Buchstaben Werk by Lorenz, Karl - 1930

Boston: Bromer Booksellers, 1996. Gorey, Edward. Small quarto. 26 pp. From an edition of 2,000 copies, this is one of 200 copies signed and numbered by Edward Gorey. Bromer special holiday catalog with previously unpublished, full-color cover design by Gorey, who created the artwork originally for a Nieman Marcus holiday catalogue. When the retailer rejected Gorey's work, choosing that of another artist instead, Bromer Booksellers happily acquired the illustration, which features frolicking bears around a wreath, set against a starry blue background. A nice example of the artist's whimsical touch. Fine.

London: Cyril Beaumont, 1918. Tijtgat, Edgard. Octavo. (iii), 16, (1+16)ff., frenchfold. From an edition of fifty copies, this is one of ten printed on chine and signed by the artist. This is the story of Little Red Riding Hood, with woodcut text and illustrations by Belgian artist Edgard Tijtgat. Sixteen illustrations, hors texte, appear in two states: color and bistre. Tijtgat's illustrations are bold and expressionistic in style, and also deceptively innocent: things do not end well for Red Riding Hood in Charles Perrault's moral and more sinister version of the tale. Floral motif on the endpapers and repeated throughout the book. Tijtgat is associated with the Brabant Fauvists, a Belgian movement focused on pure, bold colors and simplified lines, similar to the Fauves led by Henri Matisse in France. During World War I, Tijtgat set up his printshop in England, where this book was published. Light foxing to upper margins of a few pages, some faint offsetting from prints, short closed tear to spine… Read More

Sonoma, California:: Eastside Editions,, 2004.. Edition of 20. 22 x 17"; 28 pages. Letterpress printed. Twelve multiple-plate color etchings with linocut borders. 11 text pages with decorative linocut border. Printed on handmade Abaca paper. Bound in cloth covered boards. Slipcased. Edition of 20: 10 portfolio sets; 10 book sets. Colophon: "Cyrano De Bergerac was the true life inspiration for the romantic figure of Edmond de Rostand's 19th century plan and one of the more curious thinkers in early modern Europe. He was a satirist, swordsmen, poet, and philosopher who indeed had a prodigious appendage. The book, excerpts of which are translated here under the title Journeys to the Moon and Sun, consist in equal parts of sci fi, philosophical speculation, metaphysical drama, theological humor, and freak show satire. The scales of the world are turned upside down and found to be wanting. "  David Berona, Image & Narrative, "Art Hazelwood: A Graphic Witness of… Read More

Paris: Jacques-François Chereau, 1747. Coypel, Charles-Antoine. Large folio. (1), (25)ff., plates. A reissue or reimpression published after the artist, Charles-Antoine Coypel, was named "Premier Peintre du Roi" in 1747; this series of twenty-five engravings was first presented as a deluxe portfolio in Paris, in 1724. The engravings were done after a series of paintings illustrating scenes from Don Quixote that Coypel had designed for a popular set of tapestries, which were woven continuously between 1714 and 1794. Coypel supervised the portfolio's production, and, according to the title page, the engravings were done by "les plus habiles artistes en ce genre." These artists included L. Surugue, F. Joullain, C. N. Cochin, and eight other engravers, who sign the plates. Coypel's depictions of scenes from Don Quixote differed significantly from previous illustrations of Cervantes's classic in that they were less focused on humor, and were more courtly and sophisticated, taking into account the… Read More

Louis Janet. Paris. ND. circa 1875. Third edition. Small 8vo. (5.9 x 4.4 inches). xvi, 157pp. Thirteen hand coloured illustrated plates (including extra title page) with movable pull tabs to change the image. An asterisk next to the text tells when the movable should be used to animate the scene. A crease to the top of the half title page and a few minor thumb marks to a handful of leaves, otherwise a very good, fresh and clean copy in the publishers red morocco-grained cloth with blind stamped decorative border to both boards. Gilt lettering to the front board. Coated mid brown endpapers. All edges gilt. A superior copy of this rare movable. First issued in 1831, there was a second issue in 1837 and then this third, circa 1875, with the text printed by Ducessios of Paris. All three printings are rare, and copies in such good condition and with all tabs present and easily workable, as this one even more so. Sometimes described as the first interactive book published, this is certainly the first to use… Read More

Boston: Bromer Booksellers, 1996. Gorey, Edward. Small quarto. 26 pp. From an edition of 2,000 copies, this is one of 200 copies signed and numbered by Edward Gorey. Bromer special holiday catalog with previously unpublished, full-color cover design by Gorey, who created the artwork originally for a Nieman Marcus holiday catalogue. When the retailer rejected Gorey's work, choosing that of another artist instead, Bromer Booksellers happily acquired the illustration, which features frolicking bears around a wreath, set against a starry blue background. A nice example of the artist's whimsical touch. Fine.

London: Cyril Beaumont, 1918. Tijtgat, Edgard. Octavo. (iii), 16, (1+16)ff., frenchfold. From an edition of fifty copies, this is one of ten printed on chine and signed by the artist. This is the story of Little Red Riding Hood, with woodcut text and illustrations by Belgian artist Edgard Tijtgat. Sixteen illustrations, hors texte, appear in two states: color and bistre. Tijtgat's illustrations are bold and expressionistic in style, and also deceptively innocent: things do not end well for Red Riding Hood in Charles Perrault's moral and more sinister version of the tale. Floral motif on the endpapers and repeated throughout the book. Tijtgat is associated with the Brabant Fauvists, a Belgian movement focused on pure, bold colors and simplified lines, similar to the Fauves led by Henri Matisse in France. During World War I, Tijtgat set up his printshop in England, where this book was published. Light foxing to upper margins of a few pages, some faint offsetting from prints, short closed tear to spine… Read More

Sonoma, California:: Eastside Editions,, 2004.. Edition of 20. 22 x 17"; 28 pages. Letterpress printed. Twelve multiple-plate color etchings with linocut borders. 11 text pages with decorative linocut border. Printed on handmade Abaca paper. Bound in cloth covered boards. Slipcased. Edition of 20: 10 portfolio sets; 10 book sets. Colophon: "Cyrano De Bergerac was the true life inspiration for the romantic figure of Edmond de Rostand's 19th century plan and one of the more curious thinkers in early modern Europe. He was a satirist, swordsmen, poet, and philosopher who indeed had a prodigious appendage. The book, excerpts of which are translated here under the title Journeys to the Moon and Sun, consist in equal parts of sci fi, philosophical speculation, metaphysical drama, theological humor, and freak show satire. The scales of the world are turned upside down and found to be wanting. "  David Berona, Image & Narrative, "Art Hazelwood: A Graphic Witness of… Read More

Paris: Jacques-François Chereau, 1747. Coypel, Charles-Antoine. Large folio. (1), (25)ff., plates. A reissue or reimpression published after the artist, Charles-Antoine Coypel, was named "Premier Peintre du Roi" in 1747; this series of twenty-five engravings was first presented as a deluxe portfolio in Paris, in 1724. The engravings were done after a series of paintings illustrating scenes from Don Quixote that Coypel had designed for a popular set of tapestries, which were woven continuously between 1714 and 1794. Coypel supervised the portfolio's production, and, according to the title page, the engravings were done by "les plus habiles artistes en ce genre." These artists included L. Surugue, F. Joullain, C. N. Cochin, and eight other engravers, who sign the plates. Coypel's depictions of scenes from Don Quixote differed significantly from previous illustrations of Cervantes's classic in that they were less focused on humor, and were more courtly and sophisticated, taking into account the… Read More

Louis Janet. Paris. ND. circa 1875. Third edition. Small 8vo. (5.9 x 4.4 inches). xvi, 157pp. Thirteen hand coloured illustrated plates (including extra title page) with movable pull tabs to change the image. An asterisk next to the text tells when the movable should be used to animate the scene. A crease to the top of the half title page and a few minor thumb marks to a handful of leaves, otherwise a very good, fresh and clean copy in the publishers red morocco-grained cloth with blind stamped decorative border to both boards. Gilt lettering to the front board. Coated mid brown endpapers. All edges gilt. A superior copy of this rare movable. First issued in 1831, there was a second issue in 1837 and then this third, circa 1875, with the text printed by Ducessios of Paris. All three printings are rare, and copies in such good condition and with all tabs present and easily workable, as this one even more so. Sometimes described as the first interactive book published, this is certainly the first to use… Read More