Search Results: Titles starting with I from Bromer Booksellers

1928. Holtz, Johann. Small octavo. (5)ff. An illuminated manuscript on vellum of the Apostle Paul's famous discourse on love, as written in his epistle to the Corinthians. Holtz's hand evinces calligraphic sharpness via his Gothic letterforms and the outlines of his initials, and his eye for color and illumination shows careful study, as displayed through his creative use of blue, teal, orange, yellow, and burgundy. Each page receives a lush floral border, at the head of which is a small heart. The design of the initials owes to medieval customs, heralded by the opening "W," which is four lines tall and boasts a long vine-like descender. Bound in full orange calf over boards with gilt decoration to both covers and embroidered silk doublures. Protected by an orange paper wrapper and matching slipcase. Trace instances of wear to exterior and silk, else near fine.

(Munich: Waldmann & Pfitzner, 1950. One of the four books titled Kleinsten Bucher der Welt, a set called "the smallest books in the world". Printed in ten languages. Bound in gilt stamped red leather, housed in acrylic case. Very fine. (Welsh 6242; Spielmann 455). (1/4 by 1/4; 5x6mm).

(Munich: Waldmann & Pfitzner, 1950. One of the four books titled Kleinsten Bucher der Welt, a set called "the smallest books in the world". Printed in ten languages. Bound in gilt stamped red leather, housed in acrylic case and seated in lined box. Very fine. (Welsh 6242; Spielmann 455). (1/4 by 1/4; 5x6mm).

Minneapolis, MN: Mnemonic Press, 2023. Bart, Harriet. Octavo. (31)pp. One of thirty-five copies. Signed by the artist, Harriet Bart. Selvinsky's poem, translated by Maxim D. Shrayer, was the first poetically address the Holocaust, or Shoah. While serving as a journalist in the Soviet military, Selvinsky witnessed the massacre of thousands of Jews outside the Crimean city of Kerch; the ravine in which the bodies were strewn is still visible, and Bart has represented it via paper cut-out as the central spread of the volume. The rest of Bart's illustrations are likewise from cut-outs, created without guidelines, harness the crudeness and sharpness of the form to evoke the masculine darkness of militaristic totalitarianism. The collaboration between Bart and Shrayer thrums with trust between the two, and recognition of the continued violence on the Crimean peninsula and the genocide of minorities in the name of neoliberal and fascist interests. Typeface designed by Vojtech Preissig, who during WWII… Read More

Sacramento, CA: Press of Arden Park, 1983. 43pp. One of 125 copies. Signed by the printer at the colophon. Title and introductory illustration in green. Bound in blue cloth over boards, mildly soiled, else near fine in near fine dust wrapper. (2 3/4 by 2 1/4; 72x58mm).

(Verona: Officina Bodoni, 1963. Quarto. (350)pp. One of 275 copies printed in Italian. Wood-engraved title page by Reynolds Stone and 114 woodcuts from the Epistole et Evangelii (1495), newly cut by Bruno Bramanti and Italo Zetti. Mardersteig conjectured that the series of woodcuts that graced one of the "rarest and most beautiful incunables illustrated with woodcuts" was the work of the Renaissance painter, Bartolomeo di Giovanni. In keeping with the typographical tenets of the Officina Bodoni, this was the third edition of the Gospels produced by Mardersteig: the first was the English version, appearing in 1962, followed by a version in Latin. The present copy bears a presentation inscription from Pope Paul VI, dated 9 March, 1968, to Virgilio Ferrari, who served as mayor of Milan from 1951 to 1961. Ferrari has the distinction of having been the longest-serving Milanese mayor of the twentieth century, and he oversaw much of that city's post-World War II modernization. Before he became Paul VI,… Read More

Amsterdam: Aschenbach Galerie, 1989. Penck, A. R.. Oblong octavo. (12)pp. One of 100 copies, signed and numbered. Penck's signature raw, "primitive" style, which takes cues from graffiti and hearkens to the concurrent pop art movement championed across the Atlantic by Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat, embodies and communicates the anxious selfhood of one living in Germany during the Cold War. Penck repeats "Who are you?" to seemingly no answer except the declaration of his own name and the paradox "I am in the west but I'm from the east." A terse and profound reckoning with the psychological and political fallout imposed upon German residents, and particularly Berliners, during the latter half of the twentieth century, Penck points directly at the both symbolic and literal signpost of that rift: the border crossing. X's throughout signify that division, and along with it the pain of a geopolitical and ethnic identity in conflict with itself. The book is a deeply personal creation; Penck was… Read More

Chicago: Gráfica Studios, Charisma Chain, Inc, 1970. Bruce, Herbert. Four-color poster. Dynamically printed with a semi-silhouetted portrait of a Black man, the poster weaves together the threads of the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 60s to the struggle for acknowledgement and implemented equality in the 1970s. "I Am Somebody" was written by Reverend William Holmes Borders, Sr., who, from the 1940s through the 1980s, advocated for civil rights and economic reform in Atlanta. In 1971, Jesse Jackson recited the poem on Sesame Street, a unique public venue, but a significant one, for a declaration of racial equality. Bruce worked in the art department of CBS, but contributed this and other Day-Glo images to Gráfica Studio, as well as to the Johnson Publishing Company, which administered the magazines Ebony and Black World. Minimal, if any, edgewear. Fine. Framed. (Measures 24 by 36 in.).

Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr., 2018. Kennedy, Jr., Amos Paul. Letterpress poster, from Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr.'s series honoring Rosa Parks. Signed by the artist. Each installment in this series highlights Parks's determination, humanity, and honesty, upholding her persistent activism and uplifting her famous, yet sanitized, moment of refusal to bow to segregation. The masterful technique of layering colorful wood type used by Kennedy, the 2021 APHA Individual Laureate, brings a visual echo to Parks's words, crafting a literal resonance to match Parks's historical one. The multidimensional terrain of text is designed so that the viewer cannot look at the same image twice; one day they may look at it in a new way or notice a new word, so that the poster and its proverb become active vessels for study and reflection. Minor edgewear, else fine. (17 by 12 in.).

Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr., 2018. Kennedy, Jr., Amos Paul. Letterpress poster, from Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr.'s series honoring Rosa Parks. Signed by the artist. Each installment in this series highlights Parks's determination, humanity, and honesty, upholding her persistent activism and uplifting her famous, yet sanitized, moment of refusal to bow to segregation. The masterful technique of layering colorful wood type used by Kennedy, the 2021 APHA Individual Laureate, brings a visual echo to Parks's words, crafting a literal resonance to match Parks's historical one. The multidimensional terrain of text is designed so that the viewer cannot look at the same image twice; one day they may look at it in a new way or notice a new word, so that the poster and its proverb become active vessels for study and reflection. Minor edgewear, else fine. (17 by 12 in.).

Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr., 2018. Kennedy, Jr., Amos Paul. Letterpress poster, from Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr.'s series honoring Rosa Parks. Signed by the artist. Each installment in this series highlights Parks's determination, humanity, and honesty, upholding her persistent activism and uplifting her famous, yet sanitized, moment of refusal to bow to segregation. The masterful technique of layering colorful wood type used by Kennedy, the 2021 APHA Individual Laureate, brings a visual echo to Parks's words, crafting a literal resonance to match Parks's historical one. The multidimensional terrain of text is designed so that the viewer cannot look at the same image twice; one day they may look at it in a new way or notice a new word, so that the poster and its proverb become active vessels for study and reflection. Minor edgewear, else fine. (17 by 12 in.).

Bern, Switzerland: Benteli, 1974. Scapa (a.k.a. Ted Schaap). Folio. Three silkscreen prints + informational sheet. The three prints address the enormous rise of computing in the 1970s, at the helm of which was IBM. In his characteristically cartoonish, colorful, and jocular style, Schaap depicts office workers contending with computing equipment: one waters a growing tree of cords, another has slung a hammock between two computer towers, and in the last image, two men cryptically debate the merits of tower A versus tower B. The accompanying sheet of text provides a biographical sketch of Schaap, listing his many accolades as a designer, artist, and television host. The laudatory tone suggests that the sheet is something of a resumé, by which Schaap could present the folio to various outlets for consideration. Indeed, the mild humor is reminiscent of what one might find in the New Yorker, and certainly recalls Schaap's long history with the Dutch weekly "Nebelspalter." It is possible Schaap sent a… Read More

Milan: Ulrico Hoepli, 1945. Altara, Edina. Folio. (14)ff., two of which fold out, + (7) strips. Intact and unused paper activity book designed by Italian artist Edina Altara. Includes a wide variety of colorful paper toys and dolls: an illusionist, finger-puppet dancing girls, a three-dimensional carousel, a regiment of soldiers, birds and imaginary creatures that can be flown like paper airplanes, a lunar landscape populated by aliens, and more. Includes an eight-page instruction booklet. In color printed wrappers, showing slight edgewear, toning, and minor soiling, else fine.

Poughkeepsie, NY: Artists and Writers Guild, 1935. Wolff, Kate. Square octavo. (14)ff., + opaque tissue sheets. A clever, interactive book calling on children to use scissors or a penknife to cut out the negative space in a printed image, and to fill in the then-missing background with colored paper so that, when backlit, the images light up. The provided illustrations offer a variety of scenes: fantastical castles, witches, and gnomes, pastoral landscapes, urban alleyways, a churning locomotive, a Christmas tree, and a stereotypical Native American warrior. The opening instructions encourage creativity with paper, advocating for the use of multiple colors and for various layering techniques. Colored papers are provided, housed in a slit in the front paste-down. Bound in decorative thick wrappers. Mild rubbing to corners and front edge, else near fine.

1860. Single leaf measuring 5 by 7 3/4 inches. A drawing of a young man and woman glancing shyly at each other, with their noses drawn in an angular fashion so as to point at each other. Below the figures is penned words "i cant [sic] stop long this time." A Feb. 25, 1861 inscription on the verso says "Valentine - Mr. Willis E. Marden." The young man wears simple clothing, a blue hat with a red band, a red shirt, and blue pants. His hair is long and curly. The woman's costume is more elaborate; she wears red shoes and a beaded necklace with her blue dress, and her uncovered hair is curled. The sheet of paper was once folded into quarters. Until postal rates became standardized, early valentines were typically folded, sealed, and hand-delivered to a beloved's doorstep. Pennsylvania-German or Dutch handmade valentines gained recognition for their fine workmanship, with detailed pinprick and cutout designs. This example is no less remarkable for its simplicity. Some faint discoloration, primarily to… Read More

London: Grant & Griffith, 1852. Phiz (Hablot K. Browne). Oblong quarto. (5)ff. Five hand-colored plates illustrate comical urchins demonstrating the senses, including the rare "Seeing" plate, which shows two boys peering into a box-shaped peep-show at a fair while the proprietor says, "Now then gents, open yr eyes, blow yr precious noses, and don't breathe on the glasses!" In the original printed wrappers, which are illustrated with caricatures of the five senses on the front cover and advertise other newly published illustrated juvenile books on the back. Skillfully rebacked, with a few marginal paper repairs, else a fine copy housed in a handsome chemise and box. A.e.g.

Minor Confluence, WI: Perishable Press, 1976. Freckelton, Sarah. 12 1/2 by 20 inches. One of an edition of 50 copies. A black & white drawing by Sarah Freckelton of a sock thrown over the back of a chair on the seat of which sits a flowerpot of crocuses illustrates a journal entry, in the form of a poem, by Walter Hamady, dated 29 February 1972. Text printed in green, colophon in red. Fine, framed.

Berkeley, CA: Pacific Film Archive, 1973. Goines, David Lance. Broadside measuring 24 by 18 1/4 inches. One of 500 copies. Designed by California artist David Lance Goines and printed in 10 colors, this advertisement for a film series at the Pacific Film Archive features an image of Veronica, daughter of Solome, who took pity on Jesus as he carried the cross on the Via Dolorosa and wiped his face with a cloth. In Goines's rendering, Veronica, graced with a halo, holds up the cloth, which bears an impression of Jesus's face. Veronica stands in front of a landscape framed by columns, and the whole resembles a triptych altarpiece. The design was inspired by Medieval illuminated manuscripts and woodcuts by Albrecht Durer. Some toning to right edge, else fine. (Goines #33).

Postenkill, NY: Edition Kaldewey, 1992. Kaldewey, Gunnar. Folio. 20pp. One of seven copies, the smallest limitation of the Press. Images pulped into the paper show the outline of a face in red and, in blue, the Chinese name of Bun-Ching Lam. The accompanying text is a short, but poetic, statement about the persistent growing of trees. As stated in the colophon, the edition was meant to have been bound by Jean de Gonet, who suffered a motorcycle accident and could not complete the project. Instead, the sheets are held loosely inside paper covers, themselves held inside ground aluminum covers, backed in pink leather, and with a glass doll's eye over each rivet. Held in chemise and slipcase. Fine. (von Lucius, pp. 64-65).

(Houston, TX: ImpPress, 1965. Stermer, Dugald. Small octavo. (12)ff. One of 150 copies, signed by the artist and printer, Dugald Stermer. A quirky type specimen book printed on various colors of paper, in many colors of ink. With full-page illustrations, including a cartoonish frontispiece of a man with a printing press in the top of his head, as well as typographic ornaments and engravings that include the headings from 19th-century almanacs. The ImpPress Typebook is characterized by Stermer's sense of humor: Stermer writes in the colophon that this type sample book was "...primarily intended as a means by which the Prop is cutting down smoking. It is almost impossible to set type and smoke simultaneously." Although best known as a San Francisco-based illustrator, designer, and art director who worked for such influential magazines as Ramparts and Mother Jones, Dugald Stermer started the ImpPress while living in Houston, Texas during the 1960s. He became inspired to print after he was given a small… Read More