GUTTMANN, Oscar
First German edition signed by the author. Colour frontispiece and 11 illustrations in the text. 8vo., contemporary grey cloth lettered in gilt on upper board. Previous owner's ink stamp on front-free endpaper and title-page. A very good copy. With loosely inserted a 12 page pamphlet Oscar Guttmann. A Memoir 1855-191, published by Vacher and Sons Ltd in 1910. In original (slightly stained) printed wrappers, with a portrait frontispiece and a diagram. The memoir was reprinted from The Journal of the Society of Chemical Industry Aug 31 1910. Also included is Buildings Fot Explosive Works by the late Oscar Guttman, again reprinted from The Journal of the Society of Chemical Industry, Aug 15 1910. "Oscar Guttmann died on August 2nd, 1910, in Brussels, as the result of a taxi-cab collision. Born on February 24th, 1855, at Nagy-Becskerck, in Hungary, he began his active career in scienti c journalism in 1878, as editor of Der Bergmann, and for ten years subsequently as editor of Berg- und H tten-Kalender, an Austro-Hungarian mining journal. During the same period, from 1878 to 1887, he was engaged in the manufacture of dynamite and other explosives in Austria-Hungary and Italy. In 1887 he settled in London as a consulting engineer and chemical adviser, especially in regard to the manufacture of explosives, and became a naturalised British subject in 1894. He designed and erected the National Explosives Co.'s works, at Hayle, Cornwall, and later the Acetone works at Waltham Abbey, Woolwich, Clapton and Manchester; he was also commissioned to erect the testing station for explosives in Reichenstein, Germany. At the date of his death he was actively engaged as a juror of the Brussels Exhibition of 1910. Mr. Guttmann was the author of many books and papers dealing chie y with explosives, among which may be mentioned "Blasting" (1902, 2nd edition 1906), "Manufacture of Explosives" (1895, also published in German), and a series of Cantor Lectures on "The Manufacture of Explosives: Twenty Years of Progress," delivered before the Royal Society of Arts in 1908. He also devoted a considerable amount of time and labour to historical research in, the explosives industry, and in 1906 published "Monumenta Pulveris Pyrii," embodying the results of these labours. He was a Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers, and a Fellow, and for some years Vice-President, of the Institute of Chemistry of Great Britain and Ireland. Mr. Guttmann was elected a Member of the Institution in 1908."
QUINN, Edward
First edition. A wonderfully atmospheric and evocative collection of photos of famous names in and with cars of all kinds during the 1950s. Grace Kelly and Prince Rainer, Peter Ustinov and Pablo Picasso, Kirk Douglas and Brigitte Bardot are among many others in a range of gleaming Jaguar, Rolls-Royce, MG, Bugatti, Cadillac, Studebake, Talbot Lago etc. Large square 4to., original cloth with dust wrapper. A very good copy.
RERESBY, Sir John, Bt.
The preferred, large-paper issue attractively bound in full red morocco richly gilt. This edition contains the very first publication of the Travels; and the first illustrated edition of the Memoirs: overall with almost 40 plates including 11 hand-coloured, some with gilt highlights. The politician, traveller and writer Reresby (1634-1689) was the son of the royalist Sir John Reresby, Bt (c. 1611-1646), who had been created a baronet by Charles I. Like his father, the younger Reresby 'remained loyal to the Stuarts throughout his political career. He was to rise from relative obscurity to become a prominent local politician and a point of contact between local and national affairs' (ODNB). Following studies at Trinity College, Cambridge and Gray's Inn, he embarked upon the grand tour in 1654, returning to England in 1658, but departing for Europe again in 1659. During his second journey, he joined the English court in exile, befriending Henrietta Maria (the Queen Mother), and the young Princess Henrietta, Duchess of Orléans, and thus forging important connexions which would serve him well when he came back to England in 1660, after the Restoration. In England, Reresby established himself as a country gentleman at Thrybergh Hall, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, becoming Sheriff in 1665, and the Member of Parliament for Aldborough in 1673; however, after the Dissolution of Parliament in 1682, his parliamentary career came to an end, and he returned to the local arena as Justice of the Peace for Middlesex and Westminster, and Governor of York. Reresby's cautious loyalty to the Stuart cause was his undoing after the Glorious Revolution of 1688 and he died a disappointed man the following year. Reresby's memoirs were first published in 1734 'in response to the political events at that time' (ODNB), and 'The Editor of the present work, who had long wished to re-publish them, determined to take that step on receiving from the liberal hand of Christopher Hodges [ ] a present of the Travels of Sir John Reresby, in a fair manuscript of the time of the Author, and very probably written by his own hand, which Mr Hodges purchased out of the Library of Mr Topham Beauclerk. The Editor, having now prefixed those Travels to the Memoirs, offers to the public a volume which may not improperly be called the Works of Sir John Reresby, as it includes all that he is known to have written' (pp. iv-v). The 'Travels', which occupy nearly half of the volume, describe Reresby's journeys through the France, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, and the Low Countries, between 1654 and his return to London in 1658. This edition was issued in two forms: a standard issue (priced at £3 3s.) and the present, large-paper issue, which was priced at £4 4s; interestingly, although Abbey describes his standard-paper copy as watermarked on both text and plates, no watermarks can be found in this copy, suggesting that the large-paper copies used a different paper stock. Octavo (262 x 165mm). [i]-xii pp., 1-160pp., '159*'-'160*', 161-414, [31 (index and directions to the binder)], [1 (advertisement)], 38 engraved plates by S. Harding, Birrell, Medland, G. Vertue, et al. after Harding, W. Holler, et al., 11 hand-coloured, some of these also finished in gilt, and one wood-engraved plate. Contemporary English full straight-grained red morocco gilt, boards with gilt borders of broad floral rolls enclosed by fillets and repeated tools, flower cornerpieces, spine gilt in compartments, lettered directly in one, others richly decorated with floral, foliate, dot, and other tools, imprint at the foot, gilt board-edges, turn-ins gilt with floral rolls, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. Binding's extremities lightly rubbed and bumped; text with variable light spotting and offsetting; a pleasant example. Abbey, Travel, 14; Lowndes p. 2073 (misdated '1812'); cf. Cox I, p. 172 (noting 1813 ed.).
DUNSANY, Lord
A collection of 16 titles, all but one signed or inscribed by Dunsany to Georgiana Buller. The collection spans the whole of his writing career and the styling of the inscriptions shows the pleasing narrative of a blossoming friendship. Dame Audrey Charlotte Georgiana Buller DBE RRC (4 August 1884 22 June 1953) was a British hospital administrator and the founder of the first school dedicated to occupational therapy in the United Kingdom. The collection comprises: 1 The Gods of Pegana (1905). 1st edition. With ownership signature of Georgiana Buller. 2 Time and the Gods (1906). 1st edition. Signed "Dunsany" 3 The Sword of Welleran and Other Stories (1908). 1st edition. Inscribed "To Miss Buller from Dunsany November 10th 1908. See page v". The reference is to the printed dedication, "Dedicated with deep gratitude to those few, known to me or unknown, who have cared for either of my former books, "The Gods of Pegana," "Time and the Gods". 4 A Dreamer's Tales (1910). 1st edition. Inscribed "To Miss Buller from her afft: friend-in-law Dunsany. Oct 3 1910". 5 The Book of Wonder (1912). 1st edition. Inscribed "Georgie from Dunsany 1912" 6 Tales of Wonder (1916). 1st edition. Inscribed "To Georgie Buller in baddish times from Dunsany. Dec 13 1916" 7 The Chronicles of Rodriguez (1922). 1st edition, No. 4 of 500 numbered copies signed by the illustrator Sidney H Sime on frontispiece, inscribed "My Dear Georgie, In this book, primarily written for the student, I have tried to combine the study of magic with a proper appreciation of History. The magic, however, has turned out to be too strong for the History, which has melted and run into odd corners of the book, where it will only be discerned by the discriminating Yours Dunsany. Dunsany Castle March 26th 1922." 8 The King of Elfland's Daughter (1924). 1st edition, No. 11 of 250 numbered copies signed by the illustrator Sidney H Sime on frontispiece and signed by Dunsany under the Preface, additionally inscribed with a poem, "To Georgie Buller, As downward the postman goes his feet are nimbly spry/ Because my dreams are in his bag and lift him curiously/ While the publisher's heavy book preserves him from bumping the sky/ And, thinking of books that he has borne to the same address of old,/ He says that the Past is in his bag more than can will be told,/ And the thought of it muddles his head with thoughts that it isn't fitted to hold./ Dunsany. June 21 1924" 9 The Charwoman's Shadow (1926). 1st edition. The dedication copy, signed by Dunsany under the printed dedication to Dame Georgiana Buller, dated "March 26th 1926" 10 The Blessing of Pan (1927). 1st edition. Inscribed "To Georgie from Dunsany this novel expecting one in return. Oct 1927". 11 The Curse of the Wise Woman (1933). 1st edition. Inscribed "To Georgie from Dunsany. Oct 27th 1933." 12 Lord Adrian. A Play in Three Acts (1936). Golden Cockerel Press limited edition of 325 numbered copies. Inscribed "To Georgie from Dunsany Aug 26th 1936. This book I meant to send before/ Goes now to wish you well/ And the intention paves no more/ The well-paved floors courts of Hell." 13 My Talks With Dean Spanley (1936). 1st edition. Inscribed "To Georgie from Dunsany. This of a dog. not over-clean/ But loyal & sporting, and he's been/Justly promoted to be dean. Nov.12 1936." 14 My Ireland (1937). 1st edition. Inscribed "To Georgie from Dunsany. Of the events that here befall/ There may be one or two/ Invented by my pen, but all/ The madder tales are true. June 14 1937". 15 Patches of Sunlight (1938). 1st edition. Inscribed "Here is the book. I cannot say/ It's worthy of the shelf/ On which you keep the rest, for they/ Can tell of Gods beyond Cathay/ And kings of countries far away;/ This out of myself. D. July 10 1938." 16 The Strange Journeys of Colonel Polders (1950). 1st edition. Inscribed "To Georgie from Dunsany. The Electors Club Nov 12 1950." All in original bindings. Some fading and rubbing to cloth boards. Rather tatty dust wra
BRYNNER, Victoria
First edition. Folio, 4 paperback volumes in slipcase. A fine set. "Yul Brynners reputation as one of the twentieth centurys most charismatic and versatile actors is irrefutable. But his talent as a photographer has been relatively unknown and unacknowledged. YUL will change that, presenting Brynners photographic oeuvre for the first time in a comprehensive and lavish way in book form. Brynners subjects are some of the pivotal figures of cinematic and stage history, and his talent lies in capturing these people and particularly actors (those best at disguising their true selves) at ease, both on and off set: Charlton Heston as Moses in The Ten Commandments, Audrey Hepburn in a gondola in Venice, Elizabeth Taylor relaxing poolside. YUL also contains candid shots of Brynners family. Comprising a selection made from 8,000 images and press cuttings edited by Brynners daughter Victoria Brynner, YUL is divided into four volumes: Lifestyle, Life on Set, 1956 (the pivotal year of The King and I, The Ten Commandments and Anastasia), and Man of Style which contains portraits of Brynner by photographers such as Richard Avedon, Henri Cartier-Bresson and Inge Morath. Published on the twenty-fifth anniversary of Brynners death, YUL is a celebration of Brynners photographic legacy and a complex portrait of the man himself." Sold with: BRYNNER, Victoria. Yul Brynner: Photographer. New York. Harry N. Abrams. 1996. First edition. Oblong 8vo., original cloth with dust wrapper. A fine copy. The film star Yul Brynner was also an accomplished photographer whose work appeared in Life magazine and was praised by Henri Cartier-Bresson and others. In this book, Brynner's daughter presents a collection of his pictures taken between the 1950s and the 1980s. They include behind-the-scenes shots of celebrities such as Elizabeth Taylor, Charlton Heston, Sophia Loren, Roddy McDowall, Richard Burton, Deborah Kerr, Ingrid Bergman, Jean Cocteau and Anatole Litvak, as well as photographs of Brynner's family. There are also pictures of exiles which he took while serving as a Special Consultant to the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees. The photographs are accompanied by reminiscences from many of the people in them
