Frank, Anne
The First German printing published by Verlag Lambert Schneider, Heidelberg in 1950. The BOOK is in near Fine condition. Very slight pushing to the spine ends. Light toning to the text-block and page edges. The printed paper label to the spine is complete and clean. Free from inscriptions. Complete with 2 B/W plates and one plan. The WRAPPER is complete and is in near Fine condition. Apart from some light toning to the spine and the cover edges and a few mild age rated markings, it is in exceptional condition. The WRAPPER is protected in a removable Brodart archival cover. Marie Baum provides a 4 page introduction. 'Baum was a German politician of the German Democratic Party (DDP) and social activist. She was one of the first female members of the Weimar National Assembly. She was a pioneer within German welfare and workers security' (Wiki). 'The book was first published in Holland in 1947, just over five years after Anne's thirteenth birthday, the day she was given her diary. The Dutch edition receives positive reviews. It says, among other things: 'a war document of aptly detailed' or 'parents and educators are strongly advised to read this diary.' The first edition (3,036 copies) was followed in December 1947 by the second (6,830) and in February 1948 by the third edition (10,500 copies). The diary's success in the Netherlands gave Anne's father, Otto Frank the courage to look for publication opportunities in other countries' (Anne Frank archive). The German and French editions were first published in 1950, two years before the book was first published in English. A very sharp copy and a scarce survivor with JSIC listing only 4 institutions holding copies. More images available on request. Ashton Rare Books welcomes direct contact.
Stamp, Gavin & Boyd Harte, Glynn (Illus.)
The sole UK printing published by Cygnet Press, UK in 1979. One of 250 copies (this unnumbered), signed by both the author and artist to the limitation page. The BOOK is in near Fine condition. Oblong folio, 30.5 x 44 cm. Original quarter blue cloth over patterned paper covered board, with a repeat pattern of Battersea Power Station in red. Free from inscriptions. 16 colour lithographs by Glynn Boyd Harte, printed at The Curwen Studio on Van Gelder all-rag, mould-made paper. Type set in Monotype Walbaum. The original WRAPPER depicting a panoramic view towards Battersea Power Station is in Very Good++ condition. It is unclear as to whether all copies were issued with a wrapper. The wrapper is lightly chipped and rubbed at the edges with a couple of marks. A few nicks with some small closed tears but generally remains a very good copy. The wrapper is protected in a removable archival cover. John Betjeman writes of Boyd Harte in his foreword, 'electricity has inspired him with its cleanness and invisibility'. Boyd Hartes lithographs of London power stations and former generating, lighting and sub-stations are arresting in their simple, colourful strength. At the time of publication 'Temples of Power' sparked a great interest in power stations amongst historians and is regarded by many to be directly responsible for the re-modelling of Bankside Power Station as Tate Modern. A handsome production and very scarce to find with the very elusive wrapper in collectible condition. More images available on request. Ashton Rare Books welcomes direct contact.
Sharp, William (McLeod, Fiona) & Sleigh, Bernard (Illus.)
The First UK printing of this illustrated edition published by City of Birmingham School of Printing, College of Arts and Crafts, Birmingham, UK in 1939. The BOOK is in near Fine condition. A hint of pushing at the spine ends otherwise the decorated covers are in exceptional condition. Internally clean. The printed paper label to the front cover is in fine condition. Profusely illustrated with B/W illustrations by Bernard Sleigh (1 full page). One full page colour illustration and a colour illustration to the title page. The book was printed under the direction of Leonard Jay at the Birmingham School of Printing. This book has a plain unprinted paper wrapper but I am unclear as to whether the book was originally issued with such but it has protected the book very well. The title 'The Immortal Hour' has been penned to the spine of the paper wrapper. ''The Immortal Hour' is a 1899 play by Scottish playwright Fiona Macleod, a pseudonym of writer William Sharp, loosely based on the Irish myth 'The Wooing of Etain'. It was first published complete in the November 1900 issue of The Fortnightly Review and posthumously published in book form in 1907 (US) and 1908 (UK)' (Wiki). 'William Sharp (1855 1905) was a Scottish writer, of poetry and literary biography in particular, who from 1893 wrote also as Fiona Macleod, a pseudonym kept almost secret during his lifetime. He was also an editor of the poetry of Ossian, Walter Scott, Matthew Arnold, Algernon Charles Swinburne and Eugene Lee-Hamilton' (Wiki). Leonard Jay was a master printer-craftsman and the first head of the Birmingham school of Printing from 1925-1953. 'Bernard Sleigh was an English mural painter, stained-glass artist, illustrator and wood engraver, best known for 'An Ancient Mappe of Fairyland, Newly Discovered and Set Forth', which depicts numerous characters from legends and fairytales. He was a member of the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists between 1923 and 1928. As a young man, Sleigh was greatly inspired by the work of George MacDonald and William Morris' (Wiki). A very handsome production in exceptional condition. More images available on request. Ashton Rare Books welcomes direct contact.
The First UK printing published by Collins, London in 1935. The BOOK is in Very Good++ condition. Some pushing to the spine ends. Slight dulling of the gilt titling to the spine with a little dustiness to the text-block. Mild offsetting to the blank end-papers. Attractive bookplate of John Haddon Crowd Holman Sutcliffe to the front pastedown. Underneath the bookplate, there is a small penned inscription : 'Lincoln 1967 2/6'. Sutcliffe was an 'affable and bohemian craftsman-decorator who transformed country houses and had a Farrow & Ball paint named after him' (Times obit. 21/9/22)). The WRAPPER is complete and is in Very Good+ condition. To the verso, there is some tape reinforcement to the upper and lower edges. A small chip to the lower front panel. Light toning and fading to the spine. Some age related markings and light scuffing to the rear panel in places. The Rex Whistler wrapper artwork remains very striking in the removable Brodart archival cover. 'G. S. Marlowe was the pseudonym of Gabriel Beer-Hofmann, about whom not much is known. He was born in 1901, the son of Viennese Jews, and was active in London in the 1920s and 30s as a theatre director, screenwriter, and author. Records indicate he also travelled to America at least three times between 1926 and 1934, and he may have been involved in screenwriting in Hollywood. In 1934, he married Sybil Ryall at Westminster St. Margaret in London, and in 1939 he legally changed his name to Gabriel Sebastian Marlowe. His sole literary success was 'I Am Your Brother' (1935), which garnered positive (if bemused) critical reviews and attracted a cult following. According to his friend Julian Maclaren-Ross, Marlowe left England for Norway in 1940, and it was long presumed that he perished there during the Second World War, a rumour he apparently never bothered to contradict. However, more recent evidence indicates that he lived the remainder of his life quietly in England and died in 1971 at St. Albans, Herefordshire' (Valancourt Books). A very scarce title. More images available on request. Ashton Rare Books welcomes direct contact.