BOOKS ABOUT BOOKS from Downtown Brown Books, ABAA

Milan: Lazy Dog, 2012. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. The limited edition, one of 50 copies, of this survey of the graphic designer and calligrapher Luca Barcellona's lettering work, with a custom calligraphy example, the word "Surfadelic", commissioned by the original owner. This limited issue also includes a second original calligraphy example reading "Take your pleasure seriously" laid into… Read more about this item

New York and Archer City, TX: Simon and Schuster and Three Dogs Books, 2008. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. The most substantial of McMurtry's topical memoirs, this about bookselling (the others were about writing and Hollywood). This is the Three Dog Books issue, limited to 100 numbered copies signed by the author below an ink-stamp limitation statement. Three… Read more about this item

Leuven and Amsterdam: Uitgeverij Kritak and Uitgeverij Oog & Blik, 1993. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine/Very good. A full-color collection of Meulen's photomontage and cartoon covers for the magazine Humo. This is one of 175 numbered copies (the printed colophon is corrected in pencil from 200 to 175) with an original serigraph (silkscreen) illustration signed and numbered by the… Read more about this item

Baltimore, MD: Printed for the Author by Joseph Robinson, 1818. First Edition. Leather bound. Good. A two-volume set on auction law from the library of Millard Fillmore's first legal partnership, Clary and Fillmore, with Fillmore's surname in gilt on the spines and with a rare example of Fillmore's bookplate affixed to the pastedown of the second volume. … Read more about this item

London: Titan, 2008. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. A full-color coffee-table book about the making of the Watchmen comic book series. 9-1/4 by 12-1/4 inches. About 250 pages. First edition (with a numberline ending in 1). A fine copy in a very near fine jacket. Signed by Gibbons on the front free endpaper. The signature is a little… Read more about this item

New York: Seymour Lawrence, 1993. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine. A collection of short tributes to the novelist Richard Yates (Revolutionary Road), including Vonnegut's remarks. This copy is signed by Vonnegut with a self portrait. It is also inscribed to a previous owner by Andre Dubus, another contributor. 63 pages. First printing. A fine hardcover copy; not issued… Read more about this item

Burton, MI: Subterranean Press, 2010. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. An adventure novel about an Alexandre Dumas (père) manuscript, set in the world of rare books and here illustrated by Victor Chong. This deluxe edition is one of 500 numbered copies, signed by Perez-Reverte. 327 pages. With five moody full-page illustrations. A fine copy in a fine dust… Read more about this item

Hampton Falls, NH: Donald M. Grant, 2004. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine. The expanded signed, deluxe edition of this color survey of Bradbury's publications, beginning with the earliest fanzines. Includes photographs of first editions, paperback reprints, foreign editions, trial artwork, as well as of the plays and movies based on Bradbury's work. This version has 32 extra black-and-white… Read more about this item

Burton, MI: Subterranean Press, 2013. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. A short story about a rare book dealer, written in English, translated into French by Benoit Domis, and re-translated back into English by Nicholas Royle. All three versions are presented in this book designed in the style of the Roycrofter's. This is one of 300 numbered copies… Read more about this item

Burton, MI: Subterranean Press, 2010. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. An adventure novel about an Alexandre Dumas (père) manuscript, set in the world of rare books and here illustrated by Victor Chong. This deluxe edition is one of 500 numbered copies, signed by Perez-Reverte. 327 pages. With five moody full-page illustrations. A fine copy in a fine dust… Read more about this item

Baltimore, MD: Cemetery Dance, 2014. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. Full-page, full-color reproductions of the covers of Fangoria. This is one of 500 copies signed by Timpone and four others. 389 pages. 8-1/2 by 11-1/4 inches. First edition (first printing). A fine copy in a fine dust jacket. Signed on the limitation page.

Hampton Falls, NH: Donald M. Grant, 2004. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine. The expanded signed, limited edition of this color survey of Bradbury's publications, beginning with the earliest fanzines. Includes photographs of first editions, paperback reprints, foreign editions, trial artwork, as well as of the plays and movies based on Bradbury's work. This version has 32 extra black-and-white… Read more about this item

New York: Three Mountains Press, 1977. First Edition. Hardcover. Very good/Very good. At the very bottom of the Great Depression in the United States, a group of young men and women in and around the book business formed a cooperative corporation dedicated to publishing works of literary significance that commercially-minded publishers were neglecting and to publishing such works… Read more about this item

Tokyo: Kyuryudo, 1980. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine. The first survey of the work of one of the great bookbinders of the late 20th century, finely bound in full goatskin by the artist, with a geometrical inlay pattern, a leather chemise with laid down fiery marbled paper on the front and back, a slipcase covered in the same fiery… Read more about this item

New York: The Foliophiles, Inc, 1920. Ephemera. Fine. Two ephemeral pieces from the Society of Foliophiles, a company that produced collections of printed and manuscript leaves for Jazz Age book collectors. The two pieces are: 1) A leaf from a French Missal, Paris, 1858, with a decorative border, mounted on blue paper with a letterpress caption.… Read more about this item

[Mexico], 1898. A manuscript catalog of a career Mexican military officer's library, totalling more than about 650 works in 600 volumes, numbered and organized by subject. The list includes the title, author, and in some cases observations on each book, along with their series and identification numbers. Not surprisingly, the largest section of the library was devoted to books… Read more about this item

Edinburgh and London: Oliver and Boyd, 1938. First Edition. Hardcover. Very good/Very good. The sequel to the Private Papers of a Bankrupt Bookseller, a very plausible first-hand account of a bookseller in difficult financial straits. The book purports to be papers found after the unlucky booksellers' demise. The author was in fact a member of local government in… Read more about this item

Newtown, PA: Bird & Bull Press, 1989. First Edition. Near fine. An illustrated history and survey of tokens issued by booksellers and those in the book trades. Published in an edition of 300 copies, with a portfolio of eleven tokens the author (and printer) commissioned for modern-day booksellers, papermakers, etc. Spine slightly faded, else a near fine copy… Read more about this item

Meridian, CT: Bayberry Hill Press, 1971. First Edition. Hardcover. Near fine. A short memoir of a bookish trip to the UK by the proprietor's of the Bayberry Hill Press. They visited the widow of the founder of the Ashendene Press and met various booksellers. Published in an edition of just over 80 copies. Illustrated from drawings by… Read more about this item

(N.-pl.): (Penguin Collectors' Society), 1995. First Edition. Trade Paperback. Near Fine. 32 [and] 12 pages. A posthumous Puffin Picture Book, completed by the Penguin Collectors' Society after the author, Paxton Chadwick's, death. With a separately printed essay on the Puffin Picture Book series in general and this book in particular. Published in an edition of 1000 copies,… Read more about this item