Forest Books Archives - Rare Book Insider

Forest Books

  • Showing all 24 results

Épreuve du Premier Alphabeth Droit et Penché

Épreuve du Premier Alphabeth Droit et Penché, ornée de Quadres et de Cartouches.

LUCE (Louis) 32mo (106 x 65 mm), 8ff. early MS. notes to front fly-leaf, marbled endpapers, full contemporary red morocco, small gilt dot tool to corners of both upper and lower board, smooth spine ruled in gilt a lettered direct, turn-in and board edges tooled in gilt, some minor rubbing otherwise a fine copy, housed in a green quarter morocco slip-case. A fine copy of this rare specimen of microscopic type. This specimen presents Luce's "Perle" type in roman and italic (4 point), the smallest type cut to that date. This small specimen contains 3 pages composed exclusively of ornaments, and each page is printed within rules and vignettes. Louis René Luce (c.1695?1774) Type designer, punchcutter and engraver at the Imprimerie Royale, from about 1740 until 1770. He was the third royal engraver of this name, preceded by his father-in-law Alexandre, who had succeeded Philippe Grandjean. "One of the greatest achievements of Louis Luce was his cutting the character which he named "La Perle," which was the smallest body that had ever been cut or cast. [he issued this] specimen of his microscopic type, both Roman and italic, which was cut in emulation of the celebrated Sedanoise editions. Although much smaller, it is nevertheless superior."Bigmore & Wyman. In 1773 all of Luce's work, i.e., 7 typefaces, 8 sets of initial caps, some vignettes, some ornaments, and 15 "poetic" typefaces, were purchased by special command of Louis XV for 100,000 Livres. Provenance: Two bookplates to front endpapers: Ex-libris Le Mis. de Biencourt; "Ex-libris Biencourt-Poncins." Audin, no. 3 ; Birrell and Garnett, p. 16 ; cf. Bigmore and Wyman I, 446. Brunet III, 1204, Graesse IV, 277.
  • $4,606
  • $4,606
book (2)

Notice sur la Lithographie suivie d’un Essai sur la Reliure et le Blanchiment des Livres et Gravures.

Second Edition, 8vo (178 x 110 mm), 228pp., with half-title, wide margin copy, frontispiece and 4 lithographed plates, some light spotting prelims and plates, orig. publishers printed boards, uncut, a very nice copy. 'Notice sur la Lithographie' was first published in 1818 without the 'Essai sur la Reliure', which first appeared in this second edition. "The lithographic matter extends over 68 pages. In the preface it is stated that the previous edition had been quickly sold off, and the author had been solicited to issue a second. In complying with this request he added the matter relating to bookbinding. The new edition was printed in a far superior manner to the old one, and the plates are much better executed, marking the progress which had been made in the interval between the two publications. Copies are now seldom met with."Bigmore & Wyman. "Manuals on bookbinding and its sister arts published throughout the nineteenth century also contained instructions on marbling so the French binders could learn to decorate their books' edges. The earliest of these was the second edition of François-Amboise Mairet's 'Notice sur la lithographie'. with eight of its pages devoted to 'Tranche marbrée'."Wolfe. Provenance: Engraved circular bookplate of Bibliothèque de L. Loireau. Twyman, Lithography, p. 92-93; Bigmore & Wyman II, p. 14; Pollard & Potter, Early Bookbinding Manuals. 52; Wolfe, Marbled Paper. p. 117.