Tales from a Century Before: An Episodic Account of a Journey Undertaken in Youth.
Santa Monica, CA: Waverly Books, 2014. Trade paperback. First Edition. 171 pp. 8vo. Clean, crisp copy. Fine. More
Books About Books
Notes on Modern Printing.
New York: WM. E. Rudge's Sons, 1945. Hardcover. First Edition. 71 pp. 4to. Black cloth boards with silver titling to cover and spine. No dust jacket, as issued. Interior pages have light age toning from age. Housed in original black cloth covered slipcase. [Purcell 14].
An amazing treatise, with numerous examples of how Merle Armitage designed a book, including 11 ideas and suggestions that grace the front pastedown. Armitage's designs, at times, were ground breaking in book design and this volumes lets one into the creative process as he practiced it for decades. Produced in an edition of 5,000 copies, 2,000 were bound in wraps, this is one of the 3,000 hardcover copies with a slipcase. Fine. More
Rendezvous With the Book.
Brooklyn, NY: George McKibben & Son, 1949. Hardcover. First Edition. 30 pp. 8vo. Striking red graphic design on yellow cloth boards with black titling. Minor bumping to corners, clean within. Small, tasteful bookplate of "Jackson Burke" on front pastedown. No dust jacket as issued. [Purcell 18].
No. 3 McKibben Monograph Series. Armitage's treatise takes book designers and publishers to task for not keeping up with the times and designing books with a new combination of paper, type, and construction that reflects the time in which they are designing. Except for him, of course. Very Good. More
Merle Armitage Bibliography.
New York: E. Weyhe, 1956. Hardcover. Limited Edition. 99 pp. 8vo. Red and white printed boards. Some soiling and scuffing from use. Clean within. No dust jacket as issued. Also contains essay, "Merle Armitage" by Robert Marks. [Purcell 104].
Early bibliography of Armitage's work. This copy is inscribed by Armitage in his distinctive blue pen on the first free endpaper, "Robert D. Loken/from/Merle Armitage/1958" along with the address of Manzanita Ranch stamped in red at the lower right corner of the page. Printed in an edition of 500 copies, one of the 350 that were hardbound. Good. More
An Exhibition of the Books Designed and Written or Edited by Merle Armitage.
Detroit, MI: Detroit Public Library, 1942. Wraps. First Edition. 16 pp. 8vo. Blue paper wraps with a white paper label pasted from rear to front on which the title is printed in red and black. Very minor scuffing, clean within. Endpapers illustrated with red silhouettes of fighting ships from Armitages book, "United States Navy" published in 1940. Laid in is a sheet indicating that this is Keepsake No. 71 from The American Institute of Graphic Arts.
A simple and delightful design by Armitage of this little pamphlet listing his work contained within the Detroit Library and the focus of an exhibition from August 17 - September 19, 1942. A jewel! OCLC shows holdings in only 6 institutions. Very Good. More
Russell Cowles: Forty-Eight Reproductions of Paintings and Twenty Letters by the Artist.
los Angeles, CA: Dalzell Hatfield, 1946. Hardcover. Limited Edition. 53 pp. 4to. Dust jacket has toning from age, front hinge splitting 2/3 of the way down the spine, small chips at edges, now in mylar cover. Red boards with black titling to cove that matches dust jacket. Spine cloth split along front hinge, binding still tight. Toning to edges of interior pages due to time and quality of paper. [Purcell 58].
A classic Merle Armitage production on the artist, Russell Cowles (1887-1979). Produced in an edition of 1,000 copies, this is #252 and signed by both Cowles and Bear on the colophon. Also inscribed by Bear, "Howe/from/D. Bear" in pencil on the first first free endpaper. Good / good... More
ABC for Book-Collectors.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1953. Hardcover. Second Edition. 196 pp. 8vo. Wear and scuffing to the dust jacket, small chip missing at head of front panel near spine, sunning to spine has darkened it slghtly, now in mylar cover. Blue paper patterned boards with blue cloth spine and gold embossed titling, light bumping to corners. Clean within.
One of the standard reference books for any serious book collecto. An early edition. Very Good / Very Good. More
Biblio: The Intimate Confessions of a Used-Book Dealer.
Niles, MI: Ralph A. Casperson Books, 1997. Trade paperback. First Edition. 271 pp. 8vo. Clean, crisp copy with minor sunning to the spine.
Autobiography of Southwestern Michigan's legendary bookseller, Ralph Casperson (1919-2009). Very Good. More
Printed Books and Manuscripts from the Estate of John F. Fleming.
New York: Christie's, 1988. Wraps. First Edition. 185 pp. 4to. Light bumping at edges. Clean within.
Auction catalog for the Legendary rare book dealer, John Fleming (1910-1987). Very Good. More
1973 Descriptive Catalog of City Lights Publications.
San Francisco, CA: City Lights Books, 1973. Wraps. First Edition. 40 pp. Oblong 8vo. Very slight wear, clean within. Very Good. More
1975 Catalog of City Lights Publications.
San Francisco, CA: City Lights Books, 1975. Wraps. First Edition. 40 pp. Oblong 8vo. Very slight wear, clean within. Very Good. More
Rare Book Catalog No. 2.
San Francisco, CA: City Lights Books, n.d. Wraps. First Edition. Unpag pp. 8vo. Very slight wear, clean within. Very Good. More
Franklin Gilliam: Texas Bookman.
Dallas, TX: Book Club of Texas, 2014. Hardcover. Limited Edition. 59 pp. 8vo. Gray cloth boards with gold embossed logotype of the subject of the volume on the cover, gold titling to spine. No dust jacket, as issued.
An illuminating look at the life of Franklin Gilliam, longtime proprietor of the Brick Row Bookshop and Franklin Gilliam Books. Inscribed to a previous owner by the editor, John Crichton. Published in an edition of 350 copies. Fine. More
Dictionary of American Antiquarian Bookdealers.
Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1998. Hardcover. First Edition. First Printing. xv, 272 pp. 8vo. Clean, crisp copy. Pristine. No dust jacket, as issued. Fine. More
Henry E. Huntington's Library of Libraries.
San Marino, CA: Huntington Library, 2003. Trade paperback. First Edition. First paperback edition. xvii, 286 pp. 4to. Clean, crisp copy. Fine. More
John Carter: The Taste & Technique of a Bookman.
New Castle, DE: Oak Knoll Press, 2004. Hardcover. First Edition. First Printing. xxi, 416 pp. 8vo. Clean, crisp copy with dust jacket in mylar cover.
John Carter was a respected bookman: bookseller, bibliographer and writer. An illuminating biography of the man perhaps best known for his classic (and still in print) work, "ABC of Book Collectors" Fine / Fine. More
The Private Presses.
Chester Springs, PA: Dufour Editions, Inc., 1969. Hardcover. First Edition. First Printing. 240 pp. 8vo. Scuffing to dust jacket, some staining, small closed tear at upper left corner of front panel, now in mylar cover. Some stainng to foredge, clean within.
A survey of the work of the following presses: Daniel, Kelmscott, Vale, Eragny, Ashendene, Essex House, Doves, Golden Cockerel, Gregynog, and Shakespeare Head. Fine / very good. More
Libros Californianos or Five Feet of California Books.
Los Angeles, CA: Zeitlin & Ver Brugge, 1958. Hardcover. Revised Edition. 87 pp. 8vo. Minor scuffing and light soiling to the yellow paper boards. Printed red paper label attached to the front cover, bumping to corners, cover paper has split along hinge at front cover, now in protective mylar dust jacket.
This edition was revised and enlarged by Lawrence Clark Powell. This edition was printed in an edition of 1,000 copies and is signed by Powell at the colophon. Good. More
Book Talk: Essays on Books, Booksellers, Collecting, and Special Collections.
New Castle, DE: Oak Knoll Press, 2006. Hardcover. First Edition. xvii, 265 pp. 8vo. Clean, crisp copy with dust jackt in mylar cover.
Inscribed on the half title page by Ken Lopez, author of the essay found on p. 139, "Some Thoughts on the Maturing of the Rare Book Market." Fine / Fine. More
American Celebrations: The Creation and Evolution of the United States as Reflected in the Printed and Written Word 1776-1976.
Austin, TX: The Jenkins Company, 1976. Hardcover. Limited Edition. 312 pp. 4to. Slight wear and chipping to dust jacket, now in mylar cover. Wear to foot of cover boards. Clean within. Printed in an edition of 125 copies, this is #20 and signed by the author at the colophon. Very Good / Very Good. More
Hollywood Bowl.
New York: G. Schirmer, Inc., 1936. Hardcover. Limited Edition. iii, 203 pp. 8vo. Age toning to the dust jacket with a split halfway down the hinge at the rear panel, losses and chipping at edges, very brittle and now in mylar cover. Blue cloth boards with gold blue embossed titling that matches the dust jacket, gold stars across the head of the front and rear boards, blue stars across the foot of the rear board, some age toning at edges of boards. Very clean and tight within. [Purcell 39].
Published in an edition of 1,000 copies. Very Good / Good. More
The Company We Kept.
London: Werner Shaw Ltd., 1986. Hard Cover. First Edition. ix, 224 pp. 8vo. Very minor scuffing to dust jacket, slight sunning to spine, now in mylar cover. Clean and crisp within.
Signed by the author on the title page. A wonderful book by the wife of Percy Muir on move of the firm of Elkin Mathews and their family to the countryside in northwest Essex in 1938 and where they stayed throughout World War II. Fine / Fine. More
Second Impression: A Rural Life with a Rare Bookman.
New Castle, DE: Oak Knoll Press, 1995. Hard Cover. First Edition. x, 350 pp. 8vo. Clean and crisp copy with dust jacket in a mylar cover. Fine / Fine. More
Books for Our Time: 1951.
New York: Oxford University Press, 1951. First Edition. 128 pp. 4to. Black cloth boards with white titling to cover and spine. Spine has split along front hinge but still tight to boards. Some scuffing to boards, bumping to corners. Very clean within. No dust jacket. [Purcell 88].
Merle Armitage joins number of designers, publishers, and artists in contributing to this treatise on the state of books and their design in 1951. Armitage contributes the essay, "Attitudes Behind Design" and 23 of his designs are featured. Good. More
A Course in Correct Cataloguing or Notes to The Neophyte.
San Francisco, CA: 1977. Wraps. Limited Edition. Unpag. 8vo. Clean, crisp copy in cream wraps.
Legendary bookseller David Magee's humorous take on cataloging and description of books by booksellers. Printed in an edition of 1,000 copies. Fine. More