In this edition all leaves are engraved on one side of leaf only, the engraved pages facing each other: each top half is filled with a hand-colored copper engraving with engraved text below. “The first stanza of this is the traditional nursery rhyme Little Jack Horner. The rest of the text varies considerably from the ballad usually appended to this nursery rhyme. Each stanza is labelled at foot with the activity or quality it represents: Joy, Concern, Prudence, Distress, Benevolence, Hope, Compassion, Gratitude, Reward, Industry, Obedience, Refreshment, Surprise, Encouragement, Affection, Liberality” (UCLA cataloguer).

Provenance:  Signature of Henry Wheelwright inside front cover (and on it, though rubbed much away); ownership note of “Mary E. Basto 4 (or possibly 9) Yrs” to front free endpaper, with pencilled reiteration of that and the date 1844.

•  Cf. Osborne catalogue, I, 98; Cf. Opie N790.   Contemporary or near contemporary reddish wrappers with later oversewing. Lower inner margins of all leaves torn, sometimes into text. Portion of folio 3 missing, costing three words (knowable from the rhyme scheme) and touching two others with resultant loss of four letters. For a children's book whose edition was clearly read to death, this is far better than a good copy.  (26014)

The work was also published in the same year under the title The Romance of American Landscape, and bears that running title here. This copy has an intriguing early pencilled inscription: “The 1st book my Father gave me came out of his book store - C.L.”

Binding:  Publisher's brown sheep in imitation of morocco, covers with embossed grapevine and latticework border stamped in black and with decorative gilt-stamped title (“LANDSCAPE ANNUAL”); spine with same gilt-stamped title and gilt- and black-stamped decorations. All edges gilt.

•  Sabin 70958; Wright, II, 2030. Not in BAL.   Binding as above, light wear to edges and extremities. Hinges (inside) starting. Front fly-leaf with inscription as above; additional engraved title-page with vignette of Mt. Vernon, lacking. Intermittent light to moderate foxing, mostly to margins of plates. Lovely book, lovely copy.  (26679)

Click the interior image for an enlargement.

Binding: Green cloth binding stamped in gilt, red and green (we have seen a variant in a wine colored cloth). Pictorial onlay signed by Christy.

•  BAL 16657.   Corners and edges slightly rubbed. Inscribed. A beautiful copy.  (24838)

This nostalgic evocation of the exploits of two young boys at their aunt's countryside house is illustrated with 20 full-page plates and numerous smaller “studies from nature” by Howard Chandler Christy. Margaret Armstrong designed the binding, including the floral framing decorations and the endpapers are signed with her “MA.”

•  BAL 16667; Gullans, A checklist of trade bindings by M. Armstrong.   Publisher's green cloth, front cover with gilt-stamped title and white-stamped decorative frame around an affixed half-tone portrait, spine decoratively stamped in gilt and white; corners and spine extremities very slightly rubbed, back cover with small adhesion, binding otherwise clean and beautiful. Sewing loosening a bit; this is heavy paper.  (24864)

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

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

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

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

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

Click the images for enlargements.

Binding:  Signed binding by Gaskill: Oxblood calf ornately embossed with a central medallion of Aurora in her chariot, surrounded by foliate designs, within a framing roll of drawer-handles and tulips; spine with gilt-stamped authors' names and embossed foliate designs; board edges and turn-ins with gilt rolls. All edges gilt.

•  American Imprints 41-4210; Wolf, From Gothic Windows to Peacocks, 190.   Binding as above, corners and spine extremities showing faint traces of wear. Moderate foxing throughout. A beautiful example of Philadelphia Victorian high book culture and of a classic Gaskill binding in particular.  (25994)

José-Ignacio Roquette (1801–70), a Franciscan friar and professor at the patriarchal seminary in Lisbon, also wrote a History of the Discovery of America and works on natural history and philology. First published in 1844, this is the fifth edition of this rare work: We were unable to trace any copies via NUC Pre-1956, OCLC, or RLIN.

Single-click the chromo, for an enlargement.

•  Contemporary mottled calf, spine handsomely gilt with floral devices and with a gilt-lettered red leather label; scratched and abraded with some loss on edges and corners. Marbled endpapers, a little rubbed. Light foxing and some spots of light soiling; a few tears in margins of pages and plates. A book apparently used by members of its intended audience, though not put through truly gruesome maltreatment.

A very handsomely printed book in Arabic and Latin.

•  Lambrecht 1129. 19th-century German boards covered with black mottled paper, boards and spine abraded; paper spine-label with hand-lettering. Institutional bookplate on front pastedown. Four-digit number in ink at base of first p. V. Housed in a modern quarter brown morocco tray case with raised bands on spine, each accented above and below with gilt beading (our last image shows the volume lying in its box). One spine compartment with title, another with publication place and dates, all others with gilt center device. A very acceptable copy of a scarce and important work for Arabic studies.

•  Brunet, IV, 1421. Contemporary black half morocco over blue pebbled cloth, spine beautifully gilt extra, leather edges ruled in gilt; volume clean and virtually unworn. Front pastedown with private collector’s bookplate and with institutional rubber-stamp (no other markings); some soiling and offsetting to front pastedown and free endpaper. Many leaves lightly to moderately foxed, a few more heavily — the paper here was not as good as it might have been. One leaf with short tear from upper margin, touching page number but not text. An attractive production.

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•  NSTC 2R20848.   Removed from a nonce volume, now in a marbled paper wrapper. Very good.  (9147)

•  Miller 9. Publisher's quarter off-white linen with blue-green paper sides in the Kelmscott style. Ex-library with call number tag on front cover, library name blind-stamped into covers, perforation stamp of library in blank area of title-page and in blank area of lower margin of last leaf. Dust soiled binding; corners bumped; top of spine pulled. (2682)

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This edition opens with a copper-engraved frontispiece; the second volume has a separate title-page. OCLC locates no institutional holdings of this title in the U.S., while COPAC finds only one U.K. holding (British Library).

•  Barbier, Dictionnaire des ouvrages anonymes et pseudonymes, I, 402; Grieder, Anglomania in France, 1740–1789, 157 (for 1769 & 1781 eds.).   Contemporary speckled sheep, spine gilt extra in billet pattern with gilt-stamped leather title-label; small area of spine gilt rubbed and small chips to top and bottom; corners and lower edges rubbed, with small insect hole to back joint. Attractive paste-paper endpapers and all edges red. One leaf with tear in margin, not into text; light old staining to a few leaves, including margins of frontispiece. Title-page with faint traces of early inked inscription. A sound, clean copy.  (26853)

Click the images for enlargements.

•  NCBEL, IV, 336.   Publisher's red and black marbled cloth, spine with printed paper label, dust jacket lacking; minor rubbing, unobtrusive spots of discoloration, spine label darkened. Front free endpaper with pencilled sketch, back pastedown with bookseller's small ticket and front one with a collector's(?) pencilled note on the book and its rarity. Pages clean and crisp; top edges red.  (27044)

Click the images for enlargements.

•  Publisher's blue cloth, front cover and spine with gilt-stamped title; edges and extremities lightly worn, spine darkened, evidence of something round once set on cover, scattered small spots of light discoloration. Interior clean and nice. (26682)

Paul Hogarth illustrated the book with black-and-white vignettes which open and close each chapter, and eight full-page color wash drawings. John Lewis designed the book choosing a monotype Walbaum font. The binding is quarter red calf over light-brown buckram sides, gilt-lettered on the spine, and gilt-stamped on the front cover with a design of various fox-hunting implements; tucked away at the lower edge of the back cover is a gilt design of a sly-looking fox in full trot.

This edition is limited to 1600 copies and is signed by the artist on the colophon.

•  Limited Editions Club, Bibliography of the Fine Books Published by The Limited Editions Club, 1929–1985, 506.   Binding as above, in original glassine wrapper and slipcase; wrapper with tears at bottom edge. Slipcase with slight bumping at inner front edge. A fine copy, in a near fine slipcase.  (22104)

Paul Hogarth's eight full-page watercolors and over a dozen black-and-white vignettes vividly illustrate the bomb-churned landscape of no-man's land, the explosions of rifle and gunfire, and the irony of well-fed generals enjoying life behind the lines. Dennis J. Grastorf designed the book using a 12-point Baskerville font with two points leading space in between the lines. The binding is a natural-tone rough linen, stamped in black on each cover with a bugle design. David Daiches wrote the introduction.

This edition is limited to 2,000 copies and this offering includes the monthly newsletter. The colophon is signed by the artist.

•  Limited Editions Club, Bibliography of the Fine Books Published by The Limited Editions Club, 1929–1985, 519.   Binding as above; slipcase with two short scratches on back. Fine, in a fine slipcase.  (22078)

Different readers will of course have different favorites; one PRB&Mer's is the poem on Van Buren, beginning, “A panic wild has seized our glorious land!” and moving to its denoument with that president couch[ing his] lance anent / Commercial Ruin, who on the field is slain.”

•  Publisher's blue cloth with all edges rose; gilt-stamped title on front cover and spine, blind-stamped American eagle on front cover; spine very slightly darkened, extremities a bit rubbed, back cover with spots of light discoloration. A solid, clean copy, better-looking than above description might imply.  (26694)

•  Blue Lights: Wegelin 1132; Shaw & Shoemaker 42070. Vision: Shaw & Shoemaker 23893. Patriotic Effusions: Wegelin 1045; Shaw & Shoemaker 48509. Waterloo: Shaw & Shoemaker 35871. Letters: Shaw & Shoemaker 23699. Contemporary sheep, covers framed in single gilt roll, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label and gilt-stamped decorative bands; binding a little rubbed at joints and extremities. Front pastedown with early inked ownership inscription; free endpapers excised. Trimmed closely, in occasional instances just touching outermost letters. Some age-toning and spotting; one leaf with ink stain not obscuring text, two leaves with tears from outer margins extending into text. Intermittent pencilled underlining and small marks. Pp. 49–56 of Letters bound in at end.

•  Foxon S147. Recent marbled paper wrappers; lacking half-title.

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Binding: Contemporary half red morocco with rose cloth–covered sides, spine with gilt-stamped title, raised bands with dotted gilt rules, spine compartments framed in triple gilt fillets with gilt dots in each corner. Top edge gilt; silk ribbon place marker.

•  Binding as above, front cover with one small spot of discoloration, leather showing minor scuffing. Front pastedown with private collector’s armorial bookplate. Pages clean.

•  Bibliography of the Fine Books Published by the Limited Editions Club 1929–1985, 211. Bindings as above; printed spine labels a bit rubbed, otherwise clean and unworn in the original slipcase, with inner edges of slipcase showing minor wear only.

Click the images for enlargements.

•  Wright, II, 2174; Sabin 78641.   Publisher's brown cloth, covers blind-stamped with star-shaped design, spine with gilt-stamped title and blind-stamped decoration; binding cocked and rubbed, spine extremities chipped. Ex–social club library: 19th-century bookplate and call number on pastedown and fly-leaf, front free endpaper lacking, title-page pressure-stamped. No other markings. Pages faintly age-toned, otherwise clean.  (26565)

Click the image for an enlargement.

•  Very good. Original self wrappers [unbound; removed].  (17559)

•  Not in NSTC. Removed from a nonce volume. Upper corners nicked; pages slightly age-toned but otherwise clean. (16761)

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Single-click on the text-page, for an enlargement.

•  ESTC T95509; NCBEL, II, 682. Old-style marbled paper–covered boards, spine with gilt-stamped leather title and date labels. Light waterstaining to upper and lower margins of first and last few leaves; title-page and a few others stamped by a now-defunct institution. Author’s name inscribed in an early hand at the end of the poem.

George Him both illustrated and designed the book, and also signed the colophon. The book is heavily illustrated with a considerable number of black-and-white line-and-wash drawings and 14 full-page color illustrations which were hand-colored by the pochoir process at the studio of Walter Fischer. These drawings are both beautiful and witty. In one color plate, for example, we see a line of picketing Egyptian soldiers carrying placards reading, “Egypt for the Egyptians,” and “Caesar Go Home,” the latter appearing in “Egyptian Hieroglyphs”; in another plate, we are treated to a breathtaking scene of the library at Alexandria being consumed by fire; in yet another drawing, we see an amusing little rendering of Belzanor's description of a seven-armed wife-eating Roman soldier!

Him chose a monotype Plantin font for the text which was printed in Bloomfield, Connecticut, at the Sign of the Stone Book. The binding is full bright red “vellum book-cloth” stamped on the front with a double-eagle (one American, one Roman) design in gold, and stamped on the spine in black and gold leaf with a design of a Roman legionary standard bearing the title and the author's initials. The endpapers are “nugget-gold” Tweedweave.

This offering does not include the monthly newsletter or the mailing notice.

•  Limited Editions Club, Bibliography of the Fine Books Published by The Limited Editions Club, 1929–1985, 381.   A fine copy with the slipcase, which is covered in “nugget-gold” paper and stamped in black and gold. Slipcase showing traces of rubbing at top and bottom. A great treat for a Shaw-lover!   (21756)

Harold Lamb wrote the introduction. Of the author's attention to the minutiae of daily life in the Rome of A.D. 63–66 he writes, “The city itself appears in exact historical detail. Praetorians idling at their posts pass the time with their favorite dice games; girl attendants at Petronius' bath finish their duties punctiliously and break away to their own diversions as soon as the door curtain falls behind the master. Sienkiewicz knows how the dishes, including blackbirds, were prepared for a nobleman's feast; he knows what the oriental dancers wore on their heads and what the priests of Cybele carried in their hands, and what you see when you round a corner of the Vicus Sceleratus.”

Salvatore Fiume created the 35 drawings which were reproduced in three-tone process and mounted by hand. Giovanni Madersteig designed this edition, which is limited to 1500 copies, choosing a monotype Old Face font; the composition and printing of the text and illustrations was done by Madersteing at the Officina Bodoni in Verona.

The binding is full natural linen printed, in grey-blue, with an overall pattern derived from an old wood engraving. The signatures of Salvatore Fiume and Giovanni Madersteig appear on the colophon.

•  Limited Editions Club, Bibliography of the Fine Books Published by The Limited Editions Club, 1929–1985, 302.   In the original slipcase, spine sunned with a long closed crack to paper and paper cracked/chipped; case good overall. Book with spine lightly faded and rear pastedown with small gold bookseller's label; volume in the original dust jacket (spine sunned to darker than sides are); near fine.  (22293)

•  Not in Faxon.   Publisher's red sheep in imitation of morocco, covers framed in gilt double fillets surrounding a blind roll inner border incorporating blind-tooled corner fleurons; central title gilt-stamped on front cover and blind-stamped on back; worn and rubbed overall, with spine leather lost and hinges (inside) tender. Back free endpaper lacking; one guard leaf mostly torn away. Some colored leaves faded; incidents of foxing varying from mild to moderate.  (26148)

•  Publisher's cloth with marbled cloth sides; without the dust jacket. Top edge gilt.