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
The Merle Armitage Books in the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library.
Los Angeles, CA: William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, 1957. Wraps. First Edition. 15 pp. 8vo. Light cream paper wraps with Armitage's distinctive monogram printed in red reverse on the cover. Bound by two staples at spine. Clean within.
An expalanatory brochure that accompanied an exhibition of Armitage's books at the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library organized by its Director and legendary bookman in his own right, Lawrence Clark Powell. Contains Armtiage's essay, "The Ubiquitous Book In Our Time" and signed on the verso of the front cover in his distnctive blue fountain pain, "Greetings from/Isabelle & Merle/1957" Fine. More
Come Hither!: Papers on Children's Literature and Librarianship Read at a Farewell Meeting for Frances Clarke Sayers Upon Her Retirement from Library Service and Teaching Held at UCLA, June 12, 1965.
Los Angeles, CA: The Yeasayers Press, 1966. Wraps. First Edition. 40 pp. 8vo. Golden yellow paper wraps with red embossed titling to cover. Small water stain on the lower left corner of the front panel. Clean within. 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
Book Collecting: The Last Refuge of the Illiterate.
Salt Lake City, UT: Ken Sanders Rare Books, 2005. Hardcover. Limited Edition. 8 pp. Black cloth covered boards with a dark red paper label front and rear that resembles a bookplate. Clean and crisp within. No dust jacket as issued.
Produced in an edition of 126 copies, 100 numbered copies and 26 casebound, lettered and signed by the author at the colophon. Copy "D" of the casebound edition and signed by Bowden at the colophon. Printed by Jason Davis at the verdant press. Fine / Fine. More
Book Collecting: The Last Refuge of the Illiterate.
Salt Lake City, UT: Ken Sanders Rare Books, 2005. Wraps. Limited Edition. 8 pp. Dark red paper covers that resemble a bookplate. Clean and crisp within.
Produced in an edition of 126 copies, 100 numbered copies and 26 casebound, this is copy #36 of the numbered edition and signed by the author at the colophon. Printed by Jason Davis at the verdant press. Fine. More
A Child's Garden of Dreams: An Exhibition of Children's Books and Their Original Illustrations Early Nineteenth Century to Present from the Betsy B. Shirley Collection.
Chadds Ford, PA: Brandywine River Museum, 1989. Wraps. First Edition. 80 pp. 4to. Yellow illustrated wraps with sunning to spine. Fine. More
Confessions of a Bookseller.
Boston, MA: David R. Godine, 2020. Hardcover. First Edition. First U.S. Edition. Second Printing. 312 pp. 8vo. Clean, crisp copy.
The hilarious adventures of the proprietor of Wigtown, Scotland's The Bookshop. Fine / Fine. More
The Diary of a Bookseller.
Brooklyn, NY: Melville House Publishing, 2018. Hardcover. First Edition. First U.S. Edition. First Printing. 312 pp. 8vo. Clean, crisp copy.
The hilarious adventures of the proprietor of Wigtown, Scotland's The Bookshop. Fine / Fine. More
Seven Kinds of People You Find in Bookshops.
Boston, MA: David R. Godine, 2020. Hardcover. First Edition. First U.S. Edition. Second Printing. 120 pp. 8vo. Clean, crisp copy.
The hilarious adventures of the proprietor of Wigtown, Scotland's The Bookshop. Fine / Fine. 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
Taste and Technique in Book-Collecting: A Study of Recent Developments in Great Britain and the United States.
New York: R. R. Bowker Company, 1948. Hardcover. First Edition. xxiii, 203 pp. 8vo. Light gray boards with slight bumping to corners, minor sunning to spine. Clean and tight within. 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
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
A Garland for Jake Zeitlin on the Occasion of his 65th Birthday & the Anniversary of his 40th Year in the Book Trade.
Los Angeles, CA: Grant Dahlstrom & Saul Marks, 1967. Hardcover. Limited Edition. 131 pp. 4to. Pattern cloth board design for a green and yellow print over white background, orange cloth spine with paper label. Clean and crisp within. No dust jacket as issued. A bibliography of Zeitlin's Primavera Press from 1929-1936 is at pp. 117-131 at rear of volume.
Printed in an edition of 800 copies. Fine. More
Books About Books: A History and Bibliography of Oak Knoll Press, 1978-2008.
New Castle, DE: Oak Knoll Press, 2008. Hardcover. First Edition. First Printing. 232 pp. 8vo. Clean, crisp copy with the dust jacket in a mylar cover. 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