Search Results: Titles starting with C from Swan's Fine Books

Boston: Wright & Potter, 1871. Hardcover. Near Fine. Octavo size, 59 pp. Marshall P. Wilder gave the lecture printed in this book "following a visit to California for the examination of its agricultural and horticultural resources" (per Cowan), first to the Boston Mercantile Library Association in 1870; the book contains detailed information on California's climate, plants, topography, and numerous other resources that make California an appealing destination. This, along with numerous other reports of the wonders to be found in California, encouraged thousands to make the then-arduous journey West. This volume is ex-library, with markings on the title page only, and bound in a newer cloth hardcover case. ___DESCRIPTION: Full brown cloth, top edge stained brown, fore- and bottom edges speckled brown; octavo size (9" by 5.75"), pagination: [i-iv] [1] 2-31 [24 blank pages following the text]. ___CONDITION: Volume is near fine, with clean boards, straight corners with no rubbing, a strong, square… Read More

Redwood Park, California: The Hill Studio, n.d.. Wraps. Very good +. Undated, likely 1899-1902, oblong folio, pp. A stunning album of the "old" California Redwoods, with twelve mounted hand-coloured photogravure plates. Per the web site of Arts and Culture, submitted by History San José, the album "California Redwood Park" (which is now Big Basin Redwoods State Park) is comprised of hand-coloured photogravures of original photographs taken by Andrew P. Hill (1853-1922), dated ca. 1899-1902. Andrew Putnam Hill did indeed leave a legacy of saving the old-growth Redwoods in Big Basin; the public park there was the first in the California Park System, and contains the last 3% of the old growth Redwood forests remaining today. This album scarce; as of this writing, we see no other copies online, and our search of OCLC locates only two institutional holdings. ___DESCRIPTION: Bound with ivory cord in stiff textured paper wraps with yapped edges, brown lettering on both wraps which, together provide… Read More

New York: The Macmillan Company, 1916. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine. First printing, octavo size, in custom box. American poet Robinson Jeffers (1887-1962) was a prolific writer of the twentieth century; his bleak and uncompromising style of poetry was formed through his philosophy of "inhumanism", which focused on a rejection of emotion and man, in favour of nature and other creatures in the universe. Although Jeffers had individual poems published in periodicals as early as 1903, it was not until 1912 that his first book of poetry would be published ("Flagons and Apples") entirely at his own expense. Therefore, Alberts credits this work, "Californians", as Jeffers' "first commercially published work". The publisher must have been eager to promote their new author, as they sent many copies (as evidenced by the number of advance copies currently available) out for advance review, ensuring this would be noted both by a separate small sheet asking for review notices (and listing the original price… Read More

Cambridge: The Cambridge University Press, 1966. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine/near fine. Two volumes (complete), quarto size, 842 pp., with (unsigned) note by the author. The Cambridge University Press began in 1534 when it was granted letters patent by King Henry VIII, and since then the publishing house, part of Cambridge University, has printed titles from numerous authors ranging from John Milton and Isaac Newton to Noam Chomsky and Stephen Hawking. This bibliography of the Press includes publications from 1696 to 1712, and also details the financial side of the business, with many facsimiles of material printed by the Press; the set forms an extensive picture of just a small part of the work produced by the world's oldest publishing house. Loosely laid into the book is a small single sheet "With the compliments of D.F. McKenzie" printed at the top, and a short note in manuscript beneath, "And with renewed Thanks for a most enjoyable morning last January". This obviously a note from the… Read More

(Buenos Aires, Argentina): Francisco A. Colombo, 1958. Limited Edition. Wraps. Near fine/fine. Roux, Raul. Number four of ten printed on Miliani Fabriano, in Spanish, [120] pp., octavo size, signed by the author. A lovely book of poetry (in Spanish), offered as issued in unbound signatures in original wraps, with original glassine wrapper. ___DESCRIPTION: Paper wrappers with glassine jacket, front wrap in red and black, unbound leaves mostly unopened, title-page printed in orange and black, frontis and three plates hand tinted by the artist, Miliani Fabriano paper, octavo size (9.5" by 7"), pagination: [1-6] 7-111 [112-120 colophon and index], limited edition, this number IV of ten copies numbered I to X printed on Miliani Fabriano paper (total edition 20), signed by Vicente Tripoli. ___CONDITION: A bright clean copy, with absolutely no wear and no previous owner marks or foxing, in the original glassine; except for a shallow crease to the spine, this copy is as new. ___POSTAGE: International… Read More

New York: The Limited Editions Club, 1973. Limited Edition. Hardcover. Fine/near fine. Neama, May. No. 351 of 1500 copies, quarto size, 141 pp., signed by May Neama, with LEC Monthly Newsletter and Announcement. A master of letters and wit, French writer Francois-Marie Arouet, best known by his pen name Voltaire, wrote on numerous subjects and in numerous forms, often advocating for civil liberties and criticising institutions such as the Catholic Church. "Candide" remains his best known work, a satire critical of the German philosopher Leibniz and his optimism. This publication by the Limited Editions Club is illustrated by May Neama, whose watercolours, though colourful and playful, illuminate the tension in the story as Candide's colourful and optimistic world is shaken and ultimately dismantled as he experiences hardships in the world. ___DESCRIPTION: Quarter white leather with maroon cloth boards, gilt lettering and ornaments inside a white rectangle diagonally across the front and rear… Read More

San Francisco: John Henry Nash, 1918. Limited Edition. Wraps. Near fine. Haste, Lawrence B.. One of 200 copies (unnumbered), folio size, 11 pp. Harold Witter Bynner (1881-1968), poet, was a conscientious objector during WWI and, as alternative service, taught English at the University of California, Berkeley (Cal); when the war ended he was invited to remain in the English Department to teach poetry. This short piece, "A Canticle of Praise", was composed by him to celebrate the end of the war and was performed in the Hearst Greek Theatre before approximately 8,000 people. John Henry Nash, (1871-1947), San Francisco printer extraordinaire, printed the poem "for the joy of the making". A lovely addition to any collection of John Henry Nash. ___DESCRIPTION: Blue-gray paper wraps which were folded once, lettered in blue on the front, hand sewn binding, title page printed in red within blue rules with vignette in black by Lawrence B. Haste, text printed in black and red within blue rule designs, Roman… Read More

Perugia: Xilocart, 1988. Limited Edition. Wraps. Near fine. Leboroni, Mariaelisa. One of 180 copies, oblong quarto size, 5 text pp. and 7 woodcuts, signed by the artist/printer, text in Italian. Saint Francis of Assisi (ca. 1181-1226) is almost synonymous with the love of animals and the earth, and his "Canticle of the Creatures" has been sung for centuries. This a lovely publication of the "Canticle" with five full-page woodcuts (plus smaller cuts on the title page and colophon) done by Mariaelisa Leboroni, an Italian artist who publishes her work under the imprint of "Xilocart". Per her web site: "Perhaps more than for the sense of history conveyed by Mariaelisa's books, people love her work for its whimsy. Contented frogs, cheerful cityscapes, smiling suns, and simple pictures of trees in autumn grace the covers of her books, all in lovely color combinations. Because each print is handmade and one-of-a-kind, no two books will have exactly the same image..." A stunningly lovely publication of… Read More

San Francisco and New York: Paul Elder & Company [The Tomoye Press] (1907), 1907. Limited Edition. Hardcover. Near Fine/Near Fine. Perrett, Galen J.. SIxmo size, 68 pp., with dust jacket and original slipcase. Limited Edition of 1000 copies, unnumbered. Western Classics no. 2, originally published in 1871 in a San Francisco newspaper, this is actually a classic and highly-regarded work of fantasy. Printed by John Henry Nash at the Tomoye Press for Paul Elder and Company. ___DESCRIPTION: Bound in brown laid paper boards with a white parchment shelfback, gilt lettering on the front and spine, top edge gilt, brown laid paper endpapers, brown satin ribbon marker, tissue-guarded frontispiece a photogravure from an oil painting by Galen J. Perrett; sixmo size (approximately 6.5" tall), pagination: (i-iv) being the preliminary pages, i-vi the introduction, sectional half-title with verso blank, 1-54, blank, colophon; typography designed by John Henry Nash, printed on Fabriano handmade paper. The dust… Read More

New York: Harper & Brothers, 1860. First American Edition, 1st Printing. Hardcover. Very good +. Duodecimo size, 480 pp. Anthony Trollope (1815-1882) has delighted generations with his depictions of 19th-century British life; no one can describe his characters with such precision, allowing us to not only visualize the physical attributes of the various characters but also giving us glimpses of their thoughts, desires, fears, and ambitions. Many of us met Trollope through his "Chronicles of Barsetshire", a "series of books set in the imaginary English county of Barsetshire [which] remains his best loved and most famous work, but he also wrote convincing novels of political life as well as studies that show great psychological penetration. One of his greatest strengths was a steady, consistent vision of the social structures of Victorian England, which he re-created in his books with unusual solidity" (n.b., from the website of Britannica). This novel, "Castle Richmond", was the third of five novels… Read More

[New York]: Little Brown and Company [Hachette Group], 2018. Hardcover. Fine. Boxed set of four volumes, octavo size, in slipcase and with original shrinkwrap. In advance of the centennial of Salinger's birth on January 1, 2019, Little Brown and Company honored the author with a reissue of his work, including "The Catcher in the Rye", "Nine Stories", "Franny and Zooey", and "Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction". Of the writers in Salinger's generation, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist John Updike attested that "the short stories of J. D. Salinger really opened my eyes as to how you can weave fiction out of a set of events that seem almost unconnected, or very lightly connected" (n.b. quote from Wiki). ___DESCRIPTION: Volumes bound in brightly coloured red, blue, green and yellow cloth with silver lettering on spines, octavo size (set measures 8 1/4" by 5 3/4" by 3 1/2"), housed in a slipcase covered with natural linen cloth, note that the original shrinkwrap is… Read More

New York: The Limited Editions Club [Printed at Horton Tank Graphics], 1992. Limited Edition. Hardcover. Fine. Clemente, Francesco. Number 269 of 300 copies, quarto size, 41 pp., signed by Francesco Clemente, with LEC Monthly Newsletter. Ezra Weston Loomis Pound (1885-1972) was a major figure in the early modernist movement; his early poetry was devoted to the development of Imagism, a movement derived from classical Chinese and Japanese poetry, stressing clarity, precision and economy of language. Of this work, "Cathay", Chinese critic Wai-lim Yip writes: "One can easily excommunicate Pound from the Forbidden City of Chinese studies, but it seems clear that in his dealings with Cathay, even when he is given only the barest details, he is able to get into the central concerns of the original author by what we may perhaps call a kind of clairvoyance" (n. b., above info from Wikipedia). ___DESCRIPTION: Full light blue-grey linen, embossed decoration on the front board, all text pages french fold,… Read More

London: Eveleigh Nash, 1907. First Edition. Hardcover. Very good. B. T. B. [Lord Basil Temple Blackwood]. First printing, octavo size, 80 pp. This collection of verses, intended as a parody of cautionary tales written for children, was written by Hilaire Belloc (1870-1953), a prolific writer and poet as well as an avid sailor; he composed many poems of both comic and serious nature, and he would often collaborate with the noted writer G. K. Chesterton. Belloc wrote several volumes of children's poetry, often for the purpose of parody and humour, and these works brought him commercial success and acclaim. "Cautionary Tales" is illustrated by Belloc's friend and frequent collaborator Lord Basil Temple Blackwood (1870-1917), styled here as "B. T. B."; Blackwood's illustrations have a simplicity of style and capture the comic tone of the poems. ___DESCRIPTION: Full dove-grey paper, red lettering and black line drawing by Blackwood on the front board, title page with black line drawing of a lion… Read More

London [Cambridge]: Clover Hill Editions [Printed by Will Carter at the Rampant Lions Press], 1977. Limited Edition. Hardcover. Fine/near fine. Jones, David. One of 250 copies, folio size, 45 pp., with dust jacket. From the web site of PB Press Books: "The 'Chester Mystery Plays' is a cycle of mystery plays originating in the city of Chester, England and dating back to at least the early part of the 15th century ('Chester Mystery Plays')....The plays are based on biblical texts, from creation to the Last Judgement. They were enacted by common guildsmen and craftsmen on mounted stages that were moved around the city streets, with each company or guild performing one play." This book presents ten stunning wood engravings by David Jones (1895-1974), who was both a writer and an artist. As a writer, he was one of the first-generation British modernist poets and was highly regarded by both T.S. Eliot and W.H. Auden. As an artist, he learned wood and copper engraving from Eric Gill, providing… Read More

Melbourne, Auckland et al.: Whitcombe & Tombs Limited, 1919. First Edition. Wraps. Very good +. Gaze, Harold. Quarto size, [32] pp. A book of poetry about the chewg-um-glewg-um, which "has an Emu's body / And a smiling Camel's head", written and illustrated by Harold Gaze (1885-1963). Gaze is known for his colourful elvish creatures, fairies, and fantastical creatures. Having studied in London, he lived in his native New Zealand and Australia until moving to California (Pasadena) in 1927. Beginning in 1917 he started producing illustrations for fantasy books; his "quirky draftsmanship and stunning utilization of watercolor made him stand out as one of the few male artists in a field dominated by female illustrators" (n.b., info and quote from the web site of Illustration Artists Gallery). "The Chewg-um-blewg-um" is the third part of the "Mite Merry" series, valued for its rich colour plates. The imaginative and atmospheric fairyscapes of Gaze's expressive watercolours reproduce beautifully,… Read More

New York: Random House, 1973. First Edition. Hardcover. Near fine/very good +. First printing, octavo size, 205 pp., signed by Cormac McCarthy. Cormac McCarthy (born Charles Joseph McCarthy, Jr., in 1933), is acknowledged by many as one of the greatest contemporary American writers. His first novel, "The Orchard Keeper", won a 1966 William Faulkner Foundation Award for notable first novel; "All the Pretty Horses" would win the National Book Award in 1992, and "No Country for Old Men", conceived as a screen play (and later turned into a novel) won four Academy Awards. He would eventually author twelve novels, three short stories, five screenplays and two plays. This work, "Child of God" was McCarthy's third novel and was published to critical praise. As stated in the New York Times book review (dated 12-5-73): "It's interesting to see how a good writer can make us care about a 'bad' character. I mean bad in a moral sense. Talent, [it] seems, can find the humanity behind the inhuman, the pathos that… Read More

Detroit: Gale Research Company, 1976. Hardcover. Near fine. Forty-eight consecutive volumes, published between 1976 and 1998, large quarto size, approximately 9600 pp. An "ongoing series", published to fill "a need for a digest of comment concerning children's literature...in which excerpts of recent reviews of both fiction and nonfiction for children and young people are arranged in a useful collection..." (n.b., from the Preface in Volume 1). Packed with useful information about authors and illustrators of literature for children and young adults, with contemporary reviews which are both interesting and informative. Each volume has Cumulative Indices at the rear, by Author, Titles, and Critics (Volume 1); by Volume 48 there was also an Index for Nationalities. ___DESCRIPTION: Each volume bound in full blue cloth over boards with yellow lettering and red ruled border on the front, yellow and red lettering on the spine, yellow endpapers, text in two columns; large quarto size (11/25" by 8 5/8"),… Read More

Cincinnati: Walden and Stowe, 1879. First Edition. Hardcover. Near fine. Duodecimo size, 548 pp. The Reverend Isaac William Wiley (1825-1884) trained as a doctor, became a medical missionary and, in 1850, sailed for China. This volume is "A Record of Observations made during a resident of several years in China, and a tour of official vistation to the missions of both countries in 1877-78" (per the title page). However one may feel about missionaries working in the East, the volume provides an interesting glimpse into the lives of those the author encountered, embellished with sixty illustrations (including the frontis) of people and places. Uncommon in the online marketplace, as of this writing we see only four copies online, of various condition. ___DESCRIPTION: Bound in full mustard-coloured cloth over boards, the upper cover and spine heavily decorated in true Victorian style in black and gilt with a gilt dragon on the upper board, patterned endpapers, tissue-guarded frontis a "View from… Read More

Shanghai: Kelly and Walsh, Limited, 1932. Revised Edition. Hardcover. Very good. Duodecimo size, 116 pp. This collection of recipes offers a myriad of Chinese dishes, from tea and appetizers to main courses to desserts; the recipes are from The Nellie Wong Tea Shop, "the only place in Peking". The recipes are collected in a stab-bound volume with two old Chinese coins, possibly from the Ming dynasty, tied with string to the stab binding; the volume is filled with black-and-white photographs of the delicious food. Presented in English, the recipes are intended for English-speakers wishing to make traditional Chinese food. ___DESCRIPTION: Orange paper over heavy cardboard, stab binding with gold string and exposed spine, black lettering on the front board, Chinese characters in black on the rear board, two coins tied to the first hole of the stab binding, frontispiece a black-and-white photograph of a table of Chinese food captioned "Table set for Chinese dinner", black-and-white photographs of… Read More

[San Francisco]: [The Grabhorn Press], 1944. Limited Edition. No binding. Near fine. One of 100 copies printed, elephant folio size, broadside. Printed by the Grabhorn Press, this Christmas prayer was printed for the Andiron Club, an institution that promoted learning and friendship, and "Romantic Idealism over Naturalism and Realism"; these philosophies were reflected in the pieces published in The Colonnade from 1907 to 1922 (n. b., from the website of New York University Archives). This broadside is by William Van Wyck (1883-1956), a member of the Club, published especially for the Club. Scarce in the trade, with no other copies online as of this writing, OCLC locates six copies: The Book Club of California, the University of San Francisco, Illinois State, Carleton College, University of Minnesota, and Brigham Young University. ___DESCRIPTION: Broadside with text printed in black and red, left fore-edge and bottom edge uncut; elephant folio size (15.25" by 10.25"), one of 100 copies,… Read More