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

San Francisco: The Arion Press, 1992. Limited Edition. Hardcover. Fine. Kitaj, R.B.. No. 196 of 200, folio size, 63 pp., signed by Allen Ginsberg and R.B. Kitaj. Written three years after the death of his mother, Ginsberg focused on a cryptic note left to him by her, the mother who had been hospitalized for mental illness for many years, and used that as his inspiration for the poem written in her honour. The volume contains, at Ginsberg's suggestion, two related poems that also relate to his mother. Bound into the volume, facing each other, are two lithographs by R.B. Kitaj, portraits of Allen and Naomi Ginsberg, picturing them both at about age 30; the lithograph of Naomi is signed in pencil by Kitaj. ___DESCRIPTION: Bound in two colours of imported Japanese cloth, black with tan fibers and greyed blueish green, black lettering on the front, binding design unusual with a flap enclosing the fore-edge that folds into the front cover; cream endpapers, fore- and bottom edges uncut, copy number and… Read More

Royal Oak, Michigan: Haffner Press, 1998. First and Limited Edition. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. Arfstrom, Jon. No. 93 of 300 copies of the special edition, octavo size, 235 pp. Edmond Moore Hamilton (1904-1977) is credited with writing, in 1936, the first hardcover compilation of what would come to be known as the science fiction genre, "The Horror of the Asteriod and Other Tales of Planetary Horror". This volume is a collection of three stories from the fragile pulp pages of Magic Carpet and Weird Tales magazines, and is the first hardbound edition of the stories; it features original artwork by 1940s Weird Tales illustrator Jon Arfstrom as well as an introduction by Edmond Hamilton's longtime friend, Ray Bradbury. Also included is an autobiographical article by Hamilton from the January 1934 fanzine, Fantasy Magazine (n. b., some of the above info from the Press' web site). ___DESCRIPTION: Full black cloth, gilt decoration and lettering on the spine designed to match the Arkham House editions of… Read More

Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire: Jane W. Roberts, 1983. Limited Edition. Hardcover. Fine. Greenaway, Kate. No. 83 of 350 copies, twenty-fourmo size, 22 pp., signed by Jane W. Roberts. Kate Greenaway (1846-1901) was an artist and writer best known for her illustrations of children's books, many of which contained her own poetry, and this book documents the history of Greenaway's books and designs; it is filled with Greenaway's charming drawings of children, from her book "Marigold Garden", and which were cast by American Type Founders (ATF) at the end of the nineteenth century. The word "Mignonette" was apparently coined by ATF and was derived from the word "mignon", which means "a small, pretty child" in French, and is an apt description of Greenaway's drawings. Jane W. Roberts, a printer and type collector, presents a well-researched history and bibliographer of Greenaway's works, and celebrates the intricacies of the illustrations in this volume. ___DESCRIPTION: Full green cloth, light green paper… Read More

Chicago: Wilcox & Follett Co, 1947. First Edition. Hardcover. Very good. Folio size, 48 pp. A charming story of a young Native American boy (called in the story an Indian boy, as was done in 1947) who befriended the forest animals and thereby earned his headband of eagle feathers. With charming illustrations in both colour and black-and-white, the colour lithographs bright and clear. The author / artist, Charles "Charlie" Gustav Thorson (1890-1966) "designed an early version of the then yet unnamed Bugs Bunny" (n.b., per Wiki). He worked with both Disney and Warner Brothers for ten years (1935-1945) on hundreds of well-known cartoon characters of the time, including Snow White, Little Hiawatha, and Bugs Bunny, among many others. ___DESCRIPTION: Bound in illustrated paper over boards with a clear laminate, pictorial endpapers, the colour frontis of "Keeko" one of thirteen total colour illustrations throughout, with almost every other page with a black-and-white illustration; folio size (12" by… Read More

Toronto: The Copp, Clark Company Limited, 1908. First Edition. Hardcover. Near fine. Kimball, Alonzo. First printing of the Toronto imprint, duodecimo size, 412 pp. The designs of Margaret Armstrong (1867-1944), utilising the Art Nouveau style and floral patterns, were a sensation in the publishing business; Armstrong created over 270 book designs, often for the works of well-known authors such as Charles Dickens, Robert Louis Stevenson, and George Washington Cable. In addition to designing books, Armstrong wrote books as well, including a comprehensive guide to wildflowers in the American West, which she also illustrated. This novel by George Washington Cable (1844-1925) tells of a romance set in New Orleans during the American Civil War; Cable, considered the "first modern southern writer", used his fiction to highlight the injustices of racism in the South, and he is considered a precursor to William Faulkner. This volume is a scarce Toronto imprint, and has a vintage bookseller's ticket on the… Read More

London: George Harrap & Co. Ltd, 1932. First and Limited Edition. Vellum. Fine/near fine. Rackham, Arthur. First edition with Rackham illustrations, one of 575 copies, octavo size, 48 pp., signed by Arthur Rackham. A perfect convergence of "one of the earliest English examples of a fantasy written specifically for a child" (which may have had a direct effect upon George MacDonald and, subsequently, C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien) written by the truly brilliant writer John Ruskin (1819-1900), author, art critic, and social thinker. Ruskin wrote the story for the then twelve-year old Effie Gray, later to become his wife, who challenged her friend Mr. Ruskin to write a fairy story, as it was "the least likely task for him to fulfill" - he fulfilled it wonderfully, and the story has remained a favourite with children ever since. Wonderfully illustrated by the unparalleled Arthur Rackham (1867-1939), whose "imaginative eye saw all forms with the eyes of childhood and created a world that was half… Read More

New York: Atheneum, 1968. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine/near fine. First printing, large octavo size, 221 pp. Cecelia Holland (b. 1943) has written, to date, over twenty historical novels which span both the globe and time. In addition, she has authored a multitude of other fictional series, as well as short stories, children's books, and non-fiction. She was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1981-1982. This work, "The Kings in Winter", was her third published historical novel. It is set in Ireland in the early eleventh-century; her protagonists moving between various Irish clans at war with each other. Note that we have several other volumes of Holland's historical fiction, many of them signed; if you are searching for a particular title, please do let us know. ___DESCRIPTION: Bound in quarter bright green cloth with grey paper-covered boards, the title blind-debossed on the front board, gilt lettering stamped onto the spine, top edge stained yellow, gold endpapers; large octavo size (9… Read More

Llandogo: The Old Stile Press, 1992. Limited First Edition. Hardcover. Fine. Graham, Rigby. Number 146 of 150 copies, elephant folio size, 58 pp. Rigby Graham (1931-2015) was a landscape and topographical artist, book illustrator and muralist who worked within the British Romantic tradition. His work is distinguished by bold lines, a formalistic understanding of structure, and dramatic use of colour, alike to German expressionism. The text of this volume was conceived in hospital during an extended treatment for cancer, where he retreated into recollections of the past to escape the sterile detention of the infirmary; the overall structure of the book is built around that method of circumvention during a time of calamity. The feature of the book are the colour woodcuts, which include four double-page images composed with four to six blocks each; there are also five single-page images printed in three colours to give a glowing 'monochrome' effect. As Graham shares in his introduction: "Cuts would… Read More

New York: Ernest Nister / E. P. Dutton & Co, 1900. Boards. Very good. Miniature book, [12] pp. This charming little book tells the story of two sisters living at flour mill and their adventures with the inhabitants of the mill, including the animals that live among them. The book has four chromolithographs accompanying the story, providing a lovely depiction of the escapades of the sisters. ___DESCRIPTION: Quarter brown cloth with cream paper boards, colour illustration of children and cats on the front board, with title in orange, endpapers with light blue floral pattern, line drawings in brown throughout, four chromolithrograph plates throughout; miniature book (3.75" by 3.25"), 12 unnumbered pages. Undated but with the prior owner inscription dated 1905, it would have been published circa 1900. ___CONDITION: Volume is very good, with bright colours, a strong, square text block with solid hinges, and the interior is clean and bright; boards have light soiling, light rubbing to the head and… Read More