Merriott, William and William Thayer
The Story of Writing
Greenfield High School, Greenfield, MA: 1935
- $288
76pp. No limitation indicated, although this volume is number 127. Printed and bound by William Merriott and William Thayer as their senior project at Greenfield High, under the direction of their teacher, Anthony T. Stavaski. Concludes with the well-trodden anxiety over the state of handwriting in an age of mechanical reproduction. Fine in black cloth. (2 by 1 5/8 in.; 50x40 mm).
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To Open
Davidson, Laura Small octavo. (6)pp., frenchfold. One of 41 copies, signed by the artist. This artist's book by Davidson uses handprinted linocuts and collages to interpret a travelogue, showing keyholes, houses, and round swirls on top of maps. Printed in three colors, the five pages of illustrations are followed by a page of text, which recites a short Hindu tale, printed in black. Bound in wooden boards, which are shaped like a house and painted black, with a leather spine. On the front cover is mounted a metal key, the words "to open" printed in pencil above the key. Fine.- $633
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William and Eliza, or, The Visit
48mo. 16pp. Three engravings and a title device provide visual cues to the titular characters' intrepid journey to their uncle's in Hackensack. Bound in orange printed wrappers with publisher's advertising to lower cover. Exterior generally rubbed with some soiling, interior typically clean, quite sturdy and very good. Previous owner's inscription to verso of upper wrapper.- $863
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God’s Gift to Children: A Folktale of the Mensa Bet-Abrehe People
(8)ff. A linocut of Africa follows the text, a folktale from northern Ethiopia, which explains children come to rule over their parents. Printed by Amos Paul Kennedy with handset Lydian type; and installment in the Press' Ancestors Series. Bound in imported fabric from an unspecified African country. Fine. (2 15/16 by 2 1/2; 73x68mm).- $288
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The Traveling Merriment Troupe!
Hutchins, Edward (48)pp. Signed by the artist. Illustrations in orange complement the text, in black, of a tale of acrobatic, artistic, and otherwise entertaining animals; an abstraction, as cited at the colophon, of Isaiah 11:6-9, which is also printed on a fold-out sheet tipped-in to rear. Fine in green paper wrappers and comb binding. (2 3/8 by 2 5/8 in.; 60x70mm).- $201
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A Glance at Private Libraries
Farnham, Luther Octavo. 98pp. One of 350 copies. This copy specially bound by Jean de Gonet in revorim covers with exposed red bands and red titling to leather spine. The text is a reprint of the Boston edition of 1855, here with introduction and annotated index contributed by Roger E. Stoddard, at the time the Curator of Rare Books at Harvard College. Inscribed by him at the front flyleaf. Stoddard's index provides key citational value, providing quick historical reference. Fine. Laid in is a previous owner's memo note on the attractiveness of de Gonet bindings, with Harvard header.- $1,093
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Going, Going.Gone!
Price, Richard Square small quarto. 7 unbound triptych sheets. One of thirty copies, signed by Price and King. Price's verses appear alongside King's illustrations, which have been deeply embossed into the papers, mostly in blind but with choice additions of color. Each triptych articulates the case for animals presently threatened by or having already succumbed to the catastrophes of climate change: the armadillo, the emperor butterfly, the chimpanzee, the dodo, the elephant, the fox, and the goose. That the alphabetical bestiary format remains unfinished implies the continuing urgency of the matter. Sheets housed loose in embossed paper wrappers, held in chemise and slipcase. Fine.- $2,300
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Brooklyn Bridge: A Love Song
Glaister, Donald Quarto. (28)pp. One of 60 copies, this being number one. The long history of the Brooklyn Bridge as artistic muse here finds a deeply material instantiation at the hand of Glaister, who in his introductory poem extols the ways it "spans," "moves," "defines," and "endures." Certainly the book itself exemplifies these qualities, undeniable in the space of its spreads and the heft of its aluminum pages. To these Glaister has added five double-spread paintings of the Bridge, which taken together realize a certain prismatic perspective of its structure and a simultaneous view of it in and out of time. Between the paintings are abstract studies composed of sanded aluminum, acrylic paint, wire, aluminum tape, laminated polyester film, and sand. Altogether, then, Glaister poses the Bridge as visual and lyric object, as iconic as it is sublime. Bound in a quarter leather binding of Nigerian goatskin with sanded aluminum sides. Housed in felt-lined aluminum box with label. Fine. Laid in are the prospectus, an invitation to a contemporaneous talk given by Glaister, and the envelopes respective to each.- $9,200
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Ruth and Naomi; or, The Affectionate Daught-in-Law
(Corner, Julia) 24mo. 27, (1)pp. Frontispiece woodcut plus eight further full-page illustrations, all hand-colored. Issued without a title page. Authorship indicated by publisher's advertisment at rear cover, where this and other titles are "Priced Sixpence Each, Edited by Miss Corner." Bound in plain printed wrappers, with upper cover illustration colored. Some exterior soiling, few chips, single unobtrusive tear to fore-edge of upper cover, else very good.- $518
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The Fables of Aesop
Aesop (35)ff. Liberally and lightheartedly illustrated throughout in black & white. Bound in red cloth with a turtle stamped in gold on the front cover. Includes scarce original red cardboard slipcase. A fine copy, slipcase only slightly rubbed. (2 by 1 5/8 in.; 51x42 mm).- $288
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Miniature Almanack for the Year of Our Lord 1834
(32)pp. A pocket-sized almanac with great aphoristic value; maxims accompany the tabulations of the months, there is a note providing "Knowledge of Law for Families," on the legal relation between a husband and wife, and the final leaves relay some sayings from Benjamin Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanack. The keen observer will notice the similarity between the title page of this volume and that of Franklin's actual publication from the previous century. Also with currency matrices, dates of court sessions for various New England locations, and an odd two-line addition providing Napoleon's birth and death dates. Somewhat rubbed and sunned in marbled paper wrappers, very good.- $230
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Poems Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect
Burns, Robert 240pp. Reduced facsimile of the first edition, which had been printed in Kilmarnock by John Wilson in 1786. Bound in wrappers, and held in a quite monumental covered in red morocco and gilt-tooled and -titled, with matching chemise. Mild soiling, else fine. (Garbett, p. 27; Spielmann 69). (1 3/16 by 7/8; 30x20mm).- $518
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Tribal Alphabet
McCarthy, Mary Octavo. (30)ff. One of twenty-six copies, signed and numbered by the artist. An abecedarian study of traditional masks from indigenous African peoples, from the Adauma of Gabon to the Zande of Zaire. A prefatory page organizes the tribes by modern countries, and at the rear is a reference list. Images reproduced by scanning orignal collages. Text handwritten and reproduced by silkscreen. Bound in full black cloth over boards and ornamented in acrylic and ink. Fine. Artist's advertising postcard, inscribed, laid in.- $863
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The Broken Promise: or, The Cottage on the Heath
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Woodwork Patterns
Turpin, M. Oblong octavo. (12)ff. Each leaf provides a different design, with instructions for removing the stencils - then to be used as guides for the emergent carpenter - and for assembly. The kit includes an arm chair, a soldier, a table, a squirrel-shaped door stop, a Nosey Nellie ring game, a movable elephant, frog- and rabbit-shaped napkin rings, a spool-holder, a picture frame, a paddle wheel boat, dog book ends, and a camel. Whitman Publishing also issued a kit for masks of movie stars (Keaton, Chaplin, et al.) in 1931, suggesting a similar date for the present product. Staple-bound in decorated wrappers showing mild toning, else near fine.- $288
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Do Sit Down!
Hutchins, Edward One of thirty copies, signed by the artist. Fourteen double-page spreads, accordion-fold, urging the reader to calm their worried mind. Provides a chair for the purpose, to which the book is affixed. Fine. Held in acrylic box. (1 15/16 by 1 15/16 in.; 49x49mm).- $345
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The Wonderful History of Blue Beard
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The Child’s Picture Book
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The Poetry of Sir Walter Scott
Scott, Sir Walter Six 64mo volumes. The titles included in this set are: Lord of the Isles, Lay of the Last Minstrel, Rokeby and the Field of Waterloo, The Lady of the Lake, Marmion, and Minor Poems. Each with an engraved frontispiece depicting a Scottish landmark. All identically bound in full blue cloth with a black-stamped design of highland arms to upper and with titling and outline of Scott's Monument in gilt at spine. Together in the original wooden box, lacquered with a red and green plaid pattern, and with a double, hinged lid. Light rubbing to the extremities of books and box, mild fragility to few hinges, else a near fine and attractively presented near-miniature set. (3 3/8 by 2 1/2; 87x64 mm).- $1,438
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Uncovering White Privilege: A Primer
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Grateful Tributes; or, Recollections of Infancy
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