finesse matched by few Englishmen. Dobson's extensive knowledge of the 18th century was so respected that DNB says "any publisher intending to reissue an eighteenth-century work went to Dobson for an introduction." Our binder Riviere is one of the foremost names in English binding partly because the firm did consistently fine work and partly because it was so long in business. Robert Riviere began as a bookseller and binder in Bath in 1829 then set up shop as a binder in London in 1840; in 1881 he took his grandson Percival Calkin into partnership at which time the firm became known as Riviere & Son and the bindery continued to do business until 1939. This binding was done for L. Samuel Montagu perhaps Louis Samuel Montagu 1869-1927 son of financier Liberal MP and philanthropist Samuel Montagu 1st Baron Swaythling. While the delicate filigree tooling is very characteristic of Riviere's finishing the Pegasus centerpiece is not a regular Riviere tool and was perhaps particular to this client. In any case the brilliant gilt and intricate finishing make for a memorable piece of work. Kegan, Paul, Trench, Trübner, & Co unknown
1964ref. 2091202133213239Ganku Shoten Hosekisha Kobunsha 1964. Soft Cover. Fine. Number of books: 203 Ganku Shoten, Hosekisha, Kobunsha paperback
1923ref. 140945683Paris: Emile Lévy 1923. First edition. First edition. Complete in two imperial folio volumes immense illustrated boards with cloth ties containing loose sheets. Copy #49 of 200 total. Text in French. Ex-art museum library copies with tiny call numbers written on spines card pocket on paste down tape stains to cloth and tape on inside of boards; despite this Very Good overall a few ties have perished typical age-toning to contents but generally bright.All 100 plates and their textual pages present. Numbers written on plates in light pencil. A deluxe monograph about Muslim ceramics with large color plates. Please note: these volumes are exceptionally heavy and large and will require substantial additional cost if shipping outside of the USA. Emile Lévy unknown books
1923ref. 140945683Paris: Emile Lévy 1923. First edition. First edition. Complete in two imperial folio volumes immense illustrated boards with cloth ties containing loose sheets. Copy #49 of 200 total. Text in French. Ex-art museum library copies with tiny call numbers written on spines card pocket on paste down tape stains to cloth and tape on inside of boards; despite this Very Good overall a few ties have perished typical age-toning to contents but generally bright.All 100 plates and their textual pages present. Numbers written on plates in light pencil. A deluxe monograph about Muslim ceramics with large color plates. Please note: these volumes are exceptionally heavy and large and will require substantial additional cost if shipping outside of the USA. Emile Lévy unknown
1926ref. 6406London: John Lane The Bodley Head Ltd 1926. Fine. A very fine and unique copy. Specially bound with two superb original watercolor paintings on both of the calf doublures by Helen R. Haywood. Octavo 7 1/8 x 4 1/2 in; 181 x 113 mm. lxxxix 4 454 14 as Anglers' Calendar pp. Black and white illustrations throughout some full-page. Initials and vignettes. Inserted limitation leaf "With Water/Colour Drawings/on/Calf Doublures/by/signed Helen R. Haywood." Bound by Rivière & Son c. 1926 stamp-signed in gilt on front turn-in. Full forest green crushed morocco covers with gilt double-rule border spine with five raised bands decoratively tooled and lettered in gilt in compartments. Double gilt-ruled board edges decorative gilt ruled turn-ins enclosing calf doublures with full angling-themed original watercolor paintings. Green moire silk free endpapers all edges gilt. Housed in a felt-lined green cloth clamshell case spine with leather label lettered in gilt. Izaak Walton's The Compleate Angeler 1653 is perhaps the quintessential pastoral work on fishing. Structured as a dialogue between a fisherman huntsman and fowler the book is a celebration of the natural world and the thrills of fishing as a pastime. The two exquisite original watercolors on calf elegantly reproduce at the front "Come now bait your hook again and lay it into the water for it rains again" Compleat Angler Fourth Day and at the rear "Marry God requite you sir and we'll eat it cheerfully" Compleat Angler Third Day. Helen Riviere Haywood 1908-1995 was an English painter children's book illustrator and writer best known for her foredge paintings. She came from a book-binding family: Haywood was the granddaughter Robert Riviere founder of the great bindery which executed this lovely binding and her uncle who also worked for the firm introduced her to foredge and double foredge painting. Between the 1930s-1970s she completed multiple commissions for Inman's Books a New York City based antiquarian book dealer. From her intertest in science anthropology and naturalism Haywood developed a keen attention to the world's natural elements; this talent for observation and specificity found its way into her artwork. Provenance: Purchased by David Brass Rare Books from John & Judith Head May 2012; sold to Randal Moscovitz December 2012. Fine. John Lane The Bodley Head Ltd unknown books
1872ref. 6405London: John Camden Hotten and George Routledge and Sons 1872. First editions. Two octavo volumes 7 1/4 x 5 1/4 inches; 184 x 133 mm. & 7 x 5 3/8 inches; 179 x 137 mm. ix 2 14-222 4 adv.; viii 1 14-224 4. adv. pp. Black and white frontispieces with original tissue guards black and white text illustrations throughout. Bound c. 1920 by Rivière & Son for the Gardenside Bookshop Boston in full emerald crushed levant morocco with a gilt decorated broad inlaid border of maroon morocco enclosing an elaborate gilt frame surrounding a maroon morocco border and decorated sunken central panel within which are figures from the text pictorially depicted with multi-colored padded morocco onlays. The Bab Ballads with the onlaid figures of Babette and Jacot page 67 and More Bab Ballads with the onlaid figures of Sir Berkely and William Lee page 122. Lower boards with gilt ruled maroon morocco border surrounding an elaborate gilt border with decorative gilt corner pieces. Spines with five raised bands decoratively tooled and lettered in gilt in compartments gilt ruled board edges elaborate gilt turn-ins cream watered silk liners and end-leaves all edges gilt. Original gilt decorated green cloth covers bound in at end of each volume. Outer front joint of volume 2 with subtle repairs. Housed together in the original felt-lined green cloth slipcase. A fine set. This publication evidences how a writer's work is never done. First published as a humorous column in Fun magazine in 1876 Gilbert collected fifty of his favorite poems for the book Fifty "Bab" Ballads:Much Sound and Little Sense it contained one poem collected for the first time titled "Etiquette" and excluded 25 previously published poems. As Gilbert explained: "The period during which they were written extended over some three or four years; many however were composed hastily and under the discomforting necessity of having to turn out a quantity of lively verse by a certain day in every week. As it seemed to me and to others that the volumes were disfigured by the presence of these hastily written impostors I thought it better to withdraw from both volumes such Ballads as seemed to show evidence of carelessness or undue haste and to publish the remainder in the compact form under which they are now presented to the reader" Gilbert. However "Gilbert's readers were not happy with the loss and in 1882 Gilbert published all of the poems that had appeared in either The "Bab" Ballads or More "Bab" Ballads once again excluding "Etiquette." Some twentieth-century editions of More "Bab" Ballads include "Etiquette" Ellis. The poems range from satire to absurdist texts and will surely entertain all who read them. "The Riviere Bindery was one of the most notable and prolific shops in London's West End from about 1840 through 1939" Princeton. Bath-based Bayntun Bindery acquired the firm in 1939 transforming into the "Bayntun-Riviere bindery" which is still in existence and family owned. John Camden Hotten [and] George Routledge and Sons unknown books
1872ref. 6405London: John Camden Hotten and George Routledge and Sons 1872. First editions. Two octavo volumes 7 1/4 x 5 1/4 inches; 184 x 133 mm. & 7 x 5 3/8 inches; 179 x 137 mm. ix 2 14-222 4 adv.; viii 1 14-224 4. adv. pp. Black and white frontispieces with original tissue guards black and white text illustrations throughout. Bound c. 1920 by Rivière & Son for the Gardenside Bookshop Boston in full emerald crushed levant morocco with a gilt decorated broad inlaid border of maroon morocco enclosing an elaborate gilt frame surrounding a maroon morocco border and decorated sunken central panel within which are figures from the text pictorially depicted with multi-colored padded morocco onlays. The Bab Ballads with the onlaid figures of Babette and Jacot page 67 and More Bab Ballads with the onlaid figures of Sir Berkely and William Lee page 122. Lower boards with gilt ruled maroon morocco border surrounding an elaborate gilt border with decorative gilt corner pieces. Spines with five raised bands decoratively tooled and lettered in gilt in compartments gilt ruled board edges elaborate gilt turn-ins cream watered silk liners and end-leaves all edges gilt. Original gilt decorated green cloth covers bound in at end of each volume. Outer front joint of volume 2 with subtle repairs. Housed together in the original felt-lined green cloth slipcase. A fine set. This publication evidences how a writer's work is never done. First published as a humorous column in Fun magazine in 1876 Gilbert collected fifty of his favorite poems for the book Fifty "Bab" Ballads:Much Sound and Little Sense it contained one poem collected for the first time titled "Etiquette" and excluded 25 previously published poems. As Gilbert explained: "The period during which they were written extended over some three or four years; many however were composed hastily and under the discomforting necessity of having to turn out a quantity of lively verse by a certain day in every week. As it seemed to me and to others that the volumes were disfigured by the presence of these hastily written impostors I thought it better to withdraw from both volumes such Ballads as seemed to show evidence of carelessness or undue haste and to publish the remainder in the compact form under which they are now presented to the reader" Gilbert. However "Gilbert's readers were not happy with the loss and in 1882 Gilbert published all of the poems that had appeared in either The "Bab" Ballads or More "Bab" Ballads once again excluding "Etiquette." Some twentieth-century editions of More "Bab" Ballads include "Etiquette" Ellis. The poems range from satire to absurdist texts and will surely entertain all who read them. "The Riviere Bindery was one of the most notable and prolific shops in London's West End from about 1840 through 1939" Princeton. Bath-based Bayntun Bindery acquired the firm in 1939 transforming into the "Bayntun-Riviere bindery" which is still in existence and family owned. John Camden Hotten [and] George Routledge and Sons unknown
1926ref. 6406London: John Lane The Bodley Head Ltd 1926. Fine. A very fine and unique copy. Specially bound with two superb original watercolor paintings on both of the calf doublures by Helen R. Haywood. Octavo 7 1/8 x 4 1/2 in; 181 x 113 mm. lxxxix 4 454 14 as Anglers' Calendar pp. Black and white illustrations throughout some full-page. Initials and vignettes. Inserted limitation leaf "With Water/Colour Drawings/on/Calf Doublures/by/signed Helen R. Haywood." Bound by Rivière & Son c. 1926 stamp-signed in gilt on front turn-in. Full forest green crushed morocco covers with gilt double-rule border spine with five raised bands decoratively tooled and lettered in gilt in compartments. Double gilt-ruled board edges decorative gilt ruled turn-ins enclosing calf doublures with full angling-themed original watercolor paintings. Green moire silk free endpapers all edges gilt. Housed in a felt-lined green cloth clamshell case spine with leather label lettered in gilt. Izaak Walton's The Compleate Angeler 1653 is perhaps the quintessential pastoral work on fishing. Structured as a dialogue between a fisherman huntsman and fowler the book is a celebration of the natural world and the thrills of fishing as a pastime. The two exquisite original watercolors on calf elegantly reproduce at the front "Come now bait your hook again and lay it into the water for it rains again" Compleat Angler Fourth Day and at the rear "Marry God requite you sir and we'll eat it cheerfully" Compleat Angler Third Day. Helen Riviere Haywood 1908-1995 was an English painter children's book illustrator and writer best known for her foredge paintings. She came from a book-binding family: Haywood was the granddaughter Robert Riviere founder of the great bindery which executed this lovely binding and her uncle who also worked for the firm introduced her to foredge and double foredge painting. Between the 1930s-1970s she completed multiple commissions for Inman's Books a New York City based antiquarian book dealer. From her intertest in science anthropology and naturalism Haywood developed a keen attention to the world's natural elements; this talent for observation and specificity found its way into her artwork. Provenance: Purchased by David Brass Rare Books from John & Judith Head May 2012; sold to Randal Moscovitz December 2012. Fine. John Lane The Bodley Head Ltd unknown
1806ref. ST20974London: R. Ackermann 1808-10 paper watermarked 1806 and 1807. FIRST EDITION. 340 x 280 mm. 13 1/2 x 11". Three volumes. VERY HANDSOME MOTTLED CALF HEAVILY AND ELEGANTLY GILT BY RIVIERE & SON stamp-signed on verso of front free endpaper covers with lovely floral roll frame oblique floral sprays at corners raised bands spines richly gilt in compartments with central floral spray within a lozenge of small tools flower duo at corners one red morocco label one green morocco label with volume number on onlaid red morocco medallion enclosed by a gilt sunburst turn-ins with gilt floral roll marbled endpapers all edges gilt rear joint of volume III neatly repaired small recent repairs to joints elsewhere. Woodcut title pages 104 COLORED AQUATINT PLATES after Rowlandson and Pugin. Faintly embossed library stamp of "H_____ Library Collection" presumably private to title pages. A Large Paper Copy. Abbey Scenery 212; Tooley 7. Joints and extremities slightly rubbed but the bindings still splendid despite their signs of use and looking magnificent on the shelf. Offsetting from plates onto facing page as usual with this book about a fourth of the plates with significant transfer another fourth with none or almost none the remaining half with something in between but the plates with lovely rich coloring and with no offsetting of the text onto plate images and the text printed within spacious margins very fresh and unsoiled. Deemed by Abbey "a colour-plate book of great importance" Ackermann's pictorial tour of London is offered here in elegant bindings by an important English workshop. According to Tooley this is "one of the great colour-plate books" that "should form the corner stone of any collection of books on this subject. The plates by Rowlandson and Pugin present an unrivalled picture of London in early 19th century" and are consequently "of historic value as many of the buildings no longer exist." DNB calls "Microcosm" "an acknowledged masterpiece" the success of which led to Ackermann's volumes on Westminster Abbey and the colleges at Oxford Cambridge and Winchester a series considered "among the most beautiful illustrated books of the first half of the nineteenth century." Artist Thomas Rowlandson 1756-1827 is remembered for his caricatures and humorous illustrations but he made his name illustrating the travel books with views he would later satirize in his "Doctor Syntax" volumes. According to DNB publisher Rudolph Ackermann "kept Rowlandson in almost continuous employment producing drawings for the fine colour-plate books for which his firm the Repository of Arts at 101 Strand became famous. . . . Augustus Pugin was brought in to draw the architecture" for the present work while Rowlandson supplied the figures. Our binder Riviere is one of the foremost names in the field partly because the firm did consistently fine work and partly because it was so long in business. Robert Riviere began as a bookseller and binder in Bath in 1829 then set up shop as a binder in London in 1840; in 1881 he took his grandson Percival Calkin into partnership at which time the firm became known as Riviere & Son and the bindery continued to do business until 1939. The present set is an excellent example of the firm's work and the bindings along with the richness of the plates and the capacious margins here make this an especially appealing copy. The early watermark dates of 1806 and 1807 are a further attractive feature as they suggest strong coloring on plate surfaces that have not suffered significant degradation. R. Ackermann unknown books
1806ref. ST20974London: R. Ackermann 1808-10 paper watermarked 1806 and 1807. FIRST EDITION. 340 x 280 mm. 13 1/2 x 11". Three volumes. VERY HANDSOME MOTTLED CALF HEAVILY AND ELEGANTLY GILT BY RIVIERE & SON stamp-signed on verso of front free endpaper covers with lovely floral roll frame oblique floral sprays at corners raised bands spines richly gilt in compartments with central floral spray within a lozenge of small tools flower duo at corners one red morocco label one green morocco label with volume number on onlaid red morocco medallion enclosed by a gilt sunburst turn-ins with gilt floral roll marbled endpapers all edges gilt rear joint of volume III neatly repaired small recent repairs to joints elsewhere. Woodcut title pages 104 COLORED AQUATINT PLATES after Rowlandson and Pugin. Faintly embossed library stamp of "H_____ Library Collection" presumably private to title pages. A Large Paper Copy. Abbey Scenery 212; Tooley 7. Joints and extremities slightly rubbed but the bindings still splendid despite their signs of use and looking magnificent on the shelf. Offsetting from plates onto facing page as usual with this book about a fourth of the plates with significant transfer another fourth with none or almost none the remaining half with something in between but the plates with lovely rich coloring and with no offsetting of the text onto plate images and the text printed within spacious margins very fresh and unsoiled. Deemed by Abbey "a colour-plate book of great importance" Ackermann's pictorial tour of London is offered here in elegant bindings by an important English workshop. According to Tooley this is "one of the great colour-plate books" that "should form the corner stone of any collection of books on this subject. The plates by Rowlandson and Pugin present an unrivalled picture of London in early 19th century" and are consequently "of historic value as many of the buildings no longer exist." DNB calls "Microcosm" "an acknowledged masterpiece" the success of which led to Ackermann's volumes on Westminster Abbey and the colleges at Oxford Cambridge and Winchester a series considered "among the most beautiful illustrated books of the first half of the nineteenth century." Artist Thomas Rowlandson 1756-1827 is remembered for his caricatures and humorous illustrations but he made his name illustrating the travel books with views he would later satirize in his "Doctor Syntax" volumes. According to DNB publisher Rudolph Ackermann "kept Rowlandson in almost continuous employment producing drawings for the fine colour-plate books for which his firm the Repository of Arts at 101 Strand became famous. . . . Augustus Pugin was brought in to draw the architecture" for the present work while Rowlandson supplied the figures. Our binder Riviere is one of the foremost names in the field partly because the firm did consistently fine work and partly because it was so long in business. Robert Riviere began as a bookseller and binder in Bath in 1829 then set up shop as a binder in London in 1840; in 1881 he took his grandson Percival Calkin into partnership at which time the firm became known as Riviere & Son and the bindery continued to do business until 1939. The present set is an excellent example of the firm's work and the bindings along with the richness of the plates and the capacious margins here make this an especially appealing copy. The early watermark dates of 1806 and 1807 are a further attractive feature as they suggest strong coloring on plate surfaces that have not suffered significant degradation. R. Ackermann unknown
1711ref. ST20182London: W. Lewis 1711. FIRST EDITION First Issue. 280 x 152 mm. 8 1/8 x 6". 1 p.l. 43 1 pp. VERY PRETTY DARK GREEN CRUSHED MOROCCO ELABORATELY GILT IN PERIOD STYLE BY RIVIERE & SON stamp-signed on front turn-in covers with double frames formed of floral sprigs drawer handles and other small tools the frames enclosing an elegant central wreath; raised bands spine panels densely gilt with stippling floral tools radiating from small central flower gilt lettering turn-ins densely gilt with scrolling foliate tools all edges gilt. With an attractive woodcut headpiece and tailpiece; one foliated woodcut initial. Front pastedown with the bookplate of Winston Henry Hagen and book label of William A. Strutz. Griffith 2; Rothschild 1564; Foxon P806; Day "History of English Literature 1600-1837" pp. 73-4. Sheets uniformly a little toned because carefully washed the usual offsetting on facing flyleaves from turn-ins but a very pleasing copy--the text without signs of use and the exceptionally pretty binding lustrous and virtually unworn. This first printing of Alexander Pope’s first independent publication called by Day "one of the most quoted poems in English" offers a sumptuous binding in the style of the period retains its scarce original half-title and boasts an impressive provenance. Pope 1688-1744 composed "An Essay on Criticism" early in his career possibly when he was just 18. In this poem which introduced several expressions now common in the lexicon including "to err is human; to forgive divine" and "fools rush in where angels fear to tread" Pope provides his philosophy on what makes good criticism and by extension good poetry. Of it Day writes: "no one can claim originality for the content of 'Essay on Criticism' but all must admit the incomparable mastery of verse and language." This copy retains the half-title which is often missing primarily because it was often used as part of the volume's wrappers. Our copy does lack the final leaf of ads as almost always with copies of this edition. The strikingly attractive binding done in an elaborately gilt style reminiscent of a Roger Payne design is the work of Riviere one of the foremost names among English binderies. Our copy has belonged to two notable collectors. According to Dickinson Hagen 1859-1918 was a collector whose library especially strong in English literature "reflected a highly developed intelligent connoisseurship." Beverly Chew wrote in the foreword to the catalogue for the Hagen sale at Anderson Galleries 13 May 1918 that the library which featured high spots bought at the Lefferts and Poor sales "was one of the best ever submitted to the public at auction." William A. Strutz 1934-2024 was a North Dakota attorney and passionate bibliophile who assembled a library of over 15000 rare and important literary works. Our first printing of "Essay on Criticism" is not easy to find in the attractive condition seen here. W. Lewis unknown books
1711ref. ST20182London: W. Lewis 1711. FIRST EDITION First Issue. 280 x 152 mm. 8 1/8 x 6". 1 p.l. 43 1 pp. VERY PRETTY DARK GREEN CRUSHED MOROCCO ELABORATELY GILT IN PERIOD STYLE BY RIVIERE & SON stamp-signed on front turn-in covers with double frames formed of floral sprigs drawer handles and other small tools the frames enclosing an elegant central wreath; raised bands spine panels densely gilt with stippling floral tools radiating from small central flower gilt lettering turn-ins densely gilt with scrolling foliate tools all edges gilt. With an attractive woodcut headpiece and tailpiece; one foliated woodcut initial. Front pastedown with the bookplate of Winston Henry Hagen and book label of William A. Strutz. Griffith 2; Rothschild 1564; Foxon P806; Day "History of English Literature 1600-1837" pp. 73-4. Sheets uniformly a little toned because carefully washed the usual offsetting on facing flyleaves from turn-ins but a very pleasing copy--the text without signs of use and the exceptionally pretty binding lustrous and virtually unworn. This first printing of Alexander Pope’s first independent publication called by Day "one of the most quoted poems in English" offers a sumptuous binding in the style of the period retains its scarce original half-title and boasts an impressive provenance. Pope 1688-1744 composed "An Essay on Criticism" early in his career possibly when he was just 18. In this poem which introduced several expressions now common in the lexicon including "to err is human; to forgive divine" and "fools rush in where angels fear to tread" Pope provides his philosophy on what makes good criticism and by extension good poetry. Of it Day writes: "no one can claim originality for the content of 'Essay on Criticism' but all must admit the incomparable mastery of verse and language." This copy retains the half-title which is often missing primarily because it was often used as part of the volume's wrappers. Our copy does lack the final leaf of ads as almost always with copies of this edition. The strikingly attractive binding done in an elaborately gilt style reminiscent of a Roger Payne design is the work of Riviere one of the foremost names among English binderies. Our copy has belonged to two notable collectors. According to Dickinson Hagen 1859-1918 was a collector whose library especially strong in English literature "reflected a highly developed intelligent connoisseurship." Beverly Chew wrote in the foreword to the catalogue for the Hagen sale at Anderson Galleries 13 May 1918 that the library which featured high spots bought at the Lefferts and Poor sales "was one of the best ever submitted to the public at auction." William A. Strutz 1934-2024 was a North Dakota attorney and passionate bibliophile who assembled a library of over 15000 rare and important literary works. Our first printing of "Essay on Criticism" is not easy to find in the attractive condition seen here. W. Lewis unknown
1833ref. PHO-2302Paris, Imprimerie Royale, Arthus Bertrand, au dépôt général de la marine, 1833-1839. 5 vol. in-8 (25,5x16,5cm) demi-chevrette rouge, dos à nerfs orné (reliure de l'époque), supplément lépidoptères broché de I. [2] ff.-xli-558-[1] pp. ; II. [2] ff.-481-[1] pp., grande carte dépliante (piqûres, coupures aux pliures sans manque) ; III. [2] ff.-510-[1] pp. ; IV. [2] ff.- 480 pp. ; V. [2] ff., 195-200 pp., Supplément Lépidoptères 30pp., 70 planches dont 61 soigneusement aquarellées. Rousseurs touchant principalement le texte et très peu les planches, mouillures claires par endroits au texte, feuillets volants pour le supplément. Sans les deux grands atlas historique et hydrographique, mais bien complet du très rare 5e volume d'histoire naturelle, paru ultérieurement qui manque presque toujours et complet des planches. Ce rarissime cinquième et dernier volume de texte, qui comporte 2 parties, renferme le rapport fait à l'Académie des sciences le 4 février 1833 sur les collections d'histoire naturelle recueillies pendant le voyage de la corvette La Favorite…, les Recherches sur les marsupiaux par Fortuné Eydoux et Laurent, la 2e partie Zoologie par Fortuné Eydoux et Paul Gervais, le supplément sur les Lépidoptères nouveaux par Feisthamel.
1735ref. ST15797London: Printed for G. Hawkins and sold by T. Cooper 1735. FIRST EDITION. ONE OF 750 COPIES. 263 x 207 mm. 10 1/4 x 8 1/8". 6 p.l. 106 pp. 1 leaf errata. SUPERB OLIVE GREEN CRUSHED MOROCCO BY RIVIERE & SON stamp-signed on front turn-in cover with lettered central panel surrounded by four onlaid sections of darker green morocco outer frame of leafy vines emanating from the tips of the fan-palm-shaped cornerpieces each of these compartments with a blind-stamped leaping stag on a stippled gold ground raised bands spine with gilt-ruled compartments gilt titling gilt-ruled turn-ins all edges gilt. In a somewhat worn fleece-lined burgundy buckram chemise and marbled paper slipcase. Engraved allegorical frontispiece featuring Diana and Apollo by Scotin after Gravelot. Front pastedown with morocco ex-libris of Alfred Barmore Maclay. Foxon S-562; Hayward 158; Rothschild 1932; Schwerdt II 166. ◆Leather on spine uniformly sunned to olive brown as expected with green morocco text perhaps lightly washed and pressed in keeping with bibliophilic fashion at the time of binding occasional faint marginal smudges otherwise fine internally and in a very lustrous binding with no signs of wear. This is the first edition of the most popular work by Somerville 1675-1742 a mock-heroic poem about hunting in an apt and very striking binding by a renowned English workshop. Divided into four books of Miltonic blank verse "The Chace" is considered to be one of the finest didactic poems of the first half of the 18th century. The text covers hounds and their kennels along with the hunting of hare fox and otter and there are digressions that bring in methods of the chase in exotic localities. Most of the hunts described are accompanied by dogs and set in England past or present but the poet occasionally strays far afield to describe lion stalking or the hunting habits of Genghis Khan. According to Schwerdt the book was "highly approved of by the first literary characters of his day." The extraordinarily handsome binding by Riviere incorporates the hunting motif with four stags appearing to chase one another around the covers. Riviere is one of the foremost names in English binding partly because the firm did consistently fine work and partly because it was so long in business. Robert Riviere began as a bookseller and binder in Bath in 1829 then set up shop as a binder in London in 1840; in 1881 he took his grandson Percival Calkin into partnership at which time the firm became known as Riviere & Son and the bindery continued to do business until 1939. Our volume comes from the library of Alfred Barmore Mackay 1871-1944 who after a very brief career at his family's bank devoted himself to collecting books art and antiques engaging in equestrian sports and designing a sumptuous garden at his Florida estate now a state park. Printed for G. Hawkins, and sold by T. Cooper unknown books
1735ref. ST15797London: Printed for G. Hawkins and sold by T. Cooper 1735. FIRST EDITION. ONE OF 750 COPIES. 263 x 207 mm. 10 1/4 x 8 1/8". 6 p.l. 106 pp. 1 leaf errata. SUPERB OLIVE GREEN CRUSHED MOROCCO BY RIVIERE & SON stamp-signed on front turn-in cover with lettered central panel surrounded by four onlaid sections of darker green morocco outer frame of leafy vines emanating from the tips of the fan-palm-shaped cornerpieces each of these compartments with a blind-stamped leaping stag on a stippled gold ground raised bands spine with gilt-ruled compartments gilt titling gilt-ruled turn-ins all edges gilt. In a somewhat worn fleece-lined burgundy buckram chemise and marbled paper slipcase. Engraved allegorical frontispiece featuring Diana and Apollo by Scotin after Gravelot. Front pastedown with morocco ex-libris of Alfred Barmore Maclay. Foxon S-562; Hayward 158; Rothschild 1932; Schwerdt II 166. ◆Leather on spine uniformly sunned to olive brown as expected with green morocco text perhaps lightly washed and pressed in keeping with bibliophilic fashion at the time of binding occasional faint marginal smudges otherwise fine internally and in a very lustrous binding with no signs of wear. This is the first edition of the most popular work by Somerville 1675-1742 a mock-heroic poem about hunting in an apt and very striking binding by a renowned English workshop. Divided into four books of Miltonic blank verse "The Chace" is considered to be one of the finest didactic poems of the first half of the 18th century. The text covers hounds and their kennels along with the hunting of hare fox and otter and there are digressions that bring in methods of the chase in exotic localities. Most of the hunts described are accompanied by dogs and set in England past or present but the poet occasionally strays far afield to describe lion stalking or the hunting habits of Genghis Khan. According to Schwerdt the book was "highly approved of by the first literary characters of his day." The extraordinarily handsome binding by Riviere incorporates the hunting motif with four stags appearing to chase one another around the covers. Riviere is one of the foremost names in English binding partly because the firm did consistently fine work and partly because it was so long in business. Robert Riviere began as a bookseller and binder in Bath in 1829 then set up shop as a binder in London in 1840; in 1881 he took his grandson Percival Calkin into partnership at which time the firm became known as Riviere & Son and the bindery continued to do business until 1939. Our volume comes from the library of Alfred Barmore Mackay 1871-1944 who after a very brief career at his family's bank devoted himself to collecting books art and antiques engaging in equestrian sports and designing a sumptuous garden at his Florida estate now a state park. Printed for G. Hawkins, and sold by T. Cooper unknown
1845ref. 0002564Good. 1845. On offer is a sensational remarkable group of 1845 manuscript depositions detailing the mutinous activity and desertions during a voyage of the whaling Bark Alto between 1844 - 1845. The eyewitness testimonies are comprised of 37 pages or so of handwritten fair copies; five 5 complete and one 1 incomplete deposition all by various crew members the five complete copies each personally attested and signed at the conclusion by George William Gordon American Consul at Rio de Janeiro May 20 1845. Blunt facts display the ferocity of emotions and simmering violence provide snippets like 'Palmer said to deponent that . . . he would put one of those dirk knives into him' abound throughout the testimonies. The depositions paint a picture of unbridled upset on the ship: lawlessless violence suspicions of poisoning desertion and a final critical comment from nature itself: a calamitous lightning strike makes for a final exclamation point to the awful whaling voyage. The vessel at the center of the events described herein the Alto was built in Tiverton Rhode Island we note that research indicates the Alto was in fact the only such vessel ever built at Tiverton in 1826 and was lost near the Falkland Islands in 1870. The National Maritime Digital Library date the events related in the documents occurred during the Alto's fourth voyage under the direction of Captain Nehemiah West whose deposition is included and which lasted from September 1844 to April 1847. A successful voyage commercially as the records further note that the Alto collected 339 barrels of sperm oil 304 barrels of baleen oil and 2700 lbs. of whale bone. As a group the depositions--from the Captain First Second and Third Mates and two boat helmsmen paint a vivid often harrowing picture of a voyage fraught with tension and danger. Researchers and historians will note that at least two of the depositions document an ominous shipboard discussion of the earlier well-documented mutiny aboard the vessel Globe out of Nantucket which took place in 1827. While the general outline of the events remains consistent throughout each of the deponents provides a unique personal perspective on what transpired often with the addition of unexpected or surprising details omitted by the others. Virtually all of the crew involved are identified by name multiple times throughout the documents two however are repeatedly described only as "Portuguese". In broad overview complaints from crew members that the vessel is leaky and unseaworthy leads to refusal to perform duties; the captain administers punishment including placing crew members in irons and striking them with a piece of "rattling" ratline; a small group of crew desert with one of the boats but are caught and jailed at St. Jago Cape Verde and shipped back to the U.S. on the U.S. Sloop of War Decatur; after a few months of relative calm unrest breaks out again this time with threats of violence to fellow crew members with clubs and "dirk knives"; in the most dramatic event eleven crew members desert with the remaining two boats taking with them a large store of the whaling equipment. The Alto its crew and equipment drastically reduced suffers the final indignity of a lightning strike "breaking and splitting" the mainmast but is able to hobble into Rio de Janeiro where these eyewitness accounts were given to the American Consul and preserved in the present documents. Here is a snippet from the deposition of helmsman William Williams approx. 8 pages on two pairs of conjugate leaves: "William Williams . . . deposed as follows. . . . That he was born in the County of Essex in England is 29 years of age and a naturalized citizen of the United States was naturalized at Boston Mass. in July 1842. That he shipped on board the Barque 'Alto'--Nehemiah West Master at New Bedford in August 1844 as Boat steerer to proceed on a Whaling Voyage. That the Vessel sailed on the 3rd September following. That 14 or 15 days after the Vessel went out to sea all the foremost hands refused duty--alleging that the Vessel was leaky. On their refusing duty Captain West interrogated each of them separately and three of them returned to duty and eleven still refused and were sent below where they were kept about 48 hours. While the eleven men were below as aforesaid they experienced two very heavy squalls but none of said men offered to return to duty--but on the other hand made sport of them that were at work. After they had been below deck 24 hours the Master went forward and requested four of the men to come on deck. They refused to come unless all were allowed to some on deck at a time--and after a good many threats on the part of the men the Master told them that if the men he had called did not come on deck that he would have the forecastle smoked to force them out. Soon after four came on deck as the Master had directed and still refusing to go to duty on being called upon the deck and refusing duty were put in Irons and the others one being called upon deck and refusing duty were seized in the rigging there being no Irons to put upon them. That at New Bedford before sailing one of the men named Spencer who had shipped deserted and another man named Charles Shane came on board in his place--but Shane's name was not put on the Papers. That when the men were called up as aforesaid said Shane took the ground that his name was not upon the Shipping Paper and therefore he would not go to duty and obey the Master--upon which the Master gave him four blows with a piece of Rattling i.e. part of the ratline. George Ritter also who was supposed to be the instigator in the men's refusing duty and who was insolent to the Master also receive three strokes with the Rattling. Another man the steward named James Wilson also got three blows with the Rattling for insolence to the Captain. He said that he never was flogged on board of a Blubber Hunter although he had been on board of a Man of War. No others were flogged or punished in any way and they all returned to duty." Scattered light soiling a bit of staining and handling wear creases; some tears tiny holes and small chips mostly confined to edges; no substantial losses; otherwise very good to fine overall the writing dark and distinct. Overall G.; Manuscript; 4to - over 9¾" - 12" tall; KEYWORDS: HISTORY OF WHALING SHIP MUTINY BARK ALTO NEW BEDFORD MASSACHUSETTS WHALERS MUTINEERS DESERTERS BARQUE MARINE NAUTICAL NAVAL GEORGE WILLIAM GORDON AMERICAN CONSUL AT RIO DE JANEIRO CAPTAIN NEHEMIAH WEST TIVERTON RHODE ISLAND MUTINY ABOARD THE VESSEL GLOBE NANTUCKET AMERICANAHANDWRITTEN MANUSCRIPT DOCUMENT LETTER AUTOGRAPH WRITER HAND WRITTEN DOCUMENTS SIGNED LETTERS MANUSCRIPTS HISTORICAL HOLOGRAPH WRITERS AUTOGRAPHS PERSONAL MEMOIR MEMORIAL AMERICANA ANTIQUITÉ CONTRAT VÉLIN DOCUMENT MANUSCRIT PAPIER ANTIKE BRIEF PERGAMENT DOKUMENT MANUSKRIPT PAPIER OGGETTO D'ANTIQUARIATO ATTO VELINA DOCUMENTO MANOSCRITTO CARTA ANTIGÜEDAD HECHO VITELA DOCUMENTO MANUSCRITO PAPEL . unknown
ref. LCS-17951Le présent exemplaire fait partie des 288 exemplaires imprimés sur papier vélin à la cuve des manufactures Blanchet et Kléber et porte le n°83. Paris, L’édition d’art, H. Piazza, s.d. [1913]. In-4 de (2) ff.bl., 179 pp., (3) ff. Couverture supérieure, pp. 51-52, p. 107 et pp. 35-36 répétées deux fois à la fin. Conservé dans une reliure très raffinée spécialement exécutée pour cet ouvrage, veau ivoire en box mosaïqué décoré sur chaque plat d'une grande composition figurative dans les tons rouge, rose, orange et vert, figurant une scène avec un dragon, dos lisse, non rogné, tranche supérieure dorée, couverture et dos conservés. Reliure signée Georges Baudin. 229 x 159 mm.
ref. 05208Oxford: The Clarendon Press 1925. The True Art of Memory is the Art of Attention" Samuel Johnson A Superb Cosway Binding with a Remarkable Portrait by Miss C.B. Currie of Dr. Samuel Johnson COSWAY BINDING. RIVIÈRE & SON binders. MISS C.B. CURRIE miniaturist. A Bibliography of Samuel Johnson by William Prideaux Courtney and David Nichol Smith. A Reissue of the Edition of 1915 Illustrated with Facsimiles. Oxford at the Clarendon Press 1925. Limited to 350 copies. Octavo 8 3/4 x 5 1/2 inches; 223 x 140 mm. i-viii 1-186 pp. Thirty-seven facsimile plates. Limitation statement at front "This is No. 926 of the Cosway Bindings invented by J. H. Stonehouse with Miniatures on Ivory by Miss Currie. Signed in black ink 'J.H. Stonehouse' Inventor. 'C.B. Currie' Artist." Bound by Rivière & Son in full dark green crushed levant morocco. Covers with gilt double-rule border the front cover with a superb large rectangular portrait miniature set under beveled glass measuring 4 7/8 x 3 7/8 inches; 123 x 98 mm. of a mature Dr. Samuel Johnson after Sir Joshua Reynolds by Miss C.B. Currie within an elaborate gilt foliate frame. Rear cover with gilt double-rule border and large decorative gilt foliate corner pieces. Spine with five raised bands elaborately tooled and lettered in gilt in compartments. Double gilt-ruled board edges decorative gilt turn-ins green moiré silk liners and endleaves top edge gilt others uncut. Stamp-signed by the binders on front turn-in: "Bound by Rivière & Son London." Stamped-signed by the artist on rear liner: Miniatures by C.B. Currie." Additionally signed on the upper and lower board edges: "Cosway Binding" and "Invented by J.H. Stonehouse." An exceptionally handsome and remarkably well-preserved Cosway binding distinguished by one of Miss C.B. Currie's finest portrait miniatures depicting Dr. Samuel Johnson after Sir Joshua Reynolds. Housed in a felt-lined green cloth clamshell case spine with leather label lettered in gilt. The unusually large miniature is particularly appropriate for what remains one of the standard bibliographies of Johnson transforming an important work of scholarship into a fitting tribute to England's greatest man of letters. Cosway Bindings: In the first decade of the twentieth century the London bookselling firm of Henry Sotheran & Co. introduced a type of binding that was decorative had historic associations and catered to the level of quality expected by connoisseurs at the time. Between 1902 and 1903 John Harrison Stonehouse 1864-1937 managing director of Sotheran's created what came to be referred to as "Cosway bindings." These were named after the celebrated eighteenth-century English portrait miniaturist Richard Cosway 1742-1821. Cosway bindings are distinguished by their attractive finely painted miniatures that are protected by glass and inset into the covers or doublures inside covers of elegantly tooled books. Stonehouse's success with the bindings was due in part to his employment of skilled miniaturist Miss C. B. Currie. It has been estimated that Miss Currie painted several thousand miniatures recognized for their delicate rendering and precision for over nine hundred bindings before her death circa 1940. For many of the more lavish Cosway bindings Currie painted multiple portraits. Occasionally landscapes and other subjects adorn the covers or doublures. To enhance Currie's miniatures Stonehouse arranged for the London firm of Rivière & Son to produce a variety of high-quality single-volume bindings. One of the best large-scale binderies active in the first quarter of the twentieth century Rivière & Son integrated the miniatures into bindings for both previously published editions and new works. Stonehouse marketed Sotheran's finished Cosway-bound volumes primarily to booksellers in the United States or to American agents. Before Sotheran's 1911 catalogue in which they identified the miniature artist as Miss Currie the miniatures are attributable only by their recognizable style. By 1913 many of the bindings were distinguished by a limitation statement on a colophon leaf where a publisher's emblem or trademark is placed which provides the number of the Cosway binding with facsimile signatures of Stonehouse and Miss Currie. The customary gilt-stamped signature on the turn-in is generally lettered: "Bound by Rivière & Son from Designs by J. H. Stonehouse" and "Miniatures by C. B. Currie." Caroline Billin Currie who professionally used the surname "Currie" December 12 1849 - April 2 1940 was the miniaturist artist of all the genuine Cosway bindings. Born in Cornwall England Caroline Billin Curry was also one of the most prominent fore-edge artists in the twentieth-century. A master of the art of miniature painting she excelled as a copyist working for Henry Sotheran Booksellers London. She became famous for her miniature paintings applied to two art forms. First mounted on Rivière bindings and named by her employer as "Cosway" bindings. Later she expanded her work into the art of painting on the fanned edge of a book - called a fore-edge painting. Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1925 unknown books
ref. 05209London: Hutchinson & Co 1934. Happiness is the one Thing we Queens can never have." Catherine de' Medici A Superb Cosway Binding with an Exceptional Portrait Miniature of Catherine de' Medici COSWAY BINDING. RIVIÈRE & SON binders. MISS C.B. CURRIE miniaturist. WATSON Francis. The Life and Times of Catherine de' Medici. With 16 Illustrations. London: Hutchinson & Co 1934. First edition. Octavo 8 7/8 x 5 3/4 inches; 226 x 146 mm. 1-287 1 blank pp. Photogravure frontispiece with original tissue guard and fifteen photogravure plates. Limitation statement at front "This is No. 912 of the Cosway Bindings invented by J. H. Stonehouse with Miniatures on Ivory by Miss Currie. Signed in blue & black ink 'J.H. Stonehouse' Inventor. 'C.B. Currie' Artist." Bound by Rivière & Son in full maroon crushed levant morocco. Covers with gilt double-rule border the front cover set with an exceptionally large oval portrait miniature set under glass measuring 4 3/4 x 3 3/4 inches; 121 x 95 mm. of Catherine de' Medici by Miss C.B. Currie within an elaborate gilt scroll design. Rear cover with double-rule borders and broken gilt fillet border with gilt rococo corner ornaments. Spine with five raised bands elaborately tooled and lettered in gilt in compartments. Double gilt-ruled board edges decorative gilt turn-ins light blue moiré silk liners and endleaves All edges gilt. Stamp-signed by the binders on front turn-in: "Bound by Rivière & Son." Stamped-signed by the artist on rear liner: Miniatures by C.B. Currie." Additionally signed on the upper and lower board edges: "Cosway Binding" and "Invented by J.H. Stonehouse." Housed in a felt-lined quarter red morocco over red cloth boards clamshell case by Zaehnsdorf spine with five raised bands lettered in gilt in compartments. An exceptionally fine and completely authentic Cosway binding from the library of Paul Edward Chevalier with his circular red leather bookplate on front blank. Provenance: This copy which formed part of the celebrated Paul Edward Chevalier Collection of English Twentieth-Century Bookbindings and was sold at Christie's New York 9 November 1990 lot 72. Few historical figures lend themselves more naturally to the Cosway tradition than Catherine de' Medici. Patron of the arts queen regent diplomat and one of the most fascinating personalities of Renaissance Europe she has inspired generations of historians and artists alike. Miss Currie's richly painted miniature captures precisely the regal dignity and enigmatic character for which Catherine remains famous. Cosway Bindings: In the first decade of the twentieth century the London bookselling firm of Henry Sotheran & Co. introduced a type of binding that was decorative had historic associations and catered to the level of quality expected by connoisseurs at the time. Between 1902 and 1903 John Harrison Stonehouse 1864-1937 managing director of Sotheran's created what came to be referred to as "Cosway bindings." These were named after the celebrated eighteenth-century English portrait miniaturist Richard Cosway 1742-1821. Cosway bindings are distinguished by their attractive finely painted miniatures that are protected by glass and inset into the covers or doublures inside covers of elegantly tooled books. Stonehouse's success with the bindings was due in part to his employment of skilled miniaturist Miss C. B. Currie. It has been estimated that Miss Currie painted several thousand miniatures recognized for their delicate rendering and precision for over nine hundred bindings before her death circa 1940. For many of the more lavish Cosway bindings Currie painted multiple portraits. Occasionally landscapes and other subjects adorn the covers or doublures. To enhance Currie's miniatures Stonehouse arranged for the London firm of Rivière & Son to produce a variety of high-quality single-volume bindings. One of the best large-scale binderies active in the first quarter of the twentieth century Rivière & Son integrated the miniatures into bindings for both previously published editions and new works. Stonehouse marketed Sotheran's finished Cosway-bound volumes primarily to booksellers in the United States or to American agents. Before Sotheran's 1911 catalogue in which they identified the miniature artist as Miss Currie the miniatures are attributable only by their recognizable style. By 1913 many of the bindings were distinguished by a limitation statement on a colophon leaf where a publisher's emblem or trademark is placed which provides the number of the Cosway binding with facsimile signatures of Stonehouse and Miss Currie. The customary gilt-stamped signature on the turn-in is generally lettered: "Bound by Rivière & Son from Designs by J. H. Stonehouse" and "Miniatures by C. B. Currie." Caroline Billin Currie who professionally used the surname "Currie" December 12 1849 - April 2 1940 was the miniaturist artist of all the genuine Cosway bindings. Born in Cornwall England Caroline Billin Curry was also one of the most prominent fore-edge artists in the twentieth-century. A master of the art of miniature painting she excelled as a copyist working for Henry Sotheran Booksellers London. She became famous for her miniature paintings applied to two art forms. First mounted on Rivière bindings and named by her employer as "Cosway" bindings. Later she expanded her work into the art of painting on the fanned edge of a book - called a fore-edge painting. Catherine de' Medici 1519-1589 was an Italian noblewoman. She also was queen consort of France from 1547 until 1559 by marriage to King Henry II and mother of kings Francis II Charles IX and Henry III. The years during which her sons reigned have been called "the age of Catherine de' Medici" as she had extensive if at times varying influence in the political life of France. London: Hutchinson & Co, [1934] unknown books
ref. 05208Oxford: The Clarendon Press 1925. The True Art of Memory is the Art of Attention" Samuel Johnson A Superb Cosway Binding with a Remarkable Portrait by Miss C.B. Currie of Dr. Samuel Johnson COSWAY BINDING. RIVIÈRE & SON binders. MISS C.B. CURRIE miniaturist. A Bibliography of Samuel Johnson by William Prideaux Courtney and David Nichol Smith. A Reissue of the Edition of 1915 Illustrated with Facsimiles. Oxford at the Clarendon Press 1925. Limited to 350 copies. Octavo 8 3/4 x 5 1/2 inches; 223 x 140 mm. i-viii 1-186 pp. Thirty-seven facsimile plates. Limitation statement at front "This is No. 926 of the Cosway Bindings invented by J. H. Stonehouse with Miniatures on Ivory by Miss Currie. Signed in black ink 'J.H. Stonehouse' Inventor. 'C.B. Currie' Artist." Bound by Rivière & Son in full dark green crushed levant morocco. Covers with gilt double-rule border the front cover with a superb large rectangular portrait miniature set under beveled glass measuring 4 7/8 x 3 7/8 inches; 123 x 98 mm. of a mature Dr. Samuel Johnson after Sir Joshua Reynolds by Miss C.B. Currie within an elaborate gilt foliate frame. Rear cover with gilt double-rule border and large decorative gilt foliate corner pieces. Spine with five raised bands elaborately tooled and lettered in gilt in compartments. Double gilt-ruled board edges decorative gilt turn-ins green moiré silk liners and endleaves top edge gilt others uncut. Stamp-signed by the binders on front turn-in: "Bound by Rivière & Son London." Stamped-signed by the artist on rear liner: Miniatures by C.B. Currie." Additionally signed on the upper and lower board edges: "Cosway Binding" and "Invented by J.H. Stonehouse." An exceptionally handsome and remarkably well-preserved Cosway binding distinguished by one of Miss C.B. Currie's finest portrait miniatures depicting Dr. Samuel Johnson after Sir Joshua Reynolds. Housed in a felt-lined green cloth clamshell case spine with leather label lettered in gilt. The unusually large miniature is particularly appropriate for what remains one of the standard bibliographies of Johnson transforming an important work of scholarship into a fitting tribute to England's greatest man of letters. Cosway Bindings: In the first decade of the twentieth century the London bookselling firm of Henry Sotheran & Co. introduced a type of binding that was decorative had historic associations and catered to the level of quality expected by connoisseurs at the time. Between 1902 and 1903 John Harrison Stonehouse 1864-1937 managing director of Sotheran's created what came to be referred to as "Cosway bindings." These were named after the celebrated eighteenth-century English portrait miniaturist Richard Cosway 1742-1821. Cosway bindings are distinguished by their attractive finely painted miniatures that are protected by glass and inset into the covers or doublures inside covers of elegantly tooled books. Stonehouse's success with the bindings was due in part to his employment of skilled miniaturist Miss C. B. Currie. It has been estimated that Miss Currie painted several thousand miniatures recognized for their delicate rendering and precision for over nine hundred bindings before her death circa 1940. For many of the more lavish Cosway bindings Currie painted multiple portraits. Occasionally landscapes and other subjects adorn the covers or doublures. To enhance Currie's miniatures Stonehouse arranged for the London firm of Rivière & Son to produce a variety of high-quality single-volume bindings. One of the best large-scale binderies active in the first quarter of the twentieth century Rivière & Son integrated the miniatures into bindings for both previously published editions and new works. Stonehouse marketed Sotheran's finished Cosway-bound volumes primarily to booksellers in the United States or to American agents. Before Sotheran's 1911 catalogue in which they identified the miniature artist as Miss Currie the miniatures are attributable only by their recognizable style. By 1913 many of the bindings were distinguished by a limitation statement on a colophon leaf where a publisher's emblem or trademark is placed which provides the number of the Cosway binding with facsimile signatures of Stonehouse and Miss Currie. The customary gilt-stamped signature on the turn-in is generally lettered: "Bound by Rivière & Son from Designs by J. H. Stonehouse" and "Miniatures by C. B. Currie." Caroline Billin Currie who professionally used the surname "Currie" December 12 1849 - April 2 1940 was the miniaturist artist of all the genuine Cosway bindings. Born in Cornwall England Caroline Billin Curry was also one of the most prominent fore-edge artists in the twentieth-century. A master of the art of miniature painting she excelled as a copyist working for Henry Sotheran Booksellers London. She became famous for her miniature paintings applied to two art forms. First mounted on Rivière bindings and named by her employer as "Cosway" bindings. Later she expanded her work into the art of painting on the fanned edge of a book - called a fore-edge painting. Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1925 unknown
ref. 05209London: Hutchinson & Co 1934. Happiness is the one Thing we Queens can never have." Catherine de' Medici A Superb Cosway Binding with an Exceptional Portrait Miniature of Catherine de' Medici COSWAY BINDING. RIVIÈRE & SON binders. MISS C.B. CURRIE miniaturist. WATSON Francis. The Life and Times of Catherine de' Medici. With 16 Illustrations. London: Hutchinson & Co 1934. First edition. Octavo 8 7/8 x 5 3/4 inches; 226 x 146 mm. 1-287 1 blank pp. Photogravure frontispiece with original tissue guard and fifteen photogravure plates. Limitation statement at front "This is No. 912 of the Cosway Bindings invented by J. H. Stonehouse with Miniatures on Ivory by Miss Currie. Signed in blue & black ink 'J.H. Stonehouse' Inventor. 'C.B. Currie' Artist." Bound by Rivière & Son in full maroon crushed levant morocco. Covers with gilt double-rule border the front cover set with an exceptionally large oval portrait miniature set under glass measuring 4 3/4 x 3 3/4 inches; 121 x 95 mm. of Catherine de' Medici by Miss C.B. Currie within an elaborate gilt scroll design. Rear cover with double-rule borders and broken gilt fillet border with gilt rococo corner ornaments. Spine with five raised bands elaborately tooled and lettered in gilt in compartments. Double gilt-ruled board edges decorative gilt turn-ins light blue moiré silk liners and endleaves All edges gilt. Stamp-signed by the binders on front turn-in: "Bound by Rivière & Son." Stamped-signed by the artist on rear liner: Miniatures by C.B. Currie." Additionally signed on the upper and lower board edges: "Cosway Binding" and "Invented by J.H. Stonehouse." Housed in a felt-lined quarter red morocco over red cloth boards clamshell case by Zaehnsdorf spine with five raised bands lettered in gilt in compartments. An exceptionally fine and completely authentic Cosway binding from the library of Paul Edward Chevalier with his circular red leather bookplate on front blank. Provenance: This copy which formed part of the celebrated Paul Edward Chevalier Collection of English Twentieth-Century Bookbindings and was sold at Christie's New York 9 November 1990 lot 72. Few historical figures lend themselves more naturally to the Cosway tradition than Catherine de' Medici. Patron of the arts queen regent diplomat and one of the most fascinating personalities of Renaissance Europe she has inspired generations of historians and artists alike. Miss Currie's richly painted miniature captures precisely the regal dignity and enigmatic character for which Catherine remains famous. Cosway Bindings: In the first decade of the twentieth century the London bookselling firm of Henry Sotheran & Co. introduced a type of binding that was decorative had historic associations and catered to the level of quality expected by connoisseurs at the time. Between 1902 and 1903 John Harrison Stonehouse 1864-1937 managing director of Sotheran's created what came to be referred to as "Cosway bindings." These were named after the celebrated eighteenth-century English portrait miniaturist Richard Cosway 1742-1821. Cosway bindings are distinguished by their attractive finely painted miniatures that are protected by glass and inset into the covers or doublures inside covers of elegantly tooled books. Stonehouse's success with the bindings was due in part to his employment of skilled miniaturist Miss C. B. Currie. It has been estimated that Miss Currie painted several thousand miniatures recognized for their delicate rendering and precision for over nine hundred bindings before her death circa 1940. For many of the more lavish Cosway bindings Currie painted multiple portraits. Occasionally landscapes and other subjects adorn the covers or doublures. To enhance Currie's miniatures Stonehouse arranged for the London firm of Rivière & Son to produce a variety of high-quality single-volume bindings. One of the best large-scale binderies active in the first quarter of the twentieth century Rivière & Son integrated the miniatures into bindings for both previously published editions and new works. Stonehouse marketed Sotheran's finished Cosway-bound volumes primarily to booksellers in the United States or to American agents. Before Sotheran's 1911 catalogue in which they identified the miniature artist as Miss Currie the miniatures are attributable only by their recognizable style. By 1913 many of the bindings were distinguished by a limitation statement on a colophon leaf where a publisher's emblem or trademark is placed which provides the number of the Cosway binding with facsimile signatures of Stonehouse and Miss Currie. The customary gilt-stamped signature on the turn-in is generally lettered: "Bound by Rivière & Son from Designs by J. H. Stonehouse" and "Miniatures by C. B. Currie." Caroline Billin Currie who professionally used the surname "Currie" December 12 1849 - April 2 1940 was the miniaturist artist of all the genuine Cosway bindings. Born in Cornwall England Caroline Billin Curry was also one of the most prominent fore-edge artists in the twentieth-century. A master of the art of miniature painting she excelled as a copyist working for Henry Sotheran Booksellers London. She became famous for her miniature paintings applied to two art forms. First mounted on Rivière bindings and named by her employer as "Cosway" bindings. Later she expanded her work into the art of painting on the fanned edge of a book - called a fore-edge painting. Catherine de' Medici 1519-1589 was an Italian noblewoman. She also was queen consort of France from 1547 until 1559 by marriage to King Henry II and mother of kings Francis II Charles IX and Henry III. The years during which her sons reigned have been called "the age of Catherine de' Medici" as she had extensive if at times varying influence in the political life of France. London: Hutchinson & Co, [1934] unknown
