Oblong, 23 by 30.5 cm. Unpaginated, 32 pages. Color illustrations on virtually every page. Many are based on photos but with painterly enhancements, including a drawn background, colorizing, other touches to create some simulacrum of a painting. 14 pages are essentially full page plates depicting a single car model, this in full and bright color, with a green and white drawn idyllic background. Two pages are devoted to full page illustrations of car interiors, a single illustration in each instance. At the center are large photo illustrations, onone side of the company's sprawling plant, the other side, of its testing track. Four pages are given over to smaller detail illustrations of interior features. The final six pages show the mechanics of the car, the motor, the underbelly, etc. Two of these illustrations are larger format, and close to full page. The catalogue is scarce -- OCLC First Search picks up only two institutional holdings -- U. of Michigan and LA Public Library. Condition: A few small stamps on front cover plus and narrow strip of paper pastedown -- all of these suggest to us this copy came from a dealership which filed away this copy. Light soil on cover elsewhere. Light wear beside. Easily very good.
Decorative theater program for "The Oxford", this being the "Programme" for the week commencing Sept. 25th, 1893. The programme lists 22 different acts, which included comedians, singers, dancers, minstrel, and with a few performers described as "serio comic", we presume more serious displays of acting, which we would surmise might be recitations and/or enactment of scenes from Shakespeare and the like. A variety show, in other words, and probably the equivalent of Vaudeville as it was then thriving in America, without, at least on this program, the animal acts. (The programme makes no allusion to acrobats, but we would surmise "dancer" could include acrobat, plue one of the illustrations is of an acrobat.) Among the performers were Music Hall legend Marie Lloyd, Dan Leno, Tom Leamore, etc. etc. Printed on two sides. The side which includes the front and rear cover has chromo color illustrations on all three panels, and depicted are two pretty female performers, one dressed loosely speaking like Mefistopheles and playing a lute, the other, a dancer, in a then provocative dress such as might have been worn to perform the Can Can. On the front cover is an illustration of an acrobat, lying on his back, holding up a large ball, onto which is printed the word, "Programme", and balanced atop the ball is a formally attired black man, in black face, wielding a tambourine. On the rear cover there is also a small vignette of a clown, who is holding a long ribbon connected at the far end to the lute of devlishly garbed lady. On the other side of the program is the actual program who have already described in the center column, surrounded right and left by two columns of advertisements, and these are for many restaurants, hotels, and a variety of products. Measures 249 by 118 mm, when closed, opening, to three panels, and then 249 by 353 mm. Condition: Corners with miniscule surface loss. A closed tear about 8 cm long lower part of one fold.
Stürmer, Johann Heinrich
4to. 25.5 by 17.5 cm. 64 hand-colored plates. With title page from original wraps of the first installment, Heft 1, bound in, plus one text page describing the then hit play "Dmitri Donskoy" and its Russian costuming, which was exotic to German audiences unquestionably. The costume plates are especially rich, bright and vivid in their coloration -- these plates stand out in the genre, we would assert. We believe these plates were issued eight at a time, over the course of several years. This copy lacks the wraps for the installments after the first, but it has all the plates. The work is scarce -- there are only two copies of these plates, both in German libraries, reflected on OCLC First Search. Quarter Calf. Marbled paper pastedown on boards.
Marroni, Salvatore
Nine leaves, including title. All leaves with stupendous hand-colored illustrations. Title has vignette centerpiece of impish Gorgon. Following leaves are full-paged plates of the Bacchanal which the Roman carneval was, one plate for each of the eight days of festivities. N.d, circa 1840. Oblong. Binding is 18 by 20, cm. Portfolio case, 19 by 21 cm. Scarce, with only three institutional copies listed on OCLC First Search, and only one of these is in the U.S., at the Getty. Moreover, the plates were also issued in black and white, or without coloring, and we are not aware that any of these institutional copies have hand-coloring, let alone the rich hand-coloring of this copy. Semi-Hardcover. Cloth portfolio
Killigrew, Thomas
A beautiful copy of the collected plays of the Restoration playwright, rake and close associate of King Charles II. Small folio, 29 by 19.5 cm. Frontis portrait, title page, blank, [2], 80, 576 pp. Frontis portrait is after painting by W. Faithorne, printed by W. Sheppard. It shows Killigrew in a robe with a book in hand, a gun dog looking up obediantly at him, and a portrait of Charles II, whom Killigrew served as Groom of the Bedchamber, in the background. Although we give the date of publication as 1664, the constituent parts of the second portion of the book were printed in 1663, or at least that is the date on the title pages of the plays contained therein. Thomas Killigrew was in many ways the quintessential Restoration playwright, although perhaps not as well-known today as the slightly later William Congreve, John Vanbrugh, William Wycherley, and a few others.
Farrington, E. F. [Edmond Frank Farrington]
Binding with two Currier & Ives printed chromolithographic images of the Brooklyn Bridge, shortly after its completion in May 1883. It was then called merely the "Great East River Suspension Bridge". We believe that this binding is quite rare, possibly extremely so, and was only a part of the 1884 edition, which would appear to have been the third issue, following issues in 1881 and 1883. 4to. 22.5 by 14.5 cm. [7], 69, [25] pp. Numerous woodcut illustrations, including frontis portrait of Farrington, the author and "master of construction" for the bridge, and eight other full page illustrations, plus some smaller text illustrations. Most of the illustrations depict equipment, but there are two full page illustrations of bridges, one being the Covington and Cincinnati Bridge over the Ohio River, which was Roebling's first suspension bridge completed. Advertisements in front and back. In front, ad includes one for Roebling's Steel and Iron -- Roebling was the chief engineer of the project. There can be one to four different ads on these pages. In the back, the first three pages before getting to the ads provide a directory of companies who had a role in the building of the bridge. Note that the publisher's name, Mooney & Co., is absent on the title page, and looks as if someone erased it, although this was done inconspicuously. It is a mystery why anyone would do such a thing.
This commemorative pewter toasting cup was issued to celebrate the 50th performance of the play, "Bohemia", by Clyde Fitch, a play based on Henri Murger's classic novel which also served as the basis for the Puccini classic, "La Boheme", which premiered just a month before Fitch's play in Turin, and of course, the Puccini opera has overshadowed all other treatments of the material, including an operatic version by Leoncavallo, who was working on his version contemporaneously to when Puccini was composing his, and even the Murger novel, although the opera has spawned other successful adaptations such as the musical "Rent" in more recent times. We would note that the Puccini opera wasn't performed in New York until 1898, more than two years after the Fitch version opened. The original cast of Fitch's version included a number of famous actors, including ones well-known to this day, such as Elsie de Wolfe -- of course, better known as an interior decorator and socialite -- Viola Allen, May Robson -- now remembered for playing old women in 30s movies, but once a quintessential ingenue, Henry Miller (not the sex obsessed author, obviously, but an actor manager who had a theater named after him in New York, and William Faversham. 18 cm tall, the cup has feathery Renaissance-style decoration at its base, and around the base perimeter is the text we quoted in the title pressed into the metal, and possibly originally also contrasted with the metal with white paint. The cup rises in a horn or bugle shape. The upper rim has a beaded form of decoration. One side of this rim is dented slightly, so instead of rounding, it is more like a straight line, but we wouldn't consider this a serious defect, even if it were just a pewter cup without its theatrical commemorative element. Clyde Fitch, the playwright, was the most popular American dramatist of the day.
Underhill, Francis T.
A classic on driving, which was cresting as a sport at the time. First issued the year before, this printing is identical to the first issue, except possibly in minor points. 4t0. 28 by 20 cm. xi, [1], 158 pp. plus 125 plates, which are comprised of b/w photographs. Armorial bookplate of Horace Blanchard Chase, who was a prominent figure in turn-of-the twentieth century San Francisco high society. Some scuffing of the binding. Several small abrasions along edges and spine tips. Corner dampstain of early and final leaves. Otherwise, clean, tight. Half Calf. Chamois suede/ velvet on boards.
Charming souvenir highlighting lovable, hardworking, stoic, yet also amusing, burro animals who give rides to children and their families. N.d., n.p. But based on the style of photography, the Rococo decroative background, and the dress of the people photographed, we are confident that it is circa 1900, plus we have found copies of Tom Jones printed postcards from the first decade of the 20th century. Based on some of the buildings in the background, our first guess the location of the photo shoot was in the American West, but it could certainly be closer to Cincinnati, as there are hills and mountains in nearby Kentucky that might represent the backdrop. Surely, though, the location was as resort town. This is also scarce -- we could find no copies on OCLC or elsewhere. Closed, oblong, 8 by 10.5 cm. Open fully, 25 cm at tallest, 31.5 cm at widest. 24 panels in all, with each panel featuring a b/w photograph in an oblong oval cameo. Four of the photos are mounted onto the black card backing which forms the outer shell. All but two of the photo plates or panels form a concertina or leporello, except both end panels are mounted. Thus one can not stretch the concertina fully vertically, but rather, one has to flip the folded panels, these being on a thin card stock. Each of the photos has a short caption, sometimes but a single word. Condition: one short closed tear in one of the folds. Small corner abrasion of outer shell. Otherwise, clean, surely lightly used.
Ainslie, Kathleen
Delightful romp through the year with the mischievous wooden doll. Illustrations are deliciously bright and fun. 12mo. 14.5 by 12 cm. Unpaginated, 14 leaves. 13 chromolithographic plates, including one double paged. There is one single paged plate for each month. Made to look like a manuscript, as the general style of the Ainslie series. Thus printed captions could be mistaken easily, in a quick glance, for handwritten pencil, and the text throughout is rendered in a cursive. The numbered dates definitely can trick the eye into perceiving them as hand written as well. Uncommon -- three institutional copies of this year's Catherine Susan calendar evidenced on OCLC First Search -- Bryn Mawr, Princeton, Toronto. Cover with somewhat heavy staining. Small lower corner chip, and tiny amount of surface loss by upper spine. Leaves within suffer some of the same stains but these are significantly lighter than on cover and in our view, not disconcerting. Leaves do have some modest rippling. Short gift inscription, written in pencil, back of front cover. Still, we would regard this as a Very Good copy, perhaps VG minus, but definitely better than a Good copy. Wraps (Moderately stiff card, twine or .cord)
Lovely Art Nouveau-style catalogue of bookcases, including revolving ones, etageres, glass-fronted, music stands, book slides, desks, print racks, print cabinets, library step laddders, bookends, even a scrapbook. Basically many of the fixtures one would outfit an office or library with. Styles are various, with a considerable amount of ornate pieces in the Louis XVI style, but also plainer pieces in what in the U.S. was known as Arts and Crafts style, and some simply utilitarian pieces with no stylistic flourish. Some color added to illustrations in the center four pages -- a bright metallic yellow/gold. N.d., circa 1900. Oblong, 15.5 by 24 cm. 46 pp. Pagination includes front cover, which has text on inside, but we aren't counting rear cover, which is blank inside, but with picture of Louis XVI-style desk on outside. Light wear. Light soiling, not disconcerting, on the cover.
A wide variety of wicker furniture, the type now regarded as desirable antique collectibles, including chairs (throne-like, armchairs, rocking chairs, benches, etc.), bar carts, tables, etageres, desks, lamps, etc. N.d., circa 1920. Oblong, 20 by 28 cm. 13 canvas-backed leaves, wih 76 photos of wicker furniture, numbered sequentially. With no numbers skipped, we would presume the album or catalogue is complete. Probably there was never a title page -- this would have been a catalogue for internal use, given the lack of any decorative flourish to the presentation, yet also meant to be durable to withstand frequent use by salespeople, customers, and the like. Elven without a company name and without pricing and specification details, the catalogue is a useful document of the style, the range of offerings from a single company, and a type of product catalogue of the day. The front cover has some chipping by its left side, and is no longer held down by its top, of two, clasps. Otherwise, the album is fully intact, with light to moderate wear.
Ingle, Frank K., compiler and author of manuscript course overview
Manuscript from mid-1930s. 4to. 29 by 22.5 cm. Four page typed outline of course, followed by 25 pages with posters mounted, and blank pages interspersed and at end. 69 posters represented. In color there are 55. Some are cut-out from magazines, quite obviously. Some appear to have been standalone small versions of the posters, somewhat like coupons, but we are not sure of the exact origin. Regardless, the value here is the collection of poster images which provide a visually appealing and good survey of poster art of the day, with some of the posters probably being somewhat obscure even to poster aficianados of today. Posters are of a wide variety -- travel, liquor, food, gasoline, entertainment, etc.
Dura, Gaétan, artist. Also Luigi Puccinelli
Lively leporello or accordian showing the steps of the tarantella and with the fine hand-coloring, somehow capturing the joyful spirit of the intricate dance. N.d., circa 1830s or 40s. Closed, 14.5 by 18.5 cm. Stretching out to over 360 cm long. Frontis (back of title page), one page or panel of musical notation, followed by 17 hand-colored plates or panels, making a total of 18 panels with such illustrations. Scarce -- OCLC First Search shows copies at only three institutions: Harvard, George Mason and NYPL. Cola 921. +Cover rubbed and stained, with a few small blisters under the paper pastedown, but still attractive and as a contemporary binding, a perfect complement to the leporello itself. Some scattered light soiling of the leaves. Armorial bookplate of a Mountgarret, a family of longstanding Irish peerage. Half Calf. Textured paper pastedown
Hogg, James. Illustrated by Jessie M. King
N.d., circa 1912. 12mo. 17.5 by 11.5 cm. [5], 152, [4] pp. Six plates, including title/frontis, this being one of two double paged. Five of these plates are full page King illustrations, which are delightful, and epitomize the style most associated with her. Several leaves near back have closed tears of some length, probably the result of inept cutting of the leaves. Spine darkened, and some foxing/soiling of the boards otherwise. Half title and last leaf heavily toned and foxed. Generally clean elsewhere.